April First Was a Really Bad Day And Second on the Second

Hi everyone. 

I bet some of you didn't expect this post today. Neither did I. April 1 was a really bad day.

And this is a very long post-sorry!

It started when I woke up to a dusting of new snow (a lot you see on the ground is what was already there from previous storms.)

" Ha ha, April Fools" said old man winter.

The snow was OK because I was supposed to be heading south. 

This is when the story gets complicated and really frustrating for me.

 I was originally supposed to fly to Raleigh, North Carolina (on Saturday April 1) to meet my friend. She is a teacher and has this upcoming week off for spring break. However, her sister is arriving from Canada on Wednesday, so  we were going on our roadtrip Saturday through Wednesday morning since she obviously needed to be home for when her sister arrived.  Our roadtrip  destinations included Atlanta and parts of Alabama.

Friday, the day before I was due to fly,  I got 2 texts from the airline, the top 2 in the next photo.

If I was just going to my friend's home in Raleigh the new rescheduled flight would have worked and I would have just missed visiting on Saturday. But that flight was not going to work since we were hitting the road when I arrived first thing Saturday morning. I went online to see what other flights were available to Raleigh that I could easily switch too, and there was nothing. Every flight was unavailable. It was time to call the airline.

If you follow the weather in the US you might know that some really bad storms had been blowing through the southeast (and other places), and there were more predicted for Saturday. These storms included some serious tornadoes as  well as tornado watches and warnings. The amount of damage has been horrible, and it is really sad  how many people have died. 

The airline rep  told me they had cancelled flights and made rebookings to work around these potential storms. They could not switch my ticket to get me to Raleigh early on Saturday. I called my friend and explained. She said no problem. Why don't I see if I can get a flight to Birmingham, Alabama. She'd  drive there  and just meet me at the airport, and since we were heading for Birmingham Saturday night anyhow, we could just start our trip from there.

So I called the airline, and  I got the very last seat on the only flight from Manchester (NH) to Tampa, Florida and then from Tampa to Birmingham. I was due to arrive at 4 in the afternoon Birmingham time. "That is a great schedule" says my friend.  "It's just a small snafu and really doesn't affect the trip."

Now my new Saturday flight left at 11:30 (AM)  from Manchester instead of 5:30 (AM). Oh good, I could sleep a little later. I headed for the airport at 8:15 after breakfast, as it takes me a little over an hour to get there and I like to be early otherwise I can get a little stressed. I was just about at the airport, and my phone dinged. I quickly glanced over to see who the text is from (but I didn't read it because I am driving) and I saw from the corner of my eye it is from the airline. When I arrived at the airport, rather than parking in the garage, I drove into the cell phone lot so I could see what is going on now.

My flight to Tampa had been delayed. This was a big problem. I had an under an hour layover in Tampa before I flew to Birmingham. I could get to Tampa, but with the delay, I would miss my connection. Once again I called the airline to see what they could do. 

The representative is very very nice. 

The rep then said she'll see what she can do. I sat a while listening to that lovely recorded music. Then she got back on. Other than the flight I was booked on, there was NOTHING available Saturday. I could fly to Tampa and hope my flight to Birmingham was also delayed. But if not, then I would be left in Tampa. So I asked  if I took my flight to Tampa  can I get into Birmingham first thing Sunday morning? That  would work since my friend would still be in Birmingham.

No, there are no open spaces on the Sunday flight. The earliest they could get me into Birmingham is Monday morning, and by then my friend (who needs to be home by Wednesday) is off on the roadtrip we planned and is no longer in Birmingham. 

AUGH!!! I couldn't find any other flights. These storms were really doing a number plus it is last minute and planes were already full. I once again called my friend who had been driving for a few hours. I explained the situation, and she said exactly what I was thinking.

"Trips are supposed to be fun and low stress  and this is turning into a bigger uncontrollable, more stressful mess."

OK,  you must be sick of this story. It ended up I cancelled my trip. Luckily I could get 100% refunded for my flight, and my flight home was paid with points, so those points just rolled back into my account. She and I are now planning a weekend trip sometime in the near future. My friend  continued off on our roadtrip on her own. I  turned around and drove home to the snow covered ground.

That means here I am for Second on the Second over at Bleubeard's and Elizabeth's blog. And although I'd rather be in Alabama with my friend, I am glad to be here sharing a second look with you. 

This month Elizabeth is hosting at Art Journal Journey and her challenge theme is Recycle, Reuse or Repurpose.  That's the general idea I have to share with you today for Second on the Second.

Some of you might remember this fish, spray painted here. My husband had found it at the recycle barn they used to have at our "dump".

After the spray paint I covered him with some printed tissue paper and then I painted him and gave him some google eyes.

Here's the original link: Recycled Fish from April 18, 2021

And here he is as of yesterday, sitting on my living room bookshelf.

Sorry for the long post. I hope April has started off better for all of you who visit my blog.