We finally did our taxes this weekend, and after being scared we were going to get shafted pretty good, it turned out good for us. We sold our rental house last summer and everyone kept telling us how we were going to have to pay capital gains this and taxes that. Should it be this hard to do something that people normally do once in a while? We had no idea how it was going to turn out, and I don't think it should be that way.
We bought the house back in 1996 for about $92000. I did not want to sell it, but it was a pain in the ass every time we needed new people to move in. We mostly rented it to friends and although they didn't do the greatest job in taking care of it, at least they weren't in there punching out the walls either. The worst thing ever for rental property is freaking dogs. Since our friends took advantage of our generosity, I felt weird charging a pet deposit, since nobody moved in with pets. Funny how if there is no charge, eventually everyone goes to the freaking pound and gets a couple dogs.
I noticed at our friends house, now that they are living where a pet deposit is required they no longer have multiple dogs running around shitting up the place. It was one of those lessons we learned the hard way. It took me a couple new carpets replaced that I never called my own, but I guess, that's the life of a landlord. One tip of advice, as EVERYONE told us, don't rent to friends, and worse, people that Claudia recommends.
Anyways, we sold it for a pretty good profit, which is what scared us the most. The only good thing helping us was that we had plans to sell our current bigger house and so we put in more expensive carpet, and a new A/C and heater system, along with a new water heater. We spent close to $30,000 by the time we added all the painting and new baseboards and painting the outside and inside. When it came time to move, I had a bit of a panic attack at the thought of being a failure going back to a small house after attempting to be the "big man", and I told Wife I couldn't do it.
We got a random realtor, she was so random, she gave us her business card as she overheard us talking about houses while eating at Culver's. I am not sure she was a best fit for us, the house sold in less than three hours, but it was on the strength of what we did, she didn't even get to put a For Sale sign on the yard, it sold by her posting the pics on their website. At first we were being way conservative and we kept $20,000 in our savings, but I got the urge to get a new truck after we paid a bunch of debt with the profits, and so I got stupid and took $10,000 to use as a down payment and went and got an awesome new truck.
Anyways, we still had $8000 plus our Florida fund nearing $4000 and no idea about what the taxes were going to be. Because Wife did such an awesome job saving every receipt to Home Depot and Lowe's, we only had to pay $4200, so for once the IRS didn't screw us as badly as we were thinking. And yes, we bought the insurance through H&R Block, if there's a mistake, it is on them, so yeaih!!
Thursday, March 31, 2016
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
3/30/16 I Think I Can, I Think I Can?
Tuesday was off to a slow start, thanks to wearing myself out Monday. I got up at 2:56pm, missing my three alarm clocks on my phone of 2:10, 2:20, and 2:25pm. Wife's old fashion alarm clock on the side of the bed is also set for 2:20 and I slept through all four of them. Waking up at 2:56 gave me no time to go to the bathroom, I just picked up the first pieces of clothing I could find on the floor and ran out, Chubs does not like being picked up late.
I had already decided I would cut the grass in the backyard, part of my new exercise regime. I need to stop being lazy and forcing myself to do chores like these that require sweat and exertion. We are supposed to be eating less outside of the house, so I will play along with Wife for a couple days. She too is getting on the bandwagon of losing some weight, mostly for the Florida trip. She declared we are going to lose 10 pounds for the trip. I would like to lose double that, 20 sounds feasible, considering I am at 409pounds. There were a couple of good reasons to put off cutting the grass. I could have insisted on staying inside and putting away the rest of the clothes, or insisted on making a sandwich for Chubs. I said no, I need to stop being a wuss and just carry through.
Not only was I able to cut the grass, I was also able to trim with the edger, along the fence and the concrete around the pool. Scariest moment, I left some palm leaves in the yard after I got stung by some bees last year, when I was moving them I found a good sized snake, probably a couple years old. It was as thick as a garden hose and all curled up. I hate to say it, but for the kid's well being, I killed it with the lawn mower. Chubs said the only kind of good snake is a dead snake.
About the time I finished, Wife was coming home, we met at a Mexican restaurant we eat at weekly because it is close to the house, and it is cheap. It was nice to eat after working on the yard, like a man. I then hurried back home, and showered so I could come in to work. I am hoping to keep up the exertion of energy for a couple days and then shake off the sleeping thing I've had for going on a year. Is there a bug bite that causes one to become a lazy ass? I swear I never have bee one to let Wife drive me anywhere, or concede and let her do anything I consider man's work. But lately, I have been a little bitch.
I need another nice day today, so I can go out and reinstall the pool pump. I have to get that water running, get rid of the green color before the city comes knocking again. Once I connect it, I need about five days of running it hard to get rid of the pond color. I then need to do the same with the hot tub, I can't believe it's been so long since we have used it.
I had already decided I would cut the grass in the backyard, part of my new exercise regime. I need to stop being lazy and forcing myself to do chores like these that require sweat and exertion. We are supposed to be eating less outside of the house, so I will play along with Wife for a couple days. She too is getting on the bandwagon of losing some weight, mostly for the Florida trip. She declared we are going to lose 10 pounds for the trip. I would like to lose double that, 20 sounds feasible, considering I am at 409pounds. There were a couple of good reasons to put off cutting the grass. I could have insisted on staying inside and putting away the rest of the clothes, or insisted on making a sandwich for Chubs. I said no, I need to stop being a wuss and just carry through.
Not only was I able to cut the grass, I was also able to trim with the edger, along the fence and the concrete around the pool. Scariest moment, I left some palm leaves in the yard after I got stung by some bees last year, when I was moving them I found a good sized snake, probably a couple years old. It was as thick as a garden hose and all curled up. I hate to say it, but for the kid's well being, I killed it with the lawn mower. Chubs said the only kind of good snake is a dead snake.
About the time I finished, Wife was coming home, we met at a Mexican restaurant we eat at weekly because it is close to the house, and it is cheap. It was nice to eat after working on the yard, like a man. I then hurried back home, and showered so I could come in to work. I am hoping to keep up the exertion of energy for a couple days and then shake off the sleeping thing I've had for going on a year. Is there a bug bite that causes one to become a lazy ass? I swear I never have bee one to let Wife drive me anywhere, or concede and let her do anything I consider man's work. But lately, I have been a little bitch.
I need another nice day today, so I can go out and reinstall the pool pump. I have to get that water running, get rid of the green color before the city comes knocking again. Once I connect it, I need about five days of running it hard to get rid of the pond color. I then need to do the same with the hot tub, I can't believe it's been so long since we have used it.
Tuesday, March 29, 2016
3/29/16 Fresh Start?
Easter was nice, but I got enough fat jokes that I think I am going to do something about it. I have been standing steady waiting on inspiration or something to get going. I don't know what happened, I used to lift weights by myself, run around on my bike by myself. Nowadays, I want my partner to motivate me, and Wifey is not about that. I have to just go off and do my own thing. My mom is constantly on me because I tell her I don't sleep well, add to that that I got on the scale today and I wiegh right around 409lbs. That is a lot of Mando.
So what did I do different today? When I picked up Chubs, we did not go out and eat our usual burger and fries. Instead, I cut the grass, Chubs did not have homework, but said he would get on the treadmill while I was outside. I then trimmed the edges and then even went and fixed the fence in the back that I noticed last week was loose. For good measure I also took the clothes that had been washed, separated it, put away mine and the boys clothes, and even started a load in the wash. This all happened after going and getting gas too, for the mower.
For good measure, when I did come inside, I only had a ham and cheese sandwich and a handful of Cheetoh Puffs. For dinner, to continue the good eating, I had a salad of spinach, carrots, lettuce, cheese, and chicken breasts. There was no dessert with dinner, but I did have a slice of pie and a small piece of coffee cake when I came in to work, from some of my coworkers.
I am committed to walking at least a mile every night, maybe two. I lost most of the first half of my shift messing around with new forms for our new insurance plans, so tonight it will be only 1 mile.
My uncle who has always been a giant at 6foot 5in or so and probably tipping the scales around 500lbs at one point is now skinnier than me. He did go through a divorce and that can mess up a person, but he also is pushing hard on Plexxus, some drink that is supposed to remove the fat from your body. He is walking around at a slim 42inch waist, and claims to weigh about 309,making me the heaviest weight around in our family.
I'm going to report here once a week, what I'm doing. If something is working or not. Hopefully, this will keep me honest. I am hoping that by the time we go to Florida, I am able to walk a couple miles without feeling like I need to sit down and nap. We'll see.
So what did I do different today? When I picked up Chubs, we did not go out and eat our usual burger and fries. Instead, I cut the grass, Chubs did not have homework, but said he would get on the treadmill while I was outside. I then trimmed the edges and then even went and fixed the fence in the back that I noticed last week was loose. For good measure I also took the clothes that had been washed, separated it, put away mine and the boys clothes, and even started a load in the wash. This all happened after going and getting gas too, for the mower.
For good measure, when I did come inside, I only had a ham and cheese sandwich and a handful of Cheetoh Puffs. For dinner, to continue the good eating, I had a salad of spinach, carrots, lettuce, cheese, and chicken breasts. There was no dessert with dinner, but I did have a slice of pie and a small piece of coffee cake when I came in to work, from some of my coworkers.
I am committed to walking at least a mile every night, maybe two. I lost most of the first half of my shift messing around with new forms for our new insurance plans, so tonight it will be only 1 mile.
My uncle who has always been a giant at 6foot 5in or so and probably tipping the scales around 500lbs at one point is now skinnier than me. He did go through a divorce and that can mess up a person, but he also is pushing hard on Plexxus, some drink that is supposed to remove the fat from your body. He is walking around at a slim 42inch waist, and claims to weigh about 309,making me the heaviest weight around in our family.
I'm going to report here once a week, what I'm doing. If something is working or not. Hopefully, this will keep me honest. I am hoping that by the time we go to Florida, I am able to walk a couple miles without feeling like I need to sit down and nap. We'll see.
Monday, March 28, 2016
3/28/16 Easter Sunday?
As we usually do, we spent Easter Sunday at my folks. It was an almost perfect day, as far as weather and temperatures. We did what we do best. I slept on and off until about noon, then got up at the request of Wife. By the time I got up and headed out, the other men folk had been busy getting the grills lit. Dad had said he already had more than enough meat stocked for the celebration.
Wife must have set up the Easter Basket for Chubs, I never saw all that taking place, although I did spend a pretty penny buying the stuff that went into it. I think by now Chubs has figured the logistics of the holiday creatures and gifts, he is 10 years old.
I do try getting up earlier when my folks are around. I got up to pee around 9:00am and they were up, so I thought I would get up. I had some coffee and then mom offered eggs with winnies. My dad was chuckling as I started falling asleep before the breakfast came. Mom gave me three tacos with plenty of eggs and cheese. I ate my fill and then mom suggested I go back to bed, since I looked tired. I did and just as Wife had finished putting on her make-up and was headed out. I jumped into bed as Wife was telling me to go shower and I begged her for one hour of peace and quiet. I guess she left room, as I slept for and hour and a half or so. She finally came and woke me as most everyone arrived.
I showered and joined the rest of my family. I hadn't seen some of my aunts and uncles in about a year. We sat and of course I got an earful because Boy did not make the trip. He chose to stay and do homework. It really is nice to be amongst family, and specially with BBQ going on and the love flowing. It was cute watching the kiddoes going after the eggs in the yard, and Chubs was lucky enough to find the golden penny, which was good for a $20 bill.
About this time we finally ate, and it did not take me long to fill up, since I had been eating ribs off the grill since they were ready. There were deviled eggs to enjoy, rice and beans, and plenty of meat. I had two tacos since I had poked so much, but I still left back to Austin full.
When it was time to go, I didn't even argue with Wife, I gave her the keys, talked about this and that, and I'm pretty sure I was asleep before passing the Crystal Ballroom. I slept up until we got to Buc-ee's where we stopped for gas and a drink. I then drove the rest of the way, feeling pretty good, even arguing with Boy as he had wanted a plate of food, but as we were passing San Marcos, the jackass wasn't even home. He eventually came to the house to pick up the leftovers and cake and whatever chocolates the Easter Bunny left him.
Chubs complained he did not eat enough, so we went and got some burgers at Whataburger and ended our night as best as we could.
Wife must have set up the Easter Basket for Chubs, I never saw all that taking place, although I did spend a pretty penny buying the stuff that went into it. I think by now Chubs has figured the logistics of the holiday creatures and gifts, he is 10 years old.
I do try getting up earlier when my folks are around. I got up to pee around 9:00am and they were up, so I thought I would get up. I had some coffee and then mom offered eggs with winnies. My dad was chuckling as I started falling asleep before the breakfast came. Mom gave me three tacos with plenty of eggs and cheese. I ate my fill and then mom suggested I go back to bed, since I looked tired. I did and just as Wife had finished putting on her make-up and was headed out. I jumped into bed as Wife was telling me to go shower and I begged her for one hour of peace and quiet. I guess she left room, as I slept for and hour and a half or so. She finally came and woke me as most everyone arrived.
I showered and joined the rest of my family. I hadn't seen some of my aunts and uncles in about a year. We sat and of course I got an earful because Boy did not make the trip. He chose to stay and do homework. It really is nice to be amongst family, and specially with BBQ going on and the love flowing. It was cute watching the kiddoes going after the eggs in the yard, and Chubs was lucky enough to find the golden penny, which was good for a $20 bill.
About this time we finally ate, and it did not take me long to fill up, since I had been eating ribs off the grill since they were ready. There were deviled eggs to enjoy, rice and beans, and plenty of meat. I had two tacos since I had poked so much, but I still left back to Austin full.
When it was time to go, I didn't even argue with Wife, I gave her the keys, talked about this and that, and I'm pretty sure I was asleep before passing the Crystal Ballroom. I slept up until we got to Buc-ee's where we stopped for gas and a drink. I then drove the rest of the way, feeling pretty good, even arguing with Boy as he had wanted a plate of food, but as we were passing San Marcos, the jackass wasn't even home. He eventually came to the house to pick up the leftovers and cake and whatever chocolates the Easter Bunny left him.
Chubs complained he did not eat enough, so we went and got some burgers at Whataburger and ended our night as best as we could.
Sunday, March 27, 2016
3/27/16 All The Party People Say Andale, Andale Arriba?
Today was a strange day. Both sides of the family got together for Boy's birthday. Wife had been planning a Mexican Fiesta for the last couple weeks, and today was the culmination of those ideas. The meal was set at my in-laws, partially because it is closer to everybody, but mostly because Wife's Sisters did most of the cooking.
We slept in a hotel room in San Antonio to be closer, and in fact, the room was very close to my in-laws, off by only a couple miles. Check out was at noon, and I believe my digestive system knows things. First off, I got up at 7:00am after staying up until 4:30am because there was supposed to be a free breakfast. Breakfast was a dud, it consisted of a couple waffle machines and some cereal and muffins. I had a coffee and muffin while I decided what to do, but ultimately, I checked my truck, that it was still there and in one piece, and then went back to the room, where my little family stayed and joined them in snoring. I was then awakened by Wife around 10:30am to shower. I tried pooping, but no dice. I showered, brushed my teeth, then got out. It was now closer to 11:25am, and then my stomach started gurgling. Wife and the boys took all our stuff downstairs, and I finally had a movement, maybe it was being alone in the room. We left the room at 11:56am, and gave our keycards to the front desk at 11:59am.
We got to my in-laws at noon, and of course, I quickly tossed and turned on the sofa, until they offered me a bed to lie down. I slept until my folks called that they were about to arrive, so I woke up to guide them in. It had been awhile since my folks had visited my in-laws, and they loved what they did for the party, along with the addition of the patio in the backyard. The meal very much was what you would expect at any decent tex-mex place. There was brisket, beef and chicken fajitas, 3 different kinds of beans, chalupas, rice and beans, potato salad, cakes, Mexican candies, horchata, sandia, and pina waters to drink, along with Mexican soda, and all kinds of Mexican soda drinks.
After eating, we took some fun pictures with some giant Mexican hats, in front of a decorated wall covered in traditional Mexican colors. Of course, cake and other sweets were offered as we sang "las mananitas" instead of Happy Birthday.
My folks hung out until about 5:00pm, only leaving at that time because one of my uncles was having his birthday party today as well. We didn't leave until almost 8:00pm, as Wife helped clean up. We then arrived at my folks' house around 10:20pm, and stayed talking until almost 1:30am.
These have been some weird stretches with very little sleeping options. When I see a window, I take it, I have now mastered sleeping in a sitting position, which is good when things turn boring, I am out.
We slept in a hotel room in San Antonio to be closer, and in fact, the room was very close to my in-laws, off by only a couple miles. Check out was at noon, and I believe my digestive system knows things. First off, I got up at 7:00am after staying up until 4:30am because there was supposed to be a free breakfast. Breakfast was a dud, it consisted of a couple waffle machines and some cereal and muffins. I had a coffee and muffin while I decided what to do, but ultimately, I checked my truck, that it was still there and in one piece, and then went back to the room, where my little family stayed and joined them in snoring. I was then awakened by Wife around 10:30am to shower. I tried pooping, but no dice. I showered, brushed my teeth, then got out. It was now closer to 11:25am, and then my stomach started gurgling. Wife and the boys took all our stuff downstairs, and I finally had a movement, maybe it was being alone in the room. We left the room at 11:56am, and gave our keycards to the front desk at 11:59am.
We got to my in-laws at noon, and of course, I quickly tossed and turned on the sofa, until they offered me a bed to lie down. I slept until my folks called that they were about to arrive, so I woke up to guide them in. It had been awhile since my folks had visited my in-laws, and they loved what they did for the party, along with the addition of the patio in the backyard. The meal very much was what you would expect at any decent tex-mex place. There was brisket, beef and chicken fajitas, 3 different kinds of beans, chalupas, rice and beans, potato salad, cakes, Mexican candies, horchata, sandia, and pina waters to drink, along with Mexican soda, and all kinds of Mexican soda drinks.
After eating, we took some fun pictures with some giant Mexican hats, in front of a decorated wall covered in traditional Mexican colors. Of course, cake and other sweets were offered as we sang "las mananitas" instead of Happy Birthday.
My folks hung out until about 5:00pm, only leaving at that time because one of my uncles was having his birthday party today as well. We didn't leave until almost 8:00pm, as Wife helped clean up. We then arrived at my folks' house around 10:20pm, and stayed talking until almost 1:30am.
These have been some weird stretches with very little sleeping options. When I see a window, I take it, I have now mastered sleeping in a sitting position, which is good when things turn boring, I am out.
Friday, March 25, 2016
3/26/16 Hotel Rooms Are Perfect?
There is an intimacy found in a hotel room that cannot be duplicated at home. I love the idea of all four of us being in a hotel room for a night or two. Boy almost didn't join us and it would not have been the same even if he acts like an ornery little poop being held against his will. Most rooms are similar with their two beds and bathroom on the side.
If this was our house, I would have killed myself already because there is no privacy and basically we're stuck smelling each other's farts, but as a weekend getaway, it's about as close to camping as I want to get. Another plus to this hotel room is that it was free because of our points with Wife's Expedia account. We checked in around 5:30pm and even though check-out is at 11:00am, Wife asked and we can check out at noon. Two more huge points going for it are that Wi-Fi is free, so I can watch a little porn if I can figure out a way the kids won't see my screen, and free breakfast in the morning, 6:30am-9:30am. I like coming down, eating, then going back to bed for another while.
It had been years since we had enjoyed staying in any type of hotels. We had our RV and that is what we did for overnight entertaining or sleeping at either of our folks' house. Last year we stayed in a hotel going to Florida, and I found it so relaxing, we started doing it more. We found the same hotel line in Corpus, and because I did not have a truck to move my RV, we stayed there a few times.
We just got back to our room, it feels criminal, because we would not do it at home, cranking the A/C to the point of hurting us is a must do, even though we know better. Nothing better than cranking down the temperature into the 60s. Is there a rule that junk food in a hotel room doesn't count? We went and bought enough junk food for a month. We got Oreos, and Cheetoh Puffs, and Gatorades (don't want to cramp up changing channels on the remote), chocolate candies of all kinds, sour patch kids, strawberry Zingers, and beef jerky, to be a little healthy. I just wish we were staying here for two nights instead of one.
I just took a shower, and it has to rank as one of my top three showers of all time. The pressure and the heat were something I haven't felt since the last time I was in our hot tub. I could have made it a little bit hotter, but really, it was almost scalding. Right now, laying in bed typing, I don't feel a knot I've had on my right shoulder for the first time in a good long while. I just stood there and let the water hit me as I slowly moved both shoulders in and out of the force of the water. I knew my shower was timed as one of my little shits would eventually knock on the door. Sure enough, Chubs, hero that he is, came knocking because he needed a tissue to blow his nose. I told him "scram", but the boogers were louder than me. I finally had to concede and open the door to reality.
Wife took my extra pillow, then she is demanding we turn off all the lights. Give a person a little power and watch it go to their heads. Luckily, we check out in the morning.
If this was our house, I would have killed myself already because there is no privacy and basically we're stuck smelling each other's farts, but as a weekend getaway, it's about as close to camping as I want to get. Another plus to this hotel room is that it was free because of our points with Wife's Expedia account. We checked in around 5:30pm and even though check-out is at 11:00am, Wife asked and we can check out at noon. Two more huge points going for it are that Wi-Fi is free, so I can watch a little porn if I can figure out a way the kids won't see my screen, and free breakfast in the morning, 6:30am-9:30am. I like coming down, eating, then going back to bed for another while.
It had been years since we had enjoyed staying in any type of hotels. We had our RV and that is what we did for overnight entertaining or sleeping at either of our folks' house. Last year we stayed in a hotel going to Florida, and I found it so relaxing, we started doing it more. We found the same hotel line in Corpus, and because I did not have a truck to move my RV, we stayed there a few times.
We just got back to our room, it feels criminal, because we would not do it at home, cranking the A/C to the point of hurting us is a must do, even though we know better. Nothing better than cranking down the temperature into the 60s. Is there a rule that junk food in a hotel room doesn't count? We went and bought enough junk food for a month. We got Oreos, and Cheetoh Puffs, and Gatorades (don't want to cramp up changing channels on the remote), chocolate candies of all kinds, sour patch kids, strawberry Zingers, and beef jerky, to be a little healthy. I just wish we were staying here for two nights instead of one.
I just took a shower, and it has to rank as one of my top three showers of all time. The pressure and the heat were something I haven't felt since the last time I was in our hot tub. I could have made it a little bit hotter, but really, it was almost scalding. Right now, laying in bed typing, I don't feel a knot I've had on my right shoulder for the first time in a good long while. I just stood there and let the water hit me as I slowly moved both shoulders in and out of the force of the water. I knew my shower was timed as one of my little shits would eventually knock on the door. Sure enough, Chubs, hero that he is, came knocking because he needed a tissue to blow his nose. I told him "scram", but the boogers were louder than me. I finally had to concede and open the door to reality.
Wife took my extra pillow, then she is demanding we turn off all the lights. Give a person a little power and watch it go to their heads. Luckily, we check out in the morning.
3/25/16 Running On No Sleep?
Yesterday was a pain in the butt. The hardest part was the lack of sleep. In the end, it all worked out. We were able to accomplish our goals, and even get my truck washed for our big weekend going to San Antonio and then Crystal City.
I got home around 6:45 and instead of eating and showering, I ran to Chub's bed and dove in. I actually felt myself sink in to the mattress, it felt awesome, for an hour. I woke up because I had to pee badly. I went, did my business and got back in bed. I slept for another hour or so, until Wife came and woke me up. This time, I got up and showered. I felt I was looking a little raggedy from the face, but it was close to 10am. Wife said, go for it, just don't stop and screw around. I felt so much better with my hair under control.
We got to the funeral home by 10:10am, but it was ok. There was a minister recounting his meeting of Mr. Lupe as he called him. He spoke very well of him, apparently they worked for the city together. He talked about how generous Mr. Lupe was, always sharing his food with him. The contrast was nice, when the grandkids started talking about being chased by grandpa so he could put a whooping on that ass, another one mentioned hiding his shoes, to slow grandpa down. The minister guy came back and couldn't believe they were describing the same man. He turned it into a good thing, how kids need discipline in this day and age. After an hour or so, when everyone who wanted had been allowed to speak, we headed out to the cemetary. This part went rather quickly, the male grandkids carried the casket which was beautiful in a polished black shiny finish. There some quick words by the minister, and the body was then put to rest.
This was then followed by a small meal at the older sister's place. We stopped by, ate a slice of pizza, a slice of sub, and a soda or two. By this time, it was 2:00pm and I thought I was ok, but we did have an appointment to do our taxes, so we left. On our way home, I decided I needed to wash my truck. It was very dirty, and the wash place was not that busy. I dropped it off, we got some nachos, and hung out. After ten minutes or so, I felt a wall of sleep overtake me. I slept, just sitting there for maybe 20min. We then walked over to my truck at the wash place, it was already in the drying stage. We then went home, I ran to the bathroom and did my business. I had time for a 20 min nap, until 4:30. We got over there more or less on time only to be told, the lady scheduled for us was not skilled enough to deal with the sale of our house. We then set time for Friday morning and left.
At this point, I finally had a window large enough to really take a long nap, and I did. Wife woke me at 8:00pm to go to Spec's. She wanted tiny mexican liquor bottles to decorate the tables. We then got back in time for my folks arrival. Boy and his friends had just arrived as well. We then decided on Longhorn Steakhouse, so far, it does not disappoint. From the fresh tasting coffee, to the just right steaks, everything was just perfect. We ended to night by coming home and singing to Boy on a cake half eaten from last weekend. The party continues this weekend, to be continued...
I got home around 6:45 and instead of eating and showering, I ran to Chub's bed and dove in. I actually felt myself sink in to the mattress, it felt awesome, for an hour. I woke up because I had to pee badly. I went, did my business and got back in bed. I slept for another hour or so, until Wife came and woke me up. This time, I got up and showered. I felt I was looking a little raggedy from the face, but it was close to 10am. Wife said, go for it, just don't stop and screw around. I felt so much better with my hair under control.
We got to the funeral home by 10:10am, but it was ok. There was a minister recounting his meeting of Mr. Lupe as he called him. He spoke very well of him, apparently they worked for the city together. He talked about how generous Mr. Lupe was, always sharing his food with him. The contrast was nice, when the grandkids started talking about being chased by grandpa so he could put a whooping on that ass, another one mentioned hiding his shoes, to slow grandpa down. The minister guy came back and couldn't believe they were describing the same man. He turned it into a good thing, how kids need discipline in this day and age. After an hour or so, when everyone who wanted had been allowed to speak, we headed out to the cemetary. This part went rather quickly, the male grandkids carried the casket which was beautiful in a polished black shiny finish. There some quick words by the minister, and the body was then put to rest.
This was then followed by a small meal at the older sister's place. We stopped by, ate a slice of pizza, a slice of sub, and a soda or two. By this time, it was 2:00pm and I thought I was ok, but we did have an appointment to do our taxes, so we left. On our way home, I decided I needed to wash my truck. It was very dirty, and the wash place was not that busy. I dropped it off, we got some nachos, and hung out. After ten minutes or so, I felt a wall of sleep overtake me. I slept, just sitting there for maybe 20min. We then walked over to my truck at the wash place, it was already in the drying stage. We then went home, I ran to the bathroom and did my business. I had time for a 20 min nap, until 4:30. We got over there more or less on time only to be told, the lady scheduled for us was not skilled enough to deal with the sale of our house. We then set time for Friday morning and left.
At this point, I finally had a window large enough to really take a long nap, and I did. Wife woke me at 8:00pm to go to Spec's. She wanted tiny mexican liquor bottles to decorate the tables. We then got back in time for my folks arrival. Boy and his friends had just arrived as well. We then decided on Longhorn Steakhouse, so far, it does not disappoint. From the fresh tasting coffee, to the just right steaks, everything was just perfect. We ended to night by coming home and singing to Boy on a cake half eaten from last weekend. The party continues this weekend, to be continued...
Thursday, March 24, 2016
3/24/16 Boy Turns 22?
Boy turns 22 tomorrow, and we are celebrating this weekend. It is kind of weird with Easter falling in the same weekend, but oh well, just means we make our yearly run to Crystal City to hang out at home with my side of the family for a bit. Thanks to Facebook, Wife saw some Mexican ideas for a party, suggested them to Boy, and I think he went along with her because he thought she was kidding, now we have a fiesta going down on Saturday. I am unsure what to think of this as it is not going to be in Austin. We are doing this in San Antonio, not sure why, but Wife got buy-in from her sisters, who are going to help with the cooking and decorating. We were already shown a couple bags of decorations, if all of that stuff goes up on the walls, it will surely look more festive.
I am unsure about Boy's path right now. I expected him to be more independent and not involve us much in his day to day activities, and that I can accept, but I figured he would be ignoring us for a gal. Instead, every weekend, there seems to be something important that him and his friends had planned or wanted to do. My actions and motives were always calculated to try and get the best chance at getting laid. They don't even seem to have a sex drive, they make plans around going to toy museums, or these comic con things, which I don't understand the reason for the interest. I remember liking comic book heroes, but only until I discovered what goes on in the backseat of a car, or to keep it real, backseat of my folk's van.
We have a hotel reserved in San Antonio for Friday night. Wife said I could just stay in the hotel and relax, she would go with her sisters and decorate and cook. That sounds great to me, I am actually looking forward to this little alone time I will theoretically have. Boy was supposed to go with us, we would pick him up in San Marcos, but he called Wife asking if he could drive up Saturday with his friends. She kind of said yes, but Boy's friend gets out at 2:00pm, you know how chicks are to get ready, they could loose another hour there, and then another hour to drive to SA. Wife actually said no, because we can't have the reason for the party showing up whenever he feels like it. I still don't believe he will ride with us, but we will see.
This is going to be a long and tiring weekend. We have the funeral for our friend's father, there will be a meal after and all that. We had scheduled to meet with the H&R Block people to do our taxes Thursday at 4:30. Then we have the drive up Friday, luckily with good Friday, everyone is off. We have Boy's party in the afternoon on Saturday, then driving to Crystal City for Easter Sunday. I am sure we will be staying as late as possible, then driving up back to Austin, and probably getting home late Sunday. We'll see how it all plays out...
I am unsure about Boy's path right now. I expected him to be more independent and not involve us much in his day to day activities, and that I can accept, but I figured he would be ignoring us for a gal. Instead, every weekend, there seems to be something important that him and his friends had planned or wanted to do. My actions and motives were always calculated to try and get the best chance at getting laid. They don't even seem to have a sex drive, they make plans around going to toy museums, or these comic con things, which I don't understand the reason for the interest. I remember liking comic book heroes, but only until I discovered what goes on in the backseat of a car, or to keep it real, backseat of my folk's van.
We have a hotel reserved in San Antonio for Friday night. Wife said I could just stay in the hotel and relax, she would go with her sisters and decorate and cook. That sounds great to me, I am actually looking forward to this little alone time I will theoretically have. Boy was supposed to go with us, we would pick him up in San Marcos, but he called Wife asking if he could drive up Saturday with his friends. She kind of said yes, but Boy's friend gets out at 2:00pm, you know how chicks are to get ready, they could loose another hour there, and then another hour to drive to SA. Wife actually said no, because we can't have the reason for the party showing up whenever he feels like it. I still don't believe he will ride with us, but we will see.
This is going to be a long and tiring weekend. We have the funeral for our friend's father, there will be a meal after and all that. We had scheduled to meet with the H&R Block people to do our taxes Thursday at 4:30. Then we have the drive up Friday, luckily with good Friday, everyone is off. We have Boy's party in the afternoon on Saturday, then driving to Crystal City for Easter Sunday. I am sure we will be staying as late as possible, then driving up back to Austin, and probably getting home late Sunday. We'll see how it all plays out...
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
3/23/16 Bering Sea Gold? (Show)
After I finished watching Gold Rush, which was interesting and you could see men working hard with big machines, Hulu sent me to Bering Sea Gold, another show, kind of related in that the people are all searching for gold, but these are not the same people. I hesitate to throw the phrase around, but it is mostly white trash who figured out how to dive and take their chances for slivers of gold. There were three seasons with 10 episodes per season and most of the same people showed up. Set around the shores of Nome, Alaska, there are only about 4 months when the ocean is not frozen over.
There was one family who appeared to know what they were doing, the Pomrenkes, who have been mining for three generations and have a dredge or boat with a backhoe and gold separating machine or sluice onboard. They seem to average close to a million dollars a year, while all the other "dredges" or boats manage to get $70k or so. There was a second boat which had a captain Zeke that appeared to do well and he at least was willing to work hard, but there just aren't enough quality people out there. He hired a childhood friend, the only female miner, but she is a major pain in the ass. Falling in the water for no good reason, forcing Zeke to cut his trips short because she is cold, even when she is on the boat, and he is in the freezing water. Anytime it doesn't go her way, she breaks into the crying routine.
Her father is out there too, and he might be the most useless person on television. He has no idea how to look for gold, and after three seasons still hasn't figured it out, but somehow has gotten hold of a boat and is a captain, but rarely goes out with his boat.
There are many episodes where the daughter is doing the same theatrics. In one series, she is obviously interested in a dude and decides to go mining in a river, leaving her crew to fend for themselves, she is all licking her chops trying to get another "hot boy" in her crew. Her crew punishes her by quitting.
There is another dude who is angry from day one, telling the cameras he needs gold to pay child support and 100 ounces would be good to support his daughters, but then spends every episode fighting with everyone, on his boat, on land, even with the camera crews. He is a mess. When he ends up on the other big boat as a deckhand, he seems to be doing ok, until they need him to rush and pull an anchor to prevent damage to something or other, he just very calmly says, that's about 8 hours, I'm done. He gets fired, which he then acts surprised.
Other than the family that works together, the Pomrenkes, everyone else comes across as troubled people, and I certainly would never want to venture out that far north. One of the scary looking guys, in season two is reduced to tears, saying I came up here to hopefully make some money diving, instead I'm sleeping in a tent, that's been broken into twice, I don't have money to get back to Arizona, and they pan away from him shitting in a bucket on the shore. I actually felt bad for Mr. Scary thug guy with the neck tattoos.
There was one family who appeared to know what they were doing, the Pomrenkes, who have been mining for three generations and have a dredge or boat with a backhoe and gold separating machine or sluice onboard. They seem to average close to a million dollars a year, while all the other "dredges" or boats manage to get $70k or so. There was a second boat which had a captain Zeke that appeared to do well and he at least was willing to work hard, but there just aren't enough quality people out there. He hired a childhood friend, the only female miner, but she is a major pain in the ass. Falling in the water for no good reason, forcing Zeke to cut his trips short because she is cold, even when she is on the boat, and he is in the freezing water. Anytime it doesn't go her way, she breaks into the crying routine.
Her father is out there too, and he might be the most useless person on television. He has no idea how to look for gold, and after three seasons still hasn't figured it out, but somehow has gotten hold of a boat and is a captain, but rarely goes out with his boat.
There are many episodes where the daughter is doing the same theatrics. In one series, she is obviously interested in a dude and decides to go mining in a river, leaving her crew to fend for themselves, she is all licking her chops trying to get another "hot boy" in her crew. Her crew punishes her by quitting.
There is another dude who is angry from day one, telling the cameras he needs gold to pay child support and 100 ounces would be good to support his daughters, but then spends every episode fighting with everyone, on his boat, on land, even with the camera crews. He is a mess. When he ends up on the other big boat as a deckhand, he seems to be doing ok, until they need him to rush and pull an anchor to prevent damage to something or other, he just very calmly says, that's about 8 hours, I'm done. He gets fired, which he then acts surprised.
Other than the family that works together, the Pomrenkes, everyone else comes across as troubled people, and I certainly would never want to venture out that far north. One of the scary looking guys, in season two is reduced to tears, saying I came up here to hopefully make some money diving, instead I'm sleeping in a tent, that's been broken into twice, I don't have money to get back to Arizona, and they pan away from him shitting in a bucket on the shore. I actually felt bad for Mr. Scary thug guy with the neck tattoos.
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
3/22/16 Dealing With Death?
I think we are all a little uncomfortable with death, but it comes to all of us, when it is time. Yesterday, our closest friends here in Austin lost their father. He had been dealing with complications of COPD, a lung disease. Funeral arrangements are set for this week, and although it sucks for me to act like a human, I will flip myself over and miss a day of work. The silver lining for me is that missing Thursday night leads into the extended Easter Weekend, which the boys and Wife were already going to be off on Friday for.
I felt a little sad for their dad, or Girlie's Grandpa. He lost his Wife back in 2006, shoot, almost ten years ago. When a couple is together that long, it seems weird to consider one without the other. He popped up here and there. One time, pulling out of an HEB I rarely go to, I ran into him walking, I stopped and said hi. He always recognized me, but he always made a funny face, like he was surprised or startled by me. The last time I saw him, he had just got back from living in Corpus Christi for a couple months or something. He was at our friend's front yard, smoking a cigarette, I believe. I got off my truck and said hi, I always liked him, he seemed like a hard working simple man.
The situation makes me think about my own mortality. I don't think I want to outlive Wife. I am not really cut out for anything other than working. Wife can barely put up with me, when we have extended days off. I don't think I could find someone else I could be comfortable enough to be myself. I can't even cook for myself. I would be living on cereal and tuna all over again, like when I was going to school, and living with a roommate. I can grill, could most meals be prepared outside?
I kind of worry about the same thing with my dad. He depends a lot on my mom, just because he is kind of an ass too. We've jokingly had the conversation, he says he would spend all his money in the casinos, I would say that is fine if he could pace himself and make it last until his last months, but knowing how things work, he'd blow all his money in a month or two and then we'd be playing hot potato between the kids in taking him in for a couple of months until he would drive us nuts.
I guess with that in mind, my dad should just keep smoking, while my mom keeps working. She looks and acts 10-20 years younger than him. I'll keep getting fatter, making sure I stay ahead of Wife in the overweight department. If I gotta make sure I go first...
I felt a little sad for their dad, or Girlie's Grandpa. He lost his Wife back in 2006, shoot, almost ten years ago. When a couple is together that long, it seems weird to consider one without the other. He popped up here and there. One time, pulling out of an HEB I rarely go to, I ran into him walking, I stopped and said hi. He always recognized me, but he always made a funny face, like he was surprised or startled by me. The last time I saw him, he had just got back from living in Corpus Christi for a couple months or something. He was at our friend's front yard, smoking a cigarette, I believe. I got off my truck and said hi, I always liked him, he seemed like a hard working simple man.
The situation makes me think about my own mortality. I don't think I want to outlive Wife. I am not really cut out for anything other than working. Wife can barely put up with me, when we have extended days off. I don't think I could find someone else I could be comfortable enough to be myself. I can't even cook for myself. I would be living on cereal and tuna all over again, like when I was going to school, and living with a roommate. I can grill, could most meals be prepared outside?
I kind of worry about the same thing with my dad. He depends a lot on my mom, just because he is kind of an ass too. We've jokingly had the conversation, he says he would spend all his money in the casinos, I would say that is fine if he could pace himself and make it last until his last months, but knowing how things work, he'd blow all his money in a month or two and then we'd be playing hot potato between the kids in taking him in for a couple of months until he would drive us nuts.
I guess with that in mind, my dad should just keep smoking, while my mom keeps working. She looks and acts 10-20 years younger than him. I'll keep getting fatter, making sure I stay ahead of Wife in the overweight department. If I gotta make sure I go first...
Monday, March 21, 2016
3/21/16 On The Last Day Of Spring Break, I Gave My Lovely Wife?
A mowed yard.& I finally got off my big fat ass and did some physical work. All week, we have been staying up almost until dawn and then sleeping until 3-4 in the afternoon. Today, I got up at noon, and said, I will do something today. I drank my cup of coffee with an oatmeal pie and a red velvet cupcake (getting old, from Valentine's). I was about ready to go back to bed, when Wife came down and discussed us going to get our taxes done. We spent a few hours working on all that paperwork last night. As luck would have it, it was too late today to get our taxes reviewed by H&R Block, but we did schedule an appointment for Thursday afternoon.
We headed off to go eat at Culver's with Chubs. Boy was on the road back from Dallas. Lunch was great, I could eat that patty melt five days a week. I think because I got up too early, just driving to Culver's had me falling asleep. By the time we finished eating, I knew I was going to need a nap. We went home, and I just about ran up to the bed. I slept for about an hour, then I got up out of sheer guilt. I hate being this weenie that is always tired. I told Wife I would cut the front lawn and see how far I got before it got dark. The front can all be done in about 20 minutes, trimming adds another 15 min or so. With our longer days now that it is spring, more can be done. I started on backyard, figuring Wife would come and save me, but all I got was a glass of water from Chubs. I finished right as it got too dark to see clearly, and it is good that I did the work. Turns out, there are a bunch of boards loose on the fence. Almost like a fat raccoon pushed himself below the fence pickets and making it only by forcing the nails on the bottom railing to come loose. There are also more pickets barely hanging between our neighbors with the dogs. I would hate to have to deal with those dogs, my first reaction would be to shoot them, I quietly hate most dogs, I know, your dog is different, it's like a member of your family. My plan tomorrow is to go buy screws and fix any weak points on my fences. We have been here almost nine years, it is time to spend a little money on some much needed TLC.
Boy arrived while I was in the middle of cutting, he was not going to help me, but I did get him to take out the trash. We then went to eat at around 9:00pm. We went to TGIF, I like Friday's occasionally. I had a salad since we grilled the night before and I ate steak then with a side of sausage, and for lunch earlier I had a burger. I like a cobb salad, this was a tiny $7 version of their regular size. By ordering a smaller main dish, I felt ok, ordering an appetizer, and even a dessert after. My part of the meal was still only $15. Chubs ordered a 3 piece appetizer plate, with wings, potstickers and cheese sticks. Boy had a salad with salmon, and wife had a bowl of pasta with some chicken.
We got back home around 10:15pm, sent Chubs to go poop and shower, Boy loaded his vehicle and headed off to San Marcos, Wife and I settled in to watch a little TV before she came to bed, and here we are. About back to normal, I am writing this at almost 3:00am. I still get to watch a couple shows on Hulu, I do work nights, and tomorrow starts the last couple months of school.
We headed off to go eat at Culver's with Chubs. Boy was on the road back from Dallas. Lunch was great, I could eat that patty melt five days a week. I think because I got up too early, just driving to Culver's had me falling asleep. By the time we finished eating, I knew I was going to need a nap. We went home, and I just about ran up to the bed. I slept for about an hour, then I got up out of sheer guilt. I hate being this weenie that is always tired. I told Wife I would cut the front lawn and see how far I got before it got dark. The front can all be done in about 20 minutes, trimming adds another 15 min or so. With our longer days now that it is spring, more can be done. I started on backyard, figuring Wife would come and save me, but all I got was a glass of water from Chubs. I finished right as it got too dark to see clearly, and it is good that I did the work. Turns out, there are a bunch of boards loose on the fence. Almost like a fat raccoon pushed himself below the fence pickets and making it only by forcing the nails on the bottom railing to come loose. There are also more pickets barely hanging between our neighbors with the dogs. I would hate to have to deal with those dogs, my first reaction would be to shoot them, I quietly hate most dogs, I know, your dog is different, it's like a member of your family. My plan tomorrow is to go buy screws and fix any weak points on my fences. We have been here almost nine years, it is time to spend a little money on some much needed TLC.
Boy arrived while I was in the middle of cutting, he was not going to help me, but I did get him to take out the trash. We then went to eat at around 9:00pm. We went to TGIF, I like Friday's occasionally. I had a salad since we grilled the night before and I ate steak then with a side of sausage, and for lunch earlier I had a burger. I like a cobb salad, this was a tiny $7 version of their regular size. By ordering a smaller main dish, I felt ok, ordering an appetizer, and even a dessert after. My part of the meal was still only $15. Chubs ordered a 3 piece appetizer plate, with wings, potstickers and cheese sticks. Boy had a salad with salmon, and wife had a bowl of pasta with some chicken.
We got back home around 10:15pm, sent Chubs to go poop and shower, Boy loaded his vehicle and headed off to San Marcos, Wife and I settled in to watch a little TV before she came to bed, and here we are. About back to normal, I am writing this at almost 3:00am. I still get to watch a couple shows on Hulu, I do work nights, and tomorrow starts the last couple months of school.
Sunday, March 20, 2016
3/20/16 On The Eigth Day Of Spring Break, My True Love Gave To Me?
Costco. We have been "members" of Sam's Club for about ten years. We have one here about a mile away from our house, so it has always been real convenient. Even the old Sam's Club on I-35 was about a mile away from our first house. We woke up today with grand plans, at 3:00pm, but still. Wife thought we should walk to Southpark Meadows, partially as exercise, partially as it was a nice day and other people do it. After finishing my coffee, I suggested parking in front of Sam's and we can walk to anywhere in the Southpark Meadows area. It would just be hard to buy anything and then walk it home, and I was thinking of buying some steaks for dinner. Wife had the thought of buying some miniature tequila bottles for Boy's party coming up. It is going to be a Mexican motif, btw.
Somewhere between brushing my teeth and getting in the truck, Wife then suggested going to check out Costco. I love me a new store, and I love the snacks my coworkers are always taking in to work. I said sure, we can go looking as visitors. When we got there, the girl at the door said we can check it out for free, but in order to buy anything, you must be a member. Annual membership is $55, so we said sure, let's try it out for a year.
It took maybe ten minutes to do the application, all the while, people were flushing out of there in a weird frenzy. White people by the dozens, not being racist, and it might be because of its location on MOPAC and William Cannon, but we were the token colored folks this time. We go to Sam's and it is 80% beaner, this was quite different.
Anyways, at the end of the day, the store just cares about the green in one's pocket, so whatever. It felt much cleaner than a Sam's, but a lot of it is the same. Even Chubs, who was being whiny, said what are we doing here, this is just another Sam's. The part that sucked, we didn't realize until we got our new cards was that they close at 6:00pm on Saturday and Sunday, so we had about a half hour to look. We will have to go back, but I do believe the sirloin steaks we got were some of the yummiest I have grilled.
I look forward to going back and taking my time to look around. There was a liquor store attached on the outside which they said was not part of Costco, I wasn't sure. But they had samples of alcohol, and I tasted what appeared to be orange soda with a touch of alcohol. Again, very yummy. I bought a six pack, and if it had been a hot day, I might have drunk all of them. I had one while I did my grilling.
I also bought one of those triangle shade thingies (similar to picture, below), which I put up some anchors and it should make it more pleasant to grill as it will cut the sun beating down on the patio, as it face the setting sun. I can also take it down easily so the HOA won't whine about it.
Somewhere between brushing my teeth and getting in the truck, Wife then suggested going to check out Costco. I love me a new store, and I love the snacks my coworkers are always taking in to work. I said sure, we can go looking as visitors. When we got there, the girl at the door said we can check it out for free, but in order to buy anything, you must be a member. Annual membership is $55, so we said sure, let's try it out for a year.
It took maybe ten minutes to do the application, all the while, people were flushing out of there in a weird frenzy. White people by the dozens, not being racist, and it might be because of its location on MOPAC and William Cannon, but we were the token colored folks this time. We go to Sam's and it is 80% beaner, this was quite different.
Anyways, at the end of the day, the store just cares about the green in one's pocket, so whatever. It felt much cleaner than a Sam's, but a lot of it is the same. Even Chubs, who was being whiny, said what are we doing here, this is just another Sam's. The part that sucked, we didn't realize until we got our new cards was that they close at 6:00pm on Saturday and Sunday, so we had about a half hour to look. We will have to go back, but I do believe the sirloin steaks we got were some of the yummiest I have grilled.
I look forward to going back and taking my time to look around. There was a liquor store attached on the outside which they said was not part of Costco, I wasn't sure. But they had samples of alcohol, and I tasted what appeared to be orange soda with a touch of alcohol. Again, very yummy. I bought a six pack, and if it had been a hot day, I might have drunk all of them. I had one while I did my grilling.
I also bought one of those triangle shade thingies (similar to picture, below), which I put up some anchors and it should make it more pleasant to grill as it will cut the sun beating down on the patio, as it face the setting sun. I can also take it down easily so the HOA won't whine about it.
Saturday, March 19, 2016
3/19/16 On The Seventh Day Of Spring Break, My True Love Gave To Me?
Sleep. Today was a nice lazy day. There was no reason to get up and hurry anywhere. After getting home last night after midnight, Wife and I stayed up watching TV until 6:00am. I am obsessed with my gold shows, Wife is trying to get to the end of The Walking Dead. I prefer to watch on the computer, I can lay in bed on my stomach and control the PC pretty easy with mouse on the bed. Wife sits on 1 of our leather cushion sofa chairs and watches her zombie show on Netflix on our TV.
We got up around 3:00pm, and I showered and put on clothes just in time to walk Boy out. He had a trip planned to Dallas for the last weekend of Spring Break with his friends. As far as I understood, they were going to go see a museum of classic video games. I find this to almost be a waste of time, but it is a new adventure, and we do want him to have some experiences.
Chubs got it in his head that he wanted to eat at Estancia Churrascaria, but it is over $40 a plate, plus drinks and desserts. Wife suggested going for lunch, so Boy could join us, but he didn't want to really go and be full all the way up to Dallas. I just didn't want to have a reason to get up early and get in a rush at noon. As it was, we missed it all, then Boy got us tickets to go to the movies at 9:00pm.
We still left the house at 4:30, I went and got a little cash for my wallet, it was payday today, then for fun, we went and looked at RVs. We saw a few really nice. One was on sale for $54,000, but that was too much for what I was thinking. Our 2nd RV was only $35,000, and if that is where the prices are, we can't really be serious about upgrading. Ours has two more years and it is paid off. After this, we ate a late lunch at Bill Miller, followed by a run to Target, Chubs needed another set of headphones, he breaks a different pair every couple weeks.
We then went home, and I took a light 20min nap, while we waited for about 8:20pm to get going to the movies. By then there was a light drizzle, which didn't affect much of anything, but it made Wife nervous as Boy was still on his way to Dallas. He finally made his way to a friend of theirs while we were at the movies.
We saw Zootopia, and it can only be described as cute. It had moments of funny and a touching moment where things got serious, but for a kid's movie, it was watchable. Pixar movies might be better quality, but they always manage to be tear jerkers. This was just cute and light-hearted, the main character didn't loose her parents, or nobody's loving husband or wife died in the other's arms. The running tag line was you can do anything, if you believe in yourself.
We were home by midnight, and here we are, doing the same as last night, it is about 2:00am.
We got up around 3:00pm, and I showered and put on clothes just in time to walk Boy out. He had a trip planned to Dallas for the last weekend of Spring Break with his friends. As far as I understood, they were going to go see a museum of classic video games. I find this to almost be a waste of time, but it is a new adventure, and we do want him to have some experiences.
Chubs got it in his head that he wanted to eat at Estancia Churrascaria, but it is over $40 a plate, plus drinks and desserts. Wife suggested going for lunch, so Boy could join us, but he didn't want to really go and be full all the way up to Dallas. I just didn't want to have a reason to get up early and get in a rush at noon. As it was, we missed it all, then Boy got us tickets to go to the movies at 9:00pm.
We still left the house at 4:30, I went and got a little cash for my wallet, it was payday today, then for fun, we went and looked at RVs. We saw a few really nice. One was on sale for $54,000, but that was too much for what I was thinking. Our 2nd RV was only $35,000, and if that is where the prices are, we can't really be serious about upgrading. Ours has two more years and it is paid off. After this, we ate a late lunch at Bill Miller, followed by a run to Target, Chubs needed another set of headphones, he breaks a different pair every couple weeks.
We then went home, and I took a light 20min nap, while we waited for about 8:20pm to get going to the movies. By then there was a light drizzle, which didn't affect much of anything, but it made Wife nervous as Boy was still on his way to Dallas. He finally made his way to a friend of theirs while we were at the movies.
We saw Zootopia, and it can only be described as cute. It had moments of funny and a touching moment where things got serious, but for a kid's movie, it was watchable. Pixar movies might be better quality, but they always manage to be tear jerkers. This was just cute and light-hearted, the main character didn't loose her parents, or nobody's loving husband or wife died in the other's arms. The running tag line was you can do anything, if you believe in yourself.
We were home by midnight, and here we are, doing the same as last night, it is about 2:00am.
Thursday, March 17, 2016
3/18/16 On The Sixth Day Of Spring Break, My True Love Gave To Me?
A day trip. Chubs took off in the cover of darkness on Monday night while I was at work. There was no "daddy, may I go?" or "I shall miss you father..." Nah, all I had was a dirty sock he wore over the weekend to remember my brave husky man-child. Today I said "no mas!" I shall conquer those who would oppress me, those that would stand in the way of me and my ham of a boy. I shall take a journey to the west, to the city of Saint Anthony and reclaim what is rightfully mine.
But first, I had to get up. I ended up staying up until 6:30am watching the last episodes of Gold Rush, and it did not disappoint, such great drama from men risking it all for the sake of their families. For my efforts, Hulu then rewarded me by instantly jumping into another series Bering Sea Gold. You hope for familiar faces, but the only thing similar so far, is the yellow gold. This one follows some rough looking people in floating devices almost resembling boats. Using modified pumps and other things, they suck on the ocean floor looking for riches. I was instantly hooked, and ended up watching two episodes.
Back to my mission at hand, I knew I would not be able to sleep all day, so I woke around 1:00pm, and told Wife to shower. I went downstairs and had a snack. We had grilled burgers on the weekend, and I ate one along with a sausage on a hotdog bun, some chicken wings, a cup of coffee, and an oatmeal cream pie. This all made me sleepy and I came back upstairs wanting to nap, but Wife was ready to roll, and Boy got home from work right at this time. Wife let me have a ten minute nap, which did not really help for commanding my hundreds of horses to take me to the land where my young son was being held prisoner. I barely drove to the land of Saint Marcos before giving up the helm of my sled to Wife, she would have to deliver me to the battlefront.
An hour later, through rush hour, we were there. Turns out, Chubs was not kidnapped, he in fact voluntarily left the safety of our castle to go and interact with his cousins. He went to SeaWorld, two days in a row. They have a new water section for swimming, Aquatica, and they spent a good deal of time there. When we showed up, he was drenched in sweat and cousins as 1 or 2 were hanging off his back. He said hi, but I blocked his hug, or I would have ended up having to swim out of his sweat.
I sat for awhile, drank a cup of coffee, and then took Boy to Bass Pro Shops, while Wife and Chubs stayed behind eating Mexican food, I passed, deciding to eat on the road later. We didn't buy anything at Bass Pro Shops, but it was nice to have some one on one time with Boy, and just let him talk. We talked about new guns he wants, new knives he wants, I walked on boats I wanted, and then we even changed the discussion to movies that we think hold up. It felt good having a talk without the usual disruptions.
Eventually, Wife called that they were ready to go, we were already walking out, we picked them up, then headed back to our homeland. But first, tacos all around at Fuego's, in San Marcos.
But first, I had to get up. I ended up staying up until 6:30am watching the last episodes of Gold Rush, and it did not disappoint, such great drama from men risking it all for the sake of their families. For my efforts, Hulu then rewarded me by instantly jumping into another series Bering Sea Gold. You hope for familiar faces, but the only thing similar so far, is the yellow gold. This one follows some rough looking people in floating devices almost resembling boats. Using modified pumps and other things, they suck on the ocean floor looking for riches. I was instantly hooked, and ended up watching two episodes.
Back to my mission at hand, I knew I would not be able to sleep all day, so I woke around 1:00pm, and told Wife to shower. I went downstairs and had a snack. We had grilled burgers on the weekend, and I ate one along with a sausage on a hotdog bun, some chicken wings, a cup of coffee, and an oatmeal cream pie. This all made me sleepy and I came back upstairs wanting to nap, but Wife was ready to roll, and Boy got home from work right at this time. Wife let me have a ten minute nap, which did not really help for commanding my hundreds of horses to take me to the land where my young son was being held prisoner. I barely drove to the land of Saint Marcos before giving up the helm of my sled to Wife, she would have to deliver me to the battlefront.
An hour later, through rush hour, we were there. Turns out, Chubs was not kidnapped, he in fact voluntarily left the safety of our castle to go and interact with his cousins. He went to SeaWorld, two days in a row. They have a new water section for swimming, Aquatica, and they spent a good deal of time there. When we showed up, he was drenched in sweat and cousins as 1 or 2 were hanging off his back. He said hi, but I blocked his hug, or I would have ended up having to swim out of his sweat.
I sat for awhile, drank a cup of coffee, and then took Boy to Bass Pro Shops, while Wife and Chubs stayed behind eating Mexican food, I passed, deciding to eat on the road later. We didn't buy anything at Bass Pro Shops, but it was nice to have some one on one time with Boy, and just let him talk. We talked about new guns he wants, new knives he wants, I walked on boats I wanted, and then we even changed the discussion to movies that we think hold up. It felt good having a talk without the usual disruptions.
Eventually, Wife called that they were ready to go, we were already walking out, we picked them up, then headed back to our homeland. But first, tacos all around at Fuego's, in San Marcos.
3/17/16 On The Fifth Day Of Spring Break, My True Love Gave To Me?
An oil change for my truck. Technology is great. There was a time when we were supposed to change the oil in our vehicles every 3000 miles. Then new synthetic blends of oil started coming out and they must really be better than regular old 10W-30 oil, because some of it can last for up to 7500 miles. When I bought my truck, the sales lady giving me the tour said don't worry about changing your oil until you are at least below 20% on the life of your oil. I had checked it a month or so ago, and it was at 30%, so I kept waiting for an alarm or an oil light to come on. I figured 6500 miles was a good amount of mileage on the first load of oil, so we headed to Covert Hutto mostly because they offered me a $10 oil change and I figured it would be a nice drive for Wife and I to take alone. Boy was working and Chubs has been in San Antonio for a couple days.
When I got there, I met up with a service guy who said if I had read the owner's manual, the oil change could last as long as a whole year, when I expressed my concerns over wanting to change the oil. I told him about the last time I had checked it, it had been around 30%. He said in reality, the oil changes cost more like $50-$60. The dealership eats the cost, because it is a good way to get a customer checking out the latest inventory. I do love doing that. I love the fantasy of what truck would I get if money were no object. Of course, I kept choosing the trucks worth over $70,000. I do love mine, but black is a little too common. I would have loved choosing the dark red, with a dark brown a black line below, or the dark green looks really nice, with the two tone darker brown below.
Of course, I wanted to get input from Wife for her next vehicle, and she spent quite enough energy spinning her wheels explaining she did not want a truck or a car. That only leaves the SUVs and crossovers to consider. We both liked the Edge and we both liked the Expedition but with the short ass. Ford went all puss and did away with the Excursion because of the bad publicity of it being a gas hog, but it really survived as the Expedition XL. The regular Expedition has very small space behind the third row of seats, but the third row is split and either side could be folded up to fit more luggage.
After the oil change, we headed back south and I decided to take the 130 toll road, man you think 90 is fast until you get passed by all sorts of people. The posted speed limit is 80, but people are hauling ass. Girlie came back early from Florida vacation with her family and asked me to pick her up at the airport. We got back so fast, in 20 minutes from up north, that I had time to run home, go to the bathroom, then head to the airport. Google map said it would have taken 1hr and 20min for the same trip. I really hope that toll road company goes bankrupt and we keep the roads for free. I would love to see more people using them and not clogging up I-35 so much.
When I got there, I met up with a service guy who said if I had read the owner's manual, the oil change could last as long as a whole year, when I expressed my concerns over wanting to change the oil. I told him about the last time I had checked it, it had been around 30%. He said in reality, the oil changes cost more like $50-$60. The dealership eats the cost, because it is a good way to get a customer checking out the latest inventory. I do love doing that. I love the fantasy of what truck would I get if money were no object. Of course, I kept choosing the trucks worth over $70,000. I do love mine, but black is a little too common. I would have loved choosing the dark red, with a dark brown a black line below, or the dark green looks really nice, with the two tone darker brown below.
Of course, I wanted to get input from Wife for her next vehicle, and she spent quite enough energy spinning her wheels explaining she did not want a truck or a car. That only leaves the SUVs and crossovers to consider. We both liked the Edge and we both liked the Expedition but with the short ass. Ford went all puss and did away with the Excursion because of the bad publicity of it being a gas hog, but it really survived as the Expedition XL. The regular Expedition has very small space behind the third row of seats, but the third row is split and either side could be folded up to fit more luggage.
After the oil change, we headed back south and I decided to take the 130 toll road, man you think 90 is fast until you get passed by all sorts of people. The posted speed limit is 80, but people are hauling ass. Girlie came back early from Florida vacation with her family and asked me to pick her up at the airport. We got back so fast, in 20 minutes from up north, that I had time to run home, go to the bathroom, then head to the airport. Google map said it would have taken 1hr and 20min for the same trip. I really hope that toll road company goes bankrupt and we keep the roads for free. I would love to see more people using them and not clogging up I-35 so much.
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
3/16/16 On The Fourth Day Of Spring Break, My True Love Gave To Me?
The house was quiet with Chubs in SA with his cousins. They had a fun day out going to Sea World, they sent pics of them swimming in a pool. To be young and not feel the cold of the water. I did not sleep well at all, probably from the excitement of thinking this is a short week for me, and I don't have to work the rest of the week.
As usual, I got up hungry, and first thing to do is decide where to eat lunch. We went to Culver's, I love their patty melts with all that gooey cheese just sticking everything together. Boy, came home early from work, and joined us. It was nice and fast. I then hurried home to do my business and shower to head into work.
Boy mentioned he was going to be off on Wednesday, but in the same sentence, he already had plans. He is at the point where we don't really think of including him in our day to day activities. If he joins us for lunch, great, but I accept he would rather hang with his friends. At least going tubing sounds like fun. They are going to try it in the afternoon, but of course, he had to leave Tuesday night back to his apartment.
I am thinking of picking up Chubs on Thursday, and maybe head to the SA Zoo. We have season tickets to SeaWorld too, but if he spent Tuesday there, he won't want to go back so soon.
I've been pondering the idea of trading in our RV for something newer. I just got the new truck, and although our unit is nice and big, it is starting to show it's age. It is over ten years old. I was joking with Wife, about going and looking at some new ones, see if they'll take ours in as a trade and maybe we end up with a similar payment. It might not work, but they are in the business of moving units, and we owe about two years on ours.
I also need to go do an oil change on my truck. When I bought it, they told me don't worry about getting your oil changed every 3000 miles. The truck will tell you when the life of the oil is at 20%. I have now driven 6500 miles, and still gotten no warning. I looked a couple weeks ago through the diagnostics, and it still said it had 30% life. I must be too gentle on the truck, I should really be hauling stuff with it. I started looking for fifth wheel hitches, also going to need a tool box bolted in the back, and I want some sort of cover that rolls out of the way, but made of metal.
These additions to my truck are not going to be cheap, and we are in the process of doing our taxes and saving up for our trip to Disney in Florida this summer. I guess it's fun to have a lot of parts in motion, as long as we don't start dropping things and making a mess. Another thing to worry about in the next couple weeks will be Boy's birthday party, which has been decided by Wife and Boy that it would be Mexican themed, after Wife saw a bunch of colorful Mexican stuff on FB.
As usual, I got up hungry, and first thing to do is decide where to eat lunch. We went to Culver's, I love their patty melts with all that gooey cheese just sticking everything together. Boy, came home early from work, and joined us. It was nice and fast. I then hurried home to do my business and shower to head into work.
Boy mentioned he was going to be off on Wednesday, but in the same sentence, he already had plans. He is at the point where we don't really think of including him in our day to day activities. If he joins us for lunch, great, but I accept he would rather hang with his friends. At least going tubing sounds like fun. They are going to try it in the afternoon, but of course, he had to leave Tuesday night back to his apartment.
I am thinking of picking up Chubs on Thursday, and maybe head to the SA Zoo. We have season tickets to SeaWorld too, but if he spent Tuesday there, he won't want to go back so soon.
I've been pondering the idea of trading in our RV for something newer. I just got the new truck, and although our unit is nice and big, it is starting to show it's age. It is over ten years old. I was joking with Wife, about going and looking at some new ones, see if they'll take ours in as a trade and maybe we end up with a similar payment. It might not work, but they are in the business of moving units, and we owe about two years on ours.
I also need to go do an oil change on my truck. When I bought it, they told me don't worry about getting your oil changed every 3000 miles. The truck will tell you when the life of the oil is at 20%. I have now driven 6500 miles, and still gotten no warning. I looked a couple weeks ago through the diagnostics, and it still said it had 30% life. I must be too gentle on the truck, I should really be hauling stuff with it. I started looking for fifth wheel hitches, also going to need a tool box bolted in the back, and I want some sort of cover that rolls out of the way, but made of metal.
These additions to my truck are not going to be cheap, and we are in the process of doing our taxes and saving up for our trip to Disney in Florida this summer. I guess it's fun to have a lot of parts in motion, as long as we don't start dropping things and making a mess. Another thing to worry about in the next couple weeks will be Boy's birthday party, which has been decided by Wife and Boy that it would be Mexican themed, after Wife saw a bunch of colorful Mexican stuff on FB.
Tuesday, March 15, 2016
3/15/16 On The Third Day Of Spring Break, My True Love Gave To Me?
Work. I decided not to burn a whole week of PTO, personal time off. Because I work a 12 hour shift, a week requires I put in 48 hours and to compensate for the overtime rate on last 8 hours at time and a half, it should really be 52 hours. Instead, since we were in town and just hanging out, I told Wife I would save half my time, and thus work two days. As usual, we spent most of the day asleep. We grilled some burgers, sausages and wings last night (Sunday), which we ate around 9:00pm. The full stomach put me to sleep, as I didn't even finish watching whatever half hour show we were watching.
At a certain point around midnight, we all went to bed, but Wife kept watching The Walking Dead on Netflix, I was on Hulu, trying to finish Gold Rush, which I am now on the last season, Chubs was on YouTube on his phone and Boy was playing an online game with some friends. All of a sudden the Wifi goes out and it was a shocker for all of us. We were all affected and it sucked. Boy ran into the closet like a technician and started rebooting everything in there, even as we told him to wait. I decided it was a good time to take a shower, figuring everything would clear up in ten to fifteen minutes or it was bedtime. Everything was fine after a while, and we kept our routing up for another hour or so.
I don't feel like I sleep well at night, tossing and turning, getting on my phone at 4:00 to check whatever and before I know it, I have spent two hours on Pinterest. I finally forced myself to get up around 2:00pm. I had plans to wash my truck, so I showered and Wife was already up, but we had to wait on Chubs who decided he needed to poop and then shower. Eventually, we got to the car wash place, I love having the unlimited wash contract for the whole year, my truck looks nice and clean almost all the time. We ate at Luby's while they did the dirty work.
By the time we finished eating, and walking back to the wash place, the truck was already getting dried off. It took another five minutes of waiting and we were on our way. I went home, took care of business in the bathroom, then headed off to work.
While I was at work, Wife's brother came to visit with his four boys and they kidnapped Chubs for a couple days. We are supposed to go pick him up on Wednesday, but I might wait until Thursday, since I work Tuesday night too, and might be too tired to make the drive. Plus, I really would like to go to the SA Zoo, it is the perfect time of year for that. Still not too hot, and not too cold for the animals.
At a certain point around midnight, we all went to bed, but Wife kept watching The Walking Dead on Netflix, I was on Hulu, trying to finish Gold Rush, which I am now on the last season, Chubs was on YouTube on his phone and Boy was playing an online game with some friends. All of a sudden the Wifi goes out and it was a shocker for all of us. We were all affected and it sucked. Boy ran into the closet like a technician and started rebooting everything in there, even as we told him to wait. I decided it was a good time to take a shower, figuring everything would clear up in ten to fifteen minutes or it was bedtime. Everything was fine after a while, and we kept our routing up for another hour or so.
I don't feel like I sleep well at night, tossing and turning, getting on my phone at 4:00 to check whatever and before I know it, I have spent two hours on Pinterest. I finally forced myself to get up around 2:00pm. I had plans to wash my truck, so I showered and Wife was already up, but we had to wait on Chubs who decided he needed to poop and then shower. Eventually, we got to the car wash place, I love having the unlimited wash contract for the whole year, my truck looks nice and clean almost all the time. We ate at Luby's while they did the dirty work.
By the time we finished eating, and walking back to the wash place, the truck was already getting dried off. It took another five minutes of waiting and we were on our way. I went home, took care of business in the bathroom, then headed off to work.
While I was at work, Wife's brother came to visit with his four boys and they kidnapped Chubs for a couple days. We are supposed to go pick him up on Wednesday, but I might wait until Thursday, since I work Tuesday night too, and might be too tired to make the drive. Plus, I really would like to go to the SA Zoo, it is the perfect time of year for that. Still not too hot, and not too cold for the animals.
Monday, March 14, 2016
3/14/16 All We Do Is Eat On Vacation?
This is still for Saturday. After getting up early and going to eat breakfast with a bunch of annoying Austinites, we came back home and I slept for a couple hours, got up, wrote yesterday's blog and went back to sleep. I was woken around 6:00pm, as we were supposed to go to San Antonio to go eat with my in laws for my father in law's birthday. The plan was that if I slept all day, I would not be sleepy driving to and fro. That idea rarely works, a lazy shit just becomes a lazier shit, the more you let him relax.
Anyways, we got to Pappasito's right at 8:00pm, which is when we had reservations for. Pappasito's is the Mexican brand of the Pappa chains. They have Pappadeaux for seafood, Pappa's Bros. Steakhouse, and like seven other restaurants. For some reason we all stood inside like sardines against the wall. I thought it was a little dumb to let us stand where every twenty seconds a different waiter was "excuse me" and walked by with a tray full of chips and salsa. We were finally sat about 8:30pm.
Right away, there was confusion. We had about three different guys claiming to be our waiter, but after taking our drinks, they must have gone outside to get high, or run home to take a break. We ran out of tea, and chips and we never got our calamari, which we reminded a couple of the waiters, and they kept saying "I'll check on that". Finally, one of them was in ear shot, and I said "how bout some more tea?" He must have thought it a good idea as he slowly refilled everyone's drinks. The food started coming a half hour later, and I had gotten to the point of joking with the waiter, "guess we don't deserve our appetizer, huh?" This sent him running off, but not coming back with it. I finally told the guy that bought our meals "we never got our calamari, I know it will be free (we had a coupon), but it still needs to make it to the table." This vato was on the ball, as he made it appear in less than two minutes. We then sat with our fajitas losing their sizzle on those skillet thingies and the waiters meandered through, again, "dude, some freaking tortillas, this shit is getting cold!" That made him cough up the "dessert will be free that you hope for when things go to shit." My nephew still held out hope for his calamari, even after he finished eating his meal. He finally got an order which he enjoyed by himself because most people don't eat disgusting squid after they are full, it is kind of gross.
I don't want to talk crap about the restaurant, the food, even a little cold, was delicious, but goddam it, I hate knuckleheads ruining things. By the end, everyone got all their appetizers free, and most of us got desserts free. The brownie with vanilla bean ice cream was just right. Although I am still waiting for my coffee, I never got that.
On the way back, I made it to Selma or past 1604 and onto I-35. I started getting sleepy and Wife told me to pull over and she drove us home. I was a little pissy, I had told her to stop at Buc-ee's and she made an executive decision and did not stop since Chubs and I were asleep. I opened my eyes in San Marcos asking for Buc-ee's, and she did some voodoo and commanded me to go back to sleep and I did, but I slept angry. It's a weird feeling when you close your eyes and wake up a block from your house but you don't recognize where you are at.
Anyways, we got to Pappasito's right at 8:00pm, which is when we had reservations for. Pappasito's is the Mexican brand of the Pappa chains. They have Pappadeaux for seafood, Pappa's Bros. Steakhouse, and like seven other restaurants. For some reason we all stood inside like sardines against the wall. I thought it was a little dumb to let us stand where every twenty seconds a different waiter was "excuse me" and walked by with a tray full of chips and salsa. We were finally sat about 8:30pm.
Right away, there was confusion. We had about three different guys claiming to be our waiter, but after taking our drinks, they must have gone outside to get high, or run home to take a break. We ran out of tea, and chips and we never got our calamari, which we reminded a couple of the waiters, and they kept saying "I'll check on that". Finally, one of them was in ear shot, and I said "how bout some more tea?" He must have thought it a good idea as he slowly refilled everyone's drinks. The food started coming a half hour later, and I had gotten to the point of joking with the waiter, "guess we don't deserve our appetizer, huh?" This sent him running off, but not coming back with it. I finally told the guy that bought our meals "we never got our calamari, I know it will be free (we had a coupon), but it still needs to make it to the table." This vato was on the ball, as he made it appear in less than two minutes. We then sat with our fajitas losing their sizzle on those skillet thingies and the waiters meandered through, again, "dude, some freaking tortillas, this shit is getting cold!" That made him cough up the "dessert will be free that you hope for when things go to shit." My nephew still held out hope for his calamari, even after he finished eating his meal. He finally got an order which he enjoyed by himself because most people don't eat disgusting squid after they are full, it is kind of gross.
I don't want to talk crap about the restaurant, the food, even a little cold, was delicious, but goddam it, I hate knuckleheads ruining things. By the end, everyone got all their appetizers free, and most of us got desserts free. The brownie with vanilla bean ice cream was just right. Although I am still waiting for my coffee, I never got that.
On the way back, I made it to Selma or past 1604 and onto I-35. I started getting sleepy and Wife told me to pull over and she drove us home. I was a little pissy, I had told her to stop at Buc-ee's and she made an executive decision and did not stop since Chubs and I were asleep. I opened my eyes in San Marcos asking for Buc-ee's, and she did some voodoo and commanded me to go back to sleep and I did, but I slept angry. It's a weird feeling when you close your eyes and wake up a block from your house but you don't recognize where you are at.
Sunday, March 13, 2016
3/13/16 On The Second Day Of Spring Break, My True Love Gave To Me?
We always talk about getting up early and going to eat breakfast, but of course I am not an early riser and Wife can sleep all day, if she doesn't have activities with school. This morning, we happened to both get up around 10:00am to go pee. Wife suggested we go eat, and since I had already decided to go downstairs and have some coffee with my fancy breads from Central Market, I said OK. I then went to check on Chubs who had woken up super early, for some reason, but he wasn't in the mood to get out of bed. I just yelled at him, too bad, dress you little hunk of ham.
We started out to IHOP, but it was way packed, then we headed to Kerbey Lane Café, but I remembered last time and they insist on using black beans which taste ok, but us beaners are raised on the mighty pinto bean, that black bean just looks weird. We almost went to Jalapeño's, but Chubs said he got a touch of diarrhea, last time. We followed some signs which read Alma's Taco's, but when we turned found it was a taco truck, which is OK, but I wanted to sit down and drink some coffee. We finally decided on Garcia's Family Restaurant. It was crowded, and I quickly remembered why I don't like people in general. The idiot behind me to my right was talking about politics and he must have said democrats and Hillary about 500 times. You could barely hear the two ladies sitting with him, but this jackass was pointed like a butt plug and aimed right at my ears. The other idiot behind me and to my left was the other kind of Austin douche material. I didn't get a good look at him, but Wife said the gal was being all flirty, holding his hands and stuff, then the check came and he actually did the look through hoping to find money in his wallet, and he tells the gal to pay because he forgot he didn't have money or credit cards. He did have enough wits about him to ask for a to-go cup for his soda. When did to-go Styrofoam cups become a thing? It seems everywhere we go eat offers this now. I am sure this charming guy had that dumb chick horizontal by the time we finished our meal. Chicks love guys who don't have two nickels to rub together, I mean that is father material right there.
There was also the idiot older couple with a baby who leaned too close to the light switches and the baby turned off the lights. Ok, laugh if you want, but promptly get off your ass, turn around and flip the lights back on. Then there was the assorted "thug" guys outside, sitting in their cars conducting business by barking into their phones. I wouldn't use the word thug, but I see neck tattoos and low rider cars and I start doing math in my head.
I did kind of enjoy the slutty husky mom in her snakeskin boots all the way up to her knees, the mini dress showing half her thighs, and the low cut shirt and bra showing 70% of her boobs, but no nipples. That part confused me a bit, where were the snow caps to the mini mountains?
I think we are over our need to eat breakfast with the masses. We were back home by 1:00pm and I promptly went back to sleep.
We started out to IHOP, but it was way packed, then we headed to Kerbey Lane Café, but I remembered last time and they insist on using black beans which taste ok, but us beaners are raised on the mighty pinto bean, that black bean just looks weird. We almost went to Jalapeño's, but Chubs said he got a touch of diarrhea, last time. We followed some signs which read Alma's Taco's, but when we turned found it was a taco truck, which is OK, but I wanted to sit down and drink some coffee. We finally decided on Garcia's Family Restaurant. It was crowded, and I quickly remembered why I don't like people in general. The idiot behind me to my right was talking about politics and he must have said democrats and Hillary about 500 times. You could barely hear the two ladies sitting with him, but this jackass was pointed like a butt plug and aimed right at my ears. The other idiot behind me and to my left was the other kind of Austin douche material. I didn't get a good look at him, but Wife said the gal was being all flirty, holding his hands and stuff, then the check came and he actually did the look through hoping to find money in his wallet, and he tells the gal to pay because he forgot he didn't have money or credit cards. He did have enough wits about him to ask for a to-go cup for his soda. When did to-go Styrofoam cups become a thing? It seems everywhere we go eat offers this now. I am sure this charming guy had that dumb chick horizontal by the time we finished our meal. Chicks love guys who don't have two nickels to rub together, I mean that is father material right there.
There was also the idiot older couple with a baby who leaned too close to the light switches and the baby turned off the lights. Ok, laugh if you want, but promptly get off your ass, turn around and flip the lights back on. Then there was the assorted "thug" guys outside, sitting in their cars conducting business by barking into their phones. I wouldn't use the word thug, but I see neck tattoos and low rider cars and I start doing math in my head.
I did kind of enjoy the slutty husky mom in her snakeskin boots all the way up to her knees, the mini dress showing half her thighs, and the low cut shirt and bra showing 70% of her boobs, but no nipples. That part confused me a bit, where were the snow caps to the mini mountains?
I think we are over our need to eat breakfast with the masses. We were back home by 1:00pm and I promptly went back to sleep.
Saturday, March 12, 2016
3/12/16 On The First Day Of Spring Break, My True Love Gave To Me?
Spring Break has finally started. The rest of my little family gets to hang out and rest. Since we didn't go anywhere, I decided not to take the whole week off. I will be working half the week to save half my vacation hours for the summer. The day started off normally, I had to run and go pick up Chubs after school, we stopped at the bank and took out some cash, because we aren't sure where the week will lead us, and I am a good little boy scout, I like to be prepared. Chubs was ready to go home because I bought him a new video game yesterday as a reward for his accomplishment but I decided to go eat at Taco Bell. It has improved, and we do eat there like twice a month or so. Their tacos with the Doritos shells are such a great innovation in taco technology, and Chubs does enjoy spicing himself out there. Once we were done, we came home to wait for the rest of the family. Boy showed up an hour later, while I was doing the bills, probably around 5:00pm, then Wife finally got home at 6:00pm, because she had a meeting right up until 5:00pm.
Spring Break officially started at 6:10pm when she got home, we argued for a minute because she is strung way too tight and even though I had already questioned Boy about his bank card and he said he had taken care of it, he did have two cards in the mail. I let it go when he said "yes, I have my card and I activated it." Wife was not happy with that answer and she proceeded to finger wag and use that high pitched motherly tone, which always sounds like fingers on a blackboard to me. I half joked, half impulsively reacted "your tone, it's all wrong." This is kind of one of our jokes from Joe Dirt, which Christopher Walken's character keeps uttering when he recalls his old gangster days.
"You're talking to my guy all wrong, it's the wrong tone!" He follows it with a very cold "do it again, and I'll stab you in the eye with a soldering iron." It is a hilarious line from a stupid movie, which we love. Wife always gets pissed when I reference it, which makes it even funnier to me.
After she cooled off, we headed out, stopped and paid Target at the store since we just changed banks and our online pay thing is not completely set up yet. We then headed to Central Market to get some snacks to hang out and watch TV and chill. They didn't have what we were looking for, and we ended up getting pepperoni rolls at Double Dave's Pizza.We then both proceeded to fall asleep in front of the TV on and off over the rest of the evening. I briefly woke as the opening sequence of San Andreas with Dwayne Johnson playing a helicopter rescue pilot saves a girl from the side of a mountain by taking the chopper into a very tight crevasse. No freaking way would they put a million dollar helicopter in that situation. I lost interest a few minutes later with the Asian geologist sacrificing himself in front of Paul Giamatti while saving a white girl, for no reason, on top of the Hoover Dam.
I did rally later, waking up in the middle of Revenge Of The Nerds, and now writing this at 3:00am, while Wife snores on the sofa, Chubs came down to see what we were up to, and I believe Boy is asleep as he said he works most of the week.
Friday, March 11, 2016
3/11/16 Pushing Our Kids To Their Limits?
Chubs was just accepted into a program for next year. It sounds real prestigious considering something like 215 kids applied for the 25 positions and only 5 students from his school were selected. The program is Einstein Junior Advanced Academic Program. Wife says it is sponsored by the STEM program of which Boy was a part of when he was in high school. I am all for giving my boys opportunities I never had, and I am even for pushing them harder than the kids next door. I feel that the only way to achieve more is to do more. Life doesn't hand the most important jobs to donkeys who sit on the couch all day.
Right now, without any input from us, Chubs says he wants to be a geneticist, working on making people better through gene therapy and research in those fields. I know it is in its infancy, and by the time Chubs finishes post graduate work, if he gets there, gene therapy might be hitting its stride. What worries me is what I saw for Boy. Once he was in high school and in the STEM program, he didn't take elective courses, like art or music. Everything was very serious, and when he was working on his rocket projects, he would be lost in their garage for weeks at a time. We would even go drop food for him there because it was so important he not stop what he was doing.
I don't deny that those types of deadlines are good, once in a while, you can figure if you are the type of person who thrives in being challenged. The other side of the coin is if you are a little immature, you might get a rude awakening and figure you don't belong. I don't want either of my boys thinking that they don't belong in whatever pursuits they want to chase. It worries me, Boy is a little lost right now, spring break is coming just in time. I feel he needs to come home, and spend some time with us. He might feel lost in a big university, he never was for making friends real easily, and at this stage, you need a network of people around you, even if it is just to have lunch with and change your thought process for awhile. He just carries such a big burden on his shoulders. He wants to conquer the world, and that is great, but you cannot put yourself in a corner and think it's you against the world by yourself.
I worry Chubs will be pressured too young and miss out on the little things in life. People need downtime to think and wonder. Every minute of the day should not be filled with tasks so gargantuan that they overwhelm the kid. For now, I will celebrate with him. We are proud of him. I went and bought him a new video game, and he wants to go eat Pappadeaux sometime during spring break, so we got that to look forward to. I'm going to need Boy to slow down, he overcommits with his friends sometimes, and although I like them and they are a great group of kids, sometimes I feel like he should just come home and disconnect from the world.
Right now, without any input from us, Chubs says he wants to be a geneticist, working on making people better through gene therapy and research in those fields. I know it is in its infancy, and by the time Chubs finishes post graduate work, if he gets there, gene therapy might be hitting its stride. What worries me is what I saw for Boy. Once he was in high school and in the STEM program, he didn't take elective courses, like art or music. Everything was very serious, and when he was working on his rocket projects, he would be lost in their garage for weeks at a time. We would even go drop food for him there because it was so important he not stop what he was doing.
I don't deny that those types of deadlines are good, once in a while, you can figure if you are the type of person who thrives in being challenged. The other side of the coin is if you are a little immature, you might get a rude awakening and figure you don't belong. I don't want either of my boys thinking that they don't belong in whatever pursuits they want to chase. It worries me, Boy is a little lost right now, spring break is coming just in time. I feel he needs to come home, and spend some time with us. He might feel lost in a big university, he never was for making friends real easily, and at this stage, you need a network of people around you, even if it is just to have lunch with and change your thought process for awhile. He just carries such a big burden on his shoulders. He wants to conquer the world, and that is great, but you cannot put yourself in a corner and think it's you against the world by yourself.
I worry Chubs will be pressured too young and miss out on the little things in life. People need downtime to think and wonder. Every minute of the day should not be filled with tasks so gargantuan that they overwhelm the kid. For now, I will celebrate with him. We are proud of him. I went and bought him a new video game, and he wants to go eat Pappadeaux sometime during spring break, so we got that to look forward to. I'm going to need Boy to slow down, he overcommits with his friends sometimes, and although I like them and they are a great group of kids, sometimes I feel like he should just come home and disconnect from the world.
Thursday, March 10, 2016
3/10/16 The Kind Of Guy I Am Limits My Choices?
I was just reading an article in Car and Driver about how hard it has become to make decisions on choosing a car, specially when you have no brand loyalty. He said it is much easier when a guy is a Chevy guy or a Ford guy, then that narrows it down to what he is going to buy. I like the additional comment that if a guy has a tattoo of a Camaro, he is probably not looking at other cars, but I think people are so stupid nowadays, that his skin art is not a limiting factor.
I am one of those guys. Somewhere in 7th or 8th grade, I decided I was a Ford guy. My dad had bought a single cab F150 that went from grey to plum in color, my Mom reminded him he was a family man, and they promptly traded that in for a supercab brown F-150, maybe it was even an F-250, but I loved that truck, no doors for the back and only two little seats. It was the truck I took Wife on our first date. I then chose a 1991 Ford Ranger when I left home to come to UT. The writer is correct. I never looked at the other brands, when we went to the lot looking for the ad truck, selling for $7995, I had a choice between a bright red or a pale light blue. Red it was. Great little truck. A few years later, and a pregnant wife, we went and leased a maroon F-150 Flareside, beautiful truck, Wife put over 70,000 miles in two years and put us upside down on the lease thing. I traded it in for my first F-250, another Supercab, bench in the back, little suicide doors. Then we got Wife an F-150 two tone truck which she drove for a couple years. This was followed by an Expedition in 2002, then traded it in for my 2004 Excursion when I heard they were going to stop making them. I then went big boy style and got another F-250 in 2008, but this one was loaded and had the crewcab seating with four full size doors. Freaking Boy would not drive it, and so I had to take a step back and trade it in. He was in love with the idea of a Jeep, so we found one, he is still driving it. I just a few months ago went back and made things right for me, and got another F-250. The only thing I left open to change was the color. Black would never be my first choice for a vehicle, but it is beautiful and loaded.
If it were up to me, Wife will be driving a Ford Taurus, or maybe a Ford Explorer, but she is giving me silly shenanigans, and keeps saying she wants a Kia Soul, or something small. That would be great if we were small people, but we are XL humans, we need the size of the bigger vehicles. Ford caved too easily with the Excursion and its monster size, but it is based on the F-250 truck and its engines, and they keep selling those trucks, you can see them everywhere. Maybe if gas prices continue being so low, they'll come up with even bigger SUVs. Have you seen the concept Ford Bronco?
I am one of those guys. Somewhere in 7th or 8th grade, I decided I was a Ford guy. My dad had bought a single cab F150 that went from grey to plum in color, my Mom reminded him he was a family man, and they promptly traded that in for a supercab brown F-150, maybe it was even an F-250, but I loved that truck, no doors for the back and only two little seats. It was the truck I took Wife on our first date. I then chose a 1991 Ford Ranger when I left home to come to UT. The writer is correct. I never looked at the other brands, when we went to the lot looking for the ad truck, selling for $7995, I had a choice between a bright red or a pale light blue. Red it was. Great little truck. A few years later, and a pregnant wife, we went and leased a maroon F-150 Flareside, beautiful truck, Wife put over 70,000 miles in two years and put us upside down on the lease thing. I traded it in for my first F-250, another Supercab, bench in the back, little suicide doors. Then we got Wife an F-150 two tone truck which she drove for a couple years. This was followed by an Expedition in 2002, then traded it in for my 2004 Excursion when I heard they were going to stop making them. I then went big boy style and got another F-250 in 2008, but this one was loaded and had the crewcab seating with four full size doors. Freaking Boy would not drive it, and so I had to take a step back and trade it in. He was in love with the idea of a Jeep, so we found one, he is still driving it. I just a few months ago went back and made things right for me, and got another F-250. The only thing I left open to change was the color. Black would never be my first choice for a vehicle, but it is beautiful and loaded.
If it were up to me, Wife will be driving a Ford Taurus, or maybe a Ford Explorer, but she is giving me silly shenanigans, and keeps saying she wants a Kia Soul, or something small. That would be great if we were small people, but we are XL humans, we need the size of the bigger vehicles. Ford caved too easily with the Excursion and its monster size, but it is based on the F-250 truck and its engines, and they keep selling those trucks, you can see them everywhere. Maybe if gas prices continue being so low, they'll come up with even bigger SUVs. Have you seen the concept Ford Bronco?
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
3/9/16 Papers Please?
I always worry when weird shit is introduced to kids via their number one way to entertain themselves, video games. This has to be at the top of the list in weirdness factor. What does it accomplish? I picked up Chubs after school and as always asked him how his day was and it was all very generic, same old, same old. Then he mentioned a new game he saw that he wanted to download, but Mama said no. The game as you guessed by the title is Papers Please.
In the game you play a border patrol agent and your job is to go around I assume harass the common folk with the phrase Papers Please. Once you start the interaction there are a couple scenarios that can happen. The guy with no papers can go to jail, he can get sent back to his country, the border agent can accept a bribe to let the illegal go on his merry way.
I believe there are levels too, although I am going by my boys explanation. You start at a border crossing, you can move up to working at an airport, or even working the brush chasing illegals with contraband.
There's more, you get a salary, and with it you must choose whether to upgrade your gun, vest, and other tactical gear, and as if that wasn't enough, you get a family to support. You can't use all your money just to go out and hunt humans. You must weigh the factors that if you are sloppy, your family might starve.
I have nothing but respect for Border Patrol. I've seen shows like Border Wars and they do not have an easy job keeping drugs from coming into the country. This type of game could be teaching young boys (specially) to have a mistrust for anybody brown in color, though. After all, who are they keeping out? Kids don't know any better. They might think all Mexicans they run into are packing heat, some weapon of some kind, or drugs as mules.
It must have been designed pretty well and colorful for my boy to find it and maybe even play it because his explanation left me saying what?! and wow!! for about five minutes.
Later in the evening, Chubs was asking Wife if we have Papers, like in the game. He is already familiar with the phrase, but he doesn't even know what papers they are referring to. I guess our world is changing, we must accept it. People in Europe (based on the movies we see) are used to walking around with their papers, maybe in ten years time, we too shall be ready for that reality.
In the game you play a border patrol agent and your job is to go around I assume harass the common folk with the phrase Papers Please. Once you start the interaction there are a couple scenarios that can happen. The guy with no papers can go to jail, he can get sent back to his country, the border agent can accept a bribe to let the illegal go on his merry way.
I believe there are levels too, although I am going by my boys explanation. You start at a border crossing, you can move up to working at an airport, or even working the brush chasing illegals with contraband.
There's more, you get a salary, and with it you must choose whether to upgrade your gun, vest, and other tactical gear, and as if that wasn't enough, you get a family to support. You can't use all your money just to go out and hunt humans. You must weigh the factors that if you are sloppy, your family might starve.
I have nothing but respect for Border Patrol. I've seen shows like Border Wars and they do not have an easy job keeping drugs from coming into the country. This type of game could be teaching young boys (specially) to have a mistrust for anybody brown in color, though. After all, who are they keeping out? Kids don't know any better. They might think all Mexicans they run into are packing heat, some weapon of some kind, or drugs as mules.
It must have been designed pretty well and colorful for my boy to find it and maybe even play it because his explanation left me saying what?! and wow!! for about five minutes.
Later in the evening, Chubs was asking Wife if we have Papers, like in the game. He is already familiar with the phrase, but he doesn't even know what papers they are referring to. I guess our world is changing, we must accept it. People in Europe (based on the movies we see) are used to walking around with their papers, maybe in ten years time, we too shall be ready for that reality.
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