The problems started when our plane was about to take off and the left engine was emitting fumes. Sure enough, the plane wasn't safe, and we had to take another one to Salt Lake City. We touched down right as our connecting flight was taking off for Vegas. 

Well, the only flight we could get confirmed on was not until 8pm, which was not an option if we were to make it to the show on time. We pleaded to the nice Delta man that if we were JUST going to Vegas, a delay like this would be no problem. We would simply save money by having less gambling time as well as getting to see the strip all lit up as we landed. 

But we had a show to go to godammit!! And we needed to be on the 6:30 flight. You see, my brother had my ticket, so it was absolutely necessary that I met up with him. The plan, at this point, was to leave my ticket at will call or else have my brother waiting at will call. The nice man finally confirmed us, but we still had to spend 5 hours at the Salt Lake airport. 

They had to bump people, but we finally got on that plane; we were the last ones to get our seat assignments. As we flew to Vegas, the late afternoon sun painted the desert orange and red with long shadows casting down on enormous canyons. We touched down in Vegas at dusk. 

As the strip started to light up, we could see the Thomas & Mack Center from the airport. We elected to leave our backpacks in an airport locker and walk to the show. Mind you, I still did not have my ticket. But when we arrived at the show, I was so stoked that we actually made it that when the dread-locked gentleman on the lot offered me some liquid, I could only give a resounding YES. 

This was not the wisest thing, seeing as how the situation was far from settled. Will call was a mess. They were only letting 10 people at a time go to the windows, and when I finally got up there... No ticket for me. Shit! 

All I could do was hope to God my brother was in this lot somewhere AND that I would find him. Otherwise I'd be all spun out outside missing a show that I, in lieu of the days events so far, definitely deserved to see. The only way I could hope to draw his attention was to shout our last name as loud as possible. 

It took about 3 minutes, and all of a sudden, my brother materialized in front of me !! I gave him a huge hug and it was really the happiest I had EVER been to see my brother. "It has all been arranged," he said. Turns out that he had met up with our other friend at the airport and that they were all waiting for us inside. 

Well, we were three happy kids, I'll tell ya. We walked into that show feeling like we had reached the promised land. All of the events that had transpired to get me to that place at that time were amazing. We got down to the floor well before the show started. That's when the liquid really started kickin' in and I could finally start to really relax about everything. 

The show itself, well that is an entirely different story that  cannot even be delved into right now. But when they did Spock's Brain in the 1st set, the lines of "get ready for the plane on time.." really hit home. 

It's cool that the strong arm of chaos can sometimes put us right where we have to be. I did not win a cent that weekend, but the biggest jackpot of all paid off in that I believe there was some higher force at work in getting us to that show. 

 - Mojo Hamilton