Friday Eve

It felt like a heat wave here yesterday the first day above freezing and I think we locked in at 43 degrees.  It was nice not to hear the furnace running and to sit in the sunshine with the cats.  I also tested the garage door to make sure that it was the bitter cold that kept the damn thing from opening and that there wasn’t a larger issue.  It opened and closed just fine first try with no issues.

The snow or dusting we had has pretty much melted away.  We are ready for the next round.  Today is the last warm day and then it’s back to the freezer.  I don’t think we will get any snow at least that is what I recall from the brief listen I did to the forecast. 

Rudy slept by my side all night long and then at 5am he climbed up on top of me.  I felt him making some biscuits for a minute and then he settled in.  I was half asleep and my bladder was nagging at me but I stayed in bed until 10 minutes before wake up time at 7a.  That made Mr. Rudy quite happy.  He made biscuits and gave me a kiss.  I really love him for his affection.  He’s the salesman of the group and really the one who roped me in. 

Mora jumped up on the bed just to let me know she was nearby.  I said good morning to her and gave her some attention.  Then on to the bathroom before my bladder gave way.  Rudy always follows me in and stands up on the counter to get in some extra attention.  After that we made our way to the kitchen for breakfast. 

Both cat were hungry and took their turns eating.  I topped off the dry food and then got working on my breakfast.  I was greeted with a surprise when I turned the TV on.  Apparently there was an outage over the past weekend with the TV that I was unaware of and I’ve got a free movie credit, need to rent something that is $6 or less and AT&T will pick up the cost.  I don’t think I will be taking them up on that but I may peek just to see what is offered. 

I got some Jose Ole, Beef & Cheese Mini Tacos from the store.  The directions said to place 5 of them on a plate and microwave for 1 minute.  I bit in to one of them and damn it was scalding hot.  I had Ranch Dip on top of them but that did little to cool things down.  That was supper on Tuesday night.  I did the same thing for lunch but lessened the time in the microwave.  Given a little bit of time to cool off I enjoyed them much more yesterday.  Finished up the spaghetti from the store last night.  Followed up with some Cheese Cake.  I’ve got Lasagna for either tonight or tomorrow and then will need to pull from the freezer.  I got some more stuffed peppers from Stouffers so I could have one of those.  I won’t go hungry that is for sure. 

Peeked out on the deck this morning since I haven’t opened the blinds for a couple days.  I saw paw prints.  It’s for sure a cat but I never saw the fuzzy thing.  Hope that it’s okay.  Not exactly sure how they survive outdoors when it’s bitter cold.  We sheltered a stray years ago but he had a lot of fur and you could tell when he came in that he was freezing.  He’d warm up, eat some food and sit around for a bit.  Then after he was warm he wanted back out.  He was a short thing and you could see him trudge through the snow, he moved very slow regardless of the weather.  He was young but was a scrapper and I also think that was just his personality.  Eventually he came to live with us and brought a friend who was abused.  It was the cutest thing ever.  They were both males and they fought like a married couple but slept arm in arm every night. 

Well work is picking up a little bit.  Travel is the name of the game everyone wants to fly to some place nice.  One of my colleagues just left for a cruise.  I’ve been following shows about cruises and sailing, looks to be quite fun from what I can tell. 

Stay warm, thanks for dropping by.  Talk with you all again soon.

At the movies

Happy Saturday.  My insomnia kicked in early this morning and the first time I was able to get back to sleep, but the second time (a couple hours later) I wasn’t and watched some TV.  Today was a free day for me so I chose to be lazy, eat a junk food breakfast, watch tv and go back to bed for a while.  I woke up with plenty of time to spare.  Got a shower, dressed and made the matinee of Iron Claw. 

Much to my surprise the theater was packed.  A small family walked in and their son, man he set off alarm bells for me.  Tall and he was wearing grey sweats which did a great job of showing off his ass.  I am a poor judge of age but for sure he was in High School.  The scenarios that went through my mind.  Oddly enough we were there to see the same film.  He sat a couple rows below me. 

The movie over all was great, I think it was well made.  However, there were multiple suicides and they made it look like everyone was reunited that had passed.  I could hear a few people sobbing.  I felt bad and due to the suicides I kind of wished that I hadn’t seen it.  Zac Efron did a good job but there was way too much muscle there for me to enjoy any of the shirtless scenes.  I like a little muscle but looking close or even like The Incredible Hulk is a huge turn off. 

After the movie I passed by Sam’s and it was packed so I kept on going to the post office.  Grabbed the mail and came back home.  I really hadn’t eaten anything all day and was eager to go for pizza.  I wanted a little bit more time to pass to be sure that if the cute guys were working they would for sure be there. 

When I arrived at the pizza place I had this genius idea like Wyle E. Coyote.  The plan was to order a small pizza for there and then a large to go.  Only my dumb ass thought that their small was too small so I went to a medium.  Now I have an entire large plus half of a medium to eat.  I like pizza but everything gets old if you have too much or have it too often.  I’m sure I will never try that again, if I do I will go with the small.  Thing is that I figured I would devour what was in front of me due to the fact I had eaten so little but my appetite is all over the place with this new drug.  Even when I want to eat and try sometimes I change my mind.  Never was like that before but if it keeps the weight off I am okay so long as my sugar doesn’t bottom out and that hasn’t happened in months now. 

The cute guys I like were all working and I got to inspect the goods.  Really good looking cakes.  Shame I couldn’t take a few photos.  I’ve got a major crush on one guy and again I’m a poor judge of age.  I think he’s legal but I don’t want to ask not only to be turned down because he’s straight but also because he’s not legal.  It’s one of those situations where it’s better to remain silent.  It’s a huge struggle for me because I am a talker. 

I drove through the subdivision to peek at the holiday lights.  Lots of creativity.  Some houses were subtle and light and others made it obvious.  I like looking at the lights but never seem to manage to get out in time.  There are lots of homes around that go all out.  Me and my late spouse used to make the rounds but ever since he passed it’s not something I do by myself. 

My friends reached out about their open house on New Years Day and wanted to know if I was coming.  I said yes.  I missed them at Christmas but really don’t want to hear the same stories over again, get aggravated by their neighbor who loves to poke fun at me but doesn’t quite know his limits.  I want to fuck him up sometimes because he really crosses the line and once he knows he’s made me angry he just doesn’t let up.  There will be a way different crowd that stops by for the Open House.  They are starting kind of late I think at 11am and it usually goes until 2 or 3 in the afternoon.  Then they kick everyone out and start the clean up process.  So at least I kind of have something to look forward to. 

What really sucks is that Tuesday it’s back to work.  My childhood friends mom that passed away has a funeral mass on Friday.  I really want to go but it’s quite the haul for me and then the reception is even further out.  I for sure would need the entire day off.  I think I would probably feel out of place if I go but if I don’t I will feel that catholic guilt.  Kind of damned if I do and damned if I don’t. 

Tomorrow is my big work day that I look forward to but also dread at the same time.  I’ve informed Rudy that I need to get up early so hopefully he doesn’t fall down on the job.  I don’t set an alarm clock on the weekends.  My plan is to go out for breakfast and enjoy.  Then hit up Target, the grocery store and gas station.  Come home and I am done with running for the day, unless I change my mind later and want to go out if for some reason I don’t feel like eating left over pizza.  Then rest for a bit, work on laundry and cleaning the house.  I’ve got reminders set for when I need to jump into action in mid-morning then I get a break and the real work is all done at 5p.  It should take me maybe an hour or hour and a half.  Then I am done with work for this year. 

Finally, what would a post here be without a complaint.  I went to make changes to my U-verse line up and of course that ability has been taken away from being able to be done on-line.  Your referred to use your TV remote to upgrade.  Yeah I don’t want to upgrade I want to downgrade, don’t ya know you can’t do that through the TV.  I saw something else that referred me to make changes through the app, that doesn’t work either.  On line there is a button that says make changes but when you click it your redirected to a help screen.  I’ve tried to make changes on-line using three different computers and all three got the same results.  I used to be able to make changes on-line but I suppose they figure that if people really want to downgrade they will call.  I don’t have the greatest luck in talking to people when it comes to making service changes they always seem to mess something up.  For now things are staying as is.  I was just looking to try to save a little bit.  If Showtime wouldn’t have taken away their stand alone app and incorporated it with Paramount Plus then I’d be okay but now that I can’t use an app to get to Showtime I really don’t need it.  Of course The Circus will be back on in a few months and I will want to see it so that’s why I figure it’s better to leave well enough alone.  It just made me made that I have less control over something I am paying no small sum for and expect better access.  I have thought of dropping U-verse but no matter what you change to it will wind up the same.  You start out with a promo rate and then after a year prices continue to increase.  Kind of like buying a new car now and then getting the surprise that you have to start making payments come June.  Kind of silly that we’ve all been suckered into paying for TV.  When I was a kid before cable, it was free but you didn’t have a way to fast forward through commercials and you had to watch live.  Hell for the longest time everything was black and white.  Then one day we got a color TV and that was eye opening.

Well I think I am putting a fork in this post.  Hope that it was a great day for you and that tomorrow is even better.  Be safe and take care. 

Wash, Rinse–Repeat

It’s been a moderately busy week from a work perspective. The guy who trained me when I first started in my initial role with my employer is leaving. He’s been screwed over a couple times and I am honestly surprised that he has stayed this long. However, in his role it’s uncommon for a person to be with an employer for as long as he has. I am disappointed in him leaving but it’s not the end of the world. I have thought about leaving more so during the pandemic than any other time. My boss and his vocabulary are grating on my last nerve, not to mention all of the patronization and buttering up he does. While I know he appreciates me – it rings hollow because he says it so much, like every time we talk for any reason. Plus, I am tired of the weather conversation. Be resourceful and look it up on Google, that’s what I do when I want to know the weather in a different part of the country. On the bright side, I did get to work a couple times with a guy that I have a crush on. He’s straight but hey a guy can dream!

I was also contacted by AT&T and am waiting to see what kind of a promotion they can offer me; from the way it sounds they will continue what I am getting which is $70 off per month for 12 mos. – that’s phone and TV. Of course, I just learned they are selling off the majority share in their TV division to include U-Verse, Direct TV and AT&T TV. I don’t really want to go back to Cable but I know it would lower my Internet cost by $10. Once I get AT&T squared away, I plan to reach out to the Cable company about my internet pricing. If you don’t ask for a promotion, of course you’ll never get one. I look at it like this, I am already at no so what do I have to lose by asking – nothing! I really think that my employer should cough up some money to help pay for my internet connection, especially during the pandemic. There is nothing wrong with NOT paying full price.

It’s been a rough week for Ms. Gator. Poor thing had diarrhea really bad for a day. She never stopped eating but did slow up a bit on drinking and got in her usual sleep. She spent a fair number of hours away from me, she just wanted to be alone. I get it we all get that way sometimes. However, it scares me because cats do self-isolate when they are preparing for death. Plus, she keeps going to my bathroom, which is also something a lot of my cats have done as they were on the decline. You can’t tell by looking at her but I know she is an old lady and every little thing out of the ordinary concerns me. She is back to normal at the moment and just getting on my nerves with her incessant meowing. We did spend a good number of hours together this morning both in and out of bed. She also crawled under the covers when I got out of bed. She loves to do that to get warm and hide. I took a shower and all bets were off, she was in the bathroom screaming at me.

The weather is turning nice here and that only means that spring and summer are on the way. Back to paying to have the grass cut, cleaning the damn gutters, painting the trim on the garage and all of that jazz. I also need to call a tree trimmer but I have managed to stack away some money and am not terribly anxious to part with it. I am proud of my efforts and also the small amount of interest that I am earning that helps fuel the savings fire.

I went out today and had a nice meal. Steak Tips, baked potato (with butter & sour cream), salad (with honey mustard) and a cup of vegetable soup. Washed it all down with a nice Diet Dr. Pepper. It wasn’t a cheap meal but something that I have been wanting for a few weeks now. I am not a fan of steak, but these were very good. I do love the tube steak though!

I am beyond frustrated with what to watch on TV. I found a series on Netflix called Buried by the Barnard’s. It’s about a family who runs a funeral home in Memphis TN. It’s very entertaining. They do talk about death but looking past that just the drama & comedy the family generated is what roped me in. It’s not like a funeral home I am used to here – all first class, charging outrageous prices. They are ‘country-ass’ folks but there isn’t anything wrong with that. They also have an outstanding burial package and are the first in their area to have a drive-in viewing, which is especially useful during this pandemic. I binged watched the series started on Friday and finished up Saturday morning. I am ½ way through the movie 50/50 on Hulu. I’ve seen it before but it’s been a while. It’s about a young guy who is played by Joseph Gordon Levitt who has this chronic back ache and goes to the doctor to learn he has cancer. Seth Rogan is in it as well but I am not really a fan of his work. Anyway, the survival chances are 50/50, hence the name of the movie. If you need to shake up your world and get a dose of reality, this movie will do it and provide a laugh or two along the way.

Here's the pity party for one, otherwise known as me and my mental health. Honestly, I am not doing so well in this area. I have a strong desire to write my own obituary and an even stronger desire to check out. However, as has long been the case my cat is what is keeping me from doing anything drastic. I am tired of being alone, I realize that if I check out, it’s a permanent solution to a temporary problem. The problem doesn’t seem to be temporary to me, it’s been 8 long years, add to that the pandemic and viola serious depression. Of course, there is also the weight gain from being at home and mostly sedentary. I lose some weight then have a week (like this past week) where I want cake and wind up packing the pounds back on. I am more than overdue for some serious joy and a vacation. I won’t leave Gator for anything but when she checks out, I will either be planning a nice get away – perhaps a gay cruise or it will push me over the edge and I too will check out. Sure, I may be feeling sorry for myself but it just seems like I really don’t matter to anyone and part of that is from the serious lack of friends that I have. I suppose socialization and making some new friends may help turn things around. That is kind of off the table until the pandemic is over.

Last night (Saturday) I watched a movie called Movie 43. It was funny and a parody movie that had multiple scenes. There were a couple of good laughs mixed in there. Saw this via Starz. If your looking for a laugh might want to check this out.

I struggled falling asleep and was up until a little after 1a. That of course upset the Gator and she told me more than once it was time for bed. Thankfully she slept for a good portion of the time I was up but as we got closer to 1a she woke and was not happy to find me still awake. Just like her mother, she was bossing me around. I gave in and she came to join me in bed but only for a little bit, not even long enough for me to fall asleep. To add insult to injury she woke me at 3a to let me know she was hungry. I fed her and went back to bed.

Oddly enough my Alexa woke me up this morning because the white noise I use was cutting out. Then Gator started chirping and there was no sense in trying to sleep even though it was only 7a. I struggled with it but finally got up at 7:30a. I fed the Gator and played on my phone for a bit. I decided last night that I would hit up Denny’s for breakfast. It would be a change from Cracker Barrel. There aren’t a lot of choices for sit down places for breakfast here. Fast food breakfast, choices are limitless but I’m not a huge fan of the FF breakfast.

Denny’s was crowded but they made room for me. I got a drink right away but it took forever to get my order and I was almost at the point of leaving. I got the Cinnamon Pancake Breakfast. The eggs didn’t have cheese in them. The salt was really noticeable in the sausage and hash browns. The pancakes were good but didn’t exactly look like the photo and I didn’t get cream cheese icing to put on the pancakes they came with maple syrup, which I am allergic to so I just ate them as they were served with Whip Cream. Not what I would call an ideal breakfast. Service was crappy because they were running on next to nothing for people and customers were everywhere. I’ve never had this happen, but I went to pay the bill and a waitress stopped up to open up the register long enough to get me to the point where I swiped my card. She took off and I had to wait for the receipt to print and I had to tear it off of the printer myself because she was busy cleaning tables. Fuck this, I won’t be going back no matter how boring Cracker Barrel is, there service is way better, not to mention so is the food!

My stomach on edge I managed to make it through the grocery store. I really wasn’t much in the mood to buy anything but I bumbled my way through the store and managed to get enough to eat for the week without breaking the bank at the same time. I some how managed to get around this lady who took a bath in perfume and you could smell her 1 isle over, we crossed paths several times. It was nice smelling at first but eventually I was overwhelmed. I thought my saving grace was getting to see the cute bagger boy, but when I jumped in line, I realized it was someone who looked similar but wasn’t him. Shucks!

Made it back home, put away the groceries. Fed the Gator again. We sat on the couch until she got bored with me and went off to my room. She saw me come downstairs and now she is crying her eyes out because she is lonely and wants me to come back upstairs. Sorry but that won’t work right now. I need an escape from upstairs and her as well, I spend the bulk of my time up there and down here is my sanctuary. Plus, I am finishing up laundry.

There is a whole host of things that I would like to accomplish today but reality is that I will put them off as I have been. I will likely work in a nap and then clean the house and call it a day. Store made Lasagna is for dinner. I got the largest and most expensive piece. Then I will have to decide on desert. It will either be Spumoni or Lemon Cake. There’s a technology podcast I watch on Sunday’s and then we move into The Circus and Shameless. Followed by Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. An overall good night for TV but the rest of the week is a struggle. There is a movie that I believe releases next week on Apple TV called Cherry with Tom Holland and I am really looking forward to seeing that.

I’ve got a report to work on for work today and a different report that I will work on tomorrow. I just hate reports, especially the ones with charts and graphs. They look pretty but they are a bitch for me. I know enough in Excel to be dangerous and have messed things up a time or two, but you learn from your mistakes. Outside of that I am hoping for a quiet week but not necessarily a terribly boring week. I like to get in my lunch naps with Gator. It’s about 15 to 30 minutes and we both just collapse in bed side by side. Whoever wakes up first wakes up the other one and then we grab lunch. There is just something special about our routines that I enjoy. Were both going to be lost if we make it to the point where the world goes back to normal and I am required to show up in person at the office each day. For now, I just savor and enjoy the good parts.

A day of rest to be super depressed, nap, eat and recharge. Then I am good for a few days before the walls start to close in on me again. It’s a vicious cycle and it feels like each week I come a little closer to imploding or exploding.

Thanks for reading my blather such as it is. If anything, you may have gotten some decent recommendations for movies or TV, so it’s not a total loss! I hope that your warm, well and safe. Chime in if you desire and let me know how things are going in your neck of the woods. Talk with you peeps again soon!

Electronic Hell

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Other Shoe, I think

Yesterday was a trying day and as much as I wanted to post I needed a break. After my post on Monday in the evening I soon found out what I believe the other shoe was to drop, at least I hope this was it.

I was relaxing on the couch with the cats, watching Last Week Tonight. I rewound it to the part that sounded familiar before I fell asleep on Sunday night. John Oliver doesn’t put me to sleep but the medicine I took did its job and I was out like a light. Anyway, the recording is playing along and then just abruptly stopped. I knew full well that I had the entire show and this was strange. Then I got a message on screen that there was no picture detected. The DVR reset and I was left with 3 dots on the screen. I had to reset the box a couple times to get it to appear to come back to life. When it was supposed to boot, I instead was greeted with an error message of a red X and a number. I rebooted again and got the same results but a different number.

I did some research on the error message and found that you need to do a ‘disaster recovery’ to be able to recover. It’s a hard reset that wipes the drive clean and sets everything back to out of the box defaults. I did that with no luck. I tried it a total of 3 times. I begrudgingly phoned for help. The automated phone system ran through troubleshooting steps and there was one thing I didn’t try. That was resetting the gateway (modem). The system issued the command and it takes 6 minutes to reboot and recover. Still no luck. So, it transferred me to a queue where I was told my hold time was 25 to 30 minutes. I opted to have them call me back.

A half hour later the phone rang and I was on with a technician. He had problems locating my account but eventually found it. I told him all of the steps I went through and that I believed the box was dead. It was as if he didn’t listen to me at all. We had to start at square one. Eventually he came to the conclusion an hour and a half later that the box was dead. A replacement box was shipped and should be arriving this morning.

I’ve been able to watch TV but obviously I have no DVR so I can’t rewind, pause or record any shows. I have to watch live or on-demand otherwise I am out of luck. Getting back to normal will be welcome. Then I have to return the defective box to them. The guy on the phone told me I had until Saturday but an email I got gave me until mid-September. There isn’t a huge hurry but still I will get it back to them in a couple days just to wipe the task from my list of things to do.

In other technology news, a label was created for my computer and it was projected to be delivered by end of day on Sunday. Overnight the carrier took possession of the package and the arrival date has now changed to end of business on Friday. I don’t expect it until sometime between 3p and 6p on Friday. However, I will have an eye out. I don’t think I have to sign for it but I will be prepared just in case as I don’t want to encounter any delays. While I don’t know that I will be in the mood to work with it when it arrives, I will at least be curious enough to want to unpack it, which will probably lead to configuring. I at least for sure know now that I will have a weekend task.

I realize that none of this is terribly exciting news, but it’s just another average day. As you might guess my evening on Monday night was totally consumed with my TV issue and being on the phone. I was very pleased when I heard that a replacement box was being sent and that meant the end of the call was in sight.

In cat news. Gator has had quite the buffet this morning. 4 cans of food, one of which she wouldn’t touch. I was trying to get Marv to eat and he was being picky. Eventually I waited long enough and opened something that was gravy based, I talked him into taking a few bites. I get super nervous when they won’t eat and I think that they work that to their advantage sometimes. I would still rather pay a food bill than a vet bill any day of the week. As for the food, selection has been quite limited since COVID hit. One week they may have something they like and you go back to buy more the next week and it’s gone. Some weeks I go and think there not going to like any of this and I am perplexed as to what to buy. No cat of mine has ever gone hungry because of failure on my part, that’s something I am proud of. Each of them has had their fair share of attention but I know they will need much more. I look forward to any and all the time I get to spend with them and I savor every moment. If you have gathered, they are spoiled and pampered then you have made an accurate presumption. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I think at times they eat far better than I do but that’s mostly because their food is cheaper to buy than mine.

After today I have 3 days left and then I will be off from Tuesday through Monday the 7^th. However, I will still have a task to preform which I can either do at night or I can wake up early and have a call in the morning. I may mix it up a bit but I suspect that I will mostly get up and have the call just because it’s easier. We will be super short staffed since a colleague of mine is going in for surgery later this week and he will be out of commission. It will be one person plus the boss. The boss is going to drive them crazy. He (the boss) is already grating on my nerves and I do need a vacation. Were all scrambling to get in time since we are only allowed to carry over two weeks and the majority of us have a huge surplus of time to take before the end of the year. I am kind of hoping that they will shift the policy since this work from home requirement is hanging on much longer than expected. Personally, I don’t expect that it will be safe for me to return to the office until sometime next year. I’ll leave that up to my doctor and the scientist, but based on the data that I am seeing now it for sure is not safe. The area where my home is located is continuing to see numbers rise even with tighter restrictions in place, so they are getting even more aggressive. I wish that someone had the silver bullet cure all for this but unfortunately that doesn’t yet exist. Here’s hoping that each day brings us closer to a cure or at the very least more aggressive and better treatment and less people being infected. I figured that I would be at home for a couple months until this blew over but it appears that time frame is going to be much, much longer than anticipated. Since what I am doing is obviously working for me, I see no reason to make any change. I do want to go out for a pizza but keep thinking to myself is it really worth taking a risk for some food? Just get carry out and call it a day, so that is most likely what I will do. I don’t know if I will travel to my favorite pizza place which is a way away or if I will just settle for something local. I know one thing for sure, there are plenty of choices for pizza and regardless if it’s fresh or frozen I will have a slice or two or three.

Here’s hoping that your all doing well, keeping busy or entertained at the very least. Stay safe, be well and we will talk again soon.

Stir Crazy

Good Day Everyone!

I got some sleep in and had some wild dreams. Like I quit a job that I used to have as a teenager and COVID-19 was present in the dream, it was like my brain merged two things together. That wasn’t a fun dream but interesting.

I had junk for breakfast, junk for lunch and mixed in a nap and cuddle time with Insty. I gave Marv his fair share of attention while he was next to the recliner when I was there. I also noticed that ants have a small presence in my room along with a spider. So, you know that has to go. Tomorrow is vacuum day and I think I will be doing some additional cleaning in my room. Just to keep the 3 of us safe.

I got a shower which felt pretty good around 2:30p. Then got dressed and headed out. Post Office was the first stop. Not much mail but of course bills were there along with some government warnings about COVID-19 and a letter from my Mayor telling me the same thing the feds were telling me, like I didn’t already know. I guess maybe there are some people that truly do live under a rock and don’t know but I honestly don’t believe that. Everyone on the planet has to know by now. Next stop was Target. There weren’t a lot of people there but it was occupied. I saw bare shelves around the toilet paper and paper products area. I went in for air freshener and to grab a casserole. I also picked up some Lasagna that I have wanted to try. Checkout lines had signs up to wait until you were called forward to respect social distancing. The guy that was “checking me out” yeah him I was checking him out if you know what I mean. Damn cute and young of course. Then on to the pet food store where they had tape down every 6 feet on the floor so people knew where to stand once they got their products. That place was noticeably empty of people. Last and final stop was home.

I walked in and Marv was there to greet me and soon his sister came out of hiding. They both wanted lunch which was actually more like supper for them. I felt that my blood sugar was rapidly dropping. I got them fed. Then popped that Lasagna in the microwave for dinner. I had thought about getting take out but passed. I drank some diet soda and ate a Peanut Butter Cup. I started to get the shakes and generally feel unwell. That damn lasagna couldn’t cook fast enough for me or my body. I just shoveled it in. It tasted okay but wasn’t Stouffer’s by any stretch of the imagination. There is ½ left for tomorrow or later tonight.

I’m sure this is the point where your going to say Jeremy you have to take care of yourself. Yeah, I know and once and a while my sugar drops. Today was because I didn’t have any food that had substance in it. Pop Tart Bites and Chips. I didn’t really feel like eating and I am serious about loosing weight. Thankfully my jeans still fit me but I kind of feel like I have gained some weight.

Laundry is going now for the first time in two weeks. I’ve been in sweats and t-shirts all week long. I mean no one sees me. Were not doing any type of video conferencing or video transmitting. It’s all audio conferencing, which I am thankful for. I seriously look like a bum and have all week. Sweats stretch to fit in my gut but when the day comes (and it will) that I have to go back to wearing pants because I am headed into the office, I want to make sure they fit comfortably. I mean I can’t wear sweats legally into the office and I am sure people would stare at me but for all of the wrong reasons.

I watched some videos last night on You Tube on how to use a pressure washer. I am eager to get started on the green mold that is covering the deck and back of the house. I am pretty certain the smell of that stuff is why I smell mold in the house so much and left untreated it’s only going to get worse. Plus, not to mention everything will look better. I just don’t want to do any damage to anything that I come in contact with. I don’t have the “fix it” touch hence why I am extra cautious. However, I think everything will fall into place. That is tomorrows big job.

More of my neighbors were starting their mowers today and cutting grass for the first time of the season. In looking at my lawn I think were very close to needing it cut. So, I will be reaching out to the mower guy to check and make sure he will be cutting this year. Fingers crossed that falls into place. The yard is full of sticks and small tree limbs that have fallen over the winter. Normally I don’t touch the yard but if I have the energy tomorrow once the power washing is done, I may try to gather those into a pile out of the way, to make the job of mowing easier.

On the porn front, I have completed my recovery. I didn’t get everything back that I wanted but a good portion thereof did come back to life. I had to download some other stuff. My machine has been rebooted and I turned backup on for that drive. Now it’s back to normal or so I think.

I learned about a flaw in IOS today that if you have open apps on your phone and connect to a VPN there is a possibility that those apps that were open prior to connecting to VPN will not be in your VPN tunnel. The moral of the story for now is to close all apps, then connect to your VPN and open your apps. Apparently, Apple is aware of the flaw and working to fix it but who knows how fast that will happen given the present-day issue.

I got a notification on the Gram that Charlie Puth started a live video. He’s doing a concert. There are 11.2k people watching and it does cut out and buffer a bit but pretty good. I’ve watched a couple live videos and way too much TV. Speaking of TV I saw that Momma’s Family was on Logo and I went to watch it and turns out that is one of the channels that I no longer get. That kind of made my decision for me and I will now be paying the extra $1. I upgraded back to the TV package that I had. I don’t watch LOGO that often but it’s a channel I want since it’s gay themed.

Like so many people, I am tired of staying home but I know that I am not alone. I miss my freedom but am glad that I can at least get out to get essentials – it’s the highlight of the week along with napping.

Guess what? Next week I will be on-call again. Fun times. Shit always goes down when I am on call. I pray for quiet and calm, only time will tell. I am adjusting to the new keyboard and the funky key combinations that I have to press for print screen or the calculator. It is comfortable to type on like they said it would be. It’s crazy how I am so picky about my keyboards. I’ve got 3 of them here in the office with me. I have yet to switch between them.

I hope that you had a fun day and were able to be productive. I will be headed up to scoop out the litter boxes and watch TV. Talk with you again soon. Be well and stay safe.

Expensive Saturday

If you know me well at all, you should know that I have a lack of patients.  That said, I bought a new all in one printer.  I had to make a choice an Epson or an HP.  The Epson wasn’t an Eco-Tank but it did have a 2nd paper tray.  The HP was lower cost and so was the ink.  However, I followed my heart and got the Epson.  I had some setup difficulty but I really like it.  Seems like it will serve me well.  The only problem is there is ink to replace, which you have on all printers but it’s not inexpensive.  Then there is a ink maintenance tray that you have to replace, it collects the wasted ink.  There are lots of tiny pieces of paper to absorb the ink.  I have a 35 page document feeder that actually works.  There is faxing, duplex printing, 2 paper trays that hold 250 sheets each (a solid ream of paper) and scanning.  It’s a special edition model that I guess was made only for Sam’s Club.  If you’d like to check it out it’s an Epson WF-4740.  Priced much higher on-line that it was in the club.  I also got ink which was $100.  I checked Amazon and saw ink for $60 but this had an XL black so I opted to spend the $100. 

I stopped by the Eye Doctor and found that my frames came in, I tried them on and found the fit I liked but the problem was they were as blue as this font on the web and that is what attracted me to them.  However, when they came in they were labeled ink laminate and they were a blacker blue.  So I had the person helping me order in 2 additional frames that were bright blue.  They offered 2 day shipping for free, so I should be able to stop back by next weekend.  Got my prescription for the eye drop called in so no more conjunctivitis.  $45 with insurance, I got a coupon on-line and changed that to $35.  I have 1 refill, if it’s a temporary thing I’m fine with that but I don’t think my conjunctivitis will just go away after a bottle or two of drops.  I hate eye drops but if they fix a problem like itching or in this case junk in my eye then I’m all for it. 

Got a large pizza with Sausage, Mushroom, Pepperoni and Black Olives.  Had a few slices and brought the rest home.  That will be meals for Sunday and Monday.  I had a Chocolate Creme Torte and it was amazing.  Dropped $37 which is a bit high but then when you consider it’s 3 meals it’s not bad at all. 

Stopped by a store and got me some extra cushion socks, picked up 2 polo shirts and saw a cute twink who had red hair and his ear pierced.  He was really my type and had a rocking body.  I was wearing one of my gay shirts (it’s got the rainbow on it) so I figured with me looking him up and down it would be obvious but he really wasn’t paying attention to me.  Too busy chatting to a coworker.  I didn’t say a word, just took in the view. 

Got me a nap in and saw some good porn just prior to dosing off.  Ms. Gator woke me up in the middle of the night she puked in my bed, on my feet and it was a horrible mess.  I get that cats get sick from fur balls, but why is it always in the middle of the night? 

Went shopping on Amazon.  Decided to get some new jeans.  I can wear them to work on Friday’s and the couple pairs that I have are well worn and almost getting not suitable for the office.  Jeans are not cheap.  I also got a few other items one of which was 2 telephone surge protectors.  I’m going to put one on the line as a whole and then the other one on the new printer.  Better safe than sorry.  I also found out my telephone with the display that went out, it’s actually the wall transformer that blew.  There are 0 volts coming out of it.  So Amazon helped me find a new one and it will be here on Monday.  The phone still works with out AC so I’m hopeful that this adapter will fix the issue. 

Renewed a 3 month subscription to a porn site that I enjoy.  They recently upped their prices so I have to play this game of renew for 3 months, cancel.  Then in 3 months do it all over again.  It’s a pain but it is cheaper. 

Had to get cat food.  This was a super stop because Marv needed his dry food and Ruth needed her special food, plus there was regular food to buy.  $55

All of my money has been spent.  I’ve got enough for groceries, gas and maybe a car wash.  That should last me until later next week when we get paid again.  I should have my raise retro active to June 1 and a bonus which will all be money that helps me pay for a lot of the damage I did this weekend to my credit cards.  I use the cards for points, cash back, etc.  then pay them off each month.  When the time is right I cash in and reap the rewards.  Smart, huh? 

While I didn’t get everything that I wanted to do done today, I am happy.  Buying the printer caused something to click inside of me.  I fulfilled a long term want and I guess that is what it’s all about. 

Last night I got into a fight with Instagram and some software that I had purchased to capture other peoples photos.  There was a cute guy who decided to show off his buns and I just had to have the photo on my camera.  Well the fucking software no longer worked.  They made a new version and rather than pass it on they wanted me to pay.  So I paid and then it didn’t do what the old version used to do.  I was pissed because Apple is involved here and there is no getting your money back.  I wound up trying an app finding out that it did what I wanted and then upgrading to the pay version.  So I got 3 apps but only 1 does what I want it to.  Anyway I got my photo and that’s what is important here.  The cost is mild $3 per app so it’s not like it’s anything major but the point is what was frustrating to me. 

The bed clothes are in the laundry and so are my new clothes purchases from today.  Something about a freshly laundered and made bed that causes me to sleep so much better.  I’m thinking of shaving tonight and getting a shower.  No sense in putting a dirty body in a clean bed. 

Finally, I got my new modem thingy setup for TV and Home Phone.  The old unit went back to the UPS store today and all is well.  I had to make some cabling adjustments to my UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply) to ensure the equipment was properly protected and that even if the power went out that stuff stays live, at least until the battery gives.  That’s important mostly for my home security system.  Not like anyone is going to break in but if they were it would happen when the power was out with my luck.  I’m supposed to get email alerts when there is an outage but have only received 1 and that was a couple months back.  Whatever it was that took out so much of my electronics I hope that it doesn’t come back for a long time, if ever.  The damage could have been much worse and I could have been forced into filing an insurance claim.  Instead I’m eating the cost of a few hundred dollars and calling it a day.

I’m really worn out and look forward to getting to bed tonight and hopefully taking in some quality sleep as well as a decent quantity of it.  Gator & Company will have me up at the crack of dawn but as long as I can go back to sleep I’m fine with that.  If not then perhaps catching a nap mid day would be good. 

3 to 4 stops tomorrow.  Breakfast, Groceries, Gas and maybe a car wash. Then I am home for the day and that is always a comforting feeling.  Knowing that I don’t have to leave until Monday.  If I could stay home an entire day I’d do that but today it would have just been too much work.  I was running all over the place.  It’s really hot outside and I’ve used the Max AC in the car twice.  It’s so comfortable on an extra hot day. 

Well I’ve got the yawns and Momma is fussing at me.  I guess it’s time to call it a night since it’s 10p.  I’ll be back tomorrow for more gabbing.  Thanks for stopping by.  Stay cool!

Stay Home Sunday

I had to go to the store and do all of my usual weekend running on Saturday.  It worked out to my advantage, I got everything done and was able to stay home all day long.  It’s been really nice and a productive day at that. 

I fixed the screen in the front window, got the cables for the TV in the living room bundled and it looks so much better, then for the best and most taxing task of all I got Ruth’s claws trimmed.  She bit me but thankfully I had the gloves on, otherwise I’d be on my way to the hospital. 

All of the bills have been paid so we can stay here another month.  I arranged for bush trimming from a new guy.  My old lawn guy finally came through with the contract so that little bit of anxiety has been resolved.  I did try to get multiple estimates but only one person got back with me.  He was $5 higher than my regular guy and only wanted to cut for a couple months but wanted to lock me into a contract.  I almost hired him.  I’m happy this all fell into place. 

Big Boy is loaded up with lumps, which I believe are tumors.  Just because I said the word tumor doesn’t mean it’s cancer.  He’s got a bite on his back that looked like it was a large pimple.  I of course being the popping kind of guy, decided to lance it and give it a big old squeeze.  He wanted to rip my hands off.  Nothing but blood came out.  The inflammation is down a little bit.  I cleaned it up with alcohol and again he wasn’t terribly happy with me.  I have been putting antibacterial ointment on it  It apparently itches because he starts licking when I touch it.  Under normal circumstances we would have had a visit to the vet but he’s doing everything normal.  I don’t see any reason to disturb him or my wallet.  My gut feeling isn’t a good one but I am just keeping an eye on him.  He’s been through so much.  We had a nice chat over the weekend and he knows where I stand.  Normally you’d think a person talking to an animal was insane but some how me an this cat are in sync.  I can tell what he wants just by the way he asks.  It’s uncanny.  I have never been this in sync with an animal.  He is truly a special cat and he knows it. 

I’ve been having some issues with my DVR where I go to watch a program and all I get is a black screen.  Much to my displeasure I wiped the whole thing.  I tried starting small and doing a minor reset but that didn’t seem to do the trick.  I figured if I wiped everything and reset it that it would be as good as starting over.  Then if the problem still exists I will have to place a service call to get a replacement.  I’d like to avoid that if at all possible. 

My eating habits have been horrible and I know it.  I picked up a dozen donuts at the store and most of them are gone already.  My favorite brownie cookies were apparently a temporary thing so I bought brownie ice cream bars.  I got a cake last week and I am still working on polishing it off, which should happen tonight.  I went out last night and got Mexican Food, which was really good but overpriced.  It was nice to see a couple hot guys. 

My employer is doing a lunch seminar on grieving.  I pretty well figured I was an expert in this subject area but found out that there are a lot of things that I didn’t know.  Like for example me keeping my late partners room like it was is called mummification.  Seeing that in print was disturbing to me.  From what little I saw I am still dealing with his passing and it’s not necessarily in a healthy way.  I’m going to the seminar in the hopes that I can learn something.  Today I made a major change in his room.  It’s actually become more of a storage area with one side of the bed cleaned off so that I can sleep in it.  I wish he had left the bathtub/shower alone then it would have been much easier for me to simply move in.  Selling this place would be the very best mental thing for me but right now it’s just not an option way too much crap here and of course the cats.  I know that if I leave I could turn a profit provided everything was in acceptable condition.  As it is right now I think I could simply walk away and get the face value to cover the mortgage.  So no loss but no gain either.  Again not an option. 

Momma is on my ass to take care of laundry and pass out some food.  She knows my routine and that I am avoiding it.  Rather than listen to her complain I am going to give in and take care of things.  Plus I need to shave and shower.  Then there is the matter of dinner, which of course will be frozen pizza.  Looking forward to it since I paid $8 for some gourmet Tombstone, it better be damn good.  Then there is the little matter of getting ready for Monday (yuk). 

Life over all here is status quo.  Outside of Big Boy nothing horribly wrong but also no over joyous news to share.  I think that finding a boyfriend would cheer me up and help me deal with my loss in a much more positive way.  I have had a few good candidates in the dating app I am using but thus far I have not matched with any of them. 

Happy April and Happy Easter.  Talk with you peeps later. 

Goodbye ?

It is scary to think about what is going on between the US and N. Korea.  It’s even scarier to think that this could be my last post because one decided to show the other and they both pushed “the button”.  I hope that it doesn’t come to that and that this will pass without any ramifications for us the innocent people.  The world has been a scary place for a long time but this just ups the ante.

Now on to my regular themed post.  I finished up Binge the book by Tyler Oakley.  It was really good and he kept me entertained the whole way.  I learned a few things along the way and apparently the boy has had his fair share of dick and wasn’t shy talking about it at all, which was kind of a surprise since you never know who is going to read what you publish.  Then again it’s an awesome feeling to be unapologetically you.

I was able to sleep in a little bit today and I also got in a nap which was nice.  I still don’t feel like I am recharged enough, good thing I will be headed to bed again soon. 

Today’s accomplishments were that I was able to compose and mail a few letters for personal issues, mailed a birthday card to a friend and went out to eat.  I had Peppered Turkey, it was sliced and then a custom made BBQ sauce was put on top.  Served with my choice of two sides and I chose Tatter Tots and Mac & Cheese.  Washed all that down with a Diet Dr. Pepper and it was one of the best meals I have consumed in a long time.  I wish I could eat that good every day of the week and at every meal.  My waiter was super nice and very attentive, it was an all around pleasurable experience.  I fueled up the car, picked up a few cans of cat food and made a run through Target.  I was a little disappointed here I was looking for a cheap on-sale torch floor light and they didn’t have anything that was cheap but they did have torch lights.  I found something more in my price range on Amazon, not a shock to me.  I spent plenty of time with the children and gave them all a fresh large dose of TLC.  That is everyone but Ruth, she was in a foul mood and didn’t want to be touched. 

Last night I watched a movie called Balls Out it was on Epix which is running a preview this weekend for Uverse Customers.  I love that network, they have some awesome movies but it’s $8 a month and I don’t know that I would or could ever get my monies worth.  I’ve got Netflix, Amazon, HBO & Showtime.  It’s not like I need to add anymore to my movie choice line up.  I also started watching George Lopez’s recent addition to HBO called The Wall.  It’s really good, I just wish I knew Spanish because then I am sure it would be extra funny. 

On the work front I found out that I have to train my co-worker who loves to chat and go on tangents on the card key system since he has officially been dubbed my back up.  I am also training the new guy on the Departure process and we will eventually move into card keys.  It’s not going to be a fun ride.  One of our larger offices is set to move in a very short time and no one has bothered to think about the card key system, I brought that up and oh my we are in a frenzy now.  Fuck I have no idea how to build out one of these systems.  This will likely be a real shit show, but it’s not my fault. 

Tomorrow’s agenda includes laundry, grocery shopping, eating breakfast out, probably a nap and spending time with the children.  I will hopefully be able to finish the day by taking in the latest episode of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.  I always look forward to his review on the weeks events, he is super funny and has really managed to make me laugh a lot. 

Tuesday is Pay Day so I will be paying bills on Monday night, I can’t wait to see how much money I have left over.  This is the check that will have 14 hours of overtime on it and it should be really nice!  I’ve got car insurance coming up and my mortgage will true up so the payment will likely increase.  That along with a vet visit later this month for Big Boy to get his blood checked again.  I will make it but the bigger question is how much will I actually be able to hold on to and save.  I did pay off a credit card and that did wonders for my credit score. 

Speaking of credit cards, I heard back about my annual fee issue and they waived it on the one open account I have.  They wouldn’t re-open the other account, closed means closed forever.  Okay, that seems like a reasonable solution, especially since that card has a $0 balance.  I didn’t get an apology but I did manage to get out of paying an annual fee which was the whole objective.  I didn’t want to have to close my account and maybe I did that out of haste without protesting enough but I added it up and I have more than enough credit extended to me and thankfully I don’t owe much.  I am still able to pay cash for all of my weekend and daily spending, which is very refreshing. 

So there you have it, another exciting post from me.  Now I am headed up stairs to put out my medicine for the week ahead, put the comforter on the bed and then go to bed.  Tomorrow will be here very soon. 

I hope all is well in your world.  Have a great week ahead.  Take care!

Score

One good thing happened.  I managed to score a nice deal on TV & Home Phone Service with AT&T.  I went back to the plan I had before I made changes and got my Showtime back.  They threw in the cost of the receivers and HD.  My bill dropped like $30.  This deal is called ALL IN and it’s apparently a hidden special.  I worked with the Office of the President to get it.  Still just have TV & Home Phone with them.  The drop they gave me will help make up for the increase I am getting from my ISP so it all works out.  Best part is the deal is good for 2 years, so I don’t have to have this hash it out conversation again next year.  I really like that.  The downside is if I cancel it costs $180.  I am not a fan of contracts or term limits but I think this deal works to my advantage.  A penny saved is a penny you can spend some place else. 

One of the guys I work with is out today.  The Snatch I work with called in, there was some drama last week so I am guessing she is sick of her job and not ill at all.  Don’t know and don’t care, it’s bliss here.  Got a little crazy this morning trying to get back into the swing of things and we had our usual uptick for a Monday but it’s all down hill from here. 

So I had this rouge device on my WIFI.  I couldn’t figure out what it was.  I’d kick it off and it would come right back.  Decided to change up my WIFI SSID & Password.  The damn thing still came back.  So now my challenge was figuring out what it was.  Turns out it was my iPhone.  Not sure how it got a different name because I know what it’s real name is, after all I am the one who set it.  I decided to be clever and hide my SSID.  The only challenge that presents is for my car.  It can’t find a hidden network.  So I have enabled my Guest Network, which is segmented off from the rest of the network and is perfect.  I have it limited to 5 connections, you can’t go lower than that sadly.  When I get home and pull into the driveway, I’ll be testing to see if that fixed it. 

Hindsight is 20/20.  When I started labeling things last night in the router, I thought of another test I can do to check speed.  So tonight I am unplugging all of the wired devices and turning off the WIFI, then I’ll run my speed test.  I am interested to see what that yields.  There are wired devices that I just can’t drop but I am interested to see what happens.  One of them is my Magic Jack which I got for dating.  Well since the dating life hasn’t been so abundant with suitors, I will be dropping that once it expires.  Plus they tack on extra fees, it’s still cheap phone service, just money I don’t need to spend. 

Speaking of dating, I was chatting with this guy who was slow to respond.  He finally dumped me.  We never had anything real to say, we were still very much in the breaking the ice stage of things.  That is what is awkward, you find a new guy and start over and the process repeats it’s self.  It is horrible to repeat the same task over and over, it has to play out that way I have found.  If I am myself and just chat I somehow manage to scare guys away.  Don’t know what’s up with that.  I am a charming fellow and I don’t come on strong.  Apparently holding a conversation is a lost art in the dating world.  I don’t know how these people manage to function in society.  While I hope someone meaningful comes along the longer this drags on the less my hope is.  Looking forward to being a regular user.  Right now I feel as if I am a slave because I paid for a service so I have to use it or it’s a waste of money. 

A couple more hours and then it’s home to the last of the left over pizza.  I liked the place on FB and left a rave review.  They loved the PR.  Now I wish I would have put in a word about the cute guy who took care of me.  Ah, well I’ll be back for more pizza and eye candy.  Outside of my network testing, nothing special planned for tonight.  I’m on call tonight and tomorrow.  Then I will be free for a bit.  I always look forward to that. 

Hope all is well in your world.  Come back and I’ll fill you in on more of the happenings in my world.  Take care and be well.

Still going

In case your wondering, I am still going.  April is a rough month for me, more specifically yesterday.  It marked 4 years of my late partners death.  I can’t believe I have been alone for 4 years, it still very much feels like yesterday.  That day always gets me I am paralyzed and chose to isolate myself from the world at large.  I didn’t go to work and slept a good portion of the day away.  I did go out for some pizza at a new place.  It was okay but nothing to write home about.  I am a huge fan of The Deep Dish Chicago Style Pizza.  I dropped $25 for a medium pretty decked out and there is plenty left over, so no need to ask what is for supper. 

Back to work today and there isn’t a whole lot going on here.  I’ve got some work to do but I am just not in the mood.  The day is pretty well done so I am just biding my time until we get to go home and play in traffic.  Bad Thunderstorm in the area so I am not so eager to get on the road but I’ll gladly do it because I want to see my furry kids. 

Bear I guess detected that something is going on, he’s been sleeping with me for a few nights.  Marvin stays in because he wants to be by his brother.  So just like old times, the 3 boys.  I like that.  I don’t like it when Bear sees me move in the middle of the night he starts clawing on the box springs but we both know how to push each others buttons.  Just part of stuff you learn when you live with someone for a long period of time. 

I’ve been spending way too much time in the basement with my personal confuser.  Tonight I need to print a stamp out, write a check for my massage tomorrow and then I can come upstairs and be with the kids, enjoy TV and hopefully have a nice evening. 

Yesterday I did spend some time on the phone with AT&T trying to negotiate a better rate for my TV.  They were not accommodating, so I had to drop service in order to reduce my bill.  I gave up HBO to try to get it back for a 3 month free special.  I wound up paying a $5 fee, I didn’t get it free for 3 months but I did get it at 1/2 price for life, so not bad.  I shaved off about $40 per month.  Showtime is gone, no need to keep it because Shameless isn’t on now and that’s all I watched.  Found out I can get it on Amazon for a much cheaper price, so I may elect to get it now to have it.  TV is a rip off we never used to pay for it for the most part when I was a kid, that is until Cable came to town and then oh, I had to have it.  Little did I know that was like crack.  I no longer have access to LOGO and really wanted to keep that, but I didn’t watch it on a regular basis.  So many channels I was paying for that I never watched.  AT&T is probably not happy with me but they are still taking my money.  Funny that all of this started because they sent me an email that freaked me out that I was going to be paying $200 per month for TV & Phone.  That is entirely way too much.  So I called and then the games began.  Funny thing is I wrote a letter to the president and asked for them to adjust my rates like a week prior to this whole thing unfolding yesterday.  I am interested to see what if any response I get from my letter.

Time to wrap things up and prepare to go play in traffic.  At least were close to the weekend.  I always enjoy time off, then again what working person doesn’t?  Take care. 

Semi Productive Day

I woke up to see snow but it was melting as fast as it was falling.  We had a Winter Storm Warning but it has since been cancelled.  I was really hoping for accumulating snow, it’s kind of a sign of comfort for me.  The children had me up at 6:30a and Momma crapped in my room again.  Wow what a morning. 

I fed the little beggars and decided to watch TV and eventually after some self pleasuring I was able to return to sleep.  I went to the couch and Gator followed me.  I rolled over, she jumped on top of me and got comfy.  I told her what time I needed to be up by and I’ll be damned if she didn’t wake me up with 30 minutes to spare.  Doesn’t always work like that but I think that all animals are smarter than what they get credit for. 

I ate some stale left over scones that I had purchased shortly after Christmas.  It wasn’t healthy but it was something to eat.  Took my medicine and got dressed.  I was out the door and went to get my oil changed in my car.  I have NEVER let a quick lube place touch my car.  Given the circumstances and how I want to save my time off from work, this was the only option I had available to me.  Now I had a coupon that said conventional oil change $19.99 my bill was $50 – I added an air filter and some junk they poured in my gas tank but just looking at the basic price of the oil change it’s no where near $19.99.  I of course didn’t make a copy of the coupon before using it, so I kind of think the point is moot.  However, I did take an online survey and told the company about this.  I just don’t think it’s right to advertise one thing but have it priced differently when someone shows up to make a purchase.  Under normal circumstances I would have already started a letter writing campaign but I am clearly not operating under normal circumstances.  The only good thing was one of the guys who was working on my car was really cute but he has no idea that I was into him.  He kind of reminded me of my first guy, he had a bad boy look to him.  Not that I want a bad boy but his look was very enticiing and he had a nice body from what I could tell.

Moving on to getting cat food.  No cute guys and I was stuck in what appeared to be an endless line but eventually it moved faster.  I had left my $5 coupon at home and this was because of issues from last week.  I wasn’t happy but it’s not the first time that has happened to me.  The good news is that it’s still valid and doesn’t expire until the end of the month.  I am putting it in my wallet tonight so it will be there when I need it. 

Finally home sweet home.  Got the cat food put away.  Then it was time to deal with AT&T.  OMG this was a disaster.  I was told to call back in a few more days, I lost it with the lady.  She barley spoke english.  She told me she could add Spanish channels and get my bill down by $24 for 3 months.  I hung up on her.  I called the cable company and they made me a very sweet deal.  I was pressured into signing up now but I declined.  I used that price and was able to negotiate a much better deal with AT&T when I called back and finally got transferred to their Retention Department.  Tip of the day, if you want a good deal with U-verse just tell the automated recording that you want to cancel your service, you will be transferred straight to retention.  Now I had to make changes to both my TV and Home Phone but I was able to add a 3rd TV in.  I am not in a contract and the price is good for 1 full year at which time I will do this little dance all over again.  Oh brother!  Cable was giving me a 2 year price commitment but their DVR sucks compared to AT&T.  Sad thing is I have to call AT&T back to see if I will still be getting HD service, if not then there is $10 more per month they will charge me.  HD is super awesome and very addictive, it’s very much common place and normal to expect.  It’s like a buger and fries.  You wouldn’t just order a burger, but I do sometimes!

I heard back from the vet about Momma and they want to have me pick up more medicine from them for her that will help with her stomach/diahrea issues.  I was told not to stop her thyroid medicine and they have no remedy available to cure her facial itching.  I will drop by tomororw morning to see how much they want and then make the appropriate decision from there.  I am looking more closley at every penny I spend.

I broke out the steam cleaner after cleaning up momma’s messes in my room.  I cleaned the carpet in my room and in the hallway, then I was done.  Decided to get something to eat and had Creamed Chipped Beef.  It was very good and hit the spot.  Nevermind the fact I am hungry again.  I’ve lost a small amount of weight due to the events of last week and my nerves being on edge.  Not the way I want to lose weight!

I’ve been working on ye old laundry and I broke out the vaccuum cleaner for the basement.  I also finally trimmed Ruth’s claws.  She hated it and hated me, she lost her bladder, screamed and I got to smell dragon breath again.  It’s never pleasant for either of us but if she would just cooperate and not kick up a fuss I would be done.  When I let her go she swiped at me.  Thankfully I was wearing the gloves so I was able to swipe back at her and I raised my voice.  Little bitch!  She of course loved me when it was time for treats.  So our relationship/rapport is still intact and I suspect it will be that way forever since I am her only source for food. 

It doesn’t take much to wear me down and well it’s late evening now, about the time I would normally be going to bed.  I want to keep on going but I am going to back away from the old PC and call it a night.  Hopefully find something entertaining on NetFlix.  All of my shows recorded fine this past week and I was able to watch them without any problems.  I started on a new show that is on ABC.  It’s called American Crime and it’s about a boy who was drugged and raped by other guys – they are in high school.  It’s kind of interesting and the actor who plays the rape victim is kind of hot to me.  I know I turn everything into sex but when you haven’t had sex in as many years as I have gone without it’s no wonder that the wind blows the wrong way and I am thinking about sex.  A friend of mine told me earlier this week that I need someone to bend me over and give me a good fucking.  I would forget all about my troubles.  I said yeah because my ass would be so sore.  I don’t consider myself a bottom.

Tomorrows jobs will be to ensure that the laundry, dishes and house are taken care of.  Grocerys are purchased and I have my usual Sunday breakfast.  Trying to going back to living my life but I can easily say it’s not easy with what I am going through.  I know this too shall pass.  Easy to say.

Here’s hoping for a better week ahead.  Thanks as always for stopping by.  I shall talk with you peeps again soon.  Be well and take care.