And the Journey Begins

Well I have begun my three week journey on behalf of the Visual Communications Industry Group and I am hoping that this trip is not a prelude for the next two.

On Thursday I was off to Minneapolis – it was a gorgeous day in New York, the sun was shining the sky was a clear blue, the temperature was in the high 70’s and we had low humidity. I was looking forward to the flight and spending the next few days with my VCI-Group friends, peers and family.

Since the trip was only through Sunday morning I had carry-on luggage, I stopped at the airport store and picked up a couple skim mozzarella sticks and some trail mix. I untied my shoes and since I had printed out my boarding passes I went directly to security – don’t ask me why; but, at that point I decide to check the departure board and what do I notice – my flight has been CANCELLED. I am in shock; but, I decide to go to the counter to find out what has happened.

The airline clerk proceeds to let me know that the flight has been cancelled due to weather; but, that I should not worry because they have booked me on a flight – okay – BUT, it is for tomorrow, Friday at 7:30AM. I proceed to let the clerk know that will not work as I have meetings starting at 9AM. I ask if there are other flights – No, Ma’am, Weather. Okay, is there another airline I can be booked on, No, Ma’am because it is ONLY Weather. He proceeds to ask me if I can get to another airport then he can give me a direct flight to Minneapolis; okay, what airport: Newark. What time is the flight; 8:42. Oh that is fine – will you provide me a car service to Newark since I am at Westchester County airport in White Plains. No, Ma’am because it is WEATHER.

At this point the vein in the middle of my forehead is doing a “paso doble” and I am the matador about to strike the bull with my sword; who unfortunately is the clerk. I proceed to call my niece who drove me to the airport to see if she could come back and pick me up and drive me to Newark – sweetheart that she is said “yes”. Knowing that it is 4:30 and we will be in rush hour traffic from White Plains to Newark and that she will be hitting the same traffic going home. We make it to Newark by 6:00PM and Siobhan doesn’t want to leave me until I check on my flight – I told her that I was advised in White Plains that all was fine and I even had a boarding pass. What you don't realize is that we are both trying to download a navigation app onto our iphones - which is taking forever and is not automatically detecting where we are. So now I pull out my laptop to go onto mapquest so I can enter where I am; but, I cannot get a wireless signal. We are driving down to Newark and I am cursing because everyone has their network secured. My niece and I are both laughing hysterically because we also realize that we are unjustly upset. Oh and what you should know is that that WEATHER which cancelled my flight into Chicago was rain. One of my VCI-G Board members lives in Chicago and had no problem with his flight leaving the city.

I finally arrive at the hotel by 11:15PM (Central Time), unpack, and get ready for bed as it is now midnight. I am meeting my friend, Catherine at 6AM at the gym to walk on the treadmill, grab breakfast and then get ready for our meetings which will begin at 9AM. That is all fine except I cannot sleep. Our meeting on Friday was intense but a lot of good work was done. Our Friday evening ended with dinner and a walk around the Mall of America. If I thought I didn’t sleep well on Thursday night, Friday was even worse with my waking up every hour and then staying awake between 15 to 30 minutes.

Up again to workout with Catherine, have breakfast and then get ready for another full day of meetings. We were 14 people in total and much got done in the two days that we were together – that evening we had a nice dinner at an Italian restaurant and did not get back to the hotel until 10:30 – not in bed for another hour as I get my suitcase packed and up at 3AM so that The shuttle could pick me up at 4AM and I could make my 5:30 flight out of Minneapolis to Chicago.

First leg of the flight went well, now I am in Chicago and will be taking the 8:25 to White Plains – on the plane everything is good; but, we aren’t taking off. There is a problem with one of the radios and they are hoping that maintenance can fix it – they do and we take off. My niece picks me up – I spend a few minutes visiting with my family and I am finally in my home by 2PM.

Once more surrounded by my home I am able to take a nap for a couple of hours (I really cannot keep my eyes open) and I am considering what I need to get done for work, for VCI-Group and what to lay out to pack for the next two trips.

As they say, “One Down, Two More to Go”.