Company = long entries

This weekend my dad was down for a quick visit. He was supposed to arrive around supper time on Friday. I got a call saying his flight was delayed. He was flying into Orlando so he also had to make the 3 to 4 hour drive from Orlando as well. He wound up not making it to our place until after 9:30. He pulled up in his rented Mustang convertible. I hadn’t seen dad since I was up for the Eagles NFC championship in January so it was good to see him. We stayed up talking for awhile but then hit the sack, everyone was tired.

Saturday morning dad and I took the Vette out to grab some coffee. Dad can relate to having a “project” car. He has a 60’s Alfa Romeo that has literally been under restoration for the better part of the past decade. He only got it back recently. It still needs interior work but the exterior looks good and it runs. Sounds very similar to the Vette actually. 🙂 He seemed to like the Vette.

I talked to dad the night before about the idea of going to the dog track on Saturday. He had never been to one and he enjoys a bit of gambling so it sounded good to him. We hit the track just as it opened and grabbed lunch. We made it just in time to bet the first race. Early on we were making dumb bets, not knowing what all the stats in the book meant. However as the day went on it started to make a bit more sense and we started making some bets we actually won on. By the time the final race came around we were a bit over confident and bet pretty heavy on the race thinking we could nail it. Unfortunately one of the favorite dogs got bumped wide on the first corner and never recovered. However one of my other bets almost hit in the end but my dog just missed getting 2nd. Still after a full 4 hours of betting every one of the 15 races (plus I bet some of the simulcast races) I was only down about 20 bucks. It was a good time.

I really enjoy the track, I wish I knew someone else down here that was into it. However I did find out that I can actually bet the dogs over the internet! I created an account there but didn’t activate it for actual betting. I guess that would be an unwise move and I think it wouldn’t quite be the same as actually being at the track.

Saturday night my dad took us to Carraba’s for dinner. It was crowded, an hour long wait. However they had outside seating available. There was no wait on the patio since it was still rather warm outside. However my dad was ok with sitting in the elements so we did that instead. It was fine but it didn’t quite have the same feel as when you eat inside. As usual the food and service was great.

On Sunday my dad wanted to go to the gym. An odd request but it was fun. Years ago, I used to meet up with my Dad often on Sunday mornings at Colonial Hills for workouts. Probably the last time I worked out with dad was at least 5 years ago. He is closer to 60 than 50 now but still is a strong guy and still makes the effort to exercise regularly, a good thing. By the time we got home it was almost one o’clock. I threw some burgers on the grill, dad took a swim in the pool and then it was time for him to pack up and meet some people he used to work with in Bonita. Dad hopped in the convertible and put the top down even though it was 96 degrees out and you could see the thunderstorms hanging just off in the distance. Moments like that characterize him well and also make me see where I get some of my similar quirks from.

I got to catch up with what is going on with him and my second family. My dad and my step-mom are packing up and moving to New Mexico at the end of the summer. We talked about how weird it was to be leaving the house that has been in our family for more than 30 years. He has a million things to take care of related to the move but he likes challenges and this will be certainly be one of large proportions. My little brother just graduated high school and is going to college next year, my little sister is entering her third year at Penn State. I got to hear a couple more classic dad stories. It’s good to know he still has the urge to buck the system.

After Dad left we cleaned up and went to see Harry Potter. In preparation, Alison had just reread the book because she wanted to compare the book to the movie. She had a full page of notes she made in regards to how they would handle different aspects of the book in the movie. She was a bit disappointed to see how huge parts of the book were omitted or glossed over in the movie but we agreed that there is little choice as the movie was well over 2 hours as is. I liked the movie although I don’t know if I liked it as much as the first two. The kids unfortunately are aging faster than they can crank out movies, so soon they will look ridiculously old in comparison to the age they are supposed to be representing. Unfortunately the actor that played Dumbledore died, his replacement was not nearly as good in my opinion. The special effects in the movie were great. I’d definitelty recommend seeing it, however I don’t think you want to read the book immediately prior to viewing it.