Travel Mulligans

Mulligan #1: I flew to Oakland last night. We took off from Dallas a bit late, at 8:52 PM. We arrived barely an hour later ... back in Dallas. Medical emergency. From what I overheard, an infant had stopped breathing, but was revived, and the captain decided to turn the plane around. I think she ended up ok, based on the lack of urgency of the paramedics meeting the plane. At least for once I was upgraded to first, but it didn't get me to Oakland any sooner than anyone else.

Mulligan #2: Fast forward to 1:00 AM. Made it to California. I'm driving through a residential area in Oakland, looking for my I-580 entrance. The streets are deserted. I'm stopped alone at an intersection near the crest of a hill, when I pick up a faint siren in the distance. I don't see anything behind me, nor to the left, nor to the right. In fact, there's not another car in sight, but the wailing gets louder and louder. Next thing I know, on the other side of the street, a car comes flying over the top of the hill. WHHUMP!! Goes airborne, crashes down, sparks fly, and it keeps on trucking. Right behind is a cop car. WHHUMP!! Same thing. Then they both disappear in my rear view mirror, and I'm sitting there alone again, thinking "I know Arnold's the governor, but this is f**king ridiculous!"

I couldn't make this up if I tried. I just want this to get out of the system, and for me to make it back to Dallas on Friday the plain old boring way. Two mulligans is enough.

After all that excitement last night, I spent all day in a conference room with 15 other people, from 8:00 until 5:30, with lunch brought in so we didn't even have to leave our seats! I was so ready for a run tonight. From my hotel, I ran to the Iron Horse Trail, formerly part of the Southern Pacific Railroad. It was dark, quiet, and absolutely peaceful. Ran 4 miles and it felt really good. I doubt I'll make it to the Golden Gate on this trip, but this was good enough for me.