Phase Two – day one

Launching the Volvo XC rocket north was just like a NASA mission, fraught with delays, only the President didn’t call to wish me luck on the mission. The audacity! No change there.

We got the pup squared away and packed the wagon full of important items that could not be left behind for a week long trip, like beer, pretzels and at least three changes of underwear. We got Cassidy to the airport in plenty of time for her flight east. The counter person was a little peeved she had to process our credit card for a child traveling alone fee. The fact that you can’t pay this fee online when you buy the ticket didn’t matter to her. The fact that you are directed by the airline to pay at the time of check-in also did not matter to her. She half-scolded me and when we offered to pay the fee for the return trip right there, she couldn’t make it work on her computer and directed us to call reservations.

It continues to amaze me that whenever you encounter a routine transaction that the people on the other side of the counter continually treat it like this is the first time it has ever occurred. Gee, I’m sorry for following the directions the airline gave me online. Gee, I’m sorry you have to do the hard job of swiping a credit card. Gee I’m sorry you had to show up for work today and do your job. Maybe she was ticked because she had to print two whole gate passes for us and we didn’t just abandon our child at the security checkpoint. ‘Nuff about that ridiculousness……. Oh, I almost forgot to mention that our ever vigilant counter clerk directed our minor traveling alone to the wrong gate. This same airline lost a child somewhere between Logan Airport in Massachusetts and Newark Airport in NJ just last week. The child turned up safely but this doesn’t give me a lot of confidence in the checks and balances in their system that I’m paying an extra seventy-five bucks for. How about you?

The flight was, of course, delayed. There was a breeze which lifted a couple of leaves a half an inch from their humidity laden position somewhere in NJ so the airline claimed that a near tornado was delaying everything in and out of Newark Airport. Does the airline realize that we know people in NJ? Do they realize that we had people on the ground there who could see planes taking off and landing when they told us the airport was on lockdown? Not that it mattered, we couldn’t do a darn thing about getting the plane in the air, so we sat and waited. The 4:20 P.M. scheduled departure turned into 5:05 P.M. wheels up. The delay wasn’t too painful and I managed to sneak in a gate-side nap. We hit the highway north for the five hour trip.

We lucked out with no construction or other delays. We got word enroute that Cassidy arrived safely at Newark with only a "short" two hour unscheduled stopover in Allentown, PA. Renee was starving when we hit Cleveland at about 10:30 and requested that we hit the restaurant at the Great Lakes Brewery. Yep, my wife suggesting we go to a brewpub, you’ve got to love that girl! Only one glitch, the kitchen was closed for the night. The bartender suggested we go around the corner to a place that serves food until 2 A.M. Renee had her last real meal before surgery at the Bier Market, another beer joint. The mild setbacks at the airport earlier were no match for the positive beer karma that was thrust upon us at the end of the long drive. It does not matter that she doesn’t drink the stuff, BEER WORKS!

We managed to get through the pre-op maze today with only one slight leak in the colostomy bag of life. No need to expound on that foul episode, and at least I was able to enjoy a meal at Great Lakes while Renee watched and salivated over the served entrees – the doctor cut her off from all solid food.

Report time tomorrow is 6 A.M. Renee is the first one on the operating table. We’re off to sleep ……………G’Night……………………