Getting home

Saturday at Beaujolais was a relatively quiet day in the show, and I took a little bit of time to ponder about my suitcase problem. Partly inspired by one of the refugees who has a good hand at repairing things and is now using a washing machine which somebody else had discarded as 'broken'. He cleaned it thoroughly, got all the calcium out, and it works fine. At first I had thought I would ask him to repair my suitcase when I got home, but the getting there ... So as long as the suitcase was still empty I got into its inner parts and sections, unzipping the lining, finding the mechanism etc. And lo and behold, I did manage to put it into the extended position - still (or again) jammed stuck, but at least pullable.

On Sunday I set out early, catching a ride in the taxi with Els, because I figured I would be up anyway, and it doesn't really make much of a difference whether I wait at the station or at the hotel. But  I had forgotten that on Sundays the breakfast buffet at the hotel only opened half an hour later, so I set out without breakfast - no baker at the station - luckily I had an apple and a few nuts to tie me over for a few hours. The second change of trains provided enough time to get something to prevent immediate death of hunger.
By then I was rather annoyed at the connections I had been given, because I realized in Karlsruhe that I could have got home an hour earlier if I had changed trains there instead of going on to Mannheim, but the train company's computer had not provided that information... However, no real delays, "all connecting trains will be reached" (the Germlish announcement on the trains), and I was back home in the evening. On the last station to change, the handle even suddenly let itself be slid down - however, I was very distrustful and insisted it stay in the extended position. Good I did, because it immediately stuck again.
When I have taken out the quilts, perhaps a bit of oiling will do a trick, but I don't think this is a suitcase to go on the plane again!