The best-laid plans, as they say, dangle aft of the stern and bollox up the rudder. Some weeks ago, I was informed that I had been Chosen (along with several dozen co-workers) to pilgrimage to Houston, Texas, in July. In mid-July.
There are places in this world that are more unpleasant than Houston in July, but they're on the travel ministry's watch-out list.
We were all to quick like bunnies make our travel arrangements, and mindful of the airline industry's little quirks, were told to get cheapcheapcheap, non-refundable nor transferable tickets. Which we all dutifully did, resigning ourselves to our fate.
Yesterday got another email shifting the session to October, due to "fiscal issues". After chatting with my travel agent, said shift will tack on roughly two-thirds of the price of the original ticket, and I can only assume the other pilgrims are facing similar inflation. "Fiscal issues" must be shorthand for "we feel sorry for the airlines after all, and want to toss them a bit of largesse."
On the bright side, October in Houston, while not a pretty picture, is a marked improvement over July.
