So, the Blizzard of 2010 continues in Chattanooga and this time real snow actually fell! It's on the ground! (Well, not the roads, but the grass and roofs!). It isn't total madness as you would expect with snowfall in the South- but, then again, there are only a few people who dare to venture out into this "weather". And, after spending a couple days in Minneapolis, this 30-something-degree weather is pretty much a walk in the park.
Oh yea, Minneapolis. I guess I was just there. Remember how I said I was 98% sure I was moving there? Well, that 2% has become a pretty big 2% and now I'm about 80% sure I'm not moving there. CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT?! Honest to God, I have been doing my best not to micro manage this relocation/new job process and try to accept whatever comes- but I can feel the ulcer growing just as I gather these thoughts together. But, we'll get there in second and go back in time to when I as 98% sure this was my new home...
Obviously,when I get to the airport I am on a huge lookout for any attractives I can find. None in Chattanooga (as expected) - just the typical business man going somewhere else. I had the carry-on only situation, so I looked like a total wackadoo with my intense winter jacket. Flew through Memphis and rushed over to my gate. (First I stopped to check my makeup in the bathroom because, in my head, I could potentially meet my next husband at the gate and sit with him on the plane.) False. A variety of humans, none exceptionally attractive, and a few wearing beach clothes (weird- don't they know where this flight is going?). I get on the plane, annoyed.
The second we get approval to use electronic devices the idiot in front of me reclines his chair- ALL THE WAY. He is literally enjoying a snooze in my lap. I'm kicking the chair to make this a terrible snooze for him and cursing him under my breath. My husband will never be a person that reclines a seat in an airplane. I really don't think there is anything ruder. I mean- come on, DUDE, I'm just as tall as you if not taller. And really, does reclining your chair make you any more comfortable? NO. It just makes you a jerk. Don't recline your chair- got it?
The plane lands and I get on my big jacket, gloves, scarf and hat. I'm as snug-as-a-bug-in-a-rug when I head out to get the rental car (thankfully, not a Toyota...). And, while, yes it was cold, it wasn't so could that my ears froze and broke off. Cold is cold to me- and whether it is 30 or -5, well, it's all the same. But, there was no wind (apparently that matters...). Spent some time driving around (read: locating my hotel) and snuggled right into bed.
Work started off nice and early and I spent the day having conversations with people- most of them not sure why they were talking to me (umm... so you can decide if you want me on your team!) and one of them was a total no show (cool). But, all conversations (I think) go well and I just can't get over how much I want to work with these people and be on their teams and get my hands on their projects! Then, during a chat with HR and a director.. turns out the best opportunity wouldn't put me in Minneapolis at all.. Now they are talking Plano, TX or Pittsburgh, PA! (This is where the ulcer starts to develop it's own blood supply, pulse in my stomach, and oh, I'm immediately dehydrated and the thought of food makes me sick). Either place would be great - honestly. But- honestly, I just need someone to tell me where I'm going so I can stop worrying and obsessing.
If you need me to make a tough decision on YOUR life- sure, no problem. But, my life? Instant panic and indecisiveness. All I can think about is how my lease is up in a month and I literally have no where to live. I don't have someone that can take me in for a while, I won't have a roof over my head, I don't know where storage would put me... it's just a pretty big logistical issue I need figured out for my own sanity. But, this seems to be the way this "searching for my next rotation" goes... so, the worry will continue.
I leave the office and decide to explore a bit and lordie, did I forget what traffic was like in a real city. We have some pretty awful drivers down here, but if I hit more than 10 minutes of traffic on the way home- well, that's a bad day. Minneapolis? At rush hour? Well, maybe that wasn't the best time to explore.... I get sick of everything around me (but the skyline was beautiful) and head back to find a standard Panera- broccoli soup and tuna sandwich? Comfort food at its best.
So, the career fair comes (one of the other purposes for my visit) and I get to see just how the city deals with the weather. The parking garage has an underground tunnel to the alumni center and I was really only exposed to the elements for... 4 minutes? So that was pretty cool. The HR guy I did the fair with is from Philadelphia and from a PSU family (woop!) even though he went to Temple (lame). But it was nice that he was chatty- even if he didn't get my sense of humor sometimes and probably thought I was being a total B (which, I wasn't being). I was so excited to be talking to people and them actually listening to me... but that quickly wore off and I just wanted to sit down and be left alone- ha! Things were slow except for when lunch time came, and we were super busy. By the time 2:00 rolls around, I'm so happy to pack up, be done, get to the airport and eat something!
Me and HR guy arrive at the airport and find a carry-on only check in- great! False. I get a warning that I have to see a Delta agent. So, we go to locate a Delta agent- a man as old as time who gives me total attitude! Usually, this is where I would give him a whats-for, but I was in work company and trying to behave myself. Well, this man tells me go there. No. Come here. No. Wait a second. And I'm about to tell this slow, old timer what I think of him and he can see it coming so he sends me to ANOTHER counter because he "doesn't see my flight arrangements". Even though I'm holding a print out confirmation of the flight information.
Patiently, I go to the next counter and guess what- that's not the right counter either. So they send me to another counter (ANOTHER! Can you believe this) and this idiot woman with an accent tells me I have to see a Delta agent. Um, lady, you are in a Delta uniform- WHY CAN'T YOU HELP ME. God. So now I'm fuming (internally, remember I have HR guy with me still) and I go to a counter and this other total bitch tells me "Oh, your flight is cancelled." CANCELLED? WAS SOMEONE GOING TO CALL ME? She remains calm and tells me it is weather, but don't worry they rebooked me. Rebooked me for when you ask? SUNDAY. Unbelievable. I start in with I AM NOT STAYING IN THIS CITY UNTIL SUUUUNNNNDAYY!!!! Now, next woman chimes in and tries to remain calm...
Woman2: There is a very bad ice storm in that area and no flights are going in or out.
Me: Right, and I'm supposed to just know that. Since you called me. Oh wait..
Woman1: We have you on the first flight Sunday.
Me: And I guess I have to pay to stay in this place for the entire weekend.
Woman2: Yes.
Total bitch. I wanted to just punch her.
This goes on for 10 minutes, and someone else asks about flying through Atlanta and Woman 1 goes "sure". ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
10 more minutes of "discussion" with this woman and she says she will put me on the flight to Atlanta but will not get me to Chattanooga. Thank God I have a cousin there who says he will track my flight and pick me up. Woman1 then tells me she put me on an earlier flight (40 minutes from now) and I better "hurry" through security. Yea, right, like anyone can hurry through that.
Once I finally make it through I have to part with HR guy and rush to my gate. Remember how I missed lunch? Well, looks like I'm missing dinner too. I get peanut M&M's and Pringles on the plane for "dinner" and I'm still cursing Delta and the Bs I dealt with at the counter.
The frustration does not leave me until I am off the plane and in Atlanta and my fabulous cousin and his wife pick me up. They were so great to me! We had a great Mexican dinner and then I went home and had the best sleep of my life. (I must get a pillowtop thingy for my bed.) We had a fabulous lunch (homemade soup, burgers on the grill and a nicely chilled diet coke- yum) and then they drove me up to the Chattanooga airport to get my car. Honest to God, if I was sitting in Minneapolis right now I would just die.
First thing I did after leaving the airport? Headed to the grocery store- not to get milk/eggs/bread/toilet paper (basic supplies for the Blizzard of 2010), but to get a chocolate/chocolate cake from the bakery to eat alone because I deserve it.
So, Stacey and Clinton are calling me, and they don't mind if I have one (or two) slices of cake. I'm going to snuggle up and enjoy my apartment (while I have one) and do some cross-stitch while wearing my snuggie. Does this make me a 80 year old woman? I don't care.
Snuggies4lyfe.
