The Gang’s All Here

The Gang At Logan Airport

Yesterday was day 1 of Panamageddon.  I was charged with the responsibility of driving into Boston and picking up my wife’s sister, cousin, cousin’s daughter, and sister’s friend who were flying in from Panama.  After slugging through some rush hour traffic I arrived at Logan with about ten minutes to spare.  I must have made a pretty interesting sight because I was carrying winter coats for the ladies (short supply of those in Panama) as well as a stylish grocery bag filled with mittens and scarves.  This made my frenzied trip to the airport rest room somewhat of a challenge.

I was waiting at the exit door where the passengers were supposed to come out but had no luck there.  I noticed in a distance that some passengers were taking a turn earlier in the restricted zone and guessed there was another way down to the baggage claim area.  Knowing that as soon as I went down there they would appear where I had been waiting I went anyway.  I found them down at the baggage carousel waiting for their last bag.  They seemed pleased to see me – go figure.  United Airlines, for reasons of their own, decided to send the cousin’s suitcase on a later flight so we had to negotiate its release and delivery.  Translators do not get paid enough.  I found myself speaking Spanish to the clerk and English to my wife’s cousin which was the opposite of what I should been doing but eventually we arranged everything and headed out.

I was under strict orders from my wife to minimize their exposure to the cold.  They seemed to endorse this guidance although they were excited to see snow for the first time.  We got home after a very entertaining ride through the winter evening and quickly adjourned to the friendly confines of Zorba’s for that mystical pizza that’s become our signature move in greeting guests.

I did not underestimate the noise level that the house would be subjected to with the introduction of four additional Panamanian females.  My wife has one of the world’s great laughs and I sat back last night and listened to an almost continuous rendition of that great noise.  She is so happy to be surrounded by family again and that made me feel better as well.

On news of a definitively more mundane level I stopped by Best Buy to arrange installation of the new TV my son and wife bought me for Christmas.  I was a little confused on how to go about doing that but there was a great sales associate named Jemal who did a superb job educating me without being condescending.  It was an extremely positive experience. I even went on line to fill out that survey they always burden you with because I felt Jemal should receive some recognition.

My reading has been slowed down by the holidays and the fact that I started reading one of the true epics of fantasy fiction, Glen Cook’s Black Company series.  I just finished the first of four books that compile all of the novels in the series, Chronicles of the Black Company.  I always wanted to read this series but there were so many books (a good thing) that I didn’t know where to start.  Amazon solved the problem by publishing Kindle editions of the four compilation books.

The Black Company is a mercenary unit in a fictional world fighting both sword and sorcery.  They are extremely good at what they do and the story is told through the unit doctor, Croaker.  I don’t know much about Cook but it’s obvious he spent some time in the military because he got the interactions within a unit just right.  He’s also a very good story teller because this first book covered three novels where the company is decimated over a couple decades as they get involved with reincarnated gods and find themselves fighting on the wrong side for half of it. 

There are a great number of battles fought but Cook kind of glosses over these to gain insight into the personalities of the company.  I truly enjoyed the ride along with Croaker and am already enjoying the next book which I started immediately.

A Great Time at Zorba's