Viva Italia

It's been a long, busy, tiring, exciting week, but it's finally over and the moment I've waited for for months is finally here. I will be gone for the next few weeks, but if I get a chance to stop in to an internet cafe I might make a quick post. Otherwise you'll just have to wait until I get back to hear about my trip. I wish everyone well while I'm gone and if you're good I'll get you something special while in Europe!

Ciao!

It’s Not That I’m Trying To Avoid Posting…

…it’s just that things have become rather hectic lately. I’ve been trying to finish projects at work before I disappear for 3 weeks and other tasks keep getting pushed on to me. I leave this Friday for Iowa, so things are really coming up quickly. We finally got our itineraries in the mail last week so we can now start planning activities for our free time in each of these cities. The only downside of this trip is that I won’t probably see much of my brother since our tour and his tour don’t often coincide. So we’ll have to make use of the moments we have together. I finally bought a digital camera last week to take lots of pictures to share with everybody so no one will miss out.

I came down with a flu-like disease this past weekend (probably the flu) which caused me to cancel plans to go down to LA or go out to dinner with my parents for Mother’s Day. Things are clearing up so I shouldn’t have to worry about it on our tour (fingers-crossed). I was quick to recall that something like this happened before; just before I went to Japan in Junior High I contracted walking pneumonia and almost didn’t make the trip. As a result I was popping pills left and right (and up). But illness didn’t stop me then and it won’t stop me now from traveling abroad. Even if I can’t eat solid foods.

Eventful

Things have been happening ever since I got back from Chicago; from offices to pianos to beer to sheep? If only there was a forum that I could provide some details of these past events to recount for others. Hmmm... how about a set of small tales?

The Office Tale:
A couple weeks ago, my supervisor in pure “Office Space” fashion came into my office at the end of the day to tell me that I would be moving to a different office sometime in the upcoming weeks. I was hoping he wouldn’t take my stapler (yes, I do have my own stapler here at work) afterwards. I arrived back to work from my trip to Chicago last week to discover that the office move was happening that day as boxes were towed into my office from its new heir. So, I fit all my belongings into a cardboard box, a trash can and a satchel and moved to my new office. It’s at the front of the building where it’s quieter and there’s a nicer view so I got a good deal. Now I must figure out what to do with all this open space.

The Beer Tale:
This past weekend was the Festival of Beers in Bakersfield and with my brother in town, we decided that this would be a nice bonding experience. So, we showed up to drink our fair share of ales and lagers. We were given a 1/4 of a pint cup (yes I measured it) and free reign to drink as much beer as we desired. All in all, we tried 12 different beers (3 pints worth) over the course of the event, which was about my limit since we were outside in the heat and quickly becoming very dehydrated. They had some good choices there but I was hoping for more foreign beers; though I was most impressed by the presence of McEwans. They had a free Blackjack booth set-up so Paul and I had our fun winning and losing fake money. I had particular luck in some instances with some splits and double-downs. Of course, I couldn’t stop calling Paul “Double Down” a la “Swingers.” Afterwards, we went and had a margarita with dinner, the true champions that we are.

The Sheep Tale:
While driving to work yesterday morning I encountered….sheep on the road? I’ve often seen sheep grazing all across the road to/from work but never have I seen sheep in the street. At least one sheep was hit and killed from an oncoming truck before I got there, while the rest managed to evade further injury. I’ve had a theory about a sheep conspiracy and perhaps this is one of their sick tactics?

The Piano Tale:
For some reason people are often struck with generosity when in comes to our family. Maybe that’s why we’ve been chosen to house a baby grand piano by some family friends for an unspecified amount of time. This comes after this family had inherited some furniture from a relative and needed a place to stash it while they wait for the building of their house in Paso Robles to be completed. So, we are doing a little furniture rearranging to accommodate another piano for several months/years. It seems like a shady deal, but it gives us a chance to redecorate the house. I will find out how bad the situation is once I get home tonight.

Those are the various events that have happened to me all too recently. Currently I am listening to my eclectic radio station where I just heard a song combining Electronica and banjo. I think that’s my cue to leave. Sometimes things can be too eventful.