Quick update

Well turns out my idea won and we don’t have to make this little change at work into a big change.  I say we but I really mean me since I am the one doing the work. 

My co-worker has started his leave and it’s a bit lonely without him, it hasn’t fully hit me yet but when it does that will not be a good thing.  He’s the only real person that I talk with at any length throughout the day.  Our conversations are all over the place but work is usually the primary focus, we do venture off into personal stuff about how life is going, etc. 

I took my vehicle in on Monday and got the mirror fixed and the alignment done so humpty dumpty is officially been put back together again.  Let’s hope this is the last time he falls apart!

I jumped on Grindr and have been looking at it every day just to see who is still out there.  There are a couple of familiar faces that have been there for many years and I doubt that they will disappear anytime soon.  That is kind of sad but I also get that some people just like the hookup or pump n dump.  That’s not for me.  I am one of the infamous blank profiles that just is lurking.  I have no plans to message anyone but was curious more than anything to see who is around.  When I do jump back into trying to date it certainly won’t be by Grindr because it’s not a dating app.  I know that lots of people found their special someone that way but it seems like not playing the lottery and expecting to win anyway to me. 

My schedule is remarkably free and wide open today which is good because my little lady didn’t permit me to get a lot of sleep last night.  Not sure what her issue was but she is all quiet and sleepy now.  I am ready to join her but I know as soon as I do the damn phone will start chirping. 

I watched an interesting YouTube video yesterday where a dentist in Australia dug out 3 teeth from a crocodiles mouth.  They were all in the same socket.  When a croc loses a tooth it grows right back and it’s that way there entire life.  Kind of wish that humans had the same ability.  I’ve been in to watching dental videos, if you need a reason to floss or brush just watch a cavity get filled or teeth being extracted. 

Well back to this wonderful mid-week day.  Hope your doing well and things are going good for you. 

Too many tabs open in my brain

The weekend is here, hoorah. I got the phone call I have been waiting for yesterday, saying that my vehicle is ready. Unfortunately, I found that there was a minor part of the repair associated with the mirror that wasn’t completed. The mirror on the passenger side is not level and I noticed it right away when I got in but figured it was my eyes. The more I drove the more I said turn around and get it checked. They did a nice job and outside of the mirror being slightly off you would have no idea that anything ever happened. I went back and called them out on it in a polite way. I have to bring it back next week and they can take care of it in about a ½ hour. When I got home and looked over the paperwork, I found that they put on my new tires but forgot to do an alignment so I will have to mention that when I go back. I will also probably will have to pay for it, but there is no point in putting on new rubber if you’re not going to do an alignment. It rides okay but I would rather be safe than sorry. I am not happy about going back but I would rather get these issues addressed than leave them. Auto body people are part magician or so it appears to me. I like this place and they do really great work, my insurance company likes them as well, but I would just as soon not have an accident in the first place.

Once I got home, I opted to relax and watch TV, wound up taking a nap with Ms. Gator. Then just like last weekend I got dressed and grabbed the mail. Stopped in for a burger at Denny’s and the hot guy that waited on me last week was working and sat me, but I had a different person serve me. I kept my eye out for the guy that I like and boy that booty is a perfect bubble. In case you didn’t know I am an ass man, there are other things that are important to me but the physical feature that I look for most is the booty.  I really wanted to say something to him but again I have no idea that he is gay. Plus, he is probably way younger than me and I don’t know even if he is gay that he would be interested in me. I know that I would like to know more about him and get to know him, not to mention jumping in bed. I feel alive when I find a guy that I like but taking the chance and reaching out to ask is where my nerves get their workout. It’s a bunch of emotions wrapped up and it can only go two ways. I am used to the rejection way and that is devastating but someone once told me, your already at no so ask you don’t have anything to lose. I will probably be back again but getting up the nerve to ask him out probably won’t happen unless I really psych myself up for it. If I do decide to move forward the first question, I will ask is his age just so that I am positive I am getting someone that is of legal age. Looks can only tell you so much and I think he is probably in his late 20’s or early 30’s but better safe than sorry.

On the work front I am dealing with so many emotions. We got some not so good news about one of our offices that is making changes to their card access system. It’s a matter of making a programming change that would fix this but like anything else in this world it costs a lot of money and apparently, we don’t want to spend the price despite the fact that we pushed them to come up with a solution. This means that we have to make some changes on our end. Everyone involved knows the solution and it’s pretty simple. However, my boss wants to make this extra complicated because he came up with complex solution. I know that is what he is going to pitch to management and they will go for it. I pleaded with him to go with the simple solution and he told me that we don’t get to make big decisions, as if to defend his oh so great crappy solution. I clapped back with yeah but you’re the pitch man and you’re selling the solution so for my sake please really sell the simple solution. Both solutions accomplish the same thing, they solve the problem but his idea will involve way more work for me. I already know that he is not going to sell the easy option but at least I asked.

Monday will be the last day I get with my co-worker who just became a father. He is going to finish up his parental leave and will be gone for 2 months. There will be new people starting and there are always people that elect to leave or are asked to leave, I wear many hats and also deal with setup and tear down of accounts. On top of all of this were changing antivirus providers. I’ll let you guess who came up with that big idea. Exactly the guy who said we don’t get to make big decisions. He is making the project extra complicated, by micro-managing.

The summation is that we’re going to be short staffed and a bunch of work is headed in on various different fronts. I was already nervous enough about my co-worker leaving then throw in that building thing and I am not a happy person. I have no doubt that I will succeed but who doesn’t want to hit the easy button when they can? I understand that I have a job to do but at the same time if we can ease up on creating work since were going to be short staffed why not. Common sense and logic fail to exist in the working world or so it seems to me. I know this too shall pass and another doosy of a problem will take its place in no time at all.

I am so upset and stressed out by what I feel is impending doom that I am making silly little mistakes. Friday night I deleted the latest episode of Young Sheldon from my DVR when I actually wanted to watch it. In order to view it I had to install the CBS app on my Roku and because of my strict DNS filtering & ad blocking I had to use the hotspot on my phone to get the episode to play. Trackers are in most everything on the internet and at least for me it wasn’t terribly obvious until I started blocking them. Usually when I have a problem getting some place or watching a show it’s all traced back to DNS Filtering. Oddly enough the latest issue of Young Sheldon, he got a computer virus and lost everything. That brings me to talk about data back up and the people that back up data are the people who have been bitten at least once by data loss. It’s a horrible feeling and really no matter what you do when the data is gone unless you have a good backup regardless of how important it was it’s gone forever and there is no getting it back. That’s why I have photos backed up in multiple places in the cloud, I don’t rely on just one service. I could probably insert an ad here for a data backup provider. If your fortunate enough to have not been bitten by data loss, I hope you can learn from others (including mine) misfortune.

I was supposed to have my second dose of the COVID vaccine Saturday but I pushed it to Thursday. In a few days I will try to push it to Saturday so that I can be done with it. I am not looking forward to it and would really like to not get the second shot. Who wants to sign up for a sore arm plus all of the possible side effects? However, it does beat getting the virus in the first place. If you have been reading my posts you already know that I don’t have good luck and I am not a fan of needles. Chances are that if I would get it that I wouldn’t survive. At any rate I am scheduling it on a Saturday so that I can clear my schedule and have an entire day to feel crummy if that should happen. If it does and I bounce back on Monday, great, if not then I’ll take Monday off, it’s not like I don’t have the time. Ideally, I’d just as soon not involve work so that I don’t have to disclose that I am vaccinated. Since they aren’t mandating that everyone be vaccinated, I don’t feel that they are entitled to what is my personal health information. Plus, I already know that I am home for the rest of this year and possibly part of next based on the way my doctor is talking today. The whole COVID thing is very fluid so anything could change but I don’t have high hopes for that because at the end of the day, you can’t fix stupid.

I had something interesting happen to me yesterday, I was driving to get the mail and I spotted two large birds that were circling the road ahead and they opted to land in the middle of it. Turns out it was two Canadian Geese. I had plenty of time to stop but they landed as if they were entitled to the right of way and brought traffic to a halt. People behind me were honking and didn’t understand but after mother goose got out of the way I think they figured it out. I kind of ½ way wanted to get out but I knew that they attack so it was far better to sit patiently until they moved. The oncoming UPS truck honked at them and it did no good at all, he started to go around them and that was super dangerous. If memory serves, they are protected by US Federal Law so you can’t harm them but then again there are people that hunt them. Tomato – Potato. While I wanted to run the damn thing over, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I did. Good thing I am not a hunter, well other than a manhunter. Get it man hunter!

On that happy note I guess it’s time to tie a bow in this and wrap it up. Hope your doing well, keeping your sanity and staying safe. We forge on to the next week ahead, perhaps kicking & screaming but forging forward nevertheless.  Talk with you all again soon.

Day of hell

I woke up early, ate breakfast and got ready to go out in the cold weather to drop off my vehicle.  I got to the body shop in plenty of time and since the rental car company forgot me (despite my reservation and the fact they made me tell them where to pick me up at) I had to wait an hour.  Then I got to the rental office and had to wait 10 minutes for them to sanitize a car.  Uh I made a reservation and you sent a guy to pick me up, what did you think was going to happen when I showed up, that I would order a hamburger?  Jesus talk about having your head in your ass. 

The fun part was when they told me that I would have to pay tax on the rental car since it’s my insurance.  I just threw a minor fit and sent a note to the claims adjuster.  Presto I got a call telling me the taxes were taken care of. 

The beauty of having to wait in the rental office did let me spy some eye candy and I was looking him up and down.  I am surprised he didn’t melt with all of the heat radiating from my eyes.  That was the only good thing that happened. 

They have me in a Toyota and I am not thrilled with it but it appears to have some pep.  Looks like my car should be ready by Saturday if all goes well.  I am probably going to reschedule my 2nd shot to be safe.  I don’t want to be rushed, that’s how accidents happen.  I can’t wait to get my baby back with fresh new rubber and all fixed up.  Meanwhile my plans are to stay put because I hate driving rental vehicles unless it’s absolutely necessary.  If this all works out I will have put on a couple miles and not have to worry about gas.

Last day of vacation.  Not looking forward to going back tomorrow.  I already know my inbox at work is over flowing with spam, junk and meeting requests.  It’s uncanny how much email I deal with in a given day but you don’t realize it until your gone and it has a chance to build up.  There is easily over 300 messages and I will delete most of it.  When it shakes out there may be 50 messages or less that I have to deal with.  I did think about working some of today but changed my mind. 

Looking forward to enjoying some supper and spending the evening with my nagging gator.  We took quite a nap this afternoon and she was all curled up on one of my arms, it was just great to let go. 

Happy Monday!

Ramblings

I was never so happy to take time off. I’ve got one more day left after today and I know it’s going to fly by. The bad part about taking time off is all of the time you take playing catchup, which is never fun. Gator has a nose for knowing when I don’t have to go to work, I am not quite sure how she picks up on it but those nights are the most sleepless. She knows how much she means to me and exploits it but it is okay I will do most anything for her.

Thursday, was my visit to the doctor. I felt horribly winded just walking from the car into the office. I found out why, my blood pressure was through the roof. That’s when it hit me, I forgot to put in my blood pressure medicine when I set out pills. I hate that task so very much and I take so many medicines that it would be to my advantage to have a service like pill pack, but not something my insurance would be happy about or cover for refills. They are strict either you use their provider for mail order or you pay for it yourself for long term medicines. Anyway, the doc wrote a new script and increased my blood pressure medicine. He goofed when he sent it and I wound up picking it up at a local pharmacy. I can have it filled a couple more times before the price jumps. I went ahead and requested it be transferred to the mail order service. He also told me that my cholesterol was up, based on blood results from last time. He suggested taking fish oil to help lower the cholesterol. I am already on a medication so this will act as a supplement. It’s supposed to do wonders in lowering the numbers and I suppose we will find out in 3 months. I also have not been fasting for the cholesterol tests since the blood work has been done in his office. I mentioned about going back in August to September into a mixed environment and the doctor said that would be ill advised for me due to risk factors, even with getting the vaccination. He is happy to write a letter and my employer will have a couple options. The first is to keep things as they are and let me work from home. The second is to insist that I stop working from home and go on disability. While I think they will allow me to continue to work from home there is no guarantee. I should know more as time moves forward.

Friday, I got the results of the blood work that was done on Thursday. My A1C is starting to move in the wrong direction. It’s still in a good level but it won’t take much to push this in the wrong direction. That means I have to be a little less willing to give into my sweet tooth. I picked up the blood pressure medicine and waited a couple hours. I could see the difference when I took my blood pressure, which isn’t something I do on the regular but since it’s front & center I am keeping an eye on it. My biggest concern is how the increased dose will affect my sexual function. I can also feel depression setting in harder and stronger. A good example of this is I have no desire to eat lunch, nothing sounds good to me. Breakfast & Supper are all I really want. I mentioned that to the doctor and he didn’t seem terribly concerned. My diabetes meds should kick my ass and make my sugar drop to the point where I have to eat but that isn’t happening. I am losing weight but not at a rapid enough pace for me, I know that weight loss is best done slowly so we shall see what happens. I ordered the Fish Oil on Thursday evening it was supposed to be delivered next day but that didn’t happen. I feel better when I am out. I made it to Target finally and of course forgot ½ of the things that I wanted but Gator got her cat litter, which was the main reason for the visit.

Saturday, the day the rain moved in. I got the mail and cat food. I also had a very good burger at Denny’s. My waiter was cute even though I couldn’t see his face for the mask he was wearing. Kind of makes me want to go back again today. It’s been a long time since I had a burger and it was really damn good. That kind of depends upon who is working the grill but they appear to have made some changes in staff since the last time I was there and there was a rough manager working who was cracking the whip. I wanted to flirt with the waiter but considering the pandemic I opted not to. Plus, I know he probably wouldn’t want a guy as up in age as I am getting, even though I am told I look younger than I actually am.  That is presuming he was gay in the first place. 

On the home front the house and the mold smell came back. I gave the house a couple of air treatments and had to shuffle Gator around a bit. She didn’t realize it but she was actually confined at a couple points. The air treatments helped but the smell comes back pretty rapidly. Colder weather and fluctuating temperatures do not help things. My hope is that when the temperatures even out a bit that will help. I do wonder if the mold has spread to other parts of the house where I can’t see as in walls. I keep a watchful eye on the original problem that I self-remediated and it’s still bone dry. I know that I only took care of ½ of the wood, which is what is on the inside. The other ½ that is outward facing is still very much infected and until it’s ripped out along with part of the kitchen floor the smell won’t fully be gone. However, it is a matter of money. From everything I have seen in my moldy research I find that you often go into a project of mold remediation with a small dollar sign, then you find other areas that are affected and the price jumps. I have essentially placed a band-aid on a large open wound and while the bleeding has stopped the infection is festering. I will either reach a point where I have money to deal with it or I will have to cut bait and move. Meanwhile I have air fresheners in place. The problem started in the basement and it isn’t that bad down here. When I go upstairs and spend time in the kitchen or even in my room is where I notice it. I also had several days with no air movement and that doesn’t seem to be a good thing. I have opened windows and when needed had the furnace kick on. The mold issue was a result of my laziness and I feel horrible about it. But it’s like trying to un-ring a bell, it can’t be done. So, it’s a matter of moving forward. If you’re thinking homeowner’s insurance, think again. You have to have a mold rider, which isn’t something that agents push and unless you ask for it you don’t have it. I have poured over my policy and I know for certain that it is not covered. Spring a leak in the roof and then it’s a whole different story but otherwise no coverage.

In case your new here, I am not mechanically inclined. When I try to be handy it usually doesn’t work out well for me in the end, which is why I have placed a limit on what I will and will not do. I need to find me a handy kind of guy perhaps a contractor or just a handy man who is good with his hands both in and out of the bedroom. Being alone and dealing with this and having no friends well it just sucks and it’s no wonder why I want to swan dive head first into a wood chipper from time to time.

Some how I manage to keep on existing when life deals me blows, I manage to get back up. I am a fighter but it’s getting difficult as the years continue to tick by. Eventually I will loose but for the moment I will keep keeping on despite it not being easy or fun.

I have opted to start watching Shameless from the start and have been doing this since last week. I pay a little closer attention now. It’s interesting to go back in time and see how things play out. Frank thinking, he is going to die but I already know that isn’t going to happen for a long time. Seeing all of the sex scenes over again and how Ian & Mickey fell in love. One of my favorite episodes is when Frank’s liver is failing and he asks Carl to break his leg. Just seeing the look on Frank’s face, you know it had to hurt like hell despite all of the drugs Carl gave him. I can relate to some of the struggles in the series, especially the lack of money. I’ve got no squirrel fund and my money isn’t nearly as tight as it was for the characters in the show but I have been in circumstances where I didn’t know where my next dime was coming from or how I was going to manage to pay the mortgage let alone any of the bills and put food on the table or in the mouths of the cats. I take mental trips down memory lane and go places where I shouldn’t but I also don’t forget the good times that I didn’t realize were the good times. I miss my furry family and my late spouse more than ever. I am interested to know what the future has in store for me and how much longer it will be before another good time comes my way and if I will ever get to love again. Lust is something I have and probably will until the day I die but love is different and mix love & lust together when you’re lusting after a partner that you love and care about, it’s a totally different experience than having lust by itself.

I have missed being in my office but for the couple of quick hours in the morning that Gator permits me to be. I will try to spend more time down here but I don’t know that will go well, since she gets separation anxiety very easily. Based on what the doctor said it does sound like we will be together at home for a lot longer so I suppose I have that going for me.

Believe it or not despite it being late April we have snow in the forecast. It’s just going to be a sloppy mess where people have accidents. It will also be a very temporary thing and then Spring will be back. The poor plants & trees have to be so confused. The way it’s been working out the afternoons are Spring with lots of sunshine or rain but a decent temperature. The evening winter sets back in with close to freezing temperatures. Very uncommon for this time of year but then again, we are living in quite an uncommon time. My doctor told me that it was 5 years before things got back to normal when the Spanish Flu outbreak hit. He doesn’t think it will be nearly as long, especially since we have a vaccine but right now people have a false sense of security and are being stupid. Infections are on the rise and people are rebelling from being cooped up. His estimate for totally back to normal probably early to late next year. If people get smart and do the right thing, we may see normal by Christmas. I am not a gambling man but I do know all of the confinement isn’t helping my mental state and it has killed any chance of me dating or making new friends. I hope that I can continue to play the game and survive long enough to see “fully normal” again.

Stay safe, be well and we will talk again. Hope you are doing well!

What’s Happening?

Hello again everyone, I hope that you are doing well. There hasn’t been terribly much that has transpired but I have a few things to write about. I just figured out that I had a couple of comments pending moderation. I’ve published those a short bit ago. Comments mean the world to me and they help validate that my blog is being seen & read.

I finally have an update on the accident. The other guy has insurance (yeah) and has admitted fault (yeah) so my insurance company will enter into subrogation with his company once this has been settled. Basically, it means that my insurance company will claw back what they spend so in effect it doesn’t cost them any money, other than the cost of manpower to put the wheels in motion. Not that this is a money-making event but if you can make money, why not. I asked about getting reimbursed for the inconvenience and since I am going through my insurance company, I was told since there wasn’t a medical claim that isn’t something they would pay out. However, if I wanted to go through the other guy’s company, I could probably get something. It’s late in the game for that and honestly at the end of the day getting my vehicle repaired is what matters most. That is scheduled and I’ve got a rental lined up so it’s just a matter of waiting for next Monday when this starts and then waiting to see how long it plays out before I get my baby back. The rental is good for as long as it takes to repair my car, so if it’s a day or a month extra it matters not. Parts are in high demand and there is a shortage right now but I was told that it should be about a week. That doesn’t include putting new tires and getting it aligned but that shouldn’t take more than a couple hours at most.

My emotions were on overload on Sunday and into Monday. Shameless a Showtime series that I have watched since day 1 for 9 years came to an end. I hate the fact that it’s over, it was a favorite show and life will go on without it but it just won’t quite be the same. I knew that the character that plays the father (Frank) on the show would die but I didn’t know that he would die alone. Seeing that made me want to re-think how I left my spouse to die alone and also was a sobering wake up call that unless I meet someone chances are really high that I too will die alone. I called a co-worker on Monday after I watched the after party which was a zoom call with the cast and just balled. I started out fine and then my emotions just tackled me and I was done. I felt so much better after crying it out.

My door bell rang on Sunday evening in the middle of the finale. I haven’t ordered anything and when I went to look, I didn’t see anyone. There was a car that I noticed pulled up on the street with the headlights on. I waited until they left and then opened the door. It was none other than Jimmy John’s delivering a sandwich for my neighbor. My house number appears prominently in a couple places outside my home, one of which is by the front door. Still some poor delivery driver couldn’t find house number 9 so they delivered it to house number 8. It was paid for and my initial reaction was damn I’m hungry I am going to eat this, then I thought nope save it. Finally, my morals guided me to do the right thing and I put on clothes and went to deliver it. I didn’t ring the door bell just dropped it on the porch like the receipt said to. It took the neighbor 45 minutes before he realized it was there. Meanwhile I got some flying bugs in my house. No good deed goes unpunished.

When Sunday was over just before bed, I thought I will watch some porn and call it a night. Little did I know the streaming app I use wouldn’t work. I spent hours troubleshooting this before I gave up and finally went to bed in disgust. It works on one Roku but not the one in my room. It wasn’t until yesterday that I figured it out, I needed to get a beta version of the client and that fixed the issue. I kind of wish that I would have thought more but my brain was out to lunch and I thought for sure it was something on my end since the removable drive had been giving me some problems. I did an uninstall from my computer of the server and that of course meant that all of the history of what was viewed and what wasn’t was lost. Not a big deal but kind of a pain.

The grass guy showed up late in the day on Monday but they weren’t scheduled to be here until today. It was a nice surprise and there was no communication about the painting job we spoke of. I have pretty much figured out if you want something done, you have to do it yourself. It would have just been better if the guy was honest and just declined. Honesty goes a long way and besides that if your honest you don’t have to remember the lie you told. I got that little nugget of knowledge from a Judge Judy episode years ago, lot of truth there. Pun intended.

I thought my battle with the ants was over with but they appear to have come back and are worse now. I hate those damn things and wish that I would never, ever see another one at least not in my house. When problem crop up here it is so attractive to throw up my hands and just walk away, move and get it over with. However, that would cost a bit more in the long run so I stay put and deal with the issue.

Some kind soul posted the Yoop concert of Charlie Puth to YouTube. Charlie has looked better in the past. He is growing out his hair and wore a bright yellow fuzzy sweater that just make me want to break out in hives. His voice was not up to par and the whole thing came off to me like it was run on a shoe string and is not the usual product that I have come to expect when Charlie is in concert. That said, it wasn’t horrible. If you’re going to watch it, look for the 4K version. I don’t have 4K but the watermark of the person that published it is smaller and it just plain looks better.

Thursday is off to see the doctor. Not sure what I am doing on Friday and Monday is car drop off day. I am off from work from Thursday through Monday and back on Tuesday. I hope that I can manage to be productive at least part of the time. The accident set me back and depression has also crept in and set me back. I have been putting off a Target run for over a month and poor Gator is down to her last jug of litter. I also would like to eat breakfast out and maybe even grab dinner or lunch out.

While I thought I had longer my co-worker informed me that he will be taking the rest of his paternal leave in a couple weeks and won’t be back until July. Holy cow. That is a lot of time but I know it will go by in a flash. There are a couple of projects that are coming up and one of them is a job that only him and I can do. I am prepping as much as I can ahead of time but I am limited on what I can actually do until I get the official green light. Plus, the daily report we work on will fall totally on my shoulders. It’s much easier to do it with someone than doing it alone but I guess it will be just like sex for me. Hey I am trying to make it funny while still complaining.

Gator has had a couple of bad days but I think she is on the mend. It’s an odd time of year where it’s nice and comfortable/warm during the day but it gets down to freezing at night. That messes with her and she just can’t get warm enough. I found her today under the covers on my bed. She used to do that when she was a youngster and I am glad that she still has enough spunk to continue it today. I think it’s cute and it also proves that we all just need alone time. She is passed out cold next to me, as I sit on the couch writing this. She sure is eating the food and enjoying her naps. I just wish that she would sleep longer overnight instead of waking me up regardless of what time it is.

As much as I enjoy talking here it’s time to wrap this one up and call it a day. Take care of yourselves and be safe. We will talk again soon.

Waiting

Patience is not one of my stronger suits but I have learned that the world doesn’t move as fast as I want it to.  I got my estimate and have scheduled repairs.  Talked with the insurance company and I am waiting to find out if the guy I hit does in fact have coverage and if he sticks to the truth.  While I am fairly certain I will come out of this okay, the waiting is the next worst thing outside of the actual collision.  I did pay and got a copy of the police report, it clearly shows that he was at fault and documents the fact he got a ticket.  I do hope that this is the last accident I have for at least 10 years. 

I’ve been watching dash cam compilations on YouTube and man there are some crazy ass drivers in this world.  People who just don’t pay attention at all.  Kind of makes me not want to get behind the wheel again.  There is so much entertainment on YouTube. 

I have had a decent week from a food prospective.  Still have left overs from Easter but they are going pretty fast.  I’m thinking of digging into the Ham and Sweet Potatoes tonight.  The pasta is all gone.

The tree guy came back on Monday afternoon and finished up, there wasn’t much left so he was here maybe 45 minutes.  Things look so much better and I am glad that I got the work done.  I like the fact that I was able to hang on to my money.  I think the guy who wanted an arm and a leg might have done a slightly better job and maybe would have trimmed some of the top of the trees but I’m happy nevertheless and now I can spend what I saved on something else. 

Rain and a bit of colder weather have hit my area but it’s only temporary we will be warming back up tomorrow.  Today is trash day and before the next round of rain moves in I will want to get the trash out. 

I saw Friends with Benefits last night on Netflix.  Justin Timberlake looks really good without clothes on.  I don’t know how I managed to not watch this when it was released but I can say I’ve seen it now. 

Nothing much on my immediate to do list.  I will probably make that Target run I have been putting off forever.  The pain purchase is cat litter and I just hate buying that.  Target is the best place in this area to get the most bang for your money when it comes to liter. 

Gator has been a little crabby but for the most part she is well behaved.  We curled up a couple times today and got in some naps.  She loves it and actually meows insisting on it around lunch time.  I enjoy it as much as she does.  Laying down next to her I somehow don’t care about anything but her and all of my troubles fade away for a short time. 

I’ve been looking for the stray cats that were visiting but they haven’t been around in about 2 weeks now and I don’t have much hope they will return.  Hopefully they were someone’s pets and got reunited. 

It’s just a hum drum week here and I am okay with that.  Hopefully the insurance adjuster will call me back with good news and life can go back to as normal as possible.  I hope that all is well in your world and that life is treating you fairly.  Talk with you all again soon. 

Quick note

I am still waiting to hear from insurance but I ventured to the body shop and got an estimate.  It’s going to take a full week to repair the damage and the cost is just shy of $3,000.00.  It doesn’t take much to rack up a hell of a bill when it comes to a auto accident.  While I was there I got a quote for tires and I was amazed at the price they gave me, it was like a great bargain find.  While the repairs are getting done I am getting new tires and that should put me back on the road in superb shape.  I learned that the brand name tire I have charges a premium for their product and back in the day they did a good job but since then the quality has faded and I am not the only person that goes through tires like they are water.

Right now as it stands I’d like to trade vehicles but I think I am going to hold out and see what the future has in store for me.  The pandemic has saved me a year of driving to and from work which kind of makes my vehicle a little more attractive to buy.  I could perhaps part with it later in the year but I’ve also still got another whole year of extended warranty coverage, overall outside of the accidents the vehicle has been really good to me and rides like a dream.  I might not have all of the fancy bells and whistles that I want but I’ve got what I need and as along as the crazy drivers stay away from me I should be okay.

Yesterday marked the 8 year anniversary of my late spouses passing.  So much has happened in that time span and my emotions have been all over the place as well from high highs to low lows.  There is no doubt that he would be proud of me and how I managed to turn things around and keep on going after his passing.  He might not be terribly happy that I kept the house because he always said sell it and take the money.  Having a large number of cats at the time keeping the house was the right move because there is no place that I know of that would allow me to move in having a menagerie of cats.  Plus I don’t know that the animals would have been able to adapt to a move.  There are somethings that I would do different if I had to go through all of this again but on the other hand I honestly think I did okay. 

The difficult part is continuing to function year after year while being alone.  The loneliness is overwhelming and the the only favor the pandemic has done me is kept me at home to allow me to spend time with the remaining cats.  I hope as things begin to open up more that I will be able to find a guy and we will hit it off.  It’s difficult to get into the dating scene especially considering that whole concept is foreign to me and being later in life doesn’t help.  However, all I can do is try.  You have to watch your back because sadly there are lots of con artists out there and lots of scams and schemes.  I am fairly smart and can usually spot those things.  Kind of sad that there really isn’t any situation that is exempt from fraud and scam artists, it just a sign of the times.

Easter was okay we had plenty of food which I got to bring a bunch home between that and my left over pizza I should be set for a few days before I have to venture back to frozen food.  Plenty of pasta and I had Chicken Picata for the first time, not bad at all.  I polished off my wedge of cheese cake last night.  It was so hot in the house when I got home that it was time to turn on the AC but I didn’t and we lived through the humidity.  This week is set to be a hot one so I have the AC on today and done my first of year check to make sure everything is cooling on all cylinders. 

Looking forward to the tree guy coming back and finishing his job.  Then there is painting and gutter cleaning left, after that I will have tackled all of the bases.  Slow but steady progress.  Rome wasn’t build in a day and there is no way all of these little house projects could be finished in a day but with slow and steady progress it helps.  Chip away a little bit at a time and before you know it eventually you are done.  Then you just have to watch out for new problems. 

Happy Monday, I hope the world is treating you better than it is me and that your enjoying the sun shine.  Stay safe, be well and we will talk again. 

Crash

I wasn’t terribly excited about today because there was a lot to get done in a short period of time.  I got everything I needed to get done taken care of by 10:30a.  I should have worked in a trip to Lowe’s & Target but I continue to procrastinate, as if my needs are going to go away or something.  My tree guy showed up and managed to get a good portion of the work done before his saw broke.  He will be back sometime next week to finish up.  The backyard already looks much better and the grass will grow more because sunlight is now getting through.  I am also sure the neighbors are thrilled the dead leaning tree is gone. 

After he left I decided that I would take a little bit of a nap and that happened.  I woke up and watched a live radio show over the internet, which is always fun.  Then I got dressed and hit the road for pizza.  I figured this would be my reward and treat for the day.  What I didn’t know is this was going to be the most expensive pizza I have had in a very long time. 

I exited the freeway/interstate there was a motorhome ahead of me towing a vehicle.  We both were headed in the same direction.  Only one problem, I got into the turn lane where it began, as your supposed to.  The motorhome decided to cross the solid white line and side swiped me.  I hit the horn and tried to prevent it from happening but the guy was committed and never even saw me, despite my day time running lights.  I kind of gave him a story that I was in his blind spot and he ran with it.  No one was injured thankfully but my poor vehicle sustained the worst of the damage.  I was already planning on calling the police when he said lets report it.  I did that and we waited for the police to show up.  Turns out this was the guys very first accident and he was older in age.  His wife wasn’t pleased with him and I don’t know that he got to drive anymore on their trip home.  We were both stopping for food oddly enough.  Him a burger and well you know I was already going for pizza.  His wife thanked me for being so nice.  What’s the point of getting all upset, it’s not like you can undo what has already been done.  I wasn’t happy but I was professional and him and I carried on a civil conversation while we waited for the cops to do their thing.  They were slow and it took about 45 minutes plus the 10 minutes we waited on them to show up.  The guy was so apologetic and I told him the first thing your insurance company should have told you is never to say I am sorry because it’s an admission of fault/guilt.  I told him to keep that in mind for future use after that he apologized again.  He got a ticket that will set him back $160 not to mention what is going to happen to his insurance rates, but he may luck out there and get accident forgiveness. 

I’ve got all kinds of inconvenience.  I have to travel to the body shop on Monday to get an estimate, wait on them to get parts, etc.  Then we setup an appointment and then have to get a rental car.  Then it’s waiting for the work to be done, which probably will be a couple days because it’s most of the passenger side.  It’s times like these that make me wish I was driving a Sherman Tank. 

Needless to say I was never so happy to get home and see Ms. Gator.  She is wailing now because I have been down here for a couple hours.  Between calling the insurance company and completing on-line paperwork as well as catching up on bills and sorting through the mail. 

I am headed up to see her and hopefully find something to watch on TV that will take my mind off of all of this.  The accident was totally not what I wanted and I’ve been in similar situations before but managed to avoid being hit.  If he would have had a blind spot detector on that fancy motorhome this would have never happened.  Like I told him it could always be worse but it’s bad enough as is.  Thankfully no one was injured or killed.  Maybe next time I will just pop a Tombstone in the oven, too many crazy drivers on a nice sunny day. 

Talk with you all again soon. 

Business as usual

Life is moving right along and it’s business as usual for the most part.  I am still processing the loss (death) of my co-worker.  We worked close even though were both in different offices and different states.  We never met in person, only virtually through our video phones at work or in video conferences.  I will get through it, this isn’t the first co-worker I lost to death.  I was thinking about some of the other folks and they are memories now.  It’s a shame but my grandfather had a saying “Out of sight, out of mind”.  There is a lot of truth to that.  We don’t want to forget people but life happens and you keep moving left, right, left.  The next thing you know presto you forget about them.  It seems so wrong but that is the way it is. 

On a musical note, Charlie Puth had his Yoop app concert last night.  The price for admission was up to $22 and if you wanted to do the concert and the afterparty it was $90.  As big of a Charlie Puth fan I am, I didn’t go.  I learned that this was an interactive concert and that he could see and hear his fans.  That sounds like a zoom call gone wild.  He was supposed to have interacted with folks at the afterparty as well and that would have been nice to experience but it was a bit on the high side for just a couple hours of entertainment.  I thought for sure someone would find a way to pirate the stream or at least post footage of the concert after the fact but the only thing I can find thus far is a couple photos on social media, no footage whatsoever. 

Instead of the concert I found a biography movie done about Tina Turner.  It was an hour and 45 minutes.  I saw it via Starz.  It was enlightening and I wish she was still making albums and touring but I realize that is a lot of work and like everything else it becomes much more of a hassle the older you get. 

I’ve got a wide variety when it comes to musical taste.  I am not big into Rap, Country or the Steve Urkel Polka.  I listen mostly to pop and rock & roll there is some rap and country but definitely no polka music!  Were all stars in our living rooms, bathrooms and vehicles.  However, my momma cat knew that I sounded horrible and she would do everything in the world to let me know that I sounded horrible.  She only would permit me to sing 1 song and that was her theme, which was an abbreviated version of Pretty Woman.  Gator doesn’t object much but she doesn’t appreciate it when I listen to music on my phone, she much prefers that I have head phones or ear buds in.  If it comes on TV or if I am on my computer that is totally fine. 

The trash is out by the curb and it’s a abnormally cold Spring day here.  It was down to freezing last night and we have one more night of that, then Spring will be back.  My allergies are going bananas, which isn’t a good thing. 

I am loathing Saturday because it is going to be a busy day of running and I really need to get up early.  If things work out as I have planned I will be rewarding myself with a trip to get pizza.  It will be a nice change of pace and a road trip sounds like fun.  Sunday hopefully will be fun and enjoyable, if not I hope the food is at least good. 

Going to figure out what is for dinner after I deal with my poor nose and then it will be time to find something to watch to pass the time until bed time rolls around. 

Here’s hoping that life is treating you well and that your safe.  Be well and take care of each other.  Talk with you all again soon.