Unaccompanied Bag and a Fence Post

Unaccompanied Bag

Gage traveled to Houston as an unaccompanied minor. This means he had to have an escort all the way through the airport to the gate. We were given escort passes so we could escort him through the maze at the Atlanta airport. Since Gage was flying in the middle of the week and early in the afternoon, airport traffic (people) was light. We got through security at the terminal building, then on the tram to concourse "C" and arrived with plenty of time to spare. We were all hungry so it was time for a relaxing meal. Gage gets a bit cranky when he is tired or hungry. I am sure he was both as well as a little anxious. I fussed at him for having an attitude. His response was typical - Papa, I wasn't doing anything. Of course not. Who can argue with an 8 y.o.
   
His plan arrived at the gate and unloaded, then the pre-boarding announcement came. Gage was handed off to the gate attendant and we waited for the plane to leave the gate. We noticed another small child and his mom who were waiting to board. Cool, Gage wold have a travel buddy. After this child boarded, Carol and the lady began to chat. This helped pass the time as we waited for the plan to leave the gate. Finally everyone was loaded and the plane pulled off.


Carol and I headed back to the terminal building, out to the garage, paid for our parking then drove into Atlanta to make a stop at Sam Flax South. Carol is learning water color so she wanted to stop for a few special supplies that are hard to find in a small town like Blue Ridge. As we got out of the truck, she ask me where her purse was. Now as any guy would say, I said, I have no idea, where did you put it. We looked all over the truck and discovered it was nowhere to be found. Can you sense the anxiety setting in?

OK, we go into the store and think through the process of what we need to do first. I called the airport and spoke to a wonderfully helpful person who said she would see what could be done to check the gate area for the purse. While I was on hold, I kept thinking, how are we going to get back to Gate C-20 in concourse C. I am the only person with a photo ID. Carol's DL is in her purse which, we hope, is at the gate. The lady from the air port came back on line a couple of times to let me know she is still working on a solution for us.

After about 15 minutes, Carol's phone rang. A lady named Glorianna called to let Carol know she had Carol's purse. (BIG SIGH OF RELIEF!) However, there is a slight problem. Glorianna was about to board a plane headed for Las Vegas. She was boarding at gate C-20 and noticed the purse sitting on the floor where Carol had been sitting. Glorianna tried to give the purse to the folks from the airline but they said - sorry, can't help you. Then Glorianna tried giving the purse to security - sorry can't help you. What a dilemma! A lost purse with no place to go.

Meanwhile, I am still on hold with the airport lady who is trying to figure how to get me back into the airport to search for the purse. Before this nice lady came back on the line, Carol looked at me and said, Glorianna is taking the purse with her to Las Vegas and will ship it to Blue Ridge. OK we now have a plan the envolves trusting a perfect stranger - and we are at peace about this.

We finish shopping and head back to Blue Ridge. As we headed back to Blue Ridge, Glorianna called Carol again to let her know how she would arrange to get the purse back to Carol. There is nothing else we can do at this point. Do we call our bank and cancel the cards or do we trust Gloria? A Bible passage kept coming to me.

Proverbs 3:5-6 says: 5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

So we did nothing - but wait. Carol called Gloria on Thursday to confirm the purse was being sent back. Las Vegas was 3 hours ahead of us and Glorianna had not made it to the Post Office yet. She had an orthodontist appointment Thursday AM so she cold not answer Carol's call. Anxiety is back. Glorianna did call from the Post Office to let Carol know it would cost about $90 to ship the purse overnight. Priority Mail would be cheaper and is still trackable. Glorianna did what she said she was going to do, Carol got her purse back. And everything was in it just as it was when it was left behind. We are thankful and relieved that we did not need to go through the process of reissuing bank card, driver license, and our Verizon MiFi. Life is back to normal. The missing purse is now back at home.
   

Fence Post

The fence post for the gate between Barn 1 pasture and Barn 2 pasture broke at ground level. Now if these pastures where for the girls, that may not have been problem. We have two boys in Barn 1 pasture and all the girls in Barn 2 posture. It should be apparent that it would not be OK to mix the two boys with all the girls. If I were replacing a fence, I would just move the new post over a few inches. In our situation, the new fence post needs to go in the ground where the old fence post is. The mystery of this task is how deep and how much cement is around that post. In other words, what lies beneath that dirt?
   
Time to start digging around the post remains.
  
Dig deeper.
  
No, I said dig deeper yet. Looks like I have a coupe of supervisors checking out my work. Say hello to Dee and baby Phoenix.
   
I wonder if that is deep enough.
   
If I wrap a chain around the cement, I can use a jack to pull the post remnant out of the ground. I am beginning to feel like a dentist.
   
Grunt! Grunt! Dang, the chain slipped. Or if I were a dentist, I would say, "OOPS!" Time for more digging.
   
Extra support under the jack and that sucker should come out of there.
   
Yeah! That's what I'm talking about.
   
The post is out!
   
The best part about pulling a post remnant is you don't have to dig a new hole for the new post.
   
New post is in the ground, cement is poured. Post is plumb both ways. The gate is a wee bit high but that is OK.
   
There is the old post and the framing material to cut a doggie door next to the new post.
  
Next project is cut open the doggie door. Then I have work to do on the owners RV. That story will be tomorrow. It's been a busy day.

Thanks for stopping by.