Derek Ward

Penn & Teller Happenings – Last week, I managed to cross off one of the acts from my “see them live” list. The Wife and I went up to the Mahaffey Theater in St. Pete to catch Penn & Teller. They were supposed to be here in January, but that show was rescheduled to last week. There was some consternation with the tickets that required a nearly hour long chat with the vendor, but fortunately sorted out before arriving in St. Pete. It was also amusing to discover how “incomplete” The Wife’s mental map of points north of the Manatee County line can be.

The show was as expected. Fun, irreverent, with some amazing magic and hilarious comedy. The Wife and I were up in the box seats, which afforded us a good view of the stage. Although we both agreed, if we were going to get these seats the next time we saw something at the Mahaffey, we should really get opera glasses. For aesthetic if nothing else.

Birthday Party Happenings – It was time for the annual April birthdays party. The Brother, Shootin’ Buddy, and Friend With A Common Name all have birthdays in the later part of April, and we’ve had a tradition for the last few years of getting together for a meal. It was a good time and we got to catch up with Shootin’ Buddy’s little family – including his now-two-year-old daughter. Friend With A Common Name’s SO also attended, and we enjoyed her company as well. It was a lot of just chatting and catching up. The Wife and I departed maybe a bit early, but there was a break in the rain as a cold front came through our area.

Okeechobee Happenings – Sunday, Mom and The Brother came down, and the four of us traveled down to Okeechobee to visit with my Great Aunt and some other kin. We take Mom’s minivan because it’s the only one that will hold all of us when we take the Great Aunt for lunch. Mom’s entertainment system was acting up – it wouldn’t hook up CarPlay. Y’know how you just get used to having something and you have to figure out how you used to do it before it came around? Anywhoo, I still had a car mount from when we were having CarPlay issues with one of the Subies. So, at least I could put my GPS up. We took Great Aunt out to lunch at a seafood place that we all love. Great Aunt was saying during lunch that she wanted the Bible on CD’s as her eyes have deteriorated over the years. Through the power of Amazon, we had not only the Bible, but her favorite book purchased and sent to her home. After lunch, we visited with other kin for a bit before heading out.

After a couple of years of rather quiescent lovebug populations, they have come back with a vengeance. Let’s just say the front of Mom’s vehicle looked like we were harvesting the pests for something. It’s a good thing she has a membership to one of those car washing places.

“I Need What Kind of Tests?” Happenings – When we were cleaning out the garage a couple of weekends ago, I felt a very painful, well, lump on my chest. Damn thing was about the size of a large marble and hurt like hell. The Wife put it into AI and got back it was likely an infected cyst or something. Intellectually, I knew that made sense based on sudden appearance. But… I’m about the same age as my dad was when cancer intruded on his life. And I was getting some nasty flashbacks. So, we went to the doc. It didn’t help when he took a look at it and sent me off for an ultrasound and a – mammogram? Oookay. Also, for the record, it was a pain in the ass to get one of those scheduled. I was lucky we called right after someone else cancelled.

Our stress levels dipped a couple of days later when my lump started, well, leaking. I’ll try not to be too gross, but it was enough that when we called the doc, he sent over a prescription for antibiotics. But he didn’t cancel the tests. I figured he still wanted to rule out the nasty diagnosis.

Garage Cleaning Happenings – We scheduled our lawn guy to come and haul some junk (including the recliner from yesterday’s post) and then power wash the driveway. Then we walked out to the neighborhood garage sale. For the last couple of years, attendance was sparse. This year? Fucking madhouse. Arranged for the lawn guy to come after the madness died down. We used the time to do some cleaning out of the garage in preparation to put together the new exercise equipment. And since it was garage sale day, we put a lot of the stuff we were going to donate down at the end of the driveway with a “FREE” sign. Which got rid of some, but not all. We did manage to get rid of a lot through donation, and a bunch more through handing down to the lawn guy’s family. He does a lot for us, so I don’t have a problem making his life easier.

Catquake Happenings – The Wife teleworks for her job, and the cats often make “guest appearances” on her calls with her coworkers. Freya, the youngest, is well known because she’s always hanging around The Wife. Freya has also been known to cause mischief. Anywhoo, last week The Wife was on a call with a coworker and for some reason, Freya decided the monitor needed investigation. The monitor with the webcam. To which, said coworker asked if The Wife was experiencing an earthquake. In reply, The Wife sent a photo of Freya’s investigations. Coworker thought this was hilarious. The joys of living and working with cats.

Y’know how some folks get sentimental about the first furniture they bought on their own? This recliner wasn’t that. It was the first furniture I bought post-divorce that wasn’t strictly functional. It – and the couch I bought with it – became important to me because it was one of the first definitive events of me coming out of my post-divorce (admittedly, self-diagnosed) depression.

I slept in that recliner many a night because of my shoulders. Other than showing comfyness, that statement wouldn’t be important – but it was. My previous girlfriend got upset over the fact that I would leave the bed to go sleep in the recliner. The Wife? She just laid down on the couch – which was admittedly also comfy – and slept next to me. She just wanted me to be comfortable. It was one of those myriad of small things that demonstrated why she was destined to become The Wife.

I moved it down to Parrish, and would continue to sleep in it. The recliner didn’t fare particularly well in a household of cats. There’s a reason pretty much all of our furniture is leather or leather-adjacent. Some new coverings helped, as there were still several nights where I slept there. When The Wife scored me a better recliner at her then-job, I was still hesitant to part with the old recliner.

When we moved to Ward Manor, the recliner went into my office. And there it truly became the domain of our cats. Our little vampire cat liked to hide under it when there was too much company for her to be downstairs. Our big orange cat used it as one of his main sleeping spots. Particularly when I was also in the office.

All good things must come to an end. Wear and tear finally caught up. Since we had someone coming to take a bunch of big items to the dump, we decided it was time. The recliner came down. Fortunately without too much hassle. A club chair that we’ve had bouncing around the house is now in its spot. The orange cat is letting us know in no uncertain terms he doesn’t like the change.

Recliner’s gone, but the memories remain.

Cat Box Happenings – The banal part of this entry is that we’ve replaced almost all of the inside cat boxes with the newer stainless steel versions that are all the rage. Mostly because we really liked the bigger boxes upstairs because they line up flush against the wall. Opens up the walkways.

That really isn’t the point of this particular entry. During the replacing, there were some messes that required mopping. Of course, we get all that done and sit down to relax. After a bit, The Wife asks where Freya, our youngest cat, is. The little mischief maker is usually hanging around with us. Then came the small squeaks. It took us a moment, but we discovered the issue. Poor little Freya managed to get herself locked up in the hall closet. Curiosity didn’t kill the cat, but it did manage to put the cat into time-out for a couple of hours.

Office Happenings – The day job informed my team that they were “consolidating” us because another service was invading – I mean, returning to the office – in our office building. This meant, instead of us having our own offices, we were going to have to shared offices. Don’t get me wrong. Our team has been very lucky having our own offices for as long as we have. And it’s not like we’re being thrown into a cube farm. Still, after having my own office for fifteen years, it’s going to be odd sharing with someone else.

Wildlife Happenings – It’s that time of the year in Florida when the gators are getting more active. We generally have one in the pond out back. Not sure if it’s the same one year to year, but we generally see one around this time. This year, we have a big one. We usually see it on the other side of the pond, but I got some good pics when it decided to sun on our side.

There’s more than one reason I keep a loaded carbine.