De-Icer Ballet

Starting the new year in style, in the first class cabin of a tiny airplane headed down to Dallas to solve a problem I may or may not have any idea how to resolve...   I had resolutely tried NOT to think about work for the past 10 days, constraining myself only to caring about the physician scheduling project in Minneapolis, but ignoring all others.  So I'm just getting back into it, and am balancing the needs of 4 new projects in my brain.

This morning, I snuck out with most of the house asleep, but Isaac gave me a long hug and wished I didn't have to go.  He breaks my heart every time I leave.  Bella too, but she always gets me the night before, because she sleeps in when I'm on the way out the door...    Still, these one-night trips are a lot better than the 3-4 night disappearances I suffered in 2010, so we'll deal with a little sigh here and there.

I got to the airport on time, and was in the security line when I realized my phone was not in my pocket.  I raced back to the car, calculating what my options were:  Buy a phone?  Have someone drive it out to me?  WHAT?  I was relieved to find the phone sitting on my driver's seat, where it had decided to hide, just to make me sweat a little.  I got back into the terminal and into line - and made it to the gate with plenty of time.

The new Delta gates are a thing indeed - with an embarrassment of power outlets and dozens of iPads freely available for use.  It actually makes the SkyClub seem a bit.. shabby?  Superfluous?  I enjoyed the free electricity and internet, and boarded the plane when called.

Here's a little picture of what I saw this AM:

As the sun was coming up, the jet wheeled over to the de-icing pad, and I was given a good view of the process:  Truck number 9 was on our left side, right out my window, with a driver smoking a pipe (???) and the de-icer person checking her phone in the elevated cab.  We pulled up, and the girl put away her phone and pulled on her gloves, as the guy put the truck in gear.  They made a slow turn and started driving and spraying:  The de-icer girl's cab was even with my window, and only 15 feet separated us.  She worked the cab height controls with one hand, and the sprayer nozzle with the other, and she was intently focused on the job - need to make sure that pink fluid covers the whole wing!

She looked a bit cold in a giant jacket, and she had a lot of eyeliner on.

They made their way to the tail end of the plane, turned again, and pulled up behind truck number 11, which was just on its way to de-ice the plane that pulled up next to us.  The driver adjusted his pipe.  De-icer lady pulled out her phone.  We pulled away, "number one for takeoff".

It was a sort of poetic start to the day (after my minor panic about the phone), and I'm hopeful for a great rest of this trip.  I'm hoping a trip to a Pappas restaurant is in the cards for tonight!