Category: 2019 Taco’s & Toucan’s

With today being the last full day in Boise, there were a few items that required my attention before jetting out in the morning, least of which was the certified copy that I have no convictions to my name.

For all intents & purposes, it takes approximately 5 business days to procure a certified copy of one’s record here in Idaho. The pursuit of this document saw the request go in yesterday, with the explanation that I was leaving for Mexico tomorrow morning, so imagine my surprise in receiving a phone call to come in for a review this morning, which saw me duly attending to for most of the morning.

We took a break for lunch which I met up with the “Blonde Bombers” – Barbie and Denyse at The Curb: Bar & Grill. I met both sheilas when I supported the Probe department at Micron.

From there it was back to the Ada County offices to review and then have the correct documents certified and to have the findings sent to the appropriate government agencies i.e. U.S. Department of Homeland Security Immigration & Customs Enforcement.

I simply can’t thank the young lady enough for the effort she put in with processing my request and getting it all sorted in the tight deadline in which she could have said for me to come back in a week. Just goes to show that good humour and a funny accent can be an advantage.

I took a quick detour into Fred Meyer to collect all the fixings to make homemade wild caught Alaskan Halibut & Prawn pizzas for my hosts Jax & Ian – which turned out pretty well, even if I do say so myself.

I have to say that this week in Boise has flown faster than politician to a free feed. I had every intention to visit as many people as I could while in town, but as with the best laid plans, sometimes things pop up that you simply have to accommodate or manage on the fly. For those who I planned on visiting and unfortunately missed due to unforeseen circumstances, I truly apologise for simply running out of time and spreading myself too thin.

For those that I did manage to catch up with, I am both grateful and humbled that you took time out of your respective busy schedules to catch up. I was great to relive some of the shenanigans we got up to over the years and to see how we all have travelled over the decade since I left for Australia.

And finally to my hosts Jax, Ian and the two boys Jack Jack and G Unit – thank you for allowing me to be a part of your lives again and sharing some more wonderful moments, that I will cherish no matter where life takes me – hope to see you all next June.

I figured today would be a great day to do some laundry, track down some documentation and to complete a final gear check on all my equipment.

Glad I did do the checks as somehow after my camera body was serviced, the recording settings were set to the default OEM settings. All images were going to the CF Card in JPEG format, instead of the CFast Card in RAW format. This is a huge catch as the quality difference between the formats is worlds apart.

The other issue is that with having the different formats going to separate cards, if one should fail, then I haven’t lost all the images from that day, as I generally move the images to my laptop and a portable hard drive.

Most of my morning was spent with the staff of Ada County in trying to resolve the documentation SNAFU, that has piqued the interest of US immigration. As the matter was dismissed in 2001 the comment was made that “there’s no conviction and the case was dismissed, so why are they worried about it?” I’m thinking to myself that it’s because someone in your outfit didn’t finalise the paperwork correctly for a second time.

Lunch today was out at my former employers – Micron Technology Inc, Building 17c cafeteria where we ran into a few of my former colleagues, as well as a couple of mates I hadn’t seen in a long while. Jethro, Father O and myself then went on a wander around the areas I supported during my tenure like Assembly, Fab 1, Fab 3, Fab C, Fab 4, Assembly, SpecTeck & Facilities. I was somewhat intrigued to see both 15T and the “Onions” still being used, even though they were temporary buildings installed in 1997.

At the end if the walk, I commented that as much as the place had changed, the more it had remained the same. While I’m forever grateful to Micron for the opportunity and start in my IT career, I don’t see myself ever wanting to work for such a large operation again, as you feel like just a number and are perceived to have no direct contribution to the enterprise as a whole.

From there it was back to the Ada County courthouse to check on the recovery of the hearing rulings and then over to my host Jax’s office, to resolve some network printer issues.

The evening was spent at another Ruth’s place, this one’s my favourite Human Wreckage operator (as in she’s a Senior HR professional) and my former roommate Chris, Heather and their two kids.

With one day left before heading off to Mexico, my week in Boise has felt like a roll of toilet paper in that the closer to the end – the quicker it’s gone.

Could I be still suffering from jet-lag??? Apparently so … it was the day of the Sabbath and I missed church – not sure where I’m going to get a drink before lunchtime now?

Speaking of lunch, I met up with my ex-wife “Struth” and her husband Dusty for a nosebag & a natter at The Cheesecake Factory. We spent the best part of a couple of hours catching up, where it was great to see her in great health and firing on all cylinders.

From there it was over to catch up with Danette & Nathan and Stacy & David – some of the best mates a person could have. We picked up where we left off when I departed and I loved that we could collectively resolve the world’s problems around the dinner table.

Had to explain to ‘Nette that building a wall could “Make America Great” as the Chinese have built one, no one’s complained and they’re even charging people to look at it or walk along it. She also now knows that Australia has a similar marvel of man-made engineering, but seeing as we had a bit less coin, we built the 3,488 mile (5,614 kilometre) dog proof fence instead and as far as we know – no illegals from Central or Southern America have crossed it .

This morning started out before dawn, with a wander around the Idaho State Capital building. It’s not that I’m overly interested in the building, rather it was that I didn’t want to miss meeting up with a couple of great mates – Mary Jo and Tom (MJ & Blouse as I’ve called them for donkey’s yonks) at a local institution – Goldy’s Breakfast Bistro.

After catching up on what’s transpired in our respective lives over the past decade, we left Goldy’s and I accompanied MJ & Blouse on their usual 4 mile (6½ km) walk around Boise’s North End neighbourhood, which I thoroughly enjoyed the quality time with them.

From there it was the not so simple matter of tracking down a pair of Teva “brothel creepers” which would finalize my trip preparations.

Just after lunch I wandered down to the Willow Lane Athletic Complex to watch the Boise United boys take on Tacoma in a sanctioned USA Rugby match. The match didn’t get off to a great start as no one could locate a beer tap in order to release all the amber goodness and therapeutic qualities contained within the 5-gallon stainless steel vessel.

Never fear, an imminent civil uprising and potential serious hydration related health issues were averted with the arrival of Ox and his esky – old boys rule!!!

Speaking of Old Boys, they were the reason why I was at the match. I was stoked to catch up with DJ the Silver Ghost, Fafitti, Fraser, Smithy Carny, Barbie, Ox & his bride and No Neck Josh.

The match was a one-sided affair with the local boys lapping Tacoma by a considerable margin. By the end of it, we’d organised to catch up at a local pub later on in the evening.

In the years since leaving Boise, there has been plethora of micro-breweries open in my absence and one of these new entities – Clairvoyant Brewing Company, is where I wandered over to catch up with Ian & Jax and a couple of their friends. We ended up at The Flats 16 Restaurant & Event Centre to meet up with one of Jax’s school friends and both Ian and myself amused ourselves somewhat with watching a woman who’d obviously had spent way too much time on the 19^th hole with her golfing boyfriend and his mates. At one point both her and the boyfriend visited the bathroom together and returned 15 minutes later and she looked visibly lighter by several ounces – must have been something she ate???

Come 7 o’clock Ian I rocked up to O’Michaels Pub & Grill to be met with not only the rugby boys and some of their better halves, but also a couple of former workmates from Micron. It was also great to hear that Tauge & Faulkner had not lost any of their mojo in playing live music.

A big day to be sure – but ever so grateful and appreciative of people making time and wanting to hang out.

I decided to take a stooge around the local neighbourhoods, to see what was up with new construction in the area. Boise appears to be in an apartment/condo building epidemic as nearly any large block looks to have a minimum 50+ units either under construction or completed, with several of them running in to hundreds in the same development – can you say rabbit warren??

I managed to get a hold of my former roommate Chris and sat down for a feed at Big Jud’s, which was replaced with a larger more user-friendly building – and NO, I did not try one of their 1 or 2 pound burger challenges.

I believe Chris and I spent about 3 years living on separate floors in my West Ashland house, which included a major remodel and various additions both house-wise and personally. I’m sure if your friendship can last a house remodel performed by the homeowner who ropes in the roommate to help, then it’ll last the test of time.

We were joined for lunch by another couple of my former Micron co-workers – Norm Week and Dan Phillips, which resulted in spending couple of hours working out who’s who in the zoo and how many lunatics have taken over the asylum.

The evening was spent down at The Village at Meridian where a couple of great mates of mine – Ian & Jax, and myself parked up at Twigs Bistro and Martini Bar while keeping an eye on their two boys in the playground and updating each other on our respective journeys over the past decade.

Aside with being entrusted with one of the most important tasks known to mankind – the procurement of a replacement adult beverage fridge, I planned on visiting some of the spot that either had a major influence on me or those in which I regularly visited to see if (a) they are still around and (b) if they’ve changed at all.

First stop for the day was my favourite diner – The Capri in downtown Boise, that’s been around for over 60 years. Not only did the waitress remember me, her face lit up when I walked in. She then sits me down in my favourite booth, places my usual order, fills my coffee and sits down to catch up with all the going’s on over the past decade since I was last in.

Fuelled up on a small serve of Loaded Biscuits & Gravy and caffeine I headed out the door with a big hug and a warmed heart.

Next stop was my old house on 1112 North 7^th Street, which was the first one I’d purchased and as my Green Card application was meandering its way through governmental purgatory, I set about renovating it while the “Leader of the Opposition” was off being the major bread winner, making me a kept man of sorts.

From the front of the house, I was chuffed to see quite a few elements that I installed/replaced/updated were still in use, like the exterior trim, front porch French Doors & side light windows, the roofing as well as the front entrance steps. I was saddened to see that they had painted over the original stained doors and interior trim that Ruth and I kept as part of the original features.

The rear of the property on the other hand was like an Andy Warhol painting – all over the road like a mad woman’s shit. It’s undergone several renovations that taken up most of the yard and appear to be poorly planned add-ons that have not been integrated well.

Do I feel any sorrow about what they did to my first matrimonial home – no, it’s the new owners property and as I can’t see it from my house – care factor zero as there is no accounting for taste.

From there it was on to my 3^rd Boise home on 7011 West Ashland Street and the only changes since I sold it was that the beautiful big tree out the front was cut down. I caught up with my neighbor Rick and he said the two women owners cut it down because they hated raking up the leaves each Fall. Yeah ….. I know, they own the house, but that pissed me off that they did that for such a petty reason.

I ended the day at Big K BBQ in the company of several of my 43^rd State Crimsion Lions team mates. What’s the chances of having a couple of sherbets and throwing around a few “pork pies” with some off your old footy mates???

It was great catching up with likes of Hippo Steve Kubinski, Kush Mark Kush Kubinski, Gunny Scott Carlisle, Vinnie Vincent Spagnolo, Barbie, Ferret Paul C Vines, Opie Scott Reynolds, Shotty and Flamingo Blaine Bergin II.

Got to say, I haven’t laughed that hard & often in ages.

My morning started at around 3AM and it got me thinking: I’m not 100% sure when I left Boise for Australia – by my reckoning it was a bit over 12 years ago??? I initially packed up and placed all my gear in storage and proceeded to go on walkabout in a 34 foot motor-home for over a year, then returned to ship what I could over to Australia.

This is my roundabout way of saying that I woke up this morning feeling a combination of excitement, trepidation and anticipation in heading to where I’ve called home – one of four that I’ve permanently resided in over my lifetime.

After a chinwag with Bekah (which I’m going to miss BTW), I hit the frog & toad and headed out to the airport which saw me 90 minutes into a 33 minute Google Maps trip. This was due to a combination of a broken down concrete truck on the way and pretty much non-existent freeway sign posting for car rental returns at the tin crow depot.

I check in at the American Airlines counter and copped a $25 USD checked baggage fee which in all fairness I knew was coming, but decided to query it anyways. Looks like most airlines are charging similar fees as their business model looks to be geared to turning over walk-on/walk-off traffic. The lady then says the charge has just gone up to $40 for the 1^st, $55 for the second and $120 for a third or subsequent checked bag.

Whilst killing the 2 hours for the scheduled departure, I had 3 gate changes and in doing so – ran into a young female Mormon missionary, returning from service in Peru and waiting for the same flight as me. Not one for missing a recruitment opportunity, she tries engaging my interest and participation in her flavour of faith. I was thinking that I could have so much fun messing with the mind of the 21-year-old second oldest of 5 sisters and about to be born brother.

Instead I just said that I lived in Idaho for ages and am familiar with Momo’s and 7 Day Apprentices and would certainly be interested in any organization that welcomes all comers with open arms – regardless of their sex, race, colour or creed, including beliefs or sexual persuasions.

It was at this point we got on to travel, especially around the areas we both were familiar with in Peru and Idaho.

Interestingly enough she asked me about my age, which I responded to truthfully. She said that her Dad is 46 and I look considerably younger than him. I commented that “his ageing may have to do with having to suffer through ½ a dozen rounds of the Chinese Red Army marching each and every month”. She asked if this was an Australian thing. My response – “Nope, I’m pretty sure it a universal female affliction”. Yeah ….. I know …. couldn’t help myself ….. could I???

I landed on time in Boise and was met with a thick blanket of snow in the foothills and no rental car as Avis was expecting me at 7:30PM. After a quick phone call or two, the attendant comes back with “we have a new Mustang available if that’s OK” to which I responded “as long as I don’t have to throw a saddle on it, I’m fine.” Which she thought was pretty funny.

You’d be thinking at this stage I’d light the fuse on 5 burbling angry litres of Detroit’s finest iron, sink the right foot into 460 horsepower and leave a rear tyre shredding “11 autograph” in heading out onto one of the best highway systems in the world. Nope … quite the opposite actually. I fired up the pony car to get the heater cranked to a more temperate climate controlled environment and sat in the airport car park to call my lawyer Coxy and resolve Saturday’s interaction with I.C.E.

From there it was over to a couple of great mates of mines’ place – Jax & Ian and the evening activities of their 8 and 10 year old boys.