Rob's wedding

I used to play a lot of volleyball in the early years B.C. - Before Children. After Ben was born, I didn't play much and saw my volleyball friends a lot less. Getting laid off didn't help, and then I didn't see those old friends for about 3 years. Plus people moved, changed jobs, etc.

Rob called my up on a Friday night recently, asking what I was doing the next night. "Something with you, I guess" was my reply. "Come to my bachelor party", he said, and it took me a minute to realize that he was getting married. "Oh yeah, you're invited to the wedding too", which was in a couple of weeks. Rob said he couldn't reach me because Tim hadn't given him my contact info. But Rob and I work at the same company! Which he had forgotten, I guess. I had only run into him twice since I came back to Tellabs, and not in the last 6 months.

I wanted to be there to hang out with Rob, but I'm not big on going into the city, so I'm glad Tim was going so I could hang out with him. I had managed to see Tim in the last couple of years, once taking a VERY long lunch (from Mt. Prospect to downtown) to hang out with Tim, Eric, and James.

To make a long story short, we played poker for about 4 hours in a hotel room downtown. The structure was awful and you just had to get lucky. We played two tournaments and I am not exaggerating that Rob got all in with the worst hand preflop 7 times and RIVERED the winner 6 times. The other time, he turned a set, but then his opponent rivered a set. I would've thought it was a setup to let the bachelor win, if I hadn't dealt some of the hands myself. We probably only played 70 hands all night. The guys were getting extremely drunk drinking Red Bull and Vodka (blech!) and assorted other crap when that ran out. I had a few beers but didn't really feel like getting drunk. Guess I'm getting old. In the group, I had been married the longest by far.

Tim arrived around 10:00, having been at a work dinner function. We all hit the bars around 11:30. Rob was quite plowed and starting a routine of "You know what's wrong with you..." which was pretty funny. After telling it like it is (according to Rob) to a few guys, I yelled "Do me! Do me!" and everyone cracked up. The guys did some karaoke and the party broke up about 3:30.

Tim and I took a cab to the north side where he wanted me to meet some of his friends at a bar. A gay bar. Tim (although straight) plays in a gay volleyball league. So we went to this bar, did the rounds, couldn't find any friends, and left. Then we did the only logical thing to do at 4:00 in the morning and ate a gyro. I slept in Tim's guest room and listened to the pitter patter of cats running up and down the hallway. Tim's place is now a bachelor pad featuring two wide screen TVs and a terabyte MythTV server. Tim has always been envied by geeks everywhere. I was really glad that we were able to spend some time together.

In the morning, I took a cab back to where my car was parked and headed home to watch the Bears game. Later I looked at Google maps and realized that Tim lives directly next to the cemetery where my birth mother is buried. I've never been there (well, I guess I've been there once but that was 31 years ago and I don't remember), and if I had known, I would've stopped by that day. I really should plan to go another time.

So a week or two later, we went to Rob's wedding. Tim drove out and left his stuff and our place. He was going to spend the night so he wouldn't have to drive home, plus he conveniently had a volleyball tournament the next morning not too far from our place. We headed to the wedding and got there about 20 minutes early.

Joe and Kary came in from Santa Barbara and we hadn't seen them in about 4 years. Joel and Ginger were there; I run into them occasionally at work. Jay and Geoff were there too although I didn't get to talk to them a lot. There were some product planners and sales guys from Tellabs, most whose names I don't know, a couple that I do, and one guy who I had heard about a lot but had never actually seen until that day. We hung out with our old volleyball friends.

Rob's best friend performed the ceremony. In fact, I think Rob asked him to do it, and he became certified or whatever you need to do just for the ceremony. He kept things light (for example, "Repeat after me, I, Rob, am a big nerd"). It was funny but heartfelt, and he did a good job. He used the Irish Blessing (May the road rise to meet you, may the wind be always at your back...) and the Apache Wedding Prayer, which was recited at our own wedding but sounded different this time. The vows were nice and the ceremony was short.

We ate some good food, had a few drinks, danced just a little bit, and had a good time. It was really nice to hang out with old friends after such a long time. I'd like to think that we'll do a better job of staying in touch in the future, but you know how it goes.

- schneid

PS: I didn't take those pictures at Dark Lord Day and I can't remember where I downloaded them, so if they are yours, thanks!