Trip home

July 26/2005

This is my second entry, as I couldn't pry the computer time from Rex. He was always either IM'ing or writing the blog. I did manage to say a few hi's though

I'm finally home, but not without a little-bit of "adventure". So here it is. Sorry it might be a little long and of the ranty nature.

Monday started very well. GW, Nonie, Rex and me met at 9am for breakfast and had a final reminiscence of Mysterium, as Rex and me were about to leave to our next destinations — me home, and Rex to continue his vacation.

My flight was scheduled to leave O'Hara at 3:30pm. Rex graciously offered (well, I nicely asked) to drive me to the airport. We said our goodbyes to GW and Nonie and headed to the airport. Rex's new Jeep took us on the road and Rex didn't have any problems finding his way. We arrived there at around 12 noon, when a big thunder storm started.

With big hugs, I said good bye to Rex and he disappeared into the rain. I headed to the terminal to check-in my luggage and while going through self check-in, I noticed that my itinerary and what was on the screen didn't match. After closer examination of what was written I realized that my flight was canceled and I was reassigned to the next flight, which suppose to leave at 5pm...

Well, I thought, what can I do? I headed to the assigned Gate. Then the thought occurred to me that I might get on an earlier flight, since I'm so early at the airport. Well, the agent put me on stand-by status and I went to the other Gate to wait for my chance.

I can't describe what a mess it was at the airport, as I found out, that a lot of flights were canceled that day due weather related problems. They've been shuffling those Gates at least once an hour and poor passengers had to walk from one end of the airport to another. Luckily, I had only "a few" Gate changes. Well, as the time passed, the "early" flight was delayed and delayed and I thought that if I don't make on this one, it is almost time to get to the other scheduled flight. Sure enough, I didn't make it and all 90 or so passengers on stand-by were rolled over to my next flight (only few made it in, as I found out).

As I headed to the next Gate, for my flight, which was delayed also, I had some time to reflect on the days at Mysterium, that were already passed (I'll post it later). I managed to call Rex a few times and appraise him of my predicament. I was glad he reached his destination without problems, but poor Ayli was still at at the airport. I was thinking of GW and Nonie, thinking that they are probably at the museum that they wanted to visit and I hoped they were having a good time.

As hours were ticking, I felt more exhausted, sleepy and anxious to get home. I called my hubby every hour to tell him, I was still at Chicago.

While we were waiting for our flight to arrive, they announced another problem. They needed another crew member on the flight in order to proceed, but that person was still in flight from another destination. Finally the plane was ready for boarding at around 10:30 pm. We got settled down, but couldn't go anywhere without that third crew member. Once she arrived some 20 minutes later, another thunder storm hit the area and we were grounded till it rolled over. Somewhere around 11pm we got on our way... So, I was at the airport ELEVEN hours.

The flight was smooth and I had a chance to see the land and skys at night. I don't remember if I ever flown during the night, as I'm not a big traveler. In any case, I was looking at the ground and the lights of the city we were flying over looked like yellow and white glass beads spreading over the dark land with tentacles (roads) in different directions. I've seen 3/4 of the Moon, it was so bright and in the not far distance the thunderstorms were raging with lightning sparkling the clouds above. As we were approaching New York, the land looked like a huuuge sparkling tapestry. I've recognized the bridges and even saw a Roosevelt island, where I live.

10 minutes prior to landing (which would have been 12:20 am New York time), the captain announced that La Guardia airport is closed after 12am due to a construction and we were redirected to JFK. Well, the uproar at the plane was, like, oh no!!! Imagine people were waiting at one airport and you ended up in another. So what any of us could have done... nothing. As soon as we landed, I called my hubby and informed him of an interesting situation, and of course, he was not very happy. I sent him home and said I'll take the taxi. I was worried about my luggage, as I thought it might have flown to La Guardia, but luckily it was waiting for me (all the quilts are safe, Budgie). I got home around 2am and went straight to bed.

Now, I'm worrying about GW and Nonie as they have to fly home today. The situation might not have been resolved during the night, but I hope for the best for them. I've watched the Space Shuttle blasting off and I called Rex to say I finally made it.

I decided to stay home today, although I had to go work, so I'll recuperate a little and share some of my thoughts with you.

Thank you, Scraper and Committe, for organizing this wonderful forum (Mysterium) where the soul-minded people could meet and experience the joy of a real life interaction.