Monday, December 13, 2010

Look around, leaves are brown There's a patch of snow on the ground...


F'n snow! Snow is pretty and fun when it's fresh and falling, but the next day when you have get out and remove a couple inches from the car there is a loss of enthusiasm. Of course it being currently 21 degrees out doesn't help with the mood at all. But alas, at least I made it home in good order yesterday.

One thing that continues to frustrate me as a non-rev passenger... the amount of paying people who take up all the seats! I know, whiny yes... but it's annoying. I have, through a very good friend, access to check the passenger loads on Delta flights. Using this knowledge, I tend to plan when and how I'll get from point A to point B, and usually hope to skip the route through point C, D,E, and F. But it seemingly only takes one giant winter snowstorm to scree up all this planning.

I took a trip south this weekend for my nieces graduation fiesta. While not being generally all that enthused about the family time portion (and luckily one of my biggest critics about attendance at family functions was conspicuously missing... hrrrmm) but it was all well and good. After the "old folks" left, the keg was tapped and the "kids" started up. I include myself in the "kids" portion if only because I refuse to be an old folk. But being a good decade older than most the friends doesn't help. ANd I did go easy on the beer, partially since it was Nattie Light (but free which makes it more palatable), partially because I knew I;d have an early morning (more later), and partialy because I was still slightly feeling Friday nights excesses.

I was happy to be there, to socialize with people who seem to not yet be too jaded by the realities of life, and to celebrate Darci's accomplishment... I can't put into words how proud I am of her, not just for getting through college, but for being the adult she is now. An amazing feat today.

That being said, I plan was was to stay later and get up to fly back to SDF Sunday afternoon. But weather intervened in the form of snow in the Atlanta area. Everyone knows how well southerners fair with snow fall, and not even a full out blizzard but just a centimeter int he grass shuts the city down. So, I made the decisions that I'd need to leave before the snowflakes start falling at the airport.

Well, apparently the day/night before the same winter storm responsible for my early departure shut down the Twin Cities, and with it Delta's hub in MSP. So, the flight I was planning to jump on suddenly went from 20 open seats to none. Something I discovered on arrival at gate C37. Apparently to get from ATL to MSP you can connect through SDF... who knew??? Luckily, no one else was there and I got to use my super powers and claim the cockpit jumpseat. I normally don't mid cockpit seats, except on RJ's. You think the passenger seat are uncomfy, try thinly padded board for a seat with a seat back at a perfect right angle. Luckily, for the hour flight, it's bearable and it gets me home. Then there's the coolness factor that I actually can sit in the cockpit and tap the pilot on the shoulder should he miss a radio call (it's only happened once).

So, that's the golden ticket that I use to fly most the time, 60% of the time it works all the time. Except when another pilot/dispatcher beats me to the gate, or is higher ont he priority list, or the friendly folks at the FAA decie it's time for them to go for a ride.

Meawhile, as i started making my self at home in my 2 square feet of space, flurries started falling out side... oh no, de-icing in ATL... this could take a month. Luckily it stopped, and a check of the wings showed no contamination. Outta here. But it was coming, and the tep had dropped from 7C to 2C in the hour I'd been in the airport.

Turns out Delta and friends canceled a crapload (that's a technical aviation industry term) of flights that afternoon, stranding at least one of my friends... luckily for her it was int eh warmth for Texas.

Back in the Artic, it's time for another work week. Giggity. I need to do some christmas shopping and get stuff lined up for after Christmas vacay. I'm looking forward tot he warm of Southeast Asia. I had to buy some new shorts today, since I seem to have put a little weight back on for the winter, something I need to rectify soon.

It's tie to split, the parking meter is about to expire and I don't need another parking ticket.

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