The longest stay in Chicago was 10 months in 1997, and this trip was counted by hours. The taxi receipt shows 6:56 pm of Sept. 1st. I beat the heavy traffic and had time to change into a dress and snap a shot of the sunset from my room. The dinner meeting was fun and relaxing. First time meeting Paul and Barbara, very suprised by Jiaxun joining U. of Chicago. I like his sincere and confucian smile.
Had a quick morning walk near our hotel Club Quarters, and saw how tall its tower is from the opposite side of the river. No time for breakfast. The hotel’s business centre has coffee, and Shuyong brought us treats. The meeting is important to have my questions answered and bond us as a team. Weird! Very first failed check-in online with United, better leave for the airport earlier.
Shared a taxi with Dr. Cheng, who invited my writings to his series. We had a non-stop talk and the ride seemed to be short! Checked in at the front counter without a seat number on the boarding pass?! We two picked a central location for the last meal in Chicago and chatted more before we waved good-bye. I didn’t realize that I had to walk that far to reach my gate, packed and ready for boarding! I questioned if I could still use my e-ticket seat since it’s not printed to my boarding pass. The busy lady looked up right away, said: Where were you? I called you so many times and now it’s all full, you can’t get onto this flight!
Ha! that’s why, all the weird things happened to me! I told the lady that I promised my kids to have dinner together at home and please help me to keep my promise. She put me on the direct flight instead of transferring in Seattle, first class with future travel credits. Didn’t mean to irritate others at the counter, I told the lady: It must be my lucky day, having yummy lunch with my friend, first-class home and dinner with my family. I ran passing 20 more gates to catch my new flight. I had no room for the 1st-class food, but did have different drinks to celebrate the successful trip and the meeting of TGAG. Waking up from a nap, we were already above Mount Baker.
