What a weekend!!!

Sometimes I wonder why I am so tired; other times, it is clear as day.

Friday, we had our normal gathering of folks for some company and games. We had twelve playing at one point and even when it whittled down to six of us, we still went until 4AM. A couple of pond dwellers were in for the weekend and some new blood showed up as well. A good night for all. Well, it was good after DW brought the house back to even after a horrible night by her hubby.

Saturday, as much as one wanted to sleep in, it simply was not happening. This was helped partly by the audacity of a good friend of mine to call my house before noon on the weekend; we slapped him later. I had to get up anyhow as I had some errands to run. So, a quick shower later, and a mug of tea and I was out the door to go see my mum. Unfortunately, she was not home when I arrived, so I left a message. I now had to go look for clothes to fit my ever expanding frame. I popped into Mark's Work Warehouse because they seem to have a handle on the ever increasing market with the odd-sized waistband. I have never been a normal off-the-rack shopper due to very muscular legs, a butt and short legs (30"). That original issue has been magnified with the beer gut and extra winter fat (that stays through the summer these days).

Thankfully, Mark's was having a clearance sale so I got a bunch of shirts, some sport socks, and a nice pair of dress pants. Three figures later, I had to hurry off to STC (Scarborough Towne Centre) to buy a ninth ticket in the nosebleed section of Skydome, er, The Rogers Centre (stupid name change). A friend of ours that works for the Blue Jays was kind enough to acquire eight complimentary tickets which we used instead of paying for the $60+ ones we originally were going to buy. We enjoyed the game no less and was able to bankroll the rest of the evening. After STC, I had to pop into the Beer Store (name and function) to offload the whack of empty bottles and cans that has accumulated over the summer in our kitchen. Let me say this, there was enough examples of trailer trash and near neo-Nazis around the store that I am seriously considering swearing off beer for a while. I fear that it is something in the beer.

OK, so running Trini-late as usual, I rushed home (in a bit of a mood because I had yet to eat anything since the Panzerottos at 2AM) and my blood sugar was low; and I was late. I got in, got DW to help pick clothes to change out of the clothes I was wearing to the game (the club does not allow jeans or runners), showered, changed and we headed out. I gently warned that I was going to be listening to driving music so anyone not tuned to that style (read things with a beat) was welcome to don the wireless headphones and tune into the radio; I need beats to execute the maneuvers I needed to get there both fast and safely. The CDs I picked up at Sunrise Records (they have the Ticketmaster there) were an Old School compilation, the Step Up soundtrack, Reggae2006 non-stop mix (with basically no traditional reggae in it at all) and Reggae Gold 2006 (oh yeah, truly reggae). I popped in the non-stop mix and off we went. Quickly. Safely. But very fast. :)

The Argo game was one of the best in a long time. While the execution at times were wanting, and poor Damon Allen got rocked again (DAMN they are hitting harder and faster in the CFL these days), the boys in blue, our wonderful Boatmen, put the slapdown, the ass-kicking, the beeyatch-slapping that those ruddy Alouette pond dwellers deserved. Unfortunately, we had to leave before the final gun in order to get our seats at Yuk Yuk's, but we saw all but the last three points scored. Arrrrrrrgooooooooooooooooos!!!!!

After finding Yuk Yuk's (my buddy's sense of direction since he moved into the bush is the shits), paying twenty (&^%(*&^ dollars to park across the street, paying seventeen bucks to get in and being seated at substandard tables, on uncomfortable chairs in what looked like the old remnants of a bad strip club, we settled in for the beginning of the show. Fifteen minutes later, my nice hungry guy persona was ripped to shreds by my "where the f**k is my service" hungry guy. I went up to the guy at the door taking our tickets and politely, but very firmly explained that we have been seated for a while and have yet to see a waitress. He promised to get somebody while he feebly explained that he had just opened our row so they did not know we were there and blah blah blah blah. Was he still talking? Really?

So, I answer the group's inquiries as I sit down. Yes, I really went up and asked where the hell was our waitress. Turns out we would have been better off waiting until we went elsewhere to eat. The beer was reasonably priced at around $5 but the fancy drinks were horrible, small, plain tasting and a whopping $7.50 each. DW and I order a combo platter and quesadillas to share for dinner; we've had much better but it served its immediate purpose. When the bleached-blond, older waitress finally brought our drinks, because we were paying cash, she wanted the bill settled; no problem. The bill was $50.75 and I gave her $51 in a fifty and a loonie (that's a bronze coloured coin worth a buck, for those who are foreign to our currency). Yes, a quarter is not much of a tip but the intention was to drink more and I would have fixed her up on the later order. I was not breaking more bills simply to satisfy her need for a tip now.

Anyhow, as I gave her the money and was telling to keep the change and we would fix up later, she decided she would send me a message before I finished speaking and (according to DW) said, "Don't worry, I will get you your change!" At this point she is fishing around for a quarter and is still not listening to me when she places it on the table and walks off. I was going to explain to her when she got back but the attitude afterwards pissed me off royally. Oh yeah, and she did not bring any napkins with our food order; no napkins for anyone in our group that ordered food. So, I decided I was not that thirsty, did not order another drink, and made sure to leave the quarter in clear sight on the food tray. Ask DW and she will tell you I am normally the best tipper in a group as I will average 20 percent. I am also the first to slap you if you deliberately give me bad service. You are entitled to the wage your place of employment gives to you, not my appreciation of service that was never served. So, a big screw you bitch and I will be having a word with your bosses about our treatment!

We leave Yuk Yuk's and now I am thirsty so I agree and push for us to try what initially looked like a decent patio bar with music playing and no cover charge. We go upstairs and it is a mainly black crowd with reggae and hip hop being played by a rather sorry DJ (LB DJs and in his off-days, sick, he is better than this joker). Anyhow, we grab a couple of drinks (how does a Corona and a half-can of diet coke equal seven bucks?!?!) watch nothing happening and leave when the drinks are done. I approximate we were there for ten minutes tops. It was like high school with guys in one area and girls in the next and no one dancing. Useless.

We next walked down the street past a whole bunch of clubs; some I heard of like Fluid, and some I had not know of their existence. The one we went to, Silk, was unknown to me as well. The best way to describe the place is your friend's basement that his parent's had fixed up and he cleared out to hold a party while they were gone. It had three U-shaped bench areas, some pillars (more structural than cosmetic I suspect because we were in the basement of a building) and a long bar that also housed the DJ area. I say "area" because it was not a traditional DJ booth. It has a studio monitor suspended from the ceiling pointed towards him and he basically took up the end of the near side of the bar; he had two Technics 1200s, a Rane mixer and an Apple iBook running a program called Serato to serve up his MP3s. All in all, the music was well played, the bar babes wore short shorts and low V-neck tops (one carried a bottle opener stuck in the back of her shorts) and the clientele did not make you feel threatened or inadequate. Again, like a house party, you had dancers, drinkers, smokers, limers (ask a Trini) and people just out to have a good time. I'd go there before I went to Limelight or one of the other super crowded places that people like to shoot up for no reason but ignorance. Oh yeah a couple of things to note.

On the way in to Silk, the guys get frisked; the ladies don't because no one has ever seen them shoot up the place. So, this nice looking blond drops down and starts feeling around. Well, let me tell you, it is almost the completion of one of those nasty fantasies but we were clothed, there were a lot more people around that I would have had and DW was standing at the doorway not looking happy than another woman's hands had just grazed the frank and beans. I asked my frisker if she wouldn't mind doing it again but more intrusively. She said no, gave me a half smile like "as if you are the first to ask" and looked to DW as if to say "get along married boy". I smuggled out two souvenirs of the night; a drink price list which I will scan and post to show you where things have gone awry, and a Moet ice bucket, simply because it was a challenge and I thought for my seven dollar Corona (three-fifty for the diet coke), I deserved something in return. If you are ever at my house, ask to see them. :)

Believe it or not, the night was not over yet because we headed over to the Big Slice, a staple for partiers in Toronto. This pizza place has been here as long I have been around I think; at least as long as I have been partying, twenty years plus now. It is open until 4AM and serves the largest slice of pizza for reasonable coin. Unfortunately, my system was messed up from eating so late already and I am not good with salt so it disagreed with me later and returned for a second viewing Sunday morning around 6AM.

Sunday, I went downstairs to cut CDs and DVDs but before I could start, I was feeling like crap and was tossing and turning for a few hours before heading to the throne for one set of business and taking care of another. Feeling better all around, I continued with my CD and DVD backups when the pond dwellers popped down to say hello. The female pond dweller asked if I would like some tea and I graciously accepted. DW would be up after ten when the alarm she set went off. She did come down afterwards and she complained about my pager going off which got us into an argument because it was the second sentence out of her mouth after "Good morning"; I've made it clear that it bugs the hell outta me but she continues to do it and I continue to get pissed off. She went back upstairs and I continued on. I knew she would be back to ask about the brunch at her mother's we were heading to. I had zero intention of going because I was so pissed off at that point but I said my peace and we worked it out (like we always do). I love her but she drives me crazy sometimes for the simplest things that can be dealt with simply if she would only take a couple of more seconds to process. Anyhow, she's my life and my rock and we will always work it out.

So, CDs done, Double D was in and then out, I could not get the DVDs going properly but we had to go. I went and showered and changed by which time the pond dwellers were engrossed in some movie watching so we left them there to return later after the brunch. It's always nice to see the folks from Chicago, the cousins and of course my MIL; it really is a nice group I married into and the majority of the folks treat me like family should. We left there and I popped up to FactoryDirect.ca because they have a 4GB SD card on sale for $80 that I wanted and they always quickly sell out of. I should have gone to the one on Dufferin because, in comparison, the one on Kennedy is such a hole. Anyhow, I got the card, DW checked out a couple of things and we left for home. We needed to stop in No-Frills (a grocery store) for a couple of necessities (i.e. milk, etc) and then off to home.

The pond dwellers were finishing up the last movie as I got to work backing up the DVDs (which were themselves backups from the FOB mall) onto DW's system. Crap, her system did not have the necessary software so I had to go off and get that first and then got to ripping. The pond dwellers joined me downstairs at this point to play some Outlaw Golf 2 on the PS2; very interesting game what with the spanking and breast rubbing and bending and jiggling. Anyhow, it's a good title to add to one's library (the adult section). Once I had the DVDs backed up, it was time for the pond dwellers to return to the pond (Montreal) and it was time for DW and I to head off to our nephew's game in Woodbridge.

The game itself was pretty uneventful (they got their ass buss with a 4-0 drubbing). Hammy did this move on this guy that is tall like Crouch (of the English national team) that had the whole side of stands we were sitting in howling. As usual, he had very little support at the end of it and his teammates cough up the ball to the Croatian team once again. My mother called during the game and I had to leave the field area for a little while. She had the best line of the night when, after noting that at least the players get paid to play, she says to tell Hammy, "You do get paid, but you get paid to get your ass buss!" Funny stuff.

Anyhow, not so funny is my nephew telling me his psycho ex-girlfriend showed up again causing a scene and kicking the side of his car when he refused to speak to her. He asked me to check out the parking lot at halftime but I did not see her. We stayed around after the game to ensure he was okay and got home safely. While we were talking in the parking lot, he said her Honda Civic was silver in colour when we noticed one sitting in an empty, far section of the parking lot. I noticed a little light in the front seat and asked if she smoked; he answered yes and and I jumped into TR and headed over. I did not even hear Hammy yelling at me to wait, that he wanted to go with me. Life is simple for me: threaten my family, prepare for a beatdown.

Hammy played some of the messages he had on his phone and this bitch is really out there and dangerous sounding. I reminded him of what happened to my older brother (girl threatened to stab him when he was with another girl, he said go ahead, and she did so by plunging a knife into his chest, missing his heart by less than a quarter of an inch) and told him to stop playing with this girl. He has enough evidence to have a restraining order taken out on her and he needs to get it done ASAP to get this crazy ass bitch away from him. This is 2006 and you cannot play around with people who threaten to hurt you. You have to take action. So, we are going to be in his ass about this until he does something about it. We followed him home to ensure he was not being followed and we left for home.

The weekend was finally over. We were tired. We had fun. We spent money. We had fun. I chucked bad pizza. We had fun. A good weekend all around. I think we can wait till we do this again though. This coming weekend will be a touch slower; nothing on Friday, MS and PS over Saturday night and The Soca Warriors versus the Reggae Boyz at Lamport Stadium on Sunday. Oh yeah, I am on course this week as well for work so it's a nice change of pace.

Peace.