Where’s Saint Christopher when you need him?

Woke up at 4:10a this morning, so I could catch my 6:30 flight from Denver to LAX, which would get me in about 8:30 and into the office by 10, leaving me plenty of time to Do Stuff before the critical meetings I was to be in about 1p, after which I would fly home tonight, getting home by 11:45p.

Yes, that’s a pretty insane schedule.

I’d been dreaming just before the alarm went off that I’d slept in until 11a, and was irretrievably late for my flight and meeting and trying to figure out how to apologize my way out of it. When I realized in the shower that’s what I’d been dreaming of and why I was all tense, I had a bit of a laugh.

And that’s when it all went south …

1. While getting my computer packed up, I got a ping from UAL on my cell phone, telling me my flight was all confirmed at 6:05a. What?! I’d already, contrary to normal practice, pared down my travel time to the airport, and … gah!
2. Raced to the car, zoomed down the street — and realized my car was running on fumes. Gah!
3. On the highway, headed to the airport, I looked at the clock. 5 a.m. No way I’d get to the airport in and hour and park and check in and get through security and get to the gate. No way. So I called our travel agency emergency number, and they shifted me (whew!) to an 8:30a flight.
4. Of course, I got to the airport, parked, checked in, and got to the concourse with about 20 minutes before my earlier flight. I kicked myself a bit (though it had been a flawlessly efficient process, no lines, no delays, no hang-ups, whereas if I’d been rushing it would have been the exact opposite). I kicked myself some more when Margie (whom I called later) mentioned she’d have just gone to the gate to see if they’d get me onto the plane anyway. *sigh*
5. Plenty of time to get some work done, though. But then it took me 45 minutes to get my machine booted and working properly and tied into the local WiFi network so I could check my mail. And that’s when I discovered that the relatively trivial assignment my boss had shot me for delivery back in the afternoon was a real hairball. Worked on that until half an hour before boarding, then headed to the gate.
6. Flight was minorly delayed taking off.
7. Flight was majorly delayed landing, as LAX suffered from an ATC problem that shut down one runway. Circled in the air about 45 minutes.
8. Got to the ground, raced to the rental car bus island — just in time to see the Hertz bus wander off. The next one was another 15 minutes.
9. Once I was in my car, headed over to a Burger King I’d seen from the bus, only to discover that there really was no way for me to get to it from the direction I was going. Wandered down Century Blvd. for another 15 minutes trying to find something to grab for lunch so I wouldn’t have to when I got to the office.
10. Reached the office at Noon local time, 1 p.m. MDT — or just about 7 hours after I’d awakened.

I hope the meeting — and the return flight — work out better. 😛