Here's a photo of my cute little princess on her birthday last Friday night. Notice the gift box in front of her? See how small it is? There's a reason for that. Let me explain.
Denise and I were dating back in '87 and her birthday was approaching. The one thing she didn't have was a decent stereo system at her place. When we'd "hang out", we had to listen to cassette tapes played over cheap little boom-box. So, I decided to crack open the wallet and buy her a stereo.
I reached out to a friend named "Mike" who was a manager at a big box stereo store for some help. He managed to pass along a little discount, so I was able to purchase a great audio system for only a few hundies (Philly-speak for a few hundred dollars). I loaded the gear into my car and had to figure out a way to surprise my girlfriend.
Denise was scheduled to be out with her friends on the afternoon of her birthday. So, I planned on getting into her apt and setting up the stereo.
-First problem: Her place was on the 3rd floor...no elevator. Do you know how many trips it takes up + down to get all the components into the room? Answer; A sh**load!
-Second problem: I worked in radio, but that was no license to hook up stereos. So it took a lot longer than expected! Think about it. Just because Jay Leno works on TV doesn't mean he can repair cameras!
-Third problem: When you're out of breath and out of shape, hooking up electronics equipment takes 4x longer!
I was breathing heavy, sweating and cussing while cutting open boxes and connecting cables. Luckily I was able to finish and get the heck out before she arrived.
Needless to say, Denise was surprised and loved the stereo! We actually kept the speakers in our house until about 2005. Heck of an investment.
But that explains why her gift in 2012 was a little jewelry box. That way, the only heavy breathing was because of.... :)
