Behold the power of Ipod. It's so powerful, in fact, that it can make you forget that your freshly laundered, lily-white cotton pullover now has that tell-tale brown stripe that says, "Starbucks blowback" and that you're paying $6.00 an hour for WiFi that should be free.
Yes. The Ipod is a powerful tool.
So the plane ride was nothing unusual. Every time I ride in an airplane something happens. Either I get delayed for 24 hours or the passenger next to me askes the flight attendant for a seatbelt extension. Either I have a panic attack or I'm in front of and behind screaming babies. This flight was no exception.
First of, since I get a bit dry when I fly I remembered to get a HUGE ($3.07) bottle of water before I got on the plane. Shortly after take-off I drop the cap which rolls a few rows behind me. Now I'm stuck in this uncomfortable seat and I have an enormous bottle of water that I can't put down because I've lost the damn cap. That means no sleeping - No trying to sleep. I do the only think I can think of and down the entire bottle. I feel a little better.
My row-mate, a lady in her mid-40s, I guess grumbled a few things about the flight being full, but she's not trying to talk to me and that's great. I cement the deal by plugging in my ear-buds. I'm now minding my own business with my ipod up loud just trying to find any sort of comfortable position to while away my two hours. It becomes serving time and I get nothing to drink, of course, because I'm completely full of water but I do take a chewy granola-bar. I also don't have to use my tray table which makes me happy because I hardly have enough room to move. About 10 minutes later the lady taps me on the shoulder and I pull the ear-bud out of my hear and she says, "I have to get up" and she's putting her Diet Pepsi and Chewy Granola bar on MY tray table. She gets up and kinda stumbles toward the rear lavatory and then comes back, white as a sheet, and calls the flight attendant and tells her, "I feel faint".
The flight attendant has no idea what the hell to do and starts screaming, "Is there a doctor on board?". Another flight attendant comes quickly and tells the ghostly-white lady to put her head between her legs. Then the panic-stricken flight attendant goes up and pages for a Doctor. A man two rows back, a huge black man with an African accent gets up and says, "I'm a nurse" and asked my row-mate if she's taken any medication. She says no.
About this time I have to piss like a racehorse because I've just downed about a gallon of three-dollar water and there are two flight attendants and a 1/2 dead passenger in between me and the lavatory. I decide to hold it until Atlanta.
Then a woman comes up from first class. She's very smartly dressed and made-up and speaks with a pretty Southern accent, comes up to the lady, takes both her hands and says, "My name is Sunny - Just like the weather report", and by this time they've brought oxygen for the woman. Sunny also gets some cold towels to put on the back of the lady's neck. Sunny just kinda takes over so the African man goes back to his seat.
Within about 1/2 hour or so of breathing oxygen the lady gets a bit of color back in her face and Sunny goes back to first class.
I still have all this woman's crap on my tray, which I still don't want, but I don't know if I'm supposed to throw it away or give it to the flight attendant or what, but the lady eventually takes the diet pepsi and the little plastic ice-filled cup back off my try and on to hers. They also bring her a bagel and cream cheese to eat. They didn't bring me anything to eat.
I still have to pee so badly that I feel my bladder might burst, but I don't have the heart to make her stand up. I mean she's still got that oxygen tank and mask all rigged up. I decide to swipe her Chewy Granola Bar as payment for making me suffer.
We finally arrive in Atlanta and I make a bee-line to the bathroom at Harsfield feeling kinda guilty about the granola bar.
Atlanta is how it always seems to be when I fly in. Cold and raining. Ma and Pa and Shelby were there to greet me by the baggage claim and we came home to a fantastic meal of Ham, Dijon Brussels Sprouts that Mama made from the Food Channel recepie, delicious macaroni & cheese, some kinda little baby onions that were in this garlicy sweet sauce, they were kinda cool, fresh rolls, sparkling cran-apple cider, and my Mother's apple pie (or pumpkin, your choice).
After dinner we all watched Waking Ned Devine and I had a 15th helping of that delightful Macaroni & Cheese.
Plenty to be thankful for this year. Plenty.
Woke up this morning and read the newspaper with Ma and talked about what we were going to do today. She's very excited about me taking her to Chipotle for lunch. They're not completely covered in Chipotles here yet, but they are springing up all over Atlanta. I suspect in six months or so they'll be on every corner. Somehow we end up eating at The Taco Stand, a favorite restaurant from my college days that I only get to eat once a year in Atlanta and we decided to shift Chipotle to another day.
We also went to see BUBBA HO-TEP at the Midtown 8, which Landmark bought and is now the Midtown Art. Probably one of the worst movie's I've ever seen.
Then off to do our After Thanksgiving shopping. I got a few things for Madison (but since she reads this blog, I can't write what they are - Hi Maddie!) and got a Seattle's Best coffee for Mom.
For dinner I looked up Atlanta's best Persian restaurant and found Miraas (Mirage) on Roswell Road and when Howard came home from work we all went for Persian. Tadig appitizer, Chicken Kabob, Koobideh & Chicken Koobideh, Rack of Lamb, and a Vegitarian Rice dish for Mom. It was all excellent.
Tomorrow night is The Highland Tap with the boys......and perhaps a cigar and some gaming.
I had the Chewy Granola Bar this morning for breakfast. It was quite tasty!
It's all starting to sink in. It is all happening far too rapidly. Today is the 17th and Matthew is in town to celebrate his birthday week. You see his friends in Las Vegas don't have enough money to take him out to dinner for his birthday so he's here for a WEEKS worth of celebration with his friends who have jobs.
He'll be here through Sunday.
I have Monday/Tuesday off. I work Wednesday, and then Thursday I go off to Atlanta to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday with The Hochmans.
I stay in Atlanta until the 2nd of December, and then back to work on the 3rd and 4th.
On the 5th, I fly into Seattle and on the 10th I fly back to Minneapolis out of Portland.
That gives me the 11th-14th to fix everything that broke at work while I was on vacation.
On the 15th I close on the house in Hopkins and I have to have everything done (electrical and any immediate upgrades) and moved in by the end of December.
Then it is a life of Ramen and water for as long as possible.
I'm hoping that all this stuff will still allow me to relax with my family and friends in Atlanta and Seattle and Portland because I've got some GREAT stuff planned for the trip.
On the 5th I'm going with some friends to see The Tallis Scholars in Seattle with JSB and Mookie and maybe Mt. Baker & Mrs. Mt. Baker Dave, and if I can bring my sister and Madison, again in Portland on the 8th.
I've got a date with Mr. J. Scott Burk, Esq. at Ikea in Seattle to pick out some home furnishings - Especially a table and chairs for my breakfast nook.
I get to have Thanksgiving dinner with Ma and Pa and Michelle and my Aunt Rose and Uncle Jerry at Winfield's in Marietta.
I get to have dinner at The Highland Tap in Atlanta with Demetrius Jenkins and our old buddy Carl Neely.
I get to have Snappy Dragon, Mom's Teriyaki, and Wild Ginger in Seattle.
As much as I hate flying I have to say that I've got an amazing month ahead of me as well as a stressful one.
LIFE!
I have seen Mecca for the homeowner.
Today I asked my buddy Dave to take me to Home Depot and 'show me the ropes'. Jesus H. Christ. There is some stuff there.
I guess I really wanted to get a 'hands-on' view of flooring. I was at Kathe's house and really admired her floor (and 1000 other things she's done with the place) and I wanted to see what this magical floating Pergo flooring looked like face to face. There was more than I bargained for.
I want the giant bathtub ($690.00).
I want the toiled called, "The Rialto" ($295.00).
I want that Manly Snowblower ($675.00).
I originally thought that tile on the kitchen floor would be the best thing, but because the floor (which has nasty lanolium currently) is slightly pitched - Ok, downright wavy - I was told I couldn't do tile.
WELL! I saw this cool stuff, black and white 'tile squares' which are squares of little tiles that are affixed in the back (bottom) with some rubbery stuff. You just glue this stuff down and then grout around the individual tiles. This would be PERFECT for the kitchen.
I need to take tiling lessons and buy a shit-pile of tools.
I can't wait to open my Home Depot credit account. Homeownership is getting very exciting. And expensive.
So I get a call from the swing shift pit manager on my cell tonight:
"Michael, table 12 is on FIRE!"
I wonder how much it's winning (or losing) and I say, "What's up"?
"No! It's on FIRE"
The damned C-Stud table was on FIRE! The electronics (enclosed in a metal firewall) burned all up and smoke was coming throught the coin acceptors. Needless to say, we moved the players OFF the table and unplugged all the electronics. I also took out the power supply. That is aparently what burned up as it smelled like burnt up stuff; Not pleasing to the Lord.
Took us a few HOURS to get ahold of Mikohn (the company that leases and services our C-Stud tables). I got some kinda crap about the dude having to fly to Iowa and then get a truck and drive up here.
What an enormous pain in the ass. Now I have a dead table in an 8-table pit, that's almost impossible to move because it's networked with the other one and to a central computer in another office and the dude has to drive up from Iowa? There is hell that will be raised tomorrow. Hell hotter than the one that burnt up the table. Mikohn sux. If I owned that company, I'd have a tech out there immediately - within hours. Minutes, even.
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
Tonight I saw the 9:40 showing of The Station Agent. It's been a good long while since I've seen a fun movie. I needed that. It was great fun. At the start of the movie I recognized one of the men who used to sit on the corner with Sweet Dick Willie from Do The Right Thing - Then the wife from The Untouchables - Then after a bit came the little girl from Lovely & Amazing. But the dude who stole the show - the hot dog cart guy, I didn't know him. He was great. Fun movie.
Our local indie chain, Landmark Theatres (known for their trademark, "Linguaca del cinč es universal") pops pretty damn good corn, uses real butter, and then, as you're walking to have your ticket torn, there are a series of little shaky things filled with powdered flavoring for the popcorn.
I usually put a little of the BBQ flavoring on the top layer. Not only is it kinda tasty, it ensures that I get the ENTIRE top layer of corn kuz nobody I'm ever with at the movies likes the stuff. Well - Tonight they didn't have the BBQ. I was stuck choosing between Sour Cream and Onion, White Cheddar, or Chocolate Marshmallow. I picked the White Cheddar. It sucked - way too salty.
Not knowing that it sucked, I poured on a TON of it so that I soaked more than one layer of corn with the nasty salt-powder. I had to pour out 1/2 the popcorn onto the floor of the auditorium so that I could get to the non-tainted corn.
The movie was good - The Mr. Pibb was good - I think the cheese was a mistake.
Yesterday I spent four hours at Uptown Tattoo getting the first new ink I've had in almost a year. It felt good to get back under the needle. It might sound strange, but being tattooed is actually as relaxing as it is painful. Maybe it's because your body is going through so much stress that when it's over you're completely spent. It's painful, yes, but it's so extremely cool to watch the thing come to life. Tom Strom is truly an artist with a tattoo gun.
The tattoo looks fantastic. I can't believe how well it turned out - the lace patterns on the dress and the collar, the cute white Mary Janes, the shading of the face, the hair...
It all turned out much better than I had anticipated. Some people find it gruesome, but to me this picture is extremely serene.
It's from a painting called "Fountain" by Mark Ryden.
To view this picture you must certify that you are not my Mom. By clicking the button below you do hereby solemnly swear that you are not Michael's Mother. If you are indeed my Mom and click on the button, I hereby absolve myself of any liability for shame, pain, or questioning of "where did I go wrong".
Several months ago one of our several thousand local malls started peppering their East side with an army of big-name chain restaurants. We got a P.F. Changs, we got a Maggianos, we got a Cheesecake Factory, and we got a California Pizza Kitchen.
I was happy about the CPK. They make the only salad in the world that I will actually order as an entree and enjoy. The oriental chicken salad. It's delicious. Shredded lettuce, shredded carrots, cilantro (which I have them omit) and little teeny crunchy fried noodles. Mmmm. Then they cover it with this kinda sweet sesame dressing. It's quite good. But that's not what I'm here to write about.
I'm here to write about the ANGEL HAIR with GINGER-BLACK BEAN SAUCE. It's the most delicious dish in the whole wide world. They take al dente angel hair pasta, fresh broccoli, grilled strips of chicken, all prepared in this delightful fermented black bean sauce. It's about the most delicious and flavorful dish that has ever been prepared. It's fantastic. It's not on the menu.
Yes. As is usual in the world of delicious food (i.e. Houston's veggie burger, PB Max bars, Foodsticks, Freakies cereal, etc) the better it is, the more likely it is that it will be taken off the menu.
I beseech you, write to the bastards at CPK and beg them to put it back on the menu.
Thanks to Jon Hayano for hooking me up with the recipie (that I still haven't had the courage to try but I will in my new kitchen, I promise).
The bastard broke down and agreed to sell me the house for $215,000.00. I'm now in charge of updating the electric, but he's going to get the water heater up to code.
Dude! I'm a homeowner!
Closing scheduled to happen on December 15th.