Friday 10 June 2011

The glamorous jet-set life....

.... I think not.  As I have posted about different places I visit with work some of you have commented on how lovely it must be and how envious you are.  Well, whilst I do appreciate that I am lucky to travel to some interesting places and sometimes I do get some down time so it's not all work and no play but let me just share this week's journey as this is more like the reality....

Got up at 5.30am on Monday, taxi picked my up at 6am (me having been in bed for just 5 hours as I had to wash, iron and pack after being away at the weekend - but I confess that I am always a last minute packer anyway).  Got to Manchester airport to find the longest queue ever in the departure hall.  Unbeknownst to me the Sunday flight to Philadelphia had been cancelled so all the poor people delayed from Sunday were checking back in as well.  Seeing that the on-line queue was much shorter I asked a colleague to check me in on line which he duly did, bless him.  After an hour and a half I finally checked in only to be told that the flight scheduled at 11.15am would be delayed until 5pm.  No worries, I had some crochet with me but the connection to Charlotte looked very unlikely.  5pm came and went and we boarded the plane at 7pm.  Sat on the plane for some time, taxied to the runway, hobbled back to the stand as a warning light had come on and we had to wait for something to be fixed (I thought I heard the pilot say something had to be wired shut but I was trying very hard not to think about that and remain in my happy place).  We took off at about 8.30 I think (I was struggling to keep my eyes open to be honest). 

When we landed at Philadelphia about 50% of the flight had missed their connections so were being put up in hotels courtesy of the airline.  I had been chatting with another lady on the flight who was in the same boat as me so once we had our voucher and new boarding passes off we trotted to await the hotel shuttle bus.  Half an hour later we were checked in to the hotel, agreed to have a bite to eat and then get to bed.  I'm just about to step into the shower when the phone rings and it's the front desk calling to say we were checked into the wrong hotel and had to leave.  Dawn (my travel companion) rang me to see if I had received the same phone call, exclaiming that she was in her pjs and this couldn't be happening.  Well, it was so we got dressed, checked out, got back on the shuttle bus feeling very Cinderalla-ish as the clock struck midnight, toddled off to the correct hotel which in fact, we could have walked to from the airport if we had been a bit more with it when we'd landed!  We were both verging on hysteria by this point - you had to laugh otherwise you'd have wept!   So, finally, into bed but knowing we had to be up again in 2 hours. I spent the first hour checking the clock to make sure I hadn't overslept. 

I knocked on Dawn's door and we made our way bleary-eyed to check back in, hoping and praying that the flight would get away on time (5.30 am).  It did, we went our separate ways - Dawn to meet her new boss (I told her he'd have to be impressed that she had endured such a trip and still looked bright-eyed and bushy-tailed) - me to pick up a car so that I could drive the remaining 2 hours to Asheville.  I got to the office at 10.30am a day late and managed to conduct a whole work day sounding like I knew what I was talking about!  Checked into my hotel at 7pm on Tuesday.

So there you have it, a typical day in the life of me but I must confess that I am fairly laid back when it comes to waiting in airports and such - there's just no point in getting annoyed or stressed - it doesn't get you there any faster.  Thank goodness for crochet.... keeps me busy and is usually a talking point.  The quality of my workmanship gets a bit dodgy the longer the trip though!!

It's Friday already and I have tomorrow to look forward to - going to Yarn Paradise at Biltmore Village (never been before so am hoping it will be worth it) and also a few hours spent at Foam & Fabric - well, I think I 'need' to christen my newly renovated shelf unit with something pretty from the USA... don't you agree?

Have a great weekend, I know I will!
Jules
x

No comments:

Post a Comment

Thanks - I love to read your comments x