Glad that’s over.  Now there’s a phrase you don’t hear every Monday morning;  Unless you were oncall over the weekend.  Ehhh, it wasn’t bad though, I squeezed in my share of entertainment.  I kicked things off Friday afternoon down at the Brooksider.  I had fully intended to just ride the bus straight home and settle in for some movies, but when I stepped out into the 50-degree weather I figured I had better take advantage of the situation.  I procured a nice cigar and proceeded to spend a few hours on the patio with the boys.  After that we decided to head out for a little dinner.  Our first choice was Chelly’s, which we don’t go to very often but always enjoy when we do.  When we stepped in the front door and found a wait for a table we bailed out though.  Second choice, on a snap decision, was the new Papa Rico’s restaurant across the street.  It’s been through several different restaurants over the last several years;  It seems to be one of those buildings that just don’t do well no matter what they put in it.  My dinner was pretty good, I think I liked mine better than Donette did hers.  I think the thing that threw us off most was their oddly liberal use of chili powder.  Everything was just doused in it.  You could smell it when the plates hit the table.  At any rate it was good food, we’ll give it another try.  We’ll most likely try their breakfast next time though;  I don’t think the dinner was good enough to unseat any of our “regular” spots.

Saturday we passed the afternoon without any notable excitement, then decided to go out on a “date night” for the evening.  We decided on the movies, which is certainly a rare occasion, as we can almost never find a movie that we agree on.  As it happened though, I wanted to see “True Grit,” and she is on a mission to see all the movies that are Oscar nominated, so we picked that one.  We found a 7:00 showing down at the Main Street AMC, and took a limo (a.k.a. city bus) down there around 6:00.  That gave us plenty of time to get settled in, grab a bite to eat, and get ready for the show.  Good movie, all in all.  I watched the original earlier in the day so I’d have a fresh comparison in my mind, and I can’t go so far as to agree with all the assessments that the new one is better.  It was entertaining though, and I always enjoy that theater if nothing else.

Sunday, well, let’s just pretend it never happened.  Which, in a sense, it never did.  I couldn’t quite get into first gear.  I suppose I never should have turned on the TV, that’s always a bad decision.  But I did, and ended up watching back-to-back-to-back terrible movies all day long, intermingled with news and uninteresting sporting events.  I was moderately looking forward to the Pro Bowl, as I wanted to see all the Chiefs players in it.  As it turned out, even the worst low-budget crappy movie available on Netflix provided more entertainment than that game.  I didn’t even make it through ten minutes, it was just too boring to watch.

I really have nothing to work with this morning, but in the interest of keeping my rather remarkable streak alive I shall retell some of the notable things I saw over the last week.  Of course the term “notable” is in the eye of the beholder.

Last weekend I saw some movement outside the front window.  Curious, I peeked through the blinds and there was an enormous hawk in the front yard tearing up a bird it had caught.  Now there’s something you don’t see every day in midtown.  Looked like something off the Animal Planet channel or something.  I ran upstairs and got the camera but when I raised the blinds it startled him and he flew off carrying his dinner.  Left a big mess behind too, part of which the cat carried in.  Yuck.

I was riding the bus home the other day and sat across from one of the largest people I have ever seen.  Humongous.  I tried not to stare, but that was one big fella.  As we bussed merrily along, I couldn’t help but notice he was sucking his thumb.  Now there’s an interesting quirk.  Around Linwood or so his phone rang, and as the very loud conversation ensued I quickly realized he was actually a she.  Never would have guessed that without the phone call, but it was very apparent.  The call went on for a while, then she hung up and the thumb went right back in the mouth.  Fascinating.  I could fill many pages with “interesting bus people” sightings but this one particularly stood out.  Plus I often wonder if people look at me and think “Dang is that guy really going to work like that?”

Yesterday I was heading to lunch and saw a bald eagle fly over the river.  Two interesting bird sightings in one week.  This was notable because it happens to be only the second (wild) bald eagle I’ve ever seen, despite occasionally going looking for them.  I may well just trot down to the river this afternoon too and see if I can spot any more.

Nothing to report.  All quiet on the mid-town front.  I did stop by the Brooksider last night for a bit of a diversion.  Donette is home sick so I didn’t want to catch anything.  No real excitement at the ol’ Brooksider, which is a good thing.  Probably stayed a little longer than necessary but I found myself at a good table so I decided to hang out for a while.  “Good table” is a phrase I use to describe a rather inexact combination of patrons, staff, time of day, menu specials, and sometimes weather.  It’s actually a rather rare occurrence so I’m compelled to take advantage of it when the opportunity presents itself.

I have oncall looming on the horizon, and as such I should probably be cranking things up a notch this week.  So far that plan has consisted of…  Nothing.  Somebody needs to get out here and entertain me.  I realize those options are a bit limited with the residual snow and all, but surely you can think of something.  Slush-ball fight?  Build a snowman?  Tacos at the new restaurant in Waldo?  C’mon, work with me here.

Wow, not even 9:00 and I have already declared this the best day ever.  I better hurry up and post something before it all comes crashing down.  What do I base this glowing review on?  Well, I got to bed early and slept pretty well last night, so that’s always a good start.  Then, I managed to get out the door on time and caught the early bus.  The bus was remarkably uncrowded, and I didn’t get stuck next to talking-person, crazy-person or even stinky-person.  Needless to say, I was already fairly skipping down the sidewalk on my way to the office after that pleasant ride.  Already brimming with optimism for the day, I walked in the break room and BOTH coffee pots were totally full!  I kid you not, I have never, ever seen that before.  Ever.  Generally, the best case is there is enough in one to fill my cup, and more often than not one is all but empty and the other is covered with baked-on smelly crud because nobody can switch off the burner when it’s empty.  And THEN, if THAT wasn’t enough, guess what happened next??!!!  Well, nothing, that was it.  I try not to get too lofty with my expectations these days.  I’ll tell you what though, if stinky-person doesn’t sit next to me on the way back home, it is ON, I’m going out and partying somewhere.