Mood:
chillin'Topic: la familia
Merry Christmas one and all! Let me first start out by saying how blessed I am to be spending this Christmas season with my friends and family this year in the Green Mountain State. Getting here, and by here I mean, typing away in my childhood bedroom with my laptop has been a trip and a half thus far. Let's first begin on Christmas Eve. I also apologize I am not creative enough to write my own version of 'Twas the Night, but I'm sure you can live without it.
I arrived at JFK airport, Terminal 5 in one piece after almost getting into several accidents along the way thanks to my house-mate's cousin. One of these took place not 500 yards from the house in Queens and before I even had my seat belt fastened. Arriving a tad bit early (which I was fine with) for my 10:40PM flight I stood in line to drop my one piece of luggage off. My one checked bag contained my usual carry on, which I conveniently placed inside an empty suitcase so I could travel back with lots of goodies from Mom's pantry. The line for security was a bit long and I was all bundled up in a brand new winter coat (THANK YOU AGAIN CARMEN!!!) but it moved rather quickly and soon I was in the promised land of the new Terminal Five! T5 as the subway ads proclaimed seemed to be everything I expected, a fancy airport terminal. Oh well, I decided to mark my territory by a secluded outlet and powered up my laptop to watch the Christmas episode of Guiding Light. Boarding time came and went and even though the flight still said On Time, I knew since we were obviously not on schedule, the board did not update properly. Sure enough, twenty minutes or so pass and then finally we start to board.
My initial thought when I heard the cabin door being closed was sweet this is a pretty empty plane. I had the entire row to myself, and even the entire row across the aisle was empty until someone decided to move away from their seatmate and occupy the window seat. The flight, while probably not the worst flight in the history of aviation, but it was definitely not one I would like to repeat. The turbulence was out of control, the pouring rain and gusts of wind did not make it any easier to handle. At one point everyone bounced out of their seats, which was followed by two totally different reactions, the sound of laughter (why, I'm still not sure) and some elderly woman who screamed, "Get this f---er on the ground!" In my head I seconded her emotion!
We arrived safely on the ground, thank goodness, and I quickly called Dad to let him know I was safe. My first stop at the Burlington International Airport was baggage claim. I waited, and waited and waited. After six years of flying JetBlue to and from New York and Burlington, my checked baggage, the one containing my carry-on with all my clothes, was missing. I filed the necessary paperwork and they said it would be with me the next afternoon after they located it. Even the JetBlue attendant was confused at the misplaced luggage, I was only going from JFK to BTV, a 45 minute flight at most, where on Earth did it end up? Christmas arrived, presents were unwrapped, lots of cheer was spread and food was gobbled up! Still no word from JetBlue though regarding my luggage. After three phone calls, I finally received word at 2:17PM the luggage was safely en route to my location. Seven hours later, a canceled trip to Nana's , two phone calls to the delivery service and even a cat nap, I finally had enough and called JetBlue to find out if they knew anything. I spoke with a gentleman who thought seven hours was a bit excessive, so he looked into it and called me back very quickly saying the driver was in my town and should be there soon. Twenty minutes later, sure enough they arrived, luggage in tow!
I now feel like my vacation can actually begin. It took a bit to get started, but I know the remaining ten days of Christmas will only get better and better! To you and your loved one, have a very merry Christmas!
blogged by paul
at 10:54 PM EST
Updated: Thursday, December 25, 2008 10:57 PM EST
