Word of the Day

Dexlexia - A condition that causes the transposition of letters in words while typing.

I'm Back! I have an excuse for not blogging. We did have our laptop with us but the dial-up speed in our room was so dead slow that we spent what felt like endless time downloading our mail. The hotel charged us for each time we used the phone. And...the server kept hanging up on us. We ended up having to work offline and then work as fast as we could when we were online because it wasn't long before we were disconnected. Needless to say, not much time was spent on the laptop. I'll try to catch you up on the events of the previous days.

Day One--The Flight to Laughlin

HTP and I left on Wednesday for The Big City. We spent the night at a Day's Inn. Our wake up call was for 2:30 AM. As we checked out at 3 AM, I grabbed a couple of donuts from the hotel breakfast room. Although the hotel's continental breakfast isn't served until 5 AM, there were a few leftover donuts sitting in bins by the coffee pots. We didn't have time for coffee but it didn't take long to snag some donuts which we ate on the run to pick up HTP's folks and his Aunt.

I'm not really clear on the times after that. We loaded the luggage into Ye Ole Buick. Shock! It all fit. Really! It did. HTP had brought a bungy cord for the just in case scenario but there wasn't a problem. We got to the airport at ?...but not a big deal because we weren't late. HTP dropped us off by the curb while he parked the car and we dragged our bags into the line that was forming by the ticket counter. We were supposed to arrive at the airport at 4 AM. The ticket counter didn't open until 4:30 AM. Tom's Mom found a seat along with Tom's Aunt and I remained in line along with Tom's Dad and the luggage. We were actually the third and fourth people in line. The conversations commenced. First topic? Why did they make us get here so early if no-one was going to be here to check us in?

At 4:30 AM, we were checked in and a wheel chair was brought for Tom's Mom. We've decided from now on that if we have to fly anywhere, we really need to bring Tom's Mom with us. We got through security with no problems at all. Step to the front of the line (our entire group) because Tom's Mom is in a wheel chair. Thankfully, no-one in the tour group outwardly showed any anger about this. We even got to board the plane and settle in before anyone else...even first class!

The pilot commented in disgust (I imagine he had a few more forceful things to say when he discovered this non-pilot decision) about the corporate office's decision to seat our entire Big City tour group on the right side of the planes. The left side of the plane was empty. I'm not really sure why our side of the plane didn't spread out for the time while we were in flight to Fargo but I can only excuse it because it was really early and none of us had our morning caffeine fix kick in as yet. Yes, I got coffee at the airport before we left. Thank goodness. Anyway, we were all squeezed into the right side of the plane. Our pilot managed to take off with no difficulties. The woman that sat next to me complained that my sleeve was tickling her arm. Sigh! I scooted over some more...even though I was in my own seat...and draped myself on HTP. Four hours later.... I really grew to hate that woman. A whiner. A complainer. One of those women with the big hair, painted on face, and phony smile. One of those wonderful people who feel that the world owes them. Of course she used the first class bathroom. Didn't matter that we'd been told repeatedly that we weren't supposed to use the first class bathrooms. Four long hours with the passenger from hell sitting right next to me. She was cold so she had them turn down the air-conditioning. Four long HOT hours, sweating and gasping squished and plastered to HTP's side. Four hours because we stopped in Fargo to fill up the left side of the plane. I'm surprised that I didn't hear a suction sound when I was finally able to unstick myself at the end of the flight. I could hardly walk by that time. Thank goodness I was heavily drugged with Dramamine or I might have killed that witch before we arrived at our destination.

Once we arrived at the Bullhead City airport, we encountered a blast from the past. Do you remember the stairs that used to be rolled up to the door of planes so passengers could disembark? We all limped down the stairs to the tarmac. Bullhead City's airport is not a big airport. There was a big golf cart waiting for HTP's Mom so we didn't have to hike to the terminal across the tarmac like the others did. The tour bus was waiting for us and we all piled into the air-conditioned comfort of the buses. HOT! Bullhead City is still hot in the summer. No surprise there. Oh...the witch rented a car and we ran into her only a couple more times during our stay in Laughlin.

I'll wait for tomorrow's blog to continue this. Stay tuned. Laughlin. A Gambler's Tale.

Murphyism of the Day

Berra's Second Law

Anyone who is popular is bound to be disliked.