In the Be Thankful For Small Favors dept -

Yesterday I managed to see my son Adam briefly, fleetingly, on his way to the airport to fly back to NYC. (This was wrong, deeply wrong, we should have had at least a few hours to relax together over coffee and chat) Anyway, I was happy to see him and give him a hug, and probably more important to him, a much needed laptop. I had no idea he was without a computer.

So I expected he would arrive at JFK in due course where his father and brother Andrew would meet him in Adam's car and drive him back to Tom's apt. What I did not expect was a SMS Text message from Adam telling me he landed safely at JFK to discover that his car was stolen!

Per Andrew, Tom had parked it in "the perfect parking space right outside the front door". Bzzzt! It immediately occurred to me that that street has rigidly enforced alternate side of the street parking and I asked if they had checked if the car was towed. I was told they'd called and were told the car was not towed.

Fill in more phone calls and craziness and text messages and absolute misery for Adam who had to drag himself onto the subway system with luggage and laptop and shopping bags after a 8 hour flight which required him to leave the house at 5:30am to check in at Heathrow before 7am. NIGHTMARE.

Finally late last night I called Andrew for an update and found out the car was not stolen, it was indeed towed. ***(ok I thought it was towed for illegal parking it wasn't)

Ok, late breaking news, as they say - The Rest Of The Story. It seems that the car was parked legally. It was towed because Adam had 2 overdue parking tickets. Arrrgh! It will now cost hundreds of dollars to get the car out of the impound on top of the cost of the tickets and any fines on those. Damn! Poor Adam.

So finally after a week visiting in London, Asti managed to drive Adam by my house. Of course it was at 6:30am and he was on his way to the airport to return to NYC and she had to rush off to an appointment at work so we're talking about a few minutes which were spend running to Alan's house to grab a laptop to give Adam.

Pathetic, really. I would have enjoyed even an hour together and Adam would have as well. I wanted to wander down to the river Thames with him and sit on the terrace at the London Apprentice with a drink and relax and chat together a bit. It will have to wait for the next trip when Asti won't own all Adam's time.

Meanwhile, I'm still actively job hunting. The AOL job didn't pan out. They decided a harder, quieter, British male was a better choice. That's HR, not the head of the dept he'll be working for. HR said the problem was the head of the dept would have liked me better but they preferred someone who would only think of the job at hand 100% of the time and not "get creative".

Umm ok. Not.

I've learned a hard lesson about HR here. I'll know better next time.

PLUS CA CHANGE, PLUS C'EST LA MÊME CHOSE

Psalm 83

1 Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God.

2 For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head.

3 They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones.

4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.

5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:

6 The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes;

7 Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre;

8 Assur also is joined with them: they have holpen the children of Lot. Selah.

9 Do unto them as unto the Midianites; as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the brook of Kison:

10 Which perished at Endor: they became as dung for the earth.

11 Make their nobles like Oreb, and like Zeeb: yea, all their princes as Zebah, and as Zalmunna:

12 Who said, Let us take to ourselves the houses of God in possession.

13 O my God, make them like a wheel; as the stubble before the wind.

14 As the fire burneth a wood, and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire;

15 So persecute them with thy tempest, and make them afraid with thy storm.

16 Fill their faces with shame; that they may seek thy name, O LORD.

17 Let them be confounded and troubled for ever; yea, let them be put to shame, and perish:

18 That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth.