Monday, February 9, 2015

Good morning crew,

I had some weird luck this weekend, particularly with dining. The wife's birthday was Friday, so I made reservations to take her out to dinner at a French place called Mon Ami Gabi.

We had a great experience with this restaurant in Las Vegas a couple years ago and I was hoping to repeat it with their location here.

I made the reservation Thursday, and I even called them Friday afternoon at about 4 to confirm their address, but as we walked up to the front door of the restaurant at eight o'clock we were stopped by the valet standing at his little podium on the curb.

He was a youngster, probably barely old enough to drive a car, and he accosted me with, "Hey! Restaurant's closed."

"Closed?" I said, already engaged by his warmth and personality. "Why?"

"Ceiling's collapsed."

"The ceiling collapsed?" I repeated incredulously.

"Did I stutter?" he answered, demonstrating that unfailing dedication to courtesy so common in the hospitality industry. "I said it collapsed."

I continued to walk toward the front door while the valet abandoned his post to tag along at my elbow yelling, "Hey! Hey!"

I peered through the front door and, sure enough, in the four hours since I had talked with the restaurant a half dozen of the drop ceiling tiles had fallen through, presumable due to a leak. How's that for timing?

A second later I felt a presence over my shoulder as the valet said in my ear, "I said! The restaurant's closed."

I silently hoped he would lay his hands on me so I could slap him around a little bit, but he just stared at me until I turned around and walked away.

The wife was pretty understanding. She gave me an encouraging smile and said, "That's okay, I really wanted a steak anyway."

Fortunately, just an excellent steak house in the form of Ditka's is right across the street from where we were, so a three minute drive found us standing at their reception desk begging to be let in.

As luck would have it we were able to slide into a table after only a ten minute wait, which is pretty good for not having a reservation.

And after the wife leaked that it was her birthday we even got free drinks and a free dessert. And no one insinuated that I was hard of hearing, either.

Laugh it up,

Joe

joe@gophercentral.com

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"Did you know that today is National Weatherpersons Day? And for National Weatherpersons Day, everything I say tonight will be half wrong." -Jimmy Kimmel

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"Earlier today I read that drinking whiskey can cure a cold. You know, I was fighting a cold last night until 4 a.m." -Dave Letterman

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"Scientists have discovered that a 5,000-year-old mummy is covered with at least 60 tattoos. Scientists are calling him the earliest known member of the NBA." -Conan O'Brien

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I hate the idea of going under the knife. So I was very upset when the doctor hold me I needed a tonsillectomy. Later, the nurse and I were filling out an admission form. I tried to respond to the questions, but I was so nervous I couldn't speak.

The nurse patted my hand and said, "Don't worry. This medical problem can easily be fixed, and it's not a dangerous procedure."

"You're right. I'm being silly," I said, "Please continue."

"Good," the nurse went on, "Now, do you have a living will?"


*-------------- Guaranteed to Roll Your Eyes --------------*
A student at our high school a few years back, having had his fill with drawing graph after graph in senior high math class, told his teacher, "I'll do algebra, I'll do trig, and I'll even do statistics, but graphing is where I draw the line!"