Today, I dropped into the pool room to see my practice partner of two score and a few more years hitting some balls on the table and we exchanged pleasantries for a few minutes and then he excused himself and said he had a present for me in his car.
He left the pool room and I baby-sat his Bender cue and case, all the while wondering what in the world he was talking about. We don't exchange gifts for birthdays or holidays even though his birthday is December 25. It's an easy one to remember.
So I just sat there waiting for him to return. He knows what a pool enthusiast I am and what passion I have for the game, so I figured it was pool related.
When he returns he has the present wrapped in a brown paper grocery bag with the grocer's name on the front. Actually, it was a wine retailer named Martin's Wine Cellar and thought for a minute he was making a play on the name Wine, maybe to tease me about my "whinings" which are of epic proportions that I am known to do on each Friday afternoon when I am told of the weight that I have to give my opponents in the handicapped one pocket tournament. :grin: It is really my own personal brand of "shtick" that I use to make my opponents feel like they are stealing. It's all hyperbole, every single wail that I utter and it for the embellishment of the great fun we have each week. But it was strange because my friend hears of my exploits and also revels in re-living them vicariously through me having me recount some of the more memorable ones, however he NEVER plays in any of the tournaments nor does he even gamble. It is his way and a noble one at that.
Anyway, I am looking at the package with the old brown grocery bag and wondering what could be contained in this package. It was a litte wider and a little taller than a standard sheet of paper and was about 3" thick.
I like to savor presents and used all of my psychic powers that I have accrued over the years. I tease him about my psychic abilities from time to time as when I was younger I even studied parapsychology and subscribed to a couple of publications that were based on that subject. As I summoned my senses and all of my "psychic" powers I teased that the package contained a book, kind of large for a pool book, but my sensitive fingers told me it was two books in one package even though the package was tightly wrapped. I then gesticulated with my hands musing that it was Christmas time and I sensed that the book was "warm" and I could see an aura of dark red surrounding the package. Keep in mind that I could not see inside of the package which was well wrapped and taped. A couple of cynical glances from him and I knew he was exasperated with my "all-knowing & all seeing powers", but I continued showing him that the package had not been opened and the contents could not be viewed from the outside. He was watching me the whole time and knew I hadn't tried to open the package or see inside of a slit that wasn't there. Afterall, he had wrapped the package very carefully but still, I ribbed him a little more about my "powers" and then asked if I was close to the things I had said. He replied that I was perfectly accurate and that's when I knew what was inside of the package and my heart kind of raced up a bit, not knowing for sure but the anticipation was something special. If my guess was correct, it was something that I had always secretly wanted but never told anyone how much I wanted this item. He then told me I didn't have to wait until Christmas to open the package and so I gently removed the tape which bound the paper together and slipped my hands inside without looking at what was inside, tracing the books with my fingers looking for embossing, debossing or hot stamping or something that I could feel. I mused that it wasn't debossing and a few minutes of discussion about that and I decided I had as much pleasure and anticipation as I could stand and peeked inside and much to my delight was the two books I have always treasured but was never inclined to spend the money purchasing them. The copyright date on one is 1996 and the other 1993 and yes it is about pool. In fact both of the books are about my favorite game of pool and by now I'm sure you have guessed what the hard-backed books are named.
Who says there isn't a Santa Claus? :smile:
JoeyA
He left the pool room and I baby-sat his Bender cue and case, all the while wondering what in the world he was talking about. We don't exchange gifts for birthdays or holidays even though his birthday is December 25. It's an easy one to remember.
So I just sat there waiting for him to return. He knows what a pool enthusiast I am and what passion I have for the game, so I figured it was pool related.When he returns he has the present wrapped in a brown paper grocery bag with the grocer's name on the front. Actually, it was a wine retailer named Martin's Wine Cellar and thought for a minute he was making a play on the name Wine, maybe to tease me about my "whinings" which are of epic proportions that I am known to do on each Friday afternoon when I am told of the weight that I have to give my opponents in the handicapped one pocket tournament. :grin: It is really my own personal brand of "shtick" that I use to make my opponents feel like they are stealing. It's all hyperbole, every single wail that I utter and it for the embellishment of the great fun we have each week. But it was strange because my friend hears of my exploits and also revels in re-living them vicariously through me having me recount some of the more memorable ones, however he NEVER plays in any of the tournaments nor does he even gamble. It is his way and a noble one at that.
Anyway, I am looking at the package with the old brown grocery bag and wondering what could be contained in this package. It was a litte wider and a little taller than a standard sheet of paper and was about 3" thick.
I like to savor presents and used all of my psychic powers that I have accrued over the years. I tease him about my psychic abilities from time to time as when I was younger I even studied parapsychology and subscribed to a couple of publications that were based on that subject. As I summoned my senses and all of my "psychic" powers I teased that the package contained a book, kind of large for a pool book, but my sensitive fingers told me it was two books in one package even though the package was tightly wrapped. I then gesticulated with my hands musing that it was Christmas time and I sensed that the book was "warm" and I could see an aura of dark red surrounding the package. Keep in mind that I could not see inside of the package which was well wrapped and taped. A couple of cynical glances from him and I knew he was exasperated with my "all-knowing & all seeing powers", but I continued showing him that the package had not been opened and the contents could not be viewed from the outside. He was watching me the whole time and knew I hadn't tried to open the package or see inside of a slit that wasn't there. Afterall, he had wrapped the package very carefully but still, I ribbed him a little more about my "powers" and then asked if I was close to the things I had said. He replied that I was perfectly accurate and that's when I knew what was inside of the package and my heart kind of raced up a bit, not knowing for sure but the anticipation was something special. If my guess was correct, it was something that I had always secretly wanted but never told anyone how much I wanted this item. He then told me I didn't have to wait until Christmas to open the package and so I gently removed the tape which bound the paper together and slipped my hands inside without looking at what was inside, tracing the books with my fingers looking for embossing, debossing or hot stamping or something that I could feel. I mused that it wasn't debossing and a few minutes of discussion about that and I decided I had as much pleasure and anticipation as I could stand and peeked inside and much to my delight was the two books I have always treasured but was never inclined to spend the money purchasing them. The copyright date on one is 1996 and the other 1993 and yes it is about pool. In fact both of the books are about my favorite game of pool and by now I'm sure you have guessed what the hard-backed books are named.
Who says there isn't a Santa Claus? :smile:
JoeyA
