The weekend, part II

or, how I spent my Fourth of July Weekend:

Friday: I left work early, thanks to my co-worker, who, when we flipped for who got to leave early, won, but let me go at 2:30 anyways. I was on the interstate by 3 at the latest(it was a longer walk back to the car than I expected). Sadly, I chose approximately the same time as millions of other Chicago drivers to leave downtown. I was stuck in traffic for 2 hours- and was subsequently late for my arrival to St. Paul. I was also stuck in a car where the driver's side window doesn't work, and the AC needs to be recharged. I was hot. Damn hot. And, because of my mostly northern European ancestry, I don't like the hot, so hot weather + hot car = miserable Dave. I tried to make up time by speeding through Wisconsin, which is notoriously dangerous for someone with Illinois plates, as the troopers to our north tend to "target" Illinois drivers, and pretty much anyone else from outside the Dairy state. I used my tried and true patsy system for speeding. This is patent pending, but I will share. My method is to find someone else who wants to speed, follow them at a distance of about 1/4 of a mile, and let them reveal the locations of speedtraps I might miss. this time, it worked wonders. I was around Menomonie when I found a guy with California plates who was hell-bent to go 85. I was, too. I got behind him, let him get his distance, and was happy as hell. Until I suddenly saw the side of a WHP car reflected in my headlights. I hit the brakes, which was fortunate, because he was pulling out to go after my patsy. He hit his lights, and that was all she wrote for my Californian friend. I felt bad, but also a touch of glee, because that could have been me. I called my friend in Minneapolis to hear her son(pictured here) in the background saying "is it Dave? Is it Dave?" I cracked up. He's my biggest fan.

Upon my arrival, I was informed that we were "going out, and people are waiting." When I asked who was waiting for us(exhausted and not really wanting to go out) I was told "some boys, some girls, it'll be fun." It was. It was drunkeness and silliness and all-around serious fun. Including a visit to a former favorite, Nye's Polonaise Room. Good people, good drinks, and good fun. We didn't get home until 4:30 in the morning.

Saturday started out very hungover, which one would expect when you go to bed at 5 am. I shaved with my good buddy, and picked up The Redhead and The Accordion Guy for lunch at one of my favorite places in St. Paul, Tavern on Grand(they have the best french fries in the history of french fries, FYI). Our evening was lazy- we were too tired to want to go out, but did have dinner with my father and stepmother before retiring to the house for an evening of TV. I then went out with a HS ex-girlfriend, now friend, who got off work at 12:30. Again, I didn't get home until 5am, but was far less drunk than I was on Friday.

Sunday was even lazier than Saturday. I slept in(well, for me, I slept in- almost to 10), shaved, again with Gabriel, who loves shaving with me, and frequently says "I need to shave again" midway through my shaving. Again, I picked up The Redhead and The Accordion Guy, and we went to find my father, and stepmother's family in Como Park, a none too small task with a Hmong festival and several hundred other people wanting to barbeque in the park for the 4th. We found them, ate, ate some more, played some frisbee, played some accordion. Joey was a big hit with my family- and with me. My conversation about him with Wendy went something like this(I am paraphrasing a bit):

D: Your boyfriend is quite a hit.
W: He usually is. So, you like him?
D: Yep.
W: He's got your approval.
D: Oh yeah.
W: Do you think I'd listen to you if you didn't?
D: Nope.

Basically, I know my Wendy has one hell of a man, who didn't even falter when my friend L(who is notoriously straight forward, especially after a bloody mary) gave both he and Wendy the 3rd degree on their relationship on Saturday. I then drove my friends to the airport and went back to the BBQ to hang out with my family. My father and I were discussing Vonnegut books while my brother and I were tossing a football. For that reason alone, you would have to meet my family- we're nerdy jocks, I guess. Afterwards, I went back to my dad's house for a couple beers after the BBQ- just to hang out.

Yesterday, I ran into some serious traffic, and had a couple interesting sights. One was a Grand Caravan with Illinois plates that read COW LVR 5. So, there are apparently at least 5 other people who are cow lovers to the point that they have it on the license plate. The other wonderful sight was my first-ever sighting of the Weinermobile, on 90 right around Schaumburg. Fortunately for me, I had my digital camera in the front seat with me, and took some high-speed pictures as I overtook it. I'll post those later.

So, that's a wrap on the weekend. What's new?