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What are my chances?
Tuesday, June 7, 2016
Laura Versus Las Vegas
What are my chances?
Thursday, June 2, 2016
Benefits of Not Being in Charge
Over Memorial Day weekend my family (mom, dad, and sister) planned a trip to West Virginia to celebrate my grandfather's 90th birthday. (Go, Grampy!) We were flying to Pittsburgh via Houston painfully early on Friday morning, sightseeing and staying the night there, and then driving down to Buckhannon, West Virginia, on Saturday. The party was scheduled for Sunday afternoon, and then we'd drive back to Pittsburgh on Monday morning to catch our flights home. Great plan.
Unfortunately, Austin experienced heavy rainfall on Thursday night and Friday morning, and the entire Midwest corridor was being bombarded with tornadoes. I didn't realize this when I stumbled out of the guest room at my parents' house (where sister Sarah and I stayed the night due to the early flights) at 5:00 am. I just wanted coffee. Sarah was sitting in the kitchen at my mom's laptop, talking on her cell phone. My mom was hovering near her.
"Our flight to Houston was delayed 8 hours because of storms in Austin," Sarah told me as she was put on hold. "I'm on the phone with United trying to sort it out, since we'll miss our Houston to Pittsburgh flight." I hadn't booked my own flights (thanks, parents!), so I wasn't awoken by a string of texts about delays and cancellations, like my mom and sister were. Which meant I slept peacefully while they stressed out at 4:30 and started making calls. In the end, Sarah sat at the laptop in the kitchen for almost and hour and a half before we were all moved to a new, later flight out of Houston to Pittsburgh. Unfortunately, we'd have to drive down to catch the flight because nothing was leaving Austin. Still, it was sorted, and I got to go back to bed for a couple more hours.
My alarm went off for the second time that morning at about 9:30 and I headed back to the kitchen, again in search of coffee. And again Sarah was sitting at the laptop, on her phone. I stopped and said, "Why do I have a bad sense of deja vu?" She gave me a grim smile and nodded.
via GIPHY
Our Houston to Pittsburgh flight had been canceled during my nap, and now Sarah was scrambling again. After another hour on the phone with United, she had us on flights out of San Antonio (she was by herself, my parents and I were flying out a couple hours later). As soon as she hung up, we all flew into a tizzy trying to get out the door. The drive was a little more than an hour, and Sarah's flight was in two hours. With everything that had already gone wrong, and the state of TSA at the time, we worried she wouldn't make it.
Amazingly, the San Antonio airport was deserted, with TSA checkers standing around and NO ONE waiting to go through security. My parents and I had a quick connection in Chicago, and that amazingly worked too. But then we landed in Pittsburgh. And pulled up to our gate. And stopped about ten feet away from the gate. For almost an hour.
The flight attendant told us that almost everyone at the Pittsburgh airport went home already (it was 8:30 pm) and there was one parking crew working the entire airport. Each plane needs a parking crew to guide it those last ten feet to the gate, so we had to wait our turn for these beleaguered people to make their way to us.
As if that isn't annoying enough, I was sitting next to a group of 50-something guys who seemed to be returning home from a work trip. They started chanting demands for beer, making loud fart noises, and playing obnoxious country songs on their phones. We finally parked and piled out of the plane, and my parents and I grabbed our rental car and met Sarah at the hotel. Her second flight (DC to Pitt) also sat on the tarmac for about an hour, but at least we all made it.
As obnoxious as the day was, I didn't have to do anything to get us there. The beauty of traveling with family when you're the baby is getting to revert to the old behavior patterns and expectations. In my case that means taking lots of naps and letting my big sister figure shit out for me. It's rare that I'm in such a position while traveling, and I made sure to enjoy it.
Unfortunately, Austin experienced heavy rainfall on Thursday night and Friday morning, and the entire Midwest corridor was being bombarded with tornadoes. I didn't realize this when I stumbled out of the guest room at my parents' house (where sister Sarah and I stayed the night due to the early flights) at 5:00 am. I just wanted coffee. Sarah was sitting in the kitchen at my mom's laptop, talking on her cell phone. My mom was hovering near her.
"Our flight to Houston was delayed 8 hours because of storms in Austin," Sarah told me as she was put on hold. "I'm on the phone with United trying to sort it out, since we'll miss our Houston to Pittsburgh flight." I hadn't booked my own flights (thanks, parents!), so I wasn't awoken by a string of texts about delays and cancellations, like my mom and sister were. Which meant I slept peacefully while they stressed out at 4:30 and started making calls. In the end, Sarah sat at the laptop in the kitchen for almost and hour and a half before we were all moved to a new, later flight out of Houston to Pittsburgh. Unfortunately, we'd have to drive down to catch the flight because nothing was leaving Austin. Still, it was sorted, and I got to go back to bed for a couple more hours.
My alarm went off for the second time that morning at about 9:30 and I headed back to the kitchen, again in search of coffee. And again Sarah was sitting at the laptop, on her phone. I stopped and said, "Why do I have a bad sense of deja vu?" She gave me a grim smile and nodded.
via GIPHY
Our Houston to Pittsburgh flight had been canceled during my nap, and now Sarah was scrambling again. After another hour on the phone with United, she had us on flights out of San Antonio (she was by herself, my parents and I were flying out a couple hours later). As soon as she hung up, we all flew into a tizzy trying to get out the door. The drive was a little more than an hour, and Sarah's flight was in two hours. With everything that had already gone wrong, and the state of TSA at the time, we worried she wouldn't make it.
Amazingly, the San Antonio airport was deserted, with TSA checkers standing around and NO ONE waiting to go through security. My parents and I had a quick connection in Chicago, and that amazingly worked too. But then we landed in Pittsburgh. And pulled up to our gate. And stopped about ten feet away from the gate. For almost an hour.
The flight attendant told us that almost everyone at the Pittsburgh airport went home already (it was 8:30 pm) and there was one parking crew working the entire airport. Each plane needs a parking crew to guide it those last ten feet to the gate, so we had to wait our turn for these beleaguered people to make their way to us.
As if that isn't annoying enough, I was sitting next to a group of 50-something guys who seemed to be returning home from a work trip. They started chanting demands for beer, making loud fart noises, and playing obnoxious country songs on their phones. We finally parked and piled out of the plane, and my parents and I grabbed our rental car and met Sarah at the hotel. Her second flight (DC to Pitt) also sat on the tarmac for about an hour, but at least we all made it.
As obnoxious as the day was, I didn't have to do anything to get us there. The beauty of traveling with family when you're the baby is getting to revert to the old behavior patterns and expectations. In my case that means taking lots of naps and letting my big sister figure shit out for me. It's rare that I'm in such a position while traveling, and I made sure to enjoy it.
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