Iowa Energy

So Iowa has a new basketball team, the Iowa Energy, that is basically a farm team for the Chicago Bulls and the Miami Heat. This is their first year and last night was their home opener. I bought 2 season tickets along with my little bro Brian who has 2 seats as well. Last night, Brian and I plus his son Addison and my friend Joe went to the game. Let me tell you that it was one of the best games I have ever seen live. We were down by 10 with 3 minutes to go and came back to win in the last 20 seconds, awesome. We bought the cheapest seats they offered, so I wasn't expecting very good seats. I was pleasantly surprised that when we got there, they are pretty good seats for being behind the basket. We are close to where we come in and the bathrooms and concession area is close as well. The arena is huge and not very full, so we will be able to move around if we want. There was one thing that bothered me, and his name is Surge. Here is a pretty bad picture of him:

You can't really tell from this photo, but lets just say he is disturbing. He is like a car wreck, I couldn't look away. Can you see that, thing, hanging from his neck? I'm not sure why they gave him a turkey neck, but they did. Maybe it's a Thanksgiving thing. I'll try to get a better picture so you can have nightmares as well. We had an interesting experience trying to get out of the parking ramp. I'm sure you have heard over the years that machines are taking the jobs that people previously held. Let me tell you a story on how that isn't happening in a parking garage in Des Moines Iowa. We got back to the car pretty quickly and got in line to get out. There was probably 8 cars in front of us and a second line feeding in, so say 16 cars ahead of us. I can see the exit and we just aren't moving that fast. I look a little closer and see a sign that says "Automated Pay Line." I can see the machine that you are supposed to put your ticket in and then I'm guessing you put money in it as well, but I can't see the details yet. The interesting thing is, there are 2 guys standing at the machine, one in front and one in back. Five minutes later when we have moved one car closer, I see the guy in front is taking the tickets from the driver and then putting it in the machine that is one foot from the driver. Then, he is taking the money from the driver and putting it in a slot in the machine that is one foot 2 inches from the driver. Does this driver not have any arms? No, he is driving so he must have arms. Perhaps he is challenged in some way? He must have a license and he has gotten to this point with no issues, so I toss that theory as well. Ten minutes later we have moved another car length closer and I see the guy at the machine is doing this for everyone. Apparently "Automated" means confusing to all, except Bill in his Parking Garage coat. After another 10 minutes or so, we make it to the machine and I'm so excited to see if the writing is in Spanish or Chinese, explaining the hold up and the need for Bill. I was slightly saddened to see everything is in English and quite easy to figure out, but I gave him my ticket and money and he in turn handed me my change that the machine spit out. This whole time, guy number two has been standing behind the machine, watching. So you see, this machine hasn't eliminated a job, so lets think twice before we talk badly about technology. It is obviously to confusing for us regulars to figure out, so we have Bill. Thanks Bill!