Stay Gold, Ponyboy!

 Well, this has been nice. 

    We had yesterday off, and today off too, so far at least. 

   It being Monday, the Office People (Long may they shit light on the heads of the damned) like to play "Surprise, asshole!" and throw last-minute cargoes and other clusterfucks on us, so I'm not sold on the idea of having a second day off in a row, but we're approaching noon, and a day-and-a-half is pretty nice and pretty rare these days, so I ain't bitchin.'   At any rate, yesterday and today I went for long sunrise walks through Brooklyn around Brooklyn Bridge park and Dumbo, about 5 miles both mornings I guess. It's getting easier on my feet and joints as I lose weight. I no longer waddle.  Today was a trash day, though, so as I walked through part of Brooklyn Heights, I damn near threw up at the putrid garbage and piss smell that some areas were giving off.  Ah well. 

        With the time off, Big E and I got caught up on our maintenance and even ahead a bit on some things as far as stocking shelves and the like. I lose Big E this Wednesday, he's going home for 2 weeks. Normally, B comes back at this point for his month of joy and glory here, but B was working over on The Loaner, and the company offered him a bribe to stay on there for an extra week and suffer, and they're sending me some fill-in guy for a week. I haven't had the best luck with fill-in guys recently, but there's always a chance it'll be one of the old bunkering hands around here, racking up some OT.  Have to see.  

  It's also week 9 for me here since I was home last, which is only possible thanks to the friendship and support of Big E and B, after said fill-in guys and such made me want to make sweet mouth love to a .45. Regardless, Wednesday is halfway day of this 4 week tour on the HQ, which means that I am on the downhill slope, and there's a certain amount of inertia that carries me through at this point. Barring any surprises, I'll be headed home in 2 weeks. Already have my plane tickets sorted. 

   Speaking of plane tickets, yesterday I also bought the fam's tickets to Brazil for our next trip.  I went to a lot of trouble to organize time off over the holidays, made promises signed in blood, auctioned off my precious Seed, all the usual, to get holiday time off... and then I went to book tickets. Holy-O-dogshit, $9000 for round trip tickets!  And not good tickets. Steerage class, the cheapest ones, where you sit with the cattle, and the Irish. So, no, no holiday travel. Instead I will go in January, where tickets were only $3,000. Pretty good deal considering I'm going from Miami to Sao Paolo to the teeny little 2 gate airport in my new home a couple hours' flight back north from Sao Paolo.  The builder promises that our new house there will be finished. I hope so, because paying his ass, springing for a decent hotel for a couple of weeks would be a bear.