Bleary eyed and barely awake, I drove into work this morning in darkness. I’ve griped about how much I hate daylight saving time in the past, and I’m saving my latest rant for when we get closer to the change in a week and a half.
While I love “the dark”, there’s just something wrong about starting your day at work while it’s dark outside.
Sometimes simple is better. So I shut the lid on the PowerBook and went outside and just enjoyed the beautiful weather.
A breath of fresh air is always a good thing.
Earl and I are back home after a wonderful weekend with his family. We’re all settled in and he’s watching the Eagles take on the Cowboys as I type, I’m waiting for the washing machine to signal that’s its time to move clothes from the washer to the dryer.
I am so domesticated.
The wedding and reception were both very enjoyable. His whole family is so beautiful both inside and out. I had just enough to drink to keep the festivities interesting, to the point where I was going to let our 16 year old nephew take the Acura out for a spin since he thought it was such a nice car. I think I surprised Earl with the gesture (though he did not have a heart attack), in which he was then relieved that our nephew can’t drive a stick. I wasn’t about to let him learn how to drive a stick in the RSX; I wasn’t *that* intoxicated.
Nevertheless, chalk it up as trying to be the neat uncle in the aunt slot.
After the reception, we got together with Rick (Earl’s stepbrother) and Helen at the bar in the hotel we were staying at and just hung out, watched some baseball and made some travel plans for next year. Rick and Helen were the witnesses to our commitment ceremony nearly ten years ago, next year they’re going to tie the knot and have decided to do so in Ireland. They’ve asked us to join them for the ceremony.
Good thing I have a passport!
So now we are making plans for our first trip abroad. It’s a little over a year away, but I’m already looking forward to the journey.
I always get a kick out of the road signs that point the way to “Central Phila” instead of Center City (the commonly used name for this area).
As mentioned in the previous entry, a very nice young man offered to take our photo in front of City Hall. Here it is.
During this time of the year in these parts you have to wonder if this is the last nice day of the year. Around here snow can fly at any time pretty much after October 1st. Today it’s in the mid 60s and very humid. I think there’s a thunderstorm brewing.
The fall colors are coming along nicely as evidenced by the trees along the back yard. Tom and I took a stroll around the lawn during lunch. He followed the obligatory path he always follows when he does his “rounds”, I just walked around, picked up some garbage that had blown our way and enjoyed the crisp, yet warm autumn air.
I always can feel such magic on the wind this time of year. It does wonders for the soul.
We’ve done our best to eat healthy all weekend. We haven’t been out much because of my on-call obligations. So how did we celebrate?
We took a ride to the closest Taco Bell and then ate in the car while we drove around the city.
There wasn’t anything going on. But the food was damn good.
This weekend marks the official beginning of autumn, which happens to be my favorite season of the year. This past summer was a bit of a dud as far as weather goes with a lot of rain falling in our area, I’m hoping that means we’ll have some spectacular colors as the leaves turn.
Another thing I enjoy about autumn is that my method of cooking is more acceptable. I like to throw everything in a crock pot the night before and let it do it’s thing all day long, so supper is ready to go when we get home from work. I have books on how to cook just about anything in a crock pot, including a chocolate cake. Perhaps I’ll have to give that a whirl this fall.
I thought our busy summer schedule would simmer down once the weather cooled down, but we have something planned for next bunch of weekends, including weddings, going to Buffalo to see old friends and one of many (hopefully) Eagles games in Philadelphia.
For once I don’t have something to bitch about in my blog today, life is good. I hope it’s good for everyone that’s reading this. I could probably get a good rant worked up about the various headlines I’ve seen scroll across CNN this morning, but I’m not in the mood. We all know the world is a mess, no need in having yet another blogger point that out.
I’ve decided that I need start taking more photos to share on my blog. I’ve slacked off in the photography department a little bit and it’s time for me to turn that trend around. While I think of myself as just your average joe photographer, I do find snapping pictures inspires my creativity a little bit.
So here I am writing this blog entry, getting ready to dash out the door on another work week adventure. I didn’t realize that I looked so serious when I was blogging.
A couple of weeks ago I was told by my supervisor that I had some vacation days I needed to burn by the end of the year and the time-off calendar was filling up fast, so I best get to it.
I got to it today, as a full-fledged Road Geek, doing research for my roads web site.
There were a couple of highlights of the trip as I traveled through the Hudson Valley, including lunch with an on-line acquaintenance (see, the internet can be a safe place to socialize if you do it properly) and supper at a wonderful diner outside of Albany.
My stomach was grumbling on the “free” (non-Thruway) stretch of Interstate 90 in Rensselaer County. It was supper time and my body was ready to be fed *now*. I could have held out until the first service area once I was back on the Thruway, but since HoJo’s left the Thruway over a decade ago, it just hasn’t been the same.
The “FOOD – EXIT 10” sign loomed ahead, announcing a smattering of fast food joints and one little gem – The East Greenbush Diner. I took the cue, exited the interstate and followed the signs to hungry happiness.
As I pulled up to the diner, it was your typical mid to late 1970s place. It looked harmless enough with a moderate number of cars in the parking lot, so I parked the Acura and went in. Traveling alone, I opted to skip a booth or a table and instead I joined “the guys” at the counter across the back. I followed the predetermined etiquette of skipping a chair or two between patrons as I sat down; a pleasant enough young waitress gave me the obligatory small glass of water, a place setting and a menu.
I took a gander around and noticed beer steins from everywhere displayed just about everywhere against the dark, dark paneling. There were other knick knacks and doo-dads displayed in a haphazard manner and the overall effect was rather friendly. The atmosphere was “homey” and for some reason I was reminded of my city grandmother’s basement, without the washing machine spinning.
Chatter at the counter had simmered down as I approached my seat.. I was an outsider. Not only was I wearing a pair of camoflauge shorts and my black “enforcer” boots, I had never been in the diner before and they knew it. A little bit of eavesdropping clued me in that the one closest to me was “Norm” (or Norm-y, depending on the waitress) and the one at the end of the counter was “Frank”. Norm was waiting for his food, Frank had just announced “the usual” as I was arriving. Apparently, these two men, both in their mid to late 50s I would guess, frequented the East Greenbush Diner frequently and were friendly with the staff. I couldn’t determine if they were widowers or somehow single otherwise, on their way home from work or perhaps in the doghouse with a wife at home refusing to cook. Whatever the reason, it must have come up often because there they were, seemingly *again*.
After my food was served, and I broke the ice with a “This veggie burger is well-done, eh?” (damn that Canadian speech coach in college) to the waitress, who smiled approvingly, the other guys continued eating and the waitresses debated how to properly make another batch of iced tea. The “fresh brewed iced-tea” somehow involved powder, a pitcher of cold water and thankfully a spoon instead of an elbow to stir it, but no one could decide how much powder to put in. After a discussion, they dumped a sizeable portion of the mix into the pitcher and made the best of it.
Norm said, “It looks like tar. And it’s gonna taste like it too.”
The waitress responded, “Just add more water, that’ll thin it out a little bit.”
Norm said, “No, once it’s bitter there’s no going back.”
The waitress nodded in my direction and said, “He’s drinking the last batch we made the same way”, then to me, “How’s it taste?”
All eyes were focused on me. I responded, “It tastes great.”
They smiled approvingly.
“And damn, it doubled the amount of hair on my chest too!”
The waitress smiled weakly and the two guys sitting at the counter laugh approvingly and nodded in my direction.
The new guy at the counter was now one of the guys.
Just a guy with a husband. We’ve been together 28 years and he still makes me see fireworks on a daily basis. Hiker. Storm Chaser. Private Pilot. Tech Guy. Hackerish.
Weird? Eccentric!
