Weather Weirding and Missouri Sadness

BRS Photos at Last

I know I live in New England, with about as mercurial a weather pattern ever conceived, but this week added some new chapters to that reputation. Sunday morning I was out in the driveway moving six inches of freshly fallen snow. Yesterday, a mere two days later we were literally in t-shirt weather with temperatures in the 70s. Every speck of snow, with the exceptions of some really stubborn (and large) snow piles, has disappeared. I hadn’t paid much attention when I set out in the morning with my usual overcoat. I spent the entire day inside and was busy enough not to notice the disappearing snow outside my windows. It was kind of jarring when I got out of the car and felt completely silly to have the coat on. I know this is just a tease though as the New England winter is not done with us. Temperatures are soaring again today but I did pay attention this morning and we’re scheduled for an ice storm tomorrow. There and I was just about to buy into this whole global warming rumor.

The Other Grandparents on Station

Riggins wants to Help Grandma

I’ve been experiencing some serious garage door opener issues over the past couple months. Once it got colder the door would stop halfway up and after several more stop and starts would eventually acquiesce to go all the way up. I have the mechanical ability of a semi-educated caveman but I decided to give it a try on Monday. It seemed to freeze at the same spot each time but there was nothing remarkable about that location on the track. I felt a bit stymied until I launched a frontal attack with WD-40 into the underside of the track and low and behold it worked! There was an old saying in the Army, “You only need two things in life: Duct Tape and WD-40. If it moves and shouldn’t, use Duct Tape, if it doesn’t move and should, use WD-40.” I defy you to visit the home of a retired infantryman and not find both products on hand.

Traveling Mode

Monday also marked a very enjoyable dinner date. Keene Friend was in town to knock out some of the final pre-employment requirements before starting work with me next week. He insisted (not that it was much of a fight) to take my Favorite Panamanian and I out to dinner. We tried to go to Val’s in Holden but for what I think is the third time we discovered they are closed on Monday (at some point we’ll remember). We scooted back into Worcester for a very fun dinner at the neighborhood 99. I’m really looking forward to having Keene Friend on board at work. I may even push retirement off if it turns out to be as much fun as I think it will be.

FBR on the Move

Those of you who know Wingman should reach out to him as he is dealing with some tough family news out in Missouri. His mother’s husband lost a long fight with cancer yesterday. Wingman is frustrated at his geographic distance from his mom and trying to work out a way to help her out. He told us last night that the FBR sensed his mood and was trying to cheer him up. Please extend some prayers in his family’s direction as they deal with this tough situation. Wingman is trying to get out there as quickly as possible; I know it’s eating him up.

With her Posse

My Favorite Son returned to work yesterday for the first time since acquiring the BRS. He looked a little haggard when we reached him last night as he is learning to deal with the diminished sleep cycle a newborn engenders. The ABFA, in typical ABFA fashion, is bouncing back nicely. She got behind the wheel of the car for the first time since giving birth yesterday as she squired the BRS around for their next series of appointments. The ABFA’s mom is on hand for grandmother support operations. My son also finally started sending me some photos of the BRS. I was concerned the BRS would read this blog after I’m gone (hopefully well down the road) and find it a little too FBR-centric.

Someone at least is Getting Some Sleep

Bit not Always

Date night had the wife and I out to see the movie everybody is talking about, Black Panther. It is one of those rare films that exceeds deafening word of mouth hype. It’s clearly one of the best Marvel films ever which is rarified air for a dedicated geek like me to assign it to. It is well plotted, fabulously acted, and perfectly paced. The cast is the real strength of the movie but not because of the title character. While he is very good, Boseman is probably the fifth or sixth best actor in this movie. The women and Michael B. Jordan dominate! Lupita Nyong'o and especially Danai Gurira were mesmerizing in their roles as key players for the Black Panther. Jordan’s screen presence as the villain is undeniable and he almost gets you rooting for him despite constantly showing you why you shouldn’t; just charisma to spare. The movie takes on a lot of social issues without beating you about the head and shoulders. There’s also a lot of subtle humor, most of it at the Black Panther’s expense. It’s obvious Bosemen wasn’t a prima dona and uniformly gracious in sharing he screen with this fantastic cast. This is a superhero movie with a soul. This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a long time. There was a huge crowd there for a Tuesday night showing mostly African-American which I would definitely recommend as a viewing environment. It was a party as young kids, up well after their bedtimes, devoured this new hero. While everyone wants to make this a socially conscious event it is still a damned fine movie. It says way too much about our movie history of inclusion that it is greeted as such an event in the first place.

Botting

I wasn’t even sure what the term “bot” meant before hearing it briefly mentioned on the news this morning. After piquing my interest I wish they’d spent more time on it because this is important for everyone to fully understand and that should be highlighted more than it currently is. The way I understand it (and I apologize to my techno sensei – daughter and son – if I get this wrong) bots are automatic programs that flood social media with messages that may but probably don’t have any basis in fact. The news story was talking about a flood of these bot based messages going out after last week’s Florida school shooting. The most salient point was that they were aimed at both sides of the gun control issue. The point was to sow or exacerbate existing societal divisions. The originators could care less about the cogent points of the debate – they just want to enhance discord. Of course, in this case, they were linked to the Russians, huge surprise.

I think social media platforms, especially those based in the United States have an absolute responsibility to find a way to identify and properly label these dubious messages. Anyone who spends any amount of time on Facebook probably has friends from either end of the political spectrum. I have dear friends who are raging liberals as well as others who are as far to the right as conceivably possible (think of a love child between Patton and Attila the Hun). Some of them regularly push out political messages on Facebook and I’m sure some of them are unwittingly originating from these bots but since they endorse their side of the political arguments are forwarded without any verification as to veracity. We as a society has to develop a countermeasure to this attack on our freedom because, make no mistake, that is exactly what this insidious technique is. A united America is a formidable bastion and unassailable foe when compared to all of our competitors. We can only be taken down from within. Our adversaries (not just the Russians) have obviously figured this out. We shouldn’t be helping them, even if the message perfectly captures how you feel or suspect. Our news media owes us some responsible reporting to debunk or at least blunt these attacks.

Coaxed Out of the Car and Waiting for Dad to Come Home

I’ve been taken down a peg or two over the past day with the departure of the FBR for home along with my daughter. While the FBR has developed into quite a handful, as two year olds are wont to do she’s still so much fun to hang out with. I also loved the opportunity to watch some movies and TV shows with my daughter. It happens so rarely now that each time I do with either my daughter or my son I’m reminded how much I miss it. The damnable thing about kids is they grow up and have lives of their own. So I’m in the “really missing the company mode” right now although I have been “blessed” with the soundtrack from Moana constantly playing in my head since we had to listen to that several hundred times over the weekend (this hour it seems to be “You’re Welcome”). Technology isn’t always your friend. They safely returned to New Jersey yesterday and the FBR slept for most of the trip. Upon arrival she refused to let anyone other than her father get her out of the car. Wingman was at work so that was a negotiation my daughter had to handle. They sent me this video from last night which has Wingman pushing her around on her scooter while she imperiously tells her mother to back up.

I’ve gotten away from commenting on the books I’ve been reading as I’m in search of a few more good authors to latch onto. Over the past few weeks I knocked out a couple new books from Terry Goodkind from his Wizard’s First Rule universe which started a new series featuring the sorceress Nicci. I also read 12 Strong (originally titled Horse Soldiers before Hollywood got ahold of it) which was a confusing attempt at capturing the chaos of the Taliban’s fall following 9-11. I just finished Without a Doubt by Marcia Clark which brings the reader behind the scenes of prospectors for the OJ Simpson trial. Somehow (and I thought this would be impossible) I feel even more contempt for Simson and the whole cult of celebrity, after reading this.

Granddaughter Effect

The New Parents, the 2 Cousins and my Daughter

I’ve discovered there is an inverse relationship between the company of my granddaughters and the opportunity to write in this blog. Since they were, in effect, double teaming me this weekend there was no drivel espoused on Frail Deeds since the Friday arrival of the FBR and I could not be happier with that development. Sadly that little bundle of energy is on her way back to her New Jersey home after an all too entertaining weekend together.

We Had a Little bit of Fun Together

First Friday Table

We had a massive First Friday celebration to mark the departure of my Assistant General Manager and it took an even brighter turn when my daughter and the FBR walked in. This was not her first exposure to Brew City and after the obligatory hugs she proceeded to dominate the evening. She kept my end of the table well lubricated by demanding that we clink glasses together to toast the event. She spent most the time in my lap before abandoning me to inspect traffic along Shrewsbury Street through the windows or leading my daughter on a merry chase through the restaurant.

My Friday Date

Taking Charge

Inspecting Traffic

Friday night called for pizza which was soon liberally decorated with Valentine’s Day stickers. I’m sure the rubbish guys will be a little confused when they see that. After pizza we descended into the Man Cave. I acquired a bit of cache over the holidays when the FBR discovered I owned a copy of the 1964 classic TV movie – Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer. I am not exaggerating that we watched that show no less than four times over the weekend. I can now quote Yukon Cornelius flawlessly and the Bumble is the FBR’s favorite character. I loved every minute of each four viewings.

Stickers on Pizza Box

Friday Night Bedtime Stories

Saturday Shopping

Saturday was the true highlight of the weekend since it featured the first ever meeting of the two cousins – the FBR and the BRS – as well as the return of my Favorite Panamanian from abuela duty up in New Hampshire. Before we drove up Saturday morning we did a grocery store run where I learned the age old lesson of not driving close enough to the shelves for a two year old’s reach. She is quite the young shopper which surprises me no level considering her maternal blood lines. She also found some Rudolf themed band aids back home that she’d left behind from Christmas. She spent most of the weekend applying the band aides to her face. If child services ever stopped by we might have drawn a few questioning stares.

ABFA, Son, and the BRS

Meeting that Special Aunt

The Cousins Meet for First Time

The FBR launched herself across the driveway to hug her abuela when we arrived in New Hampshire. She was a little more reserved in meeting her new cousin. After a perfunctory meeting to establish the BRS actually existed the FBR devoted most of her time to playing with Riggins. Riggins seemed to really appreciate the attention. I’m sure he’s adjusting to the new reality within the household hierarchy. The BRS seemed truly fascinated with her only aunt – my daughter. I’m hoping when the BRS reads this in a couple decades she’ll have a close relationship with this special aunt. It was great having almost the entire family in one room, missing only Wingman and the ABFA’s parents. Next Christmas should be epic, especially if we can get Great Aunt and Soxfather on board.

FBR and Riggins

Meeting her Only Aunt

They Seem to Like Each Other

Once we disentangled the FBR and Riggins long enough to eat we all sat down for a fabulous chicken dinner my wife prepared along with all the other tasks she’d been doing around the house to help the new parents. Those new parents seemed genuinely thankful she’d been around for this first week at home for the BRS. The ABFA’s mom showed up on Sunday to assumed grandmother duties. Life is all about family.

New Hampshire Lunch

Brother and Sister with their Kids

ABFA Mom

We had to “beat feet” home ahead of a Saturday night snowstorm. It was so good to welcome home my Favorite Panamanian, even with the rather pointed remarks about the cleanliness state of the house. The Saturday night storm should be the standard when it comes to storms. It came in late on a weekend night and was out of here by first light having left six inches of snow to deal with. I knocked out our and a couple neighbors’ driveways before breakfast. Sunday was warm enough for all the streets to melt down to the pavement which made driving no problem whatsoever. Just saying. It also offered me the opportunity play in the snow with the FBR. Her go to move is to throw snow balls at her grandfather. We compared foot prints in the snow and tried to track down the elusive pair of squirrels on the back hill.

Heading Down to Man Cave for Another Rudolf

Band Aid Time

Shopping Mentor with Abuela

Disregard Anything Grampa says About Shopping

Oh, Hi Grampa

In addition to meeting the BRS the New Jersey contingent also traveled north to celebrate the birthday of my Favorite Panamanian. Since she’s usually well south on this date it offered a rare opportunity to be together around the date. We went out for dinner on Sunday night with a great table that allowed a precocious two year old to be adequately isolated so we could enjoy the meal. We came home in time for Bonecrusher to cleave yet another birthday cake for my wife. After the FBR retired for the night the three adults convened in the Man Cave to binge watch several episodes of The Good Place which had us literally rolling with laughter. It was fun hanging out with two of my favorite gals in the world.

Teaching her to Throw Snowballs at Someone Else

Abuela Engaged

This morning rolled around much too quickly. I returned from my morning swim to find all three ladies in the kitchen talking about departure prep. Well, actually the FBR was talking about another viewing of Rudolf which became a distinct possibility with my return. She deigned to allow me sufficient time to prepare my breakfast before I was summoned to the Man Cave. This respite allowed my daughter time to get all the attendant accoutrement traveling with the FBR calls for. I miss them terribly already, even if I had to sit through another viewing of Rudolf (There’s Always Tomorrow for Dreams to Come True).

Bonecrusher Dealing with Another Cake

So Good at Brushing Teeth Now

And Stealing Abuela's New Hat