What the hell took me so long?

Wow, I see that it has been four months since I started this and four months since I posted anything. Not that it matters, nobody reads this anyway. Which begs the question...Why bother? Well, obviously I haven't bothered. Things have been rather slow for me over the last few months, with a couple of exceptions.

Back in March I purchased a Colt .45 ACP, series 70 1911. Let me just say, this is a very nice gun. It feels good in my hand, it fires straight, and I like the tradition inherent in the Colt name. What's the old saying? "God made all Men, Samuel Colt made them equal." After the Civil War the popular saying was "Abe Lincoln may have freed all men, but Sam Colt made them equal." Just a little trivia. Anyway...since the purchase I have made a weekly trek to the shooting range. Talk about a good stress reliever.

On April 20th I had what might be described as a life altering experience. I do not exaggeratete about this reader, I am forever changed what I experienced and will always remember April 20, 2006 as a watershed moment in my life. Let me tell you about it.

For most of my life I have been a fan of Jimmy Buffett. I love his music, something about it just lifts my mood without fail. My love for his music had not prompted me to actively seek tickets to any of his concerts however, mainly because of my distaste of crowds and most people in general. A little less than ten years ago that changed, I began thinking that maybe a Jimmy Buffett concert would be fun. I've seen the videos, looks like fun, perhaps it was time for me to make a journey to see my oracle in person. The first couple of years after these thoughts started I made half hearted attempts to acquire tickets, the net result of which was failure.

After those first attempts to obtain tickets, my desire to see Jimmy live grew, perhaps the early failures spurred my desire, perhaps my soul was crying out for healing, healing that could only happen through a pilgrimage, a musical hajj if you will. Either way, all I know is, I had to get tickets, I had to see Jimmy Buffett live.

Over the next few years, the only things that changed in my attempts to get tickets to see Buffett were my frustration and disappointment as at every turn I was unable to purchase seats. Oh, sure, I could have gone through a ticket broker, but those guys are no better than scalpers in my book, never used one, never will. All this changed in January.

About halfway through the month of January, while perusing the Margaritaville website, I noticed that Jimmy was going to be touring with the always cool Coral Reefer Band. Now I was prepared. I had advance notice of the tour, I new the tickets would go on sale soon, and I now have an AmEx card. I quickly ascertained when ticket sales would commence and marked the day on my calender and waited.

Finally the morning arrived. I sat at my computer at work, AmEx card in hand, Ticketmaster's website on my browser, and a fresh Mountain Dew at the ready. As 10:00am drew closer I steeled my nerves for the frenzy that was about to take place. *CLICK* Ten o'clock!! With a speed and fury I had never before seen, my fingers worked the keys...artist...venue...date...number of tickets...price range...SWEET MOTHER OF GOD, COULD YOU MAKE THIS ANY HARDER?!! Finally...enter...search results...crap, those seats are too far back. Again I searched, and again. Finally I settled on three tickets near the middle of the amphitheatre, I say settled because I decided to end my search for fear of losing another opportunity of seeing the show. Previous attempts were hindered by the show selling out before I could even look for tickets, this time my quest had yeilded fruit. Well, tickets.

Three tickets, my wife, my best friend, and I were going to see Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band, live. Both my wife and I had never seen him so this was going to be pretty cool. I cannot express to you the excitement I felt. And the relief. Finally, I was going to see Jimmy. In three months. Three months. A lot can happen in three months.

Not long after the tickets were purchased my wife paid a visit to the doctor. He referred her to another doctor. Next thing we know, she is scheduled for major surgery on April 9th. That's right, eleven days before the concert she decides would be a good time for a procedure that could wait until after the concert. In her defense, her memory isn't so hot most days and I'm sure she hadn't even thought of the concert when sheduling the surgery. Unfortunately, the recovery from the operation was going to be 6-8 weeks and the discomfort she would be experiencing coupled with the effects of the prescribed pain killers would prohibit her from attending the concert.

Now you have to understand, I love my wife deeply. It's a passionate, unconditional love. It's a love I never thought I'd find, a love that just kind of snuck up on me, snuck up on us. To say "she completes me" may sound corny and cliche', but it is extremely accurate. We enjoy each other's company, we enjoy doing the together,especially things we've never done. Quite simply, there is nothing I wouldn't do for this woman. The idea of taking care of her while she convalesced was, for me, something to relish. But we're talking about Jimmy Buffett...in concert. The culmination of a ten year quest.

What to do, what to do. After much thought and consideration, I reached a decision. I would forego the concert and stay home with her, just in case she needed help.

I decided to sell our tickets, including the premium parking pass. Jimmy would come around again. No worries.

Well, there was a glut of Buffett tickets on e-Bay. For both days he was to perform, Thursday and Saturday. Our tickets were for Thursday. As the day drew closer, there were no bids for the tickets. I was having second thoughts about not going, the Mrs. seemed fine, not 100%, but she was getting around. I knew she would still be unable to attend, but she wouldn’t want us to waste all that money, right? Truthfully, she was disappointed that I had decided to pass on the show. Neither one of us are big concert goers these days, but she knew how much this meant to me.

So, the decision was made, the die cast. I was going to the concert without her. I would meet my buddy and a friend of his at the show, and I would have a good time.

The day finally arrived, April 20, 2006. I set out right after work, no going home first for me, I had to drive eighty plus miles through two counties (Los Angeles and Orange), during afternoon rush hour traffic. I had four and a half hours to do it. I made it to the venue, the Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre, with 45 minutes to spare.

First, let me say this, if you are going to a Jimmy Buffett concert, arriving 45 minutes early isn’t early enough. Some of these people had been there all day. I have been to college football games, I have been to professional football games, I have never before seen tailgating to this degree. It was mind boggling. Blenders plugged in to the AC outlets of cars, truck, SUVs, music, dancing, food, alcohol. The parking lot was one big party. The party continued inside the gates. Two stages with bands performing, more alcohol, more food, more dancing. Party, party, party. In my younger days I had been to many a concert but I have never seen anything like this.

The show itself was phenomenal. You may think you’ve been to a concert, but you haven’t seen anything until you’ve seen Jimmy Buffett live. I’ve seen Meatloaf, Genesis, Tom Jones, Neil Diamond, Rod Stewart, Ted Nugent, Bad Company, Billy Joel (several times), Bad English, Foreigner, Journey, Asia, and many other bands live, Jimmy Buffett blows them all away. If you even remotely like one of his songs, go see him live. Seriously. This man obviously loves performing for his fans, he obviously loves performing period. He was energetic, engaging, and fun. You have not been to a concert until you’ve been in the middle of a crowd of Parrotheads during a Jimmy Buffett concert. It was, simply put, amazing. He does all the songs you know, then he does some more.

It was almost a perfect night, almost. There was only one thing missing. Only one thing that prevented it from being a perfect night. My wife. I truly wish we had been able to share this experience together. Did I have a good time? Oh yeah. Did I enjoy myself? Not so much. I called her when he started the show, he opened with what has become our official Buffett song, “Boat Drinks”. Held the phone up so she could hear it. She tune into Radio Margaritaville on the internet, his shows are broadcast live on the station, so she was able to listen to what I was seeing, but it’s just not the same. I missed her more than ever that night.

If asked about the show now, a month later, I still talk about it as if it were just yesterday.

For two days she listened to me talk about the show, but no matter how colorful my descriptions, she didn’t quite grasp what I was saying. In an effort to make her understand, I picked up the DVD he has out, Jimmy Buffett Mini Matinee #1. It’s a collection of five or six songs performed live at different venues around the country. She got chilly bumps when she saw the performance of “Fins”. She was finally starting to understand.

The night was almost perfect. I will never again be able to experience the joy of going to a Jimmy Buffett concert for the first time, but the next time I go, I will have the absolute pleasure of watching the face of my wonderful wife as she experiences it for the first time. That will be a perfect night.