I’m back.
The return trip was one nightmare after another – the Buffalo to Chicago flight canceled due to (I’ve just learned) tornadoes; the process to rebook unbelievably badly handled by American Airlines that’s AMERICAN AIRLINES; the rebooking entailing a four hour wait in Buffalo and a time of arrival in Seattle five hours later than the scheduled one; the Buffalo to Detroit flight made to sit at the gate for an hour because of a storm in Detroit, and – now this was really unfair – the train from the airport to downtown Seattle made to sit in the third station for twenty stinking minutes because of an accident on or near the tracks farther up the line. Do admit.
On the other hand – there was the getting off in Detroit and going to the Departures board and finding the next flight to Seattle and seeing that it left in twenty minutes and was 61 gates away – and the sprint to get there in 19 minutes, knowing the whole time that it was hopeless because all the cancellations would mean that every flight was packed to the rafters, and my deep loathing of every human being who impeded my desperate sprint, which they all did, and finding the gate and seeing the last people at the door, and rushing up to the desk to gasp out “Do you have any leftover seats?”…
…and being told YES.
So I got on a flight that left two solid hours before the one I’d been booked on.
That’s the second time I’ve done that. Yay me.
So now I’m back, and my usual rate of idle chatter will resume.
Here’s a photo of Taslima and me at the Friday evening dinner, taken by Kevin Smith of CFI Canada. theobromine and Eamon Knight of CFI Ottawa are on my other side.
A few minutes after that Taslima asked me what the elevated table at the other end of the room was about – it was the star table, where all the stars sat. I told her that if the powers had seen her she would be there too, and she laughed at the idea. A few minutes after that there was Tom Flynn to bear her away. We were sad to lose our dinner companion but happy to see her where she belongs.
That looks like Michael De Dora next to Taslima’s head. And Nick Little talking to the guy with his back to us.
You could have hung out with my parents, they live right across the street from the airport.
Then again, it probably would have involved watching Gunsmoke or Bonanza, so… 🙂
Glad you are home safely! Sounds like a great trip (except for the architecture & travel bits). Good company & good times.
Ugh! Yes, flying has become an ugly business. We need a high-speed train system in the U.S.!
I’d settle for a WORKING train system in the U.S.
Ditto the comments about trains. Train travel is just SO much nicer than flying, and (if I’m not mistaken) far more efficient in terms of fuel & carbon emissions per person.
There are working train systems in the US. If you have eight tons of sulfuric acid to move from Cincinnati to Phoenix then Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific will get your acid moved quite quickly and fairly cheaply. If you want to move your body from Cincinnati to Phoenix then you’re at the mercy of Delta Airlines.
That makes my delay/re-booking story pale by comparison. Glad you got home safely, if not timely. Great photo, too.