My SAAB Story

This story begins on a cold boring Tuesday in Dubuque. There were no passengers scheduled to fly out on our afternoon flight, so my boss gave me the rest of the day off. I was scheduled to have 

Wednesday off as well, so I decided it was time to fly somewhere. After all, my last trip was all the way back in November when I went to Paris and Amsterdam. This time I decided on a slightly less audacious undertaking. I had several options with a list of people and places to see, but I didn't think three hours notice was enough time to drop in on anyone. I called Matt, my former roommate to see what he was up to, but got no response. So I checked the availability to Toronto, Canada. Wide open! Just as I was about to board the flight out of Dubuque, Matt called back to let me know it was ok to come visit him in Waterloo. So I quick changed my itinerary and hopped on board. 

Since the flight attendant and I were the only ones in the cabin, we got to know each other pretty well. She had been to Dubuque a couple times before, but we hadn't talked at length until now. When I got to MSP, my former manager, Kai, was waiting for me. He told me that he thought it was odd that there were no connecting passengers coming from Dubuque. We chatted for a little bit before I got on another SAAB headed for Waterloo. 

Matt was waiting for me at the airport. We stopped at Casey's to pick up some pizza before heading back to his apartment near the UNI campus. I met most of his roommates and we watched some tv before I crashed on his floor. Early next morning he dropped me off at the airport where I boarded a CRJ200 to go back to MSP. From there, I got on a CRJ900 bound for Houston. The flight was uneventful and 2 hours later we were pulling up to our gate at the George Bush International Airport. By now, my phone was almost dead because I didn't think to grab a charger. To save the battery life, I kept turning my phone off and on only when I needed to use it. The plane I came down on was headed directly back to Minneapolis. 

I contemplated taking this option, but decided to have lunch instead. I found a Fuddruckers in the A concourse and enjoyed a burger and fries while watching a plethora of Continental aircraft taxi by. The next few hours I spent walking around taking pictures trying not to draw the attention of any TSA officials or local law enforcement. For a brief moment, I got to go outside and experience the near 60 degree weather as I took a shuttle bus from the C terminal to the A. I got a message from Lori saying that she needed a car from Moline, IL. I told her I wanted to go to Memphis first and if she could find me a flight, I would do it. Everything lined up so I continued on my journey. 

I left Houston for Memphis at 4:15 on another 200. Another uneventful flight. I arrived in Memphis about an hour or so later. I only had an hour layover so I decided to get some authentic Memphis barbeque. I didn't want to spring for the ribs, so I got the BBQ pork sandwich and it really hit the spot. 

My last flight of the day was on yet another 200. I got into Moline at 830 and picked up the car at Avis to be shuttled to Dubuque. In my rush to get home, I neglected to ask for directions to the highway. But as luck would have it there were signs upon exiting the parking lot. If only I knew which highway went where. I made the mistake of taking 280 to Des Moines instead of 74 which would have brought me north quicker up to 80 and then to 61. I got the lovely scenic tour of downtown Davenport, which I recognized from our cross country visits to Credit Island Golf Course. 

I pulled into the Dubuque Airport just as the approach lights turned on for American Eagle from Chicago. Our plane from Minneapolis wasn't on the ground yet either so it turned out to be a good trade off. 

Yesterday, I was reminiscing and telling coworkers about my trip and I got to thinking about when I was doing cross countries for my Commercial Pilot's License. Back then, I had to pay for the plane and lunch. (There's a book called the $100 hamburger with great locations around the country to fly to for lunch. By the time you pay for the plane and the fuel and lunch, it comes out to about $100. But that was in the good ole days too!) I'd much rather non-rev for free and just pay for the hamburger.

Thanks for reading my SAAB story. Get it?

New News

I've found that this sliver of time in between church and work on Sunday's works well for blogging. It doesn't offer me as much time as I would like to process my thoughts thoroughly, but if I didn't do it now, I wouldn't do it at all. Especially with today being Superbowl Sunday. So, right now I've got pasta boiling on the stove and I'm eating some apple pie that I baked earlier this week. Nothing special, just a Sara Lee frozen pie, but it is delicious. 

I had quite the action packed weekend. Yesterday, UD held it's first indoor track meet in the new Chlapaty Recreation and Wellness Center. I caught most of the field events, but couldn't stay for the running portion because I had to get back to work. The place is very nice, but it looks kind of bland. It could use some banners or murals to liven things up. One of my former teammates said there were about 10 men's and women's teams there, but I didn't verify. I will post a link to the results here and you can see for yourself. (I haven't had a chance to look at them yet.) Men's Results | Women's Results 

At the meet I ran into sports information director Paul Misner who said he recently received a plaque with my name on it. Turns out that it was the ESPN The Magazine Academic All America Team Award I earned this past year.

After work yesterday, I helped out with a volunteer appreciation banquet for our church volunteers at The Bridge. The Bridge meets on the UD campus, but doesn't not have any real connections with the school. For our banquet, we borrowed the Tri-State Community Church basement on the north side of town. The menu consisted of turkey breast, bake potatoes and toppings, tossed salad with strawberries and glazed pecans, and an assortment of desserts. I didn't have time to bake, so I brought a rhubarb pie and a blueberry pie from Hy-Vee. They turned out to be a pretty big hit. After dinner, we played a couple large group games to get to know one another a little bit better. I had a good time because I got to learn a whole lot more names than I do by just going to church on Sunday morning. 

Well I've finished my pasta and it's time to head to work. Looks like I'll have to change there. I've still got my church clothes on. 

More pictures from the track meet.