Sitting in a Jet Plane

I forgot to mention that our trip to Albany wasn't the usual quick and dirty fly-in/ fly-out.

We made it okay to Chicago. Then boarded the plane, taxied out to the runway, and the captain said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your Captain speaking. We've just been informed that due to a line of thunderstorms in Michigan we've been asked to wait indefinitely here on the sweltering tarmac while you sit in un-airconditioned discomfort. Thank you for flying United". Jerks.

It's possible that I'm not remembering what he said word for word.

We sat there for two hours. Two hours!

Did you know that they turn off their engines while they sit there? It's 100 @&#^$% degrees out there, and that's not factoring in the shimmering heat waves lofting up from the black runway. You know what your car's like when you step into it on a hot day. That's what this was like, only 150 times worse. That's because there were 150 bodies in the car with me this time. Yikes.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Summer Palace

Image
Wow. Our days are full of strange sights and long hours. In the bus every morning at 7:00, and never home before 5:00. The summer palace was built by Rama V to commemorate the village where he met his wife. How romantic is that! Lo hiding between the antlers The gardens are gorgeous, with topiary herds of elephants, deer and rabbits. Sounds of peacocks echo through the gardens but they remained frustratingly elusive. Their cries were augmented by the screech of other unseen birds in faraway branches. But we did see an amazing variety of bougainvillea in all colours. Hans standing by the elephant's trunk. From the walls in the Reception Hall, yellowing faded faces of Ramas I to IX gazed out from acestral photos. Each Rama is believed to be an incarnation of Vishnu. Other rooms held lacquered furniture inlaid with mother-of-pearl and stunning teak carvings. As with all Buddhist buildings, we have to remove our shoes and in some cases, we were asked the night before to dress respectfu
Read more

The trouble with winter is…

The trouble with winters here is that they can be incredibly brutal. This is especially true when your driveway is 400' long, oriented east-west, and invitingly open to the howling north wind. Last night the afore-mentioned wind was an unwelcome escort on my drive home late in the evening. All the way home I contemplated whether or not I should risk driving my car down the driveway and into the garage, where it might get trapped overnight. I decided not to risk it. From the head of the driveway I phoned Hans to say I was leaving the car on the road, loaded up my stuff, wound my scarf around my head to ward off the wind, and opened the door. Like a spinnaker, it caught the wind and creaked alarmingly before I wrestled it closed again. I proceeded more cautiously. The driveway was already starting to bulk up with mogul-like drifts and Hans had opened the gate for me – a precaution when drifts in the drive are a possibility. After a soak in the hot tub to fight the chill,
Read more

"The Party"

If you've seen the movie "The Party" with Peter Sellers, you'll be able to visualize the scene at dinner this evening. We had Rock Cornish Game Hens. Just as I was critizing someone else for their bad table manners, my cornish hen flew off my plate and skittered across the table. Bits of chicken went flying in all directions. "You have a piece of chicken hanging from your eyebrow", said Teddy, nodding at Hans. "He's just keeping an eye on it", said Vern.
Read more