Florida Bound III

Well, things were going well until I got to Newark. This place is a maze worthy of a Minotaur and no one seems to know their way around. By the time I got someone to tell me exactly which gate I was supposed to be in and someone to tell me exactly where that gate was, the lady at the gate said, "I'm sorry. Boarding closed about 30 seconds ago."

Would she help me out? Of course not. "You're going to have to go to the Customer Service desk." I go there and the lady seems to not understand what I need.

"I need to get as close as possible to Sarasota tonight," I tell her.

"We have a few flights to Sarasota tomorrow."

"No, I need to be there before tomorrow. I need to get a flight as close as possible to Sarasota tonight."

"Okay, I can get you to Ft. Lauderdalhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.italic.gif
insert italic tagse."

"If that is the closest you can get me, then fine," I say.

I get my ticket and find my way to the gate which is rather easy this time because I've been up and down this terminal a few times this afternoon. I sit down, pull out my computer and check the distance from Ft. Lauderdale to my class. I nearly need CPR when I see that it is almost 400 miles. Yeah, that's not going to work.

I find another CS desk and explain to the guy at the counter what has happened and what I need.

"I don't know who set this up for you," he says. You and me both, buddy. "I can get you a flight to Tampa. It's 30 miles from Sarasota."

Much better. I get my ticket switched to that. Unfortunately, this flight does not leave until 6:45. The plane lands in Tampa a little before 10. Then I have to rent a car, drive to Sarasota to get my luggage, and then to turn around and drive to Bradenton where my hotel and class are. Argh.

It's going to be a long night.