Dave, Buster, and Roomba!
Laura and I *finally* got together for birthdays/work celebration/the holidays. Off we went to Dave & Buster's for skee ball and other fun stuff. She also gave me birthday/Christmas gifts and a card...and I felt like a heel because I have nothing. No, wait, I have a birthday card for her, but I left it at home. I'm so good.
D&B was okay. The other times we've gone were off-peak; Saturday nights are rather busy, as you might imagine. We played a number of games and simulators. She was good at the semi driving sim, and I was good at the zombie shoot-'em-up sim (which kind of frightens me, actually). We eventually decided to eat there--it was 10 PM--and that's when it got interesting. We were seated in the back by this large (i.e. multiple tables put together), drunk, and rowdy party. We were left alone for a while, but we figured the waiter had his or her hands full with the party. After about ten minutes I took off my watch to see how long it would take for someone to show up. After another ten minutes had gone by, Laura walked up to the host's podium and let them know we weren't getting served. The host seemed rather shocked by that and almost immediately a female server came by and got our drinks. I thought it was funny when she came back and asked, "Are you ready to order or do you need a minute?" Granted, it's the kind of thing you say to everyone, but...we'd already had 25 minutes of sitting there to decide what we wanted, plus I'd grabbed a menu even before we were seated. Right after the waitress came by the first time, a guy I presume to be a manager came over and apologized and offered us either an appetizer or a dessert (each) on the house, which I both appreciated and expected. Our actual server did stop by finally, and each time he came over he apologized profusely. He was honestly sorry, and it was clear the other group took a lot of energy...plus he was cute (am I right, Laura?)...so we forgave him. Plus with free yummy key lime pie, it made us forget our being forgotten.
On the ride home--we didn't leave until about 11:45--we took a couple detours. We noticed the strange signs on the intersections in St. Charles and drove through a good portion of the town; it seems that all of the intersections with traffic lights are numbered, starting with the intersection at Pheasant Run, #1. We got to #13 (Routes 64 and 31) before I turned south. I took her past the house on Cheever, but it was late enough that the lights were off. We did try tuning into the radio station, though, but it was so fuzzy. We're thinking it's broadcast out of someone's basement. Somewhere along the way Laura also directed me to her new job, which is cool.
Today. Work. Nothing too bad. It was Employee Appreciation Weekend, so I picked up a few things, including some calendars for my grandparents. I have officially started my Christmas shopping. Mom even stopped in randomly, so she was able to get a book for 40% off too. Closing wasn't too bad, but it just took a long time. I didn't get out of there until 8:10. For next week, I have to remember to get the closing figures from one screen before I go into another screen. Once I get into the second screen, I can't go anywhere else. And I have to wait for the kiosk deposit to get upstairs before the figures get printed out...and that can take up to 45 minutes. Bleah. So, yeah, I gots to get with the program. If I closed more than once a week, this wouldn't be a problem. Oh well. I think I'll be pretty good next time.
Before I left this morning, dad was undoing Roomba. Yes, we're keeping it. They played with it this afternoon. There's all these funny lines over the carpeting where Roomba went this way and that, and dad said it sort of looked around before going to its home base. I can't wait to see it in action.
D&B was okay. The other times we've gone were off-peak; Saturday nights are rather busy, as you might imagine. We played a number of games and simulators. She was good at the semi driving sim, and I was good at the zombie shoot-'em-up sim (which kind of frightens me, actually). We eventually decided to eat there--it was 10 PM--and that's when it got interesting. We were seated in the back by this large (i.e. multiple tables put together), drunk, and rowdy party. We were left alone for a while, but we figured the waiter had his or her hands full with the party. After about ten minutes I took off my watch to see how long it would take for someone to show up. After another ten minutes had gone by, Laura walked up to the host's podium and let them know we weren't getting served. The host seemed rather shocked by that and almost immediately a female server came by and got our drinks. I thought it was funny when she came back and asked, "Are you ready to order or do you need a minute?" Granted, it's the kind of thing you say to everyone, but...we'd already had 25 minutes of sitting there to decide what we wanted, plus I'd grabbed a menu even before we were seated. Right after the waitress came by the first time, a guy I presume to be a manager came over and apologized and offered us either an appetizer or a dessert (each) on the house, which I both appreciated and expected. Our actual server did stop by finally, and each time he came over he apologized profusely. He was honestly sorry, and it was clear the other group took a lot of energy...plus he was cute (am I right, Laura?)...so we forgave him. Plus with free yummy key lime pie, it made us forget our being forgotten.
On the ride home--we didn't leave until about 11:45--we took a couple detours. We noticed the strange signs on the intersections in St. Charles and drove through a good portion of the town; it seems that all of the intersections with traffic lights are numbered, starting with the intersection at Pheasant Run, #1. We got to #13 (Routes 64 and 31) before I turned south. I took her past the house on Cheever, but it was late enough that the lights were off. We did try tuning into the radio station, though, but it was so fuzzy. We're thinking it's broadcast out of someone's basement. Somewhere along the way Laura also directed me to her new job, which is cool.
Today. Work. Nothing too bad. It was Employee Appreciation Weekend, so I picked up a few things, including some calendars for my grandparents. I have officially started my Christmas shopping. Mom even stopped in randomly, so she was able to get a book for 40% off too. Closing wasn't too bad, but it just took a long time. I didn't get out of there until 8:10. For next week, I have to remember to get the closing figures from one screen before I go into another screen. Once I get into the second screen, I can't go anywhere else. And I have to wait for the kiosk deposit to get upstairs before the figures get printed out...and that can take up to 45 minutes. Bleah. So, yeah, I gots to get with the program. If I closed more than once a week, this wouldn't be a problem. Oh well. I think I'll be pretty good next time.
Before I left this morning, dad was undoing Roomba. Yes, we're keeping it. They played with it this afternoon. There's all these funny lines over the carpeting where Roomba went this way and that, and dad said it sort of looked around before going to its home base. I can't wait to see it in action.