During his carefree, bohemian days at Marquette, he was known as The Hoser courtesy of the McKenzie Brothers (from Strange Brew and SCTV) and us Gringos needing some phonetic assistance on saying his name correctly.
He has been one of my best friends for almost 22 years now. How time flies! Thankfully, Jose has made it a pleasant, humorous and eventful couple decades through our misadventures in Milwaukee, Austin, Las Vegas and Orlando; emphasis on Milwaukee.
Twenty years ago, we celebrated his 21st birthday at the Ardmore (which I think is the Gym now). Jose was the last member of our clique to be old enough to buy his own booze legally but back when he was growing up in Puerto Rico, he was originally the first one! I made it to the party a bit late with Carrie because Hoser had a bit of a head start. Final exams might have been next week but it wasn’t going to stop him from properly celebrating. In his defense, his evening didn’t take the ridiculous turns mine did.
What’s the plan this time? No idea. I’m only hoping it something cool and he gets to take the day off from work. Growing up, he had to go to school on his birthday. As an adult, I believe you should get the day off from work with pay for this, contrary to the rather funny bit from Patton Oswalt. Last year, he went to Vegas through a package. I wanted to go along but the decision was made with too little lead time for me. It was best I didn’t go. Having a memorable time with Nancy was a priority I didn’t want to ruin or color. We hope to have a Dude Trip next year yet wives are invited.
If you know him, drop him a line. Wish him Feliz cumpleaños!