Independence Day 2013

Which countries have a Fourth of July?   One - the United States?  No - they all do!  Yuk yuk.

But it is a celebrated holiday here in the U.S.  We have plans both at and away from home today, a bit busy, but it should be a pretty good day.  I'll probably post more later if it turns out to be worthwhile.  Wherever you are and whatever you happen to be doing today - barbecuing, playing, picnicking, visiting, boating, swimming, drinking, shopping, yardwork, housework, spending hours on the computer or just vegging in front of the TV (or any combination of the above and more) - I really hope you enjoy the holiday!  The next work holiday isn't until Labor Day, September 2.  After that?  Late November.  Sigh.  PTFO

Latest Listening Pleasure... KISS

My latest listening pleasure is also my oldest and dearest listening pleasure, the band KISS.   I have been a fan since I first found out about the band, probably 1975 or 76 when I could still count my age on my fingers.  Recently I found a podcast about all things Kiss called 3 Sides of the Coin which brought me back to the band that started it all for me.  When I was a kid I collected everything Kiss that I could get my hands on, which was mostly second hand albums and posters bought with my weekly allowance or traded for other things that are important to a kid that age.  I still have one of my Kiss posters, the first Kiss poster, now framed and on my wall almost 40 years later.  As I was growing up I completed my album collection and still collected all things Kiss that I could manage, but I did soon see that getting everything was an impossible task so I had to pick and choose with the little resources I had.

Kiss' first official poster, 1975

In drafting this post I tried to remember all the times that I saw Kiss live, which didn't come easy to my rusty little brain.  I came up with 10 times that I can for sure recall and I know I'm forgetting and just can't place some others.  For a long time I went to see them whenever they were in Wisconsin, but over time it became less of a priority and/or they just came around less.  Now, if given the chance, I would go see them if they came to town again, but I do not wish to travel to Milwaukee, Lacrosse, or even Alpine Valley anymore unless I expect something amazing will happen.  They're getting old, Gene Simmons is overexposed, Paul Stanley can't hit the notes anymore and Tommy Thayer just bugs me (fake Ace).  The new 'spider' stage set looks pretty good, though, and about time, too.  A couple tours ago they were using Justin Bieber's old stage set!  The 'spider' set is more like it - and original to Kiss.  Yes, if they came to town I would go, but it may not be quite the event it once was for me.

Years ago I started to try to get all the albums on cd but never did finish, everything was going digital so the cds that I had just sat on a shelf.  Eventually I gave many to my nephew (though he should share with his sister) since he was becoming a young fan, including the most recent releases.  I haven't given the music much of a chance since 'Psycho Circus' came out, but listening to 3 sides of the Coin has given me a new perspective and I have been enjoying catching up lately.  Up next is a new video from their newest album, 'Monster.'

Kiss - Right Here Right Now (Lyric Video)

Kiss is out on tour now supporting their newest release.  U.S. dates may not happen until fall or else next year, though.  Well, that's what Youtube is for these days.  Here's a pretty good high quality video from a couple weeks ago.  Enjoy!

1. Sit 2. Type

I know that I have neglected this space for too long now, posting other things to put off writing.  This is just one of those times that I'm not inspired to write anything. So, usually what I do to get the ball rolling is to explain my lack of posting - check - then just start typing and see what comes out.  Yee-haw!


On Saturday evening we went to a surprise birthday party for our friend Zubin down at the Malt House.  Bridget organized everything, rounded up all his friends, got one of his friends to get him down there after a set time, and surprised the hell out of him!  That's the kind of thing you see on TV.  He had no clue it was coming.

Weatherwise it has been about as it should be this year.  Spring was a bit late and the rain is not lacking, very unlike last year and the drought.  We gave in and ran the air conditioner yesterday for the first time.  We could probably handle the temperatures, it's the humidity that kills you.  Okay, that's enough of that, then.

I got a couple more tattoos last week.  I got what I wanted but I was a little disappointed in the artist - I thought he could have done better.  Not him next time.  Eventually my upper left arm will end up in a half-sleeve when it is done.  I envision probably two more sessions like the last two I've had and it may be done.  Who knows when - or even if, this is a luxury item for me.

I made a note to post about the changes I've seen going from LPs, 8-Track tapes, cassette tapes, to CDs and finally digital downloads.  I remember a lot of 8-tracks, but they were on the way out even when I was discovering music.  LPs are the bulk of my physical collection.  There is the fun of the full size artwork, album sleeves, lyrics, posters, etc.  Now they are all boxed away in the closet and haven't been played in years.  Cassettes were a good way to get my favorite songs off the radio when I was real young.  Later they became a good way to get a copy of your buddy's LP, and I even bought several cassette releases, mostly after I learned to drive so we could play them in the car.  For the longest time I held out on buying a CD player.  Looking back, the way digital downloads have progressed, I am happy I waited so long back then.  Think of the money I saved on all those CDs!  Now, I still buy CDs here and there because I'm a fan and still like having the physical copy of some things, but the CD gets burned into iTunes and then may never get played again.  Unless it gets picked for a long car trip.  But now I have an adaptor for my ipod, so never mind that then.  It's a digital world now, yet fallible.  Back up your stuff!


Okay, that's enough time spent on brain spillage.  Remember, if you want to laugh more at what I write then click on the Gizoogled link on the right (nsfw).  Until next time, PTFO!

Super Moon Tonight

Today is also a 'naughty' holiday of sorts, after the break.

Funny Interlude Post

This just cracked me the hell up earlier!

Via MCW at Crazy, Lazy, Silly and Strange

Yes, it has been over a week since I have  posted. All is well, this is a just a fill-in post.  Enjoy!

Lawn and Garden Work

How about that, three posts in three days.  Don't get used to it.

We spent much of this weekend outside doing yard work.  From mowing and weeding to trimming bushes and planting in the garden.  Yesterday while I was outside I took a lot of pictures.  We really do look back and compare the yard to past years or look up when or how we did something. It has come in handy in the past so it is a good habit to keep up.  Last year the peony bushes got pummeled with rain immediately after blooming.  I hope they stick around a bit longer this year, but it is supposed to rain tonight.

I've noticed a couple small dandelions in the yard that I will have to take care of soon.  Also, we have ants in a few places in the yard, front and back, so I have applied an ant poison to those areas hoping to kill them rather than just make them move again.  Yes, I use some chemicals on my lawn - weed spray, ant poison and now a bit of fertilizer - but only as much as is needed.

I placed mothballs around a few of the plants in back that the rabbits like to eat.  I've read that will keep them away so I felt it was worth a try.  Most of the 'helicopters' have fallen from our big old Silver Maple tree so next on the list is cleaning out the gutters, and they need it badly.  But I think we've done enough for this weekend and besides, the rain should be moving in at any time.  That's as good an excuse as any to put it off, right?  PTFO

Latest Listening (and Viewing) Pleasure - Nightwish's Imaginaerum Movie

My latest listening/viewing pleasure is the new movie," Imaginaerum,"  by Nightwish.  My favor for Nightwish has been well documented by LLP posts here and here.  In the former I claim I shall buy the box set when the movie comes out, and I stick by that if it ever becomes available in the US.  I share the movie here because, well, it is available on Youtube now, and just because I can.  But also because no one who sees it here on my lil' ole site knows what this is anyway, and maybe they'll like it and become a money spending fan like I and enjoy and support the band.

Really, Nightwish is an incredible experience and this movie shows just what an inspired effort between an excellent composer and an imaginative director can produce.  The music is almost secondary in this movie, though it only happened because of the music, and it outlines the themes with the band only playing in the background.  This story is of a dying composer caught within his own memories and his daughter caught resenting, then understanding her dying dad as he relives his memories and ultimate legacy.  This is very much oversimplified, but I wouldn't post this unless I felt that strongly about this band and this project.  Remember, normally I'm not a movie guy at all, but I say watch this now!  Fullscreen!

Nightwish - Imaginaerum - The Movie

Update 12/9/13:  Link is dead and has been for quite some time.  I have not been able to find the full movie online and it is not offered for sale yet.  Read wiki here for a great description.  Spoiler Alert!

Update 7/18/15: The movie is available worldwide now.  I have a dvd from Germany that I got last year, and a month or two ago I got the US dvd+blueray when it was released.

Update 5/21/16

Raccoon Hole Revisited

A while ago I wrote about the saga of Mama Raccoon and her 5 babies that made a home in my neighbor Dave's attic, you can read that story here.  Well, though the critters have been removed, the critter guy has been AWOL without doing the repair part of his service for a few weeks now.  I had offered to neighbor Dave that I could fix it and that I had the tools and wood to do it, and when it became apparent the critter guy was less than reliable he took me up on my offer.  So yesterday I had a half day off and went about fixing it for him.

I took only one picture of the mama as she was going back in, and none on the ensuing saga with the babies, but I can share these before and after pictures of the repair.  The back of the house is an old addition which left an odd corner of the roof where the raccoon was able to make a hole through some old wood and get into the addition's attic.  To fix this I just blocked off the whole corner with some of my spare treated lumber and sealed it with roof sealer.  After a few days of drying, Dave will paint it and make it less noticeable.

Dave is an older gentleman that lost his wife about 10 years ago.  He is seventy something and hard of hearing but very nice and good neighbor to have and I was happy to be able to help him out.  He was outside with me the whole time so I showed him exactly what I was thinking and made sure he was okay with it.  The wood and hardware was all stuff that I had, I only had to buy the roof sealer but I was not going to charge him for anything.  I was all finished in a couple hours and then we went out for a late lunch together and he insisted on paying - I expected he would and I let him.

I know he really appreciated the help, but hey - that's what neighbors are for, right?  Besides, any excuse for me to make big pieces of wood into little pieces of wood and assemble them into something useful is always a good thing.  PTFO

Spring Party 2013

In what has become an annual event, at least when I'm in good health, we had another spring party for our friends, neighbors and some co-workers on Saturday night.  While the party started at 4 in the afternoon, this pic is much later when we were around the fire, dark and far away to protect the innocent!

The day turned out very nice, after several rainy days during the week and before it cooled off on Sunday.  We didn't have quite as many people as we expected, some friends and neighbors that we thought would be here didn't show up, but we did have about 35 people overall and I think they all had a good time.  Kate again made some wonderful sides and I grilled up 5 dozen brats so there was plenty of food and drink for all.  Most had left by 11:00 but a few hung around into the wee hours.  It's a lot of work to put on this party but we had a lot of fun!  Thanks to all who were there!

Nothing To Say?

I have been feeling that a post is due, yet I don't know what to say, really.  Maybe it's time to just start thinking and typing the see what spills out all over the page.


The weather, despite a cool and damp holiday weekend, seems to be catching up to 'normal'.  The planet's movements will not be denied, Summer will happen eventually.  Rain is forecast off and on for the next several days, ending sometime this weekend.  Hopefully it will be done by Saturday afternoon, when we will be hosting an outdoor gathering for all of our friends and neighbors.  We did this a few times with mixed success due to weather, then missed a couple years due to my various injuries and surgeries, etc.  Now, with good weather, I am hoping for a large turnout and a fun evening for all.

The kitties and I were alone last week.  My wife was sent by her work to Michigan for a week long seminar.  She left Monday morning and arrived home very late Thursday evening, foregoing an extra night, along with her work companion, to get home sooner.  The cats and I managed to survive the ordeal.  We didn't starve to death yet or even mess up the house too much by the time she got back, but we all missed her and loved having her back early.

Kate added 4 strawberry plants to the 4 or so we had left after the squirrels marauded the early planted plants.  I took a lot of pictures of the yard and garden that day, but none after the planting.  I have to remember to note it over at the garden blog.  I do try to make that place look nice and all, but really it is kind of our 'garden diary'.  Several times we have referred back to earlier posts to check how things were last year or before.  Mostly interesting to only us.

I have been complimented on our lawn a few times by friends, and I am thankful.  Now that I own a house the outdoors and lawn are a focus of mine.  I do want a nice lawn, but I do really, really hate dandelions (and other weeds, but I really hate dandelions) and I am learning how to seed and fertilize as we go.  We inherited a pretty good lawn when we got the house, thankfully, and I think I'm getting better at maintaining and improving upon that.  I'd like to say that I never thought I'd be that way, but, yeah, I am and always have been kind of that way.


That's all I can think of that I can talk about right now.  If you're still reading, thanks for showing interest.  Until next time - PTFO

Memorial Day 2013

Scoakat's Blog - GIZOOGLED ! ! !

CLICK HERE TO SEE THIS SITE GIZOOGLED

This is just toooo funny - you have to click it.  Especially with my wordy posts recently....
Seriously, you may want to follow this link rather than my actual one....Sooo Funny...

Caution: some translations may be nsfw.

Click here to go to Gizoogle Home.

Raccoon Anniversary

This last week I took some time off here and there to get away from work for a bit and spent much of that time off working on the garage path project - see last post.  But because I had that time off and spent a lot of time out in the back yard I was a part in retired nice neighbor Dave's nuisance - that became ours as well.  It seems a raccoon had taken up residence in the attic of the back part of his house, through an odd corner in his roof that I can see plainly from my back yard.  He talked to me about it over the weekend, 8 days ago.  It seems there was no or little access to the attic from inside, and later told me he called a service to remove it.  In fact, we saw the raccoon that Sunday evening sitting outside the hole on the roof.  The cats were probably why we noticed.

The critter guy showed up on Monday, probably early afternoon, I was planting plants in the pot out front.  After the critter guy and neighbor Dave walked back to look and discuss, they approached me to ask if I had any problem with it being killed.  I told them no, I know it had to go, I was hoping that would be the end of it, but it was just the beginning.  The critter guy rigged up some plywood and wire mesh contraption to steer the animal out and into the trap.  Asphyxiation, he said, is how it would die.

Yes, the next morning, Tuesday, I saw it hanging there off the roof, having gotten strangled by the trap.  I warned my wife that may happen and closed the blinds on that side of the porch.  I know it bothered my wife, but she did her best to block it out the next morning.  My wife doesn't know this, but that did bother me a quite a bit then, it was still twitching when I left for work so I know it had to be a very slow, painful death.  Yet, I was hoping that was the end of it and all would be forgotten and the hole patched up.  I was very wrong.

On Thursday morning I was out working and saw 3 different raccoon babies making noises and venturing only just outside the hole the critter guy left so he could catch their mother.  I alerted neighbor Dave to this and he gave the critter guy a call.  He arrived shortly and was able to get two of the baby raccoons, leaving one of my confirmed sighting of three.  Wrong again.

On Saturday morning we were outside working and saw 3 baby raccoons crying for their mom and venturing outside the hole.  Again I alerted Dave, this time I had to call him, he's hard of hearing so I didn't know if he just couldn't hear me knock on his door or not.  Turns out, he was down by the lake fishing.  After riding his bike back, the 3 little ones were still up there making a fuss so he called the critter guy again.  Again the critter guy showed up in short order and managed to wrangle two more of the baby raccoons.  The fifth, and last, baby raccoon baby got back inside the hole.  This is Saturday, 5 days without its mother.

That evening we were hosting a party for some close friends for our 12th wedding anniversary.  We were all outside and couldn't help but watch the little raccoon up on the neighbors roof, but what could we do?  Neighbor Dave was out for the evening and I didn't want to have to call him again.  Eventually the little raccoon fell off the roof.  Nearby was an empty garbage can so I used my grabber to pick up the baby raccoon and place him in it.  Over the night some gave him grapes and popcorn, but we're not sure if it ate any.  When the party ended I gave neighbor Dave a knock and he had just arrived home so I filled him in.  I'm sure he called the critter guy first thing in the morning but he just got their answering service.  This was Sunday, I guess critter guys don't work on Sunday.

All day Sunday we would hear the baby raccoon in the trash can, when it napped we thought it may be dead, but no, it still seemed amazingly well at times for being over 5 days without its mother and, presumably, any source of food or water.  Meanwhile, this was really eating at my wife, Kate.  I tried to take the stance that it's not our problem but she had to do something.  And, yes, rightfully so.  After consulting her sister she eventually found where she could take it immediately.  After I asked Dave to call the critter guy once more to no avail, we boxed up the baby raccoon and she took it to a shelter for that type of animal.  This was late Sunday evening by now.

The baby raccoon now hopefully has a new life, my wife's conscious is clear, and I love her for making a stand and saving the little one.  Alone, I would have blocked it out as much as I could for one more day, and probably felt terrible about it.  I'm not sure what that means, macho man stuff maybe?  I don't know.

I love you, Kate.  Happy 12th anniversary.

(This story is a bit simplified from the full details, but I'm no novelist)

Garage Path Project

I know blogging has been light lately but it has been a busy May around here and will be for a couple more weeks.  This past week I spent much of my free time tending to the narrow path alongside our garage.  Since we moved in I have done nothing with it other than knock back all the weeds and ferns that had taken up residence.  Now that they were eliminated you could see how ugly it looked over there.

I spent much time on my hands and knees scooping up the lava rock that covered most of the area.  The top layer was easy, the bottom 2 to 3 inches was rock that was embedded in mud above the plastic weed barrier that was put in place about 300 years ago or so.  The rock is needed because the garage has no gutters and the rain needs to fall somewhere without eroding into the ground.  On the other side of the garage the water drips onto the wood that edges the lily of the valley we have in that flower bed.  After scooping up a bucketful I then rinsed the rock in the wheelbarrow with the hose a couple times before dumping it on a tarp in the driveway for further rinsing, and rinsing, and rinsing eventually deeming it clean enough for reuse.

Once I got all the usable rock out and had it to bare earth, I leveled it as much as I could before putting in the landscape fabric.  I used 10 year standard fabric, doubled up.  Now, many people don't like the fabric and prefer to use plastic as a better weed barrier, but I really wanted the water to absorb into the ground more easily.  Sure, we may still get some weeds eventually, but not many and I can just spray dead what does move in.  Since the area the rock covered before was not quite the width of the space, I bought stepping stones to put in the area.  All in all, the stepping stones worked well to take up space and the reused rock was just the right amount to fill in the area around them.

It was a big job that I chipped away at all week, but I'm glad it's done and I do think it looks much nicer than before.

Spring Has Sprung

I took just a little time off this week starting with today and I managed to be pretty productive.  First, our refrigerator wasn't refrigerating very well so I had to call a repair man first thing this morning.  He was here this afternoon and fixed it rather quickly and easily.

I also made a trip to the hardware store to get supplies for the garage side project, and to get some flowers to plant in our pot our front.  Kate didn't want red or purple so I got white petunias and a couple other plants that looked kind of neat.  I messed up, though, the orange leafy thing is supposed to be for shadier areas.  Oh well, I guess we'll just have to see how it goes.  Overall the house front looks very nice this spring with the plants we buy and the tulips and little white things that Kate planted last fall.  The evergreen bushes are still looking a bit rough from being pounded down by snow all winter.  That's another project, tying them all up and making them look nice.  Before next winter I'll have to try something to prevent that happening again.

The bulk of the day was spent digging up and cleaning rocks along the side of the garage and I'm only about a third done.  The rock has been there so long there is much dirt along with the rock on the plastic that was used as a weed barrier, so I have been rinsing each bucketful in the wheelbarrow a couple times then dumping it on a tarp in the driveway for more rinsing.  I'm glad that I'm reusing this rock but getting it out and cleaned is a pain.  It will be a couple days before I can get back at it, but I hope to have it done by Saturday night.  That may be a pipe dream, but it would be nice to have it done already.   How's your yard shaping up this spring?  Anybody?

Happy Mother's Day 2013

To me, well, everything can remind me of a song - any odd and old song.  I drive my wife nuts with that because I can - and do - play that song within seconds sometimes, otherwise I may sing it, and unfortunately for her I can't sing to save my life.  So, naturally, for a Mother's Day post I was looking at some of the 'mother' songs off the top of my head and , oh, they're all out there - good and bad- including:

• John Lennon - Mother
• Pink Floyd - Mother
• Danzig - Mother
• Lita Ford - Mother
• Buckethead - For Mom
• and even Jimmy Dean - IOU

I'm sure if I thought about it I would find tons more songs about moms.  We all have one, we love them, and we try to do them proud.  Well, Mom, knowing me and you may or may not agree that we're all a bit crazy so this seemed more apt to me*:

Slade - Mama  I'm  Weer all Crazee Now


I love you, Mom.  I hope you have a wonderful Mother's Day and even more wonderful retirement with Dan.

*Okay maybe that sentence does or doesn't make sense, but it was fun to say out loud to myself last night when I drafted this post!

A Spring Update

It has been a week since I've posted so earlier today I just started drafting some things and have added as I've had a mind to all day.  There is nothing big going on, so these are just recent thoughts and happenings:


We just missed having a snowstorm in May.  100 miles or more due west was a north/south line of snow that just moved north upon itself giving many places a foot or more.  Thankfully, we just got some rain and temps in the 40's and no snow - kind of odd to be thankful for that in May.

Our yard and plants are progressing, at about the same rate as this Spring, slowly.  We've had some blooms but the best is yet to come.  We went out today to look at plants and price some items for other projects.  We did purchase our usual hanging plant medley for the front of the house, though we did not find the type of petunia that we want to plant in the big pot out front, but more plants will be in the shops soon and there is plenty of time for that.  There has been no new action in the garden since the last update at that site.

Kittens are now cats, over a year old and big, well, Basil is pretty big, Hamish is adult size but smaller.  For brothers they are two totally different cat types, physically.  They still love the cat tree and spend much of their time on it, sleeping, scratching and playing.  They are more at our level and love being pet while they squirm around in the top area.  Being able to look out two windows from it also keeps them occupied.

We had a party last weekend for our friend Terry (and her sister Becky), who was going to the Kentucky Derby this weekend.  It was fun with friends, but I stayed up late and sent out an email to a few of those friends with links to the few videos I had posted here that they are in.  In the process of trying to upgrade an old video on a post a few years ago I lost the original post.  A bad mistake, but it wasn't much I lost, maybe 100 words of drivel just to post the video - which is reposted bigger now.  Lesson learned that I should already know:  Don't edit or post when drunk.

I got in touch with an old, good friend recently.  He seems to be okay, even though I hear the tales of woe every time we do talk, but he seems to actually have his life in as much order as any of us.  But he does have kids, while we don't, so I know he has a lot more going on every day than I do.  To him I might be livin' the life, but really it's just a different kind of life.  Anyway, contacting him is weird sometimes because I feel like I'm interrupting - remember that I don't digitally connect (facebook, twitter, text), I'm still old-fashioned that way.

I'm sure there is more that I am forgetting but there is a lot on our radar this Spring, things like getting a new dining table, planning our next two parties coming up soon, yard and garden projects and more.  Everything in due time (and dollars).  Highlights, as always, will be posted.  Have a great weekend, all!

PTFO

Hair Today...

I've mostly had long hair ever since I was old enough to fight with my parents about it.  Recently though, I felt I wanted to clean up a little bit for spring.  This is the result, still longer but healthier and neater.  It's just hair, it will grow back - and so will my goatee, I also shaved clean for the first time in probably almost two years.  Okay, maybe not that interesting but I made my wife take before and after shots (I was sure to wear the same shirt for reference) so she said I better post them!

Planting And A Late Start To Spring

Yesterday Kate got outside and planted all the plants that had arrived in the past week, including all the new creeping phlox around the tree area.  There are many other plants around the tree but the cool temps are giving us a late spring this year, and they have barely come up yet, if at all.  More rain and lower than normal temps are expected this week yet again, but it has to get better sometime.  Right?


Garden pics and comments about yesterday here.

Latest LIVE Listening Pleasure... U.D.O.

Mike and I got to the Back Bar about 8 o'clock Wednesday night.  Walking in, we passed the tour bus and a smaller nice van.  I noticed the door of the tour bus open so I went around the van to the open door and there was Francesco, U.D.O.'s drummer, having a smoke.  I greeted him, told him I was a great big fan, and asked if there was any chance I could meet Udo.  Well, I had to try.  He was nice and said no way before the show.  (After the show it was pouring rain so we didn't even try to get him off the bus.)  I heard somewhere later that Udo was under the weather that night, just hearsay though.

We got into the place with plenty of time to check it out before U.D.O. hit the stage.  We didn't see much of the first band, the second band was Halcyon Way.  We had both heard of them before but were less than impressed with them for a variety of reasons.  Now, my knee has been acting up lately, so I brought my cane so I would have something to lean on, expecting to be standing for a couple hours .  Well, when the second band was done I just walked straight up to directly in front of center stage and wound up staying right there, front and center, leaning on the stage for the whole show.  I keep telling myself that I'm getting too old to fight those crowds close to the stage - and I am - but the smaller venue and crowd of very friendly fellow metal heads made everything okay.  There was no jostling for position, no fights, no moshing.  I guess we're all getting a bit older.

You saw the pre-show vid a couple posts ago, here is the show opening - Rev-Raptor.


This was the first time I took a camera to a show since I snuck in my little Kodak film camera (that I can't remember what it was called, instamatic 110, maybe?) to the Kiss Animalize concert back in late '84 or early '85.  (In fact, Udo was with Accept then and opened for that show.)  Back then you could get kicked out for having a camera still, so using a flash bar was out of the question.  But even without a flash I got some memorable pictures, if a bit dark.  I was real close to the front then and I remember Gene and Paul separately actually posing for me briefly when they saw my camera.

During U.D.O. the camera was a distraction to my fun.  In the opener above, Rev-Raptor, my arm kept dropping because I wasn't looking at it, I was watching the show in front of my face and not the little screen.  I got better, and made a better effort with the second video, Man and Machine and 24/7, below.  Youtube's video editor made my videos a bit smoother and I think they turned out pretty good.  I'm especially happy with the sound.  Just look around at some other live homemade videos at very loud concerts and you will hear what I feared.

Anyway, on with the show!  Here is Man And Machine and 24/7!


Shortly after this vid I just put the camera away for good.  I felt I had enough for a first time trying and besides, I saw so many other people recording it I figured I would be able to find other videos of the show on youtube eventually.  And a few are already out there, just look for my hat down in front, or in this video of Metal Heart, taken just on my right, I make a noticeable appearance in the lower left  starting at about the 2:40 mark!  I was going to link it but what the hell, embedded it is!


U.D.O. is a great, heavy, steady, live band.  I have all their dvds and have watched tons of live stuff youtube.  They do what they do very well and this night was no exception.  Thanks, guys.

April Snow

It is April 19, and it has been snowing off and on all day.  It has not accumulated, and tomorrow is supposed to be nice, sunny and almost 50 degrees fahrenheit.  Kate is planning on working in the garden tomorrow and I would like to add some dirt and grass seed in areas of the yard and maybe make the trellis for the new raspberry plants, my first woodworking project of the new year.

But for today, it snows.  Yet again.  But not to worry, after tomorrow we are projected to get a bit of rain every day for the next week again.  Yayyy.



U.D.O. LLP post coming soon, later tonight or tomorrow.  I gotta get my vids posted!

Post U.D.O. Show Glow

Last night was the U.D.O. show in Janesville.  I went with a  bud, Mike, and we had a hell of a great time.  In fact, I have much I want to write about here but, even though I took today off, I just don't feel like writing a lot today.  We got back to town at almost 1 in the morning and home after 2.  I slept in and then Kate and I went out to eat a late lunch* and now we are just relaxing at home.  I had a blast at the show and I was front and center for all of it!

Here's a preview video, minutes before they came out I did a quick 360 degree look around the club.  I was disappointed for the band that there weren't more people and happy for myself that it wasn't shoulder to shoulder.  You can see I was front and center for the forthcoming metal assault!



*We went to Brothers Three for lunch and I must have looked hungry because James made me an incredible bacon cheeseburger with two grilled cheese sandwiches for the bun!  I've only seen things like that on the internet, but it was delicious!

Weather Or Not...

Kill the groundhog!  Well, maybe not.  After all, there is no snow or ice anywhere in the yard anymore, though there were visible snowflakes at times over the weekend.  We have been teased now and again with seasonable temperatures but overall are much below average, so it may no longer be winter but it sure doesn't feel like spring yet.  The temperatures are cold, but the big thing has been the rain.

The rain.  Every.  (Expletive deleted).  Day.  From what I saw yesterday, today was supposed to be dry with a good chance of some dry tomorrow.  I had planned on getting soil and working on the garden after work, but before my shift ended there was the rain, pouring down again.  Many of Kate's plants, including strawberries, have already arrived and are waiting in the fridge to be put in the ground.  No, it is not too late to start the garden yet, and the nursery she ordered from had no idea it would rain every day, yet the plants are here and plants require planting.

What can you do?  Now they're saying tomorrow will be dry, do I believe them?  Their 7 day forecasts have been changing so much I don't know why they bother, now even one day out they have no clue.  Sigh.  We can just hope for the best, I guess.

That's it.  Just a gripe about the weather.  I hope things are more pleasant and seasonable wherever you are.  PTFO

Upcoming U.D.O. Concert

I've been a huge Udo Dirkschneider fan since I saw the german band Accept a couple times back in the eighties, opening for Kiss and for Iron Maiden.  The band U.D.O. has been around since 1987 (restarted twice following Accept reunions).  They are playing 9 U.S. shows (and 3 in Canada) and I will be at the one on Wednesday in Janesville, Wisconsin.  I knew they were coming over for a short tour but I was not going to drive for hours, especially in the middle of the week.  Dates and venues have been changing a bit lately, the show I'm going to was actually scheduled next door in Verona for a while, but I can't argue with less than an hour drive to Janesville.  After all, I may never get another chance to see one of my favorite metal singers.  My next LLP post may be the video I take on Wednesday night!

Here is U.D.O. playing 'Vendetta' last night in New York City.


Bonus video of 'Balls To The Wall' from the same show after the break!

Piraro's Arboreal Papist


"People often wonder why atheists are sometimes hostile toward religion. As an atheist, I sympathize with this viewpoint; I mean, what difference does it make to me what a person believes in their heart and mind? But the recent hubbub over the pope election is a perfect example of why it is sometimes of concern to people like me..."

-Dan Piraro

Click the above text to read the rest of his post over at Bizarrocomics.com.

I have a hard time expressing my beliefs, mostly due to self confidence issues, but I know what I agree with when I see it, and I happen to agree with him.  Thanks, Dan!

Getting Started On Spring Projects... Finally

The weather has finally turned more seasonable around here, though we still need that cleansing rain I talked about.  I was hoping for it yesterday but all we got was a few sprinkles.  There is rain forecast off and on this week so that will help.

I got outside today and got some cleanup and caulking done on the garden, you can read more about that over at my garden blog.  Aside from that I installed another 4x6 at the back end of the garage (top of photo) that mimics the one in front.  The time to get started on this project is soon, removing and washing the rock, putting down a weed barrier and stepping stones, then putting the rock back around the stepping stones.  The piece of 4x6 was left in the garage, I'm sure it was left over from when the landscaping was done years ago.  It fit in neatly around the peony that now will be coming up in the corner of that area.

We don't use this as a path usually, but this area attracts weeds and ferns and since there is no gutter on the garage we can't really fill it with plants.  Stepping stones and the rocks will catch the water and prevent erosion.

Bonus pic of naught kitty destruction after the break!

Cat Tree and Catching Up

Oh, Happy Easter, by the way, it's just Sunday here for us but if you chase eggs and don bonnets then more power to you!  I just decided it is time for an update on various things that have happened with us recently.  Time to start typing again and see what comes out!

The new cat tree has been a major change around the house.  Our little guys have been spending a lot of time on it, in it and scratching at it.  They love it, and I love it even more now that the table is not out there anymore because they were including that into their 'playground' more than I wanted.  They have their own space to get high up now to hang out and see out the windows. (PS - that cat toy that hung off of it lasted less than 12 hours before being destroyed easily, thankfully the cat tree as a whole is much more sturdy.)

The dining table is no longer in the front room and rather than get rid of it (and we have tried to give it to family many times), it has now become my computer desk, replacing the folding table that I had been using for years.  It is rather large, but I think we will adapt well.  It is a nice, quality, wood table that was my mother-in-law's but it is too big for our needs as a dining table so now, with a layer of contact paper to protect from localized wear and tear, it is a desk for the foreseeable future.

A couple posts ago I posted about Wisconsin playing in the NCAA tournament.  Well, they lost in the first round rather unceremoniously and it left such a bitter taste in my mouth that I haven't watched any of the tourney really since.  I glance at what's up and who wins sometimes, but I really lost my enthusiasm for basketball this year after that horrible loss.  Baseball starts and the Brewers open their season tomorrow.  Ho hum Oh boy.  I actually do like baseball but I would like it more if they only played 100 games or so, to shorten the season.

The weather has finally turned a bit milder.  Everything is looking all dirty - the cars, the windows, the lawn, the standing 'snow.'  The snow and ice that lingers along the roads is especially disgusting, as it is every Spring, until a couple good rains can clean and melt everything so the green can finally burst forth.  That's the next step for us around here, but I also wouldn't be shocked by more snow.  Lovely time of year, it is.

Actually, there is much to look forward to this Spring, and there is also much to do this Spring.  Mother Nature controls the schedule, though.  I recently posted the first post of 2013 over at Scoakat's Garden, and I'm sure that posts there will be picking up very soon as there will be a few changes this year.  We're a little behind compared to the past couple Springs, but there is still plenty of time to get things done.

Okay, this post has been interrupted by dinner so I may have lost my train of thought.  Anything noteworthy that I may have missed will be covered later.  Good night, kitties...

New Cat Tree

The cats have a new toy, and their birthday is not even until April 20th.  We started out with the cardboard scratchers, then a while ago I got them a short rope scratching post.  They quickly outgrew that little thing, so we got them something bigger that will also let them be able to look out the windows.

I just finished putting it together, so they have yet to figure it out fully (Hamish was placed on top here), but they do love the cat toy that is attached to one of the posts.  If you look close you can see part of Basil in the corner, he is playing with it.  I placed the toy in the corner because I know it won't last long.  It will be destroyed soon and then I can remove it.  But until then, go nuts you crazy cats!

Happy (Official) Spring 2013!

Right now, 6:02 a.m., here and now when this is to be posted, it is officially the vernal equinox - the start of Spring.  This doesn't look like the start of Spring to me, especially with mounds of snow outside, but at least there is supposed to be some sun and some supposedly above freezing temperatures for the weekend.



But this forecast will change, it always does, and not for the better lately...  We and all we know are sick of it by now, but this is Wisconsin, we know where we live and it sucks sometimes.

PTFO

Time Lapse: Earth

A short video of the views from the ISS.  Best watched in full screen, of course.

Thanks Joanne!

St Patrick's Day 2013

Happy St. Pat's Day, all!  No corned beef and cabbage here today, but I did pop out to pick up a new desk chair and tried the new Cool Ranch tacos at Taco Hell.  Meh, probably won't do that again.  They were just okay and so were the nacho cheese ones, I only tried those once, too.  I guess I fell for the ads and novelty of it.

This day, this weekend, revolves around Badgers mens basketball and the B1G tournament.  The Badgers had a first round bye, beat Michigan on Friday, and beat Indiana yesterday - both are among the top ten teams in the country and we face another one today (that's playing 3 top-10 teams in 3 days!) in Ohio State for the tourney championship.   After today is the NCAA tournament where all but one team will finish their season with a loss.  It happens so quick, I'm just enjoying it while I can.  Go Badgers!

Sports, Weather And Movies

It has been a week since we got around 9 inches of snow.  It rained over the weekend and has been snowing almost constantly again for the last day and a half.  At least this time there is little to no accumulation, but we do have quite the pond starting in the back yard.  Thursday and Friday call for temps in the low 40's, (much different than last year,) so there should be even more melting of the several inches of snow still left on the ground.  I have heard others talking of water in their basements but we have seen none in ours so far.  We've never gotten a whole lot down there, but the floor does get wet in some places every so often when it rains long and hard.

Aside from the weather, it has been a usual week for us.  Free agency begins today in the NFL, and the Badgers start play in the B1G tourney on Friday, then March Madness is upon us!  I'm not one to fill out brackets or place wagers, I just enjoy the fun of all the games.  It's win or go home time!

Jerome came over on Saturday night with the movie "Wreck-It Ralph."  It was just a big bowl of okay.  I'm really not a movie person and he really is.  He wants me to get into them but I'm sorry, Jerome, I just don't enjoy watching movies a whole lot - very rarely, in fact.  This movie was a rather tedious kids movie, I thought.  Now, I don't always see late Saturday nights turn into Sunday like I used to when I was younger, but I was so tired just from sitting through this movie that I wound up going to bed at 9:00 p.m.  On a Saturday night.  When I wasn't deathly ill.  (How's that for an inadvertent movie review!  That's "Wreck-It Ralph," everyone!  Ask for it by name!)

PTFO

It. Never. Stops. Snowing.

It started snowing this morning about the time I left for work and hasn't stopped since.   March is 'in like a lion' this year, I can't wait for the 'out like a lamb' part of it.

Trying To Un-Hibernate

I realize that I'm not particularly sociable in late winter unless I have to be.  It begins with the seasonal holidays that bring us short, dark days followed by all the cold and snow again and again every January and February.  I've been in that funk a bit again this year.  I haven't seen many friends at all so far this year, and certainly not often.  We have had some small meetings with some friends, some even mentioned here, but we have not been out and about as much as we would normally be the other two thirds of the year.  Perhaps that is an excuse, or perhaps that is the reason to hibernate that I use, probably both since they both mean the same thing.  See what winter does to me?

I have been trying to come out of hibernation a bit lately.  Nothing has really worked out yet, but I am starting to make that effort to see friends and be sociable again.  Eventually the sun will shine warmly on green grass and all will be as it should be.  Mostly I look forward to outdoor projects again.   There is much to do for the garden this year as my wife has made grand plans.  And there are several things on my to-do list with the house and yard that cannot coincide with snow and ice.  I like to think about these projects some during the cold months, but most cannot be done until Old Man Winter unwraps its bony cold fingers from around my neck.  What the hell did that groundhog say, anyway?

PTFO

New Shoes!

Last week, after pondering it for a bit, I finally ordered new shoes online rather than take that dreadful trek to the store.  Okay, I may be a bit pessimistic about it, but a trip to one store would end up being a trip to at least 3 stores and then maybe returning to a previous one to get the shoes I will resign myself to wearing for the foreseeable future.  Yes, I would have had the opportunity to wear it before I bought it, but searching was just so much easier online.  There was also a far greater amount of shoes for me to choose from than a brick and mortar store could provide.  But I did think ahead, I made sure I ordered from a one of the many larger retailers in the area and that I could return them to the local store if necessary.

Late this morning, shortly after I finally acknowledged the new day, I glimpsed a Fedex truck slow down outside and my new shoes were here!  I waited until later after I cleaned up to put them on, but then I wore them to the grocery store and, well, I like them.  They feel closer to a boot than my old shoes, the soles are bigger and they go a little higher on my ankle, but so far I like them pretty well.  They are stiff and need to be broken in, but I think I can get away with these on my feet for a while, and they do have this neat zipper feature alongside the laces.

It is still the first day in the new shoes so it is hard to know how I will ultimately feel about them, but so far I am tentatively positive.  The zipper does allow me to slip in and out of them without undoing the laces, but barely.  And if I have to add my gel pads and arch supports then slipping in and out of them with only undoing the zipper will be almost impossible.  Of course this is all conjecture at this point.  The shoes are still hard and my feet need to get used to them some but so far I feel pretty good about them, they just need to be broken in a bit.

And, I promise, this is probably the last time ever you will hear this straight man obsess about goddamn shoes, expletive for effect.  You do know that sarc is my second favorite asm, don't you?
PTFO!

Cats, Nephew James And More

It was a busy weekend around here.  Well, for some of us.  Not the cats.

Hamish, top, and Basil still seem to be growing at just over 10 months old.  Bigger and as naughty as ever!

-----
We had the pleasure of having my nephew James spend some time with us on Saturday.  My sister was in town for a play (I think it was called Spank... probably inappropriate for a 10 year old, you can look it up on your own) with my mother, aunt, cousin and more.  An interesting group to see such a play maybe?  I wonder how many 'uncomfortable' moments they may have had.  Heh, heh, in my imagination it is hilarious!  Okay that was for them, share if you wish, Mom and Sis!

Anyway, the afternoon got off to a bad start, we went to an event I found on the internet that was not at all what I expected.  But after we got back home we were able to go through some of my old Piers Anthony books.  He's been interested in the Xanth series so I gave him all those books that were in good enough shape and threw out the old and damaged ones.  I also gave him the Adept series that I remember really enjoying.  After that I went through my Kiss CDs - he's a fan - and managed to give him several that he can enjoy until I can give him the rest of them.  I never did get the complete Kiss catalog on CD, like I managed to collect every album on vinyl (still have them!).  Digital is everything now and CD's are not as big of a priority for me anymore for most music.  I think he only has a couple so I'm happy to give him some new-to-him Kiss to listen to.

For dinner, we took him out to a nearby landmark, a place called Ella's Deli.  Unmistakable along one of the city's main arteries, especially in Summer when the carousel outside is uncovered and all lit up!  Inside it is full of all sorts of moving, flying, spinning everything.  You can see some of the hundreds of displays here, but photos are still and the whole place is actually in mesmerizing motion.  I hadn't been inside there for at least 15 years, so I think I had as much fun as he did!

Love ya, James!  Thanks for hanging out with us! (We missed you, Lindsey!)

-----
Sunday was a pretty fun day.  I had a pretty casual morning, my wife did a lot of housework.  As usual she wins that battle, I realize it and do feel guilty.  We went out to brunch with our friend Bridget along with Zubin and several of her friends for her birthday - Happy Birthday, Bridget!  It was a nice place and even though the service was a bit slow the food was good and we had a very good time.  It was actually a very nice day out - sunny with no wind and above freezing, a nice day to be out and about.

Afterwords we stopped for a few drinks at another local watering hole before going home and relaxing for an hour or so.  Then, the neighbors a few houses up the street were having a gathering for all their neighbors and friends, including our local alderperson, so we went up and socialized for another hour and a half or so.  I like our part of town, there are many like-minded people here and who wouldn't be comfortable with that?  Many are youngish couples, some with children, and relatively recent to the neighborhood, as we are.  All in all a nice day and an unusually busy weekend for us, yet I showed up for work this morning with a great big smile! 

Latest Listening Pleasure... Newsted

Okay, I wanted to do this LLP post several weeks ago for this new video/EP, but the winter funks had me and never got around to it.  After posting Paramore, now I just have to post the new Newsted.  I do enjoy the Paramore but the new Newsted EP is pretty darn good... and heavy.

Now, I'm a great fan of early Metallica (mid-80's), then they went bigtime and I enjoyed them some, after that I got sick of them and, for the most part, have been neutral ever since. I saw them on the 'And Justice For All' Tour, shortly after Jason Newsted joined them, then after that was the Metallica 'Black' album with that 'Enter Sandman' song.  That was the beginning of the end for me, I kinda liked it then but they lost me after that.  No, they lost me before that, I just enjoyed that era of metal trying to get it's comeuppance, especially after the Jethro Tull debacle of 1989.

That was a different time and place, and this is just a new EP by their former bassist, but dang it, I'm diggin' it!

Latest Listening Pleasure... Paramore - Now

I think the song is good, I think the video is better.  Anyway, I'm not sure how I came across the new video by Paramore called 'Now,' but I have been enjoying it lately.  The song is off their yet to be released new self-titled album, fourth overall as they have been around for almost a decade.  I will be interested in their new release when it becomes available.  I have been looking into their past music a little bit as I had not heard of them before, and while they seem like a pretty good one, they sound like a band you would hear on top 40 radio these days.  I believe they are from Tennessee, but it seems they have had more success overseas.
This kind of music is hit or miss for me, and this song and video hits.


You can read more about them here on wikipedia. 

And if you know me, you know I love the live stuff.  Here they are playing their new single last week live in Bangkok.

Shoe Shopping

I've worn the same shoes for about 20 years now.  No, not the same exact pair, I've had several pair over the years.  They are completely black tennis shoes, leather, and high top.  Well, not the high tops that I remember from the eighties, they come up around but not above my ankle.  I remember a doctor a couple years ago remarking to me that he liked the type of shoes I was wearing, they would help my back, or knee, or whatever problem I was having at the time.  I like these shoes because they are comfortable, and the completely black color lets me get by wearing them for any occasion.  Whenever I get a new pair, the old pair gets demoted to yard work or other uses when you would rather not wear your 'good' shoes.  The style has changed slightly over the years, but it would be hard to tell unless you had them side by side as I have many times.  So when my current pair started squeaking, meaning it was getting moisture in the sole when it is wet out, I started looking for my next pair.  I didn't like what I was about to find out.


They changed the color of the soles!  It was no longer the black tennis shoe that I could wear for any occasion.  Why, after all these years, would they change it?  And now what the hell am I going to do?  Shoe shopping has been so easy for me for so long.  All it used to take was a very short trip to the shoe store, I didn't even need to try them on.  Recently the internet has made that even easier - click click and it shows up at my door.  I don't think I even want to consider the new style, which means I need to do some actual shoe shopping for the first time in ages.  I dread going in to one of those large chain shoe stores and emerging hours later with shoes that I settled for.  But do I trust shopping for something so intimate to my daily comfort online?  I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet, it's all just so much to take in!

Tears.  Drama.  Anger.  Resignation.  Acceptance.  Sigh.  Eff you, Reebok.  PTFO.

Valentines Day and Videos

Happy Valentine's Day, yada yada.  We're not doing anything special though I may try to make tonight's home made pizza into a heart shape.  Here's a funny vid from 5SF, video may be NSFW.




Okay, now that that's done, I've been hanging on to a few things that I wanted to post, but felt that I was posting too much other stuff rather than writing.  I've narrowed it down to one more video, a Superbowl commercial that I missed live and came across later.



PTFO

Esquire Interviews The Man Who Killed Bin Laden

Esquire interviews the man who killed Osama bin Laden.

Just because.

Snow In The Northeast

As much as I hate winter in Wisconsin, it could be worse.  This is Friday in Hartford, Connecticut.
Reposted from Bits & Pieces!

Green Fairy Dreams

Last night we met our friends Bridget and Zubin at the Malt House for a few drinks.  Having the next day off, I eventually had some of the absinthe, Livid was the brand.  Bridget took photos, but it seems that uploading all those pictures from my Mom's retirement party to flickr has put me over the limit for the time being, so this is just a similar pic from the internet. 

I've had absinthe a couple times before, but never for an evening.  I had two last night and still drove home easily.  One of these days when I have the time - and extra cash - I think I would like to see what it is like to drink absinthe exclusively one night and see how I like it.  Maybe I won't write the next great american novel or even paint the latest greatest masterpiece, but it might be a nice drunk!

Lingering Cold, Vacation

Time to post something, even though I don't really feel like it.  Although I have been over the worst of it since about last Wednesday, this cold is still lingering in me.  Saturday I started a stretch of 8 out of 9 days off.  Just a little time off for myself to do something - or nothing, depending on the day.  Sleep is what I really want.  Good, long restful sleep is always hard to come by these days, but I shall try to achieve it.  Sigh, maybe tomorrow.  Oh, I did not jinx myself and passed the needed tests to take the other position at work.  That will not start for many months yet, though, so anything can happen.  Until then I plan on keeping my eye out for other positions that may better suit me.

It is hibernation season and I think that's pretty much all I plan to do this week so perhaps I shall post more, perhaps not.  PTFO

How I Caught My Cold

Tonight is the night we are going out with friends to celebrate my wife's birthday, except I won't be going out tonight due to a pretty nasty cold.  I had been fighting it since Monday, on Wednesday at work I felt it settle into my sinuses and I have been more than miserable ever since.  I was around my neices and nephews last weekend at my Mom's retirement party, so that would seem to confirm my 'all kids are disease carrying vermin' viewpoint, no matter how cute they are.  Or maybe not.

Here's how Heywood Banks caught his cold, reposted from Bits & Pieces:

Laid Off.... Wait, What?

Due to the loss of contracts, layoffs have been impending at my place of work.  It has been a tense, somber couple of weeks at work watching friends and co-workers get picked off one by one.  Many people in the company have been escorted out on the same day, some have a date when their position is eliminated and yet others have been offered lower positions and the lower pay that goes with it.

I had hoped I was safe, but I finally got the call into the office late yesterday.  My position will be eliminated this fall.  The surprise is that I will not be out of work, in fact, I will be getting a raise and a promotion to move to a different, if less desireable, department (pending two tests I have to take that I should pass easily - knock wood).  Well now, I certainly did not expect that!

Actually, I am not very pleased.  Oh, I'm happy that I'm not out the door and have to look for another job, but I was happier in my present department, with the work and the people, than I have been in a long time.  And now things will be different.  I must be doing very well for them to want to keep me, as my wife says, yet it is still upsetting for me.  I'm not just sad for myself losing the great situation that I'm in now, I'm sad for all these people that I know and care about losing their jobs or having to accept demotions.  I will still be with the company at a higher level and with more pay, and after being in the new job for six months I can start applying for other positions that open up that better suit me.  Meanwhile other good, hard working people will have to start all over again and I think that sucks.

PTFO

Get The Body You Always Wanted

1. Wait until at least April, when the ground softens.

2. Dress warmly (think layers), bring a shovel and a lantern on a stick.

3. Listen. Is someone coming?

4. Cover your lantern with a blanket, wait.

5. Continue. If you're not used to hard physical labor, wear weight-lifting gloves to avoid excess chafing.

6. You may need a wheelbarrow. You probably should have brought a wheelbarrow.

7. Come back with a wheelbarrow.

8. Try to have the body you've always wanted back to your house by dawn.

9. Get online, start shopping for outfits!

10. Your friends may treat you differently now, with your new body, but they are probably just jealous.


I thought this was funny enough to share.  Reposted from The Hairpin.

Birthday/Retirement

My wife and I attended my Mom's retirement party today, on my wife's birthday.  The big, ugly and rarely posted thing in the middle is me.  (-Well, what did you think I looked like?)

Happy Birthday, Kate!    Happy Retirement, Mom!

Layoff The Cats

Over a week since the last post?  What the heck have I been up to?  Well, it has been a busy, odd week here.  Ten hour days is my new norm, though there should be less of them per week.  We have had overtime on and off lately, and layoffs have been handed out to some while the rest of us watch and wait.  I should know better where I stand in a week's time, so keep your fingers crossed for me!

The cats seem like they are no longer kitties.  They are 9 months old on Monday, and I'm not sure if they are their full size yet, but they have certainly come a long way.  We weighed them about a month ago, Basil was 10 pounds and Hamish was 7, so I am afraid they may still be growing.  Time will tell...

A Moment With A Hawk

I just stepped outside for a moment just now.  The sky is overcast , the temperature is above freezing and I can hear the snow melting - falling off the trees and dripping everywhere - and I have thoughts of Spring.  Then I realize it is really not even halfway through January.

Just a Google Images photo, for effect. ;]

Just as I was about to come back in I saw some kind of hawk, flying high in this urban sky.  I delayed coming in for a few moments and watched this hawk come lower as it passed beyond to the west, then circled back even lower coming straight at me, and passed almost directly over me about 50 feet up.  Now this hawk obviously knew I was not prey, and yet it took a moment to look at me as I stayed and waited reflectively to look at it.


- - -

Not a lot going on here lately.  I have been working overtime and things have been pretty routine at home.  Work is a bit odd lately as we are changing some of our procedures in our department and face some possible layoffs.  My boss is stretched to her limit I think, but still puts on a brave, pleasant face every day.  But before I go on, this blog is not about work and I will keep it that way.  We can just say that work is still so much more fun for me in this department than my old position and I wouldn't trade it for anything right now.

The Badgers may have lost their third straight Rose Bowl, but at least they have gotten there three straight years which is not too shabby at all.  I am excited about the new head coach and our returning team next year.
The Packers play continues having won their wildcard playoff game last Saturday and will play at San Francisco this Saturday night.  I think we can do it, the Packers can go the distance, but I am almost afraid of the games now.  Lose and it's over - and it's a long time until next season.  I don't want football weekends to ever end!

PTFO