Day 117 - Gabi's Eyes and Grizzlies Everywhere

Tuesday, April 27th

It's alive! Mwahahaha!

Which is to say my phone's working again. Even have a new back plate on it too. Thanks dudes at Verizon Palo Alto. One of 'em recognized my Jack's hoodie and asked if I knew Charlie. Pshaw yes! The dude from Verizon knows Charlie from his work in Campbell. I'm going to have to find my way to Campbell one of these days. Maybe toss a caber while I'm at it (they do that in Campbell, or the people at Metro have been lying to me for years).

I figure if I'm sporting beard then a kilt shouldn't be that hard to sport too.  Caber toss linky (with pictures ftw).

So today's Around the World of Jack's drink is Dewar's White Label Scotch. Woo boy that was a tough drink! I think I like the dark label stuff better. Thanks Tanisha for serving me a fast beer and tossing a couple cubes of ice into that scotch.

There were only six people in the bar when I arrived. Tanisha was tending. Detroit was busy dismantling Phoenix on Flat Screens 1 and 2, and went on to win game 7 of their series and thus will be playing the Sharks next. I hope they make them play right away on Thursday and not wait for the weekend. Less time for Detroit to rest that way.

On Flat Screens 3, 4 and 5 the Bulls were playing Cleveland, but I wasn't paying much attention.

Several Grizzlies softball players arrived and looked ready to drink. They were all black uniforms with white logos. One of them asked Tanisha why Jack's doesn't have a softball team. I don't remember her answer but something tells me if the call went out for players to form a Jack's-sponsored team, then they'd have to hold tryouts. Either that or run two teams.

Right after that Gabi, Devito, Christian aka Mr. Grumpypants and someone else (who the heck is "gart?" --bad phone note taking there) showed up, plus three more people who sat with already-there friends at Table 3. 

I spent some time outside with Christian while he explained about the grumpy funk he was in. It occurred to me while we were talking that it was the gloaming at that point (twilight, the time after sunset and before dark) and I thought that was cool, especially since the moon wasn't waiting for the sun to set before it rose up in the east, looking nearly full.

Back inside the bar Gabi's coworker Catie arrived. Devito and I moved over to make room for her to sit down next to Gabi and that's about when I first caught Catie's scent. Catie was wearing Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue and oh my God I didn't know a mix of rose, apple, musk and jasmine could make my mouth water. I mean she smelled good.

I watched at Travis arrived to take over for Tanisha. He started by turning down the sound so Tanisha could make a call in order to close out her register. After that he teased Tanisha (Travis: Well *I* started tending bar in 1984 when a certain other bartender was four years old.) and out of the blue he flipped a bottle before poring a drink with it.

I think that's the first time I've ever seen him do that. Very smooth motion. I've watched other Jack's bartenders do that (Matt comes to mind) but none of them until now have reminded me of Tom Cruise in the movie Cocktail.

Devito bought me a shot at that point. Thanks man. I was about to leave after that, but Gabi very nicely bought me a beer and the fourth stop on my World Tour: Black Label scotch (can't recall name, my notes are incomplete). Much, much, better than the white label stuff.

So at this point Devito has gone home and I'm happily sitting in between Gabi+Catie on my left and Tanisha and her tattooed long-time friend James(??) on my right.  The point is that I was in a little slice of heaven right there, stuck between three pretty ladies.

I watched and listened as Gabi and Catie chatted: first one would twirl her hair with a finger and soon the other would follow. That never gets old.

I had to step into the bathroom and on my way out of the stall I caught an old dude who'd just finished at the urinal and seemed to have trouble backing up. He'd been sitting at the end of the bar since before I showed up, soaking up alcohol like a sponge. Thank God the old dude was zipped up and done when he landed in my arms.

Back at the bar and it's Catie's turn to step in back. Right around then Gabi told me what her first name is short for. Pretty, that. And then I let myself do what I'd been wanting to do all night: look her full in her pretty green eyes. It's like having a Willy Wonka's One Of A Kind Chocolate Bar in the kitchen and making yourself wait an hour in the living room before going into the kitchen to have just one small little bite, which you end up savoring all night long.

About that time Catie returned and so did Tanisha with a bag full of food. She and James proceeded to scarf it down while Travis and James talked about Kevin Smith (they're big fans [literally] and so am I). Travis is also a popsicle freak. FYI if you need to curry favor with him at the bar on a hot summer day.

Around 10:19 p.m. Robert showed up (in a much better mood since I'd last seen him) and someone mentioned that St. Germaine liqueur is made from Elderflowers. Hrm...you learn all kinds of stuff in the bar (and most of it's true).

10:30 or so and I observe that Gabi keeps her hair tie on her left arm as she tells me about the time when she was seven and her babysitter let her watch Nightmare on Elm Street part III. Her parents found her huddled more or less in a fetal position later that night in her room.

Do you have any scary Nightmare on Elm Street stories, Dear Reader? If so, comment below!

ACME rolled in soon after that. He's off on vacation to see family in Texas later this week. Niece's first comunion coming up. Good time for him to get out and take a break, methinks.

Travis elected to show the bar their completed flugtag video for the Red Bull Flugtag video submission. Lolz I love it when Christian gets bonked on the head. Larry Love makes a great caveman too.

With my drinks done and Gabi gone for home, it was time for me to follow suit. See you Wednesday night at Jack's!