What a way to start!!

 Thursday, August 15, 2024

Well, there’s usually not much to report on the first travel day.  I Left home at 7:15, met Ole at Betsy’s at 8:15, was at the airport and through security and at my gate well before nine!  So far, so good.  Hmmm!  The flight on the gate’s display isn’t mine!  Between dropping my bag and arriving here they’ve changed the gate.  Oh well, lots of time and it’s just a few gates down.

All is well until it’s almost time to board.  They say there’s a small mechanical problem and it shouldn’t take long to fix.  Oh, if only…after they’ve pushed back the time two or three times, they start suggesting that people might want to find another way to get to Atlanta!  That begins the shuffle from Atlanta flight to Atlanta flight (They leave Terminal E every couple of hours) and we learn that all the flights are oversold and overbooked and it doesn’t matter that you have a standby ticket if there aren’t any available seats.  In between times I go back to the original gate to see if there is any progress.  The ETD just keeps getting pushed back.  Around two o’clock we get a meal voucher for twelve whole dollars!! Whoopee!  That’s almost good for a sandwich and a drink, but not quite!  Even the salad for $13.95!

I’ve finished the book I brought, so it’s a good thing that I brought my Kindle, too.

On one of my periodic checks I learn that they are sending us a new plane!  And it will be here after six.  But at least I was able to share that piece of knowledge with some4 of my fellow travelers  (I don’t know their political affiliations!)  and the gave them some hope.  And maybe that means that our luggage will make it onto the new plane, which probably wouldn’t have happened on the standbys.  Of course, the plans that I had with Ginger for this evening have gone up in smoke.  But at least I don’t have to ask Ole to pick me up and take me back to Betsy’s, where I would have to break in, since I pushed my keys through their mail slot! And I guess it would all start again tomorrow,  Thank goodness for small favors. 

I’m too frustrated for any photos.  But y’all know what an airport looks like anyway!!

Oh Look!!  We're official!  Of course our 11:05 a.m. departure
is now 6:47 p.m.  But at least we're actually going to Atlanta!!

More when there's more to report!!

Well, the plane actually left on time, if you consider almost eight hours late "on time"!  But they were really hustling to get the show on the road once the new plane arrived.  The flight was so quick, in fact, that they didn't even have time to give us water, much less a beverage of choice and a biscotti!

Didn't even get a decent sunset!

Reminds me that we have tickets to "Hadestown"!

Smooth landing and on to baggage claim.  The sign says we should find our bags on carousel 7, so I stand and dutifully wait. And wait.  And wait. When it becomes painfully obvious that no more goodies will be disgorged onto the moving belt, I go to the "help me" desk.  Good thing I held on to the little sticker with my baggage number on it!  The lady says that I need to go two doors down and they will have my suitcase.  Two doors down looks like an industrial area and has an Employees Only sign on it!  There are a couple of people standing around and I ask them how it works.  They are pretty unhappy and say that you bang on the door and maybe someone will open it.  One lady has been trying to get her bag for three WEEKS. Doesn't sound promising!!  A couple of other people join us and although I've knocked several times, so far no response.  Finally the magic door opens and I guess I'm one of the lucky ones and when I turn over my sticker the girl asks me what color it is and since i guessed correctly, she brings me my missing suitcase!  I can only suppose that it was on one of those other flights and when no one claimed it, it got stashed.  (I later discovered an email telling me that it had come in on an earlier flight and where to find it - a bit late!)

Whatever!  I've got it now and Ginger is waiting outside with David and after very relieved hugs we're off!  Since I basically haven't eaten all day, and Ginger's fridge is as empty as mine, we stop at a Checker's and I have a real honest-to-goodness drive-thru burger!  And it's delicious!!

We drop David off at Ben's, where I get a quick welcome hug and we're home in nothing flat. Time to do a little organizing and then it's off to bed.  Whew!!  We're hoping to leave by nine tomorrow morning and surely the rest of the trip will be smooth as glass, with all of today's foolishness out of the way!  All's well that ends well!