Month: April 2019

Monday morning an d the black cat is doing her thing. Climbing in my lap as I sit at the table, running her head into me. Climbing onto the table. Alternating. Sitting. What does go through her head?

Today is first 530am call since 10 days ago. No more spring break for Emily. Or me. Now I have to get up early. Do the deeds. Feed animals, put dog out before he poops in the house again (oops), breakfast for all, coffee for the few. Usual. Oh yeah, be annoyed by the cat. The attention deprived one standing on the table whipping me with her tail.

Marika is home from the tropics for a few. She is going to an old friends wedding today in SF. Should be fun. Very small wedding. I have known Bella, the bride, longer than my daughter, as it were, but no invite. It’s ok.

Emily and I will be going to work. No party. Marika did show up Saturday morn near 5am at SFO or maybe Oakland. We did not pick her up. She called a friend in Rohnert Park for a ride. Though later on Em did drive to Petaluma and pick her up. At least at a decent hour.

We got up Saturday morning, usual thing. Before I went to work, and Emily to Petaluma, we ran a few errands like hardware store and nursery. Weekend stuff.

Speaking of weekend stuff, I spent the balance of Saturday at the office working on tax returns. Hey, when I find something that works for me, I stick with it. No excitement here.

I did leave work early to join the girls for dinner at home. We had chili dogs. Fine, healthy meal. With sweet potato fries. And a very nice salad. We are going out tomorrow night.

After dinner I suggested going out for a cocktail. Emily begged off cuz she always does so Marika and I went to the Club Car in Old Town. Turns out, Auburn really rolls up the sidewalks on Saturday. Club Car is the only late night bar and eatery in town. There was a band playing too. We had a fine time, drinks are cheap, had no food, just hung out. Tomorrow night we are coming back for dinner. Mostly because it’s damn near the only place open for dinner on a Sunday.

Or the only place. Sidewalks unrolled Monday morning.

We went home and went to bed. Late. They are open till one and still serving food. This place is the place for late night.

Sunday was a regular work day. I skipped all the usual things except making coffee. That is a must. Went off to work and worked all day till about 645. We have a 730 res for dinner at Club Car. I mentioned that. I drove straight there due to time constraints. I’m in the race car so it’s fun to be in a hurry.

I arrived about 720. Turns out Emily got a little lost on her way here. Auburn is a very old place and has lots of off kilter streets which leads to confusion at times. Like this one.

I grabbed our table and waited for the girls. Not much doing. They arrived about 15 minutes later. I was tracking them on my phone. I am hooked to Emily through find friends so I can stalk her. I watched her make a wrong turn. Town is also small so she did finally arrive.

We had a nice meal, a few drinks, and enjoyed ourselves. During dinner I had remembered to call Kary our RE agent because she is working on our land sale. Turns out she was still at work and working on our shit. So I invited her to dinner and she decided to come by and hang out. I knew she would not eat anything or have a drink, I know what she is like. Very thin. But it’s still nice to see her and have a chat. Turns out Kary just sold her place, kinda off the cuff, and moved. Has no idea what she is going to do. Brave woman.

Well, I think we actually closed the place down. Last table for sure. We have long since finished eating and drinking. Time to go.

We said our goodbyes and headed home for bed.

I have not blogged since Sunday. Forgive me father. I have not had such a gap since I started this “daily” blog a few years ago. No real reason except extreme fatigue, not a moment free in my schedule, only sleeping 5 1/2 hours each night. I know, cue the violins. But the days of work do cut in to what I like to do.

You, perhaps, would like to be brought up to date. Well, whether or not you do, I am going to attempt it. And complete the task. Something my daughter should pay attention to.

Emily was still in Disneyland Monday. I worked from very early to very late. Nothing exciting or notable occurred. I just worked, for pay, like a squirrel storing nuts for winter. No comments, please. But that’s it, I get while the gettings good.

Emily returned Tuesday and was able to skip the drive into Solano county to drop off friend Barb and her daughter. Barb’s husband was in Sac so he grabbed them and took them home. Saved Em two hours. But she did not go to the carniceria because that’s in Dixon. Too bad. Save time, lose tacos.

Again, Tuesday was an all day work day. Same as every previous work day. Head down, meet clients, call clients, email clients, prep taxes. We both know: thrilling.

Worked till near 10, I feel a cold coming on, and went home. Quick meal and to bed.

Wednesday, I am full on sick. Probably a bad head cold. Sore throat. Hacking cough. Phlegm. Yummy. I go to work in spite of the creeping crap inside me.

My clients who came in today stayed the hell away from me. I was not the picture of good health. I should not be at work but it is crunch time and I am working. So I worked all day in complete misery but I did work.

Marika is supposed to be coming home tomorrow. But you can’t depend on her at all. I don’t know why she bothers to say she is coming home when she doesn’t. She went to Hawaii and can’t seem to come home. Yes, I know exactly what you are thinking. Who is the boy she met? She doesn’t say anything so I am 99% sure that’s what is going on. My daughter is a complete idiot, but at 23 you do believe you are right and all is perfect. 30 years later is when you realize how incredibly, embarrassingly stupid you were. If I’m lucky, I will be here to say I told you so. And I will. I so will say it. With gusto.

On another note, I got home late and had dinner. Went to bed. Em rolls over and says “your idiot daughter is not making the plane.” Who coulda called that? She is an idiot.

Thursday morning Emily and I took the new car into the shop. Just some add ons for weather and styling. Should be done quick they say.

I went to work and Emily headed home. Nothing going on at work, just the usual. And I will not say more. I did have a client come by with a homeopathic remedy for my sickness. Sposed to suck on a liquorice root (stick) all day while drinking black tea with turmeric, black pepper and honey. I tried it. I felt good for 15 minutes and then went totally nauseous. I spit out the stick. Dumped the tea. Though once the nausea subsided, I felt better.

That was my days excitement. The balance of the day was work. Also, Marika claimed, via text, she would be flying in Friday morning. Well, I am not stupid. That’s a 23 year olds domain. I went to bed and did not even set an alarm to get up and go to the airport. I was correct. No girl.

Also, shop called. They ordered wrong parts. So now we need to wait for them to get that done. Minor.

Friday morning, I feel much better. Spent the first 30 minutes coughing, hacking and spitting. I think that’s a good thing. I am hoping my sickly condition improves to the point of general good health. Today. Please.

This morning, mid morning, the shop called. Car was ready. Emily and I got ourselves ready. That means I got ready and sat for an hour while Emily finished getting ready. The usual. At this point I have been married thirty years so I actually don’t mind. This is how it works.

We went to pick up the car. No big. Paid our $$ and hit the road. Em went home. I went to work. I stopped at my local bank, I have banked with them 30 years. Just not at the Auburn branch. I need to cash a check and I figured they could help. Wrong. They refused. Assholes. I have cashed checks for years at the Dixon branch of First Northern. No hitch. Never any issue. One try in Auburn and no. Assholes. Say it twice to make it nice.

I drove off to Sacramento, after a cup of coffee from next door. I know where to go. When I hit Sac I went to Chase bank where I have an account. I went to teller, gave her the check and all she said was “how do you want that?” No problems here. Got my dinero. Simoleans. Cash.

To office. Turns out I had no appointments. I had not checked the schedule except to be sure I did not have am appointments. So I worked all day. Tax returns, phone calls and emails. The usual.

Worked straight thru till about 720 when Emily called from across the street at Seasons. That’s a restaurant at the mall which we had planned on meeting at for dinner. Which we did. Seasons is a favorite of ours. Favorite of friends. We eat here often-ish. Often considering it’s nowhere near home.

Dinner was good. Emily had a cocktail waiting for me when I arrived. Nice touch. We ordered a nice meal, I had pork tenderloin. They always do a good job here. I was stuffed at meals end. I did not have dessert.

Home drive was fun. Emily was in a mood to race and we worked our way home, up hwy 80, at a high rate of speed. It was fun. Limited weaving in and out of traffic and very fast. Em usually doesn’t move like this. Fun drive.

We got home and unloaded our crap. And relaxed. Watched some murder porn and just sat around. Finally went to bed. Em had fallen asleep by the fire. She is worthless in the evening. I am really tired. Marika may fly in at 4 am. I am waiting on a call. Maybe this time.

It’s monday morning, about 8am. I have not posted since Thursday unless you count the week old post I just put up a few minutes ago. I forgot. Sorry.

This morning is gray and cool. The view still stretches to the snow capped mountains on the gmfar horizon. It looks cool and in my fatigued state I could sit here staring at it all day. I won’t. Got to head to work.

Emily left for Disneyland with friends yesterday morning. So I have the empty house to myself for a couple days. Wonder what I will do? Maybe work.

This past Friday I had an early day. Left the office at 6 (the horror!) to go out to dinner with Emily. Funny thing, I have only lived up here not even two months and almost every day I go home very late. I drive in the dark. Duh. Today, heading up hwy 49, I felt lost. Everything looks different in the light. I even missed my turnoff because I did not recognize the road in daylight. I need a job with better hours.

Emily and I had dinner plans at the Indian restaurant in Old Town. A friend had suggested it to me and recommended as well. We are used to having excellent Indian at a restaurant outside Dixon where we used to live. So we have high standards. Well, it was as good as our fave, buffet had all the usual foods. Emily ordered the Chicken Vindaloo which was excellent. Next time I may order off the menu as well. I can’t say the place got me totally excited but at the least it’s another choice on a Friday night. I did try the pistachio kulfi dessert. A few months back I had tried my hand at rhubarb kulfi so I had some interest. Btw, kulfi is a frozen dairy dessert, more of a flavored milk base than ice cream. Still creamy but rather hard. It was good. Mine was much better. That doesn’t seem right.

We returned home after dinner. Buttoned things up and went to bed, before 10. I get to sleep in.

Saturday we got up at 630. That IS sleeping in. I have to take my car into shop to replace my lock actuator. As the car steams toward 250k miles, things break. I did not make coffee this morning I figured I would buy a cup. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, before our visit to auto repair we went to see our real estate agent. We are selling the Hammond Ln property and today she wanted to discuss what we are doing. I don’t understand the marketing, that’s why I have her, so was not sure why we needed to meet. But we did. Discussed a few things and went to the property to check it out. Again.

Our lot is on the American River Canyon and this morning, early, mist rising, I realize how truly beautiful it is. I will not miss the bullshit Placer County variance process. That’s why we are selling and not building. But, I will miss the dream of what it could have been. That is sad. Agent thinks it will sell for north of 400k. That would be a tidy profit so no room for sentimentality.

Left the canyon and back to reality. Went to auto repair and dropped car. Then Emily drive us home so I could pick up another car to drive to work. The thrills keep coming. I drive Marikas car, trying to keep it in shape. Wanted to get it detailed too which turned out to be a pipe dream. I went to work, stayed till 1030, then home. To bed.

Ahh Sunday. And again, no newspaper. I have called a million times and they just can’t seem to get it done. Of course, by call them I mean their call center in the Philippines. They are polite but get norhing done. I have tried calling whatever number I have stateside and still nothing. I am going to try again. The one number I can’t get is the local distributor. I think I could get them moving if I could talk to them.

We went in to the car dealer Sunday to pick up my car and to test drive a new one. Emily has grown to dislike her new used HRV and we are looking at a Civic. I can see a new car in our future. We got there about 930 and I got my car keys. Then we found a salesman to help us. The guy we had been speaking too was out with a massive case of poison oak so he was not gonna be back anytime soon. We cruised around Auburn, car was nice. I liked it. We decided to buy it, but, of course, Em wanted a few extra features. So we ended up upgrading our choice to a more plush model. Did not cost much more, and she is driving it, not me. I liked the first one. So we have a new car. She is driving it to Disneyland today.

We drive home, stopped at the bank for a check in the way, got home and I got ready for work. She got ready for Disneyland. I left for work with the dog, can’t be home alone on such a long day. Emiky left for Disneyland.

Worked all day, no big. One visitor, a pizza guy, not much else going on. Worked till 1030. Home and bed. Another thrilling day/weekend.

I notice I am no longer regular with my posting. For a couple years it’s been every day posting. Last month or so, post every other or every third day. Sorry for the inconvenience. I been busy in my real life which has not lately seemed so real as it does surreal.

Yesterday was a regular tax season workday. This means I could tell you what happened without even having had the day. The work days are the same. Head down working, early to late, until to exhausted to go on. Then home to sleep 5 hours. Repeat. Endlessly. I know, you want to be me. It was also a Monday which lets loose the dogs, I mean clients, to call and harass me. Clients mean well (I think) and just want my full attention in their crap so they can be done and destress till next year. But there is a long line and everyone gets cross. On mondays I get all the pent up demand for my attention in the form of calls and emails. I really have grown to hate this shit.

So Sunday was like that. And it did not vary at all from every other day thisbtaz season.

I got home at 1115. Ate meatballs and potatoes and went to bed.

Mans speaking of rrgilar posting, I wrote this post five days ago and never published it. Oops.