Entry tags:
2006-05-06
15 years!
OK, I'm a little late with this post. It's been an interesting few days.
Thursday, which was our actual anniversary, we had nothing planned. I was of course working, and Kirsten had a Baycon thing to attend for the portion of the con she's co-second for. So the plan was that I'd just head home from work and see her when she got back. Then things fell apart. One of our drivers was hit by a speeding van, and his truck was undrivable. I get back from my route and find that they need me to make three pick ups in the Hayward area. These were things that were needed that night to fill orders for Friday morning. To improve my speed and avoid having to go through the truck scales, I took the one of the office F-250s.
Alas, 880 was solid with early commuters. What should have been an easy one-hour drive turned into a two-hour ordeal. By the time I got back to L&S, it was 1700. Kiri was there to get me, and after a little discussion, i agreed to go along to her meeting. I had a book to read, and if nothing else could probably nap in the car. It was amusing when I saw that the meeting was at a Starbucks under one of the dental offices I used to deliver to when I drove for Atwood Dental. I settled in with Red Thunder and they had their meeting. Afterwards, we went to Subway. Long story short, while Kirsten was over at Safeway grabbing something for me, I nearly choked to death on my sandwich. While the two employees stood there watching, I had to give myself a Heimlich on their counter. So much for our anniversary!
Friday was much brighter. We got to L&S and Tim, my boss walked over and told Kirsten that he was letting me go early today because I had stepped up and covered at the last minute twice this week. However, there was a catch. Leonard, the driver whose truck had been wrecked would be driving my truck, and I would be dropped at a rental place to pick up a new truck. I only had three stops, all places I've been before.
Pity that Leonard is the slowest human on Earth. He told Tim that I should be in Hayward by 0830. I actually got the truck at about 1030. Then came the bigger joy: it was a manual transmission. Friends, do y'all know how long it has been since I drove a large truck with a stick? Here's a hint: I tended to wear a lot of green in those days.
I will say that I did not stall once, nor did I grind gears. Had some trouble convincing the truck that going from first to second was a good thing, but in the upper ranges things were easy. Made my drops, did my one pick-up, and got back to L&S by 1330. After off-loading and doing my paperwork, I was out of there by 1400. Train and bus my way home... and have a beer with a sandwich. Yes, I knew we were going out, but I was ravenous! And I honestly didn't think I was going to be drinking that much at dinner.
Dinner was at The Melting Pot. We had reservations, and were shown to what is best described as a niche in the wall. A tiny little private booth, just room for two. The staff had done a wonderful job prepping the booth. Kiri had told them it was our anniversary when she made the reservations, so there were rose petals on the table, a very nice card, and decorations all around.
We threw caution and our budget to the wind and ordered the Big Night Out. This gave us a Garlic and Herb Cheddar Cheese Fondue (which was amazing), a salad course (I skipped it, of course) and the entree platter: Filet Mignon, lobster tail, chicken breast, pork tenderloin, Florentine ravioli, and Cajun shrimp. Kiri decided on the Coq au Vin style for the fondue pot, which is wine, herbs, and seasonings. We also got an impressive array of dipping sauces. teriaki, BBQ, curry, garlic oil, the "killer cocktail sauce" (heavy on the horseradish), and a few others. Everything was perfect. But wait, there was more! We also got dessert! Since large amounts of chocolate and my stomach are no longer the best of friends, I didn't indulge that much, but it was quite good. We also killed a bottle of wine, which led to the usual Drunken Doug reaction.
So we blew two weeks' food money on a single meal. It's not every day you celebrate 15 years of marriage!
Thursday, which was our actual anniversary, we had nothing planned. I was of course working, and Kirsten had a Baycon thing to attend for the portion of the con she's co-second for. So the plan was that I'd just head home from work and see her when she got back. Then things fell apart. One of our drivers was hit by a speeding van, and his truck was undrivable. I get back from my route and find that they need me to make three pick ups in the Hayward area. These were things that were needed that night to fill orders for Friday morning. To improve my speed and avoid having to go through the truck scales, I took the one of the office F-250s.
Alas, 880 was solid with early commuters. What should have been an easy one-hour drive turned into a two-hour ordeal. By the time I got back to L&S, it was 1700. Kiri was there to get me, and after a little discussion, i agreed to go along to her meeting. I had a book to read, and if nothing else could probably nap in the car. It was amusing when I saw that the meeting was at a Starbucks under one of the dental offices I used to deliver to when I drove for Atwood Dental. I settled in with Red Thunder and they had their meeting. Afterwards, we went to Subway. Long story short, while Kirsten was over at Safeway grabbing something for me, I nearly choked to death on my sandwich. While the two employees stood there watching, I had to give myself a Heimlich on their counter. So much for our anniversary!
Friday was much brighter. We got to L&S and Tim, my boss walked over and told Kirsten that he was letting me go early today because I had stepped up and covered at the last minute twice this week. However, there was a catch. Leonard, the driver whose truck had been wrecked would be driving my truck, and I would be dropped at a rental place to pick up a new truck. I only had three stops, all places I've been before.
Pity that Leonard is the slowest human on Earth. He told Tim that I should be in Hayward by 0830. I actually got the truck at about 1030. Then came the bigger joy: it was a manual transmission. Friends, do y'all know how long it has been since I drove a large truck with a stick? Here's a hint: I tended to wear a lot of green in those days.
I will say that I did not stall once, nor did I grind gears. Had some trouble convincing the truck that going from first to second was a good thing, but in the upper ranges things were easy. Made my drops, did my one pick-up, and got back to L&S by 1330. After off-loading and doing my paperwork, I was out of there by 1400. Train and bus my way home... and have a beer with a sandwich. Yes, I knew we were going out, but I was ravenous! And I honestly didn't think I was going to be drinking that much at dinner.
Dinner was at The Melting Pot. We had reservations, and were shown to what is best described as a niche in the wall. A tiny little private booth, just room for two. The staff had done a wonderful job prepping the booth. Kiri had told them it was our anniversary when she made the reservations, so there were rose petals on the table, a very nice card, and decorations all around.
We threw caution and our budget to the wind and ordered the Big Night Out. This gave us a Garlic and Herb Cheddar Cheese Fondue (which was amazing), a salad course (I skipped it, of course) and the entree platter: Filet Mignon, lobster tail, chicken breast, pork tenderloin, Florentine ravioli, and Cajun shrimp. Kiri decided on the Coq au Vin style for the fondue pot, which is wine, herbs, and seasonings. We also got an impressive array of dipping sauces. teriaki, BBQ, curry, garlic oil, the "killer cocktail sauce" (heavy on the horseradish), and a few others. Everything was perfect. But wait, there was more! We also got dessert! Since large amounts of chocolate and my stomach are no longer the best of friends, I didn't indulge that much, but it was quite good. We also killed a bottle of wine, which led to the usual Drunken Doug reaction.
So we blew two weeks' food money on a single meal. It's not every day you celebrate 15 years of marriage!
Book review: Red Thunder.
This is the best Robert Heinlein I've read in a long time. Sure, the cover say it was written by John Varley, but who are you going to trust? Me, or some giant publishing house?
(speaking of which, yesterday I had a coworker convinced I was from Rhodesia. I should have been a con man.)
Anyway, Red Thunder is an excellent book, and yes, I'm not going to stop with the Heinlein comparisons. We get extremely smart young people, crusty old astronauts, a bit of jingoism, the all-American "hey kids, let's go to Mars!" sense of wonder, and even the Grand Master's patented Romance accelerator. All wrapped around a fun plot, interesting characters (I include places and things in that, by the way), and very solid writing.
I don't think I'm giving too much away by pointing out that the actual flight of the Red Thunder is almost an afterthought. This is a novel about engineering and invention.
The Admiral would be proud. I give it five penguins.
Yes, I am fully aware of the sequel. It is on my list to buy either before or at Baycon.
(speaking of which, yesterday I had a coworker convinced I was from Rhodesia. I should have been a con man.)
Anyway, Red Thunder is an excellent book, and yes, I'm not going to stop with the Heinlein comparisons. We get extremely smart young people, crusty old astronauts, a bit of jingoism, the all-American "hey kids, let's go to Mars!" sense of wonder, and even the Grand Master's patented Romance accelerator. All wrapped around a fun plot, interesting characters (I include places and things in that, by the way), and very solid writing.
I don't think I'm giving too much away by pointing out that the actual flight of the Red Thunder is almost an afterthought. This is a novel about engineering and invention.
The Admiral would be proud. I give it five penguins.
Yes, I am fully aware of the sequel. It is on my list to buy either before or at Baycon.