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The Republic will endure until Congress finds it can bribe the public with the public's money. – Alexis de Tocqueville

Ok, so I went to Philly over the weekend. Yes, I really did.

I flew out on Friday afternoon. After barely catching my flight, I was a tad stressed out, but things went off without a hitch, and Jenna met me at the airport. We went from there to the Hertz place, which of course refused to add Jenna as a driver because they suck and don’t take Visa checkcards. So they’ll take a credit card from someone who might have 30,000 in debt, but they won’t take a checkcard, and that’s REAL money. Duh.

So I got to be the designated driver… even when there wasn’t any alcohol involved.

On the way back to Jenna’s apartment, we stopped at her favorite restaurant by her house and got Philly Cheesesteaks, and she got to open her present:

I also got to meet the DJ she used to work for, Cisco. After threatening to kill me should I ever hurt Jenna, she and I headed to the Wawa for some hoagies for later, and picked up some movies.

Saturday we went to King of Prussia where I purchased clothes to wear that night. As Jenna would attest, I’m not the most fashionable person in the world. I am quite capable of dressing for business, but dressing for nightclubs, etc. is not something I’ve ever developed a talent for. Probably because I don’t go to nightclubs. Anyhow, after spending a ton of money at GAP, Jenna was satisfied that I wouldn’t look like a hick from Kansas.

Saturday night was spent at a birthday party for one of Rachel’s friends. It was mother hot in there, but I managed to find a vent to stand by, and that improved the experience greatly. I got my girlfriend drunk on Cosmos, and tried to get Rachel drunk on Diet Coke, to no avail.

After a couple of hours at that party, and after much debate, we decided to go to “the Cloud” which is the bar where Jenna used to work. All of the brave and/or drunk people got up and sang karaoke, while I sat in a puddle of Coke, trying not to let people see my backside. Jenna did Sweet Child o’ Mine, and Son of a Preacher Man (which of course I happen to be). Rachel did a couple of songs… I knew both of them, but now I can’t remember what they were. Cisco was the KJ at the Cloud that night, and he came over and bought me a shot of Jack, which made me both sick and funny. At least I thought I was funny. For more on Saturday night, check out the pictures at the gallery (pages 6-7 of Incredipedro).

After an incredibly long and exciting drive, we finally made it back to Jenna’s about 4:30 AM. Poor Rachel had to work Sunday, so I hope her Diet Coke hangover wasn’t too bad.

Let’s see. Believe it or not, we got up fairly early on Sunday and watched Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time. I need to see it again. After that, we went to visit Jenna’s family. I assured them that after moving Jenna to Kansas, I’d make sure she visited home regularly whether she wanted to or not. They seemed to like the idea.

After a fantastic meal of marinated steak, garlic bread, and macaroni, we headed back home again, and got a couple more movies. I don’t think we made it through them, because we had neglected to do much sleeping the night before.

Monday morning we got up and watched the second movie, and before we knew it, it was time for us to head downtown. Jenna wanted me to meet her boss and coworkers before she left, so I went in and met everyone. Little did they know I would be the cause of an absence the next day. (insert evil chuckle)

After stopping by her work, we took the rental car back and said our goodbye’s. We thought. Jenna hopped the train back to city center, and I went to the gate. After 90 minutes of delays, the said… uh… this flight is cancelled. I ran to the ticket counter and managed to be 3rd in line (out of about 140 people). Then I stood there. For 45 minutes. Behind two people. OMG.

ANYHOO, I called Jenna from the line, and she told me she’d wait at city center and we could catch the train home together. Every flight, including flights with other airlines, even with multiple layovers, was completely overbooked Monday evening and Tuesday morning, so they put me on a 3:45 flight Tuesday. So I went on to city center and met up with Jenna. The good news was I got to see her again, the bad news was, we had been on the way to the airport since 2, and we weren’t going to get home until 10. What a day.

Anyway, we watched Mallrats, which made me laugh like a sissy girl, and then we passed out. Jenna had work in the morning. Until the morning, when she decided that she couldn’t send me off on the mass transit system alone. She called in, I got to hang out with her for a few more hours. Yay. (Sorry Jenna’s Boss)

We took the hike to the station from Jenna’s apartment… a good 3 miles on a BIG EFFING HILL!!! I’d driven it many times, but that was my first time walking it. My girl has been doing that on her commute every day for 2 years. My girl is a trooper! I would have quit after approximately 1 day, give or take a few hours.

We got to city center again, and this time saying goodbye was much harder for some reason. She put me on my train, and I was off to the airport once again.

I got to the gate to check in, and they said “Oh, that flight’s been cancelled, sir.”

W. T. F.

All I want to do is go to Kansas City. We have 2 million residents, at least 600 of them stuck in Philadelphia international aiport. What gives?! I asked about later flights… none. Everything was overbooked. They told me they could fly me through Dallas. Uh… no. They started looking at other airlines, and they were all overbooked on everything, too. Apparently a lot of people want to come to Kansas. You know what they say… everything’s up to date in Kansas City.

After walking to ticket counters in 4 different terminals (the stupid airport only has 6 of them) I finally had what appeared to be a workable plan, which included a stop in Chicago. Not the direct flight I had paid for, but at least I could get home.

Instead of arriving in KC at 5:30, I would be arriving here at 11:45 PM. Then wait for the shuttle. Then go find the car. Then drive an hour. But I made it, and the pups were happy to see me. It felt good to be home, but I wish Jenna were here already. Waiting isn’t fun anymore.

Two more weeks, baby!

Pete

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 17th, 2005 at 11:30 AM and is filed under Philadelphia. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.