ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (MDM) — I didn’t expect the bagpiper.
I was just settling into my room at the luxurious Hamster Inn & Suites in Kingperson on Friday afternoon when I heard a faint but unmistakable bleating.
“Who in billy hell would be listening to the bloody bagpipes at the luxurious Hamster Inn & Suites in Kingperson on a Friday afternoon?” I asked myself, being alone in the room save for the voices in my head, one of which may very well have been playing the pipes.
I put an ear to one wall, and then to the other, but couldn’t locate the source. And then I looked out the window.
There he was, three floors below, all kitted up and marching about, not so much listening to the pipes as playing them.
Turns out there was a firefighters’ gathering at the hotel, and also a Teamsters’ meeting, but I’m going to guess our man was affiliated with the former as I don’t believe the bagpipers have gotten themselves organized yet.
The final day of Le Shew Bigge proved uneventful, as it always does, and so after a hot lap to see if I’d overlooked anything I fled south and east to Kingperson, where I finally got a decent night’s sleep.
The rest of the trip was without incident, save for the inevitable construction slowdowns peppering I-40 and one exasperating 10-minute stop just outside Ash Fork caused by a mechanical (not mine). These were the only downsides of flying Air Subaru. All departures were as scheduled because they were unscheduled, the only person dragging me around was me, and my luggage didn’t wind up in Lesser Spaminacanistan when I reached my final destination.
“But Your Dogship!” you may expostulate. “The show! The show! Did you see anything that delighted you no end?”
Why yes, yes indeed, I did notice one thing that put a smile on my lips and a song in my heart. And here it is.
Th-th-th-that’s ALL, folks!
Mad Blog Media 
Going back to the “world.” Congrats on getting home safe, sound, and relatively sane.
How about the embargo? Give it any thought?
Thanks, Pat. I wasn’t home more than five minutes before I was firing up the grill to deal with some ribeyes Herself had collected to celebrate my triumphant return. Spuds, asparagus, salad, the works. A fine way to re-enter the world.
As regards the boycott, now, I’m conflicted. I hate to waste an opportunity to bring the snark. But I also engaged in a nearly complete media fast over the past week, save for that which was forced upon me by Sin City, and I can’t say it did me any harm.
My inclination is to leave him out of our little club, provide a bit of respite from the shit monsoon. I won’t promise not to mention him now and again, when he does something truly heinous — or when his tab finally comes due. But I won’t go out of my way to discuss his daily derangement, either.
Yum! As far as the embargo, I like your idea. Leave out his normal “look at me” daily bullshit. Arrogant asshole loves being the biggest elephant in the room; why give him the room?
Got a metric century in line tomorrow. Piloting the Soma ES, which I just detailed, lubed, and adjusted.
I too endorse PO’G’s embargo proposal……I find it a wise, statesperson-like solution that embodies what I thought I learned 60 years ago was the essence of politics: The Art of Compromise.
Aaaaaah, the good old days! 🙂
The Art of Compromise. Seems to have gone out of style, hey? Maybe schools were forced to drop that from the curriculum along with the rest of the arts.
Congrats on returning to The World, Patrick. Your feelings on leaving Lost Wages are similar to what mine were when I left Tampon, FL after a Geological Society of American conference back in the day when I did geology rather than whatever it is I do now. That rear view mirror looked nice.
My better half retires from Le Bombe Factorie at the end of the month which is none too soon for her as no one quite knows what they are doing with the Environmental Programs contract. She will be relieved to put that uncertainty in the rear view mirror, but I’m still worried about how many of my bad habits I can support on one salary plus her retirement. Stay tuned.
Hi Khal! If your are thinking of retirement soon, I offer a suggestion. Sandy and I lived on our projected retirement pay for 20 months before actually pulling the retirement trigger. We just wanted to test the financial waters and ensure we would not have to hit the rainy day funds except for true emergencies. Worked for us. Might be a good time for you to do the same.
I like Pat’s thinking on retirement. We test-drive cars, bikes, computers and cameras, but when it comes to retirement we just sort of dive right in. Is there a pig in that poke, or just a couple slices of old turkey bacon?
Herself will never let me retire, of course, so it’s not an issue for me. “Sit down at that computer and make me some money, Baldo,” she chirps.
That is a good suggestion, Pat. Not sure what I will do when I pull the plug on a career in WMD. Maybe work in a bike shop. Bombs to Bikes. Kinda has a nice ring to it.
How about more advocacy? The local and state bikey types can always use another bod’. Especially one that already knows the drill.
Thought about that too, and a dozen other things. Trouble is, I always end up in no-man’s land when I get into advocacy and everyone ends up made at me.
http://northmesamutts.blogspot.com/2017/09/mothers-demand-action-live-at-los.html
My brain hurts.
“mad” not “made”. zzzzz……
Whew. You don’t want those made guys mad at you. Capisce?
Baldo?
Looking down at Sin City as the Southwest 737 flew outta there on my way to Omaha with only 40 souls onboard (who leaves Las Vegas at 8 PM on a Friday night?) gave me the same smile. I’ll never have to set foot in that gawdawful place again.
Now the countdown to leaving the USA begins…we’re in Italy starting in January 2018 through August..but how long are we gonna be in the USA after that? My hope is just a few months, but a lot of stuff needs to happen to make that happen.
Hi Larry, are you going to live in Sicily or Tuscany? Have you narrowed down the town? I enjoy your blog posts at your site. The vintage bike event in Emiglia-Romagna? Marché? area you attended looked great.
I feel your pain, being a snare drummer in a pipe band. Been doing this long enough to tell when they’re actually out of tune (vs. the usual “when noise is coming out”). Only makes it worse.
Actually, I like the music, but admitting that just goes to the pipers’ heads.
The embargo is ok with me. I will welcome you weighing in on Shitler Trumputin now and again. You did encourage me to get a WaPo subscription. Now about that Tern…..yummy.