Things I Forgot to Bring to Fargo

1. My Passport.  No, I am not running for the border.  How far is the border, anyway?  But I normally use it for airport security because it is easier to grab than my driver's license.  
2. A hairbrush.  No kidding.
3. Pajamas.  I remembered my Urlacher jersey for the game tomorrow night, but not a bloody nightshirt.  I will be sleeping in the turtleneck that I wear under said jersey.

This trip was looking like an "everything that can go wrong, will".  My meeting materials were not finished when I left the office at lunchtime today.  The parking lots at O'Hare were full.  By "parking lots", I mean Daily Parking, Valet Parking and Economy Parking.  I had to park at the double remote parking lot that involved taking a bus to the Economy Parking Lot where you pick up the train to the terminal.  I didn't know such a place existed.

On the train, a guy started counting.  He got to eleven.  Eleven squad cars with their lights on.  Then I spotted a fire in the distance.  Lots of smoke and on property.  Not on a runway, but in that general direction.  I still don't know what that was.

Then I went to my super-secret security line where there is no line.  And I couldn't use it because I did the mobile phone boarding pass and they didn't have the scanner there.  So I went to the next line, where there was a serious queue, and the very nice i.d. checker was going awfully slow because it was her first day.  And then I was selected for a pat-down.

I had a vague moment of wonder - whether Someone was trying to tell me not to get on that airplane today.

I ignore those thoughts, which is good because the flight was on time and perfectly pleasant.  The hotel shuttle was waiting for me when I got outside in the 27 degree Fargo night.  And I was assured in the bar that the Bears game would be on the big screen tomorrow night.

All is right with the world.