Thursday, September 15, 2005
Man Plans...
I've done it once again. It seems every time I rush off to New York, things get complicated. I had a full day of work today, so I was relieved when I found out that my flight wasn't until 5 (I've booked the last few for 4). My meeting ran over, letting me out at 3:50. The meeting was offsite, so I was worried about getting ripped off by the cabbie. It turned out that it wasn't too expensive. But the cab didn't end up arriving until 4:20. True, I could've pre-ordered it, but with the all day meeting, I barely had time to daven Mincha before running off to the airport. Despite tons of traffic and construction, the driver was still able to get me to the airport by 5. I got to the airport and saw tremendous lines at check-in. I've seen pretty long lines before, especially holiday weekends. But this was worse than all those times. Figuring I had no chance at making my flight, I picked up the red phone to speak to an agent. The agent answers, and I tell her my flight number, waiting for her to scold me for my late check-in. She says, "You're flight was cancelled, so we put you on the 7 o'clock tomorrow morning." That's all. No apology, no explanation, just have a nice night. I had just rushed to the airport, only to be shown the door. Not a huge deal. I called home, and arranged for a pickup.
After getting home, I called the airline to see if there were any other flights. Nope. I called the car rental agency, and they had cancelled my reservation. So to pick up the same car the next day and return it the same time (12 hours instead of 24 hours) was now going to cost me double. And they didn't have cars at LaGuardia. Newark, yes. It turned out that Newark was closer to my meeting tomorrow morning, which was great. But the only flight would get me in at 11, with my meeting window closing at noon. So it looks like I'll be going to the airport at 5:30 AM to see if I can go standby. With the car rental letting me rebook at the higher rate, and the airline checking with a supervisor to see if I can rebook to Newark, things are going smoothly. More fun ahead.
After getting home, I called the airline to see if there were any other flights. Nope. I called the car rental agency, and they had cancelled my reservation. So to pick up the same car the next day and return it the same time (12 hours instead of 24 hours) was now going to cost me double. And they didn't have cars at LaGuardia. Newark, yes. It turned out that Newark was closer to my meeting tomorrow morning, which was great. But the only flight would get me in at 11, with my meeting window closing at noon. So it looks like I'll be going to the airport at 5:30 AM to see if I can go standby. With the car rental letting me rebook at the higher rate, and the airline checking with a supervisor to see if I can rebook to Newark, things are going smoothly. More fun ahead.
# posted by Josh : Thursday, September 15, 2005
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What would Nachum Ish Gamzu or Rabbi Akiva say?
At least there were no bandits.
At least there were no bandits.
# posted by 
: September 16, 2005 12:09 AM
: September 16, 2005 12:09 AM
there are so many stories about how sometimes plans seem to be messed up but in the end, there was a divine reason that these plans changed, even if at great inconvenience to you. don't even think about it, but maybe this is all a blessing in some way.
have a good shabbos!!!!!
have a good shabbos!!!!!
I'm back, with few further obstacles. Nobody should worry that I panicked over all the travel issues thrown at me. I found them rather amusing. My voice never rose, nor did my blood pressure. I just kind of watched all these factors rise up around me, like you might stare into a 25 foot ocean swell as it threatens to crash down around you, mesmerized by the perfect chaos of nature. And plus, the more unlikely the scenario, the more sincerely I can complain to the corporations involved- and the higher the compensation.
s and e - where did the Payos thing come from?
s and e - where did the Payos thing come from?
josh - that's funny - i honestly wasn't trying to worm anything out of you. you said you were going on a business trip so i asked if it was a success. but now....now you've piqued my interest.
josh - nope. in my field, we actually do go on business trips. for business. anyway - was she worth the trouble?
What's the infatuation with thte peyos? You can see them in the picture of Sir Josh III drinking tea and munching on krumpets.
# posted by : September 21, 2005 6:41 PM
: September 21, 2005 6:41 PM
Just to put the kabosh on the peyos thing, because it's getting silly and I obviously never should have said anything, I think they're fine looking peyos--they're long, they're cool, they represent. So there. Genig iz genig. And gevald iz gevald.
# posted by : September 21, 2005 10:28 PM
: September 21, 2005 10:28 PM
MH - Truthfully, it was partially business, I guess. I worked out of the New Jersey on Friday. But since the reason for me going was personal, I had to pay my own way. I'm in corporate finance, and they've only flown me on business once. But everyone in the office knows that if they need a volunteer for any trip to New York, I'm their man. And the question is, was I worth her trouble? And the answer was no.
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