Another Long Weekend

It looks like this weekend will be four days instead of three for me! The NYSE and NASDAQ both decided to close for the day on January 2nd in respect to the passing of Gerald Ford. It's nice to see that some traditions still endure and that money isn't EVERYTHING.

A Soggy Monday Night Disappointment (with some good off-field entertainment)

It looks like my prediction skills with the Dolphins have reached an all-time low. I was wrong again and the Dolphins lost by 3 points last night in what can only be described as "soggy" conditions. It started raining about 7:30 during the pre-game tailgating activities and didn't really stop until halfway through the 4th quarter. The good news is that I brought a couple ponchos which kept us mostly dry...my feet were soaked and my hands looked like raisins, but outside of that I was ok.

While the game itself wasn't overly exciting, most of the interesting things occurred in the parking lot and the seats. One of our very drunk neighbors during tailgating decided to insult every Jets fan that walked by us on the way into the stadium. While this is a normal and healthy part of tailgating heckling, one guy seemed to take exception with him and we almost had a little Jets vs. Dolphins fight in the parking lot before cooler heads prevailed.

We also had a girl in front of us (a Jets fan of course) who decided to fall backwards over two rows of seats after a touchdown. Usually this isn't a problem and people will catch you. In her case though she had her back to the field and fell DOWN two rows of seats toward the field. Since nobody was in those seats, it was especially funny to watch her pick herself up. I am sure her back is feeling great today...ha ha.

The Christmas Hook-up

My wife totally hooked me up today for Christmas. At 9am I opened a box holding my new iPod! I've spent most of the last few hours playing around with it and transferring some of my tunes from the computer to the iPod. While she went a little over our agreed-upon spending limit, I am glad she did.

As for the family activities, Cheryl and I went to my parents house last night for Christmas Eve. We ate a lot and I drank a lot...it was an entertaining gathering as usual. My niece Layna seems to be getting bigger every few months...she celebrated her 3rd birthday in early December and was tearing around the house as usual. Grandma made some rather dumb comments, also typical as she is now 87 years old...a good reference would be Aunt Bethany from Christmas Vacation if you are a fan of that movie.

As for today, Cheryl has been sleeping all day and I am getting ready to head out to tailgate for the big Monday Night football game against the hated Jets. I have a good feeling about tonight and see us coming out with a W. Unfortunately, it looks like it is going to pour all night. Wish us luck in avoiding the rain drops...

Today

I just heard the words "penile penetration" on the Today Show. At 8am on a Saturday while Cheryl and I were laying in bed. So much for family-oriented Saturday morning television. It all had to do with the Duke Lacrosse story which has always seemed kind of odd to me. Now considering there is no actual evidence of anything, hopefully this whole thing will disappear and I don't have to hear about any more penetrations.

Busy Busy Busy

It must be Christmas time because I am way too damn busy. When I don't even have time to make a post on the Margarita Lounge, you know I'm busy. The good news is that my Christmas shopping is now done and the new computer is up and running. I plan on wrapping things up at work on Wednesday and Thursday so I can take a nice long five day weekend. Hope everyone is having a good holiday season.

Raining Cats and Dogs

I have never in my life seen a day like today. It literally rained from the time I woke up until about 4:30 this afternoon. And not a drizzle...most of the time it was a medium to hard downpour.

As of the 6pm local news, West Palm Beach has received 8.75 inches of rain today. Luckily, here in Boynton we only got about 5 inches. According to the local weather guy, the old record for a 24 hour period was about 3 1/2 inches. Even the hurricanes from the past few years weren't this wet. This just sucks. That is all.

Another one in the books

Cheryl and I want to thank all 22 of you who made it to our big Christmas party on Saturday Night. It was by far the best party we have ever had at the Margarita Lounge. I also want to thank everyone who brought gifts and helped me add to my wine collection. As for the party itself, only at the Margarita Lounge do you need pliers and a screwdriver to open a bottle of Cuban rum brought over by the neighbor. If you were at the party, you are now laughing...if you weren't you are just shaking your head.

In any case, I gave my camera to Ria halfway through the party to take a few pictures. Many of them were......how do I say this nicely......average pictures. This one in particular though, was genius. Cheryl(and Lucy) are sitting down and Kim is talking to Cheryl. Unfortunately, if you look closely at the background of the picture, the Senator has been caught in the act. Click on the picture if you need a bigger version. Indeed a classsic Senator moment!

Eve of the Big Party

With one day left before the big Margarita Lounge Christmas party, final preparations are being made. The next 24 hours is bound to be a blur of shopping and cooking. For those of you who forgot, the time is 6:30pm. I have 15 bottles of red wine, 4 bottles of white and about a case and a half of beer ready to go. Hopefully it will be enough for the 15-20 people we plan on having over. Watch for some funny pictures on Sunday night's post.

Silly Item of the Day

Today I was sitting at my desk and looking out the window (probably daydreaming) when I saw a 75 year-old lady with one of those silly looking bluetooth headsets stuck onto her ear. She wasn't even on the phone, she was just walking around with it on her ear. Am I the only one in the world that finds those things really annoying? You are trying to have a conversation with someone and your eyes keep wandering to that thing stuck on their ear...like it's a mole or something. If you are on the phone I have no problem with it. But just walking around with it on your ear like you are someone really important is just silly. Add to it that she was an old geezer and it seems all the more ridiculous.

The best wine store

Sometime in 2007 there will be a Total Wine store opening across the street from my office here in Boynton Beach. With my well documented love of vino, yesterday I figured I would drive the 30 minutes to the nearest store in Palm Beach Gardens just to check one out before the one here opens. Plus, I have the big Margarita Lounge Christmas party next week and needed some more wine for the party, so I just had to go.

This is the sickest store you have ever seen. Rows and rows and rows of nothing but wine. I am completely hooked. If you like wine and have one of these stores anywhere near your house, go and check it out. While I felt bad cheating on my favorite local wine store (ABC), these guys just blow them away, hands down. When you go to the back of a store and there is an ENTIRE GROCERY STORE AISLE full of Pinot Noir, you are in heaven.

Lucy, The Lizard, and the Party

This is a very exciting weekend at the Margarita Lounge as we have a few things going on:

1. Lucy's first birthday. Actually, her birthday was yesterday, but we decided to celebrate it all weekend. She will be having some steak tonight and I am sure she is excited. While she has been a handful to train, she is really sweet and we can't imagine our lives without her little tail wagging every day.
   
2. The arrival of the Lizard from Raleigh. She flew in yesterday afternoon and is leaving on Sunday afternoon. Since Cheryl and Liz haven't seen each other for a while, I am sure they will be doing the typical woman/woman bonding experience of shopping all day today while I am forced to sit around and watch football. Life is rough...
3. Preparations are beginning for the big Margarita Lounge Christmas Party next week. While we are still technically in the final stages of planning, Cheryl has plenty of lists and things I need to pickup. Number one on the list is beer and wine. I think there is some food on the list but that obviously takes a back seat to the booze.
   

Dude, you're getting a Dell

Ok, so that line is about four years old. And the "dude" was arrested three years ago in New York City for possession of marijuana, quickly ending his 15 minutes of fame. But regardless of these two facts, I am now the proud owner of a new Dell computer. After almost seven years with the old HP (including a few upgrades), we decided that it was time to retire the old veteran...time and technology had finally rendered him inadequate. We have moved up to the modern world of DVD burners, all in one printer/copier/scanners and lightning-fast dual core processors. In the immortal words of K-Delish, "I'm as giddy as a virgin on Easter"...at least I think that's how it went. Let's just say that I am eagerly awaiting delivery next week!

Going different directions

Well, the Hurricanes finally won another football game last night, beating a favored Boston College team at the Orange Bowl. They closed the regular season a pathetic 6-6, their worst record in a LONG time. Larry Coker was fired today, which is a good thing in my opinion. Looks like next year is going to suck also as it will be a "re-building" year.

The Dolphins also won yesterday, but at least they seem to be heading in the right direction. Sure, they are still under .500 but they are on a nice four game win streak and still have an outside chance of getting a wild card. The big game is next week with Jacksonville in town...if we can win that game I'm going to get a lot more excited.

Happy Turkey Day

Before I get too busy with my "honey-do" list, Cheryl and I would like to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. While the turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry, and pumpkin pie are important staples of this day, I would encourage you all to take a minute to be thankful for what you have. Remember that the vast majority of people in the world are not as fortunate as we are in this country.

With that being said, go ahead and stuff your face with food and drink lots of wine because you don't have to work on Friday. If you do have to work on Friday I apologize. Remember that this day only comes once a year. And while you are at it, a few good wishes to the Dolphins wouldn't hurt as they play the Lions at 12:30pm.

Movin' On Up

Just like George and Weezie, the Dolphins are slowly "movin' on up" in the standings from "terrible" to "respectable". With another win today over Minnesota, we moved to 4-6. Only one team in the NFL (Baltimore) has a longer winning streak right now. With a short week (we play Detroit on Turkey Day) and some injuries today, getting to 5-6 might be tougher than I thought, but I think we can pull it together. If we can get a W in Detroit and get a win the next week at home against Jacksonville we would move to .500 and at least get within a distant sniff of a wild card. With the way the AFC is shaping up right now, anything is still within the realm of possibility.

Fall

Today's theme seems to be Fall. The air had a nice Fall chill today....very appropriate for college football. Michigan fell to Ohio State. Rutgers falls to Cincinatti tonight. And Mr Hickman had a somewhat funny, although slightly bloody fall at his house this afternoon. While I don't mean to make light of someone else's bad luck, it was really funny when it happened. Here is the executive summary:

I wandered over to Casa de Frotuss today to watch the OSU/Michigan game with Mr Hickman and family. The game was excellent. The company was excellent. Unfortunately, Mr. Hickman had a few too many drinks during the game, so that by the 4th quarter he was hammered and slurring words. While making an attempt to get off the couch, he lost his balance and ended up falling (face first) onto the tile floor. After laughing quite loudly for a few seconds, I realized there was a small trickle of blood just above his left eyebrow. While it was by no means a life-threatening injury, it was something that required a little bit of impromptu medical attention. Ann was quick to help out and we got the situation under control in a few minutes.

Now, it is really not nice to laugh at someone who has just been hurt. But given the situation here, it really was hilarious. If things are a little fuzzy on Sunday, give me a call Gunther and I'll be happy to give you the details. And I hope you heal quickly...

Fins to the Left

Well, the Jimmy Buffett concert has come and gone and I don't really have much of a hangover! Since the show was on a Tuesday night, I guess I decided to behave myself. Cheryl, Jen and I ended up meeting Mark, Tammy, the Senator and a few of their friends in the lawn about 10 minutes before the show started and hung out with them all night. The show was everything that I expected...drunk people, great music, the smell of pot whisping through the air all night.

That got me to thinking about the incredible difference in a concert and a Dolphins game. In both instances there are thousands of people in one place to see a fun event. In both instances there are drunks. But for some reason things are tolerated much more in a concert environment.

At any concerts I've ever been to, the cops just stand there while the smell of weed floats by them. Drunks are stumbling all over the place and they serve beer until the show is over. At the Dolphins game you can get thrown out for doing anything and you can't even get a beer after halftime. That just don't seem right....

PWI and Jimmy Buffett

So, I guess there was a little more downside in PWI. The royalty trusts were hammered again today, this time for no apparent reason whatsoever. Time to double down here and buy more. Just panic selling...usually the last stages of a selloff. These things happen...just buy some more....

Speaking of getting hammered, the long-awaited Jimmy Buffett show is tomorrow night here in West Palm! Cheryl (being the wonderful wife she is) bought us tickets for my birthday. While I have been a huge Buffett fan for years, I am a JB concert virgin. I've taken part of the day off Tuesday for preparation and also took Wednesday morning off for the impending hangover. Wish us luck.

On a Roll

After a pathetic 1-6 start, the Dolphins are on a roll the last two weeks! How you can lose to Houston and Green Bay yet beat Chicago and KC is a mystery to me. Actually, they almost gave this game away too with some rather suspect play calling in the fourth quarter. Luckily, the defense stepped up (us usual) and bailed out the rather ineffective offense.

But a win is a win and we'll take it. If they keep playing like this, they might be able to salvage a 8-8 season. On a high note, Pimpbling and I got cut off on the way out of the parking lot by Wes Welker. If it wasn't him, it was definitely his twin brother. We would also like to thank Mr. and Mrs. Hickman for joining us in tailgating and for letting us use their (much better) seats in the second half. Looks like I'm gonna have to save a few hundred dollars more to upgrade next year.

Caffe Luna Rosa

For any of you locals who haven't had dinner at Caffe Luna Rosa, you are missing out on one of the best restaurants in the area. I took Cheryl there last night to celebrate our anniversary and it was excellent. The location is obviously perfect...directly across A1A from the ocean. But in addition to a great location, the food and atmosphere is perfect for a nice quiet night out. And their wine list is quite impressive with lots of Italian reds.