LEAVING DA ROCK

Leaving tomorrow on a

to fly to Oakland and will make a
connection heading to Chicago the following morning.


Wanted to veg out and spend some time watching the countryside fly by. The trip will take 52 hours to complete, so it probably will be more like the countryside "crawling" by.

I'll get into Oakland about 11pm and need to leave for Emeryville at 6am to catch the train. What to do for seven hours.....???

Went online and with a stroke of luck, was
able to find my favorite place
to stay, and it was only a mile from the airport. I called to make a reservation and asked if I could walk from the airport to the motel. The lady said, "Are you friggin' nuts? Even I wouldn't walk this area at midnight!" So I asked her how much a taxi would charge to get me there. She replied, "About $45." WTF!! $45 just to go one mile as the crow flies. So, I get the calculator out. $45. each way, not counting tip plus the cost of a $62. room, just for six hours. Hmmm...So I call the airport and ask if I could overnight at the airport. "Well, yes, but no loud snoring allowed."

BUSTED!!!

I received a telephone call a couple of days ago from my neighbor, Steve. He said he had been trying to call home for three hours, found the line constantly busy and asked if I could walk over and tell Kimi to get off the phone. "Sure, hold on," I said.

I rang the front door bell, and Kimi opened it almost immediately.


While standing there like a Cigar Store Indian holding my cell phone up, I asked her if she thought it was wise to open the door without knowing who was on the other side and shouldn't she know better than to do so.
I positioned the phone so that her dad could hear the conversation, and before she could answer, I pointed to the phone and asked her to venture a guess as to who was on the other end. She didn't know. I said, "It's your dad and he wants you off the phone right now."

I turned, headed home, and before I got out of their driveway, I heard Steve's home phone ring. I just knew Kimi was going to catch "hell."

Steve came over with a couple of beers a short time after returning home and I asked if he jumped on Kimi for opening the door. He said he read her the riot act and when he got home the next day, he was going to park up the street and test her. Good man!

Later that day, I saw Kimi and asked if she caught shit for her stupid trick. She said, "Yes." I told her in a hushed tone that her dad was going to test her the next day when he came home, so don't be stupid!

Later that next day, Steve came over, the proud father with buttons popping off his chest and said he had tested his daughter and she had passed with flying colors. I let him carry on about his parenting skills for a while before I told him I had let the cat out of the bag and told Kimi about the test.

The look on his face was a Kodak moment, and like the soup Nazi, he screamed, "NO BEER FOR YOU!"

ANOTHER YEAR.......

And the start of our year round summer. This type of shower tree is probably one of the prettiest Hawaii has to offer during this period.


Jeez...I'm gettin' mushy in my ol' age.