Hi Everybody,
Here it is, I flew out of Summit Camp this afternoon at 2:45 pm local time.
The ANG was scheduled for an off deck at 9 AM this morning, but the bets were running 5 to 1 for an after 12 off deck. The betters had it right, they didn't get off until 12:05 pm. They arrived at 2 pm and off loaded fuel and cargo. We boarded and few out and made it safely to Kanger. I've spent the evening walking around the south side of town and taking it easy. We have a 5 pm bag drag tomorrow night so that we don't have to wake up too early Tuesday morning.
I'll write more tomorrow.
He is Risen
Sunday, May 18, 2014
Saturday, May 17, 2014
Last Night At Summit
April 20th, I leave home. April 25th I arrive at Summit Camp Greenland. Here it is May 17th and I am less than 24 hours from leaving Summit after completing my 4th work trip. I have seen temperatures from ~ -45 F to ~ -5 F, made some new friends and gotten caught up with old ones. This has been a trip that I will be telling stories about for a while.
I do know that I am ready to come home. The work started out with high hopes and is finishing with a sense of disappointment. I started out looking forward to spending time in the field doing the type of work that I love and now I am tired and looking forward to time off. Looking back over the past month I can see the good times and the bad. I am frustrated that it is ending on such a sour note.
What happens next? The flight is due tomorrow at ~10:45 am local time, so Bag-Drag is at 8:30 am. I will need to set my alarm tonight so that I can get up that early. Once we leave here it is a ~ 2 hour flight back to Kanger and a real bed and a long shower. We will spend Sunday and Monday in Kanger and then have an 8 hour flight back to New York. If everything works the way it is supposed to, I will have 3 hours to grab my bags from the ANG and get to the Albany airport to catch my flights back to Denver. I can't remember when I should be getting back into DIA, but God willing, I should be sleeping in my own bed Tuesday night.
Thanks to everybody that emailed me and I am looking forward to seeing everybody soon.
He is Risen
I do know that I am ready to come home. The work started out with high hopes and is finishing with a sense of disappointment. I started out looking forward to spending time in the field doing the type of work that I love and now I am tired and looking forward to time off. Looking back over the past month I can see the good times and the bad. I am frustrated that it is ending on such a sour note.
What happens next? The flight is due tomorrow at ~10:45 am local time, so Bag-Drag is at 8:30 am. I will need to set my alarm tonight so that I can get up that early. Once we leave here it is a ~ 2 hour flight back to Kanger and a real bed and a long shower. We will spend Sunday and Monday in Kanger and then have an 8 hour flight back to New York. If everything works the way it is supposed to, I will have 3 hours to grab my bags from the ANG and get to the Albany airport to catch my flights back to Denver. I can't remember when I should be getting back into DIA, but God willing, I should be sleeping in my own bed Tuesday night.
Thanks to everybody that emailed me and I am looking forward to seeing everybody soon.
He is Risen
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
72 Hours I'd like to forget
Here we are on May 13th, the night before my friend and boss Ryan leaves Summit camp and we still don't have a working instrument. It all started on Sunday evening, Mother's Day. We had a slow afternoon, figuring that all we had left to do was one last tweak of the alignment of the laser and we would be done. Saturday night we had the best signal we've ever seen from this system, great altitudes and a signal that we could adjust to what ever strength we wanted. We headed out after dinner for the last push and it happened. One laser dead, the other at 1/10th the power it was supposed to. What had we done? What happened? Panic crept into the MSF and things started going horribly wrong.
The one working laser had no power to see anything. Then as I was cleaning out the second power supply, it fell off of its stand and sheared off the two coolant lines on the back of it. By this time it was 2 am (our supposed quitting time) and full blown panic set in. Sunday night/ Monday morning I finally could not stay awake any longer and I went to be at 5 am. Ryan stayed up to try and resurrect one of the lasers. I was awoken at 10 am by the station personnel cutting off the power to my CPAP, and being unable to go back to sleep I got up. Ryan had been busy getting phone numbers and contacts for the company which made the lasers. At 1 pm we had a conference call with them and they went to work coming up with troubleshooting procedures for us. About 2 pm we got off the phone and headed back out to the MSF.
What did we find? Well when we took the covers off of the one working laser head, we found water in a small puddle at the bottom of it. Lasers don't like water, they hate it in fact, except when it used to cool them. We had found one of our problems with Laser #2. The other part of the problem with #2 was that according to the company we needed both of the power units powered on for the electronics in the Co-Alignment block to activate and allow the laser light through it. Since I had inadvertently sheared off the coolant lines, we had turn it off. This had the effect of crippling laser #2. A few hours of work later (about dinner time) we had #2 dried out and ready to try coming back on. We held our breaths and turned it on, it worked. We had resurrected one of the two lasers, now we needed to work on #1.
After dinner Ryan and I headed back out to the MSF and started taking #1 apart. This time when we took the cover off of the laser head, water poured out of it. We had a large leak to take care of this time. While we were waiting for the laser to dry out, we started trying to align laser #2 to the telescope. Nothing we did seemed to make a difference. Finally around 9 pm Ryan fell asleep during one of the adjustments. He crawled into the sleeping bag we have in the MSF and asked me to wake him at 11 pm. I wend back to the Big House and ate my usual Breakfast for Dinner. At 11 pm I wend out to the MSF again and woke Ryan, the way he responded I canceled everything for the rest of the night so he could sleep.
Today we got out here after lunch and performed another purge/drying of Laser#1. This time it seemed to work and mid afternoon we had #1 back online and running. The unfortunate part of this is that Ryan leaves at 10:30 AM tomorrow morning. We still don't have a functioning instrument and we don't know what else to try. We will be out here until late this evening again, hoping that we some how get the system to respond and get a good signal out of it.
More to come tomorrow.
He is Risen
The one working laser had no power to see anything. Then as I was cleaning out the second power supply, it fell off of its stand and sheared off the two coolant lines on the back of it. By this time it was 2 am (our supposed quitting time) and full blown panic set in. Sunday night/ Monday morning I finally could not stay awake any longer and I went to be at 5 am. Ryan stayed up to try and resurrect one of the lasers. I was awoken at 10 am by the station personnel cutting off the power to my CPAP, and being unable to go back to sleep I got up. Ryan had been busy getting phone numbers and contacts for the company which made the lasers. At 1 pm we had a conference call with them and they went to work coming up with troubleshooting procedures for us. About 2 pm we got off the phone and headed back out to the MSF.
What did we find? Well when we took the covers off of the one working laser head, we found water in a small puddle at the bottom of it. Lasers don't like water, they hate it in fact, except when it used to cool them. We had found one of our problems with Laser #2. The other part of the problem with #2 was that according to the company we needed both of the power units powered on for the electronics in the Co-Alignment block to activate and allow the laser light through it. Since I had inadvertently sheared off the coolant lines, we had turn it off. This had the effect of crippling laser #2. A few hours of work later (about dinner time) we had #2 dried out and ready to try coming back on. We held our breaths and turned it on, it worked. We had resurrected one of the two lasers, now we needed to work on #1.
After dinner Ryan and I headed back out to the MSF and started taking #1 apart. This time when we took the cover off of the laser head, water poured out of it. We had a large leak to take care of this time. While we were waiting for the laser to dry out, we started trying to align laser #2 to the telescope. Nothing we did seemed to make a difference. Finally around 9 pm Ryan fell asleep during one of the adjustments. He crawled into the sleeping bag we have in the MSF and asked me to wake him at 11 pm. I wend back to the Big House and ate my usual Breakfast for Dinner. At 11 pm I wend out to the MSF again and woke Ryan, the way he responded I canceled everything for the rest of the night so he could sleep.
Today we got out here after lunch and performed another purge/drying of Laser#1. This time it seemed to work and mid afternoon we had #1 back online and running. The unfortunate part of this is that Ryan leaves at 10:30 AM tomorrow morning. We still don't have a functioning instrument and we don't know what else to try. We will be out here until late this evening again, hoping that we some how get the system to respond and get a good signal out of it.
More to come tomorrow.
He is Risen
Saturday, May 10, 2014
Happy Mother's Day
Happy Mother's Day, from Summit Camp. It has been a week since the last post, a week of plane flights, lot's of work and new people on station. But since it is Mother's Day, I want to give a shout out to my mom, I'm sorry I'm missing mother's day this year. I'm thinking of you and hope you have a wonderful day.
During the last week we finally got our Air National Guard flights. On Tuesday we had a flight and then waited for the second flight that was scheduled. No luck, then then scheduled two flights for Wednesday, again only one showed up. On Thursday we finally got the two flights they keep promising us. We were scheduled for 5 flights during this flight period, but we only got 4. We didn't get everything, but it was nice to get freshies (fresh fruit and vegitables) and our gear. Having fresh clothes (more than one change of clothes) has been wonderful.
On the work side of things, we have had some rough patches. The new telescope didn't fit the mounting brackets, it caused us problems with the polarization of the return light from the beam. It has only been in the last 12 hours that we got the problem fixed. We still need to install the new data acquisition hardware, we are hoping to do that Sunday afternoon.
I wish all the Mother's out there a wonderful day.
He is Risen
During the last week we finally got our Air National Guard flights. On Tuesday we had a flight and then waited for the second flight that was scheduled. No luck, then then scheduled two flights for Wednesday, again only one showed up. On Thursday we finally got the two flights they keep promising us. We were scheduled for 5 flights during this flight period, but we only got 4. We didn't get everything, but it was nice to get freshies (fresh fruit and vegitables) and our gear. Having fresh clothes (more than one change of clothes) has been wonderful.
On the work side of things, we have had some rough patches. The new telescope didn't fit the mounting brackets, it caused us problems with the polarization of the return light from the beam. It has only been in the last 12 hours that we got the problem fixed. We still need to install the new data acquisition hardware, we are hoping to do that Sunday afternoon.
I wish all the Mother's out there a wonderful day.
He is Risen
Sunday, May 4, 2014
Don't Jinx it
Here it is Sunday night, almost 10 pm local and most of the station has gone to bed. Their wild and crazy day off has come to an end and they are getting ready for tomorrow. Tomorrow has the potential to be a crazy day. Why? Because there are two LC-130 flights scheduled for tomorrow. That's right folks, the ANG has started flying again. All of our gear has been palletized and scheduled for the first flight, call sign Skier 11. They are scheduled for an off deck from Kanger at 08:15 and an arrival time of 10:15. I might even be awake by then. Our schedule has allowed me to wake up around 11 am and wonder over to the Green House by noon to catch a hot meal. From what I have been hearing from the Station Manager, we might have our second flight by then, Skier 12. We will just have to wait and see.
Last night Ryan and I "Rocked the Green Beam" again and managed to find a couple of light leaks in the system. Once we took care of the largest leak, our sensitivity went up by about 5x. We can hardly wait for the new gear tomorrow, it should allow us to go increase our sensitivity by 2 orders of magnitude. What that means is we will have a polarized lidar with the sensitivity of a regular aerosol lidar. This will be impressive. From what we have been seeing with the old equipment, which is impressive, we might be moving into a new realm that hasn't been seen before. We can only hope.
It is good to be here and see this type of improvement in the system. More tomorrow after the two Skier flights.
He is Risen.
Last night Ryan and I "Rocked the Green Beam" again and managed to find a couple of light leaks in the system. Once we took care of the largest leak, our sensitivity went up by about 5x. We can hardly wait for the new gear tomorrow, it should allow us to go increase our sensitivity by 2 orders of magnitude. What that means is we will have a polarized lidar with the sensitivity of a regular aerosol lidar. This will be impressive. From what we have been seeing with the old equipment, which is impressive, we might be moving into a new realm that hasn't been seen before. We can only hope.
It is good to be here and see this type of improvement in the system. More tomorrow after the two Skier flights.
He is Risen.
Friday, May 2, 2014
Rockin' the Green Beam
Well, here we are one week down, or at least I think it has been a week. I really don't know what day of the week it is, they have all blended together. We have had high winds, clear nights with -40F temps and days were there is little to no blowing snow. I'm sitting out at the Mobile Science Facility (MSF) and looking west and the horizon looks very far off and crisp today. There are clouds, but the surface is extremely clear. An altogether beautiful scene.
I sent out and email last night to my family that stated "We are Rocking the Green Beam tonight." I got quite the few emails asking what I meant by that phrase. Well, for a long drawn out explanation (LDOE) I am here to work on a LIDAR which uses a Green Nd:Yag laser. Hence the "Green". The work we were doing last night was turning on the laser for the first time to see if we could align it with our new optical setup. To do this we move the beam around in the sky until we see the return in our telescope, aka "Rocking the Beam". So "We Rocked the Green Beam last night."
Some of the other drama that has been going on is the lack of ANG flights. We still have not had any flights into Summit Camp besides the one I came in on. We think that there is a possible flight next week, but we are not sure. So, for the time being, I am still in the clothes I arrived in. Here is an inventory of what I have with me, clothes wise, at the current time:
1 pair blue jeans
1 pair wool socks
1 pair cotton socks
1 pair thermal underware
1 t-shirt
1 polo shirt
2 pairs of underware
That's it. That is all the clothing I have until my luggage shows up. I managed to take a shower yesterday and wash all of my clothes. I wore my Carhartt bib and my fleece jacket while everything else was in the washer and dryer. I have some ideas on how to make that easier the next time I get the chance to do laundry.
Well, it is time for me to get back to work, I'm also writing and doing all of the safety documents for the project. I'll post more this weekend.
He is Risen!
I sent out and email last night to my family that stated "We are Rocking the Green Beam tonight." I got quite the few emails asking what I meant by that phrase. Well, for a long drawn out explanation (LDOE) I am here to work on a LIDAR which uses a Green Nd:Yag laser. Hence the "Green". The work we were doing last night was turning on the laser for the first time to see if we could align it with our new optical setup. To do this we move the beam around in the sky until we see the return in our telescope, aka "Rocking the Beam". So "We Rocked the Green Beam last night."
Some of the other drama that has been going on is the lack of ANG flights. We still have not had any flights into Summit Camp besides the one I came in on. We think that there is a possible flight next week, but we are not sure. So, for the time being, I am still in the clothes I arrived in. Here is an inventory of what I have with me, clothes wise, at the current time:
1 pair blue jeans
1 pair wool socks
1 pair cotton socks
1 pair thermal underware
1 t-shirt
1 polo shirt
2 pairs of underware
That's it. That is all the clothing I have until my luggage shows up. I managed to take a shower yesterday and wash all of my clothes. I wore my Carhartt bib and my fleece jacket while everything else was in the washer and dryer. I have some ideas on how to make that easier the next time I get the chance to do laundry.
Well, it is time for me to get back to work, I'm also writing and doing all of the safety documents for the project. I'll post more this weekend.
He is Risen!
Friday, April 25, 2014
April 24th - April 25th
My oh My what a wonderful Day...
Let's chronicle the last 36 hours. How and where did it start and how and where did it finish, those are the questions.
I woke up on Thursday morning at the Holiday Inn Express in Clifton Park New York at around 7:00 AM Eastern Time. Ryan and I had shared a room the last two nights due to uncertainty in plans and uncertainty of available rooms at the hotel. We had an 11 am check out on the room and we were reluctant to check out since we might need to stay another night. So we had breakfast and hung around the room waiting for phone calls and some guidance on what we should do. One suggestion was to check out of the hotel and head to the airport and wait there. So around noon we checked out of the hotel and headed to the airport, arriving around 12:30 pm. We sat and talked while waiting for news from NSF and from our travel agent. Then it happened, we got the phone call, we were going to Greenland after all, but via Copenhagen Denmark. This happened around 1:30 pm Eastern time, thus the race started.
We ran to the National Car Rental counter and got a car for a one way race to Newark New Jersey to catch a 5:20 flight to Copenhagen. We jumped in the car (I was driving) and headed south towards New York City and then Newark. Ryan spent the two and a half hours checking on reservations, confirmations and directing me to the Newark Airport. I can honestly say I have now driven New York from West to East and mostly North to South. We arrived at the airport a few minutes after 4 pm, we had time to drop the car and head to the SAS (Scandinavian Airlines) counter to check in and get through security. As we stood in the TSA line we realized that we had made it with a few minutes to spare. We checked in and got our seats and had enough time for a breather. We made it to the gate with 20 minutes to spare. We were heading to Copenhagen.
8 hours later we landed in Copenhagen at 7:20 am local time. Time to grab our things and run through the airport again. This time we were trying to catch an Air Greenland flight at 9:00 to Kangerlussauq Greenland, halfway back across the route we had just taken. We ran through the airport arriving at the passport check station, had our passports stamped and we ran to our gate to check in and get our seats. This time we got there and had 30 minutes to spare before the plane started boarding, our luck was holding. Now a 4 hour flight to Kanger and we were keeping to our schedule.
The fun thing about flying from Copenhagen to Kangerlussuaq is that you leave at 9:00 am and you arrive 4 hours later at 9:45 am. This time we were congratulating ourselves for a good race and making it to every flight. On this flight were several people that were also going to Kanger for their work. Ryan and I were the only two trying to make it to Summit in 24 hours though. The rest were using Kanger as their base. It was a good flight and I might have dozed off for a few minutes during it. Up till then I had not slept at all.
The last leg of the trip, Kangerlussaq to Summit Camp. We arrived at Kanger and were met by Audrey, one of the Polar Field employee's stationed in Kanger. We find out that the plan is for us to go to the main building (the KISS facility) and have a bathroom break and then head to the Cold Weather Gear depot and get suited up for our trip to Summit. We are going fairly quickly through all of this since the Twin Otter plane is scheduled to take off at 11 am local to take us to Summit. We through on some gear, sign it out and we rush over to the airport. There it is, the final plane in our 24 hour race to Summit. The Air Greenland Twin Otter. You can see it in the picture above. There isn't much space on it, but it is a heck of a lot of fun to ride in. We board the plane and we are off, off on the last leg of our race.
The twin otter today was carrying three of us, one person who was spending 30 minutes at Summit to check on the profess of his project and Ryan and me. We had cargo crammed around us, but we were having fun. We took off on the 3 hour flight to Summit. We spent out time looking through the windows and taking photos. Finally, at 2:15 pm we arrived at Summit. Our race was done and we had made it. Albany to Summit had taken us just 22 hours and 45 minutes. We had driven, flown on three different planes, gone to two different countries and arrived at our destination safely and in one piece.
This has been a My oh My What a Wonderful Day.
Let's chronicle the last 36 hours. How and where did it start and how and where did it finish, those are the questions.
I woke up on Thursday morning at the Holiday Inn Express in Clifton Park New York at around 7:00 AM Eastern Time. Ryan and I had shared a room the last two nights due to uncertainty in plans and uncertainty of available rooms at the hotel. We had an 11 am check out on the room and we were reluctant to check out since we might need to stay another night. So we had breakfast and hung around the room waiting for phone calls and some guidance on what we should do. One suggestion was to check out of the hotel and head to the airport and wait there. So around noon we checked out of the hotel and headed to the airport, arriving around 12:30 pm. We sat and talked while waiting for news from NSF and from our travel agent. Then it happened, we got the phone call, we were going to Greenland after all, but via Copenhagen Denmark. This happened around 1:30 pm Eastern time, thus the race started.
We ran to the National Car Rental counter and got a car for a one way race to Newark New Jersey to catch a 5:20 flight to Copenhagen. We jumped in the car (I was driving) and headed south towards New York City and then Newark. Ryan spent the two and a half hours checking on reservations, confirmations and directing me to the Newark Airport. I can honestly say I have now driven New York from West to East and mostly North to South. We arrived at the airport a few minutes after 4 pm, we had time to drop the car and head to the SAS (Scandinavian Airlines) counter to check in and get through security. As we stood in the TSA line we realized that we had made it with a few minutes to spare. We checked in and got our seats and had enough time for a breather. We made it to the gate with 20 minutes to spare. We were heading to Copenhagen.
8 hours later we landed in Copenhagen at 7:20 am local time. Time to grab our things and run through the airport again. This time we were trying to catch an Air Greenland flight at 9:00 to Kangerlussauq Greenland, halfway back across the route we had just taken. We ran through the airport arriving at the passport check station, had our passports stamped and we ran to our gate to check in and get our seats. This time we got there and had 30 minutes to spare before the plane started boarding, our luck was holding. Now a 4 hour flight to Kanger and we were keeping to our schedule.
The fun thing about flying from Copenhagen to Kangerlussuaq is that you leave at 9:00 am and you arrive 4 hours later at 9:45 am. This time we were congratulating ourselves for a good race and making it to every flight. On this flight were several people that were also going to Kanger for their work. Ryan and I were the only two trying to make it to Summit in 24 hours though. The rest were using Kanger as their base. It was a good flight and I might have dozed off for a few minutes during it. Up till then I had not slept at all.
The last leg of the trip, Kangerlussaq to Summit Camp. We arrived at Kanger and were met by Audrey, one of the Polar Field employee's stationed in Kanger. We find out that the plan is for us to go to the main building (the KISS facility) and have a bathroom break and then head to the Cold Weather Gear depot and get suited up for our trip to Summit. We are going fairly quickly through all of this since the Twin Otter plane is scheduled to take off at 11 am local to take us to Summit. We through on some gear, sign it out and we rush over to the airport. There it is, the final plane in our 24 hour race to Summit. The Air Greenland Twin Otter. You can see it in the picture above. There isn't much space on it, but it is a heck of a lot of fun to ride in. We board the plane and we are off, off on the last leg of our race.
The twin otter today was carrying three of us, one person who was spending 30 minutes at Summit to check on the profess of his project and Ryan and me. We had cargo crammed around us, but we were having fun. We took off on the 3 hour flight to Summit. We spent out time looking through the windows and taking photos. Finally, at 2:15 pm we arrived at Summit. Our race was done and we had made it. Albany to Summit had taken us just 22 hours and 45 minutes. We had driven, flown on three different planes, gone to two different countries and arrived at our destination safely and in one piece.
This has been a My oh My What a Wonderful Day.
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Good Bye United Airlines
This post will cover the horrible experience I had on United Airlines. Sunday April 20th, Easter Sunday. I flew from Denver Colorado to Cleveland Ohio on United 833 with plans to catch United 4840 to Albany New York. United 833 was a fairly typical United flight, crowded but manageable. When I arrived in Cleveland, that is when United Airlines lost my respect and my business.
Flight 833 arrived a few minutes early, around 2:35 pm, which I thought would be a good thing since the next leg of my trip was not going to give me time for lunch. I was scheduled out on United 4840, departing at 3:30 pm for Albany New York. I found the gate and checked in with the counter. I should have noticed that the seating area was full, a bad sign. There were 5 flights going out of that area. I checked the board and noised that one of the other flight had a delay, again I should have the little voice in my head telling me to be ready to have a problem, but I didn't listen. Within 20 minutes of my arrival at the gate two more flights were delayed. The time ~ 3:00 pm. Boarding was supposed to start by 3:15 pm, time to start getting nervous. Then it happened, 4840 was delayed by 15 minutes. People were getting frustrated and starting to talk loudly about United and how things were going badly from the beginning of that day. One couple I talked to had been at the Cleveland Airport since early that morning, with three kids all under the age of 5. I don't blame them for being upset, I would be too at that point. It only got worse unfortunately.
As time slowly marched on, we were told that the delay was now till 4:30 pm, then to 5:00 pm and finally 5:30 pm. The reason, maintenance. Ok, I can believe that, if I see somebody looking at, working on, heck even boarding the plane. None of this happened, None! There was one plane outside the gate, and no one approached it, looked at it, or even drove by it in a vehicle. None! Did any pilots show up a the gate to walk out to it to do the preflight? Did any crew members show up to the gate to prep the plane? No, there were no ground crew, no flight crew, nobody! The only United personnel were the gate crew. I have flown enough, with family members who are the airline business, to know when "Maintenance" is a lie.
At this point it is 5:30 pm and the dreaded announcement is made, "All flights out of Cleveland Gate 19 are cancelled." All five of the flights scheduled out of the gate were cancelled. We run for the Customer Service Counter. Here come the words that I would hear again and again over the next few hours "I'm sorry. United can not do anything." While standing in line I heard people asking again and again what they were supposed to do, how they were going to get home. The standard United response was "I'm sorry. United can not do anything." "All flights are booked out of Cleveland." "There are no flights out of Cleveland available until Tuesday April 22nd." I called a member of my family who had worked for United Airlines and asked what I should do, what should I expect, what should the company should do for me. What actually happened, not much.
When it was my turn at the counter I had a plan. What if United could get me to another city, could I add a leg to my trip and get to Albany that way. I was ready or so I thought. First, I asked about Hotel Vouchers - "I'm sorry, There are No Hotels in Cleveland with available rooms. United can not do anything." What about other Other Airlines? "I'm sorry, There are no other Airlines flying to Albany tonight. United can not do anything." I play my trump card, what about flying to another city and catch a flight from there. Ah Ha! After a bit of work, I can be the first standby on a flight to Washing Dulles leaving in an hour. I thought I had made it. I would be 7 hours late, but I would make it. At this point I was frustrated but I managed to accept the situation and get to the new gate.
The Customer Service Rep, a supervisor, did her best in a bad situation. I don't blame her or the other Rep's that I would eventually work with, I blame United Airlines and only United Airlines.
The time in now 6:15 pm, after I was supposed to have landed in Albany and I was still in Cleveland. I run over to the new gate and find that the new flight was again on the same planes that I had just left back at Gate 19. A bad sign. The new plane has not arrived yet, it is running late. Not a good sign. It arrives and a brief sign of luck, the flight crew arrives. I see a pilot and co-pilot arrive with their gear. I see things happening around the plane, great. Then the board changes, Flight delayed 15 minutes, then 30, then an hour. Then I see what confirms that the flight will be canceled, a supervisor shows up to work the counter. 10 minutes later it happens, "Washington Dulles flight is cancelled". We run for the Customer Service Counter.
It's now 7:15 pm and I am tired and frustrated, I am one of the first ten people at the counter and the litany begins again. "I'm Sorry. United Can Not Do Anything." All of the people are up in arms now. No one is taking this lightly. What about a refund of my ticket - it cost me over 400$? "I'm Sorry. United can only give you a voucher for 100$ on towards another United Flight." What about a hotel? "I'm sorry. United can not do anything." What about a refund and voucher towards a car? "I'm sorry. United can not do anything." I give up at this point. I'm sorry but every man has his limit. Good Bye United Airlines. You have lost a 25 year dedicated customer.
I call my travel agent after hours emergency hotline and request a car. The exact words I use "I want out of Cleveland Hell." The time, 7:30 pm. I want out of there. I don't want to hear anything from them, I want away from United Airlines. I say only two things to the Customer Service Reps "Where is my baggage? You just lost a loyal customer."
From there, I get a rental car and I drive to Albany New York. I drove the 466 miles with one stop and I arrive at 3:45 am Monday morning April 21st. I didn't get a refund, I didn't get a voucher, I didn't get a hotel, I didn't get anything from United Airlines except run around and frustration. Again I say -
The Customer Service Rep's did their best in a bad situation. I don't blame any of the Rep's that I eventually worked with, I blame United Airlines and only United Airlines.
GOOD BYE UNITED AIRLINES
Flight 833 arrived a few minutes early, around 2:35 pm, which I thought would be a good thing since the next leg of my trip was not going to give me time for lunch. I was scheduled out on United 4840, departing at 3:30 pm for Albany New York. I found the gate and checked in with the counter. I should have noticed that the seating area was full, a bad sign. There were 5 flights going out of that area. I checked the board and noised that one of the other flight had a delay, again I should have the little voice in my head telling me to be ready to have a problem, but I didn't listen. Within 20 minutes of my arrival at the gate two more flights were delayed. The time ~ 3:00 pm. Boarding was supposed to start by 3:15 pm, time to start getting nervous. Then it happened, 4840 was delayed by 15 minutes. People were getting frustrated and starting to talk loudly about United and how things were going badly from the beginning of that day. One couple I talked to had been at the Cleveland Airport since early that morning, with three kids all under the age of 5. I don't blame them for being upset, I would be too at that point. It only got worse unfortunately.
As time slowly marched on, we were told that the delay was now till 4:30 pm, then to 5:00 pm and finally 5:30 pm. The reason, maintenance. Ok, I can believe that, if I see somebody looking at, working on, heck even boarding the plane. None of this happened, None! There was one plane outside the gate, and no one approached it, looked at it, or even drove by it in a vehicle. None! Did any pilots show up a the gate to walk out to it to do the preflight? Did any crew members show up to the gate to prep the plane? No, there were no ground crew, no flight crew, nobody! The only United personnel were the gate crew. I have flown enough, with family members who are the airline business, to know when "Maintenance" is a lie.
At this point it is 5:30 pm and the dreaded announcement is made, "All flights out of Cleveland Gate 19 are cancelled." All five of the flights scheduled out of the gate were cancelled. We run for the Customer Service Counter. Here come the words that I would hear again and again over the next few hours "I'm sorry. United can not do anything." While standing in line I heard people asking again and again what they were supposed to do, how they were going to get home. The standard United response was "I'm sorry. United can not do anything." "All flights are booked out of Cleveland." "There are no flights out of Cleveland available until Tuesday April 22nd." I called a member of my family who had worked for United Airlines and asked what I should do, what should I expect, what should the company should do for me. What actually happened, not much.
When it was my turn at the counter I had a plan. What if United could get me to another city, could I add a leg to my trip and get to Albany that way. I was ready or so I thought. First, I asked about Hotel Vouchers - "I'm sorry, There are No Hotels in Cleveland with available rooms. United can not do anything." What about other Other Airlines? "I'm sorry, There are no other Airlines flying to Albany tonight. United can not do anything." I play my trump card, what about flying to another city and catch a flight from there. Ah Ha! After a bit of work, I can be the first standby on a flight to Washing Dulles leaving in an hour. I thought I had made it. I would be 7 hours late, but I would make it. At this point I was frustrated but I managed to accept the situation and get to the new gate.
The Customer Service Rep, a supervisor, did her best in a bad situation. I don't blame her or the other Rep's that I would eventually work with, I blame United Airlines and only United Airlines.
The time in now 6:15 pm, after I was supposed to have landed in Albany and I was still in Cleveland. I run over to the new gate and find that the new flight was again on the same planes that I had just left back at Gate 19. A bad sign. The new plane has not arrived yet, it is running late. Not a good sign. It arrives and a brief sign of luck, the flight crew arrives. I see a pilot and co-pilot arrive with their gear. I see things happening around the plane, great. Then the board changes, Flight delayed 15 minutes, then 30, then an hour. Then I see what confirms that the flight will be canceled, a supervisor shows up to work the counter. 10 minutes later it happens, "Washington Dulles flight is cancelled". We run for the Customer Service Counter.
It's now 7:15 pm and I am tired and frustrated, I am one of the first ten people at the counter and the litany begins again. "I'm Sorry. United Can Not Do Anything." All of the people are up in arms now. No one is taking this lightly. What about a refund of my ticket - it cost me over 400$? "I'm Sorry. United can only give you a voucher for 100$ on towards another United Flight." What about a hotel? "I'm sorry. United can not do anything." What about a refund and voucher towards a car? "I'm sorry. United can not do anything." I give up at this point. I'm sorry but every man has his limit. Good Bye United Airlines. You have lost a 25 year dedicated customer.
I call my travel agent after hours emergency hotline and request a car. The exact words I use "I want out of Cleveland Hell." The time, 7:30 pm. I want out of there. I don't want to hear anything from them, I want away from United Airlines. I say only two things to the Customer Service Reps "Where is my baggage? You just lost a loyal customer."
From there, I get a rental car and I drive to Albany New York. I drove the 466 miles with one stop and I arrive at 3:45 am Monday morning April 21st. I didn't get a refund, I didn't get a voucher, I didn't get a hotel, I didn't get anything from United Airlines except run around and frustration. Again I say -
The Customer Service Rep's did their best in a bad situation. I don't blame any of the Rep's that I eventually worked with, I blame United Airlines and only United Airlines.
GOOD BYE UNITED AIRLINES
Saturday, April 19, 2014
The Night Before
The Night Before......
What do you think about the night before you leave for a month up on the Greenland Ice Sheet (GIS)? I think about the weather, my clothes/gear and leaving my family for a month. I have serious doubts about going and whether or not I am ready to go.
Last night I had dinner with my in-laws and they asked about what the weather was going to be like at Summit Camp. Well, I hadn't looked in a few days so I logged onto the station website and saw that it has been hovering between -40 F and -50 F for the last week. This really started me doubting my abilities and feeling like I don't want to go. Nobody in their right mind willingly goes into a situation like this without some form of doubt. I certainly have them all the time.
This afternoon my wife helped me go through my entire list of gear, piece by piece to see if it is ready to go. I want to thank her for making this task go easier. What kind of gear is needed to spend a month at Summit Camp, you ask? Let's see.... Carhartt Artic Quilted Jacket and Bibs, Sorel Glacier Boots with felt linings, Duofold Expedition Weight Thermal underwear, wool socks, extreme weather gloves, neck gaiters and a balaclava. This is just the clothing to go outside, not the gear needed to sleep in a tent at these temperatures. For that I have a -20 F rated bag, with the possibility of using a -40 F rated bag if needed. Normally I would only use mine, but this year I might use the office's -40 bag.
The hardest part of all of this is leaving my family for a month. During the trip I treasure the Skype calls that I can make every couple of days. It makes me feel like I am keeping up with what is going on at home. I miss everybody, but I know I will be coming home in a few weeks. Besides that, my wife enjoys when I am out of the house and she has some time to herself.
Once I am on the flight out of Denver, my feelings of not being ready and self doubts will be left behind. But until that time I will pray for strength and relief from my doubts. I know that tomorrow will be the start of another chapter in Mike's Feet.
He is Risen
What do you think about the night before you leave for a month up on the Greenland Ice Sheet (GIS)? I think about the weather, my clothes/gear and leaving my family for a month. I have serious doubts about going and whether or not I am ready to go.
Last night I had dinner with my in-laws and they asked about what the weather was going to be like at Summit Camp. Well, I hadn't looked in a few days so I logged onto the station website and saw that it has been hovering between -40 F and -50 F for the last week. This really started me doubting my abilities and feeling like I don't want to go. Nobody in their right mind willingly goes into a situation like this without some form of doubt. I certainly have them all the time.
This afternoon my wife helped me go through my entire list of gear, piece by piece to see if it is ready to go. I want to thank her for making this task go easier. What kind of gear is needed to spend a month at Summit Camp, you ask? Let's see.... Carhartt Artic Quilted Jacket and Bibs, Sorel Glacier Boots with felt linings, Duofold Expedition Weight Thermal underwear, wool socks, extreme weather gloves, neck gaiters and a balaclava. This is just the clothing to go outside, not the gear needed to sleep in a tent at these temperatures. For that I have a -20 F rated bag, with the possibility of using a -40 F rated bag if needed. Normally I would only use mine, but this year I might use the office's -40 bag.
The hardest part of all of this is leaving my family for a month. During the trip I treasure the Skype calls that I can make every couple of days. It makes me feel like I am keeping up with what is going on at home. I miss everybody, but I know I will be coming home in a few weeks. Besides that, my wife enjoys when I am out of the house and she has some time to herself.
Once I am on the flight out of Denver, my feelings of not being ready and self doubts will be left behind. But until that time I will pray for strength and relief from my doubts. I know that tomorrow will be the start of another chapter in Mike's Feet.
He is Risen
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Spring Time in the Rockies
Well, well. Here it is, April in Golden Colorado and it is time for me to start getting ready for my 2014 deployment to Summit Camp Greenland. This year, I am heading to Summit with my new job, or old job, or the project I originally went with 3 years ago. This will be my fourth season up on the Greenland Ice Sheet (GIS) and my second early season deployment. I will be doing several things this year, most of which I have done in the past, some I haven't done before.
I am heading north with the CAPABL project, (Cloud, Aerosol Polarization And Backscatter Lidar) like I did back in 2011. Last year the project upgraded the original Lidar to Version 2.0, which promptly died. They have spent the last year trying to figure out what happened and are planning on going up and doing a major remodel of the instrument into Version 2.5. I will be going to help with this upgrade.
The other part of my trip to Summit is to do the prep work for our 2015 deployment of the new SUPR Lidar. This project will be taking a majority of my time between now and January 1, 2015. This Lidar is a major upgrade to the CAPABL system, with a more powerful laser, much larger telescope and six different data channels. I am really looking forward to getting this beast online and taking data.
Over the next week, I will be updating this blog to set the stage for this years trip.
Hold on folks, this will be one heck of a trip.
M.
I am heading north with the CAPABL project, (Cloud, Aerosol Polarization And Backscatter Lidar) like I did back in 2011. Last year the project upgraded the original Lidar to Version 2.0, which promptly died. They have spent the last year trying to figure out what happened and are planning on going up and doing a major remodel of the instrument into Version 2.5. I will be going to help with this upgrade.
The other part of my trip to Summit is to do the prep work for our 2015 deployment of the new SUPR Lidar. This project will be taking a majority of my time between now and January 1, 2015. This Lidar is a major upgrade to the CAPABL system, with a more powerful laser, much larger telescope and six different data channels. I am really looking forward to getting this beast online and taking data.
Over the next week, I will be updating this blog to set the stage for this years trip.
Hold on folks, this will be one heck of a trip.
M.
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