Doesn't sound like Alaska

7 am and its boiling, I have managed to get 9 mosquito bites already and I had to come in to write because its so hot and sunny out there.

Doesn’t sound like Alaska does it?

That’s because it isn’t

I am in Tucson Arizona a place so unlikely for me to end up that I don’t even know the airport code.

After finding out my plane to Dallas hadn’t ticketed from Brussels I had to wait another 7 hours in Philly for the plane to Phoenix- then another hour.then another 2- then onto the plane-then the loo in economy was blocked-then another hour- then just as we were taxiing for take off a storm appeared out of nowhere and we were stuck on the tarmac for an hour while it cleared the area. 

Since we are sat on the ground, lets have a lesson.

Ever seen these runway signs and wondered what they are all about??

The notation 27L -9R is the heading in degrees of the runway, the aviation industry loves to remove extra zeros so it is actually 270 Degrees and 90 degrees. The bearing you use depends on the end you approach the runway from , if you are  landing at 270 degrees you land on runway 27 if you are approaching from the other direction at 90 degrees the runway you land on is called 9 even though it’s the same runway in a different direction . Got it??

Where there are 2 or more parallel runways they are given the notation L Left, R Right and sometimes C Centre, not at Heathrow obviously as there are only 2.OK, thats the little gem for the day!

Even taking off, it was a ghostland of shadows and spooks in the huge grey clouds that hung in the sky.

The flight was what the captain described as lumpy, storms flashing in the clouds, what I would describe as ligh chop, if your drink doesn’t leave the glass, its not too bad in my book.

Approaching Phoenix after a 5 hour flight we came upon a Haboob................................

my picure taken in the dark, flying round the edge of it

…. Or as the newspaper put it “Blinding Arizona dust storm ushers in 2014 monsoon “

WTF?   After flying the plane like a bucking bronco, and flashes of pink outside for 10 mins or so, the captain announced we would be landing in Tucson instead. The lady behind me closed her blind because it was too scary out there, 

So landing in Tucson, only 2 staff to help 190 people,....

Gonna be a long night...