I left Thursday after work to drive down with Dooley and his friend Ferris for Pitt homecoming. I probably visit Pittsburgh once or twice a year and as I’ve gotten older I have a feeling it will be less and less frequent. Nevertheless, I was prepared to have a good time and make the best of it. I had no real plans and the homecoming meant nothing to me. We got there at about 11pm and went to Hemingway’s. Pitchers of beer were 5 bucks and Kamikaze pitchers were 4. I’m obviously laughing at these prices because Mad River charges 12 bucks and that’s their special for a pitcher. So we got pretty hammered and stayed til close and nothing to extraordinary went down. Dooley did get a glimpse into my disappearing act as I left them at the O at 2:30 in the morning only to re-appear at the hotel room a few minutes after. This is some foreshadowing for the trip.

We woke up at 11 on Friday and I decided to start drinking the Ketle one on the rocks. We went to Fuel and Fuddle at 12 and I had two more beers which were Double IPA’s and probably 7+% alcohol. I then met up with Gerald and we bought a 12 pack and went back to his sisters place. I probably had another 3 beers there and then bought a handle of Gray Goose just to prove how much of a baller I am and had no intention of being able to drink that much. We were doing shots at 4 or 5 pm and I was getting a nice buzz at this time. We then met up with Bill Gates and his gf Laura who brought some friends to the Cathedral of Learning which for some crazy reason had free booze for Alumni. I was starting to get smashed at this point and remember talking to some people who were old as dirt and I can’t really remember what I was talking about. After that I wandered off again and got a quesadilla from Veracruz. At this point everything was still ok and I met up with the same crew at Spice Cafe. I had a few drinks there and then there was some controversy on what a mind eraser was and that was the last thing I can vaguely remember. What happened next is sort of up in the air. I had a key to the hotel room and went back at 10:30. Next thing I remember is the police were asking me questions about my room and I have to think that I passed out outside of the door and someone must have reported it and they showed up. Nothing came of the situation though and they just let me in the room and I went to bed.

I woke up at 9 and went to the Pitt tailgate with Dooley and his friends. We played some pong and just the standard tailgating. We went into the game for literally 15 minutes tops and I have to question what the point of going in was but it was only 15 bucks so I wasn’t too worried. Then we went to watch the game at a bar called McFadden’s and I pulled another Houdini and escaped that place and got a taxi ride back to Oakland. Once again I ran into another snafu because I didn’t have the hotel key and my phone was out of batteries and wasn’t taking a charge. I got Arby’s and went to sleep in my car from 5 to 7. When I woke up I knew I still had a problem because I had no means of communication and no hotel key. I strolled into Gerald’s sister’s place and she let me use her phone to make some calls and find out that Shady was having a party and that worked out well for me because I had a car and a costume. I drove over to his place, sober after my nap if you were curious, and hung out with him and the people at his party for the duration. I dressed as Hunter S. Thompson from Fear and Loathing and even though I’m no Johnny Depp, the costume worked. I thought it was awesome because it had no mouth blockers and was simple to do. Some hoe thought I was Gilligan from Gilligan’s island but that was ok. Just to give a list of people that I saw at the party for those interested, Bill, Kevin, and Shelly, BG and Laura, Gerald, the McGrath’s and Bekee, Covitch and his Gf who thought I was mentally challenged. Anyone else I missed I apologize. Bill showed me his gun collection which confirms that I will never purchase one. I like the people in Pittsburgh and they accept that I’m a drunk and will do stupid shit so we all get along pretty well. I turned it in pretty early on Saturday night and drove back to Oakland at 8 the next morning. We left at 10:30 or so and that was pretty much the trip report. It was a good time and I left unscathed. Till next time Pittsburgh and it was fun seeing all my old friends who don’t get to see me often enough.