A few months ago I was in BCN and in preparation for my departure the following morning a group of us went out, drank, caroused, had long drunken goodbyes, and went back to the hotel about 3AM where I decided to stay awake watching TV until leaving for my 7:35 flight at 5:30.

I fell asleep, woke up at 6:15, and ran unshowered from the Calderon to a taxi. I told the driver I'd give him an extra EUR20 if he got me there before 6:45. We made it about 6:50, and I ran to the Air Europa F line to check in. Sweating and gasping for air, I realized that I had left my carryon and laptop in the taxi and started to call the hotel to see if they could track him down for me. I got to the front of the line, handed the ticket to the agent, and watched as a group formed to scowl at my ticket, punch lots of keys on a keyboard, and look at me like I was crazy.

After a few minutes, the agent handed my tickets back to me. "Senor, el vuelo esta para manana."

As luck would have it my new best friend the taxi driver was heading into the terminal with my laptop. Back to the Calderon, where I explained to the clerk that I had checked out by mistake. I went up to the pool on the roof, got a couple hours of sleep, and did it all again the next night. This time I stayed awake, though.

-alan in seattle



[This message has been edited by alanw (edited 10-21-2002).]