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I am for those who believe in loose delights, I share the midnight orgies of young men,
I dance with the dancers and drink with the drinkers.
-- Walt Whitman
Wednesday, July 23, 1997
Today we had a big picnic to celebrate the release last week of a beta version of the product I work on. For once they really succeeded in making it festive! They throw a lot of parties, and have snacks and treats at meetings and so forth, by way of rewarding the team and building solidarity, but usually I feel tepid about these events. I don't know if it was the great weather, the alignment of the stars, or what, but I really had a great time at this one.
They had taken over the main sports fields on campus, and had a marquee (a very large tent, for those of you not in the habit of attending the parish fête in the English countryside every year ) with round tables and a live steel drum band. On every table was a pile of streamers, and in amongst the streamers were poppers, rattles, clackers, slide whistles, squirt guns, and one disposable camera per table. There were stations along both edges of the field with barbecued ribs and chicken (grilled on the spot), garden burgers, salads, and pie, and beverages of choice including microbrew rootbeer.
Set up on the field were badminton courts, croquet, volleyball, and limbo. The best feature: large tubs of water set up at the corners of the main marquee, with signs identifying them as "Squirtgun refill stations." These were in heavy use throughout the party. Normally I'm not so into squirting folks, but today just seemed like the time. Guys wearing shorts just seemed like perfect targets.
My former office mate (before he got hired full time and I got relegated to the contractor bay) and some other folks have a juggling practice a couple of times a week in the lobby of our building or just outside. They brought all their clubs and juggling stuff, and one girl brought out a bullwhip! I don't exactly see how that is connected to juggling, but whatever...
So I grabbed the camera from our table, and got lots of shots of the jugglers, and the badminton players, and the squirtgun squirters. (The pictures will be developed by the company.) Fun!
* * * * * * * *
This evening I reviewed the instructions I got from the oral surgeon, on what to do before and after my wisdom teeth adventure. Seems strange to get a perscription for ibuprofen, but perhaps that's because each tablet is 600 mg, three times the size of a normal pill. My sister will be able to pick me up and I'll stay at her house for a day and night, recovering. Apparently the consistent application of icepacks, 15 minutes on and 15 minutes off, for eight hours after the surgery, will be a key factor in speedy recovery.
* * * * * * * *
Something I forgot to mention yesterday. I sit in weekly on a meeting of folks not in my group, because we are involved in some similar tasks. This is a fun group, guys with great attitudes and a lot of sardonic humor. But I swear yesterday I smelled pot! I couldn't trace this to a specific person, but it was definitely in the air! Maybe that's how they keep such a great attitude. It made me think of college, when I was often at a party where people were toking. I never participated, because I was sure that I would like it far too much. I'm so susceptible!
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