I kicked off Superbowl Sunday in atypical fashion: with a four-way early morning conference call between me, Paul, and our Canadian and American agents. We’re all on the same page now. Tomorrow is D-Day. D as in “decision”. Looks like it’ll be another sleepless night.
This afternoon, I joined, Ivon, Sarah, Lawren, James, Toby, and his wife to watch the big game. Unlike previous Superbowls, there were no split allegiances. Every was rooting for the Packers. Or, more to the point, rooting against Roethlisberger. However, like previous Superbowls, there was more than enough food to go around. Lawren and James brought wings and beer, Toby and his wife brought pastries, and I made –
- Pork chops (America’s Best Test Kitchen recipe)
- Scalloped sweet potatoes and chipotle (Bobby Flay recipe)
- Tiramisu (Dad’s recipe).
Ivon picked up chicken from Nando’s Chicken on 41st. But not without incident. Apparently, he ordered the family pack and was informed it came with sides. He asked for salad. Then, when it came time to pay, he was surprised to discover the bill was a few dollars more than he expected. When he inquired, he was informed that the salads were extra. Now, normally, Ivon isn’t the kind of guy to kick up a fuss. And it was only $4. But it was more the principle of the thing, the fact that he was told sides were included but NOT told that salads would be extra. He elected to opt out of the salads only to be informed by the employee serving him that it was impossible for her to void the bill and that he would have to pay the $4. Now, at this point, Ivon was growing a tad frustrated and pressed her, suggesting that, since she made the mistake, she should be the one to cough up the $4 and consider it payment for a powerful lesson learned. After all, she had warned him that the garlic bread would be extra, why not the salads? Finally, she grudgingly admitted that the management didn’t like the staff informing the customers that salad were extra because it resulted in fewer salad sales. No shit! As they continued debating the issues, customers lined up behind Ivon began to leave. Ivon pointed out that the restaurant was losing out on hundreds of dollars in sales for a lousy $4 he shouldn’t have had to pay! But the cashier wouldn’t budge. Guess salad sales were particularly slow that day. Figuring he had a roomful of guests waiting for the chicken, Ivon eventually gave in and paid the $4, returning home with the chicken and salads – both of which went practically untouched on the day.
So, all this to say – if you’re going to Nando’s Chicken on 41st, better double-check that bill!
Anyway, we settled in and enjoyed a great game!
Up until halfway through the second quarter when THIS flashed up on the big screen –
“I just replaced it!”Ivon insisted.
I believed him. But the projector seemed to disagree. And, one minute later, good to its word, it went dark.
Ivon turned off the power, waited a moment, turned it back on. And the picture was back!
And then this –
While Ivon and Lawren got to work on the problem, I headed upstairs to continue watching the game. Surprisingly no one else followed me up, preferring instead, I assume, to watch Ivon and Lawren read the projector’s maintenance manual.
Happily, the problem was solved. At halftime. I headed back downstairs and watched the second half with everyone else – except Ivon had to leave to play a hockey game some idiot had scheduled for SUPERBOWL SUNDAY! Toby and his wife considered leaving with seven minutes remaining to go play tennis but, perhaps anticipating the scorn that would be heaped upon them, decided to stick it out to the end.
And what an ending it was. Packers win! Packers win! But, even better: Roethlisberger loses! Roethlisberger loses!
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