A SOB STORY....
I was pleased to be assigned one of my first choices, which included three four-day trips, for a schedule this month. But I told myself those trips were palatable because the first trip had only one leg to Portland the first day, arriving at 9:30 a.m. and not departing until the next morning at 4:30 a.m. Ouch! That one was going to hurt. Compensation, though, was that I would be able to see my younger daughter and spend the whole day with her family.
Plus, the next night there was a layover in McAllen, Texas, which is an elusive place to me. (Every time it has been in my schedule something has happened, and I have NEVER been able to get there.) Then the next day to Calgary from Houston, arriving about noon with the whole half day stretching out before me. ( I do like Calgary layovers.)
The part of that four-day trip I tried to ignore was the last day after we returned to Denver from Calgary. We were expected to do a round trip to Palm Springs for our "victory lap", that painful several hours after a three plus hour sit at DIA at the end of an already LOOONG assignment.
THAT was the scheduled trip...
Didn't happen that way. I had a terrific 30 hour layover in Toronto as my first trip in February, so I needed my soon-to-expire passport to get me through the border. Went right to the post office to renew said passport as soon as I could the very next day after coming home from Toronto. Did I want to pay the extra $65 for expedited service? No. I was under the impression United would only pay the $110 passport renewal fee. I was feeling pecunious and didn't want to spend the money. And since I hadn't been awarded my March schedule yet, I put "NO" in the box on the application for renewal which asked if I had plans to travel.
THEN I got my schedule. On top of that first trip I just described, I also had a 32 hour layover in Calgary starting on St. Patrick's Day. Oh, I needed that passport! I checked the mail every day. Nothing. I finally had to go to the Crew Desk and admit I didn't have a passport. What were they going to do to me? THAT scenario was definitely a "no-no"! The crew scheduler suggested I try to advertise the guts of my first trip on the trade board so I could still go to Portland. Maybe someone would pick up the two days between my return to Denver after Portland...and I could do the turn to Tampa on the last day.
And someone did pick up the trip! But there were complications there, too. The flight attendant is based in San Francisco but lives in Denver. Picking up that trip would give her three days of hours and allow her time to take her dad to the doctor when SHE got back from Calgary on the last day. She wouldn't have to commute to San Fran to work. Just go to DIA. Then I would take over for the rest of the trip. Except, instead of 15 hours for the three days, she only got flight time which was about 12.5 hours. AND...she couldn't pick it up until 14 hours BEFORE the trip began on the first day. By the time all that was hashed out, she wasn't so sure she even wanted the trip. Just when I thought MY idea of things was in reach.
WHEW! Lots of complications.... But it all turned out at the last minute. I did the Portland part and had a great visit with Britty and family then went home for two days. I did the Tampa turn at the end of the week. Notice I again missed going to McAllen, Texas! (I'll NEVER get there! Not for anything special, but just to say I have been.)
Okay. I was lucky enough for that first trip to work out. But I still desperately needed my passport. Didn't have a clue what to do about it. DUH! Go online! So I did, and after reaching a live person at the STATE DEPARTMENT following only a five-minute wait time on a Monday morning, I paid $77 and the clerk jury-rigged my departure date to March 16th and told me to call back in two days to check the status of my passport.
I got up on Wednesday ready to call the State Department again. However, before I could do that, the doorbell rang and I saw the UPS man had left an envelope with my new AND old passport under the rug on the front porch. With a week to spare before I needed the passport. I was so happy that stress was over! I began looking forward to that 32 hour layover in Calgary.
But it turned out to be more like a 32 hour prison sentence instead of the great layover I was looking forward to.
I have always liked my Calgary layovers. Louis has gone with me a few times. We have driven down to the Cardston Alberta Temple to attend a session. That was the time he bought me a beautiful figure of Mary and Joseph and Baby Jesus fleeing into Egypt. It was a really special birthday gift, and I love the memories attached to it when I display it.
After the Calgary Temple opened, Louis went with me again where we went to a session in the new temple. That temple definitely reflects the look and feel of Canada. The mural is filled with big forest animals in the Canadian wilderness, .ak.a. elk and moose. Plus the wood is dark throughout the temple. That time we went to the zoo and the Calgary Stampede, though there was no rodeo going on at the time. Other times Louis has taken me to thrift stores and surprise shops, places where I have found lovely one-of-a kind items for my Nativity collection.
With previous experiences like that, I was hyped and looking forward to a pleasant time off from work in Calgary. But...it didn't turn out that way.
We started out going to Orlando, up to Chicago, then to Philadelphia and Houston. But just before we were supposed to go to Calgary we got word that the Canadian border was closed to all but flight crews and trucks bringing in supplies. In other words, as part of a flight crew, I would not have to stay for the 14 day self-quarantine. That sounded better. I was relieved. We were still going.
When we finally got to Calgary, though, to make it more challenging, there were no restaurants open. None of the stores and places to visit were open. The coffee makers in the rooms were gone to protect from cross contamination. So, I couldn't make hot water for soup or mashed potatoes or hot chocolate like I usually do in my hotel room. It was 13 degrees and snowing. Stupid me, it was March and the weather had been pretty good, so I didn't have my warm clothes to wear outside. We couldn't connect to the WiFi. On and on into limbo....
Then the hotel clerk told me there was a 7/11 open across the street and down the block. Okay! All is right with the world! Shivering in the frosty air and dusted with snowflakes, I slid my way to that corner store where I bought a Big Gulp, a candy bar, two bags of potato chips, and a pastry which I consumed while I did a lot of screen time reading and watched a couple of things available in Canada . Basically I ate my weight in junk food. Ugh!
The only bright spot was the notice we received in Calgary that the last part of our trip to Palm Springs and back to Denver the next day had been cancelled because of California's lock-down. I didn't even mind when it was time to get up at 2:30 a.m. on Friday and get ready to fly back to Denver. Just let us get the heck out of there!
The Calgary airport was a ghost town. We were the only people besides the Border Patrol workers that were around. We sailed right through customs which made it a memorable first! I asked the agent to stamp my new passport to "christen" it, since they don't stamp passports anymore. He obligingly agreed.
Generally, the time I spent in Calgary this time was pretty much like I was in prison. Kind of a swanky prison at a Westin Hotel, but I have lots to learn about filling dead hours with meaningful activities instead of resorting to a hand-held and junk food! How lame is that!
Oh, COVID-19, what have you done to the world?!
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