Travel horrors, jet lag, and WORK

Disclaimer: I don't really use bad language here, but you'd find a bit of it in this post.

Well let me start off by saying that finally I am sitting in the bright and sunny comfort of Raleigh, NC! How I got here, and all that's happening is a completely different (and at parts quite weird) story...

See I took off from Isloo as planned, and landed in Dubai as planned. No delays, no plane going bonkers, no passenger carrying a 2 foot sword in his walking stick (again all the things that I've witnessed in the flights I've been on). So I landed in Dubai, feeling good at least about the flight working out, of course when you leave your family for 3 months, it does kind of boil down on you!

And then I checked into my Dubai-JFK link. Again on time, with the boarded passenger area filling in slowly. All seemed well until the flying time came and went, then it was 1 hour, 2 hours, and finally after a 3 hours delay, we took off! OK, now the airline had already started losing its mind at this stage. First they kept announcing that the three flights coming in from India were delayed! But why are we delayed because of that was the question that came to my mind, which was answered by the fact that about 70% of the passengers were coming on the flights already delayed! And then they started announcing that the reason for the delay was actually bad weather in NY! OK, a bit weird, but...can happen!

So 3 hrs delayed, we finally took off! And we flew and flew and flew! I know, I know, it was supposed to be a 16 hr flight! And then the dreadful announcements started coming! Dear passengers the weather in NY still hasn't improved, but hopefully it would get better by the time we land. Dear passengers, NY is reportedly in the middle of the second worst snow storm in the history, but hopefully it would clear by the time we land! Dear passengers, NY is a no go, and we'll actually be taking you to Dulles Airport in DC!

SHIT! DAMN! FUCK!

OK, so we changed routes and went on to DC! And the plane landed, and I along with the other 300 passengers on the verge of a break-down due to constantly sitting for 16 hrs; started getting our things together. And then came another announcement. Ladies and Gentlemen, due to all the flights being re-routed to DC, the airport is busy, hopefully we'd be able to get a hanger in about an hour. Strange I thought, cause the airport was literally empty...

So we started waiting, and we kept waiting...and we waited for 4 freaking hours! 4 hours of inactivity, stuck in that little plain! And O yes, I'm a smoker! AAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

OK, so finally we move to a hanger, go through the entry point, and we have to re-check our luggage, as Emirates has to take us to NY! Kill me! Kill me now! Get the most blunt knife you can find and just KILL ME!

Now the plane's supposed to leave at 3.30 am for NY. And again we check our luggage in, and walk into the boarding area. We sit, and wait...and we wait...and then...well we wait some more! Now the story is that the crew flying the plain has to rest as they've used up their flying hours, and the other crew is on their way. And of course they're being driven to work by an absolute imbecile, who took the wrong exit! Alright, now my mind is just ringing warnings! This can't be happening! Heck it doesn't even sound logically possible!

So finally the crew arrives, after another 4 hours wait, and we take off for JFK! We land, with an hour to my next flight, and I have a big smile on my face! Man, I'll finally make my link to Raleigh! And then we begin to wait and wait and yep! You guessed it right! Wait some more. Reason being that Emirates is so small an airline that they only have one hanger, and we can't dock until the other plane gets out!

Guess what, I miss my link, as we keep sitting in the plane, waiting for it to freaking dock the port! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

So as we land, we're told that Emirates is going to arrange our links and put us in a hotel room to rest! OK, but dude, I just want to get to Raleigh! How difficult is that! So I get my luggage (btw my bags were the last out from the conveyor belt) and walk into the long queues to get a next flight outta here! So I am told that the next available flight leaves in about 7 hours! So I get a hotel pass, and rush off to finally take a shower, begin to feel a little like a human being, eat food that doesn't taste like cooked tooth-paste, and if I'm lucky, get a hour or two's rest! So far so good, and apart from the freezing cold (I feel like my arms are going to fall off after being frozen in the -20 degree NY cold) the plan works! I walk into a hotel room, check my email, get a (sing with me now) long long long and hot hot hot shower, change into clean clothes, fill myself up with edible lasgania, and get two hours worth of sleep!

So I get up, quickly grab everything, forget my belt in the hotel room, and get the next available link to JFK. I go through the US security screenings, where they do everything just short of poking you with sharp objects, and walk into the boarding area! Guess what! MY fucking flight gets delayed all over again! Yep, someone up there is seriously pissed at me! So I wait and wait and wait, with the added pleasure of gates being opened to let in freezing cold gushes of wind! And finally our flight takes off (btw the delay was attributed to the crew not being there again), and yes we're 3 hours delayed again!

And finally I hit Raleigh at 3 am and take a cab to the hotel, and just crash to sleep. After unpacking of course and lining everything up neatly, see I'm a freak for that while traveling! And yes! Since it's a week night, I get up at 7, after hardly a few hours of sleep, and rush off to what's going to be my work site for the next 3 months!

And a long excruciating day at work begins! But there's solace, the team I'm working with are extremely friendly and homely sort of people, and they're competent as well, and hard working to top it off! Quite a rare, if not an impossible combination to find (my working friends would agree with me)! And at around 7 in the evening, I finally head home, and well wake up the next day, to begin what's hopefully going to be an easy schedule of working as much as I can so that I don't have to sit in that hotel room forever. And every now and then, finding time to explore Raleigh, and all the wonders it has!

So here's to another my kind of trip coming to an end, with me, surprisingly, amazingly, astoundingly, unbelievably, still in one piece!

And yes, I'm missing my family and friends like anything!

Next time then!