That's not to say my journeys have all been silky smooth. Far from it. But, by and large, I've had a lot of fun on the road. Met some great people, seen some amazing sights. But that's not why you're here.
I'm currently en route to Washington DC for some union business over the next few days. And by "en route" I mean sitting at the gate because my flight has been delayed by two hours. Quick side note... autocorrect assumed the delay would be days, weeks or years. I'm hoping that's not a sign...
I worked yesterday, and what started out as a crazy busy day with five calls before noon, actually settled into a lovely Saturday including homemade, deep dish pizza for dinner. We slept (mostly) through the night (although I woke up at 2:00 and 3:30) until a call at 4:15 for the medics and one at 4:30 for the engine.
One of the guys from today's shift came in early for me so I was out the door by 6:00, at the airport, checked in, through security (no random Pre Chek assignment today though, sad emoji) coffee in hand and seated at my gate by 7:15 or so. Plenty of time before my 9:16 flight. I was seated for less than a minute, literally, when my phone rang. It was my carrier calling to advise my flight had been delayed two hours. Sigh. No specifics were given, only that they were making every attempt to get our flight back on time. Uh huh. Short of suspending the time-space continuum I don't think that'll happen.
I probably should have seen this coming. As I packed my bag Friday night, I couldn't find a tie that I liked for the suit and shirt I was bringing. I thought I'd just stop in at the local men's store not too far from the firehouse and pick one up. No big deal. Saturday morning, as I was getting ready to leave for work, I thought I'd grab a sport coat and shirt to wear on the flight (a residual of my time with the pirate) but somewhere in between the coat and the shirt I saw something sparkly. Needless to say I didn't think about the shirt until I was halfway to work. Sigh.
But wait! There's more!
I got to work and as I started to change into my uniform I realized I'd also forgotten my belt. Oh well, as I'd already planned on going to the store, I wasn't too terribly bothered by these lapses. Other than, you know, the prospect of dementia looming ever larger.
So here I am. I have a prime location, sun at my back, right next to the gate. I feel a little like Frank Costanza, I'm afraid to move for fear of losing my spot. Even though I've been drinking coffee since before 5:00 this morning. Just sayin. Not only that, one of my favorite pastimes is people watching and there are few locations on the planet better than O'Hare airport to do that. As I sit here and watch the mess of humanity (not a typo) go by, I marvel at how we, as a species, have managed to last this long at the top of the food chain. Like watching the cliffhanging, season ending episode of a favorite TV show, or game 7 of the last World Series, I don't want to blink for fear I'll miss something amazing.
Peace
PS- as I sit here editing this post, I got a call from... any guesses? Yes, you got it! The carrier! My flight is now pushed back to 1:00 pm, a mere 3:45 past the original departure time.
Again.
Sigh.
Peace
One of the guys from today's shift came in early for me so I was out the door by 6:00, at the airport, checked in, through security (no random Pre Chek assignment today though, sad emoji) coffee in hand and seated at my gate by 7:15 or so. Plenty of time before my 9:16 flight. I was seated for less than a minute, literally, when my phone rang. It was my carrier calling to advise my flight had been delayed two hours. Sigh. No specifics were given, only that they were making every attempt to get our flight back on time. Uh huh. Short of suspending the time-space continuum I don't think that'll happen.
I probably should have seen this coming. As I packed my bag Friday night, I couldn't find a tie that I liked for the suit and shirt I was bringing. I thought I'd just stop in at the local men's store not too far from the firehouse and pick one up. No big deal. Saturday morning, as I was getting ready to leave for work, I thought I'd grab a sport coat and shirt to wear on the flight (a residual of my time with the pirate) but somewhere in between the coat and the shirt I saw something sparkly. Needless to say I didn't think about the shirt until I was halfway to work. Sigh.
But wait! There's more!
I got to work and as I started to change into my uniform I realized I'd also forgotten my belt. Oh well, as I'd already planned on going to the store, I wasn't too terribly bothered by these lapses. Other than, you know, the prospect of dementia looming ever larger.
So here I am. I have a prime location, sun at my back, right next to the gate. I feel a little like Frank Costanza, I'm afraid to move for fear of losing my spot. Even though I've been drinking coffee since before 5:00 this morning. Just sayin. Not only that, one of my favorite pastimes is people watching and there are few locations on the planet better than O'Hare airport to do that. As I sit here and watch the mess of humanity (not a typo) go by, I marvel at how we, as a species, have managed to last this long at the top of the food chain. Like watching the cliffhanging, season ending episode of a favorite TV show, or game 7 of the last World Series, I don't want to blink for fear I'll miss something amazing.
Peace
PS- as I sit here editing this post, I got a call from... any guesses? Yes, you got it! The carrier! My flight is now pushed back to 1:00 pm, a mere 3:45 past the original departure time.
Again.
Sigh.
Peace
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