Yawn……..Travel days start too early. The alarm went off at 4:00 a.m. to make a 7:05 flight. The airport is 20 minutes away. 10 minutes through security. Why get up at 4? It takes me that long to ingest the caffeine necessary to make myself presentable. Besides, I may decide to change my clothes 3 or 9 times before I head out.

Just before I walk out the door to the car this morning (remind me to tell you about my car service experiences sometime!), I realize I don’t have the badge that will allow me into my secured-floor office. Heck, I can’t even get into the bathroom without it. After charging around the house looking, I find it stashed in my jewelry box (on top of the earrings I changed my mind about earlier).

Security lines weren’t bad this morning….except that when I go through the “take off your shoes” routine and pat myself down looking for rogue metal, I realize that the badge (yes, that same badge) isn’t hooked onto my beltloop. Damn!

Once through security (with only a slight delay caused by my forgetting about the baggie of liquid items because I was panicked about the badge issue), I phone Mr. Hot to vent about losing damn badge. He finds it laying on the walk in front of the house.

So now I know….

….it’s going to be one of those trips.

But hey, at least the panic subsided enough for me to get settled into my seat, cover up with the blanket (hey, first class upgrades buy you some privileges), and prepare for a little nap. A 45-minute flight to the Windy City is perfect …. just drift off and arrive refreshed.

Well, the drifting off went well. The rumble of the plane and arrival at the runway signaled imminent departure. Gaining speed, I feel the lift of the wheels just starting…the blissful sleepy feeling is washing over me when WHAM! Brakes on. Hard. Enough to understand why you keep your seatbacks in an upright position and stow tray tables. Engines off.

The pilot’s voice comes over the speaker: “Sorry about that ladies and gentlemen - but we thought something was wrong with the plane. Now we don’t think there is. So, we’ll just go back around to the beginning of the runway and try again.”

— Somehow, I don’t think a nap is in the cards for this trip. Come to think of it, it’s not even necessary. I’m wide awake now —

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