Despite the EBMB and Kong delayed by schoolwork and the rest of the crew absent for no compelling reason, I met B***** at Puffolo Park and we set about taking in the gloriously pleasant early evening. We first tied our lungs to pre-mold DKW kite and watched them fly over the late downtown sunset. You really gotta hand it to our fair city. She really is a beauty. With all the time in the world and a route unfolding like an open-ended question, we rolled down second avenue to Chinatown and then up to Tiger Bar for a debut drink. Dan settles in with a Sapphire and Tonic and I sip Fernet-Branca over ice. I mistakenly make eye contact with someone at the bar which leads to a quick introduction and impromptu dissertation on time, space, physics, and cocktail napkins. It seems that black holes are illusions and space behaves like water. That may be, but Dan and I can’t be troubled by all that. We finally have to be somewhere and that place is The Matador. I’d like a McHookah, please. Can you tell me a place around here that we can get Pabst at popular prices? Plenty of video-worthy decor inside the ‘dor. Jameson and backs. The EBMB arrives, sniffs around unimpressed, and marvels at our already lofty disposition. Get this! We settle up, take an inspired walk, and roll down to the waterfront. Once again, it is worth noting that our fair city is quite lovely on an early fall evening. As the shuffleboard close season began last week, we have no choice but to continue in these dark arts. Hal’s is packed with trivia, so our start is courteously delayed. The familiar in the hat makes up the four. He and the EBMB win the first, then drop one to the Spaniel and I. This starts a string of 7 in a row for Deep Clackamas. With these results, the hunt for the 2010 Golden Hammer has gotten infinitely more interesting. While there are no positional changes in the 2010 table, the distance between the leader and the pack got a good bit slimmer. There is really nothing like riding the last stretch home with favorable results from the table folded in your pocket, the happy totals anxiously awaiting their inclusion in the register. Surely low times ahead, but tonight I am riding high.