![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
A Reunion, Writ Small
Apr. 29th, 2008 07:19 pmMy best friend in college (besides ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
slfisher) was eventually the Best Man at my wedding, just as I was the Best Man at his. He currently works for the Federal Reserve, improving their computer security. Most of that (these days) is political and policy oriented, rather than just raw technology.
But I haven't seen him in years. He's based in Richmond VA, but travels all over the place. This time, he traveled to Boston. His plane was scheduled to arrive at 6:21pm at Logan, which is "rush hour", so rather than try to get my whole family into town to meet him, we decided that I'd just meet up with him myself.
Good thing. It rained a lot on the east coast yesterday, so the US Air web site told me that his departure was delayed. Sure enough, after his original gate time, he called me to let me know that he was delayed. I told him his new departure time, and when he was now expected to land. He confirmed this, and I wrapped things up at work.
I checked with the web site again, confirmed that he'd taken off, and drove down to Logan. Just as I was getting off the Zakim Bridge, I got a call from him: he was just boarding the plane in Richmond. The US Air web site lied to me.
So I parked in Logan's 'B' lot, grabbed a paperback which was in the back seat of my car, and read for an hour and a half. Yes, if my family had tried to meet up with him, my younger would have conked out before he arrived, let alone before we could get someplace to eat.
He paid for the parking (and kept the receipt), the tunnel toll (ditto), and Boston's street signage successfully twisted me around off the map I'd memorized before I'd left for the airport. Fortunately, I was able to find my way to the Common, and from there he found the Masonic Lodge, and knew how to find his hotel from there. With that nailed, I drove toward Legal Seafood, but when he saw the McCormick & Schmidt's, we decided to go there instead.
I admit that I'd been afraid of falling into the old conversation patterns: he dominates speaking, listens not, and at the end I still don't know how he or his family are doing. That started, but less so, and while he did talk more, he also listened for a fair bit, and allowed the conversation to shift. So this is good.
He had lost a good bit of weight a few years ago, but I'm afraid it's all back (and perhaps a bit more). But for all that, he looked pretty good.
I'm glad to see him mellowing a bit with age. It suits him.
slfisher) was eventually the Best Man at my wedding, just as I was the Best Man at his. He currently works for the Federal Reserve, improving their computer security. Most of that (these days) is political and policy oriented, rather than just raw technology.But I haven't seen him in years. He's based in Richmond VA, but travels all over the place. This time, he traveled to Boston. His plane was scheduled to arrive at 6:21pm at Logan, which is "rush hour", so rather than try to get my whole family into town to meet him, we decided that I'd just meet up with him myself.
Good thing. It rained a lot on the east coast yesterday, so the US Air web site told me that his departure was delayed. Sure enough, after his original gate time, he called me to let me know that he was delayed. I told him his new departure time, and when he was now expected to land. He confirmed this, and I wrapped things up at work.
I checked with the web site again, confirmed that he'd taken off, and drove down to Logan. Just as I was getting off the Zakim Bridge, I got a call from him: he was just boarding the plane in Richmond. The US Air web site lied to me.
So I parked in Logan's 'B' lot, grabbed a paperback which was in the back seat of my car, and read for an hour and a half. Yes, if my family had tried to meet up with him, my younger would have conked out before he arrived, let alone before we could get someplace to eat.
He paid for the parking (and kept the receipt), the tunnel toll (ditto), and Boston's street signage successfully twisted me around off the map I'd memorized before I'd left for the airport. Fortunately, I was able to find my way to the Common, and from there he found the Masonic Lodge, and knew how to find his hotel from there. With that nailed, I drove toward Legal Seafood, but when he saw the McCormick & Schmidt's, we decided to go there instead.
I admit that I'd been afraid of falling into the old conversation patterns: he dominates speaking, listens not, and at the end I still don't know how he or his family are doing. That started, but less so, and while he did talk more, he also listened for a fair bit, and allowed the conversation to shift. So this is good.
He had lost a good bit of weight a few years ago, but I'm afraid it's all back (and perhaps a bit more). But for all that, he looked pretty good.
I'm glad to see him mellowing a bit with age. It suits him.
