Neil’s Not Wheeling Any More #25 March 3, 2014

Tim sent two emails from San Fran:

1. OK, all international legs done. U. A. Flt #6408 is posted as on time. See ya’ll soon.

Later 2. Just as I sent the last, flight delayed about 1 hr. I’ll keep you posted.

Steve writes:

Nothing is easy.

When they cleared customs in San Francisco, Neil called me. Unfortunately, he was using a discount phone that he got on the cheap in Rangoon. I could not hear anything but scratchy noise. So, I hung up.

He called back. This time, I could slightly hear his voice over the noise. He said, “Why did you hang up on me?” I didn’t have a plausible answer.

Next, his ride calls me from the Eugene airport at 2:15. The plane was scheduled to arrive at 2:24. “Where is everyone? There’s no one at the gate.”

I checked on Google. The flight took off and was supposed to land in 3 minutes. How can there be no one there to meet it? I gave her the flight number.

Apparently, Eugene International Airport is so small that they figure it is a waste of time to post arrivals. When the flight today gets in, you’ll see it. Big shiny thing with wings.

It arrived at 2:26, on time. I don’t know what happened to Tim’s 1-hour delay.

Neil called at 3:00, grinning from ear to ear. He is officially HOME.

Before the homecoming nonsense, John Wagner added some stuff about the poetry contest:

John Wagner

Though Mr. Vong’s entry is clearly superior for its expansiveness and the way it encourages the reader to explore the universality of its theme, I couldn’t help being inspired to write another little trifle, to wit:

Neil is a well-known world traveler,

And Tim is a hell of a bloke.

When they challenged Vong’s rates

He called them cheapskates,

And served them warm Diet Coke.

Thanks for the usual great and amusing job of passing along the communiqués from the hinterlands. At least, I assume they were from the hinterlands. That means somewhere behind us, right?

From Steve to John:

Oh, the tyranny of rules! But, for section 26.3, you would have swept the category.

Maybe next time.

-Steve

John answers: Damn. 26.3 is the one that always trips me up. I just can’t help myself.

Steve adds: I can’t help you either.


Comments

4 responses to “Neil’s Not Wheeling Any More #25 March 3, 2014”

  1. Angella Avatar
    Angella

    Okay, I have a question. What exactly is Neil’s Wheeling?

    1. rachelvb Avatar
      rachelvb

      haha! Neil is my 89 (I think 89?? 87? 88? I knew and then am drawing a blank) year old Grandpa who likes to travel the world. A few years ago he planned to ride his bicycle from Paris to Istanbul, but got run over by a tractor in Germany and it broke his lower half. He spent most of the summer in a hospital there, got pneumonia, almost died and somehow made it home with the help of my aunt. He can’t really ride his bike so much anymore, but last year he took another trip to Iran and Pakistan and this year he just concluded a trip to Thailand, Laos and Myanmar(Burma) with a friend. So Neil’s Wheeling is their correspondence from that trip. My Grandpa doesn’t use computers, so his travel buddy Tim, sent the messages. I thought I’d post them here to keep them safe. =)

  2. Angella Avatar
    Angella

    Aha! Thank you! I was so confused. But now I get it and that is just awesome! What a role model!

    1. rachelvb Avatar
      rachelvb

      ha! Yeah, I think coming in the middle would be rather confusing. Plus, I was being lazy and not sure if I explained it right away. I don’t know… He’s a pretty amazing fella. I get my wanderlust from him for sure. He’s traveled to so many different countries! He and my grandma both!

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