OK, so all the bank transfers have been made and I log on to get my tickets at Orbitz. I plug in my dates and times and surprise!...no flights (sigh). The crazy flight is still there (the one that takes me everywhere else in the world before landing in Joburg), but that's not happening on my watch. I finally find one that will take me from Detroit to Cincinnati (which really isn't in Cincinnati at all, but Kentucky) then to Atlanta. As I start making headway, I am prompted to buy trip insurance. I should probably discuss this with my wife but she's out for an hour or two, but what the hell, I can wait. What could possibly change in two hours?
I talk it over with the wife and it is decided that the extra couple hundred is well worth it for trip insurance. I log back on to Orbitz, bring up my agenda and BAM! it's gone! Noooooooooo. My head is pounding and I want to throw my monitor across the room (but I still need it). I back my date up by one day and find another flight. I call my PH in Africa and ask if I can arrive a day earlier? (im already arriving two days early) "Sorry, we still have a client in camp...but your welcome to stay a few days latter at no extra charge". That doesn't work for me.
    My head is spinning and I need a drink (something in the single malt category). I have an epiphany. If my flight disappeared in two hours, maybe another will miraculously take it's place if I wait another two hours. By some kind of divine intervention, it happens. This time I am ready! I'm as nervous as a whore in church. With the click of a mouse, I have spent almost $4.500 on two round trip tickets to Africa. There is NO turning back now!