Driving down Chicago with your door open
Before you think I've finally lost my mind completely, let me explain. This afternoon, I went to Office Max with Stephan, the manager from the North Avenue store. Wait, wait, wait... first we went to CostCo to get some miscellaneous candy items. This is where we got up to the register and I saw that CostCo now sells stamps and Stephan said "Oh we need stamps for bills" and I proceeded to ask the woman how many stamps they sell, and how much they are. When she replied "100" and "36.75", I turned to Stephan. "Are we just not going to get stamps because you're thinking that that's too much?" he asked... to which, I replied "Do you need the stamps? We'll get the stamps, if you need the stamps". That's when the woman at the check-out counter started laughing at us. Stephan asks questions... all the time. All the time, he asks questions... and I respond to them as you know I respond to someone who's asking too many questions. Have you ever been indecisive around me? You probably know what I'm talking about then (And, Laura, I'm way better than I used to be. Being District Manager [or whatever] doesn't allow me the luxury of being indecisive).
But I digress... after that fun, we went to Taco Bell so that I could force him to eat (he's like me in that work comes before eating). We had a nice long discussion about America and our culture. Steve was born in New York, but his parents are 100% Swiss... so he actually did a lot of growing up in Europe. He speaks German (Swiss German), French, and amazing English for someone who speaks both German and French. I found his insight to our culture fascinating... and I don't actually have to go to another country to hear what other people are thinking! That's great because I hate foreigners *said as much like the president as possible*.
After THAT, we went to Office Max. We had a long list of office stuff to get for the store. As Adam would later say, "We've been open for almost a month and we're not buying pens and staples because we're out... we're buying big shit like tables and desks." Which is true. We opened the store too damn early, we didn't have enough time in the store without construction workers. At any rate, we purchased a filing cabinet and a small cabinet for office supplies. The cabinet required assembly... so it came in a box. This is good. The filing cabinet was made of metal. It did not require assembly, because it was made of metal. Can you see where this is going? It was too big for my car, even with the backseat folded down. I ended up putting it in my backseat... closing the driver-side rear door, and leaving it sticking out the other door on the other side. Trust me, the guy who helped us bring it out to the car was having a very good time. I tied my door closer to my car with some twine the Office Max dude gave us... but the door was still pretty wide open. There was, pretty literally, nothing I could do besides drive with my door open. So I did. I drove from the Office Max on Fullerton (you know the one), to the North Avenue store. I was worried. Let's just say that. I wasn't so worried that I went 10 mph less than the speed limit... but I was still worried. However, I made it all the way to North Avenue with little trouble (and less hair). An hour or so later, I had assembled the wood cabinet, placed the metal cabinet... and left to do bigger and better things.

Speaking of bigger and better things, there is perhaps an Improv workshop in the mix! I've spoken with Miss Katie Aumann, and she would be interested in me coming to Albion to host an improv workshop. It sounds like it will be one of the days of Homecoming weekend (I'll be there anyway). I went ahead and asked Keith if he would be interested in helping me run it, and he's all for it. We spent about two hours on the phone trying to figure out what we should focus on, how much time we'll need, and what they really need to know to make this work. It's my goal to not only give them the basics of improv, but to give them a few performance games that they can go out and play right away. Unfortunately, from our conversation, it sounds like maybe one workshop wouldn't be enough... and he and I wondered if it should be a two day thing. We're still trying to figure out how much time would be needed, as it's something a little more difficult than just jumping right into... but if the goal of the workshop is to give the students the tools they need to start their own group, more power to them. I guess I will need a few subsequent discussions with Miss Aumann to see what the group wishes to learn. That would better prepare us for what we need to teach.
Holy shit I'm excited about teaching.
And Rhea, look!, no football! But I will say this... Sportscenter has been in Kuwait all week. And while I love the fact that they're trying to entertain the troops... I don't like the way they've been doing the show. They're playing up to the crowd instead of just telling me whether or not the Cubs won... or talking about how the Packers look really good. In addition to playing to the crowd, they're asking the opinions of the troops. Isn't that great fun for the troops? Yes, it is. But I don't care what they think about the wildcard race... especially since they haven't seen anything but highlights (and I'm assuming they're seeing the highlights) in months. Let's say Sportscenter were to ask my opinion... does it mean that I'm wrong? that I don't have insight? No. But would I expect anyone to care what I think? Again, no. Sorry, I'm not watching... just give me the f--king sports news (Which is why I'm glad I have EPSNews).
Don't get me wrong, I'm the first one out to support the troops. This is more about Sportscenter... and it's actually a trend I've seen from them lately. Old School sportscenter was interesting... but they've been having more gimmicks recently, and less of a sports anchor sitting and reading the news. Hooray for ESPNews!