Day 25 11/9/08
Another day of slothfulness. Woke up about 4 AM, my back had gotten a lot worse. Showered, dressed, had the mandatory pop tart (I used to like those) and around 8 got my Aleve from Dr. Tonny. My friends had given me 2 prescription painkillers, they didn’t work as well as the Aleve. ”All day long, all day strong”.
After I talked to my wife and kids, I once again slept all day. Funny thing about the kids; with the exception of Jacob, the oldest, they don’t really miss me. They say a quick hello, and go back to playing. Well, sometimes Jenny (the youngest, by an hour) seems more attached. I think being able to see me has made it easier for them, which is great. Or maybe they just don’t give a damn.
Anyway, I slept until 1, when the phone rang. It was my Uncle’s fiancee, Tina, who just completed the Qingdao violin competition by winning the whole shebang. As a former opera singer, I know how hard it is to win those competitions. The best doesn’t always win, althouh in this case, the best did, I’ve heard her play. Then she told my uncle (he and his brother are also superb violinists) that she came in 6th and let him rant and rave for 20 minutes about how unfair it was until she finally told him she was the winner. Watch out, Uncle, she’s a handfull and a half.
Tina arrived with her folks, very nice people, and I took them to the Holiday Inn I had been to before. Or I should say I tried to take them. Tina had the check in hand right after we ordered, a very deft manuever. Tina and I ordered a la carte, and her folks had the buffet, so we got the best of both wolds, sharing mounds of food from the buffet and then having steaks. Between Tina shelling snails and shrimp for me (she has a neat way of shellng the shrimp, eyes and all in one piece,when I do it, it looks like the shrimp hit a land mine) and her father bringing me plate after plate of sashimi, then fruit, I thought I would pop. And the Chinese have a secret; their desserts are better than the French, Germans, and Italians rolled into one.
All in all, a wonderful evening. Back to the grind tomorow; spinal at 2. 5 down, 2 to go.
4 comments November 9th, 2008
