Well, that was an interesting travel day. My travel days are typically boring. Get to the airport, board the plane, and arrive at my destination. Not so yesterday.
First, we had an amazing thunderstorm with lightning that night, with a lot of rain as well. My flight was to leave at 7:40 AM, and I was waiting for the delay notice, as I didn't think the airport would allow workers on the tarmac with lightning.
The girls were beside themselves with worry. Not only were there lots of loud noises and light, but Mom was packing. Murphy was velcroed to my leg, and regardless of where I went or what I did, she was beside me. I even took them for a walk in the rain before I left, but not too far, and even with that short walk, my jacket was soaked.
The only saving grace is that it was warm!!!
Then my Uber arrived, and I was glad it was someone else driving in the dark, in the rain. His car was a Hyundai Venue. Keep that thought in the back of your head.
We arrived at the airport, and I zipped through baggage check-in (I brought a larger suitcase because I have that large quilt of my Mom's, and I don't care what happens, I am not bringing it back home. It seems that the only place I work on it is here! So it stays, but I should be able to finish the last side and get some quilting stitches around the perimeter to hold that edge in place. I brought some other handwork in case the big quilt gets done. It's on my visual To-Do list, and I MUST get it done. I have five days!
So I dropped my bag off and then walked to security.
An interesting thing happened at security. There are two security lines -- one for Trusted Travelers (those with a NEXUS card) and one for others. The line for NEXUS users is always shorter, and despite the increase in cost, it's still a very good deal. Mine expires next year, and I have a note in my calendar to get a new one at the beginning of the year.
Anyway, there were a few people ahead of me, and then an Air Canada staff member came through, "Excuse me, VIP coming through." The well-dressed gentleman said as he passed, "Excuse me, I have a flight to catch." OK—so do all of us.
I will bet any money that this guy was a Super Elite status with Air Canada, and it was the concierge service bringing him through, so he didn't have to wait in a short line like the rest of us. That irks me to no end, but I let it go because what can I do about that? Nothing. He was met on the other side of security by another concierge, who asked if he wanted a coffee or something to eat. He was NOT in a hurry to get to his plane. But I digress. I'm not sure why he wasn't going to the lounge - maybe he didn't have that much time.
I just think the whole thing of being pampered like that at the airport is silly. The same goes for the lounge—why do people need to go to the lounge? The way the status thing is working is that the lounge is no longer as exclusive as it used to be.
I wandered down to Tim's because I had plenty of time - imagine that. I waited in line, which was slow, but I was in a Zen zone yesterday. No rush, no panic, no stress, no jacket or extra stuff to worry about. Just my office backpack and my travel pouch strapped to my waist. One hundred percent hands-free. Of course, it irks me when people who have been waiting in a line for 20 minutes realize they have to pay when they get to the cash, and it takes them a while to get out their card, or those who don't know that the airport locations of Tim's do now use the app for payment. That one I can ignore since not everyone travels often, but everyone pays all the time!
I stopped along the way and bought a bottle of water (I know—I should have a small refillable bottle in my backpack; I must look into getting one) and a sandwich—$24!!!!!
Off to the gate and again, I'm not in a rush to get anywhere. I'm not sure where the new relaxed mode came in. I wandered down to the washroom, and when I got back, they were already loading Zone 4 of 5 zones. The plane was smaller and not full, which is unusual these days. I swear, if it weren't for transient workers traveling, I wonder if they would have any flights going to Saskatchewan. The guy beside me was going way up north to a mine - two weeks on, two weeks off. There were many others on the plane who worked in other transient-type jobs in the north.
Everything looked good, and we were going to push back right on time. We did, and then we stopped. There was a technical issue on the plane, and the pilots couldn't reset it. They tried remotely with the maintenance crew. That didn't work. The technicians came to the plane, and that still didn't work. The next option was to get a new plane, which isn't as easy as just pulling one out of a hat.
We eventually disembarked and went back to the gate area in the terminal. A line formed immediately at the agent's desk for people with questions. I was sitting nearby, listening, and most people were just asking questions they had already announced the answer to. But people don't listen; if they do, they don't assimilate the answer, or they think the next person they ask will give them the answer they want.
The agent was extremely patient with repeating the same answers over and over again. Another agent approached the desk to help, and then a passenger did as well. I'm not exactly sure of the order of events, but the agent asked the passenger to wait a second while he briefed the other agent on what was happening.
The passenger got upset and started arguing with the agent. He said his attitude was rude, and I don't even know what else, but the passenger was in the wrong, and there was NO rush to get answers. Someone behind me said something out loud, and I was getting very annoyed with the passenger, so I said out loud that HE, the passenger, was rude. He argued with me, and I cut him off and said, even louder, that he was the rude one. Just one word - RUDE!! He shut up and sat down.
The other agent came over shortly thereafter and asked the passenger what he wanted. He wanted to know what time the flight had been rescheduled for. Good lord, how many times had they already said that? I get it -- people are anxious, people haven't traveled much. He might be flying for a stressful reason. I get that! But there is NO REASON to be rude!! It was not an emergency!
That story continues in a second, but first, I want to say that Air Canada, from the flight attendants to the captain to the agents inside the terminal, kept us up to date on everything as it unfolded. I mean, we got a ton of updates. They even brought the plane back to the gate and allowed passengers to get up and walk on the gateway. And the minute we got off the plane, an agent was at the gate to answer questions.
The original flight was 7:40, and the new flight was scheduled for 11:15. No one wants a delay, but it's better to get a technical issue on a plane figured out before you fly out than just hope it all works out. I don't know where my Zen attitude came from, but I was OK. I had food and water, no luggage to cart around, and no rush. A travel day is a travel day. The original pilots couldn't fly the new time as their day would have timed out, so two pilots were called on their day off. Air Canada really went out of their way to get us there!
We all got a $15 food voucher because of the delay. $15 doesn't buy much at the airport, but I went and found some snacks. A small bag of popcorn and one other bag of something.
Our gate changed, so I wandered over to the new gate and was about to sit down when I noticed the man beside me had his sockless feet out of his shoes and was listening to a video without earbuds. I moved on, and then a passenger said, "Good for you to speak out". So I stopped to chat with him, and as I did, the gate agent came over and thanked me for sticking up for him. They must get so frustrated for not being able to yell at passengers.
I think the guy who originally stopped me was the one who said something initially at the other gate. We both got $30 food vouchers!! I went back and got more snacks!! I have a lot of snacks!!!
 |
| My good Samaritan snacks! |
I eat chocolate every day, so now I don't have to buy any while I'm here. That's one thing Margareta said in her book, "The Swedish Art of Aging Exuberantly." Eat chocolate every day, and I agree!!!! I have for years, and I am happy with a small bit each day. It helps to learn control. I also know never to buy white or milk chocolate because I lack control with those!
Anyway, we got on the plane, and all was good. I read my book while waiting in the "common folk" area of the airport, not the lounge, and decided it was also a good opportunity to clean out some text messages. I know you can set some messaging apps to use disappearing messages, and I need to do that, but it won't delete old messages. Good lord—so much crap in my texts and so many people; I have no idea who the message was from. I saved a few pictures and then delete, delete, delete!!!
Look at this cool light that someone had sent me years ago. It's a light!
 |
| A very cool bicycle light |
 |
| Snow and cold!!! |
 |
| Snow on my car!!! |
Can you guess what I got for a car? Yep -- a Hyundai Venue - the same car as my Uber in the morning.
