I HAVE A PLAN....

• BUY TEMPORARY HOUSE IN FLORIDA
• MOVE ALL STORAGE UNIT STUFF FROM TEXAS TO FLORIDA
• BANK MY CUSTOMARY $24,000/MONTH ($20K AFTER EXPENSES)
• BUY THINGS THAT MAKE ME OR WILD WIFE WOMAN HAPPY
• SAVE MORE MONEY
• BUY NEW SUV
• LOCATE PERMANENT HOUSE IN FLORIDA
• BUY IT
• RENT OUT ORIGINAL HOUSE
• SAVE MORE MONEY
• RETIRE A MULTIMILLIONAIRE
• SMOKE LOTS OF WEED, TAKE HAPPY PILLS, DRINK LOTS OF BOOZE, HAVE LOTS OF BIZARRE, DANGEROUS, POTENTIALLY FATTENING SEX, GET THE BAND BACK TOGETHER, WATCH MY SAVINGS ACCOUNTS ENJOY A REASONABLE RATE OF RETURN, AND FINALLY...
• BE AN ELITIST -BUT REALLY COOL- PRICK...

THAT SOUNDS ABOUT RIGHT....

I NOW WEAR SILK PAJAMAS...

....and I don't care WHO knows it!

They feel marvelous on my giggle-bits & are the ultimate in style, damn it!

(I actually sleep nekkid as a jay-bird, but for lounge wear, silk can't be beat...)

Giggity...

THE KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA

Hello Blog....

Been a while since I posted anything on here but I'z been bizzy...

After almost an entire year of negotiating, I finally left GE/Granite after almost a decade, but the money I was offered was just TOO generous to pass up. In 2 MONTHS at my new job I made more than I did ALL YEAR with my previous employer. 

Who the hell wouldn't move on?!

Sure....Saudi Arabia has presented me with a boat-load of new challenges -cultural, professional, etc- and the country itself is like an ecclesiastical twilight zone, but financial peace of mind for now & the future takes precedence. 

My daily life in Saudi is pretty routine. I'm up at 3:30 am and head to work at 5. My new role is HSSE Superintendent and all I do now is Loss Prevention. A fancy-sounding phrase meaning data entry for 2 hours a day, then 8 hours of surfin' the net & thinking marvelous thoughts...

I work 6 days/week and enjoy my Fridays by lounging pool side and gettin' my bronze on.... 

I've lost about 20 lbs there because the only thing worth eating over there is chicken, veggies, and fried rice. In the beginning, I also walked around that huge refinery complex a few times/day in temperatures of over 100 degrees, so the weight just melted away. 

I can now see my penis when I rest my chin on my chest. Hello, old friend!

I will be there (I'm actually on R/R at the moment) until at least June; if not December of 2013. After that, I'll see what other opportunities are available, but right now, it sounds like another job in the Kingdom or one in Iraq, China, or Kazakstan. I don't care as long as I can get as much $$$ as possible. I need to retire a multi-millionaire so I can actually enjoy myself...

I indulge myself with the extravagance of flying Business Class as much as possible; particularly on the pond-jump across the Atlantic. ONE hour in a coach seat is absolute hell. Can't imagine doing it again for 10 hours when I could be sitting up front with the rich folks in a fold-flat bed/seat, sipping champagne & ordering dinner from an actual menu...

I've been pretty lazy on updating this here blog, but will try to be more active on here. If anything else, just to give myself a written diary to look back upon once my road warrior days have reached their conclusion....

HURRICANE ISAAC & OTHER STUFF....

I'd -somehow- forgotten the absolute WORST part of any natural "disaster" that can strike we tiny ants on this big blue marble...the loss of electricity.

It sucks.

The media focuses on hurricanes this time of year and in this region of the country, but actually, a hurricane is no different to me than a Nor'Easter, blizzard, etc. Just take away the frozen element & there isn't much of a difference.

Anyway...it's a trip how we take electricity for granted. Camping every so often doesn't give you a true insight on how much we as humans MISS the simple things like light to read by, a charged laptop, a coffee percolator, and the talkin' devil box...

My next house WILL have a whole-house generator! Since we're moving to the panhandle of Florida, hurricanes will continue to be something I'll have to deal with occasionally and that's fine- I've been through 7 of them now- but I WILL have a few creature comforts in the aftermath!

(And a shout-out to reporters who always manage to interview the most slovenly, backwoods, toothless, clueless, mystified-by-what-just-happened people they can find...the comic relief is almost worth it!)

IN OTHER NEWS:

• This isn't NEARLY as fatalistic as it sounds, but the "end" is near....I'm about to start a fantastic new journey in my life and I'm both apprehensive AND excited. I just have to clear some logistical hurdles down in Houston & away I go...

• Good news out of Pensacola at last....my brother & hero is starting to improve a bit & I have full confidence that PT will 'restore' him to his former self in no time.

A TIME TO LIVE, A TIME TO DIE

It has NOT been a kind week for me or my loved ones...

I've never really shared my thoughts on death & dying via the written word before, but since its cold embrace is but a heartbeat away for us all, I wish to share three poignant observations that reflect my thoughts on this very -and most personal- end result of life itself...

EYE TO EYE

A live begins another's over

As another day begins....

Life runs full circle getting older

It happens to me

It happens to you

I do believe you're still around me

You're still around me all the time

I have no doubt one day in heaven

I'll see you again

Break the bread drink the wine

In my heart you'll live forever

The time to go is never right

When we say goodbye

While we're here we shouldn't waste

A day in life to say I love you

It's just now that i wish so much 

To see you...eye to eye....

ASCENSION

And if I go, while you're still here... 
Know that I live on, vibrating to a different measure 
behind a thin veil you cannot see through. 

You will not see me, so you must have faith. 
I wait for the time when we can soar together again, 
both aware of each other. 

Until then, live your life to its fullest. 
And when you need me, just whisper my name in your heart, 

I will be there.....

And Finally....

This isn't quite as beautiful as the previous two, but I appreciate it's honest lesson on WHY I live my life as if each breath should be my last; fearing death in the least...

The All-Father wove the skein of your life a long time ago.

Go and hide in a hole if you wish, but you won't live one instant longer.

Your fate is fixed. Fear profits a man nothing. 

WAITING SUCKS!

This is what I would call "intolerable cruelty"....


Can't go into detail for now, but it involves MY time & other's money. 


Massive quantities of both...


Having to wait on other people to "pull the trigger" sucks to the highest of suckstivity.


I just want to get on with it, damn it!

FLORIDA IT IS....

Just spent a lovely week in our soon-to-be new "hometown" of Pensacola...


I had somehow forgotten the importance of family & how much they mean to me & my happiness, so it was fantastic to reconnect with them and -in the case of Audrey Emma- meet them for the first time...


Although I am basically a private person -a trait I trust them to respect- it will be wonderful to have them nearby...


The panhandle is quite unlike the Florida I knew in the 80's. That -South Florida- was a melange of druggies, coked-out sluts, blue-hairs from Brooklyn, and 'Cuba Norte'...Lord love a duck...


Pensacola is WAAY different. More like South Georgia or East Alabama with a Cajun flair. So what if they're fascinated by cars driving around in circles -ala NASCAR- a little TOO much? Or live & breathe for a particular college football team? Or think Target is a "fancy" store? They might not have my level of intelligence or know what wine goes with scallops, but they're truly salt-of-the-earth...


And the beach....yowza...if you can manage to overlook the larger specimen of beach-goer, it is quite possibly the most beautiful beach I've ever seen, and I've seen a butt-load in my lifetime. 

• Turquoise water (when it's not subjected to a a wicked storm)
• Sugar-white sand that doesn't make you dance an epileptic watusi when ya walk on it (because of the heat)
• Convenient to get to

What more could ya want? (I'd say topless, but considering the size and/or age of some of the bathers, perhaps mandatory boob-wrappage is a  blessing...)

And THAT (the beaches) is the least of my motivational factors for moving there...

Maybe it's a visceral need of mine to return to the tribe; a calling. 

Maybe I love these people & want to maximize my time with them. I can think of no sweeter sound -other than "case dismissed" or "you're not the father" - of making the people I love most in the world laugh...

So...

Back to Texas tomorrow to start packing & put that hizzle up for sale! I WILL miss Texas. A part of me will always be a Texan & I will be eternally grateful for the opportunities & experiences I had there, but it's time...