Plan "B"

Do you remember the Palladium near Columbus & Broadway? Michele and I used to go on occasion and dance the night away. We used to dance at FloorPlay on 3rd in San Mateo also. Michele was my dance partner from High School until I joined the Army in '87. We used to dance everywhere all the time. It was fun dancing on Wednesdays and Sunday night, and I don't remember ever paying to dance at FloorPlay at our own private nightclub. We'd request a song, and the DJ would play it right away.

Anywho, for some reason I just remembered that the DJ at the Palladium later went on to Studio 54 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. I saw him in 1998 and again in the early 2000's. It was kinda wierd, but cool at the same time (in a wierd 'stuck in the 80's way).

Oh yeah, now I think I know what reminded me. My U2 "Joshua Tree" tape broke two days ago, so I went to Tower Records to replace it. HEY AMERICA! They don't make tapes anymore! They don't make records either! What's up with that?

Am I expected to go out and buy a CD player for my truck now? I don't even think I know how a CD player works. I can barely make my DVD player work without a fair amount of trial-and-error. But I've got a bead on my VHS player - when I feel like watching one of my "Connections" tapes.

So, somehow I went from my favorite dance place as a teenager to my lack of understanding of technology in the new Millenium. Well, at least I learned something more about Ring Lasers today.

So, whose house was this before I got it? It's really a mystery because I didn't pay a premium for it - although I paid more than I think I could have if I bought it a few months earlier. I have new carpeting and new hardwood floors (Pergo type) in the kitchen. The doors are all four-panel with Baldwin door knobs/locks. My neighbor says that my front door cost over a thousand dollars.

The bathroom is where the real surprise is though. The cabinetry is Jensen (aka "This ain't no Home Depot job). I noticed a while ago that the tile under the shower window is tilted about 1/2 a bubble, which is my clue that it was professionally remodeled. But I just noticed that the really cool shower head is from a company in Germany called Hansgrohe . So, needless to say, I'm pretty happy with the insides of the house. It's the carboard and aluminum foil window coverings in the house across the street that tells me that I don't like in a nice area.

Well, that short story was neither funny nor sad nor particularly interesting. Sorry. You can't hit them all out of the park.

Someone has been doing this since money was invented. Finding clever ways to beg for money. The first time I heard of it was from my Dad, who said that a college student took an ad out in a paper saying, "Today's the day to mail your dollar to: PO Box...".

Then came the Internet. The first begging site I heard of was Save Karyn, but there may have been prior ones. She exploded her credit cards by being adicted to Prada pumps. Doesn't seem fair that she gets to waste people's money on shoes, but they're willing to pay her, so - whatever.

Next was an enterprising young student, Alex Tew, who came up with the million dollar home page. Simple enough. You give him a dollar - you can have a pixel - the more dollars - the more pixels. He's a millionaire now (or 1/2 a millionaire after taxes).

Finally, (well, most recently anyway) here's a guy who's hoping to barter for a house with stuff. He didn't start off with a smaller house, or a mobile home, or a go cart. He started off with a red paperclip.

Red paper clip --> fish pen --> cabinet knob --> coleman stove --> generator --> instant party --> jet ski --> ... you get the idea. I believe he's up the a year's rent in Arizona after having turned down a porsche.

So, who has the next Internet oddity for begging? And why can't it be me?

I needed to have my sins forgiven. I gathered them up and brought them to the cross, but they were already there. I looked up to see Jesus, but Jesus wasn't there, because he'd already paid for my sins in his death - and risen again.

He is risen!

[sigh] ho hum. Rocco, and Ro and tonight's church service are giving me reason to do a deep personal inventory. Luckily, I've got work to keep me distracted from paying attention to my life. But what of the soul? Now, that's worth a look. But where to start?

Well, for those who know what's been going on with me - you know what this is about. I decided that since I was going to loose my hair anyway (and most people still didn't know until now), I'd challenge Richard Deering to a single game of Beergammon. Looser shaves his hair! It was easier than I thought to loose and make it look like I was trying. I had a fear that I'd actually win if I tried to make it look too close, but thankfully he rolled three doubles while the race was on. [whew!] Afterwards, I gave everyone the news, and it was pretty free-ing. I'm o.k. with it, and I think everyone else should be too. I figure that as long as I'm able, I'm just going to enjoy myself and do things I've always wanted to do. If you don't know what's going on - just drop me an email and I'll fill you in.

What I want to do next is go to Disneyland with as much as the old Care Group as I can - plus my nephew, Rocco and his wife. I'm not sure if I'm going to see my Goddaughter during this trip - time will tell.

Anywho, if anyone else wants to go to Disneyland - drop me a line - soon. I figure I'll go on a cruise next, but there are some hard facts I'll have to face first.

The picture above is my first day of being bald at an impromtu "Going Away" party. Am I being too cavalier about this? Your comments welcome. What would you do with 3 months to live?