Monday, March 30, 2015

Yesterday...

I don't know if I should laugh or cry over what happened yesterday...I had a great morning and early afternoon, switching back and forth between cleaning and family research. At 6 in the evening, I made my evening visit to Jasmine, and I picked up Lynn's Lexus in order to meet her at the airport when her flight arrived.  I came back home, first, and checked the Denver arrivals flight list, and saw that Lynn's flight was reading "On Time."  Her plane was due to land at 9:15, but the estimated time of arrival stated 9:10.  I checked the Denver International Airport flight list again at 7:55, just before leaving the apartment.  At that point in time, a small notice icon appeared next to Lynn's flight, and I looked at it.  It said that they had no confirmation that the flight had left at the specified time, and that (a) it might be running slightly late, (b) might have been postponed, or (c) that their server simply hadn't received the correct information regarding the flight yet.
  Before going to Jasmine's, I had taken my cell phone from it's charger, and made a quick call, to verify that the phone was on and working.  I kept the phone in my back pocket to and from Jasmine's house. I laid the phone in the passenger seat beside me for the drive to the DIA cell phone lot, and left my place at 7:58, figuring 45 minutes to an hour for the drive to the airport.  I arrived at the cell lot at 8:45, and went in to check the Arrivals board...  and I was surprised to see that it said that Lynn's flight would arrive at 11:20 p.m.  I thought it was good that I had brought a book along to read, so I changed the parking spot to one beneath a light post, and opened my book. About every 15 minutes, or so, I'd check my phone.  I went back and checked the Arrivals board at 9:45 - and I stood staring at it for so long, that an older man asked if I needed help reading it.  I asked him to verify that I was reading the arrival time correctly for Lynn's flight - and he said, "Yes, ma'am.  It says it's on time and will arrive at 11:20 p.m."   I went back inside to check the Arrivals board at 11 p.m., and it still said 11:20 for Lynn's flight number.
   Lynn usually calls me the moment she's allowed to use her phone after landing...  and then she calls from the baggage carousel, so I can meet her with very little wait time, at the pick up point.  At 11:30, when I hadn't received any calls, I started trying to call her.  I'd press her number, press call, and my phone would immediately say "Call Ended" as soon as it began to dial.  So I turned the blasted phone off and on several times.  It wouldn't let me make any calls - but it had worked fine at 6 p.m.  I "played" with it some more, pressing random buttons - then I tried to call Lynn again. The call went through, but put me into her voice mail after 6 rings... I left her a message that I was still sitting in the cell phone lot and was really becoming concerned about her.  I ended that call, and made another to a friend I know is always up late.  We talked for a few minutes, and then I turned the phone on and off again.  Now it said that I had 20 missed calls and 12 voice messages.
   Lynn's flight had arrived at 9 p.m.  She called me several times and left messages.  She then called a neighbor to see if her car was at home (which it wasn't).  She called me again.  She was becoming more worried and more agitated.  At 10 pm, she left a voice message saying she was taking a cab home from the airport, and hoped that I was safe and sound.  I listened to all of her messages, and then tried to call her again - she picked up her phone at 12:05 a.m.  I told her I was still waiting for her call, sitting in the cell phone lot at DIA.  She laughed until she cried.  We then exchanged stories, said, "Good night," and I drove back to Boulder.  She had arrived at home, in a cab, at 11:25 p.m.  I arrived at my apartment, still driving her car, at 1:05 a.m.
   And I was up and going at 5;45 this morning, as usual....  We still don't know what happened with my cell phone...   We can't figure out why 3 other people, besides me, verified that the Arrivals board stated her flight would arrive at 11:20 (when it had arrived at 9:00)....  
   We agreed that what with sun spots, solar flares, and some kind of hinky magic, we had been visiting The Twilight Zone.

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