Well today(aug 11) was the day i was travelling back to europe, and on the highway i heard some rather unsettleing news; british airways flights were cancelled. most people wouldnt think twice about this, considering i was flying to amsterdam, however i had a stop in london first, so this pretty much affected me going back (british airways caterers are on strike or something, which is some kind of bullshit to be honest that they still cant fly the planes), so now i was on the way to the airport, with the feeling that i wasnt going to be flying out anytime soon.

so i arrive at the airport, and check my flight number with the boards, as it was a possibility that my flight might still be on time. and what do you know? its cancelled. for at least 24 hours. pretty much, since this is a strike, im stuck with a dead ticket. i end up being directed to the desk where everyone else is talking to the ticket counter to find out what exactly they can do. i was also given a letter to give me some info on what i could do to satisfy my needs. ironically, none of them met my criteria exactly. pretty much this letter was going on about how i could call a 1-800 number, or goto the hotel that the airline had reserved for the stranded passangers. screw that, im not spending a night a) away from home and b) still in canada. im supposed to be waiting for a flight into the air. so eventually, after about an hour wait in the line (no, it wasnt a long line, but everyone ahead of me for some reason needed to know what was going on in the greatest deal possible known to man), i was able to get to the desk. and the woman leaves to change shifts, leaving me in the dry, but only for about 10 minutes.

i eventually *nice hit of turbulence* was able to get someone seated down infront of me, and pretty much the conversation went down as "we can try to book you on another flight, but we probably have already went over our limit for that flight." this flight was direct to amsterdam, at 1055 (about 10 minutes before my previous flight arrangements, and without a layover). so i had no other choice, but to goto the other terminal where air canada flights are, and hope that theres still room for me on this flight to amsterdam. otherwise, i would be in a hotel for the rest of the night, and probably still without a ticket to europe. regardless, im in the lineup for air canada, sweatin my balls off because of the this-is-shit-o-meter hitting an 11/10. i get to the checkin counter, and check in my bags, and the guy tells me i have a 95% chance of making this flight. cool. now lets just see if my baggage gets there, since he put some bs standby tag on it.

so i was able to get a seat, and i dodged a bullet. i kinda laughed in my mind at all the people that figured they werent going to get another flight out and didnt bother to even try, because i think there were a few seats available on my flight :> (i overheard some people in the lineup that wanted to goto amsterdam). oh well, their loss i suppose. so now im at laukes after the semi-long train trip to his area, its a nice area, my type of place i suppose (quiet but busy, sorta like my city back home in canada). oh well, not much else to say in this entry, cause the trip was the main reason for it i suppose... me and sander will be going to the games convention in a week or so, maybe laurens too, but he has exams and crap he might have to study for (boo ;<). so until the uk stop, or sometime before then, lates ;>