Friday, September 22nd
2017
Los Angeles, CA and Destin, FL
It’s 10am Pacific Time and I am pulling out of my driveway to
head over the LA airport for my flight to Pensacola, FL. It’s the day after my
grandmother’s 91st birthday and I am going to Florida to celebrate!
I make a quick stop at my office to grab my laptop charger and headphones and
arrive at the airport far ahead of schedule. Once I get parked and through
security I start my hunt for food. Eventually I find a Counter and order a
burger with fried egg and bacon. It’s delicious.
My flight boards right on time and as the airplane door is
closing the flight attendant makes a frantic announcement “Pick up all of your
bags that are on the floor”. No one does. She repeats herself and then has to
physically walk over to me and say “Pick up your purse, there is water on the
floor”. I turn my head and there is growing puddle of water creeping from the
back of the plane to the front. About one minute later the flight attendant
asks us to deplane. They are going to decommission the plane and try real hard
to get all of us to our correct destinations.
I immediately open my United Airlines app and start looking for
alternate routes. There are none. The good news, however, is that I have a
hefty layover in Houston and there is a chance that I still may make it in
time. We are all instructed to wait in the gate area for an update in 30
minutes. I grab a large comfortable chair in the closest bar and catch up on
work.
After 30 minutes of delay the airline announces that we have a
new plane and will be boarding in half an hour. I am impressed with United’s efficiency
and hopeful that I will make my connection.
I spend the flight from Los Angeles to Houston quietly playing
Plants v Zombies. The guy next to me looks talkative so I put on my headphones
but decide to not play any music. Around 4:45pm Central Time our flight lands
in Houston. The flight attendant asks all passengers without tight connections
to remain in their seats to allow other to deplane first. Of course, nobody
does. My connection is at 6:10pm and I am feeling good. It takes almost 30 minutes
to get out of the plan, find the sky tram, and arrive at my connecting gate. I am
finally there with 15 minutes to spare.
While I am waiting at the gate I get a text from my brother. He
is on the beach in Pensacola and doesn’t feel up to driving to the airport to
pick me up anymore. He asks if I can take a cab. I agree. I also offer to drive
from Pensacola to our hotel in Ft Walton beach. I am definitely too nice.
After an hour plane ride and a 30 minute Uber drive I finally
arrive in Pensacola. I am ready for a beer and some bar food but my brother
looks completely beat and practically begs me to drive us to the hotel.
Eventually we get checked in and I announce that I am taking my
brother’s car to get food and beer. It’s getting pretty late so I opt for
Whataburger and a tall can of Yuengling from the gas station. I eat dinner in
our Days Inn hotel room and eventually fall asleep. We have an early day
tomorrow.
