4/30/19 We All Get Sick?

    I hated to admit it, but I got sick.  It always seems to happen to me in the spring after the worst of the winter (not that we've had winters here lately) season and we start seeing more and more 80+ degree days.  I got up this morning to take Javalina to school, and it was fine except when I swallowed my saliva.  It was feeling like something is swollen back there.  I came back home and after playing on the computer for an hour, I went to bed about 9:00am.  I caught maybe 5-10 minutes of some porn fun, but fell asleep with that computer on.
    I woke up for the first of my pee breaks and was soaked with snot from my nose.  I cleaned it up, and even had to start on a new roll of toilet paper near the bed as my nose seems to always be runny.  I also figured it was time to turn off the adult entertainment   We agreed on since I was already asleep.  I never got up feeling rested, instead, I got up to get Javalina wondering how I was going to go get him andstay awake in the process.  Girlie also needed a lift, so I went and got her.  Wife was headed home and we talked and decided that if we met on I-35 it would work better to give her time to reach us.
    Our first choice was Poke Joe's, but that is on Ben White and too far away for Wife to make it, specially if she just got out around 4:30pm.  We then said Zaxby's which is always a good alternative but she suggested Chicken Express, one of Javalina's favorites an he had been pissy because we told him we'd go during the weekend and we never made it over there through the weekend.  He said that was a better choice as soon as he heard the option.  Even though she was coming from San Antonio and we were in town, we got there at almost the exact same time.  We parked side by side and walked in together.
    Once inside, I told Wife what I wanted and went to sit.  I just didn't have the energy to stand and talk to the cashier girl.  Wife looked at me and said I looked like crap.  She said my eyes were sunken and looked like I had rings around my eyes.  I felt ok except when I go through a sneezing fit, then I can feel my throat being sore and my sinuses in my face full of snot and just some general weakness to my body.  I know that five years ago I would have powered through and just gone to work, but nowadays I just find it harder to rally.  I called my boss and he said not to worry about the work if I didn't feel good.  To ease my guilt, I also talked to my trainer and she said there were a couple of "hot" jobs, but there are always a couple of hot jobs, just stay home if you don't feel right.
    I went home with Wife and Javalina, took a shower and laid down while Wife sat in the room and watched a show.  Before I knew it, I woke at 8:30pm and went down for some water.  I then sat on the table to write this and decided it was a good idea to stay home and take it easy.  I always feel guilty when I stay home on a work night, but after 20 plus years, they should know I don't take advantage of my personal time off and I am only out when I take vacation or really feel sick.

4/29/19 Another Sleepy Weekend?

    Wife is starting to feel ragged and well worn as far as always feeling like she is in her car.  I can say I feel alright, but I am not traveling back and forth for work.  The last two weekends were spent first with my family visiting us and then we went down for Easter Sunday.  This weekend it was my mother in law's birthday and we went down again on Sunday, for the day.
    Saturday was like most weekends.  I got up, drank coffee, wrote a blog and went back to bed by 10:00am.  We then got up around 1:00pm, Wife made breakfast, we ate tacos, and then we napped.  It would seem I am being selfish, but Wife has been feeling like being home is the only thing worth doing, and Javalina never wants to really go anywhere. Boy was out with his GF doing their thing.  We probably went upstairs around 4:00pm and napped until 7:00pm.  We got up and I felt like taking a drive and the only place I could think of was going to the bookstore.  My cousin is graduating in a couple weeks and since he is getting a degree in English, I figure he appreciates books.  I won't get into what I bought him, but I thought it was very nice.
    We ended up driving to Buda to try and eat out there, but most everything was closed.  We then ate at Dan's burgers, which is kind of a greasy burger kind of place.  They turn out delicious, but you will feel greasy and messy after you eat one.  It was a nice surprise when we got home.  Our old roomie Dirty, I mean Domesticated Dog was there visiting with his GF.  They came down to say hi right away and we probably visited with them for an hour or so.  By the time they left, it was after 1:00am.  We went upstairs and Wife put away a bunch of clothes we have been washing an letting pile up.  I did stay up until almost 4:00am to write since I knew Wife was going to be on the move in the morning.
    She got up around 10:30am and started by taking a shower.  She got me up around 11:30am and then I showered and stuff.  We got up to my in-law's around 2:00pm, as usual, they had already eaten, but there was plenty of food for us.  The food was brisket on a baked potato with all the trimmings.  This was a lot of food and it was followed by another "better than sex" cake, a strawberry shortcake thing and cherry cheesecake.  I enjoyed the food, but as soon as I was done, I hit he bed and slept for a good two hours.  I got up, listened to Wife still going fast in her storytelling and I went back to lay down for another hour.  I finally got up around 8:00pm and then we left back to Austin.  We spent a little too long at Buc-ee's, but eventually we got our butts home.  About the last thing we did was eat the sandwiches Wife picked up at Buc-ee's with some chips and sodas at home.
    Everyone went to bed and I stayed up as usual, washing clothes and trying my best to catch it as it comes out of the dryer to put it away.  I do this so Wife can sleep and I don't wake her up as I screw around watching TV or playing on the computer.

4/28/19 Scary Stories and Good Times?

    Friday was payday and it felt good to have some money in the bank, after two weekends of first having my folks here and then going down for Easter.  Neither of those things by themselves should cost us more than normal, but it always does, somehow.  Add to that Wife had been up here more than normal and we went out or a few too many meals and really the last few days before payday I was eating ham sandwiches like they were the only thing on the planet.
    Anyways, Friday I got out of work and first of all had to drop of Javalina, then gassed up my Excursion, that was $97 right there, but it does last me most of the two weeks between paydays.  I then felt like eating some breakfast tacos and I was going to go to HEB, but decided on Target instead because it is on the way home.  At Target, I thought about it and decided I wanted to eat pasta.  It is something we used to eat weekly, but now with Wife living out of town, we just never get to it.  I bought the spaghetti, sauce, meat and even toasted breads to make the meal as I like it.  To be honest, during the week, we went to Mandola's, and I was intending on staying very simple and get some spaghetti and meatballs, but got distracted with the menu and ordered whatever they had on sale for that day, Monday, I think.  It was good, but it wasn't pasta and red sauce, plus the bill was like $85 and then we got desserts, they have great coconut cake.  So my want for spaghetti and meatballs was never satiated, and along with that I got some eggs and bacon and SPAM and breakfast sausage to make a big breakfast on Saturday morning.
    I didn't go to bed until almost 11:00am and then I felt Wife in the house like at 3:00pm, so I got up early and went downstairs.  I told her about the food I got and she wanted a couple more things, mostly the ingredients to make her "better than sex" cake, so we went to HEB after we picked up Javalina.  We came back home, I think I napped until around 7:00pm and she was just about done baking the cake.  I hung out in the kitchen with her and she made the spaghetti and meat sauce pretty quickly.  We were either really in the mood or it was really good, but I had two big plates of it and it hit the spot.  Before long, our new house guests showed up from their daily activities and they joined us as we were finishing eating.  They started talking about "La Llorona" and Girlie wanted to know more about the real Mexican version as compared to the one in the movie.  Wife loves talking about this kind of stuff and we got into it for around 4-5 hours.  I told them about our encounters with a UFO and about that one trip back from Brownsville to Corpus where we were chased by assholes in a van that I assume were hiding their faces with a mask, but Wife swears it was a demon faced creature.
    We realized it had been Girlie's boyfriend's birthday the day before, so we used the cake to sing him happy birthday before cutting into it.  It is such a good cake with banana pudding, pineapple chunks, cherries, whipped cream and pecans over a yellow cake.  We went to bed after 1:00am, and I got up by 7:00am, mostly to get another slice of cake with some coffee.

4/27/19 Sometimes Listening Is Enough?

    Today was a surprising day.  First of all, Wife got out of a conference early and she was home by a decent 3:30pm or so.  Just as we were thinking of getting down to do the dirty, Girlie yelled that her mom had come over to visit.  Being that I don't like doing the dirty when I have to go to work because all I want to do after is sleep, I jumped out of bed and put some clothes on and went down to say hi.  It has seriously been awhile since we have even had conversations with her mom.  The good thing when you've known someone for a good twenty years is that we can usually pick up a conversation pretty easily.  This was not a good one, I can just say I was glad Wife was home.
    I guess she needed to vent and get away from her own environment.  Her older sister is going through chemo and radiation as she is battling cancer.  We were aware but since we have never been that close to that sister, we haven't gotten involved.  She honestly had a good cry about the lack of support and how she feels she is the only one helping her sister.  The sister has a daughter and two boys, but one of the sons lives in Corpus and the other lives in la-la land.  The daughter has a sick daughter with behavioral issues, so she has to be monitored at all times.  I felt bad for our friend, and all we can do is listen to her and offer her maybe lunch which we did, but she said she was just tired, not really hungry.
    Wife is always awesome in these situations because she knows of so many programs.  She started pulling up info of places that will drive her and bring food and help clean your house and other services.  She was not aware and I think that helped.  Going at it alone through these situations is not easy, I am glad my dad had my mom and even my younger brother to drive him back and forth for the 8 weeks of chemo that he just went through.  Another difference is that my dad was scared initially thinking maybe it was over, once he talked to the doctor and realizing he still has a lot of life left made him stay positive and that helps immensely.
    My friend was saying her sister has started saying at times that she wants to give up, she feels weak and overwhelmed and that adds to the stress of the whole situation when you are supposed to be providing support and positivity while the person is thinking the whole deal is too much trouble and it would be easier to give up.
    None of us are guaranteed a set amount of time.  A simple errand to the store could find one involved in a car accident, or a store robbery gone wrong, an idiot running a light, or even just the random choking on a chicken McNugget, you never know.  Treat life like the precious gift that it is and enjoy your time here.  For all of us, it is just a matter of time, even in the best of health, nobody gets out alive.

4/26/19 Last Track Meet Was As Rewarding As A Warm Fart?

    Javalina is fast becoming the king of talking hype.  He was promising us he would be throwing 40ft by the end of the season, but he never really got a chance to really get going.  Track and Field season came and went as fast as last year.  For the second year in a row, it seemed like they (the schools) just went through the motions of making the last meet something wonderful.  They could have made it on a Saturday, first of all.  Second, they could have acted like they cared about the field events at least a little more.  The field events were scheduled for Wednesday this week, but we had those horrible rains coming through and the day was cancelled.  They held the track events on Thursday like the field events never mattered.  My son spent a long time working on his shotput technique, I would have liked seeing him in a real competition against more than 1-2 schools at a time.
    I can say that his best throw at home was close to 34 feet.  I saw him throw over 31 feet at practice at least once, so he had the ability if he could focus.  But mannnn, those little girls were constantly breathing around him.  I mean it has to be a double edged sword, for him.  On the one hand, you do the activity to get the attention from the girls, but then they distract you while you are trying to do it, so you can't be as good as when you are alone.  But anyway, all this does not matter as the final track meet was just that, running events.  I love and cheer for my son, but he is built to protect the putzes that are supposed to run these fast relays, not run in their stead.
    In the end, it was his QB running in the first heat and winning the 100 meter dash and Javalina in the third heat and coming in last in the 100 meter dash.  He was removed this week from the 200 meter dash, which I say good, because he stayed way behind on that one.  In the 100 meter, he was only 4-5 seconds behind the leader.
    All I can say is I agree with that song that says "it's better to be a loser, than a spectator."  To try and fail means you went through a tempering, win or fail, you come out the other end a better person.  We all knew he wouldn't win any running events, but hopefully, he is a little faster for next year.  I am hoping he picked up some tips, like when he was told to run on the tips of his feet, or that he needs to lift his legs more.  I was opened up to a whole new chapter on ways to increase speed which we will be going over this summer.  Like I said, everything we do, is to make a better football player.  I am trying to put in his head that now that he is hovering around 220pounds, he might even be a better fit at line backer, which is a more glorified position.  He still insists he belongs in the trenches pushing himself around all the other strong boys.
    So we wait another year, to see what he can do in the shotput in competition.  All I can say is I am excited at his potential and love of competing.

4/25/19 Why Do Humans Suck On A Macroscale?

    I noticed this while getting dressed Sunday to go to my folks for Easter.  We have a small TV in the bathroom with rabbit ears to get local programming, such as the morning news and stuff.  Well Wife had it on PBS I think and the show was one of these where some person is off on some far away country and they are invited into this random person's house and before long they are feasting on some homemade food and all is well with the world.  This always seems to happen, no matter where the people are visiting.  I was watching this late 20's kid on YouTube and he was talking about visiting the slums of India and again, the people were about as friendly as can be.  I know that there must be bad people around and I am too cautious to ever roam the earth like this myself, but time and time again, the people traveling seem to get received by the people of whatever foreign lands pretty easy.
    Why then when it is on a government scale, does everything get muddled and fucked up?  Is it that people with fancy titles can't be as friendly as the local poorer residents?  I've even seen people visiting North Korea on YouTube and the random local person on the street isn't trying to start a war.  They are curious of the strangers, they are proud to show off their homes, they want you to try their local cuisine.  My pessimistic brother would say this is all a staged production and I would agree if it was only seen on PBS or one of the other TV channels, but when it comes to YouTube, it might be one random dude with a phone making videos.
    When I realized Boy's GF grew up for a time in Mexico, I had questions of interest, such as did you have the Flintstones on TV?  She said yes and it was called Los Picapiedras, this seems silly, but as an example, when someone is different, we still want to know how they are somehow the same.  We went down a list of cartoons and they had them all and she watched most of the same ones we watched, although to be honest Fred who came across as a buffoon to us, in the Spanish version, he was a guy always in a bad mood, so there were some differences, according to her.
    Maybe this is a little off topic, but I don't get how we can get along just fine with other people until we hear from our leaders and in their reality, we have to hate this group because of this and this group hates us because of that.  Meanwhile, if you go down where the real mixing happens, such as at borders, there is so much mixing that has already happened, that people become interconnected and part of each other's communities, even without wanting it.
    I remember an old coworker who used to travel a lot to the middle east and especially Jerusalem, his stories always seemed to be that Palestineans were friendlier and easier to get along with than the Israelis and I thought the Israelis were our allies, so this always seemed weird to me.
    I am pretty sure that my brother's will just continue calling me a bleeding heart liberal, but that is not what I am going for.  It just seems that if left alone, one on one, we could get along with most anyone on the planet, we might need a translator, but better a translator than a president defining who is our friend and who is our enemy.

4/24/19 Review Of My New Bose Wireless Earphones?

    My initial impression of these new earphones is that I am impressed at the technology and how far it has come.  They are not perfect, for example, they have limited battery run time.  The box and shelf sample at the store had a thing saying they would run for about five hours and I thought that would be good enough to get me to my lunch break, but they only last about 3 and a half hours.  I am not sure if it is because they are being played too loud, this to counteract the loud filters and pumps in the lab  room.  I am pleased with their range.  So far, I can move from one end of the chemistry lab to the other with my phone on a table near the middle of the room where we have a couple of chargers and I stay connected.  This is what I really wanted.  When I am moving, I like to have the music in my ears because the loud speakers are a give and take, sometimes the songs are just too soft on YouTube and I am left a little frustrated and confused, but not anymore.
    Along with the new earphones, I also added Spotify to my phone which makes me feel like I finally joined the future.  I had been using YouTube to listen to music, but every song or video nowadays has a commercial.  With Spotify, you can listen to a commercial and then have music up to a half hour uninterrupted or you can pay a premium and then it is no commercials.  I want to make sure I like it before signing up for another monthly service.
    I am surprised that the earphones stay on for hours at a time.  They are meant to exercise with, so in theory, I could run with them, maybe one day, but so far, they do seem to stay in place without me fidgeting with them constantly.  The little case they come in is also cool in that it will charge the earphones up to two more times before it has to be connected to a charger.  Another nice note is that like all our Samsung phones, the case uses the same charger, so I can charge them anywhere I would normally charge my phone.  Plus, the case is hard enough that I feel comfortable putting the earphones in and they are held in place by magnets and then tossing them in my pocket.  It would take quite a bit of effort to crush or break the case and damage the earphones.  I am a little worried that because they are so small I may end up losing them, but they also have a "find me" thing where they will chirp if I do something to help find them easier.  If they are as good as other Bose headsets I have bought, they should last me awhile.  I think that given the choices, this was a good one for me, right now.

4/23/19 Easter Sunday?

    We have always spent Easter at my folk's home and this year was no different.  The big difference was that since we figured we can come and go in one day, we went ahead and tried it.  I don't know how everyone else felt about it, but I like the idea of sleeping on my bed the day before and the day of the trip.
    Originally, we had decided on leaving between 7:00am and 8:00am, but I didn't get up until 6:30am and it took me awhile to start snapping, so I just sat here, staring at the computer screen.  Eventually, it got to 8:30am and I decided that we needed to move, so I went upstairs to wake up Wife and Javalina.  Boy had already said he wouldn't join us.  He decided it would be a better use of his time to go with his GF.  Normally, I would not have liked this, but we did get him for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Eve last year.  If this is the trade-off, I think I can live with it.  First we enjoyed our little Easter baskets, then we got ready to go.  It is a lot easier to get ready for a trip when it is only a day trip, no overnight bag to worry about, although I did miss my old ratty shirts which I prefer wearing around the house, but oh well.
    The road was pretty bland, Wife and I talked for awhile, Javalina spread out in the back seat as best as he could.  He thought it would be a good idea to stay up all night, and when I saw him last it was about 5:00am and he was still awake, but he was hard asleep at 6:30am.  I also played with my new earphones and even fell asleep listening to music on Spotify through my phone.  Wife then woke me on the outer city limits of San Antonio to  gas up, we did and then continued on our way.
    We got to my folks early enough that the grill had not yet been turned on, but my dad was sitting outside enjoying an almost perfect day, not too hot and not too cold.  By the end of the day, the only negative was all the flies that gather when you try to have food outside, but overall everything was still great.  I love eating chunks of meat off the grill and my brother asked me to try the ribs as they were getting done.  I must have eaten half a rack before everything was taken off the two grills, and Javalina caught on and came around to take a couple too.  My aunts and uncle showed up then my sister showed up and she got a little lively specially when my brother brought out an 18yr old bottle of whiskey.  It was quite good, without that bitter alcohol taste younger scotches and whiskeys have.  I am not an expert but this one was almost yummy with a smell of orange peel.
    After we ate, my mom and sister put out eggs for the kids to find with candies and some had a little money.  The kids had a fun time rounding them up.  The last thing they did was break the cascarones on everyone's heads.  These are the eggs filled with confetti, although I am not sure which part of Jesus's life this represents, although it is fun, specially for the kids who get to bully the adults for once.  The funniest moment might have been when all the little kids overwhelmed my always serious younger brother and they got him running around the yard as he avoided the eggs getting broken on his head.
    We finally got ready and got going probably close to 7:00pm.  I honestly knew I wouldn't be good for much as I was already sleepy before getting in the car.  I was probably asleep before getting out of town.  Thankfully, Wife got us back in one piece and for that, I am letting her sleep in and trying my hardest not to bother her on her day off.

4/22/19 You Think You Know Someone?

    Just yesterday, I swear I was asking wife in a mostly joking manner if she thought Boy would ever be the kind of son who would say "I got this, Parental Units," you know, paying at a restaurant.  We both kind of laughed about it and said probably not, he is kind of a weird boy, socially, at times.  Well, today we honestly didn't do much.  I got up as usual at 6:30am, came down stairs, had a cup of coffee and tried to write, but I just couldn't focus.  I think we stayed up too late last night.  We started watching Crazy Rich Asians at midnight and didn't finish until after 2:00am and then went upstairs and watched another show or two.  Anyways, I went back to bed at 10:30am and then we all got up around 1:00pm.  We left the house around 2:00pm looking for lunch and we went to Mod Pizza.  It just felt like a lazy day, so we came back home and Wife jokingly said go lay down while she went to the bathroom, but I did and I fell asleep by the time she came out.  She had been trying to motivate us to cut the grass and maybe wash her car.  Ehhh, that doesn't sound like fun, but I didn't get up until 7:00pm.  Javalina and I cut the grass and Wife washed her car.  It got dark on us before we finished the backyard, but Javalina got most of it.  Wife then suggested we take a shower before we went to find a place for dinner.

    Just as we were leaving, Boy called and asked where we were going for dinner.  We still weren't sure but he was in Southpark Meadows so we headed in there. I wanted TGIF, but Wife is not a fan, so we settled on Chili's.  I texted Boy to tell him where we were.  He showed up within a couple minutes and we all sat at a table together.  While ordering, the waiter asked if we were all on one check, I said "Nah, it's them two and us."  We had been discussing Grandma's gift and he had said he would contribute $50.  I guess he figured it would be the same as paying for dinner, but he said I got all this and that will take care of what I owe you as I had my grubby hand out for him to pay me as I was showing him the watch on my phone.

    He then goes on this long story of him selling Magic cards today and making something like $350 and this the fourth time he has done this.  He said the first time he made something like $700.  Wife and I were like "what?!"  Then he went on and talked about his video games and he only buys collector editions ones and that he has thousands of dollars worth of games.  His GF was like "yeah, we did inventory and each section of bookshelf is worth over $1000.  Again, we were both like "what?!"  I couldn't help myself from telling Boy "what the hell, this is the first interesting conversation you've had with us other than telling us about your promotions."  He was all excited and talking with complete sentences which only made the whole experience even weirder as he has always been kind of squirelly when he talks to us.  We then went on to talk about his 3D printers and he had completed a project that is going to pay them $1000.  He said they are investing in a water jet metal cutter.  Man, Boy only got more and more interesting tonight.  To top it off, he took Javalina with him and GF to the movies to watch La Llorona.  Boy is pretty much a man now.

4/21/19 Get All Minor Tasks Done?

    I have to admit that I can start a project strong, but will get lazy if it can't be done in a day.  Friday, Wife said we were going to go around and take care of any last minute things that needed resolving.  I had received my new replacement leather seats for the front driver and passenger on Monday but the guy had said not to try and schedule installation until I had them in hand because he had gotten burned too many times.  Sounded fair on his part, but it also meant that I wasn't sure when I would get them installed since I cannot be without my vehicle any day during the week.  Since Wife showed up Thursday almost at the end of the day, I went over and talked to the guy and showed him the seat covers.  We talked for a minute and he said that he was going to be pretty busy, but then when he realized it was only two seats and not everything in the Excursion, he said to bring it first thing Friday and he would get it done early.  This is the only thing I cared about getting done because honestly, the torn seats were making me like my vehicle less and less.
    The day went something like this.  We dropped off the Excursion at the shop around 8:00am, we then went to have breakfast at Bill Miller, I loved the sound of brisket biscuit, and it was a fairly good amount of brisket inside a freshly baked biscuit, I added jam and it tasted perfect.  We left and drove by the cleaners where I had dropped off a jacket I had bought that I really liked except for the arm holes.  They were so big, even with the buttons that came to make the cuffs smaller, they did not make it work.  I was told this cleaners had a machine to add another button or two.  I guess I got lucky, they had a sign which read garments left more than a month might be removed.  I had certainly waited longer than a month, but it was there, no problem and the extra snaps on the jacket cost me $8.00.  We then came home for a nap.
    Sometime in the afternoon, we headed to the mall, we had dropped off Javalina's jacket to get adjusted on the arm length and to re-attach his button that came off during the party.  He also had a 2nd shirt come in that fit him correctly.  We then followed this by getting some gifts for Easter.  I don't know why, but I got it in my head that they both needed like the travel bag for their shaving gear and deodorant and other essentials, along with some cologne now that I notice my young boy being noticed by the girls around him.  To Wife, an easter basket is still a basket filled with candies and eggs.  I am taking the opportunity to give them something a young man should have in his arsenal of coolness.
    We ended the night at Target getting said candies and a couple other things.  Wife even got me something I have been wanting for awhile, truly wireless earphones from Bose.  I don't know how good they will be, but I like the idea of them.  Happy Easter everyone.

4/20/19 Wal-Mart After Dark Is Still Scary?

    I knew it would suck but when problems arise, they have to be dealt with.  Just last week I got pissed at Boy for leaving the house at 2:00am and wandering around Wal-Mart to clear his head from too much homework.  I don't care about the hour, I care about the clientele that hangs around Wal-Mart at that hour.  Well, tonight, it was my turn to go and dance with my luck.  It seems that the drain in our shower has decided to get plugged up.  Several times before, I removed the lid and there I would find a big glob of hair.  When I went and looked for it, Wife said she took care of it.  I am afraid that her taking care of it meant pushing it along so she wouldn't have to touch it and now it has made a plug further down.  I normally just grab it and deal with the funk, it stinks like ass, but you throw it in a bag and wash your hands and it is over.  I know full well Wife wouldn't touch something stinky like that, any bad smells make her gag.
    Anyways, this is what took me to Wal-Mart in the middle of the night.  I came home kind of thinking about it and when I went upstairs for my nap I saw water pooled in the shower stall, and that is no bueno.  I tried my 2 foot long plastic rod with the thorns like a rose bush and it didn't catch anything, so the plug must be lower than that.  I noticed water in the tub too, so the plug must be past where the two meet at this point.  I found a 15ft snake at Wal-Mart to push down the drain and see if I can unclog it that way.  I figure the tub is on the 2nd floor and it is about 2ft from the wall and then about 9ft for the first floor, 15ft should get me to the 4 inch main drain outside the house, at least I hope.  I have other, more aggressive things I can try if this doesn't work, but I need time to set those up.  I can shove the water hose with that balloon thing that inflates to the size of the pipe and then forces water through, but I need to run a hose from outside up to the 2nd floor.  I could also dump some Drano, but I am not a fan of stinky chemicals, but back to Wal-Mart.
    There was the requisite guy sitting in the car having trouble with a sick baby and could he borrow a couple bucks?  There was the heroin addict or at least man-child weighing 95 pounds sitting on an electric store wheelchair riding around the handicap car parking area like it was a ride at the fair.  Oh yeah, I almost bumped into the aggressive lady with wide hips and neck tattoos with courtesy bleached hair.  How about Hekyll and Jekyll both covered in arm tattoos arguing over who was paying for their 2-3 grocery items.  Oh shit, I can't forget Father Time over in the automotive section.  The guy looked like he was 90 and wiry strong but dirty like he had never met a shower he liked.  I used to routinely go to Wal-Mart at night and buy this and that, but over the last five years, I don't think it is safe anymore.  This is why I worry about Boy going out there alone.

4/19/19 The Hypocrisy Is Deafening, Y'all?

    There is nothing I hate more than bullshit.  Man, Wife called and told me a doozy just a while ago, after slaving away until almost 10:00pm, for the kids, at a school "Jamaica" (fair).  They were sitting there counting the money from the various fair activities and someone knocked with a lot of authority.  She said she went to check who it was, being careful as they had something like $12,000 or so, I am not sure if from the fair or just cash in general, but still.  Nobody was there, then a couple minutes later another heavy knock and this time the guy yelled "open up, this is a Texas Ranger."  Wife did not recognize the voice, but one of the other ladies said she knew who it was, so she opened the door.
    If you can believe this, he said he was there because they got a call that there was gambling on school premises.  A parent (Miss Goody Two Shoes, I presume) called to notify the FUCKING TEXAS RANGERS of some gambling going on to raise money for the kids.  I thought these guys took down drug cartels and caught fugitives from the law, not fine my chubby ass wife for selling tickets to a cake walk, fuck, where are we as a freaking society?!
    I am sure this fine professional left and went to the gas station down the road and bought a "scratcher" which is perfectly legal because who gets the money, that's right, the gov't.  He also bought a lotto with his favorite numbers because he is destined to win $180 million dollars on the next Power Ball.  He then checked on his Mommy who he takes every Tuesday night to play Bingo at church.  Of course, during football season, he has to be in on the pots for the games on Sunday, why else watch NFL football?  When it comes to vacations, he heads to his favorite place, Las Vegas, to play a little craps and Texas Hold 'em.  Plus, once a month he heads to the Kickapoo in Eagle Pass to gamble the night away.
    I know we are at a moment in time where everything stupid is caused by the liberals, but don't forget you thick skulled conservatives holding on to your values have made this topsy turvy world where gambling is allowed, so long as the gov't gets to play house and collect the most at the end of the day.  And Las Vegas is part of the USA, right?  Why the special rules?  Or if you can gather a couple of Indians, you can legally have a casino with all sorts of gambling at their discretion?  This is what the white man calls reparations for stealing the land from underneath them?
    Gambling doesn't bother me, the hypocrisy of saying this kind is ok, but that kind isn't does.  It's like alcohol, no debate it kills more people than even guns sitting in night stands minding their own business, but that drug is A-OK.  Yet we are still dragging our feet on marijuana, again, I have never partaken, but to each their own.  It doesn't kill you, while alcohol might, yet, I could go to Walmart right now and buy some alcohol, no problem.  Why?  There is good money in its taxation.

4/18/19 Third Meet, Finally Placed?

    Maybe the problem is me, maybe I am expecting my boys to be more like me and I should accept that everyone is a unique snowflake.  I grew up not really sure if I enjoyed anything other than competing.  Everything in my head is a test to see how you measure.  When you start school, it is a race to see who can do the alphabet first, who can read first, who can add and subtract and everything is then given the fancy term of benchmarks.  Whether we like it or not, we start getting segregated and separated into the smart kids and the others, at least that was how it was when I went to school.  I enjoyed always being with the "smart kids".  Then I joined band and more competing to see what chair and where you would sit.  I remember that to move up we had a music book in 7th grade and I remember staying after school to go through it all the way, again, so I would be put in the top chairs and for sure in the symphonic band, not the concert band with the dodoes.  Javalina doesn't want to believe me, but I played football in junior high and I started as guard in 7th, then right tackle and I played nose guard, so I played like him this year, where I was always on the field.  I did some simple math going to high school, the football team was usually a dismal 3-7 if it was a decent season while the band was recognized as "La Banda De Los Javalinas".  There was way more prestige to be in the band than on the shitty football team, plus most of the girls worth anything were in the band, so I stayed with band.  I have never gotten involved with something just to be mediocre in it, I can't even wrap my head around that idea.  Even when I graduated and had nowhere to go and I ended up in a warehouse, by the end of the week, I was given control of the warehouse loading and unloading trucks with a forklift when I had never driven one before.
    Now I am raising kids and I love them more than anything, but I feel like I have to bite my lip and curse in private when I see the lack of effort sometimes.  Boy eventually has found his niche with computers and the science world, but it was real hard having to battle dyslexia with him because it really slowed him down at times.  Plus there were the two years he played football, he didn't really want to, but we thought it would be good for him and he made some friends there that are still around, so that was time well spent, I think.
    The other Knucklehead though is at that age where I feel like he is testing me and I am bad at taking everything negative personally.  I should accept that the reality is his hormones are a mess right now and he is confused and distracted and nothing has anything to do with me.  But when I see him competing and knowing what he can do, it's like come on A-hole, show these people what "We" represent.  He has his own shotputs (plural) and I spray painted a circle in the backyard for him to throw and with us riding him, we got him to almost 34ft, quite respectable from what I have seen.  Yet, today at the tournament, for example, I arrive and he is doing his "warm-up" throws with his sweater on, he has the wrong shoes, he is not really doing good form, and there was hardly a grunt when he released.  I don't want to helicopter parent, but TAKE THE FUCKING SWEATER OFF, IT'S 80 DEGREES.
    To his credit, he placed 2nd with a throw of 27ft and change, but the 1st place throw was a mighty 40ft 10in.  That momma's kid got after him because he normally throws 42ft.  I accept that he is more interested in the little girls all around him, even if he can't accept it, but the 2-3 minutes when he is throwing, he should be fully focused.  I don't expect him to throw 40, but if I consistently see 32-34ft at the house, I want to see that in the real world, yes, he is like my prized stallion while it comes to competing.  Our living room is nothing but punching bag in one corner, weight bench under the big screen, various medicine balls, free weights and whatever else he feels he needs.
    It is not me forcing him, he insists he is going to play college football, I am just trying to do as much as I can to help get him there, short of forcing protein shakes down his throat, but that may be coming.  The coach tells me he is strong, but I want him stronger.  He still can't move me, although at 400 pounds, I know that is not easy for anyone.  Still, the boys from Paredes today were all bigger than me, I thought it was like the high school squad, they were all beefy boys.  It felt like the Lamda Lamda Lamdas had shown up like at the end of Revenge of the Nerds.  Even the mom of the boy that threw over 40ft was taller than me.  But that is competition in the real world we live in.

4/17/19 Shazzam?

    We hadn't been to the movies in a long while.  It has been hard without Boy getting us those free tickets to Alamo Drafthouse.  Maybe I should ask him to buy us tickets anyway, out of his own money.  He doesn't pay rent and now we don't even get free tickets, just saying.  But back to the movie.  We chose to go to the movies there in Southpark Meadows because basically we had been napping while my mom went to the bookstore and when we got up the movies were just going to start in like 20 minutes.  I didn't even brush my teeth.  I ran down, asked my mom if they still wanted to go, she said yes, leaving her just brewed cup of coffee sitting there.  We all ran outside and since Wife's Kia was parked behind me, I told my mom we should go in her car.  Man, I thought it was bigger than that.  I sat sideways, hugging Javalina, he sat sideways hugging Mama, and Wife thought small thoughts while we were squeezed in the back like sardines.  It was only 2-3 miles, so it wasn't a big deal, but that back seat is not expansive, yet we are.
    The movie was good, but definitely targeted at kids, like a super hero movie should be.  It was no Deadpool with all the nasty language and shots to the scrotum.  The kid who gets Shazzam's powers is a foster kid and above everything, he needs to learn that family is where you make it.  He spends his free time looking for his mother, but she is a Shithead when he eventually finds her, thanks to his new foster family.  He acquires the powers and after playing around for awhile and showing off for nickels and dimes.  He finally gets his shit together and while going back to listen to the original Shazzam figures he can share his powers with his family, so he does and then things get real interesting and fun.  I liked that they fought the seven deadly sins as his first enemy.  It had slow moments and I kept dozing off, but the parts I saw I liked.  I like Zachary Levi from back when he was Chuck the spy a couple years ago and now that he has built himself up, he makes a pretty good addition to the super hero group.  He has a certain goofiness and charm.  My brother said it was doing well enough that they are starting the second one, so here's hoping Shazzam has a good run, like Superman.  They are supposed to be similar in powers.

4/16/19 Why The Goofy Shit On Shitty Cars?

    I have always wondered what compels a man to spend good money on hokey shit to make their already shitty car look shittier?  The latest one I just saw was a little Ford Fiesta or something small like that with the pointy things on the wheels like they are going to go join Mad Max in the desert and fight to the death for oil or gas.  These things are goofy and extend out a good 10-12 inches with spike-like things like they are looking for a fight.  I believe they were used in the Grease movie when the two greaser gangs are racing and the black car messes up the white cars fenders, I don't think it would work in real life, but that is what they are supposed to do, theoretically.  Now, if only the owners would break into a song, then these people would become useful to society, just saying.
    Another one I remember seeing, but not as much anymore was the wing on the back of the car.  I had a friend who actually had a huge wing, like $500 dollars worth on a Dodge Neon that was worth maybe $400.  I wouldn't tell him, but that was some dumb shit right there.  There is no way that car with its 4 cylinder engine needed aerodynamic assist to stay firmly planted on the ground.  It was a Dodge Neon, enough said.  He was acting like he was some Formula One racer out in Monte Carlo, when really he was mostly cruising east Austin.
    Wal-Mart used to sell stickers of bullet holes to apply to a car, but for what?  To look gangsta?  I never understood what kind of mental giant would think "yeah, $2.99, I apply these stickers and I will get instant street cred, unless they look closer."  At least the stickers are cheap.
    My brother in law had a fixed up pick-up truck that had lights underneath, I think his color was blue.  They were illegal so what was the point of paying hundreds of dollars for that.  This weekend, I saw a truck with lights underneath and somehow on the inside of the tires that were changing colors.  It did not make me wish I was him, it just made me wonder why so much effort to light up the dirtiest part of your truck, Juan?  Other than the lights, there was nothing interesting going on down there.  If his suspension was chromed out, maybe it would add a touch of class, but just dirty and brown and old does not need lights for additional attention.
    Just drive your dinky car,  maybe keep it clean if you want to do more.  Nobody is impressed by stickers, first of all.  And most importantly, don't spend good money on plastic goofy shit to put stuff on your car that will make people laugh at your simple ass.  You don't generally see the goofy shit on nice decent cars, take a cue.

4/15/19 Parent's Visit?

    My folks were here all weekend and it was a good weekend even without the mall being involved.  They were mostly here to see Javalina compete, but that got thrown out the window when that freaky cold front showed up right as the events were getting under way.  We left the track meet and still had a good time by heading to Longhorn Steakhouse.  It was very weird that the storm looked like it was going to come in for the day, but we left the sports complex on Hwy 290 and by the time we were south of Ben White, the skies almost looked like they were going to clear and we could even feel the sun punching through the clouds.
    After we ate, we all felt like a nap was in order and we went home and I was out within five minutes.  It was good for awhile.  Girlie called to say they were bringing stuff to the room they were going to stay in and then woke me up 20 minutes later.  I was out of it and only saw them taking stuff up to the room, I didn't help much.  After this, I think I came down and sat with my folks for a while talking about this and that.  After an hour or two, my mom said I looked tired to go back to napping.  I did and didn't wake until my in-laws were calling that they had made it into town after all.  They were supposed to join us to see the track meet, but then didn't because they got rained on hard.  Between the pictures of hail and good luck calls to Javalina, they made their way up here and over to the Chevy dealership.  As soon as Wife woke, she realized that her folks had been trying to get a hold of her.  We went out there to greet them and watch as they bought a 2018 fully loaded Suburban.  It is a really nice vehicle, although it does look exactly like my brother in-laws SUV.  Oh well.  I got a chance while I was there to sit inside a Camaro and almost a Corvette.  I walked the lot and found an open Camaro.  I wasn't sure I could even fit, but my uncle who is 6ft 5in has had a Mustang and a Camaro, so I thought, I should fit.  I made the seat go all the way to the back sat in and forced my neck almost in half to snap my head inside.  I forced both my fat legs inside and somehow closed the door.  I felt that is the most equivalent thing I have done to getting into a casket, I even felt a tad claustrophobic, as my head rubbed on the ceiling.  I saw my boy sit in the Corvette a couple minutes later and just gave up as the roofline seemed lower than the Camaro.
    We ended the night by going back to pick up my mom and brother to eat at Rosa's with my in-laws.  The food is never the best, but it is always the best compromise as it is close to the house and they stay open until Midnight.

4/14/19 Teen Hormones In Control?

    Everything was lined up perfectly to see how good Javalina was.  We worked with him last week and saw him go from throwing around 25 feet at the first two meets on the shotput event to throwing a consistent almost 34 feet.  We invited both sets of grandparents and my parents arrived Friday night to be here since they live farther away and his other grandparents who live in San Antonio were going to drive in Saturday morning.  What else could happen to ruin the glorious day of victory for my son?  Well, bad weather for one.  How about them hormones?  Yeah, they were there too.

    There was a slight rain delay at the start of the meet, which was supposed to be at 9:00am.  We got there about 8:50am, parked in the handicap section, thanks to Dad, and waited.  After awhile the rain stopped and the kids came out from hiding.  We quickly got off the Excursion and paid our cover to get in, $5.00 a head and followed the Big Boys over to the discus and shotput areas.  This is when things got interesting, for all the wrong reasons.

    The 7th graders started things off doing what they do best.  One would think that while the 7th graders had their turn, the 8th grade boys would be focused and getting ready mentally.  Nope, not our boy.  I know he thinks he is being subtle and just casually glancing over to where the girls were, but in reality, he was more focused on the girls over there than anything remotely resembling a competition.  After a while, the little 8th grade girls returned the favor by coming over and of course finding ways to be cute with the boys.  Wife had steam blowing out of her ears because her son was supposed to be focused on competition, not the little girls all around him.

    By the time the 7th graders were about done, Javalina comes over with the other discus thrower and two of the cuties asking me for money so he could go get something from the concessions.  I just laughed a big cheesy grin because this is my boy being smooth with the ladies, and it appears the ladies like my boy.  About 3 minutes later, of course, they called out for the 8th grade boys to report to the discus event.  I figured he would still have time, but Wife was losing it because he should know better.  A few minutes later he was back, I swear he was floating like Pepe LePew after catching the scent of his love.  Oh yeah, this is supposed to be a track meet, so he finally got to work.  He is not that great on the discus, he tells me, his favorite sport is the shot put.  After throwing his 2nd attempt, the announcer over the intercom announced more bad weather coming so the events were all stopped and the kids all packed like chickens in a coop underneath the concrete bleachers because there was also a tornado warning.

    We went back to sitting in the Excursion to wait.  Thanks to our phones, we already knew how bad the storm looked on the radar.  After about a half hour, Wife had had enough and she called the meet.  I went looking for Javalina and I guess at the same time, he had been released to come with us because I ran into him before I got to the group of kids from his school.  We made our way through the hard blowing cold wind and whipping rain to get out of the caged area and get in our vehicle to get out of there.

    It was weird, while we were there, it felt like impending doom, but as soon as we left, it seemed like the clouds were clearing and even the sun was trying to break through.  Javalina was upset with the whole day.  He was sure he was going to do well on the shot put, but had to settle for giving us a show in teen age puppy love back and forth.  It was still a cute experience, I thought.  He was made happy again when Grandpa said he would treat him to a steak at Longhorn Steakhouse for lunch.  It was even funnier to see him deny that he was doing any "flirting" out there when all of us could see his actions while we got through our meal.

4/13/19 The IRS Giveth, But Mostly, The IRS Taketh Away?

    I always dread this time of year, tax season.  We have rarely sat in a good position and I wonder why we have to do this charade of responsible citizenship?  Surely, there is a better way, we should all just pay a percentage of what we make and leave it at that.  I hate going back and looking for paperwork like we are all part time accountants and we keep every damn receipt we are ever involved with.  Take a bite from money we earn, that is fair, after that, fuck off.  Why should you come back and reward/punish us for what we do with our money?  If I want to be irresponsible and blow al my money on raising a family, I shouldn't fall behind the rich guy who uses his earned income to buy other property which then gives him better things to protect him from paying so much of his money in the future.  I maintain that I am a better American if I go and spend all or most of my money on material possessions as that tends to drive the economy.  Responsible, boring a-holes who put their money in savings are actually slowing the economy down as their money never "plays" in the game.
    We have now been going to H&R Block for about 5-6 years, ever since we were audited and we had to pay something like 10,000 bucks.  They have an assurance that if we get audited, they will handle it and 2 years ago there was a discrepancy.  We called H&R Block and they handled it almost too well.  It was just a form they printed and we faxed to them and that was it.
    This year, the end of the period showed up fast.  Luckily, Wife loves paperwork, she tracked down most of what we needed, and then took it to the local office so they could work on it before we got there.  Our appointment was for 8:00pm last night and we got there more or less, on time.  Wife was driving in from La Pryor, and made it just in time.  It was actually nice, everything was done, we just signed here and there and mumbled and grumbled at the ridiculous amounts we owe.  What can we do, though?  It's not like we can argue against the fed gov't.  They are pretty much daddy to the extreme.
    The guy showed us the numbers he had come out with and it was crazy, like over $5000.  Luckily for us, when he was wrapping it up, maybe it was the computer, but something made him realize he had not included $2000 for child Tax credit and that brought our payment down to like $3126.  Thank goodness for credit cards, otherwise, what would we do?  hopefully, we see some changes at the end of this year.  We will be done paying on a big burden which I don't want to discuss too much, but it will leave us with more free money for BS like this that always pops up.

4/12/19 Make Excursion Great Again?

    Borrowing from our great President I need a hat with MEGA.  I am going to Make my Excursion Great Again.  I have been looking at new vehicles and I really don't want to start over with new payments while I still drive what I think is the best ride ever.  It has a couple things that need attention though and since we (Wife, mostly) decided I should just drive this a while longer, I will go ahead and make some repairs.
    The ugliest thing to look at is the front seats.  They are leather but because they are now like 16 years old, they have just worn through and both of them on their outer edges, closest to the doors, they have ugly holes.  I was thinking of just getting seat covers, but they always look generic.  I then thought about just replacing the leather, with the beauty of the internet, everything is just a call away.  I found the seat leathers within minutes and they are pricey at $120.00 just for the part where you sit on, but it is genuine leather and supposed to match OEM parts (Original Equipment Manufacturer), so they should look like I went to Ford to redo them.  At one point a few years ago I had gone to Ford and they had told me it would be like $1000 to redo them or something crazy.
    The next part is installing them and I found a YouTube video (of course there is a video), but man, they take the seat completely apart and that just seems to scream technical problems to me.  The seat has to be removed, the electric components have to be removed, the back has to be removed from the seat, there are hog rings keeping the seat from sliding around and keeping it in place.  This is why I hadn't done it a couple years ago.  Last night, I kept watching the video and then I started looking through the comments to see if others thought it was overkill like I did, but it ended up being helpful in that they have a page that has recommended installers depending on where you live and there is one about two miles from the house.  I went and talked to him this morning and he said if I ordered the leathers, he would install them for $85 a seat.  After seeing all the work, that just sounds like a bargain to me.  I came directly home and ordered the two leathers at a price of like $237.  I can't wait to see my big beast looking all shiny and new-ish on the inside.  I might even clean it with some Armor-All afterwards.  Maybe even wash the carpet at a car wash with the soap option.
    I think I could keep driving it for another few years, in four years it would get to 20 years, who is going to give me shit on it being bad for the environment if it has survived your 3-4 Priuses, or whatever?  I might even get brave and repaint the roof.  It is the only place where the paint is starting to go and like on a balding old man, it really shows its age there, otherwise, to me, it is still very much in its prime.

4/11/19 Mama's, Don't Let Your Boys Grow Up To Be Shit People?

    I shouldn't be surprised, assholes tend to go from cradle to grave thinking only of themselves, but still, fuck them!  Javalina  had one of those days where he had to go poop at school.  He says it rarely happens, he gets up early, like 6:00am, does his business in the bathroom and stays on schedule, but I guess having a large bowl of cereal maybe made his stomach gurgle, so he had to adlib a pooper.  He said he found what seemed like the perfect bathroom, it even had a lock on the door, but of course, the door lock was broken.  He said his next line of defense was that there was a stall with a door, so it would have to do, but when he stepped in there, the toilet seat was all covered in shit and piss.  My poor boy had to abort his evacuation procedure and carry that stuffed feeling all day.  Why do people do this?  I have seen many bathrooms in this condition, do people not know what to do when they are in there?  Do some families just never discuss shit basics and just smear themselves on the toilet and go?  Are their toilets at home in this same condition?
    I am asking because I work in a facility with locked doors and you need security badges to walk around so it's not strangers randomly walking in, yet almost every night, if I want to sit to fart and possibly poop, I have to wipe the seat with wet paper because adult Shit People do the same thing at work.  They pee all over the seat.  One of these mofos has the diabetes in an advanced stage because it looks more like dry sweet tea and even ants gather to enjoy the nectar from this man's loins.  How hard is it to raise the seat?  Do you think you are born of royalty and you can just do your business and someone is supposed to come clean up after you?  Does your fucking mother (who didn't teach you well enough) work here and she is supposed to follow you around and clean for you.
    I can only think these are the same type of animals that get shown by happenstance on COPS when the police officers crash a house and the people are living with mattresses on the floors and newspaper and trash all over the place.  My biggest wonder in all this is if they are only cleaning themselves as good as the toilet seat will get them, how come more people don't smell like shit?  Does denim do that good a job that it filters that smell of doo-doo and it just doesn't make it up to our noses?
   

4/10/19 The Idea Of Wife Taking A Job On The Coast Is Tantalizing?

    Wife sort of came out of left field with this one on Saturday, but she asked me what I thought of her applying for a job in either Galveston or Port Aransas?  My first question was well, how much is the pay?  It would have to be substantial to overcome the fact that she is living for free at my parent's house, but would have to pay rent to stay anywhere on the coast.  She said the pay for either city is between $110,000 and $120,000, which is a significant amount more than what she gets paid right now.
    I would prefer her to come back home, but if that is not an option, then I like this idea of having a place and a reason to go down to the coast.  We have talked about it before and we both like the idea of retiring down somewhere on the coast, so if we planned it right, we could buy a smaller home which could be our "retirement place" in another 20 years or so.  I waste no time, I have been looking non-stop since she mentioned this to all the housing options down there.
    We could keep it simple, like Wife said, she could just stay in our RV.  I have seen several lots backing to canals where they are set up with a large concrete pad and a roof where an RV can be parked.  This would be pretty awesome, specially if we were on a canal and then we bought a boat to use there.  If it were up to me, I would then like the idea of buying a house on stilts.  These seem to be more popular in Galveston, but basically, the house is built 10-13ft. off the ground, to avoid flooding problems.  This then leaves a huge shady area to park cars, grill, have some lawn furniture in the shade and by being up high, there is usually a better view.  The only thing that could make this better would be a stilts house on a canal or bay lot to get that boat parking right behind the house.
    I wouldn't be opposed to her getting a small condo, it seems safer from a burglarizing standpoint.  If Wife was going to live alone, being in a high rise building with neighbor's might just be safer, and some of these buildings are waterfront with awesome views of the water.
    I don't know if she will actually apply, she always has so many things going on at once that there might not be enough hours in the day.  Lately, I feel like I need a change of scenery, maybe I could go down there and start a new job.  Maybe this is what I need to sleep a full night, a job that requires me to think

4/9/19 Javalina's Memory Came Back?

    It was sort of funny, Friday afternoon.  Javalina came out of the shower and he said he was walking back and forth in the shower and he remembered the motion of the glide throw for the shotput.  I thought he was joking or something and said something like "what do you mean, Goofball?"  He said you know, I sometimes walk back and forth in there while I think, I still don't know if he was kidding, but he said he remembered the motion of kicking his leg back to throw farther.  I said "good, about time."
    We have been to two meets and he is doing mediocre, at best.  For a kid swearing he will throw 40 feet by the end of the season, then to watch him increase only 4-5 inches from the first meet to the second, it seemed like we were in for a long season.  But last year he was already throwing as far as 27 feet, yet this year he had only managed 25 feet and change.  This year, because they started from scratch, he has just been standing and throwing from that position.  Last year he would do the glide motion, which starts with his back to the field.  He kicks his weaker leg back as far as he can in the throwing circle and in one motion while he is turning his body and coming up from almost a squat position, he heaves the ball and as he releases, he is supposed to have so much momentum that he keeps turning.
    We went outside Sunday while we grilled and at first he was goofing around, just doing it barefoot.  He threw his normal 25 feet from a standing position, then trying the glide he went up to 27 feet, but he was barefoot.  I told him to go get some shoes on and he comes back in Crocs.  I just shook my head, but he did get to 29 feet, so it did help.  I kept watching and marking and helping him go back and forth.  I got him to put his hair in a band to get it out of the way and all the videos say to hold the shotput just by sitting on the top of the palm, not to wrap the fingers around it.  He had a throw near 32 feet at this point.  Eventually, Wife finished telling stories to Girlie and the BF and she came out.  She threw in high school and after a minute she gave him some tips which managed to increase him to over 34 feet.  The biggest tip which gave him an instant 2 extra feet was to take a deep breath and grunt it out on release.  He hesitated to make noise but the throws all got more consistent, the last four all landing within inches of each other with the longest one being 34 feet and change.  The other good tip she told him was to mark where the guy who had thrown the farthest was at.  That was the 35 feet mark and I stuck a stick at that length and man, he came close to it.
    Basically, by working with him, in one afternoon, we increased his distance by 10 feet, that is pretty darn good.  I am not sure what that will translate to as our yard slopes down a bit.  I say maybe he loses a foot or so, but I don't see why he can't throw a solid 32 feet this weekend.  He did promise 40 feet, and if he does everything else correctly, he needs to pop with more oomph when he kicks his leg back, maybe squat a little lower, get all his hair away from his neck, and figure out how close he can get to the edge of the ring without scratching out, oh yeah, and proper footwear, not freaking Crocs.  I think he can squeeze another 6-7 feet.  It is going to be interesting to see.  I just wish he would also take the discus as seriously, it is such a beautiful thing to see it fly off properly.  But he loves the idea of the raw strength of that little cannon ball, the discus, not so much.

4/8/19 Organizing Boy On A Sunday?

    I didn't mean to do it but after walking into Boy's room to get the dirty dishes he left in there while spending the night at his GF, I found myself doing more and more.  I figured well, might as well wash all the clothes that I see on the floor.  I must have been more asleep than awake, I started pulling all the sheets stuck between his mattress and bed frame which means socks and old shirts started coming out.  Then Wife's words sort of hit me.  Boy has always been a little ADHD, he does not have good organizational skills.  I have always come and cleaned his room about once or twice a year where I take everything apart and really clean up.  I guess I had been thinking that he is now 25, he should be able to do the simple things on his own, but I guess not.  I then decided to just hunker down and tackle his closet which I had been telling him for months that it was unacceptable.  He had a nice pile in his very big walk in closet which measures a huge 4ft x 10ft of stuff almost a foot high.
    We were convinced that he only had like two underwear and 1-2 pairs of socks, even though we keep buying him new ones.  Well, I found like 30 pairs of socks and at least 25 underwear, most of them were still folded like they were clean just sitting on the floor like part of that huge pile.  I pulled up like 5 jeans and maybe 30 shirts going all the way back to his high school days.  There was also a handful of bed sheets, a sleeping bag and like 5 head to toe onesies that look like Halloween costumes of different Poke-Mon.  I was quite pissed going through then I realized the problem.  His dresser drawers are full of old electronic parts and old video games, he is like a hamster, just balls up everything and saves it.  He doesn't really have a place for any of the clothes on the floor in the closet.  I went and got a small furniture thing with drawers and filled one with socks, one with underwear, one with shirts, one with shorts and warm-ups, and the bottom one I forced the 5 onesies in there.  At this point it was noon, Wife woke and we went to Sam's to get him the new mattress he has been asking about and a new bed frame.
    It wasn't until I pulled up the box spring that I noticed what he meant by his bed was broken.  The wood parts that hold the mattress and box springs was completely broken off on one side, probably from the days of wrestling with the boys.  He had somehow shoved a pallet under there and it kind of worked, but I fixed it correctly by removing the rest of the wood frame support and replacing it with a metal one inside his bed frame.  By now it was like 4:30pm and he finally showed up.
    I was beat to shit from spending all day bent over cleaning, but we finished installing the mattress together, all the bad words we had yelled at each other melted away, and he actually told me he and his GF would finish cleaning up the clutter.  I was happily pleased to check in later after my shower and the grill was on that he did clean it up and the room actually looked bigger and cleaner than it has in a long time.
    It made for a great evening.  He was then able to focus on studying and homework while we grilled, I went outside to watch and help Javalina throw the shotput in the yard while we grilled and Girlie and her BF were here visiting and they joined us for dinner.  It almost felt like the old days with a full house of people and activities going on all over the house.  We were done by 10:00pm, Wife went up and showered at 9:30, Javalina had already showered, I walked our guests out, and even I fell asleep at 11:00pm waiting on the last load from the dryer, I call that a pretty full Sunday

4/7/19 A Rainy Lazy Saturday?

    I love Boy, don't get me wrong, but I am at the end of my rope.  That boy has convinced himself that he is an adult who answers to no one but his GF.  He has been complaining about his mattress and how it is so uncomfortable and when his GF sleeps over, they sleep in the next room so they can sleep on our old pillow top King bed.  I tried telling him to move the King bed into his room and put the queen in the other room.  This seems like too much work and after thinking about it, I decided we should go look at the mattresses and just get him a new one.  Of course, he was not here, he was having lunch with his sweetheart.  We texted him to meet us at the mattress store, even said we could wait awhile so they could finish eating, but he said no.  He was going to go chill at her house, then maybe watch a movie.  Umm, if someone offers you a new bed, you show up, Dick!
    What I decided now is that he is fixing to start making a real nice salary, so I feel that if he won't respond when we call, he can buy his own bed.  How much nicer can we be?  Wife is only here two days a week and he wants to start with "why not another day?"
    Anyways, we finally got going and figured we should go to Men's Wearhouse and fix Javalina's wardrobe problems.  His jacket was the wrong length on the arms last week for my in-law's party, so they are fixing it for free and he lost a button while goofing around, so they are going to sew it back on.  Plus, we bought him a new black shirt which did not fit.  He was measured correctly, but his body must be a little weird or something.  I double checked him at home and he is supposed to have a neck of 16 1/2 with an arm length of 32-33, but the buttons would not close around his belly.  We had to go up to a 17 on the neck.  Other than that, we looked at the watches at Dillard's while Wife got a gift for her co-worker.
    The day was supposed to be rain filled, but really, it only rained while we were getting off to walk in to the mall.  It seemed like it was done by the time we were leaving the mall, even the sun was out a bit.  We stopped to eat at Potbelly, then we headed to HEB and bought food for dinner and BBQ stuff for tomorrow.
    Boy called that he was going to spend the night at the GF house because storms were coming.  I don't think it even rained in the evening.  After HEB, we went home and just hung out.  Girlie was texting me about moving in for a month or two, while they find a new place to stay.  I said sure after we discussed her paying me some rent money.  I figure this can be the money we will save to go to Florida with my folks, as they are saying they want to go maybe in Christmas or in the summer.
    The rest of the evening was very relaxed, Wife made some chicken embueltos and we just sat around the kitchen table eating and watching some of our shows.

4/6/19 I Love Cops Doing Their Job?

    I love watching the live cam video of cops shooting the life out of "bad guys."  How many times do you have to be told "Put your hands up!!!" before you decide to do it at gun point, no less?  It is embarrassingly hard to try to defend the actions of the criminal as we hear that the defendant's family is suing for excessive force or whatever, but really, aren't you embarrassed if it takes half the police force to bring down your idiot family member every time he acts up because he has "mental problems?"
    Carolla used to say on Loveline and then his podcast "90 percent of the problems come from like 5% of the population."  I have no problem when officers fill them full of holes.  Were they ever going to cut the shit and become productive members of society?  I doubt it.  It is always the same story.  A routine stop, there is a visible gun in the car, the police officer says hands up, do not move towards the gun, ten seconds later the idiot is attempting to shoot at the cops and he is shot at from multiple directions.  The civilians that defend these idiots, what do you want from the police officers, to keep talking until the cretin shoots first?  Maybe a dead police officer before the cops have a justifiable reason to shoot the hooligan?
    Believe me, I get stopped, I roll my windows down, have my license and insurance ready and talk nicely to the man with the gun.  Some of these people actually say hi with a "what you want, mother fucker?"  How many interactions that start that way end with the person in power, the cop, saying "um, you're right, I am a mother fucker, I will now leave you alone, Sir?  Never, for you dummies mouthing the words along.  How about when the clown says "Can you hurry this shit up, I am in a hurry and I am having a bad day!"  Maybe half the time the police officer gets to hurrying and apologizes and lets you get on your way?  No, you just gave him reasonable reason for him to think you are up to no good.  You will probably end up in a shootout in another 3 minutes, if we go by these videos.
    The only shame/sad thing to most of these confrontations is that the people getting shot are under the influence of drugs.  If these people never got involved with drugs, I would say 90% of these interactions wouldn't happen.  It is a shame, but once someone is addicted to drugs, whatever happens is still on them.  The family can say "he was normally a sweetheart, it is only when he drank or he got high that he acted up."  Sorry, but you are responsible for your actions 100% of the time.  If you are a fucking light weight and insist on fighting every time you drink, then maybe don't drink.  If you insist on drinking, then at least do us a favor and buy a dash camera, I want to see the cops treat you like the piece of shit you become when you think you are bullet proof and 10 feet tall.

4/5/19 Second Meet, Bailey Battles Bedichek?

    This was the second week of Track and Field and this week the Bedichek Bobcats traveled to Bailey Middle School.  The worst part about traveling is seeing how much nicer some of these campuses are.  I mean, it is a given that Bedichek is a lot older, but there are basically no trees around it and all the way around is either houses or business.  Bailey, like Gorzicky is west of us and the campus is set in a beautiful location.  It just seems to be placed in a forest as all you can see around is a little hill country and trees.  There is an indication of houses, especially up front of the school, but from behind it feels like you are in a lost piece of woods, I really liked the location.  That being said, the actual school was not much better than Bedichek.  Shoot, the shotput and discus pits did not even have cement pads.  They were throwing on grass, like animals, or maybe softball players.  The track itself was modern and even had the rubberized flakes, but there was no astro turf in the middle for the football field.  Other than that, I guess everything else was alright.
    I do not understand how it works in Javalina's head, but first he texted me that they were in a bus right behind me.  I was driving so I couldn't respond.  I park in the first place I see open, get my little cooler full of drinks and start walking looking for crowds of kids in matching jerseys.  It took some walking, but I eventually started seeing them, meanwhile, I noticed the bus that must have been carrying my boy and his schoolmates leaving the parking lot which made me think I wasn't late even if I was stuck in traffic for awhile.  I noticed the track and then I looked for the pack of husky kids acting different and that is usually the shotputters/discus throwers and I walked around the track to get closer.  I wasn't sure whether to get close enough to interact with my boy or stay over here where the conservative parents were at about 50 yards away in a shady spot by a storage shed.  Then I see Javalina throw with his hoodie on.  It pissed me off and I screamed reflexively.  He knew what I meant as he took it off before I got close.  Within five minutes, he had thrown all his shotput throws and discus throws.  I asked him "why are you always in a rush?", quietly.  He said he had to go register for the running events.
    His shotput was on par with last week, maybe 4 or 5 inches better at 25 feet and change.  His discus was horrid.  I mean there were girls throwing farther than him.  He needs to incorporate the spin move and not just throw from a standing position.  He went over and signed up for the running.  I am not sure how I felt about this.  The 100 meter and 200 meter dash are for the rock stars, the super fast and here comes my boy, essentially a lineman trying to keep up with them.  To add insult to injury, he hadn't even used the blocks to start from, so he just pushed them back and started from a standing position which made him look goofier.  He only practiced yesterday with the runners and he said his time in the 100 meter was 15.78 seconds.  He was penalized a second for crossing into another runner's lane, so maybe his real time would have been 14.78?  I am not sure.  I am just thinking this will help next year on the football field, so fudge it if the other kids are talking shit about the "fat kid" running.  This might help him next year as he runs down one of these little shit talkers, looks in his eyes as he gets tackled like a piece of meat and remembers just as he passes out "That was the fat kid from track last year."

4//4/19 What To Do With Boy?

    Lately, I have been confused by Boy and his actions.  I am not sure if it is because he is getting older or because of the people he is hanging with, but he does need to realize that living at home for free is a luxury we grant.  Not everyone does this, and if he is going to continue acting like he is the man of the house, I might give him some bills to reflect upon.  Not only do we give him free room and board, but we also currently pay for his SUV and it is a nice one.  Shoot, it was less than a year ago that I put new tires on it out of my pocket and then when it turned out it had a bad alignment, guess who paid to fix the alignment and for two new tires?
    Mostly, I let him do as he pleases, but there are some things I am not comfortable with.  Leaving his brother alone is one that I do not accept, such as him deciding to go sleep at his girlfriend's house during the week.  It is one thing if I am there, but to leave the younger one alone to fend for himself throughout the night so he can go play grab-ass is bullshit.  Tonight I came home around 1:45am for lunch, now my lunch varies from 10:00pm to 3:00am, whenever I decide it is a good stopping point, but anyways.  I got home and his car was not in the driveway.  My first thought was that maybe it got stolen, if he was going to his GF, I would expect a text and where else would he be at that hour?  After I checked if he was in his bed I texted him and of course, like on the weekend, he doesn't respond to the first one.  Am I going to curl into a little bitch ball or am I going to get more angry and aggressive?  I sent a second text with "HEY?!" and nothing.  I called him and he picks up on the 2nd ring, so he had the phone in his hand as we all always do, he just chose not to respond (and then he gets mad when I send multiple texts, Stupid).  He was at Wal-mart just walking around looking for something.  I just said "get your ass home."  He showed up like 5 minutes later, so I believed him, the GF house is like 30 minutes away plus he has to stand there kissing and cooing like a bird for another 20 minutes.
    He got home with some attitude and he got to washing dishes which he brought down from his room and filled the sink earlier.  I had yelled at him to do this at 6:00pm.  I haven't done anything different in the last three years, it is his actions that prompt my responses.  What good can come from going to Wal-mart at 2:00am?  I stopped going because there are just too many sketchy people out there, what is his 150 pound ass going to do if he is confronted by a bum or some fucking losers out joyriding at that hour?
    If anything, I worry he has lost focus on the importance of school.  He is still going and maybe it is just on Monday and Wednesday, but he is supposed to work on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.  This is where I think maybe if I give him the responsibility of paying for his own SUV will make him be more accountable to work, I mean I would then have an extra $500 to spend freely at Wal-mart at all hours of the night.  Why shouldn't it be that way?  I brought it up to him, and he actually had the balls to say "so you can buy a boat?  Nahh."  What fucking business is it of his what I do with my money, even Wife wants a new boat, after we make some upgrades to the house?  There is no law written that I have to buy him a vehicle, I got him that vehicle for school, not for fucking around.
    He says he is graduating in December and I am trying my hardest to wait until then to give him the car note, but man... is he testing me right now.

4/3/19 A New Runner Emerges?

    Like a mighty phoenix shaking his newly birthed feathers and awaiting to strike fear and potential to the landscape, so too does this new Javalina hybrid come from a magical realm to change the game.  Imagine, if you can amongst a field of skinny white boys from the rich schools and the always tenacious black kids who dominate anything with a field and measuring devices from the other side of the tracks, a beast easily outweighing the class by a solid 40 pounds of muscle but fast enough to hunt a lighter faster foe and conquer it.  I can see it playing out in the near future, this Javalina in a bobcat costume feasting on Eagles, and Panthers, and Tigers, oh my.
    Seriously, it wasn't that long ago that I was envisioning our big ham of a boy just turning to computers and maybe band to avoid anything resembling a sweat, but suddenly he "woke up" and became this weird mix of testosterone and mouth who insists on constantly interacting physically for everything.  Even if he is just having a conversation with me, he will get close enough so he can be punching me in fake jabs and hooks until he lets that one punch "slip" and he connects a little too hard.  It pisses me off, but I understand he is not cut of the same material as Boy.  Boy never needed to be physical, this monster does.  I say monster because he is like a swarm of bees when he comes at you, hit him harder and that just gets him smiling that now he can hit even harder, ughh.  I am more like Boy in that I don't enjoy this kind of what I call "grab-assing".
    But to the point, Javalina has been participating in track and field in both the discus and shotput.  Natural for him, as a big boy and a lineman, even the coach told me he is probably the strongest 8th grader from the kids that play football and are in sports.  He also said he is turning into quite a leader, helping to hold the offensive line together during the hard times when they experienced too many losses, but I guess now that he has lost those 35-40 pounds, he has been asked to run.  He had said no because obviously, he isn't going to be the fastest, he is just too big, but we kept telling him it would be good for football.  He might pick up tips to make him faster, which is his one fault that I see on the field.  He didn't pursue and take down people from behind.  If he could get that extra bit of speed, I am sure it would make a difference in getting to the quarterback a couple of times.  So we will see, he is signed up for the 100m and 200m dash.  He said he was nipping at the heels of the slowest skinny boy on the team and that is with 3/4 hightops and baggy shorts.
    I expected this guy to be my doppelganger and just be content as a husky guy in the band, but he is out here trying to break the mold and make himself an athlete amongst athletes.  I love his character and enthusiasm.

4/2/19 To Live Under My Mighty Reach?

    On Saturday we had my in-law's anniversary party and I was asked to say a few words, which I reluctantly did.  I added the line about how Wife has such a big heart and we have taken in so many people to live with us for periods of time.  I don't even realize it anymore that all we do is harp on the need to continue your schooling while you are here.  Whether we bore you or not, that is really the only difference between us and anyone who comes into our lives, well other than I am just larger than life and awesome.
    Towards the end of the party, my older sister in law's best friend's sister came and wanted to meet us.  I've known her at least 15-18 years and had forgotten she had a sister, I was like huh?  Who are you again?  She had real serious eyes and just stared at me which made me a little uncomfortable but I did what I do.  She wanted to thank us for taking her sister in at that point in time which was a real hard time in their family's life.  She then added that living with us inspired her to continue her education and I believe she now has a Master's degree.  I smugly/jokingly added "that is what I do, I am an inspirational guy.  Hanging around me just makes you a better person."  Maybe to shut me up, she gave me a big hug which surprised me and then she left.
    She stayed with us maybe 2-3 years and that is when we lived in our smaller house.  My sister in law lived with us at the same time and they shared the one extra room we had.  I have always enjoyed having other people around.  Right now, our house seems too big, but I know someone else is going to move in soon.
    Our first extra person was my brother who lived with us while he went to UT for about two years.  Then we also had my younger brother who has stayed with us a couple of times for a couple of years at a time.
    Then we had a few friends of Boy stay with us.  I mean his two friends from 1st grade and 3rd grade pretty much grew up here on the weekends, most of his friends had single/divorced moms and we served as a stable place for them to grow and like it or not, I was a father figure to way too many of these little knuckleheads.  In high school, one boy outright moved in and stayed with us for a year until he graduated from high school.
    There's also Girlie who has lived with us about 3 times now, usually for a couple months at a time.  We have known her since she was 3-4 and has pretty much grown up with us.
    I still foresee a couple of friends for Javalina to come around as he gets older, or maybe it was just Boy who had a knack for finding lost souls and befriending them.  Either way, this was one of the reasons I wanted a big house, so we could always help those that needed a hand up.

4/1/19 Letter To My In-Laws?

    By now, my in-law's have had their surprise 50th anniversary at which my Wife and older sister-in-law wanted me to say something.  I would normally balk at this, I hate talking in front of people, but they are now very much family, so here goes...
    If I have to say anything to you Mike and Dolores after more than 31 years of having you around it is very simply I love you and thank you.  You two have given me the greatest gift anybody could ever give me, a worthy adversary.  Vicky has the best attributes of the both of you wrapped in the perfect package for me.  I don't know how true it is, but I heard stories that Mike was a scary man to work for, he pushed you and didn't let you get away with anything.  Well, Vicky is her Mini-Me, people get out of her way at work, even the superintendent avoids her because she is a pain in the butt always pushing compliance down people's throats.  But hey, that's what she was hired for.  And as a matter of fact, I worked under Mike for a couple of weeks after I graduated high school at the Del Monte factory and he was fine. But like her Mama, Vicky is also one of the nicest people around.  We have taken kids in for periods of time and she never flinches or acts like they are a bother.  She has enough love for everyone that comes into our lives.
    Going further back, I always knew Dolores, not as Vicky's mom but as the lady who worked at the Rex-all in Crystal City.  Back in the 80's growing up, we could walk to downtown if we wanted to or when mom would go and it was one of the few cool places where they sold all kinds of stuff like guitars and cassettes which I remember staring at and there she would be, looking at you like she wasn't, making sure you weren't trying to steal.  [This is a story she told me a while back.]  When I first started seeing Vicky, even though she looked like this scary lady at the store, I made her panic because she comes in the house, I am inside the refrigerator and according to her I was making a verbal list of food they were missing and stuff they should have that I like to eat.  Ever since that day, anytime I come over she is always ready with some cookies and now that I am older coffee.  That is when you know someone likes you, when they care about what you say.
    The two of you have also been great in that you have never gotten in our business about what we do or how we do it.  I assume you trust that we are going to do the right thing for our boy's sake.  I cannot say enough nice things about you, there are so many movies and stories about horrible in-laws but thankfully you two have been great.  I consider myself I guess the best word is blessed because I have two great parents with a tight knit family and Vicky just blended right in, yet I come over here and Vicky has the same tight family and I feel like I blended right in.  Shoot Michael's been copying my hairstyle since he met me, he has to have love for me.  What more could I ask for?
    I can only wish you another 50 happy years, thank you for being you or as the kids say "keeping it real."  Love you.

[I did jump around and change some of the words on the fly, but this is what I had with me so I wouldn't choke and freeze up like poor Boy did.  It was unfair that he didn't know ahead that he was going to talk.  Both boys had been having fun poking at me for having to say stuff, it was one of those where I wanted to kick both Wife and my sister in-law in the assholes for surprising them like that.  Boy got away because his genuine emotions swallowed the room in tears, but he is old enough that he should have prepared something if he knew this was coming.  Javalina is such a little bullshitter and loves the sound of his voice that he was able to shine under fire.]