{"id":175,"date":"2007-10-18T22:49:00","date_gmt":"2007-10-19T04:49:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2008-09-16T14:32:13","modified_gmt":"2008-09-16T20:32:13","slug":"147","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dmentd.com\/blog\/147","title":{"rendered":"Aberystwyth Bound \u2014 Part 2."},"content":{"rendered":"

Journal Entry \u2014 September 14th: Welcome to Hell<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Let’s see, where to start?\u00a0 Well, due to severe weather in Atlanta, the airport there was on full “ground stop” for two hours.\u00a0 No air traffic in or out.\u00a0 So, we sat and grew moss in the Austin airport.\u00a0 Talked to the folks at the counter and was given bad news.\u00a0 International flights are given priority, and more than likely because the plane I was due to get on was running late too, they were going to dust off another one from the hangar to get the Manchester flight out on time.\u00a0 Joy.<\/p>\n

Took off from Austin 2+ hours late, had an uneventful flight, but we ended up sitting on the tarmac, mouldering.\u00a0 Apparently the plane at the gate we were going to had mechanical problems.\u00a0 Forty-five minutes later, we finally pull in.<\/p>\n

Coming off the plane I emerge into chaos.\u00a0 People everywhere!\u00a0 Went to the nearest check-in counter and asked what my options were.\u00a0 Obviously the lady there wasn’t all too bright and she scared the hell out of me with her ill informed research.\u00a0 She directed me to the main check-in counter for the terminal.\u00a0 Arriving there I found myself in a line of hundreds.\u00a0 Not long after I got there, some other employee came along and started pulling international travelers out of line and directing them to a different terminal desk.\u00a0 A terminal so far away I had to get there by train.\u00a0 By train.\u00a0 Big damned airport.<\/p>\n

Getting to the “E” terminal (from “B”) I find myself in a line of thousands.\u00a0 THOUSANDS!!<\/span><\/strong> Jeebus, what am I in for?\u00a0 I’m hungry, I gotta piss real bad, and I can’t leave the line or I lose my spot.\u00a0 Twenty minutes later, an airline employee comes to us at the end of the line and says there are no<\/span><\/strong> flights leaving for Europe till tomorrow, and the wait from our point in line is estimated at three hours long.\u00a0 She advised that we should go to “T” terminal (all the way at the other end of this monster airport) and talk to the folks at their master check-in counters in the ticketing area, that it’ll take much less time.<\/p>\n

I bolt for the escalator \u2014 you don’t have to tell me twice \u2014 and make the train ahead of the throng.\u00a0 Taking the train to “T” I notice the terminal map indicates that ticketing is by the baggage area, which is the next (and last) stop after “T”.\u00a0 I go there, bolt up the escalator and see a big sign that says “Leaving Secure Area, No Re-Entry”.\u00a0 Crap.\u00a0 Can’t have that happen.<\/p>\n

I decide to hoof it back to “T”, and a few escalators and an elevator later… I’m lost.\u00a0 I eventually ask an someone that looks official (man, finding employees is a challenge) where to go, and strike out in the direction they indicate.<\/p>\n

I come across a lone, lonely, and more importantly, free of passengers check-in counter.\u00a0 They give me two options \u2014 a direct flight at the same time tomorrow as my flight was tonight, or a 5:30pm flight out of JFK airport.\u00a0 I opt for the direct flight and fewer opportunities to miss another connecting flight.\u00a0 I’m pissed, I’m hungry, my blood sugar is low and I feel like crap.<\/p>\n

Now I have to find someplace to stay, and I’m worried that with all the grounded passengers, there will be no rooms available.\u00a0 I make a few calls and find a room at a Quality Inn (truly and oxymoron) five minutes from the airport.\u00a0 I jump on the shuttle and book my room.\u00a0 The only food is pizza delivery… so I make an order.\u00a0 The last time I ate was at 11:00am and that was over twelve hours ago.\u00a0 I devour a crap pizza and feel better almost instantly.\u00a0 Now here I sit, writing this.<\/p>\n

Checkout is at 11:00am, so I’m gonna’ go to the airport way, WAY early.\u00a0 I can get food there and I can take my time clearing security and getting to the gate.\u00a0 I’m gonna have to buy new train tickets in Manchester and I don’t want Sweets to have to go out of pocket for hers.\u00a0 This sucks, now not only is everything more complicated, but I’m losing a whole damned day with her.\u00a0 I can only hope that the flight home is somewhat smooth, or I’m fucked again.<\/p>\n

Time to get some sleep… I’m wiped out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Journal Entry \u2014 September 14th: Welcome to Hell Let’s see, where to start?\u00a0 Well, due to severe weather in Atlanta, the airport there was on full “ground stop” for two hours.\u00a0 No air traffic in or out.\u00a0 So, we sat and grew moss in the Austin airport.\u00a0 Talked to the folks at the counter and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,19,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aggravation","category-stress","category-travel"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dmentd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dmentd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dmentd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dmentd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dmentd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=175"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dmentd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":558,"href":"https:\/\/dmentd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175\/revisions\/558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dmentd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dmentd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dmentd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}