Travel Woes, Part 2

No flat tires this time! I was in Saint Louis at the beginning of November, during the government shutdown, right as the airlines were beginning to cut flights. Yeah, you know what's coming . . .

At first, all was well. I was waiting at the hotel to take the shuttle to the airport when I got the text that my flight was delay some 3-4 hours. Ugh. Lots of waiting, but okay, I can handle that. 

Got to the airport and settled in at a restaurant where I could enjoy a beverage and do some work. After a little while I got the text that my flight had been cancelled. Ugh. Quickly pack up my stuff to head over to a ticket counter to rebook.

On the way, I get another text: I've already been rebooked onto a flight that was due to depart about 45 minutes after my first, delayed schedule flight. Okay. Still a long wait, but I can handle that. 

I sit down to open the app on my phone and get more information, when I see that this flight that WAS schedule to leave shortly after dinner has itself been delayed by 5 hours! So now my ETD is midnight! Really?

That's when I overheard a woman at the ticket counter I was sitting nearby . . . she was on that flight and was having them rebook her to Baltimore, where it seemed flights were getting in better. What a great idea! I'm not sure I would have thought of that. So I jumped up and told the woman at the counter: "I'll have what she's having!" It would get me in Baltimore around 8 pm.

Okay, but then to get from Baltimore down to Reagan National so I could get on the Metro and go out to where my car was parked. Train? Not sure if they'd be running in that direction in the evening. Rental car? Yikes! Expensive for a one way rental. So texted my wife, who was working. Could she come pick me up? (usually about an hour drive.) YES! She's the goat. So, while it took her a little longer because of traffic, and even after working all day, she got me back to my car and home by around 11 pm.

Found out that Reagan National DCA was the worst airport that day, seeing (as the notice screenshotted below says) more cancellations than any other airport in the world.

But I made it home safely. I am thankful for that. I'm sure lots of folks had it worse than me.

Travel Woes, Part 1

So a couple weeks ago, I was driving to a Pastors conference near Pittsburgh. While cruising along on I-70, I ran over some debris in the road I didn't notice in time to avoid (some wood of some sort). Both right side tires ran over it. But afterward, nothing seemed to be wrong, so I kept going . . .

But a little ways down the road, the tire pressure light came on. Uh oh. Fortunately there was an exit in just a couple miles. So I got off and found a little garage. My front tire did seem low. Two very nice guys found two places/gashes side-by-side where air was leaking out, so they plugged them for me. They also let me know that two plugs that close together wasn't good and I should get a new tire. I told them I still had about 2 hours yet to drive, and they said no problem - it would last that long.

Famous last words.

1.5 hours later, and on a two-lane stretch of Rt. 30 in PA, the steering started feeling a little funny . . . then I heard what sounded like a helicopter . . . (Spoiler alert! There was no helicopter!) . . . and then the tire went. Fortunately there was a spot for me to quickly pull off. Not big! But enough. But also close enough to the road and on not-very-level ground, so I thought it best to call AAA to help me change the tire and put on the spare. As I began to take stuff out of my trunk and put it in the back seat so I could get to the spare (I was taking a lot of stuff to the conference), I noticed it - not ONE flat tire, but TWO! Both the tires on that side of the car! When I had stopped before, the rear tire seemed fine. It wasn't.

So, call AAA back. Gonna need a flatbed. Okay. 

So I wait . . . and wait . . . and wait . . . 2.5 hours later (!) the guy comes. Nice guy, but apparently, there are only TWO guys who work for AAA in the rather large section of Western PA I was in! By the time he arrived, all the tire places were closed - so where do I want him to drop my car? I DON'T KNOW! So a quick search on the phone finds "Tiny's Tire and Auto." Okay. Drop it there. 

Uh . . . let's just say not a good choice! Kinda sketchy looking place. But it's getting late, and I still need to Uber to the conference center, so okay, drop it. I'll see to it tomorrow.

The next morning, I arrive right when Tiny's is supposed to open. No Tiny. Wait a little while. No Tiny. So I call another garage in town. Can you come get my car? Where are you? Tiny's. OH . . . Tiny's! Nice guy, but he kinda marches to the best of his own drummer. If you wait, he'll probably show up in a bit . . . 

NO THANK YOU! So they come get me, charge me an enormous sum of money to pick up the car and tow it all of one mile! But they did put on two new tires and got me going again the next day, so thankful for that.

Then driving home, guess what? The tire pressure light starts blinking and comes on again! Oh no! Finally find a place with an air pump and check the tires - they seem fine. Turns out the blinking means the sensor is bad or going bad. Okay. I can deal with that. Then farther down the road and closer to home, the light goes out. Guess it's okay now!

Moral of the story (maybe a couple): 

#1 - Be more vigilant for debris on the road.

#2 - Don't run over debris on the road!

#3 - Don't get your car towed to a place called Tiny's! 

#4 - If you have AAA and are going to break down, don't do it in Western PA.

Next: Travel Woes, Part 2

Election 2025

I know, I know, long time, no post! I just get so busy that the last thing I think of and want to do is post here! But I do have some things to put up over the next few days, so . . .

What happened with the Virginia elections yesterday? The following graphic tells the story:

Virginia is not a purple state! The saddest part of this is that now the Constitutional Amendment allowing abortion through all nine months of pregnancy, making a Virginia an abortion destination, shielding doctors, and threatening crisis pregnancy centers is going to move full steam ahead. And by the looks of this map, unless something drastically changes, will easily pass.

Kyrie eleison.

Power Outage!

Online Bible Study Wednesday night . . . about halfway through and the power goes out! What to do?

No power? No problem!

Connect to the internet through your phone as a mobile hotspot, break out the ol' flashlight, and keep going! :-)  It took me a couple minutes, but at least some of the people hung in there and finished Bible Study with me. I don't know if everyone did, since my monitor which was showing who was logged on had no power. But on we went! That was a first.

Higher Things - Day 4

The last day of the conference! It is only a half day to enable groups to get on the road back home. So after breakfast is the final plenary session followed by the closing Divine Service. This closing service is great for me as everything is done, now we get one more time to receive the gifts and rejoice. 

In this last plenary session, we find out which tetramorph team got the most points and so won the team competition. Here are the results:

Yes, the team our group was on won! The kids were quite pleased. We'll see how we do next year.

So after the closing service, time to get everyone lunch, packed up, checked out, and on the road. As our cars pulled out around 1:30, I went back to work to pack up all the chapel things and help get the truck loaded to take everything to Nebraska for the next conference. That took a good part of the afternoon, after which I had a couple of hours to work on a sermon for Sunday before dinner!

A few more pictures of the week . . .

The dorm we stayed in, Gorman Hall.

The Lego Masters team.

Foods!

And some Pastor pics . . .

The scooter I got to use for the week to get around. ;-)

Before the start of Evening Prayer

Higher Things - Day 3

Day Three at Higher Things is much like Day Two, except that the routine is now easier, things are flowing a little better, and the kids are more excited (and tired!). Two breakaways again today, and I taught mine for the second time - which went better, as it always does. :-)  The kids also have a little more free time in the evening this last night, and are busy earning points for our tetramorph team.

One of the ways to earn points was in the Talent Show. Robert played a piano piece and Cyrus and Dan performed a rap written by Cyrus about the four tetramorphs! It really was quite good. The performance was a bit timid (hard to do in front of a lot of people and judges), but the judges gave them an honorable mention (aka 4th place) for the inventiveness of the rap, and with that, 50 points for our team. I must say, the level of talent was high and the competition stiff. 

A few more pictures . . .

With the three Executive Directors of HT - Patrick, Crysten, and Harrison.

Dr. James Lee, professor at Concordia-Chicago.

New England District President and long-time friend Bob Beinke.

Scott, our A/V guy extraordinaire!

Robert playing his talent show piece.

Dan and Cyrus rapping.

Higher Things - Day 2, Post 2

Day 2 was the "Conference Shirt Day" - the day everyone (almost) wears their conference shirt. So we took our group picture that day:

 

I also preached at Wednesday Vespers. Click here to read that.