Attention Mid-westerners!

[billswoman]

Okay, those in the Illinois area at least... Chicago area specifically.

I just checked the weather and it said 30% chance of thunderstorms in Chicago on Wednesday, the day I get in.

Now, how does that translate? Is that the same as "You can expect storms, Helen, get ready to die!" ?

I'm already starting anxiety attacks just from thinking about going through a storm while I'm in flight.


Bill, thinking: Oh please, please, let my woman get to Chicago without a thunderstorm, please, please!

(Bill adds his powerful mojo to billswoman's plea to NOT fly thru a thunderstorm!)

[HoudiniDerek]

You worry too much. I fly in rain and thunderstorms all the time. I have not died...YET...but sometimes it is easier to fly that way...fewer things seem to go wrong like lost luggage and such.

[MelMac]

Billswoman, I wouldn't worry too much about flying over a thunderstorm. I've done it before, and it is a bit scary, but not too bad. The planes fly over the storms, and I've never seen a bolt go up. Taking off and coming down might be a bit scary, but I've never really liked them myself, so can't say too much.

I'm not too keen on flying, though I did it a lot when I was in college and went home to visit my parents. The last time I flew was 10 days after Sept. 11, 2001, and actually fell asleep on the plane, something I rarely do. What I usually do when I have to fly is take something to read or some hemp and weave bracelets. That way I stay busy and keep my mind off the flying.

[MelMac]

houdiniderek said:

You worry too much. I fly in rain and thunderstorms all the time. I have not died...YET...but sometimes it is easier to fly that way...fewer things seem to go wrong like lost luggage and such.

Well, unless you have people in such a rush to load up luggage they run the luggage escalator (whatever it's called that puts brings the luggage up to the plane) into the plane, knocking a hole the size of a room into it. I had that happen to me, and my flight had to wait another 1-1/2 hours to load and take off (we had already waited 1-1/2 hours for that plane). That and they flew us every which way to avoid the storm. On the plus side, when my Dad and I were delayed at the same airport again later that year, I knew exactly where we needed to go for dinner.

[HoudiniDerek]

One of my MANY disasters was when our plane got a flat tire...something you rarely consider. Kind of like a battleship running out of gas.

[MelMac]

As long as it wasn't taking off, I wouldn't worry about that. I had a lot of fun flying most of the time, once I got over my initial worrywort things (never have gotten rid of them).

There were a couple of times though it was a bit more fun in the slightly cynical sense. One was the previous post, the other was Thanksgiving my senior year. It was shortly after I injured my shoulder, and I had to wear the sling through Thanksgiving day.

I was on the plane and, since we had reserved seating, I had to get up for a gentleman who had the window seat. Well, when I did that, I misstepped on the aisle and gently bumped my head on the overhead bins. The flight attendant, seeing my shoulder injury as well, asked if I was all right. I said "Sure, this happens to me all the time." She smiled one of those wary smiles and said politely, "Will you please take a seat?" I smiled and sat down. The gentleman was very nice, he was on his way to visit his grandkids, and even took my bag up the ramp and gave it to my parents.

On the plus side, there are some advantages to flying. The year prior, I was waiting in the airport and was interviewed for a news story. I guess because they saw my college shirt and knew I was a student. Anyway, I got a chuckle out of it when the interviewer asked me what I thought about the croweded conditions at the airports on Thanksgiving . I took a brief glance and saw there was maybe a dozen passengers in the terminal, and said simply, "They don't bother me too much." (I flew on that day, however, I took an early flight so there wasn't many people in the terminal.)

I know this may read a bit like wacky flights, but I guess I'm trying to say that you'll be fine, billswoman. Have fun in Chicago when you travel Wednesday. (I also never trust the weather forecasts, except when they say 100% chance of rain - in the middle of a hurricane.)

[billswoman]

Oh, well, so far this is a false alarm. The forecast has been changed to 30% chance of rain, not storms.

I don't know if I've conveyed how utterly terrified I am of storms, yet at the same time I'm fascinated with them. IF I was in-flight and saw one really REALLY far away, I'd totally dig it, but nearby? Going THROUGH one?? I'm freaking just thinking of it.

Hey, if it's not Boeing, I'm not going It should be a B737, which are little workhorses my daddy always said (and he was a Boeing engineer, he'd know).

I know, intellectually and statistically, that I'll be fine, but that doesn't mean the terror won't be there. My family'll get a big laugh out of it if I go thru a storm, lol!! They sure got a chuckle out of it when I spent my first night alone, as a teen, during a real ripper of a storm (in Mississippi, not here... they know how to grow storms down South).

[MelMac]

I will say that storms are a facinating thing watching in the air. The lightning seems to swirl around in the storm clouds and glow like a night light (well, if you're traveling at night.) I'm not sure if this will assuage your fears a bit, but they try to fly around the large thunderheads, even if it means you travel around quite a distance of the state. I think the same flight they punched the hole in a plane, we traveled all the way down from Dallas to Corpus Christi before arriving at our location.

I have a photo I took in Andrews (near Odessa) when I lived in West Texas a couple of years ago that shows a storm rolling in at sunset. It's a terrific shot, but the storm was one of those that kept waking me up because it was so horrendous. (I'm not a huge fan of big storms either.)

Though I'm somewhat scared of large storms, I've had some where they make a funny appearance. I was at home watching "Campion: Look to the Lady" when there was a scene that featured a "horrendous monster" (you have to see the mystery to know what I'm talking about.) Anyway, right when the monster is supposed to roar, the power goes out, a lot like what you see in scary movies. I just laughed and said, "No way, perfect timing." So, a healthy fear of storms isn't bad, planes or no. (now a fear of walking into glass and china shops, well, maybe is silly).

[billswoman]

"So, a healthy fear of storms isn't bad, planes or no. (now a fear of walking into glass and china shops, well, maybe is silly)."

You know, that's what the shrink I was seeing for a time said. I always thought storms were my phobia, a real death-fear, then add quakes to that too after our 6.8 in February 2001. I told this doctor how even the slightest little tremor would make my heart race, I'd freak and dive under a table, lol! But he pointed something out: phobias are UNreasonable fears. He said, Lightning CAN kill you, quakes CAN kill you. You've just got a well-developed fight-or-flight instinct, that's all. And since then, little tremors and quakes don't wig me out, and although I'm still scared of lightning, it's not an overwhelming sense of "Okay, that's it, I'm going to die."

Well, okay, it is a little bit still. When I was out shopping the day before yesterday, I step out from a restaurant and there's this scary dark cloud almost on us. I've been out in the open before with such clouds approaching which HAVE produced lightning, so I was extremely nervous carrying a lightning rod (read: umbrella). I finally ran up this small hill to a nearby grocery store (and I am NOT a little woman... it's amazing what fear and adrenalin will do for you!) Silly me, not one crack of lightning, but still.... I took shelter there, then made a mad dash to the next store I was going to, lol!

As for that quake, for weeks after it ended, everyone's nerves around here were on edge. I was starting a new job at Microsoft, and taking the ferry boat every morning and afternoon. Just the slightest shiver and shudder of the boat, and everyone's looking around, with shock and fear on their faces. That was the first real quake Seattle had had since the early 60's, and the one before then was way back in '49.

Fortunately, it was also about 35 miles down, so it wasn't nearly as bad as the Northridge CA quake, even though it was higher on the Richter Scale.

So, after seeing this thread, I checked the weather again in Chicago, and now it says "Partly Cloudy" for the 9th. Yea!! The temp's about what we've been having here in Seattle, so no mid-West snowstorms in sight.

Oh yeah, as for walking into glass & china shops.... I'm not AFRAID to, but I'm nervous about it. I feel like a bull in a china shop, as the saying goes, since I've got almost no depth perception. I'm scared to walk around the places and touch anything, cuz you never know if I'm going to over-reach and knock stuff over. No depth perception and big feet and hands just dont' go well together.

[MelMac]

I'm like you in that I feel like a bull in a china shop, but I'm also a bit clumsy. The last time I went into a glass store was when I got Mom's birthday present. That day, I went into the store, grabbed the item (I knew exactly what she wanted) and went straight to the register to pay for it, no browsing.

Now, pending on the store, it's not too bad. Lenox and Mikasa don't bother me too much, as they keep their wares far apart and they're mostly the cheaper items. Royal Doultons, etc., those who keep expensive wares on display in closer areas, I won't even enter.

Anyway, good to hear about the weather improving. Hope you have a safe trip to Chicago.

[HoudiniDerek]

It wouldn't hurt for it to storm, just so you get used to it, you know. Isn't Seattle the rain capital of the US?