There but for the Grace of God

My Dad is a recently retired firefighter in my hometown. After hearing of two firefighters killed in a fire last night in Boston and two others killed in New York my heart just goes out to their families. I know that it could have so easily been my family. And I feel selfish because I offer a huge prayer of thanks that it was not.

I would get phone calls from my Dad after roofs would fall on him or he got heat exhaustion while being on a roof battling a blaze and my heart would just sink at what could have happened. Then there would be a sigh of relief that he was still able to call me on the phone and tell me what happened.

Neither my brother nor I became firefighters. I think it's truly a calling to perform a job like that. One that I did not get. I am so proud of my Dad. As we get ready to celebrate his retirement, I reflect back and thank the heavens that he made it out ok. And I wonder how long it will be until hearing the sirens stops my heart for a moment.

Balls of Hamburger, Bowl of Gouda

Well it was another Friday of fun! The food and drinks we had to start our evening were very good. The inattentive waitress and vinyl covered seats were not so good. It was an evening of confusion over a purse (which made me wonder just what that purse was made of!) and a pseudo-frat/college party. Oh and the round about ride to the liquor store that gave us a chance to explore :-)

While I am quite comfortable with my mind being constantly in the gutter, I was certainly not alone on that car ride. I will admit the talk of "man nipples" actually caused me to stall my car. On a hill. At a light.
I plead the 5th on why ;-)

It was truly fitting when we arrived at the party I did actually park in the gutter. I did appreciate the appropriateness of it.

All in all another good Friday after another difficult week at work.

Reason #145 Why My Boss Sucks

So one year ago, in typical hurry up and wait fashion, my boss asked me to build a database for some contracts we had received. No problem. I created the database, populated it and filed the contracts away. As per our agreement, she needed to look over the database and make sure it was what she wanted. Fast forward to a week ago.
She finally started looking at the database. Took her a whole year to do so.

It seemed from the beginning that there may be other contracts that went to our legal department that should be in the database. I had no proof of this, just a hunch and was not getting any confirmation from legal.

My boss decides there must be more contracts so she asked me to make a list of all the ones we do not have. So, she wants me to make a list of files I don't have. I have no copies or paperwork stating what files are missing but yet I need to list them. Once again she seems to be under the delusion that I have ESP.

It took me pointing this out to my highly educated, yet clueless, manager from hell, that maybe it would make more sense to make a list of the ones already in database and ask legal if they have others above and beyond that. Maybe I just have too much common sense.

So even though I threw my back out and was is some serious pain, it still was better than going in to work. Yup, time for a new job.

Best Moat Themed Party Ever

So as a means to show off her art, my friend decided to host a party. But what theme to pick? Of course. Moats. There is a back story to the whole moat thing (of course there is). And here it is.

Out at our usual Irish pub Friend One says "My dad loves boats". Friend Two says "Moats?". And that was it. We were off and running. Now we have a Moat Song (to the theme of Mr. Ed), a drink (Moatini of course), a cake and many other "moat-ments" of silliness. It was a great party of good snacks (mmm, cheese), fun, witty and occasionally lewd conversation, amazing artwork, and a ton of laughs.

It was a weekend of good drinks. The Moatini is a lovely mango concoction that goes down far too easily. The night before was an amazingly perfect lemon drop. It was perfectly sour and sweet and icy cold. Those went down far too easily as well.

Open mouth, insert foot

So I met this older man on the Red Line one evening. He was handsome and we shared one of those common public transportation moments at the expense of the very inebriated girl berating her poor boyfriend. We both got off at the same stop and started chatting as the train stopped. We exchanged numbers outside and spoke the next day. Turns out he's divorced (seems like not by his choice) and has 4 kids. So this puts him out of my dating range. But he's really interesting (pilot, artist, chef, designer) and I wouldn't mind grabbing a drink with him and being friends.

Anyway, so we spoke after my recent trip and he made the comment about my work ethic "you are just like my ex-wife". Uh, ok. Awkward. I surmised that he meant it in a positive way so I let that slide as a slip of the tongue. The next comment he made threw me for a bigger loop.

We talked for a few more seconds and he said "Who knows, you could be my future ex-wife". Oh boy. Lucky me.

Away

Well I was lucky to be able to head out on a much needed but very impromptu vacation. I desperately needed a change of scenery after the hell that work has been for the last few months. A week recharging in San Diego was too good to pass up, especially with the person I was invited by. I got the invitation on a Monday and had my ticket by Tuesday at lunchtime to leave on Saturday. I think some of my friends and family were a bit shocked especially since my travel partner is a new entrant into my life.

So with a little bit of nerves and maps in hand, I headed out. I received quite a nice welcome upon my arrival. In spite of still being on East Coast time we stayed up far too late catching up with each other on many levels.

San Diego was a blast. Since my friend was attending a conference, I had the days free to roam. I had a great time at the beach just people watching (hot surfer guys and alarmingly tan women) and body surfing in the ocean. The zoo was so much fun. I saw a lot of interesting animals and for some reason, all the big cats were on. The gorillas were zonked out in the heat pressed up against the glass. I always feel like I am in a Far Side cartoon when seeing gorillas like the display is reversed and we are actually the exhibit! Balboa Park was amazing and I stumbled into a great rose garden in full bloom. The bees were drunk on the fragrance, as was I. The Desert Garden was beautiful but the people using it as a jogging path were far braver souls that I.

I spent one evening in La Jolla. It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. It is home to Children's Beach that has been taken over by Harbor Seals who have no inclination to give the beach back. They were fun to watch zoom out of the water like bullets and become less sleek once terrestrial.

The food was great and I ate very well. I wandered into one cute trattoria an evening I was solo for a quick bite and had so much fun. The bartender has a sister up here and the man next to me was a New Yorker. We chatted about everything under the sun and the food was fabulous. I had a great arugula salad and gnocchi that were everything gnocchi should be but often aren't. It was such a great meal that we went there again right before I had to catch the red eye. The other meal that stands out was just amazing food and a great view of the water and the little military planes engaging in a faux dogfight.

All in all, a great trip to explore a new city and to learn much more about a new friend.