Wish You Were Here

My bud 4M used to blast this 1975 album during his graveyard shift at the 7-11 in Middletown. I’m sure his older customers appreciated it.  It was just his way of saying “welcome to the machine”. He got robbed at gunpoint there one night, earning every bit of that $2.50 per hour.

I picked the wife up Friday night at SFO. On the ride home she told me she was heading up to the Hotelier’s pied-à-terre today to meet their grandson.  If we truly had an open and honest marriage, she would just flat out tell me she can only take me in small doses.

How does one handle 300 pounds of poop a day? First off, I’d say very carefully.  Foster City has settled on several non-lethal means of mitigation, much to the chagrin of #1. In other poop news, Putin’s team ensures that no turd is left behind.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/foster-city-goose-geese-20814760.php

https://www.thedailybeast.com/putins-magical-poop-briefcase-finally-breaks-its-silence/

We went to Foster City’s Summer Days yesterday, mainly because I had not chatted with any carneys for quite some time. My wife and I played the game where you shoot the water gun into the clown’s mouth to burst the balloon.  She won a pink baby dolphin.  I paid $10 for cuteness that goes for about 22 cents wholesale. There was a section with businesses hawking their wares.  I was going to go up to the chiropractor’s table and say “Boy do I have a story for you!” but thought the better of it.  We also looked on as some of the scarier rides were operating, but we saw no streams of puke.

We had a sushi extravaganza at #1’s house last night. It featured several house special rolls loaded with crab, tuna, shrimp and salmon. There were a few rough years in FC between the time Tokie’s left and MJ’s opened, when you had to go all the way into San Mateo for your raw fish fix. MJ’s is a great addition to town and their BBQ eel tasted just like what my mom used to make.

In celeb news, I’m sure all of you are as verklempt as I am about the Liam Neeson / Pamela Anderson romance but, on the downside, we’re looking at a double whammy.

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/articles/end-near-megadeth-release-final-214100029.html

However, we should all be happy that Ms. Zeta-Jones is very comfortable in her four homes.

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/articles/catherine-zeta-jones-calls-life-215208051.html

I am praying for progress in today’s Zelensky/Trump meet and I am heartened by all the support he will have with him from European leaders. However, I have to temper my hopes given the fact that Trump had American soldiers roll out a red carpet for a war criminal this past Friday.

Get Blogging

Those were #1’s parting words to me when he dropped me off after our rigorous 1 mile walk today.  I had braced myself for a possible philippic, but he is a gentle soul. He expressed some disappointment that there was nothing to read when he got off the Missouri River after his canoe trip with #2 and TCG, but that is just his way of telling me I’m a fantastic blogger.  JB had chimed in a few days ago telling me it had been 19 days. Today is three full weeks, so it is indeed time to get blogging.

My wife has been in DC and VA for the past two weeks.  The first week she was helping SB1 and LGMG set up their home for the arrival of the twins. She will return in October to provide some hands-on help. We will be spending Christmas there this year so Gampy DJ will need to re-learn the art of holding an infant. The wife’s second week was spent with her pal Charlie at Shenandoah National Park and Charlottesville. She gets back tomorrow night.  She’ll hop right back into the social whirl with a bridal shower Saturday morning.  After that both of us will attend a one-year birthday party for The Banker’s granddaughter. 

I’ve kept myself relatively busy in her absence.  I jotted a few blog ideas down but clearly did not act on them.  For several days I achieved the trifecta of stretching, walking and swimming. I gotta get at least two out of three on a daily basis to keep this balky body going. My brother visited last week and spent the night. We got some sushi at MJ’s and a beer at Fieldworks before I made him a sumptuous salmon dinner.  He is fresh off hernia surgery, and we learned our sister had to have her gall bladder removed.  Both surgically repaired siblings are doing well. My brother and I did hit a rough patch back in the late 70’s when we were both at Binghamton.  It is eerie how this recent article paralleled our difficulties back then.

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/articles/dear-abby-girlfriend-cheated-brother-070000521.html

I’m going to stay away from politics and celeb news this go-round and close with this obit. Dr. Altchek grew up in my hometown. His father was also a noted orthopedic surgeon whom I was fortunately referred to. He removed a tumor in my knee in September 1973. I was ready to go out for basketball that November, but he put the kibosh on that.  I was dejected then but eternally grateful now. His flawless work allowed me to continue to be a mediocre basketball player into my mid-30s.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/45764042/dr-david-altchek-mets-doctor-tommy-john-surgeon-dies-68