6 degrees? or only 2?

My last trip to New York was the most amazing trip in terms of happenstance and coincidence. So, if you have a moment - read on and enjoy - I just had to write....

I got up at 5 am on Sunday morning, packed and headed to the airport for my 7 something flight. Parked the car, kiosk check in, into the security line. Behind me in line walks up Susan Z who was headed to Las Vegas for business. We start chit chatting, put our stuff on the belt etc etc and once through security I realize my phone, yes my blackberry, is still in my car charging. I hand Susan my stuff, grab my boarding pass, ID and car keys and run back through security, through the airport, up the stairs (you ever notice how there is no up escalator? there) and through the garage to my car. Success!

The flight was uneventful, got my bag, got on the Air Train and headed to Jamaica Station. Got my LIRR ticket etc and headed for track 2 for Penn Station. While standing there a young woman comes up to me and says that we were both on the flight out of Burlington and then here we are again standing on the tracks.

"Why are you going to the city?" I ask. "I'm going to the GoGreenExpo", she says. Can you believe that? Both from BTV to JFK for the expo?

Anyway, she works for a company called Lindblad Expeditions and they have just moved all their video work up here to....the next town over and she, Amy has been transferred up here from NYC with the company. So she was an exhibitor at the show - they had the best booth!

So that was weird...ok I think to myself - it's really common to know people on flights in and out of BTV....but that she was going to the Expo? NYC is massive with so many events going on on any given day.....weird.

I went to the show - which was great and I can write another entry about all that - and while there I saw that they were showing a couple movies. honestly I didn't care which movie - but by 1:00, I was tired of walking around and was looking forward to being entertained and sitting down for a bit. I found one of the rooms that had a movie and was told it was full and there was no room. I am not really sure why I stayed standing there in the hall, but I did. I just stood there waiting to get in. And I didn't even know what the movie was. I had no idea what I was waiting for. But I waited.

And less than 5 minutes later some man in a suit came out, grabbed me and guided me to an empty seat. And there I sat for the next 2 hours.

The movie was called, Fields of Fuel - check out the link or go here and check out the clip on Youtube. Amazing! Just amazing! I could also write a novel about all that as well....

But anway, there was Q & A after with the Josh Tickell - the guy who made the movie, the producer (who was the man in the suit that shuffled me in) and Josh's fiancee, Rebecca H, who is the marketing manager and they were talking about how they would like this movie to be shown in schools all across America and how they are looking for funding.

I'm not sure why? or what I was really thinking, but I went up and introduced myself and started talking to Rebecca. I told her I would be interested in learning more and getting a copy of the fundraising package etc...as I might know some people who would be willing to donate. And would they consider looking at a small state, mine for example, and try to get into all the schools there first? She says - of course! She's from the very next town to the east of us! Ok - bizarre! She reminded me there had been an article in the press about her and the movie before Christmas - I remembered it.....

So the rest of the day was normal - walking around, shopping, thoroughly enjoying the alive-ness of New York! I just love that city! It sends energy through every vein in my body!

At breakfast, Neil's, I see this woman come in and sit at the counter. We finished breakfast. Dad went off to the office....and I took a wild shot and leaned over to this woman and said, "Glynnie?". Yup. it was Glynnie and I hadn't seen her in about 18 years! We went to college together and I think the last time I saw her was at our wedding! So great to catch up!

Went to MOMA, saw the color exhibit - which highly recommend if you get a chance, then took a car out to JFK to catch the 3:10 JetBlue flight. I start chatting with the driver - he's Pakistani, blah blah blah, used to work for a company with HQ in CH. In a small town "called Lachen, but you probably haven't heard of it" he says. "Oh yes, I say, I lived just down the lake from there. He then says he worked for Transamonia! GET OUT! Our great friend has worked for Transamonia for 20 years - both in the Lachen and the Stamford Offices. My Pakistani worked in the NYC office, so I didn't bother asking if he knew Richard. What a small world we live in!

So, go to check in at the handy dandy kiosks and low and behold - the machine doesn't recongize anything I have - my CC, my trueblue #, the bar code, the confirm # - nothing! Trouble. I look at the board - the 3:10 flight is cancelled, the 9:55 flight is delayed until 11 something and the 10:45 flight was delayed until close to midnight.

"I can put you on the 9:55 flight the guy says or I can give you your money back." I looked over at a UVM student and asked her if she wanted to rent a car and drive up together - she looked at me like I had snakes coming out of my head. I took that as a definitive "NO!".

So I make the guy give me all the 800 #'s for the car rental companies and start calling. As I am making that first call to Hertz - old habits die hard - I look up and see Idoline and Angie (ski friends)...I am not at all surprised - we run into this family in random airports around the world so this was almost expected!

Yes, they were also on the 3:10 flight. So we rented a car and were on the road by 3 pm - Biddle driving us off LI, over the Throgs Neck and onto 95 through cats and dogs! It was pouring! Seven hours of chatting - what fun!

I arrived home (after returning the car at the airport etc) at 10:10 pm.

This morning I found out that the 9:55 flight had been cancelled and the 10:45 flight got in about 1:15 this morning.

What a 48 hours I had - so many degrees of seperation and weird coincidences!

Doesn't the world work in the most mysterious ways?

If you got this far, thanks for reading!