People, travels, headaches

I had another dandy of a travel day the other day. Compared to past experiences, it wasn't that bad, but still...

1:20 Arrive to LaGuardia (Flight is supposed to leave at 2:28pm)
Check-in and security didn't take too long (Yea!!)
I bought a couple of things in one of the shops (usually I don't do this, but there was a sweet sale and I realized that even after all of my time in the city, I had nothing that said "New York" on it... so I broke down and got something).

1:45 check out gate 8... tons of people sitting around, hardly an empty seat. (Shoot! This usually means delays.) The screen says "Delayed" but that's all for now. Sit down in the one empty seat in the area. Start conversation with the woman next to me.

She was really surprised that I was NYC alone. I told her that as long as you make smart choices, you will be safe. It's when you aren't thinking about consequences when you might get hurt. She thought this "quote" was very interesting, and started talking about choices in general. Like if she had made any dumb choices in her life. She couldn't think of any off the top of her head, but after thinking for awhile, she said that maybe she had one. She is dating someone 16 years older than her, and they've been together for 24 years. Dating.

Hmmm on that one. I don't really understand it, but then again, I'm not in a relationship so how can I judge?

More interesting tidbits from that conversation: she's from northern Minnesota, has been a milkmaid, a bar maid, and an old maid all at one time. Sometimes at weddings in her town they roast a pig. She and her boyfriend are good with money -- they haven't had any problems in that area. (Not sure how she came to tell me all of these things....)

2:00 -- It says our plane is delayed until 3:00, so I talked to the agent and got booked on a later flight at the next airport, so I wouldn't be stuck halfway home.
2:30 -- They make an announcement that all planes leaving at 4:00 or later are cancelled. (apparently some nasty weather was on its way)
2:45 -- We still aren't boarding. Our plane is delayed until 3:20. It's getting close to the 4:00 cutoff....
3:00 -- We board. The attendants are encouraging everyone to move quickly so that we can get in the plane and up in the air before 4:00.
3:15 -- On the plane, away from the gate... there are about ten planes ahead of us...
3:45 -- still on the ground. Should I call someone to stay at their house (back in CT)? Nope, they already said to shut off cell phones.
3:55 -- still on the ground. I have a bad feeling I'm going to be sleeping in an airport
4:00 we took off! (YES!) And only one plane took off after us, so we were the second-to-last to make it. Whew!

The people sitting in the row next to me on this flight were interesting. The mom had bribed her 10 year old daughter with $15 to make her sit 10 rows back from where she was with her 8 year old daughter. Said she didn't want to sit by herself way back there... (and the 10 year old did??!) Lots more about them, but this is getting way too long.

One last thought. There's something about spending almost an entire day alone. You start thinking, and get into some really deep thinking. No one is there to interrupt your thoughts... I'll leave on that note, perhaps to be continued later.