Sunday, January 14, 2007

OK, I'll admit..I do drink to socialize

I was able to watch the tail end of the Colts vs. Ravens game on TV today. Glad to see the Colts win. Glad to see it on TV. It was on in the early morning and since there weren’t any good soccer or snooker then I guess ESPN-Asia decided to show the game. The Eagles Saints game didn't make the TV but I tracked the score via ESPN.com. Nothing would be finer for me than a Saints vs. Colts Superbowl. I have a feeling it may happen now that I am half a world away. Growing up a Cubs, Bears, Colts, and Boilermaker fan tends to make one accept losing. Remember two years ago when I was in China on a 4 month assignment and the Purdue football team started out 6 - 0 and ranked in the top 10? Then I decided to come back and watched them lose the next 5. I think my exit has turned the worm. I think the Buckeye football team was about 100-2 when I was in the States. I leave and they lose. The Colts lose about 4 in a row when I was in the States. I leave and now they are playing for the Conference title next week. It will be just my luck that Purdue will go to the Rose Bowl next year. And if I miss it, I will be the happiest man on the face of the earth!

I actually ventured into our clubhouse last night. They have a bar and decided to check it out. Started out with myself, the bartender, and another Gentleman from Australia. The bartender was from the Philippines and spoke great English. Mike (from Australia) had descent English (you know – the funny words they use in Australia - Barbie, bonnet, etc). He works for Caterpillar in Shanghai. His kids are all grown and it is just he and his wife. From what he tells me it sounds like I will be seeing more of him since he and his wife spend many hours at the bar playing pool and socializing.

The bar is nice. It has a pool table, a new dart cabinet, and next week is getting a “dice game”. I’ll have to wait for that to determine if that will be an attraction or not. Of course they have a nice stereo system but the songs were odd. That one song that caught my fancy (now I sound Australian) was the Boomtown Rat’s – “I don’t like Mondays”. I loved that song as a kid and that was a longtime ago. The first time I saw the group was on the Mike Douglas Show. If you remember the Mike Douglas show then you know it is an old song. The lead singer for the Rats went on to bigger and better things. His name is Bob Geldof; a famous music producer who organized the Live Aid concerts. I must really be a fan if I know that much information about the Boomtown Rats.

Mike had to leave and pick up his wife who was returning from Australia on her extended Holiday stay. But he was quickly replaced by two others. A father and son (Craig? and Jake) soon arrived. They were Americans and Jake was here on break as he was heading back to Arizona State to start his last semester the next morning. Eventually their wife/mother and daughter/sister arrived to join them. The daughter was having her school’s formal dance in the ballroom at the club. She came up asking if she could go out with her friends after the dance. Sounds like any other high school sophomore.

Eventually they left and only the bartender and I remained. We talked a little bit but eventually I pushed away and decided to walk home. It was a good start in getting to know the neighbors.

Funny thing, when I mentioned that I worked for Delphi both groups said that there were other Delphi employees who live in Vizcaya. I did not know the names but I will look them up at work on Monday. This group has a Friday Night Poker game every week and I hope to get invited. I should since the group consists of 2 Delphi employees and another player who graduated from a small Engineering School in Indiana (Rose-Hulman)

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