Saturday, October 28, 2006
A Series of Unfortunate Events
My biggest fear in flying with my rabbits was getting separated from them. The worry of it stole my ability to sleep soundly on Thursday night. I woke up at 4:00 a.m., when I had the option of sleeping until 6:00 a.m., with too much on my mind. Too bad because I had a long day ahead of me and could have used those last two hours' sleep.
The day started with rain. I was annoyed because it made packing up the rabbits so much more difficult. We can't drive the van down the dirt road to the barn when it rains - there's too much chance of getting stuck. And of course, there's packing up with cold water falling on your head, too. But had I known how much impact the rain would have on my day, I would have taken time to curse it before starting the long, long day.
We left on time. That may have been the only thing that actually worked according to schedule. So what was the plan? Drive to Charlotte, arrive two hours before the flight. Fly to Atlanta and catch a connecting flight to DFW. Take a shuttle to the Convention Center. Check in, coop my bunnies, and then be available to ride home with my cousin William whenever he finished his work for the day. As you will see, my day only loosely resembled the plan.
We did get caught up in traffic on the way to the airport. When we finally passed the "wreck," is was four apparently undamaged cars off the road on the left side. But even still, we managed to make it to the airport on time.
Let me take a moment to describe my bunny set-up. It's extremely wonderful. I have two carriers with five rabbits each in a large dog kennel. A third layer in the kennel is a large, flat plastic container with rabbit supplies. The top is fastened to the bottom with twelve connectors. Then we flip the wheels to the top and bungee them on.
But when we first arrived, the kennel was on wheels, so we wheeled through the line and checked in via computer kiosk. When we got to the part where you check your baggage, I was told that we were in the wrong line. We should have gone to the "International" line. Of couse, why didn't I think of that?
After waiting through what I admit was a short line, we were met with an agent who had no idea what to do, so she read every regulation on her screen. She asked for the health certificate. I mentioned that the certificate was not required since I was traveling with the rabbits, but it was easier in the end to point to it taped to the top of the carrier.
Finally, we were approved. One suitcase was overweight by 10 lbs. - the weight of the laptop. So I ended up lugging this sucker all of the way to Dallas. Be sure to read my BLOG each day during this week to make it worth keeping this on my shoulder for so long!
We were lead to an out-of-the-way spot to wait for the TSA agent. He showed up five to ten minutes later. We had to take the kennel apart and show him the layers, then we reassembled the whole thing and flipped the wheels. All we had to do was wait for a skycap to pick up the kennel and then I could go through the screening process to go to the gate.
But then we waited and waited and waited. The ticket agent made several calls. I began to worry that I wouldn't be able to go through the screening process and make it to the gate on time. I began to worry that the rabbits would make it and I wouldn't. Finally I was "reassured" that my flight had been delayed - due to the weather - and that my ticket for my connecting flight had to be adjusted to a later plane. But then she found that that flight was delayed, too, so no changes were needed.
Now remember, we're stilling waiting for someone to pick up the kennel. Finally, the TSA agent announces that he has "work to do," so he takes the approval sticker off the kennel and leaves.
About five to ten minutes later, the skycap comes to pick up the kennel, but now there's no TSA approval. So we wait another five to ten minutes for a different agent. Now we have to take the kennel apart again. This agent is even more thorough, but we get everything reassembled in the end and the kennel is now safely on its way.
The flight that was supposed to leave at 12:05 was now scheduled for 2:00 p.m. So I waited and waited. I should have had a crystal ball telling me to eat something. My next meal would not be for quite some time.
We finally boarded and then were told that we had an additional 45-minute delay. We got to the runway and watched plane after plane after plane take off while we sat. Finally, we were on our way.
The flight was blissfully uneventful, especially after we cleared the bad weather. The next unfortunate event in the series was that I had missed my connecting flight - you remember, the one that was supposed to be delayed and no problem.
I was told that the next flight out was on the next concourse over - and leaves at 7:50 p.m.
On my way there, I saw a flight boarding for DFW and decided to see if I could still get on the plane. Apparently people were still trickling in due to the delays everywhere and I got on. But I checked to see if my bunnies made it. The flight attendant asked one of the luggage handlers if the rabbits were on board. I told him mine were in a large white kennel. He assured me they were. But something did not inspire confidence. Unfortunately, my gut was right.
We arrvied at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport about 6:30 p.m. I waited for the luggage, but mine never showed up. There were rabbits on the flight alright, but they weren't in a kennel and they weren't mine, obviously.
The next flight from Atlanta was to arrive at 10:00 p.m., so I sat down to wait. Where else would I go?
I decided to write this BLOG and worked on it for quite awhile when the "low battery" light came on. I attempted to save my work and lost the whole thing. Oh well, this one is working out much better anyway.
The plane finally landed just before 10:00 p.m. A white kennel of rabbits arrived. Yeah! Booooo. Not mine. Then kennel and carrier after kennel and carrier full of rabbits began to arrive. I had been so worried because the showroom closed at 11:00 (a very poor choice on the part of the planning committee - people flying obviously cannot control when they arrive). But I learned from another breeder that we would be allowed in to coop our bunnies. How nice to have one worry relieved. Now, if I could just see MY bunnies, I could start feeling optimistic.
Finally they arrived. I could see that the ones in front were still alive and doing well. I stopped to call the phone number on top of another kennel of rabbits. I was sure that if the owners had been there, they would have picked them up already. It turns out that they had been told their rabbits were delayed until morning, so they had gone to rent a car. I saw them later, and they were quite happy to be getting their Dutch that night.
I pulled my couple hundred pounds of luggage and bunnies out to the curb to wait for the shuttle. I had to drag everything about 7 gates to get to the right place. The first car they sent was way too small, so I had to wait for another shuttle. After riding around in the airport checking all of the gates for about 45 minutes, we headed downtown.
Lucky for me, my cousin was willing to continue working until about 12:21 a.m. when I arrived at the showroom. My cousin joined me and helped me coop my bunnies. We then drove to Plano, about an hour away. I was so starving by then that I had to make time for a sandwich. After a shower, I was in bed at 2:30 - 3:30 a.m. home time.
The good thing was that I had a delightful conversation with the second flight attendant and met a delightful man waiting for his wife, who apparently missed the flight I caught. And I got a chance to catch up with my cousin.
And of course, now I'm here, in Texas, planning to return to the showroom in a little while, ready for what has to be much better days ahead.
Laurie Stroupe
From Convention!
¶ 9:59 PM
The day started with rain. I was annoyed because it made packing up the rabbits so much more difficult. We can't drive the van down the dirt road to the barn when it rains - there's too much chance of getting stuck. And of course, there's packing up with cold water falling on your head, too. But had I known how much impact the rain would have on my day, I would have taken time to curse it before starting the long, long day.
We left on time. That may have been the only thing that actually worked according to schedule. So what was the plan? Drive to Charlotte, arrive two hours before the flight. Fly to Atlanta and catch a connecting flight to DFW. Take a shuttle to the Convention Center. Check in, coop my bunnies, and then be available to ride home with my cousin William whenever he finished his work for the day. As you will see, my day only loosely resembled the plan.
We did get caught up in traffic on the way to the airport. When we finally passed the "wreck," is was four apparently undamaged cars off the road on the left side. But even still, we managed to make it to the airport on time.
Let me take a moment to describe my bunny set-up. It's extremely wonderful. I have two carriers with five rabbits each in a large dog kennel. A third layer in the kennel is a large, flat plastic container with rabbit supplies. The top is fastened to the bottom with twelve connectors. Then we flip the wheels to the top and bungee them on.
But when we first arrived, the kennel was on wheels, so we wheeled through the line and checked in via computer kiosk. When we got to the part where you check your baggage, I was told that we were in the wrong line. We should have gone to the "International" line. Of couse, why didn't I think of that?
After waiting through what I admit was a short line, we were met with an agent who had no idea what to do, so she read every regulation on her screen. She asked for the health certificate. I mentioned that the certificate was not required since I was traveling with the rabbits, but it was easier in the end to point to it taped to the top of the carrier.
Finally, we were approved. One suitcase was overweight by 10 lbs. - the weight of the laptop. So I ended up lugging this sucker all of the way to Dallas. Be sure to read my BLOG each day during this week to make it worth keeping this on my shoulder for so long!
We were lead to an out-of-the-way spot to wait for the TSA agent. He showed up five to ten minutes later. We had to take the kennel apart and show him the layers, then we reassembled the whole thing and flipped the wheels. All we had to do was wait for a skycap to pick up the kennel and then I could go through the screening process to go to the gate.
But then we waited and waited and waited. The ticket agent made several calls. I began to worry that I wouldn't be able to go through the screening process and make it to the gate on time. I began to worry that the rabbits would make it and I wouldn't. Finally I was "reassured" that my flight had been delayed - due to the weather - and that my ticket for my connecting flight had to be adjusted to a later plane. But then she found that that flight was delayed, too, so no changes were needed.
Now remember, we're stilling waiting for someone to pick up the kennel. Finally, the TSA agent announces that he has "work to do," so he takes the approval sticker off the kennel and leaves.
About five to ten minutes later, the skycap comes to pick up the kennel, but now there's no TSA approval. So we wait another five to ten minutes for a different agent. Now we have to take the kennel apart again. This agent is even more thorough, but we get everything reassembled in the end and the kennel is now safely on its way.
The flight that was supposed to leave at 12:05 was now scheduled for 2:00 p.m. So I waited and waited. I should have had a crystal ball telling me to eat something. My next meal would not be for quite some time.
We finally boarded and then were told that we had an additional 45-minute delay. We got to the runway and watched plane after plane after plane take off while we sat. Finally, we were on our way.
The flight was blissfully uneventful, especially after we cleared the bad weather. The next unfortunate event in the series was that I had missed my connecting flight - you remember, the one that was supposed to be delayed and no problem.
I was told that the next flight out was on the next concourse over - and leaves at 7:50 p.m.
On my way there, I saw a flight boarding for DFW and decided to see if I could still get on the plane. Apparently people were still trickling in due to the delays everywhere and I got on. But I checked to see if my bunnies made it. The flight attendant asked one of the luggage handlers if the rabbits were on board. I told him mine were in a large white kennel. He assured me they were. But something did not inspire confidence. Unfortunately, my gut was right.
We arrvied at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport about 6:30 p.m. I waited for the luggage, but mine never showed up. There were rabbits on the flight alright, but they weren't in a kennel and they weren't mine, obviously.
The next flight from Atlanta was to arrive at 10:00 p.m., so I sat down to wait. Where else would I go?
I decided to write this BLOG and worked on it for quite awhile when the "low battery" light came on. I attempted to save my work and lost the whole thing. Oh well, this one is working out much better anyway.
The plane finally landed just before 10:00 p.m. A white kennel of rabbits arrived. Yeah! Booooo. Not mine. Then kennel and carrier after kennel and carrier full of rabbits began to arrive. I had been so worried because the showroom closed at 11:00 (a very poor choice on the part of the planning committee - people flying obviously cannot control when they arrive). But I learned from another breeder that we would be allowed in to coop our bunnies. How nice to have one worry relieved. Now, if I could just see MY bunnies, I could start feeling optimistic.
Finally they arrived. I could see that the ones in front were still alive and doing well. I stopped to call the phone number on top of another kennel of rabbits. I was sure that if the owners had been there, they would have picked them up already. It turns out that they had been told their rabbits were delayed until morning, so they had gone to rent a car. I saw them later, and they were quite happy to be getting their Dutch that night.
I pulled my couple hundred pounds of luggage and bunnies out to the curb to wait for the shuttle. I had to drag everything about 7 gates to get to the right place. The first car they sent was way too small, so I had to wait for another shuttle. After riding around in the airport checking all of the gates for about 45 minutes, we headed downtown.
Lucky for me, my cousin was willing to continue working until about 12:21 a.m. when I arrived at the showroom. My cousin joined me and helped me coop my bunnies. We then drove to Plano, about an hour away. I was so starving by then that I had to make time for a sandwich. After a shower, I was in bed at 2:30 - 3:30 a.m. home time.
The good thing was that I had a delightful conversation with the second flight attendant and met a delightful man waiting for his wife, who apparently missed the flight I caught. And I got a chance to catch up with my cousin.
And of course, now I'm here, in Texas, planning to return to the showroom in a little while, ready for what has to be much better days ahead.
Laurie Stroupe
From Convention!
¶ 9:59 PM
