You No Change Tickets - You Pay - It Company Policy!

Sunday could not have been crazier. Here’s how it went…

9:34 a.m. - Younger Son calls to tell us he has to work Monday until 10 p.m. - the night before we fly out of DFW at 6:15 a.m. Mind you, I gave him all the dates, a month ago, just for the purpose of scheduling his work schedule. Now Elder Son and Younger Son are going to drive in, all night long, right up to the airport, and get on the plane...hopefully, in time.


9:52 a.m. - After much sighing and beating of chests, we resolve ourselves to the idea that our boys might be grown up enough to handle this...after all, they are 27 and 20, respectively. (Laugh all you will, you will be here someday, too. You thought 18 years of age was the end of your obligation and worry? Not on your best day.)

10:00 a.m. – MLH and I start finalizing hotel arrangements for the rest of our trip to Boston.

10:10 a.m. – I start wondering where ticket #5 and #6 of the James Taylor concert might be. Mild freak out. I’m looking for the Fedex envelope, I find it, and there are four tickets in there. I realize I’ve not yet received the 2 additional tickets, so I call the Tanglewood Music Center, which is a satellite of Boston Symphony Orchestra. Of course, it’s Sunday, so they’re not open.

10:15 a.m. – I start checking all my credit cards online, trying to find the purchase. Wouldn’t be a big deal, but THE CONCERT IS SOLD OUT…and the two tickets are for customer friends that belatedly decided to join the trip. It wouldn't be too bad if we could only come up with four tickets, but...the concert is the reason for the entire trip. We've just found other stuff to do the rest of the week.

10:30 a.m. – I’m checking the credit cards on MLH’s computer while MLH performs system checks and searches on my computer, trying to find the ticket confirmations. It is a freakin' pain to go back 4 months and check online records, just saying. Search: James Taylor. No go. Search: Tickets. No go. Search: Tanglewood. Nope. Search: Boston. Nope. Search: Janie is stupid and didn’t confirm the purchase 100%, and didn’t follow up when no tickets came in the mail. Bingo! Meanwhile, all we have booked, hotel-wise, are three nights worth of rooms for a 7 night stay.

11:00 a.m. – We give up on the tickets, go back to the hotel reservations, and we research and book for 3 more hours. We’re exhausted. I have a headache – I can’t believe I don’t have those 2 James Taylor tickets in my hand, and we’re scheduled to leave July 2. What a doofus. A stressed out one, at that.


12:00 noon - We're still working away, and I have to let the dogs out. Zoie goes to pee, and Zack is right behind her, smelling where she went. I come in, and tell MLH. He checks her, and sure enough, she's coming in heat. We have dog sitters, but none that can handle Mr. Determined Zack should he so decide to mount Zoie. What else can go wrong? We call all the boarding kennels, and of course, they're booked. We call TNT Kennels, and they're booked. MLH thinks of calling Andy, Zack's trainer, and he agrees that Zack can come over and play. Zoie will probably have anxiety attacks, but we can't take a chance on an inadvertent breeding. Whew...got that handled.

2:00 p.m. – Spend an hour looking at rental cars. How do we haul 6 people + luggage around Boston, Providence, and Newport? Two cars are cheaper than one big one. Where are our guests? Why aren’t they helping us figure all this crap out? Oh, yeah – they’re on another trip.

3:00 p.m. – Finally get out of the house to eat breakfast/lunch/supper. We’re exhausted.

4:30 p.m. – Back to the house, and back at the arrangements thing again. For some reason, I decide to look at the flights we booked on May 27th. The dates are wrong. I call in to US Airways, thinking I can pay a small fee, and change the flights to shorten the trip by one day.
Man. Was I wrong. The change will cost $150 per person (X 4 = $600) PLUS the change in airfare…a total of $3300. I talk, I cajole, I plead, I beg for mercy – all to no avail. I ask for a manager – and same story, second verse. I swear, they both were in India or something. I even pulled the “Southwest never does that, they just charge the change fee, and you’re good. “ “Well, ma’am, we’re not Southwest – we are US Airlines.” No crap. I am so frustrated, I cry. I don’t know why, it didn’t change a flipping thing. Even that made me mad - I never cry. Well, only at Mork and Mindy and McDonald's commercials.

Only one thing changed…the four of us will be staying one more day, while our customer friends will be going home as scheduled. And, thank God (He knew I was pushed to my limit!), some sweet Tanglewood member cancelled their reservations this morning, so I was able to pick up 2 more great seats for the James Taylor concert…at the regular price. I called MLH, and he was so excited – until he realized how much we overpaid the scalper in December for our four tickets.

Now, for the rental cars. Next trip, I’m paying a travel agent, I don't care what the cost is…they earn their money! And I know, good travelers are supposed to check every single detail, and double check them again...but...I was traveling!!!

It’s never boring around here!