All In The Family

My sister stopped by Sunday morning. She brought a wad of bills with her to give to my older son, who is heading off to George Washington U. Friday. It reminded me of the days when my aunt would press a five or ten into my hand and whisper conspiratorially, “Don’t tell your mother”. Sis had a delivery to make so she decided to stop by the ATM on the way to my house. Holy cow! That beats the hell out of 1-800 CASH CALL. Plus she’s a whole lot better looking than Gary Coleman. She’s always been generous with us, including my ingrate kids. I’m generous with my investment tips. I told her to get into WAMU. I’m a contrarian. But Sis did not have copious praise for the blog. In fact, she said she needed to be featured more often. Hey, bring dough to my house and I’ll write about you all you want. However, it seems she prefers the company of my older brother. They go hiking all the time. So what about middle man DJ? Both of you need to get the hell out of the East Bay once in a while and come over to the beautiful mid-Peninsula. We do hiking.

Since I was in a familial mood today, I decided to call the big bro. I was wandering the stately parking lot of my beloved Silicon Valley company as I chatted him up. According to him, he had just gotten out of a hearing. I think he was sipping a Corona in his backyard. We discussed the presidential race and then it was time to go. I told him as we parted that I wasn’t sure if I should go back to my cube or run for the hills. I went back and stared at my screen for a couple hours, with a few breaks to schmooze.

As mentioned, this past weekend was the last one at home for Sonny Boy. We had a going away breakfast in the middle of the afternoon Sunday at Hobee’s. I was not at the top of my game, due to #2’s party, on which I will elaborate shortly. We enjoyed our grub, although I think the staff was not especially glad to see us enter half an hour before closing time. Fortunately for them, I am an extravagant tipper. After the chow down, we dropped my daughter off at practice and headed to Target. Sonny needed a back pack and a few other items. I am not a fan of Target. Shopping as sport does not suit me. But we were in and out quickly. As soon as I dissuaded my son from getting the Hello Kitty backpack, we bolted.

So we had big fun at #2’s house Saturday. It was fund raising event for one of his daughter’s school groups. The vittles were top notch and #2 was mixing some particularly tasty margaritas. I switched over to beer after a bucket of those. We were there for several hours so The Exec and I did a fine job of representing the obnoxious wing of the village. #1 and TCG were there but we didn’t gab as much as usual. #1 was holding down the fort, waiting for the wife to come home from DC, where she dropped off their son at Catholic U. So #1 was not in full party mode. As far as TCG is concerned, I don’t know what his story is.

I got a couple calls while I was there. ATT was working on fixing my DSL connection. I almost played the bandwidth czar card but it proved unnecessary. After they hung up, I kept talking. I walked back to the party group, saying loudly, “Senator Biden, I’ve asked you several times not to call me here.” I’m a laugh riot. Then #2’s best bud pulled out a guitar and the hootenanny started. He was very good but I’m afraid the harmonies of DJ and The Exec were not up to par. We mangled “Blowin in the Wind”, “Hotel California” and a whole host of classics. When we decided he didn’t need accompaniment, we went in the house to do a gratuitous shot of Ketel One.

Suburban Saturday Night

We invited #1 and his family over for dinner last night. It was Madonna’s 50th birthday so we decided to celebrate. Martinis and Moet kicked it off. The older boys are heading off to college very soon so we forced them to sit with us for a while. I grilled some steaks to perfection, regardless of the fact that they were briefly ablaze. I need to clean out that BBQ.

For dinner, #1 provided a fine ’99 BV Cab. I pulled out an ’85 Stratford Cab that my wife had recently discovered as she was cleaning the house. It must have come from my crony 4M. He’d be appalled that we came across it by accident but he probably gave it to us 20 years ago, so he’ll have to forgive me. He never reads the blog so he won’t find out. Unfortunately, like Madonna’s career, the wine had gone bad a long time ago.

To be honest, I was a little concerned about having the #1s over. My neighborhood is going through a bit of transition and its freaking me out a tad. I was driving to the gym the other evening and I see this couple walking their dog. One of them had it on a leash and the other one was pushing a doggie stroller. It was a little red canvas number with a mesh screen so Fifi could see out. Then on the way home there were more dog walkers out. One of them was carrying the dog as they walked. And this was no Paris Hilton type glorified rat. It was about the size of a basset hound. Fido is unfortunately likely on his last legs. Otherwise I can’t figure it out. I think I might need to pounce on the next real estate market upswing.

Earlier yesterday, I was cleaning up the house, including the fridge. As I tossed out some rotting vegetables, I pondered the yin and yang of marriage. It brought me back to our early dating days, when our love was new but a lot of crap in her refrigerator wasn’t. She probably blamed it on her roommate. Now that she’s married to me, she can no longer manufacture penicillin in the refrigerator. But I clearly got the better part of the deal. I recall a quote from Paul Newman decades ago, stating that if he hadn’t met Joanne Woodward, he’d be in a drunk tank in Mexico. Likewise.

My wife’s been doing a lot of the cooking lately as well. She’s tired of my tried and true favorites and has been making some delectable dinners. However, she has to head back to work this week so it’ll probably be back to mac and cheese soon. Of course that’s mac and cheese made with Tillamook Sharp Cheddar. I’m dull but I don’t skimp on ingredients. We’ve managed to work out the weekly menus well together but we don’t always agree. A few months back, my wife claimed she made us a carnitas dinner. I said she boiled a piece of pork butt for a few hours.

No Cohesive Message

Generally when I write a post, I actually have a theme in mind. Tonight I’m just throwing it against the wall to see what sticks. Kind of like the McCain campaign. If you’re more into Obama, check out this link which 4M sent me.

http://www.slatev.com/player.html?id=1701226987

Tomorrow we're getting the hell out of Dodge for a week. There will be no staycation for DJ and family this year. I just wanted to give a quick shout out to my readers to let you know I haven't forgotten you, although I'm sure you can't say the same.

Did you hear the news that you might be able to take a pill instead of exercise? How long before the news that it also makes you grow a third arm etc. Don't you wish you could take a pill instead of reading this blog?

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=could-a-pill-replace-exercise&sc=rss

I also got word this week somebody found a likeness of Jesus on a Cheetoh. I think they need to stop reporting this type of hooey. They’ve also found him in a cat’s fur and a french fry. I think his mother appeared on a piece of toast.

We had a garage sale at my house a few weeks back. It was a three family affair with the #1s and The Execs. We had a good time chatting, drinking coffee and eating bagels. We did not manage to sell all our wares but we got rid of some of it and took a trip to Goodwill with the rest. I had written my name on a piece of paper for someone to write a check and one of my Cro-Magnon pals etched in “is a morron”. I may be a moron for accepting checks at a garage sale but whichever one of you semi-literate beasts wrote that, a pox on your house.

Let’s talk about gas. No, not the prices. I agree that they are too high. When I fill up at my favorite station, Foster City Chevron, on the pump it says “Press button to speak to attendant”. I’ve done it a couple times but the guy never has anything interesting to say. And he has an attitude to boot.

Have I ever mentioned that my kids drink 7 to 8 gallons of milk a week? They are essentially a trio of ravenous savages.

As you know, I work in the telecom field. Bandwidth bureaucrat is the term that’s been bandied about. I think I prefer bandwidth czar, which one of my co-workers called me the other day. It has a nice ring. But that’s not why I brought up work. The story I wanted to relate is regarding an ATT product called Gigaman. As it’s name implies, it’s a service that provides 1 gigabyte of throughput. But Gigaman means so much more to me. I have not shared this with anyone at work but, when I was a small child, I had an imaginary friend named Gigaman.

Perhaps I should go pack my many outfits for the trip.

TK, have a good weekend in Pacific Grove. If your house gets burgled, it wasn’t me. All signs lead to 4M. Speaking of 4M, you gotta join us along with The UK in Vegas in November. Whole fried fish and a couple bottles of Riesling at Lotus of Siam lead to good luck at the blackjack tables.

TCG, I need your professional services when I’m back in town.

A happy 50th to one of my bestest buds, Jimmy The Wig. You’re getting older, not better.