Well I was born a rambler friends. And I intend to die that way. It could be twenty years from now, it could be most any day. But if there ain’t no whiskey and women lord behind those heavenly doors, I’m gonna take my chances down below and of that you can be sure.
TOWNES VAN ZANDT
5:00am and I’ve already been up for two hours. Dog has been walked and fed. Now having coffee and skimming the papers. I do have some work to do, so will get to that here shortly.
When I walk, I like to cover a little ground. Try to get a couple of miles in across the earth. Pops, after a wee and dropping a deuce, is more than happy to wander aimlessly without getting more than a few dozen yards from the front door. Most days we are out on Lakeshore by around 5:15 and I usually leave Pops off leash to give him an illusion of freedom. Just a taste.
Since I am trying to at least get a little exercise and he is always stopping to examine every little thing, I am forever calling him to come on. To catch up. For the love of God man.
So I have a lot of time to think of nicknames for the old man—while I am waiting on him.
So every time we walk, I will repeat about 1,000 times ‘Come on Pops.’ But of course I alternate with nicknames.
Here is what I have so far:
Pops
Pop Tart
Papa John
Papa don’t preach
Popsicle
Pappa was a rollin stone
Pop-up
Pop Star
Papasita
K-Pop
Pop-a-wheelie
Popeye
Papparazzi
Pop a cap in yo’ ass
Pop goes the Weasel
Pop quiz
Papa New Guinea
Papa bear
He responds to just about all of them.
I have a follow-up with my doctor on Friday about the chest incident, so I am also going to ask about sleep. I think I must do something to understand.
But there is something more going on. Some undercurrent of pending change I am sensing. It’s of course right at the 2-year mark in Cleveland and that is about my average. So absent some compelling reason to stick around I will probably wander off.
Most people’s default setting is to stay put. My factory settings are to roam.
I would like to find a way to get back to Namibia for a year or two, but of course that requires a visa and the ability to generate enough income for survival. But Namibia is on my mind for sure.
I talked to my friend Sheri for an hour last night. I am not a great phone person, but Sheri and I talk around once we week or so and it’s always nice. Now that I think about, I also talked to Prachi for an hour yesterday. Hhmm…….Guess I okay on the phone but only with really good friends. I talk to Carla a good bit on the phone too. Brian but that is partly friends and partly business, although they are pretty intertwined in a start-up company.
I met Sheri in 1996 when I hired her to work for a computer training company I was working for. But she quit after a few weeks and went to another company. But then, a few weeks after that, she called and said the company she went to was looking for a new manager and thought I would be a good fit. So I interviewed and went there. We became good friends but after about 6 months or so, her husband took a transfer and they moved away. So now, 24 years later, I have seen her only twice in those 2.5 decades. I once went to their house for dinner when they lived in Cincinnati. Their kids were I think around 2 and 6 at that time. Now their daughter is 2 years out of university and teaching elementary school and their son is finishing his 1st year at Wisconsin. The 2nd time I saw Sheri was 2 years ago when I was in Chicago for a meeting and we met and had lunch. She and her husband live in one of the north-eastern suburbs now.
Anyway, a terrific friendship and I am grateful. She is a great cook and so we nearly always talk a bit about food, but also politics and raising kids and all kinds of groovy things.
G. Gordon Liddy died recently. No issue there. Glad to see that evil fucker move along. No redeeming qualities as far as I could tell.
After some nice early spring days, it is cold and snowing this morning. We are back in office most days so I am back on the bus. Every day it’s the same handful of people riding downtown. There is a kind older black man who rides. Every morning when we get off, he says to me ‘Have a good day young brother.’ And that makes me smile.
Will be at the folks’ this weekend for Easter. But will meet Larry, Terri, and Shannon in Columbus for breakfast early Saturday morning first.
In Namibia, Sue and I are helping a family build a new shack to live in. In America, it is that time of year when people are grumbling about writing big checks to the IRS. Hundred thousand. Two hundred thousand. This family, which includes two of our former students who have now gone on to academic excellence, just needs a new shack to live in because they are being evicted. So for around $125 we will get them materials to build a shack in the desert with no electricity and no running water.
Perspective.
Aneeka, my little god-child, sent me a new picture and that is also included below.
No other news of note.
Humbly submitted.
The Martini Tales 