Exhaustion
January 26, 2007
I am mentally and physically exhausted. I just got back less than two hours ago from the mainland. The flight over was sheer luck and enjoyment. I never had to wait at all from Hilo to Atlanta and all my flights were early and I even managed to get an earlier flight into Atlanta saving me over 6 hours and I had a whole row to myself on the plane and the plane got in 30 minutes early. It was absolutely perfectly timed…
My visit with my parents was really good and I got along with my father. He and I had dinner together and talked and enjoyed the company of the other. My Mom and I had a lot of fun - we mostly shopped and went to different places around Atlanta. I got along well with my Grandmother until the very last day. She said some really horrible things to me when she was in her right mind and my parents and I were astonished at the terrible things she was saying to me. I told her I did not have to sit there and listen to that sort of thing and we all got up and left. I hate it that she and I did not part on good terms but I’m hoping to settle this matter with her within the week.
My trip back to Hawaii was awful. The flight to LAX was completely full - they overbooked the plane. I had this really she-man sitting next to me who got really ticked off when I had to get up ONCE for ten seconds on a six hour flight - I had the window seat. Get a grip. I got in early but then had to wait forever for luggage and then the hotel shuttle took at least 20 minutes to get there.
I checked into the LAX Radisson which seemed nice but they put me in a non-smoking room where someone had clearly smoked. The hotel was okay but I cannot believe these people charge $200 a night - it’s worth about $50. The room service was awful - it was cold. They never gave me my wake up call at 5:30 AM. To top it off, I forgot my toothbrush at my parents house and the concierge was of no help in obtaining a toothbrush. I ended up having to use a washcloth and toothpaste. Nasty. To make matters even worse, one of my earrings is lost at the Raddison (3 ct diamond stud) - so I’m not very happy. By this time, I had not slept very much and my throat was already hurting. They overloaded a 16 person shuttle with 30+ people. I was the first person to get off the hotel shuttle and I was sitting in the back of it. Almost everyone had to get off just so I could get off the shuttle with my luggage - it was THAT tightly packed. The shuttle was even scraping the road the whole way to the airport. Morons.
The flight was again overbooked and I sat next to this woman who kept talking to me. I wanted to buy some of the Hawaiian Airlines Trail Mix for $5 (which is the best trail mix in the world, really) but they ran out. I wanted to use one of the DigEpods but they ran out. I wanted the vegetarian meal but they ran out. I wanted hot tea but they ran out of tea bags. I wanted Sprite Zero but they ran out. I wanted Apple Juice but they ran out. They started the movie almost four hours into the flight (The Last Kiss - terrible) and the sound and video hung up during the middle of the flight and when it finally came back on the sound was twice as loud. Ouch. Then, to top it off, they passed out the Agriculture forms and I told the flight attendant I did not have a pen (I’m the customer - they should provide me with one) and she said she couldn’t give me one (she was wearing three on her shirt). I never filled out the form so when she came to collect it she noticed that I had not filled it out. I told her she never gave me a pen so it would be impossible for me to fill out the form. Moron. These people SUCK.
I arrived at HNL and rode the Wiki Wiki Shuttle to the inter-island terminal where my first mission was to get an upgrade to First Class. I was told all flights today were sold out and that First Class was not available (they only have 8 First Class seats to begin with). The clerk also said I could not stand by for First Class (What?). I sit around HNL for 2.5 hours waiting to board my plane. I board among the last people only to see that First Class had ONE open seat. I was fuming mad. I wanted to throw money at a flight attendant and tell them I was sitting there like it or not. Instead, I sat in my seat where this woman who breathed all over me sat next to me. She also snored. Ugh. We arrived in Hilo and my baggage took forever to come out and then when my plastic container came out it was falling apart (thank you ATL, LAX, HNL and ITO). Fortunately, my new piece of luggage from Saks was fine. Nothing inside was damaged so that is what really counts. I also had three boxes shipped from GA via USPS - we shall see if they arrive in one piece.
I still feel like I am moving in a plane.
Joy.
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Welcome home!
Glad you enjoyed your time back in GA. Except for your grandmother.
Funny how the airlines work out. You get one flight that’s absolutely ace, but the other way, you get screwed.
What’d I tell you about Hawaiian Air?
comment by Dan — January 28, 2007 @ 1:33 pm