Diagon Alley Here I Come

I’ve been a bit busy and a bit overwhelmed lately. (Question: Is it possible to be “a bit overwhelmed”? Doesn’t overwhelmed mean you’re totally sunk or in over your head or something of equal magnitude which makes modifying it with “a bit” oxymoronic?)

Let me start over. We have to fly across the country next week. It’s a family visit which is good, but it also includes the declining health of another elderly relative, which is tough. I am no longer a good flyer. Not only am I no longer a good flyer, but flying and the airlines are no longer fun. Once upon a time I flew quite often. I was a great deal younger and the service on the airlines was much, much better. Therefore it was a consistently more enjoyable experience. Now we fly infrequently, the service is much, much worse and the freakin’ rules keep changing!

We’ve done our best to book the most convenient flights on an airline we’ve never flown on before, but hear good things about. We’ve been reading the TSA’s and the airline’s rules and regulations trying to figure out what’s what. We’ve also booked the hotel and almost locked in on the rental car. If we could just wave a magic wand and simply be there, I would be a much happier individual right now - so would Chuck.

But my magic wand is in the shop right now. If it wasn’t in the shop, in addition to eliminating the to and fro parts of travel, I would wave my magic wand toward several things in the political realm, put a fresh coat of paint on the house, do what I could to assist the Red Sox and, most importantly, make all of our relatives healthy, well, strong and happy.

I so need a magic wand...