Tuesday, August 15, 2017

*lots of keyboard clacking* "Hum. Oh dear." Adventures in traveling, 2017 edition...

As I mentioned in Tea Time last week, I had a trip planned for this past weekend, and we had been planning it since May. Saturday morning, my bags were packed, I was at the airport before 6 am for my 7:15 am flight (after a fitful night of sleep anticipating the early alarm), and I was ready to go. I walk up to the self-checkout kiosk thingie, type in my reservation number, and am greeted with the following message:

"THERE IS A PROBLEM WITH YOUR RESERVATION. PLEASE SEE AN AGENT FOR ASSISTANCE."

Well grand. Not exactly what I want to see before I've had even a drop of tea. I take the little slip of paper that it printed it out, and limp over to the ticket agent. She greets me with a smile:

"Good morning!"

That remains to be seen.

"How can I help you?"

I smile and hand her my ominous slip of paper. She looks down at it, still smiling.

"ooohhhhh. You're flying into Newark? That flight is cancelled."

BOOM. I wished I could have slept in before dealing with all of this. 😱

"Oh."

That's the understatement of the morning.

"Let me just see for you when the next flight is that we could fit you in on."

She begins that nefarious practice of typing on her keyboard with the constant clickety clacking sound that inevitably takes 10 minutes, yet results in a concise announcement just like this:

"Tomorrow."

"Oh!"

I really needed caffeine. This had never happened to me before. It was *6 am*. And there's not a single flight I can get on within a 24 hour time period? Apparently not.

"Tomorrow? Really?"

"Yep. It's weather related."

That really didn't fully answer the question, but I was too tired to dig for further details.

"OK, well...put me on that one, please."

She's still clacking away, while I text Mike to ask him to come back and get me. Suddenly, I had a painful thought:

"What time did you say that flight was tomorrow?"

"6 am!"

She said that so brightly. I groaned.

I deliberately had not booked the 6 am flight because it would have meant getting up at about 3:30 am. And I was already operating on one abysmal night of sleep.

"Gosh, that's... a bit earlier than I'd like. What is the next flight out after that?"

More clacking.

"2 pm!"

*long suffering sigh*


So here I am, home and cranky. But safe. Everything happens for a reason, right?

You need to give me this one little solace to cling to, people. ;-)

In the meantime, I did have a lovely weekend with Mike and the kids. I've been getting more writing done on my Bible study. AND I have lots of stuff to talk to you about in Tea Time this week! Upcoming novenas, Third Orders, books, fall crafts. Horray!

How was your weekend, dear reader? Care to commiserate on cancelled flights?

9 comments:

  1. I fully understand that everyone does not have or want this option, but I realized about 10 years ago that I absolutely loathed flying and made the executive adult decision never to do it again. Admittedly, I don't travel for work. However, my life has vastly improved since I started taking the soothing train, long road trips with my husband, and we're planning on going to Europe on a trans-Atlantic ship crossing.

    This weekend was filled with Perseid Meteors and blueberry picking (eyeing 10 pounds of wild blueberries in my fridge right now and hoping I have enough freezer space). Blueberry crisps for all!

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    1. I have to be honest - I hate it too. :0 It makes me so anxious, and the way we all have to disregard our privacy for security sake...I understand that it is necessary, but that does not make it comfortable. I wish I could avoid it, but sometimes I cannot. :-\

      I love that you're going to Europe on a ship!

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    2. Yeah that is cool. My family is going on a cruise to Alaska next summer and in the winter the ship goes from Seattle to Australia!

      My mom and i want to do a cross country train trip!

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    3. Beth Anne, SO DO I! Or just drive it when Mike and I are retired. :0 The cruise ship from Alaska to Australia would be EPIC! Because let's be real: I'm *never* staying on an airplane long enough to fly there. :0

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    4. I know! There's like a 90 or 120 day cruise that literally goes around the world it's insane! But yeah the flight to Australia is like 24 hours long that's crazy long even for me!

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  2. I think the worst part of traveling is cancelled flights and delays. That is such a bummer! But at least now you have a credit to use at another time. :)

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  3. So sorry! Like Amy, I don't fly but it's frustrating to have to cancel a trip. This June I was slated to win an award at the Western Writers of America conference but had to cancel due to my sister's diagnosis. Had to do a lot of offering up the disappointment for that one! But maybe it helped a poor soul?

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    1. Donna,

      I agree with your outlook 100%. Cristina told me that on Saturday morning as well: everything happens for a reason! I'm sure your disappointment went to a good cause. <3

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