Last Monday evening and Tuesday morning was quite special, since for the first time ever, a fellow MAA that I have known and loved for years on this board did me the honor of being a guest at my home: no less than our own Sancho Panza. I was quite flattered that he flew a few states down after his trip to NYC to visit me, and that the very awesome A accompanied him.

Sancho is quite a nice guy, and as I said, it was an honor to have him here (my family, whom he briefly met, liked him quite a bit, too). In fact, he is more of a gem than any of you imagine for sitting down for hours in my front room and listening to me, the talkaholic, speak non-stop to him for all of that time. I did apologize for talking so much, as I was quite excited to have a long-time friend and the amazing A as guests. I got to introduce both of them to a type of soft drink that is unique this area of my home state, as well as some of the great pizza we have here, so I am hoping that made up a bit for them having to hear me talk non-stop like that :-)

Regarding A, she was every bit as amazing as Sancho has always described her. Cute as a button, she was quite shy but very polite, and quite a joy to have around. And of course, I was starstruck and flattered beyond measure to be the first friend of Sancho on the board here to meet her in person. Though I'm sure my constant talking was grating for the poor girl to endure, she did really enjoy the fruit drink I introduced her and Sancho to, and she was really fascinated by my extensive book collection and my collection of classic monster memorabilia--which includes a very large Frankenstein Monster Pez candy dispenser whose eyes light up and makes various sounds when the head is pushed back. In fact, so sentimental am I, and glad to have her for company, that I left every one of my monster figures in exactly the place she put them back after picking them up and looking at them. Just before she left, I gave her a stuffed animal of mine that I wanted her to keep as a souvenir of visiting Dissident the Big Mouth :-) (If I ever become famous as a writer, just think of how much she could sell that stuffed animal for on eBay!).

After we had pizza, A retired for the evening, as she was quite tired after a long flight to my city. Sancho stayed up and talked to me for a while longer before also retiring. The guy is a true friend who deserves a medal for enduring my constant talking :-)

A few highlights of the visit:

When the two were prepared to leave my house to take a taxi to the airport on Tuesday morning, Sancho mentioned to A that they should probably hurry and pack the items that they had removed from their bags, because the cab would be there quickly. It's hard to explain this if you weren't as lucky as I was to actually see it, but I'll describe it as best I can: when Sancho made that decree, A sped on her nimble feet towards the guest room where she stayed, and she did so in such a way that was incredibly graceful to behold; it was like she glided several feet in no more than a second rather than ran. I wish all of you could have seen it, as it would have amazed all of you as much as me, and also made all of you smile just as it made me smile.

When she first arrived with Sancho, her long, lovely hair was down. But during the convo I was having in my front room with Sancho, I just happened to notice that she had put her hair in a pony tail. That totally made me smile, and I right away pointed out that she now had a pony tail. All of you know how much I love pony tails on a girl, and she looked (as Gater would say) fantabulous in the pony tail, even though she is a major stunner with her hair down, too.

The biggest highlight of the evening and morning they were here involved Sancho, rather than A, however--and she and I got a major laugh out of it.

To start, let me say that Sancho had a very embarrassing Epic Fail moment. I'll also say right up front that I have had more than my share of these, and they usually always happened in front of other people too, so I feel his pain. And to Sancho's credit, as embarrassing as the incident was, he did what I try to do when such ungracious moments happen to me: laugh it off. I give him much credit for doing so.

Okay, here's what happened (luckily, Sancho will not have to see any of you laugh your asses off as he saw A and I do). After I called them a cab to take them to the airport, two cop cars parked in the middle of my street, due to some domestic disturbance going on with one of my neighbors (a not uncommon occurrence in my wonderful neighborhood, alas). When Sancho's and A's shuttle cab arrived, it parked near the curb a house or two away from mine. So, when the cabbie called me to let me know the cab was there, Sancho and A walked downstairs and out the front door to enter their cab. Here is where it got embarrassing for my poor bud Sancho.

When he walked outside the door, he mistook one of the two cop cars in the middle of the street for their cab, and walked right up to it and attempted to open the back door of the police vehicle (which, luckily, was locked). Now, before someone tries to defend this hilarious action by saying, "Give the poor guy a break, Diss, he doesn't know what a cop car from your city looks like," please keep in mind that the words "POLICE" are written clearly on the side of the car in big letters; further, A clearly realized the vehicle wasn't a cab and did not approach it with him, but instead stood at my front door looking at him incredulously, and pointing towards the shuttle cab parked close to my apartment complex near the sidewalk. I shouted to Sancho and likewise pointed and, turning a dark shade of red, he laughed it off and proceeded towards the correct vehicle, noting aloud that I was probably going to tell everyone on the board about this mishap (and I told him I was lol). Yes, both A and I were laughing our buttocks off. Poor Sancho, the last seconds he spent with me would have to result in something I (and probably A) will never let him hear the end of.

The major thing is, due to certain personal problems I have been having lately, I really needed a friend this week, and it was wonderful of Sancho to go out of his way to spend an evening and morning with me. It was also wonderful of A to come along with him and meet a friend of his that she didn't know who lived in a foreign country, especially an inveterate talkaholic like myself (who nevertheless has an interesting book and monster memorabilia collection). It was terrific to have them both here, as they are great people. I thank Sancho for being my friend, and for allowing me to meet A in person and seeing how truly wonderful she is. So, thanks to the two of them, this has been a wonderful week, a true calm in the midst of a proverbial hurricane.