So flying can suck

So we were supposed to fly out today this morning to NJ to see my family.  I have been looking forward to going home for some time and I felt I was totally prepared for this flight.  CARES system for keeping CSC in her seat - check; Lollypops for take off - check; Snack and juice cup - check; Crayola color wonder markers - check; Cell phone, iPad, and appropriate chargers - check; More clothes than I'll wear all summer for both myself and CSC - double check; Sanity - still looking.  

Because I always panic and am convinced I will forget something, I was up until about 2am.  I felt I was as prepared for this flight as I could possibly be.  I had prepped CSC about getting excited for flying. I was good to go....literally.  So we just park the car and are getting out when I get a call from my dad.  

"Hey Aim, the flight is cancelled"

"Huh?"

"The flight is cancelled and you need to go inside and ask them to put you on the 1:30 flight or the 6:20."

Great.

We go inside, The Husband takes CSC to walk around while I wait in line to talk to an airline rep.  Bad news is she and I are not on the 1:30 flight.  Good news - we are already booked on the 6:20 flight.  Ok, we can go home and relax a little bit until we have to go back.

What I'd like to know is when did flying become such a pain in the ass?  I have flown a great deal in my life and it never used to be this dreadful.  It's gotten to the point where you try to figure out how to get to your final destination without flying....like if I drive three hours to the train station there, I can take a train and then hitchhike to get where I'm going. I'm going to blame it on 9/11.