Dear Daily Reckoning Reader, "Your flight itinerary has been changed. Please see an attendant." That's what the check-in kiosk at BWI said as I slid my passport into the scanner at 8:15 this morning (Sunday). Until then, I'd been in a pretty good mood. I had eaten and slept well Saturday night, packed quickly and without incident when I woke up, and was at the airport plenty early for my 9:37 a.m. flight. And for once, I was going to be on the ground in Vancouver a full day and a half before the start of this year's Agora Financial Investment Symposium... Ample time to finally take in some of the sights around that glorious city. And since I'd just recently found out that this year's Tale of Two Americas event was going to be the LAST annual Agora Financial Investment Symposium... Which meant it could also be the last time I was ever going to set foot in Vancouver... I was determined to see and do as much as I could this time around. Originally, I was scheduled to hit the tarmac at the gorgeous Vancouver International Airport at 2:24 p.m. When I stepped up to that soulless check-in kiosk, I was already daydreaming about my annual bike ride around the island at Stanley Park... Which I figured on crossing off my list later in the afternoon. Burrard Inlet is beautiful at sunset, and the forecast was perfect. Chance of rain: 0%. After sweltering in Baltimore's humid 95-degree temps all week... I could already feel the comparative crispness of Vancouver Harbor's 73-degree air bracing my freshly shaven face -- and head. "Hmmm. Your plane didn't show up," is what the attendant said, as cheerfully as if she'd just given me an upgrade to first class. Now, of all the things to tell a guy who's booked on one of your departing flights... That's probably the least comforting thing you could say. "Didn't show up" doesn't suggest a weather-related diversion or a passenger emergency that necessitated a landing at another airport. It suggests that said plane left the ground just fine wherever it was coming from... But had become unaccounted for in transit -- like in those Bermuda Triangle stories. Hearing that, I went from blissed-out to stressed-out in a nanosecond. So here I sit at gate D11 of the uninspiring BWI Airport, anxiously biting my nails down to the elbow... Wondering if whatever plane is supposed to carry me to Vancouver at 4:21 p.m. -- for an arrival of just after midnight -- is going to show up in one piece. Instead of gazing upon seals and cormorants cavorting in aquamarine waters, I'm glaring at the others at the gate. I'm hoping against hope that I'm not going to end up sitting next to that fat guy over there -- or anywhere near that family with five (!) small children. Yes, I'm miserable. But YOU don't have to be. That's because you still have time -- until midnight Tuesday, to be exact... At a substantial discount over the "show price." Remember: This is the last annual AF Vancouver Symposium. If you don't move on this video coverage now -- you'll never get another chance to see all the world-renowned Vancouver speakers in live action... All the incredible charts and graphs in living color... The ticker symbols and analyses of the companies and plays they're revealing... And a lot more. But hurry -- your time to reserve your own copies of these event videos at the special low "pre-show" price is running out. To make sure you don't miss your opportunity to save big, click here now. Talk to you soon, Jim Amrhein Symposium roving reporter P.S. Just because I'm getting off to a rough start to this year's Symposium doesn't mean you have to -- click anywhere in red now to reserve your video coverage at the lowest possible price. In less than 36 hours, you'll pay a lot more... |
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