CafeChatNoir

OK, the post that was originally here is not anymore.  I have no idea where it went.

But the jist of it was that I met Dicky Betts of the Allman Brothers Band.

Having a Tom in town can be hazardous to your health. We had a painful amount of fun last evening and today I am definitely feeling it. But hey, I only see the guy every couple of years.  And as a result of his presence, there is a case of Mountain Dew in the fridge.  I haven’t had that in years – damn, that stuff is good.

Hillary coming in 3rd last evening in Iowa really surprised me. I knew Obama would give her a run for her money, but I certainly didn’t see Edwards beating her. And on the republican side – Huckabee? Huh? Perhaps it’s time to move to New Zealand – Tom says it’s pretty nice.

Think very smart thoughts for my bartender buddy Wes tomorrow – he’s got an important exam and we can always use all the help we can get in these things. :)

Also, why is it that thoughts that will drive you to giggles only seem to happen when you really can’t laugh? I went up to the pub for a beer and some west coast baseball tonight to shut my brain off. I am contentedly sitting there watching the Yankees get crushed by the Angels, and I glance over at the guy to my left and all I can think is, “Dude, where is Snowy??” Had he been further down the bar, I could have burst into hysterical laughter, but nooooooooooo… Even worse when I realized that there was probably NO ONE in the place that would have had any idea what I was referring to – being the oldster sucks some days.

A little fashion and etiquette advice:

First, there is really nowhere outside a gym or 1986 where a muscle shirt is acceptable. Second, wandering around the pub and flexing and hovering around the women gets you absolutely nowhere – as a matter of fact, it quickly makes you the subject of ridicule. Third, when you take a seat at the bar and someone tells you that someone is in fact sitting there and you will need to vacate the seat, vacate the damn seat already and don’t try and walk off with someone else’s beer.

Following these easy tips can make the evening at the pub enjoyable for all. Not following these tips could very well result in someone taking a swing at you, or at minimum declaring, “Dude, you suck.”

Watching the President totally hose floor trading at the NYSE at the moment. The White House had repeatedly denied that he would be visiting the NYSE after his speech across the street at Federal Hall, but there you go. The Secret Service folks do not seem pleased with this turn of events. (I hope they are at least grateful that the NYSE floor is an exceptionally secure area to start with.)

I’ve got a friend that could be making a mistake and I’ve done my best to give warning. (Not “you’re an idiot” mistake but a “you’ve got bad information, PLEASE double check it” mistake.) I’ve done what I can and now all I can do is hope that things turn out OK. Frustrating to say the least.

Entry migration is still coming along. Everything that has been brought over so far has been tagged and checked for security. Once everything is in, then there will be some minor cleanup still to do, as anything without a subject is automatically assigned a # for the subject and that has to go. Minor, but mildly annoying. Need to figure out how to convert the archive list to a dropdown cause it’s just too long, and there will likely be some category cleanups as well.

It’s been really interested re-reading everything as I’ve been importing it. I’ve found that when things are going badly, I write a lot more. It’s a little disturbing how things are so different for me now than they were just two years ago. Never in a million years would I have thought I’d be where I am today. Even with all the changes, there are a lot of good reminders of “don’t make that mistake again, dumbass” in the older entries.

…what is it with me, 7-11’s and cops? Honestly, every other time I hit the 7-11 near my gym, there is a cop there. When I was much younger, and out doing the underaged drinking thing (bad, bad, bad) my friend who was driving took me to 7-11 for coffee before pouring me on my front porch. Yup, cops there too, and there I was, under 21 and nicely toasted. So, what did I do? Talk to them, of course! Fortunately, my friend was behind me and mouthing over my shoulder, “She’s not driving” and by sheer luck they basically patted me on the head and left me alone, apparently figuring the hangover and having to deal with my parents would be punishment enough.

So, tonight I walk into 7-11 and not one, but two Fairfax County officers there… One is getting coffee, the other is checking out and there is a girl behind him and I get in line behind her. Officer checking out is getting some scratcher tickets along with his stuff (and I am quite sure didn’t realize anyone was behind him), coffee officer looks up and says, “Dude, you are totally holding up the ladies here!”

Well, me being me, I can’t be quiet. My response to this? “Y’all have guns, you take as much time as you want.”

I have to say, they did seem pleased that there are folks in the world smart enough to not want to piss off someone with a sidearm.

Good News: Randy was moved to Fairfax Hospital, had surgery this morning to remove blood clots(??) and will probably be able to go home on Friday. Merry Christmas!

6 hours into Grandma’s visit, and it’s going…well…as well as could be expected I suppose.

First some things I have convinced myself I should not be concerned with, even though maybe I should. When she’s stressed about a particular issue, she repeats herself. At first glance, it kinda freaked me out, but then I realized the couple things she was repeating were things that were freaking her out. The more frazzled I get about any issue, the more I tend to obsessively focus on it. Second, poor Snoopy cat is going to be only known as the “pretty black kitty” cause she’s said she can’t remember his name to save her life. She remembers Mox and Target, but Snoopy is screwed, cause she says she keeps thinking it should be some elegant name cause he’s got such an elegant look about him – and he is so NOT elegant in real life, and well, Snoopy isn’t the name you think of for a cat anyway.

She’s got friends who want her to move to the Forum (assisted living) and she doesn’t want to. She likes where she is. I did manage to get her to promise that if she starts to feel uncomfortable on her own, she’d consider it. (This is a woman that gave up her license voluntarily, so I am not too worried.)

She had a crappy day starting with her cab to the airport showing up over 45 minutes late, which I can understand throwing her into a tizzy from the get-go. She made the plane, and while picking her up I near had to punch out a US Air rep who kept saying, “I need this wheelchair” as I tried to take over. (She always gets a chair at the airport cause hoofin’ it all over National when you have a cane and have been sitting on a plane all day is NOT FUN OR EASY.) I pointed out to the rep that a) it’s not like it would fit in my car and b) she’d have to wait until we were damn well good and done with it, meaning through baggage check and until the car came around. She finally relented and let me take over when she realized I was dead serious and if necessary I would body check her skinny ass into a wall and go along my merry way.

Apparently last year some things were stolen from her house (she assumes while she was here) – haven’t been able to get out of her if it was someone who had access to the house or someone quietly picked the lock knowing she was gone… The things that were taken were things she doesn’t use regularly so she didn’t even know things were gone until much later. If I ever find out who did it, there is going to be such a fucking beatdown. She drives me up a wall, but you don’t fuck with my family.

She is NOT happy that my brother hasn’t secured work yet. She has absolutely no concept of what it is like to be completely burned out from a job – he’s needed this time off, and I certainly don’t begrudge him of it. She’s still convinced that he can’t possibly afford to be out of work for a while.

Despite this, I went ahead and told her I am going back to school. She wanted to know how long it would take and when I would be working again… I pulled 2 years out of my ass. (Cause I didn’t see the question coming, cause I am an idiot.) I pointed out that the proceeds from my townhouse would more than cover my expenses for multiple years, but I don’t think she believed me. I also pointed out that one of my coworkers had a freakin’ HEART ATTACK and maybe it wasn’t the healthiest place to be.

The next two weeks will likely contain a lot of “you don’t not have to worry about us financially” reassurances. We let her know that the bulk of the estate, though in our names, is with our broker, who is a good friend of the family and honestly feels a level of responsibility towards us (he’s sort of the good uncle who is also a broker) so if we need money, we have to go through him and he’s not gonna let us do anything stupid. (I did not mention that I am separately saving for a condo at the beach. My one smart move of the evening.)

The lamppost came up again. At least we could say the wiring is fixed (and at 1/2 the price of the estimate!) – we just have to find a replacement lamp fixture for the top and hook it up. (I honestly thought I could get it from the electrician the way I buy replacement stuff from the plumber…)

Almost every request this evening has been directed at – seriously, as if I didn’t even exist. I caugh two – 1) “Can I open the linen closet door?” (This stems from it being the same style door as the broken entry hall closet door – yes, but one half swings out at you, which it shouldn’t) and b) washcloths…of course all the ones I have are in the laundry. Guess who is doing a load of whites tomorrow? (Hell, all the bar towels are in the laundry and I need those more anyway.)

The chair I happen to be sitting in had a wine box next to it… One that I brought home w/ 5 bottles of wine some time ago from Il Vino. I was quite sure that I’d taken all the bottles out and the box was empty and just happened to be sitting there and we’d not gotten it out to the trash. Nope, 3 bottles in it! So, took them out and was putting them on the counter and said, “So, this one is for Thursday, this one for Friday, and this one for Saturday?”

The notebook that has my brains in it has disappeared. This is not good. This is SO not good.

Grandma is totally panicking about Christmas. She wants to get me a sweater, and I know the shop she wants to get it from. It will be fine, but frankly, I’d rather have another thermal top or even better, an Icebreaker top… So…do I let her get me what she wants to get me (with me driving to said shop and checking sizes) and keep the tags/receipt, or have run interference and go to REI for her/me and lie about the cost? (Amazing how when and I do shopping on her behalf, she gets some freakin’ amazing deals on things… We figure the white lie is way better than the sticker shock of what some things cost – we tend to stick with circa 1990 dollars…)

The “D’OH!!!!” moment of the night. (Well, one of many…) When the new 4 door Wranglers came out, I was ready to go jump on one IMMEDIATELY. But – how do you explain to Grandma that the color of your car has changed? (I wouldn’t necessarily expect her to remember the exact style.) Well, as we were waiting for to bring the car around she turned to me and said, “You know, I can’t remember what color your car was.” Dammit!!! I could have pulled it off!!!!! Maybe next year.

I just got a call from a former coworker – my best bud Randy at Deltek had a heart attack at work this afternoon. Nothing else known besides he was taken to the “nearest hospital” and nothing on his condition.

Shit.

Last week, our bartender Jess had a birthday, and there were lots of cameras all over the place. She was sweet enough to get me a copy of this one. :)

Me & my guy.

Stan!!!!!!! I got the book – IT’S BEAUTIFUL! You do wonderful work! Thank you!!!!