Marco's 20th at the I-Ho

Saturday the 15th at the Iron Horse would be the setting for this drama filled evening. With an obliterated Marco, an insulating pick-up line (Adriano, Ross, Jason), round 2 with Francine, a man-whore in Jessie, a break down by Pam, and a black mans flying hat. I will state that what follows is what I remember and how things played out as I perceived them, if you don't agree then write a blog yourself......dick.

The Players:
Marco
Bryan
Pat
Jocelyn
Michelle
Pam
Ryan
Ross
Adriano
Jason
Shaun
Ashley (Shauns girl)
Keith
Jessie
Ruben
Jenna
Other Z girls
Fred
Francine
Lindsey
Korie
Black Peter
and others...

So this night started at Marco's around 5pm though I didn't get there till some time after 7pm. I finished work at 5pm and headed over to where Francine was working to hammer out some last minute deatails. The details were shotty at best so I left them in the hands of some higher power (luckily they worked out minus one girl). When I got home I realized I would have to fend for myself if I was to eat that night, so I popped some Hot Pockets into the microwave and proceeded to get ready knowing I was already late. Keith, having volunteered to drive that night, was to pick me up and give me a ride over to Marco's so I wouldnt have to leave my car there. Running even later when I got the call from Keith I told him to come in while I finish eating my sub-par Hot Pockets. Now something unusual happened as not only Keith came in and sat down but also Ross, an odd pairing at best. So after a quick call from Pam saying she wanted to catch a ride too, we all hopped into the car and headed on our way.

Location: Korie and Marco's

When we arrived everything was in full swing and most were already planning different ways of getting down to Whyte. With people watching the end of the Lightening game in one room and others playing Fifa in the next we all talked bullshit and cut each other down. Outside of the occasional "Rooney" as Keith popped one in for Man. U in Fifa the other room was quite. MGD was the choice beer aside from Ryans triple threat of PC which he was more than happy to tip back. With the last of the stragglers wondering in we laid down the plans of attack on how to get to our destination. Seeing as we had a large number in our posse cabs seemed the likely choice until we delayed Jocelyn long enough to miss her ice cream date so she could drive us.

Location: Jocelyn's Car

As we uneasily manueverd our way through the streets of Edmonton I came to the conclusion that though not yet the perfect driver Jocelyn was multiple times better than she was in the past. Our car consisted of Jocelyn, Bryan (though to much debate), Pam, Ryan who would later be traded for Michelle, and myself. After dropping off ryan we headed to Michelle's where I had to exit to take a must needed piss, the closest available washroom being a bush beside a dentists office. As Michelle walked toward the car I commented that it would have been funny if Jessie was with us as those two have a bit of history.

Location: Iron Horse
Time: 10:00pm

As we arrived at the I-ho there was no line so it was straight in. After conversing with one of the bouncers about some late arriving members of our party (Freddy and Francine) I continued on in and regrouped with the rest of guys. First off I must say that the MGD they served there tasted like piss so that was off our menu quick. Though nicley cut by now I continued drinking though slightly holding back knowing that if I crossed paths with Francine her competative edge would kick in and it would be another drink fest. Around this point nine different people lined up a variety of drinks, shots, and drop shots for Marco which he would put back almost simultaneously. I figuered now was time to take another piss break so I headed upstairs to meet Black Peter. After a brief encounter with Peter the birthday boy stumbled through the door not looking so good, though he didn't throw up Black Peter told us he'd have to call security if he did. After smoothing things over with the bathroom attendant with promises of increased tips from the birthday party we headed back out into the chaos.

As I made my way back to our booth I bumped into a rather bubbley Jocelyn and Michelle who were just coming off the dance floor. Now for a girl that gets drunk off one shot (literally one shot of sour puss does this girl in, man if I were like that) she's always fun to hang around with considering she almost never drinks. So we all headed back to the booth and happened to bump into Kim who is the long time girl of Sean ( old homeboy) and after catching up we finally made it to our seats. Lindsey happened to show up at this point shortly followed by Freddy and Francine who immediatley wanted to get drunk. After trying to tell me what had happened while she was closing up shop she orderd what has seemed to become our usual of 3 shots of tequila each. We downed those, I introduced her around to some friends she remembered and others she was just meeting.

At this point Keith, Jocelyn, and Michelle left leaving us minus two drivers but those spots were filled with Lindsey and Fred. The booze began to flow as a bartender in a white shirt began to make Bryan different cocktails and other mixed drinks. Soon what had started out as Bryan became Bryan and myself, then soon enough that became Brayn, myself, and about 6 others. Challenging him everytime we went up to the bar he came through in fine style as everyone was pleased with the taste of the drinks. Soon after this and another pit stop in the washroom I had my first uncomfortable conversation with an admittedly drunk Pam. I then encountered Jessie and Ruben mackin' style upstairs with the Club Z girls. Jessie had his hands full of the sisters that were both sandwhiched on top of him while they looked to be dry-humping his body and grabbing his junk. Well played my friend...well played. Ruben and I both gazed on in astonishment as this 3 person triangle wriggled and writhed only to abruptly stop as the girls got up and said it was time to go. Jessie and Ruben also left, not to leave, only to conquer the rest of the bar. The remainder of the night inside the bar isn't much more then flashes in my mind but I can tell you that I drank more, denied the girls a dance, and watched Premier League highlights.

As we all prepared to leave (our numbers being reduced to Fred, Jessie, Bryan, Ruben, Pam, Lindsey, Francine, and myself) I had my second awkward and uncomfortable conversation with Pam. This time I think something in her broke. Possibly caused by stress. As we left she did the "walk off on my own, possibly home to cool down" thing to which Lindsey reeled her in and they walked ahead of the group together. The rest of us laughed and joked as we made the long trek to the cars, to which I was astonished how far they did actually park. At one point I assumed it was on the other side of a giant dirt mound which sent Bryan hurtling at full speed up the hill to challenge any takers at "King of the Hill". Thankfully no one accpeted the challenge. We then all stood around the two cars trying to decide who was going with who. Francine grabbed her fancy expensive Louis Vuitton bag out of Freddy's car as she would ride with Lindsey. I've often wondered where Kid Gorgeous gets her strength from but after giving that bag a lift I've come to the conclusion that as she sits in class or on break at work she must do arm curls cause that bag was damn heavy. So we pile into the cars figuring the guys go with Fred and the girls with Lindsey only to have a last minute change where the girls want me in their car. Feeling that it was something I said or something I had done the last place I want to be is riding home in the car with Pam. So as I climb in I promise the guys anything said or done will end up on the blog, to which they all have a good chuckle.

Location: Lindsey's Car

I hop into the back of the car with Francince as Lindsey is the driver and Pam is sitting shotty. The tension felt is apparent to me but perhaps to no one else. As we made our way to Tim's on 153, I lay drunkenly slouched in the back with Francine. She then gets the chance to finish telling me about how she locked the stores keys in the washroom at work while getting ready to go out. Apparently she also left a curling iron plugged in and had to get the opening key holder to come and unlock the door. We arrive at Tim's and Lindsey snaps some unwanted pics of us before we get out of the car.

Location: Tim Hortons

We all go in and grab something to eat, something that had been done the previous week as Jessie and Bryan comment on how good the soup is again. Pam seemingly looks upset so Jessie does his best to console her. He then notices that her hand is cut up from an apparent pole punch she did some time earlier in the night. I crack jokes to Freddy about downstocking at work and how it was like feeding a fat kid hamburgers, Francine then proceeds to lable me with a couple of jabs to the stomach and arms. As we leave Pam is the first out the door in another attempted to walk home, Bryan this time is the one to drag her back. Once again we all pile into the cars, this time I make the decision to ride with the guys as my patience with what is happening is running thin.

Location: Freds Car

What should have been a nice short ride for me turned into an almost hour journey as Freddy being the ever nice guy drove Ruben back downtown to be with his woman. On the ride back Fred explains to me how Rubens hat flew off. Rounding the corner on 137th the car began to make a strange hissing noise, Freddy thinks it might be his tire loosing air so Ruben sticks his head out the window to check. His hat gets blown off and lands in the intersection at North City so Ruben yells out "My Hat! We have to go back". So they pull a u-turn at Leons and start heading back, seeing no cars in the area Fred figures it'll be ok to stop in the intersection but as they pull up they see a lone car heading straight for the hat. Just like it would happen in a movie everything seemed to go in slow-motion as Ruben yelled out "Nooooooo!!". Luckily the car missed the hat by inches and Ruben was able to retrieve it from the street. As he climbed back into the car he explained how you can't wash a hat cause if you do you have to buy a new one. The rest of the ride was fairly unevetful as we first dropped of Bryan, then Jessie, and myself last.

It was a long night with it's ups and downs.