2005 - 09-01-05

On Thursday, I was scheduled to fly out of Miami
to Baltimore to speak at the Agora Internet Marketing Seminar.
(Which, by the way, was an excellent seminar.) My plane was
scheduled to leave mid-afternoon. But I was afraid it wouldn't
take off before the winds got so strong from the "outskirts"
of Hurricane Katrina, all the flights from Miami International
Airport would be delayed or outright canceled.

I considered myself very fortunate as I was able
to board the plane. Once on it, I strapped myself in and we
rolled out onto the runway. And there we sat. And sat. And sat.
Our plane remained on the tarmac for two hours. Was it because
Hurricane Katrina's winds were holding us back? No. We sat on
that tarmac for two hours... because...

We Had A Malfunctioning

Toilet In The Back Of The Plane!

All the while, I kept thinking, "Come
on, let's get this baby in the air. If we don't leave fairly
soon, they're going to shut down the airport and I won't be
able to make the trip. We can do without a toilet for a couple
hours."

Finally, the restroom problem was fixed by a maintenance
crew and we got off the ground and headed toward Baltimore.

The flight was nice. I met an interesting woman
from Columbia who was starting a business of importing mahogany
caskets. She and I laughed and joked and discussed marketing
while waiting on the tarmac and during the entire flight.

When I arrived in Baltimore, the people were courteous,
the city was clean and charming, the hotel was first class.
The people I met, especially those from Agora, could not have
been more accommodating and friendly.