Just checked the WorldTracer website as provided to me by the airport and this is the latest update:
FORWARDING MESSAGE
FROM: HEATHROW-LONDON TAG NO: AA273864 ORIGINAL FLIGHT: QF006/16JUN/ NEW FLIGHT: QF032/19JUN NEW ROUTE: SYD
Please note: Flight dates shown are departure dates from the specific location(s). Forwarding details are subject to changes due to unforeseen circumstances such as: flight irregularities, security checks, etc.
Please be assured you will be contacted when the baggage has actually arrived.
The tag number matches what I’ve got on my ticket so it’s looking good! My bag went to London without me! Hope it enjoyed the trip
In The Breakthrough Experience Dr John Demartini calls it The Great Discovery™:
At any moment of your life, you will never be put down without being lifted up, nor lifted up without being put down. Positive and negative, good and bad, support and challenge, peace and war - all come together in pairs. They are simultaneous and perfectly balanced. and that is what makes up the divine order.
This was what the lady at LA Airport had warned me about a week ago. She noticed that I was on a high and forewarned me about the low to come. Amazing!
The next forty-eight hours were definitely challenging. Here’s the wrap-up that I emailed to HRG (the company’s travel consultant):.
1. 15 Jun - Flight AA 1745 from Atlanta to Miami delayed by 50 mins, arriving in Miami at 20:45. Due to the delay I missed my connecting flight to London Heathrow.
2. 15 Jun - Spoke to AA and was booked on a new itinerary, scheduled to leave Miami for Heathrow at 17:15 16 Jun (Flight AA 206). This itinerary had me arriving in Sydney at 18:50 18 Jun.
Advised AA that this was not satisfactory as I had to arrive in Sydney Mon 18th June in the morning. AA provided o/night accomodation at MIA hotel and vouchers for breakfast, lunch and dinner (total value $25 USD).
3. 15 Jun - contacted HRG afterhours support and explained the situation. HRG agreed to pursue a refund for untravelled portion of the new AA itinerary, and book a new itinerary to ensure that I would arrive in Sydney as required. New e-ticket details were provided over phone.
4. 16 Jun - flew Miami to LA. Whilst at check-in at Miami airport, advised AA staff that my itinerary had changed and staff member mentioned that unused travel was cancelled and that I could pursue a refund in the city where I had purchased the original ticket. I also notified the staff member about my missing luggage.
5. 16 Jun - flew LA to Syd as per new HRG itinerary.
6. 18 Jun - arrived at Syd 7am. Luggage still missing. Airport baggage service to investigage. Notified by HRG that AA refund dept are disputing validity of refund.
Key points:
- inconvenience and changes in itinerary result of AA flight 1745 being delayed. The scheduled AA flight from ATL to Miami was delayed an hour, causing me to miss my connection to London. As a result I had to cancel my plans to spend a day in Singapore, my luggage went MIA, and I had to buy another $1K AUD ticket to ensure that I arrived in Sydney this morning as scheduled. - great service provided at Miami airport by AA staff member who did her best to change my itinerary as well as find me accom for the night - do not agree with AA refund department.
As of today (20th June) I’m currently working with HRG to resolve the dispute with AA, and I’m still waiting for my luggage to come home.
Everything will work out fine. My luggage will arrive soon and I will get my refund.
I’m at Atlanta airport. It’s 5.45pm and I’m sitting at gate T10 waiting for the boarding call. My 5.45pm flight is delayed. After a healthy meal consisting of America’s finest ie. a Burger King whopper burger with fries and a regular Dr Pepper (man I love this stuff!), I’m sitting down in a packed waiting room and fighting to stay awake. It’s the lack of sleep catching up to me.
Last night I was out late with Gaby. We discovered a joint called "White Wings Cafe" not too far from the hotel after a last ditch effort to find some alcohol. This was following a sequence of events that seemed to suggest that drinking was maybe not on the cards for my last night in Alpharetta Atlanta. All this had occurred after we had originally intended on hitting downtown Atlanta but that didn’t eventuate after we had to drive all the way back from Stone Mountain to drop off a tired work colleague, and then our attempt to purchase beer at Wal-Mart failed when we shockingly discovered that after 11.45pm Wal-Mart won’t sell any alcohol (there was no damn sign anywhere and we were actually in the store before then!).
Anyways, things worked out as I had originally planned and Gaby and I chatted over a couple of rounds of Stella Artois followed by a round of Bacardi and Coke, which I ended up drinking for Gaby as she didn’t like the taste.
I was sufficiently drunk as we headed back to the hotel. I was also the person driving! Back at the hotel I picked up my ipod shuffle and my portable Kathmandu speakers (never leave home without them!) and we headed to Gaby’s room. Keen to test my Salsa skills I had indicated to Gaby earlier in the week that I wanted to go dancing. So there we were in the hotel room and it basically turned into a private dance lesson. Gaby, who had been dancing most of her life, showed me some advanced salsa (it was almost embarrassing how far I was in terms of skill compared to her) and then some basic Méringue!
We spent the next hour listening to a whole range of Latin American music (Gaby’s collection on her Ipod) and looking at some photos of Costa Rica and her friends. Though stumbling a little drunk to my room at close to 3am, I was definitely going out on a high and it was a lovely final night for me in Atlanta.
So it’s now 5.59pm and the plane is delayed until approx. 6.10pm.
Billy Graham said, "A good father is one of the most unsung, unpraised , unnoticed, and yet one of the most valuable assets in our society."
What is a good father? Some think being a good father means providing for their children. But fathers can get so caught up in fulfilling material desires that they lose sight of things that have lasting value. There are some gifts fathers can give their kids that will have eternal benefits; faith, acceptance, direction, example, respect. No investment is more precious than time. Being with your child and giving them your attention imparts a proper sense of worth.
"Cat’s in the Cradle," is a folk rock song by American singer/songwriter Harry Chapin. It appeared on Chapin’s 1974 album Verities & Balderdash. It was written by Harry’s wife Sandy, a poet and writer, long before the birth of their son Joshua. After Joshua’s birth, Harry realized just how much the song meant to him and, after reworking the song, eventually recorded it.
My child arrived just the other day, He came to the world in the usual way, But there were planes to catch, and bills to pay, He learned to walk while I was away. And he was talkin’ ‘fore I knew it and as he grew, He’d say, "I’m gonna be like you, Dad. You know I’m gonna be like you."
And the cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon, Little Boy Blue and the man in the moon. "When you comin’ home, Dad?" "I don’t know when, but we’ll get together then; You know we’ll have a good time then."
My son turned ten just the other day. He said, "Thanks for the ball, Dad, come on, let’s play. Can you teach me to throw?" I said, "No, not today, I got a lot to do." He said, "That’s okay." And he walked away but his smile never dimmed. It said, "I’m gonna be like him, yeah, You know I’m gonna be like himð."
And he came from college just the other day; So much like a man I just had to say, "Son, I’m proud of you, can you sit for a while?" He shook his head and he said with a smile, "What I’d really like, Dad, is to borrow the car keys. See you later, can I have them please?" I’ve long since retired, my son’s moved away. I called him up just the other day. I said, "I’d like to see you, if you don’t mind." He said, "I’d love to, Dad, if I can find the time. You see, my new job’s a hassle, and the kids have the flu, But it’s sure nice talkin’ to you, Dad, It’s been nice talkin’ to you."
And as I hung up the phone It occurred to me, He’d grown up just like me. My boy was just like me.
And the cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon, Little Boy Blue and the man in the moon, "When you comin’ home, Son?" "I don’t know when, but we’ll get together then, Dad. We’re gonna have a good time then."
The melodrama of this song was played out in Chapin’s own life almost like a self-fulfilling prophecy. His wife asked him one day when he was going to slow down the torrid pace of his life and give some time to their children. His answer was, "At the end of this busy summer, I’ll take some time to be with them." That summer, ironically and tragically, Harry Chapin was killed in a car accident. It is not possible to read that postscript of Chapin’s death and miss the larger point-that something was known, believed, and even "preached," but never lived. When we chase manmade crowns and sacrifice the treasured relationships for which God has made us, life loses its meaning.
You may not be a father but there is a child in your life; niece, nephew, student, friend. It will mean a lot someday for them to know he or she was truly important to you. Today it seems a thankless thing they may not even notice. But they grow up and learn what it is to value others. Then it dawns on them that they were loved and affirmed by you. It gets them through some awful times of insecurity and trouble to know someone is on their side.
– Rev. Glenn Weekley/Hendersonville First Baptist Church
Sept 2nd 2007 is Father’s Day in Australia and New Zealand.
