I Will Be With You Again (on New Years Day)

Random arbitrary lyrics from a U2 song, but I guess it's kind of fitting.. More on that in the NRR section:

RR Section

I was staying at the Hyatt Dulles for the weekend, so I mappedometer-ed another route for me to take. I was feeling gung-ho about a good run, so I mapped a 5.63 mile route that took me in essentially a big loop around the area. My only issue was.. I didn't satellite image the entire route. In fact, the parts of the route I thought would be okay were not, and the parts of the route I was concerned wouldn't have a sidewalk or shoulder were completely well-equipped for runners. I started out just fine. The weather was amazing.. 14C and I was running with a tshirt and my lululemon yoga pants. I hadn't packed my running tights or outdoor stuff as the weather in Ottawa had been really craptastic and I didn't think it'd be warm and sunny in Virginia. I had to tie a hair elastic around the waist of my pants about a quarter mile into the run... guess they didn't hold up as well with the impact of the running.

I made it to the corner of Sunrise Valley and Frying Pan... started running and BAM! Where the hell did the sidewalk go?! There was no shoulder, and no sidewalk. I was running on the white line with a large embankment to my left side (so I couldn't hop on the grass for an oncoming car). I nearly poked my eye out with branches and twigs and there was some weird grass-like substance clinging to my legs. I kept pushing as I knew a sidewalk would be coming soon, but at that point, I was freaked out. Definitely going to re-route that in future! I was scared to take a wrong turn as well, knowing how that turned out for me last time I was in Virginia. I eventually finished my run, but not without getting on a sidewalk that led to nowhere first (actually, it led to the bottom of a ravine, then abruptly ended... right by a homeless guy's "house"). My time wasn't great... I think it was close to an hour. I did stop to fix my shoes, pants, stoplights, etc. I also was running against a very strong 25-30 mph wind on the way back. Either way, I finished the run so I guess it wasn't a waste.

Now onto the NRR SECTION...

I've bitched about pilot wives in the past and how they go on and on about their husbands, but I think I might slightly join the masses tonight (or at least run the outskirts of them).

I fought freezing rain/hail/sleet/snow yesterday to get on a 2:30 pm flight to Washington. My excellent gatekeeper/keymaster (gate agent) smuggled me down to the gate on a seat on a Chicago flight so that I could at least pray that the hordes were caught up in customs and a seat would open up. After being a part of those hordes for almost 3 years, I caved this summer and got a NEXUS card, and it definitely has helped. I beat everyone through customs by about 45 minutes. There were 4 open seats on the plane and they were going to give me a ticket when they realized that a family of 4 had checked 16 FREAKING BAGS on the plane. Weighing the options, they decided to wait the extra 15 minutes for these people and therefore delay the entire flight and cause on-time people to have tight connections. I, of course, didn't get on the plane... I had to go back out through customs and have my parents pick me up in my car. We went to the slots and I actually won $140 (woo, hotels covered) so it worked out, but it was a huge freaking hassle. I got on the 7:15 pm flight thanks to my wonderful gate agent saving a seat for me. Turns out he didn't need to. This time, there were about 20 people stuck in customs and the crew was NOT willing to wait. Either way, I made it to DC.

I went down to DC to see my BF who is on reserve and wanted out of the crashpad for 2 nights. We haven't spent a New Years together in the 3 years we've been together, so I made a special trip down so that we could spend it together. We had a lovely evening at the Cheesecake Factory and the next morning, I got up for my run.. When I returned from the run at around 1:45 pm, we took a shower, and when we got out, there was a missed call on the BF's phone. Scheduling had called and assigned him a Syracuse overnight for tonight. I'm pissed. Here's why:

1. He didn't fly ALL month. He had to fly tonight.

2. This is the third year we don't get a New Years Eve together

3. We had great plans for the evening including a trip into DC and dinner/drinks out.

4. We had paid for our hotel for tonight (that now neither of us will be sleeping in)

5. I had to hurry up and get ready so we could quickly get food before I had to get a 5:40 pm flight BACK to Ottawa.

6. The boyfriend's plane gets into Syracuse 15 min before midnight so he's spending midnight either at an airport or on a crew shuttle.

7. I got in too late to Ottawa to drive the 3 hours to Syracuse.

8. The weather has also been shitty.

9. The SYR flight was full so I couldn't even go with him.

10. @#@@!%@$

Just really pissed off. Usually, I'm patient with my boyfriend's lifestyle. I'm semi-used to it because I've been involved with aviation my entire life and have the same attitude towards planes that he does. I *get* him and the draw of the industry (and the downsides) and I know better than to sit and whine about his work because I would NOT be pleased if he sat and whined about how I had to do air traffic control on a midnight shift. I'm peeved that his airline is crappy and that he has access to some fantastic airlines in Canada, but can't make use of his qualifications due to legal issues (aka not legally able to work here yet). I'm also not pleased that he commutes. This may have been easier to deal with if I hadn't flown all the way down to DC, paid for hotels, etc. I'm angry because it's 10:16 pm on New Years Eve and I'm writing an angry blog post about this. Usually I can deal but tonight, I really can't.

Let's hope for the best for 2012!