3 New Airports - 4 Days

We have an intern in Armonk in our department!! I get to give him work!!!! It's so amusing. He's just a baby, I love it. He also added me on facebook after talking on the phone briefly. Who could not like him after that? hahaha.

Anyway, I'm ready to talk about my business trip to Indiana.

It got off to a shaky start. Ang and I left in plenty of time to get to the airport but there was tons of traffic at the border! ack!! We were stressed and freaking out the whole way. I got the airport about 30 minutes before my plane was supposed to leave. I thought that would be enough time, but the line was long. So I talked to employees there, probably sounding very panicky and I got to go to the first class check-in where there was no lineup. Phew. Or so I thought. When I scanned my passport the computer told me it was too close to departure and I couldn't check in. Oh no!!! So I asked the girl what I was supposed to do, I had to get to Fort Wayne. There was a flight at 7 tonight and I said that was fine. Little did I know I didn't actually have a seat on the plane. I was just put on some sort of waiting list? People who fly more would be able to tell me what this is exactly. I'm still a little clueless.

So it's noon. I have a while to wait for my plane. Thankfully I had procrastinated reading my Module 8 readings and had planned on going through them at the hotel. Rather than the hotel it was the airport. No biggie. I read, listened to my ipod, watched people. It wasn't so bad. Ang felt soooo bad which made me feel soooo bad. It wasn't her fault. We just should have left earlier. Hindsight.

I liked the Detroit airport a lot. The tunnel to get to my terminal was a little creepy. Lots of changy colour lights. Once I got used to it, it wasn't scary and it amused me. The terminal was nice and roomy so I was happy.

With how my day was going, it wasn't surprising that our plane arrived late. And then we had to wait for our crew to arrive. I got to the front and the girl was all pissy. Telling me I had to stand to the side and how I should have told her right away I was waiting for a seat. Well that was news to me. The girl who put me on the 7 o'clock could have TOLD me this. argh. Thankfully I got a seat!!! and the plane didn't leave too late.

Me being completely paranoid I got into Fort Wayne worrying the girl put me on a plane to a different Fort Wayne and I wasn't actually in Indiana. Yes, I'm a little crazy. Once I checked into my hotel I confirmed i was in the right place hehe.

Anyway, I get to Fort Wayne and what happens? There's a sweet elderly lady handing out cookies (in a plastic wrapper that says FWA) saying welcome to Fort Wayne! How welcoming hehe. Good ole small airports. Gotta love them. Then in baggage we all know my amusement of the flying elephant. I felt a little ridiculous taking a picture but a flying elephant?? I want to know why more people weren't!!

After I collect my bag (at least that works out for me!!) I go and look for a cab. I found it a little confusing. A girl asked if I wanted a taxi and I said yes. She said this van could take me. But there was somebody in the van. But I guess they all work together. She got out and helped with bags then I was in the van with a guy driver. I said I was going to the Hilton. We sat there for a while, then said "I'm not going to do that to you". He pointed to this white van that was going to the Hilton and said I should take the shuttle. Well, that was nice of him. So I hop on the shuttle and we head to the hotel. The only problem is, I didn't actually want to go to the Hilton. I wanted to go to the Hilton Garden Inn... When I got there they were nice about it and the shuttle guy drove me to the proper hotel. Ohh jeez I felt retarded. Oh well. I made it to my hotel thankfully!! *relief*

Tuesday I had treaty training and it was actually interesting. They discussed issues clients have with parts of our reinsurance contracts. For supper that night we went to a steak and seafood place. I got a fruity martini because I had to milk this trip!! After it my head was just slightly light headed which probably made the meal even more enjoyable. The filet mignon was beautifully cooked and tasted amazing. The mashed potatoes had bits of cheese and bacon in it so that was great. And rather than the crappy in season veggies I saw on other people's plates, I requested the grilled asparagus. A perfect meal, if not perfect company. Haha. When I got back to the hotel I had missed the first half hour of the Veronica Mars finale so I watched something on tv but mostly just slept. I was tired =)

Wednesday was work as usual. Too many meetings. I did enjoy my alone time in my big empty office they stuck me in. I was tempted to hide in the little cubby of the wooden desk when I heard my boss ;)

That night I was planning on ordering room service. The one girl I work with felt bad but I was alll for it. I had been social long enough hehe. I got home, grabbed the guest services, and looked for food. All I found was an applebees menu, and a list of restaurants and how to drive there. Ack!!! So not helpful. The area I was in was pretty much a highway so I couldn't walk anywhere safely. If I could I would have gotten pizza hut or something but that wasn't an option. There was a mexican place across from the hotel that I could go to but I wasn't in the mood.

So I decided to call room service and find out what was up. I press the button, and ask "Is there food to be brought up"? The girl said "What?". I asked again, "Is there food to be brought up"?. The girl said "What?". Okay, this is already getting old. So I asked if this was room service. She responded by asking if I was at the Hilton. I was indeed. And it turns out the phone number on my phone was wrong and I had called this random girl's house. How about that? So messed up.

I decide to head downstairs and talk to the guy at the front cause if there's no food I'll try to get takeout from the mexican place. I went to talk to him and asked if there was food to be brought up. He explained that you call applebee's, tell them you're at the Hilton, they call them, they go and pick it up and bring it to your room. I hadn't heard of that before but it was pretty cool. I told him about the girl and I guess she had called about it. She has the old number of a restaurant they used to use for room service. so silly. I gave him my room number since they didn't know which phones still had the wrong number. Couldn't they just reprogram everyone's phone??? Whatever.

So I ordered this yummy sounding chicken and lava cake with ice cream. The chicken was pretty good, but the lava cake was amazing! Yum yum!! Mine is still better but this was damn good. I was happy. When they brought my meal up it came on a plate with cutlery and a fancy napkin and a mini ketchup and mustard bottle. Loved it. Took those! hehe.

Thursday I got to work at 7, since I didn't want to bother with a cab and girl at work said it was on her way and wouldn't mind picking me up. Eugh, early. (The other days I went with a co-worker who was staying at the hotel too. She rented a car, I did not.) So I worked for a few hours, then took off to the airport. Who was my taxi driver? The same girl who I saw at the airport coming in, and the same girl I saw that morning who was dropping somebody off at the hotel as I was leaving to catch my ride. How many freakin taxi drivers are there in Fort Wayne??!! It is a city. I did see a bit of it when I went to the wrong hotel. Why couldn't the office be down there? It was much better than the outskirts. Ah well....

I liked the Fort Wayne airport a lot. It was small, but big enough that it was spacious. They had a little airport museum which amused me. I also donated a loonie to help support it, but mostly cause it amused me to throw in some canadian money with the american haha. They had FREE wireless internet there so I amused myself by going on facebook and emailing people.

Once again my plane arrived late, then they had to do stuff before we could board. Not knowing how long it will take them before we can board, and knowing I have a connecting flight, had me again worried. So much worrying!!!! Argh. It ended up being 30 minutes late so I still had enough time in Chicago.

The flight to Chicago was GREAT!!!!! They had those big fluffy white cotton ball clouds!! I've never got to see them while flying before and I loved it. Sooo pretty. I saw Shrek while I was up there. And a dog. And the thumbs up. And Shrek again haha. I must have had Shrek on my mind. Landing in Chicago freaked me out a little. We turned around over the water but I didn't realize that's what we were doing so it was just lots of heading down towards the water. It amused me though.

They gave us connecting flight info and a pilot (? or some sort of airport employee) who was sitting beside me saw I was looking at a map of the airport and explained how to get to area K where my gate was =) Nice guy!

So I got off my plane, looked at the board, and saw the gate was in H, not K. Oh well. And the flight was already late. But only by 5 minutes so no biggie! So I tread over to H. It was packed and crowded and hard to get around. Plus my laptop bag was heavy. Not very fun. I get to my gate but it says another city... So I look at the board again and see It's actually in K. Argh! How did I mess that up? Oh well. So I go over to K. Hmmm it doesn't say my city still, but the boards do confirm it's my gate so I sit down. They make an announcement how Atlanta is now boarding at another gate and lots of people leave. Why were Atlanta people at my gate? Am I at the right gate???!

So I look around and decide to ask an older (40s?) man if he was also going to Toronto. He was!! I felt relieved. He told me that a plane got cancelled and it's causing lots of problems and delays and gate scrambling. I was glad to know I wasn't crazy by going to H!!! hehe. I decide I'd check the boards again since I wasn't confident this was the proper gate still. It wasn't! And the plane was more delayed. Boo. So we head over to the new gate and chatted about stuff. I made an airport buddy!!

The plane ended up being 45(?) minutes late which isn't horrible but it could have been better. I thought about going to see the dinosaur while I waited, but it was in a different terminal and with all the gate confusion and the crowdiness of the airport I decided it wasn't a good idea. Maybe next time, if I ever fly to Chicago again. I wasn't a huge fan of the airport.

So I finally arrive in beautiful wonderful Toronto and I'm happy to be at home. It was fun, there was a guy walking super fast so I got to keep up with him. It wasn't fair, he didn't have a big heavy backpack like me! I kept up though hehe. I beat him through customs!! Point for me. Customs was funny. They didn't seem to believe me that I didn't buy anything. No, not even a "souvenir for friends or family" haha. It's Fort Wayne!! and I was there for work. Then I grabbed my bag and was off to get a taxi. Fast walker got his bags first... Point for him.

The timing was bad so there was traffic on the highway. It was frustrating since I was already late getting home but I listened to my iPod and relaxed. I got home and felt worked up and annoyed from 4 hours of work and 8 hours of travelling. But I calmed down and did some cleaning in preparation of writing the FAP Final Assessment!!! Boy I'm glad that's over with. 96 hours of *fun*. I'm still waiting for results. I don't like the waiting game.

So that's my very long detailed story about my trip to Fort Wayne. I love you all who read it all hehe.