Imagine my surprise when I opened my blog today and had to dust off my screen it had been so long since I gave it some love! You see, I have been pretty preoccupied with this thing called a “240 day contract” (for those of you outside of the education world, this means I am a full year employee like the rest of the non K-12 people) and this other little thing called “The Cutest House on the Block” (more on that later).


I came here today to write about Ridiculous Travel Nonsense ~ Part C and I see that the last time I posted was Ridiculous Travel Nonsense ~ Part A, so let me catch you up on my travel (mis) adventures since then.


After I FINALLY got to San Antonio, (First Class, thankyouverymuch!) the ISTE conference was amazing. Coming home was worse than getting there. Yes, that’s right, you heard me, WORSE than getting there.


Here is a brief synopsis of my June 27, 2013 aka the day I almost moved to Atlanta.


4:30am-Awaken and stumble downstairs to check out of my hotel and head to the airport


5:15am-Arrive at airport, check in, flight status on time. Awesome!


11:00am-Arrive in Atlanta, flight to Lexington delayed 45 minutes. No big deal really, but all of this drama started with a 45 minute delayed flight, so I don’t have a good feeling.


11:40am-Flight delayed 4 hours. I decide to eat some lunch.


12:50pm-Flight delayed 8 hours, 55 minutes. I could DRIVE to Lexington by then.


1:30pm-Placed on standby flight to Lexington to depart at 3:15. Thirty of us are on standby, I am #27 on the list. The flight is full. All flights to Cincinnati and Louisville are also booked for the rest of the day.


2:30-Find a flight to Charleston, WV. The Greatest Parents Ever have offered to come pick me up. I say “YES! PLEASE!” and “THANK YOU!” to both.


2:45-Flight to Charleston delayed. Well, of course it is.


3:05-Board to Charleston. I kid you not... Flight attendant "Welcome aboard Delta flight 5482 with service to... Wait, where are we going again?"


The rest of the time is fuzzy, I feel asleep a lot after that… but the gist of the matter is, I landed in Charleston, my parents were waiting on me, my luggage was waiting in Lexington. Mom and dad drove me to Lexington (stopping for Big Loafer of course), I got my luggage, they drove home. All’s well that ends well…


Now, fast forward about two months.


Learning.com has invited me to Portland for a one-day focus group, and of course, I say “YES! PLEASE!” and “THANK YOU!” (contrary to semi-popular belief, I can be polite.) I was flying out of Lexington on Delta through Atlanta. I braced myself for the worst, but you know what? It was all smooth as silk! I didn’t get in until 10pm Portland time, which my body thought, was 1am, so I was S-L-E-E-P-Y, but the flights were good.


After all day Wednesday in Portland (where I had this amazing doughnut):




I had a to get up at 5:00am (which my body thought was 8am) for a 7:30am flight on American (YAY!) through Dallas (YAY!).

The plane in Portland was full, so they offered to check our carry on bags for free, so I let them. Flight to Dallas was smooth, and landed early at 1:05pm. I checked my next flight on my phone, gate B-18, On Time. On my way to the tram to get to Concourse B, I pass two display boards. I check them both: Gate B-18, On Time. When I get in the tram, I check my phone again, Gate B-18, On Time. (This seems way OCD I realize, but I forgot to mention that when I checked my gate after landing in Atlanta (from Part B), they had changed it before I could even get there, so now I check several times.) At this point, it’s 1:25, I have 15 minutes until boarding begins, and I start to wonder what kind of food I can find for lunch.


Then my phone buzzes.


An email.


From American Airlines.


American Airlines flight 3399 to Lexington Blue Grass (LEX) has been canceled.


BUT TWO MINUTES AGO, IT WAS ON TIME! I check my phone again.



Yep, cancelled. This cannot be happening to me.


I continue my travel to Gate B-18, where I wait in line to see how to get home. Upon arriving at the counter, the American Airlines employee tells me cheerfully, “We have you booked on the first flight out to Lexington in the morning. We will cover your hotel tonight.” Well, that might work if I had LUGGAGE…but I am not spending another day in these clothes.


Me: “I need to get home today, actually.”


Her: “I can get you on standby on the flight to Lexington that leaves at 7:50pm, and arrives at 11pm.”


Me: “Nope, that means I will end up staying here. Can you get me to Cincinnati?”


Her: “There’s a flight to Cincinnati that leaves at 5:00pm"


Me: "How about Louisville?"


Her: "There's a flight to Louisville at 3:40pm"


Me: "Book it"


So they rerouted my luggage and booked the flight, and I was at least on my way to the right STATE this time (next time maybe I will make it all the way home). Flight on time, friendly flightmates, landed in Louisville at 6:45.


Then I went to rent a car. I got nearly completely through my Budget transaction, they were giving me a deal, plus my UK Alum discount! The girl behind the counter got stuck for a second and needed her coworker's help (who was already helping someone else), so I asked if I could step away and get my luggage. She said yes, and I went to the baggage claim.


Except my luggage wasn't there. And no one was at the American Airlines Baggage Claim office.


I went back to get my car, only to realize they wanted me to return the car to 1059 South Broadway (which for you non-Lexingtonians, is suffice it to say, NOT at the airport. Apparently Budget doesn't have airport service in Lexington.


Awesome.


I head to Enterprise and start all over. When I get my keys, I head back to the American Airlines Baggage Claim Counter, where lo and behold, a human sits.


Me: (handing claim ticket) Can you tell me where this bag is?


Her: (after typing) Dallas


Me: Oh, okay, do you know where it's going to end up?


Her: Probably Lexington.


Me: Probably Lexington?


Her: Yeah, probably.


Awesome.


I left at this point. I just wanted to be home.


So after a semi stressful "How do I get out of here?" moment in my car, I got on I-64 and I was good to go.


Then it started raining.


How to Work the Wipers in a Hyundai Elentra wasn't something I had studied before. Luckily I can learn on the go.


Then I realized that the only way that made sense to get to the airport in Lexington from Louisville was through Versailles.


Which means construction.


Which means traffic.


Which nearly meant nervous breakdown, but I made it... Even though at one point, I thought I was going to have to get to the airport via Nicholasville, because I thought they had actually shut down Versailles road. But anyway...


I got to the airport, parked the rental car, and went inside and waited to return the keys. The Enterprise guy asked how many miles were on the car. I answered, "However many were on it when I picked it up, plus however many miles it is from the Louisville airport to this one." He did the math.


Afterwards, I went to the American Airlines ticket counter to check on my luggage. When I told the employee my story, she asked me if I had filled out a claim. I said, "No, because they told me my luggage would probably end up in Lexington." She sighed and said, "Well heaven forbid someone in Louisville actually do their job..." and looked up my bag for me. Luckily, she said it was on the flight headed for Lexington right then, and it should land around 11pm. I told her I'd be back tomorrow.


When I went back this morning... Imagine my surprise. It was actually there.




So, to make a long story short... Don't fly with me.

As someone immersed in technology on a daily basis, the ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) conference is one of the few that I feel I gain knowledge by attending. This year, I booked my flight to San Antonio excited for all I'd learn.
About a month before the conference, I got an email from Delta letting me know they had changed my flight times. The times were later in the day, which meant I wasn't getting to San Antonio until about 10 PM, which was why later than I wanted to get there, but at this point, what are you going to do? Flight was leaving Lexington at 3:00pm, four hour layover in Detroit, leaving Detroit at 8:00.
Today, I got a phone call from Delta explaining that the flight was delayed 45 minutes. They offered to rebook me, but as this really only meant my layover in Detroit was shorter, I decided to stick it out.
By the time Megan dropped me off at the airport, the delay was over an hour, which meant I had way too much time on my hands, because it takes approximately 2 1/2 minutes to get through security in Lexington at any given time.
After eating a late lunch/early dinner, I waited semi patiently for the flight to begin boarding. We boarded the plane, and much to my surprise, not only was the screaming child who I experienced in the waiting area far away from me, but former UK basketball player Wayne Turner was two rows in front of me, and the seat next to me was empty. My luck was turning around!
Approximately 5 minutes after being on board, the captain came over that loudspeaker and informed us all that all flights to and from Detroit were grounded, and we had to de board the plane. At this point it's about 4:25 and they told us at 5, we should be able to re board. All passengers (including Wayne Turner) whose connecting flights were affected were rebooked immediately. They didn't even talk to any San Antonio people.
At 5:00, guess what? It's still raining in Detroit, and we can't board. The next possible time for us to board is 6:00, meaning at this point nearly everyone on the plane is missing their connection. They begin to call the passengers up one at a time to look at other options for travel. And, as always with things alphabetically, Miss Waggoner was the last one called. Several people around me were also going to San Antonio for various reasons, and I had overheard their conversations with the Delta employees as they each went to the front. I couldn't make out everything that was being said, but I could make out the words "I cannot get you into San Antonio tonight."
When my name was finally called, my list of options was interesting to say the least. I could go ahead and fly to Detroit, and possibly get out of Detroit to somewhere in Texas tomorrow, but not San Antonio. I could leave Lexington tomorrow and Fly to Atlanta, but again I couldn't fly to San Antonio. They could get me to Dallas, Houston, or Austin, and I would have to rent a car to drive to San Antonio. At this point, I was wondering if I had left my young child at home while I went on vacation, because I felt like the mom in Home Alone.
The rental car was possibly going to be an issue for me, because as this is a work trip, Jessamine County schools had not authorized me to get a rental car. I really didn't want to get one if I couldn't be reimbursed for it, so I had to make a few phone calls up the chain of command at work to see if this would be okay. I was told they'd figure a way to work it out, so I went back to the counter to book the flights through Atlanta. When I got there, the Delta employee who I had been working with got really excited because a couple of seats opened up on a flight to San Antonio tomorrow. However before she could book them, they were gone. Now, I had moved from Home Alone to The Amazing Race. I told this to the girl helping me, and leaned in and said "I need to get to San Antonio as fast as possible! Get me on a flight that gets there before any of these people in line behind me! This is important! We are in a race!" (Which was a big hit, really, and you know how much I love to make people laugh!)
The next thing I know, the Delta girl is asking me if I can make a flight that leaves Lexington at 6 AM tomorrow. Knowing I would never ask my dear sweet friend Megan McCarty to get up that early to take me to the airport, I say yes, and figure I will just drive myself. She does a little typing, tells me she can get me into San Antonio by noon, and prints my new boarding passes. She comes around the counter to give them to me, and points to a couple of words I have never seen on one of my plane tickets before: FIRST CLASS. She then tells me that because I was so nice, she has made an exception, and she will get me into San Antonio by noon tomorrow. She said the first-class might not stick, but having a first-class ticket means that they can't bump me, because the flight was overbooked.
At this point, Megan is already on her way to get me from the airport to take me back home, and it is about 6:15. After my boarding passes are squared away, she calls to get my bag off of the plane and sends me back to the Delta ticket counter to retrieve it. I get to the ticket counter at 6:30. And I wait, and I wait, and I wait. I think the guy was scared I was getting really pissed, because he kept apologizing over and over. At this point, I was over all of it. (In fact, Megan said how calm I was being was actually freaking her out.) I figured it's not like I'm stuck in Detroit, I'm going home to sleep in my own bed. And if for some reason my bag was on its way to San Antonio, I would just pick it up at the airport tomorrow. Thirty minutes later, my bag appears, and my chauffeur takes me home.
So, I'll be up at about 4:30 in the morning to try this all over again.

Damn, this better be a good conference.