I was hoping to write about some of the new tech at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES), but I got waylaid on the way to Las Vegas. It just seemed to be one of those days.
It started early in Chicago about 2 a.m. when the taxi picked me up. I had been there for my father’s funeral (see “In Honor of an Electrical Engineer”). He now rests at the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery.
The taxi dropped me off at O’Hare Airport on time and that was when the first change popped up. I was supposed to fly to Las Vegas through Phoenix on American Airlines since I could not get a direct flight at that point. Seems a lot of people wanted to get to Las Vegas this week. The change ran me through Dallas/Fort Worth. It didn’t seem like much, but it was a hint of things to come.
Actually the flight went off without a hitch. The skies were bright and the plane destined for Las Vegas was on time. I was on board and they were still loading when we got the news that the flight was canceled, not delayed like ones later in the day. This was due to low visibility at the Las Vegas end so a lot of people were in the same boat as me. The lines at the counters were long, but everyone was at least cordial.
The initial rebooking was for a flight the next day in the afternoon. That would have knocked out two days here. Of course, everything was overbooked already and even going through another city didn’t help matters. A few made it on as standbys for the later flights, but I think most were waiting at least a day. Those flying through Las Vegas were in good shape since their destination was usually accessible via other routes.
I, and I think a few others, were a little more creative and tried to get closer to Las Vegas and drive in. I wound up going to Phoenix and then onto Flagstaff, which is just over a three hour drive. It sounded like a good idea at the time. I did forget a few things, like the weather.
There was some snow on the ground at Flagstaff. It was a mix of rain and sleet with 8 inches of snow coming in the next day. I lucked out and made it to Las Vegas before that, but it was a messy drive.
The drive was uneventful except for one snafu. I stopped to get a sandwich. I had parked between a truck and a car. The car was gone when I returned, but the driver of the truck came up and apologized for sideswiping the rental car. We exchanged info and I finally made it to the hotel very late. Luckily most of the meetings I have start in the morning, so it was worth driving and taking three flights to get here.
There is a lot to see and I hope to have a write-up of some of that tomorrow. There is everything from the latest 3D printers, virtual reality goggles, quadcopters, and HDR (high dynamic range) display technology. Of course, there are hundreds of devices hyping the IoT (Internet of Things) theme, too. For now, it is time to have a good rest. I hope you made it to Las Vegas if you were heading out on Tuesday.
Epilogue
I did make it to CES and saw quite a bit (see "The Best of CES 2016: Day 1"). Unfortunately I almost did not make it back home. American never took me off the list for the original flight to Las Vegas from Dallas even though I went to Flagstaff. That caused my return flight to be canceled. Luckily there was still room when they fixed that but I would up in a middle seat. Still, it got me back to Philly on time to write this.