Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Parking tickets,warning signs and the eye of the storm!
































































This begins part 2:{David Bowie looks like Kurt Sulkala, Radar looks like Doug Day, Robert Culp looks like Bobby Piehler} Bobby's reply was "This chick is a party animal, she won't care that we're working for her". I get Bobby's attention and say " When this thing blows up in our face and believe me it will, don't come running to me to bail your ass out." He nods his head and says " School's over man! It's the summer, let's go have some fun for a change. We haven't partied together since nationals!" That's pretty much how it went the whole night. We drank, danced and laughed till the bar closed. Somewhere along the line someone picked up the little girl and took her home. Bobby asked if he could stay with me. I said " Sure take my car and park it on the right side of the street. If I don't make it home wake up before 8AM and move it to the other side. Promise me?" Bobby pats me on the back and says : "Sure , no problem. I need the key to get in. Call and tell the doorman I have permission." I did these things and he left with my car. Diane was still bubbling over with energy. She grabs me and says " Have you ever been to an after hours place?" I said "No I haven't. It's late and we both have to get up early tomorrow. Why don't I just take you home. Then I'll meet you tomorrow at your gym." She puts her arm around me and says" Tonight let me show you a different side of New York. Everything is on me ,even you if you want." I was curious and a little drunk. So I said " O.K., let's go" We took cabs to several different clubs until it was dawn. The last club gave you sunglasses when you left for your eyes. We walked out and were in the middle of a sea of suits. Everyone was going to work, while we were just going home from the night before. She's still full of energy and says "Now what?" I said " If you want me to work I'm going to need a little sleep." She replies " Sleep! I don't thing so big guy. I have 20 girls that will be waiting in front of my gym in a few hours. Lets call Bobby and we can take your car." I call and no one answers. We take a cab downtown and find my car gone and Bobby sleeping. I shake him and say "Yo! Bobby boy! Where the hell is my car?" He opens one eye and says " It's parked on the street like you asked me to. What time is it ?" I reply "9A.M., and no my car is not there." Diane pipes in " Oh my! They probably towed it. That's going to cost a pretty penny." Bobby looks at me and says "Hey! Don't look at me! I don't have any money, it's your car." Postponing the urge to smack him, I say " Lets go see how much it is" Diane says " I can tell you that. It happens to me all the time. Can you believe that? (giggle, snort) It's exactly $378 plus the price of the ticket which is usually about $150." I put my hands over my face, which is starting throb with the beginnings of a world class hangover. Diane says "Don't sweat it guys! I'll pay for it and you can pay me back after you finish evaluating the team for me. You can stay at my house." I say "Thanks , but we already have a place to stay." So we trudge down to bail the car out and pay the fine, which turned out to be exactly what she said it would be. So now deliriously tired, hungover and now in debt we head out to Long Island. We arrive at her gym, which is called Dancing Gymnast. It's in the middle of an industrial park. The gym is already open and who should pop his head out but none other than Kurt Sulkala. Bobby runs and grabs him saying "Lord Kahmchaka(A cheap vodka he always drank) what are you doing here? I thought you were in Boston coaching at T.W.I.G.'s (True Winners in God) gym. Kurt smiles and says "I'll tell you all about it when we go out tonight.It appears they take their bible a little more serious than I imagined." Spinning to me he says "Hey, Juke Box!" My nick name became juke box when we were out drinking one night in this local hick bar and the juke box got stuck. Someone asked me to kick it. I did and all the glass shattered. Falling to the floor, the music screeches to a stop.All heads turned to me. Kurt took it upon himself to keep me from getting a good old boy ass whooping from these mutant farm boys with pool cues. He also convinced the owner not to charge us. A favor to this day I'm very grateful for. Kurt continues " So I moved down here looking for work and Voila! I got hired. Stick around, we're picking the girls team today." Bobby looks to Diane and says "So why do you need us?" She says " I am looking to restaff the entire gym and you guys are here for an informal sort of interview. Since you guys are all friends this will be great." Kurt begins to look suspiciously at us. I immediately say "Yo! Kurt I had no idea about all of this.I'm just here because Bobby asked me." Kurt goes aside with Diane and some heated discussion occurs. Returning, she says "Listen guys , Kurt is the boss! Just do whatever he asks." We nod and look to Kurt to see if he is o.k. with all of this. He squints his eyes and says" You guys ever pick a girls team before?" We both shake our head. Kurt hands us a sheet with various skills and ratings on it, saying "Just like at camp, give them 3 chances to do the skill and rate them between 1-5. Then we break for lunch and come back to test strength and flexibility. Here, each of you take a group of 5. Call me over if you have any doubts or questions. Jody remember what I taught you!" I reply " You got it" This process lasts for 3 days. Can you stay that long?" I reply " If you want us, we're here!" Every night we would go out and shoot pool and talk shop. Kurt began to drop hints that Diane might be interested in me romantically. He strongly advised me to be careful, her previous suitors hadn't faired so well. I acknowledged his warning and we continued to hangout and catch up. We still hadn't stopped by Dougs' gym or even called him. At the end of 3 days Bobby and Kurt decided to take off on some adventure I wasn't invited to. Diane and I started to date. She seemed nice enough when she wasn't drinking. We went together back to the city to spend some normal time and get to know one another apart from everyone else. I would go to work in Brooklyn during the day and we would meet in the city at night. After a week of this she got me a modeling job and an audition for a national commercial, which later I got. We quickly became boyfriend and girlfriend. I told her I was planning on returning to school in the fall. She had to go to California for a week to consult on a movie set. She asked me to watch the gym for her with Kurt. I said "Sure" Well instead of commuting back and forth I called Dougie and stayed with him. He was all bummed out about some girl breaking his heart. He went into excruciating detail, while I tried to cheer him up and take his mind off of it. We hung out at his gym for a few days and then he left to go to a seminar. He asked "Would you stay at my place while I am away?" I said " Sure , see you Monday" Here ends part 2. I will write part 3 tomorrow. Thanks Jody






1 comment:

Kerry said...

this is some interesting material! I never knew all this.
How are you Jody? It's Kerry from DPGA - remember me?