To get out of the house, we headed towards town for lunch. We did what turned out to be window shopping, because no one carries anything that will fit Ben (shopping for him is cheap!), stopped by a travel agency to ask if there were any boats going to America (she said check the internet), stopped at a coffee shop with free wifi to try and buy a kindle book for iphone (couldn't get it working), and checked the movie theater to see if they sold matinee movie tickets on the cheap (they don't). All in all, we managed to accomplish…some exercise from all the walking.
I formed a theory while we walked that Oxford only has 3 streets, because I realized that it didn’t matter where we went, even the skating rink seemed to fit onto this little area of town! So I made this map, eventually settling on 7 official streets:
When we got back to the house, we read that British Air actually had planes leave this morning from far-off destinations headed towards Britian, in the hopes that British airspace opens later tonight, allowing them to land (yes, they do have backup plans). This daring is appealing to us, as it implies they could get their planes coming and going and clear out some of the mess before our flight is scheduled to leave. We also learned that the volcanic ash will be good for Scottish asparagus! Such excellent news.
I tried working a bit more, but had significantly less billable hours to log since I had caught up on email the day before. ‘Enjoy this time’ everyone keeps telling us. This is easier said than done when we’re stressed and poor...but yet the lazy days really have been enjoyable in themselves.
Cole invited me out to try mooing for a pint of ice cream. I said I would go, bringing Harry Potter along. When it was time to moo, Cole did an awesome impression, getting the whole warbly voice going. I almost chickened out, but then decided to do a musical version. I mooed up the octive one note at a time, and laughed at the mental picture of myself with arms outstretched and eyes closed. Cole totally one, but I’d like to think I pushed the judge in his direction by being awful!
I finished Harry Potter, then continued to the Tesco for some frozen pizza. I didn’t have a key since I had left with Cole, so I called up to Ben to get him to let me in. You don’t hear many people shouting in Britian, so I felt quite conspicuous. I tried the old ‘throw a pebble at the window’ trick, but it hit the window below ours (I have a terrible throwing arm), so I hid under the awning in case the Asain guy (only guy in the building we, and by that I mean Cole, isn’t friends with) peeked out. Luckily, a neighbour happened to look outside at that moment and let me in to the connecting building.
While eating, Ben and I read a very exciting article: the airport had opened! We decided to go for a celebratory pint, and told our news to Brook, Emily, and Cole. What a weight off our shoulders! We came home and started packing just in case we were able to get on a standby flight the next day. If the flight was un-cancelled, we would have to wake up at 3am to leave for the airport.
