Honest, I didn't realize how much I was going to enjoy blogging...
Recently, my boss asked us to let him know our plans for off time for the upcoming year. Nothing set in stone, just an idea so he can get a feel for staffing levels for big projects and so forth.
This reminded me of the last vacation I took. Well...tried to take. Sure I have taken a week off to ready my new house, or spend time with mom and dad during their vacations, etc. But I traditionally nickel-and-dime my vacation days, taking one here and one there. There is a reason for this. My friends ask me all the time to recount this story to them, so I figured that I would put pen-to-paper, at least electronically, for all to see.
Vacations did not used to be unpleasant. For years we went to Gatlinburg (before it was wholly and completely touristy) and the Outer Banks of North Carolina (before it was wholly and completely touritsy). We usually stayed away from the typical tourist traps and spent time on the beach or in a rustic cabin...and eating at little known restaurants, which was always the best part for me.
One year, a couple of years back, we decided to take a cruise. I found a great deal online for a cruise package of the Eastern Caribbean. Mom and dad had taken a cruise before and thoroughly enjoyed it. They absolutely loved Jamaica, and I think they are planning a retirement to Grand Cayman. (Yeah, right!)
The day before we left, we packed and kenneled the dogs with our vet and secured everything. We were all prepared and left early the next morning for our flight. We arrived two hours before our flight was to leave, for security purposes. There was no one at the airport, just two or three lonely travellers and us. Eventually we were ticketed and passed through security with no problems. We could have arrived thirty minutes before departure and gotten through with no issues. Dayton airport is not exactly a big travel hub.
We left Dayton and got to Washington DC, and left Washington for Miami and arrived quite safely. This is where things took a turn for the worst. We went to the baggage hall and collected our bags and went to the cruise counter. There was an inordinant number of people milling around, many of them were very mad or crying. There was a lot of shouting and threats being thrown around. The cruise had been cancelled.
It wasn't until later that we saw CNN that we found out that after our boat arrived into Miami from the previous cruise, a boiler in the engine room had exploded. It killed two workers and injured several others. This, of course, meant that the boat was going nowhere.
I talked to the lady at the counter and got information on what we should do next, about refunds and whatnot. I think I was the only person that had not screamed at her that day, because she grew less agitated as I spoke with her. It was not her fault, after all. It does no good to yell and scream at a person that is only trying to do their job. People that do stupid things, yes, but not the innocent.
I relayed the information to my parents, and they went ape. My dad has a temper, and he was getting hot. The lady said that we will get a refund and a free cruise, and they will take care of the plane tickets and any associated charges, so we would not be out any money. We went back up to the terminal and I called the travel agent to see what I had to do to get us reticketed back to Dayton. They were aware of what happened, but there was nothing they could do, and we'd have to go to the airline desk to have our tickets changed. I called American Express, on which I booked the trip, and there was nothing they could do, either. I told my parents what was going on, and my dad got madder and madder. He started in on me. We got in each other's faces, and he raised his fist and had to really control himself to not knock me out. Mom told us to cool it, and left me to take care of the situation.
I got in line at the airline desk. While I was in line, I spoke to a very nice couple that had just been on the cruise where the incident happened. All they had with them was the lady's purse, the clothes on their backs and a bottle of Crown Royal. They said that it was very scary, but the ships personnel were very courteous and organized for a situation like this. Their baggage would be FedExed to them.
I got our tickets changed, and we went to a Chili's inside the airport for some lunch, and we calmed down. There was very little talking as we sat there festering. After lunch, we went through security. Mother accidentally carried her word search book with her through the metal detector. When the security personnel saw it, they told her that she cannot do that. Startled, she threw it back through the metal detector onto the x-ray machine belt. This pissed off the guard, and they put her into a corral to check her manually. This was a humiliating experience for her, but we actually got a laugh out of it.
Later on, while we were waiting for our departure, there was still no talking amongst us. It would be six hours that we waited in the Miami airport for our flight out. We finally boarded the plane, but there were issues. The plane had to be turned off and back on a number of times. There were mechanics going in and out of the plane constantly. We waited on the plane at the gate for three hours. So long that we missed our connection in Chicago back to Dayton. All while this was going on, I said quite loudly "What does this plane run? Windows?" which got quite a few laughs.
While we were waiting, the stewardess started a movie. I don't know what it was called, but I was antsy and mom and dad were irritable. We were allowed to leave the plane to get refreshments and whatnot while the plane was under repair. I left and enquired about getting a refund for our tickers and renting a car. The agent at the airline counter was rather rude and not helpful, and gave me a flat no.
We eventually left Miami behind, enroute to Chicago. Since we missed our flight, and had no baggage, the airline put us up in a hotel and we went to the gift shop and bought t-shirts to sleep in and went to the hotel restaurant to get something to eat.
The next morning, we got to our plane to Dayton and left for home without incident. We got home in the early afternoon and we all collapsed. Mom called the vet to check on our beloved Cocker Spaniel, Sassie, and our beloved Tibetan Terrier, Murphy. You can see Sassie's picture in the "About Me..." section, she is my little avatar picture. The vet said that Murphy was fine, but Sassie was a little under the weather and that he would like to keep an eye on her for a day. So we left them there and rested up. The next day mom and dad went to pick up the dogs. They were very happy to see us, and it was nice to have them back.
The next day, Sassie was not her normal self. She was listless and had trouble breathing. I picked her up and held her close to me and petted her to try to calm her down. She was still breathing hard, and mom said that she should go to the vet. I carried her and Dad drove us to the vet. On the way, she wimpered and passed away right in my arms. We got to the vet, but there was nothing he could do. She died of heart failure. She was 13 years old, which is a pretty ripe age. I sat in the vets office and cried, and stroked her soft fur for about a half hour. After we got home without her, mother broke down crying.
I went back to work the next day, and began the process of getting a refund for our trip. We did get the refund, but never took advantage of the free cruise. It was non transferrable, so we couldn't sell it, so that was out.
I think God was on our side, getting us back home to enjoy the last few minutes of Sassie's life. I loved that little dog. She slept on my bed every night and kept me warm. After I got bigger into the internet, and started to run my own servers, I registered the domain "sassie.net" in her memory.
I was planning to take off the rest of the week, but decided to go back to work a few days early since I had little to do at home, and home was a bummer with all the crap that had gone on.
One of these days I will take a real vacation, something to get away from everyone. I have to take a few trips in my lifetime...I must see Israel, Australia, England, China and Japan before I die...not necessarily in that order. I especially want to see Japan. Ever since I saw the TV adaptation of "Shogun" when I was little, I have been obsessed with Japan and Japanese society. One of these days, I hope to visit, and it will probably be the first trip I take abroad.
It most certainly won't be a cruise.
Recently, my boss asked us to let him know our plans for off time for the upcoming year. Nothing set in stone, just an idea so he can get a feel for staffing levels for big projects and so forth.
This reminded me of the last vacation I took. Well...tried to take. Sure I have taken a week off to ready my new house, or spend time with mom and dad during their vacations, etc. But I traditionally nickel-and-dime my vacation days, taking one here and one there. There is a reason for this. My friends ask me all the time to recount this story to them, so I figured that I would put pen-to-paper, at least electronically, for all to see.
Vacations did not used to be unpleasant. For years we went to Gatlinburg (before it was wholly and completely touristy) and the Outer Banks of North Carolina (before it was wholly and completely touritsy). We usually stayed away from the typical tourist traps and spent time on the beach or in a rustic cabin...and eating at little known restaurants, which was always the best part for me.
One year, a couple of years back, we decided to take a cruise. I found a great deal online for a cruise package of the Eastern Caribbean. Mom and dad had taken a cruise before and thoroughly enjoyed it. They absolutely loved Jamaica, and I think they are planning a retirement to Grand Cayman. (Yeah, right!)
The day before we left, we packed and kenneled the dogs with our vet and secured everything. We were all prepared and left early the next morning for our flight. We arrived two hours before our flight was to leave, for security purposes. There was no one at the airport, just two or three lonely travellers and us. Eventually we were ticketed and passed through security with no problems. We could have arrived thirty minutes before departure and gotten through with no issues. Dayton airport is not exactly a big travel hub.
We left Dayton and got to Washington DC, and left Washington for Miami and arrived quite safely. This is where things took a turn for the worst. We went to the baggage hall and collected our bags and went to the cruise counter. There was an inordinant number of people milling around, many of them were very mad or crying. There was a lot of shouting and threats being thrown around. The cruise had been cancelled.
It wasn't until later that we saw CNN that we found out that after our boat arrived into Miami from the previous cruise, a boiler in the engine room had exploded. It killed two workers and injured several others. This, of course, meant that the boat was going nowhere.
I talked to the lady at the counter and got information on what we should do next, about refunds and whatnot. I think I was the only person that had not screamed at her that day, because she grew less agitated as I spoke with her. It was not her fault, after all. It does no good to yell and scream at a person that is only trying to do their job. People that do stupid things, yes, but not the innocent.
I relayed the information to my parents, and they went ape. My dad has a temper, and he was getting hot. The lady said that we will get a refund and a free cruise, and they will take care of the plane tickets and any associated charges, so we would not be out any money. We went back up to the terminal and I called the travel agent to see what I had to do to get us reticketed back to Dayton. They were aware of what happened, but there was nothing they could do, and we'd have to go to the airline desk to have our tickets changed. I called American Express, on which I booked the trip, and there was nothing they could do, either. I told my parents what was going on, and my dad got madder and madder. He started in on me. We got in each other's faces, and he raised his fist and had to really control himself to not knock me out. Mom told us to cool it, and left me to take care of the situation.
I got in line at the airline desk. While I was in line, I spoke to a very nice couple that had just been on the cruise where the incident happened. All they had with them was the lady's purse, the clothes on their backs and a bottle of Crown Royal. They said that it was very scary, but the ships personnel were very courteous and organized for a situation like this. Their baggage would be FedExed to them.
I got our tickets changed, and we went to a Chili's inside the airport for some lunch, and we calmed down. There was very little talking as we sat there festering. After lunch, we went through security. Mother accidentally carried her word search book with her through the metal detector. When the security personnel saw it, they told her that she cannot do that. Startled, she threw it back through the metal detector onto the x-ray machine belt. This pissed off the guard, and they put her into a corral to check her manually. This was a humiliating experience for her, but we actually got a laugh out of it.
Later on, while we were waiting for our departure, there was still no talking amongst us. It would be six hours that we waited in the Miami airport for our flight out. We finally boarded the plane, but there were issues. The plane had to be turned off and back on a number of times. There were mechanics going in and out of the plane constantly. We waited on the plane at the gate for three hours. So long that we missed our connection in Chicago back to Dayton. All while this was going on, I said quite loudly "What does this plane run? Windows?" which got quite a few laughs.
While we were waiting, the stewardess started a movie. I don't know what it was called, but I was antsy and mom and dad were irritable. We were allowed to leave the plane to get refreshments and whatnot while the plane was under repair. I left and enquired about getting a refund for our tickers and renting a car. The agent at the airline counter was rather rude and not helpful, and gave me a flat no.
We eventually left Miami behind, enroute to Chicago. Since we missed our flight, and had no baggage, the airline put us up in a hotel and we went to the gift shop and bought t-shirts to sleep in and went to the hotel restaurant to get something to eat.
The next morning, we got to our plane to Dayton and left for home without incident. We got home in the early afternoon and we all collapsed. Mom called the vet to check on our beloved Cocker Spaniel, Sassie, and our beloved Tibetan Terrier, Murphy. You can see Sassie's picture in the "About Me..." section, she is my little avatar picture. The vet said that Murphy was fine, but Sassie was a little under the weather and that he would like to keep an eye on her for a day. So we left them there and rested up. The next day mom and dad went to pick up the dogs. They were very happy to see us, and it was nice to have them back.
The next day, Sassie was not her normal self. She was listless and had trouble breathing. I picked her up and held her close to me and petted her to try to calm her down. She was still breathing hard, and mom said that she should go to the vet. I carried her and Dad drove us to the vet. On the way, she wimpered and passed away right in my arms. We got to the vet, but there was nothing he could do. She died of heart failure. She was 13 years old, which is a pretty ripe age. I sat in the vets office and cried, and stroked her soft fur for about a half hour. After we got home without her, mother broke down crying.
I went back to work the next day, and began the process of getting a refund for our trip. We did get the refund, but never took advantage of the free cruise. It was non transferrable, so we couldn't sell it, so that was out.
I think God was on our side, getting us back home to enjoy the last few minutes of Sassie's life. I loved that little dog. She slept on my bed every night and kept me warm. After I got bigger into the internet, and started to run my own servers, I registered the domain "sassie.net" in her memory.
I was planning to take off the rest of the week, but decided to go back to work a few days early since I had little to do at home, and home was a bummer with all the crap that had gone on.
One of these days I will take a real vacation, something to get away from everyone. I have to take a few trips in my lifetime...I must see Israel, Australia, England, China and Japan before I die...not necessarily in that order. I especially want to see Japan. Ever since I saw the TV adaptation of "Shogun" when I was little, I have been obsessed with Japan and Japanese society. One of these days, I hope to visit, and it will probably be the first trip I take abroad.
It most certainly won't be a cruise.
2 comments:
It's interesting how you can relate an experience like this and all sorts of emotional responses come forth. The situation that caused your cruise to get canceled killed two people but most of the people who were inconvenienced didn't seem to think about that part. It's admirable that you kept your cool and dealt with it while those about you were losing theirs.
I also felt your sadness about your dog dying. I haven't had a pet for years now because I'm not allowed to have one in my apartment in Japan, but there were times in the U.S. when a pet died and I was inconsolable. It didn't even matter if I had a pet for a short or long time because I bonded with them really quickly.
We knew it was only a matter of time until Sassie passed away, she was really starting to show her age. After she passed, mother said that we would never have another dog. We still had Murphy, but Sassie was very special. She was the runt of the litter, ate like a pig, but was very sweet. It wrenched out hearts, even to this day.
Even though mother said no more pets, she still went ahead a little more than two years ago and got two Golden Retrievers from a friend of hers that had a litter. They have brought a lot of joy and a lot of mess into our lives. I guess we are dog people through-and-through. They are no replacement for our beloved little Cocker, Sassie, however.
Keeping cool in a difficult situation has its rewards, too. I was taking a flight from Dayton to Charleston, SC. The flight was in the evening, and got canceled...more about this in my next blog entry.
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