Bon Voyaging and Tech Breakthrough

So, our cable company, through which we also have our cell phones, was offering a good deal on upgrading our iPhones. My Favorite Panamanian and I stopped into their storefront before going to the movies this week, thinking there would be the whole wait for it to be sent kind of thing. Nope. Inside of an hour we both had brand new phones. While that is a good thing, this is the first time I’ve done it the transition between phones without some inhouse tutoring from my IT section, namely, the son, daughter, and/or their spouses. I guess I paid attention last time as I wandered the tech landscape of figuring out how to configure the phones and then sign back into all the apps, a feat not for the weak of heart. I even went so far as to consult the internet god of information, Google, on how to relink our iWatches. The scariest and probably most unexpected outcome is that everything seems to work. The world doth turn.

Stair Repair

I was out in the back yard yesterday addressing the recurring problem of the steps between the terraces. While most have held up for the past six years, there’s a couple that fail each year. I decided to handle it with concrete. I removed the base stones and poured a concrete bed into which I put the stone stair treads. It seems to have worked, but only time will tell. Speaking of my Favorite Panamanian’s vast garden complex, the mulch guys finally showed up today. This is the first year we’ve hired someone to do the mulching instead of doing it myself. After watching them work for a while, I’m convinced we made the right decision. This, at my age, is definitely a spectator sport as I don’t have to whittle down a huge pile of mulch as I’ve done for the past almost twenty years now. My wife, ever the commentator, mentioned that these guys are much more careful when moving around her garden. The implication being obvious.

Front Yard Mulch

I watched something extremely scary last night on television. The presidential debate. While Trump was his usual self, completely detached from reality and unable to tell the truth, Biden was a disaster. There’s no other way to put it. From the get go, he looked confused and doddering. It says a lot when you’re able to make Trump look like the lucid one. Trump handed him so many opportunities to land crushing blows but Biden wasn’t up for it. This scares the hell out of me. As a lifelong republican, I find myself horrified for having to vote for this guy who obviously isn’t up to the task but I’ll do that if Trump is the alternative. So scary. I’m getting old but he looked like he’s already out to pasture. The only redemptive feature is that at least Biden surrounds himself with talented people while Trump has devolved to only wanting sycophants. Scary, indeed.

The Bikeriders was date night viewing this week. I’ll watch anything with Tom Hardy in it and he’s back as the leader of a 1960’s motorcycle gang in Chicago. He possesses so much cinematic charisma that I wonder why, in so many roles, they reduce his dialogue to mumbling, which happens again here. The film traces the rise and fall of the gang focusing on the relationship between Jody Comer and Austin Butler. This is really Comer’s movie and she shines as the reluctant bride who watches the club devolve into chaos, a reflection of the 1960s. Worth the view just to see Comer and Hardy carve up the scenery but always tough to ascribe any kind of hero status to what were basically hoodlums.

Finally, this will be my last post for a while, for June certainly. This afternoon we head to the airport for our ten days in Ireland and Scotland. This means, predictably, that my Favorite Panamanian has spent the last two weeks hopelessly devoted to packing and excoriating me for my lack of due attention to same. We’re both packed now though and it took me a lot less time, not that I’ll ever mention that to her. In a weird turn of events, Facebook removed my last post saying it didn’t meet their community standards, which is strange when I consider some of the content that apparently does. I thought it was the ultimate innocent post but I guess someone was offended. Any rate, see you in July!

In my A-Z watch, three fell since my last post, all keepers: Kick Ass, one of my favorite movies in last twenty years, mainly for Hit Girl; Kick Ass 2, not as much fun as first but still there’s Hit Girl; and The Kid Who Would be King, sneaky heartwarming flick tapping into the Arthurian legend.

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RECURRING CHARACTERS:                                

ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete - my daughter in law; BR3 – Blog Reader #3 – granddaughter #3; BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; CRC - Connecticut Riverboat Captain – another close friend from high school, renowned sailor of the big river; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during him her single days in Brooklyn; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter; First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Kindergarten Friend – friend since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd Musquetera (musketeer); Namesake Nephew – son of Great Aunt and Soxfather named after me; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member; 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; PCR - Pittsburgh College Roommate – high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; PCR+1 - Pittsburgh College Roommate’s wife; Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog; Seis Amigos - two couples from our condo complex and my wife and I; Soxfather – my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course

Dance Time

No, this isn’t a return to the dance floor with my Favorite Panamanian. Yesterday was my six month check up with the dermatologist, or, as it is known in my world, Biopsy Day. The dance I am referring to is the happy dance, because, for the first time in a very long time, two years I think, I got through the exam without any excavations. I think the dermatologist was as surprised as I was that she didn’t have to carve out any biopsies. There was no way she was as as happy as I was though. The scalp hole still hasn’t fully healed from the last Mohs Surgery and I wasn’t looking forward to traveling overseas with yet more holes dug out of my carcass. So Happy Dance time!!!! I also semi-shocked myself with the weigh in yesterday. After my Father’s Day donnybrook of sweets, I got back on the diet and forgot to add in the weekly cheat day. I’ve now lost 34 pounds since I started this thing which is bordering on weird, feel great though.

I’m not the only one with good news either. The FBR passed her deep water swim test this past weekend which has effectively sentenced her parents to extended town pool time as she can now go off the diving board. My daughter reported that she was initially shy about taking the test but passed easily and then declared she was going off the diving board, something she had never done. By the end of the weekend, she was going off the higher diving board as well. She is an adventure in every aspect of life.

In my A-Z watch, five fell since I last posted, four keepers and one ejection, including two with Donald Sutherland, a tribute to this legendary actor: Keeping Up with the Joneses, very funny with Isla Fisher, once again, stealing every scene; Kelly’s Heroes, a better action movie than I remembered along with the dark comedy with Oddball bemoaning Moriarty’s “negative thoughts”; Kentucky Fried Movie, early movie from the Airplane guys, “Catholic High School Girls in Trouble” and Big Jim Slade to the rescue, way too funny; The Key to Sex, from my skinemax phase, still beautiful women but I must have outgrown it – remove; and Khartoum, a favorite epic from my youth with Heston playing a tragic and really flawed hero, Sir Lawrence Olivier in black face as the Mahdi is cringe worthy.

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RECURRING CHARACTERS:                                

ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete - my daughter in law; BR3 – Blog Reader #3 – granddaughter #3; BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; CRC - Connecticut Riverboat Captain – another close friend from high school, renowned sailor of the big river; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during him her single days in Brooklyn; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter; First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Kindergarten Friend – friend since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd Musquetera (musketeer); Namesake Nephew – son of Great Aunt and Soxfather named after me; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member; 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; PCR - Pittsburgh College Roommate – high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; PCR+1 - Pittsburgh College Roommate’s wife; Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog; Seis Amigos - two couples from our condo complex and my wife and I; Soxfather – my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course

Wall Week

I know you were all on pins and needles waiting to hear about the progress on my latest addition to my Favorite Panamanian’s egregiously large garden complex. It is done. Now that it is, the heat wave has, predictably, broken. It was an interesting rush to the finish line because of that heat. The trusty personal fan around my neck was a true revelation. It got so I didn’t even notice it when found myself doing some fairly hard physical labor in 96-degree heat without issue. That was definitely a first. I forgot to take it off when I went to Home Depot and wore it as I was loading the 28 bags (not that I was counting) of garden soil it took to fill the new addition. The last step was creating the mini-wall on the right side of the fire place to connect with the new wall. I bought some quick drying cement and it certainly lived up to its title as I was rushing through getting the rocks in place before lathering with cement before it dried. I then had to cover the whole thing overnight with a tarp as the heat wave broke with some vigorous thunder storms. Even though the cement was quick drying I didn’t want to temp fate with as heavy as the rain came down. I received a definitive certificate of approval form the project manager this morning.

Final Bricks in Place

28 Bags of Garden Soil Later

As I said, it’s been a crazy kind of week. Wait a minute did I say that? Well, if I didn’t, it was. Around all the wall construction there was a bunch going on concerning our upcoming trip to Ireland/Scotland as well as the Panamanian condo. We had a meeting with the travel agent on Monday and everything seems set with the itinerary, we leave next Friday. I also converted a bunch of cash to both Euros and English pounds. My daughter scoffed at that, seasoned European traveler that she is, saying credit card was the way to go but I reasoned that my generation still uses cash, occasionally.

Mission Complete

The Panamanian condo business led to a funny situation as well as a scary one. I deposited the annual bunch of cash in our US bank we send down to our Panamanian bank last week and made an appointment to do the international wire transfer this week. I had just gotten off the stationary bike on Tuesday, completely sweat soaked (that heat wave again), and decided to pay a couple bills online through the bank. As I was opening the bank’s website, it dawned on me that my appointment at the bank was in eight minutes! I actually made it on time but I haven’t moved that fast since that incident with the two Panamanian girlfriends running into each other when I was single, but that’s a story for another day. I’m sure the bank guy was wondering why I was wearing so much cologne but it was for his benefit.

While I was Building Walls This Week

The Panamanian Mafia Invaded Newport, RI

A Great Time was Had by All and it Saved me 
From Certain Supervisory Tendencies from the Lady in Orange

The scary part took place over the ensuing days. This was a big hunk of cash and it usually arrives in Panama later in the same day of the transfer. We’ve been doing it for ten years now. By Thursday it still hadn’t showed up and I was starting to panic. Our condo mortgage payments as well as our condo fees are taken out automatically at the end of the month, so, important. I finally checked my wife’s email late on Thursday and found that she had received a message from our Panamanian bank on Tuesday afternoon, saying they needed some documentation since it was such a large amount. Oh, the email also said they needed the documentation within two business days or they would cancel the transfer. The word I am looking for is “Yikes”!! I gathered the needed documents and then used the google translator to convert my message to the bank official that had emailed us. The Favorite Panamanian did a final (and much needed) review of that effort before we sent it late on Thursday. I heard nothing all day Friday and the money still didn’t show up in our account. I actually lost sleep last night worrying about this. I opened my wife’s email account again this morning and found that everything was in order and the money would be in our account today. It was and I will sleep better tonight.

FBR Heading out for Last Day of Second Grade

At Bus Stop with her Best Bud

This was a big week down in New Jersey as well. The FBR graduated from second grade. I can’t believe she’s already going into third grade. I have clear memories of that same time in my life. There’s something intrinsically wrong with that. She didn’t seem as impressed with that as I was. She was much more excited about the opening of the town pools which she dragged her mother to for two-a-day sessions. Meanwhile in New Hampshire, the BRS and BR3 didn’t take part in last night’s Family Facetime call. The ABFA showed them out in the cul-de-sac in front of their house. The BRS was riding her old tricycle with BR3, for some reason in hot pursuit on foot. Then BR3 just stopped and started dancing in the middle of the street. When I asked her parents what was going on, they were as perplexed as we were. It made sense to the granddaughters though.

Cantankerous in Spain

I have some very far-flung friends at the current moment. The Cantankerous Friend has spent the last couple weeks in Spain for a bike tour in the Basque region near the border with France. I’m sure the Spaniards are still getting accustomed to his special brand of “humor”. He gets back next week. Meanwhile Keene Friend is down in Pennsylvania trying to bring a modicum of class to the Pittsburgh area, a mission fraught with danger and up to now, handled strictly by the PCR and his wife. They’ve been touring the rust belt ball parks, seeing MLB games in Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and last night, Cincinnati (and the Red Sox!). I was texting with the PCR last night during the game because the aforementioned thunder storms wiped out my planned dance date with the wife (I have mentioned before that she comes from one of the rainiest countries on earth, haven’t I). She said there was no venturing out with that amount of precipitation descending, it’s a hair thing. Go figure. At any rate, Keene Friend should be back next week as well, I’m glad he’s had some time with the PCR, color me a bit jealous as I would have loved to catch the games with them. Maybe next time. With both of their imminent returns I predict a thunder run when I get back from Scotland, solely for the purpose of trading travel stories, don’t ya know.

Keene Friend with PCR, PCR's wife and son

Miniature Golf, Of Course

Cleveland with Other Son

Last Night in Cincinnati

In my A-Z watch, four fell since I last posted, all keepers: Jurassic World, Fallen Kingdom, interesting look at the cloning argument and great action; Jurassic World Dominion, great conclusion to second Jurassic trilogy, so cool seeing actors from both trilogies teaming up; Just Go With It, probably the most epic yellow bikini in cinematic history and Anniston holding her own despite this; and Kate and Leopold, rare chick flick in my library, was sure I was going to boot it but it completely charmed me again.

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RECURRING CHARACTERS:                                

ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete - my daughter in law; BR3 – Blog Reader #3 – granddaughter #3; BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; CRC - Connecticut Riverboat Captain – another close friend from high school, renowned sailor of the big river; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during him her single days in Brooklyn; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter; First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Kindergarten Friend – friend since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd Musquetera (musketeer); Namesake Nephew – son of Great Aunt and Soxfather named after me; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member; 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; PCR - Pittsburgh College Roommate – high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; PCR+1 - Pittsburgh College Roommate’s wife; Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog; Seis Amigos - two couples from our condo complex and my wife and I; Soxfather – my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course

Eighteen Alright and Yet Another Wall

I owe a debt to my son. That’s a bit of an understatement because I owe so much to both of my “kids” as I’ll never be able to recompense them for what they’ve brought into my life. This is a more specific matter of gratitude though. I’ve been a long-standing critic of the style of basketball played in the NBA. I used to love the game passionately until seeing the likes of Lebron and the latest round of superstars ruin it, for me. The no calls for traveling, the constant carrying of the ball, no passing, flopping, and superstars getting different calls than others. I used to a fanatic Celtics fan, even got to sit on the bench with Sam Jones and Bill Russel during a preseason scrimmage, as well, but they fell into the same type of basketball as the rest of the league and I left them behind years ago. My son encouraged me to watch this current Celtics team over the past couple years, claiming they actually passed the ball and played defense. As I am wont to do, I resisted, not wanting to learn what a Euro-step was.

Shortly after returning from Panama this year, I finally succumbed a watched one of the first Celtics playoff games with him. I saw evidence of what he and several other friends had been trying to convince me of. This was a fun team to watch. Basketball should be the ultimate team sport and here I found a team that was willing to involve everyone and play defense. This all is a way to lead in to what I’ve been doing over the past few weeks. I’ve watched every Celtics playoff game since that first one with my son. That was all rewarded Monday night when they squashed a team that played the aforementioned style of “superstar” basketball. In doing so they won their 18^th world championship and brought an old curmudgeon who thought he’d watched his last NBA game ever, back into the fold. The Lakers can suck it.

Project Area

Day 1 - Grass Removed

Since we’re undergoing the first heat wave of the year it’s almost predictable that I had to start the latest back yard construction project, the expansion yet again of my Favorite Panamanian’s vast garden complex. There was a narrow strip of lawn behind the fireplace and in front of a terrace wall. My wife finally understood I couldn’t dig out the dirt underneath the terrace wall to level the space without having the terrace collapse. I could raise the lower wall next to the fireplace and then fill that in. I removed all the turf from the location on Monday which is nowhere near as much fun as it sounds. The heat hit yesterday which also called for some extensive digging and carrying of buckets of dirt up the hill for disposal, again, not a lot of fun. In a major surprise I didn’t hit any huge rocks. A first in my extensive experience excavating that hillside. Not to say there wasn’t the usual thousand or so of the smaller rocks jarring the shoulders when the shovel hit them.

Day 2 Progress

The Personal Fan

Once the digging was done, I started in with the bricks. I only had a few going into the actual hillside so that part wasn’t as tough as earlier walls. I ran into a conundrum where the wall on the left runs into the right side of the fireplace. I’m going to have to use some cement and rocks to mate that section, so that’ll be fun. I finished the left side yesterday and started on the right side of the hill but eventually figured I’d donated sufficient gallons of sweat to call it a day. I’ll be going out after the peak sun hours today to finish the walls. Tomorrow will hopefully see the emplacement of the garden dirt (spousal approval pending) and the cement work mentioned above. I was surprised I got as much done yesterday as I did, considering the heat. I was helped immensely by a Father’s Day gift from my Favorite Panamanian. When I opened it, I laughed to myself, my inner voice saying I would never use something like this. It was a rechargeable personal fan worn around your neck. Considering the heat yesterday, I gave it a shot and it worked for the entire three hours I was out there and helped immeasurably because I only took one water break. Amazing what a difference having a constant breeze on your head makes.

FBR and I in 2016

Finally, Facebook was after my heart again today when this picture showed up in memories. It was taken in 2016 when the FBR was visiting. It shows us on Deckzilla as it was being constructed. This was when the FBR was still young enough to think I was supercool. Those days have sadly passed as she is now much more firmly based in reality. My daughter and the FBR just Facetimed me. She only had a half day of school today as her time in second grade winds down and she would only talk with me when her mother coaxed her to. She’s practicing to be a teenager I guess and while I miss being “supercool” (not that I ever was). I still loved seeing her today in all her indifferent superiority and remembering those earlier days of connection.

In my A-Z watch, two fell since I last posted, both keepers: Jurassic Park 3, a much better sequel and I’ll love anything with Tea in it; Jurassic World, Chris Pratt evolved into a true leading man, still trying to figure out how Howard ran so far in those high heels, having a T-Rex chasing you probably helps.

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RECURRING CHARACTERS:                                

ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete - my daughter in law; BR3 – Blog Reader #3 – granddaughter #3; BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; CRC - Connecticut Riverboat Captain – another close friend from high school, renowned sailor of the big river; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during him her single days in Brooklyn; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter; First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Kindergarten Friend – friend since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd Musquetera (musketeer); Namesake Nephew – son of Great Aunt and Soxfather named after me; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member; 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; PCR - Pittsburgh College Roommate – high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; PCR+1 - Pittsburgh College Roommate’s wife; Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog; Seis Amigos - two couples from our condo complex and my wife and I; Soxfather – my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course

Daddy Day Fun

Well, that certainly was a weekend. I have to extend some heartfelt thanks to family and friends who made these past couple days so much fun. The chief perpetrator of the fun was my Favorite Panamanian who undertook to make Father’s Day very special for me. She had her own adventures, starting on Friday when she joined the Neighborhood Mafioso and other ladies for a performance of Girls Night - The Musical at the Hanover Theater, which I successfully dodged. That was easy because I wasn’t invited. I’m glad she had a great lady’s night out and apparently there were only four men in the entire theater so you can guess what kind of show it was. My Favorite Panamanian looked her usual elegant when leaving the house and came back with a huge smile on her face, the result of some very ribald conversations in the car driving back; she was hanging with some characters.

Sunday's Assembled Dads and the Grandkids

Saturday was supposed to involve more hangout time with the Neighborhood Mafiosos, to include the male part so the equation this time. We had a graduation party at one of the mafia’s Leicester home and then, in a “WTF am I going for?” situation, a birthday party for the most famous Worcester hairdresser, who was turning 60. I do owe a debt to the hairdresser as he was the guy who introduced my wife to the Neighborhood Mafioso. Before we got to either of those, my Favorite Panamanian had another health scare. While prepping to leave she felt a sharp pain near her eye, which then filled up with blood; as I said, scary. We went to the local urgent care clinic where she passed all the tests for some thing really serious. The recommendation was, predictably, to go to the local emergency room. Nope. After our last experience there, ‘nuff said.

Favorite Panamanian Headed out Friday Night

She as feeling better so we promised she’d see a doctor on Monday (she did, she’s fine) and headed out to join our friends at the graduation party. After answering the concerned questions, we settled in for a great time with friends. There was the usual accumulation of the Panamanian Mafia and, in a real treat, our Czech Friends as well. We hadn’t seen them yet this year and my shadow was celebrating her ascension to high school, graduating from Middle School. A great afternoon reconnecting with these friends as well as the other accumulated worthies. This was followed by a trip to a Shrewsbury Street bar to celebrate the hairdresser with the Neighborhood Mafiosos. The bar is owned by his daughter and was closed to host the party. I was impressed with the number of people attending, including a large number of ladies. The hairdresser is a bona fide character, Italian and beloved by his clientele. I don’t really know him that well but that didn’t stop him from insisting I join him in doing some mystery shots. So, he might be growing on me.

With the Czech Friends

The Mafia Saturday

Our Fabulous Hosts and the Grad

Great Party

Hairdresser Party with the Mafiosos

Birthday Boy with his Sash

Sunday, Father’s Day, dawned with my Favorite Panamanian, despite not feeling her best, already up and preparing my breakfast. Before that she showered me with a bunch of gifts. It’s what she does. She wouldn’t let me do any chores as we prepared to leave for New Hampshire. Great Aunt was joining us for that trip as we were heading north to celebrate the day at the ABFA’s awesome parents’ home along with my son’s family. This has become kind of a tradition with Mother’s Day here and Father’s Day there. I was particularly excited as this was my first day off the diet after making weight. I’d already invaded my stash in the freezer that morning, downing chocolate chip cookies and a whoopie pie.

Dresses and Shoes Courtesy of Abuela

The BRS and BR3 were in full celebratory mode as we arrived, running their other grandfather around the yard. The ABFA’s dad has a really special relationship with the granddaughters and I couldn’t be happier as it takes a lot of pressure off me. I was not ignored though. The BRS engaged in a tickle war that would still be going on if she had her druthers. Both young ladies were soon garbed in the results of their abuela’s latest shopping forays. It was so good to be enfolded into the true sense of family as soon as we arrived.

Best Father's Day Gift - Time with Fam

The ladies outdid themselves with the meal, steaks and all the things I’ve been denying myself for the past month and a half. I kept the bread basket directly in front of me for the entire meal although I did share. I tried to pace myself, understanding there was still dessert to come. There may have been an unplanned sofa nap involved, at least until the granddaughters noticed. What an assortment of desserts it was, as well. Chocolate pie, pound cake, and cookies. My denied digestive system was being carpet bombed! It probably wasn’t smart, okay it definitely wasn’t smart, to indulge in such reckless manner, but I’d been aiming for this day for a while.

Joined by my Favorite Son

The granddaughters were changing clothes, switching from bathing suits to dresses faster than I could keep up with. The ABFAs folks had a wading pool in the back yard which, despite the chilly water, the grandkids could not stay away from. When I asked if they’d really been swimming because their hair wasn’t wet, they responded by sticking their heads under water each time they went into the pool from then on. The BRS was fresh off a triumph in her latest swim lesson, where she completed two complete lengths of the pool unassisted, well ahead of the rest of her class. It was a great afternoon that, predictably, ended way too soon. I ended up back in the Man Cave upon returning home, ending my day of overindulgence by enjoying my stored piece of BR3 birthday cake from May. Well worth the wait, and a fitting send off as I returned to the diet today.

Pool Time

In my A-Z watch, three fell since I last posted, all keepers: Jupiter Ascending, I may be the only in the world that one that loves this movie, despite Redmayne’s terrible performance; Jurassic Park, still holds up, danger with real heart; The Lost World, Jurassic Park, disappointing follow up, keeping only because part of a series.

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RECURRING CHARACTERS:                                

ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete - my daughter in law; BR3 – Blog Reader #3 – granddaughter #3; BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; CRC - Connecticut Riverboat Captain – another close friend from high school, renowned sailor of the big river; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during him her single days in Brooklyn; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter; First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Kindergarten Friend – friend since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd Musquetera (musketeer); Namesake Nephew – son of Great Aunt and Soxfather named after me; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member; 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; PCR - Pittsburgh College Roommate – high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; PCR+1 - Pittsburgh College Roommate’s wife; Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog; Seis Amigos - two couples from our condo complex and my wife and I; Soxfather – my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course

Hasty Thunder

Building on my success of survival while directly exposed to shopping with my Favorite Panamanian, I decided to chance it again. Not only that, I exposed Keene Friend to the phenomena. This was all involved in my not so clever attempt to execute yet another thunder run back to my hometown so I could hang with Keene Friend before he leaves town in pursuit of acts of legerdemain with that Pittsburgh worthy, the PCR. He’ll be coming back just before the wife and I head out on our Irish/Scottish adventures, so time was a factor based on his Sunday departure. Anyways. It worked out, as I encouraged my Favorite Panamanian in her search for appropriate footwear for our trip. We’d had good luck at a sneaker place in Keene, plus it was tax free so there‘s that.

Dinner at Margarita's

My wife, despite coming from one of the rainiest countries on the face of the earth, was freaking out when the travel agent said we could count on it raining a lot during our trip. She decreed that appropriate footwear needed to be acquired. We took care of me, as chronicled in yesterday’s post, at LL Bean. Keene Friend and I watched as a young salesman stepped up to meet the challenge offered by my Favorite Panamanian. I was impressed as they went round and round as they found some shoes that felt great but were not the right color. He eventually retreated into the back room and emerged saying he had found the pair of shoes he was convinced she would like. Keene Friend and I shared a look with each at this bold statement. Turned out he was right and we had a sale.

Rare Action Shot of My Wife Shopping

As we waited in the checkout line I noticed a pair of Parrish shoes. Parrish shoes were the fictional shoe company of the Jumanji movie (filmed in Keene) so I was surprised to say the least. In a coincidental incident I had just finished watching the three Jumanji movies the night before in my A-Z watch. Keene Friend explained that the shoe store, Ted's Shoe & Sport, had bought the rights to the name and started producing shoes with the logo from the first movie. I always knew my hometown had the capacity for coolness. It was at this point that my Favorite Panamanian dismissed us from her service so she could pursue additional tax-free shopping. Keene Friend then firmly bent my arm behind my back and forced me across the street to the Lab ‘N Lager (editor’s note – I may be over stating the coercion involved).

Jumanji Inspired Shoes

The Lab was fairly lively for a late Thursday afternoon with a large group in the back room. A drunk from the next table made some sort of comment to me just after we sat down to which I nodded in good humor and then asked Keene Friend what he’d said. It was garbled for him also so we continued in our discussion to solve all the world’s problems (not that anyone will listen to us, excepting, of course, the aforementioned drunk). It was a fun afternoon hanging with one of my oldest friends. The Kindergarten Friend couldn’t join us as he was rocketing around town completing a honey do list and the Cantankerous Friend is riding his bike through the Pyrenees in the Basque region of Spain. That meant Keene Friend and I had to amuse ourselves which turned out to be great as it had been a while since it had been just the two of us pontificating.

Keene Friend and I at the Lab

Eventually we eased across the road to Margartia’s and tried to convince the Favorite Panamanian to join us for dinner. She reluctantly agreed to leave TJ Maxx and made her way downtown. It was an absolutely beautiful day so we sat outside and watched Keene walk by as we waited for her arrival. As stated by a fellow classmate who commented on Facebook, a great Thirsty Thursday. While the Keene Friend will try to bring civilization to the benighted Pittsburgh sports scene over the next few days, I will be decisively engaged. We have two social events tomorrow and then will travel up to Hudson, NH to celebrate Father’s Day with my son and the ABFA’s folks. Life is good, especially when liberally blessed with superb people to spend time with.

In my A-Z watch, two fell since I last posted, both keepers: Jumanji, The Next Level, Rock and Hart, still funny, loved the last scene of reconnecting with Aunt Nora; Jumper, fascinating sci fi with engaging cast.

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RECURRING CHARACTERS:                                

ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete - my daughter in law; BR3 – Blog Reader #3 – granddaughter #3; BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; CRC - Connecticut Riverboat Captain – another close friend from high school, renowned sailor of the big river; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during him her single days in Brooklyn; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter; First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Kindergarten Friend – friend since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd Musquetera (musketeer); Namesake Nephew – son of Great Aunt and Soxfather named after me; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member; 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; PCR - Pittsburgh College Roommate – high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; PCR+1 - Pittsburgh College Roommate’s wife; Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog; Seis Amigos - two couples from our condo complex and my wife and I; Soxfather – my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course