A firkin COTA Day

I was up early and ready to complete the five day business cycle commonly referred to as a work week. The morning would flow a bit easier given that Mindy didn’t need to be up since today was a COTA day – not exactly sure what it is but assume it has something to do with taking the bus. :) I went about my routine with a high amount of energy. I was more than eager for this to run its course. Early on, the day did not resemble anything close to a picture perfect autumn day. Instead it remained CCGD – cloudy, cool, gray, and dreary. This might end up being one of the crappiest October’s on record. We spent the majority of our days under clouds in the fifties with lots of rain. We’ve had two different severe storms that included tornado warnings, and even had an afternoon with snow. We’ve had everything but a couple nice boating days sprinkled in. Last year I was easily able to boat deep into October. This year’s been the complete opposite. My last day on the lake was September the 9th. And while we’ve had one or two nice days since, they were either on work days or conflicting with other more pressing events. In either case, I’ll be winterizing the boat come next Saturday and won’t see my boat until May of 2007. L I left for work amongst the gloom but arrived feeling ready for whatever the day had to offer. As it tuned out, the day was very busy for me but no busy for my team. I had an inordinate number of issues fall on my desk. That aside, I still enjoyed my Friday. I left for my run a smidgeon early (about 12:30pm) and had to endure a little bit of a chill. I wasn’t phased. After my run I planned a quick run to the Tuttle Best Buy to look at new MP3 players since my current RIO went on the fritz. The options were many, but I left empty handed. I left empty handed in part because I don’t really need all the bells and whistles available on these players and was a bit overwhelmed. I’d rather make an informed decision after some extensive research. I was equally surprised to see that regardless of the player I buy, I’ll need to spend another $30 on a sports rig for runners. Back at work the afternoon was fast and furious. I ended up staying on the job until 5:30pm. But once I left I did my best to put work on the back shelf. Not only did Mindy have the afternoon off, Jim came and got the kids at 330pm for the weekend. He’s taking them to the new Frontier indoor water park. In the meantime, we’ll have a weekend alone. Because Mindy was off, she went by Lindsey’s rental office and attempted to make arrangements to have her apartment rekeyed. Turns out, they wouldn’t act for anyone but Lindsey directly. Problem! Lindsey’s job doesn’t permit her to miss and the office hours are a paltry 1-5pm M-F. Seems like a conflict to me. Also, Lindsey asked if she could come over for a short visit tonight too. Mindy and I talked and agreed that while she could certainly visit, we weren’t going to allow her to stay the night so that we could have a night alone. We had agreed to spend our Saturday at her apartment cleaning again. Lindsey and Lil’ Rocky were already there when I got home. For some reason, Lil’ Rocky didn’t seem to keen on interacting with me. He was exhibiting old habits. He tried to avoid me at all costs. We took the opportunity to have a discussion with Lindsey about her situation and pushed a few significant issues that we both agreed need addressed if we’re to continue helping. First, I requested that she complete a monthly budget to show us where her money goes. And number two we once again requested that she get some counseling and meds if necessary. She was reluctant to do the budget thing but decided to rough a simple budget on paper while there. Shockingly, she has more disposable income than me (free cash after necessary expenses). Something isn’t adding up. What could it be, we wondered. Could she be squandering money as even she implies, or is there a bigger underlying problem? One thing’s for certain, I will not continue to help someone who’s not helping themselves. Lindsey didn’t stay much longer. Her and Rocky left by 7pm after we played cars together. Mindy and I readied for an evening at Barleys. We were excited to have an evening out. On our way to Barleys, Mindy’s friend, Kari called to let us know that she and her boyfriend were going to join us. Moreover, Tommy called letting us know that he was going to join us too. It wasn’t crowded at all tonight, and from our perspective that was good. Kari and Kevin arrived about an hour after us, and Tommy showed a half hour after them. Bob & Mary Ann were there as were Jeremy and Courtney. We hung out all night. I committed the ultimate mistake. I didn’t eat anything to go along with the five beers I drank from 745pm to 12:30am. That I’d pay for later. Everyone else ate a hearty Barley’s meal. At the time I simply didn’t want to feel full from eating. More often than not, we’re home from Barleys before 11pm. But tonight for some reason we stayed extra late. Time just flew by. We managed to talk Bob into staying late after taking Mary Ann home. We haven’t got to hang out and raise hell in quite a while. Before we knew it, Lee was cleaning up the bar while we stayed around talking. He booted us out when he was ready to go. I gave Mindy the keys since she hadn’t been drinking since 8:30 or 9pm. I had a pretty good buzz. Of course by the time that we got home I was starving. I ate several handfuls of junk but nothing of any substance. I was wise enough to choke down three Advil prior to bed.