{"id":141,"date":"2006-09-27T20:00:00","date_gmt":"2006-09-27T20:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.saldetraglia.com\/?p=141"},"modified":"2006-09-27T20:00:00","modified_gmt":"2006-09-27T20:00:00","slug":"the-return-of-mr-oktober","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saldetraglia.com\/?p=141","title":{"rendered":"THE RETURN OF MR. OKTOBER."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I had seen the brown UPS van driving through my neighborhood yesterday, and it struck me as odd.<\/p>\n

DHL, TNT and Federal Express are common sights around here. But I hadn\u2019t seen a UPS van for at least a year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever!\u201d I muttered to myself, and went back to my desk to resume the crucial task at hand\u2014trying to hang hoop-earrings on a COCONUT<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Then the doorbell rang. <\/p>\n

I ran downstairs, opened the door and found myself face-to-face with man dressed from head to toe in brown polyester. He was holding a very large, very well-wrapped cardboard box.<\/p>\n

\u201cPackage for Mr. Fat Sal.\u201d<\/p>\n

I signed for the package, took it from the UPS guy and looked at the mailing label. It was postmarked, \u201cCopenhagen, Denmark.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCopenhagen?!\u201d I thought to myself. \u201cCopenhagen? Copenh…HEY!!! Isn\u2019t it almost the month of…!!!\u201d<\/p>\n

I spun \u2018round on my heel, ran into the house, tossed the package on the kitchen island and grabbed the nearest knife. <\/p>\n

I sliced through the packing tape, peeled open the boxtop and parted the bubble wrap.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

There they were! Just as I had hoped. Two 0.5 liter bottles of Paulaner Oktoberfest Beer and a note that said the following:
\u201dINSERTING INTO MOUTH MAY CAUSE INJURY OR DEATH<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thank you, Anders<\/a>…on what is happily becoming an annual event. You\u2019re the best Viking friend a guy could ever have.<\/p>\n

And Happy Oktoberfest<\/a> to all.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I had seen the brown UPS van driving through my neighborhood yesterday, and it struck me as odd. DHL, TNT and Federal Express are common sights around here. But I hadn\u2019t seen a UPS van for at least a year. \u201cWhatever!\u201d I muttered to myself, and went back to my desk to resume the crucial … Continue reading THE RETURN OF MR. OKTOBER.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p75qi3-2h","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":121,"url":"https:\/\/www.saldetraglia.com\/?p=121","url_meta":{"origin":141,"position":0},"title":"A VISIT FROM THE IRISH COCONUT FAIRY.","author":"Sal DeTraglia","date":"October 20, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"The doorbell rang yesterday and there, again, was the smiling face of my DHL guy. He was holding two large boxes.\u201cAnders?\u201d was my first thought. But that seemed unlikely, since my 2006 Oktoberfest care-package had already been received, devoured and the bottles recycled.I signed for the delivery, brought the boxes\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 22 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 22 comments","link":"https:\/\/www.saldetraglia.com\/?p=121#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":82,"url":"https:\/\/www.saldetraglia.com\/?p=82","url_meta":{"origin":141,"position":1},"title":"BIG FUN WITH THE BIG FINNS.","author":"Sal DeTraglia","date":"March 11, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Who says that the blogosphere is a vast wasteland of social misfits? A sorry substitute for real human interaction? Who said it? Bring him here, because I'm in possession of a roundhouse kick with his name on it.Following on the heels of my excellent Madrid outing with Ang--Indiana's most trusted\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 9 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 9 comments","link":"https:\/\/www.saldetraglia.com\/?p=82#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":421,"url":"https:\/\/www.saldetraglia.com\/?p=421","url_meta":{"origin":141,"position":2},"title":"IRISH YOU HADN\u2019T SAID THAT.","author":"Sal DeTraglia","date":"June 9, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"People are quick to mock the Spaniards\u2019 lisp. And rightly so. It does sound a bit odd. If a Madrile\u00f1o were to enter a Tijuana bar and request \u201cthinco thervethas,\u201d he should not be surprised to exit with the band of his underpants wrapped around his forehead. But what about\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 2 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 2 comments","link":"https:\/\/www.saldetraglia.com\/?p=421#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":210,"url":"https:\/\/www.saldetraglia.com\/?p=210","url_meta":{"origin":141,"position":3},"title":"MY NAME IS SAL, AND I\u2019M ADDICTED TO LAZYTOWN.","author":"Sal DeTraglia","date":"March 12, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"I suppose it\u2019s strange that a thirty-eight year old man and his three year old daughter have the same favorite TV show. But that\u2019s the case in my house. And the TV show is...LazyTown!Spain\u2019s Playhouse Disney channel started broadcasting LazyTown last year, and In\u00e9s and I were immediately hooked. LazyTown\u2019s\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 18 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 18 comments","link":"https:\/\/www.saldetraglia.com\/?p=210#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":403,"url":"https:\/\/www.saldetraglia.com\/?p=403","url_meta":{"origin":141,"position":4},"title":"THE ROAD TO A SPANISH DRIVER’S LICENSE — CAUTION: POTHOLES AHEAD!","author":"Sal DeTraglia","date":"August 5, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"The Spanish driver's license (actual size). There are few things in life as difficult or intimidating as getting a Spanish driver\u2019s license. It is a process akin to trying to solve Fermat\u2019s last theorem while sitting on death row in a Texas prison. If you don\u2019t believe me, just ask\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 3 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 3 comments","link":"https:\/\/www.saldetraglia.com\/?p=403#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":157,"url":"https:\/\/www.saldetraglia.com\/?p=157","url_meta":{"origin":141,"position":5},"title":"WHERE\u2019S SALDO?","author":"Sal DeTraglia","date":"August 20, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"I\u2019m right here. In Spain. But this time, I\u2019m not lying.Before I begin an admittedly feeble attempt to justify my absence from Blogland, let me apologize to my good friends La Familia Big Finn and Lady \u201cNo Longer on the Market\u201d Di\u2014all of whom sought to determine my whereabouts with\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 11 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 11 comments","link":"https:\/\/www.saldetraglia.com\/?p=157#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saldetraglia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saldetraglia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saldetraglia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saldetraglia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saldetraglia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saldetraglia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saldetraglia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saldetraglia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saldetraglia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}