Everything came together...almost. It was a culmination of every I learned correctly from TV, reading and all forms of education. I do mean public, private, home, community college and Art Institute. Thanks to Slumdog Millionaire, I wonder now how many of the 20+ million viewers thought I would be eaten alive by the mystery of technology picking lucky individuals.

   I watched the program from the start and never missed an episode. I called the toll-free number every day. This required correctly answering 3 fastest finger questions that got harder and harder. I did get a call back in February 2000 but messed up the chance to answer 5 other FFQs when asked to place geographic European straits from West to East.

   They didn't call back. I still perservered and remember dialing the number at a public phone in Renton, WA after seeing Urban Legends: Final Cut and Duets at a Regal Cinema multiplex on September 25th, the same day as Barbra Walters' birthday. I knew about notorious assassins as much as pop albums in chronological order of release year. The other involved the title of a book I never heard of before and I could have blown it again on the first question again since the words were almost ordinary. I chose October 31 to be my day in NYC just to have the most amount of time to prepare.

   They called the next day at my dad and stepmother's house in Kent and I was estatic to not mess up this time. I would have to call a specific number with a certain code around noon next Friday which is October 6th. My 5 FFs included physical ailments from head to toe, headlines from the 1980s--with one actually taking place in 1994 because I was living in Tujunga during the Northridge earthquake in January--and American hit songs to place from across the nation. By the time I was done, I knew in my heart and head that I would get a call back. I could barely tell my stepmother at the time. Not because she was able to work-at-home for Bekins NW as a shipping claims adjuster but due to the fact that I gave her 5 1/2 year-old son a model train set to play with that's exclusively meant for the Christmas tree as I tried to concentrate and be fully-rested. I'll never forget getting the official confirmation. I told Terri that she would have to be my traveling companion and that we had a few weeks to select 5 people for the phone-a-friend lifeline. I then took my bus as close to work as possible and couldn't wait to share the news with everybody at work. Remember the fact that I was a dishwashing-machine operator at Red Robin.

   I prepared by reading everything from Trivial Pursuit cards to every story in Entertainment Weekly. I learned that Papa Doc Duvalier ruled Haiti and that pearls melt in vinegar. Little did I know that everything I needed to know was already in my head. Almost.

   Me and Terri woke up early on October 30 to drive straight to Sea-Tac airport and take a flight straight to NYC. We then got a personal driver to take us to the hotel. The drive was so long that I kept dozing off through Central Park.

   Once we got to our hotel room, we went out to eat across the street. Terri insisted that I get plenty of sleep that night by getting to bed around midnight. This meant no Bill Maher or Craig Kilborn. Nuts.

   We woke up around 9AM and I know I watched Regis Philbin talk to Carmen Electra. We arrived at the studio for a run-through that included sitting in the Hot Seat so camera operators could take prepared notes of measurements. Everyone of the lucky 10 contestants got to sit and answer 2 questions. Because I was 9th from left of your TV monitor I got 2 tough questions about wine and either religion or Enya's country of birth. I brought one of Reege's autobiographies that belonged to my grandmother but was told to leave it behind since I wouldn't get an autograph.

   The contestant carried over was a blonde woman that reminded me of what Terri looked like in the early eighties. She got stumped over the Leaning Tower of Pisa's history. The first contestant after her was Michael Shmieva from PA. I knew he had the same job as my father and that Terri met his wife and liked her. His FF was placing U.S. states counterclockwise. I got it in the opposite direction. He got $125,000 after not knowing the history of the perfect curveball. I didn't need the audience to tell me who released Stan and Judy's Kid but at least one easy question would have made me look absent. Corrugated cardboard? Sorry.

   The next question required knowing military TV characters by rank from Gomer Pyle to Ben Hogan. The only person to answer it correctly was the biggest contestant I ever saw. If I had switched the last two. I would have matched him in one aspect. They actually had to remove the standard seat and give him one without armrests. He did OK until he got stumped over the sitcom Billy Bob Thornton did in the nineties. Even the man on my right knew he did Hearts Afire and not Grace Under Fire. Thank god his phone-a-friend misled him, otherwise there would never be enough time for another FF. It was movies with feelings in the title. I looked at Terri in the most distant row of the audience, which is where traveling companions sit, and gave her a thumbs up. The correct order was Mad Max, Dazed and Confused, Moonstruck and Bamboozled. I hit the confirmation button and had to wait the entire 20 seconds for every FF question ever used. I had 3.74 and have seen my shocked reaction in commercials. I know about passing the buck but kick myself over not knowing sacred cows could apply to people. Keep in mind that this was a week before the election put focus on Florida that year.

   I barely paid attention to the heart-pounding music. It never got into my head. I still love the fact that I got to be a carryover contestant which meant $50 more dollars for me and my stepmother in New York City on Halloween to see Katie Finneran in Cabaret at Studio 54.

   We woke up early again on the first November. I remember seeing Rosie O'Donnel talk to Marion Jones, Angela Bassett and the cast of Rocky Horror on Broadway with Dick Cavett and Joan Jett as The View had John Goodman and Jerry Springer. Don't really recall watching Kelly Ripa make her co-hosting debut with Regis.

   We get back to the studio. Regis warms up the audience for a few minutes talking about how the show attracts all kinds of people. He mentioned the name Dan Doody just for laughs. Little did he know that the other person from Kent, Washington was a phone-a-friend. Once he appeared before me, I was able to contact him thanks to the white pages for all kinds of insight. I was told by others that Reege doesn't do that on a regular basis.

   My second episode was on a roll for a while. I knew October, not Leaftober, fell in autumn, a pair of ones in dice rolling is snake eyes and that Mr. T had his own animated series. Who really wants The Dwight Schultz Hour. I knew about Bobby Knight finally being fired. How I could have learned about the next question, the fact that Louisiana was below sea level, could have been fresh in my head had Terri let me see Mimi Rogers on Politically Incorrect point out the truth that New Orleans was sinking. How I got the youngest phone-a-friend in Millionaire history can be available by asking Ken Sharify in Seattle.

   I'm fortunate to see those Washington apple ads so much on TV repeatedly. I clearly thought over Newton's cradle and made it my first purchase at Target just after Thanksgiving. I quickly read the Gettysburg address in my almanac before leaving the hotel that day. Looking back, I wish I could have seen Jeopardy in case anything could cross over. That's how I knew about Sirius causing the term "dog days of summer" numerous moons ago. Angel Island was just a guess that sounded enticing if I were an immigrant. For the record, I'm a third-generation American on my dad's side. While remembering Rain Man must always watch The People's Court was a slam dunk, how lucky am I that I got 2 movie questions. How I recalled it was even funnier. I told Terri in the elevator that I remembering reading an article in the fall 1997 issue of Entertainment Weekly devoted to the 20-year history of independent filmmaking about the making of Halloween. It recalled that it was scarce to find autumn leaves in the springtime to how Dennis Quaid was almost cast to play PJ's boyfriend because they were dating in real life. I didn't forget how the mask for Michael Myers was found. One of the make-up artists ran into a wig shop, saw the Captain Kirk mask, made the eyeholes wider and sprayed the face pale white. Then, I later remembered the fact that I did a one-page quiz all about the holiday in Games magazine several weeks before during a work break. It had 2 Qs about the movie. I knew Jamie Lee Curtis played Laurie Strode. When it came to the other question. it only listed actors with not a single fiction character as an option. I think I picked Vincent Price over William Shatner.

   Alas, my million dollar question was something not only my stepmom knew, but my grandmother as well and she was a friend to phone. If Terri let me pay attention to ABC late night Monday, I would have asked Kyle Haddad-Fonda the question about San Francisco isles and have 50/50 between poinsettia and...juniper? Then again, if I didn't waste my audience lifeline on the second question, lord knows when they could have saved me.

   My personal favorite backstage memory was telling the audience warm-up guy the exact words to Andrew Gold's "Thank You for Being a Friend" after singing it in music class at Delphi Academy in La Canada, California about a decade prior.

   I thought there would be another Championships competition for big winners. I'd love to meet the show's main producer Mike again since he made a surprise appearance after I earned $500,000 and see what can go from there. It would almost kill me to know what would have happened had I asked about work and moved to New York.