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Wednesday, September 1. 2010

Summer Love and Birthdays!

It’s the first day of September; summer is almost over. Sadness all across the land. Although there are a few unfortunate souls who don’t like summer! Go figure! There are people — in my family — who actually enjoy winter sports, like snowboarding and … whatever. Well, snowboarding is okay — now. My dear and lovely friend Claudia likes snowboarding and if Claudia likes snowboarding … if Claudia likes snowboarding …

It’s like that commercial, can’t even remember what they’re selling with it. This guy comes into a lot of money, moves to a tropical paradise, filled with scantily clad young women and all these old pros, like Maurice. In the one commercial the young guy visits Maurice, who has row-upon-row of photos of all his girlfriends on the wall. The young guy finds a stack of Peter Cetera albums and asks Maurice, “Do you like Peter Cetera?”

Of course not, but ladies love Cetera and if you love the ladies, you love Cetera! What the Hell are they selling with that commercial? I’m thinking beer because nothing goes better with gratuitous sexual advertising than beer! Okay, time out, gotta look it up on the Internets: Hold on, smoke’em if you got’em, take a pee break, fix a snack, I’ll be right back.

Yep, I was right. It’s a beer commercial — Heineken. So, if Claudia loves snowboarding, then I love snowboarding. Sadly, there are a number of ski-snowboarding resorts within a short distance of Sandy Eggo. I might be snowboarding this winter.
 My nephew Dan likes snowboarding, as does my nephew Andrew. Maybe I can get some tips: best boards, etc. Dan tried surfing once. Found out it isn’t quite the same as snowboarding.

But this is summer and I had to work through it, which is a lot better than last summer when I had to endure a bout of pneumonia. Couldn’t even go outside! Now that’s a bummer summer! Didn’t get any snorkeling in this year, but I did get in the water once. Since the heart surgery in March of 2009, I’ve been extra cautious about my health. My friend Joe, Navy SEAL Joe, said he was just fine with the water and he’s had heart surgery as well. Maybe if the water warms up a bit.
 There’s nothing wrong with being a Navy SEAL that joining the Marine Corps won’t cure.

Summer is great, especially if you live in or around a beach community, like Sandy Eggo and it’s various suburban neighbors. I was telling someone that in Sandy Eggo we have 26 different beaches, some more populated than others. My favorite has got to be Pacific Beach, which morphs into Mission Beach as you walk south. Either or, there is a lot to see at both, but the crowds are incredible.

Coronado and the Silver Strand are pretty nice, although the beaches are separated by the Navy Special Warfare School, where the SEALs train. Then there’s Tourmaline, La Jolla Shores, Black’s, Torrey Pines, Moonlight, South Carlsbad, O’Side and Trestles way to the north.

Some spots, like Trestles, Tourmaline and WindandSea are primarily just for surfing or catching a tan. The beach break makes them treacherous for swimming, although at La Jolla Cove we get a beach break. But it’s fun, if you don’t get clobbered by the rocks. I’ve lost flesh on those rocks.

Black’s is a great beach for swimming and surfing, but it’s also a clothes-optional beach which means you will see guys like me walking around sans fabric. But, you will see women like Gianna walking around sans fabric as well, although I’m not sure if Gianna frequents Black’s. She’s more of a North Coast girl, Carlsbad, O’Side, Encinitas, etc.

The beaches are the main reasons I moved to Sandy Eggo nearly 20 years ago. It came with a price; not too encouraging employment picture; General Dynamics had just closed its huge facility, putting about 100,000 people out of work. The cost of living is mind-boggling, and people just aren’t as friendly as in the Midwest. But, if you make friends here, they are great friends.

Ran into my pal Tony last night. I’ve known him for over 15 years, but hadn’t seen him in about two. It was great to catch up. Back when the Spongebob movie came out, he and I went to see it! The Hasselhoff!

So, summer is almost over; one more weekend and then it’s official. sigh

The bright side of September is that tomorrow (September 2) is my lovely sister Elaine’s birthday! Earlier this year we had a scare with Elaine when complications arose after her surgery to remove a cancerous growth from her esophagus. Sometimes it’s hard to think of what there is in life for which we should be grateful, but Elaine surviving the health problem is easily a reason to count my blessings. She’s been so sweet and kind throughout her entire life.

Elaine will be … err … another year older. As will Allida, my brother Carl’s former wife. We’ve stayed friends over the years and this blog was originally spurred by a little exchange we had on Facebook. You know Facebook, the social networking website that displaced MySpace in popularity. Everybody is doing FB these days, every age, every demographic. Even Sarah Palin has an FB page so now you can get her nuttiness directly!

So, I wrote on my wall that with Christmas and my Birthday coming up in a few months, people could get me gifts from Carvin, and added a link to the guitar, amp, music stuff company (HERE). Their headquarters are just a few miles away in the Carmel Mountain Ranch section of San Diego. Great idea for gifts: order online, I go pick it up!

But nooooooo! Allida says that since her and Elaine’s birthdays are coming up, I should be more concerned about getting them birthday gifts. No, no, no, no, Allida! This is all about me! And she says she hopes I don’t stay selfish my entire life!

Then Elaine, who is also on Facebook, chimes in; Lainey, my lovely, best friend since early childhood, figures my Facebook community (that’s right, it’s my Facebook community) needs to hear her two cents worth and agrees with Allida. Apparently, the surgery has done something to Lainey’s childhood memories.

I should have agreed with Allida right from the gitgo because one thing I’ve learned: never argue with the Forkes women, even if they are once removed by divorce. We still love Allida, although I’m … err … nevermind. I’m in enough trouble and my other two sisters — and sisters-in-law — haven’t chimed in yet. God forbid my sister Mary Lou and her lovely daughter Nancy get a hold of this! Sheesh! And none of my three remaining brothers have offered any assistance or support in this matter. Effin’ cowards.

So, with September 2 being their birthday, this blog is my present to Lainey and Allida! Happy Birthday you two! I’m happy to add a present for each: a castle and Jerry Garcia playing the banjo! Enjoy!

What did you expect?
I was actually gonna go out and buy something and put it in the mail? Please …
Well, there really wasn’t enough time. Maybe next year …

Posted by Tim Forkes in Life at 12:01 | Comment (1) | Trackbacks (0)

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