It's Raining, It's Pouring...

It was a beautiful morning for the beginning of my trip--sunny and mild. The van shuttle arrived at 6:45, which got me to JFK by 7:45, three hours before my flight. If I'd taken the recommended departure time of 7:20, we'd have run into rush hour traffic, and that would have been cutting it close at the other end. It gave me time for a leisurely breakfast and to get some work done for the conference.

I've been keeping my eye on the weather in California for a couple of days. I wondered about flight delays, but everything said my flight was on time. They began boarding us at 10:15, just as CNN reported 1-2 hour delays at the San Francisco airport. When we should have been leaving the gate, the pilot announced that our departure had been delayed by Air Traffic Control in San Francisco due to the weather. Our "wheels up" time was scheduled for 12:09. We sat at the gate for about 15 minutes before heading out to the runway holding area, just in case we got an earlier clearance. We actually took off at about 12:05.

We arrived an hour and a half late in the rain. We were given the wrong carousel number for collecting our bags. And then a handful of us were missing our checked luggage. Just as I was getting ready to go find the baggage office, I was paged. It turned out that they had put my suitcase on the earlier flight.

My friend Dennis met me at the airport and drove me to my hotel. Once I got checked in we headed out to find something to eat. We also stopped at a CVS, so I could pick up an umbrella because mine is still in my briefcase. On the rocking chair. At home.

Tomorrow it's off to Menlo Park for the NAECED board meeting and final conference prep.

Peace,
Jeff