Getting to Charlotte

Woke up at 8:30am today in Philadelphia. My flight from Newark to Charlotte was scheduled to leave at 1:05pm and I didn’t want to take any chances.

It was an easy ride out of Philadelphia. I was very hungry and also craved some latte to make my morning easier, so I pulled over into one of the service centers on the New Jersey Turnpike. The service center (I think it was called “Woodrow Wilson”) had some fast food places in it, as well as Blimpie (or Blimpy, can’t remember—a sandwich place) and Starbucks.

There were two people ahead of me in line. The first woman ordered 2 sandwiches, which took the guy working there about 10 minutes to make. The next one was a guy who brought a hamburger from Roy Rogers and wanted some of Blimpy’s toppings on it. This is very bizarre—I’ve never seen anything like it before.

I ordered my sandwich, had half of it and decided to hit Starbucks, only to realize that there’s a line of 15 people and the people working there appear to be taking their time, so I left.

I pulled over at the next service center for my latte.

Approaching the Newark Airport, I remembered that I have to top‐up the fuel tank for the rental car. That took another 10 minutes, then I finally arrived at Budget.

The Newark airport, as I mentioned before, is very well‐marked and you can’t get lost anywhere. I quickly found the check‐in counter, and also found out that those people are working very, very slowly. Finally got to the check‐in counter (the automatic counter told me, upon entering the confirmation code, to go see an agent as my reservation requires “special handling”. I love being special), checked into my flight and went towards the gate.

The flight was scheduled to leave at 1:05pm. Now it’s 2:35pm and we’re still on the ground. Apparently there’s some severe weather conditions coming from Virginia and no airplane is leaving Newark at the moment. I really hope I don’t miss the concert tonight as this is going to suck. Dear Kami is supposed to pick me up at the airport—I called her and let her know of the delay. I will take a taxi cab from the airport to the hotel (Kami allowed me to stay as a guest in the hotel room with herself and her husband—thanks Kami!) and then head straight to the venue, using whatever transportation that is available, regardless of cost.

It’s been a very long day so far, so I decided to talk to the guy sitting next to me. A mature, about 60 years old fellow. My ice‐breaking line was “are these delays typical to the New York area?”.

It turned out that I may have barked at the wrong tree. This poor guy next to me told me that it’s been three days since he left Lions, France on his way home, and there are flights cancelled all along the way. The guy was supposed to make it home in one day but it’s now taking three days and counting. He also told me that his temper is very, very short due to this.

I thanked him for the lovely (but yet too short) conversation and promised to never bother him again. He put my misery in perspective.

2:38pm… still no news.

Will turn off the laptop now, to conserve battery.

Later,
Isaac