It’s been a while since Dirk (aka Nooch) and I have been together. We met up with the rest of the high-school gang last July, and we often chat via phone or video call, but hanging out together is always better. On a whim, he grabbed some airline tickets using his points, and we spent four days partying in the party house.
Of course there were a lot of board games. I taught him Utu, and after getting trounced in his first game, he figured out the strategy and did much better in subsequent games. Here he ponders a particularly epic map layout:
I also taught him Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition, which he absolutely loved. Again, I trounced him in his first game, but he’s a quick learner and in the final two of our four games, he absolutely thrashed me.
We played a bunch of pool (he tended to win), ping pong (he almost always won), and a few other “filler” games. And between it all we chatted, watched movies, went to Rosa’s twice, and generally had a grand time reminiscing about the Good Old Days (of high school) and all the years in between. We’d break into song, or quote a movie, or scream “Acting!” in the spirit of Jon Lovitz’s classic SNL skit from sometime in the 80’s. Pepper wasn’t quite sure what to make of it, but afterward she told me she can see why we’re still friends after almost forty years. We’re peas in a pod.
It was a great few days hanging out with my oldest and bestest friend. Here’s hoping it’s not too long before we do it again.