Archive | September, 2014

Chapter 3: The Delay

30 Sep

 

“Well can’t you just go the next week?” Gen asked.

The answer was simple. I don’t want to let some oblivious putz come in, interview before me and get hired just because he had a whiter smile. So I told her that.

“Ok. Fine,” and she hung up abruptly. If she were on a rotary phone I’m sure she would have slammed it.

It’s her wedding. She only gets one. She’s entitled to her Bridezilla moments.

I don’t know what she was so worried about though. My flight was scheduled to land a FULL HOUR before the rehearsal. Like the name of my favorite friendly neighborhood-“I’ll just stop in for one…”-Irish Pub, it was Plenty O’Time. Continue reading →

Chapter 2: The Interview

23 Sep

“May I give you a blessing for your travels?” he said.

I was about to embark on quite possibly the most significant trip in the quarter century I’d been alive. I needed all the good graces I could get.

“Absolutely!” I replied.

This is a Cassock

This is a Cassock

So the young ex-marine-turned Catholic priest from the Order of St. Peter laid his hands upon me in Terminal B of Charlotte’s Douglas International Airport and asked the Lord to give me a safe and successful journey.

I spotted Fr. McCambridge hours earlier in his long black cassock while we were standing in line to board at O’Hare. I didn’t much care that I cut a few folks in line to seek him out. Etiquette be damned, I was on a mission. Continue reading →

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Chapter 1: Fielding the Call

16 Sep

“Hi is this Jacob?”

“Yes,” I replied in a puzzled half-asleep stupor. I was just waking up and the call was coming from a 907 area code.

“Monte Bowen, KTVF in Fairbanks. I’ve got a couple questions for you…”

“Uhm sure”

What’s going on? Who’s Monte Bowen? Why is he calling me at 11:15 on a Monday morning? Where is the 907 area code? Wait a minute, Fairbanks… Alaska? Holy crap, those were call letters weren’t they. Is this a…

Before I could even grasp what was going on Monte bombarded me with questions. How’d you become interested in Alaska? Do you do sports or just news? Does the cold bother you? When can you move up here? Would you be bringing a spouse, significant other or pet with you? Would you expect us to pay for the move?

Whoah, whoah, whoah, Monte. Slow down. I don’t think you realize that I have no idea what’s going on. Continue reading →

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Preface: The Maine Storyline

9 Sep

Moose Sign

“Are you lost?” the cashier asked.

Being a guy who prides himself on navigation, whether it be country roads, touchscreen menus, or trains of thought, that was not a question I was used to hearing.

“What in the hell are you doing all the way up here?” was the follow up question she asked as she glanced again at my ID.

I knew exactly where I was and what I was doing. I was at the Circle K in Presque Isle, Maine, buying a six-pack of Sea Dog Wild Blueberry to celebrate a successful 3-day, 1,400 mile journey and christen apartment C4 at 53 Dupont Drive, my new home address.

But most residents of Presque Isle had trouble grasping why a clean cut, modest looking 24-year old kid from the South Side of Chicago would move to their quiet corner of the country. Continue reading →