Episode CXVII: California Adventure

Meg and I recently returned from a trip to California to see my little bro graduate from CSUF (B.S. in Electrical Engineering), and boy did he graduate!

First we attended his honors ceremony:

 
Then two days later we attended commencement:

Clearly, a good time was had by all:

 
Of course, while we were in California, we had to do some fun California things. For instance, we went to Huntington Beach:

 We practiced unicycling:

 We ate:

(We ate a lot)

 In fact, we ate so much, they sang to us:

All was fun and games until it was time to go back. United Airlines decided (after we sat on the plane for 45 minutes) that they were canceling our flight due to technical difficulties. They basically said: "Everyone get off the plane, and good luck finding a different flight!"

Then we all stood in this customer 'service' line for another 45 minutes.

 I ended up talking to four different representatives. They all told me my best available option was to wait until the next day and take a two-leg flight (rather than the nonstop I had purchased) which would get me back to Boston about 29 hours later than I was supposed to be. This plan would not work, as I had an important presentation to give that day. So, by the time I talked to the fourth agent, I was getting pushy- requesting additional compensation, or to talk to a manager, etc.- and guess what? All of a sudden an earlier flight that would get me back on time 'opened up'!

All told, we got back around 9 hours later than we were supposed to, then the baggage was an additional 45 minutes late, and in total, United Airlines 'apologized' by giving us a $10 meal voucher! (Once I returned home I sent a strongly-worded email requesting a refund/credit, but go figure, four days later, no response...)