It takes a village

Wow, I actually made it to New York. There are so many people I need to thank...

WienerLover and The Almost German, for driving me to the airport.

Mama and Papa Bossy, for instilling in me at an early age the vital importance of building in a buffer when going anywhere.

Steve Jobs, for creating a phone that syncs my contacts list to my computer. Turns out, the only phone number I have memorized besides my own is my parents'.

The nice stranger lady, for digging around to find quarters in her purse when I discovered that calling a non-local number from a payphone costs $1.

WienerLover and The Almost German, for turning around and driving all the way back to the airport to give me the iPhone that I left in their back seat.

The Continental employee who checked me in, for seeing that I was in no mood to pay an overweight baggage fee and letting my 52-lb. suitcase through without comment.

WienerLover and The Almost German (again), for bringing me marzipan back from their trip to Deutschland. Trust me, it helped.

Gossip Girl, for keeping me distracted on the plane from the fact that one girl took my window seat and another threw my coat on the floor and left it there.

My cab driver, for knowing exactly where I was going in the Bronx so that I didn't have to pretend that I knew.

DancerMan, for greeting me at the door, feeding me beer and ice cream, drawing me maps, and making fun of Mike Huckabee's Fox News show with me.

The construction workers outside my window, for waking me up nice and early with their pneumatic drill so that I got on East Coast time right away.

Thanks, everyone. I couldn't have done it without you.