Two drinks and a couple quesadillas

Met my old buddy John for drinks after work. We were the only ones in the bar not watching March Madness. We gossiped about people we know (our friend Kathy, a former coworker from the 1980s who found me on Facebook) and people we don't (Elizabeth Taylor and Andrew Cunanan*). We worried together about our finances and professional futures (nearly two years after being laid off, he's still freelancing).

After two hours, two drinks and a couple quesadillas, we were out of there. I discovered that was long enough to allow me to make bad judgements (cab home for $30 rather than cab to the train for $6). It must be noted that this is not the first time I've exercised bad judgement after being out with John. But it was a good way to start the weekend nevertheless. Time spent with John is almost always a good time. We've been friends for nearly (gulp!) 33 years now and I really treasure the shared history and general, dependable and very welcome feeling of acceptance I get whenever we're together. After a week of sharing an office with three coworkers in close proximity and having to be "on," it's a relief to feel this comfortable being myself.

*I don't suppose you needed to be told we weren't personally intimate with Andrew Cunanan and Elizabeth Taylor, did you?