I still feel as I have nothing to say

I still feel as I have nothing to say but if I go too long without saying something: I think that's rude.

Friday was the same old same old but different. I was still at the bar but I didn't start with Bud Light and I didn't finish with vodka. Things seemed slightly off for most of the day, so I just went with it after work and ordered a Bass Ale followed by Margaritas followed by a few glasses of Scotch.

The guy that was sitting next to me, move so that I could continued my conversation with an off-duty bartender. We were sitting at the short end of the "L" shaped bar. From this short end, one can get a full length backside view of whoever is pouring a draft beer. One can also sometimes get a peek down a blouse from time to time when the button on the dishwasher is being pressed.

I usually sit at the opposite end of the bar, but for my last few visits, I've been stuck at the short end. The off-duty bartender turned to me and said, "You can really check out the bartenders from here." I said, "Yeah, but it's like checking out my cousin or something." We talked for awhile longer and then she left with the bartenders that had just gotten off duty.

I left and bought a box of Godiva Chocolates and then walked backed. I handed the golden bag across the bar to Kim.

Two week prior I ended up sitting at a table with some distant co-workers and one of those distant co-workers knows that I get tired of beer and asked when "The Timmy Specials" would start flowing. It had to be explained to some that a "Timmy Special" is a vodka based drink that is usually served in a pint glass. I only order them from the bar because they are especial to me and not every bartender knows the secret formula, but we ordered them through our waitress and after some discussion at the bar, Kim sent the drinks over in pint glasses.

The folks at the table liked them, so they ordered a second round but only one of them came in a pint glass and it was explained that only Timmy get Timmy Specials in pint glasses.

I felt that Kim did me and my friends a favor and that she might have been spoken to by one of the managers so she got a box of premium chocolates as a thank you.

I had left and was walking to the subway station when I heard someone call my name. It was the bartender that was sitting next to me earlier, she was calling me in to a different bar for a drink. I sat at at her table which included the two other bartenders she had left with and a guy I know from the bar, named Nick, and one of his female friends.

Nick was asking for someone to do a shot with him, everyone refused and then one of the bartenders volunteered me. I wouldn't say that we're friends but I've done shots with Nick before, we both like Patron, so I joined him in a shot. Nick left soon after that and we watched him stumble a bit as he made his way across the street. Someone at the table mentioned that he had just lost his job that day. It was also mentioned that he is sometimes a jerk, particularly when he's drunk.

I then felt a little bit guilty that I let him buy me a shot. I also felt that the recession was getting that much closer to me.

And I reassured myself that I was pretty sure that the bartenders don't call me a jerk behind my back.

not all rice is equal.

I've never had risotto so I won't know if it will be good risotto when I make it.

...

It was grilled chicken, onions, peppers and squash, all over rice. It was served on a blazing hot cast iron fajita pan.

She said, "Rice makes me happy".

No cats or raccoons?

He was like bugging me on it.

I was like, "Dude" but I went and as I predicted three days stuck in a training seminar backed up my workload. My workload nowadays has deadline that fall within days, even sometimes minutes, as opposed to weeks. My deadlines used to be to get things done before "the season was over," but now, like earlier today, I had fifteen minutes to get the thing off my desk and that's with the phone ringing and people shouting questions at me.

Yelling over a cubicle is a pet peeve of mine. But that's what happens when you're the go to guy and everyone has an emergency.

And as I was faxing the thing away, I got a call requesting a change in the order.

Such is life. I'm sure most people have survived through stuff not dissimilar.


I knew he was on his way out. I knew there wouldn't be too many more photo opportunities.

I was inside the full panel glass double doors as he was sitting in a sled. The sled gathers rain water which he always seemed to enjoy. I knew if I stepped outside that he would come to visit me and ruin the shot I wanted.


I think he was ready to go. Surprisingly he caught two rather large mice the day before and he's never been much of a mouser.

Two weeks later, as I was walking up the drive, not being greeted by the household cat, I thought about how long he had been around. I thought, "He came from the old house". I thought, "He knew my father".

And then I thought about how people fade from memory, fade from history, like they never existed.

I sometimes feel like I'm exploiting situations with my camera.

I forget the name of the show I was watching and I forget the name of the guy who said, "Taking a photo is sending that precise moment into the future," which I thought was interesting because I always think of photography as the past.

-

He was missing for three days. He was seventeen years old.


Here's a roof update. I know it has been keeping you up at night.

Fishbone

Work and complaints, mostly.

So, no posts.

There are parts of my multi-level roof that chronically leak.

I think most of the reason is because rolled roofing was installed on a completely flat roof. I could have changed the roofing or I could have changed the roof



I chose to change the roof.

You might notice that I sanded down the sharp edges. On top of the plywood, 30lb tar paper was installed and then I torched down rolled roofing; but rolled roofing only has a life span of 5 or so years so I'll top the rolled roofing with regular asphalt shingles which might get me twenty years.

You might be thinking: "That pitch is too low for shingles," and that is what most people say but the company that makes the shingles say that you can install them on a pitch of 2" per 1 foot (2/12 pitch). You just have to double up the tar paper and use rolled roofing in area prone to ice dams. You might be thinking but that isn't what you did and you would be correct but the directions say to use 15lb tar paper and they cold apply the rolled roofing. I used heavier tar paper and I covered the whole roof in rolled roofing, not just the ice dam areas, so I should be good.


And I guess I disturbed one of my tenants.