so who is going to meet sat

Post by **Betty Boop** » Sun Feb 01, 2009 4:42 pm

spot;1124501 wrote: She's been sat in the plane for three hours now and it's still there. The wrong sort of de-icer was applied to the runway and it froze. British airports are always surprised by snow.

What?? Thats terrible, but not in the least bit surprising really, I hope Pinkchick is ok and she gets home soon. :-4

Quite surprised the trains were running seeing as we kept spotting the odd snowflake :rolleyes:.

Just think, if this had happened last night you'd still be stuck with me! :p

dubs · Post by **dubs** » Sun Feb 01, 2009 4:48 pm

She sent me a text message about 20 minutes ago..They were de-icing the plane, but if they went now they wouldn't be able to land at Belfast City airport, because it would be after midnight...She will have to land at Aldergrove and be bussed back to Belfast!

Odie · Post by **Odie** » Sun Feb 01, 2009 5:05 pm

dubs;1124550 wrote: She sent me a text message about 20 minutes ago..They were de-icing the plane, but if they went now they wouldn't be able to land at Belfast City airport, because it would be after midnight...She will have to land at Aldergrove and be bussed back to Belfast!

oooooooo no, she must be so upset!

thanks for the update!

Post by **Betty Boop** » Sun Feb 01, 2009 5:16 pm

dubs;1124550 wrote: She sent me a text message about 20 minutes ago..They were de-icing the plane, but if they went now they wouldn't be able to land at Belfast City airport, because it would be after midnight...She will have to land at Aldergrove and be bussed back to Belfast!

Oh my, what a mess.....

Post by **spot** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 1:19 am

I just sent her a SMS/text to see if she'd at least got in and grabbed a couple of hours sleep before work intervened. I thought I'd check the Internet for free SMS sending, so I could type instead of use my thumbs, and I found a surprisingly large number. I tried one and it sent. I thought it looked suspiciously easy so I sent a copy to my own phone. They're bastards, some people, they really are - not a note on the front page that they're sending a "text this premium line to get your message" message. £5 to read what was sent. That ought to be criminal. I quickly followed it with a "Don't open the Scam!" text from my handset.

I'm sure real free SMS exists. I'll look later.

What it said, so she gets it eventually, was: "Last I heard it was Aldergrove or nothing. Did you get any sleep? Are you at work? Sitting on a plane that long you ought to be in Australia."

Post by **spot** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 2:05 am

I have a suspicion she might not have flown at all last night:Gatwick Airport - Runway reopened at 4.22am; flights from USA, Amsterdam, Venice, Prague and Barcelona cancelled and more delayed. Flights to Grenoble, Cologne, Amsterdam, Glasgow, Berlin, Geneva, Belfast and Dublin cancelled and more delayed.

Snow: Latest news on disruption to Britain's transport network - Telegraph

pinkchick · Post by **pinkchick** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 2:47 am

Aaaawww :-4 Thanks for caring everyone :-4

Hi I have returned

Ok ... here's the story...

I left Spot at about 7pm last evening to catch my flight. As soon as I put my hand luggage in the x-ray machine it all went horribly wrong! I started to "beep" apparently. I'm told that my shoes were the problem. They were swabbed, scanned and swabbed again! After much discussion between 2 "delightful" security staff, they decided to let me carry on my journey.

At this point I should say that I had only 10 minutes to find my gate and get on my flight.

It took me 8 of those 10 minutes to find my gate. By this time I'm about to keel over coz my face is purple and I cant breathe and I still have a huge flight of stairs to climb! Anyway ... got on and got settled with my book and my ipod. (Thank God for ipods!)

The flight was due to depart at 7.45pm.

At 8pm the captain tells us that the runway had been sprayed with the wrong de-icer and we wouldn't be moving until further notice as the runway had been closed!

So ... we ended up sitting on the tarmac 4 and a half hours before finally taking off after midnight and being deverted to Belfat Intl. You can't land at the City Airport after midnight.

We were told that we would be bussed to the city airport. Guess what! NO BUS!!!!

Taxi's for everyone .... I was the last person to get a taxi and I finally dragged my tired and wearey body in the door at 3am.

What a day!

I called my boss this morning and she said I could go in at lunch time so that's something I suppose

Thank you all for wondering about me :-4:-4

I shall post again about the weekend but for now .. the coffee pot is calling me

Post by **spot** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 2:57 am

I'm so pleased you got there eventually, the idea that you'd slept in a corridor and still had it all to do again was horrible.

pinkchick · Post by **pinkchick** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 3:01 am

spot;1124740 wrote: I'm so pleased you got there eventually, the idea that you'd slept in a corridor and still had it all to do again was horrible.

If I'd been on an EASYJET flight I would have had to do exactly that! The cancelled all their flights and told their passengers to find their own accommodation and come back in the morning!

Post by **spot** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 8:52 am

Is everyone going to excuse me if I ramble a bit? I can't post what happened without taking a run at it, there's more than one day to account for.

It was quite a weekend, I hope the delegates thought it worth turning out and getting there and back. We were missing the oscar/Peter and Suzie/Jimbo visits through illness which was distressing, Raven and Andy sadly didn't manage it, Gill and abbey had been we'd like to but it's really unlikely, we did what we could without them all.

Friday started at Gatwick, stood near the arrivals corridor. I'd got there early which is just as well because the pilot of the flight from Belfast must have had afterburners, he brought his flight in a full half hour early. Given that the flight's not much over an hour I think he must have broken windows going supersonic over Bristol. Pinkchick went about ten paces beyond the corridor exit, blinked a few times in confusion and reached for her cellphone before I pounced. You'll be expecting someone, I told her. So I am, she said. We'd reached the train before either of us thought to check we'd got the right person, we could both have been in dire straits if it turned out we'd guessed wrong. We hadn't.

So there I was on the train into London with this gorgeous Irish redhead who talks nineteen to the dozen while drinking in the sights of Surrey. The sights of Surrey, for those who haven't been on that route, consist of the urban sprawl by which London reaches as far as the south coast, not a cow to be seen, not a field of grass, all very different from where she'd just left. It got denser, taller, more colourful, and then we were over the river and switching to a bus to get us to the Tower. Registering was pain-free by which time we needed lunch. I'd met my son for an hour in a pub called the Minories the day before, it was fifty yards from the door so it was the obvious choice, in we went and dined.

Then I was off to Paddington for Immy and Betty while Pinkchick settled in. We knew they were on the train, they'd been texting every few minutes to say where they'd reached and there they were when I got there, on time to the minute and carting a small library of text books. Back to the Tower and hugs all round, the Friday complement was complete.

Nobody, for some reason, wanted to see Jimmy Osmond in Grease at the Piccadilly Theatre. I was rather surprised, I'd thought Jimmy Osmond was what brought people to London in mid-winter but apparently not. Nor Lionel Bart. We went to the apartment and cooked for several hours instead. By the time we'd got that out of our system it was taxi time to the Tower but at least we'd finally laid plans for the Saturday.

ForumGarden members are nothing if not ambitious. The ambition for Saturday was to do the National Gallery. One can do the National Gallery forwards or backwards - starting at 1200 and heading for the present or starting at 1900 and travelling into the past. The National Gallery ends at 1900, the last 109 years haven't existed as far as they're concerned though one or two of the Seurat paintings from 1880 have a very 1920s feel to them. We went backwards. What nobody has ever yet achieved is to see everything in one day. I think we managed 15%. Every now and then there was a discussion about what would look good on a wall at home. Constable's Hay Wain was high on the list, various pieces of Turner were proposed, I went for The Fighting Temeraire while Immy rather ambitiously scooped Ulysses deriding Polyphemus. You'd need a wall the size of a barn door to hang it. I fell for Self Portrait in a Straw Hat which I'd never seen before and Paul Cézanne's Self Portrait which I had. There's a picture he painted of his dad too which is amazingly unsympathetic.

We took a break, walked out into Trafalgar Square and ran straight into Dubsy which was wonderful, we seem to get uncanny timing like that when we leave arrangements vague. After a coffee he sat in the sun with Pinkchick while we went back in and tackled bits of 16th Century Italy because I'd promised Immy a cartoon. We stopped once we'd reached it, the day was disappearing and somewhere we had to find Clodhopper who was by that point getting strangers up ladders to shout "spot" in the hope of finding us.

The strangers up ladders were puzzling, as were the tents being erected and the barriers going up. More oversized elephants, I wondered? It turned out Trafalgar Square was going Chinese and all of Soho was cordoned off to see in the Year Of The Ox. It was colourful once it got going but at that stage the scene just unpredictable, which is what Londoners do with Trafalgar Square.

Just round the corner, with Clodhopper finally attached, we took over a large table in the Pizza Express for several hours and did what ForumGarden people do in these circumstances - talked. I'm starting to take it for granted that these moments will work and once again it did. El guapo found his way to us and we were as many as we were going to get at one time, down from the original fifteen or so. Eventually Dubsy left and by the time we went out Clodhopper had to get back for his evening's arrangement, the rest of us took a bus up to St Paul's and went inside. It was another of those not-really-worked-out ideas which came off. There was a Chorale being sung, we sat under the dome and listened for a quarter of an hour and it was something to remember. Not many places can create a sound like that.

It was dark by the time we took a bus back to the Tower. We'd had a call from Mr and Mrs Barman by then. They recommended a great place to meet up by the Tower, a pub called the Minories. Small world, I thought, that'll make three days in a row. As it happened it was booked for a private function that evening so we ended up finding them in The Chamberlain a hundred yards up the road and spent a social evening righting the world before el Guapo had to get back out of London - goodness knows how but he managed it - and the rest of us dispersed to our beds.

Sunday was a bright clear chill day. Betty and I collected Immy from the Tower and went out to Paddington to get them onto their train and after seeing them off I went back to show a little more of London to Pinkchick. We went out to Knightsbidge and stepped off the bus at the Albert Hall which had her amazed. With a turn of theatricality which would have made PT Barnum proud I walked her to the front centre, telling her about the death of Prince Albert and how inconsolable the widowed Queen was (despite swearing not to launch into facts after a few bad lapses the day before) concluding with "and there he is", turning her round to face the Albert Memorial. The great thing about Pinkchick is how she reacts to moments like that, she's every London guide's dream client. Wow. It's been cleaned back to sparkling, it's been re-gilt and it is seriously beyond belief excessive. We crossed the road and walked around it past all the boasts of the Empire at its height. This bit's ours, it said, with a huge white elephant and what looked to be Persians paying homage and the subtitle "Asia", then "Europe" with a huge white Bull, a Camel denoting Africa with natives taking orders from colonial administrators and - icing on the cake - an immense Bison showing how we owned the Americas as well. I think they'd gone a bit far with the Bison but yes, the Victorians did still own most of North America and they really wanted people to remember it.

I kept the best bit until last for her and it was Immy's suggestion. It was Sunday, it was mid-afternoon, we went to Evensong in Westminster Abbey and the service was the sort you can't really find anywhere else, the full Abbey choir with a sung evensong and even an elegant sermon to finish it off with and we were seated in Poets Corner not far from the Reader's lectern.

By the time we came out it was snowing and it's not stopped since. There was an inch on the ground once we reached Gatwick. We had a coffee near a departures board and when it called her flight I saw her off at the gate and that, dear reader, is the end of the ForumGarden UK Winter 2009 Meeting. I had a tremendous time, I think the others enjoyed it too, it certainly stood the quality test of the previous ones.

Clodhopper · Post by **Clodhopper** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 9:50 am

Great report.

Post by **Betty Boop** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 10:07 am

Wow.... I wish I could have done Sunday too! Next time....

Great reporting Spot! Looks like I'm going to be snowed in tomorrow, there is currently a blizzard here, just made it up the very steep hill I live on top off about half an hour ago. I will not be attempting to get down it with the car again until this nasty white stuff goes!

OpenMind · Post by **OpenMind** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 10:14 am

Well done everyone. A most entertaining report, Spot.

:yh_clap:yh_clap

Odie · Post by **Odie** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 11:16 am

awesome report Spot, now where's the pics?:sneaky::yh_rotfl:yh_rotfl

Barman · Post by **Barman** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 11:31 am

Do you know, i dont think anyone had a camera with them in the pub. I have only just realised.

Barman · Post by **Barman** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 11:37 am

How about a pic of wifey with HMS Belfast and Tower Bridge in the background.

You may also notice as if by magic, Barman Ta Ra, also i have gone green.

abbey · Post by **abbey** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 11:53 am

Nice pic of wifey Barman, and fantastic reporting from spot. :-6

Imladris · Post by **Imladris** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 1:07 pm

Lovely report Spot, glad you managed to get to Westminster Abbey and the Albert Hall was an inspired choice.

I certainly had a great weekend, thanks to all who turned up - it was a joy to meet you and to Spot for the excellent 'herding' of us all and for the foresight to organise Oyster cards etc.

el guapo · Post by **el guapo** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 1:20 pm

Imladris;1125251 wrote: Lovely report Spot, glad you managed to get to Westminster Abbey and the Albert Hall was an inspired choice.

I certainly had a great weekend, thanks to all who turned up - it was a joy to meet you and to Spot for the excellent 'herding' of us all and for the foresight to organise Oyster cards etc.

oi i didny get any oysters

Chezzie · Post by **Chezzie** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 1:20 pm

Sounds like you had a fabulous and busy time, great report Spot, I feel like I went now lol

el guapo · Post by **el guapo** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 1:24 pm

Chezzie;1125258 wrote: Sounds like you had a fabulous and busy time, great report Spot, I feel like I went now lol

ya were not there ........who was i chating to on the bus

Chezzie · Post by **Chezzie** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 1:28 pm

el guapo;1125260 wrote: ya were not there ........who was i chating to on the bus

shhhhhh I was incognito...Didnt want to be noticed due to the fan base:D

el guapo · Post by **el guapo** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 1:44 pm

Chezzie;1125262 wrote: shhhhhh I was incognito...Didnt want to be noticed due to the fan base:D

thank god it was you i would have dies if id been chatting to a compleat stranger

Post by **Oscar Namechange** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 2:00 pm

Barman;1125160 wrote: How about a pic of wifey with HMS Belfast and Tower Bridge in the background.

You may also notice as if by magic, Barman Ta Ra, also i have gone green.

Good Heavens above..... She looks:

1) Human

2) Attractive

3) Good dress sense

4) A British person who smiles

5) Intelligent

6) Young

errrrr What's she doing with you Barman????? :yh_rotfl:yh_rotfl:yh_rotfl

el guapo · Post by **el guapo** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 2:06 pm

oscar;1125289 wrote: Good Heavens above..... She looks:

1) Human

2) Attractive

3) Good dress sense

4) A British person who smiles

5) Intelligent

6) Young

errrrr What's she doing with you Barman????? :yh_rotfl:yh_rotfl:yh_rotfl

i was thinking the same thing .....she was the yanks say a dish

Barman · Post by **Barman** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 3:14 pm

oscar;1125289 wrote: Good Heavens above..... She looks:

1) Human

2) Attractive

3) Good dress sense

4) A British person who smiles

5) Intelligent

6) Young

errrrr What's she doing with you Barman????? :yh_rotfl:yh_rotfl:yh_rotfl

Cos she didnt reach the reserve on ebay i had to keep her.

el guapo · Post by **el guapo** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 3:15 pm

Barman;1125358 wrote: Cos she didnt reach the reserve on ebay i had to keep her.

how much ya want for her m8

Barman · Post by **Barman** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 3:19 pm

Swop her for a new exhaust for me car Jess, non returnable.

Did any one else have a go on the London Eye? Great views from up there.

el guapo · Post by **el guapo** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 3:20 pm

Barman;1125362 wrote: Swop her for a new exhaust for me car Jess, non returnable.

Did any one else have a go on the London Eye? Great views from up there.

done deal m8

and no way ya would get me up there

chonsigirl · Post by **chonsigirl** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 3:26 pm

What a great narrative of the adventures, spot. It sounds like you all had a wonderful time, and thankfully pinkchick made it home safe.

Barman · Post by **Barman** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 3:29 pm

I thought it would be a little scary but it wasn't at all, just look at the views.

Post by **Oscar Namechange** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 3:40 pm

Barman;1125370 wrote: I thought it would be a little scary but it wasn't at all, just look at the views.

So where's Gordon brown??

Barman · Post by **Barman** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 3:47 pm

oscar;1125380 wrote: So where's Gordon brown??

He was doing a juggling act at Covent Garden.

Odie · Post by **Odie** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 3:51 pm

Barman;1125160 wrote: How about a pic of wifey with HMS Belfast and Tower Bridge in the background.

You may also notice as if by magic, Barman Ta Ra, also i have gone green.

beautiful pic of wifey!

thanks for sharing!

Barman · Post by **Barman** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 3:54 pm

Odie;1125397 wrote: beautiful pic of wifey!

thanks for sharing!

I was trying to get the ship and the bridge, she wouldn't move.:wah:

Odie · Post by **Odie** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 3:55 pm

Barman;1125370 wrote: I thought it would be a little scary but it wasn't at all, just look at the views.

are these your airplanes?:yh_rotfl:yh_rotfl

Barman · Post by **Barman** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 4:00 pm

Odie;1125402 wrote: are these your airplanes?:yh_rotfl:yh_rotfl

Cheek :yh_rotfl, largest in the World this feat of engineering.

G#Gill · Post by **G#Gill** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 4:01 pm

Wonderful report, Spot, and I could almost feel that I had been to the 'meet' after all ! Perhaps it was just as well I couldn't make it, cos I would have had difficulty managing to cope with the places you went to see. I'm so glad everybody got home safely, particularly PC with all that terrible hassle she had to endure !

Barman, the London Eye is an ambition of mine, some day maybe I'll be able to enjoy the experience, although I'm not good with heights, I am sure I would manage to overcome that, just to get to see the views. Great pics ! Lucky with the weather at that time as well !!!

When's the next 'meet' - perhaps June time, and maybe somewhere in central England ???:-6

Odie · Post by **Odie** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 4:04 pm

Barman;1125412 wrote: Cheek :yh_rotfl, largest in the World this feat of engineering.

wow, that is amazing, gulp!

my god, its just so beautiful there!:guitarist

Clodhopper · Post by **Clodhopper** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 4:05 pm

largest in the World this feat of engineering.

Odie: You should see the rest of the bicycle!;)

Barman · Post by **Barman** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 4:06 pm

Clodhopper;1125418 wrote: Odie: You should see the rest of the bicycle!;)

:yh_rotfl:yh_rotfl Nice one Clodhopper.

Odie · Post by **Odie** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 4:15 pm

Clodhopper;1125418 wrote: Odie: You should see the rest of the bicycle!;)

you sure grow them big there!:yh_rotfl:yh_rotfl

Odie · Post by **Odie** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 4:16 pm

Barman;1125400 wrote: I was trying to get the ship and the bridge, she wouldn't move.:wah:

stop that!:sneaky:

:yh_rotfl:yh_rotfl:yh_rotfl

pinkchick · Post by **pinkchick** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 4:19 pm

Clodhopper;1125418 wrote: Odie: You should see the rest of the bicycle!;)

:yh_rotfl:yh_rotfl:yh_rotfl

Odie · Post by **Odie** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 4:30 pm

pinkchick;1125445 wrote: :yh_rotfl:yh_rotfl:yh_rotfl

everyone makes fun of me!:sneaky:

:yh_rotfl:yh_rotfl:yh_rotfl

Barman · Post by **Barman** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 4:34 pm

Odie;1125466 wrote: everyone makes fun of me!:sneaky:

:yh_rotfl:yh_rotfl:yh_rotfl

Is that an invitation:yh_rotfl:yh_rotfl

Odie · Post by **Odie** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 4:43 pm

Barman;1125469 wrote: Is that an invitation:yh_rotfl:yh_rotfl

look! just because I am a female!:sneaky::yh_rotfl:yh_rotfl

but honestly......took me awhile to figure out the bike thing!

:yh_rotfl:yh_rotfl

Clodhopper · Post by **Clodhopper** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 5:35 pm

Odie: chuckle. I suppose when you are living in a deepfreeze, "bicycle" isn't the first thing that springs to mind. I've never experienced cold of the sort you live with for months on end!