Right. So, it all started when my parents signed up for a two-week trip to France.
They're going on an organ tour (that is, the musical instrument, not interior body parts), and were scheduled to fly from Newark to Detroit around 6pm Sunday evening (where they would meet up with the rest of the tour group) and continue on to Paris. (Yes, I know. If you look at a map, Newark to Detroit is the WRONG DIRECTION if you're trying to get to Paris. But this is airline physics.)
My part in all this was to deliver them to the airport about two hours before their flight, drop them off at the curb, and wave merrily goodbye, which I duly accomplished around 4pm without mishap. (Well, minor mishap. I missed my exit on the way back home and had to spend several minutes driving anxiously through the suburban wilds of New Jersey, but I found my way again soon enough.)
I got home, logged on, and pulled up the airline page a couple hours later just to double-check their flight had gotten off on time.
(You know what happens next. If it had, this wouldn't be worthy of a blog entry, now would it?)
It hadn't.
At about 6:30, the site informed me, their plane had taxied away from the gate, but had not yet taken off. At about 8:30 (an hour before they were originally due to connect with their outbound flight in Detroit), they were listed as weather-delayed. Checked the weather-- nothing in Newark. Rain in Detroit. Well, alright, perhaps they were circling Detroit....
At about 9, Dad called.
It *wasn't* just rain in Detroit. It was rain-and-heavy-thunderstorms-and-nasty-wind-shear, and while their Paris flight somehow got *out*, none of the other flights were getting *in,* and Mom and Dad's flight had been cancelled. The "lucky" part was that the other half of the tour group also got their flight cancelled.
The "unlucky" part, of course, was that they were NOT on their way to France, and needed me to come pick them (and an emergency houseguest, another of their stranded tour group) up in the Land Whale (i.e., minivan) and bring them back home so they could get some rest and try again tomorrow.
And, of course, I was working today-- no home limo service from me today. Their flight today was scheduled for 6, they intended to drive down to the commuter lot and take the airport shuttle (which is kind of pricey and slow, and thus not their first choice).
At 11, my mother called. "The tour leader found a more direct flight than the one the airline arranged for us, but I only know the airline it's on. Can you find it for me?" A reference librarian's job is never done. (And yes.)
At 11:45, my mother called again. "The airline can arrange the switch once we're at the airport, but they won't do it over the phone. We may or may not be able to get our flight. Call you later and let you know!"
Sigh.
So I spent the rest of my day waiting for a message from my mom, which never came. When I got home, the answering machine was blinking. "Hi, we're calling from the plane. We're on the right flight, but it's a little delayed. Please don't forget to go pick up the car!"
So they're on their way, at last. They'll arrive around 7:30 am Paris time (2:30 am our time-- poor Dad) and start their tour, having missed the first two days.
Tomorrow, I get to hitch a ride at 8:30am to go get their car.
Sigh.
And oh yeah... and the second time I was driving back from the airport, with guest and parents in tow? I missed my exit *again.* >_<
Posted by gris at May 10, 2004 09:26 PM