Current Threat Advisory is Orange
Oh, the sheer experience of this trip doesn’t end! Right now I should be back in Toronto, in the office, in meetings all day. Instead, I’m sitting in O’Hare, trying to stay awake after a night of just three hours sleep.
Yesterday, we manage to wrap up on time in the Chicago offices of one of our business partners. I give credit to the careful forward planning. We’re a bunch of process oriented people – and having an agenda for meetings really does help. My original flight last night was at 8:20, but knowing that a storm was heading to Chicago, I arrived early at the airport, and got on the 5:20 flight. Whoo-hoo! Or so I thought.
Around 7:30PM, the snow storm hit the airport. Visibility was gone. I couldn’t see the top of the air traffic control tower. Around 8:30, I finally got to board the American Eagle plane. It was a small plane – an Embraer 145, proudly assembled in Brazil. It was packed. It was hot. But it was ready to go. Whoo-hoo! I’d be getting back to Toronto early, and the pilot told us that once we reached cruising altitude over the lake, the weather would be better. The plane got de-iced – and unlike Toronto, this happened right at the gate – then we made our way to the runway. It took an awful long time to get to the runway, and by the time we stopped, we were right back at a gate. Huh?
Apparently, the de-icing fluid is only effective for a short period of time after it has been sprayed on. We had used up our grace period. We had to be de-iced again. I wasn’t about to complain. Safety first – and I should know something about safety. I wondered about the de-icing fluid however. What the hell was it? It must be some chemical soup that was probably not good for the environment, and here it was being liberally used.
Again, we made our way to the runway, and again, it took an awfully long time, and I started to think that three times must be a charm, when we again found ourselves arriving at a gate. The pilot told us that again, we needed to be de-iced, and also refuel, as we had expended so much fuel exploring the airport in the snow storm. I can’t imagine the amount of jet fuel that was used just going nowhere, really slow. We had already spent two hours rolling around the airport. A minute later, the pilot came back on with the news that the flight was cancelled. Fuck!
I was put on the next flight, this morning at 7AM, and told my luggage was on the plane and it was going to stay there. I was given a choice of hotels, and randomly picked one. I stood outside in the windy freeze waiting for a shuttle bus to arrive, that was driven by a putz who had both feet firmly planted on the both the accelerator and brakes at the same time.
This morning I was back at 5AM for my 7AM flight only to find out it was cancelled and I was moved to the 8:45AM flight. The 8:45 was cancelled and I was moved to the 11:45. So here I am, sitting patiently, probably smelly, definitely in need of a toothbrush, and watching some guy in a purple pastel pants, walk by.
What happened to having my own chartered flight?
Yesterday, we manage to wrap up on time in the Chicago offices of one of our business partners. I give credit to the careful forward planning. We’re a bunch of process oriented people – and having an agenda for meetings really does help. My original flight last night was at 8:20, but knowing that a storm was heading to Chicago, I arrived early at the airport, and got on the 5:20 flight. Whoo-hoo! Or so I thought.
Around 7:30PM, the snow storm hit the airport. Visibility was gone. I couldn’t see the top of the air traffic control tower. Around 8:30, I finally got to board the American Eagle plane. It was a small plane – an Embraer 145, proudly assembled in Brazil. It was packed. It was hot. But it was ready to go. Whoo-hoo! I’d be getting back to Toronto early, and the pilot told us that once we reached cruising altitude over the lake, the weather would be better. The plane got de-iced – and unlike Toronto, this happened right at the gate – then we made our way to the runway. It took an awful long time to get to the runway, and by the time we stopped, we were right back at a gate. Huh?
Apparently, the de-icing fluid is only effective for a short period of time after it has been sprayed on. We had used up our grace period. We had to be de-iced again. I wasn’t about to complain. Safety first – and I should know something about safety. I wondered about the de-icing fluid however. What the hell was it? It must be some chemical soup that was probably not good for the environment, and here it was being liberally used.
Again, we made our way to the runway, and again, it took an awfully long time, and I started to think that three times must be a charm, when we again found ourselves arriving at a gate. The pilot told us that again, we needed to be de-iced, and also refuel, as we had expended so much fuel exploring the airport in the snow storm. I can’t imagine the amount of jet fuel that was used just going nowhere, really slow. We had already spent two hours rolling around the airport. A minute later, the pilot came back on with the news that the flight was cancelled. Fuck!
I was put on the next flight, this morning at 7AM, and told my luggage was on the plane and it was going to stay there. I was given a choice of hotels, and randomly picked one. I stood outside in the windy freeze waiting for a shuttle bus to arrive, that was driven by a putz who had both feet firmly planted on the both the accelerator and brakes at the same time.
This morning I was back at 5AM for my 7AM flight only to find out it was cancelled and I was moved to the 8:45AM flight. The 8:45 was cancelled and I was moved to the 11:45. So here I am, sitting patiently, probably smelly, definitely in need of a toothbrush, and watching some guy in a purple pastel pants, walk by.
What happened to having my own chartered flight?
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