The New Girl (since some of you asked....)

[Jester]

Believe me, I do. The only difference is that no one I know, know any single women.

So what? Every day is a new day, with opportunities for you to meet someone, or a friend to meet someone they may introduce you to, and on, and on, and on.

I think 'to the nines' maybe a bit far. Maybe dress casual.. not as in jeans/et but somewhere between that and 'to the nines'

To the nines might be a bit of an overstatement, but I'm so used to Key West casual that getting dressed up at all is an odd thing. Again, no tie, no jacket, just dress slacks, a dress shirt, and nice shoes. Just wanted to clarify what I meant.

[Kittish]

Might be a bit much for picking up Diane that early in the morning, she's likely to feel tired and kind of grungy after the long flight. My suggestion would be go with comfortable casual to pick her up and get to the hotel you'll be staying at and give her a chance to clean up. Discuss with her how tired she is at that point, and make plans accordingly and show her you all dressed up later in the day when she can maybe appreciate it more.

Showing up with flowers in hand, though, would be (I think) a fun, silly, sappy sort of thing that would make her smile. Nothing too huge, just a colorful mixed bouquet (bonus if you know what her favorite flowers are and can have those included). Tempting though it may be, don't go for red roses yet.

[Jester]

Red roses? Me? I'm sorry, I'm the guy that does stuff that no one else does. So red roses are not really on my radar. I think she'd be disappointed in me if I got her flowers and they were red roses. Just at because it's so.....standard.

[Victory Sabre]

I would say give her a 6 pack of Maduro.

[Jester]

I would say give her a 6 pack of Maduro.

Not for the airport, no, but not the worst idea I've heard. I was planning on bringing her some presents, such as coffee from a great place down here (she drinks coffee, I don't, but everyone loves this place's coffee) and some beers from my private stash, which you of all people know is not unimpressive. Maduro was somehow not on that list, but it would be a good one to have in the fridge for when we get back from whatever it is we are out doing.

Speaking of beer, a bit ago, I sent her some beers from the aforementioned private stash. And hearing this is the point when a lot of my friends realize I REALLY like this woman. She enjoyed 6 out of 7 of them, which is pretty cool. And she reciprocated, sending me some California beers I might not be able to get.

Sadly, some of them did not survive. She did not pack them really well, and she sent them via 5 day parcel rather than 2 day as I had with hers (I figured the difference in price was not that huge, and didn't even think of other factors, as below), so the package came in.....not looking good. Beat up, mostly because part of it had clearly been soaked.

What we know happened: None of the bottles broke. However, two of them clearly had failures in the bottle cap seal, as one was at 3/4 capacity, and one was barely at 1/4 capacity, though the lids were still on.

What we believe happened: Either (1) the less than great packing of the beers caused them to colloid into each other, knocking the lids enough to cause the failure, or (2) exposure to heat caused the pressure in those two bottles (both bombers) to increase enough to blow the seals. The lesson here is to take great care when packing bottled beers for shipping, and spend a few extra bucks to get them there faster. Not sure about this last part, since I think Vic and I have sent them along the slower route, but I don't think any of the packages were sent at the height of summer, either, so that may have quite a bit to do with it.

Amusingly, a deck of Sierra Nevada playing cards she had included in the package was completely untouched by liquid, which was pretty fortunate, since they did not have plastic wrap around them. Sadly, one of the two bombers that failed was one that, upon reading the label, I would very much like to try one day. She had put little sticky notes on most of the beers, and on that bomber she had written that she was "99% sure you can't get it in Key West." I texted her a picture of the mostly empty bottle with that note, and captioned it with "Still can't, apparently. Lol!"

She was upset and embarrassed about the situation, but I, following my philosophy of always being able to find a positive in any situation (Rule 3), pointed out that I was thrilled to get the six beers that survived, and even more thrilled that I would be seeing her this Saturday. That made her smile.

[Javarod]

I should have said, anywhere we would want to live. As we are both drinkers, dry counties would naturally be excluded.

And to be fair, it's dry only in relation to booze. Beer and wine are both allowed and sold there. The only exception, as you know, is the sale of Jack Daniel's, and only at the distillery, in their gift shop.

I will correct you slightly on this, they do not sell liquor in their gift shop as it would be illegal. However, they do sell lovely boxes that also happen to have a bottle of whiskey in them, but as you're just buying the box, there's nothing illegal in that. Yes, really.

Oh, and conga rats... I mean congrats, even if this doesn't lead to anything big, its making you happy, so enjoy yourself, live in the moment, what will, will be.

[Jester]

When I took the tour in '99, they said that they had received a special dispensation to sell their product, which is whiskey, not boxes that just happened to contain bottles of whiskey, in their gift shop. It was a very limited dispensation at the time, limited to specific versions of their whiskey, but since then, I have heard from multiple sources that the dispensation has been expanded to include any of their products. What people told me may be suspect, but what I heard with my own (hungover) ears is not.

And thanks for the conga rats. They are impressive at line dancing.

[dalesys]

... And thanks for the conga rats. They are impressive at line dancing.

Visualizes a row of rats dancing on Scar...

[MoonCat]

Re: the clothes, as a woman I'd be impressed that a guy dressed up to meet me. I am so sick of seeing guys dressed like 10 year old boys instead of adults, it's not funny (baggy cargo shorts, sneakers, baggy t-shirt or polo, backwards baseball cap).

But I'd be just as impressed by a good, well-fitted pair of jeans and a button-down shirt, no tie. Clean and fitting well is what counts.

Have fun!

[Jester]

...baggy cargo shorts, sneakers, baggy t-shirt or polo, backwards baseball cap...

Amusingly, that describes my standard mode of dress almost perfectly.
Baggy cargo shorts? Check.
Loose t-shirt? Check.
Sneakers? Check, though sometimes sandals.
Baseball cap? Check, though I wear mine forwards, only wearing it backwards if I'm on my scooter.
Polo shirt? Rarely, though a nice one was the one change I made when I met up with Diane, Liz, and Paul on the second day I saw Diane here. To "dress up," as it were. Well, I also ditched the ball cap and made sure my hair looked good.

What can I say? I'm a casual guy and I like to be comfortable.

Though to be fair, I clean up very well, and often shock people when I do so, because they are so used to seeing Casual Jester.

[Jester]

So, I was talking to her tonight (of course I was), and she was trying to figure out what to wear, because she wanted to be comfortable for the flight, as she'll try to sleep on it, but she also wanted to, as she said, "look cute" when she got to Orlando.

I told her she looks great no matter what (and I meant it), but I also pointed out that if she's that concerned about it, she can just wear jeans on her main leg that she'll sleep on, and if she wants, change at her layover city in the morning, since the second flight is short and she probably won't be snoozing. Just giving her options. Since her comfy clothes involve jeans, and her cute clothes involve a short dress, and I've not seen her in either one, I'm good either way, which I also told her.

But this kind of swings the vote for me into dressing up.

And yes, if you're wondering, it appears your Uncle Jester is in trouble on this one. Glorious, fantastic trouble.

[Javarod]

When I took the tour in '99, they said that they had received a special dispensation to sell their product, which is whiskey, not boxes that just happened to contain bottles of whiskey, in their gift shop. It was a very limited dispensation at the time, limited to specific versions of their whiskey, but since then, I have heard from multiple sources that the dispensation has been expanded to include any of their products. What people told me may be suspect, but what I heard with my own (hungover) ears is not.

Interesting, i read it somewhere, and got a chuckle from it, so i couldn't resist sharing it.

And thanks for the conga rats. They are impressive at line dancing.

http://mehndiart.tumblr.com/post/127...ats-commission

I agree.

[Marmalady]

And yes, if you're wondering, it appears your Uncle Jester is in trouble on this one. Glorious, fantastic trouble.

Go for it Jester.

Life is perilous. Go grab with both hands.

[Kittish]

In light of Diane's stated intention of wanting to "look cute" on arrival, then by all means go with dressing up to meet her! I hope you both have a marvelous weekend.

[Jester]

Go for it Jester.

Life is perilous. Go grab with both hands.

I intend to.

And before anyone gives me grief for the above, let me make it very clear that Diane has made it very clear that she wants me to, too.