I woke up in Pasadena at 4:30 Friday morning, took a shower, packed up the last few things, and made my way down to the lobby. I'd woken up with a start, wondering if my colleague had ordered a cab for our ride to Burbank airport or if I had flaked and was supposed to have done it. Luckily, I had not flaked. Even luckier, my colleague had arranged for a town car! Sa-weet! So... Read more →
See that equation in the title? That's my story and I'm stickin' to it! God. I made the same mistake on a Twitter post, but I caught that one. I must clarify that it wasn't really four full glasses of wine. But it was more than I usually drink, so yeah, I was feeling fine. We went back to the same restaurant last night because the French bistro -- cleverly named Crepe Vine -- was... Read more →
Oh yes, I am SO going to hell. We were walking back from dinner at a lovely Mediterranean restaurant, jabbering and laughing, when a small woman detached herself from a group standing on the corner and approached us. "Are you Christian? Do you know Jesus?" she asked. I do not like being accosted on the street, regardless of who is doing the accosting. Bums, religious fanatics of any persuasion, Greenpeacers, PETA people -- it doesn't... Read more →
Hello from Pasadena, where the weather is perfect, kind of like in Defending Your Life -- 72 degrees, perfectly clear, all the time. At least the flights were smooth, unlike earlier this month. The cabbie and I spent the entire ride discussing the housing crisis. He's a cabbie because he had to close his real estate business -- job loss, the housing crash, and the credit squeeze squeezed him just a little too hard. Damn.... Read more →
O Spring! Today was lovely, just lovely -- sunny and bright, with a cool breeze blowing, the kind of cool that doesn't bite. Time for a drive! We took off westward, up to Frederick Maryland, in search of pizza. Alas, the restaurant we were headed for had changed its name and had the temerity to be closed! So... we walked into the center of town, the perfect solution on such a day. We stopped at... Read more →
It's Friday AND the first day of astronomical Spring here in the Northern Hemisphere, a win-win if there ever was one. Yeah, it's kinda cold here in the Nation's Capital, but it's blatantly sunny so I can forgive Mother Nature for her chilly attitude, especially since the redbuds and forsythia are already blooming. That kinda takes the chill off, yes it does. Anyway, to celebrate springtime and all sorts of other things, here's a Love... Read more →
Tomorrow I am finally having the brain MRI that my ENT doc ordered back in early February. There was -- and you will probably not be at all surprised at this -- a snafu with the health insurance. Back when the doc ordered the scan, the lovely and efficient office manager told me that she would submit a preauthorization with my insurance and call me when it came through. I could then make the appointment.... Read more →
My Pop died in 1990 in the middle of the night, so I did not get a chance to tell him goodbye or to say "I love you" to him. A few nights after the funeral, I had a vivid dream. He and I were sitting in the kitchen of the house I grew up in. He was dressed in one of his good suits. He was portly and healthy, the way I remember him... Read more →
The "confidential" breakfast was everything it should be. After filling up on coffee, fruit, yogurt, and toasted bagels, we went back to the room to pack up (again) and get going. We checked out and caught the shuttle to the airport, where we checked in for our new flights on United, which connected through... Dunh... Dunh... DUNH... Chicago O'Hare. Oh. Yes. Oh. Hell. Again. At any rate, the first flight, from Appleton to Chicago, was... Read more →
The festivities were done, the good-byes said, the hugs hugged. Joe and I decided to motor up to Simon Creek Winery, about 50 miles north of Green Bay. We had plenty of time until our flight, so why not? We got there just fine, although Google Maps lied about the winery's whereabouts. We bought two bottles of lovely wine and arranged for shipping. The nice folks gave us a box of crackers. We hopped back... Read more →