VP’s first day here…

I’ve always been hugely fascinated with the Secret Service. I don’t think it’s so much because of them, though, but because I’ve always been hugely fascinated with the Presidency. I mean, what’s it like to be the most powerful man in your country? What’s day-to-day life like for someone in that position?

(As background, in case I didn’t say it, somehow or another I’ve ended up in the position to schedule the entire visit to SoCal for the Vice President of Honduras.)

Today (Jun 26, 2006) I’ve had the smallest, tiniest hint of what someone in the Secret Service might experience. In scheduling every minute of the VIP’s day, all the support people, and seeing the things that go on “behind the scenes” without even them knowing it … and in how all the family’s lives are screwed up with the demands on their time and attention … yet at the exact same time as being “special” they are a pretty normal family, with all the normal needs of anyone else. Anyway, this stuff fascinates me, so to have even the smallest of small glimpses is very cool.

So in the morning Chris and I met at the hotel. We had breakfast with Vice President Santos, his wife, their 2 kids, Sr Alvarado (from their Foundation), and Capitan Pacheco (or, as I’ve taken to calling them, the “Santos 6”). They were very gracious and kind, and down-to-earth … and even brought some small presents for Chris and me … it was a nice touch. After breakfast, we went to Fashion Island, had a reception at Traditional Jewelers, drove off to see some Ferrari’s, came back, quick lunch at the food court, and went off sailing out of Newport.

The 65′ MacGregor Sloop is a great sailboat, and Jerry was a fantastic host. The connections made between everyone are too much to list here, but I think they will go a long way … we had a good laugh because we’d been talking about Nicholas Cage all day (Chris wants him in his car rally) … and of course one of the first things we stumble upon on the boat is a direct connection to Nicholas Cage. Weird… we all laughed, it was great timing.

I think, though, that just chatting with everyone was the best part … I mean, where else do you listen to conversations that begin “When the President called me last week …”???

Afterwards we went to dinner … Vice Pres. Santos anad Becky made a great speech (very heartfelt, very touching), although everyone (especially the kids were tired). Adrian actually fell asleep at his table, kind of funny. And … after I make sure everyone is dropped of, I spent a couple of hours preparing for the next day while everyone was already sleeping. I can’t complain, though … it’s a once in a lifetime experience. I’ll sleep later.