Creepy Old Men, IKEA and video games....

It's funny how life comes at you sometimes when you're in a steady "deep introspective" mode. Being in this type of mode is strange enough due to the fact that everything currently going on in your life has a surreal under tone to it. I feel like I'm watching a very real sitcom, but I'm the starring character - I'm leaning towards it being along the lines of "I Love Lucy", but with less random laughter echoing from the rafters in the background. The strangest things seem to keep happening, and I keep reacting the only way that I know how - being thoroughly entertaining to others.

This weekend was one of those surreal weekends.

Friday night was a regular night, I finished up here at my company and headed out to the restaurant for my usual Friday night...and as usual preferring to just go home. I got there around 6, like usual, and my entire section was full. It was full until almost 8pm. This was not so much fun. I just wanted to get out of there so that I could go home and study. Due to the ways that sidework and typical restaurant functions work, I was still stuck there until almost midnight - so much for studying. $40 in tips later (how pathetic), I wandering into my 85 degree apartment and collapse into my bed, the kitty does her nightly occurrence of finding a comfy spot on my head to sleep...and I'm out cold.

Fast forward through waking up at 7am and cramming for several hours...I'm at campus taking my exam. Somehow I know all the hours, even though the cramming that I did in the few hours before was pretty much the only studying that I did for that exam. The good mood strengthens. So I get home and lounge for a bit. I tried calling my family to see how they were doing and if any of them wanted to do something. Now mind you, they're usually nagging me about the fact that I'm always busy, and somehow, they're all too busy to hang out. So I got an urge that I needed to go to IKEA. A quick 35 minute drive and 'attempted' singing session with my buddy Jason Mraz with my window down and my hair flowing in the cool breeze..I get to that beautiful blue and yellow building. I expected to just pick up from decor for my fairly 'blah' apartment, but I decided to try and search for some of the "Beech" colored furniture that I've already invested hundreds of dollars into that they decided to discontinue. This is a color of furniture that I called the HQ of IKEA to try to hunt down remaining stock and offered to pay as much as needed - nothing. It's a good thing that I wandered out to IKEA that day, because as luck would have it, they had a ton of the furniture being 'moved out' and on a great clearance sale. So I now have a complete bedroom set. I found some other jewels for my place, more stuff to make it feel a little bit more like 'home'. Came home and decided that I should continue with my great day and go grab a beer at the restaurant.

I get there and a lot of the regulars are there, but it's still fairly quiet for a Saturday night. Duane and some of his drunken buddies are there, and after last call is called, we decide to head out to an old spot that we all used to drink and play darts - good ol' Shooters. A few beers and darts victories later, my boss from the restaurant shows up. At first I didn't even notice he was there, then he slides up to me and puts him arm around me and pulls me off to the side. A person with the mind set like me assumes the best of all people, so I go along with his strange chit chat. At first it's seemingly innocent questions like 'are you married' and 'are you dating anyone'...so I try to get some distance from him while answering...Unfortunately answering honestly. Then he chimes in that he's been looking for a girlfriend and thinks that I'm absolutely gorgeous and have and amazing personality. [insert blank stare here]

This is a VERY married man, that happens to run the restaurant WITH his wife, and even his young kids help out at the end of the night. This is a man that's at least 15-20 years older than me. This is a man that is supposed to be my boss - aka. Professional. This is a sober man without an excuse for making a move on me.

This is me getting very uncomfortable and awkward.

So I play it off and run off to take my turn at darts, hoping that it's just a dropped topic. At this point, I've stopped drinking because I have to get home and I know my threshold. So of course the boss runs up and sees that my glass is empty and tries to find out what I'm drinking. I mention that I'm done drinking, but I usually go for dark beer..then get back to joking about with my buddies. I turn around and the man is standing there with an ice cold Guinness for me. Creepy has nothing on him. I took the beer and handed it to Duane, I wasn't taking it.

So my buddies and I are totally up our tab and figuring out whom owes what, I'm the most sober, so I handle the numbers end of it and flag down the bartender to pay. Out of nowhere, the boss comes up behind me slightly flustered because he wanted to cover the tab and starts scrambling to find his wallet...so I hurry up and get the cash to the bar, and push the fact that he has a nice tip in there so that he grabs it a bit quicker...

So my boss sits down next to me and starts full out pouting because "I must not like him", he keeps asking and asking why...eww. I mumble something to sound like I have something to do on the other side of the bar, and quickly escape the awkward situation.

Never a dull moment in my life, what can I say.

So the next day I'm supposed to work at the restaurant...I weigh in my head the drama factors that would occur due to the fact that his wife is finding out about this little situation. So I decide to call in and quit. I'll talk to the old owners and explain why...Although, apparently everyone in the place already knows why I quit. Gossip is a funny thing.

So I used my first Sunday off in weeks to pick up my RF Modulator and optimize my Home Entertainment center, decorate my apartment a bit more, and *gasp* relax. Monday, I used my lunch hour to scour the walls at my local Electronics Boutique. Several games later, my apartment feels more like home, and I finally feel balanced with having just one job to worry about.

It's definitely stranger than an episode of "I Love Lucy...I just don't happen to have an attractive man to bellow out..."Emillllly, I'm hooooo-oomme".

Yet.