Chicago is notorious for bad weather and it lived up to it during my visit. It was winter like, gloomy with some rain. So much so that I barely went outside.
But then they started predicting severe weather for Wednesday evening with thunderstorms and even a possible tornado right in the afternoon and evening when I'd be going to the airport and my plane would take off.
I began to worry and not without reason. Once before I was at the airport when there was severe weather and my plane along with others was cancelled. I was lucky enough to have a car service able to pick me up and take me back to my place and then reschedule my flight a couple of days in the future. But that was long ago when there were more flights and it wasn't around a holiday. I knew if that happened again I'd be in trouble. First, because the owner of the car service company has sold his business and the new one would be very unlikely to have a car available at the last minute during a storm. And as for getting on a later flight a few days before Easter.
Everybody seems to be traveling again. The flight to Chicago didn't have one empty seat. The airports are busy and the business that closed during the pandemic are open again.
And then something happened that was either a stroke of luck or a sign that I'm a bubble head. On Monday night I got a notice from American Airlines that my flight was available for check in. Those notices are usually sent 24 hours before the flight and I wondered if they'd changed how they did things. I had written in my calendar my flight information on Wednesday. I had ordered a car to take me to the airport on Wednesday well in advance because the last time I tried to order a car two days before my trip, they had none available.
I looked at the AA app and my flight information and for the first time saw that the date was April 12, not the April 13. I quickly called the car service to see if I could change my reservation and thankfully was able to do it this time. And then I let it sink in that I would be home before the thunderstorms passed through.
I still haven't figured how I bought a ticket for Tuesday, but I'm grateful that I did. It was clear when I left O'hare and except for a few minutes of turbulence, the flight was smooth and arrived on time.
I spent the flight finishing a book I was reading on my phone. It still l surprises me how much I like to read on my phone. But then I never used to like mustard and now I do. It's kind of nice to keep surprising myself.
I did check the weather the next day in Chicago and there were thunderstorms when I would have been heading for the airport, but the same flight I took didn't get cancelled, only delayed for half an hour. Even so, I was glad to be reading about while sitting out in the sunny warmth of my backyard. Home safe and sound.
6 comments:
Some times mistakes are just meant to be!
Amazing and helpful mistake! And it's great that you caught it in time.
Miss Merry, that is exactly how I took it.
Linda, O. Johnston, I was so grateful for the reminder from American Airlines or I wouldn't have caught it until it was too late.
What a lucky break! I am also surprised how I do not mind reading on my Nook. Once I get into a story I don't really care what I am reading it on. But I still do prefer "real" books.
Chkntza, it really was a lucky break. Once I got past the surprise and was able to work out getting a ride to the airport, I was so relieved. I, too, like real books, but it is so great having stuff to read on my phone because I always have it with me. It comes in handy when I suddenly have to wait for someone. The only negative that I noticed is that I don't seem the remember the title of what I'm reading because I don't see the cover each time.
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