Stampede Day Two

Well, now things get interesting.

My brother Randy flew in to town in the afternoon. His flight landed at around 1:30, so off we went to see the sights and such. Made a time to hook up for lunch with our buddy who was with the night before, and went back to my place to drop off stuff. Pretty usual things.

Once we went off to get lunch, it was around 3pm. What started out as a casual lunch, turned into one of those Devil and the drinking game days. We went to a pub up the street from my place (that I had only been in a couple of times), and discovered that they had a roof top patio. UP WE WENT! After a few drinks we got chatty and discovered that our server was from Ottawa. That just kicked everything off. After ordering lunch (that after about 3 drinks each), another friend joined us. We ordered more food - don't know quite why - and many more drinks. After a few more hours, our server was off and sat down with us, bringing another server with her. Because I had a few drinks, I became chatty, and was doing quite well (not falling down, not slurring), then the shooters came out. There is where a few deleted scenes make their appearance.

We apparently stayed at this pub for about 5 - 6 hours, we then went to another bar across the street (this is something that I didn't recall until the next day) and not only did we drink more, we ate as well! Within an hour, I got put off by the bartender flipping bottles (if you can take the quote "I've had enough of this fuckin' shit" as put off), we then went out for dinner(!?). Off we went to an Italian restaurant down the street. Another friend joined us and we sat down and ate a very good meal, but it was our third in less than 6 hours. How we got this drunk with that much food, I don't know.

But because we ate so much, I felt we weren't drunk and dragged my brother to another bar after dinner. A couple of beers later, back the apartment we went. A good night's sleep was what was needed - instead a pass out with clothes still on was what followed. I made an amateur mistake - peaked too early and had my best performance before the week was out. Oh well, a few more days ahead, and a few more stories to tell.

Stampede Day One

Well, Stampede time is here. For those of you who don't know anything about Stampede, you may think it's all about horses and dirt, but really, it is about drinking, cussing and hopefully some other things! Because things have been so busy, it is catch up time now!

Day One: Parade Day.

A huge parade kicks off the Stampede first thing Friday morning. What it means to those who work downtown (like myself) is that you need to get to your office before 8:00 am, or you ain't going to. I got in early and took a good look outside the staring window (or office window if you prefer). The security in the building had a Stampede breakfast going, so everyone in the office went down and had some grub and watched the parade. After the half-way point, I went back to the office to work some things, and watch the parade from the window. Very cool little parade.

Then came the night. Being how this was the first in a 10 day run, a buddy who is in town working over Stampede, decided it would better to go out for a nice meal instead of going out and getting trashed. Good Idea. A wonderful meal - nice drive and ended my day by driving up McLeod Trail and watching the fireworks at the closing of the first night.

Not a drunken night, but a nice one. The drunken stuff was to follow!

When Wild Weather Hits

So, after two weeks back home, where I had a great time, spending time with friends, seeing my parents and family, seeing the new house and swimming in the new pool (the best hangover cure I assure you), I came back to Calgary in time to get settled in for Stampede.



Being my first Stampede, it should be fun, and I will be keeping a log about the on-goings that happen.

But today, or this evening, we had a storm that I have heard about. It was an amazing storm, complete with hail and flooding in my basement (not much, but enough to pull out a pot to stop the running of water).

As you see by the photos, it is amazing when wild weather hits, a storm like this and now two hours later, pure sunshine. Going to be an interesting week and a half!