Cracked

I’m trying to figure out why, in retirement, there seems to be so much less time in the day. It’s not as if I’m overwhelmed with activities but it seems like I turn around and most of the day has leaked away. Today is a perfect example. I had to get up early to turn the car in to get its windshield replaced so I had an even earlier start than normal. I usually plan of writing in Frail Deeds just before lunch but here we are a couple hours later. I don’t think I’m organized enough yet but a larger question is whether I need the forced hours of employment to keep me truly productive. If nothing else, it’s a good problem to have.

Lunch Yesterday

I’m writing this with some skinned-up knuckles and no, I haven’t been brawling. While up in New Hampshire earlier this week I bought seven sets of window blinds to install in the new windows. Hence the skinned knuckles because, well, the hands are large, the spaces involved small, and there you go. My Favorite Panamanian always says she doesn’t consider a home improvement project complete until she sees blood dripping from one of my appendages.

Windshield Crack

I took out some time from my apparently overloaded calendar to drive down to Rhode Island yesterday to take Great Aunt out to lunch. It was so good seeing her in person for the first time since the day of Soxfather’s funeral. She’s doing well and is now a confident manager of the family finances, a job handled exclusively by Soxfather. My daughter got her started in February and she’s made incredible strides in the short time since. In a truly spooky moment, I was talking with Cantankerous Friend and Keene Friend about going to a WooSox game and while I was online buying the tickets I received an out of the blue text from Great Aunt suggesting we go to a game. The very same game I was already buying tickets for. I’m thinking Soxfather, in the great beyond, had something to do with that kismet.

I’ve also taken in a couple movie matinees although I do miss the Cinépolis Theater in David. The first movie I saw was Everything Everywhere All at Once. I was really excited to see this movie as I’ve been a long-time fan of Michele Yeoh and she finally got a leading role. She is excellent but I found the movie very frustrating. It was advertised as an action flick but it’s more of a sober investigation of the mother-daughter relationship. The plot ran all over the place and I found it hard to root for some of the participants. Jamie Lee Curtis, in the opposite of typecasting, plays a dumpy IRS agent. All movie, I was trying to remember where I’d seen the actor playing Yeoh’s husband. Afterwards I learned the reason for the familiarity. It was the guy who played the young Asian inventor in the Goonies, all those years ago. A movie I really wanted to like but just couldn’t.

I had better luck with the second movie, Lost City. Sandra Bullock reclaims her title as the best Rom-Com star. She plays a romance novelist kidnapped by Harry Potter for mysterious reasons. Channing Tatum once again demonstrates his comedic talents as the seemingly clueless cover model who sets out to rescue her. The plot is so funny and moves right along. Brad Pitt appears in a hilarious cameo that has to be seen. Bullock’s costume, a sequined pant suit, should also receive credit for being a long running gag. So, lots of star power and they didn’t mail it in, very funny and well done.

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RECURRING CHARACTERS:                                        

ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete - my daughter in law; BR3 – Blog Reader #3 – granddaughter #3; BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during her single days in Brooklyn; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter; First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Kindergarten Friend – friend since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd musquetera (musketeer); Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member; 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; Pittsburgh College Roommate– high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog; Soxfather - my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course