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March 24, 2005
next time i'll just drive
so i was heading to atlanta for a quick one-day business trip. coming from detroit, it's less than a 2 hour flight. i chose to go the night before because then i could get to the office earlier than 10 AM, which is what time i would get there if i took a morning flight. no problem.
5:30 PM. i checked the flight status online before i left home. delayed a bit. no worries.
6:00 PM. leave home for the airport.
7:00 PM. i get to the airport, go to the gate, and wait for the plane to leave. because of weather in atlanta, we ended up leaving about 1 hour late, which still gets me in by 10:15 PM or so. should be fine.
10:00 PM. the weather was sorta rough on the way down, but not too harsh. the pilot comes on and says, "well folks, there's a lot of weather in atlanta and only one runway is open, so we're in a holding pattern for a bit until it's our turn." ok, fine. not ideal, but i can deal with it.
10:30 PM. the pilot comes back on and says, "well, folks, we've been holding and we're out of fuel, so we have to divert to knoxville so we can land." christ.
11:00 PM. we land in knoxville, sit on tarmac while we get fueled. boy, this is fun.
11:30 PM. we are still in knoxville. pilot comes on and tells us that it will be another 35 minutes before we have an UPDATE from air traffic control. ARGH!
12:00 AM. the update arrives -- we get to leave!
12:50 AM. we land in atlanta. proceed to rental car. praise jesus that i have preferred service and i'm not in line with the other 25 people on the rental car shuttle.
2:00 AM. i arrive at the hotel. i am surprised i am alive given my state of fatigue and the weather. i am greeted by a way-too-friendly desk clerk. "OHHH, mr. burke, glad you are here!" i take out my credit card. he starts to get papers. sleep will come soon.
2:02 AM. friendly-boy takes out a small piece of paper with a form on it and starts filling in my name, the name of his hotel, etc. alarms are sounding in my head -- this looks like a fricking VOUCHER. christ, what next? he finishes and says, "well, we had some rooms flood so we had to give your room away. we are going to relocate you one exit up the highway, and we'll pay for it. then, we'll bring you *back home* tomorrow." um, back home? i'm too tired to argue so i take my ticket and leave.
2:10 AM. arrive at the complex where my new hotel is located. i see the hotel rising above the other buildings, but I CANNOT GET TO IT. i assume it's because my brain is on 1% power. i drive around aimlessly through empty parking structures and strange alleyways until i finally get to the hotel.
2:25 AM. i am in the room. i get ready for bed. i am so wired, tired, and sick (head cold) that i can't sleep. turn on sportscenter, the main tranquilizer.
3:00 AM. i am delivered from this evil day when i finally sleep.
looking online, it would have taken me 11 hours to drive to the hotel from my house, so i guess i was still 2 hours ahead of the game. still, it all sucked. oh, and guess what? i didn't get to the office until 10 AM anyway. DOH!
Posted by eburke at March 24, 2005 10:01 AM
And the sad part is…you still got a better nights sleep than you do at home I bet!
Posted by: Brandon Fuller on March 26, 2005 4:13 PM EST