My Latest Airport Nightmare...and Paying Respects

This week I was traveling on business. That is not necessarily new, but I went to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, which was a new place for me. I thought the people there were very friendly and the area was nice. But every single flight I was on was either delayed or canceled. It started on Tuesday, when my airplane pulled away from the gate on time, only to promptly sit on the tarmac for 45 minutes. Then we flew to Philadelphia, where we circled for 20 minutes after arriving before finally landing. My next flight was scheduled to take off in 15 minutes and the flight attendant had everyone else stay seated while I and another gentleman were quickly ushered off the plane. I ran through the airport and across two terminals to reach my next gate, rushed up to the gate attendant and explained I was on the flight to Harrisburg. The guy looked at me and asked what I was so worked up about; that flight was 20 minutes delayed and hadn't even started boarding yet.

I managed to get to Harrisburg, but I was 30 minutes late to my meeting. The next day and a half ran smoothly, until I took a taxi back to the airport. My 6:05 departure was delayed until 7:15. I was supposed to catch an 8:05 flight from Dulles in Washington back to Raleigh-Durham. The gate agent was concerned that I would miss that flight so he booked me on to a 10:05 flight as well, to make sure I had a way home. I was a confirmed passenger on both planes at that point.

Flight takes off from Harrisburg and makes it to Dulles in 35 minutes. I hit the ground and make it to my next gate to find that my 8:05 departure was scheduled to leave at 9:20 at that point. So, I hadn't missed it. By 9:10, they had further delayed the flight until 9:54 pm. I asked the agent on the C concourse whether I should go ahead and take the 10:05, and she said she recommended it. So I book over to the A concourse and ask for a seat assignment. That is where things really went wrong. The agent at that gate refused to give me a seat assignment, even though I was a confirmed passenger on that flight. Her reason was that I already had a seat assignment on the 8:05 (currently showing a 9:54 departure time), and my luggage was on that flight. TSA Regulations require that I and my luggage fly on the same plane, so she said I had to go back to my original flight. (Don't ask what I think about how safe we all are in the hands of DHS and the TSA.)

I went to the Customer Service phone and asked for help. They said they were very sorry, but they could not override the gate agent, and suggested I return to the C concourse. The 10:05 departed, and my flight was scheduled for a 10:24 departure. We boarded the plane at 10:15 and sat. Waiting. For the captain to arrive from Philadelphia. They said his plane was in the air, he'll be here in a few minutes. Thank you for your patience and sorry for the inconvenience. Around 10:45--no captain. Still. 11:00 pm--first officer comes on the speaker and announces: sorry folks, the captain has timed out and cannot fly for the next 12 hours. Our flight is canceled, please return to the C concourse and we will make arrangements to get you to Raleigh sometime tomorrow.

By the time I make it to the ticket counter, two of the absolutely least helpful gate agents I have ever seen proceeded to insult each customer and "help" us with an attitude that felt like they thought it was our fault they were still there. I was booked out on a 12:40 pm flight the next day and given a voucher for a hotel in Ashburn. By the time the airport shuttle picked me up and deposited me there, it was 1:00 am. I won't name names here, but this was all on United. Aren't they the ones with the "Fly the Friendly Skies" motto? Ironically, TSA wasn't aware of it I guess, because my luggage went on to Raleigh on the 10:05 flight, despite the gate agent's brave efforts to prevent passengers and their luggage departing on different flights.

Ok, so that is the rant. I lost another day in the office, missed breakfast with my family, and got to sleep in another strange bed in the DC area. When I arrived at the airport and made it through security, I found my gate and settled in. I went plenty early, because I wanted to be ready as best I could for the next monkey wrench. A plane arrived at the gate, and as it was coming in there were several United ground crew members and Dulles airport staff who came in and out. You could tell something was different. As people filed off of the airplane, they were very quiet. And rather than rush off to their next fight, they gathered in the gate area and looked out the window. I walked over to join them. A hearse was sitting on the tarmac, with a Marine honor guard standing at ease nearby. The honor guard assembled and marched to their positions, and a flag draped coffin was unloaded from the cargo hold. The marines slowly saluted, then took up the coffin and delivered it to the hearse. There were at least 20 people watching from inside the terminal, and most passengers were still on the plane, watching through their windows. A muscular man to my left dressed in civilian clothes stood rigidly at attention, and saluted. I don't know whether he was active duty, CIA, NSA or what, but he had a military bearing. Some of the people there were Vietnam era baby boomers, some were foreign nationals, some were college kids. Several were quietly shedding tears. An Episcopal chaplain was among us, quietly doing what chaplains do. The door closed to the hearse and the honor guard withdrew, and the hearse pulled slowly away.

I won't spin this. I don't know how anyone in that room voted, or how any of them feel about the war. I am not going to talk about how that Marine's sacrifice made it possible for us to enjoy what freedoms we still have. I'm not going to rant about the waste of human life in the war. I'm just reporting what I saw and was a part of. It was an American moment and a human moment of paying respects to this unknown (to us) soldier. I don't know how that young man or woman would feel about strangers watching this event, or how his or her family would feel to know about it. But on Thursday morning, I saw people from all walks of life stop rushing through life to honor a fallen American soldier. I hope that we did our best for him or her. I know for me, I never regained the same level of frustration that I had been feeling earlier. I got back to Raleigh around 1:30 pm, and back to my house around 2:45. I thought about that flag draped coffin all day, and I guess I am still thinking about it.


Here is my heartfelt wish for all our people in Iraq and Afghanistan: I hope you all come home, safely, and soon.

the Landis Question

This is how Tom Callahan of NPR and the Associated Press covered the story about the arbitration panel's decision:


Cyclist Landis Loses Doping Appeal

Tour de France winner Floyd Landis descends on the pro mountain bike course at the Teva Mountain Games in Vail, Colo.


Cyclist Floyd Landis looked destined to be stripped of his 2006 Tour de France victory after arbitrators on Thursday upheld results of a drug test indicating he used synthetic testosterone to fuel a spectacular comeback in renowned race.

The decision means Landis — who has strenuously and repeatedly denied using performance-enhancing drugs — must forfeit his Tour de France title and endure a two-year ban on competition, retroactive to Jan. 30, 2007.

The ruling, handed down nearly four months after a bizarre and bitterly fought hearing, leaves the American with one final way to possibly salvage his title - an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

If Landis doesn't appeal, he'll be the first person in the 105-year history of the race to lose the title because of a doping offense.

The vote was 2-1 to uphold the results, with lead arbitrator Patrice Brunet and Richard McLaren in the majority and Christopher Campbell dissenting, according to The Associated Press.

"Today's ruling is a victory for all clean athletes and everyone who values fair and honest competition," U.S. Anti-Doping Agency general counsel Travis Tygart said.

It marks a devastating loss for Landis, who has said he was merely a pawn in the anti-doping system's all-consuming effort to find cheaters and keep money flowing to its labs and agencies.

In its 84-page decision, the majority found the initial screening test to measure Landis' testosterone levels – the testosterone-to-epitestosterone test - was not done according to World Anti-Doping Agency rules.

But the more precise and expensive carbon-isotope ration analysis (IRMS), performed after a positive T-E test is recorded, was accurate, the arbitrators said, meaning "an anti-doping rule violation is established."

"As has been held in several cases, even where the T-E ratio has been held to be unreliable ... the IRMS analysis may still be applied," the majority wrote. "It has also been held that the IRMS analysis may stand alone as the basis" of a positive test for steroids.

The decision comes more than a year after Landis' stunning comeback in Stage 17 of the 2006 Tour, one that many people said couldn't be done without some kind of outside help. Flying to the lead near the start of a grueling Alpine stage, Landis regained nearly eight minutes against the leader, and went on to win the three-week race.

Landis insisted on a public hearing not only to prove his innocence, but to shine a spotlight on USADA and the rules it enforces and also establish a pattern of incompetence at the French lab where his urine was tested.

Although the panel rejected Landis' argument of a "conspiracy" at the Chatenay-Malabry lab, it did find areas of concern. They dealt with control of the urine sample, the way the tests were run on the machine, the way the machine was prepared and the "forensic corrections" done on the lab paperwork.

"... the Panel finds that the practices of the Lab in training its employees appears to lack the vigor the Panel would expect in the circumstances given the enormous consequences to athletes" of an adverse analytical finding, the decision said.

The majority repeatedly wrote that any mistakes made at the lab were not enough to dismiss the positive test, but also sent a warning.

"If such practices continue, it may well be that in the future, an error like this could result in the dismissal" of a positive finding by the lab.

In Campbell's opinion, Landis' case should have been one of those cases.

"In many instances, Mr. Landis sustained his burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt," Campbell wrote. "The documents supplied by LNDD are so filled with errors that they do not support an Adverse Analytical Finding. Mr. Landis should be found innocent."

From NPR reports and The Associated Press



To me, the situation right now poses not really one question, but several. Among those are: is he guilty? Is the decision just? And where do we all go from here? As for the matter of his guilt or innocence, I am still inclined to believe that Floyd did not dope during the 2006 TDF. The levels of synthetic testosterone found in the samples are not metabollically plausible--humans do not work in the ways necessary to yield those levels in a blood test, as I understand the claims of biochemists who have reviewed the levels. Also, testosterone would be an odd choice of a drug for doping purposes during a race. Unlike EPO, or blood doping, which is designed to aid recovery, testosterone doping would be useful for building muscle mass over time, to bulk you up. Cyclists don't want or need to bulk up. It would be a weird drug to dope with in the TDF.


Is the decision just? This gets at the heart of the matter. If I think Floyd is innocent and the levels are beyond reasonable, my suspicion would be (and is) that someone added the testosterone to Floyd's sample before testing it. I do not dispute that there was testosterone found in the sample. I do think there were many opportunities and time gaps where the samples could have been tampered with, leading to the cautionary statements the panel put into the report about lab methods in France. As for the justice of the ruling, this gets at a core difference between American beliefs and European beliefs about justice. In the USA, we profess to believe in the presumption of innocent until proven guilty. In Europe, there are states that are perfectly comfortable with the notion of presuming a person guilty until proven innocent. Where you fall on what you believe about the ruling depends entirely on what you believe about justice.


Where do we go from here? Floyd has been stripped of his title, but he may appeal. I don't know what he will do. I know that there are many officials in France who are glossing over the criticisms of their lab even as I sit here and maintain it seems more likely than not to me that he is telling the truth, and did not dope. I agree testosterone was found in his sample. It makes more sense to me that the sample was tampered with than that Floyd took this drug during that race.

Random Stuff

Kudos to my brother in law from St. Louis, who sent in this great picture of George Hincapie and Levi Leipheimer from Sunday's finish of the inaugural Tour of Missouri. It is terriffic to see three tours in the U.S. that are drawing large crowds and giving fans a chance to see pro cycling on American soil: The Tours of California, Georgia, and now Missouri. It was great to read that the people in Missouri gave such wonderful support to the teams and riders. As much as I hate to see this fantastic team dissolve, for the riders--especially the Americans on the team--it must have been a satisfying finale to what has been a spectacular run.

On the raw milk front, new rules proposed by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture will require gray coloring to be added to unpasteurized milk sold here for pet consumption. The idea is that pets won't care what color the milk is, but since many people who purchase raw milk in this state under that provision are doing so for human consumption, the addition of gray coloring will make the product look less appealing. Labeling is proposed to also be added that would say the milk was not for human consumption. We'll see whether these measures are finally adopted or not.

It finally rained in North Carolina last Friday night. We had been without any appreciable rainfall in this part of the state since June. The drought here is extreme in most counties, and while the recent rain won't break it, rain is better than no rain. Maybe later this week I'll post a blog about an absurd landscaping committee in Wake Forest that is proceeding to enforce restrictive covenants about lawn watering and maintaining green lawns even as every municipality in our area is tightening water restrictions in this drought. People are just crazy.

Duke University's football team snapped a 22 game losing streak this past Saturday, beating Northwestern. I could understand why students from little Appalachian State tore down the goal posts when they beat Michigan earlier this year, but for Duke students to do it on Saturday for beating Northwestern was just silly.

9/11

I won't put up a picture today. There are many that I could put up, and I truly wondered whether I would even say anything about the anniversary, but it just seems important to not forget about things I thought and felt when it happened. I was sitting in a meeting this morning at 9:30 am, and that was the only time all day it crossed my mind. At least, the only time it came up to the front of my mind. I think there was an undercurrent throughout my day where it was never far off screen, though.


The persistent memories I have about 9/11 are in a lot of ways minor things, but they are the ones that have stayed with me. I remember of course the impact of watching those images of airplanes plowing into the Twin Towers, and the fire, and collapse of the buildings. I remember gathering together my employees to tell them what had happened, and how the company I was working for at the time had decided to deal with the needs of staff. We told them they were free to go or stay, and to take care of themselves and their loved ones. Most stayed, but what we did was comfort each other. My wife was supposed to be on an airplane to Phoenix that morning, but she was stuck in the airport for hours, and the phone lines were jammed so she couldn't call to tell me the airplane was grounded even before it took off.


I remember going home that night, and for the next several days, driving by the silent airport. I remember how weird it was not to see any airplanes in the sky, and how different the sky looked. Researchers later showed that there was a dramatic reduction in cloud cover during those days. Airplanes contribute to cloud formation. I remember being on one of the first flights out of RDU once traffic resumed, and being on an almost empty flight to New Orleans. I remember that as we approached the city the plane got very quiet, and when we touched down the pilot came on and announced we were safely there.


I had to fly in early November 2001 to Washington, DC, and I remember leaving the airport there and driving past the Pentagon with one side caved in, and how that hit me like a punch to the stomach to see. I remember being on the National Mall and seeing the security barriers erected around the Washington Monument and other icons, and how few people were out. I remember feeling like my country was slipping away.


I don't like remembering a lot of the things I remember. But I also don't want to forget. I don't want to forget what it used to be like, before 9/11. We might not have been innocent then, but we were not afraid. We didn't live with this pervasive sense of doom then, and we didn't feel like people were out to get us. We didn't worry as much. We were more confident. Some might say we were arrogant, others might say we were ignorant. I'm not sure either of those words hits the exact tone just right. Before 9/11 we were at ease in our own skins, and we lived our lives normally. Maybe there was naivete in that, and no doubt our enemies are happy that they took that easiness away from us. When I remember 9/11. I want to focus just on that. I want to honor the dead who gave their lives, and I want to mourn the loss of 9/10 and all the days before then. Without recrimination or manipulation, without partisan spinning or foreign propaganda. I just want to remember that on 9/11 a lot of good things and people were lost. And I miss them.

Asking Big Questions

Recently I had a "Parental Moment" with my 11 year old daughter. I was driving her to school and we were listening to Jimmy Buffet on the iPod. The song was "A Pirate Looks at 40". She asked me what that meant, to look at 40, and it started a conversation between us about life milestones and why people reflect on where they have been, and where they want to go.


I won't pretend that it was some breakthrough moment, or that the song is particularly significant. After we talked a few minutes she was on to other things. But after I dropped her off I kept thinking about it as I drove on to work. When I was younger I spent a lot of time thinking about the Big Questions, but over time, it seems like work and parenting and doing the chores and surfing the internet and walking the dog just sort of crowd out the time and energy that takes. I don't necessarily mean, what is the meaning of life? I guess I pretty much have come to the conclusion that there is no meaning in life, except the meaning you create for yourself. I don't know where that perspective puts me on the existential scale, but that is what I think, so I don't spend time worrying about that one anymore.


I do find myself thinking about alternative living arrangements, and the nature of a house. Shelter is one of our basic needs, but when I survey the options available for meeting that need, all of them in my area seem a little cold. You know, Little Pink Houses syndrome. Homes on fractions of acre lots crowded together in cookie cutter neighborhoods. No soul. Certainly no connection to the greater natural world.


I am beginning to think about looking for some land where we could design and build a really different kind of house. We have looked a little at the Earthships being built in New Mexico and Colorado and other places, and we want to explore other building materials. The more we think about the issues and the big questions, the more I am drawn to the idea of creating a different way of living for our family. Since this pirate has already looked at 40 and sees it in the rear view mirror, I guess it might be time to begin putting a real plan together to create that new reality now.

Why You Can't Trust Them

Ken and I had a recent exchange about the pros and cons of toll roads. Every state along the Atlantic Coast has toll roads except for Connecticut and North Carolina. In 2001 the NC General Assembly passed a bill creating the NC Turnpike Authority, and authorized at that time the new authority to build up to 9 toll roads in the state.

So far, no toll roads exist. There are plans for seven projects, including two here in the area known as the Research Triangle Park. The ambivalence in the state over this new approach to roadbuilding here is evident in the fact that despite having created the authority and authorizing the projects, when the authority asked for $20 million in seed money to start building what they are calling the Western Wake Expressway, the General Assembly did not pass the legistlation. The authority is now looking at Public-Private Partnerships as a way forward, since there is no political support to give them any real money to get things started.

No community in North Carolina is clamoring for the chance to have the first toll road in the state. Nobody wants one. A large part of the ambivalence is the widespread belief that once toll booths go up, they will never come down. The distrust and skepticism of the people on that issue led to horse trading and language in the original authorizing legislation prohibiting any existing road or project from becoming a toll road. That was a promise made to the state as part of getting the idea accepted.

So of course, this year, the General Assembly changed that part of the law to create an exception. There was an existing road project here called I-540 that is a larger outer loop around Raleigh. The road is 75% complete, but the final section in Southwest Wake County has yet to be built. That segment is a little over 12 miles long. The Dept. of Transportation decided that they couldn't afford to build that final segment, so eventually the bill was submitted to change the turnpike authority law to allow the last 25% of the loop to be built as a toll road.

So the good people of Raleigh and the northern suburbs got their traditional freeway, but those of us in Western Wake County get handed the sorry bill of goods that will become one of the first toll roads in the state. That is, if they can get financial backing and the support of something called the Metropolitan Planning Organization or the Rural Planning Organization in the area where it is supposed to be built. In a major hearing on the topic in Apex a few months back people pretty much told the turnpike authority they didn't want the road, and there are a lot of hard feelings over the fact that they are now doing exactly what they said they would not do--transition an existing road project from DOT to the TurnPike Authority.

They sure know how to win the hearts and minds of the people, don't they?