Starkville Wrapup

James and I went to Starkville last weekend. You want to hear about it? Aight. We had an eaaarly flight (6 AM'ish) from Austin to Jackson with a quick stop in Houston. The snow had been causing airport issues, but our flight was listed as a go when we left the house. We boarded our Southwest flight, and put some of our belongings in the middle seat to make it look occupied. They announced that the flight was completely full on several occasions, but we were holding out hope that we'd keep that comfort seat open. Everyone had boarded and the seat was still clear. I should rephrase that. Everyone that had gotten to the airport on time had boarded, and the seat was still clear. They continue to hold the plane at the gate while a high school cheerleading team trickled in. The seat was soon occupied, and before we knew it we were being asked how to buckle the seat belt. After our instructions failed to get the task done, I ended up having to buckle it for the poor girl.

Running long here--let me condense this down some. We get to Houston and are told our flight to Jackson is canceled. We're directed to stand in a line of 40-50 other folks trying to arrange alternative plans. A couple girls behind us were trying to make it to Jackson for a Saturday wedding (we'll circle back to them later). We stood near the end of this line for a few minutes when a dude from the front of the line walks up and asks if we're headed to Jackson. We affirm and he tells us that the remaining two flights are booked, that we could try to get on standby, but the odds of that aren't good. He then makes his proposal. He has rented a car and we can ride with him. We're not people to pass up a long ride with a stranger, so off we went.

Turns out he went to Ole Miss, and we worked out our 3 degrees of separation. The most notable part of this trip is we didn't stop once the entire trip; not for gas, not for bathroom breaks, and not for food. We left Houston right after 9AM, and he dropped us off at the terminal in Jackson at 2:52PM. That's fast, and it was snowing most of the way on I-55 in MS. Another funny thing to note about this leg of the trip. Ol' boy and I were discussing Toyota vehicles (we had passed a truck hauling new 'yotas). His family owns them and he vouches for their safety. Turns out he had hydroplaned off the road and rolled his car a while back, but made it out basically unharmed. Information like this would probably been helpful before we got in the car seeing that we had been hauling ace through the snow while the driver checked his Blackberry. James must have been too wrapped up in browsing Please Rob Me, as he missed that gem.

The only thing I want to report on in Starkville is the new Grill. The new location is open. It's very restauranty now. We stopped in around 11:30 PM Friday night.



Busy, huh? The main area has a bunch of booths. We met Clay and Shay up there on Sat. and heard maybe the worst news of all--they changed the honey mustard! They're now using the Sweet Peppers formula. (I wonder if they used my concept)

Well, one more thing, then I'm out. We saw this whip on campus.

Airport security

I see James has added a poll on the blog entitled, "Should John bring das boots to Founders Day?"

I'm inclined not to.

1. I'm not sure we need any drunks trying to speed drink out of heavy glass. You could lose a tooth...
2. In case we didn't cover it, while we were in Starkville last month for the alumni conference I happened to win an unexpected door prize--a brick from Old Main. The coolness factor dropped once we hit airport security in Jackson. The brick was in my carry-on bag, and it looks like people don't bring bricks on commercial flights very often. The person tending the x-ray machine must have thought I was smuggling a brick of cocaine. Of course they proceeded to search the bag while James and I explained the historical significance of the brick. Unimpressed, the head guard told me that he couldn't allow me to carry a brick on the plane as it could be used as a weapon (meanwhile another flyer is waived through with a large glass award plaque). He assured me that I could take the brick on the plane--it just couldn't be carried on. The conversation went roughly like this.

   me: So you're saying I have to go check my bag.
   guard: That's an option.
   me: If I can't carry the brick on then I pretty much 
       have to check my bag.
   guard: Yeah, that's an option.  You can check your 
          bag if you want to.

Now, I'm still unsure of what my other options were. I guess I could have checked only the brick, which doesn't make too much sense as I'd still have to wait at baggage claim for the small pile of rubble to come tumbling down the conveyer in Austin. I will point out that the guy was very pleasant. I just couldn't follow the logic.

Anyway, we were on Continental and they charged me $15 for the bag check. I'm a little wary of bringing anything out of the ordinary with me in the future. If they didn't like a brick, I doubt they're going to like my two glass shoes.

Time to start flying JetBlue?

Delta, JetBlue Face Lawsuit From Flight Attendant Over Provocative Dress Requirement

In the lawsuit filed with the Pittsburgh federal court on Friday, Karin Keegan, 37, of Upper St. Clair in Pennsylvania said she reported to the two airlines' management that Oliver Angus of JetBlue prevented her from boarding a JetBlue plane that will ferry her to her job assignment in October 2007 because her clothes was not provocatively enough.

"He wanted her to change to a lower-cut shirt and tighter pants, and wear more makeup before letting her on the plane," Keegan's attorney, Samuel Cordes, said Monday, according to the Associate Press.

Keegan said Angus allowed other flight attendants to board the plane and denied her entry again after she changed into a more provocative outfit because she was already late to board the aircraft.