It was almost too rare....

Whew....

I had a great time over the last 5 days or so, but boy am I tired.

What follow is almost sure to be very lengthy, so settle yerself.

Friday morning saw us on the road. We stopped to see Sis on the way out of town, and secured coffee (eggnog latte for me, black regular for Pops), and heading out of town at 8:30. We marked the semi-halfway mark in Walnut Creek, where I did indeed get my cheese steak sadwich.

After some driving around, and a tour of my old stomping grounds, we gassed up and got back on the road. We had clear sailing for most of the trip. It was hard to believe. Hardly any traffic, no cops, no bad weather....it was great. Then, just as we neared our final destination...a scant 5-8 miles from M's house, we hit traffic. Bigtime.

We crept and crawled along until we got to an exit, from which, I know the way on the surface streets. We slid off the highway, and arrived about 10 mins later. 477 miles from my front door to his.

Not a bad haul, and we made excellent time. M was at work, but came home at 7ish for lunch. We did our howdies, and spent his lunch hour catching up a bit.

He was working the next day as well, so Poppa and I went to Pismo Beach to get some saltwater taffy. Needless to say, the weather was beautiful the whole time we were there.

On the way back, we happened on this place. I'm not sure exactly what they do there, but I'll bet it's fun to watch. After that, we went back to the house and just hung out, having family time.

Sunday arrived, and that was party day. It was also football day, and I'm shocked to be able to report that the Raiders won.

No, really.

I shot lots of photos at the party, but decided that you would all be bored with them, so I haven't posted any of them. If you want to see some, let me know. There was beer (for the adults), tons of food, killer cake, and a game of Hacky Sak. I managed to put a mild sprain on my left ankle while playing, but like a trooper, I toughed it out and was one of the last 2 playing when the game died.

Monday saw Poppa, M, and I heading to Morro Bay, where I used to live. Due to circumstances beyond my control, I have no photos of the trip, but it was nice. We walked down the beach hunting shells and the like. I managed to find 2 intact sand dollars as well as a fair amount of really cool shells. Afterwards, we had lunch at a diner (poppa's chowder is better by far) and headed home. We got home just in time for M to go to the movies with his 2 sisters, and I took a much needed nap. We had barbecued steak and steamed clams for dinner, and that was it for Monday.

Tuesday saw our exit. We took our time on the way home, and when we got to Gilroy, we just had to stop. We went into Garlic World, and spent some money. Prolly a little more than we should have, but we got plenty of swag. We spent 23 bucks and change, but that netted us like 6 avacados, 5 heads of garlic, and the other various items here. So far, my fave are thegarlic pistacio nuts.

The ride home was alright, and as we neared home, we decided to have dinner at the Pinon. They have a really killer deal these days, and so off we went. I ordered the New York Steak, and after my chat with the waitress about how I can never seem to get a true rare steak she ran off to the kitchen.

Not 10 minutes later...I had hardly touched my salad, she came back with not only a fucking perfect steak, but a hunk of prime rib for poppa that was nearly 2 inches thick. Mutha fucka, but it was good. For almost 2 seconds I thought about sending my meat back for a little more heat, but in the end it seemed more trouble than it was worth.

After that, we came home, and I crashed like a speed freak at the end of a runner. It was back to work today, and now I've told you the story.

Hope you all didn't miss me too much.

Buenos con queso,

T.

I've been a bad boy.....

I've neglected to blog lately. Thus it is that I have some news to share that should have been posted earlier, but there you go.

My son turns 18 on Monday. Through an act of God, I'm actually going to be able to go see him. In fact I will be leaving in a scant 30 mins or so to start the drive down to his house.

It's about 8-9 hours from where I am, depending on traffic and the like. I'm going to be gone for 5 days. We have some cool things planned for the trip (pops is going too) and as soon as my son decides exactly what he wants to do for his birthday, we'll have even more.

I plan to take lots of photos, so be prepared for that.

I'd love to chat more, but I must finish packing. Hell, I have to start packing for that matter. At least I did my laundry.

Last night, I might add.

...Heh...

Told you I was the king of procrastinators.

El sombrero los carne,

T.

Driven

I started this post much earlier in the day, but my computer went off while I was using it.

Twice.

Well, actually, all the power went off and came back on, but I was on my 'puter for 2 of them.

After the second one, I decided to cut my losses and post later.

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Got a few things to talk about:

Poppa and I broke down and bought some Omaha Steaks. It's been a long time coming, and we were a bit skeptical, but I'm here to say that they're pretty damn good.

Poppa cut his with his fork.

Omaha gets a big Hurrah from me.

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I've also got a new blog to introduce you to. She's new, and starting kinda slow, but I have high hopes for her. Check her out over here.

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I've put in for, and gotten a whopping 5 days off. This is in preparation for a visit to California to celebrate my son's 18th birthday. I can't believe he's going to be 18. It's going to be a long drive, but we'll be stopping in Walnut Creek for a Cheese Steak.

Ok...guess that's all for now....Hope all is well with y'all.

Fuego de las mones,

T.

I have dined on Honydew and drunk the milk of Paradise

I'm bored.

I'm sure none of you really care about that, but I just thought I'd share. I'm also broke. This was rent check, and I think my finances = 2+ in the ashtray of my car. I'm also off today, which is a good thing.

I've got split days off this week. Tuesday and Thursday. I also have to watch C.S.I New York tonight. I'd told myself that I wouldn't, that 2 C.S.I.'s were enough for me, but the bastards have outsmarted me. There's a 2 part episode, you see. It started on the Miami one, and will conclude tonight on New York

Bastards. They're out to get me, I know it.

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In other news, I finally got around to watching Love Actually. Very cute movie, but again, a real tear-jerker. Very long as well. Like 2:15. I highly reccomend it.

Well, I'm tapped out.

Have a good one.

T.

Where, oh where has my Underdog gone?

I don't know if any of you remember Underdog or not, but I was just thinking about him. I'm not sure why, really.

Sweet Polly Purebread....Simon Bar Sinister.

Ah, good times.

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Through deserted backstreets, he walked. A streetlight reflected weakly off the damp ground. Random sounds chased him. A dog's bark. Squealing tires. What may have been a gunshot. After all, The Prisoner's Dock is not in a good part of town.

Hell, where it sits can hardly be considered town. Backed up on a lot snuggled up against a freeway overpass. Down a jiggery little alley, crammed in so tight that you'd be lucky to find it. If you could handle yourself, that is.

He looked up, and there was the door. It had been five years since he'd seen it, but it was exactly the same. Red, a deep blood color. Small window, barred and shuttered. No exterior handle. You either got in or you didn't. You only got in if The Doorman knew your face. If he didn't know you, you never left the alley.

The steel was cold beneath his hammering fist. At first, nothing happened. Then, with a slickery whisper, a small rectangle of blackness appeared on the face of the metal plate over the window. After a second or two, a light flashed on, illumintaing his face. He heard a muffled shout of amazement. From the door came a grinding noise. In his mind's eye, he could see a bank vault. All those bolts slipping from their anchors.

The door swung open, and a giant walked out. Jebadiah "Big Jeb" Duncan stood before him, grinning from ear to ear.

"David, you sorry fucker, what in the name of all that's holy are you doing here?"

"Well, Jeb, that's a long story, and one best told inside, if you know what I mean."

"Hell yes. Get your narrow white ass in here, pronto. Jebadiah stepped aside, and usherd David in. Just inside the door was a small room. With Jeb in it, it was miniscule. As the outer door latched, there was a slight bump. A second door opened, and David walked through it. For a moment, he was stunned. The door had looked the same to him, but this was uncanny. He stood looking at the room and could not convince himself that it had been 5 years.

Everyone was there. Instinctively, his eyes shot upwards. He blinked. It couldn't be.

He turned to see Big Jeb standing silent, massive arms crossed. An alligator grin stretched across his face.

"What'd you think, we'd let somebody take it?"

David looked back up. There, nestled in the little nook where he'd always kept it was the bag.

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Ok guess Ima do some of that GTA thing. Hope all is well with y'all.

Poquitos los mananas,

T.