The End...

My flight to JFK was a good flight. Strong tailwidns provided for the shortest flight ever, only 10 hours. I was pumped. I agreed to meet my father at Newark Airport cuz JFK is a bit of a hike for him to get to then drive all the way to southern Jersey for my grandfather's wake. So I took the AirTrain from JFK to Jamaica Station, aka Crack Planet, and then took the LIRR to Penn Station. I then took an NJ Transit train to Newark Airport Station. Getting on the train sucked because it was full. So right as we are about to depart the station a huge, fat, surly Black Conductor lady yells "Get on the damn train!!! Get on the god damn train!!!" at us passengers. Fortunately I was already on the train, or else she would have caught 5 across the eyes for yelling at me after the trip I had had so far.The only problem is that the train, as overcrowded as a Mexican Bus, broke down in the middle of the Meadowlands, a huge swamp adjacent to Manhattan, home of Giants Stadium. I was stuck in a giant swamp for 30 minutes until the train started moving again. Right when the train died we heard the following over the loudspeaker: Girl "I think the train is dead Joe." Joe "If your trying to tell me the train is dead I think I figured that out!!!" Only in the Northeast. Upon arriving to Newark Airport I hopped on another Air Train and went to meet my father, whom it took 40 minutes to find. AAARRRGGHHHH!!!!

Alot of things came to an end this week. One of them being the novel entitled "Life of Carl." My grandfather was laid to rest Wednesday after a funeral filled with family, friends, and friends of family who all came to pay their last respects. It was filled with tears and sadness. My grandfather was a great man, exemplified by his 66 flight missions over enemy territory in Europe during WW2. Which, if I am not mistaken, was the second most in the entire war by anyone in the Army Air Force.

Seeing him lie there in the casket, lifeless, choked me up a bit. Seeing my family crying their eyes out made it worse. Seeing my grandmother shed not one tear the entire time made me feel relieved. It let me know that my grandfather's spirit of strength and courage lives on in her.

My grandfather was buried in a military cemetary in Western New Jersey. Not sure exactly where, but I will soon learn after visiting whenever I come back to visit family. Air Force Color Guard presented my grandmother with a flag thanking him "On behalf of the President of the United States, the Armed Forces, and an eternally greatful nation indebted to his service." My mother and all of my aunts were crying, my grandmother smiled and said "thank you" and dropped her head in sadness, not a tear though.

I left for my mother's place later Wednesday night after finding out I would be down at grandma's until Sunday had I chose to stay. There is nothing for me to do there, I would be bored. Even my mother agreed it would be better for me to be with friends. So I get home and last night my friend Mike, after spending an hour trying to "jimmy" his car open with a bent hangar in the pouring rain after locking himself out, decided to stay home. Today I was supposed to eat Thanksgiving dinner with his family and slept all day cuz of my jetlag. I woke up at 12:30am. I am soo shot.

I spent my first night in NY on the phone with Miho. She is concerned that once I do meet her father he is going to flip out and yell at me. She is afraid not of him, but that I will yell back. Is she crazy? Of course not. Yelling at her geriatric father gets me no where. I will take it like a man and do the right thing. Apologize to make him feel better. Upon hearing that she was relieved and cannot wait to see me again.

The other thing that ended was Grilled Cheese-gate. NNNNOOOO!!!!!! The winning bid was $28,000 dollars. There were 27 bids on this thing. Here is a link to the auction. The winner of the "gift that keeps on giving" is Golden Palace Casino, an online gamblers paradise haha. Here is a link to the story, as reported on their official site.

Right now I am battling jetlag, fatigue, and loneliness from being away from my beautiful Miho. I return to Tokyo in four days. I cannot wait. I feel so out of place being back in the states. It is odd.