TRAPPED IN OC

i was sent out here to cover an upcoming videogame. i was ticketed to fly out to the event at 6:30 this evening, in fact, but i found out early yesterday morning that the event was in fact happening this morning. so i flew out last night and crashed at my old pad. i got a carne asada burrito from the neighborhood taco shop. the quality had improved, i noticed. my family seemed well.

today, i met up with bryn and we saw the unmentionable game. it looked fine. i was mostly interested in getting the chance to chat with bryn as we don't much get the chance anymore. his life seems to be going rather swimmingly and he fatherhood sounds swell, as he describes it. and like any good nerd, he's currently obsessed with burnout 3.

after stopping by the old office to grab some old expense reports -- somehow grabbing the wrong ones, of course -- and taking a moment to chat with a few of the guys down in irvine, it was back to the airport... only this time, jason did the honors. i mentioned to him that i didn't feel like flying. i wished i was home playing burnout 3, rather. when i mentioned this all to jason, he remarked that i should just push my flight back until the next morning, come back to his place and play some burnout. i declined, of course, and made my way into the airport.

when i was checking in, i heard the desk attendant mention the fact that there were numerous delays in progress as she was speaking to the woman ahead of me in line. when she handed me my boarding pass, i was offered no further information. when i checked the monitors i noticed it was true. "shit." though strangely, my flight didn't appear to be affected.

DESTINATION ---- AIRLINE -- FLIGHT -- TIME -- UPDATE -- GATE
SAN FRANCISCO -- AA EAGLE -- 3178 -- 7:35 -- On Time -- 14B

i had arrived early, as is my tendancy, and began the hour-long wait prior to boarding. with a mere fifteen minutes to go, the departure time had changed on nearby monitor: SAN FRANCISCO -- 8:30. instantly, whatever was plaguing these other passenger's travel plans began to plague mine as well.

it seems that a power outage in la area caused the radar systems at most west coast airports to go down causing delays and cancellations. while it hadn't yet become clear whether my flight would be cancelled as well, i couldn't help but be convinced that i wasn't going to see home tonight. so i rang up jason and he was back in town thirty minutes later to pick me up.

he fed me, gave me shelter, hooked me up with transportation, and let me play burnout 3. i obviously should have just heeded his advice to begin with. muchas gracias, amigo. it was fun.

Posted by ryan at September 15, 2004 12:56 AM