Tue update: Arts performances Downtown, lousy weather for Midtown crawfish fest, and more

(Edit:  That Africa Center Stage performance is tomorrow, Wed 4/9, not today as I originally posted.) 

What a heartbreaking loss for the Tigers last night.  When Dorsey fouled out and Kansas hit that three to send it to overtime, I knew we were going to lose.

We had a good time watching the game at the Saucer though.  We had seats at the window right by the pool table, as we had for the previous two games.  That way we could yell “TIGERS!” at passersby and call the security patrol when we saw bums.  The patrols are great.  We had a guy aggressively panhandling at the Saucer window, and Mikey called the patrol and they were there in two minutes and shooed him off.  Peabody Place security responded too.

Beer report:  I did three beer mixers last night for Pint Nite while watching the game.  My beer total is still 7 off what it should be, and I want three more beers credited back, but it was way too busy to talk to a manager last night.

Previous total:  $1,112.00

Beers 185, 186, and 187 by my count (178, 179, and 180 according to the Saucer):
Snake Bite – pale lager & hard cider $2.75
Half and Half – Guinness and something else (Bass? Harp?) $2.75
Black Czech – Guinness & Pilsner Urquell $2.75
Tip:  $1 x 3 beers = $3.00
Total:  $11.25

Grand total:  $1,123.25

After the game I stopped by the Rooster for a beer.  The gang who had opted to watch the game there had already gone, but my BFF was there, and once again I couldn’t find a reason to kick her to the curb.  She was actually downright nice.  We seem to get along a lot better now that she’s no longer at the Saucer.  She told me when she’ll be working next.  Awww, she wants me to come see her.  Makes me wonder if she and I will finally stop picking on each other and end up being good friends.

The Center City Commission is launching a new series called Downtown Alive!, bringing arts and culture to public spaces Downtown.  The first installment in the series is (Edit: tomorrow, Wed 4/9, not today), called Africa: Center Stage, a mini-festival featuring African drummer Epe, vocalist Earnestine Bytnum, African musicians Junknu, the U-Dig Jookin’ Dance Academy and poet One Love.  It will be on the Civic Center Plaza from 11:45 to 1:30.

The next in the series will be Friday at Court Square, featuring Alf Leyla We Leyla We Layla Middle Eastern Dance.

Looks like the Midtown crawfish fest will once again have some sucky weather.  The Weather Channel predicts high 57, low 43 for Saturday.  If it really is that cold on Saturday I probably won’t go.  I need to do my taxes anyway.

Back later today with another opinion on the “where did chicken and waffles originate?” argument.

The Tigers may not have brought home the championship trophy, but still, we are all so proud of them.  First team in history to win 38 games in a season, and they have established beyond a doubt that Memphis is a big-time basketball school, which will help Coach Cal recruit in future years.  Congratulations to the team on the best Tiger basketball season ever.

Followup: Rude trolley drivers

A couple of days ago I posted a story about a bad experience a friend of mine had with a trolley driver.  Yesterday another blog reader e-mailed me these comments:

“Paul,
In response to your post about the trolley drivers, I have had 3 confrontations with 3 different trolley drivers, which doesn’t count the couple that have passed me while standing at a stop.  The first was on a very hot summer day or I wouldn’t have wanted to ride the short (2-3 blocks) distance I was going.  The male driver asked me where I was going before I got on, as if that determined whether he would let me on.  He told me it was only a few blocks away, and when I said “So?”  he proceeded to yell at me.  Ironically, he was huge, and I can’t imagine him walking half a block in that heat.

The second was with another male driver, who is just generally rude and bitter all the time.  I recently saw him at Calhoun’s and asked him why he’s so mean on the trolley.  He told me the women in his life are bringing him down.

The third was with a woman whom I bet is the same one your friend had a run-in with.  She tried to pass me at a stop that I had been waiting at for a while.  I had to yell for her to stop, and I asked her why she tried to pass me when I got on.  She said it was because I had a drink, to which I replied that there was a trash can at the stop.  The next time I got on her trolley within a few days, she shut the doors on me.  I’m not kidding.

The SMA had a meeting a few years ago, at which we addressed some issues, mostly timeliness and the fact that the drivers are ambassadors to the city, with a MATA spokesperson.  She agreed to the need for improvement, while also stating that it’s difficult to fill the positions with the right people.  Since then I have seen some gradual improvement.  More of the drivers now shout out the stops and points of interest, but some of them are very rude.  Personally, I called MATA and reported the behavior on every occasion, and one of those drivers is gone while the woman seems a little more polite.  I recommend that everyone report such incidents, but it is important to note the time, have the trolley # and know if it was Main St., River Loop, etc., and at least a good description of the driver.”

This is an issue I’ve wanted to bring up for a while – I too have witnessed some trolley drivers being VERY rude (although there are plenty of very nice ones too).  My friend is right – the trolleys are a symbol of Downtown and of Memphis as a whole, and the drivers need to realize they are ambassadors for the city.  If they can’t behave in a courteous manner, MATA should reassign them to a bus route.

Back later today with recap of last night, beer report, and whatever else I can find to write about.

Tiger watch parties. Also: Y’all be careful tonight

Before I get into the list of venues doing something special for the Tigers-Kansas game tonight, let me first warn everyone to please be careful.  Other cities have experienced rioting and unruly crowds in the streets following their sports team winning a national title.  If – no, WHEN the Tigers win tonight, we could see the same thing.  Go out, party and celebrate, but be careful, and always be aware of your surroundings.  If you drive your car down here, I recommend you pay to park it in a garage tonight, rather than at a metered space on a heavily-traveled steet like Second, Peabody Place, or Beale, just to keep it safe.

The Red Rooster is opening its doors at 5:00 tonight for their game watch party.  They’ll have $1.50 drafts and $10 Maxalicious pizzas until the end of the game.  They have 500 square feet of TVs, and it’s hard to find a seat in the house that isn’t good for TV viewing.  They even painted the giant rooster outside the front door blue.  There’s no telling what else Robby Bobby will do to make the evening entertaining.  You can never go wrong with the Rooster.

Calhoun’s will be showing the game on their 5 TVs, of course.  If you plan on watching it there, keep in mind that Calhoun’s is a tiny little bar with seating capacity of 75 (and that’s really standing-room-only capacity, not seating capacity).  The tip-off is at 8:21 PM; my guess is, if you’re not there by 7, you’re probably not getting in and better have a Plan B.

The Majestic Grille will show the championship game on their big screen.  In the future, this screen will be used for movies rather than sports, but how could they not show the Tigers in the title game?  Good place to go if you want to sit down and have a nice meal while watching the tournament final.

The U of M is having a watch party of their own at the Elma Roane field house on campus.  Doors open at 7:21 PM, exactly an hour before tip-off.  The event is open to the general public; you don’t have to be a student to get in.

And, of course, I’m sure you can figure out where I’ll be for the game… the Flying Saucer.  2 projection screens, 3 LCD HDTVs and 2 CRT TVs.  As far as I know they do not plan to cancel Pint Nite, so there will be $2.75 draft beer.  And hot waitresses in extremely short skirts.  The gang will be split tonight as it looks like many people will be watching it at the Red Rooster; that’s fine, the Rooster is a great choice, but I can’t be anywhere but home for this one.  I’ve asked people who are going to the Rooster to take pics, and I’m sure Mikey the Camera Nazi will grab my camera at the Saucer, so we may have a double photo album.  Immediately after the game I’ll tab out and head to the Rooster.

What a shame that we can’t all be at Sleep Out Louie’s to watch the Tigers win the national title.

Just got back from lunch at the new place where my BFF bartends.  Once again, she didn’t do anything that would be the final straw and allow me to kick her to the curb.  I think she’s on her best behavior now.  She changed beer kegs and beer spewed all over her.  It was funny.  I had nachos for lunch and she started eating right off my plate, and she had no problem claiming the best chips, with the most cheese and meat on them, for herself.  I ordered peach cobbler for dessert, and she just grabbed a second spoon and dug right in.  Then she realized how bad it looked to be eating the customers’ food, and scooped out about 60% of the cobbler into a bowl for herself.  Did she discount/comp anything after eating all my food?  Of course not.

Back to discussion of the game…  Oddsmakers have us beating Kansas by 2.  They had us beating UCLA by 2 as well, and we won by 15.  They had us over Texas by 2 and we won by 18.

Know what sucks?  I’m in second place in my office’s bracket pool out of 32 entries, but as far as I know only first place pays, and the guy who’s ahead of me also has Memphis to win it tonight, so I can’t possibly catch up.

Time to get back to work.

GO TIGERS!!!

Sunday recap: Crawfish boil and new menu items @ EP’s, Cardinals specials @ Calhoun’s, return of the Window Game, and more

I started Sunday with brunch at McGuinness, where I had the pleasure of sitting next to Michael Patrick, executive chef at EP Delta Kitchen. He told me about some new things going on at his restaurant. First of all, he told me that crawfish boils on the patio (weather permitting) will return to EP’s this Tuesday, April 8. He also told me about some new menu items:

  • Scallops with Chanterelle butter
  • Shrimp stuffed with tasso ham, tossed in Louisiana hot sauce with 5 pepper jelly
  • Louisiana Sunburst salad, with a cinnamon and tossed vinaigrette, with ingredients including mangoes and cranberries. Mike told me he’s going to put more of a focus on fresh salads, and is now getting fresh vegetables from Tyronza, Arkansas.
  • Something called Creole Braciole. Mike described this to me in detail but I couldn’t take good notes on it to save my life. Here’s a link to Wikipedia’s description of Braciole. Mike, if you want to type a sentence or two about this dish and e-mail it to me, I’ll edit this post.

After brunch it was time to head to the Flying Saucer. Sat in the window and played the Window Game for 6 1/2 hours. Here’s a pic of the Window Game scorecard:

windowgame.jpg

The Window Game, for those of you who are new readers, involves keeping count of various categories passing the Saucer window. The nine standard categories are bums, police cars, FUMOT (F’d up modes of transportation), RUP (really ugly people), hooptys, sightings of Downtown homeless person Scratchy, left turns out of the center lane, cars going the wrong way up Second, and buses. As you can see, we add new categories as we go along. The major new category was “security patrol,” the new patrols the CCC hired to clean up the bum situation. And this scorecard proves they are doing a good job. In 6 1/2 hours I only counted 8 bums. Before the patrols, it would’ve been in the 25-30 range for bums.

There was another custom category, tube tops, for which I only counted 3. Come on, Memphis, we need to do better than that!

The faraway winner for the day was the hoopty category – counted 83 of them passing the Saucer window. Here is a fine example of that category:

hoopty1.jpg

Also counted two guys with popped collars (shirts with their collars turned up). Bicycle Bobby: “There are only two people who should turn their collar up – Elvis and Dracula. And both of them are dead.”

Beer report:

Previous total: $1,083.00

Beers 182, 183, and 184 by my count (Saucer count still in dispute):
Around the World flight $8.50
British flight $8.50
Spaten Optimator $5.00
Tip: $22.00 x ~30% = $7.00
Total: $29.00

Grand total: $1,112.00

Afterward I went to Calhoun’s to drink PBR and see Best Pool Partner Ever Lauren. Hung out there until about 11, then walked home. Calhoun’s had been doing specials for Cubs games, but Cardinals fans complained (and rightly so), so the bar is now doing $3 24 oz. Busch Light as a special during Cards games.

Tonight: Pint Nite. Also, I heard something about a basketball game on TV.

Restaurants/bars doing something special for tonight’s game, e-mail me and I’ll compile a list and post it at lunchtime or sometime later today.

…and, I’m back.

Woke up this morning, and thought, “Did I drunk-post about Jumper Cable Guy last night?”  Yep, sure did.

Heard a story last night I thought I’d pass on.  A friend of mine was trying to get on the trolley on Main Street.  The trolley was stopped, and he heard someone cussing up a storm inside.  He looked in the windows, and the only person in there was the driver, so it had to be her.  She was talking on her cell phone.  He knocked on the trolley door, but she was yelling and cussing so loud she couldn’t hear him.  She went to the other end of the trolley and started to turn it around, still talking in her phone.  My friend knocked on the door.  This time the driver saw him, and she screamed at him that he had to go to the trolley stop, and then she started cussing him.

Has anyone else experienced this kind of behavior from a trolley driver?  Some of them are very courteous and friendly, but there are some rude ones as well.

The upcoming Midtown crawfish fest this Saturday at Overton Square reminds me of a story from a few years ago… the Madison Avenue trolley line was new at the time, and I figured I’d ride it to the end of the line at Cleveland and then walk the rest of the way.  I didn’t see a trolley at Madison and Main near my apartment, so I figured I’d start walking down Madison and hop on a trolley when I saw one.  However, I walked all the way to Bellevue before one appeared that was going my direction.  Bellevue is only two blocks from the end of the line, so of course I wasn’t going to pay a dollar to ride to Cleveland.  So I walked the entire way to the festival.  An hour and five minutes.  The trolleys are so undependable, although they look a lot better when compared to MATA’s horrible bus system.

I hope my BFF is scheduled to work day shift at her job on Saturday.  I don’t feel like putting up with her stupid ass at the crawfish festival.  I still haven’t officially kicked her to the curb, but I’m close.  I’m waiting for her to give me a reason – the straw that broke the camel’s back, that kind of thing.  Last night I saw her and she actually acted like something resembling a normal human being, so I didn’t get the excuse I was looking for.  I’m sure it’ll happen soon though.

The crawfish fest I’m most looking forward to, though, is two weeks from today – the Rajun Cajun crawfish fest Downtown.  I’m still irritated with myself from last year – a lot of people later told me, “I was at the crawfish fest, but I didn’t see you.”  That was due to a 3-hour side trip to the Saucer and a 1-hour side trip to a nearby rooftop.  I’m cutting all that crap out this year.  No side trips.  I’m staying at the festival the entire time it runs, from 12 to 6.  I love street festivals because I get to see people I only see once or twice a year, at street festivals.

On to last night’s beer report.  When I scanned my UFO card in the Beer-Tron-A-Ton computer, I found that not only had the Saucer had not credited me with the missing beers I asked them to put back on, but they had failed to credit me with any of the beers I drank Friday either.  By the end of the day they had put three back on, which is half of what needed to be put back, and that’s not counting the three I drank yesterday.

Previous total:  $1,060.50

Beers 179, 180, and 181 by my count (and who even knows what the Saucer count is anymore.  It damn well better be 177 as of end of day yesterday by the time I get this straightened out):
Old Rasputin $6.00
La Fin Du Monde $6.50
Raspberries & Cream mixer (raspberry lambic + witbier) $5.00
Tip:  $17.50 x ~30% = $5.00
Total:  $22.50

Grand total:  $1,083.00

Brunch at McGuinness at 11… Saucer at 1… Calhoun’s at some point in the evening.  Yay!  I get to see Amy and Lauren in the same day.  Of all the ex-Saucer girls who now bartend elsewhere Downtown, those two are my favorites.

Still astonished that Jumper Cable Guy came up and introduced himself.  Now that the alcohol has circulated out of my system and I have a chance to think about it clearly, I don’t believe his story for a second.  If he’s telling the truth I wish him well, but he’s told so many lies to so many people that I have every reason to believe he’s lying to me too.

Time to throw on some clothes and head to brunch.

Tiger watch party @ Saucer Monday night. Also: Jumper Cable Guy

Today I walked up to the Saucer at about 3:30, an hour and a half prior to the Memphis Tiger game, still unsure whether I would stay there or go over to Barton Flats for the watch party some of my friends were having. By game time it was clear… I was staying at the Saucer. By end of game it was obvious I had made the right decision. We were sitting at the window celebrating, volleying Tiger cheers at everyone who walked by.

Memphis vs. Kansas at 8:21 PM Monday. I will be there at 5:05 and will be getting the seats we had for the last two rounds. Gang who plans on being in attendance: Help me hold seats. This is not a case of sitting at the bar for a while and then moving. Get our seats the minute you get there or they will be gone.

After the game, I watched the UNC-Kansas game, then tabbed out to go home. A new neighbor of mine tried very hard to sell me on a run at Big Foot, to the point that I wondered if he knew someone there who worked there and who hadn’t seen me in 4 days and wanted very badly for me to come in. But anyway, I got right outside of Big Foot’s window when a familiar-looking stranger approached me. “Paul, I’m Jumper Cable Guy,” he told me. “I’m the guy who’s been running the scams about jumper cables the past three years. I just wanted to apologize. I have a good job now, it pays $21 an hour. I just couldn’t make it on my military benefits, so I had to scam people. I apologize. I hope you understand. I won’t be doing it any more.” Do I believe him? Maybe 5%. Going to be real interested to hear if there are reports of this guy scammming over the next month.

As I talked to him Big Foot’s owner and one of the managers banged on the glass and mouthed the words, “That’s Jumper Cable Guy.”

Hang on, let’s post a pic of Jumper Cable Guy, in case there’s any doubt:

jcableguy.jpg

Beer report in the morning. Too sleepy to type much more.

I drove the car today

Today is April 5.
The last time I drove the car was March 6.

Once again I was worried that the parking garage had towed the car as an abandoned vehicle. They hadn’t, although the attendant had written “3/11/08” and “3/21/08” in the dust on the trunk. I was also worried the car wouldn’t start. It did, although it blew a lot of nasty smoke for about a minute after it fired up.

So I drove it to Midtown and did something I have not done in the 14-year history of owning the car… I paid to run it through a car wash. Usually I just wait for it to need maintenance and then let the Saturn dealership wash it. But since I get maintenance done every 3,000 miles, it may be a year or more before the car is due. So I had no choice.

Actually the car will be in the shop well before that. It still needs its A/C fixed. That can’t go on much longer.

I feel like I’ve been making deals with the devil this week. I shopped at two places I consider the most evil companies on Earth. First of all, my electric shaver broke, and the easiest place I could think of to get a new shaver was Wal-Mart. God it killed me to spend money there, but I didn’t know where else to get one without driving all the way to East Memphis. Then my car ran out of washer fluid, and I had to go to… it pains me to even type this… AutoZone. Actually they treat their customers pretty well, but their corporate culture sucks. When I was job hunting and the recruiters asked me if there was any place I would not work, “AutoZone” was the first word out of my mouth. Two days from now, when it’s “Uniform Monday” and AutoZoners are all wearing their boring gray shirts and boring black pants and black belts and black socks and black shoes – black POLISHABLE shoes, mind you – I’ll be wearing a Hawaiian shirt, jeans, and sandals to work. At least I only spent $1.69 at AutoZone.

Noticed there’s a new El Mezcal at 1492 Union… hmmm, I could drink margaritas there without driving, as I could ride the trolley to the end of the line and then walk the couple of blocks over there. I wish the trolley would take me to Cafe Ole.

Also noticed Krystal has Wi-Fi. WTF? Who would take their laptop to Krystal? Anyone who can afford a laptop can afford a better place to surf the web than Krystal.

The Midtown crawfish festival is a week from today. If the weather is nice I think I’ll ride my bike up there. From what I remember, the past two Midtown crawfish fests have had some pretty crappy weather (no rain, but barely 60 in the middle of April).

Just got a text that the gang is at the Saucer. Guess I’ll head up there. Still undecided whether I’ll stay there for the game or go to Barton Flats.

Fri drunk update: Final Four on big screen @ Majestic Grille, Rooster also open early, Itta Bena, no one likes my BFF, and more

(Edit Saturday morning:  Forgot to hit Publish before going to bed last night.)

The Majestic Grille will have a preview of their new big screen tomorrow for the Tigers-UCLA game.  The big screen, which will be used in the future to show movies from the era in which the Majestic was a movie theater, will be used to show the Final Four.  Tip-off is 5:07 PM.

Another Final Four viewing destination… the Red Rooster will open at 3 PM today for Final Four viewing, with $1.50 drafts, 500 square feet of TVs, and $10 Maxalicious Pizzas until end of game.  The Chris Love Experience will play later in the evening.  I’ve watched a couple of games there and the Rooster is a great game-viewing spot.  You can e-mail them at memphisrooster@yahoo.com to reserve tables.

I went to Itta Bena after work for the third night in a row.  Had a bowl of their She Crab Soup and drinks.  It was excellent.  Friends came in and I hung out and talked.  It was a great time.  I’m getting seriously bored with the Saucer as an immediate after-work destination and am looking to try new things.  I don’t know if my wallet can handle Itta Bena becoming the new Saucer, though.

Watched the traffic light at Second and Beale through Itta Bena’s blue-tinted windows for a while.  Every time it turned red, it looked like it was out.  Made me wonder if that’s what red color-blindness is like.

All the Itta Bena employees were surfing my blog on the GM’s laptop.  They came across my “kick my BFF to the curb, or keep her?” article, and shouted out in unison “CAN HER!!!”

Speaking of my BFF… after I tabbed out at Bena, I went to the Saucer, and complained to the manager about the recent beers that didn’t get scanned on to my plate total.  He asked, “It wasn’t Man-Meghan who lost them, was it?”  Heh.  I got the three most recent lost beers put back on.  It actually wasn’t her… these were beers that got lost after her departure.

A few minutes later, my BFF got another new nickname.  I was sitting at the rail with Bicycle Bobby when my BFF’s mini-me came by and flipped me off.  Bobby commented what a bad attitude “both the mini-me and the maxi-me” have.  Heh heh.  Maxi-me.  That makes her sound like a tampon.  “That’s appropriate since she acts like she’s on the rag 360 days a year,” said Bobby.

Oh!  Guess what!  Remember how my BFF got a new face piercing about a week ago?  Well, guess what her mini-me had tonight… a new face piercing.  How predictable is that.

I’m considering getting one more T-shirt made with my BFF’s picture on it and giving it to Downtown homeless person Scratchy to wear.  Scratchy needs a new shirt once every two months or so.

Bicycle Bobby got up to take a whiz at one point.  “I’m going to trade one in,” he said.  When he came back he commented that the Saucer should give you 25 cents off your beer when you trade the previous one in.  Kind of like some supermarkets give you 25 cents back when you bring your own grocery bags.  Maybe I should lobby the Saucer for this idea.  It seems very environmentally friendly.  I could have my friends at the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center stage a sit-in about beer recycling until the Saucer agrees to hold a town hall meeting on the issue.

Beer report:

Previous total:  $1,039.50

Beers 176, 177, and 178 by my count (but 172, 173, and 174 according to the Saucer, assuming they re-credited me with the three beers I complained about tonight):
Paulaner Salvator $6.00
Newcastle draft $4.50
Rogue Shakespeare Stout $5.50
Tip:  $16.00 x ~ 30% = $5.00
Total:  $21.00

Grand total:  $1,060.50

Home extremely early (12:30 AM) for a weekend night, eating Paul’s Drunkass Food, which tonight consists of a Texas Toast Burger from Huey’s.  I hate it that I’m home so early on a weekend night, but “Rock Out with Your Cock Out” night at the Red Rooster took its toll on me last night.  Not that I’ll learn from what happened and not do it next Thursday night again.

(Saturday morning 9:16 AM)  Awake.  Time to go make the run to Jack’s for Mountain Dew.  I’m 50/50 on whether I’m going to watch the game at a bar, or at a friend’s condo in Barton Flats.  If I go to a bar it probably won’t be the Saucer, although I’ve got to get my 3 in at some point today.  I have several hours to figure it out.

Fri update: Security patrols, room or apartment needed for Music Fest, Nancy Wilson concert postponed, Mpact and COMEC parties

Several people have commented on a huge decrease in the amount of panhandlers in the Downtown core since the new security patrol started April 1.  My own walks around Downtown have confirmed this – I’ve still seen the occasional bum, but not nearly like it used to be.  Notably, I have not seen any bums in front of Walgreens, and I’ve made several walks down Beale between Main and Second and have not seen any bums working the metered spaces.  I’ve heard that the security patrol members are having a blast chasing bums away.  Great job, and kudos to the Center City Commission for implementing this program!

The drawback to this is, now we don’t have anything to talk about when we sit in the Saucer’s window.  I was at the window for about two hours both Wednesday night and last night, and not once did a bum come up to ask for change or cigarettes.  Our built-in entertainment is gone.

A reader from Chicago is looking for an apartment or a spare bedroom to rent out the weekend of Music Fest, May 2-4.  If anyone has one shoot me an e-mail (paul@paulryburn.com) and I’ll get you connected with her.

Nancy Wilson’s performance tomorrow night at the Cannon Center has been postponed.  Ms. Wilson is currently in the hospital with a collapsed lung.

Mpact Memphis has their big party of the year, Casino Royale, Saturday night at the Pink Palace.  More info here.

Thursday, April 10 you can boogie down to some disco at the Crescent Club, 6075 Poplar Suite 909.  It’s a fundraiser for the Committee on Missing and Exploited Children (COMEC).  Appetizers, cash bar, prizes for best dressed, live auction.  Tickets are $35 and are tax-deductible.  Call the COMEC offices (901-405-8441) to get them.

Another busy day at work, got to wrap this one up quickly and get back to the office.