Ponies. Nintendo. Valet Parking. Walking.

Another weekend, another set of completely different experiences...er, the fun never ends in these parts:


Playin' the Ponies.

Friday afternoon featured an outing to Arlington Heights, IL in hopes of strengthening the bond between client and service provider. As soon as I was introduced to the first few people from the client side, their broker said: "He doesn't really work on the account." That meant I didn't really need to bond and I could take full advantage of the open liquor policy (just kidding. I had a car to drive). I was the benefit of a last minute cancellation. This visit blew my fantasy vision of the racing track. I half-expected seeing a bunch of un-shaven dudes in derby hats and cigarette butts everywhere. Instead, I watched horses race in a facility that looked pretty expensive to make.


minibosses

The excitement didn't stop at the races. That night I watched four guys from Ohio play scores from classic Nintendo games note for note. Three shredders and a drummer churned out classics like Megaman II, Goonies 2, and Super Mario Brothers II. I guess the best musical scores were in sequels. It was the nerdiest show I have ever attended and I overheard somebody say "This is OUR classical music!" I wonder if anybody in Japan knows about them.


Downtown.

We hung out downtown for a few hours and in the middle of it all, we played a well-received set. After the set, a random stranger purchased a round for me, Steve and Aaron. A second later the guy next to the random stranger turned to him and said: "You know that band that was on before this one? They sucked!" Our new friend guestured to us and said "They're right here." The guy didn't really apologize...he shrugged. We laughed.


I Spy

The neighbors had what appeared to be a family gathering this afternoon. Not a word of english was spoken. It gave me flashbacks to the time my family would trek from Milwaukee to neighborhoods like mine for the backyard gatherings with distant family members. Now I know what we looked/sounded like. Fun.

Storytime

Exacta, trifecta, superfecta, box...these are just a few of the words that entered my vocabulary on Friday.

Out of options, I went to Guitar Center to pick up a set of strings. This place is known for the hard sell and they'll try bleed you to the last drop. I thought I could have a little fun in this situation. After asking about bass strings, the sales guy suggested I try a brand that he recently "started using regularly." The strings were neither cheapest nor the most expensive, but they seemed to be heavily promoted by the store. I nodded with appreciation and asked him to compare the strings to what I usually get (D'Addario - six bucks cheaper). He went on to tell me that he usually uses the D'Addario brand and I noted the contradiction. So I went along with everything he said ("wow...that sounds good to me"). He smoothly took a set of the more expensive strings off the wall and was ready to ring me up:

C: "...so yeah, these are great strings..."
E: "that sounds good man, I'll take what I usually get."
C: "....what?"
E: "Yeah, I think I'll take me a set of those (picture me pointing to the bottom of the rack.
C: "Um...uh...sure..."

There was no point to that story.

So I left my car in a friend's neighborhood overnight last night. It was a safe move to make despite the fact I was faced with having to pick up my car in the morning. It was kinda fun getting to the car that way. Steps get retraced, and you get to see what the playground is like in the daytime. I should do this more often (and in different neighborhoods. the trip

I spend too much time on this web log.

. . [~] . 0 (Grumble) Grumbles .