This is a story of adventures in flying. I was going to write about the adventerous United Airlines flight I had a week ago where we were about to land in Denver and hit a wind shear. The plane had almost touched the ground when it appeared we were going to land nose first and all of a sudden we are taking off again. Kudos to the pilot and crew. They kept their calm and we landed safely. Word to the wise, if you have to change planes on your way back to Vancouver, Denver has some nasty turbulance.

But the real adventure was today. After spending 3 days in San Francisco, I was scheduled to catch the Alaska Airlines flight at 7:25. When I got to the airport they told me there was a delay of about an hour. No problem I thought, all the more time to spend in the duty free deciding what to bring back. I think it was a sign that things were about to go wrong when I got to the duty free store it was closed!

Well, no big deal with the store being closed but about an hour later after getting some magazines and treats for the flight there was an announcement, the flight had been cancelled. They were going to fly us to Seattle put us up in a hotel overnight and book us on the first flight back to Vancouver. There were no rooms available in San Francisco.

There was a mad crush at the customer service desk of people trying to figure out what was going on. Included in the group was a very nice woman who had a very similar last name to mine. Actually identical but she doesn’t have the Mc. The guy at the counter actually upated my ticket instead of hers and I managed to get a flight through Seattle to Vancouver tonight. This was nothing but pure Irish luck. I was ready to thank Jesus, Buddah, Allah, Ron Hubbard, or who ever was responsible.

I shook the guys hand, grabbed my boarding passes and headed to get on the plane that was being held for the lucky few who got on. In front of me was a family and the father was so tightly wound up. He was obviously having a bad day and took it out on the ticket agent, the poor woman checking boarding passes and one of the flight attendants once we got on board. I honestly thought the guy was going to lose it. I felt bad for his wife and boys.

The flight into Seattle was uneventful. I thanked one flight attendant for keeping her cool, even in the face of Mr. Stability. I got to the gate and was about to check in when the ladies who inadvertently got me on the flight showed up and playfully told me to get behind them in line and slapped my wrist. I was happy to oblige and the next agent assured me that my bags would be following me on the flight. It all seemed to be going according to the universe’s plan. The plane loaded uneventfully, except Mr. Stability was sitting across the aisle from me uttering profanities about the airline. I just took it all in stride and made light of it with the guy sitting next to me and his wife.

Just when you think you have a good thing going, Murphy (a very fickle Irish guy) has his law kick in. We were all loaded and good to go and surprise, the plane had enough fuel for the flight but it was in the wrong tank. They had to get the fuel truck back out. It took about 40 minutes and by this time Mr. Stability was about to go over the edge. It was kind of ironic that it took longer to get fuel than the actual flight.

Once we were in the air, Mr. Stability took a run at another flight attendant who was very good at difusing him and helped him put in some paperwork for a travel voucher. This seemed to appease him.

Landing at YVR was great. Its a beautiful airport and it always feels good coming home. I met up with my new lady friends and we waited for our bags, only to be disappointed. They were still in Seattle. At this point Mr. Stability was gone but his wife and kids where still there and some of their baggage hadn’t arrived. I really felt sorry for her.

So at some point later today I should be getting a phone call letting me know when my bag will be delivered. Its no big deal – it just means I don’t have to do laundry until I get it. I’m probably going to want to sleep in anyway.

I can only hope my Harbour Air flights to/from Victoria next week go much smoother.

G’night!