Friday Already?! All Right....!

Wow, you look up and its already Friday.  I haven't posted anything, but it has been an interesting week at work.  Unfortunately for you I stay away from talking about work here.  I'm sure I'll hint at it later, I won't be able not to.  Other than that a quiet week, and no big plans this weekend other than work on the bathroom walls and get some painting done.  I'm sure I'll document that a bit, maybe for a post.

I hope you have a nice weekend wherever you are.  If you're near here, enjoy it before the heat moves in Sunday to cook us again!

Tired Tuesday

Last night was a nice night of drinks with good friends and tasty delivered sandwiches .  This morning was heartburn at 2 a.m. and no more sleep.  I survived.  So anyhoo, I had meant to recap the weekend a bit.  This is usually easier the day of or even the day after.  Then it's easy to move on.  So, briefly:

Saturday was a busy day of running around, shopping, and having lunch with my Mom and her fiance, Dan.  It was a nice visit.  I seem to be more impressed with my Mom's choice this time around.  We had a nice lunch at Brothers Three, a local restaurand/bar/almost supper club type place.  It was nice to catch up and spend some time.

Sunday, another beautiful day, we went out on Terry's boat to chill and grill.  'Chill' figuratively, that is.  It was very warm and very busy on the lake.  When I counted the boats in the cove I got at least 50 other boats just like us, anchored, swimming or grilling, and having fun.  That is what I tried to catch in that short, crappy video I posted yesterday.  It was nice, yet tiring.  I could've used a backrest. 

Last night my wonderful wife, Kate, cut a chicken in half and brined it.  Tonight she grilled it to perfection.  We ate like royalty. 

It's been two weeks since my upper back locked up on me.  I'm almost over it - no drugs needed but anti-inflammatories still.  Now it feels kinda like I took a fastball on just the right shoulderblade.  Better and better every day and I only missed 6 hours of work that whole time (I went home after 2 hours one day).  Hell, I just took a week vacation, I can't call in willy nilly, even with FMLA.

Anyway, go here, I updated that tonight, too. 

Ta.

HA-HA

If you haven't heard, ole BF seems to have retired again.  Hello memory of a good, young Favre bringing us a Superbowl championship.  Goodbye creaky, old (younger than me), hillbilly drama queen (for what, the last 7 or so years?).   So much for going out on top, huh?

Of course, you know its not over yet...

I meant well

I meant well.  I was going to update the garden pics and post a recap of our weekend, including a visit from my Mom and Dan and our boat trip Sunday, but we went to the Malt House to see B & Z after work tonight.  Long story short, we expect delivered food soon then bed.
Until tomorrow, here's a preview:

Quireboys on Youtube

I was just browsing Youtube and found some live Quireboys from last week.  I was lucky enough to see them about 20 years ago on tour in the states with L.A. Guns.  I was prepared as well.  I bought their album "A Bit Of What You Fancy" right after I bought the tickets - about 2 months before the show.  I liked L.A. Guns already, obviously, and wanted to know what I was going to hear from the first band.  I was fascinated, and enjoyed their performance immensely.

 I was front and center for that show, at the Barrymore Theater.  (On a side note, that would be walking distance now.)  I even met most members of both bands after the show at the Black Bear Lounge.  The Black Bear used to be the Heavy Metal Bar in Madison at the time so, of course, after show parties were directed there.  I was drunk as hell that night but I remember having a great conversation (and shots) with Spike, the singer.  I also remember many other sordid yet drunken tales about that evening that I can't divulge here, as well....

Anyway, it was nice to be young...  Enjoy the vid!

Drinking and posting don't usually go together, but I like the Quireboys and now I'm going to watch their concert DVD on my computer.  Have a great weekend!

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.

Cat PSA

TV & Movie Spoofs
Tags: Atom.com,Atom Originals,Atom Blog,Upload Videos

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...

___________
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!
 

Vacation, Day 3: A Change In Plans

This morning I woke up about 4:15 a.m.  Crazy, right?  Actually not very unusual, when I'm not on vacation my alarm is set for 4:51 normally.  The first second thing on my mind was The Kirk McEwen and Mike O'Meara Show.   It runs 4 - 8 a.m. my time, so there was going to be at least one morning that I got up early to check it out.  I sleepily decided that today was the day. 

My wife left for work about 7 and after the show was over I just putzed around on the internet, showered, and washed dishes.  When I looked at the clock and it was almost 10:00 a.m., I remembered that The Mike O'Meara Show podcast streams video live on Ustream for an hour.  So most all morning I spent listening and watching the same DJ live - in real time, which I never usually have a chance to do.

By this time the day can go 2 different ways.  Either I could jump into action and start working in the garage or I could relax, read the paper, and get some other little things done then listen to The Don Geronimo Show live at 2 to 6 p.m.  The radiophile in me won out.  I ended up listening to over 8 hours worth of shows today.  Not much accomplished, but I had a nice time relaxing.

Tomorrow I will be traveling with my sister and her kids down to see both of our grandmothers (the kids great-grandmothers!).  I'll try to recap that tomorrow night.  Now, the pizza is on its way so Good Night!

The Kirk McEwen and Mike O'Meara Show

Just a promo vid:

Vacation, Days 1 and 2

Day 1, Saturday.  It did not yet feel like I was on vacation.  It mostly felt like a weekend, like it always does.  That said, Friday was a total joke for me at work.  I only did some work to pass the time, otherwise I giddily screwed around like I never ever do.  For some reason I felt like I deserved to, that one day.  Saturday morning I went grocery shopping and my wife cleaned the house top to bottom.  We grilled out cheeseburgers for lunch and I visited a buddy for an hour or two that afternoon.  Then we stayed home and relaxed all night.  Pretty much regular weekend stuff.

Day 2, Today, Sunday.  It has sunk in that I don't have a 'Monday morning' coming up.  I mowed the lawn this morning, before it got too hot.  Mosquitoes are in season so I was all sprayed up with repellant, still got bit about 4-5 times.  A shower staight away when I was done seemed to help the itching while getting rid of the layer of repellant.

I knew the Brewers played the Pirates at 1:10 in the afternoon so I figured that was a good time to listen to the game and get the workbench assembled.  Time to finally put these pieces of wood together and make something useful!

This pic is after the second time I had to stop and spray 'Yard Guard' in the garage to keep the mosquitoes out.  Don't worry, I gave it plenty of time to settle before I went in there to breathe it in.  These are the sides modified with my own legs for the bench.  My custom legs are 10 inches longer than the ones that came with it.  I'm tall and I don't like to bend over.  If 10 inches is deemed too much later, I can trim the bottoms some.

It's starting to take shape now that I have it standing, still alot of crawling around to screw in all the bottom shelf planks.

At this point I had to run to the hardware store for another phillips bit for my drill.  The one I started out with was pretty worn and by this point was getting useless.  None of the top boards are attached in this pic, but finally I get to do some drilling and screwing while standing upright!

And finally, the finished workbench.  Just as Corey Hart hit a walk off home run to win the game for the Brewers!  (I'm on vacation - I paced myself!) I have pulled everything out of the corner where it will go.  Tomorrow morning I will start by moving the electrical box 2 studs to the left and up a foot or more. Then essentially empty out the garage, reorganize, and put up new shelves to hold all our stuff.  See you tomorrow!

Die Antwoord Coming Up

I'm less than 1 day away from vacation but I think I've already checked out.

Die Antwoord will be in Chicago on Wednesday, July 14.  If it was in Milwaukee I would be very tempted, but not Chicago, not now.  There's already videos online of last night's show in Prague, but this video is from 3 nights ago in Germany.  I love my wife more than anything but if I were to see Die Antwoord live, this is the view I would want.  Yo- Yo- Yo- Yolandi!  Enjoy.

How To Measure A Year

Infinity and beyond!  It almost boggles the mind, the vastness and variables...  I love this stuff!


Thanks ZanyPickle

Excuses and Promises

Well, there has been hardly any posting here lately and I don't know why.  I haven't been too bored or too busy, just not alot to share, I guess. 

I hope everyone had a nice holiday weekend.  To me it was just a tune-up for next week when I'm officially on vacation.  Nine straight days off!  Besides the R&R I have 3 big things to do that week.  First off, my 'Garage Redo' project will get taken care of.  Although my back has been about as good as it gets the last couple weeks, I have been saving this project for my week off instead of using up a weekend.  Secondly, I plan on cleaning all the windows and screens in our 3 season porch.  Easy enough, just time consuming.  And lastly, I plan on a trip to Cuba City to see both of my grandmothers, one probably for the last time (-she hasn't been doing so well lately).  My Sis has been supposed to get back to me on this for a while now, but if I have to I will go alone.  (Get a hold of me, Sis!  The kids help fill in the quiet moments!!)

Aside from those things, I'm sure I'll keep myself as busy as I want to be.  There's plenty more to be done, but not necessarily next week.  This list will also give me good things to post about, a pic dump is due soon, too.  So thanks for checking back even though there hasn't been much going on lately.  I assure you, this space will pick up soon enough!

Happy 4th of July!

Point and click, create your own firworks show!

Although tomorrow is the holiday, tonight is Rhythm and Booms - a large local fireworks show.  A few hundred thousand people show up, if I remember right.  I will not be one of them.  My wife is off to watch them on her bff Terry's boat with several friends.  I would like to be there, but it will take hours to get the couple miles back to the dock then to home.  And, honestly, lately I have not reacted well at all to being in groups of all smokers but me.  I get a bit, er, testy, shall we say.  Have a great holiday, all! (Or just a great day, for those outside the US!)

Mike O'Meara Is Back On The Radio

By Paul Farhi
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, July 3, 2010

 Mike O'Meara, who for years was half of the "Don & Mike" radio team, will return to Washington's airwaves next week with a new morning show and co-host.  O'Meara, 51, will team with radio veteran Kirk McEwen on WVRX-FM (105.9) starting Wednesday, the station announced Friday.

 With partner Don Geronimo, O'Meara was one of the top-rated personalities in Washington for more than two decades. Geronimo left the partnership in 2008, leaving O'Meara as a solo act on WJFK-FM (106.7). O'Meara continued until last summer, when the station changed to a sports-talk format. He has produced his own program as a podcast since then.
Read the whole article here.

From what I understand, he will still continue the podcast with Robb, Buzz and Oscar.  Hmmm.  From listening to a radio show for over 10 years, it has splintered into 2 radio shows and a podcast for me to listen to.  Tough choices will have to be made soon.  After all, there are only so many hours in the day.....

Open Your Eyes

I've really not had much to say recently, so here's a thought...

via

A Quick Monday Note

Happy Monday!  It's supposed to be a great week ahead, no rain and temps in the upper 70's!

I haven't started the Garage Redo yet, but we have gotten a few other things done around the house.  The blinds came in for the kitchen and they look great - no more old lace curtains and ancient blinds!  Next for the kitchen will be wallpaper removal and painting.  And when we do that we may as well do the same in the bathroom.  Also, we removed the old bulky range hood and we have a new light to put up there.  I just have to wire it and I'll get that done this week sometime.

Tonight, though, I think we'll be heading to The Malt House for a few drinks with our friends, B & Z.  I hope you had a good weekend and enjoy the upcoming week!

I must admit...

...I was.

Geronimo First Show 20100621

Don Geronimo's first show on KHTK in Sacramento.  Right click and save target as...
http://cbskhtkam.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/06-21-10-segment-1.mp3
http://cbskhtkam.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/06-21-10-segment-2.mp3
http://cbskhtkam.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/06-21-10-segment-3.mp3
http://cbskhtkam.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/06-21-10-segment-4.mp3
http://cbskhtkam.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/06-21-10-segment-5.mp3
http://cbskhtkam.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/06-21-10-segment-6.mp3
http://cbskhtkam.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/06-21-10-segment-7.mp3
http://cbskhtkam.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/06-21-10-segment-8.mp3
http://cbskhtkam.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/06-21-10-segment-9.mp3
http://cbskhtkam.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/06-21-10-segment-10.mp3
http://cbskhtkam.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/06-21-10-segment-11.mp3
http://cbskhtkam.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/06-21-10-segment-12.mp3

Links are stolen from the embed code on the KHTK website which is slow and hard to download from.  They say they are working on the feeds, hopefully it will be in itunes soon.  I'm only doing this for the first show to make it easy for me and others to download.  I will get some hits just from having the words 'Don Geronimo First Show Download.'  If that's you, please feel free to explore the rest of my blog as well!

**Edit 6/29.**  There is now a podcast feed here.  I've not found it in itunes yet, and I'm not sure what subscribing to a feed entails.  If I still have to manually add it to itunes, well, that's what I do now.

Don Geronimo Is Back!

California time, on 1140 KHTK in Sacramento.  It's supposed to become available on itunes as well.  It has been 2 long years since he walked away from the Don and Mike Show.  Welcome back, Don!

Weekend Notes

Happy Father's Day, if applicable.  Just a few notes on the last few days...   

I forgot to mention in my rant the other day that we were having a small party at our house Friday night.  Turned out to be much fun, maybe too much.  The end of the night is actually pretty hazy to me.  Now, I am a drinker, but it's been a long time since I drank enough to be forgetful.  My wife and I were pretty dead all day Saturday.  Napping on and off, rehydrating, and just being lazy while we recovered.

We were supposed to have lunch with my Mom and her boyfriend, sorry Mom!  I also cancelled a friend coming over in the afternoon to help me with the workbench and shelves.  I somehow managed to get the lawn mowed that morning and that was all my back could take for that day.  I have rearranged the garage so my wife can park in there again, though.  The Garage Redo will take place eventually, but only when my back can stand it.

My 25th High School Reunion was last night.  No, we didn't attend.  I actually considered it since I hadn't gone to one yet,  but I really had no close friends in my class other than one.  We don't talk much anymore, but I know how to get a hold of him if I want to.

In a few hours my in-laws will be here for Father's Day lunch.  I'll grill some brats and my wife is already working her magic in the kitchen.  The sister-in-law with the hellion kids has already cancelled so it should be an enjoyable day.  Now, I best get up and do what I can to help my wife.  Have a good day!

Long Days, Short Tempers

I've had long days and a short temper this week.  First off, my wife is taking a week vacation to use up some of her well deserved time from work.  I'm jealous, sue me.  My back has been bothersome again, and I have limped to the end of every day at work this week.  Usually it is easily doable, but the last half of this week I have the 'difficult' project at work.  The wrong time to move alot yet I have to do the most moving.  My boss is nice enough and seems to understand and he takes it easy on me.  Yet, I still feel humiliated somewhat in front of my co-workers.  Not everybody understands.

Meanwhile, with this back, I have run errands to the grocery store and twice to the large hardware store.  I have supplies for projects that I can't quite do yet all over the place.  I need to get my truck into two different repair shops (brakes and body) soon.  I have to fix the toilet.  I have a leak by the water softener to fix, a workbench to build and shelves to put up.  We will be seeing family here this weekend on both days (not a bad thing, mind you).   And the lawn needs mowing, but tomorrow is supposed to be 90 degrees and humid with Saturday similar, but with a chance of rain.

There. Sigh.  Thanks for listening to me bitch!*

Now that I got that out of my system, there is a bright side.  My wife has okayed me taking a whole week off of my own.  I don't have near as much time built up as she does, so it's a bigger deal.  I'm not sure that I've taken a whole week off since we got married, except for a few short times of unemployment - not the same.  So for sanity's sake I'm gonna do that soon.  Otherwise my vacation time will just be eaten up by the next time or two when my back goes 'out'.  So I most surely will have some unpaid time by the end of the year.  Hopefully not, being laid up in bed for days is no fun, no fun at all... and definitely not a 'vacation'!

* I should note that even though my wife is on vacation she has her own things going on.  What I have listed are my things to do.

Garage Redo part 2

Pic Dump 15

It's time for the latest Pic Dump!  Here's 50ish things that made me laugh, cry or cringe since Pic Dump 14.  As usual, some you may have seen, some you may not.  Click on the pic to see original size.  And discretion is always strongly advised after the break.  Enjoy!

Garage Redo part 1

So, here's what I have to work with in the garage.  As you can see, along both sides there is stuff, stuff, and more stuff.  Before it gets out of hand and we can't get the car in there, I need to bring some organization to this mess.  The first stage will be assembling the modified workbench to be placed in the back of the garage along the left wall.  Then I will have to move the electrical box.  And finally, pull everything away from the walls and put up the shelves.  I'm also looking for a garden tool organizer to put in the back corner along the right wall.  The wood you see in the pic is the workbench and shelves unassembled.

My wife isn't crazy about not being able to park in the garage for a while, but it shouldn't be long.  Admittedly, I have been procrastinating starting the actual work.  My back sucks.

'Shrooms

I'm not saying that it's been too wet lately, but... these are all over the yard.

Garage Project Preview

Happy Friday!  I know it's been slow around here lately, oh well.  Truth is we really haven't been doing much other than the mundane daily stuff.  Usually I don't like to post things just for the sake of posting when I don't feel like writing (though I do sometimes, anyway).

Coming up will be my garage reorganization project.  Several weeks ago I got a dozen shelf brackets for free (after rebate) and today I bought the shelves for them to hold.  (Except I have to return 2-12'  1x10's that were supposed to be 1x12's because I'm a doofus.)  I also bought a workbench kit.  I should have bought the materials and designed my own, but I guess I got lazy.  Actually the kit seemed like a real good size for the space I have in mind, so I just got it.  There will be one modification, however.  I bought extra 2x4's so I could add longer legs to the kit and raise it to my preferred height.  And doing that means I will have to move the existing electrical box to a higher position on the wall, as well.

So, since this is my space to log our projects and activities (as well as share my music, thoughts and humor), we can all look forward to how this project turns out.  Wish me luck!

Die Antwoord on Tour

Hi, how are you?  We're okay.  Not much happening lately, thus no posting.  So, here, I found this out - Die Antwoord will be in Chicago on Wednesday, July 14.  Too far away from home, middle of the week, and it would take a bigger reason than this for me to drive into Chicago.  I'd love to see them but I won't travel.  Still, some good youtube material to look forward to.

Fat Cat Hiccups and Farts

Okay, I laughed when I saw this posted by Joanne yesterday and almost posted it here.  And then I laughed at it again when I heard it featured late the TMOS podcast today, and that was just the audio! So, here it is!  Enjoy!

Clarence Carter - Strokin'

This is very inside joke stuff between me and friends I used to know and fun times on the reservation...  Enjoy it anyway, it has nsfw lyrics.


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Self Indulgent Recap

Hello.  I hope you had a nice holiday weekend.  I did, mostly.  I haven't updated in a bit, so here's a short recap:

Over a week ago my sister finally came to visit. She brought her boyfriend, Dave.  It was my first time meeting him, but they have been seeing each other for quite some time now.  He was actually a real nice guy, and he'd better be - he's dating my sister!  Of course my sister's kids, James and Lindsey, came as well.  They will be 8 soon, I think.  Being the devious uncle that I am, (and knowing that it was gonna be real hot and I had already introduced them to squirtgun fights) I went with the water balloons!  We had a lot of fun!  Boy, they can tire me out, though.  I wish I had that energy sometimes.

The latter half of last week I was dealing with some back issues.  Nothing to be worried about, just one of the usual problems just popping up again.  I didn't even call the doctor.  If it would have lasted longer or been more severe, then some muscle relaxers would have helped, though.  Still would, actually...

Friday night Jerome and Lisa came over for a while to sit out by the fire.  We kind of intended to invite quite a few more, but my wife pointed out how she never gets a chance to talk to Lisa.  I agreed, they are nice, fun, relatively new friends that we enjoy lots.

Last Saturday was the first outing on our friend Terry's boat!  We went to the usual spot, and did the usual things.  It was a real nice day for it, the sun was shining and it got really hot.  I made myself go hatless mostly, so I wouldn't get the white forehead that I had last year!

Sunday we shopped. We got new hardware for the kitchen cabinets and a new light fixture for above the sink. We also bought a grill, a real, full-size, nice, gas grill. (I still want Mangrates, though!) We spent some time installing all the new kitchen hardware after we got home.  My wife thinks they look much more modern and I tend to agree.

Monday, Memorial Day, was spent mostly relaxing.  I went grocery shopping in the morning and we put together our new grill in the afternoon.  I went to bed about 7:30 and slept wonderfully until my alarm went off this morning.

There, caught up.  (Yes, I know, TMI for some, but this is for me.)  Some of these subjects deserve a more thorough look, but sometimes I just don't feel like writing.  Also, I've noticed, the longer it has been since I've posted, the harder it is to write.  Best done quickly before my memory fades...

Oil Spill Deja Vu

This is an interesting look by MSNBC at the eerie similiarities between the oil spill in the gulf now and one that happened 31 years ago.  I saw this over at Bits & Pieces a couple of days ago and have been thinking of it since.  I was young and this was a million miles away to me, but I do seem to remember this happening.  I'm not going to go off on a ticked off rant, I'll just bite my tongue and state the obvious:  Those who do not learn from their mistakes are doomed to repeat them.

Libby's Libby's Libby's on the Label Label Labels

I came home early from work today so I (finally) went through all my labels since the beginning of this blog.  I was trying to make things easier to look up and group like items, etc.  It took about 3 hours, goddammit!!  The main distinctions I wanted to make were for pictures and music.  I wanted a clearer distinction between which pictures (and videos) were mine and which I reposted.   As for music, I wanted the music videos to stand out from regular videos that I embed now and again.

Hopefully it is a little clearer now.  I have 34 labels for about 272 posts now so hopefully I have most everything covered and won't need to add many -if any- more labels.  I've never looked too closely at other blog's labelling systems, I just made it up as I went along.  No wonder some editing was needed, eh?  Well, if you see something that doesn't make sense just leave me word in the comments and I'll see what I can do.  In the right column, I changed it from the label cloud back to just a list, as well.

I did notice some videos on some older posts have disappeared, the ones that I uploaded directly to Blogger.  I also noticed that I can no longer upload a video directly to Blogger so I will have to learn how to upload to my Youtube account then embed my videos here.  Therefore those old videos will only be reposted if I feel the need.  Y'know, Google owns it all - my gmail accounts, Blogger, Youtube, and half the known universe by now...

Flowerbeds and Blooms

We got some yard and garden work done yesterday, so of course I had the camera!  Flower beds are here, but since the garden has it's own page you can read about that on my garden blog.

The Peonies are starting to open!

The majority of the Iris' are these yellow ones, but if you look close there are a couple pink ones and soon at least one purple one.  Many seem not to be flowering this year, so hopefully there will be more pink and purple next year.  The purple puffballs things on the right are pretty much done.  When they go to seed later I will sprinkle them around that same area to fill it out more next year.

This area around the tree is mostly hostas, the one Bleeding Heart bush, and lots of old mulch and weeds.  The long term plan here is to rake out all the crap and put down some fabric and fresh mulch.  I kept it weeded pretty well last year but it seems like quite the daunting task this year.

At this corner of the garage there were some lily of the valley that were not doing so well because of too much sun.  My wife replanted those further up along the garage and planted this lavender plant at that corner.  The plant was a gift from Zubin at our anniversary party.  Thanks Z!

Yes, all is right in my world today...

Bill Nye on the Oil Spill

I used to love catching his "Bill Nye the Science Guy" show.  (Also "Beakmans World,"  -as an adult, yet!)   Here he is with a few thoughts on the oil leaking into the gulf.  I'm off to look for an extended version.  Enjoy.

Google TV

This sounds interesting.  We still just have the 'old' kind of television sets, so perhaps a good thing to have waited to upgrade?  I'm not sure if it is really that innovative or not, I don't know the details.  And again, I don't really watch a lot of movies or tv shows to care too much, yet. 

Zodiac Mindwarp & The Love Reaction

They'rreee baack!  CD due out in September...

ZODIAC MINDWARP & THE LOVE REACTION's story starts in the year 1985: In a musical world of hairspray and spandex, two long-haired, leather-clad rockers were introduced to each other by their "exotic dancer" girlfriends. One, a graphic artist and poet, the other, a budding philosopher. They immediately dropped everything, joined forces and created the dirtiest, wildest band of all time. One year later, they signed to Polygram, released, the groundbreaking "High Priest of Love" EP, and subsequently the "Tattooed Beat Messiah" album, containing the well received single "Prime Mover".


You know I love the live stuff, hopefully with a new album they'll practice a bit more than they did a few years ago.  Case in point, below:
 

Super Sexy CPR

This has been hot lately, so to speak... Enjoy!

Super Sexy CPR from Super Sexy CPR on Vimeo.
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Anniversary Party

Saturday the 15th was one year to the day that we signed the papers and closed on the house.  Tomorrow, the 18th, is our 9th wedding anniversary.  This all added up to a Spring Anniversary Party at our house on Saturday!  I didn't share those plans here on the blog, maybe for my paranoid delusions of still wanting to keep a semblance of internet anonymity?  Oh well..

Hosting a party like this is quite a bit of work - a whole lot actually.  Last year I tried to get word out by word of mouth through the neighbors and just a few showed up.  So this year I stepped it up, a few weeks ago I walked up and down the block dropping off invites.  I did talk to some and just left a flyer at other houses.  We invited our small circle of friends, of course, and I actually invited my whole department at work.  Probably over 80 invitations in all, 50ish just from my work - I thought it could be fun.

Early on the plans seemed to grow beyond the party we threw last year.  We just couldn't have that kind of traffic in our little place so food tables were moved to the garage.  This year was definitely an 'outside' party.  We grilled up over 50 bratwurst and my wife spent about 6 hours prepping some great sides.  A fruit salad, bread salad that you have to try, broccoli slaw that everyone loves, and of course the incredible baked beans with apple.  Some people actually assumed we bought the sides or had them catered, I was so proud!

Hosting a party is nothing like just going to a party.  This took alot of planning and even during the party I felt the need to hop around and make sure everyone was having fun, not cornered in conversation or bored.  I'm a worrier, I guess, but I think everyone had fun.  A few neighbors stopped by early to check it out and many came back later.  Things started to liven up after about 2:00 in the afternoon and went past 11:00 pm.  If I had to guess, we enjoyed between 40 to 50 different people at different times when all was said and done.

I work with alot of nice people that have accepted me in the last 2 years, some grudgingly I'm sure.  My life has only gotten better the last few years and my co-workers may have even seen a change in me, or not, I'm pretty stubborn!  I don't put up with 'injustice', for lack of a better term right now, and have been taken to be a kind of watchdog in my own way for our rights as employees and union members.  I'm not trying to lead, I don't want credit or limelight at work, I just want what is right!  I invited my whole department and while very disappointed with the turnout from this group I'm sadly not too surprised.  I was very happy to see the co-workers that did show up though, it meant a whole lot to me.

When we had a party last summer almost every neighbor expressed how they always thought something like this should happen.  Something like a block party for everyone to meet.  And while Saturday was not really a 'block party,' many neighbors did express the same sentiment.  We met some very nice people that live on our street.  Every single one I hope to see soon again.   Although it was less than half of the neighbors on the street that came over, hopefully we can meet them all eventually.  There's already a circle of dead grass in the backyard now from the fire pit, despite the grill mat, so we may as well do this again!

I just tried to get across many feelings as concisely as possible, I hope it was understandable.  I didn't pay enough attention to get pics of all who attended, but I did remember the camera every now and again long enough to snap a few.  Click 'Read more' below to see the rest of the pics.

RIP RJD

Farewell, Ronnie James Dio.  Dio was my first "real" concert back in the early 80's.  We lost a legend today.

Man-made, remember that.

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Betty White on SNL

81 seconds of the best of Betty White on Saturday Night Live.  I watched it Sunday afternoon on Hulu.  She's just so likeable right now, and it's infectious.  For chrissake hit play!  It's only 81 seconds!  via

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