J.P.

I’ve often said that I’m a two beer queer. This has somewhat been proven to be a false theory during my recent trip to Prince Edward Island where I had seven beers with our friends that live on “the island”. I once again proved that to be a false theory this evening where Earl and I hung with our friends and I had four Utica Clubs. For some reason Utica Club just knocks me completely on my ass so I kind of think of Utica Club as more than one beer per cup but that might just be symantics.

Anyways, I’ve mentioned before that one of the favorite attractions of our area is “Saranac Thursdays”, the largest happy hour in the area held at the local brewery. Our brewery is the home of Saranac beer, as well as that old staple Utica Club (and their mascots Shultz and Dooley), the first legal beer released after the repeal of prohibition. Many men of my sexual persuasion like to drink those trendy beers such as Michelob Ultra and whatnot. Blah. Personally, I enjoy Utica Club. It’s probably obvious from this blog entry syntax.

The evening started off innocently enough when a dilly of a thunderstorm blew though around 4:00. I was worried that this would put a damper on our happy hour plans at the Saranac, where we planned on meeting several people from Earl’s office and several people from my office. The last hour of work in the telephone company network operations center proved to be very busy, as expected, but that didn’t slow us down.

While Mother Nature blew through and did her Dena Dietrich “It’s Not Nice To Fool Mother Nature” trick with the lightning and thunder, Earl and I enjoyed a nice homecooked meal of steak strips and grilled peppers and rice. Have I mentioned that Earl is a fantastic cook? He rates right up there with Grandma Country. Anyway, I figured going to happy hour on a full stomach was safer than going to dinner on an empty stomach. This was later proven to be rather wise.

We met up with our friends Michael and Chris (Chris works with Earl) and Shirley and Ryan and his girlfriend Jacqueline (I work with Shirley and Ryan) and enjoyed the sounds of “The Band Charlie”. When we arrived the crowd was rather sparse, obviously tentative due to Mother Nature’s hissy fit that had since subsided.

Can I just say that if you have the opportunity to attend an event where “The Band Charlie” is playing that you should absolutely do so because they are clearly the best band we heard play at Saranac Thursdays thus far. A couple of weeks ago there was this battle of the bands thing going on where they all sucked and I could have wiped them out by playing Do-Re-Mi on a Fisher Price bell set but “The Band Charlie” is awesome. They use real instruments and everything. “The Band Charlie” kicks ass, go see them.

After Mother Nature gave us the “all clear” sign, indicating that the storms were over with a little bask of sunshine, the crowds started to fill in up to normal population levels. That’s when I started taking random pictures.

I just held up the camera and starting shooting in various directions paying no attention to what I was doing, as I learned how to do from Mark and Brian during GB:NYC this past Memorial Day. Here’s another totally random shot.

Earl and I hung with our friends, scoped out the crowd and jammed to the music. I drank beer, Earl drove. If you ever have the chance to go to Saranac Thursday, go for the people watching because it’s one of those settings where people from all walks of life mingle as they should, simply as members of the human equation. Class, status, dress, money, sexuality, color; none of it matters at Saranac Thursday. I fscking love it. And it’s very rare that you’ll hear me say this, but I feel a little bit of home turf pride while we’re there. I love the people Earl works with, I love the people I work with and I love the fact that we recognize people from various area interactions (restaurant servers, bartenders, bank tellers, toll collectors, etc) at Saranac Thursday. It gives me a tinge of “hometown pride”. I even told Earl that I could live here the rest of my life and only complain about it slightly.

Afterward, Earl took me, well us, to our local haunt, Zebb’s, where we had Supper #2, consisting of chicken wings and loaded fries. I think I talked a lot. I don’t really remember. I did find this charming picture on the camera though whilst I was uploading to the blog. I thought I’d share.

So remember, look us up on a Thursday night and join us at Saranac Thursday. It’s a guaranteed good time.

While traveling I always find visiting a mall in any given city to be an interesting experience. This morning we stopped at Neshaminy Mall outside of Philadelphia. Earl was kind enough to help me pick out school clothes for my upcoming run with college. We bought a t-shirt that cost $3.39.

While at Neshaminy Mall we stopped at the food court for a bite to eat from Saladworks. I say when you’re going to pig out at a picnic in the afternoon it’s good to have a healthy salad in your stomach to soak up an alcohol you might consume later on. While dining in the food court I enjoyed my sport of people watching.

To our left were a group of five elderly women. The youngest had to be 75 if she was a day, and Earl and I suspect that she was the designated driver, as she was the only one without a walker or a cane. Her four partners in crime had their walking accessories scattered about in disarray. The oldest looking of these women was busying herself freshening her lipstick and makeup. Her friend was wondering aloud why there were so many numbers on the lottery ticket she was feverishly scratching at. The others in the group were just chattering and having a grand old time. It did my heart good to see these women, who have probably seen and experienced a big chunk of this life experience, out and about enjoying their Saturday afternoon together. I respect that and wish them further years of these experiences.

Behind them was a thug type looking kid. He was blinged to the hilt and had this “don’t fsck with me” attitude going on. I was a little startled when he sat down, took off his hat and prayed before eating his meal. I may not believe as he does but I respected that he took the time to acknowledge his beliefs.

Now we’re getting ready to head to the family picnic. The weather is absolutely gorgeous and the vibe is good. I love Philadelphia and it’s people, with their tough sounding accent and their overwhelming Eagles pride. There’s good people here.

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Here’s a little video from last night: