Day 1: Texas vs. Mike

So day one in Texas has been extremely annoying. I walked into my terminal just after 8am this morning. Things were looking up. My navigation through security was flawless and the plane was sitting outside the gate. I was to fly first to Philadelphia and then, after a short layover, to Dallas.

Turns out Philadelphia was not feeling the forecast. A one hour delay was in effect.

They asked anyone with a layover to approach. So, I strolled to the counter.

“I’m going to Dallas.”
“not today you aren’t.”

That wasn’t entirely true. It turns out that the earliest flight in which seats were available was a 5:45pm flight with a different airline.

I had to take it. It was imperative that I be at my destination Tuesday morning.

This was especially uncool because a 5:45pm flight would pull into Dallas around 8:45. But my final destination was not Dallas, it was 3 hours east of Dallas. I wouldn’t arrive until about 12:30am (provided smooth baggage claim) and I’d have to get up a mere 4.5 hours later.

Texas is big.
Texas: 1
Mike D: 0

So I zipped over to the other terminal to see if I could get a standby on an earlier flight.
Sure enough, I got on standby for an 11:45 departure. And despite being overbooked and asking for volunteers to switch to a later flight… I miraculously scored a seat! Badda bing!

Mid air I realized there was no way that my bag was going to arrive with me.

When you lose luggage in Texas… it’s as good as gone.
Texas: 2
Mike D: 0

Sure enough, upon arriving at the baggage claim I found zero hint of my luggage. I had a discussion with the lost bag lady and then hit the road. I’d get a phone call when they found my stuff.

Finally I arrive in Texas. I get to my hotel and then take a trip to Target. I bought some steel toed boots and a few other necessities for getting through tomorrow. Then I headed over to the Texas Roadhouse.

Two women were at the main counter.

“how many sir?”
“actually, can I just get carry out!”
“YOU HAVE AN AWESOME ACCENT!”

The women can’t resist the sweet melodies of my voice
Mike D: 1
Texas: 2

And so here I am. Eating steak, veggies, rolls, and a sweet potato before bed. If I hit the hay now, I’ll even get about 8 hours of sleep.

Whew.

9 thoughts on “Day 1: Texas vs. Mike

  • 1/23/2007 at 6:41 am
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    ..and the narrator says to the audience, “Unfortunately for Mike D., he still lacks god-like dictator powers to change the score like he does on his website.” Mike D. then responds under his breath, “Touché narrator, touché.”

    The possibility to score to make the score Mike D: 3 Texas: 2 was there if you had grabbed some digits, however if they were old or had mustaches, the score would then be Mike D: -1 Texas: 2 by default.

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  • 1/23/2007 at 11:12 am
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    How did you switch to another flight without your baggage? Did you lie and say you only had carry-ons? The last few (horrible) times I’ve flown, they wouldn’t let me change flights because my bag was already with the plane. I’ve resolved to only have carry-ons from now on.

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  • 1/23/2007 at 12:38 pm
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    As I was reading your baggage fiasco, I was also wondering why you checked a bag.

    Mike D, Why did you check a bag?

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  • 1/23/2007 at 1:20 pm
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    I’m going to have to agree with Devin. Checking bags is a horrible experience, I always carry on.

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  • 1/23/2007 at 1:22 pm
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    Except when flying home from Christmas this year, when I had some wrenches in my bag, and they wouldn’t let me bring them on because they were considered weapons. Luckily my mom was there to retrieve them from the security Nazi and mail them to me.

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  • 1/23/2007 at 1:50 pm
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    On my last trip one of my co-workers brought a whole entire bag of wrenches, drill bits, taps, screwdrivers, and screws on with him and they didn’t even say anything. It was obvious that he wasn’t trying to hide it either so maybe they thought that the wrenches stood out amongst the rest of your belongings. Or maybe the security people at Hartford just don’t give a damn.

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  • 1/23/2007 at 3:57 pm
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    I’m amazed to hear they have Texas Roadhouses in Texas. I figured that would be like having Olive Gardens in Italy.

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  • 1/23/2007 at 10:23 pm
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    Indeed. I had tools. As it happens, it didn’t matter much because my equipment arrived too late. Ahh well.

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  • 1/25/2007 at 11:37 am
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    LOL!

    Having never flown, I can’t comment on the luggage issues.

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