Monday, March 20, 2006
Holy Crap, what a day!
Alright, I know I haven't posted in a while, but this is well worth the wait. Let me run you through a bit of background before I get into the stupidity that was the past day of my life. The Queen's Bands went down to Boston from Friday to Monday for the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Southie on Sunday and then an Alumni performance on Monday with the Principal. My friend Jenna, the irish girl with a Benz, felt that work wasn't coming along well enough on a fairly important essay so she asked me to drive down to Boston, stay for the parade, pick her up, and drive back.
Here, chronologically, is how this stupidity went down. For reference, I woke up at 2:30 PM on Saturday, March 18th after working the day before.
5:30 PM - In an MSN conversation, mutual friend Bernard tells me that Jenna wants me to drive her car down to Boston. I don't believe him for one second because Jenna doesn't let ANYONE drive her car. It's a nice one. Jenna calls me to confirm that this is what she wants, so I start thinking about it. My thoughts are mostly to do with the fact that this is a TERRIBLE idea.
6:45 PM - I've considered it for a while, and pending affirmation from a few friends, I think I'm going to do it. I would be too dumb not to. However, I realize that driving 7 or 8 hours alone would be kind of silly, so I call my good friend Ted Branscombe. He's at Dinner at the Tir Nan Og with a buddy. The conversation goes somethign like this:
Me - "Hey Ted, what are you doing tonight?"
Ted - "Going over to the gf's place to play Cranium."
Me - "No you're not."
Ted - "What am I doing then?"
Me - "You're coming to Boston for the day."
Ted - "... Okey dokey."
And just like that, I had company for the ride.
7:00 PM - Dinner with three lovely ladies (Melvin, Whincup and Danyal), all of who confirm that this is a GREAT idea. A phone call to Steve Johns during the meal confirms it is NOT a good idea, so we ignore him. Oh, I had a salad, chicken parmigiana and a lot of free bread.
9:00 PM - I'm starting to freak out about getting Jenna's keys because all her housemates are Bands members, and only one stayed behind for his Iron Ring Ceremony. When I first go by the house, he's not home. I try calling Jenna, but her phone is off because she's at a Dropkick Murphy's concert. I putter around for a little while, then Rob shows up on MSN. I explain the situation to him, and then we sketch around Jenna's room for about 45 minutes trying to find her damned car keys.
I pick up her car, go home, get my stuff, get gas, get Ted, go gloat to the guys at the 'Nog that we're going, and we hit the road at 12:00 Midnight precisely.
12:30 AM - Crossing the border. Ted doesn't have his passport, only a driver's license. We get questioned as to why he doesn't have his passport, and why we're driving a Benz that belongs to a girl who is supposedly meeting us in Boston. I'm actually surprised that we got through as easily as we did. You want to know why? We're not brown. Honest to god.
2:00 AM - Syracuse. We're both doing pretty good at this point. Ted is taking pictures of pretty much every road sign possible while I slow down and put the highbeams on them. The roads are deserted and the weather's pretty good aside from some snowsqualls near the lake. We decide to make our first road stop on the east side of Syracuse.
By the way, Croissanwiches are NOT food to drive to.
3:30 AM - Somewhere between Utica and Albany. Another stop. I was fading pretty quickly, so we decide that coffee is a REALLY good idea. I had a coffee when we left Kingston, but it's completely worn off. The only thing open is a McDonald's, and I ask for a double cream, double sugar large. The guy working there puts at LEAST (what I would consider anyways) six sugars in this bucket of coffee. It was more like drinking coffee-flavoured sugar pasted, not the other way around. Ted overhears the most amusing conversation about Elton John ever. I didn't hear it, but he was in awe.
We probably weren't driving anywhere near as fast as we could have. Mostly because a) I didn't trust ted's converstion to Kilometres per hour from miles per epoch or whatever the hell they use, b) we weren't in a major rush to get there and c)we didn't want to deal with any state troopers.
5:30 AM - Massachussetts! I have no idea if I spelled that right, but we got out and took a picture of the border sign. I'll post it here when I get it from Ted. oh, my companion decides that getting a lot of Beef Jerky and Spicy Chicken Jerky is a REALLY good idea at this point, so we do. Guh. BEAUTIFUL sunrise coming through the hills.
7:30 AM - BOSTON! We made it to the hotel where the bands is staying. mind you it's about an hour and a half before any of them are even thinking of waking up, so we call up to a random room, find some place for ted to sleep, and I go play tetris for a while. Bandsies begin to wake up, most of them in shock that I showed up in Boston. They shoulda known there was NO Way this trip was happening without me.
10:30 AM - We load up on to a bus with the Bands to head to the parade. Dean Silverman, of Arts and Science, was marching with the bands in the parade today, and he had Beth, and advancement officer from Arts and Science in the bus with her. Traditionally, Bands likes to sing. This day was no different. To my surprise, both the Dean and Beth were laughing their faces off. Then again, we didn't hit anything too bad.
12:15 PM - After sitting at the marshalling area for a while (it was pretty cold!) on the bus, we start to think about heading to a good spot to watch the parade. Beth has mentioned that she's heading to the house of the parade organizer, Wacko Hurley, to watch the parade with Principal Hitchcock. Seeing as we can't think of anything else to do, I offer to help get her there (I know the neighbourhood... sort of). We trapse off into the masses (Ted, Beth, and myself) and make for Wacko's house!
When we get there, Principal Hitchcock is ecstatic to see a couple students, and we get invited right in for tea and strumpets (Cinnamon buns and beer). We end up sitting with Beth, David from Advancement, and Principal Hitchcock for over an hour, just chatting and hanging out. It was SO much fun. When we told her about our little trip, she was in awe at our a) balls and b) stupidity!
1:45 - Bands shows up. The Bands always gets treated nicely by these guys, they LOVE us!!! The bands were the second band in the entire thing, and they sounded GREAT!!! The Principal was beside herself happy, Ted and I were screaming at them, and it was a fantastic moment. Once the Bands had gone by, Ted and I made our goodbyes and streamed after the them (they were our ride back to the hotel). The parade was SUPER, we ran into a Sci '94 on the way, and just had a GREAT time. Got on the bus, got back to the hotel.
4:30 PM - After sending a postcard to my parents (eek), we hit the road with Jenna in tow. We made it about an hour and a half, and I had to stop for a drink/food. I was getting WAY too drowsy. I HAD CHOWDA HERE!!!!! It wouldn't be a good trip without chowda! Jenna took over the driving for a while.
6:00 PM - Gas/Drink stop between Albany and Utica. The red bull I chugged at the last stop was kicking in, and I was much more awake so I took over the driving again. I had a little nap when Jenna was driving too.
8:30 PM - Just north of Syracuse. We stop at McD's for food (dunno why!) and find that Family Guy is on a TV there. So we take an extended break. By the way, no McDeals down there, but 1 dollar double cheeseburgers are SOOOOO good.
10:45 PM - Border part two. We get across without any problems. About ten miles back we had found a radio station that was describing itself as 'cubicle friendly radio'. They played "You've lost the lovin feeling" and "Uptown Girl" back to back, so we sung along like we assume they do in cubicles. But we're almost there!! We're almost Back Home!!!!
11:30 PM - Jenna drops me off. The end of an EPIC trip to say the least. Ted and I were gone for 23.5 hours in total, I slept MAYBE half an hour in the car (ted moreso), and at least 14 of that was spent on the road.
I don't think I'll ever get the opportunity to do a trip like this again, and I'm SOOO glad I went when I could!
Here, chronologically, is how this stupidity went down. For reference, I woke up at 2:30 PM on Saturday, March 18th after working the day before.
5:30 PM - In an MSN conversation, mutual friend Bernard tells me that Jenna wants me to drive her car down to Boston. I don't believe him for one second because Jenna doesn't let ANYONE drive her car. It's a nice one. Jenna calls me to confirm that this is what she wants, so I start thinking about it. My thoughts are mostly to do with the fact that this is a TERRIBLE idea.
6:45 PM - I've considered it for a while, and pending affirmation from a few friends, I think I'm going to do it. I would be too dumb not to. However, I realize that driving 7 or 8 hours alone would be kind of silly, so I call my good friend Ted Branscombe. He's at Dinner at the Tir Nan Og with a buddy. The conversation goes somethign like this:
Me - "Hey Ted, what are you doing tonight?"
Ted - "Going over to the gf's place to play Cranium."
Me - "No you're not."
Ted - "What am I doing then?"
Me - "You're coming to Boston for the day."
Ted - "... Okey dokey."
And just like that, I had company for the ride.
7:00 PM - Dinner with three lovely ladies (Melvin, Whincup and Danyal), all of who confirm that this is a GREAT idea. A phone call to Steve Johns during the meal confirms it is NOT a good idea, so we ignore him. Oh, I had a salad, chicken parmigiana and a lot of free bread.
9:00 PM - I'm starting to freak out about getting Jenna's keys because all her housemates are Bands members, and only one stayed behind for his Iron Ring Ceremony. When I first go by the house, he's not home. I try calling Jenna, but her phone is off because she's at a Dropkick Murphy's concert. I putter around for a little while, then Rob shows up on MSN. I explain the situation to him, and then we sketch around Jenna's room for about 45 minutes trying to find her damned car keys.
I pick up her car, go home, get my stuff, get gas, get Ted, go gloat to the guys at the 'Nog that we're going, and we hit the road at 12:00 Midnight precisely.
12:30 AM - Crossing the border. Ted doesn't have his passport, only a driver's license. We get questioned as to why he doesn't have his passport, and why we're driving a Benz that belongs to a girl who is supposedly meeting us in Boston. I'm actually surprised that we got through as easily as we did. You want to know why? We're not brown. Honest to god.
2:00 AM - Syracuse. We're both doing pretty good at this point. Ted is taking pictures of pretty much every road sign possible while I slow down and put the highbeams on them. The roads are deserted and the weather's pretty good aside from some snowsqualls near the lake. We decide to make our first road stop on the east side of Syracuse.
By the way, Croissanwiches are NOT food to drive to.
3:30 AM - Somewhere between Utica and Albany. Another stop. I was fading pretty quickly, so we decide that coffee is a REALLY good idea. I had a coffee when we left Kingston, but it's completely worn off. The only thing open is a McDonald's, and I ask for a double cream, double sugar large. The guy working there puts at LEAST (what I would consider anyways) six sugars in this bucket of coffee. It was more like drinking coffee-flavoured sugar pasted, not the other way around. Ted overhears the most amusing conversation about Elton John ever. I didn't hear it, but he was in awe.
We probably weren't driving anywhere near as fast as we could have. Mostly because a) I didn't trust ted's converstion to Kilometres per hour from miles per epoch or whatever the hell they use, b) we weren't in a major rush to get there and c)we didn't want to deal with any state troopers.
5:30 AM - Massachussetts! I have no idea if I spelled that right, but we got out and took a picture of the border sign. I'll post it here when I get it from Ted. oh, my companion decides that getting a lot of Beef Jerky and Spicy Chicken Jerky is a REALLY good idea at this point, so we do. Guh. BEAUTIFUL sunrise coming through the hills.
7:30 AM - BOSTON! We made it to the hotel where the bands is staying. mind you it's about an hour and a half before any of them are even thinking of waking up, so we call up to a random room, find some place for ted to sleep, and I go play tetris for a while. Bandsies begin to wake up, most of them in shock that I showed up in Boston. They shoulda known there was NO Way this trip was happening without me.
10:30 AM - We load up on to a bus with the Bands to head to the parade. Dean Silverman, of Arts and Science, was marching with the bands in the parade today, and he had Beth, and advancement officer from Arts and Science in the bus with her. Traditionally, Bands likes to sing. This day was no different. To my surprise, both the Dean and Beth were laughing their faces off. Then again, we didn't hit anything too bad.
12:15 PM - After sitting at the marshalling area for a while (it was pretty cold!) on the bus, we start to think about heading to a good spot to watch the parade. Beth has mentioned that she's heading to the house of the parade organizer, Wacko Hurley, to watch the parade with Principal Hitchcock. Seeing as we can't think of anything else to do, I offer to help get her there (I know the neighbourhood... sort of). We trapse off into the masses (Ted, Beth, and myself) and make for Wacko's house!
When we get there, Principal Hitchcock is ecstatic to see a couple students, and we get invited right in for tea and strumpets (Cinnamon buns and beer). We end up sitting with Beth, David from Advancement, and Principal Hitchcock for over an hour, just chatting and hanging out. It was SO much fun. When we told her about our little trip, she was in awe at our a) balls and b) stupidity!
1:45 - Bands shows up. The Bands always gets treated nicely by these guys, they LOVE us!!! The bands were the second band in the entire thing, and they sounded GREAT!!! The Principal was beside herself happy, Ted and I were screaming at them, and it was a fantastic moment. Once the Bands had gone by, Ted and I made our goodbyes and streamed after the them (they were our ride back to the hotel). The parade was SUPER, we ran into a Sci '94 on the way, and just had a GREAT time. Got on the bus, got back to the hotel.
4:30 PM - After sending a postcard to my parents (eek), we hit the road with Jenna in tow. We made it about an hour and a half, and I had to stop for a drink/food. I was getting WAY too drowsy. I HAD CHOWDA HERE!!!!! It wouldn't be a good trip without chowda! Jenna took over the driving for a while.
6:00 PM - Gas/Drink stop between Albany and Utica. The red bull I chugged at the last stop was kicking in, and I was much more awake so I took over the driving again. I had a little nap when Jenna was driving too.
8:30 PM - Just north of Syracuse. We stop at McD's for food (dunno why!) and find that Family Guy is on a TV there. So we take an extended break. By the way, no McDeals down there, but 1 dollar double cheeseburgers are SOOOOO good.
10:45 PM - Border part two. We get across without any problems. About ten miles back we had found a radio station that was describing itself as 'cubicle friendly radio'. They played "You've lost the lovin feeling" and "Uptown Girl" back to back, so we sung along like we assume they do in cubicles. But we're almost there!! We're almost Back Home!!!!
11:30 PM - Jenna drops me off. The end of an EPIC trip to say the least. Ted and I were gone for 23.5 hours in total, I slept MAYBE half an hour in the car (ted moreso), and at least 14 of that was spent on the road.
I don't think I'll ever get the opportunity to do a trip like this again, and I'm SOOO glad I went when I could!
