Blame it on Rio

Naturally, I was disappointed to see that Chicago lost their bid for the 2016 Olympics. I think what was shocking to a lot of people was that they were out in the very first round! I kind of thought it would come down to Chicago and Rio, with Rio winning. I was right on the second part! Well, we had already started saving for them, so we'll see if we head to Rio for the Games. I'm hesitant to be immersed in such a huge throng so far away from home, but we have plenty of time to think about it and plan.

Hard to believe that South America has never hosted the Games, and it is definitely their turn. I hope this brings Brazil good things! I appreciated Ziggy's comments about being a host city...I'm sure there are definite drawbacks to being one. I remember my Atlanta relatives talking about when the city was doing construction for their Olympics--the road construction was awful! At any rate, a hearty congratulations to Brazil!

Predictably, certain people are seeing this as a failure on President Obama's part. Get a grip, people. In the grand scheme of things, and in international politics, this is not that big of a deal. He tried, and the bid was unsuccessful. Riddle me this, Batman: if he had not gone to make a pitch, and Chicago lost the bid, would you be saying that it was his job to go, that it was his fault that Chicago didn't win? I'm guessing yes. He's damned if he does, damned if he doesn't. What I find really pathetic is people gloating and crowing about this as if it was some huge failure on Obama's part, ignoring the fact that this meant a lot to a lot of people, and probably would have provided much-needed work for a whole lot of people in our area. Have people really become that petty? Never mind...that was a rhetorical question.

Last night, we headed downtown a little after six, so we could grab a bite at Buffalo Wild Wings. As we went to sit down, I heard someone say "Beth!" I looked over, and there was a small group from the lab! Greg, the two Erins, Aubrey, and a couple of people who didn't work there when I was there. In fact, it was a little going-away party for someone who wasn't there when I worked there! Time marches on, doesn't it? It was good to see everyone, and I mostly got to talk to Aubrey since we sat by her.

We weren't any too pleased with the service, though. Very disappointing. It took forever to even place our order, and we told the waiter that we had to be at the show at 8, and one of the Erins had to be at work at 8. When we finally got our food, there were all kinds of problems with everyone's orders, missing sauces, the wrong beer, what have you. Ken and I ordered two small beers, they didn't come for ages, so I practically had to chug mine, and then we got charged for two large ones. By that time, we were out of time, and couldn't even dispute the charge. I don't want to get anyone in trouble, but it was so bad that I think I'm going to have to write a letter. It really was unacceptable service, and surprising, because when we've been there before, it's been great. We'll probably go back, but if that guy is our waiter, we'll move.

We made it to the Morris with a mere five minutes to spare. Robin started right on time, and I'm afraid I wasn't able to take any pictures. I took a few of the Morris (isn't it pretty?), but a security guy came up to me right before the show started, and said, "No pictures once it starts." I was a good girl and abided by the rules.

I thought Robin did a great job, and everyone I know who went said they also loved it! He got a very warm welcome, and started off right by talking a little bit about Notre Dame, Touchdown Jesus, that sort of thing. Always a good thing to talk specifically about the area. He got surprisingly political in this red state, although our county leans Democratic. I forget what he said about Sarah Palin, but it got a "Woot!" from me! He talked about his heart surgery, and did a long bit about genitalia that was hilarious. It definitely was not kid-friendly!

I'm really glad we went--we both enjoyed it a lot, and Williams is still a great stand-up comedian. We got rained on, but so what? We had some great laughs!