Mosh Glass

Just tried to get the kid out of bed. Claims she is going to go with me to the gym. I am not convinced. Yet. Woke her at 650. Am. Now 659 and she just yelled something. At 650 she said three more minutes. How many times you heard that? Going for my last shot. Wish me luck. Cat is here. Head butting me. Don’t know what that means.

Will wonders never cease? I went in to wake her, she was awake. On her phone looking at “news” items. I think that’s awake. I stepped out so she could dress. Funny how some kid I have seen naked a thousand times can be so shy. Whatever. Cat was still on the couch and I am waiting with her now. 4 minutes. Past my appointed exit time. That’s my daughter.

On Tuesday and Thursday the spin idiots take over the back room at the gym at about a quarter to 8. So I like to get there early so I can get my floor exercises done before them. Now, I am late. Thanks kid.

Marika did much better today than yesterday. She kept up with me for the whole session in spite of being so sore from yesterday. Maybe she is motivated. She asked me how much the trainer would cost her. Sounds like she wants to get in real shape.

So, I woke up this morning and I had a sore throat and runny nose. Perhaps a case of common rhinitis. I hate sore throats. Hate them. The rest, I don’t care. I bring this up now since we stopped for fresh ginger on the way home from the gym. She is making some “tea” with ginger and lemon for my sore throat. What a nice girl.

I did drink an entire glass of the potion. Not much change. But hot lemon water with ginger is ok.

Got ready for work and took off. Marika was back in bed.

Not much on today’s calendar. File tax court petition. IRS auditor in to complete his audit. Of another client. Phone call scheduled for afternoon. That’s it. Like a barrel of monkeys – screaming, shitting and biting all over and on each other in an enclosed space. Why do people call that fun?

Work was same shit as yesterday, perhaps more phone calls but the rest was the same. Fantastic. The only thing I did that was different was go to my old bank. An electronic deposit from the state went to my old account, which was closed 18 months ago. My bank sent it back to the state. But the state can’t find it. So I have to track it for them. California FTB, as stupid as people get.

My sore throat did go away. So maybe Marika’s invention is worthwhile.

My drive home was bad. Traffic really did suck through Roseville. Did not enjoy the trip.

Stopped in Old Town to pick up soup for dinner per Emily’s orders. I went to the Indian place. They have the best tomato soup in town and it’s cheap. Sadly, I had to park a half mile away because downtown was packed. It’s only Thursday.

No worries. Home with soup, 3 16oz containers for $10.25. I said cheap.

Soup was excellent. I ordered some Naan to go with it. Good stuff.

Now we sit and watch bad TV. One hour of Holey Moley and then 40 minutes of Last Man Standing. Ok, not bad. Middling.

What a day. Hear this, Marika finally went with me to the gym. She worked out with me. Yes, I am as shocked as you. I was not sure this day would ever come. I have been trying to get her in the gym for the last forever, it seems. Today is that day.

My trainer took her in on a guest client thing. So she got a full session. Also, trainer decided to destroy us today. Asshole. Not sure what he was thinking, or if he was. I have been working with him for a couple months and can take whatever. Marika just restarted her workouts and has not been training at all for quite sometime. So she gamely tried to keep up. And did really well till the last two sets, floor kettlebell press alternating with push ups. It was miserable. Hard as hell for me. She made it more than halfway and quit. Push ups are murder. And I can forgive her since it’s her first day. But no more of that next time.

We limped out. Actually, I’m sore and fine. She limped. We went across the street for coffee. Even bought trainer Justin an almond milk latte. Everyone knows there are no boobs on an almond tree. And they taste like crap. And what the hell is with a trainer and former MMA fighter consuming almond milk? Weirdo.

Justin did say thank you.

Went back home. Cleaned up. Grabbed the convertible, and hit the road. First stop, Honda dealer to pick up the new cargo net for Emily’s car. Then off. To the bank to deposit a check and take back some cash for me. Then, off to work. Save fun for last!

Work. Nothing new. And boring. Love it!!

No I don’t. Nothing new happened. Worked. Prepared a tax court filing. Don’t do those very often. The rest was the usual crap. Way fun.

Left at 6pm. Thank god. Day over. Had a nice ride home. Traffic very light so I went fast. Got all the way to Auburn and hit traffic just off 80 on 49. Slow way down. No fun.

I did get home albeit slowly. Girls were gone. Marika has picked up dinner and Boudin. Soup and salad. Nice.

After dinner I installed the new cargo net. Amazingly difficult. Amazingly. To me at least.

Going to bed early. Because Emily is. And I do what she does. Bedtime.

The mornings crap went fine. Emily actually got up early enough to leave early. And get to school early. So I get to my workout early. Everyone wins.

Workout was same as usual. And today’s was boring. But I soldiered through it.

Went home, cleaned up, picked up the race car and went to work.

Again, for the umpteenth time, I worked and it was boring. I have an appointment at one, outside the office, so I quit at 1230 and headed out.

The appointment is with a prospective client. A dope dealer, I would say. Nowadays these idiots say they are in a “cannabis business”. Right. Drug dealers. Don’t tell them I said that.

The meeting was stupid and worthless. But in the end, new client. At $1000 a month. Paid in cash, as all drug dealers do. I don’t discriminate. As long as the money doesn’t smell like weed. I don’t smoke the crap although they did offer some to me for free.

After meeting went back to office. Had another tax appointment later same day. Not as exciting as the first one but that’s ok. Not all my clients can be drug dealers.

It is Tuesday so we gotta eat Mexican. So I managed to get out by 515. And head home. We are going toward Nevada City for dinner instead of heading into Auburn. And, the place is very close to our road. We discovered this when we went to Nevada City over last weekend. And, I’d like to say the place was great. But I can’t. The restaurant advertises $3.99 Margaritas on Tuesday. It’s the main reason we went. But, they were out of tequila. Out. There’s a liquor store behind the place. They have a second restaurant to borrow from five miles away. They were also out of mole, which was my choice. I hate this place. El Agave Taqueria. Don’t go there.

After dinner, at hone, I made margaritas at home. Better, cheaper and more volume. I hate that place.

I have been watching bad tv since we got back. Emily went to bed. She turned the TV on. Marika is watching her phone. Not sure what.

Let’s go with bedtime. I can go early too.

According to my friend Cissie, today has been cancelled and I can stay home. I n honor of that, I am going to workout and then go to work. That woman be crazy. Def.

Workout was tough, not sure why. Could be the workout, could be I feel like crap. Or some of both.

Back home, Marika is in bed sick. Sounds and looks like a cold. With drama.

After my clean up I pulled Marika out of bed. I need a drive to the auto shop to drop off the S2000 for LOF and an inspection. Ride back from the girl to pick up my other car, the Fit, and head to Sacramento. I have an auditor to meet. I hate auditors.

Drive was quick and uneventful. Everybody else must have heard Monday was cancelled and stayed home. People will believe anything.

So, auditor called and postponed till Thursday. Yay for that. I live auditors not coming. And my day opened up. I have no more appointments till 4 and that’s just a meet and greet.

So I worked most of the day, considering I arrived at 1230. My buddy Hal had called earlier, he was broken down in my parking lot. He had to catch a ride to his next appointment. He is coming back later to discuss what we are doing with current cases. Getting paid in then would be nice.

My four o’clock meet and greet was nice. Baseball fan. Sadly, the Dodgers. He is a LinkedIn person and wanted to meet to introduce himself and hit me up for new business. I like the guy, so could happen. Very difficult to say. And he is a Dodger fan.

After I finished up, he left and I was out the door right behind him. Gotta pick up the car before 7. Fortunately, no traffic. Again with that Monday was cancelled thing. Maybe Cissie should cancel it more often.

I did manage to make the homestead by 640. Close enough. Got the kid into the car and we were off. I let her drive my Fit, she dropped the clutch twice in the driveway. I don’t know what is down with that.

We made the auto repair by 655. Close. She left with my car and followed closely with the fast one. I had to stop for gas so any hopes of racing her are gone.

Gas filled, I raced myself home. I won.

Emily was home laying on the couch. Marika has already gone back to bed. Guess they heard about cancellation.

Em and I walked down to the road for the mail. Not much there. Good exercise but nothing of consequence.

We ate Friday’s leftovers for dinner. Marika ate soup, she is sick and miserable. I think soup helps.

A little bad TV followed. And into bed early.

Today is a day off, though I am doing linen wash. That’s not work.

Nevada City appears to be our destination today. Emily is, unfortunately, doing some school work before we go. If she gets stuck in that plans could change. I am sitting around. Not doing much. I might go do dishes, that’s an everyday. But am really trying to do very little. A day off.

Ok. It’s an hour later. Emily is still doing her “twenty minutes work”. I did some more laundry. Fortunately, nothing out of the dryer yet, so no folding. That’s real work. I did do the dishes. Put away a ton and washed very few. Love it. Back on the couch watching Emily work. TV off, just as I prefer. A fawn just walked by my window! Cool.

Well, we finally made it out the door right around noon. Closer to 1230 actually. Surprise.

Headed down the road and made a LEFT turn on 49. Probably the first time ever. We have not been to Nevada City in over 20 years. Before that, we frequented it, sort of. Christmas visits, overnight stays, the like. For some reason, we quit going up. So today could be nostalgic, if my memory serves. I’m about to find out.

The drive is about 22 miles from our turn, close enough we could go for dinner on a whim. That we will have to try. So we were not in the car very long, it was kinda fast, pulled off at the Broad St exit, I remember, and found street parking almost immediately. This is working out. That’s about the last thing that felt familiar.

We did what we usually do when we go somewhere. We wandered around. Up and down the streets. In and out of local retail establishments. Town is too small for big retail chains so all is local. That is fun because you never know what you are going to get.

The walkabout was interesting. I did actually remember a few things, mostly buildings, now housing different businesses, but I do remember. My favorite place, Broad St Furniture, went out of business 15 years ago. That’s too bad. The rest of the places were very similar to each other and I was quickly bored with the retail. We stopped at a nice place, for coffee, very nice. At the end of the day we had nachos at a Mexican place. It may not be new but I don’t remember. Food is overpriced. Good, but pricey.

And drive back home. It felt like a race. Not much traffic and we were there. But, Emily decided to go find the golf course near our house, for reasons unknown. And drove around the neighborhood behind our hill. Again, not sure, she just wanted to go looking. So we extended our drive with a drive around.

Now we are home. Back to doing laundry and the like. Some people are stopping by soon I hear. I think they are lost. Oh well. Ok. Weren’t lost, were out front. Friend of Emily’s and her daughter. Visitors are awesome. But they stayed 2 1/2 hours. Which is good and bad. I have things to do. Chores. And, Nice people, I like her and her daughter , and it’s rude to do other things while they are here. But I got chores. Too bad for me. And I can’t do chores. Good for me.

Finally, they went home. Now I get chores. I switched the laundry and started the bbq. About an hour or so late. So we have a later dinner than we wanted. Not so bad. I am going to go put the meat on now. Tri tip been marinating for two days. I hope it’s awesome. Smells awesome. The bbq is somewhat aggravating because it is making me remember last nights cigar. Not good.

Last Man Standing is on. My favorite. While I wait for my tri tip. Soon. I’m ready. The show is one of the new ones with the new cast so it’s not very funny. I watched anyway. Funny or not, at 9 the old one is on followed by a second one. The old ones are funny.

I am going to bed in under 20 minutes. Promise. Before the kid gets home even.

What to do on a day off? Sleep in three hours late. Up at 830. Yay

Then you do all the usual morning chores. Only take your time. Then you go wash all the cars, 5 and it takes about four hours. One of the six goes to quick quack. I don’t wash that one.

That was the morning. I know, fun. Once done I took a shower. Like I needed one. As if.

The rest of the day? Errands and shopping. Home at 630.

We went to Eyeglass store, car repair, shoe repair, clothing shop, new bottle shop, art gallery. Lots of places. And grocery. And Target. Busy day. And Emily complained all we do is this crap on weekends. And she is driving.

So, home at 630. She started dinner. I made cocktails. It’s my job. I took the drinks out to the porch. Invited Emily’s. And sparkednup my Cohiba cigar. Cuban. Gift from an acquaintance. Emily joined me. Nice evening, cigar and cocktail. Emily brought dinner out. Opened a bottle of red, and had dinner. Beautiful night. Nice meal.

Now, after dishes, we sit inside. Emily is asleep. I type. I can see my future. Wake her up, bedtime. It’s about time.

Not exactly. It’s just Friday.

The morning was a thrill a minute. If you think making coffee or packing a lunch is thrilling.

Today I got up immediately when the alarm went off. I have a 10am appointment with an IRS agent. He would like to audit a recently ex client. Haha. I don’t have to be my normal self. I don’t care what happens. He is already a former client. Actually, I still have to do a good job.

I am up early because I want to workout as usual, but still get to my appointment on time.

Marika again begged off going to workout. Again, not surprising. She does claim, agin, she will go with me on Monday. Wait and see.

Got my workout done. Which took a bit of work. I did not have an assigned one so I had to improvise. Ran a little long.

Ran home. In the car. Got ready and out the door. It was at this point I knew I would be late. And I was, about 10 mins. But it was an IRS agent waiting so screw him. At least I arrived.

We did the usual, sat and chatted about the client and other shit for an hour. Then I gave him a place to sit and five bankers boxes full of crap to look at. Time to ignore him. He left four hours later. Back on Monday. Yes, auditors ARE that exciting.

I did have an all day, damn near, visitor. My friend and associate Hal came by around one. And stayed the rest of the day. He did not seem to have much to do just a couple things. But I guess he wanted to hang. If a friend needs it, u give it.

He left close to five. So did I. It’s late and we are goin out to eat. At Tin Lantern which is a family fave. Prob the six dollar cocktails are why. I’m home. Been sitting here waiting for Marika. Em is asleep in the chair next or me. What else is new? Marika is still a ways out. I’m anxious.

So I blog a little. Play with the cat that won’t leave me alone. Waiting.

Finally, she is home. I wake the wife. Groggy, she makes it to the car. I have to drive. Her car. I don’t like it. I almost feel lost driving to the place. She always drives. I don’t pay attention. Hence my confusion.

We do have a reservation which is handy. We arrive about ten in front of it. Table already ready. Drinks and appetizers! Except our waiter doesn’t show for 10 minutes. Almost went to the bar and ordered direct. We are straight now. She managed to get here. We ordered straight through to the entrees.

Strangely everyone was quite talky tonight. Lots of things to say. That’s fine, just usually quieter.

Our food and drink were good and worthy. We relaxed and ate and drank our fill. Our fill did not include dessert and we were also unable to finish our entrees. Those will go home.

Emily drive home. It was faster than the drive there. But she always drives so it makes sense. Got home and we all were ready for bed. End of a long week. We do hope to sleep in. Please.

Wednesday, known as back to school night in Dixon, was not super exciting. Most of you know my days are scintillating even electric. This was boring. I worked out. Went to work. Did very little. Went home. Marika and I made burgers for dinner. A little veg on the side.

Emily got home about 8 pm. Parents satisfied. We hope.

All fed and day done. Yes, I’m thrilled as well. Thrilled I sez.

Thursday. Again, for the third day in a row, I tried to get my daughter to go workout with me. Mind you, she asked me to do this. So far, today is the third day she did not get up. That’s a strike out. One more and it’s a golden crown. Let’s hope she gets her ass up tomorrow.

Today I did manage to get her up after my workout. I took her out for coffee. I’m a nice daddy. After coffee, I went to work. Marika went back home. I imagine to go back to sleep.

Today is a special day. Why, you say? That was you, wasn’t it? Anyhow, today I have an appointment to take Emily’s car to Safelite for a new windshield. I have glad coverage through my car insurance co. I called them a month ago and made my appointment.

So instead of going to work, I drove to the shop. Where I found out Safelite had no record of my appointment. Wtf? So the counter guy spent five mins in the computer and found me from prior visits. But no current. And he said he could not get the windshield today. I went outside to call the stupid assholes I had set the appointment with. After a time on the phone, the operator found my appointment. He had no explanation why it was not sent to the shop. I asked to speak to someone who could explain. The moron transferred my call. It disconnected. I called back. Next gal stayed in the phone till the call transferred but it ended up in the exact same call center as the first call. I called again. Third person did not transfer my call. She took my number so her supervisor could call me. That was 1145. Ten hours ago. No call.

Good news, all my calling busted loose the info. Shop received it. And, they had a windshield. I win. Sort of. They took the car and I took a Lyft. To work. Tried to forget the glass shop.

I have only one appointment today at three. Otherwise, work and a phone call at two.

So I got to work. Got a text, the ADP guy needed to come by and bring my contest prize. A solar charger. Cool. He also had a Cuban cigar for me. I do live right. He also had an attractive offer on referrals which will pay good money IF the referrals are good quality. I have to buy the referrals and he does the work. And it should pay off.

Had to have my 2pm call with mr ADP there. Kind of a combo. My 2 call was my marketing lady so I pay her. She did not get the usual attention from me cuz I had the other guy there and a few other distractions.

Not so with my 3 o’clock. A prospective client. I chased out the two o’clock and met with the almost a client. Just an aside, all my employees left by 3. Great. I need a ride to the shop at some point. About two minutes after the appointment arrived, everyone left and the shop called. It’s ready. Fortunately, my appointment said he would give me a ride. Cool.

I reviewed his self prepared tax return and pointed out audit issues. For an hour. He have me a ride to the shop, i tried to not charge him for the appointment, and he gave me some cash anyway. Cool.

I got the car and went home. Too late for work.

Emily and I met up in Old town. I realized that was where we could get Emily her postcards. I had been all over town this week looking. I figured correctly. The tourist joint in Old Town had them.

While there we wandered thru the weekly street fair. Fun. Nothing too exciting.

I went to the local wine bar, I have a membership and my bi monthly bottles were ready. Cool news, they were having a whisky tasting tonight. Emily went home. She had groceries in the car. I stayed and tried the whiskeys. It’s free for members. I ended up with a bottle. I’m a sucker.

Home. We made dinner. It was fine. Bad TV. I had to leave at this point and gas up Emily’s car. She has no time in am. Back home. Bed.

Finally, my first workout in four days. I hate missing the gym, for whatever reason. Marika has been telling me for the last few days she is going to go with me to workout. I have not held my breath. This morning, she could not get up. Turns out she had gotten quite drunk last night and could not drag herself out of bed for a workout. And tomorrow, well, she has another excuse to not go.

Took the convertible to work today. Remembered to stop for coffee. Found out Missions Coffee now has cold brew. Pricey, but it does taste good. And off to work. No fun. Like always.

Work lasted far too long. Time flies when ur having fun. Need I say more.

I had plenty to do today. Tax returns amongst other things. Usual admin crap too. I am sure my day will be full and I will not leave till well after 5. I need to win the lottery.

Left the office around 6. Surprise. I had discovered, during the day that my glasses frame was semi broken. So, instead of going home, I went to the eyeglass store. I just bought these lenses and used my old frames. Anyway, the guy at the eyeglass store found a new pair of frames for me. The old were not repairable. He popped the new lenses in and gave them to me. Free. Nice of him.

Now time for the best part of a Tuesday. The Mexican food part of Tuesday. Emily has picked up nachos, Chile verde, costillas de puerco, and a couple burritos. Is that a feast, or what? I ate the costillas. They are spicy and have nopales in them too. Tasty.

The girls decided to go to Tuesday trivia, one day was not enough I guess. But they are taking two cars. So they can’t get blind drunk again. Talyr is heading home after. I am sure they will both get home late.

Emily and I sat in front of lousy tv and ate ice cream. The orange and vanilla kind. A nice end to an overlong, boring day.

Monday is so blessedly wonderful. I love awaking to the sunrise and birds singing. At 530 am.

This morning was a morning like any other. Except no workout. Because the delivery guys will be here to swap out our dresser. As you may recall, the original was damaged and the manufacturer sent three new drawers. Great. They did not match. Manufacturer sent a new one. And I must say, it looks better than the first one. Thank you, Hooker Furniture!

This time the delivery guys were not so great. I mean personality wise. The young guy was unpleasant, to me and the other guy. The other guy was much older, nice enough, but all over the place like a dog chasing a squirrel. No worry, job done well even with the floor show.

And they arrived at 730 so that means no workout. Tomorrow back on track and Marika is going. She says. I do go early and she verified the time again today. I did not hear complete buy in.

I drove to work but stopped at the hardware store for a decorative not. Could not match it but got one same size. So at least my nuts will fit and be tight. For those who are worried about my nuts.

Next stop, shoe repair shop. The one that actually repairs shoes. Marika’s slippers needed a glue up, and they did a fine job. Well worth the $6 I paid.

I managed to forget picking up another cup of coffee. Go figure. Although I usually half sleep the drive down, today nothing. Maybe thinking of coffee woke me up. Pleasant drive.

On my swift travel down the hill, very little happened. I did finally get a call back from our RE agent, Kary. She is selling our land for us and I was checking in and goosing her a bit. I pay the mortgage every month and want it gone. So a little nudge just to remind her. She also had a plumbing referral for me so I can get started on a few of the projects we have around here. My regular plumber has basically quit on side jobs. Butthole.

I spent most of my workday on one tax return. Of course, seven returns feed into it which makes it quite the job. I billed about $5K today. And I’m not finished yet. It pays the bills.

I also had to make a call to a client who is very unhappy with how my worker Walker(haha) has been talking to her. I decided to switch reps for her. She is important and sensitive and I like to take of her. And all my clients. The fact she pays me more every month than any other client is not the point. Really. She was happy when I was done chatting with her. Let’s keep it that way.

Back to the grindstone. I worked till 5 on the return and went home. The drive was bullshit for the first ten miles then broke open and it was speed all the way. Love it.

Marika made some pasta with fish for dinner, it’s about ready and smells great. I am gonna go sit. At the table. Since she did everything. Hey, I wash dishes.

We enjoyed a fine meal. Marika insisted on opening a bottle of Chardonnay and since it was open…we had to drink some.

Marika and her friend Talyr left for trivia night, some bar in Davis. They are meeting friends. As they do every Monday.

I did finish the dishes. We had a little ice cream. Now it’s bad tv time. Reruns of failed sitcoms. From ten years ago. Not so good.

But I’m doin it. Then bed.