And Then We All Laughed

   Well faithful readers, we've had a few memorable days in Calgary and we've headed south once again today.

  When last we spoke we had just arrived and spent a wonderful evening catching up with Bryan and Sheila. That was Tuesday. Wednesday was a down day for me as my entire body was undecided whether or not it wanted to be awake. I chose "not" and managed an hour's nap before we headed out with our hosts to see Oppenheimer at the IMAX theatre. Yes, we'd seen it before but knew it was worth a second look.

  On our way we stopped at Major Tom which, apparently, is the "go to" bar in Calgary. It sits forty stories up in an office tower with a spectacular view of the city. It's worth noting that Penny and I met them there as they'd had an appointment at their bank regarding some sort of bureaucratic screw up. Unfortunately, when they arrived at the bank they discovered they were the only ones with an appointment as their bank manager decided he needed to be somewhere else. Not happy.

  Drinks arrived and were duly consumed and we wobbled off to the movie after offering estimates on how long it would take for said bank manager to re-schedule the appointment, with guesses ranging from the next morning to never. The movie, as expected, was great, even on second viewing.

  Now, before we go further, it's important to note that there is some kind of Uno thing going on here at the Urban Cabin (UC). When we returned from the theatre Sheila suggested a "quick game of Uno" which sounded like good fun... until Bryan pulled out the score book that they use for historical purposes. I guess a typical late night discussion around here goes something like:

B: "Remember that time I beat you by 500 points?"

S: "You never beat me by 500 points!"

B: (ruffling pages) "Here it is. November 7, 2020. I beat you by 502 points!"

S: (sound of slamming bedroom door and muffled screaming)

B: (sound of rummaging through cabinets looking for Scotch)

  Since Penny and I are completely non-competitive when it comes to card games... well, kind of non-competitive... well, we're crazy competitive but a book? I don't want to remember when Penny beat me at anything by 500 points. Or 10 points for that matter. Anyway, out came the book and we embarked on a quick game that was repeatedly extended until I was losing by 500 points and we stopped... at 1 A.M. Quick game my ass.

  Thursday was marked by two significant events. First, Sheila, Bryan and I trundled off to Costco to buy "a few things". Who were we fooling? No one goes there and spends less than $400... and neither did we. What was notable about this was how excited Sheila was, like she'd been let out of prison after thirty years and it was her first day back out in civilization. Two hours and a full shopping cart later we emerged into the late afternoon sunshine with our "few things".

  Back home at the UC we enjoyed a nice dinner and followed it up with another quick game of Uno and, before long, I'm sure I was losing by 500 points again. I'd have to check the book to make sure. What did surface during our game was a discussion about Bryan's Belly Button Lint collection. Go back and re-read that last sentence. Yep. That's what you thought I'd said.

  It turns out that Bryan, in an effort to ensure he leaves a legacy behind when his time is done, has amassed a sizable collection of BBL. We may be talking Atlas Obscura worthy in it's scope, who knows. What we do know is, it exists. There was some talk of Sheila having a sweater made from it, as well as he and I comparing the volume of BBL that we each generate. In this regard, it appears I'm once again 500 points behind. Not a good night for your intrepid journalist.

  Now, not wanting to be hard on my dear friend, I'll leave the rest of the discussion to your imagination. Suffice to say, this is an evening that will live on in our collective memories long past the time when we can no longer feed ourselves. By the way, the bank manager didn't call.

  Today was filled with more games. Shiri returned to visit before she leaves on an Alaskan cruise and we headed off to the local board game cafe where we engaged in a couple of hours of Codenames:

  One thing led to another and another game, Monikers, was purchased for tonight's entertainment. By the way, the bank manager finally called. Sheila. Asking for Bryan. Sheesh. The appointment is Monday. I did spend some time pointing out other banking institutions to which they could move their financial instruments. Just trying to help.

  Back at the UC we sat down to a game of Monikers. I'll cut to the chase and tell you the third round of this game is like Speed Charades, ie, how many weird phrases can you guess in sixty seconds! We laughed just a bit. I mean, well, I laughed so hard I almost wet my Depends. Here's an example:

  By the way, the answer was "Catherine The Great's Horse". And, I'll leave it there, until next time.