The world as I see it…

I’m sitting at the starbucks just outside security at the San Antonio airport as I write this.  I won’t write a whole lot because I would like to just chill out a bit after I get through security and hopefully get in a good power nap.  I was up WAY late last night being social and woke up WAY early this morning…   it was all very worth it.  :)

Overall, the trip to TMEA for me this year was more fun and more successful than any of the past years, and I had a blast in such a short time.  All of the people I got to see and spend time with was great, and I am glad I spent so much time at the Pyware booth, getting a few issues ironed out that I needed.  And, funnily enough, teaching me how to do some of the simplest things with the tools that I was just unaware of.  Guess I shoulda just read the manual.  That’s the “man” in me that says I can figure it out on my own.   Oh well.  ;)

So, overall the only tough thing about this whole weekend was trying to be in multiple places at one time.  I did a great job bouncing from one restaurant to another hotel to another bar to another hotel and to another restaurant.  Although it was exhausting, I got to see everyone I wanted to and I just felt relieved to see and talk to everyone I saw.   When I moved back to Michigan without being able to say goodbye to most of my closest friends, it just felt to disconnected…  abrupt?  or something somewhat empty…  you know?  It’s okay though, because I know I probably hadn’t seen most of them since the TMEA before, but it’s always great to see and talk to old friends, as well as make new ones.

Well, for now that’s all I got.  I need to head through security and find a space to pass out for a bit…  hopefully not missing my flight.  But next stop, snowy and colder Michigan.  Boo!  :P

So, I’m officially booked for the convention and for the first time in about 5 years, I’m completely stress-free about the trip.

For the past few years, I was either working a booth or under pressure to find a ride, worried about my car surviving the trip, trying to figure out where I’m staying or who to stay with, figuring out how much I need to pay whoever for the hotel stay, etc. Too many things to list, but none of that is the case this year. I am sure something weird will come up on the trip anyway, but the important thing is that 90% of the issues I’ve had to deal with in the past aren’t an issue this year. The fun part is finding out what issues I will run into later though.

I decided to book a room at the Marriott Rivercenter, which is about 20 yards feet from the convention. After my experience at BOA in 2004 and booking a room at the Hyatt Regency? (attached to the RCA dome), nothing really beats the convenience of staying in a hotel right next to where you are going. And I’m not talking a block or two away… but right there!

When I went to BOA in 2003, I booked a room at the La Quinta? located just outside of Indianapolis, and I rented a car to drive back and forth to the stadium and back to the airport. The rental, plus the hotel with gas, parking fees (which were outrageous!), insurance and taxes totalled close to $210/day. I weighed the differences in 2004 and ultimately decided on the more expensive hotel room, at whatever rate it was per night which was close to $180/night. Yeah, sounds like a LOT for a night in a hotel – but not having to pay for the rental, gas, insurance and parking fees… I ended up saving money on the trip. Yet, some of my friends had a hard time looking past the higher cost for the hotel room and questioned my judgment and financial planning for that trip. Trust me – I’m good at math and I saved a bit of money that way.

So, I chose to do something like that this year. I’m not really all about spoiling myself every time I go on a trip like this, but it was called for on this occasion. I crunched the numbers, compared all different options on the expenses and made sure it was worth it before booking. I put into consideration all of the past experiences I’ve had going to San Antonio for TMEA/TBA, the parking which is ALWAYS an issue and the costs to take a taxi, rental car and all that good stuff before making this decision. The higher cost of the hotel for a couple nights will actually work out to be a bit cheaper than had I stayed at some cheaper hotel outside the Riverwalk area, rented a car and drove into town, paid for parking (even at the hotel, which is like $30/day at some places) and had to worry about making sure I fill up the tank. Screw that. I have more important things to spend my time thinking about – like seeing my friends and colleagues at the convention, meeting some directors and hopefully getting a few new clients and making new friends in the process.

I’m really excited about the trip… and even more excited to see a lot of my Texas friends, who I haven’t seen in far too long.

On a separate note – I bought a new mouse!

I got the MX Performance mouse, by Logitech. A much better mouse than my previous MX Revolution, however not as many customizable buttons. I got a mean sale on it and paid less than expected, but it’s the new hottness out there and I got a great deal. So far it fits very well in my hand, tracking is smooth and I haven’t had any issues with getting used to the feel and functionality of it with my programs. Pyware is a completely different story though. I have to modify a LOT of what I became accustomed to over the past 3 years but it shouldn’t set me back at all. Just a few adjustments here and there and all will be set for the spring and summer of writing.

This is a copy from a note I just posted on Facebook.  I figured it would be a good ice-breaker to get myself back into blogging here again.  I guess I don’t need to blog at all, but I’ve always got stuff to say and need an outlet since I’m moved to a new place and back to living alone – which I love! But there’s no-one here to outlet to.

This note is just for me to write down the experience I had, just because…

…and there’s nothing too special about it other than the fact that the entire day was one I will never forget. It’s a long note, so it’s up to you if you wanna take time out of your day to read it. This was for me to just tell my story from the weekend and keep for myself (like in a diary) so I can remember it.

I was in North Carolina this past weekend for a design meeting with W. Carteret. The meeting went well and we had some good discussions on what we want to do this year. I’m really looking forward to working more closely with the design team and putting together what looks to be a very cool show.

This meeting, being planned over a month ago, we scheduled to happen the weekend of the 27-1. Little did we know or expect it to be the time when Atlanta would get SLAMMED with inches of snow… and yes… inches of snow in Atlanta, which from what I hear is about as rare as inches of snow in Houston. Except, they got hit with it so bad that everything shut down on Sunday – the day I was supposed to fly home through Atlanta.

So, I’m out there… weather is crappy! It’s rainy… cold… foggy. I was staying at a hotel on the ocean and couldn’t see the ocean. (see mobile uploads).

I’m up late catching up on some e-mails… came on facebook to see my friend Lizz’s status update talking about how upset she is that he flight through Atlanta via Delta was canceled on Sunday.

I froze there for a moment and said to myself… “Wait… MY flight is also Delta and going through Atlanta!” I looked it up and sure enough… canceled.

Then I looked up my flight info and they confirmed me on a flight out of Wilmington, NC at 6:05 am… on TUESDAY! (which is today as I’m writing this blog) and getting to Houston around 11am. Flying still through Atlanta.

I wasn’t THAT freaked out by it or anything… I didn’t really have much of a reason to hurry home, however it was working out a place to stay, hotel or whatever. But you all know that if flights get canceled, those hotel rooms fill up QUICK. Unless you run to the phone or hotel front desk, you’re more likely to get a seat on the floor at the airport than any affordable hotel room. (I guess you wouldn’t “run” to the phone, especially if you have one… I guess that’s more of me referencing what you had to do in the 90′s before everyone had a cell… haha).

So, it’s like 2am… I’m trying to text/call people to see what I can do, figure out rides on Tuesday morning… it was a mess. I wasn’t sure but the plan was to still head to the airport at 9am-ish on Sunday morning. Ryan, our music arranger who was there at the hotel with me, was flying through Charlotte to Austin. His flight was fine, but mine was a no-go for sure. The band directors of WC did one hell of a job making calls for me and eventually getting me on another flight with another airline and getting me out that day still, but flying to Charlotte, then to Dallas and then to Houston. I can’t thank them enough for their hospitality and their effort in helping me get home.

So, here’s where the magic happens.

They booked me through US Air, which was the same as Ryan’s flight, through Charlotte and off to TX. My flight was scheduled for 7:30pm out of Wilmington to Charlotte. Then something like 9pm out of Charlotte to Dallas, arriving something like 11pm. I would have to stay several hours in DFW overnight and was on the first Continental flight out at 5:40am Monday, getting to Houston around 6-something.

Ryan’s flight was leaving at 12:49pm Sunday. I was looking at my phone (and I’m SO glad I have a blackberry) and watching the weather in all the cities I was flying through and from. The weather coming into Wilmington looked god awful… I mean it went from 40 to 20 to 30 to rain to snow to rain snow mix to ice to uglier than most Michigan weather. (and this is for a city down south that doesn’t get weather like this as often). And Charlotte looked just as bad.

While I was in the car, I thought to myself that even though I know flights won’t go out unless it’s absolutely safe enough to fly, I wanted to be more optimistic than pessimistic, yet I could help but wonder if I should at least try to get on standby for an earlier flight out of Wilmington in the event my 7:30 pm flight gets delayed or canceled.

I got to the desk to check in, spoke with a very nice lady at the US Air desk and explained briefly what had happened when my Delta flight was canceled and how I wanted to see if there was any chance I could go standby for an earlier flight that night. Nothing was delayed or canceled out of Wilmington to Charlotte for the day so it didn’t really matter at the time. She typed a few things in for me… looked at some stuff… looked at me and said “I can get you a seat on the flight at 12:45 to Charlotte” (same as Ryan’s) – I got excited and said “YES!! That’s perfect… Thank you SO much”. She smiled and with a little laugh said “it’s no problem…”

She then proceeded to look into my connecting flights. I explained to her that I really didn’t care about waiting in Charlotte until 9pm or later because it was a much bigger and better airport to get stranded in than Wilmington. She said “I can get you on the standby list for a 2:40 flight out of Charlotte to Dallas… but then your stuck in Dallas until 5am the next day”. I kinda shrugged and said “you know, that’s ok”. But I said that thinking “there’s NO way I’ll get on that flight to Dallas”.

She printed my boarding passes… I was off through security and to the gate.

Not even 10 minutes after I sat down and turned on my iPod, Ryan was on the phone with his wife and I was watching the grey clouds rolling in. An older man’s voice came on the PA system in the terminal and began with “I need everyone’s attention please…” or something of the sort. The announcement was to notify everyone in the airport that due to the weather coming into Charlotte and Philadelphia, all flights going to those cities after 4pm tonight are canceled”.

I looked at Ryan and my eyes went bug-like. I couldn’t believe that I got a seat (not standby) on an earlier flight and everything was still ok for me to get out that day. Had I stayed on my original flight and not said anything, I would not have gone anywhere that day but a cheap hotel.

The lady at the counter confirmed with me and several other questioning travelers that our flights earlier in the day were in fact fine.

Then they made an announcement telling us that flights later in the evening out of Charlotte going several places are either delayed or canceled and that all hotels close to the Charlotte airport were already booked. I was sitting there going “sh*t!… oh well”.

So, we get on the plane… a little one at that. I sit next to a very nice woman from Colorado and she was great to talk to on the flight. We take off and are on our way on the 1+ hour flight to Charlotte. I don’t remember how long it actually was, but considering it was bumpy the entire flight and we flew in a cloud the whole way, it felt like 3 hours.

We land in Charlotte about 20 minutes behind schedule and I look at the time – it’s about 2pm. The flight out of Charlotte to Dallas that I was on standby for was scheduled to leave at 2:40-ish. I looked at the board and saw it was delayed to 3:20. So, that bought me a little time to switch terminals and see if I could check in for standby.

I took my time… I didn’t even walk on the moving sidewalk. I waited for the train/shuttle and got to the counter around 2:20-ish. I was behind at least 5 other people who I assumed were waiting to figure out the standby thing. As they went up one by one I overheard this or that about them getting on standby… I wasn’t really paying attention. I spent most of the time on my ipod playing solitaire.

So, I get up there, smiled at the lady who was older… seemed somewhat over it… and just said “hi, I was just seeing about getting my name on the standby list”. I showed her the blank boarding pass they gave me in Wilmington and she looked it up and said “yes, we already have you on the list”. I shrugged and said “oh… okay, cool! Thanks!”.

I sat down, and as time went by, there were flights at the gates all around me getting canceled or moved to other gates. The flights by me were to Boston and Newark and I think they both were canceled. I just stuck to my tunes and played more solitaire.

They started boarding the plane… I stood with my stuff close to the counter and just watched as the rain POURED down outside. And I do mean, poured! cats and dogs!

They called 3 names… none of them mine of course. They called 3 more… one was the last name Harper (I think… thought it was me… almost died. haha).

Then she called my name! I almost tripped over my computer bag, I was so excited. I went up there, she gave me a boarding pass and said “you’re the last one”. no joke! I was so excited I could hardly contain my smile. I looked out to everyone looking at me and had to quickly hide that smile as I knew several of them were waiting and hoping to get on that flight. I did feel a little bad, but I was then just amazed I got on that flight… couldn’t believe it.

They call my group… I get on the plane… we get off the ground about 30 minutes late but after a bumpy take-off, we landed smoothly in a sunny and clear Dallas around 5pm CST.

I was SO relieved to be in Dallas and the first thought (and only one) was to not stay in Dallas for 12 hours but talk to Continental, cancel the remainder of my flight (I had no checked baggage), rent a car and drive home. That was ALL I really considered to be an alternative to waiting 12 hours in the DFW airport.

So, I went out the exit… knowing I couldn’t just walk back in, and went to the Continental counter, greeted by another wonderful lady. She asked if she could help me… I kinda stood there silent and still – maybe to her as if I didn’t hear her, but I was just taking in the moment and realizing how it’s 5:15pm and I wasn’t even supposed to have left Wilmington by now even if the weather was perfect – let alone been stuck there overnight at least, due to that flight getting canceled.

I walked slowly up to the counter… smiled and I think I said “I can’t tell you how happy I am to be here right now…” or something like that… I forget. She kinda smiled and seemed confused. I immediately recognized the fact that I better just get to the point and let her know I was going to try and get out of my flight and do the rent-a-car… but only if they would let me. There was no-one else in line behind me so none of us were in a rush.

She looked me up on the computer… we chatted a bit about everything I went through to get there, the canceled flights, the standby… I just laughed in disbelief thinking about it.

Then she looked at me and said “you know, I have a few seats available for the 7:04 flight tonight”. I don’t remember what she said after that because I was asking her to repeat that time… because I was so lost in thought about driving time home, the cost, where I would drop the car off etc that I didn’t think I heard her right. She smiled and repeated saying she would put me on the 7:04 flight to Houston, tonight!

I was in awe… and I gratefully accepted it. She even said she wasn’t going to charge me (which I didn’t know there would be a charge for that, so I didn’t know what to say except “thank you”), and even got me an exit row seat.

I got on that flight, it was short and sweet, landed a little after 8pm and I was home by 9:15.

This whole experience was incredible!

The weather that hit the southeast was BRUTAL!! And most everything closed down in all the cities where they’re not used to this kind of weather. I do feel for those of you dealing with it still and who lost power. I hope everything gets back to normal for you guys soon.

But in many ways, there’s no way I should have made it home that day… let alone, by 8:15pm. I was very lucky and believe there was someone out there looking out for me and I can’t thank them enough.

In the end, I avoided a canceled flight by instinctively trying get onto an earlier flight with no certainty that the flight would get canceled. I received the last standby ticket out of Charlotte (and was probably one of the last flights OUT of Charlotte that day) and made it to Dallas. Then didn’t have to get a rental and got on the next flight out of Dallas – and in an exit row with leg room (…not the exit row withOUT the leg room).

I’m just in awe of this experience and feel so lucky. I’m thankful for many things life has given me and I’m just very thankful right now for great band directors I work for, friendly people who work for the airlines and my friends who have helped me with rides and stuff when plans change.

I know maybe 2 people will have read all this. (or none… haha!) I didn’t tag anyone because I know people will look at this and go “geez, I’m not gonna read all that…” and close it. I just needed to write this down for me because as little of a thing it might be to some people, it’s a very big deal to me and something I will always remember next time I get stuck in an airport (which will happen) and I get stuck waiting through several flights on standby (which will happen and has happened).

yo… I’m outta here… next stop – Rio!

I’ll be in touch periodically, but drop me an e-mail or something if you get a chance.

later!

So yeah… I gave in to the hype and did that facebook thing.  look me up and add me if you wanna be my pal online.  ha.     I’d find you, but since I’ll be getting on a plane in the next few hours, I might not have a lot of time to search around the next couple weeks…    ssoooooo…   as they say -  Facebook me! .