My Stars

Not sure what came over me but when I went to sleep on Saturday night I woke up on Sunday early am.  Felt like low blood sugar.  I began to consume sugar in large amounts and felt better so I returned to bed.  About an hour later I woke up again and it felt like I was on fire.  I changed beds and that did the trick.  Only problem a couple hours later I woke up again and it felt like I was on fire.  I felt fine other than being very hot. 

I gave up and got something to eat.  Then rested.  It was around 1p and the phone rang, crisis at work.  One of our offices was hit by a thief so I had a couple hours of work ahead of me.  Thankfully I felt fine.  Not sure what it was but it seemed to have passed. 

Just when I thought everything at work was set, I got a shower and headed out for a bite to eat and a late day trip to the grocery store.  I just finished my meal and was ready to order desert when I got an email that there was one last thing needed for work.  I had to drop everything and go back home.  I was not a happy camper but know that it’s part of the job. 

Finally off to the grocery store and I was able to load up, I went a little crazy but I didn’t break the bank.  Got some new and interesting items for dinner.  Also picked up a 12 pack of Cinnamon Coca Cola.  I knew it was coming out, wish they would have made a Diet edition.  I have tried it and it’s okay but since I am used to Diet the sugar makes it taste horrible. 

On my way home I stopped in at the vets office to inquire about an appointment for Momma.  The doc I like was working and they were wide open.  So I raced home and got everything put away.  Then raced back and they lasered the damn thing off her leg.  It sounded cheap but add on antibiotics and numbing medicine plus the exam and I dropped $170.  There is 1 pink stich in her and I got the okay to cover it with first aid tape.  I was shown where to cut to remove it if I didn’t want to bring her back.  I will certainly give it a go, sounds simple.  Talk about Lucky man I thought for sure I would have to take time off to get her in. 

I’m not feeling 100% but mostly really want to make sure Momma is okay.  She has been up my ass all day long, following me around and yelling at me.  She didn’t want to eat this morning.  She is drinking.  I hope that she is hungry at supper and wolfs down some food.  I can’t have her not eating.  Everyone’s appetite is a little off today. 

So I am working from home and I knew this was coming eventually, I got a call from my boss.  He’s asked me to start coming in at least 50% of the time and the other 50% I can work from home.  Mother Fucker, I am pissed.  First you tell me that I can work from home then you tell me I can.  Either I can or I can’t which the fuck is it.  Make up your damn mind.  In any event I got permission for tomorrow.  My plan is to try to milk the rest of this week out of him and then go back next week, unless the weather is bad or there is some extreme circumstance.  The other thing he told me is that he is working with my office manager to try to get me an interior office when we move back.  This isn’t a promise but right now things are looking pretty good.  I’m happy about that and hope that it comes to pass  I have certainly paid my dues.  Now I might not get a window but we shall see.  I am not holding my breath nor do I expect anything but if it comes to pass then great. 

Blood work came back and my A1C is down 8 points, I am at 7.1% which is good but it still needs to be a bit lower.  My doctor should be thrilled.  Optimal control is 7.0. 

I feel like I have been through one hell of a storm between Friday night having to login and the news I got today.  I am not the happiest but I also know that going back will be good for me mentally, not to mention physically.  A change of scenery and just getting back into the grove.  I will miss being able to have a hot lunch, to take a nap and/or sleep in and most of all the cats.  There is a convenience factor of no commute and little to no laundry to do but hell they don’t call it work for nothing.

Well the day is almost done so I need to wrap things up and get ready to climb the stairs and change over to home mode, whatever that is.  Talk with you all again soon. 

The 2nd prick

Happy Saturday!  I hope that you had a great day and maybe some fun along the way. 

I threw caution to the wind last night and decided I would sleep in as long as I was up before the lab closed which is 2p I would be good.  I was up at 8a.  Gator begged me started at 6a and continued until I gave in.  Closing the door on her didn’t stop her resolve.  She got her name because she starts things and to this day she lives up to it. 

Cats fed, I jumped in the shower and then got dressed.  I shoved off to the lab in the pouring rain.  I had a great parking spot and then learned it was a handicapped spot.  Damn.  I took my clergy sticker out of my car because I never would park in those spots and the one day I needed it I didn’t have it.

Much to my surprise, it was me and one other person.  So my wait time wasn’t terribly long.  I found out that when you spin the blood down it should be yellow and if it doesn’t turn yellow they can’t use it because it’s coagulated.  That’s what happened to me and it was because they had to fight to get the blood.  Never knew that but now it’s one other thing to be aware of.  I got a different person today and she knew what she was doing.  One prick and we were done.  I asked her if I could wait until they knew the blood was good.  She said sure thing.  So I stayed in the waiting room for about 20 minutes and then I got the okay.  I headed back to Cracker Barrel for Breakfast. 

When I was done with breakfast I hit up the post office and then came home.  It was just cold and icky out with the rain.  I opted not to go back out.  No painting this weekend.  Also no Sam’s.  Rain is forecasted for the remainder of the day, it’s been coming down steady.  I look outside and see my neighbors clogged gutter and that’s how I can tell it’s raining.  No more spilling on the deck and unless it’s a hard rain it’s not that obvious. 

Took in 2 movies with the Cinemax Preview.  1 was called Tag about a bunch of friends that started playing tag as kids and never stopped as adults.  They would go out of their way to see a friend to tag them when they grew up as adults but it was limited to a particular month.  It was very funny but I did pause it to take a nap.  The second movie I watched was Super Troopers 2.  That was funny.  Almost got to see Sean William Scott kiss another dude.  Some of this movie was stupid but I kept on watching and I felt really good that I saw it through.  You have to see the end, they show the Fred Savage part and it’s just hilarious. 

I needed to pass some time so I figured why not make a spreadsheet listing all of the pens and refills that I have.  Wow that was interesting.  I don’t have a full recollection of all of the money I spent but I know that it’s easily over $1,000 but this is over years and years not all shelled out at once.  I liked the fact that I was able to look up some of my purchase history on Amazon.  A couple places I made purchases from are out of business and I have no way to track those purchases.  Now I have a handy reference point for pens and what refills I have in stock.  There is money in refills as well as the pens themselves. 

Got the computers updated but I still need to tweak one of them.  Then there is the dishes and planning my grocery shopping trip.  Plus spending more time with the cats.  They seem to enjoy it.  Momma has chewed the hell out of her spot.  I opted to uncover it yesterday and she was pretty good about it.  I just googled skin ulcers in cats.  Wow, that was ugly.  I think she needs to see the vet so we can get on top of this.  Clearly what I am doing isn’t working.  What I just saw indicates that she could have something that is transmissible to me and that’s not something I need.    I’ll give them a jingle and hopefully we can get in if not tomorrow then some time during the week.  I will continue to work from home and I am sure that I will be able to pause and take her over. 

I’ve got the long sleeve shirts in the laundry, unfortunately it’s that time of year.  I had to turn up the heat because this place got cold.  The cats love the heat but I am not a huge fan.  A little chill in the air is okay by me.  However, yesterday if you would have asked me I thought for sure I would be sick when I woke up this morning.  I felt horrible yesterday evening. 

Lots of medical calls right now.  Listening to the scanner is interesting and also hearing that helps keep me company and shifts my focus.  There are some calls I wonder how things will turn out. 

Well off to tweak that other computer and then head upstairs.  The meows are waiting for me.  I am sure I will get yelled at because treats weren’t passed out promptly tonight but they will get them, I just operate a little slower. 

Come back tomorrow and I will fill you in on my trip to the new grocery store.  I should have a hell of a bill but I plan to go a little crazy.  Thanks for stopping by.  Talk with you again soon. 

Pricked Again

Thing started off well for me, getting up and moving.  Feeding the kids and getting myself out the door.  I arrived at the hospital and that is when the trouble started.  The waiting like to get to the registration kiosk was long, the waiting room was full of people and I had to sit for a while before I got to interact with a human.  After that it was pretty quick.  I was there roughly about an hour.  Figuring the worst of it was behind me I headed off to breakfast. 

Got into Cracker Barrel with ease, weekdays are busy but nothing like a weekend or a Friday night.  Where people are just oozing everywhere.  I got a table and placed my order.  It took a while for my drink to arrive as well as my food but they got there.  Just after I placed my order my phone started ringing.  I thought that was strange so I looked to see if this was a real call or a spammer.  Turns out it was real, the hospital was calling.  They said one of the samples spoiled and I needed to come back to be re-drawn.  They like wanted me to jump and come back right away but I told the lady, sorry I am eating breakfast.  It will have to be tomorrow.  So that’s okay because I need to be fasting.  I hadn’t had any food but I did have some soda and why risk botching the results. 

So much for having a day when I will be able to sleep in, guess I will have to rely on naps.  That soured my day and I really lost my drive to keep going.  However, I finished my food which I was starving for.  Then headed to the pet food store.  After that I hit up the credit union that has my car loan.  I asked about lowering the APR.  They can bring it down but it’s not going to change the payment and it would only shorten the loan by 1 month.  I’d have to unfreeze my credit for them to be able to work with it.  If I wanted to have the payment amount changed they would charge me a service fee of $200 and it wouldn’t go down a lot so it’s really not worth it.  It’s like that saying, somethings are best left alone that applies here.  Credit Karma has been after me for a while to refinance and they can get me a lower rate and lower payment but they leave out the cost for the title change and any fees associated with transferring the loan, so it looks appealing but in reality it’s not. 

After that I came home and started to review mail from work, a lot of babbling and messages to file in the trash.  It’s really funny that people think I am coming back into the office on Monday.  I still have the option to work from home and as cold as it’s getting I am probably going to use that.  Thursday snow is in the forecast.  Snow and I don’t even have my wardrobe changed to long sleeves yet. 

I still have a couple errands to run.  I did want to see a movie but turns out it’s not playing in my neck of the woods and I would need to do serious travel to see it.  I am not that interested.  I could go for pie but I would be in rush hour traffic coming back, not interested in that.  I could probably make tomorrow but I will schedule the trip during my Thanksgiving vacation. 

My two laptops are applying the latest windows updates and they are at 3% it’s going to be a long process and I don’t plan on sticking around to watch it.  Need to get moving, the machines will be here tonight.  I just woke from a nice nap with the cats.  I turned off the phone but forgot to turn off Marvin’s microphone.  He started howling and woke me up at least two times.  Sure wish everyone including animals came with a mute button, it’s needed sometimes. 

Just got roped into doing some emergency work for work.  Now I need to leave here before I wind up spending all of my time on the computer.  Happy Friday!

Blah

Honestly I wasn’t terribly keen on visiting the doctor today.  I would have just as soon stayed home.  However, between the cats and time I was pressured into putting one foot in front of the other.  I have been warm ever since I left the house, kind of feels like I might be getting ready to be ill.  However, otherwise I feel perfectly fine. 

I didn’t go into my depression but I know I should have.  I did mention the mold and we chatted about my blood sugar.  I talked about my thigh and how it’s always tingling.  It’s from being overweight and wearing too tight of a belt.  Being more sedentary doesn’t help and what actually happened is a nerve got pinched.  It will take a couple weeks to sort its self out but this should go away.  Lord I hope so.  I got my lab orders and will be at the hospital tomorrow morning ready to get pricked and not in a good way. 

While I was driving I thought about going back to work every day and in fact that topic came up in my office visit.  I kind of like staying home and not having to deal with the hustle and bustle of traffic.  Mentally I know it’s not healthy to do this long term because I am isolated and bad things happen when you isolate yourself.  If you need proof of that go look up solitary confinement and you should get all of the proof you need.  I know that eventually my benefit will wear off and I will be required to go back, but that doesn’t mean that I won’t ever be able to work at home again.  For sure in about 2 weeks I will need to go in because there is this razzle dazzle meeting about disaster planning and recovery.  I’m on a crisis team and that’s not something I signed up for.  This is one of those things that you are glad you have the training but hope you will never need it.  Sort of like Active Shooter Training. 

Right now I have doubts about going for pie tomorrow.  In fact I’ll go so far as to say it will be postponed until Thanksgiving week, which is around the corner.  However, I may surprise you as well as myself.  There are local errands that I need to run and I am not 100% sure that I will be up for the task of a really long drive.  I may visit the pizza place which is about 45 minutes away.  Hell today it was an hours drive each way to the doctor and that wasn’t terribly fun for me.  It’s different driving for food.  The drive it’s self gave me a reason to continue Adam Rippon’s audio book.  I am down to the last 10 minutes and want to be at home when I finish it, which will be later tonight.  It has been an interesting listen and I’m glad that I got it for free. 

I did treat myself and stopped off for some Steak N Shake during Happy Hour and got a 1/2 price drink and 1/2 price shake.  The food was good but I really wish I would have went to Wendy’s there chili is just so much better.  Hey tomorrow is another day.  It did feel good though to enjoy a treat as unhealthy as it was.  While I was there I turned work email on since I am on-call now that it’s after 5p I wanted to be in the loop of anything that arose during the day.  An email came in from a lady that I got a call about at 10p on Monday.  It was sent to all of the top brass and I was praised for my good job.  That too felt really good.  I’m so lucky in that I am well respected and people truly do appreciate me.  However, I know in the grand scheme of things if I dropped dead they would replace me in a heart beat. 

All of my Amazon deliveries have been made.  The calendars came and I made some good choices.  The selection each year diminishes and it’s a difficult task but I chose from what I am given.  My Cross Nitro pen came and I am truly in love with this.  Such an inexpensive pen that writes so well and is so stylish.  Kind of makes me want to send the more expensive pen I got this week back for a refund.  I’m not saying I will do that but price doesn’t always mean your getting top notch, it just means that someone is getting rich off of your choice.  My all time favorite brand is and will always be Mont Blanc they are second to none in my mind.  The writing experience is truly unique and until you have written with one you just won’t understand.  It’s sort of like driving a luxury vehicle, they seem to be overpriced but once you ride in one you won’t want to go back to normal ever again. 

While I have blessings in my life, I also have curses and the curses seems to out weigh the blessings.  I’ve been thinking about Ruth lately and today I had a dream about her when I was napping off the Steak N Shake.  It was more like a nightmare.  She wasn’t happy with me and I was dealing with having to let her go all over again.  That whole playing God thing really messes with my mind.  I know I did the right thing for her, there is no question or doubt.  I just hate that it came to that.  I think about losing all of them at different points and that is really going to kill me inside.  I love them so much and we have been together for so long to part ways just seems so unfair. 

Ah there I go again being depressing.  Sorry about that.  In other news for the first time I have all 3 of my machines on line.  My primary machine is a desktop that I use day to day.  I have a laptop that sits on the kitchen table and gets updated here and there.  I have another laptop that I had at the office so that I can surf and do things while I am at work but not using my work computer.  Well the 2 laptops have been offline for a while and they need updates.  Windows will be releasing a Fall Update next month (anticipated) there wont’ be much from a consumer point of view that is interesting.  However, there will be a Spring update that will take forever to download and it should have more things we are interested in, so I am to understand.  All I can do is stay tuned with you.  Updates and patching are a way of life and while they can break things from time to time, they mostly fix things.  I wish I could plug in and get some updates for my body that would make me look better, feel better, run leaner and healthier not to mention look better.  Well off to tend to those machines and watch some TV as well as pass out treats for the cats.  It’s amazing how expectant they have grown for ‘treat time’ then again they were raised on it.  We just stopped it for several years because everyone was getting way too fat.  Now the only fat one is Gator.  Momma and Marv could stand to put on a couple pounds but thanks to their thyroids that won’t happen. 

Happy Friday eve.  Be well and stay warm!

Sneezing

Hello and welcome to another installment of my blathering. 

For dinner last night I had a Chicken & Broccoli Alfredo.  It was odd when I opened the package there was film covering the food but there was also an extra piece.  I thought that was interesting but it was a sign of things to come.  As I began to eat I noticed that the noodles tasted odd, but yet I kept on going.  The rest of the meal was fine and I did finish it.  I didn’t get sick from it last night but right now I feel a little odd. 

I lit my Christmas Eve scented Yankee Candle.  This is my favorite scent they make.  Only problem is I am allergic to it.  So it’s a love hate thing.  I let the candle burn and took in the smell as my nose began to itch and then the sneezing started.  I suffered for a bit and then opted to blow it out.  As I did that I had a random though if oxygen feeds a fire then why is it when you blow a candle you extinguish the flame.  I mean we breathe oxygen.  I’m sure there is some science reason and it probably involves carbon dioxide but it just left me wondering. 

Work was super busy this morning when I started.  We have an Application Control policy in place so your not able to install anything unless it’s on the approved list.  Our vendor regularly updates the list with new programs and they won’t tell us despite multiple requests.  So we start getting alerts that a program was detected and they just keep coming in machine by machine.  Overnight a new program was detected and the alerts were chirping loudly this morning.  So I had some work to do.  I added the application to the allow list for a specific group but that was prior to sending an email to find out why the app was in use and what the business need for it was.  Apparently that email even though it was only sent to a couple people was forwarded on and kicked up quite the fuss.  I had a call from my boss that quickly turned into a conference call and we basically had to say this is what happened and it’s fixed.  Now everyone is happy or so I think.

I got Ms. Momma shut down with a band-aid and first aid tape.  She has been licking it for a couple days now.  I am thinking of removing it tonight to let some air hit the wound and then tape it back up.  This seems to be the only way to keep her from licking or chewing on it. 

Marv was on the couch last night and wanted me to scoot closer to him and when I did he curled up and began to sleep.  He woke up after being out for a while and cried then just jumped off the couch with little warning time for me to react.  He did okay but he walked a little funny for a minute.  The last thing I need is for him is to get hurt from jumping.  He’s an old man and those bones are fragile but apparently stronger than I think they are.

Gator was all content last night but this morning she was up my butt wanting attention.  I gave in and passed out some but no matter how much I give her, it’s never enough and she wants more.  Sort of like giving a kid candy. 

I took a moment before I nodded off last night to appreciate what I have and think of how many blessings I have.  Not much going on in my life right now just holed up here at home – eat, sleep, work, relax, repeat.  Looking forward to a couple days off, despite being on-call in the evening.  It’s usually quiet and if that keeps up it will be like having 2 days off for real. 

Happy Humping Day.  Hope your safe, warm and have a belly full of good food.  Be well, talk with you all again soon. 

Dangerous

I just found a danger to working from home.  You have free time, an Amazon account and a credit card.  Yikes!  I did it again!!

This time I got my 3 2020 Calendars.  Two of them are porn calendars – showing hot naked men and the other one shows only hot shirtless naked men.  I hang the naked ones in my office and bedroom.  The shirtless one is for the living room.  I mean you can’t just shock people when they walk in the front door, but then again I don’t give a damn because no one comes over.  Yet I opt to be respectable, just in case.  Besides that nothing wrong with leaving something to the imagination.  I got my Mucinex and some Dude Wipes.  I also much to your surprise ordered yet another pen.  This time it’s a Cross Nitro Rollerball in what color other than bright blue.  This is neat because you pull to open the pen and push to close it.  When I saw it yesterday I knew I would wind up ordering it.  I really wanted it in Purple but they want $99 for it and I don’t want to spend that kind of money on a Cross.  I dropped $24 which is the lowest price around compared to my local Office Max.  Hopefully, no other writing instruments will capture my eye for a very long time.  I have enough pens and ink in my house to cover a small city and keep them writing for at least 1 if not 2 years. 

For some reason it’s like a sickness I see it and if I like it I have to have it.  There are a couple of Mont Blanc’s that I would like to add to my collection but I have managed to keep those at bay, merely because of the cost.  Some people love watches, others like cars but me it’s pens, sweets, men and cats. 

Naturally because I place my Amazon most of my order will be delivered tomorrow but there will be one delivery on Thursday.  I think part of the addiction is the next day or two day that I just can’t seem to say no to not only pens but a lot of other things.  I had a thought yesterday what if Amazon went out of business.  I mean seriously they just shut their doors.  It would crush a lot of people.  Were in an instant society where things are way too convenient and it’s easier now than ever to spend money.  Hell most of the time you don’t even have the cash in your hand, it’s all digital bits.  The bank says you have money, you spend it and pay the bill electronically from the bank. 

I still need to get a calendar for work and I usually buy a train calendar because it’s a common interest that I shared with my late partners.  I would order 1 for each of us.  After he passed ordered one for the living room but changed to shirtless men because I like them way more.

Ah it’s 2 in the afternoon.  I’ve been on a couple of conference calls.  Boss man is feeling some pressure from a big project that he has and that has sucked up all of his time.  He has no time to police and were self sufficient so that’s a good thing for him.  I’ve got 2 departures this afternoon, which will be the highlight of the day.  I got to spend a little time with Marv and Momma when I went up for lunch/break.  I’ve been in front of this machine for most of the day.  I’ve been thinking about when I have to go back into the office, talk about a culture shock.  It will hit all of us (me and the cats) pretty hard.  I was thinking about next week but I may put it off.  I do like getting out but when I think about it all I do is travel to a building sit in front of a computer and then travel home.  Why spend the extra money and waste my time when I can sit in front of my own computer and never leave home.  There is good and bad to this, just like anything else in this world. 

Last night the phone rang at 10p someone lost their mobile device.  Wow on a normal week night I would have been in bed asleep but I was up watching TV taking my time falling asleep.  Thinking it would be more restful.  Nope, I had a nightmare at 4a and it took me about an hour to fall back asleep.  I just had to find Marv before I went back to bed and there he was all sound asleep until he caught the flashlight in the eyes and that woke him up.  I felt bad but needed to know he was okay.  He wasn’t feeling well last night and scurried away from the bedroom early. 

Well there you have it my daily blathering.  One more day of work.  I’m hopeful that someone will want to cover my two days of on-call but I am prepared to work the evening part as long as they take care of any urgent stuff that comes up during the day.  That will give me time to see the doctor, have my blood drawn, eat breakfast out and of course travel for pie (presuming I go through with it.).  Saturday a little painting and some cat food shopping.  Sunday off to a new grocery store and breakfast.  Then it’s back to a full 5 day work week until I either get sick or Thanksgiving comes.  Turkey Day is 4 weeks away and I will have an entire week to myself.  No work at all and I so look forward to it.

Hope your having a great Tuesday.  Be well and stay warm.  Talk with you again soon.   

One bad decision away

In browsing social media yesterday, I saw this cryptic message from a classmate that said words to the effect of I can’t talk about what happened over the weekend, please send prayers.  We aren’t close, we know each other from going to school together.  However, I am nosy by nature and wanted to know what the world happened.  So a little googling and I got my answer. 

My classmates son was driving himself and a friend home on Saturday night.  These are kids in there early 20’s with their entire lives ahead of them.  It was raining and the driver (my classmates son) took a corner too fast for conditions and totaled his truck.  His passenger wasn’t wearing his seat belt and from the photos I was able to track down this kid was very large.  Anyway he (the passenger) was ejected from the vehicle and killed instantly.  This is all very tragic but then the police found a bunch of empty beer cans in the truck.  They smelled a faint smell of alcohol on the driver.  He was injured and treated at a local hospital and was arrested for DWI.  He bonded out of jail, can’t have alcohol while on release and has to have an alcohol monitoring device.  If he is convicted he faces 10 years in jail. 

Here’s the worst part my classmate is a police officer.  It wasn’t handled by his department because it occurred in a different venue and the State is involved.  His son knew enough not to talk to the police he asked for an attorney, refused breath and blood tests.  They had to get a warrant to draw his blood.  The results of the blood test were not made public. By refusing the blood test he automatically loses his license for 1 year.   

Holy shit I was taken back.  This isn’t the type of thing you think a police officers son would get involved with. DWI is bad enough but killing a friend that is a double whammy that will play over and over again in that kids mind.  A bunch of lives were changed forever in an instant.  We lose sight of how fragile life is until you hear of an event like this. 

There will also be a mountain of expenses incurred as a result of this.  There will be a criminal trial as well a most probably a civil lawsuit for wrongful death.  This will not be a cheap mistake or one that is easily erased.  I am sure there is more to the story than I will ever know and that’s okay.  The kid will eventually be able to put this behind him but that will take years.  It’s a felony since there was death or serious injury, so that will prohibit the kid from landing a decent job for quite sometime.  There’s more than the actual money paid at trial or in lawsuits, the repercussions run wide and deep.  

I wanted to say something to my classmate because I feel bad for him.  Last year he was injured in a wreck in the line of duty when someone not paying attention hit his patrol car while he was in a pursuit.  It’s like bad luck just keeps on following him.  I started to type a comment and then stopped.  I composed a message to send but erased it.  I am just at a complete and utter loss for what to say.  The perfunctory Thoughts & Prayers comment is what was mostly left on the post.  I don’t think that does it justice, I want to say so much more but somethings are better left unsaid.  

Look were all young and dumb, most of us did things that we were simply lucky with getting away with.  Drinking and Driving is something that was really preached about when I was in school along with drugs.  Being a cop I am sure my classmate has seen his fair share of death and accidents.  I am sure he imparted that knowledge and wisdom into his kids. 

This is just a tragedy all the way around.  I have problems of my own but right now they are so minor compared to this that I feel silly in even complaining.  Nothing like hearing of something like this to make you count your blessings.  I hope that something positive can come out of this. 

Mundane Monday

I think Monday’s are the worst day of the week.  Everyone is trying to get their groove back after being able to take a slumber for 2 days and it’s tough. 

We had an okay Sunday night, watching TV, relaxing together and I had the frozen pizza for supper.  I also shaved which wasn’t a fun task because I rushed it a little bit.  Everyone was chirping at me for food.

It was a little tough to get going this morning but we all made it.  The cats were so confused because it was overcast out and there were no lights on so the house was dimly lit.  I got them their food and prepared mine.  Turned the TV on and we were on our way. 

Forced myself to take a shower, usually if I had one the day before I skip 1 day but just opted to keep up a normal routine.  As the time evaporated before our eyes I was in front of my computer way quicker than I wanted to be.  I saw one of those blue screens with the sideways sad face.  That was on 1 monitor and the other monitor had regular wallpaper on it.  I shut the machine down as I was thinking today is the one day I need this damn thing to work.  Come on computer. 

It came back to life and I was off and running.  Not sure what went awry but hopefully the bug has been flushed.  Logged in and started my day.  I got occupied with a couple things and the morning flew by.  We were about at lunch and I had to check on my Amazon order.  It was just delivered.  I raced upstairs to find all of the cats looking at the front door like someone was going to come through it.  Nope I opened the door and Marv ran for cover.  I grabbed the box from the porch with anticipation. 

I opened it and there was my pen, a refill and my cream of wheat.  I did the unboxing of the pen first.  Parker really got me going.  I normally open the pen and start to write with it but this time for some strange reason I decided to open the pen.  When I did I pulled out a plastic insert that resembled a refill and I thought are you shitting me?  You couldn’t even include a refill with the pen.  Well dig a little deeper in the box and at the very bottom is the cartridge.  They of course sent the standard black ink which I despise, thankfully I had 1 of the refills.  I installed it and then put it to the test.  Holy shit it’s amazing.  You can change up your writing, pressure and angle of the pen and it keeps up.  It feels like a combination of a felt tip and a rollerball.  It’s suppose to be as if they fused a rollerball and fountain pen together.  The fountain pen part is all in the styling so from a quick first look you think it’s a fountain pen but it’s not. 

Last night I found a couple reviews online and watched them.  Both of them gave it horrible reviews said that it wasn’t worth the money.  The only thing I agree on is the refills are priced high and the availability is limited. 

I’ve got Cinabon Cream of Wheat to last me for a while.  3 boxes of 10 pouches each.  Guess what’s for breakfast tomorrow morning?  I’m so looking forward to it.  I really don’t understand why I have to buy it on Amazon vs getting it at the grocery store but for some reason that is the way it is. 

I made and gulped down a sandwich and then got in some sitting time with Marv and Momma.  Watched a game show that I recorded by accident last night called Idiot Test.  It was on the Game Show Network, kind of interesting but not something I really want to watch again.  I have a marathon of Family Feud’s to go through.  Steve Harvey is always entertainment. 

Marv got a little sick over lunch and Momma had been chewing again.  I am looking forward to this evening when we can hopefully relax and unwind.  I will be a slave to my phone but only because I am on-call.  Hopefully, it will be silent.

Not much going on this afternoon but that can change in the blink of an eye.  So I have to be prepared.  Informed the kids at lunch that I will be making a pie run on Friday.  Unless my mood or circumstances change that is the plan.  There is a Cinnamon Pecan Roll and a Pie calling me.  It’s been a long while and the trip doesn’t hold as much joy for me now as it did when we originally made our pilgrimages but that’s because my spouse won’t be with me.  It does suck to drive it alone but it’s not like this will be my first time doing that. 

About 3 more hours and then it will be time for supper.  Oh I’ve still got 1 more Amazon delivery today to look forward to.  That’s got my candle in it.  Tomorrow will be shaving gel and the other refill for the pen.  How exciting the zip will be gone pretty fast.  I still need to order my male calendars so at least I have that to look forward to.  Cheers for now.   

Break Day

Saturday was a break day for me.  I didn’t do much of anything other than sleep and watch TV.  I plowed through Goliath Season 3 on Amazon and also saw Prescience which had Mike C. Manning in it.  Nice chest and butt shots, it was a great movie. 

I woke up with a blood sugar level of 104, which is really good.  I had a couple of donuts for breakfast and a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup – wash that down with a Diet Coke.  I know not the most healthy of meals but when the sugar wore off I was sleepy and that permitted me to go back to bed. 

I didn’t get in front of the computer once, I never even came downstairs.  I would periodically check my phone but it spent the bulk of the day in Airplane Mode.  I truly wanted to disconnect from everything outside of my house. 

Despite all of the sleeping I did I set up for bed at my usual time and eventually fell asleep around 11p.  I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn’t sleep so I had to take in some TV for a bit.  Then crawled back into bed after about an hour.  I told the cats that I needed to sleep in but I also needed to be up by 7:30.  They accommodated me and my internal clock helped me to be awake. 

Sunday started much differently.  I fed the cats, jumped into the shower and then got dressed.  I pulled together the laundry and got it in.  I left the house and grabbed the mail.  Then took in breakfast.  Went to the grocery store, which is probably the last time I will be in that store.  Kind of sad.  Since they are closing nothing is being re-stocked and they are running out of everything.  I was barley able to get what I needed.  I had planned on getting a platter of brownies or grabbing some fresh cookies.  They didn’t have brownies and I saw the cookies but I didn’t want to part with my cash.  Came home and unloaded and put everything away. 

Sat quietly on the couch, Marv joined me.  Then Momma and Insty poked her head up from her bed and squeezed at me.  I enjoyed quiet time and watching them sleep.  It is like a sleeping pill for me.  Marv woke up and wanted down so I put him on the floor and then I went to my bed.  I picked Marv up and put him in bed with me.  Gator was quick to follow us.  We took a nap, I got maybe 15 to 30 minutes of sleep.  I needed to pass time before the pet food store opened. 

Woke up and grabbed their cat food.  Came home and cycled the laundry.  I went a little nuts yesterday on Amazon.  I bought the pen I have always wanted a Parker 5th Generation Technology.  It’s suppose to fuze the writing experience of a rollerball with a fountain pen.  Sounds interesting and something that I have wanted for a very long time.  I got a few other things that I have been holding off but when I was done I had spent $270.  Everything is 100% returnable so there is no risk.  However, unless the pen writes horribly I’ll keep it.  I sent money this morning to the credit card I put it on so everything is already paid for before the bill even arrives.  That felt so good. 

I’ve still got money left over, a decent amount but I also have to have money to live for the rest of the month.  There is plenty left for a pie trip which I will most likely take on Friday.  I smell the odor creeping back into the basement so looks like I will be painting as well.  That should take care of this for good minus the floor. 

Amazon will be here tomorrow and as you probably guessed I will be working from home.  How convenient.  I had planned on going back but honestly there isn’t a lot going on this week.  It’s only a 3 day week for me so I have that to look forward to.  I will also be on-call for the week which won’t be fun but only 3 more turns at that and the year will be over with.  Then we start fresh.  What fun.  I’ll be on-call for the week of Christmas which honestly noting really happens.  It’s just a messed up week because we work on Monday, off Tuesday & Wednesday and then back to work on Thursday.  There is another week that I may look at working from home. 

I still have to vacuum and take out the trash and clean the bathtub.  The cats are really used to me being here.  I kind of feel like I am slowly going insane but another part of me likes the isolation.  I just know that this isn’t a long term solution because if it were long term that would be a problem.  One needs social interaction.  While it saves on gas, convenient because you can have lunch at home and be with the cats it takes away from the routine that I looked forward to.  Next week I will try to make it all 5 days in the office.  That will be a shock to me, to the cats and probably to my co-workers. 

I am giving some thought to leaving for supper but I also know there is a Tombstone Pizza that is calling my name and I so look forward to eating it.  Still working on Adam Rippon’s book, down to about an hour left.  Ms. Momma has gone back to chewing and undone all of the progress we made.  My comforter has little blood spots all over it.  I am not sure how we are going to move past this but I am thinking that it will involve the vet.  I just don’t need any bad news.  If there is something horrible going on, let it go on without my knowledge the less I know the happier I am, at least if she is going to drop dead I mean.  If it’s anything else then inform and educate.  I know she is a very old lady but that doesn’t mean she is ready to give up.  I know I am not. 

So my weekend didn’t turn out as I had hoped but it could have been worse.  Happy to have an income, roof over my head and money to be able to provide for myself and the furry family. 

I hope your weekend was everything you needed & wanted it to be.  Enjoy the hours we have left.  Monday will be knocking before any of us want it to.  Stay warm and be well. 

Goodbye Band-Aid

Last night just before I passed out supper, I noticed that Momma had ripped off the Band-Aid.  The wound was healing so nice.  Just before I climbed into bed I saw something on the comforter and picked it up, it was in fact the scab that had formed.  Silly woman, I’m not happy about it but haven’t looked to see how things look now.  I will venture down that road today. 

I managed to keep myself occupied pretty well up until 8p when I was exhausted and bored.  Not a good combination.  So I opted to get ready for bed.  I took my sleeping pill early and of course that meant that I was wide awake at 3a.  Thankfully I had recorded a few episodes of Family Feud so I had some entertainment.  I turned up the furnace and turned on the electric blanket.  That made Gator & Momma not want to leave my side.  They actually spend most of the night with me until around 4 or 5 in the morning when they leave.  When the light kicks on in the living room at 6a they start chirping that it’s time to wakeup.  This was one of those mornings where I could have easily done without that but told them to give me another hour and I would be up.  I didn’t like it but I was up.

So here I am once again working from home.  I planned for a shower this morning but since I slept in that didn’t quite work out well for me.  I was thinking of visiting a local pizza place and ordering some Lasagna a way to venture out for supper.  Not sure that I really want to do that now.  I will venture out to the end of the driveway to grab the trash can and I think that will be my extent of getting out. 

I am noticing a change in my body from all of this sitting and I can see why they call being sedentary the new cancer.  My mind is sharp but I feel like my body is falling apart.  My one leg falls asleep more than once a day.  It actually hurts me to open Marv medicine bottle, it’s got one of those god awful child proof caps on it.  It’s a simple press and turn but I feel a pain in my arm.  The good news is that when I randomly check my blood sugar it’s in control even though my appetite is out of control when it comes to sugar.  So I think the doc will be pleased with the results from the blood work next week. 

Right now all I really want to do is sleep, I am so tired.  I know what will happen if I do nap or sleep – things will suddenly become very busy and I will not be a happy camper.  So here I sit waiting for something to go wrong.  Friday’s are typically but not always quiet days. 

My back is bothering me so I am thinking of taking a heavy duty muscle relaxer which will induce sleep once it kicks in.  That has the risk of wiping away a good portion of tomorrow but I kind of feel like I need the sleep.  Plus being able to turn off the phone and knowing that I don’t have to jump for anyone is an awesome feeling for me.  All hunkered down and knocked out.  Then back to normal on Sunday.  Monday I am on the fence right now if I want to go in or work from home.  It’s only a 3 day week next week for me.  Thursday will be tied up with the doctor but Friday is free.  I could take a drive and grab some pie and I would still have the weekend to fall back on. 

Who knows what will happen, just stay tuned to find out.  Right now the only thing I can say for certain is I am tired and a bit on the bored side.  If I went into the office today things would be the same, except that I would be surrounded by a bunch of loud people.  At least I have some quiet at home and that is refreshing in it’s self.  Not to mention the gas and laundry I am saving.  The water expense will go up but that will be very minor in the grand scheme of things.  I should really reach out to my insurance agent and let him know that I am working from home to further reduce my car insurance but I don’t want to screw with things.  This is only a temporary thing that I could easily get used to.  The only part I don’t like about it is when I have to pick up the phone to reach someone, people screen their calls and when they see an external number appear they tend to shy away from answering.  At least if I was in the office they would see my name appear on the display.  I could opt to get a phone for home but I really want to avoid that if I can, it would be a blessing and a curse. 

I hope that your enjoying your Friday and that you have a great weekend.  Thanks for your virtual visit.  Talk with you again soon. 

Tired Thursday

Were making progress towards yet another Friday.  Hi and welcome back!

If you guessed that I am working from home today, you are correct.  There are only 2 days left in the week and I see no reason to hall my fat ass into the office when I can work from the comfort of my home and avoid the cold and the commute.  The commute has been looking pretty brutal on the morning news and I keep telling myself I made the right call by staying home. 

Staying at home has it’s benefits but it also has it’s curses as well.  Like last night I couldn’t remember what day of the week it was.  I kept telling myself it was Wednesday but I couldn’t believe it until I thought about it for a couple minutes.  The days blend together here and one day is the exact same as the next at least as for the routine.  Work still offers it’s occasional curve ball with cluster fucks here and there. 

My boss is super swamped so that helps to avoid the daily chit chat bs calls that we usually have and I’m so thankful for that  We do have a bs conference call later this afternoon, but it should be short unless someone gets him started on a tangent.  I don’t plan to poke the bear, I want off the call as soon as possible. 

Ms. Momma managed to chew off her band-aid and was in the basement this morning.  She’s been going there more often.  She is by my side right now and has been pacing ever since we came down here.  She does take naps but they are short lived.  She also won’t let me eat in peace, if I am at the table I might get a bite or two in and then she wants to jump up in my lap.  Not exactly sure what this is all about but I am not a huge fan. 

I replaced her band-aid with another one and even made her wear the collar for a while because she kept starting to chew at the new one and then she would get these burst of energy where she had to run through the house.  She spit out her thyroid medicine yesterday morning, at least I think it was her.  So that explains why she is running around here like she is on fire.  The thyroid when it’s out of whack causes cats to go bat shit crazy.  At least that is true for Momma and it was also true for #1 son.  It’s not a fun time for the owner but you just have to deal with it and let it run the course.  I’m wondering if she doesn’t have a fever because she was really warm this morning.  However, she is eating and acting fairly normal so unless she is trying to fool me I’d say things are pretty normal.  I know she isn’t a fan of the band-aid but the wound looks so good I’d like for it to heal and then for her to forget about it but I don’t know that I will be that fortunate. 

Right now my work is done and I am stone cold bored again.  I had a busy moment this morning but then things quieted down.  I like when that happens but not to the point of boredom.  It does allow for project work and other tasks that I have to get accomplished.

On to money.  I paid my bills like I always do and the money was taken out yesterday.  It usually takes a day for it to post to my accounts.  I woke up this morning and everyone got their money but 1 credit card.  They are still showing an amount due and it’s getting close to the deadline.  I looked at the last payment I made and it posted on the 17th which is also today so it’s odd that my money isn’t there.  I double checked to make sure I paid the right credit card and yeah I did.  I’m a little concerned but that will turn to a greater concern if they payment doesn’t post tomorrow  I like the speed and ease of electronic payments but I hate when they leave you hanging wondering if your money made it or not. 

I’m very close to being done with Adam Rippon’s book.  It’s interesting but not quite as interesting as I thought it would be.  I am interested to hear how it turns out.  I’m still on the fence about keeping Audible.  I am not a fan of reading and listening to a book is a unique experience that I enjoy but I don’t know that there is enough interest there to keep this going.  I will continue to ponder the idea as I have time but right now it’s not looking so good. 

The day is almost 1/2 over with.  Were an hour away from high noon here.  I will need to push the trash can out to the curb.  We have big item pick up this trash day but I’ve opted not to put any big items outside.  There is that curio cabinet I got from my mom’s place that has been sitting in my garage because the top came apart.  I’d love to fix it and get it in the house but I lack the follow through.  Maybe I’ll surprise myself and fix it or at least make it presentable.  It would be nice to see it in the living room instead of in the garage.  It’s a cheap press wood thing but it still looks nice, at least to me.

Well on to see what else the day has in store for us.  A nap sounds really good.  I’ve been great about avoiding them.  Last night at 4 though I was wiped out.  I had to get away from the computer and I went upstairs for a 1/2 hour.  My eyes didn’t want to focus, I kept yawning and I felt bad.  Finally after 30 minutes I started to feel a bit more relaxed and like my normal self so I came back down and true to form I said I would only be a couple minutes, but I couldn’t manage to pry myself away. 

Next week will be my on-call week.  I am out on Thursday for a doctors appointment and I took Friday just because I can.  I still need to schedule at least 1 more day off or I will lose 8 hours of vacation and that is on top of taking 3 days the week of Thanksgiving.  I’ve never ever lost time and don’t plan to start now.  A 3 day week sounds perfect to work from home but we shall see how I feel next week.  I might go in at least 1 day.  It’s nice to let people know I am still alive and to enjoy the fancy office I have even though it’s only temporary. 

Happy Thursday!  Talk with you all again soon. 

Another day done

I was asked last night to come in early and deal with a stressful situation.  I figured it would be just the motivation I needed to make it into the office.  Well that is until the alarm clock went off this morning and I said fuck this and went back to sleep.  I did virtually go in early and handled everything right here from my basement office.  When I was done I needed a drink and some valium.  The person I was working with was severely high strung but at least they were nice.  Holy shit it took me a while to calm down and recover from that call.  I put on some instrumental music which helped. 

I’ve got nothing but thank you’s all day long because I saved the day and stepped up to the plate.  That’s all well and good but I’m just doing my job.  I’m happy that I am able to help. 

Tomorrow one of my colleagues is OOO so it will be just me and the boss.  Were still working on replacing the dummy who finally left, interviews are being held next week.  They have 1 internal candidate who I don’t think is qualified but has managed to buddy up to our boss.  There are 2 external candidates, one male and one female.  Here’s hoping that who ever they pick isn’t as useless as the last guy and will be great to work with.  Fuck I will be exhausted when I go through training someone again, that is such a time and energy suck. 

Ms. Momma is here by my side.  She came in a few moments ago screaming at me that it’s time for dinner.  They get supper an hour earlier when I am home and why shouldn’t they reap some benefit from this as well.  I’ve taken off her collar and replaced it with a band-aid.  Yes, seriously a band-aid.  She still tries to chew but the band-aid prevents that from occurring.  Things appear to be healing nicely so only time will tell.  I hope that she is finally on the road to healing and recovery.  She started hanging out in my bathroom with the collar on and that’s not a good sign at all.  Ruth, Taz and Blu all did that when they got sick and it wasn’t terribly long before they passed.  So I took it as an omen and ripped that silly collar off of her.  I need my momma. 

Another bit of what appears to be good news.  The odor that I have been smelling in the basement associated with the mold appears to have gone away.  I’m not sure if it’s a temporary or permeant thing but if this keeps up I won’t be painting over the weekend and that makes me really happy.  I am not excited about the whole mess. 

I kind of want to get dressed into some presentable clothes and go grab a bite to eat.  However, I am too tired so I’ll just stay home and pop something in the microwave as per usual.  That is all of the excitement for the day.  Momma is still chirping and I am going to wind this up and go grab some food for them and me.  Hope you had a great day.  Talk with you again soon.  Thanks for stopping by!

The 15th

In looking at my schedule for today, I determined yesterday that it would be the perfect day to work from home.  Wow did I luck out.  I turned on the TV this morning and my usual route had a major accident and my backup route had lane restrictions due to construction.  Traffic was abysmal and thanks to my good thinking I got to skip the mess and sleep in. 

My office temperatures yesterday went from low to high and in the afternoon I was baking.  I turned on my fan and turned off the heater.  I still kept the door closed to keep out all of the chatter.  I was never so happy to leave.  It was really nice outside but rather than carry my leather jacket I opted to wear it to the car.  Then I was finally able to get comfy. 

Today is the day and Adam Rippon’s book is out.  I’ve already started listening and it’s mildly interesting thus far, hopefully that changes.  He’s a pretty good author or he had some great help. 

Last night I went to pass out medications and earlier in the evening Momma wanted up on the couch but couldn’t get there because of the cone on her neck.  I picked her up and placed her on the couch.  The little lady fell asleep in her lampshade.  She was super difficult to wake up and then she didn’t want to cooperate so I had to get a bit nasty but I got the job done and she wasn’t hurt.  She asked to be put on the floor and then followed me to my room, where she wanted to be on my bed.  Typical nighttime routine only she needed some help. 

Much to my horror this morning I discovered because the cone was inside instead of outside she could still get to and chew on her wound.  She took another bite at it and was bleeding this morning.  Now that the secret is out she is wearing the cone properly and hates it.  We have to get this damn wound to heal and if things aren’t better soon were going to the vet for help.  I’m trying to avoid that because it’s an added expense that I want to avoid.  Plus I hate that place more than any of the cats do.

Unless something comes up I’m done until after lunch.  I’m watching and have managed to field a couple of things before they had a chance to filter up.  Regardless if the problem is coming my way or going to another team I step in and help if I can.  I’m sure there are some people that don’t like that but when I am bored rather than twiddle my thumbs I like to help.  Most people actually appreciate it.  I will never, ever tell anyone in management that I am bored.  Only two things can come from that and neither are good.  The first is that your fired.  The second is your buried in so much work that you wish you would have never said anything.  I’ve been around the block once or twice and seen a thing or two.  I know that in this case it’s best to keep quiet at all cost and not tell anyone.  The lull will soon pass and you just have to enjoy it while it lasts even though it is time consuming. 

Another great thing I am missing out on is that we have thunderstorms in the area.  I need to get out to grab the mail.  I’ve got a package that arrived and I’ve been waiting on this for a while.  Nothing special just a couple t-shirts.  I’m thinking of going at lunch it’s a quick trip there and back.  Takes about 15 minutes round trip.

Well more work just filtered in so time to get cracking.  Happy Tuesday!