Oh, the irony
One has to appreciate that I had everything truly sorted out before I left for BGG.con... just check the post below for all the travel plans.
The execution was flawless. I woke up at 4AM, got to the BART station about 6 minutes before the train, got to the airport about 70 minutes before the flight... strolled casually to the terminal, walked to the departing flights screen and could not locate my flight. Figured it must be leaving from the other terminal, walked over there, and through security...
... or rather, attempted to do so.
Because as soon as the security guy had my boarding pass, I knew something was very, very wrong. A moment later I understood why as he handed it back to me. I was at the wrong airport.
I am so used to flying out of Oakland that I just went there out of habit. Gotcha! the flight was out of San Francisco International.
I picked up my bag and RAN outside to the line of cabs waiting. I jumped in the first one and asked the driver how fast he can make it to SFO. His response was "my record is 29 minutes". I white knuckled the door handle and told him "GO!".
The time was already very near to 6:30. My flight out of the SFO was leaving at 7:25. We had to stop at an ATM along the way so I could get money out to pay him.
What a ride it was! he dropped me off curbside SFO at 7:01. I grabbed my stuff and, again, RAN to security. They took one look at me and moved me to a special line to process me ahead of others. I was out of security at 7:08. I ran to the gate. I got there at 7:12 as they were tidying up. The lady kindly let me know that had I been 3 minutes later, they would have flown off without me. They already had a boarding pass printed for the person who was going to take my place on standby.
I still have no idea how I made it in time. The cab driver was brilliant; but it was rush hour, and it was pure luck that traffic wasn't any heavier. We only got delayed a bit twice at on and off ramps. The $100 cab fare completely blew my budget, but it still felt like a miracle.
The con was great, by the way. More on that later.
The execution was flawless. I woke up at 4AM, got to the BART station about 6 minutes before the train, got to the airport about 70 minutes before the flight... strolled casually to the terminal, walked to the departing flights screen and could not locate my flight. Figured it must be leaving from the other terminal, walked over there, and through security...
... or rather, attempted to do so.
Because as soon as the security guy had my boarding pass, I knew something was very, very wrong. A moment later I understood why as he handed it back to me. I was at the wrong airport.
I am so used to flying out of Oakland that I just went there out of habit. Gotcha! the flight was out of San Francisco International.
I picked up my bag and RAN outside to the line of cabs waiting. I jumped in the first one and asked the driver how fast he can make it to SFO. His response was "my record is 29 minutes". I white knuckled the door handle and told him "GO!".
The time was already very near to 6:30. My flight out of the SFO was leaving at 7:25. We had to stop at an ATM along the way so I could get money out to pay him.
What a ride it was! he dropped me off curbside SFO at 7:01. I grabbed my stuff and, again, RAN to security. They took one look at me and moved me to a special line to process me ahead of others. I was out of security at 7:08. I ran to the gate. I got there at 7:12 as they were tidying up. The lady kindly let me know that had I been 3 minutes later, they would have flown off without me. They already had a boarding pass printed for the person who was going to take my place on standby.
I still have no idea how I made it in time. The cab driver was brilliant; but it was rush hour, and it was pure luck that traffic wasn't any heavier. We only got delayed a bit twice at on and off ramps. The $100 cab fare completely blew my budget, but it still felt like a miracle.
The con was great, by the way. More on that later.
posted by Blinkered at 7:50 PM
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