A Fortune at ComputerLand
Computerland of Anchorage, Alaska was a great first job in the burgeoning IT industry in the early 80's. I was a sponge ready to soak up anything and everything I could learn after a couple of years of school.
The store was owned by Wayne, a former North Slope worker who had invested his earnings into the franchise. I got the opportunity to work in the store after a very brief interview process after responding to an ad. While I'd worked with some small business computers at the National Weather Service for a while, I was a babe in the woods with a) sales and b) computer sales when I showed up for my first day.
A quick introduction of the crew at the store when I started working there:
Wayme - Owner. Present but distracted, a reasonably good guy.
Roger - Store manager. Roger smoked in the store - Benson and Hedges - and was famous for his ability to sit down at a system, light up, and never take a drag - the entire cigarette, converted to one long ash, would dangle for hours from his motionless lips. Many's the time that the rest of us would wager on how long it would be before his ash hit the keyboard - and while I won my fair share, I was always astounded at how long it could take that ash to drop.
Jim the First - the hard-bitten, grizzled tech in the back room. Felt any problem could be solved on his oscilloscope. Did not suffer fools gladly, and felt everyone was a fool. SERIOUS case of eczema.
Jim the Second - Jim the First's replacement tech. As many in Alaska, was fleeing from family troubles on the east coast. Terrific person; became a great friend and taught me a lot about music.
Debbie - Sales person. Fountain of anecdotes.
Mark - senior salesperson. Did not want to help the new guy but helped me tremendously with his questionable judgement on which customers were buyers and worth helping.
Kevin - Accounting and operations support. Wayne's right hand and a solid team player.
Stuart - Go-to guy for whatever the team needed.
**********
There were a lot of reasons that this was a great first industry job. One of them was that Wayne and Roger were kids in a candy store when they'd go off to the shows and Computerland franchise meetings, and would come back with a lot of new tech and systems for us to sell. This was certainly reflected in the store floor lineup when I arrived, which included Apple, Atari, Vector Graphics, Osborne, and the IBM PC, which had just come out.
This lack of self control also extended to the software that you'd find on our shelves in every genra. The big sellers of the time were titles like Visicalc, WordStar, Dbase II, and games such as Adventure, Choplifter, and Microsoft Decathalon (a team favorite for competition when things were slow).
Their inability to say "no" to new stuff meant that we got to work with the operating systems of the day beyond just Apple DOS and MS-DOS - CP/M, Unix, and derivatives were great to work with and learn as well.
One of the toys that I latched onto when Roger came back from a show was from Fortune Systems Inc., a California - based startup (not even a dot-com this was so early). They had raised a couple of hundred million in an IPO, and had a product on the market that was far ahead of its time. The Fortune system was Unix-based. It ran on open architecture, well designed hardware but was also a closed system because of a chip they called the "momrom" that basically "had locked" the installed software to that particular system (a real headache when something went wrong with the hardware).
The Fortune had excellent software for the day, especially their For:Word word processing system, which was a knockoff of Wang and far ahead of IBM and Apple PC's. THeir spreadsheet was Multiplan, the forerunner of Excel. IT was really a great system for business applications, but like all systems of the time had real memory and performance constraints.
(One of the most sincerely grateful customer moments I every experience was when I showed a customer how to turn automatic recalculation OFF in Multiplan. His monster spreadsheet was literally taking 10-15 minutes to recalculate every time he changed a number. Bill - the customer - almost started crying when he could enter his data at full speed again and recalculate on demand).
Fortune also offered a fully integrated accounting software system. This was a great and next-level offering in the small systems market - but it was also very buggy, and all fixes were provided old-school as manual updates - code you literally had to punch in. This meant the coce (an early Business Basic) - was open and available to young hackers like myself. I got into plenty of trouble with the accounting software, but also learned a lot in the real world of such systems in a very short period of time.
The Fortune was an impressive integrated business system, and I became the expert in that system and quickly built up a significant client list of Fortune users all over the state of Alaska. This experience with a Unix-based system set the table for a very significant chunk of my career in advanced tech small systems as well.
In future blogs I'll relate a few of my learning experiences with this team (most of whome I have not seen since leaving Alaska 30 years ago) and some of these early systems we had a chance to work with and install across the Great Land (and some of the not-so-great land).
Happy New Year!
Thursday, December 28, 2017
Friday, December 22, 2017
The Internet of Things comes home
One of my retirement projects that will be a big focus for me is taking care ofmy health and getting it under control. Diagnosed as a type 2 diabetic some 15 years ago, I have made big adjustments in my life (I have a huge sweet tooth), but it has not been enough.
I have also had great interest in "the internet of things", and the massive trend to make virtually any and every device internet-capable, bluetooth enabled, and delivering sone kind of data to the universe. Managing these devices and making the data meaningful and instructive will be (already is) a huge business of the future.
Like most of the major trends of the past decades, like most I usually need something to relate to my own life before I fully "get it". In my case, my "get it" for the Internet of Things" has taken the form of a device called the Dexcom 5. This is a blood sugar monitoring device that is attached to the body with a fairly easy, painless (and bloodless) procedure that you can do yourself.
The results have been amazing.
Basically, I have a full-time display of my blood sugar level, and can see in real time the impact of anything I eat or do (such as exercise) on my blood sugar level. Yes indeed, eating a bowl of cereal is really bad for the old blood sugar Kent. Yup, key lime pie is out. Egg nog for the holiday? 300+ level for half a day.
Diabetes is a hard thing to figure out; your glucose level changes for no reason at all sometimes. BUt when you have the data 24/7, you can figure it out.
So what are the results? Since I started using this device 4 months ago, my A1C levels (the 90-day average of the glucose (sugar) level in your blood has, for the first time in many years, been where it is supposed to be (below 7. I have to say that was a great moment in the doctor's office; the look on his face was priceless after years of bad news.
I had used the Dexcom before, but I used it with device that Dexcom provides for the readings and graphs etc. That did not work for em. The difference? The data is now reported directly to my Iphone, and centrally collected by Dexcom for AWESOME reports and analysis - I think a necessary component to the real value of "internet of things" devices. When my refrigerator can start telling me what food to get rid of and when, that will be a big deal.
This device is helping me get back to normal.
My 4 year old nephew is a Type 1 diabetic and also is using this device. I am full of hope not only that his condition will be cured in his lifetime, but also that his health will be far better protected by this real-time IoT data in the meantime.
So much of the data we've been collecting has not been useful to us over the years - this type of real-time, right-now, life-altering action-creating information is a big promise of the Internet of Things.
Happy Holidays!
Kent
One of my retirement projects that will be a big focus for me is taking care ofmy health and getting it under control. Diagnosed as a type 2 diabetic some 15 years ago, I have made big adjustments in my life (I have a huge sweet tooth), but it has not been enough.
I have also had great interest in "the internet of things", and the massive trend to make virtually any and every device internet-capable, bluetooth enabled, and delivering sone kind of data to the universe. Managing these devices and making the data meaningful and instructive will be (already is) a huge business of the future.
Like most of the major trends of the past decades, like most I usually need something to relate to my own life before I fully "get it". In my case, my "get it" for the Internet of Things" has taken the form of a device called the Dexcom 5. This is a blood sugar monitoring device that is attached to the body with a fairly easy, painless (and bloodless) procedure that you can do yourself.
The results have been amazing.
Basically, I have a full-time display of my blood sugar level, and can see in real time the impact of anything I eat or do (such as exercise) on my blood sugar level. Yes indeed, eating a bowl of cereal is really bad for the old blood sugar Kent. Yup, key lime pie is out. Egg nog for the holiday? 300+ level for half a day.
Diabetes is a hard thing to figure out; your glucose level changes for no reason at all sometimes. BUt when you have the data 24/7, you can figure it out.
So what are the results? Since I started using this device 4 months ago, my A1C levels (the 90-day average of the glucose (sugar) level in your blood has, for the first time in many years, been where it is supposed to be (below 7. I have to say that was a great moment in the doctor's office; the look on his face was priceless after years of bad news.
I had used the Dexcom before, but I used it with device that Dexcom provides for the readings and graphs etc. That did not work for em. The difference? The data is now reported directly to my Iphone, and centrally collected by Dexcom for AWESOME reports and analysis - I think a necessary component to the real value of "internet of things" devices. When my refrigerator can start telling me what food to get rid of and when, that will be a big deal.
This device is helping me get back to normal.
My 4 year old nephew is a Type 1 diabetic and also is using this device. I am full of hope not only that his condition will be cured in his lifetime, but also that his health will be far better protected by this real-time IoT data in the meantime.
So much of the data we've been collecting has not been useful to us over the years - this type of real-time, right-now, life-altering action-creating information is a big promise of the Internet of Things.
Happy Holidays!
Kent
Wednesday, December 20, 2017
The Yawning Floppy Disk Cavern of the Apple ///
While I'd been geeking out on computers and programming since 1976 and had worked as a computer operator for the federal government (NOAA) in Anchorage Alaska, I consider my first real job in IT to be a very fun year I spent working for Computerland of Anchoerage.
Computerland was one of the original retail chains in the retail computer industry, along with companies like Microage and The Byte Shop. Computerland was a franchise operation, and the Anchorage franchise was owned by former North Slope oil workers who had made a good amount of money, and chose to invest it in the burgeoning new industry.
I learned more in that first year than I had in all the years prior, which is a typical experience as we get out of our education mode and into the real world. Alaska was at that time still in somewhat of a wild west mode, as I'll relate in future blog entries.
For today, I'll jump into the shallow end of the pool by relating an experience typical of the many early years of the PC revolution.
I worked at Computerland in 1982.. Apple computers were a big part of the business, even in the pre-Macintosh era. One of my personal favorite systems to sell was the Apple ///. Don't ask me why - it was difficult to use; had an offshoot of the Apple DOS system aptly named "SOS", had very little software written specifically for it and was really expensive (perhaps the motivation for me). Accourding to Wikipedia, the Apple /// cost z$12,000 = $24,000 in its standard configurations in today's dollars.
As it happens, I was also the only person in the small store that could sell the Apple /// (probably another motivation). I recall winning some kind of national Apple sales contest, but the model was not a particularly good seller for Apple so I don't know that this is a banner accomplishment.
One "feature" of the Apple /// was a built-in 5.25" floppy disk drive (you'll find a picture on said Wikipedia page). That drive was really clunky, with a huge and awkward "door" handle. It was overall outlandishly large - you could easily park your Subaru in it. And hence the following tale.
One day a very nice lady - I believe her name was Janice - came into the store looking for a business computer on which to keep accounting records for her clients. As the Apple /// was a "business system", I put together a configuration for her that included a really fully decked out system, including a newfangled "hard disk". I also ordered her a copy of BPI accounting and even a really cool video-tape drive based backup system. . The works.
While Computerland was a retail store, I'd already started something I would continue in my career, which was personal delivery and setup. I delivered the system to her home office and got everything working. She was very happy, with that awestruck "wow I have a computer" energy that was so fun back in the early days of the industry.
A week later, her BPI accounting software arrived, and Janice came in to pick it up. I asked her if she'd like help setting it up - the installation was not difficulty, but it was installed with about 20 low capacity 5.25" floppy disks. She thanked me but felt she could handle it (she'd been doing well with her new Apple). I told her to give me a call if she had any difficulty.
A few hours later, she did indeed give me a call.
"What's up?" I asked.
"Kent, I keep getting this error message."
"What's the error?"
"The system keeps telling me to put another disk in and press the enter key. "
I smiled - no problem.
"Janice that's no biggie - it's just looking for the next disk in sequence."
"Yes, that's what I though", she said. "But I've put all the sisks I can in and I can't fit any more in the drive."
****************
I don't even remember the last time I saw or used a floppy disk.
Happy Holidays!
Kent
While I'd been geeking out on computers and programming since 1976 and had worked as a computer operator for the federal government (NOAA) in Anchorage Alaska, I consider my first real job in IT to be a very fun year I spent working for Computerland of Anchoerage.
Computerland was one of the original retail chains in the retail computer industry, along with companies like Microage and The Byte Shop. Computerland was a franchise operation, and the Anchorage franchise was owned by former North Slope oil workers who had made a good amount of money, and chose to invest it in the burgeoning new industry.
I learned more in that first year than I had in all the years prior, which is a typical experience as we get out of our education mode and into the real world. Alaska was at that time still in somewhat of a wild west mode, as I'll relate in future blog entries.
For today, I'll jump into the shallow end of the pool by relating an experience typical of the many early years of the PC revolution.
I worked at Computerland in 1982.. Apple computers were a big part of the business, even in the pre-Macintosh era. One of my personal favorite systems to sell was the Apple ///. Don't ask me why - it was difficult to use; had an offshoot of the Apple DOS system aptly named "SOS", had very little software written specifically for it and was really expensive (perhaps the motivation for me). Accourding to Wikipedia, the Apple /// cost z$12,000 = $24,000 in its standard configurations in today's dollars.
As it happens, I was also the only person in the small store that could sell the Apple /// (probably another motivation). I recall winning some kind of national Apple sales contest, but the model was not a particularly good seller for Apple so I don't know that this is a banner accomplishment.
One "feature" of the Apple /// was a built-in 5.25" floppy disk drive (you'll find a picture on said Wikipedia page). That drive was really clunky, with a huge and awkward "door" handle. It was overall outlandishly large - you could easily park your Subaru in it. And hence the following tale.
One day a very nice lady - I believe her name was Janice - came into the store looking for a business computer on which to keep accounting records for her clients. As the Apple /// was a "business system", I put together a configuration for her that included a really fully decked out system, including a newfangled "hard disk". I also ordered her a copy of BPI accounting and even a really cool video-tape drive based backup system. . The works.
While Computerland was a retail store, I'd already started something I would continue in my career, which was personal delivery and setup. I delivered the system to her home office and got everything working. She was very happy, with that awestruck "wow I have a computer" energy that was so fun back in the early days of the industry.
A week later, her BPI accounting software arrived, and Janice came in to pick it up. I asked her if she'd like help setting it up - the installation was not difficulty, but it was installed with about 20 low capacity 5.25" floppy disks. She thanked me but felt she could handle it (she'd been doing well with her new Apple). I told her to give me a call if she had any difficulty.
A few hours later, she did indeed give me a call.
"What's up?" I asked.
"Kent, I keep getting this error message."
"What's the error?"
"The system keeps telling me to put another disk in and press the enter key. "
I smiled - no problem.
"Janice that's no biggie - it's just looking for the next disk in sequence."
"Yes, that's what I though", she said. "But I've put all the sisks I can in and I can't fit any more in the drive."
****************
I don't even remember the last time I saw or used a floppy disk.
Happy Holidays!
Kent
Monday, December 18, 2017
Helping out the CDC
Turning on the (very biased and partisan) news these days feels more and more like a crapshoot if you don't want the fundamentals of your America life shaken. It seems like more and more of our constitutional foundations have termites the size of linebackers eating away at them.
Many have heard that the current administration via the department of HHS handed down to the CDC and other agencies a list of words and phrases that are banned. Apparently, George Orwell's "1984" may not have been required reading in junior high from some administration officials as it was at my school.
I get that there's a current push to remove resources from some of the protective agencies we rely on, but removing the freedom to use words and language in scientific reports and analysis is definitely some next level wordbudget cutting.
Rather than go on some kind of rant, I thought I'd work the problem by helping out the CDC and some of the other impacted agencies by providing some helpful alternatives to the banned words and phrases so they can product those scientific reports we need to protect the world from disease.
Banneed Word: "Diversity"
Alternative: "Ancestrally Challenged"
Banned Word: "Vulnerable"
Alternative: "Defense Averse"
Banned Word: "Fetus"
Alternative: "Potential Taxpayer"
Banned Word: "Entitlement"
Alternative: "Endangered Assistance"
Banned Phrase: "Evidence Based"
Alternative: "Research and Fact Confused"
Banned Phrase: "Science Based"
Alterative: "Nutty Professor Sourced"
I hope this humble submission will assist the world-renowned Centers for Diseas Control to continue to protect humanity as well as the current administration.
Turning on the (very biased and partisan) news these days feels more and more like a crapshoot if you don't want the fundamentals of your America life shaken. It seems like more and more of our constitutional foundations have termites the size of linebackers eating away at them.
Many have heard that the current administration via the department of HHS handed down to the CDC and other agencies a list of words and phrases that are banned. Apparently, George Orwell's "1984" may not have been required reading in junior high from some administration officials as it was at my school.
I get that there's a current push to remove resources from some of the protective agencies we rely on, but removing the freedom to use words and language in scientific reports and analysis is definitely some next level wordbudget cutting.
Rather than go on some kind of rant, I thought I'd work the problem by helping out the CDC and some of the other impacted agencies by providing some helpful alternatives to the banned words and phrases so they can product those scientific reports we need to protect the world from disease.
Banneed Word: "Diversity"
Alternative: "Ancestrally Challenged"
Banned Word: "Vulnerable"
Alternative: "Defense Averse"
Banned Word: "Fetus"
Alternative: "Potential Taxpayer"
Banned Word: "Entitlement"
Alternative: "Endangered Assistance"
Banned Phrase: "Evidence Based"
Alternative: "Research and Fact Confused"
Banned Phrase: "Science Based"
Alterative: "Nutty Professor Sourced"
I hope this humble submission will assist the world-renowned Centers for Diseas Control to continue to protect humanity as well as the current administration.
Friday, December 15, 2017
Non-Maudlin Career Reflections
One of the first aspects you deal with in retirement if fairly obvious: The career you're leaving behind, and the people you've collaborated with for years.
One of the things I'll blog bout from time to time will be about some of the experiences I've had - especially the funny ones, those that taught me the most, and those that involved some of the wesome people I've had a chance to work with. . I hope to avoid the maudlin or regret-filled.
As I've said before, I feel really lucky to have been in the information technology industry during what I'm sure will be viewed historically as one of the most incredible periods of time not just for computer-related technologies, but for technologies directly impacting humanity on a braod and very personal level.
My career started in Alaska, and I had a lot of terrific experiences there and a lot of on-the-job learning. My first computer-related job was working for the NOAA and the federal government. THat led to a job at a computer retailer of the early 80's, Computerland - and I was off.
Leaving Alaska in late 1984, I moved back to my home state of Washington and went to work for one of my key mentors, integrating systems and building on my first experiences in Alaska. That job was a springboard to my entrepreneurial future, as I really admire Mr. Gary Gill, said mentor and a very successful entrepreneur.
THe years following were the real heart of my career, building Apropos Retail Management Systems from scratch, and after Apropos starting and building Quosal - both software companies. In the middle was a very intense tour through the video game industry at Gas Powered Games.
At each of these steps I learned and accomplished a lot, and will enjoy relating some of these experiences.
I did absolutely nothing by myself. I was accompanied on every step of the journey by amazing business partners, colleagues, friends, rivals, competitors, and family (who I've always been blessed to work with).
So, for those tens of you that might follow along, I'll mix in a few of these stories and experiences along with the retired dude updates.
I consider this day 4 of actual "retirement" post-vacation. I can faithfully report that I'm already feeling that "how do you fill the time" aspect so many have talked to me about, and I'm already underfoot for my lovely wife Anne. More daily activities are coming next week as I've joined our local health club and will start swimming then. Much work to do on the health front.
Combined birthday and retirement party tonight, with a lot of great friends coming, including many Sagitarrian mates with birthdays close to mine. More on that no doubt coming your way.
One of the first aspects you deal with in retirement if fairly obvious: The career you're leaving behind, and the people you've collaborated with for years.
One of the things I'll blog bout from time to time will be about some of the experiences I've had - especially the funny ones, those that taught me the most, and those that involved some of the wesome people I've had a chance to work with. . I hope to avoid the maudlin or regret-filled.
As I've said before, I feel really lucky to have been in the information technology industry during what I'm sure will be viewed historically as one of the most incredible periods of time not just for computer-related technologies, but for technologies directly impacting humanity on a braod and very personal level.
My career started in Alaska, and I had a lot of terrific experiences there and a lot of on-the-job learning. My first computer-related job was working for the NOAA and the federal government. THat led to a job at a computer retailer of the early 80's, Computerland - and I was off.
Leaving Alaska in late 1984, I moved back to my home state of Washington and went to work for one of my key mentors, integrating systems and building on my first experiences in Alaska. That job was a springboard to my entrepreneurial future, as I really admire Mr. Gary Gill, said mentor and a very successful entrepreneur.
THe years following were the real heart of my career, building Apropos Retail Management Systems from scratch, and after Apropos starting and building Quosal - both software companies. In the middle was a very intense tour through the video game industry at Gas Powered Games.
At each of these steps I learned and accomplished a lot, and will enjoy relating some of these experiences.
I did absolutely nothing by myself. I was accompanied on every step of the journey by amazing business partners, colleagues, friends, rivals, competitors, and family (who I've always been blessed to work with).
So, for those tens of you that might follow along, I'll mix in a few of these stories and experiences along with the retired dude updates.
I consider this day 4 of actual "retirement" post-vacation. I can faithfully report that I'm already feeling that "how do you fill the time" aspect so many have talked to me about, and I'm already underfoot for my lovely wife Anne. More daily activities are coming next week as I've joined our local health club and will start swimming then. Much work to do on the health front.
Combined birthday and retirement party tonight, with a lot of great friends coming, including many Sagitarrian mates with birthdays close to mine. More on that no doubt coming your way.
Thursday, December 14, 2017
Adventures in PV and the Sage Advice of Strangers
Got back from Puerto Vallarta on Tuesday. Had a great time with our good friends Tod and Ann York as always. For the most part the time was focused on relaxation on the beach with plenty of Mimosas.
However, the very first night we found ourselves at Andales, a cool spot in old town PV. We'd had a nice "first evening" dinner and stopped in for a beer or two - you know, with that just-arrived--this-vacation-will-last-forever anticipation of good times to come. We sat down and started having a great time and one thing led to another and before you know it...My Anne had consumed two drinks. yes, the second drink got by me.
The first warning sign was Anne stood up and kind of started dancing around a bit by her chair (they had GREAT music). That made me twitch a bit, but when I saw the two empty glasses in front of her the hair stood up on the back of my neck, and I knew what was coming next.
Dancing.
My wife is a very happy (but very infrequent) drunk, if one can in fact get drunk on two drinks. But once the dancing starts...
I'm a terrible dancer and always have been. Awkward, no rhythm, no moves (not even lame ones like Seth Rogan's dice role in knocked up). I have largely blacked-out memories of dance lessons and other efforts to amend this situation. Anne loves to dance so i get guilted into it.
Sure enough, Anne grabbed me and out to the COMPLETELY EMPTY "dance floor" (small space where no table happened to be located, at the apex of all bar operations traffic). I looked back plaintively over my shoulder at Tod and Ann.
She kept me out there for two songs, and then I managed to drag her back to our table - a task a little tougher than normal, I noted. Whew. Thank God that was over. I sat in recovery, but uncomfortably noted out of the corner of my eye that Anne was still moving around next to her chair. Don't look. Don't look. I tried to ignore this and engaged in some small talk with the Yorks.
Poke. Poke. Poke. (What is this? Someone's poking me in the ribs. Oh lord it's her.)
Oh no.
Only a few times in our 28 years had this happened. She wasn't going to stop. I found myself again dragged, apologizing to those mowed down, to the dance postage stamp. This time she kept me out there for 3 songs. At least a couple or two took mercy and joined us. Anne was having a grand old time. She even complemented me on leading her around (a misinterpretation of my desperate efforts to pull her out of the way of the serving staff and other patrons). At one point - no kidding - there was a donkey on the dance floor as well.
Exhausted, I finally got her back to our seats - but it wasn't easy.
pokepokepokepokepokepokepoke
As I got up, the bemused couple at the next table offered up, "You've got your hands full there, buddy!" "You don't' know the half of it, friends" I returned. "There she goes", the young lady said, pointing. I hustled to catch up with my little dancing queen.
Finally i just gave in. Anne's so happy when she's a little lit and dancing. By the time the place was really hopping, the security of dancing masses gave me more cover.
On the way back to the table the for the last time, I had an interesting interaction with an obviously local Puerto Vallartan, who grabbed my arm as I passed by.
"Watch heem." the man said mysteriously with a somewhat thick accent.
"Watch who?" I asked.
"You must watch heem!" the man replied, nodding toward my friend Tod's back. "He has much to drink."
Now admittedly, I had missed much of Tod and Ann's evening with all the goings on with the dancing, but I was pretty sure that we were only talking a beer or two, and Tod's tank is considerably roomier before you'd notice anything.
I smiled at the gentleman and moved on. At the end of this very fun first evening, as we headed home, however, I did indeed watch heem just in case.
Got back from Puerto Vallarta on Tuesday. Had a great time with our good friends Tod and Ann York as always. For the most part the time was focused on relaxation on the beach with plenty of Mimosas.
However, the very first night we found ourselves at Andales, a cool spot in old town PV. We'd had a nice "first evening" dinner and stopped in for a beer or two - you know, with that just-arrived--this-vacation-will-last-forever anticipation of good times to come. We sat down and started having a great time and one thing led to another and before you know it...My Anne had consumed two drinks. yes, the second drink got by me.
The first warning sign was Anne stood up and kind of started dancing around a bit by her chair (they had GREAT music). That made me twitch a bit, but when I saw the two empty glasses in front of her the hair stood up on the back of my neck, and I knew what was coming next.
Dancing.
My wife is a very happy (but very infrequent) drunk, if one can in fact get drunk on two drinks. But once the dancing starts...
I'm a terrible dancer and always have been. Awkward, no rhythm, no moves (not even lame ones like Seth Rogan's dice role in knocked up). I have largely blacked-out memories of dance lessons and other efforts to amend this situation. Anne loves to dance so i get guilted into it.
Sure enough, Anne grabbed me and out to the COMPLETELY EMPTY "dance floor" (small space where no table happened to be located, at the apex of all bar operations traffic). I looked back plaintively over my shoulder at Tod and Ann.
She kept me out there for two songs, and then I managed to drag her back to our table - a task a little tougher than normal, I noted. Whew. Thank God that was over. I sat in recovery, but uncomfortably noted out of the corner of my eye that Anne was still moving around next to her chair. Don't look. Don't look. I tried to ignore this and engaged in some small talk with the Yorks.
Poke. Poke. Poke. (What is this? Someone's poking me in the ribs. Oh lord it's her.)
Oh no.
Only a few times in our 28 years had this happened. She wasn't going to stop. I found myself again dragged, apologizing to those mowed down, to the dance postage stamp. This time she kept me out there for 3 songs. At least a couple or two took mercy and joined us. Anne was having a grand old time. She even complemented me on leading her around (a misinterpretation of my desperate efforts to pull her out of the way of the serving staff and other patrons). At one point - no kidding - there was a donkey on the dance floor as well.
Exhausted, I finally got her back to our seats - but it wasn't easy.
pokepokepokepokepokepokepoke
As I got up, the bemused couple at the next table offered up, "You've got your hands full there, buddy!" "You don't' know the half of it, friends" I returned. "There she goes", the young lady said, pointing. I hustled to catch up with my little dancing queen.
Finally i just gave in. Anne's so happy when she's a little lit and dancing. By the time the place was really hopping, the security of dancing masses gave me more cover.
On the way back to the table the for the last time, I had an interesting interaction with an obviously local Puerto Vallartan, who grabbed my arm as I passed by.
"Watch heem." the man said mysteriously with a somewhat thick accent.
"Watch who?" I asked.
"You must watch heem!" the man replied, nodding toward my friend Tod's back. "He has much to drink."
Now admittedly, I had missed much of Tod and Ann's evening with all the goings on with the dancing, but I was pretty sure that we were only talking a beer or two, and Tod's tank is considerably roomier before you'd notice anything.
I smiled at the gentleman and moved on. At the end of this very fun first evening, as we headed home, however, I did indeed watch heem just in case.
Saturday, December 2, 2017
First post on First Day of Retirement
I retired once before, about 10 years ago. OK, it was semi-retirement and didn't really work out. The funnest thing I remember about it was writing my "semi-retirement blog".
I believe I've picked up many retirement skills in the intervening 10 years. so I think I'll be more successful at it. You be the judge.
This is a placeholder to get my blog started. I intend to post a lot; a combination of observations on retirement in America, some stories from my career at the dawn of personal computing, and some posts on what I'm up to now. Absolutely nobody will have any reason to be interested unless there's a little humor, which I'm told was a good thing about my semi-retirement blog.
My wife is Anne. Our first retirement activity is Puerto Vallarta for a week.
Blog ya from there.
I retired once before, about 10 years ago. OK, it was semi-retirement and didn't really work out. The funnest thing I remember about it was writing my "semi-retirement blog".
I believe I've picked up many retirement skills in the intervening 10 years. so I think I'll be more successful at it. You be the judge.
This is a placeholder to get my blog started. I intend to post a lot; a combination of observations on retirement in America, some stories from my career at the dawn of personal computing, and some posts on what I'm up to now. Absolutely nobody will have any reason to be interested unless there's a little humor, which I'm told was a good thing about my semi-retirement blog.
My wife is Anne. Our first retirement activity is Puerto Vallarta for a week.
Blog ya from there.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)