Here is Rufus with the Lion . . . .  

What a week! I arrived in Allentown two hours late to find my checked bag didn't make it on the same flight with me. First, the flight from DFW to Cincinnati had problems with the landing gears, so the pilots had to circle around until they determined that the problem was OK and they could land. That ended up not being so bad but it did eat up some of the time used to get to the other terminal . . where I get to board a much smaller plane to Allentown. This plane had some malfunction with the wings, which affected its ability to keep "ice free" . . . which was OK in Cinci but Allentown was "snowing" . . . so half-way through the flight, we turn around and go back to Cinci to get another plane. Sooooooooooo, I'm arriving in Allentown late, then find my bag didn't make it. Have to give all the information to the baggage guy, get a taxi to the office and finally arrive over two hours later that usual and particularly out of sorts.

When the bags don't make your flight, usually you can expect them on the next inbound flight. I was told to check after 7:40, but they would drop the bag off at my hotel. OK, sounds good to me. I know the drill since I've had this happen before. BUT, no bag showed up that night!! I go off to work the next day wearing the same clothes. As I had most of my toiletry items with me, that was no problem . . but a few things were in that other bag that I needed, LOL!!!

After checking with Delta to find my bag still hadn't been found, I went out at lunch to buy some cheap socks and underwear along with something to sleep in and another blouse to wear the next day. Trying to save money because I hate to spend more when I'm getting ready to go on vacation and have been (and will be) spending. If I had known that Delta was going to pay $25 per diem after two days, I might not have worried so much. And I might be able to expense some anyway. Oh, the bad news today was that my bag hadn't shown up . . . that's when I found out about the per diem (save those receipts).

So here I sit at the desk in ill-fitting cheap underwear (hehe, all i could find at the dollar store) wondering how my my karma got out of whack. What great cosmic joker wanted me to be leveled the last week of my "travel for work" gig and right before my trip to Cairo! That was my good bag that I was planning on taking with me. If I'd only known (hahaha) I would have switched back to the cheaper (but so much heavier) freebie I got from EDS for my 10 year anniversary gift.

Maybe all the problems this week indicate that everything will go smoothly when I take off for Cairo and, ultimately, Luxor. Somehow, I think this is only the beginning of my woes!

Well, I still have two days (1 and 1/2 really) left in Allentown, then I'll be heading back to Dallas for the weekend . . . and off to Cairo on Monday! Insha'allah!

last . . . 

I finally managed to get all the pix taken of snow in Allentown so that I could take it in for processing. For a disposable camera, it didn't do too bad of a job . . . but it was a strange acting camera, since I'm used to having a camera that is a bit more automatic.

Catherine Barros

PPL in the distance . . . was walking around taking pix with the disposable camera I bought. I managed to get over to the other side of this cemetery. It was still a gray day in Allentown, but the sun has been shining every since . . . except today!!! Will it snow again??? 

The PPL building where I've been working . . . the largest in town! 

Big pile of snow after the sidewalks were cleaned . . . I didn't get the camera soon enough to get more of these shots where the streets had been plowed but the snow piles were still on the side! 

The sign on the dumpster says "no trash should be left outside" . . . or something like that . . . too small to see it now! 

Just a car no one bothered to dig out 

I think this is part of the historic district in Allentown 

Nice old houses in Allentown . . 

Can you see the icicles along the roof top?  

Sylvia getting comfy on my suitcase! I never put it up because it just gets a change of clothing while awaiting my next trip out on Monday. The cats have found that they like to sit upon it to keep me from packing. They already recognize that when I start fussing around with the suitcase that it means I'm getting ready to leave. They don't like it that I'm not home very much and I don't either. When I get back on Thursday nights I can hardly get any sleep because they are racing around all night . . .presumably because they are excited that I've returned home. But probably more likely because I have disturbed their daily routine. Interestingly enough, cats are big on everything happening on a routine basis . . . and we always thought they were so independent! Ha! Nicest thing about coming home is when I take a nap (trying to get lots of sleep usually before the next trip) in the afternoon, they all four will come to nap with me!

one more . .  

Sylvia . . . right before the assault by Horatio! 

Fighting over possession of the suitcase . . . Horatio and Sylvia . . looking much meaner than they really are! 

Lily and Horatio on my favorite throw . . . apparently they like it alot too!!