Ten years ago Brian and I were celebrating our twenty-fifth anniversary and every crazy thing that could happen did. I’ll put the link to that blog at the end if anyone is interested in reading it. He gave me the nickname Schleprock which is a character on the Pebbles and BamBam show which was a spin off of the Flintstones. Schleprock always had a black cloud over his head and things always went wrong for him.
So today I left for Camp Kesem James Madison University in Virginia. I am pretty excited for this camp as it is smaller with almost fifty kids and I’ve never been to Virginia. The college is about a three hour drive from DC. I scheduled myself to fly into Reagan airport, take their metro link to the Mega Bus station and take the bus to campus and walk a half a mile to the hotel that is located on the edge of campus. I had a three hour lay over between the flight and the bus just in case I got on the metro going the wrong direction.
So I left the house at 3:30 this morning as my flight was scheduled to leave at 5:40. Just as I sat down on the bus to take me from the parking lot to the airport I received a text from Southwest saying my flight had been cancelled and they were working on rebooking. If I didn’t absolutely love Kesem and every single person I had ever met to date I would have said cancel and refund my money. However about thirty minutes later I was put on a direct flight with an hour to get to bus station that was ten minute by train. Oh and the flight didn’t leave until 8:40. So at 6:30 I decided I don’t care if I get sick and die, I’m laying on the floor and sleeping. I slept for about an hour.
No sooner than everyone boarded when the captain came on saying there was something wrong with the electrical system for the fueling cars and we needed fuel so we would be delayed. My first thought, “ what is it with me and fuel.” It took an hour to finally get fuel and take off so I knew there would be no way I would make it to the bus. I decided I would rent a car and drive the three hours to the hotel.
I land and there are no cars available at the airport. So I get on Apple Maps to see if I can take the metro over to Dulles airport to rent a car there. I go through Priceline and no cars are available. I’m now on the verge of tears but decide to change pick up time to 3pm. Yes Avis has cars available. I don’t even really pay attention to the price. I book the thing and then attempt public transportation. I do not see the metro stop anywhere on the outside of baggage claim. I realize I’m in terminal 2 so when I look to see how to get to terminal 1 the metro connection is over there. I walk forever but finally reach it. I know I look as confused as all get out because a nice worker asked me where I was going. Then told me I don’t even need a ticket I can use a tap to pay credit card. I finally get up to the train deck. The train comes and I get on it and think I really hope this is going in the right direction. Yes it was, finally a win.
It is now time to change from the blue line to silver. Just as I get on the escalator it stops moving. Half way down over the loud speaker I hear “There is an emergency in the train station. Please evacuate the station immediately.” I say out loud is this for real? Is this really happening? I look around and no one seems to care so I think F it and hop on the silver line. I made it to Dulles no problem and head to the rental car place via the shuttle.
As I am standing in line I look at my email and find this.
When my flight got cancelled I figured it was because the orginal plane was going to crash or something. I see this and I’m like it all makes sense now and the rest of the day will be uneventful. Little did I know what was heading my way.
After I checked into the hotel I walked around campus until Goose called and asked if I would mind dropping rental car off tonight and not deal with it in the morning. When she told me I didn’t need to be picked up until nine tomorrow morning I said “I love you people!” I was fine with dropping it off now. I told them I would have to stop and fill the car up. I just so happened to see a Buc-ee’s on the way and stopped there to also get dill pickle potato sticks. I’m not sure what happened but somehow I had to drive six miles to turn around on the highway. This would make me twenty minutes late which really upset me. Goose and Waves didn’t seem to mind but once again I found myself on the verge of tears. I see a rainbow to my left and I think this is all over.
The airport is tiny and closed but luckily they had a key return box and I dropped the key in it. I chat with the two of them back to my hotel. I instantly like them and know it’s going to be a great week. As I get on the elevator I realize I don’t have my phone. I go to my room and dump all my stuff out and no phone. I don’t know if I left it in the rental or Goose’s car. I am in full panic mode as I don’t know anyone’s number. I go to the front desk crying and the girl dials Emily’s number for me. I have her look to see if she can find Kesem’s hotline number and I know they could locate Goose for me. Emily finds the number and gives it to me. I ask the girl if there is a phone in my room. I go back upstairs to use it but do not have my room key. I go back downstairs she gives me a new key. I come back up and the phone won’t dial out. So I go back downstairs and she calls the Kesem number. No option for hotline so I remember I still have the emails from the girls so I call Emily back to hack into my email. Because we share locations she tells me the phone is in the girls car and they are running errands. I’m just glad it’s not in the rental.
So she goes to sign into my email which has two factor authentication. Luckily her phone number is a choice so she gets in and finds Waves number. I call and tell what happened. They are so sweet they swing back by hotel and give me my phone. So I tell Goose I am convinced Satan has been blocking me all day because something magical is going to happen. Will I see the hand of God? Maybe or maybe not. But if you have read The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom you will know what I mean when I say I could meet one of my five or even better be one of theirs.
I know in my heart this will be an amazing week. I’ve said it a million times there is just something about these college kids that give so much of their time to Kesem and the kids. It’s such an honor to be a part of it.
Mole Moral ~ The best way to survive being a Schleprock is knowing how to navigate crazy situations.
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