Because I already went and now I’m back. I guess I’m not really all that dressed up, just my normal work uniform, a business suit. Although it is custom made. Even has my name on it.

So, why did I clean myself up on a Saturday? Well, the 8th Army CG had his annual New Year’s reception this afternoon. It turned out to be a very nice affair. Got to mingle with all the brass and G.O.’s, eat some good food, and “show the flag”. The last being the main reason I attended. Got to keep up appearances and be a team player and all that political stuff. It’s all good and I had a nice time as well.

I’m thinkin’ on doing my Saturday night Itaewon wanderings in my suit and tie as well. A) because I’m too lazy to change, and B) why the hell not? The contrast between my blue jeans and ball cap look and me cleaned up might be fun for a little change of pace.

Gawd–what drivel this post is. Could be that you are what you write, but I ain’t going there.

What else? Sad news recently on the passing of LTC Frankenhauser. As I understand the story, he got hit by a bus while crossing the street near Yongsan Station. Really sad as by all accounts he was a good and well respected man. Leaves behind a wife and a couple of kids as well. I didn’t know him beyond a professional relationship, but he was a fine officer and a gentlemen in all my dealings with him. Rest in Peace, Sir.

His death serves as a blunt reminder that you just never know what day is gonna be your last one. And also that you cross the street at your peril in Korea. Not many here respect common traffic laws (like red lights) so the crosswalk with the green man inviting you to cross offers little protection. I tend to keep my guard up, but all it takes is a moments distraction and you are done. Ah well.

I mentioned in my previous post about getting cell phone spam at 3 a.m. Today my house phone rang at 5 a.m. Now, I never use my house phone. I don’t even have the number memorized. And it rarely rings, beyond an occasional telemarketer. When I say “sorry, no hangul-mal” (and I’m sure that is not the right word, but that’s what I say) they promptly hang up. That’s cool.

Well, by the time I roused myself out of my winter slumber and made it to the phone in the living room, I’d missed the call. Back in bed and wondering who the f**k would be calling, and it rang again. So, I rushed out to answer. I could barely hear who was talking and didn’t recognize the voice, although it was in English. Apparently he couldn’t hear me at all, and he eventually hung up.

Hmm, I reckon it was 3 p.m. Friday afternoon on the East coast, but not sure who would have the number even I don’t use there. I knew my mom went to the hospital Friday for a surgical procedure, so it had me worried enough that I couldn’t sleep. Called home later and talked to my daughter and everything is apparently ok. Which is a relief.

Up early with nothing to do, so I killed a few hours playing CIV IV. Did some ass kicking and won the game, but my score was under 6000 again. Which gave me the Neville Chamberlain ranking. Which basically sucks. Can’t figure out what I’m doing or how to gin up a higher score. Best I’ve ever done was a little over 10,000 points, but that was long ago and I have no idea how to replicate it. Do you?

Still with me? Get a life! Alright, let’s talk some darts. Friday night Dolce Tourney. In the Early Bird event, I drew Craig (one of my new teammates) as a partner. He’s a good thrower and we were feeling real confident about our chances. In the first round we faced off with JP and Eun Suk (one of the better female players in the league). Still, and meaning no disrespect, given our “A” division rankings, Craig and I had to be considered the favorites to win. Well, we dropped the first cricket leg in large part because the bullseye (which is actually one of my better targets) inexplicably deserted me. Ok, JP was throwing good, but I still wasn’t worried about our prospects. We played a close ’01 game, but Craig hit the out and the deciding leg was on. JP took the diddle and Eun Suk convinced him to play cricket. We played behind most of the game, in large part due to JP nailing some triples with a frequency that had me distressed. So, we started in on the bulls behind on points and our 17s and 18s open. We pounded in some bulls eyes and closed the 17. Craig hit 4 more bulls, which gave us the lead on points. I failed in my attempt to close 18, and they pointed to take the lead. So we have bulls closed and they have bulls wide open. The game was still ours to take. A couple more bulls and we were ahead on points again and just needed to close out the 18. Craig got the second one, but his third dart hit the wire on the 1 side. Damn.

No worries though, they still needed three bulls and even with a couple of untimely bounce outs, we were hitting at least one or two every throw. So, Eun Suk steps up and hits a triple 18 good for 54 points. Then she throws another triple 18. Our point lead was suddenly a negative 100. Eun Suk wasn’t finished though, with her third dart she hit a double bull! That would be an 8-mark and it proved to be our downfall. We never recovered and JP hit the final bull for the out. Strange way to lose, isn’t it?

Well, Eun Suk and JP wound up winning the tourney, but there was little comfort in that for us.

In the prime time event, I drew Seung Youb (ranked first in “A” division last season and another of my new teammates) as my partner. So, I figured our chances at the money were better than good. We drew a tough first round match against Dave New and Craig, but prevailed after three hard fought legs. That was our biggest challenge until the championship game, when we faced Greg and Simon. Again, statistically speaking, we had to be favored. Did I ever mention that I totally suck at statistics? Yep, they took us down in two legs and we had to settle for 2nd place.

But you know what? I had a great time playing darts last night. And I am really looking forward to the new season and my new team. League play starts Monday night. If you give a sh*t, you can read all about it hear. I’m figuring Duke at least enjoys my dart rants.

Hey, the door bell rang (that don’t happen all that often either). Oh, it is my new bidet being delivered. Wipe that smirk off your faces! (heh, wipe–no pun intended). I’ve been having a little medical problem so to speak, and this bidet is rumored to help with that. I was kinda sorta hoping that installation came with delivery, but apparently not. And my Korean is nowhere near good enough to ask about that. Or to read Hangul instructions for that matter. And I’m not particularly “handy” when it comes to home repairs.

Well, I will figure something out. Now I hear Itaewon and a cold OB (that’s a Korean beer if ya don’t know) or three beckoning me. So, I guess you could say I’m all dressed up and I DO have somewhere to go…

Long week. I dreamed Tuesday night that it was Friday morning and when I woke up to a Wednesday morning I was sorely disappointed. Kinda threw me off for the rest of the week.

Anyway, as we say in Army–NSTR (nothing significant to report). I did accomplish most of the things required to effectuate my tour extension. New ID, ration card, driver’s liscense, etc. I’ll see the ROK immigration folks on Monday about the renewed visa.

Also had the farewell luncheon for one of my star employees, Oscar. Top drawer and I hated to lose him but he prefers Germany to Korea, so whattaya gonna do?

Let’s see, what else have I been up to? Well, there’s this:

I needed to get somewhere and decided to walk there. I wasn’t particularly early or particularly late, so I walked along at a steady pace.

Earlier on I heard something that I wanted to remember. I found a pen and wrote it down on a piece of paper. If I need to be reminded of the information at any point I will find the piece of paper and read it.

I noticed that after eating my lunch a tub of low fat spread remained on the kitchen work surface. It did not have a lid on. I remedied the situation by replacing the lid and returning the container to the refrigerator.

I did not actually write the items that appear directly above. They are entries from the self-titled “Dullest Blog In The World”.

Now, I think I could compete in this blog category. In fact, can you tell where my blog post ends and his begins?

As my regular reader(s) know, I spend a fair amount of my off-duty time in Itaewon. Or as some less generous souls refer to it: Shitaewon.

Nice article in the Stars and Stripes talking about how things are changing here. It’s something I have noticed and commented on myself. Fewer sleazy bars (although there are still plenty around) more upscale restaurants and high end shopping. And I have also noticed that many more Koreans are spending quality time here these days, whereas in the recent past most Koreans tended to avoid the area altogether.

Here’s one example: one day a former employee asked if I would drop her off in Itaewon on my way home from work. She was meeting friends to try out one of the newly opened restaurants. As we entered town she said “oh, I hate Itaewon”. I asked her why and she matter-of-factly replied “too many Americans.” I was shocked and exclaimed “Ms. Kim, that is like me saying I hate Los Angeles because there are too many Koreans!” She said I didn’t understand what she meant. For her, as a single woman in Itaewon she was afraid people would look at her like she was searching for a foreigner boyfriend and she didn’t want to be thought of that way. Not sure that made me feel any better about her remark, but it was her honest feeling.

Anyway, it is good to see more of the locals out enjoying what really is a pretty vibrant and eclectic environment. We are even getting some brave Korean customers coming into Dolce Vita these days. Sometimes I think they are just there to watch the Miguks at play, but everyone gets along so I suppose Rodney King would be proud.

Stars and Stripes also had an article explaining how Itaewon got its name which is quite fascinating:

Itaewon has long been known as the foreigner’s neighborhood in South Korea.

The area got its name more than four centuries ago, when invading Japanese troops broke into a Buddhist temple there and raped the nuns.

When the Korean government returned to Seoul after the invasion, it allowed nuns who had gotten pregnant to live and raise their babies there at a nursery established for them.

The area was named I Tae Won. “I” means “different,” “Tae” means “fetus,” and “Won” means “home.” Some Japanese troops who surrendered at the end of the war settled in Itaewon, establishing a permanent foreign presence there.

During the 1600s, Itaewon’s name came to mean “large pear tree” because of the trees planted there. There isn’t a single remaining pear tree in Itaewon.

Itaewon is now home to most of Seoul’s expat population.

Even today, folks of mixed race ancestry are close to the bottom of social hierarchy here in Korea. One rung up from being a foreigner. I guess its for the best that we are all hanging out in our own little colony. Wouldn’t want to scare the children.

I say the above tongue-in-cheek. I am quite fond of the Korean people and almost all have been kind and respectful to me. I do not mean to be overly critical of cultural norms and traditions, but I am also glad to note that things are gradually changing for the better (at least from my perspective).

And here’s a final S&S story to “warm” your heart:

An 8th Army soldier allegedly set fire to an Itaewon restaurant after a night of binge drinking, South Korean police said.

Police said a 22-year-old Army specialist stationed at K-16 Air Base is under investigation for the early Thursday fire. He allegedly jumped onto the terrace of My Thai China, set fire to a mound of trash because he was cold, then passed out, police said.

The soldier, police said, was rescued from the blaze by Korean movie star Hong Suk-chon, who owns the My Thai China and four other Itaewon restaurants.

After calling emergency services, Hong spotted the soldier asleep on a chair inside the restaurant. He pulled the soldier from the building and carried him away from the fire on his back.

Police said Hong will not press charges against the soldier.

“[Hong] said he does not want the soldier to be punished since he did not believe the soldier did it intentionally,” the policeman said. “He was very worried about whether [the soldier] was injured.”

This story I am sure would have a different (less positive) spin the Korean media as the escapades of drunken soldiers get big play here. No excuse for this kind of conduct and it perpetuates a negative sterotype that is not the norm for the vast majority of military personnel serving in Korea. It takes one hundred good acts to overcome the damage caused by one foolish individual.

But what is most impressive here is the action and reaction of the business owner, Mr. Hong. His courage in rescuing the soldier is only matched by the genoristy of his forgiveness. That is an extremely rare combination these days in any country. I will make it a point to eat in one of Mr. Hong’s establishments as a small token of my esteem.

That’s the news from the ‘Twon.

Here’s a nice video from the USFK webpage talking about the benefits of living and working in Korea.

I’ve been here almost four years now, so I don’t need convincing. Still, as an HR guy I have to deal with recruitment and retention issues and let me tell you, it ain’t easy sometimes. To the extent that some folks impression of Korea is limited to old M*A*S*H episodes, perhaps this video will open some eyes.

Yeah, there is a crazy guy living up north who *may* have some nukes in his WMD arsenal, but I almost always feel safer here than I did in the states. Except when I’m driving.

Anyway, for those who are interested in the lifestyle here, check out the video linked above.

…then I should be pretty damn happy.

Here’s an example: Yesterday I spent a lazy day doing my usual routine of ‘net surfing and CIV IV. Around six I shower up and prepare to head out to Dolce for a special editon of the Friday night tourney–“Eric’s Last Hurrah”. Yep, another year, another friend rotating back to the States.

So anyway, after I got dressed I just didn’t feel right. Coudn’t put my finger on what it was, not exactly dizzy but off-kilter somehow. I even looked in the mirror to see if my glasses were dirty, but they seemed fine. Off I went to Dolce but I was still out of sorts. My dart game is always inconsistent, but I just couldn’t “get a feel” for my throws last night. I didn’t totally suck, but I was definitely off my game. In fact in a double elimination tourney, my partner Lonnie and I lost four straight legs and we were the first 8 teams to be eliminated. Which is unusual for me. As I told CH last night, I didn’t stick around long enough for him to beat me. Oh well.

I did stay for some free beers (Eric got a keg as a going away present). I guess the drinking gave me back some equilibrium, or at least the beer buzz made the out of sorts feeling seem natural. I went out for some bulgogi and then headed home. Where I discovered what had been wrong with me.

Get this–on the bathroom floor is one of the lenses from my eyeglasses. Yep, I had gone the whole night with half a pair of glasses and never noticed. Neither apparently did the 30-some people in Dolce Vita. I am sure some of the darters would have loved a good laugh at my expense had they noticed.

Well mystery solved and the diagnosis is late stage stupidity.

And just to underscore the ignorance point–these were my “backup” glasses I was wearing last night. The other day I took off my new glasses while changing my shirt and laid them on the bed. In the exact spot where I would ultimately sit down to put on my socks.

So today I will be making a visit to the eyeglass store for repairs wearing my back-up back-up frames. I will of course be completely cheerful in my response if he asks how I managed to break both pairs.

Hey, I must be a real happy guy. After all, ignorance is bliss!

back home it’s the day after Christmas now too. Tried to call the folks but was foiled by voice mail. Alas. Apparently the family is gathering in South Carolina on Sunday so I will call them Monday morning. This International Date Line thing is a trip, isn’t it?

Spent most of the day playing CIV IV. Heh, my other hobby. I usually manage to win, but I can’t seem to figure out how to build a respected score while doing so. I’m likely to keep trying.

Yesterday went fine. I love it when people specify how they prefer their steaks cooked. Like that’s gonna happen cooking on a grill that flames like the sparks of Satan. Gawd, that was a tortured metaphor, wasn’t it? And it was dark out on the balcony too. Anyway, most of the steaks came out more or less medium, except for the guy who asked for well done. His came out the rarest of all. But, it was blackest on the outside. Go figure. The cake (the one I added 1 1/4 cup too much water too) was not fit for serving, so I didn’t. Everyone was full up anyway (or so they professed) so we skipped the dessert all together.

Tonight its the regular Friday dart tourney at Dolce. I always look forward to that. I think this is the night we say farewell to Eric as well. Yep, another soldier blowing town. Good guy, he’ll be missed.

Egads, I’m really trying to do the “post a day” thing, but this drivel is mind numbing. So, I know Duke, Jim and Jenn are still dropping by. I will try and find something worthwhile to say but I’ve been saying that for about four years now, so don’t hold your breath.

Anyong.

Merry Christmas to each and every one!

I am far from a “bah humbug” frame of mind, although I can’t say I’ve caught much of a holiday good cheer kinda buzz. I did put up a Christmas tree this year. And played a Christmas CD. Last night threw some darts at Dolce with Jim, Eric and Natalie. Then went to Manila Bar for some Videoke. Butchered a few Christmas tunes but no one seemed to mind.

Stopped at a little dive on the way home for some galbi (marinated grilled pork) then home to be snug in my bed in case Santa stopped by. He didn’t, but no worries. I wasn’t that naughty!

This evening I’m having some folks over for dinner. Making steaks. Not exactly your traditional Christmas feast, but I wasn’t up to trying to bake a ham. Making a carrot cake for dessert, but I added to much water so I’m waiting to see how that’s gonna turn out.

And that’s my Christmas day. Hope yours is merry and bright.

My reader(s) know me all to well apparently.

I was catching up with Jenn over at “I’ve got 2 shoes” and she had a post mentioning that my blog had “disappeared”. Not disappeared in the sense that I haven’t posted jack shit in weeks, but disappeared in the sense that you could not reach it through the mysterious vagracies of those Internets. She updated to say that my blog was back (again, meaning accessible). There was one comment on Jenn’s post:

i was able to get into Long Time Gone’s blog but nothing has been updated. I think John is in another of his moods.

Well and aptly put NYinKorea!

I can’t leave comments at “I got 2 Shoes”. No, I haven’t been banned. Just that google ID thing won’t work for me. I mean I got one and all, but either I don’t remember something or I am just too stupid for Blogger. Sorta like when I was asked “are you really that ignorant or are you just apathetic?” I replied “I don’t know and I don’t care”.

ba da bing.

So, this makes two posts in two days. And who says quantity don’t beat quality?

Let’s see how long it takes someone to notice I really am back.

“got to be good looking ’cause he’s so hard to see…come together, right now, over me…”

Heh, I’ve not done a Beatles riff on my blog until now. Perhaps I should have continued to refrain from doing so, but I couldn’t resist the opportunity to pun.

Of course, I am talking about the Korean monetary unit, the Won (pronouced like “Juan”). Which is in the toilet these days. Folks like Jenn of I’ve Got Two Shoes fame who get paid in Korean money have seen what amounts to a significant pay cut. Me, I get paid in U.S. greenbacks, so I’m feeling almost wealthy these days.

When I first arrived in January 2005 the exchange rate was like W1030 to the dollar. Last year it dropped as low as W960 or so. Now it is over W1300 to the dollar. I exchanged $300. Friday and got almost 400,000 Won back. That’s 25% better than just a few months ago.

Not that I spend all that much money on the economy, I do most of my shopping on post. Still, it makes my beer tab cheaper and that’s a good thing.

“Money don’t buy everything it’s true
But what it don’t buy, I can’t use
Now give me money, that’s what I want…”

Not a bad one, all things considered.

Friday night was the regular Dolce Vita darts tournament. Chris H. and I played about as bad as you can play without losing. We wound up “good” enough for a first place finish. My partner in the second tourney was a little off (to be charitable). You know, in a blind draw format I just accept who I get without complaint. Lord knows I get a solid partner as least as often as a weak one. But damn, it is one thing to get a beginner and another thing to get a beginner who won’t take advice. And I don’t mean advice on technique, I mean basic darts strategy. For example, we had an 18 out (yeah, that was my doing, sue me) and he hits a single 9. No problem. I suggest a 1 double 4 but he tells me he doesn’t like the double four and throws a 3. Well, a 6 out is an out but it is fraught with peril. I of course proceeded to hit a 3, but salvaged a win with the good fortune of hitting the 1 double 1. Not that it mattered because we then got smoked in the cricket leg for a first round exit.

Anyway, I got Alistair for the 3rd tourney (see the good/bad does even out) and we played some decent games for the win.

Between tourneys, a couple of acquaintences from work came in and sat at the bar next to me. After they left the bar girls were laughing and talking in Korean and I said what’s so funny? They said “we have never noticed you were handsome before we saw you next to those two guys.” I am sure they didn’t realize that they had paid me an insult rather than a compliment, but that’s sorta the way things are in Korea. You either laugh or get bitter. Life is too short for bitterness, right?

Several hours later I encountered the same two gentlemen in Grand Ol’ Opry. They were feeling no pain (well, I am sure they were the next morning). Discretion and the rules of Itaewon preclude me from saying anything more about their antics.

Saturday night was the bachelor party for one of my Canadian buds, Von Jackass (aka Scott). We had the back room, 3 kegs of beer, and Seung Youb on the grill. Well, SY wasn’t on the grill, the pork and chicken wings were, but you get my meaning. If inebriation is a measure of having a good time, Scott was the happiest guy on Earth that night. After one of the many toasts in his honor I told him that there are only two times in a man’s life when he doesn’t understand women. Before marriage and after marriage. I noticed a lot of head nodding, so I guess it must be true. But then I was talking to a room full of drunk men, so who knows?

Later, Grant, Alistair, Matt and me (4/5s of next season’s version of Sliders) moseyed over to Blue Frog to throw some darts. We paired up and played some doubles for money and wound up splitting two sets, which was where we chose to put the darts away for the night. Sharp pointed things and drunks are not a safe and sane combination, not that we cared.

After a lazy Sunday playing CIV IV (did I mention I got my high score? I did.) I figured I would go out and, yep, you guessed it, throw some darts. There was a wedding party for Daniel at Dolce so I just said my hellos and moved on. Bless U was having some event that seemed to involve Formula 1 racing and Nigerians, so I didn’t even climb the stairs. Manila wasn’t open yet. Which left me with 3 Alley Pub as the best remaining option.

Turned out to be a good choice because my English buddy Neil was sitting at the bar and we had a nice chat whilst waiting for a dart board to open up. Neil is one of those “lucky” few who actually read my pathetic blog. Better yet, he purports to like it! That’s actually how we met as it was a friend of his that I saw fall out of a moving taxi which made for one of my great moments in blogging (I wasn’t kidding when I said this is a pathetic blog!). Anyway, he proceeded to ply me with shots of Jagermeister (which makes me gag, but good manners dictate that I accept the generous offer when made). After 3 or 4 I had a pretty good buzz going and Rodney and I threw same nice games. His darts have really improved the past year or so and I told him he needed to get his ass up to “A” division where it belongs.

Given that us Americans had to work on a Korean National Holiday (Buddha’s birthday), I made it an early night and journeyed back home (stopping for a beer at Manila Bar on the way).

And that my friends is the story of my weekend. Don’t hate me because I have such an outstanding life. Some of us are just born lucky. Or not.

1. Work has been sucking the life out of me.

2. I am always tired.

3. My boss is leaving this summer.

4. I’m expected to replace her.

5. See #1 and multipy by 10.

6. Attended a nice going away party for Petro at Hooters.

7. We lost the best player on our dart team and in Itaewon (see #6).

8. We lost the championship game to our arch rivals XOX 16-14 (see #7).

9. I played decent, but lost two legs I should have won (see #8).

10. I had dinner at Top Cloud, the restaurant on the 33rd floor of the Samsung Building.

11. The view was great, the buffet wasn’t worth the price.

12. If you go, order off the menu.

13. Went to the Latern Festival in Jong-no and enjoyed myself.

14. Found a great outdoor (garden) Korean restuarant in Insa-dong.

15. Sorry, I forget the name–I know it had garden in it.

16. I resigned as Captain of the dart team.

17. My granddaughter turned 3 on Children’s Day (May 5).

18. I haven’t seen her for over a year and that really sucks.

19. Last Friday night I went out drinking and when I left Debut bar the sun was coming up.

20. I didn’t go out on Saturday.

21. I got the results of my colonoscopy.

22. Negative for cancer.

23. But I have been advised I need to do another one in a year.

24. If one of the polyps had been any larger they would have removed part of my colon.

25. I’m glad I went when I did.

26. I have dreams about dying.

27. And that would really piss me off.

28. Because I will retire in 2 years, 6 months and 27 days.

29. Not that I’m counting.

30. I am ready to go back to the Philippines.

31. But likely won’t until September.

32. I hope I don’t sound depressed.

33. Because I really am not.

34. I’ll ‘fess up to melancholy.

35. I really think Obama is full of shit.

36. And would be very bad for America.

37. I think it is fair to judge someone by the company they keep.

38. And MAN, the WEATHER just ain’t WRIGHT.

39. If you get my meaning.

40. I got an invite to Scott’s wedding in two weeks.

41. Korean weddings are a lot of fun.

42. I’m thinking the guys night out this Saturday will be fun as well.

43. I have met some really great people here in Korea.

44. And I’m tired of saying goodbye to them.

45. Colin is next, but I can’t begrudge him much.

46. Because I’ve never seen him smile so much.

47. Love will do that to you I suppose.

48. And I will have someone I know when I travel to Vietnam.

49. I think I will go out and practice darts tonight.

50. Fifty is a good place to stop this nonsense, don’t ya think?

Heh, this is not a post about how frequently I have been posting lately.

Saturday night I went out to Apeujong and experienced a great Jazz club named, you got it, Once in a Blue Moon. Damn, I was impressed. Talented group of Koreans playing some fine jazz tunes. The singer was really amazing, especially when she did the thing with her voice to make it sound like a trombone. The trumpet player hit all the notes, but you know, it wasn’t from the soul if you get my meaning. But really, that’s the strongest criticism I can muster about the experience.

Had a nice 7 course dinner that was 70,000W, but it was tasty. Drinks were expensive as you might expect, but given the level of entertainment, I deemed it worth it.

So, if you are looking for a nice place to hear some live Jazz, then check out Once in a Blue Moon.

Well, what can I say except I’m sorry? No excuses, just that combination of winter malaise, lack of motivation, and nothing in particular to say that makes me such an unreliable blogger.

Tonight I Post! because some of you wonder if I am still amongst the living. Near as I can tell, that’s an affirmative. Although I feel the beginnings of a cold/sore throat thing in my chest and throat. Small stuff. Hmm, I heard a motivational speaker once say that there are only two big things in life, and everything else is the small stuff. And you should never worry about that small stuff. The two big things are being born and dying. Everything in between is the small stuff. Can you believe that guy makes a living talking that crap? It’s the modern equivalent of a snake oil salesman I suppose. But if it makes people feel better I guess there is no harm. Hell, I should thank the guy. It gave me a paragraph in what I suspect will be a rather meandering post.

Tonight I Post! will I guess just cover what I’ve been up to these past several weeks in reverse chronological order. To ease your pain I will try to limit myself to bullets. If you have been a regular around here (God help you!) you will be able to fill in the gaps quite easily I’m sure.

My father has been ill with pneumonia, which coupled with his emphysema has not been an easy go. Get well soon Dad!

Good news and bad news on the dart front: Monday we beat Rubbies 25-6. But 3 of those losses were mine. Which is ok, because I did manage to win six legs. The previous week I was 1-5 and responsible for a tough 16-15 loss to XOX. the first place team. Perspective is a beautiful thing.

Had a nice weekend visit from a fellow blogger, Jenn of I Got Two Shoes fame. She has already blogged the event here, and I can’t add anything else. Well, the “gay friendly” bar she mentions did not involve any friendliness on my part. Not that there is anything wrong with it.

Saturday night was the wedding reception of Duke and Ji Young. Very nice affair. Ji Young looked outstanding, and even Duke cleaned up pretty well. I wish them much happiness and success in the future. That old saw about the wife being the better half doesn’t apply to Duke. Ji Young is at least 2/3s better! Hey Duke, if you can’t take a joke, F.U.!

Actually, I would nickname Duke lucky except for one thing. His darts. Ha!Ha! Actually, he played quite well, just never quite well to win any of the tourneys we played in his honor. But it appeared he had a lot of fun trying, and at the end of the day that’s the main thing.

In all seriousness, it was great to have Duke back at Dolce again. It almost seemed like he had never left. I know he was impressed with the metamorphosis of Dolce Vita into a premiere dart bar, and I hope he knows that his dedication to promoting darts amongst the clientèle had a lot to do with the way things are now. Consider it your legacy Duke.

Other than that all I have done during this hiatus was work hard and play harder. Lots of beer consumed and darts thrown to varying degrees of success. And I’m still standing.

Tonight I Post! is now completed. I do have some photos that would have went well with this narrative, but alas, I am to frickin’ lazy to upload them. And yeah, I know all of the above is not technically in bullet form like I promised. Whaddaya goin’ do about it? And you know damn well it could have been worse. Much worse. Trust me on that!

I will try to become more regular. At least until my colonoscopy is scheduled. Oh my, what a post THAT will be.

Later y’all.

That pretty much describes my long holiday weekend. Lots of darts and beer. Last night finished up with some norebang with the Dolce crowd and stumbled home at six a.m. Today I am feeling the after affects, but I’m still standing. Barely.

A new week and a new outlook are on tap. Duke arrives Friday and we are all looking forward to spending the next couple of weeks getting reacquainted.

And that’s about all I have to say for now.

I mentioned in a previous post about the new Tuesday night entertainment at Dolce Vita, featuring a great musician named Steve Butler. He covers many artists very well, but his original music is something really special. My favorite song of his is “Old Mr. Jones”. Just so happens he now has a music video up on You Tube. It is my honor to introduce you to Steve and his music. Please come out to Dolce on Tuesday between 8-11 and see this guy while he is still playing for free!