Ok, So Get This...Reporting Live From the Hilton Hotel

I am so very glad I didn't make the promise to come back. I would have disappointed, surely! Yesterday was both hectic and confusing. First off, did anyone see how that tornado ripped through downtown Atlanta while the Mississippi State (go Bulldogs!) were whipping the Alabama Crimson Tide, totally disrupting the SEC tourney Friday? Even non-basketball fans may have heard about it, because the tornado ripped through a couple of other ATL landmarks.

What does that have to do with me writing, you ask? Well, for me to achieve the cheapest possible last-minute ticket purchase, I had to make a stop in Charlotte, NC. That's a big deal for me because I hate flying, and it makes me nervous. Generally, it takes a nice cocktail to mellow me out before the flight, but since I don't want to travel down Alcoholic Road, I try to be sleepy when I get on the plane so that I am so tired I can't even focus on being nervous. But I digress (as usual).

At the airport, I flew US Airways. Another sidenote: I try to avoid flying with both them and Southwest, but unfortunately they usually have the cheapest tickets. First off, US Airways seems to confuse departure time with boarding time. I was supposed to leave at 3:15, but the plane wasn't even empty until then. However, we didn't board until about 3:50, because they couldn't find the crew. Let me repeat that. They. Could NOT. FIND. The crew. For the plane. Anyway we end up boarding and sitting on the runway/tarmac/whatever for over an hour because the Charlotte Airport didn't think it was safe for us to fly in; they were freaking out about residual weather problems causing tornadoes like in Atlanta. I wasn't mad that they were concerned for our safety. I was very grateful, in fact. However, did they have to keep us TRAPPED in that tiny metal tube? I was sitting at the very back of the plane in the window seat and was feeling very constricted. I have to tell you, I don't do well in close spaces for extended periods of time (not flying coach, anyway). By the time we took off I was ready to strangle the woman next to me to keep her from sniffling. She sniffled for an hour. An hour! We were at the back of the grounded plane, not 5 feet from the bathroom. Just go to the bathroom! Arrggg!

But then Charlotte said the storm front passed and we were cleared for takeoff. After a generally bumpy ride, I entered the Charlotte airport, supposedly an hour before my next flight. I check the schedule and it has been delayed until about 9:30 pm! Ick. Oh well, I take a positive outlook and just thank goodness that I can grab a bite to eat at a restaurant or whatever. I finished eating, but it was just 8 pm. I thought about just lounging in the restaurant and watching Without a Trace (my Cold Case substitute) but something told me to check on my flight. Lucky that I did, for it had been pushed up to 8:30, and I was at the other side of the huuuuuuugge airport! I made a mad dash for the gate, got there, and a flight to Nashville or Newport News or something was there instead. I checked the gate again, and they had changed it. I ran to the gate, expecting to board right away, but nothing doing. The entire Charlotte airport was in chaos. Everywhere I went people were running, trying to catch flights. I sat there until 8:45 receiving no information from the service people and listening to an Adam Levine look-alike playing John Mayer songs on his guitar. Then our flight info screen changed to info on a flight to Augusta, GA! That was the final straw and I went to find out what happened.

You guys know I can make a short story long, and this is already long enough, so I will get to the nitty gritty as best I can. The flight was canceled, then it wasn't, and then it was again. They started putting us on new flights, but as it's Jxn, MS, there aren't that many, so they filled up fast. I would have had to leave Charlotte on Monday, or go to a nearby city like Birmingham, Al or Memphis, TN to get home. But then, (luck o' the Irish! ha ha) a reservation opened up and now I am flying out this afternoon. They gave us (gorgeous) hotel rooms and here I am. I just pray nothing else goes wrong. Stay tuned!