I hope none of yis paid this tab.*
March has been heavy on various home “improvement” projects, visitations, landscape maintenance, a decline in the healthful and refreshing outdoor exercise, an abnormally spastic conga line of nightmares in the headlines, and an accelerating oscillation between exasperation and ennui that eventually led me to declare — and mind you, I’m quoting from memory, which is an unreliable source in the best of times, but it seems to me that these were more or less my words — “Fuck this shit.”
When even I find my musings unamusing, concerning perhaps, possibly even actionable, and yet the only place to run is off at the mouth, well … it’s time to batten the gob. Tick a lock. Zip it. Nobody wants to hear that shit, not even me, not even for free. “Tell it to Anne Frank,” as Jim Harrison’s titular character in “Warlock” was said to quip to those who whined about life’s difficulties.
So, yeah. An extended period of the shutting the fuck up seemed prudent. You’re welcome. We now return you to our usually scheduled blog, which is already in progress.
* Sorry, no refunds. Yrs., etc., The Kidnappers.
Mad Blog Media 
Word, mi amigo. All of us require a pause to “sweeten up” occasionally. We are in Oro Valley to watch Andy in his first triathlon. His college buddy is here with him. We go home tomorrow after the event.
Oro Valley? That’s just a wee bit north of Ye Olde Dogge Haus at Orange Grove and Oracle, circa 1980. Where’s the venue? Hope you guys are enjoying better weather than we are. The wind could peel you like a banana.
Aha: This must be the place.
Good luck to Andy. Never did a tri myself, other than a team tri (bike leg) at Washington Park in Denver many moons ago. Hal’s wife, Mary, and I did the Mount Taylor Winter Quadrathlon in Grants, N.M., a number of times and did pretty well (I did the bike and run, Mary did the ski and snowshoe). And I raced a duathlon or two, in B-burg and at McDowell Mountain Regional Park outside Fountain Hills.
He and his college buddy Matt, from St. Louis, are doing the beginners race. They just want to get a taste to see if they like it. Andy wants to do a longer version in the spring in Seattle.
Drove right past your old digs, if it’s still there.
I liked multisport, what little I did of it. Seemed there were fewer of the dead-serious, humorless athletes and more people just doing it for fun.
Dunno about the old casita on Orange Grove. The entire property was in pretty poor repair the last time I saw it, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it had gotten scraped. That was the northern boonies back in 1980 and the high-rent district even then. God only knows what the property was worth.
PO’B: Enjoy! Great riding up that way whether you’re a curly bar cyclist or MTB’er.
For beer, I recommend the Barrio Hazy IPA that’s locally produced in Tucson.
Meanwhile ….. only 28 inches of snow here at our place in the Bibleburg area. BUT it’s a wet, heavy snow! ENJOY!!!!
My favorite restaurants in The Old Pueblo remain El Minuto, El Charro, and Mi Nidito. I understand the latter just changed hands. And El Charro has an Oro Valley location now.
With early (really early) spring here I can relate to your landscape efforts. Mine involved all manner of Stihl noise makers including chainsaws (assorted) blowers, trimmers and other manual devices of muscle-torture implements. But the jungle has been beaten back to make room for the pros to bring in 15 yards of top soil. Oh joy, that’ll be fun leveling that out. Maybe I can budget renting a power rake. Normally a live-and let-live guy, the invasive vines, buckthorn, bittersweet and poison fucking ivy HAD to go. Will replace with jumbo field grasses. Will give the deer someplace to stash their newborn fawns during the day as they feed.
The deer are really enjoying our revamped back yard. They express their appreciation by shitting all over any sections they aren’t currently using for naptime.