Pennsylvania 'Duck' Meet 2
Created | Updated Feb 24, 2003
Finally! The next instalment! Maybe I'll even meet some people 
Since it's been so long, you may want to read here to refresh your memory1.
Friday
The plane landed at La Guardia2 about 20
minutes later than scheduled, which wasn't bad at all. So my continually covering my ears and
singing, 'La la la la I can't hear you!' whenever someone spoke of flight delays worked
well3. I went down to pick up my luggage,
and I could have sworn I followed the signs correctly... Luckily, it was just the last turn I got
wrong, and Tac spotted me before I had gotten very far. I was
rather embarrassed, because, at that point, I thought I was fairly awake, because I'd just woken
up...
We picked up my suitcase and went out to the car, and Tac told me he had some errands he had
to run, did I mind? I didn't, of course, so off we went to Manhattan. I'd told Tom that I'd call his
sister to let her know when I'd landed, and I did remember... Eventually... Anyway, Tac informed
me that he'd gotten a great idea for a series of photos with Zak,
who'd been mailed to me, and rode in my carry-on. Tac wouldn't tell me what his idea was, though,
because it was a surprise
... Turned out that the idea was to get photos
of Zak getting women...
Anyway, after the errands were run, one of which involved picking up a comic book, we explored
the Toys-R-Us, and then headed out to Tac's house4, where Paul H was to leave
his car, because he was going to ride down with us. We were running a little late, but luckily, so
was Paul... He found Tac's place, though, and we piled into the rental car and headed south.
Now, I'm not used to toll roads, and we took the Pennsylvania Turnpike... How many times did I
say, 'What, again?' guys? I think each time (except the first, of course...) We stopped to eat, and I
missed my first chance to pay for the only thing Tac had said he was going to let me pay for... You
see, I'd said, when I decided I was going to fly into New York and ride down, that I was going to
help with the petrol, but Tac had said that I didn't need to do that... I insisted on paying for
something to show my appreciation for the favour of driving me down5, so he said I
could pay for his capachinos on the drive down. He got one after we stopped for supper, and I
didn't realize he was getting one, so... (And actually, I ended up paying for nothing Friday, except
for my hotel room, of course...) Despite what Tac had said about how he drives rental cars, and
also despite what Paul may say about the drive down, it was no big deal6
We arrived in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, about an hour before we got to the hotel... No,
Lancaster's not that big--we went the scenic route 
Getting off on the
right exit helps some... Though, to be fair to Tac, the mapquest directions weren't all that good.
The first trip through town, I pointed out Theory's high school (he graduated this year7). Once we got straightened
out (almost) I noticed that we passed where Theory works. I kept saying we should stop in and
embarrass him, both that night and Saturday, but we never did get around to it8... We almost found the hotel on that pass through,
but it turned out that the street we were looking for changes names as it crosses the road we were
on, and we were looking the wrong way as we passed it...
We did arrive at the Park Inn eventually, and we saw a few teenagers (and a younger girl) in
the lobby--two of them looked like they had just finished playing checkers, and one of the
checkers players had a towel... That's right--we'd found Alexandra, Id, Mr. Christopher, and Wonk. I don't
remember absolutely, but I think it's safe to say that someone was on the lobby computer... After
all, there was every other time any h2g2er was in the lobby for any amount of time...
Anyway, we each checked into our own respective rooms, and were given directions to them. Tac
and Paul were given good directions... And no, the fact that I was running on three brain cells was
not why I couldn't find my room the first time. I was told to take two rights. I did. That
did take me to a hallway with rooms, but the numbers didn't go high enough. I went back to the
desk, lugging my nice big older-than-me-so-easy-to-spot-on-the-luggage-carousel suitcase with me,
and asked where my room was. Again. This time, I was told to take two lefts around the
outside of the hotel... I did eventually find my room... I'd promised Tom I'd call him once I'd
checked into my room, and I'd also promised Lady Scott, who
lives in Lancaster with her daughters, Amy and Shorty9. Unfortunately, it turned out that you couldn't use a pre-paid phone card
from the rooms, so I couldn't call Tom right then...
From here on out, my recollection of what happened when on Friday gets just a little
fuzzy10. After all, at this point, it was 9 or 9.30 pm, and
I'd only gotten three hours of sleep (not all in a row) since about 7.30 Thursday
morning11. I do
remember what happened--I'm just saying that I might get the order wrong...
Anyway, after fighting with the phone trying to call Tom, I decided to go ahead and call Lady
Scott before it got too late... So I did. I think I may even have made sense... Then I headed back
to the lobby, in search of a pay phone. On the way, I found a faster way between my room and the
lobby... I also passed a skunk by the pool... I ended up going past that skunk five times that
night12... Not sure why
I went between my room and the lobby so much that hour... I ended up having to go across the
street to use the pay phone there to try to call Tom. He wasn't there, so another nine minutes were
taken from the phone card for nothing... After that, one of the times in the lobby, I was told that
it had been decided that everyone that would be going to breakfast together in the morning, which
would include all the h2g2ers in the hotel that night, one set of parents (Id's and Wonk's--Mr
Christopher's parents and their friends were going to do Amish tourism things...), Lady Scott, Amy,
Shorty, and Jimi X, would be meeting in the lobby between 9 and
9.30 the next morning. I volunteered to let Lady Scott know, since I had her phone number, and
off I went to my room again... By the time I made it back to the lobby, one of the dads had
decided we were going to meet at precisely 9.15, and it had been determined that 9.15=4213. So someone made Tac do the '9.15 explanation' for me. I enjoyed it so much that I kept making him do it for others on Saturday, but by Sunday, he wouldn't do it anymore... The first person I'd had him do the '9.15 explanation' for was Paul, who had decided to take a walk around the block. Unfortunately, the geography of the area around the Park Inn is such that you can't do that... Or, as the saying goes, 'You can't get there from here14.'
Around 10 or 10.30, I gave up. I told those gathered in the lobby around the computer that I was going to bed. I said something about knowing it was early, but I was going to wimp out because I'd gotten only threee hours of sleep, not all in a row, and I was down to two brain cells. Goodnights were exchanged, at least one photo was taken, and I stumbled off to my room, where I'm pretty sure I fell asleep before my head hit the pillow...
Stay tuned to read what happened once the meet actually started! Meanwhile, you can read a pretty fair summary here, if you like...
not...2Yes, the meet was in Pennsylvania, and La
Guardia's an airport in New York, but it was much cheaper that way...3At least on the trip east...4And I was right, Tac--I
don't remember the name changes of that highway
5OK, so he would have been going anyway, but it's the principal of the thing...6But then
again, the car that Tom and I got last fall is semi-officially called the vroom-vroom car, so
maybe I'm not the best judge
7Yes, I know far too much about my friends' lives
8For which I am sure he is thankful...9Also with Lord Scott, of course, but he's not an
h2g2er...10Ickle bit...11OK, OK, so it was only 6 or 6.30 back home, but still...12I tried taking its picture on the fourth trip, but it was too dark out and the
skunk was just a little too far off, so the picture didn't come out...139+1+5=15, 1+5=6, 6=4+2=4214If you ever get to meet Tac, have him do that--it's hilarious! Even better than the yeti-yay
