Cold Turkey

So I got up this morning and got dressed to go to the airport... Wait I should start before that.

I spent the morning at work just trying to pass the day away. One cool thing I did was put up the Christmas tree. Yesterday the manager told me to do it on Sunday if there was any free time. I said, "Oh, it's a guy thing. Since I am the only guy in the branch I have to put up the tree." She looked at me and said, "Yes it is." Well I spent a couple of hours putting up the tree. I also spent a couple of hours being told what to do by the four women in the bank. "Why are your putting the lights on like that." "There"s a bare spot on the tree." "There's not enough red on the this side of the tree." I'm feeling an OJ Simpson crime coming on... I'm thinking 20 hours until my plane leaves.

Last light I was supposed to hang out with my friends one last time before my trip. Well I could not go up to see them because they were way up north and I would have to drive back home at two in the morning and then wake up at five. That's ok I was at home watching the History Channel. They had this thing about engineering disasters. It was very interesting. Apparently in the city of Niagara Falls there is this area called Love Canal, I love the name by the way, where a major industrial company proceeded to dump thousands of pounds of waist material. Well the whole thing was cool about how they are now trying to clean up the area and everything. What was interesting about this was that because of this site the government passed legislation that would create so called Superfund sites that would specialize in such clean up process. While I was watching this I got the news that my friends and I were not going to hang out. While I was watching this I got so depressed. There were only twelve hours until I left.

I listened to Leonard Cohen one last time. I thought about how I crashed my car on Central Highway. At home I finished all my work that I had to do. I finished all my laundry and I wrote a letter. It's one of those, "In Case Anything Happens To Me..." letters. Went to bed at three in the morning. Five hours until I leave...

My phone wakes me up in the morning and for anyone who has had the misfortune of hearing the phone at ANY time of the day knows that, at the very least it's irritating.

I stumble out of bed and get dress with my prearranged outfit. Then go down stairs to watch TV. I mean, I go down stairs to wait for my parents to get ready. It was very nice of them to give me a ride to the airport but during the trip I was in trouble. My mother is going.... "You are driving too fast." "Stay to the right, Stay to the right." "Don't follow so closely." She would scream every five minutes when my father would stop to short. Now that I think about it, it's funny as hell but at the time it was far from funny. One hour until the plane leaves.

I thought my parents would just down the palisades and cross the bridge but no we went across the TZ and than we took the Hutchinson/Merit Parkway exit down to the airport.

Well at the airport I see this girl and all I can think is... "I hope she is on my plane." I check in and everything. After being told where to go incorrectly, once, we finally found the place to the luggage drop of spot. You should have heard the security guy. "No you are going the wrong way... Well it does not matter what he told you... Well he told you the wrong way... Well I'm telling you the right way." I said, "Well alright then..." Let me tell you with such an affirmative attitude I am going to feel safer about my plane ride. By this time my parents were on full drive me crazy mode. But when I crossed the barrier of ticket holders only I realized that I was going to miss them. I love those two crazies. 15 Minutes until take off.

I sit down and I watch the people outside throw our luggage into the plane. Boy was I worried. The plane taxis out of the runway and out of nowhere it starts down the runway. I watch the ground and I finally got that going away feeling. When the wheels lifted off the ground and I could not feel the ground racing underneath us I finally thought about goodbyes. Then the strangest thing was when I the world beneath us was disappearing through the clouds. It was like the world where I used to live was no more.


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