Down with Delta!

That's it. I'm fed up. How many times can one person be stranded in an airport? Why is it that unlike any other business, we, the consumer, have no voice when it comes to the airlines?

I got to Chicago O'Hare 2 hours early. I checked in, security was a breeze and then I arrive at my gate only to realize that my flight to Cincinnati was delayed by four hours because of "equipment problems". I then come to find out that equipment problems is fancy Delta lingo for "the plane is very very late." Why was I allowed to check in and send my luggage into the big black hole? Who knows...maybe it is because the Delta people are all smoking the ganja in their lounge as their customer service (aka hell in line form) grows longer and longer.

Flights all around me are cancelled or extremely delayed. Did Delta lose all of their planes? Oh what great comfort. As ticket agents who obviously were bewildered and possibly not even trained passed people on to other lines, a red headed dude, who I mentally nicknamed "[Bad Word] Face," sauntered up to the counter and proceeded to just stand there for a good 30 minutes. How much time in prison would I do if I started a revolt in Chicago O'Hare? I have no priors, so that should be in my favor, right? All of you lawyers out there, please feel free to comment. I'm seriously considering this as an option. Hey, if I end up in prison at least I'll have a bed to sleep in instead a piece of badly designed airport carpet.

So I'm blogging to at least voice an opinion. I just saw a report on CNN (the only station they ever show in airports...depression much?) that said there were over 20,000 flights cancelled in the month of June in the US. How can these airlines run their business this way? I know...we have no freaking choice! Gas prices are so high, flying is cheaper in alot of cases, but it is in no way faster anymore. Example 1: In June it took me 30 hours to fly from Dallas to Savannah. Driving there takes 20 hours. Example 2: Today and tomorrow, I will have traveled for 32 hours in order to get back to Savannah from Chicago. It isn't like many other service options where you can just stop buying their product or go to another store. Sometimes they are the only option and this gives them the luxury of treating all of their passengers like dog doo without consideration to their time, belongings or life that awaits at their destination. There has got to be a way to hold them accountable. So if any of you know how I can complain and get ...a million frequent flyer miles in return, then please let me know.

I'm going to get off of my soap box, but I will conclude with one statement. Delta has messed with me the last time. I am going to use my frequent flyer miles and then stop flying them. This will give me the chance to hate another airline.

I am now seated on the floor next to a chubby boy who was given a highly toxic marker from a Delta agent. I'm pretty sure these markers aren't even made anymore and if they are, you probably have to show ID and have a background check. He has drawn a picture of me with a huge afro and a see through dress where you can see every inch of my stick figure body. If I end up with brain damage from the fumes, Delta is responsible.

My New Territory

No I'm not going to "mark" it, but I thought I would show you with a pic. So in the Fall, I should be somewhere around here....

Fall Down Go Boom!

I'm a walking accident. Seriously...a walking accident.

I'm in the Atlanta airport, and I'm traveling between the two terminals. I have just exited the little train and I'm deciding which direction to take. I'm just standing, and I do a very slow 180 with my bag in tow.

That's when the accident happened. This woman, who must have been in a dead sprint, hits my bag and goes flying. Fall down, go boom does not do it justice. She hit the marble floor so hard, and I felt horrible.

I know that I wasn't responsible. It was an accident, but she wasn't even crying, and I felt like I should. She got up, and her elbow had a dent in it...not even kidding. It was bleeding and had a dent. I dented a woman...not a car...a woman.

Two men and an airline employee stopped to help her. I had bandaids handy so we were able to patch her up, but one was an ex-medic who thought she had a compound fracture. How the hell does this type of stuff happen to me? Yes you might think, after reading some of my other entries, that I would usually be the person on the falling end, but my new rolling briefcase, that was supposed to make my life easier while on the road, broke a woman's elbow.
Damn.

Ohi-NO!

On the border of West Virginia and Ohio lies the little sleepy town of Marietta, Ohio. I'm a fan of small towns, love the little cafes and craft shops, but this was no charming small town. The streets were bare and funeral parlors lined the roads. Was this where Ohio sent their elderly to die?

Desperate to answer all of our awaiting student emails, Jesse, a co-worker, and I searched for a coffee shop to enjoy a cup of joe and get to work in between our class visit and our scheduled fair.

Marietta is the home of Marietta College. What is one thing that you would think all college campuses would have, large or small? Ok yes drunken coeds, but more importantly you would find a coffee shop. Having gone to a small institution myself, my campus had three coffee shops and only one stop light. Surely this would be the case in a town with three stop lights and a Mexican Restaurant.

We searched in vain, and then resorted to asking the lone college students that would appear as if out of no where. Slowing down our white PT Cruiser (uh...can you say pimpin?), we approached these young academics and inquired about the whereabouts of a coffee house.

It was as if we had asked where their local rocket base was located. Like I had said, so can you point me in the direction of your local puppy killing farm. A look of bewilderment crossed their faces, a pained expression, and then only the answer, "No," came from their lips. No? Yes, no...no coffee shops.

Finally after trying several weirded out college students, we managed to find the only coffee shop. As we entered this cozy little establishment (and by cozy, I mean barely able to contain the three tables within), the man questioned, "Well where are you ladies from? I can tell you aren't from around these parts?"

"Really how come?", we asked.

"Because you have all your teeth," he retorted. A simple answer, for a simple town.

Ahhh the memories that I'm already making.

Up the Creek Without A...

...Paddle, Boat, Clue. What a time in Nigeria. I can't really begin to describe the time I had there. It was a good experience - no doubt - but I can't see myself rushing back to visit again. The children are amazing but the adults are not so great. Geographically it's a stunning country, but the big cities tend to spoil it with their overcrowding and pollution. It'll be interesting to see what comes of it. Hopefully the oil companies who have set themselves up in the south will begin to invest some money back into the economy. I hope these pics give you a glimpse of what my time was like there...

This is Aso Rock in Abuja. This is what the
landscape is like in Jos where Ben Onono's
family is from.

This is our driver Ado. He didn't wear deoderant and I was reminded of the fact everytime I opened the door to his minivan. Ewww!


This is Alex and I in Jos. The Onono's home town.

The name of this statue is the Statue of the Big Woman - very inventive. They're really into statues of women breastfeeding for some reason.

From Jos we made our way to a game reserve about 2 1/2 hrs. north. We arranged for a driver to take us there who were were told had a very reliable car. These are some kids we met on the side of the road selling fruit.

This is us on the side of the road after our driver with the very reliable car broke down. That's me on the right with wet naps going to do a woodsie.

So we had to hail down a bush taxi to take us to the game reserve. As it opened it's doors to us this boy's chickens flew out and he spent a few minutes rounding them up before we could continue on the journey.

In the game reserve we experienced another road trouble in that an 18 wheeler was blocking the path so the locals, instead of trying to move the 18 wheeler, just cut down the trees on one side so we could go around. There's a baboon, that we saw. It didn't wipe it's bottom and it was really gross.

This was the entrance to the warm springs.

That's me in the warm springs looking tired b/c our 2 1/2 hr journey took 4 1/2 and we only had 45 minutes there b/c we couldn't travel at night.

After Jos we flew to Lagos. Near Lagos is a town called Badagry that was a huge port for slave trade. The people of this village had to pass through something called the Point of No Return. From there they would be shipped to the US or Europe. 1 in 5 surived the journey. After hearing the horrors of this I was greeted by my favorite baby in Nigeria relaxing under a table with some puppies. How fat is that baby?!?!

These are some more kids from Badagry. They loved my digital camera.

This is a boat we rented in Lagos. We took it to Tarkwa Bay where Alex was greeted by the Equator Sun and turned a bright shade of lobster.

This is the infamous Lagos 'go slow' - their version of a traffic jam. NUTS!!! People go in between lanes and sell you all kinds of things from ironing boards to the ever important toilet seat.

That's it! What a trip! How exhausting/interesting...we'll see where's next to conquer.
Lots of love,
Court