Best Readers Ever!

I must've been a very good boy this year, because it appears that Santa came early to Casa de Mikey. When Falcon Rob was heading out the door and rubbing it in my face that his evening was going to consist of eating Chicago deep-dish pizza at Amore's and then going to a hockey game, while I was eating leftover beans & weenies and preparing to spend the night at work, he noticed that there was a note attached to our front door from the UPS man.

Apparently, there were two boxes waiting for us to claim down at the office. So I put on some shoes and a hoodie and headed down there to see what we got, while Rob took off for an evening of buffoonery.

First bonus, both parcels were addressed to me--Heh! Not noticing the return address right away, I figured that one of them was a coffee can full of Mamasan'ts Christmas peanut butter balls. That was just a guess, but I had no idea what was in either box.

So, once I got home, I pulled out my handy dandy two-inch pocketknife which serves no other purpose than to open shipping boxes.

Holy shiat, I was shocked! I got two presents from two different loyal readers--both gifts from my Amazon Wish List. The first was that skull and crossbones beach towel that I just put up there the other day, but somebody was Johnny-on-the-spot and immediately launched it in my direction. Now I'll be the coolest guy at the hot tub! Usually, I'm the only guy at the hot tub when I go, but now my coolness is validated.

The second box, (the heavy one), blew me away. Somebody was feeling very generous and sent me the Altec-Lansing In-Motion iPod docking speakers that I've been wanting for almost a year now.

Wow.

I couldn't believe it when I opened the box, and I sat there in stunned silence for a minute or two letting it sink in. That was unbelievably nice.

There was also a nice personal note included in each package that really made my day, too.

Thank you so much, guys! Later tonight when I get home from work, I'm going to spike some eggnog and raise a glass to both of you. I hope you both have a wonderful Christmas!

Once the realization set in, it was time to get down to business. The first thing I did was put the towel in the laundry to soften it up and get rid of the 'new' smell, and then I sat down with the instruction manual for the iPod dock.

It's a pretty simple device, but it came with a box full of every known electrical adapter in the world. Seriously, I never knew how many different AC outlets there were in the world. But the best feature is that it charges my iPod while it plays, so I don't have to use the one in my truck all the time (and the one that hooks up to the computer is a pain in the ass to use, you can't just plug it and unplug it--you've got to jump through a bunch of hoops). So it's very useful. And I started listening to my all-Jimmy Buffett playlist as soon as I got it hooked up. It sounds excellent!

Even better is that it will come in handy when traveling, or whenever I'm staying down on the Strip. Back in the days when I was seeing Sticky, she'd bring hers along when she came to town, and we'd leave it on all night long, playing stuff like Dean Martin, Tony Bennett, and Sinatra for background music. Oh, and it'll also work great for Angy's party in March, since I'm collecting every cool and cheesy party song I can find between now and then.

Oh yes, there will be much disco on display.

But right now, I'm listening to my Christmas playlist and getting into a festive holiday mood. Even if there were no peanut butter balls in either box.

Thanks again, guys.

Mikey