because i feel that this insanity needs to be shared... this is the story of my travel experiences for my on-campus interview at U of I this week.
on my way to the airport, i got to navigate clumps of sod that had been dropped on the freeway by some goofy truck driver. it was quite entertaining to see all the cars suddenly swerving around on the 836. not a big deal though, no accidents, just amusement. i got to the airport and parked my car, and had no trouble getting to the gate. some guy commented on my bare feet going through the metal detector, but.. that attempt at flirting fell rather flat. which is not to say i have flat feet. my feet, like certain other members of my family's, are perfect.
the first plane, from miami to chicago, had no air conditioning. two and a half hours with no air. the second plane had no functioning bathroom on board. thankfully that was a short flight, but sheesh!
the interview on tuesday went really well, i think.. it was a long day, but i answered some questions exactly how i wanted to, and got a really good vibe from the staff. i also got to have pizza and beer with one of my juggling buddies, so that was enjoyable as well :) i'll be hearing back about the job next week sometime. keep those fingers crossed!
on wednesday, i got up at 7 CST for breakfast, got picked up at 7:45, and was at the airport, by the gate, by 8:10. first flight left at 9:10, right on time, w/o a hitch. it had functioning bathrooms. excellent. however, the gate we pulled in at was on the complete opposite side of the airport from where i was leaving, so i didn't have much time to work my way through the crowds to get to my gate before its scheduled boarding time. turned out that didn't matter, b/c we had to wait 20 minutes for the flight attendants to show up. and then once we got on the plane, it took another 20 minutes to get the baggage loaded and take off (why weren't they loading while the flight attendants were coming??). at this point i'm like.. ok. we're running a little late, but this airplane has air conditioning, and the guy next to me smells pretty good, so it should be a nice flight.
flight was fine. pleasant, even. i read harry potter the whole way :) but after we landed, the jet bridge we were supposed to use to get off the plane was broken. so they started unloading the baggage while we waited for someone to come fix it. they tried, and failed, so we were told we'd have to switch gates. it took 20 minutes to reload the baggage and then get to a new gate, and finally deplane... by this point we'd been sitting on the plane *on the ground* for an hour and fifteen minutes. i got off the plane almost exactly 2 hours after i was supposed to. many people were disgruntled.
but the story, my friends, does not stop there. because of the delays, i now had to drive home in rush hour traffic. but this was no ordinary rush hour traffic! no! this was rush hour traffic in a magnificent thunderstorm, with driving rain and hail! by this point, i was actually glad for the storm. it cracked me up. i called my mild mannered meteorologist to report the hail, and just enjoyed the clear panic in the other drivers' movements. the amusement of that storm made me just tired, as opposed to tired and crabby. by the time i got home, it was 6pm, and i hadn't eaten in 10 hours. i passed out, and didn't really wake up until dinner was done. sometimes it's really nice to live with someone :)
anyhow, that's my story of disgruntled travel.. it was quite the adventure. not really one i want to repeat, but an adventure nonetheless.
today we are starting our journey up to spend a week in VA. i'm excited to see another new part of the country :) camping, canoe'ing, driving... it should be good!
