Giant Lizard

Health! Wellness!

You know what. Flying sucks. Why? Well, if you have to ask, go away.

A couple of weeks back (yeah, I should have posted sooner) I was scheduled to head on over to Yellowknife for a conference. I was looking forward to it. Not only that, but I had the opportunity to see some old friends who have left Iqaluit in their rear view mirror. Very sad. The fact that they left, not the fact that I would see them. The hell is wrong with you?

And so, around noonish, day of departure, the weather takes a direct route to "Fuck you airplane" territory. Much of the talk centered around whether flights would make it in and out. Well, the wind and snow didn't seem to be putting a damper on flights. They were coming and going as usual, though a little delayed here and there.

There was hope!

Myself and the other conference goers arrived at the airport close to 5 or 6 as our flight was slated to head out close to 7. Seemed reasonable.

And then the delays....

It always seemed to be about 30 to 40 minutes at a time so we couldn't actually leave. So we chatted amongst ourselves or read or got rip roaring plastered. Ok, maybe not that last part. Though in hindsight, we should have.

This went on......and on.....and on. A couple of flights came and went. Indeed, I don't think any of us had heard of any that were canceled that day, until later. After several more delays, they finally decided to cancel the flight.

Fuck you! Just......fuck you.

No, not the folk at the counter or the pilots or the baggage handlers. Well, the latter, not in this instance. I'm sure we've all had moments where they earned such vitriol. But not today. Yeah, yeah, runway conditions unsafe. No need to endanger life. Survival of the species at stake. I get it.

I suppose the reason I was particularly enervated were the ramifications of this decision. You see, the next flight out to Yellowknife was Wednesday evening. And the conference ended Thursday. This all happened on a Monday, in case you cared. Thus, the trip was scrapped as it didn't make sense to send us all over for a single day. Yeah, I understand the sense in that too, stop giving me that look. No, not that one, the other one.

So we all parted from the airport in a foul mood. Alia in particular as she had not been out of town in some months. If you lived here, you'd understand. It's good for your sanity to get out now and then. For some, it's so they can go on mega shopping excursions. For me, it's so I can get good beer, on tap, for cheap.

Priorities man!

Anyway, long story short, it sucked. Life goes on.

On the plus side......

This wine is delicious!

Leeches!