After a week in Florida and yesterday's travel day, I am le tired. Happily, we did lots of laundry while with my folks so that made unpacking and reentry at home a little bit easier.

I'm going to miss the kiddo's joy as she caught lizards. But at least my dad grabbed an excellent picture of her elation. That's now my desktop background. 

Gonna keep this short today, so let's just get to this week's links.

I didn't write my usual blog posts on Wednesday and Thursday this week. Life was happening and I decide the posts weren't important. I'm really proud of myself for deciding not to stress over missing something. 

Here's what else was good this week:

• Kiddo's extreme joy when she caught a lizard
• Going on a glass bottom boat tour - and seeing manatees!
• Loving how my keynote presentation slides are coming together
• Sleeping on a comfortable mattress
• The ideal weather in Florida this week...
• ... and spending lots of time outside
• Getting kudos from a colleague
• No morning duty! (Thanks, mom!)
• Watching the kiddo with her uncle
• Having the freedom to work at my pace

Finally got around to adding all the books I learned about at the ACRL conference to my TBR list. Plus a few other "fun" titles I found intriguing.

Yesterday, the kiddo and I hopped on a plane to Florida for her spring break. While she's being spoiled rotten by the grandparents, I'll be "working from home." At least DC's Emancipation Day on Wednesday is a holiday and I will get to join the glass bottom boat tour. I haven't done that since I was a kid.

​I don't know who's more excited? Me or her.  Probably me, because I know what we're in for and it's going to be a blast.

What kid activity do you want to try again?

It was not my morning to get up with kiddo AND it was a work from home day. I hit snooze until 8AM and it was fantastic. 

Here's what else made me happy this week:

• Our first in person library event went smashingly well
• Watching Ovi get 895
• Upgrading myself to first class and enjoying lunch with a glass of bubbly
• Seeing our article in print!
• Teaching a really engaged class
• Getting dinner with my best friend and really liking the beverage I decided to get
• Kiddo giving me a kiss on the check before I left
• Having lots of happy energy on a weekday

I just wrapped up Study with Me and I'm actually in between books at the moment. What I want to read is the two books I have on hold at the library - From Blood and Ash and Quicksilver. Sadly, I'm hopping on a plane early Saturday morning and had to delay those requests so they don't arrive while I'm out of town. 

I need a book that will fit in my carry-on and I could possibly leave behind at my parents place. I think I'll just scour my shelves to try to find a random paperback. I just don't have very many of those.

*Books shared here are affiliate links for Bookshop.org

Office days where you don't have to go to in-person meeting just hit different. This is the first office day in a loooooong time where I don't have an event, desk shift, or in-person meeting to work around. I've got plenty of meetings, but not having to leave my office means I'm getting to clear out a lot of odds and ends. 

Here's what I'm working on:

1. AI Event: Tomorrow we're hosting our first major in-person event since COVID started. I'm doing my best to get the word out with some last minute marketing today. I've been pushing this wherever I can. I've also been learning about the tools we're featuring so I can help with questions.
2. ACRL Conference Follow-Up: The conference last week was fantastic. I'm slowly working my way through my usual post-conference list. I have to submit my reimbursement paperwork, clean up my notes to share, watch recordings for sessions I missed, and, most importantly, put in to work the awesome ideas I wrote down for myself to try. (So many videos to make...)
3. Travel Prep: Kiddo and I are flying to Florida in a few days. I'm working on our packing list, touching base with my parents for what they have, and scheduling a few fun things. Since I will be "working from home" while we're down there, I'm also prepping a work to do list and some office prep work so that I can tackle some projects while I'm not on campus.

Flying is always a bit of chaos. First, you have your own logistics of planning, packing, and getting places. On top of that, you're at the whims of weather and the airlines. I thought, when I booked my ticket for the conference I attended this week, that my direct flight to Minneapolis would be the least of my problems. No connection? No problem!

I was wrong. So very wrong.

Things started to go badly before I even left home. Several hours before my flight was due to take off, I got a notice about a delay. Fine. It happens. I dilly-dallyed a bit and then was happy to see an update that the delay would be shorter than planned. So, I wrapped things up and headed to the airport. Security was a breeze, I grabbed a tasty lunch, and I chilled at the gate. The inbound flight arrived late but still earlier than the original delay.

Then things took a turn. The gate agent announced that there was a maintenance hold. I am a jinx for these when I travel solo. About 75% of the flights I've had in the past five years end up on some sort of maintenance hold. The longest one took two hours to resolve which ended in my unexpectedly spending the night in Dallas because I missed my connection. I figured this couldn't that bad. DCA has a full maintenance shop. I know this because my University has an aviation maintenance training program in one of the hangers.

Then the waiting started. The waiting with almost no updates from the gate agents. What little they did share gave no updates about timelines or the level of concern. But then, what luck!, everything was resolved. About two hours later than planned, we boarded the flight. We even taxied... to what what I like to call a timeout area. Then we got the news, there was another maintenance issue. Back to the gate we went where we even had to deplane. 

At this point, our entire passenger group was bouncing back and forth between the gate and the customer service desk trying to get any sort of information or find alternative travel. I've had great experiences with American's customer service in the past. Not this time. My fellow passengers were all calmly asking questions. We were stonewalled, ignored, and rudely dismissed. One man next to me was yelled at for asking a simple follow-up question. It was insane. American kept saying they couldn't do anything unless the flight was cancelled. And the wouldn't even help people who had connections to make. I have never seen or received such snippy service. 

To make matters worse, we couldn't really leave the gate area for long because we didn't know if we would be boarding in 5 minutes or 5 hours. 

Nearly two hours after we deplaned, we got word that the maintenance issue was fixed.... but half of our crew timed out. We were all once again cooling our heels waiting with zero updates. Every time they opened the jetway door, we all sat up straighter hoping for some action. Finally, seven hours after we were scheduled to leave, we were allowed to board again.

After taxing to the end of the runway, we suddenly turned off. Now, I fly out DCA a lot. I know what is normal and what is not. The diversion we took that ended with us parking by the maintenance hanger was not normal. But there was no announcement. We sat around for 15 minutes. Then, we inched back on to the taxiway. Finally, an announcement from the pilot, "Flight attendants... [too long of a pause where the entire aircraft inhaled]... prepare for takeoff. [collective exhale by everyone on board]."

7.5 hours after we were supposed to leave, we were finally underway.

Oh, and then we landed in near white out conditions.

So, yes, when the first leg of my trip home offered a cheap upgrade to first class, I took it.

I will be writing a strongly worded letter to American and I won't be letting things go until I receive some compensation (at the very least some free Wi-Fi codes). I don't mind delays when they need to fix maintenance issues or replace a timed-out crew. I put safety above all else. What I mind is the surly and unreasonably rude customer service. I saw no behavior that warranted treating passengers with such disdain. 

What was the worst flying experience you've had?

I'm typing this while having a cup of hot coffee in the hotel. Hotel mornings just hit different. As a parent, they're quieter, slower, and calmer. It's a treat to feel less rushed.

Here's what else made me happy this week:

• I just upgraded myself to first for the long leg of my return flights home (it was a steal of a deal!)
• Ran into an old colleague in the hotel lobby and got to catch up
• Figuring out the Minneapolis' skyway system
• Bonding with my fellow passengers during our looooooooong flight delay
• First babysitter experience worked out great!
• Batch making all my newsletters before my travel
• Kiddo randomly wanting to help with lots of chores
• Compiling a lengthy list of resources and reading from this conference
• Relaxing with face masks and red wine each night after the conference