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GraduationDay I of Bliss
May. 3rd, 2024 09:37 pmChilling in our hotel room in Greensboro. What a day! We started off shortly after nine for an event that was scheduled for ten at a location supposedly five minutes away. The traffic fairies laugh so hard at these estimates. I've never seen such a traffic jam. Tron offered to drive us all in her car, thus saving one parking spot. Her expert maneuvers, learned in DC traffic, got us to the Coliseum only half an hour late. She dropped us old folks off at the entrance and went to find a parking space, for there were none to be had anywhere in the vicinity of the venue. Kansas and the Diva were staying in an AirB&B five minutes on the other side of the Coliseum, with Angelbaby and their friend Saturn. The Diva dropped Muffinhead off early so he could put on his robes and get in line, then went back for the rest of the family, and she was equally late. When we met up later, Kansas said he had parked in a junk yard--but he MAY have been joking. Unbelievable, never-ending crowds of people swarmed into the building from all directions. By the time our party had reconvened after the search for parking, nearly every seat in the place was occupied. We finally spotted some empty rows at the very top of the stands, genuinely in nosebleed territory.
Then came three hours of mercifully brief (and meaningless) speeches, followed by endless names and marching young people, some of whom performed amusing mini-dances across the stage, and were cheered just for providing variety. It was like a movie where you decide to watch the credits, and twenty minutes later, the muffin wranglers and assistant bolt tighteners are still scrolling hypnotically across the screen. But finally the golden moment arrived when our very own Muffinhead ascended to the stage, his name was read, and we all screamed our heads off with joy.
Tron very kindly told us to stay put while they went to get the car, and with the aforementioned skills, she managed to get into the endless traffic stream again and retrieve us, and found our way back to the hotel via back streets. We reunited with the Diva and family, and since no one wanted to venture forth again to find a restaurant, we celebrated with Thai takeout around a table provided for the business center in the lobby. No one tried to evict us. When Muffinhead expressed mild impatience while waiting for the food to arrive, I experienced great satisfaction in providing some olives, mixed nuts, and clementines from our stash as an appetizer.
The Diva needed to take her people home that night--a distance of four hours--because they all had to work in the morning. Muffinhead, the honoree, had to return to the city where he's currently staying. So eventually they all took off. We had a drink and more conversation with Tron and the Lumberjack. Her doctor had called back--OF COURSE--when she was in the Coliseum. Eventually they made contact. They're still waiting on one lab report, but they will have the intake interview next week, and a surgical consult sometime later in May. The evening was capped by Tron introducing us to the wonderful and terrible concept of Insomnia Cookies. DoorDash can now deliver warm cookies and ice cream at any hour of the day or night . . . . Dangerous knowledge which cannot now be unseen!
All good things come to an end, but the joy of this trip is that we didn't have to say goodbye after the event. Tomorrow we'll all drive to the Diva's town, and stay until next weekend, when we'll do this all over again for Angelbaby!
Then came three hours of mercifully brief (and meaningless) speeches, followed by endless names and marching young people, some of whom performed amusing mini-dances across the stage, and were cheered just for providing variety. It was like a movie where you decide to watch the credits, and twenty minutes later, the muffin wranglers and assistant bolt tighteners are still scrolling hypnotically across the screen. But finally the golden moment arrived when our very own Muffinhead ascended to the stage, his name was read, and we all screamed our heads off with joy.
Tron very kindly told us to stay put while they went to get the car, and with the aforementioned skills, she managed to get into the endless traffic stream again and retrieve us, and found our way back to the hotel via back streets. We reunited with the Diva and family, and since no one wanted to venture forth again to find a restaurant, we celebrated with Thai takeout around a table provided for the business center in the lobby. No one tried to evict us. When Muffinhead expressed mild impatience while waiting for the food to arrive, I experienced great satisfaction in providing some olives, mixed nuts, and clementines from our stash as an appetizer.
The Diva needed to take her people home that night--a distance of four hours--because they all had to work in the morning. Muffinhead, the honoree, had to return to the city where he's currently staying. So eventually they all took off. We had a drink and more conversation with Tron and the Lumberjack. Her doctor had called back--OF COURSE--when she was in the Coliseum. Eventually they made contact. They're still waiting on one lab report, but they will have the intake interview next week, and a surgical consult sometime later in May. The evening was capped by Tron introducing us to the wonderful and terrible concept of Insomnia Cookies. DoorDash can now deliver warm cookies and ice cream at any hour of the day or night . . . . Dangerous knowledge which cannot now be unseen!
All good things come to an end, but the joy of this trip is that we didn't have to say goodbye after the event. Tomorrow we'll all drive to the Diva's town, and stay until next weekend, when we'll do this all over again for Angelbaby!
