January 31, 2008
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RANDOM STUFF
Does anyone else find it odd that Fat Tuesday and Super Tuesday fall on the same day this year? I suppose this means that there will be lots of drunken people at the polls; which may, or may not be a bad thing. However, since Lent begins the next day; I fully expect any of you who vote for Mitt Romney on Tuesday to repent on Wednesday and spend the remainder of Lent flogging yourself daily.
I had third row tickets to see George Carlin last Friday. He began by mentioning that he had just turned 70 (69 with one finger up his ass, as he so poetically put it) and I’ll have to admit, that from 20 ft. away he’s not looking so good these days. He only did an hour’s worth of material, but hey, he’s 70 years old so I gave him a break. I really wanted to buy one of the “Simon Says Fuck You” or “Jesus is Coming, Look Busy” T-Shirts in the lobby, but I can’t wear them to work, and the only place I ever go socially is church so I passed.
I discovered by reading my son’s Facebook page that I have a Grand Dog. His name is Deputy Chip. Grand Dog shower gifts may be sent to me directly.
On average I take about 40 round trip flights a year. I thought I had encountered every possible travel nightmare imaginable. However, on the way back from a short vacation in Utah last week with my family I entered the seventh level of airline hell. Here is the abbreviated story: Snowstorm…delayed at gate…start to take off…warning light…back to gate…fix problem…de-ice plane before second take off….de-icing fluid in the electronics…hour of diagnostics…missed connection in Las Vegas…running from gate to gate on standby…discovering (after not getting on five consecutive flights) that they had inadvertently dropped our name off the standby list…beating the ticket agent to death after discovering that they had inadvertently dropped our name off the standby list…catching last flight out to Phoenix…Phoenix to Tulsa flight delayed by four hours…getting ready to land in Tulsa and the navigational beacon goes down…diverted to Kansas City for more fuel…sitting on the ground in Kansas City for two hours while they de-ice the runway in Tulsa…arriving in Tulsa 22 hours after taking off in Salt Lake City.
Three round trip flights to Utah – $1,200.00. Having 20 books full of free drink coupons in my carryon because I’m a frequent flyer – priceless.
Comments (16)
That does sound like rather of a nightmare! Good golly! Your grand-dog looks slightly demented over that stuffed (squirrel?) … LOL.
Awww, I like the puppy. One of the guys I work with flew in from Utah last Wednesday night. I believe he would happily commiserate with you. Said it was his worst flight experience ever. I did a small gasp for you when I read that they inadvertantly (they say) left your name off of the standby list. That would be infuriating.
Home now, all good. Go play a tune.
They left you off the stand-by list? Whadda PITA.
I suppose the next time you could self-medicate (c/o said drink coupons) before your next flight?
Sounds like our trip to Calgary a few years ago. You know that there are only TWO flights each day from Minneapolis to Calgary? On ANY airline? And leaving Detroit on NorthWorst airlines on time is a miracle (one that I did not see happen that day…).
…And a plane full of people with a rear cargo door left open should NOT have its lavatory contents dumped while on the tarmack.
I have had some doosy travel nightmares myself. I think you should have bought shirt 2, about Jesus and wore it to church. If I remember correctly your church is cool.
Oh congrats on the grand dog. I won’t be snding a gift, I want to attend the shower, and there better be some decent food there, not just doggy treats.
ugh ugh ugh on the travel hell
glad you got a good vacation
Grand doggy has your eyes!!!!
I was listening to Carlin’s “You’re all diseased” today. Good for him to still be up there after all these years.
Airline stories like yours are exactly why my car has 128,000 miles on it.
How I miss you when you’re on hiatus! If I’d known you were stranded in KC for two hours, I’d have driven the 20 minutes to the airport to see you; I doubt they’d have let me on the plane, but I could have caused a scene:)
Ah, but it was all worth it for the moutaintop experience, right?
I’m sorry to hear of your travel hell. I’m also sorry to see that you went skiing without taking me.
Come visit Deputy Chip soon!
I really hate to travel which is why I try very hard not to do it twice in the same week. I really like to stay somewhere more than 7 days if at all possible. Not sometimes realistic, but it makes going back to the airport easier.
How many of those drinks did you actually take? I could tell you must have had something with that email you sent – it was long and confusing and rambling. Oh, wait, that may have just been through the filter of my flu-fogged brain.
I can believe someone would be married to you for 6 years. I know what a saint your wife is and how kind she is. I don’t know how easy it would be to believe anyone would be married to you for six years, though… (-:
JUST KIDDING! You’re great! Hope today (Saturday) was fantastic!
You could have walked home faster than that!
It sounds like you had quite a trip…yikes!