Curse-ed Chitown

I was on a panel on Tuesday in Chicago. I decided, since we are on a travel ban, to fly in and out thus saving hotel costs. I wake at 4am, shower, fall asleep in the shower, wake up again, dress, and head to the airport. I arrived 20 minutes prior to departure as I do not believe in the 2 hour rule especially when not checking bags. Plus its not like Bradley is O'Hare! But I'll get to that part later. I get to the gate and take my place by the window and settle in to read some email. The woman announces the following information: The long runway at bradley is closed, as of this morning, and the plane plus fuel plus passengers is too heavy to lift off from the shorter runway. So, we ask, what is the solution. The airlines could either get rid of 35 passengers or take off with half the fuel load and fly to Buffalo for refueling. They opt for the latter.

We wait, we board, and the pilot says - well Buffalo did not like that idea so we are going to take off on the heretofore closed construction laden runway. Ok I say and promptly fall asleep. We land in Chitown and I pee and get a coffee (finally) and head to the Go Shuttle which is set to take me to my destination. Again, I check email and write some texts. Within 5 minutes of take off, the driver begins talking into his ear piece. His voice is not yet raised but of course I can hear everything as there is no privacy window in this van. You know I am listening to the conversation right? It is not hard because at this point he starts yelling about why his premium has increased by $30 a month. He does not understand why the premium would go up almost a year after a ticket. He said he was not speeding but he did make an illegal left hand turn a month ago. Now I start getting nervous because well I do not like yelling and I was basically hostage (with 2 others) in the van. He then mentions that the ticket he got was for reckless driving - but its not like he killed someone!!!! Are you kidding me buddy? I was ready to do the tuck and roll out of the car but I really needed to get to the conference, so I sat and listened and shook my head and thought about 20 ways he could kill us and dispose of the bodies.

I arrive at the site and proceed to my presentation room. I settle in and meet the other panelists - one is from my institution - and we talk about the line up. I knew itwass a mistake as soon as I meet the woman who decides she has to go first. She bogarted 45 minutes. I spoke for 90 seconds because I wanted the group to have time to ask questions - i'm selfless! ;) We get through the presentation pack up and my colleague and I decide to grab some lunch. She suggests Cafe Park Grille or something like that. It looks posh and I am starving. I order the ceasar with salmon and it looked and smelled great when it arrived. The salmon was cooked perfectly. PERFECTLY! I start eating, we are talking and if you have seen me eat you know that i was eating the lettuce and saving the perfect salmon for last. I get 1/4 way into my salmon and I decide to start taking from the opposite side from which I started. (I'm down with the O-C-D!)
I crack open the side with my fork and there it is staring at me.

A DARK HAIR! In the middle of my fcuking perfect salmon. Needless to say I was horrified and sent the meal back. A manager came over and said, I hear you have a problem with your entre, would you like a replacement. Let me think - well, only if you bring me a cup of chili with a finger in it....NOT!!! She did however, bring me a little plastic dish with finger desserts - not great by the way. not great.

So, colleague and I head to the airport. We check in and she attempts to remove her lap top from her carry on. NO laptop - yeah, she forgot it. An hour later we finally got someone at the conference to look for the laptop (she would have had to stay in Chicago as we were on the last flight). We finally relax and get to the gate ... gate change. And recall we are not in Bradley but in O'Hare which means we had to go through the lighted tunels to the furthest terminal and the last gate. Not suprising given the day.

My flight was uneventful - although I did crack up laughing at Plum Spooky. My colleague however sat next to a record producer which was wasted on her because she doesn't know many star names. alas.

And today - by luck of technology, I maxed out the passwords on my blackberry and the whole phone was wiped and scrubbed and I lost everything! EVERYTHING! So, if you are in my circle - send me your numbers because of course I didn't back anything up on-line. - why would I need that.

As my facebook friend said ... "girl, you are a mess lately."