Wow! What an eventful week last week. How busy? Well, busy enough that I’m doing my weekly round up on Tuesday instead of Sunday. For those that have been keeping up, you may know that I flew out to New York on Friday to meet with the producers from CNBC’s personal finance show called “On The Money“. It was supposed to be a simple trip that had me leaving St. Louis airport at 8:55 a.m., arriving to Laguardia with plenty of time to get to my appointment at CNBC by 3 p.m. and then catching the return flight back to St. Louis at 7:50 p.m. Yes, that’s a lot of traveling in one day, but I felt it was worth it.
Well, the day started off with me not being able to sleep (nervous perhaps?) and finally falling asleep at 1:30 a.m. to be awoken by my alarm at 4 a.m. For those than familiar with the area, it takes about two hours for me to get the airport, so I have to schedule enough time to park, check in and go through security. So as I’m driving up to St. Louis on minimal sleep, I get a phone call from American Airlines informing that my flight had been cancelled and the next flight would be at 10:55 a.m. Great! I could have got more sleep.
We finally board at 10:30 a.m. and then get an announcement that are flight was being pushed back again till 11:30. Remember my 3 pm appointment with CNBC? Yeah, it’s getting close now and I’m starting to panic a bit. So what’s next? How about another push back to 12:35 p.m. Are you kidding me? By this time, I’m e-mailing the producer at CNBC letting her know of my dilemma, but she reassures me that they will wait for me. That relieves me a bit, but not enough where I can get any sleep on the flight. Did I mention that American Airlines was nice enough to offer $4 bags of mixed nuts as a token of their appreciation of making me late? They definitely win the customer service of the year award.
I finally arrive to NYC at about 3:30 (already 30 minutes late) and I have to catch a cab to New Jersey. After grabbing a pretzel at the airport which was my breakfast and lunch, I flag down a cab and begin my trafficked filled journey across the river. Did I mention my cab fair was $110? That’s almost half of the price of my airlines ticket. Just another reminder why I live in the Midwest.
I finally make it to the studio at about 5:20 p.m. Remember my return flight is at 7:50 so I don’t have much time. I had a wonderful meeting with the producer’s and my take away, provided I pass a background test (no skeletons in my closet), they are going to try me out for a segment and see how I do. If I do well, “we’ll see from there” was the producer’s words. Woo-hoo! I don’t have a time or date yet, but rest assured; I’ll keep you all posted on the developments.
The meeting ends about 10 after 6 and I’m racing to the next cab (yes, the second $100 cab ride). I already think that there’s no way I can make it and I already have visions of me sleeping on the airport terminal floor. Man, I miss my bed. But thanks to Bruce the cab driver, I make it to the airport at 5 till 7 p.m. and I’m think I’m good. Actually, I was more than good. Why? Because American Airlines pushed back my flight again! This time I didn’t leave until 9 p.m. Arriving in St. Louis at 11 p.m., I didn’t make it home until almost 2 a.m. and I was pooped. I slept like a baby, though. Happy thoughts of me being on CNBC. 
Good Reads For the Week:
- 5 Dollars Really Adds Up! – A guest post by Bobbi at Gather Little by Little
- 10 Tips to Reduce Your Clutter and Get Organized – Simple. Organized. Life.
- Recession-Proof Your Debt Snowball – Great post over at Frugal Dad.
- Insurance Round Up- Fellow Bloggers share their experiences of how they got their families insured at Prime Time Money
- Stop Lying To Yourself - over at Studenomics.
- I recently wrote a post on Cobra Insurance and then the laws were changed a bit. Four Pillars offers the Cobra Insurance Subsidy details for 2009.
- Make sure you compare your auto insurance rates. Amateur Asset Allocator gives some good tips.
This week’s Carnivals:
- Rich Life Carnival #32 was held at Rich Life Equals Better Life.
- Festival of Frugality #166 – The Winter Is Almost Over Edition was held at Student Scrooge.
- Carnival of Personal Finance #193: YouTube Edition
- Money Hacks Carnival: Bailout Edition was hosted at Personal Finance Ology.
Securities offered through LPL Financial, Member FINRA/SIPC.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Jeff congrats and best of luck to you with CNBC! I hope you don’t become too famous for your blog. Thanks for the link and get some sleep!
Studenomics’s last blog post..How the Weekends Could Make You Rich
Good luck Jeff. I look forward to seeing you on national TV!
Man Overboard’s last blog post..Strawberry In a Jam.
Wow. What a beat down. But I bet you were elated that it went so well. Can’t wait to catch you on the show. Thanks for mentioning the insurance roundup.
PT Money’s last blog post..Flexible Spending Account: Don’t Forget to Update it When You Have a Baby
Congratulations on the appearance….post the time/day it airs so your readers don’t miss it.
Ken’s last blog post..A Vacation Worth Taking
Congrats on CNBC, that is fantastic! Thanks for the link, appreciate it
An adventure to say the least! I actually had a similar experience in Italy once – catching the last train back from Venice and a cab driver not afraid to drive 130 clicks through small Italian towns. That’s a story best told over a cold beer! Hope it turns out well for you. My Italian train story did.