December 2005

The day after Christmas was a bit of a haze. I remember that it was a Monday and we did some stuff, but I can’t for the life of me remember what. I think it was a pretty quite day, where Eric and I went to Patrick’s house and we stopped by to see my friends at Microworx and pick up some parts for my sister Mary’s computer. We got something to eat and then went to Uncle Patrick’s house where I proceeded to get my butt whooped @ Soul Caliber 2 by my 4 year old son. I set up the game so he could play on the Easy level and he called me in a few minutes to tell me that he had finished. I thought that he meant he didn’t want to play any more....... Nope wrong answer. He had finished the game and was at the end screen where he had to enter his high score and was stuck. We went home and ate a little dinner and then were off to bed and rested up for another day.

We woke up early and had breakfast the night before my mother had expressed her displeasure with the fact that last year the did not have a tree and said that she would aprecheate it if we made one appear. It took a little bit to get Eric and Dad rolling but in no time we were in the truck and out on the search for a tree. We went to all the places we had been the day before and they were all closed or had signs saying "SOLD OUT". I haven't lived in America for a long time but I remember never seeing a sold out sign when we went to get trees. This was a first for my Dad too usually on the day before Christmas people were giving away trees. We drove around for close to 2 hours going as far out as Hamlin and down the Hamlin beach Expressway. Finally we got off in Greece some where and Dad remembered a place where he had seen them selling trees in the past. We pulled in and sure enough they had some. Eric picked out the tree that he thought was best and we were off! I thought since we were already near the city we should stop at Patrick’s and pick up some of the things I needed for Christmas.

The next day I woke up and I was still feeling weird about our arguments from the night before. I needed to get to former companies office so I could have lunch with my old boss and talk about stuff that was important like computers and stuff. Mom had said I could use her car but needed it to an appointment that day. My dad offered to give me a ride. We finally got going and not to soon into the ride dad and I started arguing again over stupid shit. When I got to my old office my former boss offered to give me a ride some place later. I said good bye to my dad and went inside to see what if any improvements had been made in my absence. I was surprised to see that Jim, my former boss had gotten so much done. He had been able to purchase some new servers and make a few other adjustments and said that things were running pretty smooth at that point. A lot of the work I had done there was still in use, the backup server, the Citrix implementation and the wide area network. The WAN had seen some major changes with the addition and subtraction of satellite offices but the structure was still basically the same. Jim gave Eric and I a ride to the mall where I met one of my long time friends Jason. He looked sounded and acted exactly the same as I remembered him. He is one of the people I hardly ever have any contact with when I am in Japan, but he hasn’t seemed to change a bit. I told him I needed to rent a car cause I was not happy with my current transportation situation. He immediately made a few phone calls and then let me use his phone to rent a car. He took me to the rental place and watched Eric for me while I rented the car. When it was all said and done I followed him to Olive Garden where he ate and I had a beer while Eric colored. When we finished Jason paid the bill and we left. Traveling with Eric is tough but I hope I get to spend some more time with him before I go back. I took Eric to Shiki a Japanese restaurant after to get him some sushi. He had been saying that he wanted rice and some Japanese food, but by the time we got there he fell asleep. I ordered some sushi to go and went home and put him right to bed. I had another beer at the house and then went to bed myself.

Eric and I got to our seats and I instantly found that my seat was broken. It wouldn’t stay "upright and locked." I know better than to complain about this because they will need to fix the seat and the plane will not be able to take off till they do. Eric was REAL excited to be on the plane and started jumping around like a monkey grabbing the seat of the 2 soldiers in front of us (one of which had arms bigger than my head). Eventually I got him to calm down and sit down. About a hour into the flight he announced that he was tired and laid down to go to sleep. His feet were hanging in the isle so I switched with him and he slept for about 2 hours. I ate and drank a beer. Then eventually dozed off my self. We both woke up a while later Eric ate and we watched a movie. A little while later (4 hours or so) he feel asleep and stayed asleep for the most of the remainder of the flight. The flight it self wasn’t really so bad. Eric was very well behaved and many of the passengers around us complimented him and I on his behavior. The problem with the flight was the crew and the plane. My seat not working was a inconnivance but it pointed to the overall maintenance of the plane and it's age. During our landing water leaked into the passenger area from the fuselage and was dripping quite a bit as the plane finally touched down roughly in Detroit. The crew was well less than helpful and not so understanding telling me I had give them my tray even though my son was asleep and had not eaten. I asked for such unreasonable items as a 1/2 cup orange juice and water that brought a scowl to my Airhostess face. there was one woman who was very helpful and I was disappointed when she left for her break . But the best part of the flight was getting off it that’s for sure. I plan to write a brief complementary letter on the things that were done right and wrong on the flight. When the plane did land we needed to wait for some one who had a medical emergency to be taken off the plane. When we did get off the plane we went through customs. I hate being interrogated just for trying to get back into my own country. The red neck dork at the customs gate with his perfectly groomed horseshoe flat top, talked down to me the whole time, and was amazed to find out that not only was I NOT a English teacher but I held a position that required some level of intelligence. I thought to let him know that I made 2 times what he did and that he might gain something by reading something besides Rodeo Weekly & Guns and Ammo. I could just imagin him holdin the old Red White and Blue over his shoulder while pacing back and forth on a stage bellowing out in a drill instructor styled voice that no “true American could live anywhere other than the good old US of A.” White pointy hood optional. Being a formerly red neck racist bastard I can spot’em a mile away. The rest of the customs staff was very very helpful and polite and we made it to the concourse with plenty of time to spare. I bought Eric some ice cream for his excellent behavior on the plane. Then not long after that did we get on our connecting flight. To Rochester this plane was much better maintained and the crew was very friendly and helpful. The last flight was only 45 minutes so it was pretty much over before it began. We got off the plane in Rochester and found my whole family waiting for us with a banner and all. Eric was a little shy at first but by the time we stopped for dinner at Taco Bell him and Grandpa were getting along great. We went home and Eric found the warm house and all the Christmas lights to his liking. I was exhausted and tried to stay awake till my brother arrived but just couldn’t. Eric was still going so I asked my mom to put him to bed when he was ready. She had no problems at all with that and I woke up in the morning to find him asleep in the bed next to mine. Getting there was difficult and draining but not impossible. More to come later. E./