[travel] Such a day, and it's not even 4:30 am yet

So far this morning:

• Had to wake my cabbie up


• He didn't know how to get to the airport


• He didn't know where to park his cab at the airport to let me out


• He had to run my credit card through the in-car system three times and never did get an auth code


• The United Airlines ticket machines refused to print me a boarding pass


• The United Airlines agent (who was very pleasant about it) could only get me a middle seat in the cramped aft of the aircraft


• The above is a result of my recent status downgrade which in turn is a result of me being grounded most of last year due to cancer treatments — I have already appealed this to United, but they were not moved


• My boarding passes got stuck together in the security line and I spent a couple of moments thinking I'd lost one

On the other hand, I'm up, at the airport, and on my way to Florida. It's all good. Plan for the flights: napping, writing and expanding my carbon footprint.