So it turns out that I wasn't scammed by Imaginary Foundation, but I'm still annoyed that I'm only now getting a refund because the shirt I ordered was "out of stock." This is the T-shirt I ordered at the beginning of May.

It was a cool shirt. (Sigh.) I did not need another reason to be prejudiced against Californians.

Though the urge to be lazy and antisocial was mighty tempting, I ended up driving out to Will's cabin in Hutchinson on Saturday night to hang out with even more Lawrentians. I will start being bothered by all these long drives when I run out of Econtalk podcasts.

Jinx made the immediate mistake of having me play a game that involved both coordination and spacial skills, but aside from my twenty minutes in the tubes (as opposed to the 'tubes), it was what the kids call "a good time."

We played Cranium and Taboo, introduced Stantonk to bocce ball (prodigy! and no, I've never called her Stantonk!), and even went out on the boat, as Minnesotans at the cabin are wont to do. I learned that staying on a tube (as opposed—) is not an accomplishment when you're being pulled by a pontoon boat.

(Which is too bad, because I can say with some confidence that I'm pretty freakin' good at tubing.)

I did not get much sleep, haven't in several days actually (tonight I prettymuch had to stay in), and I think I'm coming down with something. I don't think it's unreasonable for me to expect to get better before I go home this weekend.

On Sunday, after lunch, a lousy movie, and a final redemptive game of bocce ball, I bid farewell to the other members of the Lawrentian Diaspora and drove all the way back to White Bear.

Where I showered, shaved, changed, and drove back west, to Minneapolis, for a b-day shindig at the Kitty Kat Lounge. Graham was there, temporarily back in town, and while talking to his friends Aaron and Mandy at the bar, we had the surreal experience of being complimented by a eavesdropper who enjoyed our conversation. I'm not sure why; I remember that Aaron was embedding taboo words and I was geeking out on the implied sentence structure.

(Don't think that I haven't suspected that we were being patronized — you can't out-paranoid me, don't try.)

I also had the frustrating experience of ordering a drink, a Harvey Wallbanger, which the bartender didn't know how to make. I am not one of those guys who orders obscure drinks to one-up the bartender, so I felt pretty guilty even though the bartender was a sport about it. I didn't want trouble; I just wanted to try a new girlie drink.

It was a good group, and I spent most of the night talking to Amelia and Jess. I hung around with Markie, one of the two b-day girls, long enough to offer a free drink — but of course she was overwhelmed by b-day drinks and had to work on Monday. Because I'd gotten so little sleep over the past three days, I left earlier than most with the "I have to work early tomorrow" excuse I hate so much.