The Bane Of My Fucking Existence

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Fall is in the air, and that means, once again, it’s that time of year when nothing is fucking safe from being pumpkinized. This year, the endless flurry of pumpkin-spice-flavored goods and seems to have gotten way the fuck out of hand. The popularity of Starbucks’ autumnally emblematic Pumpkin Spice Latte has ushered in an anything-goes mentality among marketing strategists, leaving grocery stores, restaurants, and retailers no choice but to pollute shelves and menus with pumpkin spiced bullshit that is truly boggling to the imagination.

But whether you like pumpkin or you’re simply addicted to corn syrup and pumpkin pie spice seems beside the point; there are certain things that are just better off free from the pumpkin tyranny. Seemingly everything gets sprinkled with a dose of the mysterious fall spice concoction so that it tastes just like a melted Yankee candle. Here is a collection of some of the stranger manifestations of the pumpkin craze being seen this season. Stock up while these last, because it’s only a matter of time before all the candy canes and “holiday spice” products take over.

01. Chobani Pumpkin Spice Yogurt
02. Planter’s Pumpkin Spice Almonds
03. Thomas’ Pumpkin Spice English Muffins
04. Green Mountain Coffee Pumpkin Spice K-Cups
05. Pumpkin Spice Latte M&Ms
06. Wrigley’s Extra Pumpkin spice gum
07. Lifeway Pumpkin Spice Kefir
08. Hershey’s Pumpkin Spice Kisses
09. Nonni’s Pumpkin Spice Biscotti
10. Eggo Pumpkin Spice Waffles
11. Pepperidge Farm Pumpkin Spice Milano cookies
12. Spiced Pumpkin Pie Clif Bar
13. Pumpkin Spice Quaker Instant Oatmeal
14. Ghirardelli Pumpkin Spice Caramel Squares
15. Nestlé Toll House Pumpkin Spice Morsels
16. Philadelphia Pumpkin Spice Cream Cheese
17. Pumpkin Spice Kahlua
18. Bailey’s Pumpkin Spice Coffee Creamer
19. Jet-Puffed Pumpkin Spice Marshmallows
20. Blue Diamond Pumpkin Spice Almonds
21. Pepperidge Farm Pumpkin Spice Swirl Bread
22. Pumpkin Spice Oreos
23. Williams-Sonoma Spiced Pumpkin Seed Brittle
24. Republic of Tea Pumpkin Spice Black Tea
25. Siggi’s Pumpkin & Spice Skyr
26. Kashi Crunchy Pumpkin Spice Flax Granola Bars
27. Thomas’s Pumpkin Spice Bagels
28. Coffee-Mate Pumpkin Spice Creamer
29. Cedar’s Pumpkin Spice Hummus
30. So Delicious Dairy Free Pumpkin Spice Coconut Milk
31. Keebler Pumpkin Spice Fudge Stripes Cookies
32. Cosmos Creations Pumpkin Spice Popcorn
33. Pillsbury Pumpkin Spice Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls
34. Hostess Pumpkin Spice Cup Cakes
35. Kellogg’s Pumpkin Spice Frosted Mini-Wheats
36. JIF Pumpkin Pie Spice Peanut Butter Whipped Spread
37. Pumpkin Spice Peeps
38. Boom Chicka Pop Pumpkin Spice Kettle Corn
39. Nestle Toll House Pumpkin Spice Cookie Dough
40. Pumpkin Spice Pringles
41. Pumpkin Spice Jell-O Pudding
42. Pumpkin Spice Four Loko
43. Pumpkin Spice Country Crock Butter
44. Burnett’s Pumpkin Spice Vodka
45. Corsair Pumpkin Spice Moonshine
46. Silk Pumpkin Spice Soy Milk
47. Belvita Pumpkin Spice Cookies
48. Nature’s Promise Pumpkin Spice Chicken Sausage
49. Creative Snacks Co. Pumpkin Spice Yogurt Pretzels
50. Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte

As y’all can see y’all are some fucked up individuals if anything on this list looks appetizing. If y’all haven’t figured it out yet, I’m not a fan of pumpkin spiced anything! Use to be that I couldn’t wait for homemade pumpkin pie, but now the fucking smell gives me the dry heaves, thanks pumpkin spiced crazy ass motherfuckers for ruining a very fond childhood memory. Let this be just one additional reason I really hate fucking Starbucks! Those of y’all thinking this is a big list haven’t even seen the worst of this shit because I didn’t even include restaurant menu items or other retail goods. In the end, fuck pumpkin spice and all of you crazy motherfuckers who crave it like little crack addicts.

Speaking Of People Watching ……..

Okay boys and girls I have a little adventure to tell you about. Very recently I found myself at the mall with my wife, my birthday present to her was not actually a present, it was a trip to her favorite stores to pick out clothes she has wanted. The longer we are married the harder it is to get gifts for special occasions. Some of y’all might actually feel the same way, plus giving someone a gift blindly is very hit or miss, what they liked yesterday may have very well changed overnight. So, I have a bad habit, I don’t buy gifts, we go places or do something or in this case we made a special trip to the mall. In general, my wife was a little confused, for the first time I wasn’t clear about the budget, sure I had one in mind since going over the budget would have cut into the bill paying. Nevertheless, I told her that she had free reign, she knows the bank account and so forth and I knew she would “shop responsibly” in the end. Plus, as a direct bonus to me, I was there to help pick out new summer attire, that is if she actually buys anything. Usually, whether for work or for street clothes, I always get to go because she wants my “opinion”. Oh well, its just the way it is.

The first place she goes into is Victoria’s Secret, a store in my opinion which has gone seriously down hill because everything is geared toward the “teen” and everything has become tame and lame. I understand business, but I remember the Victoria’s Secret from back in the day when I was dating my ex, and it rivaled Fredrick’s of Hollywood at the time. So, the moral of the story is that if you want “trashy” lingerie you need to shop at Zone D Exotica or buy it online. How can a person buy lingerie, in general, online? Anyhow, we go in because she “needs” (wants) new bras and Victoria’s secret has convinced her over the years that she can only wear their brand bras because of her figure. At least that is the line I’ve heard from them and my wife repeat. Ok, she’s 5’2″, about 115#, where’s a size 2, and sports 36DDDs. I joked with her the other day because she was feeling her age, and in a complimentary fashion I mentioned that I haven’t noticed her age because the boobs are still rockin’ all on their own. She tells me one day they won’t be that way, yea, but that day is not today! In the store she picks out a few sets of varying colors, I know this because she tells me as we go along. I don’t personally care what they look like, however I don’t care for the padded ones since she doesn’t need help squishing the boobs out. I can always convince the employees that I need to be in the fitting room with her because she cant come out to show me and model the lingerie. In 17 years I have been told no only once, and that just turned into selfie after selfie after selfie. Other husbands sit outside, looking very uncomfortable sitting in the pink and white striped boudoir chair, holding her purse, and keeping the small children in line. So, we found one bra and panty set that she was happy with, she tried on 14 sets and some more singles. I’m not complaining, I enjoy the show, in fact I love the show, I was just saying. We wait in line, pay the $72.89, and we exit happily.

She wanted some new jean shorts, tank tops, and a new bikini. I don’t know that all of those things can be purchased in one store, but we were going to give it a shot. She likes Hollister so we started there, not my favorite store, clothes are more for the teen with an assload of daddy’s money. But, she likes their jeans and jean shorts. Being familiar with this store as she comes here allot, I know that when its time to try on everything that is there barely enough room for one person, so I know I will be riding the imitation plastic leather couch, holding her purse and the remainder of the clothes. How do you try on clothes in a 2’x2′ closet anyway? She was put in the room right by the end of the couch, I could touch the door handle I was so close. One thing I hate about this store is the over abuse of perfumes and colognes people wear in a confined space. Makes my eyes water, not good when I wear contacts. Reminds me of the VIP rooms at a strip club, mixed perfumes, mixed sweat in the chairs, spilled alcohol on the floor, it generally has such a musk that it reminds me of a funeral parlor where all of the older ladies feel they must bath in their preferred scent as if to compete with all of the others. I like a lite pleasant smell, one you don’t notice until you are close to the nape of the neck, y’all know what I’m talking about. Then, BOOM, she walks out in a pair of these jean shorts that are very tight, very short, yet still tasteful enough because her vagina isn’t eating them and spilling out the leg holes. Impressive! My wife does not get into the whole “if it zips it fits” craze. She prefers comfortably snug. She tries on a few more, same style, different colors, they all look fine enough to me, but that’s not the answer we are looking for and I know it, so I go for the white pair and the blue jean pair, both show off her tanned legs nicely. Holy fuck! Two pair of shorts were $93.89 and we still weren’t done, off to the Guess store, a personal favorite of mine.

The Guess store was an utter clusterfuck with the summer sale going on, shit everywhere it wasn’t supposed to be, employees talking and texting instead of helping people out. Luckily for us, the bathing suit section hadn’t been raped and ransacked yet, well not real bad in my opinion. She picks out three that she likes and one I was fond of because it was different. She hates all of them after trying them on, looking to old ladyish for her taste. At this point in time she talks me into driving to Galveston, about a 50 minute drive for us, to go suit shopping, she wants to go back to a place she bought hers for our trip to Florida a few years back. Sure, why not, I was done with the mall anyway. We load up her bags in the trunk of the Mustang and head to the Strand, a section of Galveston that has existed since the 1800s, now its mostly shops, bars, and restaurants. While driving through Houston in average Houston traffic, meaning it was steady and thick but moving at about 75mph, my wife slips off the jeans she is wearing, surprise for me, and slips on her new white shorts after cutting the tags off. I didn’t even see her bring them into the car. Ever want to make the women in the car next to you on the passenger side blush? Have your wife changing in the car doing 80 mph passing an SUV with the woman and her boys in the back seat gawking. We arrived safely to Galveston, park, pay, and off we are walking.

She spots a few tanks in the window of the surf shop we were walking by and pulls me inside to go check them out. She was looking for the kind one wears sans bra, its a special kind from what she tells me, got a liner in it so the person wearing it isn’t pointing at everyone looking like she is smuggling raisins. I’m good either way. This is a giant store, there are racks after racks after rack of bathing suits, even the female employees were wearing tiny little bikinis. I like this place already. It was amazing to watch the guys in the store that were there with their wives, girlfriends, friends, or significant others. While watching them watching the tiny bikini clad girls walk around, bending over with straight legs, and stretching to the point that the material of their tops was at the point of failing, which would be catastrophic, boobs everywhere if it happens., I noticed that they also were selling margaritas and daiquiris, bonus. Cheap as well, I don’t prefer frozen margaritas but two giant one’s served in a souvenir style cup with a really crazy straw was only eight bucks. I hand my wife hers and away we go to start the hunt. She picked out one style she liked, only one suit too, and without showing it to me on the hanger she disappears into the changing room. I meandered over, giving her time to wiggle out of her closes and wiggle back into the suit she is trying on. She pulls the curtain back far enough for me to tie the strings on the back for her. She closes the curtain, and we know why, she needs the time to “adjust” everything so there is nothing hanging out that shouldn’t be. The curtain rips open! There she stands, my tanned wife in a white bikini, she is looking slick, she spins in the mirrors outside the changing room, and I guess she decides she is not liking it after all. I’m instructed to stand there and guard her “stuff” while she gets another. Remember I was talking about the guys in the store, well, they aren’t shy about staring, not even a little subtle, but then again, I was pleasantly watching her walk away as well. I see an employee, half her age, helping her out, pointing around and so forth, and then my wife returns. I was told she didn’t care for the first one, the bottoms felt like they were sliding inside her and she feared a very revealing cameltoe. So, she explained she was looking for “cunt huggers” not “cunt eaters” like the one she just tried on. She gets a dirty potty mouth at all the appropriate times, but I saw her point, trust me. She finds one that makes her happy, I never got to see it either, I was told it will be a surprise. While doing a secret check out, hiding it all from me, the same employee who was helping her began talking with my wife again. Apparently she is the manager of the store and thinks my wife has some talents that she would like to employ. Yes, she offered her a job on the weekends. The pay wasn’t bad, $20 an hour plus tips, part time, no benefits, but 80% of clothing in the store as long as she was an employee. Also, she would be able to use my veteran’s discount for an additional 10% off. My wife is actually considering it, she thinks it will be fun, she likes the uniform, and she thinks she would be a help to the older crowd who are a bit shyer in their needs. She has to call her by this Friday afternoon if she wants to give it a shot this weekend.

So now we walk around some more, stopping in at many more island shops, drinking many more margaritas, and finally we got back in the car, not to go home, but to head to the seawall to park so we could go walk the beach for a while. There was a beautiful sunset, we watched the sun slowly but surely descend into the depths of the horizon. Feeling hungry we walked over to a seafood place, I cant remember the name tho for some reason, but we went in, it was very laid back, had classic rock playing relatively load, but it was the coziness of it that made it a cool environment. We ordered, we ate, we talked, talked allot about this summer and what we wanted to do, we are going to San Antonio for the 4th of July weekend, which I already knew, since it is going to be my father’s day present from the kids. To sum it all up, it was nice to go out alone with my wife, something that is very rare anymore, but this is something we both committed to change starting right then. Fine with me, that’s why I married her, to spend time with her, to be able to do things together. There are many more reasons of course, but we wanted a life together to do things together. Also, we discussed the upcoming concerts for the rest of the year, told me to pick three or four so we could go. Has my wife received a headwound? She is volunteering to see rock concerts? Nice. I mentioned our vacation to Florida two years ago, I was doing something with the kids and I get a text from my wife with this picture attached, asking me if I would join her on the beach for a walk. What do y’all think my answer was?

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All She Had On Was The Radio

Every once in a while I feel that I can share a little bit about my personal life without giving away that I’m actually a living breathing human being who has a life outside everything else I do. I had a funny haha last week that I think y’all could see how one line of text can have a thousand meanings on one’s head when, in reality, it was an attention getter to intentionally mislead me, to distract me from what I was actually doing at the time. Luckily, for me, I was intrigued enough to investigate. Let’s set up the plot, I was outside messing around with my daughter’s car, maintenance mostly, new air cleaner, windshield wiper replacement, windshield wiper fluid refill, and a taillight bulb replacement. Simple enough, something she asked that I do while she was out of town. In fact, the house was empty with the exception of my wife and I. That whole scenario can lead to big trouble, usually means I’m steam cleaning the carpet. So, being outside taking care of little things that needed to be done was just fine with me. At about lunch time I start getting texts asking if I’m hungry, asking what I’m doing, and how long I was going to be, tell you the truth I was starting to get annoyed a bit, telling her to bring her ass outside if she was so curious. Then there was about thirty minutes of silence.

Then she sends this text, “all I have on is the radio, want to dance?” It was drizzling out, I was all but done outside anyway, so I didn’t answer the text, I don’t think I was supposed to, I think I did the right thing by just going inside to see what in the world was going on. I opened the door to a quiet house, and all I could hear was the radio coming from the back bedroom, my bedroom. First I did stop by the kitchen, which was on the way, to wash my hands and to get a drink of water, then I followed the song on the radio that was playing. I was lead to the bathroom in fact, where I find my wife taking a bubble bath, then she tells me that she told me all she had on was the radio. I will leave the rest to your imagination, if you have one, if not then just know that we both had a nice candle lit bubble bath together.

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Later on in the afternoon she wanted to get out of the house, to go somewhere, just go out to get out of the house, no kids, no wondering what the kids would do for dinner, nothing, just go for a drive and see where we end up. So, she got all dolled up, wearing my favorite jeans, a ZZ Top t-shirt, and her hair pulled back in a tight pony tail. She’s up to something, I just know it. We drove around in her new mustang for a few hours, she makes me drive, I don’t know, its weird with her, if I’m in the car she wants me to do the driving, been like that since day one. I thought it would change with her new car, but no, same old habits. What if I want to get chauffeured every once in a while? I’ve learned, don’t ask that particular question to her, it doesn’t end well at all. I just figure if we are in her car that she would want to drive. After not eating lunch I was starting to get real hungry, I asked if she had any suggestions, no of course, said for me to pick. Fine, I pick Joe’s Crab Shack, it was close and I haven’t been there in a few years. Dinner was good, margaritas were decent, and my company was very good. It gave us an opportunity to talk, to have a “date night”, and just be us for once in so many years. I get it, we don’t get allot of one on one time, we are always doing something, or we always have the kids tagging along, so it was, in fact, very weird, a little too quiet if you ask me. But, it was a fantastic night, I wouldn’t trade it for anything, never, we need many more of these “date nights”.

Soon enough, we would leave, she wanted to head across the freeway to go to the mall for a few minutes, she wanted to go in to get some makeup that they only sell at the one store. I knew it, I knew there was a plot, I new it was too good to be true, I knew I just gave up the next hour of my life because we cant decide which shade of black she wants for eyeliner. Of course, I’ve been a victim in this store before, I hate this store, so much I can’t bring myself to even type the fucking name. Plus, she asks me, the colorblind motherfucker, which color do I like, I always just answer with the one that has the cool, off the wall name, has kept me out of trouble for many years. This time, with no kids, I had no excuse to go to the Lego store or to Brookstone, I had to go in, her not letting go of my hand was the tell tale sign for me, I was already getting the cold sweats, fuck I hate this store. As a pleasant surprise, she walks in, never letting go of my hand, because I would have run for cover and she knows it, she picked up what she came in for, a compact of something or another, and we then checked out, we were in this beast of a pit less than five minutes, tops. Not a word from me either, and not a word from her either, we were just done, just in and out, scary.

Then we head to Sears, where I get told to hang out for a while, and that she would return for me shortly. Huh? She tells me to just roll with it, don’t worry about it, she would be back. Well, okay then, I shall just wander around Sears for a “while”. I didn’t see much I haven’t seen before, same tools, same lawn mowers and lawn shit, same beds, same vacuum cleaners, same appliances, and the same conditions at the shoe department, nice shoes I like, decent prices, but only go up to size 13, which is bullshit. Why can’t we just carry size 16 so I can at least try them on? But then again, that is the same scenario at all shoe stores in the mall, which is also bullshit. So, I’ve managed to kill almost thirty minutes and still no wife, so I make my way to the jewelry counter, not getting anything, just wanted to get my watch cleaned, they use one of those sonic washers which is pretty cool, gets all the muck out of the crevices. Just before the lady is done with my watch my wife slinks up behind me, wanting to know what I was buying. Then she sees the lady bringing my shiny black watch back and then she knows I’m not buying anything, no need to, I bought this very Fossil Relic watch in November of 1999 and it’s never, not once, given me any shit or reason to replace it, I make Father’s Day, birthdays, and Christmas a bitch for everyone, because a watch is never an option. After putting old faithful back on my wrist I notice she is carrying a Victoria’s Secret bag, which she will NOT let me look into. Trust me, I tried, no dice. How rude. Hand in hand we leave Sears, one more stop I’m told, which is good, its 8:45, and the mall closes in fifteen minutes, bonus.

We end up at Hollister, not my favorite, yet not the worst place to shop for women’s clothing. But, damn, this place is so expensive, I always expect to have to pay some kind of “cover” every time I walk thru the doors. This one is cool though, the entire staff is all female, dress like strippers, the lights are down low, the music is always bumping, and they offer complimentary bottled water. Plus, Plus, Plus, and Plus for me. Okay, she shops here at the teenie bopper store because they carry her size, “0”, and the only other place that carries that size in most of the pants is Guess, but she has never been let down here. I took a seat, she begins the hunt, she’s like a lioness on the prowl, stalking her prey on the open savanna, and when she finds the one that catches her eye, she pounces. It’s fun to watch, deadly on the wallet, but still I appreciate watching this part of the “chase”. She finds three pair, all blingless, all slightly torn in various places, but ones she seems to like. Off to the changing room, let the show begin! My wife is a natural born tease, she knows I still check out her ass, she knows my eyes still follow her around as she passes by, so, she abuses me with it, and she knows she is doing it. I liked all three, well, two of them, the stretchy ones I really don’t like. They look like jeans, don’t feel like jeans, and just “aren’t right” in some weird old school way. I know, I’m showing my age here, I cant help it, I don’t like them, they just aren’t right. The other two, perfect, absolutely perfect!

Now we head out of the mall, my wife reluctant to let me carry the bags, which is odd, I’m the guy you always see carrying the bags, but not tonight, which is fine, its weird, but fine. Get out to the car, bags in the truck, out of sight, and we head on home. When we get there, now nine-thirtyish, I settle into my chair, flip on the television, and find I have missed the first half of River Monsters, oh well, he never finds the big monsters until the end of the show anyway, that man pulls some fucked up fish from the depths of the rivers and lakes, and just think I used to like going out on the water, but now that I know it’s full of all the different kinds of “nopefish” I may just have to stick to the cement ponds. I never bothered turning on any lights because I didn’t plan on being out there in the living room very long anyway. You know that eerie feeling you get when you just know there is someone behind you, the feeling that makes all the short hairs on your body become electrified? I got that feeling, soon after I feel the cool hands I know so well, come across my shoulders. She held my head so I couldn’t turn my head, told me to close my eyes, and I feel her hands leave me. Moments later, I open my eyes to see my wife wearing what she bought at Victoria’s Secret. Um, OMFG!

By the morning the house was full with kids again, the hustle and bustle of everyone getting ready for work and for school. It was nice while it lasted, the quiet times, the time with my wife alone, and the not having to worry about everything happing around us. Out of the blue I get a kiss on the cheek from my daughter and a thank you for taking care of her car. My son, gives me a fist bump, he’s getting too old to hug me I guess, all of thirteen. As I stand in front of the kitchen sink taking my medications I feel a familiar touch of a cool hand going under my shirt onto my back, and then a kiss between the shoulder blades. No good morning, not that I usually get a verbal good morning, just what I got, it was nice, real nice. Then as softly as she appeared she slinked into the shadows of the hallway heading to the bedroom, undoubtedly to finish getting dressed for work. As I drove off to work I remembered that the entire day prior all started with a clever text, “all I have on is the radio”, what a nice thought.

Looking Away To See Clearly

This is what our society has been reduced to or at least its been my observations in the last four months or so. I have had the opportunity to see things that I normally wouldn’t pay attention to. We overlook so much in our daily lives, things that are right in our face, and we just don’t pay attention. Some would say its because we are too close to it therefore becoming very ignorant to our surroundings. Maybe its complacency, maybe it is lack of pride, or maybe its just because ignorance is the “acceptable” way of doing things. We could debate reasons until the end of time but the fact will remain the same, our lack of attention to detail has had a severe negative impact on our every day lives. We are raised to accept a lesser quality, a lesser quantity, and to give a “pass” to those things or people who do it in a substandard fashion. Why? Why in the fuck do we expect to get low quality or quantity and accept it as par for the course? Why in the fuck is is next to impossible to get those around us to accept responsibility for their words or actions? How in the fuck does anything get done in a timely manner? Its simple, it doesn’t, and most of us just roll with the punches. Don’t you just get sick of the shit? Will our glass ever runneth over with all the bullshit? Shouldn’t we be ready to stop being cheated in regards to everything?

We know its impossible to negotiate with morons and we know there is duplicity in wanting something different. Can we be this out of touch with the people around us? Why fucking keep turning a blind eye? I watched an amazing transformation over the past several months, something I have never seen on a day to day basis before, I watched an empty lot evolve into a living, breathing restaurant. Now, I have a very vivid imagination, but I couldn’t ever theoretically imagine the struggles I witnessed. Hell, just take the weather, shitty weather really holds up construction, the delays roll out like dominos, and cascade in a way that if a person keen on logistics had not been in charge, I wouldn’t be looking at a restaurant that will be serving food and drinks in two days. In many ways it was like watching the ringmaster of a large production circus who had his fair share of goofy fucktard clowns to deal with each and every day. I had to wonder, more than once mind you, how some of these contractors got out of bed in the morning much less contribute to the construction of this building. I’m being 1000% serious, all kidding aside, I was left with my mouth wide open wondering how a handful were able to tie their shoes or wipe their own asses allot of the times. They were all paid for excellence but more often than not only brought half a bucket of bullshit to the jobs at hand.

Fear not tho, because of the powers of a few, this building will soon be seating the masses, all ignorant of what it took to get it completed. As well they should be, they should be oblivious to the course of actions it took just so they could drink beer and consume wings until they are fat and happy. We, as people in our society, don’t want to know how hard it was to get here, they just want to know when the waitress is swinging back through. Luckily, its in a great location, it lay on the line that separates the rednecks who can’t afford a clue to the rich and wannabe rich who can’t wait to have a new place to sit and to bitch about the things us poorer folks, myself included, aren’t doing up to their personal standards. But do the rich and snotty visit sport’s bars? The the poor bastards up the road have the extra money to pay double or even triple the prices of their favorite hole in the wall bar closer to home? In my opinion, this would have been a good place for a topless bar and grill, fuck the sports part, serve drinks and wings topless, trust me, its a combination that works, beer, boobs, and wings. Maybe I should keep this idea to myself, maybe I need to look into a location for myself. I know the strip bar business and the business end of the bar, I’m just saying. I have lived here for many years and have yet to see an adult entertainment bar anywhere near here. Again, its the perfect market with zero competition. Just food for thought, that’s all. For now, the good people of our fair city get yet another sports bar and grill.

Did I ever mention that for a dedicated people watcher like myself that this has been an interesting project? Let’s leave it at the fact that there was rarely a dull moment. In many ways I felt like nobody could top the people the day before, but, each day u was proven dead fucking wrong. I learned very fast to just buckle up, shut my mouth, so I could better watch and learn. So I did, and I did learn, and yes it all moved at the speed of blur for me. Yet, this new restaurant is but the tip of the spear? Why? Because dammit, were restaurant builders!

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Erections @ Twilight Are The Best

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We have been waiting for this momentous day for quite a while. Finally the steel was going up, finally we were having an erection. It marks the beginning of the end, so to say, each day forward should show new progress, each day forward this should start looking a little bit more like the restaurant it is destined to become. One day, in the very near future, this Brewingz will join the evergrowing population of places to eat in this area. I remember, not too terribly long ago, all of this was a large empty field. Soon, this commercial development will close, leaving us who live here, many new places to enjoy and explore. More so, the completion of this Brewingz will bring closure to this project for my company of employment. But, not waiting around, we are already in the preparations in providing bids on new work to be done. For now, the picture taken by me last night, marks the next evolution for this building, and puts us one step closer to success. I’m sure this isn’t the last picture y’all will see of the progress, so don’t worry, I will have more.

Where Were You @ 2 This Morning?

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Most likely the same place I was, fast asleep in the bed. But, not everyone had that same luxury in the wee hours of this fine Tuesday, some people were up ready to rock and roll to have just a little, over 20,000 square feet, concrete poured into paving for the opening soon Brewingz restaurant here in Kingwood, Texas. I will help you with the math to make it easy for y’all, it took 41 trucks of concrete, one pump truck, and a whole slew of concrete finishers roughly 6 hours to pour it all the way out, then taking roughly another 4 1/2 hours to finish it off. I was the lucky soul, I didn’t arrive until 5 am. People have been asking what I do for a living now and the easiest way for me to put it is I work for the general contractor who is doing this construction. I don’t have anything to do with the day to day operations because at this time I’m training, being exposed to commercial construction, and learning a great deal from a very wise mentor. Anyway, I just wanted to share some pictures after a long day.

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By the way, the Brewingz logo is trademarked and was borrowed from the internet to show familiarity just in case y’all didn’t know what Brewingz is. The other photographs were taken by me personally this morning.

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Sex Sells Gilley’s Saloon In Las Vegas

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Challenge Accepted By My Son

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Over the weekend we found ourselves at the mall for a bite to eat and then to see the movie Maleficent. The restaurant of choice was a Mexican one, I was voted down 4 to 1, but in my defense Casa Ole is not my favorite place in the world. To be perfectly honest, I’m not even a fan of Mexican food and I always get the same damn thing every damn time, chicken fajitas for two with all the bullshit on a side plate. Pictured above is the side plate in question which is chock full of the crap I will not be putting into my tortillas, ever. Really and truly it is an absolute waste to bring it to the table because it is rarely, if ever, touched.

This day, not unlike any other time coming to the mall (gag), my son was fired up and wanted to go to GameStop, a place he likes to try to get me to separate myself from some of my money in exchange for his newest favorite game of all time. Many times it is okay because he spends some of his money too. But not this time, this time he came with empty pockets, so he has been trying to convince me to “loan” him the money until we get home. Where is the fun in that? Then it hit me! I know how to end all of this game shopping business. I put my plate of cheese, sour cream, guacamole, pico, jalapeños, and spiced tomatoes in front of him and explained that if he cleaned the plate I would take him to GameStop to spend up to $100 any way he wanted. He looked at the plate for a few minutes and then accepted my challenge. He was allowed to eat it any way he pleased and could put it on his own food if he liked. I had so much faith in him completing this challenge that I even had a side bet going that he would do it.

As time passed he began nibbling at the edges, he planned in saving the guacamole til last because he really likes guacamole. Now, I have seen some pucker faces, I have seen some gag faces, and I have seen faces of disgust, but some if his faces were brand new to me. About ten minutes into it all my wife the party pooper decided it was over, challenge canceled. Why? Because my son sat directly across from her and she feared inevitably having projectile vomit coming her way soon based in the faces and reactions he was displaying. So, I keep my money. He said he couldn’t do any more anyways so whether it was ended prematurely by his mother is really a moog point now. But I lost my side bet because he failed the challenge.

As we discussed the challenge while walking to the movieplex I realized I had made a fatal mistake and it was now being pointed out by my son. The mistake? I said he had to clean the plate not eat everything on the plate. Eating it all was merely implied. He said he had given thought to scraping the plates contents into another plate but figured I would raise the bullshit flag in protect. I told him I would if honored it because of my oversight and his keen ability to seek the technicality. Something that won’t happen in the future I promise. As far as the movie Maleficent, I wasn’t a fan at all because Angelina Jolie was the only thing that kept me from napping. And I was surprised, we walked by GameStop twice and not a word from my son. We both learned our lessons and we will both come back next time better prepared.

 

 

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Spring Break In South Dakota

I was very excited when planning this particular spring break vacation since it would be the first time since all of my kids were very young that we would be all together for a vacation. Why pick South Dakota for spring break? Excellent question. The answer is actually pretty simple, my oldest daughter could not afford to go anywhere so we decided to go be tourists in South Dakota so we could all be together once again. I have deep roots in South Dakota to say the very least. We will get into that later and in other posts as well since that is very interlaced in our vacation because itnwasnt just a vacation it was also a trip down memory lane for me as well. First and foremost our trip was to see our one and only granddaughter. If it hadn’t been for Skype and cell phones I very well would have missed the first 2 1/2 years of her life since the last time I saw her in person was the day of her birth.

So, every vacation begins with the trip, and since I don’t fly, we drive, everywhere. Speaking of which, a brief note, the odometer in my 2005 Nissan Pathfinder flipped 100k on our drive back into town. Anyhow, we left late in the afternoon on Friday 07 March 2014 to begin our 1345 mile trek to our hotel in Deadwood South Dakota. With a gas stops, restroom breaks, and eating breakfast in York Nebraska, we made it in just shy of 24 hours. Yes we drove straight through and yes I drove most of it myself. Since I am not a great passenger I don’t sleep in a moving car. But, a rest from the wheel for 1-2 hours is just as recharching for me personally. Watching the weather the days prior we knew it was going to be a chilly drive as we were headed into a cold front. But, nothing prepares one for 7 degrees with 40 mph winds when getting gas at 3 in the morning. That shit will wake your ass up in a hurry. Surprisingly, the weather at our destination was quite nice and real similar to what we left behind in Texas, minus the 87% humidity. Although, in my opinion, the weather went down hill from that point forward. All and all it was a pleasant drive up there and luckily, we were very lucky, there were no incidents. I will get into it more but the wife and I thought we would have time to gamble a bit (something we rarely do) since the Fairfield Inn was connected to Cadillac Jack’s Casino. Little did we know until checking in that we would get $25.00 per adult per day in Cadillac Cash to spend at the casino. And the room, it was a steal for us, we got upgraded to a $729.99 per night suite and still only had to pay the obligatory contracted $9.00 per night. Yes, we have friends (family) in the Marriot hotel business so it makes traveling great for us. So, moving on…….

After checking in we went to visit my daughter so we could all get something hot to eat for a late dinner. Have I ever mentioned that I was looking forward to my first hello hug from my granddaughter? It was way better than I could have ever imagined it to be. It was wonderful and I really didn’t want to let her go. But I did, I shared, didn’t want to, but I did it anyway. We ate, we colored, we talked, we planned,new reminissed, and the we said goodbyenfornthe night. I personally didn’t want it to end but when the baby says its time then its time. Since my daughter was working Sunday most of the day we decided to make it a “rest day”, stay close to the hotel, and just do a little sight seeing in Deadwood. See, one of the pitfalls of this room was that I this 45 minutes from my daughters house. We woke up late, around 9 or so, got showered, and grabbed the local map to do a little sight seeing. First stop was Mt. Moriah Cematary where Wild Bill and Calamatty Jane are buried. After which I showed everyone where Wild Bill was killed. I know the history of this area real well so I got to play tour guide most of the trip. Now, I don’t want to sound like I am complaining, because we did come to a touristy spot in the “off season”, but the amount of things and places that were “closed for the season to reopen mid-May” became a personal joke for our family on this vacation.

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So, let me give y’all a rundown of what we did or attempted to do each day. Now, for me the closures were no big deal since I have seen all of these things many times before. Deadwood was just that, dead. The casinos were open, some gift shops were open, but things like the Adam’s House, the wineries, and the majority of the tourist like gift shops were closed. We went to Mt. Rushmore, a national landmark, and 90% of the trail was closed. One could walk down under the noses but no further and had to turn around the way we came. We also drove through Keystone, figuring Mt. Rushmore was a bust, and all but one store was closed, not even a restaurant of any kind was open. No, there was not a contingent back up plan, who expects a national landmark and park to be closed. We also attempted to visit Custer State Park, the main route (the paved road) was closed off, diverting drivers off onto the back maintenance roads. On top of that, the buffalo we did see were mere specs when viewed through high powered binoculars. Now, that was disappointing. Then, we went to the biggest tourist trap in South Dakota, Wall Drug. Of course, the “Backyard” where all the really cool stuff hides, was closed.

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There was excitement however, one night we were at my daughter’s house where I cooked them a nice meal, well all of us, and when we left to go to the hotel it was only raining, but in the mountains it was snowing like a sonofabith,nso much that overnight we got over 8″, which is allot for this Texas boy. But, that is where experience pays off for me so it wasn’t as hairy as one might be thinking. The way luck was having it we decided to go for a drive to see ifnincould find the house in Black hawk that my parents finished building the summer of 1968 and where I lived until I was 6 when we moved to Texas. The answer is yes, I did find it, but that is a post in itself. On the way out of town, to return to Houston, we had plans to spend the night in Sioux Falls, my oldest daughter joined us because vacation wasn’t over quite yet. For the first time ever, all of my kids will see where my dad is buried, none of them have ever been there, and my son has always wanted to see his namesake. This will be a post of its own as well, just know it was the highlight of the entire trip. Since we had to leave via Mitchell South Dakota and my daughter had to drive through it to get back to Rapid City, we decided to visit the world’s only Corn Palace, surprise, open for business as well as everything else in the little town. We also took a short side drive to see the house my grandparents built in the 40’s and it is also where both of them are buried.

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Then that was it, the hardest part came, saying goodbye to everyone. That part sucked worse than I could have possibly ever imagined, to put it mildly. Afterwords we did indeed begin the trek home, a long quiet trip that consisted of me driving while drowning out my sorrows with music playing to the max in my headphones. The snow, wind, ice, and rain made sure I stayed awake for the entire trip. Other than that, it too was uneventful. So, there is my spring break vacation to South Dakota in a nutshell. Stick around in the very near future because I have many expanded stories to tell that were merely mentioned today.