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1:29 p.m. - 2008-07-23
MAMMA MIA AND STANDING BY
Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Currently Listening
ABBA - Gold: Greatest Hits

So, we are into the second full month of my husband's retirement and I must say; it is going well.

He keeps busy most days and we still have our own space and time for our own interests so....yes...it is working out much better than I had anticipated.

Of course, taking a few little trips over the past few weeks has helped. We both enjoyed our 4 day visit to the casinos in Wendover, Utah in late June. We both enjoyed our July 4th overnight visit with my cousin and her husband. And I just spent 2 weeks with 2 of my sisters in Texas. I actually only saw one of the sisters about 3 times but I stayed with the other sister and we enjoyed each other's company for the entire two weeks.

I read 6 books while I was there. Did I mention we went to the Half Price Book store 2 times and bought lots of $2 paperback books?

I even lucked out with the airplane flights home. When I originally booked my round trip flight to Texas, I based my choice on where the connecting flight airport would be, the time of day and the cost. Mostly, the cost! The price has gone up ----way up! I booked the flight 6 weeks ahead of time and it still cost me nearly $500.

So, going out to Texas was great. I left about 10:00 A.M., arrived in Detroit an hour later, had about a 2 hour wait and then got to Dallas Ft Wayne Airport about 4 P.M. Just in time to get picked up by one sister and meet up with the other for dinner. I had booked the return flight to leave about 6 P.M. from Dallas and arrive at 9:59 P.M. in Detroit. The biggest drawback was the flight out of Detroit was at 10:30 P.M.....and.....it was the last flight out to my home airport on a Saturday night.

As the days flew by, I started really worrying about making that last flight. I had timed how long it took me to walk from Concourse C to Concourse A on my trip out. It took me 20 minutes.....without a bathroom stop on the way.

I had an experience a couple of years ago in having a delayed flight from Dallas due to rainstorms and I was starting to have bad dreams about making this flight. If I didn't make it to Detroit in time; I would either have to wait for the first flight out on Sunday (and I wasn't sure when that would be) meaning I would be sleeping in the airport all night or.....

My husband would insist on driving 3 hours to Detroit to pick me up and then 3 hours back home. Plus, we would have to go back to the local airport the next day to get my suitcase. Not an appealing thought.

So....after discussing this at length with my sister, she suggested we see what other flights might be available and get me on the Stand By list. We found out there was a flight out at 8:45 A.M. from Dallas with a connecting flight at 3:00 P.M. (I would have about a 2 - 1/2 hr layover). I had to wait until after midnight to get on the Stand By list and then be at the airport by 7:00 A.M.

So, we got up at 5:30 A.M. since it takes about an hour to get to the DFW airport and off we went. I confirmed I was on the Stand By list and went to the Gate to wait until the counter was open. I was really fortunate as this was the only other flight out of DFW to Detroit with the connecting flight back home (other than the one I had originally booked) and besides this earlier flight had cost much more than the one I had booked which was part of the reason I had selected the later flight. Anyhow, my name was called and to my shock and delight; I was given a First Class window Seat. This meant I had much more leg room, much more seat room, closer to the bathroom, easier to get on and off the plane and...........I GOT FOOD!

When I arrived at Detroit, I tried walking the route from Gate 77 in Concourse A to Gate 26 in Concourse C as quickly as I could.

One of the reasons I like the Detroit airport is the special lighted moving sidewalk area where the lights change....it makes you feel like you are in space. I did use all the moving sidewalks and still - it took 20 minutes.

I am sure I would have had a problem making that walk at 10:00 P.M. if I had taken that later flight. I again checked in at the counter and was given a seat when the flight started to board. This time I got an Exit seat so again....I had a little more leg room and I didn't have a seatmate so I was quite comfortable.

I arrived back home and had my luggage by 4:30 P.M. And that night, I was in bed asleep before I would have been arriving at the airport if I had taken my original flight.

I am currently trying to catch up on my many blog friends' writings and hope to visit all of you and leave a comment very soon.

My sisters and I went to see Mamma Mia and now I can't get those ABBA songs out of my head. If you ever liked ABBA, you should see the movie....

Life is so good!

analysis - new appointment

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