Planes, No Trains and Automobiles

Rich Rosenblatt

14 years ago

Well you saw my video blog of the blizzard in Chicago. That was a crazy experience for sure. Well that was just the beginning for me. About two hours after that video, it had stopped snowing and I was beginning my excavation of those massive drifts of snow. While in the middle of shoveling, my phone buzzed. It was an e-mail from American Airlines telling me that my flight to Atlanta the following morning was cancelled and pushed back to Friday. I was supposed to be in Atlanta to do a lecture on Thursday night and Friday. I was between a rock and a hard place. I called Amtrak, but they were sold out. Obviously everyone had the same idea. O'Hare Airport was closed until Friday, so no chance to change airlines.

My grandfather told me at a young age that your word is your bond. I told the guys in Atlanta that I'd be there, so I had to try to get there. I called a buddy in St. Louis to see what the weather was like. He said they didn't get anywhere near as much snow, the roads were pretty good and the airport was open. I called the airline to see if I could get a flight out to Atlanta. They got me on a 6:00 a.m. flight through Dallas to Atlanta. I jumped into my car at 2:00 p.m. and drove six hours to St Louis. There was black ice all the way down there, but I made it. I got to Dallas where it was two degrees and there was ice all over. But I made it to Atlanta! Unfortunately, the weather followed me. It was sleeting the evening of my first lecture. Between the weather and the ridiculous traffic in Atlanta, not many showed up. Those who did attend chuckled when I told them my weather story.

The next morning I had a lecture with a great lab, Pittman Dental Lab in Gainesville, Ga. It was pouring that morning also. I just couldn't shake the bad weather. I was able to get to the airport and get on an early flight back. Of course, to rub it in my face, American made me fly through Chicago (so I could wave at my house) to get to St. Louis so I could pick up my car and drive it back home the next day. I thought that would be the end of the turmoil until I was awakened at 4:00 a.m. by the grating sound of snow plows. That's right ... I woke up to about six inches of snow on the ground and had to drive back to Chicago in another snow storm. Now I know what John Candy felt like in Planes, Trains and Automobiles!