What to do on the hottest days of summer?

A) Participate in a Soccer Tournament
B) Go to a company picnic, and participate in a shop tour
C) Take in the movie theatre's AC while watching Despicable Me
D) All of the Above

If you picked D, you would have a perfect description of my weekend. Yes, several very bad choices to combine with heat, and lots of fun. As for the Soccer Tourney, my Canadian friend had decided to organize a tournament for the department. Six labs and groups organized teams, and I decided to go out an cheer. I decided to cheer before I realized it would be 95, and then I decided I should probably go to ply my coworkers with cold water before they became delirious. The tournament itself seemed like a lot of stress for my friend (an opposing goalie slide tackled several of our players, someone had a non-departmental player, another group showed up and thought they had the field reserved), but everyone else had a good time.

Saturday was the 100 year anniversary company picnic at Matt's work. They've been talking about this for month, but Matt just recently decided we should go, so I went to be supportive. I did meet some of his coworkers, see his cubicle, and wander around the "shop floor" which is really a compressor factory, which converted to a giant oven for the occasion. Very industrial scale. We attached ourselves to one of his friends whose whole family came out to participate. The grandad said that when he worked in the steel mill, they used to have this type of celebration every year, and so they all felt quite obliged to be supportive. Matt wanted me there to show me where he worked, I don't think to show off, but just so I could get a picture of it. But we passed hundreds of other family groups, proudly showing the impeller things they designed, or casings they milled. I think the PA mindset is more receptive to this type of event. Celebrating the great things Corporate has done for us made Matt a bit uncomfortable, but everyone else happily embraced it. By the time we left, the thermometer on the plant was reading over 100.

After a nap (well, Matt went to see the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix car show), we decided to do something sensible, and go see Despicable Me. I laughed a lot (but I always do). We saw it in 2D, but there were several scenes (roller coaster ride?) that might make you sick in 3D. It was a sweet story, and while it wasn't quite as funny as I wanted it to be, I did enjoy it a lot.

For the rest of today, I am off to a baby shower while Matt stays a home trying not to get too hot again.