I’m back in California for a few days after visiting New England. Look for a piece later the role of technology issues in the New Hampshire presidential primary.
I can tell you that technology played a helpful role for me. It saved me from some travel misery. And it was entirely routine — which is the main point of this story.
I always check the Weather Channel’s Web site when I’m traveling. On Tuesday night, it showed a storm brewing in the Midwest, with serious snowfall expected in Chicago on Wednesday afternoon. That storm looked like it would move into New England on Thursday morning, when I was scheduled to leave Manchester, New Hampshire, for San Jose via Chicago. I have a don’t-miss meeting in San Jose today, so I figured I should get out while the getting was good.
So I rebooked my return trip, and left New Hampshire on Wednesday morning. The plane from Chicago left around 1:30 p.m., just as flurries were beginning to hit the Windy City. When we arrived in San Jose — quite late (but who cares?!) due to strong headwinds — the captain informed us we’d escaped just in time, that all kinds of delays and cancelations were affecting Chicago air traffic Wednesday afternoon.
Checking a Web weather forecast is now part of my travel routine. Consider making it part of yours.