Weekend stuff

I am tired, but i can't sleep. Forgive me, but I would guess that this is going to be one of those long posts that jumps all over the place.

I had 2 interviews this week. One of them was at an agency up in Denver. I drove an hour and 20 minutes to their office for a 30 minute interview, then an hour and 20 minutes back. I tried to hook up with some old work friends from up there for happy hour, but no one could make it.

The agency liked what I had to say. They called me about 30 minutes after I left to inform me they were submitting me to the client. I am not too hopeful since I am a relative expert on one tool and they use others that I will have to learn. But who knows.

The week had passed and the biggest thing I had planned for the weekend was getting together with a few (former) work buddies and play a game or 2.

Saturday came along and I had to prepare for game night. It was my turn to host. It was going to be a low turnout because one of the guys was camping, and another is getting ready to get married next week (and he wouldn't let us throw him a bachelor party). MS has been included in the last couple board game nights, but since she is in Europe I guess she misses out on all the fun (yeah, right).

Everyone started showing up around 2 p.m. Dan wanted to start earlier than usual because he had a new game that was going to take a while to learn and play. The name of the game is Descent. It is very Dungeons & Dragons like, but is not considered a role playing game because it doesn't continue on and on like D&D would. I would say it is like the computer game Diablo 2, but in a board game. I am clueless when it comes to this sort of game, but since only Dan knew anything about it we went long. We started playing around 2:30 and got very involved. We had planned on barbecuing some chicken, but forgot until about 6:30 in the evening.

We were only about half way through the "dungeon". Dan was right that this could take a while. We took a break to prep the chicken. Jason works as a volunteer EMT in one of the nearby small towns, so I guess he gets some cooking ideas from the firehouse. On the menu tonight, whole chickens cooked upright with a 24 oz beer can shoved in the opening.

It was quite a site to see. Jason prepared the chicken with olive oil and a poultry rub. I got the grill warmed up, then watched as he violated these chickens with the beers cans. The chickens stood straight up sitting on the beer can. My grill is fairly large, but the lid is not supposed to be closed when you cook on it. Whenever I forget about that I burn whatever I am cooking, even on low. We had to cover the chickens a little so that they would cook better, so I propped the grill lid open enough to accommodate the standing chickens. I wish I would have remembered to take pictures. Jason figured that since we couldn't close the lid entirely it would take longer for the birds to cook. We went back to playing the game but kept an eye on the grill.

We rotated the chicken about every 20-30 minutes. After about 90 minutes we decided they were probably done. Extracting the beer cans from the orifices was a 2 man job, but we did it without spilling anything. The chicken tasted incredible. I guess the beer boils and steams the inside of the chicken while the grill does the outside. It was incredibly juicy and fell right off the bones.

After about a 30 minute break to complete dinner prep and eat we continued on with the game, which lasted until around 11:30. Yes, that's right 9 hours of gaming including breaks. Dan said this was one of the smaller dungeons. I just checked the web site. It states that it takes 1 - 3 hours to play. BULLSHIT!!! WTF people? Over all it was a fairly fun game, but that is just way too much time.

My brother was coming by to borrow my truck on Sunday. His friend Jay was in town and Jay needed to buy a new stove for one of his rental units that he owns. Mike called on his way over and I hear Jay talking in the background about bringing over some mushrooms for me. I told him no fucking way.

Tonight my brother was having a barbecue with a bunch of his friends, so I headed over there for a bit. As soon as I arrived Jay started telling the story of when I tried mushrooms at a huge camping party we had in the mountains a couple years ago. Some of the people at the barbecue witnessed me at the party, while others were hearing about this for the first time. Everyone had a big laugh. That was quite embarrassing.

I hung out, had a brat and a few beers and talked to my brothers ex-girlfriend, Jackie. They are still friends. She was a bit shocked to hear that I did any kind of drugs. It's not really a proud moment in my life. She then asked me how the job search was going and has someone that she is going to hook me up with for a possible job lead. Always good to have an inside "friend".

Friends of my brother are always surpised at how little they see me around. A lot of them don't even know I live in the same town. I don't go out drinking very often, and I am certainly not "in" with this crowd. They are all nice, but they are my brother's friends, not mine. I guess Jackie had heard about my big relationship blunder last summer. She didn't know any details so she asked me to fill her in. I don't really like thinking about that, but gave her enough to make her jaw drop.

She then started asking me if I was still doing the Internet dating "thing". I didn't want to go into any big details. Chris, one of the other ladies there at the barbecue had recognized me a while back on a site I was using about 3 years ago and wanted to get together. I turned her down at the time which makes it twice that I turned her down. Previously she had hit on me (about 5 years ago) when she was drunk at my brother's bar. She gave me her number. I tried to tell her no at the time, but she was too drunk to understand. I think she is too embarrassed about the whole thing. She doesn't talk to me much anymore.

That reminds of a funny incident. A while after Mike and Jackie stopped dating when I was at Mike's bar. Jackie was there, and a bit drunk, being jealous because Mike had a new girlfriend. Jackie proceeded to hit on me. I turned her down just on principle.

So I'm sitting there talking to Jackie at my bother's house tonight, and she starts telling me about another lady on the other side of the deck from me, Melissa. Things like Melissa goes to a lot of these parties and barbecues, and tends to leave with someone she meets there. Was Jackie suggesting I cozy up to Melissa so I could be the next one she takes home?

Melissa is a VERY pretty lady, and maybe in other circumstances I would have gone for it, but I felt wierd about the whole evening already. I ducked out around 11. My brother gave me shit because "it's not like I have to go to work".

WOW, my prediction was right about me jumping all over the place. Maybe I shouldn't drink before I post.