13 February 2007
Planes, Automobiles, and Bad Weather
The weather this morning in Kansas City was horrible. The amount of snow was not Michigan great but created wicked bad roads. The drive from my hotel to the airport (about 40mi) was mostly on highways where I could not see the lane markers. There were a couple of times that I saw the traction control light kick on while traveling in a straight line.
Strangely, it was the only time all week that I was happy about having a Jeep Liberty as my rental. It had used nearly 5/8 of a tank of gas moving me about 100 miles, was less than thrilling on the inside, had annoying large keys, honked when I hit the lock button, and was generally loud. But today I appreciated the 4 wheel drive.
I feared that the flight would be delayed or cancelled due to the weather. Amazingly, they boarded us only 10 minutes late and things looked great. Until the FA came onto the PA and said that we had a small "mechanical." That took them over 40 minutes to repair. I thought that if we made good time in the air I could still make my connection.
When we landed in Detroit it was pretty much on time with my other flight's departure time. When I got into the terminal I saw that my flight had been delayed 10 minutes. I began to run. Since I had to go from Terminal C to Terminal A it would be a long run with no guarantee. Inspiration stuck. I swung by a gate lady and asked her to call ahead to my gate and let them know that I was on my way. Surprisingly, she was quite accommodating and helped me.
It was a long run and by the end of it I was totally gassed (I had my backpack on) and my mouth was totally dry. Just as I was getting to the gate I realized that there was a young woman running behind me. It turns out that she had been on my flight from KC and had followed me the whole way. She asked me if I had been on the KC flight. Then she thanked me for clearing the way.
And they held the flight for us! They reopened the gate door and I did not have to wait or anything unpleasant.
Michigan is just as crappy as I was when I left last Wednesday but the roads are mostly clear now. The temperature must have gotten high enough sometime in there to get the salt down to melt the ice.
I am just thankful that I did not have to go thru the whole Neal Page experience. ¶ 21:23
Strangely, it was the only time all week that I was happy about having a Jeep Liberty as my rental. It had used nearly 5/8 of a tank of gas moving me about 100 miles, was less than thrilling on the inside, had annoying large keys, honked when I hit the lock button, and was generally loud. But today I appreciated the 4 wheel drive.
I feared that the flight would be delayed or cancelled due to the weather. Amazingly, they boarded us only 10 minutes late and things looked great. Until the FA came onto the PA and said that we had a small "mechanical." That took them over 40 minutes to repair. I thought that if we made good time in the air I could still make my connection.
When we landed in Detroit it was pretty much on time with my other flight's departure time. When I got into the terminal I saw that my flight had been delayed 10 minutes. I began to run. Since I had to go from Terminal C to Terminal A it would be a long run with no guarantee. Inspiration stuck. I swung by a gate lady and asked her to call ahead to my gate and let them know that I was on my way. Surprisingly, she was quite accommodating and helped me.
It was a long run and by the end of it I was totally gassed (I had my backpack on) and my mouth was totally dry. Just as I was getting to the gate I realized that there was a young woman running behind me. It turns out that she had been on my flight from KC and had followed me the whole way. She asked me if I had been on the KC flight. Then she thanked me for clearing the way.
And they held the flight for us! They reopened the gate door and I did not have to wait or anything unpleasant.
Michigan is just as crappy as I was when I left last Wednesday but the roads are mostly clear now. The temperature must have gotten high enough sometime in there to get the salt down to melt the ice.
I am just thankful that I did not have to go thru the whole Neal Page experience. ¶ 21:23
