The "Happy Birthday" thread | eBlah!

Thanks CS.
I got a toaster oven.  That probably sounds lame to a lot of people but its awesome for me.  I also got some yummy goodies like um.. sort of expensive olives but I haven't opened them yet so I don't know if they're really good or just sort of okay, and also a mixed nut thing of... it sounds stupid but I like this thing, it has like cashews, corn nuts... other nuts, that sort of stuff.  I got $30 in iTunes gift cards and apparently there's some stuff being shipped from England that hasn't gotten here yet.  I got 2 shirts and some underware.  I mentioned a while back that after close to a decade I was disenchanted with boxers (I'll post pics soon) and was switching to those boxer/brief things that I don't know the name of because my wife buys them.  I got boxers in the mail, so I won't be using them, but its the thought that counts right?...

I didn't have a party or a get together, Candy.  I just went to dinner and a movie with my wife.  The food was really good.  The movie was The Other Guys which was decent and among the better of Will Ferrel movies.  There were a lot of jokes and some failed but a few really nailed it.

The day itself was unusual.  I'd gotten into an ungodly argument with my wife the night prior, and I mean one that felt really crappy, so it was really awkward getting her presents in the morning.  Soon enough though, we both had to admit that we didn't even remember what the hell the fight was about.  I still can't remember.  Right after that she got a message from the brother that lives in Australia asking if she'd heard from her sister in Ecuador because he couldn't get through.  She'd wished me a happy birthday an hour prior on my Facebook so the answer was "yes," but the reason for asking was that the Quito police had kidnapped the countries President and police in various places had gone on strike.  Her sister wasn't even in Quito but in another city like an hour away by plane and there was looting and a bit of rioting so she had spent the night locked in the office building she was at.  She'd made it back to her hotel and we talked to her.  I put a live feed of the local news from Ecuador on the TV, couldn't understand a word, and the military inevitably came in and restored the president to power.  It took an unusually long period for the military to pick a side and the current President there is pretty controversial for both voters and for neighboring countries.  It was all sorted out by noon-ish, but there is still long term uncertainty given the instability of government there and she has a large amount of family living there.

It was odd because we were watching the military role into where things were happening in Quito while on Skype with my wife's sister.  A couple people got shot but the media wasn't close enough to see that.  Ecuador recently had a world record for the most Governments overthrown in a 10 year period or something.  First it was rioting in Guayaquil and then it was shoot outs in Quito and then it was all fine and well.  El Presidente in Ecuador at the current time is two peas in a pod with Hugo Chavez.. bold revolutionary types.  Its sort of concerning.  I initially liked both of them for their defiance of some thing I wished Australia had refused to go along with, but it's a different story some years on as they've gone more radical.

Right, so my brother in law and his wife babysat.  He's really alright but he's a self-righteous judgemental ... donkey, at times and after he did us a favour last night and gave me gifts I woke up to criticism from him because ... its like he just rolled into town less than a year ago and has ideals for how everyone should be living their life so we've argued before and his ability to admit wrongdoing is zero.  It would be okay if he had the ability to just back off for a moment and say "okay I was wrong" but he can't.  Its a rare but ongoing conflict that me and him have.  Today I woke up, after he did nice stuff for me last night and got me a gift too, and had to reply to a Facebook message that was sort of diplomatically telling him to mind his own business or alternatively block me from his news feed to solve his problem.  I called his Aunt my second favourite MILF next to my wife, out of jest, on her wall and he got all pissy and up on a high horse about it (saying "my auntie" when he never says "auntie" but aunt, plus he verbally bags her sometimes in his black and white view of her and is "aunt" and "auntie" supposed to be capitalized?) without knowing anything about the relationship I have with that part of his family.  He's only been living here for less than a year.  Oh well...

Edit: And I got some American deoderant that you don't get here.  I'm sure some people will find this funny, but ever since I ran out once when I was in my early 20s and was visiting my parents, and borrowed one of my moms, I always bought that brand which is a woman's deoderant and their whole marketing campaign is geared toward women.  Its called "Secret" so the slogan is "Secret: Strong enough for a man, but made for a woman" like "Good enough to let us women feel equal and liberated amoung men, but made girly and flowery for us all the same."  They also go into claims about how its chemically formulated for a woman's sweat.  Even in Australia I buy Lady's Speed Stick now.