the Strangeness that is my life

[salamanca]

Anybody know where they were 20 years ago today?. I do. Pink Floyd in concert. And yes, it was awesome. And yes, I am old. And yes, I only know that because I stumbled on the ticket stub at the bottom of a drawer today.

[smafdi]

memorial day 1994? i think i was still in the 6th grade.......... yea just did math i was ending 6th grade. way to be old dave!

[Black Jack Rackham]

I started a riff on the Beatles, but tried to figure out where I might have been. It turns out I was in graduate school in Huntsville, Tx. Now, where specifically? I have no idea. But it, most assuredly, was not nearly as awesome as Pink Floyd.

[salamanca]

If it helps, I still have the concert T shirt someplace.

And I think it was a wednesday or thursday.

[Rebecca Iavelli]

It was longer than 20 years ago, but the thing I remember about Pink Floyd, was that one of my mother's boyfriends listened to them a lot, so when we went out to dinner or whatever in a "family style outing" with him, I remember listening to it, and memorizing the song "Money". He was a nice guy, that had a souped up Chopper Motorcycle, with a air paint job of a cemetery on it along with the flames down the side, and a VW vanagon with the orange shag rug interior. It was in the back of the vanagon that I remember listening to the music of Pink Floyd coming out of the speakers in the walls. It was quite the different music from what my father would have us listen too, George Jones or other forms of country music, before he went gospel.

[salamanca]

So I went to my favorite local diner tonight and the place was busy. I'm a regular so they know I just want to eat and won't be picky about where they sit me or toss a fit if they forget about me for awhile during a rush. (and they usually take really good care of me because I am low key about that stuff there). So tonight I am in the corner and every table is full. About the time my food is ready, pure coincidence, every table in my section finishes and leaves at the same time. Now, folks are still coming in but this place recently installed a salad bar at the other end of the place so every group they try to seat near me asks to be moved to the other section (because salad bar folks are lazy about walking toward food). So me being me, I start apologizing to the waitress as it is obvious that nobody wants to sit near me. And I am laying it on thick like I really feel near crying about chasing away her potential tips. Next thing I know, she has bought the act so well that she is trying to get the shift manager to comp my meal. (which I refused to let them do since I was just goofing off). And before you ask, Carol got a suitably large tip because they are good to me there. And the best part was that they finally got a group to sit in that section while I was paying my bill and leaving, which proves it probably was me.

[Rebecca Iavelli]

It's that GM Underglow. They may not know what it is, but they can "feel" it, and try to avoid it, like antelopes try to avoid the lions at the watering hole.

[salamanca]

GM underglow, thought those were the neon lights kids put on their hot rods. I like the term however,. I think I shall endeavor to make it universally accepted.

[salamanca]

My grandfather pointed out how much effort I appear to be putting into prep for Origins today. And he could not comprehend why playing a game takes so much time to get ready for. So I tried to find some references he would get. I was making progress describing things but nothing in the golf business is quite that much long plan effort. (there may be a lot to do but it's done relatively quickly). Then I remembered his old bomber navigator stories. I aksed him to think about those calculations they used to make for celestial readings (yes, they were trained to take a sighting off a star and repeat it 3 times in a set period then apply calculus to the results. Do it fast and right and you can fly a plane. Do it wrong you get lost over the ocean. I then explained I was basically plotting out 100 planes on a 4 hour trip...With clouds. Now he gets it. Even offered to help.

[smafdi]

That is acutally really cool way to explain it.

[salamanca]

Yep, he was lucky in terms of service. He was young enough that the "everybody go enlist" fervor had quieted down by the time he graduated. So he started college, got drafted after a semester and because of his math focus in school got sent to train at another college for meteorology. The week he finished that program, the army determined they had plenty of guys for that job and transferred him to the air corp. Halfway through flight school, they realized his test scores and background were a perfect fit for Navigator training. By the time he finished that and got assigned to a crew... They shipped out for Guam the EXACT DAY the army bombed Hiroshima. So his entire active military time was spent on patrols, mopping up pockets of resistance that ignored the surrender and trying to avoid crashing into cloud covered mountaintops. My other grandfather...totally opposite story. Utah beach, Battle of the Bulge, etc. As a combat engineer he spent the entire war crawling over wreckage, looking for mines, bombs and building stuff to get tanks and trucks over rivets while being shot at. And he was far better off than his brother who was one of 12 guys out of 200 in his company that walked off of Omaha beach in the first wave.

[salamanca]

So I was hanging out with the Taylor clan yesterday (Jeremy and I were stuffing Larp envelopes) and since I was parked in the back, I got to make the food run to the local mexican place. So I am waiting for the carry-out (which could be a story in itself) and a young lady walks up and asks me out to go golfing with her. Ok, she's cute and oddly enough, I have access to a golf course and all of this is just feeling very odd because I know I have never seen this person before or the people she was with so there is now way she would know asking me about golf is actually something normal. (never mind the fact I have not played in 24 years). But despite her being a very nice person, I had to turn her down because I just am not about to start dating 14 year olds. THAT'S RIGHT, I GOT ASKED OUT BY A 14 YEAR OLD GIRL. And it was awkwardly creepy. Now it turns out the asking out came from an escalating series of dares between her, her sister, brother, 2 friends and MOM. That's right, mom dared her teenager to ask out a middle age stranger. Her big brother was giving me a "go for it dude" grin and a double thumbs up. Well, at least the food was good.

[Lady Grace]

Which restaurant was this so I can avoid it if/when I'm ever out in your neck o' the woods, Dave?

[salamanca]

It's called "Luisa's" in geneva and you should eat there if you end up in that town. The food is pretty good. Unfortunately the service is average on a good night and aside from the weird customers that occassionally show up it's a pleasant enough visit. There will soon be a second location in Ashtabula Harbor.

[salamanca]

So a good friend of the family passed away a while back (i recall posting about holding his funeral AT his house). And recently, the headstone for his grave was finally installed. He was a big man and he has opted to go out big. It's a life size black granite easy chair with a TV remote carved into the arm rest. If nothing else he left us with his sense of humor.

[salamanca]

Aaaaahhhh! Tricked again!. I usually go to dinner on wednesday with the parents. It's a long work day and we get done late, etc. DAD HAS A KNACK FOR INSISTING WE GO TO PLACES I HATE OR HAVE HAD TERRIBLE SERVICE. (note the epic tale of Perkins and the omelet way back in the early part of this thread). So tonight, he get hammered with a rainstorm and close early and out of the blue Dad asks if I want to go to dinner at that Mexican place I had a story about a few posts back. The important part of this is that Dad really hates Mexican because he has never had anything but Chi Chi's and maybe taco bell twice (plus he's got a lower tolerance for heat than I do). So I am intrigued by the idea and hop in the car. Forgot they are closed on monday. He, it turns out knew that and was just duping me into going along to the infamous "Eddie's Grill". Eddie's I should explain is a local landmark. They are located right on lake erie in a summer vacation village that is the poor man's version of coney island or the boardwalk in Atlantic City. If you want to spend a day not on the beach walking into kitchsy tourist trap shops eating crap and playing arcade games, this is the spot in Ohio to do that. Eddie's is the spot that sells hot dogs and has not redecorated since 1958. It's one of those summer spots the locals all hit in the summer like it's hot dog mecca. Unless like me, you can't or won't eat processed meats, then you are stuck with a meal of crappy fries and a flat Coke. I get the kitcsh, I get the 50's theme and I get the open theme park style dining area full of kids chowing down on a dog and swatting away flies. But he knows I cannot eat there. He's wasting my time dragging me along to watch him eat. And we work all day together so it's not like we need bonding time. Yep, today I dined in hell.

[salamanca]

Ah, car repairs. turns out the only thing I was actually worried about with the car is a non-issue problem that I can repair but don't need to fix. (yet)

But, I still have nothing fixed because the parts store the mech uses did not have any brake pads in stock... at all. (something tells me he needs a new parts guy) and this guy was honest enough to tell me he isn't up to speed doing the electrical issue so I'm going to need to send it someplace else when I get it back tomorrow after the parts arrive.

Ah, the joys of ownership.

[salamanca]

Ok, I am going on record here that I have spent my whole life aware that my mother was not hip, cool, or up to date on anything remotely related to pop culture. But yesterday... Well, yesterday we finally got Dad into that Mexican restaurant. We poured over the menu with a fine tooth comb and found a meal he enjoyed. Mom was delighted with hers and everything was fine except for complaints from dad about the music (which, while hispanic in origin, ranged from salsa to mariacci to tejana). But dad has a dislike for anything less than 45 years old in music. Mom on the other hand, she took a look around the place at the decor and both of them very fairly enjoyed pointing out the kitschy level of "mexican" decorations. Then mom blurts out, "THE ONLY THING THIS PLACE NEEDS IS SOME JERRY GARCIA". Yeah, that caused the record scratch sound in my head too. I suggested she meant Santana but she insisted, no she meant Jerry. Now this got me really confused as. I remembered the only time she ever mentioned the Grateful Dead...mom thinks they are heavy metal because they have those shirts and posters with the skulls on them. (i should point out Mom was 21 in 1967 and has no excuse besides being that out of touch with culture to not know the Grateful Dead). So I opt to play along and ask if that's what she meant and she says, "no just Jerry Garcia, maybe something from his newer album.". I point out that Jerry died in August 1995 the same week as Grandma. At that, she asked if I was sure. I said, yep. And that was when I pulled the ripcord and bailed out of that discussion. Still not sure why she thinks they need Jerry Garcia but I am not sure she is wrong despite her never having heard him play.

[Rebecca Iavelli]

I would think it would be more Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass that she would be thinking of.

[salamanca]

Not the smallest chance of that. She totally missed that decade of music. (actually, musically speaking, she missed all the decades). I don't think she has ever bought a record and has no idea who played any given song.

[salamanca]

Back to the car... GOOD NEWS!. Mechanic number 5 figured out the problem. It's a faulty "light control module" that keeps messing with my headlights. BAD NEWS!. It's a 600+ dollar part. GOOD NEWS!. It's under a secret unannounced one time replacement recall warranty because a lot of them went bad. BAD NEWS! That means I need to go to a dealer to get it fixed. GOOD NEWS! The dealer nearest me was happy to help. BAD NEWS! The part is back ordered until Mid-August. GOOD NEWS! He got another store to transfer him one via Fed Ex. BAD NEWS! He can't schedule me until he gets it. BAD NEWS! I was peeking at his schedule and they are already booked until the 5th. GOOD NEWS!. I don't really have free time to go anywhere until then and the car works fine unless it's dark out. (by which time I need to be asleep anyhow with my early schedule). Ah, the joys of ownership.

[Rebecca Iavelli]

Geesh, I thought I was watching a Ping Pong game instead of Golf, with all that Good news - Bad news back and forth stuff! LOL.

[smafdi]

I was more reminded of an episode of animaniacs, good idea/bad idea. man that show is great. sorry to hear about your car but at least you know why your lights don't work now!

[salamanca]

Yes, and we all know from another classic caetoon series of the 80's that "knowing is half the battle". By the way, my new favorite mechanic told me how to fix the problem. If they go out, I can reach up under the lower wiring cover below the dashboard and locate the problem switch right above the gas pedal. All I need to do is tap it a couple times and the lights will click back on (at least for awhile). Now reaching said spot is only possible while laying on the floor of the car so it's not something I could do while driving. So I am sticking with the plan of get home before dark.

[salamanca]

Keep this in mind the next time your job has you doing something weird... I needed to do a chemical spray of insecticide on the greens today. This stuff gets rid of various ants, grubs and weevils that eat the roots off the grass and kill the turf. Obviously, this stuff is a poison of sorts and as such, you treat it carefully, apply it precisely as instructed and switch to a different product every few years when the EPA suddenly realizes this stuff may have some lingering problems and drags it off the professional market (but leaves it in stores for you all to use. Seriously, there is stuff at the local garden store or walmart for use in your yard that I cannot buy and use at my business and I have mandatory training with bi-annual updating). So long story short: I have a new product to use this year and this time around they appareantly decided to concentrate the stuff. Everything we use gets mixed with water and applied as a spray. It takes 25 gallons of water to cover the 40,000 square feet of greens I have. (pretty efficient). Now most of the stuff we use for insects or plant disease applies at a rate of around 4 ounces per 1,000 square feet. So i'm adding about 160 ounces of actual chemical to that 25 gallons of water. So it's just over a gallon of chemical (and you don't want to know the price on some of that stuff). But TODAY our new concentrated insecticide needed a quarter of an ounce per 1,000 square feet. That was 10 ounces total. Half of that bottle of Mountain Dew you are drinking. Really efficient until you start worrying about evenly distributing it over 40,000 square feet...In 25 gallons of water. Then you get done and realize you just spent 2 hours to dribble 10 ounces of chemicals and wonder what better ways that time could have been spent.