I'm Ba-ack

Well I suppose it's time that I updated this thing, lol. It's been a while since I've updated here and honestly, I really haven't felt like updating. I'm just not feeling up to blogging lately. Maybe that will change once we start to get rid of the ton of frigging snow we have here. Apparantly I picked a good week to be away, with Fredericton getting two bad storms while I was gone.

So I left for Carrie's place on Friday, February 8th. I had no problems getting there, despite the amazingly boring three hour wait in Montreal for my connecting flight. The first weekend we didn't do a whole lot because the weather was so windy that you couldn't even see your hand in front of your face, with the blowing snow. They don't have a lot of snow up that way, just a light dusting, which really surprised me.

The first of the week I accompanied Carrie to her doctor's appointment and took care of Brayden while she was in the doctor's office. We went out for lunch, went to the candle factory and the peanut factory - yum! We also went to Brantford to do a little shopping at Walmart and for lunch.

I spent Valentine's Day with my sweet little nephew Brayden. Carrie and Chris went to the spa to get pedicures together for Valentine's Day and I watched Brayden for them. It was their first outing alone, just the two of them since they became parents, so it was even more romantic that it happened on Valentine's Day. I was missing Ryan quite a bit on Valentine's Day, not that I hadn't any other time that week, but just extra missing him on Valentine's Day. We talked on the phone for a bit that night, but it wasn't the same as being with him. I booked my trip up to Carrie's before Christmas and failed to realize that I booked it over Valentine's Day until after the fact.

On Saturday I got up early to head to the airport. After a teary farewell, I headed for security to board my first flight for Montreal. When they issued my two boarding passes originally, the one they gave me for the Montreal to Fredericton flight didn't have a seat number on it and had the initals CDX on it. They agent in Hamilton who took my luggage told me that I'd have to stop at customer service when I got to Montreal to get a seat number. I asked her why and she said she didn't know. I had a suspicion that they had bumped me off that flight as I knew it was full, having checked it the day before I left.

I head through security and they took my lip balm out of my purse on me. I've flown a fair number of times and this is the first time I've ever had an issue with lip balm. Whatever. Anyway, I made it through the metal dectector (obviously). My jacket and purse come through after being screened and I see my carry-on bag start to come out of the machine. I then see it getting backed up and going back in the machine for screening. Then the woman operating the machine instructed another officer to do a "swab" on that bag. I was all "Huh, what's going on"? The officer took my boarding pass, asked permission to go through my bag, which of course I gave. (Anyone who knows me well is laughing right now because you know how cautious I am about things, so anything that I could get away with in my carry-on, but have hesitation about, I put in my checked luggage).

The officer has this black plastic wand thing that he puts a piece of tissue paper in and runs it all through my bag. He then puts the "swabbed" tissue in a machine and processes it. It's fine and he gives me my boarding pass and bag back and doesn't say a word to me. I said "Excuse me, may I ask what that was all about"? He said "What"? I said "You doing that to my bag". He said "It checks for chemicals". I bit my tongue from saying anything further, for fear that I wouldn't get on the flight, lol.

So I arrive in Montreal with an hour to spare before the connecting flight to Fredericton. Good thing I knew where I was going from landing previously in Montreal. I found the customer service desk and they said they couldn't give me a seat number because the flight was over sold and that I would have to go down to the gate and they would call my name if a seat became available. I was so pi$$ed off at this point. I've heard of getting bumped on a flight, but never getting bumped mid connection. I could understand if they bumped me originally in Hamilton and I had to stay an extra day or something, but bumping someone mid connection is ridiculous. I was angry too because I had a boarding pass in my hand that was useless.

I went down to the gate area and talked to an airline agent by my gate and asked her if she could give me a seat number. She said no, not until they took the flight off sale. I said "Off sale? That flight is sold out - that's why I'm talking to you right now. I have a reservation on that flight, a boarding pass in my hand and you won't give me a seat. You're telling me you're still selling that flight?!?" The woman looked at me as if she's never been told this before. I tell you, it's flipping ridiculous what the airlines do. So I go and sit down at the gate as instructed and wait to see if my name will get called. I'm thinking in my head "This is wonderful, I have no cellphone to call and tell Ryan to not come to the airport, I'll have to foot the bill for a hotel room and cabs two and from the airport....".

Luckily the crazy lady who I was talking to (the one who was still selling the flight) called my name. I go up to the counter and she's all polite to me now and asks if I would like a window or an aisle seat. In my head I think to myself "Why should there be a choice, obviously someone didn't show up who they gave a seat assignment to, so I should be getting their seat, unless they just like to cause undue stress to people and tell them they may or may not get back home". I said"window" disgruntled and took my new "official" boarding pass as she tore my first one up in front of me.

I finally arrive in Fredericton after all that rigamarole and Ryan is there to greet me. We go home and relax for a bit and then go out to dinner, since we missed Valentine's Day together. We went to the new Jungle Jim's. It was really good, but very slow - which is to be expected with a new restaurant.

It's good to be home (although it was hard to come back to work yesterday after being off) but I miss Carrie, Chris and Brayden already. Luckily, Carrie is coming home with Brayden for Easter in a couple of weeks.