Come see what's Brewing with my grandma

I sat down in my chair last night staring at the monitor. I had a tall Maker's and ginger by my side. The sweet whisky tasted good. Gave me a nice comfortable feeling inside. The task at hand was to write a letter to my grandmother. For whatever reason, it seemed that having a bit of a buzz was the best way to respond to her.



I have only one grandparent left. For now at least. I have been close with this grandmother all of my life. I guess that is why it is hard to understand and cope with what she is going through. If I am correct, she was born in 1913. That makes her 95. Man she has dealt with a lot in her life. Now she is dealing with trust issues and with her family. She feels her kids are out to get her and that I- of all people- am the only one she can trust. While I feel honored, I feel uncomfortable as well.



I would say she is basically losing it. Her children have done everything they can to make her happy. They are not out to get her by taking things away as she claims. She is too old to drive a car so they did what was best and sold it. She kept loading her computer with viruses so they told her to use one in a commons room (she lives in a assisted living home). They continue to ensure she has more money than she needs. Sadly, she doesn't see it this way.



I have written a couple letter to my grandmother over the past couple of months. I feel it is the very least I can do. I know she is happy to receive a letter from me. I can picture her bragging to her friends that she got a letter from her grandson. If she sees me as a ray of happiness in her life then I feel I must do whatever I can to make it shine. My gut tells me her time here on earth is not much longer.



As for the content of the letter- which I is killing you- it was all about taxes, digital television and my tenants. She hasn't received her stimulus check because she doesn't file a tax return. The other gray hairs at the home keep telling her bad info so I had to set her straight. She should get the money soon. She is confused about having to get a digital converter box for her television. Again, the gray hairs say she doesn't need it because the building will have its own converter. I told her she should get one anyway if she wants it. Those boxes are fantastic antennas. Finally, I told her of my woes with the my tenant. Sure they pay the rent but not on time. He knows I am at my wits end with him but now I feel I am stuck and cannot kick them out as he just had surgery to have a pacemaker put in. Toss in his kid having a baby and I would be a total schmuck for giving him the boot. I am curious to hear what my grandmother will say when she writes back.



The tenant thing really bothers me. I have given him so many breaks that I don't know what else to do. Somehow I feel I am still doing the right thing. I caught some breaks when I got out of college. A landlord let me slide for a while when I lived in Chicago. To return the favor to someone else feels like I am passing it along. Problem is my conservative beliefs. I give them a break with the hope and belief that they will take advantage of it and make it better. Instead, they are simply taking advantage of the situation and sliding further. As I have told him before, it would appear that it isn't they cannot pay the rent on time but they choose not to. His daughter and husband appear to spend like there is not tomorrow, having food delivered and filling up my recycling bin with Coke and beer bottles. He chooses not to have them pay any part of the rent. And I am the one that gets screwed. See, liberal policies rarely work. I do have something up my sleeve. A small bomb that I drop next week.



Interesting weekend ahead. I am not sure which festival is going on or where I will be Drinking for Jesus. I will probably hit a bar after work downtown somewhere and later watch the Brewers. Miller Park will be a madhouse this weekend. Still hard to believe they swept a 4 game series from the Cards in St. Louis. That is worth repeating. Swept a 4 game series from the card in St. Louis. That also completed a perfect 7 game road trip. The Brewers have never done either of those in the history of the franchise. That just makes me giddy.



The hottest team in baseball will take on the Astros this weekend. Last time they came back fired up they dropped two of three to the Reds. They start with the 1982 jerseys on tonight. They play poorly with those jerseys on. I wish Yost would say no to them and have them put on the white jerseys of today. Not like I am superstitious or anything but the fact is they didn't really play great ball in St. Louis this week. They played winning baseball. Just enough to get a W. At one point last night the team was 0 for 18 with runners in scoring position. Their LOB (left on base) was rising faster than the stock market. You rarely win games when you strand runners. Thus, let's keep the winning streak alive by not wearing the 82 unis tonight.



I am out. Have a lot of work to do today. Boss is out which is a good thing. I am looking forward to a cold beer after work. Thinking Old German Beer Hall and a Dunkelweiss. Who is with me?