As requested, the Mexican labor force didn\u2019t show up to work. And the freeways were blissfully wide open. No broken down cars or trucks littering the I-10. No gardening equipment was bouncing randomly on the 405 during rush hour. And no one was inconvenienced at all at any of the fast food joints. The whole thing was so noticeable AM and FM radio personalities were saying we needed to have \u201cA Day without a Mexican<\/em>\u201d on a regular basis.<\/p>\n I think the organization the set the protest up is no longer around. I haven\u2019t heard anything like their rhetoric for a very long time.<\/p>\n Anyhow, I was moving along so well, and the online freeway maps were all showing green, that I dropped into the Apple Store and purchased this nifty little charging stand. It was inexpensive and super neat, ( I wish I\u2019d thought of it!)<\/p>\n If you\u2019ve got an Apple Watch, you\u2019re familiar with the magnetic charging puck you set your watch on to recharge. Apple makes a bigger version for charging iPhones. I\u2019ve had the iPhone charging puck for a few years. The problem with the thing is that it\u2019s not anchored to anything and it\u2019s light enough that if you pick your phone up, the puck stays attached to your phone, so you put stress on the cable, and if you\u2019re in a hurry you\u2019ll pull the phone off the puck and the puck lands on your desk, nightstand, or counter, with a bang.\u00a0<\/p>\n In my case the wooden nightstand. The puck has enough weight to ding the top of furniture. Especially if it lands edge on.<\/p>\n I like that the phone is up off the nightstand, (so I don\u2019t put my water glass on it, mistaking it for a coaster in the middle of the night,) and I found a clock face on my phone that is nostalgic. This particular face is reminiscent of an old Sunbeam electric alarm clock in my parents room when I was a child. My mom kept that bedside alarm clock until the grinding of the gears kept her up at night. Yeah, we\u2019re talking analog, with a gear train and it was always warm to the touch due to the a\/c motor and neon lamp inside.<\/p>\n Goofy as it sounds, seeing that face in the night makes me feel like \u201cI\u2019ve Arrived\u2026”<\/p>\n Arrived at what, I don\u2019t know. Perhaps the stage where nostalgia puts a smile on my face.<\/p>\n Apple Store purchase completed, I got back on the road to Palm Springs. And I flew! Just being able to drive without dealing with morons blocking the freeway because they were texting, jerking off, smoking dope, or finger banging themselves was bliss!\u00a0<\/p>\n I love my car, but I\u00a0really<\/strong> love my car when I can open it up.<\/p>\n Admittedly, there were a couple of times yesterday when I punched through the inevitable knots of stupidity before those knots fully formed and \u201csolidified\u201d.<\/p>\n I punched through these tiny annoyances at 95MPH.\u00a0<\/p>\n FUN!!!!<\/p>\n I wasn\u2019t in a hurry, I was just enjoying the power and smoothness of a machine that I really enjoy.\u00a0<\/p>\n The down side to my enthusiasm, is that I arrived at my appointment 30 minutes early. It would have been 45 minutes early, but for the Apple store stop!<\/p>\n After that appointment, I\u2019d planned to meet a friend at one of the bars in the area. The plan was to have a couple of drinks and then wander off in search of food. Whoops! Last weekend was Palm Springs Pride. The weekend before that was Palm Springs Leather Pride. Several of the bars that I like were closed on a Tuesday night due to \u201cPride\u201d fatigue.<\/p>\n REALLY!!???<\/p>\n Pussies<\/strong>! In my misspent youth I was the energizer fucking bunny! Party Starting Thursday Night go to work Friday Morning, with clothes stashed in the trunk of my car \u201cjust in case”, and party right on through the weekend, go to work Monday morning and I was driving all over hells half acre to bars and friends places.<\/p>\n (Honestly, I don\u2019t know how the hell I did it. Oh, right\u2026 There was speed involved! Uhhh, well, okay, I retract my earlier \u201cPussies\u201d comment.)<\/p>\n I met my friend outside the closed bar we were planning to meet in, his dog recognized me after 3.5 – 4 years of not seeing me. My friend recognized me too, which felt amazing since he looked so damn nice and I feel that I\u2019m aging poorly and at an accelerated rate!<\/p>\n We negotiated the bar closures, and several restaurant closures to find ourselves sitting out on a patio having a lovely dinner & drinks.\u00a0<\/p>\n We caught up, and enjoyed each other\u2019s company. Then as these things go, it was time to call it a night. My friend had an early morning and I had a long assed drive.\u00a0<\/p>\n Fortunately, I was once again able to enter the time warp on the freeway, and got home at a decent hour.<\/p>\n Jesse was throughly displeased with me.<\/p>\n I think he might have thought he\u2019d been left alone forever. He was outside, it wasn\u2019t too cold, he had food and water, but the house was dark and he might have remembered the events of January. Maybe he thought he\u2019d lost me, I\u2019m not sure.<\/p>\n When I got home, the lights turned on automatically, the garage door opening may have woke him. When I stepped out onto the deck I was greeted with happy zoomies, then several balls were dropped at my feet.\u00a0<\/p>\n Then\u2026 My dog slut shamed me!<\/p>\n No I hadn\u2019t had sex, but I had been with\u00a0another dog<\/strong> so for the next 15 minutes every inch of me was sniffed. The look on Jesse\u2019s face was really funny. On the one hand he was glad I was home, on the other hand he\u2019d caught me cheating. Last night, he wasn\u2019t letting me out of his sight. He went so far as to keep grabbing my arm.\u00a0<\/p>\n I learned that I don\u2019t like being away from him for extended periods. All told I was gone about 8-9 hours. I missed him. I think we need to start going places together. This is going to be a pain in the ass at first, but I would like for him to be able to be a good traveling companion. I think it will be worth the time and effort.<\/p>\n I need to find some decent seat covers!<\/p>\n I was planning to head out to the grocery store this morning. But as upset as Jesse was last night, maybe I\u2019ll wait to do that until tomorrow. There\u2019s a Petco near the grocery store. That would give me the opportunity to shop for seat covers and a padded harness that wouldn\u2019t hurt him in an accident or hard stop if he was secured via a seatbelt.<\/p>\n Now I\u2019m off to make amends by sharing my breakfast.<\/p>\n Have a great day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I got up, filled the car with gas and washed it, came home, walked the dog (as best I could given the heavy equipment running incessantly,) ate lunch, showered and played ball with the dog for an hour or so then saddled up and drove to Palm Springs. I was expecting the grueling stop and … <\/p>\n
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The nifty little stand I purchased lets you snap the Apple charging puck into it and then holds your phone via the magnetic puck at a nice viewing angle. It also allows you to use a new feature in IOS that turns your iPhone into a very nice bedside clock.<\/p>\n
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