My Last 12 Hours

Friday 6:30PM
I think I am a lucky guy.  I have a flight on Saturday morning to see my wife.  I have not seen my wife in 40 days.  I think I missed all of the devastating weather.  I am a lucky guy.  I do have a gut feeling that something bad, wrong will happen.  I think it will involve me driving to the airport.

Friday 8:00PM
I shave.  I know shaving before bed is stupid.  I now the irritated skin keeps me awake.  But I want to be ready for the morning.

Friday 9:00PM
I go to bed.  I am going to be ready for my 4:00AM wake-up and 6:00AM flight.  I am a lucky guy.

Friday 10:28PM
I am almost asleep.  My irritated face prevents me from sleeping on my stomach, but I am on my back.  And the phone rings.  I get up like a drunk, stumbling towards the phone.  I hear a message from United.  Something about changes to my flight.  I rush to the computer.  I don't see any changes.  Everything seems to be good.  I use their phone tree.  Everything seems to be on time.  I call my wife.  She is supportive.

Saturday 3:00AM
I can't sleep any longer.  I get up.  My initial flight has been canceled.  It looks like I have already been re-booked for tomorrow morning.  I call and finally get a person in India.  He is nice but not helpful.  He does not know why the flight has been canceled.  He thinks it is something about the weather.  There are no empty seats on later flights.  I am angry.  But this guy can do nothing.  He tries to make me un-check-in for my second flight, but I can't do this online.  He says he will do it for me.  I wait on the phone for 10 minutes.  He says he has taken care of it.  I call my wife.  She is supportive even though I call her at 2:00AM in the morning.  At least, I remember to turn off my alarm clock.

Saturday 5:58AM
I am finally asleep.  United calls again to tell me my flight is canceled.

Saturday 6:10AM
My normal alarm goes off.  I decide get up and start my day.

Saturday 6:30AM
I cannot check-in for tomorrow's 6:00AM flight.  I call United again.  The online tech support guy in India says he has fixed it.  I trust him but cannot check for myself because I am on the shitter.  I go back to the computer and it still shows me checked-in for my second flight today.