Jim and Mary's blog

Sorry to start out with a moan but we had a bit of a shock when we tried to leave LA. Apparently it is part of the practice of US airlines to over book on the expectation that a certain number of people will not turn up. If everybody turns up then someone will be "bumped". How they choose the passengers they bump is a mystery that I have not been able to solve. The facr that you booked the flight over 7 months beforehand apoears to be irrelevant. The fact rhat you have timed your flight to meet someone arriving on another flight is also irrelevant. Mary and I were the only people who were bumped. It was quite distressing to us both as we were meeting James on his flighr from the UK. He has been included on last leg of our jaunt around the world as a 21st birthday present. Anyway, as is often the case, things turn out ok in the end. James patiently waired at JFK for our arrival 4 hours later, and was not the distressed little boy, feeling abandoned and lost that we expected to find. In fact he thought it a good outcome as we got to travel business class and were compensated.

Well we have arrived in NY in our hastily reorganised accommodation. It is in a flat which we share with thw owner. It is quite comfortablr but the furnishings look a bit tired. It is well located on the east side a few blocks from the middle of Central Park. We havw met up with Mary's brother John, wife Kagi and sons James and Oliver. I'll up date you on what we have done later. Again I apologise for the orientation of some of the photos.