Thursday, June 23, 2011

Tornado

After a crazy trip, my family is tired but alive in Phoenix, Arizona. On a perfect journey it was already going to take around 21 hours. We had to first fly from Baku to London. When we arrived we found we had only twenty minutes to make the flight to Chicago. Turns out our gate was a LONG way from the place we needed to be, so we had to run. It was super-frustrating to hit another security check-through, as they really slowed us down past the point where we thought we had to have missed our flight. Luckily we barely made it.

Then Chicago. Just as the time for our departure to Phoenix was creeping around, a tornado alert sounded and they ushered everyone down to a lower level to wait it out. After more than an hour we heard rumors that a plane had been damaged. The news that I can find today says that about 360 flights were cancelled. Luckily for us they didn't cancel our flight, but it lifted off about four hours late, making me worry that the rental car company wouldn't hold our reservation.

We arrived in Phoenix at around 2 AM, and though I barely made it to the rental company under the 3 hour limit, they didn't have any cars in the size I had ordered. Again luck was with us as they had one SUV left that they let us have. So, we got to my Uncle's house at around 3:30 AM and slept like the dead.

In more interesting news. Nathan Bransford chose a posting that I did in his forum (it was my previous blog post, but I liked some of the thoughts in it, so I posted it at NB) to put on his front page. It was kind of exciting, though part of me wished I'd had a warning so I could have polished it a bit more. I tend to just type my posts out in about 15 minutes and go with them, while for Nathan I would have parsed every word and phrase until they shone. As it was, some people misinterpreted some of the things I said, and since I had to fly away, I didn't get to defend myself much.

I thought perhaps a couple people from Nathan's huge audience might come over to my blog, but the statistics show that I had fewer hits than normal. Oh well!

20 comments:

  1. Glad your family arrived safe and sound (though a little ragged). Now you can hit all those fast food restaurants you like. :)

    I think summer is affecting blog traffic as much as anything. People are lured outdoors and some are off on vacations.

    Enjoy your time back in the states.

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  2. Glad you made it safely, Ted! It sounds like a hell of a trip!

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  3. Welcome home. If it's any consolation I visit your blog more often then Nathan's.

    mood
    Moody Writing
    @mooderino

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  4. lol...I visit your blog more than Nathan's too. And I don't see the point in commenting anymore. He gets hundreds for every post. Your comment would be like a needle in a hay stack.

    Wow, tornados. We don't get anything like that over here in the UK - which I suppose is a good thing. I know the devastation they leave behind, but to actually see one for yourself (despite the fact you didn't) must be an awesome thing.

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  5. Sorry your travels were full of snafus. And that is awesome Nathan picked your piece!

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  6. ohman! glad you arrived alright! and hooray! for being posted over at nb's!!! that's soooo icky when people misinterpret you! sorry about that!

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  7. Give V and the boys big howdys from the Saunders Clan. Glad to know you are back safely - quite a traveling adventure you had! Have a blast relaxing and don't OD on taco bell!

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  8. Welcome home. That is one scary picture of a tornado. Glad the damage was minimal. No one wants to be caught in the middle of that.

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  9. Thank you for all your responses. I'd love to comment more, but sadly the internet isn't working at my uncle's house, so I could only jump on here quickly at a Starbuck's. I don't think I'm going to be able to come on much for a while.

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  10. Actually, I visited yours first (that tornado picture got me!) Now I'll go look at your post on Nathan's. Thank goodness you're OK. What a wild time.

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  11. Is your life ever dull? If it's not tornados, its people being gunned down in Moscow in front of your eyes.

    At least you're all OK. Enjoy the break.

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  12. Glad to hear that you are okay and good to see that Nathan picked up on one of your posts. Nice to get a little recognition here and there.

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  13. Glad you are ok. When our Chicago-area alarm went off, my first thought was, Really?? the alarm never goes off. Then there we were, cozy in the basement with a box of Annie's cheddar Bunnies.

    Glad to find you on L.G.'s blog!

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  14. Glad to hear you're safe in the US!

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  15. I liked that post. Keep writing and keep running, even if the flight gets delayed in the end. Life's an adventure. Journey on!

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  16. Ack! That is too close for comfort on the tornado thing! Nice to get the Nathan posting--that is a good way to drive some traffic. Glad you've managed your travels!

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  17. Oh, wow. That's some scary stuff. We live in tornado alley, and thankfully haven't had any close calls.

    Glad you are ok!

    Best-

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  18. That's a scary looking pic you have there. Glad to know all is well with you and your dear ones.

    I do go to Nathan's blog, but I hardly ever comment....he just has so many, I doubt he is able to read all of them.

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  19. I went and read your post on Nathan's blog, and I agree with the crux of what you say: that the evolution of human beings in creative, technological, aesthetic and even human terms would definitely be impacted by the internet.

    So much information, so little time, as well as the need for sifting the information relevant to me from all the pile of knowledge available has certainly impacted me as a person, and I do see how it has changed the lives of kids who're born in the internet age....(from a person like me, who first came across the internet at the ripe old age of 23!)

    I liked your post. It will keep me thinking for some time.

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