The Therapy Ski

WARNING: There's a 99.9% chance this post will contain profanity.

Fuck you, Northwest Airlines.

My day started some time in the 3's. D and I left our house at 4:15AM to get her to the airport. She had a 6:00AM flight from Portland to Detroit, then to Seattle to visit her sister. Her original flight was at 8:00 or s0, but Northworst Airlines moved her to the 6:00AM. Why? Because they suck. According to both their website and phone service, the flight was on-time and good to go in the morning, so I dropped her at the jetport (not airport) at 5:05AM and went on my way to work. Ten minutes later, my phone rang: "They canceled the flight." "OK, I'm coming back." Have I mentioned that the weather is complete ass: snow/sleet/frozen puss And here I thought I'd be in NH in a couple hours.

After arriving back at the Jetport and meeting D in the line of 25 or so disgruntled Northworst passengers:
ME: So, the worst fucking airline on earth canceled the flight, eh?
D: Yup, fuckers.
ME (observing that all the other airlines are on time and running flights): Why?
D: They don't have a crew.

You read that correctly. No crew. Now, we've had a run in with Northworst before. About 3 years ago, we were headed to Montana when an afternoon flight was delayed for 5 hours, then eventually canceled. We were able to book ourselves on the same slight the following day. But, the next day, we checked the flight status for the same afternoon flight, and it was already "delayed" at 7:00 in the morning. That flight doesn't exist. Once again, fuck you Northwest. We were able to change from the flight, originally from Boston, to a flight from Portland at great inconvenience to us and, more importantly, to my parents.

Back to this morning: no crew. How do you schedule the flight but not have a crew?!?!?! It's like having a PhD in incompetence. There are no words that can state how angry this made me.

After being on hold for 20+ minutes, D finally got through to a person at Northworst.

D: Hi, I'm in Portland on Flight #12345, but it's been canceled.
Northworst slave: I'm reading that flight as on-time.
D: Um yeah, it's canceled. The lady said there's no crew. I want another flight.

And, yes, this is 8,000-times nicer than I would have been.

At 5:50AM, D is booked on a new flight. Hooray!
Not hooray, this flight is out of Boston...at 9:04AM. In theory that gives us 3 hours. Did I mention the absolute shit weather? Freezing rain pouring down and 85mph on 95South is not good times. Perhaps that's why D watched the whole drive hiding in her hands.

Anyway, I dropped her off in Boston just after 8:00AM, and she made her flight. Meanwhile, I still had to drive to NH for work. I arrived at 11:15AM. Yup, 7 hours of driving for me. Fuck you, Northwest. Fuck. You.

Anywho, I skied this afternoon. Easy. It was nice. I feel better. Now, I'm exhausted, and going to bed.