Winded

Wife with Unexpected First Friday Guest

I’m about 1.75 dressers into my latest Ikea experience and I have credit to whoever creates the assembly instructions. There isn’t a single word, just descriptive pictures that allow easy instruction as long as you take a long look at the pictures first. This is so much better than the usual written instructions scribed by a non-English speaker. I’m not saying there wasn’t a couple cases where rails had to be reversed after they were installed but everything is going fairly swimmingly.

Keene Friend Was There as Well

I was all set to uncharacteristically blog yesterday, a rarity for Saturday, when I heard the voice of Deckzilla Dude calling from upstairs. He was supposed to have a family member come with him to move the massive ladder jacks from one side of the house to the other. That didn’t happen so I volunteered despite the cold wind and rain. If nothing else I can still add some brute force and ignorance. We got the jacks moved and the extra set loaded onto his truck. I was surprised at the relief I felt at finally having the jacks removed from the front of the house. It’s almost like progress was being made. The plumber is supposed to show up today to connect everything now that his work has passed the inspection.

FBR in Front of her First Ever 48 Piece Puzzle - Completed by Herself

We had a big surprise on Friday where my former Most Excellent Boss unexpectedly showed up for First Friday. Brew City was packed so it turned out to be a good thing he showed up early and was able to secure a table for us. It was so good reconnecting after so much time. We planned another thunder Run to Portsmouth in the upcoming year. He’d just returned from two weeks in Italy.

Saturday also marked Panamanian Independence Day so my wife spent the week casting about for a opportunity to assemble the mafia for an appropriate celebration. Most of the mafia was decisively engaged but we did get together at one of the their houses for a nice dinner with a two other couples. One of the couples was newly discovered/inducted into the Worcester Chapter of the Panamanian Mafia and it was nice to get to know them.

Last Night's Gathering

This might be my last post for a while (you are most welcome) as I head back to Panama tomorrow morning for my latest round with the bureaucrats and I’m not convinced I’ll have anything approaching adequate Wi-Fi. We fly back on Friday night and then leave in the early morning hours for New Jersey and the FBR’s birthday party. It’s shaping up to be a fairly busy week. My fervent hope is that significant progress will be made this week at the house while we’re gone.

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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 involed in 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 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; 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