Because I already went and now I’m back. I guess I’m not really all that dressed up, just my normal work uniform, a business suit. Although it is custom made. Even has my name on it.

So, why did I clean myself up on a Saturday? Well, the 8th Army CG had his annual New Year’s reception this afternoon. It turned out to be a very nice affair. Got to mingle with all the brass and G.O.’s, eat some good food, and “show the flag”. The last being the main reason I attended. Got to keep up appearances and be a team player and all that political stuff. It’s all good and I had a nice time as well.

I’m thinkin’ on doing my Saturday night Itaewon wanderings in my suit and tie as well. A) because I’m too lazy to change, and B) why the hell not? The contrast between my blue jeans and ball cap look and me cleaned up might be fun for a little change of pace.

Gawd–what drivel this post is. Could be that you are what you write, but I ain’t going there.

What else? Sad news recently on the passing of LTC Frankenhauser. As I understand the story, he got hit by a bus while crossing the street near Yongsan Station. Really sad as by all accounts he was a good and well respected man. Leaves behind a wife and a couple of kids as well. I didn’t know him beyond a professional relationship, but he was a fine officer and a gentlemen in all my dealings with him. Rest in Peace, Sir.

His death serves as a blunt reminder that you just never know what day is gonna be your last one. And also that you cross the street at your peril in Korea. Not many here respect common traffic laws (like red lights) so the crosswalk with the green man inviting you to cross offers little protection. I tend to keep my guard up, but all it takes is a moments distraction and you are done. Ah well.

I mentioned in my previous post about getting cell phone spam at 3 a.m. Today my house phone rang at 5 a.m. Now, I never use my house phone. I don’t even have the number memorized. And it rarely rings, beyond an occasional telemarketer. When I say “sorry, no hangul-mal” (and I’m sure that is not the right word, but that’s what I say) they promptly hang up. That’s cool.

Well, by the time I roused myself out of my winter slumber and made it to the phone in the living room, I’d missed the call. Back in bed and wondering who the f**k would be calling, and it rang again. So, I rushed out to answer. I could barely hear who was talking and didn’t recognize the voice, although it was in English. Apparently he couldn’t hear me at all, and he eventually hung up.

Hmm, I reckon it was 3 p.m. Friday afternoon on the East coast, but not sure who would have the number even I don’t use there. I knew my mom went to the hospital Friday for a surgical procedure, so it had me worried enough that I couldn’t sleep. Called home later and talked to my daughter and everything is apparently ok. Which is a relief.

Up early with nothing to do, so I killed a few hours playing CIV IV. Did some ass kicking and won the game, but my score was under 6000 again. Which gave me the Neville Chamberlain ranking. Which basically sucks. Can’t figure out what I’m doing or how to gin up a higher score. Best I’ve ever done was a little over 10,000 points, but that was long ago and I have no idea how to replicate it. Do you?

Still with me? Get a life! Alright, let’s talk some darts. Friday night Dolce Tourney. In the Early Bird event, I drew Craig (one of my new teammates) as a partner. He’s a good thrower and we were feeling real confident about our chances. In the first round we faced off with JP and Eun Suk (one of the better female players in the league). Still, and meaning no disrespect, given our “A” division rankings, Craig and I had to be considered the favorites to win. Well, we dropped the first cricket leg in large part because the bullseye (which is actually one of my better targets) inexplicably deserted me. Ok, JP was throwing good, but I still wasn’t worried about our prospects. We played a close ’01 game, but Craig hit the out and the deciding leg was on. JP took the diddle and Eun Suk convinced him to play cricket. We played behind most of the game, in large part due to JP nailing some triples with a frequency that had me distressed. So, we started in on the bulls behind on points and our 17s and 18s open. We pounded in some bulls eyes and closed the 17. Craig hit 4 more bulls, which gave us the lead on points. I failed in my attempt to close 18, and they pointed to take the lead. So we have bulls closed and they have bulls wide open. The game was still ours to take. A couple more bulls and we were ahead on points again and just needed to close out the 18. Craig got the second one, but his third dart hit the wire on the 1 side. Damn.

No worries though, they still needed three bulls and even with a couple of untimely bounce outs, we were hitting at least one or two every throw. So, Eun Suk steps up and hits a triple 18 good for 54 points. Then she throws another triple 18. Our point lead was suddenly a negative 100. Eun Suk wasn’t finished though, with her third dart she hit a double bull! That would be an 8-mark and it proved to be our downfall. We never recovered and JP hit the final bull for the out. Strange way to lose, isn’t it?

Well, Eun Suk and JP wound up winning the tourney, but there was little comfort in that for us.

In the prime time event, I drew Seung Youb (ranked first in “A” division last season and another of my new teammates) as my partner. So, I figured our chances at the money were better than good. We drew a tough first round match against Dave New and Craig, but prevailed after three hard fought legs. That was our biggest challenge until the championship game, when we faced Greg and Simon. Again, statistically speaking, we had to be favored. Did I ever mention that I totally suck at statistics? Yep, they took us down in two legs and we had to settle for 2nd place.

But you know what? I had a great time playing darts last night. And I am really looking forward to the new season and my new team. League play starts Monday night. If you give a sh*t, you can read all about it hear. I’m figuring Duke at least enjoys my dart rants.

Hey, the door bell rang (that don’t happen all that often either). Oh, it is my new bidet being delivered. Wipe that smirk off your faces! (heh, wipe–no pun intended). I’ve been having a little medical problem so to speak, and this bidet is rumored to help with that. I was kinda sorta hoping that installation came with delivery, but apparently not. And my Korean is nowhere near good enough to ask about that. Or to read Hangul instructions for that matter. And I’m not particularly “handy” when it comes to home repairs.

Well, I will figure something out. Now I hear Itaewon and a cold OB (that’s a Korean beer if ya don’t know) or three beckoning me. So, I guess you could say I’m all dressed up and I DO have somewhere to go…