LOOSING MY MIND AND 3 YEARS OF MY LIFE: So add another wedding to the list. I think the count is up to 10 this year. A long-time friend Holly Connor got married the weekend after Thanksgiving. I unfortunately did not get to see the ceremony. Why? That’s a funny story, at least to me. I lost me keys… not just my car keys, but ALL my keys: the condo, the car, my office desk, the garage, and my parents. How? Let me tell you. For Thanksgiving this year, we went to St. Louis to visit with family. As we are leaving, my dad told me that I needed to move my car into the driveway and off of the street. Why, I don’t know. To avoid further confrontation, I get my keys that were in the house in a safe place and move my car. Now, I didn’t want to delay us further by putting my keys back in the house, so I take them in the car. Never-the-less, when we get back to Decatur a few days later I don’t remember where I put my keys that morning. After searching everyone’s bags and calling my Aunt to have her search her house, I come to the conclusion that I lost them for good. I started my recovery plan and collect locksmith and dealership phone numbers to get my life back to order. Luckily, I have On-Star so I could at least get inside my car. That turned out not to work because it was sitting for over 48 hours. The locksmith that came to make me a new key couldn’t get the key he made to work either. The wedding was at 5PM, locksmiths working on my car at 2PM, I needed a car key to avoid overcharging for working on Sunday. Realizing Peoria wasn’t to far away; I stole my mom’s car and prayed that I would be able to make it back in-time for the wedding. The locksmith for my condo door, was late and also had problems unlocking my door. I see that as a good thing. Eventually, I get my extra set of keys and drive back to Decatur to only miss the beginning of the ceremony by 10 minutes. I didn’t want to be rude by walking in late, so I just went to the reception and drank lots of free beer. Life is good when you get to drink free beer after a really really stressful day of dealing with locksmiths.

Oh yeah, my keys were in my bag that I had checked 3 times. I found them 2 days later and it only cost me $35 and 3 years of my life.

WHY DOES ANYONE FLY: Finally, the time was here, I was going to go on a vacation. A vacation that was way overdue; my mind was tattered and fried (sounds like something you can order at Hardes). Anyway, so I was excited to start my 11-day vacation. My plans were to visit a friend down over in North Carolina, the weather was going to be nice, we were going to go to the last UNC football game, and Sharla was going to fly for the first time.
It was guaranteed to be an event trip. If you couldn't tell, I was very excited to go. It all started when I woke up early that morning. I packed and was going to leave a little early to make sure I wouldn't have to rush to get to the Bloomington airport. I left 20 minutes earlier then I originally planned. I didn't realize that I would have to get gas and avoid a major car wreck before I even was able to get on the Interstate. [20 minutes ahead of schedule are gone.] I was a little perturbed, but I was still on-time and not worried. I was about to cross one of the few bridges over the river when I noticed there were quite a few cars backed-up on the bridge. Even better, as I got closer, I noticed that they were not moving! Could it be another car wreck? I didn't second-guess my instincts; I got off the Interstate on the last opportunity after waiting 5 minutes of not moving more then 3 feet. I didn't have time for this, I roughly knew of a way around the mess. [Now I'm 15 minutes behind schedule.] I missed a turn on this rough bypass to get out of Peoria. [Add another 5 minutes behind schedule.] For whatever reason, there are at least 500 cars driving from Peoria to Bloomington, which luckily prevented me from speeding over 85 Mph. [I made-up 10 minutes on the schedule.] Once I get to Bloomington, I try to follow the Airport signs, which is across town. These signs are really small and they aren't placed at every intersection. This is when
Sharla calls me up and says that she just got the tickets, and the plane was over-booked! We didn't have any seats until the next flight, which leaves late that evening. Somehow during this discussion, I must have followed a curve without knowing it. I end-up downtown Bloomington. I could have sworn that I was lost, so I turned around. [Add another 15 minutes behind schedule.] I finally get back on track after calling a friend for directions and Sharla calls back. She said that if I wasn't at the airport in 5 minutes, then we would not be on the flight (but we didn't have any seats right?) As I pull-up, trying to figure-out what I'm going to do, I park at the entrance and put on my flashers. Of course, the rent-a-cop is yelling at me, that I can't park here; Sharla's yelling that we don't have seats; and the front desk lady is there demanding to see my ID so she can go on the flight. I show her the ID to get my ticket. I go park my car, and come back to the main lobby. That's when I notice that my ticket is blank? there's no seat number. To top that off, the lady at the front desk is gone. I can't check-in my bag and further more try to figure out what to do about the fact I DON'T HAVE A SEAT! I can't have two carry-on bags, and one being my suitcase. Sharla, the lovely girl she is saves the trip, and somehow talked me into trying to get on the plane anyway. [The plan leaves in 10 minutes.] We go through security and the lady in front of me gets stopped and searched. I got lucky. [Plane leaves in 6 minutes.] Our gate is the furthest one from the main lobby. [Plane leaves in 2 minutes.] We come running up to the gate and the guy says, "You must be David Wayne! We have seats for you, but they're not together. Let me check your bag in. It will be beside the plane when you leave." That's when I realize, oh yeah? planeside baggage check. [Plane is running through the preparation checklist to leave. One minute till take-off.] Like I said earlier, we didn't have seats together, but we were both on the plane. To add more pressure to the situation, Sharla has never flown before. As I sit-down, I'm trying to see where her seat is and I start talking to the lady that is sitting next to me. Luckily, she asked if she could switch so we could sit together. [30 seconds til take-off.] When she goes up there, the lady asks Sharla if she would like to sit with her Boyfriend. We're both like, WHAT? I was like who cares, we get to sit together. So, I'm exhausted, relieved, and amazed all at the same time that we're on the plane. So I plop-down in my seat? right on the seatbelt that was sticking straight up.

The trip has just started; you could imagine what I was thinking about the rest of the trip. Sharla was joking that Kory would probably get in a car wreck as he's coming to pick us up to top the trip off. I do have to say that I'm glad Sharla was able to sit next to me. I would have been extremely bored without her. One main thing that I didn't get to say is that the plane was a small one. I was afraid it was going to be a rough ride. It was quite the opposite, until the landing. The plane was all over the place. Sharla and I almost got motion sickness. I guess it was really windy in Atlanta. We had one and half-hour layover, just enough to eat lunch. It was great too, because I did planeside baggage claim. I had to carry the bag everywhere we walked to. After lunch, we were going back to the gate for our next flight, and no one was there. We thought we missed the plane, but the lady at the next gate said it was moved to another gate, which was next to the original gate. We go there, to only get directed to another gate, which was on the other side of the terminal, right next to where we ate lunch? were we started. This trip kept getting better and better. Later, we find out that the gates were moved, because the plane had mechanical problems. Why did we go on this trip Sharla? Luckily, we get to Raleigh/Durham without any further problems. Life is good when you fly!

ILLINOIS SUCKS: So I just came back from the last weekend of the “summer trips” that I had scheduled for this year. Let me tell you it was the perfect end to a great year! I went to visit a friend, if you know him it was Kory Wilmont, a GGTK™ (Great Guy To Know). Sharla and I went to see him in North Carolina, the weather was perfect... 70s to be specific. It was hard to come back to Illinois’ 25 degree snow flurries and gusty bone chilling wind. I did get to see the last NCU football game (though they lost), saw the movie Radio (excellent movie), and go out to some crazy bars (danced with some "Southern Bells"). It was a great time, and fairly inexpensive! I’ll write more about the trip later. Life is good when you hangout with Kory and Sharla!

SOMETHING LIKE A PHENOMENOM: Life… it’s wonderful. Have you ever just stopped to think about it? That’s the first part of the mystery. How does that work? How can you close your eyes and recall something that happened last week… last year… when you were little? How does your heart, continuously beat, without getting tired? Why do you have problems walking and talking, when you drink alcohol? How is it when you see someone you’re attracted to, you get excited? How is it when you’re close to someone who leaves, you cry... How is life?... Unfortunately, it takes a major life event to realize this. We often forget about wonderful phenomenon* called life. But we need to change, and be thankful and enjoy everyday… everyway we can.
Recently, I have had another of these life events. My grandma passed away last Monday. Its not really that I extremely close to her (but she was important part of my life). It really made me think and wonder about my life. What will people say when my phenomenon is over? When will my phenomenon be over? What am I going to do next? Life is good, make it a great phenomenon.


*phenomenon - a rare or significant fact or event [plural] phenomenons : an exceptional, unusual, or abnormal person, thing, or occurrence.

DANCED THE NIGHT AWAY: Bradley's Alpha Phi Omega chapter had their semi-formal dance last night. The dance wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. I thought it was going to be awkward, but we both had a good time. Awkward? How could a dance be awkward? Let me tell you. I was setup with a random girl, a friend’s friend. Let me tell you the story. My friend decided that I needed to go to this dance, but I didn’t have a date. I didn’t plan on going to this dance. But last Thursday, two days before the dance, she was determined to get me a date. The fact that I wasn’t planning to go to the dance, didn’t even cross her mind. Eventually, I was persuaded to attend, but wasn’t really looking forward to the night with my blind date. Again, I must say, I actually had a great time, and it wasn’t really awkward. I was a good change from what I had been doing for the last 5 months. I have just been visiting my friends and going out to the bars. Life is good when you’re dancing.