Bon Voyage

One entry found.

bon voyage

Main Entry: bon voy·age
Pronunciation: \bōⁿ-voi-äzh, bän-; bōⁿ-vwī-äzh, -vwä-yäzh\
Function: noun
Etymology: French, literally, good journey!
Date: 15th century
: farewell —often used interjectionally

For more than 6 years she has sat across the hall from me, in these dark, warm cubicles, our little space heaters cranking away against the big bad A/C.
We roll back our chairs and chat about home, pets, family - give each other advice and criticisms and compliments.
I often call out work questions over the walls - because she is smarter than me, and certainly has a better memory.
She can drink me under the table. But I can beat her at chess. (yes, we have been known to carry on week long chess games at the office.) I am not sure which is a better asset.

She is bright and funny and beautiful. She is my friend.
And she is leaving me. Damn her.

But not for another job, another cubicle, another keyboard...
She is doing what so many of us just dream of: pack up, take off and explore... no particular destination, no schedule except the weather, and a completly open end date.

With her belongings stuffed (neatly organized) into her little (sensible) civic she will throw caution to the wind (and program her GPS) and set out to see the world (well mostly the US). The trip will take her coast to coast, sometimes camping, sometimes staying with friends, maybe the occasional hostel.
Who knows what she will find out there. But I am certain it will be big and wonderful and will change her life.

I wish you well my dear friend.
I will miss you.

This morning I picked up my head and glanced across the room and you took my breath away … or was that 22 years ago.

Happy Anniversary my love.

Outdated

While sitting in the waiting room at the doctor's office last week I picked up O magazine.
Oprah had an article in this issue written by some 'light in the loafers' (not that there's anything wrong with that) kinda guy who listed several wardrobe no-no's.

He may as well have been standing in my closet.

Finally

We finally got around to celebrating The Daughter The Therapists passing of her state boards that she passed in… oh… January I think. My giddy wife wanted to throw her a party - but not a dreary winter party. So we put it off until this past weekend of perfect July weather.

So again, congratulations to The Daughter The Therapist.
We had a lovely time meeting, feeding and entertaining her friends and colleagues.
And it was only the next morning when I woke up that I realized just how much meeting, feeding and entertaining I had done.

Friday

tip-o-day

I had to run an errand on my lunch hour today. On my way in the car I was pondering my tip-o-day entry . I had a couple ideas rolling around in my head… hmm, maybe some advice on working with pressure treated wood – since I was on my way to Lowes to get some, perhaps another bleachy tip, and then a thought popped into my head. It’s something that my fun-to-hang-out-with wife and I often say to each other.

If you’re out shopping and you see something that you have been looking for, just get it. Don’t make note of it, don’t say it’s not what you came out to get, don’t think about how much it will add to your bill – just get it when you see it.
Because often times you don't see it again.

I rolled that tip around in my head for a while and sorta stumbled on how to phrase it and present it. Then I walked into Lowes and promptly forgot about it.

Until… I saw just such an item.
It’s something I have been looking for. I had seen it once I think… at Lowes or even Home Depot – but not since.
And there it was.
And so I bought it.
And now I’m happy.
And so that’s my tip.

Words

A picture is worth a thousand words.
Yet when I am in the elevator I only long for two.

Would they PLEASE just write words OPEN and CLOSE next to those ridiculous ‘universal’ symbols they use.

It cant’ just be me.

It happens all the time.
I get in the elevator and notice someone approaching just as the doors begin to close. I want to help. I reach out, finger poised, ready to save the day... and there I stall.

Staring at those stupid little graphics.
Completely helpless.
Not a clue.
The door closes.

The Grooms

My ethereal wife is a Justice of the Peace.
This weekend she 'unionized' two good friends on the day they celebrated their 20th anniversary.

Congratulations to Chris and Danny.


They are a wonderful couple... (and their home is like a movie set.)

Friday

tip-o-day

Summer is in full swing, but you may have noticed your lawn isn't.

If you lawn looks brown don't despair. Grass naturally goes into a semi-dormant state in the heat of the summer. Growth slows down and much top growth turns brown.
Notice the brown top growth is still moist however, so its not dead.
So unless your lawn is crunchy and dusty - don't worry, it will come back when the weather cools closer to fall.

I am sure you have noticed some lawns which still look green and thick. This is most likely due to regular watering, and I would bet the watering is from an in-ground system.
Home watering with a sprinkler can be helpful, and will help your lawn survive a drought. But its unlikely to keep it green and lush like an in-ground, timed system.
Personally, I don't water the lawn*. I let my grass do its natural thing in the summer, plus I don't like to waste a precious commodity on my vanity. (hmm, conservation vs. vanity hmm)


* except for newly seeded areas which may fail without adequate water

Tidy

I just got back from having my eyebrows ‘done’.
I go to this little place in town called Oscar. They probably meant to say Oscar’s but the folks there don’t really speak English so I can’t really fault them for their lack of the possessive apostrophe.
My woman today was a new one. She was just a petite flower of a woman… quiet and calm yet confident in her mastery of eyebrow waxing.

I am actually new to the eyebrow waxing routine. As a teen I painstakingly used tweezers. As I got older I basically did nothing except the bare minimum…which was basically to keep them from growing together. But my new eyebrow place was recommended to me by someone well-trusted and equally fastidious (you may draw apple/tree conclusions as you wish).

I believe it was the first time that Ferris shaved his head

when he started to feel his eyebrows were …well as he put it ‘old man brows’.


And so he checked with various girls at school for the best place to correct this.
He found Oscar.
He has been going regularly ever since.
He likes to get it done when he gets a hair cut, which he does at a different place. He is that particular.
They just love him over there. I am sure he must have been the only high school jock to frequent their shop.

As for me, I am pleased with my results. I look tidy.

She's at it again

It's that time of year where my charitable wife puts stuff out at the curb.

She really loves to do this. She can easily get a little carried away too. I keep a close eye on her once she gets going.

She made a cute little 'FREE' sign.



















and as stuff was getting taken, she just kept adding more!

I have no idea where all these came from.

tip-o-day

The FREE dog is on antibiotics. Evidently she has some parasite or bacteria or some such thing caused by a deer tick.
We have long used the clever method of wrapping her pills in something tasty. I prefer cheese, but the Doxycycline she is on calls for no dairy. So we have been using soft cookies, bread or pasta. Every so often tho, the FREE dog will get a taste of the pill concealed inside and spit out the whole mouthful.
To keep this from happening I hold another treat in my hand, so she can clearly see it as she eats the first piece. This causes her to gulp it down quickly so that she is ready for more.

The Italian-Stallion

Ferris and his grandfather have been doing some landscaping work together this past week. After Pop-Pop retired a few years back he modified his pick-up to be a dump truck and has since been delivering small loads of mulch and soil.
And now that he’s got a big, strapping grandson – he is taking on some small scale landscaping work.

I dropped Ferris off at Pop-Pop’s house this morning … it’s on my way to work and …well… Ferris is currently without a car.

I sat in front of the house for a moment this morning …and the only thing I could think of was – please, please just shoot me if I suddenly become enamoured with stick on letters.
You know the ones – they are vinyl and come in ALL CAPS, and all shiny and sparkly.
They are generally used for say… mailboxes and house numbers. But, OH, the possibilities!

Pop-pop has used them all over the back of his big red truck.

In addition to his name and number, it says things like:
‘THE MULCH MAN’
and
‘GITTR DONE’

I can’t decide whether the fact that they are not aligned or spaced properly adds to …or detracts from the look.

This morning I also noticed he is started to write little sayings on the house.
He’s got this Sox banner hanging on the screened porch and next to it has printed in 3” golden block letters ‘LINE DRIVE’.
I have no idea of why… I am sure there’s a story.

This is the curse of the retired Italian man. First they start to ‘letter’ things – then comes plastic lawn animals, this inevitably leads to homemade wine and leather sandals with black socks.

So while our son may enjoy a full head of hair well into old age – vinyl letters are his destiny.

Green-ness

Earthfriendly
Organic
Eco... blah blah.

You're not helping the environment buying eco-crap if you have not cut down your consumption.
Use less, people.

I am not saying to live a year without new clothes or not to use toilet paper or to build a tree house.

Just be smart. Everyday. When you buy three things at the store - don't use a bag, just carry the stuff to your car.
Reuse bits of paper for lists or notes left on the counter for the kids.
Turn some stuff off in your house.
Waste less food, start by buying less.

Buy a Subaru over one of the new hybrids.
Better yet, buy a used Subaru.

Recycle, Reuse, Repurpose
little things add up.


Here is a fun article on the subject. The author balances the ridiculousness of buying green ...

“Green consumerism is an oxymoronic phrase,[...]. The fruit at Whole Foods in winter, flown in from Chile on a 747 — it’s a complete joke. The idea that we should have raspberries in January, it doesn’t matter if they’re organic. It’s diabolically stupid.”

while considering that having folks just begin to think about being 'green' is a good first step.

“We didn’t find that people felt that their consumption gave them a pass, so to speak,”... But they do it as a practice of mindfulness. They didn’t see it as antithetical to political action. Folks who were engaged in these green practices were actually becoming more committed to more transformative political action on global warming.”

but...

"...sustainably-harvested caviar..."

pulleeezzeee.