Whither Kobe?

I'm a big Lakers fan and always have been. When my wife and I lived in the Boston area, I intentionally kept my Lakers license plate holder. We went to the yearly Lakers-Celtics game where my wife would ask if we were going to get out of there alive as I was wearing plenty of Laker gear. I'll always remember going to the last game the Lakers played at the old Boston Garden. Nick van Excel drained a 3-point shot to win the game. The Gahden was very quiet, except for the few of us wearing purple-and-gold.

I won't go all the way through Laker history, but we are clearly in a down cycle. When the Kobe-Shaq window closed, it shut hard. Whether you believe the Lakers' owner, who said they traded Shaq because he didn't want to pay Shaq the maximum salary that he wanted, or the press that claimed that Kobe went to ownership and said that he would bolt if Shaq was re-signed, the Lakers did not get full value for Shaq and are now in a bad way. They are over the salary cap, so they can't really acquire a great free agent. They don't have many good players, besides Kobe, and the ones they have are losing trade value because they've had off-season surgeries. In other words, they are fucked for a while.

So, the latest tiff started when Kobe suggested after this season that he's frustrated that the team's not particularly good and he wants to play with some better guys. OK, fair enough, though the media's not really the best place to be airing that kind of shit. Then, it morphs into Kobe suggesting that Jerry West (an all-time Laker and NBA great who was their general manager during their recent success) come back as a 'consultant' to help the team make trades, etc. A couple of days later, some guys who cover the Lakers start writing stories saying that if Kobe doesn't like things they should just ship his ass out. Kobe feels that all these stories are being planted by Lakers management and asks to be traded (and soon retracts it). Christ.

The bottom line is this. Kobe is one of the three best players in the league. The Lakers could never get anywhere close to equal value if they traded him (see the Shaq trade) and would suck for years to come. Theoretically, the could get enough draft picks to rebuild (assuming that Mitch Kupchak, their current GM, would know what to do with the picks).

My feeling is that Kobe isn't going anywhere. It would cost the Lakers too much on the court and in the stands to trade him. Hopefully, everyone is pissed enough that they'll do something to make the team better. Otherwise, there's gonna be a lot of bitching and moaning next year.

Memorial Day 2007

Happy 3day Weekend to you. I've got a funny Memorial Day story. I grew up in CA where Memorial Day was always a 3day weekend. So, when I went to grad school in the south I'm thinking that the last weekend in May is a good excuse for a trip to the beach or some sort of road trip. But, nooooooo. As it happens Memorial Day was originally established for Union war dead and wasn't a 'national' holiday until after WW I. This was something that was left out of the CA text books. Strangely, I guess down south they held a bit of a grudge. I think by now it's a holiday everywhere, but man that was strange.

I'm ambivalent about Memorial Day as a holiday. Those who fought and died for our country should be honored. But listening to politicians get up on their high horse today call on more people to run Bush's fool's errand in Iraq make me sick.

My nephew is sleeping over this weekend, so that means non-stop stuff. Yesterday we went to see Shrek III. We all thought it was kind of so-so. Apparently Disney's copyright of Snow White must have expired as Katzenberg really used her to stick it to his former employer.

Then we went to the Griffith Park Observatory. For those of you who haven't been to LA, Griffith Park is a really well kept secret. It's the largest urban park in the US (yes, bigger than Central Park in NYC) and has spectacular views of LA. The Observatory is close to Cal Tech and the Jet Propulsion Lab, so the programs and exhibits are great. When I was a kid we used to go there on school field trips. As I got into high school and college it was a great date place, as well as a fun trip to get stoned and go to laser rock shows. The Observatory was recently re-opened after a 4-year renovation and it looks spectacular. They kept the iconic architecture (you've seen it in a bunch of movies) but really improved and refurbished the facilities.

Griffith Park itself has been in the news, well here at least, since it had a large fire a few weeks ago. There are rarely big fires in the park, so it bodes poorly for our fire season this year.
There's a lot of discussion as to what to do with the burn areas. I think the park people will probably get their way in letting most of the areas grow back naturally. As the National Park Service has learned, fires are a natural occurrence and they, and the aftermath, shouldn't be managed much. In fact, a benefit of the fires was that a lot of non-native plants were taken out.

However, to some the park represents a great opportunity for community gardens, something that a sprawling city like LA needs. There are those who want to ensure those remain, or even expand. I can see maintaining some of these and some very user friendly areas of the park which are close to the communities that border the park. Except for that, I say let the park grow back wild and restore itself to its natural state and beauty.

Lazy Saturday

A bunch as been going on since my last post.

My mom's youngest sister (the one who had the stroke) now has lung cancer. It's encapsulated and hasn't spread, which is the good news. But, she has so many other health problems it's hard to tell what they can do for her. Also, because of the brain damage from the stroke there's no telling whether she would able to follow through on any treatment regime (she's had a very hard time with the post-stroke physical therapy).

On the work front, I think I bagged a very big client. Nothing has been signed, so I'm trying not to count my chickens. It's amazing the mood changing affect work has on me and that can be troubling.

My relationship with Lynn is still in a not-so-good state. However, despite what happened last time, I have a couple of small projects for her. Since these are smaller scale I think they'll go better.

The HB has two more weeks of school, then we're off to Yosemite. Last night we had Indian Guides, which was fun. The mom's got together as well at a different house. Apparently some got pretty hammered and some were being pretty confessional. My wife thought this was pretty funny/weird since she is so NOT the confessional type. But, she said the wine was good and the house was nice, so a good time was had by all. The HB and I had a blast, though I was a bit hungover this morning.

Rotary stuff is going well. We're in the middle of our big fund raiser, a used book sale. When I joined the Club I kinda scoffed at it, until I saw how many books the club moves in 8 days (about 5,000!). I'm also very involved with my club hosting New Zealand exchange students for a weekend before they head to their year long destination country. I heard this morning from the New Zealand organizers that they would like to have my club host a student (we've wanted to do this for several years). Hopefully other folks in the club will be equally psyched The wife and the HB agreed with me that it would be cool to have the student stay with us for a few months.

The HB's back from the budding sociopath's house, so we're gonna go do something fun.

Saturday 8

1. who's the oldest living member of your family?
My great uncle Jay, who I believe is 95.

2. who's the newest?
My cousin's twins who are about 6 mos.

3. if you could spend a two-week vacation with one family member, who would it be?
My Uncle Sam (and we get a week with him and his wife in June).

4. the old saying goes, "you can pick your friends, but you cannot pick your family." if you could choose one of your friends, who would you 'elect' to become a member of your family?
Joe, who was best man at my wedding.

5. who in your family can you just NOT stand?
My cousin Steve.

6. do you have a member of the family who is currently suffering an illness? (i'm going for physical illness here, but feel free to talk about the batshit-crazy ones, too)
Yes, my aunt (my mom's youngest sister) who had a stroke a few years ago (I've blogged about her) just found out that she has encapsulated cancer in her lung. No telling what they'll be able to do for her.

7. do you have a family member that you've lost contact with? who are they, and why do you not currently have contact?
Several, but mostly because my mom has such a large family that it's impossible to keep track of them all.

8. do you have any famous family members?
Not in the movie-star sense, but one of my mom's cousins was a big muckety-muck at the Harvard Business School. If you've taken business courses you've probably read one or more of his articles.

WW #30

1. do you have an old lover that would tempt you - even just mentally, just for a second - to cheat on your current S.O. because the sex was JUST THAT GOOD?

Yes, but probably not for just the sex. The companionship would be just as important.

2. do you have an ex that you dumped because you were sexually incompatible? tell us about that.

We were incompatible in that I wanted it and she didn't.

3. a friend of mine got back together with her ex, who not only lied to her about making our old secretary into his personal booty call but dumped her and treated her like utter hell in the process ("you can MAIL my stuff to my sister, you bitch" were his exact words; i tried to burn his crap, but she wouldn't let me). now they're engaged, even though he was a total skank and slutted around with not-so-pure secretary (and God knows who else). is there someone in your close friend's life, male or female, that you completely despise because they've slutted around on your friend?

Hm....not that I can think of.

How Do You Spell Pussy?

Easy...D-E-M-O-C-R-A-T. Let's review. The Dems made the war in Iraq their piece de resistance in the last election. "We're gonna show Bush!" they said. "We're gonna bring the troops home!" So, Speaker of the House Pelosi declares that in 100 hours they are going to pass all kinds of promised legislation.

Well, sorta. All of these bills made it through the House, but none through the Senate (let alone to W's desk), so they haven't done shit (let's not confuse activity with results). Then comes the big one, the bill to continue funding the war. Yeah, it had needless pork in it (these earmarks were rationalized by the Donks saying that at least representatives had to more publicly raid the treasury, as if their pride would make a difference), but the gist of it was that the Iraq government had to meet certain objectives by certain times, or else! All along Bush said that he wouldn't sign a bill with deadlines (regardless of whether they were linked to objectives), so he vetoed it.

So, the Dems had two choices. The first was that they could send essentially the same bill back to W and say, "We're serious about this. Your fiasco will come to an end when the Iraq government does certain things as described in this bill or they'll come home because the money runs out. It's up to you." The second choice was, "We just wanted to make a point. We're not really serious about ending the war. We'll do whatever you want. Would you like to finish on our faces or in our mouths?"

So, what did the Donks get for giving in to the White House? They get to put a raise for the minimum wage into the bill. Talk about negotiating against yourself. You have the fucking majority, use it you little cunts. Christ, what Republican in a reasonably close campaign wouldn't vote for raising the minimum wage that hasn't gone up in 10 years? As an aside, I think the minimum wage in a capitalist society is misguided, but that's for a future post.

So, let's review. The Donks promised reforms in putting pork in bills, but that's not exactly happening. And they swore they would teach W a lesson about the war, but they just gave him everything he wanted in the war spending bill. If you're an independent (or a Republican, for that matter) who decided you wanted a change in Washington, what are you thinking now. Exactly. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

Thinning the Job Market

As an atheist, people assume that I get upset when school districts want to have creationism taught in schools. I usually don't because a) those dumbass laws usually get repealed after those school board members who vote for them get voted out and b) the more kids who grow up learning that shit as fact ,the fewer competitors for good jobs when the HB when he applies for college. But, this takes the cake.

Now, to say that dinosaurs roamed the earth with people goes against pretty much everything that evolutionary biologists know. That's OK, there was a time when the greatest scientific minds thought the world was flat. But, I need a little proof. And note that some people don't think that dinosaurs even existed since they aren't mentioned in the bible. But, the museum's website states that they've got a good story to tell, even without scientific evidence. Basically, they give it away with their marketing statement: Prepare to Believe. Personally, I think we're better off preparing to Know.

The Rules Be Gettin' Me Down

Today has not been a good one for me and "the man". First, the HB and I have had a couple of bachelor days as my wife's been in Atlanta for some grant reviews. So, we've been chowing some seafood, using the hot tub, etc. I had a two hour meeting scheduled this morning from 9-11. No biggie. Well, this client was tons of new analyses so I end up hanging there for a while. It starts getting late to the point where the HB will have to go to after care, which is not a problem. The wife and I have bought blocks of time for him to go and he kind of digs it. Then at about 3:30 I get this call, "Mr. Chat Wrecker, did you know that there's no after school care today and the HB is the last kid in his class who's still here?" Umb, no, I didn't know that, but that was my cue to get my ass over there.

So, we get home and I check on the mail. There weren't any checks (damn), but I did get a letter from the asshats who run some of the private toll roads in southern California. They seem to think that I drove on one of their cow paths without paying the toll. Uh, dipshits, I was nowhere fucking near that goddamn road on May 13th, thank you very much. I got one of these letters from these stupid cunts about two years ago. I wrote back, "Hey, unless I've been cast in the Twilight Zone, there's no way I was in two places at once, which is the only way I could have been on your road. Why don't you just send me that picture, OK?" Of course, they didn't have the picture, but they had the chutzpah to send me back a letter which basically said, "Ooops, sorry, it wasn't you. But, while we have your address, would you like to buy a FastPass (an transponder that allows you to blow through without paying cash)." Thanks, but no. However, you can stick it up your ass.

Finally, I found out that three (3!) of my invoices to one of my biggest clients fell into a black hole. Ugh. So, I redid the paperwork, etc. This is the day after my bank was on my ass about getting more of my clients to pay me electronically (in my dreams). Fuckers...just give me my credit for the non-services you rendered.

Wet Wednesday #29 (from Lola)

I'm at a serious disadvantage in this line of questioning since I've never had a 'real' job in the sense of going into an office and working with a bunch of people. But here goes...

1. have you ever crushed on, hooked up with, or dated anyone you've worked with? how did that work out?

When it comes to working with clients, having a crush on someone who worked there would be a stretch, but lusted after wouldn't be. Look, but not touch.

2. have you ever reported or ratted out any office romances (including your own, perhaps for a bit of sweet revenge?) at your workplace? what was the result?

Nope.

3. i have a confession ... i had sex with The Husband on my boss' desk a few years ago. have you ever had sex in the workplace? where was it? and, more importantly, HOW was it?

Not at the work place (tho' one time was VERY tempted). But, in grad school, I knocked it out a few times with a woman in my class in our offices. Once in hers she gave me a great hummer. Another time we did it on the desk in mine, with the added adventure factor of it being during the day and there being a LARGE window.

Ding, Dong the Witch Is Dead

As I'm sure you've read by now, god has smote Jerry Falwell. For better or for worse, he got fundamentalist christians involved in the political process. If leaders of other groups got their followers as involved we would have a much better democracy. Don't be mad at him for doing a good job of it. Also to his credit, he was not a hypocrite from the Jim Bakker or Jimmy Swaggert school or preaching the dumbass prosperity gospel.

Of course, it's hard to look the other way at how divisive he was in this country and how he helped move the Republican party away from its libertarian leanings. And in the last few years he just said some stupid shit.

In my business we know that people tend to pay more attention to negative information in interviews and performance reviews than the positive. Falwell clearly did this when reading the bible as he thought it was more important to punish people based on something that's mentioned once (e.g., not sleeping with someone of your gender) rather than love them based on love, which is mentioned 51 times. And for that, the figurative gates of hell should be held open for him.

Basketball Playoffs

This is one of those rare years where the NBA playoffs are way better than the men's NCAA basketball tournament. The NCAA's had few upsets and buzzer-beaters. On the other hand, the playoffs have had more than their share of close games (see Phoenix-San Antonio last night) and huge upsets (see Golden State vs. Dallas). The quality of play has been high and there are teams playing each other who have vastly different styles. And with all of the close seven-game series's there is some bad blood developing between some of the teams.

I was shocked to see San Antonio lose that game last night, which allowed Phoenix to even the series at 2-2. Three turnovers in a row that led to three Phoenix scores (with two Nash behind-the-back passes to bot)? Amazing. Phoenix showed a lot of guts to pull that one out. I think the winner of this series will eventually win the championship.

Golden State has been game, but they are done against Utah. Their free-throw shooting has just killed them and Utah has figured out how to get to the basket.

Detroit, by far the best team in the East should take care of Chicago tonite.

The Cavaliers, being from Cleveland, will probably torture their fans by stretching out their series with the Nets (it's 3-1 Cleveland now). Vince Carter cemented his reputation as an underachiever by making they key turnover last night.

Oh, and the Angels are in first place in the American League west after taking 3 of 4 from Texas. But to stay in first and/or go anywhere in the playoffs, they gotta trade some pitchers for a big bat to put behind Guerrero.

Mother's Day

I hope that all of you had a great Mother's Day. It was weird, but less complicating, to have my mom in Philly. This meant we only had to make one trip to my in-law's. Although, in the past we have done Mother's Day-Palooza where all the mom's come to one place. It actually works out pretty well.

The HB and my wife were up at the crack of dawn. This also made the breakfast-in-bed thing impossible. But, I did cut up some fresh strawberries for her Cheerios. I had hoped to sneak out and get her a Sunday New York times, but she was up way too early for that (the liquor store that carries it doesn't open until 9am).

When we redid our backyard last winter we saved a place by the fountain for a comfy chair/chaise. The HB and I got her one for an M-Day present. She says that she loves it and even tried it out. We'll see if it makes its way back to the store or not.

Lunch at my m-i-l's was mercifully short (and included margaritas), so the three of us spent most of the day together, which was nice. I grilled us a pretty damn good dinner (grilled chicken with roasted peppers and Monterrey jack cheese) and after the HB was in bed we had some wine by candlelight with a pretty good roll in the hay. A nice day all the way around.

My Aunt's Funeral, Pt 3

The HB and I hung out in Philly until Friday while my uncle and his kids sat shiva. There was no way I was going to sit/stand/eat/drink around all day doing a big bunch of nothing. So, I took the HB and his cousin (let's call him RI for Rhode Island, where he lives) on some adventures. The afternoon of the funeral, we went back to the hotel and hung out a the pool and the hot tub. The boys really enjoyed that. One thing became apparent: RI has a bit of a hearing (not listening) problem. He and the HB would be right next to each other when I would ask a question. Something would register on the HB's face and he'd respond while RI would have a blank stare or say, "What?" I had always thought his speech was a little off, but I figured that had to do with his Rhode Island accent (fewer r's, more w's). After splashing around for a bit (and catching some cartoons in the room) we were off to Chubby's for cheese steaks.

I hadn't been to Chubby's in years. It was RI's mom's favorite spot when she lived in the Mannyunk (I love that name) section of Philly. I had gone there with her a couple of times many years ago when we would go out and get hammered. One time I was so pissed that I woke up in the middle of the night really having to go. But, I didn't want to wake people up by stumbling through he apartment. So, in my sleepy drunk state decided that taking a leak outside was the best strategy. Good times.

The boys wanted chicken tenders (whatever) and I went for a cheese steak with fried onions and mushrooms. There's only one small problem with Chubby's--they use provolone instead of cheez whiz. I know what you're thinking, but those of you who have been to the classic Philly cheese steak places (like Jim's at 4th and South) know that the cheez whiz is THE key ingredient to a great steak sandwich. When were done I grabbed a chicken steak for RI's mom.

On Thursday we had the whole day, so it called for something more ambitious, so we went to the Franklin Institute. This is just one of the best kid science museums around. Tons of hands on stuff and great exhibits (like a heart you can walk through). After a few hours there it was time to hit the pool and jacuzzi again. At this point, the HB was getting a little tired of having a 5 y.o. around. Maybe this will put a temporary end to his quixotic quest for a younger brother/sister. So, we beat it back to the house for some more visiting, etc.

In an earlier post I expressed my concern about participating in the religious stuff. Going out and about with the HB and RI gave me an easy excuse to miss all of that stuff. Surprisingly, my mom didn't give me any shit about it. As such, that played out better than I thought it would.

By Friday we were pretty much ready to come home. I changed our flight from a 5:30pm non-stop to a noon one-stop through Midway. We were only on the ground for 25 minutes and got into LA 30 minutes early, so it wasn't too much of a longer ride and it was worth it to get in early. The HB snoozed most of the way between Chicago and LA and I cleaned up my e-mail. I found 1200 e-mails to delete. It was nice to get home and see my wife and play with the dog.

My Aunt's Funeral, Pt 2

So, after we go to the funeral we drive out to the cemetery. It was about 30 min outside of Philly, so with the long procession it took a while. My aunt got to run all of the red lights on a day when it did her no good.

It was a warm, but not oppressive day. Traditionally, caskets at Jewish funerals are plain pine boxes, as this was. Another tradition is that family members are asked to be the first to shovel in the dirt. There is NOTHING that brings home the finality of the occasion than hearing dirt falling six feet and hitting a pine box. It always elicits more than a few gasps and sobs. I explained to the HB the tradition. It's considered a good deed to do something for someone (the deceased) that s/he will never be able to return. We can argue about whether burying someone is doing them a favor, but that's the tradition. We joined the line and I showed him how to do it (first shovel on the back of the spade, next two regular). He wanted to be sure that he covered some spots that hadn't been yet. I was trying to wipe away tears so that I wouldn't miss (someone did get some dirt on my cousin's shoes). We walked away to chat with some relatives as my aunt's until-recently-estranged son finished the deed.

Back at the house, things were pretty subdued. No crying but no back slapping. I think the reason was because, at least among her sibs and most of her friends, she was the first to go. In a previous post I mentioned that at my grandmother's funeral she said that we (her sibs) were next. And she was probably more right that she thought she would be. Everyone just kind of nibbled and drank and most of the guests headed out around 9pm.

I'll write some more later.

My Aunt's Funeral, Pt 1

By now, you can guess why I haven't blogged for the last few days. The HB and I just got back from my Aunt's funeral.

She died Monday night. I knew something was up when I saw that my wife had called me twice within an hour while I was at my Rotary board meeting. So, when I got home I talked to my mom and booked me and the HB on the same Southwest non-stop to Philly with an open ended return.

My folks always sleep at my house before they fly out of LAX so they can leave there car here (I'm only a few miles away). So they came over and we chatted about what the schedule was going to be for the week and who was going to sleep where. My mom was surprisingly composed. So, we left the next morning entirely too early because my dad thinks that the plane will leave without you if you're not there two hours early.

Every thing's on time, but the woman at the rent-a-car place had a hard time figuring out that I was NOT going to drive my dad's rental car after they said they would charge us more. Stupid bitch. When we got to my uncle's lots of folks were there and final arrangements were being made. The funeral would be held on Wednesday at 10 and after that service we would drive out to the cemetery. I got good news and bad news from my cousin. The good news was that I could use her car (a Beemer) and that she cashed in points so the HB and I could crash at the local Holiday Inn. Bad news was everyone else was going to be out of room, so my brother was sharing the room with us. I held out some hope that there would be a sofa for the HB, but there was only two twin beds. My brother and I have completely different rhythms, which is fine. But sharing a bed with the HB is a nightmare (I'm a tough customer in bed, he says) because he sleeps like a gaffed fish and like to snooze diagonally.

The HB and I talked a fair amount about death, funerals and religion on the plane and at the hotel. Even though he only steps into a house of worship when we're invited to an event, he has this idea in his head that he's Jewish. So, I explain the Jewish view on death, how their funerals go, how they don't believe in heaven/hell like Christians, etc. so he'll know what's happening at my aunt's funeral. And we talked about other faiths' views on such things.

Before we get to the funeral parlor he asks if we can see the body. I don't want to tell him that's about the grossest thing in the world (though it's in my top 10). Rather, I explained that the immediate family has the option (which doesn't include us) and that it's really better to remember her from our fondest memories and not what she looked like at the end (despite any embalmer's best efforts). Even after that he was intrigued by the prospect.

So, the funeral was well attended, which is always nice. My uncle had some very kind words about how my aunt felt about me, my wife and the HB (seemed like the shoe was strangely on the wrong foot at the time). The rabbi knew my aunt for the last few years, so his comments were heartfelt (eulogies are not the norm at Jewish funerals) and very right on. My aunt said what was on her mind and could be a bitch.

That trait go her estranged from her only son (she has 3 daughters). I don't know all of the details, but she and her d-i-l (who's a piece of work) just don't get along, so there was a rift where my cousin and my aunt didn't see or speak to each other for long periods. In fact, when my aunt became seriously ill I asked one of her daughters about it and said that my aunt specifically requested that my male cousin not find out about it. Well, his daughter and one of her cousins are the same age and go to the same school, so that wasn't going to last. At any rate, my aunt and her son reconciled in that he was involved in the planning and was around all week. The rabbi mentioned this in saying that in her last days she had asked for forgiveness and gave some. I guess being close to the end does change us.

Sat 8: Summertime

1. what is the best memory you have of a day that was absolutely freezing and
   cold? include all the important stuff like when and where and how
   you ended up there and why and so forth.
   
   Two winters ago we were in Philly during the 100 year snow storm. My aunts live about a half a mile away from each other. We were at a party at one's, but staying at the other's. Walking back in the snow, the HB and I had a great time.
   
   
2. what is your best memory of a rainy day you have spent in your life?
   spare us no details!
   
   Rainy day....hm...I live in LA, so not that many. Can't recall any great sex while it was thundering and lighting at JUST the right time, or anything like that.
   


3. what is your best memory of a day where it was blistering hot?
   
   In Vegas with some friends getting drunk and making a bunch of money at the tables.
   


4. what is the weirdest weather phenomenon you can remember experiencing anywhere?
   
   When I lived in Tennessee the sky turned green one day. I called a friend of mine who lived in the same building to point this phenomenon out to him. He responded, "Yeah, when I lived in Kansas this is what the sky looked like before a tornado hit." Fortunately, we were spared that little piece of sunshine.
   
   
5. what type of weather can you NOT stand?
   
   Constant heat and humidity (obviously, Florida is not in my future).
   


6. the opposite of question 5... what is the best type of weather for you?
   
   80 degrees, sunny with a nice breeze.
   
   
7. have you visited a place that has the ideal climate for you, and would you move there at any time in your life?
   
   I live there...Los Angeles. San Diego's in the same category, but I'd rather live in LA. Santa Barbara's close, but a little cooler.
   


8. not quite weather-related ... do you have seasonal allergies?
   
   Fortunately, not.
   

When I'm 64

I had the joy this morning of doing retirement planning. My wife has lots of opinions about this, but refuses to do any of the heavy lifting, so I chatted with the guy who manages my SEP today. We're fairly conservative with our money and have almost no debt (just my car). The problem we need to solve for is putting the HB through (potentially) 8 years of college and have enough money to travel. We already have a bunch invested (about $700k) and our (paid for) house it worth at least that much.

Meanwhile, a friend of the HB's has been teaching him Beatles' songs (Octopus's Garden, Hello, Goodbye)--but not quite correctly. He came home singing some parts wrong and when we played the songs for him he insisted that the recorded version was incorrect...it was hilarious. We finally convinced him that his friend is wrong that he should teach her the right way to sing them.

The wife and I had some great sex and conversation last night. We weren't exhausted and made it upstairs at a reasonable hour (once the Warriors put their game out of reach against Dallas). I thought she was going to crush my skull with her thighs when she came, so it was all good.

I have a call this afternoon with a client about a new project. If it goes through as discussed it would definitely keep me busy for a couple of months. While they aren't the type of company that gets all excited about a project than doesn't do it they do have some new people in places who could give it the thumbs down. I guess I'll have to be extra persuasive...lol.

My Aunt

I spoke with my cousin earlier today and my aunt in hospice is fading. She's really weak, not eating and really pissed that she's not dead yet (which is very fitting with her personality). I had an odd conversation with my mom about this the other day and it was almost as if she was inviting me to the funeral (I'm planning on going and will most likely bring the HB).

Unfortunately, going to the funeral will contain the additional stressor of me being the religious black sheep. Tradition (sung in Tevye's voice from Fiddler on the Roof) will certainly overcome my family making the infrequent observer turn Hassidic. I respect their practices (at any level), but don't want to pretend I believe in any of that stuff. Participating would be a charade and a poor example for the HB. At the same time, I'm not trying to make a statement and don't particularly want to draw attention to myself when we'll be there to pay respects to my aunt. The HB and I may be on our own (or with a couple of my cousins' kids) for a bit of the time.

On top of this, I get an e-mail from my wife today suggesting that we go on a vacation with my parents. First, if kids or parents come along, you're on a trip, not a vacation. I love my parents and they and my wife get along great, but this seems a little weird to me. Plus, trying to figure out where we all want to go and what we'll do will be a nightmare. On the positive side, wherever we go we'll have some built in babysitting. Maybe we'll take a cruise or some such.