Vacation Eve

Friday is always a source of unbridled joy at the prospect of enjoying the ritualistic celebration of the First Friday of the Week. This Friday carries additional gravitas as it marks the start of a two week vacation from work, my last ever work vacation. I leave on Monday for two weeks in our sun soaked condo on the beach in Panama. I figure, as gentle as this New England winter has been, that the last two weeks of February will involve some serious payback from Mother Nature. As long as I can get out on Monday then I look forward to bombarding friends and family with photos from the beach if the snow starts falling.

I was back at the dentist yesterday to get a permanent crown installed. It was very unceremonious. The dentist came in with a pair of pliers (straight out of a bugs bunny cartoon), reached in and yanked out the temporary crown. He then super glued the permanent one in and I was good to go, only two more to go. My Favorite Daughter was also in the dentist chair yesterday but she went entirely more high tech. They had a machine that carved out an inlay based on a 3D photographic image while you waited. She was so impressed she sent me this video. I guess New Jersey is way more tech savvy than my dentist but then again, you’d have to live in New Jersey. No Thank you.

I will try to blog from Panama but no promises. My Favorite Panamanian usually demands I removed myself from the height of the sun during mid-day. Something about all the skin cancer scares over the past few years I guess so there might be some time. VACATION!!!

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RECURRING CHARACTERS                                           

BR3 – inbound granddaughter #3, BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter, ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete = my daughter in law; Wingman – my son in law; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Soxfather - my brother in law; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; Pittsburgh College Roommate – high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd musquetera (musketeer); Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog; PanaGals – female relatives/friends of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife accumulates wherever we have lived & their spouses; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member, Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during her single days in Brooklyn