God Willing and the Ice Storm Doesn't Come

If you are my facebook friend, you know that my family has been in town for several days to celebrate the nuptials of my cousin Randy and his new bride, Deanna, who was given away at the altar by the King of Rock N Roll, Elvis. That's right. At the reception, which was Tony and Tina's, the performer who played the best man congratulated Granny for walking from Arizona to Nevada across the top of the 20th century's greatest engineering marvel, the Hoover Dam.

And thanks to the ice storm in Chicago, they are currently stuck at McCarran.

Las Vegas. You can check out any time you like, but...
You can finish that sentence.

Thirteen miles away on the east side, life is pretty good. In 4.5 minutes a pizza will come out of the oven, and I will be at liberty to grade papers with a stomach full of margherita.

At least McCarran is an arguably entertaining airport. For those who play slots, there are slots. For those who drink, there are bars. There are restaurants, especially a pretty good enchilada place near the Starbucks. Thus, in honor of my family, my list of things to do while waiting for your "delayed," but really-we-all-know-it's-canceled, flight:

1) nap. Ain't no shame. Just sprawl out in the floor, use your carry-on as a pillow, and snooze.
2) Read a book. Some people carry tablets and kindles, but personally I prefer these for gaming. By reading a book, I mean an actual, real, live book with two covers and pages with words in between.
3) Play a game on your tablet, kindle, iPod, or phone. The last time I was stuck was inside an airplane, and I discovered a game on my iPod that I never knew existed. It's called Vortex. It's challenging.
Most airports that I've traveled through offer accessible plugs, so you can also take advantage of the delay to charge these devices.
4) Play cards. You may not have your Apocalypse Kit on you now that it's 2013, but Hudson News is bound to be able to hook you up.
5) Watch the people. In the immortal words of Ani DiFranco, "I'm going to drain my little pink heart of all its malice and/kick back for the afternoon in this flourescent palace."

If you do each of the above things for an hour, you can start the cycle all over again, or you can engage in a number of other activities including flirting, rock-paper-scissors, snacking, shaving, etc.
What do YOU like to do when you're stranded?
Now, you have plenty to keep you busy checking out all of my hyperlinking, and I have a pizza to smash.

The family's 3:20 p.m. flight is now scheduled to depart at 10 p.m. We'll see.

Fly safe! And stay out of the ice.