it's all relative...

...what some would refer to as a 'first world problem'. Which is, of course not really what could be considered problematic, just a superficial inconvenience. Nothing at all like walking five miles down a dirt path with a five gallon jerry can balanced on your head to the river. Then returning home with the knowledge you will have to forage for firewood in order to boil the water before using it to cook.

That flight that was expected to get me back to GA by mid-afternoon was delayed. I'd expected to have time after arrival to do a little visiting. But the plane was three hours behind schedule taking off from Richmond.Mostly weather related, with a little poor planning thrown in for good measure. I knew before we left the house the departure tine had been pushed back an hour, to leave at 2:30, instead of 1:30. I was prepared, with ample reading material available.

We were even later than the rescheduled time boarding. And then it starts to get bad: we had to be de-iced prior to take off. The tank truck that sprays out the de-icing fluid went dry half-way through another airliner. So we had to wait for the de-icing guy to trundle across the field to re-supply. Return to the gate area and finish (or possibly restart?) the adjacent plane before he could start on the one going to Atlanta.

A necessary precaution we could all be thankful for. Causing liftoff to be approximately three hours behind the original plan. I had people awaiting my arrival, but no worries about making connections, trying to do the dash for another flight. Even so, it was early dark after wending through the concourse, down the escalator to the plane train. Back up the seriously long/steep 'Escalator to Paradise', where I found my smiling peeps ready to squeeze me back to Georgia.

Home by eight o'clock, and in my jammies ready for bed by 9 p.m. I knew I would likely regret the (secret addiction) curb store cappuccino I stopped for as I was departing the metro. Woke up about one thinking it was time to get up and start a new day... so I am due a nap after lunch!

But all of that is really just a minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of things. Also nothing compared to having a flight from NYC to ATL simply cancelled back in the spring. Leaving us to our own devices, which rapidly devolved into a fourteen hour rental car trip back to Atlanta .. And even that is of little consequence: we had the funds and the time, and with an amusing travel companion, though tedious, not  miserable by any stretch.