• Crazy weather conditions for my first day. Just about every trip I’ve ever taken included a challenge at the very beginning. While Alan Enterline was driving me to the Pittsburgh airport, Margaret texted me that Philadelphia had 14 inches of snow and the airport had been closed. My flight wasn’t listed as delayed but all the earlier ones to Philly were. I only had 1.5 hours in Philly to get to the flight to Frankfurt, Germany.
  • I dislike being a pushy person. I’d rather get places a little later than harass people. Unfortunately my evil side had to come through. I alternated between the service counter and 2 of the gates. One person was annoyed with me but if I hadn’t pushed it I would have gotten to Frankfurt at 6 for a 6:10 flight at the opposite end of the airport, which would have meant an overnight in the Philly airport.
  • Finally they called my name and put me on a different flight that gave me enough time in Philly. When I got to Philly I checked in to ask if they could do anything about my bag, which I assumed would be on the     wrong flight and would miss the connection. They said they were about to cancel my ticket since they assumed I would miss it. But they did say my bag was already loaded. I was skeptical.
  • Of course, so many people had it much worse. The person next to me had his flight from Newark cancelled and rented a car to get to Philly. He had a special diet ordered for his cancelled flight but with the new flight he couldn’t eat any of the food. Whenever I suffer travel problems, I think of people crossing the US in a wagon train but it doesn’t really help.
  • In addition to pushy people, I’ve always disdained the people in business class and I now found myself one of those. With my bad shoulder and a 2 for 1 frequent flyer miles sale (that made it not much more expensive than coach), I decided to treat myself. The seat had 9 adjustment buttons plus a massage control. I could stretch all the way out, almost in a horizontal position. They gave champagne before take off, all the alcohol you can drink, and a very full dinner along with breakfast later on.
  • I had a taste of cognac and it reminded me of how much I hate alcoholic beverages besides beer. It may have been the culprit that left me a little queasy and unable to sleep much.