daniwithtea | how i lost my pants in vegas

Monday, August 21
1:45 EDT: hauled out of bed, showered, found out luggage doesn't actually fit in my truck, headed to airport
3:15 EDT: airrived at airport, onyl to find that ticket gate doesn't open until 4:30
4:35 EDT: checked in, through security - this is why i love flying out of a-town. waiting game starts.
6:00 EDT: five minutes before the flight is supposed to leave, an announcement is made that there's a hydrolic fluid problem and the flight will be delayed. post-7:30 connecting flights should be fine
6:50 EDT: anyone with a connecting flight before 7:50 am should see the desk for a re-route. wait in line, get told that the next flight to vegas is at 4 pm EDT (my original flight would have landed at 10 am PDT). run onto plane
7:05 EDT: takeoff, 5 minutes before we were supposed to originally land
7:40 EDT: run plane to shuttle, shuttle to gate of original flight, i missed by a hair - they were still collating boarding passes from the folks who had just boarded. run to the airline's customer service desk.
7:50 EDT: on standby for an overbooked 1:30 EDT flight, confirmed for 4:00 EDT. call boss, mer, mom to update. am told that my luggage will get to Vegas before I do, and I can pick it up at the claims desk. Very thankful that I have a change of clothes in my carry-on.
7:53 EDT: get paged back to customer service.
7:55 EDT: confirmed on a 9:30 EDT flight to Phoenix, where i am on standby for a 1:30 MST to vegas, and confirmed on a 3:40 MST.
8:15 EDT: french toast and a screwdriver, courtesy of the airline, meal vouchers for my trouble. remember the screwdriver - it's important later. also important? you can't smoke in the allentown or philly airports.
9:30 EDT: sleep through the flight, thank goodness.
11:00 MST: de-plane, yell at customer service. 1:30 MST flight is overbooked, and there's little hope. head to the sports bar to wait - get mozz stix and a coke, and have my first smoke since 4:00 EDT.
13:25 MST: head back to the gate. after a short wait, get told that if i run (again), i can get the last seat on *another* 1:30 flight. i run like hell.
14:00 MST: turbulence. lots and lots of turbulence. no airsickness back in teh pocket in front of me. i attempt to hit my half-empty coke cup, but it can't contain it. i've got vodka, marinara, and mozzarella-smelling puke all over my tray table, my shirt, my pants, my glasses, my new dansko clogs, my new leather bag...i continue to puke for the rest of the flight.
14:20 PDT: finally in vegas, 15 hours after i left the house. run to the bathroom and change into the clothes i had in my carry-on. wash my face, my legs, my shoes as best as i can in the sink. my pants are a lost cause, soaked completely through. rather than shove them into my bag or carry pukey pants through the airport, i trashed them.

that is how i lost my pants in vegas, before i ever even laid eyes on a slot machine.

ps - believe it or not, my luggage made it on all the planes i was on, and was waiting for me on the carousel.