It's official...I am sick and tired of traveling. After the events of today, if I could find some way to avoid airports, planes, rental cars, and hotels for the next year I would be thrilled.
Murphy's Law put the smackdown on me big time, starting at 8:45 AM yesterday. I was at my friendly neighborhood Starbucks getting my morning dose of caffeine and breakfast sandwich, and left my phone in the car. Five minutes later, I had not one, but TWO voice mails. The first was a lovely automated message from Southwest Airlines telling me my flight to Phoenix was cancelled. The second was from my friend and co-worker Tammy, who I was heading out to pick up since we were traveling to Phoenix together today -on the same flight.
She offered to call Southwest on behalf of both of us, and was advised we were placed on "protected standby" on the 3:50 PM flight. Of course, this would make us late for a group dinner tonight, but what can you do? So I headed into my office to get a couple of hours of work done before I left to pick her up.
When I arrived, I logged on to the Southwest website, thinking it would be a good plan to print the boarding pass for my new flight. Lo and behold, my cancelled flight was still showing. So I called Southwest, and was told I could be put on standby for the 3:50 but would not be confirmed since the flight was full. WHAT!!!!! I could only be guaranteed a seat at 5:20 PM. This was starting to feel a little bit like a game of Musical Chairs and I was afraid of losing my seat. So I got confirmed on the 5:20, and called Tammy. We decided to head out for a late lunch and get to the airport 1 1/2 hours or so before the 3:50 and see if everything worked out OK.
After getting 3 ticketing agents involved, we were both finally confirmed for 3:50, boarding passes in hand. How two employees of the very same company can look at the computer screen and see two different things is beyond me! Nonetheless, we were over the big hurdle. Then the damn 1/4" piece of metal struck again! The same crappy 15 cent barrette that caused all the drama for me at LAX a few months ago turned up in my head again!! You're kidding me!
The flight itself was uneventful, and we even made it in time for our group dinner if we went straight there from the airport (do not pass go, do no collect $200). So we picked up Tammy's rental and headed to the restaurant. No complaints about the company, because I love my co-workers. The food was another story.
I won't mention the name of the restaurant, because our company does a lot of dinners with them, and their regular menu is actually quite good. But due to the number of people attending, they did one of those "3 choices of entrees with the restaurant choice of salad and sides" kind of thing. Basic salad....but who gives you a choice of something else besides the house vinaigrette, and says "We're not offering that...." when you ask for Bleu Cheese? And more importantly, who chooses spaghetti squash as the "vegetable" on your plate when the other side is mashed potatoes? Visually unappealing, for starters. More importantly, more than half the people in the room had no idea what it was! Of course, I did, because my Dad grew a bunch one summer as a little garden "experiment." Another vodka-tonic, please.....
We're staying at the Hyatt Place here in Scottsdale, which is your typical business travelers hotel. Although I gotta admit, paying $10 more per night for less room than we got at the Bellagio last week seems a little like a rip off. Does everyone really LOVE baseball that much (It's Spring Training here right now)?
Then this morning, the shower was the straw that broke the camel's back. So little water pressure it took 15 minutes just to wash my hair, and I'm still not sure all the shampoo is out of it. The shower itself is so slippery, shaving my legs was like an exercise in shaving with ice skates on and trying not to do a Cirque de Soleil-style split while pulling a groin muscle. Plus the hotel soap smells weird...and I can't pinpoint why.
To top it all off, I have a huge zit brewing on the right side of my chin...one of those ugly under-the-skin things that itches, and you just wish you could pop it, but you can't because it doesn't really have a head on it? OK, probably more info than you needed, but I'm all about sharing.
Someone rescue me please....
The flight itself was uneventful, and we even made it in time for our group dinner if we went straight there from the airport (do not pass go, do no collect $200). So we picked up Tammy's rental and headed to the restaurant. No complaints about the company, because I love my co-workers. The food was another story.
I won't mention the name of the restaurant, because our company does a lot of dinners with them, and their regular menu is actually quite good. But due to the number of people attending, they did one of those "3 choices of entrees with the restaurant choice of salad and sides" kind of thing. Basic salad....but who gives you a choice of something else besides the house vinaigrette, and says "We're not offering that...." when you ask for Bleu Cheese? And more importantly, who chooses spaghetti squash as the "vegetable" on your plate when the other side is mashed potatoes? Visually unappealing, for starters. More importantly, more than half the people in the room had no idea what it was! Of course, I did, because my Dad grew a bunch one summer as a little garden "experiment." Another vodka-tonic, please.....
We're staying at the Hyatt Place here in Scottsdale, which is your typical business travelers hotel. Although I gotta admit, paying $10 more per night for less room than we got at the Bellagio last week seems a little like a rip off. Does everyone really LOVE baseball that much (It's Spring Training here right now)?
Then this morning, the shower was the straw that broke the camel's back. So little water pressure it took 15 minutes just to wash my hair, and I'm still not sure all the shampoo is out of it. The shower itself is so slippery, shaving my legs was like an exercise in shaving with ice skates on and trying not to do a Cirque de Soleil-style split while pulling a groin muscle. Plus the hotel soap smells weird...and I can't pinpoint why.
To top it all off, I have a huge zit brewing on the right side of my chin...one of those ugly under-the-skin things that itches, and you just wish you could pop it, but you can't because it doesn't really have a head on it? OK, probably more info than you needed, but I'm all about sharing.
Someone rescue me please....
First, if Southwest causes that much trouble when I am traveling east with BOTH girls (and my brother, thankfully) they will get more than a PIECE of my mind.
ReplyDeleteSecond, I know those kind of zits all too well. Good luck with your new 'growth'.
You crack me up!