Thirty-nine today. God I wish I had something to show for it.
Since it was my birthday Ali filled me up with pancakes and sausages. Then she took the kids out exploring so I could have some time to myself—to work on the boat. I dove right in on the rudder post, grabbing a pipe wrench and hammer to attack it with. I wasn’t especially confident that I’d be able to get the big nuts to crack, but with the first smack of the hammer on the wrench the nut moved. I tightened things up just a couple of turns and lo and behold the leak stopped dead. A true birthday miracle.
After that I finished my oil change and fired up the engine to test the new water pump. That’s when things got really crazy. I mean, it worked. No leaking, good water flow, normal engine temp, the works. This was shaping up to be the best birthday ever.
I turned my attention on my TackTick instruments next. Raymarine tech support finally contacted me after getting yelled at by the guy in charge of their Twitter account. Seems these days the only way to get anything done is through social media. Anyway, they shot me a note telling me to check the power. Okay, fair enough, tech support guys surely get a lot of stupid questions, so they start with stupid answers. Power? Check. Any other ideas? As a matter of fact they had another idea and replied to me quickly—redo the auto networking procedure. Okay, done. Nothing. No more e-mail replies for the day. Guess I wait until Monday now. I’m stoked.
Eventually it was time to turn my attention to the business at hand. The family returned and we got right down to it—cupcakes. There was a buzz of excitement throughout the room as the cupcakes came off the assembly line. We raced through one rendition of Happy Birthday Papa, blew out a candle, and dove in. Before any of us had a bite Lowe had his face firmly planted into the top of his cupcake. He made no attempt whatsoever to eat the cupcake itself—all attention was paid directly to the frosting.
Later on in the afternoon we were planning to head down to Bucerias to play on the beach and grab some dinner. But when we started the whole, “Let’s get ready. Everyone get their lotion on and get dressed,” things took an ugly turn. At least once a day the house goes from this peaceful ideal of family life, to full-blown screaming mayhem. And once one of them starts screaming and crying over something the second one seems to take it upon themself to one up the other. Things quickly got out of control so we said screw it, and walked over to the miniature marina pool instead.
Could have been any day around here, but it was a birthday because—cupcakes.
14 Comments on “Thirty-nine”
“…tech support guys surely get a lot of stupid questions, so they start with stupid answers.” That is a great line, a keeper for sure! Happy birthday!
My dad was an electrical engineer who designed sub-stations for the regional power utility. To his friends, of course, that meant he could troubleshoot all their household appliances and electrical problems. His first response was always, “Is it plugged in?” (lol) Always start with the simplest explanation!
Feliz cumpleaños dude. Believe me, the 40s and 50s can be the best years of all. What you want to hold onto is fitness and rebel attitude.
You’ve reached the age where you don’t back down from a challenge. This is the age of knowing how to make things happen. (If you watched tv you would get this little joke)
I don’t even begin to have a clue as to what that little joke is. And there is something I am thankful for as I turn 39. 🙂
Happy birthday!
I believe you’ve got plenty to show for your 39 years.
Tom
So, I have to know Ali…. whats the cupcake recipe (along with the frosting)…. I have to taste these things for myself. Ok so my birthdays in september, but…
P.S. Ali, you look cuter in that birthday hat:-)
Hey Jeff, I have been using Betty Crocker but since your comment I looked up a (easy) cupcake recipe – now we need another birthday to try them out! Next time it will not be from the box. Hope everyone is just as happy…
Well, I have to say, betty Crocker is my personal favorite (at least when I make them) Daile has to do it the cook book way and has a talent for making goodies (as you could probably tell) although this year hopefully holds a bit less of those due to the fact that I’d like to fit that “medium” pizza shirt (yes, Pat, I remember:-) someday before I die. Actually, XL is more realistic… I’m just very grateful that Daile loves her fluffy guy.
Happy Birthday!
Lowe is cracking me up. He looks so incredibly concerned about whether or not there will be a cupcake for his little hands.
Happy Birthday! Came across your blog and just started reading your first book. You are definitely living the dream. If you still trade futures check out recent action in CL.
Happy Birthday!!!!!!
Hey Pat,
Happy Birthday. Been following your site for years, and love it. Believe me, you have much more to show that most.
Fair Winds,
John Hussey
Hey Pat – Happy birthday for last week.
Been following/reading Bum since, well, since…
Didn’t realise we shared the same birthday ! All the very best to you and yours. I hope this year brings as much enjoyment as the previous to us both.
Keep on keeping on.
GC