Tuesday, May 27, 2008

The joys of travel

So I am in Amarillo for the night. Getting here was interesting. The whole day was interesting. I was supposed to take off from DFW at 11:35, arrive in Amarillo at 12:40 and sit in a hotel all day. Well when we were #1 for takeoff they turned the airport around (instead of taking off south they were now taking off north). We went from being #1 to #11. Yeah. Bumpy climb out. Arriving in Amarillo there were 4 American Airlines planes here that had diverted due to weather. Crowded tarmac.

My new Mazda5 has had a vibration from day one. The tires have been balanced 3 times. The vibration is worse when cold. Once the tires heat up it gets a little more subtle. I knew the tires were the issue. I dropped the car off Monday. They couldn't find the problem but the service manager really wanted to help and wanted to keep it over night. They gave me a loaner car (a 3 year old smoked in Mazda 3....at least its free) so they could drive it first thing in the morning to try and duplicate the issue. This morning I had a voice mail. The service manager stated in an astonished and shocked voice that when my tires are warm they become round and stay slightly in balance. However when the tires are cold they are no longer round and very out of balance. Tires aren't covered under the warranty but Mazda approved new tires anyway. I will be happy once this ordeal is done. The vibration really annoyed me. I don't drive much (just 1100 miles on the new car in the last 2 months) so it didn't bother me too much.

Kelli is in Burbank, CA. She flew in last night to testify today. Before she left I told her she should pack extra clothes "just in case". She normally does. I am pretty sure I told her to bring her laptop...she never does. Not this time.  Sure enough the weather that bumped me around canceled her flight and the next (last) one from Burbank.  Lucky for her I was in the hotel all day and was able to relay information about her flight status (before it cancelled), the status of the inbound plane (before it canceled), how many seats were available and more. When the flight canceled I was able to go online and figure out which hotels had free shuttles and booked her a hotel. With my access to American Airlines employee site I could see exactly how full the flights were tomorrow and what her best odds were. She also needed the phone number to the pet sitter. One would think that number would be stored in her cell phone. Bet it is now. Anyways I was Kelli's lifeline today and for that I am sure she will be eternally grateful enough to allow me to leave the TV on a little longer each night after the news (she can't stand light or noise even though I have seen her fall asleep just fine with the TV on).

Tomorrow I fly back to DFW then do a Cleveland, Ohio turn.

Tomorrow night Kelli and I go to our first time share meeting. We are just going to get the free 3 day 2 night trip to an all inclusive. I have already researched the company and the packages they sell are over priced and not very nice anyways. Plus they require 30-60 day advance notice for travel. Kelli and I live 28 days in advance max.

Good times.

No comments:

Post a Comment