things are different

It's been some time since I've posted and things are different. The week of 2/10, I flew to NJ for business (and what a non-eventful trip it was; more later). So that Wednesday, I'm on the Hertz bus after driving around NJ for an hour, looking for the Hertz building and Steph calls. She says, "don't be mad, but I'm at the hospital." I wasn't mad obviously, but I was curious why she was at the hospital. Did I mention she was 6-7 months pregnant? So I guess her water broke and they had stabilized her. I was on my way home anyway and would arrive in Peoria around 11pm.

That's what should've happened. I get to Philadelphia airport and check in. It's very much like every other time I've checked into my departure terminal. Hurry up & wait. My departure time is quickly approaching and I notice that no plane has arrived (I think, it's hard to remember now). Anyway, come to find out that they've delayed the flight due to high winds in Chicago. They delay the flight, but there's still a chance I can make the connection from Chicago to Peoria. I call the company travel agents and there's no other flights... typical.

About the time the plane is supposed to leave, they announce that the flight is delayed yet again. I will surely miss my flight from Chicago to Peoria. I call the travel agent and reserve a budget rent-a-car. I am now going to drive from Chicago to Peoria and my flight won't arrive in Chicago until around 11pm Central. I call Steph and let her in on the bad news. She says not to worry and that she won't have the twins until I get there (or much later, which would be better considering she's about 9 weeks early).

I go up to the American Airlines desk and ask what my options are. The agitated and rude agent asks, "I don't know what you're asking for, sir." What the fuck did she think I wanted? She was just pissed off for some reason, like it's my fault. Typical.

We board the plane and sit on the tarmack for 20 minutes. The pilot then proceeds to tell us that it will be another 40 minutes for some bullshit reason. Again... typical. We finally depart.

Landed in Chicago at around 11:30pm ? I don't know, it's a blur due to the fact that I drove 3.5 hours back to Peoria. There's more to the story, so stay tuned for part 2.

Update:  Part 2