Cursed
It's a good thing I'm not superstitious, or I'd think I was cursed.
I live in Wichita Falls. Our local airport (SPS) has a few flights a day to and from DFW airport. Flying the connecting flight from Wichita Falls makes trips so much more convenient - I can spend my time reading instead of concentrating on all the cars around me. It might cost a little more, but if I'm going to be traveling by myself, once you factor in gas for a round trip to Dallas along with the cost of parking, getting the connecting flight isn't such a bad option pricewise.
There's one problem, though. DFW gets hit by a lot of thunderstorms. It seems like every time I try to fly out of Wichita Falls, on the way back home, my first flight gets delayed by weather, and I end up missing the flight from DFW back to Wichita Falls. Thinking back, I'd say that it's worked only once out of the five times I've tried it. I usually end up renting a car and driving back home. So, not only did I spend more for my airplane tickets to begin with, but I get stuck paying the rental car fee and gas on top of that.
Given my past luck, I'd pretty much decided on giving up trying to fly out of Wichita Falls. However, my brother got tickets to the Steelers game for this past weekend, and thought it would be fun for the three of us brothers and our dad to go watch it. So, this was a trip for just me, where my wife and daughter were going to stay behind in Texas. And it was in November. How many thunderstorms hit in November? So I decided to take my chances and fly out of Wichita Falls.
I think you can guess what happened. On the way home, I was supposed to land in DFW at 7:15, and then catch an 8:00 flight to Wichita Falls. I knew it was a little close, but I figured I'd be okay. Well, with a thunderstorm that just sat right over the area, we had to divert to Shreveport to get more fuel where we sat for a while waiting for the weather to clear, and we didn't get to DFW until after midnight. Just a little bit too late to catch my 7:15 flight. Anyway, I was too drowsy at that point to try to drive home, so I spent the night in DFW and flew back the next morning.
I'm not going to say that I'll never again try to fly out of Wichita Falls. However, I'll be sure that I never again schedule the last flight of the day from DFW to Wichita Falls, and to give myself a little more time between flights.
Comments
Hi Jeff,
Happy returns for whatever festive season is your preference!
I discovered your blog just a few weeks ago and wish I wasn't so busy or I would get back here more often to read more of your commonsense and good reasoning about my pet subjects of religion etc. It doesn't hurt that my dad was a long-term amateur astronomer who would have loved that 32 meg image of the thumbnail in space. Today, I got back to your site, intending to read more, and saw the "cursed" link and being curious, I clicked on and ventured here-in. Well, if it didn't open on this page with its mention of Witcheta Falls? I am Australian and haven't been there in body, but many a long year ago, I bought a vinyl record called "As Falls Witcheta Falls, So Falls Witcheta Falls" ( correct me if I am wrong and you know the right name) by Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays. Wonderful and timeless music, in case you've never heard it. Anyway, thanks for all your efforts in writing up your thoughts that can inspire us all. I have sent emails to quite a few people with links to your writings. Your brain is very much appreciated! All the best for 2010! What surprises are we in for THIS year? ;-) We can all look forward to something good, and - no doubt - something bad!
Posted by: Alex | December 27, 2010 7:49 PM