I finally made it, but what an ordeal it was! I started out on Wednesday. My flight was at 2:15, so I hit the MAX around 11:30 for the hour's trip to the airport on light rail. Armed with my book and numerous crossword puzzles, I was good to go. Having confirmed my flight, checked in, and printed my boarding passes online the night before, I didn't think to confirm my flight before I left home. That was my first mistake. When I arrived at the airport, I found my flight had been delayed due to mechanical problems. Because they had to swap the problem plane out for a mechanically-sound one, we wouldn't leave Portland until 5:30. I would not arrive in Atlanta until 1:15, and would, of course, miss my connection to Mobile. I would have to spend the night at a hotel, and, after 4 hours, get up to make my 7:00 am flight to Mobile Thursday morning. I opted instead to simply delay my trip by 24 hours, and leave on Thursday instead. Back on MAX my suitcase and I went and rode for an hour back home, sitting next to a woman who talked non-stop in a high-pitched, self-proclaimed hillbilly voice all the way to my stop. Argh!
Thursday morning I told the kids good-bye again, and Larry took me back to the MAX station. I got to the airport, and my flight had been delayed again, but only by 30 minutes. No problem, because my connection in Atlanta was delayed, too. Weather problems over Atlanta. I had plenty to read and puzzle at, so I was in good shape. I was a bit uneasy because I had no seat assignment in Atlanta, but I was assured it would be no problem to take care of that once I got there.
Let me just say that all the fun has been taken out of flying. I felt like I was on a bus in a third world country with all the locals and their chickens. Because Delta now charges for the first bag, passengers opt to carry everything on the plane with them. Bags are frantically and resourcefully being stashed everywhere until there is no more room, and the poor souls who board the plane last have to gate check their bags. My bag was checked already - my second mistake? I got settled in my delightful middle seat - everyone's favorite - and almost immediately the snoring started behind me. This man snored from the time his butt hit the seat and his head hit the seat back until we landed in Atlanta. I, of course, had left my earplugs (that I always travel with) in my checked bag. Sigh... Then, the kids in the seats in front of me started fussing with each other. Mom tried to defuse the situation by giving them a video game to play - because you can do that on the plane now! How fun! Now I got to listen to the sound effects from the headphone-less video game AND the snoring man! Did I mention I didn't have my earplugs with me? Predictably, the kids started fighting over some aspect of the video game. Eventually, Dad got involved, and took the video game away. I wanted to cheer except that this caused the kids to scream and cry and beg Dad to let them have it back. I wanted to knock all their useless heads together and then call my own children at home and thank them for being such well-behaved travelers... I tried to use my headphones, but they wouldn't work on my armrest. After about an hour and a half, the kids finally calmed down, and I was left with the snoring wonder behind me - oh, and did I mention, no ear plugs!
I finally got to Atlanta just before 10:00 pm, and my flight was supposed to leave at 11:15. I grabbed a sandwich from the Slo-mo Sandwich Shop( don't they know they work at an airport where people have connections to make - and that I was starving?!) and headed to the gate. The six people in front of me had boarding passes that said "Need seat assignment", just like mine. They were all put on Stand-by. I was convinced I was looking at a night in Atlanta, and approached the podium ready to raise hell. "I need a seat assignment," I stared out calmly. Immediately, I was assigned Seat 1D - right up front. Finally, my luck was turning around! The plane was delayed further due to bad weather, so we waited and waited. I decided that when I got on the plane I would order a drink. I called Daddy in Mobile to remind him to check the flight status before he left for the airport, because, at this point, I had no idea when we'd get away. We finally boarded around 11:30, and I had a bulkhead seat - meaning no under-seat storage. No problem. I got out my book, crossword puzzle, and pencil and got comfortable, enjoying the extra leg room. The flight took off and the flight attendant came down the aisle with beverages - and I realized that my purse was in the overhead bin, and I couldn't get to my money to pay for my drink without crawling over the guy beside me and knocking the flight attendant and her cart out of the way. No prob; I didn't need a drink anyway.
Forty-five non-alcoholic minutes later, we landed in Mobile and I headed down to baggage claim. I had a sinking feeling that soon made me wonder if I'm telepathic. Sure enough, I had no bag. The perfect ending to two perfect days - lost luggage. I filled out the claim form, Daddy picked me up and we headed back to the house, where Daddy fixed me a double screwdriver that tasted divine. This party better be worth it!
Update: My bag arrived this morning and it never felt so good to take a shower and change into clean underwear!
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