Vouchers for a flight nevermore

Ok- finally the STORY of why I will Not EVER NEVER EVER NEVERNEVER AND I MEAN NEVER fly Midwest/Frontier airlines AGAIN. . .

Got the opportunity of EPIC scale last month- an unfortunate event in the life of a boss meant I was off to San Fransisco for almost a week, staying in Berkeley, in a condo, meals paid for. . .and after the shoe drop roller coaster of last year and the GROWING discontent with my adjuncting gig in my Beloved former life, I was thrilled to be able to go. Shocked at how eay it was to arrange, and well, maybe that was the gather cloud bank that should have tipped me off, but no matter. . .Sunday I was at the airport and ready for my flight having stayed up all night because by the time I got the kids settled and started packing it was after Midnight, and well, I had to be up at 5am. . .here was my first Planes, Trains, and Automobiles moment. . . I actually said this to myself "ok, so maybe this is not a great idea, but I get on the plane, I sleep for 3 hours, get up when we land, and nap when I got to the condo after a wholesome Berkeley lunch. . ."
The flight was delayed due to engine trouble- and here is the best part, the new flight was not scheduled to TAKE OFF FROM MILWAUKEE until 10 minutes after my connecting flight in San Diego to San Fran took off.
So- now what? I approach the desk and Victor is CLEARLY not ready for any work yet- back to the desk watching the clouds (is that a bunny? no, it is a passenger being towed behind a plane by their ankles) and when he finally turns back, he has a very interesting look on his face, one I am not used to seeing in the customer service realm, I call it the FOAD- fuck off and die face. . .you know it when you see it, glare, sneer, curled lip, glint in the eyes DARES you to ask a question. . .but you know me, I went there-
Me- I am in need of some answers about my connecting flight
FOAD- I can't help you with anything now they are fixing the plane
Me- I know I am not asking you to go fix it faster, I am asking you about the flight I am going to miss because of the delay
FOAD- That connecting flight is on a different airline, I can't help you call them.
Me- But I am missing it BECAUSE of Midwest, and your rules say that if I am going to miss a flight due to mechanical failure, it IS a Midwest problem
FOAD- Let me check. . .nothing here until 6:30pm we could fly you to Boston and you could wait there and then send you to San Fran non stop. . .at 3pm (it is 8:35am CST)
Me- Whaaaa????
FOAD- You could wait in a change of scenery
Me- Trying to figure out if he is really saying this, determine that yes, he really is saying that flying in the OPPOSITE direction of where I need to go is an awesome thing and that it is weird that I am not jumping at the chance
FOAD-Well?
Me- I guess I will have to think about that. . .NO
FOAD- Well, if you are going to be a difficult bitch I can't help you
Me- UMMMMMMMM did you just go there?
FOAD- Well, if you would stop acting like one. . .
Me- Replaying the conversation in my head, looking for support, realize I was/am one because I am asking for him to help
Me- Excuse me for a moment Dials cell and reaches Midwest Customer service- explains situation told that Victor denies (?????) the exchange and that I was the one who refused to take the trip to BOSTON to get to San Fransisco Ummmm, and as she is telling me this she actually hears what she is saying and puts me on hold. . .
FOAD- Sees me on phone, gets call, glares, as an official comes on the scene, in time to see the look. . .
Me-looking rather smug
Official looking person- You can hang up now, I have everything set.
Me- ???
Official person-You are on the 6:30pm flight, here is a "meal voucher" (clearly they do not pay for their meals in the airport because the meal turns out to be a bottle of water and a cup of coffee, all the voucher pays for) and a voucher for 200 dollars.
Me- Ok Thank you
Official person. . .LEAVES, with not even a good bye!

Me- looking at flight board- sees the "6:30pm" flight has been DELAYED. . .until "TBD" which is code for "whenever the hell we take off" find out that there is only ONE plane and it is going to San Diego, then coming back, then back out to San Fransisco. . .

Ok, no sleep remember? Scared that if I sleep I will miss the flight and well, dammit they are NOT gonna get away with it, so I stayed up. . .and yessssss finally got on the plane. . .at 9:45 pm CST. . .and got another 100 dollar voucher. . .
Anyone want to fly Midwest?
Oh, and the cookie was stale and not baked on board. . .deal breaker, ya totally;)
Put a RAVEN on the damn plane, Frontier, Nevermore. . .

How it happened

Ended up going to San Fransisco for a few days last week, kind of a weird sense of how things can happen. . .

In my adjucting, which may or may not be ending, long story, in one department, I was lucky enough to teach a class of first year students about the art of critical thinking. . .and really loved it. I have always felt so badly that in many of the classes I taught, I could not spend more time with those students who needed more help to keep up. Did the best I could, still felt like it was not enough. . .

The class I taught last fall was awesome because that time was built into the course, and it was some of the best learning I had, the students taught me a lot and I am hoping I helped them. . .

So, anyway, after a meeting the director pulled me aside and asked if I could take her place at the conference, and well, I did decide to go.

It was AMAZING. . .nothing short of it, and I was so grateful for the opportunity. . .learned a lot, and was so happy to meet people from all walks of life, just amazing. . .

The trip itself was not without issues, and OH YES a blog post will tell all. . .

Of food pantries and fast food

Literally collapsed and had to quit the Arches- when both KIA and Muffin did not keep their promises to be up witht he kids when I slept during the day. Best laid plans I guess. What was supposed to be me getting home at 4am started to be 4:30, then 5am starting at 10pm with no break meant I was on my feet for 7-8 hours and no break, no rest, and for the most part no food or water, though eventually I just started taking water and keeping it in the break room. . .then the perfect storm hit-

We had literally days of rain and night of thunder, and Precious started getting up at 4, 4:30, 5am when I was getting home. A few nights he was up and awake when I got home, which meant that I did not get any sleep. The older boys were going to bed at 3am, and sleeping until 2pm- and as I tried to wake them up and make them fulfill their promises, they would sleep and not watch the kids. So I stayed up and tried to make do on maybe 2 hours of sleep a day. . .which lasted for about a week and a half, and my health crashed MUCH to the dismay of my doctor who told me flat out that to continue to do so put me at risk for too much drama. . .so I am now unemployed and totally dependent on whatever the ex allows to happen. . .yay

Went to the food pantry on Saturday, and was able to get some cold cereal for the kids, and some bread. That was about all that was left, the line was soooo long and it was clear that they were really trying hard to make sure everyone who showed up got something, there were packaged dinners and mac and cheese, but so many other families looked so much more desperate, the cold cereal and the bread would have to be enough.

It is so hard to be at this point, totally at the mercy of the ex and his earning. If he quits I have nothing, and I'm so trying to keep him from finding out about this turn of events. . .

Just hoping and praying things change for the better soon, my bathroom floor and not the walls are falling apart, literally and I am not sure how I'm going to keep the kids fed much less repair these things. . .between health and finances. . .sheesh!

On the plus side- things with the kids are going well, and we have been having an awesome summer so far. Memberships mean that the places we go do not cost anyting and we are having a great time!

The Best 4th EVER!!!!!!!!

Me and KIA

KIA

Muffin and Me

Cocoa and I

My baby grill. . .no not a typo a pet name:)

We had an AMAZING 4th of July hope you did too. . .we are broke, we are uncertain, but we are happy and fed. . .a good way to be no matter what:)

The past week

Off to a great start!

w00t! Let the weekend begin!!!!!!!

Big plans

4th cookout weather is supposed to shine on us, oh so hope so- off for shopping and getting things ready for the holiday weekend. . .pics to follow after the festivities:)