Well, Donald Trump is officially the president of the United States of America and as a consequence the most powerful person in the world. Sad! But not as sad as I thought it would be. I was expecting to spend this weekend in a total media blackout, watching Russell Wilson highlights on YouTube, but I've actually been checking in online from time to time to see what's going on, and I'm good. For one thing, I've had months to prepare; for another, it's now the case that everyday that goes by is one less day in his term. But the biggest reason I haven't been in total despair is because of the ground swell of opposition. Most Americans don't want this; many Americans vehemently don't want this. If we all stick together and fight as one, we might be okay. We might even be stronger when we finally do come out on the other side. Don't get me wrong, I wish more than anything that November's election went the other way -- it eats at me a little bit everyday that it didn't -- but since it didn't, let's hope for the best. I mean if society as we know it is in fact going to collapse, I don't want to spend my last days in a stew of negativity. Pessimists are bad company.
That doesn't mean we should quell the fire and outrage, though. Let it burn within, so that we can flips things in the next election. Well, maybe not the next election -- 2018 is going to be tough on anti-Trumpers demographically (but we should still try: Vote! And if you live in a secure area, adopt a close race in a nearby area and donate money and/or time!) -- but definitely in 2020. Things can change. I did my part yesterday by staying home and taking care of the kids while S partook in the Women's March on Washington. Yep, I'm pretty much a hero of the resistance.
Anyway...
In lighter news, my cousin got married last weekend in San Diego. I was in attendance. Here's a brief (not realy) diary-style recap of the events.
Friday 1/13: I flew out on Friday the 13th, which I didn't even realize until now, but would not have cared even if I had. I'm just about as un-superstitious as person can be. And my flights were completely devoid of bad luck. Everything was on time, my layover at LAX went totally smoothly (no small thing, as you know, if you've even flown through the cesspit that is LAX), and I arrived at my hotel as expected.
The only slightly annoying thing that happened is that the woman next to me put all her in-flight materials (magazine, safety placard, air sickness bag, etc.) in my seat pocket before I got on, so it was stuffed full with two copies of everything. I noticed it shortly after takeoff, and said to her, "Uh... I think this is your stuff." She took it back without protest. I had one of the later boarding groups, so I think she thought the seat was going to be open (there was also a bunch of her personal stuff on my seat when I arrived), but that's not an assumption you should make on an airplane until you have actually left the gate. She looked to be in her late twenties, and she was fairly attractive, so this struck me as a classic example of AWB -- "attractive woman behavior." That is, something that's slightly inconsiderate -- not totally rude, just slightly inconsiderate -- that an attractive woman can get away with that other members of society cannot. Although, I should be careful with my assumptions. Once I shared an office with an attractive woman, and she was super inconsiderate, and I chalked it up to AWB, until one day she came in and told me that she had been diagnosed as on the spectrum. It wasn't AWB at all; it was autism. And then I felt like an ass.
I was supposed to meet my parents at the hotel, and then we were going to meet some other family for dinner, but my parents' flight was delayed (they didn't share my Friday the 13th luck), so I went to dinner without them. I don't think anybody at dinner actually knew I was coming, but everybody was happy to see me nonetheless -- or least they acted as such, which is good enough for me. I found out one of my cousins and one of my cousins' wives are both pregnant, due in May. So along with my sister in-law (also pregnant), this means three great-grandchildren on my mother's parents' side (who both have passed) will be arriving this spring. By my count this will make 23 total great-grandchildren. The next generation is here, and it's a cool thing to watch.
After dinner went back to the hotel and watched Jackass 3D. I don't care how juvenile it is; that shit cracks me up like nothing else.
Saturday 1/14: I slept in until 9:15 a.m., which means it was after noon on the east coast. Did I mention it was nice to sleep without anybody's crying and whining waking me up at the crack of dawn? I must have had a pretty steep sleep debt to pay off. After arousing I texted my parents, but they weren't up and at 'em yet, so I walked up to a nearby Starbucks, and had a coffee and light breakfast while I solved the New York Times crossword puzzle (in pen, on Saturday, I might add). I had a feeling my parents were going to want to join me as soon as I was ready to leave, and lo and behold, as soon as I put my jacket on my dad called... It was fine. I didn't mind waiting there (I had nothing else to do), but I had to go to the bathroom, and it was getting increasingly urgent. I didn't want to lose my table, so I was trying to hold it until my parents arrived, but the situation reached a critical mass, so I did that thing where you put your jacket and hat on the table and hope people respect it. And then of course while I'm in the bathroom I get a text from my dad telling me they are here and asking me where I am.
Later in the day I went to lunch at the famous Hotel del Coronado with my parents and one of my dad's friends from his teen years. It was cool. Then at night we went to the rehearsal dinner which was at a yoga studio. If you know my uncle, the father of the bride, this doesn't sound that weird. We drank kombucha beer and ate delicious vegan food. We also were regaled with some yogic/acrobatic performances -- a guy twirling fire, a guy and a girl doing various planking poses, a woman doing a flaming hula hoop, etc. It was a lot of fun.
Things wrapped up reasonably early -- around 10:00 pm or so -- and I really wanted to crash out early (gotta sleep while you can), but there was a stupid band playing in the lobby until 11:15. The hotel we stayed at had a quirky, old Hollywood, swingin' joint theme to it, and on Saturdays I guess they have big band style concerts in the lobby, which is great, unless, of course, you are a patron of the hotel trying to use said hotel for its intended purpose -- sleeping.
Sunday 1/15: One problem with having a bunch of family around is organizing activities. I think cell phones actually make this worse, because instead of just setting a plan and sticking to it, everybody communicates through text, and you end up with a clusterfuck of cyber communique, and no clear idea about what's going on. This happened to us on Sunday trying to organize brunch with my extended family. My dad got a bit peeved, because he felt like he and my mom got left out of the loop (which they did), and if not for a chance meeting between me and my uncle in the lobby of the hotel, they would have gone to the wrong place.
But everything got settled. The only "casualty" was my sister's Uber account. She was already in town for a convention, staying at a hotel in Gaslamp District, but she was staying with me on Sunday. So she checked out of her first hotel and took an Uber over to our hotel... only to get into another Uber with my parents and me, and go right back to the Gaslamp District, next door to her original hotel. Understandably, she was annoyed, as she could have just stayed in the area. I tried to explain that it wasn't really any different than the original plan -- initially she was planning on going from A to B to C, but now she went from A to B to A, so as long as A and C are about the same distance from B (which they were), then she didn't "lose" anything vis-a-vis her original plan -- but it didn't really work. It probably wouldn't have worked on me either. Psychologically there is something extremely unsatisfying about rushing to leave a place, just to end up right back in that same place a half hour later.
We final did meet everybody for brunch. I had a chicken wrap that was actually pretty bad. I wish I had ordered something else.
The wedding ceremony was at Balboa Park near the San Diego Zoo. It was short and sweet -- just the way I like it. The reception was really fun. They had a live band, which is an underrated asset for a wedding reception. If the band is halfway decent (which they were; actually, they were quite good), it adds an energy to the festivities that you can't match with a DJ playing music from an iPod. The dancing was fun, although I wish S was there with me. It's nice to have somebody you're not related to by blood to dance with you.
Monday 1/16: Travel day. I was worried when I got to the San Diego Airport, as the security line was backed up so far there was a line to get in line. I'm not sure what was going on, but for a while all security checks in my terminal were closed -- like straight-up not letting anybody through. I was anticipated waiting for hours and cutting it close with my flight (I got there pretty early, but not that early), but to the credit of the airport employees, they opened up the checks and got things moving -- like you were practically running to keep up with the line. I made it through with no issues, and once again my flight left on time (three in a row!).
I didn't check a bag, choosing instead to put everything in a carry-on. As I discussed with my sister earlier, this definitely has it's drawbacks -- namely you have to lug your bag around with you through the airport, and you have to partake in the idiotic battle for overhead bin space (which can be greatly mitigated by using a malleable duffel bag, instead of a hard roller board) -- but when you arrive at your home airport at 9:30 pm and have to work the next day, being able to bypass baggage claim, and walk right out of the airport makes it totally worth it, if you ask me.
Alright, that's all I got. Until next time...
That doesn't mean we should quell the fire and outrage, though. Let it burn within, so that we can flips things in the next election. Well, maybe not the next election -- 2018 is going to be tough on anti-Trumpers demographically (but we should still try: Vote! And if you live in a secure area, adopt a close race in a nearby area and donate money and/or time!) -- but definitely in 2020. Things can change. I did my part yesterday by staying home and taking care of the kids while S partook in the Women's March on Washington. Yep, I'm pretty much a hero of the resistance.
Anyway...
[Image snagged from Goggle]
In lighter news, my cousin got married last weekend in San Diego. I was in attendance. Here's a brief (not realy) diary-style recap of the events.
Friday 1/13: I flew out on Friday the 13th, which I didn't even realize until now, but would not have cared even if I had. I'm just about as un-superstitious as person can be. And my flights were completely devoid of bad luck. Everything was on time, my layover at LAX went totally smoothly (no small thing, as you know, if you've even flown through the cesspit that is LAX), and I arrived at my hotel as expected.
The only slightly annoying thing that happened is that the woman next to me put all her in-flight materials (magazine, safety placard, air sickness bag, etc.) in my seat pocket before I got on, so it was stuffed full with two copies of everything. I noticed it shortly after takeoff, and said to her, "Uh... I think this is your stuff." She took it back without protest. I had one of the later boarding groups, so I think she thought the seat was going to be open (there was also a bunch of her personal stuff on my seat when I arrived), but that's not an assumption you should make on an airplane until you have actually left the gate. She looked to be in her late twenties, and she was fairly attractive, so this struck me as a classic example of AWB -- "attractive woman behavior." That is, something that's slightly inconsiderate -- not totally rude, just slightly inconsiderate -- that an attractive woman can get away with that other members of society cannot. Although, I should be careful with my assumptions. Once I shared an office with an attractive woman, and she was super inconsiderate, and I chalked it up to AWB, until one day she came in and told me that she had been diagnosed as on the spectrum. It wasn't AWB at all; it was autism. And then I felt like an ass.
I was supposed to meet my parents at the hotel, and then we were going to meet some other family for dinner, but my parents' flight was delayed (they didn't share my Friday the 13th luck), so I went to dinner without them. I don't think anybody at dinner actually knew I was coming, but everybody was happy to see me nonetheless -- or least they acted as such, which is good enough for me. I found out one of my cousins and one of my cousins' wives are both pregnant, due in May. So along with my sister in-law (also pregnant), this means three great-grandchildren on my mother's parents' side (who both have passed) will be arriving this spring. By my count this will make 23 total great-grandchildren. The next generation is here, and it's a cool thing to watch.
After dinner went back to the hotel and watched Jackass 3D. I don't care how juvenile it is; that shit cracks me up like nothing else.
Saturday 1/14: I slept in until 9:15 a.m., which means it was after noon on the east coast. Did I mention it was nice to sleep without anybody's crying and whining waking me up at the crack of dawn? I must have had a pretty steep sleep debt to pay off. After arousing I texted my parents, but they weren't up and at 'em yet, so I walked up to a nearby Starbucks, and had a coffee and light breakfast while I solved the New York Times crossword puzzle (in pen, on Saturday, I might add). I had a feeling my parents were going to want to join me as soon as I was ready to leave, and lo and behold, as soon as I put my jacket on my dad called... It was fine. I didn't mind waiting there (I had nothing else to do), but I had to go to the bathroom, and it was getting increasingly urgent. I didn't want to lose my table, so I was trying to hold it until my parents arrived, but the situation reached a critical mass, so I did that thing where you put your jacket and hat on the table and hope people respect it. And then of course while I'm in the bathroom I get a text from my dad telling me they are here and asking me where I am.
Later in the day I went to lunch at the famous Hotel del Coronado with my parents and one of my dad's friends from his teen years. It was cool. Then at night we went to the rehearsal dinner which was at a yoga studio. If you know my uncle, the father of the bride, this doesn't sound that weird. We drank kombucha beer and ate delicious vegan food. We also were regaled with some yogic/acrobatic performances -- a guy twirling fire, a guy and a girl doing various planking poses, a woman doing a flaming hula hoop, etc. It was a lot of fun.
Things wrapped up reasonably early -- around 10:00 pm or so -- and I really wanted to crash out early (gotta sleep while you can), but there was a stupid band playing in the lobby until 11:15. The hotel we stayed at had a quirky, old Hollywood, swingin' joint theme to it, and on Saturdays I guess they have big band style concerts in the lobby, which is great, unless, of course, you are a patron of the hotel trying to use said hotel for its intended purpose -- sleeping.
[Hotel del Coranado -- also from the Internet I took a picture of it with my phone, but it got deleted when I tried to transfer it to my email, because my phone sucks. I'm getting a new one next week.]
Sunday 1/15: One problem with having a bunch of family around is organizing activities. I think cell phones actually make this worse, because instead of just setting a plan and sticking to it, everybody communicates through text, and you end up with a clusterfuck of cyber communique, and no clear idea about what's going on. This happened to us on Sunday trying to organize brunch with my extended family. My dad got a bit peeved, because he felt like he and my mom got left out of the loop (which they did), and if not for a chance meeting between me and my uncle in the lobby of the hotel, they would have gone to the wrong place.
But everything got settled. The only "casualty" was my sister's Uber account. She was already in town for a convention, staying at a hotel in Gaslamp District, but she was staying with me on Sunday. So she checked out of her first hotel and took an Uber over to our hotel... only to get into another Uber with my parents and me, and go right back to the Gaslamp District, next door to her original hotel. Understandably, she was annoyed, as she could have just stayed in the area. I tried to explain that it wasn't really any different than the original plan -- initially she was planning on going from A to B to C, but now she went from A to B to A, so as long as A and C are about the same distance from B (which they were), then she didn't "lose" anything vis-a-vis her original plan -- but it didn't really work. It probably wouldn't have worked on me either. Psychologically there is something extremely unsatisfying about rushing to leave a place, just to end up right back in that same place a half hour later.
We final did meet everybody for brunch. I had a chicken wrap that was actually pretty bad. I wish I had ordered something else.
The wedding ceremony was at Balboa Park near the San Diego Zoo. It was short and sweet -- just the way I like it. The reception was really fun. They had a live band, which is an underrated asset for a wedding reception. If the band is halfway decent (which they were; actually, they were quite good), it adds an energy to the festivities that you can't match with a DJ playing music from an iPod. The dancing was fun, although I wish S was there with me. It's nice to have somebody you're not related to by blood to dance with you.
Monday 1/16: Travel day. I was worried when I got to the San Diego Airport, as the security line was backed up so far there was a line to get in line. I'm not sure what was going on, but for a while all security checks in my terminal were closed -- like straight-up not letting anybody through. I was anticipated waiting for hours and cutting it close with my flight (I got there pretty early, but not that early), but to the credit of the airport employees, they opened up the checks and got things moving -- like you were practically running to keep up with the line. I made it through with no issues, and once again my flight left on time (three in a row!).
[This was the only picture I was able to salvage from the entire trip. The line to get to the security line.]
I didn't check a bag, choosing instead to put everything in a carry-on. As I discussed with my sister earlier, this definitely has it's drawbacks -- namely you have to lug your bag around with you through the airport, and you have to partake in the idiotic battle for overhead bin space (which can be greatly mitigated by using a malleable duffel bag, instead of a hard roller board) -- but when you arrive at your home airport at 9:30 pm and have to work the next day, being able to bypass baggage claim, and walk right out of the airport makes it totally worth it, if you ask me.
Alright, that's all I got. Until next time...
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