Friday Without Warning

Rolled out of bed around 9:30 a.m. PDT. Showered, drank water, checked email.

The buzzer rings. It's Erik, my best friend from high school, and a man I last saw last September. Odd, given that we live in the same small town. We chatted for a bit. I gave his daughter some lemonade. Made tentative plans to have lunch sometime soon.

Now, for my (now late) trip to the Evil Coffee Emporium. To get there I must pass by the Bier Stein, a pub/bottle shop located conveniently a half block from my apartment, and to where I've been going on beer missions at Joe Massey's direction.

Just as I get past the Bier Stein, I hear a voice. "Tony! Tony!" It's Mike Denney, self-proclaimed "Big Fat Party Animal." Mike (whom I last saw approximately 12 hours ago, clutching a breakfast sandwich from Jack In The Box) invited me inside the extremely inviting Bier Stein, handed me a sandwich and ordered me an imperial pint of pilsner. "What are you doing?" he asked. "Going to get some coffee," I replied, bacon, turkey, and swiss flying from the corners of my mouth. One beer and one sandwich down, I notice Mike's companion, Jordan, flirting/negotiating with the woman sitting to his right. I notice Louisa, the bartender, flexing her muscles and making comments about lifting heavy things. A dark cloud of doubt pulls in to the space just above my head. What have I gotten myself into? It's Friday morning. I am extrememly ambitious and have a lot of important work to do. Another beer appears in front of me. The sandwich has done very little to cushion the suds. Mike pays the tab and orders me into his car. We end up at another bar, with Jordan and the mysterious woman. We are there to move a huge freakin' industrial cooler. I snapped a few photos, then, drunk, proceeded to help muscle it up and over a bar. We are paid in free drink coupons. I have Mike drop me off on the corner of ECE, and I go in for my regular drink.

Now it is early afternoon and I'm drunk and buzzing on caffeine. Great.