My past 24 hours - Crazy
My past twenty four hours started fairly regularly. After work on Thursday I stopped home and met up with Em as she was getting home from work around the same time. We grabbed Chiquita and some food and headed to our friend's home- the Blossers. We enjoyed some quality time with them and grilled some brats while watching the Green Bay Packer's first preseason game.
All is good. Until about 10pm. That's when Emily's mom called and said she received a notification that Susan, my sister-in-law, was able to check in for her flight to Jamaica. Susan is a part of the Edinbrook team coming down to Jamaica tomorrow (August 11th). She joined the team late and I helped get things arranged by finding and booking her flight so she could join the team and travel with the rest of them on Saturday. What I didn't realize (at least until Bonnie called me at 10pm Thursday) was that I accidentally booked Susan's flight for FRIDAY instead of Saturday! Well, Susan can't travel alone cause she's too young so it was quite a hassle getting things worked out. But, thank God, we got it worked out with American Airlines. Let me clarify, however, that although American was a bit helpful getting things sorted out, they're still my least favorite airline. Later you'll discover why Delta, among others, are far better. So, we got it all figured out.
Now I can rest in peace, get a solid 4 hours of sleep, as I needed to wake up at 3:30am on Friday morning to catch my 6am flight. Turns out I got 6.5 hours of sleep. Oops. Didn't set my alarm even though I could have sworn I did. That's correct- I woke up at 5:30am with EMILY's alarm. The one SHE set so she can get to work by 7am. Huh. That's no good. So I hopped on line almost while I was putting my clothes on and zipping up my bags and discovered there's a 7:15am flight to Atlanta, which I way praying I'd be able to get on so I can still get to Jamaica today.
On my way to the airport I realized that if I was to make the 7:15am (which I had no idea if I would be able to get on it or not because the Delta rep on the phone said I just need to get to the airport) I would have to drive straight to the airport. Essentially, I wouldn't have time to park at our office, which is about a 15-20 minute walk / rail ride from the actual check-in counter at the airport. So, that's what I did. I parked in the short term parking, leaving my keys hidden on my tire for someone to pick up later if I was able to get a morning flight out still. The agent at the counter told me that she could put me on standby but that I'd have to hurry to the gate and she had no idea if I could get on or not but that it was worth a shot. The only other option is an afternoon flight to Atlanta and an overnight there, followed by a morning flight to Montego Bay.
So I ran. Through the airport to the gate. They were just finishing boarding and they did get me on the flight. Sweet! The agent then looked at my itinerary and realized that the agent at the counter changed my connecting flight to a later one and put me on standby from Atlanta to Montego Bay instead of leaving me on my original second leg. So she switched me back to my original flight even though it was a tight connection time.
I slept most of the way to Atlanta and started running again once I got off the plane. I only had about 30 minutes total between my landing and my next flight leaving (leaving, not boarding). So, by the time I landed in Atlanta, my next flight had already been boarding for about 10 minutes. Well, I made it to that flight too. Ha. Then things got better. There were like 30 people on that flight. It was practically empty. So I got a whole row to myself. An exit row. Then I discovered they had a bunch of free movies on the personal tv screens at each seat. So yeah, I got to watch a great movie. Way better than all the flight movies I usually see. Oh yeah, and American Airlines- Delta gave me free soda and free snacks. TWO bags of peanuts. AND a blanket. That would have cost like $60 on an American flight.
In summary, I got to Jamaica at the same time I would have if I would have made my morning flight. I just ran and flew the entire way. But oh yeah, my bag didn't arrive in Jamaica. Naturally. So I check at the baggage counter and they said, "yeah, since you flew standby, they held back your bag." Makes sense, right? No. It doesn't. They said it wouldn't be here until the next day (Saturday). Fantastic. Especially since there are plenty of items in that bag that I need to prepare for my mission group arriving tomorrow. So I get a call a few hours later from someone at the airport saying, "we're bringing your bag over." Considering all the other events throughout the past day, I wasn't surprised, lol.
All is good. Until about 10pm. That's when Emily's mom called and said she received a notification that Susan, my sister-in-law, was able to check in for her flight to Jamaica. Susan is a part of the Edinbrook team coming down to Jamaica tomorrow (August 11th). She joined the team late and I helped get things arranged by finding and booking her flight so she could join the team and travel with the rest of them on Saturday. What I didn't realize (at least until Bonnie called me at 10pm Thursday) was that I accidentally booked Susan's flight for FRIDAY instead of Saturday! Well, Susan can't travel alone cause she's too young so it was quite a hassle getting things worked out. But, thank God, we got it worked out with American Airlines. Let me clarify, however, that although American was a bit helpful getting things sorted out, they're still my least favorite airline. Later you'll discover why Delta, among others, are far better. So, we got it all figured out.
Now I can rest in peace, get a solid 4 hours of sleep, as I needed to wake up at 3:30am on Friday morning to catch my 6am flight. Turns out I got 6.5 hours of sleep. Oops. Didn't set my alarm even though I could have sworn I did. That's correct- I woke up at 5:30am with EMILY's alarm. The one SHE set so she can get to work by 7am. Huh. That's no good. So I hopped on line almost while I was putting my clothes on and zipping up my bags and discovered there's a 7:15am flight to Atlanta, which I way praying I'd be able to get on so I can still get to Jamaica today.
On my way to the airport I realized that if I was to make the 7:15am (which I had no idea if I would be able to get on it or not because the Delta rep on the phone said I just need to get to the airport) I would have to drive straight to the airport. Essentially, I wouldn't have time to park at our office, which is about a 15-20 minute walk / rail ride from the actual check-in counter at the airport. So, that's what I did. I parked in the short term parking, leaving my keys hidden on my tire for someone to pick up later if I was able to get a morning flight out still. The agent at the counter told me that she could put me on standby but that I'd have to hurry to the gate and she had no idea if I could get on or not but that it was worth a shot. The only other option is an afternoon flight to Atlanta and an overnight there, followed by a morning flight to Montego Bay.
So I ran. Through the airport to the gate. They were just finishing boarding and they did get me on the flight. Sweet! The agent then looked at my itinerary and realized that the agent at the counter changed my connecting flight to a later one and put me on standby from Atlanta to Montego Bay instead of leaving me on my original second leg. So she switched me back to my original flight even though it was a tight connection time.
I slept most of the way to Atlanta and started running again once I got off the plane. I only had about 30 minutes total between my landing and my next flight leaving (leaving, not boarding). So, by the time I landed in Atlanta, my next flight had already been boarding for about 10 minutes. Well, I made it to that flight too. Ha. Then things got better. There were like 30 people on that flight. It was practically empty. So I got a whole row to myself. An exit row. Then I discovered they had a bunch of free movies on the personal tv screens at each seat. So yeah, I got to watch a great movie. Way better than all the flight movies I usually see. Oh yeah, and American Airlines- Delta gave me free soda and free snacks. TWO bags of peanuts. AND a blanket. That would have cost like $60 on an American flight.
In summary, I got to Jamaica at the same time I would have if I would have made my morning flight. I just ran and flew the entire way. But oh yeah, my bag didn't arrive in Jamaica. Naturally. So I check at the baggage counter and they said, "yeah, since you flew standby, they held back your bag." Makes sense, right? No. It doesn't. They said it wouldn't be here until the next day (Saturday). Fantastic. Especially since there are plenty of items in that bag that I need to prepare for my mission group arriving tomorrow. So I get a call a few hours later from someone at the airport saying, "we're bringing your bag over." Considering all the other events throughout the past day, I wasn't surprised, lol.
So yes, Susan is flying with the team tomorrow, I'm in Jamaica, and I do have my bag. Below is a picture of the scene greeting me as I arrived at our base and apartment in MoBay. For those of you who think goats are "cute", you may not want to look. Dinner, anyone?
LOL!!! Awesome day! I've had a few days like that over the years! It's fun to write the stories down as not to forget the details! And yeah - no brainer Delta is way better than AA. Run forest run!! - Brother man
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