Just Another Manic Monday - 2-18-08

Monday 2-18-2008

Monday arrives and we finally leave East Hartford for Boston. Spirits are high, everyone seems to be in a good mood, and we are on our way to Costa Rica. Although it was rainy, we had no problems getting to Logan Airport in Boston. We cruised right through CT into Mass in no time. As we drove through the Speedpass lane at the first toll booth that throws us onto the Mass Pike, I noticed that the yellow light that read low balance came on instead of the green light that says go. I was thinking, HERE WE GO!!! No need to sweat...the light usually comes on when your balance is below $10.00. I figured that we had two more tolls to go through at 2.50 a pop before we got the airport, so we had sufficient funds. As for the driver having sufficient funds on his ride back, well, that would be a different story.


We arrive at Logan Airport around 10 a.m. We made really good time and everything was going according to plan. We checked in our bags, checked in, ate and the waiting game began. The students kept themselves occupied by reading Don Quixote (the 16oo page Spanish version) while other students did their AP homework...After they completed the book and gave us a synopsis, it was time to board the plane. We finally boarded the plane without incident and we were ready to take off. It was about 1:45 when we boarded, and some of us were getting hungry. One of the flight attendants informed me that American Airlines stopped serving meals (which was probably a good thing). She did offer for a nominal fee ($5) for small bags of salted pretzels and party mix that I could not even stick my hand into. Mrs. Marion opted for the snacks (which were free) and was asked if I wanted a beverage. The choices were water or seltzer water. By this point, I had given up.

We were slated to leave at 2:20 and it was now 2:25. The captain made an announcement and said, "This is your captain speaking. We are experiencing mechanical technicalities. We will be taking off shortly, though." I'm thinking it was nothing serious. Twenty more minutes pass and then captain makes another announcement. He then says, "This is your captain again. We have a broken wire." A BROKEN WIRE!?!?!?!?! He then proceeds to say, "The maintenance guys are on their way down and they need to test it." How do you test a broken wire? Test for continuity? The cap'n says it will only be another 15-20 minutes. So a half an hour passes, and cap'n makes another announcement. He says that the maintenance guys have to find a part at the NAPA airport shop and see if they can replace it. Hmmmm, replacing a wire...OK. Honestly, at this point, I did not want to take off on this plane if they are screwing around with wires. Anyways, the cap'n says at this point he did not know when we were going to take off. At this point, we've been sitting in this cabin for an hour and a half, which was already getting gamey and musty. Combine that with the party mix that half of the plane was eating and one can imagine the stench that was circulating in the cabin. About a half hour later, the cap'n gets on the mic again and gives us a play by play of the situation. The maintenance guys returned from NAPA with the part, and then proceeded to tell us that it would only be 20 minutes. About 10 minutes later, he gets on the mic and tells us that it might take longer than expected because the part they need to replace is in a hard to reach spot. He tells us that one maintenance guy is holding the part in place, while the other is installing it, and the third one was drinking coffee and barking orders. Seriously, it was time to get off this plane. Finally, the captain announces that part did not work and ordered us off the plane.

2 1/2 hours on the plane. Although it was a major inconvenience, I think it was the best choice that plane did not take off!!! Instead of letting this made news take over, the students took this set back as an opportunity to get to know us and each other even better then they already did. They had faith that we would get on another flight and end up in Costa Rica. The positive attitude helped to lighten the mood especially after the first 10 hours in the airport.