So… they did it again last night. The Wings beat the Blackhawks in OT to move on to the Stanley Cup finals for the 6th time since 1995. Seriously, I feel very lucky to be a Red Wings fan. There are SO many fans of the team from all other cities. Many of them follow their favorite players there if they got traded or picked up by the Wings in years past (i.e. Chelios, Hasek, Hull, Robitaille, Shanahan, Hossa, etc). But me… I’ve been a true fan of my hometown team since the late 80’s, when at the time, hockey was my dream profession. At this point, obviously that never happened but sometimes I like to still wonder what could have been, if I had the chance and lucky enough to play for my hometown Red Wings.
That being said, I have always had this obsession of trying to make part of that dream come true… but in video games.
I have purchased several NHL hockey video games in the past 15 years or so, and once they allowed you to create a player and name him who you wanted, I immediately would geek out and make myself and add him to my Detroit Red WIngs.
Not only would I create “me” in the game, I would honestly do what I could to best match the stats that I possessed, or thought I possessed. I would be a tall and strong guy, fast skater, low stamina, GREAT passer, hard slap shot but not very accurate, not a fighter but tough checker… and I would definitely have a dark shield over my eyes like Hossa.
Man, with today’s games, I can get down to the littlest detail in creating these players. And for me, it’s somehow especially personal and very sentimental, in some weird way. I don’t know if that’s the correct way to explain it, but let me explain.
After creating this player, I wouldn’t play as if I HAVE to score 100 goals or make it a one-man-show of “George Hester”. I would honestly try to play the game as if it weren’t a video game… as if I have some sort of control over a real live game that just HAPPENS to be a video game. That probably sounds ridiculous, but I think only a few people could relate to this.
With the 2002-present video game styles of being able to play through a Dynasty, you can open up things a WHOLE lot with building career stats, playing through entire 82-game seasons and even including the all-star game in some of the more recent games. (I even made the all-star team a few times).
But with NHL 09 for PS3… I can’t get enough of their new “Be A Pro” gameplay… it’s amazing. I mean, it has some flaws and can come across as being a little funky with the way they grade you and all that… also the ice time can get a little strange when you’re playing a realistically timed game. I could be on the 3rd line and the 2nd line has Zetterberg and Hossa and I would get MUCH more ice time than those guys. It is what it is though… not perfect but it works.
But when I bought my PS3 last fall, I bought it JUST for this game. (and Star Wars The Force Unleashed). Once i started, I got my player all created and started out with the Grand Rapids AHL team… worked my way through about 54 games before I got called up to play for the Wings. And I also got to be my number – 21.
So, playing through the season I have NO control over trades or transactions and I basically have to play for my job. What I love/hate about this game is that I can get traded without a say in the matter… it’s just like real life in some ways. But I take this in a somewhat serious manner where I want to actually try my best on each and every shift and try to be sure I put on a good performance each game I play. This is extremely fun because of the simple fact that I am imagining that this is really “me” in the game. I get very excited whenever I score a goal or am part of a goal being scored while I’m on the ice.
I also have to fight for a spot on a good line as well. For the first 10 games or so I was with the Wings I was bouncing between the 3rd and 2nd lines… eventually I was bumped up to the 1st line, but that lasted about 4 games before I got demoted. It was okay… I wasn’t really scoring goals. And heck, I’m a rookie for crying out loud. a 32-year-old rookie. (my backstory is that I played in the European league for the past 12 years and I wanted to give the NHL a shot. It changes with each game that comes out when I start… it sounds ridiculous, I know… but it’s only a thought in my head. Not a big deal. And it would be more unrealistic for me to pretend I was already in the NHL for the past 12 years or so.)
Anyway, I played through, finished the regular season in 2nd in the West behind who else, but the Chicago Blackhawks. It was kinda funny because my record with the WIngs in the video game was 51-22-9, when in real life the Wings finished this year’s regular season 51-21-10. And the Penguins were the Presidents’ Trophy winners with some ridiculous 60+ win season. (Even crazier, during the season they traded Malkin to the Flames in exchange for Iginla. Ha! – yeah I know… wouldn’t happen in real life, but it just makes the game that much fun. The only trade I’m pissed about though is that we traded Franzen to Montreal for some no-name guy… boo!).
So, the Pens got beat in 6 games in the first round of the playoffs to Montreal, I think. I played the Bruins in the finals, which was stupid. Boston wasn’t any good in this game. I think they were the 7 seed in the East and they basically blew through the series, maybe lost 3 games out of 12, and then I swept them. I don’t know… not all lame… I think it’s obvious we all buy these games and play through the playoffs JUST to win. But for me, I woulda liked a little more “work” to get it. Then again, I wasn’t playing the hardest skill level of the game.
So… now I am and it’s a little more difficult, but it makes for more playmaking, looking for the perfect pass and I am feeling more like a true Detroit Red Wing.
The point of all this and why I felt like writing it down is that when I watch what the Wings just did in the playoffs this year and how they’ve looked the past several years, knowing that the chances are close to zero that IF i actually went pro that I would be a part of the Red Wings – but win or lose, they are undoubtably THE best team to watch play the sport of hockey. Everyone has their opinions on the sport and the way it is played or should be played. So many people comment on the Wings and accuse them of being a soft or a fragile team… well, I’m not one of those people. I watch them and no matter if we score 6 goals in a game or no goals, I am always just finding myself picking my jaw up from the floor when I watch them play. Just sick stuff. The video below is just one example of how they can just put on a clinic. Yeah, they didn’t finish with a goal, but oh my goodness!
So, I just want to close this off with saying how much I can’t wait to see this year’s Stanley Cup finals rematch between the Wings and the Penguins. I have so many good friends who are true Wings or Pens fans and I look forward to all the smack talk on Facebook/Twitter and just hoping for a very exciting and competitive series.
It’s 3:24 am as I begin to write this… why? well, I’m up late because I fell asleep earlier watching a movie that you normally don’t fall asleep to. Aliens…. one of the best sci-fi movies ever made and a sequel that probably ranks among the top 3 or 5 sequels all time. I think I first saw this movie when I was about 12 and I have to say – this movie gave me nightmares. Well… it wasn’t that bad… just the occasional needing to leave the light on when I went to sleep kind of feeling. The only other movie to do that to me was Poltergeist. After that movie I never had a bed that had an ‘underneath’ space… never told my mom that though. If she reads this, it’ll probably explain why I wanted a water bed or one with a solid base when I was a kid.
So – about Aliens. This movie is just all kinds of intense, funny, sometimes predictable, but of all things – it’s just a suspenseful film that has you thinking everything’s okay one minute, and then BAM, out comes an Alien and we’re down a couple more soldiers.
Seriously though – who sleeps through a movie like this? Well… probably someone who has seen it like a hundred times.
I woke up from my nap and wasn’t disappointed that I slept through it… but it did make me think of something I’ve thought of several times but never really written it down or talked about it to people. And that is, the difference between watching a movie for the first time (in a theater or alone) and watching it just to pass the time as it’s a sunday evening and you have nothing else better to do.
There are a handful of movies that I love and can watch over and over again because they are either just action packed and “fun” or because I can laugh at the jokes over and over again, no matter how ridiculous.
But there’s one small problem… I’ve seen them all. And I know what’s going to happen… how it’s going to happen… when it’s going to happen. Although it’s somewhat “fresh” in my brain as I haven’t seen most movies in a while and watching certain ones can me refreshing, it’s still not the same after the first and/or sometimes second time watching it.
Let me make a list of only a few movies for example which I will talk about. Some of which are obvious, and some will take some explaining but can also come out being obvious as well:
The Matrix
The Sixth Sense
Star Wars: A New Hope
Aliens
Dancer in the Dark
Somewhere in Time
Starting with The Matrix. I will admit, I was one of the many who completely missed this movie at the theater… it wasn’t even close to being on my radar. (Overshadowed by Star Wars, Ep 1 perhaps). I didn’t even know of it until it came out on DVD and, in fact, was practically talked into watching it by my friend from U of M, Eric Rogers, on a random day I was over at his apartment.
I think it was just us two watching in his basement… the movie started and from the very beginning all I could think is, “what the hell is going on?”. And as it went further I asked again… “what the hell is going on?”.
We got to the scene where Neo (Thomas Anderson) was unplugged, fell through the slide of goop and was pulled up by that crane. Literally, the minute after Morpheous says the line “Welcome to the real world”, I about had a mind meltdown.
Now, I don’t care who you are and who reads this. We’re all different when we watch movies, and I’m probably one of the very few that was completely mind blown by this one…. but in a way it was to a point where I couldn’t watch anymore without going back a bit and kind of doing a “do-over”. (kind of what we all thought after we saw the scene with the Architect in Reloaded… am I right?).
This whole time it was like a confused yet funny laugh I was exerting and I couldn’t go on without going back a couple chapters to try to figure out what the heck just happened. I know that’s not fair and something I would never usually do… but it was an option at the time and I don’t think there was another one for me.
We went back only a couple chapters… when Morpheus and Neo first meet and talk before Neo takes the red pill. And then when we caught up, I was still saying “wtf?”. Yeah… going back did nothing.
Slowly but surely things came together ‘just right’ as the movie went along, although I did have to watch it once or twice more to grasp a few key details. And since I’m one who hates to guess and predict what happens, I enjoy every moment as if it’s happening for the first time ever in any movie or as if the “obvious” thing won’t happen. Sometimes it does, but for The Matrix, I think every single scene was like “omg, that was friggin’ ridiculous”. It had the story that came together throughout, and on top of that was just kick-a$$ action in every scene!
The lobby scene… are you kidding me? When that scene ended, my jaw was in my lap for like 5 minutes. I don’t think I blinked the entire sequence. Then the fight between Neo and Smith… sick from start to finish – especially the finger throat choker move… holy crap!
Every single moment of that movie just floored me. My little obsession for this movie went to a point where I recorded it to VHS and probably watched that video a thousand times… almost every night before I went to bed. Many times I’d be stuck up all night watching the whole movie. As of today, still not sick of it.
The Sixth Sense is an obvious one. Now, I have some friends who claim they knew it the whole time from their first viewing. Okay, yeah… good for you… (liars). But in the end, this is the kind of movie that once you’ve seen it, yes a second time through can really make you watch it differently (like The Usual Suspects, Memento, A Beautiful Mind, et al) and pick up on a few things that you would have never noticed before, but really there’s not much of a reason to watch it again. Unless you’re like me and watch it like 10 years later just for fun and realize “holy crap, that’s the girl from The O.C.”. So yeah… haha! That’s about the extent of the “thrill” that comes from watching again.
I think The Sixth Sense is an incredible movie… but as opposed to The Matrix, very very low on the replay list of films.
Star Wars… Well, we’ll just say any Star Wars movie, because I actually saw ESB before I ever saw ANH. I wasn’t old enough to understand anyway, but it just happened that way – however it was. I have faint memories of being in an indoor theater with my parents to watch Empire… I must have been 4-ish. And when I say “indoor” I mean that when I was a kid, we rarely went to the movie theaters. It was all about the drive in. Pay a couple $ per person, whatever it was (I never asked) and you get 2 or 3 movies… and if it was 2 movies, you watched one, then another, then the first one again. So yeah, we’re talking like 6 hours at the movies. I liked this because I would play on this playground for most of the first movie… eat the best french fries I ever tasted in my life and eventually come back to the car and watch the movies. As always, I’d be passed out about halfway through the second movie and miss almost everything.
Anyway, Star Wars for me is probably my all time favorite sci-fi, space fantasy story. George Lucas has obviously done something that pretty much took over a good portion of the world, not only with just the movies themselves, but I think that it’s a fact that no other movie or concepts from a movie are referenced more in OTHER films and TV shows than Star Wars. And same with real life. Please tell me you’ve never pretended to “use the force” when walking through automatic doors. Go ahead… lie and tell me you’ve never done that or thought that – only if you’re actually fans of the movies.
But the reason it’s on this list is because when I first saw the lightsaber – I wanted a lightsaber. I think we all did… but wouldn’t mind one that we couldn’t accidentally cut our hand off with. Darth Vader… that guy was the ultimate bad guy. I remember, when Luke took off Vader’s mask at the end of ROTJ, I couldn’t look… my dad had to pull my hands from my face to I could see. I don’t know why I was freaked out… but hey, I was 6. The Force! I mean, how many times have we sat on the couch, looking at the remote across the room and wishing we could float it towards us like Luke getting his saber in ESB? Force lightning… bad, but really cool!
There are several other parts of the movies that were fun and unforgettable, but all in all this movie is much different than the previous two (Matrix, 6th sense) because it wasn’t that it effed with my head the whole time or had me thinking one thing the whole movie just to reveal I was an idiot…. no, this movie opened up a new world of fantasies that still stick in my head to this day (some) and pretty much is THE movie of my generation… and maybe some others too.
Aliens. Okay, now this movie doesn’t need much because I already spoke of it earlier… but I will say that like the time I saw ESB, though a sequel, this was the first “Alien” movie I saw. I did not see the first film until after I saw Aliens (from what I can recall) so this was all fresh from the start.
I wanna say I was about 10 when the movie was released… yet I don’t think I saw it, or was allowed to see it, for a few years afterwards. My parents were really cool about us watching R-rated movies or somewhat scary movies when we were kids… it wasn’t a big deal. We could handle it. But could you believe that although the movie shows on Comedy Central these days, Ghostbusters was actually a pretty scary movie to me when I was a kid?
Speaking of scary movies and parents letting me watch with them – I don’t think I can ever forgive my parents for allowing me to watch the movie The Fly with them when I was a kid. There’s a reason I still have not seen that movie in like 20 years, nor will I ever see it again, for that matter. *shiver*. There is something seriously wrong with that movie and although it’s probably really cool or whatever, no way I will watch it again. Call me whatever name… I’m not gonna watch it… nu uh. nope!
Anyway – Aliens for me was a pretty scary movie. And it was intense… heart would skip a beat… I’d hold my breath as they are walking slow and looking around the corners. I’d get so nervous at every beep and click by the motion sensor and even when the credits rolled, I was just like “whoa… wow!”. And that was when I was like 13. As I grew up, the movie just got cooler and cooler, and as I understood more of it, I enjoyed it more. (talking about some of the one-liners I didn’t get when I was so young). And now, it’s still a little scary when I watch, but also still awesome.
Dancer in the Dark. I was 23 when I saw this movie for the first time… and not in the theater, which I kind of regret, but thankful I was surrounded by about 30 of my friends when we watched it on DVD. This was one of many great movies that came out during the time I was in Blast back in 2000-2001 and although several people went to the theater to see it, I think I opted for something like Gladiator or X-Men instead. I think we all saw X-Men together, but I can’t remember.
So, this movie… probably of any movie I’ve seen, has the ability to just make me very angry. Like… emotionally just fighting with the film… watching the events happen and just feeling nothing but the deepest and most sincere sympathy for Selma and nothing but hate towards Bill. And though I’ve seen the movie a few times, it still gets to me in that way where I just am so shocked by it that I can’t move when the movie ends. It happened the first few times I’ve seen it and it happened just yesterday – which was the first time in about 6 years that I watched the movie.
Which brings me to the point of this entire blog… and I will talk about this before I mention the last movie on my list.
I’ve noticed the emotional impact a movie can have on me. I will not deny that I have cried at the movies and during certain scenes…. heck, I even cried during season 4 of LOST when Desmond calls Penny… oh my gosh, that was so beautiful. Most of the time when that happens though – it’s the music that does it. Not just the acting or the writing… but the music can be so beautiful it can bring out some emotions.
That being said, all that I have talked about, until Dancer in the Dark, was basically how amazing the initial experience was when I saw the movie the first time… and then kind of getting into what it’s like now when I watch it. Not necessarily bad or lacking in quality – just that it’s different.
There are so many movies that I watch now where I find myself wishing there was a way I could remove my knowledge of these films and watch it as if I had never seen it before or knew what to expect in any of them. Like the first time Yoda pulls out his lightsaber to fight Dooku… or the freeway scene in Matrix Reloaded… or when Darth Vader tells Luke “I am your father”. I know I kinda geeked out there and told some obvious ones, but I think you get the idea. What if there was a way we could erase part of our memory that knows that specific film, just for the thrill of watching it and experiencing it new and fresh over again?
Obviously it’s always going to be a fantasy… but also, if that could happen, I wouldn’t know why I was watching it again or what was going on, right? It’s a neat idea, but doesn’t make a whole lot of sense considering it’s a feeling I want to feel over again but you can’t. A first time is a first time, and you don’t get a do-over. But as more time goes by for some of these movies – The Matrix especially – I just wish there was a way I could experience it new, as if I was watching it for the first time… maybe even in the theater this time and opening night. Sometimes it’s just the story… other times it’s the special effects that you just want to experience new again. Like the “bullet time” in The Matrix, and was also used in many movies after that – my most favorite copy was in the beginning of Swordfish.
All that said, and now I have to talk about the last movie on my list – and to this day probably my all-time favorite movie – Somewhere in Time.
This movie I have watched 4 times in my life. That it 4 total and I know because I have kept count.
Somewhere in Time, for me, is probably the first movie that ever made me cry. I remembered my mom talking of this movie one time when I was younger and she was watching it airing on TV. I think I stuck around for a little bit but didn’t really pay much attention to it… just kinda went, “yeah whatever… chick flick!”
I was in college when I saw this for the first time. I was at the Canton Public Library and it was 1996-ish and everyone at school and in my music classes were talking of this new movie that came out about Beethoven called “Immortal Beloved”. I thought the movie was pretty good, though doesn’t touch “Amadeus” at all… but I digress.
I was looking for Immortal Beloved in the movie stack that they had and couldn’t find it. I later found out that they did have it, but it was checked out. Bummer… but since at that time I didn’t realize they had movies to check out, I looked for some others that I wanted to see. I was actually looking for the movie Stargate (which was there) and right next to it was Somewhere in time. I don’t know what it was but I picked up the box, took a look at it and said “eh, what the heck?”. I checked out something like 5 or 6 movies that day… but in the end I only watched one of them… Somewhere in Time.
(And one of my other favorite movies – Shawshank Redemption – was in that stack of movies that I failed to watch… I didn’t see it for another 4 years or so. oops!)
With the movie Somewhere in Time – I won’t talk about this movie too much… I won’t quote it… and I won’t tell anyone a whole lot of what I think or thought of this movie. But I will say that I remember laying on my bed, watching across my room at home and experiencing this movie for the first time. It was about 3 in the afternoon on a weekend when I was home. And for the first time, I don’t think any of my siblings or mom bothered me or called for me for the entire duration of the movie.
I actually did cry at a couple places during the movie… but when it was over and the credits rolled, I think I cried for about an hour. I buried my head in my pillow and just cried. I don’t think I understood it… I’m not exactly sure what it was about it that moved me the way it did. But it happened.
I feel I need to let you all know that I was crying because I feel it couldn’t have ended any happier. Most of the time people cry because of sadness. But I saw this movie a little differently… towards the end of the film, I was sad and shocked… but at the very end when they meet again (in Heaven?), it was just…. wow. … I just can’t think of the words. I really can’t.
Although I already said it, 4 is the number of times I have watched this movie… and I still consider it my all-time favorite. I think that feeling that I get when watching it is something I cherish and want to hold onto as long as I can… and the next time I watch it, whenever that may be, I would like to experience it as new and as fresh as I can.
I‘d just like to take this time to write about how exciting the news was to me regarding the 3.0 update for the iPhone. The preview that was given at the keynote on March 17 has made me officially decide to switch over to AT&T and get on the iPhone bandwagon.
I’ve wanted the iPhone for the past couple years, but cost and the fact I have been with Verizon for so long kinda put a damper on things.
However, my contract with Verizon will be done this summer and I’ve decided that as soon as the 3.0 software is out, I will be purchasing a new iPhone and going with the new carrier.
This is very exciting for me, since I’m planning for it. But the only downside is that now I’ll have two very nice things that I would like to look into either selling or giving away. I’d like to avoid the latter, but we’ll just have to see what happens.
I will be in possession of both my 16GB iPod Touch (1st Gen) and my silver Blackberry Pearl. I’m debating on whether or not to keep the iPod Touch, as it’s such a great gadget and the one thing I never leave home without. It doesn’t even make calls, yet I carry it around with me more than most people carry their phones. In fact, I think I’ve left my place many times without my cell phone, but always make sure my iTouch is in hand. Weird.
Anyway, the Blackberry is great… I love it… but won’t have any more need for it when I’m done. What I was thinking of doing was trying to sell it but there’s a chance I might not have a choice but to give it away. We’ll just have to wait and see.
Regarding the contracts and all that… I went to the AT&T store across the street from my place yesterday and the guy who helped me informed me of several things I was actually not aware of that really make me happy. The fact that I’ll get to keep my same phone number is awesome. That’s a huge plus because I won’t have to tell the whole world my number has changed and I wouldn’t have wasted so much paper and ink on my business cards.
I’m thinking of the 8GB version for now… no need for me to go 16 gigs on the phone. I’m not big on the “filling your iPod with your entire music library”. The less space, the better for me. My iPod touch currently has… (checking)… hmm… 11 gigs used. That’s odd… Oh, I forgot I downloaded like the entire video podcast of Apple Quicktips. I need to just delete those.
Whatever – I don’t need to worry about iPod space. So that’s a plus there.
Also, if I could even get $100 for my ipod touch, that would basically pay for the iPhone (for me). I was one of the many (or few) who rushed out to get an iPod touch as soon as they were available in the fall of 2007. I picked mine up from Fry’s on October 3 – only 3 days after they were released. The 1st gen aren’t AS cool as the current 2nd gen, but it works just fine to me. I’ll probably just give it to my mom or my brother or something. we’ll see.
So that’s it. It seems that most of my blogs on here focus on 2 or 3 subjects. One of them being technology and cell phones. I’ll have to mix things up a bit more and talk about more interesting stuff like…. LCD tv’s and beautiful texas weather in the springtime and … well, I don’t know.
I’m outta here. Hope everyone has a great weekend.
This is a copy from a note I just posted on Facebook. I figured it would be a good ice-breaker to get myself back into blogging here again. I guess I don’t need to blog at all, but I’ve always got stuff to say and need an outlet since I’m moved to a new place and back to living alone – which I love! But there’s no-one here to outlet to.
This note is just for me to write down the experience I had, just because…
…and there’s nothing too special about it other than the fact that the entire day was one I will never forget. It’s a long note, so it’s up to you if you wanna take time out of your day to read it. This was for me to just tell my story from the weekend and keep for myself (like in a diary) so I can remember it.
I was in North Carolina this past weekend for a design meeting with W. Carteret. The meeting went well and we had some good discussions on what we want to do this year. I’m really looking forward to working more closely with the design team and putting together what looks to be a very cool show.
This meeting, being planned over a month ago, we scheduled to happen the weekend of the 27-1. Little did we know or expect it to be the time when Atlanta would get SLAMMED with inches of snow… and yes… inches of snow in Atlanta, which from what I hear is about as rare as inches of snow in Houston. Except, they got hit with it so bad that everything shut down on Sunday – the day I was supposed to fly home through Atlanta.
So, I’m out there… weather is crappy! It’s rainy… cold… foggy. I was staying at a hotel on the ocean and couldn’t see the ocean. (see mobile uploads).
I’m up late catching up on some e-mails… came on facebook to see my friend Lizz’s status update talking about how upset she is that he flight through Atlanta via Delta was canceled on Sunday.
I froze there for a moment and said to myself… “Wait… MY flight is also Delta and going through Atlanta!” I looked it up and sure enough… canceled.
Then I looked up my flight info and they confirmed me on a flight out of Wilmington, NC at 6:05 am… on TUESDAY! (which is today as I’m writing this blog) and getting to Houston around 11am. Flying still through Atlanta.
I wasn’t THAT freaked out by it or anything… I didn’t really have much of a reason to hurry home, however it was working out a place to stay, hotel or whatever. But you all know that if flights get canceled, those hotel rooms fill up QUICK. Unless you run to the phone or hotel front desk, you’re more likely to get a seat on the floor at the airport than any affordable hotel room. (I guess you wouldn’t “run” to the phone, especially if you have one… I guess that’s more of me referencing what you had to do in the 90’s before everyone had a cell… haha).
So, it’s like 2am… I’m trying to text/call people to see what I can do, figure out rides on Tuesday morning… it was a mess. I wasn’t sure but the plan was to still head to the airport at 9am-ish on Sunday morning. Ryan, our music arranger who was there at the hotel with me, was flying through Charlotte to Austin. His flight was fine, but mine was a no-go for sure. The band directors of WC did one hell of a job making calls for me and eventually getting me on another flight with another airline and getting me out that day still, but flying to Charlotte, then to Dallas and then to Houston. I can’t thank them enough for their hospitality and their effort in helping me get home.
So, here’s where the magic happens.
They booked me through US Air, which was the same as Ryan’s flight, through Charlotte and off to TX. My flight was scheduled for 7:30pm out of Wilmington to Charlotte. Then something like 9pm out of Charlotte to Dallas, arriving something like 11pm. I would have to stay several hours in DFW overnight and was on the first Continental flight out at 5:40am Monday, getting to Houston around 6-something.
Ryan’s flight was leaving at 12:49pm Sunday. I was looking at my phone (and I’m SO glad I have a blackberry) and watching the weather in all the cities I was flying through and from. The weather coming into Wilmington looked god awful… I mean it went from 40 to 20 to 30 to rain to snow to rain snow mix to ice to uglier than most Michigan weather. (and this is for a city down south that doesn’t get weather like this as often). And Charlotte looked just as bad.
While I was in the car, I thought to myself that even though I know flights won’t go out unless it’s absolutely safe enough to fly, I wanted to be more optimistic than pessimistic, yet I could help but wonder if I should at least try to get on standby for an earlier flight out of Wilmington in the event my 7:30 pm flight gets delayed or canceled.
I got to the desk to check in, spoke with a very nice lady at the US Air desk and explained briefly what had happened when my Delta flight was canceled and how I wanted to see if there was any chance I could go standby for an earlier flight that night. Nothing was delayed or canceled out of Wilmington to Charlotte for the day so it didn’t really matter at the time. She typed a few things in for me… looked at some stuff… looked at me and said “I can get you a seat on the flight at 12:45 to Charlotte” (same as Ryan’s) – I got excited and said “YES!! That’s perfect… Thank you SO much”. She smiled and with a little laugh said “it’s no problem…”
She then proceeded to look into my connecting flights. I explained to her that I really didn’t care about waiting in Charlotte until 9pm or later because it was a much bigger and better airport to get stranded in than Wilmington. She said “I can get you on the standby list for a 2:40 flight out of Charlotte to Dallas… but then your stuck in Dallas until 5am the next day”. I kinda shrugged and said “you know, that’s ok”. But I said that thinking “there’s NO way I’ll get on that flight to Dallas”.
She printed my boarding passes… I was off through security and to the gate.
Not even 10 minutes after I sat down and turned on my iPod, Ryan was on the phone with his wife and I was watching the grey clouds rolling in. An older man’s voice came on the PA system in the terminal and began with “I need everyone’s attention please…” or something of the sort. The announcement was to notify everyone in the airport that due to the weather coming into Charlotte and Philadelphia, all flights going to those cities after 4pm tonight are canceled”.
I looked at Ryan and my eyes went bug-like. I couldn’t believe that I got a seat (not standby) on an earlier flight and everything was still ok for me to get out that day. Had I stayed on my original flight and not said anything, I would not have gone anywhere that day but a cheap hotel.
The lady at the counter confirmed with me and several other questioning travelers that our flights earlier in the day were in fact fine.
Then they made an announcement telling us that flights later in the evening out of Charlotte going several places are either delayed or canceled and that all hotels close to the Charlotte airport were already booked. I was sitting there going “sh*t!… oh well”.
So, we get on the plane… a little one at that. I sit next to a very nice woman from Colorado and she was great to talk to on the flight. We take off and are on our way on the 1+ hour flight to Charlotte. I don’t remember how long it actually was, but considering it was bumpy the entire flight and we flew in a cloud the whole way, it felt like 3 hours.
We land in Charlotte about 20 minutes behind schedule and I look at the time – it’s about 2pm. The flight out of Charlotte to Dallas that I was on standby for was scheduled to leave at 2:40-ish. I looked at the board and saw it was delayed to 3:20. So, that bought me a little time to switch terminals and see if I could check in for standby.
I took my time… I didn’t even walk on the moving sidewalk. I waited for the train/shuttle and got to the counter around 2:20-ish. I was behind at least 5 other people who I assumed were waiting to figure out the standby thing. As they went up one by one I overheard this or that about them getting on standby… I wasn’t really paying attention. I spent most of the time on my ipod playing solitaire.
So, I get up there, smiled at the lady who was older… seemed somewhat over it… and just said “hi, I was just seeing about getting my name on the standby list”. I showed her the blank boarding pass they gave me in Wilmington and she looked it up and said “yes, we already have you on the list”. I shrugged and said “oh… okay, cool! Thanks!”.
I sat down, and as time went by, there were flights at the gates all around me getting canceled or moved to other gates. The flights by me were to Boston and Newark and I think they both were canceled. I just stuck to my tunes and played more solitaire.
They started boarding the plane… I stood with my stuff close to the counter and just watched as the rain POURED down outside. And I do mean, poured! cats and dogs!
They called 3 names… none of them mine of course. They called 3 more… one was the last name Harper (I think… thought it was me… almost died. haha).
Then she called my name! I almost tripped over my computer bag, I was so excited. I went up there, she gave me a boarding pass and said “you’re the last one”. no joke! I was so excited I could hardly contain my smile. I looked out to everyone looking at me and had to quickly hide that smile as I knew several of them were waiting and hoping to get on that flight. I did feel a little bad, but I was then just amazed I got on that flight… couldn’t believe it.
They call my group… I get on the plane… we get off the ground about 30 minutes late but after a bumpy take-off, we landed smoothly in a sunny and clear Dallas around 5pm CST.
I was SO relieved to be in Dallas and the first thought (and only one) was to not stay in Dallas for 12 hours but talk to Continental, cancel the remainder of my flight (I had no checked baggage), rent a car and drive home. That was ALL I really considered to be an alternative to waiting 12 hours in the DFW airport.
So, I went out the exit… knowing I couldn’t just walk back in, and went to the Continental counter, greeted by another wonderful lady. She asked if she could help me… I kinda stood there silent and still – maybe to her as if I didn’t hear her, but I was just taking in the moment and realizing how it’s 5:15pm and I wasn’t even supposed to have left Wilmington by now even if the weather was perfect – let alone been stuck there overnight at least, due to that flight getting canceled.
I walked slowly up to the counter… smiled and I think I said “I can’t tell you how happy I am to be here right now…” or something like that… I forget. She kinda smiled and seemed confused. I immediately recognized the fact that I better just get to the point and let her know I was going to try and get out of my flight and do the rent-a-car… but only if they would let me. There was no-one else in line behind me so none of us were in a rush.
She looked me up on the computer… we chatted a bit about everything I went through to get there, the canceled flights, the standby… I just laughed in disbelief thinking about it.
Then she looked at me and said “you know, I have a few seats available for the 7:04 flight tonight”. I don’t remember what she said after that because I was asking her to repeat that time… because I was so lost in thought about driving time home, the cost, where I would drop the car off etc that I didn’t think I heard her right. She smiled and repeated saying she would put me on the 7:04 flight to Houston, tonight!
I was in awe… and I gratefully accepted it. She even said she wasn’t going to charge me (which I didn’t know there would be a charge for that, so I didn’t know what to say except “thank you”), and even got me an exit row seat.
I got on that flight, it was short and sweet, landed a little after 8pm and I was home by 9:15.
This whole experience was incredible!
The weather that hit the southeast was BRUTAL!! And most everything closed down in all the cities where they’re not used to this kind of weather. I do feel for those of you dealing with it still and who lost power. I hope everything gets back to normal for you guys soon.
But in many ways, there’s no way I should have made it home that day… let alone, by 8:15pm. I was very lucky and believe there was someone out there looking out for me and I can’t thank them enough.
In the end, I avoided a canceled flight by instinctively trying get onto an earlier flight with no certainty that the flight would get canceled. I received the last standby ticket out of Charlotte (and was probably one of the last flights OUT of Charlotte that day) and made it to Dallas. Then didn’t have to get a rental and got on the next flight out of Dallas – and in an exit row with leg room (…not the exit row withOUT the leg room).
I’m just in awe of this experience and feel so lucky. I’m thankful for many things life has given me and I’m just very thankful right now for great band directors I work for, friendly people who work for the airlines and my friends who have helped me with rides and stuff when plans change.
I know maybe 2 people will have read all this. (or none… haha!) I didn’t tag anyone because I know people will look at this and go “geez, I’m not gonna read all that…” and close it. I just needed to write this down for me because as little of a thing it might be to some people, it’s a very big deal to me and something I will always remember next time I get stuck in an airport (which will happen) and I get stuck waiting through several flights on standby (which will happen and has happened).
(my backstory is that I played in the European league for the past 12 years and I wanted to give the NHL a shot. It changes with each game that comes out when I start… it sounds ridiculous, I know… but it’s only a thought in my head. Not a big deal. And it would be more unrealistic for me to pretend I was already in the NHL for the past 12 years or so.)
