Buffet Trip

Hello,

Today I was able to be lazy in the morning and get some extra sleep in.  Got a shower and headed out to Sam’s Club.  I was surprised at the total.  The only thing I got that wasn’t on my list was some Cookie Dough Brownies.  I am not a fan of Cookie Dough but these aren’t bad at all.  I like going there during the week because the weekends are total madness and it’s more wall to wall people.  I hate crowds. 

Came home, unloaded and had a brownie & a soda.  Relaxed and watched TV.  Decided to text the dummy that was supposed to come tonight.  He said he would get back to me with a time but he never did.  He asked me what time I’d be home I told him 6p.  Then he sent another text several minutes later when I was in the car asking me if it was correct that I’d be home at 6p.  Jesus Christ, if your that stupid then I don’t want you anywhere near me.  I didn’t bother to answer him because I had already answered his question. 

I made my buffet trip when he was texting.  I got to the buffet and I was the only one there.  First time that has ever happened.  It was around 3p.  I got the lunch price.  Walked it before I ordered and saw they had fried chicken and figured that I could clean up pretty good.  Turns out they didn’t have but a few drumsticks.  I asked if they could put out more and they did but told me that it was a one time thing.  Next time if I want something specific I’d have to order off the menu.  I am not the only person in the world that likes drumsticks.  They had lots of breasts and wings.  I’m not interested in those I’m a drumstick kind of guy.  Had some mashed potatoes, some funky pasta dish, some shredded roast beef and finished up with Peach Cobbler.  Not a bad lupper (lunch & supper combined). 

On the way home I got another text from the dummy he asked me to confirm that I’d be home at 6p.  Again I was driving and didn’t bother to answer him.  I didn’t hear from him again until I pulled in to the driveway, he texted let me know asap.  At that point I blocked him.  If he’s that stupid I don’t care if he did the job for free, he sounds like the type of person who could fuck up a one car funeral.  I don’t do well with stupidity, especially now that I am older.  He asked me what time I’d be home, I told him 6p and then he kept asking me over and over again if 6p was the correct time.  I’m moving on to the last person on my list.  I plan to call them tomorrow. 

This morning I had to get on my knees and trap Mora to get her to take her pill.  It’s getting progressively more difficult to pill her but I’m determined and she knows that I am trying to help her.  I think if this was anyone else she would have probably bitten them by now.  I had to trap her on the bedroom to get her evening pill in her.  She’s got one more pill before I go to bed, which is the anti-inflammatory.  This is the last doses of that.  I stopped the narcotic for pain, she doesn’t appear to be in pain any longer.  The abscess has dried up.  There is some black marks on her bottom, that I plan to try to clean up tomorrow with some baby wipes (have to buy them).  I know that won’t go over well.  As long as she stays on the antibiotic I think she is going to be fine.  If it looks like this is flaring up or going to reoccur I will take her back, otherwise I think were done with the vet. 

Decided to jump on Amazon to see if there was anything I wanted since it’s PRIME DAY/week.  Managed to spend $160 – got a water bottle, some sheets, a blanket, some water sensors and a new cell phone case that I have wanted. Told them that I would wait a day to get things so instead of getting 5% back on my Prime card I will get 7%.  Not bad but I’m not sure that I really got a deal.  I think the whole PRIME thing is largely a scam to get people to buy things.  I have seen some good deal videos on You Tube. 

Got an email asking me to confirm Rudy’s vet appointment.  I plan to call and cancel that tomorrow.  He’s doing fine and since they didn’t vaccinate his sister there is no point in taking him over, until I am ready to get him his shots or he is in need of medical attention.  I think it would just be a waste of time and money – two things I can’t afford to waste. 

I will say that the duffel bag carrier I bought is a true hit.  They both take turns laying in it and hiding from me.  The video I saw about it said to leave it out so the cats get used to it so when it’s time to go to the vet they aren’t traumatized by being stuffed into a bag.  At this point I think they might just jump in the bag and we could go.  However, since it would be what I wanted and needed to happen they would probably turn the tables on me and make it difficult. 

As for tomorrow – plans are to hit up Target.  Have lunch with a friend.  Might hit up the home improvement store got to remember exactly what I need.  Got to get the mail and get with the police to update my records so they have the new code for the alarm.  Right now I’m the only one who can turn the thing off and on.  If something happens to me the poor cats would have to listen to the damn thing for 4 minutes each time it was set off.  I am planning on finishing up the left overs from my Chinese food. 

Friday is facial day and then perhaps I will travel to a new place for a bite to eat.  I will try to make the most of the day since it’s the last week day I will have off.  Then get through the weekend and presto it’s back to the bullshit.  At least it will only be a 4 day work week but it’s going to be 4 long days.  I’m keeping up with work email pretty well.  Just filing what needs to be filed and deleting the junk as well as marking what I need to follow up on.  Thus far nothing horrible. 

I am way behind on my porn surfing but there will be time to catch up.  I want another brownie and some milk.  Then I plan on staying up for a bit to watch TV before I hit the sack.  Rudy will have me up at 6a regardless if I want him to or not.  That seems to be every days wake up time.  I think he must have been a Rooster in his past life. 

Hope you had a great day. 

More fresh hell

What an exhausting and costly day this has been. 

This morning after I came home from the grocery store and we had our nap, I came downstairs to surf on the computer.  Mora jumped on my lap and she has this bad habit of rubbing her butt on my arm.  She doesn’t always do it but it happens more frequently than not.  It happened today and she didn’t leave anything but it smelled really bad.  I took a look and she has an Anal Gland Abscess. 

I made a vet appointment for her thinking that it was this Tuesday, that was the soonest they could get me in.  As we got into the afternoon it looked like things were getting worse.  Something told me to call and check to see if there were any cancellations.  Turns out her appointment was booked for next Tuesday and not this Tuesday.  I got her moved up to this evening at 6p. 

As you might imagine the poor thing is in a lot of pain.  I haven’t seen her actually go to the bathroom but she has tried.  That made me glad that I was taking her over.  It’s a few minutes after 8p and we just got home about 15 minutes ago. 

I hate professional people.  We waited 30 minutes to get to a room and then another 15 minutes before a doctor came in.  Since she (Mora) wouldn’t let me touch her rear end I knew that she wouldn’t be super pleased about the vet poking and prodding.  However, the vet was able to take a look and determine that the abscess has ruptured and is draining.  They took at x-ray at my request to make sure that she didn’t have any stones or wasn’t constipated/impacted.  She has some stool that is in the process of working it’s way out the exit so she should be going to the bathroom eventually. 

She got a shot of a NSAID to help with the inflammation.  They sent her home with a narcotic for pain and I’ve got her first dose on board.  I’ve got more of the NSAID in pill form to give her in the morning.  Then I have to make sure that she eats breakfast and I can give her an Antibiotic.  She’s got 2 weeks worth of the antibiotic.  They want to re-check her in 2 weeks.  However, if she hasn’t made progress in a couple days we will be going back.  Otherwise as long as things progress and she heals I honestly see no reason to go back. 

I booked an appointment for Rudy on Saturday but I am going to be calling and cancelling it, he’s fine and there is no reason to take him over just yet.  I think it would be wasted money. 

Now on to the alarm.  I had this feeling that I should check the appointment to make sure that were on for Tuesday.  I logged in and found that the appointment was scheduled for Monday by the tech.  I told him specifically Tuesday, I said it twice and he confirmed it to me.  However, when he plugged it into his computer he did it for Monday.  I won’t be available because I’m taking the car in and I have no idea how long that visit will take.  I suspect just a couple hours but it could go longer. 

Anyway, I called and was told that they didn’t have any availability on Tuesday and that I would have to wait until Thursday.  The dummy I talked to cancelled the Monday appointment and then tried to book for Tuesday but the system wouldn’t let him.  He transferred me to “scheduling” and they told me that the first open date they had was Thursday.  I asked what I had to do to cancel service.  They said to call back tomorrow as the cancellation department was closed on the weekend.  Needless to say I am quite pissed off. 

I calmed down a little bit, called back and got someone to work with me.  We booked the Thursday appointment just to have something on the book so I don’t get totally blocked this week.  I have to call back in the morning and talk with another department as they should be able to get this fixed.  I also called the tech and left him a voice mail message, asking him to call me back to confirm that we are on for Tuesday.  This is going to be done my way, since it’s my money.  If they can’t accommodate me then I will sever the relationship.  I’ve been a customer for 28 years.  I paid for the install in full which back then was $700.  Then add on to that all of the money I’ve spent over the last 28 years for monitoring.  They have made a bundle off of me.  I really don’t want to lose the low rate I have for monitoring and if I cancel I know that will go away. 

However, I thought about it and while I miss the alarm system and the peace of mind it provides, like I told the tech we have never had any issues or needed to use it.  There have been a couple cooking related “fires” back when my late spouse was the cook.  We have had multiple false alarms because one of us forgot the system was on but I’ve not needed it.  That made me realize I can just walk away from this and save my money if I so choose.  I am not under any contract, nor do I want to be. 

We shall see what tomorrow brings, hopefully not more headaches and tons of money siphoned from my bank account.  However, vacation is always expensive even if you don’t go anywhere.  I can’t wait to get on the road to travel to a restaurant and clear my mind.  If all goes well that will happen tomorrow for supper.   

I’ve done a light cleaning of the house and got the trash out.  Need to still do laundry but there is no hurry it’s not like it’s going to get up and run away.  I am going to head up, hope that we can get a good nights sleep and get up early tomorrow, shower and put on some fresh clothes.  Have breakfast at home and then take the vehicle in for the service appointment.  While I am there I will call the alarm company and see what we can work out or if I am going to wind up walking away. 

I’m not sure why the black cloud that is over me is dealing me so much chaos but it’s like I have had a bit of a break for too long and it’s making up for lost time or so it seems.  I know it can always be worse. 

Talked with my Thanksgiving friends, they like the idea of going out on the 4th, so I am waiting to hear where they would like to go and a time.  I’m not going to push if they call great and if they don’t well then I will go somewhere by myself. 

I do hope that your day was way better than mine.  Damn I hope that things get better soon.  Take care and I will talk with you again soon. 

Stormy Week

Everything at work is okay.  There were no consequences and for that I am thankful.  Apparently I’m told I had a large line of credit and my mistake reduced that, but there is still money in the bank.  Good to know!

We have had plenty of rain, lighting & thunder.  I came home Tuesday in a heavy storm.  2 fire departments were at the end of the street.  I thought it sucks for those people.  Little did I know what I had in store for myself.  Got in the house, fed the cats and that’s when I discovered the damage.  Apparently there was a lightning strike which caused one hell of an electrical storm in my house. 

Gone …

- Cordless phone system

- Modem on my all in 1 printer, so no more faxing

- Display on one phone

- Power Supply & Battery Backup System for my home phone & tv, which means neither of these services were working.

- Ethernet jack on the back of my cable modem

I had to power cycle the whole house things were way off kilter.  Thankfully I caught it before the sump pump over flowed.  The power cycle caused it to kick in and begin working. 

My home alarm was messed up as well, it thought the back door was broken, which thankfully it wasn’t.  However, since there was no home phone service it couldn’t call anyone to tell them.  I had to power cycle the system, which is not an easy thing to do.

My Tuesday evening was ruined.  I was on the phone with U-verse support forever, then had to call the cable company.  I was beyond frustrated and pissed off.

However, I got curious and found a work around for the TV & Home Phone.  It’s temporary a new modem is on it’s way to me.  So I have an external power supply that I thought might work and it does, so long as the house is cool.  Let some humidity build and it shuts down quickly.  You almost need an oven mitten to unplug it.  I know it’s not idea but it’s worked for a couple days and that is exactly what I needed.

Wednesday I got a replacement cordless phone and a replacement cable modem.  I tried to work on the all in one printer but it was hopeless.  The printer it’s self works and so does the scanner so that’s good news.  Bad news is the document feeder and now the modem are broken.  I’ve started looking at printers.  I can’t afford what I want which is an Epson Ecotank printer, I’m looking for soho quality and that comes with a premium price.  I’ve always wanted an Epson I have heard nothing but good things about them and am eager to try one out.  Perhaps someday but for now I am sticking with what I have and looking for options just in case.  I still have ink for this printer but won’t be buying more.  It’s been 3 or 4 years that I have had it and I’ve really gotten my moneys worth out of it. 

I guess I could start a go fund me page or an Amazon wish list like a porn star.  I am only kidding.  I don’t get it porn stars expecting people to buy them stuff or to help pay for this or that.  Your job should pay for your needs and wants in life.  If it doesn’t then you either need to find a way to supplement your income or get a new job.  I haven’t given one penny and I won’t.  Doesn’t matter how cute, young, big or tight you are … I have to pay for everything I get. 

So the cats are doing okay.  I went to my friends house on Wednesday for Independence Day.  They have a replica of Big Boy and that was tough.  I did spend a lot of time with that cat.  It brought back a lot of memories and of course caused me to start 2nd guessing myself again.  I can’t change my decision but I do have to live with it for the rest of my life.  That isn’t easy but I’ll manage. 

I’m excited to have a free weekend.  I discovered today that I will be on-call next week and am not looking forward to that.  However, I’m focused on the present and right now things look really good.  I am eager to find out about my pay raise and bonus.  If they don’t tell me by the time I go home on Wednesday, I will know first thing on Thursday morning when I wake up and open up an app on my phone to see how much is in the bank.  Friday will be payday but we can look 1 day in advance to see our paystubs online. 

I’ve got about 2 more hours to go and then I’ll be headed home and straight into the weekend.  Here’s hoping it will be as productive as it seems in my mind.  I hope you have a great weekend as well. 

The Land of Confusion

I got a call today from the Roofing company and were on for this Saturday.  If this doesn’t work out for whatever reason then I am going to break down and take a day during the week.  I really wanted to do that now but it looks like the weather is going to cooperate.  I will of course keep a close eye on things and if there is even a hint of rain, we will be moving to a week day. 

I survived time change weekend.  All of the clocks with the exception of the truck and my late partners bed room have been updated.  The alarm system updates on it’s own and they are years behind.  They built the system not even thinking it would be possible that a lawmaker would change DST, but that happened.  So it will catch up in a few weeks.  Thankfully it doesn’t affect the protection the system provides.  It’s just that time stamps would be off by an hour, if something were to occur.  I ran a test yesterday in the hopes it would update the time but nah, didn’t work.  I’ve got a sweet deal on the monitoring and I am not calling to complain about anything, I don’t want to lose my sweet deal.

Yesterday I over spent at the grocery store.  I thought I wouldn’t hit the $70 limit and I made it to $100, which was after the discount.  Yikes!  Next week I will be a little more conservative and just shop normally, if I don’t make it, oh well. 

Nothing really exciting going on just an average hum drum day.  Went to bed early last night and didn’t want to get out of bed this morning.  Left the house on time and got caught up in traffic.  Had Pizza for supper last night.  Free pizza for lunch today and you’ll never guess what’s for supper tonight.  Yup, pizza.  I am ready to move to different food.  However, the 2 slices I have left I don’t want to go to waste.  I paid for them and I am going to eat them.  Plus I put on extra cheese that makes it worth while for me.  There is no such thing as too much cheese in my book. 

I really thought that today would fly by because of the time change, but it actually seems to be going rather slow.  Funny yesterday seemed to take forever to go by.  I was seriously off on timing of most everything.

Ever get a feeling to do something?  Well yesterday something told me to open the front door.  So I did.  I saw a box from Amazon sitting on my porch.  I have no idea how long it had been there.  I just know that I didn’t order anything from Amazon that I was waiting on.  So I looked at it and it was for a neighbor.  Our streets all start with the same thing so the delivery drivers get mixed up pretty easy.  It’s not difficult all you have to do is read but life happens.  Anyway I put the box in the truck and ran it down to my neighbors place.  Then gassed up the truck.  Now I am all set to head to the buffet whenever that is I decide to go. 

Momma is due back at the vet.  I think that will be a next weekend project, I really can’t spare the money but she needs her medicine.  She has turned in to a little gas bag, I know the vet will tell me it’s her diet but she isn’t eating anything different, just more of it.  She seems to eat in shifts.  A little now, a little later, a little after while.  She is still the same old momma just with a bigger appetite, now lets hope she doesn’t gain too much weight.

One hour and thirty minutes then it will be time to head home and drive in the dark.  I am so not looking forward to it.  People will all be off of their game.  I just hope that traffic isn’t too bad and i can sail home with little to no effort.  I’ve got mail waiting at the post office but I suspect that it’s just bills – probably from the urgent care visit.  I am not expecting anything important and unless I feel differently I am going to skip it and let it all wait one more day.  By law I am supposed to empty the box every day but it’s large enough that I could go once a week and I would be fine.  I like the every other day visit unless of course I am expecting something then I can’t get there fast enough.

Everything else is status quo and that is the way I like it.  No drama.  I hope this is my week for everything to fall into place.  One day almost done.  4 more to go.  Come on Friday!  Have a great week. 

Time Poor Weekend

Friday night was spent cleaning up the house and making it some what presentable.  I was really low on energy and didn’t put a whole lot of effort into it. 

Saturday I woke up super early.  I went out for breakfast at IHOP.  I went to spy on a guy that I like, who just got a new house in town.  He’s married so no chance anything is going to come of it.   I got cat litter/treats at Target, then on to the Cat Food Store and picked up canned and dry food.  Then I went home, switched vehicles and went to have the truck Emissions tested.  Then back home, put away the cat food.  Then went on litter box patrol.  By then we were looking at 12 noon.  I got the children their lunch and decided to rest.  I caught up on Social Media and sat and waited for the AT&T installer to show up.  I was given a window of 1-3 and I was really hoping he would show up at 1p but that wasn’t the case.  I settled in for a nap and when I woke up it was 2 pm.  I was starting to have second thoughts and decided to call to cancel.  That was the best move I could make.  They made me a better offer and I wound up getting an extra $100 rebate card.  So I went ahead with the install and after about 2 1/2 hours we were done.  Problem, the phone didn’t work.  So he had to make an adjustment, then the phone came to life.  I tested the alarm and it worked.  I noticed on our corded phones both lines (1 &2) lit up.  Back when my partner was alive, we each had a phone line, so I got us two line phones, so that each of us would have access to our lines in different places in the house and we didn’t have to go scurrying off for the phone.  I didn’t think anything of it at the time.  We went over the TV stuff and he was on his way.  Then I realized, we have a problem.  My line started to flash, which means it is in use.  After a couple minutes I figured out, there is a short on the line.  Well I didn’t have time to deal with it, but I tried to troubleshoot it quickly and failed.  I had to leave for dinner plans I had made with friends.  I had to drive like 80 to 90 mph and do some weaving, all on a very empty tank.  I made it spot on time.  I went to look for my friends and couldn’t find them.  Normally I make reservations but they couldn’t take us, so I said lets chance it.  I now know that if they can’t take us, don’t bother showing up in person.  The wait was 1 hour and 45 minutes for a table.  The place was packed from stem to stern.  So I called to find out where they were and told them about the SNAFU (Situation Normal All Fucked Up … just in case you wondered what it stood for).  They said they were close by but it took them like 10 minutes to finally show.  We decided to switch and visit P.F. Chang’s.  None of us had been there and all of us had wanted to go.  So we walked over and the wait was 45 minutes.  We said okay.  It was more like an hour but eventually we got our table.  There was a good sampling of man candy.  I found a server/busser that was the apple of my eye, he was perfect in every way.  Blond Hair, Blue Eyes, killer twink body.  I just couldn’t get enough of him.  I digress.  The food was really good.  I got Combo Fried Rice and we did Crab Wontons for an app.  I surprised my friends and picked up the tab, which was horribly expensive to feed 3 people and of course they had drinks so that didn’t help.  It’s not a good time for them right now, considering the stress of job loss looming so I figured I would hopefully give them a boost.  We headed out and it was close to 10p.  By the time I stopped for gas and made it home it was 10:45.  I should have relaxed and went to bed.  Nope back in telephone mode to figure out the issue.  Turns out that the phone in my office was punched down twice so that was the issue.  I had to remove everything and add it back, instead of going slow and testing as I went, I just went gang busters.  Then I had to rip it all out and do it over the right way.  By now we are looking at 1:30a.  Then I wanted to arrange the new Uverse equipment and get rid of the cable boxes, so they were all ready for me to take back.  It took a lot of time.  I had to figure out how I was going to keep my VCR & DVD working.  Thankfully COAX was the answer and both still work fine.  Now it’s time to get ready for bed.  It was 2a.  I knew that it would be 3 or later before I was asleep and I wouldn’t be worth a shit on Sunday.  I had to play with Uverse a little bit to try to figure things out, pretty straight forward and simple.  It’s just a matter of learning a new remote. 

Sunday the children were all over me at 630a.  I fended them off.  Then they came back around 8 and I said one more hour.  9 am came and they just didn’t give up.  So I got up and started moving.  I fed them and got dressed.  Off to breakfast where I ate way too much.  Then to the grocery store.  Then home.  I put away the groceries and then left to get a hair cut.  I had a coupon and well long hair drives me nuts.  I waited a little bit.  This hot looking twink walked in and I was sure to get his name as he gave it to the receptionist to check in.  Damn, he looks gay, acts gay but couldn’t tell a thing by his Facebook page.  I thought about asking him out and even offering to pick up his haircut but decided it wasn’t worth it.  Still I got to stare for a while and that was fun.  Then back home where I did what I never wanted to do in the first place.  Climb up on the roof.  I did it twice.  My late partner was into Amateur Radio and we have this monstrosity of an antenna on the house.  You have to put up guy wires, to help keep it in balance.  The one that goes towards the front of the house broke like 3 years ago.  We tried to fix it when he was alive but failed.  We always said when the weather got warmer we would tackle it.  After he passed that was the last thing on my mind.  So as you can imagine the thing was leaning and while it wouldn’t break or fall off the house, it could damage the damn thing.  I hate it because it is an eye sore, I have wished it to break many times.  Well I figured I should finally get off my ass and fix it.  So I did.  It was scary as hell and while the view was nice from the roof top, I quickly figured out that if I ever really wanted to take my own life, jumping from a high rise wouldn’t be an option.  I thought for sure I would have to call the Fire Department to get down but I managed on my own.  Still I had my phone and wireless panic button with me, just in case.  When I was a child I was on the roof of our carport and it took my brother plus my grandfather to get me off the roof, that is when I knew heights were not for me.  After the repair I drank a pitcher of ice cold water and relaxed in front of the TV as I prepared to tell the Uverse system what shows to record for me.  I made a list from TIVO but I knew a few of them so I just did those.  I still have plenty to add.  Then I PTFO (Passed The Fuck Out).  I woke up and was sore and had very little energy. The children pestered me once again so I got up.  I fed them lunch, it was 4p and they wanted lunch.  I finished cleaning the house and started laundry.  Then after a couple hours I made myself a pizza.  It was really good.  A Freschetta Brick Oven brand pizza, 4 meat.  I added a shredded cheese blend, because I love cheese.  Then topped that with fresh ground pepper and finished off with a sprinkle of the left over Parmesan cheese that I had.  In to the oven and after 18 minutes, into my belly.  Spicy, I went a little too heavy on the pepper.  However, that caused me to eat less which all things considered is very good.  I have left over's for breakfast or lunch, whatever the case maybe.  I am working on finishing up laundry so that I can get a shower, because I really need it. 

About the Uverse experience, the installer was a guy who was chunky but professional.  He said that he had been doing the job for quite sometime but a couple of his moves and I thought it was his first day on the job.  I did manage to get a free HDMI cable and an extra remote out of him, for no charge.  AT&T doesn’t give much away so I was thankful.  He kept asking me after he was done, if there was anything else he could do for me.  The first time I figured he was being professional the second and third time I started to think he is hitting on me.  I wanted to ask is there anything else that you want to do for me.  I have a tendency to read guys wrong and think they are flirting with me when they are just doing their jobs.  I know that desperate times call for desperate measures but he didn’t do anything for me from a physical perspective but he was very professional and I really liked that. 

I am thankful now that I no longer have to forward my home phone to my cell phone. I use the Find Me Feature so you call my house and it rings at home, plus up to 5 other numbers.  I just put in my cell phone and that seems to work out fine.  I added the office but figured out in testing, someone could wind up in my voice mail at work and I DONT want that, so I removed the number.  If there is ever a day that I am expecting a call I can always logon and add the office number.  Most everything with this system is controlled via an online portal.  You can make changes to your account easily on-line.  Plus control all of the features of the phone.  On the TV you have a menu as well that you can do a wide variety of things with.  I have the 450 package, which is everything under the sun in the way of networks and movie channels.  They have the Here Channel (gay TV) which I can add for $7 per month.  I have plans to stop by an AT&T store tomorrow to see if I can reduce the cost by removing the sports channels, they have an extra sports package and I have it but won’t ever watch it.  When I was being sold this by the door to door person, I was told that I could remove sports and save $7 per month – so that would actually allow me to add Here if I so chose.  I really wanted to downgrade to the next lowest package but you loose HD and that is $10 extra, add in the cost of the movie channels that I want and it’s a little more expensive than taking the package that I have.  While it’s still very early in the game I am really happy and think this was a smart move especially given that I can record 4 shows at once and no more worrying about will the DVR get the channel right.  I am used to my skip button on my TIVO which allowed me to easily skip commercials when watching a recorded show.  I have the ability with Uverse to fast forward but still you have to get it just right or else you are in to your show or still watching the last commercial.  I will get used to that and the remote eventually.  My biggest concern was the alarm system and down time.  The installer told me that unless the power goes out or the modem fails that the system will be up and live.  They don’t have down time and weather doesn’t affect service, just like cable.  The only difference is I am getting a little bit better deal, which is what makes this all worth it.  I am paying like $5 more per month for TV but given the fact that I have so much to choose from and the DVR, I think it’s worth it.  Plus now no charge for the wireless box, which works from a Cisco WAP (Wireless Access Point).  Basically you are outfitted with a modem and it’s separated in 3 areas.  1 for TV, 1 for Voice and 1 for Internet.  TV and Voice both come over the internet but that access is restricted so if you elect to do all 3, you get special access to the Internet and they have a business class firewall built in, so they thought of safety as well.  The cable modem is the basement and the Uverse modem is in the Living Room, so I would need to do some wiring changes but it’s pretty simple to flip the switch and move on over.  I have unlimited calling local and long distance and call even call Canada free.  I don’t have an international long distance (which costs more) but I wouldn’t use it if I did have it because all of the people I know and call are either in the US or Canada. 

Monday, thankfully I have an extra day off due to the Martin Luther King holiday.  I have an 11a doctors appointment and a 2p therapy appointment.  I plan on eating out for supper and then wrapping up loose ends here at home, getting the trash out and preparing to go back to work on Tuesday.  I am not excited about it because well it’s work, but more so because this is my last full week and weekend of peace and quiet.  Next Monday I will be on-call for a week.  Then a week of rest and back at it again the following week, which is when we change up to 1 person on call for the entire company.  That will be a jumping time I am sure, but the on-call hours won’t start until 11pm, most of the calls during the week are over with by 10p.  However, we do get calls at 1 and 2 in the morning, that will be the challenging part.  Then after that I am done until the end of May, when the next part of the schedule comes out.  My boss has it figured out that everyone will be on call 1 week every 13 weeks, do the math and that is 4 weeks per year.  Not bad at all.  However, if someone leaves that will shorten up the time, get a mass exodus and it could be a real pain.  They take good care of us, so I don’t foresee that happening.  The two things that I would love to get rid of in my job are phone time and on-call.  I have done my time in the trenches and deserve a break but this is what I signed up for.  If there is a next job I will be sure to make sure there is no phone time or on-call time.  The phone part should be easy to eliminate but the on-call part not so much.  That is pretty much a given in the IT field. 

Okay so I have rambled far too much.  I hope that all is well in your world and that you have had nice weather like we have had.  It’s time for me to follow my fortune cookies advice and “Relax & Enjoy yourself.”  Take care and I will talk with you peeps later. BTW there is a new podcast episode up, if your interested!

Time is running out

Today is the last day of unemployment for me!  Like the title of this post, time is running out for me.  Were fast approaching 7pm and that will mean going to bed early so that I can rise and shine early.  Tomorrow will no doubt be an adrenaline filled day. 

I did manage to oversleep today, but still got up at a decent hour.  I figured it’s my last day, why not enjoy it!  I fixed breakfast, got a shower and got dressed.  Then I went into my partners computer and checked his bank account.  The fraudulent charge finally materialized, so I woke him up and we went to the bank so he could sign paperwork to get his money back.  His account is negative now because of this.  The bank actually offered him a loan that costs $1.00 per every $10 that you take out.  He laughed at them and said no thanks. 

While we were at the bank my hearing went goofy, it felt like my ears needed to pop but couldn’t.  I thought maybe I was plugged up, but my nose was wide open. 

After the bank, my partner needed to eat he had taken some pain medicine because his back was acting up and he could barley walk.  We stopped at Denny’s because it was quick & cheap.  After that we went to the pharmacy. 

I picked up my new eye drops that cost $30, which is way better than the original prescription I had.  I also thought why not get a decongestant, that might help things along.  I found the cheapest thing they sold which was $7 and that was for 5 pills.  I was happy to see Tanner was working today.  If you follow my other blog, then you well know I’ve got a crush on this guy.  He bent over looking for my medicine and I got to see his nice bum.  Totally worth the trip to the pharmacy!  Too bad I can’t turn fantasy in to reality, but then again it might not be as much fun as I think it would be.

We arrived home, where I started washing clothes like no tomorrow.  Each time I went upstairs to get more laundry the cats greeted me and wanted to know where the food was.  I told them Daddy’s busy but I will be up in a little bit.  After a few hours of this up and down business and trying to get things accomplished, I finally gave up around 3pm and went upstairs.  I gave them some food and started watching television. 

My partner was napping all this time, but of course as soon as I come up to watch TV, he got up.  So he got a shower and about an hour later, we went out for supper.  While he was in the shower, the phone rang.  It was the place that was lining up 2nd round interviews for Wednesday & Thursday.  The guy called me on a speakerphone (as if this was some show or to make a spectacle of me) he said we had to choose between 13 people and I am sorry but you didn’t make it to the 2nd round.  In my very upbeat voice I said oh, okay.  He wished me luck and I said Thank you.  I suppose he thought after that call I was an ass, but that is what you get for calling me on a speakerphone.  I am sad in a way that they didn’t pick me because I really wanted to work there.  However, that just hammers home that this place where I am going tomorrow is where I am supposed to be!

Much to my surprise as we were leaving, Lawn Boy was here.  It was hot outside but unfortunately not hot enough for him to take off his shirt.  He was wearing Tommy Hilfiger shorts, so I guess business is good.  Damn that kid is rolling in the money!  Anyway I got to look at him.  We waived and said hello, then we were off.  So there is more money to shell out. Darn!

We made it to the post office and we were 1/2 way between where we wanted to go eat supper when my phone chimed that I had a voice mail.  I thought sure it was my new employer.  As I was getting the message, I had a call waiting.  I picked it up and knew right away it was the Alarm Company.  They said the glass break for our back door went off.  Crap, I told them not to send the police.  Before we left there was another cat on the back porch and I guessed that Blu rattled the door enough that it set off the alarm.  It was either that or Lawn Boy did something.  Either way we hightailed it home.

I peeked at the back door and there was Blu sitting looking straight at me as if to say Hello, why are you out there.  I went around and came in to look over things inside.  Everything was in order, no broken glass.  Just a bunch of scared cats.  I put in a bypass for the backdoor, reset the alarm and then we were on our way.  I so wanted to ring Blu’s neck that cat has done everything he can to piss us both off.  My partner thinks he wants out, but I said no he’s just try to protect his domain.  Too bad it wasn’t a female cat in heat, that would have been right up his alley! :)

We had Mexican for supper, which was awesome!  I said too bad supper tomorrow night won’t be this good.  My partner said how would you feel about KFC or something from the local BBQ Place.  I said either would be fine, but who’s got money for that?  He said well he might go back and take out that loan.  I said don’t do it, give them a little time and you will get all of your money back.  No sense in paying a penalty for fraud.  So it’s up in the air as to what we will have.  I know that he thawed out some Porch Chops and they are in the fridge, but I really don’t like them.  They always come out so dry and flavorless.  Fix them and chop them up, put BBQ Sauce on them and tell me you fixed BBQ pork, that will make my mouth water!

Oh yeah, money saving tip.  I looked up the new eye drops and found the manufacturers website.  Turns out that they have a rebate going for a while.  I will get a whopping $5.00 back, but it’s well worth it.  So anytime you get some new medicine and it’s brand name, look it up on Google you never know you might find a rebate and save yourself some money.

Well God’s been pretty good to me today.  I got to see two guys that I like.  I had a great meal and I’m working my tail off in getting laundry done and getting ready for my big day tomorrow.

To ensure that I sleep tonight, I took one of those decongestants, which should kick in.  I figured out my problem with my hearing, it was water in my ear.  All is back to normal now!  Well onward with the chores.  Not sure how I will feel tomorrow night, but I will blog about my first day back to work as soon as I can.  Thanks again to all who supported me during this difficult time, I am still truly grateful!  I will talk with you peeps later!