9/30/16 Might Be Easier If I Cut My Leg Off?

    Fudge, do I hate going to the doctor!!!  I knew I needed to go back for a check-up after seeing them last week.  My choice was basically today since on Fridays the PA that saw me is on rotation and not in that office.  Of course, to make it a little more fun, they don't do appointments on Thursdays, that would be too easy, it is only walk-ins on Thursday.  I had told Chubs that we would go at 3:45 when I picked him up, but I got up at 1:30 to go pee, and it dawned on me to go then and that way I would be done before Chubs even got out of school.  I am so naïve.
    I got there right at 2:00pm, they told me it would be about an hour and 15 minutes, that there were five people in front of me.  I said fine, but that I might need to leave to pick up my son.  They said fine, so I sat like a patient man, and luckily for me, I fell asleep pretty quickly.  I was in and out of sleep the whole time I waited.  I woke up at 3:15 and asked how much longer, she said I should be next, so I still thought "they'll just see my leg, nod and change the bandage and I'll be out."  No, the nurse removed my bandages and left for fifteen minutes.  She then came back with her bucket o' bandages and wraps and stuff.  The PA finally showed up said the cultures didn't show what she expected to be growing in my cut.  She said to stop taking antibiotics I've been taking and she gave me new stuff to target the stuff in the cultures.
    She then talked of "Wound Care", I wasn't sure if it was a brand name of gauze or an actual team of people specializing in treating wounds.  She said if she had more time, she could get in there and remove the ugly black stuff in the cut, but they don't stock morphine in that clinic.  Ugh!!, so painful I need the strong stuff?!?!  Now, I'm scared.  She said the wound care people will have stuff so it doesn't hurt, but just knowing this is not going to make for a relaxing weekend.
    She then sent me upstairs to get a full work up on my blood since I told her my family and my brother in law didn't think the glucose check was enough to remove the possibility of diabetes.  They took 8 vials of blood and made me pee in a cup.  Just give me the insulin pills already.  I guess if it walks like a diabetic, and talks like a diabetic, it must be a diabetic.  After all this song and dance, I didn't get out of there until 5:20 or so.  I didn't even get the chance to have lunch with my boys today.  I rushed home, shoved a sandwich down my throat, then pooped and showered and ran to work.  What I hoped would be less than two hours, turned into almost three and a half hours and all they did was look at the cut, that is why I don't like going to the doctor.

9/29/16 Chubs The Troublemaker?

    So it is written and so it shall be.  We got an email last night from Chub's math teacher that he was not only disruptive, but also disrespectful.  This is either where the child starts going down a bad path and the parents wonder what went wrong, or this is where the parents do their job and come down, grab the child by the throat and very slowly measure how much oxygen he will be allowed, ask for an explanation, threaten that if he wants to see another day he will ask for forgiveness and maybe just maybe he will be allowed to touch an electronic gadget next year.
    Nothing pisses me off more from my boys than to have another adult have to question their discipline.  True, nobody cusses more than Boy (Wife still thinks he has a touch of Turret's), he gives me a run for my money, but he never disrespected teachers in school.  As soon as I read the notice I hoped it was a mistake, maybe the teacher meant the next kid before or after Chub's alphabetically.  I called him at home, and even though he was cool after school, he made no mention of it while we ate, he very quickly choked up and I could hear him tearing up and his voice breaking.  He said some kids were talking to him during class and he responded back. 
    We take this very seriously, I expect the boys to respect their teachers, they get enough shit from the crappy students, and the a-holes who never even figure out school is the best thing they will ever be a part of.  I very clearly told him you will march straight or we have a huge fucking problem little boy.  I cannot and will not dance with you, you can very easily go to Crystal City with your mom.  You promised me you were going to be a big boy and that means we don't go to school to waste people's time.  The first thing you will do tomorrow is what?  With his voice all crackly and fixing to cry he said he would apologize to the teacher in the morning.  Then he got a second round when I told Mama, and I am usually the nice one.
    When I went home for lunch, he was already asleep, Boy said he asked him what had happened, and he gave a better description, which I can see.  He told Boy that he was talking to the kid next to him because he didn't understand what they were doing and when the teacher told them to stop being disruptive, he tried clearing his name by explaining that he was asking for help.  You can very easily get stuck in a loop, and I have fallen in this myself where we never get in trouble, when we do we want to explain why, but I am sure the teacher just wanted to move on.
    Wife e-mailed the teacher back and she did respond within the half hour and she said he is such a great kid and a hard worker.  She kept the kids that were talking after class, but since he had not been a troublemaker before, he was not sent to detention.  Since he is having a little trouble with math, she offers tutoring in the morning, I know he likes hanging with his buddies, but I have a feeling he will start attending those tutoring sessions on a very regular basis.  It sucks, and I do love now that he is here with me, but if he thinks we will let him become a fuck up, he is sadly mistaken.  I am very laid back as far as him doing whatever he does in his free time, but hearing this just set in motion the walls around him suddenly got taller.  He will feel squeezed and suffocated, only as a reminder of what is the most important thing he is doing right now, and that is learning.

9/28/16 We Need To Fly?

    Occasionally, because I am on nights, I'll pick up somebody from work at the airport.  Instead of parking there, they get a ride to there and leave their vehicle in our parking lot, when they get back, they either get a taxi or call me, if I am working that night.  I don't mind doing it, but it is a little intense at the pick up point.  Hundreds of cars are trying to lean in to the curb at just the right point to pick up their person and then disappear into the night.
    This got me thinking, we never fly anywhere.  The lady I gave a ride to has a friend in Maine she goes and visits, and a daughter in Colorado, so she flies a few times a year.  My lifting partner is in Iowa or somewhere in the middle of the US visiting his in-laws.  He too flies frequently, which again begs the question, why do some people fly all the time, and others never get around to it?
    I think I am feeling a little drained, and I blame my stupid leg, but I would love to get out of here and come back a new man.  Revitalized and refreshed.  I know that doesn't just happen overnight, but a trip is always good for the soul.  This summer when we went to Florida, we didn't go enough days, and consequently, it felt like we ran the whole time.  I love being with my family, but it was not relaxing.  I would have loved to drive to the beach, or just take a day and sit around doing nothing.  Instead, Wife was in talks for her new job up there, and it seemed to snowball the whole summer into a rush job and get her going away from us.
    At some point, I want to go to Hawaii, and that will require a flight, but that ain't happening until both boys are graduated and paying their way.  Another hindrance is that Wife does not even like the idea of flying, she would rather we drive.  Being that I like having my vehicle with me, I don't really mind driving.  This summer she even helped out to where we both drove almost 50-50.  That was just great as I wasn't completely tired and got to enjoy just sitting around for periods of time, eating junk food and relaxing.
    I think in a few years, if Wife keeps climbing the ladder and gets compensated better and better, and then we start getting the boys supporting themselves, we'll be able to enjoy being frivolous and travel just for fun.  Some day.

9/27/16 Hitchhiking Females, Scary Aren't They?

    I could have just been a hero or a statistic about five minutes ago.  I was on my way back to work, when I saw one, the elusive female hitchhiker.  I always tell Wife they don't exist because as soon as they set foot on the road, someone offers to pick them up.  I have to re-evaluate my thought process.  A chick hitchhiking at 1:00am by the side of a busy highway is going to be intense and either running from a shitty situation or worse, heading to a shitty situation.  Honestly, the ponytail and the short shorts almost worked like a fishing lure with too much glitter, but then I got scared.  What if it was a set-up, what if Joe Idiot was waiting for someone to pick her up and then once I have her in my cab she pulls a knife and they take my truck?
    All the ponytails in the world aren't worth me risking my truck, plus I'm already working on a gimpy leg.  I continued on my way to work instead.  I do like the fantasy, pick up a stranger, she is so grateful she just lets you do whatever in the middle of the night.  But I know, the sad reality is someone with a bag of luggage and on the side of the road is probably someone who has been planning their escape and this is as brave as they have been.  "Ladies, if you didn't associate with BAD BOYS shit like this wouldn't happen." 
    Maybe as I am told by family members, I am too much of an idiot always trying to help people, but I couldn't help thinking the scenario through.  How far was she going to go?  I could have driven her to Bastrop, maybe she had family there, she was on 71 headed kind of that way.  Being a good person is its own reward, but the cons outweighed the pros this time around.  It was an odd time of night to be walking with a small suitcase along the road.  Maybe she was in process from changing from I-35 to 71 headed to Houston, I felt a little sorry for her, but again, first I make sure I am alright, and that means not picking up strangers and possibly opening up whole new chapters I was not expecting.
    When I was going to UT, I once picked up a hitchhiker, but he was about my age, and it was outside of Crystal City, my hometown back then.  Normally, I am very anti people who actually travel by sidewalks and slow car travel down, but the fact that she was female almost made me slow down and offer her a ride.  Good thing I am a puss.

9/26/16 Weird Lame Weekend?

    I had been looking forward to Wife being in town for a few days and it was great, but thanks to my stupid leg, we didn't do much.  I wanted to get ahead of her and decided to go see a doctor on Wednesday at an Urgent Care facility.  I may have waited too long, all the doctor could do was rub his hands together and say it is a mess, right now we have to get rid of the infection.  I was still arguing that it wasn't that bad.  The nurse was charged with the responsibility of giving me a couple shots and then scrubbing cut, which the doctor was kind enough to say it was going to hurt.  I am not a fan of shots, but if I don't look I usually don't feel them.  The tetanus shot on the arm was no big deal, but I still have a bump on the skin a few days later.  The antibiotic shot was a big needle and the nurse said it had to be on the butt, so I stood and gave her a little ass action.  The doctor said to go see a doctor as soon as possible, which left me feeling that he was passing the buck.
    Thursday, we ended up going to a different place and saw a nurse practitioner, and again she really didn't know what to say only that a second antibiotic seemed necessary.  While we are at it, take an antibacterial cream and apply it to the cut.
    Although I took Wednesday night off, nothing much happened.  Wife went to her thing Thursday and took care of her responsibilities, getting back early to check on me.  Same thing on Friday, I just putzed around the house, not wanting to go too far. 
    With the two antibiotics, I keep removing the bandages and hoping to see an improvement.  It might take a couple weeks, but as long as the cut is improving, I won't complain too much.
    It would have been nice if the Longhorns had played since Saturday night we just sat in living room looking for stuff to watch.  We ended up watching the last six episodes of Devious Maids which we had gotten behind on since we don't watch TV together nightly. 
    We did have solar girl visiting again.  Turned out that our roof had additional vents and things up there which limited the number of solar panels they could install.  Because the number was less, it changed the price of the system, which meant we had to sign a new contract.  She hung out probably another hour or two just listening to stories Wife has from her new job.  I guess Friday night was busy, because she left as Boy showed up with his crew, and they were all excited to see Wife.  Then our renter brought his girlfriend over, and she too sat and got caught up with Wife. 
    Saturday we almost went to San Antonio to visit my in-laws when Chubs reminded us he had a birthday party at one of his buddies houses, so we ended up just dropping him off, going to Charming Charlie's as Wife still had a gift card, and we ate some subs at Which 'Wich.  This is the second time I have eaten at one of these stores and they are pretty good.  We need one in Southpark Meadows.
    Sundays have always sucked and now especially so.  Wife gets up and has an urgency to get on the road.  There were storms all around us with one of the first cold fronts of the season and this rushed her even more.  We ate lunch at Rosa's Mexican Café because it is close to the house, and then she was on road by 4:30pm.  She made it home by 7:45pm, and we all went back to our normal routine.

9/25/16 Don't Get Shot By The Cops?

    I cannot claim to know what it is like to be a black man, but I have seen many a video on YouTube and Cops and other vines captured by amateurs.  I am always amazed how in the face of a police officer holding a gun pointing at you, you still want to argue your side with no regard for your own safety.  From my perspective, once a cop pulls me over, all my attention goes to what he needs.  I may be having a bad day, but I am not going to voluntarily pass my shitty attitude to a man holding a gun on his side.
    There is a moment when the officer tries to get the attention of the person he just stopped (on most episodes of Cops) and Many many  times the officer is confronted with more questions than he has asked.  I always think "what?"  just give the man your license and insurance, hands at 10 and 2, roll your windows down.  Make the officer feel like he is in charge.  But no, the lights inside the car won't turn on, the windows are tinted so the officer can't tell how many people are in the car, there is combative attitude, a lot of times there is cussing like the guy is just an idiot neighbor and not a man with the law on his side.
    I saw the footage a couple times of this last one in Oklahoma, and it is a tragedy, the man died basically because his car broke down.  I do not think he should have been shot, but from the video, I also did not see at any point that he tried to make friendly with the cops, he could have offered a handshake, explained his car was giving him problems.  We see the cops yelling at him, and he just turns away and continues whatever he was doing.  Maybe it was stressful with his car blocking the road, but the cops would have helped, at least to prevent another car from hitting him by having their lights on.  How do you turn your back to someone who has a gun to you?  There are social cues we need to understand, and a gun pointed at you should always be the most serious thing that can happen to you, and it should give you a pause and listen moment.
    I know this sounds sexist, but if you are 5 feet tall and female, maybe you shouldn't be a police officer.  I know society wants to force feed the thought that we are all the same, but we aren't.  This female officer runs into this "scary dude" and for whatever reason she feels she needs to draw her gun, that was an odd response for a man who was having car trouble.  I like my officers to be fit men who can pursue on foot, if necessary, maybe have some military training, strong enough to confront and disarm a typical man, maybe with a tazer gun.  I don't know if the female officer got confused, but the video says the man was tazed, why did he also have to get shot?  By the time she shot him, there were at least 4-5 other officers there, so she wasn't alone.  He was being a little thick-headed by not listening to officer commands, but he also wasn't trying to fight them in any way we can see.
    People complain when people are tazed and the fact that it is inhuman, but you can walk away from a standard shock, and if you are still feeling like fighting after getting shocked, then I say apply a couple seconds until the person decides he is done fighting.  If you don't want your little Johnny getting into it with the cops, start teaching them that cops are the law and it should be Sir, yes Sir, and not "the fuck you want, Pig?" 

9/24/16 Five Days Off And All I Got Was A Lousy Scar?

    I have officially changed shifts and we are officially slow and it officially sucks.  That being said, there is no thought of automatic overtime on my short week anymore, I only work 36 hours, so I don't loose much if I decide to stay home, other than vacation hours.  One of my motivators used to be showing up on Thursday and hoping there would be reason enough to stay and sneak a few extra hours on my timecard, with permission of course.  At time and a half, it adds up right away.
    But it is a new world order, and we must be happy with the work given to us.  I say fine, if there is no work, don't blame me for not doing anything, blame the sales guy for focusing all his energy bringing in work for chemistry.  Our sales guy a few years ago had the personality of a catfish, but he kept us super busy.  He supposedly made millions off of us, but he did bring in the work so nobody was complaining, until we slowed down in 2008, then he disappeared.
    Anyways, this is not about him or the good old days, I am I guess complaining about being able to take five days off at a time.  Most people would be happy to do this, but I really am not.  I did it for the sake of my leg and the cut I got while mowing the lawn.  I have now visited two medical facilities and both took over an hour to see me.  The Physician Assistant did not really know what to do about the cut.  Like the doctor at the Urgent Care place, both said the cut was a mess.  They both agree that I should be on some strong antibiotics to kill whatever might be in there.  The PA gave me a second and different set of antibiotics to take, and she also took a culture to grow and see what is on my leg. 
    The best part, for me, is what is worrying them.  The cut is kind of numb, it is not hurting like it should.  When they told me they were going to scrub it clean, the doctor made a face and said sorry but it's going to hurt.  I got nervous, but then the nurse started and I never felt pain, just the cool sensation of the liquid washing over the area.  They checked my glucose, hoping maybe if I am diabetic, it would explain why the slow time to heal, but it was 119, and we had eaten right before.  I had it checked again today (Thursday), and it was 98, so I don't think I have the diabetes.  Their best guess from both locations is spraying with that silver solution I took from my brother in law, which is for burns, cauterized exposed nerves, and that is why nothing is hurting. 
    I want to say it's because I am a man and a half, I have overcome my body mentally and shut down that location's sense of pain, but you simple people will just laugh and say no way, and then there is the fact that in truth I am a weenie.
    Chubs gave me a worried "dad, you're not going to lose your leg, are you?"  I said no, we live in America, not in some third world country.  Maybe I end up in a hospital for a few days getting an IV bag full of antibiotics, and maybe they cut it open and dig out whatever is growing in there, but I'll be fine.  I got medicine running through me now and I can see the cut looked much cleaner today, and raw from the scrubbing on Wednesday, so baby steps, but it will heal.
    I asked the PA if I could scrub on it some more, if she recommended where I could get clean brushing pads.  She must have just seen big dopey Mexican at first, she didn't let me finish the sentence "No!, we don't need you digging in there with whatever you find around the house."  After I clarified she did say "hmm, maybe if you take a baby toothbrush with super soft bristles, clean it with alcohol, and either use Dial soap or that red liquid Wife bought, it might help.  I am a little excited to sit there tomorrow and see how much crap I can remove.

9/23/16 Why Don't You Like Going To See A Doctor?

    I am slowly and steadily building up reasons I go see a doctor.  Every time though, I milk it for as long as I can.  Today, I was asked why I hesitate to go, and it was perfect.  First of all, I have a large area on my lower right leg with a pair of gashes.  I thought, initially, it was two thin breaks of skin, that I would bleed for a day or two and then it would stop.  After almost two weeks, the bleeding is still continuing and I can't figure why I am still bleeding, other than where the cut is, the muscle doesn't get a chance to rest and stay together.
    The main reason I hate going is that nobody is ever in a hurry.  We got to the urgent care facility right at 9:00am, and I didn't go to a room in the back until after 11:30am.  That was over two hours waiting, I told Wife she needed to go with me, as I was sure I would fall asleep while waiting.  One of the necessary evils of working the night shift.  It seemed simple enough, we get there, the receptionist said it should take an hour to an hour and a half, there are five people in front of you.  Meanwhile, I have to fill out the chart everyone does with one's history.  After awhile I had done everything I could, Wife was busy on her phone trying to set meetings for the afternoon, and checking on things, although I enjoyed having her there with me, laughing at my cheesy nervous jokes.  I felt I zoned out for a couple minutes here and there.  When I asked her how long I had fallen asleep in the waiting room, she said "for about 40-45 minutes."  I said "nah, you're fucking with me."  We were waiting for over two hours though, so maybe.
    Of course, once the nurse has you in the back, you can't hide from the facts.  She starts mentioning Diabetes, and it would explain why the cut hasn't healed.  It doesn't help when she tries to weigh me and the scale said "Ayyy" and tilted.  The nurse was actually cool, and she was laughing at my jokes, so that always helps.  My cut was opened and she went to town, first with a soft cloth washing it with a pinkish mix of liquids.  The doctor came in, and after waiting 2.5 hours for this, he gave me about two minutes of his time.  He said skin was too damaged to try and do stitches, all he could do is make sure we got on top of any infection.  The nurse then took those little brushes you use on a baby's scalp to remove the cradle cap and dandruff material, and all she and the doctor could say was this is going to hurt.  Luckily, most of the nerves are kind of numb/dead at the cut area, I did not feel much of the scraping.  I thought I was being Mr. Smart applying that silver spray my brother in law gave me from my father in law when I was having trouble after my ingrown nail surgery.  Turns out spraying that just numbs the nerves and is not good for open cuts.  This was part of the reason it was not closing.  In the end, I got a good cleaning of the wound area, a topical antibiotic ointment, a tetanus shot on the left arm, an antibiotic shot on the butt, and a prescription for an oral antibiotic.  I am then supposed to go see another doctor who might go in there and get his hands dirty.
    So then why don't I like to see a doctor?  There is always a long lag time, whether you sit for an hour or three, no biggie for them.  The doctor with the degree will only give you about three to five minutes of his time.  Being a fat boy, diabetes always comes up, yet they did a glucose test and I was fine.  They harp on "we should have a primary care physician," yet I only see a doctor when something like this happens.  I ended up taking the night off since I did not get to bed until almost noon, and I hate missing work, except Wife is in town, so it was nice staying home with her here.

9/22/16 Modern Marvels?

    I love the time we are living in.  Last week, Chubs showed me his phone and the lens on the back camera was broke.  I thought that sucks, I hope you are near your two year thing, otherwise you are screwed, Buddy.  We have Sprint and we can get new phones every two years, seems about right, except Boy always beats us somehow.
    I then thought about it, and looked on youtube on replacing a camera lens on a Samsung S6.  There really was not much to it.  It is so sleek and aerodynamic with no screws because the phone is held together by glue.  The first step to changing out the lens was to take a heat gun although a hair dryer does the same thing, and apply heat to get the glue moist and loose.  In the example, the guy used a bunch of guitar picks to go all the way around, I used razor blades, we keep bunches of them here at work.  Once you go all the way around and loosen the glue, the back cover pops off.  It wasn't necessarily a "pop", but it opened up enough and I was able to remove it without breaking it.  The lens in the youtube example popped right off.  I thought I was going to break something as I had to apply a ton of pressure with the tweezers, and razor blade and pick.  Eventually, I overcame the stickiness of the glue and it came off.
    I had told Boy to go to Amazon or Ebay and get me a replacement lens since he orders stuff online day and night.  I don't know why he didn't make it easier for me, but the part came and I owed $1.78, so the US postal service could not just leave it by the door.  $200 shoes, no problem, $1000 computers, no problem, we'll leave it here in your patio.  But this measly part that cost $4.99 needed a signature and the $1.78 mentioned.  I went today half expecting to be in line for a good half hour like last time I went and picked up a letter, but today it was empty.  I was sure the part would be wrong or something, nothing is ever that easy for me.
    Once I removed the old lens, the new one slipped right on, it had its own thin layer of glue.  I then took a practice image and it looks like new.  I slapped the back cover back on and put it in its Otter Box to protect it.  Part of the reason it broke was that when we went to Florida, they had a Star Wars machine that would make a phone protector with your name and Star Wars logos on it.  It was very nice and sleek, but I noticed that it wasn't meant for protection, it was meant to look cool.  So, of course, at the first opportunity, the lens broke, I'm surprised it lasted three months.  Phones need to be in Otter boxes, I drop mine from about two-three feet all the time when I fall asleep, and it is still good as new.
    By modern marvels, I meant youtube and Amazon/ebay which together will show you how to build/fix/modify anything, and then you can go to Amazon or E-bay and order the parts and have them at your house in a matter of days.

9/21/16 Shamed Into Submission?

    I thought at least the guys would side with me and my behavior with regard to my leg gashes I got last week while cutting with the lawn mower.  I knew the minute Wife saw it, she would get hysterical and demand I go see a doctor, and eventually when my mom took a second to look away from the grand kids and looked at the picture I sent her of my leg, she too got on the band wagon that I should do something before I lost my leg entirely.  My coworker who treats me like a son has been pissed at me since last week that I haven't seen someone.  Even my workout partner said I am at an age when I should have a reliable doctor I can go see regularly, ughhh (just telling me I'm old).
    My dad was actually funny, as I have been making a little fun of him since my sister was in high school and him not taking care of his diabetes that he wasn't going to make it to walk my sister down the aisle.  I tease him that we are going to call him Stumpy when he loses a leg, so turn about is fair play.  I was talking to my mom and he was off on his rant about "who is going to lose a leg faster now?"  That was kind of funny.
    I have been keeping a close eye on it, and at first I just thought, the skin broke, it'll bleed, and start healing, but after a week, it is still weeping, not blood but whatever else, I don't mean pus.  Part of the problem is that it is on the lower leg above the ankle and just walking puts a lot of stress there.  Plus the fact that I can't just take time to sit and let it heal.  I think I will go today or Thursday to the doctor, Wife wants me to get a round of antibiotics, just in case.  I figure it can't hurt, and it is very helpful that she is in town for a couple days.
    It was kind of funny, I was making coffee at the start of the shift and although we don't share our break room with others, one of the cleaning persons walked in to help himself to coffee.  He asked if it was ok, I am sure he was not expecting to see me there, but someone left me a piece of cheesecake, so I was dragging ass and hanging out in there.  We got to talking and I mentioned my cut, as I have been grossing everybody out with the pics.  He said if I haven't gone to the doctor that there is a free clinic on east 7th, and then he even offered that he had cut himself awhile back and he had an ointment he used that burns a lot, but to prevent infection.  He was a nice guy, told me to use alcohol if nothing else, just to make sure I didn't get an infection.  "One cannot afford to lose a leg, we need our bodies to provide for our family's."  He was genuinely worried.
    I felt pretty stupid then, I told him it is not a matter of money, I am just an Idiot, I put things off because I prioritize everything else over my health.  Now I don't have an excuse, I'll see a doctor.  That might have been the best cup of coffee I have had in a few months.  I started a little wary because a stranger was in "my" territory, but he was nothing but nice and lovely.

9/20/16 Wow, College Is Mean?

    College is not for everyone, I am the first one to say that.  I will also say it is not the only means to a successful and happy life.  That being said, it will statistically, improve your chances at making a little more money, and enjoying more free time.  I am bringing this up because I am surprised at the people Boy tells me are not going to school anymore.
    There are of course those that it was going to be hard for anyway you slice it, then there are those who just said fuck it, I won't even try.  "I can't fail, if I don't try, so I can't be a statistic."  You also tend to go through life as a spectator, and never a participant, Numb Nuts.  What is worse, trying your hardest and told "you're not that smart?" or not trying at all, and never knowing how you measure up?
    Boy was telling me after we ran into one of his old "rocket" buddy how he just didn't get it.  This kid went off to Texas A&M, and promptly failed and was back.  Another of his friends went to UTSA and the same thing happened.  I am currently a little worried about his crew who had one graduating in a mad furry with a physics degree, is now taking a semester off with one or two classes remaining, and the same with another of his closest BFFs who because of outside circumstances is not taking a full load.
    The scariest thing is to get off that roller coaster because it does not stop, and it keeps adding new batches of students who know everything and spitting out probably 70%-80% of those who find out they don't.
    The best advice I can give anyone, who obviously didn't listen the first time around, take advantage of ACC or other junior colleges.  I can't say this enough, both Wife and I did this and it helped so much.  Boy went two years which we were more or less able to keep up with paying the tuition.  He is on his third year at Texas State, and still under $30K in student loans.  It could be a lot worse.
    Lots of people fail or get on scholastic probation, the trick is to stop feeling sorry for yourself, realize time is going to pass whether you're partying like the world is going to end soon or showing discipline and preparing yourself for a cool future where you control what field you work in. 
    Boy has failed a class or two, given the field he is in, it only makes sense, some of those classes are scary, even for me.  But continuing his path is the most important thing we are doing right now.  It may take him six years, I say BFD, it took me five years for my degree and it took Wife even longer for hers plus the other three plus years for her Master's.  Shit, I now feel that Wife took a giant step with this new job and I can foresee she might be making more money than me in five-ten years.  All I can say is bring on the wheelbarrows of money, I'll figure out a way to spend it all.  But!!!  All this is not possible without her getting her degrees, even if it took awhile, I knew this was coming, eventually.

9/19/16 Things To Keep Us Busy?

    We have a couple things in the frying pan right now.  If all goes well, we should be enjoying them before the end of the year.  This weekend was a rare one for us, as both Wife and I are working on a cold.  I picked it up at work a week ago, as most everybody has gone through it, then Wife unluckily picked it up off me.  As far as being sick goes, it was a mild attack on the body, mostly congestion in the sinuses, and a little cough.
    Other than not going out this weekend for dinner as we have been doing, everything else was pretty much standard procedure.  Wife got up here around 9:00pm, a little later than usual, as she was tending to issues I would rather not get into.  I was here entertaining with Chubs.  He invited four friends, so I had to start my Friday afternoon at Target as we usually do, for sodas and junk food.
    Back to things to do though, Wife says we "have to go" to SeaWorld.  She bought tickets last year, and with all the pressure of her starting her new job this summer, we never even got as far as San Antonio, once we had our vacation to Florida.  We are supposed to go sometime in October, to enjoy the Halloween activities.  Personally, I don't consider it a good fall unless we go to the Texas Renaissance Festival, which also starts up in the next couple weeks.
    A huge project which went silent for a few weeks is our solar panel project.  They finally contacted us and they came this week to evaluate the roof and look around at our current electric panel box.  People still don't understand this one, so of course, I am an Idiot, but long term, we should even get free electricity for about 12 years.  We had a choice to pay either $299 for 20 years, or $354 for 12 years.  The system is guaranteed to work by the company for 25 years.  Best case scenario, we pay it off after 12 years, and get to enjoy free electricity for another 13 years, plus the fact that we won't be experiencing small increases in the electric bill, over time.  We will be producing extra power during the day while the sun is out, so the meter should run in reverse, then as needed we will consume whatever we need.  The system is designed to produce more electricity than we consume in a year to year evaluation.  The plan is to have this done by December, and we don't start getting charged until the system is installed and tested.
    I've got other projects burning on the skillet, but I don't think you are ready to hear about them, as I will seem like an idiot child in your eyes, so I will wait to disclose on that.  This week, at least, I hope to start decorating the inside of the house with our Halloween decorations.  This just starts the ball rolling downhill.  Before we know it, it'll be November and Thanksgiving time.  Then shopping for gifts for the kids and stuff for Christmas.  Busy busy busy!!!

9/18/16 UT Was Robbed?

    First of all, what the hell is this tier I program doing playing at midnight?  Who the hell are we, Hawaii?  For Christ's sake, you have your own channel, why are you whoring yourself out to ESPN if they can only accommodate you when the roofies are taking their toll on 6th Street?  I know money rules in most things, but you make more money from merchandising than most anybody else, let the swim team or even the Soccer team (does Texas even have one?) take those time slots.
    You train these boys/men to come out for training at the crack of dawn, and I say good, they haven't been making the news raping and pillaging like in years past, and then more training in the afternoon.  These guys are conditioned to sleep hard by 10:00pm or so.  I know the badasses still stay up until midnight playing Xbox or whatever, but to expect them to go to school and everything else dumped on them, and then a few weeks into starting the season you spin them around and make them play when they would normally be done with their day is asking a bit much.  I know from working nights, that when I am called to change my hours, even by only a few hours, most times I am left feeling a mess.
    On to the game, once Buechele was kind of injured, why not just stick to the running game?  The two backs had outstanding nights and were never really contained.  Swoopes came in and did an admirable job on the first series after Buechele went to get x-rays, getting in the end zone very efficiently.  If the 18 wheeler package works all over the field, just use it.  It got really annoying later when the two quarterbacks kept swapping out in the same series, it is hard to have fluidity.  Buechele, either hurt or scared, was not right the rest of the game.  He is a freshman, let him sit for a quarter.
    What is the point of having the ability to review plays if the review guys don't have the balls to change things when they are wrong.  The one pass to the sideline that was caught with one leg in bound was great except he was bobbling the ball, which meant he did not have control.  Take away that play, which I believe was a third down and then Cal has to punt or risk fourth down on the UT side.  Texas could have retained control, but no.  Cal scored a couple plays later.  Then WHAT THE FUCK on that last run, punish an ASSHOLE for being "hella cool."  What is that shit of dropping the ball before they go into the endzone?  Do they drop their keys right before they come into their house?  A UT player did immediately pick up the ball, that did not seem to matter, review would have shown so.  Instead Cal was given the ball at the 1 yard line, and well, they did what they did.
    It was a tight game, either team could have won.  Coach Strong just needs to enforce discipline more.  If in doubt, play the ball.  If the player chasing the back had dropped on the ball, Texas would have possibly have been given one more shot from the 20 yard line and 1:20sec.  A lot can happen in a minute and change in college football, that is why we watch, even when the game lasts until almost 2:00am.

9/17/16 Chubs Is Thriving Like A Weed?

    You know when you got that sick plant you swear can't grow, yet you give it to that friend who is an expert at growing things and suddenly the plant takes off?  That is how I feel about my Chubs and him coming back to the big city.  He tried to please his mama and stay with her in the small town, but it was never for him.  He was not comfortable living at my folks having to share the bedroom with his mom, and he was not comfortable having his cousins riding on his back, literally, from the time he'd get home until they went off to any of their many sports practice sessions.
    Instead of worrying about eating too much after school and then dinner, he is having a decent after school meal, and then at night he had a sandwich, or cereal, or something light like that.  We started Monday by revisiting Bill Miller, one of our favorites the last few years.  Friday, we ate a personal pan at Target since he needed to stock up on sodas and junk food for his coming back sleep over.  I am writing this at 9:30pm Friday in my kitchen and he has four extra boys all sitting around the kitchen island eating BBQ Wife picked up on her way back here.  It feels nice.
    My initial impressions when Wife took the job was FREEDOM!!! for me, but I am an old bull.  What am I supposed to do with so much free time?  I got nothing, it was a little pathetic.  The only comfort I found was having more free time to spend with  my older son.  We have had some good lunches, it's nice to know we can just sit there and not be uncomfortable.  So, after experiencing three weeks worth of freedom, I said nah.  Let's see how it goes with Chubs up here, see if he can live without Mama, no more constant coddling.
    There is no more whining, he walks tall and proud.  I thought it was the funniest, coolest move on his part.  I was waiting for him in the school parking lot, and he throws his hand over his head throwing the peace sign to some kid on his right, then immediately after sees me and does the finger in the shape of a gun, pointing at me as he was walking to my truck.  The boy is where he belongs.  The first few days I was trying to say hurry up to the pick up area, and he says I take a step and I see a friend who wants to know where I've been, then I take another step and someone else from William's Elementary sees me, and I gotta tell them where I've been.
    The biggest worry was situations like yesterday, when I had to leave for work, and Boy was still on campus working.  He got home maybe an hour later, so no big deal, but I still am not comfortable leaving him alone for any length of time.  Oh well, part of the growing up process, he is eleven, so it's not like he is a baby anymore. 
    I am sorry I drug my feet on this, but at least he did not lose his position in the Einstein Jr program, so even if he is a little behind, he has the opportunity to catch up and continue growing with them.

9/16/16 Narco (Netflix season 2)

    Wow, was this a beautiful set show.  Everything was aimed at showing the gritty, dirty, even scary people, running the drug game under Pablo Escobar, yet the country backdrop still had an attractive quality to it.  The second season was mostly stretched, and by knowing history, we knew what was going to happen, but it still kept me on the edge of my seat, crying, and in disbelief.
    In a short time, associating with the "monsters", we see Limon, a young "nobody" taxi driver go from innocence and doing the best to help a childhood crush, to personally putting a bullet in her when his boss was desperate and they needed all the money they could round up.  I was really surprised how his character grew to match the evil doings of his allies.  First, he uses the trust of Maritza to convince the DEA agent to fall to Escobar's trap, then he himself looks for her and kills her for calling him the piece of shit he had turned into.
    Pablo's character was that of a spoiled child, when he was told no by the grown-ups, he threw a bigger tantrum, and blew things up.  He almost sounded mentally unstable when talking to his father and thinking of considering a small quiet ranch with "vaquitas", living an unimportant life, happily with his wife and kids.  His father knew full well what monster he had become killing always to make himself stronger, how did he expect to realistically turn it all around and just live a quiet life, where everyone would forget him?  His father was one of the few men never scared of him and he called it like he saw it.  In his father's eyes, Pablo was not a man, just a bully.
    I really liked his last scene of freedom and ironically how he called it his city, yet, after a year of silence, the people had gotten over him and were able to enjoy the simple things in life like playing in a park, and teaching your kid how to ride a bike.  These things had become impossible in the world he had created where people lived in fear of getting shot and killed by his assassins.  He sat and for a minute enjoyed a city which would never have been possible if he was still in control.
    I liked the ending monologue from the DEA agent talking about how all this time you fear coming face to face with the devil, and in reality, the devil is just a fat man who hasn't shaved, running like a fat hog barefoot trying to survive one more minute. 
    It was kind of weird through the whole story, he was a scary person to the outside world, yet he seemed so in love with his wife and children.  I wonder if he could have been happy as a simple farmer or other non-drug related career with his wife and kids, or did he need to become this larger than life character who in the end even he could not control.  Even in hiding, he thought he might still resurrect a hero a la Nelson Mandela and maybe, just maybe, still rule Colombia.

9/15/16 Can't Keep A Good Wife Away?

    Wife is working three hours away, or is she?  Turns out, she is scheduled for some training at Region 20 this week, which is in San Antonio, and she figured she can sleep up here Wednesday night and at least save an hour driving on the second day.  That sounds nice to see her during the week.  She also has trainings next week in Round Rock as she was made "Head of HR", since the school district did not have a person.  This requires her to be in Round Rock for training next week from Wednesday through Friday, so she will be here almost the full week.  I am especially glad Chubs came up, or it would have been weird for her to go drop him off, come back, then have to go bring him back, and then leave again Sunday.  This way, she'll be in town Wednesday through Sunday next week.  That is getting us closer to October, and she has another thing scheduled to be up here on Halloween and the following day, so we will be able to enjoy Halloween together.  We usually sit outside and enjoy the people coming by (and make sure we don't get egged or other shitty things that can happen), giving out a lot of candy, specially to teenagers, why piss off the ones that can buy a carton of eggs and do damage later at night?
    That visit will put us in November, and she gets a whole week off during Thanksgiving, so that is now not that far away to envision, and that only leaves you a couple weeks away before the big Christmas break.  That will be two weeks of her hanging around with us.  If we can survive half a year, the second half should be easier.  I'm sure she will have more trainings, and there is Easter break, and Spring Break. 
    Luckily for me, my parents found the slowest contractors to re-do their kitchen.  My folks suggested I wait until they were done and had a new kitchen, as right now they are going and eating and prepping dinners at my sister's house.  I thought I was going to go and help move stuff around, but since Chubs didn't stay down there, Wife can just stay in the room she is at.  There is no reason to move her to the bigger room where there will be traffic, since you have to go through that room to get to the washer and dryer.  I don't know if this is a one year thing for Wife, but having Chubs back makes the house seem fuller already.  Wife is getting some tremendous opportunities to learn things and be trained in, such as the HR thing, maybe two years will be better, specially if they give her raises to go along with her new responsibilities.

9/14/16 Chubs Is Back And Loving It?

    I got the honor of being sent to Chub's campus to register him on Friday by Wife.  After putzing around and waiting, patiently, for almost two hours, I found out he had already been registered online by Wife.  It was still alright getting an up front look at the school he will be at for the next few years.  I kind of like the designation of green for 6th grade, white for 7th grade and black for 8th grade, I didn't like worrying about whether we had the right green or not.  Luckily, when he had gone to Crystal City, he also had a color preference, but he had a choice of green, gold, and white.  We had bought him a handful of different tones of green, all will work, but the lime one, I think.  I guess the gold ones will just sit in the closet until we throw them out.  Gold is beautiful on jewelry, but a hideous color for clothing.
    Anyways, I took him in this morning and honestly I was a little excited to see him get back to where he belonged, we left a little early and I know everyone will think I just dropped him off, I did not.  We made a run by his old Elementary school and stopped to say hi to the crossing guard who has become our friend.  She saw the truck and lit up and jumped over to come and hug Chubs.  We told her he was fixing to go on his first day, and we'd say hi now and then, and continued on our way.  Even with stopping to do this for a few minutes, we were still at the new school by 7:40am.  We sat in the truck checking out the students, seeing if he knew anybody, he kept saying no. 
    At 7:55am, I decided to head in, see if we could get in the building, classes don't start until 8:20am.  We were let in promptly, and sent to talk to the counselor.  She gave him a schedule, explained block classes, and a couple other things.  I gave him a kiss and went back home.  I slept all day until my alarm rang at 3:15pm, washed my face, brushed my teeth and went to find him by 3:30pm.  I was in line waiting with the other parents, but those car lines were not moving, and then when I got in, he was nowhere to be seen.  Just when I was fixing to park and go looking for him, he said he ran into one of his buddies that has spent the night, and he was telling him that he is back, and how different it was in the other school.  He was genuinely excited after school to be in there, so that made me happy.  We had our little lunch at one of our favorite places we used to eat all the time at, Bill Miller.  Although coming out of his school and landing on William Cannon, I saw a Schlotzsky's, and a Popeye's, so we might be adding new places to eat this year.

9/13/16 UT Football Is Back?

    It appears UT football is back.  It seems like such a long time ago, and honestly the names have mostly all changed.  There is finally a solid quarterback in Buechele, the first true freshman to start at quarterback since like 1944.  He looks like he has been at it for a few years.  He has that soft touch to deliver the long ball, as well as he seems to know where to put the ball to prevent interceptions.  He did have 1 interception against ND, but that ball went through a receivers hands, so it wasn't even that he threw it badly.
    He has as support so many new receivers, I am not familiar with any of them, but they all seem to like catching the ball, it had become embarrassing, seeing the ball bounce out of any given receiver's hands the last few years.  It has been mentioned that Buechele likes to keep track of what receiver has what receptions and include everyone, which is awesome.  If you can show you will catch a ball, he will try to find a way to get you involved and that is good for the whole team.  I'm not a fan of when a quarterback has a favorite receiver because you know where the ball is going when things get tight.
    The backs have always been solid at UT, and it seems that we have another three sharing playing time.  This week, Foreman was injured in the ND game, so he rested but Warren and Porter stepped in to provide +170 yards of rushing.
    Kicking field goals seemed to be a tricky situation going into the start of the season, but LSU let Domingue go even with a year of eligibility and UT caught a break.  The kid is a multi year Lou Groza award candidate, so he is solid, and has already scored a number of times.
    The defense seems quite capable too, there are many potential break out stars that need a couple of big plays to get on our radar.  I keep seeing stupid mistakes from this squad though.  Such as an awesome quarterback sack in the third, only to be undone by celebrating on the field which was called taunting or something, kid was charged with 15 yard penalty and the Miners still got a 1st down.  They need to stop with shit like that.  You don't have to celebrate every sack or tackle like you own the world.
    It remains to be seen how well they continue to play, but at least for now, it has been fun rooting for them Longhorns once again.  I thought it was a little premature, but ESPN already had scenarios of the playoff involving Texas against Alabama.  Woah, I say hold on a minute.  Although both Oklahoma and Oklahoma State both already lost games they shouldn't have, I guess Texas is on top right now.  Ball is in your court, Coach Strong.  Hook 'em!!!

9/12/16 Barton Mall Is Turning To Shit?

    I hate to say it, but Barton Mall is going to start circling the drain and its recovery may be a hard one.  There are too many people first of all in this city now, and no new malls to  head to.  Lakeline Mall is newer but it is pretty far and not even as big as Barton.  Northcross Mall is long gone, a Walmart replaced it, but it was tiny and centered around an ice rink.  The one mall we didn't know we needed to continue existing was Highland Mall which was more centered in town and honestly, kept the riff raff out of the way.
    I hate to sound racist, as I am not, but the last time we tried going to Highland Mall it was uncomfortable.  There were black kids everywhere, just leaning against the safety rails, taking up space in the food court without eating, and running around from one group of friends to another.  There was also the high energy of unnecessarily yelling indoors, of guys trying to get girls attention.  This might have been five to seven years ago, I told Wife, well, we don't need to come here anymore.  This mall is becoming 50% shoe stores anyway, how many varieties of Jordan's does one kid need, anyway?
    Highland Mall is now associated with higher learning, as ACC took over the property, so where is a young person without much money and a bus pass going to find refuge from the heat?  Yup, Barton Mall, and this after all their efforts to gentrify it by bringing in Nordstrom's a couple years ago.  They were doing a fine job, that whole arm is now packed with stores too expensive for our fat asses, other than the candles at Bath & Body Works. 
    I have been going to that mall since I arrived to Austin in 1991, it has always been a good mall for us.  Whether we need clothes for the boys, Dillard's, Macy's, Buckle, A&F, maybe a shirt from Nordstrom's, now and then, or AE, or even Old Navy.  I've bought refrigerators, microwaves, washers, dryers, at Sears.  Not to mention all the jewelry and junk at Spencer's (1 of my favorite stores), and other fun stores.  I have been a good solid customer to that place.
    It has begun, I told Wife about six months ago.  Barton was predominantly upper middle class, rarely did I ever notice groups of kids walking around, but there they are now.  Just about every weekend.  Yesterday was just obnoxious, I kept wondering where the security people were at.  Groups of young black kids taking over sections of seating areas in the food court yelling at girls on the other side of the food court, then different girls taking off running like they were at the 100 meter relays, what the fuck!  I don't need that kind of uncomfortable shit going down.  There is the skanky wear some of these girls insist on wearing, saw one young mama with the side of her blouse so open, there should have been an undershirt, you could see the boob bouncing around as she walked.  That I don't mind seeing, but it is the mall at 4:00pm, not Sixth Street at 2:00am.  I'll probably just end up doing what other smart people are doing, and that is shopping online.

9/11/16 9/11 Has Changed What?

    It has been fifteen years since the tragic events of 9/11.  What has happened down here at our level?  We know big picture there were at least two wars attributed to the actions that day.  Irag has been a mess, nothing significant attaching it to the activity on 9/11 was ever found.  I could agree that Saddam Hussein needed to go, from what they showed us on TV, but we should remember it was our freaking geniuses in Washington that put him in power in the first place.
    So after a decade and a half, can we admit we were wrong in going in to this country?  It seems they had a small note at the border "YOU BREAK IT YOU BUY IT!"  We are pumping billions of dollars to the shithole and for what?  I don't think those people understand or believe in democracy.  They don't even seem to have cities, these people look like they are still living like their ancestors did, following their goats around in the desert.  Everything we see over there is made of rock and mud. They haven't figured out how to use wood and fiberglass to make a house yet.  I understood under Bush and his regime, we would be staying there.  I do not understand why Obama did not pull us out.  What is the purpose of having our brave men and women walking around in that hell hole for the opportunity to step on a land mine or IED.  What is the upside of maintaining a presence?
    Thanks to these a-holes, we now need to arrive hours early for flights to make sure and give the airlines time to scan you.  We have developed a distrust for the people of middle east influence.  We feel like they are not afraid to die, which makes them harder to control.  The few women from the middle east that become popular and drop the coverings tend to be really attractive, so those fuckers may be keeping them in burkas so we don't enjoy what they already know.
    I didn't used to think much about people from those regions, I was never interested in going to the Holy Land or any of that stuff.  I thought they were harmless, if a little pushy, when selling jewelry at the mall.  My geometry teacher back in high school was possibly Pakistanian, but he seemed like a good decent man, I liked his accent, thought he was cool because he was a little exotic.  But then they start feeding us BS like sleeper cells and stuff like that and all of a sudden we have to really think about it.  Was he a good math teacher just trying to get by? Or was he a criminal mastermind, capable of unspeakable horrors, where he could create bombs out of a little Clorox and Kool Aid?  I hate that the media in their rush to educate us, unknowingly split the landscape.  Do we trust those we have known for years, or are they ticking time bombs, making themselves friendly only to dig deeper into our psyche.  I don't know that we were directly affected by the actions that day.  We have been inconvenienced in the name of safety, but no planes have fallen from the sky here in Texas, and I hope they don't.

9/10/16 Nothing Ruins A Day Like Pain?

    I swear, try to do a good thing around here, and uh, never mind.  Well, maybe He smote my leg cause I talk too much shit.  First of all, I couldn't sleep after taking a nap around 10:30pm.  I fell asleep while trying to be a man and watching football.  I then woke up after midnight and I wasn't sleepy at all.  I was up until 6:00am.  I folded and put away three loads of clothes.  One I didn't know Wife had left in washroom, another was my dirty clothes and the third was Boy's dirty clothes.  I like folding clothes after midnight, as long as I can find some good shows along the lines of House Hunters International, or the newer ones where regular people buy beach houses.  Of course Mother (looking at y'all!!!), I want one.  It still surprises me when my parents are surprised when I say I want something.  I want everything.  I covet my neighbor's goods, it is what keeps the economy going, as George Carlin famously said in his 10 Commandments riff.
    Anyways, I fell asleep around 6:00am but woke at 7:30am and Boy was still home, so I came out to check and he was almost ready to go to class.  I then went back to bed, tossed and turned, kind of hungry for tacos, but nobody to go with.  I called a friend, but they were busy with a sick kid, so too bad.  I then lay there thinking and remembered it's supposed to be a shitty weekend weather wise, so I thought about the yard and decided to be a hero and cut it, even though Boy said he would do it.  I was mowing pretty good, had some Adam Carolla playing in my ears, so I was entertained and working.  About halfway through cutting the front yard, I felt the hardest whack to my leg, I didn't want to look down for fear of seeing my leg dangling.  Apparently, I picked up an old metal stake used to hold the plastic things around the trees that keep the mulch from going all over.  Man, it hit like a baseball bat was swung at me from behind.
    Pain is a bitch.  Right at first it hurts, then for a second you say, nah, I can walk it off, so it seems ok.  But once you give it a chance for the rest of the body to figure out what happened, watch out.  All sorts of things engage, there was only one cut I saw, then a minute later I had two identical cuts, bleeding into my shoe.  Then the whole area started looking yellow and swelled.  After five minutes I can see the injured area is radial and goes about 10 inches in diameter.  When I step on that leg, it hurts even more, so the muscle does not want to be flexed right now.  I took some pain pills, Aleve, I think but it was like spitting at a forest fire, they didn't do much, or maybe they did.  My leg hurts two hours later (10:30am), but it is not pulsating and the light bandage seems to have stopped the bleeding.
    I guess Boy will end up cutting the grass.  He did say he would be home by noon.  This sucks, but I am up only because I wanted tacos.  I should still be asleep.

9/9/16 Off Every Other Thursday?

    Here I am, sitting home on a Thursday night.  I can't complain, it is the true shift I am supposed to be working.  It is a throw back to when we were on shifts for the fab covering 24/7.  When I started nights, I worked D-shift, and that was Wednesday-Friday and every other Saturday.  I stayed on that shift when I started with PCAL, but at some point, they let us work OT.  This started a period of non-stop OT that lasted a few years.  When I joined PCAL, it had been kind of a joke.  Work did not get done as it was supposed to, so at a certain time after I had been sufficiently trained I asked if working OT was a possibility.  Until the financial crisis in 2008, I pretty much worked non-stop OT, nobody really seemed to care, we always had more than enough work.  In 2008, all of a sudden, things changed.  I ended up on furlough, which is a fancy word for working the absolute minimum to let you still be employed, but you won't get to forty hours a week.  I would work two weeks, then sit at home for two weeks, but it would be in split pay periods.  After that time period, I remember one of my conservative coworkers saying we will never have it like we did, with the unlimited OT, I just nodded.  By the start of the following year we were at it again with the OT.  We were now an independent lab and we got a big customer who could not get enough samples from us.  We had too much work for the people left still doing what I do, imaging.  Again, I enjoyed a bunch of OT until about last year.  We started slowing down and this whole year has been lame.  I have worked OT maybe a handful of weekends, mostly because others went on vacation, not because we have a lot of work.  As a result, I was finally asked to cut out my extra night.  I had been told about a year ago to continue working the four twelve hour shifts and then on the short week to do four ten hour shifts or a variation to stay under forty.  Being greedy and hopeful like I am, I continued doing the first three nights as twelve hours and then hoping there would be enough or necessary work to keep me all night, I would come in Thursday and either fulfill the forty hour schedule or benefit from them needing the work completed and stay a full night.
    From now on, I am to work the four full twelve hours shifts Monday through Thursday nights one week, and Monday through Wednesday nights the following week, unless work picks up, I added the last part, as I always do.  I have always argued that it is cheaper to pay me and the others OT rather than hire someone new.  I don't know if that is the reason, but what used to be a group of twelve or thirteen people doing TEM is now down to a group of three people prepping and an extra guy with a PhD who helps in imaging.  If I go by history, I just have to wait, work will pick up in time, it always does, and because we have so few people doing what we do, they don't have many options but to let us work until we break.  In the meantime, I have to learn to relax I guess.  I did have a fine afternoon walking with my older boy at the mall and eating there, I fell asleep as soon as I sat to watch the NFL game on TV.  I woke up after midnight, and here I am at 4:15am writing this.  Right now, I feel great, I am even thinking I should go to work and workout in our great new gym.  Nah, I need time away from that place.

9/8/16 It's Official, Chubs Is Coming Home?

    Boy sure drug his feet on this.  I don't know if he really wanted to come back home too, but his last attempt to secure an apartment did not work.  Yesterday, he even committed to buying a parking pass so he can park on campus, probably by the football fields and ride into campus.  His roommates were also having minor issues, which might be the real reason they did not get a new apartment.
    So Boy comes home which opens the door for Chubs to come home.  I did not want Chubs to have to be at the house alone during the week.  Now, he will have his brother, and for now Boy has an old high school buddy living with us.  And I am not sure about my brother, but Wife did get called about him reapplying for the position he interviewed for earlier in the summer with Cedar Creek ISD.  He did not get hired the first time, but the dude did say he was planning on hiring up to four people to monitor his school.  I think for the guy to pick up the phone and call Wife, about my brother, means he has a good chance at getting hired.  If only we can undo the apron strings, which my mom will only say I charge too much, never mind how much I pay, that has never been a concern, fairies and unicorns pay for my bills.  If he comes back, which I told him it was an open door whenever he wants to come back, Chubs will have a pretty good posse of peeps around so he never feels alone.
    Boy says he can drop him off around 7:30am, and although it is a little early, considering he doesn't have to be there until 8:15am, it is a sacrifice he will have to take in order for him to come up.  I will then be in charge of picking him up and if we do like we used to do, enjoy a little afterschool lunch before we get home and I get ready for work.  Boy has been showing up between 1:00pm and 6:00pm, depending on what he is doing on campus.  Boy's friend is pretty steady between 5:00pm and 6:00pm.  My brother would be getting out at 5:00pm, so I would imagine he would be home around 6:00pm to 6:30pm.  Chubs is 11, once we eat after school, he can survive the rest of the evening on a bowl of cereal, or a peanut butter jelly sandwich, or a soup or Chef Boyardee can of something.  We'll eat at Jason's Deli or at Luby's to make sure he gets some vegetables now and then. 
    My mom was saying at the start of the year that a young boy should be with his mother, but mom forgets that I am awesome and that is why my boys want to be over here, close to this guy.

9/7/16 Worst Part Of Lifting Weights Is Starting?

    I have been lifting weights on and off again since about 1991.  Back in my UT days, I had two roommates who were both into it and I got interested as it seemed like the thing to do at that age.  Coming out of high school, I had been in band and was pretty much overweight.  I decided to lose weight while at the junior college and was pretty successful by cutting out all eating during the day.  I would only eat once I got home.  It cut calories and saved me money.  I also was playing as much basketball as I could.
    The guys I hung with at the junior college were into sports things, but not weightlifting and not like my roommates.  It was hard at first, I remember not being as strong as either of them, but still was as big as them.  "Oh, you big pussy!" was a line that sticks with me.  Still, that motivation kept me going, eventually I was strong enough to keep up with them.  It is a funny way that lifting weights works.  Once I got up to "1 plate" = large 45 pound weight on either side, I was sort of normal.  It did not take long, maybe a couple months to get up to "2 plates" is standard weight, tells me you are doing OK.  I've gotten close to "3 plates" several times, with the bar that is 315, but it helps to have a lifting partner.
    After my lifting days at UT, and we had been married, Wife and I actually joined a gym on Riverside back in the day, but eventually we stopped going.  About that time, I started buying my own, figuring, if I lifted daily, it would be an investment in me.  I used them for some time, but it has been very hit and miss.  I am writing this because we just got a new gym in the bldg. I work in.  I have been going to it for the last three weeks, and happily, I am getting past the sore stages of lifting.  When you start, after taking months long breaks, it is very hard to get past the soreness to reach that plateau level where you can think about growing to the next step.  I would say if you can go and work out a muscle group for about a month, twice a week, you can get to the point where the pains start to subside and you can start to feel like you are getting stronger.
    Currently, I am working the chest and arms on Mondays and Wednesdays and shoulders and a little on the legs on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  While I do that, I am also walking again, and at this point doing four miles a night, again.  It is starting to feel good, like it is making a difference, but man, any excuse not to do it, and right back to square one.  I gotta be more disciplined.

9/6/16 Chubs Needs To Come Home?

     I feel real badly for my Chubs, he wants to come back home in the worst way.  He loves being home, even if we don't go anywhere.  Part of the problem stems from my parent's deciding to gut the kitchen and re-do it with a couple of guys who have daytime jobs.  They might be doing good work, but they can only go at it in the afternoon after they finish their shifts.  It has been over a month and a half and they have yet to see the cabinets that are going to be in there.  There was word Friday, but then they were expecting rain, and the cabinets are being assembled in Mexico and being brought over in the back of a truck.  I have no doubt that the kitchen will be pretty once they are done, but in the meantime, my peeps are living in a house with no kitchen.  They have been getting by going to my sister's house to use their kitchen to make dinner, but then are kind of left feeling like they are in the way.
    Chubs hates being "followed" into his room by his younger cousins who are probably being younger cousins who want to play and explore with their bigger newer cousin.  His last chance is that Boy does not get into this apartment which he is interviewing for this week.  Like I said, the apartments are weird, even with availability, the kids must meet certain criteria before they are allowed.
    He does have some good news, and that is that the school he is going to is saving his spot until the middle of October, so he can still come back and be a little Einstein.  That sounds especially good to me, considering the bulk of his friends went over there to Bedicheck Middle School and that is where he would be.
    Instead of this long Labor Day Weekend satiating his need to be home, it just awoke the beast inside of him.  He was ready for us to give in, keptsaying "so I can stay?"  hoping we would cave in and just let him stay.  It will be a challenge, but Boy seems comfortable at home, we have been able to spend more time together, so I am liking him being home.  His friend is still there and he is a good fit, I have always liked this kid, he is offereing himself to watch Chubs if it helps, and although I like him doing this, I don't want to make a big family decision on an outsider who might decide he wants to go live with his girlfriend next month, or he finds a cheaper alterenative to my exorbitant rental fees.

9/5/16 I Said No To Another Rolex, Maybe?

    I have been slumming by Ben Bridge lately, I guess because of Wife's new raise, I am feeling entitled to get me a new watch.  The last time I was in there, I was asked if I wanted to be invited to the rolling Rolex sale, which showcases up to 100 used watches which make their way from store to store across the US.  I, of course, said yes.  They then texted me Saturday morning that the watches had shown up here a week earlier than expected, if I was interested, the watches would be on display starting today, Saturday.
    We are in the middle of a lazy Labor Day weekend.  If things were normal, we would probably have spent our last weekend in Corpus Christi before bringing our RV back, but the weird killer bacteria ruined that, and Wife working far away makes being here together that much nicer, so I am ok to just be in town and run around our usual little places, such as the mall.  I told Wife about the watch sale and she of course, rolled her eyes at me, but we didn't have anything better to do.
    We got out there to the mall about 5:00pm.  It was a weird day because I got up at 6:30am to go to the bathroom, then I decided to wake up Wife for a little 1 one on one basketball in bed.  Afterwards, I suggested going for breakfast, Wife said sure, and before we knew it, we were headed to Bill Miller at 7:30am for tacos and coffee.  We came back home and I slept until noon.  Wife didn't wake up  until almost 2:00pm because I came into the room and annoyed her with some You Tube videos.  It took Wife another couple hours to be ready which she says was so I could sleep, which I did.
    At last, fast forward to the mall, and they had a bunch of Rolex watches in different styles and looks.  Some you could tell were very old, and some looked newer.  The sales lady was very patient and even educated us on some details.  She showed us a $45,000 platinum watch which was distinctive in its weight, much heavier than the gold or silver varieties, but too rich for this Beaner.  I was there for a Submariner type, preferably in the two tone, with a blue face.  They did not have my dream watch, they did have three other watches in the Submariner type.  There was a GMT Master II, a Submariner, and a Deep-sea Dweller.  Honestly, they all look the same, but they are a little different in abilities to survive underwater, not that I even know how to dive.  The prices, however, were a different tune.  We are talking used watches, but even then, the GMT Master was $6795, the Submariner was $7700, and the big boy Deep-sea Dweller at an even $10,000.  The Deep-sea Dweller is the one that most caught my fancy, of course.  It fit perfectly, and within minutes, I was ready to trade in my Rolex for it, but Wife kind of said no.  They have always said I could trade in my watch, if I was willing to upgrade to one 3x the cost of what my gets valued at.  Since they said mine was worth $3080, I would need something in the $9,000.  The $10,000 Deep-sea was perfect.  It was a beefy thick watch.  Maybe I'll panic during the week and try to go back and get it.  I do have two boys, so I need two watches to leave them one day.  My real plan is to have at least four expensive watches, but we will see what the future brings.

9/4/16 Bad Moms (movie)

    Wife is getting the hang of living here part time.  For Friday, she told Boy to get us tickets to go see Bad Moms earlier in the week.  I love that he works at Alamo Drafthouse.  He had plans for this week, some comic-con in San Antonio, he will be back Sunday afternoon.
    Bad Moms stars Mila Kunis, who I have been a fan of since 70's show, I can still hear her yelling "Michael this" and "No, Michael" at the Ashton Kutcher character.  I like that they were boyfriend and girlfriend in the show and they are now married in real life.  Christina Applegate played the antagonist as the head of the PTA, she is another of my favorites from Married With Children, played a perfect teen bimbo.  The other leads Kristen Bell and Kathryn Hahn, who play Mila's new best friends after she has a mini breakdown were both great and filled their roles perfectly, Kristen as the stay at home weird mother with four kids, and Kathryn as the cougar who will hump anything that moves.
    Mila's character Amy starts falling apart from her "late to everything over planned life" when she catches her husband engaging in skype sex with another woman via computer.  She runs him off, then in an attempt to keep up still shows up at a PTA meeting where the Christina Applegate character, Gwendolyn, runs the show, she is a bossy bitch and uses the position as head of the PTA for control of all the moms.  When Gwendolyn puts yet one more ridiculous responsibility on Amy, she cracks and says no.  In the next scene, she is in a bar and Kristen Bell (Kiki) and Kathryn Hahn (Carla) are there, they share a night of carelessness and silly shenanigans, ending in a crazy romp through their supermarket with plenty of fluids spilling in slow motion and running up and down the aisles.  It felt like the stuff of a Seth Rogan or even a Paul Rudd, but this was a chick flick, so let the women act the fool, still pretty funny.
    This starts a chain reaction, Amy no longer wants to live tied down to her tight schedule, she confronts her boss who acts pretty tough, but she kind of ignores.  Kiki, who is bullied by her husband in the first scene eventually stands up to him, and by the final scene we see him involved with the kids taking them to school in the morning.  Carla, who has been more busy hooking up than parenting, also learns from the other moms and in the final scene is attempting to be a better mom by bringing her kid a salad for lunch.  Amy has challenged the undefeatable Gwendolyn and knocked her off her perch as head of the PTA, but she only did it for her kid, who Gwendolyn had bullied the coach of the soccer team to not let her on the field to get back at Amy for saying no at the PTA meeting.
    There was a lot of drinking and penis jokes, which guys would have easily done in similar situations, but it is hard to believe women would really carry on this way.  But the overall effect was a lot of laughs, and a good vibe.  In the end, even Gwendolyn and Amy patched things up and were on their way to being friends.

9/3/16 A Young Doctor's Notebook And Other Stories? (Netflix)

    Some people whine that there is nothing good on TV nowadays, I say these people are dullards with small brains.  Look around, TV no longer controls programming.  Netflix consistently is putting out stuff as good as HBO once did.  All the puritanical BS is holding back the big three or four TV stations.  Let's face it, life is not pretty and clean.  When we get pissed and stub out toe, we don't say "aw darn it!"  We say FUCK! and we mean it.  Netflix programming also allows them to play with the time and length of the seasons, apparently.
    Boy recommended this show "A Young Doctor's Notebook..." and I kept avoiding it because he watches some silly stuff sometimes, but this show was good.  It focuses on a young doctor played by Harry Potter himself, Daniel Radcliffe.  It is set in Russia, back around 1917 and war has broken out but they are mostly out in the middle of nowhere, or as they said "you took a two day train out to the middle of nowhere and then added a 3 day trek past nowhere."  The young doctor has support of a nurse who worships the last doctor who left their hospital, a mid-wife who becomes his love interest or sex partner, and an assistant who is rather peculiar, the Feldsher.
    As a doctor, he has shown up and is bragging to any who will hear him about scoring perfect 5's in all 15 sections of his medical exams, and in short time it appears he is doing good work, but being in such isolated conditions, he eventually finds a way to kill the boredom and he becomes addicted to morphine.  Jon Hamm plays the doctor role in the future, and he is in an office surrounded by soldiers, where he picks up one of the notebooks and we go with him to see a young Doctor.  From this point, the older and younger doctor are together in most every scene, the older talking to the younger version of himself, but he is unable to change anything, he is merely recollecting.
    There is a lot of dark humor, Daniel Radcliffe and Jon Hamm are great, The Feldsher, played by Adam Godley is funny in his own way.  We get to see Daniel Radcliffe totally different from the hero of Harry Potter.  Here, once his addiction takes on, he cares about nothing but morphine. 
    The beauty of the series is that it is short.  There are two seasons and each one only has four episodes, and each episode is 20 minutes long.  Instead of feeling overwhelmed, it leaves you feeling like they should have made a couple more episodes.

9/2/16 Saggy Pants, Why?

    I went with Boy yesterday to Wendy's.  If anything, Chubs being gone is allowing me to focus more attention on Boy.  Where Chubs will talk and argue like a grownup, Boy mutters as if he is talking into a towel away from you, so it was hard conversing with him when Chubs was sitting at the same table.  It has been nice reconnecting with the Boy, specially because we have grown to be so much alike.  We like and hate a lot of similar things, so I am proud of how I have raised him.
    But on to my little rant, why do (let's face it) black men, have to do the pants under the ass routine?  If they were wearing high dollar under wear maybe I would get it, he wants to show off his Polo underwear, that's cool.  But mostly it's off white generic Fruit Of The Loom crap.  This "dude" also had on some sort of dreadlocks, so not only is he saying "LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME!!"  He is also adding even more attention to himself.  The really weird part was that he had a kid with him, and the kid looked decent, in his little Polo shirt, I'd loose the earrings, but that is just personal taste.  Come on, be a role model for the kid, pick up your pants, you are showing up, so you already are doing 80% of the good parenting part, spending time with the kid, and feeding him.   Thinking about it, this might have been a decent dude, but why do we have to see your underwear?  Let's turn it around, would you like to turn and see my wide ass calling out your name with only some ten year old underwear protecting your eyes from seeing my ass crack and whatever it might contain? 
    A couple years ago, we were having a party and one of our friends older boy showed up, he thinks he's gangster and was sporting the underwear thing.  I had already had a couple drinks and I start to get loose and dirty when I do.  I yelled at him amongst all the other "cool guys" hovering around "if I come back and I still see your underwear showing, I promise you I will stick this (sticking my finger in the air) right in your delicious butthole.  You wanna parade around like a peacock in Big Mando's house, Big Mando might just have to show you who's house you in.  Didn't have a problem with him showing underwear anymore.
    It's a Dad's job to prevent this kind of stupid shit.  In eigth grade, Boy occasionally tried to be gangster, I'd just stop in my tracks when I would see his underwear and ask "what the fuck is going on back here?  Uhh, ummmm, was all he could muster.  "Get a fucking belt, you are not that cool."  Boy got it after a while, we've not had to revisit that scene, but I am ready for it when Chubs starts acting bigger than he is.

9/1/16 The Sun Is Officially My Employee?

    Yesterday, I officially signed the paperwork to make our house a solar powered house.  According to the representative, we are looking at six to eight weeks to get all the necessary paperwork signed off.  They are a completely full treatment company.  All we do is sign the papers, they talk to our HOA, they talk to the city, they send the paperwork to the proper people to get our city incentives flowing and the federal government will also give us a huge tax break over this.
    The City of Austin is giving out up to $8,000 in incentives, while the government is helping with another $18,000.  The system which will give us 100% power costs around $68,000.  With the incentives, we are down to $42,000.  This we are supposed to pay $356 a month for 12 years.  The other option was to pay $299 for 20 years.  If everything she said is real, I am very happy with what we are getting.  As she showed us, energy prices go up almost every year, our price will not fluctuate or go up for about the next twenty five years.  The real savings will come on after about year 12 when we will no longer have the payment.  With the system carrying a 25 year warranty, we should get another 12-13 years of running after we have finished paying it off.
    It being Sept. 1, I figure the system will be about ready come the first week in Dec.  I can't wait.  Of course, as soon as I mentioned it to some of my coworkers, they let me know I got duped.  They were offered a much cheaper system, and I have toes for fingers and probably ride around on a little yellow bus.  I can't say whether I got duped or not, but I do know there is no such thing as something too good to be true.  If they were indeed selling solar systems that could cover all your power needs for $12,000, everyone would have them and we would be that much closer to cleaning up the planet.  All I know is the $42,000 I agreed to sounds reasonable.  During the summer months, I pay just on electricity over $400.  This may happen for 4 or 5 months, then the bill becomes more reasonable.  Paying $356 removes that $400 monster during the summer. Eventually it even goes away.  Who knows, maybe we sell the house in ten years, I am sure we get most of the money back.  Wouldn't you enjoy buying a house that doesn't have much of an electric bill, if at all. 
    It takes a couple of idiots like me to push a technology forward.  Of course these companies are making some money on us, why shouldn't they?  If not for people like me that can't wait and jump on everything without thinking, how do companies get their products out for reviews and improvements.  See?  Not only am I a hell of a guy when it comes to helping my fellow man, I am a hell of a guy when it comes to caring for my planet (just ignore the Excursion and the F-250 parked in the driveway).  Some day, I'll drive something that runs on the tears of vegans, then I will truly be helping my planet.