Brew Haven 2014 (the place for craft beer lovers in Northeast Indiana)

It's that time of year again in Northeast Indiana. Time for a craft beer festival called Brew Haven! Another massive crowd lined up and invaded downtown New Haven, IN for a tremendous amount of beer samples.

The first thing I noticed this year is how smooth and well organized the event was. Much better than in years past. The area was well laid out with a food tent, a larger tent for the majority of brewers, two smaller tents, and two tap trucks (one with 15 Three Floyd's). It was spaced out where with enough walking room to help avoid the being overcrowded. There was a decent amount of brewery representation as I always find it fun to actually talk those making the beers and a lot of beers to try.

This year I finally talked a couple of friends in joining me on this adventure. They had a great time and will be returning. We had VIP tickets as I personally like to get in ahead of the big crowd and find it to be worth the extra cost. With my hit list in hand and marked, I had forty I wanted to try, the first couple of hours I hit it hard with samples and grabbing free swag. Then spent the last few hours calming down a bit and talking to people. I never got to all the new to me beers I wanted to sample (very close though).

There was a VIP section of the back tent this year where the sponsors came and talked about their beers. I thought this was a neat idea, but didn't seem to be a big hit. I had fun chatting with a couple of them. The area could have definitely used a few chairs to go along with the tables and about half the area was actually used. I would be surprised to see it return next year.

Shortly after the general session folks started coming in, the hard rain fell for about thirty minutes. People packed in under the tents. Luckily, one still could move around. After the sun came back and it was a nice afternoon. It seems the Fort Wayne Homebrew Club (MASH) were once again a big hit and with good reasons. This group knows how to brew good beers.

Indiana has a growing scene for craft beer. Nice to see drinks from Triton, Iechyd Da, New Albanian, Granite City, Big Dawg, Quaff On, Tin Man, Daredevil's. Taxman, Flat 12, Great Cresent, Burn Em, Mad Anthony's, Fountain Square, Carson's, Shoreline, New Day, Three Floyds, Sun King, Cutters. Upland, Summit City Beirwerks, Bloomington Brewing Co., Three Pints, People's, Chapman's, New Boswell, and Olde School Brewhaus being poured. Maybe a few Hoosier breweries will come back or join for the first time next year.

Now mostly I give praises here, but not were a couple of glaring issues to me that I  have to bring up a couple of things.

First off, as a VIP ticket holder you are suppose to get a shirt. We were about the number fifty in line and the XXL shirts were gone when we got to the stand. I am not sure if they simply did not order enough or their was a shipping problem, but its a tad annoying. I'm really not certain how you dont have enough bigger shirts available. And they had a cool design too. A voucher or something would have been nice since it is part of the package.

Second, there needs to be more bathrooms. The lines were terrible for the second year in a row. Good news is I have already heard there will be more next year. So that will help big time.

Third (final and minor), I was really looking forward to trying some samples from Evil Twin and Clown Shoes as they are two of my favorite breweries right now. They were suppose to be on the larger tap truck, but I never found them there or anywhere. It is a possibility that I I just missed them.



Favorite New To Me Breweries:

Burn Em Brewery - Hands down my favorite brewery which I never had before. These guys out of Michigan City are doing very unique and outstanding beers. They are very friendly and chatty too. Combinations like a coffee wheat (Joey Wheat) and coconut pale wheat ale (Coconoats) does not sound appealing at first read but are simply amazing once they hit the palette. The Boomerango (mango IPA) and MCA (IPA) both hit the mark as well. Watch out for these guys! Hopefully a tap house and further expansion to this side of the state will be coming in the near future.




Taxman Brewing Co. - This brewery on the South side of Indianapolis brews Belgium style beers. La Maison (a farmhouse ale), Deducation (dubbel), and Exemption (tripple) all made the mark for delicious. Another brewery that I would love to see distribute up this way.








My Favorite New To Me Beers:

Apricot Sour Ale by Tin Man Brewing. An explosion on sweet apricot in taste and aroma quickly followed by a slight puckering tartness. I could drink a lot of this beer.
This Evansville brewery, and co-sponsor for the 2nd year, is doing things right. And if they start selling there product this far North, then I will be buying it.

Good Game by Oskar Blues. This abbey quad is simply one of the best American style quadruples I have ever tasted. Period.



Overall, another fantastic Brew Haven. Big thanks go out to the Trion Tavern and their staff, the co-sponsors (Brewers Art Supply, Sierra Nevada, Tin Man Brewing, Iechyd Da Brewing Company, MASH Club, Five Star Distributing, and Daredevil Beer), and all of the volunteers for the event. An outstanding job was done by all.

I look forward the fifth annual Brew Haven in 2015. My calendar is already marked!



Observation of An Illogical mind by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at http://www.seankimmel.com.
Please feel free to share the link but contact me for any other uses or publication. Thanks.

MIla-Wau-Kee (That's how Alice Cooper pronounces it)

Once again, late to write about travels and what not. I've comes to term with my problem. I am a lazy writer. The ideas would rather swirl in my head than be put down in written form. At least on here, the Fringes portion gets good attention. But I digress...

About a month ago I had the chance to work in Milwaukee for about a week. This was my second time to the city but the first time for more than just an overnight.

We were working a conference at the Wisconsin Convention Center. Luckily we had plenty of time to patrol the area on our down days. I found a lot of pleasant surprises in this town and despite being right in the middle of Summer Fest there was never too much traffic or over mass of people crowding the streets.

These are a few of the places where I ate well and drank even better. I suggest any of them if you are in the downtown area.

Milwaukee Brewing Company - Drank a lot decent amount these guys over my stay. The large brewpub had a cool vibe going on. The food was better than good "bar style" eats and the beer surprised me. The Columbian Saison and Sheepshead Stout topped my favorite list.

MKE Brewing flight

Hinterland Gastropub - Two things that go well together are charcuterie and beer. This place has both and much more on the menu. The food is a tad on the pricey side but excellent. The beers flowed down my gullet easily. I have tasted some of their beers back home before with a mixed results but this time around everything hit the spot. The cherry wheat was the best of the four I drank down.

Hinterland Gastropub

Old German Beer Hall - Authentic German food, live polka style music, fun bartenders, and multiple styles of Hofbrau directly imported from Germany. What is not to love about this place!

Old German Beer Hall

Build a Breakfast, Build a Burger - I ended up here more times than I wanted to during my stay. Not because it wasn't a great place, I like to spread out a bit and explore, but sometimes you take what is close by and opened. The food here was absolutely amazing. Several different and not the standard burgers to choose from or a gigantic breakfast list. You wont go wrong either way. Throw in a handful of taps and a great staff to help the experience. I think this place has something for all to enjoy.

Miller Time Pub & Grub - This was the hotel bar. The only reason I kept going back was the really good beer selection in both draft and bottles. I was very surprised by a few new to me beers including New Glarus Spotted Cow, Futhermore Fattyboombalatty, and Lake Louie Warp Speed Scotch Ale. Typical bar food menu did the job but was far from spectacular.

Milwaukee Public Market - Eat. Shop. Drink. This market is so awesome. It's not large, but packed full of vendors either selling food or making food. Wish we had something similar to this market where I live.

MKE Public Market

I left Milwaukee thinking it'd be a decent place to spend time in...as long as it wasn't winter. I enjoyed much of what I stumbled upon. Wanted to get to a couple of the more famous craft beer bars and Lakefront Brewery, but just didn't have the time or means to travel.

Maybe next time.





Observation of An Illogical mind by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at http://www.seankimmel.com.
Please feel free to share the link but contact me for any other uses or publication. Thanks.

My personal battle with American Airlines

As you may have read in the previous blog entry, my flights this trip did not go smoothly.

After the first flight delay and cancellation, I immediately went home and sent an email off to American Airline customer service department. When all the other ones started happening, I just waited until I return home after my twelve days away to inform the airline of the misery which took place.

About two days after I sent the first email, I received a nice and friendly apology and 10,000 airline miles. It does not equal the lost finances I occurred for a hotel room and wrestling ticket being unable to use, and definitely does not make for the wasted vacation day, but I was content with the settlement.

This was the second email I sent.

Last week I had the worst experience flying of my life and I am extremely angry. I’ve been flying on a regular basis for nearly twenty years and never I have I endured so many delays and cancellations. Of the eleven flights I was scheduled for over a twelve day period, nine of them were canceled and/or delayed. This cost me hotel fees that could be canceled, event tickets I could not use, vacation days wasted, and extra vacation days used at work to deal with these issues. Not to mention the airline broke a the wheel and handle off a piece of three month old, hardly used luggage to the point where I could no longer use it and had to go purchase a new one.

My route was as follows:

1. Fort Wayne-Dallas-New Orleans

2. New Orleans-Dallas-Tokyo-Manila

3. Manila-Tokyo-Chicago-Fort Wayne

Below is a detailed archive of what happened on this trip.

April 3, 2014

Flight: AA 2962, Fort Wayne to Dallas

-          Flight delayed, and then canceled due to mechanical failure. Cause missed connection flight Dallas to New Orleans

-          Rebooked for next day

-          Personal Damages: A nonrefundable hotel reservation ($100) and ticket to a show unable to use ($50) both lost plus a wasted vacation day from work (equivalent $150) and parking ($15)

-          Total Personal Lose:  $315

-          Compensation: 10,000 Airline Miles as I contacted the airline the day it happened. However, the miles are not enough to justify what I lost.

April 4, 2014

Flight: AA 2962, Fort Wayne to Dallas

-          Flight delayed due to late crew. Caused missed connection flight Dallas to New Orleans

-          Rebooked for late 10pm flight to New Orleans

-          Personal Damages: ticket to show unable to us ($100) and basically another wasted vacation day from work ($150).

-          Upon receiving luggage, which was delivered to my hotel because it did not arrive when I did, the wheel and handle was broke. This piece of luggage was only 4 months old and the third time used. It was was broke and useless ($65). I had to go out and purchase a new luggage for the rest of my trip ($85)

-          Total Personal Lose: $400 and half of a four day vacation

-          Compensation: NONE YET

April 7, 2014

Flight: AA 1284, New Orleans to Dallas

-          Flight delayed. Caused missed flight AA 61 Dallas to Tokyo and Jap Air 745 Tokyo to Manila

-          Rebooked for flight Cathay Pacific for 12 hours later

-          Personal Damages: A non-refundable hotel reservation lost for the night ($175) and one day vacation ($150)

-          Total Personal Lose $325

-          Compensation: NONE YET

April 14, 2014

Flight AA 3680, Chicago to Fort Wayne

-          Flight canceled

-          Rebooked for next morning

-          Personal Damages: Had to pay for extra hotel room ($90) and had to take another day off work ($150), which I could not afford to do, and parking $15 for the extra day.

-          Total Personal Lose:  $265

-          Compensation: Voucher for ½ off hotel which is a decent gesture but not close to what it cost me for the extra day which I could not return home.

The way I see it, all of these delays and cancellations and luggage damages cost me $1305 in extra spending, which was about as much as the original tickets costs. This is absurd and ridiculous! The 10,000 miles and hotel voucher are a good start but either a lot more miles or flying vouchers are needed to even come close to making this right. In my twenty years of flying, I have never had a trip like this and quite frankly, there is no excuse for it. While I understand mechanical breakdowns occur, American Airlines needs to make it up to the passengers. Other airlines were not being delayed and even other planes under your fleet where taking off. And a smile, rebooking on the next available flight, and “sorry for any inconvenience” only goes so far when plane after plane is delayed, and then canceled.

Based on airline miles being the equivalent of 2 cents a mile, I have only been compensated $200 for my troubles and extra spending due to the damages caused by the airline and the delays and cancellations. I would like to be compensated an extra 66,500 airline miles or $1300 in travel vouchers. I think it’s the least the airline could do and it’s a fair trade out for the burden occurred in my travels.

Please contact me on how this issue will be resolved.

Sean Kimmel

About a week after the second email, I received a response which stated the following:

We have received your additional email. Again, we are sorry to hear about the difficulty that you encountered. We are also sorry that you were not satisfied with the AAdvantage® bonus miles that we provided. However, the mileage is intended to convey goodwill and to make amends in some way for the inadequate service you reported. It represents a level we believe to be fair and reasonable. As such, we must respectfully decline any additional goodwill.

Mr. Kimmel, we appreciate you and look forward to welcoming you onboard again soon.

So I got 10,000 for first cancellation and nothing for the other three or broken luggage. Doesn't seem fair and reasonable to me. In all honesty another 10,000 miles for each of the other three cancellations and maybe 3000-5000 miles for the luggage and I would have let it all go and been content. But nope. DENIED.

So I hit up social media. Tagging them on Facebook, which was useless, and on Twitter, which got response. After a few exchanges I received this message:

Sean, we've forward this on to a specialist in Customer Relations for review. You should hear back soon. Thanks for your patience.

Then about thirteen days later the following email was received.

I'm sorry your flights didn't operate as scheduled when you traveled with us. I know you were inconvenienced. Too, we regret your disappointment with the compensation that was previously provided to you.

We wish we could guarantee that planes would always depart and arrive on time. Regrettably, we can't -- but what we can and should do is make every attempt to minimize the inconvenience for our customers whenever our flights are delayed or cancelled. I am sorry that we didn't do a better job of overcoming the challenges we faced that day in order to make your experience a little less trying.

While it is certainly our goal to operate each and every flight as planned, we have the responsibility to make changes to our schedules to resolve problems caused by weather, flight conditions, mechanical difficulties or other operational challenges. Accordingly, it is not an airline industry practice to assume financial responsibility for our customers' personal time lost or for out-of-pocket expenses when extenuating circumstances prevent us from operating as planned. I am sorry.

However, for the additionally issues you experienced, I have credited your AAdvantage® account with an additional 15,000 Customer Service bonus miles.
Mr. Kimmel, we are not unmindful of the inconvenience to you. As hard as we are trying to deliver on respecting your time by operating our flights as scheduled, it just wasn't possible this time. Again, we apologize for the disruption of your travel plans. Please fly with us again soon -- we'll do our best to get you to your destination as planned.

While another 15,000 is another step in the right direction, I think it still falls short. If you are counting that's 25,000 miles total or about $500 equivalent and still no acknowledgement of the damaged luggage. Back on the warpath I went as this was a battle not to give up easy on. I know my demands where high and at the beginning if half was granted this would have been a done deal. But American Airlines just couldn't make things right. And the similar emails with the catchphrases were getting annoying.

I sent another email to customer service.
 

Once again, a total of 25,000 miles is a decent offer. But not anywhere close to what I loss financially due to airline delays & cancellations. I simply dont understand why American wont just out just compensation and own up to responsibilities. Especially when I stand in an airport and constantly hear the airline give out vouchers of varying prices for overbooked flights. I feel like you have compensated justly for 2 of the 4 cancellations & delays, but it seems as you trying to solve this with minimal effort. And still there is zero acceptance about the broken luggage, which IS the airline's responsibility. Once I had off my bags at check in, they should come back to me in the same condition. What is being done about this? Do you I need to send you the pictures and video of the damage? 

I am getting a tired of all these exchanges. It's been a month and half since this happened. I am a reasonable person who just wants treated with the respect and care a customer deserves. Yet it is not happening. Do something to make the luggage situation right.

And course I rampaged on Facebook and Twitter about the situation. I get immediate replies saying please send damage bag info to Customer Service. They respond to all emails. Blah Blah. The next day an email comes stating the following:


Thank you for contacting us. We have received your additional email. Again, we are sorry to hear about the difficulty that you encountered. We are also sorry that you were not satisfied with the AAdvantage® bonus miles that we provided. However, the mileage is intended to convey goodwill and to make amends in some way for the inadequate service you reported. It represents a level we believe to be fair and reasonable.

In reference to your baggage, when this kind of difficulty happens, every effort is made to make amends in a reasonable manner. It is our policy that a report is made with our personnel prior to leaving the airport or within 24 hours of receipt of your baggage. Nevertheless, our staff at each airport and our Security Department have been informed of this reported incident.

Mr. Kimmel, it is never easy to decline a customer's request, and our position in no way suggests that we are insensitive to what happened. Again, we are genuinely sorry for the reported loss of your belongings. Please be assured that we will work harder than ever to restore your confidence in our ability to provide good service.

Once again denied compensation and American does not take responsibility for breaking my brand new luggage. And again, the same generic responses. Now I am very angry. And emailed the again. Unfortunately I forgot to copy it before I sent it off, but it was basically the same as things I just stated.

A friend sent me a link which I will now try, Air Help. It supposedly help you get money back. What do I have lose...nothing. I am sure that my account has already been flagged in some way as hostile. I tried it but nothing as it only works for when you get bumped from a flight for overbooking.

I responded back one more time with my displeasure.

We have reviewed the correspondence exchanged between you and our colleague, and we recognize that you are still unhappy about the damage to your luggage. We work hard to find common ground and to resolve problems to our customers' satisfaction, and we are disappointed that we have been unsuccessful. However, our conditions of liability exclude any damage claim not initially reported in person within 24 hours after the arrival of your checked items.

Ultimately, our position in this matter remains unchanged. We are sorry, Mr. Kimmel. Still, our position in no way suggests that we are insensitive to what happened. Please be assured that we will work harder than ever to restore your confidence in our ability to provide good service.


Denied again. This is a losing battle. At this point, I am basically screwed. The fucking airlines win. Sean loses.

But for next over sea trip in August I booked United. Simply out of principal.




Observation of An Illogical mind by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at http://www.seankimmel.com.
Please feel free to share the link but contact me for any other uses or publication. Thanks.

Off the land of thousands islands again...

My flight was delayed which was going to cause me to miss my connecting flight to Tokyo. It also cost me a day of vacation and hotel room for the day. After being rerouted on a flight 14 hours later in LA then to Hong Kong, I finally arrived in Manila. It was around noon by the time I got my luggage and made it through entry and customs. I grabbed a white and head to my hotel.

I should probably confess at this point that the reason for this trip was to meet up with my girlfriend Pam and get introduced to her family. We had kind of kept things under wraps but it was time for us to announce it to all of our family members and friends. We are planning on making this a permanent relationship.

Anyways, Pam was coming down from Angeles City to join me. I arrived at Best Western La Corona expecting her to already be there since she left for the bus as I was boarding the plane in Hong Kong. She wasn't there yet, so I got checked in and went up to the room. As I opened the door the phone rang. Pam had arrived. Excellent timing.

There was a J. Co Donuts just down the street so we decided on a little treat for the afternoon. A six pack of mixed donuts and ice coffee. I must tell you the hype of this place is for real. One of the best donuts I have ever tasted.

J. Co Donuts

 As the evening came it was time for dinner. We ended up at a rather unique resto/bart called The Hobbit House. I actually planned this out because of the outstanding beer selection they have from around the world, mainly Europe. But Pam doesn't shy away from a drink now and then either. The entire establishment is themed in the style of JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. And the place is ran by litttle people. The beer selection was great for the Philippines and the food was plentiful. We got stuffed. It was also open talent night so we were entertained by several musicians.

Hobbit House

After a couple of hours we left and went back the hotel for the night. I was rather exhausted from my crazy travel schedule and had not hardly slept in several days.

The next morning we had the buffet with many choices, packed, and left for the bus stop. La Corona was a nice hotel for the right price and in a good area of town. If I ever need to spend time at the US Embassy or want to check out this part of Manila in more detail , which is what I wanted to do originally before my delay because of all the parks and museums in the area, then I would stay here again.

We had a two hour bus ride to Angeles City then jumped on a jeepney from terminals in Malacabat to Walking Street, where we grabbed a trike to take us to Elyseah Condotel. We decided on this place because of the price and it's an apartment style hotel with a small kitchen/dining area. Since this whole trip was sort of not planned in my budget, we were trying to save money. Figured cooking a few of our own meals would help. Plus a studio style apartment is better than a congested hotel room. The pool is also kick ass! We ended up really enjoying this place. We will try to stay here again. It's a hotel with limited rooms and it always seemed to be full.

Elyseah Condotel

After getting checked in and chatting with the owner for awhile we decided to walk to SM Clark Mall for supplies. Another bonus of the hotel is the mall being a five minute walk away. Pam and myself grabbed some lunch, walked around in the AC as it is super hot and humid this time of year in the PI, and went shopping. We cooked a nice dinner then watched a little television before falling to sleep early like an old couple.

Truth be told, I was a tad nervous as the next day I would meet her immediate family. Her mother, her two older brothers with wives and kids, and her older sister with husband and kids. Pam thought going to a water park would be a great idea and something the whole family would enjoy. They all rearranged their work schedules to come spend the day.

We went to Villa Alfredo's for the day. Pam's brother Asper and wife Rochelle (and son) picked us up at the hotel. We waited for her brother Spencer and Irene's family, her sister Lany and husband Marvin's family, and her mother Mel to arrive (I wont attempt the nieces and nephews names... though I believe that I name them all with ease). I paid for the gazebo and the family brought a feast of food. We spent some time getting to know each other and eating. Then the kids excitedly went out to the one of several different pools.  Pam and me walked around for awhile to check out the animals, fish, the banzai trees, look at all the different pools, and have ice cream.

The Big Wave Pool

Did I mention how hot it is during the Philippine summer. I was a sweat box. So eventually we got into The Big Wave pool near our gazebo. Most of her family was already enjoying it. The Big Wave pool simulated ocean waves once every 90 minutes. It's a fun time and I stuck out as a mismatch. Bright white skin from being covered all winter long in a seas of colorful brown Filipino skin. One old guy was poking friendly jabs at me.

After battling the waves most of us went back to rest and eat some food. The kids wanted one more go at the water before leaving. I sat and talked to Mama Mel for a bit as myself and the ladies started cleaning up the gazebo. Around five, it was time to leave. The family said goodbye and thanked me for the great day. To which I thanked them all back. Asper took us back to the condotel. And battled tremendous traffic on the way there and even worse on his way home.


Pam has a close family who spends much time together. I was honored to be a part and accepted into the fold as I will be seeing much more of them all in the years to come.


The next morning we decided to go to Magalang, which is where Pam lives along with Spencer's family. She wanted to show me her house, Asper's business OneTrueSolutions, and go the local tiangge or bizarre/market since it is right down the street from One True Solutions. Off on a jeepney we went.

The market has lots of seasfood, fruits, and vegetables as well as many clothes and supplies. It is table after table and stall after stall for blocks. It happens every Saturday and is a cool thing to witness and walk through. And you can find great deals. Dont forgot to haggle!

Afterwards we spent some time with Asper and Rochelle. Then decided to head to her home. We jumped another jeepney to get close. Irene and the kids were home. Her and Pam made lunch and we spent some time there before heading back to the city. We decided to stop at Marquee Mall to waste some time and get out of the heat for a couple of hours. We got back to the condotel and relaxed in the pool for awhile. We decided to have a lazy night watching movies and eat the remaining food we had left in the fridge.

The next day we were heading back to Manila. It was my last day of a short trip. Pam asked me if her best friend Jen could come and join us for the day. I didn't care so we met her at the bus terminal and caught a bus to Manila. This time I wanted to stay in the Makati area. A lot of this area seemed to be much nicer and cleaner. Maybe because it's in the middle of the business district. It's known as a party district too with lots of bars. We got to the Makati Palace Hotel and luckily a room was ready for us. We decided to go to the Greenbelt Mall to walk around and eat lunch. Part of it is an upscale mall with several different buildings. The other part of it is a normal mall.

view from Makati Palace Hotel

 After a few hours we went back to the hotel and hung out for a bit before Jen had to leave and get back to Angeles. Jen gave me a gift. Two pairs of hand knitted socks. They are very comfortable.

At some point during the afternoon I started to feel not so good. I went to the 7-11 across the street in hopes of finding meds. Success! To my dismay though, it did not help. I laid on the bed sweating and not able to cool down. I must have been running a fever. On both of my trips to Philippines these same symptoms have happened. As much as I wanted to go out and explore the area and treat Pam to a nice resto meal, we laid bed all night while I was ill. And ordered room service which was decent.

The next morning I still did not feel great but it was time to go. We grabbed a cab and headed to the airport. I waited and delayed as long as could as me and Pam stood outside the entry both not wanting to leave each or say goodbye. She watched as I walked inside the airport and she left in a cab for the bus terminal. After I got through the long lines of ticketing and existing, we were able to chat via facbook as we normally do while I waited to board.

It was another long flight back to the US and I could not shake this cold and was out of medicine. I landed in Chicago and got through customs in decent time. While I walked around O'Hare like a zombie it started snowing. Hard. My immediate thought, due to all the other troubles I had the week before, was my flight better not be canceled. I found the arrival/departure board. My flight was canceled.

I was steamed. Both flights back to Fort Wayne that night were canceled. I found a booth and asked the attendant what was happening. I was rebooked for 9am flight the next day. It was 6pm. My choices were to battle Chicago traffic and snow and drive back, if I could get a rental car, which would out me home maybe around midnight or get a hotel and 1/2 off voucher from the airline. As angry as I was, the hotel won out. Only because I was exhausted and the cold was kicking my ass. And I could not get my luggage because it was in being stored until the next day.

I managed to get one to the hotels listed on the voucher and catch their shuttle. Roads were getting back. I would have rather been home but staying over was the correct call. I grabbed meds and food then headed to my room. I called work to inform my manager of the situation. A long, hot shower later and I was off to sleep in a comfy bed.

The next morning, I got up early and put on my dirty clothes. Off to the airport I went for the usual process. Much to my surprise the flight landed and took off on time. I arrived back in Fort Wayne around noon and headed home. Finally.

Now I get to battle with American Airlines about all the delays and cancellations and broke luggage which occurred on my travel. But that's a different post...






Observation of An Illogical mind by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at http://www.seankimmel.com.
Please feel free to share the link but contact me for any other uses or publication. Thanks.