* 4:30 am. Wake before alarm. Heading West for conference.
* 5:05 am. Get in car. Large fluffy flakes coating car. (Beautiful morning!)
* 6:00 am. Arrive at JFK Airport in good time. (All good)
* 6:10 am. I discover I’m at wrong terminal. (Tension building)
* 6:15 am. Check luggage. Hit with $25 bag fee. (Annoyed)
* 6:20 am. Get scolded by TSA agent for not removing my belt. (Rattled. Hope not to get frisked.)
* 6:23 am. Gather luggage. Put on shoes. Prep for long walk to right terminal. (DK is at his best when he’s in motion.)
* 6:24 am. Something is off. I turn back to empty bins. Find my driver’s license sitting all alone in bin. (Heart hammering. OMG.)
* 6:25 am. Hoofing it to other terminal. (You could have lost your license pal. Karma is at your back. It’s going to be a great day!)
* 7:20 am. Board on time. (Good omen!)
* 7:40 am. Two empty seats in my row in full flight. (Jackpot!)
* 7:45 am. Spot good friend cramped in row behind me. Invite her to my empty row. (Cheryl joins “Mr. Jackpot!”)
* 8:45 am. 45 minutes after planned departure, Captain signals a delay due to heavy snow accumulation and icy conditions. He asks us to be patient. (No prob Captaino!)
* 9:45 am. Captain indicates queue is long. He needs our continued patience.
* 10:45 am. Captain comes on intercom to say de-icing fluid leaked into cockpit and galley and needs to be cleaned up before departure. (Passengers groan)
* 11:30 am. Captain asks us to de-plane. (Madness ensues as everyone bull rushes out)
* Noon. We are asked to head to Gate B-41 to a new plane via a shuttle ride and 1 mile walk. (DK is back in motion. Stretch out the hams and butt cheeks – could those plane seats be any more comfortable!?!)
* 1:30 pm. We board another plane. (Enthusiasm rains! Westward Ho!)
* 2:30 pm. Captain explains that water lines are malfunctioning. (Like no toilet flushes on 5 hour flight).
* 3:00 pm. Catering delivers bottled water. Captain speaks: “There will be bottled water and handi-wipes to do your business.” (He did NOT just say that!)
* 3:30 pm. Stewardess calls for seat backs and table trays up.
* 3:45 pm. Our luggage is being loaded from the other plane. (Optimism re-fires again)
* 4:00 pm. We are standing in queue for de-icing. Captain announces that he’ll give this another hour and a half before he makes a final call. He says he can’t give an estimate on departure time. (Eyebrows up. Crowd is wary but still believing.)
* 4:05 pm. We sit. 8 hours and counting and still not in the air. We sit. And we wait.
Image Credit
That’s not manic – that’s tragic.
Laughing. Tragic is a better choice of words.
I would be one crazy lady by now
Laughing. We had “those” on the plane too!
just one?
Oh can I relate. Such a terrible way to begin the week. Hope things get better, soon!
We all have our nightmarish stories on air travel…Thanks Peggy
Full-on empathetic flashback. Be Zen.
Laughing. Thank you Len.
Reblogged this on THE STRATEGIC LEARNER and commented:
Kanigan is not having a great Monday … here’s hopes for improvement (as in air time) real soon.
Thank you John! Let’s hope for a better day today.
That’s no fun at all, but I admire your optimism & making the best of a bad situation!
OMG…so sorry David. 🙁 Well…you’re coming West (someday)…things will be better soon.
Today! Today! Today!
🙂
Well at least you got a good post from all this……sorry for your bad day.
Yes, the consolation prize.
Oh crap, buddy, this sounds * miserable* (except for that part where the Karma Truck drove by and sent you back for your license–beep, beep, thanks Mimi! 🙂 ) hoping that by the time you read this you’re drinking something with an umbrella in it and casting a wry (metaphorical) glance back at the poor schmucks sitting in a snow bank on the East Coast….
Karma Truck always brings me home!
Indeed it does…
Oh, so sorry David! Sounds like a nightmare.
It was Debra. Thank you
Poor you! For sure I’m not going anywhere that involves flying any time soon.
Laughing. Lucky you.
This is the reason I DO NOT FLY. I am so sorry. Killer post though.
Laughing. Thank you Teela.
Sounds like the kind of day I’d just turn around and go home . . .I try not to fly in the winter.
And, THAT, I’m afraid is exactly what happened.
Make me realised it is not too bad to wait a few more minutes than usual for subway or buses..:) good luck!
Consider yourself blessed for your few minute wait!
This weather really does suck!
It does!
A natural disaster? One of those days…
Oh no!
Oh Yes!
Oh David, I am sorry…. I have experienced the same thing. It once took me three boardings and 12 hours to get to Chicago which is a 4 hour flight. I hope you make it out West we do not have any snow at this time! Safe travels my friend.
Ugly. Thank you Tina.
i like the log, like a star trek captain. a calm documentation of a day of crazy. i hope you made it out west at last.
Star Log is right Beth. I’m heading out later this morning to give it another whirl.
Yikes, Captain.
Yikes is right Ann!
David: The story never changes, only the players. A few years ago that was me stuffed in that seat and waiting for hours. I guess that’s why Skype, FaceTime and other such video based conversations are so popular! When I calculate the number of travel hours vs the actual number of meaningful conversations in away meetings, it becomes pretty obvious. Time to reshape the culture of banking. Sorry about my pontifications, but it’s too painful to recall all the times I have experienced what you just went through. Courage, my friend!
Thank you John. I reflect upon the day yesterday. Very grateful I had an Aisle seat and not a cramped window seat. Grateful that I had an empty seat next to me. Grateful that I had a friend that I was sitting next to. Grateful that I had something to read and occupy my mind. A lot to be grateful for as it could have been so so much worse.