Snow Storm

Welcome to the 6th floor.

Today's contributors are: Ann, Sara, Tabitha, Frank, Billy and Scott.

Subject: Snow Storm

“I think the snow is out to get me.” Scott announces as he shows up at Catalina’s to meet everyone for dinner.

Scott drapes his snow-laden jacket over the back of the chair and sits.

“Every direction I turned, the snow was coming right at me!”

“Yeah. It’s a little rough out there today.”

“I’m glad we decided on Catalina’s and not somewhere else. I’m freezing just from walking this short distance from the 6^th Floor.”

“It’s not as cold as it could be, but it’s hard to see more than 10 feet in front of you.”

“I almost feel bad for the tourists. All the street signs are plastered with snow; it’s hard to know where you’re going.”

“Getting lost in New York and seeing new and exciting things is a rite of passage.”

“Rite of passage? I don’t know if I’d agree with that assessment.”

“Well, at least they’ll be able to run home confirming that New York in the winter is a weather disaster and a frigid uninhabitable nightmare.”

“That’s blown out of proportion. It’s not like New York is Maine. Sure we get some nasty, ice-cold days, but I think tourists lump us in with Upstate New York and ‘New England Winters’ too much.”

“I prefer this to some of those sticky, 100 degree summer days.”

“The city smells better in the winter.”

“Hard to argue that one. Ignoring the occasional syrup smell anyway.”

TiVo Logjam: 24

Welcome to the 6^th floor.

Today's contributors are: Sara, Tabitha, Frank, Billy and Scott.

Subject: 24

“24 Premier tonight. Two hours worth!”

“And two hours worth tomorrow. That's 1/6^th the season already. Isn't that crazy?”

“I just caught up! Well almost..I need to watch that movie, Redemption.”

“Go watch it now. Then we can watch the episodes tonight.”

“But I..”

“Go!” Frank picks up the remote and turns on the tv and goes to the TiVo menu.

“Here, You've got three hours. More than enough time. Tabitha will bring your dinner into the living room.”

“I will?”

“Me too, while you're at it. I meant to watch it last Sunday, but I forgot.” Scott says, joining Sara on the couch.

“Oh, fine. Not like I don't have better things to do.”

“Do you?”

“Truthfully..No. Sad life isn't it?”

“And while you're in there Tab, could you..”

“Bring you a beer? Sure, why not.”

Tabitha mutters 'very healthy' under her breath and gets a beer

“I'm surprised we have any left at the rate you guys drink them.”

Fortunate

Welcome to the 6^th floor.

Today's contributors are: Ann, Sara, Billy and Scott.

Subject: Fortunate

“What's that smell?” Ann asks, walking in.

“Dinner!”

“You cooked?”

“No, Scott took care of dinner this time.”

“Ahh, so it's take out.”

“I could cook if I wanted to, but those Chinese dudes down the block do it so much better.”

“Break out the fortune cookies!”

“This is a new place actually, they just opened. How could they know our fortunes already?”

“Magical cookie voodoo, here they are.”

“Woah. Are those half chocolate?”

“They are!”

“Marble fortune cookies, this I can get on board with!”

Sara bites into a fortune cookie, and pulls out her fortune.

“I like the chocolate! Delicious.”

“Billy yanks the fortune out of her hand: You are filled up with a sense of urgency. Be patient or you may end up confused.”

Sara frowns. “What's that mean?”

“It was right! You are confused!”

“It means you are rushing around so much that you've forgotten why you're rushing around.”

“Profound!”

Scott opens his and reads it aloud. “No one ever drowned in his own sweat. What? What kind of fortune is this? I think they're defective.”

“Open your mind. It's suggesting that that you shouldn't be afraid to get a little dirty, do a little work.”

“Who said I'm afraid dirty? Not me!”

“Relax Scott, I don't think the Cookies are meant as a personal insult.”

“Passive aggressive fortune cookies? Now there's an idea.”

“As long as they're chocolate.”

“Amen.”

Dinner Delicious

Welcome to the 6^th floor.

Today's contributors are: Ann, Sara, Tabitha, Frank, Billy and Scott.

Subject: 6^th Floor Blog Chows Down

“I apologize Frank. This meal is very yummy.”

“Told you I could do it.”

“Sorry I doubted you.”

“Me too...I'm sorry I ordered that chinese food now.” Billy says, as the buzzer buzzes.

“Love that vote of confidence. I'll get it.” Frank gets up to retrieve Billy's food.

“I can't believe you ordered food Billy! That was mean.”

“Actually, I asked Mike to ring the buzzer for me.”

“That's just funny!”

“It is pretty funny.”

Mike: “Well I thought it was funny. I offered him an old fortune cookie when he got downstairs.” Mike said as he and Frank return.

“Now Mike's sharing a portion of the food, I hope you're happy.”

“No no, eat up. You made plenty.”

Mike: “What are we having?”

“It's some sort of Cheesy Ricey Vegetably casserole.”

“Vegetably?”

“Well, if something can be fruity, why not vegetably?”

“Well..because..umm..well..I guess..okay fine. Vegetably it is. Whatever it is, it's tasty!”

Dinner or Charbroiled Disaster?

Welcome to the 6^th floor.

Today's contributors are: Ann, Tabitha, Frank, Billy.

Subject: 6^th Floor Blog Eats Dinner

It's about 6:30pm when Billy walks in the door.

“Woah, what's that smell? What's for dinner?”

“Frank's cooking.”

“So toast?”

“Haha..no, it's a surprise.”

“Vegetarian?”

“I said it's a surprise!”

“But if I'm not going to be able to eat it I should know so I can make alternate plans.”

Tabitha hops off her stool and walks over to the stove to peek.

“Hey! Get out of here! Enforcer! Enforcer! Take care of her!”

“Sorry Tabitha.” Ann says, tackling Tabitha and pushing her into the living room.

“Dinner AND a show?” Billy says, watching Ann and Tabitha, “I'm sold.”

“You'll just have to trust I remembered you're a vegetarian Tabitha. Relax.”

“Fine.”

“I hope this turns out better than whatever you made yourself for dinner on Monday...”

“What kind of food did he make for dinner Monday?”

“I'm not sure it was classified as food. More like...rock.”

“I'm sure you've heard of 'learning from your mistakes'? I was multi-tasking and forgot to set the timer on Monday. Not a big deal. I'm paying attention now. It'll be tasty, I promise.”

“Trust me, I'm holding you to that.”

Pasta Fight!

Welcome to the 6^th floor.

Today's contributors are: Ann and Scott.

Subject: Noodles Noodles Everywhere

Ann is washing dishes when the timer goes off.

Beep beep. Beep beep. ...

“Scott!” Ann shouts, as Scott looks up from the television, “Check the pasta for me!”

Scott looks at Ann elbow deep in soap suds and complies. He takes the wooden spoon and scoops out two strands of spaghetti and flings them at the ceiling, where they stick.

“What'd you do that for?!”

“Pasta's done.” Scott says, pulling the inside part of the pasta pot out, and turning off the stove.

“Did you have to throw it against the ceiling? Couldn't you have just tasted it?” Ann asked, drying her hands.

“Tasting it. Now that would've been better. No big deal, I'll just reach up and ..woah, the ceiling's kinda high.”

“Get the stool.”

“Err...well uh...I kinda broke the stool last week.”

“What'd you do now Scott?”

“Billy had my hamburger...so I tackled him. He was sitting on the stool, and we kind of crushed it and bent the legs.”

“Can you fix it? Where is it?”

“No, we threw it out. It was beyond repair.”

“Well then, no dinner until you get those noodles down.”

“Doh!”

Three Cheesecakes

Welcome to the 6th floor.

Today's contributors are: Ann, Sara, Tabitha, Frank, Billy and Scott.

Subject: The Night of Three Cheesecakes

“So we’re having cheesecake for dinner tonight?”

“Unless you’re cooking? I don’t feel like going out anywhere.”

“Could do take out.”

“You have a problem with cheesecake?”

“No, but is cheesecake really a meal?”

“It’s apple crumb cheesecake. So it’s got fruit. Have a second piece and it’ll be a meal.”

“I like your logic.”

Ann walks in carrying packages, returning from spending the day on Long Island with her parents for Father’s Day.

“Ann! Back already? Family boring huh? Want some cheesecake for dinner with us?”

“I did eat, but I might go for a piece of cheesecake. I brought some with me, half the cake we didn’t eat. It’s chocolate swirl!”

“Oooh. Variety!”

“Billy picked up an apple crumb one earlier.”

Sara ambles out of her room when she hears Ann arrive.

“I could go for a piece of cheesecake, I haven’t eaten since noon!”

“Where is Tab? Should we wait for her?”

“Her parents were in town for the day, they were going out to dinner somewhere, so no.”

“So break out the cake! Get the forks!”

Frank breaks out the plates and forms, and starts cutting and serving.

“This apple crumb cheesecake is very good.” Frank comments, after he’s handed out slices to everyone.

“So is the chocolate swirl. Chocolate is always good though.”

“It is good, but I always prefer plain creamy cheesecake.”

Just then Tabitha returns, carrying a Juniors Cheesecake box.

“More cake? Why do you have a cheesecake?”

“We ate dessert at Junior’s, and then my mother made me take home a cheesecake.”

“Why? You’re not a father!”

“That she knows of.”

Billy laughs, Tabitha gives Scott a weird look and everyone else rolls their eyes.

“Okay, break out that cheesecake Tab, me and Ann are going to have a piece.”

“I am?”

“Sure, it looks like a normal plain New York style cheesecake.”

“Sometimes I suspect they label things New York style just for the prestige of New York.”

“Well, can you blame them? Philly style cheesecake just wouldn’t be as enticing.”

“I’ll eat to that.”

“Is there anything you won’t eat to?”

“Bras.”

Frank and Scott burst out laughing.

Worst Dinner Ever

Welcome to the 6^th floor.

Today's contributors are: Ann, Sara, Frank

Subject: Worst Dinner Ever

This took place a while ago now, during our trip upstate to Cobleskill, Cooperstown and Howes Caverns. We were staying at a hotel in Cobleskill and decided to eat dinner at the attached restaurant.

“I can't believe we just drove around Cobleskill for a half hour and didn't find anywhere interesting to eat.”

“It's a Best Western, how bad could the food be at the attached restaurant?”

“We'll find out soon I'm sure. The menu doesn't look bad.”

“I didn't even see a cool restaurant near the school. What kind of college town is that?”

“It's a very rural school. I think a lot of people head home after class or on weekends. Work on the farm or something.”

“How..boring. Did you notice that the movie theater only has one film, and usually only one show time?”

“Wow. It's almost like we're in another world.”

“They have nachos as an appetizer. We game?”

Frank pauses.

“Oh, I was waiting for Billy to chime in. I usually just let him answer the food questions. Forgot he wasn't with us.”

“Order the nachos. Get them with the ground beef. I'm having the crispy chicken salad.”

“Just a burger for me, to go with the nachos.”

“Burger for me too. Keeping it simple, I don't trust complicated out here.”

“Probably wise.”

They order their food, and chat until the nachos come.

“Wow. There are no words.”

“Maybe..maybe it won't be that bad?”

“I think Shea Stadium serves better nachos.”

“Ouch.”

“We have to at least try it.”

“When it said beef..I thought it meant..beef. You know, nacho meat. Not..literally..ground plain beef just dumped on top.”

“No guac or sour cream either.”

“Could ask for it.”

“After seeing this, no way I'm asking for something as fancy as guacamole.”

“I guess this is what we deserve for attempting to order Mexican food in middle of nowhere, NY.”

“Nachos are really American food though. Bah! This is just a bunch of nacho-like ingredients dumped on chips.”

“It's..okay. Bland. Tastes just like it looks.”

“Yeah..not horrible. Do I feel like even eating more of this?”

“I'm hungry. Only reason I'm still eating them. If our food came faster...”

They continue mindlessly chomping on the “nachos” until their food arrives and they start eating that.

“How is your food?” Ann asks, eyeing Sara's burger suspiciously.

“Pretty sure these are frozen burgers.”

“Definitely frozen. I think we could've gotten tastier food in the prepared food section of Price Chopper.”

“Your food okay Ann? It's just a salad right?”

“Mine is pretty crappy too. I think my chicken was probably frozen or packaged too.”

“Do they even have a cook back there? Or is it literally just waitresses reheating things?”

“Well, the beef on the nachos was probably cooked right?”

“Maybe..although it could've been precooked and reheated too I think. Certainly had that look to it.”

“Definitely wasn't that girl getting us drinks. She didn't even know what type of soda they had.”

“Ugh. Definitely have to make a food run to Price Chopper. This is not going to keep me very satisfied.”

“I'd eat ice chips out of the ice machine and be more satisfied.”

Waitress: “Is that all? Any dessert? Can I wrap anything up for you?” She asks, looking at their half-eaten meals.

Ann, Sara, and Frank in unison: “No.”

Sara the Diseased

Welcome to the 6^th floor.

Today's contributors are: Ann, Sara, Tabitha, Frank, Billy and Scott.

Subject: Sara gets Sick

Sara moans, while laying on the couch. “I think I'm sick.”

“Stay away from me, I don't feel like getting sick this week.”

“What's the matter? Got a cold?”

“A cough, my head feels all congested and I have a headache, and I'm nauseas.”

“There is Tylenol cold in the bathroom, you should take some. Take some vitamin C and Echinacea too. It'll help.”

“Okay..” Sara mutters, pulling herself to her feet and heading to the bathroom. Can you pour me something bubbly then?”

Tabitha pours Sara a glass of ginger ale. “I hope she doesn't get us sick, I have a test next week that I need to study for, and trying to study sick sucks.”

“I have to work, and I need the money. And I'm too lazy to do any writing when I'm sick.”

Sara returns from the bathroom and heads towards the kitchen. “Woah, stay away from me! I put your glass by the couch.”

“Yes yes, I'm diseased, no one wants anything to do with me.” Sara mopes around and plops down on the couch.

“Me and Mark have big plans for Valentine's Day, I can't be hacking and sneezing for them. That'd suck.”

“Here, take some Vitamin C with me.”

Frank walks in from his room and sees Tabitha and Ann swallowing pills. “Oooh, popping pills already? Need something to take that edge off before Valentine's Day dates tonight?”

“Just Vitamin C, Sara's sick.”

“Diseased! Quick, someone spray her with Lysol!”

“I don't think spraying me with Lysol is going to heal me.”

“You never know. I'm headed out for an early dinner with a friend, you want me to pick you up some cough drops on the way back?” Frank asks, as Sara start coughing violently.

“That'd be great. Thanks Frank. See if they have the strawberry vitamin c ones. Those are yummy.”

“You got it.”

“Tabitha runs over with a Lysol wipe and wipes down the coffee table in the living room. You can at least cover your mouth if you're going to hack all over!”

“Oh relax! I don't think germs can live for long outside the body anyway, especially on a coffee table.”

“Okay okay..I just don't want to get sick.”

“I'm sure you'll be fine. I don't think I'm contagious anyway. I'm actually glad I didn't have any plans for tonight, I'm not feeling up to being romantic anyway.”

“Yeah, hard to feel sexy when you're coughing and sneezing and generally miserable.”

“That was a Friends episode once. Monica was sick and trying to get Chandler to have sex with her.”

“Yeah, I remember that episode. I just hope you two are snubbed and don't bring smelly flowers back here. They'd probably aggravate my noise.”

“Roses don't smell that much, but I can keep any flowers I get in my room if it bothers you.”

“We'll see. I'm going to lay on the couch and hopefully fall asleep watching chocolate specials on the Food Network.

“Sounds like a plan. I guess I should go get ready to go out and enjoy my Steak tonight. Woo hoo!”

Dinner is Served

Welcome to the 6^th floor.

Today's contributors are: Ann, Sara, Tabitha, Frank, Billy and Scott.

Subject: Dinner Time

I realize it's well past Thanksgiving. Normally I would've just let this one slide, but I figure I should at least finish the story since I left it as a kind of cliffhanger. If you need a refresher on what was happening, go here and here. Otherwise, just remember that I bet Billy he wouldn't eat the potatoes before dinner.

“Dinner is served!”

“Yah! So where are the potatoes? Did Billy get to them?”

“Nope, I never left the ki..” Ann trails off as she opens the dish with the potatoes to see a big scoop missing.”

“Billy! How'd you get in here?”

“I'll never tell!”

“I was here the whole time!”

“Evidently not. You lost. We can still eat though right?”

“Everyone grab a plate and sit down.”

“It all smells so good!”

They all sit down and take turns passing around the bowls and platters and filling their plates with food.

“We should all take a minute and go around the table and say what we're thankful for.”

“Nope.”

“Uh-Uh.”

“Yeah. It's food time, no more waiting!”

Scott digs in, and everyone else starts in too. It's silent for a little while as they really get into the meal.

“Thanks for cooking Ann.” Sara says between bites. “Everything really is delicious.”

“Well except for this stuffing.” Ann says, making a face. “I'm not sure If I messed it up, or it's just a horrible recipe.” Ann slides the rest of the stuffing off her plate back into the bowl.

“Oh good. If you're not eating it, I don't have to. I was going to feed it to the dog, but then I remembered we don't have a dog!”

“Well, sort of.” Sara says, nodding towards Billy, who's busy filling up his plate a third helping of turkey.

“You said it best. Everything tastes delicious! I'm eating Tabitha's share.”

“Well gee, ain't that sweet of you?”

“You know, I'm kind of glad my parents went to Vegas and we're all here for this holiday. This is fun spending it with you guys.”

“We should definitely do it again. Family be damned!”

“Maybe next year you'll even be better at guarding the potatoes.”

“I'll have to go into dinner-guarding training or something. We never really made an official bet though, so what did I lose?”

“Well I was trying to think of something good, but that meal left me satisfied enough that let's just leave it at you buying me a drink or two next time we go out.”

“Fair enough. How about something with vodka? It is made with potatoes after all.”

“Vodka works for me!”

Then they all finished their meal in merriment, spending the rest of the evening watching sports, eating dessert and having fun. If you're keeping score, it turns out Sara was the first to succumb and take a nap. She fell asleep shortly after dinner after lounging on the couch and Scott stole her drink. Tabitha thinks she was just trying to avoid helping to clean up.