I'm gonna use my blog as the place where I'll post the updates and my mom's progress--for future reference.
I'm back in the States. Mom is ok for now. She's not in the hospital yet. We haven't been given a date for the surgery yet. Mom is impatiently waiting. We're thinking about calling them tomorrow (6. Jan.) to see what's up. Dad was sent to pick up a load yesterday and is on the road. He's planning to take time-off for the surgery. Last I understood was the surgery should take place in 2 weeks, and that it's gonna be in Baltimore.
My flight over went from "nice" to "I want to shoot someone (preferably the one responsible)." The tale follows as such:
Munich: Lovely. BMI flight through Lufthansa. Left slightly late, but nothing out of the ordinary. The only downside was that I had to be in Munich by 5:30 am.
London: Here is where my misadventure began. First off, I landed in Terminal 1. I took the bus to Terminal 3 'cause I thought my next flight was through American Airlines. Good thing I checked my itinerary again. I'm flying US Airways. It's in Terminal 1--where I just came from. No worries, I thought. I still have 3 hrs to kill; and with the new temporary regulations for all flights to the States, I'm probably gonna need most of my extra time there.
I got back on the bus to Terminal 1 (nice ride I must say), went through security, and looked for my gate. My gate info was gong to be displayed about an hour and a half later. I spent the time walking around the assorted rip-off stations, uh, I mean the "various shopping opportunities" and unsuccessfully attempted to obtain internet. At least I got to check out Heathrow's web site and my flight information: not a total loss.
10:50 was the time I needed to be at the gate (Gate 56). Completely at the end of the hall. I could see the ever-growing line the moment I turned the corner at Gate 30 or so. When my turn came, I was asked if I had connected through Heathrow. Yes I did. Go to the side. I was interrogated, then allowed to have my carry-on bag searched (which was stuffed) and to be personally patted-down as well. At least a professional lady did it and I had several layers on; so it really wasn't violating.
After the security gate, my name (along with a few others) was called over the intercom: we had to go to the customer service desk. Lufthansa didn't enter my passport info. Anywho, I finally got to my seat. Everyone was seated and ready to go. Don't remember exactly why, but we sat there and waited for about an hour before we were allowed to take-off. Then, if we wanted sound from the monitors (movies, TV, music, etc.) we had to buy a headset! What the (insert swear word here)?! Normally they are complimentary! We were not impressed. I guess we should thank God they didn't charge extra for the meals . . .
Oh, and once we reached Philly, we had to circle around for about 10-20 minutes (I think 'cause there wasn't an empty runway). In total, we were about 1.5 hr behind schedule.
Philly: I was fortunate to have a 3+ hr layover (again). This gave me plenty of time to get my luggage (which was late and coming from another "merry-go-round") and drag them to baggage drop-off. After a bus ride from Terminal A to F, and seeing my gate was different from what was on my boarding pass (not unusual), I arrived to my gate within an hour early. I saw my flight was 1/2 hr delayed. No big deal. I'm going home. The Salisbury airport is about a 15-minute drive from home. That'll just mean I'll get home a little after 20:30 (8:30 pm). No big deal.
The desk clerk announced we were delayed even further (20:00). Hmmm, ok . . . I guess. As long as we're going, I'm ok. Short before 20:00, the desk clerk announced we were waiting for a crew. What? Why are we waiting for "a" crew? The crew scheduled to take us to Salisbury was scheduled to fly in from Salisbury. Thier flight was cancelled due to heavy fog (up to .5 mile visibility). There were 2 later flights to Salisbury: both were cancelled. It was this flight, or none at all until tomorrow.
Happy day, a crew arrived! Some of us even applauded. We boarded around 20:45 or so. Yeah, we're on our way home!
Nope, not really.
I was asleep (haven't really slept for over 24 hours) but when I woke up, I realized we were landing . . . in Philly. WHAT?! Didn't we just leave Philly? Why are we back? I heard from 1 of the other passengers that we had clearance to fly from Philly, but not to land in Salisbury. We left, in hopes that when we arrived, all would be well and we could land. I understand we circled a few times, and then returned to Philly. We were not happy.
So, when is the next flight to Salisbury? 19:15 tomorrow. WHAT?! Tomorrow night?! If we want to stay in a hotel, neither the airport nor the airline was gonna reimburse us. If we want a refund, we're gonna have to make a fuss to Reservations (in process). We were NOT impressed. Some rented cars, others flew back to where they came from. My family picked me up. By the time they came by, it was about 0:30. We got home sometime after 2 in the morning. Praise God dad was home: mom would've never made it on her own--much less at night.
I guess I did set myself up for that: I didn't have a direct flight (as far as flights to Salisbury, MD are concerned, direct flights from any city outside the Mid-Atlantic is impossible--not to mention flights from Europe). Another fact, the 2 bad flights were through US Airways. Maybe the next time I fly home, I should just fly to Philly or BWI and skip the hassels that come with a small regional airport that only uses US Airways . . .
This is by far my worst New Years. At least my worst Christmas (just the week before) wasn't this bad. What a heck of way to start the new year . . .
