All the right elements and such. What did we have? Oh yes! We had suspense, we had action and we had a bar full of rowdy fans for both sides. But best of all, we had a friend to hang out with whom I hadn’t had the pleasure of hanging out with since, well, since an unpleasant situation. Needless to say, many enthusiastic verbal tirades were traded and memories resurfaced that makes me look fondly upon some of my past. Life, indeed, was good back then.

It was Matt, y’all! He said we had known each other since we were like four or something, but we were so young that I can’t remember how old we were. There was a picture of us in our youth, basking in the sun with our bleach blonde hair, smiling at the camera with our arms around each other’s shoulders. I have to beg Terri for a copy of that one to post here along with the one we took about two years ago, fully grown. You know, a sort of before and after shot. Anyway, like I said, it was Matt. And we had a great time rehashing the past and sharing the present. And nothing’s changed between us even though we haven’t seen each other for years and years. I’ve had friends drift away because of distance and time and tried to re-initiate contact with them only to find they had no desire to do so which, in a way, is sad, but some people move on I guess. I hope I’m never like that. Or not too much like that, anyway.

I made it home in one piece after the Oilers won, and pretty well just hit the hay right away. I did relinquish a few minutes of sleep to read a chapter or two of The Last Juror, though, and to my great surprise I am already enthralled with it. The narrative just sucks you right in, and I can see this as being one of my favorite Grisham novels. Let’s hope he doesn’t slack off at the ending.

The Petroleum Show was huge, of course. Just massive! Matt headed up a booth for his company, and I was very attracted to the large machined parts that encompassed his booth. It’s going to be a trying time getting all that stuff out of there when everyone else wants to leave this evening and tomorrow. When I was told that it would take him a few days to set up his display, I was wondering what the heck would take him so long, like it was only going to be a three piece folding cardboard backdrop with posters and a labeled cow’s heart. Nope! There was literally tons of machined steel there. It was beautiful! Some displays involved whole compressor stations without any of that pesky building to get in the way. There were pumps and bits and nipples and flexible pipeline and liners and tigers and bears, oh my! There were even displays that didn’t make a whole lot of sense being there other than the fact that they were just plain cool. I guess the custom chopper display could be written off as transportation to and from work.

I’m going to Victoria tomorrow! I get to see my ladies, fer crying out loud. Wow! It’s been a little over a month already, and next week I get to drive them to Calgary permanently. We’re going to take it a little slower than my last two trip, though, and enjoy some of the sights along the way. I seem to remember a Flintstone Park and an Enchanted Forest or some junk like that that you’re only allowed to enjoy if you have kids (ahem, Calaway Park). I’ll be driving the U-Haul while Michelle takes the van. It’s a shame we couldn’t just get movers to move us because then we could have shared the driving duties as opposed to straight lining it ourselves.

Speaking of U-Haul, I hate U-Haul. I realize it’s a business and that they are in the business of making money, but doesn’t a business make money by keeping their customers happy? I would think so. You know what makes their customers unhappy? Dropping their rates by almost $400 and not telling them about it. I was a little curious about the size of truck we had because we’re, Michelle and I, still in a slight debate about what our volume need are, so I went to their website to check. To get to the dimensions of the trucks, thankfully, one needs to do all that crap involving the origin of your move and the destination which then brings you to the trucks available with the big ol’ price tag just hanging out right beside them. There it was, a lower rate.

I phoned the 1-800 number and politely asked about my reservation which they immediately confirmed. I also mentioned that I just happened to be on their website and noticed that their rates had dropped. Did this apply to my reservation? I can’t quote the girl directly because I had anger bubbling in my ears, but I believe she said something to the fact that she guessed it did now. Grrr! They would have just let me pay the higher price and laughed all the way. But I caught them, so let this be a warning to you. If you’re using them for a move, always keep checking their rates because they sure as heck aren’t going to tell you that you could save some money.

I don’t know if I’ll be posting till next week, so I’ll just say have a good weekend, y’all!

Edit: Apparently I’m developing some sort of Southern drawl because I used “y’all” twice. How unoriginal of me.

I should also mention that Roger’s turning 50 years young this weekend and that today, yes today, is my dad’s birthday. I’d mention his age, but I’m pretty sure that’s illegal or something. I will, however, post a very appropriate card: