PACKED AND READY TO DRESS

I take my role seriously

TLW (The Little Woman) is the boss of everything. I just go along for the ride, and its’ been a great ride so far. She makes the arrangements for the flights to California, parking garages and car rentals, and does so very efficiently. A number of times I wanted to raise her salary, but the economy the way it is you know…

Anyway, it was time to pack. TLC (The Lovely Courtney), my daughter-in-law was graduating from college and entering the graphic design world officially, and was even speaking at her graduation so TLW and I wanted to be there and encourage her progress and indulge in some home-spun old-fashioned pride of the family.

Since it is a short stay of less than a week, packing becomes critical in that we pack enough and accommodate the different occasions we would encounter. There is the graduation, the reception, the dinners and the fact that it was going to be friggen’ hot in LA that weekend!

At our age taking things out of storage and expecting them to fit without trying them on first, is suicide. A lot can happen between the last bar-b-q in September and the first one in the spring.

And so the field of disagreement was spread out before us. On the bed was clothing belonging to both of us. The philosophy of dress greatly diverse. She is very neat, and I’m a bum. Furinstance-

“Are you bringing that shirt?”

“Yes, what’s wrong?”

“Are there any stains on it?”

“I don’t know.”

She looks at it with disdain, then that stain, etc.

“And those pants, you’re not wearing those this weekend, are you? People will think you are a bum!”

“Those pants?” Taking the pants in question out of the suitcase, “No, why?”

Holding them up by the hem of the pant leg “they are threading.” Making a face, “You don’t want people thinking you are a bum.”

“Well just a minute here, I’m retired, I happen to be the type that likes comfort, enjoying the casual way of life. Besides, most people would already agree that I’m a bum, so why get so excited?”

Of course there is what I call the ‘sub-packing’ the carry-on bag. This bag is critical in that it holds all immediate things we need like meds, hard candy and maybe gum, all the chargers for phones, and I-pads, and of course the batteries for cameras.

“Now this bag will be for cameras, chargers and computer equipment!” she announces. “Put your meds in it too, we don’t want to lose our meds if the luggage got lost.” (This is a tip she once heard and makes that announcement every time we fly.

Of course the flight is scheduled for 6:30 AM takeoff, this means we need time for the drive into Jamaica, finding the parking garage, getting to the airport and going through security and getting coffee and an over priced breakfast sandwich, which will stay with me until dinner time, on the LA clock!

It seems there is always a little tension when we go to the airport, especially at that magic hour when we get up at 2:30 AM, dragging my butt through the terminal, getting on line and going through security and their nasty attitude. TLW herself isn’t exactly like she was on our wedding day, but she tries to coordinate everything and put up with me, another reason she should get a raise, but with the economy etc…

I hate to fly, never liked it and wish I could take a cross-country train, even though it would take longer. We will fly, TLW will walk like an over-hyped mechanical wonder and will talk even faster, but I will still be happy to go AND a bum!