I got stranded in Dallas on Friday because of the blizzard that settled over the Texas panhandle, home of Troubadour Mom and Dad (Troubadour Mom had a birthday last week, so it was a nice reason to visit):
Image courtesy of weather.comI expected flights to be canceled, given the numerous warnings the National Weather Service was putting out days in advance about whiteout conditions, so I packed a good chunk of work and enough cereal to cover me for two extra breakfasts (that's the one meal that's more difficult to get from airport vendors in a form that will fit my dietary restrictions).
Around the time I was finishing lunch, D called me to say our realtor needed my signature on the post-inspection repairs agreed to by the seller of our house -- preferably before the weekend. Hmm, what to do? I knew I could get to my e-mail for the documents, but where was I going to find a printer and a fax machine without being a member of any airline's elite travelers' club (with the private lounges and conference rooms for business executives on the go)?
Well, it turns out that the people who work at the information kiosks scattered around DFW's terminals have access to their own office technology. For free. They set me up with everything I needed, and within an hour of D's call, he had the forms in hand to add his own signature to.
I wish I could say the rest of my day was as productive. I nodded off more than I graded while sitting in the airport's low-slung faux-leather chairs -- I'd only had three hours of sleep on the previous night -- and by the time the last flight out was scrubbed, all I wanted was a good workout, some dinner, and a real bed. I got all of that at a hotel a few miles away after getting tickets for the next morning.
Saturday, 6 a.m.: first three flights of the day to Panhandle canceled. Grrrr.
Being slightly better rested, I plopped myself down by a plug in a wall (I've gotten pretty good at spotting these in airports since acquiring my laptop) and started editing my thesis prospectus -- it had been hanging over my head since before spring break, which is when I wrote the first draft. I also got to know the large herd of travelers also hoping to get to Panhandle. The first plane cleared to go was around 2 p.m., so we wandered in a pack thereafter, peeling off a few at a time whenever standby seats were available on flights to points northwest. I was eighteenth on the list, so I did quite a bit of wandering, but it allowed me to take breaks between editing sessions. We'd install ourselves at a gate, wait for it to board, and if we didn't get seats, we'd pack up and move on en masse to the gate for the next departure.
I finally landed in Panhandle shortly before 6 p.m., just in time for a belated birthday dinner. After cake (a sliver for me), I gave Mom the gift I'd been carrying with me for two days:
She loved it.
9 comments:
Ooo - what's that in the case? Uninformed European person asks.
FF, it's rock salt. They sell it here to throw on ice and snow to make it melt. It's harder to come by in Panhandle since they normally don't get much frozen precipitation. I always carry some in the car during the winter in case I get stuck somewhere.
I am impressed by your apparent sense of calm while you were stranded. I am also impressed by your problem-solving and productiveness.
haha! That's quite the gift. And quite the adventure, too. Congrats on getting the new house. That must be beyond exciting. Is it weird to think that this time on your own is drawing to an end, then? (weird but REALLY exciting, of course)
Hoping for more safe travels for you!
Katie
GEW, it helped that DFW is a familiar airport for me and that places to stay are fairly easy to come by in the area. When I got stuck at O'Hare last August because of a tornado, there was nothing within 40 miles! And to top that off, my checked luggage got left out on the tarmac and was badly damaged when it reached my final destination.
So relatively speaking, getting stranded in one place because of a blizzard at some other location is much less distressing :).
Katie, it's absolutely bizarre to think that all this commuting will be over soon, and yet I CANNOT WAIT to be done. I think that's what also made me especially intent on getting to Panhandle -- just to be away from the city that's been the site of all the being on my own. I love my little apartment here, but I'm ready for a home.
Will you still blog once you are both together and cosy in your dream home? I do hope so.
Yes, FF, I'm planning on keeping up the blogging. We won't have a commuter marriage any longer, but we will still have the two-body problem. Guess I'll have to change the subhead under the name of the blog ...
You carry that in your car! Brilliant. How did you keep it from getting your luggage all crusty?
It's a new bag, Jacqueline :).
For my car, I have a plastic barrel with a screw-on lid (looks like the old Utz pretzel containers, only about half the size). I pour the salt in there, which keeps me from having to deal with leaky plastic bags. The wide mouth makes it easy to spread the salt too.
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