My Next Career....Storm Chaser!

What happens in the South in the springtime when the air is warm and a storm is in the forecast?

TORNADOES!!

For the second time this week, we've had to seek shelter. The first time was last Saturday when Penni and Rick were here. We took Bob's brother Rick to the airport on Saturday morning and then headed to downtown Nashville for a fun-filled day. We toured the Country Music Hall of Fame, walked to Demos' for lunch, and then headed back home. The weather had been GREAT all day. It was a bit windy, but other than that it was a perfect day to be downtown.

When we got home, Penni and I decided to go to town and rent a movie. As we were driving down our street, I heard something. I thought maybe it was the radio, so I turned it up. It wasn't the radio. Just then, my cell phone rang and it was Bob telling us we may want to turn around and come home because we were under a tornado warning. It was then I cracked the window of the car and heard the eerie sound of the tornado sirens in the air. It was sunny outside and looked like we might get some rain, but didn't look that serious. Then I looked to the West and saw this big black cloud moving our direction. Needless to say, we headed home.

We turned the television on and watched them tracking the storm as it was moving our way. We thought that was pretty interesting, but not nearly as interesting as watching the clouds converge from the vantage point of the front porch. Isn't that what you're suppose to do when the sirens are blaring and the clouds are mixing it up in the sky? I mean, how can you take your eyes off of it? Seriously, I think Penni and I could be storm chasers! We finally relented and went downstairs to our "safe place", and did so only after Rick told us it wasn't some little spouts we were looking for, it was THE WHOLE SKY! So off to the basement we went. Thankfully, we had enough light (thanks to the other Rick) and a ping pong table to keep us occupied for the short time we stayed down there. Penni and Rick were able to get the full Nashville experience....country music, barbecue, and tornado warnings!

The second time we had to seek cover was today. Our flight was scheduled to leave Nashville at 5:15. We left home, drove through torrential rain and lightening, parked the car, checked our luggage, and stood in line to go through security. As we were standing there, they suddenly closed everything down, had everyone stand against a wall. Then they led us all to a secure hallway away from any windows. You know the door that says no unauthorized personnel? That one! We were under another tornado warning! We stood there for about 15 minutes before we were allowed to go through security and to our gates. When we got to our gate, we found the flight had been delayed until 6:40. That would have been fine, but we would definitely miss our connection in Chicago. Only problem....no seats on ANY OTHER FLIGHTS! Even if we got there tonight and put ourselves up in a hotel (they don't pay for anything if it's weather related) there were no seats on any flights to Salt Lake City on ANY airlines leaving Chicago in the morning.

You know you've got a real dilemma when the girl at the desk has that "deer in the headlights" kind of look and looks at you and asks..."What do you want me to do?" Uh.....GET US ON ANYTHING THAT WILL TAKE US TO OUR DESTINATION!!! I think she wanted us to say "Oh, that's OK, we'll just go some other time...have a nice day!" We have learned from experience that it is better to just keep cool and keep trying ANYTHING! This, unlike the guy next to us trying to do the same thing. I guess while I was gone and waiting in line at the Southwest counter to see if they had anything at all available to get us to Salt Lake, he started losing his cool, left the counter, and left "cool-hand-Luke" (Bob) with the flustered girl at the counter who finally exhausted all efforts and found the only two seats available for 6 a.m. tomorrow morning. If you're ever in this situation and see Mr. Cool standing next to you....DO NOT LEAVE THE COUNTER! This is the guy that can get you first class seats when you miss your connecting flight and sweet talk the girl on the other end of the phone when everyone else is yelling at her.

When Bob called me and told me to come back because the girl had found something for us, I didn't know about this other guy and how upset he was with this girl for giving US the seats. It must have really rubbed salt in the wound when I returned and told the girl she was a miracle worker and thanked her over and over. I didn't even notice this guy seething next to us. Hmmmmm, I wonder if he's going to conference too. I'd sure hate to ruin his entire weekend for him by saying hello and reminding him where he has seen me before! Guess he'd better work on that little attitude of his now shouldn't he!