Life as it should be
June 22nd, 2006 ~ Just a slice of heavenThese are the days of working from home that they put in the glossy brochures. Greg and I just got back from pitching some new business, so I’m still in my “go anywhere and fit in” jumper. (I need to replace it as my First Impression outfit, but I’m loathe to. It’s a wonder: whatever the level of dressiness is in the people around it, it blends in.) We stopped off at the store for some lunchable food, I made lunch for Greg and lunch plus afternoon tea for me, starring the new assam tea that Greg found for me in Chicago. Now I’m sitting around in my bare feet contemplating my next move (if Clementine gets a vote, the next move will be to take her on walkies).
That’s the picture as it’s meant to be. What they put in fine print on the brochure (or leave off altogether) is that the flight that I picked Greg up from this morning was actually scheduled to get in at 10:15 last night, but after two hours of delaying it, they cancelled it. I won’t even go into the rest of the story, other than to say that it features a city without a single hotel room to be had, a Motel 6 where the wake-up call didn’t happen and a skank wife that got mixed up about the times and was still home in bed when his plane got in.
Greg stays chipper in those kinds of circumstances. Or … well, maybe “chipper” is overdoing it, but neither does he scream or think dark, graphic-novel-like thoughts about the inevitability of his own suffering and the utter uselessness of everybody else. Which would be my inclination in that kind of situation. But Greg travels a lot more than I do, and he’s developed an ability to put up with almost anything without going insane.
So anyway, that’s the state of things right now. I’ve taken the last of the afternoon tea and re-located to our Northwest Office (gone upstairs). We capitulated to Clem’s mute appeals and took her on a walk, so the neighborhood has been sniffed at and she can begin to unwind after another fast-paced day of sitting on the couch, barking at dogs out the window and getting fussed over.
There’s life in the home office for you. Pretty good deal, huh? I just wish that darned cleaning crew would show up. The place is a pig sty!
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June 22nd, 2006 at 6:12 pm
OK, if we’re going to *tell* the story of The Awful Trip(tm), let’s tell it. ;)
After two days with a client in Chicago, I take a cab to the airport last night at 5:45 for a 7 p.m. flight – already way too tight, but I’m comforted by the fact that there are a few other flights that evening and my ticket is fully refundable/movable.
I get to the airport (along with the 10 billion other people there) and find that my flight is delayed – and a good thing, since all the other flights I thought I’d hop over to are sold out. My flight is delayed until 9:10, then 10:40, then 11:55 before being cancelled altogether.
“Hotel,” I think to myself as I call Southwest and book passage on the earliest flight out the following day. Turns out that, due to summer travel, the late hour, conventions in town or a combination of all three, there are virtually no hotel rooms available in the greater Chicago metro area. Closest room hotels.com would spit back? Forty (!) miles away. Orbitz, BTW, won’t even let you search for rooms after 9 p.m. the day of the reservation you want to make, and chain-wide (i.e., they service all the sub brands) reservation numbers for Marriott, Hilton and a few other big chains turned up Exactly two rooms: The Renaissance in downtown Chicago ($459 for one night) or a Hilton room downtown @ $285 a night. I pass on both of those.
“Car” becomes my next thought – I’ll get in a car, drive over the state line into Indiana, and stay at one of the many fleabag hotels. I use Orbitz to rent the car and then walk over to the other part of the terminal where I’ll actually hand over a credit card for the reservation. Uh-uh – turns out their reservation system has had an inexplicable, 30-minute lag in it all day. “This never happens!” she tells me, apologetically.
I wait for about 15 minutes and then it dawns on me: “So, got any cars in the system if you just treat me like a walk-up?” Bingo – now I’ve got a car. And I’m off to Indiana.
Got a fleabag room ($50 including all taxes and bedbugs, which fit nicely with my goal of keeping the whole car + hotel thing under $200) and go to sleep at 1 a.m. with a wake-up call set for 4:30 a.m. When I *do* wake up, it’s 5:45 and my flight is at 6:45 – turns out the wake-up service is, apparently, broken.
I make it out of the hotel room in three minutes flat (I know because I was staring at the clock while I threw on my clothes) and try to call SWA. All other flights that morning are sold out, so I make this one or miss an important meeting. I break many, many traffic laws to get back to the airport, rush through the terminal and I’m the last guy on board the plane before they close the doors.
I fly. I get home. I get off the plane… and, um, yeah… Grace isn’t there to pick me up, because she got the time wrong on the flight. ;)
June 22nd, 2006 at 9:02 pm
AAARGH! I’m mellllting, melllllting. What a worrrld…..
June 23rd, 2006 at 6:49 am
my hubby used to be a frequent business trip traveller. This all sounds way too familiar, except I don’t pick him up at the airport - call me selfish. He works for a company so they pick up the parking tab. Besides, with 6 kids, its just not gonna happen.
Glad you made it home in one piece and hope you get some quality time on the couch.
Deb