Eye Exam Time

Not a whole lot going on here but thanks for stopping by.  Friday was just blah boring usual workday and time got away from me before I realized I hadn’t posted anything. 

Went to see the new Eye Doctor.  Things went okay and I am pleased with the service and exam that I got.  What I think is going to cause an issue is that they are billing my medical insurance for the exam, which I don’t believe is covered.  I’m told that I have enough going on that they can get away with billing this to medical insurance.  If they don’t pay they are going to invoice me.  If I get a bill then I will have to argue that they need to submit the claim to my vision insurance and then I will owe my co-pay.  This is the first time anyone has billed my medical insurance for an eye exam.  Photo Fundis is covered by my medical.  They preformed that service.  What’s interesting is that the last eye doctor I saw told my PCP that I had the begging stages of diabetic retinopathy.  The new doctor said that my eyes are perfectly fine from a diabetic standpoint.  He said words that I didn’t think I’d hear until I was at least a decade older but I apparently have the start of cataracts.  It’s at stage 1 and very slight.  He said that it’s not uncommon with folks who have diabetes at my age.  We tend to get them earlier.  I have Blepharitis which I knew about and he asked if I was interested in going for a consult to check to see about surgery.  It’s plastic surgery and it may or may not be covered by insurance.  My eye lashes on the top lids grow downward and are almost touching my eye.  It only bothers me occasionally but those are words you don’t want to say if your looking to get insurance to cover the procedure.  For now I am letting things be.  He suggested an eye lash curler and I told him I’ve tried it but it doesn’t work so well for me and I don’t get how ladies do that to their eye lashes in the first place. 

My eyes have seen a lot in 53 years that I’ve been on the planet and I imagine there will be much more to see.  They served me really well for the first 40 years of life but ever since then it’s been a slow decline.  Starting with single vision glasses, then progressive lens.  The Blepharitis has been a thing that I noticed in my late 30’s and was told that it could be surgically corrected if I wanted.  I’ve done well thus far so that’s why I am tending to let it be.  If it becomes a huge major problem then I’ll get it addressed.  I am just not crazy about going under the knife for anything unless it’s absolutely necessary.  It’s about the recovery process and potential physical limitations that turns me off. 

Watched Lee Daniels The Deliverance on Netflix.  I am not about horror movies and tend to scream like a little girl.  I am surprised that didn’t happen while I watched this movie.  It was interesting and demons as well as the afterlife are something I have been taught are very real.  Simply put you don’t fuck with it, let it be.  Don’t try to talk to the dead or summon them. 

Had my usual Friday night / Saturday morning insomnia.  I don’t know why this kicks in without fail regardless of what I do short of taking a super high dose of sleeping medicine.  However, I really wasn’t crazy about getting going this morning but I pushed through it. 

Went out for Mexican at the close to home place.  It was pretty good.  Started out with me and one other couple there.  By the time I left the place was starting to fill up.  It was a nice fall day but we had some summer like temperatures by the afternoon. 

Just enjoying what’s left of Saturday.  I will be on to my usual Sunday routine and I have to go to Target.  I get my Birthday 5% off that will expire on Monday if I don’t use it.  I am not in the habit of leaving money on the table and besides that it’s been a close call with the cat treats.  They got to have those or Mora will drive me crazy.  She looks forward to that like her brother looks forward to play time before bed.  Interesting on what makes each of them happy.  They both partake in treats and play time. 

For giggles I went new car shopping on line last night.  Turns out the dealership has plenty of stock and there are some good deals right now both with discounts as well as financing.  I ran some numbers and looks like I can afford it, I would be back in payments which is something that I don’t want.  Besides that right now my car spies on my a little bit.  All new cars are super invasive when it comes to data about you.  I’m not keen about that.  However, the biggest thing is the quality control I don’t feel like what is being produced right now has quality in mind, there have been lots of recalls and I honestly don’t want to buy something new to find out there is a recall or worse yet have it break down.  What I have works might not have all of the latest and greatest features but it’s paid for and unless there is some offer that is just too good to pass up I plan on keeping it at least until around this time next year.  Everything is subject to change but that’s how I feel at the moment.  I have had new car fever for years and years.  If I get something new I can drive it for a week and I am ready to trade.  I really love what I have, there is a special connection there, once I get rid of the vehicle that connection is gone and I don’t know that I will have it with another vehicle but I do hope so. 

That’s it for my rambling.  Hope your weekend is enjoyable!

Plans Continue

Morning … I called to make an eye doctor appointment and turns out they are so in demand they are booking for September.  I asked for a Saturday and that put me close to the end of the month.  Like all doctors offices they have a bunch of new patient paperwork.  Thankfully it’s all available on-line and I’ve got it completed.  I picked at it yesterday until I got it completed. 

Booked a facial for the Friday after the doctor.  I got one last year and it felt pretty good.  I also have a coupon that will take $15 off the price and I was able to book with the same person I had last year.  Kind of looking forward to this. 

My Thanksgiving friends reached out to me and they ate at one of the pizza places that I like to travel to.  They remembered that I’ve got a birthday coming up and want to get together to celebrate.  We have everything but the time nailed down and I am just waiting.  It’s a text conversation, which means a lot of back and forth.  I asked about time and now I wait.  I hate texting, just pick up the damn phone you can accomplish so much more plus you get to hear tone of voice which helps to frame things. 

Looks like my little vacation is starting to come together with plans.  I still have time to myself to take the restaurant trips I want to as well as have time to rot or do whatever. 

Next Wednesday I will be doing my happy dance as it will be my Friday and then I get to start my time off and am looking forward to it. 

In other news I am trying some new cereal called Frosted Bran by Kellogg's.  Think of it as Raisin Bran minus the raisins.  Not bad but not exactly full of flavor.  I also don’t go hog wild and have bowl after bowl – for good reason. 

Today is back to school in my neck of the woods.  I saw one of the kids making there way up the street to the bus as I was eating my breakfast.  I used to dread that day now that day happens every Monday when it’s time to go back to work.  I just feel the same sense of dread in that I’ve got to go back there.  Don’t get me wrong I like what I do but working for a living isn’t exactly a picnic or a walk in the park. 

Over the last week or so I’ve got a new sleeping buddy.  Rudy has become a Velcro cat when I am in bed.  He feels the need to not only be in bed but to sleep up against me.  I enjoy his company but would just as soon be all by myself because I get into some strange positions.  This morning I woke up with my neck hurting. 

I watched the Matt Rife new special on Netflix last night.  It’s a crowd work special and he talks about dreams in various forms.  One of which is dreams like in sleeping.  I had the strangest dream last night.  I got a tour of some factory and kept searching for a way out of the place.  It was kind of funny and scary all at the same time and I was barefoot the entire time.  I was happy to finally wake up. 

I did finish the left over Fish and it was actually a little bit better reheated.  I had some Chocolate cake for desert and then just restrained myself the rest of the night even though I wanted more to eat.  Back to pulling from the freezer tonight.  I did skip lunch yesterday, just wasn’t feeling hungry.  I tried to take a nap but between the cats and my phone there was no way I was going to get rest. 

One meeting on the books for today.  It hasn’t been too bad for me being on-call.  Although the week isn’t exactly over with yet.  Were only half way.  Come on weekend!

Hope it’s a great day for you!  Thanks for stopping by and take care.

Not Feeling It

Morning … Woke up and headed out for breakfast.  I really had no idea what I wanted.  I got something that I had been wanting to try but it’s not a breakfast item to me.  It was a small skillet filled with Marinara and Meatballs covered in cheese and served with a side of Garlic Bread.  There were 4 meatballs and they tasted like generic restaurant meatballs, no real flavor.  I ate one of them and nibbled on a third one while polishing off one of the two pieces of garlic bread.  Then I called it quits, got a box and asked for some Bread Pudding.  Well don’t you know they changed the recipe up on that and it wasn’t like it was back when I first got it.  It looked more like overly decorated chocolate cake.  There were two large pieces.  I finished one of them and boxed the other.  Paid the bill and left.  It was not my usual enjoyable breakfast experience.  Hopefully, next week I am back on my game. 

Headed to the grocery store and breezed through there felt like I was there no more than 10 minutes but it was more like 15 or 20.  I got what I wanted minus ice cream because I couldn’t settle on anything.  Not that I actually need ice cream. 

Came home put everything away.  Loaded the dishwasher up and turned it on, then spent time with the cats.  Drank some Water and watched YouTube like we normally do.  It felt just as good as any other Sunday.  I stayed awake until 10a and then it was time for a nap.  That Bread Pudding sugar was wearing off.  I got Mora out of my lap and she went to her bed.  Rudy was occupying the bed so I had to move him over a bit and I climbed in with him.  We cuddled for a little bit and then I turned the TV off and passed out.  He woke me up by licking my face.  I dismissed him and he waited patiently for about 30 minutes before he tried again and I gave in.  Then I really got my face washed.  He was super happy, making biscuits and pouring on that salesman’s pitch of his. 

Got out of bed and headed to the kitchen.  Got Rudy his lunch and I put out my pills for next week, oh so much fun.  Then it was time to tackle the chore I hate the most, cleaning their water fountain.  I got through that and the whole time there was no water for them Rudy acted like he was so thirsty and just wanted a drink.  I put the fountain back and suddenly he wasn’t thirsty anymore.  Good thing I didn’t fall for his little act and rush the job. 

Cleaned the litter boxes and got the trash out.  Don’t really feel like running the vacuum today.  Just feel a bit out of sorts.  Need to get out to go find what I think will be my future eye doctor and grab a bite to eat for supper.  I’m in no rush it’s still early. 

Grabbed some additional laundry and came down.  The cats are comfortable in their cat trees napping and didn’t want to join me but I think if I stay down here long enough one of them might come down. 

That’s about it for Sunday.  Not looking forward to the week ahead because I will be on-call and holed up here another week.  Hopefully it will be a drama and stress free week but that’s kind of hoping to win the lottery but you never know it just might happen. 

Next Thursday will be the start of my vacation and I’ll be out for the rest of the month.  I am looking forward to the time away but coming back I will be on-call and playing catchup, that won’t be any fun at all but I knew that going into this.  I need the time away more than anything.  Thankfully I have a lot more time if I want to do this again before the end of the year and that is a real distinct possibility, just because I know that at the start of the year there will be additional stress headed my way.

Still thinking about Mexican food for supper it just sounds good but who knows where I will wind up stopping at.  I hope that your enjoying your Sunday and it’s relaxing!  Take care.

Sunday

Went to bed a little bit later than normal time and I really didn’t want to get up this morning. I managed to wake up on my own. No alarm clock and no cat. Slept with Rudy last night he was all snuggled up with me and when our eyes met this morning he perked right up as per usual and started making biscuits. Reluctantly I got out of bed and made my way to the kitchen to crack open a can of food for him and his sister. Heard the alert tone for the back deck camera and peeked outside. It was a squirrel that set it off. I didn’t know what to expect but glad that’s all it was.

Made my way to the bathroom to grab my meds and then to the bedroom to get dressed. I was off on my mission for breakfast. Had a Hamburger with an Egg and some fries. It was okay but not enough to satisfy my longing for McDonald’s. Nothing tastes like MCD except for the real thing. Anyway, I saw a cute guy this morning. He was with a female not sure if it was just a friend or his mom. Seeing him just spoke to me. I thought about using my usual trick to grab breakfast for him and his guest but just couldn’t bring myself to do it. I though about how I could tell him how cute or sexy he looked but also envisioned that possibly not going as well as I hoped it would. He got up to leave and damn the lower half looked just as good as the upper half. I wished I would have made a move but who knows our paths might cross again. He kind of looked familiar like I saw him there before. I know you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take, something held me back lord knows it wasn’t my hormones.

I made my Target run, got everything on my list and of course one of the things I thought I needed I don’t. I suppose it’s better to have extra than to not have at all.

Walked into the grocery store and came across a really fine-looking guy pushing a baby with his wife. He had to be in his late 20’s to early 30’s. We managed to stay in each other’s view for a while. I could follow him all day long and not buy a damn thing. I managed to skip the cookie isle because I was looking for Braunschweiger. I looked last week and no luck. This week I found it on a top shelf all by itself. Just had a craving for it. I got a small log of it, which is way more than I need but I’ll be munching on it during the week.

I felt rushed in the store like I couldn’t get out of their fast enough. There was no urgency in leaving I just managed to hit the high points and get out. Not sure what that was about. Went on a ride afterwards to check on my neighbor’s new house. It’s coming right along. Noticed a large swimming pool in the back yard full of water and it looked so inviting. I am hoping they will be moving out soon but their present house is not for sale yet. They can’t be gone fast enough for me.

Stopped off for gasoline and wow the vehicle was thirsty for gasoline, 9 gallons worth. Then came home and unloaded and put everything away. Both cats wanted to get in my way, which is kind of normal when I come home. Mora hogs the door way and doesn’t want to let me inside but at the same time she’s happy to see me. Felt really good walking into the house as the AC had been running and it was starting to get hot. It’s a heat wave for sure and there are a few people out and about but they are either at it early in the morning or much later in the evening. You don’t see anyone during the day.

I relaxed and watched a podcast with the cats. I felt pretty good but laying down sounded so good. I snuggled up next to Rudy and he just ran his motor on low and loved me giving him attention and being so close. Eventually my arm fell asleep and I had to move. After a while I felt the drowsiness coming on and managed to snap out of it. The podcast ended and that’s when I turned off the TV and rolled over. I was out for about a half hour. Felt really nice and woke up right next to Rudy.

I got out of bed and headed for the kitchen. Time to put out my medicine for the week ahead which is never a fun task. Then I opted to work on house cleaning and taking out the trash. The vacuum caused the cats to scatter and peek out at me like we were playing a game of hide and seek.

That brings me to now. I need to grab my laundry from the dryer and head up to put things away. The rest of the day is absolutely free and wide open. Thinking about supper I am wanting to go to a different Mexican place just because the food tastes better. I get something different at almost every Mexican place I go but when I find the one dish that I like when I am at that place it’s what I order. I feel exhausted and want to make the trip but think about the heat and wonder if I might be better off staying close to home. I’ve got a bit to sort that out, one thing is for sure I will not be going hungry.

Last night I found myself searching for a new Eye Doctor. I’m lucky in that I have two different eye care insurance plans I fall under. There’s the plan that my spouse left me which 100% covers the cost of the exam but they pay next to nothing for glasses. There isn’t a whole lot of providers to choose from. Then there is the plan from work they have a base plan that everyone gets by default for free. They have expanded coverage which is generous for frames, lenses and coatings. The cost of the exam is a co-pay of $15. The plan costs me $9 per month which isn’t bad at all. They have a ton of providers to choose from. I’ve not been happy with my choice for an eye doctor for a while and finding someone who I like seems to be quite the task. I’m not looking for a salesman to push a bunch of supplements, run a bunch of useless tests and try to drain my wallet for nothing more than greed. I’m looking for someone who is good at their profession, has decent people skills, who will help me with the eye issues that I face and carries Nike frames. I don’t think I am unreasonable with my expectations but it seems to be a game of trial and error. The last guy I have seen for two years gives me the choice to have my eyes dilated or to use photos. I go with the photos because we review them together. People skills are lacking and they have no on-line portal which you can see your records but you can make appointments on-line. I’m still in my search but I think I might have found a place. The original guy I had before his staff decided one day arbitrarily that my account was past due and started harassing me uses both the photos and dilation, he had great people skills and worked with me on my eye issues. However, when you tell me that I didn’t pay a bill that I know I paid it messes up our relationship and that’s why I left, despite apology after apology from them. The eyes are the gateway to the soul. They also can reveal so much about health and I’d like to be able to continue to see and know that my eyes are in good shape. Hence the yearly checkup but I am growing tired of searching to find a provider that I can call mine and end this seemingly endless search. Here’s hoping it all comes together. It’s one of the tasks that I’d like to knock out while I am on vacation.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope that you’re enjoying your weekend and that life is treating you well.

Blursday

Feels kind of like Wednesday but it’s Thursday.  I always manage to loose track of the days of the week when a holiday falls on a Monday.  It just feels strange not knowing for sure what day it is until I look at at my phone or computer. 

I enjoyed the Penne Alla Vodka last night.  It wasn’t what I was expecting it to be but it was good.  I’m enjoying another pasta dish tonight.  I really hope that I can continue to discover new frozen pre-made foods as my pallet enjoys trying new things.  I don’t want them to be a flop but that’s kind of part of the gamble with trying something new. 

My eyes continue to drive me nuts with itching and feeling dry.  I keep putting drops in with the hope that this will all clear up soon.  If not might have to make an appointment for an eye exam, which I kind of really want to skip this year.  I usually go closer to my birthday.  Most people hate the dentist for me it’s the eye doctor.  All of the messing with my eyes and asking me if A or B is better, it just is an experience that I hate.  Not to mention that I really haven’t found an eye doctor that I am truly satisfied with for years.  The one good one I had messed it up with some fraudulent billing.  I wish that I could get a comfort feeling for an eye doc.  I know it’s important not to skip the visit due to having diabetes, a lot of problems can show up in your eyes first.  I guess that is why they call it the window to the soul. 

Had an okay evening watching some Reba, some You Tube Videos and saw a movie on Starz but I honestly don’t remember the name of it.  Caught up on social media, I was behind by a whole day.  I hate playing catchup.  I still have some daily blog reads that I have to catch up on, which I plan later today. 

It’s a nice serene Thursday morning and I’m hopeful that it stays that way.  I’d like to go spend some time with the cats and get in a nap.  I’ll have my phone with me so it’s not like work can’t find me if I am needed.  I’m sure that the phone will keep me from really enjoying any quality sleep.  Sleep is kind of like sex and food, I can’t get enough and the more I get the more I want. 

Trash day is tomorrow so I don’t have to scramble today but I am sure that a lot of my neighbors will be doing that out of habit.  I checked the web and it says that pickup for sure is Saturday.  That will make the weekend feel a little weird but I’m sure I will adjust. 

Hope all is well in your world and that the sun is shining.  Looks like were finally done with rain for a few days and we get to dry out.  I’m all for that.  Take care!

Rambles

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Seeing Fine

I got the recall work done on my vehicle so it shouldn’t burst into flames or so I hope.  I had time to come home take a quick nap and bathroom break.  Then it was off to see the eye doctor. 

They made me mad.  I got a birthday coupon good for $25 and I have a $15 co-pay.  When I walked in I asked the receptionist if I could use that towards my co-pay and she said yes.  Turns out it’s not good for co-pays.  They put a disclaimer at the bottom.  Hell if I wasn’t getting glasses, which I didn’t then how would I possibly use this?  They wanted to reduce the cost of the photos they took so the insurance company wouldn’t have to pay as much but screw that, it’s a covered service and won’t cost me anything.  Despite my appointment there was a long line to get into an exam room.  Overall, things are stable and remain the same as last year.  I went in without any glasses and there were times I felt so lost and couldn’t read a damn thing.  I hate this old age stuff.  When I turned 40 is when I needed glasses, I actually wanted them.  Now that I have them I want to give them back and go back to normal 20/20 vision. 

I went shoe shopping but tried on a couple pair and couldn’t find anything to my liking.  Then on to grab cat food and a stop at Sam’s Club.  I am really surprised I made it home.  The heat was getting to me and I felt like I was going to drop at any minute.  I got all but 2 items at Sam’s because they didn’t have what I needed, not because I forgot. 

That accomplished my goals for the day.  I made it to the basement and let Mora & Rudy roam around.  She has wanted down here all week.  Scratching at the door and sitting in front of it for hours like it’s going to magically open.  I wondered if there was something down here but nope, just me at the moment. 

Need to charge and change my exterior camera batteries.  Tomorrow is transmission service day.  That is going to be expensive.  I heard one of the service guys talking today at the dealership if you wait for the fluid to burn, you have waited too long.  Much to my surprise the dealership had very little inventory and the place wasn’t crawling with people like it normally is.  There were 3 of us in the waiting room. 

Paid and watched a decent Gay Drama on Prime, called Lonesome.  There was a decent amount of nudity and sexual scenes.  It wasn’t a porn film but for $2.99 I feel like I got more than my monies worth of just looking at the guys.  It was an interesting story. 

I hated getting up at 6:30a to shower, eat and get out the door but next week will be like that but I will be getting up at 6a.  I need to get up early tomorrow and am on the fence if I want to take a shower or not.  Kind of depends on how I feel in the morning.  I will budget enough time.  I’d like to grab breakfast out.  Thinking of going to Cracker Barrel again just to see “the guy” and see what his reception is like.  They have good food and if I make it there I will eat something but I am going for a different reason. 

Never heard back from the guy I responded to on the dating app.  I think it was just a good will gesture on his part to say hello to the old man who liked him.  He didn’t like me back just messaged me.  I’m not looking to jump into bed with anyone, I just want companionship, to grab a bite to eat, learn about someone else and have them learn about me.  If we wind up in bed great but that’s not my plan for the first or even second date.  Fun fact I have had a few first dates but never a second date. 

One more day of vacation, then the weekend and back to the old grind on Monday.  I’ve been slightly depressed the last few days with having a little time on my hands.  Right now it feels like I don’t have a purpose but that will all change next week when I am back working.  I dread the mess I am going back to and hope that there aren’t too many fuck up that I have to fix.  I’ve only got one day to catch up and then Tuesday it’s on to my fun project. 

Hope all is well in your world.  Take care. 

First Facial

Good morning everyone and Happy Friday!  I’ve got some vacation time planned a couple days before my birthday and then the entire week afterwards.  I really thought about going to Hawaii or taking a trip to somewhere but since I got the cats I kept waffling do I or don’t I.  No surprise, I am not going anywhere.  Given that I am their 3rd owner I didn’t want them to think that I was leaving them and would never return.  Yeah they would probably adjust while I was gone but then there is that added cost of boarding and it just seemed easier to stay home. 

I’ve got a semi-busy week planned for myself.  Seeing the doctor a couple days before I turned a year older, trying to get together with a friend for lunch the day before and work in an oil change in the same day.  The weekend is for resting.  The following week that Monday is Labor Day.  Tuesday I booked my first ever professional facial and after that I get a deep tissue massage for 90 minutes.  That combo is going to be a little costly but hey if it makes me feel better and maybe look a little better why not.  I booked the massage and the facial was an after thought.  I’ve done at home facials before but I think I will get a better benefit from the professional touch.  Wednesday is a day of rest and I expect that I will be really sore and won’t want to do a damn thing.  Thursday I see the eye doctor for my annual exam.  The only thing left to work in is the recall work on my vehicle that I just got sent.  I plan to call on Monday to see if I can squeeze that in while I am off.  It’s amazing what you can cram into a week.  Now that I have given you this little word puzzle, can you tell me what day my birthday is without peeking at past years posts? 

I know that after having a bunch of time off I will NOT want to go back but Monday, September 11th is scheduled to be my first day back.  I’ve got plenty of time left so it’s possible that I will take some additional time.  Most likely in the Winter around holidays.  Then again if I meet a guy maybe there will be a trip in my future.  Fingers crossed, but I won’t hold my breath.  I don’t look or feel really that well when I turn blue like a Smurf. 

Last night was a quiet night and outside of tending to the cats, primarily Mora I was able to get some writing in.  I did have a chance to try the OCR conversion software.  It made a word document but it was all in my handwriting and not all of what I wrote came over.  Thankfully, it was a trial version so I didn’t commit any money.  I have since removed it and resumed hand typing.  I have the computer read it back to me and I make corrections and edits.  I am happy to say that I have 3 stories transcribed and saved.  Since your reading this just curious if I would publish them is anyone interested in reading them?  I am mulling over the possibility of sharing them, that is kind of a turn on for me.  In the end the final call is up to me but once the preverbal cats is out of the bag there is no going back.  That’s why I am taking my time with the decision. 

I was up twice last night.  Once from a bad dream to use the bathroom.  Don’t really remember that much from the dream, it’s fuzzy.  The other one got me up at 5a when in my dream I went to squish a bug that was on the wall with my foot and my leg cramped up.  Yeah, that will get me up in a hurry.  It hurt and normally I scream like a little girl but this time I was oddly quiet.  I didn’t even get up out of bed I was able to make it go away with flexing my foot.  However, when I did finally get up my calf muscle was sore.  My grandfather used to get the same thing, he called them Charlie Horses.  He said that he was low in quinine and that eating grapefruit was the cure, plus he took some kind of doctor prescribed pill and the two fixed the issue.  I can’t eat grapefruit because I am on a statin but pink grapefruit sounds good or even pink grapefruit juice.  Haven’t had that in forever. 

I’ve been up since 5a and sat in my room watching TV.  When 7a rolled around and it was time to get moving, that’s when I was oddly ready to go back to bed.  Where was that feeling 15 minutes after I woke up?  I told the cats that I believed a nap was in our future.  Here’s hoping that if/when that happens my phone closes it’s eyes as well so I am not bothered.  Not a whole lot going on today but still have to keep a watch on things, you never know when trouble will strike. 

I hope you have a great day and weekend.  Talk with you all again soon, be well!

The record so far.

Last night I brought a close to a story that was a whopping 40 handwritten pages long. I took forever telling it to help draw it out and add character to it. There was drama and sex. I don’t know what it’s going to translate to typewritten and I tend to make some minor changes when I type it out. Having the computer read it back to me is hot. The entire story was a huge turn on for me and it’s about a guy that I have a massive crush on. It’s all just my version of a dream but it’s a hot dream. It’s so hot that I wore myself out writing it. I was exhausted when I got in front of the TV. I started watching porn and fell asleep.

I had mixed feelings about falling asleep. It’s good that I can turn my brain off, but I had other plans that I really wanted to accomplish. I got another good night’s sleep. More bad dreams but this was about work and it was strange. It’s like I was trapped in the Matrix and couldn’t get out.

Rudy and Mora were so good yesterday. I gave them each some attention. Mora being Mora wanted more than what I offered. I got her to settle down and I passed out some cat nip as a reward before I went to bed.

In usual form Rudy had me up early. I couldn’t go back to sleep but I tried. He came and laid on top of my chest. He looked so cute once he settled down and lowered his head. He was sleeping. After 30 minutes of trying to go back to sleep myself I gave up. My brain was on. Now I am fumbling on who to write about next. I’ve got a list but just having a hard time picking from the list. I kind of want to start on typing up what I finished last night. Ah paralyzed by choice the story of my life. I’ll figure it out.

Today is my last day of free time. Tomorrow is going to be a full work day, a busy day at that and one that I do not look forward to at all. Today I celebrate my work anniversary, 9 long years at the same place. I made it. I’m quite proud, my longest record is 5 years at one place. I’m shooting to make 10 here. Not sure if that will happen but it probably will. I’ve got my first meeting with my boss since my little fuck up on the call last week. I hope he didn’t hear me and doesn’t bring that up. I’m nervous but going to play it cool. If it comes up then I will worry about it. Otherwise, I am going to let it go. I did some looking last night and thinking of taking a week after my birthday. I won’t want to come back I know but the boss is after me to use my time. I will still have 4 days that I need to use before the years is up. 2 of those could be for my next, next Dr. appointment in November. I always want to take time in the winter as well. I try to roll over 2 weeks if I can because you never know what the future holds. I am sure that if I have my way, I will wind up just under 80 hours of carry over but only time will tell.

I dread going outside today, it’s really hot. I just need to push the trash bin out to the curb. That is an afternoon task for sure. Hoping that I won’t be so incredibly tired tonight when it’s time for bed. I’d like to enjoy some porn and then I’m happy to fall asleep. Since I am not looking forward to tomorrow my insomnia might act up, depending on how I feel I may or may not take some extra medicine to help ensure a good night’s sleep.

Peeking out the window I’ve got a vine that is trying to take over the side of my house and deck. I will need to tame that this weekend. The neighbor has weeds in his back yard and lots of grass that should be mowed. I’d love to see him shirtless pushing that mower, sweating up a storm and showing me his body. I don’t think that will happen but hey a guy can dream, there’s no charge for that.

Here’s hoping that the rest of the day is great and doesn’t go by terribly fast but fast enough. I am not as thirsty today and my sugar was for sure elevated yesterday. Pizza is gone. Not sure what is for dinner tonight. I also polished off that sandwich, the secret ingredient I found was pimento spread, aw that worked so well on the sandwich and paired well with the bread and roast beef. I will be looking for another one of those on Sunday when I am back to do grocery shopping. Right now, a nap sounds really tempting.

Stay cool, hydrated and don’t do anything that I wouldn’t do. Talk with you all again soon.

Today’s model’s Eric Rey & Travis Stevens.  Photo credit CockyBoys!

Pleasant Evening

Tuesday morning was rough to get going but I made it. Cold out and I got a little bit of a jump on the commute to make it to the office at my normal desired start time. I saw one person which was our receptionist. I got water and then spent the morning in my office and when I had a chance to look up it was 11a. I stood up and stretched out then a quick trip to the restroom and back to my desk where I was in a meeting. Before too long it was noon and I got a note from my vendor asking to move the meeting. It was either up 1 hour or come back on Thursday. I opted to move the meeting up 1 hour. I wound up painting myself into a corner and had less than 30 minutes to gobble a sandwich for lunch. I continued to work so really didn’t take lunch. The vendor gave me the bad news that the install swap will take about 3 days of work and that is starting at around 6a to 7a. You know I will probably have to be on-site all 3 days and that is something I don’t look forward to, much less breaking it to Gator, she will take it the hardest. Right now, it’s a matter of waiting for the quote to come in and I am sure this will not be a cheap job. There is a rush to get the work done so I am sure the quote could be a million dollars and they will bite for it. Just waiting for a few days to see what comes rolling in. While no time is really ideal, I hope that we can do the work next year vs. in the month of December. They don’t work evenings and it’s going to be a big mess no matter when the work is done. I left at 3:30p and made it home by 4:30p. I promised Gator I would be home by 5p.

I did take a little bit of time to play at work but it was less than 10 minutes. I tried to test this new hard drive and it froze up my machine. That was the final straw. When I came home, I formatted the drive one last time. Then started the return process and quickly whisked it off to the UPS Store to get my refund credited back to my account. I ordered a new drive, the one I wanted in the first place and it will be here on Saturday. It’s a normal spinning hard drive there is only 12TB of space which is a lot less than the original drive I bargained for but I hope that the 12TB will be more reliable and that is the compromise along with paying a bit of a higher price that I was willing to gamble on. I think I will be very happy in the end.

Of course, no day is complete without some chaos. When I arrived home and got in front of my computer to grab this defective hard drive, I heard an alarm coming from the closet. The UPS that was powering the modem, router and water softener was dead. The power was on but the alarm signaled that the battery was dead. Despite all hope I tried to revive it but knew in my heart that wouldn’t be possible. I had to make yet another Amazon purchase and got a replacement. Oddly enough I picked something that was made for low powered devices, it was on sale for around $60 and I had delivery same day within a few hours. It’s powered up and has been charging all night. I need to take time to do the install it will mean that my home will be offline for about 15 minutes. I am thinking later this evening when things have more of a chance of being calm but you know no matter when I do the work I will be cursed and something will come in needing my attention.

I finally was able to get settled in next to Gator around 6p and started watching 9-1-1 but only got in a few minutes when I got an alert from Twich that Andrewgoesplaces (Andrew Neighbors) was live. Man, he hasn’t streamed in a very long time. I got to his channel and paused the TV. It was really good to see him. I figured the stream would last a few minutes but it went on for 2 hours. I wound up turning the TV off and watching his stream as my evening entertainment. I am not a gamer or as he says gaymer but I was more there to listen to him talk and he did spend a good portion of the stream just talking and not playing a game. He has had some drama happen to him, which kind of caused him to take a pause from being online. It kind of makes sense why his YouTube channel name changed to Andrew. I didn’t know the back story but now that I do it all makes sense. It was a great way to spend the evening and I felt refreshed. Kind of a bonus to the day. I always enjoy watching his streams. He’s quite pleasing to the eyes. He even showed his chest and arms towards the end of the stream and it was pretty quick. He never disappoints with showing skin!

As if seeing Andrew wasn’t good enough, earlier in the evening, I got a call from a jeweler that had my late mother-in laws diamond ring on consignment for close to 10 years with the news that it finally sold. I remember the day I dropped it off and needing money right away, my heart sank when they told me it could be up to a year before it sold. I got out of that jam and into many more but here we are almost 10 years later and it finally sold. I am not getting nearly what it was worth as I had to settle and with it being on the market, I reduced the price in the past few years so I am getting even less. I can’t remember what I opted for but the check will be in the mail today and I should have it by the weekend or so I hope. I got to the point where I forgot about the ring being there but when it would spark my memory from time to time, I would call to check on it. I am surprised that it took this long to sell but it was an old-fashioned diamond ring that was kind of out of present fashion style or so the jeweler told me.

While I hope that seeing Andrew and the ring selling is the wind changing direction and perhaps things are on the upswing for me and I want nothing more, I think that it’s just good fortune that happens to all of us from time to time. It would be nice if I was wrong and if life was a bit rosier than it has been of late I for sure I am not holding my breath. Just taking it one day at a time and dealing with whatever comes my way but I for sure hope that the good far outweighs the bad.

It's really cold here today and feels much more like December. A nice day for soup and blankets. I was really sleeping pretty well. The alarm clock had to wake me up and that almost never happens it’s either my own internal alarm clock or Gator that wake me the most. I really didn’t want to get out of bed but hey I got to sleep an hour longer today despite being up a few times during the night with Gator.

Here’s hoping for a great day for all of us. Middle of the week and last day of November. It’s all downhill from here as we count down the final days of the year and go marching into 2023. Take care and we will talk again soon. Stay warm!

Weekend Recap

Gator and I have had a relaxing weekend thus far.  She continues to eat at all hours of the day and night.  Seems to be feeling a bit better.  Now I think I am the one who is getting sick. 

Saturday … I had my eye exam with a new doctor.  They were not as throughout as previous eye doctors I have been to.  However, I was able to confirm that what I heard from the last eye doctor was a bunch of shit, he was trying to make money off of me.  There are no mites or bugs in my eyes and I don’t suffer from dry eye syndrome.  This was however the first eye exam that I went through where I didn’t have my eyes dilated.  I did have my eyes photographed by some fancy new machine (the last guy had the same machine) and saw that there was some minor blood leakage in my right eye which is caused from Diabetes.  There were two spots.  The left eye had zero.  The last doctor said that I suffered from this in both eyes, again not true.  My left eye has changed for vision in that it is minorly worse but no change in the right eye.  I was told that changing glasses was optional since the change was so minor.  It would make me be able to see a little bit better but not by a whole lot.  I got a written prescription for new computer glasses and I will take a peek at Warby Parker for some new frames and lenses.  Insurance will pay for some perhaps all, I don’t remember what happened last year.  I don’t wear my distance glasses on a regular basis so there is no point in changing them, the current prescription is good enough.   I am kind of on the fence if I want to go back to this place or move on to a new place next year.  I’ve got plenty of time to think about it. 

I talked about the photos of my eye.  Those are important and really in my book the bread and butter of the eye exam.  It gives the doctor a look inside the eye in places they can’t normally see and since most everything is digital they can zoom in to inspect even better.  They wanted to charge me for the photos saying that insurance wouldn’t cover it and that it was $45.  After talking with the doctor he said they would submit it to my medical insurance provider but the cost is now $130.00.  I don’t understand the large price change and it feels deceptive and unethical to change the price that much.  I can tell you that the insurance won’t pay that amount they will give them something much smaller, but I didn’t say a word.  There is diabetes care through my vision insurance it has an additional co-pay of $20 for me but it would cover this test and a few more things but no eye doctor that I have ever been to wants to use it they all seem to think they will get more money from my medical insurance, jokes on them.  Plus there is no co-pay for me most every type of test is covered on my medical insurance and it doesn’t cost me a thing. 

Since I didn’t have my eyes dilated there was no excuse for a nap but I went home and took one anyway after I grabbed the mail.  Sat with Gator and watched old Big Bang Theory episodes.  Then I got up at about 3p and ventured over to the cat food store and picked up some food for Gator.  After that I drove to the Olive Garden and got a table for myself.  Service was abysmal.  The ice tea had very little raspberry or peach flavor to it, getting refills took way longer than it should have.  The same goes for placing my order.  I left no tip and just got the hell out of dodge.  I was full and the food was enjoyable.  They charged $5 for a glass of iced tea, that is overkill to me.  If I would have known that I would have never ordered it.  The original draw was the Never Ending Pasta Bowl but for a few dollars more I got the Tour of Italy and that was enough to stuff me without having to ask for refills on pasta.  I saw a waiter/busser with a name tag of Easy E and he was very easy on the eyes.  I would have liked to spend some time with him.  He was however on his way out the door for the day. 

After all of that fun I headed back home and spent the evening with my girl curled up in my lap sleeping.  I turned the furnace on for the first time last night.  The house had a chill in it all day long and I was over it plus the low for the night was going to be 37 but there was also a frost warning in place.  The heat felt good to both of us and it’s on for the year now.  We have some warmer days in the week but I don’t really expect the house to need to be cooled again this year but I could be incorrect. 

Right now I have plans to stay home this week.  I’d like to go in and could change my mind.  I really want to see if the lawn people try to mow. The lawn is dead a good portion of it has turned brown and the rest of it isn’t growing.  There is no reason to mow. 

Sunday … I woke up with a sore throat and not exactly feeling the best.  I managed to get dressed and get out for breakfast.  My breakfast was paid for by a stranger.  I was told a couple that had already left sitting behind me paid my bill but they were gone.  Wow that doesn’t happen that often.  I was actually thinking about doing the same for someone else.  I guess the good thought brought me some good luck.  It’s kind of long overdue but I don’t know that my good luck streak will last much past that but I am sure open to it.  I hit up the grocery store and bought some soup and crackers.  That I think will be my supper.  I need to put gas in the vehicle but I had to use the restroom and just made a b line home after the grocery store.  I should get out to Target but don’t know if that will happen today or not.  I’ve had a nap and fed Gator twice.  She didn’t eat the breakfast I put out for her until I held the plate for her when I returned from the store.  Spoiled much?  Yeah she is.  I need to clean up the house and am currently working on laundry. 

I noticed a large piece of paper sticking in my door when I got home from the store.  Turns out it was from the dreaded HOA and they want their money.  They are only going back 2 years so it’s kind of a bargain for me in that we have never ever paid them a dime.  This is the first of 3 notices.  For what they want I can tell you it would cost more to file a lawsuit which they won’t.  It will also cost them more to put a lien again the house which I don’t expect they will do.  My plan is to ignore them in the hopes they will eventually get tired and go away as they have in years past.  There is new leadership and everyone always starts off strong by promising to get people to pay their dues and they will be aggressive with past due people.  Well put your notices on my door, tell the neighborhood via  news letter that I didn’t pay my dues to embarrass me I really don’t care.  I do not plan to pay at this time.  It will take something great to make me change my mind.  They give me nothing for my money, they use the money to pay for insurance on common ground that I do not use but the HOA owns because they failed to negotiate a deal with the city to buy the land.  Another subdivision backs up each side of this common ground and the though process is that they could get sued if someone gets hurt.  I could careless, they can’t sue me it’s not my property and I am not part of the HOA but the HOA seems to think I am on board with them.  I can tell you not everyone here likes or wants an HOA.  They have a bunch of stupid ass rules but do nothing to enforce them and again I get no benefit from paying them it’s like I am just setting fire to my money and that isn’t something I am in the habit of doing.  If I was actually getting some benefit to paying dues then I would reconsider but as for now I say fuck off.  You’ve got a better chance at winning the lottery than getting a dime out of me. 

Speaking of money I need a new chair mat and hit up the local office supply store for one after shopping for Gator’s cat food on Saturday.  I was astonished to see that they wanted between $50 and $99 for a piece of plastic that sits on the floor.  I walked out empty handed and ordered from Amazon.  I got the same thing they were selling for $36 which is far more reasonable and it’s being delivered to my front door.  Everything is starting to get so expensive.  Gas was doing down but it’s on it’s way back up again.  I can’t help but think that prices are going to get far worse before they ever get better. 

Here’s hoping that I am not sick and can work this week.  There is plenty to do and with the boss away it’s the best time of year, even if it will only last for a few days out of the entire week.  Fingers crossed that my good luck streak continues. Hope it’s a great week for all of us!

Bye Trapper Guy

The trapper guy came back yesterday, must have been early morning.  I was watching for him in the afternoon.  I went out to check the traps and found they were reset and baited.  He switched to Little Debbie's Honey Buns.  A quick internet search told me that he was for sure targeting Racoons.  Those things are irresistible to them.  I don’t believe a groundhog would eat them since they are vegetarians.  I tripped the first trap so it was closed.  I moved the other trap closer to the groundhog’s egress to make it more likely that it would go in rather than bypassing it. 

This morning I went out the trap I moved closer was tripped but we caught Casper again.  Nothing in the trap but portions of the honey bun were ripped away from both traps.  I called the guy this morning and wound up waking him up, but it was 8a and I didn’t care.  I asked him to stop trapping for now and come back in the Spring.  He said when you see the groundhog again call me and I will come back.  Okay whatever just take your traps and be gone!  I don’t know that I will call him come Spring that will largely depend if I can find someone else that will do what I want instead of going on a wild goose chase to try to make a buck off of me and wind up trapping & killing an animal that is not the target.  I am so glad that were done for now.  I’m pretty positive that it’s Raccoons that have been by that have been tripping the traps, if that is not it then it escapes me as to what else it could be. 

Speaking of traps I checked all of the snap traps and still no more kills.  My bedroom had the faint smell of that gasoline like odor last night, not exactly sure what that is about.  Last night was the first night in a long time that I didn’t vacuum before bed to clean up Gator’s mess.  She was sleeping and I think she didn’t feel the greatest so I wanted to give her a break.  I had to wake her to give her medicine and then she wanted to be in my lap. 

I got 2 wake up calls last night from her.  1 of which was just after 1a.  I had to sit up for an hour before I could go back to bed.  Finally back to sleep and I woke up around 5a to feed her again.  Then back to bed for a bit and I knew that I would have to get up to get started.  I closed my eyes to just enjoy the moment.  I heard the loudest cat hiss that I’ve heard in a very long while.  It sounded like it was right next to me.  I looked around no Gator.  She hisses just before she throws up.  I checked on her and she was sleeping.  I’ve got no idea where that came from but I know what I heard.  I eventually got going and gave Gator her breakfast. 

The day started off and I was just moving right along.  Work is coming in steady but I am working one task at a time and taking my time at that.  There is no reason to rush I’ve got all day long.  Just took a quick break to check on Gator she is passed out in my room.  I grabbed a soda and a quick snack then came back down.  Prepping a couple documents for my eye doc visit on Saturday.  I really hope that this goes well.  I will find out soon enough if what the last doc told me was BS or if he was just pushing products & services to make a buck to have me support the fact he built a new office. 

I am so exhausted from the past month of what has been pretty much non-stop work.  I am happy my boss is away for a week as well.  I am finding it difficult to recover from being overwhelmed.  I can breath but there are times when it feels like I can’t catch my breath (figuratively speaking).  It seems like no amount of rest is enough and the weekends just aren’t long enough.  Hopefully, all of this will soon subside as we start getting more into the end of the year. 

We had our big meeting that Management wanted.  It was much to do about nothing.  Were opening another office next year that was the BIG news.  It sure looked like they were going to ask us to come back for 5 full days but thankfully that didn’t happen. 

Looking forward to what I hope is a chill rest of today and the same vibe for tomorrow as we ease on in to the weekend.  I can’t wait to shut off my phone, that just makes me feel so good for some odd reason. 

Hope you are having a great day! 

Stressed

Yesterday was a very long day.  I was all calm and happy when I left the office.  It had been a rough day but it felt like I was leaving it all behind.  Little did I know that I would need to do more work once I got home.  A co-worker needed my help and essentially dumped a problem in my lap.  Gator was wanting me to give her attention which I couldn’t since I was trying to work so that I could eventually get some food for myself.  It was like everything just came crashing in at once. 

The trap guy was back during the day and put more bait in the traps and reset them.  I attempted to reposition one of the traps and sprung it.  I couldn’t get it reset so I opened it up, got the bait out and just left it tripped.  I removed the bait from the second one and tripped it.  Then discarded the bait.  He’s positioned these to catch Raccoons and not a groundhog.  If he was interested in the groundhog he would have the trap set so when the groundhog immerges it would have no choice but to go for the trap but he’s giving it free reign to roam and bypass the traps.  If I can catch him when he is out next to check on the traps I am going to ask if we can call it quits for now, I am over this.  It is getting very cold pretty close to freezing at night and I think the groundhog is done for the year.  Let the damn thing spend the winter underneath my house one last time and then we can work on catching him next year.  If I can’t catch the guy when he is here then I will give him a phone call.  He won’t be pleased when he sees the traps have been sprung, the bait is gone but nothing is inside.  He has made bank on me already with the setup fee.  I should make him come out every damn day from now until next year when we finally catch this but I think that would be an expensive bill for me because no doubt he will catch a bunch of Raccoons and that is exactly what I DO NOT want to happen.  Right or wrong I like those little guys so long as there is distance between me and them. 

I can’t tell if the lawn people were here and did work yesterday or not.  I guess I will know when the bill arrives.  Then again their billing is all effed up so maybe not. 

My energy levels rapidly decreased last night and I didn’t even make it to 10p I tapped out at 9:30a.  I didn’t watch any porn and struggled to find any content that was worth watching.  I really just wanted to sleep more than anything.  Gator wasn’t too pleased about it but she didn’t protest either.

This morning I have lost my sunny disposition with people in general.  I am started to get bombarded with stupid and I do not deal well with stupid at all.  Plus add in a couple weeks of stress and pressure and there is no wonder why I am ready to scream.  I need a vacation, some sound sleep and if I you could throw in a man and an ice cream cone I think I’d be set for a little bit.  Speaking of which I saw a You Tuber post the other day that his Apple watch thought he was having a heart attack his first time when he went to kiss a guy.  That is some funny stuff.  I guess it just proves his watch was actually working and he was truly excited! 

No mouse catches as of this morning.  I checked the bathroom last night and the basement this morning.  I really hate that task but it will sure be great once they are gone, which can’t be soon enough for me.  I am seriously considering keeping the exterminator beyond when this mouse issue is solved.  It’s kind of peace of mind and I wouldn’t have to pay a bunch of money to start service back up if I happened to see a mouse in the future. 

More stress is coming my way today at work but hopefully after today we will be done for the week.  Today is boss man’s last day and then he leaves for his vacation.  I wish I was going on vacation just time off to have a stay cation at this point would be nice a few days in conjunction with the weekend that would be awesome.  However, work I must.  I do feel like I am trying to get sick and if that happens all bets are off I will for sure take time but otherwise work I shall. 

Hope life is all sunshine and rainbows for you.  As per usual I am anxious for the weekend.  Got my eye exam, wonder if I should study for the test?  Outside of that nothing else is really planned.  Take care!

National Lazy Day

Happy Hump Day!  We made it to the middle of the week again.  My early rising yesterday at 6a really took a tole on me once I got home and became sedentary.  I got Gator taken care of, undressed and made my dinner in the microwave.  Then I started watching TV and within a half hour I was really sleepy.  The longer I went on the worse it got.  By 6:30p I was ready to go to bed.  I didn’t but it sure was tempting.  I got some ice cream and the sugar helped to wake me up for a short while.  Got caught up in watching episodes from Real World New Orleans.  Then switched over to YouTube Videos.  Before terribly long it was time to get ready for bed and I was really happy about that. 

I got to see all 3 Raccoons last night, that made my day.  I like knowing they are all still together.  One is bashful and the other one who is smaller is always all over Momma.  I watched them off and on and eventually I saw them leave for hunting.  I kept telling Gator her friends were at the window but she was comfy in her bed on the couch. 

I went to brush my teeth and I walked out and found Gator in the litter box just sitting there like it was her new bed.  That’s kind of odd behavior for her.  Eventually she used the litter box and walked out like nothing was wrong.  We didn’t get any cuddle time in my room last night because she was late to the party and I was exhausted.  9:30p and I just gave up and went to bed.  I got her to curl up in her bed.  I finished watching the YouTube video I was on and then it was lights out.  I haven’t been that exhausted in a very long time.

I got my package from the vendor yesterday.  A pen, notebook and a water bottle.  Nothing worth writing home about.  The water bottle is good for hot or cold drinks but it is structured more like a liquid storage bottle and not something to drink from.  I really wanted a polo or a t-shirt.  The water bottle was the most expensive thing in the entire box.  Mystery over with. 

I got a new project thrown in my lap yesterday, nothing that is terribly difficult but it will for sure occupy some of my time.  September is going to be a mighty busy month.  We have this project I just spoke of, were moving our anti-virus to a cloud based solution and we have a bunch of new people starting.  Kind of really makes me want to take a week of vacation just to run away.  I’ve got a couple days at the start of the month off and it will give me a nice long Labor Day weekend, after that it’s back to work.  I will still have plenty of time left and will need to schedule more time off so that I am in line to have 80 hours or less by the end of the year because we can only carry 80 hours. 

Gator had me up once during the night and she is back to being super picky with her food.  I am throwing away more food than she is actually eating and I don’t like these spells.  That costs money and I don’t like to just chuck it in the trash.  Yeah I could leave it out for the Racoons but I am not feeding them, I don’t want them dependent upon me.  I have plans right now to give her fluids tonight to keep things up, for sure she needs them by tomorrow night because that will be the 1 week mark.   

I am really thinking hard about a new vehicle and looking at both sides of the coin.  I need to take a look at the dealers lot and then research the worth of my trade which will help make the final determination.  If my trade wipes out a good portion of the new purchase then it’s kind of a no brainer to move forward.  However, I am thinking if I could pay off my existing loan and then start saving those payments how quickly that would add up.  I’d be in great shape to pay for any repairs (should they arise) and have a nice savings account.  I could even potentially attack some of the principal of my home loan.  Some decisions are difficult to make primarily because you can’t see into the future and sometimes taking a chance at being happy today requires you to gamble as to what will happen in the future. 

I was surprised when I came home yesterday that my lawn was not mowed.  It was overcast yesterday morning when I left and their was rain in the forecast, not sure if any actually fell.  Right now I am staying silent and seeing what happens.  They may show up later in the week, if not I will for sure inquire.  I don’t need any problems from the city and the shape my neighbors lawn is in is enough to attract that unwanted attention.  Here’s hoping the mower guys show up and I don’t have to do anything.  Kind of unusual for them to skip me but I get that stuff happens and sometimes you have to shuffle things around. 

On the work front at the moment I only have 1 meeting late this afternoon.  Unless something pops I can go nap or goof off until then.  I do plan on taking a break and being with Gator for a bit.  Less time in front of this computer is better for me. 

I also really need to find a new eye doctor and get an exam scheduled.  Probably would be a good idea for me to start wearing my regular glasses daily but since the pandemic started I stopped and only use my computer glasses.  I can drive and see fine as long as there is plenty of light.  Some receipts in restaurants give me a little trouble but otherwise I am fine. 

That’s about all I got for the moment.  Just hoping to chill for a good portion of the day and not do much work unless it’s required.  Today is national lazy day, seriously go give it a Google.  That is one day I can celebrate forever!  Hope your well and staying cool.  Take care!

Eye See You

Good Morning, I hope all is well in your world.  Happy Thursday!  I had nightmares last night about Bear aka Big Boy one of my cats that has been gone for a while.  It was like I was loosing him all over again.  I do think of all of my cat family on pretty much a daily basis and I miss all of them very much.  Not exactly sure why I had a nightmare.  I woke up to Gator asking for food and it was around 3a.  I fed her.  Then opted to get a snack and for some reason cold milk was extra good at that hour.  We spent a bit of time together watching TV and then I went back to bed.  Didn’t exactly sleep well.  Still kind of disturbed by the events of yesterday at work.  My curious mind wants to know what this guy did to get shoved out the door.  I mean he had to piss in or on someone’s Cheerios.  I still want to call and talk with him but I also see how that could go south or have adverse consequences for me.  Even though I would be calling on my own accord and not representing the company, it could be twisted that the company was bothering him.  I do not think that would be the case.  I am mulling it over but will likely just let it pass and probably always wonder.  Some questions don’t have answers or at least answers I am supposed to know.  He was a great guy and went above and beyond to do his job.  It’s kind of like a death and there is a mourning period.  My employer usually doesn’t make rash decisions especially when it comes to firing people.  Typically if it’s going to happen it’s because you did something wrong, you are in progressive discipline and given a chance to correct the errors of your ways.  Being in disciplinary action is usually always a clue your going to get fired, not many people escape that and that has always been the case no matter where I worked. 

One of my turkey day friends had Cataract Surgery.  I got a message this morning that things went very well.  They of course only did one eye and the other one will have to be done later.  He said that he can already see better.  My late spouse had the same thing done and he said it was night and day difference.  It was something he told me if I ever needed it to get it done as fast as possible.  Thankfully cataracts aren’t a thing for me because I am still “young” (despite feeling very old).  I do need to get my eyes checked and I also need a new eye doctor.  It’s sort of like cleaning out the gutters I keep putting it off but eventually I will get to it.  I can see fine and my A1C is well under control so I don’t believe there is any immediate threat.  I know vision problems sneak up on you sort of like a heart attack.  I will get to it but just am in no rush.  I hate dilation of my eyes and eye drops in general.  They make reversing drops but very few eye doctors give those.  Driving afterwards is a huge pain in the ass and I usually manage to make it home and take nap to sleep it off.  Then I am fine for the rest of the day.  The hard part is the drive home.  I’ve always been able to go to a eye doctor close to home and my options for that are dwindling.  Not a lot of them work on Saturday and I really hate taking time off to see an eye doctor.  Although I would need to schedule something because I don’t believe I would be able to work comfortably for a couple hours. 

Speaking of work, I’ve got a meeting in a couple hours with my boss and his boss for a minor change that needs to happen to my bosses boss’s mobile phone.  It’s one of those deals where my boss is making a mountain out of a mole hill.  So typical.  Then there is a vendor call later in the day about a product that I largely have nothing to do with but I need to be on the call.  Unless there are some fireworks like happened yesterday I think today should be fairly calm.  Then I only have to deal with my boss for 1/2 day tomorrow and his ass is on vacation for an entire week.  Thank God!  That is a much needed break for me and unfortunately it won’t be long enough but hey I will take what I can get.  I made a huge leap this morning that I thought would get many accolades but that didn’t happen.  I still feel good about what I did though.  Best thing is I got to look at my paycheck this morning.  I have a few extra dollars but nothing to marvel about.  It could buy a weeks worth of groceries for me, so I am not knocking it but taxes suck the fun out of money. 

I tried out the Savory Center food on Gator last night.  She went through 3 cans right off the bat.  She wolfed it all down and then asked for more.  Sounds like I hit a home run with her.  That makes me so happy!  She spent a large amount of time by the water fountain last night, it was a little worrisome.  I need to get her some fluids.  I trimmed her nails last night in the hopes it would help her walk a little better.  I haven’t seen her move that much to know if made the difference or not.  Some of those claws were pretty long.  She of course complained the entire time as if I was chopping them off instead of trimming them.  That is just something all of the cats have done.  It comes from trauma when they were younger and I had no idea what I was doing, there was some blood involved and I just think none of them forgot that.  Used to be when I had them all, I would start with one and everyone else would go and hide in the hopes that I would skip them.  The good old days!

The dread trash day is here, so today is the big push to gather it all up and then push the barrel out to the street.  The wake up call will come tomorrow morning at 6a when they make their rounds into the neighborhood.  Regardless of the day it falls on I never really like trash day.  At least when I was younger me and my brother took turns.  I loved it when it was his week and of course hated it when it was mine.  There was more trash then because of more people.  I had more trash here when my spouse and all of the cats were alive.  Just me and Gator we don’t generate much but it’s nice to get it taken away and have a fresh start. 

I resisted making any purchases on Prime Day.  However, they got me last night.  I wanted to watch a Patton Oswalt standup special and it was on Paramount Plus.  I went back to subscribing.  I got 2 months for 99 cents.  I went back to try to grab a subscription to Epix for the same price but time ran out on me.  I can get a 7 day free trial and then that is $5.99 but if I go through cable it’s $10 a month.  I just might do it because they have a ton of movies.  I usually watch when there is a free viewing weekend on cable.  I pay so much for TV including streaming services it should be a crime.  I like the old days when TV was free, granted you had less to choose from but the only cost was the electric bill.  That’s like the other day I was sitting waiting for my COVID booster and saw the pharmacy had a sale on “Smart Water” 2 for $5.  I thought smart water, yeah the smart idea was the business model of bottling water and charging for it.  Smart Water for the company not necessarily for the purchaser. 

Off to check on The Gator and take a little break before my meeting.  Hope you have a great day.  Stay hydrated, cool and safe.  Talk with you all again soon!

Vacation is here

For the last couple weeks, I have been watching the trial of Kim Potter. She is the former police officer who mistakenly drew her gun instead of her taser and shot & killed Daunte Wright back in April of this year. That feels almost like a lifetime ago with COVID and blursday (every day blending into the next). Closing arguments took place this morning and the case is in the hands of the jury. It was interesting to see how this all played out. I watched from opening statements until today. I have never, ever seen the jury shown on television and I think that was by design. Everyone will have an opinion in this matter. Personally, I believe this was an honest mistake. She meant to draw her taser but her brain took a different action. Had she known she had a gun in her hand and planned to use it, I think that she would have fired more than once. Police are trained to shoot to kill and they are also taught to fire at least twice. It is a very unfortunate mistake and incident to have taken place. Had Mr. Wright complied this wouldn’t have been an issue. His character came out in court and he wasn’t exactly an upstanding citizen but he was young and had his whole life in front of him, which makes this all the more tragic. Needless to say, I am interested in the verdict and think that if we do not hear anything this week, I expect to hear something next week. If deliberations go past that and into the New Year it will very much surprise me. I hate waiting for most anything but regardless of how the verdict is handed down it won’t have any impact on me.

On a different note, I made it back to the office for the first time in 2 years. I went in Saturday afternoon. I only planned to be there an hour or two but wound up staying way beyond that. I have no windows in my office and wasn’t really paying attention to the time. All things considered my office was in decent shape but there was much to clean and sort through. A colleague sends chocolate each year and someone is either holding that for me or swiped it, not sure which. It’s not the greatest but if its in front of me I will devour it. I got some promo gifts from a vendor and that was expected. I got a Christmas card from my boss but this was the second year with no gift. Normally he buys us each something and I am typically not that pleased with what I wind up with but never express any displeasure to him. It was nice of him to send the card. I had a mountain of dust to clean away. I found out the hard way that the refrigerator where all of the soda is stored for clients is now locked on weekends. Good thing for me I had some change in my office and was able to buy a soda. I got my new keyboard hooked up and it’s delightful. Someone turned up the heat my office was amazingly hot. I threw away all of the calendars for 2021, I mean it’s not like I will need them now. I also tossed my 2020 train calendar. There is plenty of trash to be hauled away. I walked around and figured out that a fair number of people have moved. Some even have their own offices now. Since we had some construction done, we have a lot more offices and they are currently empty but I am sure in time they will begin to fill up. I had the entire place to myself. There were people in but they had all left by the time I did my walk around to see what was different. It’s interesting at what has changed and what has stayed the same.

Oddly enough my boss called me last week to talk about of all things my return to the office. He has been under the assumption I have been going in 1 day a week for at least a month or more now. I didn’t bother to correct him. He even told me to keep doing what I am doing because the work is getting done. I think he wants plausible deniability. In any case he said that between the two of us we have an agreement that I will go in 1 day a week. Even when we start to return to more normal and are required to be in the office 3 days a week, he told me at least for a little while I could probably get away with 1 day a week. I still plan to address that with my doctor but don’t have high hopes that I will be told I need to work from home. I am obviously on vacation this week. My boss is out for 2 weeks starting on the 27^th and I have no plans to return to the office while he is out. When he gets back then I will probably start going in. I don’t miss the daily drive of 40 miles 1 way and I certainly don’t miss rush hour traffic. Ah well it is all there waiting for me – the good, the bad and the ugly. I’ll get to it all eventually.

Friday was the start of my vacation and I didn’t really do anything. It was a lazy day. I had my morning call to get the stupid report done, really wish I didn’t have to spend my time off doing work but it is what it is. I watched the series on HBO Finding Magic Mike. I had left a couple episodes for Saturday but it was done in the morning and I knew who the winner was. The one guy I wanted to win was dropped towards the end. It’s a great show and if you like looking at hot shirtless men then this series is a MUST WATCH. Apparently, they perform a live show in Vegas regularly. Not sure if they admit guys but I wouldn’t mind seeing the live show.

Saturday, I had booked a haircut and got that out of the way. Then hit up the post office and pet food store. It’s a Christmas Miracle. I found on an empty shelf sitting all alone 5 cans of Fish & Shrimp which is the flavor Gator loves. I grabbed them in a hurry, even though no one was around. I looked for more but there was none to be had. The selection was still pretty horrible but I managed to get a few cans for her. Then I came home, took a nap and that’s when I went on my trip back to the office. I stopped to get a bite to eat before I came home. The waitress told me they were out of what I wanted and had been for a couple weeks. I ordered something else, meanwhile the guy sitting next to me was served exactly what I wanted in the first place. I was not happy at all. I dropped $30 on a meal that I really didn’t enjoy.

Sunday was another do-nothing day. I had breakfast and stayed in my room all day long. Gator wasn’t very pleased with me but she stuck by my side.

Monday (today) I got the stupid report call out of the way. Watched the trial, got a shower and went to the dentist. I chipped a couple of teeth. When I left everything felt fine. This was quick work and the chips were very minor. Now I still feel a bit of a ridge. I am debating about going back to get it fixed. It’s not sharp but it’s a place that my tongue wants to fidget with and it’s kind of obsessive. If I can train myself to stop then were good, otherwise I need to go back. I hit up the grocery store and Sam’s club. Traffic is abysmal because everyone is out doing holiday shopping. You’d think that since it was a work day that people would be working but that is not the case, apparently, I am not the only person on vacation this week.

Tomorrow I’d like to hit up the breakfast place for that kicked up French toast I had back in October. Then pick up a few pies from Cracker Barrel and deliver them to a couple of unsuspecting people as a holiday gift. Not sure if I will follow through on that part but the breakfast part I will. I need to clean up the house and put up the plastic on the patio door and front windows, winter is here and you can feel it at night. We’re talking lower 20’s and it’s only going to get worse from there. Oddly tomorrow is the first day of Winter. There is also a new place that serves Detroit Style Pizza that came to my area and I want to hit them up to try it because I’ve never had it. They also do New York Style and I’ve had that before and it’s really, really good. I can only imagine what the real thing tastes like from NYC.

I haven’t spent anytime in front of my computer until now. I kind of missed it but it was also nice to get a diversion into TV and escape reality for a while. I am doing the 7-day trial of Paramount Plus through Amazon and have found a few additional things to watch. I haven’t been sleeping the best because I am not really on a regular schedule or at least wasn’t until last night. I am going to try to stick with my normal schedule as much as possible so I won’t be shocked to get back into the routine when this little fun ride of time off ends.

Wednesday I am scheduled for my COVID booster. I really don’t want it at all. However, I know it’s a matter of time before a vaccine mandate is in effect and there is talk about redefining fully vaccinated to include at least 1 booster. I will feel like crap on Thursday, which is why I am not looking forward to it. However, I am on vacation and won’t need to use a sick day. A day of sitting around is good for me, so long as I can accomplish everything else that I need to get done. So right now, Thursday is a do-nothing day. Nothing planned for Friday but I will probably get my cat food shopping out of the way. Saturday being Christmas I am invited to my friend’s house but don’t know what time dinner is or what is being served. I probably won’t like it but being around other people will be nice, I suppose. Sunday will be the usual breakfast and grocery store runs, so that I can get back to all of the fun on Monday. I haven’t been watching my email and that will be fun to plow through.

I’ve got a few orders placed in the last couple days with Amazon. I broke down and ordered the 3^rd generation Apple ear buds. They were at an all-time low price and I just couldn’t help myself. I’ve already sent the money to pay for them so I won’t have a bill hanging over my head. They won’t arrive until towards the end of the year. Tomorrow I have a new security camera coming. This was a must since going back to the office, I need to be able to check up on my girl. My old one has a security flaw and I really don’t want to put it back on-line. Wednesday I will be getting a new mouse pad for the office, my old one is beyond cleanable and has all sorts of crumbs it’s a mess. I recently discovered that Amazon Pharmacy is available in my state. I took a look at what my sleeping medicine will cost, without insurance and it’s $5 for 30 days when I am paying $12.99 now for 30 days. I take a couple pills but they are in the same drug class and the insurance company will only cover 1 of the 2 drugs, so I have to pay cash for 1 of them. When I go back to the doctor next month, I will be telling him to send a prescription to Amazon for a 90-day supply. I am also going to have him transfer my Sudafed prescription to a different pharmacy. Walgreens wants to play games and limit my supply. I hate being on a merry go round where each month I have to hit up the pharmacy. It’s needless aggravation. Walgreens is fine if I am sick or need something in a pinch but otherwise, they have become a huge pain in my ass and not in a good way.

I haven’t been wearing my regular prescription lens that I need to wear. I have been using computer glasses when I am in front of the computer. I just put on my regular glasses tonight to try to start getting used to them and wow it sure is a change. Better to train my eyes now than have to jump into this all at once. I can actually see well enough to drive without them but better safe than sorry. I also need to setup an eye appointment with a new doc to see what’s what. I haven’t had any real noticeable changes but ever since my last eye appointment that guy has me wondering if there isn’t more going on with my eyes than I realize. You only get 2 of them and once they are damaged you are screwed and not in a good way. I want to preserve them and keep them in good working order so I can continue to enjoy looking at hot guys and good food!

I do hope all is well in your neck of the woods and that life is treating you fairly. Take care of yourselves and enjoy the holidays!