Joe on the Go

Well the 4th of July was crazy, but this year for different reasons. After all was said and done, I was happy the weekend was over. The next thing I was looking forward to was Tahoe at the end of July. What I didn't know was that I was going to Tahoe just the next week on a one night bender. 

It was boys night and we were trying to figure out the weekend. Tossing a couple back will let the ideas flow, I promise. In the middle of eating, someone joked about heading to Tahoe to gamble for one night. As the joke wore on, so did the seriousness of it. We all started thinking it could be a possibility. After 10 minutes, we had a full proof plan to head to South Lake the next afternoon. The trip got off to a little late start Friday afternoon because of some traffic on the way there. When we finally got there it was 8 PM, but we knew we were in for a wild night. 

Our room was on the 8th/smoking floor of Harvey's(cheaper). We headed up to get changed and came right back down for dinner. Luckily there was a Hard Rock inside the hotel, so getting to dinner took all of 1 minute. I think everyone agreed we needed a big burger and beer before the night got started, and thats exactly what we got. 4 cheeseburgers, 4 Newcastle Brown Ales, all paid for by a person to be named later (thanks dod). For being at a Hard Rock, dinner was actually pretty darn good. The burger was cooked perfectly, topped with bacon, cheddar cheese, and paired with their homemade sriracha ketchup and a huge basket of fries. We were fueled and ready to go.

After dinner, we walked around a little bit outside to check out the different casinos in the area. The 4 casinos were all so close to each other that you could walk to any of them in under 5 minutes. By this time is was coming up on 11 PM and we decided we would go start drinking and gambling. Our first (and my last) stop was blackjack at the tables outside Cabo Wabo in Harvey's. Margaritas, Jack and Cokes, and Coronas just kept flowing while the money kept blowing. I wasn't drunk yet and I was getting a little pissed off at how I was losing. Within a quick 40 minutes I had lost $280, which I am not proud about at all. Just around midnight is where I stopped the gambling and became a permanent drinker. The other guys were up a little so far, so I was taking drinks from them to drown out my losses. Cabo Wabo also had a dance floor that kept calling my name, so every once in a while I would head out to dance (usually alone) and make a fool out of myself. Time started to drag on at Harvey's and the boys wanted to make a change. I had no idea what the rest of the night held for us, but boy was it good.

After several ups and downs at that table, Mitch, Todd, and Kevin, headed over to Harrahs to gamble and I went to drink (btw its free drinks when you gamble, I had no idea until we got there). Just about an hour in at Harrah's, Todd disappeared. We assumed he was fine. After a couple hours though, it started to get sketchy, so we called but had no luck. Around 2 AM is when I got a call from Todd, saying he was back on the casino floor and had a great story for us. I'm not going to get into detail but just think Paris. 

After we had calmed down from Todd's story, we all met back up in Harvey's to gamble for another couple hours. By this time, the sun was started to come up and Kevin had just left to go to sleep (that's what happens when you are 40 years old). Mitch soon clocked in around 6:00 AM and went to sleep. However, Todd and I had other plans. Our last Jack and Coke was ordered at 5:45, right before we left to walk to McDonalds a mile and half away. 

Of course we walked about a quarter mile in the wrong direction first, but once we found the right way, we were headed for MccyD's breakfast. When we got there, it was around 6:45-7. Todd and I ripped on alcohol, walking through Tahoe in the morning cold, all to get a couple sausage McGriddles, worth it. Hammered breakfast, then got our butts back on the street and walked back to the hotel. We got back to the room around 7:45, got in bed and "slept" for an hour or so. When we woke up, it was time to check out and head back home. Starbucks was the morning hero, with 4 XL Pike drips getting us enough energy to make In-n-Out on the way home. 

All in all, successful night in Tahoe. 

Great memories can be made, even if you have a last minute plan that takes you 5 hours away for the night. Get out and explore people, go do wild things, be fun! I mean, we are kids right? 

Anyway, more coming later. Cheers. 

Joe on the Go

Okay everybody, I’m back. Since I’ve been gone so long, I’m not gonna hit you with every little detail that has surrounded me. However, I will give you some highlights, tips that I’ve recently learned, and current/future plans.

I won’t be doing a post daily but will hopefully be doing it as much as possible. Here goes nothin (ps I’m deep in the babysitting game at the moment and am writing this while the kids sleep).

Summer Part 1

Summer kicked off this year different than most summers. As some of you may know, I was offered a job in Europe to basically take kids to different countries and live the life. Unfortunately, my parents kicked that at the last minute. Not gonna sugar coat it, I was pissed but hey stuff happens. I got over it and prepared myself and the people around me for a summer to be remembered. I knew I was going to have a lot of free time, which for me is good because it gives me time to go on adventures, explore, hangout with my friends; basically do things I wouldn’t be doing if I were working. Summer for us quarter system kids starts a little later than most, so I was itching to start doing stuff.

The first couple weeks started a little slower because I was still in my old house down at school and was preparing for the big move to our new house. So long rats and termites, hello landlord who actually has a pulse. After a couple long days of moving myself, I was finally all in and settled at the new place. What wasn’t settled was my job. And that’s where this edition will begin.

 I was lucky enough to have met some cool people who run a catering company through my friend Brian. They hooked me up with some weekend gigs and it started to fill in some blank spaces (okay T Swift) in my schedule. As long and difficult as the shifts were, it was worth it to work for them because of the lenient schedule and events were only on the weekends. We did a few events before the beginning of July, almost in preparation for the big one.

*Side note, I usually crush the 4^th of July, but this year was a little different.

Fourth of July was our big day for catering. There were two events, hours and hours of prep, and hundreds of dollars spent on food and drinks, but boy did we nail them both. I was the lucky one that got to drive back and forth between the two events and help out at both, all the while having a hole down the very center of my slacks. The day of the 4^th came and went in a flash. I started working around 9 AM and wasn’t home to about midnight, but it didn’t feel as long as the hours say. On the menu at the wedding event was Mexican. What does that mean? Chicken tacos, Spanish (Mexican) Rice, queso fresco and green chili enchiladas, and lots and lots of alcohol. The chicken was marinated in salsa verde and was slow cooked all morning long. Moist, slightly spicy, and full of flavor, they were delicious no matter what topping you put on it. However, the star of the show was enchiladas. We originally made them for just the vegetarians at the event but everybody kept coming back for more until they were all gone. We even had people asking for the recipe when they saw there were no more left. As for the rice, we sauteed a simple blend of Mexican spices with chilis and onions and let that get nice and golden. After 5 or 6 minutes, we added the rice and let the rice toast, almost like we were making risotto. After a couple minutes, we added the water, covered the pan, and let the rice do its thing. It was tender, rich, and tasted like rice you would get from a restaurant. Safe to say we killed it in the food department, even though we were short staffed and had some issues with the wedding coordinator.

After all was said and done, the food was legit, people had a great time, everyone went home happy, and no one complained, except the bitchy (excuse me) wedding coordinator and her drunk daughter. I would say successful night.

After I got home, I cracked a beer, ate some food, and hit the hay.

I didn’t know it at the time but this was going to be one of my last times working. I was headed home soon. That will be coming up soon. Peace out for now and God bless.