Here’s the basic weekend wrap-up:
Friday – I was supposed to go out for drinks with ‘the gang’ at work but I wasn’t feeling right. It was raining a bit and I was feeling a bit nauseous. I’m not sure if those two things are related. Anyway, I stayed incognito.
Saturday – My sister works for the company that sponsors a wine festival so she puts me on the ‘will call’ list. It’s nice: I walk up, give them my name and they hand me a wine glass and put a paper label around my wrist. I then walk to their roped-off area (they call them ‘chalets’) and give them my name again. I get another paper label around my wrist and all is well with the world. These Chalets have their own food and wine so there’s really no reason to go anywhere else. They have their own TV, a couch and an upscale port-o-let. Nice.
It was me and my niece to begin with and my sister joined us later in the day. The weather did not cooperate at all. It was windy, overcast and, at time, raining. There were a TON of people out there. I thought that the weather would keep the crowds away but I was mistaken on that point.
After the wine festival we attempted to go out to dinner. I had a few hours before my date with “Alice” (more on that later) so we searched for someplace to eat. We checked several places and found that all of them had an hour wait – at minimum. I waved goodbye to the group telling them I had food at home. I’m not sure what they ended up doing for dinner.
Earlier in the week Alice calls and asks if I wanted to go see a movie over the weekend. I kind of hesitated and then told her about the wine festival.
“I was thinking later Saturday night” she says. You see, the wine festival ended at 6:00. The only movie that’s playing at the theater is “The Duchess”. I’m at the theater a few minutes early thinking I can pick up the tickets (wink wink) and be the hero. Well, the box office doesn’t open until 15 minutes before the start of the showing.
So Alice walks up and we start with the “how was your day” conversation. She asks me about the wine festival. Everything is good. Of course, we’re standing outside and it’s a little cold and windy and I’ve been standing in the wind for most of the day so I’m pretty wind-whipped.
At last the box office opens and I order two tickets. “I was going to pay for mine” she says. She is appreciative, though. She buys some concessions and we make our way up to the balcony. The past few times I’ve been to this theater the balcony has been closed. I’m not sure why.
We shift into small-talk as we wait for the movie to begin. It’s nice, it’s comfortable… but there’s no “spark”. I don’t know how to define it but that quality that should be there is not. I’m not sure if she feels the same way. Maybe it will come in time?
The movie is a period piece, set in the mid to late 1700’s. It feels very much like a Merchant-Ivory film but is not overstated. They don’t do a very good job of selling the emotions so I don’t feel ‘involved’ in the film. I never felt like it dragged at any moment but it definitely had a slow pace.
Sunday – I’ve been invited to go over to my parent’s house for dinner and to watch football. The game we’re interested in is not until 4:00 so I head down to the wine festival again. This time, my other sister and her family are already there. There are about half as many people in general attendance. The weather is more cooperative though it is still fairly windy.
Three guys have planted themselves on the couch and are huddled around the TV – which is impossible to watch unless you’re a few inches away from the screen because of the glare from the sun.
There is such a different vibe on Sunday then there was on Saturday. Saturday was more of a “Party Wide Open” day where people were downing bottles of wine like they were water. Sunday is SO much more laid back and everyone just kind of “chills” and does their own thing. This is the first time I’ve been to the festival on a Sunday so it’s kind of a weird transition.
About 3:30 I left downtown and headed for my parents. We watched the game and had dinner – it was nice. I love hearing all the gossip about the family that my mother knows. What bothers her most is the stuff she DOESN’T know.
Monday - I had a phone interview for another company this morning but I don’t think I did very well.
Them: “So, what do you know about XYZ Company?”
Me: “Uh… I think you’re a healthcare provider…?”
Ouch. Talk about not doing your homework. That was just the HR part of the interview. If they see anything worth salvaging then I’ll get to the technical portion of the interview. I usually do better with the technical part because I can act like I know what I’m talking about.
And for some reason the Russian judge scores me the lowest.