Actually, I stepped outside and took one breath of fresh Calgary air and I wondered: "Why did I ever leave this place?" At once I was confronted by the overpowering realization that I do not want to return to Saint John.
But... from the beginning.
Next week is our equivalent of "Reading Break," and since it will be last opportunity for me to return to Calgary until I make my voyage home in October, I thought I should hop on a plane and make my way back to the wild west. I wanted to go Friday to Friday, but given a lack of foresight, and the restrictions of Air Miles I was forced to take a Wednesday to Wednesday itinerary. This also happened to mean that I would be missing two lectures... I spoke to both Professors, and they both understood, in their own way... sort of...
Anyways, I made my plans, and got everything ready. Last night/early early early this morning I did my assignment due today/yesterday, depending on which time zone you are currently in... I am frankly not too sure... and later this morning/yesterday morning, frik this is confusing, I submitted it.
Given the flooding yesterday of my apartment my preparations were somewhat haphazard, and I was forced to pack this morning. I did, and then I made it to the airport in the same taxi (by chance) that took my special guest home on Monday. I got to the airport all ready to go, and was told that my flight would be delayed. This vexed me some, as my connection in Montreal was rather... precarious... and my delay could just tip me over the scale of lateness to missed the flightness. Thinking that I might not get to eat for a few hours I ordered some fish and chips. That was a very very good call.
Eventually the plane that I was supposed to board landed. It was coming from Montreal. Eventually we got on board, and eventually we took off. The flight was rather uneventful and I just sorta chilled while we flew. I did manage to get a little snack courtesy of Air Canada and then we came near to Montreal. There was a reason that the plane had been delayed. While Saint John was nice and sunny, Montreal was extremely stormy. We landed in the whitestrom and though the runways had clearly just been plowed there were tire tracks from planes in several inches of slushy snow. One of the flight attendants came on the intercom and said that if anyone was going to Calgary that they should speak with the attendant on the ground. That was me.
I made my way off the plane and into the storm and there stood an attendant in full winter garb. I told her that I was going to Calgary.
"Mr. Cook?" She asked. Upon my acknowledgement she continued. "Here are your boarding passes, you are going to Winnipeg."
So... I missed my flight... yeah... that sucked... but, Air Canada had a solution for me before I even knew that I had missed my flight. It would add a few hours to my trip, but I would make it to Calgary today. I would have thought that I would have more time to catch my flight, but, not so much.
On to the flight to Winnipeg. We were still stuck in the storm, so when the flight was boarded in Montreal we then had to de-ice. Of course. This means that we were late again. This time the people trying to get to Calgary had accumulated in one place, and when the flight to Calgary was getting ready to go they realized that they were missing a great big chunk of passengers. Those passengers were coming from Winnipeg. They held the flight for us.
We landed. We got off the plane and up the little ramp. Then we walked about 30 feet, and walked down the next ramp onto the next plane. This plane would take us to Calgary, and though it had been a tricky journey for many of us, this flight was uneventful.
My messages of missing flights had made it home and my ride was waiting for me. We went in for a brief meal and then I found my way home.
A while later I find myself laying on bed at either 10:30 pm or 1:30 am writing this post. Always my travels are filled with "special" adventures.
I trust this will be no exception.
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