Went to lunch at The Pub yesterday, just mainly to get out of the office for a bit. I had a Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter (204) while I was there. It was quite good, though it clashed with my curry fries a bit.

Then after lunch I got a text message from this chick I know. Her name escapes me, but she wanted to see if I was going to Rich O's after work. I said that I'd go if she would.

Then I went and got a haircut, then I went to Rich O's. I had an NABC Bonfire of the Valkyries (40) at the island while I waited for some strangers to leave the living room area.

Then they left so I moved to the throne.

Next I had a beer that I didn't think I'd had before. I was wrong about that. I did, however, go ahead and update my review:

Ridgeway Seriously Bad Elf (22)

(draft) Take a bland IPA, and wash your socks in it. Then take it to your local steel mill, and use the same beer to wash the socks of everyone who works there. This just might give you a good idea of what this beer tastes and smells like. Actually, it would taste and smell better than the beer does, but I didn't want to go overboard with my description.

Then some weirdoes came and took the sofa. I figured it would be okay because WhatsHerName could still sit on the loveseat.

But noooooooooooooo!

Another weirdo came and sat on the loveseat. Disgusted, I moved picked up my shit and moved to the bar.

At about 6:30 I was starting to figure that WhatsHerName had stood me up. I was thinking about leaving, but then she came in.

So I ordered a yummy Rogue Chocolate Stout (1332) and we talked for an hour or so. It was nice.

I'd really like to see WhatsHerName again. I hope I remember her damn name by then. I can't call her "Hey you" forever.

This DM1 dude tagged me to list some crap. I just copied these from my about me page.

1. I have this rock. I talk to my rock and take it everywhere. Did I mention that it's a rock?

2. I'll make up new, cat-themed lyrics to songs and sing them to my cats. I make Buddy dance with me while I do this.

3. I've developed the habit of smelling my beer before each sip, to enhance the tasting experience, and now that habit has spread to everything I drink. Doesn't matter if it's water or Diet Vanilla Coke or orange juice or whatever - I'm smelling it before each sip.

4. I brush my teeth, then rinse with this supposedly "cool mint" mouthwash that burns my mouth so much that I brush my teeth again right away to neutralize the mouthwash.

5. When I'm on the phone at home I can't just sit and talk. I have to either walk around or shoot pool or straighten things up - anything but just sit and talk.

...my true love gave to me,

Nine orthodontist appointments,

Eight ponytail holder thingies,

Seven trips to Vegas,

Six pints of Tremens,

*** Five pairs of jeans with sexy yet still modest holes in them ***

Four sleepless nights,

Three designated drivers,

Two cute pairs of glasses,

And a yummy pint of Guinness.

Just two more days of work, then a five-day weekend! Then two days of work next week, followed by a four-day weekend!

Yay and yay!

But wait! I'm on-call next week.

Boo!

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Looks like my little diatribe about HatGirl's birthday did some good. People have recognized her spectacularity and have agreed to attend her party. HatGirl at first wanted me to bring cut up tomatoes, but I told her that's way outside my culinary abilities. Now I'm bringing taco shells and shredded cheese. Those things I can handle.

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I get irritated when people jump right out of one relationship and into another. This is probably just a jealousy thing.

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I slept for ten hours last night. I needed it.

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There was a brief period when I thought that there was an actual chance that I might have a girlfriend this holiday season. I think that would have been nice. Especially on New Year's Eve.

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This dude at work was on the phone yesterday morning. He hung up the phone and announced that he had to go to Mexico. We all thought he was kidding. Then the guy flew to Mexico, and so now we're not so sure.

Not because she felt it.

I'd sometimes, like maybe a gazillion asstillion times, worried about it, or hoped for it, depending on my current insanity level.

Not because she felt it.

I was surprised because she said it.

Out loud.

To me.

She could have stuck her tongue in my ear, and I wouldn't have been more surprised than I was when I heard those words come from her lips.

Got to Rich O's last night at around 8:00 I think. It was pretty crowded, and so I had to sit at the kiddie table. That put me in a bad mood.

Then I went to the bathroom and on the way I saw LaptopGirl, so that put me in a good mood.

Then I got to talk to LaptopGirl, so that put me in a great mood.

Then I got into an argument with a chick over the throne. The strangers had finally left the living room area and we both wanted the throne. I was closer, and I'd been waiting longer, so I took the seat.

She called me an asshole. I called her a bitch. But I gave her the fucking seat.

Then, after a while I felt bad about the name calling, so I apologized.

All of that crap knocked me back into a regular good mood.

Oh yeah, I had three yummy Rogue Chocolate Stouts (1292).

...my true love gave to me,

Eight ponytail holder thingies,

Seven trips to Vegas,

Six pints of Tremens,

*** Five pairs of jeans with sexy yet still modest holes in them ***

Four sleepless nights,

Three designated drivers,

Two cute pairs of glasses,

And a yummy pint of Guinness.

Okay, here's the deal.

Being all cryptic and shit, and beating around the bush, and censoring myself to the point where even I can't tell what the fuck I'm rambling about, those are all well and good.

At times.

But sometimes, sometimes I have to write something that makes sense.

Or else I just might explode.

And that would suck.

For me at least.

Anyway.

Tonight, I got to see LaptopGirl.

I got to talk to LaptopGirl.

She did not tell me to fuck off. She did not spit in my face. She actually talked to me.

She talked to me, and it reminded me, for a few precious minutes, of the friends that we once were. It hinted to me, for a few splendid and transcendent and illustrious moments, of the possibility of having that friendship again. Someday. Just maybe.

And that maybe, well that maybe was enough. More than enough.

It was everything.

Every-fucking-thing.

I've written before, about wants vs. needs. There's no need for me rehash that crap again. Go back and read it again if you want. It's not important, because my wants aren't important.

And they never were.

Tonight, I got to talk to LaptopGirl.

It was all that I needed.

I did not freak out.

Maybe later.

I promised.

I like this feeling, but I probably shouldn't.

It's dangerously close to happiness. Close enough that I can almost touch it. I can almost take that extra step, and shift my weight onto my leading foot, and see if it will hold me.

It looks fairly solid.

But what do I know about happiness?

It looks solid, but so does a cloud, until you get too close.

Wouldn't it be better to stand back, to admire this phenomenon from a safe distance? From far enough away that the illusion is maintained?

It's pretty fucking tempting though. To take that extra step. To see what happens.

So today I had to go over to our main campus to work for a while. This is relevant for a couple of reasons.

Reason the first, the "building" I was working in is actually a merging of three buildings. The floors don't quite match up, and neither do the structural supports. So there are lots of little stairways and twisty halls in the places where the buildings connect.

Reason the second, it's the main headquarters of a multi-national corporation. So there are people there. Important people.

Anyway, I'd finally finished up the work that had required my presence there, and I was making my way back to the exit. Specifically, I was making my way between two of these old buildings. Through a little twisty hallway with stairs in it.

I wasn't really running but neither do I fuck around when I walk. So I was moving pretty quickly.

As I rounded a corner, and went down some stairs, I gave very close to having a head-on collision with a man who was coming in the other direction. He, apparently, does not fuck around when he walks either.

We came within a few inches of killing each other.

No big loss, you might say.

And, in my case you'd be correct. But the man that I almost killed was the fucking CEO. Of the entire corporation. Where I work.

I bet he'd have been really embarrassed if he was killed by a peon like me. I bet I'd have gotten a posthumous promotion to Senior Vice President or something, just so it would look better in the newspaper.