Home

BossLady and I have had a bit of a go lately.  

We have been staying with family in the Bay Area since the move and while I found work.   Family is great and we could not have made it without their help, but it's time to move on.

Back when BossLady took her photo gig, we drove up and went apartment hunting with little luck.  It's very frustrating when they all want money NOW and we were just getting ideas.   So we backed off and decided to wait till I landed something.

Today we signed our papers for our new place.

We are both excited to have our own place again.   We appreciate all the family has done, but we need to have "our" space back.  We miss it.

The only problem... We have to wait a month till we actually move in.

This could be a good thing, as I have to get going on the new job and the dust will settle a bit for us.  And we can start planning our move without feeling rushed.

BossLady is happy, too.  She will be in her hometown.  I will be close to mine, though I have lived in this city before.   And she will be close to her family, which is something she has not had in 5 years.  And best of all in her mind, I have to get her a new kitten, which we decided we will rescue from the local shelter.

The place is in a nice location, close to BART and a golf course as well as tennis courts and a lake.

Ah... the joys of moving...

I GOT IT!

Today I start the new job.

I got the one I wanted, which is awesome.

Even better, it's in my home town.

Today is paperwork, and then we are going full bore to get the place open and just rockin'.

Stories should follow soon about the customers and just what it's like to open something from the ground up.

... pation is Killing Me!

Had the interview.

Talked with who interviewed me before.   That was good.

Talked to his "boss".   I have no read on him, so not sure how it went.

I was told I would hear by tomorrow.

Wife has me out at the driving range hitting golf balls then going apartment hunting all day to keep my mind off of things.

I don't feel good about this.

Anticip...

Waiting has never been my strong suit.

I have my final interview for a job that I really want today (in less than an hour, actually) and I am going nuts. I'd bite all my fingernails off, if I had any left. Heck, I'd gnaw 'em off the cat if that were possible... But I also feel that this is just a formality, and that all will go well. Which is why I am excited and anticipating this interview. I want to work again so bad I can almost taste it.

A habit of mine when I am working (or just excited for something) is to be early. Very early. As in I-got-here-last-week early. People laugh at me and tease me about it, and I even make fun of myself for it.

But I have never been late to work. Ever.

Of course, this means when I go to things like a football game or baseball game, I tend to show up before the players. Which can be fun, if you are into people watching. And depending on where you live, you can get quite a show.

BossLady and I have been fortunate in that we have lived in places where we encounter a lot of different people. In Los Angeles/Orange County, all you had to do was drive to the beach or take a walk in a tourist trap area, and voila! Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, just hop on BART. Hell, just walk in San Francisco.

BossLady and I would go to Disneyland when we were in Southern California and comment (quietly) to ourselves about people. Sometimes, we were crude, mean spirited and just outright inhumane with what we said (though we never spoke it above a whisper in each other's ear... we truly are not mean... we just make each other laugh this way and we do judge each individual on their own merits). Other times, we would make up fantasy lives for these people, or even make like we are some fashion critic couple touring the place.

Face it, LA is prime people watching turf.

People are a large part of why I love working retail. You meet all kinds of people, good and bad. Some are funny, others sick. But they are the reason the world goes 'round.

So here's hoping things go great in the next hour....

Remember Me?

Hi, Remember Me?

Been a while since I posted, and a lot has happened.

First, I lost my job in Southern California. Yeah, I know, get in line with about 13% of the country. So most of my time has been spent pounding pavement and scouring the job boards to find a new spot. And by this Friday (more likely Thursday), that problem will be solved.

Heck, I have had two separate phone interviews while typing this today!

Only took me six months to deal with.

Back in February, I committed a form of pseudo-suicide. I bought Snowboard gear for BossLady and myself and took her to Big Bear Resort in Southern California to learn how to snowboard (suicide because I know me... If I can get hurt doing something, bank on it happening. And it did. Concussion, and messed up rotator cuff in my left shoulder, and the world's UGLIEST bruise on my ass). By default, I learned, too.

The lessons at Bear Mountain were great, and we met and became friends with a really great guy, JC. Originally we did a group lesson that he taught, then arranged for a private lesson later in the day. Best money we ever spent. JC made us learn in the best way. He told us what we got right and how to improve where we were not doing so hot without making us feel stupid. We left that first day feeling incredible, but driving in the blizzard down the mountain with a concussion was a blast.

A few weeks later, we went back and just rode. We found JC, and got another day of lessons. Now, no one is going to confuse us with Shaun White, but we did improve. And with JC there, we were laughing the entire day.

BossLady and I made a third trip just before the end of the season, and while we didn't do the lesson, we did manage to see JC and his significant other (and she is a very fun person, too!). BossLady and I had fun, and then invited JC and C to our wedding (which they managed to make to the reception!).

Now we can't wait for it to snow in Tahoe at Squaw Valley. Or Mammoth. But we do plan on going to SoCal to board at Bear Mountain as well. It wouldn't be winter without JC.

BossLady took a job in Northern California, so we packed up from our Irvine home and headed back to our roots in the San Francisco Bay Area. Made the job search fun, but that's okay. Once we got back to the Bay, we realized how much we missed it. I miss SoCal, but this is home.

I also had to deal with the loss of a very important person in my life. My grandmother, who put me through college and made a lot of the things possible for me that I did growing up, passed away in August at the age of 98. She is a legend among my family, and no one who ever met her has failed to be amazed by her. She was incredibly active in her life right up to the last two years when she started losing her hearing and sight. It's been three months since she passed, but I still visit the family house she helped build (literally) and expect to see her in her favorite chair talking to her friends on the phone or playing with the cat. She will always be missed.

I also did something insanely stupid but really overdue. I got married to the BossLady. We got married back in May with a few close friends (and we wanted to invite others, but they vanished on us... SLICK... that means you) and family around on a cliff overlooking Laguna Beach. I don't remember too much about the location other than the MOST beautiful woman in the world showing up in white and strangers walking by and stopping to wish us the best. Incredible.

Best move I have ever made.

Anyhow, I hope to get back to posting more often again, and not just about retail. The fun never ends, and I hope to share it with people again.

We've Got Big Balls

The crazy people are all over the place.


BossLady and I went bowling tonight, and while I am beating the living crap outta her, two mothers and four boys (the oldest being MAYBE 10 years old) start playing on the lanes next to us.

Okay...


BossLady knows I am not a big fan of kids. Some can be fantastic, well behaved and a great sign of the things to come. Others? C'mon people, invest in some birth control or parenting classes, please.


BossLady was enjoying a rare time when she was beating me (barely). About this time, the boys (all four of them) decide that the lanes they are on are not enough. They started running down their lanes (onto the playing surface!) and the youngest (maybe 5 years old) started break dancing on the approaches, right into where we were playing. A couple of times, I almost kicked them during my turns. Another time, each of us came close to hitting the boys with our back swings with our balls.

To make matters worse, each of the mothers was taking flash photos during the games.


Think about this. People throwing big balls being suddenly blinded. I was seriously tempted to "accidentally" throw the ball the wrong way... say... towards the photographer. Sounds like fair play to me.

BossLady did the smart thing. She told one of the mothers to control her kids or that I was likely to do my best Rambo impersonation on her boys.


The bowling alley finally agreed to our request to change lanes for the safety of the boys.





Some of you may laugh at BossLady and I for bowling, but too fucking bad. We took it up earlier this year as something for us to do together outside the home. We got so into it that we broke down and got balls of our own, shoes, etc. Eventually, we will find time after all the wedding planning and whatnot to join a league.

I routinely beat her ass.

So we have started a new scoring method now. We both still go for our personal bests, but now the winner is the one who gets the highest over their average. I'm still gonna smoke her.

I used to bowl on leagues growing up. When I lived in Antioch, CA, a friend got me into a bowling league. I loved it. When we moved to Kansas City, their was a bowling alley on Richards-Gebaur AFB where we lived, so I bowled there as well. I got involved in theatre in high school, so I dropped it for a while. When Mom got transferred to Marine Corps HQ in Washington, DC, I joined her Marine Corps intramural league. I loved it.

Throughout college, I bowled for kicks with friends whenever the mood struck us. But I stopped after graduating college.

BossLady's idea to go play last spring really struck a good cord with me.

And people wonder why I dropped the Big Q on her?

I Don't Do Hospitals

Saturday sucked.

I woke up with a really bad pain in my chest and tingling in my left arm. First reaction... wake the BossLady up and GET MY SORRY ASS TO A HOSPITAL!

I have three phobias. Needles. Elevators. Doctors. (Doctors are only because they tend to wield needles....) It's been my experience that going to a hospital is a real good way to have to confront all three of them at once. Time to change your shorts, junior.

BossLady drove me to an ER nearby while my mother was kind enough to call my boss without coming unglued.

I don't know how long I was in the ER. I know they did an EKG on me, and naturally, here come the needles. IVs and blood work. (And there I am, passing out...) Doctors putting cold stuff on me... and then off to Xray (bet that means a ride on an elevator... shudder).

Well, the Xrays came out clean, and radiology was on the same floor.

Doc finally came back and told me I was one of the first victims of the Flu in So Cal this year. Joy and bliss. I coulda done without. The kicker is I have some inflammation of the cartilage in my ribs, so breathing is an absolute bitch right now.

Doc said take the next three days off and go from there. He also gave me some vicodin to kill the pain. (It didn't... it only took the edge off it.)


I don't do the flu.

And I hate hospitals.