The Cal-look Lounge

whenI worked at a pizza parlor as a teen, we had this regular that came around, kind of like a cockroach. He'd come in through the back door of the place, and walk in the kitchen like he owned the place, grab a handful of salami, help himself to a mug of beer. I never understood why, but poor guy was always the target of several bored teenagers' pranks.
Most often, this guy would stick around after hours, and rap with the owner (not sure why, as the owner claimed to hate the guy). Anyway, we'd all pile in somebody's car and wait in stealth mode across the parking lot, waiting for this guy to leave so we could follow him. This went on for an entire summer, but he'd always lose us. Finally one night, we were just out driving around, and lo and behold, found his house, with his car parked out front. We ran to somebody's house, got a camera, then back to his driveway, where we all laid across the hood of his Camaro and took pictures posing. The next day we had the pictures developed and then hung them all over inside the pizza place. The look on his face when he came strolling in....  :o

Anyway, another night, even though we knew where he lived, we still tailed this guy, just for something to do, and we knew it got to him. However on this night we added insult to injury. The guy's Camaro is parked outside the parlor, it must have been 10:30pm or so. We had a big pile of leftover pizza dough, that had already risen, and was going to turn, so it would get thrown away. Probably a good 10-12lb of thick, sticky, dense pizza dough. We got the idea to fill this guy's mufflers up. Two of us went out side, lay on our backs and carefully stuffed 10lb of dough into his muffler, forcing it in with a broom.
About an hour later, guy comes out. We're piled in my friend's Rabbit GTI across the way, in the shadows. Goes to fire the Camaro up.... nothing. Cranks more. Nothing. Cranks more.... still nothing. Out he comes, pops hood, sticks his bald head under the raised hood, does nothing really, slams hood closed, gets back in car, crank crank crank...finally BANG!!! car coughs to life and a big rope of dough shoots from his muffler, car dies. Crank crank crank.....  POW! Another blob of dough shoots across ground. Guy gets out and walks behind car and just stares at the white blobs.....picks one up, SMELLS it and then sets it back on the ground. Finally gets car started and pulls off into the night.

before my tenure at the pizza place, there was a legendary story of how another employee filled up the Camaro's rear tires with water.  ::)

The predecessors to the crew I worked with kind of started the whole "follow Baldy" thing. I guess he had been coming around for years. There was this one fruit nicknamed One Nut Stan that brought some farm equipment that allowed you to fill a tire up with water (I guess they fill tractor tires with water?) after you removed the valve stem or something.
Anyway, they filled them up, waited for the guy outside, started following him... he could only go single digit mph or something... poor guy.
The best was a sketch I drew of a Camaro dashboard and rearview mirror. In the mirror was the front view of a lowered '67 VW. We hung it right above the beer taps, just for Baldy.

that place was one big booby trap. Cigarettes got sprayed with WD40, pizzas got mystery ingredients, one guy that rode his bike everyday had his quick-releases undone just before he'd depart. You had to watch yourself.

Tell us some Sheep working at Subway stories Uncle Jim.  ;D

I thought that I made lot's of damn things when I was younger, but you are the master  :D :D

if you do no one will ever eat subway again ;D

I would have to say that if you ordered the pastrami, it might have tasted "used"

Bring it on!! Gotta hear these stories!

winter of 1989, Sheep had moved back to Pleasanton from Susanville (extreme NE corner of California). He was driving a 1972 Cadillac Sedan deVille, had a pet ferret that used to ride around in his pants' leg and had a night job at Subway. This was a few years before he worked at BH. I was still working at pizza place and sometimes remembering to go college.
Anyway, at night, I'd go buy Subway to see what Sheep was up to. He'd usually be throwing the big bags of trash up onto the roof, windmillng his arm with a fistful of full trashbags and then casting it up onto the roof. Or he'd be licking the salt off the pastrami and then put it back in the bins, for later sandwiches. I remember just looking at him, jaw dropped, and he explained "I like the salty juice"
Then we'd go drive around aimlessly until 3 or 4 in the morning.

Sheep - "I like the salty juice" ...  :o  hahahaha... I'm on a conference call... good thing I'm on mute, because I was just laughing out loud when I read that...

Hey Jim - do you remember Brian Noland and Dave Karlsson? They both worked at Cybelle's Pizza when I worked there back in '88-'89 ..

Oh my.... I totally forgot Cybelle's. I remember Noland VERY well. He and I were best buds thru most of junior high and high school. I saw him about 4 yr ago @ Jason Barr's wedding. Doing very well, I think he's still down here in Temecula.
One of the most talented and creative human beings ever born if you ask me.

You talk to him lately?

Yeah, "Nols-y" was definitely one of the more entertaining guys to work with at Cybelles! I have very fond memories of he and I, and Dave K working on Sundays.. drinking as much coffee as possible.. turning into bumbling idiots.  .. fun times.   

I actually got back in touch with both of them through Facebook.. I saw Jason Barr on there too.  I don't really know him though.  Amazing how many people I've reconnected with through Facebook over the past couple months.. people I went to school with back in MA, and haven't talked to in 22+ years.. very cool.

well, wish Brian well for me, sir! Tell him I still remember mixing up fake blood and staging the bike accidents on Touriga St in front of his house to scare the soccer moms after school.  ;D