~Friday~ Though the rain was supposed to stop today and it was only slightly drizzling, I schlepped that big-assed golf umbrella to the bus stop again.
Madonna & Genetically-Beautiful Daughter were getting ready to get off at the next stop, and little Sophia was holding a book that I so wanted to see the title of, but she keep ahold of it at an angle that did not accommodate my nose. I did recognize it as a Little Golden Book, however.
I didn’t notice the person whom I took a seat behind, who had a hood up over his head and was reading. With the slightest lean forward I was able to discern two things: 1) It was a guy, if the hair on his forearms was any indication, and 2) He was reading Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer.
Li’l Dino got on and said, “Hey, baby,” to me, took a seat in the front, but then a few seconds later got up and walked to the back saying, “Hey gurl,” as she walked back there. Seconds later, I heard Diarrhea-of-the-Mouth, and once again I was shocked that she was on the bus and hadn’t spoken up until this point.
As an aside: Later, at work I mentioned this buscapade character to my boss, and she asked, “Are you familiar with the word logorrhea?” I was not, and once she told me what it meant I totally wished I’d known it when I was naming you-know-who!
My Three Sons was back today, along with his wife and two of his boys. The boys both had on grey hooded sweat jackets, with their hoods pulled up on their heads. I’m always wondering about that third child now—the baby whom I’ve only seen once—and today I went so far as to look very hard at the wife’s blousy-type robe to see if maybe the baby was up under there. There was a bulge there, but I think it was just her breasts.
We passed by the McKimmon Center stop, where there were only students waiting for the Wolfline bus so we didn’t stop, but I saw those two identical twin boys again. It’s just mesmerizing how exactly alike they are—just standing there looking like a Doublemint commercial.
I had two work meetings today. One was a lunchtime conference call with other people who do IT communications for universities around the country, including a guy from the University of Hawaii. We also logged in to collaborative presentation software that allowed us to view a couple of presentations that people gave. The two topics of today’s meeting were: 1) Logo and branding of our IT organizations, and 2) Who has the authority to communicate what on behalf of our organizations.
My second meeting was a brainstorming session that I so didn’t feel like going to on a Friday afternoon. I went down to the conference room for it at 2:00 and although it was about 2:02, the room was dark with not a soul in sight. I thought, “The meeting gods are with me; it’s been canceled.” Back at my desk the meeting gods slapped me on the other cheek: the meeting was at 3:00, not 2:00. It actually turned out to be an okay meeting, though, considering it was from 3:00-4:00 on a Friday afternoon.
A couple of days ago, AT&T accidentally cut a phone line under the street (related to the Renovation of Hillsborough Street project) and it affected the phone service that we provide to the university. At one point during the day, a communication was sent out with an update, since it still hadn’t been fully resolved. I tweeted this about it:
| Update in a work-related communique: The process is going slower than expected due to complications within the manhole. If I had a dollar… |
This unbelievable thing happened mid-morning: I reached into my soft-sided briefcase to get my pill case out and what should I lift out instead? MY SMALL BLACK TOTES UMBRELLA! I was absolutely flabbergasted. WTF???
For the past couple of days gold has really jumped, starting with a big leap on Wednesday. I own gold in GLD, which is an ETF in which each share represents one-tenth the price of gold. Here’s what it did this week:
That jump on Wednesday brought the ROI on what I own to over 20%, and I thought, “I should call Nathan (my financial advisor) and see what he thinks about going ahead and taking a profit on that.” Where else can you get 20% on your money these days? I didn’t do it, however.
Then I had the same thought Friday morning when it started heading north again, but once again I didn’t call him. Lo and behold at around 3:00 he called me and said, “John what do you think about taking a profit on your gold? You’ll make about 21% if we sell here before 4:00, and then if it drops back down again to eight- or nine-hundred we can buy it back.” (I bought it at 900 the last time, which is represented as “90” in the GLD ETF.)
“Do it!” I said.
After work, I ran to Trader Joe’s where I bought two varieties of cheese—some Northern Wisconsin white cheddar and some “Double Cream” Gouda that was outrageously expensive, but I wanted it. I can use some of my gold profits to pay for it. But I digress… I also bought a box of six varieties of organic crackers and three packages of their Hot & Sweet Sesame Nuts, which I just love.
My next stop was at the ABC store to buy some whiskey. My whiskey of choice is Canadian Club, which is what I went in to buy. I thought I’d just look at the Maker’s Mark, though and I noted its price of $55 for 1.75 liters. Next I checked the Wild Turkey, which was $44. Over at the Canadian Club, I grabbed it immediately for a cool $22.
Now, I’m not saying Marker’s Mark isn’t better than Canadian club, but could it possibly be $33 better? I don’t think so.
I got to Robert’s at about 7:15 and we enjoyed crackers, cheese and nuts before heading over to Manbites Dog Theater for the 8:15 performance of Caleb Calypso and the Midnight Marauders.
| Play synopsis: To be or not to be…all that you can be. Germany, 1989: As the Cold War sputters to an end, a young American soldier struggles to plan his future in a world that’s about to change forever. Don’t miss the world premiere of a major new play by North Carolina playwright Howard Craft. Featuring: Jeff Aguiar, Gil Faison, Brian Gorham, David Greenslade, John Harris, Trevor Johnson, J. Alphonse Nicholson, Lucius Robinson, L.A. Rogers, and Reza Salazar. See photos from the show / MORE photos / Read the Reviews |
We both enjoyed the show. I liked how it touched on a number of themes:
- Living your dreams
- Being who you are
- Friendships
- Being a team player
- Homosexuality (in general)
- “Don’t ask; don’t tell” (specifically)
- Power
- Racial/Ethnic Diversity
- Revenge
I met Joe at Flex at about 11:00. There were two women DJing tonight, so lots of straight people in there. We hung out mostly with Joe and Phil, but talked to various people throughout the night.
The biggest buzz was about the fact that I didn’t have on shorts and one fashionista felt compelled to let me know that “those shoes don’t go with those pants.” My reaction? I feel so sorry for these people who are such a slave to fashion.
Joe and I sat in my car before going home and ate some of those crackers and some cheese that I had in a cooler from sharing them with Robert earlier in the evening.