The Trip--Day 4, 5, & 6

After the excitement of the first three days, the next three were far calmer.  Yet, I’ve still got a few things to share.

Monday morning started by getting up late (around 8:00) and heading down to St. John.  Since I was going to be around, Mom had told the class that I’d come in to visit for a little while.  When I got there, the class was out playing some team games, so I figured I’d watch that for a little while.  I managed to catch up a little bit with a couple of the parents who were there to help with the events, as well as take pictures.  Of course, these parents were all about my age, which was a little surreal (given the fact that I’m still single).  I still don’t feel old enough to have kids

Anyway, when they got to the water balloon toss, one person still needed a partner, and I was drafted into service.  My partner (whose name I’ve already forgotten, sorry) actually did pretty well, finishing 3rd.  Of course, I had to do this while taking a knee, much like you see in the front row of a team picture, but that was OK.  I managed to escape without a) getting soaked myself or b) soaking my partner.  Our breaks occurred on away-from-body drops.

After the games ended, it was back inside for ice cream (which was the enticement I needed to make the trip in).  After the kids got their ice cream (which I managed to pick up for Mom on my way in), I got to show the class Sleepy Bear.  Sleepy is a stuffed animal I’ve had since shortly after I was born.  He put up with a lot of abuse when I was younger, and has the scars to prove it.  Apparently, Mom has recounted some of those stories to several classes, including his defuzzing.  They asked a few questions, which I answered.  Once they were out of questions, I wandered back for some ice cream.

The rest of the day was pretty quiet.  I had lunch with Dad and just hung around the house.  Things got more interesting, or at least aggravating, at dinner.

For some reason, Dad likes to watch the news on Channel 7 in Detroit at dinner.  Well, given the coverage, I firmly believe that the station was taking kickbacks from IKEA to cover the opening of their store in Canton.  They had to spend the first 6-7 minutes of the broadcast talking about the morons (the reporters called them “people”, but I strongly disagree with that assessment) who decided to camp out in line so they could be among the first ones in when the store opened on WEDNESDAY.  Channel 7 even sent a helicopter over there to provide “aerial coverage” of these future (or current) psychiatric patients.  They showed graphics telling people where they could park.  You can see some up-close pictures of this crap on Ann’s blog.  I can’t wait until the next dog-grooming store opens in Novi.  I’m sure they’ll get the same coverage, right Channel 7?  How much does it cost to get you to provide this “free” coverage?  A hundred grand?  More?  Less?  Free beer at the Anchor Bar?  Wings tickets?  Yet you wonder why Mayor Kwame has the mayor’s office up for sale.

This junk continued through Wednesday.  The plugs for this gigantic non-event continued almost non-stop for the next 3 days.  This is my only time in my life that I wish Bill Bonds was still an anchor.  Sure, he’s sold out by doing commercials for Gardner-White furniture, but there’s no way in hell he would have allowed the news broadcast to be used so shamelessly.  Now I know how Robbie Timmons has a job.  Waive a few dollars in her face and she’ll say whatever you want her to say.  So what if it isn’t actually news?

After dinner on Monday, I did meet my cousin Amy for drinks and to catch up, as I didn’t get to talk to her much during Mom’s dinner on Sunday.  It was great to see her and to hear about what’s been going on with her family.

Outside of that, Tuesday and Wednesday were pretty uneventful.  I hung out with the parents at the house for the most part.  I got a haircut on Tuesday and had a chance to talk baseball with MTB (that’s Mike the Barber for the uninitiated).  I also spoke with a recruiter on Wednesday afternoon about my background and what I’m looking for.  Yes, I could still end up at TNG, but I’m keeping my options open while they decide what role I might have and what my responsibilities might include.

Wednesday evening, I got everything packed, as I would be leaving Thursday morning.  With that, I set the alarm and went to bed.  So ended day six.