Yesterday was a day I was dreading and
not just because I had to get up at 4am. The biggest reason was the annual
winter migration south of my Favorite Panamanian to the warm climes of her homeland
and our beachfront condo while I become a frozen geographic bachelor. This is hopefully
the last winter that I don’t immediately accompany her but that’s for the future
to know. It was appropriately and bone chilling cold for our departure which
only served to solidify her resolve to flee for the beach. We have this deployment
down to almost a science and I felt something of an expert as I wended my way
through the Logan Airport traffic stream that can baffle a newcomer.
I returned home to the larger house which
made it seem even emptier, if that’s possible. My wife has a tendency to occupy
a lot of space despite her miniscule stature. A couple hours later I received a
call from her which was weird because she should have been over Florida by that
point. There was a mechanical problem with the plane and she didn’t take off
until almost 11am, three hours late, having spent that time in the airplane.
This caused her to miss her connecting flight to her final destination but Copa
put her up in a five star hotel in Panama City and she was last heard from last
night partying with her younger sister and cousin. She had an early morning
flight up to David this morning and I’m waiting her hear she’s arrived there.
I employed my usual tactic of staying
busy to counter-act the incipient sadness. That meant taking the stack of paint
cans I’d set aside to do the spot painting still required in the new addition. There’s
always the small spots that need attention after the tape is pulled off or
Deckzilla Dude banged something hard up against the wall when he was moving it
or if he accidently cut through a wall into an adjoining room. After cycling through
five different colors of paint I declared victory and immersed myself in playoff
football and cooking a pot roast for the week. When that didn’t help I tried an
escape to the movies. It’s funny how much of my life is intertwined that that
little bundle of Latina energy.
The movie was Replicas which has Keanu
Reeves portraying a brilliant bio-engineer, Yes you heard that right. Despite
his well-earned status in pop culture as a less than honored thespian I’ve
always considered Reeves a sneaky good actor. This however was definitely too
much of a stretch as he teamed up with the guy from the Verizon commercials to
clone and then transfer the brains of his dead family into the clones. Yes you
heard that right so maybe Reeves’ acting ability wasn’t the only thing stretched
here. This could have been a good movie if they’d tightened up the pace in the
middle act as we’re left watching Reeves watch his cloning pods for way too
long. In the end the inevitable evil corporation raises its head to bring up
the needed action filled climax. I kind of liked this despite the all too
gaping plot holes. Maybe it was because I hoped this kind of science was
possible.
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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 involved in planning; Maine
and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US
sisters, my wife is the 3rdmusquetera (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; Deckzilla Dude – senior
citizen carpenter/contractor; 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
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