I was awakened this morning at about 5am, probably by the brightening sky or the sound of boats beginning their daily deliveries, and I had trouble falling back asleep because I knew (well, thought) that Ori would be comfortably aboard her Air Canada 767, well on her way across the Atlantic to me.

So you can imagine my disappointment when I came into work and saw messages from Ori last night, sent from the Maple Leaf Lounge in Halifax, saying her flight to London was significantly delayed (by two hours). So at 5am this morning (Venice time), rather than sleeping on her flight over the ocean, I expect Ori was sitting at her gate, trying to pass the time and fretting about how things would go in Europe once she landed. The good news is that she’s now on her way…



…but she’ll be landing more than an hour and a half late (pilots can make up some lost time, but not that much). Her estimated landing time in London is three minutes after she’s supposed to take off on her connecting flight to Venice, so it’s safe to assume that she won’t be arriving according to her original plans.

Anyway, I’m standing by in the office, and I’ll be waiting for a phone call from her sometime after noon in Venice. I’ve watched planes land at the Marco Polo Airport at a rate of almost one a minute during the day, and I’m sure a good percentage are arriving from London. So, I’m optimistic that Ori will get herself rebooked on a new flight before the end of the day, and that Air Canada will do its best to take care of the 213 (or so) passengers on board her plane right now.

All this seems like a perfect recipe for lost baggage and the other inconveniences of travel, but Ori can all rest easy with the knowledge that she’s traveling to a place where she’ll be staying for a full month, and where I’m here to help, so there’s lots of time to deal with any problems.