Part II

Okay...Here's a weekly play by play:
January 11-13 ~Average week, I got my teeth cleaned...No cavities but I need to floss more.

January 14th ~ I went to a Demostration for a vending machine company. Basically a person would buy a few vending machines, strategically place them at a business with 75-100 employees, and keep them stocked up...you may the profit off the machines. Sounds pretty dope right? I thought about but, maybe later in life...right now my financial status just is not fit for extra expenditures. I mean sure, in a few months, I probably could clear up over half the bills I have but, I really can not afford that business venture...not right now.
After the demonstration I went by a friend of mine to crab a CD for the road, cooled out for 30-45 minutes then I was off to Newport News. Had to stop by yet another friend of mine, Wakili, she was having a Sister Circle at her house and it was a ton of fun, good food, great sisters, awesome dialogue. Finally, I got on the road to head up to Richmond, VA.
I met up with a really good friend and supa flyy brotha, Brother Manisfest. We were going to Baltimore to part-take in the goodness of the Baltimore Natural Hair Care Expo. So once I got up to Richmond, I linked up with Brother Manifest, Brother Larry, and Lisa (another group of fresh sistas and brothas, I luv em') We hit up a veggie Japanese restaurant, dropped Brother Larry at the crib and we were on the road to Baltimore. Many a great conversations were exchanged on the 2 1/2 hours road trip to Maryland.
Once we get to the room and get check in, what happens next...the same thing that happens on every road trip, somebody is gonna forget something. We had to make a midnight run to Wally World (Wal-Mart). O, the midnight Wally World stories, I love my people, you never know what you are going to see. Back to the story...we hit the door running with only 15 minutes to spare before they close. I make a fast break for the lotion isle and I believe Brother Manifest had to get some soap or something, at any rate, we finally make it to the line and with one person ahead of us, we knew that we'd be out in no time. Tu shea, (I think that's right)...check this out:
As I said before, I love my people but sometimes, I wonder "Where is the logic in some of the things we do?" There was a female standing in line, her total was $141.57, she only had $130.00. All she had to do was put back a few of the miscellaneous items she had and she would have broke even...it wasn't that easy for this sister. She had to make a choice, which turned into a 20 minute choice, between some plastic flowers and toilet paper. The part that tripped me out was that she was really having a hard time deciding upon whether or not to put the toilet back so she can decorate her house, crazy right. Finally, she told her friend to go to the car and get $20 from the person that drove them there...I could not believe that she need those flowers that bad. My philosophy, if I can't afford it and it's not important, then I don't need it. Really I don't. We made it out of Wally World, back into the cold, and to the room to rest for a fun filled day of networking.

Sunday, January 15, 2006
I HAD A BLAST! It was so much fun, I love networking, promoting, make moves...it feels really good, especially if it's for a worthy cause. We set up the HND 2006 table, gave away all the free t-shirts we had, and got plenty of donations from folks...it was absolutely beautiful. Big Up to Malaika Cooper for putting a wonderful Expo together, I will be there next year. I had some good eats, good networking, saw an awesome Afrikan Dance performance, and bought to soupa dope earrings. I am still high off that weekend.
On the way back to Richmond, God was really with us. Manifest and I were talking about future business plans, great, great conversation. I am driving a good 80mph in the far left lane when out of nowhere, a giant muffler with the pipe/axle still attached appears in the middle of my lane, it was too late for me to switch lanes or slow down. In a split second everything got quiet, I barely had enough breath to say "O My God!", I squeezed my eyes really tight and...nothing. Nothing happened, we rolled right over the muffler without touching it. We must have sat there in shock for a solid 2 minutes...then we began to reflect on what'd just happened. There was no way in the world that I could have been that perfectly squared in the road to miss that muffler exactly as I'd done. I just knew that something was going to get caught up under my truck and send us off into the woods somewhere but...nothing, it was like it wasn't even in the road. I had to double check with Manifest to make sure that he saw it too, he did, he was just as much in shock as I was. A true blessing, that situation could have been fatal.
Okay, so we make it back to Richmond, grabbed a quick bite to each. Bid each other "See you laters" and I was on my way back to Norfolk, "Thank goodness I'm off tomorrow because I had a long weekend", I thought to myself. I had a blast.

Stay tuned for Part III...almost finished. :o>