...and they reroute your flight to Oklahoma City.

Get ready for a big vent.

So I left Pittsburgh for my connecting flight to Dallas, which I now realize is my kryptonite of airports. Only bad things happen here. Why? Because the weather was so bad in Dallas, our plane had to circle around before running out of gas and having to go to Oklahoma City to refill. Then Dallas shut down due to weather, which left us stuck in our plane in Oklahoma.

Made a million and one phone calls on the plane, trying to figure what I could do. Found out that my connecting flight from Dallas to Long Beach was cancelled. Which really didn't matter anyway, because my flight didn't get into Dallas until midnight Dallas time. We were supposed to land at 7pm.

So I'm at the airport, waiting in line to get my flight re-arranged. Because I was supposed to land in Long Beach that night. And I have a 6:30am flight out of LAX to Saginaw, Michigan, for Manny and Rachel's wedding. Since my flight was cancelled, there's NO way I'm going to make that early morning flight. So I was thinking of just flying straight to Chicago to catch my connecting flight to Michigan. But that's a United flight. My American flight is the one that was cancelled. I guess they don't play well together. So it was next to impossible for me to get a flight to Chicago, yet maintain my original itinerary - I'd have to buy new tickets, which would run me at least $300 more.

So the only thing I could get was an 8am flight to Long Beach, which gets me in at 9:25am. Then I have to haul ass to LAX to catch an 11:10 flight. I have no idea if I'll make it, but I have to try. If anything, I'll just buy a completely new ticket.

This sucks.

And since I was on the phone so long, I missed the cot-mobile, which was handing cots and blankets out to the rest of the people stranded here. So I'm on a chair. But I don't think I can sleep anyway.

And my body is surviving on my extra special birthday ho-ho's that I had for breakfast, the 5 pieces of pasta salad that I managed to eat before I got to busy to finish it, and a cookie that I had leftover yesterday for dinner. Tummy grumble.

I really wish I was home. Chicago or Long Beach, I don't care.

I'm too tired to cry. This is possibly the worst birthday ever.

But not really. It could be worse, right? And for all the awesomely crazy shit ass fucked up crap that I went through today, there's some positive stuff that has helped me not to go completely postal on my fellow travelers who are sleeping on cots with their soft, warm red blankets, snoring away in dreamyland...uh, where was I? Oh, positive stuff.

Oh my god, to log onto my site and see 35 birthday well wishes completely amazes me, and I'm just speechless. Not that I have anyone to talk to here anyway. Not to mention the emails and voicemails and text messages...I absolutely love you guys. All of you. Thanks to everyone for their birthday wishes and the kind words....my heart is smiling. And the special posts on your blogs, I can't believe it. Even though I'm in a shitty mood right now, I still feel lucky. Well, not with travel. But with friends, and this amazing community that comes here day after day to read my rants, raves, stupid crap and nothingness...I thank you all. Thanks to all of you that posted little things on your blogs, too! That was completely unexpected! From Pridey's Yano party to Shannon, Marilyn, and Texx and whomever else for their posts.

And to Mel, who wrote a really sweet thing...Miss you much...LYLAS (remember that?) She also posted this little trip down memory lane...

But the greatest gift that I got today, a gift that I didn't even ask for, was that my cousin Gail, my little flower girl Nina's mom, had a baby today! On my birthday! What better present can anyone have than to have someone born on their birthday? So welcome to the world, little Sebastian. Don't let Nina push you around, and big brother Enzo will be happy to have a boy to play with.

So ok, maybe it's not the worst birthday ever.

Posted by Yano at May 28, 2004 02:05 AM

---

---

---

---

---

---