BRACE! BRACE! BRACE! BRACE! BRACE!

These were the words repeated over the loudspeaker during landing of Shane’s flight home yesterday. He had flown up to Maine to spend the weekend with his grandmother. On the return flight last night (US Air from Portland), there was a problem with the plane. They were suppose to land at Reagan National Airport, closer into DC, but landed at Dulles, to take advantage of the longer runway.

Apparently, there was a problem with the flaps or braking system. During landing, everyone had to be in the brace position, bent over with their arms under their legs and their head down low. Prior to landing, they had everyone go over the emergency card in the seat back, and Shane said everyone studied it carefully. They were told that if they had to evacuate, they could not take any carry-on bags with them. Everyone put their coats on and stuffed their pockets with stuff they didn't want to leave behind.

There were only exits in the front and back of the plane, and Shane was in the middle, so he was concerned that it would take a long time for him to get out. The flight attendants instructed some men on how to open the exits and reseated them near the exit doors. Shane said his main concern was fire, and he was worried that the plane would start flipping during landing.

During landing, they turned off all the lights in the cabin and everyone was in the brace position. Apparently, the flight attendant screamed Brace! into the microphone and put it on repeat, so it played over and over during the landing. It was dark and everyone had their heads down and the recording kept yelling Brace! Brace! Brace!

Luckily, they landed safely. After they stopped, the passengers broke into applause and a few tears were shed. They were met by fire trucks that circled around to make a preliminary check after the landing to make sure all was clear.

Shane seemed pretty calm about the whole thing. He did tell me that after they announced they would be landing at Dulles, he asked how they were going to get to Reagan National from Dulles. The attendant told him her focus at that point was just getting down safely. They did provide cabs to National Airport. Shane's first question to me was asking if it was on the news. My cable wasn't working at the time, but I haven't seen any news stories about this so far.

100 Facts About Me, Part 2 -- Numbers 11 - 20

This is the second installment of the 100 Facts about me segment. Again, you may notice there are 11 items listed. That is because one of the items is not true. Can you guess which one? I'll post 10 more facts and one non-fact next Monday and tell which one of these is false then.

Archer, of Archer Radio, guessed that I made up the story about giving my dog the Heimlich Maneuver, but that actually happened. My dog, Chloe, choked on a piece of raw hide in the middle of the night, and she was unconscious and not breathing. Before she passed out she managed to wake me. I held her upside down and squeezed. The raw hide popped out and she woke up. That happened on the second night I had her. I never gave her anymore raw hide chews. She has since gone to doggy heaven due to unrelated health problems.

The false "fact" from last week was #7. I did not donate one of my kidneys to my Aunt Alice. I did have an Aunt Alice, but she never needed my kidney. The other 10 items I listed were true.

Here's the second list of 10 facts and one non-fact:

1. I was engaged to be married (to a woman) for almost 2 years.

2. A mouse ran up the inside of my pants.

3. I have swallowed Clorox bleach.

4. I had to go to the emergency room once after a run-in with a rooster.

5. I've had plastic surgery.

6. As a child, I played with matches and set a forest on fire.

7. I can juggle.

8. Shane moved in with me, moving from Connecticut to the DC area, less than 4 months after our first date.

9. My best friend in high school got amnesia and didn't know me.

10. At one time, I knew all the words to both Evita and Jesus Christ Superstar.

11. I have never smoked marijuana.