WHY I HATE AIRLINE TRAVEL: FIRST DAY TO TRAVEL : A DISASTER

Started my Journey at NORFOLK INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT AFTERNNON OF 7/10/17

My hometown, Norfolk, Virginia.

Waiting waiting waiting, taking pics

Suddenly the flight is delayed . Reason is given as follows:
From CBS
"LEESBURG, Va. — Hundreds of flights have been delayed at BWI, Reagan National and Dulles after fumes from construction work prompted an evacuation at a Federal Aviation Administration facility in Leesburg, Virginia.

Fire crews were called in around 6:40 p.m. on Monday after the fumes made it to the control room of the FAA facility in Leesburg, Virginia. The facility handles high altitude flights around the DMV."

The news from pilots was that there was a hacking attached and all the computer systems were shut down . So there was an official reason and the other one was a rumor but probably true .

So they would not let my Norfolk flight go into Dulles airport because of the airport shut down and the flight was delayed by two hours but I was told that all the flights are delayed so you will still make the connection. I arrived at Dulles airport to take Turkish Airlines into Istanbul.

The goddamn plane had already left on time and I missed it . It is now midnight.
The next two hours and 10 minutes I spent on the phone with Travelocity. Believe it or not they cannot get a Turkish airline person to answer the phone. I'm told to call back in the morning at which point I do remind them sincerely that it is already fucking morning .
Dulles international airport at 2 o'clock in the morning looks like a haunted house. There a dark shadows and dark corners in dark places and no humans around . I rode the train from Concourse the concourse and from terminal to terminal looking for help until suddenly I came upon a sign saying United airlines customer service. My first leg of the journey is through United airlines so I describe the problem to them. The guy is supposed to close the office at 2:30 in the morning and it's already a little bit beyond that. He spent four hours and I literally mean that on the phone and on the computer trying to help me and finally was able to get me a ticket . The ticket is for 11 o'clock tonight because Turkish Airlines flies only one flight per day out of this airport to Istanbul.

It is about six in the morning and I exit the airport to take a cab and go around town looking for a hotel room . Just wanted 4 to 6 hours of sleep . Come to find out a few hundred dollars later for the taxi cab and having to work the town full of hotels that there are no empty rooms as the Dallas instead and caused many cancellations and everybody got into a hotel .

I am back at the airport and I have cornered one very uncomfortable chair and have made it my own. It is right across from the Turkish airline counter. Time is 12:40 PM and the counter it will not open until four

This is my new home . Hoping to get the boarding pass around 4 o'clock and then go past security to get to my gate and then sleep on the dirty carpet .

During all this ruckus I got a little bit hungry so I went to the shop in the airport and got me a nice tuna sandwich and a Coke. At the checkout counter I was asked for $28 which I did pay. Why?

It has been a horrible 24 hours so far . I feel like Tom Hanks in the movie where the dude was living at the airport .
One way or the other this ends tonight .
I am sorry to report that from here on I will not be traveling Turkish Airlines ever again unless and until they can improve their customer service or at least their phone answering abilities which seems sort of basic to most human needs.

Further travel stories to come, I hope with less cussing. Stay tuned.
I am doing this on an iPad at the airport and I'm half dead and half asleep. Excuse the non-centering of the images and excuse the grammar and spelling mistakes.