Didn’t you used to
be Steve Peifer? Adventures in Conferences and Conventions
July 4,
2005
A dream came true in the last week, and it
almost was a twofer.
I’ve been to a
conference of Christian colleges, a seminar at
Harvard, and an Oracle convention in the last few weeks. They have all
been
good, all in different ways.
The Christian conference was
in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Living in a college dormitory was enlightening; it was hard to believe
that so
many good memories came from such an ugly place. College is really for
18 year
olds; I was happy to be done with that stage of my life. It was a great
conference, and an opportunity to tell many schools about RVA.
My secret dream was to
attend one more Oracle convention while I was in
the states. I work for the most elite Oracle consulting company in America,
and they speak in an odd code that is not understandable for someone
with my
IQ. Truth is, when I was in the midst of technology, I was never much
good at
it, but osmosis did help. Being away from it so many years has caused
me to sit
on conference calls hoping that I will understand at least parts of
some
sentences.
So obviously, I would not be
on the A-team for an Oracle convention.
But owing to the miracles of geography, there was an Oracle convention
in the
town next to ours. My boss, who cures major diseases while flossing her
teeth,
managed to get me admitted to the floor.
I went to several sessions,
which showed me how hopelessly out of it I
really am. But then was the Rip Van Winkle moment. I was walking
through the
exhibitor booths, and someone asked me `Didn’t you use to be
Steve
Peifer?’
That is actually a harder
question to answer than you might think.
I got to celebrate my 50th
with lots of friends, including
one of my oldest friends who flew up from Connecticut. He is a Yale grad, so
he was
rather incensed about the whole Harvard thing, which he celebrated by
giving me
a Harvard shirt, pennant, pin and hat.
He wanted me to be PREPARED.
Harvard was amazing; it was
so helpful in learning how to help the kids
at RVA. I got to meet with legends in admissions, and I still
can’t
believe I got to go.
Wednesday night was a free
night, and they had tickets to the Boston
Pops. One of my dreams in life was to see the Pops in concert.
And yell Freebird.
If you aren’t an
American, Freebird is an old rock song that gets
requested at every concert in America.
It was a dream to yell Freebird at a Pops concert.
But then I had a moral
dilemma.
Debbie Boone
was
playing a concert in the hotel I was staying at. I don’t know
about you,
but in the 70’s I knew at least three jokes whose punch line was `Debbie Boone.’ I found out there was
a 10 pm
show, so I would go to the Pops, run back, and have a Freebird twofer.
The Pops was fantastic, and
I’m sure yelling Freebird showed my
innate sophistication to those Boston
hicks, but I have sad news to report on Debbie:
I was the only person to
purchase a ticket to the 10pm show. They
cancelled the show.
No Neil, and Debbie cancels.
How much weight can one man bear?
Fortunately, Nancy got to fly up to Boston on a frequent flier
ticket after the conference, and we celebrated 20 years of marriage.
Some
special friends had done so many special things to make it spectacular
for us.
But just being with Nancy
is pretty darn spectacular.
I missed Father’s Day,
and Katie called me and told me `A daddy
should not be away from his precious girl today.’ I’ve
never been
away from my kids on Fathers day before, and it was sad.
B
ut
Nancy and Katie picked me up at the airport, and she just
couldn’t stop grinning. It was the best father’s day
present ever,
even if it was a bit late.
The twins turn four this
week, and they are excited about seeing their
first ever fireworks. As everything with them, it is all an adventure,
and as you
celebrate the fourth, be grateful for a country that welcomed our two
little
ones with open arms.
Your pal,
Steve
PS We will be speaking at Trinity
Church in Cincinnati on July 10th at
9:30am and
11:15am. Please stop by and say hi if you are in the area. On July 11th,
we will be at some old friends’ house in Barrington Illinois
at 7pm. They live at 200
Princeton Avenue in Barrington
and their phone is (847)381-7272.
PS My cell is 682-551-1276.
We leave in thirty five days!