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!

WEEKEND UPDATE

Saturday … Enjoyed rotting, sleeping and napping. Cuddle time with the cats. Watching some TV. Got out of bed around 1p and passed out lunch for the cats. Watched TV and powered up my phone to see what was going on in the world. Had a soda and eventually wandered into the shower. Got clean and dressed. I left for the office and was depressed on the drive over. Talked myself out of stopping for Italian Food. Almost didn’t make the trip. Got to the office and found that I had new monitors, so I had to log on and configure them. They are borderless 27-inch monitors by Dell. The tech that takes care of our office never told me that he put them in. I was only 3 years overdue as they were promised to me around that time but the tech that made that promise changed offices and never bothered to follow through. I didn’t complain or say anything to anyone figuring that they would catch up with me eventually and wow it finally happened after 3 years. I forgot to do something while I was there, but I can always make another trip.

Each time I travel into the office I think about how much I really don’t miss the daily travel and grind. However, I am starting to think that perhaps even going back one day per week might be beneficial to me from a mental health perspective. I’ve had that thought for a long time. It might also improve my outlook on the overall job but I kind of doubt that. Sitting in a broom closet all day long with no cats, no tv and no bed and mostly nothing to do for the bulk of the day doesn’t exactly sound appealing to me. That’s kind of why I stopped going in plus that broom closet gets cold all year long, so I must turn on my space heater (which is illegal to have).

Anyway, after I left the office, I headed for home and managed to talk myself into BBQ, so I didn’t go straight home. On the commute back I saw and heard a tire explode on a semi. Damn it sounded like a gun went off. He was doing average speed and minding his own business when pop went the tire. Took him a bit to realize what happened before he pulled over. Tire debris went flying all over the place. I was unscathed by it and managed to keep going, I was lagging and two lanes over. Yet another reason to give a semi a wide birth.

Once I was getting close to the BBQ place, I saw a vehicle stopped on the side of the road. There was a lady a little bit way up from it and she was walking on the side of the road. I can only surmise that she ran out of gas. I had the thought to stop but that’s not something that I do terribly often only because many years ago I had a very close call. Her vehicle was still there on the way back, but I didn’t see her. I told myself that if I saw the lady walking, I’d stop. Kind of glad that I didn’t see her. Just because you never exactly know if doing a kind deed is going to backfire on you.

I felt a bit better after getting some food in my belly. Stopped at the post office before coming home and sure enough my refund check was there waiting for me. They took long enough to finally get around to mailing it to me. So much for 7 to 10 days, it’s been a month.

Cats were happy to see me and Mora hasn’t been leaving me alone a whole lot. She craves her attention but part of me thinks that she is just trying to cheer me up.

Sunday … Started off as a typical morning. My body waking me up and me trying to hide the fact that I was awake from Rudy. Once he figured that out, he started his morning biscuit making and kissed me on the nose, which was a nice extra touch. I served breakfast for him and his sister. Then I got ready to dash out the door for my breakfast. A little chilly this morning but as the sun came up it didn’t last. I made it for groceries and then came home.

Rudy was relaxing in bed and didn’t bother to greet me at the door, but Mora was waiting for me. I got the groceries put away and then went back to my room to get undressed and relax. Mora and I sat in my recliner for a while until I got sleepy. Then I had to kick her out so I could get in bed. Of course, she was lying in the middle of the bed, and I had to move her over. I tried to cuddle up with Rudy, but he wanted no part of that, he headed for the recliner, and Mora just made herself comfy by my feet. I watched a little bit more TV before I dosed off for about a half hour. When I woke up, I didn’t want to get out of bed and Rudy came and curled up next to me letting my arm cradle him. That made me feel like the luckiest guy in the world. He isn’t a cuddler that often, but when he is in the mood, he does it well and looks so damn cute. He eventually passed out for a little bit and that’s when I knew he was quite comfortable. It’s tough to be still when you know you must, but I did a great job. Eventually he woke up and decided to switch arms but that was short lived he was ready for lunch.

I was telling Rudy as I got his lunch out that it would be a great day to see a hot guy outside, but I said that probably won’t happen. As I set his lunch down, I peeked out the back door and saw my neighbors’ kid, shirtless. He had finished up, power washing the house. I couldn’t help but let my sexual creative thoughts start to run wild. He has a nice ass and a great body. I don’t think he’s quite legal yet, but I could be wrong about that. I’m a poor judge of age but there is no harm done by letting my imagination run wild for a moment and it was a very much unexpected treat. 

I got my medicine set out for the week and ate some sugar free candy that I picked up. Much to my surprise it was pretty good. Then I sat around watching TV and playing with my laptop. Found out that I had a button that disables the camera on the keyboard, but it never stood out to me. That was some welcome news, and I did some testing with a couple quick logins to work. It works like a charm.

Eventually got up and cleaned the house. Both cats were napping soaking up the sun in the window laying in their cat tree. When I powered up the vacuum they both sprang to life and watched me with great caution, but they never moved, which is highly unusual. I got the vacuuming done and they went back to sleep as if I had never woken them.

I nervously ate and played with my phone a little bit to catch up on social media, since I skipped it last night. Turns out I didn’t miss anything. Saw a couple of hot guy photos but that’s about it. Eventually it got late enough in the afternoon I opted to put my clothes on and head out. Stopped at the car wash. Hot super skinny blond kid was working there; he was nice to look at. I went to Red Lobster for supper. I wasn’t really that hungry and wound up bringing the bulk of my meal home, which will be supper tomorrow night.

Came home and served supper for the cats, they both were waiting for me this time at the door. I took care of them even though my bladder was about to burst. Saw a couple of the younger neighbor kids playing outside. Quite uncommon for the 11^th of October but it’s 84 outside now. We’re not going to have this nice warmer weather forever so might as well enjoy it while it’s around. My AC has already kicked on three times this afternoon.

Waiting on a load of laundry to dry and then I will be headed up for the evening to be with the cats, watch more TV before eventually bedtime rolls around and I get to wake up and get logged in for work. This is my last rest week before I am on call again. I hope for a great week and the possibility that my mood will change towards my job. However, I’m not holding my breath. Also decided to take the entire first week of November off, I had booked 3 days, we are closed on Election Day, and I see no sense in going to work for just that Monday so tomorrow I will be requesting that off. It will be less time that I have left to burn and might as well take it while I can.

Hope all is well in your world and that you had a great weekend. Take care!

Man Candy

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.

Surprise - Man Candy

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.