September 19th, 2015

Woo-hoo.  Fifty.  This is the age when you can simultaneously say, "Fuck it, I ain't gonna be around enough to worry about ____________", and "Damn, I ain't gonna be around long enough to see _______"

Yin/yang of the week.  Yin...the weather broke and the evenings are now live able...can sleep with the windows open and turn off the AC.

The days are still a tad hot for me...a humid 85 is personally uncomfortable, but everyone else seems good with it, so will call it even. 

Yang...THIS!  If you aren't the click on link type, that article describes the "hit to kill" phenomenon in China.  As it is far cheaper to pay off the family if you kill someone, rather than pay for a lifetime of medical care if you mangle them, drivers will reverse their cars and back over a person they previously hit to ensure they kill them.  I know...  Revised laws have curtailed it somewhat in both countries,  and the Omni-present surveillance cameras help a lot in TW, but the thought that one (many) can get away with it still exists apparently.  Won't spend 10,000 words detailing occurrences, but I see it on every trip outside...some driver will do something that is so unbelievably heinous, risking injury to others, to basically improve their position on the road by a single car length, that just when I start to feel good about the locals, will see some maneuver that makes you lose faith and instantly revert to  'screw this culture mode'. 

I wasn't going to, but got a call on Thursday morning that the cable guy could come over to upgrade the speed of our Wifi, which allowed me to be at home during the CNN GOP debate and caught it from beginning to end.  Will save us you from recounting all of my thoughts on it, but briefly...

All 11 stated positions that immediately made them terrible choices for President...tearing up the Iran deal, blatant sabre rattling, climate change skeptics, vaccination truthers and defunding Planned Parenthood were the most consistent across the board,.  Some of them truly believe the hate they spouted and that seemed to be directly proportional to  how hard they thumped the bible.

Side note, I was in Catholic school till the 4th grade and remember growing up feeling that religion was a source of tolerance and loving your neighbor, and a guide on how to live a better life.  Maybe it was because the immigrants weren't as brown in those days, or that gays kept their status to themselves and were just seen as witty eccentrics on game shows (and man, Paul Lynde and Charles Nelson Reily were so fucking funny), but the total hijacking of Christianity to the perverted views that gays are abominations and to hate others is so prevalent in Republican talk that...really, I cannot come up with words that could describe the disappointment and disgust I have for them. 

The worst two are Cruz and Huckabee of course and if I hear anyone agree with a single thing that comes out of those two mouths, that person is dead to me.  The rest of them probably do have some "faith", but believe that they are all pandering to their "base" that is driven by fear and the belief that someone else is responsible for their lot in life.  Kasich and Rubio, while having some scary positions on women and war respectively, seem the most pragmatic and would like to see one of them make it through to the semifinals as a debate of issues rather than who can best be God's representative would be refreshing.  I'd put Lindsey Graham into that category too if he didn't see a terrorist behind every corner.  Thought that Jeb was going to be that voice...he was the "smart" brother after all...but if he has answered one question in a way that didn't make me think, what the fuck, I haven't heard it.  Margaret Thatcher on the $10 dollar bill?  What a tool.

I know what happened, but what happened to the conservative model of small government?  Today's conservative say they want to ditch the whole thing (which if look at the track records of the candidates and previous Republican administrations bloated debt, is total BS, but I have always considered myself fiscally conservative and believe that we should be focusing our efforts on finding inefficiencies in each agency and streamlining them.  That is it.  My experience this week with "that" government totally exemplifies that on a micro level.

Our passports need renewal in the next year or so, so decided to renew them all at once...evidence of my efficiency.  Doing so overseas is a tad different than doing it in the States, so did my research and showed up for our appointment.  Had all our docs in order, paid the bill by credit card and walked out thinking that the AIT (short for American Institute in Taiwan...as Taiwan is not considered a country, there is no embassy here but rather, a trade office that acts as one for all intents and purposes) was well organized and that it was an unexpectedly pleasant experience.

That afternoon, got a call from the very nice lady that processed our documents that she had good news.  They over charged us by $40 and that we would get a refund.  I said 'that is good news' and said that they can just refund it back on our card.  Five minutes later, she calls back and says they can't do that and asks if I can come down now and re-swipe my card.  Their place is downtown and in perfect traffic conditions, doing so would be a minimum of an hour and a half process.  Obviously, there are a couple million things I would rather do with an hour and a half than retrace my steps to sign my name, so tried to walk through possibilities with them to avoid having to not come down.  As I opted to keep my old passport and return to exchange the old for the new when they came in, thought that dealing with the payment at that time was the most reasonable. 

Side note, the other option is to leave the passport there and they will mail the replacements within two weeks.  Why anyone would do that seems crazy.  First, if something happened in the States that required us to get out of town instantly, we'd be screwed.  Also, I have heard stories about expats (allegedly) doing something bad, like killing someone in an accident, and their companies whisking them out of the country before the authorities can catch up with them.  Not worried about me, but the Boy seems a bit unhinged lately.  And finally, the above mentioned mistrust of the bureaucracy and their perceived inherent inefficiency. 

Nope, my options were to come back down, or go to the local post office and make some wire transfer, which would be a pain if that process was done completely in English, but would be its own macabre adventure in Mandarin.  We both laughed when I asked if I would get a discount due to their error.  When I got the line from her that there was nothing they could do "because they are the government", my eyes rattled in my head...I said "you know that is a total cliché".  To her credit, she agreed.

In the end, am gong to have a buddy that works there take cash to the office, but what other entity can make a mistake, but I am the one that is totally inconvenienced without any token form of compensation.  I would have even accepted free parking.  I asked  my State department buddy what he would expect his new boss Trump will say when he hears of such bad customer service.  He got the right answer.

Summer installment for today...California.  The goal in California is to spend as much time with my mom as possible.  She turned 89 last month and is in great shape....a testament to clean livin'.  The one thing that is failing is her short term memory.  Her long term memory is just fine as she can remember every stupid thing I've done my entire life and doesn't hesitate to bring those up.  Unfortunately, with short term memory loss, she doesn't remember that she just mentioned my past indiscretions and repeats them over and over.  It is hard for me not to get frustrated, but totally understand that it is part of life and try to make it a lesson to be more patient.  I think she gets frustrated too as simple things, like navigating an airport or dealing with technology scares her, but she is really such a kind person and doesn't act like a cranky old bat. 

Like the old bat on the Southwest flight back from Las Vegas.  If you are familiar with SW, you know that there are no assigned seats and that you queue up based on check in time to get on the plane.  As my mom is old, they allow her to get on first and I send one of the kids with her to help her get her bag into the overhead and her into her seat.  We could all go, but since we are able bodied, we do not abuse the system and one of the kids and I get on in our allotted spot. 

So I get on about half way into boarding and see that the window and middle seat across the aisle from my mom and Carolyn is empty (Paul slid into the still empty middle seat of mom's row).  On the aisle is another older lady and wanting to sit near my clan, ask her if the seats next to her are free.  She says, "I was hoping to leave my bag on them."  Using the patience I've been practicing, I politely say that my family is across the aisle and would like to sit on the window seat to be near them.  The grunting and groaning and complaining about her knees that followed as she "struggled" to stand up to let me in was like something out of a movie.  I am the first person to give my seat on the bus to the elderly or to women, and my knees ache constantly, but am not going to allow people take advantage of the world by playing the old card. 

Kids and I took mom to Vegas for a couple nights cause she loves it.  Tried to make it fun for the kids by taking them to a couple shows.   Went to the Cirque du Soleil show called Ka that was playing at our hotel.  Had never seen one before...while the acrobatics and choreography were amazing, and the show could only be described as a spectacular, we were all a bit confused as to what we had just seen.  We read that it cost 165 million to produce, but the feeling we all had is best described as disoriented. 

The next night, I picked the show, and being a big fan of their work for years, we taxied over to the Rio for Penn and Teller.  Awesome.  Funny and well paced, we talked about it for days afterwards.  And they come out to the lobby afterwards for snaps (note my mom on the right photo bombing my selfie with Teller). 

After, we indulged in a midnight dessert at the Wolfgang Pucks.  Classic family time.

My mom loves the slots, so we left her there one afternoon while the kids and I took a few laps in the MGM's lazy river.  Nothing like the crowd that gathers in a Vegas pool.  I was able to show the kids what a female female impersonator looked like, and we enjoyed watching the northern Europeans getting sunburned in the 105 degree heat whilst drinking 24 ounce cans of strawberry flavored margaritas.  You don't have to travel to Europe to see what a soccer hooligan looks like. 

To me, the best part was hanging out with mom late night at the slots.  We'd wander around looking for the hot machines.  She holds her own, but I just kept feeding them $20's.  I have a lot of memories of her, but one of my favorites will always be just sitting there next to her, talking about nothing and everything.

While I lost a bunch of cash at the machines, had to try my new system in hopes of making my money back.  That system?  Going to the black jack tables early in the morning and playing with the female Asian dealers.  It worked well last year and had even better luck this time coming away up about $400 bucks total on the weekend.  Usually it was just me and the dealer, and we'd chat about where they were from and how long they had been in the game.  Having been to their countries, Philippines, Korea, Thailand, etc., would chat about food and family...think the positive atmosphere creates a good card juju and things went swimmingly.  Until Lu Lu would rotate in.  Lu Lu came from mainland China, and she instantly cooled off every run.  I tried to engage her, but she would shut down any conversation by giving the one word answer.  And when I tried to introduce some of my limited Mandarin, like asking for a small card by saying "xiao", she not only dropped a Jack on me, but corrected my pronunciation.  Typical.

Being in California also provides a great chance to catch up with old friends and indulge my passion for baseball.  In this case, hanging out with fellow college trouble maker Matt at an A's game at O.co.

I've detailed how much of an awesome dump the place is and that I have the best experiences there.  Almost all of the stadiums have between inning "races", where they broadcast local transportation forms racing against each other on the jumbotron.  Subway cars in NY, hydroplane boats in Seattle, etc.  In Oakland, they race dots.  Seriously...check it out.  I think three different colored homeless guys running from the cops would be more appropriate, but the dots does have its charm.  And they do break out the always popular/is never not cool giant headed characters to race from time to time.  You'd think that Rickey would win every time, but I never bet the chalk.  And could never, ever root for Eck, so was glad my old fave as a boy Rollie Fingers won on this day. 

Also in California, caught my first game in San Diego at Petco Park.  Loved everything about it...walking through the Gas Lamp part of town to get there (although it was a lot grittier than it looks on TV), great public gathering spaces, the best and most varied food options at a park I'd ever seen, scenic and perfect weather always.  I liked it better than Safeco and even PacBell.  PacBell has better views, and food is about equal, it's just that place is so overpriced as to take the fun out of it.

But what will stay with me forever from that night was catching my first foul ball.  Padres were playing the Mariners, and we are sitting about 2/3 of the way down the right field line 16 rows in.  My brother in law goes to get food in the second inning, so the seat next to me is empty.  Austin Jackson hits an opposite field foul that looks like it is going into the second deck and far away from us...I kept an eye on it and it bounces off the cement façade and comes right at me.  Made a clean one handed over the shoulder catch.  One of the greatest moments of my life. 

In LA, had the annual Saturday drinking beers in the garage with my old high school buddies day (from l2r...Ched, me, Bill, Paul and James).  Our life experiences (and political views) couldn't have differed much more, but the moment we get together we are instantly transported back to 1982.  Mother jokes and all.  Love those guys.

Also had the chance to introduce my Carolyn to the lady she was named after.  Carolyn Brown (still Mrs. Brown to me) is my mom's dearest and oldest friend.  If our Carolyn is half the good natured spirit that Mrs. Brown is, she will be an awesome person.  Mrs. Brown's daughter Susan was over as well, and she kept calling my Carolyn "Caroline".  Many, if not most, people mess up her name that way, but when the daughter of the person that has the same name and who she was named after gets it wrong, then there is no hope for her.

Took mom to see her/our old neighborhood in Arcadia and we caught some twilight races at Santa Anita...luckily, old buddy Norm was able to arrange his schedule to meet us for a few races.  Santa Anita looked good, but the crowd on a Friday night seemed meager and felt lonely and sad.  All three of us hit a couple of exactas and we walked out with smiles on our faces and cash in our pockets.

 

 

As he hopefully will be going to college in a couple years, part of our summer tour was to expose the Boy to universities around the country.  Driving down from SF to LA (to spend a week with my sister and mom in Venice), we popped into Santa Barbara to visit UCSD.  Assuming you got accepted, why you would go anywhere else would amaze me.  Perfect weather, beach side, beautiful student body, and the second most Nobel laureate professors at any school, we were all impressed. An old college friend, and apartment mate in LA for many years, Tom and his wife Sandy, live in SB, so we arranged to hang at their place for dinner.  They are fantastic people and live life right.  And their next door neighbor is the Michael McDonald. 

 

 

And no trip to LA would be complete without trips to two of my all time favorite food joints.  Have been going to Taco Lita since high school and it not only tastes exactly the same 30 years later, but the same girl (now woman) works there.  You can go home again.

And the Thai food place (Vim) is still pumping out the perfectly spiced spicy seafood soup.  Crammed with seafood goodness.  Took the kids and mom and threw down hard. 

 

Some random thoughts from California...

 

- Saw the Google cars (the ones that drive themselves) driving around a couple of times.  Didn't have much interaction and they seemed to be driving fine, but watching the driver read the newspaper (the old school kind, not on a device) with the car in motion was a trip.

 

- Unique to California, when making a dinner reservation, they ALL asked if we would be celebrating a special occasion.  We never were, and it felt a bit Californian  pretentious at first, but ended up appreciating their pro activity.

 

- Needed to replenish some shorts in my wardrobe, it certainly felt like the ratio of cargo to non-cargo shorts on the racks is 4:1.  Can we be done with this ridiculous fashion trend?  Fellas, here is something your significant other would say to you...actually, let me say wife or girlfriend cause a gay guy would never be caught dead wearing them...they never look good on you.  Stop buying them. 

 

- The drought in California is awful, and the old standard 'if it's yellow, it's mellow and if it's brown, flush it down' was mentioned repeatedly.  Have heard that one since grade school, but I had questions for the locals that they were unable (or too uncomfortable) to answer.  First, if it's yellow, but you sit down to make a brownie, should you flush the yellow first so it doesn't splash all over your butt?  I do, but everyone looked at me like I was insane for asking.   And secondly, how many yellows equate to a brown?  I would guess that it isn't consistent due to individual diets, like one that is asparagus rich, but there isn't any handy chart from the government to tell you.  Nor did I see a checklist or chalkboard in any bathroom so you could keep a running tally.  I think the answer lies in this old Tootsie Pop commercial.  A one, a ta-hoooow, a thrrrree.

 

- We drove to Sacramento to visit one of Carolyn's old Taiwan friends that moved back.  Spent the night and had a lovely time.  The next day, I took the girls and Paul to their local water park.  The girls went off so Paul and I were together riding the slides.  We would try to race each other on every one and was chucking myself down them in an effort to beat him.  I turned to him at one point and pointed out that I was the oldest person on the slides by far.  About 36 hours later, I woke up with a pinched nerve in my back and was in the most pain I have ever been in my life.  Was literally on the ground crying and think I scared the kids a bit.  Guess that activity is no longer on the menu...really sucks getting old.

 

It has been a while since the last post and will try to do better.  One thing...a couple of you leave comments, but they come through to me as anonymous.  I like them and would like to know who is reaching out, so if you could add your initials to the end, I would appreciate it.  

 

Hope you are well...