Heart-attacks on a Plane

So not only did the first leg of my trip seem cursed but so did this post. I wrote it “on location” in the airport and then accidentally replaced it with a blank file when I got home. Blah!

Why does it seem like nothing can just go as planned? Things were fine until the pilot announced that our 6:50 takeoff would have to be postponed until the frost melted off the wings. So there we sat waiting for the sun to come up high enough to melt the ice off. Ok, now the ice is gone but not so fast. The surgeon sitting behind me is summoned to help a lady who, it turns out, is having a claustrophobia induced heart-attack. We couldn’t take off with that going on so we went back to the gate again to meet paramedics.

Instead of arriving at 9:15 we landed at noon. I quickly hailed a cab and, a mere 3 hours late to orientation, I was predicting I’d be given some trouble at the school. After a little, ok a lot of explaining, begging, arguing I was finally seen by advisors and pretty much spent the rest of Monday hopping from department to department getting setup. After all my hard work and stressing, I did treat myself to some exploring in Manhattan. With its excitement, hustle and bustle I was reminded why I’ve dreamed of living there.

I didn’t venture too far from Grand Central, where I had dinner, but got to hit up some of my favorite stores in search of winter clothes. H&M and ZARA off 5^th avenue deserve a mention since we don’t even have the former in FL and our ZARA isn’t 11,000 sq ft. Around 8 I headed back to my hotel in LIC and got to Skype with Jen before calling it a night. Skype is cool, Google it. Tuesday I was up at 7 and spent the morning back at school getting as much face to face guidance as I could before heading home.

The transportation there is so reliable that the hotel desk suggested I take the subway and bus to the airport. In about 40 minutes and $4.50 later I made it with no problems. With the cab ride around $25, whiplash and road rage included, I actually preferred the subway. My flight back was flawless thank God. Safe and sound in Palm Harbor (yawn), I’m happy to be back with Jen and Pup. What a difference a day makes!