| I had breakfast with Kevin (av8rdude) and his friend Dave at Pam’s Farmhouse Restaurant. I had an omelet this time instead of their French Toast.
I was not pleased when our server arrived holding our hot plates with a dish rag, the end of which was touching the end of my omelet on the plate. Very not cool, no matter how hot the plate was. Back home, Kevin packed his final items into his car, and we said our goodbyes. I hugged him with tears in my eyes and said, “We’re not going to have a lot of drama here.” |
“That’s right. We’re not,” he said shaking his head and hugging me tight. “You get out to Seattle and visit soon.”
“I will. Have safe travels,” I said.
And he was off.
I had a 2:00 meeting with my financial advisor, Nathan, which went very, very well.
He gave me some options for my aunt and uncle’s money, and after telling me about a new (computer) program he has, he asked me to send him an e-mail with an estimate of my expenses last year, because he suspects that I either already am, or am “on the verge” of being “financially independent.”
I said to him, “I know what ‘financially independent’ means in a general sense, but does it have a specific financial definition?”
He replied, “Yes, for us it means that you have enough money to live the lifestyle that you are currently living, until you’re about 95 or 100 years old, without ever having to work again if you don’t want to.”
Sweet.
After that meeting, I headed to Office Max at Crossroads, where I mailed two DHL packages for Kevin, and then I met Joe at Panera Bread, where we spent about an hour or so.
I had a cup of coffee, and spent most of that entire time logged into IBM finishing an annual security education certification that had to be done by midnight tonight. Unfortunately, it had three quizzes interspersed in it, each of which you had to pass to move on to the next section, so I couldn’t just scroll through it and say I did it. Not that I would do that on education that we have to have each year whether we need it or not.
You had to score at least an 80% on each quiz to “pass” it, and if you didn’t you could press a button that said, “Retake the quiz.” When you did that, it changed some of the questions, and reordered any that were being re-used. Oooh. Tricky.
Joe and I drove across the street to have dinner at Bentley’s at Crossroads, a first for both of us. We started off with:
| Lobster & Artichoke Dip lobster & artichokes blended with cheese and herbs, served with crostini 9.95 |
The “crostini” was basically pita points baked beyond the hardness of stone. The dip was much better on the delicious complimentary rolls that came with our meal, which also came with some most delicious sun-dried tomato flavored butter.
For our entrées, Joe had the:
| Glazed Pork Chop bone in pork chop with an apple & apricot curry glaze and house risotto 15.95 |
and I had their Parmesan Encrusted Talapia, which should have had a hyphen in it. But I digress…
| Parmesan Encrusted Tilapia lightly breaded tilapia filet with a citrus cream sauce, served with parmesan risotto and steamed broccoli 14.95 |
It was all good enough, but a little over-priced in my opinion. It’s definitely not the kind of place I’d eat at regularly, if ever again. Maybe for a special occasion, but my “special occasion place” is really Irregardless.
I met Joe at Flex (definitely not a special occasion place) at around 10:00. Bill, the no-personality, never-smiles doorman actually let me in without paying the $2.00 cover charge, and then Brigner, the bar manager, did something he’s never done in the about 10 or 12 years I’ve been going there: he gave me a free drink.
Joe and I played three or four games of free pool. “Bill” was there, the married guy from L.A. that I met on Wednesday night at dancing. He hung out, chatting with us, for a while.
Juan Carlos arrived after a bit, and eventually he left to go to Jackpot, with Joe in tow. Joe had never been there before, so wanted to check it out.
I love this description from Citysearch: “It’s clearly all about the people here, since the Jackpot, when empty, has the ambiance of an ashtray.”
I have been there before, so passed, and headed home.