Friday, December 10, 2010

And I raaaan ... I ran so far awaaaayyyy.

Yep, of all the things to stick in my head, it's Flock of Seagulls. Of course, it's appropriate when you consider the day yesterday.  For those that miss my quick and (not so) dirty Twitter or Facebook updates, I flew out to Tucson, AZ the on Wednesday for a meeting on Thursday morning.  As far as the trip itself, I was surprised by how much I liked the area.  That's not to say I went in thinking I'd hate it, but it was a lot different than I expected ... and I was pleasantly surprised.  I'll have more on trip wheres, whys, and howfortos of the trip later, but I digress.



So the trip itself wasn't bad, but the flights?  They were a little on the interesting side.  For starters, flying out TO Tucson from Jacksonville gave me an unusual experience at the security checkpoint.  No, I was not subjected to one of those "aggressive" TSA pat downs that apparently leave you feeling that you should have at least gotten dinner and a movie first.  Instead, there was a short message on the security radio channel ... and everything immediately stopped.  Even I've got to admit, there's something almost spooky about things when a place bustling with activity just stops cold and you can suddenly hear a pin drop.  And yes, it really got THAT quiet.  Eventually, and handful of security and police led away an attractive 20-ish something young woman behind the frosted glass detention w/ all her stuff in tow.  She didn't seem to be all that upset, though.  Hey, maybe SHE was about to get one of those friendly pat downs, had heard some stories, and was looking forward to the experience.  Or maybe she was a drug mule on the run from a Miami-based cartel hoping to get away just long enough for Will Smith and Martin Lawrence to rescue her for Bad Boys 3.  OR maybe she just accidentally packed a full sized shampoo in her carry-on.  I guess we'll never know now.

So that was the trip out, what about the trip back?  That was another fiasco.  Everything was actually smooth sailing up until I boarded the plane.  I was there in plenty of time, the plane wasn't packed, and things were looking good.  But I couldn't help thinking something was wrong when, ten minute after everyone boarded, we still hadn't left the gate.  Apparently there was some oil around one of the engines and they decided to check it out "just to make sure we don't have an oil line break loose in flight".  Yeah, Captain Obvious, I'd say that's probably a good plan.  Unfortunately, it's ALSO a good plan that put us forty minutes late getting airborne.  And who's got two thumbs and a layover of exactly forty minutes in Dallas?  THIS GUY!!

So, I ultimately reach DFW and get off the plane with eleven minutes 'til my connecting flight takes of.  Laptop and carry-on in-hand, I haul ass from one end of Terminal A to the other end of Terminal C.  I'm guessing somewhere along the way there was a sonic boom or such because I somehow reached escape velocity and pulled away from the icy grip of Dallas/Fort Worth by reaching my flight as the LAST person to board.  Better still, it was the last light to Jacksonville, meaning I'd have been stuck overnight if I'd missed it.  Still, I made it out, made it home, and got to sleep in MY bed last night.

"Yay" for small victories!!

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