I’ve travelled a lot to do mass in the past 3 years. I have flown to Maine, Tucson, and several times to Los Angeles. Today was a new record.
Part the 1st:
All seemed off to a good start. My MVP status on Alaska got me discounted membership in the private club. Now I can purchase tickets for friends who will be traveling. So.. wifi, drinks, snacks, comfy chairs. It’s nice.
The flight boarded early. So by the time we got there, it was basically getting to the end of the boarding process. We were at the front of coach. There was a semi-professional type in the 3rd seat. Just before we took off the air-waitron-unit told him that there were seats in 13 (or something) and he moved. So shimmeringjemmy and I had 3 seats for the 2 of us.
The flight was uneventful until….
Part the 2nd:
Well the big suitcase with things like: Clothes, Toiletries, Mass Robe… That came off. My other luggage however was not to be found. “The Deacon” didn’t make it from Seattle to L.A. with us.
So, let me explain “the Deacon”. I purchased a fishing pole caddy for my Lance as a Gnostic priest. It looks much like the caddy in this picture. Mine is however Yellow. As a result, I call it “The Deacon”. (Come on it’s Yellow and it hold my lance for me. Work with me folks)
I’ve never had problems with it in the past. But today as I wait at Oversized luggage. No “Deacon” sigh. Gave them my hotel information after the 40 minute “We don’t know what’s going on” wait. They said I should see it in 4-6 hours.
We head to Hertz. I’m a gold member there. (Thanks all the way back to Symantec, there). I was hoping to net a Matrix (for old times sakes) but they didn’t have one in stock. So, I went to the car I’d pre-reserved. As we hit the first car on the line we saw a P.T. Cruiser. I commented about how I think it’s one of the most ridiculous looking cars I’ve ever seen. We walk about 8 cars down to my spot and … there’s another P.T. Cruiser. *sigh*… I go inside… The guy at the desk doesn’t like them either. Turns out they got hit with a conference and all the regular mid-sized were gone. As a Gold, i got upgraded to something nice. I told him that the P.T. Cruiser wasn’t an upgrade to me. He agreed that he doesn’t like them either. So, he sets me up with a new Chrysler Seabring. This is a nifty car (that it turns out does have built in Sirius. A note about the car however. It has a hair-trigger gas pedal and an internal desire to go from 0 to whiplash in 1.415 seconds.
Now it’s off to the hotel. Now… had everything proceeded to plan we would have driven thru downtown L.A. at 4:15. Thanks to the airline luggage trauma and the 2 car switch, we drove thru downtown L.A. at 5:15…. through 6:15. We got to the hotel. I am NOT staying at the Glendale Days Inn anymore. I get to the hotel and the desk is empty. There is a ‘fix-it-looking’ guy in the room marked telephones. Finally a girl comes to the desk. She sets me up with room key and internet. i explain that luggage is hopefully due from the airport. I go to the car and remove the remainder of my luggage. Finally, rest in the non-smoking room with a King sized bed.
Part the 3rd:
The room is smoking and has 2 double beds. Wow… Did anyone here even look at my reservation? After much chat, it turns out the only non-smoking room available has a queen sized bed. (I will make sure I am credited for the difference) Move everything to another room. Try to contact friends. Turns out everyone is either busy or unavailable. I do get ahold of azadio. Who hasn’t left Tucson. Then by IM I hear that there is illness (kinda bad) and we may not see him or ananael156 at all. Cripes.
So we head over to braums and tygeressdenacht‘s place. This is where tailerouge is staying. She’ll be Deaconing for us at Mass on Sunday.
AHEM: FRIENDS IN L.A. We will be doing mass at 2pm on Sunday this weekend. If you’ve been curious about what we’re talking about. This may be one of your last times in a long time to see us here.
So we pick tailerouge up and have dinner at the Sushi restaurant formerly known as Aoba’s.
Part the 4th.
They screwed up parts of the order. Sigh.
Back to above house to drop off Deacon and back to room.
Back at the hotel… The Deacon has arrived safe and sound. I can tell what happened. They decided to open it to inspect it. They foolishly removed the Lance from it’s caddy. It only sets in a specific way. I bet they spent 30 minutes trying to figure out how to get it back in. They spent so much time on it… they missed the window to get it on my flight. I know this because when I got it this evening, the lance was placed in it ‘upside down’ It will travel this way, but it’s not good for the lance or the caddy.
Rest assured… when I check in Sunday, I will be having long speaks with the check-in attendant.
Long day… fall over soon.
More from massathon tomorrow.