Baggage Sob Story

11 PM Thursday. Arrived in Eugene- our luggage did not. We were not too surprised as we had 1 hour and 40 minutes between flights to get through Immigration and Customs and it took us 1 hour and 39 minutes to get to our plane. There were probably 500 people in line for Immigration and only 5 out of 20 windows were open. The lines snaked like a Disney ride line, alternating between moving slowly and not at all. After Immigration we had Customs- where we zipped through with our bags with barely a blink from the Customs agent. We turned our bags back into the airlines, and then had another snakey line to get through security again. So many people in line were getting frustrated because they knew that they would be missing their connections. We made it through security and RAN the quarter mile to our gate- and squeaked in the door- just as they were closing the gates. They had given our seats away- but they gave them back to us (not a full flight). We were flying on United, from Houston to Salt Lake City, and then a Delta flight from Salt Lake City to Eugene.

Back to the luggage- There was no one at the Delta desk- and no baggage room at the Eugene airport. After about 20 minutes an official looking woman appeared, apparently  dealing with luggage that had arrived and not been claimed. We approached her and told her that our luggage had not arrived. She said that she was an United employee, and since Delta had brought us in, we would have to file a claim with Delta, and gave us an 800 number. She really was not interested in talking to us and kept repeating that she was dealing with 3 other people at the time (there was no-one else left in the baggage area), and in addition she told us that Delta would not be answering the phones at this time of night, so we had no choice but to go home.

The following Phone calls are GREATLY abbreviated- leaving off the growing explanation each time- and all the wait time for each call.

10 AM Friday Called Delta. They asked if we had filed a claim at the airport. We told them that we were unable to because no one was there to file a claim with. Delta said that they could not do anything if we didn't have a Delta claim filed, and that United was responsible. They said that because the bags had not been delivered to Delta in time for them to get it on the plane, it was now United’s  responsibility.

10:30 AM Called United- who said it was Delta’s responsibility

11 AM  Delta no, we never got the bags- it is not our fault, but you must file report within 24 hours

12 PM United said yes bags are in Eugene- but it is Delta’s responsibility. Us- Can you call Delta and straighten this out? United No we cannot do that- you have to call Delta.

12:30 PM Called Delta- Do you have a Delta number? No- can you call United and talk to them- No we cannot do that

1 PM Called United – Finally got someone who spoke English as their first language. She said that she was sure that Delta would not have told us that it was not their responsibility- that they know the rules. After a continued conversation with her- she finally agreed to call Delta- I am sure she wanted to prove me wrong. She stayed on hold with me on the Delta line for about 10 minutes (at one point she commented on how long their hold time was- I was not surprised having been through that wait several times before) This phone call was successful- we finally got the two companies talking to each other- working out who was responsible, getting a claim filed and the addresses given for the bags. Two addresses- Rivers to get his bag at his apt, and ours to be delivered to Florence. The United representative kept asking me- can I leave yet-it seems to be worked out- but I asked her to stay to the bitter end- and she did. The Delta representative said that the bags would probably be delivered the next day.

7 PM Got a call from Rivers- all 3 bags had been delivered to his house- and his housemate had accepted them (not realizing that only one was supposed to be delivered there).

7:30  PM Called Delta- explained to them that only 1 of the bags were supposed to go to Eugene- the other 2 were supposed to be delivered to Florence. The representative said that the instructions had been clear- and that the delivery company obviously did not follow the instructions- and that she would make sure that the bags were picked up, from Rivers’ house and delivered to Florence.

5 PM Saturday –texted Rivers and Laura to see if the bags had been picked up yet. Nope.

5:05 PM called Delta- explained story- The Delta representative said that 2 messages had been sent to the delivery company- but she would send another just to be sure. Came back and said that the company was not answering their phone- they were probably making a delivery- or currently at the airport- but she was sure that they would give me a call. I asked what I should do next- and she told me that I should call Delta back in an hour if I had not heard from the delivery company.

7:30  PM Called Delta again. Explained story yet again. They tried to get hold of the delivery company- again- no answer. The representative said that she would now call the airport because it is their responsibility to get the bags to us. The airport- now that is interesting- would that be Delta at the airport? The baggage company at the Eugene airport? (non existent as far as we could tell). She assured me that her message to them would be that someone should contact me. I will not hold my breath.

2 PM Sunday – texted Rivers and Laura- Bags been picked up? No

2:15 PM Called Delta. Talked to Tanisha. Explained story. She said “Let me see if I can be the one that can solve this problem” She said she would call delivery company- “I see that the last person you dealt with left a message for them” me: “and the person before her, and the person before her”. Long wait on the line. Tanisha came back and said that she had reached the company, talked to them and they would call me. All hail Queen Tanisha. She also asked if we had incurred any incidental expenses while waiting for the bags. Why –yes we have. Make sure you submit those receipts.

2:26 While still on the phone with Tanisha another call came in. I did not want to risk losing Tanisha so I let it go to voice mail.

2:27 Voicemail from Joe in Portland (?) with the baggage delivery service. Calling in regards to 3 bags- all three bags have been delivered- I just got a call from Delta that only 1 bag had been delivered. My driver said that all three had been dropped off and Delta said that you have only received one even though all 3 were delivered.  Sigh…

2:30 Called Joe- explained that yes- all 3 bags had been delivered to Eugene-however two of them were to come to Florence. Joe said ”OK- we will get them delivered to you”

3:00 PM submitted reimbursement claim to Delta (should be easy – huh?)

8:30 PM still no bags…

To be continued?

Night Diving vs. Day Diving

We were very excited to go on a night dive. We have had some fantastic experiences in the past-seeing  octopi (octopuses, octopodes- now our preferred plural) mating, Moray eel hunting and parrot fish lodging themselves in rocks to sleep. 

This night dive was disappointing, very few fish, no eels, and no octopodes (sort of rhymes with Euripides). Night dives are typically shallower than those done in the day, so our dive master took us to a site with numerous small channels to explore. Unfortunately because the channels were narrow, we had to get close to the coral to see anything- and I saw 6 Lion fish- one uncomfortably close- and many sea urchins. We were quite surprised to see all the urchins- and also a bit disconcerted. Apparently the urchins come out at night to hunt and because we were in the canyons we had to be very careful not to bump into them, and there were a lot of them! The most striking thing about them was shining the light on them and seeing 5 red rings on the top. I never would have guessed.

The next day was our last dive (a day dive) and it was spectacular. It felt as if all the sea creatures were out to bid us farewell. We started off seeing a spotted eel in the sand, 2 moray eels in caves, lobsters, groupers, the urchins had returned to their crevasses, tucked away with only the spines protruding. Snappers and Groupers and Jacks in schools.

 The Groupers have adopted a new behavior. They swoop down next to overhangs and crevasses, repeating the action numerous times. If you follow their motions and look under the ledge you will often see a Lion Fish. The Groupers have learned that divers can spear the Lion Fish and feed them to the Groupers. Groupers will not hunt the Lion Fish on their own, but will readily swallow any dead Lion Fish- and obviously they relish it- judging by their behavior.

 We finished the dive spotting a turtle we nicknamed Stumpy- one of its flippers and part of its shell had been chomped by something. It was a wonderful way to end a diving vacation- and it certainly left us dreaming of possibilities for the next destination.                                                                                                                               

She said "yes"

Two incredible dives today, for very different reasons. The first dive was 110 feet down to the wreck of The Aguila. There is a resident Morey Eel on the wreck. When we first got there the eel was nowhere to be found, then it appeared, swam along the side of the wreck and off into the sand flats. Watching the large body undulating through the water was a beautiful sight. The finds on the top and bottom were moving left and right, and the entire body rippling up and down in such a graceful flowing manner. A sight to behold. Other highlights included a school of Bar Jacks surrounding a Grouper, looking like a shimmering cloud, swimming off into the distance, and then I became a Grouper groupie. They are such beautiful large fish, and they are as curious about us as we are of them. As Rivers said "what other wild animal of that size can you achieve such proximity in their natural habitat- and feel safe"

The second dive of the day was special for a very different reason, it was a shallow dive, no spectacular views or dramatic walls, but Rivers proposed to Laura at 30 feet down, and she, with a grin that you could see in spite of the respirator in her mouth, said yes. Our hosts provided Champaign, and we are toasting the future bride and groom. Wish them well!

Why I dive

When asking the others for descriptive words for diving this is what I got:
Laura -exhilarating,
Rivers- beautiful, bouyant and shared
Bob- consistently excellent varieties
For me today's dive had most of what I dive for, and it is expressed by all of the words above. We had 2 wall dives today which gives me the exhilaration. Coming to the edge of the wall, giving a strong kick, extending my arms and I am flying off the edge of the cliff. I kept doing this today, using up extra air, but I didn't care, I was having a blast. The beautiful part is a given, all  the colors and variety of fish and coral, and the fact that I get to share it with people I love just makes it all the better. We saw a Moray Eel today, swimming around the rocks. It was the first time I had ever seen one swimming in the daylight. They are normally night hunters, and during the day the find a home to sleep in, and all you see is their head, looking out at you. This one was a beautiful green color and about 5 feet long, swimming along the edge of the wall. They will not bother humans unless they are being molested, or feed, neither of which we had any intention of doing.
Waiting for the sun to be lower in the sky to venture out for a walk.
Air temperature: 90+
Water temperature 84 on the surface, 82 down at 70 feet.
Love it!

Sea life

Viewing wildlife underwater is such a different experience than viewing wildlife on land. You can get so much closer to the fish than you ever could to land animals. Watching the variety of ways that the fish and other sea life move through the water. Some fish use their fins like wings. They either flap them up and down, or use a sweeping motion. Some fish have more of an undulating motion to propel themselves, either undulating their entire bodies or just their dorsal fins. Wonderful variety. Turtles are another category. They look so ungainly, and yet as they flap their flippers they move so gracefully through the water. We saw 8 turtles on our dives today, 3 the first dive and 5 on the second.

Another pleasant surprise on the dive today was seeing 13 small squid, all in a row, all just hanging out and letting us approach them. We were a group of 5, and the two groups faced each other. We were checking them out, and they were definitely checking us out. Lots of the sea life check us out in one manner or another. Apparently the snappers have learned to direct divers to lionfish. They will swim up to a diver, and then swim to an overhanging ledge, repeating the motion until the diver finally understands that there is a lionfish under the ledge. The snappers have learned that the divers will spear the fish and then feed them to the snappers.

The Journey to Paradise

I awoke in Eugene on 7/7/13 with plenty of time to make a trip to the store before going to the airport. I picked up sunscreen, after sun lotion, bug spray, and lip balm. Don Dixon was kind enough to drive me to the airport about two hours before my 12:29 flight to San Francisco was scheduled to depart. To Preface this, there had been a airplane crash the day before at the San Francisco airport. My flight was delayed but i was told i should have no problem making my connection. When i went to the gate I intended to pass the time which i did mostly on my laptop until about 12:00 which is when i removed my headphones and found out that the fligh which was supposed to take me to SFO was not even in SFO yet from which it had to come pick us up in Eugene from, before returning. The flight arrived at approx. 4pm and a quick turnaround got us to the bay area at about 5:30. In Eugene I was told the flight to Houston from SFO which was scheduled to depart at 3:00 was equally delayed and I still had a chance to make it. So my flights were not rebooked until i landed in SFO and realized my flight was no longer there. The first customer service agent of the day put me on standby for the next flight to Houston which was scheduled to depart at 7:25. This gave me time to eat my first meal of the day (a bread bowl of minestrone soup) before returning to my gate and finding out I was not lucky enough to be allowed onto the 7:25 flight. Returning to the customer service desk, I began what would take up the next 3 and a half hours of my life. The next flight to Houston, a redeye, had been cancelled. The next flight after that one was not until 10:30 the next morning which would cause me to miss my connection to Roaton. The next flight to Roaton was not until Wednesday either from Houston or Miami. For most of the time spent until about 10:00pm I believed that I would not make the 11:00 am flight to Roaton from Houston the next day. finally after the third customer service agent I worked with hit her 16 hour work limit, I was able to book a redeye to Phoenix and a 5:00am flight to  Houston which would get me there just in time to make my connection. I'm still convinced it was my calm demeanor and patience that netted me my success, good karma i suppose. Stepping off the plane in Roaton into the afternoon blast of heat was a tropical awakening. I was very happy to arrive and only slightly uneasy about being in a new place where if my parents were delayed for any reason i would be lost and confused. To add a bit of fun my bags didn't arrive, but my parents did, and they took me to our cabins from which i am now writing this. Kirsty and Brian live next door and the five animals, 4 cats and a dog have already found a good friend in me. The water is warm and the sun is shining. I went to bed happy (although wearing my dad's clothes) and ready to dive in the morning.

East vs West and Turtles

When we were in the east end of Roatan people told us how the west end would be hot, noisy, and crowded. When we tell people in the West End that we spent a week in the East End they often ask why, and what did you do there? The West End is certainly more touristy, and has less wind, which can make it hotter, but we are in a very quiet cabin on the shore. I am currently in a hammock, a cat in my lap, feeling a gentle breeze and listening to the ocean. ahh...

We had two dives today and saw a total of 3 turtles. They all had remoras attached to them. Apparently turtles do not like the remoras on them. The second turtle we saw today had its head stuck into a small cave. I could not figure out what it was doing. Was it asleep? Was it hiding? Was it dead? It turns out it was trying to rub the remoras off its back. When remoras attach onto sharks it is a symbiotic relationship. The remoras are eating the parasites off of the sharks. The turtles do not have the same parasites, and all the remoras do for the turtles is cause more drag, thus the attempt by the turtle to dislodged the remoras.