My home redo has gotten to the point where I have to start thinking seriously about the esthetics, not just functionality. Problem is, I'm a male, straight, and therefore possess no sense of design. So I'll have to bite the bullet and get someone who knows what...
I will confess to being unsure of the future in a relatively profound way. Will I leave the Gulch? Will I do something a bit more permanent with Prime? Will I make another career change? Many balls are in the air, but mine are hanging in their usual spot. But at least...
It's "Rush Week" at our local college (not the university, which banned frats and sororities about 20 years ago). I don't pretend to understand how any of that works- my college didn't have any frats or sororities and if it had, I can't imagine that I'd have had any...
The funnest part of living in the Gulch is the overheard conversations. This past week, we had a meeting of the Business Association to discuss PR to get people to come here and spend money. Satisfyingly capitalist. When the meeting was over, one of the shop owners...
I always seem to come to popular things well after they're done. Maybe their popularity is what puts me off, then when I finally get to them, it's, "Oh fuck, this really IS good." Angine de Poitrine, Breaking Bad, The Wire... anyway, Prime and Spud both urged me to...
Finishing Stage 1 of a house redo (my second floor) means getting rid of a bunch of tatty old furniture, replete with dog chew marks and bodily fluid stains, and replacing it with more modern options. And given my, ahem, rather isolated location, choices are limited...
Our little café was overrun yesterday with football players; the local university was having some sort of event welcoming student athletes and apparently our food was better. These kids have some odd choices, but we were happy to charge extra and take their money....
It's the official Move-In Day at our local university, which means tired parents, scantily clad coeds, and lines of people ordering complex sugary coffee drinks. "Can I have a double caramel blueberry latte with pumpkin spice, three shots of banana, oat milk, and...
It's that time of year again, the schools are about to re-open and students and faculty are trickling back in. So our café at noon is looking like a menagerie of danger hair, piercings to render heads as ocarinas, look-at-me hot pants (on the guys), fuzzy slippers and...
I heard a noise behind the blinds on my kitchen window. Lifting them, I found this fella hanging upside down. I snapped a photo and sent it to Prime, who immediately responded, "Pie is back!" I ended up capturing him and releasing him into my back yard. Yes, I have...
Much controversy and action this week in the Gulch. There's been an ongoing debate about allowing short term rentals (e.g., AirBnB, VRBO...) to exist in the rarified areas zoned Residential. "We need to preserve the character of our neighborhoods and these things are...
While on vacation, I got several frantic texts from the kennel. Apparently my dogs kept jumping the interior perimeter fence around their pen (a six foot chain link). OK, they had a few dogs in the past manage that, but were contained by an outer wall, a smooth solid...
They were annoyed when I asked for the Sanders section. Y'all may have noticed that WordPress was... having issues. So these Links had to be done last-minute. And show it. What's worse is that I just got back from a no-signal vacation spot following Prime's daughter's...
I'm off shortly to Prime's daughter's wedding. It's a mixed marriage, a Yid marrying the Mackerel-snapper, but it will be a Jewish wedding, albeit (obviously) Reform. My only question remains: at a lesbian Jewish wedding, who breaks the wine glass? I'll be paying...
These guys make some of the best Cabernet Franc and Riesling in the world. My job was to show Pie what we're doing locally for wine. He, being a Commie, brought me eight bottles of top examples of what's being made in Romania ("From each according to his grape, to...
End of the Retarded Waitress saga- she got fired. Spud had the pleasure of doing the deed. Enjoying a visit from Pie while Spud is in town and a few other close friends are dropping by. We're heading to a set of winery appointments today, so I don't have time to do...
And I can't even spell Gabriel. I'm blowing off work today to meet up with Prime at our mutual favorite spot. And it's an odd sort of amusement in a place with a much younger demographic to see the looks we get as the geriatric couple being all super-affectionate....
Retarded Customer: “How much is a bowl of soup?”WebDom: “$7 and it comes with pita”Retarded Customer: “How much is a bowl of soup?”WebDom: “$7”Retarded Customer: “No. HOW MUCH?”WebDom: “The size?”Retarded Customer: “Yes.”WebDom: “It’s a bowl, so about 24...
Freshman, I mean "First Year," Orientation this week. Regardless of major, they're required to sign up for Progressive Indoctrination during their first two semesters (not a joke, they just call it something more anodyne). And a classical music festival has begun,...
Yes, more stories of retardation. Retarded Waitress: Our sparkling water, is it carbonated? Retarded Waitress: The customer wants a hamburger but with the peppers on the side.Me: The hamburgers don't come with peppers. I think they likely said pickles.Retarded...
In the way she does best, Prime hit me up with a seemingly simple but profound question. I tell her stories of the people here, like this doozy from the café yesterday: "Is there dairy in the cream of asparagus soup?"“Yes, there is dairy in it. I’m so sorry, I’ll make...
One of the few things he was wrong about. He WAS a great man. I have nothing to say, because the greatest President in the history of this country already said it, and said it better than any of his successors ever could. Herewith, some excerpts from that marvelous...
The week has been too long, and dealing with tards makes it even longer. One small ray of hope- we just hired a new waitress whom we might be able to ease into the Tard Waitress's hours. She scored major points with me during her training on wine when she asked, "How...
Our retarded staff continues to provide me with material. After our waitress's insistence that she understands everything there is to know about every wine and beer on our list, she's now confident on giving recommendations. Confidence, unfortunately, is not the same...
Heading up to the Great White North for a couple days at Prime's beach cottage on Lake Erie. She has, without any expectation of success, begged me to be polite, not ask people why they have beady eyes and floppy heads, how they feel about becoming America's 52nd...