19: The difference is the same

As of right now, I'm on the couch at Lori and Gail's trottage sitting in the cool morning waiting for Hank to wake up and realize he needs a walk. The vacation has been a stressful one for Hank, I can admit -- his people keep leaving him behind, or taking him on long hot walks. He doesn't seem to know where to sleep even though he knows where we are and should be aware he is welcome in bed with us.

So it's the annual trip up here and while I was ready to really enjoy it -- we finally got a date in the height of summer as opposed to a crisp early September or freak tornado week in August -- it seems this whole journey has been several small fiascos.

Monday, our packing was as chaotic as ever -- what about this, what about that -- to where we both forgot a few items we would like to have. In my case, it was jeans and a hoodie as I know as hot as it gets it does tend to cool down at night so if we actually get around to having a fire I might need to wrap a blanket around myself or something. There were also a few grocery items that were missed -- sandwich components, chocolate syrup for Mel's iced coffee we picked up impromptu at the big grocery shop. All in all not bad, and the car was bursting at the seams with luggage.

After a hectic day we got in the car about 6:12 or so. I don't miss having my family trailer, but it had the advantage of always being stocked with whatever we needed -- groceries, sheets -- my only responsibility was to bring up a plastic shopping bag of clothes and the same box of comics to read over and over. This is a combination remisicence of youth (and thus, lack of responsibility) and of a genuine sense of stability.

After an uneventful drive during which we played Mel's club playlist and reflected on what would have happened had we met each other a few years earlier, we got to the trailer ar our usual late dinnertime and immediately set about trying to make burgers as the sun was going down. It was chaotic as we had a hard time finding things (knives to cut buns, bbq tools, baking sheet for fries) in the dim kitchen where the fluorescent light was not properly coming on. We made do and noted the lack of much in the way of pantry items -- a few things lacking that we mught have expected to find were sugar for tomorrow's coffee (Mel likes to cure red onions with sugar and vinegar) and ketchup of all things, which was fine as neither of us puts it on our burgers, it was just for fries. 

Okay, no problem I suppose, and we made a list of things for me to go into town for tomorrow. I always end up going into town at least once, sometimes more. We didn't think to bring pickles, which we like, but were fine with lettuce and tomato and cheese. 

Day one was fine, good, great, perfect even. It had that mythical "So hot you absolutely must jump in the pool" quality I'm always looking for. I was sure to savor it. I made scrambled eggs with bacon, toast and hash brown patties. At the pool, another minor hitxh as the family pool was closed for health reasons (??!) So the nominally 18+ pool was a bit crowded with kids. But you know, there used to only be one pool anyway. 

We skipped lunch and made dinner, steaks I only slightly overdid but were still good, with baked potatoes that didn't necessarily cook evenly on the grill but we got one good one to share. (Funny moment when grocery shopping, I picked up two russet potatoes and Mel noted "yours looks a bit small," having, I guess, already allocated herself whichever one was bigger.)

Day two was interesting. On Monday before we left, I got a notification that I had gotten a second interview for a job. It's an interesting opportunity, selling to Indigo for a major publisher. I figured I could jandle an interview for a half hour while on vacation, sure, and set it up for Wednesday morning. After getting my setup, I dialed into the call and after we hammered out some technical difficulties, we got talking and ended up going twice as long as she described the job and I talked about how my experience related to it. I honestly think I killed it, which I have mixed feelings about since there are still some questions about the responsibilities involved and the level if pay, but that can be discussed. There's also 2 days in office per week and we were really hoping I would find something fully remote. At this point it would be something of a relief if I didn't get it, but I think I would try to make it work because as it turns out having more money is better than less.

The day proceeded. We took Hank to the beach, which he was a little meh on, then left him at home to go swimming again. After that, Mel had wanted to shower. I had gone to have one that morning in preparation for my call but decided that instead of waking her up with thunderous shower noises, I would go to the public shower and just rinse myself. (Soap/body wash was another thing I had forgotten, later we found some irish spring bars tucked away in the trailer.) Around this time Mel discovered there we no hot water. I had asked Lori earlier if there was any trick to getting hot water, a switch to press or whatever (as at mom and ross-) and she said no, if the propane is on it will get hot. What she did not mention, (I will chirp her here a little as that was literally her opening to do so) is that they turn the pilot light off when they leave (makes sense.) I couldn't figure it out and there was a lot of back and forth going nowhere so we resolved to rinse Mel's hair with cold water and make do, as it was time for dinner.

Well, partway through dinner, Gail sent me a video and I realized I was lighting to wrong thing, so I gave it a shot and it worked. I was so excited I went to tell Mel (who was calling for my assistance as she was tending to the side dishes for our ribs) that I walked into the screen door. You wouldn't think this would hurt but my neck got jerked and gave me a stinger I am still slightly feeling the effects of this morning. I'm trying to downplay it but it's not fun and kind of put a pall in last night. Also we were hoping to have a fire but it started to rain. Now it's going to be cooler today and I'm worried we missed our window. Should have knocked it out night 1 tbh.

Well, that about brings us up to speed. It's Thursday and it should be a nice chill day to cross some more stuff off the list. We contemplated staying an extra day (usually we are thinking of going home early!!) But I don't know that we are packed for that. Gametime decision, I said.

Well, it's been this whole post and Hank hasn't asked for a walk. I should get that done because I've got another trip into town and I'd also like to chill with some coffee.

Keep on rockin'

Scotto

18: Larry Everman

The heat of midsummer.

My Thursday outing with Tony proceeded more or less expected. We wandered the path a while then sat at Fran's for lunch. I had ordered the loaded grilled cheese, but they only brought me a regular one, and I decided just to eat it instead of complaining because it still looked pretty good and was cheaper, and I was on the fence about whether I could handle the loaded-ness.

I caught him up on everything going on in my world, and he me in his. I had to admit that as of so far, I've had two job interviews, including one in our mutual industry. I was a little embarrassed about it, because he very memorably told me once that he had submitted something like 100 resumes without getting a hit. Not so much as a call. Personally I don't understand -- on paper, Tony is a very qualified candidate, and I've just done the one grownup job for about 8 years. At the very least, if he had wanted a plastic pipe job he should have had a shot.

Mysteries of the universe.

We had various other conversations, both personal and probing and philosophical. We talked politics and whether I had ever communicated with my MP (I have.) We talked about whether there were any circumstances under which I would k_ll a person -- I made a joke about how often I drive on the QEW, and also related the story of road rage. I also talked about the Netflix documentary about Amy Bradley that I just watched and how it seems like her captors may have kept her alive for the long term.

It was around this time I saw on a screen that Hulk Hogan had died.

We walked around some more, went to BMV books. I bought a copy of Dune in TP for $9, stating my ambition to finally read it. Then we doubled back to the Eaton Center so I could use the restroom, and proceeded to walk around the Toronto Metro University campus, then down Church and back near to where we started. We finished off at Dineen Coffee for cold beverages -- he a lemonade, I an iced Americano that I regretted not putting any cream and sugar in -- and the last leg of our conversation, finally parting ways sometime around 4. I then went to another cafe to get something sweeter and moved to Mel's building to meet her. While waiting, I wrote a blog post partly based on a conversation he and I had had, or more specifically a point I had thought of earlier that generated a conversation between us.

Mel came down -- later than she probably hoped but no later than I expected -- with some ice cream sandwiches, which were really the whole reason she came out (or at least, how she was convinced to.) She was jealous of my drink so I offered to go get her one, and we stopped off at % at Union for an Iced Mocha Something. We got on the train and read our books, happy with the way the day was going.

Around this time, Mel said her drink was too strong and stopped drinking it. So I, in a flash of genius, tossed it out on the way off the train. She asked where it was and I explained, and she said that she was hoping to add milk and keep enjoying it. This kind of put us into a bad vibe for the night -- I don't want to say she overreacted, but she definitely reacted strongly and I felt quite negatively. Eventually we got over it. It's one of those things where we just disconnect from time to time -- I'll do something thoughtlessly, and she'll feel upset about it and I'll sulk and feel bad about myself and eventually it passes.

Friday was (?) Like literally just a day. Actually, we finally got around to seeing Nonna, which we had put off all week because it was such a full week. Nonna seemed a little let down that we'd invited ourselves over for Friday night instead of taking her out on Saturday, but we explained we were busy on Saturday. She said she'd already eaten a big lunch and wouldn't have much for dinner, but we brought pizza and wouldn't you know, she ate as much as I did. We played three-handed cards, which Mel won.

Yesterday, our agenda item was to go see Namita for her birthday at some distillery in the, of course, distillery district. This was a bit of a trek, especially considering we had collectively been in the city multiple times that week. There was some discussion on how best to travel, and at one point we were going to take the bus from Union, but decided to grab an Uber instead. We also left a half-hour later than we'd hoped, grabbing Tim Hortons breakfast on the way. I think it worked out fine as there wasn't much going on when we arrived and we all stayed pretty late past the supposed end anyway. Had a few gin drinks, which were enjoyable (to me, a gin guy.) There were some good conversations, particularly with people around the fact that I was looking for work. Mel's friend Kim, for example, has a lot of thoughts on the subject, and I had a good chat with Steph's fiance Jemaine (Sp?) In general, people are pretty supportive when I tell them what I did and why.

Afterward, we decided to stop in at Jack Astors for nachos, somewhat impromptu. We had mentioned the nacho plan and Kim noted if we wanted nachos, there was "a really good punk bar at College and Bathurst... what was it called..." Sneaky Dee's. No, we were not going to Sneaky Dee's.

Anyway. We ate outside as rain clouds enclosed, and left for the train just as it started sprinkling. Not bad, but Mel did make use of the umbrella. Then there were some train issues getting home as our train was late and then, once we were aboard, we were told it would be stopping at Oakville, then skipping every station until West Harbour. No idea why. So we got off at Oakville and waited 13 minutes, which was fine. There were also some annoying people on our first train and somehow the yellow strip got pressed. Also, when we were at Union, a guy asked me how to get to the "cablecars" so he and his (I presume teenage daughters) could get to the Budweiser Stage. I winced, ooh, you're in the wrong place, but that's not helpful. I tried to direct him up to King St. but he bailed to find someone else who I guess would give him more favorable directions?? Honestly, I like helping people but I'm not great at giving directions. Anyway, the King Street streetcars aren't even running right now and the move would have been to get on a GO train back to Exihibition, and I hope someone told him that.

Eventually we got home and watched, of all things, Coyote Ugly, which Mel had heard someone mention on a reel and hadn't seen in many years.

This morning I did some writing -- I've recently been in contemplation of a novel I've had an idea for for a few years, and get a little bit of momentum every now and again. It feels good for what it is, but the more you develop something, oftentimes the more you think to yourself, "Oh, nobody's going to care about this." So it's kind of a downer, but I would like to give it a shot, you know? In this case today I sat down and wrote the entire plot that's been rattling around inside my head... and it almost makes sense. I also feel like I deserve to write a version with just the parts I want, without extra stuff that I feel is necessary to get peoples' interest, but... ho hum.

Once Mel got up, we went out for breakfast and shopping, then came home and flopped. We've got a bit to do before we go on vacation tomorrow, so we'll see what gets done.

Keep on rockin'

-Scotto

17: The Truck, the Track and the Trick

I find myself, of all places, at the Eaton Centre food court. I've stopped a while to charge my phone with the portable power bank I picked up at the Bay liquidation sale a few months back. This is something I never found myself needing until I got one, and now I use it whenever I go to the city, which I should stress is only a couple of times since leaving my job.

Mel and I are having another one of our trademark Busy Weeks, which would probably just be normal life for some people. Mel went to Oakville on Tuesday, from where she was taken by party bus (which she did not care for) to a rooftop volleyball party for her work. It seems to have been a nice day, although she really just hung out with her one workfriend Michelle. She found the ride so objectionable that she and Mich ended up getting a train back to Oakville. She ended up arriving at the office at the same time as the bus-riders, some of whom noted the experience left them a bit queasy. Afterward she stopped off at her parents' place -- who are on vacation -- for a nap to rest up and wait out rush hour before heading home. So that left me and Hank to spend some time cleaning the kitchen (he focused on the floors) and walking. I made tacos from our accidentally-ordered meal box and we watched an old Amazing Race Canada, since we're now into it after checking it out with Laura.

The next day, Mel was busy all afternoon so I served her a pita salad and then we decided we didn't like our option for dinner that night (I thought the meal boxes were supposed to cure that, lol) so we ordered Mandarin. I noted that with the work week almost over, plans through the weekend and vacation next week, we don't need to have a fridge full of leftovers so we pared down our order to lemon chicken, shanghai noodles, wok veggies and two egg rolls. She said she could go for another egg roll so maybe next time we'll get three. We watched The Summer I Turned Pretty (which was now several summers ago for those people) and clowned on the comically undersized engagement ring given to the character. I also snickered at the bizarre Radiohead needle drop at the end of the episode.

So today we're in the city. Mel has a town hall meeting and I, coincidentally, scheduled a lunch with Tony several months back when we last met. Mel was hemming and hawing over it -- she had already been in the city this week after all, and getting up and going in the morning is always an ordeal of anxiety. She seemed to be leaning towards bailing, and I supported her because I feel like people should be empowered to bail on shit they don't want to do, and because I wanted her to come down on one side or the other of the issue. Her not going would change my plans slightly as I would probably have just gone in the middle of the day and come back as soon as I could, but at least she'd be home to look after Hank. But on the other side, her being home alone is kinda what we don't want (hence my hurry.) Then she got a message promising "ice cream and fun things" and, you know how it is when you work in an office and they promise "fun things," you just feel like you've gotta. So she upgraded her enthusiasm. That didn't mean that there wasn't still speedbumps in the morning but we got through okay. I re-enacted my old routine with Hank, walking him at about 6:30. There was some back-and-forth about whether we could trust him to be loose in the house all day. I'm not against it on principle if all the danger zones (food cabinets, compost, garbage/recycle, basement) are secured, he has food and we have leeway to get away, but we haven't set the second Hankey Cam up and I needed to finish giving him his food, a half cup to tide him over for our return. So we did what we usually do, give him his food in a puzzle in the bedroom to keep him busy, and left the camera on. It's supposed to be hot. The window's open, which I hope will help (rather than hurt??!) and of course there is AC, although it is not as effective in the upper floor as the bottom.

We got out the door at 7:45, well ahead of schedule to get the 8:12 train, which was of course pushing the boundaries for the first year of my RTO days and strictly verboten in the last few months. We got our seats and zonked out, although man, the ride felt longer than it used to, although that may because I finished Wordle, Connections and Strands relatively quickly.

We parted ways at her office of course, and I stopped for my customary cheese bagel. Since then I've meandered around, (first in search of a bathroom, which I found at First Canadian), ultimately finding my way to the Eaton Centre. I poked around Indigo a bit to visit the books, checking on things that I want but will probably get from the library, and generally feeling melancholy about all these BOOKS by AUTHORS who WRITE.

I have written lately. In fact, after a few weeks on the less-productive side (doing side-quests and establishing my other blog) I've powered through a huge chunk of a story. I was hoping it would be something big enough to sell but truth be told it will probably not reach that threshold and just be a sizeable short I might someday put in a collection. My previous collection actually did decent business compared to some of my longer works. However, I really do need to knuckle down and finish something I can definitely sell, like tomorrow. I was looking at last year's figures and they're so far above this years it made me uneasy. Work in that direction has definitely stalled but is never afar from my mind. And then beyond htat, something I could put my real name on.

So I've got my computer but I'm trying not to put pressure on myself unless I have time after Tony and I part ways. Like I said it has been an active week, and I'm grappling with some possible plot stuff anyway so I don't need to get back to it... I just need to keep my eye on it.

Writing would be so cool if there were any money to be made.

Keep on rockin'

Scotto

16: Arrange a Chance Encounter

So, here I was, all set to talk about what a busy few weeks it's been -- whenever I got time -- when things took an unfortunate turn. Last night, as we were getting ready for bed, I heard Mel in the bathroom suddenly go, "Fuck!" Seems while she was flossing -- rather than using her waterpik on account of the corn we had had with dinner -- her permanent retainer had come unstuck on one side. Fuck indeed. It was 1 AM.

Now it's the next day and we're waiting to see when we can get to the dental emergency clinic. We contacted them last night but haven't heard anything as of yet; I'll call them again at 10:30 while she rests. It's really annoying, you know -- we were looking forward to a non-busy Sunday and had talked all day yesterday about various things we could do today to enjoy it and/or cross things off our list. There's still a chance for that of course but it really casts a shadow over the day.

Well, naught all to be done about it right now.

So it has indeed been a busy few weeks. I arbitrarily started writing blogs on my fullname site again partly because I was inspired by an article by an actual good writer. I'm considering it part of my professional development, building a portfolio I can show around, although for that to work the writing has to not suck and also be stuff people want to read. Tough. I'm facing a lot of existential crises about what I will be in the future if I can't get "a job" and also can't make any headway as "a writer." Who am I and what do I do? Society angrily demands I answer.

The weekend after Canada Day was a big family gathering at Mom's where we shared our news, to much joy. It was good to catch up with Lori, Karen and Gail, and also lock things down for our trailer trip next week. And also Eric, who manned mom's new charcoal grill, a first for him. It turned out okay, but the flank steaks did need to be finished in the oven. Not bad though. Good food. Hank was much-fawned-over.

The ninth was our Weird Al concert, which I wrote about here, which was enjoyable in a lot of ways and presented a lot of logistical challenges to our homebody selves in others. The following weekend had a triple whammy of hosting Mama and Papa H for a somewhat spur-of-the-moment coffee, doing rounds to pick up cards and gifts, going to Dad and Deb's for Deb's birthday, and then (after a Sunday morning financial meeting) going out to David and Annie's for our annual visit there for David and Brie's birthdays. Not much to report about the first two. The last was a whole day, overall enjoyable. At first I was a little worried because the people we knew weren't arriving and it was feeling a little hard to break the ice with those who were there, mostly couples with kids of their own (which is a change from last year as Aubrey was seemingly too shy for a party with actual other kids at the time.) Then Tav, Kyle and Hans, and Nicki and Mai(sp?) arrived so the childless contingent grew and we were able to talk life and work and Drag Race and Ultimatum Queer Love and all that stuff. Katie unfortunately didn't make it as she was out of town, hopefully we can catch up with her another time. The day was good, the food was enjoyable, and though the weather was hot we got some shade and David's brother-in-law had provided these misting fans to keep the area cool, which seemed to work well. The books we had picked seemed to go over well -- we had hoped to pick some up at Shoppers, but it was not convenient to go to the Shoppers with the good book section so we went to Indigo. As to why we favored Shoppers over Indigo for kids books even when I worked there, we often found ourselves overwhelmed by an excess of choice, and there was a little bit of indecision over which books and how many to get.

Long drive out. Long but okay drive home, just left fairly zapped at the end of it all.

Prior to all that we had an impromptu night out on Friday when we found out the nigbt before that Joe was playing an open mic at the Lyon's Club in our backyard. So we went and surprisdd him, saw his usual entourage, enjoyed him playing a few of his originals (not necessarily the ones we would have expected) and a cover of "Hey Ya." Afterward we went for pizza at Son of a Peach and caught up. It was a nucecnight that enabled us to make good on the ongoing promises to see one another at some point, which we have with many friends. One down, a half-dozen to go.

The week proceeded. I wrote, I gamed, I goofed off probably a bit too much, but it's summer and although we have pressing financial needs coming up, we're still in the period where I don't need to be taking my job search as a life or death matter. Well, Mel may be reaching the end of  that period, even though I said, "Hey, it'll be a while." Like, we had this understanding when I decided to quit. But it's okay. After our vacation I'll probably hit it pretty hard. I found myself at the grocery store a lot as whims changed over what to eat and what treats we wanted.

Wugh, on that. We made this viral "Birthday Cake Pie" -- results, uh, mixed. I will say that it got better the more we had it.

The 30-degree weather finally let up on Thursday and it's been really enjoyable since.

We were all excited for this weekend to be totally open until Mel remembered that she was going to see a junior production of Mean Girls with her mom and Laura. That left me to entertain Papa H for the day, which... was fine, and certainly reasonable since I have all week to do "my own shit." I spent the morning tidying up. Afterwards, Laura hung around and we watched The Amazing Race (after I seemed kind of iffy on watching the Mean Girls Musical Movie -- which Mel and I just saw a few months ago. I would have been happy to let them do it while I folded laundry or something, but they preferred to watch something I could get into. That's nice, as long as they don't resent me for it.) Then after Laura left we chilled and I made the steaks with the ill-fated corn. In fact almost the whole meal was a bust since I overcooked the steaks. The potatoes got well enough done though. We did enjoy it, inasmuch as you enjoy an overly well-done steak. She praised the seasoning. It's really just Club House rub. We ate outside in our new chairs, which Hank likes to steal when I get up to put things inside.

After that we watched the Amy Bradley documentary on Netflix and made some Pillsbury cookies. (We're trying to stay away from evil food corporations like Pillsbury and Kraft/Mondelez but sometimes you gotta.) I walked Hank late and we got ready for bed at 12:30, and that's where we came in.

The outlook for this week would seem to depend on what ends up happening today. I'm going to call the Emergency Dentist again soon if they don't reach out. Tuesday Mel's supposed to have a fun day with work, Wednesday we may or may not take Nonna out to dinner, and then Thursday we'd both be in the city. Hopefully all these plans bear out.

Other than that... plenty to do. I'm actually semi-caught-up on laundry? (Plus or minus a basket and a huge pile in the spare room) The kitchen... has looked worse, for sure... but there are weeds to pull in the garden, and a giant box to break down in the garage, and the toilet's still hissing, and the bathroom needs cleaning, and there's lots of paperwork still to do, and let's not even talk about the state of the basement which has been a wreck for years... there's certainly no shortage of things to full my dad. Unemployment is a full-time job.

Keep on rockin'

-Scotto

Update: The dentist appointment, once we booked it, went well, and Mel was quite happy after they updated her gear situation. The money wasn't too bad and we had a good day taking care of things we wanted, enjoying our patio indeed. All in all, a winning weekend.

KoR-sAw 

15: Clean For the Maid

I didn't really intend to write a post today, but a few titles started rolling around in my head and I decided I liked this one enough to use it right away. Maybe I'll remember the others when the time comes.

While I was out walking Hank, I was thinking, apropos of nothing, about a time midway through Grade 12, when I was doing drama stuff and starting to feel like my feet were getting on solid ground after a few years of not knowing who I was and feeling bummed about it all the time. Unlike a lot of people, I actually have firsthand accounts in my own words -- in great detail! -- about it, right here on this blog. And you can go to December 2004 to see what that's all about!

It was heartening, actually, because I always felt like I had no real friends, but I had people who would read this blog and respond and be like "Nah, you've got some friends." And it's true that my friendships at that time were not as close as people usually like friendships to be, but I don't know whether that was a me-problem or a them-problem, if I had a hard time bridging the gap or if it was simply too far.

The kid was down. I feel for him. Many long years later, I have gone from a sad 17-year-old with no coping skills to a merely touchy 38-year-old with some coping skills. I don't get nostalgic per se, I only wish I had appreciated what was good about those days when they were on. That said, I was accurate in reporting what was not-so-good.

Quick hits: Weather's been good, staying below 30 for the most part and not unenjoyable, and good to walk Hank. House remains a mess and though I could pick away at it I choose not to. Took this week off from the job search because we had a mini-weekend on Tuesday and Wednesday and because I'm in contemplation after my last interview. Writing is writing, some of which may even net me a few bucks one day, but let's not go nuts.

We had a loaded day on Saturday. Mel booked a nail appointment, I wandered the mall accomplishing minor tasks and then settling in to read. I probably should have bought myself some new shoes, but the current ones -- which were my wedding shoes I should not -- have not yet completely fallen off my feet.

From there we went to Five Guys for fountain pops, then to Canadian Tire. The main acquisition was to be a new tower fan because we had been using the lil guy a lot in our room and then having to move it around. But you know, you can't just go to Canadian Tire for one thing. Our patio chairs had reached the end of their lives when I -- all 165 lbs of me -- fell through one of the woven bottoms. So we looked to see what we could see. We've discussed whether we want a love seat, but I am pretty firm that with our space, we would need to abandon the table, which we use. After thorough investigation, we decided to splurge on a 2-set of faux-wicker chairs, which were expensive but I won't say how much, and then a 6-piece set -- table, umbrella and four folding chairs -- for a mere $200. The idea was that we could sell the table and umbrella for $50, thus netting us the 4 chairs for $37.50 apiece, which is less than the going rate. But now Mel thinks we might as well save the table as a backup, and I'm ambivalent. It's still a fine deal.

From there we went to Value Village for new Canada Day shirts and other apparel. We kept the trip relatively brief because we did not browse the housewares, knickknacks and books. I picked out some jeans, which was risky because I got burned recently on a pair that were supposedly my size at the Bay liquidation sale, and there's no try-on room at VV, not since COVID. And it's exchange only -- not even store credit. Luckily, they did fit as they were supposed to. So, score.

Back to the patio stuff. The major concern was how to actually get the stuff home, since the 6-piece came in a flat box but the 2-piece surely didn't. I looked into home delivery but it would have cost upward of $100. So I called dad to see what he was up to the next day. He was able to come and help transport the boxes back, a nice little mission during which his car radio was tuned to Boom's Pride broadcast hosted by noted drag queen Brooke Lynn Hytes. That was a little weird, but my dad certainly isn't a bigot and does have a camp side, so sure, why not. I did not address the matter at all, although when I reached for the volume to turn it down from highway level, I got the tuner instead and dad asked what I was doing.

After I assembled it, we had dinner outside, ribs and corn and baked potato yum.

A few days later was the Canada Day BBQ at Ma and Pa H's. I had mentioned to dad that we were going to leave Hank home alone for the day (because Laura and Ryan were bringing Jake) and he offered to look after him which was very nice. The day was good. We had a Canada playlist all cued up. We migrated around the backyard wherever the shade was. The babies babbied. We stuck our feet in the doggie pool. Burgers were good. Mel and I brought the shortcakes and strawberries and ice cream and cool whip for dessert, as well as some Cove sodas which Unc partook of. We shared our news with most of the group. We sang old TV themes and such for Noah.

The next day, we had a mini-lazy-Sunday on Wednesday and just watched The Ultimatum and made the Hello Fresh enchiladas.

The previous Thursday, Mel went out to dinner with Laura and I went to Mom's to put together her new table and chairs. It actually wasn't hard, just the unboxing and then right-side-upping of the heavy table. The chairs were harder because the bolts wouldn't catch on the thread properly. I did end up getting them though. We had Kelsey's for dinner. I ordered too much fish n chips (one piece would have sufficed.)

Yeah, things are good, if precarious. I went to pick up some meds for Mel yesterday and was shocked at the cost -- I guess my Indigo benefits were really pulling their weight. That's all part of the deal though, I suppose. There will always be reasons to doubt what I did but I know the misery was not getting better if I had stayed. My only question is what is my place in the world?

Not too hard to figure out, right? Should be able to knock it out by next week.

Keep on rockin'

-Scotto