Weekend Update
I almost forgot how to post. I guess it's been a while since I put anything up here.
Anyway, I had a blast last Friday at Ryan, Mike, and Bobs (Not going to bother inserting LJ tags) party. So much fun in fact that I didn't get home until around 4am. This wouldn't be a problem if I wasn't planning on waking up early in the morning to try out for American Gladiators. But I was and it wasn't fun. Here's the delayed update to last Saturdays AG tryouts that I promised I would post:
Ugh,
I got home at 330am FridayNight/ Saturday Morning and got to bed at 4. I slept until 730am ate breakfast and then left to go get on line. I got there at 930am (notice how I'm using the am/pm signifier), which was a half an hour before they started to take people. The line wrapped around the block. The a$$ end of the line almost merged with the beginning.
So I stood
And Waited
I brought a book and started to read, but my hands were getting cold and I couldn't concentrate on what I was reading. I forgot my gloves and hat at home (mistake number one of the day) and all I was wearing was a thin sweatshirt, with a T underneath, and a pair of sweatpants with my batterd Chucks (Probably enough to constitute as mistake number two).
10am - Woman with annoying kids and husband gets on the line. I figured that it will only be a couple of hours of waiting, and they were 8 or 9 people behind me, so it's not going to be that bad.
10:30am - I was still waiting and the line barely moved. I was talking to some friends that cam by to see how I was doing and offer their support.
It started to rain.
I checked through my bad and luckily found that I had indeed still had my umbrella inside. Redeeming factor numero uno!
Then we instantly moved under some scaffolding so the umbrella was deemed worthless at this point, but I still count that as a redeeming point. I needed all I could get.
12:00pm (noon) - I was still waiting outside. By this point I had already traversed one side of the city block and only had to conquer 2 1/2 more sides until I was trying out! I contemplated if I should eat lunch because I didn't want the food to be sitting in my stomach when I was doing the PT for the tryout. After staring at a Subway restaurant across the street for 15 minutes I decided that getting a 6'' tuna sub would be the best choice. This was simutaneously a good and bad choice at once. I was talking to this guy Anthony who said that he would hold my spot in line while I grabbed something to eat. I figured he would be a good person because he had said, not 10 minutes earlier, that nothing would make him leave the line.
12:25pm - I ate the sandwhich and went across the street to the local Starbucks (local to that street) to take a piss. When I returned Anthony was gone and would never be seen again. I continue to wait
12:50pm - I exchange the first, of many, glances with one of the guys behind me. It was a "what in the holy hell is taking them so long and why are we still waiting out here" type of looks. He seemed like a cool guy. Never got his name
I look around and notice that annoying woman's annoying kids and husband are gone. The day is looking better already.
1pm - A couple of friends return from working out and hang out for me for a while. One stays for about 3 hours. Much appreciated company
2pm - 260lb contestant lights up a cigarette and starts to complain about having to do pull-ups for the tryouts. He later cornered one of the NBC reps (who came by to ensure us that they were moving as quickly as possible) and tried to haggle with the guy to do something else besides pull-ups. My guess was how many cigarettes he could smoke at once.
330pm - I took another piss break and got a hot chocolate. My friend, Jeff, headed out soon afterwards. The hot chocolate warmed me for about 6 and 1/2 minutes. My body then went back to freezing and I started to lose feeling in my feet once again. Finished the second street and I was halfway down the third. One and a half streets to go
430pm - Annoying womans annoying husband and annoying kids are back. She is standing right next to me as I somehow lost the 8 person buffer that I had that morning.
5pm - I had an apple that I saved from earlier in the morning. I figured that it would give me just enough energy to get through the PT tryout. It was more of a hope at this point.
6pm - I am in total bliss. A local street meat vendor decided to be capitalistic and park his cart next to the trhongs of the cold and hungry waiting on line. I had never realized how much heat such a small cart could give off. It was well worth standing behind the cart and getting a face full of greasy smoke for that little bit of warmth. I asked how much a kebab was (any sort of meat, even the street variety, would be heaven right now) and was told it was $3. At this point I am somewhat surprised (and impressed!) at how cheap I can be when it comes to satisfying my own short term needs and continued be hungry.
7pm - It's still cold and I still don't have feeling in my feet. Even though we were assured that everyone would be seen I am beginning to lose hope. I find out that my hope threshold sits at roughly 10 hours.
8pm - I am almost there. I can see the glorious sign for the gym entrance. The firemen showed up earlier and warned that the line was crowding the street too much. To counteract this problem they started giving everybody numbers and lining them up 2-wide down the street on the other side of the gym. I get a number and start passing by other people. I see that the numbers begin in the 530 - 540 range. I look down at my number, 666 (I'm not one to be superstious, but C'MON! SERIOUSLY?!??!), and quickly do the math as Every Single Person who sees me walk by yells something to the degree of "Oooohhhhh 666! That's a bad number. You're the devil!". Yeah, I get it 598, maybe you could be a bit more clever than 586 was or just give me a swift kick to the balls because you'll be getting in a long time before me.
I get to my spot in line and it's ALMOST EXACTLY THE SAME SPOT WHERE I STARTED 11 HOURS EARLIER!!! Only going in the other direction. I arrive just in time to hear one of the gym employees say that they are taking 7-10 people at time and it will take 20 minutes for the group. I do the math in my head and figure out that it will take another 4-5 hours before I go. I die a little inside.
8:05pm - Screw this, I'm outta here. I think a part of me broke at that point and I couldn't justify waiting an additional 4-5 hours.
So that was my American Gladiator experience. I think next time I may just make a 5-minute video and send that in.
Anyway, I had a blast last Friday at Ryan, Mike, and Bobs (Not going to bother inserting LJ tags) party. So much fun in fact that I didn't get home until around 4am. This wouldn't be a problem if I wasn't planning on waking up early in the morning to try out for American Gladiators. But I was and it wasn't fun. Here's the delayed update to last Saturdays AG tryouts that I promised I would post:
Ugh,
I got home at 330am FridayNight/ Saturday Morning and got to bed at 4. I slept until 730am ate breakfast and then left to go get on line. I got there at 930am (notice how I'm using the am/pm signifier), which was a half an hour before they started to take people. The line wrapped around the block. The a$$ end of the line almost merged with the beginning.
So I stood
And Waited
I brought a book and started to read, but my hands were getting cold and I couldn't concentrate on what I was reading. I forgot my gloves and hat at home (mistake number one of the day) and all I was wearing was a thin sweatshirt, with a T underneath, and a pair of sweatpants with my batterd Chucks (Probably enough to constitute as mistake number two).
10am - Woman with annoying kids and husband gets on the line. I figured that it will only be a couple of hours of waiting, and they were 8 or 9 people behind me, so it's not going to be that bad.
10:30am - I was still waiting and the line barely moved. I was talking to some friends that cam by to see how I was doing and offer their support.
It started to rain.
I checked through my bad and luckily found that I had indeed still had my umbrella inside. Redeeming factor numero uno!
Then we instantly moved under some scaffolding so the umbrella was deemed worthless at this point, but I still count that as a redeeming point. I needed all I could get.
12:00pm (noon) - I was still waiting outside. By this point I had already traversed one side of the city block and only had to conquer 2 1/2 more sides until I was trying out! I contemplated if I should eat lunch because I didn't want the food to be sitting in my stomach when I was doing the PT for the tryout. After staring at a Subway restaurant across the street for 15 minutes I decided that getting a 6'' tuna sub would be the best choice. This was simutaneously a good and bad choice at once. I was talking to this guy Anthony who said that he would hold my spot in line while I grabbed something to eat. I figured he would be a good person because he had said, not 10 minutes earlier, that nothing would make him leave the line.
12:25pm - I ate the sandwhich and went across the street to the local Starbucks (local to that street) to take a piss. When I returned Anthony was gone and would never be seen again. I continue to wait
12:50pm - I exchange the first, of many, glances with one of the guys behind me. It was a "what in the holy hell is taking them so long and why are we still waiting out here" type of looks. He seemed like a cool guy. Never got his name
I look around and notice that annoying woman's annoying kids and husband are gone. The day is looking better already.
1pm - A couple of friends return from working out and hang out for me for a while. One stays for about 3 hours. Much appreciated company
2pm - 260lb contestant lights up a cigarette and starts to complain about having to do pull-ups for the tryouts. He later cornered one of the NBC reps (who came by to ensure us that they were moving as quickly as possible) and tried to haggle with the guy to do something else besides pull-ups. My guess was how many cigarettes he could smoke at once.
330pm - I took another piss break and got a hot chocolate. My friend, Jeff, headed out soon afterwards. The hot chocolate warmed me for about 6 and 1/2 minutes. My body then went back to freezing and I started to lose feeling in my feet once again. Finished the second street and I was halfway down the third. One and a half streets to go
430pm - Annoying womans annoying husband and annoying kids are back. She is standing right next to me as I somehow lost the 8 person buffer that I had that morning.
5pm - I had an apple that I saved from earlier in the morning. I figured that it would give me just enough energy to get through the PT tryout. It was more of a hope at this point.
6pm - I am in total bliss. A local street meat vendor decided to be capitalistic and park his cart next to the trhongs of the cold and hungry waiting on line. I had never realized how much heat such a small cart could give off. It was well worth standing behind the cart and getting a face full of greasy smoke for that little bit of warmth. I asked how much a kebab was (any sort of meat, even the street variety, would be heaven right now) and was told it was $3. At this point I am somewhat surprised (and impressed!) at how cheap I can be when it comes to satisfying my own short term needs and continued be hungry.
7pm - It's still cold and I still don't have feeling in my feet. Even though we were assured that everyone would be seen I am beginning to lose hope. I find out that my hope threshold sits at roughly 10 hours.
8pm - I am almost there. I can see the glorious sign for the gym entrance. The firemen showed up earlier and warned that the line was crowding the street too much. To counteract this problem they started giving everybody numbers and lining them up 2-wide down the street on the other side of the gym. I get a number and start passing by other people. I see that the numbers begin in the 530 - 540 range. I look down at my number, 666 (I'm not one to be superstious, but C'MON! SERIOUSLY?!??!), and quickly do the math as Every Single Person who sees me walk by yells something to the degree of "Oooohhhhh 666! That's a bad number. You're the devil!". Yeah, I get it 598, maybe you could be a bit more clever than 586 was or just give me a swift kick to the balls because you'll be getting in a long time before me.
I get to my spot in line and it's ALMOST EXACTLY THE SAME SPOT WHERE I STARTED 11 HOURS EARLIER!!! Only going in the other direction. I arrive just in time to hear one of the gym employees say that they are taking 7-10 people at time and it will take 20 minutes for the group. I do the math in my head and figure out that it will take another 4-5 hours before I go. I die a little inside.
8:05pm - Screw this, I'm outta here. I think a part of me broke at that point and I couldn't justify waiting an additional 4-5 hours.
So that was my American Gladiator experience. I think next time I may just make a 5-minute video and send that in.