7/18/2010 Mickey's Baltic Ballyhoo!! Part 4

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Not off to a good start. Last night I came to check the boards and they were down. Finally got confirmation yesterday at 4:45 my Mini was done, too late to head up there to pick it up with Friday summer traffic. DD & I head up there this morning to get it, all is well. We make a couple of stops, grab a bite to eat, go to Bed, Bath & Beyond go to back out of the parking space and notice something is not right, go to put it in first gear after I get out of the space and the gear shift is very strange feeling and it stalls out on me, tried again and somehow managed to limp over to the fire lane when I notice the I can move the gear shift freely without pushing in the clutch - major problem there. Call the dealer and he says to call roadside assistance, call them after 45 minutes with them they tell me it's going to be another 1hr 40min - 2½ hours before they can get a tow truck out there, it's already 1:20 at this point. I call AAA and they can send someone out within the hour - good AAA coming, call back roadside asst. and cancel them. Now in the meantime the battery has gone dead and I haven't been running the stupid car and it starts to rain - at least there's enough power to put the windows up. Call DH wake him up to come up and get us and tell him what's going on. In the meantime I notice the battery on my phone is just about dead - oh great, what else can happen?!? Security finally comes over to me after he sees us sitting there for over 1 hour, I tell him and he's fine with that and can't believe how my day is going. Call the dealer back and tell them AAA is towing me in since their roadside assist will take way too long, he's mad over that, and then tells me their computer system is down and when the car gets back there they can't do anything about it today but he will make it a priority for Monday morning and will have the loaner I just dropped off ready for me.
Ok, tow driver gets there and hooks up the charger to battery, it now works. It gets on the rollback and off we all go to the dealer which is just a few minutes down the road. Get up there and the loaner is ready so DH can take it back up there to pick up mine when it's done. I'm told it will be made a priority for first thing Monday morning with needed parts overnighted in if any need to be ordered - I tell him that's all fine and dandy but I'm leaving tomorrow.
So now I have to take my Rover to FL, good thing we have the extra car, and DH gets to worry about the Mini being done by the time he leaves early Sat. morning or possibly Friday night.

So all this ordeal has set me back about 6 hours of doing things that need to be done before I leave in the morning. I'm only on here because I needed to take a few minutes to get this out of my system (sorry all) before I broke down and

Thanks for letting me get this out of my system.

Sorry you had a bad day! Hope the rest of the weekend gets better....

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Celestine and Andrew, Thanks for letting us pick your brains and sharing your expertise with us. It's a big help!



Very cool. Thanks for sharing!

I am proud of our great capital, and for 2010 the tables are turned with the ships coming to us, so no problem.

We will have to get a local West coast USA and Hawaiian expect in soon for 2011 on-wards!!

 

[jilljill]

Well, maybe that's a blessing and good luck!

I'm a little sad tonight. I just found out that our school secretary has passed away. She left behind 4 daughters and lost her second battle with cancer today..........please keep her husband and children in your prayers today........

Our thoughts and prayers to her family, friends and co-workers.

Sorry you had a bad day! Hope the rest of the weekend gets better....

Thanks Andrew. Things are looking a bit better, Rover is all packed up with room to spare. Now to get my shower, pack up the cooler bag and head out the door.

 

[jilljill]

I received a StP Powerpoint from a friend of mine and it gives a great overview of the city with good explination of the pics. If anyone would like to see it (when I get internet) please PM me your email address and I will forward it to you as soon as I can.


We will be off in about an hour or so. No clue when I'll have internet yet, so I'll catch up with everyone at some point. Have a good week and be good all.

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Our thoughts and prayers to her family, friends and co-workers. Thanks Andrew. Things are looking a bit better, Rover is all packed up with room to spare. Now to get my shower, pack up the cooler bag and head out the door.

Thats good.

I received a StP Powerpoint from a friend of mine and it gives a great overview of the city with good explination of the pics. If anyone would like to see it (when I get internet) please PM me your email address and I will forward it to you as soon as I can.
We will be off in about an hour or so. No clue when I'll have internet yet, so I'll catch up with everyone at some point. Have a good week and be good all.

I am interested and will PM.

 

[jlawall]

Happy Sunday to all..........last day of school is Friday!!

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Happy Sunday to all..........last day of school is Friday!!

 

[jlawall]

Wow, thanks!!!

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Wow, thanks!!!

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Where has everyone gone!

 

[MrsScooby]

Celestine- thanks for the info on hotels for families of 5. We'll be doing some serious searching soon.

Is there a section of London that would be better to stay in than the others? Where is everybody else planning on staying?

More cruise chat I see.

We stayed in Victoria last year, right down the street from the Apollo Victoria theater which is where Wicked is playing. Loved the area. Took about 15-20 minutes to walk to B'ham Palace, an easy walk.

Is this where you are staying Barb?

http://www.parkplaza.com/londonuk_victoria
I showed it to Darren and he thought is was nicer than we needed for just 2 nights It does look very nice plus I like the location and Darren did agree that how much we spend on the hotel will be partly determined by the airfare that we get. So I will probably try to book 2 hotels at the 1 year mark when they become available and then make the choice depending on what we get when we buy our plane tickets.

Celestine, Is Victoria close enough for the bus to the port pickup ???

 

[MrsScooby]

Try this map

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/central_bus_map.pdf

Thanks
My type of map

 

[MrsScooby]

Another TFL access link

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/gettingaround/default.aspx

My DH loves maps and will have a field day with all of these

 

[Celestine]

I

Celestine, Is Victoria close enough for the bus to the port pickup ???

Most definitely!!!!!!!

Celestine

 

[slg]

Well I've changed hotels. We've booked 10 days post-cruise at the Parkwood Hotel, a small family run hotel across the street from Hyde park,5 minutes from speakers corner and the marble arch tube. Its had favorable reviews but is much, much more modest than some of the hotels the rest of you are staying at. However, we have a family room that will accommodate 5 of us (2 interconnecting rooms one double, one triple--plus 2 tvs), its got a great location, it includes a full english breakfast every day, free internet and skype and its in a 200 plus year old georgian mansion a stone's throw from Tony Blair! All this for 99 pounds a night!

Since we're not going on your cruise, anyone who is looking for a modest hotel that has great reviews, you should check out this place!

I have done a ton of research on hotels for 5 people, so there are some out there. And they won't cost me my kid's college education either!

 

[RJAYL]

Happy Blue Monday All

 

[RJAYL]

Here is a cool interactive map for walking tours!



http://www.walkinginlondon.com/

 

[MrsScooby]

Well I've changed hotels. We've booked 10 days post-cruise at the Parkwood Hotel, a small family run hotel across the street from Hyde park,5 minutes from speakers corner and the marble arch tube. Its had favorable reviews but is much, much more modest than some of the hotels the rest of you are staying at. However, we have a family room that will accommodate 5 of us (2 interconnecting rooms one double, one triple--plus 2 tvs), its got a great location, it includes a full english breakfast every day, free internet and skype and its in a 200 plus year old georgian mansion a stone's throw from Tony Blair! All this for 99 pounds a night!

Since we're not going on your cruise, anyone who is looking for a modest hotel that has great reviews, you should check out this place!

I have done a ton of research on hotels for 5 people, so there are some out there. And they won't cost me my kid's college education either!

Thanks so much
Yes, modest is what my DH would prefer, plus with the tv and the internet-I'd have trouble pulling the DH and DS away
I'll have to check into this

Happy Blue Monday All

Ugg, my DD12 is sick-keep your fingers crossed that it isn't flu

Here is a cool interactive map for walking tours!



http://www.walkinginlondon.com/

thanks

 

[bellelinus]

Farewell, everyone -- I'm heading out tonight out of JFK and won't be on this thread for 3 or so weeks . . . off to Dublin then Venice, then London, Oxford and various other places all over . . .

 

[Marla Hellwig]

safe travels and have fun