Walking in circles and mumbling will get me to come to your house

Two Hookers
Originally uploaded by JaseMan

HookerFest struggled to take place this year. First, there was our traditional January window of dates. Folks were committed; travel was purchased; hook-ups were arranged. The trip was canceled faster than you can scream, "SHIT!" J.T. mentioned something about safety concerns based on inclement weather. Alas, we truly are in the midst of becoming grown-ups.

Fortunately most folks, including moi, were able to accommodate the replacement date - a shift to the May 18th weekend. In fact, I built around this date. HF 7.0 was to be the anchor Ieg of the Great Texas Road Trip. I'd just bought a new tent and sleeping bag for this trip. Then work happened like it usually does. I had to be in Omaha on Monday morning, May 21st.

A quick scan of flight options, driving options and combinations thereof resulted in hope checking in online for its flight and taking a cab to the airport. I reluctantly realized what I must do - besides try to find an in-town gig. I had to tell the Hookers.

I scrolled through my contacts and hit the green button on El Spike. Three seconds of dialogue resulted in broken hearts in Alpine.

"Reverend!"

"Are you sitting down?"

"Oh, no!"

I had braced myself for disappointment on the other end of the phone but wasn't close to prepared for what ensued. JT sounded like I'd just backed over his dog and totaled his Jetta after telling him that I was no longer interested in car racing, camping, Ultimate or The Big Lebowski. Dazed, he handed the phone to his bride.

"You broke him, JB. He's walking around in circles in the living room muttering 'Omaha,'" said AmandaHug&Kiss. "I know what he's doing. I've seen this type of behavior before. He's trying to figure out the drive time from Alpine to Omaha."

I felt like shit.

I was in a daze of my own. The implications of not making it to HF were finally sinking in. I was ready to quit work so that I could make the trip. But, I didn't. I'm not supposed to quit until next Easter so that I can go to the final NTO get down at Paga 2008.

A flurry of "it's OK's," "it won't be the same without you," and "we'll do our own search for transportation options" followed.

That was Wednesday.

As I was driving to Daily Grind on Friday morning I read an email from JT that arrived on Thursday night. I called him at 9:30. By 9:45, I was booked on the Noon flight from Hobby to Midland.

Typical.