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resonantI would be in the air right now headed for California, where the spouse and the kidlet already are, except that the Chicago airport is apparently too flooded for the ground crews to get to the planes. So I went to the airport and they sent me home again with a new ticket for tomorrow.
I was luckier than the person in front of me in line. She and her family had a flight to Boston, and they arrived at the airport the recommended hour and a half early -- and had ended up in a line so long, at a check-in counter so understaffed, that they were still waiting in line when their plane took off. She was much less homicidal than I would have been under the circumstances.
I keep saying that if one, just one airline would say, "Hey, look, we can't control the weather and we can't control the traffic, but we can promise you that we'll have sufficient staff to take care of you and make sure you never wait in a line longer than five people," I would always fly that airline even if it cost twice as much as the others.
I had left the house in rather sorry condition, because I knew I had four days alone and I wasn't willing to spend any of them cleaning. But when I was handed an unexpected extra day, I immediately went home and vacuumed with rug deodorizer, cleaned out the drains with baking soda, and threw away a couple of dead plants, on the theory that things would smell nicer after a week away if I did that.
And then I came to park myself on the computer for the rest of the day!
I was luckier than the person in front of me in line. She and her family had a flight to Boston, and they arrived at the airport the recommended hour and a half early -- and had ended up in a line so long, at a check-in counter so understaffed, that they were still waiting in line when their plane took off. She was much less homicidal than I would have been under the circumstances.
I keep saying that if one, just one airline would say, "Hey, look, we can't control the weather and we can't control the traffic, but we can promise you that we'll have sufficient staff to take care of you and make sure you never wait in a line longer than five people," I would always fly that airline even if it cost twice as much as the others.
I had left the house in rather sorry condition, because I knew I had four days alone and I wasn't willing to spend any of them cleaning. But when I was handed an unexpected extra day, I immediately went home and vacuumed with rug deodorizer, cleaned out the drains with baking soda, and threw away a couple of dead plants, on the theory that things would smell nicer after a week away if I did that.
And then I came to park myself on the computer for the rest of the day!
(no subject)
Date: 7/24/10 10:54 pm (UTC)Oh my gosh, I could not agree more!
(no subject)
Date: 7/25/10 01:23 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 7/24/10 11:14 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 7/25/10 01:28 am (UTC)The kidlet was eight at the time, and if you ask her about it, she says, "Yes, and the day after we got home, my mom took me out and bought me an entire huge Littlest Pet Shop playset because I didn't whine!" It's like eighteen hours of driving were just wiped out of her mind by $19 worth of pink and purple plastic.
(no subject)
Date: 7/25/10 01:11 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 7/25/10 01:22 am (UTC)We don't have a lot of time -- the spouse and I are doing a getaway Tuesday through Thursday, and coming back to Illinois on Sunday.
Do you ever go to Red Morton Park? The spouse's parents live right close by, and we go there nearly every day. Maybe one day we could meet up there, and you could meet the spouse and the kidlet, and then you and I could take off for coffee or something?
(no subject)
Date: 7/25/10 01:37 am (UTC)I was SO GLAD I wasn't one of the poor bastards on the runways when they shut down for two hours of thunderstorms. And then my plane spent 45 minutes on the runway. *sigh*
(no subject)
Date: 7/25/10 02:37 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 7/25/10 02:43 am (UTC)