When we were getting ready for push back this morning in Nashville, one of our ramp agents noticed something “funny” with one of the tires on our plane. Even though we had already closed the doors and completed our safety demonstration, our captain decided that it would be best to have a maintenance person come and take a look.

I’m thrilled that this was his decision! After maintenance took a look, they decided that it was best to change the tire. Even though this resulted in an hour delay from our push time, it sure beats the alternative! Today I’m thankful that they noticed what could have been a significant problem or disaster by the time we landed in Los Angeles.

On our first leg, I spoke with a pastor with his wife, traveling via Los Angeles to Salt Lake City. They have a ten-year-old son who has Downs Syndrome and is on their way to pick up their newborn daughter, whom they adopted through an organization called Faithful Adoption Consultants. I understand that this group works with a bunch of different adoption agencies to help qualified couples find a baby.

This couple has decided to keep the adoption semi-open, so when their new little girl is old enough, she’ll be taught who her biological parents are and may even be able to keep up some sort of correspondence with them. I told the pastor’s wife about this blog, and she shared her own URL with me: http://theupsideofdowns.blogspot.com.

Celebrity sighting: Sitting on our second leg from Los Angeles to Albuquerque, I recognized Scott Wolf (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0937930/) on the front row. I’m not a celebrity worshipper, but it’s still extraordinary to acknowledge them. He looked like he had a lot on his mind, and he was too bothered to stop and ask for a picture with him.

I’m sitting in my hotel room in Albuquerque. I just finished some dang delicious green chili chicken soup from the ABQ Sunport (the restaurant is called El Comida Bueno). One of my crew members commutes from here, so she went home to sleep in her own bed. I sometimes do this when I have Salt Lake City overnights if my overnight is long enough that it’s worth the drive.