I'm a luck box (no poker content, yet)

Well, the good news is, my luck held!!! I got onto the plane (mentioned in the last post, read them in order!) and we departed the gate on time. True, it was a classic puddle jumper (jet-assisted propeller seating about 20) but I wasn’t nervous at all. We started to taxi for about 60 seconds and stopped. Dead. The stewardess got on the intercom and informed us, quite plainly, that there were approximately 50(!) other planes in front of us and we should prepare ourselves for what could be a 2.5 hour wait! Holy fucktardedness! My seatmate remarked that they obviously knew that we would be waiting put pushed out of the gate so they could mark an ontime arrival. Thank you Mr. Obvious. So I pulled out a book and started reading. Every few minutes, we’d move forward a bit, but after 15 minutes we suddenly started gaining speed. The stewardess got back on and informed us that somehow, through subterfuge or threats, we’d been moved to the head of the line! 2 minutes later, we were in the air on our way to Manchester, NH. Yay! My luck holds again!

The flight was completely smooth and uneventful which is somewhat surprising considering that I found out that the reason the other flights behind me had been delayed and/or cancelled was because of a major thunderstorm moving across Pennsylvania. In fact, when I landed, I found out that we were the *last* flight to take off from Laguardia to the NorthEast. All other flights had been delayed or cancelled due to the storm. Juuuust made it! J

Manchester Airport is somewhat small but delightful. Like all airports everywhere in the world (except for JFK, Newark and Laguardia) it is efficient and clean. When I got down to the carousel to pick up my luggage, it was already there! Renting my car from the Alamo kiosk took all of 4 minutes and there was only a slight bit of confusion as to where to pick up my GPS unit that I rented with the car. It turns out they have it at the booth leaving the airport. When I went to pick up my car, there were no more Compacts left, so I got a free upgrade to a full size Chevy Monte Carlo (more luck!). A word about the GPS unit (A Garmin in this case): They are the most wonderful and life changing inventions since DVR. Here I am, in a state I’ve never been in with absolutely no knowledge of the names of the major highways or even towns. I don’t even have a map with me. And yet I can program in the address I’m going to more than 70 miles away and the GPS takes me there unerringly and without any cause for concern. It’s been ridiculously invaluable the entire weekend. Anyhow, I got to my friend’s parent’s condo at about midnight and spent a few nice minutes chatting with him. Everyone was asleep at this point but we caught up and talked about the weekend plans. The weekend was extremely full of wedding activity and there was going to be a 10AM ‘war council meeting’ of the wedding party to talk about who was going to do what. I couldn’t think that far ahead but I knew I was going to have to get some sleep. Oh, but there was a small issue. I didn’t have my own room for that night. The bride’s brother was already asleep in the room (which thankfully had 2 separate beds). So the blogging that I had wanted to do on the trip would have to wait while I very quietly crept into bed. At least I got some decent sleep. The very thick and clean country air had done it’s job.

In the morning, I was up at about 9AM and was able to shower and dress without too many issues. Everyone was already up and having a quick impromptu breakfast. We managed to get a few people into a few cards and met up at the local Dunkin Donuts to ‘pow-wow’. It took…an…hour. There were 3 page schedules handed out with a list of responsibilities broken out by bridesmaind/groomsmen. WWII didn’t have this level of planning, for god’s sake. My job, it seems, was relatively simple. I had to do a reading at the wedding (a poem that was given to me) and I had to handle the rings and wedding license. In addition, it was my job to call the hotel where the bride and groom were staying after the wedding and see if I could wrangle some extra special treatment on account of their being newlyweds. Evidently, I am thought of as a world-class conniver. Who knew? This would also be my first chance to meet the entire wedding party. There was Doug, the bride’s brother. He is a very nice guy who’s married to a beautiful woman and they have 3 beautiful kids (all well-behaved and perfect). It’s quite sickening, in a good way. Oh, did I mention he’s an ENT surgeon? I chatted him up about my own nasal issues and was able to ‘wrangle’ some references. I guess I AM good. J Then there was Lynn, another doctor. This time a pediatrician. Lynn is funny, very funny. Then there’s Paul. Paul is…another doctor. Goddamit, I’m surrounded by smart people. I forget what his medical specialization is at the moment. It also should be note that Paul is gay, if only because it comes in handy later when I mention his very funny boyfriend Zac who is a scientist (for god’s sake!). Then there is Julia Roberts. Yeah, that’s right. Julia Roberts was in the wedding party. She’s beautiful, tall, blonde and blue-eyed. Not a doctor, but she *was* a wrangler herself at one point in her career and not of the ‘conniving’ kind. It’s safe to say I was quite taken. Finally, there was Aletia, the groom’s cousin. I’ve already met her before, having known the groom since I was in high school, but it’s important to mention her since she’s equally cool and possessed of a very cool tattoo of a dragon on her left arm. I digress…

After we had split up our tasks, it was time to talk about the rehearsal dinner and the casual party to be held afterward. It seemed like we need amplification for the IPOD that was loaded with the mix that was going to be used at the casual after party. It was up to a small group of us (myself, Aletia and Julia) to find that amplification. The problem was, we were in downtown Wolfeboro, which is extremely beautiful but devoid of anything even remotely resembling an electronics store. But Aletia had a good idea. “Doesn’t CVA carry stuff like that?” It’s true. I’ve always seen MP3 speakers and the like at Rite-Aid. But where to find that? GPS to the rescue! My Garmin system found a Rite-Aid with about 30 seconds of tapping on the screen. We walked over (it was only a half mile away) but when we got there, we got so entranced by the town that we decided to walk around a bit. Gary (the groom) was getting his hair cut, so was had a few minutes. We walked the length of the main drag and even bought some gourmet truffles (Dark Chocolate with Cayenne anyone?). As we were walking back along the charming little shops (fine cheeses, chocolates, coffee, yum!), we spotted the dock of the town and sat on them just looking out at beautiful Lake Winnapausakee (sp?). After 10 minutes of drinking in the view, Aletia got a call from the other group who were on their own mission. They found the boom box and bought it already!. Sweet!! We didn’t have to lay out the money! HAHAHA! J

I have sooo much more to write but since this is the first opportunity I’ve had to have internet access and it’s now Sunday night at 2:33 AM, I need to get some sleep. More to come…