Fighting covid and flying

It’s the time of giving, and the Times Pilot received something we didn’t want — Covid.

Seven out of our staff of 12 were out with the bug on Tuesday, the day after Christmas, but we got Wednesday’s paper out in spite of it. A lot of the work had been done last Friday in preparation for the loss of Monday as a work day. Now we hope more staffers don’t fall by the wayside in the next few days because we have to get this paper out on Friday (it goes to press on Thursday).

Everyone on the staff has been vaccinated for Covid, so those who have fallen ill seem to have fairly mild cases — or no symptoms at all — and recovery is measured in days rather than weeks, as was the case when Covid ran rampant a few years ago. It’s hard to tell if it’s a cold or flu — which are also starting to make their annual rounds — without taking the test.

We’ve heard that Covid has been making a resurgence lately, so it’s hard to pinpoint where different people have picked up the bug. It’s time to put our face masks back on.

We've been frequent travelers to Omaha over the past week, shuttling our son and daughter back and forth to Eppley Airfield as they traveled home for Christmas.

The airport is undergoing some major changes to its entrance. They are constructing a roof over the road in front of the terminal to keep passengers out of the elements as they are picked up and dropped off.

We were warned ahead of time about the construction chaos, but we still got messed up last week on our first try to park in the short-term garage across from the terminal. We had to drive all the way out and come back in again. Directions were confusing, but we figured it out and got it right on the second go-round.

We left Bridget there late Sunday morning to catch a flight to Chicago, en route to join her husband in Myrtle Beach, SC. She boarded the Southwest jet destined for Midway airport on time, but because of fog in Chicago, the plane couldn’t take off. The plane full of passengers — waiting for an opening in Chicago — was stranded on the tarmac in Omaha for four hours before it was finally cancelled. Bridget was not pleased.

But she was resourceful. As soon as the Southwest flight was cancelled she rebooked on Delta and got the last seat on a plane for Atlanta, with a connecting flight to Myrtle Beach and about 20 minutes to make it through that giant airport. Fortunately for her, the pilot must have been anxious to get to Atlanta too, and they arrived about 15 minutes early. She just made her connecting flight and rendezvoused with Branden about 10:30 p.m., just six hours behind schedule.

She almost had to hitch a ride on Santa’s sleigh with Rudolph in the lead.

Our problems are minor compared to what’s going on in other parts of the world. What is most important is that Iowa, Iowa State and Notre Dame all win their football bowl games over the next few days. If they all win, it will be a good finish to this year. Then we’ll be ready to tackle the challenges of 2024.

Happy New Year to all, and to all, a good night!