Electronic Hell

What a week! Sub Zero and below temperatures, along with Winter Weather made for a scary week for a lot of people. Thankfully I never lost power or was subject to rolling blackouts. We had issues with several of our offices with blackouts and water pipes bursting. Our Dallas Office was by far the hardest hit. To my knowledge no one that I work with died or was seriously injured, which is a very good thing. My furnace has been running a lot more and I am thankful to have it along with a roof over my head. The weather even affected my cat, Gator. She spent a lot of time in my room away from me sleeping. She did get sick on Friday but by then she had snapped out of her sudden winter blues and was much more social. To say she worries me is an understatement.

The worst part of my week was that I spent a good portion of it on the phone with AT&T. I was sitting with Gator in my room resting when I happened to glance up towards to the TV (which was off) and noticed that the lights on my U-verse set top box were flashing from on to off. The box was hot to the touch and I unplugged it. I gave it 15 minutes and plugged it back in, that just wasn’t long enough as the same thing started happening over again. I unplugged it and gave it an hour. By then everything was cool and when I plugged it back in, nothing worked. I thought to myself I’ll bet you it’s the power supply. I bought a Universal Power Supply sometime ago to replace on a phone that was bit by a lightning storm. Sadly, the power supply worked but the phone was toast. I hid the power supply away so well that now when I actually needed it, I had no idea where it was. What to do? You guessed it, I called AT&T and reported a dead box. The guy on the other end of the line asked me to try a different outlet and to press & hold the power button. I told him I tried all of that and even stood on one foot, while crossing my eyes, ears and toes. That got a laugh and he replaced the box. No surprise to me but the shipping carriers were affected by the storms so he told me it would be a couple days before the replacement box would show up. This was all on Tuesday.

Wednesday morning, I was greeted with an email telling me that the equipment shipped and a box would be delivered to me on Friday. I also found another interesting email that told me I was being charged $49 plus tax because I made a change to my service. Seems that the way the order was placed it was an additional box and not a replacement. I called and spoke with a very argumentative dumb fuck at AT&T. I went Judge Judy on his ass and demanded a supervisor. To which he told me that that wouldn’t help the situation, his supervisor couldn’t waive the fee. The bastard was right. The funny thing was he was in the billing office and could only tell me that it was a valid charge. The only way to stop it was to cancel the order and start over. FUN. I got to talk with another person and by then I was in Lewis Black mode. I caught myself cussing and quickly calmed myself. The new person asked me how I knew for certain the box was defective. To which I replied the God Damned thing won’t turn on, that’s how I know it’s defective. Oh sir, did you try another outlet. I wanted to say oh fuck I never even thought of that but instead just replied Yes and it didn’t help. He placed a replacement order and saw that there was in fact a charge. He was thinking that a colleague made a mistake but nope it was their system. Another order had to be cancelled. They placed a new order which kept pushing out the ship date for the replacement equipment. He assured me there would be no charge and there shouldn’t be a charge since I was merely replacing and not adding a box, which is what I was saying from the start.

Want to guess what I woke up to on Friday morning? If you said another email telling me that I was being charged, you deserve a gold star. That enraged me further and I called to get that order cancelled. A lady who was too close to the microphone worked with me and said that she would just credit my account. Fine. A couple hours later, the door bell rang. It was the UPS man and he had my box from my call on Tuesday. As soon as he scanned the box my phone went nuts. I got an email telling me the package was delivered, an email telling me to return the old equipment and another email telling me that AT&T had the box that the UPS guy just dropped at my front door in their possession. They sure run a fucked-up operation. It’s a wonder that they can generate bills and paychecks.

My curiosity got the best of me and I tried to hook up the new box but since that order was cancelled and all equipment is addressable via the MAC Address (which is an electronic serial number) it didn’t match up with the boxes that were authorized for my account and it refused to work. I tried a couple times just to make sure. Then I thought well it’s the same box, what if I took the new power supply and hooked it up to the old box. Presto everything works now.

I had another replacement box coming next Thursday, so I called and waited on hold for 45 minutes just to talk to someone. I explained the situation to her and told her it was the biggest mess I had ever seen. She got someone on the phone in programming who was of oriental dissent and who spoke broken English. Neither of them wanted to cancel the order for the box coming next Thursday, until this was sorted out. I had to give them Serial Numbers from each box and tell them what I wanted to do with each box. I’m keeping the original box reported as defective and the new power supply. I am returning the new box and bad power supply. They got it all sorted out and then I couldn’t get this oriental lady to cancel the order for the equipment that was coming next Thursday. The original lady I spoke with promised me that she would cancel the order but she too failed. I wound up having to call back and wait another hour to talk with another person. I just said look, I’ve been to hell and back please just look up my account and cancel the order. That was the easiest phone call ever. The guy did exactly what I wanted him to do and he didn’t try to upsell me with other products like everyone I previously spoke with did.

I had to be a bit of a juggler as these calls took place while shit was also going on at work and I was having to work and talk with AT&T at the same damn time.  I think I deserve some credit for my time, but that is another story. Point is it’s finally done. Now the hard part is making it to the UPS store to return the box. I have a sneaking suspicion they are going to hit me with a $150 fee because I am returning the wrong box and they will also wind up deactivating the working box, which will cause me to have to call and get this sorted out. Until that happens all I can do is what I agreed to do and hope for the best. My hope is that this goes off with out a hitch but based on how the week went with them I don’t really have high hopes that will happen. My saving grace will hopefully be a recent letter I sent to renegotiate pricing, I should be getting a call soon from an Executive and I’ll be sure to keep their name & number handy in case things fall apart as I expect them to. If that doesn’t happen then I will have to make a call to renegotiate pricing on my own and I already know that will be a nightmare. Going through an Executive has proven each year to be the easiest way to get the best price.

My co-worker had his kid on Monday afternoon, so he is out for a couple weeks. That means extra pressure, stress and work for me. He called me once and sent me a photo. I’ve tried to reach him a couple times and he’s pretty well checked out. I wasn’t calling for work stuff but personal just to check on him. He told me that they have to feed the baby every 2 hours round the clock. Fuck no wonder new parents never get any sleep. Between feeding and changing there isn’t much of a break. Not to mention his wife went into labor Sunday afternoon and it didn’t stop until Monday afternoon. Her ass has to be worn out, sore beyond belief and oh the pain. I remember what it was like watching Momma give birth and how much she screamed, especially when Ruth was born super late (hours after everyone else). Jesus that poor woman. I am sure I will hear all about the adventures when he comes back. For now, I am just trying desperately to hang on to what little sanity I have left, since I lost the person that I talk with the most until he comes back.

Before all of this super cold weather hit, I had this horribly odd smell in my house that I couldn’t get rid of. Well, the cold weather did its job and that took care of it. Now that it’s starting to warm up, the odor is making its way back. I noticed it in my room yesterday and again this morning. It’s faint and not so overwhelming but I am thinking with a little bit of time as we continue to thaw my problem will be back again. I really think it’s either something in the carpet or something in the attic or walls. I put down carpet cleaner which masks the smell temporarily. I really want to climb into the attic with my o-zone generator and run it to dispel and hopefully cure this problem. I’d like to find the source as that would be the quickest way to fix this issue but that seems to be the larger issue. It’s like something has crawled up and died some place. While I don’t know what death smells like it’s such a fowl and odd odor that I am thinking it has to be associated with death. At least I am not nauseated like I was, but if the smell returns full force the nausea will likely return. Here’s hoping for the best on this one. I’ve looked outside and prior to the snow falling I couldn’t find anything dead. I don’t know how to walk in an attic and chances are really good if I get up there, I will fall through and cause much more damage and/or injure myself or worse yet wind up killing or hurting Gator. I know my limitations and I won’t go beyond them. I can easily pop the cover stand on a ladder and look around with a flash light, if that doesn’t give me a clue then set up the ozone generator and leave. The odd thing is that the attic is well ventilated so you wouldn’t think odor would come through, but if there truly is something that somehow worked its way in and died then of course the odor is going to come through until whatever it is fully decomposes. If I can see something, I can call someone to have it removed. I am honestly wondering if I am not going crazy and imagining this since thus far it’s been impossible to locate the source.

I had an additional annoying adventure this week. Gator woke me up in the middle of the night to feed her. I think it was Wednesday. I passed out her food and then started hearing this chirping. You know like when a smoke detector battery is about to die and the detector warns you? I was half asleep so figuring out what the problem was took me a bit and by the time I did, I was fully awake. My carbon monoxide detector decided to die. I unplugged it and went back to bed. I plugged it back in the next day and it was fine for about 5 minutes and then I was back to the chirp. I ordered a new one and have it plugged in today (Saturday). Sleeping is a big enough problem with Gator chirping and the stress from being isolated, I really didn’t need this now but then again there never really is a good time for an electronic piece of equipment to die. Better it be a thing than a person or an animal. I had that thing since the 90’s so I got my moneys worth from it and then some. My state mandates that all homes and apartments have at least 1 working CO2 detector.

I guess this just hasn’t been my week for electronics or for dealing with AT&T. There are much worse things though.

I do hope that you’re doing okay and that you weren’t affected by the winter weather. Here’s hoping for a better week ahead! Cheers for now.

It’s A Sin

HBOMax–Trailer | It’s A Sin

Earlier this week I saw social media was a buzz with a Gay TV Series on HBOMax called It’s A Sin.  Not knowing what I was getting myself into I started to watch.  It’s based in London and that is normally enough to cause me to stop watching, but I pressed on.  This is a drama series about the AIDS Crisis as it played out in London back in the 1980’s.  Holy Shit, it was terrifying.  More so now I think because of the COVID crisis.  There’s good music, good looking boys (men) and great dialog.  The part that I didn’t like was all of the sickness & death but that is part of the story.  It shows how real it was, it shows that if you got it you were isolated from the world in a hospital room that was locked 24/7 and no one really entered, they just waited for you to die.  When you did they came in donning hazmat suits and gloves, they tossed you into a box, scrubbed the room down to disinfect and it sat ready for the next victim. 

Since I presume most of my audience is gay, as am I.  I mean with a blog titled New Homo Blogo if I wasn’t gay it would be rather odd, don’t you think?  Back on point.  It’s difficult enough figuring out your sexual identity, coming to terms with it and then beginning to come out to those you love and care about (normally family and friends).  Mix in religion and you of course learn it’s a sin to engage in homosexual sexual acts.  It took me a while to realize that.  It’s not a sin to be gay, it’s a sin to act upon it.  It’s no wonder so many kids & adults are mentally fucked up because of this.  Then throw in a gay plague, that if you catch it you’ve sentence yourself to death.  My now you have to figure out if 5 minutes of pleasure is worth a death sentence.  Thankfully there has been much progress in AIDS research with treatments and preventions that were in much better shape than when this was first discovered.  I was in High School at the time and remember hearing about it in the locker room for the first time. 

The interesting part of this drama filled series for me was those that I knew were gay, I never suspect who would actually get it and die.  I was also disheartened that there are only 5 episodes but they are each an hour but seemed much longer to me.  I binge watched the show as I was all in.  Just like Queer As Folk, they did a great job of making the simulated sex hot and very real. 

A trailer of the series is at the top of the page (in case you didn’t notice).  The Pet Shop Boys song with the same name appears at the bottom.  The music was really good, there were some familiar tunes. 

If your looking for something to watch, give this series your time.  It didn’t exactly help my depression but it did occupy my mind so that I didn’t think so much of my isolation due to COVID.  If you watch, I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts.

Pet Shop Boys–It’s A Sin

Babble on

Happy very cold Saturday! It’s been super cold here and we have had snow off an on for days. Everything is coated in white powder and I learned that I had a couple of 4 legged visitors. I put off going out until this afternoon and when I did, I learned that I really didn’t want to be outside. It also didn’t help that I cut my hair today and am mostly bald. My hair looked horrible and I had to do something. I had plans to visit a local restaurant but cancelled that and instead retreated to home. I really wanted Broccoli Cheese Soup but it will be there for me another day. Looks like were set to get a bit warmer slowly by next weekend, unless of course something changes. I made it to the post office and the cat food store and those are the 2 most important places I needed to visit today. Perhaps tomorrow, if I can stand it, I may go out for breakfast again, otherwise it will just be a grocery store run.

I’ve watched part of the Impeachment Trial off and on this week. I was watching the voting being counted and am surprised on the results but it’s done. Perhaps now we can stop living in the past and move on. Things didn’t turn out the way I wanted them to but there isn’t anything anyone can do about that. It’s best to move forward and hopefully get about solving the 2 big problems we have at hand. The COVID relief package and getting everyone vaccinated. In case your new here, I am not big on politics.

I watched a couple of movies last night. On Amazon, Welcome to The Men’s Group. It was interesting and a way to escape reality. It was a suggestion by Amazon and it wasn’t horrible but more of a mindless movie to me. I did get to see some fully naked men (both front & rear), one of which was Mackenzie Astin. I’ve had a crush on him forever, he was much cuter when he was younger though. The other movie was on Starz, called Giant Little Ones. It’s about 2 male best friends who are in High School on the Swim Team, they get drunk and had sex. One of them can’t take it and announces to the rest of the school that he was drunk and woke up to find his friend giving him head. The guy who started it all in the end turns out to be the one who was actually Gay. The other kid just went through hell and a questioning phase. It was a decent reflection of how a situation like that would have played out back in the day when I was in High School.

I did some research on a local Gay Bathhouse which is called a Gentlemen’s Club. I’ve never ever been to one. It’s a great way to have anonymous sex or a hookup. You rent a room or a locker, the difference is that you can lay down in a room but you can’t lay down in a locker. If you want privacy you have to visit someone who has paid for a room. They have all of the modern amenities that a Health Club would have and a lounge area where you can watch TV. There is no booze allowed and you have to be sober. You also have to show your ID and provide personal information along with paying a fee to gain entry. What I thought was strange is that they will let guys who are 18 to 24 in for free. That is appealing to me but at the end of the day it’s a great way to pick up a disease (STI or STD and perhaps COVID) along with a guy. A few minutes of sexual gratification isn’t worth risking my health, but that’s me. It’s not my scene. I know that it does appeal to a lot of guys. What started me on this journey was watching a YouTube video about a guy who used to work in a Bathhouse answering questions. It does sound like an interesting place to work and I am sure that you would see a lot of different guys. Some of these places have set hours and others are open 24/7. It was interesting research. They do make it clear that you have to be a guy to get in, it matters not if you’re in or out of shape, short, tall, fat or skinny – they welcome all guys.

On the work front, my co-worker’s baby will most likely have to be an induced pregnancy and they are waiting to hear from the doctor so unless something natural happens over the weekend, it looks like it will be a few more days possibly the end of next week before the baby arrives. We work close together and he is the person I talk with the most out of everyone. I will miss that when he is gone for a few weeks. He’s going to take a short pause and then come back. When his wife’s leave is almost up is when he will take a much longer break and that will probably hurt the worst for me. However, I’ve been in this job on my own and I know I will survive.

I did get some good news in that my auto insurance is some $200 cheaper now. That’s mostly due to the fact that my vehicle has aged and I had new car replacement for the first 3 years. I don’t know that I will ever get that insurance again because it’s costly and at the end of the day you’re probably not going to need it, then again if I did need it, I would have had it. Sort of like getting an extended warranty, which an automobile is the only thing that I really ever buy one of those for.

I suppose that is enough babble for a day. I hope that your world is better than mine and that your safe, warm and well. Take care and I will talk with you peeps again soon.

One Year Ago Today

My life changed forever one year ago today.  It’s the one year anniversary of the death of my Momma (cat).  I can still vividly recall the looks she gave me while she was waiting to die.  She hung on so very long until it was just the two of us together for one last moment and then she let go.  Don’t get me wrong all of my pets that have passed have been painful but each one of them is special and as such I grieve their losses slightly different. 

It’s hard to fathom that it’s already been a year, given that in mere weeks it will be a year since I have been locked away working from home.  I feel like I have lost all concept of time and everyday is Blursday.  Meaning one day blurs to the next and I can’t tell if were on Sunday or Friday. 

My momma was a special woman and she never ever forgot that I was her savior.  I’ve never had a cat worship me and be so very thankful for rescuing them.  It was one kind gesture on my part but she remembered it every day there after.  She also had a place to raise her family, she knew that her 2 human companions would take care of her and her children.  I am fairly certain she wondered when her children would leave home and one day just gave up and realized they were all here to stay.  I think she had mixed feelings about that, but I am glad that it worked out that way.  I am so very proud of her and all of her children.  They are and were wonderful cats. 

If you would have asked me years ago before everyone and everything started dying, how my life would have played out I couldn’t have imagined how rich it would be with memories.  I also wouldn’t be able to tell you how broken my heart would be or the state of utter depression that I am in.  Nor how truly lonely I am.  Granted the pandemic has some affect on my overall state of mind, but I wouldn’t wish the negative that has made up the majority of my life on anyone.  I am fully aware that things can always be worse and for someone out there they probably are, compared to my situation. 

As I sit here and type this I can’t also help but think about how very difficult it will be the day I have to part ways with Momma’s last child.  She (Gator) was the third born and the one who has hung on the longest.  She is aging but I don’t think she will be checking out for a while and that is exactly what I need.  We (her and I) are each others world and we depend so much on the other.  She needs much more from me that I do from her but she knows her part and she helps more than she knows.  She also drives me more crazy than she knows.  I love to watch her sleep.  She gets into some very cute positions and it’s just down right funny to see her bury her face in her bed to block out the light.  There is no doubt that she misses her family as much as I do.

One thing is certain, I know Momma is, was and forever will be proud of me.  I did right by her and her family.  Still that doesn’t ease the pain I still feel to this day.  I am used to the fact that she isn’t around.  I am at peace that she is no longer suffering and that I no longer have to worry about her passing or when to make “the call”.  I still wish that she was here to comfort me and see the progress that I have made.

Just like she never forgot that I was her savior, I too will never forget her and while she may not roam the earth, she is forever alive in my heart as long as it continues to beat.  I am so very glad and grateful that our paths crossed.  It was a huge risk for me to bring her in to our home and I never ever thought I would be allowed to keep her, but the reward was in getting to see her grow and raise her family.  She had a great life with us and it would be one that I would wish for if I was a cat.  Each of my cats has taught me something.  The lesson from Momma was take a chance, you never know how it will turn out.  She had lots of houses to try to get food from for her and her kids when she was carrying them, but she chose us.  We fed her, we watched for her and ultimately one day we made her ours.  If our paths had never crossed just think each of us would have truly missed out on something special.     

Rest In Peace Momma, I miss you and will continue to honor my promise to you.  I hope that we are reunited again some day.

What a week

Not sure if you remember the series Saved by the Bell. One of the characters on the show was Screech who was played by Dustin Diamond. Unfortunately, he contracted Cancer and it was fast moving, it took him out in 3 weeks and he passed away on Monday at the ripe young age of 44. While I knew he had cancer I didn’t realize how advanced it was and that this was a battle he wouldn’t win. Hearing of his passing was shocking and upsetting. I wasn’t attracted to him just his age and how fast this went is what bothered me the most.  I hope he is resting in peace. 

I did something different this week and created a small post recapping parts of the day. I did this with the hope that this would be a little bit more interesting of a post. I’m summarizing it rather than listing the notes I made each day. Hope you enjoy!

Just look at all of the accomplishments I made this week …

I received the results of my DNA at first, I was disappointed because I only got the health reports [which said there was nothing to worry about, based on DNA] but a few days later is when things came to life. I found the origin of my ancestors and that I had multiple DNA matches. The closest being a 2^nd cousin with my father’s last name. I wanted to reach out but opted not to. I think if it would have been a closer match like a ½ brother or ½ sister then I may have done so. I know that my father tried to disown me and even ran to join the US Army in the hopes he could escape a Paternity law suit, but it didn’t work. The court declared him my father and the US Army helped ensure he was in court. While it sounds like a far-fetched tale this DNA test proved that what I was told was the truth and nothing but the truth. I had no reason to doubt it but this just seals it for sure for my own eyes. In the event if I should get closer matches in the future, I am willing to reach out to them. I know I have at least a ½ brother and a ½ sister. Perhaps our paths will cross someday, it would sure be interesting if we all managed to get along.

I figured out how to merge my Amazon Prime Account with my Twitch account and subscribe to one of my favorite streamers. It doesn’t cost me anything and gives my favorite streamer $4.99 per month. I’m not into video games but I do like watching the streams as this particular guy is gay and loves to take his shirt off. Things do get interesting from time to time but there is nothing X rated and no nudity besides looking at his fine chest!

I finished watching the TV Series Everwood that I was streaming on HBOMax. I’ve still got a mad crush on Gregory Smith; even though I know he is straight and married. I can dream and there is no charge for that!

I picked up a couple prescriptions at the local pharmacy, which reminds me I need to set out my meds. I always despise that task.

I am supposed to be getting some additional responsibilities at work, it’s an administrative task that I have been told more than once I will be inheriting but thus far it’s all talk. I will be kind of surprised if it actually comes to fruition.

The biggest news of all of my accomplishments is that I filed my income taxes. Whoopie! My reason for doing so was 3-fold. First, there was a sale on the rates of the software. Second, my credit card has an offer that will get me 10% of my purchase price back. Third, I have to be concerned with identity theft and the earlier I file the less the risk. It’s something that I have to do and it’s not going away so might as well get with the program.

In the news of Ms. Gator …

She has this lovely new habit that I do not like. She has to wake me up twice during the night so she can get food. This causes me to lose sleep not to mention my patience with her. I try to put it off but that only works to my detriment as she is persistent and knows that if she yaps long enough that I will give in. She sure has a great set of lungs! She is also having more regular bowel movements, which I know sounds disgusting but they have increased to at least once per day. Once and a while she will skip a day. Before she was doing every other day or maybe once every 3 days. I attributed it to her kidney disease and am wondering if maybe her kidneys woke up. Lord knows her stomach doesn’t sleep much. She has also managed to not interrupt me as much this week when I am down stairs, which I see as a positive sign. I enjoy being able to concentrate on what I am working on or looking at, rather than worrying about her. Several times I don’t realize it until I am ready to go upstairs and then I race up because I am worried since she has been so quiet. She is always happy to see me.

On the house front …

I have noticed when I work in the living room next to Gator my allergies are really on high. There has been a slight funny smell in the air and by Friday this week it got massively worse. I don’t know what death smells like exactly but I know it’s not Cinnamon, Spice and everything nice. First, I thought maybe since we have had a large abundance of rain and the snow fall that maybe my water problem returned, but I checked on that and nope, bone dry. All looks good, considering I did self-remediation. I looked outside at the only side that isn’t visible through a window. I thought maybe something happened over there. In deed it did, a large tree branch fell and hit my house. No apparent damage but I do have to get the branch removed. The odor in question can also be found in the basement, primarily in my office and above is my bedroom. So, it shifted to a different side of the house. I was coming home from grocery shopping today and it was a balmy 9 degrees outside. I took an extra close look and I saw a black cat. If it was dead surely that would account for the odor, but I had looked there before and didn’t see anything. I walked over and there it was I said hello and the damn thing ran away from me. Thank God it wasn’t dead. I don’t know who let it out or dumped it but they should be shot. It’s dangerously cold out and not meant for a cat to be outside, but I think back to the days of Taz (aka Little Bear) and he survived somehow. He also had sense enough to know when to come in out of the cold.

Anyway, back on point. I have no idea what the odor is. It turns my stomach and makes me nauseated. It’s not mold. I ran my o3 generating machine that will kill odors, smells and most anything in its path and the basement smelled really good yesterday. I also ran it in my room, keeping Gator out. I had to open the windows and let the smell of the o3 out and all was well for a while. Then came time for bed and the damn odor was back. I am mad, puzzled and frustrated. I am wondering if it’s not all in my head and I am imaging this. Still, I watched an endless amount of YouTube videos for how to rid your house of odors and picked up a couple tips. I got some scented baking soda that was labeled as carpet cleaner and that got the living room/kitchen smelling really good. I came up a little short when it was time to do my room but it did help some. I also opened up several windows, turned on both bathroom fans and forced air to circulate. As the air was circulating, I could smell the odor a little bit. It’s got to be something outside or something in the walls. I just want it to go away and never return as it’s making my life miserable.

Oddly enough I did get a text message this week from someone with a random company that claimed to want to buy my house. They knew my name, address and cell phone number. Granted nothing is impossible to find on the internet these days if you know where to look and what or should I say who you’re looking for. I’ve also noticed a large number of ads appearing in social media about local loft apartments that are for rent. This is no doubt due to the fact that I clicked on one of them a few weeks ago out of curiosity. I looked at another one last night and it was super small and from the floor plan it didn’t look like there was space allocated for a bed but they were nice enough to make room for a couch. The rent was sky high for this area. Yeah, moving would cure the smell and probably do wonders for my outlook on life and depression. However, I have a large amount of crap that I was left with and I have to have a place to put a good portion of it. There are somethings that are just not worth it and I would leave behind.

I know that I live in an average neighborhood where house prices are what I consider to be outrageous, considering what you’re getting. It’s a sellers’ market right now and maybe I should take that as a sign but instead I am hanging on to what I have at the moment.

I wish that I had a true friend that I could call that would come over and could not only help me sort through all of this crap but perhaps work on making this place as great if not greater than it was some 20 + years ago when I moved in. Right now, I want to keep what I have. I just want this smell gone and don’t want to loose my mind trying to make that happen. The house gets sprayed a couple times a year outside by skunks and even that odor is gone with in a couple days. It’s not pleasant but at least I know it’s temporary. What I am dealing with now makes me question if it’s going to go away or if I will have to figure out someone to call and pay $ to make it go away. I hope that I don’t have to make a call as that will likely be painful to the wallet not to mention what will be done to my home.

The big game …

Today is a special day for football fans. I am not one of those fans. I don’t mind looking at the players in their uniforms but outside of that there is no appeal. I also don’t understand football, meaning the rules of the game. I get that a touchdown or field goal gains points but that’s about the extent of my knowledge. Sports are generally not my cup of tea. However, looking at male players in various uniforms, regardless of the sport is appealing to me. I have no idea what I will be watching but I know there will be something that will capture my interest.

Speaking of games, I will be on-call next week and so not looking forward to that. Chained to a phone is not my idea of fun, but I do it for the $. We had a staff meeting this week and the meeting started out by informing everyone that there was no plan to return to the office anytime soon. Someone apparently wasn’t paying attention because at question-and-answer time they asked when are we going back. The answer was repeated. While I do look some what forward to going back, I rather enjoy working from home. I get to sleep in an extra hour, there is no traffic to fight and I have freedom to switch from work to personal and back again. I think it’s going to be a difficult thing for all of us when we get to that point but I also think that it will be much later this year, if not next year.

I hope you had a good week and I hope the week ahead is even better. Enjoy your Sunday regardless of how you’re spending it. If you’re a football fan, I hope your team wins the big game. I’ll talk with you peeps again soon. Be well!