Cashing In

I sat sipping my coffee, reading Chaos (Cornwell), and thinking about all of the high priced lab tools, helicopters, and Italian sports cars she likes to pepper her story with. High priced.

So that brought me back to last night. Mom, Deb, Elaine and I decided to cash in our winnings from last Monday's Trivia. Our second place got us $50 worth of food and drink from the Ace Hotel.

As I walked into the Amigo Bar, I was able to see more of the decor because there were few people there. We had arrived early enough to ensure getting our own booth. The brick walls were painted with midnight black and each booth's back wall had a very large mirror ensconced in an archway nook. It looked like a scene from Caberet. Bella da Ball greeted us warmly, further adding to my feeling that Joel Gray would be coming out of the pool room soon.

Anyone caught using a cell phone during Trivia would be summarily thrown into the pool -- along with the cell phone. Those are the rules and we abided by them.

Happily, clutching our $50 gift certificate, we ordered 2 wines, a beer, a Jameson's, and a coffee. (I needed caffeine before I had any sleepy-making beverage.)

They guys in the booth next to us if I would take a picture of them, which I happily obliged. When I got back, everyone at the table was giggling. This was the cause of the merriment:

So there went our winnings! After a short while, the waiter came back and informed us that the two guys next door had bought us the next round of drinks!! Yes, it was a very merry night and Deb bought the guys their next round. They weren't driving and Deb's two beers over two hours didn't impair her. A good time was had by all.  Oh, yes. We won SECOND place this time! We got theater tickets for Mom, passing up on the drink/food certificate ...