Smokey Grapes

We have a friend, Denny, who gets grapes from a farmer, and then he makes what we call Denny Wine. Denny lives in PA. Grapes come from CA. 

His crop this year is so smokey that they just can't make good wine.

His farmer sent him some grapes to evaluate and make his own decision.

Denny told us last night it was awful tasting and he won't be making any wine this year. Smoke is good on ribs, not so much on a cabernet.

How very sad for the wine industry. 

Of course, that means my wine will be more expensive so I've made this about me.

Is this the fire that started from a gender reveal party? I hate gender reveal parties and find them loathsome. I hope these people are fined if that is true! They have killed acres and people. I would want them to pay!

I have to make a lot of calls daily. I abhor automated answering.

It takes twice as long to get to who you need to speak to.

Yesterday I was in automated hell for what seemed like forever but was probably only 5 minutes. I hit this number, then that number, then I was on hold for a while and then I was disconnected. Then I called back. I hit this number, then another number, then on hold.  Someone came on and told me it was not the right dept even though I hit the right number. So then they transferred me. I was on hold for a solid 5 minutes and then I got a human. If a person answered the phones and would direct the calls it would be far faster. So frustrating to me. 

Last night Rick was lounging in his ugly chair. (boy I hate this chair and all recliners really) He told me he was so comfy.  

I looked over at him and his shit eating grin. 

I laughed and said you look happy old man. 

He replied, "I could spend my retirement right here."  

I said, " if you do, I'll leave you" 

His response?

"Oh man, is that all it's gonna take?"  

The Ass!

I am trying to listen to some of my old music to avoid TV.

I dug up this one yesterday. I forgot how much I liked Sly.

I have a few hundred (like 400) albums.

They move with me and yet I have nothing to listen to them on.

A blogger friend is visiting in late October.

She loves vinyl. I think my stuff may be too old but she's digging some 60's stuff right now so maybe some of my Beatles and 70s stuff she may wish to take off my hands. She told me she'd buy them. I will give them to her! Less for me to purge when I leave this house. 

I don't know why it saddens me to let them go though.

Do you know the only thing we ever fought about when I was getting a divorce from Rick #1 was albums?  

I can see the whole scenario in my mind's eye from the winter of 1983 when we were sitting on the living room floor drinking hot cocoa with peppermint schnaps. 

We had our stacks of albums and were separating his from mine. 

The 3rd pile was a fight.

We had a stack of his, hers and no way you're taking that one and we'll deal with it later.

At one point he told me he'd make a tape of the Guess Who and Sammy Hagar for me so he could have the albums.  I said okay I can live with that.

Now I don't have a cassette player either. 

There was a point where I saw him take one from my stack and put it on his. 

I said, "Hey I saw that  - I want that back."  I'll give you a Billy Joel for an Aerosmith.  Nope, I want both since I bought both before we were married and you don't even like Billy Joel. 

Oh yeah, he'd laugh and say.  It went like this forever. 

We laughed a lot and as is usually the case I gave in a lot more than him. 

And what for? Albums I can't listen to so might as well give them away now.  Thankfully he liked a lot of stuff I didn't like such as The Doors, JJ Cole, Clapton, and some other guitar greats. Not my thing. So that part was easy. 

But everyone would ask me how difficult it was to split stuff up. Not at all. Silverware for 12?  he got 6 and I got 6. Your family gave us this so you can have it. We kind of stuck to that method except for a gift his grandmother made me. 

I told him I wanted to keep it and he felt it was important for me to keep so we agreed. Not one single argument. Besides he had guilt I could have used that in my workings with him. But didn't need to for albums and besides I used it (guilt) once and I felt like shit after I did it so didn't wish to do that again.  

We were so easy until the albums and I find that so funny now don't you? 

She told me she loves Nillson Schmilson. I remember having it on 8 track. 

I would drive around to hear a song again. 

No FF or Rewind on an 8 track, just drive around some more. 

How funny is that?

She finds that era so fascinating. So there could be something she may like. 

The last album I bought was Melissa Etheridge's first album. Then CD's became the mode of listening to music. God I'm old as dirt.