i'm not wearing a coat

Temperature in GR this morning when I left: 22 degrees

Temperature in Tampa upon touching down at 6:25 p.m.: 64 degrees

For those of you keeping score at home, that's a 42-degree increase. I'll take it, thank you.

So let me quickly recap the trip down here. The GR to Detroit leg came off without a hitch--on time and uneventful. The treat started when, about 20 minutes before my scheduled takeoff, I noticed it was spitting snow outside. Now, when I say spitting, I mean you had to pay close attention to even notice any snow was coming down. More on that in a moment...

After everyone was boarded, our captain informed us that the aircraft needed some "maintenance" work done. After flaunting his ability to freak out the passengers, he explained it was merely a navigational light bulb that needed changing. It would set us back about 15 minutes.

However, thanks to the aforementioned snow, he also had to de-ice the aircraft. So in all, the 3:20 takeoff was more like 4:00.

Oh, by the by, did I mention that, for the entire time we were waiting on the tarmac, a 2-year-old sitting two rows behind me was apparently having his fingernails slowly removed?

At least that's the only explanation I can think of for his maniacal screaming/crying. What a joy children are... He mercifully stopped once we got flying, but again serenaded us for our 30-minute descent. The bloke to my right dealt with it by pulling his tray down, leaning forward, resting his elbows on said tray and inserting his forefingers into his ears.

So, thanks to my delayed flight, I missed dinner at Hooters with the rest of the US PR Assistants from around the league. On the bright side, I met Detroit Lions TE Marcus Pollard as we both stood in line to check into our hotel rooms. He seemed like a nice chap.

At any rate, the hotel is fantastic, the weather is ever-so-bearable, and I get started with work first thing tomorrow morning.

Cheers.