In our second attempt, we were even pushed out of the gate. And that is when one of the engines decided that it did not feel like waking up this particular morning. Deplane, bus journey, another long wait and we now finally got another plane to try and at least get us to the live runway. We will see what happens after that.
As we deplaned from the previous plane to get into buses(remember, we had already been pushed from the gate), there was quite some commotion. First, nobody was dressed for the windy cold weather outside. Second, there were lots of moms traveling with really young kids and way way too many suitcases to be carried on as carry on with so many young kids around you to take care of. Anyways, after helping two such families into the bus, I looked behind to check if there was any other kid left behind – and it hit me … Just the enormity of these double decker planes.
Even for a guy who sees way too many planes in a given week, looking up to a 747-400 from the ground level is awe inspiring. When I do some jumping to warm up before runs, I can barely count to “One Mississippi” while I am in the air. And here we are … This humongous metal tube with unbelievable tonnage will take me – and about another 300 of us way up there – somewhere around 37,000 feet. To put it in perspective, if up there, both the engines decide to quit, I can count till “fifty Mississippi” before I can get to the ground. (I am sure the fall would be fine but I dread to think of the sudden stop).
And on top that, this tube would be screaming thru at nearly 600 miles per hour for hours and hours.
I am amazed by the ingenuity of humankind. Which brings me back to my real question – with that much ingenuity, we cannot change planes in under five hours???

So there I am sitting in the front seats in the upper deck on the KLM plane getting bored that we are delayed because a few passengers did not show up and their luggage needs to be pulled out… When I noticed something. Look at the privacy screen between me and my neighbor. It is really not much of a privacy screen – it is about one and a half feet by a foot. But I can read over that all the magazine articles that my neighbor is reading and take clean shots of the outside world thru the window.

Here is my question – why all those random holes in the metal screen?

I asked my neighbor if I could take a picture – I pointed out that I was trying to take a picture of the small screen and wondering why all those holes. But since she might come in the picture, I wanted her to be ok with it. She said – “Not a problem at all” and then as you can see, kept staring at the screen wondering the same question as I had.

Does anybody know??

Back on flights to go to India to check on the parents. Except that this time, the parents have completely upset my carefully laid out plans. I had booked a resort to take my parents to – together with my siblings. I was hoping to get the whole family together in a relaxed environment for a few days – you know my mom would not have to worry about what I was going to eat next and all that …

At the last moment, my dad has decided that he does not want to make the trip. Worse, my mom’s condition has flared up. In a bitter irony, my trips to see her makes her happy but at the same time, the self induced stress (you know – what is my son going to eat next and all that 🙂 ) flares her psychiatric condition up making it somewhat difficult for her and everybody around her. (Usually the stress wears off as the day progresses – evenings are the best time for her).

In any case, now I am stuck with a couple of extra days in India. My usual 3 day trip is almost double this time.

I am sure I will dig up a few more friends from my yesteryears but I think this time I am going to put extra priority to spend time with the parents of the friends I grew up with. I think I will be able to see my friends a few more times. I am less confident of their parents. I will take this opportunity to say Thanks for whatever way they might have influenced me when I was much younger.

Once I am done Facetiming the family from the plane, it would be time to start making a list and make a few phone calls when on the ground…