Mission Accomplished

I managed to wake up at a decent hour, get breakfast & a shower.  Then hauled myself over to the bank and got the document notarized.  I just put the collection of documents together and stuffed them in an envelope.  Postage is $1.76, which to get $100 in return isn’t shabby.  When I hit up the post office later today I will mail this and then we wait.  My guess is probably 3 to 6 months, only time will tell. 

Gator had me up during the night.  My sugar was dropping once she woke me up so I had to eat something, which I wasn’t happy about.  She got her food.  We watched some TV and then eventually we both went back to bed.  She didn’t want to get up because she had already fallen asleep and it was next to impossible to get her out of my lap but I did it with a little yelling and lots of prodding.  She wasn’t happy with me but it’s all good now. 

I should be outside on a ladder cleaning the gutters but honestly I just don’t feel like it.  I don’t know that I will ever be in the mood for that but I do know that it’s a job that needs to be done and it’s not going to do its self.  I’ve still got 2 whole days so maybe it will happen.  I’ve got lots of other little projects around here that I need to work on.  In my mind it’s all easy and done but in reality it’s not so. 

I have thoughts of buying a new chair for my office.  I am tired of a sore tailbone and pain when I get up.  It beats commuting to the office.  I got a promo from Razer they have their “Ultimate Gaming Chair” that was just released.  It looks comfy but it’s $1,000.00 and if I can’t try it out before hand then I really don’t want to mail order a chair.  I like sitting in something on my own to make a determination.  There are just somethings that I need to physically see, touch and interact with in order to make a purchase decision.  The only problem with getting another chair is that I have a small collection here between what my late spouse left me and what I have – he went through chairs because of his size.  The average cheap office chair for $200 doesn’t last long.  So I am finding out through my own experience.  Even though what I am sitting in is a gaming chair and it’s in great shape it’s cheap and the cushion wears out and I suppose my weight increase hasn’t helped things. 

Last night I watched the latest episode of Accused Guilty or Innocent.  It was about a man who was dealing with an evil neighbor.  One day they got into a struggle over a gun, the man managed to regain control of the weapon and shot the neighbor in the back.  His neighbor was high on drugs, had warrants out for his arrest and was the aggressor in the situation. What killed the mans defense was his own admission to the police when he stated he ran after him a ways and then shot him.  What he said then and what he remembered after the fact were two different things.  In his statement to the police he was relaxed showed no emotion and just admitted to shooting the man.  He did call for EMS right away but it was too late.  The judge didn’t allow in the facts about the deceased having a drug history, frequent interactions with the law and the fact he had escaped the police the night before and was wanted at the time of his death by police.  The man was found guilty and sentenced to life.  He’s already up there in age and has to serve a minimum of 38 years before he is eligible for parole.  Unless his attorney is successful with the appeals process this guy is going to die in prison.  Looking at this after the fact.  I can see obvious errors he made and I called it early on that he was “fucked” when he not only made certain statements in his confession but when the judge didn’t allow the full picture into the trial, so I wasn’t shocked by the outcome.  It is sad though.  The first mistake he made was pulling the trigger.  The second mistake is one that lots of people make and that is talking to the police without an attorney present.  Never ever under any circumstances talk to the police, especially if it’s being recorded and/or you have been read your Miranda rights.  I love this series but I hate it when people who were innocent or in the right are sent away.  It just shows that justice truly is blind. 

Back up to the Gator.  I will do some relaxing and then probably venture out for the day to get her some food and probably some food for me as well.  Hope you have a great weekend and I will talk with you all again soon, be well and stay cool & safe!

Wrongfully Convicted

I watched the series Outcry, season 1 that covers the story of Greg Kelley.  Mr. Kelley is in High School and seems to have the world by the tail when he is wrongfully accused and convicted of molesting a child.  As the series unfolds you learn of a second victim who recants his story when the case goes to trial.  This was an amazing series that covered this story and how Mr. Kelley got a very raw deal.  He had several [5 in total I believe] years of his life taken from him.  He was set to go to College and play football and odds were that he would have gone pro.  That possibility still remains today.  I was beyond thrilled when I learned in the last episode that he was exonerated and found innocent of the charges he was originally convicted of.  He’s a very handsome young man who appears to still have a bright future ahead of him as well as some money coming his way from being wrongfully convicted and imprisoned.  If you have Showtime, I highly recommend watching this show. 

Much more familiar to most people is the Making a Murder documentary that aired on Netflix.  Where 2 people were convicted of murdering a woman.  If you’re somehow not familiar with this I also highly recommend watching this series.  I do have my doubts about the innocents of Steven Avery, but the more that time goes on the less and less those doubts remain.  I am 100% convinced that his nephew Brendan Dassey was wrongfully convicted and is in prison serving a sentence that he shouldn’t be.  He was spoon fed information and confessed to something that he didn’t do.  It’s outrageous that he has exhausted all of his legal avenues for appeal.  Just a very sad case and a life taken away from a boy who was mentally challenged at the time of his confession, he didn’t realize that his life was at stake.  He thought if he told the police what they wanted to hear that he could go back to school and resume his life.  Yes, I am 100% serious – it’s in the movie. 

Then there is the movie Dream Killer, which tells the story of Ryan Ferguson.  Who was also in High School.  Because a friend of his had a dream that he killed a newspaper reporter and implicated Ryan.  Both Ryan and his friend were wrongfully convicted.  Ryan ultimately was exonerated and found innocent of the charges he was originally convicted of.  Today he is free.  I followed this case as it was unfolding and it was mind blowing on how he got in this predicament because someone had a dream that he did it. 

Little do you know that its highly probable in today's society to be convicted of a crime or crimes that you are completely innocent of.  I do realize that most people that are convicted profess their innocence and say that the system failed them and the police have it all wrong.  That’s why once your found guilty it’s a complete uphill battle to get the conviction overturned and vacated.  Not to mention that Criminal Defense Attorneys [like all attorneys] charge a large hourly rate and it will require a lot of time and money.  If your lucky you can get a decent attorney who will fight for your rights on a pro-bono [free] basis. 

As you can well imagine there is countless amounts of emotions that these people experience, most of which is depression and sadness as well as anger.  However, when you see a wrongfully convicted person win the amount of joy that they express is uncontrollable and you can’t help but feel joy for them and shed a tear, two or in some cases many. 

One day my life changed forever.  I found myself the prime suspect in a criminal investigation for an incident that occurred.  Understand that I am being vague for a reason and I am unable to fully share all of the details.  In fact, saying what little bit I am is a bit risky in my book, but I am doing so just to help open people’s eyes that YES THIS IN FACT CAN HAPPEN TO YOU!  Because it happened to me!  You’re living your life as an average upstanding citizen and some law enforcement official gets a hard on and wants to put you in jail because they think you committed a crime that you didn’t.  It’s only logical to conclude that the truth will set you free and that you can explain your way out of it.  Well friends, that’s where your dead wrong.  In the Miranda warning your given ahead of any questioning they say “anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law”.  That isn’t just a happy phrase it’s the truth, anything and everything you say is spun around and used against you, no matter how innocuous you think it is, to some sharp legal shooter they can turn everything around so that nothing you say appears to be credible, that’s their job, they are quite good and they do it for a living each and every day.  That’s the advantage that you don’t have. 

Needless to say, that I had the shit scared out of me, which is exactly where they wanted me to be since I wouldn’t willingly confess.  There was no evidence against me and without a confession law enforcement was powerless.  The best piece of advice I can give you is that if you find yourself in a situation like this, say nothing and demand an attorney.  That is your legal right and it’s better to let a person who’s job it is to defend people help you game plan and find an appropriate path forward.  Most criminal defense attorneys are used to working with clients that are guilty.  On a rare basis they get a client who is innocent and they can feel it and see it beyond a shadow of a doubt. 

In my case, my spouse had passed I went through several years of hell where I had to fight to keep a roof over my head as well as fight for what was legally and rightfully mine.  Get passed all of that, get a good job and I thought the worst thing in my life happened, I have survived a real-life nightmare and there isn’t anything worse.  Little did I know what was around the corner waiting for me. 

This involves my family and I fully believe that I was setup to take the fall [framed].  Something like this can divide a family and in fact it did.  On the advice of counsel, I didn’t speak with my family.  This was difficult because at the time my mom was in a nursing home because she could no longer care for herself, she had the physical ability but lacked the mental ability.  Sadly, I didn’t get to say goodbye to her and explain why I had to shut her out and that is something I have to live with for the rest of my life.  She died suddenly.  I have my doubts if my mom was in on it but if she didn’t request me to help her, which is what started the wheels in motion, I would have avoided this most unfortunate and frightening experience.  I blindly walked in thinking I was going to do a favor for her and little did I know that things would go awry. 

My family has always been jealous of me because I was able to make something of myself, that’s to say I was able to have a decent job and earn a respectable living.  There was no question that I earn more than them.  This is despite the fact that my mom and brother both had advanced education beyond me.  I was the one who was always told that I wouldn’t amount to anything and the tables turned because I fought to earn everything I have ever had.  I wasn’t given anything in life and to this day that remains true.  Fighting all of your life gets exhausting and you tire and want to give up.  There is a fight or drive in me that won’t permit me to give up, even when I want to and I am tired.  This surprises me to this day.  I am beyond grateful and thankful for what I have.  It’s not much but it’s far more than anyone ever thought I would have and it’s more than I imagined in my wildest dreams.

To think that everything could be gone in the blink of an eye that was terrifying.  I left for work each morning saying goodbye to my cats in tears, not knowing if I would return home.  I had problems concentrating at work, but somehow managed to do my job although I did make some mistakes.  I went to bed each night wondering if there would be a knock on the door.  Never mind the fact that I didn’t commit a crime nor do anything illegal.  I found out first-hand how exactly expensive hiring a criminal defense attorney is and I had to take out a loan to come up with the retainer and then shell out a considerable amount more to cover hourly costs and expenses once the retainer was exhausted.  I was never arrested or charged.  It was a horrible experience and one that I hope to never, ever repeat.  The most criminal offense that I am guilty of is speeding and I’ve been caught a time or two.  I have no luck, I couldn’t commit a crime beyond speeding and get away with it, my conscience would eat me alive.  I remember telling the police that if I did what I was being accused of I would own up to it but I can’t confess to something I am innocent of.  I do like to solve problems; I am better at solving other people’s problems than my own.  I think that might well be true for many people.  This matter was no different and I do believe I have figured out the guilty parties but on the advice of counsel I have to remain silent.   Yet to this day I want to scream from the mountain top and let them dig, if I am wrong so be it but odds are, I am dead on balls accurate.  I want someone to pay for the unnecessary hell I went through and the money that I had to piss away.  It matters not who that person or persons are.  I can keep a secret but this one is really difficult.  It’s frustrating that law enforcement didn’t see what was right in front of their face the whole time.  It was equally as frustrating that it took me as long as it did to figure it out. 

Needless to say, that my ears perk up when I hear about a wrongful conviction.  Watching a story unfold in a movie or documentary is of great interest to me and it’s nice when it ends with the person being set free.  Of course, it would be great if they were never convicted in the first place.  I hope that my experience has opened your eyes a bit.  I do hope that no one is ever in the predicament that I was in but if you are, my advice is sound and practical.  Say nothing and demand an attorney.  Doing anything other than that will work to your detriment. 

A beautiful day in the Gayborhood

Hey how are you doing? I hope that all is well in your world and that your managing to keep your sanity in this difficult and trying time.

As for me I am doing the best I can. I am gaining weight as evidence when I tried to put on my jeans and realized that it was difficult to fasten them. I heard the other day they call it the quarantine 15. I turn to food in time of stress and let’s face it this is certainly a stressful time. There isn’t a whole lot that you can do right now. Getting out on the weekend is nice but it’s way too limited for me. Perhaps I need to go for a drive. I mean that is legal, it just seems like a waste of time to me because it’s not like I can say go for pizza. I also think the car could use some exercise, but then again so can I, even though my body is allergic.

It rained all day yesterday which was kind of depressing but also made for some good sleeping weather. I have been watching a fair amount of television. I am watching The Innocence Files on Netflix. It’s interesting to see how many people that were wrongfully convicted of crimes they didn’t commit. It’s also very scary that if you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time, that you too could be in their shoes. There are certain people in this world that are just corrupt and they are hell bent on solving cases, regardless if they have the true and correct person who did the crime or not. They railroad people through the system just to get a conviction. Justice truly is blind and that’s not necessarily a good thing.

I also saw the 1^st episode of Accused, Guilty or Innocent on A&E. This case was about a man who shot his abusive wife. She was addicted to pain killers and got to the point where she had to shoot up in order to get her fix. The couple had a security camera system installed a couple years back and that turned out to be invaluable. However, like many camera systems it didn’t record audio. You got to see video evidence of her abusing him and even picking up a metal baseball bat and attempting to strike him. You could see that she clearly had the upper hand and he was spineless and truly in fear of his life. He said that she told him that he was going to die but she just hadn’t decided on how. They had a young child. After she killed her husband, she said that she would kill the child and herself. She goes and gets the kid and puts his coat on. They appear to be leaving the house, when she has the child in one hand and turns around and starts getting physical with her husband again. By this point he had secured a weapon that was within reach for his safety. He wound up shooting her 3 times and she died. Yes you get to see that as well. He immediately called for help and you get to hear the 911 call. Plain and simple he had an open and shut case where he in my opinion was justified. His attorneys pretty well told him the same thing. However, I am about to spoil it for you just because it infuriated me. The prosecution offered him a deal of 15 years for what I believe would be aggravated homicide which is a felony. The original charge was 1^st degree murder. If he took the plea, he would only have to serve 50% of his sentence, which means that in all likelihood he could easily be out in 5 years. Rather than gamble the idiot took the deal. I am not a gambling man but given the circumstances I would have rolled the dice because I think he would have been acquitted. I just couldn’t believe him and I was so invested after hearing the story to hear it end this way made me damn mad. However, it’s his life and he is the one who has to serve the time. He did it mainly to cater to her family so that his mom wouldn’t lose visitation of their child, which turns out he wasn’t the biological father of and he didn’t find that out until after he shot his wife. Yeah this has all sorts of twist and turns. I think it’s going to be a good series to watch.

I watched a special on Netflix today about the Coronavirus, which was informative but also frightening at the same time. I think that there will be certain parts of the country that rush to re-open too quickly and if not all of us, some of us will be right back in this lock up phase again soon. That fact is mentioned in the Netflix film. It happened before with a prior plague/pandemic. I am concerned about how this will affect me, my employer and lots of other people as well as the economy as a whole. In just a few short days we will be in a new month again. For me that means a new restriction will take effect. If you leave your house and are in a public place you will have to wear a face mask by law, unless you have a respiratory condition that makes it difficult for you to breath. Masks as you know are in high demand (just like toilet paper) and I have a couple of disposable masks. Anything that is N95 is sold out on Amazon. You can get simple paper or masks with carbon filters. I am not rushing to purchase anything at the moment. I mean I am only out for 3 things in a weekend. The post office, which is usually empty when I go. The cat food store and the grocery store. Both of which are populated but not like before the virus hit. I also know that I won’t be breaking out the sewing machine to make my own. While I understand the reasoning behind the regulation, I don’t necessarily agree with it. If you have the wrong kind of mask on or you don’t wear it properly your chances will increase dramatically for contracting this virus.

As for work, we are all still doing the work from home thing for now. For me it’s until the 15^th of May or unless there is some decision made prior to then. We are going to have a companywide staff meeting tomorrow. The implication has been that we would be opening back up soon. We have an office in MN and our executives are looking to see what happens there. Of course, each area where we have an office, you will have to follow local law/restrictions. That said, I have some concern on how we are doing financially since last I heard people weren’t paying their bills like they were the month prior so revenue is down. Industry wide our competition is instituting pay cuts, deferring pay raises and doing layoffs, so I am on edge a bit. Granted I would be one of the people turning off accounts, thus far no one has told me anything. That is normal, I am usually the last person to find out. However, my employer does have a reputation for taking care of its people (it may not be as fair as people want or expect but if there is a layoff there is usually severance offered. We have only been through this once since I have been there and I hope we don’t have to go through another round ever.) and given my position I don’t think I am in any jeopardy at the moment but I still remain slightly paranoid or concerned (take your pick on which word works best for you).

On a different note, I have also become aware of a You Tuber who is new to me but has been in the game for a while. It’s Andrew Neighbors or Andrew Goes Places. I saw him on social media but didn’t realize he was a You Tuber. He’s a young gay optometrist who travels. Kind of a cool job and getting to travel is an added perk. He’s young presently at 29 years old. He’s ripped and got a rocking body. He’s also a gamer and is on Twich. Plus, he enjoys photography. I find him quite enjoyable to listen to and look at. He’s had some interesting adventures in life. Mainly a long-term monogamous guy but he’s also had his share of hookups or one-night stands. Variety is the spice of life and he exudes that. Watching his videos is a great way for me to pass the time as well as learn more about him. I also watched him play a game last night. He’s is shirtless a fair amount of the time and hey I am not going to complain about that. That is kind of one of the things that makes me want to watch him. Putting it a different way, I wouldn’t kick him out of bed for eating crackers! He did some underwear modeling in the past and posted a photo of his behind online but it’s since been taken down. If you search you can still find it, plus it’s briefly in one of his You Tube videos. That’s the one thing about the digital world today that is scary, if you post a nude photo regardless if it’s full frontal or not – you don’t want your face to be showing. That photo once posted will live forever, even if you take it down. Someone somewhere has a copy and is holding on to it. You have to be careful.

I still need to call the vet for Marv I am low (but not out) of one of his meds. I am thinking of asking for more Vitamin B injections as well. Not that he is doing bad now but he seemed to be better overall when he was on them. He walked a bit better or so I thought and his appetite was certainly better. I counted out the remaining pills I have and were down to a month’s supply. I will be calling later in the week. Speaking of things, I need to do, I should call the car dealer again. Their website says they are open for pickups and deliveries as it applies to service. I know I was told a different story earlier this month when I called but perhaps things have changed, at least it looks like it on their website. I just don’t like the idea of a confrontation but hey I suppose the worst they can tell me is nope that’s a typo.

I am noticing that my iPhone’s battery is not lasting as long and I think my Mophie battery is wearing out as well. I do use my phone a fair amount of time. During working hours it’s either for calls or Two Factor authentication. In off hours it’s mostly to catch up on social media. Since my discovery, I have switched to dark mode and turned off some background apps, which seems to have given me a little bit of extra life. The one thing that I found on line is that you shouldn’t have the Facebook app on your phone. It’s a battery hog. You can still do most things via the web but it’s just not as same as their app. The “experts” suggest using the web and refrain from installing the app. When I look at performance of my battery, I always see FB in the top 2 positions and it’s always got a high number by it. I know that battery life has improved on newer models of the iPhone and I am certainly due for an upgrade. It’s quite affordable now. I keep hearing my little voice tell me not to do it now, which is why I keep putting it off. The iPhone SE was just released and it’s got the guts of the iPhone 11 but in an iPhone 8 body. Yep they even kept the home screen button and touch id. I personally want to upgrade to an 11 but that means no home button and face id. I am not in a rush but I certainly want to do it before my battery fails entirely. I have insurance that would cover a battery replacement but I would just as soon upgrade vs. replacing the battery, it just seems to make more sense. I may get the SE model simply from a cost perspective. The problem with upgrading is that means new accessories. Specifically, for me a new tempered glass overlay and a new Mophie. I also carry my phone in a wearable holster but finding one that is rugged enough might prove to be challenging. I use a Mophie holster now, but they got out of the case/holster business. Otherwise I would just default to them. Most people carry in their pockets but that doesn’t work for me. I mean it can on a weekend but daily for normal work use (when I go to the office) it wouldn’t. I suppose I could adapt and change but really don’t want to. I am old and stuck in my ways.

I did get the credit for the pen I returned and it posted well in time of my statement cycling. Now I am working to get the replacement that I ordered to ship. I am not patient and have put some pressure on the place I ordered from. I won’t hear any updates until tomorrow.

I have also been continuing to fight my newly acquired sound issue as a result of installing the new keyboard. It’s taken up way more of my time that I wanted it to. I am trying to make this work but I think in the end the only cure will be to remove the keyboard and the software that comes with it. If you search the web you too will discover what I did, that sound problems are inherent in Windows 10. There are plenty of suggestions and I have tried them all but thus far nothing and I mean nothing outside of a reboot seems to clear the issue up. My latest effort was to remove the keyboard software, restore the audio back to normal settings, reboot. Then reinstall the keyboard software fresh w/o having the keyboard connected first. If that fails then the only other option, I can think of is to remove the sleep function on the keyboard. Since it’s backlit I have it turn off if there is 15 minutes of inactivity. If that fails then reaching out to the manufacturer for suggestions and/or simply giving up and sending it back to get a refund. Thankfully since I purchased it via Amazon I have until the end of May to return it, after that it’s mine regardless if I use it or not. I want to make it work but what I want isn’t always what I get, that’s a tough life lesson but as soon as you learn it, you don’t tend to forget it. Going back to what I had wouldn’t be a horrible thing and hey I would have even more money in my pocket. Since purchasing this expensive fancy keyboard, I have of course found others that are less expensive and they offer the same experience but don’t necessarily have a wrist wrest. I know this too shall pass, but I would just as soon it happen sooner rather than later.

Today’s weather was awesome. It was in the upper 60’s, sunshine and that brought out the BBQ grillers. I opened a couple windows and turned on the ceiling fans to circulate some air through the place. The cats seemed to enjoy it. Marv and Gator fought for the sunshine spot by the window. They each had their turns. Gator gets hot and has to move but Marv could easily stay there all day long, once he gets comfortable. Something about sunshine and cats, they love it. I enjoy it as well I just can’t stay in it too long or I will look like Larry the Lobster. I have lazily managed to get through the weekend. Laundry is still in the dryer but I will be taking it up when I go up.

On-call hasn’t been terribly bad but there have been some busy moments. I am always glad to be done with that task and that is the only good thing about tomorrow.

Have you done anything interesting while you were on lockdown? Have you done anything special to keep from being bored or going insane from the walls seeming to close in on you? Have you gained any weight and/or ate anything good? These are some things I’d like to know, so feel free to leave a comment or two.

Take care and I will talk with you all again soon. Cheers for now!

Say what?

This morning I woke up in time to take care of the testing I needed to do for work.  I saw that I had an email from my health insurance company and said well let’s just ruin the morning by looking at this.  It was a notification that I had some EOB’s to review.  These are known in simpler terms as Explanation of Benefits, basically listing charges and showing you how much they paid.  I was beside myself when I saw a balance owed by me of $1,026.  This is from my ER visit a few Sunday’s back.  It’s an ancillary charge, whatever that means and it’s not covered because it wasn’t administered within 72 hours of the onset of a serious illness.  I suspect it’s the test for the Flu but I have no idea.  They did pay part of the charge because the original cost was $2,000 but to leave that big of a balance for me, is crazy. 

I started the appeals process and have yet to get an actual bill from the provider, but I know it’s coming.  The quicker I am perhaps the quicker we can get to the bottom of things.  As I explained in my appeal I have coverage for the Emergency Room, Lab work and X-rays all at 100% so there is no cost to me.  I sought medical care in an ER because it was necessary and I knew going in that I wouldn’t have a large bill in the end, which apparently I’m wrong about.  If I am stuck with this bill I will find out what exactly it’s for and then work with the hospital for payment arrangements, I am not putting this on a credit card that is craziness, the interest would eat me alive.  I honestly think this was a screw up but if it’s not I bought myself some extra time.  Just one more thing to add to my worry list about. 

I also found out that I owe my doc $50, which I paid before starting this post.  That was expected and is more than affordable given the circumstances.  I called the insurance company knowing full well they would be closed and the automated phone system told me that there is yet another claim pending on the same date for $550 which is still open, it sounds like it wasn’t submitted properly.  I guess this can easily get worse.  However, a screw up on the providers part shouldn’t mean a large bill for me.  As you can well imagine I am not a happy camper. 

In other news, the cats got their breakfast and I went out for mine.  Then off to the grocery store and a stop for gas.  This rental car has what I believe to be a bottomless tank.  It was 1/2 full when I picked it up 2 days ago.  The needle moved slightly and knowing that I will be using fuel to get to work, it only made sense to stop.  We got up to around $23 and it wanted to keep on going.  That is where I drew the line and it’s almost but not quite yet full.  I think $25 to $30 would have done the job but I don’t expect to have this for more than 2 days tops, provided the parts come in and everything is situated.  They could find additional damage or the parts could be delayed, I am authorized for 7 days on the car but my hope is that I will be getting my baby back tomorrow or Tuesday at the latest.  I sure do miss all of the luxury features and I am not used to sitting so low to the ground, it takes some effort to get out.  Overall it’s a nice car but not something that I want to drive full time. 

The house has been cleaned, laundry is done, trash is out, kids are resting and I am ready to shave and shower.  Then fix a frozen pizza and open a couple cans of cat food.  It will be a regular party tonight, not.  I will still be watching Shameless but it won’t be the same without the character Ian.  Last Week Tonight with John Oliver isn’t on tonight but there are plenty of re-runs of The Big Bang Theory so I will have plenty to watch.  I got most of my TV backlog cleaned up in a short break I took.  Everyone was in my room and they all look so comfy I figured why not join them.  I wanted to doze off but unfortunately that didn’t happen, I managed to keep myself awake.  I guess that will pay off tonight when I PTFO (Pass The Fuck Out). 

It’s hard to fathom that one year ago to this very day is when I lost my mom.  12 months pass by so quickly.  I just can’t believe she is gone but I am hopeful that she is in a better place and no longer suffering.  Next Saturday is when my late husbands birthday is and Mom’s is two days later.  October is not a good month for memories.  Thankfully it’s almost over with.  Hopefully, with the start of a new month it will bring about a positive change and nothing negative/bad will happen to me or those around me.  Plus were getting closer to Thanksgiving. 

Finished Making A Murderer part 2 on NetFlix last night.  Wow, a couple bombshells came out that I never expected.  This is a long and tough battle.  It’s easy to get a conviction but it’s hard to get it over turned and being innocent makes it that much worse.  Brendan Dassey is the one I feel the most sorry for because he was so young when this all went down and my personal opinion is his confession was coerced from him, there are a lot of politics at play here and I do believe now they have the wrong 2 guys for this murder.  Based on what I saw I don’t know if Brendan will ever get out, but I think that Steven still has a fighting chance.  I do wonder if there will be a part 3, this is very compelling TV if you like the legal system.  I hope for the best for those fighting this fight and pray they don’t give up until every avenue is exhausted.  It does help put things in perspective for me and my troubles are nothing compared to being wrongfully convicted and falsely imprisoned.  If either of these guys does get it out, it would be in there very best interest to move to a different state because if they go home and don’t move, something like this will crop up again.  I love WI it’s a great area of the country but after seeing all this I am glad that I don’t live there.  

Sadly I have washed a few long sleeve shirts and will be wearing them this week as the temperatures are starting to drop and it’s quite nippy outside.  I also added the electric blanket to my bed.  That seems to have pleased Ms. Gator and it’s not even turned on yet.  Just wait when I flip that switch tonight she will be in heaven and then stuck to me even more.  That will probably make for a bad nights sleep but so long as I am comfortable and warm, that is all I care about.  The furnace has been on for a couple weeks now and I have it set to just keep the chill off the house so 74 degrees during the day but early in the morning it starts at 75 so it’s warm when I am up and moving about. 

Here’s hoping for a great week ahead for me and for you too.  Stay warm, be safe and keep on keeping on. 

Saturday

There is still a little adrenaline flowing but most of it has worn off.  I woke up far too early.  Falling asleep is easy but staying asleep is difficult.  I decided to tune into the 2nd Season of Making A Murderer.  I still have a few episodes to watch before I am finished and I plan on taking them in tonight. 

Big surprise there is a cute guy in the series who is a Law Student.  He’s not a lawyer but rather a student in law school.  Until he passes the bar he won’t be an official attorney.  At any rate his name is Kurt Kingler, give it a Google and you’ll see what I’m talking about.  He does have a wedding band on and there is a piercing in on of his ears.  Not sure if that is a fashion thing or if he is subtly communicating he’s gay.  He has no social media so no need to waste your time looking, I all ready did that and failed.  Gay, Straight, Married or not he’s a good looking hunk of man!

I was a little surprised when I woke up this morning that I wasn’t sore, I figured once things calmed down that I may feel some pain.  I’ve been laying down for a big portion of the day glued to the TV.  I doze off here and there. 

Went out to Cracker Barrel for breakfast this morning.  A father and his 3 children sat at the table next to me.  His oldest daughter who might have been 10 years old dropped her fork on the floor.  Then she looked to her dad who got someone to get her a replacement.  She left the fallen fork on the floor, as if she was too good to pick it up.  I wanted to interject myself into the situation and say you dropped this princess but I figured I would start a war.  I get that eating out is a treat but if you drop something you should pick it up, it’s only common courtesy. 

I have taken some time to get more familiar with my rental car, I figured out it’s a 2018 model and has advanced breaking.  Now if my vehicle would have had that it would have detected that stupid parking island and I would have been saved.  Ah well.  They have lights inside the vehicle by the mirror but not visible from outside that will light up if someone is in your blind spot.  Mine are on the mirror and visible from outside.  I think that is a basic safety feature that all vehicles that are built should have.  Tomorrow I will be filling the tank and hate to think what that will cost but it should be my only expense outside of the deductible.  I was going to be holed up for the bulk of the weekend but it struck me that I shouldn’t let fear run my life.  Hence why I went out for breakfast. 

My friend that I am trying desperately to get rid of, Mr. Cough, is still hanging around.  Mornings are the worst and right after a meal as well.  I just want to go back to as normal of a life that I can have.  I don’t want to constantly cough, it’s annoying plus people do look at you, like it’s going to transfer to them.  I know it can take months to get rid of but it was gone for a short while and came back.  I just want it to pack it’s bags and take it’s phlegm and fly off into the sunset never to be seen or heard from again. 

I got a call for work.  Apparently one of our princesses at work decided to come to town to help with the move.  She told no one that she was coming and she doesn’t have a special badge that works in our office.  So she complained directly to my boss and said that the elevators weren’t working with her card.  Yeah, duh.  I replied and in not so many words I explained that an emergency on your part because of poor planning doesn’t constitute an emergency on my end.  Your jolly well fucked for the weekend.  If you would have told me you were coming to town we could have made alternate arrangements but instead you chose to operate in stealth mode, next time be a little bit more open and share your travel plans so we can make the necessary accommodations.  She has not responded and I honestly don’t think I will hear from her.  She does this sort of thing all the time and this time it finally bit her in the ass, I am actually happy about it.  The best part of the whole things is that if she happens to go into the stairwell she will have to walk all the way back down because all of the doors in the stairwell require special cardkey access that I have no control over. 

Since I am talking about work, I got word that a manager that I have a crush on is leaving.  If I would have stayed in my current role he would have been my boss.  I put in for a transfer because of my feelings for him.  He’s married, has kids  We wouldn’t have been in the same office but nevertheless I felt it was for the best.  It’s worked out actually pretty well for me.  We still work well together but he’s leaving because of some current management changes that were made.  He begged them not to promote a certain person to be his boss and they did it anyway so he is jumping ship.  I don’t quite know who will take his place if they will promote from within or if they will hire direct from outside.  I kind of think a person from outside would be best but hey no one is asking me.  I was depressed about it when I heard the news and that has resolved into some simple sadness.  I have no doubt he will do well and they say everything happens for a reason.  I heard from more than one person who has left say that we under pay our people, he has echoed that as well.  I wish nothing but the best for him but I will miss interacting with him.  Doesn’t mean my crush will die. 

Speaking of crushes, it’s just silly how a cute looking guy sticks out in the crowd.  I can’t help who I am attracted to and if they are married, straight, gay, bi or whatever.  I am hypersensitive to good looking guys and always have been.  It’s a little for the worse now that I am single but I have no shame.  I mean I wish I would find Mr. Right for me but hopefully that will happen in due time. 

I am going to do some surfing and then head back up to take in the rest of the making a murder series, I am interested at what else makes it’s way into the light.  I have high regards for Kathleen Zellner and have ever since I learned of her in the Ryan Ferguson case.  She is a great attorney but getting her to take your case, is a tough battle but once you have her your all set.  I honestly had my doubts about Steven Avery but from everything she is finding that doubt is going away quickly.  Brendan Dassey I knew from the start he was railroaded and innocent.  They took advantage of a low IQ person and preyed upon him by browbeating him and feeding him the words to say in his confession.  The take away from this series is that this could happen to you or to someone you love.  The police are great people but you don’t want to talk to them without the presence of an attorney if your suspected or charged with any crime.  I love the law and most of those that enforce it, but there are a few bad apples in every bunch.

That’s all I have for now.  I hope that your weekend is going well and that life is treating you well.