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Our Day Trip To South Street Philadelphia, And A Few Other Odds And Ends

November 20, 2017 By Jeff 21 Comments

Last time I was going to tell you guys about my day trip to Philadelphia, and started in with the R.E.M. thing. And before I knew it… the whole update had been hijacked. Oh well. It happens sometimes. I’ll just do it today. Let’s get the whining out of the way first, though; I have a cold, and don’t feel all that great. I could sense it overtaking my entire life force yesterday, like some insidious demon from another realm. And now it’s fully in-place, with complete control of me. I’m like Will on Stranger Things at this point. Fantastic.

The trip to Philadelphia was fun, but nothing too outrageous happened. Other than paying $15 to leave my car in some filthy piss-sodden parking garage. $15! Yes, I know it would’ve been $35 in NYC, or whatever. But excusing stupid shit by pointing to other stupid shit just doesn’t cut it in my book. Pass the beer nuts.

Anyway, the boy and I walked around the South Street area for a few hours, and it was a good time. It was a little rainy, but not enough to cause any major problems. We had lunch at Jim’s Steaks, and it was excellent as usual. We went upstairs to that weird dining room, and had to stand along a wall to eat. The boy wasn’t happy about that, but it turned out OK.

I had a cheesesteak with Cheez Whiz and onions. The guy in front of me ordered his using the local lingo: “wit'” and all that stuff. Needless to say, I just said “Cheesesteak with whiz and onions.” I do not have the right to use the local lingo, and would feel like a complete fraud, as well as a douche, if I attempted such a gambit. The sandwich was GREAT, though. Possibly the best cheesesteak I’ve ever had. I’d been there before, but this one seemed especially good.

We spent a large amount of time in Repo Records, which was also fun. I bought this CD, which I didn’t even know was available. I’d never seen it, except on vinyl. But what do I know at this point? I’m like this guy.

And we logged at least 45 minutes inside Atomic City Comics. Neither of us know much about ’em, but the place is pretty insane, and we had a good time browsing around.

At some point I had to urinate with a fiery urgency, and there’s no place to go in a setting like that. Maybe a parking garage? I attempted to offload at Jim’s. But both unisex bathrooms were occupied, and nobody was coming out. So, I finally gave it up. Every other business had no public rest rooms or, if it was a restaurant, they required you to buy something. I finally went into a Starbucks and Frankenstein-walked to the men’s room. It had a keypad on the door. Grrr… So, I ordered a small coffee and asked for the code. 1939, she said, and I finally found sweet relief.

Afterward, I was sitting there drinking my unwanted coffee, and some swarthy asshole came in and demanded the code. He didn’t buy anything, he just hollered his demand. They eagerly gave it up, which felt like a ripoff. When he came out he bought nothing, and left. I didn’t care for that. He was not a customer, he was just some freeloader who bullied his way to illegitimate urination.

It was a good day. At least I think so. If the boy has a blog of his own, which I don’t know about, he might’ve written a completely different account of events. In fact, that’s probably a definite. For some reason I exasperate him.

By the way, it snowed last night. I mean, the roads are OK, but there’s actual snow everywhere. So, it’s started. The weather pump has been primed. At any point I can now find myself white-knuckling it home from work, my entire body rigid with anxiety. Good times.

Also, today is my ten-year anniversary at work. Can you believe it? It feels like maybe four years, and it’s been ten. It’s disturbing, my friends. Highly disturbing. Every year is now going by in a month, or something. I was at WEA for almost ten years, and Warner Home Video for seven. If you don’t combine them under the Time-Warner umbrella, my current job is the longest run of any I’ve had. That seems bizarre to me.

I have to go now. There’s some guy in our kitchen replacing our garbage disposal. He showed up two hours early, which bugs me. Two hours late would be worse, but early is bullshit too. I have to go yuck it up with this guy for a few minutes, and go to work. I feel like garbage, but the show must go on.

Please don’t forget to use our Amazon links while doing your holiday shopping. There’s one at the bottom of every update, and also in the sidebar. Just click through, and shop as normal. It’ll cost you nothing extra, and I’ll receive a small percentage of whatever you spend. It’s a simple and painless way to support The Surf Report!

Have a great day, boys and girls.

I’ll be back on Thursday.

Now playing in the bunker
Support us by doing your shopping at Amazon! In Canada? Here’s your link. Thank you guys!

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Toby says

    November 20, 2017 at 2:04 pm

    First?

    Reply
  2. Ognir says

    November 20, 2017 at 2:09 pm

    I can’t even recall how long it has been since I was in an actual record store.

    Reply
  3. sunshine_in_va says

    November 20, 2017 at 2:28 pm

    “Frankenstein-walked”. Man – you are an ARTIST. I not only could picture it but could feel it too, right down to the urgent cramps and rigid walk.

    Reply
  4. retrollama says

    November 20, 2017 at 2:57 pm

    Sounds like a cool day. Jim’s is definitely the place to go for cheesesteaks. It’s where I take all of my out of town friends, instead of the Pat’s/Geno’s tourist traps.

    Reply
  5. madz1962 says

    November 20, 2017 at 3:09 pm

    Man, I’m craving a Philly cheese steak now. And I like them just with onions and American cheese. Some laces put peppers and/or mushrooms and that’s just overload in my opinion.

    I download parking coupons. Got a nice deal on Saturday when I visited my mom. $20 up to 12 hours. In a nice, quiet garage one block over. The crook across the street from her those bastards charge $42. So yeah, I guess I had to brag a little about it. Sorry.. carry on.

    Reply
  6. Zach says

    November 20, 2017 at 4:19 pm

    Ten years? Holy shit! I still remember when you got fired like it was yesterday.

    As for the Amazon links, do I need to click over from TheWVSR every single time I buy something or if I clear my cache and then click over from your site, will you get credit for mu future visits when I go directly to Amazon.com? I’ve been assuming it was the latter but let me know if I need to change the way I’m doing it and I gladly will.

    Reply
    • Jeff says

      November 20, 2017 at 4:55 pm

      I just looked it up, and the Amazon cookie only stays active for 24 hours. So, if you visit Amazon multiple times within the same day, you don’t need to go through TheWVSR each time. Just the first time.

      Or you can just bookmark the link underneath each update, and always enter Amazon through that bookmark.

      Either way, it’s much appreciated!

      Reply
      • chill says

        November 21, 2017 at 8:00 pm

        I’ve had it bookmarked for years; use it every time. I’m about to use it again, to order some E-collars (aka the Collar of Shame).

        Reply
        • chill says

          November 21, 2017 at 8:23 pm

          Also picked up Andy Weir’s new book.

          Reply
  7. Sidney says

    November 20, 2017 at 5:26 pm

    Just had to mention a memorable concert moment. My band from
    a young age was Led Zeppelin. In 1995?, Page and Plant did a tour.
    Went to see them at Kemper in KC. Favorite concert to this day. So
    then they hit Ames, IA. I go to that concert as well. Our seats were
    off too the side of the stage. They were filming something so they
    were really anal about people smoking, etc. WTF? There
    were even dudes at our section making sure people were seated. So
    Plant is singing directly to our shit section (probably out of pity) ,
    and I just stood up. and flashed a full arm-extended peace sign to him.
    AND ROBERT PLANT PEACEd ME BACK! I almost fainted.
    Haven’t told that in years. Thanks.

    Reply
  8. johnthebasket says

    November 20, 2017 at 8:32 pm

    Trump is calling for a season-long suspension of Marshawn Lynch for not being sufficiently “patriotic”. I’m calling for a term-long suspension of Trump for having not read the constitution or, in his case, having it read to him. If you think this is a political comment, I respectfully disagree. Reading is fundamental.

    Marshawn gave more time and money to people in need in his time in Seattle than any other player on a very generous team without once telling the Puerto Ricans to shut the fuck up.

    John

    Reply
    • The Late Morey Amsterdam says

      November 21, 2017 at 1:03 am

      John,
      Isn’t there somewhere else you could bring up politics? Like any other goddamned place on the internet?

      Yours,
      TLMA

      Reply
    • Mookie325 says

      November 21, 2017 at 10:23 pm

      Don’t sweat it jtb, I hear ya loud and clear. Nobody like politics when it’s not THEIR politics.

      Reply
      • johnthebasket says

        November 23, 2017 at 3:37 pm

        I was defending my favorite football player against the rage of a psychopath. It had nothing to do with politics.

        But Mookie, I very much appreciate your support. I always enjoy your comments; it’s possible that you’re as deranged as I am, and deranged is the only sane thing to be in today’s America.

        love,

        John

        Reply
        • Wisey in Ttown says

          November 26, 2017 at 9:03 am

          JTB, eat it.

          Respectfully,

          Wisey in Ttown

          Reply
      • Wisey in Ttown says

        November 26, 2017 at 9:07 am

        No, we come to this site to escape from ALL politics. I think Jeff made that loud and clear a long time ago. Unfortunately JTB thinks his thoughts are too important to comply with the rules.

        Reply
  9. chill says

    November 20, 2017 at 8:36 pm

    The hooligan is 19. You exasperate him just by existing. It’s similar to how, four years ago or so, your existence was an embarrassment to him.

    Reply
  10. rar says

    November 22, 2017 at 9:36 am

    The cheese steak is a fine regional classic but it doen’t translate well to other food recipes. I once ordered a cheese steak omelet at our local NE beanery. The sight of chopped beef, runny cheese all within a large scrambled egg flap was hideous… my kids called it a ” vomelet.” It tasted OK but the filling would have been better in a roll. A cheese steak pizza may sound tasty but I imagine that it would have similar visual impact.

    Reply
    • Limey says

      November 22, 2017 at 2:13 pm

      Cheesesteak egg rolls are great.

      Reply
  11. madz1962 says

    November 22, 2017 at 1:28 pm

    Jeff and anyone else who is interested…

    Tonight on ABC 20/20 at 10:00 PM the show is about behind the scenes look at some of the classic Christmas movies.
    Hosted by none other than Ralphie from “A Christmas Story!” (Wow did he turn out handsome!)

    Reply
  12. Lakrfool says

    November 23, 2017 at 4:22 am

    Watching “Black Christmas” on FLIX.

    It’s as retarded as I hoped it could be

    Reply

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