For some reason, I REALLY didn’t want to travel this week. It might have been because I have so much to do at the office. It might have been because I’m missing so much at home. It might have been because it was supposed to be just me and my boss. But whatever the reason, I’ve not been looking forward to this trip more and more with every passing day this week. And I’ve only known about it since Tuesday.
I waited much too long to pack (and to do my taxes). So, I was really rushing there at the end. That ended up being completely unnecessary as my flight out of Louisville was delayed over an hour. In fact, when I checked my baggage, they went ahead and reserved a seat on a later flight out of Philly for me ‘just in case’ I didn’t make my original connection.
When I left home this morning, it was cold and rainy. After driving two hours away, the weather at the airport was much the same. But my first flight was sunny and beautiful. We were flying high above the clouds which looked like drifts of snow as far as the eye could see. And the sun was just a-shinin’. It was lovely! I’m sure it was dark and dreary beneath the cloud deck…which we actually found out as we were making our descent. But for nearly two hours, it was just beautiful up thee.
We landed at 5:55pm and my original connecting flight was to take off at 6:25pm. I had 30 minutes. Sounds like a long time, doesn’t it? Well, as we were pulling up to the gate, the flight attendant announced that for those of us that had connecting flights within the next 30 minutes, there were new boarding passes for us at the end of the jet way. Yeah, NEW boarding passes for our NEW flights. I told her my name and flight and she asked me what gate I needed to get to. Then as she was handing me my new boarding pass, she said,” you’re welcome to try to make that flight, but I don’t think you can get there in time. Good luck!” I had to run from F4 to B3, but I made it! Good thing too because the next flight wasn’t taking off for another 2 ½ hours. That would have had my boss waiting for me in Baltimore for an additional three hours.
I was relieved that I made my connecting flight. But my euphoria was short-lived. I should have realized that if I was running through the airport, the likelihood of my luggage keeping up with me was somewhere between slim and none. So, after waiting for nearly 45 minutes watching all kinds of suitcases roll by on the carousel, mine wasn’t there. So, I talked to the folks in the ‘missing luggage’ office to describe my one plain, black, rolling suitcase. They said they'd delivery it sometime during the night; I should have it by morning. Then they gave me a $25 gift certificate and a bag of toiletries. PRESENTS! After grabbing a quick bite to eat, we headed south for an hour and a half to our hotel. We finally turned in for the night around 11:30pm.
I spent 11 ½ hours getting from my house to the hotel and can’t charge even one minute of that time. I think it’s so strange that SAIC would allow the government to dictate where one of their employees is for that many hours on a Sunday and then not expect payment. But I don’t do contract negotiations. I just go where I’m told.
My alarm is going off in just over five hours. Even though my suitcase isn’t here yet, I’m going to bed.
I waited much too long to pack (and to do my taxes). So, I was really rushing there at the end. That ended up being completely unnecessary as my flight out of Louisville was delayed over an hour. In fact, when I checked my baggage, they went ahead and reserved a seat on a later flight out of Philly for me ‘just in case’ I didn’t make my original connection.
When I left home this morning, it was cold and rainy. After driving two hours away, the weather at the airport was much the same. But my first flight was sunny and beautiful. We were flying high above the clouds which looked like drifts of snow as far as the eye could see. And the sun was just a-shinin’. It was lovely! I’m sure it was dark and dreary beneath the cloud deck…which we actually found out as we were making our descent. But for nearly two hours, it was just beautiful up thee.
We landed at 5:55pm and my original connecting flight was to take off at 6:25pm. I had 30 minutes. Sounds like a long time, doesn’t it? Well, as we were pulling up to the gate, the flight attendant announced that for those of us that had connecting flights within the next 30 minutes, there were new boarding passes for us at the end of the jet way. Yeah, NEW boarding passes for our NEW flights. I told her my name and flight and she asked me what gate I needed to get to. Then as she was handing me my new boarding pass, she said,” you’re welcome to try to make that flight, but I don’t think you can get there in time. Good luck!” I had to run from F4 to B3, but I made it! Good thing too because the next flight wasn’t taking off for another 2 ½ hours. That would have had my boss waiting for me in Baltimore for an additional three hours.
I was relieved that I made my connecting flight. But my euphoria was short-lived. I should have realized that if I was running through the airport, the likelihood of my luggage keeping up with me was somewhere between slim and none. So, after waiting for nearly 45 minutes watching all kinds of suitcases roll by on the carousel, mine wasn’t there. So, I talked to the folks in the ‘missing luggage’ office to describe my one plain, black, rolling suitcase. They said they'd delivery it sometime during the night; I should have it by morning. Then they gave me a $25 gift certificate and a bag of toiletries. PRESENTS! After grabbing a quick bite to eat, we headed south for an hour and a half to our hotel. We finally turned in for the night around 11:30pm.
I spent 11 ½ hours getting from my house to the hotel and can’t charge even one minute of that time. I think it’s so strange that SAIC would allow the government to dictate where one of their employees is for that many hours on a Sunday and then not expect payment. But I don’t do contract negotiations. I just go where I’m told.
My alarm is going off in just over five hours. Even though my suitcase isn’t here yet, I’m going to bed.
No comments:
Post a Comment