furniture

 I better understand the appeal of the austere post modern furniture aesthetic.

werk

would i?

so much context. too much inward insight. 

latex gloves in kitchens

the biggest collective lie we all participate in, or worst sanitary practice we inexplicably accept, is the great mistruth of food workers wearing disposable gloves.  

not once have they changed their gloves. nor have I seen him wipe his gloved hands since cracking two raw eggs. 

Wednesday

I dont know. all I know is Wednesday and i are meant to be together. 

pet peeve #9203

guys whose biceps are bigger than my thighs.

15% vs 20% ? ? ?

it is reeeally hard to respect these western cuisine restaurant servers who can't handle 4 or 5 tables compared to what we had to deal with in the Chinese restaurant.

idk. maybe its her first day.

leave

i must leave before I fall in love again.

oh no....

....too late. 

brutal, 47 degrees and pouring rain

this is why you do early vote!

$12.99 absurdity

12.99 at Honest Restaurant. even comes with a cute little bottle of mango Lassi 

end of daily shit show wine

what a shitshow

is shitshow one word or two words?

 either way... a shit show.

qualities

after this Georgia experience, the only quality I will require in a partner is the ability to follow instructions and fill forms out correctly. 

croutons

I will never understand croutons in salad.  it's already crunchy, why are you adding more crunchy to already crunchy?

hotel water

atlanta hotel water > phoenix hotel water 

georgia 2022

feels a lot like georgia 2020

who am I?

check in luggage is a revelation.  

my own blanket for the 3 weeks in this hotel, most of the comforts of home, good shampoo amd conditioner, bringing home good local beer and wine, bringing home a nice new foam pillow. 

sooo much capacity

PHX soundtrack

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=j5uAR9w7LBg

HNL v. NYC

honolulu now feels like new york city compared to Phoenix.  I didn't realize how bad the traffic is and how many people are everywhere here until experiencing the low density of Phoenix.

 roads really suck here too but I knew that already. 

what's the question?

can't find an answer without the question first.

Tied Game!

Chantico: 3

Farish House: 3

chantico with the last minute score to tie it. 

happy hour at chantico is a good thing. 

extended stay housekeeper,

I appreciate the toilet paper flower, but I would've more appreciated if you had spent your time giving me an extra roll of toilet paper to last the 7 days until you come again.  

what am I paying for?

75 bucks for a delicious meal with great wine, about 1.25 hours of pleasure...

its an opportunity cost question. 

the score

Farish House: 3

Chantico: 2

its a tough choice between the two.  Farish House entrees are very simple, let the ingredients speak for themselves kind of deal. but the apps are more flavorful. 

chantico is modern Mexican with exactly what I'm looking for. and their portions are great.

I will try to even the score before I leave. 

Chantico's cochinita pibil.

back home at Farish House

French music this time around 👌

table for one please

I've spent waaay too much money eating in nice,  romantic restaurants by myself in the 38 days I've been in Arizon.

but I literally cannot see what I'm eating it so dark in this restaurant. it's good, i just don't know what I'm eating.  I had to take this long exposure night photo to confirm I got what I ordered. 

Farish House my new BFF

At my new BFFs again with a glass of Elena Walch 2020, and lounge jazz.

update: now live lounge jazz trio, not that prerecorded Sinatra crap:

chantico

5 🌟 

Farish house is #1,Chantico is #1a

duck tamales

old but competent

these 18 to 20 year old children I'm processing to start the job make me feel old. 

but the older people im processing make me feel competent.  competence permeates at every level I've learned.  from the first impression, to how well they fill out a I2 form, to their ability to follow instructions and bring appropriate documentation, to complaining about the job before they even started, a persons competence/character shows up at every level. 

I may be old but at least im competent. 

options

lay in a pitch black, sound proof box full of salt water by myself, or interact with the humans 🤔 

2022 War of Arizona

 

this war will end on November 8, 2022 and two days later I'll be shipped back to my condo. there'll be an adjustment period of course: it may be depression, joy, maybe relief, accomplishment, maybe a bit of ennui, or purposelessness, we'll see. 

but then what? a perverted desire to do it again for my 6th tour? 2016 PTSD flashbacks if we lose the house or senate?

one day this war is going to end and I don't know how i feel about that. 

because life is simple here. 40 dollar per day food stipend and a hotel room. means you do your 8.5 hours of work a day, six days a week, buy cheap and delicious takeout meals for every meal. suddenly you have more spare time than you ever did back home.  work, eat, sleep, rest, occasional beer with the crew. life is simple here in the suck.  no family, no friends, no decison making, no cooking, no chores.  just work and not-work. 

we are all counting the days (20 days left now) until we are relieved of this burdensome task and allowed to go back home... to that easy familiar old life, not appreciating the simpleness of this moment.

Will we miss this when it's gone? not the hard work, of course not. But everything else? possibly. the sense of purpose, the challenges both physical and mental, the individual and group effort, the necessary faith in the strategy and competence of the leadership. the new friends. the sight and sound of strange new people, houses, plants, and mountains never seen before (except when I was deployed here in 2016). the simplicity. 

the sense of purpose, and belief that our sacrifice and pain will win a righteous, better future for our loved ones. 

The war analogies dont end...

I got pulled off the front lines after 3 weeks in the field, and put to work in the safe, air conditioned HQ in the rear. I feel like an evacuated casualty, or maybe soldier honorably reassigned for good of the war effort. 

we're all here making and shaping history through our marginally incremental individual contributions and no one but ourselves will know what we and our comrades in the trenches did to win (or lose) this war.we'll all be changed by the experience but no one will know what we did or how we did it. 

few will understand the physical and mental challenges we had to overcome within ourselves, nevermind the pain inflicted upon us by the enemy (republicans).  or the burden inflicted by our weaker willed comrades who didn't understand why they signed up to be in this war, or signed up for the wrong reasons and made our jobs even harder.  the dumb ones, the smart ones, the lazy, the hardworking ones, the sincere but incompetent, the insincere but competent, the introverts and extroverts. they were all here, like they are for every war. 

the HQ Generals, the non-commissioned officers, the grizzled staff sergeants, the field promotion lieutenants, the incompetent cadet school grads, and us the cannon fodder foot soldiers of course. 

after all our work and pain and sacrifice, we must trust that the few indivduals who we fought for to reap the fruits of our labor, will do right by our memory. 

it is what it is. 

also, I fell in love today. 

spreadsheets, my old friend

 i got demoted? promoted? side-moted? 

they pulled me off the turf and into admin to be a desk jockey.  I dont know how to feel about it... bittersweet is probably best way to describe it. 

I'm a good soldier and will do what needs to be done to incrementally move this war to the left... but the fight is happening on the doors. 

lots of war analogies on my mind. and coincidentally my tinnitus had gotten much worse lately, very apt.

another analogy. a football super star who dominate in the first half of a season helping his team win, then gets injured and is out for the season but the team goes on to win the superbowl.  he's standing on the sidelines helping and cheering his team, but he's not on the field and his team wins and he gets a ring (as do ball boys) cuz he contributed and played earlier on the season... but that ring don't feel earned.  

but If his team goes all the way to superbowl and then loses, that's a different story. 

best meal runner ups honorable mentions and never agains

chompies: Reubens, 21.99 for well stuffed but not 22 dollars worth sandwich and tiniest little thing of cole slaw. good. would return but not good value. 

to do list: ✔ 

winner winner duck leg confit dinner!

best meal of Arizona 2022.  The Farish House. poping wine list. fun intimate residential home location. five  ⭐'s

bitter greens, radicchio, gorgonzala cheese, walnuts, onions, orange marmalade vinaigrette + glass of Elena Walch 2020 Schiava red = 🥲

but running into coworkers working while going to dinner. 😬

toca madera

awful awful restaurant. pick a lane:  fancy restaurant. fancy bar with limited food. night club. fucking fire dancing woman. live dj. security in black suits. attractive and unhelpful hostesses.  super loud music.  pick a lane.  you can't be all of that. Jesus. 

cannon fodder

sometimes I feel like cannon fodder. like a Russian conscript sent to Ukraine in 2022.

house 1, day 1. 44 more to go

home sweet home

off to AZ to save the senate again

Phoenix we meet again

pre flight breakfast

wherever I go, there i am

day 1 breakfast, sonesta ES Suites

salt river

what

pet peeve #80

overly loud live music at bars and restaurants when you just want to enjoy a nice evening conversation and drink  without attending a concert. 

finally

what

what

cheers!

cheers to the end of the American experiment. it was fun while it lasted. 

I'll see you in hell, Clarence. 

no apologies

never love again

[i will never love again]

[hugging toilet, bottle of gin =/= love]

[dirty shower stall background)

two types of people in this world

1.  ends a text exchange at a reasonable and natural point of conclusion with clear mutual understanding 

2. "ok"

valentines day

from great pain comes great product design 

plague doctor cute bag

my covid tester nurse has the cutest backpack

gallows humor i believe they call this

boringdystopia?

biscuits and gravy

oh my God I love my air fryer

frozen curly fries

ketchup no.  homemade aoli: mayo, paprika , chili powder, garlic, onion powder,   pepper, msg, oregano 

corners and nooks

kauai 2022