Ladies and gentlemen, as of today I am 32 years of age. I would like to thank all of the people who wished me a Happy Birthday today. This age is really no different from 31 or even 30 really, but it is a celebration of yet another year of life nonetheless for yours truly. The kid is currently on vacation and will be off from work until Tuesday, November 13. You can rest assured that I will enjoy my time off to the fullest.It is hard to believe how fast this year has gone by. After a somewhat quiet summer that mainly consisted of Saturday morning overtime at work and some trips to the shore, this year has really begun to pick up the pace. In September, I made it down to Long Beach Island to spend a weekend at Greg's grandmother's shore house. Greg hosted a weekend get together. Jack, Mike, and I made it down there for that. We played miniature golf and went this bar called Joe Pop's. I still recall a group of ladies sitting outside as we were getting ready to enter the bar.
One of the ladies asked Mike to take a picture of them with her iPhone. After a couple minutes of Mike not being able to take the picture, I offered to take the picture instead. The girl flagged me down and interjected, "You're cute. Get in the picture with us!" LOL. Quite flattering, if you ask me. I ended up dancing with some of those ladies throughout the evening upon entering the bar. As it turned out, Joe Pop's was actually hosting a bachelorette party there that night. Hence, the high volumes of women in the house.Whenever we get back to Long Beach Island again, which could be months or even a year from now as a result of the hurricane recovery, we will definitely have to make a return to Joe Pop's. It was a decent time.
We also celebrated Jack's birthday last month. As usual we went to Sushi X for dinner, which has become a tradition on the birthday of our sushi loving friend as well as the rest of the fish lovers in that circle of friends. Jack's birthday weekend also included a return to Lazy Lanigan's for a couple of drinks. In just the past few weeks, B-Money has been to an awesome bachelor party in Atlantic City, watched the presidential debates leading up to the election taking place on Tuesday, celebrated Halloween at Rho in Trenton (which I'm thrilled is still basically "Katmandu with a new name"), witnessed the devastation of Hurricane Sandy, and attended at a beautiful wedding in Wildwood followed by the reception at the Greate Bay Country Club in Somers Point, NJ. Congratulations to Jeremy and Keeley. Be sure to check out some pictures from the recent series of events in the Realtalk Photo section!
Hurricane Sandy, a vicious category one hurricane, brought massive devastation to NJ shore points Belmar, Seaside Heights, Long Beach Island, Atlantic City, Ocean City, and caused a high number of power outages in North Jersey. Those power outages resulted in 75% of the gas stations in North Jersey to remain shut down for at least a week. The state of NJ shut down it's government offices for three consecutive days (Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday), giving yours truly three days off from work. NJ Transit Morris & Essex and Montclair-Boonton rail lines have remained closed since the day of the storm and there is no telling when exactly they will be open for service again. However, it is important to keep in mind that America is strong and the state of NJ is no different. We will bounce back from the aftermath of Sandy and continue with life as we know it. Some of those gas stations are now beginning to open up.
Needless to say, B-Money's birthday celebration will take place in Atlantic City on Saturday, November 10. Most of the celebration will take place at the Revel. However, we will hop around the city in areas that will enable us to hop around so we can check out the other resorts as well. In all likelihood, we'll be returning to the Quarter in the Tropicana as well and possibly Planet Rose for some karaoke. As many of you know, Sandy washed away some of the boardwalk in Atlantic City. However, one fact remains indisputable. There are three things Sandy could not take away: B-Money's power. B-Money's birthday. B-Money's life. I'm grateful that those three major elements remain in play.
These past few weeks have been anything but ordinary for yours truly. After all that has recently transpired, I spent Sunday evening hanging out, enjoying the moment, quietly having a few drinks, thinking and reminiscing about life and the twists and turns it's taken me on, and playing some iTunes on the laptop. Tonight, I will likely do something very similar, as I bask in the reality of being on this Earth for yet another year.
Remember to get out and vote tomorrow!
