Month: July 2019

Today is the day we get the driveway slurried. Kinda exciting. Sort of. Have never had it done.

But, we have to stay off it for 24 hrs. This is not convenient. I had to leave by 730 in order to get out of the way. Emily parked at the bottom of the hill last night. She is ahead of us.

I left early but have an appointment at 9 so I can go direct to my appointment. The company I am meeting is a new cannabis manufacturer and retailer. They bought out another company that couldn’t make money selling dope. Did not know this was possible. Fun meeting, got to talk semi legal drugs while sipping legal coffee. Weird. We are trying to help them get there business under control and increase profits. They are hardly breaking even.

We finished up and headed back to the office. Walker was there too but came separately.

At the office we spent some time discussing what to do with the canna kids. Not as straight forward or easy as you might think. During the day Walker has several follow up calls with them. Turns out the accounting is messed up quite a bit. Not surprising. Probably sampling inventory.

Next up an appointment which included a quick lunch. Went over long cuz one of the two was 15 mins late. But got the business return done after lunch and sent them on there way.

Back to work on more tax returns. Today is too damn busy with too much actual work. I prefer no work and sitting around. Today not an option.

Worked till 4, Marika dropped in. We are going to the bank to get her a new account. I have a client dropping in at 430. But, they called ahead and told us they were going to be late so I took advantage of that and went to the bank with the kid.

I had several cannabis questions for the banker which were answered positively. Marika managed to get her accounts open. I made a deposit. Office called, appointment had arrived. So, I abandoned Marika to the bank and went back to the office.

I met with a couple who came in just to check me out and see if I was ok. Seemed, after an hour, they do like me and might be a decent client for us. One can only hope.

Once they were gone we raced off. To home. With a couple stops for taco Tuesday. And home. I had to park at the bottom of the hill and carry the groceries and other crap up to the house. It’s alot easier to drive. I had Marika to carry half the crap which helps. It’s a very different view walking vs driving. There are lots of details in the landscape I have never noticed. Very cool. I still prefer driving.

Dinner was great, at least the part Em made. The taco part was ok. Glad I married her.

After dinner, that’s correct, bad tv. It is a tradition. I am going to bed now. Hang the tv. .

Up early. Why? No, not that. I am meeting Mover Mike at my storage unit. He and assistant Brian are taking all my crap out of my last storage unit and moving it into my new shop. Wow. No more crap storage that I have to pay for every month. After the big move two years ago I had three units. Then after last move I added one more in Auburn. Since February I have peeled them off one by one. Today, last one gone.

Well, I watched them take an hour to load up their truck and trailer. And up to the house. Then I directed them in unloading same. And putting it all away. Things just get better. I still have lots to do sorting thru stuff and setting up my shop. But it’s all here. The birds have returned to roost at home.

Took them two hours to unload. Not so bad. Just happy it’s done. Which is obvious but I like to keep saying it

Mike and crew left and I jumped in my car and headed to my Dr appointment. At 11 in Davis. My phone app said only an hour. But, on the way, traffic problems. I was 20 minutes late. Sorry. I did get there and explained myself and all seems fine.

Once my Dr was done with me, I went to work. With a stop for coffee.

Work was dull. No visitors and almost no calls and no emails. Life can be good. I like no call days. Tomorrow I have four appointments which qualifies as a lousy day. But gotta do it.

Have to be out and on the road by 730.

Also, our driveway is getting a slurry coat tomorrow and I need the car off the driveway by the time the asphalt guys show up. Otherwise I will be trapped. Sort of.

I need more asphalt too, for garage front, but that waits till I have more money.

Anyway, back to today. Usual crap and I finished a couple tax returns. Lovely. Also had to write a nice letter to the USDA regarding a food stamp license refusal. More fun.

I left the office by 6 and headed home. No traffic. Some things are good.

At home we attempted to find a place to park the cars that would be off the paved portion of driveway. We have to stay off 24 hours. And it’s a half mile long driveway with little level shoulder. I think we can manage.

After this excitement, we made dinner. And then watched some lousy tv. Some things never change.

Did not sleep well last night. Woke up many times for long periods. Melatonin helped a little. In the end I stayed in bed to 915 just cuz I kept falling asleep.

Finally just got up. Feel like poop. Walked down to the curb, 1/2 mile, and the newspaper was there! 3rd day in a ROW! Amazing.

The morning temp tells all. It’s over 80 degrees and it’s not even 10. Today is supposed to go to 105. That’s hot.

I don’t know why I worry so much if I get my newspaper. Today’s paper is a good example because there was nothing in it worth reading. At least I had a reason to sit and drink coffee and eat my breakfast.

Instead of a shower and etc. I decided to blow out the garage. It’s down the hill and the driveway is dirt and gravel and that is a problem with dust. There is a ton and the cars carry it into the garage and our feet carry it into the cars. We need asphalt. Someday. Took awhile since I had to blow out the garage twice. Like I said, lots of dust. I found, during my blowout, many leftover screws and other bits of refuse from the construction. Just the thing for a car tire. So I had to go on screw patrol and find all the future blowouts

Did I mention how hot it is today? No. Real f..ing hot. The metal garage seems to trap some heat and it’s at 90. So I was drenched by the time I was done. Just another fun chore.

Now for the rest of the morning though it’s close to midday. I got a well deserved shower. Today it felt really nice.

Once done with morning duties, more chores. Laundry was up first while Em went shopping. My chores included watering too. Did I mention it’s hot?

We had decided earlier to go to the movies. Not just for the AC as you may think. They set it cold there and it’s nice. Not like me, I set it at 85. I gotta pay for it. So I headed out about 245 and met Emily there at 3. Long movie, we did not get out till 630

Marika left earlier in the day to go visit her grandpa in Visalia. We received a stream of nasty text messages cuz her AC is not working. And she thinks we told her to take her car and not the other. She is wrong. But she is still spitting bullets.

We got home from the movies and I took some time to wash the Fit. In and out. I mentioned the dust, and the Fit is really dirty having been parked down in the garage. I thought a cleaned quickly though Emily later said I took a long time.

While I was washing, Emily was making dinner. I came in at the late stages and helped as I am able. Her recipe, so I stayed out of the way and just provided support.

Dinner was really great. She outdid herself. Not the only reason I married her but one of them.

We are currently watching bad tv. Soon bedtime.

Stayed in bed, asleep, till after 8 this morning. Whoa.

Got paper. Coffee for all of us. Day is like all other days.

Shower time.

Weather sposed to be 105. Feels like more.

The great thing about having a new garage is putting vehicles in it. So, today, now I moved the trailer into the garage. Of course, I have not moved it in 6 months. Which means I got Marika to help. This is the first time I tried to back it into the garage and I did not want problems. I pulled it down the hill and backed it to the door. Then dropped it and we pushed it in. This is why I need help. That and why do it alone?

By now, I was wet and melted from my task. We went inside, I sat inside and cooled off. Small reward.

Went shopping. Home Depot for fans and garden hoses. Then Best Buy for fans because Home Depot sucks.

Grocery store next. Have not been since e left for Maine. Seemed new and strange and expensive.

After grocers, we sat around at home. Put hoses in place, watered. Em worked on air bnb in an angry fashion because their website is horrible.

Marika left for work. We had a snack and a cocktail.

Went to Marika’s restaurant at about 715. Nice meal. She waited on us. She was the only server. So those six tables were hers. And they turned twice while we were there. I feel sorry for her.

Back home and ready for bed.

Have to stay up for Marika, she wants a cocktail. When she got home she went to bed without. So I got to bed to.

Up early. I am riding to work with Marika. She has a dentist appointment in Dixon. I have to pick up my car from the shop. Btw, Marika is fine. No I’ll effects from last night. Out of the house by 7.

Marika dropped me at 740 at my office. I will need ride to pick up my car.

I worked. My 9am appt was a no show.

Marika got back to my office at 930.

We went to the Croc store. They sell some comfy approved work shoes. The only point of note, my daughter did what I do, she requested a discount. So the clerk gave her 25%. Cha Ching.

We left and went to get car. It was not ready. Come back at one they say. Ya, I have time to come back cuz ur not ready.

Back to the office and Marika headed out for home.

My 11 am appt was also a no show.

Worked till two.

At 2 pm, my 11 appt shows up. Whatever.

My client, had with her a kitten, newborn, she had found a day or two prior. It’s still on a bottle. Very cute and feisty kitty. Next up, taxes for them and their Corp. Done. Good thing, I need $$$.

My 430 did show up. Which kept me from leaving early. I hate that.

Off to home. Marika texted said we can’t eat at her restaurant. Why?

We went out for Italian instead. And it was great.

Back home. Bad tv. Bed

HEY. FORGOT TO POST. WEDS 7/24

Up late. Emily cleaned. Made pillows. I went to ship. Get bbq. On sale!!!!!

Back home. I put the bbq together. Took an hour.

Cleaned. Trash out. Done.

Packed up. Locked. Grabbed our crap. Had time for a lobster roll at former 201. Lousy and over priced. Realized there I had forgotten whoopee pies at camp. Back to camp. Back to town. Stopped at some art store. For stuff.

Off to Clark’s. Off to Hanks dr appt in Waterville. He went in we went for a snack. I went to the bank for cash. Almost got cleaned out by a shitty driver.

Back to Hanks dr. Nail lady.

Into car to Portland. They dropped us at bus. We bussed to Boston. Watched a movie. Dropped at airport. Lyft to hotel. Out to dinner. Back to hotel. To bed.

Vacation will fade, eventually. All the details of the trip will move to deep memory probably to never be thought of again. But that is later. Today I still remember. It’s what makes me realize how my regular days really are.

I was out of bed around seven. I had planned on going to work out. I put on my workout clothes, made coffee and breakfast and was ready. Which is when I realized my car, where the gym key is, is in the shop. In Sacramento. So, no workout. Farq.

Instead, I shifted gears. I stripped off all the workout clothes and…..took a shower. Got dressed and headed to work. Almost. I realized I had an appointment scheduled for 9am. Oops. Gonna miss that one. I called her and we rescheduled it to 3pm.

Ok, I didn’t go to work. I went to the shop where my car is, spoke to the boss, paid him some money and got my key. Then I went to work. Some things are more important than work.

Once I was set with the shoo and car then I went to work. My first day in three weeks. How not exciting.

I got to the office by 11. It was not an exciting homecoming. It felt as though I had never left. Carol echoed the same sentiment.

So, I settled in. I have a short day due to 3pm appt. an hour into my short day and a client stopped in. He had a few things to discuss. Then he wanted to take the whole office to lunch. I begged off, the others were gonna go, then they said no cuz I wasn’t going so I said I would go and then everyone said no. So I went to lunch with my client and no one else went. This of course burned off an hour of an already short day. I mean, I do like free lunch and all but I have a lot of work to do. I would rather do it.

Back from lunch I had about 45 mins before I had to leave for my 3pm. I did not squander my time but you can’t really get going in such a short span of time.

I got in the car at 215. Traffic can suck so I am leaving early. Glad I did because I arrived at exactly 3. Just lucky I guess.

I am just getting a haircut. But, not just a haircut. Haircut and the last six weeks of gossip. I went so far as directly asking for info from my hair cutter. I like gossip.

After haircut I went across the street to my other clients office, a real estate broker. She has even more to say about the locals we know. I got a real fix on gossip. Lots more going on than I could imagine. Sadly, I can’t talk because this would be a direct line back. Sorry.

When I finally left Dixon it was so late in the day I just headed straight home. It took two hours to get home. Traffic was slow, to say the least. Which I just did.

Evening was the usual. Only difference is Marika now has a job as a server at a local place in Old Town so she is out at work some evenings. Tonight is one of those.

We had dinner, just the two of us and went to bed.

Emily woke up at 2 am and Marika was not home. And we had no phone call. We pinged her phone and she was supposedly still at work though the restaurant had closed at 11. Of course, Emily panicked. She did not answer calls or texts. Emily decided to drive downtown. At about this point, pinging her phone showed she was moving, getting closer to home. We sorta felt better.

A few minutes later she showed up in an Uber. Drunk as hell. I was inside, saw the car arrive, and leave. I went out to the driveway and she was lying face up in the middle of the driveway. Drunk.

Well it turns out she had gotten off work at 11 and gone out for drinks at a bar across the street. This is why pinging her phone showed her at work. I had to damn near carry her into the house. It was 230. We were supposed to be up at 6 next morning, her for dentist and me for work. What fun.

Would have been nice to receive a call so we could avoid panic and worry. Kids are a pain, you know?

I got her into bed. I went back to bed. And tried to sleep

Definite last day of vacay, so it goes. We are up with the chickens. Actually, I had to wake the chickens. It’s early. Fortunately, the in-room services include a coffee pot. Oh boy. The white foil packet says “coffee” in bold letters. Not even good enough for a generic name. And it was every bit what I expected. Hot, brown and liquid with packets of whitener (no milk) to make it taste better. Sure. I had two cups.

Em and I got showered and packed and to the airport early. Early is her idea, I would have slept later. We arrived at our gate over an hour early. Security was quick even though they had to inspect my snacks to be sure there was no contraband. I am willing to bet they have tons of snacks in the back and they laugh at us while they scarf them down. That’s assuming a TSA agent can laugh. They may be too stupid to get the joke.

So here we sit, Emily is working on a letter of intent and application to Auburn USD. Everybody cross your fingers. She has the process well in hand, though the technology seems to baffle her.

I am doing this. For you. And it’s work too. I have to be awake and alert. And try to pay attention for anything of interest. In an airport, early, that’s a big job. All around me siting, bleary and dull faces, some lucky ones asleep. Soon, all of us will be on the plane looking exactly the same.

First boarding has been called. Also, plane has no WiFi. Don’t care. Planes have shit wifi anyway so what am I missing. I don’t put my phone on airplane mode anyway, which helps. As much as I have read on this issue there is no real connection between cockpit communications and passengers phones. They just don’t interfere. Of course, it does eliminate obnoxious phone calls and noisy phones. Mines on silent. Remember in the future to ignore your stewardess when she says shut down.

We are at 10000 ft. Big whup. The flight attendant née stewardess has just announced we can use approved devices. And I am. Assuming this is an approved device. I have no idea. I also don’t care. That’s a bad combo for compliance. Right now I am looking for coffee and a snack. Sadly, not going yet. Not sure where in the sky we have to be before they start cabin service.

Where the hell is my coffee, bitches? There is so little to do in an airplane. Even the inflight entertainment isn’t. I hate it. 3hrs 44 mins of pure boredom. Oh so fun.

Ok. It’s been two hours more. I got up a couple times to get coffee. So much faster. Southwest serves very good coffee. I went to the can once. Other than these things I have been reading. It’s all that keeps me sane. I don’t sleep well in planes unless I am totally exhausted ie 24 hours no sleep. That works.

So reading it is. The approach and landing, after 4 hours, was mundane which I like. The deplaning process (in English, getting off the plane) was very slow but smooth. One more leg to go.

Here in the Austin airport there ain’t much. This terminal has about as many bars as eateries. We looked around and ended up at Earl’s Tacos. Named for Earl Campbell of Houston Oiler fame. I did not have tacos. I had brisket. The food, as in most airports, was ok. And way overpriced. Two plates, $28.

Also a little retail to look at. 10$. It’s a habit. Easy to call. And a fountain drink. $4. It continues. I hate airports. Plane leaves in 1 hour. So we sit around for an hour. Line up Southwest style, by number. Numbers assigned in some evil way to insure you will sit in the back of the plane.

So we line up at appropriate time. And board. Turns out the plane is half full already. We get the very last row in the plane. Southwest hates us.

Flight normal. Ten minutes of bad turbulence. But, normal. I was served a drink of choice. Water. They passed out snacks. Lorna Doones. Four hours of extreme boredom follow.

We landed. I’m in last row. Must wait forever. Until I qualify for Medicare. Took so long I got to watch the guy open the back doors and someone came in and restocked. That was cool. I never knew there are no refrigerators in the galley. Just drawers full of ice. LOTS of drawers full of ice. Some drawers were drinks in ice. About 12 drawers of various sizes by my count. Also drinks of an incredible count and variety were brought in. And lots of garbage hauled out. The detritus of civilization. Fun to watch.

So it took the people in front of us on the plane took 20 minutes to get out of the plane. Yikes.

Marika was waiting for us at the curb once we picked up our luggage. Bella, her friend and our pet sitter, was with her. We had a nice ride home. Marika drove. Emily was scared. So it goes.

We had many things to talk about. We have been gone three weeks, but, as usual, Marika is not very forthcoming. Bella is and she barfed up the info. Nothing serious.

We stopped at the butcher shop on the way. Got a marinated tri tip for tonight. And some meat sticks. For the kids.

Off to grocers. Picked up our Rx and groceries we need for now and tonight. And fruit for cocktails – it is Natl Tequila Day. So it’s a must tonight. Must drink Tequila.

Got home. Finally. Settled in. Said hi to the animals. Unpacked. Looked at mail. Reacquainted myself with my home.

Best of all, I finally got to see my garage. And my workshop. Those are the new additions to the homeland while we were away. The garage is humongous. It will fit the trailer and all three cars. With room to spare. I am a golden god. Also, the workshop at the back. You thought I forgot. I did not. My new workshop is beautiful. And spacious. And now I can move everything into it. And space is freed up and everyone is happier.

Ok. Got the grill heating up. And I made margaritas. Which became three rounds of drinks. Not for me. For Em and Marika. They drink too much. I just finished making another round, it’s 845, and I am ready for bed. They are drinking. Something these women of my family have in common. An inability to figure out when to stop. Not my problem. I stopped as soon as I realized they were not going too. I am not stupid or crazy. Or devil may care. A man has got to know his limitations.

We are sitting here, they are drinking. I decided to get the last of the ice cream cake from the freezer. Ever so slightly freezer burned but ice cream is ice cream. So we enjoyed Randy’s? birthday cake. They had theirs with the cocktails. I had water. Limitations.

I hope we go to bed soon. I am very tired. These two are drunk. Why am I forced to endure drunk women? I must have been bad in a previous life. Or maybe this one. Not sure.

Emily just mentioned making the bed. And then went to go pee. Then dipshit stood five feet from me and peed on the rug. That would be Jax. The worthless fucker. He will be wearing a diaper tonight. Asshole.

It’s getting close to bedtime. I am going to go make the bed. And get in it.

Next to last. I would normally rush around doing everything I missed out on the last three weeks but we missed doing everything so no rush today.

Last workout today. We bought two weeks worth of workouts and today is last. Sad and glad.

Of course, this being leave eve, Emily is in the clean mode. So we have quite a bit to do. Tomorrow we have to be out the door by 130 so not enough time then.

Anyhow, we spent time cleaning. The kitchen. The bathroom. The living areas. Good times.

So we spent about four hours worth. Emiky mostly. I ran errands. Went to hardware for paint. Went to post office to ship back all the stuff that does not fit into the suitcases. And a couple gifts. Shipping all this crap is like paying for it twice.

I did have a couple special errands as well. Marika had requested I pick up a couple of whoopee pies for her. Pistachio from Kel-Mat and blueberry from Al’s. I can’t successfully ship them so I have to hand carry them home. I can only hope my friends at the TSA can handle them. Those cretinous bastards tend to confiscate everything. For safety. Right.

Went back to camp to do more work. Love it. Emily was done enough that we decided to go to lunch instead of keep cleaning. Cool. Funny thing, we went back Al’s where I had just been. This time though we got a pastrami sandwich to split and a blueberry whoopee pie to split as well. It’s late and we can’t eat too much because here on last day we have a pressing social commitment. In three hours we are going to the Kadunc’s for dinner. Gotta leave room for that.

Back to the camp. We managed to find enough to do to keep us busy till we went to dinner. About 3 more hours. Emily is fanatical about her cleaning. No prob, I had plenty to do.

We quit working at about six. And went to the last supper with Ed & Helena.

As always, I brought my porta bar for the cocktails and they supply everything else. Like hors douvres, wine, dinner and dessert. They put on a hell of a spread. Tonight’s piece de resistance was the frozen lime pie. Not key lime, just lime. I had an extra piece just to be sure it was as good as I thought.

We hung out after dinner for a couple hours and a digestif or two. Yakked too much. Usual. Said our end of summer goodbyes and headed home.

Tomorrow is the big travel day and more cleaning because we have about four hours free in the morning. I look forward to it.

Check out time is 11am. We were ready to leave by 945. No check out, breakfast.

Off to some such boulangerie of a sort for lukewarm lattes and tasty croissants. Which fully describes breakfast.

This is our last morning in Quebec, and we have to be back for dinner at the neighbors tonight, so our morning wandering here will be cut short. We gotta exit stage left no later than one pm.

After breakfast we got back to the hotel. Checked out. Dumped our bags in our car and commenced to wander Quebec.

Our goal was to find things we hadn’t yet seen in the prior two days. We took about 90 minutes to walk around. That’s about the limit and still get back home timely.

So after that we got the car and headed for the homeland. Drive is about four hours.

About the time we got driving a torrential rainstorm started. The Twin is an old car. Drives fine but the wipers are only 40% effective. It makes driving fun. I can’t see, the car floats on the wet hiway, and the front end shakes. There’s something about an old car.

Well, I have spoken before about long car rides. This one is truly no different. The scenery through this part of Canada is really boring. Nothing to look at. The businesses and houses are dull. Does not speak well for Canada. If I had not just been to Quebec City I might judge all of Canada in this.

About an hour and a half into our trip we stopped at McDonalds. It was fun. Everything looks just like it does in the states. It’s comforting. I stepped up to the cashier, placed my order, and got a blank stare. Turns out, the cashier spoke no English. No one here in the Mcs spoke English. It took ten minutes for “small fry, large soda, and a water”. Then fun part. I pick up my order when they call my number. In French. And the place was packed to the gills. I had to pay attention and really listen. I did manage to get my order.

Back on the road. No excitement till we hit the border. The border was quiet. Very few vehicles and only one border agent. So, one line and one agent doing an overly thorough job equals a slow traverse through customs. Very slow. Four cars in front of us, 30 minutes.

Finally through. First thing I notice about the US is we have shitty roads. The Canadian roads were nice. No potholes, or cracks. The US roads were crap. Falling apart. Why can’t we fix our roads like the canucks? Why?

The 100 or so miles from the border to Madison are isolated and completely rural. Mostly just forest. Every 10 miles or so is a moose crossing sign. So for the entire trip Emily and I had our eyes peeled looking for Moose. We scoured the sides of the road hoping for a sight. Well, nothing. I kinda wonder if the signs are tourist traps.

Well in spite of not seeing any moose, we still got home. Everyone was next door for a last supper. Jason and Tommy, their 4, Hank and Beth and Nancy. The two of us. We really had a great time. Great food and great service. They had the kids do prep and serve. Great idea, use your kids as slaves. The evening was a success and they will all be gone tomorrow. Summer is rapidly coming to an end.

We headed home late and did not stay up cleaning. That will be Monday.