Paul and I arrived back home at 5:45 a.m. Wednesday morning from our week in Houston. And oh what a week it was. The Cubs lost to the Astros, and still, it might have been the best week of my life. I knew I was back home early Wednesday afternoon when Tina saw me looking for an Internet signal to do my blog. "You getting fucking ridiculous with that fucking shit."
Here's a photo essay to wrapup my trip to Clutch City.
I convinced Christian to do a silly pose from back in 2000. He doesn't seem too thrilled. Probably because he knew he was scheduled to lose at the big show.
If I could describe my vacation in two words, they would be Mexican and lines. There was a Mexican restaurant on every corner (this blew my mind), and everywhere we went, we stood in lines: to get autographs, to get on the rail, to get into the fan axxess.
One autograph I certainly didn't mind waiting an hour for was Roddy Piper. AKA the Hot Rod. You know, real men wear skirts. And close their eyes when they see me approaching.
HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
On Monday afternoon, we went to the Galleria Mall. Boy, is that place big. (How big is it?) It's so big that some stores (Game Stop, Clarie's, i.e.) have multiple stores in the facility. The Sports Avenue had a bunch of rows of T-Mac jerseys. Yeah, don't think they'll be selling too many more of these.
We could tell from the second floor that the Easter Bunny was drunk off his ass. He might seem like he's getting ready to pose with a bunch of excited little kids by having his arm extended out there. But really he was just trying to play it off. We could see his head bob up and down as he was trying to keep awake. Oh those poor kids who showed up later.
As I was preparing for the national championship Monday night, I watched the Cubs-Astros opener at Dave & Buster's. By the third inning, these Astros fans had given up and started shooting hoops. That or they didn't realize the Astros were playing their season opener on 10 screens nearby. Could go either way.
Across the Dave & Busters' bar sat the Houston version of D. I think they may be twins. He was decked out in his Carolina blue and kept yelling, "I told you. I told you so." When the Heels took a 17-7 lead, he yelled loud enough for the neighborhood to hear: "It's over, baby. It's over."
Once I was positive UNC was cutting down the nets, I ordered the triple chocolate cake. Ah, the sweet taste of victory. Actually, I thought it was too much chocolate. But it looks awesome.
This is the relaxed atmosphere outside at Becks Prime, where Paul and I met Matt for lunch Tuesday afternoon. The burger was really good. Here's my menu from Houston.
Thursday: Two piece from Popeye's. (We had to eat quick to make it to our first event.)
Friday: Catfish platter from Dave & Buster's.
Saturday: Filet mignon with crawfish (some long B word) from the House of Blues. (See Sunday's entry for further detail.)
Sunday: Hotel breakfast. Mini Papa John's pizza from Axxess. (I was at Reliant Park from 12:50 p.m. to midnight.)
Monday: Grilled beef sandwich from Cabo's. Paul and I met Derry and his friend Delsa (in town for Opening Day/Night) and former T-P designer extraordinaire Jack, who now works at the Chronicle. Now, that was an entertaining meal. For dinner, chicken pesto pasta from Dave & Buster's. (Hey, I was stuck there watching the game.)
Tuesday: Cheeseburger from Becks Prime. For dinner, beef and broccoli from China Garden, a Brick recommended Chinese joint. It was good but pricey. Also, the fried rice had carrot strips mixed in. Not for me.
Paper machines (or whatever the heck they're called) were everywhere in downtown Houston. But you know what wasn't among any of them? The Houston Chronicle. I was in the city for almost a week and didn't see the newspaper once. I did see the building, though.
Dude! I got a tattoo! What does mine say? Sweet! What about mine? Dude! What does mine say?
THE TINA CURSING CORNER
My mom's plan after her dentist appointment (this might be the last one, her teeth look better) Thursday was to stop at Target. She returns home pissed off. "Fucking traffic! Jesus Christ!" ... "Fucking Easter people are out. Got to get their candy and Easter outfits. What the fuck?"Mom explains to me that she didn't do any shopping. "Got a fucking block from the dentist office (at Causeway and Vets). Fucking accident. Two accidents. Make a U-turn. Cleary wasn't any better. Then Hickory. Oh my god! Moved fucking five miles an hour on Hickory. I don't need fucking hangers that bad. I'll go to Target next week."
My mom shows me a better crunch exercise she discovered. She takes a basketball over her head, and as she does the situp, she touches the ball to her toes and goes all the way back. "I could feel it all over the fucking place. The other one, I couldn't feel shit. Did 200 at a time. Couldn't feel shit. They didn't do shit. Now, I can only do 20 at a time. So much better than the other way. That one, I never felt shit."
However, mom is stuck in her pursuit of a slimmer Tina. "I'm not losing any weight. Still at fucking 47."
Mom and I are discussing Obama's gift to the queen. "I saw that the other day. Fucking iPod. What the fuck was he thinking?"
As relates to TV:
-- Mom takes forever fast forwarding to the end of American Idol to show me something. "I don't want to go too fast and get that fucking erase screen."
-- On some soap storyline: "What the fuck?"
-- On the fifth disc of Season 2 of Lost:
1) Locke uses a tool box to prevent the doors from crashing down on top of his legs during the lockdown. "That door would crush that fucking tool box."
2) Ana Lucia is shown. "Ana Lucia. What a fucking name."
3) Michael shoots Ana Lucia. "What the fuck!"
MONEY, MONEY. YEAH, YEAH.
At first, my goal for my Houston getaway was to not spend more than $1,250. Around Sunday afternoon, I updated the figure to $1,200. Take a look at the breakdown.
Travel package (includes all tickets, souvenirs and hotel): $816.
Hotel incidentals (three days parking, one day of Internet): $91.99.
Two tickets to Cubs-Astros: $92.47.
Gas No. 1: $24.
Gas No. 2: $23.50
Spending money: $150.80.
For a total of: $1,198.76. Victory is mine!
PARTING SHOTS
Early Tuesday evening, Paul and I were searching for the China Garden. He brings up the map on his iPhone.
Paul: This says it's 291 yards away. So, that's only one football field.
Back at work Thursday, Beth, who went to Michigan State, congratulates me on the national championship.
Marcus: You don't have to do that. Gene don't have any ties over there.
Me: Yeah, I do.
Marcus: Who?
Me: Ty-ler Hansbrough. Ty Lawson.
THE DAILY TOP LIST
My top five moments of the week in Houston.
5) The Cubs-Astros game.
I had to go to the one game they lose out of three. Yes! The Cubs are now 3-4 all-time with me in attendance.
4) Free steak.
The reward of winning a bet.
3) Calling a match with Joey Styles.
The coolest feature of the Fan Axxess was this station where you announce two minutes of a famous match with whatever announcing personality happens to be there during that session. We made a heck of a team.
2) The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels.
One of the best matches of all-time.
1) We are the Champions!
Now to repeat.
No comments:
Post a Comment