Mosh Glass

We woke up very late this am, almost 8am. We were not in a yurt. This is a Best Western hotel. A very nice one with new everything. Comfortable beds, beautiful fully functioning shower, clean. And only $85 per night. We get to go to breakfast next, which, if the room is any guide, will be fabulous. Fingers crossed. Emily is still getting ready, and has been and will be for another 20 mins. She takes forever. I am not complaining, just explaining. Speed of prep is not her thing. Hope they dont run out of food.

I am sure she is gonna kill me but I gotta add some local color.

Had a fine breakfast, sausage and eggs with yogurt on the side. Coffee left much to be desired. But its always that way.

Off to Pacific Yurts. About 4 miles down the road. Very nice place. I met Tammy at the front desk. I had called last week and she had helped me out over the phone. She remembered me and was glad to see we made it. These guys have 4 yurts set up in various sizes which include the 30’ size we want. We got a far better idea of how a yurt works and how it feels. They are small but we dont need much. We cruised through all sizes and some were tiny. The 30’ size can hold a kitchen, bathroom, one bedroom and a kitchen. And they are way cheap compared to a house. We toured through all of them twice. We sat in the showroom and looked through several binders full of customer photos of their projects. We talked to Tammy. And Kim. We got a good idea of how this will go. So we put down a deposit for a January delivery, first week. Start to build and then move. Crazy. Need to go to the county tomorrow. Those turds want a pound of flesh too. Even for a tent. Blood sucking leeches, thats what they are. But I need the permit so I will play nice.

We were at Pacific Yurts for over three hours. We left for home around noon. It was raining. Rain was he theme for the day because it did not stop till far into California.

The drive was really quite exciting. Lots of rain and big trucks meannyou have to pay attention. Lots if other cars wanted to drive too fast as well. I spent my time staying out of the way. We stopped for gas a few times. Had lunch at In n Out in Grants Pass. They have a statue of a cave man there. I dont know why. Kept driving. Emiky sewed which takes up some time. Stopped for gas. We hit Red Bluff and stopped at Sharis for dinner and a pie shake. Had to settle for pumpkin because, as you know, key lime is seasonal. Morons. I wont go into that again. The rest of the trip was fast because the rain quit and less traffic. One more gas stop. We hit home just before 9pm. We are busy unloading and saying hi to the dogs. Reading the mail. We are going to bed soon because driving is tiring work.

This morning more cleaning of house. From the time we got up till 1230 when we left on our yurt expedition to Cottage Grove, Oregon. Yep, 444 miles and a quick overnight so we can check out how yurts look in the wild. So to speak. Maybe even buy one. We are movin on up to the north side. Cool. I just gotta drag Emily to the car. She wants to continue cleaning.

Well, what do you say about a 446 mile drive up Hwy 5, through northern CA into Oregon? You say, at least it wasnt a drive south on Hwy 5 which is complete and utter boredom. North is visually interesting at a minimum and far less traffic. But, still, there isnt much to write about. And since I was doing all the driving its not as if I can take note of all the sights. As a matter of fact, I keep my eyes on the road and dont see the sights. Even less to talk about. Well I did stop for gas twice, once early on in CA and once in Oregon where a nice lady pumped my gas for me because there is no self service in OR. Thats because its so dangerous to pump your own. I am always hearing about someone who blew up or set on fire a gas station because it was self serve. You know? Ok, no. OR is just a bunch of freaks. We stopped for one pee break as well. Emily refused to use the facilities there. She has her standards. We saw many deer on the side of the road. I mean Emily did. And she told me. I recognized many places I have been before. Thats cool. We stopped in Roseburg OR for dinner. Emily found a great Mexican place online and we stopped there. I had some very good Poblano Mole with homemade tortillas. Emily went with her fallback of enchilada and chile relleno combo. They alao served margaritas and I had one omly (driving) and Emily had a second. They were only $6 each. Not to bad. Unfortunately, Emily over consumed and she had a very upset stomach for the next 40 miles to Cottage Grove. And still upset when she went to bed. I feel fine.

We are staying overnight in Cottage Grove which is where the yurt place is at. About 4 miles south if the hotel. I am really looking forward to finally seeing one of these yurts up close and personal. We will be able to get size perspective finally. Helps with layout and just how you think about the thing. Anyway, i’m excited. Not sure about Emily.

We watched bad TV for about an hour. At least I did. Emily started snoring after twenty minutes. Its how she rolls. I am going to sleep soon. Strange how tired driving can be. Maybe the constant attention and activity tires your mind. I don’t really know. But, still tires enough to sleep.

No lawn to mow today. Cold week, little growth and lots of rain. I like not mowing my lawn. A lot.

Today I went to Vacaville after I got every usual thing taken care of. I need to be sure I have enough advent gifts for Emily to get through most of December. Now I have time for online advent gifts ifnIbwqnt to order something. I took about two houes to go to several stores and I found maybe ten to twelve things. Of course, you need 24 total. And then L need to get the regular Christmas morning stocking done. We do a lot of stocking stuff.

I had taken Taffy to the vet in Vacaville on my way to shopping. She needs her anal glands expressed. They can be very painful and ahe can hardly walk. I met up outside Pet Smart with Emily on her way back from yoga and she took taffy home. I continued shopping. My trip was about two hours.

After shopping I went home and helped Emily clean the house. Always a blast. But it was getting pretty dirty. Emily does more of the house cleaning than I do. I like to do what I feel capable of doing. Like dusting, vacuuming and bathrooms. I help but I will never be as good at it as she is.

Trisha, our roomie, came by while we were cleaning. She wanted to olay wih Prints our cat. She went out to the cat atrium for 20 minutes and played wirh the cat. Ahe came inside and ask if I had opened my whiskey shipment. I has so i gave her a shot of each. I think hey may have not been her favorite but she drank them all. She told me she had woken up lonely so I guess a visit was in order.

We are leaving tomorrow for an overnight trip to Oregon. 7 hour drive there and back. We are going to look at yurts. Should be fun. But someone needs to watchbthe animals. So we called Isabella. She is a childhood friend of my daughters. Anyhow, she came by today and picked up the keys and got full instructions. On dogs and cats. She mostly already knew. She has watched them before.

We are leaving at in a few. Going up to Folsom for dinner at a clients restaurant, called Prohibition Wine Lounge. I expect the best. It is a wine bar and they have a couple thousand bottles to choose from. And dinner. Only the best. We just stopped for gas. Got back on the freeway and traffic is not moving. Yay. We are gonna pick up Bob and Renee on the way to Folsom. Bobs son Chris is coming along too. They dont want to drive. Last time we went there with them, they both ended up blind drunk. One uber’d home alone. The other went with us. And they live together. This time the first thing bob said was “are you driving?” Thinking ahead.

The dinner was beautiful and they had an event of some sort going on. They made 300 lbs of paella which served well as our appetizer. Then Janoah, the owner, brought us a bottle of nice French red. Which was followed by three more in succession. Couple Cabs and a Zin. Very nice wine. We had a spread of appetizers and dinner. I had a flatiron steak as did bob chris had clams cant recall what everyon else had. Great evening, nice people, good friends. No room for dessert.

Fortunately, I had spent alot of time with Janoah during his “corporate takeover attempt” by his partners. He won. I was the consigliere of sorts. So dinner was free. Nice payback. I do love a freebie.

Fortunately Emily held back on wine consumption and was able to drive back to bob’s and drop them off. We then went home. I felt kinda off and very sleepy. Glad she is driving.

We went straight ro bed. It was midnite.

I am in the parking lot of the gym. I am hoping Denise shows up. She may already be here, I have not checked. Their wi fi does not work. Not sure how she plans to download to my phone. She claims my workout plans will be sent that way. Will see.

Have no appointments on the books. Have already received my first work request via text early thia am.

Made it to workout ten minutes early. Denise, my coach, was already there. She was acceptably humble in consideration of missing my appointment yesterday. I gave her a light ration of crap for it, every few minutes. Lol. She is able to take a joke. We had fun with my first wirkout and she seems a very able coach with a rather gentle touch to what she is doing. I am not working out again till Monday. She is going to download workouts once they have their wi fi fixed. So for now, I do a generic weight machine workout.

Heading home to SSS. Then off to work. Just set a 430 appointment so now I have a reason to be there.

Quick job with the morning ablutions and off to work. Quick trip with mothing crazy. Yesterday I saw four accidents on the roads. Yikes.

So I worked all day. The big question, what dis I do all day? I can remember nothing. I know I called the yurt company in Oregon. I wanted to go and see their demos. Looks like a quick trip to Oregon on Sunday. I also had a 15 minute call with a house designer for the Auburn house. But the other four hours leading up to my 430 appointment are a total blank. Maybe I should just stay home. It seems I can only remember the important or interesting things that happen. The yurt quest is incredibly important if I want a place to live next year. I want to get the yurt in place so I can start purtingbit up as time permits. Same thing goes for designers and architects. Their services are needed just not as immediate a need.

My last duty for today was my appointment at 430. I had a couple come in to discuss reducing or eliminating their income tax burden. Both are possible. My associate Hal and I double teamed them to help them understand their options. They would be very well served by a defined benefit plan. We also discussed other options as well that will be a good option for them when they start making more money.

While I was talking to them I received a few texts from buddy Bob. He and his girl friend were at a local reataurant not far from my office. They invited me and Emily to have dinner and a bottle of wine with them. Emily was in yoga class in Vacaville and not done till 715. She did not want to drive all the way Sacramento. So after I had a glass of wine with my friends I went home and had dinner with Emily. I picked up some middle eastern food on the way to the house. It was 830 when i finally got home. We wolfed down dinner.

We watched a little TV after dinner and went to bed.

Woke up early today. Ready for my 8am appointment at the gym I just joined on Tuesday.

I managed to get everything done by 730 without hurrying. Surprised even myself. Anyhow, I am ready to get moving on this. Finally. I left the house by 745 which left me a leisurely drive to the gym. I arrived at 759, one minute early, and went inside. First time i tried the key fob and it worked perfectly. I left 25 minutes later because the moron manager never showed up. I hate her. She has ruined my morning plans and schedule. Id like to kick her heinie into next week but I am sure that would be frowned upon. Cant wait to talk to her and get a ream of excuses. I have to make her squirm. I had an early appointment so u better show up. Annoying is not a strong enough word. I have several choice words and phrases in my arsenal to aim at Denise but I am sure Emily would not like me using them. So I will defer.

I am home and will finish up here and head to work. I have other appointments with people who show up.

So it took awhile to finish up here. After all I took no shower prior to my not a workout. So I was home for awhile. Finally got done with everything.

Got the manager on the phone on my way to work. She says she set her alarm early and forgot why she did when it went off. Dick. We reset for tomorrow at 8. I will forgive her, once.

Off to work. I had appointments at 10 and 11 and at 1 in Lodi. Managed to make the 10 close to on time. Was with Hal so he is easy on me for being late. The 11 was with client Billy. He is a very successful restaurateur. Very. Very high net profit. Hal and I are working on a plan for him. We discussed several ideas and he was somewhat overwhelmed. Normal response. We will follow up with more info later. I think he will pull the trigger on one plan or another. Too good a deal for him and saves him a ton of money on his taxes

The one oclock appointment in Lodi was different. First, i had to drive an hour. It was planned as a you sign the contract I brought and I pay you $50k. Sounds easy and all pre agreed to. So why did it take 3 hours for the meeting? In a word, the lawyer. Other guy was meeting with read the one page contract. Complained about the date in it. So he called his lawyer who called clients lawyer. Then all hell broke loose. The two lawyers argued on the phone for a good hour. We were not privy to that. We sat and drank coffee at Starbucks. And chatted. I suggested a fantastic change to the contract that would solve all problems. Did other guy agree? No, he said I gotta ask the lawyer. Numb nuts moron. Anyhow took a full 3 hours for the attorneys to do what? Reword the contract to what I had suggested in the first place. Almost to the word. Of course, they would not have taken 3 hours of my life away from me if that had been the initial decision.

It did finally end. Paid the 50k got the signed docs and left Lodi. Yay. Back to Sacramento. Got there about 515. Did maybe two things and time to go home. Its my turn to make dinner. So I had to leave.

Got home. First move, make a cocktail, it was a tough day. Then got dinner going. Emily called and she was still a long way out. So I slowed dinner prep a bit and sat down and enjoyed my drink with my friends Alex Trebek and Pat Sajak

When Emily got home she prepared the asparagus very nicely, I made her a drink, and we ate dinner. All just wonderful.

I washed dishes and she watched TV. Then we both eatched TV. Nice finish to a lousy day. Ready for bed.

When I woke up this morning I noticed something. It was was too damn early. Granted, common theme, but I am a truthy guy, tell it like is. So, early, and its raining. For real, steady rain kind of raining. No issues, nice to see, ski before Thanksgiving? maybe. But rain is new, have not seen it here since last spring. Guess summer is over.

As always I performed my ritual tasks of feeding cats and dogs and wife (breakfast and lunch). Then coffee the wife and myself. Then when all is quiet, I eat in peace (unless a telemarketer calls and one did) and catch up on texting and blogging. I know I have spoken of these things before but these are habits and habits repeat. Perhaps you all should read The Power of Habits. Very few people give thought to how their days are ruled by habit, and weeks and the entire year and your lifetimes. None of you are spontaneous, give it up.

Speaking of phone sales (see above) I got a call from a foreign (gasp! No!) sales person who wanted to discuss my google business listing. First, I dont care, second is there such a thing?, third you are not working for Google. I nicely told her to call someone who cares and hung up. A little later I checked my phone and saw a missed call from a Healdsburg phone number. Strange. But thought it might be Arnaldo. He is in Napa, but its close. So I called the number back. He works for The Bounty Hunter. They have a quarterly newsletter, they sell rare and distinct wines and spirits. They also operate a restaurant of the same name in downtown Napa. I am in a club of sorts and they send me a couple bottles of bourbon every few months. Anyhow, I had finally called him back yesterday, to thank him for my recent order. Sounds weird I know. They should thank me. But, as I mentioned, in a previous post the order was kinda special. I had a long conversation a couple months ago with Arnaldo about the state of Emily’s wine clubs (she chose wineries, we both drink). I was complaining about how many of the selections in the clubs are less than good but we are stuck with them. He suggested their club, wine from wineries around the world. Guaranteed good or you get replacements for free. Nice. I got my next bourbon shipment, two bottles. In addition, Arnaldo sent two bottles of wine, a cab and chard, from one of their club selections. Surprise! A gift. Just to get us to join their club. $95 in wine for free and both excellent. We are switching affiliations and dropping one club. And I called and thanked him. He made our lives better I think. I also bought a nice bottle of scotch for my Dad for Christmas. What the hell, its guaranteed.

Next up, morning ritual, texting Cissie. She is still in the house hunt and has one offer in which will be decided today. Sadly, we lose roomie. But hurray for them.

Well I managed to get ready and head in to work. Not much going because my computer was still out for repair and I need the damn thing for 99% of my work. Good news, Ryan got here to install the new one at 1245. Its new, so that means i have to install all the old progrma again. Ever try that? You can never find the disk, or the correct website or youve lost your login. A true pain in the ass. Ryan was there about two hours installing some and returning functionality to the thing. I had to go to Elk Grove and pick up documents so I left him there and ran off.

The trip to Elk Grove and back took about an hour. Not very exciting but I had to go. I have an important meeting tomorrow and these papers are crucial.

By the time I returned to my office everyone but Cara was gone. My only task was to continue with the installs so I could actually use my computer. So from 330 to 630 I installed software and called Ryan. Hey, I dont know all the answers but he does. By 630 I had to leave. I still have alot of installing to do. That will be tomorrow. I alao have three appointments tomorrow, one of which is in Lodi. Gonna be busy. Plus my first meeting with a personal trainer at the new gym I joined is at 8am. Wish me luck.

Again, its quite late and time for bed. I always seem to finish off each day with a post. You lucky people. The TV satellite is out again so its book and bedtime.

PS, Cissie rescinded her first offer and put an offer in on another today. Think positive thoughts. Vibes.

Another Tuesday and Im still not in Belgium. Damn. The day stretches out in front of me like an eastern Montana road. Nothing on either horizon, cloudless sky, no hope of any relief. Sadly, it seems like this in every negative way. But, I like the boring Montana road. Its a drive unlike all others. But, today is Tuesday, I will be at work. Luck may take my mind on a journey, away down the Montana hiway I speak of, but only in my mind. At least I always have that.

Today will be non descript – clear, cool and sunny. No rain till tomorrow. I have nothing planned for outside though its a great day for a long hike. The kind of hike when you can wear a light jacket and not benover dressed, still wear sunglasses and maybe shorts. Not too hot, but a little on the cool side. Note to self, forget work and go for a walk in the woods. Try to remember what it is in life that is truly important. Very few, if any, work days in your life will be important.

Does everyone, at my age, approaching retirement become as sanguine (Latin again!)about life as I am? I seldom ask others but maybe I should make more of a study of the topic. I do know that most, from what conversations I have had, are looking past the work they are doing and thinking of all the things they would rather be doing. Maybe they think this way to survive long enough in their job to get there. Or maybe the fantasy of a better future will get them there even if they never even attempt to make it come true. I don’t know.

Just had a long texting session with my favorite and long winded (if a texter can be) friend Cissie. She is intensely on the house hunt. New place to live for her and
Husband Dave. Also, seperate quarters for her adult daughter Trisha. As you know, Trisha lives above our garage right now. Cissie has two offers out right now and from what I can tell, its looking good for one being accepted. She sent me links with lots of pictures so i made my vote on my favorite. And my opinion is incredibly important. She had the audacity to like my second choice. The nerve. Its very exciting for them and we will lose Trisha. And her 10 cats. Oh well.

This morning, on the way to work, I did something I have been planning for a while. I joined a local gym. Now that I have finally reached my weight goal its time for fitness goals. I had scoped out local gyms over the last few weeks and this one was the clear winner. It also happens to be a franchise and has a location near our new home in Auburn. Double benefit. I sat with the manager for half an hour and got the full run dowI on the place. She is going to meet up with me this coming Thursday morning, early. We are going to set up a program for me that she will download to my phone. A live coach setting up a virtual coach. I am looking forward to the workouts. In 6 to 8 weeks I will be a lean, mean fighting machine, like John Candy. Or, 160 lbI of solid steel and sex appeal, men’s fright and women’s delight. Fish will fear me. Yeah, right. It could happen.

Got to work at 11 in time for my appointment with Hal. We are going over mutual clients and calling prospects and checking status on work in progress. We set up some more appointments for lower level tax planning. We do some multi million dollar planning but some folks need lower level work. I don’t like leaving any money on the table.

Hal and I worked on clients and related issues till 130, I had no more appointments for the day. Except for my IT guy. He came by to pick up my CPU. It needs to become a 64 bit machine in order to be up to date enough to run my tax software. Lovely, I gotta spend more moneI to stay up to date. I have spent $6K in the last three months on computers. I hate this crap. The most expensive thing I have to pay for after salaries. Running a business sucks.

Well, Ryan of IT fame, took my ability to work with him when he took the CPU. I can’t do anythinI without a computer. So I could have just left and gone home. Instead I did filing and desk cleaning. That was awesome. I also made phone calls (but not emails). This filled the rest of my day which seems hard to believe.

I had a couple of stops on the way home. I need a duster. I noticed, once I had cleaned my desk off, how dirty and dusty it was. Hence the duster. I also need a lanyard for my gym fob. The fob gets me in the door. I got the dusteI but no lanyard at the market. Next stop, Taco Tuesday!! My favorite dinner of the week. Carnitas and Chile Verde con Nopales for me and my bride. They are sometimes just better than usual. Today it was. It was also fun to have the girl at the carniceria trying to guess what I was going to order. I go there way too often I think.

We had a nice meal. Finished off the rest of the free wine I got last week. It is perfect with Mexican food,

The rest of my evening was spent watching TV and typing up the blog. And, it’s Tuesday so I get to put out the garbage!! I know, you want to be me. Too bad, no more room at the top. Time for garbage now. Then bed.

Monday morning and the excitement is palpable. Ok, its not. But I did get to use a word like palpable. My 7/8 grade latin/greek teacher would be proud. Yes, I studied both, and sorry to say, latin and greek are important in writing still. That sound you just heard was all my old english teachers rolling in their graves. Lol.

I am sitting here at the kitchen table, Emiky just left. This is my best time fir writing something without interruptions. Unless Emily calls from the road. She does once or twice a week. I pick up the hiuse phone on my way in from seeing her off and set it at the table. I am lazy and dont like to get up for the phone. Emilys calls are usually road reports(accidents, dead animals) or reminders. My memory sucks. She helps, although she seems to resent the duty at times. No call today. Maybe I will get a telemarketer, 9 to 930 is their favorite time to call. Maybe I will talk to them, maybe hang up, maybe say something like “I want that!” then abruptly hang up. Lol. Wasting their time with a call just to entertain myself can be fun. If its the IRS call, i always engage them and lead them on. They are such idiots. No more stupid than the people who fall for it and actually send money. Some of my clients have called me about it and I have to explain why its crap.

So I got ready for work and head out. One stop on the way at the UPS store. I gotta mail back to a client the crap an auditor returned to me. If I don’t mail it back the clients will usually abandon their paperwork on me. Inhave some stuff that is ten years old. Yes, I still have it after ten years. We are talking about immense loads that cant be mailed. Anyhow, package mailed. I put my bill in the box. With charge for postage.

Direct to work after that. No appointments today, but plenty tomorrow. This time of year there is not so much work to do, as I have mentioned before. I seem to always find something to do, though. I did manage a phone call with an attorney for half an hour, and a loan agent for a client. Then sent off docs to him. I know what you are thinking, my day is dripping with excitement. No, it isn’t. But it pays the bills.

Middle of the day I went across town to a finance company. I had to make a payment in person on my daughters car loan. They failed to send a monthly statement. The company is a pain in the ass. They have zero online services so no payment that way. No phone number published and I found out no over the phone payments either. So drive over and pay. Of course, I am not my daughter so they refused to give me info on the missing mail. Love them. She pays extra each payment and they would not say how that was applied to the balance. I found out later, applied in their favor. Marika called later and straightened them out well enough.

Back to work and the excitement continues. Worked on more tax returns. I should mention, my tax software company has been telling me for a couple months that the 2017 software would require a hardware upgrade. Well, this afternoon I updated the 2016 and as soon as I did the 2016 stopped working. What a bunch of assholes. If I knew they were going to screw me I could have updated my hardware. Of course the company was closed when I called to look for a fix. I hate them. Truly hate them.

Not long after this debacle, I went home. A day like today can really drain you. Go home and drink.

When I got home I did make a drink. A Mai Tai, to compare to last nights. Mine are way better than Trader Vics. Sorry Trader, but some modification is required. At least that worked out. We had leftovers and lamb chops for dinner. The leftovers were rack of lamb so they did go together well. Dinner was great, and I dont think Emily even broke a sweat. She is that good.

After dinner we watched TV for an hour and went to bed.

Todays paper was just as I predicted all week. Lousy. Light on info, light on entertainment, light on sports. Under ten minute read. Ghastly. That might describe it.

Emily is leaving for Sacramento in a few minutes. She has a yoga event to go to with sister Dee. They enjoy these things together. On the way, a little shopping must be done. Some Christmas, some household. There is a very short porch until the holidays are here. We would like to get ready and be ready. I even called our son Michael to find out what he is doing at Thanksgiving and Christmas. We need to know. He would never say and just show up when he wants and leave whenever he wants. He has no concept of planning. I would also say he doesnt care. Difficult to ascertain, he does not talk much. Everything happens between his ears and is seldom shared.

Anyhow, I called him today to discuss the holidays and what he planned on doing. We want to get ready. And, I need to discuss what came of his watch repair. He shipped it to me for repair because the clasp broke. And its a Rolex, gift from grandpa, and fixing a Rolex costs a fortune and he does not want to pay. Shocking. He cant afford it on a students salary. Lol. But he needs to hear about it. I wonder if he will call back? Its as if he has forgotten how to make a phone call.

In the meantime I am going to the hardware store for a specialty bulb. Then time for mow lawn and sweep driveway. Oh, joy! Gotta keep the streak going. Emily will be back 430 and we can head out to Emeryville for dinner.

I just finished two hours of mowing and pushing broom (no 8×10 four bit room) and Im kinda tired. The sweeping is murder, the dustpan pick up of all the piles is insane. Mowing, not so bad. Winter sucks because of all these damn leaves and branches. The mess is never ending. Next place, no real yard yet so no clean up. I wont be needing a very large riding mower. Thats a bonus.

While I was out working, the restaurant called to confirm my reservation. Just wanted to be sure we were coming. I have never had that happen. I figure they need business or they are so full they are looking for gaps. Crazy. But no problem, I am confirmed.

Well, outside work is done. Had a light lunch at 4 oclock and toodled around the house doing laundry and other crap. Emily got home around 430. We both changed for dinner and managed to get out around 5. Turns out thats a good thing. The normal 45 minute drive was an hour and 40 minute drive. Traffic everywhere. Lovely. We ended up calling the restaurant to say we were late. Worst part of the trip, I had to drive. This is normally Emilys job, and she is fantastic. But, for some reason tonight I had to drive. Maybe she figured she would be too drunk to drive home?

We arrived near 645. Valet grabbed our car. On the way in I had said where the hell can I park? Well, valet solved it. I like valet. They do so much better of a job than the normal drunk slobs do. Hey, heres an idea: Uber Valet. Guy shows up anywhere just to park your car. Ball game, drop yourself off at the gate Uber Val takes ur car. Airport, no more long term parking, UberVal takes ur car. A brilliant idea. Just a few issues with car insurance and bailments, etc, etc. I dont want to work on it, its a give away and the managers of the company just need to hire me and give me a 10% stake. Then Im happy.

Inside the restaurant it was so LOUD. Salsa band going crazy and large crowd in the bar salsa dancing. I say large, they filled the bar. You could not hear yourself think. It was loud where we sat in the back. It did quiet down later.

This being Trader Vics, we both ordered original Mai Tais. Its a thing. I have to say, I use his original recipe and mine are better. Oops. On my second round, i mentioned to the waitress my feelings and she brought me a slightly different version with a float of 151. That worked. We ordered a crab artichoke dip appetizer. Wow was that the bomb. And, they served it hotter than hell, my favorite temperature. Also, instead of bread, they brought some crispy flatbread and crackers with coconut peanut butter. Sweet. Original dish. I recommend it, and they bring it anyway.

The menu was not huge, so selections were not to numerous. Choose a meal, choose small bites, or luau size which may feed the whole table. But, again, not too many selections. Does make it easier. We ended up choosing individual dinners. Emily rack of lamb and I had moo shu duck. When we were done we had no room for dessert. Just coffee. I say just coffee, it was more of an Americano served with raw sugar cubes. And the cups were cups, not coffee cups. Immediately reminded me of Morocco and how they served their coffee, exactly the same. And the coffee here was excellent. Emily wants to bring Marika and maybe a larger crowd next time. If we get here in the daylight we could also wander around the marina. It is huge. Thousand boats or more. I was here two weeks ago picking up Renees boat.

We had a fast ride home, no traffic. Where the hell did they all go? I have my new FasTrak so I don’t even stop for the toll anymore. Thats gotta save at least two minutes. The trip was half the time of the drive down. Pleasant.

We got home a little after ten. And it is a school night, so watered the dogs and went to bed.

Today is Veterans Day. A national holiday to honor all veterans. It is November 11. I learned all about the holiday in grade school. There is special significance to this exact date going back to the First World War. Fearless leaders in DC made yesterday the fake holiday. Thats because they really do not care for the historical significance of 11/11. All they care to do is give a convenient day off. Whatever the reason. Of course, these leaders have no honor. I cant expect much from them. I need to stop ranting, there was alot yesterday. Enough I think.

Today being Saturday, I get a paper delivered. Lead story, front page, is capture of a mountain lion. You know right away this paper will be a throw away. One story about a veteran on front page. All other holiday activities in 3rd section.

So I finished the paper before I finished coffee and breakfast. This just starts the day all wrong. I know Sundays paper wont be much better, just more in volume. At least that’s still better.

Managed to shower and shave without problems. I had to actially iron my shorts. They had wrinkles beyond belief. I thought they were linen, that bad. But they are an old guy blend of cotton and spandex. Yes, my shorts are for fatties or overweight slobs. I am neither. So I ironed. I look better in ironed clothes. Or, ironed clothes look better on me. Not sure which.

Next task on the weekend workday was washing of the cars. And a little vacuuming. Maybe some wax. But not the full Brazilian. They looked fabulous when I was finished. So did I. Emily was out so not her car. She has a subscription to the local car wash anyhow.

After the washing, i took the convertible down to the local tire shop. That would be Haughn Tire, owned by bestie Jim Haughn. I needed to use their rack to find out what was thunking around underneath the car. After having it on the rack, I have no f…ing idea what is making the noise. Infuriating to say the least. Maybe to say the most. I think I will take her to the dealer and see if they can figure it out. They do a nice job of diagnosing problems. I like my local dealer.

Emily got home after i did. We decided to do a little advent shopping today. Advent, for you poorly informed folk, is the days prior to Christmas. We celebrate advent starting on December 1st. We have an advent calendar which has twenty four large numbered pockets on it. In each pocket goes a small gift. Each person gets to open a gift for every day of advent, 1 to 24 days of December. Got that? So we went out today and started on advent gifts. Could be a toy. A bag of cookies. Who knows? Changes a little every year. So we shopped till we dropped. We also went to the grocery store for split pea soup fixins and to Tommy Bahama to take advantage of their sale. I ended up with 1 item I chose and four Emily chose. Would have been five but one thing was damaged. A quick 2 and 1/2 hour shopping trip but we came home with quite a haul. Now we have to wrap each gift. And hang the calendar. And stuff the gifts into the calander pockets. Easy peasy.

We got home about 530. Emily started in on the soup. I put the shopping away where it needs to go. No problem, only took half an hour.

I was going to make the corn bread but realized I needed milk for the recipe. So I zoomed up to the market and grabbed some milk. The market being a gas station that smells bad inside. No matter, I need milk. Raced home and made the corn bread. And then, opened the bottle of cabernet I received as a freebie just for being me and doing whatever I did to get $100 dollars worth of free wine. So the cabernet is very good. I would say better than the chardonay I also received free except Emily loved the chardonnay. Loved it. But, still, excellent cabernet. I am enjoying it still.

Next up is dinner, and I am really looking forward to it.

Well, I must say, the spilt pea soup is super fabulous. I woukd say Emily out did herself but that may not be possible. The chipotle cornbread should consider itself lucky to be dipped in this soup. I am afraid to eat seconds because I could explode. Tomorrow, after the soup has cured, this will be truly spectacular. Sadly, we are going out to dinner tomorrow so more soup waits till Monday night. I am sure it will only get that much better.

I think i should wash the dishes, it is a rule here – when you cook, you dont clean. So I gotta clean. Not so bad, very few dishes to clean. And the soup pot is still on the stove simmering. That will be a clean tomorrow thing.

We watched TV for awhile, in the front room, not in bed. I grabbed some ice cream cake, left over from my birthday, for Em and I. Still good two months later. The freezer is a commercial model and keeps everything frozen hard. So the cake keeps well. Obviously.

After dessert its finally bed time. Now we can warch TV from bed. Actually, I read and Emily snores. But shes not sleeping!! Just try and turn the TV off. She has a conniption. I do not, and probably never will, understand her need to have a TV on while she sleeps. I think its because her parents sleep all night with the TV on. It bothers me. I give her the remote when I lay down and she turns it off at some point. Makes her happy.