Jonas's yard

Jonas's back yard is a work of art. It's in the thick of Philadelphia, and it's a haven. There is a two story open-air bicycle workshop that turns out wacky welded projects like tall bikes and the experimental ilk. There's a 'hot house' with a fire pit that toasts the little shack-room to a very high temperature. That's a winter thing. The walls are constructed from big old wooden-framed windows. The fire pit vents directly out a welded metal chimney. It's aptly named, this "hot house." There's big tall shady trees that shade everything. The long shady yard is lined on both sides with tall walls, closing in this little paradise. All the building materials and construction stuff are found-things and supplies. There's tables and chairs and more big found stuff. Was that a horse statue? A big welded loud bell setup?

What I'm doing now is sitting around the primary fire pit and grill. We've been eating salmon and scallops and veggie burgers and zucchini. Jonas, Nat, Caroline, Matt and me. I have the best chair, and my bare feet are catching heat off the fire. There's three really good dogs present. The weather is perfect. I'm completely relaxed and satisfied.

Philadelphia-ing

Matt Klopp is back in town. There's not much to do anywhere, especially on a rainy chilly day like this. We went to Philadelphia. The plan is to drink, pretty much. We stopped at Nat's. Sorry if this is boring, but aside from the thin entertainment usually provided by booze, it was pretty boring for me too. For some day at 7:21 I'll try to be climbing something, or accomplishing something riveting.

Bubba's: getting my money's worth

Eddie is to my right, then Nat, then Caroline. It's a round table, so I'm next to Caroline too. We're eating at Bubba's. $12.99 gets a big plate of food and unlimited Budweiser. I fixed up a found Peugeot bike for Eddie. He found it. Arrangements ended up such that he pedicabbed us over here. Perfect: I'm having a really good time. The Peugeot was a red lugged mountain bike. The head lug was a single piece for both the top and down tubes. I continue to enjoy big chunky lugs on old mountain bikes. This bike was in pretty nasty shape, but I showed it more or less how to act.

Work to party transition

I need to unwind. I'm just now getting off of work. Right as my watch beeps, I'm still sitting in the work truck with the driver-side door open. I have just completed the task of taking off my boots, and putting on sneakers. Now I'm going to wait for a few minutes until Danielle and Gary can come and whisk me off to Philadelphia for a day-after-birthday party at Nat's.

SuTao birthday

This is great. It's my birthday. I'm at SuTao with Mary, Jennie, Julia, Dave, Gary, Danielle and Nat. We're in the back room sitting around a large round table. I didn't even know there was a private room, and it's great back here.

Playing Clue

I'm sitting around on the floor in my apartment's main room playing 'Clue' with Danielle, Gary, Nat and Shelly. Penny is sitting in the circle too, and currently licking Nat's arm. Alarm goes off, and everyone knows they're going to get written about here.