Tax Freed and Commemoration

Each year, the People’s Republic of Taxxachusetts gifts a tax-free weekend to the residents. I’ve always been a little upset that it never seems to occur when I needed to buy something big, where the savings would be appreciable. Well, I’ve got to be careful about those hidden prayers, uttered in frustration. This year, while I was lounging on the beach in February, our house sitter reported that our snow blower had given up the ghost. I resolved to buy one close to the season when hopefully there would be discounted sales. I did the usual mind flush and went about my business until wandering about Home Depot earlier this week (as I am wont to do). I ran across a discounted snow blower and armed with all the advertising I’ve been bombarded with this week about the upcoming sales tax holiday, I knew what I was going to do this weekend.

The Mafia Partying Last Evening

Since retirement I’ve avoided hitting the Home Deport on the weekend, allowing all those still employed their free day there. The weekends are always mobbed with still working stiffs. Obviously, that wasn’t going to work with the tax free weekend so I bounced (more accurately eased) out of bed this morning and headed directly to the Depot. My strategy worked as I was able to park inside of a kilometer from the front door. My luck held as someone was able to help me immensely and I was soon in possession of the new machine. I planned on loading it in the back of the Highlander, but the shipping crate was an inch and a half too tall. They would have delivered it for $90, wiping out my tax-free savings, or I could rent one of their vehicles for $20. Problem solved, at least until I pulled into the driveway and realized I did not have a fork lift to off load it. I was planning on going with my default approach, brute force and ignorance. That is, until my Favorite Panamanian, attracted by the backup alarms, arrived to supervise. I reacted as I usually do, by saying I didn’t need her help or supervision. That was received as well as you would expect. She actually had a very good idea (which I was forced to admit to her) to use a ladder to slide the crate out of the truck. It worked better than I expected and it was safely in the garage.

The Crate

I was prepared for the tax weekend with a First Friday of the Week Happy Hour barbecue down the street with the Neighborhood Mafioso. He was remarking about the stifling heat and humidity when his wife informed him about the barbecue. They have a great social area behind their house which is a great party spot, especially when they added a fan. It was a great way to send off the week laughing with the Panamanian Mafia. The ladies set up shop around the table when the host suggested we gringos eat our meals in the air conditioned house. That was a complete success, and we emerged to find the day’s heat dissipating as we set up for extending the socializing and attendant laughing on the back deck. Mother Nature sent us a message to wind the party up as we watched a massive electric storm head our way from the horizon. Great friends, great times.

The Gringos Last Night

                                                        The Storm Approaches
This weekend is also more than memorable for another reason(s). It marks the 17^th anniversary of the Best Weekend Ever #1 and the 12^th of the Best Weekend Ever the Sequel. 17 years ago, I had an unexpectedly emotional walk down the aisle with my daughter as she tied the knot with Wingman. Likewise, my son experienced similar emotions five years later when, directly in front of our seats, he spotted the ABFA for the first time in her wedding garb headed down the aisle to him. There are so many great memories from those weekends that whenever we all get together, inevitably an anecdote from one of those celebrations is brought up. Wingman and the ABFA are integral members of the family now and obviously played important roles in producing the lights of our lives, the FBR, BRS and BR3. Happy anniversaries, you crazy kids and thanks for the memories those weekends produced and everything that flowed from them since.

Best Weekend Ever #1 Kicks Off in Sturbridge

Best Weekend #2 in Nashua

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------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 her single days in Brooklyn; Czech Connection – Czech couple who’ve become good friends along with their daughter (the Czech Shadow); 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 (whom I miss more than I can ever explain); Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Upstairs Neighbors – American couple and great friends who live in condo above us in Panama; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course