It was a January trip I won’t soon forget.
Tuesday, Jan. 28 – Prattville, Ala., 7:08 p.m. CST: Rewind to the day before. My meeting in Birmingham goes all day and I prepare to stay the night. I overhear the bartender at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse say it’s going to get down to 10 degrees tomorrow.
No problem, I think to myself as I stare down a perfectly cooked rib-eye. I will head south early and be back in Florida in time for lunch.
By 10 a.m., however, a snow storm is engulfing the region and I am now staring down a State of Emergency declared by Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley.
As I drive, I watch the roadside on I-65 and view about 20 cars and semi-trucks in the woods and in ditches. Still, I was hell bent on getting home, so I pressed on at 45 mph and then hit some ice. The loss of control sent me reeling. Luckily, I was able to recover quickly, but the reality of my situation was becoming very clear. It was not looking good, friends.
It was just me and the truck drivers on the roads and it was time for me to hunker down somewhere. The only problem being that I was 20 miles from any sort of town, until Siri and my wife helped me find Prattville.
As Gov. Bentley closed roads and called out the National Guard, I checked into the scenic La Quinta and got to catch up on some work and some writing. Technology keeps going even when the world shuts down.
Everything is closed so there is nowhere to eat. As I write this, I am enjoying a six-pack of Corona and some ravioli from the Texaco station. I was lucky to get that because the cops have every main intersection here blocked (I think there are two), and the Texaco closed while I was there.
But the good news is I was able to talk to a client this afternoon about an upcoming charity event, send out several proposals through my team back in Florida, use the Bluetooth in my car to make a sale, and track the cold front using the Weather Channel app.
I still couldn’t find a decent dinner. I asked Siri where to eat in Prattville and she said, “Perhaps a bucket of snow” with that lovely machine voice of hers. Curse you, Siri!
Day 2 of being stranded begins and the word from the weather man and the local authorities is that my stay in Prattville is going to be a little longer than I would like. But thanks to my mobile devices I am not missing a beat at the office.
The La Quinta had a solid wireless signal, so throughout my 48 hours in Prattville I was able to keep things rolling. My experience was also a good reminder to always bring your device chargers wherever you go. Although I only had one set of clothes besides my coat and tie, I was fully prepared on the mobile device front.
Day 2 also brought some good news in Pratville. The Mexican restaurant opened up across the parking lot from the hotel. You would have thought I’d won the Nobel Prize when the front desk made that announcement. It was the best news I had heard in 24 hours.
Though the rest of the world was still shut down, I was able to enjoy some tacos and Petron. The snow may fall and the roads may freeze, but business must be done.
