On Wednesday night, Howard invited Glenn to go fishing and girl-watching at Santa Fe Lake that weekend. "We'll leave Friday morning and return late Sunday night," he said. Glenn declined, citing the need to clean his garage, so Howard decided to go alone.
Howard had also planned to lounge by the hotel pool, soak up the sun, read a book, and admire women in bathing suits. Since his apartment lacked a pool, he always chose hotels with one. However, upon arriving at the hotel around noon, he found the pool area deserted. There were no women—no one at all—because the pool was empty, undergoing repairs all week. The staff had "forgotten" to inform him of this detail.
Howard called Glenn late Friday night.
"How was the fishing?" Glenn asked.
"Didn't see any, didn't catch any," Howard replied.
"Well, did you catch any women?"
"No. And don't even ask about the pool. I didn't go to any bars. But I did have a good dinner at a Mongolian all-you-can-eat buffet. I think one of the waitresses liked me. She asked if I wanted extra ketchup."
"Well, I hope you said yes. When a woman asks if you want extra of anything, that's female code. It means they like you."
"I said no. There was a whole bottle right in front of me."
"Well, you blew it. I don't know when you'll learn to pick up on those signals. Next time I'll go with you and show you all the tricks."
"If you knew all the tricks, you wouldn't be divorced three times."