I worked most of the day onsite at an account I support. They provide a high-speed WAN connection which is the only way I'd agree to be onsite because doing what I do over dial up would be impossible. Anyway, they have an irritating habit of taking down the link without letting us know. I lost an hour's worth of work because a configuration lost connectivity right at the end. They tried to position it that I should be happy we have the link at all. I told them that they wouldn't have me onsite at all if they didn't. I spoke to the director of that group and he apologized and said that we'd be notified in the future. After all, they have to walk by my desk to disconnect in the first place!
Kids Stuff
Youngest Daughter is still sick be appears to be doing better. I bought Middle Daughter a new bookcase last night since she's outgrown the two shelves that she has. I'm jiggy with kids wanting to read and have more books though. I also helped Middle Daughter on some Algebra word problems last night. Remember when you used to ask your teacher what you'd need Algebra for in the real world? You'll need it to be able to help your kids do their homework. This is my fifth time through Algebra and when this one is done I'll have one more time to go for Youngest Daughter. Oldest Daughter had cheerleading practice last night. I was glad to pick her up and find that nobody had been hurt this practice. Oldest Daughter likes to say, "If cheerleading were any easier or safer they'd call it football!" Son had to work last night and then HAD to spend time on the phone trying to finalize plans with Son's Girlfriend for the weekend. We like this girl and think she's good for Son.
Food Stuff
Nobody felt like cooking so we ordered subs and pizza from a place that delivers. I particularly like their Italian sub with all the veggies on it.
Wild Women on Wine will have a table at the Wine Expo in Boston this weekend. Wild women and wine sounds like a great combination to me!
This place, The Stonehenge Inn looks absolutely incredible. You have to check out their Wine List ! They have amazing verticals of wines you just read about and wish you could try. Of course it is still just a wish based on the prices I saw. It would be cool to just be able to see the bottles though. Imagine 52,000 bottles of wine all gathered in one place!
I had lunch at the Rusty Hammer yesterday with a good friend and some other guy who's relationship to the whole thing takes too long to describe without a personal name. I had the chili which was great since it had some nice slices of jalepenos as part of the mix. I also had a Wimpy Burger, liberally coated with garlic and a big slice of onion.
I got home last night and had to drop off Oldest Daughter and Oldest Daughter's friend at a basketball game, drive over and wait for Son to get out of work, and then drive to the dojo for a karate class. Son and I just started up again this week and last night was sparring. I managed to hurt my big toe, which sounds kind of benign but hurts like hell. We got home after 9pm and finally got to have some dinner. I might have had some wine but was afraid I'd be asleep in a second if I did.
I'm currently reading, "Love by the Glass: Tasting Notes from a Marriage" which is by husband and wife, John Brecher and Dottie Gaiter. It chronicles their lives together with their experiences and growth in the wine world interwoven in it. It is a fascinating book and a lot of fun to read.
Middle Daughter is excited because grades closed yesterday. She's an incredible student and gets financially rewarded for the incredible job she does. The financial rewards are available to all of them, but she's the only one who cashes in big time.
Poor Youngest Daughter is still sick. She's had a fever for 4 days and quite a cough. Wife is taking her to the doctor's today and hopefully she'll get over it soon. We have our big weekend coming up and I don't think anyone will want to watch a sick kid. Youngest Daughter is so pitiful, but very sweet, when she's sick.
I bought a bottle of wine last night from Shaw's. I was there to buy popsicles for a sick kid but found myself in the wine aisle since I had to walk by it anyway. My goal was to find a bottle of wine that was less than six dollars, but that had a cool label. Cool labels are the first thing that draws me to try a wine if any vineyard experts are reading this page.
Anyway, I bought a bottle of Chateau Diana for $4.79 and I definitely got what I paid for in this case. No hidden jewel in this bottle though it may make the base of a decent sangria. The exciting news is that I found a whole shelf of Simi's 1999 Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, Wine Spectator's #86 on the Top 100 Wines of 2002 list.
We compared the $18.99 Simi with a $27.00 Robert Mondavi Cab and couldn't believe how much better we liked the Simi. The Mondavi was my wife's favorite, but I don't think that is true anymore.
We're going with some friends to the Wine Expo in Boston this weekend. I hope to taste lots of wine, eat lots of good food, and have a lot of fun. Sheesh, I'm sounding a lot like one of my teenage daughters! Before you know it, I'll be putting gel in my hair and affecting a 'tude just to show how down with it I am.
Of course that makes me think of how I'm exacting the ultimate revenge on my kids for all the times they've been a pain....their friends think I'm COOL. Yep, swear to God, I'm cool, jiggy, and all that entails. My kids roll their eyes as if they know better. All I have to say to them is...Whatever!