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Rocking in a chair, listening to Michael Jackson's 'Beat It', I recall a few events that
happened this weekend. Tom, my roommate, and I went bicycle riding on Saturday evening.
Neither of us is in the greatest shape, and we basically realized we were lost about 40
minutes after we left. And its not like we were taking a nice stroll around the neighborhood. For those who don't know, Austin was built on hills (aka 'hill country'),
and we must have expended a crazy amount of energy on a seemingly ever-upward ride. Luckily, we found a nice old man walking by, who informed us that a road that we knew was just a few turns away. We had travelled about 5 miles at that point, 3 of which in circles, no doubt. So we followed the directions and came to a downward slope that must have accounted for ALL of the upward hills we had encountered until then. About half an hour later, we made it back home. Thanks old man - we owe you one.
I look back now and recall that in my scared state, with darkness setting in, I was more frightened that I was finally tired and without technology that might save me (namely a cell phone, or a webconnection to mapquest.com.) Guess I wasn't ready to become a survivalist. Sure, we could have stopped and asked a nice Austinite for a ride back home, or to call a taxi, etc, and sure it was only 40 minutes of being lost, but ... ok: I'll shut up now. :)
To satisfy my geek nature, I played a bit of nintendo this weekend as well (yes, the original 8-bit NES). I played a lot as a youth - good way to 'veg out' and escape the painful reality of one's home environment. I played games like tetris and dr. mario, and mario brothers, etc. (the common ones), and a few of the very uncommon ones as well, namely Rygar, and Ghosts & Goblins and Metroid (if you've ever played these or other rare NES games, email me!). What fun! It's not often I get a chance to veg out like that, but my time was definitely well spent.
Tom and I ended up going to a bar on Sunday evening. Our original plan had been to go to Ruby Tuesday's, have a good though over-priced meal, and then watch X-files. When we got there, we were informed that they no longer can turn on the volume of the tv's. I was even showed a letter from RT management that stated the reasons why, and the cost of violating this. How unfortunate. I think I might write a letter to them telling them they've permanently lost two customers. We headed over to TGIF's before recalling they don't have televisions, or would probably run into the same problem. Stumped, I recalled a Sports Bar that a few friends and I had frequented a few months back during the NCAA playoffs. We headed over there, politely inquired if we could watch the Xfiles with sound, and, with a promise of buying food and drinks, were elated when the overworked, underpaid bartender said yes. Thank you - we owe you one too. Unfortunately by this time there was only about 15 minutes left in the episode so we stayed until finishing our appetizer and drinks, and then headed home.
Oh, nearly forgot to mention - I'm making good progress on guitar (lessons at MARS are really paying off). I can now play all the chords (even the bar ones) and can transition within 1 beat to a new chord. Yay! I even picked up part of a Tracy Chapman song. Double yay! Soon I will be able to woo many women. :)
[ surgery commentary (0) ] ... [ perform
brain surgery ]
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