Rain in August

 We are having a rare thunderstorm today, which caused my 9am slot at the posh club pool to be canceled.  Since it is only the outdoor pool that is open, these reservations are coveted.  The first thing I do when I wake up is nail down my slot for three days hence.  I was there earlier this week and after doing several laps, I was leaning on the wall doing some leg exercises.  A woman about my age asked me if I was OK.  I thanked her and explained the exercises, but it got me to asking myself about exactly how decrepit do I look.  Back to today, since I was out and about but couldn’t swim, I decided to go get some cash, but all the ATMs at the corner of Edgewater and E. Hillsdale were out of commission.  Was I born under a bad sign?

So, the wife came back from her trip to Oxnard yesterday afternoon.  We enjoyed some Thai food, and then caught the last two episodes of season 1 of Unforgotten.  We highly recommend this 2015 Brit series.  I had been all by my lonesome since Wednesday, but I managed.  We did have a boy’s Zoom call Wednesday evening which gave me the social contact I crave.  We had a smaller group this time, with #1, TCG and The Belgian.  #2 called in briefly to say that he would not be attending.  I’m not sure who the hell he thinks he is.  The last call he was on he treated us to a lot of road noise from I80.  The Hotelier was not there either, but he did send an insincere apology a few days later.

The Harris VP selection came up during our call and the Belgian engaged #1 for his thoughts.  While #1 acquitted himself nicely, I asked the Belgian if I was chopped liver.  I can play pundit too, damn it.  I also found out that The Belgian had dictated when the boys were going on a hike during our early September trip to Tahoe.  Since when did the Belgian start calling the shots?  Stay in your lane and stick to curing cancer.

We did get an invite to The Belgian’s back deck for the next evening, but I was savoring a little DJ alone time, so I skipped it.  However, I did invite those two over for a Friday evening encounter under the pergola.  I think The Belgian’s wife is going to be working on him to get their front yard redone based on her reaction to our new look backyard.  #1 brought over a $10 bottle of Kirkland Zin which he recently discovered, and it was pretty decent.  The boys went home early for dinner and I put together a cremini mushroom and cheddar cheese omelet, which is one of my go tos when I’m living the bachelor life.

I have been doing a lot of crossword puzzles lately.  Dictionary.com and The L.A. Times are two good dailies, but two a day does not do it for me.  Fortunately, New York magazine also has a winner, but I’ve raided their archives all the way back to early 2019, so I’ll be jonesing soon.  I realize the NYT is the premier puzzle, but we have to pay extra for that, so I’ll have to rework the household budget to come up with an extra $3 per month.  I’m getting pretty good, but when I had to ask myself recently if Warren Buffett was a shaman, I knew I was on the wrong track.

The Yahoo celebrity reporters have been hard at work.  All of these are just from today, and mostly reference skimpy clothing.  I’m grateful they are keeping us apprised. Full disclosure: I did have to look up who Sonja Morgan was.  She’s a 56-year-old from RHONY.  If you don’t know what RHONY stands for, get your shit together.  There was one more item that I came across earlier that I could not retrieve.  It had something to do with some minor celeb’s anklets.  But apparently these particular anklets did not pop like Olivia Culpo’s did.

Heather Graham, 50, sizzles in a green bikini: 'Grateful to get a chance to zen out'

Sonja Morgan Shares Her Sexy Quarantine Lingerie Look: 'Revved Up and Have Nowhere to Go'

Halle Berry skateboards in swimwear to celebrate 54th birthday

Demi Lovato And Max Ehrich’s Kissing Style Says A Lot About Their Relationship

My apologies, but I’m going to have to veer into politics.  POTUS is doing a hell of a number on the USPS.  As multiple pundits said, he’s saying the quiet part out loud when he admits to sabotage regarding mail in voting.  It seems to be working.  My Thursday mail was delivered at 7:15 pm.  He also found time to congratulate QAnon crank Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Bughouse), who looks to be headed for Congress. 

In late breaking news, I was able to snag an 11am slot at the pool today, so I got my exercise in, which I’m sure you are happy about.  I’d like to thank whoever it was that canceled out.

I’ll close with a shout out to my old bud The Phoenix Flyboy.  We hung out in the mid-80s, taking in sparsely populated day games at Candlestick.  He reads the blog on occasion and we had recent “touch base”, as the corporate types say. I’m sure we’ll be getting together some time in the 2020s.  OK folks, time to zen out.