And so, I am "back."

Ok, to be fair, I've been back (as in "back in town") since Wednesday of last week. I really did have the best of intentions as far as posting SOMETHING (like even a photoblog) but...I didn't...Now, before you go and start calling me "lazy" and/or "no-account," I should fill you all in on a wee little tidbit of information: I agreed (at a price, of course) to provide dancin' music and karaoke for the company Christmas HOLIDAY party this year. As such, I had a semi-large amount of preparatory work which I needed to do leading up to the event such as testing the equipment, making sure all of the karaoke CDs were still where they were supposed to be, updating, editing and assembling the karaoke books...You know: "stuff." I had decided that, since the party wasn't until December, all of this stuff could wait until after my vacation...And then, on Thursday ("Thanksgiving," to those of you who celebrate such holidays) my wife offhandedly asked me if I were "ready for Friday."

"Friday?" What the crap?..

Indeed, while the holiday party IS being held in "December," I guess I didn't give much thought to the fact that December 2nd (this coming Friday) was going to occur SO QUICKLY following my vacation...As such, I had to spend most of my free time over the weekend, with a lot of help from my wife, getting all of the aforementioned preparatory chores taken care of. I am happy to report, though, that I am 97% finished with all of that...Now I can focus on doing actual work while I'm at work blogging, reading blogs and trying to finish the (very odd) freelance project that I picked up earlier in the month...

Speaking of that "blogging" thing, how about a recap of my recent vacation?..YOU KNOW YOU WANT IT!..Here we go: part one...

Insert "Mother-In-Law" Joke Here...
And so, some months ago, my wife (and her twin sister) decided that it was high time that they let "bygones be bygones" and make a special trip to Florida to visit their mother. My wife, ever the alert individual, knows that I have a significant distaste for her mother am not fond of the heat and humidity in Florida. As such, she told me that she didn't expect me to go. Jokingly, I told her that, while she was away, I'd fly to Las Vegas and hang out with my buddy Andy and also Aldie, who is engaged to my wife's twin. I fully expected my boss to not let me have the time off of work, but she did. Additionally, I didn't expect to be able to find a good price on airfare, but I did. Long story short, my offhanded joke quickly became reality: I was going to Las Vegas while my wife went to Florida...

You Get What You Pay For...
Being the complete cheap-ass frugal individual that I am, I often purchase airfare to Sin City on a certain low-fare carrier which operates one flight per day out of the Colorado Springs Municipal Airport: a non-stop to las Vegas. Granted, the airline hasn't always been on-time in the past and their planes aren't terribly comfortable and they don't give you a soda or a snack for free, but I can get to Vegas for like...$78...When people (like my dad) ask me if I'm afraid the plane won't be on time, my response has always been "early, on-time or late, the plane is only going one place. It's not like they can drop me off in the wrong city." Besides, I had high hopes...

I'm such an optimist...

One of the things which I hate about air travel is the airline's insistence that you show up 2 hours early (or more, at larger airports) to check-in. Now, I understand that there are quite a few security regulations in place and that the POTENTIAL for delay is there, but if you've never been to the Colorado Springs Municipal Airport, let me give you a quick synopsis: show up, walk up to the ticket counter, get boarding pass, go through security. That happens in...oh, let's say 5 MINUTES...This leaves like...An hour and 25 minutes before the flight even boards..."Hurry up and wait"...Anyhow, I happened to be flying out on a Sunday, so I figured I could pick up a burger at the newly installed A&W and watch the Denver Broncos thoroughly humiliate the New York Jets while I did my waiting...A good plan, to be sure...I was able to watch the whole first half before I had to wander over to my gate and board my plane...

Except for how the plane wasn't quite there just yet...

Note to Self: Don't be an Asshole...
The time assigned to board the plane came and went with little fanfare on that Sunday afternoon...Given my previous experience with the airline in question, it didn't take me by surprise that things were a little behind schedule, so I waited as patiently as I could. The same could not be said, however, for another of the individuals who had also purchased tickets for the same flight...He was a relatively large individual who looked like the stereotypical "biker dude." I instantly didn't like this particular person because he was sporting Oakland Raider paraphernalia (a mortal sin). He had his 5-year-old daughter with him as he glared at the "departures" screen and, when we didn't board at the appointed time, he grabbed his daughter's hand and told her "come on...Daddy has to go and be an asshole."

And boy, was he...

He began to thoroughly berate the airline employees at the gate, bellowing and posturing and attempting to intimidate them, demanding to know what the Hell was wrong with our plane. The gate staff tried to deal with him as best they could while attempting to figure out where, exactly, said plane was...Ultimately, it was discovered that the plane which was initially supposed to ferry passengers from Las Vegas to Colorado Springs, turn around and take us fine folks back to Vegas had mechanical trouble. As such, the airline had to get another plane into Vegas from another location, something which would put us behind schedule, we were told, "about and hour and a half." Of course, when the gate attendant tried to inform us all at the gate of this development, "Radier fan the wonder asshole" began bellowing over her, giving us all HIS version of the story...This irritated me quite a bit and just when I was standing up to tell this guy, in no uncertain terms, to "shut the Hell up," two of Colorado Springs' finest showed up at the gate and pulled the guy aside...To make a long story short, regardless of when the plane showed up, he and his family were told that they would not, in fact, be flying out of the Springs that evening...

Hot damn! Karma in action...

Tune in next time, kids, when I fill you in on the good times that I had when I finally GOT to Vegas!..

Labels: get outta town, indignities, lame stories, misguided rantings