Buffalo Two Step, Son Pride and Insomniac

Wife and Maine Musquetera Tooling Around Bocas

Sundays are something of a drag when my wife is out of town. Come to think of it the other six days aren’t exactly overachieving either; at least in her absence. I spent a few hours at work tracking operations from the new facility and then launched on trying to find a replacement sangria vase (no luck) and accomplish the weekly grocery shopping. I finally did get outside to address the lawn and discovered the electric lawnmower is excellent for policing up leaves which are descending in force now. This will delay it winter mothballing.

I was able to get this as well as some laundry done in time to focus on the Patriots game as they sought to exact revenge for their only loss of the season so far in Buffalo. They came out like a team on a mission to shut up the typically blow hard Bills. The defense delivered some of the biggest hits of the year and sent a number of the Bills scurrying to the sideline looking to volunteer for the concussion protocol. It was another case where a Rex Ryan team let their mouths get away from themselves and they paid on the field. Brady acted the role of surgeon as he dismantled a supposedly good Buffalo defense. A well spent afternoon.

On the Road to Bocas

The Three Ladies

Their Hotel

Hang out Time

My Football Distractor

Last Week at the Canal

I was interrupted several times during the game by my wife. Since she couldn’t be on site disrupt game flow in person I think her spousal radar went up when I got too comfortable. She, the Maine Musquetera and one of the PanaGals are in the midst of a road trip to Bocas Del Toro on the Atlantic coast of Panama and supposedly one of the most picturesque spots in the world. The city consists of a bunch of islands and the only way to travel around town is via boat. She sounded a little underwhelmed by Bocas. An educated guess on my part would be that the shopping venues were not up to her standard. They return home to David today.

My Favorite Son wrote a very impressive and startlingly poignant ode to the ABFA on Facebook this weekend. He showed some real insight on what makes their connection and marriage so strong despite some differences in personality.  Here’s part of the message which seemed a lot more insightful than the number of years they’ve been together would normally permit. Yet another reminder of how lucky I am in the children department. “So no, my love, I don't wish we were more a-like, as I feel our differences strengthen us as a couple and push our boundaries into areas outside our comfort zone. It creates a stronger foundation in our relationship. And isn't that what growth is all about? Personal development and classes definitely help and are a great tool, but we are growing together already by constantly pushing each other and being there for each other during hard times. I may disagree with her on items, or feel like I'm being dragged kicking and screaming to activities she is interested in, but I wouldn't have it any other way. This is who I married, and I couldn't be prouder or luckier in life. Our differences is one of the million things I love about” the ABFA.

I’m experiencing a troubling trend of insomnia. I may have over caffeinated myself during the game but I was certainly tired enough (again with the Sunday dance card). Sleep however proved elusive. There is some very bizarre tv programming in the early morning hours. This has happened a number of times over the past few weeks – I’m guessing there’s more to it; namely everything that’s been going on in my life recently. Of course it could be the lack of beer. It was an exceedingly dry weekend in that regard after the de riguer First Friday celebrations.  

Keeping Up

Frozen Face Move

Yesterday certainly didn’t qualify as a Saturday although there was a disturbing amount of college football being played. I spent most of the day at the office monitoring the first day of operations since we moved all of our tech links to the servers at the new place. I find it constantly amazing at how dependent we’ve become in our everyday lives on technology. Customers expect certain things readily available without fully understating the cost and lack of agility that may create. It was a dreary, rainy day which kept me out of the yard as planned.

Costumed Music Class With Mom

I received my replacement kindle yesterday and was pleased to report to my daughter that I was able to set it up without any assistance from my imbedded technical squad (son and/or daughter). I’m not saying I did it as fast as either one of them would have but I recovered all the books I lost with the old one and am back in business. I also remotely erased the stolen IPad – I am getting scarily efficient although I continue to bemoan my absolute stupidity to have lost both items in the first place.

Helping Dad Wake Up

In reports from the west coast my granddaughter absolutely dominated her music class with her abuela provided duck costume. She went with a layered costume wearing a Great Aunt supplied undergarment. She’s also acquired, or better said inherited, one of her mother’s signature 1 year old expressions. We have a lot of pictures where my daughter would freeze her face with a startled expression that never failed to make everyone burst out in laughter. The First Blog Reader is now doing the same and it was yet another walk down memory lane to the time her mother was the same size she is now.

Since I had the evening to myself I checked out Keeping up With the Joneses which was just okay. It’s the typical plot where a suburban couple has a pair of super sexy secret agents move in across the street. You first have to accept that Zach Galifinakis could have ever scored Isla Fisher as a wife which does call for the suspension of a lot of disbelief. The women in this movie are so much better than the men. Gal Gadot is carving out a nice niche for herself as action hero and Fisher absolutely dominates a low cut dress. The rest of the silly plot was forgettable. I’d pass on this if you haven’t decided to see it yet.

Scene from Black Mirror

Entertainment values skyrocketed back home after a solitary dinner at the local 99. The new season on Black Mirror is up on Netflix and the first show was stunning. It featured a plot where today’s social media is taken to the next level and everybody is constantly rated and your social status, based on those ratings, is all encompassing. It follows a young woman whose precipitous fall is chronicled to its devastating conclusion. It was mesmerizing and rang so true when you see the millennials with their faces constantly buried in their smart phones. Is this what is next?

Keene Freind and I Last Year When We Snuck into PA to Celebrate with Pittsburgh Roommate

Pittsburgh Roommate celebrates his birthday today, probably still smarting from last week's spanking of the Steelers by the Patriots. We’ve known each other since the 6^th grade and became good friends in high school culminating in rooming together for our sophomore year at college.  He lived along Spofford Lake and hosted some of the most epic parties of my youth.  I will forever remember navigating in the country black of night down to his beach by looking up to see the stars in the gap through the trees that marked the trail.  The party always ended up with a huge bonfire which allowed me to give full throat to my pyromaniac side.  The less said about the late night runs to Route 9 the better.  We share a love of beer, sports, and women clearly out of our league.  I’m proud to call him friend.

Tempered News

Trying on Headdresses

I finished up what will probably go down as the longest two day work week in recorded history yesterday. I’m making up for the lack of effort at work by coming in today to check on the progress of server migration that took place last night (who am I?). Moving in has been a learning experience on just about every level as the spanking new facility is put through its initial paces as a work place. Last night a couple hydraulic hoses blew off the wall spraying ureic acid all over the place. Sometimes it’s good to be the boss so you don’t have to get directly involved in the cleanup.

My Personal Favorite Bought by her Grandmother (of course)

I had a very enjoyable First Friday celebration last night as the new political boss even showed and picked up the tab. He knows how hard everybody has worked over the past couple weeks and wanted to express his gratitude. I can think of no finer gesture to express that type of feeling than buying rounds of beer; but that’s me.

Wife and Maine Musquetera Visited Panama Canal This Week

I returned home exhausted but was soon entertained by my nightly call with the First Blog Reader. She was trying on Halloween costumes which was about as charming as it sounds. Cali-Daughter and Wingman also broke some potentially earth shattering news which I’m not sure I’m allowed to share yet. Buddy was wondering why I was doing a swirling attempt at a jig after the phone call. More on that in the future.

Okay, This Works

Today marks the final cutover from fall to winter, at least on the yard front. I’ll mow the grass for the final time and put that machine away until spring. I’ll also unpack the newly acquired snow blower because who knows when that’ll be needed. It’s been a dreary end of October where we couldn’t enjoy the spectacular colors as much as I’d like. We’ve been getting the missing quota of rain and some impressive wind which combined to strip the trees earlier than necessary. I think the word I’m looking for is bleak. An early end to my favorite season seems unfair somehow.

Vestiges and Literary Heroes

This Magazine Has Met Its Match

Well yesterday was a whole cartload of fun operating on a couple hours of sleep on my first day back in the office. It made no difference that the lack of sleep was due to self-directed rage either. It’s amazing that you can be so honestly mad at yourself for a completely stupid act that it’s impossible to fall asleep. I’m glad I save this type rage for the mistakes that rise to the monumentally stupid level otherwise I’d never get any sleep. I did learn a lot on how to change passwords and deregister devices. I got a call back from the Massport lost and found department just after I’d finished turning all access to the devices off. I figured now that I’d finally figured out how to do that I’d have to turn them all back on again but they were just calling to learn where I’d specifically left the items. I was impressed with their initiative but nothing had been turned in. My items are still considered “lost”.

Down Goes the Y

I also saw that one of my childhood havens meet the wrecking ball. The Keene YMCA building that I literally grew up in is being torn down after several years of disuse after the Y moved out.It didn't go out without a fight though as one of the walls collapsed the wrong way and nearly took out city hall (message sent). There are way too many memories to recall of that building as the Cantankerous Friend and I spent so much time in either the pool, summer camp, and/or gym during our youth. I'll miss it when I return to Keene and rive down Roxbury Street. This whole time marcheth on theory can get kind of tiresome.

So Many Good Times (including a first kiss)

My granddaughter completely resurrected a battered psyche later in the day when she showed me a new basket of magnet letters she was arranging on her California refrigerator. This brought back some poignant memories of her mother doing the same thing on a Fort Benning, Georgia refrigerator at the same age oh so long ago. She also blessed me with a couple of her grandfather specific smiles which had the usual medicinal effect. Wingman reported she had spent a good part of her work day demolishing a magazine unfortunate enough to fall within her prey range.

Favorite Son was Rocking the Purple Last Night in his New Kitchen

Before my kindle headed for the ether or wherever the hell it is now I finished off the latest Virgil Flowers novel by John Sandford, Escape Clause. Virgil is the quirky Minnesota cop who evolved from the excellent Lucas Davenport series. Virgil is an brilliant investigator but every time he touches a case it devolves into a circus of completely unexpected, hilarious, and usually deadly consequences. This book could have been called Escape Claws since it involved the theft of two tigers but I think Sandford expected readers to pick up on that themselves. I actually rubbed my hands together when the plot was set up because I just imagined the havoc that would descend with Flowers involved. I was not disappointed. I’ve loved everything Sandford has written and this was yet another example of great American detective writing.

Another of my literary heroes, actually head of the pantheon, Jack Reacher, emerged on the silver screen again with Jack Reacher: Never Go Back which I saw last night. I’ve gotten over the initial rage I felt when I heard the pint sized Tom Cruise was playing the behemoth character of Reacher because Cruise did such a good job in the first film. He’s back in form here but this doesn’t resonate as well as the first. They drag in a potential daughter which wasn’t needed and added an unnecessary plot line. We don’t need to see Reacher’s softer side. He’s around to kick ass and take names. He gets to do the requisite amount of that and is ably assisted by Colby Smulders who apparently picked up some skills from her Avenger time. So not as good as the first one but that’s usually the case. Cruise at least doesn’t besmirch Reacher’s reputation and this should lead more people to read the books where they’ll meet the “real” Reacher. So this is, in fact, a public service film.