Today, it’s my turn to really take the day off and in the words of Bender (who I’m wearing today), to kiss my shiny metal ass. It used to be in better shape but since it is now day five on waiting for the treadmill repair tech to call me.
What’s the plan? Nothing very ambitious like last year (Las Vegas), just a nice four-day weekend away from work. Emphasis is on the word “away.” Thanks to my position coming with a portable, I can do some odds and ends I haven’t been able to accomplish due to Lion’s release. Fear not, I won’t be doing anything terribly taxing on my brain.
Beyond work, we’re going to see Captain America and maybe Cowboys & Aliens, the more cerebral Another Earth still isn’t in Austin which is annoying. We also initiate a major four-week housesitting assignment. Trust me, I think we always come out ahead on the arrangement, our friends have a pool and cats to pet!
I started the day off by taking Somara to work, joining my co-worker/interpreter Ayako for breakfast at Cafe Java and then seeing my buddy Chip at Waterloo Records; he had some time to spare from the upcoming ACL Fest Mess. Chip is one reason I think the record store will never completely die, the human touch on recommendations trumps what some stranger says on the Internet. Waterloo had two of the three releases I wanted, so he endorsed several others to make the trip worthwhile.
Currently, I’m hanging around at my local Starbucks, writing, doing paperwork and uploaded a podcast. I’ll explain the latter in another post.
The cooler stuff today has been all the great birthday wishes. Cards from Nelson and Jose! A bitchin’ e-mail from Steve with photos included! Lastly, all the FaceBook posts. I admit to ripping on the site for reasons I’m not going to repeat, yet it is nice to see all the kind words. Jose’s card was incredibly moving, it compensates for him not being here with Nancy over the weekend. If he’s reading this, I was pretty over it. I’m going to send him an e-mail to such an effect.
In other great news, Somara will have tomorrow off without having to give up vacation! She was recruited for another side project which will take about a week and puts her on the Monday-Friday thing. We get to have two contiguous days together.
Things are looking up.
Next year, I am hoping to make a mini-trip someplace else. The primary candidate is Chicago where Nelson, Brian and their families live. Maybe a quick side trek into Milwaukee.
Thanks again!