This weekend going to my folk's house, we spent a couple hours on I-35. I couldn't help noticing the big signs set up in Austin and San Antonio set up to give information we can kind of use. It used to be the carried Amber Alerts only. Amber is a good name for it, I visualize a pretty golden haired little white girl plus it is technically a color so the name has a dual purpose. I say white girl not because I choose to be "salty", but as I have read online and seen videos on YouTube, when little Shaniqua gets kidnapped, she won't get listed on these machines. From what it appears, it is usually a family member that has "kidnapped" the child, more than likely after a divorce or separation. We are supposed to always be thinking of human trafficking, but I don't think it happens as much as it is sensationalized. Then again, I don't know, I am not an expert.
I noticed a couple of times and I have seen it many other times, the Silver Alert, that is an elderly family member taking off in the family sedan, always like a Ford Taurus from the 90s. Dementia is not funny, but the color they chose to portray seems a little too "on the nose". Most of the time it is a family member who has taken off and forgotten where they were going or shouldn't be driving in the first place. I can't imagine the elderly being kidnapped for any real reason. If they took my dad, it would just be "ooh ooh ooh, with his little T-rex arms that he can't reach out any more than a cigarette is from his mouth." Unless the bad guys need an old man to sit in a barstool and feed quarters into a slot machine, then maybe my dad is their guy.
Looking at the website, apparently there is also a blue alert, which is for when a criminal has shot at or killed a police officer. I can see this being really helpful, but why just limit it to police officers. If I was killed and the bad guys took off, I would want them caught, and if they have a description of the vehicle, maybe a license plate, use the technology that exists. I don't care if it has to be a brown alert for a Hispanic, as long as society has a chance to help.
I don't know how much these signs help, but it is a step in the right direction, as far as keeping us informed of whatever is going on. Most of us may ignore the sign, but maybe one day we notice the car we just read about and we get to be the hero of the minute, that would be cool.
Tuesday, January 31, 2017
Sunday, January 29, 2017
1/30/17 Downtown Austin Sucks Smelly Gonads?
I had the privilege of driving Wife downtown today so she could scout where she has a conference tomorrow. I love Austin, but I hate having to go downtown for any reason. There is nothing but the gathering cesspool of everything that makes a city shitty. There was construction on 1st or Cesar Chavez Street. We had to go down a smaller road to get off the frontage and into the downtown area. It was so nice watching the hipsters and the bro-bro's crossing the street while we had the right of way. It really has changed downtown from the last time I remember. There used to be a big empty lot used for parking to go to the Convention Center. That lot is long gone and yet another tall building is going up in its place.
We drove around looking for places she could park and did not really see any open places except of course next to the hobo village. I cannot believe that place is still sitting there hemorrhaging unemployables out every nook and cranny. I cannot understand the long term goal of this building on 7th Street by the frontage of IH-35. Last time I remember, this place was exactly the same. Just an outhouse where people with no place to go end up at.
I figured at least we could eat somewhere cool, but we tried a restaurant and they were closing at 3:00pm. Other places we saw just seemed full of hipsters sitting outside and I never like a restaurant that is full of people. Before I knew it, we jumped back on IH-35 and we were heading south. I really didn't want to but we ended up at Culver's, because I love their sourdough melts and it is just a little out of the way for us to go eat their during the week.
Just last week, they had the boat show in the same Convention Center and I did want to go, but the weekend came and went and I got sidetracked by the family visiting. I am not buying a boat this year, but maybe in the next few years. I loved the feeling of being out on the lake on any given afternoon. It felt like really getting away from it all.
Oh well, it is on Wife, she has to drive downtown in the morning, find parking, probably under the Sixth Street bridge, and walking over to the Convention Center six blocks away. At least we get to enjoy her here. Today was nice, she didn't get up and rush off. We slept in, after getting in late from our run to Crystal City yesterday. We had a little lunch, even Boy joined us, so it was like we were a normal family for once.
The rest of the afternoon was a lazy day, I sort of napped, Wife watched her shows in room with me, boys hung out. We then ate from 1st Wok as we saw a few more shows from the DVR. We cannot possibly catch up with all the shows we have recorded, but it gives us something to do. She is here until Wednesday, so that is good. On a side note, my sister is in town and wanted to get together tonight for dinner, but then called that they were eating dinner as a group over there. Maybe she can escape with Wife in the afternoon either Monday or Tuesday and have lunch with us.
We drove around looking for places she could park and did not really see any open places except of course next to the hobo village. I cannot believe that place is still sitting there hemorrhaging unemployables out every nook and cranny. I cannot understand the long term goal of this building on 7th Street by the frontage of IH-35. Last time I remember, this place was exactly the same. Just an outhouse where people with no place to go end up at.
I figured at least we could eat somewhere cool, but we tried a restaurant and they were closing at 3:00pm. Other places we saw just seemed full of hipsters sitting outside and I never like a restaurant that is full of people. Before I knew it, we jumped back on IH-35 and we were heading south. I really didn't want to but we ended up at Culver's, because I love their sourdough melts and it is just a little out of the way for us to go eat their during the week.
Just last week, they had the boat show in the same Convention Center and I did want to go, but the weekend came and went and I got sidetracked by the family visiting. I am not buying a boat this year, but maybe in the next few years. I loved the feeling of being out on the lake on any given afternoon. It felt like really getting away from it all.
Oh well, it is on Wife, she has to drive downtown in the morning, find parking, probably under the Sixth Street bridge, and walking over to the Convention Center six blocks away. At least we get to enjoy her here. Today was nice, she didn't get up and rush off. We slept in, after getting in late from our run to Crystal City yesterday. We had a little lunch, even Boy joined us, so it was like we were a normal family for once.
The rest of the afternoon was a lazy day, I sort of napped, Wife watched her shows in room with me, boys hung out. We then ate from 1st Wok as we saw a few more shows from the DVR. We cannot possibly catch up with all the shows we have recorded, but it gives us something to do. She is here until Wednesday, so that is good. On a side note, my sister is in town and wanted to get together tonight for dinner, but then called that they were eating dinner as a group over there. Maybe she can escape with Wife in the afternoon either Monday or Tuesday and have lunch with us.
1/29/17 Niece's 13th Birthday?
Saturday was a busy day. My day started at 9:00am. My plan was to get up early and wash my truck since I hadn't in over a month when my yearly membership ended. The part that was going to suck was that the temperature was around 40 degrees in the morning. Wife did not want to be bothered, her plan was to sleep until 10:30, then get up and get dressed. I decided to bother her anyway for some good old fashioned loving and five minutes later it was still just as cold. I remembered I had a card from the car wash place for some free washes which were meant for Wife or Boy. I headed down there and got my truck washed while I waited inside and played on my phone.
I came home, showered, and we were on the road around noon. We drove until we got to this new gas station Wife has been raving about. She mentions the tacos all the time and man!, it did not disappoint. The barbacoa was delicious in a homemade tortilla, the brisket had that charred black outside but perfectly tasting, with the hot sauce only making it better. I was surprised even the sausage was excellent. This gas station is slightly south of Von Ormy, on I-35.
After enjoying the tacos, we got back on the road, I managed to drive all the way without getting sleepy, so that was a win for me, considering, all the sleepiness I have been experiencing lately. We got to Crystal just as the party was starting, and we headed straight to the destination. I spent most of my time talking with my brother outside, saying hi to various guests who showed up a little late. Wife spent most of her time talking to one of her old best friends from junior high. Chubs spent his time playing and running around with his younger cousins.
The party was Mexican themed and they served tamales, mole, rice, and beans, and nachos. After the party finished, we stayed behind as usual, and cleaned. We then took the 2 birthday cakes that were left over to my Mom's house and had some coffee with a slice of cake. We sat and talked for awhile until I pushed my mom's buttons with my atheist rants. We hit the road but I managed to only drive past La Pryor. Wife then drove while I took a nap. Wife woke me when we arrived at same gas station. Incidentally, she gave me the keys while I was more asleep than awake, and she ran into the bathroom. I stayed behind to fill the gas tank, and wait for Chubs to wake up and put his shoes on. I locked the truck and then Wife told me that she did not have the keys. Luckily, we had just gone through the exercise with the pizza guy last week and I quickly looked for the code amongst my thousands of pics. I found it, and was able to avoid a costly call to a locksmith. We got to the gas station a little too late, they had just closed the taco hut, so we just got burritos and other crap and ate at one of their tables. We managed to get to the house by about 12:30am, a little late, but happy to get home and sleep in our bed.
I came home, showered, and we were on the road around noon. We drove until we got to this new gas station Wife has been raving about. She mentions the tacos all the time and man!, it did not disappoint. The barbacoa was delicious in a homemade tortilla, the brisket had that charred black outside but perfectly tasting, with the hot sauce only making it better. I was surprised even the sausage was excellent. This gas station is slightly south of Von Ormy, on I-35.
After enjoying the tacos, we got back on the road, I managed to drive all the way without getting sleepy, so that was a win for me, considering, all the sleepiness I have been experiencing lately. We got to Crystal just as the party was starting, and we headed straight to the destination. I spent most of my time talking with my brother outside, saying hi to various guests who showed up a little late. Wife spent most of her time talking to one of her old best friends from junior high. Chubs spent his time playing and running around with his younger cousins.
The party was Mexican themed and they served tamales, mole, rice, and beans, and nachos. After the party finished, we stayed behind as usual, and cleaned. We then took the 2 birthday cakes that were left over to my Mom's house and had some coffee with a slice of cake. We sat and talked for awhile until I pushed my mom's buttons with my atheist rants. We hit the road but I managed to only drive past La Pryor. Wife then drove while I took a nap. Wife woke me when we arrived at same gas station. Incidentally, she gave me the keys while I was more asleep than awake, and she ran into the bathroom. I stayed behind to fill the gas tank, and wait for Chubs to wake up and put his shoes on. I locked the truck and then Wife told me that she did not have the keys. Luckily, we had just gone through the exercise with the pizza guy last week and I quickly looked for the code amongst my thousands of pics. I found it, and was able to avoid a costly call to a locksmith. We got to the gas station a little too late, they had just closed the taco hut, so we just got burritos and other crap and ate at one of their tables. We managed to get to the house by about 12:30am, a little late, but happy to get home and sleep in our bed.
Saturday, January 28, 2017
1/28/17 The Gift
What do you give somebody when they have everything and your best effort will probably end up getting exchanged, or worst, lost? My brother's daughter who pretty much gets everything she asks for and a lot she doesn't even ask at times. When daddy does alright as a lawyer, what are we going to find and buy that he hasn't already?
When she was a little younger, it was fun to go in an opposite direction. When everyone was giving her Barbies because they are the pretty girls doll, we would go with the Monster High dolls, just to change it up. They were a cool line of dolls, think what Frankenstein's daughter would look like, or Dracula's daughter and in theory they all went to high school together. As easy as this was, she is now older and outgrown this phase.
With boys, it is so much easier. From about 7 to 20, it is perfectly cool to give them a video game of one kind or another. Both boys play a lot of video games, just yesterday, Chubs was trying to wheel and deal with me "what if I get all A's and B's, can I get a new video game?" I was like yeah, now go away. Boy still gets video games as gifts, but it is about all they do, so why not.
Girls are so much more difficult. But, all of a sudden, like a ray of light, James Avery has a boutique in Dillard's and that is right up my alley. It is easy because Dillard's has always been one of my stores, and we can use the store card there. We ended up using Dillard's for most of the girls on our Christmas list, from both my sisters in law who we each got when we pulled names, to Girlie, to Boys girl friend, to even Wife's nephew, who wanted a chain with a cross. He already had a chain with a cross by the time he opened our gift, so we traded it for a big goofy bass, which he loved, now that he goes fishing all the time.
My niece fits right into this store too, as she is in cheerleading, and band, and doing various religious activities, like communion and all that jazz. Heck, even my Mom likes the bracelets with multi attachments. We got her a tiny dachshund since she has her Chloe. It helps that the dog is cool and loving, I never liked her last dog, a Chihuahua that came after you, for no reason.
We looked at clothing, but decided that would be a waste. They have a dress code, like Chubs, where they have to wear certain colors for each grade and stick to polo shirts. What would be the fun then of giving her an outfit she wouldn't wear.
I'd like to give her books to challenge her way of thinking, but my Mom already hates that both my boys think along my lines when it comes to religion. Maybe she is safer having thoughts like the majority of people in small town America. After all, I don't think my brother is going to let her run away to the big city
When she was a little younger, it was fun to go in an opposite direction. When everyone was giving her Barbies because they are the pretty girls doll, we would go with the Monster High dolls, just to change it up. They were a cool line of dolls, think what Frankenstein's daughter would look like, or Dracula's daughter and in theory they all went to high school together. As easy as this was, she is now older and outgrown this phase.
With boys, it is so much easier. From about 7 to 20, it is perfectly cool to give them a video game of one kind or another. Both boys play a lot of video games, just yesterday, Chubs was trying to wheel and deal with me "what if I get all A's and B's, can I get a new video game?" I was like yeah, now go away. Boy still gets video games as gifts, but it is about all they do, so why not.
Girls are so much more difficult. But, all of a sudden, like a ray of light, James Avery has a boutique in Dillard's and that is right up my alley. It is easy because Dillard's has always been one of my stores, and we can use the store card there. We ended up using Dillard's for most of the girls on our Christmas list, from both my sisters in law who we each got when we pulled names, to Girlie, to Boys girl friend, to even Wife's nephew, who wanted a chain with a cross. He already had a chain with a cross by the time he opened our gift, so we traded it for a big goofy bass, which he loved, now that he goes fishing all the time.
My niece fits right into this store too, as she is in cheerleading, and band, and doing various religious activities, like communion and all that jazz. Heck, even my Mom likes the bracelets with multi attachments. We got her a tiny dachshund since she has her Chloe. It helps that the dog is cool and loving, I never liked her last dog, a Chihuahua that came after you, for no reason.
We looked at clothing, but decided that would be a waste. They have a dress code, like Chubs, where they have to wear certain colors for each grade and stick to polo shirts. What would be the fun then of giving her an outfit she wouldn't wear.
I'd like to give her books to challenge her way of thinking, but my Mom already hates that both my boys think along my lines when it comes to religion. Maybe she is safer having thoughts like the majority of people in small town America. After all, I don't think my brother is going to let her run away to the big city
Friday, January 27, 2017
1/27/17 Bukowski's Post Office (novel 1 for 2017)
Charles Bukowski has quickly become my favorite writer, he is famous for being an "American Low-Life." His stories are never ones of champions or of overcoming anything monumental. He is happy to live in the gutter and to just get by with enough for a fifth of whiskey for the night, and to bang an occasional floozy.
Post Office was his debut novel and seems to be based in truth covering a good portion of his life although he goes masquerading as Henry Chinaski. He takes us through probably a total of twenty years of his life or so and begins most appropriately with "It began as a mistake." He got a part time job with the postal service to get money over the holidays, and before he knew it, that is all he was equipped to do, so even after he left it for a few years, he came back to it and did a twelve year stint. He went through three or four women he lived with in that time. His first wife left him and he encountered her later in life, just in time to see her wasted to nothing but a mess. He eventually buries her in as he called it, "half a funeral, and a dead wreath."
He was at his best at the racetracks, and seemed to have a knack for picking winners. He wasn't greedy, always happy to make fifty bucks a day, enough to keep him going and enjoy his small salad with a steak.
Work at the post office is what slowly sucked the life out of him. At a certain point, he started having fainting spells or near fainting spells which the doctors could never figure out. He blamed it on the job, where they were expected to work like machines and get written up anytime he acted human. To Chinaski (his name in the story), all supervisors were the same, ball busting and strung tight.
All his women were loose though. He seemed to pick up damaged women, almost as bad as he. It seemed funny how he described it, when his fist lady Betty left him after accusing him of screwing the lady living in front and the whore living in back. After moving to the first place he saw with a sign, he muttered about just losing three women and a dog.
Before going back to the post office he hooked up with a girl from Texas. Her family had money, and he was aware, but he never really cared about that. She insisted they make it on their own, so he begrudgingly applied back with the post office, and eventually she left him for a man who looked better.
This is my first novel of the year, and I am planning on reading at least twelve new books this year. I believe I am getting stupider, spending all my time looking at half naked bimbos on my phone. I used to read while on the throne, either an encyclopedia, newspaper, magazine, or book. Now I like to plan my movements on when I have a good 10-15 girls to check out on Snapchat, I am wasting a great opportunity to enrich myself right there.
Post Office was his debut novel and seems to be based in truth covering a good portion of his life although he goes masquerading as Henry Chinaski. He takes us through probably a total of twenty years of his life or so and begins most appropriately with "It began as a mistake." He got a part time job with the postal service to get money over the holidays, and before he knew it, that is all he was equipped to do, so even after he left it for a few years, he came back to it and did a twelve year stint. He went through three or four women he lived with in that time. His first wife left him and he encountered her later in life, just in time to see her wasted to nothing but a mess. He eventually buries her in as he called it, "half a funeral, and a dead wreath."
He was at his best at the racetracks, and seemed to have a knack for picking winners. He wasn't greedy, always happy to make fifty bucks a day, enough to keep him going and enjoy his small salad with a steak.
Work at the post office is what slowly sucked the life out of him. At a certain point, he started having fainting spells or near fainting spells which the doctors could never figure out. He blamed it on the job, where they were expected to work like machines and get written up anytime he acted human. To Chinaski (his name in the story), all supervisors were the same, ball busting and strung tight.
All his women were loose though. He seemed to pick up damaged women, almost as bad as he. It seemed funny how he described it, when his fist lady Betty left him after accusing him of screwing the lady living in front and the whore living in back. After moving to the first place he saw with a sign, he muttered about just losing three women and a dog.
Before going back to the post office he hooked up with a girl from Texas. Her family had money, and he was aware, but he never really cared about that. She insisted they make it on their own, so he begrudgingly applied back with the post office, and eventually she left him for a man who looked better.
This is my first novel of the year, and I am planning on reading at least twelve new books this year. I believe I am getting stupider, spending all my time looking at half naked bimbos on my phone. I used to read while on the throne, either an encyclopedia, newspaper, magazine, or book. Now I like to plan my movements on when I have a good 10-15 girls to check out on Snapchat, I am wasting a great opportunity to enrich myself right there.
Thursday, January 26, 2017
1/26/17 Nickel And Diming Me To Death?
I hate the start of the year. There are always recurring bills that pop up to slow us down. First of all, we always overdo it during the holidays, although we showed a lot of self control, even if nobody gave a crap about the gifts, at least we didn't get poor from buying them. Still, we charged about $900 in Dillard's, mostly because we bought some new clothes, $600 in Target, the bulk of the toys/pajamas for all the nephews and young ones. Then there was $700 or so at Best Buy, helping out Santa, and another $500 or so on another credit card.
That isn't so bad, but then we get the adjusted amount for escrow, and we have to either pay $811.00 or expect to see our monthly bill go up like $70. That is how we gradually went from $2500 to $3200 for our mortgage. I told Wife I wanted to pay whatever shortage we have on the escrow so our monthly mortgage bill doesn't change now that we refinanced. That was pretty much the profit I had made from selling the boat, oh well. Of course, I forgot about our annual HOA fee, which totally sucks because we have been paying $530 a year and I don't see that we get anything for that money. There is a dinky park, and during the holidays, they do the absolute minimum effort to put lights on the trees. I am convinced my fat ass could hang lights better than the company we hire every year, it is such a lame effort.
The start of the year also corresponds with the start of the spring semester and that always means helping Boy out with what his loans don't cover, usually about $700 or so, for the 14-15 hours he is always taking. Don't forget to add another $300-400 for books.
And last but not least, my leg. I finally got a bill which I decided to be super responsible and jump right on it. I put the St. David's charge on a credit card, which was $812, thinking that wasn't too bad, only to get another bill for the next two months, that bill is $620, or so. This does not include the fact that the receptionist told me not to worry about paying the copay every Monday that I go to the office to get re-bandaged. He wasn't sure and neither was I whether I had to pay the $50 every time, but don't worry, some invisible person is keeping track and they had no problem sending me a bill that I owed $250 for all the co-pays I hadn't done. I paid half of them a couple weeks ago, of course, I got the revised bill and I am still going once a week, so it is back to $250.
I could either cry at all the dinky little bills, or I can be happy, for example, I didn't lose my leg. I did finally see a little OT in my last check, so that is a silver lining on a brown turd. I have to hope we get a ton of work and I get a couple weeks of OT, or that we get a fat income tax return from old President Trump.
That isn't so bad, but then we get the adjusted amount for escrow, and we have to either pay $811.00 or expect to see our monthly bill go up like $70. That is how we gradually went from $2500 to $3200 for our mortgage. I told Wife I wanted to pay whatever shortage we have on the escrow so our monthly mortgage bill doesn't change now that we refinanced. That was pretty much the profit I had made from selling the boat, oh well. Of course, I forgot about our annual HOA fee, which totally sucks because we have been paying $530 a year and I don't see that we get anything for that money. There is a dinky park, and during the holidays, they do the absolute minimum effort to put lights on the trees. I am convinced my fat ass could hang lights better than the company we hire every year, it is such a lame effort.
The start of the year also corresponds with the start of the spring semester and that always means helping Boy out with what his loans don't cover, usually about $700 or so, for the 14-15 hours he is always taking. Don't forget to add another $300-400 for books.
And last but not least, my leg. I finally got a bill which I decided to be super responsible and jump right on it. I put the St. David's charge on a credit card, which was $812, thinking that wasn't too bad, only to get another bill for the next two months, that bill is $620, or so. This does not include the fact that the receptionist told me not to worry about paying the copay every Monday that I go to the office to get re-bandaged. He wasn't sure and neither was I whether I had to pay the $50 every time, but don't worry, some invisible person is keeping track and they had no problem sending me a bill that I owed $250 for all the co-pays I hadn't done. I paid half of them a couple weeks ago, of course, I got the revised bill and I am still going once a week, so it is back to $250.
I could either cry at all the dinky little bills, or I can be happy, for example, I didn't lose my leg. I did finally see a little OT in my last check, so that is a silver lining on a brown turd. I have to hope we get a ton of work and I get a couple weeks of OT, or that we get a fat income tax return from old President Trump.
Wednesday, January 25, 2017
1/25/17 Disparity In Trump And His Supporters?
Over the weekend I read an interesting story of a guy who had worked hard to help get Trump elected. He was in one of the important states, election wise, and he was in charge of organizing the Republican party in his area. As a reward for a job well done, he was invited to the Inauguration on Friday. The sad part of the story was that he was relying and discussing with his mom about renting a tuxedo, which was going to be $100, then the ticket was going to be another $100, and a bus ticket was going to be another $50. He mentioned what about lunch, at which point one of his buddies said we can pack sandwiches. Listening to this part, the real part of the story, I was left thinking, what do you get out of this president that you felt like you needed to reach out like he was a friend in need? Trump is a billionaire, much like all the other rich out of reach millionaires that take public office, Joe Six Pack will never be a friend to those elitists, yet Mr. Rich Guy doesn't get in without the Simpleton vote.
It reminds me of this guy I know. He doesn't have two nickels to rub together, yet he is ecstatic that Trump won, he is going to bring jobs back. I don't understand what that means, I have a good job for over twenty years, one of my brothers is a lawyer, he has a good job, even my sister has pushed herself to become a Principal, which is very demanding, but again, a great job. Wife got her master's degree and it took awhile, but she never gave up, and now she is on a good path, even if we are sacrificing being together during the week, for now. Good jobs have been here all along, you just need to show some focus, get some schooling and get involved. My job wasn't given to me because I'm a good old boy and I deserved it. I worked my ass off, I switched to nights, I moved and stayed in a big city. Trump is not making this a country of opportunity, this has always been a country of opportunity, for the people that can manage to get off their asses.
I find it odd, that poor people are lining up for Trump, like he is going to do them a favor somehow, kind of like how Obama was going to make things right for all black people, as we saw in so many youtube videos, but why? The poor always seem to line up with the conservative right, for some reason, at least under the Bush combos, they used religion and I could see the scam there, but Trump never wasted any energy bringing up going to church on Sundays. I don't know and that is not my point, whether Trump is religious or not, but I want to know why the poorest people line up and support the Republican Party when they are so obviously not your friend. When you are unemployed, who makes sure you at least get that check from Uncle Sam so you don't starve? The Democratic Party. Sure, there is abuse, but you honest people only take from Uncle Sam when you need it, right?
It reminds me of this guy I know. He doesn't have two nickels to rub together, yet he is ecstatic that Trump won, he is going to bring jobs back. I don't understand what that means, I have a good job for over twenty years, one of my brothers is a lawyer, he has a good job, even my sister has pushed herself to become a Principal, which is very demanding, but again, a great job. Wife got her master's degree and it took awhile, but she never gave up, and now she is on a good path, even if we are sacrificing being together during the week, for now. Good jobs have been here all along, you just need to show some focus, get some schooling and get involved. My job wasn't given to me because I'm a good old boy and I deserved it. I worked my ass off, I switched to nights, I moved and stayed in a big city. Trump is not making this a country of opportunity, this has always been a country of opportunity, for the people that can manage to get off their asses.
I find it odd, that poor people are lining up for Trump, like he is going to do them a favor somehow, kind of like how Obama was going to make things right for all black people, as we saw in so many youtube videos, but why? The poor always seem to line up with the conservative right, for some reason, at least under the Bush combos, they used religion and I could see the scam there, but Trump never wasted any energy bringing up going to church on Sundays. I don't know and that is not my point, whether Trump is religious or not, but I want to know why the poorest people line up and support the Republican Party when they are so obviously not your friend. When you are unemployed, who makes sure you at least get that check from Uncle Sam so you don't starve? The Democratic Party. Sure, there is abuse, but you honest people only take from Uncle Sam when you need it, right?
Tuesday, January 24, 2017
1/24/17 Had My Folks Here This Weekend?
My folks came and visited this weekend. It was nice, I always enjoy my Mom being a good sport and wanting to go out to our usual jaunts and check it out. My Dad, on the other hand, I can't figure out whether old age has a hold on him and he is losing the battle, he is not yet 70, but he wants to act 80 at times. Or he is maybe not a fan of me and my boys, and when we go out to eat he usually prefers to stay home alone. I would want to believe him, but then we get back and he os looking for any leftover container and proceeds to eat whatever is brought home. The old Butthole could just join us and get fresh food of his choosing, but no, he seems happier here at the house watching old football games on TV. Not that I like disrespecting the man, but back home he seems to have no problem running around the little illegal casinos until 8:00pm or so, so he can't really say he is scared of the dark.
Saturday was a little better, we were all lazy until around noon, which was about the time I came down. I had my cup of coffee and dessert from the restaurant the night before, Mandola's has the best slices of coconut cake. After a while, we went and ate at Jalapeno's, mostly on Chub's direction because he likes ordering a burrito with steak meat there. We all went to this, except for Boy who was working a little later than normal, but at least we did get my Dad to join us. These are the times when I especially like owning the Excursion, even though it is old, it fits the six of us easy, even up to eight, we could all ride in comfort. After our meal, Dad "needed" to come home, which was just as well, because I like to come and use the bathroom after most every time I eat. By the time I came downstairs, my Mom was taking a nap, so I wasted no time, running over to the guest room where my Dad was napping and I promptly jumped on other edge of the bed, with my shoes on and fell asleep. Wife came in and I could hear her going on like Beeker from the Muppets, meep meeep meep, meep meep meep meep. I just acted asleep and she left after a couple minutes. After a nice nap, we headed to the mall, and it was nice. There was no special agenda, other than Mom needing to install some charms on her James Avery bracelet. We were able to get it going, then we headed to Central Market, my Mom has learned to enjoy the nicer things offered there. We were home close to 9:00pm. but I also didn't want to leave again to go eat.
This is when Wife started suggesting pizza from Papa John's. I am not a big fan of it, but my folks always seem to like it, so I say alright. We kind of just ate, went outside and watched the guy deal with his locked door, and called it a night fairly early.
I surprised even myself as I got up by 9:00am Sunday morning. It was a blustery day, as Winnie the Pooh would say, damn do I hate a windy day. All day long, for no reason, it was gusting pretty strong. Eventually, we all got up, and we went and ate lunch at Longhorn Steakhouse. It is not the best, but it is the closest restaurant that serves steaks and that is what Chubs wanted. I ordered a steak that was low on presentation, but still high in flavor. It was supposed to be an 11oz sirloin, but it was as thin as a cassette tape, which made it look like a waste of steak, but the flavor was still in it. Between the calamari, bread, cheese curds, sausage, and finally salad, baked potato, and steak, it is a wonder how we walk out, but I was hurting. We came home and I was just standing outside listening to Wife again meep meeep meep meep away before she finally got on road about ten minutes after my folks did. I figured I had earned another nap, so I did, but I woke up at 5:15pm, so I could go to the store and buy food stuff for the week. Another busy weekend.
Saturday was a little better, we were all lazy until around noon, which was about the time I came down. I had my cup of coffee and dessert from the restaurant the night before, Mandola's has the best slices of coconut cake. After a while, we went and ate at Jalapeno's, mostly on Chub's direction because he likes ordering a burrito with steak meat there. We all went to this, except for Boy who was working a little later than normal, but at least we did get my Dad to join us. These are the times when I especially like owning the Excursion, even though it is old, it fits the six of us easy, even up to eight, we could all ride in comfort. After our meal, Dad "needed" to come home, which was just as well, because I like to come and use the bathroom after most every time I eat. By the time I came downstairs, my Mom was taking a nap, so I wasted no time, running over to the guest room where my Dad was napping and I promptly jumped on other edge of the bed, with my shoes on and fell asleep. Wife came in and I could hear her going on like Beeker from the Muppets, meep meeep meep, meep meep meep meep. I just acted asleep and she left after a couple minutes. After a nice nap, we headed to the mall, and it was nice. There was no special agenda, other than Mom needing to install some charms on her James Avery bracelet. We were able to get it going, then we headed to Central Market, my Mom has learned to enjoy the nicer things offered there. We were home close to 9:00pm. but I also didn't want to leave again to go eat.
This is when Wife started suggesting pizza from Papa John's. I am not a big fan of it, but my folks always seem to like it, so I say alright. We kind of just ate, went outside and watched the guy deal with his locked door, and called it a night fairly early.
I surprised even myself as I got up by 9:00am Sunday morning. It was a blustery day, as Winnie the Pooh would say, damn do I hate a windy day. All day long, for no reason, it was gusting pretty strong. Eventually, we all got up, and we went and ate lunch at Longhorn Steakhouse. It is not the best, but it is the closest restaurant that serves steaks and that is what Chubs wanted. I ordered a steak that was low on presentation, but still high in flavor. It was supposed to be an 11oz sirloin, but it was as thin as a cassette tape, which made it look like a waste of steak, but the flavor was still in it. Between the calamari, bread, cheese curds, sausage, and finally salad, baked potato, and steak, it is a wonder how we walk out, but I was hurting. We came home and I was just standing outside listening to Wife again meep meeep meep meep away before she finally got on road about ten minutes after my folks did. I figured I had earned another nap, so I did, but I woke up at 5:15pm, so I could go to the store and buy food stuff for the week. Another busy weekend.
Sunday, January 22, 2017
1/23/17 Pop-A-Lock, My Friend?
We had my folks here this weekend and so we went out and had lunch, around 2:00pm. Because we ate at that hour, by the time we finished shopping at the mall and stopping at Central Market, we were still not really hungry, so we ordered pizza at the house. It was all good, giving my Dad and I a chance to watch the end of the Spurs/Cavaliers game and the rest of us a chance to just relax.
Eventually, the pizza came and Wife called for help because there were four pizzas and two other boxes with breadsticks and 2-2 liter sodas. All was well, we brought everything into the kitchen and then a couple minutes later we got another ring of the doorbell. The pizza delivery guy somehow or other locked himself out of his truck. He had left it running, he meant to drop off our food and then he was headed home. He was at a loss as to what to do. He asked us if we had AAA so that we could call and act like his truck was one of ours and then the service would have been free. We don't have the service, not that I would have felt right doing that. I offered to take him home and pick up his spare key, but he said he lived alone, I also offered to take him to a friend or someone who might have a spare key to his place. He said he lived alone and his place was locked up pretty good.
At this point, I wasn't sure what else we could do for him. We offered him to come inside or if he needed to use the bathroom. Wife even offered him pizza, if he was hungry. He thanked us, but stayed outside. I looked on YouTube to see of there were any good ways to unlock a car while I ate, I remembered seeing a way to do it with a tennis ball. Mythbusters disproved this method, though, so back to square one.
We went outside, mostly out of feeling bad for the guy, not that we had any solutions. He said a friend of his had AAA and he was coming to tell the POP-A-Lock guy that his truck was his, so there would be no charge. I felt kind of bad for the guy as he said if he had to pay the $75 charge it would ruin his evening as far as all his tips would go to this. So then the Pop-A-Lock guy arrived before his friend and he got right to work attempting to open the door. The Pop-A-Lock guy seemed to be a bit of a novice, he could barely figure out what to do. Eventually he used a balloon thing between the door and the frame and made a hole wide enough to slip a rod in. The rod thing had a curved end and he used it to catch the door handle and pull on it.
After about ten minutes, the truck owner asked the guy to let him try and by jumping on top of the truck bed, he was able to pull from a different angle and then got the door unlocked. At this point, we wished him luck and both Wife and I went inside. I am glad both my Excursion and my truck have key pads by the door, if I ever lock myself out. Wife might have this problem one day, this made us have the discussion that she might be better off taking the spare key with her, so it is close to her when she is down there near her workplace. Actually, we thought about it and because we had a keyless starter added, we have two extra key fobs that turn on the car and unlock it. We decided it would be in Wife's best interest if my Mom had one of these spares in her house, and I would keep the spare key that opens the doors manually here in Austin. If she locks herself out either down there or here in Austin, we have a solution a couple miles away. Boy has a Ford Edge and it too has the keypad, which he said we had already discussed him taking a picture of the code, so he has it on his phone, if he ever locks himself out on campus or at work. I took a bad situation, and used it as a learning opportunity for us, so sorry for the guy, but yeaih us.
Eventually, the pizza came and Wife called for help because there were four pizzas and two other boxes with breadsticks and 2-2 liter sodas. All was well, we brought everything into the kitchen and then a couple minutes later we got another ring of the doorbell. The pizza delivery guy somehow or other locked himself out of his truck. He had left it running, he meant to drop off our food and then he was headed home. He was at a loss as to what to do. He asked us if we had AAA so that we could call and act like his truck was one of ours and then the service would have been free. We don't have the service, not that I would have felt right doing that. I offered to take him home and pick up his spare key, but he said he lived alone, I also offered to take him to a friend or someone who might have a spare key to his place. He said he lived alone and his place was locked up pretty good.
At this point, I wasn't sure what else we could do for him. We offered him to come inside or if he needed to use the bathroom. Wife even offered him pizza, if he was hungry. He thanked us, but stayed outside. I looked on YouTube to see of there were any good ways to unlock a car while I ate, I remembered seeing a way to do it with a tennis ball. Mythbusters disproved this method, though, so back to square one.
We went outside, mostly out of feeling bad for the guy, not that we had any solutions. He said a friend of his had AAA and he was coming to tell the POP-A-Lock guy that his truck was his, so there would be no charge. I felt kind of bad for the guy as he said if he had to pay the $75 charge it would ruin his evening as far as all his tips would go to this. So then the Pop-A-Lock guy arrived before his friend and he got right to work attempting to open the door. The Pop-A-Lock guy seemed to be a bit of a novice, he could barely figure out what to do. Eventually he used a balloon thing between the door and the frame and made a hole wide enough to slip a rod in. The rod thing had a curved end and he used it to catch the door handle and pull on it.
After about ten minutes, the truck owner asked the guy to let him try and by jumping on top of the truck bed, he was able to pull from a different angle and then got the door unlocked. At this point, we wished him luck and both Wife and I went inside. I am glad both my Excursion and my truck have key pads by the door, if I ever lock myself out. Wife might have this problem one day, this made us have the discussion that she might be better off taking the spare key with her, so it is close to her when she is down there near her workplace. Actually, we thought about it and because we had a keyless starter added, we have two extra key fobs that turn on the car and unlock it. We decided it would be in Wife's best interest if my Mom had one of these spares in her house, and I would keep the spare key that opens the doors manually here in Austin. If she locks herself out either down there or here in Austin, we have a solution a couple miles away. Boy has a Ford Edge and it too has the keypad, which he said we had already discussed him taking a picture of the code, so he has it on his phone, if he ever locks himself out on campus or at work. I took a bad situation, and used it as a learning opportunity for us, so sorry for the guy, but yeaih us.
Saturday, January 21, 2017
1/22/17 I Hate Groups Of Shitty Boys?
I was out at the mall Saturday afternoon with My Mom and Wife doing some light shopping and walking around. While my Mom ordered a Bubble Tea over by the Theater, Wife and I were leaning against the wall talking about nothing in particular. After a few minutes, I noticed a crowd of miniature white boys, probably in 5th-7th grade or so. I never like groups of people specially when I notice they are all looking at me, but I wasn't doing anything, so I didn't think much of them, but I was still keeping my eyes on them. Out of nowhere, one of the smaller kids walked towards my left, close but not within reach and he popped out some plastic or candy device and it flipped out a tiny penis. It is something that would probably come from Spencer's, a novelty of some kind, and I was like "did that just happen?" I gave the kid my full attention, backing away from Wife and projecting my 400 pounds at him. This kid must have been under 5ft tall, and although husky, not more than 120 pounds. His six or seven friends tried staring back at me, but none found the act as funny as the kid who did it. After a few seconds, one of the older kids approached and apologized, then I heard two or three other apologies. The kid who did the deed disappeared behind the rest of the kids. I wasn't satisfied and I motioned at the boys with my finger to come closer, one of them did. I told him "Your little friend might think that shit is funny and I'm not going to react, but that is the kind of shit that could make someone like me kick your little friend's ass." He was obviously nervous and said "don't worry I'll kick his ass, Sir."
As we walked away, I said to Wife, "that was stupid on the kid's part, but it was kind of funny, him whipping out the little dick from that plastic thing." Wife was not amused, and simply said "what if the group would have been black or a bunch of Mexicans, would it still have been funny? I have to admit that would not have been funny. I do get a little nervous when it is a group of black boys or even a bunch of brown kids as I am not used to seeing them hanging out at Barton, not that I am being racist, but we go regularly to Barton, I used to go at least once a week, sometimes just to eat at the food court or to walk around before work and it had been rare to see groups of any kind. Admittedly, we have been going less often with Wife not here during the week. I think with the closing of Highland mall, the dynamic has changed a bit, and with the movie theater there, the mall is just screaming for teens to hang out in that area.
In general, I do hate groups of boys hanging out, the testosterone just makes them act stupid. During the Christmas shopping, there were groups of black kids in the food court, not that I care, but once they start screaming to get each other's attention, then they are also screaming to get everybody's attention. You are also going to get some attention when you act like you are at the house, sitting with your tennis shoes up on the tables, like you own the place. I find this kind of behavior shitty, and I would certainly whack my boys or even their friends upside the head, if I thought they were bothering anybody else. Go to the mall, walk around, but remember, use your inside voice, nobody else cares about what you have to say. Maybe don't go to the mall if you aren't buying shit, it is a place of commerce after all, not the local playground.
As we walked away, I said to Wife, "that was stupid on the kid's part, but it was kind of funny, him whipping out the little dick from that plastic thing." Wife was not amused, and simply said "what if the group would have been black or a bunch of Mexicans, would it still have been funny? I have to admit that would not have been funny. I do get a little nervous when it is a group of black boys or even a bunch of brown kids as I am not used to seeing them hanging out at Barton, not that I am being racist, but we go regularly to Barton, I used to go at least once a week, sometimes just to eat at the food court or to walk around before work and it had been rare to see groups of any kind. Admittedly, we have been going less often with Wife not here during the week. I think with the closing of Highland mall, the dynamic has changed a bit, and with the movie theater there, the mall is just screaming for teens to hang out in that area.
In general, I do hate groups of boys hanging out, the testosterone just makes them act stupid. During the Christmas shopping, there were groups of black kids in the food court, not that I care, but once they start screaming to get each other's attention, then they are also screaming to get everybody's attention. You are also going to get some attention when you act like you are at the house, sitting with your tennis shoes up on the tables, like you own the place. I find this kind of behavior shitty, and I would certainly whack my boys or even their friends upside the head, if I thought they were bothering anybody else. Go to the mall, walk around, but remember, use your inside voice, nobody else cares about what you have to say. Maybe don't go to the mall if you aren't buying shit, it is a place of commerce after all, not the local playground.
Friday, January 20, 2017
1/21/16 What Is Point Of Protesting Like Animals?
The election happened, whether we like it or not, it is done. We didn't have great options to choose from this time around. By the time it was down to the usual red or blue, it was either a lady nobody trusted with possible blood on her hands, or an old billionaire long on promises, with just a touch of racism, sexism, classism, and probably other -isms we aren't even aware of. But the people spoke, and let's assume we are smart enough to keep the computers out of those pesky Russian hands and the outcome was true. Then we have no recourse but to line up behind our new President elect, Donald Trump. This is part of our process, we win some, we lose some, but we shouldn't embarrass ourselves to the rest of the world and destroy downtown city blocks in protest.
Time after time, the people have gotten good at destroying their cityscapes, since about the Rodney King incident in the early 90's. Great, a couple of thugs and idiots destroy mom and pop shops in their own towns, I'm sure stealing anything not tied down, and what does that accomplish? I don't feel it garners any positive love from the spectators watching on TV. We usually just think "dammit, these idiots are fucking up their own cities, for what? I honestly feel that those people in the middle who could go either way, see this behavior and are instantly drawn away from it, so if rioting does anything, I think it forces people in the middle to lean away from the demonstrators.
So as Trump was taking over the Presidential responsibilities, there was a mass of idiots destroying store fronts with bricks, according to my Dad, who did nothing today but watch the proceedings. Do these people not have jobs? I could not even think of protesting, I work, I have responsibilities. Where do the people who show up all day and stand around to cause problems come from? If I missed work to cause havoc, I would probably be as unemployed as most of those knuckleheads. Shoot, even sitting with a friend to eat some tacos and enjoy a cup of coffee seems a bridge too far, I can't imagine taking a day off from work to walk around aimlessly downtown and yelling "let's fuck shit up!!"
I honestly want to like him. I like that he is an outsider, that because he is already rich, he doesn't have to bend over for lobbyists and others with deep pockets. He has said many words that I want to believe, if they ring true, he could set us on a positive growth pattern, but then he stops talking and we see actions that don't make sense, like attempting to make someone so opposed to our public school systems the new education secretary, Betsy Devoss. Does Trump really have insight and is he really masterminding a new path for these United States? At this point, I have trouble believing a man who seems to say whatever necessary to get positive cheers, But let's give the man the benefit of the doubt, if he can do half of what he bragged abour, we will all benefit. Maybe
Time after time, the people have gotten good at destroying their cityscapes, since about the Rodney King incident in the early 90's. Great, a couple of thugs and idiots destroy mom and pop shops in their own towns, I'm sure stealing anything not tied down, and what does that accomplish? I don't feel it garners any positive love from the spectators watching on TV. We usually just think "dammit, these idiots are fucking up their own cities, for what? I honestly feel that those people in the middle who could go either way, see this behavior and are instantly drawn away from it, so if rioting does anything, I think it forces people in the middle to lean away from the demonstrators.
So as Trump was taking over the Presidential responsibilities, there was a mass of idiots destroying store fronts with bricks, according to my Dad, who did nothing today but watch the proceedings. Do these people not have jobs? I could not even think of protesting, I work, I have responsibilities. Where do the people who show up all day and stand around to cause problems come from? If I missed work to cause havoc, I would probably be as unemployed as most of those knuckleheads. Shoot, even sitting with a friend to eat some tacos and enjoy a cup of coffee seems a bridge too far, I can't imagine taking a day off from work to walk around aimlessly downtown and yelling "let's fuck shit up!!"
I honestly want to like him. I like that he is an outsider, that because he is already rich, he doesn't have to bend over for lobbyists and others with deep pockets. He has said many words that I want to believe, if they ring true, he could set us on a positive growth pattern, but then he stops talking and we see actions that don't make sense, like attempting to make someone so opposed to our public school systems the new education secretary, Betsy Devoss. Does Trump really have insight and is he really masterminding a new path for these United States? At this point, I have trouble believing a man who seems to say whatever necessary to get positive cheers, But let's give the man the benefit of the doubt, if he can do half of what he bragged abour, we will all benefit. Maybe
1/20/16 Repurposing Star Wars Footage?
We went and saw Star Wars: Rogue One this past weekend and although I am glad we saw it, it was a bummer of a movie. Man, everybody dies, or it is implied and if you know the movie from 1977, it is not a spoiler, just a fact. That was the price to get the data needed to destroy the Death Star.
Anyways, before the movie started, Alamo Drafthouse has a habit of playing stuff that relates to the movie somehow. When we saw the last Avengers movie, there were cheap knockoff Iron Man and Hulk wannabes from other countries. The videos mostly look homemade, so it is very kitschy but still fun, for the most part. Star Wars has a huge following and they kept showing commercials from the 80's with stuff that we actually had as toys, yet Chubs kept turning to me asking if the stuff actually existed. Yes, it did. I remember having the Death Star framework, complete with garbage bin and foam bits inside to crush our action figures. We also had the landspeeder, a couple x wing fighters, and tie fighters. Our childhood was pretty good.
Aside from the blast from the past toys, the best part of the previews was the songs made by Bad Lip Reading. They used the scene where Luke goes to see Yoda in Dagobah when he gets his original training. The song is silly, mostly about Yoda going to the beach and being overwhelmed by Seagulls and then warning Luke to be careful about Seagulls in general. What I liked most was seeing that the voiceovers were done by real actors, like Jack Black, Jon Heder, and Maya Rudolph. In the theater we heard the one Seagulls song, but going to You Tube, I found another three songs plus shortened versions of the three original movies with voiceovers that have nothing to do with what was going on in the original versions.
Star Wars and all of its movies have become part of our environment. Maybe because we grew up playing with the toys, maybe because it is such a huge franchise that it permeates even into other movies that have nothing to do with it. I think it is awesome to see the familiar scenes but then hearing totally different conversations coming out of the actors.
I dare say it is almost like rap music, where they take a bass line or riff from another song and even if it is familiar to us, they add different rhymes and/or poetry and before you know it, it is labeled a new song, even though you can hear the backbone of the original in there.
Anyways, before the movie started, Alamo Drafthouse has a habit of playing stuff that relates to the movie somehow. When we saw the last Avengers movie, there were cheap knockoff Iron Man and Hulk wannabes from other countries. The videos mostly look homemade, so it is very kitschy but still fun, for the most part. Star Wars has a huge following and they kept showing commercials from the 80's with stuff that we actually had as toys, yet Chubs kept turning to me asking if the stuff actually existed. Yes, it did. I remember having the Death Star framework, complete with garbage bin and foam bits inside to crush our action figures. We also had the landspeeder, a couple x wing fighters, and tie fighters. Our childhood was pretty good.
Aside from the blast from the past toys, the best part of the previews was the songs made by Bad Lip Reading. They used the scene where Luke goes to see Yoda in Dagobah when he gets his original training. The song is silly, mostly about Yoda going to the beach and being overwhelmed by Seagulls and then warning Luke to be careful about Seagulls in general. What I liked most was seeing that the voiceovers were done by real actors, like Jack Black, Jon Heder, and Maya Rudolph. In the theater we heard the one Seagulls song, but going to You Tube, I found another three songs plus shortened versions of the three original movies with voiceovers that have nothing to do with what was going on in the original versions.
Star Wars and all of its movies have become part of our environment. Maybe because we grew up playing with the toys, maybe because it is such a huge franchise that it permeates even into other movies that have nothing to do with it. I think it is awesome to see the familiar scenes but then hearing totally different conversations coming out of the actors.
I dare say it is almost like rap music, where they take a bass line or riff from another song and even if it is familiar to us, they add different rhymes and/or poetry and before you know it, it is labeled a new song, even though you can hear the backbone of the original in there.
Thursday, January 19, 2017
1/19/17 Savage Little Girls?
I am not sure if this is a new trend or if this is what they mean by girls maturing faster than boys, but Chubs tells me all the time about how the girls in his class are savages. He said they were playing basketball in PE today and this one girl just got a crazed look in her eye, went at the guy bouncing the ball and just tackled him to take the ball. He said it became a melee of boys vs girls fighting for the ball. He was the only one who noticed his friend on the floor, so he turned his attention to help him get back on his feet. For some reason, according to Chubs, there is a metal fence inside the gym and the kid was thrown against this and so his hand was scraped up pretty good.
We've been joking with him because he had several days in a row where he "accidentally" bumped with a couple girls, but you can't bump an immovable object like Chubs and send him flying. He is built like a proverbial fire plug, short and thick and strong. He is a Javelina. Some girl, in one situation ran up to him to try and steal the basketball and he stood his ground and somehow put up an elbow and got her good in the chest. This scared him because she ended up on the ground almost crying in pain and he was scared the rest of the girls were going to murder him, his words. He finally apologized but with him still injecting that "you came at me, I was just protecting myself." He said the little girl eventually admitted it was her fault.
I remember playing tag in fourth and fifth grade, but by 6th grade most of us had started separating and acting different, girls like young ladies and boys like overdosed testosterone idiots. Now that I think about it, those were the awkward years, 6th through 8th grade. I don't recall having female friends until I was in high school. Only because of being in band, I remember sitting and having cool discussions upstairs one on one with a couple girls in the practice rooms, but mostly with my saxophone counterpart, who we were good friends, even in elementary, when we ran around playing tag. It's weird how time flies and people that meant a lot just disappear based on geography. I guess that is life, appreciate the good times, you never know how long they will exist.
I know Chubs likes the girls being so aggressive, it allows for another level of interaction, although I never encountered it, maybe it's something about being in a city. Nobody is seriously getting hurt, but the memories of those collisions will last.
We've been joking with him because he had several days in a row where he "accidentally" bumped with a couple girls, but you can't bump an immovable object like Chubs and send him flying. He is built like a proverbial fire plug, short and thick and strong. He is a Javelina. Some girl, in one situation ran up to him to try and steal the basketball and he stood his ground and somehow put up an elbow and got her good in the chest. This scared him because she ended up on the ground almost crying in pain and he was scared the rest of the girls were going to murder him, his words. He finally apologized but with him still injecting that "you came at me, I was just protecting myself." He said the little girl eventually admitted it was her fault.
I remember playing tag in fourth and fifth grade, but by 6th grade most of us had started separating and acting different, girls like young ladies and boys like overdosed testosterone idiots. Now that I think about it, those were the awkward years, 6th through 8th grade. I don't recall having female friends until I was in high school. Only because of being in band, I remember sitting and having cool discussions upstairs one on one with a couple girls in the practice rooms, but mostly with my saxophone counterpart, who we were good friends, even in elementary, when we ran around playing tag. It's weird how time flies and people that meant a lot just disappear based on geography. I guess that is life, appreciate the good times, you never know how long they will exist.
I know Chubs likes the girls being so aggressive, it allows for another level of interaction, although I never encountered it, maybe it's something about being in a city. Nobody is seriously getting hurt, but the memories of those collisions will last.
Wednesday, January 18, 2017
1/18/17 Chubs Had A Religious Debate At School?
I still am not sure where it came from, but Chubs was telling me over the weekend that they had a debate over being religious and being atheist. Although I know I am atheist and I feel strongly about this, I am not sure kids in 6th grade are old enough to argue intelligently over this. Ultimately, there is no right or wrong answer in whatever position one takes. My problem with the debate was that the kids were not so much as arguing with facts as using personal attacks to get their way.
Chubs, probably because he has heard me go on one time too often, sided with the atheists and a couple of his friends jumped on him saying things like "what? we can't be friends if you are atheist!" or "I can't believe you don't believe in God, the Bible tells you that He is real." These are not arguments built on solid foundation, these are emotional cries of someone demanding to have their way or they won't "be your friend any more." But really, I guess that is the ultimatum God gives us-Mathew 10:32 Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven.
Wife has not wanted me to get all into this topic with Chubs as she feels I spoiled Boy's thinking on the matter. I think the Bible does a fine job of ruining religion all by itself. I encourage Chubs to read the bible as much as he wants. First of all, I don't get why the Bible insists on keeping women down, such as 1 Timothy 2:12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet. or 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 let the women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but let them be in subjection, as also saith the law.
I am not going to get into my position too much as this is a short blog, but another problem I have is that religion is not so matter a choice as what you grow up with. A catholic will raise catholics, a muslim will raise muslims, so it is not that you believe whatever, it is just that is what you grew up believing in. If you had grown up during the heyday of Greek Mythology, you would believe in Zeus, Poseidon, Hades and all the other gods, or even in Mexico before the Spanish showed up, they were very polytheistic.
If I must believe in something then, I choose to line up with the "smart" people and be atheist. People that think, for the most part, end up being atheist, from Abraham Lincoln, to Charles Darwin, Sigmund Freud, Einstein, Hawking, and so many more.
Chubs may have lost the debate, but I like to think he is now on my side, and that is a win I will quietly take. I cannot convince everybody to think, but at least if my boy's do, they have a chance. I will always encourage them to explore religion, if you are logical, you can only stay in that realm so long before you give in to the lazy phrase of "take it on faith." I can provide toys and candy and keep the dream of Santa or the Easter Bunny alive, but I cannot promise everlasting life, so I cannot pretend believing in Jesus will guarantee anything that ostentatious. I wish, but logic doesn't get me there.
Chubs, probably because he has heard me go on one time too often, sided with the atheists and a couple of his friends jumped on him saying things like "what? we can't be friends if you are atheist!" or "I can't believe you don't believe in God, the Bible tells you that He is real." These are not arguments built on solid foundation, these are emotional cries of someone demanding to have their way or they won't "be your friend any more." But really, I guess that is the ultimatum God gives us-Mathew 10:32 Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven.
Wife has not wanted me to get all into this topic with Chubs as she feels I spoiled Boy's thinking on the matter. I think the Bible does a fine job of ruining religion all by itself. I encourage Chubs to read the bible as much as he wants. First of all, I don't get why the Bible insists on keeping women down, such as 1 Timothy 2:12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet. or 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 let the women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but let them be in subjection, as also saith the law.
I am not going to get into my position too much as this is a short blog, but another problem I have is that religion is not so matter a choice as what you grow up with. A catholic will raise catholics, a muslim will raise muslims, so it is not that you believe whatever, it is just that is what you grew up believing in. If you had grown up during the heyday of Greek Mythology, you would believe in Zeus, Poseidon, Hades and all the other gods, or even in Mexico before the Spanish showed up, they were very polytheistic.
If I must believe in something then, I choose to line up with the "smart" people and be atheist. People that think, for the most part, end up being atheist, from Abraham Lincoln, to Charles Darwin, Sigmund Freud, Einstein, Hawking, and so many more.
Chubs may have lost the debate, but I like to think he is now on my side, and that is a win I will quietly take. I cannot convince everybody to think, but at least if my boy's do, they have a chance. I will always encourage them to explore religion, if you are logical, you can only stay in that realm so long before you give in to the lazy phrase of "take it on faith." I can provide toys and candy and keep the dream of Santa or the Easter Bunny alive, but I cannot promise everlasting life, so I cannot pretend believing in Jesus will guarantee anything that ostentatious. I wish, but logic doesn't get me there.
Tuesday, January 17, 2017
1/17/17 Help, Mama, Or I Got It?
Wife makes life so much easier when it comes to the boys. For starters, she pays attention to the hundreds of e-mails the school likes to send, seriously, can they back the fuck off, for a bit. We get reminders that they have homework, we get reminders of the whole class is above 96.5% attendance so they can wear jeans on Friday. We get notices if they are passing at the end of the week, every week. I can get three e-mails from the school on any given day, and I'm sorry, I'll open one and maybe two, but if you are going to crank it up and send a constant stream of information, I won't keep track of it, because at some point, it becomes bullshit.
Luckily, Wife treats everything relating to school like a commandment from God himself, this last one was a simple one, get cardstock and bring it in. Since we barely left the house, we didn't buy it until Monday afternoon, since it was a holiday for Martin Luther King, we bought it and then went to eat at Whataburger, I'm sure it's the burger MLK would have celebrated with. The only problem with this is Wife was to leave immediately after we ate, so we came home and I cleaned her windows, mostly because she got off like the big dog she is and half-assed cleaning her windows. I was sitting inside chuckling at the one handed attempt with the squeegee. Since she was going to drive through potentially shitty weather I then cleaned them at home before she left, so she wouldn't be streaky and have a hard time seeing.
Five minutes later she left, and took with her the important cardboard stock that was meant for class. I then had a couple of choices, act like I don't know nothing, run in the morning and buy a new package, run during lunch to Walmart and all the nighttime weirdos, or let Chubs wait and suffer a day. Since we didn't have much work, I decided to run in there on my way back to work at midnight and buy him his stuff. Even simple things like this become hard when you have to decide what color to go with. It was either pastels, or different tones of brown paper bag colors, or patterned paper. I was finally able to find one package of primary color paper, much smaller than what Wife got. This package had like 30 or 50 sheets. The big book Wife got had to have been like $20 because it weighed like ten pounds. I am sure the smaller package I got is enough, if not, he can wait until Wife shows up and he can take the bigger pack next week.
I hate taking care of little bullshit things like this. Last night on my way to work, I realized there wasn't much in the fridge for breakfast. I gave Boy $20 and told him to go to Target and buy some stuff. I can't see that he bought much, other than a half gallon of milk, and a couple of tubes of Pringles. Oh well, I'll figure something out for Chubs and probably end up going to the store this afternoon. If you want something done right, do it yourself.
Luckily, Wife treats everything relating to school like a commandment from God himself, this last one was a simple one, get cardstock and bring it in. Since we barely left the house, we didn't buy it until Monday afternoon, since it was a holiday for Martin Luther King, we bought it and then went to eat at Whataburger, I'm sure it's the burger MLK would have celebrated with. The only problem with this is Wife was to leave immediately after we ate, so we came home and I cleaned her windows, mostly because she got off like the big dog she is and half-assed cleaning her windows. I was sitting inside chuckling at the one handed attempt with the squeegee. Since she was going to drive through potentially shitty weather I then cleaned them at home before she left, so she wouldn't be streaky and have a hard time seeing.
Five minutes later she left, and took with her the important cardboard stock that was meant for class. I then had a couple of choices, act like I don't know nothing, run in the morning and buy a new package, run during lunch to Walmart and all the nighttime weirdos, or let Chubs wait and suffer a day. Since we didn't have much work, I decided to run in there on my way back to work at midnight and buy him his stuff. Even simple things like this become hard when you have to decide what color to go with. It was either pastels, or different tones of brown paper bag colors, or patterned paper. I was finally able to find one package of primary color paper, much smaller than what Wife got. This package had like 30 or 50 sheets. The big book Wife got had to have been like $20 because it weighed like ten pounds. I am sure the smaller package I got is enough, if not, he can wait until Wife shows up and he can take the bigger pack next week.
I hate taking care of little bullshit things like this. Last night on my way to work, I realized there wasn't much in the fridge for breakfast. I gave Boy $20 and told him to go to Target and buy some stuff. I can't see that he bought much, other than a half gallon of milk, and a couple of tubes of Pringles. Oh well, I'll figure something out for Chubs and probably end up going to the store this afternoon. If you want something done right, do it yourself.
Sunday, January 15, 2017
1/16/17 What To Do After The Holidays?
We are a couple weeks into the new year and things have settled down from the holidays. The weather has been like it should be, more or less, on the weekends, anyway. During the week we have been seeing 80 degree weather which is normal for Texas, but sucks for moral. Almost on purpose though, the weekends have been chilly and wet.
This past weekend was disrupted by very little. I worked half a night of OT Friday, came home to hot dogs, then we stayed up awhile watching our TV shows. Saturday was a lazy day in which we didn't get up until about 1:00pm. I drank coffee and looked over our bills, while Wife showered and came down to make breakfast. We ended up having some awesome egg and mini Winnie tacos, then with nothing better to do, slept the afternoon away until roughly 7:00pm. At this point, I finally got up and Wife introduced me to a show about teachers on the cable box list of saved shows. The show is called Teachers and follows a small group of female teachers and their silly shenanigans. It is pretty over the top, but I like this brand of humor. We then got ready to go, we had tickets for the 9:30pm showing of Star Wars: Rogue One. The movie was solid, if lacking in jedi powers. We were back home and staying up late watching more recorded shows until about 4:00am.
Sunday was a lazy day. We got up around 2:00pm, showered and headed to one of our favorite places to eat, Zaxby's. We usually eat here Sunday afternoons when Wife is headed back down to Crystal City. With the weather crappy as it was, we headed back home and before I knew it, I was back in bed, napping the afternoon away. I napped until about 7:30pm, then woke in time to suggest pizza for dinner.
Here we are, not accomplishing much, but enjoying another quiet Sunday evening. Even though it is not very cold, it is raining off and on again. We have been in a Tornado warning most of the afternoon. I guess this is as much as can be expected, considering how shitty the weather has been.
With the holidays just passing and all the credit cards still smoking from being used, it is hard to excuse a trip to the mall, to buy shit we don't need. At least for now, we will then avoid the mall and all its trappings. I am sure in a few weeks, the boys will need more clothes, Wife will need something for work, maybe I will decide not to be dressed like an idiot all the time and decide I need some new shoes. I do hate all this being lazy, but I also don't know what to do about it. Sometimes, it is easier, on an effort to not spend money, to just be cheap and also not shower and leave the house.
Hopefully, by the time the weather starts warming up, we will be caught up with all our Christmas purchases and then we will be back to normal.
This past weekend was disrupted by very little. I worked half a night of OT Friday, came home to hot dogs, then we stayed up awhile watching our TV shows. Saturday was a lazy day in which we didn't get up until about 1:00pm. I drank coffee and looked over our bills, while Wife showered and came down to make breakfast. We ended up having some awesome egg and mini Winnie tacos, then with nothing better to do, slept the afternoon away until roughly 7:00pm. At this point, I finally got up and Wife introduced me to a show about teachers on the cable box list of saved shows. The show is called Teachers and follows a small group of female teachers and their silly shenanigans. It is pretty over the top, but I like this brand of humor. We then got ready to go, we had tickets for the 9:30pm showing of Star Wars: Rogue One. The movie was solid, if lacking in jedi powers. We were back home and staying up late watching more recorded shows until about 4:00am.
Sunday was a lazy day. We got up around 2:00pm, showered and headed to one of our favorite places to eat, Zaxby's. We usually eat here Sunday afternoons when Wife is headed back down to Crystal City. With the weather crappy as it was, we headed back home and before I knew it, I was back in bed, napping the afternoon away. I napped until about 7:30pm, then woke in time to suggest pizza for dinner.
Here we are, not accomplishing much, but enjoying another quiet Sunday evening. Even though it is not very cold, it is raining off and on again. We have been in a Tornado warning most of the afternoon. I guess this is as much as can be expected, considering how shitty the weather has been.
With the holidays just passing and all the credit cards still smoking from being used, it is hard to excuse a trip to the mall, to buy shit we don't need. At least for now, we will then avoid the mall and all its trappings. I am sure in a few weeks, the boys will need more clothes, Wife will need something for work, maybe I will decide not to be dressed like an idiot all the time and decide I need some new shoes. I do hate all this being lazy, but I also don't know what to do about it. Sometimes, it is easier, on an effort to not spend money, to just be cheap and also not shower and leave the house.
Hopefully, by the time the weather starts warming up, we will be caught up with all our Christmas purchases and then we will be back to normal.
1/15/17 Rogue One? (movie)
The hoopla behind Rogue One finally died down enough that we got a chance to go see it tonight. Even with it coming out last year, we were still in a full theatre. Rogue One is the story of a very reluctant man forced to work with the empire to build the Death Star. If not because we know this is science fiction, every scene ends in death and destruction, this would totally be a depressing movie. Disney might end up squeezing the Star Wars franchise like a dirty sock to get all its nutty footy flavor out, but it is something we seem to crave. There are tons of stories in this universe that could be dissected, and I hope they do. A movie a year sounds great to me, never mind George Luca's timeframe of a trilogy every two decades.
This story follows the architect behind the building of the Death Star. Galen Erso is the mastermind behind the Death Star but he has gone into hiding, and wants nothing else to do with its construction. He is found, his wife in a lame attempt to save him, gets killed and the daughter manages to run and hide, ostensibly until the next scene where she has been captured and is on her way to some prison lands. On the way, she is rescued by Cassian Andor, a rebel, so she can be used as bait to kill the dad. While this is happening, an empire pilot, Bodhi Rook, is given a message to give to a rebel Saw Gerrera by Galen. All of them join forces in Jedha, where they are all imprisoned while Saw Gerrera determines who is who. The empire to show their weapon is fully operational, decide to destroy the village/city of Jedhu with one shot from the Death Star. Saw Gerrera chooses to die at that point, for no reason, other than he is tired of running.
There is a side trip to a planet where Galen is all of a sudden tried for crimes against the Empire, he is found guilty and just as he is about to be killed by the Empire, he is accidentally killed by a rebel ship randomly shooting at them. Father and daughter have a touching moment, but it is too late for him. Jyn goes and meets with the rebels and she cannot convince them they must try and destroy the Death Star, but enough individuals agree to join her and go on a suicide mission to planet Scarif, where the Empire holds all their data on files. It is a suicide mission of grand proportions, and although grandiose and kind of cool because we see AT-ATs walking around in a beach setting and the original X-wing and Y-wing fighters.
Everything leads to the original first scene in the original New Hope Star Wars in 1977, where Princess Leia has the schematics, and feeds them into a then unknown R2 unit which started this whole universe we now accept as totally plausible. The movie was very human, and that was part of the problem, for me, there were no jedi, no mystery men with mystical powers. This was just a group of humans preventing something from existing that should have never been made by another group of humans. A group as scary as the Empire should never have something as powerful as a planet destroyer because they had no qualms about using it. They used it to destroy two cities in a very short time. The effect was like dropping a nuke and having everything just mushrooming up and out of existence. In a New Hope, they do eventually destroy a whole planet. It is a good thing the Rebels existed and disarmed the Bullies.
This story follows the architect behind the building of the Death Star. Galen Erso is the mastermind behind the Death Star but he has gone into hiding, and wants nothing else to do with its construction. He is found, his wife in a lame attempt to save him, gets killed and the daughter manages to run and hide, ostensibly until the next scene where she has been captured and is on her way to some prison lands. On the way, she is rescued by Cassian Andor, a rebel, so she can be used as bait to kill the dad. While this is happening, an empire pilot, Bodhi Rook, is given a message to give to a rebel Saw Gerrera by Galen. All of them join forces in Jedha, where they are all imprisoned while Saw Gerrera determines who is who. The empire to show their weapon is fully operational, decide to destroy the village/city of Jedhu with one shot from the Death Star. Saw Gerrera chooses to die at that point, for no reason, other than he is tired of running.
There is a side trip to a planet where Galen is all of a sudden tried for crimes against the Empire, he is found guilty and just as he is about to be killed by the Empire, he is accidentally killed by a rebel ship randomly shooting at them. Father and daughter have a touching moment, but it is too late for him. Jyn goes and meets with the rebels and she cannot convince them they must try and destroy the Death Star, but enough individuals agree to join her and go on a suicide mission to planet Scarif, where the Empire holds all their data on files. It is a suicide mission of grand proportions, and although grandiose and kind of cool because we see AT-ATs walking around in a beach setting and the original X-wing and Y-wing fighters.
Everything leads to the original first scene in the original New Hope Star Wars in 1977, where Princess Leia has the schematics, and feeds them into a then unknown R2 unit which started this whole universe we now accept as totally plausible. The movie was very human, and that was part of the problem, for me, there were no jedi, no mystery men with mystical powers. This was just a group of humans preventing something from existing that should have never been made by another group of humans. A group as scary as the Empire should never have something as powerful as a planet destroyer because they had no qualms about using it. They used it to destroy two cities in a very short time. The effect was like dropping a nuke and having everything just mushrooming up and out of existence. In a New Hope, they do eventually destroy a whole planet. It is a good thing the Rebels existed and disarmed the Bullies.
Friday, January 13, 2017
1/14/17 Can The Globalization Of US Companies Be Stopped?
A friend of mine was in Europe over the Christmas break and he came back angry that all was not as it should be. He was bothered because there was a McDonald's everywhere, it seemed. His argument that they shouldn't be there, the people don't want them there fell on deaf ears, because apparently, they are there and succeeding. I have no dog in the fight, I really don't care if French people can eat a Big Mac or not, but to argue with me that the people don't want our business there is silly at best. If they were not wanted, they would open, and go bankrupt quickly. If there is a clientele, then you can't just bellyache and determine that the locals don't want everything American.
I don't think corporations are evil, but if there is a vacuum and they can fit in and make some money, company A, B, or C will eventually set up shop there. In your head, you might want to go to Glasgow and enjoy whatever you saw forty years ago, maybe those people have been waiting for the mighty McRib to show up within biking distance. Nobody is going to force those people to eat there, like nobody forces us to shop at Wal-Mart when they come to a new town. There is a convenience to having a store like Wal-Mart close by. I don't love the products, I know most of the merchandise is disposable crap, but sometimes you need crappy stuff, like when we go to the coast and we need some instant shade, or some portable chairs.
For the locals, it must be nice to be able to get up and have a quick breakfast McDonald's style, on the way to the Eiffel Tower, or wherever the French people go during the day. Why does everything American have to be seen as crappy by everyone else? I say fuck that, I might not be a #1 fan of McDonald's, when I can eat Whataburger, but I know from experience, I can very efficiently eat a double quarter pounder and drive without getting any of it on me, and that is sometimes the most important thing to the meal.
Friday morning, Wife is here due to a school holiday, and I am already planning on going to have some breakfast with her, preferably at a place with some pancakes, if at all possible. I don't think of the big chains for this scenario, but I am still glad they are open for so many other people on the go. I do like to slow down, if I am going to eat breakfast, I prefer to eat it where we can sit and enjoy a cup of coffee and talk for a little while. I don't worry about what is at every corner as far as restaurants, I am glad I have choices, I think that is what matters more to the people, even in places I can't pronounce.
I don't think corporations are evil, but if there is a vacuum and they can fit in and make some money, company A, B, or C will eventually set up shop there. In your head, you might want to go to Glasgow and enjoy whatever you saw forty years ago, maybe those people have been waiting for the mighty McRib to show up within biking distance. Nobody is going to force those people to eat there, like nobody forces us to shop at Wal-Mart when they come to a new town. There is a convenience to having a store like Wal-Mart close by. I don't love the products, I know most of the merchandise is disposable crap, but sometimes you need crappy stuff, like when we go to the coast and we need some instant shade, or some portable chairs.
For the locals, it must be nice to be able to get up and have a quick breakfast McDonald's style, on the way to the Eiffel Tower, or wherever the French people go during the day. Why does everything American have to be seen as crappy by everyone else? I say fuck that, I might not be a #1 fan of McDonald's, when I can eat Whataburger, but I know from experience, I can very efficiently eat a double quarter pounder and drive without getting any of it on me, and that is sometimes the most important thing to the meal.
Friday morning, Wife is here due to a school holiday, and I am already planning on going to have some breakfast with her, preferably at a place with some pancakes, if at all possible. I don't think of the big chains for this scenario, but I am still glad they are open for so many other people on the go. I do like to slow down, if I am going to eat breakfast, I prefer to eat it where we can sit and enjoy a cup of coffee and talk for a little while. I don't worry about what is at every corner as far as restaurants, I am glad I have choices, I think that is what matters more to the people, even in places I can't pronounce.
1/13/17 Toying With Idea Of Getting Rid Of My Truck?
This may be just me whining over not having a boat anymore, but suddenly I find myself questioning the need for my big truck. I love the thing, and although I bought it in 2015, it still feels new to me. I ride around alone in it most of the time, it is a pain to go to the mall or shopping with it because I am always worried of door dings from assholes and idiots. I always take the effort to park far away from the entrances and I prefer the edges where I can push myself over into the edge, but dummies still will flock around me wherever I park.
I started thinking about this seriously this week, Wife heard my dad saying he wanted to buy a new truck for himself and I know he has always liked mine, but even if he wanted it, the jackals that live next door will Wormtongue him and convince him I am Satan selling him a vehicle with problems, so it would be a hard sell. If the weather holds up, I may go get a quote from Carmax, they have been real easy to get rid of a couple of vehicles, so far. I sold them my last F-250 and walked away with $2500 cash, after driving that one for 2.5 years.
This could just be a little depression from just having passed the holidays and realizing even though we did our best to curb the gift giving, we still have a mountain of debt all over the place. From Dillard's, to Best Buy, to a Capital One card Boy believes Santa pays for. Don't forget Target where we only use the credit card for Christmas gifts, Buckle, because Chubs wants to look more mature, sometimes.
It is hard to feel like a family man when I am alone most of the time, I may as well drive the older Excursion which has been paid for years and doesn't cost me a monthly payment to enjoy. When I got the truck I was feeling desperate because we only had the Excursion which was a 2004, the VW bug, which was a 2005, and the Jeep Boy was driving, a 2008. Now, all of a sudden, Wife has a 2016 car, the truck is a 2015, and even Boy's Edge is a 2014, so we have a much younger car lineup, I don't feel bad if we lose one.
But just as my eyes are getting teary and I am feeling sorry for myself, they call me for what would have been OT tonight, except I am making up a day for being sick last week, I am also possibly working Friday night for the first time in a long time, so maybe all that OT they were teasing me with a couple weeks ago is finally fixing to start. OT beats me trading in my beautiful truck, unless my dad wants it. I do like those Ford Broncos coming out in a couple years.
I started thinking about this seriously this week, Wife heard my dad saying he wanted to buy a new truck for himself and I know he has always liked mine, but even if he wanted it, the jackals that live next door will Wormtongue him and convince him I am Satan selling him a vehicle with problems, so it would be a hard sell. If the weather holds up, I may go get a quote from Carmax, they have been real easy to get rid of a couple of vehicles, so far. I sold them my last F-250 and walked away with $2500 cash, after driving that one for 2.5 years.
This could just be a little depression from just having passed the holidays and realizing even though we did our best to curb the gift giving, we still have a mountain of debt all over the place. From Dillard's, to Best Buy, to a Capital One card Boy believes Santa pays for. Don't forget Target where we only use the credit card for Christmas gifts, Buckle, because Chubs wants to look more mature, sometimes.
It is hard to feel like a family man when I am alone most of the time, I may as well drive the older Excursion which has been paid for years and doesn't cost me a monthly payment to enjoy. When I got the truck I was feeling desperate because we only had the Excursion which was a 2004, the VW bug, which was a 2005, and the Jeep Boy was driving, a 2008. Now, all of a sudden, Wife has a 2016 car, the truck is a 2015, and even Boy's Edge is a 2014, so we have a much younger car lineup, I don't feel bad if we lose one.
But just as my eyes are getting teary and I am feeling sorry for myself, they call me for what would have been OT tonight, except I am making up a day for being sick last week, I am also possibly working Friday night for the first time in a long time, so maybe all that OT they were teasing me with a couple weeks ago is finally fixing to start. OT beats me trading in my beautiful truck, unless my dad wants it. I do like those Ford Broncos coming out in a couple years.
Thursday, January 12, 2017
1/12/17 Knocked Up, Again?
I wish I could believe otherwise, but life is stacked against us. We keep getting dealt a tough hand that gets tougher as we go along. I don't want to be naïve and ignorant but if we must start somewhere with the next generation, at least a decent education before the babies start falling out of the next generation of eligible vaginas is certainly something we could track and keep count of. I am not asking for higher level degrees, but at least a bachelor's degree, to raise the hopes of future parental ability to raise whatever new children are produced.
Here is the reality, even a high school degree proves hard for the fertile Myrtles. Boy, who is still at least a year away from a degree, has not even shown an interest in a girlfriend, so good we think. Meanwhile, our friend's family, who have grown alongside us since we met in 1996 or so have started popping like the microwave bag of popcorn I expected way back when. Just in the immediate family that grew up coming over and swimming in our pools with Boy, those kids have now had ten kids. Proving clichés are indeed the best way to live, only one of the kids is in a marriage and living in his own house. The rest are living as best they can.
This is Girlie's family, and she has not so far come down with a belly infection so far, but her cousin, who used to hang out with us as recently as last summer, is now on pregnancy number two. The impregnator is a classy guy who didn't think his baby mama should have friends, has her pretty isolated from life, but that is also good news. We could have been sucker's for gifts of clothing, food, and other necessities as we really liked this girl, given her current prisoner conditions, we don't interact with her at all, so good luck with your nest of kids. In a moment of ridiculousness, the last conversation we had with her, we asked why she didn't marry this winner. She said she didn't want to be officially tied down to him, she wasn't sure she wanted to be with him forever. This from a fucking idiot who is growing the dude's child in her belly and now started doing the same thing a second time. Princess Insane needs to realize she is in the middle of her life, not a bad show on TV, but whatever, we are too nosy and should mind our own business, which we have.
All these twenty something aged parents are living like sardines in two or three bedroom apartments with other family members like their parents and siblings. I don't know where they get the privacy, but their is a lot of built in dead time to do the deed. If we do the math, by the time Boy gets his bachelor's degree, this one family could be up to twelve or fifteen kids, and sorry, but I do not see a bachelor's degree over there before Boy's. How are we setting up this world to make it better for the future when just the training and energy we have put into Boy has so far yielded us a combined debt of $40,000-50,000 for a degree he hasn't earned yet, versus our friend's family where half of Boy's generation didn't get a high school degree, but there is already an increase in 10 new lives.
Here is the reality, even a high school degree proves hard for the fertile Myrtles. Boy, who is still at least a year away from a degree, has not even shown an interest in a girlfriend, so good we think. Meanwhile, our friend's family, who have grown alongside us since we met in 1996 or so have started popping like the microwave bag of popcorn I expected way back when. Just in the immediate family that grew up coming over and swimming in our pools with Boy, those kids have now had ten kids. Proving clichés are indeed the best way to live, only one of the kids is in a marriage and living in his own house. The rest are living as best they can.
This is Girlie's family, and she has not so far come down with a belly infection so far, but her cousin, who used to hang out with us as recently as last summer, is now on pregnancy number two. The impregnator is a classy guy who didn't think his baby mama should have friends, has her pretty isolated from life, but that is also good news. We could have been sucker's for gifts of clothing, food, and other necessities as we really liked this girl, given her current prisoner conditions, we don't interact with her at all, so good luck with your nest of kids. In a moment of ridiculousness, the last conversation we had with her, we asked why she didn't marry this winner. She said she didn't want to be officially tied down to him, she wasn't sure she wanted to be with him forever. This from a fucking idiot who is growing the dude's child in her belly and now started doing the same thing a second time. Princess Insane needs to realize she is in the middle of her life, not a bad show on TV, but whatever, we are too nosy and should mind our own business, which we have.
All these twenty something aged parents are living like sardines in two or three bedroom apartments with other family members like their parents and siblings. I don't know where they get the privacy, but their is a lot of built in dead time to do the deed. If we do the math, by the time Boy gets his bachelor's degree, this one family could be up to twelve or fifteen kids, and sorry, but I do not see a bachelor's degree over there before Boy's. How are we setting up this world to make it better for the future when just the training and energy we have put into Boy has so far yielded us a combined debt of $40,000-50,000 for a degree he hasn't earned yet, versus our friend's family where half of Boy's generation didn't get a high school degree, but there is already an increase in 10 new lives.
Wednesday, January 11, 2017
1/11/17 Trump Will Be Entertaining If He Doesn't Kill Us All?
Trump has been a busy man getting ready to lead this great country in less than a couple weeks, and by now must have found the best people to surround himself with. Instead of taking the high road and starting to act presidential, he is doing twitter wars with Meryl Streep because she called him out. He can say a lot, but calling her overrated is just wrong when she is the most nominated person by the Academy Award, 19 times. As far as finding the best people, how lucky is he, his son in law, Kushner is good enough to be named a senior advisor. This is a kid 10 years younger than me and will help lead our president. Awesome!
A funny note, Trump already is asking Congress for a 10 billion check to pay for the wall that Mexico was going to pay for. I know the die hard supporters still believe him, what he will actually do is pay it, then Mexico will just us back gradually, after we have forgotten about his pesky promise. One of the comments on one of the stories I saw was how interesting that somehow Mexicans became the bad guy again, I thought the new bad guys were those self detonating Muslims, not the guys with the tacos. Wrong shade of brown, Stupid.
So new intelligence is finding that Russia did in fact mess with the election, Trump wants to just leave that information alone. He keeps finding praise for Putin in his Twitter feeds and yet seems suspicious of our intelligence community. What president before has sided with the actions of a Russian leader versus our own intelligence specialists? This is kind of scary.
Being that I have not talked or heard from my brother, I have no idea about how things are going for the conspiracy theorists with their new man in control. Shit, what I thought was chaos, is all according to plan, or so says Alex Jones. I am not holding my breath, but the things that he has to say make Trump seem like a chess master just lining up the board. Every new cabinet member, just another setup to his eventual win. Nothing that he has done yet is wrong, if we are to believe Jones. He is sure Trump wants to take us to when America was the world leader, in the 50's, before the New World Order started taking us off course to fill their agenda on American blood, sweat and tears. Trump is lining up a whole other side of the table with billionaires of his own to get the attention he needs.
We are dense and unenlightened, but eventually we will see the great things Trump is doing for us. He mentioned the railways and 60 years of no improvements on infrastructure which Trump is already addressing, bringing back 10 billion dollars in iron works. It will take time for us to see the light, just to trust him for a little while. We don't have much of a choice, what can we do? Let's see if he can bring about positive change.
A funny note, Trump already is asking Congress for a 10 billion check to pay for the wall that Mexico was going to pay for. I know the die hard supporters still believe him, what he will actually do is pay it, then Mexico will just us back gradually, after we have forgotten about his pesky promise. One of the comments on one of the stories I saw was how interesting that somehow Mexicans became the bad guy again, I thought the new bad guys were those self detonating Muslims, not the guys with the tacos. Wrong shade of brown, Stupid.
So new intelligence is finding that Russia did in fact mess with the election, Trump wants to just leave that information alone. He keeps finding praise for Putin in his Twitter feeds and yet seems suspicious of our intelligence community. What president before has sided with the actions of a Russian leader versus our own intelligence specialists? This is kind of scary.
Being that I have not talked or heard from my brother, I have no idea about how things are going for the conspiracy theorists with their new man in control. Shit, what I thought was chaos, is all according to plan, or so says Alex Jones. I am not holding my breath, but the things that he has to say make Trump seem like a chess master just lining up the board. Every new cabinet member, just another setup to his eventual win. Nothing that he has done yet is wrong, if we are to believe Jones. He is sure Trump wants to take us to when America was the world leader, in the 50's, before the New World Order started taking us off course to fill their agenda on American blood, sweat and tears. Trump is lining up a whole other side of the table with billionaires of his own to get the attention he needs.
We are dense and unenlightened, but eventually we will see the great things Trump is doing for us. He mentioned the railways and 60 years of no improvements on infrastructure which Trump is already addressing, bringing back 10 billion dollars in iron works. It will take time for us to see the light, just to trust him for a little while. We don't have much of a choice, what can we do? Let's see if he can bring about positive change.
Tuesday, January 10, 2017
1/10/17 Bering Sea Gold, How Do They Survive?
This is another show similar to Gold Rush except the groups chasing after gold do it on a smaller scale and their drama more often is more important than their goal of trying to get gold. Bering Sea Gold has the groups diving into the Bering Sea, off Nome, Alaska. The other seasons had them doing it during the summer which at least when they got out of the water they dressed in t-shirts and stuff. This season had them diving into the sea through a foot thick layer of ice which has to make it that much more dangerous and scary. Some of these people barely notice the dangers. There is a father/sons team that this season split, the sons were trying to separate from the dad, but then they set up their diving rig right next to their dad. The dad is relentless with the insults, saying how he is more of a man because he has a girlfriend younger than either son, that he has made a baby before either of them has had a kid. After he insults them for a while, he goes on and on how he wants his boys back under him, and how they need daddy. These are all grown ass men.
There is a guy who is constantly investing on the latest technology to beat everybody, he brings in a $100,000 robot that is supposed to be great at digging and dredging. I don't get it though, the robot is $100000 plus he seems to need another three or four guys to put it in the water, then a guy to be in the water, and at the end of the season he made roughly $50,000. I don't see how that makes him profitable.
The only one who seems to be serious is a family who during this time of year decides to go check out a new area to see of it is worth moving their big operation, they use a big boat with a backhoe type set-up which he just brings up tons of dirt. These guys are the only ones making millions in the other seasons.
Finally, there is one of the least liked women on TV I have ever seen. She brings nothing to the show, she goes from one bad mood swing to another, she ruined her relationship with a childhood friend by scamming him out of rig and then never paid for it. She is just nuts, but she gathers a group of chick divers and she is going to make miners of them, although of the three new chicks, one leaves the first day citing concern for her life, seeing the shitty equipment they rely on, and the other two barely make it through the season, after having confrontations with the girl that invited them up in the first place. This last group makes about $13,000 which doesn't sound too bad, until you split it with a group of four.
The knuckleheads with the bully dad made a combined $6000. That cannot last long, just with the smoke habit some of these guys have, I don't see how they survive year round on such small amounts of gold.
There is a guy who is constantly investing on the latest technology to beat everybody, he brings in a $100,000 robot that is supposed to be great at digging and dredging. I don't get it though, the robot is $100000 plus he seems to need another three or four guys to put it in the water, then a guy to be in the water, and at the end of the season he made roughly $50,000. I don't see how that makes him profitable.
The only one who seems to be serious is a family who during this time of year decides to go check out a new area to see of it is worth moving their big operation, they use a big boat with a backhoe type set-up which he just brings up tons of dirt. These guys are the only ones making millions in the other seasons.
Finally, there is one of the least liked women on TV I have ever seen. She brings nothing to the show, she goes from one bad mood swing to another, she ruined her relationship with a childhood friend by scamming him out of rig and then never paid for it. She is just nuts, but she gathers a group of chick divers and she is going to make miners of them, although of the three new chicks, one leaves the first day citing concern for her life, seeing the shitty equipment they rely on, and the other two barely make it through the season, after having confrontations with the girl that invited them up in the first place. This last group makes about $13,000 which doesn't sound too bad, until you split it with a group of four.
The knuckleheads with the bully dad made a combined $6000. That cannot last long, just with the smoke habit some of these guys have, I don't see how they survive year round on such small amounts of gold.
Monday, January 9, 2017
1/9/17 Flu Sucks?
Chubs and I just got past the flu. It was a shitty five days that I just want to put in my past and move along. Chubs woke up sick Wednesday morning, so I let him stay home, and with throwing up and diarrhea, that turned into him staying home all three days last week as the first days of the new semester. I tried avoiding him, which was tough because when someone is sick, they don't want to be alone, but I certainly didn't want to get sick. I figured if I do get sick, I'll try to make it through my four day week last week, but I started my third night ok, that flu just came on like a switch, one minute I was fine, the next I got a chill and then I couldn't wait to come home and go to sleep. I ended up calling my supervisor asking if I could trade my last day into a work day next week, I hate doing that, but the year just started and I didn't want to burn a whole vacation day laying in bed. Because we are a small group who has been together for almost 17 years, we do get a lot of flexibility.
Thursday disappeared almost instantly, Wife said she was getting off early on Friday and be on the road by noon with some Mexican penicillin, but as always happens some emergency by somebody more important, meant she couldn't leave until everybody else left campus. I wake up at 2:45pm, thinking ooh, maybe Wife is already here downstairs, but no, she sends me a text to tell me she is currently doing oil changes on the school busses, she has to polish the elementary floors, and maybe if she hurries, she'll be on the road by 5:30pm, unless it's the third Friday in January, then of course she'll need to stay and supervise a new layer of tar on the cafeteria.
Instead of her showing up around 3:00pm, Wife managed to get home around 10:00pm. She stopped at the Kyle HEB and bought stuff for chicken soup for Saturday and then for a beef stew on Sunday. I was most interested in the penicillin, hoping it would speed up my recovery. I don't know that it did, Chubs was doing better by the third day, he wanted to get out of the house by Friday afternoon to go eat Wendy's. I was in no condition, but Wife and him did go out Saturday afternoon for a while. All I've done is sleep. I felt bad for Wife, as I didn't spend any time with her. I couldn't get up even with me thinking about it. Saturday evening, I got up to have her chicken soup and although I was thinking it was going to suck from the smells in the house, it went down really well. All my aches and pains seemed to disappear while I was up with her.
I don't know if Sunday was more laziness or my body not wanting to get up, but staying in bed so long is probably why I am still sore, specially on my lower back. I got up to go eat a quick lunch before Wife left at Rosa's and I did feel better, once I got moving. I am finishing this at 3:00am, here we go on another week, just hope we are done with the chills and body aches, easily the worst part of the flu.
Thursday disappeared almost instantly, Wife said she was getting off early on Friday and be on the road by noon with some Mexican penicillin, but as always happens some emergency by somebody more important, meant she couldn't leave until everybody else left campus. I wake up at 2:45pm, thinking ooh, maybe Wife is already here downstairs, but no, she sends me a text to tell me she is currently doing oil changes on the school busses, she has to polish the elementary floors, and maybe if she hurries, she'll be on the road by 5:30pm, unless it's the third Friday in January, then of course she'll need to stay and supervise a new layer of tar on the cafeteria.
Instead of her showing up around 3:00pm, Wife managed to get home around 10:00pm. She stopped at the Kyle HEB and bought stuff for chicken soup for Saturday and then for a beef stew on Sunday. I was most interested in the penicillin, hoping it would speed up my recovery. I don't know that it did, Chubs was doing better by the third day, he wanted to get out of the house by Friday afternoon to go eat Wendy's. I was in no condition, but Wife and him did go out Saturday afternoon for a while. All I've done is sleep. I felt bad for Wife, as I didn't spend any time with her. I couldn't get up even with me thinking about it. Saturday evening, I got up to have her chicken soup and although I was thinking it was going to suck from the smells in the house, it went down really well. All my aches and pains seemed to disappear while I was up with her.
I don't know if Sunday was more laziness or my body not wanting to get up, but staying in bed so long is probably why I am still sore, specially on my lower back. I got up to go eat a quick lunch before Wife left at Rosa's and I did feel better, once I got moving. I am finishing this at 3:00am, here we go on another week, just hope we are done with the chills and body aches, easily the worst part of the flu.
Sunday, January 8, 2017
1/8/17 Gold Rush Season Six, Worth The Wait?
Hulu finally released a new season of Gold Rush and I don't know why, but I love that show. There is something about the outsiders coming to Alaska and trying to outdo people that have known nothing but mining most of their lives. Todd Hoffman and his crew have been chasing the kid, Parker, since season 1. Back in the first season, when they didn't know any better, they relied on the knowledge of their neighbor, then a high school kid, Parker. There was also a mild introduction of Tony Beets, who we keep getting told is a Klondike legend, although we are never told what makes him a legend.
Anyways, every season has been a little different and this one had Tony Beets trying to bring back to life some dredges that used to operate in the 1930's. These things are like boats that scoop out the shore and run the dirt through sluice boxes to collect gold. Todd Hoffman and crew had their biggest goals this year of going for 2700 ounces of gold, which would have equaled $3million dollars. Parker did not even have goals at the beginning of the season and they had to excavate forty feet of dirt from the ground to get to the ground with gold. Todd and crew were hundreds of ounces ahead of Parker, but as usual, Parker is an animal and he overtakes them by the end of the season.
One of my favorite episodes was when Tony Beets went to visit his mother, he is from the Netherlands originally. We get to see the farm where he grew up and we find out his father was paralyzed by a hay bale falling on him in the barn. At this point, he was fifteen and was carrying the family by doing all the work. This is what makes him the hard ass he is.
By the end of the year, both teams were going to meet their goals, Todd and crew only needed 2700 ounces and Parker was aiming for 3000 ounces. Tony was aiming for 900 ounces from his dredge so it would pay for itself. After a couple of face to face encounters, Todd and Parker made more side bets, more to make the show interesting than because it is necessary. When winter shows up, it is not kidding around. I thought it was a little shitty on Parker's part, after they had gone over the 3000 ounces, and it is about freezing day and night, and their gold sluice box was falling apart, to ask the guys to work one more week. There seemed to be an overwhelming no from the crew, but in the end, this is what makes Parker an animal, they went and got another 380 ounces on the last week, after moving the creek that had been supplying them with water all season, which was ingenious, I thought.
It was also nice to show the old timers that Tony fired settle into a new life still digging for gold, but at a much calmer pace. I know that the new season is on TV right now, but I prefer to watch a season on Hulu or Netflix all at once.
Anyways, every season has been a little different and this one had Tony Beets trying to bring back to life some dredges that used to operate in the 1930's. These things are like boats that scoop out the shore and run the dirt through sluice boxes to collect gold. Todd Hoffman and crew had their biggest goals this year of going for 2700 ounces of gold, which would have equaled $3million dollars. Parker did not even have goals at the beginning of the season and they had to excavate forty feet of dirt from the ground to get to the ground with gold. Todd and crew were hundreds of ounces ahead of Parker, but as usual, Parker is an animal and he overtakes them by the end of the season.
One of my favorite episodes was when Tony Beets went to visit his mother, he is from the Netherlands originally. We get to see the farm where he grew up and we find out his father was paralyzed by a hay bale falling on him in the barn. At this point, he was fifteen and was carrying the family by doing all the work. This is what makes him the hard ass he is.
By the end of the year, both teams were going to meet their goals, Todd and crew only needed 2700 ounces and Parker was aiming for 3000 ounces. Tony was aiming for 900 ounces from his dredge so it would pay for itself. After a couple of face to face encounters, Todd and Parker made more side bets, more to make the show interesting than because it is necessary. When winter shows up, it is not kidding around. I thought it was a little shitty on Parker's part, after they had gone over the 3000 ounces, and it is about freezing day and night, and their gold sluice box was falling apart, to ask the guys to work one more week. There seemed to be an overwhelming no from the crew, but in the end, this is what makes Parker an animal, they went and got another 380 ounces on the last week, after moving the creek that had been supplying them with water all season, which was ingenious, I thought.
It was also nice to show the old timers that Tony fired settle into a new life still digging for gold, but at a much calmer pace. I know that the new season is on TV right now, but I prefer to watch a season on Hulu or Netflix all at once.
Saturday, January 7, 2017
1/7/17 Flu Comes On Like A Bag Of Bricks To The Face?
Just as I was writing about Chubs getting sick the other night, here I am repeating his performance. I was hoping to make it to my weekend and not miss any days, specially because the year just started and I didn't want to go disrupting my brand new batch of Personal Time Off (PTO). Ten years ago at work, it was great, we would actually get 80 hours of sick pay and then 80 hours of vacation time. But, of course, things change. My bad, they did some corrections a year or two ago and they must have given us back the equivalent of 160 hours, but for awhile, it was less. Plus, because we are such a small group and we have been together a long time, I asked my manager if I could make up my Thursday next week, she said that would be fine. Showing that I am sick, the disjointed last few sentences barely get their message out, I was forced to miss a night of work, which is rare for me.
I came home Thursday morning, checked on Chubs, who had been texting me throughout the night. Last I could figure, since he couldn't sleep and he kept telling me his stomach was bothering him, I told him to go to the bathroom, he said he had and nothing happened. I told him it was too late to eat anything, so maybe turn on the TV so it'll distract you. That must have worked, because he stopped texting me and when I came home, he was asleep with the TV on George Lopez. I touched him and it was nice that he wasn't burning up anymore, but he still had diarrhea when he went later in the day.
It feels awesome when you think of a four day weekend, I know, I have them every other week, but as soon as I thought "I am done for the week", was about how much energy I had to screw around. I just wanted to shower and get in bed. Thursday disappeared on me in a fog of dream. I did not really get up until late in the day, maybe 6-7pm. I ate some toast, wary of Chubs having thrown up, I didn't want to repeat everything exactly. I came back up to my room before midnight, not planning on going to sleep, but to watch some more TV, my lower back hurts when I stay in bed too long. I was asleep within five minutes of sitting on the chair, but I still decided to stay there until about 3:00am. I kept waking up every half hour or so, eventually I got up to pee and then I switched over to the bed.
I slept most of the day Friday, getting up at 3:00pm to eat some oatmeal and toast. At this point, I still had not gone #2, which is rare for me, but I decided not to panic since I also had not hardly eaten. Wife had said she would leave work by noon, and come be our hero, but of course, she never leaves early, other people had more important emergencies. I ended up just sleeping until almost 9:30pm, when she finally got home. First thing she did was give me the Mexican penicillin, apparently, you can get this stuff pretty easily down there, but shhh. The worst part of being sick was the joint pain, which Chubs was also complaining about, then it's the fever which makes my head hot and my arms and feet cold, then I sweat up the bed, making it moist and gross to lay back down after I get up to pee. Right now, I am just hoping to be ok by Sunday afternoon for next week, so it can go a hell of a lot smoother.
I came home Thursday morning, checked on Chubs, who had been texting me throughout the night. Last I could figure, since he couldn't sleep and he kept telling me his stomach was bothering him, I told him to go to the bathroom, he said he had and nothing happened. I told him it was too late to eat anything, so maybe turn on the TV so it'll distract you. That must have worked, because he stopped texting me and when I came home, he was asleep with the TV on George Lopez. I touched him and it was nice that he wasn't burning up anymore, but he still had diarrhea when he went later in the day.
It feels awesome when you think of a four day weekend, I know, I have them every other week, but as soon as I thought "I am done for the week", was about how much energy I had to screw around. I just wanted to shower and get in bed. Thursday disappeared on me in a fog of dream. I did not really get up until late in the day, maybe 6-7pm. I ate some toast, wary of Chubs having thrown up, I didn't want to repeat everything exactly. I came back up to my room before midnight, not planning on going to sleep, but to watch some more TV, my lower back hurts when I stay in bed too long. I was asleep within five minutes of sitting on the chair, but I still decided to stay there until about 3:00am. I kept waking up every half hour or so, eventually I got up to pee and then I switched over to the bed.
I slept most of the day Friday, getting up at 3:00pm to eat some oatmeal and toast. At this point, I still had not gone #2, which is rare for me, but I decided not to panic since I also had not hardly eaten. Wife had said she would leave work by noon, and come be our hero, but of course, she never leaves early, other people had more important emergencies. I ended up just sleeping until almost 9:30pm, when she finally got home. First thing she did was give me the Mexican penicillin, apparently, you can get this stuff pretty easily down there, but shhh. The worst part of being sick was the joint pain, which Chubs was also complaining about, then it's the fever which makes my head hot and my arms and feet cold, then I sweat up the bed, making it moist and gross to lay back down after I get up to pee. Right now, I am just hoping to be ok by Sunday afternoon for next week, so it can go a hell of a lot smoother.
Friday, January 6, 2017
1/6/17 At What Point DoYou Stop Being A Kid?
As I mentioned awhile back, Girlie moved in with us about a month ago, but she has barely been at the house, opting to stay with her family through the Christmas break so she could run around at whatever hours she chooses, I guess. All that doesn't really matter, for now. Today, she got a package which I assume is a belated Christmas gift from a friend/classmate who lives in California. I texted her to let her know, and she had no idea she was getting a package. I told her the name as it was written on the box, and she still couldn't make heads or tails. I get a little antsy with stuff like this, first off, how many people know you live in our house, you haven't told the world. A little rude, but this unclogs her memory and she says oh yeah, so and so called me a couple weeks ago, he is living in California. I remembered the kid, she brought him over to the house a couple times, little quiet Asian dude, well, aren't they all?
Later on, she was on Snapchat talking about her "twinsie" knows her so well, and she loves the gifts. It was some shot glasses from different California locations and a larger Starbucks coffee mug. I don't know where the twins thing comes from she's half beaner, half Puerto Rican, he looked Asian to me. I guess when you are in high school stuff like that can work out, I had two fat friends in high school, occasionally we would get called The Fat Boys, there was a rap group with three fat dudes back in the 80s, I am sure they no longer walk the earth. Fuck that, I wouldn't want some jack-ass calling me that nowadays.
I guess she's a girl, she can pass off trying to be cute, specially on lame sites like Snapchat that are not seen by everyone. That is my question though, when do we drop the cutesy stuff from our childhood, and why? I remember I loved playing in mud, I think I could still get into it, but the minute I would try doing that, I would be judged nuts. I stopped playing video games because I think they are entertainment for kids, yet I know there are tournaments where people can win more than I make a year by being the best at Halo or other games.
Can you go in reverse then? What if I decide I am going to take the day off, go to Gattitown and try to win all the games in the claw machine, which I can only play when Chubs was younger and he wanted whatever stuffed animal. I liked winning, still do, but I have to control myself and try and look like an adult at all times.
Later on, she was on Snapchat talking about her "twinsie" knows her so well, and she loves the gifts. It was some shot glasses from different California locations and a larger Starbucks coffee mug. I don't know where the twins thing comes from she's half beaner, half Puerto Rican, he looked Asian to me. I guess when you are in high school stuff like that can work out, I had two fat friends in high school, occasionally we would get called The Fat Boys, there was a rap group with three fat dudes back in the 80s, I am sure they no longer walk the earth. Fuck that, I wouldn't want some jack-ass calling me that nowadays.
I guess she's a girl, she can pass off trying to be cute, specially on lame sites like Snapchat that are not seen by everyone. That is my question though, when do we drop the cutesy stuff from our childhood, and why? I remember I loved playing in mud, I think I could still get into it, but the minute I would try doing that, I would be judged nuts. I stopped playing video games because I think they are entertainment for kids, yet I know there are tournaments where people can win more than I make a year by being the best at Halo or other games.
Can you go in reverse then? What if I decide I am going to take the day off, go to Gattitown and try to win all the games in the claw machine, which I can only play when Chubs was younger and he wanted whatever stuffed animal. I liked winning, still do, but I have to control myself and try and look like an adult at all times.
Thursday, January 5, 2017
1/5/17 Why Couldn't Chubs Get Sick Last Week?
I hate it when people around me get sick. I have to put myself at risk of getting sick or look like a selfish asshole who only cares about me. Last week, my folks were supposed to come visit for a few days between Christmas and New Year's and all seemed well, until my Mom woke up sick. I can handle allergies or a little sniffling, but she sounded like she was on her last legs and then a couple days later she told me Dad had fallen to the same cold/flu. I couldn't help but put them in a proverbial canoe and kick them out into the ocean. I know it is cold, but I have enough problems with my leg and my tiredness and my low T. I checked in on them a couple times by phone, but I certainly didn't plan on getting myself sick voluntarily.
No good plan goes unpunished, Chubs still woke up sick yesterday, Tuesday morning. This sucks because he is supposed to go to school Wednesday morning but he was hot and looking like shit. I feel bad for him, but again, bring the canoe, I don't want to hug him or anything, lest I get sick too. I know my dick behavior will just be punished by having me get sick too. I have two more nights to work this week at this point, if I am going to get sick, it would be great if it would coincide with my weekend, as I hate having to miss work because I am sick.
If I think about it, I guess it was shitty to not see my folks during the break, but the plans were there. The worst part was that we ended up driving rather close to their house when we went and dropped off the boat at Wife's cousin's house. We were probably a half hour from their house, but I wasn't in the right mindset. I had been overwhelmed by the idea of driving with the boat, pretty sure it was going to have a flat tire or a wheel would just fall off. I drove it as stressed as I have in a long time, luckily it gave us no problems. When we got it off, I just wanted to go to sleep and head back home.
Anyways, best I could do for Chubs yesterday was to get him some medicine, I personally like Nyquil cause it knocks you out. I probably have to go get him some Gatorades today if he continues sick and I guess he will get to stay home an extra day. If he had gotten sick last week, Mama would have been here to handle him, with soups and love. I'm just telling him to shower from across the room and to go lay down in his room, with a hearty shoo. I don't need him coughing in my bed. I guess I signed up for this. Poor me, waah.
No good plan goes unpunished, Chubs still woke up sick yesterday, Tuesday morning. This sucks because he is supposed to go to school Wednesday morning but he was hot and looking like shit. I feel bad for him, but again, bring the canoe, I don't want to hug him or anything, lest I get sick too. I know my dick behavior will just be punished by having me get sick too. I have two more nights to work this week at this point, if I am going to get sick, it would be great if it would coincide with my weekend, as I hate having to miss work because I am sick.
If I think about it, I guess it was shitty to not see my folks during the break, but the plans were there. The worst part was that we ended up driving rather close to their house when we went and dropped off the boat at Wife's cousin's house. We were probably a half hour from their house, but I wasn't in the right mindset. I had been overwhelmed by the idea of driving with the boat, pretty sure it was going to have a flat tire or a wheel would just fall off. I drove it as stressed as I have in a long time, luckily it gave us no problems. When we got it off, I just wanted to go to sleep and head back home.
Anyways, best I could do for Chubs yesterday was to get him some medicine, I personally like Nyquil cause it knocks you out. I probably have to go get him some Gatorades today if he continues sick and I guess he will get to stay home an extra day. If he had gotten sick last week, Mama would have been here to handle him, with soups and love. I'm just telling him to shower from across the room and to go lay down in his room, with a hearty shoo. I don't need him coughing in my bed. I guess I signed up for this. Poor me, waah.
Wednesday, January 4, 2017
1/4/17 First World Problems, Truck Edition?
Last year, I bought a one year membership to the car wash place by the house. It was something like $550 which is a good chunk of change, but dammit, do I like when my truck looks shiny and washed. The main reason I got the membership was that we were in a drought and we were not supposed to wash our cars in our own driveways, so I succumbed to the pressure of a dirty truck and bit the bullet. I felt a little guilty at first as I have never liked other people doing the work that I should be doing, but it got easier and easier, specially with Fuddrucker's on one side and Rosa's Tortilla and Café on the other. What could be easier than dropping off the truck, going to eat, then coming out to a shiny truck. Wife said it was up to me if I wanted to put it on a card just to pay it, but I hate doing that right as we got past the holidays and all the other charging of stuff we did.
I then have to think about my options. I could technically wash it now, we are not in stage 2 of the drought thing, but I do still have a hole in my leg which I shouldn't be getting wet. The truck is so big, when I do wash it, it is about a two hour affair. I am climbing in the back to wash the roof, then down, then back up to dry it. I can wash Wife's car in half an hour, or even Boy's Edge, but the truck is big and tall, so it takes a little more effort. Not only do they do it in a fraction of the time, I can do it as many times as I need, the lady always told me not to hesitate, if you wash it and it rains, come back in the next day. She also said she would give me a discount since I am such a good customer to renew, I don't know what that means, maybe I didn't take my truck in enough times. I didn't see a point to washing it if rain is expected all week. I do like it washed if it is going to be cold and dry, but I would never go outside and foolishly risk getting myself sick.
I am also due on an oil change. Do I do it here at the local Ford which will charge me $30-40, or do I drive to Hutto where I bought it and I have a lifetime oil change for $10. I can get out there pretty quickly by jumping on the toll road and hauling ass, it is fun to go 85-90 and get where you're going, but then there is a toll fee, and I kind of have to plan it, specially with Chubs heading back to class on Wednesday. Maybe this time, I just need to do it here at Maxwell Ford to save time. $10 sounds cheap, but I end up paying more in gas and then those pesky tolls. Now I am feeling stupid for having slept so much last week, there was so much to do.
I then have to think about my options. I could technically wash it now, we are not in stage 2 of the drought thing, but I do still have a hole in my leg which I shouldn't be getting wet. The truck is so big, when I do wash it, it is about a two hour affair. I am climbing in the back to wash the roof, then down, then back up to dry it. I can wash Wife's car in half an hour, or even Boy's Edge, but the truck is big and tall, so it takes a little more effort. Not only do they do it in a fraction of the time, I can do it as many times as I need, the lady always told me not to hesitate, if you wash it and it rains, come back in the next day. She also said she would give me a discount since I am such a good customer to renew, I don't know what that means, maybe I didn't take my truck in enough times. I didn't see a point to washing it if rain is expected all week. I do like it washed if it is going to be cold and dry, but I would never go outside and foolishly risk getting myself sick.
I am also due on an oil change. Do I do it here at the local Ford which will charge me $30-40, or do I drive to Hutto where I bought it and I have a lifetime oil change for $10. I can get out there pretty quickly by jumping on the toll road and hauling ass, it is fun to go 85-90 and get where you're going, but then there is a toll fee, and I kind of have to plan it, specially with Chubs heading back to class on Wednesday. Maybe this time, I just need to do it here at Maxwell Ford to save time. $10 sounds cheap, but I end up paying more in gas and then those pesky tolls. Now I am feeling stupid for having slept so much last week, there was so much to do.
Tuesday, January 3, 2017
1/3/17 Just Like That, Did We Have A Break?
What happened to all that rest I thought I would accumulate over the holidays? Monday morning woke me with a swift kick to the gonads. I had my weekly appointment which I got up for with plenty of time, but then I fell asleep since I wasn't waking up Chubs like I usually do, which made me almost late. I was really hoping that I would be another centimeter closed or maybe even more, but instead, the measurements didn't show much of an improvement. I was told that changing to the new collagen would have a delay then it would take off and close the wound pretty fast. I also had it in my head just as a personal goal to be done with all this crap by the end of the year. Nope, good old doctor tells me I'll need to lose 50-70 pounds to help the wound to heal, which you know is easy to do. I just decided to go to bed, which Wife was still there, but I didn't want to bother her much. She then woke at 1:00pm and started her passive aggressively making noise in the bedroom to wake me, not that my alarm wouldn't wake me at 2:30pm and/or 3:00pm. When Mama gots to go, Mama gots to go. I eventually woke up, feeling pretty shitty at 2:30pm, washed my face, and went out with Wife and Chubs to have our regular "last meal" before she hot foots it out of town. I want my woman back in town, I hate being Mr. Mom. She is so much better at it. She asked me what the boys ate for dinner, and I honestly answered "I hadn't even thought about it, but there ain't shit in the fridge." Dammit, gotta go get some groceries tomorrow.
We ate at Zaxby's, which I still can't get enough of, but I did go with their cobb salad, at 800 calories, and washed it down with a zero calorie orange PowerAde. I like how the skinny jerk-offs like to say "the only people that drink diet sodas are fat people." No shit, Sherlock, why would a skinny person drink it, they're not as good as the real thing?
Just to make it a little more fun, Chubs finally remembered he had a huge Math homework compilation thing to do with like 37 problems covering the whole semester. Wife is gone, I have an hour to poop, shower, and get to work, see where I fit in this homework. My lunch hour at 10:30pm was then reviewing and trying to figure out what half these problems were looking for in their answers. I told Chubs to just do about twenty, but once I get going, I can't stop. We went through and did all the problems, it got better as we went along. We ordered pizza sunday night, and there were a few slices left, which the boys ate, so nobody starved.
The only good thing I can say about my first day back to work is that nobody was here during the day, so nothing got done. Chemistry had the tool off and I haven't gone through and turned it on from a cold start, so I wasn't going to try, and the imaging tool looked like it was down for a source change, which is done by the people who sold us the tool, so I get to kind of take it easy, workwise.
We ate at Zaxby's, which I still can't get enough of, but I did go with their cobb salad, at 800 calories, and washed it down with a zero calorie orange PowerAde. I like how the skinny jerk-offs like to say "the only people that drink diet sodas are fat people." No shit, Sherlock, why would a skinny person drink it, they're not as good as the real thing?
Just to make it a little more fun, Chubs finally remembered he had a huge Math homework compilation thing to do with like 37 problems covering the whole semester. Wife is gone, I have an hour to poop, shower, and get to work, see where I fit in this homework. My lunch hour at 10:30pm was then reviewing and trying to figure out what half these problems were looking for in their answers. I told Chubs to just do about twenty, but once I get going, I can't stop. We went through and did all the problems, it got better as we went along. We ordered pizza sunday night, and there were a few slices left, which the boys ate, so nobody starved.
The only good thing I can say about my first day back to work is that nobody was here during the day, so nothing got done. Chemistry had the tool off and I haven't gone through and turned it on from a cold start, so I wasn't going to try, and the imaging tool looked like it was down for a source change, which is done by the people who sold us the tool, so I get to kind of take it easy, workwise.
Monday, January 2, 2017
1/2/17 Hung Over Without The Alcohol?
Yesterday did not end until 6:00am for us last night. We got back late from San Antonio and then I wrote my blog while Chubs made some quesadillas because he did not eat, according to him. This morning I jokingly accused him of finishing the tortillas making quesadillas and he didn't know what I was talking about. He must have been in a fog about being awake and asleep as it took him awhile to do the "oh yeah, I did eat."
I wanted to get up around noon, but there was no way. I ended up waking up at 3:00pm and I just sat on the edge of the bed deciding whether to get up or not for another twenty minutes. Since we did not have an agenda, I came downstairs, Wife offered to heat up brisket that our in-laws gave us from the night before. This was when I was teasing Chubs about eating all the tortillas, we could only make two tacos apiece.
Not having anything better to do, I stayed on the laptop at the kitchen table and kept watching funny short videos or vines. Funny phrases from Friday kept popping up and they reminded me that I had been wanting to re-watch Friday with Chubs. Just as I thought, Chubs loved the humor, and he absolutely loved the Chris Tucker character, Smokey. Not having anything to do, we also watched Friday After Next, which Chubs hesitated on because it was missing Smokey. I saw about half of it and then fell asleep. I woke up about 9:00pm, a little confused so I took a shower and pooped.
Wife ordered pizza and we had dinner around 10:00pm. Even though we got up late in the day, the day still has seemed very long. It is about 1:00am now and the best thing we have done is start watching People Of Earth. It is a comedy show on TBS about a small group of people in a small town dealing with being abducted by aliens.
It will take a couple weeks to get back to normal, but at least most of the clothes has been washed, I need to iron a couple of Chub's green shirts for school. I then plan to start throwing away all the Christmas foods that we bought and have been slowly eating this week.
Wife leaves back to her job tomorrow afternoon, she chose to stay an extra day since the boys and myself are off. It will be two and a half months before we come up to Spring Break which seems far away right now. There are a couple days somewhere around Easter, but this job is not like in Bastrop where she got her summer's off. There don't seem to be a lot of opportunities where she will be here with us for any extended periods.
This is what we signed up for. At some point I'll make time and put away the tree and the decorations, make the house look normal again. It would also be nice if in the next week or two, we get our solar panels approved by the city and we start using them to provide our own power.
I wanted to get up around noon, but there was no way. I ended up waking up at 3:00pm and I just sat on the edge of the bed deciding whether to get up or not for another twenty minutes. Since we did not have an agenda, I came downstairs, Wife offered to heat up brisket that our in-laws gave us from the night before. This was when I was teasing Chubs about eating all the tortillas, we could only make two tacos apiece.
Not having anything better to do, I stayed on the laptop at the kitchen table and kept watching funny short videos or vines. Funny phrases from Friday kept popping up and they reminded me that I had been wanting to re-watch Friday with Chubs. Just as I thought, Chubs loved the humor, and he absolutely loved the Chris Tucker character, Smokey. Not having anything to do, we also watched Friday After Next, which Chubs hesitated on because it was missing Smokey. I saw about half of it and then fell asleep. I woke up about 9:00pm, a little confused so I took a shower and pooped.
Wife ordered pizza and we had dinner around 10:00pm. Even though we got up late in the day, the day still has seemed very long. It is about 1:00am now and the best thing we have done is start watching People Of Earth. It is a comedy show on TBS about a small group of people in a small town dealing with being abducted by aliens.
It will take a couple weeks to get back to normal, but at least most of the clothes has been washed, I need to iron a couple of Chub's green shirts for school. I then plan to start throwing away all the Christmas foods that we bought and have been slowly eating this week.
Wife leaves back to her job tomorrow afternoon, she chose to stay an extra day since the boys and myself are off. It will be two and a half months before we come up to Spring Break which seems far away right now. There are a couple days somewhere around Easter, but this job is not like in Bastrop where she got her summer's off. There don't seem to be a lot of opportunities where she will be here with us for any extended periods.
This is what we signed up for. At some point I'll make time and put away the tree and the decorations, make the house look normal again. It would also be nice if in the next week or two, we get our solar panels approved by the city and we start using them to provide our own power.
Sunday, January 1, 2017
1/1/17 Partying On New Year's Eve?
Happy New Years!!! So far, so good. 2017 has started off better for me and my wallet. Usually, I am the one charged with buying fireworks since my boys go crazy for them. Tonight was a little different, we got together with Wife's family at her brother's house. He just got a new house in the same neighborhood as my in-law's, probably two or three blocks away a couple months ago. The house itself is looking very nice, when we first saw it a couple months ago it needed new floors and/or carpeting. They got a cousin to work on it and the staircase looks brand new covered in wood, the front formal living/dining area are covered in wood too, as well as a large part of the family room. Upstairs, new carpeting was installed in all the bedrooms, and I am guessing the whole house was repainted inside.
As far as the party goes, it was a little weird in that I don't normally like visiting with people outside of my small circle, but I got dragged in almost to the center of the party, as they say. I am comfortable enough with my immediate in-laws, but the party was also filled with my brother in-law's wife's sisters and their husbands/boyfriends. She has about four sisters and each one had a man/family to add to the party. One of the guys was an old friend of mine, not real close but he is one of the guys that got me driving the bus at the junior college, and we were even together the night we crashed in another friend's car. It was good catching up with him and I got to recount my story about my injury to my leg a couple times with pics which people seem to like to be grossed out and are then surprised that I am not diabetic and that I didn't lose my leg.
Boy pretty much sat with me outside in the patio all night as the guys talked and slowly the women joined in. Wife, came and went a couple of times, adding to my stories and included some of her own. It was one of the first times being around new people where I felt pretty good and secure that people were laughing at my jokes and I didn't feel like I had to do too much. This old friend does pretty well for himself, and he had already bought a bunch of fireworks which were piled up in the patio. I wasn't going to do much to change the outcome of the fireworks display, and Boy didn't seem like he wanted to go get any. Chubs spent the whole time running around with the younger cousins and kids. When he came by my side to pop some fireworks, he was drenched in sweat. I was able to save him from looking like a wimp by doing a little yelling. Some of the older kids were lighting black cats and flinging them from their fingers. He did it once, and I got nervous, but I noticed he was taking a long time to repeat it, so I told him to cut it out, I don't usually let you do that. That was enough for him to put down the punk, he got a little scared too as the black cat stuck to his fingers a bit. My brother in law's two middle kids were doing the same thing and the smaller one is in 1st or 2nd grade, I asked my brother in law if that was ok, he yelled at the little one to stop it, then mama came out and told the other one to stop doing that. I smiled and told her, the younger one was doing that a while ago too.
We all went inside about ten minutes until midnight because you can't trust a beaner and New Year's... guns have to be shot up at the sky. We know from experience that idiots shoot their guns mostly up and what goes up, must come down. We brought the new year in with a little champagne and black eyed peas, for good luck. Everyone was hugged, my folks were called, and then it was time to drive back to Austin, glad Wife doesn't mind doing that. Hoping everyone has an awesome new year!!
As far as the party goes, it was a little weird in that I don't normally like visiting with people outside of my small circle, but I got dragged in almost to the center of the party, as they say. I am comfortable enough with my immediate in-laws, but the party was also filled with my brother in-law's wife's sisters and their husbands/boyfriends. She has about four sisters and each one had a man/family to add to the party. One of the guys was an old friend of mine, not real close but he is one of the guys that got me driving the bus at the junior college, and we were even together the night we crashed in another friend's car. It was good catching up with him and I got to recount my story about my injury to my leg a couple times with pics which people seem to like to be grossed out and are then surprised that I am not diabetic and that I didn't lose my leg.
Boy pretty much sat with me outside in the patio all night as the guys talked and slowly the women joined in. Wife, came and went a couple of times, adding to my stories and included some of her own. It was one of the first times being around new people where I felt pretty good and secure that people were laughing at my jokes and I didn't feel like I had to do too much. This old friend does pretty well for himself, and he had already bought a bunch of fireworks which were piled up in the patio. I wasn't going to do much to change the outcome of the fireworks display, and Boy didn't seem like he wanted to go get any. Chubs spent the whole time running around with the younger cousins and kids. When he came by my side to pop some fireworks, he was drenched in sweat. I was able to save him from looking like a wimp by doing a little yelling. Some of the older kids were lighting black cats and flinging them from their fingers. He did it once, and I got nervous, but I noticed he was taking a long time to repeat it, so I told him to cut it out, I don't usually let you do that. That was enough for him to put down the punk, he got a little scared too as the black cat stuck to his fingers a bit. My brother in law's two middle kids were doing the same thing and the smaller one is in 1st or 2nd grade, I asked my brother in law if that was ok, he yelled at the little one to stop it, then mama came out and told the other one to stop doing that. I smiled and told her, the younger one was doing that a while ago too.
We all went inside about ten minutes until midnight because you can't trust a beaner and New Year's... guns have to be shot up at the sky. We know from experience that idiots shoot their guns mostly up and what goes up, must come down. We brought the new year in with a little champagne and black eyed peas, for good luck. Everyone was hugged, my folks were called, and then it was time to drive back to Austin, glad Wife doesn't mind doing that. Hoping everyone has an awesome new year!!
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