The Bosque

Monday morning, my stepdad got a notice that he'll be terminated in 60 days. We've been waiting for it...Nestle announced earlier this year that they were closing their St. Louis plants, and moving the production to other facilities. I believe his factory currently makes Bit O' Honey and Laffy Taffy.

It's gotta be hard for him--he's worked there since he was 19. When he finishes up at the end of January, he'll have worked at Nestle for 42 years as a Master Mechanic. They offered him transfers to Chicago or Wisconsin, but he's 61 and doesn't want to go anywhere else. And I can't blame him.

Financially, he should be okay. He gets 26 weeks of severance plus 150 or so sick days and paid insurance until he turns 65. He and my mom had a meeting with the Powers That Be tonight to go over all the details. Unfortunately, they will not offer him early retirement, but he should be okay, regardless.

He's had one full-time job since he was 19 (plus 2 stints in the Army)...I've had 6. I know that jobs don't generally work like they used to anymore, but still...I'm amazed. Once he's done at Nestle, he's probably going to work part-time at a place like Advance Auto Parts or Lowe's...there is no way in hell that my mom is going to let him hang around the house. For that matter, there is no way in hell that any of us will let him do that.

So keep buying those Crunch bars and Poland Spring bottled water...we're depending on you to keep my old man afloat. :)

Greetings from Chicago! My brother and I are here for the Depeche Mode show tonight at Allstate Arena (formerly the Rosemont Horizon). This marks my 3rd DM show, and my 2nd one at the Arena. I attended my first DM show there in 1998.

A lot of people think the band disappeared in the mid-1990s or earlier...or that they were one- or two-hit wonders. Of course, the truth is that they just released their 11th studio album, Playing the Angel, which debuted at #7 on Billboard's Top 200 albums chart last month. 8 of their studio albums have gone gold...the last 2 have gone gold with almost no radio airplay. They have over 30 singles in the UK, and were alternative radio darlings in the US through the mid-1990s. When we go to the Arena tonight, the place will probably be at least 3/4 full--as will most of the venues they play on this tour--if not sold out. They put on a hell of a show, and given that they've been together for 25 years, you just don't know if this will be the last tour or not.

I was planning on bringing April with me, but she's just getting back from the Virgin Islands today, so my brother is with me. I prefer cuddling with April, but he'll have to do. :)

Enough typing...time for a late lunch...Giordano's is sounding really good...

Some might say that the folks that run the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame are elitists or snobs. I dunno...they seem to be a lot better than the Grammy folks. IMO, most of the acts in the HOF totally deserve to be there.

And they seem to have a real respect for not just rock music, but music in general. They give props to those who weren't really rock and roll, but helped make it what it was.

So on one hand, I'm not surprised that Miles Davis was elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame today...the first jazz musician to be a full-fledged member. But on the other hand...I know that Miles Davis was freaking awesome--one of the greatest musicians ever. But so awesome that the rock community thinks enough of him to consider him a righteous member of theirs? How awesome is that?! Not to mention, it's always good to see a St. Louisan in there...the fourth one, after Chuck Berry and Ike & Tina Turner.

Incidentally, I'm going to see Depeche Mode tomorrow night in Chicago. They're eligible for induction next year. I don't think they'll get voted in for awhile, but you never know.

I'm a week late, but the Bosque has officially had a new Manifesto every day for a year now. They're not always great works of art, but...wait a minute. Yeah they are. I wrote the vast majority of them. I'm so artistic, I reek of it. If you don't think so, kiss my ass. :)

My sincere thanks to Wolf, TS and April for helping me crank the Manifestos out on a daily. Hopefully, we've generated stuff that you've enjoyed reading.

Peace.

...why not make some easy money for Xmas?

I decided to spend my weekend schlepping pizzas. It's not like I had anyting else to do. Did pretty decent, too--made enough to pretty much cover everyone's presents. I'll probably do my shopping next weekend.

I might pick up a couple more shifts between now and Xmas, but I don't see myself doing it on a regular anymore...unless I move over to one of the other stores, which are all in better neighborhoods. I've seen more than enough of my old hoods, one of our drivers got beat down by a group of thugs a few weeks ago (and needs $4000 in dental work) and we can't carry concealed weapons in the City of St. Louis yet.

Now I just need to figure out what I'm getting half of my list for Xmas.

...me!



I've seen these tranquility fountains for ages. They happen to have them at the Walgreens by my house for $6, so I finally bought one. You can't see it in this picture, but it has blue, red and green LED lights that reflect off the translucent stones...very cool. I was going to take this one to the office, but I think I'll just buy another one instead, since they're so cheap. And there are two other styles, one of them being a square job with translucent stones forming steps for the waterfall. I think I'm going to get that one.

I'm telling ya...it doesn't take much to make me happy. :)

--the copious amounts of food and drink I will consume today...and can consume every day
--the roof over my head
--the clothes on my back
--the car in front of the house
--the job that allows me to pay for these things
--my health
--my happiness
--my friends near and far away
--and my family (which includes April and her family, of course)

May those that are hungry find a hot meal today. May those that are homeless find a warm place to sleep tonight. And may those that are poor in spirit and dollar bills find the help and strength to become rich in both.

Amen.

I learned earlier today that Rhoda has recently suffered a stroke. Apparently, she is doing okay and is back at home, but I don't know any more than that. If you could all say a prayer or reserve a thought for her, that'd be great.

Gracias.

Look at him...those beady eyes...that smug look..."Here...have a donut...mmmm....you can trust me."

Fuck you, Donut Man! I don't trust you! And your donuts suck!

That's what April and her family will be doing Thursday...they leave for the US Virgin Islands tomorrow for a week. April's best friend from HS is getting married there Friday.

And I thought going to Atlantic City for Christmas was cool. Wow...the Virgin Islands! Though there's a chance for showers there most of the week, still...that rules!

I'll miss her terribly, but I hope her and her family have a great time...they deserve it. Meanwhile, I'll be hanging out with the family here in St. Louis, hopefully schlepping pizzas to pass the time. Plus, I have reading to do for school...I start classes a week from Thursday.

Have fun, baby! I'll see you when I get back from Chicago. Love you! xoxo :)

When I was little, we used to celebrate Thanksgiving at my Grandma and Aunt's house (on my mom's side). Somehow, we were able to stuff 20-30 people into a 2-bedroom apartment for turkey and all the trimmings. We would repeat the process a month later at Christmas.

But for whatever reasons, we stopped doing Thanksgiving there in 1981 or 1982. Since then, I don't think I've ever done the same thing two years in a row: there have been a few years at one aunt's house, a few years at another's, a few at restaurants, a few with various friends and girlfriends...one year, when I was in retail in college, I actually worked Thanksgiving. Last year, Rhoda and I ate at Sole Food in Center City Philadelphia.

This year, my family and I are headed to one aunt's for lunch, then another's for dinner. Dinner will be the first large Thanksgiving gathering for my mom's family in over a decade. And later this afternoon, I'll be joining April's family for their annual feast.

Thanksgiving has been right there with Easter as a relatively insignificant holiday to me for quite some time now. But this year, I dunno...because of everything I've been through this year, the holidays and family seem to hold more significance for me. This is the most connected I've been to my family in probably 15 years...plus I have a girlfriend that has an even stronger family life than my own. And it all feels great.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a meal to devour at the little lady's house...

So, we're all familiar with the amazing but true fact that Sycamore makes a mean sweet potato pie, right?

If not, get familiar: 2002 and 2003, 2004

April's family is having Thanksgiving tomorrow (as they'll be in the Virgin Islands during actual Thanksgiving), so I decided to subject them to my now-annual tradition.

I had to use actual sweet potatoes instead of yams this year (yes, there is a difference), and I didn't brush the crusts with ice water before putting them in the oven. And I wound up using Parkay again this year (because I apparently didn't learn from last year). As a result, it doesn't taste quite as good as previous year's pies. It's still good, but not my best work. I'll give them C's.

My mom liked it a lot though, and wants me to make them again for Christmas. That'll give me a chance to "redeem" myself.

A few days ago, I was in the restroom at work. I almost always make sure that toilet paper is present before I sit down on a toilet, and there was no exception on this day.

There was no TP in the restroom at all, and I figured that a supply closet had to be nearby. Sure enough, it was right around the corner from the restroom. I picked up a couple of rolls and headed back to the restroom.

Someone was walking into the restroom as I was walking out to find TP, and when I returned, said person was apparently sitting down on the toilet.

And so, I had a choice: fuck with this guy by withholding the TP or be the hero of the day and give the guy a roll.

I walked towards the stall and yelled over, "Hey! There's no toilet paper in there, but I have a roll right here. I'll throw it over."

The guy responded, "Oh...shit! Thanks!"

Someday, that act will be repaid ten-fold...

I'll write a real Manifesto tomorrow...this throat infection is wearing me out!

From the AP/St. Louis Post-Dispatch: DISH, Texas (AP) -- Back in the 1950s, Hot Springs, N.M., was renamed Truth or Consequences, N.M., after a popular quiz show. During the dot-com boom of 2000, Halfway, Ore., agreed to become Half.com for a year.

This week, Clark, Texas, morphed into DISH in exchange for a decade of free satellite television from the DISH Network for the town's 55 homes. Residents in Santa, Idaho, meanwhile, are weighing the pros and cons of changing to Secretsanta.com, Idaho.

I am not the biggest fan of corporate names on things, but...*shrugs*...it's easy money for a city or sports team.

How long until a town is convinced to change its name to something like Fucktard or Dickhead?

From the BBC: Australians have been told there is no need to panic after a recent "glow-in-the-dark pork chop" scare.

A caller to a Sydney radio talk show sparked fears of radioactive contamination in the meat supply.

Kinda like the way people glow when they swim in the Schuylkill River...

I'm going with April and her family to see the midnight premiere of the new Harry Potter movie Thursday night/Friday morning. To say that April's sister is a huge Harry Potter fan is a severe understatement. I'll probably regret going (because the movie is over 2 hours long, and I normally get up at 6:30 each morning), but I'm looking forward to it. There's just one problem...

I haven't seen the first 3 Harry Potter movies. Or read any of the books. Initially, I wasn't all that interested in them. Recently, I've said that I would check the movies out, but haven't gotten around to them.

So...I can either sit through the 4th movie and have a vague understanding of what's going on. Or I can watch the first 3 movies and have a decent understanding of the 4th movie.

I have until...oh...10:00 Thursday night to see all 3 of them. April and I watched the first one tonight. It was good. My only real complaint--as a person that has never read the books--is that the movie can be hard to get into if you've not read the books.

Tomorrow night I'm watching the second one solo. Then April and I are watching the 3rd one Thursday night after I get off work. Weeeeeeeeee!

Don't expect me to dress in character for future premieres, though...fuck that. :)

Some folks out there will be pleased to know that I am currently unable to talk.

I started getting a sore throat Thursday, but didn't think it was a big deal...I sometimes get a sore throat from sleeping with my mouth open and/or snoring. It continued into Friday and Saturday, though it was never that severe. By last night, it was still not a big deal, but I was losing my voice. This morning, my voice was totally gone.

I don't think I have strep...I have no other symptoms besides a sore throat. And other than the sore throat, I feel fine. I'm gonna see how I feel tomorrow, and if it's still an issue, I'll head to MedStop (an urgent care center near my house). I have an appointment with my new doctor (my new insurance became effective last week), but the earliest appointment I could get was next Monday.

Fortunately--or unfortunately--my mind and fingers and computer work just fine. :)

As part of April's new career exploration project, we went to RiverRidge Winery near Cape Girardeau, MO this weekend.





We'll have her being a wine critic in no time.

Fuck this regular job shit...I'm getting in on it, too.

Wolf's behind the keyboard for this one

Today, I went to the first training day for my local Citizens' Corps chapter. It's part of the Homeland Security mandate better to educate the populace about disasters, terrorism, and emergency management. It was held at the Fire Academy, and a lot of local organizations had demonstrations or walkthroughs of their equipment. I got to meet a very nice police dog, several search and rescue dogs, and even got to say “hi” to the Bomb Disposal Robot. I even saw the Postal Service's Mobile Command Center. I think there may be things that we don't know about the post office. Don't tell anybody I told you that though. I admitted a lady last night who is being followed by the postal inspectors, so maybe she's not actually crazy.

I wasn't actually there for the training itself. I was staffing an information table for the Critical Incident Stress Management team, giving out some colorful handouts and explaining what our team does in relation to the Citizen Corps mission. People were pleasant, but more interested in the lady from the nuclear power plant who had the table across from mine. She had mints.

I got a very nice tee shirt and a family-sized first aid kit from the Red Cross for showing up and sitting in the hallway. Oh, and I got a pencil. You always have to get a pencil at these things.

Normally, I am a coffee drinker. But I have been to the fire academy on many occasions. I have had to drink the fire academy coffee on many occasions. I am being charitable by actually referring to it as coffee. It's not just that it's fire house coffee. I've had plenty of firehouse coffee too. Firehouse coffee is strong, but still recognizable as coffee. The stuff the fire academy serves is more or less brown, but is actually rather reminiscent of what you get when you take some hot water and immerse a brown crayon in it for a short period of time.

There are no convenience stores between my house and the fire academy, so I knew I had to come up with something this morning, and fast. If you've ever failed to feed your caffeine monkey, you know what I mean. So I made tea. I have a pot-of-tea-sized Thermos™ (no mere vacuum bottle, it's the real thing) purchased specifically tea-toting. On occasion I will take it in to work, but I'm usually in such a rush that I decide to brave the office coffee, hoping that the midnight guy didn't buy Chock Full O' Nuts or Savarin because they were on sale when it was his turn to supply the coffee club.

When I'm home in the evenings sometimes I'll make tea, although in the office it's much more convenient to make a pot of coffee.

I like the flavor of tea, as well as the ritual which accompanies it's making, measuring out the leaves, warming the pot, making sure that the water is still actually boiling as it first touches the tea. Five minutes later, you have a hot beverage that has cooled enough to actually drink, and with a complexity of flavors that coffee lacks.

Tea is civilized, coffee is the stuff that fuels barbarian raiders, or at least corporate ones. Tea is a time for relaxation and reflection, coffee is a quick moment and move on. I know they have teabags on the coffee islands in the convenience stores, but I have never seen anyone buy tea. Teabags are part of a vast conspiracy to turn people away from liking tea anyway. Coffee narrows people's focus. Keeps them intent on their goal, and drives them towards its. Tea will let you amble toward your goal, but it might gently shift your attention to other things along the way. Tea is the drink of inspiration, of invention. Once inspired, however, coffee will fuel the long nights toward seeing your ideas come to life.

I find it interesting, that despite the role of tea in the founding of our nation, we are coffee drinkers, further separating us from the British.

Tea, though ridiculed by those who are naturally coarse in their nervous sensibilities ... will always be the favourite beverage of the intellectual.
~~ Thomas De Quincey (1785–1859), British author (and intellectual). Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, “The Pleasures of Opium,” (1822).

“Take some more tea,” the March Hare said to Alice, very earnestly.
“I’ve had nothing yet,” Alice replied in an offended tone: “so I ca’n’t take more.”
“You mean you ca’n’t take less,” said the Hatter: “it’s very easy to take more than nothing.”
~~ Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson] (1832–1898), British author, mathematician, clergyman. March Hare, Alice and Mad Hatter, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, ch. VII, Macmillan (1865).

Wolf's responsible for this one, too. I shouldn't post it, but I love Wolf, so I will. :)

From the BBC: Rail passengers angry at service delays torched at least 26 train carriages near Johannesburg on Wednesday evening.

Carriages were burnt at three different locations south of the city, causing 200m rand ($30m) worth of damage.

The arson followed service delays reportedly caused by technical faults. A shortage of trains has now caused services on one route to be suspended.

Good thing this happened after the transit strike in Philadelphia ended...wouldn't want those folks getting any ideas.

(I could've used this subject line for the ongoing rioting in France, but that would've been way too easy.)

April and I have decided to get away for the weekend. Nothing too far away or expensive...just something within a couple hours of home and economical.

We decided on Cape Girardeau, MO.

As some of you may know, I attended Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau for 3 semesters. I have a lot of good memories from my time there...and a lot of not so good memories. Cape was a nice enough town in 1994 and 1995, but not very fun for a college student. When I was last there in 1998, I definitely noticed some improvement, though it was hard to gauge how much, as I was only there for part of a day.

I guess I'll see how far it has come this weekend. I'm not expecting it to be State College or Columbia...but hopefully, it'll be a lot better than it used to be.

I wrote this while sitting in LAX yesterday morning.

When I was in Santa Barbara, the hotel we stayed at (a Quality Inn) offered free high-speed internet...all you had to have was an ethernet cable (which I bought at Staples for $12) to hook up to their DSL modem. Once I plugged it in, I was good to go.

Here in Los Angeles, the Radisson we stayed at offered high-speed internet, and provided their own ethernet cable...but it cost $10 a day. I went ahead and paid for it, because I knew we wouldn't be doing much last night. I played around online for a while, and listened to Rhapsody.

Now I'm at LAX...they offer high-speed wireless service. But you have to sign up with Boingo, which is apparently a wireless provider...for $22 a month. I guess that's not bad if you travel a lot and need to have a connection at an airport.

Philadelphia is getting ready to build a wireless network to cover the entire city...residents will only have to pay $10 a month for service, from what I recall. That seems worth it to me. And I don't mind paying $50 a month for cable internet service in St. Louis. But $10 a night and $22 a month to connect in airports? I dunno...I'm willing to pay for high-speed internet, and I realize that I'm in price-heavy places trying to use the service. But it just seems like another gouge...which is why this is being posted in St. Louis, and not LAX. :)

Wolf's on Manifesto duty while Syc is in California

Apparently there's something that's considered conduct unbecoming an NFL Star Prima Donna.

Was it leering at a white woman?

Was it wanting a used-up quarterback?

Was it doing push-ups in his driveway?

Was it costing too much and delivering too little?

Was it fistcuffs with the team's unofficial ambassador?

Whatever the straw that broke the camel's back might have been, T.O. is Totally Out of work.

Given the shennanigans, I wonder if anyone will pick him up, or if this portends a stunning career in B-grade action films, Extreme Wresting, or both.

Wolf wrote this one too

I'm not really going to write about meditation. No navel gazing, mystical insights, visions. journeys levitation, or globes of violet light here. Not today anyway.

I get a variety of stuff in my email inbox, just like we all do. Some of the stuff I asked for, some not. I get a couple different inspirational quote of the day type things. My favorite is from White Bison which is a Native American based 12-step program.

Every day they send me a snippet of native wisdom.

Today:

Elder's Meditation of the Day - November 6

"It is well to be good to women in the strength of our manhood because we must sit under their hands at both ends of our lives."

--He Dog, OGLALA LAKOTA

Watch your ass.

The streak has ended...75 days.

April and I have a game of sorts going on...how many consecutive days can we see each other. The person who breaks the streak gets a bunch of shit for doing so. April has broken it 2 times since we started going together: in July for a wedding in Oklahoma, and on August 20th for a wedding and a Kelly Clarkson concert. She would have been the one to break it again, too, when she goes to the Virgin Islands during Thanksgiving. But this surprise trip to California has me being the streak-breaker. We'll start over after April gets back from the Virgin Islands.

Now, don't get me wrong...April and I function perfectly fine by ourselves. We don't have to be together every day...we just want to be. And I know we might not always be like this...but I wouldn't mind if we were. :)

Greetings from Santa Barbara, California. It's currently 62 degrees, and 8 kids are out in the hotel pool.

*shrugs*

The flight was a bit rough. No problems, but I'm not good at sitting still for so long (4 hours). I used an airport toilet for the first time...reminded me of a train or bus toilet.

LAX is a madhouse...and huge.

I'm keeping a low profile...our rental car is a Toyota Camry.

My mom is...being Mom. I'm trying to get her to understand that 1) you have to drive aggressively in some places...SoCal being one of them, and 2) it's not always a good idea to tell strangers that you're from out-of-town.

Santa Barbara is beautiful...Spanish-style architecture, lots of palm trees, mountains.

Pictures later...peace out!

Later today, my mom and I are headed to Southern California for 5 days. Most of our time will be spent in Santa Barbara, but we will also spend some time in Los Angeles. It's not exactly a vacation, though.

My aunt was recently diagnosed with lung cancer, and has only been given months to live. Out of respect for my mom, I will not say much about our family history with this aunt...but I will say this: they are not particularly close, and this is mainly about closure.

I am going primarily to support my mom...I know that this is going to be hard on her. And she can barely find her way out of South St. Louis City and County...someone's gotta get her around SoCal. :)

Having said all that, I'm looking forward to the trip. I've never been to California, and I can't wait to see the Pacific Ocean. I've heard so many things--good and bad--about the place...now it's time to confirm or refute some of that. It's sorta like when I first went to New York...or Philadelphia for that matter.

We plan to take lots of pictures...and I have to eat at Roscoe's. I'll have April's laptop with me (I'm typing this Manifesto from it), and plan to post from Santa Barbara over the weekend. Wolf will be filling in during part of my trip.

See you tomorrow from the West Coast!

Nothing stops pimpin' coat...it's been through a lot in 3 years of ownership, and it was gonna be damned if it would sit in a box in Baltimore for perpetuity.

As some of you may recall, I did all the packing when Rhoda and I moved out of our apartment in Philadelphia. All things considered, I did a pretty good job. Though most of my life is still in boxes, and probably will be for at least one more year. However, there was one major packing mishap.

I accidentally threw pimpin' coat in with Rhoda's closet items. I asked her shortly after she moved back to Baltimore if she could look through her boxes, and see if I did indeed send it with her. Her mom finally found it 2 weeks ago, and it arrived to my mom's work today.

Whoohoo! Happy days are here again...now it just needs to go to the cleaners...

I got a pedicure tonight...I'm not ashamed to admit it.