Greetings from Orange, California, USA!
Photo taken on Saturday, January 10, 2009.
Into the first full week of 2009, the year is off to a slow but rough start. On Saturday evening a friend had her birthday celebration but I stopped by a store first. I have had my current cel phone for two years and was ready for a new one. Target had an incredibly low price on the latest version of my model. The offer had two caveats: 1) Today was the last day of the sale and 2) I needed to commit on another two-year contract with my service provider Verizon.
A new contract is a common requirement but became the unintentional deal breaker. As an existing customer, I just needed to update my Verizon account but the store’s cash register computer system was blocked from accessing it. I called the cel phone’s customer service and the representative went above and beyond in helping but ultimately was unable to resolve the problem. In contrast when I subsequently talked with the store manager, he was completely unhelpful and even said that Verizon was at fault for the problem. Over an hour later, I left empty-handed and very annoyed at Target.
I was now late to the birthday party and already missed the first part of the celebration, which was skating at a roller rink. I caught up with the party at Moreno’s, a Mexican restaurant, and arrived just as dinner was served. The food was great but I was still steaming from the cel phone debacle and told the story to anyone within earshot. This week’s photo shows the birthday girl (far right) with guests at the restaurant. I liked that their clothing, courtesy of the party’s 1970s theme, and the overhead sign “Bienvenidos Amigos” (Spanish for “Welcome Friends”) created a serendipitous crossover between American nostalgia and Mexican culture.
The birthday girl was celebrating #40, something that I have seen many men but few women do. I give her kudos for embracing her age. Meanwhile my own 40th will approach soon enough and the frequency of white hair sightings is starting to disturb me. I hope to have my father’s hair gene. My dad is nearing 70 and his black hair still outnumber the white. Contrastingly on my mother’s side, my uncles and several cousins are bald or balding. But I have digressed. Back to birthdays.
Coincidentally I was with birthday girl at her 30th too a decade ago (obviously). A group of us celebrated it with a weekend at Las Vegas. I could recap that but as the saying goes, “What happened in Vegas, stays in Vegas.” Though now divorced, she also got married and I attended that wedding. Something tells me that my chances are good, perhaps even great, in being at her next wedding as well as her 50th birthday. Just check back with me in ten years.
Angelo
Photo taken on Saturday, January 10, 2009.
Into the first full week of 2009, the year is off to a slow but rough start. On Saturday evening a friend had her birthday celebration but I stopped by a store first. I have had my current cel phone for two years and was ready for a new one. Target had an incredibly low price on the latest version of my model. The offer had two caveats: 1) Today was the last day of the sale and 2) I needed to commit on another two-year contract with my service provider Verizon.
A new contract is a common requirement but became the unintentional deal breaker. As an existing customer, I just needed to update my Verizon account but the store’s cash register computer system was blocked from accessing it. I called the cel phone’s customer service and the representative went above and beyond in helping but ultimately was unable to resolve the problem. In contrast when I subsequently talked with the store manager, he was completely unhelpful and even said that Verizon was at fault for the problem. Over an hour later, I left empty-handed and very annoyed at Target.
I was now late to the birthday party and already missed the first part of the celebration, which was skating at a roller rink. I caught up with the party at Moreno’s, a Mexican restaurant, and arrived just as dinner was served. The food was great but I was still steaming from the cel phone debacle and told the story to anyone within earshot. This week’s photo shows the birthday girl (far right) with guests at the restaurant. I liked that their clothing, courtesy of the party’s 1970s theme, and the overhead sign “Bienvenidos Amigos” (Spanish for “Welcome Friends”) created a serendipitous crossover between American nostalgia and Mexican culture.
The birthday girl was celebrating #40, something that I have seen many men but few women do. I give her kudos for embracing her age. Meanwhile my own 40th will approach soon enough and the frequency of white hair sightings is starting to disturb me. I hope to have my father’s hair gene. My dad is nearing 70 and his black hair still outnumber the white. Contrastingly on my mother’s side, my uncles and several cousins are bald or balding. But I have digressed. Back to birthdays.
Coincidentally I was with birthday girl at her 30th too a decade ago (obviously). A group of us celebrated it with a weekend at Las Vegas. I could recap that but as the saying goes, “What happened in Vegas, stays in Vegas.” Though now divorced, she also got married and I attended that wedding. Something tells me that my chances are good, perhaps even great, in being at her next wedding as well as her 50th birthday. Just check back with me in ten years.
Angelo
