Aches on a plane

These past 3 days have been very hectic.
Tuesday was outlined in my vlog, so I won't recount the story. Although I forgot to mention which rental car I got. I couldn't understand the lady at the rental car counter because she had a thick Latina accent, so I just agreed with everything she said. A few minutes after our conversation, I realized that she had given me the Chevy HHR.



Not exactly the sleekest or most gas-efficient car, but it was fine. I was able to rent a car for the first time, so it's a new experience.

Yesterday, I passed my exam and thesis defense. I had a feeling I was going to pass. I'm a genius, so it figured.

Today (Thursday) was the most hectic day. I woke up late, and the check out time was noon. After doing everything I had to do, I checked out at 12:01 pm. Then, I met up with one of my friends to catch up and have lunch together. First, we were supposed to eat at Outback Steakhouse, but it was closed. Then, we went to another sushi restaurant, but that was closed too. Finally, as a last resort, we went to TGIFridays. Not my first choice, but it was good enough.

After lunch, I drove the 2.5 hour drive from Tallahassee to Jacksonville because my flight was at 4:45. I left Tallahassee at 1, so I should have had enough time to make it to the airport. I got to the airport at 3:40, so I had some time to kill. I was able to catch my plane and we all boarded.

HOWEVER, thunderstorms and bad weather in the Baltimore/DC area prevented the plane from leaving Jacksonville, so we had an hour delay, which turned into a two hour delay. After waiting two hours for an announcement, we finally got some news. Our flight was cancelled. I stood in 3 different lines to talk to the airline workers, and after 1 hour of waiting, they told me I had been re-booked to fly out on Saturday. What am I going to do for an entire day and two nights in Jacksonville with no car and no hotel? On top of that, I hadn't eaten since lunch, but all of the restaurants at the stupid airport were closed. But I found a bar that gave me some bar food to go.

So I went online (thank God for free internet at Jacksonville airport) to book a new flight with Southwest that was supposed to bring me back Friday morning at 9 am. As I was walking back to the terminal, I saw that another Southwest flight to BWI had been delayed til 10. I ran over to the new counter and talked to the lady if I could change my flight to that one instead. Thankfully, she said yes, and I was able to board that plane. I even got an early seat choice (Zone A, #16). I sat in the first row by the window. Unfortunately, there was a loud, annoying, drunk woman sitting across the aisle from me and a (tipsy) mother and her child (age 4) sitting next to me. This wasn't a problem until the end of the flight. As we were descending, the little girl started crying because the change in air pressure was making her ears hurt. The mom decides to use me as an example and tells her daughter that I travel all the time and my ears hurt too. I was a little weirded out, but whatever. She's trying to normalize the daughter's pain and calm her down, so I didn't mind. As long as it kept the baby from crying.

Afterwards, she started having a deeper conversation with me. We talked about where we lived and what we did. She told me how she had a job lined up in DC from her hair stylist. I think she was doing some kind of marketing for people in DC, but I couldn't hear her and I was too confused to ask. Then, she told me that I should have her number and I should text her, so she would have my number. She told me she would call me when she needed people to "take care" of the models and drive them around. She also told me that guys she hired before are unreliable. So now I'm thinking, "What the heck and what do you do for a living?" When the plane landed, she took her daughter to the bathroom, and I left that airplane as soon as I could get out of there. Thankfully, I was back in DC, although 6 hours later than my original landing time. And spending 7 hours at the airport!

I think God was really testing my patience today. Haha. I saw so many people melt down and yell, which never helps the situation. I was able to keep my cool and tried to be polite to everyone I came into contact with. Today reminded me of this video.