Mosh Glass

It’s Easter Sunday. And the bunny did not disappoint. I got a basket of nice things. As did my lovely bride. I’m glad the furry little bunny can still find us.

We did not have a special breakfast. Just the usual we eat everyday. No newspaper again. I have sent more unfriendly emails to the Chronicle. I would call but all my calls are routed to the Philippines and I find they are unable to fix problems from 3000 miles away. I need to speak with the native English speakers in SF. They fix local problems. Of course, they like email and not phone calls. I hate them.

We did not have much going on today. Emily spent a couple three hours cleaning and rearranging her closet and other spaces. For the life of me, I can’t remember what I was doing while she worked. Neither can she. Like I said, weird.

Once Emily was done we went out to run errands. Nothing to exciting, we wanted to go to a nursery in Rocklin Emily had been to. It’s about a 15 mile drive there and I know once I have been there, I never need to return. So worth going.

I thought of the nursery, Green Acres, as a Nugget grocery is to all other grocers. Overpriced on everything, but lots of selection of high quality products. Just the kind of place I avoid. We did end up with some yard art, not too pricey.

We did need to do some planting when we got home. We did check out soil prices at Green Acres and no. All dirt to expensive.

So back to Auburn and we stopped at Home Depot. A nice place with a large nursery full of cheap product. Here we got all the stuff we really needed at a fair price. I was much happier to buy dirt and plants here.

A quick stop at Safeway, and we headed home.

At home we planted our plants in our Grocery Outlet pots I bought a couple months back. Cheap pots. Again, the kind I like. Did not take too long, maybe an hour and the pots look great on the front steps. We are that good.

We had Bbq dinner on our mind. Exact same dinner as last night, for the most part. Since we have working bbq’s for the first time in forever, we are using them. And maybe over using but I can’t say I care that much.

Dinner was fabulous again. Must be my bbq skills.

We spent the evening watching fine programs on the television. Well, we did watch TV. Went to bed early cuz tomorrow is work.

Monday. Dragged ourselves up by 545. That’s a mistake for Emily, she will be in the car an extra 30 minutes if she leaves after 630. Not my issue.

I spent my morning feeding and beveraging as always. I am good at it. Though I seldom hear any feedback. That’s ok. I still do it every day. No matter what.

I did a few things around the house before I left for work. Today I stopped at the Tuff Shed place. Wanted to see if Don has finished my plan. Turns out he does not work on Mondays. And the plans sit unchanged from Saturday. Tomorrow again.

Next stop Missions for a cup of coffee. Their coffee is expensive but so much better than anywhere else in town. Satisfying.

Quick drive to work in the race car. A nice sunny day with dry roads is good for the R.

I have three appointments today at 3, 4 and 5. I spent the day doing lots of work I did not do for the past two months. There is lots of catch up to do. Tasks are many and varied and not much fun. Def not very exciting either. But stuff gotta be done.

My 3 o’clock was late. Closer to 315. I met him as I left to go to the bank. What an idiot. He had been outside on the phone and figured it did not make any difference when he came in. My 4 o’clock had already cancelled so I was thinking I had lots of time. But, back in and talk to Brandon for an hour. Then I got to the bank. Which took forever cuz River City Bank is slow. And stupid. I got to pull my work from them. Move to another bank.

So back to the office. Worked more. It is perpetual joy. Speaking of, my 5 o’clock was a no show. Assholes.

Off to home. Stopped at grocer for heavy cream and half n half. I gave Emily an ice cream maker for Easter. Attached to the mixer. Looks easy. But I needed supplies. Remembered I gotta freeze the bowl so no frozen dairy dessert till tomorrow. Gonna be choc chip, Emily’s fave. Then mint chip, my fave, another day.

Tonight was salad made of leftovers for dinner. We did not plan ahead. So this is what we get. Dinner was fabulous.

Never guess what we did after dinner? Oh, you know. Bad TV. For an hour. Then bed. I look forward to that.

I slept in till 9. Now that’s a Saturday morning. We have nothing planned. Well, not much. A few errands, some clean up around home, and general hanging out. A full day.

So what did we do? We had a slow start, breakfast, showers. All very strange to me. I am usually gone by now so time of day and light is strange.

Emily decided to clean the house. I just love house cleaning. Love it. So I went outside and washed my two Green Egg bbq’s. Nasty dirty, both had ended up in storage and were in need of a scrub, in out and grill. Next up, wash four cars. Which I happen to like better. A lot better. So for the next few hours we each did our thing. I did not wash Em’s new Civic. She has a subscription at a local car wash. No sense doing that myself. I added a trip to the car wash to our errands. I washed the other four. Yes, we have too many cars.

About two o’clock we decided we were done. Not finished but done.

We cleaned up and headed out for errands we did not really have planned. But we will do them anyway.

We headed out towards down, down 49. On the drive I suggested we stop at the Tuff Shed store. We are in need of a three car garage plus workshop. The Tuff Shed alternative to stick built is a nice low cost alternative. We are looking for a 3 car plus workshop building. Does not really matter how it looks, we are pushing it to the back of the property so who cares. The design guy has come up with a two garage door plan, plus a window and access door which we hope will be close to $20K. We hope. Plus concrete foundation. Which we hope will be cheap as well. We hope a lot. While trying to get the design done our Tuff friend had computer problems. So he said he would email a quote to us. I hope so.

We left. Had to. Nothing more there now.

I needed to go to the optician. I have three new sets of sunglasses frames that need Rx lenses. There is an Eyeglass World close by on 49. We stopped by. An aside, I went to Stanton Optical on Friday. I am a longtime customer of Stanton. So, hit the local store on Friday around 530. They close at 7. They had me wait about 30 minutes when they told me the doctor had left. Even though the store closed at 7. They said come back later. Their service is lacking. Back to Auburn. I arrived at Eyeglass World at about 5. The manager, upon hearing I need an exam, went directly to the Doctor to make sure he hung out long enough to do my exam. Then they did their usual thing. I got my exam and they made sure I got everything I needed at what I would say was a lower price. No more Stanton.

Next we went to the car wash. Emily’s subscription wash, as you will recall. Not exciting but the car was filthy. After, last stop was the grocery store. Usual crap and some steaks for bbqing tonight on the now clean grill. And a few essentials.

Back home. Unpacked all groceries. Got dinner prep underway. Made the required cocktails. Made dinner, had cocktails and watched bad TV. A day well done. Lots accomplished. Relaxation as well. A fine day. I plan on sleeping in again tomorrow.

Friday is finally Friday. Because tomorrow I will sleep in and not go down the hill to work. Today is my first real Friday in two months. Yay me!

In honor of first Friday, I am going skiing. It’s gonna be 50+ degrees by noon so it won’t be a long day. But, I do get to ski.

So regular morning , left for the mountain at about 745. No traffic to speak of. Got a call when I reached the parking lot. Turns out I have an appointment at 10 this morning and I did not record it in my planner. Oops. We resched to 2 pm. So I am going into the office, which I had been trying to avoid today. That sucks.

Back to skiing. The snow was spring-like, not much ice mostly meltie. I had several good runs but by 1145 it was not worth skiing. Handy since I have the appointment anyway at 2.

My trip down the hill was exhausting. I got to office by 130 but had to stop for a quad coffee to stay awake. I am still tired from all the late nights and early am’s.

My appointment turned out to be a waste. Client thought, without asking, that their three tax returns were done and was planning in reviewing today. Except they were not done. So we had a nice chat about lots of things not tax.

Spent the bulk of the day on admin tasks. Usual blast of fun. I did stay till 5 since I was already there.

Home at 5ish. We decided to go out to a bbq place we drive by all the time. Always very crowded which we think is a good sign though not so well reviewed on a yelp.

Turns out, Yelp is a better judge than the crowds. The drinks are passable, the ribs good as was the brisket. Smoked chicken very much not good. Really liked the beans but cornbread was only 3 out of five. It was crowded though. The crowd looked quite rough.

Back home. Not too late. By recent days, it’s early. I was tired what with skiing, driving and drinking. To bed early with hopes of getting up late. Man am I whipped.

So today, a day like any other day, if you mean yesterday, was not so exciting. Today was just like yesterday. I had an audit at 1pm, same as Tuesday. So I went to the office and worked till about 1205 and headed to the IRS office. Conveniently located not even 10 minutes from my office. Well, not convenient. Just close.

The audit turned out well. Today no push back from the auditor. I was able to charm her. It’s my thing. It does work. Like today.

After audit, nothing special. Worked till 6 because everybody wanted something from me so I had to stay late. Sucks. Left for home just after six. Got several phone calls and had to stop and consult with a client at an off ramp near Auburn. Weird but not uncommon. I’ve done it before. Only took 15 minutes. Called Em and got her to meet me in town for a quick dinner. We went to Pho King Good. And yes it’s pronounced that way. The great thing is my nav system pronounces it that way. Now I can make the nav swear. Funny and cool.

Before I went to dinner I ran a couple errands. First to Safeway for chocolate eggs and kisses. For Emily’s class. Then to Best Buy for Emily’s Easter gift. I will reveal that on Sunday once she opens her Easter basket. That way everyone is surprised. Except me.

Off to dinner. I do love Pho and the place is very good. And the food gets to the table quick as hell. I like that too. I love the meat mix with noodles. All the gross meats like tripe and tendon and other connective tissue. Delicious!

After dinner, home. Bad TV. Put out the garbage. Watered the dog. Usual. And off to bed early.

It’s a busy day today. Most things making it busy are not fun things. Like every other day really. Just busy working.

I was up at 530, as is usual. The chores never change. Knocked those out. Emiky headed for school. I need to get moving and get my stuff done. I have a 9, 10 and 1 appointments. None in the office. Only one of great importance.

I got out by 8 which I thought would be enough time to get to my 9 am on time. It wasn’t. I stopped for a large coffee, which I need as I am still very fatigued from weeks of sleep deprivation induced by work. I hate my job.

My 9am is with Rachel, my esthetician. Personal. In Dixon. Rachel lived in our apartment above the garage at our farm for five years. She was a classmate and friend of Michael’s as well. Her baby daddy just left her about four weeks ago and she is in much better mental health than last I saw her. Smiling now and thinking again of the future.

I was 15 minutes late to see her and she was ok with it. She usually yells at me.

We had a nice time catching up on things like how her daughter is doing, how the child support thing is going (now has a lawyer), her new garden is very nice and she is very proud of it too. Rachel is back to controlling her own life and is better off for it.

Said our goodbyes and I walked half a block up N First St to Becky’s. She cuts my hair. Yes, appointment #2 is also personal. You were expecting something exciting. Becky knows everybody in Dixon so I get a large dose of gossip when I see her. She did not disappoint. And, of course, I am now completely up to date on her family’s goins on.

It’s 1030pm. I’m hanging it up. Too sleepy.

I finished up at Becky’s before 11. I have an appointment at the IRS In Fairfield at 1. So I need to kill time. I went over to my buddy’s tire shop to hang out and get more local news. We sat and chewed the fat for half an hour. Good use of time. We dont have much to say, really, but it’s still nice to visit. I managed to see a few of the guys too. I know everyone in the place.

Had a few errands after. Still lots of time. Went to Pet Smart in Vacaville, it’s on the way, for Rx dog food for Jaxon. Our last, and last remaining, dog. He is 15 and has been in poor, but well managed , health for a couple years now. We find it strange the other two passed before him. He is the sickest. Weird. Got the food. Went to my fave car wash for a quickie and the jerk offs had it closed for maintenance. I hate them.

To IRS Fairfield. Makes you think CSI Las Vegas. Sounds exciting. It’s completely not that. Boring cube farm of an office full of federal employees waiting for retirement. Boring place, boring people. The auditor was friendly enough but not as skilled as I want. She accepted my clients expenses but is trying an end around to disallow them. But, I will be fighting back with a nice written summation of why she is wrong. Nice of course. I do want her to accept my argument as to why she is dead wrong. The other item she is examining will be adjusted but she was not aware how that would work. I tried, gently, to tell her how but she would not accept my suggestions. Because she is stupid and has a fragile ego. Dumb ass.

After audit I needed to race back to Sacramento office to get docs for another audit. I have another ongoing relationship with an auditor over a very large deduction. We have been discussing back and forth for a month how to handle it. And I had a stack of docs due to the auditor today. And they were in my in inbox at the office having just arrived today, last minute.

I was almost in traffic drive time when I left Fairfield so I skipped all planned stops so I could get there in a timely fashion. Kind of a pain.

But, I arrived. Got my crap done and sent. The IRS does not accept electronic submission, cuz they suck. So I have to print all emails and docs, collate them and fax them to the auditor. Old school shit. Good thing I am old school.

So I left early. I mean, after my 3 county travels, I left early. About 4. I called Emily, she was about 15 miles behind me and suggested we stop for wine tasting at our local wine place. I am a club member and get free tastings. I needed to pickup my wine selections as well.

So I stopped in Old Town. Made a half dozen phone calls by which time Emily had arrived. Lots of great parking mid week. Not like Saturdays. We had a very nice time, not too crowded at 5 in a wine bar. They have some booze too. We had our tastes and headed up the hill. Still strange to come home in the daylight. I did not get lost this time.

At home we sat and watched TV until too bored to watch. We fixed a dinner of extreme leftovers. I was trying to get rid of stuff so I went to the extreme of just eating anything leftover. Strange combos but I still like them. And we used up a lot of old food. Now doesn’t that sound enticing?

After dinner, more bad TV. And boring. Until we were too tired and went to bed. Sometimes life is dull. Which I like. But, dull

It’s Tuesday. As all know, I have to be up at 5 to get the kid to the airport. And I want to go skiing. Well I was up on time. The skiing, that’s not working. The road is not closed but chain controls are up. I don’t like to go during storms. So, looks like Friday is a ski day.

Kid managed to get up. She is usually difficult to get moving but she is ready to go back to Hawaii and her friends. That got her up. Emily got up at 530. I did not do the usual chores. Just got things together and we left.

I managed to get Marika to the airport. I just hope she comes home and gets back to what she was doing. If she stays awhile in Hawaii she could end up going nowhere. Emily and I do worry.

So hugs and kisses at the curb in front of terminal.

Off to work. I picked up right where I left off yesterday and had much the same day as yesterday but without any deadlines. I finished the five returns from yesterday. Plus a few more. I checked on all my efiles for rejections and other problems. Not much there. Shared some tequila with Walker. Just the usual day. I got a lot done and tried to leave before five. That did not happen. A couple quick chores came up at days end and kept me there.

I was out at 530. Straight home, very little traffic, nice drive. Emily had picked up carnitas and we made tacos with lettuce shells. Ok, lettuce wraps Mexicana. Tasty.

After dinner, TV time I got a call from a friend from Dixon. Turns out he spends a lot of time in Auburn (new girlfriend) and he is only a mile or so from where we are. Small world. I invited him up to the house but not tonight.

Emily fell asleep in front of the TV. When she finally woke, she went to bed. I am going soon but want to finish here. Which I have.

It’s the 15th. Tax day. Emily’s birthday. Friend Barb’s birthday. Lots going on. Have had several texts this morning. People panic because they have again forgotten what happens every 4/15. Amazing.

I have nine tax returns to process and a couple hundred extensions. The extensions have become very easy with the advent of e-filing, so I will get them done quickly. Also, a few years back the state of CA did away with the extension requirement. So now only one per taxpayer.

Marika is still asleep. She is headed back to Hawaii tomorrow. Says she is coming back soon though I hardly believe it. She is enjoying her life there too much. And she claims it’s not the new boyfriend she met there. It’s the boyfriend, I think all of us adults know that.

Btw, I want to mention something, off topic from the usual. The blog is hosted by Bluehost. Supposedly the best in the world. If that were true, all others must be truly egregious in order to be worse than what I put up with. Just saying. If you decide to blog, avoid Bluehost. Or risk losing all your data. Every once in awhile. I hate them.

I am off to work. We will chat soon. Maybe before we take Emily out dinner tonight.

The 15th, at work, pretty much sucks. I have several returns to finish. I know in advance there will be some that wait till later. But I will try.

I did not arrive any earlier than usual. Why should I? No fun. I have 9 returns to finish for a client. I want them done today. But, I know there will be competing tax returns that drop in and stop me from completing my goal. Problem with the nine return client is the four business entities that feed into the five individuals. So I must finish the four to complete the five and that is a tall order. Today is my lovely brides birthday so I MUST leave the office by 6. Also a factor in getting all done today.

So today was an awful day. Too many phone calls, too many visitors, just a too many day. I did not meet my goal on the nine returns but I finished the four business returns. So I can finish the other five tomorrow. Though I want to go skiing in the morning. And I have to be up at 5am to take the kid to the airport. But that’s tomorrow. I did do estimated payments on the five so my client came and picked up the 4 and the payment coupons. But that was long after I left. Cara stayed and took care of the paperwork with our client.

Usually, this year is same, I reach the must leave point and just drop what I am working on and go. This year I had not finished all the extensions by 6pm when I left. Just figured I would do them online later, after the birthday dinner. When I was drunk and happy. Which I did. Nowadays it’s easy to login to the office server and do just that. Some tech is good.

On the way home I picked up Emily’s cake. Ice cream cake. Tradition for us, covered with mini ice cream scoops, melon baller size. One for each year. She had a lot of balls. This is the first cake from the Baskin Robbins location nearest us. There is a learning curve for them on our cake style. Unfortunately, the balls in this first try were huge and it hardly fit in the box. I will have to force her to do it my way.

Got home, cake to freezer. Is the the Auburn Ale House for cocktails and dinner. A beautiful evening and dinner was great. Emily had the fried chicken which is a fave. And an old fashion, fave of faves. Birthday dinner was great.

Came home and had ….cake, of course. Balls too big but that does not ruin the ice cream. We only used 11 candles cuz that’s all we had.

So we tried to watch TV but we are to full and drunk and tired so we all went to bed. Except me, I stayed up another hour and finished extensions. Then to bed

My God, it’s April 10th! I am almost done with another miserable tax season. And by miserable, I mean putrid. Awful. Ghastly. Disgusting. Gross. I think an intelligent reader has gotten the point I am trying to make. The season was not nice. But, with the end in sight, I do perk up a bit. Sort of like speeding towards a concrete bridge abutment at a very high speed and knowing the car is going to stop. Abruptly. Or sliding down a razor blade toward a bed of sharpened spikes – an abrupt and momentarily painful end. You can see I have given this some thought.

Since Monday I have done nothing but work. At least nothing but work while I was awake. I do get some sleep. Not much.

Yesterday was Isabella Choe’s wedding day. I mentioned her a couple times. She has been our vacation dog/cat watcher for a few years. She and Marika are old friends from way back or as way back as a 23 year old can go. I mean, I go back 40+ years with some friends. That’s way back. Marika went to SF for the civil ceremony and post nuptial partay at Absinthe. That’s a place I have wanted to go to but could never get a reservation. And I am not invited to the party. So it goes.

Monday was the normal day otherwise. Em and I to work, me home late, dinner and bed. Marika got home between 3 and 4am. Ahh to be 23 again.

Tuesday, not much going. Kid was in bed not moving when I left for work. Again, to be 23 again. I did go to work. And I worked as usual. No detail is too boring for me to share. Though the details are repetitive and mundane so no sharsies.

Taco day today. Emily picked up food in Dixon for us. She confused the hell out of me. What I thought she told me was our dinner, turned out to not be there when I got home. She bought burritos which I avoid. High carbs and all and I usually eat Chile verde or carnitas or cachete or the like. High protein and tasty. I ate left over steak instead. Not the taco Tuesday I had envisioned. Maybe I can find better choices next week when it’s the 16th and I have time.

After dinner, off to bed.

Wednesday. Shaping up to be a real barn burner. And, by that, I mean the usual. I do. It’s weigh in, 147.4 or thereabouts. I did celebrate by getting the PB cookie stash out of the freezer and filling the cookie jar. I love PB cookies. Now I have cookies at home and work (yay Cissie!) so I am in good shape. But not if I eat all the cookies. I will share.

Kid is still fast asleep. I need to wake her and take her to breakfast. I am showing her around and trying to get some interest out of her. Maybe buy in to do something. The breakfast place is hiring and I think it would be a good temp job for her if she ever comes back from Hawaii. She intends to go back again in a few days. Not sure for how long. She seems to think Hawaii solves all her personal issues. I think issues are not cured that way.

I did finally drag her out of bed. She did want to go to breakfast. We took the car in to the shop this morning too. Her car. Clutch issues and regular maintenance. I am sure they will find other problems as well once they inspect. Mechanics gotta eat.

We wen to breakfast. Cafe was packed and it’s only Wednesday. I have been here once before and know it’s a great place. Today, the food took forever. Like six cups of coffee while I waited forever. My kidneys were floating. But it did finally arrive. I ordered the corn beef hash which is so very good. Same as last time. Marikas omelet was, perhaps, best she had ever had. Or so she claimed. That good.

Finished up and I took her back to the house. She wanted to go back to bed. Surprise. I went to work.

So, with all the coffee in my system I still nodded off several times while driving to work. I am just tired.

The work day was identical to all before. Met clients. Prepared taxes. Talked on phone. I have written about this. I work on the manufacturing floor of an accounting factory assembly line. It can be dull.

So, left for home late. Had dinner. Bed.

Thursday, it’s Friday am now, was completely identical to every other day. Nothing, and I mean nothing, was different. It could be any day. But it’s not, it was Thursday. Same shit, different? day. I can’t tell.

Thursday night I was home late. Had dinner. Went to bed.

Ahh, Friday. April 12. At least I have something planned that makes it special. We are going out to our new favorite place, The Tin Lantern in Meadow Vista. That’s about 15 mins from our house, to the north. We ate here a month ago and it is a great place. Meadow Vista is a tiny town. You need a one week lead to get a reservayion at The Lantern. I would say everyone knows this is a great place. Fun, great food, great cocktails (and cheap!) nice people. We do love it. Tonight at 815. Sadly I waited till last Monday to reserve and 815 was earliest available. Crazy.

I am going to go get ready for my Friday.

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.