Again, I am thankful for small blessings, minor miracles, and the occasional moment of awe in the middle of this post-holiday season.

Last night I moved all of my belongings into the new apartment. The "man with a van" that I hired was, perhaps, the BEST person in the world to do this job. The job that I thought would take about four hours to do (and cost me $200 with tip) was done in just over two hours and would have only cost me $70 (without tip).

By the time that the guy got to me I was his fifth gig for the day. It was around 9:30 in the evening and part of me was not looking forward to getting to bed around 2 AM but I just wanted to be out of the hell hole of my former apartment SOOOOO bad that I was willing to forgo sleep in order to accomplish it. I worked out a few plans with the moving guy when he arrived on how we would bring stuff down and get it all loaded into his van and then we just set out to get the job done. Within in a hour the entire van was loaded and in just over two hours the new apartment was filled with my belongings.

What impressed me the most with this guy was that even though I was his fifth gig of the day he was whipping stuff around as if it was the first job of the day carrying huge boxes and heavy loads that I wouldn't dare dream of carrying (been sick the past few days amongst other things) and really and truly giving this job 110% percent if not more. He never let down. He never complained, he just set out to do his job and seemed a wee bit shocked that it took over two hours to get it all done (he thought it would take much less) while I was shocked that it ONLY took two hours to get it done. The man impressed me to no levels considering the hour of night and the amount of work he had already done.

I gave him the full $200 I originally planned to give him for four hours of work.

When I handed him the cash he counted it out and looked at me as if he couldn't believe it. "You do know how much you just handed me?" he said, not sure if he should even be saying anything at all.

"Yes, actually I do," I responded determined to reward this guy for busting his ass off at close to midnight.

"You're sure about this?" he said stsill giving me a second chance to back out.

"Al," I said, "I thought this job would take four hours and you did it in two. You did a fucking amazing job and I'm eternally grateful for your help. I was still trying to figure out how I was going to get my stuff down here last week when I came across your ad on Craig's List. You've made this painless and effortless and I'm out of that hell in one fell swoop. You earned the money."

He sat there and looked at the money in his hands and I could kinda tell that he was getting choked up about it and I didn't want to make that big of a deal out of the whole situation because 1) I was truly impressed with this guy and how hard he worked and 2) he really did earn every cent of the money in my eyes. He looked back up at me and said, "All the work today was really geared towards helping pay rent for this month and this...this is going to put me well over the top. I really, really appreciate it."

Ever since the fire and the outpouring of love and support from friends, you can't help but want to give back the same to those around you. To show that same appreciation for just the small things in life which really and truly make a much bigger difference than you initially imagine. Through the smoke, debris, and ashes, I feel blessed to be surrounded by friends new and old who, if anything, are there for a kind word, a shoulder to lean on, and so much more. Despite it seeming like a shitty end to 2003, I actually think the fire was a good thing for me because it made me come to appreciate those around me all that much more.

For 2004, I wish everyone love, wealth, happiness, a shoulder to cry on, someone to help you up when you fall down, something to hit when you need a moment to vent, and a huge smile that will brighten not only your day but someone else's.

God (or whatever diety you prefer even if it's none at all) bless all of you in the coming year.

Love,

Brian, the 646 Guy