Best Longer Version of the Story

Friday was Michelle's birthday. She took the day off and we were to celebrate the special day in a very free-form manner. We decided to take the old hop-on/hop-off double-decker tourbus tour of New York because, come on, don't tell me you haven't seen the bus go by and wondered what they were talking about up there, right?

Also, I was hoping a day of tourbussing would result in an armful of bus-riding selfpics and shots of Manhattan zooming by, like these:





When we got downtown we decided to hop-off the bus for a swim at the public pool. During our swim (and quite, quite unbeknownst to me) a clever fellow pried open the bottom of my locker and stole my jeans along with my wallet, keys, and cellphone. But he didn't get my watch or camera! SO, as you can guess, this caused some problems, some serious problems, with my ability to adequately execute my plans for Michelle's birthday. Most of the rest of the day was spent running around (me in my swim trunks looking like I absolutely, positively just did not care) cancelling credit cards and ATM cards and wondering if Jeff had a key to may apartment.

See, Jeff had spent a few nights at my apartment recently and, at that time, had an apartment key in his possession. So I gave him a call (from Michelle's phone, obviously) to see if he still had that key. His answer: "Quite possibly."

Somewhat encouraged, we met him at his temporary home at the Cipriani Condos on Wall Street. Upon arriving, Jeff offered us a melted ice cream bar.


After going through almost all of Jeff's pants, we were able to find my house key, which was very good news. Then a bit of time was spent enjoying Jeff's fine corporate housing...


No microwave? Really?





I don't know for sure, but I think that Jeff prefers this space to my futon. But that's just a guess.

After that it was back to the tour bus (which I had to talk my way onto a few times as my ticket was in my pants, too) to try to salvage Michelle's big day. Burgers were eaten, presents were opened, DVDs were watched...it turned out well enough (all things considered), if I may say so myself.