I am still walking around with a hole in my leg. It has now seemed like forever, specially with my never ending doctor visits to the Wound Clinic every Monday at 8:30am. What started out as a nasty black infected looking thing was scraped clean to reveal a hole about an inch or so in depth. It was cleaned and packed with collagen and bandaged with what they keep calling a "unaboot". The boot is made up of several layers of bandages and other materials. It is supposed to give me added compression on my leg, where the calf muscle acts as a pump to move water and other drainage away from the cut and out to my kidneys, I guess.
I was going twice a week for about a month, but the hole that started an inch deep has filled in and although it hasn't changed much from last week, I thought it did still change some. This week, the wound had an imprint of the bandages and stuff, same as the skin immediately around it. That tells me that it is filled in and now about the same texture as the "meat" right below the skin. Two weeks ago, the flesh in the hole looked more like jello than "meat". The doctor did say that the wound looks perfect, I am doing all I can, it has not gotten infected, and the flesh is a bright healthy red. He does seem a little surprised that it is taking this long to start showing signs of closing. They changed the material they are packing it with to a higher collagen material, and since it is stayed looking so well through the Thanksgiving week, I can start going only once a week to change the bandages. I like this because I only go once a week, but I do like getting new dressings so I can see what is going on in there.
The doctor did worry me a bit, saying that if it doesn't start showing signs of improving in the next couple of weeks, he might suggest I be sent to a plastic surgeon to look into a skin graft. I don't know what that entails, but it does sound expensive. I asked if that meant they would be taking skin from my butt cheeks or what that entails and the nurse kind of laughed but said no, they grow the skin from stem cells. I am glad ole George W. Bush didn't completely kill stem cell research, otherwise they might be eyeing my fat ass to take some skin.
We shall see where I am in a couple of weeks. I could attach some pics, maybe. Hmm.
What gash looked like initially:
A couple weeks of waiting for it to heal by itself:
When they dug out the hematoma and all the other nasty stuff:
What it looked like Monday morning this week:
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
Tuesday, November 29, 2016
11/29/16 Post Thanksgiving Blues?
Thanksgiving week came and went. I can't remember taking a week off from work and just hanging around the house and not really going anywhere. Sounds lame but they might call it a staycation in the movies. Anyways, Wife is lingering around like the smell of turkey in our fridge for a couple more days. I kid, I kid, it was really awesome having our woman with us for a whole week. I will admit it took a day or two of getting used to having her home. I cleaned the house like a madman Thursday and Friday before she got home only to have her try and bust my balls for not getting all the Christmas decorations up and a couple other minor small things. When you take the lead on something and then another person shows up to essentially take over, it can be a bit of a power trip handing over the whip, or whatever metaphor you might want to use. I remember going to bed thinking F you, I've been doing the best I can, I am still working 12 hour shifts, I don't know why you think I can sit around cleaning all day long, you know my lazy crew hardly helps. I was over it by the next day, but it took a bit.
The rest of the week was good, we stayed up late most every night, caught up with most our shows that we watch together, and she spent even more time watching her own crappy girl shows, like Scream Queens, and anything with vampires. Big question at this point concerning the last week is how much longer can we keep eating the leftovers before we get sick?
I came in to work Monday night for the first time in a 12 days and it was great to be gone and take a break from the same old thing, and it was a little scary too. I always get nervous that things will change drastically while I am gone, but no, I came back to the same kind of samples we were working on before the break.
Wife leaves today back to my folk's home for the rest of the week, only to come back Friday night. Next week she mentioned she might be able to sign up for a conference that would have her in town from Tuesday through the weekend. If so, that means she would have one more week after that and then she would be here for two solid weeks. That is starting to sound great, plus the fact we already did probably 80%of our Christmas shopping, we've kept it real low key, so we did not get into debt like we usually do, the holidays may actually be relaxing here in a few weeks.
The rest of the week was good, we stayed up late most every night, caught up with most our shows that we watch together, and she spent even more time watching her own crappy girl shows, like Scream Queens, and anything with vampires. Big question at this point concerning the last week is how much longer can we keep eating the leftovers before we get sick?
I came in to work Monday night for the first time in a 12 days and it was great to be gone and take a break from the same old thing, and it was a little scary too. I always get nervous that things will change drastically while I am gone, but no, I came back to the same kind of samples we were working on before the break.
Wife leaves today back to my folk's home for the rest of the week, only to come back Friday night. Next week she mentioned she might be able to sign up for a conference that would have her in town from Tuesday through the weekend. If so, that means she would have one more week after that and then she would be here for two solid weeks. That is starting to sound great, plus the fact we already did probably 80%of our Christmas shopping, we've kept it real low key, so we did not get into debt like we usually do, the holidays may actually be relaxing here in a few weeks.
Monday, November 28, 2016
11/28/16 State Of The Blog, Happy 2nd Birthday?
I have officially been blogging now for two solid years, over 730 blogs about family, friends, thoughts, and ideas. I keep doing it because it has been fun, and I think it is good to work the mind and also to leave a little proof of what I say and believe. I started writing for my boys, but the content is not always aimed for them at the age they are. I think, though, some day, when they are older, they might appreciate some of the things I have to say regarding any topic.
I will be making some minor changes, some for convenience, others to expand my creativity in other directions. One change I need to make is when I go on vacation, I will simply use a "Best of" and re-publish old blogs I have enjoyed. I have been taking a week off in Spring Break, one in June/July when we go to Disney, and now in Thanksgiving, and maybe Christmas. Spring Break two years ago had me scrambling because we stayed in a time share which only had wifi in the main building, but they closed it at night. I would write my blog and then go towards the building, I believe we had to go to the second floor patio before we connected to the wifi and then I was able to send it. This is silly, it is just a little blog, I shouldn't be running around after midnight looking for a way to publish it. I had a similar problem when we went to Florida this past year. The Wi-Fi worked the first night or two and then gave out in our rental house. I wrote half my blogs on my phone, with my thumbs on those tiny keyboards. I know that going on vacation instantly gives me new and more interesting material to write about, but it also forces me to stress when I should be relaxing.
The other thing I have been wanting to do is explore my perverted side and write a blog totally free and from the perspective of the Little Mando, if you know what I mean. I won't divulge the new address, but you should be able to figure it out, if you want. Some of the stories will be true, some will be fantasy, I might discuss a sensational story, but I will do it while entertaining my real smaller brain.
As for this blog, I will continue to do at least six blogs a week, maybe seven if the new blog doesn't find a following after a couple weeks. I had promised to add more pics last year, but it wasn't easy. When I attempted to add one, it would attach them randomly anywhere on the screen, and then half the time it would attach them but not show the image, instead it would show a code error. I will keep trying to attach photos and images from online, but it will be hit or miss until I figure out What the F???
I will be making some minor changes, some for convenience, others to expand my creativity in other directions. One change I need to make is when I go on vacation, I will simply use a "Best of" and re-publish old blogs I have enjoyed. I have been taking a week off in Spring Break, one in June/July when we go to Disney, and now in Thanksgiving, and maybe Christmas. Spring Break two years ago had me scrambling because we stayed in a time share which only had wifi in the main building, but they closed it at night. I would write my blog and then go towards the building, I believe we had to go to the second floor patio before we connected to the wifi and then I was able to send it. This is silly, it is just a little blog, I shouldn't be running around after midnight looking for a way to publish it. I had a similar problem when we went to Florida this past year. The Wi-Fi worked the first night or two and then gave out in our rental house. I wrote half my blogs on my phone, with my thumbs on those tiny keyboards. I know that going on vacation instantly gives me new and more interesting material to write about, but it also forces me to stress when I should be relaxing.
The other thing I have been wanting to do is explore my perverted side and write a blog totally free and from the perspective of the Little Mando, if you know what I mean. I won't divulge the new address, but you should be able to figure it out, if you want. Some of the stories will be true, some will be fantasy, I might discuss a sensational story, but I will do it while entertaining my real smaller brain.
As for this blog, I will continue to do at least six blogs a week, maybe seven if the new blog doesn't find a following after a couple weeks. I had promised to add more pics last year, but it wasn't easy. When I attempted to add one, it would attach them randomly anywhere on the screen, and then half the time it would attach them but not show the image, instead it would show a code error. I will keep trying to attach photos and images from online, but it will be hit or miss until I figure out What the F???
Saturday, November 26, 2016
11/27/16 God Works In Mysterious Ways?
God always comes up when my mother in law shows up. I enjoy poking holes at her logic, she kindly tells me to straighten out before I end up going "down there" as she points to the floor. We hadn't seen them much since Wife started her new job, by the time she gets into town Friday night, she just wants to rest here, but it is Thanksgiving and my in laws always join us for the holiday. The first thing we talked about was my leg gash and I was counting the seconds for her to bring the big G up and sure enough within three minutes she was on it. I was going on about my gash healing slowly showing them the progress week by week and then after she asked so everything is ok now? Sarcastically, I say "well, if you really want to get into it? No." I then went into explaining my blood tests and my low testosterone, bad thyroid, and low Vitamin D. None are life threatening, but I know I need to get them in order. I am glad to know I am not diabetic as everyone was thinking my fat ass should be.
She casually went into her thought that she noticed when we were in Florida last year that I kept falling asleep every time we slowed down, something must be wrong. Of course, I have just been insisting that it is because I am overweight and I don't rest enough. Now I know that the three things wrong are each affecting my ability to stay awake like a normal human. She then said well God intervened and by you getting hurt, it forced you to go to the doctor and now you know what is wrong with you. I had to retort "so God made the lawn mower throw that metal stake at my leg which felt like a baseball bat being swung at my leg?" "That God of yours is not subtle, wow." She did not skip a beat and just said "yes, but you see, now you'll get better, thanks to God." About all I can say is "hmmm."
This kind of logic reminds of the joke I've seen on Pinterest credited to Al Pacino "I asked God for a bike, but I know God doesn't work that way. So I stole a bike and asked for forgiveness." The big Guy doesn't do anything physical, but as soon as something happens to get you across the bridge and a problem solved, well, it was due to God, is what the religious will always say.
My mom also said a "thanks to God for my leg getting better." I said "umm, how about thanks to the medical people and their knowledge, they are the ones physically making me better." She, of course gives credit once again to God working through the doctors and nurses to heal me. What can you do with that logic? Take an aspirin for the headache I guess.
She casually went into her thought that she noticed when we were in Florida last year that I kept falling asleep every time we slowed down, something must be wrong. Of course, I have just been insisting that it is because I am overweight and I don't rest enough. Now I know that the three things wrong are each affecting my ability to stay awake like a normal human. She then said well God intervened and by you getting hurt, it forced you to go to the doctor and now you know what is wrong with you. I had to retort "so God made the lawn mower throw that metal stake at my leg which felt like a baseball bat being swung at my leg?" "That God of yours is not subtle, wow." She did not skip a beat and just said "yes, but you see, now you'll get better, thanks to God." About all I can say is "hmmm."
This kind of logic reminds of the joke I've seen on Pinterest credited to Al Pacino "I asked God for a bike, but I know God doesn't work that way. So I stole a bike and asked for forgiveness." The big Guy doesn't do anything physical, but as soon as something happens to get you across the bridge and a problem solved, well, it was due to God, is what the religious will always say.
My mom also said a "thanks to God for my leg getting better." I said "umm, how about thanks to the medical people and their knowledge, they are the ones physically making me better." She, of course gives credit once again to God working through the doctors and nurses to heal me. What can you do with that logic? Take an aspirin for the headache I guess.
11/26/16 Thanksgiving Was Quite Good?
Thanksgiving in the past was kind of a spectator sport. I would usually have to work, sometimes I volunteered to work, but the last couple years I have been home the Wednesday and Thursday nights on Thanksgiving week. This week, because Wife was going to be here all week, and my folks visited for the first half of the week, I decided to take the whole week off. It has been great, taking it easy all week. I will admit, when my folks were here, they did pressure me a bit to get up earlier than I wanted because I like staying up late, like to 4:00 or 5:00am.
Anyways, Thanksgiving kind of started on Tuesday night, after we saw the movie Fantastic Beasts... When we got out, we ended up going to HEB to get our supplies. We split with the other family members of Wife's family, they brought the turkeys and made the stuffing starting in San Antonio. They did come up Wednesday and my mother in law and Wife spent the afternoon baking and prepping. I took a nap after eating lunch at Zaxby's, I am loving their Cobb salad. I probably napped from 5:00 to 7:00pm, waking up in time to hear Wife saying that people were hungry again. We ended up going around 8:45pm and ate at Chili's, not the best place, but it did its job.
Thursday was started early by my father in law who loves getting up early to cook the turkeys. I was up late, but up around 11:00am, and we just hung out and waited until everything was cooked, and a couple more family members dragged themselves in. We ate promptly at 3:00pm, and I was back to napping by 4:00pm. This time most everybody napped, except Wife and her mama who cleaned up. Everyone hung around until 7:00pm, but they left because everyone is scared of driving at night.
The rest of the evening was finally relaxing, with all our visitors back in their houses, we finally got to sit back in front of our big screen, eat some turkey leftovers, some more pies and sweets, and catch up on some of our season's shows. We talked about running out to the black Thursday shopping madness, but decided against it, since we don't know what we are shopping for yet.
We have plenty of leftovers at this point. Two tubs of turkey, one white and one dark, two tubs of stuffing, one with raisins one without, a bunch of ham, two pumpkin pies, a bowl of pistachio pudding, half of a cream cheese cake, half of a better than sex cake, most of a strawberry mousse chocolate cake. I am sure we have like two days to enjoy the bounty. It won't be too long before Wife is spazzing out that the food is going bad and it needs to be thrown away.
Anyways, Thanksgiving kind of started on Tuesday night, after we saw the movie Fantastic Beasts... When we got out, we ended up going to HEB to get our supplies. We split with the other family members of Wife's family, they brought the turkeys and made the stuffing starting in San Antonio. They did come up Wednesday and my mother in law and Wife spent the afternoon baking and prepping. I took a nap after eating lunch at Zaxby's, I am loving their Cobb salad. I probably napped from 5:00 to 7:00pm, waking up in time to hear Wife saying that people were hungry again. We ended up going around 8:45pm and ate at Chili's, not the best place, but it did its job.
Thursday was started early by my father in law who loves getting up early to cook the turkeys. I was up late, but up around 11:00am, and we just hung out and waited until everything was cooked, and a couple more family members dragged themselves in. We ate promptly at 3:00pm, and I was back to napping by 4:00pm. This time most everybody napped, except Wife and her mama who cleaned up. Everyone hung around until 7:00pm, but they left because everyone is scared of driving at night.
The rest of the evening was finally relaxing, with all our visitors back in their houses, we finally got to sit back in front of our big screen, eat some turkey leftovers, some more pies and sweets, and catch up on some of our season's shows. We talked about running out to the black Thursday shopping madness, but decided against it, since we don't know what we are shopping for yet.
We have plenty of leftovers at this point. Two tubs of turkey, one white and one dark, two tubs of stuffing, one with raisins one without, a bunch of ham, two pumpkin pies, a bowl of pistachio pudding, half of a cream cheese cake, half of a better than sex cake, most of a strawberry mousse chocolate cake. I am sure we have like two days to enjoy the bounty. It won't be too long before Wife is spazzing out that the food is going bad and it needs to be thrown away.
Friday, November 25, 2016
11/25/16 Winners Take The Best Stuff?
Do y'all remember the Vince Young days or even the Colt McCoy era? It seemed the Texas Longhorns naturally played in prime time. For many years they were like the Cowboys playing on Thanksgiving Day. It might seem like a pain in the ass for the players, but it was also free advertising because what young high school kid interested in playing college ball wasn't sitting there watching football while the turkey is basting in the next room?
For that matter, up until last year they were still getting the prime time on any Saturday night and I could plan on making BBQ and settling in for a great night of football where the Longhorns might struggle for a quarter or two, but eventually we would see them dominate the likes of Kansas, or Baylor, or even Iowa State. The only game I would bet them winning these days is the shitter game at the start of the season against UT-El Paso. All of a sudden, we lost McCoy and the whole program went to crap. Mack Brown lost his job, Charlie Strong is about to lose his job after three sub standard years. He doesn't get the benefit of more time because UT already has privilege of all these prime time games in which they are supposed to make all the quality players want to play for the Longhorns. Instead, we see them going to A&M, Oklahoma steals way too many Texas boys to look better than that empty state should be able to do. Shoot, even Baylor has had a run in recent years, suddenly playing above their pay grade. I didn't understand why Art Briles was removed, I assume most football players do a little raping and pillaging, it's what you do in the off season when the steroids are running through their blood and nobody on the field to beat on.
So here we are, at the end of Strong's tenure. We have to wait until Friday to see the Longhorns play, I don't know why they are still even playing on days other than Saturday. It remains to be seen who will be the next coach and what he'll bring to the table, but he has to arrive winning. They have a good to great quarterback, Buechele who will still have three more good years, if he stays. Meanwhile, the Aggies have managed to keep winning in the challenging SEC which just pisses me off even more because the Big 12 is supposed to be a weaker conference.
The only good thing about this weekend is it is the last game of the season for our Longhorns, I doubt they can beat TCU so there won't be a bowl game to see them in January. Who do we cheer for while the suckage in Austin continues? As a Longhorn, I cannot cheer for the Aggies.
For that matter, up until last year they were still getting the prime time on any Saturday night and I could plan on making BBQ and settling in for a great night of football where the Longhorns might struggle for a quarter or two, but eventually we would see them dominate the likes of Kansas, or Baylor, or even Iowa State. The only game I would bet them winning these days is the shitter game at the start of the season against UT-El Paso. All of a sudden, we lost McCoy and the whole program went to crap. Mack Brown lost his job, Charlie Strong is about to lose his job after three sub standard years. He doesn't get the benefit of more time because UT already has privilege of all these prime time games in which they are supposed to make all the quality players want to play for the Longhorns. Instead, we see them going to A&M, Oklahoma steals way too many Texas boys to look better than that empty state should be able to do. Shoot, even Baylor has had a run in recent years, suddenly playing above their pay grade. I didn't understand why Art Briles was removed, I assume most football players do a little raping and pillaging, it's what you do in the off season when the steroids are running through their blood and nobody on the field to beat on.
So here we are, at the end of Strong's tenure. We have to wait until Friday to see the Longhorns play, I don't know why they are still even playing on days other than Saturday. It remains to be seen who will be the next coach and what he'll bring to the table, but he has to arrive winning. They have a good to great quarterback, Buechele who will still have three more good years, if he stays. Meanwhile, the Aggies have managed to keep winning in the challenging SEC which just pisses me off even more because the Big 12 is supposed to be a weaker conference.
The only good thing about this weekend is it is the last game of the season for our Longhorns, I doubt they can beat TCU so there won't be a bowl game to see them in January. Who do we cheer for while the suckage in Austin continues? As a Longhorn, I cannot cheer for the Aggies.
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
11/24/16 Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them?
We went and saw the newest wizard movie by JK Rowling and it did not disappoint. It is about a young wizard who has come to America in the 1920s or so, looking for a rare creature for his collection. He accidentally runs into a no-maj (American for muggle, non magical person) and his adventures are soon stretched to the max. He ends up switching suitcases with the no-maj and since he keeps drawing himself in, the no-maj American is involved throughout the movie. It is fun letting an outsider into the wizard world, we see a lot through his eyes as his mind is blown time after time. Part of the reason he keeps him around so long is that one of his Fantastic Beasts he carries in his bag happens to bite the no-maj, and he needs to keep an eye on him to see if he is going to shoot fire out of his butt, which is a side effect. Ultimately, he admits to keeping him around because they have become friends and he is fond of him.
Along the way, the wizard, Newt Scamander, runs into Tina, who is an auror that has lost her license. She tries to do the right thing and gets convicted of treason against the wizarding world. Newt is accused of releasing beasts from his suitcase and causing mayhem, in reality it is an obscuris, created from a kid who is not accepting his magic, or something like that. Along the way, we also meet Tina's sister who is all sorts of dreamy and talks in that soothing sexy voice that even in my seat I wanted to agree and have her read my mind. She falls for the no-maj and they have a couple moments where they stare into each other's eyes.
The coolest thing in the movie is probably Newt's suitcase which like the tent's in Harry's world go much deeper and bigger than it appears. He has a whole savanna in there, a forest, and whatever other space he needs for the many animals and beasts he tracks and captures.
The no-maj, played by Dan Fogler is a stocky guy, doing mostly comedy stuff, most recently he's been appearing in the Goldberg's as the dad's brother. He added a very much needed funny edge to the movie, as the wizards take themselves way too seriously. His dream is to open a bakery making pastries like his grandmother taught him. The banks won't take him seriously as he has no collateral so he must continue slaving away in the factory he detests. Newt finds a way to help him out in the end, and in the final scene we see a very happy no-maj making pastries in the shape of the beasts he has seen and possibly something even sweeter for him to sink his teeth into.
The movie was cool overall, and it is even better knowing it has a five movie total to tell whatever arcing bigger story is there to tell. I hope Newt and the no-maj team up again as they had pretty good chemistry as a serious hero and funny side kick sort of way.
Along the way, the wizard, Newt Scamander, runs into Tina, who is an auror that has lost her license. She tries to do the right thing and gets convicted of treason against the wizarding world. Newt is accused of releasing beasts from his suitcase and causing mayhem, in reality it is an obscuris, created from a kid who is not accepting his magic, or something like that. Along the way, we also meet Tina's sister who is all sorts of dreamy and talks in that soothing sexy voice that even in my seat I wanted to agree and have her read my mind. She falls for the no-maj and they have a couple moments where they stare into each other's eyes.
The coolest thing in the movie is probably Newt's suitcase which like the tent's in Harry's world go much deeper and bigger than it appears. He has a whole savanna in there, a forest, and whatever other space he needs for the many animals and beasts he tracks and captures.
The no-maj, played by Dan Fogler is a stocky guy, doing mostly comedy stuff, most recently he's been appearing in the Goldberg's as the dad's brother. He added a very much needed funny edge to the movie, as the wizards take themselves way too seriously. His dream is to open a bakery making pastries like his grandmother taught him. The banks won't take him seriously as he has no collateral so he must continue slaving away in the factory he detests. Newt finds a way to help him out in the end, and in the final scene we see a very happy no-maj making pastries in the shape of the beasts he has seen and possibly something even sweeter for him to sink his teeth into.
The movie was cool overall, and it is even better knowing it has a five movie total to tell whatever arcing bigger story is there to tell. I hope Newt and the no-maj team up again as they had pretty good chemistry as a serious hero and funny side kick sort of way.
11/23/16 Chub's Birthday Turning Twelve?
Yesterday (Tuesday) was a busy day again, with my folks here and most of us on vacation. I was awoken by Wife at 11:00am and promptly told to shower as everyone was awake downstairs and I couldn't sleep the day away. If that wasn't enough, it was also Chub's twelfth birthday. We have kind of been celebrating all weekend. He had his friends for a sleepover, then we took everyone to Salt Lick for dinner. We woke Monday morning and ended up taking his friends again to eat, this time at Casa Garcia's, then off to Jumpoline. His friends eventually went home Monday night. Tuesday, it was just celebrating with the family. Even though my sister was saying they could stick around, the possibility of bad weather had them scampering out of town around noon. My brother in law called me a "bad host" half jokingly because I provide room, but I don't have anything to eat. He went Tuesday morning and got breakfast for everyone. If he is going to provide breakfast, he can call me anything under the sun. I do not insult easily.
Before getting a cake for Chubs, we stopped at Total Wine and more which is in the Sunset Valley area. My mom hadn't been in this store and I had a feeling she would like it. She thought it was great. I remembered the beer from Disney that had grapefruit from Germany, Schofferhofer, and they carry it in the store. Surprisingly, it was $7.99 for a six pack, while one glass of it at Disney was $10.00. We then walked over to World Marketplace, Gamestop, and even Academy across the street. After all this shopping, Chubs wanted to go eat at Genghis Grill, but after driving over there and parking, we walked up to an empty building that was for lease. We settled for Buffet Palace which is across the street from the parking lot to Central Market. I am not a fan but it is about only place we eat when we eat Chinese food. After eating there, we went back to Central Market for a cake and a pie for Chubs. This was then followed by us coming home to drop everything off and also taking a nap. Boy had bought us all tickets to Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, the newest book by JK Rowling. We all napped since we had over two hours before the movie started. Boy also needed to get home since he was still going to classes until today.
The movie was great, I kept hoping for more Harry Potter references, but nothing. Best they managed was mentioning Dumbledore as they talked about Newt Scamander getting investigated for crimes against nonmaj. Since I was still feeling stuffed from eating at the Chinese place, I only ate popcorn and soda. We got home about 10:00pm and sang Happy Birthday and ate cake and pie with Chubs. As if this wasn't enough, we topped off the night by going to the HEB in Buda to shop for our Thanksgiving feast on Thursday. After loading up the cart and spending about $250, we were back home about 12:30am.
Before getting a cake for Chubs, we stopped at Total Wine and more which is in the Sunset Valley area. My mom hadn't been in this store and I had a feeling she would like it. She thought it was great. I remembered the beer from Disney that had grapefruit from Germany, Schofferhofer, and they carry it in the store. Surprisingly, it was $7.99 for a six pack, while one glass of it at Disney was $10.00. We then walked over to World Marketplace, Gamestop, and even Academy across the street. After all this shopping, Chubs wanted to go eat at Genghis Grill, but after driving over there and parking, we walked up to an empty building that was for lease. We settled for Buffet Palace which is across the street from the parking lot to Central Market. I am not a fan but it is about only place we eat when we eat Chinese food. After eating there, we went back to Central Market for a cake and a pie for Chubs. This was then followed by us coming home to drop everything off and also taking a nap. Boy had bought us all tickets to Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, the newest book by JK Rowling. We all napped since we had over two hours before the movie started. Boy also needed to get home since he was still going to classes until today.
The movie was great, I kept hoping for more Harry Potter references, but nothing. Best they managed was mentioning Dumbledore as they talked about Newt Scamander getting investigated for crimes against nonmaj. Since I was still feeling stuffed from eating at the Chinese place, I only ate popcorn and soda. We got home about 10:00pm and sang Happy Birthday and ate cake and pie with Chubs. As if this wasn't enough, we topped off the night by going to the HEB in Buda to shop for our Thanksgiving feast on Thursday. After loading up the cart and spending about $250, we were back home about 12:30am.
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
11/22/16 A Long Monday?
Normally, I drop off Chubs, go to my doctor's office, then come back to sleep until about 3:30pm. Today, with my folks here, I decided to take the night off. After finishing with the doctor, we headed back to our house. Wife went with me, so she could see where I go and meet some of the people working on my leg.
Coming back home, my family was waiting and hungry, we headed to Casa Garcia's, mostly because my brother in law shares the same last name with said restaurant but we are beaners and we do love tacos. I had a coffee with four tacos, Wife had a few tacos as well, Chubs was in the midst of his sleepover, so we still had three extra boys, one did not spend the night. The food was very good, my dad almost didn't join us as he doesn't like leaving the house, but we convinced him it would be fine. After we finished eating, we headed up William Cannon to Academy by I-35. My dad only wears Wranglers, and Academy has what he desires, when he is lucky to find his size. I had been telling Wife it had been a long time since we walked around an Academy so it was nice to check it out.
Our next stop was Jumpoline, which is right across the Freeway, where the old Target used to be. Chubs had requested this stop so his friends and him could enjoy it together. They played a lot of dodge ball, and also ran amuck like crazy in the open trampoline areas. I did what I do, after I ate a cone and drank a soda, I found a big comfy chair and attempted to sleep. I did not actually sleep, and eventually, we got past the hour time limit, and we were done with Jumpoline. We headed home, because Chubs did not want to end up at the mall. It worked out good, my dad and brother stayed with them, we headed with my mom and Boy, who had just gotten home around 3:00pm. Boy has school yesterday and today, such is college life.
By the time we got to the mall, I had run out of energy. I felt raw and lacking of sleep. Because Boy was hungry, we ended up in the food court and we ate again. While we sat down, we ran into a friend of ours with his girlfriend. I told him how we kept thinking about him and getting together, it has just become hard with Wife not living here. I told them we'd try and visit either this week or during the Christmas break and they were on their way.
The rest of the time at the mall, I tried persuading my brother in law to look at the Rolex watches. He has the attitude of "what can they do for me? My G-shock works great." He didn't seem to appreciate them, then my mom said she had no interest in even looking at them, she doesn't believe in paying more than $500 for a watch, so I gave up.
Eventually, we left, and capped the night at Longhorn Steakhouse, close to the house. I had the salad with a small steak, and it was delicious, even if it was mostly salad. We were back home and done early in the night. Boy still has school tomorrow, and I am pretty run down. My day started with three hours sleep and waking up at 6:55am.
Coming back home, my family was waiting and hungry, we headed to Casa Garcia's, mostly because my brother in law shares the same last name with said restaurant but we are beaners and we do love tacos. I had a coffee with four tacos, Wife had a few tacos as well, Chubs was in the midst of his sleepover, so we still had three extra boys, one did not spend the night. The food was very good, my dad almost didn't join us as he doesn't like leaving the house, but we convinced him it would be fine. After we finished eating, we headed up William Cannon to Academy by I-35. My dad only wears Wranglers, and Academy has what he desires, when he is lucky to find his size. I had been telling Wife it had been a long time since we walked around an Academy so it was nice to check it out.
Our next stop was Jumpoline, which is right across the Freeway, where the old Target used to be. Chubs had requested this stop so his friends and him could enjoy it together. They played a lot of dodge ball, and also ran amuck like crazy in the open trampoline areas. I did what I do, after I ate a cone and drank a soda, I found a big comfy chair and attempted to sleep. I did not actually sleep, and eventually, we got past the hour time limit, and we were done with Jumpoline. We headed home, because Chubs did not want to end up at the mall. It worked out good, my dad and brother stayed with them, we headed with my mom and Boy, who had just gotten home around 3:00pm. Boy has school yesterday and today, such is college life.
By the time we got to the mall, I had run out of energy. I felt raw and lacking of sleep. Because Boy was hungry, we ended up in the food court and we ate again. While we sat down, we ran into a friend of ours with his girlfriend. I told him how we kept thinking about him and getting together, it has just become hard with Wife not living here. I told them we'd try and visit either this week or during the Christmas break and they were on their way.
The rest of the time at the mall, I tried persuading my brother in law to look at the Rolex watches. He has the attitude of "what can they do for me? My G-shock works great." He didn't seem to appreciate them, then my mom said she had no interest in even looking at them, she doesn't believe in paying more than $500 for a watch, so I gave up.
Eventually, we left, and capped the night at Longhorn Steakhouse, close to the house. I had the salad with a small steak, and it was delicious, even if it was mostly salad. We were back home and done early in the night. Boy still has school tomorrow, and I am pretty run down. My day started with three hours sleep and waking up at 6:55am.
Monday, November 21, 2016
11/21/16 Salt Lick: One Pit To Rule Them All?
Salt Lick is delicious, but it is out in the middle of nowhere. My folks arrived just as we were ready to go and take Chubs and his friends for his birthday. My Dad, ever the old man he is becoming refuses to leave the house once he gets here. We kind of all just got used to it, but my mom also says she is not going to go if she has to drive herself because it is too far. I tell her we will all find a way to fit in the Excursion, even if I have to throw a couple boys in the trunk. As it turned out, the four boys who joined us fit in the third row, Chubs, my mom, and my brother in the middle row, and Wife and I in the front. It was nine of us, my dad chose to stay at home, and my sister and her family decided it was too far and thus, stayed behind.
It is a thirty minute ride to Salt Lick, and the boys screaming in our ears made the trip that much more annoying. We go there after a bit and went and waited for our turn to eat. We got one of those blinking squares and waited to be called. My mom wondered about why it is so far out in the middle of nowhere. I said I don't know but it allows them to do what they want, I guess. The place started with one building the first time I went out there, and slowly grew into a second building, then a winery, and probably they'll add more in time. I cannot imagine they could do whatever if it was here in town. Although, looking a little deep into their website, they are now in three airports and have a separate location in Round Rock. They were even voted 4th Best in the World's Best Airport Restaurants by the Daily Mail.
While we waited my mom and I walked over the their winery and my mom got a bottle of moscato wine grown on site. They also have honey made locally and soap and other nick-knacks found where wines are sold. Not bad, considering all this started by a man working a pit to make some delicious BBQ so he could stay home with his loved ones instead of working for someone else.
There was some confusion with the blinking square, it never went off, or they waited to serve the brown peeps after everyone else had been sat down, either way, eventually we went in. We were celebrating Chub's birthday turning twelve and the menu said 11 and under $8.95, so we told all the boys to just shush and say they were 11, if asked. 12 and up meant paying $24.95 per kid, so we shan't be going back next year, not with a group of kids anyway. The meal was awesome as always, plenty of meat kept coming until we all had our fill, I can never decide if I like the ribs or the brisket better, the sauce and the bread are also top notch. I do like the sausage as well, but I worry about it giving me heartburn later so I don't eat too much of it. For some reason, I am just thinking now about it, they will sell you a bottle of Big Red, but they don't have it as a fountain soda so you can't get refill after refill. I am now jonesing for some Big Red that is chilled almost to freezing. I am going to buy me some Big Red tomorrow.
The night ended quietly back home, Chubs had his four extra boys in his room playing video games, we all pretty much in meat comas seating around not wanting to argue and debate as we most often do. Boy missed all this as he worked a double shift, from 8:00am until 12:30am, almost 16 hours in one day, thanks to the new Harry Potter movie.
It is a thirty minute ride to Salt Lick, and the boys screaming in our ears made the trip that much more annoying. We go there after a bit and went and waited for our turn to eat. We got one of those blinking squares and waited to be called. My mom wondered about why it is so far out in the middle of nowhere. I said I don't know but it allows them to do what they want, I guess. The place started with one building the first time I went out there, and slowly grew into a second building, then a winery, and probably they'll add more in time. I cannot imagine they could do whatever if it was here in town. Although, looking a little deep into their website, they are now in three airports and have a separate location in Round Rock. They were even voted 4th Best in the World's Best Airport Restaurants by the Daily Mail.
While we waited my mom and I walked over the their winery and my mom got a bottle of moscato wine grown on site. They also have honey made locally and soap and other nick-knacks found where wines are sold. Not bad, considering all this started by a man working a pit to make some delicious BBQ so he could stay home with his loved ones instead of working for someone else.
There was some confusion with the blinking square, it never went off, or they waited to serve the brown peeps after everyone else had been sat down, either way, eventually we went in. We were celebrating Chub's birthday turning twelve and the menu said 11 and under $8.95, so we told all the boys to just shush and say they were 11, if asked. 12 and up meant paying $24.95 per kid, so we shan't be going back next year, not with a group of kids anyway. The meal was awesome as always, plenty of meat kept coming until we all had our fill, I can never decide if I like the ribs or the brisket better, the sauce and the bread are also top notch. I do like the sausage as well, but I worry about it giving me heartburn later so I don't eat too much of it. For some reason, I am just thinking now about it, they will sell you a bottle of Big Red, but they don't have it as a fountain soda so you can't get refill after refill. I am now jonesing for some Big Red that is chilled almost to freezing. I am going to buy me some Big Red tomorrow.
The night ended quietly back home, Chubs had his four extra boys in his room playing video games, we all pretty much in meat comas seating around not wanting to argue and debate as we most often do. Boy missed all this as he worked a double shift, from 8:00am until 12:30am, almost 16 hours in one day, thanks to the new Harry Potter movie.
Sunday, November 20, 2016
11/20/16 Is Smaller Better?
We went down to Ikea last night, to walk around and check out any new and interesting stuff. Wife started pondering the idea of living in one of their theoretical apartments. They have whole living units from 400sq. ft. down to about 270 sq. ft. At first, I chuckled at the idea, we have a house that is around 4000sq. ft. and I hadn't been thinking of moving, especially to a smaller space. Her thinking is that too much of our money is going to the house, I agree, but I love the space we have. I don't even hear the boys in their rooms and Boy has his friends over every Friday night. They either play board games on top of the pool table in the front of the house or watch movies and play video games in his room. Chubs has started having sleepovers too and he can have as many as five boys in his room and still they rarely bother me.
We know that we can either watch TV in the family room or come upstairs to our bedroom and close the doors and we will be isolated from all their hoopla. Just thinking back to our old house where the three bedrooms had all three doors in the same small hallway and then one of Boy's old friends told us that he could always hear us doing it every time he came over to spend the night, and we weren't exactly doing it to show off.
We have been able to repeatedly have people who needed a place to stay to stay with us for awhile without worrying about them being in our space. We have two empty bedrooms at any time for company.
The sad thing is that prices have been climbing so aggressively that it is almost cheaper for us to keep our current house than attempt to move to something cheaper. We went and looked at Easton Park which is close to our old house, but it is being proclaimed as the Circle C of the east. The few homes that are not sold as of yet are priced above the $350,000 to almost $430,000. I am afraid that Austin is simply too expensive to try and sneak into something smaller nowadays. There are smaller price tags, but we would have to go back to a starter neighborhood and I am not interested in that.
Once we have our solar panels installed, which they contacted us that all the paperwork was in order and it was time to schedule an installment date, we will not have much of an electrical bill. In that case, what is the benefit of a smaller home?
If we are going to talk a vacation home, I am fully interested. I wouldn't mind a tiny apartment if it had a grand view of a lake or bay or even ocean. I could see us gutting a condo and making it cozy for just the two of us later down the line. I don't know, though, I feel responsible for having a room for both boys to always join us.
We know that we can either watch TV in the family room or come upstairs to our bedroom and close the doors and we will be isolated from all their hoopla. Just thinking back to our old house where the three bedrooms had all three doors in the same small hallway and then one of Boy's old friends told us that he could always hear us doing it every time he came over to spend the night, and we weren't exactly doing it to show off.
We have been able to repeatedly have people who needed a place to stay to stay with us for awhile without worrying about them being in our space. We have two empty bedrooms at any time for company.
The sad thing is that prices have been climbing so aggressively that it is almost cheaper for us to keep our current house than attempt to move to something cheaper. We went and looked at Easton Park which is close to our old house, but it is being proclaimed as the Circle C of the east. The few homes that are not sold as of yet are priced above the $350,000 to almost $430,000. I am afraid that Austin is simply too expensive to try and sneak into something smaller nowadays. There are smaller price tags, but we would have to go back to a starter neighborhood and I am not interested in that.
Once we have our solar panels installed, which they contacted us that all the paperwork was in order and it was time to schedule an installment date, we will not have much of an electrical bill. In that case, what is the benefit of a smaller home?
If we are going to talk a vacation home, I am fully interested. I wouldn't mind a tiny apartment if it had a grand view of a lake or bay or even ocean. I could see us gutting a condo and making it cozy for just the two of us later down the line. I don't know, though, I feel responsible for having a room for both boys to always join us.
Friday, November 18, 2016
11/19/16 Fifteen Hours Until Mama's Home?
Today was a long day. I got up a little before 7:00am in order to take Chubs to school. I had planned on going straight to Ford and getting my inspection done. Life is never that easy. Chubs either decided today was a good day to miss or he really woke up with a dizzy, nauseous feeling. After a little hemming and hawing I decided he could stay home. I didn't really want him to, but I also didn't want the school calling me to pick him up after he threw up. He did only eat half of his peanut butter and jelly sandwich which helped persuade me to believe his story of not feeling well.
We saw Boy leaving and then we were there wondering what to do. I never know what to do with these boys when they stay behind like this. I told him to go lay down and sleep. I had washed his clothes and mine last night. and I have been told by Wife and him, not to dry their shirts in the dryer. This means that after they dry by hanging, I must then iron them to make them look crispy and clean. This took me a good hour and by the time I finished, it was closer to 10:00am than to 11:00am. I took a quick shower and headed to Ford with Chubs to get my inspection sticker which was due since the end of September. This took almost until noon. After We got done here, we went to the Travis County Tax Office for the truck tag and then we were free to do the important stuff.
The important stuff was while we were waiting for the truck at Ford, we were inundated with the smoky smell of beef fajitas on an open grill. Chubs and I left Ford salivating for some fajitas, so after we got done with the tag, we decided to go to Jalapeno's since we know they sell tacos a la carte. Boy and his friend joined us for a quick lunch, then Chubs and I headed to the mall afterwards.
Chubs was eyeballing things for Christmas, I just like to look at the Rolex watches and dream. After this, we headed back to the house. I could not stay awake further than that. I took a nap from about 4:30pm to 6:30pm. I awoke and spent the rest of the evening cleaning the house in anticipation of the arrival of Wife.
In the last three hours, I washed two loads of clothes, vacuumed, swept, mopped, took out trash, polished table and various other wood furniture pieces. This was all easier with this first cold front and having the windows open to allow an awesome flow of northerly cold air to clean out the stale air in the house. Wife showed up right at 10:00pm, I threw her stinky clothes that had been in bags all week in the wash and we ended the night by going to eat at IHOP. The only thing to do now is fall asleep in front of the TV as we try to catch up on all our shows we have been recording and not keeping up with.
We saw Boy leaving and then we were there wondering what to do. I never know what to do with these boys when they stay behind like this. I told him to go lay down and sleep. I had washed his clothes and mine last night. and I have been told by Wife and him, not to dry their shirts in the dryer. This means that after they dry by hanging, I must then iron them to make them look crispy and clean. This took me a good hour and by the time I finished, it was closer to 10:00am than to 11:00am. I took a quick shower and headed to Ford with Chubs to get my inspection sticker which was due since the end of September. This took almost until noon. After We got done here, we went to the Travis County Tax Office for the truck tag and then we were free to do the important stuff.
The important stuff was while we were waiting for the truck at Ford, we were inundated with the smoky smell of beef fajitas on an open grill. Chubs and I left Ford salivating for some fajitas, so after we got done with the tag, we decided to go to Jalapeno's since we know they sell tacos a la carte. Boy and his friend joined us for a quick lunch, then Chubs and I headed to the mall afterwards.
Chubs was eyeballing things for Christmas, I just like to look at the Rolex watches and dream. After this, we headed back to the house. I could not stay awake further than that. I took a nap from about 4:30pm to 6:30pm. I awoke and spent the rest of the evening cleaning the house in anticipation of the arrival of Wife.
In the last three hours, I washed two loads of clothes, vacuumed, swept, mopped, took out trash, polished table and various other wood furniture pieces. This was all easier with this first cold front and having the windows open to allow an awesome flow of northerly cold air to clean out the stale air in the house. Wife showed up right at 10:00pm, I threw her stinky clothes that had been in bags all week in the wash and we ended the night by going to eat at IHOP. The only thing to do now is fall asleep in front of the TV as we try to catch up on all our shows we have been recording and not keeping up with.
Thursday, November 17, 2016
11/18/16 Credit Cards Are Hypnotic?
We are finally discussing that maybe it wasn't a good idea to give Boy a couple credit cards. In our efforts to make his life easier, when he started driving we gave him a gas card. We told him this card is for gas only. We figured he can't do much else with the card, and he was good, for awhile. Suddenly, a couple months ago, I started seeing the bill creep up. I looked at it carefully and instead of the three or four entries when he filled his car, there were a couple of extra $10 here and $5 there. He admitted that he sometimes goes in there and buys some food when he is broke. Hmmm, I thought and told him to cut it out.
Wife then thought he should have a bigger card, in case he needed to buy books or an emergency arose. Plus, he could start developing his credit with a small credit card. School started, Wife told him to buy some shirts, he did, but didn't like them, so they went back, and then decided that since he didn't get the shirts, he could still spend that amount on other junk. We told him to cut it out, but he really hasn't stopped completely. Last month, the account was down to under $100. I figured I would have it paid last week when I made my payments. I opened the bill for the account and he had charged an additional $170. He claims that it was for school, but we then review the stuff individually and he had to admit it was just junk he likes to order. Of course, now that he has been busted, he was telling me this morning that he planned to pay off these new purchases, that I was just being an ass yelling at him because he had full intention of paying. I said cool, do it. I am very proud of him, he sent an $80 payment on top of my $100. I told him next month that bill will be yours. He said as long as he is working, he'll pay it off.
Before you start thinking we are monsters for taking a poor college kids money, we pay for his car, his insurance, his gas, he lives at home where he eats our food, pays no rent, maybe takes out the trash once a week and rolls the trash cans out to the street most weeks. His money is supposed to be for whatever food he eats outside of the house and whatever he chooses to do for entertainment.
Apart from those two cards, he also has a Buckle card which is about the only store at the mall that he likes to dress from. He has not abused this card, although when school started we maxed it out on a couple of pants. One was $160, other was almost the same. It took a couple of cycles to pay it off, and hopefully it can stay that way, except that Chubs wants to dress like his bro in the Affection shirts. I don't want the solution to be us taking the cards from him, I want him to show self control and use them for what they are for, emergencies.
Wife then thought he should have a bigger card, in case he needed to buy books or an emergency arose. Plus, he could start developing his credit with a small credit card. School started, Wife told him to buy some shirts, he did, but didn't like them, so they went back, and then decided that since he didn't get the shirts, he could still spend that amount on other junk. We told him to cut it out, but he really hasn't stopped completely. Last month, the account was down to under $100. I figured I would have it paid last week when I made my payments. I opened the bill for the account and he had charged an additional $170. He claims that it was for school, but we then review the stuff individually and he had to admit it was just junk he likes to order. Of course, now that he has been busted, he was telling me this morning that he planned to pay off these new purchases, that I was just being an ass yelling at him because he had full intention of paying. I said cool, do it. I am very proud of him, he sent an $80 payment on top of my $100. I told him next month that bill will be yours. He said as long as he is working, he'll pay it off.
Before you start thinking we are monsters for taking a poor college kids money, we pay for his car, his insurance, his gas, he lives at home where he eats our food, pays no rent, maybe takes out the trash once a week and rolls the trash cans out to the street most weeks. His money is supposed to be for whatever food he eats outside of the house and whatever he chooses to do for entertainment.
Apart from those two cards, he also has a Buckle card which is about the only store at the mall that he likes to dress from. He has not abused this card, although when school started we maxed it out on a couple of pants. One was $160, other was almost the same. It took a couple of cycles to pay it off, and hopefully it can stay that way, except that Chubs wants to dress like his bro in the Affection shirts. I don't want the solution to be us taking the cards from him, I want him to show self control and use them for what they are for, emergencies.
11/17/16 The Twelve Days Of Thanksgiving?
After a couple more hours, I will be off for almost twelve days. I am coming in to work Monday night, but other than that, it will be a nice long break with Wife and the boys. My folks will be coming in Sunday and staying through Wednesday and then my in-laws will be visiting Wednesday and staying through at least Friday. It should be a nice change of pace, which is about time. It has felt like all we do is work. The last time I was off for a week was when we went to Florida in June and Wife was being offered this job that has us living 200 miles apart during the week.
It will be a hectic week, but hopefully full of fun. Chub's birthday is Tuesday the 22nd, part of the reason my folks will be visiting. He wants to take his buddies to Salt Lick, and I, of course, love eating there. We were going to go on Saturday, but he has changed his mind and said Sunday works better for his friends, so my folks will probably join us. Thanksgiving is also a big commitment, at least when it comes to cooking and all that. I am sure we'll be out looking for a turkey and ham when Wife gets in. She was also talking about decorating the house for Christmas since we will have so much free time. I already started, I took down the last of the Halloween stuff last week and strung up the Christmas lights inside on the stair rails. I have also taken most of the Christmas boxes and laid them out where they will be going to make it quicker. I can imagine we will be doing some Christmas shopping, although we already did a good amount, opting to buy pajamas for all the nephews on both sides at Target last week. I'm not sure if we will also kick in a toy, none of those boys strike me as the kind to be interested in action figures. Maybe some Nerf guns so they can shoot each other in the eyes, at least that is what it seems like those toys are good for.
I am also eyeballing this cold front coming in Friday. I am excited at the idea of temperatures in the 30's at night, even if for only one night. We have gotten through the worst of it today, with highs in the upper 80s without turning on the A/C, you would care as much if your utility bill was $719 which was our high point this year. It is coming down, I just want to make sure it keeps going down. I am teaching Chubs to sleep with the windows open, he is getting better, but still insists on closing the blinds and the curtains because he doesn't want to see outside. I tell him he is upstairs, it is safe.
It will be a hectic week, but hopefully full of fun. Chub's birthday is Tuesday the 22nd, part of the reason my folks will be visiting. He wants to take his buddies to Salt Lick, and I, of course, love eating there. We were going to go on Saturday, but he has changed his mind and said Sunday works better for his friends, so my folks will probably join us. Thanksgiving is also a big commitment, at least when it comes to cooking and all that. I am sure we'll be out looking for a turkey and ham when Wife gets in. She was also talking about decorating the house for Christmas since we will have so much free time. I already started, I took down the last of the Halloween stuff last week and strung up the Christmas lights inside on the stair rails. I have also taken most of the Christmas boxes and laid them out where they will be going to make it quicker. I can imagine we will be doing some Christmas shopping, although we already did a good amount, opting to buy pajamas for all the nephews on both sides at Target last week. I'm not sure if we will also kick in a toy, none of those boys strike me as the kind to be interested in action figures. Maybe some Nerf guns so they can shoot each other in the eyes, at least that is what it seems like those toys are good for.
I am also eyeballing this cold front coming in Friday. I am excited at the idea of temperatures in the 30's at night, even if for only one night. We have gotten through the worst of it today, with highs in the upper 80s without turning on the A/C, you would care as much if your utility bill was $719 which was our high point this year. It is coming down, I just want to make sure it keeps going down. I am teaching Chubs to sleep with the windows open, he is getting better, but still insists on closing the blinds and the curtains because he doesn't want to see outside. I tell him he is upstairs, it is safe.
Wednesday, November 16, 2016
11/16/16 Battling The Weather Like A Cheap-o?
I find myself battling the weather in weird ways this time of year. I know there is cold weather coming this weekend, so I am almost refusing to turn on the air conditioner. I know to some of you this makes me sound like a monster, but I am monitoring the house closely and playing on the delayed effects of good insulation. Yesterday ended up being a warm day, and according to the forecast, we have two more warm days before our first big cold front, so I am opening the windows when I can, then closing them at night, at least downstairs so I can set the alarm.
When I went to bed yesterday, it was cool enough for two thin blankets, then by the time I woke up, the house was reading about 75, which is near my threshold. I went and picked up Chubs, we ate, then got back home about 5:20pm. I immediately opened the windows downstairs and put a couple box fans on the windows to blow cool air into the house. Once the sun starts setting, the heat dissipates from the air almost instantly. I left and I could feel most rooms feeling cool. I then came home for lunch and downstairs it was still cool and comfortable, almost cold washing the dishes with a big open window right there. I ate and watched a show, then I went downstairs to go use my bathroom, and it was totally different upstairs. Chubs, out of fear, has a habit of closing his windows, and he must have done that earlier because his room was toasty, like a heater was on. I opened two windows, added another box fan to the guest room and noticed our room was also very stuffy, so I opened an extra window and put a fourth box fan on that window. By the time I finished farting and stuff, I noticed our bedroom was not stuffy anymore, and more importantly Chub's room was quite comfortable, all the heat was gone. I don't worry about Boy because he wears a jacket in the summer, that boy is always cold.
It just doesn't seem right to turn on the air conditioners in November. I am hoping once we get past these last two days, we will be in cooler weather. I know it is wishful thinking as there have been plenty of Christmases gone by when we were in the 80's. Oh well, as long as my boys don't complain, I will keep doing what I am doing. I figure it is fair, since I am not running A/C for myself, I shouldn't run it for them. Same goes for cold days, I don't expect to fire up the house heater until sometime in January, if we need to. I hate when I am paying for A/C and I come home at night for lunch and it is colder outside than in the house.
When I went to bed yesterday, it was cool enough for two thin blankets, then by the time I woke up, the house was reading about 75, which is near my threshold. I went and picked up Chubs, we ate, then got back home about 5:20pm. I immediately opened the windows downstairs and put a couple box fans on the windows to blow cool air into the house. Once the sun starts setting, the heat dissipates from the air almost instantly. I left and I could feel most rooms feeling cool. I then came home for lunch and downstairs it was still cool and comfortable, almost cold washing the dishes with a big open window right there. I ate and watched a show, then I went downstairs to go use my bathroom, and it was totally different upstairs. Chubs, out of fear, has a habit of closing his windows, and he must have done that earlier because his room was toasty, like a heater was on. I opened two windows, added another box fan to the guest room and noticed our room was also very stuffy, so I opened an extra window and put a fourth box fan on that window. By the time I finished farting and stuff, I noticed our bedroom was not stuffy anymore, and more importantly Chub's room was quite comfortable, all the heat was gone. I don't worry about Boy because he wears a jacket in the summer, that boy is always cold.
It just doesn't seem right to turn on the air conditioners in November. I am hoping once we get past these last two days, we will be in cooler weather. I know it is wishful thinking as there have been plenty of Christmases gone by when we were in the 80's. Oh well, as long as my boys don't complain, I will keep doing what I am doing. I figure it is fair, since I am not running A/C for myself, I shouldn't run it for them. Same goes for cold days, I don't expect to fire up the house heater until sometime in January, if we need to. I hate when I am paying for A/C and I come home at night for lunch and it is colder outside than in the house.
Tuesday, November 15, 2016
11/15/16 Crushing Like A Big Man?
Chubs surprised me a little last week with his first story of having a crush on a girl and reacting to it. I had heard his friends talk about "well what about the girl you like", and him acting like a goofy kid falling on the other kid and telling him to shut up when he has his sleepovers. When we asked about it, he acted like no, he doesn't like any girls. He started asking "what do you do when you like a girl, Dad?" I told him it is perfectly normal at his age to start noticing girls as girls and not just buddies. I also told him not to worry about how he proceeded, he could have a relationship where they only talk at school, maybe he walks her to classes. He could be more serious and ask her to go to the movies, or walk around the mall, or even to play video games at the house. You should only do what you're comfortable doing, never feel like you are competing with your friends who have girlfriends. I wasn't sure how he took the information.
Friday, last week, he was pretty excited telling me as soon as he got in the truck that he had talked to a girl and told her he liked her. She said cool, and they kept doing whatever activity they were doing in class. They got handed lollipops and he said he offered her his, mostly because he didn't like the flavor, and she took it. He said she asked for his number and meant to give it to her, but got distracted at end of class and didn't do it. They can communicate though through one of the games they play on their phones, so I told him to keep talking. He seemed hesitant, he was just proud of hurdling that first challenge. He said he didn't have a choice, either he spoke up or one of his friends was going to tell her. I guess it's good to have friends that push you, otherwise he could be sitting on his thoughts for a long time.
It turns out the little girl already has a boyfriend, which I told him just to wait. At their age nobody stays with one person for too long. He seems okay with it. Wife offered to change his party to a boy/girl party instead of his buddies, and he quickly said no! Chubs might like a girlie, but his plans for his birthday already sound pretty good. We are supposed to take his boys to Jumpoline on Saturday for a while, then he wants us to treat the boys and him to Salt Lick Saturday afternoon. Following that, he'll have a sleepover to start the Thanksgiving break.
I'm proud of him. He let the little girl know he liked her and then didn't let the outcome crush him.
Friday, last week, he was pretty excited telling me as soon as he got in the truck that he had talked to a girl and told her he liked her. She said cool, and they kept doing whatever activity they were doing in class. They got handed lollipops and he said he offered her his, mostly because he didn't like the flavor, and she took it. He said she asked for his number and meant to give it to her, but got distracted at end of class and didn't do it. They can communicate though through one of the games they play on their phones, so I told him to keep talking. He seemed hesitant, he was just proud of hurdling that first challenge. He said he didn't have a choice, either he spoke up or one of his friends was going to tell her. I guess it's good to have friends that push you, otherwise he could be sitting on his thoughts for a long time.
It turns out the little girl already has a boyfriend, which I told him just to wait. At their age nobody stays with one person for too long. He seems okay with it. Wife offered to change his party to a boy/girl party instead of his buddies, and he quickly said no! Chubs might like a girlie, but his plans for his birthday already sound pretty good. We are supposed to take his boys to Jumpoline on Saturday for a while, then he wants us to treat the boys and him to Salt Lick Saturday afternoon. Following that, he'll have a sleepover to start the Thanksgiving break.
I'm proud of him. He let the little girl know he liked her and then didn't let the outcome crush him.
Sunday, November 13, 2016
11/14/16 Doctor Strange (Movie)
We went to the movies again this Saturday, how I do enjoy that Boy works there and can get us discounted/free tickets. We saw Dr. Strange, which happens to be another Stan Lee creation, has to be, he had his cameo, riding on a bus, cracking a joke. It was also mentioned that in the same way the Avengers protect the physical world, Dr. Strange and his group of wizards or warlocks or whatever they are considered protect the earth from spiritual and other dimensional attacks.
The movie starts out with Dr. Strange as a doctor and he is amazing, we are shown, right away. He is the top surgeon and is interested in neurosurgery but has a romantic connection with another surgeon who works in the same hospital but she deals with emergency room patients. He is only interested in feeding his ego and takes his cases only if there is a benefit for him and the patient. We are shown his apartment, and figure he is very successful with the fancy things laying around, including a drawer filled with expensive watches, vey nice.
I know it's supposed to be an accident, but really, he seems to be asking for it. He is driving a Lamborghini, rushing, passing everybody on a cliff-side road with barely two lanes. He is talking on the phone, taking texts and reviewing x-rays, agreeing to the next patient, and it's raining. All of a sudden the car hits the side of the cliff and the car is airborne. He wakes up a week later and his hands are mangled, quickly realizing he won't be doing any surgery anytime soon. He starts acting like the jerk he is and pushing everyone away. While he is being rude to his physical therapist, insulting him that the exercises don't make a difference. The PT says he almost agrees but there is one case of a person who seems to have made a full recovery. The doctor asks for his name and the PT says he will look for it. He finds the guy, he mentions the need to go to Nepal, so we change scenes to Kathmandu, Nepal.
Initially, when he meets the Ancient One, she is reluctant to train him because of his arrogance, but he does not take no for an answer, so eventually he is taken in. He is a quick learner and within months he decides he will train himself to go at a progressed state.
Before long, he is a full on sorcerer and he has to stand his ground before Kaecilius and his henchmen. He manages to survive the first attack but there are a couple more and of course without giving away the ending, he is battling Dormammu of the dark dimension and of course like any of the other heroes, he saves the world with little fanfare or knowledge by most common people. After the movie he is seen talking with Thor, so I imagine a scenario of him joining the Avengers in the next movie or so.
The movie starts out with Dr. Strange as a doctor and he is amazing, we are shown, right away. He is the top surgeon and is interested in neurosurgery but has a romantic connection with another surgeon who works in the same hospital but she deals with emergency room patients. He is only interested in feeding his ego and takes his cases only if there is a benefit for him and the patient. We are shown his apartment, and figure he is very successful with the fancy things laying around, including a drawer filled with expensive watches, vey nice.
I know it's supposed to be an accident, but really, he seems to be asking for it. He is driving a Lamborghini, rushing, passing everybody on a cliff-side road with barely two lanes. He is talking on the phone, taking texts and reviewing x-rays, agreeing to the next patient, and it's raining. All of a sudden the car hits the side of the cliff and the car is airborne. He wakes up a week later and his hands are mangled, quickly realizing he won't be doing any surgery anytime soon. He starts acting like the jerk he is and pushing everyone away. While he is being rude to his physical therapist, insulting him that the exercises don't make a difference. The PT says he almost agrees but there is one case of a person who seems to have made a full recovery. The doctor asks for his name and the PT says he will look for it. He finds the guy, he mentions the need to go to Nepal, so we change scenes to Kathmandu, Nepal.
Initially, when he meets the Ancient One, she is reluctant to train him because of his arrogance, but he does not take no for an answer, so eventually he is taken in. He is a quick learner and within months he decides he will train himself to go at a progressed state.
Before long, he is a full on sorcerer and he has to stand his ground before Kaecilius and his henchmen. He manages to survive the first attack but there are a couple more and of course without giving away the ending, he is battling Dormammu of the dark dimension and of course like any of the other heroes, he saves the world with little fanfare or knowledge by most common people. After the movie he is seen talking with Thor, so I imagine a scenario of him joining the Avengers in the next movie or so.
11/13/16 Busy Life, Busy Wife?
We are one week away from Thanksgiving Week, which means Wife will go down once more, then she will be here with us for a full week and some days. Of course with her it is never easy. Wife said next week she will be going to a Migrant conference that is always held in Brownsville or South Padre Island. Either way, she will be down at the southern tip of Texas from Tuesday until Friday. This means that on Friday she will have to drive back to La Pryor which is about six hours away from her destination then add another three hours to get up to Austin. But with us stuck up here, what choice does she have? She is trying to see if she can align to meet up with somebody, like her sister to meet her en-route with her car along I-35 to save her a couple hours of driving, but I don't see that happening. Her car will be down in La Pryor. The busy little bee already has some meetings in Region 20 on Monday and Tuesday the week after Thanksgiving, so it makes sense for her to drive from Austin instead of leaving for my folks and then driving up from down there.
This weekend we had plans to go to the Renaissance Festival we go most every year, but my leg gash is still seeping and messy. Last weekend I told Wife it was fine and we walked around here and there just doing our normal routines and walking the mall for awhile. Sunday, the gash was leaking enough that I attempted to change the bandage and had all sorts of problems with it. There is a silver pad they put in there to keep it free of bacteria and it fell out after the bandage failed to stay stuck on me. I then picked it up with a butter knife, it looked like half a potato on the kitchen floor and I stuck it back on. It was quite gross.
My folks have the Spinach Festival this weekend back home. It is the big festival every year, used to be Crystal City was the spinach capital of the world, or that is what we were told growing up. When I was young, the festival was held downtown and it was open to walk in and out of. Nowadays, they do it with a fence around it, and you have to pay to park, and then pay to enter. My mom says tacos can go for as much as $7. That just seems bordering on ridiculous to me. I haven't been in probably fifteen years, but it was the first place Wife and I went on a date. Back in 1987, shit it will be thirty years next year that Wife and I have been together. I need to start planning on a way to align our schedules a little better when she finally comes back to Austin. I like that we are both always busy and productive members of society, but we need a little more time together. I'm sure I'll be singing a different song after having the big girl home for a week. :)
This weekend we had plans to go to the Renaissance Festival we go most every year, but my leg gash is still seeping and messy. Last weekend I told Wife it was fine and we walked around here and there just doing our normal routines and walking the mall for awhile. Sunday, the gash was leaking enough that I attempted to change the bandage and had all sorts of problems with it. There is a silver pad they put in there to keep it free of bacteria and it fell out after the bandage failed to stay stuck on me. I then picked it up with a butter knife, it looked like half a potato on the kitchen floor and I stuck it back on. It was quite gross.
My folks have the Spinach Festival this weekend back home. It is the big festival every year, used to be Crystal City was the spinach capital of the world, or that is what we were told growing up. When I was young, the festival was held downtown and it was open to walk in and out of. Nowadays, they do it with a fence around it, and you have to pay to park, and then pay to enter. My mom says tacos can go for as much as $7. That just seems bordering on ridiculous to me. I haven't been in probably fifteen years, but it was the first place Wife and I went on a date. Back in 1987, shit it will be thirty years next year that Wife and I have been together. I need to start planning on a way to align our schedules a little better when she finally comes back to Austin. I like that we are both always busy and productive members of society, but we need a little more time together. I'm sure I'll be singing a different song after having the big girl home for a week. :)
Saturday, November 12, 2016
11/12/16 The Magnificant Seven (Movie)
We went and watched this movie a couple weekends ago. I honestly am not a fan of this type of movie, it is a remake of an old western classic, and I guess it had a couple of interesting guys in the cast, most notably our newest hero Chris Pratt who is everywhere and Denzel Washington as the lead, Chisolm. There was also Ethan Hawke, who time is not being kind to, and Vincent D'onofrio, who always takes me back to Full Metal Jacket when I see him, freaking Private Leonard "Gomer Pyle" Lawrence. The rest of the cast is not as big a names or did not seem so to me.
It is a simple premise, a bully (Bartholomew Baroque, played by Peter Sarsgaard) has shown up on a small town and he is forcing himself as the law, offering to buy out people if they don't like it or he'll have them shot. It seems ridiculous, but I guess those were lawless times or the law was only as good as the people in place upholding the law. Enter Chisolm, a bounty hunter looking for his bounty in the area when one of the few brave souls, a woman who has lost her husband to the bully, confronts Chisolm and offers him "everything" the citizens of the town have of value if he will come and fight for them. She mentions the name of the bad guy and suddenly it is a matter of personal vendetta. It is not drawn out, a simple showing of some scars on his neck indicate Chisolm has had his own run-ins with Bartholomew, so he agrees to take this into his own hands.
He rounds up six other guys, each with his own special skills, only the character played by Pratt has a sense of humor, all the other guys are constantly practicing their tough guy faces all day long. Pratt is the only one cracking wise for the camera, upon seeing the Vincent D'onofrio character proclaims "look, a bear in people's clothing!" I thought it was pretty funny.
They gather and set up the final scene after dispersing with the twenty or so guards that were left to control the city and the mine. We see the usual shenanigans, explosives set up here and there, people with guns in trenches that are camouflaged, everybody where they can best put their skills to use. For some reason that is not clear the Ethan Hawke character is an excellent marksman, but he is having a hard time shooting his gun. Of course, he comes through at the very end to help out. About three of the Magnificant Seven die, but of course, the good guys do prevail in the end. In the end, peace is restored to this sleepy town, and I guess everything can go back to normal, as we see the Magnificent Four left over ride into the sunset.
I only saw the movie because Boy wanted to and we get tickets for free. It still cost us like $60-$70 bucks for all the popcorn, pizzas and pretzels we eat. I'm not sure it was worth it, but we did go as a family. They changed the butter at Alamo Drafhouse and I am not sure I like the popcorn now. It was much blander now.
It is a simple premise, a bully (Bartholomew Baroque, played by Peter Sarsgaard) has shown up on a small town and he is forcing himself as the law, offering to buy out people if they don't like it or he'll have them shot. It seems ridiculous, but I guess those were lawless times or the law was only as good as the people in place upholding the law. Enter Chisolm, a bounty hunter looking for his bounty in the area when one of the few brave souls, a woman who has lost her husband to the bully, confronts Chisolm and offers him "everything" the citizens of the town have of value if he will come and fight for them. She mentions the name of the bad guy and suddenly it is a matter of personal vendetta. It is not drawn out, a simple showing of some scars on his neck indicate Chisolm has had his own run-ins with Bartholomew, so he agrees to take this into his own hands.
He rounds up six other guys, each with his own special skills, only the character played by Pratt has a sense of humor, all the other guys are constantly practicing their tough guy faces all day long. Pratt is the only one cracking wise for the camera, upon seeing the Vincent D'onofrio character proclaims "look, a bear in people's clothing!" I thought it was pretty funny.
They gather and set up the final scene after dispersing with the twenty or so guards that were left to control the city and the mine. We see the usual shenanigans, explosives set up here and there, people with guns in trenches that are camouflaged, everybody where they can best put their skills to use. For some reason that is not clear the Ethan Hawke character is an excellent marksman, but he is having a hard time shooting his gun. Of course, he comes through at the very end to help out. About three of the Magnificant Seven die, but of course, the good guys do prevail in the end. In the end, peace is restored to this sleepy town, and I guess everything can go back to normal, as we see the Magnificent Four left over ride into the sunset.
I only saw the movie because Boy wanted to and we get tickets for free. It still cost us like $60-$70 bucks for all the popcorn, pizzas and pretzels we eat. I'm not sure it was worth it, but we did go as a family. They changed the butter at Alamo Drafhouse and I am not sure I like the popcorn now. It was much blander now.
Friday, November 11, 2016
11/11/16 Catholic Hospitals Need To Move To This Century?
The other night, I was just skimming through the channels and saw a report on Full Frontal With Samantha Bee. She was previously on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart a couple years ago and I always liked her sarcastic style and wit. She was reporting on the fact that Catholic Hospitals have been increasing, 22% over the last 15 years. This sounds boring except they still think with their bible instead of their heads. Even if these hospitals previously allowed abortions, performed sterilizations, or offered birth control options, all of these are now not allowed under the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services. According to the show, this is a group run by bishops, which we all know no women are allowed that high up the ranking of cool priest positions.
By their decree abortions are not allowed, even if the mother's life is in danger, never mind if the pregnancy was caused by a rape or incest. When asked and confronted Father John Erichs, the medical Director for the Diocese of Phoenix said "there are some situations where the mother may in fact die with the child." Come on, even you pro lifers realize this is 2016 not 1816, we understand so much more of human anatomy. Women do not have to die because of this, nowadays. It might be tragic and sad, but if the pregnancy is an ectopic pregnancy, for instance, and the fetus has no chance of surviving, why should the woman pay the ultimate price? If a 13-14 year old girl gets raped by her creepy old uncle while he is drunk, she should suffer the shame of that pregnancy?
This is disconcerting enough but the hospitals aren't even good for some good old fashioned birth control. If you live in a big city, fine, throw the finger at the facility and go down the street to the next hospital and hope it's not run by people in robes. There are smaller cities with the only option being the Catholic Hospital for hundreds of miles and without birth control people don't stop having sex naïve people, they start having risky sex that leads to more unwanted pregnancies.
What is the big plan here? Just to fill the streets with unwanted pregnancies? It is great that all those people go into religious service (although I remember a Time article that something like 60% of men going into priesthood were gay), why do they get to tell the general population what they can and can't do to their bodies? I only bring up the gay thing because it is very convenient for a group that will not reproduce by doing what we do behind closed doors to tell the others too bad if your type of sex has consequences like creating life. You cannot fulfill your sexual desires like we do. If you end up pregnant from an evening of fun, you should now suffer for the rest of your life or at least the next 18 years.
By their decree abortions are not allowed, even if the mother's life is in danger, never mind if the pregnancy was caused by a rape or incest. When asked and confronted Father John Erichs, the medical Director for the Diocese of Phoenix said "there are some situations where the mother may in fact die with the child." Come on, even you pro lifers realize this is 2016 not 1816, we understand so much more of human anatomy. Women do not have to die because of this, nowadays. It might be tragic and sad, but if the pregnancy is an ectopic pregnancy, for instance, and the fetus has no chance of surviving, why should the woman pay the ultimate price? If a 13-14 year old girl gets raped by her creepy old uncle while he is drunk, she should suffer the shame of that pregnancy?
This is disconcerting enough but the hospitals aren't even good for some good old fashioned birth control. If you live in a big city, fine, throw the finger at the facility and go down the street to the next hospital and hope it's not run by people in robes. There are smaller cities with the only option being the Catholic Hospital for hundreds of miles and without birth control people don't stop having sex naïve people, they start having risky sex that leads to more unwanted pregnancies.
What is the big plan here? Just to fill the streets with unwanted pregnancies? It is great that all those people go into religious service (although I remember a Time article that something like 60% of men going into priesthood were gay), why do they get to tell the general population what they can and can't do to their bodies? I only bring up the gay thing because it is very convenient for a group that will not reproduce by doing what we do behind closed doors to tell the others too bad if your type of sex has consequences like creating life. You cannot fulfill your sexual desires like we do. If you end up pregnant from an evening of fun, you should now suffer for the rest of your life or at least the next 18 years.
Thursday, November 10, 2016
11/10/16 "You're So Dramatic?
What do I tell my kid who is in sixth grade and is claiming the day Trump was elected was such a bad day even God is depressed and made it rain all day? I picked him up after school and he said it was a very sad day in school, kids were crying worried about when their parents were going to be deported. What if they go to school and come back home and their parents have been sent to Mexico? I know Americans don't have this fear, and I don't support a leaking border where people come and just stay, but these kids are innocent. Yeah yeah yeah, you'll want to blame Obama, but sixth graders were born under Bush, a Republican, and for all his talk, he didn't do squat to seal the border. I don't know what is fair, but if Trump really carries through his promise of sending the illegals back, it is going to get messy.
I talked to Wife after school, she was in a conference in San Antonio but she called her office, and she was told a lot of kids were out today. They were calling parents wondering what was going on, and according to Wife, the excuse from the parents was "well, if they are going to start sending us back, we don't want to risk our families being broken up. We are keeping our kids close by." Both these scenarios are interesting, but one can say it is simple paranoia, so I should probably shut up.
This third scenario was real, as far as I can tell, I read it on FB and saw pictures. According to a girl we know who goes to Tx. State, there was a gathering of white students and they were waving signs and being aggressive towards Hispanic students with "Time to head back to Mexico." and other uplifting moronic crap. This is where it can get dangerous, when ignorant people take the message of it's okay to show hatred like Trump has. If the President can stand up and declare that Mexicans got to go now, it is not impossible to then have the testosterone fueled low IQ brethren to then turn around and decide they can help hurry his message along.
I know I'm being dramatic, it was just a couple college kids expressing their beliefs and celebrating the win by their guy into the White House. Come on it's just "boys being boys." This might be something to fear when we are told over and over it's nothing to get excited about, they are just blowing off steam. Who is going to tell these packs of animals not to take the law into their own hands? Little militias have already been forming under Obama working along the Mexican border to keep Mexicans out. It sounds like a good idea, but I just feel it could very easily turn from keeping Mexican Nationals out to attacking anyone who doesn't look white. We shall see how this plays out.
I talked to Wife after school, she was in a conference in San Antonio but she called her office, and she was told a lot of kids were out today. They were calling parents wondering what was going on, and according to Wife, the excuse from the parents was "well, if they are going to start sending us back, we don't want to risk our families being broken up. We are keeping our kids close by." Both these scenarios are interesting, but one can say it is simple paranoia, so I should probably shut up.
This third scenario was real, as far as I can tell, I read it on FB and saw pictures. According to a girl we know who goes to Tx. State, there was a gathering of white students and they were waving signs and being aggressive towards Hispanic students with "Time to head back to Mexico." and other uplifting moronic crap. This is where it can get dangerous, when ignorant people take the message of it's okay to show hatred like Trump has. If the President can stand up and declare that Mexicans got to go now, it is not impossible to then have the testosterone fueled low IQ brethren to then turn around and decide they can help hurry his message along.
I know I'm being dramatic, it was just a couple college kids expressing their beliefs and celebrating the win by their guy into the White House. Come on it's just "boys being boys." This might be something to fear when we are told over and over it's nothing to get excited about, they are just blowing off steam. Who is going to tell these packs of animals not to take the law into their own hands? Little militias have already been forming under Obama working along the Mexican border to keep Mexicans out. It sounds like a good idea, but I just feel it could very easily turn from keeping Mexican Nationals out to attacking anyone who doesn't look white. We shall see how this plays out.
Wednesday, November 9, 2016
11/9/16 Seems We Swung Back To Red?
Like I said, shitty choices lead to this. Our newest president is sexist, if anything. Maybe we'll be lucky enough to see that old mainstay from movies of the 70's where we can call our female coworkers "Honey" and "Sweetheart" and the ass slap will come back in vogue, as a form of appreciation, of course. If it is good enough behavior for our President, why not the rest of us? If we get cornered we can just say "oh, lighten up, boys will be boys."
Creepers can also feel a little safer knowing our new President does not have a problem checking out his own daughter, quoted back in March 2006. “I’ve said if Ivanka weren’t my daughter, perhaps I’d be dating her.” He put out a statement afterwards that he was joking, awesome incest joke Mr. President. Of course with even more power, it should be easier as he was explaining that women just throw themselves at him. "Just go in for the kiss, don't even wait, when you're a star, they let you. Then there's his power move "just grab them by the pussy." That is so refreshing, good to know how to get things done, Sir.
How about a little racism, it's funny!! From a 1991 book quoting Trump as saying "Laziness is a trait in the blacks." This was in reference to an employee being discussed and how he needed to come up to speed, Trump half defending him saying he can't help it..."Laziness..." The part that scares me is this he said his followers were "passionate" after being told two men beat a Hispanic homeless man in Trump's name. This gives me chills in thinking if a couple of lynch mobs start operating, as long as they attack minorities, our good president will just play it down and maybe chuckle a bit.
On Nuclear weapons Trump said he might use them, and then questioned why would we make them if we wouldn't use them? This is more than scary, I hope Congress still has testicles to counter him and not give him carte blanche like they did Bush when he needed to invade Iraq (where is all that evidence that they were involved in 9/11?). Oh yeah, Mr. Trump isn't really a fan of soldiers, on John McCain "He's not a war hero, I like people that weren't captured." With 5 deferments from the Vietnam War, he still boasts "There's nobody bigger or better at the military than I am." and finally, how about "Members of the military shouldn't get paid for their service. It's a person's obligation to defend their country and maintain it's greatness, and they should do it not for a paycheck, but because they are patriots." This out of his mouth while he took 5 medical deferments and did not serve.
I don't honestly care either way, change might be good, an outsider might be some welcome change to all those fuckers wasting oxygen in Washington DC and not giving back to the people. A Republican ultimately is good for the people that carry this country financially, so I am good. I'm not out shopping for abortions, so if they get taken away with a more conservative Supreme Court, good. There will be an increase in unwanted kids, and there is a correlation that this leads to more crime, but Wife and I are already talking about moving to a double gated community, if Whitey will have us, so again, we are good. All you right to lifers remember to be generous when the unemployable population keeps rising, cause those peeps like to reproduce if nothing else. They don't like to support their creations, they just like to make them.
Creepers can also feel a little safer knowing our new President does not have a problem checking out his own daughter, quoted back in March 2006. “I’ve said if Ivanka weren’t my daughter, perhaps I’d be dating her.” He put out a statement afterwards that he was joking, awesome incest joke Mr. President. Of course with even more power, it should be easier as he was explaining that women just throw themselves at him. "Just go in for the kiss, don't even wait, when you're a star, they let you. Then there's his power move "just grab them by the pussy." That is so refreshing, good to know how to get things done, Sir.
How about a little racism, it's funny!! From a 1991 book quoting Trump as saying "Laziness is a trait in the blacks." This was in reference to an employee being discussed and how he needed to come up to speed, Trump half defending him saying he can't help it..."Laziness..." The part that scares me is this he said his followers were "passionate" after being told two men beat a Hispanic homeless man in Trump's name. This gives me chills in thinking if a couple of lynch mobs start operating, as long as they attack minorities, our good president will just play it down and maybe chuckle a bit.
On Nuclear weapons Trump said he might use them, and then questioned why would we make them if we wouldn't use them? This is more than scary, I hope Congress still has testicles to counter him and not give him carte blanche like they did Bush when he needed to invade Iraq (where is all that evidence that they were involved in 9/11?). Oh yeah, Mr. Trump isn't really a fan of soldiers, on John McCain "He's not a war hero, I like people that weren't captured." With 5 deferments from the Vietnam War, he still boasts "There's nobody bigger or better at the military than I am." and finally, how about "Members of the military shouldn't get paid for their service. It's a person's obligation to defend their country and maintain it's greatness, and they should do it not for a paycheck, but because they are patriots." This out of his mouth while he took 5 medical deferments and did not serve.
I don't honestly care either way, change might be good, an outsider might be some welcome change to all those fuckers wasting oxygen in Washington DC and not giving back to the people. A Republican ultimately is good for the people that carry this country financially, so I am good. I'm not out shopping for abortions, so if they get taken away with a more conservative Supreme Court, good. There will be an increase in unwanted kids, and there is a correlation that this leads to more crime, but Wife and I are already talking about moving to a double gated community, if Whitey will have us, so again, we are good. All you right to lifers remember to be generous when the unemployable population keeps rising, cause those peeps like to reproduce if nothing else. They don't like to support their creations, they just like to make them.
Tuesday, November 8, 2016
11/8/16 Time For A New Leader?
Time for a new millionaire to lead us. We are so lucky, we get to choose between two candidates that two political powerhouses allow us to vote for. Usually, it had been between old white men who put in their time and eventually moved it on up. Finally, we had a black man break through and that seemed encouraging, but eight years passed and I'm not sure anything was accomplished. During his first term there was a lot about healthcare and all Americans should have access to it. Great, except the version we got has us workers paying for the unemployables in increased insurance premiums. Luckily, Wife works so I don't have to put everyone on my insurance, but these jackals expect a normal family to pay $600-700 a month in insurance, for that just in case feeling of coverage.
We will possibly have the first woman leading us, and that seems interesting. Surely, a woman would not be so callous and throw us into another war? But of course, nothing can ever be smooth, Mrs. Clinton has more skeletons in her closet than Bill had mistresses when he was in power. I know her stuff can't be as bad as Trump is declaring, you can find all over YouTube old clips where Trump praises Hillary over and over again. Nevertheless, there is something there, but how did she end up our best candidate for the Democratic Party?
The other option is also different in that he is not a career politician which I like, on paper. Trump scares me though in that he just vomits what people want to hear. He has thrown out quite a bit of hate to different minority groups, which would be fine, but it seems to have lit a fire on those who secretly are racist. He can say what he wants, I doubt he is sending Mexicans back to Mexico. Those morons screaming "they're taking our jobs!" sound freaking ignorant. Go ahead, go pick fruits and vegetables, do all the shitty jobs they do. I still say if houses are getting built by Mexicans and illegals, fine the builders. If KB homes or Meritage, or whatever other giant house builder was fined, this practice would disappear overnight.
I did hear a sound bite from Trump about he was going to push for term limits for Congress. That would be something good. We need new blood and ideas leading us. This aholes take up residence and then fight tooth and nail to keep their roles like they are doing us a favor. It was not supposed to be that way. Serve your country, for a minimum wage and get the fuck out of there. Instead, they set up their own pay, their own insurance premiums, their own retirement pensions, where is the system of checks and balances? There is no way Congress would allow term limits to pass for them, they got it too good.
I hated Bush and his ignorance, but he came and went. I expected more from Barrack, but he has come and gone. Whatever new turd we dress up with the American flag pin on their suit, they too will eventually come and go. Will we really notice a difference, whether blue or red wins?
We will possibly have the first woman leading us, and that seems interesting. Surely, a woman would not be so callous and throw us into another war? But of course, nothing can ever be smooth, Mrs. Clinton has more skeletons in her closet than Bill had mistresses when he was in power. I know her stuff can't be as bad as Trump is declaring, you can find all over YouTube old clips where Trump praises Hillary over and over again. Nevertheless, there is something there, but how did she end up our best candidate for the Democratic Party?
The other option is also different in that he is not a career politician which I like, on paper. Trump scares me though in that he just vomits what people want to hear. He has thrown out quite a bit of hate to different minority groups, which would be fine, but it seems to have lit a fire on those who secretly are racist. He can say what he wants, I doubt he is sending Mexicans back to Mexico. Those morons screaming "they're taking our jobs!" sound freaking ignorant. Go ahead, go pick fruits and vegetables, do all the shitty jobs they do. I still say if houses are getting built by Mexicans and illegals, fine the builders. If KB homes or Meritage, or whatever other giant house builder was fined, this practice would disappear overnight.
I did hear a sound bite from Trump about he was going to push for term limits for Congress. That would be something good. We need new blood and ideas leading us. This aholes take up residence and then fight tooth and nail to keep their roles like they are doing us a favor. It was not supposed to be that way. Serve your country, for a minimum wage and get the fuck out of there. Instead, they set up their own pay, their own insurance premiums, their own retirement pensions, where is the system of checks and balances? There is no way Congress would allow term limits to pass for them, they got it too good.
I hated Bush and his ignorance, but he came and went. I expected more from Barrack, but he has come and gone. Whatever new turd we dress up with the American flag pin on their suit, they too will eventually come and go. Will we really notice a difference, whether blue or red wins?
Monday, November 7, 2016
11/7/16 What Was My Blood Hiding?
Since my leg injury and being forced to mingle with the medical professionals of our fine city, I figured I should have a physical of sorts done. I asked for them to take my blood to check for diabetes, and anything else they could find. Once and for all, as of now, I am not diabetic. I know my peeps back home want me, wish me, expect me, hope for me and maybe even demand from me to be diabetic like my fore fathers, but I simply am not. They checked my HGB A1C and it is 5.2, my standing glucose level is at 96. Along with my three other checks which my dad had me prick my finger and he checked on his machine a couple months ago, it read 75, and two checks at the urgent care and at the current doctor's office with readings of 105 and 95.
I am as heavy as a small elephant at 405 pounds and that is probably having an effect on me in other regards. Apparently, I am a little bitch, my testosterone is very low, at 150, where normal range is 348-1197. What is the point of carrying testicles and all their nuisance if that is the best they can do? But that number can be influenced by losing weight, so now I have a real motivation, if I want to be a man. Lifting weights, was about the only thing I can do in the real world that will also help improve that number, so I have to quit making excuses and start going to the gym, for reals. The PA also said this was another thing that could lead to me feeling tired all the time, and I just read online, low Testosterone can affect sleep, and cause insomnia.
The other big find is my thyroid is not working properly. I asked my mom and she said two of my aunts take pills for their thyroid problems, for life. I am getting a second evaluation to make sure reading was not a false positive, but it looks like I will be on thyroid medicine soon enough.
My vitamin D3 was found to be quite low, but there are over the counter supplements I can take. Vitamin D3 helps against disease, depression, promotes weight loss, low D3 can lead to a feeling of tiredness and feeling lethargic, helps with bone density, and many other things. I went to GNC and found 180 pills with a 5000IU, (which means I take one a day) for $19.99, which should be enough for half a year.
So for now, I am going to start taking the Vitamin D3 pill daily, start trying to lose some weight, start honestly lifting weights daily, eating Cheerios for breakfast, they are only cereal with the balls to say they can help lower cholesterol. Wife suggested I should also take a vitamin pill that fills the gap with other things, such as zinc and other vitamins. I promise to replace at least two of my meals with Chubs after school with some salads to lower my cholesterol. It wasn't bad enough to get on medicine, but it is creeping to the high end where I need to start making changes.
I am as heavy as a small elephant at 405 pounds and that is probably having an effect on me in other regards. Apparently, I am a little bitch, my testosterone is very low, at 150, where normal range is 348-1197. What is the point of carrying testicles and all their nuisance if that is the best they can do? But that number can be influenced by losing weight, so now I have a real motivation, if I want to be a man. Lifting weights, was about the only thing I can do in the real world that will also help improve that number, so I have to quit making excuses and start going to the gym, for reals. The PA also said this was another thing that could lead to me feeling tired all the time, and I just read online, low Testosterone can affect sleep, and cause insomnia.
The other big find is my thyroid is not working properly. I asked my mom and she said two of my aunts take pills for their thyroid problems, for life. I am getting a second evaluation to make sure reading was not a false positive, but it looks like I will be on thyroid medicine soon enough.
My vitamin D3 was found to be quite low, but there are over the counter supplements I can take. Vitamin D3 helps against disease, depression, promotes weight loss, low D3 can lead to a feeling of tiredness and feeling lethargic, helps with bone density, and many other things. I went to GNC and found 180 pills with a 5000IU, (which means I take one a day) for $19.99, which should be enough for half a year.
So for now, I am going to start taking the Vitamin D3 pill daily, start trying to lose some weight, start honestly lifting weights daily, eating Cheerios for breakfast, they are only cereal with the balls to say they can help lower cholesterol. Wife suggested I should also take a vitamin pill that fills the gap with other things, such as zinc and other vitamins. I promise to replace at least two of my meals with Chubs after school with some salads to lower my cholesterol. It wasn't bad enough to get on medicine, but it is creeping to the high end where I need to start making changes.
Sunday, November 6, 2016
11/6/16 Why Are We Still Doing The Freaking Time Warp?
I have always heard that we do this time warp dance twice a year for the farmers. Looking up the data on Google, farmers and ranchers make up less than 2% of the US population, so why are we bending backwards for them? In the fall it is not so bad, I guess, we supposedly gain an hour when we move the hour hand back one hour at 2:00am this Saturday night. It does hurt more in the Spring when we move it forward and suddenly you lose an hour, for no good reason.
At least in the Time Warp song, we get to dance... it's just a jump to the left, and then a step to the right! Put your hands on your hips, and bring your knees in tight. But it's the pelvic thrust, that really drives you insane!!! repeat ad nauseam. At least we only hear this song around the Halloween season and it is catchy and fun the first few times.
The real time change leaves us scrambling around in the dark by 6:00pm for the next half of the year. Who cares if the sun is barely rising at 8:00am, farmers can't get up later? I never understood that. Just because they like to go feed their animals and ride their farm tractors at the crack of dawn, it is our government's job to keep the crack of dawn near 6:00am? Honestly, 90% of the country is still attempting to do commerce at 6:00pm, with parents stopping for dinner, people headed home from work, even shopping starts picking up in the fall as the Christmas season is just about upon us. This big chunk of the population might benefit from a little extra light, maybe even reduce a couple extra rapes in dark parking lots or robberies in sketchy parking garages. Farmer Bob can work in the dark, for all I care, or he can learn to sleep in and take care of Farmer Jane a little longer in the morning.
I applaud the few areas that say fuck it, we don't recognize your time change, and just don't bother doing it. Only two states have the big cajones to not bother most of Arizona and Hawaii. The logic historically was that there was an energy savings by moving when light was available, but that has been disputed. There is only so much daylight to go around in the shorter fall and winter days. If you try and improve the morning, you are only going to mess up the evening. Since I work nights, none of this helps me, really, I just see us doing a stupid dance twice a year because Uncle Sam says so.
Twenty minutes into this time change, and I have to say, "what do these machines think they are, changing time without our input?" Wait, I am confused... Thought I got in bed from falling asleep around2:00am, the analog clock that wakes us hasn't changed, I thought the official thing was to change at 2:00, back to 1:00am. Hmmm? Oh well, it'll all work itself out.
At least in the Time Warp song, we get to dance... it's just a jump to the left, and then a step to the right! Put your hands on your hips, and bring your knees in tight. But it's the pelvic thrust, that really drives you insane!!! repeat ad nauseam. At least we only hear this song around the Halloween season and it is catchy and fun the first few times.
The real time change leaves us scrambling around in the dark by 6:00pm for the next half of the year. Who cares if the sun is barely rising at 8:00am, farmers can't get up later? I never understood that. Just because they like to go feed their animals and ride their farm tractors at the crack of dawn, it is our government's job to keep the crack of dawn near 6:00am? Honestly, 90% of the country is still attempting to do commerce at 6:00pm, with parents stopping for dinner, people headed home from work, even shopping starts picking up in the fall as the Christmas season is just about upon us. This big chunk of the population might benefit from a little extra light, maybe even reduce a couple extra rapes in dark parking lots or robberies in sketchy parking garages. Farmer Bob can work in the dark, for all I care, or he can learn to sleep in and take care of Farmer Jane a little longer in the morning.
I applaud the few areas that say fuck it, we don't recognize your time change, and just don't bother doing it. Only two states have the big cajones to not bother most of Arizona and Hawaii. The logic historically was that there was an energy savings by moving when light was available, but that has been disputed. There is only so much daylight to go around in the shorter fall and winter days. If you try and improve the morning, you are only going to mess up the evening. Since I work nights, none of this helps me, really, I just see us doing a stupid dance twice a year because Uncle Sam says so.
Twenty minutes into this time change, and I have to say, "what do these machines think they are, changing time without our input?" Wait, I am confused... Thought I got in bed from falling asleep around2:00am, the analog clock that wakes us hasn't changed, I thought the official thing was to change at 2:00, back to 1:00am. Hmmm? Oh well, it'll all work itself out.
Saturday, November 5, 2016
11/5/16 St. Vincent Was A Good Sappy Movie, Worth A Cry? (Netflix movie)
St. Vincent was a cute independent movie from 2014, starring Bill Murray, Melissa McCarthy, Naomi Watts, and Jaeden Lieberher as the likable kid. The story starts with Vincent struggling to get by, he seems to be a low life, drunk all the time, fighting with anyone and everyone. He has managed to probably do a reverse mortgage on his house, as he is arguing with a banker about getting more money from his house, but he has taken as much as they will give him. He spends his day up to no good, it seems. He is gambling at the horse track, drinking in random bars, even has a sex scene with a pregnant Russian hooker. At first glance, we are ready to give up on this guy, he is a gross mess.
Enter the Melissa McCarthy character and her son who move in next door. The kid is scrawny and gets picked on the first day in a new school. His wallet and house key are taken when some of the kids take his clothing. Desperate and unable to get into his house, he knocks on the neighbor and pleads to use the phone. As much as Vincent does not want to get involved, he does. Before we know it, Melissa is paying Vincent to help with after school babysitting. He does not change his routine that much, still going to the horse track to bet, hanging out at bars, even arguing with the hooker over money owed or something. Of course, the two of them form a bond, Vincent even teaches the kid how to fight to defend himself. Once he stands up to the school bully, they actually become friends.
The kid starts seeing that although outsiders see Vincent as a low life, he has a good soul. His wife is in a nursing home and has Alzeimer's or something that she doesn't recognize him. He still goes, and takes care of washing her clothes. Knowing that the hooker is pregnant, he lies to the receptionist that they are married so she can use his insurance to see a gynecologist.
The kid is in some form of non-denominational private school and they are covering saints. He figure that Vincent is very much worthy of sainthood, and there is a school presentation where Vincent is recognized. In the meantime, He has had a stroke, Melissa's character has gotten pissed at him for introducing her kid to all sorts of sketchy behavior. The end is heartwarming, he has taken in the hooker and she will now be his roommate and she will help him with his therapy, and clean the house in exchange for a room.
Enter the Melissa McCarthy character and her son who move in next door. The kid is scrawny and gets picked on the first day in a new school. His wallet and house key are taken when some of the kids take his clothing. Desperate and unable to get into his house, he knocks on the neighbor and pleads to use the phone. As much as Vincent does not want to get involved, he does. Before we know it, Melissa is paying Vincent to help with after school babysitting. He does not change his routine that much, still going to the horse track to bet, hanging out at bars, even arguing with the hooker over money owed or something. Of course, the two of them form a bond, Vincent even teaches the kid how to fight to defend himself. Once he stands up to the school bully, they actually become friends.
The kid starts seeing that although outsiders see Vincent as a low life, he has a good soul. His wife is in a nursing home and has Alzeimer's or something that she doesn't recognize him. He still goes, and takes care of washing her clothes. Knowing that the hooker is pregnant, he lies to the receptionist that they are married so she can use his insurance to see a gynecologist.
The kid is in some form of non-denominational private school and they are covering saints. He figure that Vincent is very much worthy of sainthood, and there is a school presentation where Vincent is recognized. In the meantime, He has had a stroke, Melissa's character has gotten pissed at him for introducing her kid to all sorts of sketchy behavior. The end is heartwarming, he has taken in the hooker and she will now be his roommate and she will help him with his therapy, and clean the house in exchange for a room.
Friday, November 4, 2016
11/4/16 I Demand To Live In A Vacuum?
Let's eliminate the notion that this was written from the position of an angry fan who wishes to not exist. Okay, let's continue that thought for a minute. If we hold your wish and remove you from our thoughts and everything you say becomes null and void of comment, do you really exist? Of course, you say yes, I am here, I breath, I fart green farts because I care for the environment and I only consume veggies and stuff other people have thrown away. My footprint on the planet is small because I commute by skateboard and I live in a hole in the ground once occupied by a raccoon.
I say that is all great for you, and of course your wish is our command, but if you do not encourage one thought different than before you came along, if your input is one that does not change one person's opinion on anything, why are you part of the social group? In a perfect world, everything I have ever said and done is hopefully being taken by everybody around me and taken to better mankind. That is not possible because I consume the planet like I am pregnant and eating for two or three, I drive vehicles that should be outlawed per every Prius driver, my house should be one third the size it is to match my true needs and family size. Luckily, we live in the United States and those who don't like how I live can start sucking on the exhaust of my F-250 or my Excursion, this is 'Merica Goddammit!!! I do have good qualities, but when arguing, the other side will only care about any failures in my morality.
I don't care if it sounds selfish, I am not really going to deny what I say because it came from my mouth. I rubbed at least two brain cells, gave it at least a second or two of thought and spat it out. Why would I get upset if other people go around quoting me?
If I needed to hide because I was being hid by the government and my goal was to remain incognito, then I would start the day with my mouth closed, I would be polite, and I wouldn't bring attention to myself by giving my opinion on everything. Aristotle once said "there is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing."
If we go then by Aristotle's reasoning, if you are not criticized and you have no opinions we can shine a light upon, and anything you have said cannot be evaluated, then good for you, you officially are nothing. Now just practice being a ghost and shhh, no save that thought, go quietly into that good night my friend.
I say that is all great for you, and of course your wish is our command, but if you do not encourage one thought different than before you came along, if your input is one that does not change one person's opinion on anything, why are you part of the social group? In a perfect world, everything I have ever said and done is hopefully being taken by everybody around me and taken to better mankind. That is not possible because I consume the planet like I am pregnant and eating for two or three, I drive vehicles that should be outlawed per every Prius driver, my house should be one third the size it is to match my true needs and family size. Luckily, we live in the United States and those who don't like how I live can start sucking on the exhaust of my F-250 or my Excursion, this is 'Merica Goddammit!!! I do have good qualities, but when arguing, the other side will only care about any failures in my morality.
I don't care if it sounds selfish, I am not really going to deny what I say because it came from my mouth. I rubbed at least two brain cells, gave it at least a second or two of thought and spat it out. Why would I get upset if other people go around quoting me?
If I needed to hide because I was being hid by the government and my goal was to remain incognito, then I would start the day with my mouth closed, I would be polite, and I wouldn't bring attention to myself by giving my opinion on everything. Aristotle once said "there is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing."
If we go then by Aristotle's reasoning, if you are not criticized and you have no opinions we can shine a light upon, and anything you have said cannot be evaluated, then good for you, you officially are nothing. Now just practice being a ghost and shhh, no save that thought, go quietly into that good night my friend.
Thursday, November 3, 2016
11/3/16 Cheater Cheater Pumpkin Eater?
My boys are savage when it comes to honesty in the classroom. Earlier in the year, Boy said a kid was cheating in one of his classes and he was not gonna have any of that. He said "fuck that, I killed myself studying and this guy is just using his phone to look for the answers, nope." He stayed after class to let the professor know. That first test was hard and only one person managed a passing grade. On the second test, they just did over the weekend, Boy gave it his all and got an 80. He was very proud of himself and I asked what about that cheater dude? Oh no, I took him out personally, he dropped the class before the second exam. He said at this point, they are down to seven students in the class.
Chubs had to interject at this point to say that they were having a test in band today and they were supposed to be reading music without writing the letters beneath. The kid next to him had all his music sheet written on, and Chubs told him to erase it. He said "shush, mind your own business." At this, he raised his hand and started saying out loud "so and so is cheating band director." This got other kids looking at the boy, and they too started sounding the alarm. The teacher told them to keep it down, and not worry about it. After class, Chubs asked the band director if he knew the kid was cheating, and he said yes. Then he asked if he was going to be punished, and the band director gave an "ehh, will see what happens." Chubs was not happy about it.
During lunch, the kid came over and told Chubs "why did you have to rat me out?" then he went on with "you better watch your back, I have boots on." I would think that would be intimidating but Chubs said "look at my feet, I have boots too, and I'm bigger than you." Chub's buddy then told the kid to beat it.
I was always for honesty and truth, but I wasn't ready to fight for it. I know Chubs is a gentle soul, but I have had to talk with him a couple times recently. When playing with me, or we're talking smack to each other (playing, of course), sometimes he will throw an arm at me, and he might be young but the chubby arm of any 220 pounder still packs a good whack. He was startled Halloween night and accidently punched one of his friends while in costume and retreating from something else. He sent his friend backwards, luckily he didn't draw blood.
I don't know, I was the chubby kid who played it smart and avoided fights. Chubs might be the kid that isn't afraid to flex his muscles. He doesn't really back off when Boy hits him, we usually yell at Boy to stop it, but at some point, we're going to have to tell Chubs to stop. He might be ten years younger but he already outweighs bro-bro by a good 80-90 pounds.
Chubs had to interject at this point to say that they were having a test in band today and they were supposed to be reading music without writing the letters beneath. The kid next to him had all his music sheet written on, and Chubs told him to erase it. He said "shush, mind your own business." At this, he raised his hand and started saying out loud "so and so is cheating band director." This got other kids looking at the boy, and they too started sounding the alarm. The teacher told them to keep it down, and not worry about it. After class, Chubs asked the band director if he knew the kid was cheating, and he said yes. Then he asked if he was going to be punished, and the band director gave an "ehh, will see what happens." Chubs was not happy about it.
During lunch, the kid came over and told Chubs "why did you have to rat me out?" then he went on with "you better watch your back, I have boots on." I would think that would be intimidating but Chubs said "look at my feet, I have boots too, and I'm bigger than you." Chub's buddy then told the kid to beat it.
I was always for honesty and truth, but I wasn't ready to fight for it. I know Chubs is a gentle soul, but I have had to talk with him a couple times recently. When playing with me, or we're talking smack to each other (playing, of course), sometimes he will throw an arm at me, and he might be young but the chubby arm of any 220 pounder still packs a good whack. He was startled Halloween night and accidently punched one of his friends while in costume and retreating from something else. He sent his friend backwards, luckily he didn't draw blood.
I don't know, I was the chubby kid who played it smart and avoided fights. Chubs might be the kid that isn't afraid to flex his muscles. He doesn't really back off when Boy hits him, we usually yell at Boy to stop it, but at some point, we're going to have to tell Chubs to stop. He might be ten years younger but he already outweighs bro-bro by a good 80-90 pounds.
Wednesday, November 2, 2016
11/2/16 It Too Shall Pass?
I always hate the "after". We talk about and plan and wait for something, and just like that, it is part of the past. Halloween just passed. Usually, it is out favorite holiday, we dress the house up, we try to have some sort of party, and we generally enjoy every part of it. Even the day after in the past, we run around trying to buy new decorations because everything at the Halloween stores goes for 50% off or better. This year we had a good enough time Halloween night, but now that it has passed, I am left to put away the decorations mostly by myself. I took down about half the stuff yesterday, and over the next couple of days, I will try and do the rest.
If you think about it, summer is past, any plans you had for summer have to wait until next year. This coming weekend is the time change which if anything, indicates we are coming upon shorter days. The only summer thing left to do is run the air conditioner because, well we live in Texas and the weather mostly sucks. But we can't plan a nice afternoon on the lake, or a weekend to the coast. All those shenanigans have to wait until next year.
This is the thinking that led us to discuss and accept Wife working so far away from us for this year. If nothing changes, it will probably be at least two years of her working down there. If we look at the big picture though, we are almost at the half way point of this school year. It'll be Thanksgiving in three weeks and Christmas a few more weeks after that. She was able to go to a conference that allowed her to be in town through Wednesday, so that was much appreciated. Tonight, for example, a storm came through, Boy was stuck in a lab late, and Chubs would have been alone and scared at home at night. Luckily, mama was home to keep him company. It doesn't seem so bad right now, knowing we have her here for roughly three full weeks of the eight left in the calendar year.
Even this will pass, and whether we like things or not, everything does. Wife will be back in Austin with us, hopefully as a Director of this or that or even this and that, she can handle anything they throw at her. Don't squander your time people, if you are planning on getting some schooling, shut up and get it done. I look at Boy struggling with some tough math classes, and I kind of remember my suffering back in the day, but it will pass, and he will come out better for it.
If you think about it, summer is past, any plans you had for summer have to wait until next year. This coming weekend is the time change which if anything, indicates we are coming upon shorter days. The only summer thing left to do is run the air conditioner because, well we live in Texas and the weather mostly sucks. But we can't plan a nice afternoon on the lake, or a weekend to the coast. All those shenanigans have to wait until next year.
This is the thinking that led us to discuss and accept Wife working so far away from us for this year. If nothing changes, it will probably be at least two years of her working down there. If we look at the big picture though, we are almost at the half way point of this school year. It'll be Thanksgiving in three weeks and Christmas a few more weeks after that. She was able to go to a conference that allowed her to be in town through Wednesday, so that was much appreciated. Tonight, for example, a storm came through, Boy was stuck in a lab late, and Chubs would have been alone and scared at home at night. Luckily, mama was home to keep him company. It doesn't seem so bad right now, knowing we have her here for roughly three full weeks of the eight left in the calendar year.
Even this will pass, and whether we like things or not, everything does. Wife will be back in Austin with us, hopefully as a Director of this or that or even this and that, she can handle anything they throw at her. Don't squander your time people, if you are planning on getting some schooling, shut up and get it done. I look at Boy struggling with some tough math classes, and I kind of remember my suffering back in the day, but it will pass, and he will come out better for it.
Tuesday, November 1, 2016
11/1/16 A Lukewarm Halloween?
It is pointless to complain about the weather, but grrr, it pisses me off when it is so balmy and sticky at this point in the year. I refused to even entertain the idea of dressing up, even though I have for the last ten years or so. I have learned to love this holiday and the stars even aligned perfectly to make it possible that Wife was here with us, so I was happy about that. It also sucks that Halloween doesn't move to the last Saturday of the month instead of the 31st. It is quite hard to plan anything involving the kids when they have to go to bed by 9:30-10:00pm.
Anyways, let me back off to the start of the day. Our days start early around here, I have to get up before 7:00am to wake up and feed Chubs. I also make sure Boy doesn't sleep through his alarm. After snoozing until about 7:20am, Boy can bolt out of bed, put his boots on and be gone in a five minute window. He is an efficient Boy, I need about 15-20 just to see if I'm going to poop in the morning, I usually don't, but if I ate something spicy, the night before, you never know. Chubs hobbles along, usually by the time I am done showering, he is coming to our bathroom to pee and brush his teeth, I keep telling him to move his stuff to the bathroom he shares with his brother. Once the pubes started showing up on Chubs, we should all have a little more privacy, but whatever.
I dropped off Chubs by 7:45 and headed to my Wound Care Clinic for my weekly changing of the bandages. My whole leg from my toes to below my knee is in this lightweight cast thing designed to act as a pump, when I walk, the muscle helps to pump the lymph nodes up. I have poor circulation from being a fat boy. It got to me last week, the tightness and just thinking how it was dirty had me clawing and scratching at my leg. I cut about inches from the top, I developed some sort of rash. Today, they gave me a removable cast, essentially it is two tight stockings I wear over each other. I can take them off at night, when I am lying down. Just knowing I can take it off and roll it down, like when I shower is a great relief.
I was done before 9:00am, headed home, cleaned the grill and set up charcoal for the evening. I then decided it would be best for me to just lay down and sleep some more. I had only slept about three hours the night before. The doctor is very pleased with the wound. He said it looks like it should, bright red, no infection, now it is working on healing itself, the depth of the wound is becoming more shallow.
I woke up at 3:20pm, washed my face, went and picked up Chubs, we ate at Bill Miller and did his math homework while we sat there. I then came home, set up this huge decoration in front of the door, helped Chubs with his costume, and finally pooped and showered. I then went outside to wait for the Halloween trick or treaters. Wife got home around 7:00pm, quickly changed into a costume she had used a couple years ago and we enjoyed as best we could this muggy, humid evening.
Chubs had three friends show up, and they walked the neighborhood. Boy and his gang dressed up, but they never left the house. Girlie had texted that they would be coming by, and they did, around 8:30pm. I had made plenty of burgers and hot dogs, as has become my thing on Halloween, and we all ate and caught up until about 10:00pm.
Anyways, let me back off to the start of the day. Our days start early around here, I have to get up before 7:00am to wake up and feed Chubs. I also make sure Boy doesn't sleep through his alarm. After snoozing until about 7:20am, Boy can bolt out of bed, put his boots on and be gone in a five minute window. He is an efficient Boy, I need about 15-20 just to see if I'm going to poop in the morning, I usually don't, but if I ate something spicy, the night before, you never know. Chubs hobbles along, usually by the time I am done showering, he is coming to our bathroom to pee and brush his teeth, I keep telling him to move his stuff to the bathroom he shares with his brother. Once the pubes started showing up on Chubs, we should all have a little more privacy, but whatever.
I dropped off Chubs by 7:45 and headed to my Wound Care Clinic for my weekly changing of the bandages. My whole leg from my toes to below my knee is in this lightweight cast thing designed to act as a pump, when I walk, the muscle helps to pump the lymph nodes up. I have poor circulation from being a fat boy. It got to me last week, the tightness and just thinking how it was dirty had me clawing and scratching at my leg. I cut about inches from the top, I developed some sort of rash. Today, they gave me a removable cast, essentially it is two tight stockings I wear over each other. I can take them off at night, when I am lying down. Just knowing I can take it off and roll it down, like when I shower is a great relief.
I was done before 9:00am, headed home, cleaned the grill and set up charcoal for the evening. I then decided it would be best for me to just lay down and sleep some more. I had only slept about three hours the night before. The doctor is very pleased with the wound. He said it looks like it should, bright red, no infection, now it is working on healing itself, the depth of the wound is becoming more shallow.
I woke up at 3:20pm, washed my face, went and picked up Chubs, we ate at Bill Miller and did his math homework while we sat there. I then came home, set up this huge decoration in front of the door, helped Chubs with his costume, and finally pooped and showered. I then went outside to wait for the Halloween trick or treaters. Wife got home around 7:00pm, quickly changed into a costume she had used a couple years ago and we enjoyed as best we could this muggy, humid evening.
Chubs had three friends show up, and they walked the neighborhood. Boy and his gang dressed up, but they never left the house. Girlie had texted that they would be coming by, and they did, around 8:30pm. I had made plenty of burgers and hot dogs, as has become my thing on Halloween, and we all ate and caught up until about 10:00pm.
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