Canadian Buffoon's Exhausted Vacation - Update 09/01 - New TR link!

[pkondz]

That was the worst travel day I think I have ever read about.

It wasn't nearly as much
fun as I'd hoped.

No offense, but I hope I never have a day like yours.

None taken.
I hope you don't either!

I'm tired just reading about your lack of sleep and frustrated with the missed flight and delayed arrival.

I might've been a bit tired, myself.

The missing bag stinks too, but at least you got some help from Disney.

And yet... after all that,
it turned out to not be
missing at all.
Just in transit.

What gets me, is I could've
gotten to bed an hour
earlier if I'd just not said
anything.

Of course I didn't know that...
And I really didn't know where
the bag was.
If it was missing... I needed to get
the ball rolling ASAP.

This trip just has to get better, after all you did make it to the "World".

It gets better.

I need to know if you got a book? If so, which one? With all that waiting you needed something to read.

No, I didn't.
I didn't see anything that
I either hadn't already read,
or that appealed to me.
I did have some movies
downloaded and my own
book, though.

The very first flight I ever took was delayed taking off so I missed my connecting flight. I then had to spend 4 hours waiting for my new flight in the Nashville airport. I did purchase a book and spent my time reading.

Good way to pass the time.
Good book, at least?

 

[Kiotzu]

I am.
Horribly so.
First thing I thought:
"Oh, no! Him again!"




to the TR!

I honestly don't blame you, thank you though!

I just want everybody
to be quiet.

I feel this, when I come home and Ally is already sleeping I make sure to be as quiet as I can...when I am asleep it is like a heard of elephants are fighting with a bull, in a china shop.

I have... but it's not often.

I feel like once a month is normal for me.

Really!
You're the first person I know
who's said either of those things.

I know, I am the weird one. For me, it just conjures feelings of going to faraway places, even if I have not been to very many faraway places.

Well, I don't like the taste
of coffee, so I don't think
anything's gonna change soon.

It's an acquired taste for sure.

I haven't really noticed.
Then again... I go maybe...
two? three? times a year?

That's fair, I only notice because I used to work there. Worst 6 months of my life.

Nope!
I'm that weird guy who prefers
cookies not warm.
Bread? Yes.
Cookies? No.

*GASP* this is blasphemy

It wasn't the best experience.

but was it the worst?

Well, screw them, then!

Wait... I can't.
They confiscated it.

You still have trusty scissors.

I didn't know where to look!
I didn't know which side of the
plane (or maybe it was in front
or behind us?) to look!

Hmmmm....I'll give that to you.

About... four less.

I figured as much!

Actually... It did.

See, things are already looking up!

That's in the next update...

ahh....I can't wait.

 

[pkondz]

Thanks. I make a joke and you penalize me while Mark completely blows through the rules and you let him go.

Sheesh!
Didn't you know the contest
points were solely at the
author's discretion?
As is everything else?

Obviously you were replying while I Edited to add my comment on his indiscretion.

It was bad enough in October!

Wasn't perfect in September
either, but nothing like in May.

No cause it's cheaper to pay the $12 per day charge to park than have a van pick us up.

Ah!

They may be, but I think because of the scooter we have to actually talk to a person. At least that is job security for some.

Oh, okay.
I get that now.

I think they would have covers over them. They don't like words like that in the US.

Huh. Really.
Even though the word
isn't actually there.

I like my stuff accessible. Plus we get a whole row on SW for two of us since she pays for the 3rd seat.

Oh, that's right.
So "under the seat",
isn't necessarily under
your seat.

No idea where that is either.

Well what kind of crack trip reporting do you have going on here?

<hangs head in shame...
restores Alison's points.>

 

[pkondz]

Got it!

See? Easy, peasy!

No. That is just so wrong. Seriously, working nights just by themselves is bad enough but flipping around like that?? No wonder you don't sleep well...your circadian rhythm is wacko.

Yeah... I'm going to
be in trouble later.
Heck, I'm in trouble now.

The first author probably did it for the shock value, but when you see all those books together, it's not so shocking. It's actually kind of annoying

Agreed.
And then...
"Hey, look! Bob's crappy
book is selling like hotcakes
because he put the "F" word
in the title. Let's all do that!"

Noooooo! I was following along on your other report when that happened and I felt awful for you!

It wasn't the best thing ever.

Oh, brother. You mean you could have maybe slept in a couple hours?

Is there no other option from where you are? Like, a longer layover maybe? I'd almost fly to Toronto the night before if that was an option...at least get there and sleep. Do they have a hotel attached like the Hyatt at MCO?

There are other options.
But I wanted to get to Disney
early.
I'll go with a longer connection
and get there a bit later...
And not tons later.

Just a hint if the need ever arises again...you can log into your MDE on the web version (not the app), change the date on your reservation to some random future date, and then cancel at your leisure...for free. Hopefully, this kind of thing never happens again though.

Yep, that was mentioned.
And I'll do that in the future.
Thanks.

That's the least they could do. Especially since the only reason you got it was so you could make the connecting flight.

Right????

If you hesitated a little longer, you might've gotten a whole new wardrobe and an upgrade to the GF.

The thought crossed my mind.

Phew.

I was too groggy to
be really happy,
but I was relieved.

Wait, so I have to PM these answers too? I don't want to lose points already!

Yes. PM the answers, any instructions
and any "did you see it" answers.

 

[pkondz]

So I misunderstood the instructions and thought I was supposed to PM my guesses on the photo alterations (which was why I didn't answer that part). My fault. Go ahead and deduct points if you need to make it fair, unless you gave everyone a grace period like me. I suck at these contests anyway.

I'm giving a bit of leeway
to everyone right out of
the gate.
Besides, you didn't really
give anything away, you
just submitted your guesses.
If you'd posted the "did you see it"
photo, I might've deducted.

Even Alison's not getting points off.
And she's a bad girl.

 

[pkondz]

I honestly don't blame you, thank you though!

I feel this, when I come home and Ally is already sleeping I make sure to be as quiet as I can...when I am asleep it is like a heard of elephants are fighting with a bull, in a china shop.

Me, coming home when others are sleeping:


Others, when I'm sleeping:

I know, I am the weird one. For me, it just conjures feelings of going to faraway places, even if I have not been to very many faraway places.

Ohhhh… I like that!

That's fair, I only notice because I used to work there. Worst 6 months of my life.

You did?
Why was it the worst?

*GASP* this is blasphemy

Sorry!

but was it the worst?

No.
When someone you loves is ill.
That's the worst.

You still have trusty scissors.

The stabby-stabby kind!

 

[afwdwfan]

Don't you just love when
a nefarious plan comes
together??

Depends who's nefarious plan it is. Mine? Absolutely!

Let me introduce you to
all the players in this report!!!!


Me!

Well, that was anit-climactic.

There'll be actual prizes.
Or prize.
I don't know what it is yet.
Probably chocolate.
Or maple syrup.
Or something.

Probably not a hockey puck.

No hockey puck? I'm out.

I may also include instructions
or questions in the chapter
to see who's paying attention.
And if my guess is right...
that should be no one.

What are we talking about again?

I know I've already lost interest.

Interest in what? Sorry, I fell asleep.

Shall we begin?
Say "yes" if you think so.

…

For those of you keeping score,
that's three eight-hour shifts
or 24 hours worked in 40 hours.

Brutal

I hadn't really slept in the last
few days, but truth is...
I hadn't slept much for
the previous couple of weeks.

Wait a minute... will there be MNSSHP on this trip? I mean you've got the zombie costume locked down.

That is... I get one free checked bag...
unless it's seven pounds overweight,
in which case it costs an extra $105.

Vanilla Bean Frappuccino
and a molasses cookie.
I hardly ever go to Starbucks,
mostly owing to the fact
that I don't drink coffee.
But there's no coffee in this
drink and those cookies?

I don't drink anything that comes from Starbucks. Mostly because I don't know what the heck it is.

And a big slurp of the
frozen concoction.

And then there's that...

My connecting flight in Toronto
was going to be tight.

It always is.

My flight was scheduled
to depart at 9:45am.
I made it through
customs with time to spare!


At 9:37am.

Woohoo!

"Did I make it?"
He looked at me and said.


"No."

yay.

But!!!
He then said. "Hang on."

Gotta love him giving you that slight sense of false hope before shattering your dreams.

I did ask him why on Earth
would WestJet schedule
and sell a ticket for a connecting
flight that wasn't even
possible to make?

Better question... Who would book that connection knowing the issues they've had on past flights getting through Toronto and making that tight connection?

And an hour or so later,
they announced that
WestJet's flight to Orlando
was now boarding!!!!

Not that it mattered...
I wasn't taking that one.
I had a four hour wait
for my flight.

I logged onto MDE and
tried to cancel my lunch ADR,
but because it was for the
same day, I had to phone instead.
Long distance.
And roaming charges.

It turned out to be just
slightly less expensive
than incurring the ten dollar
no-show fee.

Well... that was well worth the time and effort to make the call.

I don't remember what the
hold-up was, but we wound
up taking off about an hour
later than scheduled.

At this point... what does it matter?

Can you guess what score
I gave them???

I don't see negative numbers on that scale...

I couldn't believe it.
I was stunned, frankly.
I'm ticked because of
the lousy scheduling
and they apologize
for not having food?
And that I should have
brought my own???

I've heard of tone deaf, but wow!

"Is this insulting email supposed to be funny???
What the hell! I’m stuck nowhere near my destination and you focus on the only thing I didn’t complain about? For real????"

That's probably nicer than my reply would have been.

"Terrific. How about refunding the price I paid to upgrade my seat for the 3 hour flight to MCO, but instead I get to sit cramped in the back of this DAL flight?"

Seems reasonable.

I will say this:
While the situation
wasn't ideal, and I
still think that connection
time isn't reasonable,
(I've never seen short lines
for customs at Toronto,
I always just barely make it.)
WestJet did answer my emails
promptly. Not always accurately,
but promptly nevertheless.
And in the end, I did get my
upgrade cost refunded to me
at least.

Well, at least you got that back.

As I sat waiting for the plane
to finish loading... I noted
one passenger who had
come... prepared.
This dude had brought
an entire pizza onboard!
I was in awe.

You read that e-mail about bringing your own food out loud while you were sitting in the terminal, didn't you? That guy wasn't going to make the same mistake you did!

The good news?
She discovered that Delta had
indeed, at some point, been in
possession of my bag.

The bad news?
Disney's bag service was closed
for the night and she couldn't
find out if they'd recovered it or not.

Well, there's a slight bit of hope!

In my slightly befuddled state,
I began to wonder how long
I could go with only one pair
of underwear.

Always pack at least 1 days change of clothes (underwear included) in your carry on! Air Travel 101.

I accepted
her offer and staggered over to the
gift shop in search of a shirt and
a can of shaving cream.

Because that $100 might actually be enough to cover the cost of a T-shirt and a can of shaving cream.

"Oh!" I exclaimed (mumbled, really.)
"You found it!"

Well, sucks to get woke up like that, but probably nice to know you had your stuff. And $100 of free stuff from Disney! All your travel issues paid off big time!

 

[pkondz]

Depends who's nefarious plan it is. Mine? Absolutely!

Sure. I'll buy that.

Well, that was anit-climactic.

Dude.
You've read my reports before.
They're nothing if not anti-climactic.

No hockey puck? I'm out.

Okay.
Just for you, if you win,
I'll send ya a puck.

What are we talking about again?
Interest in what? Sorry, I fell asleep.

Correct.

…

Brutal

And that's fairly typical
for me.
Usually I have two days
in between the evening
and midnight shifts.
But occasionally...

Wait a minute... will there be MNSSHP on this trip? I mean you've got the zombie costume locked down.

I don't drink anything that comes from Starbucks. Mostly because I don't know what the heck it is.

It's a building where they
predominantly sell coffee.
But that's not important
right now.

Gotta love him giving you that slight sense of false hope before shattering your dreams.

And that's exactly what
it was like!

Better question... Who would book that connection knowing the issues they've had on past flights getting through Toronto and making that tight connection?

But... I've always made it
in the past!
And I even took extra
precautions!!

Well... that was well worth the time and effort to make the call.

Totally!
Now I can afford that can
of Coke I've been coveting.

At this point... what does it matter?

And that's exactly how I felt.

I don't see negative numbers on that scale...

Too bad, really.

I've heard of tone deaf, but wow!

Couldn't believe it.

That's probably nicer than my reply would have been.

Considering you were going
to drive off with someone else's
van... and they only delayed you
a couple minutes!

Well, at least you got that back.

Which isn't too bad, actually.
While I don't think they should
schedule flights like that,
at least they made good, there.

You read that e-mail about bringing your own food out loud while you were sitting in the terminal, didn't you? That guy wasn't going to make the same mistake you did!

So that's who was reading
over my shoulder!

Always pack at least 1 days change of clothes (underwear included) in your carry on! Air Travel 101.

Now you tell me!

Because that $100 might actually be enough to cover the cost of a T-shirt and a can of shaving cream.

You're too late.
Mark beat you to the punch
on that one already.

Well, sucks to get woke up like that, but probably nice to know you had your stuff. And $100 of free stuff from Disney! All your travel issues paid off big time!

Oy.

 

[ariane37]

OK OK , I'm here at a decent......on a decent page for this one Read a bit and will go back for more, but now I totally get why my 45 minute delay Tuesday had you like Can't you figure out how to just click your heels and BE in Orlando??

 

[pkondz]

OK OK , I'm here at a decent......on a decent page for this one

to the TR, Ariane!

Read a bit and will go back for more, but now I totally get why my 45 minute delay Tuesday had you like

Can't you figure out how to just click your heels and BE in Orlando??

I tried that once!
Except I left the "O"
off the end by mistake
and wound up in
Orland, CA.

Totally messed up
all my ADRs.

So now I worry about it
and play it safe and take
airplanes instead.

 

[afwdwfan]

It's a building where they
predominantly sell coffee.
But that's not important
right now.

Well played!

You're too late.
Mark beat you to the punch
on that one already.

Sorry... I can't read all the commentary and keep up with things!

 

[SnowWhiteOz]

I ain't buying it, lady.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahi-mahi

Nope!
They got a big fat zero.

I didn't know Candians could be so mean!

I'm learning so much
about you!!

I'm Australian - swearing is my second language!

I was surprised...
and pleased.
It prevented me from
sending any further
snarky emails.

I've been having to help my mom with some airline damaged luggage - it took multiple emails and about four months to get anything out of them. But on the plus side my flights for my trip next week are now free!

Standing by!

I was about to do it I swear - life just got busy! I may not have time for the contest but I'll keep track of my answers in my head and let you know if I win or not

 

[Terra Nova guy]

I'm here! I've been struggling to do much commenting on any trip reports lately, but I still read and "like".
Contests are always fun. I'll try playing along.
Your travel day does sound pretty awful.
But I probably have you beat. You may remember I used to travel overseas for work. Now the travel time was horrendous as it was (32 hours door to door), but one particular trip I had my flight delayed leaving home due to mechanical, got into Toronto and just had time to catch my connection. Plane took off...smoke alarm in the cockpit, back for an emergency landing. Turned out to be a false alarm, but the plane was searched by fire fighters before anyone got off. Back to the terminal, had to overnight in TO. The next morning, I made it to London and then Singapore, but a day later and missed my last flight. Overnight in Singapore (which would be a good thing if I wasn't into my third day of travel). Finally made it to my destination on my fourth travel day. Crazy.

 

[Kiotzu]

Me, coming home when others are sleeping:

Others, when I'm sleeping:

This touches my soul. Ever since I was a kid, my dad has always been an early sleeper...like 9:30 and I would try to keep very quiet and couple times he comes out all grumpy because I'm too loud. He then proceeds to get up at 6:00am and stomps around the house meanwhile I live in a cupboard in the basement.

Ohhhh… I like that!

I'm glad, I don't know what triggers those feelings, probably a severe and persistent wanderlust but I've always loved the airport.

You did?
Why was it the worst?

Erratic hours, treated very poorly by management(borderline abusive), 5 store managers in 6 months.

No.
When someone you loves is ill.
That's the worst.

That sounds like a terrible experience.

The stabby-stabby kind!

Don't let the TSA see this.

 

[pooh'smate]

Ugh what a terrible travel day!!! We have been lucky and not had any bad travel days when we fly. It stays that way. I hope your trip improves from here on out.

 

[franandaj]

Sheesh!
Didn't you know the contest
points were solely at the
author's discretion?
As is everything else?

I suck at these. I got lucky once and other than that, I've always been trailing at the end.

Wasn't perfect in September
either, but nothing like in May.

What's weird is that there was tons of them at Disney, but when we switched to downtown there weren't any. We walked to dinner and several other places and never encountered them.

Huh. Really.
Even though the word
isn't actually there.

I would think that they would need to be in a "different" part of the store where you have to be over 18 to enter. Behind some sort of screen or wall.

Oh, that's right.
So "under the seat",
isn't necessarily under
your seat.

Well, my purse is under the seat in front of me. The carry on is under the middle seat. Fran's carry ons go up in the overhead bin.

<hangs head in shame...
restores Alison's points.>

Thanks!

Even Alison's not getting points off.
And she's a bad girl.

You bet I am!

 

[vamassey1]

It wasn't nearly as much
fun as I'd hoped.

None taken.
I hope you don't either!

Fingers and toes crossed that we have a good travel day especially since we're traveling with a 2 year old.

What gets me, is I could've
gotten to bed an hour
earlier if I'd just not said
anything.

Live and learn.

Of course I didn't know that...
And I really didn't know where
the bag was.
If it was missing... I needed to get
the ball rolling ASAP.

I would have wanted to do the same thing. It's better to get it taken care of then to wait.

It gets better.

I'm relieved to read that.

No, I didn't.
I didn't see anything that
I either hadn't already read,
or that appealed to me.
I did have some movies
downloaded and my own
book, though.

Good thing you planned ahead. I usually bring a book to but rarely have time to read it.

Good way to pass the time.
Good book, at least?

I don't remember what it was, just that I purchased a book and had hours of uninterrupted reading. This was when my oldest 2 were young. I took this trip alone so to have that time to read was a bonus.

 

[pkondz]

Well played!

Thank you, sir!

Sorry... I can't read all the commentary and keep up with things!

You and me both!
Wasn't a jab.
More like.... great minds.

 

[pkondz]

Wait... you think that looks
like this?

​

I didn't know Candians could be so mean!

We're a vicious bunch.

I'm Australian - swearing is my second language!

Get the F*** out! Really!

I've been having to help my mom with some airline damaged luggage - it took multiple emails and about four months to get anything out of them. But on the plus side my flights for my trip next week are now free!

I love this.
You've been "helping" your mom...
And yet it's you that gets the
free flights!

I was about to do it I swear

I know you do.
You're Australian.
It's your second language.

I may not have time for the contest but I'll keep track of my answers in my head and let you know if I win or not

Sweet!
That'll make the math
so much easier for me.

 

[pkondz]

I'm here!

Hi, Jeff!
to the TR!

I've been struggling to do much commenting on any trip reports lately, but I still read and "like".

I get it.
The new job isn't giving
you the same time to comment
as the old job.

Life. It gets in the way.

Contests are always fun. I'll try playing along.

The more the merrier.

Your travel day does sound pretty awful.

It wasn't the best, no.

But I probably have you beat. You may remember I used to travel overseas for work. Now the travel time was horrendous as it was (32 hours door to door), but one particular trip I had my flight delayed leaving home due to mechanical, got into Toronto and just had time to catch my connection. Plane took off...smoke alarm in the cockpit, back for an emergency landing. Turned out to be a false alarm, but the plane was searched by fire fighters before anyone got off. Back to the terminal, had to overnight in TO. The next morning, I made it to London and then Singapore, but a day later and missed my last flight. Overnight in Singapore (which would be a good thing if I wasn't into my third day of travel). Finally made it to my destination on my fourth travel day. Crazy.

You win!
Or is that lose?