Well, the last 48 hours have been among the craziest of my life. After a phenomenal Thanksgiving meal at Weber Grille (I just finished off the second half of one slice of pumpkin cheesecake), it was home for packing and the Jets Thanksgiving Day victory over Cincinnati. That game ended around 10:45 and then it was straight into bed for me.
I woke up at 3 AM and was gone from the house by 3:30. My intention was to park in Lot G which costs about half the price of the standard remote lot E, which is the lot where the monorail begins. Of course, there are no signs for Lot G. So I took the advantage of time over money and headed into the terminal. I wanted to get there early because I had heard about the security and how finnicky they are getting. And indeed, because I was wearing a metallic belt and the visual scanner detects metal, I got frisked. This security dude in this screechy voice goes "I need to feel two inches inside your waistband all the way around." If they have to do that, fine, but can't I have a little say over who feels inside my pants?
Anyway, I took a 6 AM American Eagle flight and it was a stress-free flight, the plane was half empty. I was pleased because there is so little legroom on those Eagle planes and I needed some space. The woman next to me moved out to another room quickly and I slept the whole 90 minutes. But about halfway through my walk from the plane to ground transportation, I felt a chill run through me. I knew Dad would not be standing there, waiting to pick me up. It just did not seem normal, it was just sad. But there is a future, and there is hope that one day, things will be right again.
Since I was paying extra to park and I had arrived into New Jersey earlier than anticipated, I decided to take the buses up to Paramus. There is an extra fee to the the NJ Transit train out of Newark Airport and it would have cost me about $15 total for the trip. It took a half hour for the 62 bus to arrive, which would take me into downtown Newark. It took another few minutes to get $1 bills, which I needed because these buses don't give change back. Otherwise, a $1.50 bus ride would have cost me $5. No good! After a 30 minute trip, we arrived at Newark Penn Station. It wasn't the most pleasant place to be. While waiting for the 76L to Hackensack, three different people asked me for handouts. One of them asked if I was in college. I don't know, maybe it was the backpack I had on. The trip took us through Newark, Kearny (got a view of the NYC skyline), Lyndhurst, Rutherford, East Rutherford (got a great shot of the NMS), Carlstadt (spotted an old Krauszer's deli, still offering the coffee and buttered roll for 99 cents), and Wood-Ridge, before hitting Hackensack. What's funny was during the end of the plane ride that morning, I could see the high school with the purple Wood-Ridge logo in the end zone. And then we drove through the town. After an hour and 15 minutes, we hit downtown Hackensack; it must have been around 10:45.
I was waiting for the 751 or 755. The board in the tiny terminal building (2 rows of benches, a concession/ticket stand, and the bathrooms) said the next one of those to the Bergen Town Center would leave around 11:40 and another one after that at 11:45. Well, the 11:40 got delayed until 12:15. It took until 11:50 for the bus to fianlly come. Chances are I could have walked in 40-45 minutes what turned out to be a 15 or 20 minute bus ride. At one point, we were stopped at a red light on Main St. As I looked ahead and to my right, I could see the outside edge of a yellow building. Indeed, it was the Poitin Still, where the Blueshirt Banter viewing party would be going on later that day. I could even seen the white party banner hanging outside, advertising the Rangers legends as well.
So we made a left on Spring Valley and drove 1.5 miles to the Bergen Town Center. I had barely eaten all day so I walked straight into Bobby Flay's Burger Palace. I ordered the Crunchified Philly Burger with hot red cherry peppers, griddled onions, and provolone cheese along with sweet potato fries, and a vanilla shake. I found a spot at one of the three U-shaped bars. They brought out the shake first. The straw was so wide, it could have been used for plumbing pipes. The shake was very thick and had real whipped cream. Had a very intense vanilla flavor too. I'm not a big shake guy, but what the hell, after all that travel, I felt like a treat. Then, the food arrived. The first thing I noticed was the roll. It was a sesame seed bun, not too thick that it would overwhelm the burger, not thin enough that it would get soggy. It was soft, it tasted just perfect. The burger was maybe 1/3 pound, the provolone was totally melted, there were tons of onions and peppers, and quite a few potato chips, which added the crunch. I threw on a little yellow mustard and got going. The meat was very juicy and I could taste with the charred outside that it was cooked on a flat top grill. The chips didn't really have any seasoning on them, but added a nice touch. The fries came with a hint of sea salt and had crisp flavor to them. They came with horseradish homey mustard that I wasn't thrilled with. It tasted too much like dijon, and though I'm not particularly opposed to dijon, it can taste very powerful. I had some of that but I also dipped them in their chipotle ketchup as well. Thankfully, I got a pickle spear as well. All in all, a very good experience, I would recommend BBP.
It felt like I hd been awake forever, but it was still only 12:30, so I had a ton of time to hang out. Since it was Black Friday, there wasn't exactly ample space to walk around, I'm just glad I did not have to drive in the traffic around the mall! This one-level mall is kind of middle class, with one or two fancy places, so at least you don't feel like you need a membership card or parking permit just to walk in the doors. Some malls feel that way to me, especially in the Northeast (Shops at Riverside, Short Hills). Anyway, I walked through Target, Nordstrom Rack, and Century 21 for maybe 45 minutes, but didn't buy anything. I did pick up a couple of Jets bracelets at one of those mall stands though. I passed by a jugglign unicyclist, which was a nice touch for the holiday season. I walked around Whole Foods for a while. They have some things in there that I have never seen other Whole Foods stores before. Juice cups, a full fresh pasta display, and these huge bakery pretzels. Very tempting. I was checking out the seafood section and the man asked if he could get me anything. I said "If I lived in this time zone..." Ah well.
It was only 1:30 by the time I had covered the whole mall. So after a ton of traveling, walking, and waiting, I plopped down in one of the mall chairs, turned on my Ipod, and slept for a good hour. And I was out of it. I'm sure the various people sitting in the other seven chairs in our square got a little chuckle out of it. So I woke up and really felt like a drink. I would have gone for an Arnold Palmer from Starbucks, but they don't have one of those in the BTC. I headed back into Whole Foods and was very happy to find a bottle Tazo Giant Peach tea, one of my favorite drinks in the world. I guzzled it with gusto, headed out the door, and began my 1.5 mile walk east to Poitin Still.
I walked in to this Irish pub, and as soon as I walked in, I saw an oval shaped bar in the middle of the main room, it holds maybe 40 people. I looked to my left and the guys were setting everything up for the live radio show. The Mouth was there with Mrs. Mouth, also there was Costa the Crazy Greek, the Simos clan (Eeeeeeva, Claude, and Peter), and Ricky O. I got a pretty good reception as I walked in, I think people were still surprised I actually showed up. Before long, we had Jon Newman and Stacie, Jimmy S (along with Calamity Jen and Megan), Zach, Jackie Lomba (the Rangers/Hawks fan), Kristen F, Tom, Dave Shapiro, Paul L, Nick Montagena, Frosty and Karen, Coochie Wallie, and later, Pat the Laundry Guy, and even Dancing Larry! And those are just the ones I remember.
I drank a pair of Brooklyn Lagers, which I have to say, seemed to taste different than I remembered them at John's Pizzeria. A little hoppier, I guess. Still enjoyed them. The Rangers alumni of Nick Fotiu (who offered to shake MY hand!!!), Ron Greschner, and Chris Kotsopolous were in attendance and signed autographs for the masses, and for $35 total. We watched some videos of some old hockey fights from the 70's and 80's, back when players could actually hit each other!
We took a ton of pictures with each other and sat down to eat. I had chicken fingers , which were so-so at best. Costa the Crazy Greek has one of the biggest appetites I have ever seen. He wolfed down a Gaelic steak with mushrooms, onions, and Guinness gravy and promptly threw in a slice of cheesecake for good measure. I also sat with Frosty and Karen who are the one of the nicest couples I have ever met. Zach and Newman are quite the characters. Never a dull moment with those two around. Kristen is very cool, but I guess she had a sore throat. Her voice was so deep and husky, it was like talking to Kathleen Turner! And it was nice to meet Jackie too. There is more to her than her Patrick "Kaner" Kane crush and the ALL CAPS TYPING. At the end of the day, she really is neat. I think the best part is these people are not just photos, or voices, or words on a facebook chat. They really feel like actual people to me and that helps to make friendships that much stronger.
The live BB show began at 5 pm and I'm listening back to it now as I type. The first 20 minutes were torture to listen to with all the feedback! Jim's mike sucks! But it got worked out. The highlight had to be the live roll call. We all stood in front of the radio table as Eddie introduced us. I was maybe the fifth guy mentioned. I was floored how loud my ovation was. I was absolutely floored. I also met the Mouth's Dad and a few of his cousins who were sitting in one of the extra rooms down the hall and they were very nice.
The game went very well, with the Rangers getting the 3-0 win and Hank getting back to his winning ways. We left pretty soon after, as the bar had suddenly become overrun by clubbers. I left with Jackie, a Philly fan who I believe named Joe, and one other guy I can't remember. We talked hockey, Chicago vs NY, and all kinds of stuff, on my 45 minute ride to Newark Airport. I gave Jackie a kiss on the cheek, shook hands with da boyz, and headed inside Terminal A around 11:15.
Since I wanted to save $100 (and I only spent about 50 or 60 for the whole day anyway), I avoided the hotels, and just slept on the floor of the terminal. All the chairs were steel and the armrests could not be moved up, so I really had no other choice. I put my backpack next to me, laid on my left side, laid my winter coat under my head and elbows, and then placed my fleece sweatshirt under my hips and back. I lowered my Rangers hat over my face to reduce the lighting, and attempted to grab some shut-eye. Well, the cleaning crew came by. There was one woman driving the zamboni around to clean the floor. I woke up several times and finally around 2:30, I realized I was going to have to wake up. When I woke up, there were suddenly 20 or 30 people in the terminal as well. A lot of them were taking a 5:30 US Air flight to Charlotte. So I checked in for the flight and did some reading for a while. I headed down the escalator towards the security line and that got moving around 3:30.
I listened to a Jim Tomberlin sermon about the splitting of the Israel kingdom and the dangers to community for a while as I waited for the flight. The first piece of bad news came when the standby list appeared on the monitor and I was number 7 out of 7. Didn't feel great about that, but it didn't worry me much. The gate agent called me up to the counter and asked if I was dressed for first class. Translated, that means dress pants and a collared shirt. I had on faded jeans and my gray fleece sweatshirt. I explained it was a one-day trip so I didn't have the room. Her response: "You should have dressed for first class." How kind. So now I know I'm basically bumped. I asked her how the 7:20 flight looked, but I knew there would only be three more flights the rest of the day. She said there were about 10 seats open, but I was at the bottom of the standby list because of my ranking, or lack there of. By now, I started thinking to myself maybe I should take a shuttle to LaGuardia. So everyone boarded and during that time, they called up the Michaels family, which was four of the people on the list ahead of me. That was pretty good, at least the list had been reduced in half. About two minutes later, the agent called me and assigned me to seat 14C. I was quite surprised, in a delightful sort of way.
So I found my seat and as I was about to sit down, I saw the guy behind me had on a Chicago Bears Devin Hester jersey and a NY Yankees hat. What is up with that? Anyway, I sat down in my aisle seat in yet another cramped American Eagle plane. It may have been the same dang plane for all I know. Next to me sat this girl and somehow we struck up a conversation. Her name was Nona. She lives in Manhattan, studies journalism like me, and is planning to live in Beirut for awhile. And she was coming to Chicago for the week because her dad is a doctor and is participating in a major conference. She told me she had been shopping all of Black Friday, grabbed two hours of sleep, and was feeling really tired. For almost all of the 150 minutes of that flight, she twisted and turned all around her seat, just trying to get comfortable. I finally raised the arm rest up and leaned on one "cheek" towards the aisle, just to give her a little room. Then came the pocket slip... I can't say I was disappointed or anything, but with her travels, experience, and sharp wit, she seemed like a really interesting girl.
Finally, the landing gear was dropped and she came back to life. She had mentioned feeling hot, then cold, then hot again. I'm thinking this girl is so high maintenance, yet kind of amusing... And she also mentioned I seemed like a very "by the book" kind of guy. I said that I had mentioned I had slept on the floor of the terminal for 4 hours and she thinks I am "by the book"? Anyway, she had luggage to claim and was waiting for her ride, and the next thing I know, we're talking in the terminal about everything in the world for a full hour. Though I thought she appeared in good shape, she had mentioned she wasn't thrilled with her physical fitness. She just didn't feel disciplined in the gym. I turned her to Hebrews 12:11 and that really seemed to be what she needed. It's just strange how these things just come together sometimes. It can't be coincidence that I got on that plane and sat in that particular seat. Anyway, I helped her reclaim her luggage since we had taken so much time and I helped her unload the two "bodybags" into her friend's car.
Finally, I braved the 20 degree temperatures, got back to my car, and headed to the gym for some cardio and lifting. I went home to unpack and hit the grocery store. After catching up on some computer stuff and watching the beginning of Supercard of Honor 5, I was starting to feel a little bit bored. So I went upstairs around 3 pm to grab a nap in my own bed, which was so welcome after the previous night. And I remember this dream I was having. I was dreaming that I woke up for work at 11 a.m. and played it real casual. But I couldn't get that time out of my mind. 11 p.m. I suddenly woke up and looked at the clock. My red digital display said 11:00 p.m. Right on the dot. My nap lasted eight hours!
As of this moment, it is 2:30 AM and I'm listening back to the live BB show. And I feel like I could stay up all night right now. But I really do need to get my body back on its normal schedule by tonight. This has been one heck of a weekend. And later on, it's the Month of Dec party. To think I may not have even seen the most insane part of the weekend yet!
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