Tony's Treehouse Blog

Best Laid Plans

The idea was to pick up Akilah's car from the hooked up service her friend did at the dealership. However, this plan was not to be. She got in it and it immediately started making weird noises from the wheels as she drove off. Apperantly it started getting really bad, and new noises were emenating from the car as she went to get gas. Which by the way, that was the BUSIEST gas station I'd seen in a long. It probably had something to do with the $4.04 a gallon.

It's goddamn shame that $4.04 gas gives me hope. What the fuck.

Anyway, we took the car back to the dealership to get worked on tomorrow. Then it was off to Seaport Village. Another plan that was never meant to be! Why? It was freakin' Comi-Con! Parking was nowhere to be found and a drive-by of the Convention Center.

No car. No Seaport Village. 0-2!

But then we went and saw Stepbrothers...pretty sure Kiki thought it was dumb. LOL However it had its really funny moments. If you have time to kill during a matinee showing, I'd say go see it then.

Double-Booked-Double-Header

Somehow, some way we got ourselves invited to a pool party and a beach party. AND she had to drop her car off at the dealership. Well that got taken care of with a pickup by Anna.

Quick aside: Today was the first time in I don't know how long I've been to the beach to do more than just and listen to the waves or take pictures.

At the house I filled a cooler with water and whatever Tecates I could scrounge up. Beach towels - check. Swim shorts - check. Akilah left the house with nothing but sandals, so had to have her back too. Off to the grocerty store. Wait a minute. Feeding time. Then to Gus's for a big ass pastrami sub. THEN finally to the beach. I gotta say, if I have to go to the beach in CA, that's how I want to do it. Off the RV park was a private beach where ONLY the people visiting the park were allowed in. Kev had his Seadoos off to the side, the beach wasn't crowded at all...the total opposite of an OB or PB experience I'm used to seeing.

Then it was off to the pool party. The house was in La Mesa and NICE. I need a house like this! It had 2 or 3 levels, koi pond/mini-river in the front. The pool took up most of the backyard, but shared its space with a sheltered area for cooling off and grilling. I didn't get a chance to see the entire place, but I was loving what I was seeing so far. The backyard looked low maintenance, abutted against a park. The only thing that would've made it better is if there was more space by the neighbors.

I felt sort of bad because we only stayed a few hours and it looked like a lot of work went into getting things ready. However, most of the people who arrived AFTER us, left BEFORE us. The carne asada and pollo asada were off da chain. I was able to snag some awesome pictures.

Then it was back to the beach. The same beach with lots of sun. The same beach, I CLEARLY forgot to get sunscreen for!!! Kiki and I were roasting by the minute. It was a really good day. With the going back and forth between the 2 parties, we didn't have enough time to get out on the Seadoos!!!

I'm gonna be peeling for a week after today.

Oh yea, and the car's Check Engine light came on. Checked the gas cap, but still the error. Dammit. That's what warranties are for!

My High Ass

My car has a high ass. It is the one irksome thing about it that I'll just have to get used to as I drive it. Around town it's not a problem. On the highway it's not a problem. However, reversing or parrallel parking is required I pretty much have to summon The Force to avoid plowing my bumber into something.

Speeding Ticket Cherry - Popped

So there I am on the way to work driving within +/- 5pmh of the speed limit. Then little boy racer in his Mazda3 pulls up behind me and starts to dog me. Chases my bumber on the first freeway, and then on the surface streets. And then I thought I lost him at the light when we get onto the surface streets, but no...here he comes again. Then here he comes again up the hill. And of course I'm stuck behind 2 slow ass fools, so I settle in. Get to the passing lane and I pass them with ease. The procedure I have come to call simply, "effortless". Just as I am about to crest the hill, something tells me to slow down and fast. Sure enough, as I crest the hell there's a white CHP, with his rear to the hill starts his lights and points for me to pull over.

Young guy, he saunters up and asks if the car is an '08 and I said '09. I swear the guy hangs his head. I have gotten a few tickets in my time and pulled over on other occasions for completely nonesense reasons - yes DWB does exist. Some officers get on their high horse and start to the whole, "do you know why I pulled you over" crap and the 20 questions that follow. Some are very very nice, and let you off with a warning. Some are just plain power trippers. This guy was neither. He could've been tired. He could've been sick of writing tickets this day. But I swear, as he looked the car over, he was not happy writting me that ticket.

To wit he says, he's writing the ticket for less. I was just at the point where it could've been double so he wrote it for less. The irony is people go way faster, hence why there's a cop permanently stationed there now.

[Fast forward a little bit and I told someone how fast I was going, and she responded, "they pulled you over for THAT?! I go way faster on that stretch." LOL!]

So my speeding ticket cherry has been popped and now I'm watching my ass. This was about the same time I got my first one, when i got the last car too. Object of the story I guess is let people go by!

Dive Drinks

Me and mi amiga Olga hadn't had drinks in a minute, and since my schedule opened up - boom! It's amazing how much crap can be accumulated to talk over the span of a month or so. I picked her up and made our way to this little watering hole in *downtown* La Mesa. It's called Pete's Place, a total hole in the wall. It's dark inside, darker inside than it is inside when it's dark outside. The bartenders are friendly, the drinks are reasonably priced and the patrons are generally chill.

Save for tonight. After a couple of drinks and listening to some really obscure rock we decided to load up the juke box with some of our own music. First song we play is Al Green's Love and Happiness, and immediately we hear this guy at the bar get all loud. He starts ranting about Obama and how the country would go into the shitter if he's elected. (How Al Green is a trigger for Obama, I have NO idea!) For those gentle readers who don't know me, let me provide some context: Olga is a 5'2 and clearly latina, while I am 6'2, rocking locks and of cinnamon mocha complexion. We start whispering, this guy is gonna start a riot in this place...haha! So what the hell...select a Bob Marley song, a Damian Marley and some other stuff. I had to get my CCR, Bad Moon Rising...not for the people in attendance, but because it's seriously a good song! If they had Bob Seger's, Like A Rock, I would be all about that!

Anyway, the patron next to him tries to make sense with the man. Doesn't he know arguing with a drunk AND an idiot, is Sisyphus-like task in Hades!? He starts his arguments about how the dollar is devalued, the price of oil has tripled in the last 8 years or so...basically trying to make some logical points. But Mr. Drunktard isn't having it. The crux of his argument is that Obama is going screw things up by virtue of his name being Obama. And this is why Churchill said the best argument against democracy is 10 minutes with the average voter.

Anyway, it was good catching up with Olga and I'll be going back to Pete's Place. They can't help attracting the morons they occasionally.

Car Bonding

I have a ritual with all of my cars. Starting with my 1988 Accord Coupe to my current baby. I need to wash them. No, not taking them to have them washed, but personally washing every body panel. Drying every curve. Propping the doors open and wiping the interior down. Dressing the tires with EagleOne.

It's about a month and it still hasn't sunk in/stuck/whatever that it's mine. Everyone keeps telling me it'll happen when I start to make the payments. lol. Can't it start happening before then??

When I got my place, I really didn't bond with it till about a month or so later. That *bonding* moment occured while performing back breaking labor. I've seen my car washed, washed it myself, driven it, been driven in it...and it still feels a bit foreign to me. This is part of my built-in Persian flaw and I know it.

When will it kick in!?!?

The Dark Knight - Respect

Came home with the intent on napping so we could be fresh for The Dark Knight. Yea that didn't happen. The show was starting at 12:01AM and was slated to go for 2 hours and 37 minutes!! We would easily not get home till 3AM.

And it was worth it. Something was off though. Heth made an awesome Joker...I wouldn't say better than Jack, but his performance was incredible. He was sinister and laughable and over the top and seriously fucked up.

Go see it.

Happy Birthday Pops!

Yesterday was my boy's, Chris's, birthday. Some folks met up at Dave & Buster's to celebrate and it was bomb. The night went way longer than I thought would go. We didn't leave there still around midnight I think. They were closing up half of the bar by the time we were out of there.

Chris introduced me to his friends as, "Tony the guy with the rib rub" haha! That was a first. Turned out there was a fellow foodie in the crew and we spent most of the evening swapping stories and recipes. Got a new connection for a butcher and fish monger in town too. It was culinary syncopation or something. lol By the time the night ended, we lamented that they were moving in a couple of weeks. And we ended up planning a get together at the house for this Saturday. Not sure how or what the hell happened, but the next thing we all knew we all had food assignments.

Also discovered a couple of new drinks that I like A LOT:
1) The Shizzle. Shit thee not, this is the name. It's coconut/pineapple/vanilla concoction.
2) Royal Fuck. Again, I didn't name this shot...but it is pretty damned good.

I felt sincerely horrible because Kiki got stuck with a ridiculously high bar tab. She was *taking me out* and all but still. Between the shots for everyone else and the food, it was crazy. I forget my hook ups do have limits.

IB Sand Castles

Today we headed to Imperial Beach to check out the Sand Castle competition and it was a friggin' mad house! The weather was pleasant enough. Apperantly the sun finally came out when we showed up. Traffic was ridiculous, that much was certain. People were hocking open space on their lawns to people for extra cash too! One dude a block from the beach offered their lawn for $25! These 2 kids were *guarding* a little lot, and hustling for spots as well. Fortunately I have really good parking karma. It takes awhile to kick, but it kicks in! I saw this guy starting to pack up his car across the street, a quasi-legal move later we scored ourselves a nice spot about 1.5 blocks from the Tony & Anna's and from the fair!

The sand castles themselves for the most part weren't really anything to write home about. There were a couple that really impressed. My favorite was a 'shroom inspired one, featuring a lounging big cat in behind a HUGE depression/moat looking thing. I think the hole was at 7 feet feep at 15 feet wide. They built some toad stools in the bottom, about 3 feet high a la Alice in Wonderland and filled the bottom with water.

The throngs of people provided many moments of mockery. Lately I've been on the douchebag/scrote hunt thanks to www.hotchickswithdouchebags.com. That sight is uterlly genius!! And there were many d-bags about. Not to mention a number of people, male and female, who really had no business wearing what they were wearing. My favorite was this chick wearing one of those string tie back tops, circa 2001 or something. It had strings holding the flap of fabric in the front in place and tied in the back under her boobs, at her boobs and around her neck. Well it didn't go a good job concealing the serious stretch marks that ran laterally along and under her boobies. Nor the paunch that was protruding over her belt. Come on!

Anyway, dinner was pretty cool. I made thai inspired coconut curry dish, that Akilah actually ate the entire thing! We settled in to watch Bad Boys II, which is an action must see. Especially if you're a Hot Fuzz fan!

We ride together, we die together. Bad boys for life.

Lastly, today I am extra happy I didn't get my car in a stick. First of all it shifts pretty quick in sport mode - rev matching, telepathically downshifting when needed and everything. Second, the thing has so much torque, braking isn't so much for stopping the car, but RESTRAINING it. Taking my foot off the brake pedal will cause the car to go about 10MPH on its own. So sitting in traffic, my foot gets a good workout trying to not let the car leap forward.

Balls

Akilah and I headed to Boomerz for miniature golf, and if I can drive the ball a decent length in a straight line, I would so be on the PGA tour! I was a friggin' sniper with my little putter! Afterwards we stopped off at Anna & Tony's for a visit. Ok, they challenge my notion for people in the States not really inviting people over to their houses because they seem to do it a lot. And a lot of the time people will cruise over and chill out.

While over there me and Tony and his friend got to talking about my car and a Camaro he used to have that they had suped. 395HP to the wheels worth of supeing up! Is it soup or supe?! WTF?! Whatever. LOL Tony's friend predicted, I will have people challenging me - guys on crotch rockets, import tuners and the like will challenge me. He predicted I'll be on the freeway someday and a guy on a motorcycle will pull up next to me and want to start some ish.

And he was right. SPOT on. Not 90 seconds on the freeway, this guy on a GSXR pulls up next to us revving his engine like he wants to start some ish. LOL

Later on I went to Stingaree with JM to meet up with some of her friends at Stingaree. I hate Stingaree. May be hate is too strong a word, but I dislike it with a burning passion. Let's count the ways:

1. The cover is ridiculous. If you want to bypass the general admission line, you have to be on a list OR pay the bouncer $20 and then pay another $20 for the cover. Unless you're a chick with your ta-tas hanging out and the bottom of your ass peeking out of your short short dress/skirt.


2. The drinks are HELLA expensive. I watched 2 people in our party buy 2 shots for $24. And they didn't even get the shots in actual shot glasses - they were serving drinks in clear Dixie cups!


3. The rooftop lounge area is way to small for the amount of people they allow up there. I would bet money and my left testicle that lounge area is a fire hazard. Speaking of fire, people can smoke up there, so the notion of fresh air is nonexistent. So between the smokers, guys grazing up on and the room to not even breathe, it was my cue to bounce.


4. Lastly, Stingaree touts itself as being an upscale club, and it's prices and decor certainly bely this. Not to mention its clientele. Not to say that every dude is a d-bag or every chick is a skank who goes there. However I did have to roll my eyes at all the posers. All those dumb scrotes who are going to get suckered into buying a chick an expensive drink. Or all those chicks who spent their pay checks on that single outfit, only to get duped by a guy who can spit good game, drop her panties and forget her name before he even leaves.

In the end we all ended up back at Visions where the drinks were reasonable and there was actually room to dance. After Visions, the other chica who was supposed to drive, clearly couldn't yet so we headed to Denny's in Mission Valley. And that too was comedy. From the couple behind of us, ready to yack at any second. To the group of females who walked in, who can only be described as coming straight from a stripper convention.

G-damn comedy.

Flashback

Hellboy II was really good. I would definitely say make it a full price movie. Dare I say, it was better than the first one? The action scenes were excellent too. Del Toro's use of CGI, animatronix, make up and who knows what else was...well...seamless. One neat thing about the movie was how it mixed real life lore and stuff from the comics. Like the history of the "The Tooth Fairy"...I won't give it away, but it was pretty good. Which got us wondering if indeed all the stuff the Brothers Grimm wrote about, stuff in European mythos and what not actually came from somewhere real? The best character was the lead bad guy...he was mad cool.

After the movie tonight I had what I think could be consider flashback to the accident. And it was eerily similar to what happened that night. We were driving and Akilah tailgated VERY close to this Buick in front of us. To the point where I couldn't see the asphalt between the 2 cars. In my head, I could see the Buick slamming on its brakes, raising it rear end because of the braking and then Akilah's car plowing under the rear wheels of the Buick. The vision alternated between just the bumper getting crunched, to wheels coming up the hood and the bumper crashing through the windshield.

I was pretty shaken, while nothing actually happened. The entire night rang similarly like what happened when I was 15. I had left the movie theater, back then as I did tonight. I'm pretty sure the times of day were similar as well. Like back then I wasn't in control of the vehicle or situation. After we stopped for food I had to walk the rest of the way home...it was that intense. Way too close to home. For years after the accident around the anniversary, I would get...not even sure how to put into words, other than to say, odd. It's been a long time since I had those feelings, and thought they had gone away. If wishing only made it so, I guess.

Ass kicking at home

So we played Shanghai again at our house, and Chris wins the pot again. WTF?! In MY own damned house, I'm getting beat! Grrr!! Akiliah calculated we only lost about $1.50. I don't get it! I am playing this game so much better than I was! Seriously, what the hell is going on?! It pretty much boils down to me and Chris, in the last game tonight Chris and Akilah. So are they using some strategy unbeknowst to us?? Dammit, I want to win!

Grrr!!!

Anyway, we played 2 games because we started early enough. Chris made one of my new favorite things ever: enchilada casserole ring. It's a Pampered Chef recipe used to showcase about half a dozen things they sell. Screw all that. The ring is tastey and I love it. It's got chopped chicken, jalepenos, tomatoes, onions, garlic and cheese. All of that goodness is stuffed into a "ring" made of Pilsbury crescent rolls, first stretched out and then folded into the center. It's flakey and flavorful and probably wrong for us on 10 different levels...but so so damned good!

Observed an interesting phenomena tonight: some people who are ordinarily quiet or have very little say, can actually have a whole lot to say if the right conditions are met. I guess I find it interesting how person(s) who otherwise are quiet, reserved and don't have much to say can all of a sudden perk. Which begs the question, what are those conditions? And how if at all, I can stimulate them.

Timing, not so much

Danielle (left) the birthday girl and Kiki (right). Tonight we were supposed to go Akilah's friend Danielle's birthday thing dowtown at the Shout House. That was the plan. Until both of our bodies decided it was time to take naps - at the same time. First I conked out. Then Akilah conked out. Next thing we knew it was 8:45PM and we had CLEARLY missed the 7:30PM start time. The best we could figure was the 45 minutes of tennis the day before had caught with us, and our bodies had had enough! haha!

I fixed us dinner of an Asian inspired salmon in an orange/sesame/ginger/soy glaze and pasta with pesto. We settled into to watch the season finale of Real World: Hollywood...finally a season worthy of the name once again! Not sure if the producers arranged that fight or not, but it was certainly the most entertaining! haha! It's 9:30PM and we both realize that we're both still up and probably will be for a long time. So Kiki texts Danielle to see if they're still there and if they'd still be there around 11 or not. Sho' nuff they were just gettng started.

We get there at about 11:30PM and scored rock star parking right around the corner. People start trickling outside and boom we ran into them. And what a scene it was. This one chick was bending over to get her booty slapped. I offered suggestions and demonstrations on the proper way to smack a booty. haha! This other dude who is clearly gay is getting up on the girl, and I'm just standing there mad confused...wtf?! Then this other little guy, barely taller than Kiki just keeps talking and talking and talking and talking...did I mention talking? He's funny though. Short people crack me up. LOL

We headed to Denny's after we dropped of Danielle for 2 reasons. First, they had decided they wanted to go ghost hunting. There are places in San Diego that are supposed to be good places to catch sightings of ghosts. Yea, you won't catch me doing that shit. American views of ghosts are mostly benign and cute Casper-like entities you can take pix with shoulder to shoulder and it's all good. MY culture's version of ghosts are markedly different! Second, we were still wide awake and despite that good dinner still friggin' hungry.

We didn't get home and to bed until 3:30AM.

And worked started in 5 hours.

Good times! LOL

Cultural Learnings of a St. Thomian

"Well, you're not on St. Thomas anymore Tony." I have heard this statement many times since permanently moving to California after high school. Most recently I heard it in the context of invitations. Kiki and I were talking recently about my propensity to invite people over to the house. And conversely why folks don't invite us over to their house/apartment/home.

To the first thing about my inviting people over, that is a trait ripped straight from living back home. Back home it wasn't uncommon for people to get invited over to my grandparent's house either for a planned thing or more often than not, someoene would get wind of my g-ma making her famous bbq chicken/conch/fried fish/take your pick...and next thing you know we have people over. Or my uncle and his other friends would come over...first 1 or 2. Then 5, then, 8 and then next thing you know there is a line of cars in the driveway and on the street. Folks are bringing over their contributions of beer or rum and food of their own. Instant party! I am also used to people throwing house parties. Someone's birthday, graduation, New Year's or hell just an excuse to have one. People would open their homes to their family and friends, a DJ would setup, food & booze would abound. Everyone was respectful of the host's home - nothing got stolen or furniture trashed. Probably because they knew everyone there and where to collect from if shit went sideways. haha!

To the second thing, I've noticed people in the States really don't have people over to their house that often. John & Cami are frequent exception to this rule. Even when I went to church (don't laugh) on the regular, dinners at people's houses seemed rare. We would eat after church in the dining hall of the church. And if we did happen to go to someone's house, they were close. May be that's due to the sprawled nature of the LA landscape - getting anywhere took almost 45 minutes unless it was right down the street. The other thing is, I am, we are blessed with a living situation that is conducive for having guests over. Some of my friends have commented their reason for not having people over often is they simply can't accomodate groups of people. Which makes total sense - as a good host we gotta make sure our guests are comfortable, yes? This isn't to say that my place is perfect and I'm better than anyone - hardly the case. I think it's an honor that people feel comfortable to come kick it.

So instead of inviting people over to their domiciles, people setup outings at clubs, restaurants, bars and the like. Again, this seems totally logical to me if you want to get a group of people together. Happy hours are done at whatever convenient watering hole and the like.

I was talking to a friend of mine today who is Mexican and wanted her opinion on this thing. And she agreed, most people in the States generally don't invite people over to their homes. The general m.o. is to have events out of the home. Invitations to the home are a sort of priviledge, rather than the norm. However, like on St. Thomas, where she lived in Mexico it was not uncommon for planned or spontaneous house parties to pop off.

I am left wondering why this is? Are people concerned about theft? Is it an encroachment of personal space? I'm not making a claim one culture is better than another. Rather simply offering commentary on this phenomena.

Best Plans Are No Plans

Me and Anna headed to this total dive bar near the house for a school night happy hour session. The place was pretty dead and conducive for convo. Coo'. Saddeled to the bar to try a new concoction she'd discovered over the weekend called the "Screaming Orgasm". Clearly a shot of some sort. However it can be made one of several ways and figured, what the hell we'd try them all or at least 3 of 'em. Basic recipe for a screaming orgasm:
1 oz Almond liquer
1 oz Bailey's Irish creme
1 oz Vodka
1 oz Milk
Variations on the theme include switching the almond for coffee liquer, and using both the coffee and almond liquer.

The Second Wind is one of those neighborhood bars where almost everyone knows you if you've been there more than twice. Part of the reason for that is the bartenders tend to be very friendly, a trait not all bartenders share. Tonight it was Leigh's turn at the helm, and while she had been working there for about a year, it was the first time I'd seen her. She introduced us to her own shot that was pretty damned tastey, and along the same lines as the screaming orgasm. I generally don't go for milk based shots, but what the hell.

On the other side of the bar was a dude hitting on a chick who clearly wasn't into the guy. Unfortunately, we could see that the chick was not doing a forceful enough job of telling the guy to fuck off. I walked over to her friend, and told her as quietly as possible, if they wanted they could join us they were welcomed to. And the first chance they got, they left their seats and joined us. Not 5 minutes later the drunk fucktard comes over and puts his arm around the chicks again. I asked him nicely to be a gentleman and give the girl some space. He puffs up like he's about make a move, and is all, "I am being a gentleman, you don't think I'm being a gentlman...you don't know the history" And all I'm thinking is, I'm about to get into a fight for helping some strange chick out. Good times. He finally backs off. Anna goes out to have a cigarette and by the time we got back we find out that Leigh asked him to leave.

Job well done. It was our time to bounce! The bartender was sincerely sad to see us go...haha! We walked over to the grocery to get the fixings to make the shots at home and some beer and snacks. I suggested we bug out for a few reasons: 1) it would've been mad cheaper for us to drink at the house and 2) judging from how Anna looked, if she had continued she wouldn't have been able to drive. We continued drinking and I attempted to redo the shots and Akilah joined in after she got back from bingo.

Shortly thereafter, Anna gets up, without saying a word, walks to the couch and plops down face first. haha! That was my cue to get the aerobed, which I had to move her onto bodily onto. LOL

Driving in a fishbowl

It's said that the Pope mobile is like driving in a fishbowl. There he sits with the entire world watching him from every angle conceivable angle. If I were the Pope I would need to go home and have a drink heavily afterwards. While I am no pontif, driving my car does seem to attract a fair bit of attention that I am certainly not used to. Here are today's odd moments:
#1 Took the car to get washed down the street. Feeling like a lazy fool, because I usually wash my cars by hand myself. Since this is new, I thought to try something new right? They used "sheep skin mitts"...lol! Anyway, pull the car up and the guy taking the order asks me, "what is that?? It looks like a BMW...no...it actually looks BETTER than a BMW! How much does it cost??" My response is, a lot less than a BMW. I start to walk away and I look back to see a few more car wash guys come over, peer inside and could hear them comment on the interior. How odd!

#2 We're driving to the aquarium store and in the rearview mirror is a guy driving a black Grand Prix GTP. The 1996-2002s I think. He pulls up on my 5 o'clock and looks over at the back and the doors. Then we are side by side on the and he looks at the rims and the vents on the fender. The light turns green and he pulls away, looking in his mirrors. Oddness.

#3 We pull into the parking lot and some young kids on BMX bikes are hogging the 2nd half of the lot. So I back into a space by the entrace. Walked in the store and I thoughtI forgot to lock the car, so go back to the door and the little band of kids are now hovering around the car. Handle bars. Helmets. New paint. Brats! I lock the door from a distance and watch the kids. They're looking through the windows, looking it up and down...and I just chuckle to myself. Right next to my car is a BMW 5-series and 3-series! WTF?!

The day ended with a random ass trip to the Fair for more kettle corn. SOMEONE (aka Akilah!!) said they didn't "care for" kettle corn, so I didn't get the big bag. But after getting the yummy goodness that is Fair kettle corn, SOMEONE actually loved it! The medium bag I got was half way done 5 hours after it came into the house. So we drive the 30 minutes to Fair Grounds, only to find that there is a 1.5 mile long line just to get off the freeway! After realizing that it would NOT be a quick snatch & grab operation, Kiki aborted the mission as it would take a long time just to get in the gates.

Is Fair kettle corn worth it?

Hellz yea!!

SD Fair

We FINAL-friggin'-LY made it out to the SD Fair at the Del Mar Fairgrounds! We were sitting on unlimited entry tickets for about a week. And it was good. Yea, it was good. It would've been better if I was able to see Steel Pulse play, but I was out of town that weekend. That was weekend all the car drama popped off. It was fun walking around and checking out all the vendors. We stopped off at one of the dart games to see if I could win Akilah a stuffed animal. I bought 7 darts for $10. The first 5 darts I threw hit their marks. The next one literally grazed off of a balloon and the last was a clear miss. Then the barker/carnie dude starts in...well I'll give you 2 more on me. I threw those and went 2 for 2. Then he said something else about larger animals and handed me 2 more darts. 2 more balloons popped in quick succession. By this point the other 2 carnie people were watching to see what we were doing. And that's when lil Mr. Carnie Scrote was going on about how if I pay $10 more dollars I could win the big baby Stewie...I looked at Kiki and she was like, naw that's ok...she'll take the little turtle (she later named 'Squirt'). Then the scrote was like, when you owe $10 for the darts you threw. WTF. Dude, you handed me those darts, just gimme the turtle. 'Naw, well dude you see, the first 2 after your 7 were on me, then the 2 after that were $10.' Yea, that makes no sense Sir Scrote. So in the end he was all, you (me!) weren't listening to me and no one listens to me...so here take your turtle. There was no way I was paying for darts he just handed to me!

Here's a little secret: I have pretty disturbingly accurate hand-eye coordination. If I am looking at something or some target, I can pretty much hit it. The balloons were only 3 or 4 feet away and it was fairly easy to do. There were a couple of ballons I popped that were alone by themselves that I hit dead center. This little skill of mine is limited to small objects in my hand that don't have to tumble to stick. Meaning, if I throw a knife, I can make it hit, but as long as the distance for the tumble isn't too far. If it's an object that I am comfortable with and use a lot, say my trusty phillips screwdriver, I can throw it at a box and sink it to the handle at a range of about 10 feet or so. This is how I sometimes killed time waiting for time consuming software updates to finish. haha!

In addition to the turtle, Kiki got herself an airbrushed tee with the a sun/moon design with her name across the front. We also got down on some fried goodness: zuchinni, onions and chicken. Before we left we snagged a bag of fresh kettle corn - oh my effin goodness! I also got her to try a deep fried twinkie...yea she's a convert now. It's NOT the kinda thing you have regularly...but hell it was good. My stomach will be worked tonight. Hopefully, the stomach acid will be kept to a minimum.

A sucky 4th

Drove to work.

Kiki wasn't feeling well, so drove her back home.

Drove back to work.

Found a weird message from some woman saying that someone had been calling their unlisted number from my desk. I had NEVER seen this number before. Her prefix did match ours, so may be the phone companies mixed up the signals or something?? Passed it onto to the TeleComm guys.

From this point I figured this would be a pretty shitty day. Some of us choose to work holidays because the company usually lets us leave a little bit early. And it also allows me to save on my PTO for something else. There was a bbq at a friend of a friend's house, but even that wasn't assured that I would make it. Got to leave at 2, actually left closer to 3. I wasn't really motivated to leave. Went home and passed out on the bed for a solid 2 hours. Checked movie listings to see if there was anything showing in time - nope, I had JUST missed the 3 or 4 o'clock showings, and the next ones wouldn't be till 7 or 8. Good times.

Akilah came home and we talked about a lot of stuff. Then we headed to Applebees. I was for damned sure having me some ribs today. I had made my friend a batch of rub to be used on ribs the bbq, but of course I wasn't making that. Turns out that some places DO stay open on holidays and we weren't the only people looking for some kind of eats.

Afterwards, we saw Hancock and honestly I liked it a lot. Without giving a way too much, I liked the concept of a super hero with human frailties. A super hero who isn't polite. City rampages where A LOT of damage happens due to the heroes fuck ups. Charlize Theron was an excellent opposite to Will Smith - in more ways than one. lol

Farewell to Sue

My friend Susan from work was leaving the company. This makes me really really sad. She is very cool. She's funny, always had smile on her face and best yet - she hadn't drunk the kool-aid of that place that some people had gulped down by the barrel load.

We all met up at Norma Jean's where my first duty for the night was to be pizza delivery guy. Gus's didn't deliver so we ordered 3 pizzas and I had to go and get them. I guess since it was my 'hood and I had them on speed dial, I was the one to go. So right as I was about to leave, it occured to me that my new car smell was going to be supplanted with pizza smell for at least a couple of days. But it was for Sue...and that was NOT a problem. There are some folks at work, I would certainly bend over backwards for. One of the higher ups at work who was there in thanks kept on buying my drinks after I got back with the pizzas. The same guy who ordered the pizzas in the first place. The man has class.

I couldn't help but wonder when my farewell happy hour happens how many people would show to mine. Yea I don't think that many would show..

Rockets Red Glare

Tonight Kiki and I were invited to watch the fireworks at work from Kanella's house. She said her backyard had a great vantage point from which to watch the fireworks - and it did NOT disappoint. There was the backyard with the view of the mountains, there was the lagoon-style pool with the slide leading into it, and the jacuzzi cascading down into the pool...yea, the view was one dope aspect of this house...but it didn't have the stage by itself. The view of the mountains, especially at sunset were insane. And I left my damned camera at home!

In San Diego, there seem to be a bunch of different camps of people with respect to where people want to live. Some like living in the middle of downtown aka The Gaslamp. You've got the ballpark, convention center, restaurants and coffee shops and the theater and everything up the wazzoo. Some people like living near the beach for the surfing, bohemian lifestyle and a fair bit of partying. Some people like living in the 'burbs (like me) where you're not in the middle of downtown's hussle & bustle, but have easy access to that stuff if you want. Then there areas more east that's at times characterized by lifted trucks, confederate flags and the like.

And there's Kanella's house. Big, open, loft-style, tall windows, tall doors, airy. If she had a BBQ outside I would be parked in her driveway every weekend by 9AM! After I figure out wtf is up with my allergies, I need to find a house more east. Somewhere I can entertain outside with a pool grilling on my grill, the music can be cranked and me and my guests can just be without bothering or being bothered.

The fireworks were bomb (no pun intended). I have to find this place where they got the sliders and wings from - Scootz! Go there and get down on their wings! Get down on the sliders!

Little man Nolan was there too. That little guy cracks me up! He does NOT stop moving! Even when he's tired and done for the day, he just doesn't stop! And I'm not sure if it's my locks or what, but the little doesn't stop staring at me! haha!

Presenting...

My 2009 Pontiac G8 GT