ScowlZine Productions (ScowlZine) - Hartford, CT
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CTI EXPO CONSIDERED WORTHWHILE, RAINY BY TELECOM CONSULTANT
Torrential rains and gusts of wind that reached speeds of more than 75 miles per hour couldn’t keep Telecommunications Consultant Avery Glasser from getting back from the 1999 CT Expo so he could report his findings to management.
The CT, or Computer Telephony, Expo is held in New York’s Jakob Javits Center every September, and as the Thursday [September 16] session focused on aspects revolving around IVR technologies, Glasser was tasked with going down to the Expo on September 15 to collect vendor data and tchotckies that afternoon and then attending the IVR sessions on September 16.
However, a cruel Mother Nature tried her best to keep Glasser from returning home to report his findings to his manager. Glasser commented on the situation upon his return to the office late Friday morning, "There was no way that I was going to let him down. I mean, I had important paperwork, product descriptions and even a blue plastic slinky that [Glasser's manager] needed to know about."
Indeed, Glasser’s information about the current developments in the speech recognition arena was valuable, but the efforts that he went through to bring the small canvas bag full of business cards, white-papers and free pens back to his firm borders on sheer heroism.
Glasser re-tells the story of his escape from New York City as the impending arrival of Hurricane Floyd shut down all public transportation to Connecticut: "I made it to Penn[sylvania] Station and was hoping to catch the 3:55 train to Hartford, which at that point was delayed until sometime near 4:45. So, I picked up a dozen Krispy Kreme donuts to bring back to the office as a surprise and sat down on the floor while waiting for the train to arrive"
However, due to Hurricane Floyd’s destructive power, the 3:55 train never arrived. By 5pm, Amtrak officials announced a complete shutdown of the North Eastern corridor south of Philadelphia. Minutes afterwards, they "indefinitely suspended" service north of New York City.
Glasser continued with the tale of his plight, "Chaos ensued. I immediately started thinking about other options. The Amtrak agent informed me that all of the bus lines were also closed off due to major flooding in Southern Connecticut. That’s when it hit me: Connecticut Limo!" Connecticut Limo is a shared ride service that picks up passengers at JFK Airport and makes multiple stops throughout Westchester County, New York and Connecticut. A call to Connecticut Limo confirmed that there was a shuttle leaving the Tower Air terminal at 7:45. Glasser then flagged a cab to get to Grand Central Station where he then switched off to a JFK shuttle bus.
"The shuttle was a nightmare," noted Glasser, "first, the [front right] tire blows... then it took ten minutes to get a new shuttle. Then, when we got to the Van Wyck (an expressway that runs to the airport), the bus got stuck in [accident-induced] traffic. If it wasn’t for the fact that the bus driver drove in reverse for 250 yards so he could get on the service road, I would probably still be stuck in that traffic to this day!"
Glasser arrived at the airport at 7:10pm, thirty-five minutes before the scheduled Connecticut Limo arrival. The next hour’s events went as one would expect: the limo (actually a van that seats 16 passengers) arrived as scheduled, fourteen other passengers were taken on board, and by 8:15, the van was making its way North towards Mamaroneck, NY.
That’s when the trouble started. After an 8:45 stop off in Mamaroneck, the Limo encountered its first detour of the night. That detour would keep the Limo driving through New York State in the vague direction of I-684 until after 10:30pm, a trip that should have taken less than 30 minutes from Mamaroneck. A combination of police road blocks and flooded out roads almost caused the Limo to pull off to the side of the road where there was a distinct chance that they would have had to wait out the night.
However, luck, perseverance and a large diesel engine prevailed and the Limo finally reached the onramp to I-684. Glasser reflects on that segment of the drive, " It was hairy. At one point, the person in front of me asked what the name of the river we were driving next to was. It wasn’t a river... it was the south bound lane of the Saw Mill [Expressway]! It was at that point that we hit what we thought would be a 1-2 foot deep puddle." In retrospect, that puddle was over four feet deep. As the Limo traversed the pond-depth floodwater, Glasser noticed a black Cadillac floating sideways and another man trapped on top of a [Jeep] Wagoneer. "The water was so high, it started coming in through the door-well. First it covered one step, then another and then it finally reached the top and water started to flood the floor. Luckily the driver just "floored it" and we made it through with only minor water damage to a couple of suitcases."
Arriving back in Hartford at 12:25, two hours later than his expected arrival time, Glasser immediately headed home, reported in to management, and immediately fell asleep.
Upon his arrival to the office at 10:30am Friday [September 17] , Glasser immediately brought the documents to the desk [of his manager]. "I think he really appreciated the information that I collected about adding speech recognition to the existing [Lucent and Periphonics] IVR Platforms and the other information about quality recording and production system testing and monitoring... but what I really think he appreciated was the blue plastic slinky that I got from one of the booths."