Hit Me! (Or, Great Memories, Part Two)

I had thought with these posts that they might go in chronological order, but I dispensed with that when I was watching ESPN this evening--I was watching something about a poker tournament, and that got me thinking about playing cards, etc. and it brought back a great memory.

When I was a kid, one of the greatest things about going to public schools was the opportunity to go on field trips. You couldn't get your permission slip signed fast enough! You found out what day you were going and counted down the days because you knew it would mean a) no schoolwork for that day and b) a chance to get outside the school building. Yeah, you'd learn something too, but who thinks about that?

The story on the game of poker reminded me of a particular field trip that I took when I was in 4th grade. There was an air show that was being held at the Bluegrass Regional Airport (that was then, this is now), and they had planes from World War I and World War II, as well as other types of commercial airplanes. In addition, there were Air Force and Navy airmen, both veteran and current, that were there to answer questions about the planes. I thought planes were the coolest thing--I had a poster of the Blue Angels on my wall, along with posters of F-14 Tomcat planes.

They had a lot of events going on, and for some reason, there were airmen playing cards with passers-by and giving out prizes, one of them being a set of playing cards. The game my friends and I played with an Air Force lieutenant was Blackjack. I can't remember how many times I played, but I remember that I did win at least once and came away with a pack of playing cards that had different airplanes on each card with facts about each plane (yeah, Blackjack is mostly luck and knowing when to press yours, but winning is winning, to a kid).

It was the coolest thing in the world to win a prize, but to win against a grown-up? THAT was priceless, and I got to tell that story to my friends for a while ("Remember the time I beat that Air Force guy at Blackjack? Here's the deck to prove it"). I think if I looked around long enough at my parents' house, I might find that pack of cards.

But really, the great thing was not the cards: it was having a field trip in prime of Spring, being freed from the confining walls of a school building to go look at cool planes (what boy doesn't like planes?) and beat an adult at Blackjack.

What a day indeed.

The Joy of Traveling

So I just got back from a conference out in Scottsdale, AZ yesterday, and the conference was great. It was at the Keirland Resort (Westin Hotels)--gorgeous site, nice rooms, great food, etc. I got the chance to meet other attorneys who do what I do, exchange notes, learn new techniques, etc. (not to mention the firm paid the bill)

But the going and coming was an adventure all of its own. Before yesterday, I had thought that the three hour delay in getting out of Roanoke was the hardest part. Man, was I wrong!

To recount yesterday's events, I must make an initial disclaimer: aiports and airplanes cannot control the weather, and so it must be understood that there were contributing factors yesterday that caused my frustration that were simply out of anyone's control. Now, roll the tape:

9:45AM--I have a driver from the resort take me to the airport so that I can check in. He was a nice fellow--said he was about 50, used to live in California, sold a house for $750,000 (which he bought a little over 10 years ago for, wait for it, $123,000) and so he moved to AZ and only needs this as a part time job. Must be nice!

10:00AM--I arrive at the airport, and about 15 minutes later, I get to the e-ticket kiosk, which informs me that my flight to Denver (which will then connect to D.C. and then to home) has been delayed and this will cause me to miss all connecting flights and if I flew to Denver, I would be stuck there, because there are no other flights leaving for D.C. that day. I use the kiosk and it informs me that ALL other flights are full--that is, for any flight ANYWHERE to somehow get me home.

10:15AM--Still at the kiosk, I pick up the black phone and call customer service. I didn't catch his name, but he states that he can put me on another airline which is actually a flight run by their company but with the other company manning the flight, and it will actually get me home faster than I would have originally gotten home. I thought to myself, "This is great!" He said to simply check in at the other company's ticket counter and I should be set.

10:40AM--What I had to do next is go from Terminal 2 to Terminal 4, which was not easy--silly me, I thought I could get there by foot. I did get from Terminal 2 to Terminal 3, but then realized you had to take a bus to get to Terminal 4.

11:10AM--I reached the other company's ticket counter, and you know what they said? We have you on the flight, but you would have to pay for it--you need a ticket from the other company. Now the flight was supposed to leave at 11:40, and she flatly told me that I wouldn't make it having to go back to Terminal 2 and then back to Terminal 4. It would have been nice to know about needing the ticket coupon from Terminal 2, but oh well--thankfully, there was another flight going at 1:30 to Charlotte (which would then take me home).

11:30AM--I found out at this point that not only had the Denver flight that I was previously scheduled to take been delayed but it had been cancelled due to inclimate weather. So, I went back to the ticket counter, and was told to wait in the line called "Additional Services". In one line was a couple of East Indian men who were trying to get home (and I thought I overheard that the flight that they either missed or it got cancelled or something was not going again for another week? Yikes.) and another young man who didn't seem to get the instructions the airline person was trying to convey. It was about 15 minutes later, and I finally got my ticket.

12:15PM--I got through security and got a bite to eat. About an hour later we got in the air.

As I said before, I know there was some part of this that was out of the control of the airlines, but small mistakes can make such situations much worse, which I suppose is a good lesson in not making matters which are out of your control much worse by actions that are within your control.

But the conference was great, and that mostly overshadows the travel experience--I just might not use that airline again.