Funny story. The first time I met the Captain was waaaaay back in the old AO days. In fact, he was a lieutenant at that time ... as I said, waaaaay back! (Which begs a question now that I think about it, why don't we call him Chief these days?)

Anyway, back to the story. I went up to the Florida house one weekend to meet the dufe. He'd invited me up for the weekend, but hey ... this was back in the mid-90's when EVERYONE on the internet was actually an axe-murderer. I DID take an overnight bag with me, but when I arrived, I hid it behind the seat of my truck so I could use the excuse I had no change of clothes or toiletries in case I needed to escape and go back home. Now mind you, I had no idea what this dufe looked like and all I knew was he was married with a son and daughter (all were to be with him). I proceeded up the stairs and knocked on the door. Cheryl answered the door and the first thing that entered my mind was, "WOW! ... "Larke's daughter is HOT!" I made an instant decision I'd be retrieving my overnight bag from my truck.

Then, once I entered the house, LITTLE (and I mean LITTLE) David and Meredith were watching tv and that's when I realized that Cheryl was actually Mrs. Larke! (sooo disappointing) There was also some FUGLY dufe sitting at the table. I figured he was the gardener waitin' to get paid for cutting the grass or sumpin' and Larke would appear from the back of the house at any minute with a checkbook in his hands. Shortly after that, I learned the ugly truth.

All kidding aside, the Plylers are some of the bestest people (and hosts) that one could ever ask for and I sure value ALL of the friendships that have been established over this here internet that Al Gore invented. It's been quite a ride!