Monday, June 26, 2006

Safe, I guess...

It's now a little more than a month until we fly off to San Francisco for a much needed break. We're both really looking forward to the vacation, which will be the first one we had since the week in the Dominican last Easter. It also marks the first time that I can think of that I won't be seriously worrying about money during a vacation. Even in the Dominican last year, with most of the expenses paid, there was still some worries about doing all the little things available at those resorts designed to get you to part with your money. We simply didn't have the money for jet-skiing or scuba diving.

This year is different, what with us both employed with good jobs. So while we won't be going crazy with money, we certainly will be enjoying ourselves. Hence, for example, the convertible Mustang we've rented for a week.

The one potential hiccup that I saw was the World Cup.

Yes, I know it's in Germany.

You see, during our time in San Francisco we'll be staying for five or six days with my good friend Jaap, who is, as you might be able to tell from the name, Dutch.

Now, the way the World Cup was shaping up, it looked like a real possibility that England (who I'm cheering for) and the Netherlands (who Jaap is rabid for) would meet in the quarterfinals. If this happened, there was going to be a lot of mocking, baiting and threats of myself and Cathy having to sleep on the street if England beat the Netherlands. Which, let's face it, was probably going to happen.

All that was needed was for England to beat Ecuador (which they barely did) and the Dutch to be Portugal.

Yeah, that last part didn't work out. Although I will say it was entertaining in a street brawl sort of way. I don't think there's been a dirtier match in the tournament so far. Both teams were guilty of it, although I think Portugal was worse and got away with it a bit more often.

So the bad news is that the Netherlands is out. The good news is, that the Netherlands kicked the holy crap out of Portugal meaning half their team is injured while the other half is either suspended or one yellow card away from it.

The best news is we don't have to worry about finding another place to sleep while we're in San Francisco. Although Jaap did say he wouldn't be happy if England failed to beat Portugal next week. So maybe there will be some added suspense to the game after all...

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

"convertible mustang"

Good man, Craig. Two of the sweetest words going. Add "196X" in front of them and I'd be insanely jealous of you and Cathy. As it is I'm just a little green... . What's going to be blasting on the CD player?

Anonymous said...

Oh and I forgot to ask--have you decided on a name for the dog? Here's one for consideration: Chimo, which I believe means "friend" (or friendly). My first dog was named that.

towniebastard said...

Not sure about music. Some cares come standard with XM Satelittle radio, so it might be that. We'll both have our iPods with us, and many cars are coming with connectors. So hopefully we can avoid commerical radio. I don't think we'll be bringing CDs. We've got enough stuff we're packing and whatnot to worry about fussing with CDs.

As for Chimo, I'll mention it to Cathy, but I'm not optimistic. I think we're taking a break on dog names for right now. Part of it is not knowing what sex the dog will be. It's a bit easier to focus when we see that *this* is going to be our dog, rather than one of these three dogs will be yours.

Anonymous said...

You're being disconcertingly literal, Craig. You're about to take off on one the classic road trips of all time--summer cruising along the California coastal highway in the quintessential American sports car, wind flowing through your.....errr... Cathy's hair. You need the proper music. You need.....>ta-dah!< a soundtrack! Hendrix, Joplin, Steppenwolf, Procul Harem, Carly Simon (ok, kidding about Carly Simon), Mamas and Papas "California Dreamin'".
Driving music!

tanker belle said...

Mustang Sally, BB King.

towniebastard said...

Honestly Colette, if I had to listen to most of that music over the two days we're going to spend driving down the Pacific Coast highway, I'd likely do a Jimmy Dean and run the car off a cliff.

I have a limited tolerance for classic rock. I'd rather rip my ear drums out thanm listen to more than 30 seconds of Procul Harem and I am throughly bored to death with Stephenwold, Hendrix, Joplin and most of the music of that era.

I can handle the Beatles, Stone and the Who. After that, it becomes slim pickings.

I have an iPod with nearly 4,000 songs. I'm sure I can put together a few play lists to keep us entertained along the way. Most of it will be post 1980. Hell, most of it will be post 1990.

So I'm sorry to ruin your California fantasy, but I gotta play stuff I like. And most of your suggestions, alas, don't do it for me.

Anonymous said...

Heathen! Heeeeeeaaaaa-then! >boo, hiss< (I'll give you Procul Harem--there's only one song there worth listening to.)