Not loving YVR

Okay, I was working on a big post about my experiences in the Vancouver Airport, and about halfway through I realized it sounded like I was just bitching and moaning. And really, who wants to read that? That’s the headspace I was in, but I’m not posting it. I’ll treat it as a cathartic exercise. 😉
The Vancouver airport was experiencing a full-on white-out when I got there Sunday morning. Flights were cancelled, delayed and then cancelled, or went out onto the tarmac and drove around for awhile and then cancelled. I experienced all of these things, but I’ve lost track of how many times. Six cancellations, I think. And in one case, I got on as a standby, we sat in the plane awhile, then we left the gate and drove around to get to the de-icing equipment, but after sitting in the line for awhile the aircraft crew “timed out”, having worked 14 hours straight, so they were forced to pull back into the terminal and go home. Sigh.
Anyway, I finally got a (delayed, not cancelled) flight back to San Francisco on Monday around 5pm. Spent four hours of restless sleep Sunday night in a Holiday Inn, which helped a little, but my brain was still absolutely mush on Monday.
I spent the day doing kakuro, watching Waking Life on the laptop, and reading Official PlayStation Magazine, the Financial Times, and the Economist.
I hope to not see Vancouver airport again for awhile – it used to be one of my favorites, but no longer! I’m sure that next time I go there, the security guys will say “hey, Mark – where ya been?”