Enjoying “the Offical” Summer Weather

I had a very fun weekend this week. On Saturday I had Greg’s bachelor party. I took it easy Friday night and cruised to Sheboygan on Saturday morning. I spent most of the morning driving around Sheboygan with Rich trying to find a place that could lathe the Montero’s rotors so I could get the brakes fixed. We were finally able to find a guy to do it so we had the brakes fixed by noon. After that I went to Randy’s and played with the nephew for a bit. Then it was time for the party. The party was held at Rochester Park in Falls. We had some beers and some brats and played yard games. I dominated the basketball court taking 5 of 6 games of 21. I also did well in the bean bag toss and the nut toss. I pretty much dominated all the games. After the festivities we headed up to the O and spent the night pinballing between there and big Jimmy’s. We got Greg pretty shined up and it’s always a good time watching him when he’s a wet noodle. After some world famous root beer shots we called it a night.

I woke up early Sunday to take advantage of the holiday weekend. I drove back early to get ready for the mini tailgate party I had planned. We got all the gear together and headed to the park early. We had a tailgate crew of about fifteen so there was lots of fun to be had. We had a gorgeous day and plenty of food to grill. We enjoyed the parking lot and then headed into the game. The outcome was a 2-1 loss v. Houston but the day was going great so we weren’t about to let a loss pull us down. After the game we went to Kelly’s Bleachers for a little post game Golden Tee. I did ok but it wasn’t my best GT showing. After that we headed downtown the Eastpoint Pub. We spent the remainder of the afternoon and part of the evening being rowdy at the EP. We headed home, had a bite to eat, and went to bed early. It was one of the more fun days that I’ve had in a while. Everyone was in a good mood and everyone was happy and just having a good time.

Sunday we woke up, went on a bike ride, and relaxed the rest of the holiday away to get the batteries recharged.

Unexpected Chaos

Crazy weekend this week. Friday I went to go see my old boss Chad DJ at Mr. G’s in Kenosha. There was an unexpected cover charge when we got there but the drinks were cheap so that made up for it. Plus I was there to check out Chad spin some phat beats. I met another one of my ex-colleagues Jordan there. Jordan quit ASQ and is getting his masters in a wilderness program. Jordan and I are eerily similar in many ways and we always have stuff to joke around about. He is also one of the few people in my life I am able to let loose with and talk some true geek speak. So J, Jordan, his girlfriend and fellow ASQ employee Kristen, and some other ASQ folk spent most of the night at Mr. G’s. I don’t know how to describe Mr. G’s. I could see it fitting in in the Sheboygan area but there was a weird hick ghetto folk feel to the people there. There were way too many stretchy cloths for the way to much body mass there. We were having a good time but we had to get back to Milwaukee so we headed out about midnight. J had a meeting in the morning so I went with Jordan and Kristen to the Metro. We spent the rest of the night there bitching about ASQ and trying to practice separation of work talk and weekend. Once we got off that subject we had a great time and I got to anoint some new folk into my Metro fold.

On Saturday I called Adam to see if he wanted to go to the Javon Walker Celebrity Softball Game. He and Stacy had said they planned on going so I tagged along with them. They were nice enough to pick me up some gourmet brats from the Metro Market and we went to the park and tailgated. It was a beautiful sunny day and I got pretty sunburn on my arms. We went into the game in the third but it really wasn’t anything special. It was a bunch of third string Packers playing some other no name people. All the celebrities that were supposed to come canceled. Ethan from Survivor and Tara Reid were the only real “celebrities”. So all the hype was for not. Drew Rosenhaus who is Javon Walker’s agent was allowed an at bat. This guy got booed like I have never heard someone get booed before. You know how some people get so many cheers they have to come back for an encore or a curtain call. This guy got the complete opposite of that. It was like Elton John at Harley fest. Javon Walker got his fair share of boos as well but that was really the only thing worth mentioning at the game. Someone, I’m blaming Adam, had the bright idea to go to My Office post game to have some beers. So we went there and played some Golden Tee and talked with the bartender. I left around seven and went back home. I had something to eat and drank a ton of water and we watched Jersey Girl which was surprisingly a good movie. Jocelyn wanted to go out so I went along and we spent the rest of the night at the Metro. It was a long unnecessary day of drinking and I really paid the price for it on Sunday. Next weekend I’m going sober Sally.

The Future Is A Scary Place

This Saturday we got a taste of football. The draft was held this weekend and we went over to Adam’s house for a draft day party. We decided to grill out and I volunteered to do the grilling which ended up being a huge mistake. I have been to Packer games in December that were warmer than this day. It was sunny but the wind was constantly whipping off the lake and it was flat out cold. Once I got all the grilling done I went inside to warm up and see the Pack’s first pick. We ended up drafting Aaron Rodgers, a QB from Cal. This pick actually jarred something and I realized that one day the Packers will be on the field without Brett “the man” Favre. I guess this is the beginning of the much talked about end and we will one day see another number other than 4 under center. I need to start preparing for a Favreless Packers but I hope I still have a couple of years of Favre as I am not quite ready for the transition. This new guy also needs a couple years apprenticeship to learn to be half the man of Favre. Half a Favre is better than a whole quarterback on any other team. The rest of the day we watched the draft and debated players, teams and the Packers. The conversation was never dull and because we had Graham there to stir the pot with his barrage of counterpoints and opinions. I went home about six to eat a pizza and meet Schwenker at my apt. We ate the za and I was able to get revenge in mini-shot checkers. My head was clear this time around and I beat Schwenker 2-0. Jocelyn came home about 8 and I got dressed and we went to Cans on North Ave. This was the first time I visited this establishment and I really liked it. It was a little pricey but I liked the atmosphere. The rest of the crew was there and it was a coincidence that Evraets and Billy were across the street at a different bar. They came over to Cans for a bit and we headed to 3. 3 was completely dead so J and I had a drink there and ditched the rest to go to the Metro. We wound down the night there and headed home.

I Want To Ride My Bicycle

I finally bought something that I wanted in a long time. This weekend there was a large bike expo at the state fairgrounds. Friday after work J and I went to the grounds to get me a mountain bike. I shopped around and eventually settled on a last years model Giant. It’s a nice bike with shocks and disc brakes, just what I was looking for. This bike expo was pretty big and while we were standing in line they had a stunt bike rider doing tricks on his mountain bike. This guy was pretty nuts and he was hopping all around on his bike. He hopped on some platforms, some skinny stands, and rode up and down some extremely steep ramps. He was ok but that’ll be nothing compared to what I’ll be able to do by summer’s end.

What better way is there to break in a new bike than to get out and ride it. So I got up Saturday morning and biked to Sheboygan. J didn’t want to go on the ride this time, and I needed a way to get back, so she drove up. I left at eightish. The ride was actually easier than it was the last time. It was a bit chillier outside than I had expected and should have brought a coat but the workout kept my blood pumping and kept me warm. I stopped at the same little hardware store in Belgium for some a beef sticks and Power Aid lunch. On the ride I saw a blue bird, a cardinal, and a hawk. I thought god had sent the frogs to cover the earth again because I saw and heard thousands of frogs in the marsh areas on the sides of the bike path. The frogs were so loud I could hear them through my sound isolating headphones. Being one with nature, and getting a good sunburn was great but getting to my brother’s was once again a relief. I knocked an hour off my last ride to ‘boygan. It took me 4:45 to go the 66.1 miles. I actually had a couple things to do up der in ‘boygan. I sold my brother Randy my computer (I built a new one hence the iRau outage) so I had to drop that off and I needed my brother Rich to check J’s brakes which are need to be replaced. So I got both of those out of the way and I was also able to pick up my Christmas presents at Randy’s. The real reason I was up there was to take my mom (4/1) and dad (4/5) out for their birthdays. We went to Schwarz’s in St. Ann’s. I’ve ranted and raved about this place already so the only thing I can say is my porterhouse was delicious as usual. We ran into my cousin Bobby there who said that there is actually a better steak house down the road. I find it very unlikely that not only is there a better steak than Schwarz’s but there are two unbelievable steak joints in the middle of nowhere a couple miles apart. Either way now we’re going to have to try this place called Blank’s down the road. After dinner I took my dad back to the farm and we checked out some of the baby goats and sheep. Once we got out of the ban and smelt like crap we decided the only way to get rid of the smell was to go to the Osthelder and sit in the smoke for a bit. We weren’t even in the door and we saw Mike B and Chad Neerhoff sitting at the bar. We sat there and had a few and then we headed down to The Other Place for Marti’s dad’s surprise birthday party. We stuck around there for a bit and talked about Chad’s trip out to Napa. Then we had to leave because I got the unexpected call of a lifetime. My mom called and asked if we were at Hops Haven so meet up. I had told my mom that we would be going there and that we should meet up but I didn’t expect it to happen. So we fled the party and met my godmother Terri and my mom at the brew house. We spent the remainder of the night there and talked with Terri and my mom. It was a great time. Terri also had an unexpected encounter. It seems her daughter Sarah dates a guy whose hangout is Hops Heaven. Go figure he was there and we ran into him. The guy was a little freaked out to see Terri there but he held himself together enough not to make too much of an ass of himself. So once my mom and Terri left we wrapped up the night and headed home.

Monday was opening day and turned out to be pretty much the some old thing. I would write more but I’m getting bored so here is the truncated version. Took off work at 11. Went to parking lot to meet Booze Inn guys. Did shotguns and listened to music. Went and hung out with Falls boys. Booze Inn bus got in gladiator type fifteen on fifteen fight. Cops came, eight Harley, eight bicycle and five mounted. Went to game. Found Graham and Luedke. Watched game. Went to My Office with Luedke after. Went home and ate a pizza.

Is That a Pre- or Post-Chili Glow

Saturday was the start of our weekend this week. Adam came over to watch the basketball games and drink a couple brew ha has with us. After the games the three of us went to the Metro for a couple drinks. I actually skipped the martini special this week and drank only beer. The last time I was there was the night we drank hurricanes and I got gut rot from all the sweetness of the drinks. After that we headed over to My Office and finished up the night there.

Sunday J, Adam, Stacey and I went to the chili cook off being held at Lakefront Brewery. They had a bunch of different kinds of chili from all over the MKE area. It was $3 to get in and then a dollar for a cup of chili. I forgot my chili tastin’ spoon at home but that didn’t prevent me from eating upwards of twelve cups of chili. It was a gorgeous day so we finished up our chili eating adventure on the outdoor patio at Lakefront and soaked up some of the spring sun. It was pretty much the consensus in our group that Koppa’s had the best chili of the competition. There were many other good chilies including Philly Way, Soup Station, Soup Shack, BBC’s, and the official winner Q who made their chili with BBQ brisket and gave you a tortilla with it. We all ate way too much chili and we rolled home and basked in our chili glow. Maybe a chili glow isn’t a good way to describe what we were basking in. Either way it was fun. Since a good majority of the Jocelyn’s family went to Illinois I have to give them my condolences for Monday’s hard fought loss to North Carolina for the NCAA basketball title. You’ll get ’em next year tiger!