Well, I'm finally in the hotel. I wrote the notes on the plane, so the whole sordid story is there, but the Reader's Digest version is: I walked into the airport at eleven and was immediately informed the flight was delayed fifty minutes. Then I tried to get online, but the free wireless doesn't work with some Mac laptops - apparently mine is one of them.
Then they said we might get off a little earlier. Then they didn't board us until 1:10, so so much for earlier. At 1:40 they informed us we would be sitting on the runway for another hour. Why? Because that was air traffic controller's way of not having planes circle JFK - each flight would have its own window to land right away.
Then we had the four-and-a-half hour flight. Then - wait for it - we CIRCLED for one HOUR. We finally landed at 10:50 and then spent another twenty minutes on the runway. Now, mind you I saw NO other planes, there was NO rain, NO wind, NO storm, NO nothing. Truly one of the most sickening flying days EVER. I ate a one ounce bag of chips, a one ounce bag of cashews and a biscotti. The End. I checked into the hotel, got online easily, and then immediately went to a nearby all-night deli and got a faux turkey sandwich on a roll. It's yucky, but I couldn't not eat. I so wanted my Joe Allen Caesar salad - unless we go there Saturday night, this will be the first NY trip in over twenty years when I didn't get to Joe Allen. And that is the tale.