Now I know I live in the States –
Thoughts and observations #1

Drive-thru Liquor Stores.

It goes a little something like this:

“Hi! Welcome to Liquor King!
Can I take your order?”

“Yes, Can I have a large order of Jack Daniels Please?”

“Would you like a shooter on the side?”

“No, Thank you”.

“Is that all for tonight sir?”

“Yup, that’s it.”

“That’ll be $15.95 Sir, Would you like it in a plastic sack or a brown paper bag?”

“No don’t worry about it; I’ll drink it while I drive.”

Happy 1st Birthday to you my son.
Thank the Lord for making our first year together awe-inspiring.
Your Mother and I love you very very much.

Sunny Florida.
The Sunshine State.
Northern Cuba.
Where the beaches are made with oranges.
Either that or, the soury, salty beach water aftertaste
is from all the people bathing.
Anyway,

The drive down here was somewhat pleasant and annoying.

First it was great that when we left Canada,
It was starting to get cold,
and also my brother said, sleets of snow were everywhere.

Got out just in time.
Nice.

Don’t get me wrong,
I love the snow,
But this past winter was long and harsh.
I almost cried when the snow finally melted, (say around May)
and I showed Tyler the color of grass.

“Look Son, this is what it looks like 3 weeks of the year.”

So anyway,
The rundown of States that we passed thru are,

New York – Upstate NY is beautiful!
Pennsylvania – The Appalachian mountains were breathtaking
Maryland – Can you congest me more with your traffic and construction?
District of Columbia – You and Maryland drove me nuts!!
Virginia – The Hotel we stayed at was nice. And Free Breakfast. Mmmm.
North Carolina – I don’t even remember seeing anything. Oh wait Cops!
South Carolina – Cops still everywhere. Watching my speed.
Georgia – The anticipation of seeing Palm Trees was exciting.
Also, I can still feel the Carolina Cops staring at the back of my head.

Then Florida!! wooohooooo!!!
Roll down the windows, let me smell the Humid air!!!

Breathe in.. Breathe out..

Do I smell poooopppeeeeee??

EEEEEWWWW!!!! TYLER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today my Mother got married to her boyfriend, Nick.
Everybody was so busy these past few days, preparing for the big event.

My loving Aunts and cousins came to join us as well.
Along with my Mom’s great friends, as well as Nick’s family,
We all had a very great time.

I could see the tears of joy from my Mother’s eyes,
As she sees everyone who wished her the best on her big day,
I felt happy, and proud for I know, she has finally met someone.
I am happy that she is happy.

Of course her son has to provide some live music at the reception.
And provided he did.

It was just me on guitars and Nonie, Nick’s son, on drums.
Nonie can hit those drums with excellent beats as well.
We played some mushy love songs, and a lot of catchy beats.
Everybody seemed to like it.

We played hard. We rocked hard.
I played so hard, my guitar pick snapped in two.
I rocked hard.
I like Rock!

Our best wishes to my Mom and Nick.
We love you very much.

Just got back yesterday from our 2 week vacation.
A week in Kansas to visit Tracy’s folks,
And a week in Florida to check it out, before our big move.

I will put up some pictures as soon as everything gets settled.
Also some of our experiences. Both good and bad.

Got to go back to do some more packing.

Once upon a time,
the government had a vast scrap yard in the middle of a wasteland.
Parliament determined,
“Someone may steal from it at night.”
So they created a night watchman position and hired a person for the job.

Then Parliament wondered,
“How does the watchman do his job without instruction?”
So they created a planning department and hired two people,
one person to write the instructions, and one person to do time studies.

Then Parliament said,
“How will we know the night watchman is doing the tasks correctly?”
So they created a Quality Control department and hired two people.
One to do the studies and one to write the reports.

Then Parliament asked,
“How are these people going to get paid?”
So they created the following positions, a time keeper, and a payroll officer,
then hired two people.

Then Parliament said,
“Who will be accountable for all of these people?”
So they created an administrative section and hired three people,
an Administrative Officer, Assistant Administrative Officer, and a Legal Secretary.

Then Parliament said,
“We have had this command in operation for one year
and we are $18,000 over budget, we must cutback overall cost.”

So they laid off the night watchman.

__________________________
Sad but true.

PS: Time for us to unwind and relax.
be back in two weeks.

We went to the Doctor’s again.
Because Tyler has these rashes all over his body.
Though on a good note,
his fever is gone, and he is pretty much back to his normal playful self.

So, when we got there,
there was this kid and his Mother by the waiting area.
The kid was playing with the toys and the Mother was reading the magazines.

As Tracy and Tyler sat down,
Tyler noticed the kid and smiled at him.
That’s how sweet my son is.
He is always happy.
Always acknowledges everyone with a smile.

Then as I was about to sit down,
That other kid, came up to to Tyler,
leaned over at him and screamed loud.
Loud enough to scare my son.
Then as I was about to say something,
this kid hit Tyler on his head.
I mean, right smack on the side of it.

So, I was like, “What the hell?”
Then his Mother, who was talking to her kid in French,
took the kid away from Tyler,
and I picked my son up, crying.
My poor son.
All he did was smile at somebody.

Then the Mother said,
“He only just wants to play.”

I said, “Play?,
He hit him on the head!!
What kind of a play is that?”

I stood there, the kid looked up at me,
listening to his Mother, all scared.
I think because he knew that I was pissed and staring at him too.

I was trying to make eye contact with the Mother,
but she won’t look at me.
She picked up their stuff and left.
they left without even seeing the Doctor.

What did I do?
I followed them.
The lady was French, and I didn’t know what to say.
Luckily, I worked with two amazing French people, Sylvain and Ray,
that I understand some of it.

So, what did I say?
Since she was walking away fast, and I think she knew I was still staring at her.
I just said,
“You need to control your kid, Tabarnak!”
(I should have learned more French, Sly.)

I was so mad, the nurses at the office were staring at me.

Let me clear something up though.
I was not mad at the kid.
He was just a kid.
He only does what he was taught or what they see.

I was mad at the mother.
Firstly, As a parent, you know how your kid acts around other people or kids.
I am sure this was not the first time it happened,
and she should have been more aware or cautious of what her kid would do.

Secondly, the kid was not alone.
So he feels comfortable enough to hit some other kid,
while his parents are around him.
That is just not right.

and Thirdly,
Not even a single word of “Sorry”
Neither in English nor in French.
(I understand enough French to figure out “I’m sorry”)

I guess, since Tyler was the one who got hurt,
we were supposed to assume and understand that they were sorry?
What if they were not?
What if the lady comes home to her Husband (or partner)
and says..
“Hey! Our kid smacked someone again upside the head.
Good thing I pulled him right away before he hurt his hand.”

Another thing I would like to add.
One of the things that pisses me the most,
is being hit on the head.
I hate it.
I really hate it.
Even if it was just a playful joke.
I always lose my temper.
Always.
To me, being hit on the head is an insult.
Did I mention that I hate it?

So, it’s another one of those,
“You-know-what-to-do, but-you-just-can’t-do-it” kinda situations.
God, I love those.

Anyway.
The Doctor saw Tyler
and he said that the rashes are a sign of the virus getting out of him.
He said that Tyler is getting well.
That’s good.
Now I can be a little less worried.

All I hope now is for Tyler not to remember
his first taste of senseless violence.

I always wondered where would the longest road be.
Where you would feel both anxiety and eagerness
to reach your destination.

Is it the Trans Canada Highway?
Is it the desert highway in China?
Is it the Highway Tunnel in Norway?

No.

I have found it.
I have found the longest road.

First let me tell you this,
My son Tyler has been sick for three days now, with a burning fever.
He vomits everything he eats and you could tell he is not feeling well,
and totally miserable.

So Tracy and I decided to bring him to the hospital.

And there my friends, is where I found the longest road.
Where it feels like you were never going to get there.

Now, I realized, there is also one other road that concerns me.
Tyler’s road to recovery.