Travel

I purposefully scheduled a later flight out of Atlanta because I wanted to allow plenty of time to get from Duluth (where my training class was located) to the airport.  Knowing that traffic in Atlanta can be troublesome at times (cough, cough), I wanted to be sure to allow plenty of time.

Instead, my class ends early and I think, “Well, I’ll just head on down to the airport and get an earlier flight.”  Hah!  Right!  No, sorry—no seats on any earlier flights available.  Oh, and by the way, I can’t check in to my original flight yet because (get this) I’m too early.

So I waste a few hours until I can get checked in, then need to waste a few more hours before my flight is scheduled to leave.  As it turns out, there are numerous storms, snowstorms, bad weather, etc., in the Midwest, and the resulting chaos/delays/cancellations is overflowing into Atlanta.  Oh, joy!  Rumor has it that the airlines are overbooked and offering to put people up overnight in exchange for their seats.  A lady in the line with me to check in says she’s been delayed three times and has now been bumped to an entirely different airline.

This smells like a serious delay to me, and I ought to know what a delay looks and smells like—I’ve certainly seen my share.  I’m beginning to believe that the comment a co-worker in my class made is true: “Man, you have bad luck with flights.”  Tell me about it!

Next time I have to come to Atlanta, I’m renting a car and spending the eight hours on the road instead of sitting in the airport.

Well, barring some unforeseen disaster or God leading us otherwise, my wife and I are going to Stockholm, Sweden, around Labor Day.  A good friend of mine is getting married and we’ve been invited to the wedding.  It’s a bit scary, as the only foreign country I have ever visited was Mexico, and that was to a high-traffic tourist area.  Somehow, I don’t think that thousands of Americans visit Stockholm in September every year.  Anybody know any Swedish?