Trip #1 dRaMa: The Sequel

Two blogs ago may have seemed pretty cRaZy...well, boy do I have news for you! The very next day (it was only an overnight trip) brought enough CrAzInEsS to create a sequel...

I flew home from Chicago to Omaha with a connecting flight in Minneapolis (the current evil of all airports right now, as they are down to only one runway!). Thankfully I made the connection after a delayed flight, only because this time my gates were right next to each other. SWEET, I was gonna make it home in time for the premiere of Survivor: China!

I arrived in Omaha around 6:00pm, grabbed myself some nourishment (a giant cinnamon roll & chocolate milk, mmm) to tide me over while I waited for the baggage claim to start going...

Well, sure enough, my luggage (one small suitcase) was nowhere to be found. Since I had such a close connection in Minneapolis, I thought, "No big deal, it'll just be on the next flight." So, I headed to the ticket counter to give them my info for delivery of my luggage.

I then hopped on the South Long-Term Parking Shuttle to my car, was going to stop by & visit my hubby working and then continue home for my good ole reality show...

"Ma'am, I guess I need you to take me back to the terminal...my luggage didn't make it & I just realized my car keys are in that suitcase." Yep, that's right, I was naive enough to think my suitcase wouldn't make it to Omaha from Chicago on an overnight trip. ;P I had my billfold & medicine with me, thinkin' those were the most important things to have. I tried packing as little as possible, so I hadn't brought my purse.

My cell phone is dead. Duh, why would anything else go smoothly after this?! So, I look in my billfold for the 50 cents needed for a

pay-phone to call Josh at work to pick me up. What?! I only have 38 cents...gosh, I feel pathetic. I then tried calling my parents Collect so they could call Josh...no answer (with no surprise, since they never answer calls from unknown numbers). I contemplated my other options & then remembered that I have a work calling card...so, I call both Josh's office phone & personal cell; leave a message on one. He's rarely at his desk & his work cell was in my dead phone's contacts. I then called his building's main number, who then transferred me to surveillance, who then gave me his work cell number. I called it & sure enough he was in the middle of an arrest & wouldn't talk to me. Those usually take awhile...

At this point, my Survivor viewing had gone bye-bye. :(

I head outside to wait for Josh & after putting it off for awhile out of fear of thinking it was a stupid question, I walk up to a taxi & ask if they take credit cards as payment - LOL! Guess what folks?! They do now. I hop in & tell the guy to take me to Harrah's where Josh is "based." I figured that would help, so Josh wouldn't have to leave work....

I get to the casino & check his office...no luck. Now, I'm panicked that he made it to the airport before I caught him. I head up to the guest services office to have them locate him & feel like a complete idiot walking through a casino carrying a big laptop case as if I'm some high-roller bringin' in a stash of cash for a long night of poker! They find him & he's now back at his office. Um, yeah...he was pretty ticked that he wasted time going over there, blah, blah, blah...then took me back to the airport, I hopped back on the stupid parking lot shuttle & finally get my car, crying that I not only don't have my luggage, but the husband is annoyed & I'm friggin' starving!

I grabbed some Fazoli's spaghetti & breadsticks to-go & headed home to veg out...it's now 9:00pm. :( Oh, believe me...the story has only just begun...

I get a call at 11:45pm that said, "Hi, this is Linda with Capitol Express & I have your luggage. I'll be there at 12:20am." EXCUSE ME?! After two days of delayed flights & you're bringing me my luggage at midnight of a weekday?! So, I go watch t.v. until she shows up. Phew, there's my bag! ...or not. It had my claim tag around the handle, but some foreign luggage tag attached to it. I immediately recognized it was not my bag. Nice, real nice. She took it back & I had no idea where mine was.

The next day I went to the airport to see if my bag was there. Well, 2 1/2 hours later, they determined....absolutely nada about the location of my bag! It was a tagging error in Chicago where they put the wrong tag on mine & this other person's bags...mine was most likely across the world in France! The phone number on the luggage tag was not operational, so they found some business cards & were gonna e-mail the person, as well as put a "watch" out for my bag that will hopefully be brought back to an airport somewhere...

LOL, how ironic! I just did a Google search for an image of "lost luggage" & this was the first result!!!

All my toiletries, my expensive Simpson college fair blanket, my contacts, my car/house keys, 2 nice
pairs of work pants & my favorite pair of jeans are all in that suitcase (& with my big bootay, I have a terrible time shopping for jeans!!). And a week from tomorrow I leave for Colorado for 2 full weeks....AAAHHHH!

I can't believe this is only the beginning of travel season.

A positive note about work last week: I already have 25 applications for next fall, including students from Minnesota, Illinois, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Florida & Wisconsin! Even cooler...they're really strong students at the top of their class & very involved!

Send in your application today, it's free, simple & requires no essay. It's one thing you'll be able to cross off your big to-do list! The sooner you complete your application process, the sooner we can show you how affordable a private college education can be for you.

Did You Know?

This Fall 2007 Simpson enrolled the most out-of-state students than any other year with over 70 first-year and transfer stutdents.

"This is an exciting opportunity for students at Simpson College to engage in an unparalleled educational experience at one of the world's finest primate research institutions. In addition to the one-of-a-kind undergraduate research opportunities, someday we hope to have students from a variety of fields engaged in work with Great Ape Trust."
- Steve Griffith, Simpson College Vice President & Dean of Academic Affairs regarding the College's new partnership with the Great Ape Trust of Iowa