Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Nick P.

Nick's funeral is today at 4:00 PM. I will be attending and also join the funeral party at Katz's immediately following. Nick worked there in some capacity and Marc Katz liked him and has agreed to turn the bar over to the funeral party. (Is funeral party correct?)

Many of you are aware that I am in the midst of a prop bet that imposes an alcohol free lifestyle until June 1st. Due to the nature of the circumstances, I am invoking force majeure and will indulge in drink this evening. This has already been agreed upon by all concerned parties.

I don't have too much to say about Nick, but I will say this. He was an incredibly intelligent person (had a Physics and Law degree) but he lived in a tent on the Green Belt. Over the years, alienated nearly everyone he was ever close to. I expect that the funeral will be very well attended, however. That speaks volumes, though, I am not sure about what.

I wish he were still here.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

the cheese is always free in the middle of the mousetrap

I have been remiss with my entries on this site. Apathy and indolence are strong part of my make up, sadly.

So, in chronological order, I shall attempt to get you, dear reader, up to date on the past couple of months.

First was the secret girlfriend. Well, girlfriend is a little strong here. I have not mentioned this woman to anyone thus far and am only now for the first time, stating that I did indeed engage in a relationship. I am not exactly sure why I am revealing this now.

We met in late March at Baby Blue bar. I was at Baby Blue with 2 coworkers right after work on a Wednesday night. We all had two or three drinks, gossiped about work related issues and other coworkers and then left to go home. I was sitting in the parking lot and before I started my car, I decided to go back in for one more drink.

The bar soon became fraught with patrons and the banter among the regulars was restricted to Final Four bracket pairings. I had limited interest in that.

I had planned on leaving after that first drink but an attractive woman sat down next to me and I was feeling chatty (thank you, Makers Mark.)

A lone, attractive woman in a place like that is not common. I let the bourbon do the talking and she was receptive. I like to quit when I am ahead, so I paid out and started to head home. She stopped me before I left and gave me her business card (mortgage broker.)

I wasn't expecting that, and in a way, wan't even wanting that. However, I did call her two days later and arranged a date for more drinks. Well, we hit it off pretty well and I saw her on several occassions after that initial date.

However, we lasted slightly less than five weeks. It ended in late April. And now you know.

She wasn't married, so that's not the reason I was quiet about us. As I said, she wasn't unattractive. In fact, she was a sonsy lass, easy on the eyes.

She wasn't a financial drain. She had money and a six figure income (or so she says.)

I guess it came down to the fact that I don't like the idea that other people think I have a partner. I'll leave that to a shrink to sort out.

We saw each other twice a week and spent most our time together at her place (she came over to my house once), but I never spent the night. That wasn't well received after a couple of weeks.

Our union dissolved before it had a chance to sissilate. Her requests to meet my friends and her scabrous demeanor when rebuffed were the ultimate reasons for the dissolution of our relationship. We were physically compatible, but from a personality viewpoint, it wasn't going to work.

I won't be fielding questions on this.

Secondly, I am in the middle of a prop bet that has me going 5 weeks without drinking alcohol of any kind. I am on day 16 and haven't once been tempted. In some ways, this alarms me. My Mint.com account is very clear on how much money I have saved as a result. This isn't news to me, but damn, its a lot.

Thirdly, I was in the hospital about 10 days ago due to vertigo. Very scary. It came upon me in the middle of a poker game at my house. I had already started the no alcohol bet, so that wasn't a factor. The room was spinning and I couldn't even walk. I had to crawl to get around. I also threw up for the first time in several years (I was going for Seinfeld's record, but it wasn't to be.)