True Story-
Last September I went to the Reno Air Races, I came home a day early to have a day to relax before I went back on reserve in NY. I had to ride the jumpseat back to ORD from RNO (gee, full flights after the races, imagine that!). Anyway, I'm eating dinner (it's 7 in the evening) and all of a sudden I thought "Hey, my days off just don't seem to line up properly here, when am I back on reserve?" A half second later I was running up the stairs to the computer because I was supposed to be on reserve in NY TOMORROW not the day after like I'd thought.
So I'm at the computer thinking "okay, maybe I didn't get a trip and I can just take the first flight to LGA in the morning, it gets in at 0830." Oh no, scheduling had given me a trip with a 0715 show time. There was no way I could make it, the last flight of the day leaves ORD at 8 pm, and I couldn't get from my house to the gate in one hour.
Basically I'm screwed at this point, so I call scheduling and confess, I'm given a 'missed trip' and told to report to LGA as early tomorrow as possible.
I go to bed, and at 3 am the phone rings, it's my in-laws, my husband's grandfather passed away during the night. I get up, make the in-laws travel arraingments for them to go to RSW where the grandparents live. I wake my husband, give him the news, and then get ready to head to ORD to commute. I figure I'll go to LGA, get my spanking for my missed trip, and go to RSW via MIA from LGA.
I get suited up, go to throw my bags in the back of my station wagon, and as soon as I open the back hatch I smell something funny. Like burning plastic. I put the key in the ignition, and it feels like the switch is full of silly putty. At some time in the night my ignition switch had lit on fire and burned itself up.
At this point I basically give up on the entire day.
I go in the house, call my supervisor, and tell him I won't be able to make it to LGA today. I got personal emergency days to attend the funeral, but the missed trip stood. It was my own fault I wasn't in NY when I was supposed to be.
Morale of the story - Know when you're supposed to commute in for work!