5/31/17 An Awkward Idea?

    I did not begin letting people stay with us because I needed help financially, I was trying to help people I care about that seemed to need a hand up.  With the surprise beat down I got a couple weeks ago by my higher ups at work, it seems I am the one in need of saving.  All of a sudden, Wife surpassed me in take home salary, and I don't see that changing.  I am fine with that, as I have carried her for the last twenty plus years, she can now carry me for a while.
    An interesting idea that is sort of building itself is Girlie has a friend that might be interested in staying with us, and although we don't have more rooms, our house is a 5 bedroom 3 bath two story beauty.  I will do whatever within reason to keep it, so if I take in another renter, so be it.  Wife is only here on the weekends, and I work during the week at nights, so I end up sleeping all day. 
    What if I get serious about this and do like the houses in Florida?  I could convert the room downstairs where we have the pool table into another bedroom and get another renter.  People don't bother me, they might bother Wife, but I always say, the more the merrier, as long as I choose them, and they got boobs, preferably.
    My rules have pretty much been followed.  I don't want extra people I don't know that might get out of hand and put my kids at risk.  Boy's friend has not had anyone over, other than another of Boy's friends from Del Valle.  This kid was in Houston, and just graduated this year with a degree in hotel management, I always thought it was a weird degree, but he started with it and finished, so congratulations.  Girlie brings other girls over occasionally, and her siblings, which hasn't been a problem, so far.  Chubs is the same age as her youngest brother, so they kind of get along with the video games.
    I almost wish I could move the walls around and make more and smaller rooms right now.  Boy has an extremely long room, Chubs room is almost as big as the garage below it.  Our bedroom is split into two rooms in some of the floorplans we saw when we were building our house, in order to have a bedroom and a reading/TV room in the same room.  These plans are probably too grandiose, but at least I'm not thinking I am going to lose everything like I was last week.  I believe I will probably walk away with my ego bruised, but no physical damage, as long as the worst is behind us.

5/30/17 Uber As My Hero?

    If it comes to this, I hope my first passenger is my boss.  The fuck I go and get a college degree if I can't keep my shit unless I take on a second job.  I am fast running out of time and have some decisions to make.  With the raping I got in regards to my pay, I have a few choices to make to stay as I am.  I can hope and pray that something good happens by itself, maybe Wife gets a huge promotion to come back to Austin or somewhere else, maybe we get the contract we've been waiting for and all of a sudden we get some much needed overtime.  This is not the best way to go about things, Wife says I should be proactive, not reactive.  If I am going to be proactive, I have a couple of choices.  First and foremost is probably selling my truck, which I love, but at almost $700 a month, it has to go to stay within the budget we had a month ago.  This only gets me halfway to my goal, as my pay was cut $1300.  Luckily, I still have some old AMD stock and I can sell it and pay off my RV which I owe less than a year on.  This and the truck puts me at about $1100 when you include insurance.  We also called our insurance and dropped some unneeded things like rental car if we can't drive ours, and we are returning some cable boxes, which together save us another $50-60 bucks.  I may still be short $150-200, I will figure elsewhere to thin things.
    Wife woke me Sunday morning saying the governor had overturned the ruling on Uber and Lyft, they can both operate here in the city, so anyone with a car can transport drunk people and people that don't like owning cars.  I have mixed feelings about this, first because I don't generally like people, and watching some horrible people refusing to get off people's cars and needing proof of their bad behavior for the cops, so setting up your vehicle with cameras seems like a pain in the ass.  The fact that I could target just the evenings when people are running around downtown, such as Thursday and Friday, could be good.  If I could make a couple hundred bucks on Thursday and Fridays, things could still be good.  I still want to keep my truck, but I don't see it happening without some miracle and pronto.
    Wife says I should explore other companies in the area doing what I do, and I already looked, but none of the jobs call for my specific knowledge.  I will keep an eye out, though.  She says my bottom is always to work as a teacher, she could even get me in over there at her school district, but I am afraid I would shoot myself in the head, if I had to go back to Crystal a fucking loser with nothing to show but a U-haul full of old shit and a pocket full of disappointments.

5/29/17 Guardians Of The Galaxy Volume Two

    If anything, Guardians of The Galaxy teaches us that we can be family without looking like each other, and sometimes family can be more lethal than the people you rely on daily.  The story picks up as the guardians are getting ready to fight a big slug on some flat disk out in open space.  By now the team works as one unit, firing and taking their turns at the big bad guy.  They are in the process of taking out this evil thing for pay, so their work is not so much of valor as it is of financial compensation.  Rocket finds it funny to steal some of their energy cells (batteries) and after they are compensated by a group that thinks way too highly of itself, they are chased and hunted down.
    The group is tentatively saved by Star-Lord's father, Ego, and there is a weird reception and eventually Ego invites Star-Lord and a couple of them to go back to his planet to show him proof that he is his father.  Meanwhile, Yondu, who was supposed to steal Star-Lord from earth and deliver him to Ego, but never did, is still around and upon hearing Star-Lord has connected with Ego wants to maybe go save him.
    It turns out, Ego is really a minor god with intentions of making everything into his likeness, destroying life as we see it.  By himself, he is not strong enough to conduct his plan, but by using his son's body, he has access to two celestial bodies and then becomes twice as strong.  About the time, Star-Lord is all convinced about his father being great, he starts revealing himself and the truth.  He put the cancer in his mom's brain, just to get rid of her, and this infuriates Star-Lord enough to break the trance.  Gamora and Drax have joined him on the planet visit, and before long, Gamora's sister is on the planet looking for her tiring revenge.
    The sisters fight it out a little bit and then accept that it is neither of their faults their father was a monster who set them up against each other for his own crazy enjoyment.  Yondu teams up with Rocket and Groot to escape his henchmen who have turned on him, and shows up on the planet just in time to help save Star-Lord.  There is a weird meet-up with Sylvester Stallone telling Yondu he will die without honor, for being the way he is.
    As Ego starts looking like a really bad parent to his one true son, Yondu is ready to do what has to be done, and in the last scene we see him sacrifice himself for Star-Lord who he raised as his son.  Yondu explains that he kept him from Ego because he found out what Ego was trying to do, desperately trying to clone himself in every planet he found to see who could survive holding the light.  Star-Lord wasn't special, Ego was just a dirty pervert procreating all over the universe to try and make more of him.  Yondu dies saving Star-Lord in a very heroic way and it was very touching.  The team and the whole premise for Guardians seems to be to show love and support for each other, as you don't know how quickly it can be taken away.
    I tried my hardest to avoid the previews, I had no idea what to expect, and the movie delivered on entertainment.  It was a little cheesy and cliché, but that is part of the fun, in these movies.

5/28/17 A Year Apart?

    School has just about finished, Wife had her graduation night Friday night, good or bad, there were about 38 graduates and that ended the school year over there.  When she goes back on Tuesday, it will be in summer mode, which means ten hour days, but only four days a week.  I like that she will be up here one more day during the weekends.  Boy finished his classes about a week ago, passed everything, and is trying to work himself into a full forty week schedule, specially because we are asking for him to help us pay for part of his vehicle, at least through the summer.  Chubs has two more days of school, a week off and then he is doing a summer enrichment program for math.  It should keep him busy for a couple weeks, at least.
    So now I can ask "did I like this past year?"  Not particularly.  At the start of the year, when Wife left, I had visions of buying me a high dollar kayak and just enjoying being me.  I had my new truck, I was going to be a fisherman dude, work wasn't demanding too much of me, and I still had a spring in my step.  Wife was starting on a path which I still think is important for her, which is to be a director wherever they will take her to get the experience to hopefully come back.  I still support her doing this.  Chubs was going with mama to go to school in Crystal City and Boy prefers hanging with his friends more than bothering with me.
    It took me about three weeks hearing Chubs saying he missed me and he would do whatever for me to break down and realize I missed having him here too.  He came back, Boy has his friends, but he is a worse homebody than me, and he just seems to be around the house, all the time.  I got my freak accident on my leg, which just totally ruined any ideas of being around open waters, so no fishing for this fat boy.
    During the year, I got two renters, Girlie, and Boy's friend, I thought this was going to be the free money for my wallet, or to help pay for my Rolex addiction, or that high dollar kayak, but no.  My company is going through some troubled waters mostly from buying shit we didn't need in Boston, but our pays were cut, and now this fun money which has been medical bills money will now barely keeping me afloat while we figure out the next step.
    Basically, things are the same as always, except Wife is not around for the occasional quickie during the week.  She comes through like a hurricane wanting the house cleaned this and that.  It never looks that bad to me.  We can do another year, but she needs to learn to chill out when she is here.

5/27/17 The Break-Up (Movie)

    Sorry for so many movie comments, but I have been stuck at work and there is nothing else going on.  The boys are pretty much done with school, we are waiting on summertime and my leg to heal to see if we go swimming anywhere.  But here goes another shitty movie review....
    I did not like this movie mainly on the fact that Vince Vaughn was not the right actor for the role.  I think he can be funny, loved him in Old School where he was larger than life and took over everybody.  That type of personality does not work in a relationship with a classy type of chick like Aniston is trying to be in this movie.  I like her too, and she mostly fills in the role of smart, educated chick who wants the perfect life mixed in with her loving family, but she chose the wrong guy.  The Vaughn character is a slob who would rather sit around playing video games when he knows the wife needs him acting like a man.  He seems overwhelmed around her and they don't even have kids yet.
    I don't like to see a man playing video games, it screams man-child, even as they get more common place in the adult world, I refuse to think a real man is going to sit and waste hours playing video games if he has bills and other real world shit to take care of.
    When they are having dinner with both families he seems genuinely repulsed by the idea of the brother singing and involving everybody in a sing along, big deal that he is gay, it seemed like a fun moment, just clap your hands or whatever.  No, he sits there insisting that's not his thing.  Jackass!
    Once they get into the meat of the movie, the actual break up, he is just like a piece of furniture, refusing to do anything to show his girlfriend he gives two shits about her, other than refusing to abandon the apartment.  She walks around nude, he acts like he doesn't notice, she brings over guys, he continues playing video games.  If he wanted her back, make a move, Bozo.  No, he is too busy acting like a man-child refusing to show any growth, depth of character, or ability to learn and adjust to a situation before him.
    In the last scene, it takes his friend to tell him "yeah, you're a selfish, self-centered asshole, good in a bar, but a horrible human being" to even start getting him to try something different.  She still breaks up with him, smartest thing she does, but like most stupid good looking girls, she'll go back and wonder why am I in a loveless marriage?  Because you insisted on marrying a dick.
    I liked everybody in this movie, I just didn't buy the love aspect of it.

5/26/17 Queen Of The South? (Netflix Series)

    This is not a Netflix original, although it started like one.  The first episodes were full of thrills and emotional roller coasters.  Teresa (Alice Braga) just wanted out after the love of her life was murdered, but that is not how it works when working with "bad hombres".  Through luck and happenstance, she manages to escape the boss's murderers and she ends up in the hands of the boss's wife.  Lucky for Teresa, the wife, played by a smoldering Veronica Falcon, older but sexy as can be for a woman with murder in her eyes.
    The wife keeps Teresa and lies to her husband, as she is making plans to steal the business from her husband.  She is settled in Dallas, Texas, and he is in Sinaloa, Mexico.  He wants to become legitimate and become a governor, she is fully interested in keeping her business booming, at whatever costs.  For no reason, trust is slowly given to Teresa and soon she is running drugs for the wife in the Dallas area.  She keeps being in the right place at the right time, and soon has enough trust that she is making deliveries on her own.
    Teresa has a couple things going on, first her boyfriend gave her a book, which she managed to hide before capture and her best friend (Brenda) who is not very bright, and kind of dumb, actually.  Teresa is constantly trying to keep them all alive, and it becomes even more emotionally involving because Brenda is dumb but she has a little boy, and you can feel she isn't going to make it all season.
    Teresa sees herself in a sort of vision, her alter ego keeps telling herself to fight and survive another day, soon she will be on top.  Several times, it looks pretty bad, and her alter ego almost summons her to be more than she is, when she is getting raped, her lifeless body almost given up entirely fights one last time and reaches for a gun, blasts the bad guy in the side of the head, and thus makes her escape.
    My problem with the storylines is I live in Texas, you can't run from Dallas to the border and back and have enough energy to act like now what are we doing the rest of the afternoon?  That is a draining at least 14 hour trip, and they do it constantly on the show. 
    I can respect the aspect of the mafia families, but when the wife starts getting desperate, she starts making some shitty decisions, such as when they decide to kill the Florida guys.  That was just sloppy and just to steal from them, there is no honor in that.  Then her insistence on killing "Birdman" was also shitty, as the reason she was so comfortable and powerful was because her husband provided all the dirty muscle work.  The best part was when her daughter shat all over her, telling her "you hate dad more than you love me, and you are not protecting me, you are just using me as a prize to hurt dad.  Why couldn't it be enough for you to stay with dad, to be my mother?  Why did you have to abandon me and go to Dallas, to prove that you are a strong woman?  Be a mother, be a wife!  That should be enough.  Instead of the daughter of a governor, you just made me the daughter of a drug lord, thank you."
    By the end of the season, Husband and wife have gone to war, Teresa has the book and insists if she has to continue she will no longer just be a pawn, she will be more, Brenda is dead, and just for shits and giggles, Guerro, Teresa's love is alive, looks to be in a CIA/FBI building like he was working undercover, but he identifies Teresa, so we shall see what happens.

5/25/17 What Goes Up, Must Come Down?

    We were all lied to growing up.  Work hard and you will be rewarded.  I am starting to think that is bullshit to get the few of us stupid enough to believe to go along with this nonsensical shit.  I have done nothing but work hard, for what, we were told a couple weeks ago we were all going to get a pay cut.  Instead of doing it diplomatically and at least everyone getting a 10% or 15% cut, they decided to weigh everyone independently. 
    I thought I was being helpful when I offered myself to the chemistry group, since the imaging group has been so lackluster lately.  Here is the smooth way they then turned my generosity into a dull dildo and shoved it right back where the sun doesn't shine.  My salary was then compared to "chemists" in the industry, instead of engineers and word is that chemists make less, so my salary was cut, not once, but twice.  They also made the announcement that all people on nightshift will instead of getting 15% extra will now only get 5%.  That sounds freaking awesome if there were still thousands of us, it might make a savings, but there is only myself left on nightshift.  Apart from the 15% pay cut other day-shifters took, I also had the awesome experience of being hit twice and also lost an additional 10%, so my check is down a whopping 24% from the last normal one.
    Of course, the battle cry is "at least you have a job."  Yeah, but it does not seem fair.  We all make different salaries, it is not my fault every time we got raises, I always managed to do well and got myself up to the top of the list.  This bullshit way of just stripping me is like saying "you got too big for your britches, Boy, let's see you start over."
    There isn't shit to do about it, I'm not even sure if we'll be here as a company in a year the way everyone walks around depressed.  We have a couple of home run opportunities, but we still insist on thinking small.  With a reduced headcount and work piling up, they still insist on no OT.  How the hell are you going to impress new customers if they have to sit and wait for their data? 
    Maybe some people needed to go, and I could agree that maybe our labor costs are high, but something like that should be across the board, not picking the higher paid people and shitting on them.  I am upset right now, I really don't want to lose my truck, but if I can't balance my bills starting tomorrow, it'll be the first thing to go.  All I can say, is thank you roomies, their money appears to be the difference right now, in my theoretical calculations.

5/24/17 A Mexican Movie, A Swedish Movie, And An American Movie Walk Into A Bar?

    We Americans love our heroes, be they caped or just made of the right stuff.  When we sit down to watch a movie, more times than not, some regular guy is going to do the right thing and make us in the audience feel good for watching.  I watched a Mexican Movie last night, The Chosen Ones, and a Swedish Movie, Love Steaks. 
    The Chosen Ones was kind of a horrible movie, the men in one family were entrapping girls by getting to know them, then enslaving them as prostitutes, if they threatened to run away, they were told they knew where their families lived.  The movie picks up where the youngest boy is in love with his first girl crush.  He wants to just be in love, but the family wants the girl for their whorehouses.  Eventually they take her, and she is beaten into submission.  The boy makes a deal with his father to get her out of there, but that only means he has to replace her with a new girl.  Just when there seems to be an outside hero, a random father who is looking for his daughter, who pledges to help get her out, the young boyfriend has another girl and so the first girlfriend is removed from the whorehouse.  The last scene shows the family on a hilltop, proud of their land purchase and them talking about the plans to build a getaway house out in the mountains.  There is never a bit of guilt in what they do, and from what we see no penalties.  They bribe the cops, the neighbors know to keep quiet, or suffer.  Even the young boy seems content in the end, he has his girlfriend free from the whore life, but she isn't escaping anytime soon, and the camera fades as they continue eating and talking.
    The other movie had even less rhyme or reason.  Some new guy gets hired a s a masseuse in an upscale hotel, there, he befriends the cooking staff, and of course, falls for the kind of attractive girl.  She seems to be an alcoholic, so in one scene she is cool, and in the next scene she is out of control.  I honestly don't see what the clean cut young kid would have really seen in the alcoholic girl, but maybe because there didn't seem to be other choices around.  The whole movie lacks a plot, other than carrying on day to day, trying to hump in the hidden places of a hotel, but not trying too hard.  The movie kind of peters out when the girl finds out the new guy has talked to management about helping her out with her alcoholism, she reacts by telling him she was fired, so the young man goes in front of a board meeting and proclaims that if this establishment is going to fire instead of help someone in her condition, he cannot work there, so he quits.  The girl then hears about this, and she runs after him, but she is such a freaking flake, I don't know for what purpose.
    In an American movie, some heroic dad would save the girl and shoot up the bad hombres and walk out a hero sporting some kind of gun over his shoulder.  In the bottom one, the two would have become a better pair and they would have found a way to live happily ever after, maybe after suing the hotel.  So yeah, as an American, I expect some sort of happy ending, not this dull fade aways I got in both movies.  Blechh.

5/23/17 If Not A Liberal... Then?

    I still chuckle at my brother's thought of me as a "liberal faggot", which at one time I may have worn closer to my heart, but I don't know, nowadays.  I do believe women have a right to choose.  No baby should be forced to be born where it is not wanted, I know kids who get treated badly by parents who claim to love them.  Never mind the ones who get the drunk parents who just beat on a kid for being there.  Plus, add to that fact a cherry on top that crime has come down ever since Roe Vs. Wade started affecting things.  Less "bad" kids are born to fuck shit up, that is just a fact, which also equals less criminals once they become adults.
    I will admit at first I thought it was a good idea to be a brother and agree we should all have health insurance, but goddammit, some people are just freaking lazy and considering I don't have a life because all I do is work, I am thinking maybe not everyone deserves insurance.  I just went through this skin graft and I have payments going out to all sorts of things.  I got a corrected fee from the hospital wanting another $66.  I got a bill from the vacuum pump which provided the little pump that sucked on my wound.  Apparently, I owe them $420.  The wound care clinic doctor said we were paid up and square, but I got one more bill for the last month, just yesterday and that is another $400.  Meanwhile, a poor friend of ours got her and her son gastric bypasses done for free through Medicaid.  I'm the one paying the huge cost of ownership for insurance monthly, I then get to get fucked when something bad happens???  How is that fair?
    About the refugees, I don't want them anywhere near me.  If they were normal people who behaved like normal people, then sure, we're a great country, what's a couple more minorities?  But in the best case scenario, we'll support them on welfare, and the worst case they'll spread their suicide bomber ways easier by jumping on our planes to get over here, fuck that.  Anybody coming to America should assimilate and become like the people they are joining.  Adam Carolla always says "you left your place because you fucked it up doing what you do.  Why do you think it'll be different if we turn our backs and allow you to do what you want?"  What skills are you bringing anyway?  Sitting around the sand praying five times a day doesn't sound like it leaves much time to do anything else.
    Government should exist to do the big things.  Take care of the infrastructure, make sure our highways and roads are easy to drive on.  Provide some sort of design, such as a city should have so many hospitals per capita, and so on with schools, and other services.  Deliver the mail, while it continues to pay for itself, although, that is going away within the next decade, most everybody is paying bills online.  Get your taxes from whatever sinful things.  If you insist on selling alcohol, go ahead, but don't act like Sunday is special and you can't for a few hours.  If you're going to allow the lotto and gambling on boats, and in Las Vegas, then cut the bullshit, and allow gambling where people want it, everywhere.  They do it anyway.
    We need people with higher IQ's running the government not morons with little crosses deciding on things only if they agree with how Jesus thinks.  Jesus would insure everybody, even the lepers, with their pre-existing conditions.

5/22/17 Am I Still A Liberal?

    I was talking with the guys at work and we got into a pretty good debate a couple weeks ago, well, anytime they have time, we get into it pretty good, they play the part of repressed elite conservative and that leaves me to pick up the role of overindulgent liberal.  At this point, it isn't about anything in particular, we all hate those who can't or won't do for themselves.  We all agree that it doesn't matter if you are republican or democrat, they all suck from the same big tit, corporate America.
    I still disagree with the notion that our planet has too many people.  Yes, there are places where there are too many people, such as India, which is 1/3 the size of the US and has 3 times as many people or China also with three times as many people, and roughly the same size.  How about Canada, roughly the size of the US at 9 million square miles and yet only about a tenth of the population as the US, at about 35 million.
    I will agree that there are too many stupid people or in nicer terms naïve/ignorant, maybe uneducated people for the world to sustain.  At this point I have to mention the movie Idiocracy, which one of the guys showed to me.  I had seen the beginning montage of the stupid Clevon banging his way through his wife, Britney, and Brandy, and Mackenzie and producing what appeared to be about 50 descendants while the high IQ couple can't decide when to have a child as even the stock market worries them. 
    The movie mentions that without a deterrent or fix in the population from time to time, it is not necessarily the smarter people passing on their genes, it is the most sexually promiscuous that get their DNA sent to the next round.  Idiocracy is set 500 years in the future, the hero Joe, played by Luke Wilson is frozen in present day time in an army experiment along with a hooker, Maya Rudolph.  The project is forgotten about and the last until 500 years a great trash crash sends the "coffins" they are in tumbling and opening accidentally.  The people are all pretty stupid and everything is in complete chaos.  The lawyer they befriend, Dax Sheperd, helps them find the Costco, which is miles long and includes a law school, where he got his degree. 
    The movie is detached from reality, yet, it could come true, if a few things are allowed to continue.  A big corporation, Brawndo, has replaced water with its Gatorade equivalent which in turn is killing the vegetation.  He suggests they convert back to water in the fields, then Brawndo goes bankrupt, which sets the people out to get Joe, because half the world now works for Brawndo.  Any court rulings are played out like a wrestling precursor.  When he is to be punished for bankrupting Brawndo, he ends up in a monster truck stadium in a golf car with barely any juice, and he is being chased by two huge monster cars.
    He is saved in the end, when the stupid people are shown that plants do need water to grow.  Eventually, labeled the smartest man in the world, he becomes president, and the world is better for it. 

5/21/17 Now What? How About Cellulitis?

   I have finally gone to a surgeon, got the skin graft, it is healing, very little blood and pus is coming out anymore, so that is good.  I am just waiting for it to completely heal so I can start exercising again.  I know everyone sees a fat ass but I swear before this gash took over my life, I was walking 4 miles a night and going to the gym regularly, my blood pressure was between 120-130 over 70-80 and I felt good.  Nowadays, that I don't work out, my blood pressure has been climbing slowly up, I know this only because I went once a week to the doctor for about 4 months and the first thing they did was measure my pressure.
    This week I got a new addition to my ailments.  I woke up Tuesday shivering like I was freezing.  I laid in bed around 10:00am trying to figure out a way to climb out of the blankets and turn off the fan.  I finally counted to three like I was diving into freezing water and threw myself at the fan.  The moment I stood up, my whole body started shivering uncontrollably but I put on my robe, figuring some ibuprofen would help.  As I started walking down the stairs, Boy's friend came in the house and I was walking down the stairs.  I showed him my arms that I was shivering like crazy walking gingerly hoping not to fall down the stairs.  He was alarmed and asked me if he should drive me to the ER.  I said no, but maybe.  Let me see if some ibuprofen and Nyquil help me out.  I took them and then he mentioned if I had eaten and I said not really, like 3-4 Ritz crackers with peanut butter.  He said maybe my sugar was low, which the diabetes hammer is always lingering with me, he offered me his breakfast tacos.  I ate one, just in case, and by the time I went back up to bed, I had stopped trembling and I was able to sleep more or less normally.
    The bad chill was gone and I kept taking ibuprofen, thinking it was a light flu, but the next morning I noticed a red swelling around my left ankle.  Initially, I thought it might have been a spider bite since I grabbed the comforter from the storage area, but Wife looked at it and said that looks like cellulitis again.  I hated the thought that she was right, but she looked it up and that explained the chills and fever and everything else.  I went to work anyways, but this morning I laid down and pulled up the information myself and decided to just do the right thing and head to the clinic and get some antibiotics.
    It was the same PA who treated my ear infection about a month ago and she remembered me, which was nice.  She quickly agreed that it was cellulitis and gave it an even more technical name.  She recommended I start wearing compression socks which I would have already started if they were easy to find.  I saw a pair in the medical aisle but they were $40.  Now that I am looking harder, Dillard's carries a line, still in the $12-$14, but easier to swallow the purchase.  I guess I am done with Crocs because I can't wear long socks up to my knees with sandals, that is too goofy for me.

5/20/17 School Is Almost Over For Chubs?

    This has been our weirdest year, with Wife not here, and us taking in not one but two separate renters, our life is looking much different than it did even a couple years ago.  Chubs has been a trooper, when he came back and begged me to give him a chance to stay here and he wouldn't be a winnie, I was hesitant, but I am glad we took that chance.  I remember the first few weeks when school started, Boy was off in his own world, as he usually is, and I did not have much to distract me, originally we thought it would be best for Chubs if he went to Crystal to be close with Wife.  Ever since Boy was in kinder, I have picked them up and usually we go eat somewhere with Boy we had Jack in The Box, Sonic, Sam's (when it was on I-35), and other places around our old house.  With Chubs, we have had more choices because we live by Southpark Meadows.
    This is when we have our best discussions, many of my blogs come from what we talk about, and I am glad he did come back, otherwise, I would have missed out on a lot.  If he decides to go with Wife down to my folk's house to accompany Wife for a week at a time during the summer, it won't be a big deal.
    You can tell when school is fixing to end because the field trips start, and what little homework used to come to the house doesn't, anymore.  This week, he went to two field trips, one in town, to go see some graduates get their colors, and Friday they went to San Antonio Zoo.  All I know is that it was great, Wife took a day off, came up Thursday night and joined him.  I didn't have to get up in the morning to take him to school or in the afternoon to pick him, it was great, considering I decided to work two extra days this week to make up the time I owed my supervisor when I was off messing with my leg.  I still need to make up one more day after tonight (Friday night), possibly next week.
    I really feel like I need a vacation, like getting out of Austin, but with our new pay cut, I don't even know how that is going to happen.  I was thinking earlier tonight of maybe camping in a tent, but close enough to an outlet to take a small room air conditioner to cool the inside of the tent, because I can rough it a little, but I am no true outdoorsman. 
    I do like my boys free for the summer to stay up and take it easy.  I like them being up when I come home at night for dinner, making the house feel more alive.

5/19/17 Chubs Is Wondering About Aliens?

    I have mentioned my experience with a "spaceship", so it goes that yes, I believe in something.  There are way too many stars with their own respective planets for this to not be true.  Scientists have even found water, a sure sign of terrestrial life on some of Saturn's moons.  We are in the infancy of space discovery, with a couple of probes sent to Mars and some old capsules sent out past our solar system with an FM receiver or something like that.  We are 500 to 1000 years away from anything like Star Trek where we go on friendly voyages to boldly go where no man has gone before.
    The discussion came up today with Chubs while we were eating at Bill Miller.  He wanted my opinion, which I said there are so many planets and solar systems, we can't be the only planet with life on it.  He was on the fence, then said he wanted to be on the side with the believers, but he was a little bothered by a boy who got too excited.  There was a kid way into the topic saying that the extraterrestrials could just be hiding with superior technology in plain sight.  If this is the case, they could already be here, a la MIB.  Working with a government entity, but that would be too far fetched.  Humans are a little too stupid to keep something like this hidden for too long, we would have to brag if we knew there were aliens next door.
    This kind of reminds me of the little 2-3 year old I saw on FB that was crying because of Jesus Christ.  Come on, you haven't learned how to wipe your ass, and you understand a supreme being came and died for our sins?  I thought that was ridiculous, as most supporters who try to ram down shit that is at best goofy.  Same with the overly excitable boy in Chub's class, he doesn't realize his dorky shit makes it harder for moderates to come in and side with his goofy ass.  All you should be doing is giving your best support by presenting facts in your favor, such as most of the universe is similar in age, if we believe in the big bang theory, so we just need a planet similar in distance as earth is to the sun, with water and oxygen, and there is a good chance for stuff to grow.
    Let's not hope the aliens are so far ahead of us, that they have technology which makes them invisible or they have figured out how to travel through time, because then they are at an advantage to us and it is never good not to have the advantage in technology against any other creature.

5/18/17 Master of None Season 2?

   Master of None is a show focused on the life of Dev, who is played by Aziz Ansari.  He is a pretty upbeat guy who enjoys a nice life with friends and family.  His Achilles heel seems to be meeting the right girl for him.  His parents, coincidentally played by his real life parents, have tried setting him up with Indian girls, he is constantly on dating websites, is not shy and even tries picking them up wherever he may be.
    The first episode for the second season was awesome, it was set in black and white, he has gone to Italy and he is learning how to make pasta from an old grandma, in a small town.  He is tempted by the tranquility and peace to stay there, but eventually the big city calls.  Some of the other episodes were really good, such as the one where the story randomly picks up with random people who are going to be in the same movie as Dev and his friends are later that night.  We get to know a whole group of taxi cab drivers, a deaf couple, random girls, and some doormen.  Later that night, as the episode is about to end, the camera is panning across and all the people we saw are mixed into the audience.  I thought that was very clever.
    I didn't like that they spent too many episodes trying to match him with the Italian girl, pretty but we know she is taken from the first episode.  There is some uncomfortable sleepovers and dancing that wouldn't really happen if they had the attraction for each other in real life.  I know that for the show it is better if Dev is single, but this seemed to be going nowhere yet about three episodes were spent on this.
    I liked the flashbacks, specially when he discovers his love of bacon, even though he is muslim.  I also liked the whole episode dedicated to Denise, his lesbian friend, we see they have known each other since they were about 11-12 years old.  Dev goes to their house every Thanksgiving because he loves to eat and his parents not so much.
    I finally also didn't like that they made Chef Jeff a perv, they left that story line just dangling and Dev looked kind of like a wimp backing up from somebody who had been providing him some good opportunities.  It was just a shitty situation, I didn't like it, but overall, I hope it comes back quickly for a third season.

5/17/17 Vending Machine Love Affair?

    I remember when I was young, my mom worked in the high school as a typing teacher, before becoming a counselor and after school, I would make my way over to her room and wait for her to get out and come home.  If things went right, there would be just enough loose change to go hit the vending machines.  I still remember having to decide between the Boston Baked Beans, a reddish sweet candy with a peanut center and the French Burnt Peanut, which was about the same but the outside was jagged and would hurt you.  Maybe these were .35 cents at the time, around the 80's. 
    I have noticed over the years, the better I do financially, the less I depend on a vending machine.  Of course,  I love a dispenser of candy, but who carries much cash nowadays.  I rarely have any bills or change, I want to be able to look at a bum and tell him sorry, I don't carry money anymore, and mean it. But that also means if I feel like a soda on a random night, I am SOL (shit outta luck). 
    Vending machines have also come a long way.  A few years ago, I was in a hospital, and there was a vending machine that had sandwiches, slices of cake, just about all the stuff they could do on the grill, if you didn't mind it microwaved.  Maybe this was so they could offer food after hours, for those poor people stuck in hospitals with loved ones.
    The newest innovation I just noticed recently, is that the machines have been outfitted to take credit cards.  I do not want to do this, as I feel it could set a very bad precedent.  I want to treat myself sometimes, maybe on Thursday nights, when it's a payday Friday morning, not every day.  I also find it weird that they have had enough self control to keep the price of soda cans at 90 cents.  They know we are all popping dollars in there, just round it up to a dollar already.  What am I going to do with a freaking dime?  Theoretically, I take all these dimes and keep them in my drawer and then sometimes I have enough for a soda that way.
    I am wearing ani-noise headphones because the chemistry lab is so loud, but that means I didn't hear my soda do the tearing and burp sound when I opened the top.  My mind has convinced me the soda is flat and it was leaking.  There are drips on top of the soda where the can meets the sidewall, and it is slightly dented.  I walked all the way over here and it wasn't leaking, and it was very cold.  Funny how the mind likes to play tricks on you.

5/16/17 Miniature New Testament Giveaways?

    Friday was kind of a hectic day, with Wife showing up early, for once, she was able to swing around with me to pick up Chubs.  We went a little earlier because she thinks it is my idea to let Chubs hang out after school.  It is his idea, he likes to hang out and get into trouble with the little "ne'er do wells" and other kids waiting on their parents.  When we went, I noticed a couple of old men giving out free books, I frowned, said to Wife there they are, with their religion.  I mean it's never old men giving out books of Archie Comics or some Car and Driver Magazines, nope, it's always spreading the word of the lord.
    I told Chubs to run over and get me one, I've been meaning to get me a bible and read some more.  They always seem to disappear from my house, I do like reading it, if just to use it's words against itself, it tends to be fun, for me, at least.  The cover said New Testament Psalms/Proverbs.  I am not an expert but my expert buddy at work always defends the bible by saying the first part doesn't count.  The real ignorant people like to say God wrote the bible, the more grounded in reality will say maybe God inspired a handful of men over 1000 years, from Moses to Malachi.  So it appears that what I've been carrying around in my pocket is just the good parts my buddy would say count.  The ones involving Jesus Christ, specifically.
    I kind of forgot about it being in my back pocket, we didn't really go anywhere, freaking pay cut has us scared and shivering under blankets at home, scared to spend a dollar I might not have in a couple weeks.  I told Chubs to get my keys and wallet this morning so I could drop him off.  Once I walk downstairs, I am not walking back up to get my keys, that's what kids are for.  He mentioned the bible falling out of my pocket and asked why it was called the New Testament.  We then had a good conversation driving to school.
    I told him that even though the Holy Bible is Holy, people like to skip the first half, it doesn't make anyone sound good, there's some whoring, and selling of humans and all sorts of stuff that is hard to defend.  Then Chubs asked me a good question, he said why do people in America embrace  Christianity?  I had to think, and then I told him it's because it is full of hope.  If you really become a Christian, even a murderer can be forgiven and sit before god when he dies.  So, if anything, Christianity allows you to wash your hands of any stupid shit you do.  If it is real then, a person that went crazy and murdered a bunch of people because he got high can sit next to god, meanwhile, if you forget to ask for forgiveness because you ate crab or enjoyed wearing polyester pants, you are technically going to hell.  Chubs was uncomfortable with that notion, I told him yeah, it sucks, but that is why logical people have a hard time embracing religion.

5/15/17 Crawfish Shack And Oyster Bar Lunch Review? (restaurant)

    We had brunch today (Sunday) at this restaurant because Boy's Friend that lives with us wanted to go try it and said he would treat us for Mother's Day.  I had just got up and started drinking a cup of coffee, I even half jokingly told him to take Wife as I am not a big fan of seafood and I don't normally get treated by anyone.  After Wife gave me the stop being an ass look, I got up and dressed, dragging Chubs along.  Boy was not available as the weekends are when he works the most at his job at the Alamo Drafthouse.
    When we got to the restaurant we remembered we had eaten here before once and it was super expensive.  Since then, they have closed down and opened at least three different times.  I didn't see much of a difference, but the prices were tempered a bit.  There was a chalkboard on the wall with prices of crab and lobster, by the pound.  I was not there to take advantage of our guy, I had a po-boy with shrimp and some fries that I shared with Wife.  Wife had a po-boy sandwich too, but hers had crawfish, the poor man's lobster.  I did notice everything is ordered individually, like the po-boys (sandwiches) were one item and the fries were separate.  Chubs had a kids plate with chicken tenders and some fries.  Boy's friend had a couple Shiner Bock's and a huge tray with maybe 10-12 whole crawfish and chunks of sausage and potatoes.  It looked big enough to feed two people, but he had no problem downing it.
    We must have gotten there right before church let out or something because we walked in to an empty restaurant, maybe three other tables were in use.  When we left all the tables inside were full, and there were a couple families waiting at the door.  The restaurant reminds me of something down in the coast, with wood tables and dark exposed beams on the ceiling.  All the servers and waitresses were young and attractive, it looked like a fairly successful place, considering it's been closed or shut down a few times.
    I have to say I expected it to be more expensive when the check came, we had also ordered hush puppies, calamari, and mushrooms as appetizers, which were small but enough for all four of us to taste them all.  The check was only $61.50 or thereabouts.  He must have caught the beers at happy hour prices.  I offered to split the check, even gave him a $20 for my part, but he refused saying we've done plenty for him, not to worry about it.
    That was very nice on his part, now if we could get Boy to pay for a meal and then Girlie, wow, that would be something.  If either if there wallets ever opened they would do the creeeek sound of a massive temple door being opened for the first time in a millennia. 
    I was left wanting more, the fries were good, with whatever spicy sauce they were showered with, my poboy had about 8-9 shrimp, which I almost expected it to be thin with 3-4.  If the crawfish didn't turn my stomach, I might have been interested in the plate he ordered, but I have never liked those mudbugs.  I can see us going back, even Chubs and I after school, it was not expensive, which is always key in my book.

5/14/17 When Do We Stop Dreaming?

    I've been watching Master of None with Aziz Ansari on Netflix.  It is a smart, funny show about life for Aziz in New York, trying to date and carry on through life.  The second season was just released Friday night, and the second season has been just as good as the first.
    I liked the discussion his girlfriend from the first season and him were having in one of the episodes last season, which was why don't more people do what makes them happy?  The Aziz character mentions a friend of his went to Hawaii, loved it, and stayed to become a scuba instructor and is living the dream.  The girl mentions her sister who dreamed of traveling but after a kid, life gave her a different trajectory and there she is, raising kids, not doing what she wanted to do.  The girlfriend mentions that if it was up to her, she would like living in Japan.  Aziz mentions the fact that she needs to know the language, she say she took a language class or something in high school.  Aziz jokingly mentions he would choose Italy because he loves pasta so much. 
    Fast forward to the inevitable break-up, and she tells him she is going to go live her dream before it is too late and ends up like her sister, and she exits stage left, headed to Japan and out of the protagonist's life.  He has a casual career of working on commercials and bit movie parts.  In the last scene of the first season we see him headed to Italy, scared but accomplishing something.
    When I was younger maybe I would have been interested in seeing places like Greece with all its history and beautiful scenery, but thanks to our warmongering ways, I don't think a fat, greedy American would be welcome over there, and I don't go where I am not wanted.  My recalculated dreams are to have some waterfront property, where I can walk to my backyard and launch a boat, and be back home by dinnertime.  It doesn't seem like it right now, specially with work just cutting our pay and Wife living 200 miles away, but my plan is slowly coming together.
    People like my parents would say don't.  Think smaller Junior, that is why you are always broke, even Wife was shook by news of my cut in pay last week, and she got down for a bit.  I cannot think small, that is for people scared to stretch their wings, I always believe things will be alright.  Solutions always become visible when you need them.  As I tell Wife, things may get a little tight, but have our fat asses ever missed a meal?  My dreams may not take me to the other side of the world making pasta in a small village like Aziz in the new season opener, but I won't stop scheming and scamming until I own an address with a view of open water.  It will happen

5/13/17 What Happened To Real Music Like The 70's?

    I was sitting here bored trying to pump myself to stay awake Thursday night when I slid into some serious 1970's music and realized it is so different.  Singing along with Meat Loaf filled me with tears and emotion.  His "Paradise By The Dashboard Light" took me right back to high school, and even the weird chant last third of the song made me feel like I lived through that.  I can remember so many weekend nights in either of my parent's vans playing the Kenny G over and over, half naked, breaking the convertible bed in the back of the grey van, constantly checking out the windows as they got foggier and foggier for fuckers and coppers.  That song seems so appropriate now "what's it gonna be Boy?"  Her wanting more commitment, me wanting more of everything, and dammit I got it, I got it all. 
    Then I heard a few songs from Paul Simon who as I was reading in the comments is underrated.  So many great songs, Kodachrome, Me and Julio Down By The Schoolyard (in the video he captures a young Biz Markie who looks like a miniature version of himself from MIBII, along with so many other famous faces), You Can Call Me Al (with Chevy Chase goofing), Mrs. Robinson (With Garfunkel, from the 60's.
    Music today seems to only be sung by the beautiful and exotic.  I maintain that like the real smart people who may not be good looking, the real talented people are not the beautiful people they put up to sing the music.  Who is today's Meat Loaf, the big 250-300 pounder belting out unapologetic music that feels like he just lived through the last song he wrote?  Paul Simon is not a bad looking fellow but by the 70's, he was in his 30's, I can't imagine many musicians being allowed on the radio at that age for the kids.
    What happened to the Motown stuff, that was just as emotion fueled as anything, listen to The Manhattans Kiss and Say Goodbye and don't tear up.  You have no soul if you do.  How about some Bill Withers "Ain't No Sunshine" with too many I know, I know...  Listen to today's radio and you'll hear Rihanna 2-3 times in one hour or Nikki Minaj.  Music is being funneled to a very few people, proven talent, but I liked having one hit wonders, bands that gave us one good album and that was it.  This generation will be remembered for a handful of artists and their autotune machines.  That is the only reason to cry for today's music.

5/12/17 Being The Right Color In The Wrong Place?

   Everyone tries to tell me this doesn't happen, yet Chubs tells me stories to prove otherwise.  I picked him up today around 3:55pm, meaning by the time I get there he has been hanging out for a good fifteen minutes or so.  Don't think this is all on me, he tells me all the time to pick him up at 4:00pm, so he can have the most time to hang out before all of his friends get picked up.  I hate arriving at or before 3:40, when the bell rings because it gets full of parents and dumb drivers, so I like to wait a bit too, it helps me avoid the idiots.
    Occasionally, Chubs gets questioned by kids that are up to no good.  There was the "no-neck" kid who wanted either his backpack or his "violin" (really, his saxophone), but the kid expected Chubs to give it to him.  There have been other kids who start talking crap to him too.  We have told him to go stand over by where the monitor is letting the kids get on the cars, but he likes sitting over by a little hill, where his friends and other troublemakers like to camp out at, much closer to the street.
    As soon as he got in the car today, he said I have a story for you dad.  I said wait, that's "No-neck, I bet?"  He looked out the back window and there he was, slowly plodding back and forth about on the street entrance, looking like an annoying slow kid, Chubs just said "yup, that's him."  "Anyways", I said, "what is your story today."  He said he was sitting there minding his own business when three eighth graders came and surrounded him.  He said they were looking out for another kid who was saying that Chubs was beating him up earlier.  Chubs said he remained calm and just said I don't know who you are talking about but I did not do anything to anybody.
    As soon as he was surrounded, two of Chubs buddies came over and stood behind him to see what was going on.  We have had both these boys spending the night, and that is exactly what I expect when I feed boys is that they will have Chub's back when he needs it.  One of the older boys then weirdly asked him "you're Mexican, right?"  Chubs said "yeah..."  At this, the kid said "good enough for me." and they ran off. 
    This was all over by the time I got there, so I didn't scare them off.  I don't know if this was racially motivated and it just happened that Chubs looked white from afar but when you get closer, he's a brown bomber.  Maybe they were looking for a kid who was by himself and the fact that he had buddies step up to support him made them back off, or maybe they were the "do-gooders" and once they got their facts straight, realized that Chubs is not the fighting kind and left it at that.
    As I have said before, the school is 85% Hispanic, even if the kid doesn't look it, there is a high probability that if you are in that school, you are a tortilla lover.  I just might have to start picking him up earlier to avoid all these shenanigans.

5/11/17 Who's Having Fun?

    I talked to my brother a couple days ago, honestly, I was trying to see if he was interested in buying a watch maybe I shouldn't have bought.  This all because of the shitty reduction in pay, but I am glad I have a job, as I was told to repeat ad nauseam.  Anyways, he says his job has been slow and I left it at that.  While we were talking, he mentioned they had been at a game or were headed to a game, this time baseball.  He says his kid hates it so much, but they do it to get the pictures of the kids in the cute outfits.
    I don't get this kind of thinking.  Maybe I am too pragmatic, and I am not going to waste anyone's time by forcing my kids to do stuff they don't want to.  I then asked my Mom a couple days later what was going on, I was trying to call her about our layoffs and because she rushed to a game, she misplaced her phone.  She found it later that night in the VW bug we sold back to her, she had taken it out for a drive and left the phone in it.  I feel my mom enjoys taking stabs at me sometimes, mentioning that they were at a baseball game, it is what you do when you live in a small town, "we don't live in a big town."  I don't really know how to respond to this, it's not like my kids are doing something like launching rockets into space in their free time.
    I am basically a single parent during the week, and I go in to work at 6:00pm until 6:30am.  Chubs is in school from 7:45am until around 4:00pm.  Other than a quick bite to eat, what fancy thing could we possibly be up to?  If Wife was here, I might try to go to the mall, maybe, during the week.  When Boy was in 7th and 8th grade, he played football in high school.  There was practice every day after school, which I would go see a lot before driving to work, and I didn't miss a game, but that was like ten or eleven games each of the two years.
    Now that Boy just finished his semester yesterday, I am going to be watching him lie half asleep on his sofa chair, covered like it's snowing outside, and Chubs pretty much sprawls out on his bed after we eat, playing on his phone, or watching youtube videos.  Whatever romantic thought my mom has of the big city and all the things we can do, is just thoughts.  Lately, we don't do anything interesting, but work.  With the cut in pay, I am not sure if I will even be able to afford to go to work.  I am thinking my truck will have to go.
    Back to the thought I had when I started writing this, why do we have to have the kids running around from one sport to another?  I have refused to do this, Boy played a little football in junior high, he battled and built robots in high school, and even launched rockets as extra curricular activities, but as kids, they haven't done much more than being kids and discovering themselves.  Being forced to do something they hate might lead them to hate it even more and rebel in a couple years when participation might mean a little more.  The thought of forcing my kids into sports they might not like so I get a cool picture of them in a jersey sounds selfish, those kids should be allowed to run around the house and play tag or whatever kids do nowadays on their own.

5/10/17 Sexism In Hollywood?

    I just read a story of some actress,  aged 43, told she is too old to play the wife of an actor, aged 57.  They would also have an 18 year old in the show, and at 43, sounds about right to me.  I am not sure if this is one of those situations in which the man is aging a lot better and manages to look like a Johnny Depp, 54, or if the woman is just crying sour grapes but oh well.
    Switching over to real life, they say men age like fine wine and women age like a loaf of bread.  It seems a little mean, but funny, I am a guy after all, but I can't say it is true.  My dad was considered a handsome man by all who knew him in his youth and early 20's.  Now that life has churned him up and he has been vomited out of those tractor trailers he drove for too many years, he is starting to  look like a shrunken old crypt keeper.  He doesn't do much to exercise and thus has a bad shoulder he can barely move, meanwhile, my mom is still very active, colors her hair, looks at least 10-15 years younger than him, even if they are about the same age.  This is the same situation with my in-laws, where my mother in law doesn't seem to age, but my father in law carries his age on his shoulders.  He is more active than my father, but still looks a lot more worn down than his wife.
    Wife and I are about the same right now, honestly, both of us are too heavy for our own good.  we both concern ourselves more with work and trying to get ahead than with our health.  We should be making time to get ourselves in better shape. 
    My mom and family worry because we have a young girl living in our house and possibly because they watch too much TV think I could do something to ruin my marriage.  First of all, I am a 400 pound cow, why would a young hottie even be interested?  I have also known her since she was about 4 years old and she has been around us her whole life.  I know in the make believe world of television people just need to be under the same roof for five minutes before they are jumping in bed, but I have never had that luck.  If anything, I always end up feeling protective of her, specially with her living in our house.  The fact is, I love Wife, she has always cared for me like no other.  She has put herself in a hard position this year working so far away from us to gain the experience she needed, so that she can come back and earn the kind of money she is worth.  We are both feeling the sacrifice, knowing it is for a small amount of time, in the big picture.
    The idea of upgrading wives to a younger model seems great in TV shows for men, at least, but the reality does not match.  I had a teacher who did this, left his wife for a student half his age.  For a couple years, hell yeah, he is the man, but now in his 60's, her in her 40's, she wants more out of life, he wants to be an old man and slow down, it doesn't work.  There are fewer and fewer shows I even enjoy watching on TV, that whole idea that the husband is stupid and needs the wife to solve his problems in too many comedies gets old.  The idea that the kids are smarter than the parents does nothing but piss me off.  Basically, TV is doing a fine job of killing itself off, I do fine with YouTube.  Left alone in front of a TV, 99% of the time, I go to HGTV nowadays.  A vacation house, now that is something that gets my engine running, something on the beach or a lake property.  That is what I fantasize about on a good day.

5/9/17 The Healthcare Issue As I Understand It?

    I am not an expert on our government, but hearing so many politicians speak on the healthcare system, I am not sure they know much better than the common man.  At times like these, I remember a wise George Carlin saying think of how intelligent the average human is, and remember 50% are dumber than that, guess who they voted for? (I kid, sort of).
    Obamacare as I get it covered most everybody, at an "affordable" cost.  I have to admit this pissed me off initially when our premiums shot up all of a sudden.  Then again, I was led to believe this was a way so all our fair citizens can get treatment in case they need it.  I might not be so for this type of thinking if I wasn't told that most of the industrialized nations already have healthcare for all their citizens, look to Canada for a prime example.  As soon as I get that sentence out, my very smart conservative friends at work would say, but good luck if you get sick up there, you will get mediocre treatment, and the really sick who can afford it will cross the border and see an American doctor.  I am not sure I believed that scenario, but I don't know.  Let's just say if you get a routine situation, broken limb, minor surgeries like gallbladder removals, no problem.  If it's one of the bad cancers, you're fucked no matter where you get treated. 
    Regardless, if we want to beat our chest as the number 1 country, shouldn't we be trying to lift up our weaker citizens to a standard better than Australia?  We should all feel safe that if we get sick, the medical community will do what it can to heal us and help us get better.
    Trumpcare, as I understand it, is only for those who can afford healthcare, and some conservatives I have talked to say as much.  Why should you get something if you can't afford it is what I was told by one of the louder conservatives in my ring of peeps.  When their plan failed the first time, they came back and added the clause that states have the right to make people that are already labeled sick to pay more for their own insurance.  This is great for the general population, I can understand how insurance companies can then charge less if you get all the expensive peeps with "pre-existing" conditions out of the gene pool, you have a healthier stock to worry about.  If only we were cattle or fish, then yeah eliminate those few with "pre-existing" conditions then we would live in a utopia of healthy and strong workers, there was another guy with the same mentality back in the 1930's trying to do the same thing.  Those mother fucking politicians are all silver haired assholes about five years away from needing major healthcare insurance, but don't worry about them, they have a special insurance they provided for themselves.
    You, bumbling conservatives, clapping your hands at what they are doing like you won't get sick, or get older, like you don't have an uncle or aunt who is fixing to get fucked by this replacement, why?  To remove anything the black president did for us?  Why was it so important to remove "Obamacare" as a first initiative by this moron of a president?
    I guess if Jesus Christ existed today, he would be republican?  He would be worried about his bottom line, "fuck those poor people, I only help those who can help themselves, they are the ones worth saving." would be a quote of his?  "I only turn water to wine if I'm deep in bitches and like my president I can grab them by the p***y", otherwise I ain't providing the alcohol for a bunch of weak-ass bitches. 
    I thought we were better humans than that, but I can get behind saving some money on healthcare, fuck the poor.  If you can't afford it, about 24 million of y'all, show some dignity for the rest of us and go die quietly where you don't block the TV when you get sick, we really don't want you clogging up the emergency rooms either. 

5/8/17 Which Is Better, Support From The Dim Or An Attaboy From An Alpha?

    We just finished watching an episode of Man Seeking Woman, usually a clever little show, loaded with silly visuals of every day situations blown out of proportion.  The main character is Josh and this season he seems to have met his perfect partner and they are now starting the process to get married.  At the same time, his much more organized in life sister has just made "partner" at whatever form she is working.
    Josh's parents find out that he is getting married and they become followers and fans of the wedding.  Taking it too far as they tend to do, the parents are gradually becoming "hippies" complete with a VW van and they have a map to follow the marriage as if it were a live band, like Phish.  They have plans to be at the store where she will shop for her wedding dress, the cake tasting, the invitations, meanwhile, she is trying to get them excited for her own big life accomplishment and they basically say "uhhh, we are more interested in this wedding than you becoming a manager, or whatever.
    This seems bad and because the mom is divorced, she is left with the option of contacting her dad.  The dad has her same demeanor and he introduces her to a talent she didn't realize she had.  Like him, she can look at anything and determine if something is good or crap.  There is a small montage where he takes her around to hone her skills.  To add more similarities, he mentions he too made partner at his firm at the same age, 31.  Just as it seems they are the same, he gets a call and has to run off for a late night meeting.
    He mentions that her mom never understood his gift, he had to leave her, she surrounded herself with crap.  She owned nothing but crap, except for one piece of art, some painting.  Since she is feeling close to her dad, she says she will get him the painting.  She goes to her folks, and they have settled down from the excitement of the marriage and try to ask her about her promotion and perhaps even to go eat at some shitty restaurant they love.
    When trying to get a hold of her dad again, she can't reach him.  She is told by his receptionist that he won't be making dinner, and if she would be so kind as to leave the painting at his place.  She realizes that the dad is power hungry and treats life as work first, everything else comes second.  Her mom is not sophisticated and maybe kind of slow, but they are willing to support her anyway.
    So that is my question, which is better, to have the support of loving overly attached parents who might even be a little slow but they mean well? or to have trifling support of a fully cognizant adult who is mostly interested in his own rise to power?  At best, her dim witted mom will be nice and they will celebrate the best way they know how, even if it be going to a cheesy restaurant that might even make you sick.  The other option is a full hit or miss parent that will be available only if their own self interests allow them to be present.

5/7/17 I Feel Bamboozled?

    Coming up to Austin, there was no doubt, I was on the poor side of things.  It was fine, I was going to school, I wasn't even 21, so I couldn't even get into the nudie bars my first year up here.  I made my own futon sofa, to save some bucks.  My parents came and found a CHEAP but new table for like $100.  I brought my waterbed and other bedroom paraphernalia and I was set.  Anyways, surrounded by other poor, cheap students, it's all good, even if the apartments were a little 'hood.
    If I had just stayed poor, like some of our friends, then that is all we would know, plenty of families get by with the parents making $12-$15 an hour, contrary to the bullshit we hear to strive to be the best, and to always push for the top.  I am thinking that is a ruse to suck all the good "jelly" we have in us, only to be discarded when we get a little drained.
    I have always pushed myself at work to be and do the best work I could.  It all seemed according to plan, slowly climbing, even if for the last 9-10 years we haven't seen a raise, I was still in a very good position, making an enviable salary.  I thought that was what was supposed to happen when you go to school like they tell you, don't abuse drugs, act responsibly, never miss work to have fun randomly.  I finally had a five year plan where I could see us getting out of debt, and living a freer life.  Funny, what a couple meetings with the board of directors can do to your dreams.
    They came through early in the week, laid off three guys, good guys, just were stuck in positions with tools that did not yield financially.  I felt the slowing down last year and started pushing to move myself to the chemistry section, where all the new work seems to be coming to.  I was even pushed back, as my supervisor did not want to lose the headcount in the section I was in, but there were too many nights when I came in and just sat watching Netflix, as there was no work.  I can enjoy that once or twice, but not week in and week out.  Even after I was pushed back, I persisted, and now they are only too glad I have migrated over, as we are on the verge of picking up a major customer that promises to give us more work than we can handle.
    Here is the rub, even with the three layoffs, we all had to take a pay cut, and not evenly across the board.  It seems that the more you make, the more they took.  One coworker who always said she makes less than me, got a 5% cut, me and another coworker that I discuss our salaries openly, got roughly a 15% cut.  This is going to affect my lifestyle, not just make me a little uncomfortable.  This freaking leg injury cost me $4000, the IRS just took $3200, Boy's tuition is $1200 over what his loans cover every semester, Boy was complaining about his wisdom teeth recently, why not?
    I have these awesome extra bills, meanwhile, some of my poorer friends managed to get free gastric bypass surgeries, which we can't even look at because we know we'd end up paying $12,000 and up. 
    This is now about the 8th layoff I have survived since I started working here in 1995.  Yes, I make more money than back then, but nothing is guaranteed.  Had I stayed poor, I could bounce from one mediocre job to another and make roughly the same income.  Instead, I have climbed so high over here, I am now forced to grab even tighter to my job in hopes I don't loose it, and with it, our house, and way of life.  I have put myself in a tight spot, waiting on you, Wifey, to come and save me.  Help me believe that education really matters, because right now it is all sounding like too much horse shit.

5/6/17 Empty Vessel Parents?

    I absolutely hate parents that don't parent.  How hard is it to tell your stupid kid to stop with the stupid shit in a crowded venue?  I did not re-arrange my schedule to sit next to your dopey 3-4 year old and have him act like an animal, all the while, you never even look their way or act like they are your kids.
    Chubs had a music recital on Thursday night and normally, I would have attended and not made any big deal, probably go have dinner afterwards to celebrate.  The problem was that I just spent the last three weeks at home with my leg up in the air rehabilitating after my skin graft.  I hated having to tell my supervisor "I'll be out tonight for a couple hours."  I didn't have much of a choice.  Wife is three hours away and Boy said he had a final until 4:00pm.  Boy was back in time to go with us, and I could have sent the two of them, but I don't miss out on activities, considering we have so few.
    The concert was in the gym, like last time, and as far as the band goes, they did great.  Took me back to my days of being in the band.  The only problem is that I was sitting amongst some ignorant Mexicans.  There was the proud papa, the mother (more concerned about her husband than her 5-6 kids), then the younger kids, at least three and an older one, there had to be at least one in the band for them to be there.  These two rabbits never looked at the kids, never told them to shut up, I think the dad might have even encouraged the dense kid clapping after everyone stopped clapping and the band was going into the next song.  The miniature buffoon just kept clapping after everyone stopped.
    The gym is kind of small, there is only a thin section of bleachers, maybe 6 rows total.  I chose to sit on the topmost so I could lean back and elevate my leg on the next set of bleachers below us.  I looked for the emptiest area and headed there.  Of course, this particular family running in late, saw the space around us and filled it quick.  The youngest daughter sat in front of Boy first and then attempted to use his leg as a backrest.  I laughed because as soon as she touched Boy, he jumped back signaling to the little idiot, no way.  The older son was to my left and he was not interested in being there, he ran outside and back a couple times.  On one of them, all the siblings followed and I thought good.  I was focused on them because I was worried they were going to hit my leg with all their nervous energy.
    Once the band started they came back, of course, and the little girl sat next to Boy and started like she was conducting the band.  The movement was small at first, and by halfway through the song she was standing and getting more deliberate.  My thought was that she was going to knock the phone out of Boy's hand, and I kept looking over at the parents who could give two shits about any of their kids.  Finally, when I could see her hands and head bopping in the camera I gave her one of my "hey!!" and "no!" with clenched teeth.  I pointed to her to scoot the fuck back and she looked back like I was playing with her.  I kept nodding my head no and kept an ugly look on my face.  She managed to cut the shit, but shouldn't all this have been done by the parents?  The two grown idiots never reacted, although most people heard me snap.  These are the kind of people giving Mexicans a bad name.  Ton of kids, don't pay attention to them out in public, probably don't even understand English.  Why learn the language, the school bends over backwards to teach all their Juanitos and Marias in Spanish.  Assholes!!

5/5/17 Why Do People Go Where They Are Not Wanted?

    I was at the gas station this morning and couldn't help but be informed about some American arrested in North Korea for something or other.  My reaction as I am standing there on American soil two miles from my house looking for bums who might come out of the bushes to beg for money is WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING GOING TO AN ENEMY OF AMERICA?!?!?!  These idiots get themselves in trouble overseas and suddenly we have to care about their situation.  It was bad enough in North Korea when we knew of the two Americans imprisoned for (1) trying to steal a banner from a lobby, pow fifteen years and (2) another genius accused of spying and other offenses.  We are supposed to care? 
    When we were little, we used to cross the border there in Eagle Pass, Texas, which is about 45 minutes from our hometown.  It was fun, I remember, we would walk in the "Mercado" where it was like a flea market with newish stuff.  You could buy all sorts of cool trinkets like Mexican sombreros or those goofy leather sandals.  It was part of our youth, my folks enjoyed going down there, my dad talks of taking my mom late at night to eat at some fancy place close to the bridge, great story, I know.  Now that the gangs have screwed up the atmosphere and Mexico sounds like a third world country, do you think I would end up over there accidentally or on purpose?  No, I have half a brain and I know I am not wanted. 
    I don't care how much nostalgia or that your grandparent's lived over there, some places should be marked NO!  I am sure Iraq has a lot to show, but you couldn't give me a free trip down there, same for the rest of the middle east, and I would love to see some pyramids.  I had a coworker who was going to that part of the world as much as twice a year, if something bad ever happened, were we supposed to feel bad for him afterwards?  I hate shit that don't make sense. 
    I only pump gas once a week, I should not be entertained by stories of people getting in trouble in a place we already dubbed one of the "axis of evils".  The last time I got gas, I was entertained by a story of a couple who went up in the mountains of Nepal (Himalayas mountains) and were lost for forty seven days.  My first question is always why?  In a large group, maybe, but as a couple, no fucking way.  Reminded me of the story of the vegans who went up Mount Everest.  She insisted on not eating meat, the male, a little smarter, decided to put away his silly shenanigans and eat some animal.  Guess who survived the brutal conditions up in the mountain?

5/4/17 Good Bad Day?

    This is being written on Wednesday evening.  My little vacation finally ended, my doctor told me I could go back to work.  I described it as a good bad day because although I had to go to the doctor, I finally got some good news.  I was worried the doctor was going to yell at me like he did the week before about not keeping my foot elevated.  I kind of disliked the walk in the hospital from the full parking garage to the doctor's office.
    This week, they relocated to a new office in a new building with neon lights down the hallways, and very open to allow light in.  The parking garage is below the offices in this building, so it was just a matter of riding the elevator up to the correct floor (7th).  The doctor took over half an hour to finally see me, but he seemed like a different person.  He was smiling and laughing and said my gash looked really good, so he said to come back in a month for a final look. 
    Worse even, was getting texts from my supervisor in chemistry and my other supervisor in TEM.  Both wanted to know if I was coming in to work.  I said yes, in a bit.  This put me on edge.  Why would my old supervisor and the company owner want to talk to me?  I was half expecting to be put in the group of people laid off.  It wasn't that bad, but almost.  I was given a roughly 15-20% pay cut.  It is going to hurt, no doubt about it.  My night shift differential was taken, so the fact that I work nights, only gets me 5% instead of the 15% I used to get.
    On a side note, Boy's old friend's grandmother passed away.  I am unsure how to react to this.  At a certain point we were close to these people.  But then over the last five years we haven't even heard from the kid.  His mom would join us, even for Thanksgiving, for like 5-6 years, then after graduating, the kid said thank you for everything, and never came back.
    So there was plenty of bad stuff going on today, but I am also glad I wasn't let go, but the pay cut is going to be a bear.  I am glad the doctor gave me a thumbs up and he gave me a break from visiting, as he said to see him in a month to check on the results.  I have been seeing a doctor every week since around September, so the break will be nice and appreciated.  Overall, it was kind of a shitty day, but looking back at it, it could have been worse.

5/3/17 Layoffs Lurking?

    I have been dealing with my leg like it's a pain in the ass.  Since September I have not taken the injury seriously, thinking worst case scenario, I would get one of those metal legs like you see on all those athletes in the new commercials of Gatorade or any other sports specific advertisements.  Today, the fear of fears was finally put in front of me.  My supervisor texted to check on my healing  and then dropped a bombshell on me.  We had a layoff, three people were let go, and then she said we were all going to have a reduction in pay.  We are a small company with only about nineteen people, we all know each other and each person affects us all.
    One of the guys was one of the original guys of the group, and had been around probably over thirty years.  I hate to know he is gone, he was a likable guy but he got stuck in a technique that stopped being a money producer long ago.  The second guy laid off was one of the smartest persons I have ever known.  He knew his stuff, didn't make a lot of noise and was truly an asset.  Again, he just happened to be running a toolset which did not yield much income and that has to matter, at some point.  The third guy was a surprise, other than again, the decision seem to be mostly tied to the contributions to the bottom line.  The third guy took care of every small detail, from keeping an eye on our networks, to keeping the main lab clean and the tools in there up.  He was not involved day to day on any toolsets, but when I joined the group, he did train me in SEM and FIB, which I did for about fifteen years.
    I was not told how significant of a cut in pay we are going to experience, so it is still scary but at this point we should call ourselves the lucky ones.
    This is almost like one of my bad dreams come true.  Every time I have gone on vacation, I worry coming back that things at work have changed, such as we are closed or we have lost people and we don't all work there anymore.  I really want to go back now, to find out about some things.  We had some new customers pending results and one of the reasons I made the move to chemistry.  I am hoping the layoffs are not the result of them knowing we did not get the contract.
    I really did not think this was an option, I was sure that even if things got bad, we would somehow still be safe.  I know this is somewhat naïve of me, but since we split from the larger Spansion (now Cyprus), about ten years ago, we have never entertained the idea of letting people go.  I only hope that now that we got rid of the purchases in Boston at the beginning of the year and now letting go of the three people and introducing this pay cut we become profitable and we can go forward much more lean and efficient.  I would hate to be on the wrong side of the layoff, but again, I always try to stay busy, and that was one of the main reasons I wanted to make the move to the new section, I hated going in and barely having stuff to do for so long.  I guess if I paid attention, the writing has been on the wall for some time.

5/2/17 UT stabbing?

    I just want to know why?  I heard the story first on the radio earlier today while going to the bank and I thought it was a rally of some sort and one side confronted another, classic, got out of hand and there we are.  I also assumed it had to do with muslims and some pissed of "'Mericans!!" tired of their shit.  I was surprised to finally see the picture and it's some drugged out black guy ruining 4-5 people's lives.
    I figure it is the end of the semester and if you were in college as your people are saying, your dumb ass should have been studying for finals.  If you weren't as clever and smart as you were given credit for, then you were probably fixing to fail out of school, it does seem like you were in your third year of some college in the Killeen area and that is when classes start getting real.  Why expend the energy to drive all the way down to the University of Texas campus?  It truly sucks to park down there for people who have to be there let alone strangers, where did you find the effort to drive a couple hours into our shitty traffic, find parking, then walk the huge campus to do your stupidity?
    Nowadays, if it's a religious thing, I understand when you go after someone who prays to a different god.  If you were mad at your girlfriend because she sucked off your best friend, I get it if you go take it out on her stupid ass.  At least that makes sense.  Getting mad at the police and its system and attacking cops is unfortunate, but it makes sense.
    Attacking some random students really at the worst possible time of year, they were probably consumed by finals as my boy is right now, just is unexplainable.  If it was drugs, you wouldn't have stopped when cops pointed a gun at you.  Go after the guy with a gun, you wanna be Mr. Tough Guy with your bowie knife.  Who does that?  I just found one of those knives in my garage last weekend, the fuck are you, Rambo?
    I always think, if you want to kill people, start with yourself, then after that, kill as many as your shitty corpse on the ground can handle.  I hate people like you, what was your contribution to the planet?  You took somebody's kid, like you had that right, I don't believe in a hell, but I wish there was one so you could really be punished.  Taking your life is not punishment enough for the parent's of the kid you killed.  Hopefully, the others survive your bullshit.  Now what?  You'll just sit in prison, any potential you had is squandered.  Collectively, we have to feed you for the next fifty years as you sit there finding god or whatever the incarcerated do.  Fucking awesome!!
    There was no honor in what you did.  There was no skill in what you did, nobody is going to be proud of your cowardly shenanigans.  When Charles Whitman did what he did, it was even more atrocious as his body count was 17 deaths and 31 injured, but at least there was a skill there he learned as a marine.  You took a shitty $5 knife and sucker punched into a crowd.  Dick!!

5/1/17 Whatever Happened To Greed?

    What happened to greed, I remember it used to denote fun.  When you are little you want this and you want that, sometimes you cried enough and boom you would actually get your way.  If that isn't enough, it was also the fuel of the American way.  If I heard someone got a new 4x4 truck, it would quickly become I want a new 4x4 with a sun roof and leather seats.  Houses were getting bigger and bigger because of greed.  We all wanted houses with more and more options and abilities.
    I can say I have not changed, I still want everything.  I hate that I can't just go and buy say matching Rolex watches for Wife and I.  Last year, I was showing pretty good discipline until my brother went and bought a fully loaded F-150.  This thing had pretty much every bell and whistle.  The only way to beat him and assure I had the nicer truck was to go buy an F-250.  It is a Ford truck, but it is a slightly larger, stronger truck.  Even though my truck is only a year old, hearing that my mom and dad just went and got themselves a new F-150 makes me long for the days of being out there on the lots looking for my next vehicle.  Although they do consume a good portion of our salaries, our vehicles are pretty important as they allow us to be mobile and free.  I love that my folks are still capable of doing what they want, they decided they wanted a new truck and went out and got exactly what they wanted.  When I talked to my mom Saturday, the hardest part was deciding what color to choose, and they went with a grey color, mostly because my brother and I already have black trucks.
    To me, this is one of the biggest question marks in my head.  All through the 90's and 2000's, there was tremendous growth here in Austin.  Big, bigger, and biggest were our choices for upgrade houses.  Personally, we went from a 1200sq ft house to one that is around 4000sq ft.  For a second before the market crapped out, I was even thinking we would make the move to a 6000-7000 sq ft house, but everything seemed to go away.  Nowadays, there are only a few houses going up.  Most of these houses are smaller in square footage but still bigger in cost which I say F*** that!
    The new idea of tiny houses goes against everything American.  We are built on having a little greed coursing through our veins.  We're supposed to want more than the previous version of ourselves, so dinky little 300 sq ft houses do not compute.  The only way I see us considering buying a tiny house is if they start offering small lots we can afford along the lake or coast to park said tiny houses and use them as vacation or getaway houses on the weekends or summers.  Owning two or three houses does have a greedy vibe and that gets us back to feeling American, so in that situation, I could be convinced to participate in the tiny house movement, I already have the truck to move it around, but I think us owning an RV over the last 18 years already has us owning a tiny house.