April 8, 2008

The best laid plans of mice and men …that was me this morning. I left for the airport later than I had planned and found that the gas level was less than I remembered. Yes, the light went on telling me what I already knew, the car was thirsty. Made it to the Galaxy Parking, $30.00 a week for AAA members – that sounded like a deal. As soon as I was parked, the van pulled up to take me to the airport. Ok, things were looking up. Since I was the first one on, we couldn’t just leave, we had to wait for more passengers….Oh come on! I was supposed to be at the gate between 6:00 and 6:30 for the 8:26 flight. We dropped off the other van passengers first because the driver wasn’t sure what terminal I should be dropped off at. The second time around the airport, and no fewer than 3 stops at terminals for my driver to check if this was the right pace to deposit me, he took my suitcase out of the van and said, “Well, if this isn’t right, you can catch another Galaxy van.” Oh gee thanks, buddy! Off to the United check-in. As I approached the attendant, she said “Ah, you are with the teachers’ group.” I replied, “I look that obvious?” “Well, there is something there.” Now, the moment of truth as I put the suitcase on the scale – 50 lbs. is the max per case; mine was 57.9 lbs. “Oh dear” was her reply. After a little shifting of things to my carry-on bag, I was down to 56 lbs. She gave me my passport and tickets and said, “Go have a good time. I’ll let this go.” It was going to be $100 for the extra lbs. Ah, I got a reprieve! Then, she informed me that they had bumped us up to an earlier flight and it would leave at 7:20 rather than 8:26. As I went through security, I had to take every thing out of the backpack and put it in the tub, and on the table, oh yes, the shoes and the jacket. Now I am getting nervous and the cell phone rings – sorry, no time to answer. Now to put myself together and run for the plane! As I got to Gate 26, the 18 other members in our group cheered, as I was the last to arrive and, oh yes, they were boarding the plane. At this point, I think I have become Alexander and His Horrible, Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Day! Now, I sit in O’Hare and wait for the 12:55 flight. Well, I think I will walk as I will be sitting for nearly 13 hours. Oh yes, it is cloudy/overcast and, yes, windy in the lovely city of Chicago.

Chapter 2 (same day). 12:40, just back from lunch on the airlines – that’s what happens when there are mechanical problems with your plane and they don’t know when it will be fixed! The plane is here, they tell us, but they are not sure when it will be ready. Best that they found it now rather than when we are 40,000 feet in the air! (Trivia: 6,579 miles left to go and the official flying time is 13 hours and 17 minutes.) We just got another announcement…“There will be more information forthcoming at 2:00 p.m.” Hope we are not still sitting here come the 21^st!