An Interesting Time in Chicago

(Note: This was written the afternoon of Saturday, May 9, but I was unable to post it until later in the evening when I was able to secure internet access.)

Another Saturday night and I’m stuck in Chicago. O’Hare Airport to be exact. How many of you can say that you’ll be at the airport for 5+ hours while NOT waiting for a flight? Well, that’s my situation.

How did I get into this predicament? Read on…

I started my day in New Orleans for the FCA conference. The plan was to fly back to Evansville with a connection in Dallas/Ft. Worth. Once I got back to Evansville, I was renting a car so Leandra could start our drive to Cloquet, Minn. (close to Duluth) for her grandmother’s funeral.

Everything was going smoothly until we got to Dallas. Our flight back to Evansville was overbooked. For a $300 voucher, I could be rerouted through Chicago. By doing so, I would be getting back about 3 hours later…BUT I would be in Chicago which we would have to drive through anyways to get to Minnesota. I even thought that I could give my best friend a call to pick me up and I could hang with him for a couple of hours.

I made a quick call to the wife and we agreed to take the gamble. I took the voucher and the new tickets (even though I was never planning to use the Chicago to Evansville ticket) and took the flight to Chicago.

So I got off the plane and called my buddy. He’s in Janesville, Wis. visiting his wife’s family. (STRIKE ONE!)

Then I thought I might be able to get to find a way to switch my ticket to send me to Milwaukee, Wis. and find a friend who could pick me up from airport up there. Called a booking agent and explained my situation, but the two flights were both booked. (STRIKE TWO!)

THEN…I thought about standby. So I went to an agent to inquire about getting on a standby list. She told me that the “rules have changed” and that I would have to pay a $50 fee to guarantee that I would get a seat, but that might not be until tomorrow. If I didn’t get the flight, I would still be out $50. On top of that, I was told that the remaining two flights to Milwaukee were already overbooked. (STRIKE THREE!)

In two final strokes of bad luck, I am unable to use my cell phone as my battery was dying and I need to save as much juice as I can to make sure Leandra can find me at the airport. Additionally, I’m not using the internet with the laptop from work because I don’t want to pay for it.

So I rolled the dice and lost. I still have a $300 voucher to use sometime in the next year. But Leandra likely won’t be here until 9:30(ish) and I am writing this at 5:00. I suppose I can take my time with dinner and get some exercise by walking some laps through the terminal.