No Friday

I try to not complain much, but this post will be whiny. Sorry.

I’m stuck at the Residence Inn in Phoenix Arizona, with half my luggage (not the half that has clean clothes, deodorant, and a contact lens case, but, as you can gather, my laptop).

It’s been a long day. I started by oversleeping a bit, then rushing downtown through the “Seattle Blizzard of 2008” to sign some loan documents for a mortgage refinance that needed to be completed before I left for the holidays.

I thought I might have had a chance at making the flight, but the snow was heavier south of Seattle, and a few inches had accumulated, and Seattle’s one snowplow didn’t quite make it to that part of I-5, so it was slow going. Still, every time I fly home for the holidays on US Airways, the flights are late, so I was hopeful. Plus, Las Vegas, the airport I was supposed to connect to, had been closed until 6 am for a freak snowstorm there, so I thought they might still be getting back up to speed and that the odds were good.

I was incorrect.

Today, the flights were of course running perfectly on schedule, so when I cruised into Seatac at 12:30 for my 12:50 flight, I didn’t really stand a chance. They put me on a 5 pm flight to Phoenix and on the standby list for a redeye to Boston.

At least I had a chance to move my car from the overnight lot to one of the off-airport lots, to save me the $250 or so that 10 days of airport parking would have cost me. That took a bit more than an hour due to the snarling snow-infected airport holiday traffic.

I was entertained listening to NPR’s The Conversation, discussing “Are we (Seattleites) weather wimps?”. Witnessing how a few inches of snow caused such havoc, I would have to say, “yes”. But, as a lot of callers pointed out, the city doesn’t have a lot of snowplows, it’s hilly, and drivers aren’t used to snow. True, but still, this was silly.

I finally made it to Masterpark, and they have the option of detailing your car while you’re gone, and since I’ve been meaning to schedule the Corolla’s bi-annual cleaning, I decided to give it a try. My car is filthy. Hopefully that will change.

Back at Seatac, I checked in for my flight, had a much enjoyed Halibut & Chips + Chowder + Arnold Palmer from Anthony’s for lunch, and then waited for my flight. The flight was uneventful. I read most of the recent Cook’s Illustrated and The Economist. A copy of The Onion would have completed things for me.

Ever the optimist, I never thought I wouldn’t get on the Boston flight, but I, sadly, was wrong. I was first on the list but I knew I was in trouble when they asked for two volunteers to give up their seat. And then when they closed the door, I was resigned to spending the night here.

I’m confirmed for the 2 pm flight, hoping to make the 10 am flight. And the standby games continues. It could be worse. I’ll be saving about $300 a month on the house and I’ll be in Boston tomorrow.

[Continued...]

This entry was posted Thursday, December 18th, 2008 at 11:43 pm and is filed under General. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.