The Final Chapter

I am dropped off at O'Hare International Airport at 2:30pm. My flight is scheduled to depart at 4:50pm. The lines are long but this time I have plenty of time and I am feeling relaxed and relieved to have the meeting behind me.

I arrive at the gate and settle in to read my book but before I open the cover I hear the announcement. My flight is delayed.

Seven hours later I am boarding the plane for the flight home. I am a broken down human being and exhausted does not begin to describe how I feel. I take my seat and plug my ears with soothing music from my iPod. Earlier that day I made a great investment on a seat upgrade so I was near the front of the plane, in a window seat and I had tons of leg room. I look around and thankfully do not see a child in sight. A very nice older couple was sitting beside me, they are from Hawaii and in Chicago on business but before they head home they are visiting Las Vegas. I am finally on my way home.

The first three hours of the flight were uneventful. The Devil Wears Prada was the in-flight movie and although I've seen it it was a good movie to see again. I was even able to sleep a little.

Approximately 45 minutes outside of Las Vegas the captain gets on the intercom and informs us there are very bad storms just outside of Las Vegas and in the Las Vegas limits. He calmly asks the flight attendants to take their seats and we are told that as far as our trash, raising our tray tables and putting our seat backs in the upright position it was going to be on the honor system. The flight attendants will have to remain seated for the remainder of the flight and that is when it all began to happen.

At first a shudder and a slight dip. The rain started hitting the window. I look outside and it doesn't look like rain at all it looks like snow. The first lightening crack missed the plane but it was close. Then hail started hitting the window. As I looked outside I could not see a star in the sky nor a light on the ground. What an odd feeling. I knew we had to be passing over the Sierra Nevadas and I said a small prayer that we would not hit them. Then a bright blinding light and a deafening crack! Lightening hit the plane. One of the flight attendants gets on the intercom and explains to us that lightening hits planes all the time and they are built to withstand it and asks everyone to remain calm. That announcement did anything but make us calm. The distress in the flight attendant's voice was more than evident.

The plane dips again but this time much more violently. People are now crying and some are starting to scream. At this point there is no comfort offered from the flight crew, only silence. We are now in a free fall nose first and the luggage is falling from the bins above. The sweet older woman beside me has a death grip on my wrist and is yelling, "Oh Jesus, Oh Jesus, Oh Jesus."

I was faced with the raw reality of deaths possibility...

I was scared at first. I allowed myself to get caught up in the emotions of my fellow passengers. I was listening to classical music so I turned it up to tune out the utter craziness of it all. My first thought; I hope my friend at work remembers she still has a key to my apartment so she can get my cats. Then I thought about my family and my faith, I took a deep breath and thought, I hope this doesn't hurt.

A calm feeling began to wash over me. I've never felt so at peace. I knew in that moment of peace I was Ok with dying but had an intense feeling it probably wasn't going to happen today.

I am jolted back to reality when the plane suddenly grabs hold of the air and the feeling of weightlessness is now replaced with the feeling of G-forces weighing my body down. The plane is still shuddering uncontrollably it seemed impossible that it was going to hold together. For ten more minutes the terror continued and then I saw a twinkle on the horizon. Las Vegas.

We land and the plane erupts in clapping and cheers. Many are in tears. The airline briefly talks to us about post traumatic stress disorder and it's effects and offers counseling services. I decline and head on my way.

It is 12:45am Saturday morning. I am getting in my car that is parked in the last space of the furthest airport parking lot and I begin to laugh.

Did the last 24 hours really just happen?

Part III

Still in Vegas...the delay was three hours long.

Once on the plane I took a Tylenol PM, I was determined to sleep on the flight. If my calculations are right I guess it will easily be 2:00 am before I am pulling back the covers of the bed and diving in and let's not forget the two hour time difference. Already knowing I had to be ready by 8:00 am the next morning for the big meeting I begin to feel anxious. One thing for sure I inherited from my mother is that I require eight hours of sleep at night. Definitely not four and definitely not four before a big business deal. Yes, I MUST sleep on the plane.

As luck would have it I managed to get a window seat on a booked flight. Anything is better than the middle seat. And the Tylenol PM is starting to kick in, just in time. It has been rough going so far but things are slowly starting to improve. As I am just about to nod off my seat rattles with a great intensity, then again. What the F?! We haven't even taken off yet so I know it is not turbulence. Yes, there are two children sitting behind me. And the one directly behind me is fascinated with the pull down tray and is slamming it down and putting it up and slamming it down and I am about to blow a gasket fo real y'all! The father is yelling at the kid to shut up and now of course the kid is crying. Have I ever mentioned that I HATE KIDS?!?!

I did not sleep on the flight.

1:15 am I touch down in Chicago. As previously predicted I did not get into my hotel room until 2:00 am. It is the most decadent room I have EVER stayed in and I will only be there for 6 hours. Must get sleep. By 2:20 am I am laying in bed totally wound up from the days events and growing ever more anxious as each minute ticks by. Must get sleep. I see 3:30 am click by on the clock and that is the last thing I remember. At 6:00 am the alarm clock sounds and I swear it seems like I have been sleeping for only 10 minutes.

The lack of sleep was counteracted by adrenaline. The meeting was a huge success! I played a much bigger role than I anticipated and I handled it with ease. I do love business.

The meeting was over, I was heading back to Las Vegas and I may even make it back in time for the date with the firefighter. Everything seemed right with the world. But as I told you at the beginning of this story the universe had already set the course for this trip and it was far from over yet.

To be continued one more time...

Part II

So where was I? Oh, that's right, I was in the parking lot at the airport running for the shuttle. And because of the difficult parking situation I was running late for my flight. I also know from past experience if you buy a ticket within hours of departure you are more apt to be flagged by homeland security to go through extra security. And did I mention I still had to go to the ticket counter because the ticket was bought in such short notice I was not able to print out an e-ticket?

I arrive in the ticketing area and the line reflects the amount of cars in all of the parking lots combined. There is nothing much I can do if I miss the flight so at this point I decide to take a few deep breaths and calm down. After a 25 minute wait it is finally my turn. I go up to the counter and I am informed that (once again) because the ticket was purchased in such short notice the only way my company's card can be used is if I have it present or the boss goes to O'Hare to purchase the ticket. Neither of these choices are an option and not being told this prior to purchasing the ticket online the transaction has already occurred. Now, I have to use my own card and the ticketing agent has to make a call to have the charges transferred from the company's card to mine. Again...waiting.

Once I have my ticket in hand I again find myself running a full on sprint through the airport. Thank God I've gotten back in shape. I stop only once to check the departure boards just to make sure my energy is not being spent in vain...the flight is running on time.

I arrive at the gate hot and sweating. I feel completely disheveled. Is it possible that just two and a half hours ago I was at work thinking about the weekend? And more specifically, thinking about what I was going to wear Friday night when I go out with a friend and her boyfriend and her boyfriend's friend. Yep, I had a date Friday... with a Las Vegas firefighter. Oh well, hopefully I'll get a rain check.

At the gate a United Airlines gate attendant gets on the crackling intercom system. It's very hard to hear through the crackle of the intercom and the noise of many travelers gathered in one place and the beep beep beep of the airline carts that speed around like there is some major emergency but there never seems to be anyone riding on them and she announces...the flight is delayed.



To be continued...

Beast of Burden

Guilt - the single best word to describe not writing in my blog. I have become a rebel to my own cause. I don't write just to spite it.

Ok, I'm back. Maybe a monthly post will help me not feel so burdened down by having to log-on and be creative. The thing is I still think about my life and the zany way I perceive it in terms of writing everyday. I have this ongoing narrative playing in my head that cracks me up and I know some of it really should be captured in written word.

While I am here and already logged on (such a task) I will go ahead and write about my trip last week.

October 12, 2006. It all started at 2:00pm Thursday afternoon. I received a call from one of my bosses. They decide they NEED me for an important business deal that is going down tomorrow. That's me, the go to gal...not such a bad reputation I've made for myself.

I have exactly four hours from the beginning of that call to be on a plane that is scheduled to depart at 6:00pm for Chicago. Funny how life can change so drastically so fast. I'm not packed, or prepared or anything and for God sakes it is Thursday evening in Las Vegas! There will not be a parking spot at the airport to be found! Panic mode activate!

Upon my arrival to the airport my fear of not finding a parking spot is now reality. F it I'll valet, the company will be paying for it anyway, besides how much could valet cost for a less than 24 hour trip? Valet is full. Short Term parking is full. Long Term parking is full. The first economy lot is full and so is the second. Last lot, I pull in, I'm driving and scanning, driving and scanning, still driving, almost to the end, still driving. Wait, is that a spot? Hell no, I hate Miatas! Still scanning and driving. Finally, I swear I got the last spot at the airport and of course the shuttle is there and I still have to get out and get my bag. Run full on sprint to shuttle.

Little did I know this was just the beginning. The universe had determined the tone of the trip and there was nothing I could do to change it. All I could do was hang on TIGHT for the ride...

To be continued...