TOTATLY Random

By Alan Oakes

Winter blues

\f,/ell. so MUCH FoR GLoBAL wanrrarNc! In the Northeast, I think it is now six snowfalls V Y in the recent past and I am sure more to come. As I have heard from many of youit's not easy to run a business such as ours in these conditions. All over the country a number of you have reported a tough last few weeks, and it doesn't look like it will end any time soon. From bad conditions in Atlanta to snow in Dallas-and the debacle of the last week all over the northern states-it seems as if Lady Luck has been evading all of us.

It has been an interesting week. to say the least. I started off in Las Vegis for an event, went quickly home to California to repack, then headed for the NRLA show in Foxwoods, ct. we knew a storm was coming, but my colleague and I decided we should be able to beat it. At least that is what I thought, and united Airlines seemed to agree with me. Hearing "Are you crazy?" for the fifteenth time from my wife as I left at 4 a.m., I headed for LAX. I had checked every advisory. Up to the last minute, we were told that our connections to and from chicago were still a go and that our flight was safe. No problemo!

As we were landing, we received our gate assignment. There wasn't a drop of snow in the air. All seemed good. I was smiling over how smart I was. But after de-boarding, I saw that all flights to Hartford were cancelled for the day. Great! And to make matters worse, chicago would be closed for the next day. we decided there was no point in trying to get to Hartford, since we'd probably have to wait two or three days for a flight home. we quickly decided to head back to Los Angeles. With a long list of cancellations building up, we considered ourselves lucky to get a flight to New orleans, on to Los Angeles. A few minutes later, we saw this flight now listed as cancelled, but rushed to the gate to find out that it was, in fact, boarding. The pilot and passengers were doing high fives over being the chosen ones to get out. of course, snow started to sweep in. we boarded, de-iced, and sat on the runway. Naturally, the flight then got cancelled. we were now locked in. of course, every time I called home with an update, my wife graciously reminded me how stupid I was to try to go in the first place.

with the airport closingdown fast. we knew it was time to find a hotel. By the time we caught a hotel shuttle, we had no clue where we were going-as you could not see a thing in the blizzard In the meantime, we had booked a flight for Thursday, but due to nonavailability, booked a flight to another airport-inconvenient but anything to get out of Chicago. That evening, intrepid travelers from all over huddled in the Hilton and started sharing their tales of the day. There were only about 30 of us in the entire hotel, all stuck with nowhere to go. of course I got the "l told you" so speech at least another five times.

On Wednesday morning, I learned our flight for Thursday was cancelled, so I started all over again with the call center in India. I must say the reservationists were helpful, but in their sunny climate had absolutely no clue what was going on in Chicago. I finally accepted that we could not get a direct flight and agreed to travel via Jackson Hole. snow to snow-pretty smart, eh? with freezing temperatures and snow drifting to 6 feet, we were confined to our the hotel with only about a dozen TV channels. My colleague and I quickly reminded why we live in sunny california (except when it rains and floods, as my house did a few days before christmas). After another long day, with depression setting in and afraid to call home to hear it all over again, I headed for bed with visions of finally escaping the next day.

Waking up at 5 a.m., I quickly checked to make sure all was good, then headed off for breakfast for what was sure to be yet another long day. I then noticed that the hotel's airport board showed our flight was delayed due to crew shortagenot a good sign. We headed for the airport anyway and, after a lot of persuasive pleading (and begging), got ourselves on standby for one direct flight and confirmed for a second later in the day. The story ends here, as we got the first flight out, since many smarter passengers (as the United ground agent told me) decided not to fly on Tuesday.

My wife was delighted to see me again, so that she could remind me that I never listen. Yes, a1l true and guilty-why are wives so smart? And why do I give mine so many opportunities to gloat? You better listen better than me! Have a better month.

Alan Oakes, Publisher ajoakes@aol.com

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