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December 21, 2009 | Filed Under Main | 7 Comments

Well, that was fun.

I entered Kuwait airport about 12 noon Eastern Standard (8PM my time) and finally arrived home around 8PM EST. Not quite what I had hoped, mainly because I’m not found of living in the same clothes for 32 hours.

We boarded the plane in Amsterdam ontime but waited a while at the gate for stragglers and a connecting flight. It was snowing the whole time and falling a bit heavier every moment. Finally, we pulled away from the gate and I proceeded to fall asleep (which I always do once we start moving). An hour later, we were still sitting on the tarmac waiting for a plane in front of us to be de-iced. Then we had to be de-iced for a second time…. And it didn’t take. They couldn’t de-ice one of our wings. So two hours after pulling away, we went back to the gate. And we sat.

Then they opened the door to the plane. And we sat.

Then they fed us part of our meal – some mushroom soup and the salad. They told us to hang on to our silverware. And we sat. At this point, they could have – at any moment – cancelled the flight and set us free to wander the streets of Amsterdam. Which I could handle without a problem. Also – I knew it was snowing in Jersey, so what were our chances anyway? (And there was no WiFi in the plane, so I couldn’t connect to the web to let everyone know what was happening.)

Another hour and a half or so and it had stopped snowing. Then the door closed. And we sat.

Then we pulled away to try again, but now we had to wait in line for a) our plane to be de-iced again and b) our spot at take-off. Finally, after another hour or two, we left Amsterdam and chased the sun across the sky to Newark. My 11am flight leaving at 4:30PM. Luckily I was in Business so nodding off from time to time was easy (though they weren’t serving drinks). Still – this has been the only glitch I’ve ever been through on any of my flights to or from various spots. And that it happened around Christmas and on my last flight is somehow fitting.

Now – home

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