Rather Random

Today has been a strange sort o' day, in a number o' ways.  First and foremost there's that anniversary thing, which is always marked with reflection and a good degree of introspection on my part.  This year hasn't been much different in that regard.

What HAS been different is my physical condition.  I'll try not to flog dead draft animals too hard, but I've been... umm... less than optimum.  The pain-killers I'm on have caused me to spend a lot o' time on the couch in a semi-conscious state o' mind.  Shorter: I'm sleeping a LOT.  

Excess sleep has had some interesting effects, like the fact I woke up at 0400 hrs this morning and couldn't get back to sleep, no matter how hard I tried... and I tried.  So we got up, fired off the coffee pot, put a post up sometime after 0430 hrs, made the rounds o' blogs not yet updated, surfed the 'net, played with our finances a lil bit and just generally hung out.  The morning progressed slowly until the rest o' the world woke up, at which time we went and got The Tart cleaned up inside and out, ran out to Cannon Airplane Patch for to make a commissary run (more soft food, please!), get my bi-monthly haircut, came home, unloaded the groceries, put them away, grabbed a lil lunch, and launched Happy Hour... all well before noon.  Which is really weird, Gentle Reader, seein' as how I'm normally pouring my second cup at that time.

We were finishing our first beer when SN1 dropped us a note, asking if we were available for a Skype session?  Why, yes.  Yes, we were.  And we did.  I really me some technology, especially when it allows me to catch up with what's goin' on in the AOR.  What a change from those old HAM radio communications we had back in my day... and anyone who "benefited" from a MARS call back in the day knows exactly what I'm on about.  Over?  Over!

So, we've just renewed our meds and are about to launch Happy Hour, Part Deux.  But one more thang before we go...  Remember how ecstatic I was about The Lovely Renee and the fact I finally found a barberess who cut my hair the way **I** wanted it cut?  Well, scratch that.  Renee has moved on to greener pastures (ABQ, so I'm told) and I'm out in the cold yet again.  The good news is the lady that cut my hair today didn't do a bad job, so mebbe there's hope.

So... beer me!

Today's Happy Hour Soundtrack... Owning the Gray

The Grateful Dead...

The shoe on the hand that fits, there's really nothin' much to it
Whistle through your teeth and spit, 'cause it's all right
Oh well a touch of grey, kinda suits you anyway,
That is all I had to say, if it's all right
I will get by, I will get by, I will get by, I will survive. 

Heh.  I bought this album and really liked the song when the album first came out these 25 years ago.  That was about the time when those first touches of gray began to appear and they most certainly "kinda suits me, anyway."  That was then... this is now, when we're ALL gray.

So... fast forward to yesterday when we made our second visit to the lovely Renee, exactly two months to the day since our first visit.  I still love the girl dearly, mainly coz she sez all the right things, at exactly the right time.  Case in point:

She:  I can't get over how beautiful your hair is... it's so thick and so healthy!
Me:  Yeah, in places.

The "in places" bit is in reference to my widow's peak, which is getting quite thin, of late.  (Interesting term, that.)  But we digress, and we shall digress further.  My quarterly visits to the barber shop will likely devolve into bi-monthly or even monthly visits in future, mainly coz Renee cuts my hair like I want it to be cut... which is to say longish.  We did quarterly visits to our barber in the past, coz it took at least that long for our hair to grow out after past barbering butchering sessions.  No more, however.  This most recent visit, at two months, might have erred on the two-weeks-too-long side.  But we'll see.

Digressions aside, Renee recommended I stop by Sally's and pick up a bottle of Shimmer Lights shampoo, all the better to bring out the "stunning silver" in my hair (her words... like I said: she sez all the right things at all the right times).  I demurred on the Sally's bit, mainly coz a trip to Sally's in The Big(ger) City™ would have resulted in a 40 mile side-trip on my way home.  But I WAS interested enough to go out to Amazon and check out the recommended product, which is sorta spendy.  I don't mind "owning the gray," coz I earned all of that.  OTOH, if shimmering gray silver hair is considered sexy in some demographics it MIGHT help my campaign to avoid sleeping alone for the rest o' my life.

I'm tempted.

Miscellanea

We're just in from a round-robin errand run, which included a trip over to The Big(ger) City™ for our annual eye exam... the first since my cataract surgery last Spring... and running The Green Hornet through the car wash.  Then it was out to Cannon Airplane Patch for to re-supply the likker locker and the beer section of my fridge.  Then on to the BX, the barber shop, and finally the commissary to pick up a few odds and ends, one of which was a delicious-looking flank steak.

In relative order... my eyes are healthy.  No changes in status, no correction required, good pressure, no signs of glaucoma or any other debilitating eye disease.  All in all a good experience, except for the time o' day I had to be there: 1030 hrs.  We don't DO mornings as a general rule but we were on time for this exercise, and fully-caffeinated, at that.

So... we have a fresh bottle of JW Green.  Now that the weather has warmed up I find my whiskey consumption has increased by an order of magnitude... at the very least.  We were out on the verandah until nearly 2200 hrs last evening and enjoyed three rounds of Green along with some excellent company.

I got my quarterly haircut today and I FINALLY found a lady at the base barbershop who cuts my hair exactly like I want it cut.  Her name is Renee and she's only been at the chop-shop for two weeks now but I already love her.  Yes I do.  Here's the result:

I thought... seriously... about reverting back to full-blown hippie mode, seein' as how it's been more than three months since my last haircut.  My hair (before the barbering) was longer than it's been in quite some time, so why not go all the way?  But then I thought... even MORE seriously... about what a hassle long hair can be, especially if one has a convertible and one is given to driving with the top down more often than not.  I can still remember trying to untangle/unknot my hair the first time I went for an extended drive without putting it in to a pony tail or up under a hat.  I did THAT stoopid-human trick exactly once.  Never again.  

And then there's the washing, the drying, and all that other krep.  Click on the photo at the right to see what I looked like about ten years ago, give or take a month.

So... no full-blown-hippie look for me.  Just a half-assed hippie look, and that works.  Sorta.  Renee likes it, anyway.