Bizzaro Thursday

I know this post is about a week late, but I was out of the office (or, as it's better known, the student center) and the delay was inevitable.

My Thursday routine is a happily busy one: I wrap up my labwork by the afternoon, ride my bike until my legs fall off, then limp to Harvest Moon for a night of sweet soulful karaoke. It's a good routine.

Being in the Gateway City for Washington U's graduation, a good thousand miles - a kilomile, if you will - from George Street, I had to modify the routine a bit. Instead of doing labwork, I did driving work, reaching St. Louis in the rain (in all, I would spend about 10 hours driving in the rain that week).

Instead of riding my bike in the beautiful Watchung hills, or even down among the gnats of the Raritan, I rode the stationary bike in my parents' hotel. I think I know now why so few people ride bikes - those things are so painful, junk-wise, that I'd be horrified to use one with any regularity. Ambling on a treadmill next to me, a lady was describing to me the effects of menopause on her weight loss. So that was nice.

The biggest difference between most Thursday's and this one was the evening festivities. Rather than my usual pasta, I was treated to dinner with my family at Ozzie Smith's restaurant. They served New Belgium's Fat Tire ale, which was the best beer I'd have all weekend.

Evening festivities were concentrated in my brother's friends' apartment. They'd named that night the Brother Party, as everyone's siblings were in town for graduation. There was a lot of Keystone Light, a far cry from the delicious brews of Harvest Moon. We played Hockey (the drinking game, not the sport), because being compelled to chug makes the cheap beer easier to stomach (pun!).

Someone cued music on a laptop... so at least we got to sing Journey. When they played Bon Jovi, I went out for some air. Some habits die hard, I guess... and Bon Jovi sucks in any time zone.

It was a nice weekend, an odd mix of the stop-and-go, hurry-up-and-wait scheduling that follows when you're on vacation and stuck in the proverbial passenger seat. And oh, it is good to be back.