Dave’s 4th of July party was a resounding success.

Dave and his wife got all their neighbors in the cul-de-sac to stay home and party together. Everyone brought their gas grills over to Dave’s house and set up on the sidewalk. People brought chairs and tables. And food, sooo much food. And of course, drinks.

Dave set up the margarita station and made his famous Li Hing Mui margaritas. All the guys BBQ’ed–pork ribs, steak, teriyaki chicken, oysters, you name it. The Coors Light flowed like wine.

One of the neighbors got one of those inflatable jumpy bouncy Power Rangers thingies for the kids to crawl inside and make like monkeys. The adults, as they drank more and more, eyeballed the Power Rangers bouncy thingy with growing interest. Sadly, none of the adults were brave enough to be the first one to make a fool of themself, and so no one followed.

After the food was put away it was time for fireworks–which are illegal in Discovery Bay. However, this didn’t stop anyone in the neighborhood from using them anyway. We had the California legal stuff, the Safe ‘n Sane fireworks. When the police eventually showed up we had 3 fountains going at once and all the kids had sparklers. The officer asked us nicely to put the fireworks away and left–to go find the guys with rockets, m80s, and mortars in the next cul-de-sac. I must say that the guys with the very illegal fireworks put on an incredible show.

At any rate, a good time was had by all. When the party was finally over all the neighbors remarked that this should be an annual thing. I hope it is; Dave has awesome neighbors.

I crashed out early that night, sleeping in the room upstairs at Dave’s house that I’ve claimed for my own. I slept from 11pm to 5am, got up, and quietly left the house. I try to do that when I sleep over. I think Dave’s wife appreciates that I’m gone before she wakes up in the morning.

So that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it (as my mother was fond of saying)…

The past few years I haven’t done anything on the 4th.  This year I’m heading out to Dave’s house in Disco Bay.

Beer, BBQ, fireworks, and good times.  I most likely won’t be home tonight.

So, happy 4th of July everyone!

I’ve decided not to take my trip. It’s too soon for me to be alone with my thoughts for so many long hours, out there on the road. So I’ll be staying home for the 4th. I’m also worried about my dad–I don’t want to leave him alone for two weeks, which was about how long I planned to be gone. Of course I didn’t tell him that (and neither should you, please). So here I am.

Yesterday Dave came over for the first time in many months. We did the usual; drinking and dipping and listening to country music. Then James called and said that if we didn’t get fitted for our tuxes *today* (his wedding is in 3 weeks) it would be too late. We drove out to Pleasanton and took care of business, then stopped by Hooters for some wings, beer, and, uh… hooters.

On our way back to the stack we stopped by James’ place. Finally I got to meet his finacee, the awesome and supernice Jen. I wholeheartedly approve, James. A few beers later James asked for a pass and got it, so we went back to my house for some more fun.

My cousin Kym came over and stayed for the rest of the evening. Out came the mics and we worked on another edition of the DWD podcast. Mostly we just drank. For the last hour of the evening Dave entertained us with some Karaoke.

You know, I was sooo ready to go to sleep at 9pm. I was struggling to stay awake. They didn’t leave until after midnight. For the first time in a very long time I fell asleep immediately. I got a solid 6 hours of sleep–no dreams, no waking. It was nice to sleep like that for once.

For the rest of the weekend I don’t have any plans. I might go get a beer at The Bistro tonight, however.

That is all.