It's Storming Outside

I was sitting at my desk in the bowels of the hospital tonight when the lights started dimming. Suddenly the power flicked off and came back on. As I attempted to restart my computer I could hear the fire doors in the hallway closing themselves over and over. That was my indicator that there was a major storm brewing outside. Then came the call from my wife informing me of how bad it was outside as she implored me to wait until it blew over before coming home. I assured her I would and then clocked out and stepped outside to assess the situation for myself.

It was bad, really bad. From the entrance of the parking garage to where I was standing was at least one hundred and fifty feet but I could clearly see the wind fiercely blowing rain a good forty feet inside. That was enough to make the decision for me. I pulled my truck around to where I could observe what was happening and so here I sit waiting for it to die down enough for me to drive home.

Nature is funny that way. A storm can brew up seemingly from out of nowhere and catch you unawares if you let it. Here in Oklahoma we suffer from tornadoes and severe thunder storms. In Lima, Peru where I just spent three weeks they have earthquakes (as well as regular power and water outages). I'm sure wherever you are Mother Nature does something potentially nasty or at least bothersome. It's the way things are in life. You just have to learn to ride it out as best you can and wait for your chance to get to safer ground. I think it's time for me to try it now.

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

On The Road To Peru Without Sleep

Today finds me sitting in the airport awaiting the first leg of my flight that will ultimately land me in Lima, Peru. Actually the first leg of my journey is already over. I drove a rental car from Tulsa to Dallas because it was supposed to be cheaper than flying. Notice I said supposed to. It ended up not being the case after Dollar ripped me off. My contract says it was $70 (and some change) but after I dropped it off I was informed that it is really $205 dollars. I'm not just going to take it though, I will resist this bold attempt at thievery.

When I finally got to the terminal after dropping off the overpriced rental car I found that my bag to be checked in was over the weight limit so I had to pay an extra $50 to cover it. Maybe if my wife hadn't given me that list of things that she had to have I would have been okay but probably not. I'm sure I would have used the extra space for more clothes or books or something.

So now I'm waiting for my flight to Atlanta which precedes the flight to Fort Lauderdale before finally flying to Lima. I had about an hours nap before making my extremely overpriced drive to Dallas and none since I got here. It's raining heavily so we'll see if that ends up having some kind of impact on the situation. Did I mention that the replacement battery I acquired for my laptop crapped out on me 2 days ago? Yeah, It's been that kind of weekend for me.

I don't care about any of this. I am going on vacation, a long overdue one I might add, and I can't wait to see my family. I fully expect to see more of Peru than I did five years ago and to accept more challenges ( with food and otherwise. It can be a wonderful place with many incredible experiences if you're willing to search for them. I finally am.

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.