To Myself.

Soon will have the house to myself. She's taking the girls out to get some back to school stuff. Fortunately they are both old enough that an entire wardrobe is not needed. Notebooks, pens, pencils. Maybe one or two clothing items, probably. Soon the house will be quiet, finish this post then. Got to strip paint and old varnish from cabinet doors, can write some while the stripper is doing it's work. This blog entry, then some research for my next book. Sounds weird, "my next book". It would be nice if the first one were published, then "my next book", would carry a little more weight. Have to keep writing though, as time allows. Read this thing that Robert DeNiro said. "If you don't go, you won't know". Simple, to the point. Time for coffee, got a cigarette waiting to meet it's match.

So they are on their way, had to help my younger daughter find her GameBoy. Can't travel without that. I already had the first cabinet door set up on the horses out back, on the patio under the overhang in case it rains. I start laying on the first coat of stripper, forgot to pull the heavy rubber gloves on first. Stuff burns, couldn't stop and pull the gloves on then, would of had a glove full of corrosive chemical gel. Sucked it up, finished laying it on then pulled my boots off and ran into the bathroom to rinse. Good thing I pulled my boots off, noticed a drop of that stuff on the heel. Yeah, that would have gone over real well. Rinsed that off with the hose after I got my hands clean. Got about forty-five minutes for the first coat to do it's thing, then scrape and rub with spirits before the second coat goes on. After that, clean with spirits again, rub down with steel wool. Step the wool down from like three to quad- zero for a nice finish.

So dinner was real good last night. The place was great, we sat at a table by the bar, smoking section. It's more fun in there anyway, they got a jazz guy who plays keyboard and sax. Guess he pre-programs some stuff into the keyboard, then accompanies himself on the sax. Doors, Steely Dan, old Rod Stewart all played like, jazz. Waitress was cool, funny too. We had a great time. It's nice to look at my wife with a different background, she looked great, like always. We laughed a lot, talked a lot. After dessert we just sat with our coffee and chilled. Each of us soaking up the atmosphere, the hustle and bustle of a busy restaurant. At one point, I'm looking out the front of the place, through the big old windows hanging under the original tin ceiling, past the jazz guy. Outside the rain was falling gently, streets were wet. Across the street in an alley type parking situation red tail lights glowed, mixing with the green glow of the traffic signal right there on the corner. Jazz guy was playing this slow bluesy version of "Riders On The Storm". She was looking off in the other direction, past my shoulder, towards the bar, lost in thoughts all her own I guess. It was moment in time. Suspended solitude, shared.