The tomatoes are ready

Castleberry Hills Art Stroll

We went with the Hatchers to Castleberry Hills for the art stroll. Saw some great things as well as mediocre while walking through all of the galleries and studios there.

Finally, we got the shower repaired, the pipe was snapped inside of the showerhead as if someone had tried to support themselves with it (maybe slipping in the shower?) but it wasn't easy. The renter was out of town and no one would answer the door. Monster opened the door with the key to let the plumbers in and stayed them until they could determine what was needed in materials, which he fetched from Home Depot with my credit card. He got back and both of the plumbers were sitting outside waiting on him. There was a woman sleeping in the kitchen who came out and told them to leave because she wanted to sleep. Monster told her that they were staying and fixing the shower. We had no idea who this person was. Turns out it was the mother of a friend of our renter who was also staying there while he was out of town.

I made an angry phone call to my next door neighbor, who the renter was traveling with.

After Monster's return and dealing with the woman, the guys finished the job, which I hope was the source of the leak and will put everything to rest.

I want to remove this renter, repair, clean up, and remodel the condo, and find a better quality renter for the place. I'm over having bachelors in my place. I'd love to have a nice, professional single woman living there.

unresolved

The water issues at the condo are still unresolved today, despite having set an appointment for a "leak expert" to come out this morning. Seems we were not the first on the list of calls and got bumped off schedule by an earlier longer-than-expected job. Monster is trying to handle this for me, rescheduling for another day while I'm at work.

In other news, this made me smile.

tickets

We got tickets to the Tabernacle show, but just barely, and lousy seats. After having to log in and go through the entire purchase process TWICE for good floor level seats, Ticketmaster.com would not process my order from the PC or the Mac. So now I have the secret to share:

1. all tickets on the website must be purchased for will-call delivery only. You don't have the actually delivery options they list, like USPS or UPS,etc.

2. they charge $9.00 for a parking pass, but having to pick up the tickets and pass at will-call makes the pass useless.

3. there is no place to choose United States as your country of origin. We had to choose the outlying islands as your location.

tied in knots

The good news:
We got the new toilet installed. yeah!
And now we have the old gray toilet sitting on our patio, probably becoming a mosquito nursery until we figure out how to get rid of it. I think I'm going to put biocide pellets in it tomorrow.
Went to see the new Pirates movie tonight. Great fun. I needed some escape.
Tom Waits tickets go on sale at 10:00 AM!


The bad news:
It's been a very rough week for me. Now I'm having a glass of red wine trying to encourage sleep to come and my gut to unknot. There's more trouble in my condo with water and nasty downstairs neighbors and useless management companies.... the usual. That and my job desintegrating into nothing as they seem to be letting the business die off - I've only been working half days lately. And my car needs new struts. The back end is bottoming out, so there's another big expense coming at me.

tiny screams of dying brain cells

I can't believe how soft my hair is after putting conditioner on it last night.

It's another slow day at work again. I can feel brain cells dying while I'm trying to stay awake. At the same time, I'd rather be employed in a boring job than no job at all.

What I really want is a job closer to home that actually stimulates/challenges me a bit or at least keeps me busy. Preferably one with health insurance, paid vacation time, and 401k.

It's quiet and too slow at work today. I keep nodding off.

finally, it rained.

and then we found a renewed leak in the roof over the kitchen - above the cabinets.

I had to empty every object out of the cabinets and countertop below, dry it, put it aside, and stuff towels into the cabinets when we came home last night. This morning, I pulled out the towels and made sure everything was reasonably clean and dry. I still haven't put things where they were before. I'll probably box it all until the roof is cleared of branches, which might have caused the water to pool and an old leak to reform, and the next rain proves whether it's okay to put things back or not.

Last night was fun - the first of this year's Halloween parade gatherings to begin the process for this year's parade. More giant puppets will be involved, I think. Maybe we'll have an actual float on a trailor again this year. Those questions are still up in the air but the theme is decided now. It's going to be great fun.

Wedding of the century

My cousin Dan and Joy had their wedding yesterday. Huge event with family and friends.

Kinda funny. The officiant was a very articulate, highly educated minister who spoke with a great deal of charm. Just when I thought we might not get the usual fire and brimstone sermon on the mount that is typical of Southern Baptist weddings, he included a very serious bit of warning having to do with marriage being a covenant with God rather than a legal contract - that included how it would be better to be drawn and quartered than to break one's vows.

Great reception with the caterer presenting a spread that included lots of seafood - sushi, sashimi, oysters on the halfshell, and the obligatory shrimp coctail. Of course, there were many more options but that was where I was centered. While others enjoyed the whole tenderloin roast and chicken, I was feasting on fruits of the sea. Later followed by a very good glass of Sterling Cab. The event ended with fireworks over the lake at the country club. I would love to see a photo of what I saw then - Dan and Joy in silhouette taking in the fireworks, held in eachothers arms. One thing I had not seen before was a table with a man hand-rolling cigars for guests. Even my brother was puffing on a wedding cigar, watching the fireworks. Almost like a Bergman film.

I got to see and speak with relatives and friends from near and far. So many people that we unfortunately only see at weddings and funerals and the occassional christening. I prefer seeing everyone at weddings, when there are no inhibitions or sorrow and everyone is, by nature of the event, positive and future-minded. When we were ready to leave, my mother wasn't waiting for me near the door as I expected her to be. I found her dancing with my cousin Heather's husband in front of the band, which is huge because this was the first time she'd been able to dance in years - all thanks to her new bionic knees. There was a great moment when Joy's brother got out in the center of the floor dancing just like Michael Jackson to Billie Jean - legend has it that he learned that trick when he was around 14 years old and has done it by request ever since. It was great fun watching that and then he pulled this sister, the bride, onto the floor to dance with him. Too funny.

And now I wish my cousins a perfect honeymoon with no sunburn or other maladies to occur. The worrier in me immediately sees peril in two very blonde individuals on a beach.

caliente

Did nothing today but have a good meal of food stuffs already in the fridge (new potatoes, salad, veggie riblets) followed by a cosmopolitan mixed by Monster. Now I'm just doing laundry and waiting for the new episode of No Reservations to air later tonight.

Diem Good Eats

I had the best scallops ever last night at Diem as the dinner special. Huge. Fresh. Sweet. Cooked - seared perfectly without being over-done. So incredibly tender, on a bed of artichoke hearts, fresh baby green beans and risoto.

watching Some Like It Hot tonight

Tony Curtis is the proto-William Shatner.

Mother's Day

We ate at Blue Ridge Grill for Mother's Day - My mother, Monster, and Moi.

The service is still extraordinary but the food has kinda lost it. It's overpriced for what you get and not as good as it used to be. Mother's fried oysters were not quite done - raw on the inside and not yet crisp on the outside. My tuna was lost in a sauce that was so strong all I could taste was sugar and licorice.

Last time we'll be there unless it's just for desert and the wait staff or the Grey Goose martinis.