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LHR transport dilemma - need help thinking outside the box . . .

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LHR transport dilemma - need help thinking outside the box . . .

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Old May 2nd, 2014, 01:59 PM
  #61  
 
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janisj: Sadly, I think I have to agree with the person who suggested a mental health assessment for you.

You are WAAAYYY too nice for these fellow travelers. I hate to think of the abuse that will be heaped upon you on this trip.

HOWEVER, I can't wait to read every chapter!! For us readers, it will be informative and very funny!
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Old May 2nd, 2014, 02:29 PM
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I doubt if janisj's fellow travelers are abusive but, unfortunately, they haven't been able to move into the 21st century. Reminds me of the times at grocery check out when senior citizens ( some not much older than I am) wait until all their groceries are sacked and then pull out their check book and proceed to fill everything in. It's not easy getting people to do things differently than what they're use to. Herding cats.I do know janisj has considerable more patience than I do.

Bon voyage and remember a good stiff drink is due reward for difficult tasks.
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Old May 2nd, 2014, 02:38 PM
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Any other ideas?>

Heathrow Express is the ONLY way to go then taxi from Paddington!

(just joking, kind of)
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Old May 2nd, 2014, 02:46 PM
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"senior citizens ( some not much older than I am) wait until all their groceries are sacked and then pull out their check book and proceed to fill everything in"

Ageism. It is not just senior citizens.
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Old May 2nd, 2014, 03:22 PM
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"I can drive stick and have a great sense of direction. I also have a chip and pin CC. Just in case you are looking for new travel partners<<

You sound PERFECT!!!

>>I doubt if janisj's fellow travelers are abusive but . . ."

None of these ladies are abusive (or at least I don't think so) the abusive one isn't invited

"Janisj, so when exactly is this excursion? Maybe I missed it."

We fly out Sunday afternoon . . .

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Old May 2nd, 2014, 04:25 PM
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"(I said) Annhig, she could go to the bank and write checks made out to CASH instead of using an ATM.

(Annhig said) not in the UK without a banker's card [which is a debit card] except at your own branch. so no use to Jj's travelling companion here. My mum is 82 and she uses ATMs all the time. "

I didn't mean in England. I meant that the friend, instead of using an ATM/debit card to get money, simply goes to the bank and makes a check out to cash, and that's how she gets her money, not that she would be able to do so while on this trip, in another country.

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Old May 3rd, 2014, 04:04 AM
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For something like your garage delivery (no such thing where I live!) I would call them and give them my CC number over the phone.

So, the UK grocery store will take a credit card, right? I don't use a debit card, only credit and ATM cards. (Yes, the ATM card is also a debit card, but I never use it that way.)>>

Thursdaysd, I was a bit surprised to see my car back in its normal place rather than having to collect it myself, when I would have paid with the c/card, though they would take a cheque as well. I was even more surprised to see that they had washed and vacuumed it too!

A UK supermarket will take cash, a debit or a credit card. if you pay with a debit card, they will also give up up to £50 cash back, which is a useful way of getting cash rather than having to go to an ATM, though many supermarkets have these outside too.

miranda - apologies, i was just being obtuse.
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Old May 3rd, 2014, 10:04 AM
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No problem!

I had the appliance repairman come out to check my fridge, and when I wrote him a check, I saw that the prevous check I wrote was months before, and also to him, but for the washing machine repair. I don't write very many checks and I'm slowly getting out of the habit of using cash for purchases. But I'm also spending less overall. Weird.
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Old May 3rd, 2014, 11:36 AM
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But I'm also spending less overall. Weird.>>

sounds like a result, miranda.

you do appear to be getting that washing machine repaired quite often though.
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Old May 3rd, 2014, 01:07 PM
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The washer was first getting fixed, then the fridge went out, and got replaced. I've already told the stove that I'm not putting up with any shenanigans from it!
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Old May 4th, 2014, 01:53 AM
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that's right, miranda, you tell them! [but keep that cheque book handy].

there was an article that I was reading on line yesterday [sorry, can't find the link] about the oldest appliances in use - they had found a 1955 fridge, a 1975 washing machine, and several very old Kenwood Chef mixers. [even older than mine which must be about 30 years old] They don't make them like that any more.
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Old May 4th, 2014, 05:05 AM
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Debit cards and ATMs? How old fashioned. Contactless bank cards and mobile phone payments are the way to go now. Keep up!
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Old May 4th, 2014, 06:17 AM
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"I think that grocery stores in the US will not only take personal checks but will also cash travelers' checks."

"not a chance in the UK. you haven't been able to pay be cheque for several years, and never by traveller's cheque apart from at places like Harrods. "

Many of our grocery stores have mini-banks in them. All still take checks AFAIK at the check-out (hate when the person in front of me is writing a check). I put everything I possibly can on a credit card (travel points/FF miles!). Rarely use cash.

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Old May 4th, 2014, 10:20 AM
  #74  
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OK you ain't gonna believe this (!)

The 'sensible' friend - the one flying w/ me - and I are sitting at SMF after one hellacious morning.

We get to the check in desk and B pulls out her passport . . . Pregnant pause . . . And I see two holes punched in it!!! (For those who haven't yet renewed a passport, they punch holes when a passport is cancelled and replaced). SHE BROUGHT THE WRONG PASSPORT! It expired 8 years ago.

Luckily her husband was half way home when she called him. it only took about 45 minutes for him to get home, find the valid passport and race back to the airport.

Wish me luck . . . And sanity.
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Old May 4th, 2014, 10:43 AM
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Oh no! And she's the "sensible" one? I await the next disaster... [luck, luck, luck]

But then I once took very sensible friends to the airport, and after I left them one realized he had left his driver's license at home (it was a domestic trip). Fortunately they only live ten minutes from the airport. I spend a drive to the airport obsessively checking: passport(s), etickets, ATM cards, credit cards, again...
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Old May 4th, 2014, 01:19 PM
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Not an auspicious start but, at least, it was easily resolved. Hopefully it's the only hiccup on your trip. Have you had that well-deserved drink yet?
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Old May 4th, 2014, 03:21 PM
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jj - things can only get better. Hopefully.

BTW, how's this for a passport story? my friend went on a trip with a load of other people from her village, where they handed their passports to the organiser, who returned them to their owners at the end of the trip. Only when she got to LHR [about 90 mins from her home] to fly to Canada to stay with relatives, she discovered that she'd got someone else's passport. in theory, anyone in the group could have had her passport but by some great good fortune, the person whose passport she had, had got hers, AND was at home, so they were able to swap back. She also managed to get a flight the next day.
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Old May 4th, 2014, 04:16 PM
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Oh, my nerves are on edge right now. I hate "the edge." Waiting for more...
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Old May 4th, 2014, 04:28 PM
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Janisj must be in the air by now. Fingers crossed for good reports on the morrow.
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Old May 5th, 2014, 04:38 AM
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lol
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