I won't be taking the train to St. Louis, I found a ride. Email me with your phone number and I'll try to make it across the river for that beer when I get down there, assuming I can get Mike or somebody to ferry me over.
I'm riding down with three lovely young ladies. Yesterday was an interesting day!
One of our printers at work was giving people fits. Half the PCs had the wrong driver for it installed.
One of my unit's other tech guys had discovered this when a user's machine printed certain elements of documents strangely. So he had put the right driver on it. I was tasked with making sure everyone else's machine in the office had the right driver.
No sooner than I was finished than the first machine, the one that had me checking drivers, wouldn't print duplex. So I was supposed to download the newest driver and upgrade everyone. I tested it on my machine, and there was a paper jam. I cleared all the paper and it was still jammed. Thinking there was a sensor broken, I called it in to the hardware people.
They sent a gorgeous woman up, who knew this printer inside and out. She showed me the hidden place where the paper was stuck, and showed me what the real problem with the driver was. We, of course, have no FM to R.
God, but I hated the big diamond on her left hand! Such a pretty smile and beautiful eyes...
When I got home, Patty, my daughter, had left a page about Asperger's Syndrome on the computer. Her, or me, I wondered? Maybe her sister? No, probably me, her dateless old dad.
She went swimming with her friends yesterday, and Stoner came by looking for her. So I copped a ride to Dempsey's with Stoner to take advantage of the two dollar Heinikens there.
Joe was sitting at a table with the owners, and Mandy was training a new girl. The slim new girl is cute as a button, a very attractive young lady. Mandy introduced me to her, and trolled If you get him drunk enough he'll leave a tip. She laughed out loud when I protested that I always tipped before I got drunk, and Mandy confessed to the new girl, Kate, that I tipped first before I ran out of money. I noted the ring on her finger and said nothing.
They were stocking the bar, Joe was talking business with the owners, so I decided to see if anything was happening anywhere else.
The bars were all empty.
Except for The Alamo, where a guy was doing something with a bass drum. Putting them up or taking them down? I asked. Putting them up, we start in about half an hour.
I drank a beer, and decided to walk down to Bread Stretcher's for a sandwich. When I got back to the Alamo the band had started. I didn't catch their name, but they were a very good blues band, playing all the old classic blues songs. They mentioned that they would be at the State Fair in one of the beer tents.
The place was fairly busy, with a few couples and quite a few ladies of all ages, not many of them very attractive. There were oldsters that made me look young by comparison making time with young, attractive women. I couldn't even pick up an ugly old hag my own age. I left, dejected, and decided to walk back to Dempseys for one last Heineken before walking home. God, I felt like such a loser. Ass burgers.
I was bummed out badly as I walked back in to Dempsey's. The blues music had fit the night perfectly.
Five minutes of talking with Mandy and the new girl, Kate, who it seems was an old friend of Mandy's, and their other friend who had come from out of town on a visit had me cheered up and laughing. I told her friend Kate that I wished I was younger and she was single. Mandy's friend Samantha laughed and said you're only as old as you feel. Kate gave me a puzzled look; I'm not married!
But you have that ring, I said. Oh, she laughed. I just like jewelry. It turns out that she's even younger than Mandy, and just turned 21 a week or two ago. She doesn't even have a boyfriend.
The jukebox was playing loudly ...she's too cute to be a minute over seventeen...
Talk got to the July 4th weekend, and it seems the three of them were driving to the Ozarks Thursday night. I wrangled a ride to St. Louis with them, and after they said sure, no problem I offered to pay for gas.
I stayed at Dempsey's way too long. The night got away from me, and I had no idea how the time flew by so quickly. Must have been the ladies.
I walked home in a damn good mood. It seems I have a traveling date with three lovely young ladies Thursday! Now watch, Mandy will have to work Saturday and I'll wind up on the damned train anyway...
Chapter 22
Chapter 24