Bored

I hope that you had a good day.  My phone, Rudy and my body all woke me up at my usual time.  I got up to feed the cats and returned to my room to watch TV and hoped to be drowsy to return to sleep.  However, that didn’t work out well for me.  I did return to bed but the cats were hogging most of it, which is normal during the day when I am normally up and working.  I knew what time I had to get moving by and did that.  I had breakfast and had to fend off Rudy who thought he was entitled to a second breakfast.  I watched a little more TV and then got my shower and left for the doctors office. 

The apps all say that it takes about a half hour to get to the doctor but my experience has been more like an hour.  I left allowing a full hour to travel.  As luck would have it for me, it started to rain just as I began my drive.  I’m not a fan of driving at night or when it’s raining.  However, I continued on my journey and arrived safe with 20 minutes to spare. 

My physician was pleased to see me and elated when I told him I lost 20 pounds.  He asked me what was different and I told him that he changed my medicine.  He asked me if my diet changed and I told him no.  For that reason alone I feared that the well controlled A1C numbers we were getting would be no more.  Sure enough the results came in a couple hours after I got home.  In June I was at 5.7%, In August 6% and today 6.4%.  Way back in January I was at 5.8%.  I haven’t heard back from him since the results were published but I know that within a few days I will get a note.  We talked about it in my visit and he said that if need be he would increase one of the 3 medicines that I am already on.  He doesn’t want me to go back to Glipizide because it is what caused the weight gain combined with my sedentary lifestyle.  The visit didn’t take very long but he always takes his time and I never feel like I have been rushed out of his office.  There have been times when we chatted for longer than 30 minutes but that is not the norm.  I also got my Cholesterol checked and it’s actually doing really well from what I see.  The Fish Oil I have been taking is working, which is good to know that I am not wasting my money. 

I made the drive back, stopped at the post office.  I had hoped that my vehicle title would be waiting for me but nope not there.  I am waiting until tomorrow and if it doesn’t surface I will be driving to the credit union to get some answers.  I really think someone fell down on the job and unless I speak up I will never get my title, despite the loan being paid off.  I need that document in order to be able to sell the vehicle.  That will happen eventually.  My new car fever isn’t going to leave me anytime soon and my goal here is to build up a reserve of cash on top of what I already have.  As long as I can keep my desire for a newer vehicle at bay then I think I will be okay. 

I came home after the doctor.  I thought about going out in a few hours for dinner but the rain kept falling and I just opted to eat the store made Mostaccioli.  I was greeted with a surprise when I got home.  One of the fake plants in the living room was turned over.  Not sure if there was a scuffle or if the cats were just playing but I knew it was one of them.  Someone also got sick so a double mess to clean up.  I also had to take out the trash, which I put off for a little bit but Mora started nagging me for supper and that’s when I took care of that task as well as feeding both cats and myself. 

It feels so good to just sit at home and do nothing.  I can talk myself into it easier than I can talking myself out of it.  I know I will feel better if I leave and get out but it’s just easy to stay here since that is what I do the majority of the time.  The cats seem to like it.  Mora drives me crazy because she turns into a Velcro cat, meaning that she is attached to me.  She wants attention, which is fine.  Then it’s food or treats.  Then enough time passes she starts bugging me for cat nip.  I love her but damn there are times when I wish she would just leave me alone.  Her brother isn’t as high maintenance as she is.  I do think she is quite happy that I took her and her brother in and is just expressing her love. 

Tomorrow is get out of the house day.  I’ve got a haircut booked because I look like a shaggy dog.  My hair grows quickly because I was blessed with a double crown.  I keep it short but after about two weeks I could use a cut but usually wait it out for 4 weeks or longer sometimes.  I plan to start my day out by going out for breakfast.  Then moving to some shopping at Target and possibly the cat food store.  I will also need to hit up the gas station my tank is just below half way and the longer I wait the more it costs.  Gas is cheap right now but who knows how long that will last for. 

One minor struggle I am having is buying a writing instrument.  It’s a piece that I have had my eye on for a long time.  It started at $300 and quickly shot up to $500.  Right now it’s at an all time low of $438.  I promised myself that would be my gift once my vehicle was paid for.  I’ve got the money to spend it’s just shelling out that kind of money for a writing instrument seems rather silly to me.  I am in to collecting and using fine writing instruments.  Rollerballs are my instrument of choice.  Fountain Pens are nice but they tend to be messy.  In the back of my mind I think that I will be punished if I buy this in that something else will go wrong and I will wish I had saved my money.  I try to buy physical things to help fill a large void in my life and noticed that pattern several years ago.  That joy it brings is very temporary and the emptiness returns, plus I will manage to think or see something else I want.  I am smarter now with my money since I am my sole support system.  However, telling myself no isn’t something that comes easy.  Yet, I still have an Amazon shopping list that I keep adding things to. 

The last writing instrument that I bought that cost what I call serious money, which is a few hundred dollars was during the pandemic.  Amazon delivered the package to the wrong address and I had to go fetch it.  That pen isn’t made any longer but is still being sold here and there, it’s appreciated a little bit in value.  I don’t trade or sell I just keep what I buy.  Who’s ever hands my collection falls into probably won’t appreciate it for the value and will probably part with it for pennies.  My favorite brand is Mont Blanc and that is what I have the most of.  I wish I had a less expensive hobby but this is more like an addiction.  I just love pens and I know I am not alone.  Regardless of sexuality there are plenty of people that have the same interest. 

If I bought everything that I really truly wanted then my bank account wouldn’t be as large as it is right now.  I like seeing the money in the bank but I also want things.  What a dilemma.  It’s just a simple money problem, to spend or save.

What I truly need money can’t or should I say shouldn’t be used to purchase.  What I truly need are friends and a companion.  That’s the void I am trying to fill.  I know it and trying to fix it all is overwhelming.  I just wish I wasn’t all alone.  Wishing won’t make the problem go away.  I also don’t want to get hurt or argue with anyone and I know that is just part of life.  There is good and bad in every situation.  I’m not happy and haven’t been for a very long time.  I still manage to go on and hope that a dumb dating app will help me and if not that the few times I’ve outright asked a guy out.  If they say yes they never follow through and that makes me wonder what am I doing wrong. 

Well, we solved one problem I am not bored anymore since I’ve been pecking away.  I need to wrap things up, get ready for bed, watch some porn and hope that my insomnia leaves me alone so that I can follow through with my plans for tomorrow.  I haven’t peeked at work email but I will need to do that tomorrow night because I will be back on call starting on Saturday.  I don’t plan on staying home all day, so I hope that people leave me alone. 

Here’s hoping for a great Friday and weekend for all.  Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate your visit.  Take care and be well.      

Mid Week–Guys to drool on

 

Last day for work this week

Good Morning!  I hope it’s a great day for you. 

Yesterday had some minor stress.  That meeting I was running I got tongue tied and that was frustrating but I managed to snap out of it.  I am overwhelmed with compliments about how great I run meetings but yet I still hate it.  I don’t like being the center of attention.  However, I’ve been to enough meetings that I know how they should run, how to get started and how to get it over with.  Generally speaking no one likes meetings and that for sure includes me. 

During my lunch break yesterday Rudy wanted to play with his sister and she wasn’t up for it.  That resulted in a fight and I was able to corner and grab Rudy to break it up.  He just melted and went to sleep.  I don’t like any animal fights especially when they are in my house and I am the one who has to pay the bill if something happens. 

My allergies were on full blast yesterday.  There isn’t any pollen in the air so it’s what’s in the house that I am allergic to, if not the house it’s self.  In any case I took a Benadryl and that fixed things up nice.  Problem is it made me sleepy.  I stayed the course as long as I could.  I took a second pill and my sleeping pill.  Then went to bed, no cat nip for Mora & Rudy but they didn’t seem to mind.  Mora came to lay with me and it wasn’t terribly long I was out.  Damn I slept real good.  I had a couple of moments where I would wake up but I managed to fall back to sleep.  Very interesting dreams and I had the best Chicken sandwich of my life in the dream it had Bacon, Cheese and Ranch dressing. 

I rolled out of bed early waking up the cats which is something new.  They looked confused.  I assured them I was up for breakfast.  I took care of both of us.  Got in some morning play and petting.  Looked at the phone, nothing major going on.  It’s all in all a light day.  I still have to keep watch for any problems that crop up.  I’ve completed my morning tasks and then some.  Now comes the part of the day where I look to occupy myself and that’s not easy.  This is where the day starts to lag and suck. 

I will surf the internet and check up on email.  Stare at my work computer and eventually give up and go upstairs.  Get comfy in a chair watch TV and have my phone & laptop close by.  I will dose off and some idiot will wake me by sending an email and that will go on for a while until I snap back to an awake status.  Then presuming I don’t have to come back down, I will get up and have lunch.  Then relax a bit more and come back to work after lunch.

I’ve got a late afternoon task to take care of, hopefully all goes well there.  Then it’s just monitoring for the rest of the evening and I will be off Thursday & Friday.  I will turn off work email tomorrow when I get up and I won’t turn it back on until late in the evening on Friday so that I can reasonably try to enjoy my time away. 

How exciting is that?  Nothing good in the DVR queue for recording.  I am watching a lot of documentary series on HBO that are the work of HBO and CNN.  Most are really good.  Warmer weather today going from the 20’s and 30’s to the 50’s.  We get some rain in the next few days and that’s as far as I know.  While the weather is predicted you never actually know what is going to happen for certain until it does because the weather is much like a cat, fickle. 

Speaking of cats, I need to trim claws.  I’ve been started to get injured and when a cat scratch heals damn it itches like crazy.  Makes me want to chop or cut, anything to get rid of the itch.  On rare occasions I am able to ignore it.  If I can do that and not scratch it the itch will go away.  First scratch and the itching only gets worse, usually I think of that after the fact and not before.  It’s just a normal reaction to scratch.  Kind of like when I was much younger and got my first and only case of poison ivy.  That was a mess even with prescription drugs.  Get me around some ivy with 3 leaves and if I come in contact with it I will do a Silkwood scrub down and wash everything I was wearing.  Now I am just wanting to scratch just thinking about itching. 

Guess I should go watch some TV and look at food commercials.  Need to weight myself this morning to check on my progress.  My thanksgiving friends did notice remarkable weight loss but didn’t say anything until I mentioned it.  I think the 20 pounds I lost is my plateau and I expect that to vary but I don’t expect to loose more given my mostly inactive lifestyle.  However, if I change my ways and become more active then I am sure I will probably loose more.  I’d like to get back to pre-pandemic weight but that is a large (no pun intended) ask. 

I’m listening to Mannheim Steamroller on Spotify, that brings back some memories.  Discovered them with my late spouse and we used to listen to them around the holidays.  I got into their music a bit more and wound up buying several CD’s which he would borrow on occasion.  I still have them along with every other damn CD that I ever bought.  Lots of money tied up in Compact Discs, Cassette Tapes, Records and VHS Tapes.  If I could turn all of that into cash I would be doing pretty good.  I never saw or thought everything would be digital and streaming but it was interesting to be along for the ride and the advancement of technology.  I know I am not alone I’m sure some of you have some physical media audio, video or both. 

Talk with you all again soon. 

Poor planning

Morning … Hope that your Tuesday is off to a good start and that it’s a great day for all. 

Yesterday afternoon I was bored and started to craft an update post, in the middle of that chaos ensued and I had to abandon the post and concentrate on work.  It was just plain nuts and all from one person who knew they had a deadline but failed to plan properly, thinking that exceptions would be made.  Nope, that’s not how the world works.  I was working well past 5p and Mora & Rudy heard me get up from my desk, they met me at the door and we all went upstairs to start our evening. 

I was a bit frazzled and I couldn’t eat what I wanted to because it would have taken too long to make and I wanted to eat sooner rather than later.  The cats were hungry as well so I took care of them first, because that’s what I do. 

Watched a little YouTube video and then switched over to a documentary about the opioid crisis on HBO, it was in two parts and it took some time.  I was more than half way through so it finished up pretty quickly.  Then I moved on to some corruption series.  Watched and learned how the Tommy Lee & Pamela Anderson tape got into circulation.  Just an affirmation that I’ve stuck by for years, never film anything you don’t want the world to see.  Learned all about the creep behind Girls Gone Wild and how he abused women.  According to the film he’s a fugitive here in the US and lives in Mexico.  He’s still rich.  There are more episodes to watch but that’s all I was able to watch last night before I turned the lights out. 

Brushed Mora & Rudy, passed out cat nip and played with them a little bit.  Mostly provided attention, cuddling and hugging to Mora.  Had to take a work call and sat and watched a computer not do what I needed it to, finally gave up on that idea and said it will be there in the morning. 

That was my Monday, glad it’s behind me now.  Today the boss man is out having some surgery done.  He didn’t tell us what he is doing but I have a suspicion.  It’s a quick in and out thing, but he has to be on bed rest for the week.  That means were done with him for this week.  He canceled our bullshit meetings, if they were so important how come we can skip a week when it’s convenient for him but not for us?  It goes to my point that we meet too damn much and could do it every other week but I’m just a grunt who isn’t listened to.  I’ve got to run a meeting that he normally runs on Tuesday afternoons.  Unless something changes, right now it looks like it will be fairly quick.  Outside of that not much on my agenda for the day.  Hopefully, after the day I had yesterday things are calm today. 

Tomorrow is my Friday and I hope that it moves along swiftly and uneventfully as well.  I am eager to ditch my working responsibilities and enjoy another long weekend.  I hope that I accomplish all of my intended tasks that I have set for myself.  Time away from the computer is one of them.  I have to pick back up my on call duties on Saturday so I won’t be able to save the news of what went wrong while I was gone for 2 days, but I hope that my in box isn’t flooded.  I never have high hopes in that regard because something usually always goes wrong and I have to deal with it when I get back.  Just typing that brought me more work now. 

I suppose it’s back to work I go, so much for rest and relaxation.  Kind of wish there was a Thanksgiving break just as long as the Christmas break that college kids gets but that it extended to all of the US.  Holidays, what a nutty time of the year.  It’s super cold here today but were supposed to warm a bit come tomorrow.  Crazy weather, I’m not a huge fan of cold but I’d like something consistent. 

Thanks for stopping by, talk with you peeps later. 

It is done

Morning … Hope that you had a great holiday and a nice weekend!  I opted to go with my friends.  I got to sit in front with them and didn’t smell any exhaust.  The front windshield was covered with a film that made it difficult for me to see out of the dash, the window could use a cleaning.  We got there and back with only one minor traffic issue.  I thought I was going to get hit on my side due to a driver error but that didn’t happen. 

On the way down I was pelted with text messages as reminders like I am 5 years old and would forget.  That pissed me off but I didn’t bother to respond because of the way the messages were worded a response wasn’t required. 

We all arrived at the preachers house and carried in the food which had just come from the restaurant and was cooked and heated.  However, setup took it’s sweet time and by the time everything was laid out buffet style everything was cold.  It was the worst Thanksgiving I can remember having.  If we do this same thing next year I will pass.  I got to spend time in an old and cold house that was falling apart but fixed up to be semi-presentable.  They lit candles everywhere and my allergies were on fire.  Of course, I forgot to bring my medicine and we didn’t stay terribly long which was a good thing.  They kept us trapped at the table and I knew that my friends back would act up and that turned out to be our saving grace. 

It was nice to be around people but I could have and wish I would have skipped it.  They tried to stick me with Turkey & Ham to take home but I declined.  I got a small piece of pumpkin cheesecake to take home but that’s only because that is what I asked for desert and they butchered that piece to get me a small slice.  No one else wanted any so I had the left overs of that large slice to take home.  It was good and gone the next day. 

I sat at my friends house for a little bit and finally was able to make it home by 10p.  Thank God I didn’t have to go to work the next day because I would have been in bad shape.  I enjoyed turning my phone off and watching TV.  I was a hermit all weekend long and only got out yesterday afternoon for a quick bite to eat and to hit up the grocery store.  I kind of hated that I pissed away my time but on the other hand I enjoyed being with the cats, napping and watching TV.  It was very much decompression time and time away from my electronic leash and the computer. 

Today is back to the grindstone.  I’ve got my bills paid and caught up on work thus far.  I need to see what I missed from porn and catch up on that, so I will have something to do for a while.  Looking forward to working another 3 day week.  This Thursday is visit the doctor.  Friday I have a haircut scheduled and Saturday I am for sure going to see my friends.  I missed eating breakfast out all weekend long but I saved some money and I didn’t go hungry.  Need to hit up the Wholesale Club on my days off and the cat food store for the children. 

Took a double dose of sleeping meds last night since my sleep schedule was messed up.  That always causes me to have nightmares.  I never know what they will be about.  This one was about an old co-worker who stole a cop car and was chased and wrecked out killing him and his passenger.  The next thing I knew I was going through all of the rubble with the police trying to sort out belongings.  It was a true nightmare.  Thankfully the cats woke me up, I guess it was obvious something was wrong.  Of course it was 5am and cold as fuck here.  The temperature might have had more to do with it than anything. 

Temps took a huge dip here and it very much feels like winter right now and will for a few days.  I raised the heat by another degree to keep us comfy warm.  I was telling the cats before I went to bed that it’s time to haul out the electric blanket.  Once that sucker is on the bed neither one of them will want to leave, even though I keep it on low they sense the heat and enjoy it. 

Well thank God Thanksgiving is done with now I don’t have to stress over making a decision.  Next up is Christmas.  That should be at my friends house but will depend on what they have.  It’s will either be a Honey Baked Ham or Prime Rib.  If it’s Ham I will go and if it’s Prime Rib I will stay home.  I won’t know for several weeks and of course it will be last minute notification.  I’ve already told them I hate steak twice this year.  Prime Rib is steak and we usually have it every damn year and it’s rare as rare can be, it’s horrible but everyone raves about it but me.  I am for sure the odd man out.  I will also be on-call for Christmas and it’s on a Monday.  I really wish they would gather on Christmas Eve so we can all have the next day to recover but that’s not how things are done.  There won’t be any gifts it’s just a get together for food and it’s a free meal.  I could always go and just eat sides and whatever is for desert. 

Mora & Rudy are both doing fine and reluctant as I to slip back into the daily grind.  Rudy is at the top of the stairs on what I call Rudy Duty.  It’s his job to watch and greet me, while alerting his sister.  Mora is all passed out on the middle of my bed but watching her brother.  More predicable than the weather but I like a good routine. 

Again I hope you had a great holiday and weekend.  Now time for me to venture back to the work computer to catch up on my inbox as things are starting to pile up while I am slacking off.  Take care!

The meat I really want on Thanksgiving

Thankful

Dear Reader,

This time of year is one that some look forward to, some dread and others have no feelings at all.  It’s the start of “The Holidays” and what will feel like watching an egg timer tick by until the end of the year, at least to me. 

I am one of those people that is lonely and feels pain when “The Holidays” roll around.  I do love to eat and Thanksgiving is by far my favorite holiday, just for the food alone.  Many years ago me and my late spouse were riding around on one of his “adventure trips” where we just drive around to get away.  We passed a place that I had seen many times before.  I looked it up on the internet (I think we were on dial up or just got high speed internet, that’s how long ago it was) and found that it was an Italian Place.  My late spouse wasn’t much for Italian and/or Mexican but those are my primary go to favorites.  He indulged me and we made a trip, that’s when we found that this place was an upscale restaurant.  Prices weren’t exactly cheap but portions were large and the food was phenomenal.  We kept going back to learn that they did Thanksgiving Family Style.  We made reservations for the two of us and walked out that Thanksgiving very full and had a ton of left overs, which are the best part of Thanksgiving.  The following year we invited some friends and they loved it as well.  It soon became a tradition.  Then they invited a friend or two.  Eventually with time my spouse passed.  It was just the 3 of us for that Thanksgiving but we agreed then and there to keep our tradition. 

Fast forward to when COVID hit and restaurants closed.  I had reservations but got a call and that’s when they introduced me to their carryout program.  They changed my reservation to an order and I had Thanksgiving at my friends house.  They invited their neighbors and since then we have done carry out.  Their house offered a much larger table, there wasn’t a crowd of people, you didn’t have to get super dressed up and drive a long distance and we could all take our time.  That’s been our new tradition.  My friends have changed who they invited each year and now the regulars are their neighbor and their clergy and his family.  You can’t swear which I fucking hate and just try to think of myself of at the office to censor my speech.  Once and a while someone will let a God Damnit slip out and I just think it’s funny, but that’s the little kid in me.  This year were set to go to their clergy’s house and as you have read I am not super excited about it at all.  I feel that our tradition has been fucked.  I say nothing because ever since my spouse passed, they pick up the tab and it’s not small by any stretch of the imagination.  The saying beggars can’t be choosers applies. 

If your reading this and wondering what decision I’ve made well I am writing this in the future and posting it the day of Thanksgiving.  So, you will have to come back to find out what I did.  However, since we are so close to the holiday and I did commit, I kind of don’t want to back out plus I don’t want to pass up a free meal and/or be totally alone.  I am leaning heavily on going unless something manages to change my mind.  If I go let’s hope that it all goes smoother than I think it will in my mind.

In years past a tradition that started with a job I had was to make a list of things you are thankful for.  Everyone would post them on a bulletin board and it made a great inspirational piece to pass by and look at.  I brought that home and it’s something that me and my spouse would do.

When you get into the thick of things it’s easy to loose sight of all of the blessings that one has, even someone all alone like me.  I might not have family/friends or a boyfriend/partner but I’ve still got plenty of blessings.  I’ve got a home, two newish cats that adore me, a paid off automobile, a decent job, the ability to work from home, technology (aka creature comforts like high speed internet, cell phone, subscription movie services, cable tv), health (nothing major wrong with me yet, but I am sure my time on that is running out), my memory (even though things can get fuzzy from time to time), an open mind and the list goes on.  If you take time and think about it I’ll bet you that you too could start a list of things that your thankful for.  One of the biggest blessings other than my health is the ability to be able to publish this blog and your readership.  I look at the stats and see that most of my readers are in the US but there are folks in other countries that visit. 

I’ve said all of that to simply say, I am thankful for you and your readership.  Check back a little later this afternoon and you’ll find some Thanksgiving Man Candy.  I hope that it’s a great holiday for you!

Imagination

Morning and Happy Thanksgiving Eve!

I had one hell of a bad dream, woke up and thought I went to the bathroom in my bed, but thankfully that was only in the dream.  I got sick and was hospitalized and my mom was there.  I needed emergency surgery.  Not exactly sure why that all happened but I woke up 2 hours before my normal wake up time and I had to sit up for and hour before I was able to go back to sleep.  My allergies were bothering me when I woke up so that just added to the fun!

I finally laid back down and Mora was on my left at my feet.  Rudy climbed up on top of me, waited to see if he could make me get up even though I just laid down, then he got comfy and I was only able to close my eyes.  Never really went to sleep and that hour flew by.  I got up and worked on breakfast.  Not exactly the way I wanted to start the day. 

Thankful that I have the next 2 days off for the holiday and then the weekend.  That’s 4 days and I will be doing it all again next week in the same order but there’s no holiday just time off so I can see the doctor. 

I planned a bunch of things to plow through this morning at work and I pressed on.  I figured it would be a quiet day but I’ve had 2 phone calls and an email that interrupted me.  I hate losing focus when I am making progress and have a rhythm down.  I got what I wanted to accomplished and believe it or not I am going back for more when I am done here.  I’ve got a morning meeting and I am done until later this afternoon, unless someone hollers.  Normally my phone doesn’t ring, I am eager to remove call forwarding this afternoon so that I am fairly certain I will have a quiet weekend.  I also plan to power off my phone tonight.  Not entirely certain if I will wake up early and try to eat breakfast out tomorrow or if I will just eat at home.  I’m going out for a big meal just not 100% if that will be alone or with friends.  I am leaning on the friends part especially since it’s free and won’t cost me anything other than time and gasoline. 

Watching YouTube videos and randomly in my feed I started seeing High School Wrestling matches.  Those wrestling singlets show everything.  You can tell who has a nice ass, who’s excited and who’s not.  I never really understood the rules of HS Wrestling but damn the guys look amazing in their singlets.  Needless to say I’ve watched more than a couple matches.  It’s just something to let my imagination run wild.  I remember when some friends back when I was that age were into it and decided to show me what spread eagle meant.  It was hot but damn it hurt being thrown to the ground, even if we were on a lawn, it’s not padded like a mat.  I can’t believe they don’t mandate that the wrestlers wear a jock not only to protect their family jewels but so that you can’t see them on full display.  It also makes me wonder if the guys are just excited or if they are actually gay.  They do spend a fair time with the other guys ass in their face.  It’s hot to me but I bet it doesn’t smell good in person. 

I’m fighting an itch from a scratch Mora gave me the other morning when we were playing.  She always goes for the jugular, she gets so excited and involved.  She doesn’t mean to do any damage but those damn claws will be the death of me.  I understand they need them but there are times that I wish they didn’t have them.  I’m not a fan of removing them in case either of them manage to escape this homosexual prison (that’s humor … insert laugh) they are held captive in, they will need them to fend off any would be predators.  I’ve got no doubt that both cats can and probably would climb a tree.  If they just had opposable thumbs like a racoon they could open their own can of food.  Speaking of which last night I put a plastic container with a couple stale cookies that I am working on finishing on the table.  Rudy saw that and for some reason it draws him.  He jumped up on the table and knocked it to the floor.  I didn’t catch him on the table but I did find the container (closed and intact) on the floor by the fountain.  Damn cats can be worse than children at times.  Mora hasn’t been on the table or the counter yet, but she lets her brother do all of that and he’s been caught a couple times and yelled at.  He fluffs that tail pretty good when he gets upset.  Speaking of which last night I played a video short of a Bobcat growling.  That woke Rudy up from his nap, as soon as he saw there was no threat and it was the TV he went right back to sleep. 

Well time for that damn meeting and then a little more work.  Looking forward to lunch today.  Rotisserie Chicken on Cranberry Walnut Bread.  It’s a premade sandwich from the store and I had it the last time I went into the office.  Damn it was so good and I am looking forward to having it again.  Hope that you have lots of good food coming your way and that your around someone or something you care about as we celebrate Thanksgiving in the US.  It’s a difficult time for a lot of people and some have no family, there is plenty of despair and depression.  Hopefully, we all make it through even if it’s not a huge time of fun as it might have once been. 

Take care and thanks for stopping by!

Rambles

   Good morning, I hope that your doing well.  Monday seemed to take forever to end from a business perspective.  I gave up sitting in front of the computer around 2:30p and headed backup stairs.  The cats and I watched TV and I had my phone close by.  I got a few what I call “junk” emails that I was able to delete.  Other than that nothing meaningful came across my phone, which I was thankful for.  Finally it was time for food.  I had left over warmed pizza.  I ate two slices which was a bit much.  One would have done well to fill me up.  There is tons and I do mean tons of cheese on this and lots of dough.  I passed out cat food first.  Rudy went to town.  Then he stopped and gave his sister a turn.  Then he went back into vacuum mode.  I was in the middle of my dinner when he puked.  That got me thinking I need a spot carpet cleaner.  I’ve got one sitting in the hallway but the original cat family wore that thing to death.  I replaced the main hose on it a several years ago but it mostly just sat and collected dust because Gator didn’t really get sick all that much.  Today I see they have cordless models but they eliminated the “automatic or robot” function.  What I have had an automatic button, you put it over the spot all loaded with soap and water, then walk away.  3 minutes it scrubbed and sucked, the carpet was slightly wet but it did a mostly decent job on light issues.  For anything heavy you had to run it 2 or 3 times before it got things clean.  It beat lugging out the big model and of course since it made noise all cats hated it but were curious to know what it was up to.  The OG I have cost a small fortune but today they are much more reasonable, so might be adding that to my list of things to buy. 

I’ve been watching The Golden Palace which is a series that kicked off after the Golden Girls wrapped.  It’s on YouTube but I also see it’s on Hulu.  Hulu has 10 times more commercials and no skip button for me.  YouTube didn’t have many commercials.  I think I have watched the bulk of the show that has been uploaded.  I went back to Hulu and picked up some Schitts Creek.  My favorite hunky guy character was Ted the vet.  Damn that kid has a body.  I enjoyed all of the cast performance and they made me laugh over the years while it aired on Netflix.  There were so many outright stupid moments you had no choice but to laugh.  Mora & Rudy don’t know what to do when I let out a laugh primarily because it’s not a sound they hear that often. 

Last night Mora was curled up next to me and I was telling her how much I love her.  I told her I know you probably sense my broken heart and no matter what you do your not going to be able to fix that.  I really think that is why she hangs out with me so much.  I mean she loves me but she senses hurt/pain and wants to try to make it better.  All of the licks and scratches from both her and her brother won’t fix it. 

Speaking of which they both have a new habit.  It’s wait until dad is asleep then let’s start a cat fight.  They have done that a couple times over the last couple nights.  I stay in bed and let them duke it out.  If I hear a lot of noise that will get me out of bed.  But two cats running around like they are in the jungle nah I some how manage to roll over and got back to sleep, praying they don’t hurt each other or break anything.  Thus far I have been lucky. 

I’ve got a prelim. plan for Turkey Day at least the morning.  I plan to wake up early shower and get out to Cracker Barrel for Breakfast.  I hope they will have a Chocolate Pecan Pie that I can take home.  I’m sure I will get to see the cute waiter that I started this obsession with last year.  It’s been a full year and the fucker hasn’t called me and I am trying to get over that.  There is both joy and pain in seeing him.  Anyway, I can get some breakfast.  Then I might go for a short drive around town and back home.  I don’t want to do the whole friends giving thing but right now I’ve talked myself into it.  The thing is that if I go I will be slightly miserable but there will be some levity that will take my mind off that fact, plus it’s a free meal.  If I stay at home I probably won’t see another person for a couple days and then next week I am somehow back on-call again, but it’s a short week for me next week because I only work 3 days thanks to having to go see the doctor.  Isolation isn’t good and I see how it can drive a person insane.  There is a small chance I will stay home and go to a restaurant by myself.  Normally that doesn’t bother me but on a holiday, it would make me feel like there was a spotlight on me.  Shitty family or not I miss being around people.  I go through this I am not going this year phase but usually give in at the end.  Most of it’s me getting into my own head.  There usually is an invite to Christmas Dinner that follows at some point during the meal.  Christmas is when we find out if there will be an open house.  After that all of the gathering is done until Easter, then Independence Day, Labor Day and back to the holidays.  It’s a vicious cycle.  These people are getting seriously old and I know that it won’t last forever so part of me is like enjoy what you have while you have it.  If I manage to find a man before one of them dies it will be a true miracle. 

Today is going to be another long and boring day.  I’ve got 3 meetings today and don’t look forward to any of them.  I’ve completed all of my morning tasks and personal surfing, just listening for the washer to stop so I can transfer some clothes to the dryer.  Then I will be back upstairs in front of a TV trying to find something to watch and eventually passing out from sheer boredom.  Rudy woke me up at 3am wanting food but I managed to stave him off until 6:30am and then I just got up and fed them.  I suppose he was really hungry after his issue last night.  He did eat treats and wouldn’t pass up cat nip for anything.  Got the few holiday letters I am sending ready yesterday and plan to drop them off at the post office on Thanksgiving morning just like I would if I was sending a batch of Christmas Cards.  Yesterday I looked back over holiday letters and Christmas Card lists thinking about what happened to all of the people that I used to know, a good portion of them turned their backs on me and others we just fell out of touch.  Never though that my world would or could change so drastically in the blink of an eye.  Good thing that I managed to survive it all, that’s what I am most thankful for, despite the fact their is still pain. 

Listening to the scanner yesterday and again this morning, plenty of medical calls and what I call normal police traffic.  Yesterday was busy at this time but this morning it’s kind of slow.  Not to worry I am sure it will all pickup as the day rolls on.  I hate being in meetings because I have to turn the sound down to zero so no one knows what I am doing.  It’s nice to know what is going on in the world at large around me and have the inside scoop.  I got into this hobby as a child and it’s just stuck with me.  I wanted to be a police officer and I’ve never lost that despite the fact that I am too old, too fat and seriously out of shape.  However, my allergy to bullets and all of the schooling is what kept me away from following my dream.  I actually had someone tell me that no one is allergic to bullets.  Seriously! 

I think that  is a high note to end on.  Hope that you enjoyed today’s post.  In case your wondering about the hunks at the top of the page It’s Garrett Kinsley and Josh Brady from Helix Studios.  Here’s hoping it’s a great day for all of us!  Thanks for stopping by, hope you will be back again soon.

Truly Lazy Weekend

Two things I love is being lazy and sleep.  I woke up early on Saturday but it was a bit too early for me, so I fed the cats and went back to bed.  However, that was silly because I was wide awake.  I wound up grabbing a soda and watching TV, then going back to sleep.  I never made it out of the house all day long.  I just kept saying I will do it in a couple hours, later and that lead to me just wasting the entire day away.  Rudy & Mora were happy to spend the day lounging with me in my room.  We only left to use the restroom and eat food in the kitchen. 

Sunday I was determined to get going early, yeah well that didn’t quite pan out either.  I wound up eating breakfast at home and just wanting to be lazy a bit longer.  I did get showered and make it out of the house by 1p.  Hit up the grocery store, the cat food store and the post office.  Came home, unloaded and put everything away.  Then dashed off for pizza.  I went to the deep dish place where there is one waiter I have a crush on, but he’s straight.  Luck was in my favor because he was working and took care of me.  I got to watch his perky ass strut around the place which was nice.  The pizza was good as well and I’ve got plenty to feast on all week long.  Made the trek back home in the dark, which I don’t enjoy.  Plus it’s deer season and they love to run out in traffic.  I saw one dead on the way down. 

After making it home and getting settled, I took care of the cats.  Did the litter box scoop which is just an invitation to a cat to come fill the damn thing back up.  Passed out some food and got my pills ready.  Surfed social media and watched TV. 

The evening went by quickly and I had to double up on sleeping medicine to ensure that I would sleep.  I knew I was in store for nightmares and I had one.  Hope to return to a normal dose tonight.  I am not drowsy and actually was looking forward to today. 

Now that today is here I whipped through all of the personal and professional tasks that I had.  Now it’s just watching and waiting or goof off time.  The weather indicates rain on and off all day long.  The grass people I think are at end of year because they didn’t show up on Friday or Saturday.  The weather has turned colder and the furnace is working it’s magic. 

I think of how depressed I was over the weekend being lonely.  Depression and loneliness are always worse on holidays.  I’ve got a chance to be with people, they might not be exactly ideal but I am leaning on going to Thanksgiving with them.  I know a few places in the area that are open if I want to dine alone but honestly I do that all year long and it’s kind of tiresome.  I honestly don’t want to go but I think that mentally I will be better off.  Still kicking the idea around and it’s not like I have to make a decision until Thursday so plenty of time. 

Speaking of being lonely, not having much luck on the dating app I am on.  It’s stuck on showing me a person, I reject them and then next time I am in it shows me the same person.  Sort of like it’s saying hey are you really sure you don’t like this person.  It’s a bug in their system and I don’t have anyone reaching out to me.  I saw a guy yesterday who said how hard dating was plus being gay and dating, he went on some tangent and said not to waste his time by playing games.  I get it but that is kind of what dating is in today’s world.  I passed on him he looked angry in his photo. 

I hope that you had a great weekend and that your looking forward to the holiday and short week.  It’s only 3 days for me, were closed on Thursday for the holiday and Friday as a plus.  I will for sure hate traffic and shopping from this point forward because everyone will be looking for a deal but I am just part of the normal crowd trying to get things I need.  A deal would be nice but I’m not holding my breath.  Anything holiday related that I want to buy for myself will be done through Amazon so they can bring it to my door and I don’t have to fight the traffic.  Still waiting on my car title I hope it arrives this week. 

Have a great day and I will talk with you again soon.

Turning around

It took a bit but all is back to normal at work.  Thank God I don’t have to endure getting the pains of a new machine.  Now I can go back to twiddling my thumbs until someone needs me.  Still hopeful for a quiet day!

Friday the 17th … more like Friday the 13th

Morning … I had some interesting dreams last night and my insomnia kicked in around 2am.  I tried to wrestle with going back to sleep but eventually gave up and that’s when Mora came to investigate and join me.  She laid in bed and knew that eventually I would return.  Which I did and then she snuggled with me because she knows that helps get me back to sleep.  She’s almost like a teddy bear.

Needless to say I didn’t want to jump out of bed this morning.  Rudy gave me his best early wake up call, short of licking my face and he gave up on me.  That almost never happens.  I eventually got up and passed out breakfast.  I had my usual and then came down to start work early. 

I knew my workstations would require a restart because of Windows patches.  I got that out of the way instead of trying to tap dance around it, which I normally do and can get away with until around noon and then it just force restarts.  Well something went horribly wrong during the updates applying and my primary work machine is down.  Sounds like it’s going to have to be rebuilt.  I think if the techs would just be patient it would come back to life but they are all about in and out, they don’t want to spend a bunch of time on something.  Too many people with too many problems.  I get it, I used to do that job.  I am working with a workaround situation right now.  I am hopeful that they will get my primary machine back online soon and not have to rebuild it.  If they do have to rebuild it that means changing passwords and then I will have to spend forever and a day organizing the desktop icons.  I’ve got a million of them and it’s to help speed my work process along.  Some I use every damn day and others once and a blue moon.  I hate having to go through that and other machine personalization that are to my liking, which is why I want to avoid it.  Eventually through normal wear and tear, everything is replaced so you have to do it once and a blue moon but when that happens we are warned in advance so you have time to prepare, take screen shots, etc.  UGH this is like one of the worst things and I dread it.  Here’s hoping it turns its self around, even if it takes a few hours or a day. 

Last night I watched some dumb new Christmas movie on Netflix.  It’s got Jason Biggs in it, which was the draw.  It was cute but didn’t put me in the holiday spirit and didn’t really do anything but occupy sometime.  Mora was a little too possessive last night and swarmed me like crazy.  I had to push her away eventually.  I hate doing that but damn I need a little breathing room. 

My back was bothering me so I got out the foam roller.  Rudy was very curious what I was doing.  I got a couple minor pops but not the huge crunch I was looking for.  Back during the pandemic was one of the first times I got on the floor to try this and my back sounded like a bowl of Rice Krispy's, it hurt but felt good.  This morning I feel a little better.  The pain is in my mid-back right in the middle.  Feels more like a disc or bone pain.  Ah the joy of aging.  Hopefully it will sort it’s self out. 

Since the temperatures are going to drop throughout the day I opted to grab the trash barrel first thing.  It was nice and warm outside.  Sounds like the furnace is going to get some work as the day wears on. 

Not much else to report kind of a boring day, until something goes pop and I am hopeful that will be kept to a minimum if it happens at all.  Especially considering my bad luck with technology this morning.  Car and Computer problems, almost one in the same but I hate both equally.  I hope that your day is much better and that you have a great weekend! 

Matt Rife - Really Funny

  I’ve been following Matt Rife’s standup comedy work for a few years now.  I discovered him I believe during the pandemic.  He’s very nice to look at and in case your not familiar with him just take a look at the photos.  He’s totally straight but is gay friendly.  He got his 1st Netflix special that was released yesterday.  I watched it last night with great anticipation.  I am a tough customer to get to laugh despite loving standup comedy.  Matt made me laugh more than once and I loved it.  He’s funny and only 28 years old.  He’s got a sold out tour and he’s been on tour for what seems like forever.  He has a lot of material on You Tube so if you want more of him you can find it there as well as on social media.  I wish his special was 2 hours long because I had that much of a good time and that 1 hour just flew by like it was 30 minutes.  Best Wednesday night I have had in a very long time!  If you enjoy stand up comedy or just like to laugh, do yourself a favor and check out Matt’s work. 

 

In other news I had my store made Turkey dinner.  I used the re-heat function on my microwave which gets super angry if you open the door before it tells you that it’s done.  Normally that makes every thing super hot but damn there were parts of it that were cold and I even covered it with a container and didn’t vent it much so the hot air would stay inside.  It was an okay meal.  Nothing like what I would normally eat on Turkey Day but I knew that going into it.  The dressing wasn’t as horrible as I remembered from last year.  I was still stuffed the gills when I was done.  I waited a couple hours and then Mora reminded me that it was time for treats so I had a slice of Pumpkin Pie.  It’s not the greatest either but it will do for my Pumpkin fix.  I still want a Chocolate Pecan Pie from Cracker Barrel just not sure if I will get the whole pie or go back for just a slice. 

It’s been a busy morning already.  Started out perfectly calm and then out of no where the onslaught came in.  Things have calmed down and all of my normal work for the day is done.  I just have to keep an eye out for anything that happens to pop up.  One dumb meeting late this afternoon and then hopefully I will be done with meetings for the week.  There isn’t a meeting that I ever look forward to.  Had one yesterday afternoon, there was a slide deck but I just dialed in on the phone and no one knew differently.  I was there and 1/2 way paying attention but I was busy doing other things, which is normally the case.  I picked up that habit from an old colleague who multi-tasked all the damn time, she was good but made the occasional mistake as we all do from being human.  As long as my hands are free and I can work the keyboard and have 2 screens, I am all good.  If it’s something that I need to really know I focus solely on the meeting. 

Another unseasonably warm day here today but were supposed to cool off starting tomorrow.  Every damn night when I go to bed the house is 78 or above.  The humidity isn’t high so it’s not annoyingly bothersome like summertime but it does bother me slightly.  Last night I got all set for bed, turned the TV off and rolled over.  The cats started to fight so I had to get up and go protect Morea.  Rudy I think was wanting to sew some oats, even though he can’t really do that.  They have been fighting off and on for the last couple days for short time frames.  Everything calms down and they go back to being loving and adorable, then Rudy turns into a monster and attacks his sister out of no where.  If she is up for it then she will play along but if not then that is when a fight starts because she won’t take it from him.  She is bigger and could easily squish him.  I am more afraid of injuries, there vaccinations expire on Saturday and I really don’t want to go to the vet for any reason.  I’d like a break from that damn place for many years as I have poured enough money into that place that they should have a wing dedicated to me and my late spouse or at least our names on a plaque but that’s not the case.  I know were not the only people that fork out the money there but our limits are higher than most because our cats are like our kids. 

I am back to being bored again, got some back pain and today is trash day so I need to do some wrangling this afternoon and roll out the barrel.  Not like in the old time song, it’s not that type of barrel.  I heard that song growing up and don’t think I will ever forget it. 

Hoping that it’s a fulfilling and good day for all.  Take care. 

Midweek Man Candy

Done

Welcome back, hope all is well.  The Amazon person stopped by my place yesterday to drop off my naked men calendars and I’m pleased with two of them.  The third is from Carnal Media and it’s all in black and white, the size is decent but the B&W is part of the issue and the other is that Legrand Wolf the owner/founder is in many of the photos.  This is why I wish they would provide a preview of the months, you can censor the photo so there is no nudity but it’s nice to know the photos that I will be staring at in the months ahead.  In addition to my calendars I got Mexican Wedding Cookies which were slightly lack luster and didn’t have the rich butter flavor I was hoping for.  I’ve got 3 small bags of them and I will be munching on them for a while.  I also got my bottle of Benadryl and Air Filters. 

Loaded up the air machines yesterday with fresh filters and turned them both on.

Last night I finished Six Feet Under (the photo of the hearse above is from the show).  It was very well done and I enjoyed all of the show, shame I didn’t get into it while it was airing live years ago.  Here’s hoping that I find another series that I can dive into soon.  Now I am in limbo looking for something.  Still have 2 episodes of Upload from last week to watch so there is that.  I hate it when a series is released piece meal but that seems to be the new trend, at least on Amazon.  I hope none of the other platforms follow suit with this method as I like to binge watch, regardless if it’s healthy or not it keeps me occupied and that is what I am looking for. 

Work was a little more taxing this morning but I have managed to get things done and under control.  Our morning meeting got moved out a bit so I have a little bit of extra time on my hands, which I am going to spend upstairs as soon as I am done with this post.  Love seeing the cats.  They both were laying on my bed this morning before I came down to start my day and they both rolled over so I was giving belly rubs to both of them.  Rudy has softer fur that his sister.  Both loved it, but Rudy rarely gets them but Mora is used to them she asks for them all the time.  I don’t mind I can do belly rubs for a while.  I am sure they feel good and both of them seemed to enjoy them.  However, no one ever likes it when the rub is over.  I had to start work and neither cat was pleased about that. 

Spent sometime on money this morning.  That holiday bonus came in but its never deposited into the accounts that I want, so I had to move things around.  I’ve got my primary savings account up to an amount that I have wanted to reach for a while.  Now the hard part will be keeping that balance.  Hanging on to money seems to be a problem in that unplanned expenses have a way of showing up when I least expect it and stealing away the gains I have made.  I like knowing that I have a cushion to fall back on if I need it but for the most part I forget about it so it’s not top of mind. 

Speaking of money I managed to get my car wash fiasco worked out.  Not sure if I said anything earlier but I was charged for 2 washes by a robot car wash.  There is no one to complain to so I called the bank yesterday and they cheerfully refunded the extra charge with no questions.  No need to file a dispute looks like the bank just ate it.  I’m fine with that so long as I am not paying for something I didn’t get. 

As the days move forward I am still thinking of next week and Thanksgiving.  I really don’t want to be alone but at the same time I really don’t want to go with my friends.  I haven’t cancelled yet and won’t make that final call until the morning of.  I do plan on having that Turkey dinner I got from the grocery store tonight.  I already know I won’t care for the stuffing.  The thought of just dropping into a restaurant doesn’t appeal to me as most work on reservations and showing up without one can mean you are either turned away or having a long wait, neither of which I am a fan of.  I will be happier once Thanksgiving is over regardless of what choice I make.  Then there is Christmas which will be another issue, that for sure is a day I don’t want to be alone but I don’t always enjoy what is served. 

The dating app I am on has started showing me guys that I have already rejected and the only way to get rid of them is to report them for “no reason” and then they don’t show up again.  I still see straight guys and the occasional woman, which is baffling to me.  I don’t like any guys unless their profile for sure says they are gay, even if they look like it’s questionable I still only go for the ones who have it displayed on their profile.  No sense in barking up the wrong tree as that won’t work out well. 

One of my friends that has a local business has a birthday Saturday.  I’ve sent a card but want to go visit.  The last couple weekends have had some crazy things pop off at work and I was glad that I stayed home.  This weekend I am going to throw caution to the wind and venture out there.  I am only about a half hour away from home and hopefully things return to their normal state of quiet as I am used to on weekends. 

Hoping for an uneventful rest of the week and that it is swift moving so that we can fast forward to the weekend.  Now if I could just fast forward to the “better part of life” when I have a man that would be nice.  If that’s not going to happen I am on the fence if I want to fast forward, unless I actually get to go on a real vacation and have the time of my life.  I know we wish our lives away.  The future always has a way of sneaking up on us. 

Take care and have a great day!

Productive

Morning … Had a productive morning yesterday.  I finished my holiday letter and got it printed as well as the few envelopes.  I opted to write the lady at the shelter that I got the cats from.  I figured she would appreciate knowing how well they are doing.  I’m not mailing them out until next week.  When I sent Christmas cards I always mailed them out on Thanksgiving Day.  It was a tradition that I looked forward to even though it took a little bit of work.  I kind of miss it.  I transitioned years ago from cards to a holiday letter.  That way everyone I sent it to could for sure read it, my hand cramped up after writing so much.  Accomplishing that I moved on to something else and before I knew it, lunch time was here.  That was my first trip upstairs and the cats were circling the door wondering if I was ever coming back up. 

We got lunch.  I finished the pizza and we watched Last Week Tonight with John Oliver as well as The Circus.  After that I was just tired and needed to lay down.  Mora and Rudy were all comfy cozy napping in the sunshine.  I went to my bedroom and no one joined me.  I didn’t manage to fall asleep but I did get to close my eyes and kind of drift until of course my phone started in.  Eventually I got something that couldn’t wait and I had to come back, despite not wanting to. 

I worked through the afternoon until around 3p and that’s when I called it quits.  I went up and sat with the cats and watched more TV.  Supper time finally came around and I was anxious for that because I had Wendy’s chili.  Let me tell you it’s authentic but doesn’t taste nearly as good as fresh from the restaurant.  All chili beef tastes strange when you can it, I suppose it’s the preservatives.  There was a slight can taste to the whole thing but my first bite was as good as if it was fresh.  It heats up damn quick. 

Back to TV and relaxing, waiting to see if anything came in that I had to jump on from work.  I have 2 more episodes to go on Six Feet Under.  The last one I watched kind of shook me a bit and I had to take a break.  It’s an interesting show but mere weeks away from a major holiday was kind of the wrong time to watch this for me. 

I had my first slice of the pumpkin pie I got and it wasn’t that good.  I’ll finish the pie but kind of wish I would have picked up a Chocolate Pecan from Cracker Barrel instead, as long as I can resist sticking that in the fridge I am fine.  In the fridge it hardens like concrete and you can easily break a tooth.  This is the best time of year for a dentist, lots of repair work. 

I climbed in bed early and passed out.  Had to kick poor Rudy out of bed and he just got comfy but I was ready to go.  It was also unseasonably warm in the house last night in the 80’s and outside during the sunshine time we barely made it to 70.  I hate being super hot or super cold, at least with cold you can layer up to get warm. 

Today I am looking forward to seeing the Amazon person stop and drop off filters for my allergy machine and some Benadryl.  It’s been nose season here blowing and sneezing.  If I leave the house it all goes away like magic but when I come back it starts.  It will all settle down once mother nature makes up her mind on the weather and we finally plummet into the deep freeze. 

On the work front I have 2 meetings both of which I dread but it’s a typical Tuesday.  Wednesday will bring even more meetings.  I am eager to get through the week so that my on-call duties will end.  However, I only get a one week break and then I am back on again.  I must have lost my mind when I put the schedule together last year for this year.  I tip toe around trying to please people and as a result I am on-call more than I should be.  Next year that isn’t the case, at the moment unless someone protests it’s all even and smooth flowing.  We all get different holidays which is kind of what the boss wants.  I am just so glad that I am not on the front lines because those are the people who are chained to their houses and they get the calls all the time, matters not if it’s a holiday or night time.  I don’t miss that at all.

Here’s hoping that today can be just as awesome as yesterday was.  Hope it’s a great day for you as well.  Take care and be well. 

Food

Hello and welcome back.  Saturday I went out for pizza at the place known for cute young waiters, but none were working.  I did enjoy a pizza and changed up from my usual order.  I also got a different table.  Since I started going to this place on the regular I always seem to get sat at the same table.  A change was nice but I would have enjoyed it more if there was some eye candy.  I watched TV for the bulk of the day.  On the way back from Pizza I hit up the post office and grabbed some cat food. 

We had a fiasco that I got hauled out of bed for on Saturday morning.  I got it resolved but it took a bunch of phone calls and I was not a happy person.  This was all because of my screw up for a co-worker, if he would have just done his job right the first time this could have all been avoided.  I hate being interrupted on the weekend, much more when I am not the person on-call. 

Sunday I slept in, had breakfast at home but kept thinking about Cracker Barrel.  I wound up heading out to the grocery store.  Managed to find Linzer cookies, which are one of my new favorites on sale so I picked some up.  Also found a frozen pumpkin pie which I grabbed.  Best of all I found Wendy’s canned chili.  Then Hagen Das pints were on sale so I grabbed a Pineapple Coconut and a Churro.  I felt like a kid in a candy store.  I also picked up a pre-prepared Thanksgiving plate dinner, which I will consume this week.  I spent way more than I wanted to but at least I got some decent items and it was just the same old boring shopping trip. 

Came home and took the cats to the basement where I was finishing up some laundry and catching up on expenses and putting some final touches on a holiday letter.  After that took my laundry up and the cats stayed in the basement.  I used that to my advantage and got my vacuuming done.  Then wrangled the cats upstairs and put out my medicine. 

Opted to go out for a car wash, automated robot charged me twice and I tried to go through a second time but it was out of service.  I think the robot knows it messed up.  I am watching and waiting to see how this works out on my credit card.  Then off to Cracker Barrel.  Going in the late afternoon I figured that the cute waiter wouldn’t be working.  Damn was I wrong.  I didn’t see him and mid-meal he emerged from the kitchen.  I think he saw me but never said anything.  Funny thing happened when I went to pay.  My meal didn’t exist in their system.  They searched to try to find it but looks like it was paid for by someone else.  Might have been the cute waiter but I’ve got no idea.  I thought about calling or texting him and then I figured leave it alone.  I buy enough random strangers meals this was the universe giving back.  I suppose I will never know.  I did do some checking and in a couple days it will mark 1 year since that cute waiter gave me his phone number but yet no call.  He’s got my number because I sent him a text and that’s how he knows my name.  I kind of wish I never would have gone down that road but you take a chance and hope for the best, otherwise there is no hope for things changing. 

After that little ordeal I went to fill up on gas and the pump stopped on $30 even.  Perhaps that is a good sign but I came home and took care of the cats and watched TV for the rest of the night. 

I am almost done with Six Feet Under, it’s been my obsession and all that I have watched for days.  I expect I will be done with the series this week.  I am mid-way in the 5th and final season.  It’s been very interesting and I look forward to the rest of the story as it unfolds. 

Back to work today, on-call as well.  Curses.  It’s been a little bit busy this morning.  I am eager to go back upstairs to be with Mora & Rudy.  They got into a fight with each other yesterday afternoon, which I haven’t seen since they moved in.  Everything is patched up and back to being roses or so it seems.  I just really enjoy spending time with them and feeling the love they give.  It’s lonely here and they are my most dependable and best friends, but that’s only because I have them trapped here with me.  Here’s hoping it will be a swift and quiet moving week.  Maybe I will find love soon, still holding out hope but it’s only a slight glimmer. 

Hope you had a nice weekend and got to eat some good food.  Talk with you all again soon.  Be well and stay safe!

Paid to watch tv

Morning … Yesterday there wasn’t anything going on so I retreated upstairs to continue to watch Six Feet Under.  I had a couple of interruptions from work and I jumped on those quickly.  However, by in large for the bulk of the day I was paid to watch TV and didn’t do anything work related, other than occasionally checking my phone to make sure I didn’t miss something.  I am going to try to repeat that today since there isn’t much going on.  I will have something to take care of at some point today but probably not until the late afternoon.  No meetings or scheduled plans/events on my calendar for today other than lunch. 

The Thanksgiving Drama continues in that I got a text message yesterday and was told that the food order was being placed.  I was asked if I wanted extra stuff to take home and I quickly replied with a no.  Unless for some reason my mind changes I plan to inform my friends on the day of in the morning that I won’t be coming.  It’s a shame because I know the food will be superb since it is coming from a restaurant.  I’ve got my Catholic guilt nagging at me so there is a small chance I might give in and go.  Honestly I don’t want to be alone on a holiday but at the same time I don’t want to be trapped at a strangers house.  This is all church politics for my friends and I really hate that I am caught up in it.  Their new Pastor came to town a couple years ago and he was put in charge of showing him around and ever since then my friend has taken it upon himself to become friends.  I dunno maybe it’s genuine but it all seems fake to me. 

I logged on to check the balance on my car loan to see about it showing all zeros and damn if there isn’t a 25 cent balance.  I called this morning and they are going to back date the payment to wipe out the balance and the title should be here in about 10 days.  I’ll be double checking the website but it only updates once per day so sometime between tomorrow and Monday.  The outcome is what I hoped for, I just hope the person I spoke with follows through.  I’ve been a good customer.  Never skipped a payment, never late on a payment.  They made plenty of money off of me.  I look forward to tucking payments that I would normally make towards the loan into my savings and watching it grow.  That is something to be thankful for. 

Rudy scared me last night he woke up from a sound sleep and started this coughing fit.  Then he acted like he was trying to hock up a hair ball but nothing would come out.  I am sure it was quite uncomfortable for him but after a few minutes he got it all worked out.  I just kept thinking please don’t die on me.  For some unknown reason he has been giving me really good photo poses/moments to capture and I kept thinking I wonder if he’s going to croak soon.  Gator gave me a lot of good photo moments and I didn’t waste a single opportunity to take as many pictures of her as I could because I knew from experience that I would be left with photos and videos someday.  I think about last year at this time and everything was fine and I had no clue we were nearing the end.  My feelings now are based off of last year and I am on guard despite both Rudy & Mora being absolutely young and healthy. 

I woke up from a nightmare disaster where I was doing a bunch of walking.  I hade to use the restroom and my back was absolutely killing me.  I think I was actually walking in my sleep even though I was in bed.  When I climbed back in bed Mora snuggled up with me and helped me get back to sleep.  She loves a good snuggle and belly rub.  We are truly as close as I think we could be, which is hundreds of miles from where we were when she arrived here.  Rudy warmed up to me right away but Mora took her sweet time.  Now that everything is just perfect for them but I do wonder if they are thinking about when the good time ends, expecting me to part ways with them since that is what ever other owner they have had in the past did.  I think if I did that it would for sure that would crush them.  I’ve got no plans to part ways with them but they do get on my nerves from time to time. 

We made it to another Friday.  I had a great plan for the weekend earlier in the week but now I don’t know if I will follow through with it or if I will just sleep in.  It kind of depends on how I feel and how much sleep I get.  I can tell you that eating out is for sure on the list.  I have to go back to the damn cat food store because some lady was in my way last week, checking ingredients on each damn can and then looking them all up on her phone and talking to herself.  Is this a carb, oh what’s that are a couple of things she muttered.  I wanted to look at her and say get out of the way but I just took what little I had and left.  The toy penguin with the treats was a hit but Mora will tap that thing until it doesn’t spill anymore treats.  It doesn’t hold much and I have to keep filling it or it just sits on the floor.  I’ve neglected it and just kept up with regular treat time.  I do get a sense that both cats are bored and I am looking for some puzzle toys and other toys to help keep them occupied if they want to be. 

Hope that you have a great Friday and a super weekend.  I am headed backup to watch TV and hope that my phone stays quiet.  I would like peace and quiet especially since I will be on-call next week.  Take care and be well. 

Another HOT evening

Hi there!  Another hot day yesterday meant another hot night here.  The house was 81.  I opened the windows in the kitchen and living room, brought out an exhaust fan to help really circulate the air, thinking that would provide massive cooling.  Silly me, it helped to make it comfortable but it was mostly annoying noise.  It was nice when the sun went down and just as I was going to bed is when I started to feel the really cool breezes blowing in.  It felt so good I threw caution to the wind and opened my bedroom window.  I kept it like that for about 45 minutes and then I felt my sleeping medicine kick in so I opted to start closing up shop. 

The cats go wild when the windows are open.  Rudy climbed up on the kitchen sink to look out the window in the kitchen and his sister told on him, if it wasn’t for her I wouldn’t have known.  He also managed to jump up on the window sill in my room.  He’s just the right size and skinny enough that it works for him.  Mora wanted to join him but she is way too thick, I am glad that she realized her limitations and didn’t try it but she acted like she wanted to. 

I found a new TV obsession, the old HBO Series Six Feet Under.  I remember I watched the first episode when it premiered and I’d tune in now and then for bits and pieces but it’s quite interesting.  Netflix has the series up and I am watching it.  Didn’t know there was a gay character.  If you can stomach a little gore it’s not a bad show.  It’s a family who runs a funeral home out of their house.  Business is on the main level and the prep room is in the basement.  The second story is where they live.  Looks like this was on for quite sometime so I should be set for something to watch for a while. 

Had a little bit of drama in the neighborhood last night.  I heard this noise and then saw this car round the corner.  It was dragging something and sparks were flying.  It was going full normal speed.  About 15 minutes later here comes an ambulance and a couple police officers.  I had to investigate and found out that it was a drunk guy who fell and had a bloody nose.  I’m betting it was the same guy because the police were checking for property damage complaints from other local agencies involving the car but they found nothing.  I figured the guy was going to jail but nope.  It was all quiet for the remainder of the evening.  There for sure has been an uptick in the last couple months with ambulances and police activity but it’s still a reasonably quiet and safe neighborhood. 

Got a co-worker out this morning but he will be back this afternoon.  I am covering for him in case anything comes in.  Not sure if the dummy is back or not.  The boss is only working a 1/2 day today and will be out for the rest of the week.  I was horrified to find that I am on-call next week but I remember doing that because of Thanksgiving in order to distribute the holiday. 

Speaking of Turkey Day, I did some digging about where my friends Pastor lives.  It’s an average neighborhood but it’s in a older part of the town and they only offer street parking.  I can’t parallel park to save my life, I can take a stab at it but it’s never going to be perfect.  That’s yet another strike in the no column.  I am still mulling it over but I do not think I am going this year.  I hate that because I look forward all year to the Sausage Stuffing.  I could make a reservation for myself at the restaurant but they serve everything family style and it’s enough for 4 to 6 people.  I’d be lugging home a hell of a lot of food and I don’t want to do that.  I wouldn’t mind a plate and then a little bit of left overs.  I’ll be keeping an eye out at the grocery store and provided I do opt out I might consider hitting up Cracker Barrel.  I’ve not had their Turkey Dinner in a very long time.  I know the hot cute waiter works there that it’s been about a year since we interacted and he hasn’t called me yet, he’s not going to and as much as it hurts I have to write him off.  I want to chase him but honestly I think he let his mouth overload his ass and he expressed interest but didn’t really mean to.  One thing I want is some Pumpkin Pie, I haven’t had any for a long time so I might either hit up Cracker Barrel because they are selling whole pies this time of year and they also have another fav which is Chocolate Pecan.  That is murder on my teeth but tastes so good in my mouth.  I am thinking of visiting one morning this weekend for breakfast. 

Speaking of the cute waiter.  I am back on a dating app.  I saw something about Tinder launching a new pricing program and jumped on their platform but didn’t see any new pricing and of course someone liked me before I had a chance to cancel.  You can’t see who it is unless you pay and I hate that.  I am back to a free app that shows you who likes you and permits you to interact if you want.  I’ve seen the same two guys pop up multiple times after I rejected them.  I took it as a glitch in the app but maybe it was the universe sending me a sign.  I’ve blocked both of them so I don’t have to worry now about either popping up again.  I don’t have any hopes that this is going to yield me any positive results but I am trying.  It beats standing still.  I am sure that eventually I will give it up but for the moment I am out there.  I really don’t like this time of year because people travel for the holidays and I don’t want to find someone now only to learn they are going back home.  Long distance isn’t what I am looking for.  I want someone close by that I can hang out with, go places and do things.  Still think that I am destine to be alone, except for the two cats.  I hope that I am wrong and manage to land a hottie long before my expiration date. 

Hope it’s a great Thursday for you.  One more day left and the weekend is here.  Talk with you all again soon.  Thanks for dropping by.

Happy Hump Day

It’s done … paid off early

Morning … I took the plunge and paid off my car loan early this morning.  It’s been my plan to do this for a couple months but I kept letting it linger.  I saw a surplus of cash in my bank account and figured why not get it over with.  I think it will be a few weeks before I have the title and I’m eager to have that in hand.  I don’t think this will cause me to do anything rash like trade it in but I know that I will be tempted. 

Last night I got the dreaded text message from my Thanksgiving friends.  Their clergy wants to host dinner this year.  My friends are getting the food from the usual place.  I jumped and said that I was on board but several hours went by before I got a response and that caused me to re-think things.  I’m not married to the idea of going through with this and am thinking of canceling the day of early in the morning.  I just don’t feel as welcome as I have been in the past and think that this is a perfunctory invite just because we have always done Thanksgiving together since they promised it would be “our tradition” since my spouse passed.  We are the ones who turned them on to the restaurant the food is coming from and it was just us and them, 4 people.  Over the years this has contracted and expanded multiple times.  I’ve got no idea if there will be other people lying in wait so this turns out to be one big deal or if it will just be the usual crew.  What’s worse is that my friends want me to ride with them and that means I would be trapped.  If I do go through with this then I will follow them so that I am free to leave at anytime and for any reason.  Besides that their vehicle leaks exhaust into the cabin and sitting in the back you can smell it and it makes me ill.  That combined with their age, neither one of them drives great.  I don’t want to be in a Turkey Day Wreck.  I will stew over this until the big day is here.  I’ve wanted to back out in years past but forced myself and turns out I had a great time.  So it will depend on how strong my feelings are but my gut is telling me don’t go. 

It was wonderful to come home and see Mora & Rudy waiting for me at the door last night.  I got them their food and got settled.  Then finally got to relax on the couch.  I was surprised that all day long I never, ever felt tired.  Well that feeling started to slowly creep up on me after I finished supper, which was left over pizza.  As time went on by 8p I was toast and opted to throw in the towel.  I was in bed by 9p, I had to struggle to stay awake.  As it was I went to bed an hour early and I was up more than a few times throughout the night.  That left me feeling not well rested and this morning I tried to sleep in since nothing usually starts brewing until around 8:30a and that’s my actual official start time but I haven’t started that late in the day for several years now.  I’m all about being early and leaving early – get in and get it done so you can move on.  Well, my phone started blowing up, which is only natural, since the damn thing has eyes and a microphone.  I answered an email and tried to go back to sleep but that was futile.  Just got up and started to move.  Now I am fully awake and there isn’t a damn thing going on.  I’ve knocked out my morning tasks already. 

My disk finally finished the analyzation part with 251 bad sectors.  The program fixed all of them and it didn’t cost me a penny.  I’ve rebooted and thus far I don’t hear all of the noises I used to hear.  The backup software is quiet and I think this issue is behind me.  What I don’t know is if I suffered any data loss/corruption on the disk.  I presume so but I’ve got my cloud backup to fall back to.  If/when I get a replacement drive I will pay to have another USB drive sent with all of my files on it from the cloud backup vendor I use.  You can copy the data off and then send the drive back so it’s a no cost option but they do charge you upfront. 

My next order of business is calendars for 2024.  I’ve got 3 all male nudes picked out and in my Amazon cart.  What I don’t like is they don’t give you the option to preview so you have to order it and hope that you like it. All of these calendars are from major gay porn studios so I’m usually reasonably satisfied.  I need a wall calendar for work.  Normally I get a railroad calendar but there was a snafu last year.  This year it doesn’t look like they are selling them, at least not yet.  I have National Parks right now.  I want to switch it up and get something different for next year but just not sure what.  I for sure don’t want a cat calendar.  It’s got to be something professional because you never know who will see it.  I’ve received some compliments in years past about the railroad calendar.  Who knows what I will wind up with this year. 

Speaking of 2024 it’s almost time to pull the plug on the lawn people.  It’s a race to see if they will do it first or if I will get anxious.  Last year I pulled the plug a bit early and my lawn grew a bit.  I actually had green grass that for some reason never seemed to turn brown since it was slightly long, despite winter.  Thus far I have patches that are dying.  I am eager for them to stop so that I don’t have to pay their bill and can save the money I would normally spend.  It’s not a bunch but I like to collect the maximum amount possible and get every cent of interest out of the bank that I can.

Today is supposed to be our last day of Summer it’s going to be 81 and then were back into Fall weather for the foreseeable future, perhaps Mother Nature will finally make up her mind about the weather.  Last night I had the living room window open and opened one small window in the kitchen.  The cats loved it and were on high alert as long as the windows were open.  It’s was like they couldn’t settle down.  I’ll probably do the same thing because around 7:30p I could sense the humidity lifting and felt a sense of coolness.  There was no breeze but it was nice.  I didn’t like the stuffed up nose I woke up with from my allergies but at the moment and for the last couple days I haven’t been sneezing my head off and thinking I was about to die.  That’s a welcome relief. 

I hope all is well in your world.  Thanks for stopping by.  Don’t be afraid to drop a comment, I don’t bite that is unless you want me to!  Take care.