Saturday Notes

I noticed that I have been lacking posts the last few days.  My back has still been a bother so I have just been surviving the daily grind, is all.   Today my wife and I got a lot of chores and errands done, as well as meeting up with my Mom and her fiance, Dan, for lunch.  Mom always wants to go to a certain italian restaurant every time she talks about meeting us for lunch.  Instead, I suggested a local family-run restaurant/bar that my wife and I enjoy nearby.  I think they thought it was a fine lunch.  Even though this place does have a varied menu, it does lean more towards breakfast and dinner.  They do serve most dinners all day, but we mostly opted for burgers (always good) for lunch. 

My wife and I have been there plenty of times for lunch, a couple times for breakfast on Saturdays, but have never gone in the evening for dinner or drinks.  Still, they recognize us by now so it is a friendly, local place to go...  and we do need to get out more often.  There are several places we would like to check out on this side of town, yet never get up the gumption to do it.  We don't really have a night life like we did 10 years ago.

I guess I'm getting old, lazy, or both.

*Sigh*

KISS Face

This has been making the rounds lately.  I wasn't going to post it until I saw Joanne post it and, well, I had nothing else to say today.  As for the video, I keep thinking that I could do the makeup better - unless I had to do it on myself.  If he did his makeup himself with a mirror then he deserves his kudos.  Rock and Roll!!

Random Acts Of Reality

Tom Reynolds Brian Kellett has quit his job as an EMT/Ambulance Driver in London to move into a position as an Urgent Care Nurse Practitioner at a hospital.  I have been reading his blog, Random Acts Of Reality, about his life on an ambulance in London and more for a very long time.  It is one of the first and longest followed blogs that I read, if that makes sense.  I wish him the best of luck and will continue to follow his blog!  Give him a visit to hear his reasons for the career change.

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Thanks Joanne!

Back in Action, Or Not.

Well, that didn't take long.  Starting Tuesday my upper back started locking up on me.  No worries, I had some medicine and finally got the muscle relaxers I needed this afternoon.  Most importantly I haven't needed to miss any time at work and now with the right meds tomorrow should be an okay day.  So until I have something more important to post, why don't you check out our garden here (or on the right).  We just picked the garlic!

Pic Dump 17

Well, I survived the first day back after vacation.  Sigh.  My work atmosphere won't change so my attitude must.  Same bullspit - different day, everywhere, for all of us in one way or another.  So it must be time to regurgitate all the pics that have caught my eye recently for one reason or another.  As always, discretion is advised after the break.  Enjoy!

Vacation, The Last Few Days

Thursday and Friday were much like Monday,  I didn't do too much other than listen to the radio and watch some podcasts live.  I did manage to do the last big thing on my to-do list for this week, clean screens and windows.  I started right after Kate went to work on Friday morning.  I got the three windows done that we always have open but the rest weren't dirty enough to spend my time on.  Besides, it was getting pretty warm out there by then. 

Today is Saturday.  I just got back from running a few errands so I don't have to leave the house tomorrow, my last day away from work.  It was nice to take the time for myself this past week.  I was able to get enough done to not feel guilty for the times I was lazy and indulged in mindless radio shows and podcasts.  Starting next week, I won't be able to listen to near as much as I have this week, which is probably a good thing.  My OCD tendencies make me wish I could listen to everything done by Don Geronimo or Mike O'Meara, but reality hits Monday morning. 

Kate is out on the boat with all the smokers today, so this is really the last of my time off right now, this moment.  I am glad I took this vacation, but now I am sad it is over.  Oh well, maybe I'll get to do this again in a year or two...

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I was relaxing on the porch and messing around with video on our dinosaur camera when my wife got home from work yesterday.  I knew she would be home soon, but I wasn't expecting her yet. (She said she left a few minutes early.)  Here's that bad video below: (Edit: Video is now viewable, settings are corrected.)

Vacation, Day 5: The Garage

I slept past 7 this morning, only with the help of taking a sleeper last night.  Why can't I ever sleep 8 straight hours?  Oh well, that's another post.  I managed to take my time getting up, though.  This morning I finished my Grandma post and set about getting the garage in order by about by about 10:00.  I stopped only twice before wrapping it up after 5:00 tonight.  I had to take my truck in for a repair at 12:30 at a nearby shop.  It took about an hour so I waited across the street and got lunch at a local bar/restaurant that we have been patronizing since we moved into the neighborhood.  The second time was just to update my podcasts so I could continue listening outside.

It was a warm and humid one today, yet I had a great day organizing our garage!  I had a general plan of what I wanted to do, and this is pretty much it.  We have a lot of stuff in the garage still, but now it looks like it belongs there.  Just compare it to earlier pics.

I will post all my pics today in the order I took them after the break, but here is a good view of it when I was wrapping up:

Now I just have to find a home for this stuff.  I think the box shelves will be going in the basement and I want to find someplace outside to keep the wood from the Easter Sunday limb that fell.  The wheelbarrow will hang in the back right as it did before.

Vacation, Day 4: Grandmas

I got up today (Tuesday) at the same time as yesterday, 4:15 a.m.  So much for sleeping in on my vacation...  Anyway, I got to my sister's house by 8 and we were at Grandma W's house about 9:00 a.m. I hear that she hasn't been much for eating lately, so my Sis suggested taking donuts to get her to eat something.  She did eat and also we got her to walk up and down the block for some exercise so she couldn't use our visit as an excuse not to do it.  Mostly, we sat out on her front porch and talked about anything she wanted to.  I actively tried to get her to talk about her life and family because I'm not sure I will see her again.

This is the sad part, kinda.  Grandma W is 84.  She did say that she is ready, ready to die in not so many words.  She has some bad health problems and just seemed tired and, well, ready.  I'm not sure how much attention my Sis's kids paid to their great grandmother, but I don't think they will have her much longer.  All in all not a bad or depressing visit, though.  I do appreciate talking to her now more than when I was just one of the screaming grandkids in the house.

A bit after 11:00 we said our goodbyes and went across town to visit Grandma L.  She seems to get around a little better so we took her out to lunch at the only restaurant in town that isn't also a bar.  After that, back to her apartment for more conversation.  Again I was trying to get her to talk about her life and family.  I was the first grandchild for her, so my Sis says I'm her favorite and she may be right.  She does seem excited to see me and talk to me.

Grandma L just turned 91 last week.  She said many of the same type of things Grandma W did.  She is ready.  She even has her funeral planned.  I was a bit surprised when she asked me to be a pallbearer, but I said I would be honored. 

The impression I got was that though I may be lucky to still have both my grandmothers at my age, neither may be with us by next year.  I'd like to be wrong, but they do seem to be more than ready, knowing their time is short.  I love you, both!

Before we got back to my Sis's house we stopped by my Mom's work to say hi.  Sis wanted me to go in first, so I strode in and pounded on the counter, mischieviously.  My mom looked up surprised, but with no real recognition until she saw my Sis behind me.  I think I caught her totally off guard! After a short visit we went back to Sis's house.  I thanked them all for coming with me, the kids were very well behaved as always.

Once we were back the kids got in the pool and I wished I had brought my trunks!  Oh well, it was best I get back before the busy part of rush hour anyway.  A good day overall, just a bit mentally tiring.  Thank you Kelly, James, and Lindsey!

Pic Dump 16 - Bacon

I'm a bit tired with all the travel, play, and visiting all day today.  My day 4 vacation post will be posted tomorrow, that will give me time to rest and reflect on a good day with both of my elderly grandmothers.  In the meantime, this is for you...
 
For a while now I have been saving up bacon related pics that I happen across during my internet travels.  None of these pics were sought out, no searches were made.  These were found randomly in my visits to good sites like the ones I list on the right.   While there's not as many pics as a usual picdump I thought I had enough bacon pics to post (Read: I'm tired of collecting them).  Oh, just as a regular Pic Dump post, discretion may be advised after the break.  Enjoy!