It’s been a long and eventful day, y’all.  I’m exhausted, but thanks to the time change, I’m pretty wide awake.  We were up at 3:00am so we could finish up the last minute packing and make ourselves presentable for the shuttle to pick us up at 4:30 for our 6:30 flight.  We didn’t really bother going to bed.  I tried, but ended up tossing and turning, convinced I would oversleep and miss the flight.

So, we’re here in Austin.  I’m excited to be here, despite the trials getting here.  Behold my luggage, courtesy of American Airlines.



Nice, huh? My luggage was totally bashed to hell.  It looks like it went a couple rounds with a sledge hammer.  What a pisser. So, I contacted AA and they basically passed the buck to the Austin Airport, who says I have to return to the airport ($40 and an hour drive round trip) within 24 hours to file a claim.  Needless to say, this chapped my ass.  They beat my luggage to hell and I am supposed to scurry back to the airport to bring them my broken luggage so they can say, “Sorry, lady. Shit happens.” which we all know is what they’ll say.  I asked them if they have any protocol for this. Do they reimburse me the cost of the luggage? Do they replace the luggage with some they have lying around? What?  They said I had to come in.  I say American Airlines can kiss my ass.  I’ll take it up with their corporate office.

In other news… we’re here! And I’m happy about that. I’m very excited about tomorrow, though I am a little nervous.  If you’re going to be attending our panel, please say hi. Don’t be shy!  In fact, it might make me feel less nervous if some familiar ‘names’ introduced themselves.  Is my psychology working?

Ok. I’m fading… nitey nite!