Stuck in London!
Now I know how the characters in the film Casablanca felt. Rick’s Café was a nice place to visit but after a few days you wanted to move on to your ultimate destination. I, along with an estimated 1 million others are stranded at or near an airport in Europe. London is great but enough, I want to come home. And who knew there were volcanoes in Iceland?
But thanks to the blogs, the Sun and WCAP (I am listening to the Warren Shaw show as I write this post), I can keep up with some things that are happening at home. I see that a lot of people were appointed to new positions:
George Ramirez: According to a story by Chris Scott in the breaking news section of the Sun, Former City Councilor George Ramirez who was appointed by Governor Deval Patrick to a position in the state’s Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development has been selected by Mass Development to oversee its efforts in Devens.
Ramirez’s election to the City Council was crucial to the beginning of the change in culture at City Hall.
However, he needs to stay longer at a position so that he can really leave his mark.
Lowell High School Headmaster: I was rooting for a woman to get that position. It would have been a first. But the newly appointed headmaster, Edward Rozmiarek has an interesting background and as an “outsider” will bring a fresh perspective not only to the school’s academic life but also to Lowell’s political culture.
Lowell High School Football Coach: Maybe I should have put this one ahead of the headmaster paragraph. 
There are two kinds of people in Lowell, those who really, really, really care about LHS football and those who do not even know the school has a team. Because I am an alumnae of the school and because the football team was undefeated my senior year and because those days, Lowell High played against some serious opponents, I pay some attention. The machinations in this selection process made me dizzy. If you want to read more about Coach Jeff Moore, check out the guys at mrmillcity.com.
Data Analyst: I just read Jen Myers’ article on the appointment of the new City’s Data Analyst, Michael Hebert. Impressive resume. He will be on board on May 1st, which gives him enough time to contribute to the Administration’s efforts to put together the FY 2011 budget.
Congratulations to all. We are moving forward.
And I am taking Paul Marion’s advice. Every time Paul links to a newspaper article, he ends the post with the following: “And consider subscribing to the [publication of your choice] if you appreciate the writing. “
April 17th, 2010 at 6:57 pm
Let us know what we can do to entertain you! This volcano has created the sudden and unintended displacement lots of people to temporary quarters in airports around the world. Unhappily, you among them. Hope that there are things to keep you occupied other than the existential misery of waiting for the ash to disperse. And looking forward to seeing you home in Lowell.
April 17th, 2010 at 7:55 pm
I can think of many worse places to be stuck! One of my favorite cities in the world is London! On the other hand I *do* tend a bit towards homesickness so my sympathies are with you. Could this be the beginning of the rebirth of the grand ocean liners?
April 18th, 2010 at 12:53 am
M..my Brother in law is stuck in South Africa! Could be worse..you could be stuck in Detroit. :0)
April 18th, 2010 at 7:02 am
I am in Lowell with tickets to fly to the UK on the 26th. A friend we are meeting up with is stuck in South Africa. We need a volcano csar to deal with this.
April 18th, 2010 at 1:23 pm
Mimi if you blow very, very hard the smoke may lift. Too bad you couldn’t have brought all the hot wind from city council meetings with you to get that stuff moving on out of there.
April 18th, 2010 at 1:50 pm
Small update:
I am moving on to Paris by train. Right now, I think the whole world has merged at St. Pancras International Train Station in London.
April 18th, 2010 at 3:17 pm
Mimi - Good luck . From the things we are seeing on TV - it is a major disaster over there and spreading. Hopefully you can get a flight out of Paris. This is affecting literally hundreds of Boston Marathon runners.
April 19th, 2010 at 5:48 am
Mimi — How is Paris treating you so far? Sounds like that could be a bright side to getting delayed..
April 19th, 2010 at 12:23 pm
Greg:
I have become a “passive smoker.”
April 19th, 2010 at 9:46 pm
Of course there are volcanos in Iceland. And London is a wonderful city. And Paris is like NYC, but with wider streets. I recommend the hotel across the street from Harry’s New York Bar.
Regards — Cliff
April 21st, 2010 at 5:32 pm
Mimi - Where are you?
April 21st, 2010 at 6:56 pm
I got back couple of hours ago. The plane left Heathrow with with 1/3 of the seats empty. The great majority of the people were not staying in Boston but going somewhere else. It is good to be home.
April 22nd, 2010 at 6:20 am
I heard there were a lot of empty seats because they were trying to get the planes to where they were supposed to have been when they were grounded. Seems a waste to me but I don’t really get how airlines operate anyway.
Congrats on getting home! Sorry it took so long, hope you at least had some fun!