The Angry Journey, Part I

“We don’t want to get on the flight to Newark if we won’t make the flight to Edinburgh.”

How is that confusing? After packing two large vehicles with people and luggage, we made it to the St. Louis airport to check in with plenty of time. This was good because the 11 pieces of luggage, four car seats/boosters, and the stroller weren’t easy to maneuver. Thankfully, my in-laws were there to help. So I am checking my thirteen pieces of luggage/car seats when they inform me that the flight to Newark is significantly delayed. We had a two hour layover scheduled for Newark, so this might not be a big deal. Then I tell them we have a place to stay in St. Louis, so we don’t want to fly to Newark and then not on to Edinburgh. They say it won’t be a problem and to clear security; if things get worse, we can always bail later.

Things got worse. I went to the agent and told them the situation. The plane to Newark arrives but has to be towed away for maintenance. "Still not a problem," they tell me and rebook us on a different flight to Newark scheduled to arrive at 10:10pm. Hmm, we’re supposed to then change terminals and make our 10:20 Edinburgh flight? I raise this concern when they tell me that they have contacted Newark, a cart will meet us in Newark with a concierge waiting to take us all to the Edinburgh connection which will be held for us. Wow, that’s some good customer service. I remind them I have a place to stay in St. Louis and, oh yeah, we are a party of six, four of whom are under the age of eight. Just in case, they make us a reservation for two rooms at the Crowne Plaza in Newark, print out vouchers for the hotel and a full days worth of meals for 6 people. Just in case. That should have tipped me off. We board the flight and the agent (different agent) scans a boarding pass and says, "Oh, concierge will be waiting for you in Newark."

We scamper off the plane in reasonably good time and get to the end of the bridgeway. I didn’t see a cart. I don’t see concierge. I turn to the gate agent and say, “We’re the party of six going to Edinburgh and we were told a cart would be waiting to take us to the flight.” Clearly, this was the first she had heard of it. She typed a few things into her trusty computer and declared, “Edinburgh pulled away from the gate three minutes ago. Go see customer service.” This was a case where it makes sense to actually have laws prohibiting homicide.

Customer Service? This is not a strong suit for Continental. They seem to be trained to be unhelpful. They asked if I had a hotel reservation and voucher to which I said yes. They directed us to the sky train to catch a hotel shuttle. After verifying that I did not need to pick up our thirteen pieces of luggage, we went to the skytrain. We boarded and went one station. Then the doors stayed open for very long ten minutes as the baby sang a song that sounded like WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. Finally, doors close and the sky train heads in the correct direction. Half way to the hotel shuttle stop, the train stopped. It remained stationary for a good twenty minutes. Other children joined the baby in his not so sweet melody. Finally, movement, but this time we are headed in the wrong direction.

We return to the previous station and are told to get off the train. Then, we are told that there is a train stuck on each track going to our stop. Unfortunately, some investigation reveals that skytrain is the only alternative to trekking through swampland to get to the hotel shuttles. So we wait roughly twenty more minutes and re-board the not-so-trusty skytrain. Finally, it delivers us to our stop. All we need to do now is get to the Crowne Plaza…

LIAR!

Well, crud. I had high hopes for posting about out continental while I was still angry but more crazy bad things prevented me from doing so like a glat that was in utter disrepair and a major inability to get internet access. We have solved some of these problems, but we have not created more time. And to be honest, the world cup has taken a good chunk of time. Oh yeah, and now when I am in Scotland I am not alone and bored. Instead, my wife is here to talk to and kids to chase and play with.

Unfortunately, I have left them stranded in Edinburgh. I post this sitting in the Denver International Airport on my way to Park City, Utah. We can expect a few posts while I am in Park City. I am here for the Park City Mathematics Institute Summer program. I was just about to write the “I hate Continental Airlines” post but I think my flight is about to board. I would write it on the plane, but if you have seen my laptop you’ll realize that although I will be sitting in First Class, there still won’t be room for my portable desktop.

I am very disappointed that USA lost by the exact score line that Ghana put them out of the last World Cup. I simply can’t believe we can’t start a game. I disagree with anyone who is satisfied that we got out of the group. When we won the group, we had the best draw in the tournament and we should have made the semifinals.

I won’t make any more bold promises, but instead state that I hope to be back soon. Also, I had some Dewar’s on my shot from Newark to Denver.

Patience

I've been gone a while, traveling. The mvoing has found unique and creative ways to present us with unnecessary challenges. The trip was a wee nightmare, aye. The flat is a wreck. I'll be back in the next day or so with a real post providing suitable details. Tell your friends.