Monday 5 January 2009

More Bad Flight Luck

So I've written before about my bad luck flying to and from Canada for the holidays. Only a few short weeks ago I wrote optimistically about how I had booked my flights with that bad luck in mind, trying to minimize any potential problems.

Right. Uh huh. Mother Nature had other plans for me.

Early on it was called "Snowmageddon." It turned into a nation-wide snowstorm that ensured that, for the first time in 40 years, every resident of the world's second largest country got a white Christmas. Thousands upon thousands of fliers were stranded, especially in Vancouver.

I was selfishly relieved to fly through Vancouver to Prince George the day before the brunt of the bad weather, making it without anything more than minor delays. The trouble is that while I arrived in Prince George, my bag did not. With almost all flights out of Vancouver cancelled the next day, it took 72 hours for me to be reunited with my bag. When it did arrive, luckily this year my bag arrived safely with all its contents dry (and not frozen as I had worried).

Apparently this was not enough, however. Mother Nature decided to torture me a bit more. I was all set to fly out of PG early early early tomorrow morning and, after breakfast with my aunt in Vancouver, off to Tokyo. I would then have a few days before classes started, and about 10 days to finish a paper and study for an exam. Notice the use of the past tense. Yup. My flight to Vancouver has been cancelled. Many flights into and out of Vancouver have been cancelled. As it stands now the earliest they can get me out of PG is midday on Wednesday, bumping my flight to Tokyo back by two if not three days. I realize that the airline isn't really to blame, but I am still VERY upset. I will likely be missing classes (which might not upset your average Japanese undergrad, does worry me quite a bit). But, I am trying to be positive about all of this, so here goes:

Top 10 Benefits of a Delay
10) I have a story that is sure to not disappoint my coworkers at the museum and their belief in my extreme bad luck.

9) The bad weather caused snow drifts in my dad's driveway that are deep and quite pretty.

8) I got to spend this evening warmed by good company and a roaring fire as the weather roared outside.

7) I have more time to pack up my stuff at my dad's (in preparation for his planned move sometime over the next year or so)

6) I get to eat gnocchi for lunch tomorrow (dad bought it for me but we ran out of time to cook it).

5) I get to eat corned beef and sweet potato fries for dinner tomorrow (dad bought it for me but we ran out of time to cook it).

4) I don't have to get up at the crack of dawn (or not go to bed at all) to catch a 6 am flight.

3) More time with my dad in PG.

2) A visit with my family in Vancouver.

and, most importantly:

1) I get to watch the gold medal match of the World Junior Championships between Canada and Sweden on Monday afternoon!

2 comments:

  1. But I think your luck changed didn't it? I spoke to Linda - we are hoping that you made your flight connection. Best wishes to you for the new year!
    Sharon

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  2. Sharon - I did make my connection, although only just barely! It is a shame I didn't have time in Vancouver to see people as I had been looking forward to doing just that!

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