Day 1

So I left Northfield this morning at a slightly delayed 5:50 a.m. Didn't really bother me that we were leaving late since I was exhausted from not sleeping due to last minute packing. I would definitely say I had a good time in Northfield before I headed out to New York. However, I had perhaps a little too much fun as I could not seem to finish packing. This morning was strange because even though I had flown many times and left many times, my mom seemed extra worried this time around. Most times going up to the airport I usually take a little nap, but this morning I couldn't fall asleep. This trip seemed much more permanent. As if I was going away for last time, even though I knew I wasn't.

Anyway at the airport as I was waiting for my flight, a group of older "gentlemen"  were also flying and many of them were sporting Florida Marlins apparel. Very interesting considering they all obviously hailed from Minnesota. The cool part about this story is that one of the men's sons was making his major league debut that day and they were flying to watch him pitch.. Skipping ahead, I arrived in Chicago and for some reason it just seemed really busy and hectic. I never felt rushed before when flying, but this time I did. I checked my ticket on the runaway to see how long my layover was. I arrived in Chicago at about 7:20. My flight didn't leave until 8:50. Despite the fact that I was running on virtually no sleep, I still didn't sleep much on the flight. When I regained consciousness we were on the runway and I thought, "This is it. Here you are on Long Island. What were you expecting?"

I met Doug at baggage claim and at first I didn't recognize him until he did his trademark two handed wave. We then drove towards Shelter Island and Doug told me about the area. It's incredible really how different the area is in comparison to the midwest. While Minnesota was a change from Texas, it wasn't quite that same feeling. Going from Minnesota to New York reminded me of going to Australia. Everything just seemed different. We arrived at Doug's house and it was a very homely place that wasn't overly extravagant which is interesting considering how much money I think Doug has. The backyard has a incredible view of the bay and there are even a couple boats to take out. Doug and I crashed for a while until his siblings came home from school and we ended up hanging out with several of Charlie's (Doug's younger brother) friends. The quite the group of characters and provided for some cheap laughs and crude humor. As the day continued Doug and I passed the time playing some Frisbee, Halo, and traveling around his hometown. Doug's dad (Darrin) seems like a nice guy, but he also gets down to business.

Anyways, tomorrow's my first day of working for Darrin. I'm pretty nervous since it looks like I'm just going to be thrown into the fray, but  it doesn't seem like too complicated of a job.

Best wishes,
Vinh