see part 1.

unbeknown to me, geoff and drew had quite the adventure picking me up from the airport. like i mentioned earlier, my flight was delayed and didn't land until 6, but usairways didn't update the flight's status online. naturally, geoff and drew got to DCA right at 5:15 or so, only to see absolutely no one waiting to be picked up. so, drew kicks it in park and they both start calling and texting me. for some reason my phone was ringing, even though i was just starting my descent into the dc area. DCA is, as one might expect, one of the more secured airports in the country, so the cops weren't pleased with andrew's parking decision. after a loop around the airport and no signs of niv, geoff jumped out of the car and went into the terminal to look for me.

drew was told to keep moving a couple more times and almost got a ticket, but that isn't the silly part.

geoff went into the terminal and saw "5:15" under arrival for my flight. not "arrived", but not "delayed until 6" either. so he figured that i had arrived, which is not the strangest decision. of course, i hadn't. so he ran around the terminal looking for any sign of me, which was doomed for failure. when i finally landed i had 4 new voicemails and a text message asking where i was and another text saying where geoff and drew were parked.

so, i got there, and i got in the car, and all attempts to thwart my arrival to dc were officially re-thwarted.

it took a while for the whole ordeal to sink in, and i was running on very little sleep. the immediate decision was to not tell trilling anything. i spoke to him at 9am and said that i wasn't going to make it out due to flight cancellations, and he had spent all day out in virginia with erin at her family reunion. so, surprising the shit out of him was first on the agenda. second was the twins-indians game. santana was going against jake westbrook, and memories of the cavs-wizards drinking game during draft weekend was fresh in our minds. after a quick stop at the worst grocery store ever, we got to the apartment and started discussions on food and drink, not to mention drinking game props. drew determined that alcohol must be purchased. i was still very much in a daze.

drew and geoff tell me to get my shoes on, as we're going to the liquor store. i finally had taken my shoes off, and i hate shoes, so i refused. drew said he'd walk with me barefoot to the liquor store. this idea was obviously idiotic and drew and geoff left without me to secure vodka and jager. i... sat.

drew and geoff returned successfully, with geoff eventually noting that all the hard alcohol at the liquor store they went to was behind bulletproof glass. i had paused the indians game and we set up our props for the drinking game. the props included first indian to single/double/triple/homer/steal/walk, first twin to k/error/gidp, westbrook inducing a double play, newly acquired kenny lofton received a standing O, and other silly things. i mentioned the important ones. after we sorted out the details, we started the game and we started the drinking.

santana and westbrook made this game absolutely fly. geoff mentioned something about jason tyner never hitting a home run in over 800 major league at bats, so if he hit one we all had to finish our drinks. drew was inspired by this, and said that if there was a reference to specifically the 1995 indians we all had to finish our drinks as well. of course, jason tyner strolled up to plate and stroked one barely over the right field wall. geoff deadpanned 'oh shit' as soon as the ball hit the bat, and drew and i both were unsure if the ball had actually cleared the wall. yes, tyner hit his first career home run in a 5 year major league career against the indians, causing us to finish our drinks.

around 8:45 i talked drew into texting trills a status-check. trills is apparently around the corner, so we put our plan into motion. i hide my shoes and bags in drew's room and get up off the couch so that i can easily slide into a narrow deadend hallway where the laundry machines are located. geoff sat on the couch in such a way that would indicate only drew and geoff were in the apartment (hint: not right next to drew). the door handle turns and jams - i had locked the door earlier just to give me the extra few seconds to scamper off. this was suspicious but had to be done.

sidenote: geoff and drew both offered $10 if i took my shirt off and hid in trilling's closet. i'm fairly certain this would have resulted in a mauling or being punched, and someone might have wet their pants, so i refused. i think this was an ok decision.

trills and erin come in, trilling beaming and saying "we just heard, we just heard." geoff and drew, who somehow did not just start laughing immediately, told trilling to calm down and not to ruin anything, because we were still 15 minutes behind 'realtime'. erin and trills talk to drew and geoff for a while, and erin finally says she's going to trilling's room to get pants. i see her shadow, and i spring out.

erin screams.
andy dances.
hilarity ensues.

trilling's dance was awesome. i wish i had a video, or could recreate it for you here, or something. it was a goddamn jig.

with everyone in good spirits and the adrenaline and booze flowing freely, we return to the indians game. a spectacular situation occurs in which justin morneau (geoff's pick for first to gidp) lines into a double play induced by westbrook, thus giving drew a win but negating geoff's pick, as he didn't a ground ball. the 1995 indians are referenced directly, of course, causing us to finish another drink, and bringing up a ridiculous debate that one could only have with two guys who had entirely too much red bull. geoff and drew both claimed i should make a new drink since my drink was already pretty low. i said that the point of drinking games was to get drunk, not to drink the most, and furthermore that their interpretation of 'finishing a drink' was completely wrong. i was yelled at, but these guys had both had entirely too much red bull, so i just ignored it and reveled in the actuality of being in DC.

then the indians lost the fucking game in the 9th.

in part 3 (tomorrow? the day after?): the most arbitrary drinking game ever, pebble island, and my first ever bribing of a bouncer.