Fuel for Thought

Cloak and Dagger?

           It's still dark out, only about 5:30 am.  I'm parked at the side of a small airport somewhere in Illinois.  There's no-one around, just me and an old security guard.  We're waiting on someone to arrive.  We got the call a few minutes ago that they're on their way.  I'm not sure what I'm looking for, but the guard assures me, we'll know when they arrive.

         Suddenly, the air is split by a deafening roar, and the shrill whine of high powered jet engines. Out of the night sky screams a sleek white Lear Jet.  It touches down on the runway, taxi's around, and pulls up to where we're at. The thunder is incredible, the ground shaking with several hundred horsepower.  The door pops open, and out jumps a man. Quickly he grabs 2 boxes out of the back, and gives them to me, telling me 'sorry, there was a little delay in customs"!

           The latest thriller novel? Nope, just my pick-up this morning!  I love some of the neat things I get to see in this job, and this morning was really cool. Once again, it was one of those TRUE expedite emergencies.  A major manufacturer forgot to order something... relatively small... 2 boxes only worth a few hundred dollars.  But, without them, their assembly line would stop, at a loss of thousands of dollars an hour. So, the solution, they hired a Charter Jet, a Lear to be precise, to fly these two small boxes over 1000 miles to meet me at the airport.  That 2 hour trip cost them about 20 times what the parts were worth, but saved this much more in lost time and revenue. 

               I've picked up from airports several times, but this is the first time I've ever met a Lear Jet at the end of a runway in the middle of the night!  Had a whole "James Bond" kind feel LOL.. The pilot was really cool tho, he told me "I just do what you do, only faster"... he may be 'just another expediter'... but I like his style!