Before the White Cowbell Oklahoma excitement, however, we (Tim, Grant, Mike, Ben and I) went out for dinner. This being Alberta, steaks was the meal of choice, and I arrived just in time for us to leave for our reservations at the Hy's in Edmonton.

Hy's is a fairly classy place. They have a sign saying proper dress is required, but they don't seem to enforce it too strongly (we had a couple collared shirts, a couple t-shirts . . . I was in a t-shirt after removing my Sybian Athletico bunnyhug). What might have been a posh dinner for other patrons turned into a contest of wills for our table. Upon examining the menu, we got into a discussion about how big a steak is (based on its size in ounces), and how much somebody should order. We noticed that the biggest steak on the menu was a 24oz porterhouse. Mike, feeling lucky, bet me the price of the meal that I couldn't eat the whole porterhouse order (veggies and potato included). I wasn't sure if I could, but was willing to give it a shot. Ben, Grant and Tim acted as judges.

After a solid effort, I still had food left when everyone else was done. This is often the case when I eat with other people, though, so nobody was counting me out yet. Mike's shoulders started to slump as I plodded through the last few bites. It was not quite the monolithic slab of meat he was hoping for (it was no Great Outdoors steak scene, for example), but to his credit he made good on his end. I was a little woozy heading out of the restaurant, but otherwise in great spirits. I made a point of drinking beer later and they made a point of poking me in the stomach.

As I said at the time, this was partially in response to a dare/bet made in first year, where certain "friends", many of them readers of this journal, encouraged me to chug a Hermannator (strong dark beer, 9% alcohol, about 800mLs) right before one of our exams. In retrospect, that exam was not a big deal (look at me now!) and I'm sure the $50 they were offering would have made the apres-exam festivities that much more festive.