Standing five customers from the check-in counter at Sydney’s International terminal – crackle, poof, out go the lights.  As reported in today’s Sydney Morning Herald, Airport blackout leaves passengers grounded.  After an hour standing in place, a few of us got hand-written boarding passes and moved into the line for customs – fully two football fields long by this time.  Eventually we were airborne by 1:45 PM – two hours late.  This was just the two hours needed to make the connection to Chicago.  Oops.  I thought things were looking up when  I was able to get a flght later in the day instead of the promised flight the next afternoon.  This meant re-routing through Austin, Texas.  Now the 6:37 PM is expected to be grounded until 10:00PM because of high winds in Chicago.  I suppose a lot of ASCD attendees will be arriving weary from unexpected travel delays.  Did someone say, “April Fools!”   If only….  Did I tell mention that two ours ago – waiting in Austin – I realized that my hotel booking printout said “preview” where it should shown a nice bold confirmation number.  Oops, my turn…  Thanks to a wi-fi connection and some quick Internet surfing, I won’t have to join the homeless souls at Union Station.