8-30-26

​There was a man at the conference that I got giggling at. This poor guy. He was working at another booth and was really excited to talk about his product!

I am not mature enough to be here!

I am also glad I am not a man. I get excited to talk about vet med….I would hate to present myself like this. However, I do believe it was something in his pocket. Ha ha.

Teardown was a nightmare. I had to carry a 40# box down to the business center. I rented a cart, was yelled at because apparently there is a “freight elevator” for big items like a cart. I was getting off the regular elevator and was greeted with a snarky lady barking that at me. No one was waiting to use the elevator for the one floor I had to travel. That seemed like a “her” problem that she was so cranky.

The lady and guy in the booth next to me were kind enough to help me tear down the booth by myself. I’m t was incredibly kind and I appreciated it more than I could ever verbalize.

I was able to package everything into 2 more boxes and wheel it down to the business center.

The lady at the business center could only ship boxes under 50#. I sent another box that was under 50# with them. I was down to a tall plastic 83# container that was at least I was able to tip and wheel around. It was still heavy on my arms and neckwith my luggage on my back. You can tell by my face I was not amused.

I was able to get an uber across town to a fed ex that would take the bigger container. Luckily the driver helped me lift it into his van.

There was a bit of a language barrier as he kept asking me if I was going to a hotel and me replying “Fed Ex”.

The driver dropped me at the hotel near the fed ex which I deemed “good enough”.

I dropped off the container. Phew. Now I just had my luggage. I tried to get an Uber but I was in a “construction zone” and I had to walk a few blocks to get out of it. 

I was already sweating. I walked by a few shady characters mumbling to themselves and picking at their arms and face. Oh god!

I then put in for my Uber and it was 16 minutes away. Ugh! I was 90 degrees out. Now I am really sweating.

The guy picked me up and was really nice. However, he was listening to scream metal for the 30 minutes we were in the car at an undesirable level. I asked to have it turned down and he did, however it kept creeping back up….this fun game happened multiple times.

Hungry, thirsty and overstimulated, I headed to security. I received an alert that my flight had been delayed. I would not have much time in the Chicago airport to make my connecting flight. Damn it!

I got through security and decided to eat as my layover was going to be compromised. 

My flight was delayed again, then a third time due to weather. 

I then got in line to see what my options were. The line moved at less than a snails pace. What is another few hours on my feet?

As I stood in line, I was pissed. This day has really sucked. I was wallowing in my rage about my situation. I started doing deep breath and did some self talk. This situation could be worse.  

No one is dying, i am traveling alone and I don’t HAVE to get home tonight. I think about families traveling.  One lady was traveling with her 89 year old cousin. I have enough medication to get me through another day. “Take a deep breath Patti and get your head out of your butt.” I said to myself.

Reframing helps me calm down. It did calm my mood. 

After about an hour and a half, I was finally able to chat with someone. I also had called an airline help line, but the person I spoke with was a bit of a dumbass. She also didn’t speak English well and I wasn’t convinced she was helping me.

I was impressed with my fellow human beings. No one was mean or pissy with the ladies helping at the gate. I told the ladies they did a beautiful job handling all of the changes. They were kind, empathetic and seemed to really try to be helpful. What a crappy day at work.

I was rebooked on a flight from Chicago to Buffalo. The plan was to get on the delayed flight to Chicago and I would miss my connecting flight to Rochester but ….if I flew into Buffalo, there is a chance I would still get home today.

I booked it and figured I would find a way from Buffalo to Rochester. I had plenty of people I could call and options.

When I arrived in Chicago the Rochester flight had been delayed. Cool! I might be able to change it back?

The lady at the desk told me there was a plane in route to Chicago for the Buffalo flight. There was no plane in route for the Rochester flight. I left things alone and set up Paul to come get me. 

The poor Rochester people were still waiting for their plane to arrive. 

Paul came to pick me up and we had a nice ride home after not seeing each other for a week. My body hurts. We arrived home after midnight.