Mystery Solved!

Guess who I talked to this morning! None other than my friend Matthew, who I was sure was wrapped around a telephone pole somewhere in Rhode Island.

This morning, i decided to start calling incessantly until I reached him. Lo and behold on my first call of the day - he answered! Turns out that he's been incredibly swamped workwise and to paraphrase - doesn't have anything to blog about. My heart rate eventually lowered to a manageable rate and I moved along with the conversation. I was really starting to panic. I was searching newspapers in Rhode Island and Massachusetts to see if there was any mention of him. I even emailed the website of the TV show that he works for - looking for him. All for naught. He's alive and guess where he is - LOS - FREAKIN - ANGELES! He's there for work, so won't have time for socialization until Monday night. So - who wants to meet me at Bergins on Monday and beat Matt around the head and shoulders for giving me a scare?


So...onto other subjects...I'm writing this email from New Orleans. I flew here today for a work-related activity. "How's flying?" you ask. It was OK. I arrived at the airport parking lot about an hour and 45 minutes ahead of time. I couldn't find a place to park (which will be another rant in another blog) and then the shuttle bus stopped at nearly every terminal...and of course I was flying United - Terminal 7. I was literally sweating (yes, Bean, that's the correct use of the phrase) as the bus was stopping at T1, T2, T4, etc. When I got to the counter, I didn't realize that the humans that are standing there are not there to check you in. You have to check yourself in on the touchscreen - and the humans retrieve the baggage tag, check your ID - and that's about it.

After checking my bag, I had to go outside the terminal where I checked in and go a few doors down to "Gate D." The line leading to Gate D was relatively short - thank god. In fact, the security guy was trying to make sure that people knew that there were three lines - not just one - which put me at the head of one of the lines. I had to put all of my belongings in trays. Tray one was my purse. Tray two was my laptop computer from work. Tray three was my shoes and my sweater. And "tray four" was my carry on bag. I had no idea how much stuff I had. I didn't get flagged and made it through security unharmed. For once, there was plenty of room in the overhead luggage. I think everyone is checking everythings.

The flight was ontime and the trip was uneventful. Upon our descent into New Orleans, everyone's head was trying to stretch around - wanting to see any of the devastation - which we couldn't see from the plane. I walked down to baggage claim as my "pink monster" (a free suitcase which has pink trim which - trust me - will NOT be mistaken for any other bags on the carousel) was coming around the bend. Got into a cab and made my way downtown.

What did I see? Nothing. The rebuilding of the city (apparently) has only happened in the neighborhoods between the airport and downtown. Other than the tell-tale signs of construction - there's no way that you can tell that anything happened. The cab driver (who was from Vietnam) confirmed that they went out of their way to fix these routes because of the tourists. To see the horrific devastation (and the lack of rebuilding) - one has to go outside of the city.

Arrived at the hotel, unpacked, and made my way to the cocktail party - followed by an incredible (buffet-style) dinner. After the dinner and show (three bands - including Gregg Allman's son - boy, that lineage wasn't blessed with strong chins, were they?), I went back to the hotel bar, which is revolving. We had to wait half a revolution before we got served.

I also want to add that I walked through Bourbon Street. It has about 1/1000th of the people that were there just about this time last year...but the volume on the clubs hasn't changed. Loud, pumping drum beats...yikes!

The city is quieter and less frantic than last year. Time flies...