Fridays and Greenspan

Okay, here goes...

Today was Friday. Part of me loves Fridays because the work week is over and the weekend is on the horizon. However, another part of me begins thinking early in the day that I have a whole workday to get through before I'm free and time seems to slow to a crawl. Anyway, I work for a zoo in a large municipality and the computers are all run off servers located 'downtown' at some city building. They've been having issues with one of the servers lately and it has led to a lot of down time in our office. Most of the software I use daily is located on those servers, so if they're not running at prime, I can't really do anything. All that to say, my coworker Leah and I went for a walk around the zoo which made the day go by a bit faster. The weather was nice and a walk around the zoo is always a good way to end the week.

As you may guess, we've been following the developments in San Francisco closely. All I'll say on that front is don't believe everything you hear or read in the news. Several things have been sensationalized, as you would expect.

After work, I went and picked up some free tickets for the stage production of The Wedding Singer for Aubry. I'm not going since my Alma Mater will be playing their bowl game that day. I will not apologize.

We went and did a little shopping this evening. I picked up Alan Greenspan's new book. Looks interesting.

That's it... good night.

I Was Told That There Would Be No Math

Okay, here goes...

So, I didn't post anything on Christmas. I started this whole blogging thing with the intent of posting everyday. Maybe as a way to 'talk' anonymously to anyone who would 'listen'. Since then I've decided that I would like this to become a part of my life, but not something I rely on or something tapping me on the shoulder and distracting me from living my life.

That being said, Christmas was great. Mom outdid her self again with dinner. I got a Red Ryder BB Gun. My father and I had a rebirth of our redneck roots and shot things in the backyard. Aubry wasn't born, or raised in the south. She was at a disadvantage. I wish my brother could have been here, but I understand he has concerns at home.

It was a little rainy on Christmas but it rained hard, all day long today. I'm glad that I don't work outside any more. I was warm and dry sitting at my desk all day today. I'll take my being out the elements on days when I can do something I want.

Anyway... we just got back from Coldstone... good stuff.

Suffocating On A Good Day

Okay, here goes...

Well, today was good. Aubry and I had some time to ourselves, which was nice. We were able to sneak away to her apartment and wrapped a few presents and then ran some errands. I love my parents but they can be a little suffocating when they visit. My apartment is fairly small and I have all my stuff crammed in here already (I'm used to living in a house). When they show up, they bring a lot of crap and on top of that, buy a ton of shit when they get here.

Dad has been to the grocery store at least 4 times in the past 5 days. We've been to the wine shop about that many times too. I noticed the amount of garbage being produced out of my house the other day. I typically will empty my small, less than 5 gallon trash can once a week. I recycle and I take that out a couple times a month. With Mom and Dad here, the trash fills up daily. There is a pile of cardboard boxes on the back porch and the recycling is piled up in the kitchen to the point that if a homeless person broke in, they would steal all the cans and bottles over anything else. There's more money there than anywhere else in my apartment.

Anyway... we went out for dim sum Sunday morning. We ate dim sum and sum more and sum more. Good one, huh? Man that place is good. The Jade Villa in Virginia Beach. Good stuff.

I guess that's it... I had a good maduro cigar tonight with my scotch. Mmmm... that makes me happy.

Happy Holidays.

The Economics of Christmas

Last night Dad and I decided it would be fun to throw ourselves into the stench that has become the Christmas economic boom. We headed out, with the intention of going to Target but ended up at KMart, for stocking stuffers. After about an hour, we headed to the checkout line, along with the rest of the store. All said, we spent way to long in KMart last night.

The went by the wine store to pick up a chianti and a 6 pack of Stella for Mom. We left with a case of wine, a couple cigars, a box of two ports and a 6 pack of Stella. The back home for a huge spaghetti dinner. Mmmm.

We watched 'Secondhand Lions' last night. Good movie.

Morning has come and I don't have to work until Wednesday, the same day Mom and Dad are heading home. It's nice to sit on the front porch, drink coffee and relax.

We are heading out for dim sum soon. We've decided to not get a tree this year. I hung the ornaments on the shelf with the stocking... with care.

Have a nice day... green lights all the way.

Glengarry Glen Crap

Okay, here goes...

Not much to tell about yesterday. Dad whipped up some brunswick stew in the crock pot last night. That thing is getting some miles this week. Then we settled in to watch 'Glengarry Glen Ross'. I was under the impression this was supposed to be a great movie but we didn't make it very far. Despite the parade masterful actors, it seemed to keep turning in circles and never got anywhere. Perhaps that's the point. That these men were all caught in a vicious, desperate cycle. Maybe someone can lend me their opinion on it?

I'm working today for some extra comp. time that I'll need to be able to go snowboarding in January. Most of the morning was physical labor, which I miss now that I sit at a desk all day.

Anyway... not much to report, just trying to send in something everyday for all my loyal fans.

Hasta luego...

Danzig and Lampoons

Okay, here goes...

After work yesterday, I helped Dad prepare chili in my crock pot. Then Aubry, Mom and I went to the mall so Mom could wrap up her shopping and I could get a new DVD player. Mine was swiped when my place was broken into a month or so ago. While we were waiting for Mom, Aubry challenged me to a game of chess. Fifteen minutes later, she was a bloody mess and begging to be put out of her misery. Good game, good game. Then I got my Mom to buy me a Danzig CD. If you knew my mother, you would understand why this was funny. Mom is a very conservative Christian. I told her the song 'Mother' was an ode to her.

Then I picked up a new pair of Nikes I've been eyeing for awhile. After that, we swung by Kelly's and I picked up one ticket to see Rob Zombie at the NorVA and two for Big Head Todd and The Monsters at the same place. I couldn't talk Aubry into going to the Rob Zombie show, but it's probably for the best as I wouldn't want to have to keep an eye on her. I know she can take up for herself, but that's the way I was brought up and, like my mother, I worry about people.

Anyway, then back home to eat that amazing chili and have a few beers. Once everything was cleaned up, I pulled the TV out of the closet and hooked up the DVD player. Then we watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. I think it's tied with A Christmas Story for my all time favorite Christmas movie. Good times!

That was it... in bed by 10:30. I really needed sleep to try and kick this bug.

Stay cool!

Stale Beer And Toshiba Laptops

Well, here goes...

As you may know, I left work early yesterday because I have been sick the last few days. I went home and slept for bit then got up to run some errands. To the mall!!! I finished up my Christmas shopping with a couple books for Dad, ate lunch and then ran to the dollar store for wrapping paper and stocking stuffers. On the way home, I picked up the picture I had made for Dad of Allen's Hamburgers of Athens, Georgia. He used to hang out there when he was in college. There's a great story of him sleeping under the pool table one night. Anyway, I blew up a picture of the front of the building to 8x10 and put it in a nice frame for him to hang in his home office.

The only thing remaining to do at that time was to get everything wrapped and straighten up the house. And after watching a movie on NetFlix and generally slacking off for a few hours, I got everything done with about 15 minutes to spare. Aubry and I had run all over town trying to get some rubber cement to mount an 'Artist's story' and a picture to the back of an elephant painting my parents had done while up here several months ago; I had it framed for them. Then they called and said to order some food and get some beer. Which meant we had to go to the wine story to get good beer.

After all of that, we had time to sit on the front porch and drink about 1/2 a beer before the arrived. That's when the drama unfolded. First my parents arrived. I could see my dog, Ollie, standing up in the back seat of Dad's truck all the way down the block. Apparently, she knew where she was about 30 minutes away from the house. She hasn't been here in a month and a half. It was a joyous reuinion.

Anyway, after getting everything into the house, we settled down to wait for the food to arrive and have a drink. My dog was so excited about being home, she was running around everywhere and wagging her larger-than-average tail all over the place. She then proceded to knock over my beer all over the keyboard of my running laptop. There was a collective, "oh shit!", from everyone as the screen went black. We unplugged it, removed the battery and turned it upside down for a few hours.

It turned right on late in the night and I ran to back everything up. So far, everything is working OK. Some of the keys are sticking and it stinks of Aventinus doppelbock (see the bottom of the page). It could be a lot worse.

That being said... Dad and I stayed up until after midnight catching up and after that, I feel much better today.

Peace out.

Under The Weather... Still.

Okay, here goes...

I feel not so good today. This cold that I picked up in Minnesota, that was in its final stages of death, has reemerged. And this time it means business. I'm going to try and work today but I'm not sure I'll last too long. I thought I had some DayQuil in my bag but I can't find it.

Aubry has either picked up the cold from me or is battling one of her own. Maybe she has a new one and I got that one from her, on top of the one I was already wrestling with. She's being smart and staying home to recoup. Not this guy.

We went out last night and picked out a tree for Aubry. Most of the spectacular trees in the parking lot of Taylor's hardware store had been either picked over or were beginning to defoliate. On the brightside, they were all marked down to $7. The stand cost her almost twice that. And then, the first stand we took home was broken and we had to return it.

After all that, the tree is up and looks very nice. It is always amazing to me how women can make things look nice without much effort. Maybe there's a class that girls get pulled away for during childhood where they teach them how to make lemonade out of poop. Guys are being pulled away to be taugh how to deal with spiders and shoot snot rockets and girls are getting the useful skills. I guess this helps them put up with a guy's crap and turn him into something worth holding on to.

While we're on the subject, I think girls are saints for being attracted to guys (or at least acting like they are). Most women spend their lives trying to smell good, be smooth and for the most part hairless, keep things neat and organized, so on and so on. And what do they get in return? Most of us guys don't smell great a lot of the time, are hairy (and only get more hairy over time) and would live in squalor if we knew no one would ever come over to the house.

Anyway... just a few things I think about.

Oh yeah... I get my dog back today.

Happy Hollandaise.

Return From The Tundra

Here goes...

Aubry and I returned from our trip to Minnesota the other night... a little after 2am. The trip back was not very fun. We had spent the night in Chicago visiting with my brother and Steve. That part was great After brunchthe next day, we sped out of town and made it all the way to Ohio before the snowstorm hit. Ohio took about an hour longer than it should have. To borrow a line from Dave Attell, "You know what's fun to do in Cleveland? Pack up and get the fuck out, that's what."

Then I made a mistake of eating a rest stop hamburger (two actually) and felt like a steamy turd for a few hours. I did, however, make a triumphant return just in time to take the wheel for the last hour or so of the snow driving. I almost played bumper cars between two semi-trucks and a construction barrier while driving Aubry's Yaris through several inches of snow. I'm glad she was asleep.

After we hit Pittsburgh, the snow let up. Only to invite the rain in. It dumped biblical amounts of rain on us until we got off the Penna Turnpike... then it turned to sleet. Yippee!!! After an hour of that, it turned back to rain and that stayed with us all the way home.

What a trip! Everyone in Minnesota was great. From the Jacobsen and Miller clans to Earl and Marlene (I think those were their names) to those two custodians at the Mall of America who made my year. I played, and won, almost every board/card game known to man while staying on 4th Street. I drank some really good wine with Aubry's parents and suffered through one really big bottle of not-so-good stuff with them too. The only thing that brings people closer than good wine, is bad wine. Write that down.

Now I'm back at work... my second day. I came to the realization that Christmas is next week and I really haven't gotten anything for my father yet. I guess I'll be standing shoulder to shoulder with all the rest of the poor excuses for loving offspring at the last minute trying to find that perfect gift. Good times.

Anyway, my parents are coming into town tomorrow and bringing my dog. Woo hoo!!! I haven't seen her in over a month. I can't wait for doggie kisses.

Stay tuned... my parents are always good for a laugh.

Happy Christmahanukwanzakkah everybody.