Dirty Trick: money in one’s bank account that seems like ‘extra’ but is in actuality earmarked for other necessary things. Grrr. This is pretty much how I feel right now about the money in my bank account. Damn you rent. Damn you credit card bills. Damn you other things that need to be taken care of.
The Treehouse is back and I have to figure out its fate. I have a shit tone of draft updates that need some loving.
Where the hell did the weekend go? Today was the first day we had to work on the primary reason why Jayme came to down. We, actually mostly her, was able to bang out a pretty awesome draft of both documents. From nothing to where we ended up tonight was a feat in and of itself. After a break we went to get some pho and go over more questions. By midnight we had a pretty solidly baked draft that was ready for showtime. We had also went over a number of questions. She speaks incredibly well to the topics on her own and if she can channel that when the time comes, I know she will knock it out of the park.
On a lighter note, I am rather proud of myself for making us a couple of pretty tastey omelets in the morning using stuff hanging out in the fridge. Diced turkey ham onions yellow bell peppers asparagus and a mixture of hard cheeses Jayme brought from SB made for tastey brunch goodness.
Jayme’s friend made the comment how we seem to be out and about and doing stuff. This weekend was atypical. Usually when we see each other we may have a meal or 2 out over the course of a weekend or have maybe 1 or 2 visits with friends. Otherwise we’re in watching TV or cooking/baking up stuff. It is nice to be with someone who is good hanging with people other than just her friends.
…sigh. How many times has it been said that, we were JUST going to do this. Or we were JUST going to do that. Like for example, leave early from a party or something. We had 2 things on the plate for the day: 1) meet up with one Jayme’s oldest friends and her fiancee’ for brunch and 2) meet up with the crew for sushi dinner.
The brunch was at the Hash House, and aside from the Flinstone’s-sized portions of food, the meal was fairly unremarkable. We split the fried chicken and waffles, and it was OK. There was bacon baked INTO the waffle batter and that made for a pleasant surprise. You really can’t mess up bacon. I wouldn’t mind going back and trying other stuff to hopefully see if there is something better on the menu. As of right now I don’t get the appeal.
Sushi was also unremarkable. On a side note, I think it’s hilarious that restaurants charge a group charge tip AND then leave extra space to leave an extra tip. Nope! If you want to force 18%, I will pay JUST the 18%. The service was ok, the rolls were ok but it was fun hanging out with the crew.
After dinner is what made the night! We were invited back to some folks’ place for drinks and a gut busting sessions of karaoke. You would think we were tone deaf. LOL The house though was fantastic, located up in the hills by the Mount Helix. One of my favorite neighborhoods in SD. The house had 2 different wings, wrap around windows and setup perfectly for entertaining. The coupe de grace was the orchard in the backyard, hosting blood and regular oranges, avocado and meyer lemons!! Yea, I am hating right now.
On top of that I had to listen to Chris and Dennis talk about what they were going to go home and smoke the next day. Sigh. My apartment doesn’t allow me to have the charcoal smoker I want on the patio. G-damn I want a yard. I don’t even care if its a small patch of dirt I can grow stuff on, setup a smoker and grill, have a couple of chairs to enjoy the outdoors a little.
Jayme arrived late and coyly asked if I were up for carne asada fries. I looked at her incredulously and asked if he was serious, as it was already 11PM. Sure enough she was serious. LOL! We set of to try 1 place in Spring Valley, only to try 2 places because Google Maps and Search botched the address. So we sampled the wares of 2 places. At midnight. LOL There we were driving back at 12:30AM the car smelling like grilled goodness. They should make cologne like that.
…well not me, more like my friend whom agreed the day, time and place for happy hour only to realize that he gave up alcohol for lent. LOL! The HH was intended to celebrated the February birthers, but my boy forgot he gives up alcohol for Lent, 4 years running. Too damned funny. At least it made for an early night and we were able to go home and watch some more West Wing and TV.
The day started out with us going to visit a couple of my girlfriend’s, Jayme, friends in Ojai. An ordinarily easy and uneventful drive down US-101 from Santa Barbara and then inland along 33. They had bought a house out that way and moved from SB. And I really liked their house. Their lot was huge, several citrus fruit trees, a ginormous tree of some sort dominated the backyard. After we got the tour, we left the bf back at the house while we went looking for stuff to make for dinner. I ended up having to drive because her car wasn’t suited for 3 adults, one being Big Dog size.
On the way to the grocery store I was asked by our friend in the back seat what kind of car the G8 was. She asked if it was an Audi – that was a first. lol. Although it often does get mistaken for some Euro/German variant. At the intersection for the grocery store, she asks from the back, “how does this car do on mountain roads?” Jayme and I’s eyes meet, we both smile and I reply, “It does OK.” She then suggests taking the mountain back roads to a the grocery store ‘over yonder’.
Once again, lately the notion of social networking and real world relationships have popped onto my radar. 3 years or so ago, I had massive drama regarding my ex and her daily obsession and/or addiction (take your pick) with broadcasting to her Facebook and MySpace friends every thought/feeling she had – which also included those that occurred in our relationship. To whit, one of the last major arguments we had revolved around Facebook. Then there was a choice status update about her next move. Then her bff flipped out over my not wanting to be friends with her. And then there were her updates that people would pass onto me, that I finally had to tell them to stop doing. And so, and so on, and so on. Social networking and our real life response to it definitely played a role in our relationship’s demise.
So I am left with thinking about the utility, benefits and consequences of linking real life relationships with virtual interactions, e.g. Facebook, Twitter, et al. Failed relationships, divorces, the ending of lifelong friendships and the like have all been attributed to people’s virtual lives. Doing just a little bit of research shows these social networks can have a massive negative impact on relationships, be they platonic, romantic, familial or professional. And I am inclined to agree. Consider:
Today I meet Jayme’s family. Her mother. Her aunt. Her two sisters. Her slew of cousins. Her church family. And oh yea, her family is predominantly female. Yea, I am nervous as hell.
Before meeting with Jayme and her family, I met up with Kat to catch up at BJ’s at Victoria Gardens. She’s had a shit ton going on in her life. I showed up and she was already buzzed. lol That’s what she gets for not eating and starting out with a drink!! We sat there and caught up, and about an hour into talking this older couple sat down next to us. The woman looks over and asked how long we’d been married! LOL! Kat was all, nope, and I blurted out we’re not there yet. Kat turned to me and mouthed, “I hate you!”. The woman ended up telling these incredibly sad stories about her pets’ malnutrition, how some were killed and other stories of pet woe. Kat gave the lady her business card and was like, contact me and I’ll see what I can do about getting you some quality pet food, as that’s what she does. It was freaking hilarious. So much so the bartender came over and talked about how that lady was chatting us up because she too was amused by the random conversation. Afterwards we went over to Macy’s to do some shopping for Kat. I hope she makes good use of her purchase!!
Afterwards I got on the road to Pasadena to meet Jayme’s folks. I don’t think I’ve been that nervous in I don’t know how long. Getting on stage for the first time or doing improv in front of an audience for the first time comes to mind. I walked into to her aunt’s kitchen, and almost like it was rehearsed I was ushered to a seat opposite of Jayme’s other and aunt across the table. Everyone else in the room simultaneously cleared out as Jayme sat down next to me. Later Jayme and I talked about it and she completely missed this part in the events; I was amused. At the same time, this was serious business and I took it seriously.
After about 3 hours of sleep, slamming the snooze button too many times and literally leaving the house 10 minutes before having to get to the courthouse and a travel time of exactly 10 minutes I got to the courthouse. Like an idiot about a month ago I got a dumb speeding ticket after quite literally a short stab of the throttle and my 6.0L took me to 52mph in a 35mph. Sigh. I was hoping to get a reduction in the fine.
The bailiff announced that the judge is quick, fair and will do all he could to help us out. The judge showed up and announced that we could literally be done in 15-20 seconds once we got to the podium and entered our plea. Some people didn’t seem to get that at their trial date they could try to make their case. So that extra explaining tacked an additional 12 seconds, basically the time it took the judge to explain to them they make their case at the trial.
90 minutes later, by just showing up I got my fine reduced over $140. The judge looked at my ticket for 3 seconds, dropped the MPH by 2 and reduced the total fine by the $140. Not sure what exactly it worked out to, because the lowered fine also included the administrative fee for opting to take traffic school. So the savings was actually higher. I am KICKING myself for not doing this with my previous speeding ticket. Oh, I am quite the dumbass! Lesson learned.
I really felt for some of the other people. One woman was fined $400 for tossing a cigarette butt out the car, with no possibility of reducing the fine! One woman was fined for 3 counts of not securing her child passengers. The judge tossed out the 3rd count and reduced the fines for the first and second. Still she was looking at almost $600 for that little screw up.
I will take it where I can get it. It being good news and good days. Today I got a bit of both. The day started out with good news. Then I went on a hour long walk, with the sun beating down and that too felt good. Then I went to salsa class to, as my teacher would call it “assist”. Basically I’m used as a demo dummy. Which is fine by me. In exchange for helping out with her hugely disproportionate classes (male::female), I get to practice patterns and figures without having to actually do them at a club.
During the second class, the intermediate class, there was a tall voluptuous redhead,who quite frankly reminded me of a real life Christina Hendricks. I was dancing with a couple of partners from the previous beginner class and I could hear her correcting one of the guys while they were dancing. She wasn’t being a bitch about it, but I can’t imagine the constant critique from his dance partner made for a fun dance. I got a chance to dance with her and something in me was like – I need to nail this dance for dude. By the lack of commentary, critique, her breathlessness and big ass smile at the end I will take that as a win! lol
The experience reminded me of my first attempt at salsa classes in San Diego. Clearly the teacher had stocked his class with this friends or teammates. However, he neglected to tell these women to friggin’ go easy on the beginners! Grrr!!!
