Car, Yeah!...Trip From Texas, Boo!

Car is Fixed
Well, things in my life are almost back to normal. Christa and I drove down to Westville, IN to pick up my car. Although I was quoted a total bill of $908.00, the head of the shop said that he would knock off $100 dollars because of all the trouble that I went through getting the car fixed and picking it up. I appreciated the gesture, but more than anything I simply wanted my car back. Much thanks to Christa for driving me down to Indiana, only to drive back up the same day. Overall, the car seems OK, it does seem a little louder than usual. But it runs, which is key.

Trip Back from Texas
In a continuing streak of good luck, I should highlight for you my return trip from Chicago. I will spare you a lot of details, and give you bullet points:

Day 1: Wednesday

• My layover in Chicago before my flight to Milwaukee was 3 hours with my flight leaving at 7:40 pm.
• 7:10pm - O'Hare airport shuts down due to lightning in the area. My flight is obviously delayed. Airport opens again, but closes 15 minutes later again due to lightning in the area.
• 7:50pm - Due to severe weather also in Milwaukee, our flight is cancelled. It is discovered that the plane we were supposed to take did not leave the airport.
• 8:00pm - I get to the customer service desk and discover that the only remaining flight scheduled to leave that evening is booked. I decided I will book the first flight the next morning at 8:00 am. In talking with a representative, I discover the 6:05 pm flight out of Chicago for Milwaukee has been delayed and has still not taken off. I book myself for this flight.
• 8:40pm - Our flight is supposed to leave at this time, but it doesn't. Several of us on the flight continue to ask the service desk to find out if and when the flight is leaving. Finding out nothing, I contact Chris to tell him he won't need to take me home. I contact my dad asking his advice and I text message friends to stave off boredom.
• 10:15pm - Getting no help from the service folks, I call a customer service person, asking them about the flight. At this point I found out the 6:05 flight already left and they didn't tell us! So, there are no flights out of Milwaukee and I realize I am screwed.
• 10:25pm - Back to the customer service desk to find out about hotel rooms. Rooms are not covered fully because the cancellation was due to weather. They can get us rooms for $59 a night. Great...
• 10:35pm - I call the toll free number to get a room. I wait for about 15 minutes. I find a room in the AmeriSuites Hotel which is 20 minutes away from the airport. I guess this will due.
• 10:40pm - I contact a taxi service that charges $20 to get you to the airport. I am assured that they take credit cards (more about this later). They tell me to meet at G1. I have no idea what this means. I ask repeatedly what this is and they think I am a crank caller. After waiting 15 minutes my cab arrives.
• 10:55pm - I share a cab with Kathy Fritz, a young lady from Germany. I thought I had it bad, she flew from Germany to Cleveland with two cats. She ended up paying over $500 EURO extra to get her cats to Chicago and then her flight to Cleveland was cancelled. She lent me $20 so that I could pay the drive who could not accept credit cards, even though he said he could.
• 11:15pm - I arrive at the AmeriSuites...not impressed. There are 5-6 of us checking in all having had our flights cancelled...Cedar Radids, Cleveland, Milwaukee...good times. I get checked into my room. They let me have a complimentary toothbrush and toothpaste as all my toiletries were in the bag I did not have. How nice.
• 11:20 - Wow...my room has HBO. That was the highlight. Rough towels, no pressure in the showers, and the room didn't really get cold. Sweet.
• 12:30 - I finally relax and get to bed. Here ends day #1.

Day 2: Thursday

• 4:30am - I get up and get ready for my taxi driver who is coming at 5:30 so that I have time to get to my flight.
• 5:30am - Taxi drive shows up and tells me to leave behind Kathy because I don't have a cell phone. Much thanks to Kathy for paying me and not being able to pay her back.
• 6:00am - I arrive at the airport and discover my taxi driver can now pay with credit cards...riiiiiiiiiight.
• 6:10am - Having already "checked-in" last night, I have 1 hour and 50 minutes before my flight is supposed to take off.
• 7:45am - We are told that our flight is going to be delayed because our flight crew is in Moline, IL and their flight has been delayed due to weather.
• 9:30am - Our flight finally boards and we are on the plane. As I board, my ticket generates an error message and I have to be re-assigned. I end up bumping a crew member to a rumble-type seat.
  
• 9:40am - Once everyone sits down, we find out that there was too much fuel put into the airplane and all people that were accepted on stand-by now need to leave. They get their baggage and de-plane.
• 9:45am - We are now told that there are technical difficulties with the plane that need to be fixed. After 20 minutes they are fixed.
• 10:05am - We get cleared for takeoff, but the airport shuts down because of bad weather. We wait.
• 10:50am - Our plane takes off for its 15 minutes flight to Milwaukee.
• 11:10am - I find my dad and we go to baggage claim only to find out that my luggage is still in Chicago. I pick it up on Saturday as we drove down to get my car.

There you have it...my tript back from Texas.