Location: Buggy’s (map )
Miles: 1464.0
I have noticed that, between all the stuff I’m lugging around and all the space I need to set up shop, I am not the typical houseguest. On the good side, my hosts don’t have to worry about entertaining me, since I can always work or write. On the other hand, it kind of sucks when there is always someone working or writing in your living room. You feel the need to tiptoe around. (This is, in fact, completely unnecessary – I write in bars for crying out heaven’s sake.)
Then there is all the hardware I set up for my command center. Buggy now has wires all over his living room floor – power cables going one way, network the other, and a pile of hardware in the middle.
As a special bonus for Buggy, who has his own Web hosting business, his name server crashed for the first time in years soon after he set me up, and yesterday I broke the handle off his microwave. He took it very well.
Then, of course, there’s the Bad Influence Factor (BIF). having someone in your house who is more or less unemployed and on many days really doesn’t have to be all that responsible tends to make my hosts think of all sorts of reasons why they, too, shouldn’t have to work either. So instead we hang out, maybe have a beer or two, go do something fun, and generally enjoy the day at the expense of any pretense at productivity.
Take yesterday, for instance. Buggy shined work and we hopped in the ‘ol convertible for some sunny-day mountain-spring-drriving fun (SDMSDF). We hooked back up with John and enjoyed a Local Microbrew (LMB) (photo) and finished the day tired and happy.
When I put it that way, I’m not so sure my influence is so bad after all. Perhaps it should be named the WORIF (Work is Over-Rated Influence Factor). I know there’s a better name, but my attention span has not
The expression on John’s face, alone, gives one reason to head for the nearest microbrewery and savor something smooth and hoppy. While I’m not off work forever, I am off work for the summer, and I can relate.
News from the Land of Enchantment — the Sierra Blanca Brewery in Carrizozo has been listed as one of the top microbreweries in the country. Meanwhile, the Socorro Springs Brewery puts out an awesome IPA and a stunning stout. Let’s work on that WORIF.
Carol Anne
Oh, I forgot to add, we absolutely, positively, stay away from places like the Whiskey River Saloo.
this is the best map link yet. The others were too zoomed in. Now I can see exactly where you are. I’m sure the map people have a zoom out feature, but if I can’t find it in two seconds I’m gone.
I like that ending. I think you should end one of your novels in just
“If the sign says Saloo, it’s not for you!”
That expression is a testament to shear acting skill, if I do say so myself. Jer wanted to take a picture of Bug and I, so we posed with self-conscious grins on our faces. Jer looked at the resulting picture and commanded, “I want action!”
I placed my beer in the action position, and what followed was thirty seconds of waiting for Jerry to take the damn picture. I was talking into my glass during the wait, so maybe the action Jer was waiting for was me coughing beer out of my lungs.