11/7/16 What Was My Blood Hiding?

    Since my leg injury and being forced to mingle with the medical professionals of our fine city, I figured I should have a physical of sorts done.  I asked for them to take my blood to check for diabetes, and anything else they could find.  Once and for all, as of now, I am not diabetic.  I know my peeps back home want me, wish me, expect me, hope for me and maybe even demand from me to be diabetic like my fore fathers, but I simply am not.  They checked my HGB A1C and it is 5.2, my standing glucose level is at 96.  Along with my three other checks which my dad had me prick my finger and he checked on his machine a couple months ago, it read 75, and two checks at the urgent care and at the current doctor's office with readings of 105 and 95.
    I am as heavy as a small elephant at 405 pounds and that is probably having an effect on me in other regards.  Apparently, I am a little bitch, my testosterone is very low, at 150, where normal range is 348-1197.  What is the point of carrying testicles and all their nuisance if that is the best they can do?  But that number can be influenced by losing weight, so now I have a real motivation, if I want to be a man.  Lifting weights, was about the only thing I can do in the real world that will also help improve that number, so I have to quit making excuses and start going to the gym, for reals.  The PA also said this was another thing that could lead to me feeling tired all the time, and I just read online, low Testosterone can affect sleep, and cause insomnia.
    The other big find is my thyroid is not working properly.  I asked my mom and she said two of my aunts take pills for their thyroid problems, for life.  I am getting a second evaluation to make sure reading was not a false positive, but it looks like I will be on thyroid medicine soon enough.
    My vitamin D3 was found to be quite low, but there are over the counter supplements I can take.  Vitamin D3 helps against disease, depression, promotes weight loss, low D3 can lead to a feeling of tiredness and feeling lethargic, helps with bone density, and many other things.  I went to GNC and found 180 pills with a 5000IU, (which means I take one a day) for $19.99, which should be enough for half a year.
    So for now, I am going to start taking the Vitamin D3 pill daily, start trying to lose some weight, start honestly lifting weights daily, eating Cheerios for breakfast, they are only cereal with the balls to say they can help lower cholesterol.  Wife suggested I should also take a vitamin pill that fills the gap with other things, such as zinc and other vitamins.  I promise to replace at least two of my meals with Chubs after school with some salads to lower my cholesterol.  It wasn't bad enough to get on medicine, but it is creeping to the high end where I need to start making changes.

11/6/16 Why Are We Still Doing The Freaking Time Warp?

    I have always heard that we do this time warp dance twice a year for the farmers.  Looking up the data on Google, farmers and ranchers make up less than 2% of the US population, so why are we bending backwards for them?  In the fall it is not so bad, I guess, we supposedly gain an hour when we move the hour hand back one hour at 2:00am this Saturday night.  It does hurt more in the Spring when we move it forward and suddenly you lose an hour, for no good reason.
    At least in the Time Warp song, we get to dance... it's just a jump to the left, and then a step to the right! Put your hands on your hips, and bring your knees in tight.  But it's the pelvic thrust, that really drives you insane!!!  repeat ad nauseam.  At least we only hear this song around the Halloween season and it is catchy and fun the first few times.
    The real time change leaves us scrambling around in the dark by 6:00pm for the next half of the year.  Who cares if the sun is barely rising at 8:00am, farmers can't get up later?  I never understood that.  Just because they like to go feed their animals and ride their farm tractors at the crack of dawn, it is our government's job to keep the crack of dawn near 6:00am?  Honestly, 90% of the country is still attempting to do commerce at 6:00pm, with parents stopping for dinner, people headed home from work, even shopping starts picking up in the fall as the Christmas season is just about upon us.  This big chunk of the population might benefit from a little extra light, maybe even reduce a couple extra rapes in dark parking lots or robberies in sketchy parking garages.  Farmer Bob can work in the dark, for all I care, or he can learn to sleep in and take care of Farmer Jane a little longer in the morning.
    I applaud the few areas that say fuck it, we don't recognize your time change, and just don't bother doing it.  Only two states have the big cajones to not bother most of Arizona and Hawaii.  The logic historically was that there was an energy savings by moving when light was available, but that has been disputed.  There is only so much daylight to go around in the shorter fall and winter days.  If you try and improve the morning, you are only going to mess up the evening.  Since I work nights, none of this helps me, really, I just see us doing a stupid dance twice a year because Uncle Sam says so.
    Twenty minutes into this time change, and I have to say, "what do these machines think they are, changing time without our input?"  Wait, I am confused... Thought I got in bed from falling asleep around2:00am, the analog clock that wakes us hasn't changed, I thought the official thing was to change at 2:00, back to 1:00am.  Hmmm?  Oh well, it'll all work itself out.

11/5/16 St. Vincent Was A Good Sappy Movie, Worth A Cry? (Netflix movie)

    St. Vincent was a cute independent movie from 2014, starring Bill Murray, Melissa McCarthy, Naomi Watts, and Jaeden Lieberher as the likable kid.  The story starts with Vincent struggling to get by, he seems to be a low life, drunk all the time, fighting with anyone and everyone.  He has managed to probably do a reverse mortgage on his house, as he is arguing with a banker about getting more money from his house, but he has taken as much as they will give him.  He spends his day up to no good, it seems.  He is gambling at the horse track, drinking in random bars, even has a sex scene with a pregnant Russian hooker.  At first glance, we are ready to give up on this guy, he is a gross mess.
    Enter the Melissa McCarthy character and her son who move in next door.  The kid is scrawny and gets picked on the first day in a new school.  His wallet and house key are taken when some of the kids take his clothing.  Desperate and unable to get into his house, he knocks on the neighbor and pleads to use the phone.  As much as Vincent does not want to get involved, he does.  Before we know it, Melissa is paying Vincent to help with after school babysitting.  He does not change his routine that much, still going to the horse track to bet, hanging out at bars, even arguing with the hooker over money owed or something.  Of course, the two of them form a bond, Vincent even teaches the kid how to fight to defend himself.  Once he stands up to the school bully, they actually become friends.
    The kid starts seeing that although outsiders see Vincent as a low life, he has a good soul.  His wife is in a nursing home and has Alzeimer's or something that she doesn't recognize him.  He still goes, and takes care of washing her clothes.  Knowing that the hooker is pregnant, he lies to the receptionist that they are married so she can use his insurance to see a gynecologist.
    The kid is in some form of non-denominational private school and they are covering saints.  He figure that Vincent is very much worthy of sainthood, and there is a school presentation where Vincent is recognized.  In the meantime, He has had a stroke, Melissa's character has gotten pissed at him for introducing her kid to all sorts of sketchy behavior.  The end is heartwarming, he has taken in the hooker and she will now be his roommate and she will help him with his therapy, and clean the house in exchange for a room.

11/4/16 I Demand To Live In A Vacuum?

    Let's eliminate the notion that this was written from the position of an angry fan who wishes to not exist.  Okay, let's continue that thought for a minute.  If we hold your wish and remove you from our thoughts and everything you say becomes null and void of comment, do you really exist?  Of course, you say yes, I am here, I breath, I fart green farts because I care for the environment and I only consume veggies and stuff other people have thrown away.  My footprint on the planet is small because I commute by skateboard and I live in a hole in the ground once occupied by a raccoon.
    I say that is all great for you, and of course your wish is our command, but if you do not encourage one thought different than before you came along, if your input is one that does not change one person's opinion on anything, why are you part of the social group?  In a perfect world, everything I have ever said and done is hopefully being taken by everybody around me and taken to better mankind.  That is not possible because I consume the planet like I am pregnant and eating for two or three, I drive vehicles that should be outlawed per every Prius driver, my house should be one third the size it is to match my true needs and family size.  Luckily, we live in the United States and those who don't like how I live can start sucking on the exhaust of my F-250 or my Excursion, this is 'Merica Goddammit!!!  I do have good qualities, but when arguing, the other side will only care about any failures in my morality.
    I don't care if it sounds selfish, I am not really going to deny what I say because it came from my mouth.  I rubbed at least two brain cells, gave it at least a second or two of thought and spat it out.  Why would I get upset if other people go around quoting me? 
    If I needed to hide because I was being hid by the government and my goal was to remain incognito, then I would start the day with my mouth closed, I would be polite, and I wouldn't bring attention to myself by giving my opinion on everything.  Aristotle once said "there is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing."
    If we go then by Aristotle's reasoning, if you are not criticized and you have no opinions we can shine a light upon, and anything you have said cannot be evaluated, then good for you, you officially are nothing.  Now just practice being a ghost and shhh, no save that thought, go quietly into that good night my friend.

11/3/16 Cheater Cheater Pumpkin Eater?

    My boys are savage when it comes to honesty in the classroom.  Earlier in the year, Boy said a kid was cheating in one of his classes and he was not gonna have any of that.  He said "fuck that, I killed myself studying and this guy is just using his phone to look for the answers, nope."  He stayed after class to let the professor know.  That first test was hard and only one person managed a passing grade.  On the second test, they just did over the weekend, Boy gave it his all and got an 80.  He was very proud of himself and I asked what about that cheater dude?  Oh no, I took him out personally, he dropped the class before the second exam.  He said at this point, they are down to seven students in the class.
    Chubs had to interject at this point to say that they were having a test in band today and they were supposed to be reading music without writing the letters beneath.  The kid next to him had all his music sheet written on, and Chubs told him to erase it.  He said "shush, mind your own business."  At this, he raised his hand and started saying out loud "so and so is cheating band director."  This got other kids looking at the boy, and they too started sounding the alarm.  The teacher told them to keep it down, and not worry about it.  After class, Chubs asked the band director if he knew the kid was cheating, and he said yes.  Then he asked if he was going to be punished, and the band director gave an "ehh, will see what happens."  Chubs was not happy about it.
    During lunch, the kid came over and told Chubs "why did you have to rat me out?"  then he went on with "you better watch your back, I have boots on."  I would think that would be intimidating but Chubs said "look at my feet, I have boots too, and I'm bigger than you."  Chub's buddy then told the kid to beat it.
    I was always for honesty and truth, but I wasn't ready to fight for it.  I know Chubs is a gentle soul, but I have had to talk with him a couple times recently.  When playing with me, or we're talking smack to each other (playing, of course), sometimes he will throw an arm at me, and he might be young but the chubby arm of any 220 pounder still packs a good whack.  He was startled Halloween night and accidently punched one of his friends while in costume and retreating from something else.  He sent his friend backwards, luckily he didn't draw blood.
    I don't know, I was the chubby kid who played it smart and avoided fights.  Chubs might be the kid that isn't afraid to flex his muscles.  He doesn't really back off when Boy hits him, we usually yell at Boy to stop it, but at some point, we're going to have to tell Chubs to stop.  He might be ten years younger but he already outweighs bro-bro by a good 80-90 pounds.

11/2/16 It Too Shall Pass?

    I always hate the "after".  We talk about and plan and wait for something, and just like that, it is part of the past.  Halloween just passed.  Usually, it is out favorite holiday, we dress the house up, we try to have some sort of party, and we generally enjoy every part of it.  Even the day after in the past, we run around trying to buy new decorations because everything at the Halloween stores goes for 50% off or better.  This year we had a good enough time Halloween night, but now that it has passed, I am left to put away the decorations mostly by myself.  I took down about half the stuff yesterday, and over the next couple of days, I will try and do the rest.
    If you think about it, summer is past, any plans you had for summer have to wait until next year.  This coming weekend is the time change which if anything, indicates we are coming upon shorter days.  The only summer thing left to do is run the air conditioner because, well we live in Texas and the weather mostly sucks.  But we can't plan a nice afternoon on the lake, or a weekend to the coast.  All those shenanigans have to wait until next year.
    This is the thinking that led us to discuss and accept Wife working so far away from us for this year.  If nothing changes, it will probably be at least two years of her working down there.  If we look at the big picture though, we are almost at the half way point of this school year.  It'll be Thanksgiving in three weeks and Christmas a few more weeks after that.  She was able to go to a conference that allowed her to be in town through Wednesday, so that was much appreciated.  Tonight, for example, a storm came through, Boy was stuck in a lab late, and Chubs would have been alone and scared at home at night.  Luckily, mama was home to keep him company.  It doesn't seem so bad right now, knowing we have her here for roughly three full weeks of the eight left in the calendar year.
    Even this will pass, and whether we like things or not, everything does.  Wife will be back in Austin with us, hopefully as a Director of this or that or even this and that, she can handle anything they throw at her.  Don't squander your time people, if you are planning on getting some schooling, shut up and get it done.  I look at Boy struggling with some tough math classes, and I kind of remember my suffering back in the day, but it will pass, and he will come out better for it.

11/1/16 A Lukewarm Halloween?

    It is pointless to complain about the weather, but grrr, it pisses me off when it is so balmy and sticky at this point in the year.  I refused to even entertain the idea of dressing up, even though I have for the last ten years or so.  I have learned to love this holiday and the stars even aligned perfectly to make it possible that Wife was here with us, so I was happy about that.  It also sucks that Halloween doesn't move to the last Saturday of the month instead of the 31st.  It is quite hard to plan anything involving the kids when they have to go to bed by 9:30-10:00pm.
    Anyways, let me back off to the start of the day.  Our days start early around here, I have to get up before 7:00am to wake up and feed Chubs.  I also make sure Boy doesn't sleep through his alarm.  After snoozing until about 7:20am, Boy can bolt out of bed, put his boots on and be gone in a five minute window.  He is an efficient Boy, I need about 15-20 just to see if I'm going to poop in the morning, I usually don't, but if I ate something spicy, the night before, you never know.  Chubs hobbles along, usually by the time I am done showering, he is coming to our bathroom to pee and brush his teeth, I keep telling him to move his stuff to the bathroom he shares with his brother.  Once the pubes started showing up on Chubs, we should all have a little more privacy, but whatever.
    I dropped off Chubs by 7:45 and headed to my Wound Care Clinic for my weekly changing of the bandages.  My whole leg from my toes to below my knee is in this lightweight cast thing designed to act as a pump, when I walk, the muscle helps to pump the lymph nodes up.  I have poor circulation from being a fat boy.  It got to me last week, the tightness and just thinking how it was dirty had me clawing and scratching at my leg.  I cut about inches from the top, I developed some sort of rash.  Today, they gave me a removable cast, essentially it is two tight stockings I wear over each other.  I can take them off at night, when I am lying down.  Just knowing I can take it off and roll it down, like when I shower is a great relief.
    I was done before 9:00am, headed home, cleaned the grill and set up charcoal for the evening.  I then decided it would be best for me to just lay down and sleep some more.  I had only slept about three hours the night before.  The doctor is very pleased with the wound.  He said it looks like it should, bright red, no infection, now it is working on healing itself, the depth of the wound is becoming more shallow.
    I woke up at 3:20pm, washed my face, went and picked up Chubs, we ate at Bill Miller and did his math homework while we sat there.  I then came home, set up this huge decoration in front of the door, helped Chubs with his costume, and finally pooped and showered.  I then went outside to wait for the Halloween trick or treaters.  Wife got home around 7:00pm, quickly changed into a costume she had used a couple years ago and we enjoyed as best we could this muggy, humid evening. 
    Chubs had three friends show up, and they walked the neighborhood.  Boy and his gang dressed up, but they never left the house.  Girlie had texted that they would be coming by, and they did, around 8:30pm.  I had made plenty of burgers and hot dogs, as has become my thing on Halloween, and we all ate and caught up until about 10:00pm.