Takin' Care of Busy-ness

These are More Days I'll remember. They may even involve seeing actual Maniacs on Friday night. But let's look back at a week that was, all in all, pretty good.

Last Thursday was my one Rochester trip of the week.  Only one fixed appointment, but preceding it was a Teams call I did from that office, which actually worked- a day after another one on this new computer had totally failed.  Neither judge made an ultimate decision, nor did the one I called into by phone without the pretty suit that afternoon.  I did get an awesome favor from one of my coworkers there, who figured out Things about Adobe that are not dreamt of in my philosophy.

I asked her attorney Boss Lady if it was okay if I got her a small thank-you gift, and if so, did she have any idea what she might like.

No hesitation: She likes beer.

I knew exactly what Wegmans could offer up, as I'd seen it in one of their Buffalo stores the week before; the name riffs on a line in the "Shout" song the Bills have adopted as their anthem:



Ale-as, it was not in stock at their local branch, so I had to settle for something completely different:



She liked it:)

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Friday was lower key at work, and I even got some cleaning done in the office, including doing a deep dive of some stuff I probably should've pitched decades ago. This, for instance:



Over the weekend, we watched Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan in the only slightly more recent AOL tribute titled You've Got Mail, where they were falling in love over a 4.0 version.

More things happened over the weekend, though; more than often happen here in months.

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Saturday morning, a friend and son came to town to check out two tours on offer. One was of the recent Toronto upgrades to our downtown ballpark from when the Blue Jays spent most of the summer here.  I headed down:



I don't think the Bison flag was back up for the one game I went to with them in residence in August, but the Better Together theme is seen throughout.

The lines were too long to check out the clubhouse and indoor batting getups, but I first got into the bullpens, moved from their longtime homes between foul lines and stands to behind the right field fence:



One, available for pitching and catching, the upper one closed for the season.  Then, someone found the secret door to the outfield, after passing this-



Merde! No French?!?

- and then out to the wider-than-expected warning track:



That tower beyond the outfield is One Seneca, the former Marine Midland Plaza that remains the tallest building in upstate New York and is being renovated into apartments, offices and retail. Scott and Son were heading there for a tour of some of the under-construction floors, but not before a stop at the beerless bar:




This joint, known as Pettibone's Grill through the first 33 name changes of the ballpark itself, was the home of the promised $1 hot dogs and cokes, which we enjoyed.  I also saw the view the fancier diners get when eating more expensive cuisine there during games:



All in all, short and sweet from the dining suite. Then home before heading out again for my first theater in well over a year.

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Friends of mine are in a company called Inclusive Theater of WNY. They try to be just that, encouraging actors and crew who haven't been doing it all their lives and may not be model material.  They put on five short plays, intermissed by a halftime of improv from a local threesome who perform that.  It was at the Williamsville Meeting House, where I've seen Lucy and Antje and Jen, oh my, among many other beloved folk performers, but this night was for the actors-



- and their slightly crazed director, on her fourth show in just over 72 hours with a fifth to come the next afternoon:



They're doing another round of short plays here in January- and Aimee asked if I wanted to contribute one. I'm working through a number of ideas- Green Eggs and Hamlet has already been done, sadly, but William Shakespeare's Twilight remains a possibility, as do any number of combinations involving zombies, starship captains and some guy named Godot who might or might not show up.

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We rounded the weekend Sunday with our first in-cinema film in well over 18 months: the sequel to Tom Hardy's Venom movie from a few years back, with Woody Harrelson as their nemesis.  It's a Marvel movie, but with more snark and less municipal destruction than in most of the central MCU franchises.  Supporting characters also shone nicely.  Theater was maybe half full, which for a Sunday with the Bills not playing seemed light, but once we get over the worst of the COVIDiocy, there will be a place for more in this.

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While the Bills had a week off, the Sabres did not- and they continued their first month of play with surprisingly good results for having traded two of their arguably best players and having left their former captain in a state of medical limbo.  The no-name crew of mostly very young and very old players are 4-1-1 after six games, including knocking off both Stanley Cup finalists from this past spring at the start and end of that initial stretch. Now they head Oot West for their first extended road trip, so we'll see if the results hold up during that.

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Finally, J's memorial service is being Zoomed Friday at 9 our time. Not sure if we have the wherewithal to get through it, but I'm sure it will bring meaning and closure to those who do.