Speaking of which, we were supposed to have been back in Chicago this afternoon, and had been on a United flight within about 15 minutes of O'Hare when those tornados started messing with the airport. Our plane was low on fuel so the "temporarily" had it touch down in Indianapolis. We sat on the tarmac for over four hours before they freed up a gate to let us out for a bit in the terminal. We were there for about a half hour before they loaded us back up again, with the promise that we were cleared for take-off, but once everybody was on they said that the situation had changed again and that they now weren't sure when they'd get clearance to leave.
The Wife has a very low tolerance for sitting on planes, so was freaking out, and wanted us to bail on the flight before we re-boarded, so when they came with that announcement (an a last chance to get off the plane), she started yelling for us to get off (oh, all four of us were in different rows on a totally packed plane). So we get off and start trying to find a rental car. We eventually ended up paying National $160 for a one-way rental (from Indianapolis to Chicago), and I eneded up getting to drive another five hours (it was pouring rain most of the way) to get in about midnight.
I just found out that our flight got in to O'Hare a bit before 9pm ... meaning that it sat at Indianapolis less than an hour before flying up here ... and meaning that we spent more $$$ that we didn't have to spend five times as long in the damn car as we would have on the plane.
This whole damn trip has been like this.
In 40 years in Chicago I can't recall anytime when tornados have been a problem ... obviously this is just the universe playing with me like a cat with a half-dead rodent!