The 2 Hour Aerial Tour of the East Coast

I have flown to the East Coast enough to recognize the telltale signs.

You are zooming to New York. You can tell that you've got a great headwind and then the pilot announces that you might be landing earlier than the expected 330PM arrival at JFK Airport. All is sweetness.

But, then, you can make a careful observation. The sun, which had been at the rear of the plane, was now facing the aircraft. A few minutes later, the sun is on the right side of the plane. Then the left. Then back to the rear. The front again. And over and over. I know what this means.

You're going in circles.

And that also means you're in some sort of airport hold.

This all happened yesterday, but, now with the glory of in-the-air WiFi, I don't need to wait for Captain Squeamish to make this apology. I fired off some e-mails to NY friends on the ground. Is it weather? Nope, all is dry and clear. Is it an impending storm? Nope, none due till Thursday night. Answers from the Len camp were not helpful. And then we heard from the Captain.

"Er, folks, we're in a holding pattern."

I figured that out already, Skippy.

"Um, the airport is not letting anybody land or take off. There is some sort of VIP aircraft that needs the airspace."

Realizing my friends were not helpful, I quickly accessed WINS 1010's website.

"President Obama Attends Cronkite Memorial."

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Obviously, he needed to get back to Washington DC so he could wax philosophical on the health care woes of our nation. I wondered if the stress and heart palpitations being inflicted on several thousand air passengers hovering over NY would be considered a pre-existing condition.

News spread all over the cabin and people pretty much figured out what was what. A VIP aircraft with such power usually doesn't involve the likes of Paula Abdul. With all the grimacing around me, I started to count the votes he's lost in 2012. The guy next to me was Italian and undoubtedly trying to catch a flight back to Rome. He was talking to himself in Italian. I grew up in an Italian neighborhood. I knew all the words he was saying. They were not nice.

After almost 90 minutes, we were finally cleared to land. As we coasted down to the tarmac, I noticed the queue of planes lined up to take off. I stopped counting at 50. When the plane doors opened, I saw a terminal that reminded me of Wacky Races. People frantically trying to figure out how to make that appointment or flight that they were now two hours late for.

I assume the Obama speech started on time.

Dinner last night: Roast beef sandwich.