Starbucks Loses One of its Most Entertaining Baristas

I knew deep down that this day would come, but like a child at bed time I fought the inevitable. Yesterday, reality sank in. One of my favorite blogs of all time closed up shop.

For the last couple of years, Starbucks addicts (or in my case, recovering Starbucks addicts) tuned in to our Tumblr Dashboards or 147xxxx.tumblr.com to hear the latest hilarity, anecdotes, head-shaking conversations with customers, daily musing and brushes-with-celebrity from a Starbucks Barista working at one of the coffee giant’s stores in New York City. Yesterday she wrote what appears to be her final blog post as 147xxxx.

Sunday, Aug. 23, was her last day as a barista - her last order was three tall coffee frappuccinos. *Tears* Yesterday she announced that she would blog no more … at least not on the popular blog.

The author always remained anonymous. Just an average Starbucks Barista who worked in New York City. Though she was far from average, at least in the minds of her followers. She told it like it was and we appreciated that. Her rants were our rants. Her anonymity was one of the most intriguing aspects in following her blog. It was like an uncensored look at the real Starbucks through the eyes of one of its own. No public relations bull shit and no politically correct responses to ill-behaving customers. We didn’t know who this person was, but she was hilarious and served up more than just ridiculously hard-to-remember and who-the-hell-really-orders-those kind of drinks.

Her writing style was raw, but it worked. You could tell when she was writing in fits of frustration or laughing her ass off. The stream of consciousness flow and the random misspellings and type-as-you-speak delivery in conveying her emotions at the time, whether she was raving about one of her favorite celebrity customers like Molly Shannon, or spewing venom about the incompetence of her coworkers.

So, we say goodbye to one of the funniest Starbucks Baristas to ever blog anonymously. Hopefully, she will leave the blog up so we can revisit it from time to time and have a good laugh.

Before saying goodbye, 147xxxx left us with one final memorable post. She finally removed the vale of secrecy and introduced herself to fans of her site as Lisa. Hi Lisa. And goodbye, Lisa. Thanks for the memories and best of luck studying abroad in the Czech Republic.

Lisa, the blogger behind the popular 147xxxx.tumblr.com.

So You Think You Can Dance?

Twice. That’s how many times I’ve been asked in the last couple of months if I’d be willing to take dancing lessons with Ginger. She asked me casually some time ago and then her mom posed the question to me a week or so ago. It’s like they were testing me.

My response was typical of most men, or so I assume. I said begrudgingly, “Well, it depends on what kind of dancing, but sure, I’d give it shot.” Now, that doesn’t mean I’m ready to go out and buy a pair of dance shoes just yet, but I am interested in giving it a shot. Let’s face it, ladies like a man that can dance and it’s a pretty good work out, too. If Jerry Rice and Emmitt Smith can do it, so can I!

So, when the summer is over and schedules are more settled, Ginger and I might take some lessons at the local dance studio or the community center and see how things go. Who knows, maybe I could go to the Olympics as a ballroom dancing athlete … yeah, don’t even get me started on that.

Do you dance? Have suggestions for instructors, equipment needed (such as men’s and women’s dancing shoes), types of dance styles for beginners? I’d love to hear them (and so would Ginger). I bet Ginger would LOVE these pink dancing shoes!

Details of the Car Accident

First, Ginger and I are doing OK for the most part. We have bruises on our chest and hip from the seat belts and bruises on our legs from the impact with the console of the car. It goes without saying that our necks are really stiff and according to the emergency room doctor at UVA Medical Center, tomorrow will probably be even worse.

Second, thank you for your thoughts, prayers and outpouring of support - we really appreciate everyone’s concern during the last 24 hours. Right now we are dealing with insurance, scheduling follow up doctor’s appointments and debriefing family.

Here’s what happened…

Ginger and I were traveling south on Rt. 29 just north of Charlottesville in the left lane. Ginger was driving and I was in the front passenger seat when a Chevy Silverado pickup truck traveling north on Rt. 29 attempted a U-turn, but did not stop to see if any cars were coming south bound and he pulled right in our path. There was no time to react and we slammed into the right side of his truck doing 60 miles per hour.

The collision was violent, loud and frightening. After the initial impact, the car deflected to the right and ended up in front of a sign for a driving range and golf shop. We were both dazed and disoriented - both airbags deployed on impact and there was a lot of smoke in the cabin. The seat belt impact knocked the wind out of me and we both had trouble getting a deep breath for a few minutes after the accident.

We checked each other to see if we were alright and then managed to get out of the car. We looked for the truck but it was no where to be found. Another car following the truck had the truck driver’s wife and a real estate agent inside. The real estate agent dropped the wife off and went to get the driver of the truck and get him to come back.

He eventually came back, but he did not drive his truck, he rode with the agent. When he got back I overheard him telling the sheriff’s deputy that he didn’t see anyone coming and that he did not know he’d been hit. How do you get hit by a car going 60 mph and NOT know you got hit? A Silverado is a sturdy truck but it’s not a tank.

Ginger had some chest and neck pain so they took her to UVA Medical Center for precautionary measures. They checked me out on the spot and I felt okay other than the usual pain you’d expect from a collision of that intensity, so I signed a waiver so I could ride in the ambulance with Ginger. Make no mistake, though, I am going to see a doctor tomorrow morning.

We got the hospital and the ER was pretty packed so it took some time for a doctor to see Ginger, but he checked her out and she was doing fine - just neck pain, shoulder pain and all the other pains you’d expect from that kind of accident. The doc advised us to see our family doctors in the next couple of days and warned us that we would probably start feeling the real effects on Tuesday. Fun. Not.

A Virginia State Trooper came by to take our statements and after he was done, he told us that the driver of the Silverado had been charged and was “clearly at fault.” He told us the court date for the case if we wanted to appear and to testify.

Ginger’s parents drove down from Jeffersonton (it’s near Culpeper) with an extra car for us to drive home. While Ginger was waiting to get looked at, her dad and I drove back up to where her car was towed and got all of our stuff out of it. Then we drove back to the hospital, by which time Ginger had been discharged.

We said goodbye to her parents and got in the minivan (yes, I finally had to drive a minivan despite years of denials) and drove the remaining 2-1/2 hours home. It was a tense drive home because suddenly, you are on the look out for all the crazies (and there are a TON of them) on the road that are not paying attention.

We’re very grateful that it wasn’t much worse. The car, which is totaled, can be replaced. Clearly, Ginger and I, cannot - and let’s face it, we’re two WONDERFUL people, right? RIGHT!!?? :-) See, we’re still smiling and laughing - but it kinda hurts a little when we laugh - sore necks, chest, hips, legs … well, you get the point.

Thanks again for all of your kind words, thoughts and prayers - it means a lot to us and it is good to know that we have such a loving bunch of people in our lives!

The car formerly known as a 2006 Honda Civic… :(

Finally Got the Car Fixed

For the last several months, my car has been making a pretty loud sound. Naturally I was concerned, but considering I was out of work at the time, what could I do about it? I didn’t have the money to get it fixed. Finally, in March, though I was still without a full time job, I had done enough free lance work to take the car in to the shop.

I normally go to South Main Auto in Blacksburg. They are generally considered to be over-priced, but they usually do good work and all my previous maintenance records were already in their system. So, off I went. I explained the loud noise and that the “check engine” light was on. They didn’t even test drive it to hear the sound. They hooked up their computer to my car and said it was the catalytic converter and that would be $320 for a complete fuel injection cleaning.

What a load of crap. Biggest waste of $320. It didn’t do a darn thing - the car was just as noisy as ever AND the check engine light didn’t go off. That was all the money I had for car repairs (they wanted to charge me $200 to change spark plugs, but I did it myself for about $30), so I couldn’t take it back to get the real problem fixed.

Then in late March I was offered that job at Virginia Tech and started in mid-April. After building up a couple of paychecks and doing some more free lance work, I was able to take the car back in on Friday. I took it to a different shop - Auto Repair Specialist. Pretty original name, don’t you think?

Before taking the car in, I did extensive research on the Web looking for others whose cars had the same symtoms as mine; loud noise and vibrations that worsened the faster you went, but got quieter during right turns. The verdict … wheel bearings. Apparently, these are pretty important - something about holding the wheel onto the axel?

So, I took it to the new shop and explained with the confidence of an amateur grease monkey that I was 99 percent sure it was the wheel bearing. I ruled out tire balance because the steering wheel was not vibrating (been there, done that), and I ruled out an alignment because the car wasn’t pulling to either side and the tread wear was even on all four tires (been there, done that).

The guys nodded at me and said they’d check it out, but it sounded to them like it was indeed the wheel bearing - probably on the right side. I nodded somberly as well, basically conveying that I, myself, would fix the problem, but I am far too busy with my office job and besides, I’d much rather support local businesses in these tough economic times. They humored me, fixed my car and then took my $421.

But, I’m not complaining because my car is fixed and it is whisper quiet again! Well, that might be a stretch, but relatively speaking, anything would be quieter than it was before. You think I’m kidding, but even Nic would point out that, “Daddy, your car is loud. You need to take it to the ‘chanic!”

Thankfully, I got the car fixed in time for our day trip to Winchester to see my uncle, aunt and cousins, especially Megan, who graduated from high school on Friday. I will write a separate blog post about our awesome day in Winchester. We packed a TON of fun into the day.

So, wrapping up … South Main Auto, bad; Auto Repair Specialist, good; Bank account, empty; Car, fixed; Nic and Daddy, very tired.

(PS - It’s late and I didn’t feel like spell-checking so sue me.)

Nationals Draft Over-hyped Pitcher with $50 Million Price Tag

Usually having the No. 1 pick in any professional sports draft is a good thing, but that might not be the case for the Washington Nationals. The team selected San Diego State pitcher Stephen Strasburg with the top pick in the Major League Baseball draft this week and already, reports are stirring that Strasburg’s agent, Scott Boras, has stated that it will take $50 million in guaranteed money to sign the hard-throwing prospect.

Salaries in professional sports are out of control and that’s for players who have proven they can play. But when Scott Boras, who is by all accounts a greedy money grabbing low life, is telling teams that his client is worth $50 million in guaranteed money, we’ve gone far beyond insanity. No, we’ve crossed into a whole other dimension. Of course, we are in the government bailout era where billions of dollars are being throw around like chump change, so maybe Boras (pronounced Bore-ASS by my favorite sports radio show host Steve Czaban), thinks no one will notice another $50 million.

This kid has been a good pitcher for all of two seasons. A large percentage of MLB players are drafted out of high school, but every MLB team passed over Strasburg because he was a trouble maker, according to an ESPN.com article back in February.

“I saw a game where there were quite a few scouts there and he blew up, just absolutely lost it on the mound,” said an American League scout. “He was a kid that would challenge his infielders when they would make mistakes. He would challenge his coach. He would challenge the umpires. … When you put that into the professional equation, it doesn’t work.

“I think 30 teams got it right with Stephen Strasburg. I don’t think we missed it. Everyone did their job. And it seemed like we all came to the same consensus: not quite ready.”

During his freshman year of college baseball, the strength and conditioning coach flat out told him he should quit. To his credit, hearing that only ticked him off and he set out to prove everyone wrong. He dropped 30 pounds, added 8 mph to his fastball and was throwing 101 mph by his sophomore year. That’s pretty impressive, but two very good seasons does not equate to $50 million, sorry.

He pitched in the Mountain West Conference, not the ACC or the SEC, the Mountain West. His numbers are astronomical, but if I’m a MLB GM, there’s no way I am paying this kid that kind of money when he hasn’t even throw a single pitch against MLB-caliber hitters.

Also, keep in mind that the current record for largest contract handed out to a No. 1 pick is about $10 million, which went to Mark Prior of the Cubs several years ago. Mark had potential, but like a lot of hard throwing pitchers, he was plagued by injuries and is currently out of baseball. But Boras expects the Nationals to pay this unproven kid FIVE times the previous signing record? In guaranteed money? What a farce.

If the Nationals pay it, they get everything they deserve. I don’t want to see the kid fail, but anything less than 20 wins a season and a record-setting pace of Cy Young Awards will be a disappointment.

That Nationals need to make a stand and tell this kid that he’s getting $10-15 million, take it or leave it. I hate that he’ll get that much, but I’m going with the times here. If the Nationals can’t sign him, he sits out a year and waits for next year’s draft, but I doubt he’d sit out a year - he’s probably pitch somewhere in an independent league. Of course, then he risks getting hurt and losing out on any chance of a big payday. It’s a game of chicken, really, but I’m afraid that the Nationals, like most teams, will cave in and give this kid a ridiculous contract.

And this is one of the reasons that I don’t follow MLB any more. These guys get paid way too much money and I refuse to pay $40-$80 for a ticket so these guys can get their millions every year for playing a kids game. I’d much rather go watch a minor league game, college game or even a local high school game where they still play for the love of the game.

Track Clicks of Shared Links with Bit.ly

Remember Tiny URL? I do. I remember it like it was yesterday … well, it was about six months ago, but in the world of social media six months feels more like decade. I discovered a new URL-shortening tool called bit.ly. I have seen it before and even used it because it’s shortened URL structure was slightly smaller than Tiny URL, but it wasn’t until recently that I discovered additional features that allow you to track how many people click on the links you share and even add a sidebar to make sharing even easier.

Both Tiny URL and bit.ly have browser bar tools that allow you to shorten a URL (Web site) by simply clickling a button in your browser. Bit.ly, however, takes it step further by allowing you to create an account and adding a sidebar that slides out when you click on the browser bar button. From this sidebar, you can send the automatically shortened link via Twitter, Facebook, Gmail or e-mail. Or, you can copy and paste it manually if you are leery about linking your Twitter account.

Once you have an account and are logged in, you can start seeing stats for how many times your followers and/or friends are clicking on the links you share via Facebook, Twitter and e-mail. Cool, I know … but how does this help me?

For starters, it appeases general curiosity. How many people find what I share interesting enough to click on the link? If you aren’t getting any clicks then perhaps you should consider a couple of things:

1) Maybe your followers are not interested in what you have to say.
2) Consider rewording your anchor text (text describing the link) to make it more appealing.

You’ve probably seen the Twitter posts that reads something like…

“OMG! You HAVE to check this out! http://clickhere.dufus”

No way I am clicking on that link. I have no idea what it is and I don’t like surprises (at least not on the Web). I want a heads up about the link I am about to follow. Be more descriptive about the link you are sharing. For example:

“Check out The Lyric theatre in Blacksburg for a cheap movie date! Two tix, large soda & free popcorn (Mondays) for $11! http://bit.ly/uUHYO”

My followers know exactly what they are getting and if they like the “headline” that I have provided, they are more likely to click on the bit.ly link.

There was a time when using a URL condensing tool didn’t really make much sense because in some cases, it actually made the link longer and added more characters to your 140-character limit with Twitter. For example:

http://thelyric.com has 19 characters as does the bit.ly version - http://bit.ly/uUHYO. So, what’s the benefit? Tracking! That’s where bit.ly does a great job of providing incentive to shorten a link even when it doesn’t actually shorten a link.

For SEO folks (search engine optimization) there is the question of whether TIny URL and other link shortener tools pass “link juice” or anchor text value on to the link URL that was condensed. According to some SEOs Google has started following the Tiny URLs and passing anchor text value.

My other concern is that some of these services will eventually shut down and then you are stuck with a plethora of broken links and subsequently an error 404 hell for a Webmaster. Eventually a front runner will emerge from the URL shortener race and will hopefully stick around for awhile so that all our itsy bitsy URLs will remain intact.

For a more thorough explanation of URL shorteners and the various services available, check out Jane Copland’s post at SEOMoz.com. The post is from last September and Jane is no longer at SEOMoz in Seattle, but it’s still a valuable and informative resource.

Tumblarity at Zero

I love Tumblr. I really do. I have e-mailed Marc the occasional suggestions to improve the user interface and SEO-friendliness of the post structure. Each time Marc e-mails me back to thank me for the input and to let me know that he has forwarded my suggestion to the development team.

But I take umbrage over Tumblr’s latest addition to the dashboard … the Tumblarity index. I lead a pretty quiet life. I have a beautiful, happy and healthy little boy who just turned 4 years old, a job that I really enjoy, good friends, a supportive and loving family and an amazing girlfriend. Life is pretty good … until I log into Tumblr and see that my Tumblarity - which I can only assume is my popularity rating amongst the Tumblr community - is sporting a big fat ZERO.

Thanks, guys. Way to smack around my ego. Is there any way we can turn that off? Make it optional? Sure, for the really popular people like 147xxxx.tumblr.com, whose Tumblarity is off the chart, it’s a great thing. But for the average Joe who just likes to vent to no one in particular at all, why should I be subjected to a popularity contest?

Is anyone else having flashbacks to high school? No? So, it’s just me, right?

Does Michael Vick Deserve a Second Chance?

Michael Vick is back home in Hampton, Va., after being released from prison yesterday. The disgraced and supposedly penniless former NFL star will begin work at one of W.M. Jordan Co.’s 40 commercial construction sites earning $10 an hour as a general laborer. The company’s president, John R. Lawson, is an ‘75 grad and a member of the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors. Clearly he believes that Vick deserves a second chance, as do I.

Here’s the thing that really bothers me: Michael Vick did more time in prison, 19 months, for killing pitbulls, than St. Louis Rams defensive lineman Leonard Little did for killing a woman in 1998 while driving drunk. Little served 90 days in jail, four years probation and 1,000 hours of community service… He KILLED a woman. A mother. A wife. A 15-year-old boy lost his mom and a husband, who had already lost a daughter to a car accident lost his wife. And all Little got was 90 days in jail.

The NFL suspended him for eight games. Vick has already missed two full seasons and could very well get a suspension from current no-nonsense commissioner Roger Goodell, but he has said that he will not even meet with Vick until the former star’s home confinement is completely on July 20.

Following Little’s 90 days in jail, he said that he would never forget what he had done. Apparently he did because in 2004 he was arrested for driving drunk and speeding. He failed three sobriety tests, but somehow the charges were dismissed and he walked away with a mere speeding charge. Unbelievable.

So, what can we take from this? That killing a dog, while unthinkable and detestable, is a greater crime in our society than killing a human being. Some will argue that in Little’s case he didn’t intentionally mean to kill someone. Bullocks! He got in the car while drunk and he should be responsible for his actions. In my opinion, Little deserved more jail time than Vick and so does Dante Stallworth of the New Orleans Saints, who faces DUI manslaughter charged after killing a man while driving drunk. And now for the head-shaking bit of news from Yahoo! Sports, according to Jason Cole’s article Stallworth may get break on manslaughter charge:

Stallworth, who is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday, may still have to serve time in jail and reach a civil settlement with the family of Mario Reyes, who was killed when Stallworth hit him in the early morning hours of March 14. However, Stallworth’s jail time could be only a matter of two or three months rather than the possibility of up to 15 years in prison under state law, two NFL sources said this week. Beyond that, Stallworth could play this season, one of the sources said.

Only a matter of two or three months? He could play this season? For killing a man? Am I the only one outraged by this? Thankfully I’m not alone , but it seems like we’re in the minority. Kill a man and you can be out of jail in 2-3 months and play that season. Kill pitbulls and go to prison (not jail, there is a difference) and serve nearly two years and miss 2-3 seasons. Yeah, America, our priorities are completely out of whack. Stallworth should be suspended for the season, at least!

The other things that bothers me about this whole thing is that PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) says Vick doesn’t deserve another shot at the NFL until he passes a psychological evaluation. Really? Really, PETA? Your whack job zealots go around throwing blood on people … perhaps you need to undergo psychological evaluations before you start mandating who can and cannot return to their job after paying their debt to society as prescribed by their sentence.

What Vick did was horrible and as a dog lover I do not condone what he did. But he paid his debt to society. He paid more for his crime than his peers did or will for their crimes of killing a human being. Vick deserves a second chance and I can’t wait to see him get his life together, show repentence and then get back on the field.

Who Is Following Me on Twitter?

Since joining Twitter in January 2008, I have posted more than 4,100 Tweets, received more than 500 “follow” notification e-mails and currently have 360 followers. At first, I did my best to weed out (i.e. block) the accounts using Twitter for the wrong reasons such as spamming, shameless self promotion or agressively pushing an agenda. But, with about 10 new follows a day, it became a bit time consuming to go through and block all the bots and jokers that started following me.

With so many new followers every day, why isn’t my “followers” list a little bigger? Well, that’s because Twitter appears to be doing a great job of suspending the suspicious accounts. For example, yesterday I got hit with four new followers whose user names all followed a similar pattern - a woman’s first name, a middle initial and a year. (See the image on the right.)

Though I have no information or research to back it up, my theory is that these Twitter spammers (Twammers) are targeting males by using women’s names and years - presumably birth years - to appeal to an age group that I might consider potential dating material. I believe these accounts are automatically generated and then use an API script to search for a specific demographic within the Twitterverse.

What I cannot understand is how anyone with half a brain could consider these accounts to be credible and return the follow. Any time you have a Twitter account with a disproportionate ratio of following/followers, that should be a red flag. If very few people are following a user, but they are following several hundred, be cautious. There are some accounts, such as CNN, that have a million-plus followers, but don’t follow very many in return. That’s acceptable in my book. Not ideal, but acceptable.

What other signs should you look for before you follow someone that has followed you on Twitter? Excellent question! Assuming you aren’t one of those people that likes to rack up the “followers” total on your profile, and you actually care about credibility and your online reputation; just using a little common sense will point you in the right direction. Here are just a few things that I look for:

Do they have a picture?

If the picture is of some busty woman in a bikini or provacative pose, that’s a huge red flag and grounds for immediate blockage. I prefer to see a face so that I at least feel like I might have the opportunity to communicate with a human and not some corporate mouthpiece. I do follow some Twitter accounts with logos or other non-personal images, but those are generally trusted accounts like CNET, CNN, LighterFootstep, etc.

What does their bio say about them?

This is probably the third thing I look at, right after their user name and profile picture. I want to know if they are real. If their profile is related to my interests and seems genuine, then I am more likely to reciprocate the follow. If there is no bio, 99 percent of the time I will not follow them. Take the time and tell me about yourself (in 160 characters or less) and you will likely get more followers.

What do they Tweet about?

Content, content, content. It’s the Twitter equivalent to real estate’s location, location, location. What are they Tweeting about? Are they pushing links all the time with masked URLs from tinyurl.com, snurl.com and digg.com? If so, that’s a red flag for me. I get enough e-mail spam - I don’t want it showing up on my Twitter stream. Are they interesting, funny or posting informational content? If so, I am more likely to follow. If every other post is “People are dumb,” I would likely include that person in the aforementioned generalization and not follow them.

Also, if someone posts inflammatory or offensive content, I will “unfollow” them. I actually stopped following someone for their derrogatory and ignorant comments about President Barack Obama. I respect people’s right to free speech and the fact that everyone has their own opinion, but I also value my right to not listen. That being said, I don’t unfollow people for posting opinions with which I disagree, but if there is a pattern of offensive posts, you are going to get the unfollow.

How many posts?

This criteria is related to the previous two items in that I want to see how many Tweets this person has under their belt. If I visit a new follower’s profile and they’re following 500+ people, have two followers and only 1 update, that’s a pretty good sign that this is not a legit account. I have had legit newbies follow me and when I see their profile I see they are following 20 people, have 12 followers and a few posts. I will give that Twitterer the benefit of the doubt and see how they do. I am all about encouraging the use of social media, but only for the purposes of good, silliness, frivolity, tomfoolery and of course networking and knowledge sharing.

I think just using a little common sense will make your Twitter experience a little more enjoyable. And don’t be afraid to not follow or unfollow someone or something that you don’t feel comfortable with.

Recapping a Fabulous Wesley Weekend

This past weekend I had the unique opportunity to meet a lot of great people associated with Blacksburg United Methodist Church through its affiliation with the Wesley Foundation. My friend Ginger earned her master’s degree at Virginia Tech in 2007 and during her year at Tech she sang for the Wesley Foundation’s “Wesley Singers.”

The Wesley Foundation - and the Singers - have been led by Glenn and LaVina Tyndall for the last 35 years. Earlier this year, they announced that they would retire at the end of June, so the 35th Anniversary celebration scheduled this past weekend took on added significance… It would also serve as a farewell party of sorts.

Before this weekend, I had never met anyone from Wesley, other than Ginger. After the weekend, I wish I had been a part of such a close-knit family! Nearly 400 alumni, family and friends came from all over the country and even one very prominent alum flew in from Germany. Robert Chafin (‘83) is a professional opera singer in Germany and sang for two years with the Wesley Singers while at Virginia Tech before he was encouraged to transfer in order to achieve his dream of becoming a professional singer.

Ginger was a member of the planning committee that organized the entire event. One of her main responsibilities for the weekend was to arrange for the table decorations - no small task for 44 tables. Half of the tables were decorated with fresh flowers and the other half with heart-shaped dishes with decorative rocks surrounding a vanilla-scented candle. Every table came with three helium-filled balloons of alternating maroon and white.

Ginger and her sister, Sarah, went to the location of the event - the Christian Life Center (CLC) - on Friday evening to begin setting things up. Later that evening, Sarah, her boyfriend Josh, Ginger and I went to the War Memorial Gym on campus to watch some water polo between the “old people” and the “young people.” We were amazed by the turnout in the stands - it was packed! Naturally, I cheered for the “old people,” except for when Sarah played in the women’s game. As expected, the younger team won both games, but while the men’s game was a blowout, the women’s game was much more competitive. Regardless, everyone had a good time!

Early Saturday morning, we all went back to the CLC to continue setting up all the tables, chairs and decorations. I helped with the balloons by inflating them and attaching ribbons. Two other volunteers tied three balloons together, attached them to rocks with the words “Love Grows Here” (the theme of the event) painted on them, and set them on every table.

Ginger and Sarah arranged 22 vases of fresh flowers to put on half of the tables. Then, we put programs on every table - one for each seat. After about three hours, we were done for the most part. We packed up and headed home to shower and change clothes. Ginger and Sarah had choir rehearsal at 1:30 while I was off to the 2009 Virginia Tech Spring Game.

We met up around 3:30 to head home and get ready for the big evening. We arrived at the CLC (again) around 4:50 to make sure everything was ready. A few more balloons had deflated, but Ginger took care of them while I ran home to pick up a few things and make sure my place was ready for company - my friend Niemo and his girlfriend were crashing at my place since they were in town for the spring game.

I got back to the CLC right before it officially began. The caterers had arrived and I could smell the food. A ton of people were gathering - some of whom I had met the night before at the water polo games. I finally found Ginger, got my name tag and was ready to enjoy the evening with my lovely date.

All things considered the evening went off without a hitch! Everyone raved about the table decorations and rightly so - Ginger and Sarah did a great job! The food was average, but we weren’t there for fine cuisine, we were there to socialize and have a good time.

Glenn got up to speak toward the end of the meal and it was clear that he was overwhelmed by how many of his former students had returned to Blacksburg for the reunion. More importantly, I think they were there to honor Glenn and thank him for all that he and LaVina have done for so many people. I was amazed to learn that Glenn, an ordained minister, had officiated the weddings of more than 80 Wesley couples! And by couples I mean people who met while in Wesley. That’s more than 2 couples a year. To me, it illustrated what a close-knit group Wesley is.

After dinner, everyone pitched in to clear the tables, stow them away and set up the chairs for the night’s entertainment called “Coffee House.” It was a mixture of skits, music and comedy (or at least attempts at comedy). But one thing was evident throughout the entire evening … Glenn and LaVina made quite an impact on the lives of so many. Grown men were reduced to tears as memories were shared.

In the end, the emcee of the evening, an alum in his 40s, was wrapping up the event and was trying to convey to the Tyndalls just how much they have meant to so many. He said that “Thank You” just didn’t cut it. As he fought back the tears, he said that best way any of the alums could thank Glenn and LaVina, was to go out and give back the way that they did. Go out and make a difference, he said. I looked around the room and saw plenty of tears and even more smiles. When he finished, the crowd of 400+ stood in unison and applauded their minister and friend. It was a powerful scene - of which I was very honored to be a part.

Sunday at church, the Alumni Wesley Singers performed and Ginger was up there with them. They sounded great! My favorite song off their CD is Amazing Grace (<— click to listen). The entire service was mostly music and while it lasted nearly 90 minutes, you completely lost track of time. Rober Chafin, the tenor who sings professionally in Germany, sang “The Lord’s Prayer” in operatic fashion and it sent chills down my spine when he got to the end. I had never neard such a powerful voice in person and it was incredible.

Though it was an exhausting weekend, we had a lot of fun and made a lot of memories!

Ginger and I outside the CLC before the dinner.