crisis averted? (or not?)

i read an article recently that made me kinda sad and kinda freaked out…

…and the mood of the staff i typically deal with lately didn’t help (all people i’m not used to). but after chatting with some more seasoned veterans of the place i feel a little better.

on the current tip, this is MY spot. i’m there every sunday, almost without exception, for the last several years. it used to be weekly tradition for herald and i. before i was married i could be found there two or three nights a week. their company xmas party kicked off the first xmas the ufc and i spent together. kramer’s even joined AND brought the missus. it was the re-up for my juneteenth shit when i cut the bar-b-ques off after twenty years.

and on top of all that, we have a history.

back in the mid-nineties i was having a crisis of character. mom had just died and i had just lost my “dream radio gig” (the quotes didn’t fit then, but do now). kramer was having one to a lesser extent, as evident by the fact he had decided to move to north austin. per my physical build, i was called in to help do some heavy lifting and charged my usual friend price for doing so – dinner.

(that’s since been amended to dinner and drinks, but back then i didn’t drink so i was a cheaper date)

because said move was made due to female companionship she joined for the dinner, but because of trudy’s having such a limited desert selection she wanted us to go to amy’s ice cream up the road, whereby i thought i was gonna punch a child for dropping ice cream on my foot, but it turned out the cold & wet i felt on my foot wasn’t dairy goodness, but rather doggy goodness in the form of a puppy nose attached to a small bag of black fur that proceeded to bathe my face when i picked him up. the next day he came to the house for the first time, was named the gaelic word for “bringer of peace” (calum) and proceeded to live out the next twelve years rather happily with me.

so, yeah – trudy’s and i have a history.

hopefully this (not so) little financial hiccup will all be wonder under the bridge soon. and if my lotto ticket hits in the meantime, maybe i’ll become a part owner?

the day after i wrote this they filed for bankruptcy and as of the time i’m writing this they’re closed, and i’m not sure for how long…