I know I’m not going to get any sympathy from you all out there.  It is mid-March and I am stranded, yes stranded, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.  Continental Airlines “thinks” they can get me home on Tuesday. 

I was down here for WebWise 2008 (which was terrific) last week and my plane was due to leave the Fort Lauderdale airport headed back for Cleveland Friday night at just about the same time the universe decided to dump a whole boatload of snow on the midwest.  So my flight was cancelled on Friday, and then cancelled again yesterday, and yesterday afternoon I got the news of my mandatory rest stop here at the epicenter of Spring Break 2008.

Now before you start sacarstically sniping “oh poor Holly, stuck in Flordia, that must be really tough for the old girl”  (unless you’ve already done that) — let me point out to you that I am a red head and better suited for the climate of, oh,   let’s say the Orkney Islands, than Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.  I crisp like a cartoon character moments after stepping out into the sun.  So don’t imagine for a moment that I am spending my days at the beach with a big old rum cocktail in my hands–in fact if I could find a burqa-like garment I’d probably wear it.

No…I’m spending the dangerous hours of the day in my nice air-conditioned hotel room catching up on work and mostly enjoying this enforced solitude.  And, when my own company becomes too tedious for words, I have my cell phone and Skype, thank goodness. 

My cell phone is of course that lifeline to home and a human voice.  My PLSS took the news of my non-return with his usual aplomb.  My son, like a butterfly, manages brief conversations with his mother when he’s not off with one of his friends. 

Skype, however, has been my constant and sanity saving companion on this trip.  Several of my co-workers checked in on Friday to tell me that there was little chance of me leaving Florida.  Yesterday morning (Saturday) while sitting in the airport at 8 am, still hoping I was going to get home–the cheery little chirpy skype sound announced the arrival of my colleague Tom H. He’d just gotten word that–due to all the snow in Cleveland–the museum was going to be closed on Saturday and would I please put a notice on the front page of the site.   I found it hard to believe there was that much snow so Tom, from his house, grabbed images from the museum’s outdoor security cameras (he’s the network manager) and emailed them to me so I could see the damage.  

My much younger colleague, Adam L., has been periodically skyping me with updates on the weather in Cleveland, and the complete lack of the social life he is used to because of the weather.  He’s also been helpful encouraging me to head to bars in the mistaken belief that I have somehow been magically transformed into an 18 year old during my hiatus here in Florida.   I am grateful for his presence though and find comfort in opening up my skype and seeing multiple green ovals with little white checkmarks. 

Colleague Doug H. and I have been discussing theories of the universe and petroglyphs in southwestern caves.  He too gives me weather updates and has just checked in to tell me it’s bright and sunny in Cleveland.   Doug’s wife Lisa has been helpful too with suggestions of how I might best entertain myself.  They were suggesting long tall drinks for me yesterday while I was suggesting that they put their new (relatively) baby down for a nap, make some doctored hot chocolates, and pretend like they were snowed in at an exclusive ski lodge.

Anyway, I have been thankful for many new technologies over the past couple of days.  And if you want a few new ones to check out try:

www.zotero.org (you willl need firefox)

http://www.thebrain.com/

and

http://cayra.net/

Yours here in exile in Flordia.

Be Sociable, Share!

•