EVENT: Chopper Dropper, Suntree Country Club

This evening was the Chopper Dropper, a fund-raiser benefiting the Florida Tech Athletic Program. Basically, they sell 2000 individually-numbered golf-balls for $50/ea, and in return, we get to meet at the Suntree Country Club to have some free food -- carved roast beef sandwiches, side-sized portion of pasta, fruits/veggies -- and free drinks (beer & wine)... if we wanted mixed drinks or sodas, we'd have to pay. *shrug*

Anyways, they take the 2000 balls and drop them from a helicopter maybe a hundred feet above a golf hole, and the ball landing the closest wins $25,000 cash. And the next-12-closest balls also win cash prizes.

(click further to find out if I won and to see the chopper, some balls, and three bums)
...

First off, like last year, I didn't win.

And also like last year, I went stag.

And also like last year, I made some friends and had a lot of fun!

I don't know what it was, but there were a lot of personable people there. Karen and Tim were cool, and so were Ginny and her husband... I forgot his name. James? (leave a comment with the right answer?!) And there was a Nancy? Okay, so I'm batting around .500 with the names...

[UPDATE 3/16/09: Ginny emailed me. His name is Joe!]

Anyways, I also saw some familiar faces. Asides from Travis and Teresa, who I knew were going to be there, I was pleasantly surprised to see Craig, Robin, Olga, Eric, and Karen at the event.

Craig
Olga and Robin
Me and the Florida Tech Panther
Teresa and TravisThe food was good (though I didn't see any waiters with hors d'oeuvres this year). It's also best to get there early, otherwise the lines can get ridiculous.

Roast Beef gooood.Running out of Pasta Stuff.
The ball drop was fun. Good times, good times.

There were colored balls?
And I had a couple of beers (over my limit!). They loosened me up some -- though really didn't need them this time. Anyways, I had planned on leaving "early" to rest up for tomorrow's long day, but I ended up staying until close, and by then I was good to drive.
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I liked how expectations matched up and how it was a stress-less affair. And the good-feeling carried on as I ran a couple errands on my way home. I was singing joyful as I returned some videos to the library. And at Wal-Mart, I struck up a conversation with a guy by the meats who was buying a Lot of corned beef brisket -- 100 pounds for a Knights of Columbus dinner -- St. Patrick's Day is next Tuesday. Then another came along with his girlfriend and told me how to prepare the corned beef with the vegetables in a crock pot. I was sold, and I'm now planning on making crock pot corned beef and vegetables sometime next week (check back for pictures!).

Anyways, I then picked up a photo order at the back of the store (~160 prints) and on my way to the front, a couple of my neighbors called my name. We talked for a while about tomorrow morning's race and about home improvement stuff. It was like Chopper Dropper again (minus the talk about home improvement).

Now I'm home, and this post is almost done. I'll upload the pics and post some here then it's time for a shower and bed. I enjoyed my Friday off. I decided not to go into the office today, and it was a break I needed before the rest of the crazy weekend.

Today was a good day.
and some bonus Bum pics...