With such an ominous title, fear this posting. FEAR IT!

I don’t make a good worried person, I’m generally pretty calm and relaxed about things or I try to be. There are things just out of my control which are driving me mad. Big things, thankfully nothing to do with a significant other - that’s one hassle I don’t want or need for the moment.

First thing and the most important thing, my mother is sick. She is really, really sick. In all the many decades of known her (in other words all my life) I have not seen her in the hospital for any length of time, the most was about 8 hours when she broke her shoulder in several places. In other words she is a very strong stubborn lady and I love her dearly.

A couple of weeks ago she started having trouble breathing (actually it was a stomach ache that wouldn’t go away, that became breathing issues). Her breathing usually sucks as she is plagued with having smoked for 40 years (non smoker for 15 or more now) and that resulted in asthma, ephysema and lung fibrosis. All of which suck. She is supposed to be on oxygen 18 hours a day, but being the stubborn lady she is, she doesn’t as she wants her independance and freedom.

Well, her breathing got bad, so bad that she went to the emergency room in her small town and they immediately sent her by ambulance to a bigger facility. Where she stayed for almost a week. She just couldn’t breathe and her legs swelled up like balloons. My brother called me the day after she was admitted (grrrrr) and I’ll tell you that was not a call I wanted to hear. I have never felt so far away before. She insisted that I didn’t need to go up there to visit, but was she just being strong or telling the truth?

Either way, she has been out of the hospital for about a week, and I talk to her almost every night and well she just doesn’t sound strong at all. Luckily my Aunt is there to take care of her and drive her to appointments for various vile tests they need to do on her (like sticking a camera up her nose). If what she is telling me is true (I have my doubts - you know mothers) they are not sure what is causing her to be so out of breath. That they are stumped and her fibrosis isn’t as bad as her symptoms are.

She lost 2 brothers to lung cancer in the span of a year recently and they went quickly. Her parents died of cancer and I suspect their parents did as well, it seems like a pattern. Anyways, I have to admit I’m scared. She has always been the strong one, the one I went to for help or a shoulder to cry on. Now tomorrow she is supposed to get her test results and the tables could turn drastically and may the Goddess bless her and give her good news.

But yeah, I’m worried.

So I asked if I could work remotely at my job. So I can take care of her no matter the diagnosis, it’s time to go back and the Canadian winters are not getting any easier, she will need me no matter what. This is a sticky situation for my work situation. I love, no I mean LOVE my job. Sure, there are some problems and I want to strangle people 50% of the time, but I love what I do nonetheless.

My manager wasn’t very keen on allowing me to work from home as it would be a bad example for any n00bs we hire in the future. Of course this is not to say that someone in my department does work remotely, even further away then where I would be moving. It’s been 2 weeks and I checked the status today with my boss and he basically didn’t have any answers yet. He said they are discussing it and that they might have to put me on contract (though the other one who works remotely isn’t). I’m not sure how I feel about that either. I can always take a leave of absence with no pay if worse comes to worse then decide what to do after that but that doesn’t seem logical either. I’ll have a fight on my hands I think no matter what.

I know where my priorities are though, no matter how much I love my job if my Mom needs me, then I’m there no matter the cost. I’ll sacrifice whatever I have to so that she is taken care of by me. My life is inconsequential in comparison, heck if it wasn’t for her I wouldn’t be here who I am or spoiled rotten either.

I fear what tomorrow might bring and if she will be honest enough to tell me the truth if something is truly wrong and I need to go to her. Dang stubborn mothers.

Mood: Pensive.

I’ve been bad, the promises of blogging more did not make it to their excellent fruition. I blame work, I blame travel, I blame being lazy. I could of said something, right? No one reads this anyways and I don’t blame anyone one bit. I take the blame and that is my word of the day.

I might get into talking about gaming, but right now I wish to rant about US Airways. Which I now deem as US Suckways. Or maybe US Screwyoueveryways - but that’s too long to type.

So my big trip overseas didn’t go as planned. Oh don’t get me wrong the trip from UK to Norway and back was more fantastic then I thought it would be, but because of US Airways the trip as a whole leaves me feeling raped and freezing.

Here is my story of why I think US Airways (Suckways) has to be one of the most messed up airlines ever:

While I was planning my trip over to the UK, the fares were around $1400 dollars economy class (that was for pretty much any airline). To me $1400 is a big chunk of money, as that was not my only expense for my 4 days of travelling. So I was lucky enough to have a pilot friend hook me up with a “Buddy pass” which will now be deemed “Fuck you pass.”  It was set up for economy and when it was reserved, he told me that the total would be $512. Once I got my reservation number I excitedly verified it online to discuss that the system said it was going to cost $1024 and that the $512 was each way. /sigh

I called US Suckways and they told me it was because of the fuel costs and that applies to everyone from now on. I was not happy, but it was still cheaper then I would of paid on my own for economy.

Note: A Buddy Pass is a Stand By ticket, you aren’t guaranteed a flight but if there is room, they are supposed to let you on.

Well, as the trip drew near the wife of a co-worker got a job with said Airline (well their alliance anyways) and when I told her the situation, she was like “Are you crazy? I can set you up with a buddy pass with first class.” Absolutely thrilled because I’ve never travelled first class before, I was floored and terribly happy. A long haul flight and first class? This trip was going to be amazing.

Oh so wrong. So very wrong.

I religiously, I mean very religiously checked the availablity on the flight I was scheduled on. (I was supposed to leave at 5:26pm from one of the two airports in my near vicinity.) The night before, I was checking every 10 minutes to make sure there was place in First Class and Economy - just in case. There was plenty o’space. I mean there were at least 30 spots in Economy and 12 in First Class. All looked grand.

Then, on the morning of the day I was supposed to depart I checked again. Hmm - it was filling up slightly, strange but okay. I check back an hour later and voila the first flight leg somehow got filled up and online indicated it was sold out. In a panic I check the earlier flights and even call US Suckways. I was told I should go on the 3:30pm flight instead as there was still plenty of space available. After I re-arranged my ride to the airport to get there earlier, I figured all would be fine.

I get to the airport at 1:30pm, 2 hours earlier then flight I was scheduled to be on at 3:30pm (4 hours earlier then my original sold out flight to Charlotte, NC). I go to the ticket counter and the gentleman there was just downright unpleasant but he seemed to know what he was doing. I gave him my reservation number and he charged me $636.89 which was to be the total return (that was for first class too). Awesome price, had I taken a flight… Oh yeah, the guy kept on repeating how I was overcharged for it. (Maybe he was psychic?)

Off I went to my gate for my flight to Charlotte (not without being automatically selected to be in one of those glass chambers and to be inspected thoroughly by Airport security - Joy). The airport was sweltering hot, there was no place to sit at all. I got some food, planted my fat ass on the floor and waited. As the time got closer to 3:30pm I realized I didn’t know how this stand by stuff worked so I asked. “Ma’am all you need to do is wait at the gate if there is room, they will call you.” At that time about 45 minutes before the flight there was enough room I was told.

The flight was called and off I went to stand at the gate. (I was the first one in line for “stand by” I might add, I know how important it is to get anywhere early if you want a seat to the show.) The boarding starts and about 4 or 5 other folks are waiting in stand by with me as we watch everyone get on the plane. I started getting worried and ask a very rude flight attendant who gave me ‘tude and basically said wait. While I was waiting I overheard him talking with others about how full the plane is. Oh let the panic begin.

All the passengers get on and they start calling the stand by folks like myself. From my counting there were 8 spots available and 5 people waiting on stand by. As I was waiting to be called to embark, 4 pilot types showed up (fashionably late I guess) and guess who was left at the gate because they got on the plane? Yeah me.  What a great feeling that was, I think I stepped on my heart somewhere.

I was quickly shuffled out of the gate area and I went to the gate check in (yeah I have to admit my eyes were tearing up, I wasn’t crying but it wouldn’t take much at that point.) So I asked if the flight I was originally on looked like there was anyway to get on it. Nope, they told me there wasn’t any chance. If I really wanted to get to the UK, I needed to take the 5:25pm flight (yeah ironic that time) and go to Philadelphia as the connection city - but no First Class. When I asked if there was any other way, the lady who was very nice said “If you want to get to England honey, this is your only chance.” So it shall be done and I got my new stand by ticket for Philadelphia with almost 2 hours more of waiting - or so I thought.

At 5:25pm they updated the flight time to 6:15pm. My flight to London was scheduled to leave at 8:40pm which would of still given me enough time to make the connection. When the 6:15pm time rolled around, they increased it to 7:20pm. Then 7:20pm turned into 7:45pm. So my flight would of gotten to Philadelphia after my connecting flight to London departed. Oh yeah in the last valiant effort to get on that plan I asked if the connecting flights would wait considering the circumstances. “No ma’am, US Suckways doesn’t do that you need to be there on time.”

I’ll grant them one bit of respect, it’s not their fault the plane was delayed. (Or was it? It was a mechanical problem…)

So finally, they said I had to go talk to Customer Service so they could arrange a different flight. Well I had the luxury of being near the line or close by and I swear it didn’t move more then 2 people out of 50 or so in about 45 minutes. No thank you.

It was make it or break it time, do I cancel my trip? I couldn’t leave the next day it was too late.  I hopped on my laptop, paid whatever outrageous fee it cost for internet access and headed to the Virgin Atlantic website to see if my memory served me good enough. And it did! They had a flight leaving from the other airport (About 30 miles away) at 11pm that night to the another airport in London.  (Oh yeah, because it was 8:00pm by then I couldn’t do the booking online and had to do it on the phone, the one way flight cost over $1200 - at least it was premium economy.)

After I booked the flight and prepared to grab a cab to the other airport (I was already at this one for almost 7 hours by this point). I went to the ticket counter where i purchased my ticket and asked them how I can obtain a refund. (I thought that was justified?) I was actually quite nice considering the circumstances. The obnoxious ass behind the counter looked at my ticket and said. “You have a buddy pass, you have to ask the one who got you the pass on how to get a refund.”

Eh? I asked again. I just wanted to know how to get a refund.

The guy raised his voice like I was a pain in his ass and said “If you ask me again I will have you removed from the airport.”

What?

I did my best to maintain a calm voice and just let him know very clearly that I wasn’t accusing him of anything, I just wanted insight on how this works. I work hard and my money supply is limited, it’s precious to me. He refused to answer anymore.

Shaking my head in disbelief (I was crying at this point, little did I know this was rape #1) I left the airport and grabbed a cab to the OTHER airport to get a plane to the OTHER airport in London. Oh yeah my day was going well. No stress there.

I get to the other airport and check in. Virgin Atlantic has amazingly nice people working for them. I hung out at the airport for about 2 hours, got on the plane where I was immediately served many glasses of alcohol, reclined my premium economy seat and tried not to think about the trip back.

You think this story is over? No way. Hah! Lest ye think I’m joking, there is much more.

I got to London on Monday morning (about 4 hours later then expected because of  the later flight) then I had to take an hour and a half shuttle from one airport to the other. Got to my hotel, checked in figured out I didn’t know how to turn on a light switch and met with a friend of mine. Who very nicely took me out for food.

After that things got much, much better. (The trip to Norway was fantastic, I will ramble about that another time, I need to get this US Suckways business off my chest first.)

So, on Wednesday morning I got back after being awake for about 24 hours (And standing up for 6 hours of those) at around 4:30am, got to my hotel, slept for about 2 hours, showered and headed to the airport to check in for my flight home.

Oh it’s priceless, it really is. The flight was schedule to leave at 10:40am and I was there at 7:30am. I checked in through first class even though it was still stand by. The fella there was actually the nicest US Suckways person I met through this ordeal. He told me that there is room and it should be fine. Generally people don’t just hop on an international flight 2 hours before it departs.

Hah, well yeah the flight was delayed 3 hours. Those 3 extra hours makes all the difference.

As the 1:40pm time approached (Remember I was there at 7:30am I could of slept in damnit) I kept on checking to make sure there was room. My chances were good, then they were bad and then they were suggesting I go try and get on the Philadelphia flight again, just in case there wasn’t room.

Off I went to the Philadelphia gate where after standing there for 20 minutes waiting for someone to even acknowledge my presence they finally responded. We’re not accepting anymore stand bys. GREAT.

Luckily the other gate I needed to go to was just next door, I was the first to get there so they wouldn’t let me in to “check in.” There were a few other people there as well. One lady in particular who had the same buddy pass as I did. Anyways, we got in and they told us to wait since it was stand by. That lady and I were standing there with our first class stand bys in hand.  Waiting… Waiting… people got on the plane, more people got on the plane. Stand by people were called and they got on the plane.

Then this younger couple show up, that were on stand by and they had the exact same pass and level of buddy pass that lady and I had except in economy. They wait around with us for about 2 minute and then they are called and are told “Congratulations, you’ve been bumped to first class!”

What? /Twitch

That’s when my new found friend in stressful situations realized they were not going to call us. Infuriated was not the word, I imagined headlines about some tourist at the airport slaughtering airline employees. My new friend was bawling outright, I just felt the stress hit me like a truck.

There were no other flights leaving for the US from that airport that day. So yeah, I had to go back to the other airport to get a flight. But not before all the stand by people had to wait until the plane pulled away from the gate and the flight attendants finished talking about how good their meal was the night before (yeah I’m serious). Apparently we were not allowed to leave on our own since it was a secure area. So we were escorted back through customs and what not, it felt like the walk on the way to the hangman. I was wondering if he was saying the last rites to me.

Yeah okay, I was tired and upset at the time.

So yet again, I find myself at one airport calling Virgin Atlantic for a flight that leaves from the other airport. By now it was close to 3:00pm. The flight ended up costing about $1200 again, but only economy was available. I took the hour and a half shuttle back to the other airport and took the flight home (that actually arrived at the airport nearest to me). I think when we landed I couldn’t believe I actually made it back.

No really, I can’t believe I made it back. Unfortunately my savings account didn’t feel the same.

Now, please understand that this is two weeks ago. I finally got the time to call US Suckways to find out about my refund and they said it takes 7-10 days and they charge me a $10 processing fee.  WTF? (Oh yeah, lets not forget, the first guy I talked to gave me a number that was out of service and I had to call again.)

Anyways, I just checked my bank balance. They were supposed to refund me 636.89, what did they refund me? $220

Yeah, that’s right and because it’s the weekend I can’t call them to talk to whoever’s supervisor’s supervisor that is available.  So all in all:

$636 - To fly on US Suckways

$2400 - To actually fly because it was US Suckways.

$220 - Refunded when it’s supposed to be $636

Flying to Norway to with the lead singer of Iron Maiden - priceless?

That’s my story. I really pity the person who ends up answering the phone on Monday morning.