You have been posting in the comment section of my blog for almost a year now. While the Chinese characters look cool and although I have no idea what they actually say, I find it really annoying and really wish you would get the hint and stop posting them. I can't imagine that my blog really gets that much traffic for you to find it worthwhile to put your porno links in the comment sections of my posts, nor can I imagine that anyone even clicks on them. It's really a waste of your time and mine.
A few days ago, I admired your efforts to be tricky and use "donna" as an alias to disguise your identity when you left your Chinese porno links. I even laughed at the fact that you thought that would work. Silly Chinese porno link guy, I get emails when comments are posted and I noticed you felt the need to comment on 11 of my posts. That was a big red flag. The other red flag was that, other than the letters "AV" at the start, your comment was all Chinese characters, thus giving you away.
I really don't want to moderate comments because that is a pain in the ass, so I'm going to ask that you please stop posting in the comments section of my blog posts. I will delete the comments every time, so find somewhere else to post your links to Chinese porno. Thanks, buddy.
Showing posts with label woes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label woes. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
The #1 Reason Why MIA Sucks
It's the people who work there. Everyone has an attitude and that attitude sucks. It's like they think they're doing the public a big favor by working there. It's completely different than every other airport in the country and it's also the worst airport in the country. I feel bad that many people have to have their introduction to the USA by way of Miami International Airport. It's the worst airport in the country. Seriously. I think it was a year or two ago that somehow they got an award for best airport or most improved airport or something and it totally blew me away. The selection committee must have gone out and drank tequila into the early hours of the morning before finishing off with 1,000 rounds of bong hits and walking in to cast their votes.
Thanks for continuing to under-service, under-perform, and underachieve MIA. You suck.
Thanks for continuing to under-service, under-perform, and underachieve MIA. You suck.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Another Day, Another Flight, Another Lost Bag
Something didn't feel right when I began the check-in process at the Delta self-service counter today at MIA. You see, I usually fly American Airlines because they have a hub at MIA with direct flights to just about every city I need to fly to. I hate layovers. Not only are they a waste of time but they provide another chance for the airline to let the traveler down.
Another reason I fly American Airlines whenever I can has to due with my frequent flyer status. I've hit Platinum 2 years in a row now and may even hit Executive Platinum this year (I'd easily nail EP status if I didnt fly direct everywhere as flights with layovers get you more miles for your sacrifice in time). With that status comes a waiver of baggage fees, aka "the biggest consumer ripoff in the past 5 years". Even though my company picks up this baggage fee, it pisses me off that such a thing even exists. Let's see, the airlines were losing a boatload of money and claimed rising oil prices had a lot to do with it and figured that baggage gave the aircraft a lesser mpg, knew people need clothes when they travel, and decided to offset their costs by charging for baggage. That may not be exactly how it went down but I'm sure its pretty effin close. Well, oil prices have come way down yet we still get raped with baggage fees. Thank you, Sir! May I have another?!?!
So there I stood, looking at the kiosk and wondering if it would be possible to check my bag of clothing and carry on both my briefcase and my bag of product samples. In the past 2 months, my luggage had been lost twice which resulted in me walking into a meeting with a customer with plenty to tell but nothing to show. In other words, it was a waste of a meeting and I looked like an asshole. This would save my company $25 and ensure that I had my samples just in case my luggage was lost. Physically, I knew I could. Morally, I struggled with the decision. I can't stand the assholes who place their own well being above others on airplanes. The people who cram 2-3 bags into the overhead are said assholes. I didn't want to be that guy, the very guy I despise. So, even though I had reservations about checking the bag of samples, I gave into my morals and did it anyways.
I was on 4 hours of sleep, having gone to bed around 1am and gotten up at 5am to be at the airport by 6am for a 730am flight. I was hoping to sleep on the flight from Miami to Atlanta but a screaming baby prevented that from happening. The flight from Atlanta to Chattanooga was delayed but I wasn't surprised since delayed flights and ATL airport are kinda one in the same. Luckily, my appointment wasnt until 130p so I still would have time to grab my bags and a bite to eat with my sales rep before heading to see my customer. Or so I thought...
The airport in Chattanooga is tiny so the baggage carousel started less than 10 minutes after we landed. Now we pray. I was relieved when I saw my bag of clothing come out. Just one more bag and I'd be on my way...
That bag never came.
The carousel stopped and I was pissed. I'd just paid $50 to have Delta lose my bag and there was nothing I could do about it. Nope, can't get upset because that isn't going to do anything. All I could do was suppress my rage and meander over to the baggage office to report the problem.
Apparently taking 2 bags off of a plane in Atlanta and putting them on another is a difficult feat because, according to the Delta employee at the baggage counter, this happens almost daily. I took my claim number and hoped the bag would be on the next flight which was due to land at 120p, 10 minutes before my meeting...great. I ended up being an hour late and thus had to rush. I don't know about Delta Airlines but my time is very valuable to me, especially when it comes to doing my job. My brain was working overtime trying to not be pissed about being charged for bags only to have them lost. I decided I would resort to writing another letter to the airline which would most likely result in me being placated with a $100 voucher for use on a future flight. Yay...
So what can be done about being forced to pay for baggage on flights? As I see it, you can add $50-$100 to whatever "discount" airfare you are able to find on a flight so it really isn't a good fare. It's absurd how 9/11 security (fear) initiatives and the price of oil are holding the American consumer hostage when it comes to leisure or business travel. There has got to be a solution. In fact, I know there is a solution but the airlines are just too f**king selfish to take the necessary steps to making that solution a reality. But that's a whole separate discussion for another time. Until then, I guess we just have to grin and bear it while the airlines take advantage of us.
Another reason I fly American Airlines whenever I can has to due with my frequent flyer status. I've hit Platinum 2 years in a row now and may even hit Executive Platinum this year (I'd easily nail EP status if I didnt fly direct everywhere as flights with layovers get you more miles for your sacrifice in time). With that status comes a waiver of baggage fees, aka "the biggest consumer ripoff in the past 5 years". Even though my company picks up this baggage fee, it pisses me off that such a thing even exists. Let's see, the airlines were losing a boatload of money and claimed rising oil prices had a lot to do with it and figured that baggage gave the aircraft a lesser mpg, knew people need clothes when they travel, and decided to offset their costs by charging for baggage. That may not be exactly how it went down but I'm sure its pretty effin close. Well, oil prices have come way down yet we still get raped with baggage fees. Thank you, Sir! May I have another?!?!
So there I stood, looking at the kiosk and wondering if it would be possible to check my bag of clothing and carry on both my briefcase and my bag of product samples. In the past 2 months, my luggage had been lost twice which resulted in me walking into a meeting with a customer with plenty to tell but nothing to show. In other words, it was a waste of a meeting and I looked like an asshole. This would save my company $25 and ensure that I had my samples just in case my luggage was lost. Physically, I knew I could. Morally, I struggled with the decision. I can't stand the assholes who place their own well being above others on airplanes. The people who cram 2-3 bags into the overhead are said assholes. I didn't want to be that guy, the very guy I despise. So, even though I had reservations about checking the bag of samples, I gave into my morals and did it anyways.
I was on 4 hours of sleep, having gone to bed around 1am and gotten up at 5am to be at the airport by 6am for a 730am flight. I was hoping to sleep on the flight from Miami to Atlanta but a screaming baby prevented that from happening. The flight from Atlanta to Chattanooga was delayed but I wasn't surprised since delayed flights and ATL airport are kinda one in the same. Luckily, my appointment wasnt until 130p so I still would have time to grab my bags and a bite to eat with my sales rep before heading to see my customer. Or so I thought...
The airport in Chattanooga is tiny so the baggage carousel started less than 10 minutes after we landed. Now we pray. I was relieved when I saw my bag of clothing come out. Just one more bag and I'd be on my way...
That bag never came.
The carousel stopped and I was pissed. I'd just paid $50 to have Delta lose my bag and there was nothing I could do about it. Nope, can't get upset because that isn't going to do anything. All I could do was suppress my rage and meander over to the baggage office to report the problem.
Apparently taking 2 bags off of a plane in Atlanta and putting them on another is a difficult feat because, according to the Delta employee at the baggage counter, this happens almost daily. I took my claim number and hoped the bag would be on the next flight which was due to land at 120p, 10 minutes before my meeting...great. I ended up being an hour late and thus had to rush. I don't know about Delta Airlines but my time is very valuable to me, especially when it comes to doing my job. My brain was working overtime trying to not be pissed about being charged for bags only to have them lost. I decided I would resort to writing another letter to the airline which would most likely result in me being placated with a $100 voucher for use on a future flight. Yay...
So what can be done about being forced to pay for baggage on flights? As I see it, you can add $50-$100 to whatever "discount" airfare you are able to find on a flight so it really isn't a good fare. It's absurd how 9/11 security (fear) initiatives and the price of oil are holding the American consumer hostage when it comes to leisure or business travel. There has got to be a solution. In fact, I know there is a solution but the airlines are just too f**king selfish to take the necessary steps to making that solution a reality. But that's a whole separate discussion for another time. Until then, I guess we just have to grin and bear it while the airlines take advantage of us.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Airline woes continue...
I do most of my travel out of MIA because its 10 minutes from my house. They also have the best satellite parking lot (Fast Park just off of LeJeune) in the country, period. I could write a whole post on Fast Park, its that damn good. My biggest complaint about MIA is that waiting for baggage takes an INSANE amount of time but my last 2 flights in have had abnormally quick baggage service so Im hoping thats a new trend.
Praises and complaints aside, as our petro prices continue to rise or remain overpriced, our travel options begin to dwindle one by one. I read an article today about the reduction of flights at nationwide airports. THe article contained this link that listed all of the reductions for each airport by percentage.
I was amazed by how many airports around the country are reducing flights. Its pretty much all of them. One stood out though... Guess who the only one in the top 50 is that has grown in the past year? Yup, its MIA. Up 4% since one year ago while all others are down except for New Orleans who is even. In the top 100, there are only 9 who are up or even and Miami is the only one that I would consider a mainstream airport. The others are all off the beaten path like Portland (ME), Burlington (VT), and Guam.
The past few times Ive been to Vegas, Ive been surprised by how dead it is at the airport. In the past Id waited up to 45 minutes in a cab line in 100 degree weather. The past 2 trips I was in a cab in less than 10 minutes. So, its no surprise that they have had reductions in flights there. I have to go out there in November and January and both tickets were $400 roundtrip which is a definite rise over the last year.
Its funny how we see the price of a barrel of oil shoot up and take our gas prices up with it but then when it comes back down our gas prices stay the same. Something aint right here...
Praises and complaints aside, as our petro prices continue to rise or remain overpriced, our travel options begin to dwindle one by one. I read an article today about the reduction of flights at nationwide airports. THe article contained this link that listed all of the reductions for each airport by percentage.
I was amazed by how many airports around the country are reducing flights. Its pretty much all of them. One stood out though... Guess who the only one in the top 50 is that has grown in the past year? Yup, its MIA. Up 4% since one year ago while all others are down except for New Orleans who is even. In the top 100, there are only 9 who are up or even and Miami is the only one that I would consider a mainstream airport. The others are all off the beaten path like Portland (ME), Burlington (VT), and Guam.
The past few times Ive been to Vegas, Ive been surprised by how dead it is at the airport. In the past Id waited up to 45 minutes in a cab line in 100 degree weather. The past 2 trips I was in a cab in less than 10 minutes. So, its no surprise that they have had reductions in flights there. I have to go out there in November and January and both tickets were $400 roundtrip which is a definite rise over the last year.
Its funny how we see the price of a barrel of oil shoot up and take our gas prices up with it but then when it comes back down our gas prices stay the same. Something aint right here...
Monday, July 9, 2007
The New Delta Airlines
On Friday, I drove thru one of the worst lightning storms Ive ever seen to FLL airport to hop a flight up to MA for a weekend on the beach in Gloucester with the fam and friends. Lightning was EVERYWHERE and the strangest thing about it was that the bolts were really, for lack of a better word, thick. As I approached the airport, I saw a few bolts of lightning totally annihilate the runway with sparks going everywhere. "Great", I thought to myself, "Im definitely going to be delayed..." When I got to the airport, I asked an employee if they were going to shut the airport down due to the storms, a common practice at airports like DFW, and he said "Nope, they wont have baggage handlers out on the runway, but the planes that are loaded will take off." I asked if that was dangerous seeing that lightning striking an airplane didnt really seem like something that you would want to happen, but he said it was fine and it happens all the time. I guess you learn something every day... Luckily, the flight was only delayed for 15 minutes.
So, back to the point of this whole story. I was flying Delta Airlines who had recently emerged from bankruptcy with a new logo and new service to international destinations. I also found out soon enough that they have some new planes. When I boarded the aircraft, a MD-88 with 2 seats on the right side and 3 on the left, I noticed that everything looked new. The lights were a nice halogen bulb that lit up your seating area for reading, the seats were new leather seats and really comfortable, and there was plenty of leg room in every seat which was key for long legged people like myself who like to stretch out on a flight and catch some zzz's. During the flight, they take on a similar approach to that of JetBlue where one attendant comes around with snacks (a decent assortment of munchies like Sun Chips, Cheese N Crackers, etc.) while another attendant takes drink orders. I had a nice nap, woke up for a snack and a beverage, and then we landed. I will say that the seat did start to become a little uncomfortable, but that was probably because it was new and hadnt had many asses in it to break it in.
Fast forward to today, where I am currently blogging at Logan Airport terminal A. My flight was scheduled to leave at 945am, so my old man and I hopped in the car at 615am to make the trip. It took about an hour or so with traffic and on the way I got a courtesy call from Delta advising me that my flight was delayed until 1030am. THis made me a little pissed because I absolutely LOATHE delays, but at least it was only until 1030am. I arrived at the airport and checked in only to find out that the delay was now until noon... No other flights to hop on either. Not happy. After getting thru security, I sat down and plugged in my laptop and began the wait. I got another call from Delta advising about the noon departure, then another one saying the same thing, then another call saying we would be departing at 11am. "Thats a good sign...", I thought. THen the dude sitting next to me who had gone to the ticket counter saunters up and says that we arent leaving until 3pm!!! Now Im pissed. I call Delta and talk to some really nice and apologetic customer service people who try to help me out but no other flights that make sense (i.e. - have earlier departures/arrivals, go to FLL where my car is and not MIA) are available except a 315p flight w/ a connection in ATL that would put me in FLL at 1030pm, which also didnt make sense. So, here I sit broken hearted, came to fly home but havent departed...ugh. Travel woes continue...
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UPDATE:
I was able to hop a flight to LaGuardia on a shuttle with a connection to West Palm. From there, Delta would shuttle me to FLL so I could get my car and drive home to the Grove. Right now, Ive been sitting at the airport waiting for a flight that was supposed to leave at 820p. Its now 855p and we're waiting for the plane to pull up to the gate... This is the worst flying experience Ive ever had and I fly about twice a week. Total bullshit.
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UPDATE #2
Got to PBI last night at about 1250a, 1.5hrs late. By the time I got a shuttle to FLL, got my car, and drove to my place in the Grove, it was 3am. Im a zombie at work today. Only sorta funny thing about the trip was the cute Italian girl sitting next to me falling asleep on my shoulder while I was asleep. She was married, of course...
So, back to the point of this whole story. I was flying Delta Airlines who had recently emerged from bankruptcy with a new logo and new service to international destinations. I also found out soon enough that they have some new planes. When I boarded the aircraft, a MD-88 with 2 seats on the right side and 3 on the left, I noticed that everything looked new. The lights were a nice halogen bulb that lit up your seating area for reading, the seats were new leather seats and really comfortable, and there was plenty of leg room in every seat which was key for long legged people like myself who like to stretch out on a flight and catch some zzz's. During the flight, they take on a similar approach to that of JetBlue where one attendant comes around with snacks (a decent assortment of munchies like Sun Chips, Cheese N Crackers, etc.) while another attendant takes drink orders. I had a nice nap, woke up for a snack and a beverage, and then we landed. I will say that the seat did start to become a little uncomfortable, but that was probably because it was new and hadnt had many asses in it to break it in.
Fast forward to today, where I am currently blogging at Logan Airport terminal A. My flight was scheduled to leave at 945am, so my old man and I hopped in the car at 615am to make the trip. It took about an hour or so with traffic and on the way I got a courtesy call from Delta advising me that my flight was delayed until 1030am. THis made me a little pissed because I absolutely LOATHE delays, but at least it was only until 1030am. I arrived at the airport and checked in only to find out that the delay was now until noon... No other flights to hop on either. Not happy. After getting thru security, I sat down and plugged in my laptop and began the wait. I got another call from Delta advising about the noon departure, then another one saying the same thing, then another call saying we would be departing at 11am. "Thats a good sign...", I thought. THen the dude sitting next to me who had gone to the ticket counter saunters up and says that we arent leaving until 3pm!!! Now Im pissed. I call Delta and talk to some really nice and apologetic customer service people who try to help me out but no other flights that make sense (i.e. - have earlier departures/arrivals, go to FLL where my car is and not MIA) are available except a 315p flight w/ a connection in ATL that would put me in FLL at 1030pm, which also didnt make sense. So, here I sit broken hearted, came to fly home but havent departed...ugh. Travel woes continue...
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UPDATE:
I was able to hop a flight to LaGuardia on a shuttle with a connection to West Palm. From there, Delta would shuttle me to FLL so I could get my car and drive home to the Grove. Right now, Ive been sitting at the airport waiting for a flight that was supposed to leave at 820p. Its now 855p and we're waiting for the plane to pull up to the gate... This is the worst flying experience Ive ever had and I fly about twice a week. Total bullshit.
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UPDATE #2
Got to PBI last night at about 1250a, 1.5hrs late. By the time I got a shuttle to FLL, got my car, and drove to my place in the Grove, it was 3am. Im a zombie at work today. Only sorta funny thing about the trip was the cute Italian girl sitting next to me falling asleep on my shoulder while I was asleep. She was married, of course...
Thursday, March 15, 2007
The Trip from Hell...
OK, so Ive been traveling a ton and the whole blog thing sorta lost its appeal. Im sure the 2 people that read it slowly cried themselves to sleep... Well, I had to post this story since it was absolutely ridiculous. Absolute nightmare of a road trip from Miami to Tulsa to Dallas to Houston and back to Miami.
So, I left Sunday for tropical Tulsa, OK with a connection in Dallas. Flying on the weekends for work kinda sucks, but Ive been getting so annihilated from going out so much that it was nice to have to "tone it down" on a Sunday. I get to Dallas and board the Tulsa flight. Should be an easy hour trip but the pilots decided to show up 90mins late in Dallas...go figure. Got to the hotel at just after midnight after taking a cab where the cab driver started screaming at someone in Arabic. I think he was pissed at the dispatch because he kept screaming, "Gligamesh ish beck naka gilgamesh leeba tatkainalsdhliajsdf dispatch gilgamesh suresh asdjfasjdhglasdjrfasd dispatch gilgamesh suresh dispatch hasldkfalsghalsdjl alsidfjla sidfliuf aisjdf l; dispatch!!!!" over and over again.
The next day, I visited some accounts, wrote some good biz, and got done early. Had a 640p flight to Dallas but got to the airport at 2p so tried to fly standby on the 440p flight. Well, the 440p flight gets cancelled ("mechanical failures") and the 640p gets delayed 45mins (no fuckin reason)... At least the bar was right next to my gate and I met a cute chick who was more of a sports fan than most guys I know. At first, I thought she was just quoting crap she read on espn.com that morning, but this chick was legit. We spent about 2hrs throwing back a few brew-has, taking sports, and making fun of the dork next to us with the bluetooth earpiece - awesome times! I still dont get why people wear those stupid things in public. Anyways, I finally board the plane and get to Dallas at 845p only to find out that they left my bags in Tulsa. Reason for this - "TSA didnt have enough time to get my bags on the plane". Thats right, 5hrs early and they didnt have time... I mustve said, "Fuck" about 100 times to the poor baggage lady because she kept giving me the "not enough time" excuse. I was doing my best to hold back rage but it slipped out a little when I ranted, "Lady, gimme another excuse please. Even lie if you have to! Tell me they thought y bags were radioactive, that they were WMDs, that they thought my electric razor was a grenade, but dont tell me they didnt have enough time when I was there 5 fucking hours early!" Went out for a good bite to eat and a much needed whiskey before heading to the hotel for some shuteye. Captain Fantastic at American Airlines said that I would have my bags delivered by 10am so at least that wasnt so bad...
Its 9am and I call the "lost baggage hotline" to get the status on my baggage. The computer attendant tells me that they arrived in Dallas at 8am and "will be delivered to me within the next 6 hours." Gee, 8am + 6hrs = 2pm last time I checked. I knew that lady was full of shit when she said 10am... Well, bags showed up around 1145am and I headed out to a crappy meeting then broke for lunch before heading to the reps office to train a new guy. From there we hit up another customer for a meeting that sucked because we didnt write business right then and there, but the customer was a really cool guy and we chatted for awhile about Miami, Superbowl, Vegas, gambling, etc (all the important stuff) and got to know each other better so at least that was good.
Then it was time to fly to Houston. My flight was supposed to leave at 830p out of DFW but it was raining like hell so it was delayed to 930p. I was afraid it would be cancelled so i cancelled the flight and called Southwest cuz they had flights at the other Dallas airport (Love Field - which was closer). The lady on the line for Southwest said they had "plenty of availability" on about 9 flights that left every 1/2 hr and that there were no delays longer than 15mins because of the rain. She said it shouldnt be a problem getting on the 6. 630, or 7p flight. When we left, it was POURING out. It was so bad that we were driving down a hill and there was 3+ inches of water on the road in the MIDDLE of the hill, not at the bottom. "This cant be good" I think to myself. I get to the airport and they can only get me on the 830p. Its 545p... I ask why and they tell me the airport has been shut down for the past 2hrs due to weather...go figure. I guess captain McSmartypants left that out of her "you should have no problem" report 15 minutes earlier.
The airport is a total madhouse, people EVERYWHERE. The line for Chili's was at least 50 deep and there were no chances I was gonna spring for McD's or some other shit food. At least they had the most awesome thing Ive ever seen at an airport - BEER CARTS! Thats right, people walking all over the airport throwing down beers like nothing. It was like being at a Pats game! I slammed down a few Heinekens and then realized I would need to wait about 3 more hours before my flight had a chance to leave so I hit up Chili's and made it thru the line relatively quickly, no thanks to the douchebag lady that told me there were single seats that you didnt have to wait in line for - I got out of line only to be sent back... Two double whiskeys and some boneless buffalo wings later, Im ready to check on my flight since the board says we should be boarding in 30 minutes. Guess again... The Dallas-Houston terminal at Southwest is a total free-for-all. Flights from 4pm thru 8pm are taking off at different times from 2 different gates and mass confusion has ensued. One guy next to me just had a total meltdown and started flipping out and swearing like crazy while me and another girl watched and laughed. Its always easy to make friends when youre experiencing travel woes because everyone is completely helpless. Finally, after 4hrs of waiting, I get placed on the 930p flight and when I ask if my bags will be on my flight I get a "maybe, maybe not" answer. "When the weather gets like this, we just start shipping bags on whatever flight we can just to get them there", the attendant tells me. Oh, that makes a lot of sense...
I land and check the baggage carousel dont see my bags but then the girl who I had talked with earlier directed me to a big pile of bags and sure enough, mine were there! First piece of good luck! Now its pouring outside but luckily the hotel shuttles are under cover and the shuttle driver is reasonably sane. Got to the hotel at 1130p that night, 3hrs later than expected...
Its now Wednesday morning and Im really looking forward to geting out, seeing customers, and getting the fuck outta Houston and back to Miami. At around 7am, I get a text from my rep who was supposed to pick me up to go visit 4 accounts. He is 3.5hrs away in Austin where he lives and cant leave because a bridge is under 3ft of water... Go figure. We scrap the day and I check to see if I can get an earlier flight than my 7pm scheduled filght since its 1145am. There is a 2pm flight and its a 35 minute drive once the shuttle gets here to pick me up. Im gonna go for it, so I shower, pack, and make plans to head to the airport. I talk with "Keisha" who tells me that "Leroy" will be there to get me around 1230p. Its gonna be close sportsfans. Im really depending on Leroy... Leroy shows up and is on good spirits. He grabs some free coffee at the hotel and we head out - love that move. If I was a shuttle/cab/bus driver, I would never pay for breakfast or coffee ever. "Time is of the essence " I say to Leroy as we head out. "Man we gon' be there in 30 minutes, youll make it, I'll get you there." Leroy is the man. He starts telling me how this airport ride is "all Leroy" because he does it on the side for some extra cash. In fact, Leroy has had enough of this job and is trying to get a few bucks to help him out on his bus trip to Atlanta tonite. He is quitting the job after making a few "cash runs" and is leaving to start up at his old job in Atlanta later on that night. His current employer has no idea - awesome. Im loving Leroy time right now especially, because he's flooring it and basically pushing cars out of our way by honking and flashing high beams. "As you can see, Ive got a little bit of road rage in me...", he says with a laugh. Then he launches into a story about how his girl is a no-good drunk on drugs and that she "aint gon' see him no mo'" after waking him up in the middle of the night to ask for a smoke and then getting pissed because he didnt have any. "I felt like chokin her out but I kept my hands to myself. I dont need that shit. Instead, I went out on the porch and to' up all her underwears and shit and then I left. She wont see me no mo'!", he tells me. Leroy is single-handedly turning this trip around for me at this point. After a little silence, Leroy gets deep and asks, "If you could change one thing in the world, what would it be?" Pretty broad question, but I say that I wish that everyone would just get along. That earns me a high-5 from my man Leroy who agrees and goes on a rant about how between sex, race, religion, etc., there's too much fighting and hating goin on these days.
We're finally at the airport and I wish Leroy luck in Atlanta and give him a nice tip. I really hope things work out for him cuz he was a nice guy that seems like he actually gives a shit about contributing to society and making a living, which is more than I can say for about 50% of the people who live in Miami. I hustle up to the AA counter and ask if I can make the 2pm flight and Im in! I catch a break and get an exit row aisle seat too! Talking to my boss, I say "I finally caught a break, go ton the early flight, got an exit row aisle, AND we're about to leave". Im feelin good now - its almost over. We board the plane...
...and end up sitting in the plane on the runway for 2 HOURS waiting for weather to pass so we can fly...UNREAL. Didnt help that the pilot let about 7 Continental flights sneak in front of us. Got home at 7p and couldnt have been happier. I helped an old lady grab her bags and then mine were then the 5th and 7th bags to come out - thanks karma. What a trip. There were points where I couldve had a total meltdown but I kept laughing because it was quite comical how everything that could go wrong, did. Ive really come full circle. Years ago, Id have been the guy at the airport flipping out. Now, I could almost care less. Im in airports so much these days that I almost enjoy them. Now Ive got a nice 2 solid weeks in Miami before my next trip so I'll have time to get caught up on housework and catch up with friends. Then its off to Newark, NJ where I will probably be stranded in a blizzard...
So, I left Sunday for tropical Tulsa, OK with a connection in Dallas. Flying on the weekends for work kinda sucks, but Ive been getting so annihilated from going out so much that it was nice to have to "tone it down" on a Sunday. I get to Dallas and board the Tulsa flight. Should be an easy hour trip but the pilots decided to show up 90mins late in Dallas...go figure. Got to the hotel at just after midnight after taking a cab where the cab driver started screaming at someone in Arabic. I think he was pissed at the dispatch because he kept screaming, "Gligamesh ish beck naka gilgamesh leeba tatkainalsdhliajsdf dispatch gilgamesh suresh asdjfasjdhglasdjrfasd dispatch gilgamesh suresh dispatch hasldkfalsghalsdjl alsidfjla sidfliuf aisjdf l; dispatch!!!!" over and over again.
The next day, I visited some accounts, wrote some good biz, and got done early. Had a 640p flight to Dallas but got to the airport at 2p so tried to fly standby on the 440p flight. Well, the 440p flight gets cancelled ("mechanical failures") and the 640p gets delayed 45mins (no fuckin reason)... At least the bar was right next to my gate and I met a cute chick who was more of a sports fan than most guys I know. At first, I thought she was just quoting crap she read on espn.com that morning, but this chick was legit. We spent about 2hrs throwing back a few brew-has, taking sports, and making fun of the dork next to us with the bluetooth earpiece - awesome times! I still dont get why people wear those stupid things in public. Anyways, I finally board the plane and get to Dallas at 845p only to find out that they left my bags in Tulsa. Reason for this - "TSA didnt have enough time to get my bags on the plane". Thats right, 5hrs early and they didnt have time... I mustve said, "Fuck" about 100 times to the poor baggage lady because she kept giving me the "not enough time" excuse. I was doing my best to hold back rage but it slipped out a little when I ranted, "Lady, gimme another excuse please. Even lie if you have to! Tell me they thought y bags were radioactive, that they were WMDs, that they thought my electric razor was a grenade, but dont tell me they didnt have enough time when I was there 5 fucking hours early!" Went out for a good bite to eat and a much needed whiskey before heading to the hotel for some shuteye. Captain Fantastic at American Airlines said that I would have my bags delivered by 10am so at least that wasnt so bad...
Its 9am and I call the "lost baggage hotline" to get the status on my baggage. The computer attendant tells me that they arrived in Dallas at 8am and "will be delivered to me within the next 6 hours." Gee, 8am + 6hrs = 2pm last time I checked. I knew that lady was full of shit when she said 10am... Well, bags showed up around 1145am and I headed out to a crappy meeting then broke for lunch before heading to the reps office to train a new guy. From there we hit up another customer for a meeting that sucked because we didnt write business right then and there, but the customer was a really cool guy and we chatted for awhile about Miami, Superbowl, Vegas, gambling, etc (all the important stuff) and got to know each other better so at least that was good.
Then it was time to fly to Houston. My flight was supposed to leave at 830p out of DFW but it was raining like hell so it was delayed to 930p. I was afraid it would be cancelled so i cancelled the flight and called Southwest cuz they had flights at the other Dallas airport (Love Field - which was closer). The lady on the line for Southwest said they had "plenty of availability" on about 9 flights that left every 1/2 hr and that there were no delays longer than 15mins because of the rain. She said it shouldnt be a problem getting on the 6. 630, or 7p flight. When we left, it was POURING out. It was so bad that we were driving down a hill and there was 3+ inches of water on the road in the MIDDLE of the hill, not at the bottom. "This cant be good" I think to myself. I get to the airport and they can only get me on the 830p. Its 545p... I ask why and they tell me the airport has been shut down for the past 2hrs due to weather...go figure. I guess captain McSmartypants left that out of her "you should have no problem" report 15 minutes earlier.
The airport is a total madhouse, people EVERYWHERE. The line for Chili's was at least 50 deep and there were no chances I was gonna spring for McD's or some other shit food. At least they had the most awesome thing Ive ever seen at an airport - BEER CARTS! Thats right, people walking all over the airport throwing down beers like nothing. It was like being at a Pats game! I slammed down a few Heinekens and then realized I would need to wait about 3 more hours before my flight had a chance to leave so I hit up Chili's and made it thru the line relatively quickly, no thanks to the douchebag lady that told me there were single seats that you didnt have to wait in line for - I got out of line only to be sent back... Two double whiskeys and some boneless buffalo wings later, Im ready to check on my flight since the board says we should be boarding in 30 minutes. Guess again... The Dallas-Houston terminal at Southwest is a total free-for-all. Flights from 4pm thru 8pm are taking off at different times from 2 different gates and mass confusion has ensued. One guy next to me just had a total meltdown and started flipping out and swearing like crazy while me and another girl watched and laughed. Its always easy to make friends when youre experiencing travel woes because everyone is completely helpless. Finally, after 4hrs of waiting, I get placed on the 930p flight and when I ask if my bags will be on my flight I get a "maybe, maybe not" answer. "When the weather gets like this, we just start shipping bags on whatever flight we can just to get them there", the attendant tells me. Oh, that makes a lot of sense...
I land and check the baggage carousel dont see my bags but then the girl who I had talked with earlier directed me to a big pile of bags and sure enough, mine were there! First piece of good luck! Now its pouring outside but luckily the hotel shuttles are under cover and the shuttle driver is reasonably sane. Got to the hotel at 1130p that night, 3hrs later than expected...
Its now Wednesday morning and Im really looking forward to geting out, seeing customers, and getting the fuck outta Houston and back to Miami. At around 7am, I get a text from my rep who was supposed to pick me up to go visit 4 accounts. He is 3.5hrs away in Austin where he lives and cant leave because a bridge is under 3ft of water... Go figure. We scrap the day and I check to see if I can get an earlier flight than my 7pm scheduled filght since its 1145am. There is a 2pm flight and its a 35 minute drive once the shuttle gets here to pick me up. Im gonna go for it, so I shower, pack, and make plans to head to the airport. I talk with "Keisha" who tells me that "Leroy" will be there to get me around 1230p. Its gonna be close sportsfans. Im really depending on Leroy... Leroy shows up and is on good spirits. He grabs some free coffee at the hotel and we head out - love that move. If I was a shuttle/cab/bus driver, I would never pay for breakfast or coffee ever. "Time is of the essence " I say to Leroy as we head out. "Man we gon' be there in 30 minutes, youll make it, I'll get you there." Leroy is the man. He starts telling me how this airport ride is "all Leroy" because he does it on the side for some extra cash. In fact, Leroy has had enough of this job and is trying to get a few bucks to help him out on his bus trip to Atlanta tonite. He is quitting the job after making a few "cash runs" and is leaving to start up at his old job in Atlanta later on that night. His current employer has no idea - awesome. Im loving Leroy time right now especially, because he's flooring it and basically pushing cars out of our way by honking and flashing high beams. "As you can see, Ive got a little bit of road rage in me...", he says with a laugh. Then he launches into a story about how his girl is a no-good drunk on drugs and that she "aint gon' see him no mo'" after waking him up in the middle of the night to ask for a smoke and then getting pissed because he didnt have any. "I felt like chokin her out but I kept my hands to myself. I dont need that shit. Instead, I went out on the porch and to' up all her underwears and shit and then I left. She wont see me no mo'!", he tells me. Leroy is single-handedly turning this trip around for me at this point. After a little silence, Leroy gets deep and asks, "If you could change one thing in the world, what would it be?" Pretty broad question, but I say that I wish that everyone would just get along. That earns me a high-5 from my man Leroy who agrees and goes on a rant about how between sex, race, religion, etc., there's too much fighting and hating goin on these days.
We're finally at the airport and I wish Leroy luck in Atlanta and give him a nice tip. I really hope things work out for him cuz he was a nice guy that seems like he actually gives a shit about contributing to society and making a living, which is more than I can say for about 50% of the people who live in Miami. I hustle up to the AA counter and ask if I can make the 2pm flight and Im in! I catch a break and get an exit row aisle seat too! Talking to my boss, I say "I finally caught a break, go ton the early flight, got an exit row aisle, AND we're about to leave". Im feelin good now - its almost over. We board the plane...
...and end up sitting in the plane on the runway for 2 HOURS waiting for weather to pass so we can fly...UNREAL. Didnt help that the pilot let about 7 Continental flights sneak in front of us. Got home at 7p and couldnt have been happier. I helped an old lady grab her bags and then mine were then the 5th and 7th bags to come out - thanks karma. What a trip. There were points where I couldve had a total meltdown but I kept laughing because it was quite comical how everything that could go wrong, did. Ive really come full circle. Years ago, Id have been the guy at the airport flipping out. Now, I could almost care less. Im in airports so much these days that I almost enjoy them. Now Ive got a nice 2 solid weeks in Miami before my next trip so I'll have time to get caught up on housework and catch up with friends. Then its off to Newark, NJ where I will probably be stranded in a blizzard...
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