(no subject)

[bedlamsbard]

Guess how long it took me to get from Tulane back to my house in Ellensburg. Go on, guess, I'll wait.

Twenty-four hours.

I'm not kidding. I'm serious as a coronary. Let me tell you a little about my day yesterday:

4:45 AM CST: Wake up.
5:15 AM CST: Go to airport shuttle stop.
5:30 AM CST: Get picked up by airport shuttle.
6:00 AM CST: Arrive at Louis Armstrong International Airport. Go through security. Find gate. Wait.
9:13 AM CST: SCHEDULED FLIGHT TIME, NEW ORLEANS TO HOUSTON.
9:00 AM CST: The generator in the air control tower breaks down, therefore no planes can land. Flight delayed.
10:15 AM CST: Generator fixed! But the plane has gone back to Houston and therefore has to fly back to New Orleans.
10:30 AM CST: Am definitely going to miss connecting flight to Seattle. Reschedule. Next open flight: 7:45 pm. Get put on standby for 2:50 pm flight.
12:15 PM CST: SCHEDULED FLIGHT TIME, HOUSTON TO SEATTLE.
11:45 AM CST: Plane arrives in New Orleans, deplanes.
12:00 PM CST: Board plane.
12:30 PM CST: Planes leaves for Houston!
1:45 PM CST: Arrive in Houston. Trek across entirety of very large airport to get to gate for standby 2:50 flight.
2:00 PM CST: Get on standby flight! And in first class, too. AWESOME.
2:15 PM CST: Board plane. First class: BEST THING EVER.
2:50 PM CST: Plane leaves for Seattle.
5:45 PM PST: Arrive in Seattle. Get luggage. Am relatively certain I missed the five o'clock shuttle to Ellensburg.
6:00 PM PST: Ask about the shuttle. The five o'clock shuttle has been delayed and will now arrive at nine o'clock. Trek across airport for a grande chai latte and a blueberry scone, because this is Seattle; Starbucks are everywhere.
6:30-9:00 PM PST: Hang out in waiting area. Write 2K of Dust 8. Read cupiscent's novel.
9:00 PM PST: No shuttle.
9:45 PM PST: Ask about shuttle. No one knows anything. Call home. Mom calls Bellair. Shuttle delayed because there were accidents up and down the pass.
10:15 PM PST: Announcement that the shuttle will arrive between 10:30 and 10:45 PM.
11:00 PM PST: No shuttle.
11:30 PM PST: Commiserate with other east siders that are also waiting for the shuttle. Freak out over the phone.
11:45 PM PST: Shuttle arrives! Get on shuttle, leae Sea-Tac.
12:00 AM PST: Driver stops to put on chains.
12:30 AM PST: Drive gets back on the road. Drives at approximately 30 mph. The shuttle is being passed by eighteen-wheelers.
2:00 AM PST: Arrive in Cle Elum. Leave Cle Elum.
3:00 AM PST: Arrive in Ellensburg. Deposited at Holiday Inn. Turn into snow-woman.
3:15 AM PST: Picked up by loving mother and cousin.
3:30 AM PST (5:30 AM CST): Back at home. Pass out in bed.

You see that? That would be: 12 hours in various airports, primarily New Orleans and Sea-Tac and unfortunately not Houston, which is the nicest of the three, and more time in transit. TWENTY-FOUR HOURS, GUYS. Good lord.

Number of times that I declared to my mother that the next three years we were doing Christmas in Louisiana: APPROXIMATELY TEN MILLION.

Also: It is TOO DAMN QUIET here. There are no sounds! The first car I saw on the road today was a tractor! But there is no sound.

I have...um, apparently become something of a city girl. OH SHUT UP I KNOW THE IRONY.