12/4/07

Pat just interrupted my nap and now I'm wide awake. I guess I'll come talk to y'all. So, when we last left our intrepid hero, Gregg had just left the shop. He wanted to go out Saturday night with a bunch of us so we could meet the new girlfriend. As it turns out, I was the only one who could actually make it. I went home to have dinner with mom then get ready to go out. The arrangement was to meet at the Flying Saucer, a beer-bar/pub sort of thing, downtown at 2000 h. My internal schedule was set for that. When Gregg called to say they were running a little late and wouldn’t be showing up until 2030 h or so, I continued on with my 2000 h preparations. I figured I'd go to the FS and get us a table, or better yet a sofa/wingback chair combo seating arrangement. As an aside, this Friday the movie “The Golden Compass” comes out. Pat had read the book and passed it along to me about ten years ago. I read and enjoyed it so I asked if I could borrow it again. I had Pat’s copy sitting by my chair at home and planned to sit and read it while waiting for Gregg. I forgot it. I parked downtown and went into Barnes & Noble, or whatever the name of that bookstore on Sundance Square is called, and bought another copy. I walked across the street to the FS and found an unoccupied wingback chair. I plopped down and took out the book. Yes, I was going to be “that guy.” Unfortunately, it was way too dark for my tired old eyes to read the tiny print so I put it aside and ordered a Guinness. At some point the TV behind me began showing something with a really bright picture so I gave the book another try. I found I could read it now. I read a chapter or two then decided to pull out my pipe. Yeah, I was going to be “that guy” too. As I was loading the tobacco, I noticed Gregg’s soon-to-be ex-wife walk through. I laughed and “failed” to recognize her. She gave me an I-think-I-should-know-that-guy-but-I-don’t-remember-where look and passed on by. I was just about to fire the lighter when I saw Gregg and the GF come in. He didn’t recognize me with my meerschaum (that’s the type of pipe I was smoking, by the way) and was about to walk by. He did a double take and I said, “Your wife just walked in.” “What!” he said, “where?” I pointed behind me and said, “I dunno. She went that way.” They took off toward the bar to get drinks and “accidentally” run into her. Well, she’d apparently taken the stairs up and out to the back porch because they said they didn’t see her at the bar when they got back. A table opened up so I got up and moved to it with them. We hung out and had a few beers then took off to… what is that fancy-schmancy Mexican food place on Main Street called? Well, we went there. I had a Negro Mondello and some shrimp tacos which were really tasty. They absorbed the two Guinness and NM keeping me sober but all that started to make my eyes droop. I grabbed the check and then we headed out to find another bar. We wound up at City Streets which, I'm almost ashamed to admit, I really liked. I did feel a bit of a douche with a paperback book in my back pocket but I wasn’t out to score or impress anyone so it really didn’t matter. We wandered around under downtown in the various bars and had a few more drinks. We settled in the Eighties Music bar, I don’t remember what it was called, something like “Atlantis” or such, and watched people. I loaded the pipe again and smoked it. About midnight I decided I'd had enough and took my leave of the couple. I strolled back to Matilda in the parking garage and drove home. Sunday morning I plopped down in my chair to work on “The Golden Compass” some more. Mom said something about helping my sister move some furniture so I didn’t go to the shop. Mom came home from church and said, “Are you ready? I thought you’d be ready to go to lunch.” I said I could clean up and be ready in a bit and did so. We went to Don Pulido’s and had Shrimp Quesadillas and Sopapillas for lunch. Back at the house, I settled back into the book and waited to hear from my sister. Around midnight I finished the book and went to bed. No, I didn’t skip any narrative, except for taking a break for dinner and to pee occasionally, I spent the rest of the day reading a book. I'm looking forward to the movie because the previews I've seen look like they’ve stayed pretty true to the story. I'll be disappointed, I know. So, I guess that’s about all I have for today. I'll rant about something irrelevant tomorrow I'm sure.