Vacation Anticipation

Every time we travel there are some predictable behaviours. Jackie packs, re-packs and frets over what is packed. If she discovers she's forgot even one thing she damns herself to hell for the rest of the trip. The dog knows something is up and doesn't like it. She's been doing her usual and throwing up all over the carpets this morning. Henry is underfoot, playing with the DVR and not paying attention to what he should bring. There will be tears.
I'm packed. This isn't hard. Socks, undershirts and pants for every day I'm gone. Two collared shirts, a cardigan, 25 gold guineas, a pair of jeans, a pair of chinos, a rain parka, cap, wine opener, pocket knife, ipod, headphones, chargers, two bottles of meritage, cufflinks, nail trimmers, orc bait, lens wipes, camera, lenses, short sword, mobile phone, mail shirt, lembas bread, 3 torches, tinderbox and some lip balm.
It couldn't be easier.

Sometimes I forget that my 10 year old isn't my buddy

Traffic in this area is a fickle mistress. I leave work at 4pm on days that Henry has soccer practice so I can get home, get him in uniform, put some food down his neck and drive to the practice field. Most days we get there just in time. On Wednesday we were 30 minutes early.
On those days we chat. Sometimes I say too much. Henry is an only child who spends most of his time around adults and in many ways behaves like an adult. He's also pretty smart with a fairly sophisticated sense of humour. But these are all excuses. Most of these conversations in the car are pretty benign and he'll talk about something some kid does at camp, but once in a while he asks some pretty serious questions. This week he asked me about condoms.

"You just buy them at the store?"

"Yep. You can buy them loads of places. You can buy them online now, but that wasn't around when I was of condom buying age."

"OMG! GROSS! You bought condoms?"

"Yah. And I found it mortifying. You had to ask for them at the till. As a matter of fact this one time I was buying them at a Mac's Milk in Windsor and the guy behind the counter was a middle aged Chaldean and his English wasn't strong. There was a huge line behind me and I was trying to be discrete. So I said very quietly,`I'd like to buy some condoms` and the man behind the counter said, `You want to buy my gar-r-rbage?` (I said rolling the r's as best I could). `No!` I exclaimed and then more quietly added,`I want to buy condoms`. `WHAT? Garrrbage?` the man yelled. `No!`, I said, `Rubbers! Johnnies! Sheiks! A sheath for my ole fella!` `Ooohhhhhhh!!!` the man spat, `Cr-r-ream or no cr-ream?`"

Cassoulet

Cassoulet, originally uploaded by seattleforge.

I sauteed a little trinity, garlic with sea salt, smoked paprika and some smashed white peppercorns. Sauteed some chicken and linguisa, added some soaked white beans and par cooked brown rice. Topped that up with some stock and popped it in the oven for a couple hours.
Voila! It tasted much better than it looked.

With one year left on my lease I have to start my OCD car buying process.
I quite like my VW GTI but it is known to be QUITE problematic maintenance-wise after 3 years.  I don't think I'd like it so much then.  I also have guilt about not sticking with the family when Ford has soo many good offerings on at the moment.  But where am I at?  What is most important to me? Who am I if I have these cars?  These are the contenders:

2011 Ford Mustang
The V6 (the only engine I'm considering) has 305 HP, pretty great mileage, a very small backseat and my folks can't get in and out of it.  It's fantastic, but does seem sad for a fat, bald, middle-aged telecom manager to be driving around in. The insurance is also ridiculous.



The 2011 Ford Taurus
I think it is actually quite handsome.  I think it was a mistake to name this car the Taurus as it has absolutely NOTHING to do with the Taurus of the past. It's much larger and QUITE luxurious. I was actually stunned at how nice the interior was, how good the drive was for a large car and how many great electronics it had.  The SYNC features were amazing in this car. I could actually see myself going out to sit in this car and listen to music it was so nice inside.  I'd have to spend an additional $40k to get this level of luxury in a Euro-car. The insurance would also be dead cheap compared to the Mustang. It also goes like stink for a big car.  My folks can get in and out of it quite comfortably. No one will ever sleep with me again if I buy it.  I think I'm okay with that.

Cars are for Drivers

A week or so ago I was reading an auto review blog.  The author was complaining that cars were becoming far too automated and removing the need for actual driving.  Sympathy oozed from my every pore and I penned the following:


I would be okay with these gadgets as long as they were accompanies by other gadgets designed to protect us. Such as a laser that sends your gonads bursting into flames if you read a magazine or check your phone while you drive. Maybe a signal sent to a sniper if you are applying mascara or using your electric shaver? Last but not least a lethal amount of current sent through your anus if you fail to notice that the light has turned green after a full count of two, and then the park assist could automate to get the car with the dead driver off the road.
Then I would be satisfied.

Peco's

Peco's, originally uploaded by seattleforge.

A rite of summer. Peco's Pit BBQ. Spicy BBQ beef brisket sandwich spiked with a hot link.
I've been in agony ever since.
Pray for me.

Nostalgia

Ever run across a song in your collection and wonder why you haven't listened to it every day of your life? Yep.

Song: Teenage Kicks - Undertones.