Hell: Day One

When heading to the airport, one should always leave with ample time to get to the airport and avoid traffic. Even when planning ahead for traffic, one cannot always predict how badly it will impact their trip.

Full car ride to the airport!

Today was one of those days that traffic patterns were completely unpredictable and caused a ton of problems. We left my house at 9AM with hopes of arriving at the airport in about an hour and a half. Of course there was a ton of traffic all the way to the expressway. When we finally made up for lost time on the expressway, we came to a dead stop. After FORTY FIVE MINUTES OF MOVING AS SLOW AS MOLASSES, we FINALLY made it to the problem. The lovely street repair workers decided to turn FOUR LANES OF TRAFFIC into ONE. WHO THE HELL DECIDES TO DO THAT IN THE MORNING!? ON THE WAY TO THE AIRPORT!?

Needless to say, I made it to the airport 25 minutes until my flight was scheduled to take off... at the other end of the terminal.

I had to rush around to get my baggage checked and the woman ever-so-kindly said "Well, your luggage probably isn't going to make it since you're so late. You'll have to drive back to the airport to pick it up in a few days." I'm sure she could see through my smile and "Okay, that's fine" because I was FUMING on the inside. It wasn't even my damn fault and I was suffering the consequences.
My mind immediately went to my carry on bag: Did I even put clothes in here? Shit, what am I going to do if I only have my sheets in here? Looks like I'll be washing and wearing the same outfit every damn day until my luggage gets to Atlanta...

After I checked in, I had to wait in an incredibly long line to be checked by TSA. I kept thinking to myself that I wasn't even going to make my flight. 11:15AM: Ten minutes until the flight was scheduled to leave. OH MY GOSH COULD THIS LINE GO ANY SLOWER!?
Finally, I was able to fly across the airport to the farthest terminal just to wait in another line. Apparently people were just beginning to board the plane. THANK GOD.

Once I made it to my seat, I tried to put my carry on in an overhead container. Of course, there was no room around me. Just another lovely thing to happen. Luckily, a southern gentleman saw my struggle and helped me put my bag towards the back of the plane. I finally sat down, turned up my iPod and tuned out the rest of the plane.

... And then my iPod died. I forgot to charge the damn thing. Another thing to add to my list of shit going wrong.

Once we were in the air, I pulled out my laptop, turned up some Girl Talk, and started typing up my plans for Orientation. It was nice to get lost in the world of TIP on the plane because it made the trip go by extremely fast.

Getting some planning done on the flight

Around 1:15PM, we landed in Atlanta. It was the moment of truth: Would my luggage make it to baggage claim?

I decided to walk from my terminal to the baggage claim instead of taking the complimentary shuttle train. It wouldn't be THAT far, right?

WRONG. I'm not sure how far it was, but anyone who knows me knows that I am a speed walker. It took me over 20 minutes to walk to baggage claim, which might not seem like a long time, but for someone who walks as fast as I do, it was an insanely far and long walk.

When I finally arrived to baggage claim, I could not find my damn luggage. All hope was about to be lost when suddenly it appeared! I was ecstatic! I'M GOING TO HAVE CLEAN CLOTHES AND DEODORANT! WOOHOO!

Around 2PM, my friend Kelsey, the Operations Coordinator for our site, picked me up in the pouring rain (Welcome to Atlanta!). We drove through one hell of a storm, but managed to arrive at UGA an hour and a half later. I was 'home' for the summer.

Fun fact: Target has a target on its roof

After entering Myers, all of the staff members were seated in the lobby. I immediately looked to our On-Site Director who was walking towards me. Apparently, there was a giant mix up with the rooms and we needed to meet with the Community Director in Myers Hall. (Oh joy. Another thing to add to the list...)

We met with the Community Director and tried to explain specifically what we needed. After forty five minutes of explanations, we finally had the rooms for the people in the lobby. (Unfortunately, the rest of the staff will not be getting assignments until tomorrow, but they aren't even here yet so it doesn't really matter...)

Once we had everything figured out, we were all given our keys and were allowed to move in. Yay!
Of course, everything would not run smoothly, though. No, that would be too easy.
The Residence Hall Leaders and the Residential Program Assistant's floors were being waxed so there was no furniture in any of the rooms. Another item added.
Luckily, the staff members were extremely flexible and understanding. They have accepted three temporary rooms on the first floor until the furniture has been replaced. (I'm crossing my fingers that tomorrow they can move into their permanent rooms.)

Burger night!

At 5:30PM, we headed to Grindhouse for hamburgers. (Fun fact: Today is national hamburger day!) The extended admin team had a really great time chatting and getting to know each other. Even though only a few people knew each other, it seemed as though everyone wanted to talk to one another. (Yay bonding!)

After dinner, we headed back to Myers for some logistical items. I've been sitting here blogging and bonding with some of my staff members. I can already tell this is going to be a great summer.

Despite the day from hell, I am so happy to be back at TIP. It's going to be a challenging summer, but very rewarding.

The next few days are going to be quite hectic, but hopefully I will be able to make time to blog.

Here's to an exciting next few days and one hell of a summer!