PurpAnd

10 Things I Think I Think:

1. I think jumping on a trampoline is not for big kids. My body still aches from Saturday’s adventure.

2. I think wine goes to my head faster than any other drink. I rather fancy JD, but the vino can be perfecto.

3. I think I should have stayed with piano lessons. I played for a few years when I was about 10 or 12. I was fairly decent, but not great so I became discouraged and quit. Just like a dumb kid. Remember Vanessa on the Cosby Show who wanted to try all sorts of things, but never stuck with them. I kinda feel like that.

4. I think we will see a rate cut from the Fed later today and flat, if not negative GDP numbers on Thursday. The Fed needs to show that it is still active and willing to aid the economy in any way possible, and I think with credit being pinched for so long, we will finally see the effects on the gross domestic product. If GDP comes out any better than -0.5%, I’m looking for a move up in the market.

5. I think I am getting very excited for Thanksgiving. This year, a wedding! And hopefully all the turkey they can find on my plane as I head back east. I wonder if the flight attendants will dress up like Pilgrims? Wait, what am I thinking? They don’t have the budget for that. Well, maybe just the buckle shoes.

6. I think I’ll end up buying my Christmas gifts at Target and Wal-mart this year. Any one want a Huffy bicycle, some DVDs, or a 3 pound tub of Red Vines? Santa should have an easier year, what with his big red bag and sleigh carrying less weight. Good for the reindeer, I suppose.

7. I think I could end up being very wrong about the World Series. I really thought the Rays were going to surprise us.

8. I think this blog lacks focus (at times). Hmmm.

9. I think the Niners may win one more game in 2008. It has been hard to watch this team the last couple of weeks. Good thing they have a bye this week.

10. I think I am becoming comfortable in our new apartment. One big thing I like - the cat box is not in earshot of the bedroom. So no more Kitty DJ at 5 am. If the Pearl cat is scratching away, I can’t hear it.

Last Saturday, I was in Sacramento with some friends - spending some time at a baby shower, playing golf, and jumping on trampolines. Yep, trampolines.

As kids, we spent a lot of time on trampolines. My sister and I didn’t have one, but many of our friends did. We learned all the cool tricks - front flips, back flips, somersaults, combinations of them all. We even got creative and used the trampoline to jump into the pool, or to land on from the roof of the house.

A link to this website spread like wildfire through our email inboxes recently and all the memories came flying back.

So on Saturday night, we just had to go. Upon our arrival, we quickly noticed that the place was a teen hangout. Looking around in the first five minutes, we saw no one within 10 years of us. It wasn’t until we got to the trampolines that we saw someone older than 18, but that was because they were the parents sitting on the sidelines.

Nevertheless, we wanted to do it. The place was set up pretty neatly. You walk-in, register on the computer, sign a ‘will not sue’ waiver and then pay for your time. It was $9 per hour on Saturday night so we bought an hour thinking it was more than enough, but asked if we wanted more time, could we come back and pay some more? “Of course,” said the 17 year old behind the counter.

We walked through the building, essentially a hollowed-out warehouse, around past the concession stand, the arcade, the dodge ball pit, and the lockers to find the Main Arena.

Here is a sample photo:


There were probably 15 to 20 kids in there, bouncing all around, throwing their bodies in the air like I used to be able to, and to be completely honest, it was a little unnerving. We sat and watched for a few minutes trying to get a feel for what it was going to be like. After locking away our valuables, we hopped on in.

Within five minutes, we broke several rules - no cell phones (we were trying to take a picture), no socks (bare feet or shoes only), and no leaning against the walls (which were actually trampoline screens).

The actual jumping part was a lot harder than I remember. It was a lot of work and I quickly realized that I was using a lot of muscles that don’t get used much on a daily basis. After only 10 minutes, I was winded, sweaty, and ready for a nap. Due to our out-of-shapeivness, we were forced to take several breaks, but this was ok as we were waiting for a couple more friends. When they showed up, the fun began.

We decided to play HORSE (you know, the basketball game?). One of us would do a trick, then the others would need to match it or receive a letter. This was nice because it put meaning to our bouncing. Before, it had just been us bouncing off the walls, literally.

Then, after only a few rounds, disaster struck. My friend Brendan was performing his master-trick, one that supposedly few could perform, when he landed sideways on his ankle, twisting it nearly to the breaking point. He laid on the tramp screen, clutching his ankle, while the rest of us looked on. The medic, who was actually one of the kid-employees, came over and called into his headset for some ice. We sat there for five minutes while Brendan passed in and out of consciousness and the medic-boy made frantic calls into his video game mouthpiece. (OK, so this part was made up, but Brendan was really hurt.)

Brendan made it to the sideline, feeling a little dizzy and a lot of pain, and we decided to call it quits. 40 minutes into our hour. We helped Brendan hobble to the car and our night ended.

Jumping on those trampolines was about the coolest thing I’ve done in a while, and I would go back if I wasn’t so damn sore and if people didn’t stare at me like I didn’t belong. In fact, that was exactly it, we didn’t belong there. The lesson we learned from this night was one that many 20- and 30-somethings often learn the hard way. We are no longer kids. What we could once do without fear of consequence now came with great fear and great consequence.

SNL has been on a roll lately.