AT LEAST WE DIDN'T HAVE TO WALK THE PLANK

At the end of the Yat-Together in September, Kevin suggested Port of Call as the headquarters for the October meeting. I thought that was a brilliant idea. I had heard various people call the place the spot for a good burger for years. Yet somehow I had never been there. Crazy. I know.

I had thought October would be a difficult month to do a Yat-Together. I was under the impression that the Cubs would be, um, winning the pennant. OK. Go ahead. Get the laughing out of your system. I figured they'd be playing during most of my off days, and there was no way I was leaving my couch. Because the Cubs made a quicker exit from the playoffs than Lindsay Lohan from a rehab clinic, the Yat-Together was on for Wednesday (during Game 5 of the NLCS, no less). 

Of course, I had no idea how to get to such a place as Port of Call. Sure, I've been in that area plenty of times, but I've never driven to that section of the city. Luckily, Greg was willing to pick me up (for a small fee). And I'm proud to say, I think I could make it back there all by myself. Especially if I brought Betsy (the name I gave to mom's GPS). Oh shit. I left Betsy in Greg's car. If mom finds out before I get it back, you'll probably read it in the TCC. Keep your fingers crossed, kids. 

The October Yat-Together clan was similar to the September version. Greg, Kevin, myself and this time Kelli served as our gal of the month. (This gives me an idea for a Gene Pool 2009 calendar. Who wants to be July?) Like I've said before, one of the highlights of my month is always the Yat-Together. Doesn't matter if the group is full or small. I still have fun. The rest of the girls had some type of work obligation to attend to. There's always next month, right?

As we took the long walk around the bar and down a narrow corridor to our seats in the back corner of the joint, I got the feeling that I was on a pirate ship. I tell Kelli that I hope the ship doesn't go down. Two minutes later, Greg starts talking about Pirates of the Caribbean 4 (possibly to take place in newly founded Nawlins). Weird coincidence that is. Then, Kelli orders a Windjammer, which has two kinds of rum. Spooky. 

All the talk about the PoC burger didn't over hype it. I got the mushroom cheese burger. I was not expecting so many mushrooms to come on the burger. They overflowed and nearly covered the entire plate. The ground meat was thick and delicious, and the cheese melted perfectly into the bun. Not the greatest burger I've ever had but definitely up there. 

Kelli called Stephen to ask a question about the blog, and Stephen responded by telling Kelli to ask me about my mom's dick-day outburst. We had already discussed it. Ha. Thanks for asking though, Stephen. I miss you. Plutonically, of course. That's it. Next month's meeting shall not be a Wednesday so you can attend. 

Overall, we had a good time. Even though they brought Greg and me diet coke instead of coke. What? Do we look like girls? Though we did kind of sound like girls discussing Heroes the whole way there from my house and the whole way back. And yet we barely scratched the service of what is going on with the show. What the fuck does Adam's key open? I demand to know now. 

Anybody got suggestions for November? I'm out. 

THE TINA CURSING CORNER

I watched seven hours of primetime television (not counting wrestling) on Monday and Tuesday combined. Mom: "Don't you think you watch too much TV?"

Me: Nope.

Mom: You can't even fucking keep up.

We're flipping through the stations and see an add for Grey's Anatomy. "Why don't you add that to your fucking list?" (Umm. No.)

Mom doesn't like the pile of mail I have on the counter. "Pick up this shit and do something with it or I'm going to throw it in the trash."

Mom is watching season 2 of 24. She translates what a character says to Jack. "In other words, fuck you, Jack."

We're watching House. The episode brings up China's policy on number of children. "That's what they ought to fucking do here. One child per household." (Ouch. My apologies.)

Mom disagrees with something said on House. "That's such bullshit. Like when they say they have a CTU (counter terrorist unit) in New Orleans (on 24). There ain't no way we have a fucking CTU here. We barely have a fucking police department."

NEXT YEAR, I'M PICKING THE NATIONALS

Back in March, I made the T-P picks for the National League. Forget the fact that I picked San Diego to win the West and the Dodgers to finish third. I obviously don't know crap about those teams on the West Coast. I got the Central order exactly right. But most important, I picked the Phillies to win the NL pennant. (And Ryan Howard to win the home run title.)

When the playoffs started, I stuck with the Phillies to win the pennant despite thinking the Cubs would do it with the whole 100-year thing. Wouldn't it be ironic if they did it next year on year 101, the year after everybody assumed they'd win it and got so disappointed? 

I don't like the Phillies too much. I feel bad for Chuck, who must be drinking a bottle of whiskey every time he sees Brad Lidge closing the door. But I have to like them a little for making me look so damn good. A little later in the blog, see where this ranks on my all-time predictions list. 

PARTING SHOTS

Remember Dani from last Tuesday? Well, she's standing next to me at the bar last night. She didn't recognize me. Drunkard. She's with one gal friend and one guy friend.

Dani (talking to guy): "This is my best friend. Her boyfriend is over there. He's being such an asshole. ... You guys want to do a shot?"

Retro quote: October 15, 2004

On her plans for the night.

Jenna: "I think I'll stay in and watch a movie ... or go out."

THE DAILY TOP LIST

The top five predictions I made that were right. (If I did this for wrong predictions, it would have to be top 100.)

5) 2008 first round of the NBA playoffs.

I picked the Hornets to beat the Mavs in five games. (Sorry, Nick.) That might not seem so great now, but at the time, a lot of pundits were picking the Mavs to win the series.

4) 2007 baseball preview.

I picked the D'Backs to win the division. I'm pretty sure no one else in the country had that one. Then this year, everyone had them returning to the playoffs. I didn't. 

3) 2007. Non sports. 

Bert and Kelly broke up in March. They both said it was over forever. Paul and I knew otherwise. He said they'd be back together by the next March. I said the upcoming July. In the middle of July, I'm checking facebook and see they both changed their status to in a relationship. 

2) The 2008 NL champion Phillies. (See above entry.)

1) 2001 NFL playoffs. 

Bode and I are discussing the playoffs during a boring history lecture. He asks me to predict the playoffs. I rip off the cover of my textbook and draw a bracket. I have what I filled out somewhere. Or you can check the wikipedia entry for the 01-02 playoffs. 

It's the same thing, except that I had the Dolphins beating the Ravens in the first round. But then I had the Dolphins losing to the Steelers in the next round, which the Ravens did. If you think of it like a shortened NCAA bracket, I only had one line scratched out. 

Picking the Patriots to win their first Super Bowl of the decade might not seem impressive now. But I promise you nobody else had that prediction at the time. Some had the Steelers or Eagles or Raiders, but most people had the Rams (Even the week before the Super Bowl, most people picked the Rams, and the people who picked Pats were just doing it to be different.) I can't believe I once cheered for these bastards.

I also would like to take this opportunity to personally thank the tuck rule (used in the Pats-Raiders game). I owe that rule big time. Beer?