The week in review

Started work Wednesday.  Actually, just training.  Training entails watching inane econ 101 videos and mock trading.  Mock trading entails making fake, paper trades just to get used to the keyboard system.  I was pretty happy trading for nickels and dimes, until I saw that the guy across from me found a stock that ran $6 bucks.  The office is a bit of a work in progress, but the 3 or 4 other traders that I've met so far seem cool.

Getting up at 5:20.  A. M.  Soon that will be more like 4:15.  That's gonna take some getting used to.  More so for the wife, who likes to watch late night TV.  Also, commuting 50 miles each day (to my old stomping grounds, no less) - also, gonna take some getting used to.  Good thing I gots me a vacay coming up.

At least, I get to come home to delicious gourmet meals.

     J1:  Why do we have to eat gourmet?

     J2:  Because we are a gourmet family.


Had a little league game last night.  Nevermind, that we are now 0-7.  My son, who almost got creamed by a liner to second base, has been bugging me non-stop to let him pitch.  Well, I've been trying to get a single, damn elusive win by playing our best pitchers - to no avail.  So, yesterday, being down 16 - 0 to nothing, I called for my young right hander.  One of the other Dads implored, "Don't concede!"  I ignored him.  I let J1 pitch to a few batters.  He did OK.  Didn't get his head knocked off.  And then I went to relieve him to let another pesty kid pitch.  Now my son is upset that I pulled him.  Can't win.

And there you have it.  Have some gardening, ll practice and game, and some movies to catch up on this weekend.

Family at play

It was cold and rainy in San Clemente,

Coaching my first born, my Kunta Kinte.

Would we play little league in this tsunami?

I did not know, I am no swami.

With our furry portie,

a cute dog named Cubbie,

by the lonely palm tree

peeing like a banshee.

There too, brother Fozzie,

also a wavy portie,

dreaming of life at sea

eating kibble and a cookie.

Lovely bride Stephie

chatting with the paparazzi,

supporting her family

sipping a cool chianti.

And my darling daughter Jilly,

playing by the rhododendron.

Who's making this weather so silly,

ocelot's with a magnutron?

Super Blah Sunday

Random thoughts:

Yesterday's rain cancelled today's ll practice. Yay.

Our company cancelled at last minute.

F'Brees stinkin' it up early.

Wife makes the best guacamole (said in an autotune voice).

Josh running around like a banshee.

Even the violin playing beaver can get a job.

Maybe it's because I actually wear pants.

Me want to go to the Bud Light Lost island.

How 'bout my wifey making jambalaya and beignets.

Beer here.

Jilly just fell off the couch. She's ok.  No, she wasn't drinking beer.

Watched the puppy bowl. Too cute. After the old man show, of course.

Punxsutawney Palamato (?). Hee hee.

C'mon Saints.

Arcade Fire. Nice

Who dat be singing.  The Who.  The Who be old. Cool laser show.

The week in review

They say it never rains in southern California.  They lied.  Who are they anyway?  Do they know Pete?  Do they know the way to San Jose?  Do they know who invented liquid soap and why?  To sum up:  this week has been somewhat - what's the word? - oh, crappy.  Not in the sense that anything really terrible happened.  More in the lack of anything happening.  Made no progress on the job front.  Made some premature day trades, which are no longer "day" trades.  Paid bills.  Was going to do some landscaping today, but the mist is mocking me.

I feel like I'm on Lost, leading sideways lives.  Only I'm not hanging with Evangilene Lilly.  I'm enjoying my free time, hanging with the kids, and exploring San Clemente.  I'm never bored.  On the other hand, the angst of not getting a job is eating at me.  Rejections and offer renegs aren't helping.

Held Josh's first real field practice yesterday.  It went well.  Parents played nicely.  Kids did good.  Except they were starting to wonder why Josh wasn't playing in the minors league.  Gonna try to get out and give Josh some extra practice.

Plans for the weekend:  might head to beach, weather permitting, to watch a local surf tournament; another practice sunday morn, which I had to move earlier due to the superbowl which will now cause some kids to be late due to church; veg out and watch the superbowl commercials:  who dat gonna interrupt my commercials?  oh, the game.

Really cool metaphor Josh used in an original story:  tsunami of snot

El primero de febrero

If February give much snow A fine Summer it doth foreshow.

- English proverb

January be gone.  Welcome the shortest, darkest of months.  The blog survived its first month, spewing its putrid prose on a daily basis.  Let's see if we can make it through this runt of a month, also home to:   adopt a rescued rabbit month, grapefruit month (really?), bake for family fun month, marijuana awareness month (no relation to the bake for family fun one), national condom month (again, no correlation), national spunky old broads month (no comment), national cherry month (the fruit, people!), pull your sofa off the wall month (can't make this stuff up), jell-o week, love a mench week  and the Olympics.   And now for some more babbling prattle:

Got a much better tree trimming quote today.  Made a day trade.  Showered the ocean stanking Cubster.  Watched the old man show.  Productive day.

Kind of got kind of a job offer.  Mathnasium wants me to tutor 4 days a week, from 3 to 7.  Now they need to see if they can work around my little league schedule.

Had our first batting practice today.  Got some real good little swingers on the team.  2 Dads helped out tonight, one of whom was a little gung ho.  Just realized we have a practice scheduled during the superbowl.  Who dat say dey gonna practice baseball?  Not I.  That will not do.  Not do at all, I say.

Surviving the apocolypse

No, this is not another article about California's biblical weather.  This is about living through another form of the dark ages.  Today is the 60th anniversary of the microwave oven (nee Radarange), thank you Old Man Show.  We have been without our microwave, now known as Mel, for 11 days.  11 DAYS, people.  The withdrawals.  The horrors.  How have we lasted so long, you ask?  Steph has gone so far as to have gone to the gas station to microwave popcorn, twice.  I reheated spaghetti in a frying pan.  Mmmm....fried spaghetti.  Potatoes were cooked in a, gasp, oven.  Oh, the humanity!  Eurocare returns tomorrow with our beloved new magnutron, whatever that is.

Little league has taken up the bulk of my weekend - 2 meetings yesterday and one today.  Positive coaching alliance with a Chris Farley motivational speaker was fairly entertaining.  Safety class talked about concussions, seizures, and impalements.  But strangely, not snake bites.  And today, I have a coaching clinic with the SC HS baseball coach.  This ll stuff is intense.  Working on tuesdays practice plan, weather permitting, prior to a 4 hour rules meeting.

Last night was date night.  We went to Vine in downtown SC.  Food was very flavorful, but pricey.  Had a hearts of romaine salad with tiajuana dressing (otherwise known as Caesar salad), iron steak with frites, and S had the coq au vin - which is French for white man's chicken dinner.

Just another day in paradise

California - the action state.  Motto:  all action, all the time (said in a Schwartzenegger accent).  Today we had hail, flash floods, mudslides, tornados, waterspouts, serious surf, and gusty winds.  Did I mentioned that it rained.  Gotta get going on that ark. UPDATE: We also had an earthquake.  More of the same expected for today.

Also, got rejected by Chase today.  At least they had the courtesy to call.  Thanks.  Decided to go with someone else.  Thanks for nothing.

Off to the little league baseball draft.  To draft Josh or not?

Things on my desk

Gnome, gnome on the....er, desk.  Please enjoy the following brief tour of things on my desk.  My gnome Ernie, no not the Travelocity Roaming one, is here to keep me company until baseball season returns - 82 days until opening day.  Camera wire in the lower right to upload pictures of Ernie.  Blank dvd-r's to make me seem techy/geeky.  Gary the gargoyle to ward off evil spirits and protect Ernie.  And my inbox, featuring a lovely present presented to mwa by my lovely bride to be utilized in the near future....a segway tour of Balboa peninusla.  Pretty cool, right....and that's only the right side of my desk.

Met with a landscape guy today to see what overhauling my yard would involve.  Anybody want to make a guess?  We'll see what the numbers come in at.

Had a very good interview at Chase bank today.  I was reticent to go, based on some one-sided internet boards, but was pleasantly surprised.  The ladies of SC liked me enough to send me onto their boss in Laguna Hills.  We'll see.  Oh, the dessert people want me and S to fly out to Tennessee.  Tennessee, there ain't no place I'd rather be.

The wife ran over Josh's new bicycle today.  That didn't take long.  At least Josh wasn't on the bike.

Attended a little league meeting today and got scared straight.  Snakes on the fields.  Parents physically threatening managers.  Meetings out the wazoo.  What have I gotten myself into.  We'll see.

Shout out to my Mom.  Hi Mom.

Baseball been berry berry good to me

Spent the day watching other kids try out for little league.  Thousands of 9-11 year olds.  Well, not thousands, but for 5 hours.  It's exhausting.  I've agree to (i.e. suckered into) coaching Josh's team.  So, the kids tryout and next week me and 11 other SC dads will draft them.  I'm not drafting Josh.  No worries...he's automatic to my team.  And the bad news, 5 more hours tomorrow morning...starting at 8.  So much for reading the sunday papers and watching the old man CBS morning show.  It's enough to make me scream like a banshee.

Steph and the kids were much more fortunate today.  They got to spend the day at Laguna Beach.   And the Birdman was there too.  I wish I was the Birdman.

My second post

New Year’s Day.  New beginnings or kick-ass U2 song?  Didn’t exactly bring in the new year with a bang.  Lazy day.  Spent the morning catching up on bills…only to find out that my wife forget to give me a credit card bill from last month.  Decided that bills are getting out of control, so I went out shopping.  Grocery shopping actually.  Didn’t realize it takes two stores to successfully grocery shop.  Walmart for packaged goods and Ralph’s for produce/deli/meat.   My wife misses Super Walmart.

Took the kids to the park, where I threw the ball around with Josh.  I’m going to manage his little league team this spring.  Got to get him over his fear of flyballs.  I’ve managed before at the t-ball level.  It was 10% coaching and 90% getting the field ready and lugging equipment.  Actually, it was organized babysitting.  I’m looking forward to coaching kids with developed skills.  Dealing with the parents in this competitive league might be interesting.

Cubby went to the park too.  Again, Cubby is our 5 month old Portugese Water Dog.  Both his front paws are white.  He strongly resembles Bo Obama.  But if one more person asks me if his name is Socks, I’ll reply, “Is your name Mr. Obvious?”  Cubby likes pouncing on our older PWD Fozzie, who is 12.  Fozzie has had 2 surgeries — one to remove a cancer of the butt and one to remove his spleen, which turned out to be unnecessary–the second surgery, as well as, the spleen.  Anyway, we got the puppy to keep Fozzie spry as well as to time the puppy’s lifespan with when Jillian will go off to college.  Cubby keeps Foz on his toes, but really, old man dog just wants to be left alone.

Spent some time feeding my addiction to various Facebook games.  Got some gas.  For my car.   Went to the bank.  Not the most productive day or start to the year.

Random quote from Jillian: IHOP open 24 hours.  They just keep working and working.