More Year-End Blather
30/12/21 07:42
We're waking up to a little surprise snowfall here on the seacoast the day after Christmas. It's maybe an inch or two but it's on the heavy side so I'll be wheeling out my trusty Toro. I might as well do Betsi's driveway while I'm at it. Her heavy machinery is probably not going to get the job done. You know how they struggle when the snow is heavy and wet. Everything gets clogged in short order. It's early enough where I might be able to get the job done and still have time to get my blog started for the week.
In the words of Eddie Haskell from "Leave It To Beaver" fame, our Christmas was just swell. I think everyone got what they wanted. If they didn't, there is always next Christmas. Hell, we can backfill on birthdays if necessary. What did everyone think of the eggplant lasagna we picked up from Sophia's? It's funny but I had a chance to have some cold and I almost liked it better cold. Maybe there's a name for a cold eggplant dish but, for the life of me, I can't think of it. Maybe babaganoush?
Santa brought everything from magnifying glasses to socks and sweaters. Not everything fit perfectly so some stuff is going back to where it came from. Replacements may or may not be in the works depending on what is and what is no longer in stock. There were just enough things so no one was unhappy about having one or more items having to go back to the store. The missus got what she wanted but that had more to do with her ordering what she wanted and not relying on Santa to bring it. Smaht.
It's helpful for me to keep my gifts from Santa in one place at least for a day or two. You know what they say, out of sight, out of mind. God help me if someone asks me what I got from Santa and I draw a blank. I suppose I could always say, I got everything I wanted. It wouldn't be true but isn't that always the case? What kid who gets a skateboard for Christmas doesn't also want the latest version of Tony Hawk, skateboarder extraordinaire?
I think I did my Junco's a solid this morning. After removing the snow from the back deck, the deck itself was slushy and unforgivingly so. I couldn't in good conscience put down thistle seed for the Junco's only to see it sink into maybe an eighth of an inch of slushy water, snow, and ice. I found a couple pieces of plywood in the garage and put them on the deck as a platform from which the Junco's could easily feed and feast. I'm not sure if they're all that crazy about thistle seed but they're eating it so I guess I would say, so far, so good.
The Ev man went off to Boston yesterday with Noah. Getting out of town for a night or so will work out well for him. He's been wanting to get away and down to see his old friend and they finally worked it out. The Ev man wouldn't have to drive into the devil's den as it were not knowing where he was going and ending up god only knows where. We've all heard the stories about people driving into cities and ending up on some god forsaken back street where they are then subject to unspeakable horrors or worse.
The missus and I have offered to drive him down in the past but that just never seemed to work out. We would spend some time across the river in Cambridge or maybe downtown Boston before collecting the Ev man and getting on back home. I guess it's nice to work on your own schedule but when you're not in the driver's seat then you're at the whim of the people who are in the drivers seat. Here's hoping that everything works out for the best. There's not really any reason to think otherwise.
Mrs G couldn't have been happier. She had her children on board for a Christmas celebration at her home. The Pandemic aside, Christmas was Christmas and nothing would or could keep Mrs G from enjoying the holiday with her children. As I sit here thinking about it, I'm a little surprised that there was nary a mention of Mrs G. He's been gone now for a few years but that doesn't mean that one or more of his children couldn't utter his name just for old time's sake. He was a beloved member of that tight knit family. No?
It was good to see everybody again. We seldom see the missus's brother and sister during the course of the year so touching base and catching up on this and that was a good thing. Exchanging presents is always fun so we did a bit of that. There were probably too many cookies but no one complained and anybody who wanted a cookie got a cookie. The cookies we brought were store bought and I suspect the other cookies, if I had to guess, were home baked and maybe even still warm by the time they ended up at Mrs G's place.
I don't know what happened to the cheese platter that I thought Mrs G had arranged to have delivered but I didn't see anything of the sort. I knew there some logistical issues with the original platter she wanted to order but I thought they worked out the kinks with the backlog. I think Mrs G punted and she made her own hors d'oeuvre's for better or worse. If you liked ham salad on crackers, you were in seventh heaven. Ham salad is a funny thing though. It's not for everybody.
She had a dish of Lindt chocolates which she offered up here and there for the two or so hours that we were all in attendance. As good as Lindt chocolates are, most of us declined when Mrs G came around with the offering. That had more to do with people just trying to stay away from the kinds of things that
are disruptive or downright dangerous when you're trying to avoid them altogether. Sugar is sneaky that way. One thing leads to another and the next thing you know your sugar consumption is out of control and you're wishing you'd never eaten that first one.
I have a few things to attend to before we get on the road today for our trip to the Adirondacks. We won't be there for long but that doesn't mean that we don't want to have everything in order so we're not caught flat footed if and when that time comes. Having back-up stores of things to eat is probably our biggest concern. With Covid raging here, there, and everywhere these days, we'll want to limit our exposure by entering as few retail establishments as possible. Then again, this omicron variant is less virulent and less likely to make any one of us really sick so maybe we can let our hair down a bit.
I have trash that needs to go to the recycling center before we go so I'll want to attend to that. It's less of a concern during the winter months when I can leave my trash bags in the back of my car where the cold temperatures slow down the spoilage process and give me a little wiggle room on the timing. We've run short on milk that I'd hoped would last us long enough so that we'd have some to take along on our trip. I should have known better because we've run short at a critical time. So, I'll add that to my to-do list this morning when I get up and about.
I don't know if this complicates things but the Ev man asked that I pick him up a bagel sandwich when I'm out and about running my errands this morning. I'm happy to do that so I'll not worry about waiting in long lines at Dunkin' Donuts while others in line ahead of me order their coffee and donuts before getting on with their day. I'm not sure what we might have to deal with when it comes to the weather so maybe the best advice is to take a measured approach when going from point A to point B. As Mr G famously said in the not-too-distant past, "no one is chasing us." Indeed.
The missus is up and about now and she's already reminding me of the things that could have been done yesterday but weren't. She's asking about the weather and she's saying something about the roads being covered but I'm not really paying attention. Does it look like we had snow overnight? No. Is there a coating of snow that should concern us one way or another? No. The Ev man is going on and on about his visit with Noah and I'm only half listening, Yes, I'm glad to hear his parents are helping him out since Noah's girlfriend departed. That's what parents do. Right?
We got here (Lake George, New York) in one piece. I’m sitting at this stupid table at the hotel and my blogging set-up is not cutting the mustard. This chair doesn’t stay in the up position so I’m typing in an altogether awkward position. There is no way to correct any of it. I could have arranged to do this in a local Starbucks but I wasn’t wanting any part of sitting anywhere and having to wear a mask for any period of time.
It’s too hot in this room. Where is the damn thermostat so I can turn down the damn heat? It’s not in the room where I’m sitting so that means that I would have to walk either into one room or the other where people are fast asleep. It’s bad enough that I have to be as quiet as I can while typing so not to incur the wrath of those still sleeping. How is it that things are going from bad to worse?
I walked by the breakfast area on the way out the door to get my coffee and I stuck my head in the breakfast room just long enough to see that the breakfast area just ain’t what it used to be. You were lucky to find a place to sit in the past and the offerings were sumptuous. Well, sumptuous for hotel breakfast joints anyway. As for this morning, I was just looking forward to grabbing maybe a hard boiled egg or some oatmeal.
Everything was wrapped up and ostensibly so because of the Covid freaks and their nonsensical thinking about what it takes to stop a coronavirus from spreading. It’s just fucking ridiculous. You know that a coronavirus is just another word for the common cold. Right? Instead, I found some pathetic muffins, several varieties of breakfast cereals boxed and ready for the taking, and maybe a handful of fresh fruits. All of which, and I’m only guessing here, are designed as to-go meals.
In other words, don’t you dare fucking sit in this room while you eat. I’m surprised they even had tables and chairs set up. There wasn’t a soul in the room so I think I'm not the only one put off by the meager offerings. I had my coffee from Starbucks so I was good to go although I'm thinking I should have picked up something to eat at Starbucks while I was in there. I wonder if the missus packed the cereal I asked her to pack. That will do in a pinch.
I’m realizing how married I am to some of my morning routines as I sit here struggling to get on top of this blogging business. I could have just passed on the blogging and I could have gone back to bed. You know how out it is when you don’t do what you always do. You feel like something is missing. You’re left with wanting to do what you always do because that's who you are and that is what you do. Is this an opportunity to change it all up for the new year? Me thinks not.
I’m listening to Sammy Davis Junior singing “I gotta be me” on Sirius radio. Is that fucking perfect or what? That kind of sums up what I’m trying to say here but in fewer words and certainly more to the point. Did I mention that Uncle Wally texted me last night and asked about going to breakfast? I declined for all the reasons stated above. It just wasn’t all about me though. I have others to consider so there’s that.
The missus suggested that Uncle Wally wasn’t asking the extended family and she may have been right. I couldn’t in good conscious leave the family behind while going out to breakfast and we’ve got a bit of juggling to do as a family when we all get up so that was that. I also didn’t relish the idea of sitting in a crowded cafe with potential omicron carriers breathing, snorting, coughing, and spewing out remnants if this and that coronavirus for others to catch. All of these things going through my head just screamed NOOOOOOO.
How about those hot dogs last night? You know, the ones from New Way Lunch. The Ev man and I ordered up a dozen dogs with the works and an order of fries just for kicks. This is stuff I would never eat were we home and paying attention to what we were putting in our mouths. But, we were hungry and the dogs weren’t just any dogs. These dogs are legendary. This place called the New Way Lunch has been around for the better part of 50 years and that is how you do it if your claim to fame is the best hot dog on the planet. It’s not so much the dogs, really, but rather the sauce they put on top of the dogs. And the steamed buns? Literally, to die for.
I wish I had my missus's willpower. She would no sooner eat one of those dogs than, well, you finish the sentence. She ordered a chicken sandwich instead and she ate but half of the roll that was served with the sandwich. That, my friends, is will power. After a five hour ride we we were ready all to sit down in our hotel room and just take the load off. If that meant eating dogs and fries then that was what we would do. It wasn’t a hard ride but it was just long enough to think that maybe doing it once or twice a year was enough.
I take it all back. The Ev man walked over to Starbucks and on his way back stuck his head into the “cafeteria” here. He noticed that there were some ready made meals put together for maybe the National Guard types who are staying here in the hotel. Let’s take a look, I told him. We walked down together and, sure enough, there were a couple of large insulated carry-all containers filled to the brim with ready made egg, potato, bacon, etc meals. Hmmm.
We exchanged niceties with a few of the female National Guard types and the next thing you know they were urging us to help ourselves to the meals. They made too many, they said. Not sure if they were saying that so as to encourage us to help ourselves or maybe it was the god’s honest truth. We took one meal and one meal only and thought that it might suffice if one or more of us wished to have a little something different for breakfast. Good stuff! Thank you for doing what you do, ladies!
We hope to head over to Uncle Wally’s sometime later today. Did I mention that the missus is already getting her knickers in a bunch about the weather on our return trip home on Thursday? The time I spend trying to disabuse her of these destructive weather memes she has going through her head is not time well spent. Unfortunately, it is what it is when winter comes around and we’re out and about trying to go from point A to point B. It can be maddening.
The good news is that I’m right most of the time and she’s her own worst enemy when it comes to thinking the worst about weather, driving conditions, etc.. She needlessly puts herself on the edge of her seat and for no good reason. What purpose does it serve? Does it help us get there faster? No. Does our traveling slower make matters worse? Sometimes. Does her being riled make the lot of us more riled? Yeah, occasionally it does. She’s a fretter when it comes to driving in the winter. There, I said it.
I gave Kathy a call last night to let her know we were in town and that we’d pick her up around 3 on the way to Uncle Wally’s party if that worked for her. I haven’t seen her for maybe a year and a half so getting in some face time before we got to the party seemed like a good idea. She promised to let Neesy know that she had made alternative arrangements and wouldn’t need a ride. Whether Neesy takes exception to Kathy’s new travel arrangements, I’ll never know. It’s hardly worth a mention, really.
No doubt Neesy and Cliffy will be fine as fine can be not having Kathy on board. Maybe that will shave a few miles off their trip to Uncle Wallys. When and where you can save a little on gas these days is probably a good thing. It was decent of them to offer Kathy a ride so that needs to be said straight off. Not that they wouldn’t consider it, mind you. For all I know, Kathy’s place is hardly off the beaten track between their place and Uncle Wallys place. Am I over thinking this?
Oh, and there’s no need to put out a “do not disturb” sign on our door here at the hotel. The missus tells me that there are no housekeeping services. Another loss in one of the many sacrifices that we all have to make in the days of Covid. Not that I would want them coming into our room because I clearly would not. Going from room to room cleaning up who knows what and then bringing those germs into our place is a recipe for disaster.
The party of the century at Uncle Wally’s place is now in the history books. A good time was had by all and I think, were I to take a poll, that would be the general consensus. There would likely be rave reviews all around. The company was good, the food really just perfect, the desserts delicious, the gift giving and exchanges were just about what you would expect, and if anything, I might have preferred to not be the only one who took a present from someone during our “ Yankee Swap.” That is how that game is played. No?
We got to know Carli a little better. We warmed up, albeit slowly, to their new dog. He was a skittish little fella who, and I agree with Uncle Wally on this, he reminded us of our family dog back in our yout. You remember Century, right? It was nice to see Uncle Wally with a real Christmas tree although he would tell you that it’s been a long time since they’ve had a fake tree. That’s not how I remember it but he’s probably right. When you think that someone has a fake tree you leave it at that and go on your way.
Even Cliffy was sure that Uncle Wally’s Christmas tree was fake. That’s a little surprising because fake trees are pristine and perfectly shaped. Uncle Wally’s tree was robust and, left to its own devices, looked as though it might keel over. There is something about an imperfect tree that makes you want to take it home with you as-is and make it your own before placing all the presents under it. I stood next to the tree at one point and smushed its needles between my fingers to see if I couldn’t extract a fragrance of sorts. It worked!
I thought Weesy was a little maybe tired and somewhat withdrawn. That girl has been putting in the hours without much of a break at her job so here’s hoping she gets a little rest as we wind down the year. It’s hard to know what she’s thinking half the time so it’s all me thinking what I’m thinking but that is what you do when you don’t have much to go on. I tried to rattle her cage a couple of times early in the evening but without much luck. I really thought that my comment about her business needing a bigger take-out window would get her attention but I think she may have thought my comment to be a bit snarky and she held her tongue.
She works at one of those sandwich and sub places where you can get what you want as long as you’re willing to sit patiently in your car while they fill orders of the people and cars lined up in front of you. I wondered if she might recognize my voice when I placed my order but I wasn’t entirely sure where she was and what she was doing behind the scenes so it was just all fun and games for the missus, the Ev man, and me until we got to the take-out window.
She wasn’t handing out the food so I had to see if I couldn’t peer through the take-out window to see if she wasn’t in the background somewhere. Not that she was trying to avoid me, mind you, but one never knows what someone is going to do when you drop by unexpectedly. When I finally did see her I thought that maybe I had embarrassed her or maybe she just thought I should just stop with the wise guy business, get my damn sandwich, and go along on my way.
I wasn’t all that happy with my roast beef sub truth be told. I’m not a big roast beef kind of guy but I couldn’t see anything else on the menu that appealed to me so roast beef it was. If I’m going to eat roast beef, I prefer that it be on the rare side and not overcooked. I shared this observation with Kathy. She said that if Weesy had been in charge of cooking the roast beef then it would have been done right. By "right", I mean more rare than well done. You know how roast beef can taste like cardboard if it’s not cooked properly. No amount of mayonnaise can fix it if that happens.
I was delighted to hear that Carli was a big fan of sushi. A girl after my own heart! I had wanted to pick up a poke' bowl for her just to have her enjoy a different kind of sushi-like dish for a change. She and I were the only ones eating the little sushi things and that was just fine. I changed my mind at the last minute and decided against the Poke bowl since I knew that her mom was making a special trip just to get her the sushi that she likes and I didn’t need to upstage something that was already planned and in the works.
Neesy got a new job! That’s good news. It’s another schtick with a bit of a commute but a job nonetheless. She’ll be doing something that is right up her alley and something that she knows well. She’s back in business as they say in the movies. It was a little touch and go after leaving her last job but she’s landed on her feet and all is now well in Neesy-World. You know how awkward it can be when seeing someone after they’ve lost their job and have zero prospects going forward. Well, there was none of that thank the baby Jesus. He does work in mysterious ways, doesn’t he?
Apart from a little sniping here and there about Uncle Wally’s once revered man cave, he and the missus were in great spirits and were the perfect hosts. We can’t thank them enough for putting on these holiday celebrations so I hope the lot of us expressed ourselves appropriately after all was said and done. I’m not sure we’d have a venue for such a get together were it not for Uncle Wally and his missus. Maybe it shouldn’t surprise anyone that Uncle Wally is the unspoken family historian of sorts so one could say that if anyone was going to have a party it would be he and his missus.
Did I mention that Carli has aspirations to join the FBI when she completes her studies? That’s certainly admirable. I think there’s something inherently fascinating to her about all that kind of stuff including the more granular stuff like forensics, etc.. She also seemed to have a bit of a fascination with serial killers which she was more than happy to discuss. Who doesn’t like a nice spine tingling tale about serial killers and their ilk. And, yes, Virginia, women can be serial killers too. None of it was off-putting to me since I’m a cold case guy going way back. Who isn’t these days?
In the words of Eddie Haskell from "Leave It To Beaver" fame, our Christmas was just swell. I think everyone got what they wanted. If they didn't, there is always next Christmas. Hell, we can backfill on birthdays if necessary. What did everyone think of the eggplant lasagna we picked up from Sophia's? It's funny but I had a chance to have some cold and I almost liked it better cold. Maybe there's a name for a cold eggplant dish but, for the life of me, I can't think of it. Maybe babaganoush?
Santa brought everything from magnifying glasses to socks and sweaters. Not everything fit perfectly so some stuff is going back to where it came from. Replacements may or may not be in the works depending on what is and what is no longer in stock. There were just enough things so no one was unhappy about having one or more items having to go back to the store. The missus got what she wanted but that had more to do with her ordering what she wanted and not relying on Santa to bring it. Smaht.
It's helpful for me to keep my gifts from Santa in one place at least for a day or two. You know what they say, out of sight, out of mind. God help me if someone asks me what I got from Santa and I draw a blank. I suppose I could always say, I got everything I wanted. It wouldn't be true but isn't that always the case? What kid who gets a skateboard for Christmas doesn't also want the latest version of Tony Hawk, skateboarder extraordinaire?
I think I did my Junco's a solid this morning. After removing the snow from the back deck, the deck itself was slushy and unforgivingly so. I couldn't in good conscience put down thistle seed for the Junco's only to see it sink into maybe an eighth of an inch of slushy water, snow, and ice. I found a couple pieces of plywood in the garage and put them on the deck as a platform from which the Junco's could easily feed and feast. I'm not sure if they're all that crazy about thistle seed but they're eating it so I guess I would say, so far, so good.
The Ev man went off to Boston yesterday with Noah. Getting out of town for a night or so will work out well for him. He's been wanting to get away and down to see his old friend and they finally worked it out. The Ev man wouldn't have to drive into the devil's den as it were not knowing where he was going and ending up god only knows where. We've all heard the stories about people driving into cities and ending up on some god forsaken back street where they are then subject to unspeakable horrors or worse.
The missus and I have offered to drive him down in the past but that just never seemed to work out. We would spend some time across the river in Cambridge or maybe downtown Boston before collecting the Ev man and getting on back home. I guess it's nice to work on your own schedule but when you're not in the driver's seat then you're at the whim of the people who are in the drivers seat. Here's hoping that everything works out for the best. There's not really any reason to think otherwise.
Mrs G couldn't have been happier. She had her children on board for a Christmas celebration at her home. The Pandemic aside, Christmas was Christmas and nothing would or could keep Mrs G from enjoying the holiday with her children. As I sit here thinking about it, I'm a little surprised that there was nary a mention of Mrs G. He's been gone now for a few years but that doesn't mean that one or more of his children couldn't utter his name just for old time's sake. He was a beloved member of that tight knit family. No?
It was good to see everybody again. We seldom see the missus's brother and sister during the course of the year so touching base and catching up on this and that was a good thing. Exchanging presents is always fun so we did a bit of that. There were probably too many cookies but no one complained and anybody who wanted a cookie got a cookie. The cookies we brought were store bought and I suspect the other cookies, if I had to guess, were home baked and maybe even still warm by the time they ended up at Mrs G's place.
I don't know what happened to the cheese platter that I thought Mrs G had arranged to have delivered but I didn't see anything of the sort. I knew there some logistical issues with the original platter she wanted to order but I thought they worked out the kinks with the backlog. I think Mrs G punted and she made her own hors d'oeuvre's for better or worse. If you liked ham salad on crackers, you were in seventh heaven. Ham salad is a funny thing though. It's not for everybody.
She had a dish of Lindt chocolates which she offered up here and there for the two or so hours that we were all in attendance. As good as Lindt chocolates are, most of us declined when Mrs G came around with the offering. That had more to do with people just trying to stay away from the kinds of things that
are disruptive or downright dangerous when you're trying to avoid them altogether. Sugar is sneaky that way. One thing leads to another and the next thing you know your sugar consumption is out of control and you're wishing you'd never eaten that first one.
I have a few things to attend to before we get on the road today for our trip to the Adirondacks. We won't be there for long but that doesn't mean that we don't want to have everything in order so we're not caught flat footed if and when that time comes. Having back-up stores of things to eat is probably our biggest concern. With Covid raging here, there, and everywhere these days, we'll want to limit our exposure by entering as few retail establishments as possible. Then again, this omicron variant is less virulent and less likely to make any one of us really sick so maybe we can let our hair down a bit.
I have trash that needs to go to the recycling center before we go so I'll want to attend to that. It's less of a concern during the winter months when I can leave my trash bags in the back of my car where the cold temperatures slow down the spoilage process and give me a little wiggle room on the timing. We've run short on milk that I'd hoped would last us long enough so that we'd have some to take along on our trip. I should have known better because we've run short at a critical time. So, I'll add that to my to-do list this morning when I get up and about.
I don't know if this complicates things but the Ev man asked that I pick him up a bagel sandwich when I'm out and about running my errands this morning. I'm happy to do that so I'll not worry about waiting in long lines at Dunkin' Donuts while others in line ahead of me order their coffee and donuts before getting on with their day. I'm not sure what we might have to deal with when it comes to the weather so maybe the best advice is to take a measured approach when going from point A to point B. As Mr G famously said in the not-too-distant past, "no one is chasing us." Indeed.
The missus is up and about now and she's already reminding me of the things that could have been done yesterday but weren't. She's asking about the weather and she's saying something about the roads being covered but I'm not really paying attention. Does it look like we had snow overnight? No. Is there a coating of snow that should concern us one way or another? No. The Ev man is going on and on about his visit with Noah and I'm only half listening, Yes, I'm glad to hear his parents are helping him out since Noah's girlfriend departed. That's what parents do. Right?
We got here (Lake George, New York) in one piece. I’m sitting at this stupid table at the hotel and my blogging set-up is not cutting the mustard. This chair doesn’t stay in the up position so I’m typing in an altogether awkward position. There is no way to correct any of it. I could have arranged to do this in a local Starbucks but I wasn’t wanting any part of sitting anywhere and having to wear a mask for any period of time.
It’s too hot in this room. Where is the damn thermostat so I can turn down the damn heat? It’s not in the room where I’m sitting so that means that I would have to walk either into one room or the other where people are fast asleep. It’s bad enough that I have to be as quiet as I can while typing so not to incur the wrath of those still sleeping. How is it that things are going from bad to worse?
I walked by the breakfast area on the way out the door to get my coffee and I stuck my head in the breakfast room just long enough to see that the breakfast area just ain’t what it used to be. You were lucky to find a place to sit in the past and the offerings were sumptuous. Well, sumptuous for hotel breakfast joints anyway. As for this morning, I was just looking forward to grabbing maybe a hard boiled egg or some oatmeal.
Everything was wrapped up and ostensibly so because of the Covid freaks and their nonsensical thinking about what it takes to stop a coronavirus from spreading. It’s just fucking ridiculous. You know that a coronavirus is just another word for the common cold. Right? Instead, I found some pathetic muffins, several varieties of breakfast cereals boxed and ready for the taking, and maybe a handful of fresh fruits. All of which, and I’m only guessing here, are designed as to-go meals.
In other words, don’t you dare fucking sit in this room while you eat. I’m surprised they even had tables and chairs set up. There wasn’t a soul in the room so I think I'm not the only one put off by the meager offerings. I had my coffee from Starbucks so I was good to go although I'm thinking I should have picked up something to eat at Starbucks while I was in there. I wonder if the missus packed the cereal I asked her to pack. That will do in a pinch.
I’m realizing how married I am to some of my morning routines as I sit here struggling to get on top of this blogging business. I could have just passed on the blogging and I could have gone back to bed. You know how out it is when you don’t do what you always do. You feel like something is missing. You’re left with wanting to do what you always do because that's who you are and that is what you do. Is this an opportunity to change it all up for the new year? Me thinks not.
I’m listening to Sammy Davis Junior singing “I gotta be me” on Sirius radio. Is that fucking perfect or what? That kind of sums up what I’m trying to say here but in fewer words and certainly more to the point. Did I mention that Uncle Wally texted me last night and asked about going to breakfast? I declined for all the reasons stated above. It just wasn’t all about me though. I have others to consider so there’s that.
The missus suggested that Uncle Wally wasn’t asking the extended family and she may have been right. I couldn’t in good conscious leave the family behind while going out to breakfast and we’ve got a bit of juggling to do as a family when we all get up so that was that. I also didn’t relish the idea of sitting in a crowded cafe with potential omicron carriers breathing, snorting, coughing, and spewing out remnants if this and that coronavirus for others to catch. All of these things going through my head just screamed NOOOOOOO.
How about those hot dogs last night? You know, the ones from New Way Lunch. The Ev man and I ordered up a dozen dogs with the works and an order of fries just for kicks. This is stuff I would never eat were we home and paying attention to what we were putting in our mouths. But, we were hungry and the dogs weren’t just any dogs. These dogs are legendary. This place called the New Way Lunch has been around for the better part of 50 years and that is how you do it if your claim to fame is the best hot dog on the planet. It’s not so much the dogs, really, but rather the sauce they put on top of the dogs. And the steamed buns? Literally, to die for.
I wish I had my missus's willpower. She would no sooner eat one of those dogs than, well, you finish the sentence. She ordered a chicken sandwich instead and she ate but half of the roll that was served with the sandwich. That, my friends, is will power. After a five hour ride we we were ready all to sit down in our hotel room and just take the load off. If that meant eating dogs and fries then that was what we would do. It wasn’t a hard ride but it was just long enough to think that maybe doing it once or twice a year was enough.
I take it all back. The Ev man walked over to Starbucks and on his way back stuck his head into the “cafeteria” here. He noticed that there were some ready made meals put together for maybe the National Guard types who are staying here in the hotel. Let’s take a look, I told him. We walked down together and, sure enough, there were a couple of large insulated carry-all containers filled to the brim with ready made egg, potato, bacon, etc meals. Hmmm.
We exchanged niceties with a few of the female National Guard types and the next thing you know they were urging us to help ourselves to the meals. They made too many, they said. Not sure if they were saying that so as to encourage us to help ourselves or maybe it was the god’s honest truth. We took one meal and one meal only and thought that it might suffice if one or more of us wished to have a little something different for breakfast. Good stuff! Thank you for doing what you do, ladies!
We hope to head over to Uncle Wally’s sometime later today. Did I mention that the missus is already getting her knickers in a bunch about the weather on our return trip home on Thursday? The time I spend trying to disabuse her of these destructive weather memes she has going through her head is not time well spent. Unfortunately, it is what it is when winter comes around and we’re out and about trying to go from point A to point B. It can be maddening.
The good news is that I’m right most of the time and she’s her own worst enemy when it comes to thinking the worst about weather, driving conditions, etc.. She needlessly puts herself on the edge of her seat and for no good reason. What purpose does it serve? Does it help us get there faster? No. Does our traveling slower make matters worse? Sometimes. Does her being riled make the lot of us more riled? Yeah, occasionally it does. She’s a fretter when it comes to driving in the winter. There, I said it.
I gave Kathy a call last night to let her know we were in town and that we’d pick her up around 3 on the way to Uncle Wally’s party if that worked for her. I haven’t seen her for maybe a year and a half so getting in some face time before we got to the party seemed like a good idea. She promised to let Neesy know that she had made alternative arrangements and wouldn’t need a ride. Whether Neesy takes exception to Kathy’s new travel arrangements, I’ll never know. It’s hardly worth a mention, really.
No doubt Neesy and Cliffy will be fine as fine can be not having Kathy on board. Maybe that will shave a few miles off their trip to Uncle Wallys. When and where you can save a little on gas these days is probably a good thing. It was decent of them to offer Kathy a ride so that needs to be said straight off. Not that they wouldn’t consider it, mind you. For all I know, Kathy’s place is hardly off the beaten track between their place and Uncle Wallys place. Am I over thinking this?
Oh, and there’s no need to put out a “do not disturb” sign on our door here at the hotel. The missus tells me that there are no housekeeping services. Another loss in one of the many sacrifices that we all have to make in the days of Covid. Not that I would want them coming into our room because I clearly would not. Going from room to room cleaning up who knows what and then bringing those germs into our place is a recipe for disaster.
The party of the century at Uncle Wally’s place is now in the history books. A good time was had by all and I think, were I to take a poll, that would be the general consensus. There would likely be rave reviews all around. The company was good, the food really just perfect, the desserts delicious, the gift giving and exchanges were just about what you would expect, and if anything, I might have preferred to not be the only one who took a present from someone during our “ Yankee Swap.” That is how that game is played. No?
We got to know Carli a little better. We warmed up, albeit slowly, to their new dog. He was a skittish little fella who, and I agree with Uncle Wally on this, he reminded us of our family dog back in our yout. You remember Century, right? It was nice to see Uncle Wally with a real Christmas tree although he would tell you that it’s been a long time since they’ve had a fake tree. That’s not how I remember it but he’s probably right. When you think that someone has a fake tree you leave it at that and go on your way.
Even Cliffy was sure that Uncle Wally’s Christmas tree was fake. That’s a little surprising because fake trees are pristine and perfectly shaped. Uncle Wally’s tree was robust and, left to its own devices, looked as though it might keel over. There is something about an imperfect tree that makes you want to take it home with you as-is and make it your own before placing all the presents under it. I stood next to the tree at one point and smushed its needles between my fingers to see if I couldn’t extract a fragrance of sorts. It worked!
I thought Weesy was a little maybe tired and somewhat withdrawn. That girl has been putting in the hours without much of a break at her job so here’s hoping she gets a little rest as we wind down the year. It’s hard to know what she’s thinking half the time so it’s all me thinking what I’m thinking but that is what you do when you don’t have much to go on. I tried to rattle her cage a couple of times early in the evening but without much luck. I really thought that my comment about her business needing a bigger take-out window would get her attention but I think she may have thought my comment to be a bit snarky and she held her tongue.
She works at one of those sandwich and sub places where you can get what you want as long as you’re willing to sit patiently in your car while they fill orders of the people and cars lined up in front of you. I wondered if she might recognize my voice when I placed my order but I wasn’t entirely sure where she was and what she was doing behind the scenes so it was just all fun and games for the missus, the Ev man, and me until we got to the take-out window.
She wasn’t handing out the food so I had to see if I couldn’t peer through the take-out window to see if she wasn’t in the background somewhere. Not that she was trying to avoid me, mind you, but one never knows what someone is going to do when you drop by unexpectedly. When I finally did see her I thought that maybe I had embarrassed her or maybe she just thought I should just stop with the wise guy business, get my damn sandwich, and go along on my way.
I wasn’t all that happy with my roast beef sub truth be told. I’m not a big roast beef kind of guy but I couldn’t see anything else on the menu that appealed to me so roast beef it was. If I’m going to eat roast beef, I prefer that it be on the rare side and not overcooked. I shared this observation with Kathy. She said that if Weesy had been in charge of cooking the roast beef then it would have been done right. By "right", I mean more rare than well done. You know how roast beef can taste like cardboard if it’s not cooked properly. No amount of mayonnaise can fix it if that happens.
I was delighted to hear that Carli was a big fan of sushi. A girl after my own heart! I had wanted to pick up a poke' bowl for her just to have her enjoy a different kind of sushi-like dish for a change. She and I were the only ones eating the little sushi things and that was just fine. I changed my mind at the last minute and decided against the Poke bowl since I knew that her mom was making a special trip just to get her the sushi that she likes and I didn’t need to upstage something that was already planned and in the works.
Neesy got a new job! That’s good news. It’s another schtick with a bit of a commute but a job nonetheless. She’ll be doing something that is right up her alley and something that she knows well. She’s back in business as they say in the movies. It was a little touch and go after leaving her last job but she’s landed on her feet and all is now well in Neesy-World. You know how awkward it can be when seeing someone after they’ve lost their job and have zero prospects going forward. Well, there was none of that thank the baby Jesus. He does work in mysterious ways, doesn’t he?
Apart from a little sniping here and there about Uncle Wally’s once revered man cave, he and the missus were in great spirits and were the perfect hosts. We can’t thank them enough for putting on these holiday celebrations so I hope the lot of us expressed ourselves appropriately after all was said and done. I’m not sure we’d have a venue for such a get together were it not for Uncle Wally and his missus. Maybe it shouldn’t surprise anyone that Uncle Wally is the unspoken family historian of sorts so one could say that if anyone was going to have a party it would be he and his missus.
Did I mention that Carli has aspirations to join the FBI when she completes her studies? That’s certainly admirable. I think there’s something inherently fascinating to her about all that kind of stuff including the more granular stuff like forensics, etc.. She also seemed to have a bit of a fascination with serial killers which she was more than happy to discuss. Who doesn’t like a nice spine tingling tale about serial killers and their ilk. And, yes, Virginia, women can be serial killers too. None of it was off-putting to me since I’m a cold case guy going way back. Who isn’t these days?