October 4, 1991: The waiter at the Garden Gate bet I couldn't finish a pitcher of his milkshake but management wouldn't let us do it

Thirty years ago today

 

            On Friday morning I met Ray downtown at 77 Carlton. We moved a couple that had a lot of fine furniture. They were just moving around the block and it took us two trips with the piano truck. A piece of marble fell on my toe and so I was limping a bit. We each got a $15 tip. 

            Last night Nancy found out that she was leaving this afternoon with her family for Hamilton. They would be gone for the whole weekend and so she told me I couldn't stay in their house. I didn't want to but I did need to get some of my stuff from their place for the weekend. I was under pressure to get it done quickly because she said she was leaving at 17:00. I counted on Nancy not being ready on time as usual and so I went there after work. They were of course still there and so I got to spend some time with my daughter for a few minutes before they left. I grabbed some of my things before they locked the house. 

            I had arranged for Mike Copping to pick me up for a driving lesson and to hang out. While waiting for him on the Hammermeister's porch I tried to see if I could get back into the house, but couldn't find a way. I'd taken the stick from the inside that blocked the back sliding doors from opening but apparently Nancy's mother had seen that and replaced it. Mike wouldn't let me drive at first because the roads were wet but after a while allowed me to drive to my place along some side streets. We were arguing about Superman and I unconsciously called him "Nancy." We dropped the stuff off at my place and then we went to The Garden Gate for Chinese food and talked a lot about my relationship with Nancy. The waiter made a bet with me that I couldn't drink a whole pitcher of the chocolate milkshake he'd made. I accepted his challenge but the management wouldn't let us follow through with the wager.