email surprises today

Hello again gentle readers.

It was a day for email surprises for me.

I received an email from a former co-worker Barbie Doll. Barbie Doll was asking me some questions about a movie she had seen and was really curious about. I had to forward the email on to The Big Guy and maybe to his friend The R. They are Film Studies majors in college and they should know the answers.

Moving onward, it looks like I will be an extra in The R's student film. He was looking for some older people and with my grey hair and ability to walk with a cane, I was a natural.

I'm ready for my close-up now.

My favorite and only ex-wife Preppie called me last night during the Oscar television broadcast to thank me for getting her a roast prime rib dinner to go from Morton's on Saturday. She loves roast prime rib and Morton's does it so very well. It was a thick slab of prime rib, probably between 16 and 20 ounces - 450 to 570 grams or so, cut from the center of the roast along with a baked potato and chopped bacon to add to the potato along with some butter.

When I first got my DSL connection, I would disconnect when I was finished with my online activities. I was concerned about the security of the computer. Fast forward about four years, I hardly ever think to disconnect anymore. I should also add that I maintain my firewall, anti-virus, spam blocker, and anti-spyware programs religiously. I did disconnect last night after being online for eight solid days. The disconnect was so I could reboot the laptop after I added a bunch of system updates from my friends in Redmond, Washington.

The Big Guy used to be an IBM kind of guy but now he has gone over to the Apple World and I wonder where I lost him. Maybe it is the Film Studies major that caused the transformation. His sister, The Princess, is still an IBM queen, probably because she was a Marketing major for her undergraduate degree as well as her MBA.

Tomorrow, I am going to a free half day seminar on predictive analytics. Yes, I know most of you have no idea what I am talking about here. The big plus is the seminar doesn't start until 8:30 AM with breakfast and the program ends just before Noon. I can sleep in an hour longer tonight - tomorrow morning. By the time I get to the office, half of my day will be over. Sweet. But, I will still have to make up some of my lost time away from the office.

Since there is no NFL football on television for another seven months, I will drift off and do some reading before calling it a day.

Be well and stay happy.

life is good today

Hello gentle readers.

Life is good today for me.

Firstly, I am having a bad hair day. When you get to be my age [rapidly approaching 60], having a bad hair day is a great event because it means you have hair on your head that is bad today.

I was in the market yesterday for the weekly food purchase. I saw a guy with an incredible comb over. A comb over,for those you who do not know is when a bald person, usually a man,grows the hair long and then combs it over a bald spot. It started at the back of his head and went forward, up and over the top. I snickered to myself as I thought about how he would handle being outside in a stiff breeze.

Secondly, it is not raining today for a very nice change. This has been the wettest year in over one hundred years. Granted, it was not shorts and tee shirts weather but it still was very nice. I was out on my balcony, reading, while I enjoyed a cigar The Girl Friend gave me for St Valentines Day. It was a Romeo Y Julieta from the Dominican Republic. I haven't smoke this brand before today. It was a very nice, rich cigar that I enjoyed for about 90 minutes.

Earlier today, I was looking through the weekly television schedule that comes with the local Sunday newspaper. I was depressed because the local channel that shows Star Trek Enterprise is showing back to back episodes of America's Top Model instead. I have no idea who would watch the other show so that will leave me with more time to read.

Last night was the traditional birthday dinner for The Big Guy. This was the twelfth version of gorging ourselves on great beef and lobster at Morton's, The Steakhouse. The Big Guy invited his friends Evelyn and Rob. It was a really great dinner. Going to Morton's is not something you can do every week, as much as we would love to do that. On the plus side, I did sleep very well last night and my full stomach probably contributed to the sound sleep.

The sound sleep was probably a leading cause of my bad hair day.

Tonight, my dinner will be much, much lower key. I think I will have a bowl of soup and a couple of slices of French bread with melted Brie cheese on them.

I think I will go off and do some useful and productive things before I fritter away part of my evening watching the next episode of The Immortal Yi Shoon-Shin. The show is a Korean language period drama, set at the end of the 16th century. It is in Korean with English subtitles. I got hooked on these dramas about four years ago when I started watching Wang Guhn. This series was about the person who united the Three Kingdoms and unified the Korean peninsula under one ruler.

Be well and stay happy.

Why doesn't glue stick in the bottle?

I have no idea why it doesn't stick in the bottle. It sticks when the glue bottle is old and mostly used up.

Oh well, that is why we have tape and staples and paper clips. Anything to hold some things together.

Today was a seemingly busy day for me. I don't recall the time moving quickly at work; mostly, I was busy with writing and editing a large document. I took some breaks every now and then to ease potential eye strain and wrist injuries from typing.

There was no rain in Los Angeles to speak of today. It was nice to see the sun for a change.

I am going to take a slight break from blogging so I can read the book The Girl Friend got me for St Valentines Day. It is 748 pages long so I may have to take lots of reading breaks if I am to finish it anytime soon.

Talk about reading performance anxiety. Fortunately, there are no tests associated with reading this book.

Be well and stay happy.

someone really likes me...well, almost maybe

I was so excited last night when I checked on the blog's site meter and discovered that I had visitors. So way cool.

OK, so eight visitors is not going to set any records in my lifetime.

Still, it is nice to know that some things I babble about have value to others. With this sense of support, I will continue on with the ramblings and musings of middle aged life.

We had sun in Los Angeles today. And, hardly any rain. I think we will have a couple of days of no rain and then go back into the rain cycle again. This year's rainy season, yes, we will really do have a rainy season on Southern California, looks like it will be the wettest on record. So far, we have over 36 inches/91 centimeters of rain. To put that in its proper perspective, our normal rainfall is around 14 inches/35 centimeters. We still have two more months of normally wet weather so there seems to be little doubt we will surpass the record level.

I am making my travel plans to go to Atlanta to visit The Princess, the favorite and only daughter, for her birthday. If you ask her if she is The Princess, she would say I am you know and smile. Hopefully, Delta Airlines will have its act somewhat close together and the flight will not be flying hell.

On the plus side, I am not changing planes in Hartsfield International Airport in Atlanta. The last time I did that I had to haul myself from the end of one concourse to the middle of another concourse, two rows over. I missed my flight naturally.

Delta was nice and put me on the next flight, sitting in the middle of the row, between two, living proof, arguments for periodic draining of the gene pool. These cretins were a couple that wanted to sit by the window and aisle. I was a big block for them when they wanted to talk when I pulled the tray down and pulled out my laptop so I could do some work listen to some good music.

Good music, in this case, was the Pipes and Drums and Regimental Band of the Royal Highland Regiment or as it is better known, the Black Watch. Apparently my southern seatmates have no acquired the same taste for music as I have. Bagpipes are a truly acquired taste. It is hard to not have chills run down your spine when Amazing Grace is played on the bagpipes.

This will be a short blog since I need to hop over to Expedia.com and book a couple of flights and a room at the Courtyard in Atlanta.

Be well and stay happy.

The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few

That is just so unfair.

Canceling Star Trek Enterprise is such a crummy idea. I have done my part; I have mailed my protest coupons off to Viacom [owner of the UPN Network] and to the Sci-Fi Channel. James T. Kirk would not have sacrificed one to save many.

Oh well, I'm almost over it now.

It is still raining here in unsunny Southern California. This is the fifth rainiest season on record; but, that was as of yesterday and with today's rain, this season should move up on the rain charts.

Yesterday, I drove out to see The Big Guy to celebrate his birthday. We celebrated in traditional style. We went to the Original Tommy's and had double chili cheeseburgers, chili cheese fries for him and I had regular fries, and drinks.

BURP.

It was so gooooood. Then, we went to DVD Planet.com to pick up some more DVDs. I wanted to pick up a couple of recent releases and ended coming up short. This is what happens when you go to a store with 10,000 or so DVDs. It is difficult to make proper choices. I have started on a list for the next time I go there.

The Big Guy was goofing on me for buying some classic Disney cartoons, Dumbo and Alice in Wonderland. I todl that was for when the grandchildren come over to visit me. His mother asked me who I was expecting to produce grandchildren. She pointed out neither one of the little darlings have a serious relationship now.

I sighed. Oh well, life happens. Maybe my nephew or step nieces will [a] have children and [b] live near me. Doubtful.

I did talk to The Girl Friend today and that was one of my high points. She missed seeing me this weekend. I missed her as well. We did make some plans for when we get together next weekend.

Another of my high points was getting to work this morning and avoiding any rain. Right after I returned from my corner Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, it started to rain and rained off and on, mostly on, for the rest of the day and into the night. There was a touch of lightening and thunder a while ago.

All in all, it was a very good day since Monday was a holiday and that means it is a four day week. That is all good.

Be well and stay happy and keep dry.

Utah wins again and wins Mountain West Conference

Utah wins Mountain West Conference.

I was so happy to read that my University of Utah Utes won the Mountain West Conference men's basketball title. The team is now 11-0 in the conference and 23-3 overall for the season. This means they will get a berth in the post-season NCAA championship "March Madness." The team still has three more games to play and finish up with the conference tournament.

It's all good now. Too bad I don't get to see them play on television until the NCAA tournament.

Be well and stay happy and cheer up if you are a BYU fan, there's always next year.

where's the blogger?

Hello gentle readers.

I trust that you are well, happy, and dry.

I suppose you have been wondering where I have been. Then again, you may not care either. I was going to toss out a blog on Thursday after I got home from my meeting in San Diego. But, after a four hour drive that only covered 112 miles, I was exhausted. I changed into the jammies, read the paper, ate a light snack, and then crawled into the bed.

On the plus side, I did sleep really well that night.

For those of you who are not in Southern California, we have had lots and lots of rain. I'm not ready to see if Captain Noah needs a navigator for the Ark just yet. I could see myself signing on if this rain keeps up.

Some of you know that I smoke cigars. I only smoke very good cigars because I like that life is too short for warm beer and cheap cigars. I also only smoke outside because I don't want the odor to linger inside the place, especially in the winter with the windows closed. The Girl Friend scored massive points with me on St Valentines Day. She gave me some really great cigars and I have been unable to enjoy them.

Sure, I know that some of you are saying that it's only 55F/12C outside and be a man, suck it up and go smoke the stoogie. And, that is very true. But, I will not sit on the cold, damp, gloomy, windy balcony, dressed like an Eskimo just to enjoy a cigar. I can wait for a few weeks until it gets warm. Besides smoking a cigar now would be like asking Miles to have some more Merlot.

Friday was a good day for me. I woke rested and relaxed, but that was easy to do. I worked on some stuff that came out of the San Diego meeting and finished up a small project.

The Big Guy called to tell me that he cancelled out on his hair appointment for Monday so we moved our lunch up a couple of hours. Monday is a holiday for us and most all of the citizens of this Great Land of Ours. We will either go to Albertacos [Mexican], Tommy's [chili cheese burgers and chili fries], or In-N-Out [classic American hamburgers].

The Girl Friend is really big on eating healthy food and she says that once in a while to off and pig out on fast/junk food is not going to do that much harm. She says I eat well during the week and a little fun food is good for me. See what I mean about The Girl Friend being a keeper.

Anyway.

I did do some writing this weekend and made some progress on my dissertation. I hope to finish it up by the Fall. I was successful with some more research work and finding more information. This is like one of those contests where the competiton keeps raising the offer by $1.00. A student can never have too much research and information. I should have my research work done in a couple of weeks and then I will spend a month or so putting it together in a coherent narrative that my committee will approve.

Be well and stay happy.

W. C. Fields

W. C. Fields, that great American actor, humorist,and philiosopher, is reported to have said that he felt sorry for people who don't drink. He put it like this:

"I feel sorry for the people that don't drink; when they get up in the morning, that's the best it will be for them."

I thought of old W.C. this morning. I was reloading paper in my printer when I glanced out of my office window. I saw the aftermath of a stupid and ugly car crash. As far as I could tell, no one was hurt physically.

Two big cars that looked like Mercedes sedans came together.

Bang. Crunch. Broken glass sounds.

The weather was not a factor unless bright sunlight and bone dry pavement can be important. It happened around 10:00 AM so we can rule out low level, blinding sun and the dark since there were no clouds in the sky. The road was dry, the wind even stirred up some dust off of the road. This part of the road was divided so on-coming traffic was not significant.

What happened?

I think the drivers were talking on their cell phones about how important they are and they forgot The Big Guy's Basic Rule of Driving; watch out for the other jerks that are out on the road.

I expect the body shop owners will be looking at this crash as their next long weekend in Las Vegas. I can see the owners complaining about how the new paint on the repaired part doesn't match the rest of the car's paint that is weathered.

I hope neither driver was one of your insureds, Preppie. Preppie is my favorite and only ex-wife. She works for an insurnace company.

Anyway dear readers, this is going to be a short blog.

I have to get up tomorrow morning at 4:00 AM and drive to an all day meeting in San Diego. Hopefully, it will not rain on my way there. I expect it will rain on my way home but I will be in traffic anyway so the rain will have little impact on my drive home.

Don't look for a blog tomorrow night. I plan to crawl in bed as soon as I get home. Well, I will change my clothes first of course.

4:00 AM is way too early.

Be well and stay happy.

wheel covers

I was filling my car up at the local gas station tonight and I noticed that the plastic coating on my plastic wheel covers was wearing off. This presents a decision for me.

I think I have two solutions open to me. There are probably more but I am thinking about cost mostly here.

I could just buy new wheel covers from my local Honda dealer. Normally, this would be a logical choice. But, my car is closing on being 17 years old. So, I wonder if the local dealer stocks those parts or even if they are available.

The second solution is to buy new alloy wheels. Then, The Big Guy said I would not have to worry about the wheel covers anymore. I would point out that alloy wheels are hardly inexpensive and probably one alloy wheel would buy a full set of plastic wheel covers and still leave with enough change to go to In N Out Burgers for a double double cheeseburger, fries, and a medium drink [you have to live in Southern California to understand].

The third alternative is to do nothing and not worry about the wheels for now.

I will probably buy a new car in 2007 but by then the Prelude will be 19 years old and the trade in value would not even cover half of the sales tax on a new car. It is highly likely that I will be the semi-proud owner of three cars. My insurance agent will just love those extra premiums and commissions.

Why, gentle reader, you ask would I keep a car that is 17 or 19 years?

Well, it is paid for. I get good gas mileage. It runs well. The Big Guy thinks it looks good still and so do I. The seats are easy on my back. I don't care what other people think of me when I drive it. The Prelude is fun to drive.

Right now, my next car is going to be a Mini Cooper, red with a white roof and automatic transmission. I want to have a big block "U" painted in red on the white roof. I did go to the University of Utah and red and white are the school colors.

Some of you may think it is heresy to have a sports car with an automatic transmission. I would suggest that driving in heavy stop and go traffic for a hour or more can be a real killer on a manual transmission to say nothing of your left leg. I have burned out more than one clutch from this type of driving.

So, gentle readers, what should I do?

Drive like a sports car lover with a manual transmission or drive like a sensible adult who knows much, much better.

Something to ponder over the next cup of Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf or Starbucks.

Be well and stay happy.

Monday without the Girl Friend

I did have two high points today. One was The Girl Friend calling to wish me a Happy Valentines Day. She missed me and that's about all that I can repeat; something are just left better said between the two of us. It was one of those phone calls that drives away the grey clouds of depression.

The Big Guy called to check on his Dad and to see if he was feeling better from Friday. I was much better today.

Saturday, The Girl Friend and I went to a musical, My Way. The performance was a tribute to Frank Sinatra so we had about two hours of songs that he made famous. It was a great show so long as you happen to enjoy his songs and we did.

Your humble author also scored points with The Girl Friend. She really liked what I picked out for her. And, even more unbelievable, the clothes not fit but they were in colors that she liked. Is that success or what?

Moving along, I just blobbed around on Sunday without too much direction or energy. I did make some progress towards cleaning up my email inbox and taking the trash and recycables out as well.

I was saddened to see that Star Trek Enterprise is going off the air. The show had a closing message that these were the last episodes. Bummer. I enjoyed the program but I guess there were not enough of us to make it a commercial success. Hopefully, someone like the Sci-Fi Channel will pick it up for reruns.

Be well and stay happy.

breaking rules...

Is breaking rules like breaking wind?

I don't think so.

But, anyway and more to the point, I am not sure that I care all that much if I break a rule every now and then.

My son The Big Guy says you should never, ever post a blog on the weekends. I think he believes posting on the weekends is like Miles asking for some more Merlot and an indifferent Merlot at that. You need to see SIDEWAYS to understand that reference.

Normally, I would have posted on Friday but I was sicker than any sorry, mangy mutt. I'm not sure if the air conditioning in my end of the office was on the blink and my air supply [hmmmm, interesting budding and unintentional rock group references] was cut back or if I had some nasty lettuce in my salad at lunch. Regardless, I got sick, nearly fainted twice, and heaved what little I had for lunch.

I left work early and came home and crawled in bed. Before I crawled in bed, I phoned the Girl Friend to suggest that she cancel our dinner reservations for Saturday since food was the farthest thing from my mind and stomach at the time. She was upset but I pointed out that I would rather have a fancy dinner with her when I can enjoy myself. Besides, if we go out on another weekend, we will miss the Valentines Day crowds and indifferent service.

On the subject of Valentines Day, the Girl Friend came through big time, really big time for her man.

She sent me two bottles of single malt Scotch whisky, The Glenmorangie and Amberlour. The Glenmorangie is one of my favorites so I know it is all good. The Amberlour is a new malt whisky for me so I am looking forward to enjoying it as well. This is the good stuff and needs to be sipped when one is feeling well; maybe next weekend, I will crack one open and indulge myself. The Girl Friend is not a Scotch whisky drinker. She likes tequilla and amaretto, not together of course.

She had the vendor include some cigars in the box with the whisky. All are excellent cigars and I will have a difficult time deciding which one to smoke first. She knows I love to smoke a good cigar and I know I will enjoy them, eventually. Right now, it is the lull between the rain storms here in Southern California. We had rain on Friday and into early Saturday morning. It should start raining again tomorrow.

The Girl Friend said that I get the rest of my Valentine stuff tonight when I see her. She knows how to make me happy.

I, on the other hand, am taking the risks in the Valentine stuff. I have a sort of good idea what size she wears. But, with women's clothes, a small from one designer is a large somewhere else. Plus, The Princess has always said, "Daddy, you don't have any sense of style, color, fashion, or trend." Like most men, I guess I am hopeless here.

Feeling supremely confident on Thursday, I swung by the local Tommy Bahama's on my way home from work and picked her up a top and some pants. The top was easy. The pants were one of those "hold'em up and see where they end towards the floor when I have my hands where I think they would be if I was holding her waist" guess on the size.

She gets her gift tonight so I will update anyone on Monday since I don't want to blog unnecessarily on the weekend.

After I crawled off for my recovery nap, The Girl Friend called to say that she would drive over and take me to urgent care if I was really, really, feeling sick. That was really thoughtful of her and that meant a lot to me. Fortunately, there was no need for that.

I can't remember any other girl friend every doing or offering to do something like that for me.

I think she is a keeper for me for sure and certain.

Besides, how many girl friends like or demand to go to new cars and new boats shows? Car and boat shows are guy type events and she looks forward to going to them with me.

Is that great or what?

Oh well, it is sunny and I think I will go sit on the baloncy and suck up the fresh, off of the ocean breezes for a while.

Be well and stay happy.

odds and ends and in betweens

Today was a good day as Thursdays usually. One more day until the weekend and that is all great.

For some odd reason, I was particularly productive. One of the administrative assistants thought I was out of the office today because she had not seen me all morning long. I had been in my office, humming away on the laptop keyboard getting things done.

The Big Guy called me this afternoon to talk about the end of the month of February traditional dinner at Morton's, The Steakhouse. The Big Guy and I love our beef and Morton's is about the best place we have found for great beef. We talked about me dating since I have been divorced for a long time now; he says I can see any woman so long as she is a beef eater or at least not one of those vegan terrorists. Fortunately for me, the Girl Friend is a beef eater.

We also talked about who he planned to invite to join us as we devour the slabs of beef. The Big Guy said he was going to ask the usual suspects, The R and The E. Beef eaters to the core.

Actually, today was a day for calls to me.

One of my former managers from another company called me looking for a job reference on another person who had worked for me. We talked about old times and how nice it was to sleep soundly all night without needing any medication or counseling.

My brother called me today. He is a semi-regular reader of this collection of rantings and observations. I call him a semi-regular reader since I have been posting here in an irregular manner of sorts.

I hope to get more regular in the near future. I am taking Writer's Metamusil to improve my regularity.

Moving onward.

He was interested in learning more about the Girl Friend so I gave him some background on her. He seems to think she is nice. We also talked about my nephew who made the varsity lacrosse team as a freshman at his college as a starting defenseman. I have played some lacrosse before, not very much of course, so I was impressed.

I made plans with The Big Guy to help me spiff up my blog. I will see him on Presidents Day; he will improve the blog and I toss in lunch or dinner at our favorite Mexican food dive place, Albertacos in Mission Viejo, California and Denver, Colorado.

Two soft beef tacos, rice, and frijoles. The beef tacos have chunks of beef and not the usual ground stuff most places serve. The food all sticks to your ribs and stomach. The sixty mile drive is worth just for the food.

I think I am going to go off and do some reading for a change before calling it a night.

Be well and stay happy.

Utah wins again

There were some high spots in my day today.

My beloved University of Utah men's basketball team is now ranked15th in the nation with a 19-3 record.

The Girl Friend called to thank me for the brownies I sent to her office. She said that feeding frenzy I heard in the background was her staffers enjoying the shared brownies. She said her brownie tasted almost as sweet as me. The Girl Friend also wants me to go to her house earlier than we talked about this weekend.

Excellent.

[Note to self: find a good Valentine's Day for the Girl Friend.]

I had my hair cut tonight on my home from work. I know it makes for a much longer day than I would prefer but this leaves more of my weekend free. My stylist, Michelle, gave a full body hug tonight as she always does. She likes the way I am wearing my hair now, so does the Girl Friend. I guess I won't be changing it anytime soon. Both of them said I should keep my moustache for the time being. I guess I won't be changing it either anytime soon.

I also went to see Michelle at night because she likes to see me in my suits. She likes it because it is change from what she gets to see normally. I had on an Italian wool, olive colored, chalk stripe suit tonight with light blue dress shirt and a dark blue print tie.

Naturally, my shoes were highly polished. Anyone who spent time in the United States Marine Corps, even as an officer as I did, knows how to shine shoes and my dark brown shoes were glistening tonight.

I should also explain that I do have a daughter, The Princess. She is not local so she does not fit into the blogative [blog narrative] as easily as The Big Guy. She also doesn't blog either or at least she doesn't blog to my knowledge and we all know Dads are the last to know anything.

Be well and stay happy.

Marginal notes to self

Crud.

This new Times Roman format does not have the links I set up in the old Ariel based template. Need to fix that soon.

The Big Guy's blog is http://skeetonmischa.blogspot.com in case you want to go there.

Check with the Big Guy about setting up a site visitor tracker.

Check with the Big Guy about how do I put photos in my blogs in a simple manner; if that is possible.

no more footie...

This just sucks so badly. No more footie, American style football, until September. That is one long drought to suffer through. No college football. No National Football League football.

Some will say that I could watch arena football for a few more months.

Arena football is so wrong. Football was never meant to be played indoors in a venue the size of an ice hockey rink. Could you imagine a World Cup match being played on a field that small? I think not; most definitely not.

I watched the Super Bore errr Bowl yesterday. It just seemed dull to me. I ended up tuning out in the first half to watch Star Trek: Enterprise. That was so much better to watch; it is hard to beat Jolene Blaylock [or however she spells her name] and Linda Park, even in their baggy Starfleet uniforms. It was a very satisfying episode.

I was not that hungry last night.

If you tune into my son's blog, [see the link], you will see a photo of my regular Fatburger and some of my fries in his Monday the 7th posting. He and I went to Fatburger for a pre-game lunch on Sunday. Fatburgers are a truly great way to fill one's stomach. Although, if I had my choice, I would have gone to the Original Tommy's for a Double Chili Cheesburger and Chilir Cheese Fries.

Unless you live in or visit Los Angeles or Greater Southern California, there is no hope for you to enjoy a Tommy's burger. From time to time, my son, the Big Guy, and I go to the first location that never closes. It has no ambience to speak of, you eat standing up in the parking lot while sniffing exhaust fumes.

Yummie. Tastee. Anyway, moving on.

We went to the Los Angeles Boat Show on Saturday. We is Ms 2005 and me. It was fun looking at half million dollar boats and thinking about what it would be like to own one. Ms 2005 could be one of the hot chicks in bikinis that all boats of this size must have. I figured that the Big Guy could probably find a couple of hot chicks from his college to round out the crew. Then, we would be "ready to heave away on the anchor" and then "go all ahead standard speed"and cruise off into the sunset.

But, who wants to pay half a million dollars for a boat that only has one bathroom and shower?

Cruising into the sunrise in Southern California is not recommended because you will end up on the rocks.

Ms 2005 was willing to watch my current favorite Korean epic serial on television after we had dinner. It was Episode 25 of The Immortal Yi Soon-Shin. Unless you are Korean, this serial has no absolutely meaning for you. I have been watching these Korean historical drama serials now for about four years that have covered about 600 years. They are in Korean with cheesy English subtitles.

But, I like them because I have learned about Korean history this way. I even surprise some of my Korean friends with what I have learned so say nothing of the fact that I even watch a Korean language television show.

For the record, Ms 2005 got herself upgraded to Girl Friend V5.0 over the weekend. She is a Latin hottie. You know it is all good when the only complaint is "I don't get to see you as often as I want."

You'll just have to tune in to learn more about the Girl Friend.

I suppose that you know interest rates went up last week. Alan Greenspan and the Federal Reserve Board of Governors took the interest rate by one quarter of a percent. One quarter of a percent doesn't seem like much of an increase but it will start to have a nasty impact in about a year or so. There will be more increases this year so don't acted shocked when they happen.

In about a year or so, maybe two years, a lot of the initial fixed interest rates on the refinanced mortgages will come off of their interest rate locks. Then, they will begin to float upward. The borrowers monthly payments will go up and many will be caught between rising payments and falling leftover paychecks to cover the increases. I think we will see foreclosures increase in 2007 and that will be ugly for many. On the other hand, my mortgage will almost be paid off in 2007 so I am sort of ambivelent about the increases.

Well dear readers, it is time for your duty scribe to crawl off into his bed.

Be well and stay happy and I will catch you on the flipside.

Why Tuesday are not much fun

Well here it is Tuesday and this is a crummy day. I mean Tuesday, by itself, is OK.

Like the blog says, I am a banker. I dress like a banker. Man, today I was so banker looking that I could have made change when my shoes squeeked as I walked. I had on my dark blue suit, white shirt with a dark red tie, and really well polished black shoes. 100% pure banker.

So what happens?

I'm in my local market parking lot after a sintillating 90 minutes drive home from the office tonight and some guy asks me if I have any jumper cables. Do you think I looked like a guy who would have jumper cables? I think not. I look like the guy with a fully charged cell phone and auto club membership. The auto club will send out a driver with jumper cables if I need them. Besides, my car trunk is small.

My son gave me a modest shout out today in his blog and expressed his desire that I do not embarass him badly. I would never do that intentionally; besides, who else will help me with the blog?

Time to go something useful and productive before I crawl into the old rack I call a bed. 5:00 AM comes awfully early in the Winter.

Be well and stay happy.