47 Degrees and Raining

Did that deter me from doing my laps at the outdoor pool today? Certainly not!  A beast by any other name would smell as sweet.  Wait, does that make any sense?

https://www.thesaurus.com/browse/beast

I did not get my swim in yesterday.  I showed up around 9am only to find out that the pools were closed for repairs.  The outdoor pool would re-open at 10, but I had a date with my wife. I would have expected a personal phone call from the posh club informing me of the closure, as I am a treasured charter member.

The wife and I spent yesterday morning at SFMOMA, because we’re highly cultured.  We saw a lot of cool stuff.  We were impressed by some of the abstract art, but not all of it.  As far as I am concerned, nailing together two different geometric shapes in two different colors doesn’t cut it.  I found this out the hard way.  A few years ago, I painted a large piece of plywood black and added a smaller green triangle to it.  I sent photos of it to museums all over but no takers.  I had to use one of my bi-annual large item pick-ups from the garbage company to get rid of it.

Back to my date. After MOMA, my wife and I walked a half block to Fang on Howard. Peter Fang started House of Nanking in 1988. I’ve been there, but not for many years.  Back in the days when I worked in the city, three of the best Chinese restaurants in the country were within walking distance of each other: Henry Hunan, Brandy Ho and House of Nanking.  You cannot go wrong with any of them.

We enjoyed lunch at Fang.  We both got tea, which they serve with a big tea ball that eventually unwraps itself in the mug. We found this cool, as we are rubes. After I paid the check, the waitress was working with the next table and blocking my wife’s exit.  I stood up, said “it was nice having lunch with you, see ya” and went outside. I like to kid.

The wife and I also had a busy Thursday. After doing my bi-weekly volunteer activity, we headed down to see 4M and his wife in San Jose.  We had originally planned to hang in his back yard and eat take-out, but he came up with a cockamamie story about not wanting to put up the sunshade due to the impending rain. We ended up at a sandwich joint a few blocks from their house.  I think he just likes being seen in public with a famous blogger. Back home in the evening, we had a bocce game.  The wife cannot play due to her elbow, so she put on a cute cheerleader outfit.  We lost again, keeping our record perfect.

The wife likes to give me blog ideas sometimes.  She said I should write about the constant work at the end of the block. I said to myself, “That will make sterling content”. It actually is kind of funny how a crew shows up every two to three weeks and re-digs the same hole.  They spent a lot of time down there installing streetlights last year, but I don’t know what the hell they are doing now.  Maybe it is a training facility.

I also get blog motivation from #1, aka pork thief.  He lets me know when I’ve gone too long without one of my scintillating posts.  I saw a hit from Sonora, CA today and I got my mojo.  #1 is hanging in Yosemite this weekend.

In my 1/5/24 blog, I made a rare wisecrack in referring to the Golden Bachelor couple.  I said, "I wish them all the happiness in the world for the few years I expect them to remain together." I guess I should have said months, as they are divorcing.  I sent this news on to a couple of my WhatsApp buddy chat groups.  Some of the guys took it pretty hard.

I had a bad week in the options market.  I blame Jamie Dimon. I plan to halt all trading in May, due to Double Brood Cicadageddon.

Turn Around Bright Eyes

After causing a near-tsunami in lane 2 during my hyper-competitive workout at the posh club this morning, I headed over to Men’s Wearhouse.  I was there to get measured for a tux for the girl’s wedding.  The guy told me I had short legs.  Is that any way to get return business? He ended up being pretty savvy, as he upsold me on a special cummerbund that can reduce my abdominal protuberance by up to 50%. He did caution me that my results may vary.

Boy, howdy, that was some eclipse the other day, no? I went outside at 11:15 am with the special glasses I got at the library. My neighbor was out there too so I lent her my glasses and then the mailman tried them out. The next one isn’t for twenty years, so I’ll probably be having beers with Beelzebub then.

I’m glad I didn’t put out any dough to get into the path of totality and a traffic jam for this non-event. One Mexican TV station had a little mix-up during their broadcast. And Heart did Bonnie Tyler’s Total Eclipse of the Heart with Jimmy Fallon.  I’ve always called that song Total Eclipse When I Fart. This is due to my lack of maturity.

https://www.tmz.com/2024/04/09/eclipse-flashing-live-tv-mexico-rcg-media/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhIYINetsdc

I had dinner at an Indian restaurant in West Portal on Monday night with my old pal the Phoenix Flyboy. We ended up talking more about his kids and mine and other current events rather than going down memory lane. It has been over 35 years since we worked together, not far from where we were chowing down. Now that we are reacquainted, I expect we’ll get together more often than every 20 years. In his honor I picked up a few DAL calls.  They report today after the bell. 

I had lunch with the numbers last week.  I had mentioned that Ben Tre had closed down their San Mateo location, so we decided to visit their Millbrae restaurant.  They serve excellent Vietnamese cuisine.  About a minute after my vermicelli bowl arrived, #1 snatched a piece of grilled pork off the top. In an effort to keep his fingers out of my food, I ceded a piece of my Imperial roll as well. That seemed to do the trick.  Meals with these guys are always an adventure.

Today is National Erase Self-Negativity Day. I’d enjoy celebrating it more if I wasn’t such an asshole.

Glad Påsk

That’s Swedish for Happy Easter.  I received an Easter greeting via FB from au pair #2 this morning, the first of four wonderful Swedish women that took loving care of our kids many moons ago.

The Foster City social calendar is getting out of hand.  Today will be four straight engagements. I mean, I like people for the most part, but come on! Doesn’t anybody realize I need large quantities of DJ time?

Thursday night we went up to Chapeau!, which has been featured many a time in this blog.  On the way up, I read a passage from my 1/22/10 post detailing the heroics of #1 during one of our prior visits.  I also realized that every time I reference the owner Phillipe, I call him “effusive”.  I promise to consult with Roget next time.

Friday was #1’s 65th birthday, so we went to his house and had a bunch of tasty, homemade Mexican food that his wife assembled. Sure. Barbie does not cook, so #1 put this feast together. My wife made a delectable olive oil cake to celebrate.

Last night was the driveway cocktail team at our house.  I helped my wife with a lasagna, which fortunately will provide two additional meals for us. At one point our neighbor was telling my wife to get back into the pool.  She explained that she was not able to swim for several months due to her elbow.  The neighbor said she should still get in the water.  I suggested she stand in the guest bathroom tub an hour or two a day.

Today we go back to #1’s house for an early Easter supper of enchiladas and leftovers from Friday. This will be a laid-back affair, as my wife said there should only be about 5 of us.  It looks like TCG and Katie will not be joining us.  Perhaps they are prepping for Greek Easter. If you ever read my damn blog, you’d know I call that Greaster.

My bracket is busted. I’m in 18th place. My pick of Marquette taking it all was not my wisest choice. I expect to pick up some points with a Purdue win this afternoon, but that might get me into 17th place.  It is my fervent hope that Duke gets pasted today.

I’m getting together with the Phoenix Flyboy next week.  We have not seen one another for many years.  I’m not sure how many, but I’m sure he’ll be able to tell me, as he cherishes every moment he’s ever spent with me.

You guys ever heard of Bhad Bhabie?  Wikipedia describes her as an “American rapper and Internet personality”. She first came to prominence thanks to the self-effacing Dr. Phil. I’ve included the article below in case you’d like to begin your research.  On a side note, I thought that Bhad Bhabie and Bad Bunny would have made a nice couple.

https://www.tmz.com/2024/03/03/bhad-bhabie-danielle-bregoli-fight-video-restaurant-pregnant-baby-daddy-argue/

I heard through the grapevine that my pal The Exec has bought himself a new RV. I could easily see him going Mad Max in the future.  I thought this might be a good look for his new home away from home.

Lastly, word on the street is this guy got a better offer in Binghamton.

Where Am I?

As I texted to my old pal 4M the other day, I was wondering if I had died and gone to hell, or I was just at the San Mateo DMV. It turned out it was the latter. Of course, I had made an appointment.  I wouldn’t have gone anywhere near the joint if I hadn’t. The mass of humanity I encountered there was frightening, so I was on edge until my number came up.  I was applying for a REAL ID and since the name on my passport and the name on my license differ, I had to do the paperwork dance. My passport has my middle name, and my license didn’t. After making my $45 contribution, I had to get a new photo taken.  My timing was bad. I had just gotten a haircut, but one that was dictated by my wife to our haircutter.  The wife wants it longer so it can be combed back, since the girl’s wedding is coming up soon.  So after my haircut and before my DMV appointment, I gelled it up real good and brushed it back.  Since it was still pretty short, by the time the gel dried up, my hair was sticking up an inch or two.  This is the picture that will probably be on my license for the rest of my life, an Eraserhead look, except in gray.

Multi-billionaire and Binghamton grad Jeff Yass made the pilgrimage to Mar-A-Logo to chat with the Orange Duce about TikTok.  Trump had previously been for banning the app, but he had a change of heart after Yass’ visit.  I mentioned to #1 that I had seen this news on Chris Hayes’ show.  All he said was “F@#%ERS!!”. We agreed wholeheartedly. You can read more here.

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/03/14/trump-tiktok-billionaire-donors-00146892

Speaking of #1, I tried to give him some of my peerless investment advice. I let him know Wednesday that he still had time to join me in an ADBE strangle. I had a $590 call and a $560 put.  They reported after hours yesterday and the street was disappointed, dropping the stock $80 this morning. I made a tidy profit after deducting the call cost. But in reality, it is not a good idea to give friends betting investment tips, as that could cause a contretemps. 

Ask Your Doctor

As I mentioned in my last post, I recently had my annual physical.  During my visit, I asked my doctor about Skyrizi, Ozempic, Chantix and Otezla.  He ordered me to stop watching TV for a month.

Elsewhere on the medical front, my wife took a tumble on Sunday and broke her pinky finger and her elbow.  The elbow required surgery, so now I’m doing the cooking AND the cleaning, as well as other tasks as needed. But, no worries, I do it out of love.  However, in our time of great need, #1 decided this would be a good time to fly off to Paris.  I’m surprised the SOB didn’t ask me for a ride to SFO.

Have you been keeping up with the royals? I have! I saw that an exhausted Camilla was taking a break from royal duties.  Cutting ribbons and trying to keep that horndog Charles happy cannot be easy. And a headline in today’s Daily Beast asked the question if Prince Edward’s royal moment had finally come.  All I can say is I certainly hope so.

In celeb news, Tish Cyrus hired security to keep her daughter Noah out of her wedding, and it was not because Noah is scary looking.  Apparently, Noah used to “date” the groom.  That entire family gives me the creeps.

The swag bags at the Oscars are valued at $178k. We’re all going to hell.  

Have a nice weekend.

USVI Wig Experience ‘24

I didn’t manage to launch this rocket from the islands, but I made some notes on the plane.

First off, many thanks to Wigs one and all for the invite and the bonhomie. I’ve referred to Wig’s brother in a couple posts as The Running Beast so that, or RB, is now his official blog name.

RB and his wife made the trip to St. John to participate in the 8 Tuff Miles run, which consists of a lot of hills, just like the island itself.  The Wigs and my wife and I lounged around the manor while they were toughing it out, sending good vibes to the competitors.

We stayed in a spacious villa in a gated community.  Some might say it was gated to keep me in, but that’s just idle talk. The only problem we had was the master suite inhabited by the RBs had a faulty shower, providing them lukewarm water at best.  They solved that problem by not showering after the first day. Oh, I kid.

The whole crew had some good meals. Our first night was at 1864, which served up some pretty tasty fare in an open-air setting. Reservations were a little tight due to the event, so we ended up at the Westin one night. It was pretty good, but the waiter had approximately 35 tables, so service was a little slow. Wig became grill master on our last evening, churning out burgers and seared tuna.

The Wigs and RBs were busy on the home front as well.  Both of them had kids that were negotiating job offers, so they had to huddle for some advisory sessions. And for the Wig, a day would not be complete without a real estate transaction, so they sold their current home and will be moving down the street about 100 yards. They close on June 14th, which I pointed out will be the 50th anniversary of my high school graduation.

We had several beach excursions.  We went to Hawk’s Nest and Trunk Bay on St. John. The water was warm and inviting, and the views were gorgeous. Parking was a little precarious, but our Jeep was able to navigate the tougher spots. It was a five-seater that we turned into a six-seater with a beach chair in the back.

One of the trip highlights was our trek to Jost Van Dyke in BVI.  We got a new stamp on our passport then headed to the Soggy Dollar, which is run by the family of Mrs. RB. Earlier in the trip we were graciously welcomed to their home for dinner. We had a few cocktails and a tasty lunch at Soggy Dollar and I got a t-shirt. Towards the end of our stay there we got hit with heavy rain, but since we were in bathing suits and it was 80 degrees, we got through it OK.

My wife and I headed out on Monday.  We took a ferry ride over to St. Thomas.  The gruff captain told my wife to get moving as she tried to have our second ticket scanned. She’s a little sensitive, so I consoled her on the boat. The taxi to the airport took the non-scenic route but got us there in plenty of time. Going through security, I had to wait a bit for the 80-year-old TSA agent to notice me and wave me through the scanner. We spent the night in Ft. Lauderdale and treated ourselves to some extremely dicey Chinese food, since it was the only place within walking distance. I nibbled a bit of it, but the mystery meat in the dumplings put me off. We arrived back in the Bay mid-afternoon Tuesday, dealing with mild jet lag that evening.  I still may be dealing with it, as I got up at 4:30am today.

So, the President and I both had our annual physicals yesterday and the report was the same, in that we are both a “healthy, robust 81-year-old”.  You may remember Trump boasting about coasting through his dementia test, memorizing “Person. Woman. Man. Camera. TV.”. For the first time I got a version of that, with “Garden. Picture. Captain”. I didn’t do as well as the Orange Duce, but I passed.  They also had me fill in the numbers on a clock and put the hands at 11:20, the time of my appointment. I aced it. 

My apologies but I have not kept up with celebrity news during my travels, so I have no nuggets to share with you on that front. I hope my next post will be chock full of that type of info.

I’d like to wish my pal Katie a happy 17th birthday.

This is DJ...Now

I'm still as self-absorbed as ever.

We flew into Ft. Lauderdale on Saturday and hopped in a Lincoln town car supplied by my brother-in-law to hang with them in their West Palm winter digs for a few days. Sunday we took a cruise in the rain to check out a few houses on the market before we drove by Mar-a-Lago. I tried to stop in on 45 but, as ex-presidents often do, he was off on a sneaker marketing tour. When he gets done with that, he'll go back to casting aspersions on anyone and everyone that does not bend the knee while he tries to find some suckers from whom he can extract half a billion in cash to pay for his crimes.

We had a luxe dinner that night at Cafe L'Europe. My brother-in-law picked up the tab so I was on the hook for a couple meals.  I was going to suggest Wendy's or Mickey D's, but they outsmarted me and made a couple reservations for Monday and Tuesday. We ate at Renato's, where we had a dinner several years ago when we stayed at The Breakers for my wife's 60th birthday. I perused the wine list that had several four figure entries and settled on a California cab that didn't break the bank. The chow was good. Last night was an 8:30 reservation at Palm Beach Grill that threw my bedtime completely out of whack. I think we had been here before as well. This is a top spot to see and be seen. I encountered a couple plastic surgeries that almost jolted my appetite, but a Tanqueray martini set me straight. Two thumbs up for all these joints.

We said goodbye to the in-laws this morning with an extended hug-a-thon and headed to FLL for a flight to St. Thomas. The wife and I are at the Green Iguana for one night before we sail over to St. John's for the USVI Wig Experience '24. We'll be joining not one, but two Wigs, and their better halves. In this case, better halves is not merely an idiomatic expression. If your lucky, I'll be inspired to drop a post from St. John.