I just returned from a visit to the parental units in NC.  If the trip out there from the west coast was Dorian Gray, the trip home was his hidden portrait.  A day after I began my trip, I finally stepped across my own threshold.  I was home at last, twenty four hours and seventy-five dollars poorer.

My first sign of trouble?  My gate did not have my flight posted.  I checked the monitor and bad news, my flight was delayed an hour due to an unscheduled refueling stop.  Too bad my connection in Denver only allowed for forty-five minutes.  You’d have thought when I checked my bag, the computer would have flagged me.  To the customer service desk I trotted.

“Oh yeah, we’ll reroute you through Nashville then to Phoenix then to Portland.  Only two more hours added to your flight, not so bad.” Continue reading →