optimisticWe convoyed up to Portland, with me driving Lisa's large orange van and her nursing the Vanagon along. We got there at 4:45 PM. Closed. The sign in the window did say that they were open until 5:30, but there was nobody there.
This puts us in a bad spot. Although she can get back up to Portland to collect it once it's repaired, she really did not want to try and take it back to Mehama and then return to Portland again, particularly as it would need coordinating with her father for a second convoy, and she'd find that too stressful to bear. Furthermore, she was worried that the VW wouldn't be able to make another round-trip, anyway. We drove over and parked the Vanagon at her friend Scott's house and we drove home together in her large van and reviewed our options.
I checked with Alaska Airlines, and I could fly back a day later for only a $50 change fee. My schedule with the project I'm supporting actually makes it slightly more convenient if I'm available without restriction on Sunday, as that's Monday in Australia, the first day they're going live in production with the database I designed. So I will swap Sunday and Monday of this coming week. I'll work tomorrow evening on The Australia Project, and on Monday (earlier than either of us will want), we will return to Portland, get the van into a shop, and get me to the airport. It does mean I'll miss this Monday's BASFA meeting, though.