In Response To: All's Well That... License & Registration, Please? ([AMS] GreyThor)
: Initially I was going to link a forum post way back in the day in which I had
: made a personal promise to attend an HBO lanfest, but I can't find it. I
: blame my impatience on school, work, and a combination of both. However, I
: have been wanting to attend an HBO lan since.. 2004, easy. This was a
: personal goal that I made when I was in high school.
: Fast forward to mid-April
: (http://carnage.bungie.org/haloforum/halo.forum.pl?read=1064162). I
: literally felt like checking out the forums, seeing what's been going on,
: and going about back to my day that involved work, work, and getting into
: summer semester classes. Oh wait... a lan? Do I have money? Can I get off
: from work? Sure, why not? Email sent!
: A few days later, I received a notification that I was invited (with Miguel
: delivering one of the greatest announcements of "If you're getting
: this email, it's because you've been officially invited to Claude's LAN
: party the weekend of May 21-22. Pat yourself on the back, loser.").
: From within an hour of reading the invitation and the following
: conversations, my excitement quickly turned to brainstorming how I was
: going to get myself from good ol' Savannah Georgia on up past the
: Mason-Dixon Line on up to Connecticut. I didn't have that kind of cash for
: gas, let alone airfare. Even with a fuel efficient Prius, there was no way
: I could have afforded the trip, so I did the one thing that could get me
: up to Connecticut: I emailed the AW List and said I was looking for people
: to road trip with.
: From the start, I had an idea that it would be Munky, Malagate, Furhman, and
: myself driving up to Connecticut. If anything All's Well did for us, we
: were able to get each other's Facebook profiles. From there, the
: brainstorming for the logistics of such a daunting road trip that would
: span eight states and almost nine hundred miles of highway went from
: there. For the trip, I was able to secure time off from work on Thursday
: through Saturday for the trip. Sunday was free because you can't buy
: alcohol in Georgia (my day off!), and Monday was dedicated towards the
: road trip back home - even though I would be missing the first day of
: class for my summer semester courses. Ah, the calculus of attending class
: vs skipping class. Guess what big Halo event won out?
: So, the Thursday prior to All's Well, I had gotten my Prius' oil changed,
: made sure I had a copy my insurance, and cleaned my car. Munky and Furhman
: came down from the Atlanta area and met up with me just after I had closed
: the liquor store that I work in, at about 9:45 PM. I hadn't really packed,
: but were planning on timing our departure from Savannah early in the
: morning to allow Malagate to finish a work related exam by 11am. So we
: left Savannah at 2 AM. About five o' was when I was too tired to keep
: going through South Carolina and decided it would be a great idea for our
: safety to allow Furhman, a complete stranger at this point still, to drive
: my car while I got some rest.
: When I resumed consciousness, we stopped to eat, I took the helm once more,
: and we arrived in Alexandria, Virginia to meet up with Malagate. We kept
: on going, but once again my fatigue got the better of me and I allowed
: Malagate to take the wheel. Eventually we made it to NYC where we were to
: meet Miguel and the Swedes he had in tow. Furhman persisted to drive from
: the back seat so we had to follow the GPS through the maze of Manhattan to
: get back on track, like lambs being led to the slaughter. It was then that
: I realized that maybe my acclimation to Savannah's heat was going to be
: detrimental, because I was cold in NYC and did not pack according to
: Connecticut's weather.
: You have to love and appreciate the GPS satellites that provide the eyes in
: the sky for us mere mortals, because we reached our destination at
: Miguel's home, where we met BOLL, Kermit, and others. We loaded up both
: vehicles after some NY styled pizza, and continued on to HBO HQ. All in
: all, we arrived at HBO HQ without any gnomes or automated turrets laying
: waste to our cramped and filled vehicles. From Savannah, GA to Bethany, CT
: my car had logged about 933 miles. We all piled out, met the old man Wu
: (he looked good for a 200 year old geezer, but we'll save his real age for
: speculation), and while some of us fired up a couple of 360s after
: introductions, I erred on the side of reason and retired for the night
: after I found a suitable bed the furthest from the mayhem.
: Saturday came, we all groggily came around towards the smell of breakfast and
: introduced ourselves once again to people who had arrived since. We gamed
: some, but I was still so fatigued that the only way I could physically
: game without clawing my bleeding eyes were to don my Costas to help combat
: the eye strain I knew I was putting myself through. Never mind the few
: naps I took throughout the weekend back up in my hidden sanctuary, I met
: some Bungie reps, old friends on Xbox Live, including who I figured must
: have been my fearless Halo 2 Clan leader, Schooly D. It was great meeting
: hellmitre, Infinite Seven, Nomi, Dhalo, Retsamolah, & Konrad. Besides
: meeting Retsamolah four years prior the weekend after Halo 3 was released
: because of a university lanfest I held in Savannah, everyone in person
: there were strangers to me. Never mind we all gamed together through mics
: and chatted on IRC channels, I had a vague idea who was who by voice, but
: it was a surreal experience being comfortable amongst all these people
: that were essentially strangers. The only bonds we had amongst ourselves
: is Halo and this community, and that was okay.
: Sunday was more of the same, although I was keen on milking my stay at HBO HQ
: as long as possible since I was not looking forward to the drive back
: South. Even with the car packed, Louis Wu was kind enough to allow a few
: more hours of gaming in the basement and also to check out his work office
: where he manages this awesome community website. By about 8:30 PM Sunday
: night, we were off again for the trip home. We were minus Malagate, who
: had to fly back earlier that day, although we ended up passing by his
: place again to return his phone charger. And now, to the unthinkable....
: When I drive, I like to go with the flow of traffic. I like to go faster than
: the slowest flow of traffic. I just can't stand being behind a vehicle
: that's slowing down the normal flow of traffic. Well, I had to explain
: that to a New Jersey State Trooper that I had been driving next to for a
: couple of minutes, who had told me he witnessed me going 88 miles per the
: hour. And it also didn't help my case that I was driving on a temporary
: license due to my not-so-perfect driving record. And that I couldn't find
: my registration amongst the CDs and packed gear we had in the car.
: Let me paint a clearer picture: I'm Middle Eastern. Munky is Latino. Furhman
: is African American/Black. Wu gave Furhman a TV and we had in the back
: passenger seat along with him because it wouldn't fit anywhere else. My
: Prius is packed from a 360, Halo games, a laptop, paintball equipment for
: three, a TV, and ourselves. Food is strewn everywhere. My car is a mess.
: And here I have a State Trooper on Munky's side of the car.
: F[KEEP IT CLEAN!]k.
: I still can't get through this in my head. All I know is that after we told
: him we were coming from Connecticut back to Georgia, and specifically that
: we were coming from a Halo event, this Trooper stopped asking questions
: about the situation and more about Halo. Furhman said that there was a
: glimmer in his eyes when we mentioned the word "Halo." The
: conversation was just too rich. And I cannot repay Furhman enough.
: "Where are you coming from?" -- Trooper
: "Connecticut. We visited family (lie) & friends at a Halo
: event." -- Us
: "Halo? The game?" -- Trooper
: "Yes." -- Furhman
: "Was it a tournament? Was it competitive or social?" -- Trooper
: "Social. Representatives from Bungie, the game's developer, also
: attended." -- Furhman
: (At this time the Trooper looked at all three of us again, and noticed the
: Bungie logo on the right sleeve of my hoodie I received from Bungie, and
: realized that this was a legit conversation)
: "Okay, one moment" -- Trooper (and he walks back to his unmarked
: cruiser)
: I knew that this Trooper could have rocked my world in the most un-fun way
: possible, although I have a valid driver's license, my insurance checks
: out, yet I couldn't find my damn registration (which I found, after I
: dropped Furhman off in Marietta, BTW!). So the Trooper comes back, and
: says: "Okay, don't speed, have a safe trip back home."
: I'm speechless. Bungie, because of the hoodie, I owe you for getting me out
: of a very uncomfortable situation. Hats off to you, I may name my dog
: Bungie.
: Fortunately, the rest of the trip was uneventful (if you don't count all
: three of us justifying if we should ram a Red Bull truck for more Red
: Bull), I got Munky back home to Dalton & Furhman back to Marietta, and
: finally myself to good ol' Wilmington Island, Savannah, Georgia! The trip
: home took something like 23 hours of dedicated driving and 1282 miles, and
: I pulled into my driveway at something like 8 PM Monday evening.
: So all in all, in four day's time, after 2215 miles on the road for 42 some
: odd hours, I achieved what I may very well consider a life goal: Attend an
: HBO Halo Lan.
: A few highlights of this Lan that makes this one of the most memorable
: weekends of 2011: - I've attended an HBO Lan (it only took me seven
: years!)
: - I met people that I've known online, through Halo, through frequenting this
: community's website, putting faces to the names that I hear in my 360's
: headset.
: - I've road trip past the Mason-Dixon Line!
: - Introduced Munky to Pretty Lights, the official music group of this epic
: road trip, which he also utilized in his AW Video he released today.
: (http://prettylightsmusic.com
Awesome meeting you, GreyThor, and that was a great write-up. It's wonderful to see that our law enforcement folks know good people (with good taste) when they see them. The love of Halo binds us all!
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