Too tired to think of a title

I am sorry but I am....it has been a busy few days and I got up at 4am (of my own choosing) this morning....

Sunday was probably the worst flight experience I have had ever...with only one exception that I can think of and I was with Craig who doesn't really fly. Before he met me it had been 5 years since he had flown and he just doesn't like dealing with it all so that made it worse though he was better than I was. We had two connections, one in Salt Lake and one in Cincy. We got to our first connection with no problem and even had time for a quick breakfast. Then about 20 mins from the end of our flight it all went wrong. I was starting to feel sick (I don't like landings in general and this one was rough, plus I hadn't done as well as I had hoped with eating healthy so I was already weak in the tummy), and the little screen that shows you were you are was off a little and it looked like we were going in a circle. We were still going down so I didn't worry, plus i was trying not to throw up. We landed and the flight attendant came on and said we were only 4 mins late, cool. Well, then the pilot came on and said that we had actually not landed in Cincy and we were in Louisville...um, what? He said there was a storm over Cincy and that we had been diverted. He also said that no flights were going in and out of Cincy so our connections should be safe and we were going to wait here and we were going to get more fuel and sit tight. The plane became a boat and rocked back and forth like I have never experienced and it poured. Finally around 4:20 (we landed at 3:30) they said we were going to take off and we pulled out. Then at 4:40 they said we couldn't go (meanwhile, I looked up our connection...you know, the one that was grounded cause no flights were going in and out of Cincy, and it was boarding...liars). At 4:50 we took off....it was a short flight but when we got to Cincy they pretty much said if you were going to Dayton just go to the main ticket counter...great. I talked to the gate agent when we got off the plane because I didn't want to go out through security if someone was wrong...but they weren't. We went to the main counter and I got in the medallion line to make it faster. I get to the counter and she tells me that there is only one flight left that night and it was booked so they were going to do ground transportation to the airport in Dayton. They wouldn't give us a car because she said they can't accept the liability so they were doing a taxi. Can someone please explain to me how putting someone in a cab with a stranger to go an hour is any more safe than giving them keys if they have a valid driver's license? That cabbi could have taken me anywhere. Craig was just ready to be home at this point so he wanted to rent a car. The problem with that was that we would have to ride a shuttle to the rental car place and we would have to see if they had cars and all that. We decided to do the cab thing and went to the taxi desk. The lady processed our voucher and then the guy at the counter said we had to have 4 in a cab. Um, SO NOT MY PROBLEM! I don't know anyone on the plane that is not in my party..how do I get two more? Luckily two came up but then the guy said he had to walk us down to the cab (after the lady had just handed me the paperwork but then he took it back cause we only had two). I lost it and was not real nice to him....I felt bad and later said it wasn't his fault. I had been up since 5am though and hadn't eaten since 8am...I was starving (6pm by now) and me hungry is not good. FINALLY we get in the cab, with our randoms and we have to hold half our stuff on our lap. Now, Cincy's airport is actually about 20 mins into Kentucky and the Dayton airport is about 20 mins north of us...UGH! So we are finally on our way and then we pull off an exit in the ghetto. We are all confused as to where we might be going....then the cabbie says he needs gas. I am sure he didn't expect to be doing a 2.5hr roundtrip. When we pulled in the car was smoking and he had to go back in the store like 3 times. Finally he poured something in and we were on our way again. Finally at 7:30 we got to the airport. Also, the lovely voucher we got from Delta didn't include tip...so basically we couldn't land in an airport where other planes were landing and taking off, so I missed my connection so you send me in a cab with strangers and I am out the tip on an hour long fare? WTF. I mean I have been annoyed by things that Delta has done before but this was really stupid. Why should I be out money? Part of owning a business is making sure your customers are happy. Oh, and my other favorite part is that when we landed in Cincy finally I checked our itinerary and they had booked us on the 2:10pm the next day. I know it was all automatic but it cracked me up that they would think that a full 24 hrs late was acceptable. It renewed my desire to write them a letter and it was a crappy end to a great vacation :-(

So, fast forward to last night and I have to go back to the airport to come to Atlanta. I get to the gate and they announce that they will give $400 if you will give up your seat and go in the morning on the 6am so I said I would do it. It must have been really oversold because normally they make you wait until it boards but this time I was on my way home before my flight was even supposed to take off. When I went to the counter when she called me name she said "did you volunteer" and I said that yes, I was the first one and she said "just wanted to make sure because you are gold" I guess gold medallions don't normally volunteer...huh. Oh well, the plane this morning was bigger and had first class so I got upgraded. 4am was really early this morning though and I am tired now.

Other than that, nothing too exciting at the end of the vacation. I am going to try to organize the 645 pictures that I took on vacation and get some posted and I will talk about that later...hopefully I will get to work on some tonight but I am going to have to go to bed at a decent hour if I will be functional tomorrow.