Early Grad Day and Bike Assembly

I used to smirk, in an entirely self-important fashion, when I heard about graduation ceremonies for pre-school and kindergarten. We didn’t do such things when I was young so I assigned no importance to them whatsoever. That is, until this type ceremony rolled around for one of my grandchildren. All of a sudden, I couldn’t be more pleased and excited. This is the conundrum of grandparenting, minor events are inflated because of the participation of, in my case, my granddaughter. She is a purveyor of excitement to begin with and to have a special day assigned to her passage into kindergarten, well, as I said, excitement reigns. My Favorite Panamanian and I were planning on driving down for the event, at the very specific invitation of the FBR, but guests are limited to two because of the pandemic which makes sense. We will be cheering from afar. She modeled her cap and gown for us and it tugged at my heart strings because, seemingly yesterday (16 years in reality) her mother wore the same colors for her college graduation from BU.

The Grad

In Snorkeling Mode

I finally got around to assembling the Father’s Day gift my wife purchased for me back in March. She forbade me from doing so until the actual day arrived so this new exercise bike lounged in the basement storage area until yesterday. It was in a huge box with the usual amount of styrofoam and plastic concealing all the parts. When I laid them out, I realized it wasn’t going to be a simple tab A into slot B type exercise. Luckily the instructions were written by a native English speaker which helped immensely. I just finished the wi-fi connection and logged in for the first time. You can tell by those two statements that this is a great leap forward, technology wise, for my daily bike workouts. The venerable bike it is replacing dates back to the 1990s. The next big job will be disassembling that for disposal.

Parts Laid Out

And Assembled

Wall Progress

I’ve also been back out on the hill with daily trips to Home Depot to buy more wall bricks. I figure I’ve got another two rows to complete to declare victory. I already feel victorious because I only ran into one mongoso sized rock during my excavations and that was easily bypassed. I also finished binge watching an HBOMax series, Warrior, that my Favorite Son put me on to. It was really well done and featured well-conceived characters along with fantastic action. It is set in late 1800s San Francisco and the struggles for Chinese immigrants. The main characters are involved in the Chinese criminal organization, the tongs. It was fascinating. I didn’t learn until afterwards that it was based on some Bruce Lee material. I’m sure they took immense artistic license with history but it was a fun watch.

Thanks Son

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RECURRING CHARACTERS                                           

BR3 – granddaughter #3, BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter, ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete = my daughter in law; 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; Kindergarten Friend – friend since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; 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 3^rd musquetera (musketeer); Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog; 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; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during her single days in Brooklyn