Lord I apologize for talking about the fine folks down at the State License Bureau…

pic #1 The first one, well, heck, you know him as ME! And despite all the chaos I still took one hell of a pic!!! pic #2 Is she not the prettiest little thing in the world or what! This is my friend Alysia. She's my little buddy. Not only is she a little angel but she's also such a girly girl, just like her mommy!!! This is her glamour shot! OK, truthfully, am I the only one who notices something odd about ALL the people at the State License renewal facilities? Where’d they get those employees? Can an operation be run more inefficiently? Has anyone ever seen a happy face in one of those places? Lordy be!!! I thought that I’d swing in there mid-afternoon, Friday after my lunchtime run and quickly snag my new license stickers along with renewing by expired driver’s license. Speaking of which, the last time I did that was on 9/11/2001 – a day that will forever be remembered. Anyway, boy was I ever mistaken. Upon my arrival I was stunned to see a line of about thirty sad & desperate looking faces. Now I am not one to let a little thing like a line get me down, but we are talking about the State License bureau here, not the express pee line at a Buckeye game. This line never moves quick. Heck, being number two can sometimes take an hour. And how many breaks do these employees get? It’s not unusual for four or five employees to be on site, but more often than not two or three of them are wandering aimlessly behind the counter taking a break. I think they do it just to piss people off. And what’s up with the bearded ladies that work there? Man, oh man! Hey, and don’t get down on me. You know you all think the same thing but are just afraid to talk about it. Where do they find these people? State Fair freak shows, I think. Well, needless to say, I didn’t wait. Instead, I put together plan B, which was to return right before closing. Surely there wouldn’t be a line then. So, I returned to work and finished up my Friday afternoon affairs at the office and then informed my boss that I’d be leaving a little early to accomplish this illusive goal. I left about an hour early. To my surprise, I found an even longer line this time and an even sadder looking group of people hopelessly waiting. Holy Cow! What’s up with that? Sorry – not on a Friday – No Sir! Not gonna do it! No way, No how! Instead, I quickly put together plan C. My plan was to arrive just before opening, which is 8AM, either Saturday or Monday. And by the look of my competition, this should be rock solid. After all, these people don’t look like early risers. Wah - frikin' hoo! It's Friday once again - my favorite day of the week. The morning was cloudy and not too convertible friendly so I didn't even consider driving the BM'er to work today, although I really wanted to. As I've alluded to many times past, it helps put me in the "Wright" frame of mind for the weekend. And this should be a busy weekend with the Buckeye game tomorrow and the Viking Game on Sunday. While I doubt I'll be going to the Buckeye game, I’ll definitely be going to a game party. And as you already know, I am going down to Cincinnati to see the Vikings pummel the Bengals. I had a busy day at work but not so busy that I wished I weren't there. To the contrary! It was "Three Bears" good! You know, just "Wright"! I participated on a customer conference call that went well beyond my normal run time, but better late than never. Again, it was Friday and I'll be damned if I was gonna let a little thing like that ruin my day, so I didn't. My run was good! The afternoon sky was overcast making the higher humidity a non-factor. It was surprisingly warm though. Before I knew it the day was over and it was officially Barley time!!! As luck would have it, the sky opened up right at 4PM just as I was leaving the office. It wasn’t such a bad thing because we needed the rain. Once home, as I had set out to do on Thursday, I finished putting my clean laundry away, vacuumed, and did some tidying up around the house before making my way out for the evening. I had asked a new friend of mine, Leanne, to meet me for a couple "early" beers but she declined. Her loss! Probably was best, because this way I wouldn’t be at all rushed. Have I told you how much I hate to be rushed??? :) To Barley's I went. I got there about 820PM. I met Bob & Mary Ann at the bar and they had just ordered dinner. Perfect timing! Thad and Monica have been missing in action the last two Friday's. I’ll have to get the skinny on that later. That’s not like them to play hooky! I failed to mention that since offering to take Bob to the Bengals game last Saturday I hadn't asked anyone else to attend the game with me yet. Bob’s not interested. He’s a Browns’ fan! Lee, the assistant brewmaster, bartender, and friend, is a huge Bengal’s fan and would certainly love to go. Later in the evening I offered to take him. Of course he was more than excited to go. We agreed to firm our plans tomorrow sometime, but I told him that I would definitely want to leave town around 9AM to avoid being rushed!!! Also, Bob & Mary Ann invited me to the "club house" Block Party for tomorrow's Buckeye game. I was home from Barley’s by 11PM and decided that I would be in bed before midnight. Shhhhh!! Don’t tell. :)