Two weekends ago Carolyn threw me a surprise birthday party… In Portland. As someone who works in San Francisco, I was a bit shocked when she removed my blindfold Thursday evening and we were at San Francisco International Airport. She’d been hinting at a surprise throughout the week but I wasn’t prepared for anything of that caliber. On account of her being so awesome she had arranged for a day off of work and for our friends from Portland, Seattle and San Francisco to get together for a weekend of DNA reunion-ness.

The first day was spent re-proving my driving skills at the Second Near Annual Go-Kart Racing Phenomenon Super Match 2000©. My main competitor was Patrik “Danger” Puhala who made a sincere and valiant effort to take my crown. Patrik and I raced super hard but unfortunately there was no official printout at the end of the race so we’ll never know who was the real winner. Regardless, after the go-kart racing, I took him five games in a row of Cruis’n World and I got my name on the high score list twice.

More surprises were in store that night when after a hearty German dinner and a nice tour of Laika, my old co-worker Theresa showed up at the Gorski’s to celebrate my belated birthday.