I Walked Five Miles, Uphill, In The Snow.........
or, those were the good ol' days???????
In 1972, my Broker worked solely on option contracts to create the Pureland Industrial Park in Logan Township, NJ. While assembling the various land parcels and placing them under contract, he was faced with an important, looming deadline. The parcels had to be attached (contiguous), had to include a specific number of acres, but also had to be under agreement in time to satisfy a hard-and-fast drop dead date. 
My boss and his boss were sweating bullets.
This was a HUGE deal!
Finally, there was an agreement reached at the ninth hour for the last of the parcels of land. There were eight Sellers (heirs) who all had to sign the papers. Unfortunately, two of them lived in Florida.
Now remember, in 1972 there was no overnight mail -- no fax machines -- no email -- no electronic signatures.
WHAT TO DO??????
There wasn't time to drive. Even the train would have been too slow! The only choice was for someone to hop onto a jet to Florida. It was decided that my Broker would make the trip. His boss made arrangements to fly him down there. (It happened to be the first time he ever flew in his life!) He left early on a Friday morning, flying from Philadelphia to Atlanta to Tampa, carrying a simple briefcase.
Hopped into a taxi. Knocked on the the Seller's door. Sat at their kitchen table. Explained where the husband and wife needed to sign, as both signatures were necessary. (They were very happy to greet this New Jersey native, by the way.)
Hopped into another taxi. Went to a cafeteria for a bite to eat -- coffee and a modest meal.
Back to the airport: Flew from Tampa to Atlanta to Baltimore to Philadelphia. 
Arrived at 1:20am on Saturday and drove the fully executed contracts to the office.
*whew*
The total time spent? Approximately 18 1/2 hours.
The total cost? Round-trip airfare, short-term parking at the airport, $50 spending money......
and white-knuckles!
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