Tis the Season to Be Merry...Right?!?!

Anyone who knows me knows I have the worst luck traveling. And I mean the WORST luck! From lost luggage to endless delays to canceled flights I have seen and experience it all. I have even been on board a plane that was struck by lightning during our landing -- and yes, the emergency lights do light up in the case of an emergency. Yet despite all of my travel headaches, I still continue to travel and fly on a regular basis. There are times where I feel like I spend more time in the airport than I do in my own home. I try to stay positive and often keeping telling myself it can't get much worse... this was just a once in the lifetime experience, etc.

Well yesterday I had another enjoyable experience while flying. I was on my way out to see Ryne for the holidays and my plane had just landed in Denver. Now, it's pretty basic and a simple rule that you wait for your row's turn to disembark the plane. Apparently some woman did not get this memo nor have the common sense to follow the pattern that all of the other travelers were following. I eye this woman pushing her way up the aisle from the back of the plane and just rolled my eyes. She was one of those passengers. You know, the ones that you pray don't sit next to you or come any where near you. So I continue to make way off the plane when all of a sudden that woman slams into me from behind. I mean seriously... where did she think she was going. And for the record, we got in 40 mins early so it's not like she had a close connection. So anyways, she slams into me and I could feel something fall into my carry-on bag. Turns out it was her bottle of Diet Dr. Pepper. I did not realize it was her soda that had fallen into my bag until MUCH later and she was long gone. When I went to the restroom I noticed my bag was all wet. I peaked inside and saw my bag was FILLED with her soda. My Christmas cards that I had been working on during my flight were wet. But worst of all so was my laptop. No!!!!!! I quickly grabbed a bunch of paper towels and tried to dry it off as best I could. But it was too late... the soda had made its way into my monitor. My poor monitor looked like a lava lamp.. you could see the liquid and bubbles behind the screen. It was all I could do to not cry.

After many phone calls and support calls I was told to leave my laptop off and to take it in to get fixed ASAP. Apparently soda will corrode a laptop in a matter of hours (but diet soda is "better" than regular since it doesn't have all of that sugar!!). So Ryne took my laptop off to work with him this morning to get it cleaned and fixed. I am just praying that it is OK and I can get it back soon so I can do my work and grading.

Thankfully I have been using Ryne's laptop today. And I keep reminding myself that tis the season to be merry!!