Month: August 2017

Marika is asleep upstairs. Out cold. Reminds me of when she lived here, same thing every morning. She has promised here mom she would come work in her classroom. So she has somewhere to go. So what does Marika do? Sleeps. She slept 20 hours a day her first year. I should know, I was there. She slept through the night within days of coming home from the hospital. By through the nights t I mean she went down right after dinner around 6 and woke up at 8 the next morning. First nap at 10 to 1030. And a second nap in the afternoon. One time, since Emily left the house by 730, she went two days without seeing Marika awake. True story. So the fact she is not awake yet this morning is no shock to me. For my sake, I hope she gets her rear up and to school. Or Emily will be upset and that can rub off on me. I am sure you understand.

So this am, Emily, for the first time this school year, needed a packed lunch. But, as I may have mentioned, we are on a diet. Same one for each of us. So all I had to pack were a couple of diet bars. Which are actually good. But as lunch goes, very easy to make. I should mention how the diet works. You eat five small meals a day of pre packaged food. Then dinner is regular food like salad and steak. There are no carbs on this diet. Easy to follow. Also not expensive. Yay. And I get a health coach as well to push me along. I lost 30 lbs in 3 months. Of course, for blog readers, you noted when I was in Maine I ate ice cream, drank cocktails, consumed rich food every day. That cost 10 lbs. Ouch. But that’s my fault, not the diets. Anyhow, comment back on this and I can connect you with the coach. Free to join up.

So here I sit, just finished the coffee. Have a new creamer because the store did not have our usual. It’s an almond milk creamer because the diet allows no dairy till you attain your goal weight. I am going to a different store because this stuff is not making it. There is a wide disparity in quality amongst almond milk creamer brands. Word.

My day does not involve driving all over hell and gone like it was Wednesday. Go to office. Come home. Probably someone coming to see me. Don’t know. Gonna go shower.

So Marika took the shower before I got there. Gotta wait. In the meantime I got a call from a future client. He wants to buy me lunch. So I gotta do that. I hate lunch and never go out. People suggest lunch I always say no. In the last twenty years I have gone to lunch maybe five times. But this guy today is a referral from one of my oldest clients and he is bringing him to lunch. I’m kinda stuck. It’s a waste of an hour as far as I’m concerned. But I will put on my happy face and go.

Drive to work was uneventful as always. I think sometimes I could drive with my eyes closed. Maybe I should try it.

Got to work around 11 and my lunch date showed up at around 1120. So, off to lunch with Jesse, been a client 25 years and his friend Ron. Ron is a real estate investor. He is around 70 so he has been investing for a long time. Jesse brought him to me to discuss how to sell some properties and pay no taxes on he rather large gains. This is possible and we discussed it at length at lunch. It’s funny, neither Jesse or me is a lunch person. We both skip it. And Jim was able to get us big to go. Go figure. Hope I get some work out of it.

Anyhow, back to work. My 1 o’clock appt showed at 1230. Walker took care of them for me. I saw them on their way out and provided the slap on the back and handshake thing. Most often this is the important part of the meeting. It’s not what you do, it’s how you do it.

So now I sit here at my desk screwing around and figuring out what to start next. I need to finish up my peer review and I would hope to be done today. It’s been at the back of my mind for two months. I would like it done. Peer review is forced on CA CPAs by the state board. It is completely worthless from a clients point of view and only marginally useful to me. Just a fine example of overreaching state authority that makes licensees miserable. Another good reason to retire.

Did a few more tasks prior to heading home. Nothing special. So inconsequential, an hour later, as I sit at home, I can’t remember. But I am home. Dinner is made for us. I got that covered. Just waiting for Emily to get home from yoga. She goes 5 days a week and is in excellent shape. Not sure how she does it. She says it keeps her sane. Have done a few chores, fed the dogs, got the mail, measured my car headrest for covers. Nothing crazy. I am having a blood orange soda and waiting for the wire. It’s quite peaceful.

I forgot one thing. My internet searches are tracked by a company called Screenwise. Some partner of google. Anyhow, my router became unseeable by them over vacation. They called me today to fix it. Here is the issue, they employ Indians with little grasp of the English language and no ability to understand it either. So I have to call their support and talk to these fools to get everything going again. It usually ends up with me swearing a lot. I can also get abusive verbally when they cant do their job. Way fun. Why, u ask do I put up with it? Well, they send me a visa cash card every month. $60. Not much but it fills my gas tank twice. Or dinner for two. Or 4 nice bottles of wine or 2 of hooch. It adds up. It’s the little things.

Emily just rang. I have started the stove. Dinner is prepped but the hot part needs heating. That’s a just before I serve it kind of thing.

So we ate dinner. I got a thumbs up twice from Emily. I must be better than I thought. It was good. And I don’t have to say so myself.

She is sitting here doing school work. Teachers just never stop working. Not until summer or retirement. Me, I stop thinking about work the moment I leave the office. There are so many other things to think about or do.

The guy selling the property up in Auburn is being quite the jerk about it. He seems to think we want to pay over fair market value. It’s crazy and I am a little tired of him. He is a PITA. Just stating the truth. If anyone is trying to not sell a property, it’s him.

I’ve been sitting here just mindlessly cruising the internet waiting for my wife to be done. I am such a fantastic husband, if I must say so myself. I don’t have to, I still have an old note she wrote me that says I’m the best. Best to keep that around.

Big Wednesday is an old movie. By old I mean from my youth. It’s about surfing, I think. And it has nothing to do with today’s post. I just like a catchy title. Is it catchy?

We are up extra early today. First day of the new school year WITH kids. So up early. Load up all the stuff in the car and go. I am up early only as the back office support. Got her coffee and breakfast and packed her car and hugged her and wished her well. I need that. Oh well. She is off to work.

Funny thing happened, our dog Taffy, was out when she left. Normally, no dogs out, they don’t do well around moving cars. Lost one a few years back in the driveway. Anyhow, I grabbed Taffy and held her so Emily could drive away. Input the dog down. Dog decided to chase her car down the driveway, about 100′, at the end Emily stopped to turn left and Taffy caught up and started to circle the car. Damn dog. I had to trot out and grab her again. When I finally put her down she didn’t want to go to the house she wanted to head down the road. I was tempted but made her go in the house. Not losing another dog on my watch.
That’s the offender. Bad dog.

I gots lots o plans for this big Wednesday today. After I finally get moving I am going to work. I know, you are aware, from previous posts, I don’t go to the office on Wednesdays. Well, there can be exceptions. Like, I have to get into the storage pod in Sacramento and go to auburn between 12 and 3 and meet an attorney at 5 pm in Sacramento. Tonmake this work well I figure gonto sac early, work some, hit the pod around 11 or 12, then drive to Auburn round 12 to 1 and back for some work before the 5 o’clock appointment. Well thought out by yours truly. Don’t you think?

Well, just finished my coffee. Going for morning ablutions next. Then we are off.

So decided based on timenof day to go straight to storage pod. Glad I did. The unit is in McClellan where the old AFB was at. Anyhow, I arrive and have trouble finding it. Turns out, I learnnlater, the property manager pulled down their signs. Fun. But I got there. Found someone to help me, showed me my pod. I did not have the key. F***. So, Matt, from Poss, who is helping me says he used to have bolt cutters but hose are gone and wishes he had them and gave me directions to Harbor Freight. 20 mins later I am buying a new lock, and bolt cutters. The cutters were only $21. Yay. Back to storage. Cut the lock. Easy peasy. The load has shifted and jammed the door. Shut. Matt came to help again. 10 mins of cursing, and we are done. Door open. 30 mins of searching and what I want is not in there. F***. And by searching I mean crawling in a hot metal box in the sun cuz there is no room cuz it’s packed full, searching. Fun. You thought the other f word. It’s ok. So I lock down unit with new lock, put key on my ring for future and go say thanks and goodbye to Matt. He offers to buy my new cutters I don’t need anymore for $21. Yay I win. Done. Off to Auburn.

Just received word back on the lot in Auburn. Seller won’t budge on price. I don’t like him.

Up to Auburn. Very quick trip up, only 30 mins at the outside. If I buy that lot I will know this drive a lot better. So far, no traffic every time I head up the hill. More traffic going downhill. Got there around 1pm. My trailer was done, as promised. There had been a failure in the silicone seal. It split which allowed water inwhen the trailer sat. Water pools a little on top whenntrailernis not moving. But now good as new. It was a quick in out, which surprises me because Bud Hausman loves to talk. Must have been an off day.

Drove home which took about 50 mins. Pulled in and washed the trailer. I am going to load all the trailer “stock” into it later tonight. When it cools and I have help. The inside of the trailer looks way better without water damage. I may need some stronger cleaner on the trailer. Something to remove bugs and crap from the drive. Still, the first wash has improved it tremendously. It has to look better because it is being pulled by my fine looking Honda Fit.

Anyhow, I am sitting here waiting for some prospective home buyers and their agent. They are late. Which seems to be a problem with most agents. No respect for my time. But I do finally get to relax a little. I have to leave soon, I have another appointment at 5 in Sacramento. But no worries yet.

I spoke to Emily and the first day of school was good. She was not upset or innpanic mode or mad at anyone. I thank that’s a good thing. She can use a little good times at work. Because it so seldom happens

So lookers showed up with their agent. Turns out it’s my neighbors, the Oropezas. They are lookin for an investment property. This is not it. I discouraged them. They are nice people. Mr oropeza said I can take the prickly pears off his cacti. Nice. Score!

When they were finally gone, I went to Tremont Elementary, where Emily works, and we went to our appointment in Sacramento together. The traffic was absolutely terrible. But we managed to get there on time.

After I drove Emily back to work. Yes, teachers have to work long hours. She got there at 6 and stayed to 745.

I went home. Marika was there. She helped me load the trailer with all the trailer linens and camping equipment. Then we put the mattress back in. We may go camping next week. At least Marika and I want to. We called Emily when we finished. We are going out to dinner.

To the local Indian restaurant specifically. Great food. We eat here when we can but I highly recommend them. And, you can see in the picture, the TV which shows a costant run of Bollywood films. I particularly love the musical comedies. They have subtitles of course. Marika took a class at Sonoma State on Bollywood Films and can add a little background. Anyhow, we had lamb curry, lamb tikka masala, and chicken Kahari. With garlic naan and basmati rice Emiky tried three homemade pistachio ice cream for dessert. All in all very good meal.

Back home. About 845.

So you want to know something funny? And by funny, I mean not funny at all. I went out to the pod that is in my driveway this evening and what I was looking for today in Sacramento at pod storage was in my driveway pod. Hahahahaha. Not.

It’s 910 and back to town to pick up milk because I forgot. Life is never so long I can’t add extra time consuming errands to my day. Close to bedtime.

Back home. Go to bed. Nighty night.

My friend, Cissie from Tacoma, just texted me. She says this blog will be easy from here on out. Just copy and paste. Regular days, I guess, is what she meant. But, I can’t abide by that. Taken to its logical extension, at some end point, I will be “calling in” or “copy and pasting” my entire life. Since this life is all I get, I would prefer to savor all the small changes every day. Sure, lots of things are the same every day. If you have a regular job, it’s 8am every M-F. Same thing for breakfast. Every day. Cup of coffee. Every day. Where are the subtle differences? This morning, my wife overslept. Had 20 mins to get ready. She did it. Do I need to ask her if the day was the same? No. And she did not get angry and take it out on me or he dog or whatever. She is balanced though at times she can’t see it. I have to remind her what kind of people she interacts with each day. Most are unstable. Makes you begin to believe your stability is the instability. Don’t believe that. Next. I fixed her coffee. No changes there. Except I put it in the Mercedes Benz cup I bought her when we got her car. This triggers better memories than some other cup. No change to routine, but big change to routine. I fixed her oatmeal. Same right? No, I had to grab a to go package in a cup, different type, threw in some fruit, plastic spoon, eat in car. Eating in the car is a change to routine. Every spoonful fraught with peril. I have a great story about that which I will save for another day. And this was a routine, normal, call it in day according to my friend Cissie. Btw, Cissie has lost 27 lbs this month. She is probably light headed. Lol.

Though, my morning was quite normal. My mornings are queued up to everyone else. I seldom have an appt early. Mostly because I don’t do early. For me, 11am is early. That way I can get everyone out. And me too. And run errands. Then work. It’s a living.

Today not much going here. Going to work direct. Maybe meet with the auditor. Don’t know and don’t really care. Yet. Will see.

Want to mention. Cissie just texted crowing about a cheap PC she bought. Personal opinion, no such thing in PC land. None of them last. All PCs just wear out or obsolete out within a couple years. I purchased my first Apple four years ago. It is still running like a champ. NO problems, no bugs. They send me operating system updates and new op system software for free. I am always up to date. The hardware itself, besides looking cool, never breaks. Nothing wears out. It’s awesome. I paid double what Cissie did for her bargain. If I knew how great Apples were, I would have paid more. Having a trouble free computer is priceless. Keep your bargains. I know, you buy cheap, and that’s what you get. Sorry Cissie.

Got to work. We have a new client, a bakery. So Katrina picked up a selection of pastries from the bakery. I had a chocolate almond bear claw. I think it was very good. I really like bear claws. I very, very seldom if ever go to a bakery for donuts or pastries. Back when Marika was little, before school and kindergarten, she spent her day with me. All day. Wherever I went she went. Work, errands whatever. Anyhow, she very often in he morning said “can we get a donut?”. So I would have one too. When my donut buddy started school I no longer had a little voice directing me to the bakery. So no donuts for the most part since 2000. Only occasional.

So, back to work. Auditor was there plugging away. She had no questions or concerns. I guess that’s a good thing. She will be outta here today. I won’t hear from her for a few weeks. Then, I don’t know. I am sure she will find a bad thing to beat me with.

Dropped of my car to detailers at 1. I need the seats and carpet shampooed. The seats have dog stains all over the back of them. I think dogs wipe their mouths and faces on them. Carpet is just dirty. Will see how they do.

I have a couple appointments later in the afternoon, till then office drudgery. I managed to prepare a few income tax returns. I think I do that for a living. Not so sure. I spend more time on admin than anything else.

Met with my 3 o’clock. They own a corporation and after 25 years are closing up shop. They would like advice on how to cheat the government with this soon to be closed corp. I don’t do “cheat” so we talked about what the corp can do before it is closed and done. Hard to handle some requests, have to be diplomatic. These folks closed my office door in order to talk. Always a bad sign. They left happy.

My 4 o’clock just needed help with a notice received from the IRS. We called together answered a few questions and voila the rep said you will have your refund in 9 weeks tops. Good outcome. Client ok. We shot the poop for a few minutes. That’s half of my job, talking to people, calming them, making them laugh. And here I thought I was an accountant.

Worked on a few more letters till 5. Cara gave me a ride to the detailer. Dropped me off. I have one thing to say, wow was my car clean and shiny.

Remember, the car has 211k miles on it. And it looks new. Sorta like me.

Today, being Tuesday, has always been taco Tuesday. We bring home take out from a local carniceria. Today no exception was made. I picked up carnitas and chile verde for dinner. I should mention, I also tried to pick up the Rx right before the food. Had same luck as yesterday. Doctors office did not respond to pharmacy.

After getting home I impressed Emily with how amazing my car looks. She is jealous. Can’t blame her.

Dinner was fabulous as always. After eating I spent time in the kitchen helping emily prepare food for the first day of school. I’m a saint I think. I will never meet the people who will eat this food. And I will never know the kids in the class. I am back office support. Unnamed and ignored. Only Emily knows.

Well, it’s a work day tomorrow so we are already headed to bed. Nothing more to share today or want to share. See you all tomorrow.

It’s Monday with all the benefits and duties you expect from a Monday. Like getting up early (defined as before you want to), cleaning up, getting dressed completely, and going to work. That would describe Emily’s Monday. I get up a little later (still too early), put on a robe, chores, then getting ready for work if I’m going.

Today I work. Seeing the IRS at 11am. That’s work

My usual “work” day, morning, is innocouls enough. I get up a few minutes after Emily. She is in the shower. Brush my teeth. Robe on, don’t scare the neighbors or guests. Head downstairs led and followed by three dogs and two cats. Let dogs out and wait till they finish their business. Inside and follow the cats to their dishes and feed them. Back to the kitchen. Turn on the espresso machine, it’s gotta warm up. Make breakfast for dogs. Make lunch for Emily (every work day for over twenty years). Make coffee for all who are home, today just the two of us. Make my breakfast, sit and eat and drink my coffee. Emily leaves 745 ish. I sit another 15 minutes to finish coffee and space out a bit. Shower. Shave. Dress. Head out for the day. Ahh, the power of human habit.

The only break in the day is whatever errands I may need to accomplish before I go to work. Today, pick up Rx, get item from storage pod, drop off car at detailers. I know, I said I had car cleaned sarturday. I need seats shampooed. There is a tremendous amount of dog on the back of my seats. We can only wonder where that came from. And I can have carpets done at same time.

So I managed to not get errands done on the way to work. No matter the Rx wasn’t ready at 630 tonight.

Got to work two minutes prior to auditor showing up. She was late. What can I say. So I sat and discussed the audit for an hour. The usual, what hey want to see, who they are, etc. Its a game of twenty questions. Then I gave her a large stack of paperwork to look through and audit. I have her a desk to sit at and left her alone. Then I went about collecting all the other info that she had asked for. It’s fun. Really.

Anyhow, I am still trying to get through all the other leftovers on my desk from vacation. Stack is shrinking.

Left the office at about 6 pm. Went to pick up the Rx and it still is not ready. Big surprise. Pharmacy says the dr has not responded to their fax. Of course, the Rx still has refills and the pharmacy seems to think it doesn’t. Some things in life are just crap.

Came home and fed the dogs. It’s a lot easier to feed dogs from the kitchen of my house than it was from the trailer on the trips across country. Running water really helps. Especially for cleaning dishes and spoon etc.

Anyhow, made leftovers for dinner. Considering what they were, these were very good leftovers. Emily even commented on the BBQ pork from the other night. I don’t recall a comment that night. Not a problem, some things do taste better the next day.

This was Emily’s first day back at work and she went straight to bed after dinner. So I did too. I got to watch Last Man Standing. Haven’t seen it since I left. Ch 58 shows it twice every night and it is a favorite. Then it’s lights out.

Sunday is sit and read the newspaper day. My old friend Don, he’s retired, once made a comment to me which I think is related. Once he retired, he said he had trouble telling the days apart. Everyday is Saturday he said. Except for the day the big paper arrives. That’s Sunday.

Anyhow, I still get newspaper delivery for Friday Saturday Sunday. So I get a big paper. But for those of you my age, who can still remember their youth, you also know the daily papers have physically shrunk since our youths. Today more people have other sources of news and they skip the in depth full coverage of a newspaper for a tweet or google news post. So newspapers are smaller. Probably why many people today lack in depth understanding of today’s issues. Oh well.

But, back to Sunday. Same thing. Got up too early in order to get everyone coffee. Emily went to yoga. Marika and I sat, drank coffee, I ate breakfast and spent 44 mins reading the paper. I always save the funnies for last. And for some reason, buried in time, I read them right to left, saving the front pages of the comics for last. I don’t when I started that, but it continues.

Nothing earth shattering in the paper. I did save a recipe for blueberry hand pies. They look pretty good. Kind of a PITA recipe but you never know the worth of your time making it till you get the finished product. Might have time later to try.

Have very little planned for today. I need to clean the truck. In and out. I could go to the crappy place I went to yesterday that did such a crap job on Marika’s and my cars. Losers. Shame them into a free wash. That usually works because they know they suck and another wash costs them very little. Will see.

I may work on my car too. I need to install the new shift boot. Red leather. Will look baaaaaad!!! Like where bad is good of course. I’ve had it for a month and a half but I have to take the entire center console out to replace. Big job.

Sundays are always the slow day. As a kid you were always gently reminded to play quietly with quiet toys or read. I know one hundred years ago and farther back there was a religious purpose in that. Nowadays its morphed into shut the hell up and keep away. Mommy and daddy need quiet. Same outcome either way.

I may get nothing done as well. I like a slow day here and there. Today could be here. And there. Will see.

Emily was home quickly and off to school. I guess I will go get my truck cleaned. Marika is off to Sac to have brunch with friends. I will have lunch first, diet ziti marinara. It’s actually ok. Gotta do some laundry first and then car wash.

Laundry was awesome as was my lunch. Took truck to car wash. First order of business, talk to manager about lousy car wash x 2 last night. So she gave me two free washes. I used one on the truck which now looks fabulous. A true chick magnet.

Back home and I decided to install the red leather shift boot on my car. I have had the boot for two months. Never got around to it. It is not so easy an install as you may think. I had to take the entire center console out of the car to install. I got an hour and a half into the job and realized I needed a particular tool. As you may know, our house is two thirds packed in pods and in storage. So the tool I needed was in a storage pod in Sacramento.

By this time, Marika got home. We went to Vacaville together to the hardware store and got said tool. And Marika was hungry so went to In n Out. And stopped at Kinkos for envelopes. Then home. Finally.

Upon return Marika helped me finish the install. It helped to have a second pair of hands especially when stapling. The boot is stapled in. Took another hour and a half to finish.
But it looks sharp! You can see my car when you log in to the blog. I’ve been trying to dress up the old car since she rolled over 200k miles. A few more things and I may stop. But I keep seeing cool add ons to make her look better. So who knows?

Emily got home about the time Marika and I finished the install. We put the tools away quickly. Marika packed up and headed to Rohnert Park. She had a hot date with her roommates to watch Game of Thrones tonight.

Emily and I went out for Thai food. There is a “new” place in Dixon so we went there. By new I mean only a year old. And we have not been there yet. So it’s new to us. I had crispy basil duck and emily had drunken noodles. The duck was great.

We are about to leave. It’s amazing how much we pay for meals out in California. This meal was $42. Two plates and an ice coffee. An almost identical meal in Rawlins, WY, was $21. Half. And just as good. Although I do love the California climate. And vibrant economy. But, half?? I don’t know.

We came home and found out someone had stolen three of our copper hose pots and the hoses in them. Not sure when but probably while we were gone to Maine. For those of you unaware, these are large copper buckets, large enough to coil two 100′ hoses in each. The hoses are about $300 total, I buy nice hoses, and the copper buckets were over $100 each. Of course I could call the sheriff but they don’t respond to or investigate property crimes. My insurance won’t work since it’s below the deductible. So we just gotta suck it up.

I am going to bed. Maybe if I sleep on it I will feel better. Goodnight.

I was born on a Saturday. And always remember the poem about what each days child will be. Mostly because, my entire life, I have woken up and had to work like hell all day on Saturday. Today started slowly enough. Thought, mistakenly, I would sleep in. Made it till 8. Emily has been gone and I forgot she gets up early, 8, to go to yoga. So no extra rest. It’s my job every day to make coffee. I know my job. I got up and made her coffee and kicked her out to yoga. Ahh, peace and quiet, read the paper. Marika is down the stairs and reminds me I am making buttermilk pancakes for her. I promised. She went to the store for buttermilk. I finished the paper about when she got back. I made pancakes from scratch cuz my buttermilk pancakes are the bomb. With Maine maple syrup which is the best syrup in the entire word. Anyhow. See blueberry cakes on the griddle. About this time Emily returned. So we all had pancakes. Emily had four which is a true testament to how good they are. She NEVER eats pancakes. Or French toast. Or waffles. All of which I am a virtuoso baker of. So it goes.

It is now 1145 and I just finished all the dishes and started the dishwasher too. I want a dishwasher that cleans everything. The rest of my day? Now the lawn. Just under two acres. Haul a load of stuff to Emily’s classroom, school starts next week. Wash all three cars. And in my spare time…lol.

Like I said, Saturday’s child works hard for a living. I bet I will be asked to BBQ tonight as well. Ahh Saturday, day of leisure.

Now that I have kvetched for 300 words let us remember I do like doing things for my family. It’s a good thing. But it is work. Maybe Sunday I can relax. I am gonna start holding my breath right now.

We just finished loading all the school stuff into the truck and car. Only took 40 mins. Now, we gotta go to school and help her set up. Oh joy. Oh rapture. Oh my god. Oh well.

We took a detour. I had some black powder coated wheels that fit Marika’s car. So we took those and the low profile tires to Jim at Haughn and Son Tire in Dixon. He will swap those out today.

Then we went to school and unloaded the stuff. Fortunately, my lovely and brilliant wife did not need our help. Thank you Emily.

Back home and now the lawn. No, wait, go back to town and fill the gas can and come home and fill the mower and then mow. Two hours. My vacation replacement, Cameron G, did a fine job on the lawn. But leaving me dry is still annoying. I have been mowing a lawn somewhere once a week during growing season since I was eight years old. I hate mowing the lawn. My son had severe grass allergies so I did not get the pleasure of handing it off. I hate lawns. Our new house in Auburn will have no lawn. It might be heaven.

We are headed out in a moment to go get the car. On the way a stop at Alhelis for shaved ice. 2 for 1 today. I have to check in when I get there but they do have some screaming deals. They have a shave ice/ice cream combo. Get the insulin out! I do love it. Orange with ice cream or root beer with ice cream. You can not go wrong. And here we go
Tigers blood and blue raspberry. Yum

We went back to the tire shop to get the car. So they did not have the correct lug nuts. We still picked up the car but we have to go back Monday. No big deal. The new wheels look awesome on her car. the black out effect is a nice style. Emily has powder coated black wheels on her car as well. Just a nice look.

We took the two cars into Vacaville to get washed. The first place I went was closed, it was 520. We found one that stays open till 6. They did both cars for $22 each. Marika’s was the last car they cleaned for the day. Anyhow, I had specifically asked them to get the 3500 miles worth of bugs off the front of the car. When we got home later, I noticed they did not clean all the bugs off. I had to spend a half hour cleaning my “clean” car. Marika’s was not completely vacuumed and only partly washed. Lesson learned, don’t go to the car wash at quitting time. Both are all clean now.

We came home and Emily arrived a few minutes later. She decided to wash her car right then. She is that way. Couldn’t drive a dirty car. You have no idea.

Dinner now. BBQn pork tenderloin and a salad. That’s it. Except for the whiskey sours I made for the ladies. Emily is thirsty after a day in the salt mines. I can’t blame her. She and Marika are sitting and drinking and solving the worlds problems. I feel better.

We are on to dinner. Salad and pork tenderloin. Very well cooked and salad is incredible. All I did was cook the meat. Which is what I said this morning if you remember. sometimes food can really hit the spot. Tonight’s dinner is one of those times. No dessert, on the diet.

Off to bed. We are going to watch part two of Empire Falls. Based on a Pulitzer Prize winning novel written by a Maine author. Based in Skowhegan!!!where we have our cottage. I have eaten in the Empire Grill (since closed) which is where the main character worked. Lots of shots in the movie are in town. I know they had some filming at Moxie Falls where I have been many times. Fun to se the town look so good on screen.

Will watch till I pass out.

Finally, everybody has come home. We are all grouped around the table. Coffee for everyone. I had breakfast. Most important meal of the day. And, since I am obviously so important, I am the only one who had breakfast. Pancakes, as previously stated, and coffee. I had some watermelon 🍉 also. Absolutely the best of the season. Marika went back to the market for another one. That good.

It’s already 1015. Of course, as you know, we had the late flight arrival at 1230am this morning. And get this, a telemarketer called for Emily at 8am another at 815 and another at 830. I hate that. I was asleep. Not anymore. And welcome home Emily.

I will be off to work soon. Appointments.

Michael is leaving for Lake Nacimiebto today. Camping trip with his girlfriends family. Tent camping. He is too big a weenie to take the trailer which really is just a luxe tent. His loss. He is taking his dog Kona with him. I am not sure if we will see him before Thanksgiving.

I left for the office because I thought I had a 1pm appointment. Turns out it was a 11am appointment. Oops. So I am going to go out to the clients business at 230 instead.

Before Michael left he got a haircut. This is a big deal since his hair is past his shoulders and he has a long beard. People call him Jesus. He even dressed as Jesus last Halloween. He came home and we all shamed him into showing us how much was cut (he usu keeps it up in a bun). So how much? An inch, tops. The kid kills me.
That’s post cut. See the hair draped over his shoulder? Whatever.

I had a real haircut on Wednesday.
Now that’s a haircut. I think I had more cut than he did. Kids these days.

I have not mentioned something. 3 days ago my bro in law Jamie was attacked by a dog. It was his tenants dog. The tenant and dog live in the house. Anyhow, he was doing laundry with Dee, his wife, and the dog kept jumping on him. Then dog attacked. Ripped a hand apart, ripped a triceps muscle, puncture wounds to his chest. Can you say bad dog? Part pit bull. The part that bites. He ended up in the emergency room and got put back together. The tenant, being as she was sane, cleaned up the blood while they were at the hospital. Lots of blood. Tenant also called them and told them the dog needed to be put down. Which is hard to disagree with. Jamie seems well after all that.

So my workday was short. In at 1130 and off to appt at 2. Then 2 1/2 hour appt with clients discussing income and tax strategies for them. I am not going back to the office. Seems pointless at this late hour (5pm). But I want to share a couple signs from in front of clients restaurant.

Maybe they have a plant theft problem. Signs made me laugh.

So an uneventful drive home with very little traffic. Nice. Got a fill up in west Sacramento. I had 30 mins worth of Roomba maintenance when I got home. This time, gotta buy some parts. Maybe a little lube and tune. Roomba is tired. So I took her apart. Ok time for professionals. There is a service that picks up and delivers Roomba. I did that. Can’t live without a vacuum.

We decided to go out to eat. We are at Rolines in south Vacaville. Filipino food. So far pretty good.
I don’t know if that’s really true.

I had the kare kare which is a bone in oxtail stew in peanut sauce with green beans and homemade shrimp paste. It hits the spot. The ladies had more pedestrian fare beef adobo and Pork adobo with pancit (noodles). Rolines is a unique and uniquely Filipino eating place. Go see at Rolines.com. Worth a visit if you are in Vacaville or even just close. The people who work here are really friendly too.

We went directly home after dinner. Ya I know, we are tres exciting. But it’s Friday and the end of a long week and no one got any decent sleep last night. And Marika has been hung over all day. Not what adds up to an exciting evening. It’s 830 and I am ready for bed.

I now know vacation has ended. Tonight at 830 Emily will be back from Maine. I will be going to the airport to get her. That’s the last lost lamb to return home. Had to end sooner or later.

Some good news for those of you that pay attention. I slept in till 820 this morning. Party 🎉 time. I have been having trouble staying up at night and conversely staying in bed in the morning. But 820 is the bomb!

So got up, cats raced me to their dishes, as usual. Nice to see they are back in he habit too. Took the dogs out, this includes an extra, Kona, michael’s dog. All did their business and I let them back in. Except Kona. I found her out behind the dog run, I had to go find her, trying to get under the dog house. That will never happen. The dog house I built is framed, sided and roofed like a house. I did build on a raised foundation. This is why Kona is out here. While we were gone some chirping type ground dwelling bird has taken up residence under the dog house. I may have to find out what they are though I am not going to evict. Once they move out I will back fill there den. Until then I will be going after Kona to get her back in the house.

Breakfast for four doggies was next. No problems. Dogs have calmed their anxiety and are back to eating regular meals. If I have failed to mention, all had experienced anxiety on the trip out and trip back. They would shake or pant excessively and stop eating for a couple days. Lovely. Now we are back to normal and they seem fine. I think that’s a gods thing. Note: not Kona. Michael bought new food for her and she only eats a little bit. I keep thinking she will start to eat soon. But has not since Monday. She is stubborn like her owner.

3 coffees today as usual. No change their. I decided not to have diet pancakes. I read an article in Consumer Reports which said whole milk yogurt is VERY good for you AND your diet. And by diet I mean it’s diet food. Read the article. I like yogurt, far more than diet pancakes. Marika just got up she is having an English muffin. She wanted real pancakes but I ate all those bad boys I had in the freezer. She is going to buy a quart of buttermilk today so I can make her pancakes. Full leaded, with butter and buttermilk, and white flour. Great cakes.

So now all morning kitchen duties are done. It’s off to shower, etc. Then work.

Went by the body shop on my way to work. They are going to finish up some work on my car we started before I left town. Anyhow, while there I asked them to replace my cabin/AC fan. Was very noisy and not working so well. My AC compressor had gone out the day before I left and the mechanic had suggested a new fan. Well, Alex at the body shop, opened up the fan case under the dash (surprisingly easy) and pulled out a few walnut shells the rats had left. I had rats in the AC ducts. He also pried out a few that were stuck in the fan blades. Outcome? Works like a charm. Yay Alex!!

Then off to Sacramento. Stopped at the eyeglass store to get my glasses fixed and get new Rx lenses for my new pair of sunglasses. All set. Went to office for my 1pm appt and was there at 1255. I am good.

Since then I’ve been doing more paperwork and taxes and talking to people. That’s my job. Mostly just talking. I am still here but leaving soon. It’s 507

Just got a text from Emily. Her plane was delayed on the tarmac in DC. At least an hour. Now looks like 930. She is going to miss dinner. And probably in a foul mood too. Will see.

After much calling and checking of the Internet, Emily is estimated to land at 1234 am. Yikes.

Left the office around 6, I was on hold with United Airlines, and went straight home. It is really nice to have a working AC fan. It gets cold in my car. Now. Last two years were BS. I am glad Superior Auto is around.

Anyhow got home around 7. No one was home. We had planned on having dinner so it was a little annoying. So I fed the dogs. And I washed the dishes. Read the mail. Then texted Marika. Turns out Marika and her roommate Emily and my son Michael went to Berryessa Gap Brewery to refill his growler. And buy more beer. They did finally show up and we fryer up Brats with peppers and onions. Very good dinner. I ate hen straight and he kids made sandwiches. Since then we have been sitting around the table bullshitting. Not much else.

Roommate Emily went outside to phone her boyfriend. Always wonder why people need privacy. I know I don’t care about such things and won’t bother to listen. But I guess she worries we will hear secrets. Whatever. More power to her.

I am still just sitting and may go do laundry or dishes. And wait for the plane to get here. Oh well.

The longer I sit here the more I realize how difficult it is to stay awake when you would really rather just go to bed. I can’t leave for another two hours or I will just be sitting around in a very boring airport. I could clean the house or the bathroom. Right. I could read a book though I would prob nod off. I am listening to the three “kids” discuss Game of Thrones. I don’t watch so I don’t care. Or understand. Though it is keeping me conscious.

Wow. I am really tired. I fell asleep at the kitchen table. I think United Airlines owes me a free ticket or several free drinks at the least.

Marika’s cat just bit her. Vlad was a feral when she got him. So I think she knew what she was getting into. The cat is really not friendly. She just put him in a cat carrier to calm him down

So Emily’s plane came in at 1210am. Finally. I fell asleep about 1030 for an hour or so. When I woke up I went directly to the airport. After landing, her plane was on the tarmac for another 15 minutes. I love United. So I still had to wait for her to deplane. But she finally came out. Lots of stories about being in a plane stuck on the tarmac DC. Did not sound like a whole lot of fun. Screaming children and babies, upset travelers, surly flight attendants. Glad I missed it.

We picked up her bags from baggage claim. Emily had met a fellow traveler from Woodland. Her name is Jenny. We gave her a ride home from he airport. Nice gal.

It is now 230 am. Bedtime

Ok. So it’s day two back. I was thinking I should title this Day 2 or Second Day or something numeric. I am an accountant after all. Over the years my English instructors always harped on the need for a title to a story or article. I always hated them. It’s not so easy coming up with a pithy title every day. One that is topical or funny or arcane. But maybe I can see a bit of the point of it all. I will try harder tomorrow. I may even change today’s while in progress.

I am again up to early. It’s 10am in Maine and I guess my head is still there. A shame my body isn’t. Speaking of, I gained ten pounds while on vacay. For anyone who has read the blog you may be likely to blame all the cocktails, trips to Giffords Ice Cream, dinners with friends or for that matter all the eating out. Well, that sounds about right. I started up the diet I was on before I left. I had lost 30 lbs prior to going on vacay so I would like to kick the ten plus lots more. So I will keep you posted. That’s blog humor. Posted. It’s all I got.

I was sitting here at he kitchen table typing and the cat, Prince, jumped in my lap. She really never talked to me before. But, she has been my best friend since we got back. If I sit, she hits my lap. Actually annoying that she is so needy. Cats are supposed to be aloof. And I wish she would hold onto her hair.

I am going to go make 3 coffees in a moment. One for me and the others for the kids. On a normal morning I make coffee for whoever is here. Today three. When the kids lived here it was four every day. Making two each morning as I do now seems so easy. See, habits can be changed or adapt to new circumstances. Then there is breakfast. I don’t make it for everyone. Maybe guests. A man has got to know his limitations. I will make my own. After coffee.

My breakfast diet food is pancakes. Special pancakes from a box. Low carb. They have absolutely horrible syrup to put on them. I eat em dry. I only use real Maine maple syrup. Which is the best. Life is too short for bad syrup.

I know. You are all jealous.

Ok. Shower time. No pictures, sorry.

I had a haircut this morning which I arrived early for. Amazing thing is I have not been on time for a cut in years.

Had to drive home and pick up my phone. Was planning on going to Vacaville for a car wash. But a phone is important. Made lunch while there, some sloppy joe meat from a box. Diet food. Gotta lose the ten.

Now off to Vacaville to find someone to scrub 10000 miles of bugs and dirt off the car. Have not washed it since the day before we left. While in Vacaville I discovered that my favorite hand car wash converted to automatic so I can’t get a decent wash anymore. The only others I am familiar with also are automatic. These types of washes do not remove the level of bugs I have on the car. It’s nasty. I will probably have to find a real detailer somewhere. I wash it myself but even I can’t get all the bugs off. And I scrubbed with Michaels toothbrush. Don’t worry, he never reads the posts.

After the car wash I went back to Dixon to see my buddy Jim. While I was away on the trip dragging my trailer around the country, he did same with his wife, one daughter and grandson. No dogs. He was not out for a month like us but he did make it as far as South Dakota. Maybe the gypsy lifestyle is a function of age. Not sure.

Unfortunately, after all errands were done, I had to go to work. Have I mentioned I don’t want to go to work? I mean today. Well, in this post? Usual paperwork done and still catching up with all the mail and requests for my time. Probably be carching up for a month. Turns out we sign d a new client while I was away and somebody paid off a four year old invoice. That does not happen often enough.

I was fortunate to have to leave early. I went to the bank first to finish off all deposits that came in while I was gone. Then instead of continuing on to next appointment I went back to the office to get my phone. I forgot it. Do you detect a theme? I usually only forget it once a day.

Left office for the day. Off to Auburn to meet with my real estate agent Linda and the sellers agent Jim. Jim, though he lives in Dixon, is a 3rd generation Dixonite. Crazy. The three of us went through a property showing, measured out distance from lot to sewer hook up and generally discussed all aspects of the lot. For those of you late to the party, we would like to live on the property in Auburn. Have to buy the land and build a house. We made one offer already. Went nowhere. Now on to round two. New offer. We will see. If we buy the property this blog will become, for a large part, the building of our house blog. Will see.

I should mention, for those not living on CA, it is hotter than Hades right now. I just got back from mild and temperate east coast weather. And so far it’s been over 100 every day since I returned. I am melting. The property inspection had me soaked afte 10 mins. There is more of the same on the forecast. Probably another week of it.

Came home after the inspection. No traffic, I really flew down the hill. And my AC is cranking with the brand new compressor. I can get chilled to the bone. Love it.

Ran to grocery for prescriptions and hardware store for bulbs for the fixture above the dining table. I can now see to write this. That’s nice. As I get older I notice I am falling apart. First the eye went now the ears. What’s next? I dread it whatever it is.

Got home. Found out Michael was not eating dinner. He just wasn’t hungry. I hate hat. It never works well cooking for one. I always short change myself. I ate cold leftovers for dinner. Marika is not home, she went to Santa Rosa and will be back later. Anyhow, I had enough to get full.

My AC guy came by today and put in a new thermostat upstairs. It was broken. You could not turn it down. Lovely. It’s 90 degrees upstairs and the down button doesn’t work. Anyhow, shout out to Steve at Air Repair. Thank you Steve.

I had a few chores still to do. I am still putting away stuff from trip and doing laundry. One of our dining chairs collapsed last night. I fixed that. Now strong enough to hold my extra ten pounds. Yay.

After all this I was sitting at the kitchen table and fell asleep. By east coast time it’s one am. And I am quite tired.

I was woken from my nap when Marika showed up with her cat Vlad in tow.
Vlad is kind of a pain in the butt. Friendly but not. I like home but he is a devil. All the other animals get along well with him. That’s nice.

Tomorrow I have a regular work day. Probably 8 hours, and I think everyone should feel sorry for me. I have a couple work appointments and accounting work to do. I am trying to be positive about it. At least I get to retire in a few years. Now bedtime.

So you can see the blog continues. It was created for the trip but at the urging of Marika I am going to continue posting.

It seems very strange that after being gone only one month I can forget a lot of little things. I went to feed the dogs and could not remember where we keep the dog food. Eventually I figured it out. My understanding of habits is it takes 30 days to establish new ones. I was gone 35. I guess that would be like booting my computer and having the memory cleared. I am now resetting memory. It’s painful. I am getting there. I am sure the office will be painful as well. But I have a few errands before that. I have to take the trailer to Auburn, go to the bank, etc.

I am back on my regular diet. I think I gained ten pounds while away. Yikes. We will see how this goes. Kids are both home today and helping to clean house. Amazing how dirty it was.

I should mention, our two cats seem to have been quite upset with us. They have not been eating. They pooped around the house. They peed in a few places in addition to their litter box. Lovely. And it appears Roomba quit running. This all adds up to vacation hangover.

Also, the garage freezer door had been left open. Marika got home a few days ago and found it. She says it smelled like death. There was a couple hundred pounds of meat in it so I imagine that’s a good description. Marika filled up the trash can and called for an immediate pick up. Good idea that.

Got to Auburn around 1045. Stopped at American Teardrop and spoke to Bud Hausman, the owner. Now, Bud, is a talker. A professional talker I think. I unhooked the raider and parked it out front. Then I had a quick talk with Bud. 35 minutes later I am almost out the door and he is still talking. Don’t get me wrong, I like the guy. But boy can he talk. Anyhow, he seems to think he can repair the trailer quick enough for a camping trip around the tenth. I also found out he has a new “kitchen attachment” he will be fabricating for the teardrop. It’s a metal box four feet long that sits on the tongue of the trailer. Each end is a slide out. On one end is an ice chest and a sink. The other has a generator and a table and chairs. I told him to put me on the list. I gotta have one. And since the trailer is gonna weigh more I am gonna put a supercharger on the Fit. Cool.

Back to the office, only took 35 minutes, for an appointment with a client. Usual stuff, explain why they are confused about some tax item that I think is extremely simple. This guy is very well to do and makes quite a living. Yet he is still confused about taxes. Oh well. Keeps me in clover.

Another appointment followed with a associate I do tax planning with for clients. We set up structures so rich people can avoid paying taxes. That makes their fair share zero. America, she is a great country. We got together to go over ongoing planning on a couple cases.

The afternoon stretched out long. I had a mountain of mail to get through. I didn’t. I managed to get all payments received together for deposit. I did get a very large check in the mail. That was really nice. Really nice.

The rest of the day was admin BS and filing and looking at mail, etc, etc. No one else came in or called. I like that. I left at about 515. I had to go to the store and pick up some caramel. Can’t believe I am dead out. Both Marika and Emiky like caramel lattes so I gotta keep a ton on hand.

From there I drove home. It’s seriously hot here right now. Over 100. The AC took fifteen minutes to catch up. It was like a prison movie where they put you in “the box” when you break a rule. Eventually it cooled.

It was truly hot in the house as well. Someone had actually turned off the upstairs AC. That does not help. But we managed to get the house cooled off.

I started the BBQ, we are not cooking inside. Too hot. Anyhow, tri tip has been on 30 mins so we should be eating soon.

We also had teriyaki green beans which are not in the picture. We had a fine homemade dinner. First since last week. I like eating at home.

Tonight, being Tuesday, is garbage night. Good thing is the kids are home and help get it out. Bad thing is it’s been hotter than it should be all week and the garbage really smells bad. Not like that last post two days ago but still bad. It’s a long walk to the road with he stinky cans.

I am truly ready for bed again. The time change, even with the slow drive across country, is still tough on me. Want to go to bed early, then I wake the hell up early.

I have a few appointments tomorrow and I have to be in Auburn by 4pm. We are gettIng close on terms on a lot in Auburn. We would then build a house on it. Which would give me a lot of material for the blog. But I think I need to go to sleep now.