this day has completely sucked.

[swingchickie]

so, the morning started off great -- room service goat cheese and asparagus omelet, good coffee, bubble bath, lounging in my big cooshy king-sized bed doing some work. then i met up with 2 female managers from my department at 9am, to wander around montreal for a bit. our flights didn't leave until mid-afternoon, so we figured we'd walk the few blocks to old montreal and see what was around. the concierge at the hotel told us how to get to old montreal via the underground tunnel system, and off we went in search of a few hours of culture.

when we found our tunnel exit and walked outside, holy crap. it was raining, just enough to kind of need an umbrella. and COLD. AND, for a city that gets a hell of a lot of snow, they apprarently don't know how to shovel the sidewalks. so the snow from yesterday had iced over, and on top was all of this cold rain, making the sidewalks completely treacherous. seriously, we shuffled along like little old ladies for blocks and blocks, getting rained on and grabbing onto anything we could to keep from falling on the ice. after about an hour and a half (quite a valiant effort, i must say), we took a cab back to the hotel.

when we got back, we grabbed our suitcases from our rooms and met in the lobby, waiting for the shuttles to take us (and all of our other meeing folks) to the airport. outside, there was an awful wind whipping up, and it was getting even colder. one of the meeting logistics folks greeted us and asked for our names to get on the shuttle... turns out none of us were on the list. (i just LOVE having a corporate travel department make my reservations.) so we had to get a cab to the airport, with the wind literally blowing us into other lanes as we drove. we weren't sure if our flights were going to be delayed or not due to the wind, and when i checked in i asked the ticket agent if my flight was on time. yes, she said... some were cancelled, but others were still going. excellent.

once i got my boarding pass, i went through the whole airport dealie-o: fill out a customs form, show it to an agent, bring it to US customs, get grilled by a mean customs officer about the $25 purse i bought this morning, go through security, then finally into the terminal to get some lunch and wait to see what would happen with the flight. as we ate, people from our meeting (who were flying home to all different states) were coming up to us and telling us that their flights were delayed or cancelled. ugh. so an hour before my flight, i parted ways with my lunch buddies and went to my gate, meeting up with other co-workers there to see if the flight was still on.

it wasn't. they kept us hanging for a while, then finally admitted that the weather was too severe to let a small regional jet take off and land in 50mph winds. the 5 of us managed to get the last 5 seats on a big flight leaving a couple of hours later. but it was on a different airline (US air)... which meant, the gate agent told me, that i'd have to get my suitcase and check it through US air now. i was the only one in my group who had checked their bag through, so the others said they'd meet me at the bar in a bit. i stepped through the security door that the gate agent opened for me, and went up the escalator that she'd pointed to.

the escalator took me to, oh JOY, the canadian customs area i'd gone through at the start of my trip 3 days ago. i had to wait in line again and go through customs, and i prayed that 1. i'd get a nicer agent this time and 2. they'd be understanding of why i was re-entering the country without leaving the airport first. i managed to get an agent who was miserable but not mean, and after i explained my situation he gave me some sort of form that he stamped, and then he sent me to baggage claim.

the baggage claim area was empty, except for one moving carousel with a few lonely pieces of luggage circulating over and over. the gate agent had told me "your bag will probably be put on carousel 1 or 2", but it was looking pretty desolate... i'd expected crowds of cancelled-flight people waiting for their bags. hrm. i walked over to the woman in an airport uniform who was overseeing the baggage claim, and told her about my flight changing...

me: so is this where i should get my bag?
her: no, i'm not sure why you were told that. the only bags coming to this carousel are from a flight that just came in.
me: then where do people go to get their bags when their flights are changed?
her: go to the window over there that has the airline name, they'll help you.

she waved to the other side of the baggage claim area, which had a window set up for each airline... but these seemed to be where you'd go if your luggage had been lost for a week. or a year. seriously, behind each counter was a dim, dirty storage space in the back filled with shelves and shelves of suitcases, strollers, i even saw an oscillating fan. hrm. i looked at the signs, trying to figure out which window was air canada. and then i saw the correct window, with, no lie, two hundred people lined up in front of it. what??? turns out there was a flight in from germany that had some sort of security issue, and all the people on the plane had to fill out these long forms to get their luggage back. sweet baby jesus, there was no way i was going to get to the front of that line in time to make my new flight. so, back to carousel #1, with the few random suitcases circling around, to wait and hope that the gate agent was right (and the baggage claim lady was wrong). and thank god, the gate agent won... after about 15 minutes, i spied my bag on the belt, grabbed it, and headed back.

there was a staircase leading from baggage claim back upstairs to the terminal. perfect! i dragged my suitcase up the stairs, and was met at the top by a security officer who told me i couldn't get through. i told him my situation, that i was just changing flights and had to get my bag. but nope, i had to leave baggage claim, go all the way back out, and come back in through the ticketing area. *weep*.

so, back out the airport door to the entrance, up an escalator, into the ticketing area, to wait in line again at the US air counter and get a new boarding pass. the ticketing agent recommended that i check my bag, because the fligt was full, but i begged her to let me keep it and try to get it on... if my flight was cancelled again and i had to switch or stay overnight, i couldn't deal with the whole process again. she relented and let me through.

then i had to go through the whole airport deali-o AGAIN: fill out customs form. show to officer. go to US customs. get the SAME mean customs agent, who recognized me from before (and he was not amused when i asked him if he'd missed me). stand in a now GIMUNGOUS line at security to send my stuff through x-ray. coat off, shoes off, laptop out of my bag, put watch in a little bin, everything on the conveyor belt, walk through the beeper thing... laptop back in bag, shoes on, coat on, grab everything and head to the terminal. whew. what an ordeal. all told, it had been almost 2 hours from the time i was given my new flight info, and i headed towards the bar near our gate to meet up with my folks. as i neared the bar, i passed the flight monitors, with "cancelled" next to almost every flight. thank god i kept my suitcase this time, i thought to myself.

my suitcase.

I LEFT MY SUITCASE ON THE CONVEYOR BELT AT SECURITY.

oh. my. god. i sprinted all the way back through the airport, in my winter coat with my heavy laptop bag bouncing on my shoulder... with images in my head of them taking my suitcase somewhere to be blown up out of security precautions. gasping for air, i made it through the crowd back to the security checkpoint, to see my suitcase just sitting there on the table with people grabbing their bags around it. i told the security guard who i was and that that was my bag, expecting to have to fill out all sorts of forms or get interrogated or at least a partial cavity search. but he just shrugged and said, "take it". and that was it, i went back to the bar, red-faced and sweating and reeking of a rained-on wool coat. my co-workers were all so toasted after 2 hours of beers, they had no idea how long i'd been gone. sheesh.

so, that was the eventful end to my montreal trip. the flight left on time, the wind wasn't too awful, and i'm about to hit the sack and sleep like i've never slept before. hope you guys had a better friday, and a great weekend!