My Crazy Travels

This past week has been a crazy one! For those of you who do not know, I work as an Associate Relations Manager for the grocery chain Albertsons. I am in charge of all of our stores in Oregon and basically I make sure everything runs smoothly from a personnel prospective. I do love my job, it's way more exciting than my legal career, but weeks like this past one test my sanity.

I travel to Oregon at least once a week, usually the Portland area, but this week I will be venturing over to Eugene for 3 days. Last week I had planned on being in Portland for 2 days. That didn't work out. First let me say that I have yet to travel to Portland when it is not raining. They tell me that there are many days when it does not rain, but I have yet to see it with my own eyes. When my plane landed on Tuesday it was pouring rain, nothing unusual. I then learn that Oregon and Washington are in the middle of some of the worst rains they have seen in 100 years. Still, the only difference it makes to me is that it is raining slightly harder than the previous week. It's all about perspective I guess. I saw all kinds of landslides and floods on the news at my hotel on Tuesday night, and actually had to assist some of our associates in one area to find alternative housing. On Wednesday I gave myself 2 hours to drive to the airport to catch my flight home, but it was not enough. So I had to stay in the torrential downpours for another night. I finally get home at noon on Thursday to find out I must return to Portland on Friday morning.

By Friday the winds have picked up in addition to the rain and it is all I can do to not vomit on the plane ride over. Interesting story about that trip...I was sitting in the emergency exit row and the flight attendant comes over to make sure we are willing and able to assist in case there is an emergency. The guy sitting next to me listens to her describe the features of our Boeing 747-700 series and then says "Oh I see that the doors now raise up instead of twisting out." She confirms that the doors now raise Lamborghini style. He then says "Well, that will be easier for us. Do we still exit to the end of the wing and then slide down from there?" Flight attendant confirms this as well. I then say to the man "So, you have experience with plane crashes?" He says in a very matter of fact tone "Yeah, back in '84 I was in a crash and I was sitting in the exit row. We were able to get most people off, but of course, a few died. For a plane crash though, those are pretty good numbers. You don't expect to live through a crash." I really didn't have much of a response other than "Well, I guess if we are going to crash I am sitting next to the best possible person, would you like to trade me seats so you are closer to the door?" He says, "No that's ok, I'll just reach over you to open it if you don't mind." Not at all, sir.

So I spend another very rainy day in Portland. I have no idea how these people deal with it. It's fun for a few days, but I could never live there or in Seattle. Anyway, I was determined to make my flight despite the rain so my colleague and I left with ample time to get to the airport. We actually got there pretty early thanks to Kip's bold rain driving. Kip and I were flying separate airlines because I refuse to fly the prop jets in bad weather. So he was on Alaska and I was on Southwest leaving at the same time. They had just started boarding my flight when an announcement was made that all terminals and security checkpoints were immediately closed until further notice. I had no idea what this meant, but I knew it wouldn't be good. It got worse when the gate attendant told us to go grab dinner or a drink until further notice.

I decided to call Kip to see if he wanted to meet up for dinner or something (he was in a different terminal). He answers and says "No, I'm getting on my plane, we are leaving, Alaska rules!" I was jealous of Kip, even though on those Alaska flights you have stand out on the tarmac in the pouring rain to board your flight, and the seats are super tiny, and it only seats 50 people, and in any kind of weather at all you feel like you have accidentally joined the Blue Angels and you are in the middle of an air show. I would have dealt with all of that if I could just get home.

An hour later we start boarding again, but not before they tell us to go to the restroom first because nobody is allowed out of their seats during the flight because of the horrible weather we will experience all the way to Boise. Throughout the flight, at least 10 times, and that is not an exaggeration, the flight attendant with the most annoying middle eastern voice I have ever heard apologizes for not giving us drinks and snacks. She hopes she can make it up to us later. It got so annoying that people started shouting back at her "It's fine, we won't die without our peanuts!"

After an extremely tumultuous flight, we finally land in Boise. As I am getting on the elevator to get my car, I see Kip coming out of the airport. I asked him what was up and he explains that a guy tried to run onto his plain and that they hurriedly closed the doors, tackled him to the ground and carried him away. The very guy who was the cause of the security breach that shut down the airport was trying to jump on a flight to Boise, Kip's flight! That further confirmed that Alaska Airlines has no redeeming qualities.

I made it home quite late, with a raging headache, and the thought that I will have to do it all over again this week. Perhaps the rains have died down a bit, though I highly doubt it.