(written three days before the trip)
So it has come to our attention that with the TSA being part of the partial government shutdown and TSA agents not getting paid right now, there's talk of some airports shutting down.
Do I think airports are going to start shutting down? No. Is it a possibility? Yes. Do I think they'd need to make an announcement as far in advance as possible that they're going to shut down some airports and would it absolutely be national news and cause mass chaos were it to actually happen? Also yes. I'm sure this is something the airports and airlines would like to avoid, so I don't see it really happening, but it could. It could.
I have not yet booked the Uber to the airport yet for Friday morning because we're sort of trying to read the room on figuring out when to get there and not have to wait in a security line for hours on end because of this TSA mess...or end up sitting at our gate for hours on end. Our trip will be from Friday, March 20 to Wednesday, March 25. We're wheels up from Omaha at 7am sharp, flying from here into O'Hare, and from O'Hare into Wilmington, NC. It's the same trip in reverse when we return home on almost the same timeframe even. We generally have enough padding time to not have to worry about delays being any huge concern, but still.
Wilmington is a small airport. It's not super-small -- it's not Bangor, for example, which is the smallest (and my favorite) airport I've ever flown through on multiple occasions -- but it's small compared to Chicago O'Hare. By a lot. There is a little fear on my part that they'd be one of the ones to shut down were any of that to come to pass, especially with airport powerhouses Charlotte and Raleigh already in the state of North Carolina. Ironically, even though Omaha has a relatively small airport I am not incredibly concerned about it shutting down -- it's the only big airport in about a 3-4 hour radius out here.
I'm saying this now, so, if I'm proven wrong, we can point back at this post and say how wrong I was.
All of this, of course, adds some stress to our upcoming travels that neither of us want or need. Daisy told me to pack extra medication to take with me, in case we get stranded for a few days. I told her that I always do that anyway.
If we get stuck in NC for a few extra days, it is what it is. I have my full three-day weekend awaiting me once we get home on Wednesday, and it wouldn't hurt me to spend a little more time with my parents. Daisy took the Thursday off after we get home (the 26th) to recuperate and recover from the trip, so she has three days in a row off too. Daisy's parents could check on the cats if necessary once the Catsitter's duty is done if we get stuck there. It's not the end of the world is what I'm saying. I'd like to avoid it, but it's not life-shattering if we get stuck for a couple of extra days. We'd just become temporary islanders.
Through it all, I'm like "whatever will be, will be." It's out of my control, and generally I stress over stuff that's out of my control, but this is too big to bother to stress about -- so whatever happens, happens. I'm sure my parents would be thrilled with some extra time with us.
Daisy is, finally, mostly packed. She packed on Sunday night and has been refining her suitcase selections ever since. She's now focused on getting the right snacks and foods ready for the trip so we're not starving in airports or letting our blood sugars drop too low. Normally, I taste-test a bunch of different kinds of (vegan) jerky before we leave on a trip and then take a few bags of the ones I like the most, but this time around I didn't do that and I'm letting Daisy take care of the trip snacking. She generally picks a selection of things and makes us a few sandwiches, which I really enjoy because what a wonderful wife, right?
The Mounjaro has been sent to Amazon Pharmacy, according to my new doctor, but it hasn't shown up yet in there on my profile. My doctor said it would take a few days, likely, for insurance clearances and all that for it to show up and be order-able, so I won't have it before we return from NC. Truthfully we're at the cutoff at this juncture for most anything we'd need to get before the trip anyway, so I know it wouldn't arrive in time even if we were to order it now. I do have my other two medications arriving on Thursday, though, shortly before we leave.
Tonight is my last night at work until March 29. Yes, that's right, 11 days straight off work with four actual PTO days used, because of the way the trip falls. Last night was plagued by computer issues, as my systems crashed at 1am and it took over 90 minutes to pull them back up and get them working correctly again. I feel like this was some sort of karmic payback for submitting my PTO for tomorrow night so that the "night before vacation" workload wouldn't fuck me over. Oh, so you don't want to get killed the night before you leave? How about two nights before you leave, I crash all of your systems?
Nothing good ever comes without consequence. I am nervous to see what the night at work holds for me once I log in to my computer in about two hours. Tuesdays generally suck anyhow and we've seen a surge in normal workloads over the course of the past two weeks or so anyway.
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