Sad Day at Southwest Airlines

I was on my way home from running errands and stuff when I heard Anderson Cooper on CNN talking about the accident last night. I didn't really pay much attention to it, but I heard all about it on the news this morning.

Apparently, the jetliner was cleared to land at Chicago's Midway airport, which at the time was under heavyy snowfall. They had circled for 30-35 minutes before landing. At this point, it's not clear whether or not the runway was fully prepared for the landing. Officials say it had been plowed, but it's not clear yet how long it was cleared before the jet attempted to land. My prayers go out to the family of little Joshua who lost his life. May they find comfort in their time of grief.

I called Southwest this morning to check to see if my flight tonight has been delayed, and fortunately, it is still on time as of now. There were some delays leaving Baltimore this morning because of the weather, but the latest delay was only ten minutes. Other than that, the streets are mostly clear this morning. They finally started clearing the steps and walkways in my development when I was leaving the house at 10:15 this morning. Apart from some slush on Little Patuxent Parkway/175, from what I saw, most of the streets were clear; very, very clear.

Many thanks to the road crews that worked tirelessly throughout the night to make the roads safe for us.

Up in New York, things are not as rosy, however. I spoke to my Dad, who works for the state Department of Transportation, and he had to go in to work at 2 a.m. He works with road crews to clear the streets and keep the roads safe, so I completely understand what road crews go through. I pray he will be safe as it continues to snow.

What has been your snow experience? Was it good or bad?

I have had two bad experiences with icy roads. One was in Virginia Beach a few years ago, when we had a major snow storm and on driving home my car hit an ice patch and slid into a parked vehicle. The funny thing is, when these things happen, it seems like the vehicle takes on a life of its own, and there's nothing you can really do to stop it, no matter how hard you try.

The second incident happened not far from home here in Columbia. I was heading to work when the car ahead of me and to the right suddenly turned 90 degrees and started sliding towards me. In response, not realizing that it was an ice patch that she hit, I switched lanes, trying to get away from it. I hit the same patch and my car did the same thing, and slid into hers. We weren't injured, fortunately, but there was significant damage to my car. I don't remember about hers.

The Police came to the scene shortly after and took our information and determined that it was a no fault weather related accident, but for whatever reason, this was not enough for the other party, who I later learned from a letter sent to me by my insurance company, tried to get them to pay for her damage. The insurance company told her quite politely to stick it, as it was clear that no-one was at fault, and she needed to contact her own insurance carrier.

Anyway, that's it for now. I'm leaving tonight to go play daddy. My little punkin is turning 9 on Sunday, and I have a party to host. Wish me luck.

Make it a safe and wonderful weekend.

Rich