The Business of Busyness

Sorry I haven't updated in a while. Things have been crazy since I've gotten back from vacation. I've been writing, but nothing for here. I have been updating my list of concepts, so that's a good start.

Expect a post Thursday, then maybe another this weekend. A lot of stuff coming down the line, here and in general. But that's all you get for now: it's 4:38am, and I would still be asleep if I didn't need to work in less than an hour.

Sorry I haven't updated in a while. Things have been crazy since I've gotten back from vacation. I've been writing, but nothing for here. I have been updating my list of concepts, so that's a good start.

Expect a post Thursday, then maybe another this weekend. A lot of stuff coming down the line, here and in general. But that's all you get for now: it's 4:38am, and I would still be asleep if I didn't need to work in less than an hour.

The Business of Busyness

How Did I Get Here?

[This was written nearly 24 hrs ago. It includes a photo Blogger isn't currently allowing me to upload.]

This is at least the fourth post in which I've mentioned it: I'm on vacation. Right now I'm in the air, flying from Pittsburg to Manchester, via Baltimore-Washington. This, you might know, was not exactly the plan. Indeed, it was not my plan at all. 

Don't get me wrong: New Hampshire has been on the agenda for months. I bought a Greyhound ticket almost three weeks ago, narrowly missing the most discounted rate. My ticket was to leave last night and arrive this morning. This put me there in time for my friend's birthday party, the pretext for us finally getting to see each other after so many years. 

But wait - remember my previous post? Oh yes, Hurricane Sandy. While what's saw was minor, my bus went through Philadelphia, New York City, and Boston. None of these three are pleasant places to pass through right now. Greyhound? Not happening. 

Greyhound customer service is deplorable. I called customer service to find out if trains would be running. "I don't know. Call the stations." That was the most helpful thing I got. Since the stations were completely closed down with zero employees, phones rang and rang. I left a message for one station, the hung up after enough rings to determine a second to not have voicemail. 

I then called Delta Air. I need to change the city of origin on my return trip, since I won't be able to get to Manchester to fly out. To be fair, Delta had nothing to do with my being unable to get there. When I called, they told me that changing my ticket would result in a $200 penalty. Unfortunately my ticket was only $173.98*. So how much credit does this leave me for a new ticket? $26.02. Negative. Yes, they wanted me to pay the price of a new ticket PLUS $26.02. Had I not been able to get there, I'd have just not shown up. This belongs on Anderson Cooper's Ridiculist**. 

Amtrak was as awesome as Greyhound was horrible. They sold me a ticket, offering me a full refund should I not be able to use it. I have barely begun the process of getting my Greyhound refund. Harrisburg to Philthadelphia to Boston to Concord. Complete avoision of New York. This is Tuesday. I had decided the trip wasn't happening, but thanks to Amtrak it's back on. 

I make arrangements to get to the stations such***. All I need to do is pack my bags. Suddenly I get an email:

That schedule has been cancelled due to a-service-disruption. There is no alternate service available. To speak to a customer service representative about travel options such as selecting another date or destination call us at 8772319448 at your earliest convenience. 

This is not happening. It was off, then back on, now off again. We look at plane tickets, but everything is upwards of $500, and some of them may still be cancelled. My brother-in-law Tony (which is weird to say, because I've known the guy for years and he's been my BiL for less than a week) offers to give me a ride halfway. My friend Jared (the one I'm visiting) calls me to tell me that Southwest is offering flights from Pittsburg to Manchester for around $100. I call Tony and ask him for a ride. It's on. Ticket bought, ride secured. 

We get a later start than planned, but we still have plenty of time for the road trip to Pittsburg. Until the rain. And the wind. And the GPS gives us wrong directions. Let's just say I got to the airport about 45 minutes before my flight, when realistically we left plenty of time to have at least an hour and a half. 

Check in was simple. TSA was amazing. I actually stopped to commend TSA for providing the smoothest TSA experience I've ever had, even before the latest round of changes****. I was to the airport with sufficient time to get a soft pretzel in the terminal. 

I'm now in the air. It's happening. After all this thinking it wasn't happening, it's happening!

I had it planned. This is the responsible thing to do. But in the end, my plan means nothing. Ultimately God is in control. His plan is often not the same as my plan. But when I don't get too upset about my plan not happening, I'm always amazed at how much better his plan is than mine. 

*For those of you who have heard me cite my ticket price as $191.xx, I was wrong. I checked on it to get an exact number for this. Sorry for the confusion. 

**Dear Apple, in the future, please build your iOS devices already knowing the word Ridiculist. Also, while we are discussing the great men of CNN, if you could add a voice option that sounds like Wolff Blitzer, that would be awesome. Thank you in advance. 

***This just means I asked my mom for a ride, but it makes me sound like I'm still in high school if I say that. 

****To be fair, I'd never flown pre-September 11, 2001. 

[This was written nearly 24 hrs ago. It includes a photo Blogger isn't currently allowing me to upload.]

This is at least the fourth post in which I've mentioned it: I'm on vacation. Right now I'm in the air, flying from Pittsburg to Manchester, via Baltimore-Washington. This, you might know, was not exactly the plan. Indeed, it was not my plan at all. 

Don't get me wrong: New Hampshire has been on the agenda for months. I bought a Greyhound ticket almost three weeks ago, narrowly missing the most discounted rate. My ticket was to leave last night and arrive this morning. This put me there in time for my friend's birthday party, the pretext for us finally getting to see each other after so many years. 

But wait - remember my previous post? Oh yes, Hurricane Sandy. While what's saw was minor, my bus went through Philadelphia, New York City, and Boston. None of these three are pleasant places to pass through right now. Greyhound? Not happening. 

Greyhound customer service is deplorable. I called customer service to find out if trains would be running. "I don't know. Call the stations." That was the most helpful thing I got. Since the stations were completely closed down with zero employees, phones rang and rang. I left a message for one station, the hung up after enough rings to determine a second to not have voicemail. 

I then called Delta Air. I need to change the city of origin on my return trip, since I won't be able to get to Manchester to fly out. To be fair, Delta had nothing to do with my being unable to get there. When I called, they told me that changing my ticket would result in a $200 penalty. Unfortunately my ticket was only $173.98*. So how much credit does this leave me for a new ticket? $26.02. Negative. Yes, they wanted me to pay the price of a new ticket PLUS $26.02. Had I not been able to get there, I'd have just not shown up. This belongs on Anderson Cooper's Ridiculist**. 

Amtrak was as awesome as Greyhound was horrible. They sold me a ticket, offering me a full refund should I not be able to use it. I have barely begun the process of getting my Greyhound refund. Harrisburg to Philthadelphia to Boston to Concord. Complete avoision of New York. This is Tuesday. I had decided the trip wasn't happening, but thanks to Amtrak it's back on. 

I make arrangements to get to the stations such***. All I need to do is pack my bags. Suddenly I get an email:

That schedule has been cancelled due to a-service-disruption. There is no alternate service available. To speak to a customer service representative about travel options such as selecting another date or destination call us at 8772319448 at your earliest convenience. 

This is not happening. It was off, then back on, now off again. We look at plane tickets, but everything is upwards of $500, and some of them may still be cancelled. My brother-in-law Tony (which is weird to say, because I've known the guy for years and he's been my BiL for less than a week) offers to give me a ride halfway. My friend Jared (the one I'm visiting) calls me to tell me that Southwest is offering flights from Pittsburg to Manchester for around $100. I call Tony and ask him for a ride. It's on. Ticket bought, ride secured. 

We get a later start than planned, but we still have plenty of time for the road trip to Pittsburg. Until the rain. And the wind. And the GPS gives us wrong directions. Let's just say I got to the airport about 45 minutes before my flight, when realistically we left plenty of time to have at least an hour and a half. 

Check in was simple. TSA was amazing. I actually stopped to commend TSA for providing the smoothest TSA experience I've ever had, even before the latest round of changes****. I was to the airport with sufficient time to get a soft pretzel in the terminal. 

I'm now in the air. It's happening. After all this thinking it wasn't happening, it's happening!

I had it planned. This is the responsible thing to do. But in the end, my plan means nothing. Ultimately God is in control. His plan is often not the same as my plan. But when I don't get too upset about my plan not happening, I'm always amazed at how much better his plan is than mine. 

*For those of you who have heard me cite my ticket price as $191.xx, I was wrong. I checked on it to get an exact number for this. Sorry for the confusion. 

**Dear Apple, in the future, please build your iOS devices already knowing the word Ridiculist. Also, while we are discussing the great men of CNN, if you could add a voice option that sounds like Wolff Blitzer, that would be awesome. Thank you in advance. 

***This just means I asked my mom for a ride, but it makes me sound like I'm still in high school if I say that. 

****To be fair, I'd never flown pre-September 11, 2001. 

How Did I Get Here?