First time a minority

Marta and I went to the Supermarkat for just a few items, among them shampoo.

Marta; We don´t need too big a bottle, just enough for the cruise.

Jonas; OK.

Marta; Can you help me look?

Jonas; Here´s one that´s good for children as well.

Marta; That one is if you have blond hair.

Jonas; You´re the only one that´s not blond.

Marta starts to laugh. She laughs for a good bit and puts the shampoo into our basket. Blond or not, she has a great sense of humour.

Morning In Barcelona

Woke up at 7.00, took a shower and got dressed. Ran down the stairs to meet Pep, my brother in law who covieniently had parked on the side walk, he has a thing for driving on side walks. Drove a couple of blocks and picked up Ana, his wife and my sister in law, then they dropped me of, up on the side walk off course, in front of casa Campilla where my kids spend their nights.

Yaya had the kids fed and I just dressed them, packed some stuff for Alex and the three of us were of to fetch bus #7. Like the metropolitan person I am we criused to the right stop and walked the few blocks to Alex´s camp.

Then Fia and I played in the park, a couple of playgrounds later and we had Zumo and Cafe con leche break. Went to the market, took in the performers on Las Ramblas, checked out what pets are sold in the stands.

Walked Las Ramblas up, played in a different park and went for lunch at Yaya´s. Now some more play, pick Alex up and head to the pool.

Bienvenido

As I was rubbing my eyes from wathever little sleep I managed to catch on the plane I looked out the window and took in the mountains to my left and the blue Mediterrainean Sea on the right. As the plane continue to loose altitude I start to make out a few houses with their typical terracotta roofs.

I lean back in the seat, yawn and the pilot tells the stewards to prepare for landing. I look out again and there it is, Barcelona. Oh, this vibrant active city, soo full of life. I smile widely and I hear a voice calling out;

Bienvenido Jonas!

Dressed up

Last night I got all dressed up in dress shirt, slacks and even a jacket. Went to dinner at the Harbour Club , a pretty fancy place and a must to who's who in Charleston.

The only way this monkey was granted access is trough his father in law who traded a little bit. We were treated as royalty which was very nice and the food was fantastic. I had she crab soup, Chicago style rib eye with potatoes and asparagus and then we shared a creme broulet.

Pretty darn nice and I find it so gone with the wind, in a good retro way, the fact they have a dresscode.

TP 52

I emailed back and forth with a friend of mine from New Zealand today, he has picked up on that I will be in and around the Mediterranean sea for the next 3 weeks. Apparently they are short a couple of guys on their TP 52 that they are campaigning on the Med circuit.

I feel so out of this world honored that he thought of me, a guy in his mid thirties (yes Marta I just passed the middle) out of the racing circuit and in one bad shape so I almost said yes.

It is a passion of mine, sailing, especially on the pro level. But you know what, the only medal worth a shit is the one from my family and that is the only pro I want to be.

Honey

I know you're tired of doing things for me but can you sign up Alex for soccer? I love you! M

That's how one email read today. Marta included a pdf file with the info as well. Reading through the paperwork I learned that he had to be signed up by August 1st. That gave me exactly 4 hours to fill out the paperwork and make a copy of his birth certificate. Good thing I don't have anything else to do at work, let's forget that this afternoon was my last chance to reinstate what needs to be done while I'm vacationing on a different continent for three weeks.

Do you know why I got a little ticked off? Because the f****** registration opened June 1st!

Well, I did get him signed up, practice starts mid/end August.

A mother in law

I have the great benefit of having two (2) mother in laws. I know y'all are jealous but let me explain one of them, the other one I'm about to spend three weeks with so there will be all kinds of goodies coming up on her here shortly. As a side note she has told me that she is the best mother in law that I will ever have because she is far away, can't argue with that, her secret weapon is her cooking and that goes a long way.

Well, lets back up to my American mother in law. She is not the greatest cook, forgetful, bad tempered if you piss her off.

Then again, as tonight, I'm in the restaurant all doors locked and there comes Pam out of nowhere (she does have keys to open more than I can at the clubhouse but that is beside the point) and scares the freaking shit out of me. All she says is;

Hi Honey, did I scare you?

She did and I gave her some lip. What it all came down to is that she picked me up a pair of flip flops, different than what I have eyed and bought myself. And I felt so terrible, she really thought about me, me. Not to many people do.

My point is that if you are lucky enough to find yourself with two mother in laws that care about you, you're blessed. I can't in my wildest imagination figure out what these two women see in me, all I know is that I appreciate their sacrifices and I do love both of them to death.

I

was just called a hot ass Swede by my wife.

What can I say, I know what's up and I like!!!!

Mission acomplished

Trips taken to TTC the last 3 days = 3

Emails sent to get local tuition = 10 or so

Follow up phone calls in regards to the same matter = 15

Tuition cut down to $980 from $2230 =1

That same tuition paid = 1

Reward a very good husband will get from his wife wearing a nurse uniform (or naked is fine too) when it's just the two of us and the lights are out = priceless

School

I have had the pleasure to deal with Marta's school the past two days. Needless to say it is driving me nuts. I off course put the blame on my wife, she is after all black belted in procrastination.

I have sent in all necessary documents and are now trying to get confirmation from the contact person that her status has been updated to an County resident. Makes one hell of a difference in tuition payment. And I don't care to spend my afternoon at Trident again.

This seems to be a lot harder than I first thought but I will leave voice mail after voice mail until he calls me back.

The squeakiest wheel gets the grease right?

To

my defense, this is the early 90's and the Bush Man's Club is in it's full swing.

And yes, I'm in my mid thirties (OK Marta I passed the middle point), but it is impossible for you to sit still listening to this one hit wonder.

E-rotic

I have had some inquiries about the band in my last post. E-rotic. Almost up there with my absolute favorite band Aqua.

E-rotic's CD blared on full volume in one Mercedes 190 E, one Alfa Romeo 75 Super America, one Pegeout 205 GTI, one Alfa Romeo 33 Quattro Porte and one BMW 318 Ti through double 12" sub woofers, titanium tweeters and a fantastic mid range powered by a 800 watt amplifier all made by JBL, cars and stereo system owned by me which made my parents oh so proud and me hard of hearing.

To make it easier on you I youtubed the best songs so turn up the volume and enjoy.

Lonely

I have given Marta some crap here lately about her not keeping in touch all that well. Last year she sent me an email every day and I replied reinstating how much we love each other. This year I'm the one emailing and my emails are unanswered.

So last night I sent a little nasty one indicating that my feelings are hurt. Marta calls me at work and then later on to make up for it.

And she does it well, no wonder that I love this woman, after all her and I find ourselves in the same boat over and over again.....

PHRF

Is the handicap we use when racing here in Charleston. PHRF is used all across the US so it has a broad bank of how different boats perform in various conditions.

Our trusted Katie Too, an Intrepid 9 Meter, can be found in this bank among 10 or so sibling boats of hers.

I have argued that my rating given to me by the local measurer is unfair, I have a hard time sailing up to that. I have referred to other yacht clubs rating of the same exact boat but no, I still have a 189 rating instead of a 220.

In today's paper I found out that the local measurer is legally blind. He's a really nice guy and I will stop whining over my rating, I have to practice to beat it and I will do that with a smile because I can't stop giggling.

Pulled over

The remainder of the family in SC went to the soccer game tonight, Tim,Pam ,John and myself. We enjoyed some food, stories and lots of laughter. The game was pretty good too, 2-nil to our home team.

After we dropped John off in Hanahan we just cruised down North Rett in the SS. And what do you know, we get pulled over.

Jonas; Is he pulling you over Tim?

Tim; I guess so.

Pam from the backseat: TIM! What did you do now? Run a red light?

Tim; Shut up Pam!

Jonas; Man, you even used the blinker, this is odd.

At this point the officer is out, gets the flashlight on and tip toes up towards our driver side door.

Police; Hey there... young man.

Tim; Officer.

Police; This is a very fast car but did you realize you were going 6 miles over the speed limit?

Tim; No, I was?

Police; Yes, you have a good night.

Tim; Thank you officer, you too. I appreciate it.

I have never seen a person being more relieved of the sight of Tim. The poor officer was so nervous walking up that all of us saw and felt it. We also could hear the sigh of relief out of the officers mouth when she saw that a white bald guy in his sixties was driving.

I guess that's out of the norm of people driving a black Chevrolet Impala SS with dark tinted windows down North Rhett Boulevard on a Saturday night. I'm glad we made her night.

T.G.I.F.

Well, as much as look forward to it being Friday, this one sucks. I have almost called Marta 3 times today on her cell phone to see what movie to get and if she would like for me to pick up pizza or Jersey Mike's ( Philly cheese steak subs).

I only have 11 days to go but boy is it dragging.

Note to myself, this I will never approve of again, ever.

Smuggler

One Rib.

4 x 250 horsepower Yamaha outboards

5 tons of cannabis

1 calm guy at the bow.

I knew that there's more than money involved smuggling drugs. This has to be a fast ass boat.

Happy Birthday!

To my beautiful wife. I wish that I was there to celebrate it with you.

I have

been there many times but that does not do me any good now. The next 14 days is eternity from hell.

Agenda

I haven't done a single project so far since the family left. As I played with Milu this afternoon I told myself that I need to get going. The plans I have are great and my ambitions are as high as a kite.

I made a list.

1. Replace upstairs ceiling fan. Bought a new one two weeks ago and it sits on the steps, only took 10 days to make it in to the house from the trunk of my car.

2. Put lights on the shelves over the TV. Lights have been in the garage since November -07. Just relocated them, still in the garage.

3. Tile the kids bathroom.

4. Do laundry, when Marta and I first met I had enough underwear to last me a month and a half. These days just shy of 2 weeks, major priority at this point.

So I will start tomorrow. I open a cold one and look at Milu and come to think of it I need some help with this. So I follow Milu's advice and call my buddy Jeff. We will grill out tomorrow night, drink beer and have a shot or two of sweat tea vodka while pondering about what excuse could be used to tell Marta why I bought 20 pairs of new underwear.

Compashion

Tonight we had the best ever board meeting at Alex's and come this semester Fia's school. Salary. Simple as that, and apparently I'm the Grinch. We had a much heated discussion that finally came to an end. With that end I insisted that we would have dinner at Poe's, which is the only reason I joined the board, they said they go there every time after a meeting and the burgers are the best, the burgers are pretty great I finally found out but I still feel lured in.

With that said, Sal, a board member went to the bathroom a little too long and as we wondered where he went I said, I know, he's paying the bill. First generation American to Italian parents he said, what made you think I took so long, I like this guy he's got a lot of class.

So, we all split up and I drove home, thoughts all over the place, as I'm about to turn in to our neighborhood I see an old lady leaning against the stop sign, barefoot wearing a pyjamas in a down poor rain storm. I pull Betty over in the fancy flowers/garden and I ask her;

Ma'am, are you OK?

I get no answer and I contemplate whether to put the lady in my car or not. I opt for not, I don't want to be charged for kidnapping so I make the two of us walk towards a newly opened senior citizen center 500 yards up the street.

I have no idea if this lady lives there, neither had the person behind the counter. All she knew is that they just opened and the alarms and gates are not in place.

I felt that I've done my service for the night, where else would this poor woman come from, but I can't shake the feeling of if this would have happened to some one in my family, I wouldn't be the first one to call. I would be deeply insulted if they called some one else. Call me an ostrich but I do cherish family.

Time is a precious thing and it moves way to quick.

When

you're too short to reach down it's good to have a big brother push.

Video call

We have a web cam that Marta uses once a week to talk with her parents and siblings. I don't get involved much but this morning it came in really handy. Marta called at 8.00 am and then we connected on the web.

It was so great to see and talk to her, see the kids, Alex was too busy with something else so I didn't see much of him but I did of the little Fia.

And Marta of course got to say Hi to Milu.

For a little moment my world was close, but then as we said our good byes reality sneaked up on me. Sigh.

A new hip?

Our little Milu has been limping lately, not much but I have noticed. I brushed it off at first as to she's just moping around because the kids are gone. I took the fact that she was sleeping on Alex's bed every night as a depression sign, a boy and his dog...

Then in the past few days, she's been hanging with me in bed, she's not allowed but how will Marta ever find out? Wednesday morning she cried out load getting off the bed so I examined her and through her tennis ball 50 times and she seemed fine. I was still not convinced so our neighbor took her all day and at times she acted a bit sore.

So, she spent today with me at work, everybody noticed that she was limping and they all gave her love and I haven't seen you in forever attention. Then we went to the vet.

The first vet was to busy so I had to do plan B, take her to our old vet. Some examination,x-rays and a few hundred dollars later his conclusion is to have her hip replaced.

J; Any other options?

Vet; Pain pills.

J; What are the chances on a surgery.

Vet; 50/50.

J; So that's that?

Vet; Tell you the truth, put her down would be best.

J; Thanks Doc, I will think about it.

We pay and leave. I start the car, tears are streaming down my cheeks, I start to sob heavily, whom ever said driving while talking on the cell phone is the worst has no idea of how different things can make it even worse.

Milu and I are going down Park West boulevard, driving Marta's car because it had gas and is more comfortable for Milu.

That's when it happened, Milu talked to me like she has talked to all of us that know her, her famous howl.

She responded on the pain meds and if that is what it takes, I will pay that, I don't care how much it is.

If you think I get stupid, tell me so, all I want is for the little Milu to be here for ever and beyond. We have a second opinion come Monday, same verdict I go some where else, come five of the same verdicts, I'll throw in the towel.

Tears are coming out of me like there's no tomorrow, our little Milu.

The fish is jumping

I have in the past few days noticed a racket among the fish in the pond behind our house. I've scanned the banks to see if our gator came back, it's been missing for two months. Not that we missed it all that much but we did get to know it as a little one and it grew to about 7 feet (2 meters) since we moved in. Part of the family I guess you could say.

I have seen what I thought was turtles, we've got plenty of them in the pond, but thought it was odd that they would stir up the fish.

Playing with Milu tonight, throwing her tennis ball a million times over and over, I saw what gets the fish all nervous.

Poking up on the surface of the pond is two big eyes, like horns the size of a golf ball, so out of place on the little face, just like the feet of a teenager. A baby alligator. The little shit is no more than 1 1/2 to 2 feet or 50cm is my guess. Cute as a button. It is so scared of Milu and I and let's pray it will stay that way.

But boy, a baby animal is always the cutest thing, gator or not. And that's the way it works with humans too, come think of it.

A picture

My brother in law sent me some pictures from this past weekend, to give me an idea of what they have done sofar in Barcelona.

I look at all of them, great pictures that lands a big grin on my face.
I close them.
I open the last one again.
I smile.
I close it.
I open it.
Smile.
Close it.
Open.
Smile.
Close.

I find myself doing this over and over. The picture is of my wife holding her nephew and I keep on opening this particular picture. My thoughts drift away to a very happy place.

It hit me like a rocket ship, my wife is the absolute most beautiful woman on this planet.

As far as the picture goes, I keep it to myself.

Thanks Javi.

It didn't suck

I was cleaning the bathroom when my phone rang last night.

"This is Jonas"

" Hello"

"Hello?"

"Hello!"

"Who's this?"

"This is your wife!"

Crap, I didn't recognize the number nor did I expect for Marta to call at that hour. I really didn't get who was calling. Any how, it was great to hear her voice and chat for a bit.

Then my friend Jeff came by for dinner. Smoked salmon, good cheese, grilled steaks, potato salad and a cold one. I told him that all we needed was to light a candle and that would be gay as hell. "Amen to that brother", he replied.

So there we sat, Jeff and I, both of us still dirty from a day of work and chatted the evening away. We will do it again come Wednesday. Gay or not.

This sucks

Received a mail from my wife this afternoon about to let her know what would be a good time for her to call. I replied that right at this hour it would be fine.

I drove like a maniac to get home for this, I assumed we were to do a web cam call on the computer.

Well, I'm the only one in front of it and that sucks. I really miss her and the kids an awful lot.

She did mention that she has not gotten much sleep if any lately.

It still sucks.

Sail away (Charleston)

Since it is impossible for me to sleep when my family is gone, I give you this from Friday's concert. I might charge you admission to make up for that night, unless my insomnia goes away.

One more Dave

This was my view most of the night. Not bad at all.

Mom?

I had just finished cutting the grass tonight when our neighbors pulled in after a day on the water. They jump out and we great each other and our dogs start to play.

Cindy; Jonas, look at your burn! (Burned my arm Midsummer making my fabulous Jansson)

Jonas; Well, it was healing pretty good I thought.

C; That has to be hurting.

J; I can feel it, yes.

C; You have a third degree burn again! I offered you treatment two weeks ago and you refused. See what happens.

J; It's not that bad, it was pretty good until Saturday.

C; You put sunscreen on it, didn't you.

J; Yes, and I reapplied several times. ( I said this very proudly)

C; That's the worst you can do,why didn't you cover it up? Let me take a look.

And I let her, after all she is a nurse.

C; Jonas, your burn is infected, I can't believe you. Okay, stand here and I get some stuff and you will follow my directions! You hear!

So I get some antibiotic ointment, gauze, sterile pads and an earful of what to do. I should be OK in about 5 days.

C; So after you shower you do this, OK?

J; That would be Saturday morning.

C; Jonas, so not funny.Men! I tell you! It will leave a big mark now since you didn't take care of it.

All I think is when did she become my mom and how in the heck does she know how to sound like my mom?

I appreciate her concern and my arm is not throbbing as much any more. But my scar I will brag about and show off whether you care or not. Like a real man.

My past 24 hours

Clubhouse at 6.00 am. Ice machine broken. Loaded up Betty with ice from the store. Reset the machine which started to make ice like nothing had ever happend.

Milu and I took a long walk around Park West.

Went out to the beach, lots of sun, sand and play.

Helped my Buddie cook wahoo and shrimp tacos, retrieved toys, chairs, kayak, miscellaneous other stuff from the beach.

Home, played with Milu, showered.

Back to the beach, a van picked up the 8 of us who went to see Dave Matthews Band.

Got home at 2.00 am and up at 6.00am just to find that the ice machine is still F****** broke. Reset the darn thing and loaded Betty up again. Note to self, take Marta's car tomorrow, holds more ice, necessity when the course will be played by 800 people over this 3 day weekend.

Happy 4th!

I wish all of you a happy and safe 4th of July.

God bless America.

1-0

Is also the score between Fia and the nuns if I got it right. She apparently refused to eat and when she has made up her mind that's that.

Good thing that abuela has some fuet at home.

All right honey,

I get it, I won't take your car away from you.

As you'll know by now my Betty is dying and as hard as that sounds she's due. Lot's of miles on her.

Well, Marta's car is getting up there in miles as well, not as bad as Betty but still. I have told Marta for the last year that what would make sense for us is that I take her old car and she gets a new. We've done that before.

Since a new one of the model she drives is astronomically expensive she would have to settle for something else. Not like last time when we upgraded to just about the same car.

Little did I know she had joined a cult.

Party at the point

Honey,

I haven't cleaned up the mess you left behind yet. I will maybe tomorrow or next week. Milu and I are fine, a bit lonely and sad that's about it.

I ran in to Brian and Lisa, they say hi, If you were here we could have gone next week to the party as last year. I know we could have got Tim and Pam to baby sit.

You can see me around 2.15 minutes.

We had a lot of fun last year you and I.

How you talked me into this arrangement again is beyond me.

No, I don't miss YOU (meanie) at all, but this will never happen again, I have it in writing.

/Jonas

Forget the car

Marta reports that they are in Barcelona finally with one lost bag. Not to bad considering the circumstances.

Alex was not to ride in Abi's car. Why would he when he can ride the bus with Tia.