Lorena and I took an Uber from the apartment down to the big HEB grocery store near San Pedro Plaza last night. There is a Carnicería Ramos (butcher shop) right by there so Lorena ran over and bought two kilograms of chuleton. Lynn says it is a cut that includes the ribeye and a little bit more. We $30 for 4.5 lbs. of ribeye plus for of those super plump, redder than the gringo version, extremely tasty hot dogs. We also got some potatoes, makings for salsa and a bunch of other stuff. It took about two hours from the time the carbon was lit until we ate, but that was just part of the deal. It was phenomenal and the four of us (Grandma Conchita, Lynn, Lorena, and I ate maybe a pound and a half of the steak and half a hot dog each. We were stuffed.
Memorial Day 2019 was perfect. Remembered those in the family and nation who served in the armed forces, went to a potluck with our church group, took naps, ate some steaks. All is well as we move toward summer.
Lorena took Kiwi to Petco this morning for her annual shot and de-worming. I use the word annual very loosely here because Kiwi has not been for awhile. She was amazing better behaved than in past years and the vet said she was healthy. Lorena was even able to let her run free in the car on the drive to Olympia instead of in her pet carrier. After she arrived at the store, she did fine in Lorena’s arms for quite awhile, but eventually needed to be put in the above cardboard box while she waited her turn. She is healthy, but old and has gotten very skinny–enough so they had to take three jabs at her for the vaccination because she did not have enough meat to make it easy. We do not think she will be around much longer, but who knows, we have been wrong about that before.
Usually I do not feel the sense of malaise that is my current frame of mind at the seeing in of a New Year, but reminders of the nature of man can start to get in the way of progress. That is especially true when one realizes their nature is susceptible to the same defects as those that caused the current jaded outlook. Still, I must say that I am grateful for what I have in this life and the hope I have for the next one. I will just list a few of the things, good, bad, and indifferent, that are happening as we move toward 2019. First and foremost, we are healthy and free to pursue our dreams more than any time in our memory. The kids are making it on their own and progressing in ways that would make any parent grateful.
We live in interesting times. The most notable non-presidential election of my lifetime is scheduled to take place this coming Tuesday. I am not wildly involved in any of this, but like to know what is going on. I do not trust any of the traditional news sources–we have not subscribed to a paper and ink newspaper for a couple of decades now and we do not have a television. That leaves the internet and, to a much lesser extent, the radio. Fortunately, I think it is possible figure out what is going on better than any time in my lifetime. I will continue to depend on non-traditional news sources and continue to vet my current sources at the same time I look for new ones.
I am in Boston right now and am in a great mood. Three good things happened since I got here. First, I found the fanciest business cards I have ever had on my desk when I got in to work work this morning. They are on thick card stock with die-cut corners, full color. I hate to give these things away. Even the box they came in is a keeper. Second, when I arrived at the hotel last night, they asked me what I wanted for my Platinum Marriott membership. I had not realized that I had spent enough time in the Marriott Residence Inn in Prescott, Arizona that I am now a lifetime platinum member of Marriott which makes getting what I want on my stays here way easier. The third thing was that when I asked about the workout facility for the hotel at the desk at the Marriott this morning, they told me they did not have one in the hotel, but I have privileges to use the world class workout facility a half a block away. It has a beautiful Olympic size swimming pool and just amazing workout facilities. I am going to try it out tonight and Lorena is going to love it.
I took this picture sitting at the gate in PDX to catch an early morning flight to SFO. It is a day trip. I am one of those guys that feels uncomfortable not getting to the airport at least a couple of hours early. Consequently, I spend a lot of time like this–sitting in an uncomfortable seat attempting to get some work done on a screen that is small enough that I either cannot see the text or, if I make the font bigger, do not have enough screen real estate to do meaningful work. I have hope this will all come to an end in only a handful of years, but I have been wrong before. Maybe I will have cause to travel in retirement or just need/want to keep on working.