Volcano ash.

I don't think it is. For starters, they're not "stuck". Sure, they
can't fly directly home, but I've heard many stories of people managing
to make alternative arrangements.

They've not been abandoned, marooned or left behind, which is what I
would have said stranded means.

Of course, I will concede that use of the word has almost certainly
evolved to mean what most people think it means, but that doesn't mean
I have to accept that the new usage is correct!

 

They're having to make pretty extreme alternative arrangements though.
One chap I know has just hitchhiked his way from Berlin to Le Havre
before landing a space on a ferry. We have a support guy stuck in New
York and seats on any practical form of transport are almost
unobtainable now. Ferries and trains across the channel are sold out for
days in advance.

Worst of all, since this is classed as an act of god, people are having
to cover the additional costs themselves - for anyone without deep
pockets that can become a big problem. So stranded isn't entirely
inappropriate.

 

I saw reports of a family stuck in Singapore, the daughter having
Diabetes and running out of medication. I found it baffling that
additional meds wouldn't be available in a foreign country.

 

It's all going to be OK - they're sending the Ark Royal!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr/19/iceland-volcano-naval-ships-rescue

 

Especially there. OK you might have to pay for a consultation with a Doctor
to get it prescribed. I've done as much when travelling in the US after
deciding on an extra week or two.

 

Does seem to be a mixed bag for those stuck at home and abroad
www.guardian.co.uk/money/2010/apr/15/iceland-volcano-travel-insurance

 

Many times!

 

They may not use the exact expression but the result is the same.

http://lexicon.ft.com/term.asp?t=act-of-God&ftauth=1271673607310

 

well, of course they are - at a price.

 

Well yes, 1 month blister pack of Actos was around $100. Free NHS
prescriptions for sugar mongs rock.

 

"Force Majeur".

 

I have a mate in the Philippines who should have been home last week.
The latest text from him to the pub was, the hotels have insisted
everyone moves out [1] as the rooms are booked and paid for by the next
lot of holiday makers from Europe even though they are empty because of
no European flights coming in.

Beer is now £5 a small bottle and water £3 a bottle. He is shacked up
with his other half in a very basic beach hut way out of town, that was
£50 a week and is now £50 a day. He seriously bending his plastic on a
daily basis. He texted that any flights to southern Europe not hit by
the ash cloud are fully booked up.

His travel insurance says it's an "unpredictable natural event" ie., an
"act of god" and his claims will be very limited.

Makes you think of the film "The man who sued god."

So not all fun.

[1] This was last week things may have changed.

 

Here, have an "e", but what have Tangerine Dream got to do with
anything?

 

What I find disgusting (of Tunbridge Wells) are the hotels that are
gouging 'stranded' passengers for up to three times the normal room
rate. It's to be expected that some will charge extra, but for ****'s
sake, it's not a way to win customer appreciation.
Otoh, it's heartening to hear of some hoteliers who pitched in and
either didn't charge extra or let some stay on for a reduced rate,
knowing many of them simply didn't have resources.

 

Nah, they tend to use '**** that'.

 

Where is he stuck in the Philippines

 

Of all the people I expected to pick me up on that, as soon as I
pressed Send, you weren't even in the equation.

I don't know, what have Tangerine Dream got to do with anything?

 

Is that good or bad?

I thought that what with your position as UST, you'd have known that FM
was a TD album. But hey ho...

 

you, get your coat and pick up your copy of "Zeit" on the way out.

 

she's on some varient of interferon beta - at least $150 a pack.