DiscoDave
01-10-2005, 12:45 PM
Okay, with the "interesting" thread out of the way, time for the "un-interesting" one dealing with my trip to Vegas...or more specifically, my trip back from Vegas.
For those of you unaware, there's been a bit of stormy weather the last few days. No, not just in Bellingham. It snowed in Las Vegas. It didn't stick (not while I was there, anyway) but it very clearly snowed. Fortunately, that didn't impede my trip from Vegas to Reno. However, the snow in Reno did. After spending an hour or two in the Vegas airport (yay for free wireless Internet access....that almost made me miss my flight ;)), I arrived in Reno at around 3:00. As it turns out, Reno was in the process of getting hit with the biggest snowstorm they've seen in 15 years. Literally, 24 inches of snow had fallen in the course of a day or two. That's two feet, people.
Anyway, I landed, and boarded the flight. We left the terminal, and got onto the runway, and waited. And waited. And waited. About an hour later, we hear that there's a snow plow that got stuck on the runway. I don't really know how a snowplow, of all things, can get stuck, but it did. So, the airplane pulled back into the terminal to wait for it to get un-stuck, and finish plowing the runway. Meanwhile, the snow is still dumping.
Everyone's free to get off the plane, but we're told we'll be taking off very quickly, so don't go far, and also that it's okay to leave bags on the plane. I leave both bags on the plane, grab a sandwich, and bring it back not wanting to in any way impede the flight from leaving. About an hour goes by, and we're told that the plane needs to be de-iced, only they've run out of fluid, so they need to get that taken care of, but it'll only take an hour or so, and then we'll be taking off.
An hour passes, (the snow still dumping), and we're told that the runway has once again been closed due to snow. That's right, in the 2 and a half hours or so since the snow plow got stuck (or at least, when it was announced that it was stuck) enough snow had fallen so they wanted to plow it again.
But this is it...because there's not MUCH snow on the runway, the plow can't easily get stuck, the plane has just been de-iced...as soon as they finish plowing the runway, we're headed out. Additionally, it's getting dark at this time, and apparently it's safer to fly at night than it is in the day (or so says the check in person, who presumably would know). The downside is this will take 2 hours. But fine...it's settled, and the 4:15 flight is leaving at around 10:00.
At around 8:30ish, I get tired of sitting in the airport and decide that I'm going to take a few minutes to go fart around in the still dumping snow, leaving my carry on bags in the airplane cabin. I'm gone for 10 minutes...MAYBE 15 tops. Just enough to get some fresh air, slide around on the sidewalks (which might as well be ice rinks). When I come back, security tells me they can't let me through because all flights, including mine, have been cancelled.
That's right. After sitting in this airport for 5 hours, I'm gone for 10 minutes and THAT'S when they officially cancel the flight.
I explain that my laptop is on the plane, along with my clothes and other stuff, and I could grab it and be back at the checkpoint in LITERALLY 3 minutes, but they insist that they cannot possibly let me through security.
On the verge of going on rampage, I calm myself down and politely ask what will become of my bags that are in the cabin of the plane. They explain that it will promptly be taken down to the baggage claim. So I go there and I wait. And I wait. While I wait, I run over and secure a hotel room and reschedule my flight for Sunday morning. About a half-hour goes by, and I go back up and ask. Again, they tell me it will be coming to the baggage claim. So I go back. And wait. And wait. And wait. I see bags that have been checked, but no bags that were on the cabin, presumably because I was the only idiot that left stuff on the plane while I was outside the security checkpoint.
All this time waiting, mind you, I'm treated to a friendly announcement that plays every 5 minutes declaring that any baggage found without an escort will be confiscated or "destroyed".
I go to the baggage office and explain my position...to people who are running around like chickens with their heads cut off. All the flight delays and cancellations have made their job complete hell, and it's all they can do to tell me to "please stand by".
Eventually, I am able to explain my situation to one of the people, and they make a call and claim that a guy (Kevin, I think) was "on his way down with my bags".
FINALLY, I think. So I wait. And I wait. And I wait. Another half hour passes by, I go back and ask about Kevin. They make another call and determine that "Kevin" had gone home.
At this point, I'm about ready to start hand crafting a thermo-nuclear bomb to take out the entire airport.
I'm assured that someone will find my bags, and I should just wait a little...they've got a ton of bags, and it's going to take time to get things straightened out...particularly beings as my bags weren't tagged.
Upon hearing that, steam starts blowing out my ears as I'm reminded that these are CARRY ON ITEMS THAT I COULD HAVE HAD A LOOONG TIME AGO IF SECURITY WOULD HAVE JUST LET ME GRAB MY THINGS.
But, alas, I wait. And I wait. And I wait. Another 30 minutes goes buy (that's 6 times of hearing that my bags may be confiscated or destroyed by the friendly announcer), and I go back. They explain they've found one of my bags. I'm convinced it's my backpack for the simple reason that life will go on without my clothes whereas losing my notebook would be the end of Civilization as we know it.
But, to my amazement, the bag she pulls out from behind the counter is, in fact, my laptop bag. Finally, a stroke of good luck.
I continue waiting for my backpack, but after another hour or two I finally give up and head to the hotel room. I get there at around midnight. By this time I'm exhausted. I set the alarm clock early enough to catch my early flight, and collapse on the bed.
In the morning, however, I wake up at 7:30. Which means two things. A), the alarm clock didn't go off, or the volume was set very low, and B), I've essentially missed my 8:30 flight as there's no way I can get ready, to the airport, and past security in an hour.
Now, this is largely my fault. I should have checked the alarm clock when I set the damn thing, but I didn't.
Even though there's no reasonable way I could pull it off, I try anyway...and there's not much use in showing wearing the same clothes I wore the day before (except a Creative Labs shirt I got from the show). So, I gather my crap, run out to the street, and try to catch a cab. I can't. I'm out there for 10 minutes without seeing a single empty cab when I realize I had left my booking information in the room. *shrug* Game over.
I go back up, reschedule the flight for the next one (leaving at...again...4:15), and go back to the airport to wait for another 6 hours.
Oh yea, no sign of my bag, but I'm assured they'll continue looking for it. *sigh* It's not a huge deal, but there is a $100 electric razer in there, and calculating the value of everything including the bag runs around $300. :shrug: Not going to kill me, but not going to make me very happy either...particularly considering I, again, could have had it in 3 minutes if security would have let me.
And that was my trip.
By the way, I have no where to put this, so I'll put it here. Every time I go to Vegas, I do a little gambling. And when I say "little", I mean, "I put a quarter in a slot machine". I usually just lose the quarter. Last time I doubled my money. This time, I won the quarter back...only this slot machine doesn't just give me my quarter, you have to print out a ticket that you take to a cashier.
Dirty bastards. You wouldn't know it by looking at it either, without carefully examining it. So, without wanting to go to the trouble of printing out a stupid ticket claiming a quarter, I let it ride...and yes, lost it.
In summary: Reno is evil. Vegas is evil.
For those of you unaware, there's been a bit of stormy weather the last few days. No, not just in Bellingham. It snowed in Las Vegas. It didn't stick (not while I was there, anyway) but it very clearly snowed. Fortunately, that didn't impede my trip from Vegas to Reno. However, the snow in Reno did. After spending an hour or two in the Vegas airport (yay for free wireless Internet access....that almost made me miss my flight ;)), I arrived in Reno at around 3:00. As it turns out, Reno was in the process of getting hit with the biggest snowstorm they've seen in 15 years. Literally, 24 inches of snow had fallen in the course of a day or two. That's two feet, people.
Anyway, I landed, and boarded the flight. We left the terminal, and got onto the runway, and waited. And waited. And waited. About an hour later, we hear that there's a snow plow that got stuck on the runway. I don't really know how a snowplow, of all things, can get stuck, but it did. So, the airplane pulled back into the terminal to wait for it to get un-stuck, and finish plowing the runway. Meanwhile, the snow is still dumping.
Everyone's free to get off the plane, but we're told we'll be taking off very quickly, so don't go far, and also that it's okay to leave bags on the plane. I leave both bags on the plane, grab a sandwich, and bring it back not wanting to in any way impede the flight from leaving. About an hour goes by, and we're told that the plane needs to be de-iced, only they've run out of fluid, so they need to get that taken care of, but it'll only take an hour or so, and then we'll be taking off.
An hour passes, (the snow still dumping), and we're told that the runway has once again been closed due to snow. That's right, in the 2 and a half hours or so since the snow plow got stuck (or at least, when it was announced that it was stuck) enough snow had fallen so they wanted to plow it again.
But this is it...because there's not MUCH snow on the runway, the plow can't easily get stuck, the plane has just been de-iced...as soon as they finish plowing the runway, we're headed out. Additionally, it's getting dark at this time, and apparently it's safer to fly at night than it is in the day (or so says the check in person, who presumably would know). The downside is this will take 2 hours. But fine...it's settled, and the 4:15 flight is leaving at around 10:00.
At around 8:30ish, I get tired of sitting in the airport and decide that I'm going to take a few minutes to go fart around in the still dumping snow, leaving my carry on bags in the airplane cabin. I'm gone for 10 minutes...MAYBE 15 tops. Just enough to get some fresh air, slide around on the sidewalks (which might as well be ice rinks). When I come back, security tells me they can't let me through because all flights, including mine, have been cancelled.
That's right. After sitting in this airport for 5 hours, I'm gone for 10 minutes and THAT'S when they officially cancel the flight.
I explain that my laptop is on the plane, along with my clothes and other stuff, and I could grab it and be back at the checkpoint in LITERALLY 3 minutes, but they insist that they cannot possibly let me through security.
On the verge of going on rampage, I calm myself down and politely ask what will become of my bags that are in the cabin of the plane. They explain that it will promptly be taken down to the baggage claim. So I go there and I wait. And I wait. While I wait, I run over and secure a hotel room and reschedule my flight for Sunday morning. About a half-hour goes by, and I go back up and ask. Again, they tell me it will be coming to the baggage claim. So I go back. And wait. And wait. And wait. I see bags that have been checked, but no bags that were on the cabin, presumably because I was the only idiot that left stuff on the plane while I was outside the security checkpoint.
All this time waiting, mind you, I'm treated to a friendly announcement that plays every 5 minutes declaring that any baggage found without an escort will be confiscated or "destroyed".
I go to the baggage office and explain my position...to people who are running around like chickens with their heads cut off. All the flight delays and cancellations have made their job complete hell, and it's all they can do to tell me to "please stand by".
Eventually, I am able to explain my situation to one of the people, and they make a call and claim that a guy (Kevin, I think) was "on his way down with my bags".
FINALLY, I think. So I wait. And I wait. And I wait. Another half hour passes by, I go back and ask about Kevin. They make another call and determine that "Kevin" had gone home.
At this point, I'm about ready to start hand crafting a thermo-nuclear bomb to take out the entire airport.
I'm assured that someone will find my bags, and I should just wait a little...they've got a ton of bags, and it's going to take time to get things straightened out...particularly beings as my bags weren't tagged.
Upon hearing that, steam starts blowing out my ears as I'm reminded that these are CARRY ON ITEMS THAT I COULD HAVE HAD A LOOONG TIME AGO IF SECURITY WOULD HAVE JUST LET ME GRAB MY THINGS.
But, alas, I wait. And I wait. And I wait. Another 30 minutes goes buy (that's 6 times of hearing that my bags may be confiscated or destroyed by the friendly announcer), and I go back. They explain they've found one of my bags. I'm convinced it's my backpack for the simple reason that life will go on without my clothes whereas losing my notebook would be the end of Civilization as we know it.
But, to my amazement, the bag she pulls out from behind the counter is, in fact, my laptop bag. Finally, a stroke of good luck.
I continue waiting for my backpack, but after another hour or two I finally give up and head to the hotel room. I get there at around midnight. By this time I'm exhausted. I set the alarm clock early enough to catch my early flight, and collapse on the bed.
In the morning, however, I wake up at 7:30. Which means two things. A), the alarm clock didn't go off, or the volume was set very low, and B), I've essentially missed my 8:30 flight as there's no way I can get ready, to the airport, and past security in an hour.
Now, this is largely my fault. I should have checked the alarm clock when I set the damn thing, but I didn't.
Even though there's no reasonable way I could pull it off, I try anyway...and there's not much use in showing wearing the same clothes I wore the day before (except a Creative Labs shirt I got from the show). So, I gather my crap, run out to the street, and try to catch a cab. I can't. I'm out there for 10 minutes without seeing a single empty cab when I realize I had left my booking information in the room. *shrug* Game over.
I go back up, reschedule the flight for the next one (leaving at...again...4:15), and go back to the airport to wait for another 6 hours.
Oh yea, no sign of my bag, but I'm assured they'll continue looking for it. *sigh* It's not a huge deal, but there is a $100 electric razer in there, and calculating the value of everything including the bag runs around $300. :shrug: Not going to kill me, but not going to make me very happy either...particularly considering I, again, could have had it in 3 minutes if security would have let me.
And that was my trip.
By the way, I have no where to put this, so I'll put it here. Every time I go to Vegas, I do a little gambling. And when I say "little", I mean, "I put a quarter in a slot machine". I usually just lose the quarter. Last time I doubled my money. This time, I won the quarter back...only this slot machine doesn't just give me my quarter, you have to print out a ticket that you take to a cashier.
Dirty bastards. You wouldn't know it by looking at it either, without carefully examining it. So, without wanting to go to the trouble of printing out a stupid ticket claiming a quarter, I let it ride...and yes, lost it.
In summary: Reno is evil. Vegas is evil.