If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all.

Here's the forecast for the period of time when I will be atop my roof this weekend....

-Friday Night Rain. Low around 46. Northeast wind around 7 mph becoming southeast in the evening. Chance of precipitation is 80%.

-Saturday Rain likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 62. South wind 5 to 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%.

 

-Saturday Night Rain. Low around 46. Chance of precipitation is 80%.

 

Goddammit. 

 

The roofer's poor performance last weekend now has me in a real pickle.  My roof should have been done 3 weeks ago and now 4 of us will harness in and struggle against the weather.  I'm really frustrated, all the work, time, & effort put in by me and those that helped me, even those that put up with me being distracted &/or gone, all so that mum-nature can slap me around.  Those damn guys already called me today downplaying the importance of gutters (they don't want to install them), I'm sure they'll call tomorrow and cancel the whole event due to weather.  Perhaps a good idea??

 

Fuck.

 

 

Show don't tell....

Occasionally when I have time to take a breath and think, I will vow to take steps to improve my writing skills and commence with research.  I find incredibly useful tidbits of advice; Mark Twain once said when describing how to write; "Show, don't tell."

That's about as obscurely concise as you can get coming from a guy who has published over 30 books.  He must have had a big head later in his life. 

Thanks for nothing, Mr. Cryptic.

Another old timey saying...

When describing wild children; "They could tear apart an iron ball with a rubber hammer."

Kids are fun.

Minoux's Go

Ankeny and Marshall are eastbound.  After a frustrating search to purchase a home in the bay area fate would have it that Marshall gets the job offer he's been waiting for, and it's located at Travelers HQ in Hartford, CT.  So the they search for a home and buy a 3000 sq/ft home on an acre parcel for < $450 K and they are out of the financial trap that occurs here in CA.  Ankeny can retire if she wants to and just be a Mum.  Marshall gets to handle bigger accounts and play more customer golf.  So the Minoux's go and we hope that everything is bliss back east.

Last night they hosted a going away gathering at the Ritz Carlton in Half Moon Bay, CA.  Jazz, Burgers and Brews was the event; a weekly gathering with a live jazz trio where you can get a gourmet burger and a brew for a square $28.  I thought the price was a little steep to begin with and then our gourmet burgers were cold....and not just cold because we were distracted by a fussy baby, mine was almost as if it had come out of the fridge.  However, the setting and the company was second to none, it was worth the trip from San Ramon.

The drive home was a bit tedious, Erin and the baby were asleep before we hit downtown HMB and I stayed focused for the remainder of the 55 minute trip thinking about how to coerce PG&E to let me onto a substation in Yuba City next week.

Back to the ranch this weekend.  I'm a roofer.

Wayne Wong

How could someboby named Wayne Wong be so bad ass?  Wayne Wong overcame significant adversity to become the 'Skier of the year' in 1972 and was referred to as the face of freestyle skiing in the early 1970's. 

What adversity you say??

For starters his name is Wayne,...Wayne Wong (pronounce it Rayne Rong for added fun); and he's some asian fella who showed up and changed the ski world.  An asian skier who rips??  It's just about as likely as Nic Leo dunking a basketball!

 

Looky here, Rayne Rong, he's Chinese but sports U.S.A. poles and a damn maple leaf Canadian toque, WTF Rayne Rong?

 

He's actually a Tim Horton donut huffing Chinese-Canadian, who probably fathered my wife's Chinese-Canadian friend Agnes Rong.

Here again is Rayne Rong straight Ka-RaTTeh KuNg Fu-ing it at Alpine Meadows.  Bad ass.

Croup

Yesterday I learned that my kid has croup.  Croup is a spasmodic cough caused by a viral infection that causes the area around the vocal cords to swell restricting the airway.  Combined with heavy chest congestion Sullivan sounded like he was on his last leg and occasionally he'd let out a cough that sounded like a barking seal.  When he coughed the dog would jump to an alert position ready to defend against the unknown threat. 

It pretty much sucked. 

Two hours of bullshit with Dr. Tosick (Tah-Sic) and her pharmacy produced a steroid anti-biotic that when administered by Dr. Dad produced projectile vomiting onto Dad's chest.  The worst part of the day was the feeling of absolute helplessness while the little guy struggled through. 

Eventually Sullivan accepted the drugs and promptly passed out for four hours.  He awoke a new babe....kinda like a happy barking seal.

Today Dr. Dad is out and Dr. Mum is in.  I'm starting my week over again.

Nic Leo

Last night Erin took Sullivan to cook's club to show him off and urged me to get out of the house.  I called my old friend Nic Leo and set up plans for a beer and a hamburger at Handles Pub in Pleasanton. 

Unbeknownst to me, Nic realized that it is uncommon that I get away from my weekly grind and he was nice enough to reach out to a few of the guys to come out and catch up.  It was a great visit with the gang.  Nic is about the coolest guy you could have in your corner.

Here he is.

 

 

 

The significance of this photo isn't Nic's face.....it's his hair.  You see I don't consider myself to be a 'trendy' type of guy, the same goes for Nic, neither of us are trendsetters.  Errr.

 

I'm not a trendsetter, perhaps things have changed for Nic.

 

About a month ago I imagine Nic says, "Fuck it, I'm gonna grease up my hair and comb it over to the side, like my Dad."  Following ensued the reactions of all his friends and family etc.  Positive, negative etc....regardless, Nic needed a change.

 

Anyway I was driving yesterday and listening to a radio show based in Los Angeles, it's a trendy up and coming show.  The DJ's somehow got onto the topic of haircuts and they both described how they hot the gentleman's haircuts that dated back to the 1940's and 50's were and how they wanted their hair to be combed over.  They described Nic's hair cut perfectly.

 

Nic Leo is one month ahead of the style trends in Los Angeles.  Nic Leo can see into the future and make women's panties drop.

 

Nic.....send me some fucking lotto numbers.

 

 

Erin made a salad the other night.  She climbed onto the counter to reach her beloved salad spinner.  It was a two person job but we eventually got the spinner apart and washed up after we spun our greens.  The salad was great though!!

For some reason I'm exhausted today...hoping my coffee will snap me out of it.  It's a big day too, much to do.  I'm going to look at flag poles.