Please excuse the length of this diatribe but a LOT has happened during the past 24 hours that I’d like to share with you all. I’m writing this on the second leg of my trip back to the Pacific Northwest after my third back-and-forth trip to NYC for work in three weeks. Yes, you read that right… Every week for the past three weeks I’ve traveled back and forth to NYC. I’ve always wanted to do more traveling for work and it’s clear that with this new position, I’m going to have opportunities to do so.
Unlike the past two trips, this time the Owner of my company went with me. On the one hand, I’m very glad he did because we were able to divide and conquer the tasks at hand (which otherwise would’ve taken me twice the amount of time to do by myself – killing my entire weekend). On the other hand, it made a very annoying misophonia situation much more stressful for me because I wasn’t able to address it the way I wanted to do so…
You see… Yesterday was a long day where we were working at the site from 12 noon until nearly 11 p.m. and the last couple of hours were spent with an A/V technician who (when he was waiting for his computer to catch up with him) would drum his hands very loud and fast against cardboard moving boxes or any other hard surface around him. I was in a real predicament because the Owner of my company doesn’t know about my misophonia yet, and I wasn’t about ready to tell him; yet for me to confront the hand
Unlike the past two trips, this time the Owner of my company went with me. On the one hand, I’m very glad he did because we were able to divide and conquer the tasks at hand (which otherwise would’ve taken me twice the amount of time to do by myself – killing my entire weekend). On the other hand, it made a very annoying misophonia situation much more stressful for me because I wasn’t able to address it the way I wanted to do so…
You see… Yesterday was a long day where we were working at the site from 12 noon until nearly 11 p.m. and the last couple of hours were spent with an A/V technician who (when he was waiting for his computer to catch up with him) would drum his hands very loud and fast against cardboard moving boxes or any other hard surface around him. I was in a real predicament because the Owner of my company doesn’t know about my misophonia yet, and I wasn’t about ready to tell him; yet for me to confront the hand
What's wrong with this picture? drumming triggers, I would’ve had to confront the A/V guy right in front of the Owner. I tried putting in earplugs to muffle the drumming but it was really loud and didn’t address the rapid repetitive motion of his hand movements that were also visual triggers to me. There was also the problem that if I wore my really good earplugs that would’ve at least blocked out the sound of the drumming entirely, then I couldn’t hear my boss talking to me, so I was constantly (discretely) putting the earplugs in and out. Let’s just say it was a very exhausting night physically and emotionally.
The trip back this morning was no picnic either. Although my flight back was scheduled to depart at 11:45 a.m., I was really hoping I could get to the airport early and be able to take one of the more than dozen earlier flights back. So, I left the hotel at 4 a.m. praying I could get on one of the 6:05 a.m. options, or even the 8:30 option. Unfortunately, despite my Gold Medallion status and first class purchased ticket, the airline refused to let me take one of the earlier flights because my fare class wasn’t compatible with any of the available options. (Mind you… My company paid nearly $1,900 for the ticket so I find that excuse reprehensible.) As a result, I had to wait at the airport for 7 hours to take my originally scheduled flight, instead of being able to sleep in a comfortable hotel bed for five extra hours.
I really felt like this day was full of tricks being played on me… When I went to the club room to wait for my flight, the separate quiet room didn’t have any air conditioning going, so the room was VERY stuffy. When I asked the reception desk about it, they said they couldn’t do anything about it, other than call engineering. So, I waited in the main area but there was some fragrance being pumped into the air that was so strong, I not only wanted to gag, it was giving me a headache.
Even when I got to the planes, the “tricks” kept on going… The plane for the first leg was originally supposed to have two seats on each side of the plane but when I boarded, it was only a one seat – two seat layout. None of the first class seats had power outlets, which made me regret not plugging my devices in during the 7 hours I was in the club room. The catering people didn’t replenish the beverage stock when prepping the plane so even before the doors closed, they ran out of Baily’s Irish Cream. They also were clueless about people’s tastes in meals because they provided only 6 risotto/orzo dishes and 6 corned beef sandwiches for the flight – and it was quite evident that no one wanted the corned beef because by the time they got to my row (row 3), they were already out of the pasta option. Despite my being Jewish, I don’t like corned beef! (I don’t like gefilte fish either, so sue me.) If I had known I wasn’t going to eat/drink on the plane, I would’ve gotten something in the airport ahead of time to bring with me.
Which brings me to the next trick... When we landed in Minneapolis, despite my having just a half hour until my next flight, I made a bee line to the one airport eatery that I am devoted to: Surdyk's Flights Wine Market and Bar. I’m serious! I do a lot of traveling but there’s not a single airport that has a food place that I make a point to go to EVERY time I’m in that airport. It’s in a very stylish eatery that also sells wine, and other gourmet items. They have the best prosciutto (sliced right in front of you) and pecorino sandwich with apple jelly that I’ve ever had and I get EVERY time I am able to go to Minneapolis. When I told the woman who took my order how I make a point to get that sandwich every time I go to that airport, she handed me a business card that said the airport refused to renew their lease. My jaw nearly hit the ground! We’re not talking a food place that has barely edible or generic fast food airport food. This is the good stuff and every time I’ve been there, the place has been packed. I was so bummed that this might be the last time I enjoy their yummy sandwich. (The business card did give social media places like Twitter to voice complaints about the airport not renewing the lease. (#SaveSurdyks) To me, 144 characters isn’t enough to write about the mistake they’re making.)
So, I’ve already started off my day with a lousy first leg and disappointing news during the layover… I was really looking forward to the last leg of my trip, hoping that it would be better. I figured the flight from Minneapolis to Seattle was on a much bigger plane, so it would have the normal amenities associated with such a long (and large) flight. Boy was I wrong…
I board the plane and the first thing I discover was that there were no air conditioning vents above the seats. I don’t think I’ve ever been on a plane that didn’t have those vents but the flight attendant said it was one of the older models of 757’s (I think he said it was a 757-VD). I typically like to travel with lots of air blowing on me because the warmer I get while in motion, the more nauseous I get. The seats also didn’t have the touch screens built into the backs of the seats but I thought I saw outlets in the lower front of the middle armrest consoles, so I figured I could at least plug in my devices. When I couldn’t fit the plug into the outlet, I used the flashlight app on my phone to try to figure out what was wrong. Lo and behold, the outlets were only headphone jacks. Double drat! My tablet was already down to 30%, so I knew there’d be no way it would let me play games for a 3+ hour long flight. I figured at least I was smart enough to charge my laptop overnight, so the 100% battery should allow me to at least type up this blog entry.
All-in-all, I just can’t wait to land… hopefully be able to pick up my bird from the vet boarding place before they close, and go home to crash in my bed. At least falling an hour backwards tomorrow will give me an opportunity to enjoy one more hour of relaxation to make up for the past 24 hours.
Happy Halloween everyone! Hope your day has a lot more treats than tricks.
The trip back this morning was no picnic either. Although my flight back was scheduled to depart at 11:45 a.m., I was really hoping I could get to the airport early and be able to take one of the more than dozen earlier flights back. So, I left the hotel at 4 a.m. praying I could get on one of the 6:05 a.m. options, or even the 8:30 option. Unfortunately, despite my Gold Medallion status and first class purchased ticket, the airline refused to let me take one of the earlier flights because my fare class wasn’t compatible with any of the available options. (Mind you… My company paid nearly $1,900 for the ticket so I find that excuse reprehensible.) As a result, I had to wait at the airport for 7 hours to take my originally scheduled flight, instead of being able to sleep in a comfortable hotel bed for five extra hours.
I really felt like this day was full of tricks being played on me… When I went to the club room to wait for my flight, the separate quiet room didn’t have any air conditioning going, so the room was VERY stuffy. When I asked the reception desk about it, they said they couldn’t do anything about it, other than call engineering. So, I waited in the main area but there was some fragrance being pumped into the air that was so strong, I not only wanted to gag, it was giving me a headache.
Even when I got to the planes, the “tricks” kept on going… The plane for the first leg was originally supposed to have two seats on each side of the plane but when I boarded, it was only a one seat – two seat layout. None of the first class seats had power outlets, which made me regret not plugging my devices in during the 7 hours I was in the club room. The catering people didn’t replenish the beverage stock when prepping the plane so even before the doors closed, they ran out of Baily’s Irish Cream. They also were clueless about people’s tastes in meals because they provided only 6 risotto/orzo dishes and 6 corned beef sandwiches for the flight – and it was quite evident that no one wanted the corned beef because by the time they got to my row (row 3), they were already out of the pasta option. Despite my being Jewish, I don’t like corned beef! (I don’t like gefilte fish either, so sue me.) If I had known I wasn’t going to eat/drink on the plane, I would’ve gotten something in the airport ahead of time to bring with me.
Which brings me to the next trick... When we landed in Minneapolis, despite my having just a half hour until my next flight, I made a bee line to the one airport eatery that I am devoted to: Surdyk's Flights Wine Market and Bar. I’m serious! I do a lot of traveling but there’s not a single airport that has a food place that I make a point to go to EVERY time I’m in that airport. It’s in a very stylish eatery that also sells wine, and other gourmet items. They have the best prosciutto (sliced right in front of you) and pecorino sandwich with apple jelly that I’ve ever had and I get EVERY time I am able to go to Minneapolis. When I told the woman who took my order how I make a point to get that sandwich every time I go to that airport, she handed me a business card that said the airport refused to renew their lease. My jaw nearly hit the ground! We’re not talking a food place that has barely edible or generic fast food airport food. This is the good stuff and every time I’ve been there, the place has been packed. I was so bummed that this might be the last time I enjoy their yummy sandwich. (The business card did give social media places like Twitter to voice complaints about the airport not renewing the lease. (#SaveSurdyks) To me, 144 characters isn’t enough to write about the mistake they’re making.)
So, I’ve already started off my day with a lousy first leg and disappointing news during the layover… I was really looking forward to the last leg of my trip, hoping that it would be better. I figured the flight from Minneapolis to Seattle was on a much bigger plane, so it would have the normal amenities associated with such a long (and large) flight. Boy was I wrong…
I board the plane and the first thing I discover was that there were no air conditioning vents above the seats. I don’t think I’ve ever been on a plane that didn’t have those vents but the flight attendant said it was one of the older models of 757’s (I think he said it was a 757-VD). I typically like to travel with lots of air blowing on me because the warmer I get while in motion, the more nauseous I get. The seats also didn’t have the touch screens built into the backs of the seats but I thought I saw outlets in the lower front of the middle armrest consoles, so I figured I could at least plug in my devices. When I couldn’t fit the plug into the outlet, I used the flashlight app on my phone to try to figure out what was wrong. Lo and behold, the outlets were only headphone jacks. Double drat! My tablet was already down to 30%, so I knew there’d be no way it would let me play games for a 3+ hour long flight. I figured at least I was smart enough to charge my laptop overnight, so the 100% battery should allow me to at least type up this blog entry.
All-in-all, I just can’t wait to land… hopefully be able to pick up my bird from the vet boarding place before they close, and go home to crash in my bed. At least falling an hour backwards tomorrow will give me an opportunity to enjoy one more hour of relaxation to make up for the past 24 hours.
Happy Halloween everyone! Hope your day has a lot more treats than tricks.
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