January 4, 2002

The Past Few Days

One big road trip.

Started out on New Year's Morning in Boise, Idaho. Finishing the trip to the Humanitarian Bowl (aka the Boise State Bowl). Get to the airport about 6 a.m. and up to the counter to get my boarding pass and check my bag.

'That's strange,' the counterman says. 'It looks like your flight from Chicago to Columbia is canceled.' fine, I tell him. Get me to Chicago today and then to Columbia tomorrow. I've a place to stay in Chicago and relatives I can visit with. So that part works out fine.

The next morning I get up and get to O'hare Airport for my flight. Check my bag. Get my boarding pass. Get to the gate. All is well so far. I make a quick phone call and talk with a friend at work who is from Chicago to brag that Giordano's pizza is alive and well and as good as ever.

She tells me there's three to five inches of snow -- yes, the white stuff that fucks up roads and forces people to be even worse drivers than they already are -- forecast for Columbia and the area. Shit shit shit.

The plane gets in the air and I'm already formulating a plan to get to town, turn in my travel expense report, get home and do the quick change on clothing and luggage and get on the road to Miami.

Fast forward: plane lands about noon (just as it starts snowing in Columbia). I was a madman for about two hours and finally got on the slushy freeway about 2:15 p.m. Phew!

Drove about 10 hours straight to Miami to get here about 1:30 a.m. (with a couple short stops). Talk about tired.

But it was snowing in Columbia. Great big fluffy white snowflakes! Not the little stuff. And there was about an inch on the ground by 2 p.m. Really scary. Not because it's scary to drive in it if you know how. But it's scary because no native South Carolinian knows how to drive in it at all. I expected nothing less.

- Rich