Back OnThe Beach, Pleep Debates Reliable Wife

We made it back to the beach after one bad day of driving and one good of driving.  Pleep was very tired after having to monkeybutt all the way from Nashville to south of Atlanta.  Delete had to navigate through 2 diversions to avoid the 5 hour traffic totally halted on 24 East around Chattanooga.   Fortunately the weather was good for both days and there were no traffic issues at all on day 2 from Macon to Daytona Beach Shores.

We are all very happy to be back at work from our Florida office where the views are great.  Plus we have been able to work in long breaks for hanging at the pool and the beach.  

The weather has been spot on everyday with plenty of sun, nice breezes and temperatures in the low 80s.   There are very few tourists this time of year so the beach and pool area are very deserted.  With any luck the weather will continue to be good for the guests who are due over the next couple of weeks.  The first round is Maggie Murphy and her boyfriend Creighton.  Everyone is very excited to have someone besides just Ed & Peggy to look at.

Pleep ran into a nice group of 30-something ladies at the pool.   He noticed they were all reading and discussing the same book - A Reliable Wife.  Pleep did not make a very good impression on the group when his comments were all about reliable wives being the ones who cooked, brought him beers, vodkas, and did all the housework.  After getting bounced out of the book club discussion,  he decided to form his own book club.  They are reading Curious George & George Wendt's Drinking with George.  Delete wants to write his own Drinking with George Heidkamp book.  He has collected a lot of stories about that and thinks it will be a best seller.

Pleep has added a new member to the traveling team - Cubby Bear.   After watching the Daytona Beach Cubs last summer and then losing in the final game of the California Baseball Nuts World Series, he thought a new mascot might help.  Delete pointed out that the Cubs have not won a World Series in over 100 years.  Pleep responded that it might be the curse of the moose not the goat that caused the Monkeybutters loss.  Leoni is just hoping he can come up with a strategy to turn things around for the Leoni Lions fantasy football team before he gets bounced by Pleep. 

Leoni Stages A Clubhouse Coup d'etat

In a stunning move during the Sunday football games, Leoni Generali has taken over the Pleepleus Gorillabutters.   Citing Pleeps' Monkeybutters failure to win the California Baseball Nuts Championship, Leoni commented, "After serious locker room discussions with Delete and Pleep #2, I have taken charge of the coaching and put Delete in charge of trades and pickups.  We hope his pickup of Michael Bush starts to pay off in tds." 

Leoni, continued "We think the stress of the baseball season has taken a toll on Pleep.  After his meltdown today during the Chiefs game, we felt it best to send him for a bit or R&R."   Sources close to the situation speculate that Leoni's ties to Generali USA may be related to this maneuvering but Delete and Pleep #2 claim there is no truth to the rumor that they were promised team jerseys.

When asked for his comments, Pleep stated, "I was expecting some sort of move when I saw Leoni wearing his Generali shirt this morning.   I thought he might be angling to take over the offense but I was not anticipating the name change.  We will be having a discussion with my co-owners this week to determine if Leoni's new team name remains. Plus, my alleged meltdown during the Chiefs game was entirely justified.  They cost me 3 points by not going for the field goal in the first quarter.  What kind of coach goes for it on 4th & goal in the first quarter.  What can you expect after the stupid opening on side kick? Argh!!!"

Happy Birthday - Better Late Than Never

The infamous dual birthday party went off splendidly on 18 September. Pleep has been yelling at me since then to get the highlights up on the blog. The celebrations actually commenced Friday afternoon at the annual Berghoff Oktoberfest street party in the Loop. 

Ida's birthday aptly coincides with the official Oktoberfest in Munchen. Many of this year's revelers have journeyed with Ida to Munchen to celebrate her birthday and had also been involved in her 30th birthday party at the Berghoff fest. 

Friday turned into a long day as the crowd moved north from the Loop to the Division & Rush area. Butch McGuires back room became the base camp as various groups arrived from airports, day jobs, and dinners. The diehards made it to several other hotspots and debated the wisdom of hitting Five Faces for a gyro nightcap before turning in.

The Ambassador East Hotel was the main lodging spot for out-of-towners and in-towners who had no interest in returning to their own homes and families. In addition to the Heidkamp affiliated crowd, the Ambassador was the main hotel for two other interesting groups - the Chabbat House Hassidic Jews celebrating Yom Kippur and the Black Hip Hop Artist Convention. As you might imagine, it made for interesting encounters in elevators, lobby areas, and the bar. To top it off, the Notre Dame Club of Rome was holding a reunion in the Pump Room bar at the hotel.

The next day part of the crowd started the pre-party party at the Lux Bar on Rush Street. Someone had started a rumor that there was going to be more people and less food at the main event so they wanted to load up just in case.

The evening's festivities kicked off early at about 5:30 pm. Because everyone who ever thought about having a beer with George or Ida was invited, there was a concern about exceeding capacity. Thanks to smart planning by Alex Collins, the media room was also included in the reservation. This turned out to be especially fortunate as it provided luxury seating for the Notre Dame game.

The highpoint of the evening was Moon's dramatic reading of his tribute to George - The Life of Buddy.  (Watch this blog for potential posting of the reading.)  The lowpoint of the evening was ND's loss in overtime which resulted in a mass exodus from the party to the nearby Miller's Pub.

Defying both federal and state laws, we greatly exceeded  the number of Heidkamps allowed in one place at one time, especially during Notre Dame football games.   Thanks to a monumental effort by David Gates, event photographer and one of Alice's adopted sons, the moment was captured forever digitally--getting George with the majority of his grandchildren & a family shot of "The Troops".

For those interested in consumption statistics several cases of wine (red, white & a few bottles of rose) and about 10 cases of Anheuser Bush products (Bud, Bud Light, Bud Select) were consumed. Damages were limited to several broken cork screws all of which belonged to Alex Collins. According to Alex, her mother only provided cheap cork screws so she will not be missing them. The 49th Floor at the Park Monroe may not recover from this group for quite a while. 

Thanks to everyone who journeyed from far (London, New York, California, Boston) and near (Chicago, Cincinnati).  Your presence made the event very special for George & Ida.  George says we don't need to repeat this again for another 20 years.

The following photo montage is brought to you thanks to the Apple's Iphoto capabilities.   If you are wondering about the bike, Moon still had Ida's old Schwinn from grade school in the garage.  He thought adding the bow to it made it the perfect birthday gift.  Fortunately for Ida, who had no way to get the bike back to California, Alex was extremely excited about inheriting a bike she could ride to work, the beach and other places nearby.  (You Tube required an audio swap from the Bette Midler soundtrack used in the Apple production. If the ads show up just click on the X and they will minimize.)