Several points to mix together and ponder:
- It is snowing and will continue to do so on and off for the next four days.
- It probably not get above freezing for the remainder of my time here (only 8 more days!).
- Potash miners in Canada went on a 99 day strike this summer.
Potash is the main ingredient in the de-icing fluid airports use (potassium acetate). The shortage of the de-icing agent is causing flight cancellations and delays. The alternative de-icing fluids are more expensive and more harmful to the environment. I have read that some places are even diluting the expensive fluid to make it stretch.
This could mean one of two things:
Either I have a hard time catching the plane to come home or I end up in the Potomac River.
“Where is your other hand?
Between two pillows.
THOSE AREN’T PILLOWS!!!!”
December 8th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
I can’t help but think that if You fly out of Chicago and end up crashing into the Potomac river, ice is the least of your worries, since you’d be some 700 miles off course.
December 8th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
Duuuuude- take a fuckin’ train. There ought to be an Amtrack
from Chicago to new Orleans and thence to Jacksonville. At least
if something happens to IT you don’t fall out of the sky- the
engine takes most of the impact…
Good luck and stay warm,
Lisa
December 8th, 2008 at 7:47 pm
Yes, I know where the river is.
The History Channel had a “Seconds From Disaster” about the crash and a faulty valve was diluting the de-icing fluid before takeoff. That was one of the many contributions to the cause of the crash.
So while we shouldn’t be flying over DC on the way home, that particular crash has been on my mind all week. Especially since it was an “Air Florida” plane that went down…