OMG. Lunch was so bad I had to Yelp it. Ugh. Bland food = bad reviews yo.

Other than that these 2 days off were just peachy. Really! The nice part about trying not to spend money is that Richard and I have spent a lot of time at home. Together. I like it, actually! I forget how nice it is just to hang out with nowhere to be and nothing to do. Together, though. I have had a blast! Plus we have the new kitten to play with/fight over all day. Heh. The only downside is that leaves little blog fodder.

UPDATE: I can’t believe I forgot this part! I had to take my car in to the shop! You see, last week or maybe it was 2 weeks ago I had ran over something on the freeway. I was on my way home, it was late at night, and it looked like just some cardboard. I knew as I went over it that that was not the case. It was wood. And I basically hit it as I went over it. There was a load crash, but my car seemed to be okay, so I continued home. Over the next few days something seemed off with the alignment. The steering felt funny, but not *that* bad. I drove as normal the next week or so. Until yesterday.

Yesterday I had parked with my wheel turned and that action somehow motivated me to look at my tire. I saw that it had a gouge, as well as being split in three places. It also looked much more worn down than the one on the other side. Uh oh. So I brought it in today. I was so afraid I had bent something, because the alignment only seemed *funny*, not that bad… Anyhoo, 523 bucks later and all is well. So much for catching up on bills this year. *sigh*

Oh! Do go kiss Brian for me though. He needs some love! (Hang in there my friend! We are here if you need us!)

tagged: richard blog lunch omg brian kiss kitten

daniel · late afternoon · 1 comment · ping it

I haven’t blogged in like 3 days.

Dude. There was a time where that’d been unheard of. What the hell?

Well, lately there has been a bit going on. I just recently discovered that I have used up all my weekends off till 2009. It’s a matter of a few weeks until the 6-day work weeks begin. Oy. Kill me now, right?

On another topic, we are recovered enough from Chanel’s passing to begin considering another cat. That decision has been put upon me, which makes sense since our 2 cats were Richard’s and were “in the picture” as it were, before me. Heh. So I have decided that I want, no, I need a Siamese. However I do not want a rescue cat or mixed Siamese domestic. I want the real deal. A modern Siamese purebred. A cat that is intelligent, social, and might just learn to talk. A cat descended from royalty. Not show-quality tho. I am not rich, as much as I wish to be every day. So a traditional Siamese is not out of the question.

Is it wrong? Am I selfish? Why not a shelter cat adoption? Well, because I am not a 12 year old looking for my first pet. I am a grown man and will have this cat, if all goes well, for 20 years. I’ll be over 50 when it passes. Hell, it could outlive me! I’d better be happy with it. To be perfectly frank, I am taking a risk getting a pet at all. It could just bond with Richard and hate me. Why get a cat that is less than what I want and resent it all the more because it hates me? If I found a purebred rescue Siamese I’d grab it, but those just don’t exist so far. Well at least not ones born with eyelids. I can afford a cat, but not repeated surgeries from the start.

I have always been fascinated with Siamese cats. I would love having one around, and if it loves me back? All the better. Either way it’ll give me joy just being Siamese. So I have started looking, rather unsuccessfully, for my new cat. You’d think you could just go online and look for a new cat and buy one later that day. Not so much. There is waiting. There are no kittens. They really cost just too much in today’s economy. Like $350! Imagine! But I am a man on a mission. The cost is justified by the end. My dream pet. So I search. And whine, and moan. I can picture the little guy I want it so bad. How I afford it if I do have to go with the 350 model, I do not know.

In the meantime, I do feel bad about the cats needing homes. I feel worse when folks point out the mixed siamese adopt-a-cat areas on sites. I get that there are needy cats. I have been down that road. However, this is something I have always wanted. This is my chance, since there is “room at the inn”. 

tagged: work richard cats pets selfish siamese cats kittens

daniel · early evening · 1 comment · ping it

It started just over a week ago. He was throwing up. Not entirely unusual, as he has had a lot of problems over the years. We don’t get too alarmed at a little cat barf. It’s par for the course. We assumed he had overeaten or something. But it kept going. He wasn’t keeping down any food at all. He stopped asking for food. So, Richard decided it was time for a trip to the doctor. We couldn’t just have a barfing cat the entire time my folks were here… Tests were done, hydration injections were administered. The bill added up. We were sent home. Diagnosis so far: Feline Pancreatitis. We were to not feed him for a few days, just give him medications. We tried. Most of the time he couldn’t keep those down. We just started giving him the tiniest amount of food. Tuna actually, since it is “easy to digest”. He had trouble with that. Sadly anything that finally stays down causes problems on the other end. Severe diarrhea. Ew, right?

The poor guy has no energy. No motivation. He’s losing weight. He doesn’t even *want* food! Worse, I have only seen him drink water twice in the last 4 days. It’s scary and sad.

Mostly sad. 

tagged: richard sick cat home chanel

daniel · mid-afternoon · 6 comments · ping it

Oh look! I DO have a blog!

How is life? Mine, well, pretty good actually. My parents just left Saturday after a fun 7 day visit. Yes, I did say fun. My parents are young for my age as well as young for their ages (it makes sense, think about it). So we were on the go every day. I woke up early, well early for me, every day and took them on an adventure!

Saturday, after fetching them from the San Diego Airport we stopped off at C Level to toast their arrival and enjoy the view. Sunday we headed off to Old Town, where to my surprise there was an Art Festival! We looked at everything. After we were done there, Mom insisted on a trip to the Swap Meet. Ew… we capped off the day with dinner at the Turf Supper Club. Awesome place! What better way to follow up a meal in a dive than a trip to the shishy-est sky bar Altitude?? Monday was all about rest and a home cooked (by me!) meal. Tuesday we did the Geocaching with dad, since it was Richard’s day off. Plus, we wanted to try it with our iPhones. It works! So now we have a log in at the site and 7 caches under our belt. LOL. Obviously Mom had other plans, and was off for a Shopping Day with one of our friends. Later we de-parented at the big SDTweet-Up (#sdtweetup). That was, as always an amazing time! Wednesday my folks and I were off to Temecula Valley Wine Country for a day of tasting and scenery. Fantastic! Thursday was more Geocaching around town. That Geocaching is a great way to see some great sights you wouldn’t otherwise… That night I was pooped so Dad manned the grill and we dined out on the patio at home. Friday was when I finally had to sleep in! Well, till 9:30.. we lazed at the house till Richard got home. He had ditched work early so we shopped and hit up Bing Crosby’s Piano Lounge until it was time for the crowning jewel of the visit: dinner at Kous Kous. My folks got to eat well (very well! you MUST go to Kous Kous!) and meet up with our friends and generally have a great night out. Although we had drinks first at Martinis Above 4th, where the owner stressed me out when he KISSED Richard hello in front of my father. That’s when my father realized we had taken him to a GAY bar. OMG OMG OMG. He never would have known otherwise… Oh well. No harm was done. All was erased by the amazing food at Kous Kous!

As for Saturday… Well that was for packing and the Airport. Buh-bye!

You know what?

I already miss them. 

tagged: richard gay san diego blog shopping mom parents wine surprise dad

daniel · late afternoon · 1 comment · ping it

I took a nap today. An actual real life out for an hour (or three?) nap. WTF? I never nap. I hate napping. In fact, people that do nap normally annoy me. There will be plenty of time for sleep when we are dead!

But today it was me. We got back from dropping off Richard’s car, had breakfast (that is the new deal for getting up early to drive each other to appointments), met *Eric* the window guy, and then I went to the couch and went to sleep. You see, I haven’t had much ‘sleeping in’ time. In fact, I have been up early for the last 3 or four days off that I had. So my excuse for the weakness that caused me to nap is all the waking up early. Especially since I had not really gone to bed earlier. I try to go to bed, but normally can’t sleep for a bit, so I will read, or listen to podcasts, or play with my phone. You know, till sleep comes to me. Right. So I napped. The weird thing is that sleeping in the middle of the day has put me in this time warp. I have lost time people! It was almost a panicky feeling at first. I hate it.

I should have just made coffee. 

tagged: richard daniel sleep nap nap-time

daniel · early evening · say it · ping it

Well. I gotta say, officially:

Welcome, to the end of Richard’s Birthday. I hope you don’t take umbrage with that.

It has been a whirlwind. A whirlwind! Sunday we had a moment where I gave him a card. We had to work. Monday was the ‘no big deal’ dinner that we go out to every week anyway, only with a few surprise guests that became the *only* surprise and a ton of fun after our 4 months in the works Surprise At Wild Animal Park Saturday was spoiled by an otherwise well-intended e-card. (Run on sentence, anyone?) Tuesday was.. breakfast and lunch out. Wednesday he had cocktails with Sheila. Thursday we had to work. Friday was The Happy Hour at The Hotel Del Coronado That Turned Into Dinner and a Crashed Wedding Reception (well, we didn’t crash it, but our friends that were with us did...). Weee! And then we land on our crown jewel of Birthday Week…

Wild Animal Park. Not just a trip to the park with 7 close friends that he knew about. Oh no. Sheila and I still had one last secret. Well 2 really. But one from the original plan. 

It was a behind the scenes VIP Tour at The Wild Animal Park. I hope someone got a picture of his reaction because he was so shocked/happy it was comical. The tour was great fun. I do recommend it especially if you are a Zoo Member as it makes it more affordable. Anyhoo. So we did that. But Sheila had one last trick up her sleeve and kept us on a timeline. After the tour and a bit of fun at the park it was my job to get Richard all the way downtown by 4:30. We were to have afternoon cocktails, nibbles, and watch the sun set on a yacht. And we did. OMG.

It was an amazing and dramatic and exhausting week. The whole surprise element I thought might kill me. I am bad at secrets like that. I was confused, I couldn’t remember who I told what and whom I invited where and what lies I had told! I finally told Sheila that next year if we are gonna try and surprise Richard, just keep it to yourself and send me a bill for my share after. I don’t want to know. LOL!! But it was fun and I am thrilled that he had such a great week. Lots of pictures to come on Flickr.

Now I think I might have to go back to bed. I am pooped. Heh. *yawn*

tagged: richard birthday safari birthday week wild animal park   happy, relieved

daniel · lunch time · say it · ping it

To the most important person in my life, the man who has stood by me through good and bad for 11 (or 12) years, my partner, my confidante, my friend, my lover…

Thank you for spending another year of your life with me! Happy Birthday!

tagged: richard birthday richardallen

daniel · mid-morning · 9 comments · ping it

So if you have ever been to our house you have heard stories of Bad Neighbor Kitty. We aren’t quite sure where he lives. He torments our cats by hanging out outside the windows. He torments us by peeing in our yard and knocking stuff over. He torments the neighborhood by sitting in the road and yowling for no reason. It’s a hoot. In that really annoying way. Anyhoo, the other day he caught a bird. One of the birds that lived in our backyard all spring. He saw me pull up and darted into the bushes. The bird just seemed to have bent feathers. I figured he’d be okay, not realizing that it couldn’t fly well, since it managed to fly into our backyard. Well apparently he has been grounded since. Because Richard was out with our cat Coco, who found the bird in the bushes and tried to bring it in the house. Yes, I said he tried to bring it into the house. Ew. So it turns out that Bad Neighbor Kitty has been toying with the mangled bird for the last 2 days because I have heard him yowling in the backyard in the night, and the little bird was clearly much worse off and bleeding.

What do we do? Clearly it’s nature (kinda) taking course. The little bird is at this point in the neighbor’s yard (Richard tried to move him and he managed to fly that far). I don’t think he’s long for this world, and I can hear Bad Neighbor Kitty close by… Yowling. 

tagged: richard neighbors cats cat night house coco birds backyard bad neighbor kitty

daniel · early evening · say it · ping it

Okay, so it was Sunday morning. I had been out a bit to late, but was up early and feeling pretty good. I was opening at work and was due in by 6. I got myself showered, fed, dressed, and smelling good all with a minimal of fuss. I even made a lunch! Richard was ready earlier and headed out the door, even tho we were both due at our respective jobs at the same time. It wasn’t a carpool day, so I was lagging about 5 minutes behind him. I finally made it down stairs and was at the door balancing my man-bag, waters, lunch, and phone all at once. I opened the door to the garage to put on my shoes that are always sitting just outside that door. As I slipped on the second shoe I lost my balance.

Time stopped.

It was in slow motion that I caught myself and heard the door click shut.

Shut.

And locked.

“This can’t be happening” I thought. I blinked. I tried the door. Locked. I shook my head and tried it again. Harder. Locked.

I was in my garage with my man-bag, waters, lunch, and my phone. I had no keys. My car was locked. I was locked out out of the house. My keys were just inside. I panicked.

You see, even tho this had happened before (to RICHARD, not ME!!) we had no spare key tucked away. I tried everything I could think of to “break-in"… Not being a pro at that I had no luck. There was no way any of my credit cards were gonna pop the lock. I tried 2 of them, so I know! I was also trying to call Richard. He was not far and could’ve turned around. Well at first. But with each passing moment that he didn’t answer he was further and further away. So I went to plan.. erm… C. Yes, plan C at tis point. I have everyone’s number from my job! Who could I call at 5:20 in the morning? Who could save me?

As I went down the list it slowly occurred to me. I had only one option that could get to my store and let the staff in on time. My boss. So after dreading it and trying with renewed desperation to credit card the door open for 10 minutes I called him. Yes he was up. Yes he would open and wait for me. And he laughed at me the whole time. I was so embarrassed. Ugh. I explained that I had to get ahold of Richard to get him to come back home. He was fine with waiting. He was still laughing. I died a little on the inside.

So after Richard got all the way to work he had to turn around and let me in to get my keys so I could go to work. I was only a half an hour late in all, but humiliated. We now have emergency procedures in place should such an event occur again. 

tagged: work richard morning emergency embarrassed event locked out

daniel · early evening · 2 comments · ping it

We finally got WiFi in the house. No there’s still no laptop. It’s for the phones. Heh. Erm, yeah. 2 iPhones suddenly justified WiFi. In the form of a Time Capsule. Because that also offers 500 GB of storage. 2 birds one stone and all that. (Can I justify spending or what?)

Anyhoo, it makes me laugh how now there is always one of us at the desktop and another surfing on the phone… Instead of you know, being impatient. LOL. After 12 years together it is clearly the little things that give us joy. 

tagged: richard blogging online wifi

daniel · late afternoon · 1 comment · ping it