july 1, 2005

9:30am - visit CVS briefly to try and find some Atlanta gift items for Potlatch, no luck.

9:40am - visit Kroger and pick up bags of peanuts, Atlanta postcards. oh, and gatorade powder and tampons. damn period.

10:20am - arrive at Alliance Center in Buckhead to pick up Team USA auction items (signed footballs and pictures by Takeo Spikes, Ronnie Brown, Carlos Rogers, Kendrell Bell) from F.A.M.E.

10:25am - items are reported to probably be in an unreachable employee's trunk, or with Emory Sports Medicine's batch of signed stuff. they tell me to call Emory. i start to get annoyed.

10:35am - arrive at Sports Authority to pick up new inserts for cleats.

11:00am - arrive at Tech and stay for about an hour. checked into my flight, took care of some business, etc.

12:00pm - leave for Emory Sports Medicine to determine if signed items are there... watch Wimbledon (Roddick v. Johannson, men's semis, first set, til rain delay) while waiting. Items are not here; F.A.M.E. is called so we can work something out. i need to go pick up some more footballs. The players signing stuff today will be around for a bit and will sign anything i bring over.

12:45pm - leave for Dick's sporting goods to buy footballs to be signed by players who are at F.A.M.E. office (Ronnie Brown, Thomas Davis, Carlos Rogers).

1:10pm - arrive at Alliance Center for the 2nd time today, and go upstairs to the F.A.M.E. office. Ronnie Brown signs the two balls (one regulation size, one mini) in the Fan Kit, Thomas Davis signs a mini autograph ball. I also get a signed Takeo Spikes picture, and a signed Carlos Rogers picture. War eagle. I chat with Ronnie Brown and Thomas Davis as they're signing a bunch of shit. I also get Ronnie Brown to sign a mini football for me to keep for having to trek all over Atlanta due to somebody else's mistake. Carlos Rogers walks in with a boot on his right foot. I ask if I can get him to sign my mini football, too, and the request is okayed by the folks at F.A.M.E. Mission mostly accomplished; i leave. still missing Takeo Spikes ball and Kendrell Bell photo (which are the only two items to have been bid on already).

1:30pm - the visitor parking automated gate payment thingy will not accept my credit card. i have to repark, get out of my car, and go to the separate payment machine to pay the ticket, then exit with that payed ticket at the gate.

1:55pm - i arrive at home, where kate has come over and is preparing to make me a sandwich for lunch. i still need to finish packing. things to remember: hat, kirk's artwork, all the footballs and pictures, tarp, put inserts in cleats, feed kitty, blahblahblah, a lot of stupid shit.

2:30pm - i pause with the packing and stressing to eat a delicious tuna pita.

2:40pm - continue packing and stressing. where is my toiletry bag, anyway?

3:45pm - finally leave, a little late, to head to MARTA. we decide that going to West End will be best to avoid having to switch trains and avoid us having to drive through traffic that may prevent me from making my flight.

4:10pm - after saying our goodbyes and being emotional, i get on a train headed for the airport. i am lugging the poultry days Gaia bag, my field bag with the footballs in it, and my normal REI pack with Kirk's "frisbee flower" strapped to it.

4:40pm - i arrive at the airport and hurry towards the NWA ticket counters.

4:45pm - i try checking my bags with the kiosks - they basically say, "it's less than 45 minutes until departure time, please check with the ticket counter." so, i ask the man taking bags, and he says, "you should've been here earlier, it's less than 45 minutes until your flight, and the computers automatically lock us out from doing anything. go to security and see if they'll let you through to the gate. there's nothing else i can do."

4:50pm - i get to the security check, they tell me i have too many bags and need to return to the ticket counter to check them before coming back. i say, "i was already there and they won't let me check my bags. please let me through; i'll miss my flight if you don't." he says, "then you're going to miss your flight. we can't let you through. you need to go back to the ticket counter and check your bags, or get them to come over here to explain." what?

4:55pm - i'm back at the ticket counter. i plead to the man i spoke with before, asking him if there's anything he could possibly do to help me. he says, "stand in this line. everybody here is in the same boat. wait here and we'll see what we can do." i ask him if there's any way he can talk to security and have them let me through. he says, "no, i can't overrule security, you're just going to have to wait - you've missed your flight, and you'll probably have to come back tomorrow." that's when i start crying.

5:05pm - i get to the front of the ticket counter line. i ask once again, "is there nothing you guys can do to get me on this flight?" the woman there says, "no. we can't make any exceptions. the 45 minute rule has been in effect for two years. this is a holiday weekend and you should have gotten here earlier." now i'm starting to get pissed. "on delta you can check your bags 30 minutes prior and everything is fine. i don't understand why delta can do it and you guys can't." etc. she starts giving me the options of what i can do next... no more flights tonight, but i can go standby tomorrow morning at 6:40am or 8:10am through minneapolis, or direct at 11:35am landing in Seattle at 4pm. i start crying thinking of what an awful day of waiting in airports tomorrow is going to be. i think the lady has stopped wanting to deal with me. i ask her which flight i'd have the best chance of making... she says they're all overbooked, so she doesn't know. i tell her to put me on the standby list for the first flight in the morning and walk away, crying.

5:20pm - 5 minutes before departure time of my flight. i am sitting along the wall across from the ticket counters. i call kate and tell her what has happened. crying. still. she agrees to come pick me up from the West End MARTA station and reassures me that everything will be fine. i notice that it's storming outside. i gather up all my shit and truck it back to the train.

5:25pm - i call Chase, who was going to pick me up in Seattle, to let him know what's happened. he reassures me as well. i tell him to tell everybody i'm sorry.

5:55pm - i'm back at the West End MARTA stop, waiting for kate to pick me up. i call Kati to also let her know what's happened. she reassures me that i'll get on my flights tomorrow, no big deal, and there's an easy shuttle i can take from the airport to 60 Acres Park in Redmond. Kate arrives, she talks to Kati also and mentions that i'm so upset and crying my eyes out... which makes me start crying again.

6:05pm - we're heading back towards home and decide it's best if we get on the internets or call NWA to find out what the options are for my connection in minneapolis. i call. a woman takes my call, and i give her my confirmation number and explain the situation - "i arrived at the airport about 45 minutes prior to my flight, and tried checking my bags about 40 minutes prior, but the counter wouldn't let me check them, so i missed my flight... i'm on the standby list for tomorrow's first flight and want to know what my chances are for making it and the next connection in minneapolis...." she puts me on hold, comes back and says, "the next available flight is the same flight tomorrow - 5:25pm. you'd have to pay a change fee of $100 plus any additional change in fare." i say, "but i should be on the standby list for tomorrow morning's flight..." she says, "the information here says standby was offered to you but you walked away." i said, "no, i told her to put me on the list for the 6:40am flight tomorrow." her reply, "i'm sorry, you missed your flight and you can only go standby on the same day. if you want to fly tomorrow, you have to pay the fee to change your flight." if you can imagine me at my most irate: "i wouldn't have missed my flight if they would have checked my bag. and this was tonight's last flight, so why can't i go standby on tomorrow's first flight?" she replies, "did you get to the airport an hour and a half early?" i said, "umm... ok, sure... i did." she knew full well that i hadn't (since i had already told her when i arrived). she said, "you're lying to me. how can i be expected to help you out if you're not being straight with me?" then, i blew up. "why did you even ask that question if you knew the answer? i'd already told you when i arrived at the airport!" she paused for a few moments, then told me my best shot was to go to the ticket counter in the morning or tonight (they close at 7:30pm) because there are different rules at the airport. they can put me on a standby flight at no charge there, but over the phone it's not possible.

6:15pm - we start heading to the airport. on the 75/85 on ramp at Freedom Parkway, they've installed a new light system for forcing cars in the two lanes to alternate entrance onto the highway. the light system was clearly broken - it stayed on red and would flash green quickly on one lane every few minutes. i switched to driving because kate was too pissed on my behalf to continue driving in traffic. a line started building up. we finally got up to the front of the lines after people smartly disregarded the lights.

6:45pm - arrive at the airport, where kate drops me off and circles as i go in to talk to the ticket lady. i stand in line and call kate back to let her know i'm waiting. she has already taken one loop and will sit in front until they make her leave, then take another slow loop.

7:00pm - i get two certificates from the ticket counter lady who hated me before. i'm calmer now, so she is able to deal with me. i'm officially on the standby list for the 6:40am flight out of atlanta, and the 9:23am flight out of minneapolis. an indian couple is trying to check in next to me, but they've arrived less than 45 minutes prior to their flight. as i'm listening, the man tells them they're too late and they can't make any exceptions - they'll have to take another flight in the morning. but, a few moments later as i'm receiving my standby certificates, the man gets off the phone and says, "well, they've made an exception... everybody flying to detroit can still check their bags. i didn't even call them - they called me." lucky bastards.

7:10pm - i get in kate's car, and we head back home. she speculates that the reason they couldn't/wouldn't help me is because they'd already given my seat to someone at the gate. interesting theory... probably true. i'm glad to get to spend some time with my baby since she just got back yesterday, but i'm sad and upset about the potentially bad situation i've put myself in for getting to seattle tomorrow.

7:25pm - we get to my house. the first thing we notice - 2 of the 3 power lines running to my house are laying across my yard towards the street. one end is hanging over my Kerry sign, the other is on the grass. i immediately call georgia power and report it. they say someone will be out by midnight to repair. i collect a few things, say bye to riley, and we head to kate's.

8:35pm - we get to kate's, and the power is also out there. we call brig to see what she's up to and explain why i'm still in town. kate does a little packing for family vacation #2. then we go to meet Brig, Leedle, Annie, and Gill at Tijuana Garage for some margaritas. i find out later that Brig's mom had a heart attack and has to have angioplasties. and, that she was supposed to go up to SMUT and play with Eileen and Hatton, but something weird happened and they were disinvited because the team was too big while at the same time other people continued to get invited. hmm.

10:30pm - back to kate's with power reinstated. bedtime. alarm will sound at 4:44am....

good news for the weekend: i made it on the 6:40am flight the next morning to minneapolis, then made the 9:23am flight from there to seattle. i arrived in seattle at around 11am, my bags were already floating around the baggage claim thing when i got there. the shuttle express was surprisingly easy, and i met a family returning from a trip to spain headed home to redmond. i arrived at the fields around 12:30pm having only missed one game (we had a first round bye). won all our games that day, and it didn't rain too much. beat team canadia in the showcase game 17-16. did a lot of playing hard... and partying hard. saw a lot of people... DRC, Nancy, Ruby, Brady, Raj, Geetha, Mary O'Neill, Kate Leslie, Daisy, Kama, Luke Smith... the biggest surprise: Willis Kao. Idaho: "are we gonna dance, or is this Iraq? what are we fighting for?"

bad-ish news: power did not get reinstated at my house until sometime sunday. we lost in the semis to vagabond from portland by 2, who lost to canadia by a bunch in the finals. it's the last time i get to play with my team USA friends before some of them leave for germany. i had to pack up and bring home every auction item i brought over. it was very sad to leave seattle on the redeye on the birthday of our nation.