The Sleestack

The Seester is doing well. Recovering, back at work, driving. Her knee gives her trouble now and then but it will pass with time. She's in great shape. Always very athletic. I'll always remember John McMahon and i driving Mel down to Chapel Hill, NC so Mel could try out for the US olympic team. It was the first stages of tryouts, but she survived three rounds until she was cut in the last one. Quite impressive. And three of us had a great time. Mel worked her ass off. And when it was over, i remember her seeming okay with it. She had gone farther than we had thought she would. And kudos to Mum for funding the whole thing. She wanted Mel to go, just because she was invited. I have such great memories of all that. i remember it like it was yesterday. 

SO it was great to chat with Mel. I haved missed all ye so much! It'll be good to be home. Home.

in a different direction;

August 2012

POLICE OFFICER: Do you have ID? What state are you from?"

ME (checks his wallet and pulls out license.) I am from... Connecticut."

POLICE OFFICER: Do you not know what state you are from? Have you been drinking and driving sir?"

ME - No i haven't been drinking..., it's just that.... (thinks about it) You know what, just give me a breathalyzer, it's easier than explaining.

(Me passes test)

Well, you're fine. You were just acting confused.

ME - No problems, officer. I just get confused sometimes.

POLICE OFFICER- (looks puzzled for a second but then goes back to his car)

ME (Nods, starts the car, and continues along 34 

past the Housatonic River, on way home to barbecue.) 

4:06

LA 1 NJ 1 - start of 3rd period

Ha! They are replacing the glass in NJ. That always used to happen back in the Meadowlands too. Ah.., like old times. 

Parise is a Dbag. He blatantly pushed the puck in with his hand. No goal. He should get a penality. 

Bugger! It's going to OT. I tap out. I go sleeping.

JUEVES

LA 2 NJ 1 F OT.  LA Leads Series 1 - 0

Heat

The weather this weekend was great - 81F and dry. But it is almost June and starting to get hot. 90F today. And then it stays hot. Forever. Til you fantisize about Hooters girls pouring a cool pitcher of water down your throat, and that's all you fantasize about. 





Trying to enjoy my own 'hood and all of Madrid in the time i have left. It all seems so surreal. But i am happy.


We have a good Japanese place and a good Thai place. And the Asian places just give you much better service. 


June 1 Marcondes is leaving for London to go work as a cleaner. I don't understand how he got the job, i'm just happy he'll pretty much be gone until i leave. He's always home because he hasn't worked since Dec. and he's annoying because he's as stupid as a pillowcase full of doorknobs. I fucking hate when i come home to try and eat lunch and he follows me around the kitchen speaking a Portuguese Spanish that is incomprehensible. 


Stanley Cup Finals begin tonight in NJ. I say LA in 6.


Great Bender Tuesday last night. Okay - time to go shower and go to work!

Evaluations

End of the year evaluations! As much fun as a fork in the eye! Most of my students are great. But then there are the other ones;


Jorge still hasn't grasped the concept that English is different from Spanish, and still, in May, is asking me to translate. DO i look like i'm a fucking Google ap? Just learn in it English! You're an engineer at Euro Copter so i am going to assume you are not a moron. Yet, after having class with you for a year... 


Deep breathes. Middle-aged and bitter is no way to go thru life, Jay.


LINK - Euro Isn’t Loved, but Few Want to Drop It, Poll Says. NY TIMES

This is not surprising. Few voters would choose to throw themselves into the financial wilderness. I've read some articles about what might happen if Greece goes back to the drachma, Δρ.
It could be apocalyptic, with small retailers struggling to pay their vendors in Euros, €. Social unrest. Extremism. So much to look forward to. 

And me? I feel like i am a blogger at the end of all things.


I have become comfortably numb
-Pink Floyd


But fuck it. It's Bender Tuesday! Teach at Barclays at 17:00. Teach the twelve year old devil child at 19:00 (she is has deep emotional issues.) I really look forward to a drink after that class, so i will have one. Or two. 

Half Light

My students, Menchu and Fernando got married yesterday. They invited me but it was 2 hours away in Avila so i passed, but it was very sweet of them to ask me. So, i wrote this poem for them.It's been a day since i wrote it and i've decided i like it.

Half Light

the sun was falling like a stone

I couldn't really see

In the half light

my throat was dry as a bone

there was somewhere I had to be

in the half light

I resigned myself to being late

the new designs would have to wait

in the half light

a thought of tomorrow

and the day after

a past joy

a past sorrow

and the things that matter

then I thought of you

… and I could finally see

in the half light

storm on the horizon

It was then I knew I'd had enough,
Burned my credit card for fuel
Headed out to where the pavement turns to sand
With a one-way ticket to the land of truth
And my suitcase in my hand
How I lost my friends I still don't understand.

They had the best selection,
They were poisoned with protection
There was nothing that they needed,
Nothing left to find
They were lost in rock formations
Or became park bench mutations
On the sidewalks and in the stations
They were waiting, waiting.

-Neil Young

Every day the news gets worse. I've never experienced anything like this before, and i've been through a lot of shit in my days. But all the time the news about Spain's egg fragile economy gets worse. I worry about all my friends here. Things are going to get a lot worse before they turn the corner.


Personally, all is well. But at the end of the day, it's clear to see that civilization could unravel quicker than we ever could imagine.


I really need to stop reading so much post-apocalyptic fiction. But i'm currently reading  The Postman by David Brin and it's very good.

€ € €

Finnish Civilian gas mask, 1939

Sorry fi Maga Dog 
Him turn around bite you 
And if you jump outta fryin pan I know you jump inna fire yeah 
-Peter Tosh


Bankia, Spain's 4th largest bank (which was the result of a merger of 7 troubled banks last year) asked the government for €19B. Right now the Spanish government could not afford to buy me lunch.


Did you ever have the feeling that everything around you was crumbling? Raining down in pieces? 


Europe is a continent with a terrible history; the legacy of colonization, two devastating world wars, genocide and Eurovision; the worst talent contest on earth (which is tonight.) 

Perchance it is time to pull the plug.

Close to the Edge

Down at the end, round by the corner
Close to the edge, just by a river
Seasons will pass you by
I get up, I get down
-Yes


LINK: Bank Transfers in Spain Spur Future Concerns


Fucked. Jodido. Fallada. Baisée. Befickt. πατήσαμε. Whether it's in English, Spanish (2x), French, German or Greek, it's all the same. Europe is on the brink of disaster. My fellow expats and i are fleeing in a massive exodus. Come on baby, just hole together for just hold together for 73 more days! New World, here i come!