Friday Night at Bradley’s

 

I had to work last Friday, so the weekend starts Friday night. I wasn’t sure if I was going out with Jenny Friday night or Saturday night, but she called early enough for me to know. She was spending time with a friend who just went through a family tragedy, but she did say she was going to be at Bradley’s later that night with her group. So I’d probably see her there.

I called Sean early in the evening to ask if he was up for heading to Bradley’s… only to find out he was already there. But he was planning to go home for a bit, and would head back out.

Then I get a text message from my ex (lets call her Stephanie) asking if I’ll be at Bradley’s, and to be nice if I show up, ‘cause she is there with her new beau. I’m not particularly excited about that, but whatever. I’ll be nice if he is.

A few hours later, I headed out. When I walk by the bar to get to the front door, I see Stephanie and her guy sitting outside. I waved to Stephanie, and headed in. Through the glass door on the inside of the bar I motioned to Stephanie I was going to get a drink, and would be outside shortly. Sean hadn’t made it home yet... he was sitting at a table still with a bunch of coworkers.

I ordered a drink and headed outside with Sean, only to find Stephanie not there. But her guy was there, with his face buried in the brick wall next to him. Seems he wanted to be left alone. Stephanie came back out, gave me a hug, and said… “So, do you want to meet Curtis? ... ... ... Noooo! [Jokingly].” I responded: “Of course.” and approached him to shake his hand. He approached me with his right shoulder poked out in front of him, elbow up high, and took my offer to shake hands as a gentleman like a thug. His body position was reminiscent of someone who was about to punch something straight down on a table in front of them.

I really hate it when guys try to intimidate me... especially when the attempt is made subtly like that. I didn’t know whether to laugh in his face, or give him a speech about how a gentleman shakes hands to show mutual respect. I decided to just stay silent. I didn’t want to make Stephanie mad. (Little did I know, I would end up doing just that).

Jenny came outside and visited a little, then went back to her friends I met a couple of them later that evening before they all left for another bar. Not too much later, Stephanie and Curtis left. Stephanie gave me a hug goodbye (while I was sitting and in the middle of telling a story to Sean). I mention those details because it was my not hugging her back that made her mad at me (I think... or maybe it was that I was brutally honest in sharing my opinion of Curtis). But anyway... they left. Sean and I stuck around. Remember the guy from last weekend? The prick? He showed up, and then apologized for his behavior the previous weekend. (Which really makes me wonder if he reads this blog). So I was nice to him for that evening. But we’ve been here before. We’ll see if he truly learned a lesson or not.

As Bradley’s started to get packed with people, we decided to check out the Hippo Bar (the lounge at the Sheraton next to the arena). First of all... it’s gorgeous in there. It looks like a Vegas Lounge. But sadly, it was pretty dead in there. If there was one thing I could change: Don’t charge tax for a drink at a bar. That’s just stupid. Nobody wants 13 cents back. EVER. Not only do the customers not want that, it’ll free up time for the staff to take care of other customers (if there are any) by not having to make all that change. After we got our martini’s we decided to walk around the hotel a bit. If you didn’t know, the Sheraton will be exclusively private residences on the top 3 floors, and guest rooms on the bottom 4. There is a separate bank of elevators for floors 5 through 7, and sadly, it was locked. So we took the elevator to the 4^th floor and tried the stairs to the 5th. TADA!!! Self guided tour through the dark construction areas of the private residences. I think I want one. Unfortunately, all the stairwell doors below 5 were locked from the outside. We had to take the stairs down to the first floor to get back in. As we walked down the hall, Sean says: “Have fun guys!!” to a couple we pass while they were walking into their room. I tell him he’s a prick and we both break out into laughter.

I drove Sean home (he HAD been out since the time he was off work), and then took myself home.

A short paragraph on Saturday:

Saturday night, because of a change in childcare for my intended company, I wound up with zero plans. MAB invited me to the Fat Cat, and that sounded like a great idea, so off to Modesto I went. I tell ya... I really like Modesto. They have a great night scene goin’ on, and the police presence was astounding. Stockton can take a lesson. (We do ok on the police presence, but downtown still lacks the number of night attractions within walking distance of each other to really make it a destination.) MAB and I had a great time people watching, although there really wasn’t much of a story for the evening. Walking through the club, we did both notice a girl who was wearing her dress as a tube top for a moment. When I first saw her, I just thought she was wearing a bikini or something... then I saw her pull her dress down. After we passed, we both looked at each other and started busting up laughing.

Sunday I spent chillin’ on my couch with my cat.

Comments

[mab]

hey cat chillin' rules! and i still have this visual of you standing on your porch, barefoot and shirtless, shouting in your mostly white neighborhood, "Hey LEROY!"


Modesto again sometime, then? Perhaps Ms. Orange Dress will be so inclined to repeat her performance.....hehe....

[Micah Rousey]

Thats: AY!!!... YO LEROY!!!!