Yea... about that....
I want to clarify something. At no time, have I ever been the Burger King.
Wednesday was one of those days where you imagine everything falling apart around you, in slow motion, only to discover nothing was quite as bad as it seemed.
First the flight from Phoenix was late getting into San Francisco. Then the plane was routed to the International Terminal, which meant another trip through Security.
As my flight back to Seattle starts to board, they announce that the flight is oversold, and they need 5 volunteers to give up their seats, in exchange for free round-trip airfare to any destination in the Lower 48. SOLD!
United doesn't have another flight until 7:30 pm. (It's about 10:20 am.) They offer to book me on an Alaska Airlines flight back to Seattle, but the 12:30 flight is a full. Next available is 3:20. OK, fine. Free airfare for sitting around, doing nothing for another 5 hours. I'm OK w/ that.
Then I discover Alaska flies out of the other terminal past Security, which means another trip past the screeners. Except this time, I'm asked to step aside and wait for the next available screener. I get to step into the phone booth, have them blow air on me, and wait for the light to turn green before I can go. Then I get to sit there and watch them search my bags.
Lunchtime. Except there's nothing past Security in this terminal, save for a couple coffee shops. Great. Another trip past the guards. I get searched again.
At this point, I've been through Security 4 times in one day, and only made it onto one airplane. And half the time, I got to watch the TSA unpack my luggage to check for explosive residue. At this point I began to question my choice of flights.
About 3 pm, we board the plane. As we're boarding, the meal truck is already unloading its precious cargo of peanuts & bottled water. A short while later, the truck pulls away. Several minutes later, the captain announces over the intercom that we're waiting for the truck to come back, and it should only be a couple minutes. 15 minutes. No Truck. Half hour, no truck. 40 minutes, still no truck.
A full hour later, the truck reappears, bringing w/ it bottled water. The flight is delayed for more than an hour. For bottled water. And its a 2 hour flight. I should be halfway back home at this point. I should already be home at this point.
About 6:15, my phone rings. I had an appointment at 6 pm. And I'm on my way to my car, in the parking garage. I apologize, explain that my flight was delayed and that I've just arrived in Seattle.
Is free airfare worth all this? Really?
After I get home an unpack, I head into work. I have a couple things I have to take care of since I was gone for a few days. I plug in my laptop and power it on. Right after the Windows XP boot screen, DEATH.
I get a blue screen error message that I've never seen before and my computer locks up. I power down; restart. I attempt to boot in Safe Mode. Same error. I attempt to boot from the last known good configuration. Nope. I restart a total of 8 times. Nothing. Same error message every time.
Great. As if the day couldn't get any worse, it just did. My laptop, which I had been using that afternoon in the airport w/ no problems won't even boot up. No warning, just dead. Awesome. I can't wait to deal w/ this tomorrow...
Wednesday was one of those days where you imagine everything falling apart around you, in slow motion, only to discover nothing was quite as bad as it seemed.
First the flight from Phoenix was late getting into San Francisco. Then the plane was routed to the International Terminal, which meant another trip through Security.
As my flight back to Seattle starts to board, they announce that the flight is oversold, and they need 5 volunteers to give up their seats, in exchange for free round-trip airfare to any destination in the Lower 48. SOLD!
United doesn't have another flight until 7:30 pm. (It's about 10:20 am.) They offer to book me on an Alaska Airlines flight back to Seattle, but the 12:30 flight is a full. Next available is 3:20. OK, fine. Free airfare for sitting around, doing nothing for another 5 hours. I'm OK w/ that.
Then I discover Alaska flies out of the other terminal past Security, which means another trip past the screeners. Except this time, I'm asked to step aside and wait for the next available screener. I get to step into the phone booth, have them blow air on me, and wait for the light to turn green before I can go. Then I get to sit there and watch them search my bags.
Lunchtime. Except there's nothing past Security in this terminal, save for a couple coffee shops. Great. Another trip past the guards. I get searched again.
At this point, I've been through Security 4 times in one day, and only made it onto one airplane. And half the time, I got to watch the TSA unpack my luggage to check for explosive residue. At this point I began to question my choice of flights.
About 3 pm, we board the plane. As we're boarding, the meal truck is already unloading its precious cargo of peanuts & bottled water. A short while later, the truck pulls away. Several minutes later, the captain announces over the intercom that we're waiting for the truck to come back, and it should only be a couple minutes. 15 minutes. No Truck. Half hour, no truck. 40 minutes, still no truck.
A full hour later, the truck reappears, bringing w/ it bottled water. The flight is delayed for more than an hour. For bottled water. And its a 2 hour flight. I should be halfway back home at this point. I should already be home at this point.
About 6:15, my phone rings. I had an appointment at 6 pm. And I'm on my way to my car, in the parking garage. I apologize, explain that my flight was delayed and that I've just arrived in Seattle.
Is free airfare worth all this? Really?
After I get home an unpack, I head into work. I have a couple things I have to take care of since I was gone for a few days. I plug in my laptop and power it on. Right after the Windows XP boot screen, DEATH.
I get a blue screen error message that I've never seen before and my computer locks up. I power down; restart. I attempt to boot in Safe Mode. Same error. I attempt to boot from the last known good configuration. Nope. I restart a total of 8 times. Nothing. Same error message every time.
Great. As if the day couldn't get any worse, it just did. My laptop, which I had been using that afternoon in the airport w/ no problems won't even boot up. No warning, just dead. Awesome. I can't wait to deal w/ this tomorrow...
Labels: blue screen of death, deja vu, despair
posted by Matt at 11:16 PM
1 comments
