Plane tickets, the saga continues, or really really do you want these guys running our health care?

When I left you last, our TA was in accounting waiting for that final approval.  Or so we thought.  After consulting with a colleague, Brandon discovered that there was one last step following accounting.  And accounting hadn't done a thing for several days.  So last Wednesday he got in touch with accounting and discovered that the person who was supposed to approve the TA was... out of the office.  So it was re-routed and we received authorization to travel on Thursday night.  1 1/2 weeks before travel.

Now we are coming close on 4 days before travel and have no plane tickets.  That reservation that we thought had been held disappeared somehow and we have no reservation.  Well, we have a reservation from Cairo to Frankfurt, and DC to Raleigh, but none from Frankfurt to DC, and it's a long walk from one to the other.  Somehow all five flights from one to the other are full in Economy class.  I suppose it's a popular time of year to go from Germany to DC.

I am not one to get antsy about situations, but I confess that I am getting nervous.  Travel authorizations are for specific dates and so we can't simply move the travel to a date where seats are available - that would necessitate going through the entire TA process again which is what got us into this pickle in the first place.  And so, we wait, hoping that something will open up.  At this point, I'm even willing to consider a 8 1/2 hour layover in New York.  Well, almost.