I have plenty of time to write this entry. You see, our flight from Ft. Lauderdale to Grand Cayman leaves the airport at 10:40AM and we have planned to be at the airport two hours early to make sure we get through security on time. Last night I set the alarm clock for 6:30AM to make sure we were able to get up, get ready and have breakfast before heading out.

Sure enough, 6:30AM rolls around and the unwelcome blare of country music prompts me to not only wake up… but wake up with an intent to hurt something. Ah well, at least the alarm clock did its job. So we roll out of bed, shower and get ready to head to the front desk where we have arranged for a shuttle bus to take us to the airport at 8:00AM. Nothing can stop us now, we’re just a few short hours from Grand Cayman.

We grab our bags and head to the front desk with 10 minutes to spare. Things are going swimmingly and the Ramada was even nice enough to provide us with a current newspaper to read during the flight.

Mel got to the front desk first and this is what I heard as I finished the last several steps to the lobby.

Mel: “We have scheduled a shuttle bus to take us to the airport, we’d like to check out and get on that bus, please.”

Hotel Employee: “Excellent, the shuttle bus for 7:00?”

Mel: “No, the shuttle bus for 8:00.”

Hotel Employee: “Ah… then… you have an hour and fifteen minutes to wait until that bus departs.”

Me: “Er… What time is it?”

Hotel Employee: “It’s 6:45AM.”

Much to the delight of the 3 hotel employees standing around it dawned on Mel and I that someone had set our alarm clock ahead an hour. I’m not sure what areas of Earth are an hour ahead of EST, but I no longer like those areas. Mel and I were left with the decision to hang out in the hotel lobby and watch the news or to go ahead to the airport and wait there. “Who needs 3 hours at the airport to catch a plane?” we thought as we sunk into the very, very comfortable Ramada lobby couch.