The emergency kit I built sits in the back of my car. My car’s name is Red. The emergency kit is red. It seems appropriate. I haven’t touched the kit in months, but I’m thinking it is probably time. I originally set it up (in California) for, hopefully not, use during an earthquake, a fire, or both. Now it sits (in North Carolina) and waits for hurricanes or storms that knock out power. I go on the assumption that if I’m ready, it won’t happen. So far, so good. I have a feeling it won’t last. Ooh, such a Doomsday Girl!
I just returned from an 11-day cruise that sailed halfway through the Panama Canal, turned around, and came back to the port in Miami, FL. The weather was beautiful until we hit Florida. The shuttle bus dropped us off at 10 AM in front of the airport. Arleen’s flight was at 3:30 PM. Mine was at 5:15 PM. We checked our bags and had lunch at a restaurant. Then the thunder and lightning began. In the part of California where I lived, you have such storms for, tops, three minutes. The rain will continue, but the storm is gone. Not so in Florida, and apparently not so in the East. The airport shut down. No flights in, and no flights out. But the people kept coming. Lots and lots of people, some sitting on the floor just for a seat. The food vendors did a great business. Arleen and I had been separated because of different gate areas so we had to communicate via WhatsApp. Thank goodness for modern technology and the airport’s internet provider.
Her flight left around 8:30 PM, and she had to catch a connection to her final destination. My direct flight left at 10:06 PM, making it a ten-hour day for me. It might have been tolerable if they had not kept changing the Gate connection. Understand this, the walk from one end to the other is one mile. When they would change the gate, I would dutifully walk almost a full mile simply because I had been sitting so much. An hour later, they would change the gate again. At 9:00 PM, I had had enough. I was determined to wait until 15 minutes before boarding to check the gate. When time was nearing, I looked up. The people I recognized, who were on my flight, were now nowhere to be seen. I looked at my phone, which told me the gate had been changed. Surprise!
As I walked down to the new gate, my phone buzzed. Congratulations! You have hit a new personal record – 20,000 steps today. I realised that my phone was just like me, always looking for the positive. I got to my gate as they were loading Group 6. I was in Group 8. The flight was unremarkable. I slept through most of it. I popped into bed at 1:30 AM. It’s amazing how one bad day can undo eleven days of total relaxation.
Which brings me back to my emergency kit. Hope for the best. Prepare for the worst. Write about it. Then, decide where you are going to go on your next trip. I already have.
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