A Very Amp'd Xmas

Oh wow, it's been a while since I posted.

So, let's see, the company Xmas party was last Thursday, on the 14th.
I was hoping my brother would join me, but he was unavailable.
The theme was The Fifties, so I dug out a vaguely fiftiesish shirt and slicked my hair back at the last minute.
The styling mousse has the magical ability of making all my grey hairs disappear. It's nifty!
The company had rented some coaches to take us to the party, which was held at a place called Lucky Strike Lanes out in
Lawndale. I boarded the 6pm coach with a few colleagues. There weren't enough people, so they cancelled that coach,
kicked us all out, and we had to wait for the 6:30 coach instead. So we went back inside, waited and went back out.
The coach was nearly full this time. And the party had already started in the back. Some people snuck beer onboard and
were enjoying themselves. Traffic was horrendous, so the ride took a while. It would have taken even longer had the driver
not decided to take mostly surface streets to get there, avoiding the dreaded 405 Freeway for most of the route, jumping
on long enough to get from Imperial Highway to Hawthorn Boulevard. Since I knew the area pretty well, I played tour guide
for my neighbors, pointing out interesting things on the way down. As we kept rolling South on Hawthorn, I started wondering
if we were not in fact heading for the Del Amo Fashion Center (Monster), a big-ass sprawling shopping mall of doom.
We turned left on Carson, and that cinched it. We were at the Northern End of the Del Amo Fashion Center (Monster).

Lucky Strike Lanes is to a bowling alley what a Cadillac is to a car: huge, plush, full of gadgets, comfy and ritzy.
Let me show you what I mean: Let's bowl! - So blue! - Remember the name!
In last week's post, I expressed my hope that there would be real booze at the party, not just wine and beer.
I had nothing to fear. The place had a well-stocked bar that spanned the entire width of the bowling alley!
And there was food everywhere, mostly appetizers. Tasty stuff though.
But I think the coolest thing was quite possibly the "Private Party" sign at the front doors of the establishment.
Thass right! Amp'd Mobile Posse in effect, boyeeeeeeeeeeee!!! The whole place to ourselves. W00T!!
The last time I went to a company Christmas party this cool, it was the one put on by Sony Pictures Entertainment.
And that was in the biggest soundstage of the Sony Pictures (formerly Columbia Pictures) lot.
(For details on that party, go here.)

So the thing about not being an habitual drinker is: you don't know what to order.
I ate some food to cushion my system from the booze while watching people bowl.
Then I decided to start easy and ordered a margarita. It was goooooooooooood...
I was feeling kinda warm, so I decided to get some fresh air. Most of the stores in this section of the mall were open,
so I went in search of a toy store. I didn't find one. I found almost toy stores, like the educational toy store,
and the place that sold puzzles, boardgames and calendars. And there was a Sanrio-type place I entered just to see if they
possibly had some old leftover Badtz-Maru stuff on clearance. To my surprize, I saw NEW Badtz-Maru stuff. Sanrio brought
the tough little penguin back, but he ain't no biker/rock'n'roller anymore. He's a boxer/basketballer. Hmmmmmmm...
Upon returning to the party, I asked a couple of colleagues for drink suggestion, telling them I like rum (arrrrrr!!).
On their recommendation, I tried a Mai-Tai. It was gooooood too.
I had bowed out of bowling because my back was hurting and I didn't want to risk wrenching it.
Instead, I nibbled on food, nursed my drink, and chatted with assorted colleagues.
I also took a few pictures with the RAZR phone. The best ones are linked above.
The Creative Team designed a special t-shirt for the evening and everyone got one.
It was even made in 4XL! OMGWTFMYSIZE!!! It's a very nifty t-shirt too. (Sorry no pictures)
The party ended at 11pm and those of us not driving home boarded the Party Coach!
(For that experience, go here.)
Once back at the office, I got a ride home from the office manager. None of the buses I could take home were running.
So, it was pretty fun overall. I got some booze and a nifty t-shirt.


Friday 15th was a normal workday. I warned a few colleagues I wouldn't be in the following week.
(I was/am taking a week off before I lose accumulated vacation time in the rollover to the New Year.)

The weekend was spent mostly travelling to, visiting with, and going home from seeing the sibling.


More later...