Why me???

Subtitle: Gak gets shafted again by Addey's work.

Ok. As of Tuesday I thought I was off the hook for next week.
There were two things scheduled but a field service guy was doing one and my former boss the other.

3:00pm today I got shanghied.
Or at least that's how it feels.
More precisely, Gak got shafted out of his rescheduled Birthday Dinner.

IM from field service schedule lady: Is Dave doing training in Mexico?
Me: Yes
Her: Oh

Start cringing here. To make a long, painful story short, I'm going to Mexico next week. I'm looking forward to it about as much as I'd look forward to a root canal. It's not that I don't want to go to Mexico. I'm sure it's a lovely country. The problem is, that the training is on Monday and Tuesday and that means I have to leave here Sunday.
Yep, Sunday.
Just Tuesday night I talked to my mom and we decided we'd get together for dinner and Birthday Cake for Gak on Sunday.
Crap.
I tried to get out of it. The other field guy we normal would have wanted to use is ours through an agency and we can't use him for 60 days for some stupid reason. Mike can't go because of his schedule (he'd be willing to go if it was far off enough he and his wife could coordinate schedules). Don, the engineer who would love to go can't because he's on vacation. (Stupid cruise!) That leaves me.
That leaves me trying to explain both to Gak and my mom what the deal is and how much I really hate the fact. It's not so much that it's last minute. These things happen. (A little too often at times...) So Sunday, we're heading down to Mom and Dad's after breakfast, instead of after lunch. We're having a nice lunch and birthday cake. We're going to (maybe) pick up a TV for them and bring it into the house and install it. Then around 3:00 Dad and Gak will take me to the airport. Then Gak gets to drive home alone. And I get to fly into Mexico at 11:00 pm.
11:00pm in a foreign country where I can understand a few words but can't communicate in the native language. A foreign country where I really wouldn't want to be alone at night. Luckily the site is a corporate site and other people from the company are arranging my transportation and hotel arrangements. There will be other English speakers around. I wish it wasn't last minute and I could afford to bring Michelle with me. She speaks the language (used to teach it actually) and is someone I enjoy hanging out with. Oh well... maybe some other time I'll get to take her somewhere with me. (I'd love to bring Gak, but we can't afford it and he can't get off work anyhow....)
Well, enough jumbled cranky writing from me.
Peace to all and may there be few nasty surprises in your lives.