CLUNK!!!!! Now that wasn't normal. I was sitting on board a 737 at Bellingham airport just a couple of days ago. We had just pushed back from the gate in preparation for our short twenty three minute flight to Seattle, when the clunk sound happened which sent a shudder through the aircraft. We sat there, not moving, and I for one was wondering just what was going to happen next? I was relieved when the captain announced over the intercom what had caused this sound. Apparently, the tug that pushes the aircraft back from the gate, had detached itself from the front nose gear in a rather abrupt manner, and that's what caused the "clunk" that we all heard. We would now have to go back to the gate, so they could assess any damage to the landing gear. It wouldn't be a good thing to land at Seattle and have the front wheel collapse.
Unfortunately, there was no mechanic available so we had to wait for a while until they could find someone to check out the landing gear. Now, because of this delay, we missed out on the arrival slot that had been designated for us in Seattle. Eventually a mechanic did arrive, and it appeared that the gear was ok, however now, there was going to be another hour delay (getting slotted back in at Seattle) before we could take off. When it looked like we were about ready to go, another message from the captain told us that there was a complete shut down of all flights arriving or departing Seattle. No reason was given for this, and in all the years of flying, I have never had this experience. So our delay continued. Finally at 10:30pm we departed Bellingham, a mere three hours and fifteen minutes behind schedule. Unfortunately for me, and many other passengers, we would be arriving too late, to make our connecting flights, so I would spend the night in a hotel room courtesy of Alaska Airlines, and continue my journey the next day. See below.
This is a major upgrade from my normal accommodation at Sea Tac airport. See below.
I had a few hours to hang around Seattle airport waiting for my next flight, and while there, I would be subjected to the regular boarding announcements as time went on.
For each flight there would be the pre boarding announcement, which included people with babies and military personnel and, included in the announcement after mentioning military personnel, were the words, "we thank you for your service." For some reason this began to bother me, because I don't think the person making the announcement even gave the words a second thought. It was just part of the script. Perhaps a more appropriate set of words might go something like this:
"We thank you for being brainwashed enough to join the military in the first place, in order to go kill innocent people in a foreign land all under the guise of freedom and democracy", or something to that effect. Perhaps words like that might cause a few people in the crowd to begin to question why on earth the US needs to have any military going anywhere overseas. But this is a question that rarely gets asked.
Eventually it was time for my flight, and I was happy to be on board and away from Seattle en route to my final destination of Bend, Oregon.
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In other news, I see that the Arctic sea ice continues to decline, and each day we get closer to September we get closer to a time when there will be no ice in the Arctic. When that happens, it won't be long afterwards that the methane escape which has been going on for quite some time now, really ramps up and the potential 50 gigaton "burp" of methane takes place.
http://arctic-news.blogspot.com/2015/08/arctic-sea-ice-collapse-threatens-update-3.html
Things on the climate front are already chaotic, and this is only just the beginning. Once that ice is gone, I can't imagine that we as a species are too far behind. At some future point in time, even the military machine will be irrelevant. At least that, would be a positive outcome.
Happy Trails,
Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer
PS: Another tree goes extinct on Orcas Island. :-(
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