Tuesday

Nothing special occurred on Monday so that’s why there was no post. Today has been one thing after another at work. I got the morning break but ever since late morning it’s been a bunch of meetings and requests coming in that I must field. Plus, there are more changes in the organization of the way things are done. I am struggling with some of the changes and that is a source of my discontentment. However, change is a part of life and occurs in our everyday personal life.

The boss was in yammer mode today and he just wouldn’t shut up but eventually he finally realized that he was keeping us all from lunch, so he ended the long-winded meeting we were all stuck on. He loves to talk and hear his own voice. I on the other hand don’t mind talking just not with him or listening to him yammer. The less contact I have with him the better off I am.

Were only on Tuesday and already I am trying to talk myself out of going to the office on Thursday. I know it’s a big risk, but someone told me that I worry too much and that everything is going to be just fine. Right now, the plan is still on, but I will make my final determination tomorrow. I think that it’s likely that I will just have to force myself to go in, stay for a few hours and then come home and finish the day out working on my laptop from the couch. I think that it’s better for me to be there just in case. It’s a one-time thing for now.

Invites for our office holiday party came out today and it’s not until the first week of December but I’m not going in just to talk with a couple people and get some crappy food. I’d just stay home as soon stay home, keep warm and be with my cats.

I had an ice cream bar for supper last night, just wasn’t interested in eating anything but that. Tonight I will pull something out of the freezer and microwave it. Not sure what that will be just yet.

While mornings start off cool by the afternoon my living room is warm, and I wish a bit for AC. However, I just struggle through it and wait for night fall as I know the cool off effect will be quick.

Still counting the days until the end of the month and very much looking forward to time away from work. I’ve got no plans yet.

Hope you had a good day.

WEEKEND UPDATE with a rant

Saturday … Cold is the word of the day. The cats weren’t terribly happy that inside had a bit of a chill in the air. It only got to 70 in here and it’s so quiet you can hear a pin drop. I felt the chill myself but got a warm shower and put on clothes, it wasn’t bad then. As the day went on it warmed up a little bit but not a whole lot. I got my haircut this morning and came back home and passed out. I was up early in the morning and needed to catch up on sleep, as if that is possible. Still, it felt refreshing to pass out for an hour or two. Lounged around the house and watched TV for part of the day. Then decided to get moving and started doing laundry. I needed to restart my desktop computer to install the most recent windows updates. Glad that I waited because it took its sweet time shutting down and coming back up. Microsoft is still wanting me to upgrade to Windows 11 and honestly, I am considering doing it next month just to get it over. I like Windows 10 and want to keep it but if it’s going to make things move faster then I am happy to bite the bullet, especially since the taskbar issues have been worked out and you can resize it now and move it around.

I got Rudy on the scale and wow I’ve done a pretty good job at feeding him. In 2024 he was 7 pounds and today he is 12 pounds. I honestly don’t notice or feel any increase in his weight. He still looks like he is 7 pounds. He is behaving normally but I still have my eye on him as well as his sister. She has managed to maintain her weight she was 19 pounds in 2024 and today weighs the same. I feel it every time she steps on my nuts or decides to jump on me.

Got out this afternoon for some Mexican food, had a nice drive. On the way home I started having horrible gas pains. I stopped for the mail and made the decision to come home rather than hitting up the pet food store. I thought it was a smart decision but once I got here, I felt fine. I plan to pick up more food for the fur monsters tomorrow; it’s not like they will ever go hungry with me as their owner. I’d sell anything or everything if it came down to it, just to make sure they had food, water and shelter. I think they know that deep down.

Changed the furnace filter and fired up the furnace for the first time. It’s going to get down to freezing tonight so this was for sure necessary. That took care of the chill in the air and Rudy seems to be a bit happier. I’m just happy that everything is working like it is supposed to and hope that it stays that way. Wore my first long sleeve shirt today. That is going to become the standard, and I hate it, but it won’t last forever.

Planning for the week ahead I’m thinking of doing something that I wouldn’t normally do when I am on call and that is go to the office. Apparently, the company has money to burn because they are flying in a manager to my office for the sole purpose of seeing if he can break into the building and get to our floor. It’s a physical security audit. I learned about it this past week on an emergency phone call we had. I told the cocky SOB that he won’t get very far but he says “that he has a way with security guards”. Good luck I hope he pushes his luck and gets arrested, but I doubt that it will go that far. To get in he will have to show government issued ID and then we have to say to send him up or send him away. This cocky SOB hasn’t been to my office ever that I know of and he is clueless on how things work. The building I work in is by far the most secure out of all the buildings we have offices in and he picked the wrong office to try this little trick on. Besides that, no one has ever done this before. We have had some crazy people show up and no one has ever gotten past security. Bottom line is there are only two ways in and that’s through the guards or by having a building badge there is no bypassing that and it’s not up for debate. He said that he would be happy to hit me up when he arrived and brag about how easy it was to gain access. The day he is coming is normally a day that most people work from home. My fear is that he will ask for me and then be told that I am a remote worker (which I am not legally) and that will spill the beans and expose my secret. He is a prick and would delight in telling my boss. Which would cause me problems (not sure if they would be minor or major). So, it’s easier to just go in, even if for half a day that way if he asks for me and I’m not there he would get the response sorry you missed him he was here earlier. I’m kind of on the fence about going in but really feel that I don’t have much choice, it’s either stay home and take a huge risk OR go in and be on the safe side.

I know that by going in it will raise eyebrows for people in my office, but I can’t exactly say why I am there. I know that I have taken a huge gamble by electing to turn my job fully remote. However, my work gets done and I am still always available, no one is complaining but then again, most people think that I got permission and that’s why it’s never come up. While it’s not the same, I was thinking yesterday and equating it to coming out, in that you’re the same person and it doesn’t change things people just know your sexuality. By working remote it doesn’t change my performance or who I am as a person. Yeah, I am not playing by the rules, but it makes absolutely no sense for me to commute to a physical office, I’m wasting time and my money as well as wear and tear on my vehicle. I do the same work that I would do if I was in the office when I am at home. See what I mean? Nothing has changed except my physical location. That said, I’ve been thinking about just starting to play by the rules, maybe not going in 3 full days but at least back to my old schedule of 1 day, possibly 2. Had we not had this emergency phone call I would have been out of the loop on this and finding out about it after the fact probably wouldn’t have been a good thing. I am still frustrated with my job, and I want to quit but I honestly need the money if it wasn’t for that I’d walk away. If I ever reach a breaking point I might snap and give them a fuck you and walk but I’ve talked myself out of it many, many times before. Doesn’t help that my boss has turned into a delegation machine, he’s grating on my last nerve. I like to be left alone and that is how I am the most productive. I was talking with a colleague this week and said how I’d like to be a fly on the wall and just see what would happen if I was gone. The instant response I got was we would be fucked. Things would still get done but it would be chaos and madness. I explained that regardless of how important people think you are or even you think you are, everyone is replaceable. While you can replace a person in a position, you can’t replace experience or knowledge. Given that I still think that it’s a high probability that if I was exposed that I would be in some hot water and it would probably lead to my demise. Companies often chop off their noses despite their face, they would be punishing me, but they too would suffer. I do possess some unique knowledge and skills but let’s suppose I just dropped dead, the company would go on and they would get by. It would be inconvenient and difficult for them, but the work would continue. What was only known by me would be figured out by someone else and they would adapt, so in the end I’m not that valuable after all and at the end of the day neither is anyone else. We’re just slaves to a company; they give us money and in turn we give far more than our time.

Sunday … Brr it was cold this morning. I made my rounds to breakfast, grocery store and gas station. Dropped very close to $50 to fill my almost empty tank. Got home and got the groceries put away. Neither of the cats greeted me at the door or came to check on me while I was putting things away. I walked into my bedroom to find them both resting comfortably on my bed. They both looked at me like were comfy and didn’t want to move. Honestly, I don’t blame them. I didn’t want to get out of bed and get moving.

I watched some TV, eventually returned to bed and snuggled with Rudy. Mora left but she was taking up the bulk of the bed all stretched out. I had a nice nap. Got up and passed out lunch for the cats. Had a Banana and a piece of candy while sipping on a soda. Got my medicine all set for the week ahead. Now I am just lounging on the couch. I hear the neighbors’ kids playing football. I need to tend to clean this place but lack motivation.

Last night I found that old dryer vent was exposed to the outside again. Something chewed through my spray foam again. Nothing was caught in the sticky trap. I kind of think it was Racoons; they got me last time. Since it was late in the evening, I just broke out more foam and sealed it shut again. Put out some additional sticky traps and keep a watch on this. Looked on the web for ways to close off an old dryer vent and got some ideas. Problem is this is in the most inconvenient spot right above a water line; there isn’t a whole lot of room to work. The outside is covered by the deck. I would like access from outside because it would be much easier to close that off. This is the problem that just won’t go away and clearly what I am doing is a temporary solution so it’s time to change things up and get this vent closed once and for all so that I can stop dealing with it. I cuss at the city and my late spouse every time I deal with this. If we could have just kept things like they were without modifications, then I wouldn’t be dealing with this. But we just had to have this deck that I despise and that is why the dryer vent had to be moved so it was up to city code. Might have had a mouse nest in the dryer but I wouldn’t be dealing with this. I did do one thing differently and installed a mouse blaster that I had sitting around. It’s a box that plays high pitched sounds that only critters can hear (doesn’t affect cats and dogs). I had a Racoon visit last night and he took a couple steps on my deck and then quickly scampered away. I think this box might act as Racoon repellent, and I honestly don’t want that. Back when I hired an exterminator, I was told that this mouse blaster thing was a gimmick and it didn’t work it was just a way to get money out of me. When I got them, I bought 2 of them, they were not cheap. I’ve had one hooked up full time in my garage for a couple years. I’ve never had anything in my garage ever but hooked the box up just because I spent the money on it.

Today for sure is a lazy day for me. I’m having problems deciding on where and what I want to go to eat for supper. I’m sneezing and my neck hurts. Not a good sign. It’s either allergies or I am getting sick. My nose started up last night and I thought for sure I’d wake up sick this morning, but I felt fine. I really don’t want to be sick, especially this week with needing to go into the office.

Hoping that this will be an easy and quick moving week since I am on call. I must get through this week and then one more week before I get my vacation that I am longing for. I look forward to the time away especially since I am burnt out and just over my job in general. November, I think, will be a good month since I am getting two weeks off and working two weeks. However, the mistake maker will take his leave shortly after I come back from my vacation and that will put some pressure on all of us but it’s only until mid-January and I think since most of that time hopefully things will be slow that he picked a good time. I suppose I will find out soon enough.

Thank you for stopping by. All my best for the week ahead. Hope we all can have enjoyable and nice things happen while keeping the negative and bad things at bay. Keep fighting the good fight, I will be trying my best.

Today in Frustration

My sweet Rudy started my day off early. He’s become my new sleeping buddy, and he is next to me the bulk if not all night. I woke up to use the restroom in the middle of the night, and he thought for sure it was feeding time. I told him it was watch some TV and fall back to sleep time. Anyway, this morning he snuggled up against me, and I rolled over he knew I was awake and he started his morning biscuit making and kissing routine. We got in a few minutes of cuddle time before I had to get up. It was half an hour early, but I just gave in.

It was a brisk 45 degrees outside this morning and quite windy. It’s warmed up since then, but the wind hasn’t died down. It very much feels more like fall, but it will be short lived as there is another warmup on the way as the forecast appears now. Time will tell.

Work got quite busy late yesterday afternoon and something dropped early this morning that landed in my lap. I took care of it sucked some energy and time out of me. Not exactly what I wanted to have sucked, but I suppose that is another thing entirely. My boss has started delegating every damn thing and I feel like the bulk of it comes my way. He is constantly hitting me up if not a phone call, it’s an email.

Had my call this morning with the firewall vendor and they needed more information. We must produce live traffic logs but the person that reported the issue was out. Now we’re all meeting on Monday to get this information, that will suck but I will be glad to have this monkey off my back, and it can’t happen fast enough.

Looking forward to Chili and cornbread for supper tonight. There won’t be enough there to satisfy me, but I am still looking forward to the meal. There is a nip in the air inside the house so hopefully it will warm me up a little bit.

Got a haircut planned for tomorrow morning. Might go out for breakfast. Need to hit up the post office, pet food store and of course grab something to eat. Also need to fill the gas tank. My trip to the office consumed some fuel. I always make sure I have enough gas to dash out in an emergency.

Hoping to watch some good porn and have a peaceful evening and weekend. I hope that you have a wonderful weekend as well. Thanks for stopping by. Do something nice for yourself, after all you’re the only you that you have.

One Crisis after another

This morning started off fine until I got informed there was a problem at the office and I had to rush in. It was pouring rain and a little difficult driving, but I made it. Got the problem fixed and wished that I had brought my glasses with me. My eyes were on fire, and I only had to stare at a computer screen for a few minutes. I packed up and came back home.

I had to cancel my meeting with the Firewall vendor; we’re now meeting tomorrow. Not what I had in mind, but it worked out. Made it back home and got logged in. Had plenty of email to clean up. Then it was time for a meeting. Once that was over with, I grabbed a quick lunch. Then the next crisis sprung up and I leaped into action. Got a little bit of rest, took the trash out and came back just in time for another meeting. Then the next crisis broke out. I’m exhausted. It’s just been one of those days where it’s one thing after another. The only good thing about that is it makes the day go by a little faster.

It’s humid here and still in the 80’s but the cool down is coming, so they say. I had Tuna Noodle Casserole for supper last night. Tonight, will likely be Broccoli Cheddar Soup.

My gum around one tooth is sore. I noticed it when I was flossing on Sunday night and it caught me by surprise. It was rather odd to me because I am a serious flosser. I figured something was stuck. It persisted on Monday and that’s when I got more aggressive to try to work whatever was stuck out but all I did was irritate the tissue even more and now it really hurts. Been swishing around salt water and that seemed to help. There is some minor swelling around the gum. I’m toughing it out for now in hopes it will heal on its own. However, if that doesn’t happen, I will call the dentist. Not the call I want to make but if it’s necessary then so be it.

Rudy has been lapping up the attention and trying to work some extra food out of me, but I don’t give in easy and he doesn’t stop easily either. It’s a battle of the wits to see if I will give in or he will give up. Looks like he gave up so I won this one. Good thing, his next meal arrives in about a half hour.

Really looking forward to tomorrow being Friday. There are more meetings to go to but at least when the day is over, so the week will be as well, and I can rest a bit. Hope all is well in your world.

Take care.

MINOR EXPLOSION

Today has been a damn busy day. I double checked and knocked out the work my boss assigned to me yesterday. That was a little bit more involved and caused some minor confusion, but I got it done.

I moved upstairs and have been glued to the couch and my phone ever since. My boss called twice. He apparently tried to reach me yesterday, but the call didn’t ring because I was on the phone. He should have left a voice mail, but he didn’t. I didn’t get any alerts. It’s all sorted out now. He wanted to know if I wanted to be involved in another project and I told him no. The project he wanted me to get involved with is a cluster and I knew that which is why I declined. He was fine with that. Why do I want to sign up for more work, especially a project that is a headache?

I fixed more mistakes this morning, from a project that we have not had clear communication on. The mistake maker didn’t know his part, and I did but didn’t know the affected people. I helped where I could and got everything sorted.

I had a brief break, another person called me and I worked through what they wanted. Then had a very brief break and then went to my meeting. I exploded about this project where other people are pulling strings, and we are having to do work. I said we need more transparency and better communication. That was a direct dig at the boss. I had held all of that in for a while but this morning it was time to let it all go. We were supposed to talk about the project, but the boss went off on another tangent and now said that he will try to put together a call so we can talk about the next steps to this project. The next step to this project will take place next week and since I am on-call it affects me. I’m betting that this gets put off until the last minute.

I was able to glean in our meeting that my boss is feeling some super stress, kind of like the rest of us. But stress is infectious and he tends to project it on us. Like just a moment ago he shot a hole in the work that I did earlier this morning. He didn’t provide me with clear direction, so I did what he told me. Now I must go “fix” things, a job that I am purposefully putting off until tomorrow morning.

I got asked about the Firewall ticket and what the vendor said. I explained that there was no issue with the traffic, everything was allowed but I was still pressed to open a support ticket, so I did that, which wasn’t an easy process. I’m not a Firewall expert I have limited knowledge but hopefully when I meet with the vendor tomorrow, they can come to the same conclusion very quickly as I did. The vendor booked an hour-long meeting, I hope that things don’t go quite that long.

Sounds like everyone at work could use a vacation. There is a lot going on and everyone is chasing a deadline and feeling pressure. I hate both pressure and deadlines but if you don’t have deadlines some people wouldn’t ever get anything done. Ah, deep breaths relax and unwind for the rest of the afternoon before I get wound up again tomorrow.

We had storms roll through last night and my insomnia already was acting up and then being woken up by a storm didn’t help things. Oddly I have been mostly full of energy all day. I feel like taking a nap right now but know better than to give into that.

Rudy was super clingy yesterday and he stayed with me all night long. I brushed him and was looking at him, I had a flash back to when some of my other cats got sick. That was an uneasy feeling. I think he is doing okay but I also think he might have lost a little weight. I will try to get him on the scale over the weekend to get an idea. He is playing, eating & drinking. I worry a lot about both of them more than I should but it’s because I love them so much. They are young and tend to bounce back from minor things quickly, age is on their side. I guess I’m a bit shell-shocked or have PTSD from losing all my other cats. I love both of them so much and they bring me so much joy. They also cause some frustration but there is more joy than anything. That is the most awesome feeling, and I love the special bond I have formed with both cats.

Supper tonight will be Tuna Noodle Casserole or Broccoli Cheese Soup – I’ve not finalized that but either way I won’t go hungry. Hope that you had a great day and enjoyed some good food as well as the company of someone or something that brings you joy!

CHAOTIC TUESDAY

Hello,

Today started out normally, just as most days tend to. The morning was quiet and calm, then out of nowhere a flood of email came pouring in. I got busy fast. That’s about the time my boss sent me a request that was stupid. Someone thought they had a web traffic issue and was being blocked. I peeked and all that person’s traffic was permitted so nothing was blocked. I was asked to open a support ticket with the vendor to confirm. That makes about as much sense as calling the police and asking if they are blocking the web traffic. I can physically see that the traffic was permitted. I started opening a case but felt so stupid doing it I stopped. Someone was just looking at pointing fingers at a problem and well sorry to disappoint them but it’s not the firewall.

After that mess we had a meeting and I wound up getting a project dumped on me. I worked with that this afternoon. I will double check my work in the morning before I publish the results to the boss and others.

We have yet another meeting tomorrow that I don’t look forward to. Nothing but silly stuff to talk about. It’s a meeting where we all have to say what we’re working on and how the “week” has been going for us. It gets old fast and is kind of silly. I am just looking at the calendar and counting the weeks before it’s time for me to go on vacation again.

It was another hot and humid day here. The poor AC is still running, which feels rather odd for mid-October. Things should start to cool down, so the weather says. We have some rain moving in. It’s been a very long time since it has rained here but I’m never a fan of the falling water from the sky. I like to watch it snow, something so peaceful about that especially when it really comes down.

Outside of that just a normal day nothing special going on. Had frozen Spaghetti with meat sauce for supper, but it was pretty good. Having a Butterfinger Ice Cream Bar for dessert. Looking forward to powering down for the day. I’m watching Three’s Company now on Peacock. I remember watching it as a kid growing up but I’ve never seen every episode. It makes me appreciate John Ritter a bit more, he was a great actor.

Hope you had a great day!

Best way to help – let them fail

Welcome!

Taking a line from the series Boots on Netflix for the title of this post. I knew that a disaster was about to unfold this morning and I could have stopped it at any point this weekend, but I chose not to. The mistake maker made a cluster fuck up and didn’t turn off someone’s account that was terminated. HR asked us about it this morning and I jumped in and took care of it. Then I called him and he totally forgot about it. Doesn’t make him look good at all but it makes me shine. Not the first time this has happened to him. I’ve never had this problem when I am told someone is no longer with us, they become my priority and I get that person’s access shutdown quickly. It’s part of our job and it’s something that I excel at. I’ve covered for him and tried to help but he doesn’t learn from his mistakes. Time to let him fend for himself.

It’s been a busy morning, and I got some up tick this afternoon. We had a meeting scheduled just before lunch that the boss sent out the invite for Friday; he never bothered to cancel the meeting or show up for it. I gave him 7 minutes and then I just bailed. Someone else called out and asked if we were still meeting. That’s how I found out it was all for nothing. So much for valuing our time. However, it all pays the same whether I am in a meeting with him, doing nothing or doing something else.

While I am not a fan of work it’s better for me to be busy and doing something rather than having a bunch of time on my hands. However, I’m not asking for more work, I am already getting more stuff shoved my way from time to time. Things that make me cuss and shake my head. I enjoy my downtime while I have it, despite sometimes not liking it. Management and others have figured out that if you ask me to do something I will follow through, typically with no questions if there is a clear path forward. I am the get it done kind of guy.

It’s another hot and humid day here but that is supposed to be short lived. By Wednesday they say we will be back to normal Fall like weather.

I got my request to take Monday of the first week of November off as I had planned. Now I have the entire week off. I will only work 2 full weeks in the month of November – that’s something to look forward to. The job would be more tolerable and enjoyable if I had that kind of schedule to look forward to on a permanent basis, shame that won’t come to fruition. The only thing really on my list to do in the first week of November is schedule an oil change for my car. Might try to find someone to clean the gutters. Otherwise, it’s just enjoying and doing whatever. I’m sure I will be visiting a couple of my favorite far away restaurants. Sounds like an invitation for trouble.

I went through the car wash yesterday and then hit up Red Lobster. Damn if a bug didn’t hit my windshield. I could have gone back through for no cost, since I pay a monthly fee for unlimited washes, but I typically only go through twice in a month to get my monies worth out of the membership.

I got an offer for $5 off any Pizza that I had sausage on, but it was good for yesterday only and it was at the place where the straight hot guy works. Imagine him waiting on me and me asking how big his sausage was. That would go over like a lead balloon but it sure sounds like fun. I doubt he would get it, considering that he didn’t know I was asking him on a date when I originally made my move and asked him out. I thought about going there but my heart was set on fish. Fun fact whatever kind of pizza I get it always includes sausage.

Cats are both doing well and enjoying the sunshine, they are doing a good job at driving me nuts at times. Looking forward to shaving and getting a shower tonight. I hope it was a decent Monday for you.

Thanks for stopping by!

FRIDAY

Ah, we made it again to another Friday. I only have 1 meeting on my calendar later this afternoon. I managed to skate through the morning with nothing to do and didn’t feel a bit bad about it. I am truly doing the bare minimum today and can’t wait until the day is over. It’s been quite a week and I’m looking forward to the weekend. Unfortunately we had an issue crop up late in the afternoon and  that brought some work my way plus I wound up sitting on a conference call for an hour and a half that took me past quitting time.

Last night I had Broccoli Cheddar Soup which was delicious and I wanted more. I am looking forward to having Chili with Cornbread tonight. That will be the highlight of my day.

The mowing crew showed up and did their thing. My lawn is cooked and there isn’t much work for them to do but I’m not the only lawn they mow in the neighborhood. This must be their favorite time of the year. Last week they cut but had no trimming to do or should I say they didn’t bother to trim.

I am watching The Ropers on Peacock; it’s a spin-off of Three’s Company but just with Mr. and Mrs. Roper. Speaking of TV last night was the premiere of Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage. Outside of the fact I have a huge crush on Montana Jordan the show itself is quite enjoyable. I’ve also got the premiere of Chicago PD to watch and plan to take that in later tonight. The only good thing about Fall is that TV comes back to life.  Speaking of TV and stars, Ryan Seacrest had a shirtless photo leak and wow he looks awesome.  I’ve always had a crush on him. 

We had one Stink Bug last night and I caught before the cats knew it was there. The cats’ heads are on a swivel, and they are always looking up and around like they see something, which causes me to look as well. I like finding nothing that is the best result.

Brushed Mora last night and she savored that not wanting me to stop. I was surprised that she got sick after lunch. Rudy bugged me to get lunch a little bit early and he wouldn’t let up. He really got on my last nerve, and I knew the only way he was going to stop was if I passed out food so that is what I did.

Felt nice walking outside this morning early to retrieve the trash barrel and not feeling the heat and humidity. However, it’s building and I can feel it. My AC will be on again today. It’s been nice that I have been able to stay upstairs for two days. I will be downstairs tomorrow working on laundry and finances. I know the cats will follow me and demand attention.

Hope you had a great Friday and have an even better weekend!

LAZY THURSDAY

Hi and welcome!

My morning was clear and I capitalized on that. I signed in on my laptop and then went to my bedroom and relaxed. It was 2 hours before someone bothered me and I needed to get up. It was nice to cuddle with the cats and bask in some relaxation all while getting paid.

I had more encounters with stink bugs with a grand total of 5 of them. What an eventful evening, not that I was up for it. However, they are all gone. We’re back on the bug watch. Mora and I watched one worm its way in the living room window, I got it quickly disposed of.

It’s another nice sunny-filled day and is warming up into the 80’s again. The AC is on today. Weather is sure a strange thing, but I’ll enjoy the nice warm day because I know that eventually I will be wishing for this when it’s -3 or something like that and there is snow on the ground.

Planning Broccoli Cheese Soup for supper and looking forward to it. Just enjoying my quiet day if it lasts. Hoping for the same tomorrow. Take care!

Another Day

Welcome!

I had the Italian Wedding Soup last night. Rudy thought for sure I was passing food out for him since it came out of a can, we had to do that little dance that I hate. The soup smelled like canned soup when I was putting it in the bowl, and I hoped that it would taste good. Sadly, once it was heated and I took a couple of bites it wasn’t good. It looked delicious so they need to get rid of the canned taste, especially since this is made with “high quality” ingredients and they charge more for that. I hoped for better but hey at least I know. I wound up throwing most of it out. I’ve got one more can of a different flavor and perhaps it will be better, but I won’t hold my breath.

It was super cool this morning down to a low 45 degrees outside. Didn’t feel that way inside but my body didn’t feel that great when I woke up. One side of my face was sore and as soon as I sat up, I felt the drainage starting to propagate. I feel fine now but if I was a betting man I would have told you that I was sick just based on how I felt when I woke up. I think some infection might be trying to set up shop. I will try my best to keep that from happening, but weather change always seems to get me.

I was very tired last night and that was no surprise because my energy level overall was down during the day. I went to sleep quickly but was up at 1a and then again at 5a. I didn’t bother to turn the TV on I just rolled over and waited it out until my body eventually fell back to sleep. That seems to be one way that I don’t feel sleep deprived the next day if I am not awake terribly long. I also purposefully don’t watch the clock, so I am not cognizant of how long it is taking to get back to sleep.

Meeting time rolled around and I was filled with anger and had a few things to get off my chest. The more I thought about it as the meeting went on, I figured nothing was going to be done about it so let everything go. I let everything but one item go and sure enough that got forgotten and dismissed quickly. Sometimes it is just better to keep your mouth shut. Meanwhile I am looking for a different job and if the right opportunity presents itself, I will leap at it.

Last month, I spoke about a job that I really wanted but it was lower pay. I applied for it but haven’t heard anything. I’m not holding my breath. It’s probably better that I stay put considering the huge pay cut that I would be taking. However, if they call, I will entertain an interview and see what happens.

I am not doing a whole lot at work, just what I am directly asked to do. You might call that quiet quitting but that is not my intention. I’m frustrated and lack drive or in general terms unhappy. I see no point in going above and beyond. I do enough so that my team, including my boss, knows that I am alive and doing something but there are large gaps in my day and yeah, it makes for a long workday.

I passed out supper for the cats a few minutes ago and Mora alerted me that we had a visitor. Another dreaded stink bug. It was on the living room ceiling (I’ve got a cathedral ceiling) and I waited until it moved just right, then broke out the vacuum and stood on my tippy toes until I sucked it up. I got it! That was a lot of work for one little bug. Scared the cats by turning on the vacuum in the middle of the day but they are back out and all is well.

Pulling something out of the freezer tonight for supper, looking for something easy and quick. It’s humid here and the AC is on. It’s in the 80’s outside. Feels funny saying that in October. Probably won’t be able to say that next month but then again, it’s the weather we’re talking about.

My Peacock subscription renewed last night and sure enough I’ve got like 3 more episodes, and I will be done with Too Close For Comfort. I will go in search of something else to hurry up and watch while I wait until the 5^th of next month to cancel my subscription.

Another day in the books and 2 more to go until the weekend. Have a pleasant evening!

Tuesday

Hope all is well for you. Today started off chilly here, feeling that chill in the air is nice but it makes my body want to hibernate. Thanks to the cats I am unable to do that, and they require me to get up and pass out breakfast. If it wasn’t for them, I would be comfortable rotting in bed.

My morning was okay; I got caught up on a couple of quick tasks at work then I was free. I laid down and watched TV. Napped a little bit but as per usual, you know what I’m going to say… yep, the phone woke me up. Not like I had to get up but I realized that I should get out of bed despite not wanting to. To aid in waking me up I had a Diet Coke. The chill was still very much in the living room, and I turned the TV on as I poked around on my laptop for work. A short time later I had a quick burst of work. Then I was back to killing time before I had to login to a meeting.

The boss was extra talkative today after being off yesterday. He droned on and on. I asked a question that made perfect sense to me and what I wanted to do was the right thing, but he started talking in double management talk and dismissed my idea. Then he wonders why more of us don’t speak up. It’s because you never take our ideas, you dismiss them. There is no real motivation to speak up or come to the table with an idea.

Rudy started asking for lunch as my boss continued to drone on. I told him as soon as Foghorn Leghorn was done talking, I’d pass out lunch. He laid down and went back to sleep as if he knew it was going to be a while. Yeah, it was another 30 minutes. The whole meeting went an hour but was supposed to be 30 minutes, so much for “valuing” our time.

I got lunch passed out and started to nibble on something when my phone went off. I finished eating and decided that I wasn’t going to peek. Good thing I am a fast eater because there was a small crisis that needed my attention. I got it taken care of quickly and no one ever knew I was away from my keyboard.

After lunch it was time once again to pass time until the next meeting, which also went long because someone needed to talk with our team after the meeting because they had questions which could have easily been an email. Just hung up with that and now my afternoon is free until something comes along to clog it up.

Two more meetings are in the books for the rest of the week, one tomorrow and one on Friday. Then were done. I hope that no more is added since I am not a fan of meetings. They just suck up time and nothing productive ever comes of them. I’d sooner do almost anything else than have a meeting.

On a different note, since the year is slowly winding down, I peeked today on Amazon for naked men calendars for 2027. I wasn’t surprised by what I saw. Now just need to decide on what I want to buy and when to place that order. It’s not like they will sell out. Today is prime day and I know it’s temptation to buy and I have looked but there isn’t anything that I really need.

Listening to Mora snore as I type this out. The sun is shining through the living room window, and both cats are basking in it and are fast asleep. They both love their sunshine! Haven’t met a cat yet that hates sunlight.

Still watching Too Close For Comfort on Peacock, I think I am on the tail end, but I don’t think that I will finish before my subscription renews for another month.

Had White Cheddar Mac & Cheese with Bacon last night for supper. It was good. Dessert was a Snickers Ice Cream Bar, and I still wanted to continue to eat after that but managed to resist going to dig for something else. Got my shave and shower, felt pretty good. Then it was time for bed.

Mora, with her lightning senses, pointed out another Stink Bug that had gotten in. Well in killing it I managed to set off the burglar alarm. There was a glass break sensor that not only listens for the sound of glass breaking but detects vibration. I hit the bug with a fly swatter, and this glass break is super sensitive, which is a good thing. There was a high pitch beep that scared Mora and she went and hid as I went to disarm the alarm. Glad I got there before the siren went off because I heard that back when the system was installed and it’s super loud. I got it disarmed in time and no one called me and the police were not sent. At least now I kind of know what to expect. I cleaned up the dead bug and Mora came out of hiding but she was looking all over like there was another bug lurking, they normally arrive in pairs but thankfully we just had the one last night which was one too many for me. Didn’t think killing a bug would ever cause an adrenaline spike.

Even though the weather is in the process of warming up for the day once the sun sets things cool off quickly around here. I am planning on having Italian Wedding Soup for supper. I saw a display with some new soups from Campbell’s at the grocery store and picked up a couple cans. I really have high hopes that this tastes good. Italian Wedding Soup is one of my all-time favorites, and the can is large like Chunky Soup. Fingers crossed and hope is set too high!

Hoping for a pleasant evening with something decent that I can manage to stumble on for entertainment to view and pass time. My neck is killing me I think it’s too much computer time. I really miss my massages, I can feel the knots building in my back and it would be nice to get rid of them. Sometimes the cure (the massage) is worse than just suffering through the inconvenience. I have a foam roller, which sounds pleasurable, but I assure you it’s not, it’s quite rigid. Rolling on that can help me. I remember during the pandemic I pulled it out and rolled on it as my back just popped like it was a bowl of Rice Krispies. It felt wonderful afterwards. I hope for the same experience each time I use it but have yet to replicate that experience.

Thanks for stopping by. Wishing you a pleasant evening!

Yuk it’s Monday

Howdy!

I initially woke up with the thought to call in, it would be the perfect day. Nothing on my calendar, the boss is out and I just wanted to go back to bed. However, for some silly reason I pushed myself.

It’s a good thing that I did show up because little did, I know that plenty of people would be reaching out to me. I had one person that presented a challenge that I was able to figure out but it took some time and a little bit of patience on my part. I always like a puzzle type problem that I can solve. Fun fact I hate putting puzzles together, but they are great to look at when they are done.

After the big morning rush, I came upstairs, and Rudy was waiting for me at the door, it was lunchtime and he wanted his food. Sadly, I passed out something that he didn’t like, and he avoided it and tried his salesman approach to wiggle something else out of me, but it hasn’t worked. Now he has turned into my shadow. I laid down for a bit at lunch and he stayed with me. I think he is not feeling well. I making him wait until supper time and then I am sure he will probably wolf down whatever I put in front of him, or so I hope. I really have my eye on him and am thinking that we are probably going to wind up seeing the vet, which I’d like to avoid.

I did get to brush both cats yesterday and this time I think I got more fur off skinny Rudy than I did Mora. I brushed and brushed. Eventually he wound up falling asleep in my lap, guess it felt that good.

Enjoyed my pasta last night, service could have been better. I asked for no onions on my salad and got them, anyway, guess it’s a good thing I am not allergic to them. I really wanted to order some Spumoni, haven’t had that in a long time but I was way too full. I came home and an hour later I had a Snickers ice cream bar, it was good, but it was no Spumoni.

Had a couple hot dogs and a sweet pickle slice for lunch. It was easy and quick. Just the hot dog, no bun or bread. Put a little ketchup on them and they were quite tasty.

Thinking about supper tonight not sure if I want to go the pasta route again or if I want to have some soup. Kind of feels like I am getting sick, but it could just be allergies.

I was pleased to see this morning in my email notifications that it appears the refund I have been waiting for from my car insurance has finally arrived. I want to go grab it so I can deposit it but honestly waiting a couple more days won’t kill me. I used to fetch mail daily but now I go once a week. Although I have been known to get anxious and go grab mail because I knew there was something I wanted waiting for me, like in this case the check. However, you can’t always trust the email notification, sometimes mail shows up there, but it takes another day or two before it arrives. On average the notifications are mostly spot on but there have been occasions when they are incorrect.

Really looking forward to shaving tonight, my face itches like crazy and scratching does not help. Outside of that there is not a whole lot going on here. I hope that your Monday wasn’t bad and that the surprise Man Candy I shared put a little sparkle in your day.

Weekend Update

Saturday …. My insomnia did kick in for some reason. Not sure why but weekends seem to be the absolute worst. Rudy was all worked up before bed, he wanted catnip. I passed some out the other night when he told me he wanted to play but just groomed himself the whole time I tried to play with him. Put some cat nip out and his attention shifts to that and nothing else can bother him. Same for his sister.

Anyway, Rudy let me sleep until 7a and then he started his biscuit making. I got up and fed him. There was a chill in the air, and it was kind of refreshing, just a slight nip not freezing cold. I came back to bed and watched TV. After a while I got up and had breakfast, which was cereal & a banana. Then back to my room to peek at my phone. There was a work email but nothing serious. I watched TV and eventually returned to bed. Both cats had taken over the bed by then. I woke Mora up and she moved. Rudy did not, he was in Mora’s go to spot which is upper left portion of the bed. She didn’t mind that he was there, she came up and sat on him. She groomed him a bit and then we all just snuggled as I watched TV and looked at them, feeling the drowsiness set in. I needed sleep. I turned the TV off and white noise machine on. Then I heard this noise that sounded like a cat scratching. However, they were both next to me and no one moved a muscle. I closed my eyes and then heard it again; turns out it was my phone vibrating I didn’t hear the tone because of the white noise machine. The phone was going nuts and it was work. I had to get up.

Turns out a spammer sent in a bunch of emails and I was getting the alerts that the messages hit quarantine. I got up and logged in only to reject the messages and block the sender. Nothing major but I hated to do anything work related since it is the weekend but if I wasn’t on-call it wouldn’t have been required. In fact, this wasn’t urgent, I was just being proactive.

By now it was lunch time (11a) and Rudy came out asking for his lunch. I fed him. I had a quick lunch myself, a soda and some cornbread. I forgot the cornbread when I was eating chili, damn I knew I was missing something, but my brain was fried.

I put on some clothes and headed outside to patch my front porch. There were a couple of divots that the contractor caused but calling him back and making him fix them would be pointless because he would get all defensive and argumentative and I wasn’t going down that road. I got some concrete patch in a tube off Amazon and put on some rubber gloves and got to work. It turned out okay for me. I might go back for a second touch up but right now just let it be. I came in and relaxed for a while watching TV and the cats sunning themselves in the window.

Saw that my new neighbors did some brush trimming and hauled the brush away (unlike the old neighbor who would just pile it up and I’d have to look at it all year long) but they left a bunch of leaves in my front yard so it looks like I did the work. I thought about getting my blower out and pushing the crap over in their yard but I’m going to let the wind take care of it. Thus far I am NOT a fan of the new neighbors. The motorcycle is one thing. They have 5 vehicles plus 1 motorcycle. I think it’s two families that live there. Anyway, they park on the street in front of my house then use my driveway to turn around. I kind of wish I had remote control stop sticks so I could flatten their tires. I don’t mind the occasional car that turns around but they use my driveway practically every damn day. We have yet to meet and they might be the sweetest people, but they are grating on my last nerve. They make all kinds of noise during the day or at night like they are doing demo work or some type of construction. Hopefully it settles down.

Eventually I could see the day was going to get away from me, so I got a shower around 2p. I was really fatigued and could have used a nap. I didn’t want to go out but forced myself to. Once I was behind the wheel I woke up. I headed out for a bite to eat first figuring that food equaled fuel and would power me up. I went to get Mexican Food, and, on the way, there was 1 car that almost side swiped me because they didn’t know how to switch lanes, they flipped me off as if it was my fault, but I was totally in the right. Then a few minutes later some Mercedes came flying down the freeway like were on an F1 racetrack, he had to be doing 80mph and he too almost crashed into the side of me. He came out of nowhere and scared the crap out of me. The way people drive around here I’m surprised there aren’t more handicapped parking spots. Not surprisingly, on the way back there was a 3-vehicle crash what a mess that was.

My phone had a couple of work emails on it by the time I arrived at the restaurant, and I needed to respond but put it off until I got home. I took my sweet time eating and running the errands that I needed to get done. When I finally got back home, I logged on and responded. I had to log off and back on a couple times but got everything taken care of.

Working on laundry. Got my finances updated, caught up on email. Surfed for porn. Saw last night on social media that one of my all-time favorite porn stars, who is Sam Bridle got the side of his head tattooed. That had to hurt and honestly, I am not a huge fan of tattoos in general. I hear that once you get one you constantly want another, like it’s a drug. Hey if he’s happy with it that is all that matters. I also hear that tattoos are not cheap. I’m not a fan of any kind of needle so no wonder that I am averse to tattoos.

The mail brought me my ballot to vote in the election. I’ve filled it out and got it ready to mail back. No standing in line for me. I switched to a mail in ballot just before COVID hit and I’m on a list so every time there is an election a ballot is automatically mailed to me. It makes it easy and convenient. There is plenty of time for me to stop think and make my decision. I always mail it back the day after I get it just to get it in the mail. There is an online service that tracks it and I double check that it’s been received.

What the mail hasn’t brought to me yet is my refund for my auto insurance. It should be here now, looks like next week I will have to make yet another call. I am ready to switch insurance companies given all the time and effort they are costing me. Back in the day when I had a local agent stuff like this never happened. I get that they want to hold my money if they can squeeze out every drop of interest but come on were talking a hundred dollars it’s not going to break a company. Oddly enough they pay insurance claims (when I have had one) much, much faster.

I promised myself that I would go out for ice cream but it’s much easier to head upstairs and hit the freezer up. Plus, it’s not like I need it. Back when my spouse was alive, we used to go for ice cream all the time. I remember one October I snuck out of the house and got both of us something. I came back home and we watched the baseball game as we ate our ice cream; it was world series time, and I remember how surprised he was when he saw the ice cream. I was so quiet he never knew that I had left the house. Neither one of us was much into sports but hell it was a good time. Now I rarely if ever go out for ice cream, just because it brings back memories of him. I simply can’t go for ice cream without thinking of him. There were many other things that we used to do together like going out to eat and shopping for groceries and cat food. It was hard at first to do those things but since I do them all the time they don’t bring back memories. Guess if I went for ice cream more often it would be a more common activity and wouldn’t bring up memories.

Sunday…. Woke up at 7am and Rudy was thrilled as usual to see me. He didn’t like what I put out for breakfast, so I opened a second can. He ate and that made me happy. I got dressed and found out that it was in the 50’s outside. I grabbed a leather jacket before I headed out. Having my vehicle parked in a well-insulated garage made it all nice and warm. It didn’t cool down until it sat outside while I ate breakfast.

On my way to Target after having breakfast. My lazy voice whispered to me; you could go another week the cats have enough treats at home. I wanted to give in and pass Target up, but I stopped. I felt better getting the task out of the way and knowing that I have treats on hand for the little furry monsters.

I made it to the grocery store, remembered everything I forgot last week. The one thing that I really wanted was Blueberry Syrup, but they didn’t have that. Hopefully, I will remember to look for it next week and if I find it, I will buy two bottles. It’s good stuff but then again, I love Blueberry.

Last stop before heading home was the gas pump and it wasn’t terribly painful, but I hated seeing the price per gallon so high. I can’t wait until it falls again, if that ever does happen.

When I arrived back home and walked in, I saw that Rudy got sick. I wasn’t happy about that but kept bringing things in from the vehicle and unloading. When I was done putting everything away, I cleaned up Rudy’s mess and threw the food away. That always makes him beg for more. It’s like there is no food, I’m hungry, please feed me. But I operate on a schedule here and not at the whim of a cat who can get hungry with the blink of an eye. There is always dry food out so if he was hungry enough, he would have nibbled on that.

I had a couple of emails that trickled in from work that needed attention, but they weren’t super urgent. Glad that I didn’t jump on them because as I was trying to nap more came in. Damn phone always wakes me up. Thankfully my on-call duty ends tomorrow morning and then when the workday is done, I am free to power my phone off. I will for sure take advantage of that come next weekend.

I passed out lunch for the cats and set my medicine out for the week ahead. Another weekly task that I am not a fan of. However, there will be no chance that task will end until I cease to exist. That is unless there is some magical cure for all that ails me.

I decided to just be lazy for a few more hours. Sat with the heating pad for my aching back and watched SNL (Saturday Night Live), I only watch it for the opening skit and weekend update. Occasionally they will have a musical guest on that I want to see. I don’t remember who was last night, but their drummer played shirtless and wow he was nice to look at for a few minutes.

Then I moved on to Frontline that is on PBS. The latest show was called Scammed. It was all about the various scams that target everyone. They started with a sextortion case and a 17-year-old boy who committed suicide after he sent a nude photo to a threat actor that he thought was a young girl. He gave the threat actor $25 but they wanted more. He told the threat actor that he didn’t have any more money. Unphased by that the threat actor demanded more money. The kid told the threat actor how scared he was and that he had a gun. Moments later he went to the bathroom and blew his brains out. His father tried to rescue him and felt his son’s pulse and life just leave his body. That’s something that no parent should have to experience. It was worse because after the actor knew the kid was dead, he started to reach out to his relatives including his brother and father. The show covered romance scams, crypto scams and everyone from young to old seems to have fallen for something. This includes Attorneys, Doctors, People who work in IT and Finance. With the advances in AI, it’s even tougher now to detect if you’re talking with a bot or a real person. Kind of made me think about the dating world and who exactly might be on an app. I had a guy years ago start a romance scam with me and I smelled it a mile away. I’d ask a simple question, and he would spout off paragraphs. Each morning I’d wake up to another message that took me at least 15 to 30 minutes to read. It was obvious that he was using a script and cutting and pasting. Plus, his distance from me would change and be radically different. He tried to tell me he was in the military and “deployed”. I could see that it wouldn’t be long before he would be asking for money. Money was the last thing I had, and I just blocked him and moved on. The hurt to me was minor but compared to what could have developed I am glad that I was smart enough to see it and stop.

While I think I would be smart enough today to not fall for something, I second guess myself just because technology has gotten so damn good. I am smart enough not to send money or nudes. Even if a guy wants to send nudes to me and I’ve gotten them, you don’t know if what you’re looking at belongs to the sender or to another human or if it’s just an AI rendering. There are humans behind the attacks that watch this play out in real time. I get that people need to earn a living but there are more honest ways of doing that. Good and Evil have always existed in the world, and both will never cease. A big tip off at least in the dating world is when someone wants you to move from the app and to texting – that’s a tell-tale sign. Although some people don’t want to be tracked by the apps, I get it. Still until we meet in person, I don’t want to hand over my phone number, no matter how good looking a guy is or how much he sweeps me off my feet. I still have my doubts if I will find Mr. Right but hopefully, he is out there and our paths cross sooner rather than later.

Doesn’t look like I am going to make it outside to spray the perimeter for bugs this weekend just because I am being lazy. The weather forecast has nothing but sunshine and warm weather moving our way. We will be back in the upper 80’s by mid-to-late week. I’m planning to get the spraying done next weekend.

As for the rest of today, I’ll be relaxing with the cats for a bit, then headed out for some pasta before returning home. Might get out during the week to grab a bite to eat but I have plenty here. I got more Chili and soup. Grabbed some more cornbread too. The only thing I don’t have is crackers, but I can put that on next week’s shopping list.

My boss is off tomorrow, and I am hopeful for a peaceful Monday. The week ahead doesn’t look too bad right now but things can always change.

As usual I hope that all is well in your world and that we all have a great week ahead! Thank you for stopping by.

JOCKTOBER OR LOCKTOBER ?

Happy Friday! We made it through another week. Now we have 2 days to relax, have fun and do whatever we want.

You’re never too old to learn something new. I have always heard of Locktober where guys wear chastity cages all month long and stay “locked”. More power to you if you engage in this, I don’t know how anyone could manage. I get way too horny and couldn’t imagine going a month without relief. What I learned is that there is also something called Jocktober, where gay guys wear jocks all month long to support body positivity. Not sure where this has been hiding but I never ever heard of it. I always enjoy learning something new. Jocks are hot and seeing guys in them can get me worked up. For some guys, I think that jocks frame their asses nicely.

Friday is in full swing here and thus far it’s not been too bad. I got a hell of a surprise dumped in my lap last night. My boss failed to communicate to us about some project work that is going on. I got forwarded a schedule and passed it on to the rest of my team, so they aren’t caught off guard. I’m sure they will have to do what I did last night. If my boss knew that it would probably upset him, but I say fucking do your god damn job. Communication is key and had I been forewarned it wouldn’t have been a big deal but to get an eleventh-hour surprise really made my blood boil. I had to help someone last night, it was easy and quick, but I had to stay connected for longer and didn’t sign off until 7:30p. It was a 12-hour day for me, and I was so tired when I was done. Felt so good to disconnect. For people like hospital workers, fire fighters, police officers and others that work 12 hour shifts I tip my hat to you. Not sure how you manage to do it. I suppose if my day was more involved and busier the time would pass by much faster. I think riding around in a fire engine or squad car would also be kind of fun, though I suppose that wears off quickly.

I had semi hot Baked Potato soup for supper last night. I ate in a hurry because work was calling. I got to fix a fuck up of the new guys while I waited for my project work and then got a call from my boss and he just wanted to talk and talk. I just wanted to say STF so I can enjoy my evening, bad enough I must listen to your crap during the day. However, I held my tongue and just waited for him to finally shut up.

Tonight I plan to enjoy Chili with cheese, sour crème and some corn bread. I am really looking forward to this meal. I’ve waited all week long and the weather is perfect today for chili. I hope nothing fucks this up for me.

I am also hopeful that I will get a decent night’s sleep and my insomnia doesn’t flare up. While I want to enjoy some lazy/down time, I really don’t want it to consume the bulk of the day. I’d like to patch some concrete and spray the perimeter for bugs. Speaking of bugs, Mora has been pretty good at detecting when the Stink Bugs make it into the house. I learned that they release a scent that only other stink bugs smell to mark where they enter so the rest of them can flock to that entry point. They don’t harm anything inside the house and are just looking for shelter, but I am not a fan, and the cats will stare at the ceiling for hours on end following them as if they are a toy. Mora tried to eat one last night, but I stopped her in time. That would be a horrible snack and one that she wouldn’t enjoy. Rudy detected one last night before Mora’s sensitive ears started working. Nice to have bug hunters, they are really on top of things!

Here’s hoping it’s a great and enjoyable weekend for all of us. Take care!

My Salesman

Hope you are all doing well. Happy Friday eve or better known as Thursday. One more day to go!

Yesterday I was in a meeting and my boss said that his boss was calling so he paused for a moment, by the time he went to answer the phone he had hung up. A few minutes later his boss was calling me. I dropped off the meeting and helped his boss out with what he wanted. He reached back out later in the evening reporting a problem and I worked through that with him via email. I figured all was well because I heard nothing further. We are well into the afternoon. My boss just called and said that his boss was reporting problems and asking for his help. We reviewed what I did, and everything looked good. My boss is going to handle it and get it worked out. I just hate dealing with his boss. That man apparently loves me because he hits me up all the time. It makes my skin crawl to see his name on caller id or in an email. I’m sure if I get a promotion I will be working more with the dummy and that is unsettling to me. I don’t show any fear or hesitation externally but internally I am nervous as hell working with him because he will pick things apart and if there is one thing out of line, you will hear about it. He also loves to set you up; he will ask questions that he already knows the answer to. It’s not like he is a homicide detective trying to solve a murder and hell were all supposed to be on the same team working for the same organization! I don’t know why he does that it’s counterproductive. I’ve always disliked the man and even my late former boss disliked him.

In one of our meetings yesterday I learned that the mistake maker will be taking the last of his time in November through mid-January. That’s going to make it difficult for those of us that are left working but I’ve gotten through him being gone before and since this is the last kid he will ever make, I think I can muster up enough gumption to get through another period without him. The crazy thing he told me was that HR doesn’t ask for any proof that you had a child, other than if they need benefits you have to provide them with an SSN (Social Security Number), otherwise you could say you had a kid and take the time off and no one would be the wiser. Kind of makes me want to tell them that I am adopting a child just to get 12 weeks paid leave. I’m not going to do that but wow it’s so tempting. I could certainly benefit from paid time away.

It’s been a busy Thursday. I had my normal 1^st of the month junk to deal with but normal work came in as well and one person that loves to cry wolf sent an email to a bunch of people reporting a problem. I was able to call them out and tell them they were lying because there are no logs to support what they were reporting. It was fun to reply to everyone and send that email, it made them look stupid. I don’t know why people think they need to send an email including multiple managers just to get action. If you reach out to one person, they will take it and run with it. Ah corporate culture is toxic for sure.

Got the trash set out before the rain moves in. Today it’s extremely hot here in the 90’s, which is highly unusual for this time of year, but it’s happened before. There is a cool down coming with rain today and tomorrow. The weekend is supposed to be in the 70’s and sunny – hopefully that is the case, and I can get motivated to get my outside work done.

This morning woke up to an alert from one of my banks that they thought a fraudulent check was presented for payment. Turns out it was the check for the guy that did the column work. It wasn’t fraud at all. I don’t normally write checks that large, so I am very pleased they reached out. Also, glad that he finally cashed the check. I don’t like the fact that he did a mobile deposit, I can only hope that he shreds the original, but he doesn’t impress me as that type of a guy.

I watched a Kevin Williams scene last night; jeez he was so cute and in great shape as a younger man. He was for sure most gay men’s dream. He had such a great smile to add to his appearance.

Had Tuna Noodle Casserole for supper last night, it was pretty good for being a frozen dish. Stouffers makes some great things and that just happens to be one of them, in my opinion. Tonight I think it’s Baked Potato Soup. I’ve got Chili as well but saving that for Friday!

Rudy appears to be back to normal. He drank a lot of water yesterday and was a little clingy. By bedtime I could tell he was his normal self or so it appeared. He is acting normal today. I never got to brush him yesterday, but I am certainly going to make that happen today. He’s been grooming all day long and that’s how he gets his hairballs. I’ve always been concerned about the amount of time he spends grooming himself, but I guess he wants to look his best! Some cats are particular and he is for sure one of those. Mora does a decent amount of grooming but nothing close to what her brother does. Plus, they work on each other at different times. That’s just a cat thing that they all do. Who wouldn’t want affection? No one that I know of. Plus, they both try to groom me by licking my arm or when Rudy gets in salesman mode, he will wash my forehead and scalp. That’s how I know when he really wants something!

Done with Tuesday

Hi there!

Last night I took my sleeping meds a bit later than normal. It was a bit cooler overnight. I slept well, not sure if it was one of those things or both. Just wishing that every night’s sleep could be that good. I feel decent this morning. I spent half an hour downstairs this morning before I moved upstairs. That’s got to be a record.

I got a little bit of a break in before things started going crazy and the day got fully started. It’s been a busy one. Plenty of meetings as well, more than I usually have on a Tuesday. The boss called me twice. He shuffled some work my way and that kept me busy for a while, but I plowed right through it. I like to get things done so I can be available. This is especially true when I am on call because you never know what might be coming your way.

Poor Rudy had another hair ball. I brushed him again this afternoon and didn’t get a whole lot of fur off him. For good measure I brushed Mora as well and while I got more fur off her in the grand scheme of things it wasn’t a whole lot. I didn’t break out the Furminator because that brush really gets the fur off both cats. I did that over the weekend. The poor guy (Rudy) bugged me for food early in the afternoon just after making his mess. I knew better than to give in because he would only be asking for food again come supper time. I made him wait and he munched on a little bit of dry food. As soon as it was close enough for supper, I put food out for him and he happily ate.

Supper tonight for me was leftover pizza. I’ve only got one piece left and plan on finishing it for lunch and having it cold. I had a breakfast sandwich for lunch, there really wasn’t a lot of time to eat once we got into the afternoon and the many meetings I needed to attend.

Kind of glad that today is behind me. It’s not Friday yet but were inching our way there.

It was another nice and higher temperature day here. The AC has kicked on a couple of times and I’m sure it will run at least one or two more times before the day is done. My favorite tree in the neighbors yard across from me has started to turn. It goes from green to yellow to red. I try to capture a photo each year when it is all red. Shortly after that all the leaves fall from it. This is a sure sign that not only are we closer to colder weather but the end of the year.

I hope that you had a great day. Take care!

Found the money tree

Here we go again another week ahead of us. I scheduled some vacation this morning, I took 2 intervals of 3 days. The first is after election day and the second is the 3 days before Thanksgiving. So, I have some time off to look forward to. I still have roughly a week to use before the end of the year. Right now, I am saving it as a cushion in case I get sick, but I might just schedule it. I’d like to take a week this month but thus far have talked myself out of it.

I had a great pizza yesterday afternoon. As per usual no hot guy candy to look at. Some kids came in with their parents after a soccer game. The parents announced to the entire restaurant that the kids lost their soccer game by a lot. The kids didn’t seem bothered by it at all. Unfortunately, there were flies in the restaurant and I kept having to shew them away and almost wound up spilling my soda. I was happier when I put the leftovers in a box and headed home. I am not a fan of insects.

Had a relaxing evening with the cats. Found out why Rudy was so clingy. He wasn’t feeling well and produced a hell of a fur ball. I kind of thought that was the case. Both cats got brushed and their nails trimmed earlier in the afternoon, this was pre-fur ball. Mora put up one hell of a fight with her nail trim, but it hasn’t harmed our relationship, which I am thankful for. I love her and her brother so much the last thing I ever want to do is hurt either one of them. I think she knows that. I’m not a fan of having my nails trimmed either and I do that job myself. I don’t know how anyone sits still for a nail trim by a stranger.

I popped an extra sleeping pill last night and had a good night’s sleep, despite a couple of wake-up calls to use the restroom. Once I got back in bed it was lights out and I was in dream land all over again. Really wish that I could sleep like that every night it would make me a much happier person, not to mention that I would feel so much better. Sleeping is a huge requirement for me, and I love it very much. I fell in love with it as a kid and it’s a love that has lasted well into adulthood. The same is true for food and men!

Woke up to a nice cool morning start but it’s going to heat up as the day wears on, and it will feel more like summer today and the next couple of days, which I am okay with. It will be in the 80’s, which isn’t horrible. Might as well enjoy what warmth we have left while it lasts because soon colder will be normal. The best thing about that is that all the bugs will be dead, that is the only good thing about colder weather.

I forgot to mention this in my update yesterday. Often when I get to the checkout at various stores I am asked did you find everything okay or a similar question. I always answer yes, I found everything but the money tree. I’ve been saying that for years upon years. My late spouse said it as well. Yesterday when I was at the grocery store, I passed the floral section and saw they had 8-inch money trees for sale. I paused and just took that in. I never actually knew there was something called a money tree. I told the cashier about it. He didn’t know it as well and once he handed me my receipt, he headed back to see them. The cashier told me that I should run back and get one, it might grow. I told him I was born at night but not last night. It was a nice smile moment.

On the work front it’s not been a horrible Monday but I have had busy spikes here and there. My schedule has a bit more tomorrow and there is no shortage of meetings to attend. I’m hoping that this is a quiet and fast-moving week, I hate being on call. Speaking of which, it’s almost time to put together next year’s on-call schedule. The only thing I need is a list of our company observed holidays which won’t be released until a bit later in the year.

I hope you had a great day!

Weekend Update

Saturday …. As per usual my insomnia kicked in early in the morning. I sat up and looked for something to watch. Sadly, I found something on Peacock an old tv show called Too Close for Comfort. Looks like I’m keeping Peacock, at least for now. Eventually I was able to fall back asleep and Rudy let me sleep in until 7a. That was awfully nice of him. I got up and got the cats and myself breakfast. Then off to the shower. I was partially dressed and sat down to watch TV; I had a little bit of time to kill before my haircut appointment. That time passed by quickly and I finished getting dressed. I was early for my haircut as usual and had to wait on my barber to finish up with their current client. I had some plans for today but feeling tired all I wanted to do was go home, get undressed and crawl back into bed. So that is exactly what I did. The cats didn’t seem to mind.

I rotted in bed and my room for the bulk of the day from sleeping and watching TV. I passed out lunch for the cats, only because Rudy was insistent about it. I grabbed a soda and some chocolate and enjoyed more of the TV show. Eventually I opted to turn the TV off and start on laundry. I had some finance work to catch up on and then veered off into the world of porn. Before I knew it I needed to leave for supper.

Backup stairs threw on my clothes and headed out. I went for BBQ only because I was supposed to have a reward since it’s my birthday month. Turns out that reward wasn’t on my account. Last year the place moved my birthday month to October. I said something to the manager, and he was supposed to have corrected it but apparently that did not happen. I wasn’t pleased about that, and my dippy waitress didn’t offer to get the manager or fix it. I wanted to get going because a charter bus had just pulled up and the people were piling in. It took me forever to work my way past all the people coming in. I held the door and when I got a chance moved to the second door and eventually, I was free and in the parking lot. My next stop was to get the mail. Then came home.

For the longest time I would pass by those speed trailers that our town has and never get alerted by my radar detector. Those days are over, they use photo radar and my radar detector supports it. The town my doctor is in has photo radar setup at each intersection so if you blow a light, they snap your license plate and mail you a ticket. The alert is super loud and obnoxious, but I know the sound. Well, I passed by one of those speed trailers and had an alert way in advance, so when I passed by it thanked me for driving safely. I saw on a YouTube video some cities have mounted Flock cameras in those trailers so they can capture your license plate.

Since I arrived back home, I have been working more on the laundry. Also, the computer. Got it all tuned up and it is working better. All week long I would open a spreadsheet at work and when I would have to type in numbers it would cause Excel to crash. Not exactly sure what the number pad was sending but I didn’t have any issues on my laptop, so I knew my desktop had to be rebooted. Hopefully, when I log in on Monday things are back to normal.

Rudy has been super clingy and sleeping in my lap off and on while I have been browsing sites and playing. As I typed this up, he woke up and looked at me, as if to say come on it’s time for bed. The look he gave me was dirty and I know he was trying to make me feel guilty. Yeah, it sort of worked because I am saving this and heading up.

Not exactly a productive day as I would have hoped but it was enjoyable. Hopefully tomorrow will also be enjoyable once I get my morning errands out of the way.

Sunday … Had some insomnia but managed to get back to sleep without having to watch TV. Both cats helped me with that. So thoughtful of them, just makes the bed crowded. Woke up on time. Fed the cats. I got ready & dressed, headed out for breakfast and then hit up the grocery store. This was Target weekend, but I opted to skip it and just picked up a container of cat treats at the grocery store. Debated on topping off my tank the gas gage said that I can travel 320 miles, and it’s just used a little fuel from the last fill up. I decided on coming home. Got the groceries put away, then unloaded the dish washer and put the cats fountain in. I went and got undressed and watched TV before my food coma kicked in. Eventually I passed out for a little bit. I didn’t want to get out of bed. I heard a lawn mower running and Rudy wanted his lunch, so that got me out of bed. I fed Rudy and peeked out the back door. Saw the neighbors’ kid on the lawn mower. He was riding around a little like I used to when I drove one as a kid. I was totally reckless, but this kid was much more controlled. It took me back in time watching him and wishing that it was me instead. Got my medicine put out for the week. Then put the cats’ fountain back together. The motor needed to be cleaned as well and that’s where the bulk of the crud was. I got it flushed out and super clean. Both cats watched with anticipation as I put the fountain back in service. They had a dish of water while it was in for maintenance, and they both drank a little out of it. Once the fountain was back up and running, Mora dove in and drank like I’ve not seen her drink before. Fresh clean purified water from a jug. I drink from the tap. The cats get superior treatment!

I cleaned the house and then decided to run some cleaner through the dishwasher. I grabbed my next load of laundry and headed down. I was alone for a while. Got my inbox cleaned out finally. Nothing like a zero inbox, I like it tidy. Just started surfing for porn and Rudy came back down. He is in my arms sleeping again as I work to type this. I kind of had other plans but there is nothing like cuddle time with him. He doesn’t do this that often, but when he does it’s so cute and I savor it. He beats his tail against me or the desk until he falls asleep then he is perfectly still. Last night he fell asleep twice. Right now, he’s working on it but just not quite there yet.

Thinking about supper I am headed back to my hometown not sure if I am getting Mexican or Pizza, both are in roughly the same location. The pizza place is where they used to have hot younger guys for waiters but that has pretty much dried up and you might find a guy there but it’s mostly girls. The pizza is good and honestly, I haven’t had it in a while, so I am seriously considering it. However, in my mind I really want to stay local either hit up a local Mexican place or go to the pizza place that has not so good pizza and get my favorite pasta dish that comes with a small salad and garlic bread. I always leave there full and happy.

Not like I have anything going on for the day, need to run some cleaner through the washing machine as my laundry dries. There is some outside work that I need to do but just not in the mood. That’s about it. Well looks like Rudy can’t get comfy so he just left me. I am thinking of heading up for a bit anyway. The new neighbors sure have a crowd of cars, not sure if that is going to be the norm but based on the cars it looks like two families living there. The driveway and the street are full.

Hope that it’s a good day for you! Back to my normal routine tomorrow. Take care!

BARE MINIMUM FRIDAY

We made it to Friday, yay!

The morning started off early for me, woke up around 6a thanks to my body. Rudy came in and was resting on top of me. He got settled and spun around so he was facing the door, as if there was any threat that is going to enter. If there was, I’m sure he would run and hide. Anyway, I let him sit for a few minutes before I decided to let him know I was awake. That’s when he commenced with his happy dance, aka biscuit making. He nuzzled my face and gave me a love bite on my chin. We got up and started the day.

I still had nothing big going so I logged in upstairs and got comfy on the couch. Noodled around a little bit at work and then sat and waited to see what the day would bring. After a couple hours nothing had come in. I was growing tired and decided to head off to my bedroom to lay down. Both cats were sleeping.

No sooner than I got comfy in my bed with my trusty phone by my side, both came in. Mora snuggled up next to me and Rudy got in between my legs and laid down. We watched a little TV and as I was enjoying and appreciating the experience, that’s when things started up at work. Go figure. I sit and wait in anticipation for hours with nothing but if I step away for a moment that’s when all hell breaks loose.

I wound up getting into it with a manager from another team. He was being stupid and telling me to do something that I told him I had already done. I put him in his place because I’m tired of BS and just don’t want to deal with outright stupidity. I’m sure that wasn’t a career endearing move, but no one called me on it. I’m worrying about it more than I should be.

I saw something on social media two Fridays in a row that said essentially that Friday is the day of the week to do the least just to get by. I decided to adopt that methodology and thus far it seems to be slightly working for me. It would be nice to have our work week changed to 4 days instead of 5 and while that bill is kicked around, I honestly don’t think there is a chance that it will pass. Too many companies and lobbyists will probably make sure of that. Still, I can hope and dream, there is no charge for that.

Then the afternoon rolls around and I wound up joining a meeting a half hour before it even began. I realized my mistake quickly and left. Joined back up when it was time. Had to listen to my boss and see his fat face. He yammered along with the vendor we were meeting with. The meeting was over and then he had us join him in a meeting afterwards to recap what happened in the meeting, we had to listen to him compose an email (which is normal). He likes to have an audience when he is sending emails but it’s annoying to me and a waste of our time. Maybe no one else minds but I sure do. Not like I can do anything about it though.

Fetched the trash barrel early this morning, it felt nice out at 58 degrees. Compared to the hot and humid weather we had last week. My AC has for sure run a lot less this week.

Finished off the Lasagna Soup last night. Surprisingly the cats left me alone, which was nice. I didn’t go to bed hungry, but I really wanted something sweet before I called it a night.

My next food dilemma is do I want Chili for Supper or Chicken Pot Pie. They both sound appealing to me. I am going to look to see what the expiration date is on the Chili and that will make my decision for me. I know I’m going to enjoy whichever one I decide on.

Not sure if it’s my new neighbor or a helper of theirs but someone rode up on a motorcycle yesterday. It was parked on the street all day long. Once it got dark and everyone was settled in there was a loud crack as it started up. Scared me and the cats at the same time. I hope that is not a regular thing that I have to listen to. It’s a quiet neighborhood for the most part. Once and a while we get someone advertising, they have a stereo or a loud car but otherwise it’s quiet. I enjoy that and know that is one of the big draws to our neighborhood. It’s busy at times but still even with normal pedestrian and automobile traffic folks tend to be silent and that’s not a bad thing in my book.

Thinking a little bit of the hot college guy and really wanting some companionship. I don’t feel nearly as low as I did last weekend. I have a sense that feeling might be coming back especially with the weekend approaching and me having nothing but time on my hands. Hopefully it doesn’t return because it is no fun. I am horned up, at least that is something that I can take care of on my own. It is a great way to end the day and drift off to sleep. Hopefully, I have enough strength to make it happen.

Now bring on the weekend or at least Saturday. I enjoy that day the most, especially knowing that I have the next day off. I hope you have a great weekend!

Sad News

 

I found out that Kevin Williams [real name Ted Currall] a gay porn star (pictured above) from the 80’s and 90’s passed away on Tuesday.  He was a hot blond in his day; he was a bottom. He is one of the first porn stars that I recall getting off to.  He worked with several big (and hung) stars in porn like Tom Chase, Chad Douglas, and Jeff Palmer.  He had several scenes with Falcon Studios which was the first gay studio porn that I quickly became a fan of.  Kevin also did work for other studios. There has not been a cause of death released but from what I have read one of his friends didn’t call 9-1-1 in time.  Some people just freeze up and are unable to think/act when an emergency like this occurs.  I get that it’s overwhelming but getting help quickly and doing CPR (provided they aren’t breathing and there is no pulse) is their only chance.  He was 60 years old, which is still very young!  I know it’s common to speculate that it was drugs since this was a former porn star, but it might be something that we never know.  He left behind an amazing body of work, no pun intended and I really hated hearing this.   

In other news, I had to go downstairs to start my day.  There was some catchup work that I needed to do and that required 2 screens.  Once I was done that is when I went to doing my personal browsing and found out about Kevin Williams.  Once I came up stairs I was permitted to rest and Mora snuggled up with me.  It was a good time that I really didn’t want to end.  However, work eventually called and I had to get back to it. 

Today is wide open other than a meeting with my boss that I had this afternoon.  It was our usual touch point that we have every month.  I hate these because I think they are a waste of time.  No way I am telling him my true feelings because it would radically change things for me and not for the better.  He asked me if there was anything going on at the office.  I told him not that I am aware of.  He told me that they are still working on my so-called promotion, which is what he has been saying for the longest time.  If that position opens it will be closer to the end of the year and won’t be effective until January 1^st at least that is my anticipation because I know how they do business.  He wanted me to have another training session with the team on the firewalls, I tried to talk him out of it, but he insisted, so I scheduled it.  We established an agenda and it’s short and well within my ability to complete. 

When I watched the morning news, I was so happy that I was working from home because traffic was shutdown on the normal route I would take to get to the office.  There was a fatal accident.  There have been several fatal accidents on this route within the past few months.  People speed like they are driving in a Formula 1 race.  You’d think with the rising cost of gas people would slow down to conserve fuel but that’s not the case.  Hopefully, this doesn’t become a continuing growing trend.  The police presence used to be heavy to deter speeders, but they have eased up way too much and given folks a comfort feeling.  No matter where you’re driving at you must be hyper aware of your surroundings that includes what is around you.  Crashes happen in a split second, and they are all over way too quickly. 

My new neighbors are continuing to move in.  I think they have a small child because there was one that tripped my back door camera, he was taking pictures of my deck.  Not sure why he needed to take photos.  That was disturbing to me because apparently there was an adult watching or perhaps coaching him in the background.  Hopefully, this doesn’t become a regular thing.  I’m not big on folks trespassing but I have tolerated a lot.  These folks are new so giving them the benefit of the doubt.  The old neighbor came back to pick up one last item he had in the back yard.  I saw him and the new neighbor talking and he (the former neighbor) was pointing towards my house.  I think they were talking about the tree that is on the shared property line, but I have no idea.  It wouldn’t hurt my feelings if they chopped down the tree because eventually it will come to that.  The tree is dying a very slow death.  As long as it doesn’t fall on my property, I’m good.  I have been the primary person who has taken care of trimming it, but nothing has been done with it in a couple years.  I took the trash out this afternoon and saw that the For Sale sign was still in the front yard.  That’s kind of odd since the house was sold but there never was a sold sign that went up. 

I plan to finish off the Lasagna Soup tonight; there isn’t a whole lot left but I’ve survived on less.  I’m sure one of the cats will be on my heels thinking that I am eating their food again.  It’s kind of funny but more so aggravating.  I don’t want to have any accidents, which is why it upsets me. 

I’ve scoured Peacock.  They really don’t have anything that I am interested in.  I plan to cancel the subscription over the weekend.  I did see that they had a reboot of Queer As Folk but I watched the trailer and it wasn’t appealing to me.  I saw a couple hot guys, but I doubt that they went to the extent the US version did to show simulated realistic sex scenes.  That along with the overall cast and content is why I believe the US version was so popular.  I remember we (me and my late spouse) waited all week long to see what happened.  It was the one show/series that we both enjoyed.  It was such a good time, and I am thankful that I have that memory. 

Thankful that tomorrow is Friday.  The only thing on my calendar is a meeting in the afternoon with a vendor.  I am planning on working upstairs all day, unless the demand is different and I need 2 screens.  I have high hopes that I will be able to pull this off.  It’s my turn to be on-call next week and as per usual I am not looking forward to it.  Might as well bask in the relaxation while it lasts.   

Not sure what is up with Blogger, but I noticed a couple days ago that my other great blogs section is not updating to reflect current posts on other sites.  I looked at other blogs, and the experience seems to be the same for others.  Hopefully, that will be fixed soon. 

Finally, I’m sure you’re probably wondering about the hot college guy.  He’s not accepted my friend request.  I wish that I would have asked him out when I had the chance, but I still strongly feel that he would have declined because he’s straight.  I’d like to skip past all the dating, games and disappointment and just find my guy.  It is a shame that there really isn’t a way to do that.  It is just something that I must go through. 

Hope that all is well in your world.  Talk with you all again soon.