The Big O!

I've been sent to Omaha for work. Contrary to popular belief, Omaha is actually quite the cool town. It's not very big (population wise) but it treats me pretty well. I can't tell you the number of times people at a hotel have willingly driven me to the airport becasue "taxis take too long."

I've been working at Eppley Airfield (Omaha's airport), which is not an international airport but is the back up airfield for Offutt AFB. Rumor has it that Offutt was likely the first place in the US to be attacked during the Cold War as it was the home to the Strategic Air Command and in essence the central command for the Cold War. On September 11, 2001, President Bush flew to Offutt before heading back to Washingotn DC - gives you an idea of the military presence here. Yesterday, the airborne command center landed and took off from Eppley. It was pretty cool to see an Air Force spec Boeing 747 slam down at this little airfield taxi around and roar off onto the horizon. The typical plane here is a puddle jumper so to see a 747 is a big deal, especially one with a zillion antennas, cool paint that looks like Air Force One and blacked out windows. Very cool indeed.

Well, I stuck up a picture of the buildings I'm working on here. Both are interesting in their own right, however, not in ways a normal person would appreciate. Most cities construct airports in areas that aren't very economic to develop so there's always a challenge. In the case of Omaha, the airport is built on an old river bed that has soil the consistency of peanut butter. Literally. We drove something like six miles of steel pipe into the ground to support the additions to the parking garage here. Fun stuff for me, likely boring for you. Oh well, it's a job and I like it.