[dream]
I was on a business trip in Germany. This in and of itself is not odd, I dream that I'm overseas all the time. But this time, I was with
galinda822 and unixwolf! I started out at a gasthaus eating dinner late into the evening, finishing with drinks at the bar with my business co-workers when we retired to the muddy parking lot. As the group broke up, this one lady mentioned she didn't know how to get back to the highway. I prided myself of remembering exactly which route to take despite the fact I hadn't been there in 17 years. The next morning, I'd run into galinda! What a surprise that was! I met the guy she was living with, a tall, thin European with dark wavy hair who wore only black. We got along at first, but I noticed he kept disrespecting her, so I punched him in the gut and took her with me. Our first stop was for a 5-liter gravity-tap keg of...wine? Sure enough, there was an entire store in a mini-mall with floor to ceiling glass windows so a passersby could watch the inventory process. We walked in and were greeted by a heavyset man wearing an apron and a big bristly mustache. I explained I wanted a red wine (no telling why I wanted a red wine in Germany) that wasn't too sweet, nor was it too dry. He made his suggestion, snapped his fingers and his workers ran down the long, tall rows of kegs to fetch my purchase. He and I discussed the fittings necessary to "tap" the keg and I went into some detail on crafting my own top-mount pull from step-down threaded brass. He pulled out the items I had described, but they were far too expensive for me to purchase. Something like $100. I figured after the purchase of 5-liters of wine, I'd just use his cap-method, which he indicated would make it last longer, providing I wasn't planning to drink it all at once.
Making my way across the parking lot, I ran into unixwolf who was joining us. He was driving
drax0r's truck and took the keg of wine and galinda to the truck before joining me in the beer shop! I bought a mini-keg of Bitburger but then he had to find something in the back of the store. We enter the storeroom and I spy galinda's boyfriend on a pay-phone back there. We make eye contact. Its obvious he'd been throwing up from the stomach-punch, and I felt bad, but I was nervous that he was whispering on the phone. I walk through miles of seems like stacks of plywood on shelves while unixwolf find the exact part he needs, and when the European on the phone leaves, so do I. I catch up with him in the parking lot. He hits me a couple of times, mostly out of fear. I apologize for hurting him and he promises to never introduce me to another one of his girlfriends. We part ways and here comes unixwolf, part in hand. My beer was $100 and I know know catttitude is looking at the checking account in the states wanting to know why the hell I'm spending so much on booze. The parking lot reminds me of Branneky Hardware store on the Rock Road in Saint Louis. unixwolf and galinda drive off together. I get in my Tib. The car is filthy from the muddy parking lot at the gasthaus the night before...
[/dream]
celtmanx...which reminds me of
celtmanx's SURPRISE BIRTHDAY PARTY Saturday night at their business in Granbury, TX! Happy Birthdayceltmanx! His wife threw a completely successful surprise party for him at "Jumping Party," an indoor party palace and jump park. I've been to one other in the area, but not one nearly as bright or colorful or well laid-out as this one. He was taken completely by surprise, and there was quite a turnout. I got to catch up with some old faces and meet some new ones. As it had been raining ALL DAY (that morning we were jarred awake from an attack of hail as large as my thumb) and as their parking lot is as of yet unpaved, my car was 'sliding' more than it was 'driving' as I was entering and leaving. The car is completely COATED in mud. When I stopped to fill up with gas I ran the windshield washer over my headlights and taillights. Anyway, it was great fun, and of course the kids had a blast - what better place to host a birthday party??? Because the party was so late, and so far away, (the children and I were gone about 12-hours, which included a nice visit with the folks on the way down) we didn't bother to leave the house at all Sunday. My son was thrilled to discover he was still in his pajamas that evening just prior to bed. My wife hosts a, "Pajama Day" every so often (read, "I'm not leaving the house, I don't care if you dress or not.") I took this day to play Star Wars Legos The Game, with my son. Now - we've been building things with a mixture of Star Wars and Bionicle Legos - even put up a Gallery of Lego Creations to showcase the items we snap together. But yesterday was the first day I've played the game with him. I let him lead each campaign (each movie has several areas in which you can complete tasks - not only is it a highly accurate representation of the movies, it also uses the soundtrack appropriately - lots of fun for kids or adults) and it was soooooooo funny watching him get frustrated with me:
"Stop shooting me, Dad!"
"Dad, You killed me too!"
"You're slowing me down!"
"Come over here and cover me, Dad!"
"Why are you going that way?"
"Don't leave me here!"
"Daaaaaad, COVER ME!"
