Headin' out.

Denise and I are going to San Antonio this weekend. We've got reservations at the Holiday Inn, just up from the river. I came within' a very spindly, red you-know-what hair (Bruno?) of punchin' the button on a room at a VERY swanky, $199 a night place overlookin' the river. But I didn't do it. Could have. I've got the money. I WANTED to, but I just couldn't make myself. I'm tryin' to be good, now that my bills are paid and I'm solvent for the first time in years.

Well, I'm TRYIN' to be good. I also put in an order last night with CI for a truck load of new cigars. I'm tryin' a few new things: ACID Earthiness 5-pack, $24.00; and ACID Opulence Robusto 5-pack, $36.00; Oro Cubano Churchills, 50 cigars, (reg.$185), only $44.95. I'm also gettin' a new box of ACID Kuba Kubas. They're my favorites, and my box is almost empty. So I'm gettin' a new box of 24 (reg.$175.84), for only $136.95. And I ordered some more CI Knock-Offs, just like Macanudos. A bundle of 20 (reg.$158), just $41.00. Grand total... $291.85.

Yea, I know, but I smoke a lot of these things and I'm startin' to run low.

I got two tickets to the Austin City Limits Music Festival, for the Sunday shows. I was gonna try to get a three day pass, but I just don't have the desire to see most of the folks that are gonna show up Friday or Saturday. I wanted to see the Kings Of Leon, who are gonna be there Friday, but I won't pay the price they wanted for just one good group. I can see them another time, without all the heat and dust. So I chose to go for Sunday. There'll be Ben Harper, Raul Malo, the B-52s, Sonic Youth, The Dead Weather, and Pearl Jam. I could'a sworn that REM was gonna be there too, but I guess not. Oh well, it'll be a fun day anyway.

Also, there's a plan for a big shoot at Water's place in Gatesville Monday morning. A bunch of us will show up there at about 10AM and blast away. It should be fun.

I'm gonna get my hair cut in Salado at about 5PM today. Not sure about dinner plans with Mom. We'll see. Denise and I were gonna go watch a football game in Academy Friday night (Florence is going to Crawford to play, which is too friggin' far to go for me), but now we'll probably just head south to the river. We'll eat somewhere and then try to get there with enough time to relax and enjoy it. Or, we'll just head down there and find somewhere to eat down there. Mmmmm, that might be a plan!

So, you guys try to have a great three day weekend, and I'll lay out all the pictures for ya when I get back next week. Cheers!

Another Friday, and another busy weekend planned.

It's Friday again' and I've got AC, $3463.34 later! OUCH, and yet Uraaaaa! And it's payday... Uraaaaa!

Damn, that was a pissy week, not that I didn't enjoy spending time at Denise's place, but there's no place like home. The cat's didn't know what the hell was up, and we were missin' them too. "D" kept thinkin' she was feelin' one of them jumpin' up in bed with us. I do that too sometimes. Weird what the mind does to ya.

I had a great pool night Wednesday night. I got there at about 9:30, after giving finals at school, and sat around for about an hour sippin' a cold mug and puffin' on a Puck. I've gotten to where I really enjoy the time spent shooting the shit and fucking with my friends there, and in this case, talkin' to the leader of the other team. He's a cool old dude, Vietnam Vet, long time car mechanic and muscle car guy. His son, a Navy vet, is also on their team. They're both great players and it's always fun to watch them take on the better players on our team.

We've talked during matches before and always hit it off, having a lot of feelings in common about politics and stuff. We see each other out there every week and he's always wavin' me over to tell me about the latest emails he's gotten. He's always tellin' me "You need to give me your email", so I finally did. Now we can trade all the wild stuff I get for the stuff he gets. At one point he asked me if nudity bothered me! I laughed out loud and said that if we were gonna go there then I had some damn good sources for smut and he'd be surprised. You guys know who you are.
Anyway, after about an hour my turn to play came along. One of the team leaders, who'd just finished a winning set, handed me the cue he was using (belonging to another good player) and told me too go ahead and use it. After starting out lousy and gettin' pissed off at myself (I hadn't played in a few weeks) I ended up winning two strait and finishing early.

At one point towards the end of the second game my opponent left me in a sticky spot. My last ball was stuck between the 8 ball and a corner pocket, leaving me without a direct shot and the cue ball on the far opposite end of the table. I called time and one of the team leaders came over and pointed out a shot that I'd already seen in my head. I'd be banking the cue ball off the other side of the corner pocket and knocking it into the pocket on the other side of the table.

He pointed to the place on the table that I needed to hit and stepped away. I took aim (I'm usually good at long shots) and hit it perfectly, banking if off the side into my ball and knocking my last ball into the corner pocket on the opposite side of the table. Both teams were silent for a second and then the whole place went up in hoots of stunned amazement. I had to stand there a minute and get over the shock myself. Couldn't believe I'd pulled it off.

After a few missed shots on both our parts I sank the 8 ball and the game and match was over in what seemed like no time. I sat around for a while to talk to the other team (the father and son) and they started to talk me into buying my own stick. I always use the ones they have there at the pool hall, figuring I'm not really good enough to go out and get my own. I'd feel like a fool carrying it around. Like I'm tryin' to show people I'm better than I really am.

I see some folks with what looks like a golf bag over their shoulder, filled with several sticks. They look like idiots to me, tryin' to show everyone else how professional they are by draggin' around a huge case at the meets. How many friggin' sticks do you need anyway? But these folks said that if I got my own stick and used it all the time, getting used to the weight and feel of it, my game would actually improve. What they said made sense to me. They do have some cool ones out there. Pretty, with nice wood grain. We'll see.

Anyway, today is gonna be fun too. First I'm gonna give my last Finals of the semester this afternoon (you know how I love makin' 'em sweat), then I'm gonna go down to Florence to put the finishing touches on the grades there and sign off on them. Then I'll head East from there to Salado and get a haircut from my cousin Peggy. It's early for me, but I've gotten to where I like havin' it short enough that when the wind blows through the car window I'm not left lookin' like I've got a swoop. And, it'll be nice to see her again and find out what her husband though of the job we did on Granddad's shotgun.

In the evening, Denise and I are gonna go back down to Florence to watch my Seniors graduate. Class of 2008. I've had those little brats in my classes for two years now. It's always fun to see them take that step off into the real world. I'm always tempted to grab one or two from the line and say something like "Weeeeell, playtime is over you little bastard. Now ya gotta go get a job!"

Then "D" and I are gonna head a little further South and eat dinner at Johnny Corrino's in Roundrock, North of Austin. Then we'll head back up to Temple and have a short visit with mom. She had some dental work done yesterday and is still a bit woozy from the drugs, so the regular Friday dinner was called off. Next Friday I'll be gone, fishing with my cousin Bob up in Canada (more on that later), so we'll have to make up for it in a few weeks.

Saturday is gonna be filled with chores, like getting the yard work finished from last weekend, but Sunday is gonna be fun. We've got tickets waiting at the Will Call window to see Joe Cocker and Steve Miller at The Backyard, in Bee Caves, Southwest of Austin off highway 71. It should be a good concert. Before that, as we head through Austin, we'll stop at Pappasito's for dinner. Those Brochette Shrimp have been callin' my name for LONG TIME. I will consume them with gusto, along with a few chilled beverages, and then we'll head to the gig, where drinks are served from bars inside the venue. It'll be a few big, fat, cold cans of Lone Star, just for the hell of it. God, I sound like a lush.

Anyway, you guys try to have a good weekend and we'll talk about the fishing and stuff later. Cheers.