Baggage

It's a long story - one that I hope Michele will tell on her blog - but to get back to work, Michele needed to fly closer to CR England's headquarters. Since we had planned on her driving partner coming to pick her up, we bought massive amounts of food and supplies for her to take with her and were challenged with the need to get that much stuff on a plane. So, this morning, all I could think about was her bags and whether they'd get on the plane with Michele or be too heavy. The smaller blue bag has Michele's clothes in it, while the larger - and significantly heavier - green bag is full to the brim with food and toiletries - mostly food. When we got to the airport, I held my breath when the lady asked us to put the green bag up on the scale. The blue bag had already been weighed and was 44 pounds! So, up goes the green bag and it weighed in at a whopping 57 pounds! Thinking the limit was 50 pounds, I was planning in my head what non-essentials could be removed and what items could pass through security in a carry-on bag. While all this was going through my head, the ticket agent was calmly putting on a baggage tag and an extra bright orange tag that said "HEAVY," then she directed us to baggage scanning, easy peasy! No problem at all! My usual concern is whether we will get on the flight - we always fly standby, for those not in the know - but I didn't even think of that all morning! Michele did get on her first flight - to Cincinnati - and will hopefully make it on her second - to Chicago. And her bags - even the HEAVY one - will hopefully make it all the way there, too!


Well, while Michele was making her way to her gate, I was making my way to a gate of my own - the short-term parking lot gate. Those of you who fly from Rochester's airport - or pick people up from the airport - likely know that the first half hour in short term parking is free. Well, we arrived at the airport this morning at 5:30 on the dot and I got back to my car to leave at 5:57. This wouldn't have been an issue if the lot wasn't under construction and the exit located 10 miles away from where I parked! I didn't make it to said exit until 6:01. It is $2 for the second half hour (or part thereof), but I neglected to bring any money with me this morning. Thankfully, the attendant was a morning person - a very chipper young woman - who, in response to my claim that I forgot my wallet at home (like she never hears that), nicely said, "Well, you're only a minute over. I'll let you by this time," and then gave me a big smile! I love morning people!