I'm too old for this shit. My tolerance for idiots has been plummeting steadily for months, maybe even for years. And my tolerance levels for loudness and crowding were never very high to begin with.

I'm glad that TallLady was in the throne when I arrived. Otherwise I might have reflexively sat there. That would have been bad, because I'd have lasted about ten seconds before I'd have moved again. And I'd have had some explaining to do.

What I ended up doing was sitting at the kiddie table. I tried my best to ignore the incredible noise level coming from the living room area while I enjoyed an Upland Winter Warmer (280). It was pretty good, but I decided that I just wasn't in the mood for anything strong.

When TallLady left, she offered the throne to me. I declined. No fucking way was I adding myself to that obnoxious mix. I could barely hear myself think as it was.

When PhotoDude left the bar, I moved up there. It was still way too loud in the place, but having all of the noise at my back did help a little.

There's this ridiculous pattern that keeps repeating itself.

1. People tell dick jokes very loudly.
2. The bartenders turn the music up so the entire bar doesn't have to listen to the loud people tell dick jokes.
3. People get even more loud so that others can hear their dick jokes over the music.
4. The bartenders turn the music up even louder, so that people in other states don't have to hear the dick jokes.
5. I wonder what the fuck happened to the quiet place I'd grown so fond of.

Anyway, my next beer was a yummy Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier (2296), which I hadn't had in a long time for some reason. It really hit the spot.

I spent a good part of the next couple of hours trading text messages and emails back and forth. I asked MusicalYuppieDude the first question. His answer neither surprised me nor bothered me. Eventually, I expect it to bother me.

UPSDude kept asking me if I was mad at him. He does this all the time, but last night he seemed unwilling to take "no" for an answer. Eventually, he did manage to annoy me by pressing the issue so much.

At about the time I started my second Weihenstephaner (2306), the second question was asked. Then, right after that, MusicalYuppieDude and I got to talking about guitars and amps and headphones, and the third question was asked.

I didn't finish my last beer. It was getting late, and I was in a crappy mood by then, so I paid and came home.

At about 2:30, a fourth question was asked. It was a very welcome question. An invitation, actually.

My answer was, "Try and stop me."