I Need a New Travel Agent...

Top of the evening to all....

I need a new travel agent.  I should have read the fine print.

My flight from Honolulu out to the luxury cruise liner was loud and the air conditioning did not work.  A small bag of pretzels would have been lovely.  Instead of an announcement stating that the captain has turned on the seatbelt light, the flight crew suddenly started waving hands wildly.  We all put our heads against the seat backs.  The plane touched down on the cruise liner and stopped in less time and space than necessary to slow a car down from highway speed.

Was there a welcome?  Noooo.  They rushed us off the plane quickly.  Everyone seemed to think that taking in the new scenery was of secondary concern.  Getting off of an operational runway was far more important.

Okay...my connection was supposed to travel to my next stop on Sunday.  Well, that did not happen.  It got put off until Monday (thank you Vladimir Putin).  Then it got put off until Wednesday.  Now I think it is Tuesday.  I would not have minded so much that it was put off, except that I had packed to travel before they passed the word.

Well, at least I have a room.  And the price was sweet.  And the travel agent made sure it was close to the airport in order to make my connection.  Now I know why it was such a great price.  It was very close to the airport.  My amazing lodging is three decks directly below an operational runway.  Planes landing on this runway come in at takeoff speed.*  The ship shakes as they come to an abrupt halt. 

-----Break-----

And now more seriously, all of those great movies cannot capture the drama and excitement of seeing an aircraft carrier flight deck in operation.  To watch a plane come in at takeoff speed and just stop was exciting every time.  On the other end, to watch the same planes go from being at rest to being launched off of the carrier deck in an instant will never get boring.

Transfer to my new duty station will be Tuesday morning.

Have a good evening everyone.

R/Chaplain

*By the way, planes always come in to the carrier at takeoff speed.  If the arresting cable snaps, or if the plane just misses one of the cables, the pilot needs to be at speed to take off again immediately.  One way or another, the plane is going off the ship.  Whether it goes back up or down into the water depends on a pilot's quick reflexes.