Things I like:
Driving in the rain. Yes, driving in the rain. You can slide the car around without doing too much damage to your tires. The swooshing sound as the car displaces the airborne water is such a soothing sound. Plus idiot's on the road, me excepted, tend to be on their best behavior. Driving in the rain--on the list.
Fried chicken with too much salt. I try to sneak a little extra on without anyone noticing. I always fail. If I had counted the times I have gotten dirty looks as I reached for the salt....
Saturday mornings. Particularly Saturday mornings that do not involve work. I get up before everyone else, make a cup of coffee and enjoy doing whatever I want to do. It is so relaxing to have the freedom to do whatever I want to do on a Saturday morning. And what do I normally do on a Saturday morning that do not involve work. Well I work of course! Silly you for wondering.
Quiet. I really do enjoy quiet. This may surprise all of you that have heard how loud I play the radio/CD playing in Electra Blue. I really do it for her. She so enjoys the experience of DMB played all the way up to 30 on the volume setting. It makes her rear view mirrors vibrate to the beat.
I cannot tell you how many times I have just wished that people would stop talking, Just shut up please. You are making me dumber by the experience of listening to you babble on about things you know nothing about. Did that come across as a little too harsh maybe? OK, back to things that I like.
Sharing what I know with someone who is interested. It rarely happens. We are all too busy trying to impress others with how much we know. What I know is a very narrow range, but I know it well. You could learn something, if you were interested.
Finishing anything. With the speed of the modern world, the ease of multiple forms of communication, access to knowledge as humans have never experienced before, yet we do not finish very many things. Call me old, or slow, or dumb. Whatever. When was the last time you actually finished, as in really finished, anything?
Beer. It is, in fact, my hobby. I do not get to enjoy it as much as I would like.
Making others laugh. It started early, around the dinner table, when I was young. It was the nightly dinner family roast. My brother was the usual target, though we all got our turns. Don't feel sorry for brother--he is much stronger in that way than you might imagine someone with a slender build. And he deserved it. All of it.
Gravitational forces, centrifugal forces, centripetal forces, deceleration forces, acceleration forces--that sensory section of my brain is overdeveloped and under stimulated. Should-a been a fighter jock, or race car driver, of motorcycle stuntman or bronco rider. I ended up as a computer pilot. Yea, no, it pays the mortgage at least.
My wife's laughter--that is pure joy to me.
Watching my boys become men. They all made it. I'm so very proud.
Sitting on the footstool after work and being attacked by Lola. Lola is the cutest dog you might ever see. Don't call her a dog though--she thinks she is a princess.
Did I mention beer?
The ten to twenty minutes after I run. The running itself, no, I don't really like that very much--lots of sweating, my lungs hurt, legs ache, hips throb with pain. But man, those minutes when it is done are fan-freaking-tastic. Runners high, sheesh. Done with running high is where it is at brothers and sisters. You all should experience that time after the run is done. Golden.
Tacharia Chavinda on North D Street in Madera. My heaven will have one restaurant--it will be Tacharia Chavinda.
Done for now.
