De-Comp

Yesterday qualified as a true day of decompression from the prior three weeks spent immersed in the Panamanian government bureaucracy. I took no small pleasure for the lack of humidity and the appearance of autumnal temperatures I found upon my return. The fall is my favorite time of year and you could definitely feel the impending arrival of that magical season. It was also very nice to have hot water at my beck and call again. The only place I had reliable supply was in our condo. I’m getting too old for cold showers regardless of the motivating causes.

During our time away, the construction crew moved the recycle containers with its collection of bottles and cans into the house. I’m not sure why they felt the need to protect this refuse from the elements once the garage roof was gone but the result was a cloud of small insects floating around the first floor. While this brought back some other less than fond memories of Panama time I wasn’t thrilled with this development. Everything else about the progress on the new master bedroom was uniformly incredible.

The highlight of the day was the two FaceTime calls with the FBR and the BRS. The BRS is now into speed crawling and would launch herself towards the screen whenever my Favorite Son put it within reach. Riggins also understands that his life has changed on a fundamental level with the BRS’ new mobility levels. He’ll have to carefully select his nap locations for the next five to six years. The FBR was trying very unsuccessfully to keep a serious mien on during our call. This would last as long as it took my Favorite Panamanian to call her on it and she couldn’t help but let a hard fought giggle from escaping.

This was the longest time in years that I’ve been away from the movies and I pre-warned my wife there would be some serious cinema time this week. For some inexplicable reason she did not want to go see Predator with me so I compromised and we went to see Peppermint. I know this is getting excoriated by critics but that seems almost sexist. This is John Wick with a female in the trigger pulling role. Most of the criticism of the movie is that Jennifer Garner shouldn’t be wasting her talent in such a genre. There have been numerous academy award level male actors who’ve indulged in a well-paid action genre, make that escapist, fare but you seldom see the same level of criticism leveled at them that Garner is enduring. This movie was fun, well as much as it could be with the tragic events that cause Garner’s character to go on her well executed rampage. Garner is superb embodying the sense of loss driving her motivation to end the people involved in that loss. She hasn’t lost anything off her fastball from Alias days and handles the action scenes flawlessly. So don’t listen to the critics. If you liked John Wick (guilty) you’ll like this.

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RECURRING CHARACTERS

BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter, ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete = my daughter in law, formerly known both as MEF – Most Excellent Fiancé & MEG – Most Excellent Girlfriend; 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 invole din planning; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rdmusquetera (musketeer); Buddy – AKA the Wonder Pooch – family dog, a black lab – hates squirrels, died in 2017; Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog, surrogate grandchild while awaiting arrival of the BRS; PanaGals – female relatives/friends of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin Mafia – inevitable group of Latin 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; Excellent Boss – my former direct boss at work; Voices of Inappropriate Worth - members of public who come to every Worcester public meeting to complain, all are on public assistance along with demeanor issues