Rain Soaked

R.I.P. to a Great Employee

Yesterday the weather perfectly matched the mood for the day.  Thank God I was able to squeeze in a lunch with my favorite son because without that the day would definitely have gone down in the loss column.

We had about three inches of snow overnight, enough to coat my mountainous driveway.  This was followed by a driving rain which made the snow too heavy to be moved by the snow blower.  I was able to use the techniques honed over the weekend to quickly move the snow out of the way by pushing instead of lifting since it was sitting on a bed of water. 

It rained, heavily, almost the entire day.  Lunch was the lone bright spot as my son hosted me (his turn) for lunch in Marlborough.  He provided a detailed account of his recent Panamanian adventures as well as his incredibly busy work schedule.  He returned last week from a week long conference in Virginia where he apparently really wowed some of his superiors with his work ethic and analysis.  I was so proud of him that tears were forming in my eyes while he was recounting this.  I abruptly realized this would definitely be out of character and squelched that potentially game changing demonstration of emotion. 

Last evening I made my way through the rain and some really adventurous back roads to the town of Webster, Massachusetts to attend a wake for an employee who died suddenly over the weekend.  I usually don’t do well with this type thing, even though I’ve had a lot of practice.  It was extremely jarring to see the body laid out in the casket looking very lifelike and remembering I had been talking with the lively living version just a few short days ago. 

There were a number of my employees at the wake as well.  I had just finishing talking with the husband of the deceased when one of them cornered me and said she needed the next day off from work.  She was so dense that she didn’t pick up on the look of complete contempt I was trying to transmit.  To their credit, the other employees sitting around did look appropriately embarrassed for her.  She didn’t get the day off.

I made it home in time to finish work on the latest puzzle.  This one was huge and I had to turn it sideways to fit on the table.  It consisted of a series of small pictures of trees and was more challenging than I thought it would be.  I also had a long conversation with the spouse in exile.  She said she was very proud of me for going to the wake – I guess I am bad at that kind of thing.

Tough Large Puzzle

 

Returns

We’re getting another snow storm today so we’ll see if the snow blower is up for the task.  It’s a carbon copy of this past weekend with snow followed by rain.  Driving into work yesterday I thought my car was coming apart when a long piece of rubber jumped up onto my windshield.  It turned out to be the oft written about auger belt from the snow blower.  I had thrown it onto the hood of my car to make sure I remembered to re-install it before the storm.  This was a more jarring reminder than I was prepared for but at least it didn’t fall off without me noticing.  With Buddy’s determined assistance it’s back on the snow blower now – readying to go into action.

I’ve been so busy at work over the past month that my lunch time reading sessions were seriously curtailed.  I finally finished slogging through The Return of the Black Company by Glen Cook yesterday.  This is the third of four (very long) compendium novels of this sci fi/fantasy series.

I did not enjoy this one as much as the previous two although the book does have its moments.  My biggest problem was the new narrator.  Cook uses the Black Company annalist as the narrator for each of the books.  The previous annalist, Croaker, took over command and passed his duties on to another, the standard-bearer, Murgen. 

I enjoyed Murgen’s account and his depiction of day to day life in a military unit- always Cook’s strongest point.  The biggest problem is that for a large section of the book Murgen was getting yanked back and forth in time, literally.  This made for a very confused reading, especially since I was reading in spurts, when my schedule allowed, instead of continuously. 

The book ends with the evil Soulcatcher triumphant and my guys all encased in some kind of perpetual sleep.  This pissed me off a little bit but Cook does ominous well and I think he’s set up a great sequel.  You know the company will be back and there will literally be hell to pay.  Geeky enough for you?

I’m maintaining the tradition of date night in the absence of the wife (or I could just be a movie fanatic).  Last night I went to see what I thought would be another Rock (excuse me – Dwayne Johnson) action flick – Snitch.  It turned out to be more of a melodrama.  If you’ve seen the preview you’ve seen virtually every action scene. 

I have the sinking feeling Mr. Johnson now fancies himself as a budding thespian and wants to extend his repertoire into actual acting.    He should have picked some other vehicle to do that.  It was totally unbelievable that a bunch of skinny little drug dealers could kick the Rock’s ass and that he would turtle when they do it. 

The supporting cast was solid with Omar Little (Michael Kenneth Williams) returning as, big surprise, a drug dealer.  He’s such a good actor I wish he would get some meatier parts.  Shane (Jon Berthal) from the Walking Dead had a bigger and better part.  He was totally believable as an ex-con trying to put his life together. 

The story involved a guy trying to rescue his son from a long federal sentence by arranging a big drug deal and then turning everybody over to an equally conniving government.  Susan Sarandon played the evil prosecutor (bet she loved that).  The best actor in the movie though was Barry Pepper who can be pretty uneven at times but does a great job as a world weary DEA agent.

I really wanted to like this movie but it was all over the place and seemed to want to indict the government for trying to keep dangerous drugs and drug dealers off the street.  I think the Rock really can act but this was a poor choice of a vehicle to demonstrate it.

Faith Restored

Sometimes faith is challenged and you have to wonder why bad things happen to good people.  This is the nature of life but it does not make it any more understandable or tolerable.  Dealing with the challenges life inevitably throws your way determines in large part the type of person you are.

Yesterday was the first day of work for a close friend who had been looking for work since an incredible a-hole owner shut down his last place of employment without notice.  He’d been out of work since early last year. 

This guy is about the most well liked person I’ve ever encountered.  You would be hard pressed to find anybody that would have a bad thing to say about him.  He’s handled his period of unemployment with typical grace and maturity.  It speaks volumes that his employment situation seemed to bother his friends more than him because we all know what an excellent person he is.

His recent hiring was celebrated on at least two continents.  He threw his back out over the weekend which would not have made a great first impression at his new place of employment.  Friends rushed to his aid and he made it to that all important first day with no problem.

As I spoke to him last night he was typically understated but I could tell he felt a huge weight lifted off his shoulders.  He was challenged and defined himself and his life in the manner he met that challenge.

Oscarized

So last night was the biggest non-sports event of the year for me (other than my wife’s return, of course).  For the second year in a row I watched the show alone which was okay because I really don’t enjoy long discussions on who is wearing what.

I survived moving the slush off the driveway yesterday morning.  As expected the snow blower could not throw the water laden snow.  It could however push it and I used the tractor to push the snow off the huge flat part at the top of the hill.  I had to revert to the shovel for the hilly part but the snow was sitting on top of a layer of water which made it very easy to move to the side.  I’m glad I did because it snowed the entire day but none of it stuck on the driveway because it was clear.  Some of my neighbors were not as fortunate. 

I spent the day watching more of the 1960’s series, Combat!  As I watch these episodes I’m discovering that all of the battles in a French village were the same village. It’s been kind of fun to see how they try to disguise it each week to make it look different.  Southern California also bears no resemblance to Northern France.  Vic Morrow is still Vic Morrow though – and that’s more than enough.

I really enjoyed the Oscar show which, despite its length, moved right along.  Seth McFarlane was a very good host (the best in years).  I didn’t know he could sing and he also did a great job of poking fun and getting the stuffed shirts from taking themselves too seriously.  I’ve only visited L.A. once but that was the enduring impression I was left with – pomposity and self-importance. 

I know my strong willed and woman’s advocate daughter was less than pleased with the man who inflicted the movie Ted on the world being entrusted with her favorite TV show of the year, but I think even she will admit it was a lot of fun.  I loved the Hathaway win because she remnds me so much of that same beloved daughter.

I actually guessed correctly about all the acting categories, first time I’ve done that in a long time.  I thought Daniel Day-Lewis had the best speech of the night and Affleck the most heartfelt.  The other great moments for me:  Theron dancing (is there anything she can’t do?), Ang Lee winning (Life of Pi really was an experience), and the musical numbers.  I find myself actually wanting to see Les Miserables after the immense musical number featuring the entire cast including, Maximus Decimus Meridius himself.  The best aspect was the show was about celebrating Hollywood and how transforming some of the work can be.

I think the Oscar producers finally figured out what movie nuts (guilty) really want to see in their biggest night of the year - celebrate the medium itself and not so much each other. 

I woke up to find that the snow had continued through the night and there was about three inches to get off the driveway.  Luckily it was the light stuff which the snow blower made short work of before throwing its auger belt again.  The snow had coated all the tree limbs which transforms the scenery into something almost breathtaking enough to make the commute into work tolerable (where did all these flatlanders come from?)

One of the Best Moments - Theron Dancing with Magic Mike

My Oscar Party Fare - French Fries and Banquet Fried
My Wife's Head Just Exploded

Snow Coated Trees This Morning - Picture Incapable to Doing Justice to the Beauty

 

Skies Darkened

After the planned pub crawl was spasmed out of the plan for yesterday I settled into a quiet day at home.  I knocked out the weekly grocery shopping (another tub of chocolate cookies – which Buddy seemed inordinately interested in).  I also checked out the newest scary movie – Dark Skies.

The film started out pretty well, building suspense and being pretty scary.  Great premise as unexplained and very spooky events build up in a family struggling to make it economically.  I guess Keri Russell is a pretty big name but I don’t get it.  She’s made a name as a TV actress but it doesn’t translate well onto the big screen.  After the intriguing start, the movie doesn’t bring it home in the second half.  The reasons behind the events are explained and then shown too starkly and it ceases to be scary.  Close but clearly a miss.

The day was further darkened when I learned that one of my favorite employees at work died suddenly in her sleep overnight.  She was one of the dispatchers at work and one of the few that you could count on to get a straight (Un-union centric) answer.  A true loss for everybody at work and a kind of chilling reminder that these are the “storm years” for people in my age group.  She was only two years older than me and seemed in pretty good health.  My thoughts and prayers are with her shocked family.

My sister and brother in law proposed coming up for a long sought dinner at a local restaurant that we’ve both driven by hundreds of times but for some reason have never been inside.  We’ve planned a couple of dinners there and something always seems to happen.  Enter yesterday’s storm – and some attendant freezing rain.  There was no way I wanted these important people (to me and dozens of others) to risk their safety.

The storm was supposed to be a major event but it turned out to be a lot less than advertised.  It came in around sundown and the snow steadily built up to about four inches by the time I went to bed.  I woke up this morning and overnight rain had come in and completely soaked down the snow, even though it was then snowing steadily.  I know the snow blower won’t be able to lift this heavy a slush so I’ll be shoveling and thinking about those storm years. 

Front Yard Yesterday Morning

Back Yard Yesterday Morning

Front Yard at Sunset Yesterday

Back Yard at Sunset

Front Yard This Morning

Back Yard This Morning

Torpedo Damning Thwarted

Admiral Farragut Got His Chance

I was all set to channel a little David Farragut and declare that I was going to throw caution to the wind and head up to New Hampshire through the teeth of this upcoming monster winter storm.  I was going to wax epic as to my courage and fortitude.  Honest, I was.  In reality the weather reports changed so we’re only supposed to get around six inches of snow.  With that change I was planning on taking part in the planned pub crawl through several hometown drinking establishments. Then I called my theoretical host to find he had been poleaxed by a bad back.  He seemed to feel worse about calling off the pub crawl than taking care of his pain.  He’s that kind of guy.

So the torpedoes will have to wait.  It’s Buddy and I for the rest of the weekend here in Casa Solo.

Speaking of Buddy the Cookie Thief, he survived his chocolate ingestion of the purloined sweets yesterday.  I ultimately had the last laugh as the overall boss at work convened a "Kumbaya" meeting complete with sandwiches and a huge bucket of chocolate chip cookies.  Karma seems to be hard at work in my life.

My direct boss (best boss in the world) and I convened a First Friday celebration at Brew City in Worcester.  We were blessed with our favorite red headed waitress which made the afternoon complete.

I followed with a solo date at Zorba’s for my Friday night pizza fix.  No less than five waitresses and irrepressible waiter Dave came by to say hi and ask what happened to all the Pana-Gals and why was I eating a hamburger instead of pepperoni pizza.  I was very touched that I’ve become such a fixture at the place.  I guess I am getting old – safe to speak to.

I settled in for an evening wandering through my DVR assemblage of the week and enjoyed several phone calls from friends and family.  I had a great conversation with my big sister which reminded me of so many other Friday phone conversations from the past with her.  Whenever my wife was driving me home from a Friday happy hour during my military career – a drunk call to my sister was de rigueur.  Traditions are very important. 

Cookie Revenge - Wife & Buddy Overcome

Zorba's Last Night

Canine Cookie Monster

The Guilty Party Undergoing Interrogation

Apparently my wife has somehow enlisted the help of my former best friend, Buddy the Wonder Pooch, to curb my obsession with chocolate chip cookies.  How she did this from the wilds of Panama is beyond me but I’ve learned not to underestimate that woman.

During her absence I’ve been routinely buying a tub of cookies each Sunday to have with my daily lunch.  This activity is strictly verboten when my better half is in residence.  Each morning I take a couple out to include with my lunch. 

I was semi-proud of myself that I reached Friday and still had three remaining.  Since it was rubbish day I took the cookies out and put them on the counter while I consigned the tub to the trash. 

While I was collecting trash from other locations Buddy saw his opportunity and the three cookies disappeared.  Since I know he wouldn’t actually eat chocolate since it’s bad for dogs I’m sure he hid them somewhere in the house.  I just didn’t have time to look for them.

I’ve got to tell you – I’m feeling a little betrayed.  Buddy knew what he did was wrong but just can’t seem to help himself.  I’m still trying to figure out how my wife communicates with the newly discovered agent formerly inside my circle of trust.

Winter Honeymoon is Officially Over

Found this Picture Which Captures My Sentiments Right Now
Kudos to The Artist

I’ve often written on this blog how much I enjoy the New England weather; the march of seasons, etc, etc.  Well, we’re at the point in the calendar where I’m ready for that march to become a sprint. 

My Keene Friend and I had planned a pub crawl through the drinking establishments of my beloved home town this upcoming weekend.  I was looking forward to escaping from my isolation to spend the weekend up in Keene and broaden my horizons as to entertainment options.  I’m now hearing we have another major winter storm that’s coming in Saturday night into Sunday.  That makes three weekends in a row with winter storms.

There is no way I will be in any shape to drive home Saturday night (I did mention the pub crawl, didn’t I?) ahead of the storm so if it stays as advertised I’ll be staying home.  A critical facet in my planning matrix derives from Sunday night being Oscar Night.  There is no way I would not be home to watch my favorite non-athletic event on my new television.  So color me a little pissed!

When I reported this consternation to my Panama dwelling wife she tried to sound appropriately sympathetic.  This came after she had the temerity to complain that the yoga classroom’s non-functioning air-conditioning. I think she was secretly doing a dance to miss out on yet another storm.  I miss her but I’m not sure she feels the same way, right now. 
 

Luckily my daughter called which always lifts my spirits; more so because she's coming up next weekend for a visit.  This will permit a proper debriefing for the Academy Awards.  There better not be another storm! 

Underwhelming Work

I felt like this guy at work yesterday, fending off demons that seemed hell bent on keeping me from completing my task.  There are certain days at work where I will go the entire day with only a couple of interruptions; days where I actually crave some company.  Yesterday was not one of them.

I had to complete the final checks on a critical export of some software updates that had to go out yesterday.  I told my boss in the early morning staff meeting that I wouldn’t be very communicative for the rest of the day because of this.

As soon as I got back to my office to start work on the export the parade commenced (and I usually love parades).  There was a constant stream of people sticking their heads into the office for everything from job interviews to a pathological need to catch up.  My boss even showed up with a mutual acquaintance who stopped by to say hi.  I can get pretty driven when I need to be and I was struggling to remain polite.

I thought about locking the door but that would mean getting up to answer the door for every interruption instead of just dispensing withering stares when the door opened. 

I got the job done but I was literally drained by the end of the day.  I made my way home through a driving rain (rain!!!?) and collapsed on the sofa.  While decompressing I finished off the blu ray series of Rome and said goodbye to two of my favorite characters, Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo.  Republican Rome is my favorite period of history and this series does a fantastic job of presenting the death of the Republic in the hands of Julius and Octavian Caesar with remarkable clarity and historical accuracy, down to the life of common Romans (along with a few orgies). 

 

I eventually arose to finish off the latest puzzle – only two days on this one.  It completed a series of puzzles containing two Labrador retrievers, one yellow and the other black.  Each was featured in a New England scene based on a season.  Friends in Autumn, Friends in Winter, etc, etc.  The last was Friends in Summer – involved some real longing on my part.

Puzzle Done - Nice Decompression
I'm Going to Miss the Labs

 

Taxing Creatures

Since I had yesterday off for the President’s Day holiday and there was no snow for the first time in three days I had some free time.  Or so I thought.  I used the time to descend into the personal hell that is income tax preparation.  I shouldn’t complain because it is so much easier than it used to be.

There is no more running to the library hoping they have the right forms or trying to understand the arcane language of the tax code distilled down to the instructions on the form.  I just sat at the computer, downloaded the tax preparation soft ware and starting plugging in numbers. 

Since my children finally convinced me to bank digitally I easily accessed the records I needed there.  This is the one day of the year that I truly appreciate my wife’s generosity and inability to say no to organizations looking for charitable donations. 

It was easier than ever and I found I had time to work on the puzzle that I started on Sunday and completed watching the first campaign of the series Combat!  I also continued my walk down culinary memory lane by baking two beef pot pies.  These things were a staple of my diet as a single guy.  I could easily have over a dozen of them in my freezer at any one time before I acquired spousal supervision of food intake.  Since my wife, for some reason, doesn’t want me in an early grave, these are not permitted in my normal diet.  She did seem a little miffed when I reported my malfeasance in our daily phone call.  To rub some more salt into her wounded pride I also made a marble cake.  I figure if I’m going to get yelled at anyways – I should really go for it.

I had an extremely nice conversation with my son who’d down in Virginia for the week.  Neither of us enjoys long phone conversations but for some reason yesterday was different and I think we both enjoyed catching up after his trip to visit his mother in Panama.  He seemed pleased when I told him that his mother was exhausted.  He felt it was justifiable after the fatigue she imparted to the MEG (who seemingly never gets tired) and him last week.

 Since Buddy was acting a little morose after the departure of his morning walking partner I let him ride with me in the car on a couple of errands.  The first was delivering a bag of his poop to the vet’s for a fecal test.  Buddy seemed fascinated by my attempts at retrieving the sample.  I thought it would be easy since it was frozen.  Or so I thought.  After washing my hands seventeen times we mounted the vehicle and Buddy assumed his position – nose to the breeze.  He resented the fact I didn’t let him accompany me into the grocery store. 

Since the crazy New England weather calls for a big rain storm tonight I went to the movies last night.  The pickings were a little slim so I went to see a movie I wasn’t really sure about – Beautiful Creatures.  I feared this might be some sort of Twilight (which I loathe on a very basic level) rip off since it involved witches and teenage angst.

I was pleasantly surprised and actually enjoyed the movie a lot.  In the previews I thought the male lead, Alden Ehrenreich, looked a little goofy.  He turned out to be the real strength of the movie.  The kid has a lot of screen presence and reminded me, a lot, of a young Leonardo DiCaprio.  The movie was well made, great special effects, superb supporting cast, and although it slows down immensely in the middle third it was an entertaining way to spend the evening. 

Suprisingly Good Flick

Puzzle Progress

Buddy in the Car!

Nose in the Breeze

Desperately Trying to Convince Me to Let Him Go into Supermarket

Pot Pies!!!

Marble Cake - Yes!!!!!!

 

Hell Winds

Front Yard Yesterday - Scoured

My Keene Friend pulled his usual early morning disappearing act yesterday morning after a night of just hellacious winds that continued throughout the day and into last night.  The winds were so strong that the entire house was shaking.  Buddy woke up several times from a dead sleep to bark at the sounds generated by the phantom winds. 

Buddy was also a little freaked out to find our large metal wheelbarrow had been blown across the lawn near his normal roosting area.  I was a little bit in awe of the strength of the wind because the wheel barrow had been buried in snow until yesterday and is not light.  We also received some more snow, most of which was blown off the driveway – as a large amount of the remaining snow in the front yard was also scoured off the front yard.  Thankfully the snow blower was working – all I had to do was get it a little bit into the air and it disappeared.  I just had to remember not to try to throw it into the wind and get it blown back into my face.  I was about seventy per cent successful at that.  I just wonder where all the snow ended up – must suck to be at the base of the hill.

Yesterday was also resupply day as I hit up the grocery store.  I missed the family in the isolated house so when I walked by the frozen food section and spied Banquet Fried Chicken – I was sold.  This was a staple of our family early in our married life when we were a lot less financially secure.  I brought it home and just the smell of it – unchanged in thirty years – was enough to bring back some nice memories.  I was speaking to my wife on the bat phone to Panama and she also immediately picked up on my nostalgic fare. 

My wife was exhausted after organizing parties and then squiring my son and MEG around Panama for a week.  Luckily she’ll get a rest this week.  She finally did see the pictures of the home from the storm and was appropriately impressed.

I spent the day watching Combat! and Rome while starting a new puzzle late in the day.  The neighbor and his two completely charming young daughters stopped by selling chocolate bars for their school.  It was nice to have some human contact after an isolated day and the young ladies were immediately drawn to my new puzzle efforts.   It was a nice, short visit – just fabulous people. 

The winds continued into the night and woke me up a couple times as the house fought to keep its place on top of the hill.  It was an epic battle.  Panama seems like a better and better option.

Where Wheelbarrow Ended up
It Started Out Behind the House

Finished This on Saturday

Neighbor Kids Helping With New Puzzle

Too Cute for Words - Kept Saying Hi to Me

Yes - Nostalgic Junk Food!

 

Guy’s Day

Guy's Flick!

Yesterday was something I hadn’t had in a very long time – a true “guy’s day.”  We had planned a Worcester Thunder Run but those plans were thwarted by a dutiful (if cantankerous) son.  My Keene Friend and I made a fun day though. 

I woke up to snow covered driveway and thankfully the snow blower was back in top form and the snow was soon displaced to the appropriate sidelines.  We headed down for a diner breakfast – something forbidden when certain calorie conscious Panamanians are around.  We went to our usual diner only to find that it had closed to be replaced by a bakery.  We continued on to Route 20 and went into the Yankee Diner.

I’ve driven by this diner literally hundreds of times and never gone in.  I love diners and the Yankee Diner had diner ambiance to spare.  In an old diner car with some of the original seating and a counter (gotta have a counter).  It also had the most important diner aspect of great service and awesome food.  I’ll definitely be back.

We received phone updates from my wife – at a mall in Panama (huge surprise) and my daughter from a ski lodge in the Catskills (no skiing involved – mother’s daughter).

Buddy had his annual visit to the vet at noon and he handled it with his typical aplomb.  He was fascinated with the smells of the vet’s office and tried to make closer acquaintances with a couple dogs and one very disinterested cat.  It turns out he’s broken one of his teeth off (probably during one of his daring cage escapes).  The dentist asked if I wanted to invest in a crown.  He took my heartfelt laughter as answer enough.  Buddy got his shots and assumed he would be in every car ride for the rest of the day.

We then went out to hit the latest Die Hard movie; It’s a Good Day to Die Hard.  This series has definitely started to lose some steam as this one tried to focus too much on McClain’s somewhat unlikable son.  He and Dad get together to create typical Die Hard mayhem throughout Moscow before the fiery climax in Chernobyl, of all places. The Russian authorities were surprisingly absent throughout as the McClain boys shot various and sundry villains and blew up whole blocks of buildings.  While you never expect any deep message from a Die Hard movie – you do expect likable heroes.  All that being said, the carnage was awesome and I loved the movie.

After watching some more guy type programming back home we headed out for the evening.  Our plan was to hit a restaurant with a bar for dinner and libations.  It seems Saturday night is a fairly popular night for dining out (who knew).  We hit four different restaurants to find them all with significant waiting lines as well as full bars.  After passing by it twice we ended up back at Zorba’s which was also packed but two seats opened at the bar as we walked in, almost like it was meant to be. 

Under the genteel care of the fabulous bar tenders we passed a very interesting evening.  These very young lasses adopt me during my annual spousal sabbatical (old uncle type – nothing untoward).  I ordered the prime rib and was rewarded with a truly epic slice of dead animal flesh.  I think the bar actually sunk a little when this heroic slab of beef was deposited in front of me.  

We ended the night watching another movie – a favorite of both of us from the distant past – The Swiss Family Robinson.  While watching we received a couple of desperate calls from my son returning from Panama who was irate at the slow pace of the passport control people at the Houston Airport.  He was convinced he would not make his connecting flight to Boston and needed someone to vent to (he gets his lack of patience from his father).  When I told him there were no further flights out of Houston that night I advised making every attempt to get ot he gate.  I received a call twenty minutes later from a very out of breath son who said they made the flight after a dead sprint from the security line.  He made it back to Boston although his baggage was not as lucky.

So yesterday involved a lot less running with thunder it turned out to be a fantastic day of guy stuff.  Stuff that is usually precluded by too many x chromo’s in the crowd.  Fun day.

Woke up this morning to another snow storm with some hellacious winds blowing – less fun.

Front Yard Yesterday Morning - Unexpected Snowfall

True Buddies - Just Back from their Obligatory Morning Walk

The Yankee Diner!

Internal Yankee Diner Atmosphere - Loved It

Buddy at the Doc's - How Do I get Out of Here?

What is She Doing with Those Long Needles?

Come On - Get Me Out of Here!

My Heroic Hunk of Beef!

Fatigue Friday

Last Night at Zorba's

Something I’ve noticed over the past few years – accumulated exhaustion peaking at the end of the work week.  Yesterday was a good example.  I get the same amount of sleep each night (probably not enough) but when I got up yesterday I didn’t feel refreshed.  This was followed by some semi-compressed (before I left for work) but appropriately frantic housecleaning since I’ll have a house guest this weekend.

The fatigue could be a result of the work week which I spent glued to the computer inputting the new routing that will take effect in April.  It’s drudgery but important.  I find it strange that just sitting at a desk can be so draining.

My excellent boss declared a Frist Friday celebration at the end of the tough week which was just what the doctor ordered.  My Keene Friend joined us at Brew City where we celebrated his outstanding employment news.

My friend and I adjourned to Zorba’s where we indulged in the mystically imbued pepperoni pizza assisted by the loquacious waiter Dave.  Waiter Dave asked where all the Pana-Gals were; apparently my Keene friend and I were poor substitutes. It was nice to have another human to share dinner conversation with.

We finished the evening watching the latest James Bond movie.  I should say attempting to watch because the week, combined with the beer, caught up with me about an hour into Skyfall which militated against completion.  The cool thing is I got to sleep in this morning, despite my internal clock trying to wake me up in the early morning hours.  Of less fun was waking up to yet another Saturday snow covered landscape.

Puzzle Almost Done

Valentine Variables

The M.E.G., My Son and Wife in Panama

Yesterday was about as subdued a Valentines Day as I can recall.  I did get a lot of work done so I guess that was what made it so memorable. 

My son managed to get me in a lot of trouble down in Panama when he gave his mother some cards that I sent down with him.  He opined (with no prompting or preparation from me) that there might be something special inside the cards.  There wasn’t and my wife dutifully reported this to me followed by a pregnant pause.  Thanks kid!!

She, my son, and the M.E.G. were travelling to the mountains of near Volcan, Panama which has some of the most beautiful vistas in that gorgeous country.  They also stopped by the Bambito resort where my wife and I spent our honeymoon almost thirty one years ago. 

My wife sent some pictures and it was a bit disconcerting to see full grown trees at the resort in an area where I remembered just a lawn.  Either things grow very fast in Panama or it really has been over thirty years. 

The last phone call from my wife was after 11pm as she just returned from a farewell cocktail “hour”.  My son and M.E.G. start their return today by travelling back to Panama City.  My wife was feeling the full effects of the huge margarita she was “forced” to consume.  It was a fun conversation and made me realize how much I missed being down there with her fantastic family.

I also received a phone call from the Cantankerous One who pulled out of this weekend’s thunder run in typically caustic fashion managing to cast aspersions widely and indiscriminately.  It seems he feels the need to be a dutiful son to a surgically repaired father – told you he had a heart, well camouflaged, but its there.  The Keene Friend and I will somehow manage without his presence. 

My Wife at Bambito with the Troubling Trees

My Wife, Her Two Sisters and Mother, and my Son

My Wife in Beautiful Panama

Family Dinner with My Favorite Cousin of my Wife

Farewell Cocktail Hour
My Wife's Twin Sister (R), My Bro in Law and his Significant Other

The Whole Gang - Missed Being There

My Wife with Some Famous Panamanian Singer Samy Sandra
She Never Meets People Like this When I'm Down there With her, Hmmm....