Mosh Glass

If you are lucky, a travel day has nothing exciting going on. No one wants anything to report because it is always bad.

We arrived at the airport plenty early. Found parking in the furthest economy lot. Trouble. We were at the furthest pick up spot for the bus. First two arrived full and did not stop. Uh oh. We were waiting 30 minutes by the time we were picked up. Made the cut off by five minutes. That’s it, all the days excitement.

Off the bus directly to the airline counter. Checked in and got ripped off for a $30 baggage fee. Fun. Went to security, absolutely no line. We were alone. And straight through.

To the gate. About twenty mins till load up. Seats are assigned so no worries. Just wait till called. Which will be last. And we have the very last row in the plane. Why don’t they put me in first? It’s a wonder.

The flight to Chicago, our connection, was without incident. See, Boeing leaves nothing to describe. Had a nice cup of coffee.

Chicago. Had to walk a quarter mile to our departure gate. Awful, isn’t it? I told you.

Our flight to Cleveland was on a commuter aircraft. Kinda the “fun size” of airplanes. They fly different and move around differently than the big boys. It’s more of a sports car aircraft. But, again, no excitement.

Ahhh, Cleveland. Unimpressive. More of a rundown Sacramento. Similar airport, except for age. They had one improvement though, no parking Nazi at the terminal yelling at people to keep moving. That was nice.

Doug, father of the bride, provided a ride from airport to lodge. His sister Valerie. Wow. Talk about exciting. She couldn’t get her nav working so I did mine. She proceeded to make about 4 wrong turns requiring a u turn. One was a five mile mistake. And, she was truly a scary driver. I did not want to say anything but yikes. I was so glad to be in the back seat, that way I could pick up some speed to pass through the windshield at least.

By 20 miles out she settled down and was able to calmly drive. Far fewer cars seemed to help. She did say she could not handle the traffic which in my opinion was not traffic. And, she can’t handle driving, really. Good thing she’s nice.

The drive to the lodge was about an hour. If I had driven, 35 – 40 minutes. I didn’t drive. The lodge is in a state park. Beautiful place, with a lake. But, it’s getting dark and the restaurant is closing soon so we dropped our crap and went to eat.

Well, Nothing special to write home about. Food was fine. Emily had a chicken Brie sandwich without bread. And it was good. I had a maple glaze pork loin which was subpar. It was not pork loin. It was a boneless shoulder cut. Which is not loin. Wrong part of the pig. And overcooked. Fail. But hunger says eat. And they boiled the green beans. Where the hell am I? Ohio? Oh yeah. Also a mediocre glass of wine. California will ship.

About the time we finished dinner, Doug and Shelley appeared. Father and mother of the bride, some of our oldest friends. In tow, Steve Dutra, friend from Dixon. The only other Californian besides us. Everyone else is Texas or Ohio. We win farthest drive. Probably no prize.

So we ordered a round of drinks and sat and caught up on things. Have not seen them in quite some time in a relaxed setting. I saw Doug at tax time in my office. Shelley may have been a couple years ago. It’s a little strange seeing someone after a couple years. You have to get reacquainted really. We lived next door to them several years ago for several years and knew each other to well. Friends and neighbors.

We wandered down to the reception room, first floor of hotel/lodge. And while their, the ladies decided we should set out some of the table decor. Spent 30 mins on that. More tomorrow I am sure.

Time for bed. It’s tiring flying in a plane. And time change and all. More tomorrow.

The littlest things can cause the biggest problems. If traveling by boat 350 miles and you are one degree off course, you would miss your destination by 7 miles. A small change makes a huge difference.

Why do I speak of this now? Well, in the mornings my timeline is set by what Emily’s doing. I time all by her morning as I attempt to speed her out the door and off to work. This morning she was 15 minutes late getting out the door which puts me same amount behind on what I do for myself. And every move just gets a little later. I did all the same stuff and woke up the kid at the same point in the morning but all later. So we end up at the gym later. And more people there. And we have to modify our workouts and it uses more time. And we are later. Which is why I did not set off for work till 1125. All this due to Emily being late. One degree.

My midday drive to work was very pleasant. Sun is out, top is down and freeway is not crowded. Makes for a pleasant drive.

Work is not so special. Or memorable either. As is often the case, I can’t remember five hours later. Has only one appointment, at 4, to fonover a notice a client received from the CA tax idiots. They want more money. Fortunately they are dead wrong. Still, I have to work to make sure my client does not get screwed. It’s a shit system.

A couple other appointments did not show up. Which does not bother me much really. It means I have free time. I usually squander it, but at least I get it.

I left for home at about 530. A short time after my 4 o’clock left.

The drive home was as nice as this morning. Just the right time of year for a drive. Not hit or cold. Just pleasant.

on the way jame, on 49, in Auburn, Emily pulled up next to me. She said later I had passed her 3 times and not noticed her. I don’t believe that. It’s fun to see her driving, for some reason.

Even though we were next to each other, I arrived home 5 minutes before her. I may drive faster. Not sure.

Good news. Marika picked up some dinner for us all. Actually, we had leftovers and she picked up some new top. F ine cuz I ain’t cooking. And it was delish, leftover taco wraps, leftover Asian beef wraps, tomato soup and tikka masala.

After dinner Emily and I packed for Cleveland. Ashley Sanford, daughter of very good friends, is getting married there on Saturday. There you have it. It’s a must go thing. We will be up at 430. Ouch.

Yesterday’s deadline is gone. And forgotten. At least by me. Now I truly have little to do in the office. Maybe I can clean it up a bit.

Btw, I found a couple loose blog entries in my draft folder and just posted them, without any explanation. Hope I am not confusing anyone. If I am, lo siento.

Today is a weird day kinda. I got the usual, food and bev for Em and the pets. Kick her out. Chicken curry soup for breakfast. It works for Indians. Read a little news. Shower. No workout. Why? Today I have plumber and electrician coming over to fix crap and the usual problem, they gave me a window for arrival. Which I hate. Like the cable company – just take the day off for us. It’s rude but rude is how they do it. Right now, I wait.

Sparky showed up before 10. Which is nice. There is still the plumber at 10 to 1. That’s the window, not the odds. So, Sparky. He got there and went right to work. This guy was a little slovenly in appearance and 30 to 40 lbs overweight. Nice guy when he finally warmed up and started talking.

We have quite a few things for him to fix and or install. Off the top he made the patio light switches work together. And fixed the hot switch in the dining room. I had quite a few other items which were new installs like lights on the patio and a new 4 gang receptacle and breaker. Other things too. We realized halfway through he would be coming back to finish up. Maybe next week.

Once the electrician left, all that remained was a visit from the plumber. At 1045 he called, he was 40 to 50 minutes away. Great. Now at least I can plan my day. Here by 1230. I got a call at 1240, his truck had broken down. So I waited almost 3 hours for dick. That is how it goes. They said sorry like that’s enough.

I left for work. Got there by 130 so there is little time for work. I managed to finish a few tax returns and little else before I left at 5. Pisses me off. I did receive a half case of wine in the mail. Cab Franc. Good stuff.

Headed home at a quarter past. Nice drive home. Very little traffic. Everyone was there when I got home.
Marika is making Asian lettuce wraps for dinner. It’s so nice when she makes dinner. I don’t have to do much just wash dishes.

Dinner was great. Very tasty. The new wine was the perfect accompaniment to our dinner. Actually, perfect with anything.

Emily went to bed early and I followed up. I am tired even though the day was short. I am having trouble staying awake. So maybe go to sleep?

Today was not the best of days. We had. I chores and nowhere to go. I was bored for the most part. I guess this is vacation. Home all day. Raining all day. We had nothing planned in the am and I guess I should avoid that in the future.

We do have plans this evening. We are going to opening night at the Maine Intl Film Fest. The movie we will be seeing is called Blow the Man Down. I know nothing about it.

We are going with Ed and Helena. Our plans start at 3 when they pick us up. The festival is in Waterville about 20 miles from where we are. We went to Waterville and stopped at a furniture store, Modern Underground, a favorite of all of us. They and us have spent plenty here on some beautiful mid century furniture. Sometimes we go just to look since we can’t afford all the nice things we see. Helena ended up having a long negotiation over two chairs she loved. They are nice. In the end, no movement in price and she did not buy. Ed told her to do it but she is stubborn. We saw a few things we liked, but did not love. Saw many things too pricey for us too. So it goes.

We left. Went out to the Proper Pig.its a local eatery and bar very near the venue for the festival. I had a passable prickly pear margarita. Mine are much better. Since we had not eaten and won’t till much later, we shared Poutin. It was really quite good.

The theater was only a few hundred yards away, so at about 530 we headed over. The opening night film is Blow the Man Down. I know nothing about it. Turns out it was shot in Maine in winter which has to be tough. Movie being shot here makes it a crowd favorite. It was a thriller with a lot of small town backstory and plenty of twists in the plot. Almost entirely all female cast. I loved it, and I was not alone. After we got the usual Q n A with the producers and such. Fun stuff. We

After the movie, we headed back to Ed n Helena’s for eats and liquor. Some cheese and crackers and a few shots of nice tequila. We sat around enjoying ourselves for quite some time. Late in the evening to was home to bed.

As far as days go this one was the most vanilla.

Workout same. Got coffee after. Shower. Dressed. Finally something new, driving the race car on a Tuesday since #1 car is getting boosted. Always fun to have extra horses under the pedal.

Left for work speedily. That means fast. I am fast because I know what I’m doing. Drive was slow. I daydreamed. Missed my exit. Oh well. Had to go an additional 2 miles and backtrack. I’m fine with it. Get to see parts of Sacramento no one wants to see. Thank god its daylight.

“Late” to the office by 10 minutes. Nothing going on. I like that. I have time to go thru my emails and messages before I jump into work. Today’s tasks were mundane and many. One tax return finished. A couple hits in audit related crap. Two hours in hold with the IRS. I was just saying loudly “fuck this shit” and hanging up and the drone came on the line. Lucky me right? He did not solve my problem in our twenty minutes together, just made it more confusing. Gotta call again tomorrow. Oh goody, more hold time.

My call ended near six. So, after a day of freezing in my fridge of an office, I headed home. Swiftly. Today on the drive, whenever chance allowed, I drove fast and “raced” other cars. They may not have known they were racing, but when they fly by me the shit is on. I had an amusing drive. Got to Auburn, on 49, and I blocked out a Nissan Versa for three miles just so it couldn’t pass me. Now that’s some good times. After he passed way out at the end where the speed limit ticks up, I used my superior top end and acceleration to zip past him. Just for fun. I had to show him what a waste his speeding to get in front was. It’s lovely.

I used Lone Star Rd as a race track once I made the turn off 49. No one out in the rod so I can just GO. And I did. All turns, lifts and 90s as fast as I can go. It’s one of those days.

Emily was already home. And our Taco Tuesday was sitting in the table. She got me a mix of birria and costillas de puerco. A very fine combonacion, no?

I do look forward to my carniceria meal every week. Today it was the high point. Sad. Working out with the girl is everyday as is the race car if I want. But good Mexican food is only on Tuesday’s or if I leave Auburn and go where there are real Mexicans. Like Dixon. Where my homeboys are.

Emily is in the kitchen grinding the glass charms she made yesterday. They are going with her to yoga camp on Thursday. Yes, adults do go to camp. All women so no place to go raid. And no lake for other shenanigans. Not as much fun as I remember.

We are watching bad TV. Some music competition that Emily really enjoys. I like it but like most TV, I can do without it too. Maybe I can go to bed when it’s over. Then I can read a bunch, which, as you know, pleases me.

But, for now, it’s TV. And all the intellectual challenge it brings. All of it.

it’s Columbus Day!! I know some moron decided to call this indigenous peoples day. But, he is a moron. Us Italians still celebrate Italian American heritage day aka Columbus Day. Everyone else can stick it.

As a celebration, Marika and I went to the gym. Today is a big day for me. I have a new trainer. And she has big plans to make me “shake and sweat”. I told her not to hold her breath. She is like 5’1” and 100 lbs. and a competitive body builder. My last trainer was 6’ + and 230 lbs. Quite the difference.

Her workout was different from my usual by about 75%. There were a couple kettlebell exercises and the rest completely new. I had told her I was ready for anything. Which I am. Almost all the exercises were difficult but nothing to challenging. But I admit, I did sweat hard which I never did prior.

I am going to withhold judgment for a few days. Eventually we will see which trainer is best. Pam, her name, is far more enthusiastic.

Emily stayed home from work today. Aforementioned holiday is a day off in her district. She has some things planned but I know not what. No matter. I am going to work, Marika is going hiking in Truckee and Emily something else.

I have the tax deadline tomorrow to worry about. All I will be doing is pushing to get tax returns done. Do I have any work? I had three clients waiting when I got in this morning. 3. Yikes, and none had an appointment. Bunch of losers. I handled them one by one. Took a couple hours. First was fast and easy. Second was my overly needy brother in law. He needs a lot of help. Paperwork is not his forte. Selling equipment is his thing. So I pretty much do everything involving accounting and taxes for him. At least he knows he is no good at it. That does make it easier. For both of us.

The last client left before I was finished with my in law. She called and said she took off cuz she knew “that guy was needy and would take awhile.” Funny. Guess that’s obvious. I told her he was a decent guy just required some attention. She wasn’t mad and wasn’t worried. She dropped off her info for me to do later.

I did quite a few different things after last person left. Many varied and sundry things. Scanned and sent a few edible forms. Need signatures to file. One owes me a very large sum and he is filing 9 tax returns. I receive his refund direct so I interested in his signature.Emily has called a little earlier and was holding diner for me and Marika. She was not yet home. By 730 I was out the door with three returns worth of info to prep after dinner.

Marika was home by the time I got home at quarter past eight. Em had tacos ready to go plus a plate of cookies. We got table ready and went right for dinner. Food was great which is what happens when you leave Wm alone all day. A good outcome.

Immediately after dinner I went to work. Has to finish, and did, the 3 returns I brought home. Actually, one needs plenty info and I can collect in am. Other two are done.

Everyone was in bed by the time I finished. Sad. But I’m in bed now. Tomorrow will suck I’m sure.

Well, I slept in till 9. Which is nice. But it appears Emily got up at 8 which seems kinda mean. If she had stayed in bed, keeping me warm, I might have made it to 10.

Of course, she got up early and walked down the hill for the newspaper. And made steak and eggs for breakfast. I guess I should forgive her for getting up early.

We sat around eating and reading the paper for an hour or so. A good use of our time. Marika finally got home. She went out last night and did not come home. I presume too drunk to drive. She came in for breakfast too.

Emily decided we should go to the movies today. So after we got showered and dressed we headed out to the movies. Strangely we have a 10 screen multiplex here in Auburn. I am surprised too.

We went to the theater and bought tux for the next movie playing. Turns out to be Joker, starring Joaquin Phoenix. Turns out to be a creepy and weird freak show. If I’d known I woulda watched something else.

After the strange movie we drove to Roseville to see some furniture. Then I had the pleasure of going dress shopping with Emily. She needs an outfit for the wedding on Saturday. Our old next door neighbors daughter is getting married. Fun. In Cleveland. Not so fun. And it involves airfare and a hotel. Way no fun. But we don’t get invited to many weddings and we love Ashley so we have to go. And if there is a party, there has to be a new dress.

Strangely, Emily found a dress. In the third store we visited. I, on the other hand, will wear clothes I already own.

Back to auburn. We went to the grocers, mostly for dinner supplies. Not a long visit, just enough.

Back home finally. We made dinner. A curry chicken vegetable soup. Very good. Not much else happening really. I did some tax work, the deadline approaches. Emily watched TV. And fell asleep. I hope we are in bed soon.

Its Saturday and I did not blog Friday. Sorry to those of you who expect every day. Sometimes, no.

We did go out to dinner last night to Club Car. Marika even joined us, a plate full of steamed clams late, having gotten off early. When Em and I got there it was a 35 min wait. Bar was full. So we walked up the street for a cocktail. The bar we went to was quiet and nothing going. We got drinks and about 3 minutes into those the other place called and said table ready. Great. It’s tough work throwing down a double rye old fashion quickly not to mention Emily’s margarita. But we managed.

Back to Club Car. We got our table, sat, and ordered aforementioned steamed clams. I got another drink. I have notice something. I am very good at drinking only one drink. But, I had a double. Once I get that far I note a tendency to continue. From now on, one.

Dinner was great. No complaints. We each had our own car there having come from different directions. So we kinda went home three ways. I went top down since the evening is so nice. Helps to sober up too.

Home. I’m still enjoying the electricity. I took the new generator out of Emily’s car. She picked it up from my Dixon client who sells them. They are a hot commodity right now. Can’t wait to try it out.

Went in the house and went to bed. I’m half drunk and all full.

Em and I slept in Saturday morning. Not much planned. I have to drive to Dixon and give the generator guy some cash. He did me a solid putting me at the top of the list for a new generator so I paid quick.

The morning, once I got up, was the standard crap. Feed animals, make coffee, brekkies, read paper. Shower. Dressed.

After all that, I drove 90 minutes to Dixon. Fun. Saw the man and paid him. His hardware store was jumping. We talked for a few minutes and I took off. Stopped at Starbucks on the way out of town. Their parking lot had 0 spaces open. I had to park somewhere else a ways away. Not sure what’s up with that. But, I got my Nitro Cold Brew to wake me up. I feel better.

Drove to the office. I worked a couple hours. Finished a few tax returns. Grabbed some work and left for home. Can’t stay all day.

Dinner on my mind. I stopped at my favorite meat market in Auburn for a main dish for tonight’s supper. Ended up with a couple choice steaks and some hamburger. Also, fresh teriyaki meat sticks. For the kids. You know.

Got home. Got the steaks prepped. Started the grill. Put the cauliflower tots in the oven and meat on the grill when it was ready. Quite the nice dinner.

After dinner Emily went to bed. I stayed up and finished the work I had brought home. Took two hours. Then I went to bed and finished blogging while the wife snored. End of a fine day.

Today started very early again. Emily got up super early and went to her sisters house to take a shower. Still no juice here. With that no water.

I got up at 730. Did my morning stuff like feed animals and then went to work out. I had skipped yesterday for various reasons. Mostly it’s the missing electricity screwing with my schedule and brain.

Today was also screwed up. Some electric and some other problems. The main problem, my phone did and would not download my formerly downloaded workouts. I mentioned the new phone a couple days ago when I got it. Anyway, I could not download at the gym for some stupid reason. I had to use an old workout I had in my texts.

I managed a weird put together set of exercises. I still don’t feel well worked out. After I was done, I hit the showers here. First shower in two days. It wasn’t refreshing cuz the shower was really not to my liking. The shave after, first in five days, was.

went to see the manager, Kelley, after. Still trying to get my workouts downloaded. Earlier, I had asked the visiting regional manager to help. Also asked another trainer and my new trainer too. Between all I decided to delete the apps and reinstall. Which I did. Did not work. But, the WiFi in the gym was screwy from the power shut down and we thought that was an issue.

So, I left. Went to get my first cup of coffee of the day. About 30 secs out, the WiFi dropped and all the workouts downloaded. It was like magic.

I drove to coffee. The Starbucks was a shambles. Very popular place when the power is out. They had 0 food but I did get coffee. Starting to feel human.

Back home. Took off the sweaty clothes and got dressed. Watered the dog and cats. And headed out to work. The stoplights are still fouled up but a couple more have gone normal. With most businesses back to normal some of the lights have retuned right normal too. It still took 20 minutes to drive hwy 49 to I80.

Got to work in good time. I had a client show up almost immediately and we spent a couple hours getting his return finished. Somewhat complex return with a combination of things – divorce, sale of home, like kind exchange – that make it more intricate and harder to put together.

I did manage to finish. He left with his return. I switched to others. By days end I had completed five more. And made 20 phone calls, sent a bunch of emails and texts. I’m just to busy and popular.

Got a call from Emily. We decided on dinner. Marika flew in from Hawaii and did text me a few times. A friend picked her up from the airport and she went to dinner.

I got a few things done and left for home. Emily called, the lights are on!!! Fucking A! Lights, heat, water!! Life is good. Drive home was fantastic because I knew I had normal life when I got home. The drive through Auburn was horrible. The road work seems to have ballooned. Lots of one lane sections. Orange cones. Lights. Slow cars. In my way. That part, not fun.

house was comfy again. Very nice. Still need freezers to catch up but it’s nice. I get my own shower tomorrow. We are happy. And we hate PG&E.

Marika got home toward 930. Her ride, Jutt, in tow. They were a little keyed up. At least she was. We had a nice convo about Hawaii and what she did. And what everyone else was doing. Sounded like fun. Hawaii is that way.

I next went to bed. Read and blog and sleep. And pet the damn cat.

It’s Wednesday night at 1030. We are still without power here at Chez Vivier. PG&E was kind enough to shut off our power at 1am this morn. Could be out for days. They are worried about fires. The rest of us would like hot water and lights. It’s been a tough day. And I have not had a shower since yesterday. That is not good.

This morning I was up at 530 as usual. Made Emily’s lunch and Jax breakfast and that’s it. No electricity so no coffee or food. Lovely. Emily has to seek her own on the way to school. Power is off all over town so when I left I could not get any coffee. As a matter of fact I had a dr appointment an hour away so had to get moving and never got coffee till 1130. Too late.

After that appointment in Davis, I had two more in Dixon which I managed to get to on time. While I was there I stopped at the hardware store and tried to buy a generator. I thought maybe since we were in a safe zone they might have one. No luck. The owner is going to hold one for me on next order. Does not help now. Will next time. So, it’s one pm and all outside appointments are done. I headed back to the office. I have two more appointments in my day. Then in free.

Trip back to sac was without event. Got to office. Good news, one of my clients paid his bill in cash today. Always welcome. When I got in, Cara handed me a fat envelope full of green. It truly makes my day. I spent what was left of my day with two appointments, both paid, and doing tax returns. It’s a boring existence. I kept on everything until close to seven.

We were supposed to be spending the night tonight with friends in Sacramento. But, Emily went home to rescue the dog from himself and decided to stay home. She called me just before seven and told me. And then said pick up dinner on ur way home. So I guessed that meant I was going to Auburn to be in the dark with her. I thought I was working. Wrong again.

I went to the Annex in the way hone to get takeout. That is where Marika works. I say at the bar, ordered, and had a drink while I waited. Nice cap to the day. They just changed the menu so it’s my first shot at it. Very good. Took 15 mins, got the food, and headed up the hill to my house.

At the house, still no lights. Or heat. Or water. We ate in the dark mostly. Not much fun. Food taste better when you can see it I think. Still a nice meal. We discussed all the problems and what we were doing tomorrow. Looks like my gym is open so I can shower there. Em is going to her sisters to shower. She likes that better.

We went to bed right after dinner. We cleaned up best we could considering there’s no water. And we went to bed.

I spent an hour texting LA Dodger fans and sending anti LA memes as well. The Dodgers just lost the NLDS to the Nationals. I couldn’t be happier. I hate LA. I love when bad things happen to them. And I just love picking on LA fans. This was a fun way to spend an evening. I am going to sleep well.

Good night.