j2fast Posted October 18, 2006 Share Posted October 18, 2006 What a screwed up way to start a new week, a simple 3 hour flight turns into a all day ordeal. Those in the Houston area will know what I'm talking about; the friggin rainfall total from Monday was around 12 inches. I travel a good bit for work and I've experienced darn near everything that can be experienced flying around the country without actually crashing but this was a new one. Here's the nutshell overview (all times Eastern): 5:45 AM Board plane in Pittsburgh PA 6:20 AM Take off from the Burg 6:50 AM Crew comes on to tell us the flight is going to be bumpy and Houston is rainy 9:00 AM Crew tells there are major storms in Houston we have to fly around 9:30 AM Crew tells us we have to divert to Corpus Christi be we're low on fuel 10:30 AM We're the first diverted flight to land at CC, we get fueled and park near runway 12:30 PM Still sitting near runway, IAH keeps opening and closing and toilet is now FULL 1:30 PM Ground comes out to us to empty the toilet, we're still sitting by runway 2:15 PM We taxi back to the tarmac because once again we need more fuel 3:00 PM They offer to let us off the plane but if we're not on when the call to go comes, we get to stay until the next flight. 4:00 PM Pilot tells ground personal that we have to get off the plane before there's a mutiny 5:15 PM Back to the plane, we might get to leave 5:35 PM Back in line to take off 6:00 PM We're off to Houston from CC 7:00 PM Finally in Houston 7:30 PM Continental rep tells me how my bag may not be avilable for 6 hours 8:00 PM Me and the a Continental rep notice my bag circling with Nortwest luggage. Why didn't I think to look over at Northwest when I flew Continental, what a do-mas. Now I have to give props to the flight crew because they were excellent the whole time. After we got fuel for the second time the pilot even opened up the cockpit then told everyone they could come up to talke directly to him (2 at a time). Of course people took advantage so they could bitch about the situation which I can understand to an extent but some folks acted like it was the crew's fault. Now tomorrow I'm supposed to be flying home at 7:30 AM central. Let's just hope the fog isn't too thick and the storms hold off until the afternoon because while I like Texas I just want to get the hell out.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merlin Orr Posted October 18, 2006 Share Posted October 18, 2006 Well Hell.... I hope you get a good BBQ dinner and a few frosty beverages this evening to dull the pain... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j2fast Posted October 18, 2006 Author Share Posted October 18, 2006 Well Hell.... I hope you get a good BBQ dinner and a few frosty beverages this evening to dull the pain... Got part of it covered, a frosty little six pack and a nice 20 oz steak followed me back to the hotel tonight. Thinking about a flask for tomorrow just in case but 3oz just isn't enough. I've made about a dozen trips to Houston in the last year but I've never taken the time to find some good local BBQ. I've had enough KC BBQ for 3 lifetimes, one of these trips to Dallas or Houston I've got to try some Texas BBQ. Might be back in Houston next month, I'll have to hit up the BE faithful for some suggestions around the SW corner (Westchase) of Houston. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmittyFL Posted October 18, 2006 Share Posted October 18, 2006 I feel your pain. That exact thing happend to a few of us on the way to nats. Except the Continental crew were a-holes, no food, no drinks, they wouldn't let us off the plane and they were rude on top of that. Tampa to Tulsa through Houston sit on tarmac in CC...13 hours. It was a good example why somebody made against the law to kill people. I don't blame the crew for the weather or the delay, but I do blame them for treating us like shit and not letting us off the plane. I was already booked with Continental through Houston for A2. I'll be changing that, I don't care what it costs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j2fast Posted October 18, 2006 Author Share Posted October 18, 2006 That sucks, the crew being a-holes definitely would increase the suck factor exponentially. Connecting through any of the major airports (Chicago, ATL, Dallas, Houston) just sucks in general IMO. Even just one 30 minute thunderstorm and your day is FUBAR'd because there's so much traffic that everything instantly backs up for hours. I still can't get over how screwed up the bagage handling was by Monday evening. I know the systems will only have a certain capacity but IAH and/or Continental either didn't have any kind of contingency plan or their plan just sucked. They were telling people Monday night that it was taking "at least" 6 hours to located people luggage. Also, by the way, this is a "weather event" so no delivery; everyone who's bags got lost and was staying in Houston had to haul that butts back to the airport if they wanted their bags. I just flew back out this morning and there is still a bunch of unclaimed luggage 2 days later (at least in terminal . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPMartin Posted October 18, 2006 Share Posted October 18, 2006 Texas BBQ........ MMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmm! Go for the brisket! Made by Angels, with enough of the devil to bite ya. RPM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjbine Posted October 18, 2006 Share Posted October 18, 2006 Jim, Just change jobs so you can stay home and shoot more. Later Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChuckS Posted October 18, 2006 Share Posted October 18, 2006 Ya know what they say: "Time to spare? Go by air!" First told to me by a guy who worked on the design of the hot section of the F-4 Phantom II and the Mercury Space Capsule Monkey Toilet. Later, Chuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j2fast Posted October 18, 2006 Author Share Posted October 18, 2006 (edited) Jim,Just change jobs so you can stay home and shoot more. Later Mike I almost hate to say it out loud so I don't jinx myself but I've got a good job that I enjoy. The travel does suck at times but I'm pretty much garanteed to not have to ever travel over a weekend so the local matches usually aren't an issue but practice on the other hand..... NextI just need to figure out how to leverage some business trips into free travel to matches like the FL Open or maybe Area 3 that was held about 30 minute from or corp offices this year... First told to me by a guy who worked on the design of the hot section of the F-4 Phantom II and the Mercury Space Capsule Monkey Toilet.Later, Chuck We could have used the monkey toilet on Monday when ours was full. Edited October 18, 2006 by j2fast Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carmoney Posted October 18, 2006 Share Posted October 18, 2006 Here's the nutshell overview (all times Eastern):5:45 AM Board plane in Pittsburgh PA 6:20 AM Take off from the Burg 6:50 AM Crew comes on to tell us the flight is going to be bumpy and Houston is rainy 9:00 AM Crew tells there are major storms in Houston we have to fly around 9:30 AM Crew tells us we have to divert to Corpus Christi be we're low on fuel 10:30 AM We're the first diverted flight to land at CC, we get fueled and park near runway 12:30 PM Still sitting near runway, IAH keeps opening and closing and toilet is now FULL 1:30 PM Ground comes out to us to empty the toilet, we're still sitting by runway 2:15 PM We taxi back to the tarmac because once again we need more fuel 3:00 PM They offer to let us off the plane but if we're not on when the call to go comes, we get to stay until the next flight. 4:00 PM Pilot tells ground personal that we have to get off the plane before there's a mutiny 5:15 PM Back to the plane, we might get to leave 5:35 PM Back in line to take off 6:00 PM We're off to Houston from CC 7:00 PM Finally in Houston 7:30 PM Continental rep tells me how my bag may not be avilable for 6 hours 8:00 PM Me and the a Continental rep notice my bag circling with Nortwest luggage. Why didn't I think to look over at Northwest when I flew Continental, what a do-mas. Yeah, but were there snakes on the plane?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j2fast Posted October 18, 2006 Author Share Posted October 18, 2006 Yeah, but were there snakes on the plane?? I wish, that probably would have motivated them to get us off of the plane sooner....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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