7/2
We drove back to Clinton to celebrate the Super Wife’s birthday, and to see the Doobie Brothers. She felt like talking so she, her Mom and sister, just went on and on. Fine, I understand that, but the concert does have a time set. They kept talking, I kept telling myself to just relax. She figured since there was an opening act there was no rush. Of course that is making the assumption the opening act isn’t anybody we’d want to see. I don’t know who the opener is. Maybe I’d like to see them. More stress. Relax. Relax.

They talked and talked, but that's okay, I understand. Women talk, they need to, and men interfere at their own peril. Relax. We finally got there when the opening act was finishing. They were doing a cover of a Jimi Hendrix tune. Not my cup of tea, so we’re good…until we get to the gate. We had assumed we'd get one-day passes or the like but got a rude shock. At the gate they said only four-day passes are sold, they are $25 apiece, and there are no discounts for the kids. It would have cost $100 to see them. We walked away.

Super Wife convinced me to go by myself and she and the kids would go on rides. The Doobies don’t do Christian contemporary so she really wasn’t interested anyway. Eventually I agreed. I really wanted to see them. It would be so cool just to hear them play 'Blackwater' within a stone's throw of the Mississippi and a steamboat nearby. But by that time seating was impossible. I stood on the road on top of the dike. The sound was good, but they were so far away I didn't need ear plugs. I couldn't even recognize who was who unless I looked through my camera's telephoto.

Nearby was a couple with a little boy. Not to be mean, but I just couldn't believe they would shell out the money for this. I assumed they were using somebody else’s passes. People are constantly warned not to do that, but be real. The card costs $25, it has space for four punches. If you bought the cards and didn’t want to see the Doobie Brothers wouldn’t you lend the cards to someone who did?

Daddy was engrossed with the concert. Mommy talked with family and friends. Their little boy was about four or five and reminded me a lot of Train Boy. I kept an eye on him as he played behind them in the street. His Mommy may have worried I was a stalker or something. But when a small truck came by I made sure he was safe, I told her I had a son myself and was just feeling very protective. She smiled and seemed appreciative.

I think you can tell if a woman is caring for children by the size of her purse. In addition to their own necessities they carry amusements for the kids. She had balloons, bubbles and only God knows what else.

A vendor walked through selling light ropes and a lot of kids in the area got them, but not the boy I was watching. He watched the others with that sad look of doing without and it just ate me up. I went after the vendor and bought a couple of light ropes. But then what? They might not take too kindly to a stranger buying their child something, so I decided to wait.

Eventually his Mom ran out of things for him to do. The boy tried to pick up a piece of broken balloon to play with, the Mom tried to take it from him. I stepped forward and I asked the Mom if she would take one of the light ropes to give to him. She smiled and took one.

He had the best time playiing with it like the other kids. He whipped it around. Then he threw it in the air and looked for where it dropped. Then the ends were put together to make a hoop and he bounced it on the ground. It would roll and he would chase it. The boy was happy for the rest of the concert and so was I. I don't know what was going on, but as she talked to other people I saw the Mom smilingly point me out to a couple of people. When the concert was over we smiled and waved at each other and that was that.

The Doobs played a good set, but I probably watched the boy more. I have no idea what his name was but for just a little bit I helped him to be happy. That made it the most memorable Doobie Brother concert ever.

7/1
It's 3:00 a.m., I have to call it quits. Work is in a few hours, and I'm leaving work a little early because the Doobie Brothers are playing Clinton Riverboat Days. Hard to believe that a band that used to play the biggest venues is playing Clinton. Regardless, they'll put on a great show. Almost all the original members are back together, they're just a little grayer. And you know that Holy Wife is going to love it when they break into 'Jesus Is Just Alright.'

BTW, ate at another Mexican restaurant with Super Wife. The kids stayed home to play a new video game. It was the first evening out without the kids in years. I had a taco salad, and it was good. But you know, and this is really going to sound hopeless- but I've recently eaten at the three best Mexican restaurants in town and my favorite is....none of them, I prefer Taco Johns. They make a super beefy burrito the way I want it. I am one hopeless gringo.

When we were at the Mexican place Super Wife mentioned to me that she was talking to the kids and she told them they hadn't gotten me anything for Father's Day. (Well, surprise, surprise, surprise!) She asked them what they thought I'd like. Ms. Pikachu chimed right in with "A new car!" She has her heart set on that Bonneville and lobbies hard for it. Super Wife asked me which car it was that I wanted and I told her the gold Sebring, but I knew it was already sold. That thing was loaded with everything. To be realistic a new van would make more sense though so I'm not bitter about it.

I really, really need to get some sleep.

6/29
When I got home yesterday nobody else was there. Having no idea when they'd be home, and being hungry, I did the hunter/gatherer thing on the Happy Refrigerator Hunting Grounds.

This is going to sound odd, but I've hated hotdogs ever since Nader said they were America's deadliest missiles and said what was in them, but lately I don't care. So I got out a hotdog and nuked it (is that appropriate or what?) Then I loaded it up with sauerkraut because it was what I was craving. I also resolved that my next one would be with extra relish, extra mustard, and extra ketchup (out of onions).
No sooner had I taken the first bite than the wife and kids were home. They'd already eaten so it was all fine, no guilt. Sometimes I don't get home till almost 6, so if they're hungry they go for it too. So we're all okay.

Then Super Wife suggested we could watch, "I Am Sam." "Suggested" is just a diplomatic term for "The Queen Commands." It was a terrific movie. I don't know who won the Academy Award for Best Actor that year, but I'm pretty sure Sean Penn was robbed. Considering he played a retarded person, and not just an autistic like Dustin Hoffman had in Rain Main, his was a more impressive accomplishment.

I've never cared for Sean Penn. First he was a hot-headed brat. Then he ran around with Madonna and you knew that wasn't going to last because of the egos involved. Nope, I've never cared for him at all. But in 'I Am Sam' he steps forward as one of the best actors around and I look forward to seeing him again.

6/28
The kids had a 'Herbie the Love Bug' marathon yesterday. They laughed and laughed. When I was their age I laughed too. This time I just shook my head, it was all so unbelievable. You have to suspend disbelief to enjoy these movies, but a car driving on the ceiling of a tunnel is more than even a true believer can believe. You just know that the only way that car can be on the ceiling is with an anti-gravity device- nope, don't have those yet, or with a really sticky tire. By the time a tire got that sticky the car certainly wouldn't be winning any races. I'm sorry, buy I just don't think these films are very realistic. (You think?)

After everybody else went upstairs to bed I surfed the channels. 'When Harry Met Sally' was on. You know a movie is good when you can watch it again and it's still good. I just loved the line near the end when Billy Crystal says, "When you find the person you want to spend the rest of your life with, you want the rest of your life to start right away." Aaah, romance. When I saw Super Wife this morning I couldn't help smiling. I love her madly. Maybe for her it was same old, same old, but for me it was the first day of the rest of my life (sniff, sniff, gag).

Perhaps trying to, uh, dampen my spirits , She then sent a container full of her mother's leftover chocolate birthday cake with me to work. Getting it down over breaks and lunch will be a job, it's a lot of cake. When I got to work I went back to the conference room, hoping somebody brought something else that would give me some relief. Somebody brought.... chocolate cake. Oy. She and God are so close, they're both in it together.

6/27
Church, of course. Then lunch at HyVee, almost of course. Super Wife got more Chinese calendars, so I asked her why. She's going to write the ten commandments on the back of them, then give the scrolls to kids that walk by. She's a woman on a mission from God.

She went to work and the kids and I blew time. They played games, I went to Menards. When I got back my growing boy told me he was hungry again. Well alrighty, what do you want, the usual fast food or Steak and Shake. Steak and Shake it was. Train Boy decided to complete the story on the menu. His effort was fairly senseless, but he and Ms. Pikachu laughed a lot about it.

When we were done I drove to Autoland to see if the van with the TV in it was still available. It was. I didn't say anything, but when we first looked at it Super Wife said that if it was God's will to have it it would stay there a while. The Bonneville Ms Pikachu was nuts over was still there too. I didn't say a thing, but she knew. She fairly yelled, "So now do we get to buy them both?" She's sure she wants the Bonneville when she's 16. She figures it will have depreciated enough I can buy it for her.

She also told me she'd had a dream that I won the lottery and gave her a lot of money, "Good times Dad, good times!" The kid is an endless source of amusement.