:-D

Wow! Tonight was the best show I have worked in my 3 year career at the theater, and one of possibly four where I have left in a better mood than I arrived in. I have absolutely nothing to complain about (except, of course, for the lack of things to complain about). The patrons almost *all* smiled and said thank you upon my giving them programs/directions to their seats. Several of them also thanked me again later, saying that the directions had been excellent.

Then, the music was amazing. I'm not the world's biggest jazz fan - but the Cyrus Chestnut Trio is excellent. I was not at all unhappy when the show ran past 10:00pm (the usual time at which the ushers become impatient to leave). Haha. Wow.

Then, the patrons smiled and thanked me on their way out. And, while I cannot say that they picked up after themselves better than most crowds, they did not make a huge mess considering that the house was completely sold out. I am happy. This is good.

That's gonna leave a mark...

September credit card bill sets record by roughly a factor of two. Not cool. The largest chunk of it is books, followed by GREs (both unavoidable) and eventually, I'm supposed to get a few hundred back. But still, yikes.

The horrible transportation ordeal: Day 3 (the conclusion... finally)

Sorry for the delay in posting the end of this monstrosity. Since I was running a day behind and the third day was Sunday, I was in class on the day I would have posted. And then, I think I blocked the memory of the entire weekend, because many of the details have become fuzzy.

8:30 am - I wake up. I have not gotten any voicemail from security while I was asleep. But I will check in person before I call United again.

9:00 am - I start my laundry. Then I go to talk to security to see if they have gotten my bag. They are friendly and check, but they have nothing.

9:45 am - I move my clothes to the dryer and return to my room to call United again.

10:10 am - I call United. They put me on hold[1] while they check with the delivery service. The delivery service is apparently farther behind than last time I called. I am told that my bag is out for delievery and I that I should call back in an hour if I don't have it. Skeptical, I go back to waiting.

11:10 am - No sign of my bag. I sense another day of beging stuck in/around EC on the off chance that they will actually get my bag to me today. I am worried about what will happen if I don't have it before class on Monday becuase it will not be good if I have to miss class over this.

11:20 am - Having given them a generous 10 minute grace period I call United again. Once again I am placed on hold. For about 10 minutes. I am told to be patient, that my bag will be delivered by 2:00pm. Oh really? Being reasonably intelligent, I've noticed a pattern here:

I call shortly after whatever time they say I will get the bag and they tell me to wait a few more hours. I wait a few more hours, get nothing done, don't go out or shower or do anything else that might cause me to miss a phone call from the delivery guy until the time runs out. Then, I call again...

Right. So, now I don't believe they have any clue what they're talking about and, as I'm busy as all hell, I resent being told that I need to wait around if nothing is going to happen. I explain this to the guy. I also explain that if they aren't going to deliver it until next week they should tell me that and let me get on with my life. The guy repeats that I will have the bag back by 2:00. Yeah ok, whatever. And then what? When it gets to be 2:00 and I don't have it what are they going to do for me? I really don't want to call them again and have to endure their horrendous hold music. Are they going to compensate me for having wasted a day and a half of my life? He apologizes profusely, which further irritates me[2], but repeats that I will have the bag by 2:00pm. Yeah, ok, fine. So I hang up and go back to waiting.

11:45 - 1:30 - I goggle around for lost baggage stories online and try to figure out what I will be able to get out of United if I have to call them and yell again. In one story I find, some people had a bag misdirected and spent a week being assured by the airline that it had been located and would be delievered the next day. And then, at the end of the week, it completely disappeared and the airline couldn't find it. This doesn't bode well. I'm further depressed by the fact that I yelled at the last United guy I talked to and the knowledge that I'm going to do it again at 2. As much as I, personally, dislike being yelled at, I really hate yelling at other people[3].

1:45 pm - Ok, I give up. In 15 minutes, I'm going to call them and yell again and be an asshole. And, since they've already driven me to violate my sacred operating principle[3] anyway, I'm also going to stop feeling bad about it.

1:50 pm - My cell phone rings. Wow! Maybe I actually will get my bag back now. The delivery guy is in Manhattan and will be at Columbia in a few minutes. Hope returns.

1:58 pm - My phone rings again. The guy is here and I can come down to get my bag. I try not to think about all the ways this might not be the end of the story and jump down the stairs five at a time[4].

2:00 pm - I get the bag. It is definitely mine and does not appear to be damaged. I return to my room and life begins to improve. Finally.

Lessons learned: 1) Grinning at small, well-behaved children, causing them to laugh, helps. 2) The world would be a much better place if reasonable people could get things taken care of without having to be unreasonable. 3) I will never attempt to fly on United again, nor will I ever entrust any airline with anything I need/want to see again again.

[1] United Airlines has the most awful hold music. Imagine Rhapsody in Blue played on an out of tune piano, recorded and played back in mono and periodically interupted by "Thank you for holding." Making matters worse is the fact that I turned my cell phone volume all the way up on Friday when I was at LGA because I was having trouble hearing the Travelocity person over the ambient noise. Since then, I have been unable to turn it back down. So it's bad and deafening and now every time I hear the tune I will be reminded of this incident... and I used to like Gershwin.

[2] Note: Don't ever spend time apologizing to someone who is annoyed at the fact that you've been wasting their time. The damage is done; they won't forgive you. If you actually are sorry the best way to express your remorse would be to stop wasting their time.

[3] My philosophy in a nutshell: The world is filled with assholes, I don't need to be one of them.

[4] The elevators were both a little below my floor and moving down, so it would have been a five minute wait. Faster to jump down them several at a time.

The horrible transportation ordeal: Day 2 (more waiting)

Herein you will find the details of my second day of dealing with my non-trip to Chicago.

8:00 am - I wake up feeling slightly better[1]. A check of United's baggage tracking website reveals that my bag has been located and is scheduled to fly back to LGA on Flight 670. Realizing that I gave the agent at LGA my mailing address instead of a building address I call to find out whether this can/should be changed. The agent I speak to checks to see whether my bag was scanned onto flight 670. It was not. She does not know why but suggests that the tag was probably ripped off. I no longer feel slightly better. I'm told that it will be located based on physical description and contents (which I describe) and put on a later morning flight hopefully to be delivered to me sometime in the afternoon. I begin to wait.

11:00 am - United's website still indicates that my bag was found and put on 670. Clearly, it's outdated. One of my suitemates makes breakfast. I feel slightly better.

4:00 pm - I need to run errands. I suspect that if I leave my bag will show up while I'm out and I will need to spend another day stressing out. I leave anyway. My bag doesn't show up while I'm out.

5:30 pm - United updates their online information about my bag. Apparently it's out for delivery and I should have it by 10 pm. Yay! I wait.

9:30 pm - My bag has not shown up yet. I'm increasingly skeptical of the 10 pm estimate. The EC fire alarm goes off. I learn that 20 flights of stairs is a lot, even going down. I am nearly deafened in the courtyard between the stairs and the exit.

9:45 pm - I return to my room. Still no bag. I check my email, apparently my work has been given a lot of attention at the meeting I am not at. As I contemplate calling United to find out what the story is the EC fire alarm goes off.

10:15 pm - Back in my room, I call United. They check with the delivery service which is apparently dealing with some 300 bags and running hours behind schedule. I'm informed that my bag will be delivered to the Safety Patrol Office. This seems odd, because I don't think security can accept deliveries, but whatever. I am given a chance to check with them in person when...

11:00 pm - The EC fire alarm goes off. Ok. WTF? What did I do? Even if I get my bag back I'm not going to be able to shower and go to bed because I no longer trust my buildingmates to not set off the alarm every half hour. I have a minor existential crisis and then go for a walk with my suitemates.

11:45 pm - I return from Kim's where I have spent $30 on new CDs. I check with security to see if anything has shown up. Nothing has, but the dispatcher takes my name and cell # and says he will call me if it comes later.

12:30 am - Hopeful that my bag will arrive while I sleep, I go to bed.

[1] For kicks, I check the flight status of the 8am flight out to Chicago (i.e. the one I would have been put on if I hadn't given up on the whole thing) and it was delayed by an hour and a half.

The horrible transportation ordeal: Day 1

I must have done something really awful in a past life; I cannot think of a better explanation for the eighty kinds of pain United Airlines and/or LGA air traffic control decided to inflict on me yesterday[1]. I was trying to get to Chicago to go to a meeting at Fermilab in which I would observe depressing politics and take notes for a professor. This is not what happened.

12:00 noon - A final check of my flight status reveals no delays. Consultation with weather.com indicates reasonable weather in Chicago and only light rain in the NY area. I leave campus on the m60.

1:30 - 2:00 pm - I arrive at LGA and get myself to the correct terminal. I get in line to check bag[2] (hereafter to be refered to as my bag, but see note). I wait.

2:15 pm - Head for gates, at security the woman in front of me has a belt that sets off the metal detector and whines about having to remove her shoes, holding up everyone else by several minutes. The woman behind me apparently had something suspicious in her bag, so while the security gorillas try to use the scanner to figure out where it is my bag/shoes/belt/hoodie sit just inside the area labeled "Do not put hands in x-ray machine." I wait.

2:30ish - Reach gate, find excellent seat where I have a view of the podium. I set about doing my reading for Latin American Humanities. At some point in the next fifteen minutes I become aware that Flight 683 LGA to ORD, scheduled to depart at 2pm, has not arrived at the gate, to say nothing of boarding and taking off. I cannot see the board from where I'm sitting, and there are enough angry looking people milling around that I will surely lose my seat if I stand up. I plan to get up after the flight begins boarding and some people clear out. In the meantime, I wait.

3:00 pm - Boarding for Flight 683 begins[3]. I give up my seat and wander off in search of a snack and bottle of water. On my way back to the gate I check the status of my flight (687, scheduled to depart at 4pm), it has an estimated departure time of 5:57. I'm sick of doing Latin American Humanities reading, so I find a seat with a view of the tv and watch CNN. Increasingly unhappy at the thought of having my boredom extended by two hours, I wait.

4:00 - 5:00 pm - Sick of watching the news and beginning to get sleeply I try not to doze off because sleeping with my contacts in will make my eyes unhappy and my saline is in my checked bag. Sustained by the thought that boarding should begin in the next hour and offer a change of scene at the very least, I wait.

5:00 pm - Excited at the thought of getting to board in half an hour I glance at the board with departing flights. Flight 687 has something next to it that looks more like "CANCELED" than "5:57." I enter denial[4].

5:05 pm - An announcement is made confirming the cancelation. I am no longer in denial. I get stuck somewhere between anger and despair. I am inclined to scrap the whole endeavor and go back to school to take a long shower and go to sleep. I call a friend to see if she can find my advisor and find out what she wants me to do. I stand in line to deal with the airline representatives and wait.

5:30 - 5:50 pm - I reach the front of the line, and am given a spot on an 8am flight. The United guy says I need to talk to Travelocity to find out if I can get a refund since that's where I got the tickets. With no instructions to do otherwise, I call Travelcity and spend half an hour attempting to get an actual person and explaining the situation and waiting for the actual person to verify the situation and canceling my trip. This is difficult, because the terminal is very loud and the actual person is not so loud and speaks quickly.

-- Intermission --

5:45 - 6:00 pm - My friend has been unable to locate our advisor and I've already given up anyway. I head for the baggage claim area to retrieve my bag.

6:00 pm - I look through the pile of luggage from my flight. Nothing. I look at the piles from the other canceled flights. Nothing. I check again. Twice. I'm in denial again.

6:15 pm - I talk to the United agent who informs me that my bag was sent ahead on flight 683. I'm somewhere between denial and anger. While I'm filling out a form to get my bag back, my Dad calls to see what's up - he says something which reminds me that my contact lens solution is now in Chicago. My sense of the absurd kicks in and I skip the remain stages of coping and arrive at acceptance, somewhat worse for the wear. I resolve to be pleasant to the United agent[5] who tells a coworker that it's his second consecutive day of working late to deal with canceled flights.

6:20 pm - I leave my boss voicemail saying that I won't be at the meeting after all and that he will not need to pick me up at the BooNE house in the morning. I call the limo company to cancel my reservations.

6:30 pm - I go outside to get an m60 back to Manhattan. I'm standing next to a family with a small child on a leash[6]. The kid looks at me, so I smile because she's cute (and the idea of a child on a leash is funny) which makes her smile back and laugh. This is the high point of my day.

6:45 pm - I get on a bus. I get a seat. In traffic on the way back to campus, I wait.

8:00 pm - I arrive back on campus. I want a few things - food, a hot shower, to lie on the couch and watch a movie, to not see another human being for several hours, sleep, etc. I find my common room *filled* with people. Oh right... it's Friday, there's a prayer group. Oh well.
I need to do a few things - email my advisor an explanation/apology, email my boss an explanation/apology, to go to Duane Reade to get contact lens solution and toothpaste. I set about doing these.

10:00 pm - Physically and emotionally exhausted, I shut myself in my room with my dinner and watch some Pinky and the Brain episodes. One of them involves Pinky and the Brain being stolen from the lab by activists and flown to some remote jungle where they are dropped. I fixate on the airplane. I don't feel better.

11:30 pm - Feeling guilty for turning down the 8am flight and kicking myself for a number of other decisions I might have made differently, I go to bed.

-- End of Day 1 --

[1] Actually, they're still inflicting pain today. But that will be explained in a later post, which I hope to title "The horrible transportation ordeal: Day 2 - a happy conclusion"

[2] After much debate, I decided it would be easiest to check a bag. The deciding factors were a) desire not to have to find shampoo/toothpaste/contact lens solution in Chicago to use for two days and then toss and b) to have room for books so I could do homework. This bag was borrowed from a friend as my bags are all squishy and would probably be inadequate for protecting my shampoo from baggage gorillas.

[3] An a side note, Flight 683 pulled away from the gate at about 3:15, by all of ten feet. From my new seat, I could watch as it sat just shy of the gate for a very long time (I don't remember when I noticed that it had finally left, but it wasn't before 4.) Out of curiosity I checked the flight status this morning and United reports that it departed at 3:11 (Ha! There's a half-truth) and arrived at ORD at 6:25 (it should have arrived at ORD at 3:29).

[4] At this point, the fact that I haven't eaten an actual meal since 11 and have had only a brownie since then begins to affect my logical reasoning/coping ability.

[5] This was because I got yelled at by a stupid person at work on Wednesday, and while it didn't help the person yelling, it did make me feel bad. Anyway, I smiled and asked the United guy if he every got to deal with people when they weren't grumpy about things going wrong. I learned that he has apparently been working in his job for 34 years and had dealt with pretty much everything. Then he asked me about whst my plans for the weekend had been and wished me luck with getting back to school and getting my bag.

[6] The leash was on a little backpack/harness thing that looked like a monkey. And this kid was tiny and well-behaved. It was adorable.

The New Digs...

Damn! I saw the suite last year when we were looking at housing, but I didn't remember it as being this nice. It's pretty cool. :-D We have views of both rivers, the downtown skyline, and the GWB all from the suite. I'll take more pictures when the weather clears up. For now here's a picture of the kitchen and the view from my window (part of it... I can also see the GWB if I look north but it doesn't show up too well in the fog).