EI146 SFO-DUB 9 FEB 15 (BUSINESS)
Posted: 22 Feb 2015, 21:48After my later than expected arrival in SFO, I was soon ensconced in my hotel near the airport for the next two nights, but after a very early wake-up that morning and a long flight, I was rather tired and definitely not hungry so I took it easy to be ready for the following day. Bright and early next morning after breakfast I headed for the airport and the BART. As we approached the International Terminal and the BART station, the shuttle driver said, “Ma’am, you don’t look it, but are you one of our golden girls?” When I affirmed that indeed I was, he reminded me of the Senior fares available for the likes of me.
I had forgotten about them but within minutes I was in possession of a $9 return ticket instead of the regular $17.50 fare. From thence I undertook what I called “Ellie’s pilgrimage” She was the mother of a very close friend, the 86 year old mother of 9 who some 35-40 years ago had visited San Francisco when her daughter was living there and had loved it to the extent that any mention of San Francisco elicited a Pavlovian response of “Mam loved it there” from all the family. She had died some three weeks previously and in her honour, I visited the places she had loved which included the Castro which, no doubt was a vastly different area now from the time she had been there. I hit all the spots I felt she would have visited, taking photos for the family before buying a souvenir in her honour which I know the family would love (they did!). I also did my own pilgrimage to the Apple store and, finding that there was a trade-in available for my iPad, later returned with my clunky iPad 2 and was soon the proud possessor of a brand new iPad Air 2. The next day I was due to travel north to Mendocino. I had hoped to travel further north to Fortuna to visit a dear old friend, a nonagenarian with whom I had enjoyed a pleasant stay when his wife was alive and also on a couple of occasions since her demise, the last time being two and a half years ago. I had wanted to visit a year and a half ago but he had put me off saying he was not able for it. I had sent a message to his granddaughter about visiting him this time but she had not responded until after my arrival so at the back of my mind was that, if I were in Mendocino, I was within striking distance. However the weather forecast was dire, so dire that I actively considered cancelling my plans and seeking alternative accommodation in SF. What was stopping me was the fact that I had already paid for one night at the excellent Little River Inn, a couple of miles south of Mendocino.
The next morning, when I woke the weather had turned and it was now raining but, heck, I’m from the south west of Ireland. We’re used to wind and rain. However by the time I had checked out of the hotel, it was blowing a gale and lashing rain - just like home then! I arrived at the airport and thence to the car rental place and to an empty Budget desk. I had booked a compact car, well aware that it was going to be bigger than my little Yaris. However, yer man was not in favour of it, especially when I was heading to Mendocino. No, I was to have a 4 wheel drive. In vain did I plead that it was too big for me but he insisted his sister had one and loved it and I would love it too. His selling point was my driving through floods and mudslides which would be inevitable en route to Mendocino. In vain, did I plead I was used to driving in rain and wind in a car much smaller that I had booked. No, this was the car for me. Eventually, I acquiesced but I felt bullied into taking the car and he personally escorted me to the car. While it was smaller than expected (I thought I was getting a Chelsea tractor!) I still had misgivings but as Caesar said, “Alea jacta est”. In other words I was committed to it! I headed off well aware that I was to head north on the 380/280 to the Golden Gate Bridge but the route was reasonably familiar to me in spite of some changes around the Bridge area. One aspect that I didn’t like in the car which I realised about then was that the strut at the left of the windscreen was so wide that it created a large blind spot.
The traffic was heavy and I longed to be past Santa Rosa when I knew the traffic would ease - and indeed it did. The rain wasn’t too bad and beyond Cloverdale, when I turned off Highway 101, the traffic was very light which was just as well because the road was very twisty. Occasionally flood warnings were posted but the “floods” were merely the trickle of a stream across the road or a roadside ditch which was about to break its bounds. I had driven through worse! Eventually I reached the Little River Inn just as the heavens opened. I checked in and made my way to my room in an annexe in torrential rain which continued for the next couple of hours before easing off to enable me to make my way to the main building to the bar and the dining area. Nicely replete both food and drinks wise I headed back to my room where about 30 minutes later the power cut out. They had a generator but in reality, the only option was to go to bed. Incidentally this is one of the areas in the USA where mobile phone coverage is non-existent but wi-fi is excellent! 
The next day was bright and sunny - what we call here a “pet day” and I decided to head north. Highway 1 which was my main route was fine until I got to the redwoods! There the road was covered in debris of bark, leaves and the occasional broken branch, At some stage I saw that route 128, which I had travelled on the previous day, was now closed. I eventually made it to Fortuna and surprised my beloved Bud who thought all his Christmases at come at once and was most upset that I wasn’t availing of his guest room once more. After a 3 hour visit, I headed back to Mendocino, having managed to compromise my debit card at a gas station by entering it as a credit card.
However I managed to get a fill and headed back along a different route, which though more twisty, was cleared of debris. Next morning it was time to return to San Francisco. At breakfast one of the wait staff, on hearing that I was going to San Francisco, advised me that route 128 was still closed but on check-out I found it had just opened.
Great! So off I headed and successfully negotiated my way to Cloverdale. Once there I was aware that the tank was just under half full and I decided I should get a top-up before heading back to SFO where I was going to turn in the car, meet V-Flyer, Marked Man (with whom I had shared a most pleasant flight on VS19 some years ago) for drinks before overnighting in the Hilton at SFO prior to flying out the next afternoon. I found a petrol/gas station and eased the car towards the pump when I heard a sudden KER-RUNCH!! Feckit! I had hit a bollard at the pump which I couldn’t see because I was so high up! Bollix and a lot of other naughty words which an elderly Irish Catholic lady should not know but does! The wing was damaged but that seemed to be all and I put $20 worth of gas into the tank. About 10 minutes later I was to learn that I was nearer San Francisco than I thought I was. Bollix and a lot of other naughty words which an elderly Irish Catholic lady should not know but does! I hadn’t needed to get gas after all. 
I wasn’t long on the highway before I realised that the tracking on the car was compromised and at this stage I decided the best I could do was to get the car back to Budget. Once the car was on a good, even road it performed well but immediately after Cloverdale where there were patch repairs on the road it was a bit (very!) wobbly! At long last the Golden Gate Bridge hove into view. I was aware the toll had changed to an electronic one but I hadn’t expected that it had moved from the northern end of the bridge to the southern one. No problem! I crossed the bridge, marvelling as I do that it is far more majestic crossing it than seeing it from the shore, and I approached the tolls. Now the electronic toll on Dublin’s M50 is booth free but on the GGB there was a whole raft of them. The signs said to approach slowly and I did and as I got to lane 4 there was an almighty BANG! followed by a whoop, whoop, whoop of sirens!! I looked around to see where it was coming from and tried to move the car forward but found I couldn’t! Almost immediately I was surrounded by cops who were saying things like “Are you OK, ma’am?” “Are you injured?” I told them I was fine - I hadn’t even felt a bump - and asked why they were asking. Apparently I had crashed the car but because I was going so slowly, I hadn’t even realised it. There had been no whiplash, no jolt, nothing!! They helped me out of the car and asked me where I was heading and once I had said SFO, their main concern was what time was my flight. Once I told them it wasn’t till the following day, they relaxed, closed the lanes to enable me to get over to the side of the toll booths and then took over looking at driving licences, passports, rental agreements and other documentation. They moved the car from the lane
While all this was going on, I was aware that after I had left Cloverdale, my phone had sprung into life. I hadn’t been able to access it but once I was out of the toll booth lane, I saw it was from home and one of my employers:
Eddie: Good morning, honey lamb. Hope you are enjoying your break. How is Alcatraz looking this morning. Have a good day.
It was sent at 09.08 Irish time which was 01.08 PT.
Me (at 15.03 PT) Just got this text after I had cashed the car (typed without glasses!)
Eddie (two minutes later) What do you mean cashed the car!!
Me (two minutes later again) Crashed the car. Into the Golden Gate Bridge five minutes ago
And at that point the battery went dead on my phone!
Two hours later, safely ensconced in my hotel with some charge in the battery I had the following messages:
Eddie: You are joking of course!!
And sent an hour later,
Eddie: honey lamb. Please tell me you were joking about crashing the car?
Poor soul. It was 1am Irish time and I spent some time reassuring him I was in one piece, had no injuries apart from wounded pride and that you lot would be delighted that normal service had been resumed!!
(He thought you were very unkind but I assured him you weren’t 
On the journey in the taxi I considered cancelling my meeting with Marked Man but after due consideration, decided it would do me the world of good - which it did. We spent a very pleasant couple of hours over drinks and a bite to eat before going our separate ways, me to have a not-too-bad night’s sleep in spite of what had happened. A final trip to the city the following morning marked the end of a really great trip - bangs and prangs excepted!
I took the hotel shuttle back to the airport along with a couple from the hotel who were heading for the BART. The Hilton Shuttle stops at a parking lot next door before moving on to the Doubletree but the husband seemed to have remained at the stage of a four year old as at every hand’s turn he asked, “Are we there, yet?” - even when we went into the parking lot!
He was told it would be the third stop and the International Terminal for the BART but again at every stop - “Are we there, yet?” LOL! I’d say the driver was relieved when we finally arrived there. Check-in for Aer Lingus was very quiet and I was seen straight away by as pleasant a lady as you could wish to meet who, with a little help from her supervisor, quickly processed my standby ticket and indicated that I could use the United lounge. I had been allocated seat 3H and asked if I could possibly have a window seat. She checked and said that the cabin was full and it would not be possible unless someone wanted to change and perhaps I could ask on board. Ever so slightly disgruntled, I thanked her. After all OLCI had not been available for me so who was I to quibble under the circumstances and so I headed off and quickly found the United lounge. It is bright and airy but looking over the ramp rather than the runway views you get from the CH and certainly did not have the WOW! factor of the CH either. It was long and slightly narrow with a large seating area at one end and a bar at the other end with seating along one side of the passage linking the two and alcoves where coffee and other non-alcoholic beverages as well as some snacks could be found. I initially fetched up in the larger seating area and took a photo of the airport and then decided it was G&T o’clock so went in search of the bar. It would seem that for some drinks it would be a pay bar but the barman said he had Gordon’s gin for free. Well never one to shun a free drink, I accepted and very welcome it was too. I also decided to decamp to the seating in the passage area (although it was not as narrow as that description suggests and it gave plenty of opportunities for people watching especially when someone like this is around.
In the fulness of time I gathered my bits and bobs together and headed for the gate area where boarding had not yet commenced. I started to sort my things out in my handbag and when I picked up my camera case, I realised I had left my camera in the lounge.
I knew boarding would commence shortly and so legged it as fast as I could back to the lounge. Just as I was approaching it, one of the ladies at the desk was leaving the lounge, and on seeing me, asked if I had left anything behind. I told her, I had left my camera and to the relief of both of us, she said that it had been handed in. She was just coming to see if she could find me! I was quickly re-united with it, and even though I was sure that boarding had commenced, took time to go and thank the passenger who had handed it in. Phew! Now to leg it back to gate 91!Once there, I found boarding well under way, so no priority boarding for me. I joined the line just as a boarding zone was announced and was warmly welcomed by the gate agent. Obviously there was a queue in the jet bridge but it moved reasonably smoothly. My seat-swap friend was a couple of passengers behind me and as I boarded I informed the cabin crew at the door of the swap, She told me to go to my new seat and thanked me for informing them of the change. The plane was an A333 as opposed to the inbound A332 and the first thing I noticed was that there was a mini-cabin of two rows of economy seats immediately behind the J cabin - they weren’t used on this flight but if I were flying Economy, they would have been very attractive. I settled myself in, getting all the accoutrements needed for an overnight flight and had a quick look round. It was certainly busier than the outbound flight. As I was doing this, a glass of champagne was delivered to me (and of course the rest of the cabin) and the door was closed. Ooooh! There was no-one in 4C!!
The poor guy who had swapped with me so that he could have an aisle seat, could have spread himself over two seats. Be careful what you wish for - you might actually get it! We had a short taxi and soon we were soaring over San Francisco Bay on our way back after what, for me had been a terrific visit - prangs and bangs excepted! The only sadness was that I wasn’t on VS20 and, if the return was anything like the outbound…….then price was going to be the decider!
Once the crew were released to their duties they came round with the drinks trolley. I asked for a G&T (what else) and for Tanqueray. They only had Gordon’s on board and the cabin crew said she had never seen Tanqueray on EI. “Really?” sez I and showed her my photo from the outbound and she said that was the first time she had seen Tanqueray in Business. A promise of things to come? Canapés were served but alas, I forgot to take note of them although I seem to remember smoked salmon wrapped around cream cheese and when the hot canapés came out there was a chilli chicken on a stick and a mini turkey pie the size of which made it look as if it had come out of a box of Milk Tray.
They were all delicious. Aer Lingus, along with other TATL carriers, offer a supper tray type meal of starter and, in this case, chicken dish for anyone who wanted to bed down early for the night - which seemed a tad odd on an ex-west coast flight. After all VS only offer the Snooze zone and all its trimmings on ex-east coast flights. However, mine not to question why. I had a very tasty salad,(and the fuzziness of the photo has nothing to do with the quantity of alcohol imbibed - it just isn’t a good photo!) In between courses, the cabin crew who was assigned to my aisle spent time chatting to me. She had seen my status from the manifest and was just being friendly. Mind you, I was glad I was in the last row of the cabin so that the attention she was paying to me would not be too obvious. From her I learned that one aircraft had been reconfigured to flat-bed seats in J and another was due back immediately (I had really shot myself in the foot as a the following week one flew the SFO route!
); that the A330s had no designated rest area (apart from 4JK where a pilot was curled up and happily snoozing and the mini-cabin I referred to) and so they had no horizontal rest. She herself had concentrated on the MCO route (which seemed to be the premium choice among crew) and passengers who had flown other carriers in the past had preferred EI. When I asked which carriers, she told me it was mostly VS but she conceded that flying directly from Dublin as opposed to flying over to LGW would act as a bias. While having dinner I used the IFE. The screens are touch screens which are very responsive but are smaller than, for example EK in J and BA in F. We will have to wait and see what they will be like in the new config on EI. I watched Paddington which I loved before settling down for the night. Although the seat wasn’t lie-flat, it was far more comfortable than the EK sleeperettes which I had experienced last year. Eye-masked and ear-plugged, I bedded down for the night under what EI calls blankets, but in reality are closer to duvets minus a cover - think of the chintzy bedspreads on a lot of US hotel rooms but a little bit thicker and minus the frills. I snuggled down
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and thought I didn’t really sleep but when at one point, I turned over prepared to snooze again I was aware that the cabin lights had just been turned on! I struggled up to find that we were just an hour away from Dublin and almost on the west coast of Ireland - but nowhere near the ancestral home. Breakfast was a continental one which suited me just fine and shortly after it had been cleared we touched down half an hour early. On arrival in SFO there had been no holding back of the Economy cabin but given that we didn’t have to clear Immigration meant it really did not matter. However in DUB, the economy cabin was held back for the business cabin to leave. There was a quick trot to Immigration where those of us with Irish passports were waved through with barely a glance and on to baggage claim where a few minutes after our arrival, the bags came through and with them mine. I had texted Aer John on landing and he had texted that he would be at the departures area with the car. Within minutes I had located him and I was on my way home. At 11.00am we had touched down in DUB and at 11.37am I was on the M50 on the way home after another excellent flight.
So, that was two excellent flights, which in my humble opinion, were as good as some of the best of my VS flights and would certainly give the rest a run for their money. Because of EI’s short-haul reputation as a low-cost carrier, its excellent TATL service is overlooked. Will I try them again? You bet!!
But, dear friends, that’s not the end of it. No, siree!
When you last heard of me I was on the M50 (Dublin’s answer to the M25) at 11.37am. It was busy but not too hectic and I made my way round the Red Cow roundabout on to the N7 which would soon become the M7 and then the M8 to Cork. At some stage, I realised that I would be going through two pay toll booths and my purse with euros was in the boot of my car.
So, without mishap, I called in to a petrol station on the N7, retrieved my euro purse and took out the toll fees and bought a bottle of water, before heading south once more. Once clear of Dublin and its suburbs the roads were clear and I sailed along the M7 to the Portlaoise toll booth. Approaching it, I was full of apprehension as I fetched up to a pay station and as I drew near my car juddered to a halt!! FECKIT!!!! Try as I might, I could not restart the car! The lady in the booth was help personified. She closed the lane, got the number for my insurance company for roadside recovery, and got hold of the guys at the main building to move the car. I got on to my insurance company and while I was on the phone, the guys arrived to move the car but the moment they sat in, it started!! I ended the call to the insurance company and headed off south once more. I was happily calculating an arrival at home at about 4pm and trundled away as far as the Watergrasshill toll booth where…..the same thing happened!!!! FECKIT!!!! This time the lady in the booth was of the wring-handing persuasion. 
At my urging, she closed the lane while I got on once more to the insurance company. By great good fortune I got on to the same person and at this stage she told me that she felt we should bring in roadside assistance. I agreed with her as my next stop was a signalled roundabout at the Jack Lynch tunnel under the River Lee on the outskirts of Cork city. To break down there would be a disaster which would put the earlier stoppages in the halfpenny league! She undertook to contact someone who would come to my assistance and said it would be within an hour. I thanked her and hung up and three minutes later I got a call. It was the rescue guy who wanted to know if I was in the northbound or southbound lane. When I told him I was southbound, he said he would be with me in 12-14 mins and he was. Just like the guys at Portlaoise, he started the car immediately but decided that, if it wasn’t something obvious that had called it to stop at both booths, he was going to tow me home. There was no way he was going to risk me at the traffic signals at the Jack Lynch tunnel. A quick look made him decide that a tow home was indicated and at 4.30pm - some thirty minutes later than anticipated, I was passing my house en route to my local garage. And the diagnosis? The fecking car has worked perfectly since but it has sealed its death warrant as far as I am concerned! 
Anyhow, back to the TR!
Normal service has been resumed!
Happy now???
