(Mar 14, 2019 02:41 AM)confused2 Wrote: [ -> ]Casual is when you tell a story and not think about it afterwards. Not-so-casual is when you tell a story and a few days later you start thinking "Was that ok?". (I hope it was).
Well, here’s a really long story for you. I hope that’s okay.
The sun is out and I’ve been working my ass off. I’ll be busy for a while and I won’t have much time to interact with you guys. My son’s active service ends in 20 days. I’m letting him fly home and I’ll be driving his car back. It’s my first time driving across the country. So, I’m going to take my time and check out a few places.
C2 might appreciate this story.
Years ago, when he first joined the Marines, I was devastated. I was venting on Sciforums and that asshole Fraggle Rocker called him a goddamn murderer. My son called the other night with a funny little mouse story. He only got four hours of sleep the night before and was staying with his girlfriend for the weekend. As he was just starting to fall asleep, her roommate starting screaming bloody murder. A mouse was in her room. He said that the chase went on for hours. It ran into the roommate’s closet. He had to clean it out and by this time he was starting to get really frustrated. He told the girls to make sure it didn’t get pass them if it ran out. Of course, as soon as it started running towards them, they freaked out and ran in the opposite direction. He scurried into the laundry room and jumped into the washing machine outlet box. He thought it was over at this point with the mouse safe behind the wall, but it jumped back out, and took off again. However, this time it ran straight towards one of those sticky glue catchers. He picked it up with a glove on and he said that his little eyes were squinting as it tried to bite him with all his might. His empathy kicked in when the poor little guy sighed and finally gave up. He couldn't kill it. He took it out front and was going to let it go but wasn’t able to pull it off the paper without hurting it. They googled it, and came up with an olive oil solution, but it said that it would freeze if the olive oil was left on it. They ended up bathing the mouse, blow drying it, and making it a little shelter before abandoning it about 100 feet from the house. If he wasn’t getting out the Marine Corps soon, I’d be fretting over his battle skills. Murderer, my ass!
I’m still helping my girlfriend plan her daughter’s wedding. It’s been difficult because I’m extremely frugal. Spending money, even someone else’s money is actually painful for me. I guess you could call me a disagreeable giver. I’ve been searching for some rustic items and reclaimed wood for decorations. I found an ad for a free pile at a local winery. I couldn’t believe it. I was just going to grab a few pieces for a couple of projects for the wedding, but when I got there, there were tons of those old grape stakes. I asked the guy if he would hold them until I could get my truck and trailer. He said, sorry but it's first come, first served. I offered to buy them and he said he’d hold them for twenty bucks. When I returned, they were loading them onto a trailer. He said that he had some bad news. The owner realized how valuable and rare they were, and wanted to keep some, but he held some back for me. I wasn’t disappointed at all, though, because he held back about fifteen hundred of them, which is about three thousand dollars’ worth. In fact, he felt so bad that he had five workers there to help me load them. One of them was a young girl in her late twenties. She was the vineyard manager—my ideal future daughter in-law. She was from Argentina. Her family owned a vineyard there but she got her masters in horticulture in Switzerland. This winery was bought by a German fella, who lived in Switzerland. A friend that knew him told her about a harvest job here. She worked one year and then he said he could help her get a four year working visa. She speaks French, Spanish, and English. She’s a dancer, extremely intelligent, and gorgeous. She said that it was difficult because her family is friendly and outgoing but the German people are sort of reserved and standoffish. I asked her how she felt about dating younger guys. I told her about my son and she invited us to an oyster and wine event. I was thrilled and so grateful for the grape stakes. I absolutely love grape stake fences. I built a beautiful one on my property and now I’m going to do the same for my older son.
It’s going to be a busy summer for me. One son is coming home, the other building a home, with my help, of course. Lots of legalities and manual labor. Oh, and I still have to coordinate a wedding.
A funny thing happened, though. It’s a barn wedding on this beautiful ranch. I was looking for online photos to get some ideas for lighting. I clicked on the website and it said that they were no longer doing events and they recommended that you contact this other premier wine country venue. I went to school with the owner. She’s a little shady. Her ex-husband invented some sort of device for welding and he made a fortune. She was, however, cooking the books. Took him to the cleaners and now she owns this beautiful ranch. I panicked, called my girlfriend, who paid up front, and told her that we’re screwed. There wasn’t even enough time to find a new venue. The owner wasn’t aware of it until I brought to her attention, but come to find out, she accidentally let her website expire, and a local competitor bought it. He was directing all of her traffic back to his place. I think that she might have some leverage, though. He committed libel by saying that she was no longer in business and her business has suffered. The name is unusual. It might fall under a common-law trademark. It was a diabolical on his part, that’s for sure. I’ve never even heard of such a thing.
I might pop in on the rainy days if I have the time. I hope you guys stick around, though, because I still have a few interesting science tales to tell, and a whole lot of questions.
Peace out!