I Am The Luckiest

I've been attending an annual holiday get together almost as long as our hosts have been having this event. About ten years ago, a couple of senior managers from a major investment bank went out on their own and started a business consulting with start-ups and small companies in the tech sector.

The invitation only, exclusive party originated as a means of spreading the word and developing new customers, and has blossomed into an annual celebration of phenomenal success. It is perhaps one of the more interesting and beneficial opportunities for networking, particularly with people in the New York financial community. It is also a wonderful party with good food and drinks, door prizes contributed by the participating companies, and a parting gift of a bottle of wine adorned with a commemorative label.

I am fortunate to counted among their close friends and always enjoy the party. This year there was something special in the air and it turned out to be one of the luckiest days of my life.

To begin, the desk clerk waived my $10 parking fee at the train station and while the lot was clearly over capacity with cars parked along the curb in the aisles, there at the end of one aisle just across from the stairway to the station was an empty space. After slipping into this premium spot, I dashed up the stairs and down into the station where the ticket vending machine was located. I slipped my credit card in and punched all the right buttons to buy a round trip ticket.  Plunk .. plunk.  Plunk.  What should have been two coupons, a ticket and receipt, included a third coupon. It turned out to be a second ticket!

Hopping on the train, I was on my way to the City.  As we pulled into Grand Central, I realized I had caught the train before the one I planned to make and had over 30 minutes to spare before heading to the party.

Now, up to this point it had been a pretty lucky day. But after drinks and dinner, the fun really began with the door prizes. There were a couple of Kindle Fires, some iPads and other great gifts. I turned to my good friend Susan and said how much I would love to have one of those snappy iPad2 devices so I could understand what all the fuss is about and maybe even write a little about it.

Then I heard my name called. I was the first business card pulled from the bowl and my dream had come true. I came home with a 32GB  iPad2 and a smile on my face that hasn't faded in a week.

It's out of the box and charged up. I have even played with it a bit. Something tells me you may be reading more about it here in the not too distant future.

Captain Joe

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