Got KC and The Sunshine Band singing Get Down Tonight and this idea that tonight I could tell you about the time SQ escaped the monkey cage.
It is quite the tale and it did involve using a banana but I haven’t decided if I want to go balls deep into torrid tales of simian shenanigans.
Done a bit of writing in the usual places and spaces for fun and to clear my head about a few things.
That face in the mirror called me a rapscallion and then started singing Come and Get Your Love with Redbone and paraded around an empty house thinking about opportunity.
The younger Mr. Wilner made a point to call after he landed and asked what my intentions were for this time.
“To enjoy being 25 again.”
“You’re not 25 Dad.”
“Neither are you. Age is relative. You are only as old as you feel and I am not middle aged yet.”
“You’re old Dad.”
“Just wait until your ex girlfriends become grandmothers and you’ll really feel old. In the interim, you get to hear me say I feel like I am 25…mostly.”
“I have to go now.”
“Me too, this place needs some steaks and alcohol.”
“Bye Dad.”
Standing inside of a home improvement store listening to a guy talk about buying a toilet I am struck by his squeaky voice.
I turn and see a skinny dude, glasses, jeans and tennis shoes tell his companion to move so that he can buy a new privy.
“My good man, are you aware that you’re not buying a toilet-in-a-box?”
He turns and says he knows exactly what he is buying, it is a privy for his half bath.
“Did you want a round bowl or something elongated? Do you know what the rough in is?”
He asks me if I am a plumber and I say no, just a guy who knows things.
“Your conversation made it sound like you thought you were picking up a complete toilet. This is just the bottom, no tank, no seat, bolts or wax ring.”
He mutters something about knowing what he is doing and I walk away. Doesn’t matter to me if skinny gets home and discovers he is missing parts. I tried to tell him.
A moment later a different guy asks me if I can recommend a toilet and I laugh. “My family might say I have some expertise here, but I am really just a lay person.”
“That is ok, tell me what you know.”
That is a dangerous question because asking me what I know without setting parameters or guidelines could lead you down all sorts of particular and interesting paths.
Somehow the conversation moves from toilets to LEDs and a conversation about why I prefer 5000k to soft white and ends with what MERV I like using for air filters.
“You know about many things. How did you learn all this?”
I tell him I can talk about 1,969 different things but my depth of knowledge varies greatly.
“Some of it is personal interest, some professional and some just because. I am a collector of knowledge. Some people are specialists, I am a generalist. I like being able to know a little something about many things.”
I don’t tell him I sometimes pick particular topics and go searching for YouTube videos to watch and learn from, no time or need to get that deep this time.
Besides I am on my way to obtain some more tools, got a few things that I could use now. Eventually I need to go back to LA and take Dad’s tools back with me, but that is not happening yet and some things can’t wait.
The Macbook I am using to post this is starting to get a little bit longer in the tooth and I am beginning to wonder if getting a tune-up is enough to keep this working like I want it to.
It is about five years old now and has been a trusted companion but there are reasons to upgrade that go beyond my desire to have a new gadget.
In the midst of doing research and putting together a list of pros and cons my thoughts are derailed by the Bee Gees singing Night Fever.
Something about the moment takes me back to lying in a sleeping bag on the floor of my cousin Michael’s bedroom.
The folks are in Chicago for a family wedding so my sisters and I are staying with family.
Michael is two years older than I am and he plays the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack on the stereo in his room.
Some nights climbs out of his bedroom window to go on adventures with friends. I am invited to go along but I only do so once.
We end up with a group of boys, all older than me. I have a vague memory of them talking about guns but no context for it. Michael’s Dad has several guns, but I don’t recall any of them being brought along.
I’d like to ask Michael if he remembers but he died in an accident six years ago, a few months short of his 48th birthday.
His Facebook page is still live and if you didn’t know better you’d think he was out at sea and too busy to update.
He was a bit of a wild child, but I always liked hanging out with him. Lived long enough to become a father and grandfather, but not long enough…
It is another reminder to me about how life can turn on a dime.
