Might Have Lost a DD...
We have an out of town visitor here right now. Mike Finnegan of the Wasatch Mountain PHC is here on work for a while. I met him on the last Vegas trip. Nice guy and I even trusted him enough to put him in charge of Gary on that Friday night but that's another story.
As a total digression, I really like just saying the name "Mike Finnegan." I think it strikes a chord with my Irish roots (county Waterford). Plus it makes me immediately think of the little ditty called Finnegan's Wake. That's a song to which I've drunk many pints to because it's a standard drinking tune at The Dubliner.
OK, digression over and back to the story.
Mike was scheduled to be free on Friday night. He's a professional truck driver and can't drive his rig while off duty so the plan was that I would pick him up at his hotel then we'd go out for some beers (he's Irish, I'm Irish...what else would we possibly do?). His hotel was at Chandler and I-10 so I immediately thought of going to Rock Bottom Brewery which has some great microbrews on tap.
I called the Babes to see if they would like to join us. Mary was down with a bad cold but Kathy was up for it. She drove over to my place then offered to drive the rest of the night. Since she's very good about having just one or two beers (and I would rather not have to limit myself and, no, I don't think that's a problem...which may, in fact, be a problem) I thought it was a good plan. Mike called to say he was going to jump in the shower and I told him we'd be there in about 20 minutes.
Kathy's totally unfamiliar with that neck of the woods so I directed her down McClintock to the 60. We got on just fine and I got her over to the far left (one lane off of the HOV lane) and we were going right along. I was telling her how bad it is during rush hour and how it always seems to come to a stop right before it veers off to the 10 when, who'd a thunk, we had to come to a dead stop.
The lanes on either side of us seemed to be moving and we seemed to be crawling. Kathy's Volvo has a stick shift with an extremely stiff clutch. So stiff that it was cramping her foot in the more than 20 minutes we were stuck at a stop and crawl pace. What was really frustrating was that we were less than a mile from the 10. What made us (OK, me because I didn't have a cramping foot) feel better is that we weren't in the multi-car accident that was blocking the left three lanes.
Our 20 minute drive turned into more like 45. I kept telling her that, really, it's usually a quick trip but that wasn't making her feel any better.
We picked up Mike and I took us the back way to Rock Bottom so we avoided the freeway. Once we got there, the options were sitting inside with really loud music blaring away or sitting on the patio. I steered us towards the patio with the promise that they had exceptionally good space heaters (I know because I was there the week before). Kathy tends to get cold but she went with it. Wouldn't you know? They sat us nowhere near a heater. I told her she could have my jacket at any time, though. I'm a giver that way.
The waiter came to get our orders. Mike and I had Hefes and Kathy ordered a Miller Lite. Doh! They only have their microbrews on tap there. Those are really not her thing. She ordered their light beer and seemed to be OK with it. Thank goodness.
We had a great time BSing and called Gary up in Utah to check on the local phlocking they were having that night. He was actually at home. Mike told him he was in Phoenix and drinking with two blondes and Gary had no idea who he was talking about. Even after I got on the phone with him, he had no idea who I was and actually guessed I was this woman Tracey that they know.
So much for being soulmates - he can't even recognize my voice. Sniff.
Actually, he sounded pretty distracted so I gave him a break.
After we talked to Gary, I text messaged Lewie who's in Israel. I believe he turns his Blackberry off so I didn't bother trying to figure out the time difference. He replied later that night...at 2 AM! Since I don't turn my phone off, the little "you've got mail" tone woke me up. He informed me that it was 11 AM there and that he was just getting up because he'd been sick (hope you're feeling better, Lewie!).
Now, one could interpret that as just being an informational message. Or, one could read between the lines and infer that he was making a point of paybacks being a bee-atch since he got my text in the early morning and he was returning the favor...I'm just saying.
We finally broke up the party around midnight. I made sure to cover Kathy's portion of the bill. It was the least I could do since she was dreading the drive home. We did make it without incident and I'm hoping her foot cramps are all better before the next time I enlist her Designated Driver skills.
As a total digression, I really like just saying the name "Mike Finnegan." I think it strikes a chord with my Irish roots (county Waterford). Plus it makes me immediately think of the little ditty called Finnegan's Wake. That's a song to which I've drunk many pints to because it's a standard drinking tune at The Dubliner.
OK, digression over and back to the story.
Mike was scheduled to be free on Friday night. He's a professional truck driver and can't drive his rig while off duty so the plan was that I would pick him up at his hotel then we'd go out for some beers (he's Irish, I'm Irish...what else would we possibly do?). His hotel was at Chandler and I-10 so I immediately thought of going to Rock Bottom Brewery which has some great microbrews on tap.
I called the Babes to see if they would like to join us. Mary was down with a bad cold but Kathy was up for it. She drove over to my place then offered to drive the rest of the night. Since she's very good about having just one or two beers (and I would rather not have to limit myself and, no, I don't think that's a problem...which may, in fact, be a problem) I thought it was a good plan. Mike called to say he was going to jump in the shower and I told him we'd be there in about 20 minutes.
Kathy's totally unfamiliar with that neck of the woods so I directed her down McClintock to the 60. We got on just fine and I got her over to the far left (one lane off of the HOV lane) and we were going right along. I was telling her how bad it is during rush hour and how it always seems to come to a stop right before it veers off to the 10 when, who'd a thunk, we had to come to a dead stop.
The lanes on either side of us seemed to be moving and we seemed to be crawling. Kathy's Volvo has a stick shift with an extremely stiff clutch. So stiff that it was cramping her foot in the more than 20 minutes we were stuck at a stop and crawl pace. What was really frustrating was that we were less than a mile from the 10. What made us (OK, me because I didn't have a cramping foot) feel better is that we weren't in the multi-car accident that was blocking the left three lanes.
Our 20 minute drive turned into more like 45. I kept telling her that, really, it's usually a quick trip but that wasn't making her feel any better.
We picked up Mike and I took us the back way to Rock Bottom so we avoided the freeway. Once we got there, the options were sitting inside with really loud music blaring away or sitting on the patio. I steered us towards the patio with the promise that they had exceptionally good space heaters (I know because I was there the week before). Kathy tends to get cold but she went with it. Wouldn't you know? They sat us nowhere near a heater. I told her she could have my jacket at any time, though. I'm a giver that way.
The waiter came to get our orders. Mike and I had Hefes and Kathy ordered a Miller Lite. Doh! They only have their microbrews on tap there. Those are really not her thing. She ordered their light beer and seemed to be OK with it. Thank goodness.
We had a great time BSing and called Gary up in Utah to check on the local phlocking they were having that night. He was actually at home. Mike told him he was in Phoenix and drinking with two blondes and Gary had no idea who he was talking about. Even after I got on the phone with him, he had no idea who I was and actually guessed I was this woman Tracey that they know.
So much for being soulmates - he can't even recognize my voice. Sniff.
Actually, he sounded pretty distracted so I gave him a break.
After we talked to Gary, I text messaged Lewie who's in Israel. I believe he turns his Blackberry off so I didn't bother trying to figure out the time difference. He replied later that night...at 2 AM! Since I don't turn my phone off, the little "you've got mail" tone woke me up. He informed me that it was 11 AM there and that he was just getting up because he'd been sick (hope you're feeling better, Lewie!).
Now, one could interpret that as just being an informational message. Or, one could read between the lines and infer that he was making a point of paybacks being a bee-atch since he got my text in the early morning and he was returning the favor...I'm just saying.
We finally broke up the party around midnight. I made sure to cover Kathy's portion of the bill. It was the least I could do since she was dreading the drive home. We did make it without incident and I'm hoping her foot cramps are all better before the next time I enlist her Designated Driver skills.
