Traveling blues
I get on the airplane yesterday bound for Boston about an hour late. No worries because I'm following my new travel policy, which is a revision of the old policy. The new policy includes always, fly first class and never make a connection if you don't have to. So, the flight is non-stop to Boston, which means that we will just be an hour late - no big deal.
Now, the pilot decides to tell us exactly why the flight was late coming in. This flight is a Boston/New Orleans round trip, leaving Boston in the morning and returning in the evening. It turns out that the flight was boarded and the plane started to push back from the gate when suddenly a baggage handling vehicle pulling a portable power generator drove under the left wing and ripped off about four feet of said wing. Normally, baggage carts are lower than wings, so they don't rip wings off of airplanes. But, apparently, the driver forgot that he had a much higher piece of equipment and, well, that's that.
The pilot says he counted about 40 different people hovering around the airplane from airline employees, FAA officials to who knows what else. Finally, they allowed the airplane to pull back to the gate, moved everyone and everything to another airplane and went on their way. I'm surprised it only took an hour to get all that done.
Interesting a story as this it, it's a lilttle more information that I really needed. I don't want to know that things like that can happen.
On another matter, I made a presentation just now to the combined partners of the Boston/DC firm I work with on my findings and conclusions on diversity. The crowd was standing room only and several other offices were linked by videoconference. The immediate feedback I got was that this was the first time anyone from the outside made a presentation to the firm that said they are not good at something and told them what to do about it. Direct, honest, and to the point. That's me.
Tomorrow I lecture at Harvard. "The class is composed of 13 Harvard juniors majoring in government. Many of them are especially interested in jury consultant work, jury selection procedures, and the whole notion of "scientific jury selection." They are also especially interested, it seems, in the use of peremporty challenges. "
Now, the pilot decides to tell us exactly why the flight was late coming in. This flight is a Boston/New Orleans round trip, leaving Boston in the morning and returning in the evening. It turns out that the flight was boarded and the plane started to push back from the gate when suddenly a baggage handling vehicle pulling a portable power generator drove under the left wing and ripped off about four feet of said wing. Normally, baggage carts are lower than wings, so they don't rip wings off of airplanes. But, apparently, the driver forgot that he had a much higher piece of equipment and, well, that's that.
The pilot says he counted about 40 different people hovering around the airplane from airline employees, FAA officials to who knows what else. Finally, they allowed the airplane to pull back to the gate, moved everyone and everything to another airplane and went on their way. I'm surprised it only took an hour to get all that done.
Interesting a story as this it, it's a lilttle more information that I really needed. I don't want to know that things like that can happen.
On another matter, I made a presentation just now to the combined partners of the Boston/DC firm I work with on my findings and conclusions on diversity. The crowd was standing room only and several other offices were linked by videoconference. The immediate feedback I got was that this was the first time anyone from the outside made a presentation to the firm that said they are not good at something and told them what to do about it. Direct, honest, and to the point. That's me.
Tomorrow I lecture at Harvard. "The class is composed of 13 Harvard juniors majoring in government. Many of them are especially interested in jury consultant work, jury selection procedures, and the whole notion of "scientific jury selection." They are also especially interested, it seems, in the use of peremporty challenges. "