Funny story...now that it's over

Since Burman has been encouraging me to write more often and I'm also actually getting a wireless signal at the moment, I thought I'd write about my morning...

I got up at 3:30 a.m. in order to be ready to leave for work at 4:30 a.m. I should have known that this was going to be a challenging day when I went to take a shower and there was absolutely no cold water. It seems weird to complain about the water being too hot, but it was scalding so my only choice was too fill the tub a little and wait for it to cool off.

At about 4:00 a.m. I hear the rain pouring down. Definitely not a good morning for a bike ride. My co-workers regularly take the hotel shuttle to the airport so I decide to join them. We usually start gathering at 4:30 and leave at 4:45. At 4:40 we confirm with the driver, a new guy, that we need to leave in 5 minutes. He nods but seems like he doesn't understand English. (Not good.) We see him run out in to the rain to get the shuttle, but he's taking a long time to pull up.

(Side note: I'm trying to work on my patience, but I don't have time for this crap. We are busy in the morning, so being late isn't an option...especially since I was the "acting" supervisor today and had the keys to open everything.)

Now it is about 4:52 and the shuttle still hasn't pulled up so we grab the keys for our rental van which is only supposed to be used to go to work if the shuttle isn't available. Just as we are piling into the van, the shuttle pulls up. So we put the rental keys back and get in the shuttle. The driver doesn't seem to be real experienced and I jokingly say to a co-worker that he probably doesn't have a license. After the fact, I think that this is a very good possibility.

4:57 and the driver starts creeping through the parking lot. (COME ON!) In the downpour as he moves at about 5 miles/hour, he searches for the lights. Out on the road as we drive through a construction area, he shifts into neutral in an attempt to find the wipers. The wipers finally come on, but still in neutral he is stepping on gas and seems totally baffled. (OH MY GOD!)

By the time we finally got to the airport, it was after 5:00 and they are all waiting on me. We rush out to run our things upstairs. I noticed before going up that the checkpoint is open so I assume that someone less has a set of keys and has started opening everything up. About 2 minutes later at 5:05, I come down to the checkpoint and everyone is just standing there waiting for me. Apparently someone opened the main door, but didn't have any of the other necessary keys. (OH NO!) I rush back upstairs, grab the keys, and get the ball rolling.

In summary, there were no flight delays, but it was very chaotic for the first hour. I think my heart may have suffered irreversible damage from stress as a result of the shuttle driver's incompetence. Maybe I'll sue.

Happy Super Bowl Sunday! Pretty good game so far. Lots of turnovers. I'd be more excited if the Vikings were playing, but I guess we all knew that wasn’t going to happen. This is the only day of the year that I willingly watch TV commercials. Did you see the one with Eileen, Joy, Bob and Mr. Turkeyneck? It was pretty funny.

My next post will probably be about Katie's visit to Key West. If all goes well, she will be here by 3:30 p.m. tomorrow. Can’t wait!