Down On Ferry Farm

Friends, I have had a weekend that was downright decadent. Friday night I went over to Renee’s house so she could make me dinner – Lasagna, no less. She was concerned because I was picking up all the checks whenever we went out. “I’m going to have to make dinner for you” she says. So we had a nice quiet dinner at her place on Friday night. The next morning we got up and did a little shopping. She bought some sparkly shoes for her daughter and I bought some new shoes that I can wear to work. We also walked around a couple of “house wares”-type stores and she bought some new sheets. Later that day we went to see a movie (“Dan in Real Life”) and ate some food. Sunday morning we got up and she had to go pick up her daughter – ex-husband had her for the weekend – so we didn’t have much planned. * It was so nice and so comfortable I just couldn’t believe it. We talked about all the ‘heavy’ things you’re supposed to talk about: Religion, Politics, Sports, Life, etc. There wasn’t anything she ...

Biscotti! To the person who understands the humor, please do not respond. We will talk later.

On Wednesday of this week I got a call from the dating service saying they had another match for me. “Uh… well, I – uh..” I stuttered to her. “Is there a problem?” she asked. I then proceeded to tell her that I’ve had several dates with one of the young ladies that they set me up with previously. She then said I could put myself ‘on hold’ and explore this new relationship. I needed to talk to Renee to see where her head was. When we finally talked, Renee was pretty frank about the whole situation and said that I should go on the date. I felt weird at that moment. I wanted her to say that I shouldn’t go, that she wanted me all to herself. I wanted to feel good after the conversation, but I didn’t. By the way, this is sort of what Renee looks like: I called the dating service back and asked them to set up the date. In the mean time, Renee messaged me and asked if I wanted to come over Friday night. As quickly as I could, I replied “yes”. So Friday night comes and I’m very relaxed about t...

I know I just wrote but I had an experience I thought was cool that I'd share. I went to deposit my check in the bank today so I drove to the nearest ATM that belongs to my bank. I had been to these ATM's recently and saw how they were new units now with large color screens. So I pull up and I'm looking for the little envelopes they have at the ATM so I can shove my check in there with the deposit slip. No envelopes. There's a little sticker on there that even says "you don't need envelopes anymore". I'm a bit confused but I look further. There's a slot just above the one where you insert your card for putting in cash or checks. Wait, what? So I push the button that tells the machine I want to deposit my check and it tells me to slide my check into that slot. It grabs the check like an angry librarian. A few seconds later a scan of the actual check appears on the screen with the amount it's made out for. "Is this the correct amount?" ...

For some reason, going over to Renee’s (that's what I have decided to nickname her) house on Friday night was giving me some anxiety. I was more nervous than a hooker in church… and I don’t know why. Maybe because I was unsure of where she lived and didn’t want to appear foolish. You see, usually I map out everything ahead and make a dry run to the location before I end up going. Well, I didn’t have time to do that in this case. Anyhow, I have my map and my directions and I head out into the great unknown. But first, I stop at the store and pick up some beer. Now, I know you’re thinking this is what screwed me up (keep reading) but it really didn’t. So I’m traveling along with my instructions and I get down this really long and winding road (Beatles!) and I’m thinking to myself “this can’t be right”. One of her instructions to me was to go all the way to the end of “North Whatever Blvd”. So I get all the way out to the end of this road and I decide to call her. “This can’t be right...

So Bachelorette #2 calls me last night (I haven’t decided what nickname to give her yet) when she’s driving home from the airport. She’s been out of town, you see. She tells me about her trip and I tell her about my quiet week so far. Then we talk about what we want to do next time we get together. I get the feeling that she’s been to most of the restaurants in the area – even the “out of the way” ones. So she tells me “why don’t you come over to my house and we’ll watch a movie”. I tell her in my most calm and collected voice “Yea, I can do that”. She tells me it will have to be after her daughter goes to bed (around 8pm), which is fine with me. In the hours since then, I have wrestled with the idea that this is too soon, too fast, too much. On one side it’s not like she asked me to sleep with her – on the other it’s not like she DIDN’T either. The problem? I don’t want to mess this up. This woman is really cool and laid back. She is (self-described as) low maintenance. She’s got a gr...

Well, after my last successful date, I figured we ought to try it again. In fact, at the first date I told her that it wasn’t up for debate – that we WOULD go out again. And we did. It was the Saturday following the first date. She had been out with a friend of hers on Friday night and they must have gotten a little wild with the drinks because she appeared to be “hurtin’” come date-night. I suggested a couple of places and we settled on a laid-back little place where we could just hang out and talk. Before we get to the date, I have to explain what I was doing beforehand. Superman had invited me to a corporate function of his wife’s work. It was given a renaissance theme. That was fine but the woman who was doing the announcements had a very screechy voice… AND she was amplified… AND she was yelling. We ate the obligatory hot dog and hamburger and generally made our presence known – then got the hell out of dodge. I think if it wasn’t for the screeching woman we would have stayed long...

I was naturally nervous before my date this evening. I had my doubts and now I wonder if my expectations were too low. My last date the conversation was stilted, it was generally uncomfortable, and the conversation did not come easy. I did not see any attraction to her even though she seemed like a very nice young lady. The same cannot be said of tonight’s date. It was wonderful, easy and flowing. Any silence that occurred was nothing but comfortable. I could easily see myself with this woman for many nights to come. Of course, it would be a huge overstatement to say she’s “the one” but – wow – it could not have gone any better if I scripted it. I was early to the restaurant. We were only supposed to have drinks but we were both hungry, so we ordered dinner. The conversation came easy as well as the smiles and laughs. We had quite a bit in common and much to discuss. I was early. I waited at the table. I watched as the hostess brought several women to their tables “is that her?” I’d as...

If you haven’t noticed, I’ve been in a slump with the ladies… a pretty major slump. Brought on by DubDub and her teasing me with her presence and my own wuss-itude while sitting at a bar just staring at beautiful women, I did the only thing I know to do: hire a dating service. So that’s what I did. I’m not going to name them here because I don’t want to advertise for them at this point. If they are a rousing success you might hear about it from me. They called me on a Thursday (I had inquired about their services in the past) and asked if I was still available. My ‘advisor’ wanted to meet with me and see if she couldn’t match me with someone as soon as possible – she suggested we meet that night. I drove to their office and met with my advisor for about half an hour (kind of quick, I thought). We sat and talked in this very small office and she asked questions about what I like and what I was looking for in a woman. I explained all the usual surface material and wondered when we were g...

I don’t know what made me think of this, but I thought I’d mention my Uncle Jimmy. Everyone has that ‘crazy’ uncle, or the “pull my finger” uncle – well this is my silly uncle. He was good with his hands and was always building or fixing something. He could make just about anything out of wood. He was always collecting bicycle parts and putting them together for kids in his neighborhood that couldn’t afford them. The parents would arrive at his house insisting to pay for the bikes but he always turned them down. I had a pair of shoes that I ran into the ground. They were so worn out that my toes were sticking out the front of them. I was getting ready to throw them in the garbage when he asked, “Hey, how much you want for those?” in his silly way. I asked what he wanted them for. He needed some throwaway shoes that he could paint in. He tried them on and they fit. If you want to get a mental image of Uncle Jimmy, just picture Bert Larhs only taller and thinner. He had that big broad sm...

I’m sure you’re asking yourself: Why hasn’t he had a blog entry in a while. Oh, he rambled on about music and what-not but not a whole lot lately. I’ll tell you why. The hottest part of the summer my air conditioner broke down. I woke up in the morning like I had just gotten off a water park ride. I didn’t feel much like turning the computer on let alone writing in this blog. I got the air conditioning replaced and all is well in that world. Then work picked up. I worked 12-hour days all Labor Day weekend (yes, I’m aware of the irony) and long days Monday through Wednesday of the following week. I wasn’t sleeping well any of those nights. My boss gave me Thursday and Friday off but ended up calling me in on Friday and, again, ended up working a long day. That’s not an excuse – it’s my reason. I want to tell you what’s going on in my world. I want to explain why I am the way I am. I want you to understand why women cringe when they see me coming toward them, even when I don’t understand...

I have finally reconciled with “The Gods” of music. I broke down and signed up for iTunes and will begin paying for the music I download. Actually, it paid off instantly. I had been looking for a song for quite some time through, uh.. ‘other’ channels and had not found it. I figured “what could it hurt – I’ll look and see if it’s on iTunes”. It was there. I was amazed. More than that I was sold. So I started thumbing through my wish list of songs I was looking for. I found all but one. With that one, though, I don’t know the title of it. I have resisted doing this for so long because I felt like the music industry owed me for 2 reasons: a) I have over-paid for music for years now, and b) for putting out such crappy music for a long time and expecting us to continue buying it. And then the music industry cried foul and thought the Internet was to blame for lower music sales. No, you idiots – it was because people were going back and downloading all the GOOD music you’ve been overchargin...

It hit me at some point while I was looking through my music collection that several artists had the same song title – “Save Me”. I explore each one here: Jem – I don’t know a lot about this artist but I heard this version on “Grey’s Anatomy”. The music they select for the show hits the mark about 90% of the time (in my estimation) and this song was one of those times. I don’t remember the scene that was going on while the music was playing but I remember trying to look for it afterwards. Luckily, this is one of those shows that is not shy about advertising what music is playing during the episodes – in fact they list the songs on their website. I like the bouncy, reggae feel it has. It has overtones of seriousness and playfulness all at the same time. Seriously! p.s. – did not know what Jem looked like until I went searching for the picture. Wow! Doubly impressed. Dave Matthews – For some reason, Dave Matthews put out a solo album called “Some Devil” a few years back. To my ear, it ...

First, let me catch you up on happenings. I finally got my new air conditioning installed and up and running (well, I didn’t, but you know what I mean…) I came home on a Friday to find my house on the cold side. “Okay” I thought to myself “maybe I’m just not used to it and the temperature will even out”. A 3am, when I couldn’t turn off the air at the thermostat, I had to kill the new system at the electric panel. It was SO cold. The thermostat said it was 60 degrees on it’s way to 67. HA! If it was anything it was 40 degrees in my house. I could almost see my breath. So I called the company that installed it and they sent a technician. He was at my house for 3 hours. The thermostat that was installed was so new he didn’t know how to work it correctly. He ended up installing one that he knew would work – and it did before he left. He said that someone would be out on Monday to fix the real one. So, thankfully, they were out on Monday and the problem has been resolved. My house is now a ...

You know, I feel sorry for Beth. She’s dating (or married to) a HUGE ass. For purposes of this story, I’m going to assume she’s dating “JJ”. I’m sitting in this restaurant, staring out the window, minding my own business when I see this couple drive up and get out of their car. The guy looks like your typical ‘yay-hoo’ (as my dad used to say). He’s wearing the oversized, baggy shorts with the white sneakers and the a-frame t-shirt (known as a “wife-beater”). He’s got the trucker hat that is slightly askew on his head. Beth is very pretty (you’ll understand how I know both their names shortly). She’s wearing a very nice short skirt and chic top. She’s young and, if I had to guess, would say she works at a clothing store at the local mall. She has long, dark, perfectly manicured hair. When she gets out of the car, she is talking on the cell phone. When JJ gets out of the car, it’s like he’s a clown at the circus. He dances around wildly and is flailing his arms like he’s on fire. Beth is...

The title says it all.

I haven’t written in a little while, so I figured I’d catch you up on what was going on. It’s been the usual up and down ride. First, the bad news: today I was blamed for something I was told to do. I was the ‘face’ of the project so I took the brunt of the firestorm. Let’s just say these people can get really hateful. I’m hoping that this will help with leverage later on in my career. Now for the good news: I had my annual review and got a nice little raise. Later in the week we had our division meeting and I was recognized for all my hard work of late. Yea! More later.

Every Sunday morning I watch CBS’s “Sunday Morning” news program (it’s TiVo’d if I’m still sleeping). This morning’s episode dealt with the upcoming July 4th holiday. A lot of it centered around elements of the holiday itself – marching men in tri-cornered hats, fife-and-drum sets, kids holding sparklers as parades went by and scores of people waving flags. And then they got me. It opened with a shot of Faneuil Hall in Boston, MA. I didn’t think anything of it as I watched a stream of immigrants file up the main aisle and take their seats. It wasn’t until the speaker said “everyone, please rise” that I started to tear up a little. There were 396 people not born on this soil who were willing to raise their right hand and swear allegiance to this country. And they got me. These people weren’t worried about what is wrong with this country; they were most concerned about what is right. They were well aware of the war in two countries and the tension with other nations our country endures. ...

I used to think those biorhythm charts were bunk but I think about that when I have a great Monday and a terrible Wednesday. You remember biorhythms, right? Basically, you put in your birthday and then find today’s date. It shows a scale of Physical, Emotional and Intellectual well-being. I don’t know, maybe they are bunk. I was at home Saturday and just got ensconced with my dinner. The phone rings. I have to break out of my little mold to answer the phone. It was my sister “Hey, where are you?” “Home”, I say. “What are you doing?” she asks. “Eating dinner,” I reply. “Oh”, she starts “when you’re done with dinner, how’d you like to have a drink with your nieces and nephews – and your sister?” We had a really nice time sitting around drinking and laughing. It’s kind of strange that my nieces and nephews are old enough to drink. I barely feel like I’m old enough to drink. My sister tells me, at some point, that a few people from the family are going to breakfast next morning. I love me ...

Well, I had a wonderful time down in Florida. I was at a conference at a huge venue with a lot of other people. A good time was had by most and if you didn’t have a good time it was your own damn fault. When I got back on Friday, I didn’t want anyone at work to know. I sent a quick e-mail to one of the guys I work with to let HIM know that I was back and I was sure he wouldn’t tell anyone else. I get a call from him about an hour later basically saying the world was falling down around him. He needed some help and called me to get it. I ended up spending a good part of Friday and now the better part of Saturday in the office taking care of the issue. Don’t get me wrong; there are others in the office as well, all taking on their own part of the overall problem. It’s tiring but a good learning opportunity – which is what I could say about the conference I went to. I must have walked about 3 or 4 miles a day going from session to session. I talked to a lot of vendors and learned a LOT ab...