Archive for the ‘Life’ Category
It’s been almost a year since my dog, Max, passed away. I think about that dog a lot. But not nearly as much as the roommate he left behind, Murphy. Since Max has been gone, Murphy went from being a happy-go-lucky ball of fur to being lonely and depressed. I’m nod Cesar Milan, but I’ve seen this with my own eyes. So because of that he went from being an outdoor dog to being an indoor dog. He absolutely hates being alone, so when I have put him in the backyard for whatever reason, he flips out. He hates the backyard. And do he has done whatever it takes to not stay back there. And that includes eating my fence to get out. More than once I’ve gotten home to find Murphy sitting at the front door waiting for me. He has no interest in roaming around the neighborhood or causing trouble. He just doesn’t want to be in the backyard alone.
So this past weekend, I spent the days working on rebuilding the gates that Murphy had torn up. My Dad, being the jack-of-all-trades type, gave me a hand. So far it looks pretty good. We also took some precautions should Murphy decide to make this new fence an appetizer again. I bought some stuff from Petco called Bitter Apple Spray. Apparently, it’s supposed to taste so bad that dogs want no part of it. I sprayed that all over the bottom of the fence. Sadly, I don’t have much faith in it. I mean, when your dog likes the way a fence tastes, then he probably will like the taste of anything.
-Dave Q.
Wow. I’ve been out of it for a while.
So I’ve been traveling a crap load a lot lately. Some for work. Some for family. It feels good to be home, until the next trip potentially later this month. Jeez. I just want to stay put for a while. But what can you do? Duty calls.
I’ve also had some major events happening in life. They are too personal to share here. But they haven’t been without significant impact. Life has been a roller coaster lately. Highs and lows. Twists and turns. I just need some time to catch my breath.
Funny thing is that I was in Costa Rica the past 2 weeks on vacation. And now that I’m back, I feel I need a vacation. Just need some time to relax. Maybe this weekend.
-Dave Q.
Yesterday, I lost my Grandfather. He passed away after it was discovered last week that he had an advanced case of prostate cancer. I wish I could be in Costa Rica for the funeral, but I am stuck in Boston for a few more days. Had the funeral been planned for the weekend, I might have been able to make it. But apparently there is a quick turnaround on these sort of things in Costa Rica, and the funeral is today.
I wish I could be therefor my Father. He left last Thrusday to Costa Rica after my Grandfather’s condition worsened. I’m glad he had a chance to say goodbye. I know if I were in his shoes, I would have wanted that opportunity. I know he’s hurting because of this. My Father is a stong man, but the heart can only take so much.
I never knew my Grandfather as well as I would have liked. The physical distance between us was one reason. The language barrier was the other. I will always regret that, but it wasn’t anything I could do much about. Or was there? Of course now I can second guess just about everything I did or didn’t do. And I am.
At this point I’m looking to just get back home and be with family. This trip can’t end soon enough. But one thing my Father has instilled in me is that you can’t back out of a commitment. Which is what his Father taught him. So while it would be understandable to call my boss and tell her that I have to leave, it wouldn’t be what they would want. So I’ll stick around. With a heavy heart.
-Dave Q.
Today I got some disheartening news. I found out that my Grandfather is suffering from advanced prostate cancer. I know nothing about medicine, but that doesn’t sound good to me. From what I understand, he is going to have surgery this week. Until we hear the results of this, all we can do is pray for the best. Making matters worse, my Grandmother isn’t doing to hot either. She has a bad elbow and recently fell hurting herself. She is in the hospital awaiting her second suregery. Both of my hurting grandparents are my Father’s parents.
My grandparents live in Costa Rica. Geography has kept me from having close relationships with family there. In recent years, I have been able to communicate with them much more frequently thanks to technology, but my grandparents are old school, and never got into any of this. But that’s no excuse for me to not call more often. My Spanish being pathetic at best doesn’t help the situation. Phone calls are difficult because of the communication barrier. I regret not being a better Spanish speaker.
I have a trip to Costa Rica scheduled this summer. Needless to say, it just got a lot more significant. I want to get there as soon as possible and see them, along with all my other family. No doubt there will be a good amount of soul searching on this trip. In more ways than one.
-Dave Q.
It’s June. And so far it’s been an okay year for me. Nothing to complain about, but nothing to go crazy for, yet. Just an “OK” year. But if I compare my year to the year my little sister is having, then it becomes significantly less impressive. My little sister is on a roll! Allow me to elaborate…
For the last couple of years, my little sister, Olga, has been working hard to finishing her degree. Well, late last month she received her masters degree in some field that I feel sould be kept quiet since it sounds like she will be working for the feds in the near future. Nice! But before that happened, Olga and her husband Neal moved to North Carolina, and recently bought their first house. Again, nice…
As if that wasn’t enough, the week before her graduation, Olga announces to my family that she is pregnant! Outstanding! And to close out the month of May, my brother-in-law Neal, who is in the military, gets promoted. Damn! For God’s sake, buy a lottery ticket!!
Come to think of it, all that happened in the last 60 days. Jeez. I think 2010 is going to continue to be a great year for them. If anyone deserves good things to come her way, it’s my little sister. And I know if she decides to buy a winning lottery ticket that she will forget all those times I terrorized her when we were kids. Right, Olga?…. Right? … (crickets)…
-Dave Q.
There are only 9 days left until Easter. Which means in 9 days I am going to have a cheeseburger. And a steak. At the same time.
Actually, I can’t say that Lent has been too bad this year. I gave up red meat, but I haven’t missed it as much as I thought I would. Plus, it’s not necessarily a bad thing for your health to lay off of red meat every now and then. So, I’m calling this a win-win. Also contributing to this “win” is that I ate plenty of sushi over the last few weeks, which makes me happy. I wonder what my mercury levels are now. Hmmm.
Like it wasn’t easy for Kermit the Frog to be green, it’s not easy being Catholic. And when you’re not the best Catholic around, you try and make up for your shortcomings during Lent. So seeing as how I didn’t sacrifice too much this year, I must have been good in 2009, right?? Nah. I just didn’t plan properly and couldn’t come up with a good sacrifice. But something is better than nothing… I hope.
-Dave Q.
My mind is saying “yes”, but my body is saying “no”.
Let me start by saying I had an awesome time skiing! I should have done it a loooong time ago. I did a lot better than I thought, even with all the countless falls and humiliation from 8 year-olds skiing up to me and asking if I was ok. Damn kids. I will definitely go again the next time the opportunity presents itself. It was fun and and made even better by the group of people on the trip. Good times, good times…
That being said, my hip is effin’ killing me! I don’t know what exactly I did to it, but it definitely happened on the slopes. I was sore from a lot of places during the trip, but as aches and pains have subsided from muscles used that probably never had been, one pain lingers: my right hip. It feels like something wants to pop every time I stand up from sitting down. It’s not excruciating, but it’s a steady pain that Advil isn’t having much of an effect on. So what would be the smart thing to do? Probably rest it, right? Nah. What did smart guy do tonight? I played volleyball like a dumb-ass. WTF was I thinking???
All that jumping from volleyball made the pain much worse. How stupid was that? Not the stupidest thing I’ve ever done, but it’s up there. Easily in my top 20. Anyway, I will be popping some more pain killers before bed and rubbing some Icy Hot in that area. Why Icy Hot you ask? Because at this point, I’ll try anything. I’m thinking that if I don’t show some improvement by Thursday, then maybe I’ll need to pay a visit to the doc. And I avoid going to the doc as much as possible, so you know I’m not messing around.
Obviously, I’m not growing old gracefully. Sadly, my ego is writing checks my body can’t cash. I wonder how I would be feeling if this happened 10 years ago. How fast would I bounce back? Would I even miss a beat? I’ll never know. What I do know is that it hurts to put pants on. Which makes me think that I should go pants-less this week. Pants are overrated anyway… 
-Dave Q.
I’m leaving on a jet plane…
I never sleep well the night before a flight. Hence, my reason for being up right now. I had a bad experience flying back home from a trip to Costa Rica back in 2002. I never fully recovered from that scare. So I think my body keeps me up the night before a flight so that I can sleep easier while airborne. Anyway, tomorrow I’m heading to New Hampshire to go skiing. Why is this significant? Well, for starters, I’ve never been skiing. And also, I hate the cold weather. So why am I doing this? Lots of reasons. But the biggest is that I want that new experience. I figure I’m at an age when I should do as much as I can while I have the means to do it. It’s not quite the adventure that jumping out of an airplane would be, but an adventure nevertheless. Also, the tickets are non-refundable. 
So I’ve heard so many things about what to expect on this trip. A couple of friends say I will love it. Others say to check my ego at the door because I’m going to fall. A lot. And others say that I need to avoid trees so I don’t get the Sonny Bono treatment. Well, I will try and do all those things. My number 1 goal on this trip is to have fun. My number 2 goal on this trip is to come back in one piece. However, I do reserve the right to change the order on those goals.
I won’t be doing any blogging while over there, not that I’ve been doing much of that at all lately, anyway. But I will be posting some updates on Twitter along with some pics. If anyone has any last minute advice for a novice skier, please send some my way. I beg you. I simply can’t have enough help on this. Also, isn’t it just my luck to be leaving San Antonio just as the weather decides to get perfect? Oh well.
Let’s hit the slopes!
-Dave Q.
