What a Week I'm Having!

What a week I'm (we're) having!

I thought I had better blog now because my last weekend day (today) is changing second by second and I want to get some things here as promised.

This morning I went to Central DuPage Hospital to visit my doctor. I was seeing two doctors with this specialty but I have decided to drop the one here in town and go see the one I saw today exclusively from here-on-out. Anyway, on the way there I dropped Cha Cha off at her work in Geneva and headed on to Winfield or whatever town CDH resides. The doctor seems to think I am doing much better and says I do not have to come back and see for another year. He said he would probably made it longer than a year but that is as far out as their system will let them schedule appointments. On the way home I stopped at the supermarket (Schnuck's) and picked up some things to make my salads for the upcoming workweek and some bird seed for the outside birds (we don't have any inside currently though we have had a few fly in the house over the past year) and peanuts (in the shells) for the squirrels. The rabbits seem to eat the bird seed and I do throw out lettuce and such now and again. Anyway, getting back to the medical sagas, Cha Cha has been waiting for her medical insurance company to approve the next procedure to find out what is wrong with her. She called me about half-an-our ago and said that they called with the approval and she is supposed to be at Delnor Hospital today at 16:45. Of course, I will go pick her up at work and take her. I hope they find out what is ailing her. I am much more concerned about her than I am about me. I called-off of work last Wednesday (my Monday) because of her hospital stays the prior two days and I may have to do the same again this week? We are supposed to have a very slow week at work this week but, regardless, family comes first. I can always find another job if it comes to that but I can never find another Cha Cha! I don;t foresee it being an issue or maybe I it will be a quick thing today and I will just go to work a little bit tired tomorrow. There is also a chance that we will get off early (by choice) if it is as slow as they have predicted. With all that is going on I have very little time to worry about what our Idiot-In-Chief is up to - for that I am thankful.

Not "only in cinemas" anymore!

When I stopped at the store I also picked-up a movie (Hidden Figures) at the Redbox that I have wanted to see when it was in the theaters. So, before I paused it to answer Jill's call and then begin writing this, I began watching it and, so far, it is as good as I had expected it to be. I really like movies about people who are discounted and then rise-up and show racists or bigots or sexists... and prove them wrong about their preconceived ignorances. I suppose I am kind of a romantic that likes the little gal or guy to prove the idiots wrong.

It is almost 14:00 now and I am going to have to start some laundry so I have clean work clothes for tomorrow come what may. I have plenty of clean clothes but I have some certain ones that I seem to like to wear to work. I am so glad that I cleaned the garage and mowed the lawn at the early part of my week because today would have made those things improbable. 

If I do not blog tomorrow that means that everything is great and I went to work. If I stay home to watch over my love I will blog, at the very least, a very small something. I am not sure exactly what is going to be done with Jill today but something has to be done to get her some relief. My nearly life-long friend Kevin (a chiropractor) has offered to come up with a program to help me and he did help me when I was having some of my problems in the beginning. I may speak to him about helping Cha Cha if whatever is being done today does not elevate her issues. Thank you for all the love and thoughts you have been sending our way - we really appreciate it all. TTT?...MITM (out) TA!

Happy Memorial Day!

Happy Memorial Day. It seems odd to call Memorial Day "happy" since it is about remembering the people (and animals too I suppose) who have died serving our country while in the armed forces. I do appreciate their services and sacrifices. So much so that I was sworn-in as an Army Military Police Officer before having a work accident in high school that caused me not to be able to serve. I have been forever thankful for that accident ever since as it made me change my career path and go to college where I would meet the woman who I have loved since 1982ish and, also because of that day, two people whom I love as much as anyone has ever loved anyone throughout history are alive (had been born). Thank you for your service armed forces members past, present and future. Happily, I do not work on Mondays or I would have to be there rather than here when Cha Cha is here.

Happy 100th birthday John F. Kennedy! Always one of my favorite Presidents. Maybe because he was the one who was in charge when I was born? My grandparents has a large bronze bust of his that sat on one of their tables when I was young. I always loved that thing.

I watch CNN (I know it used to stand for Cable News Network but I am not certain if that is still the case) just about every morning. This morning I was saddened to hear that my Fatherland (Germany) says that "The United States can no longer be completely relied-on anymore." German Chancellor Angela Merkel said, "Europe must be prepared to take it's fate into it's own hands" because they can "no longer completely rely on the U.S.." She said this right after our illustrious President was safely back in t the U. S and A.. I wonder how my Motherland (Ireland) feels about this. You really don't want to anger Germany and Ireland at the same time; happily they are both member of the European Union (EU). I know the Paris Climate Agreement and our country's stance on that is up for grabs. One source says we are in agreement and another says that we are not. I am beginning to think that our country is bipolar and need to see a shrink or have an intervention or something. I am seriously thinking about relocating to another country. There are so many better options, in my opinion, than living here under this manic administration. There are many things that make me want to stay here but there are probably more things that make me want to go. Some of those things, however, could be taken with us, of course. If we went to war with the EU I know that we would lose as I am not sure if we have any allies that would be with us in that event. I suppose Canada and Mexico would be forced to be with us if, for no other reason than, proximity. Maybe Mexico will help fund that wall now? I doubt that war is actually a legitimate option as there are many other ways to deal with our problems though it does seem that our country has gone backwards a few miles over the past several months.

This is what Paris looked like when we were there. Europe doesn't mess around

I try not to become political but I believe that it is our responsibility to protect those who cannot protect themselves.

I should quite writing the blog because I often depress myself. It is better to get things out than hold them in I suppose. I do feel better when I get them out, I have to say. I have, many times, said that this is like my therapy and it is somewhat.

I used to watch very little auto racing back when I was a yute. My mom was a huge NASCAR fan up until she starting not remembering much but I never really got the bug as she did. Her favorite driver was always Tony Stewart (well, probably not always). She even named one of her many, many, many cats Smoke because that was Stewarts' nickname. An Illinois State Trooper pulled Stewart over for speeding here in my current town of residence (DeKalb) earlier this week. I don't know why they always expect NASCAR drivers to follow the rules as the sport began as, pretty much, bootlegging. If The Dukes of Hazard taught  has us nothing else it should have been that with The General Lee with the rebel flag on the top and the "wish I were in the land of cotton" Dixieland horn blowing racing to get Uncle Jessie's moonshine to his customers that we still have plenty of redneck car racing blood in our system. Unfortunately, it goes all the way to The White House these days. I think we should change the racist name of The White House to something else too.

I have been told that he looks like me (poor fellow) 

I think I am going to go out on the patio and sit with Cha Cha for awhile before I start cleaning the garage. The garage isn't that bad but it does need to get a bit tidier to get two of the cars in there. Tomorrow I head (no pun intended) to my other Neurologist. I am probably going to stop seeing the one here in town and continue to go to the one at CDH (Central Dupage Hospital) because he seems more up-to-date with the new stuff than the one here in town. That would save some money too, obviously. I hope you have a great day and enjoy time doing whatever you want to do. It's days like this that I am happy that I don't work at the police department any longer. Bad people don't rest on holidays. Plus, a lot of high school graduations have been happening throughout the month of May at The Convocation Center on campus. Those were one of the worst times of the year to work at the P.D. on campus. Man, I sure do not missing those graduation days. Thanks for stopping by and maybe I will blog again tomorrow after my doctor's appointment. TTTT?...MITM (out) TA!

I Love You Because You're Different!

No, that is not a Cubs' cap

It is Sunday and my three-day weekend is underway. It looked like rain this morning so I didn't mow the lawn right away. It got to be around 9:00 or so and I decided to go to the gas can ( I still call it a can even though I don't have a metal gas "can" anymore. I have two red plastic gas jugs and one huge yellow gas jug but I still call them gas cans because gas jugs doesn't seem right. Anyway, when I got back with the gas I decided to try to get the front done before the rain arrived so it would look like we looked more manicured than we were. The backyard is entirely fenced-in so if that had to wait so be it. Jill had been working on the flowerbeds and edges and such so I put that stuff in the garage before the winds moisture would arrive. The rain started to slowly fall as I finished the front. Happily, it did not last long and I got the back done too. While I did the back Jill (with the help of our Border Collie Jeff) got back to her work out front. She seems to love to do that stuff though I know she does not enjoy weeding the flower beds.

I want to write something about my doctor's appointment from last week but I am apprehensive to do that. I know I wrote something about my appointment last Wednesday and I took the note that he gave me about my restrictions/limitations to a place where I go several days per week. It did not seem to be received well though the limitations were nothing that had changed or unreasonable. I will not say much more about that as to not cause myself future possible hassles but, should adverse things occur, there may be big hassles down the line. I may just stop going to doctors and save all of the money. Speaking of money - property taxes are due next week.

This one seems fun!

When God/Jesus... took over the religious world what happened to: Greek Gods - Zeus and Poseidon and Atena and Apollo or Native American Gods - Nanook and Gohone and Whope and Haaschch' ee Oolt'ohi or Roman Gods - Neptune and Mars and Vulcan and Jupiter? I could go on and on and on with different civilizations/peoples and religions and their Gods but I really wonder what happened to them? Why do we not hear from these other peoples and their religious beliefs? I have no problem with people believing in whatever they want to believe it but it seems sad that we don't seem to let people outside of different cultures believe something different without reprisal or ridicule. I think one of the great things about people are their differences. I suppose that I am a liberal, bleeding-heart, hippy, doofus but that is who I choose to be. Mowing the lawn while listening to The Barenaked Ladies makes me think of many different things I suppose.

I am listening to the St. Louis Cardinals' game on my phone while I write this. One of my favorite apps is the MLB At Bat APP because I can listen to any Major League Baseball home or away game broadcast for just $19 for the entire season. I suppose most people can just listen to the radio as I imagine most people have favorite sports' teams near them. I wish I had not mentioned that because, as I typed that period to end the last sentence the Colorado Rockies scored the first run of the game. It is only the second inning so there is plenty of baseball to be played. They just announce that the teams are both wearing the camouflage baseball caps to commemorate Memorial Day. I have Mondays off but I am not sure if that is one of our paid holidays or not. I have been there for over a year now so I should know that but I am happy to remember my name most days.

I am gonna wrap-up now because I have run out of things to type about. I will try to do something blog-worthy to write about tomorrow. I hope you have a great Memorial Day Eve. Thanks for stopping by. TTTT (almost positively)... MITM (out) TA!

Surprise Wednesday Blog!

Pretty much the same as MATTMATH!

I know I don't ordinarily blog on Wednesdays but I called-off of work today to watch-over Jill. I am so happy that she is doing pretty well other than being really sore from them putting that tube in her leg to get her blood to test yesterday. She has a few other minor issues too but, all-in-all, she is a tough cookie. They ruled-out a few things that could have possibly been wrong with her but we still don;t know what is driving her health issues. It is 01:39 and, on most Wednesdays, I would be getting excited that I would be getting off in a little over two hours. I am not sure how most superheroes do it, save for the fact that there isn't really a: Batman, Captain America, Robin, Batgirl or the other heroes without super powers (which is why I didn't call them superheroes) do it. I should probably also include Tony Stark (Iron Man) too I suppose. I just now thought about Spiderman - he had some special powers but he could still be injured. Though I never considered myself a superhero (or even a hero, for that MATTer) when I worked for the police department, I was ALWAYS tired. Perhaps that was because I worked the graveyard shift (22:00 - 06:00). It was, nearly literally, killing me so that "graveyard shift" phrase almost came to fruition and caused me to leave the job. Unless something unforeseen occurs I plan to go back to work tomorrow.

I have been having some very minor health hiccups but nothing of consequence. My doctor on Monday didn't seem concerned and I have another appointment with another of my team of doctors next week to see what he says. If not for the medications that I get from them to keep me from dying (prescriptions) I wouldn't even go see doctors.

I came up here to the bedroom with the expressed purpose of taking a nap. Though it usually does not work as I plan I was able to take a nap for an hour or so. Happily, I did not sleep very long because then I would be unable to sleep tonight and the cycle would just continue. I intend to sleep tonight and go to work tomorrow. I have not decided whether I will use a vacation day to back-fill for not being at work today but I will figure that out.

While I am typing one of my favorite movies is playing - The Drop. Actually, I am playing it from the DVR of my saved films. The movie is based on a short story, written by Dennis Lehane, called Animal Rescue. I have never read the short story but I believe I will, now that I think about it. I will check the library or, perhaps, check the interweb. I am always working on several stories at a time that will probably never be done because I am always researching. Maybe I should get a short story published first? I highly suggest The Drop for just about anyone over 18 since it is rated R for violence and naughty talk.

I spoke to my dad about my mom and she is about the same as she has been. He says she sleeps most of the time when he visits her. I feel guilty that I have not been to see her for a few weeks but we have had our own fun going on up in this hizzy.

Alright, I am going to end now. I thank you for stopping by and for all of the the kind words and such when Jill was busy being worked-on again. One day we will learn what all ails her and she will be even more perfect than she already is. At least they ruled a few more things out for now. She is so much more healthy than she was when we were in college and she was battling Crohn's Disease. She's one tough cookie. I am not sure what tomorrow will bring but I will blog again within the next few days or so (I love "or so" and "etc." because they are just so ambiguous). TTT "later"...MITM (out) TA!

As Clear as Blood

This should make it as clear as blood for you

This will have to be quick because I, apparently, did not pack the power cable to this computer as I thought I had. I am in one of the waiting rooms while Jill is having a cerebral angiogram performed while in a twilight sleep so they can check for cerebral vascularity, Yes, I basically know what that means but you can Google it if you are curious to learn more about that. So, I was with her in her prep room or whatever they call it and, when then they came in to take her away I gave her a kiss and headed down to have a turkey lettuce wrap. They were going to lock-up her personal effects (clothing and what-not) as well as her purse. So, while I was eating my wrap and my baked blueberry oatmeal I got a call from an unknown number. I answered it and they asked that I come back up here to the third floor to get her purse. We asked thrice if they were going to lock that up with her clothes and such and they said that they were going to do that. So now I feel like throwing by complimentary, watered-down, hot tea right in their faces. But I am afraid they might bar me. 

I loved this movie

I am so sick of medical and assisted-care facilities of late. I have toured all of Illinois over the past few years visiting these sad places. I suppose it would be worse if they did not exist rather than existing. I just looked and the computer power is already half drained. I am supposed to return to work tomorrow but, if Cha Cha needs assistance I believe I will have to call-off of work. I hope that she is doing well and I do not have to do that but I have my priorities, in my mind, straight. She is the best thing that I have ever known and she comes before all things so the decision will not be a difficult one should I have to make one on the morrow. I feel guilty for not having 

Being a slightly early MIDDLE-aged person my bladder does not function as it did when I was a yute. One cup of tea and I have to do something that rhymes tea put starts with a P. Hold that water - they say I can go see Jill now so I am done, 

I am here with her and she is doing great but she has to lie flat on her back for the next four hours. She seems like her perfect self. So, another happy ending to the blog. I bet she will be sore when her pain meds wear-off but I bet she will get a pretty good prescription ("scripts" is what we people who spend too much time in medical facilities call them). If not, I (allegedly) have codeine at home from one of my many injuries over time. I rarely take all of my pain meds because I am such a stud and they are much more effective when you don't need them so much. That reminds me that I still need to find a trustworthy mary jane supplier. 

Thanks for all of the warm thoughts and sentiments on the Facebook page. We both appreciate the support and juju. BLOG FLASH!!!!! The doctor just now came in and said, "basically, everything looks normal." That seems like good news but what is causing the tremendous headaches she has? Yep, everything is about me- I am probably causing the headaches. I am hearing people in the other rooms around us receiving bad news (yes, I have great hearing and I an incredibly nosy) so I feel really fortunate for the news we have received here today.

Only one bar left on the power so TTTT (depending on whether I am at home or at work)? TTTT?...MITM (out) TA!

Don't Look Back!

It seems like such a long time since I have blogged. Ha, that makes me think why I have not blogged in awhile - Cha Cha and my trip out east. If you follow me on Facebook I am sure you have seen all of the photos and posts from our trip. We had perfect weather every single day except for one day when we were driving and it rained like crazy. I am glad it was a driving day when it rained so we could use all of our non-driving time seeing and doing awesome things. The reason I said "that makes me think of wht I have not blogged." I would see signs for towns like Hyannis and I thought about one of the first LP's (long play albums for you vinylly-challenged youngsters) the self-titled album Boston by Boston. The song "Rock and Roll Band" speaks (sings) about them playing in Hyannis. Now, of course, I am playing the album digitally now. I see, on the interweb, that this vinyl album is selling for about $45.00. I wonder if my scratched (from over-playing) is worth that much. I have so many albums that I should really get a turntable again. I was huge in buying those picture discs and such. I think I have about 30 of those kinds of albums by The Police and The Beatles and who knows who else. I have a new mission to get those out and start spinning (that's an old term for you youngsters) some vinyl. 

I have to go over and visit one of my team of physicians this morning in about 30 minutes. I am going to try to push for medical marijuana. I have never been a pothead Focker but I drank the Kool-Aid that it was bad for us but I know much better than that now. It is funny how the pharmaceutic companies can scare the heck out of us to not steal away their medicine money by having the governments convince us that we need to take their crap when Native Americans (what was in those peace pipes?) never had drug stores and they seemed pretty damned healthy from everything that I have learned. I am into Hawaiian shirts and Buddhism and meditation and such so I think I need to add that final piece of the puzzle to go full Cheech and Chong. Okay - I am going to break now and get ready for the Neurologist and see how good of a salesman I can be. 420 for now!

Back from the doctor and I misplayed the Focker card. I think I should have come out and directly asked about medical marijuana rather than trying to make it be his idea. I will not let that mistake happen again. I added that photo over there to the left. I always liked the Cheech and Chong movies even though I wasn't a stoner. When I worked as a manager at Zanies Comedy Club I met Tommy Chong and he was kind of a pompous d-bag. I always liked Cheech Marin much more anyway. Chong did sign a photo for me though. I have another appointment with my other neurologist next week and maybe I will be more direct with him. You always thought I was kidding when I said I had a team of doctors. In a bit I am taking Cha Cha to her doctor's appointment. That makes me think that I need to get over and see my mom again. My dad says she just sleeps most of the time when he is there. 

Vacation made me let down my eating guard bigly; I need to lose a few of the LB's that I brought back as vacation souvenirs. 

I am watching CNN while typing and continue to wonder why I watch this channel so much. They really talk about one thing for about seven hours, or so, at a time. I wrote television and newspaper news stories for many years so I appreciate the work that these people do but I also know what over-saturation is. These stories seem to lose their impact if you just hear the same things over and over and over and over infinitude. My favorite part of CNN is listening to Darth Vader (James Earl Jones) say "this is CNN."

James Earl Vader

I need to wrapping this up so I can start some laundry before getting Cha Cha to her doctor's appointment. I will try to write again tomorrow but I never know what a day might bring so I would put the odds at 67:33 but I definitely would bet the over if that is an option. Thank you so much for humoring me and, hopefully visa versa. I will try to blog again tomorrow since I already mowed the lawn yesterday. Have a great night and be who you want to be until I blog again. TTTT?...MITM (out) TA!

Blogged at the Stake!

Tomorrow morning Jill and I head to Boston - the Massachusetts one. I have been to many,many states in the union but I have never been to Massachusetts as of yet. We are renting a car and driving so we can see the nation and not put the miles on any of our vehicles. Happily, we have a staff of people staying at our home and we have neighbors who will respond to any wrong-doings. Of course, we have Jeff who would just as soon rip-out you jugular as look at you if you are a wrong-doer. We are open to ideas of things to see in Boston and Salem. We may also stop in New York but I have been there though Cha Cha has not. I wonder if I will get burned at the stake?

Today I went to see my mom in the home she has been residing in for a little over a month. I was delighted to find that she is doing pretty well (comparatively). She is in a different wing of the home (the area for people who have more challenging mental issues). The reason that she was moved to this wing is because she was refusing to participate in the therapy that she is supposed to be doing. The home cannot risk losing their accreditation or certification or whatever they could lose is people are not doing the therapy. As you know, if you are a regular blog reader, Jill was in the hospital for several days so I could not get to go to see my mom (that's what husbands/wives are for - dealing with their mates' and childrens' problems so my dad was with his wife and I was with my wife).  Anyway, since we will be gone on Mother's Day I took her the gift that we got her. We ordered her a robotic therapy cat and I took it to her when I visited today. I was unsure exactly how she would respond to it but she LOVED it. It purrs and moves it's ears and meows and lifts it's paws and lies back once in awhile. She knew it was not real (one of my concerns before I got there) and she showed it off to everyone. On the way there I stopped and bought it a collar so I could write her name on it in case someone tried to take it of she left it lying around. I also put her name and my parents' home phone number on a piece of paper and put it in the compartment in the cat where the on-off switch resides. One of the many nursing homes that we visited, before my dad decided on this place, had one of these cats and, obviously, that stick with me. This is the only cat that she has ever had that I am not allergic to and she has had A LOT of cats in my life. I was saddened to see that she still has that terrible bruise on her face (eye/forehead). It is not as dark purple as it was but she has never been a very quick healer due, I believe, to her anemia.

While we were sitting in one of the lounges at the home a woman came in and began speaking to us. She, apparently, is a friend of my mom's there (another resident though she seems pretty well). She was very nice and my dad mentioned to her how I was there to visit my mom one week early for Mother's Day because I was going to Boston. She said that I am going to Boston tomorrow and her eyes lit-up. She said that her daughter lives a few hours from Boston and she asked if I would call her daughter when I got there to tell her that she was very excited to receive the flowers that they sent her for Mother's Day. I said, "why don;t you just use my cell phone and call her right now?" She said something about not having the phone number because back in her room. I told her that I was not going to leave for awhile and if she wanted to go get the number she was more than welcome to use my phone. So, she left and, after awhile, she came back with the number. I dialed the number for her and she spoke with her daughter and some of her grandchildren... I heard her crying happy tears as different people traded the phone somewhere in Massachusetts. I really do like making people happy. Shiny happy people make the world a better place for all of us. I, of course, had teary eyes as I am a big-hearted puss unless there is wrong doing. Then, I am a raging lunatic

I forgot an ambush of tigers and a tower of giraffes

On the way home from the home I passed a HUGE line of motorcycles going the other way. There were at least 200 motorcycles motoring the opposite direction of me. Why do motorcyclists feel like the have to travel in bunches like that? Maybe they were raising money for some cause or maybe it was just a nice day and they all just happened to run into one another and just start a gang or a gaggle or a flock or a group or business or an army... I added "business" because a business of ferrets is my favorite group of animals that there is. I also do like: a barrel of monkeys, a flamboyance of flamingos, a crash of rhinoceroses, a mob of kangaroos, an unkindness of ravens, a prickle of porcupines, a coalition of cheetahs. a smack of jellyfish, an obstinacy of buffaloes. a prickle of porcupines, a wisdom of wombats, a conspiracy of lemurs... Yes, I was bored many times as a newspaper writer and an editor and spent a lot of time trying find information to spice stories-up. I wish we had the internet back when I was in the news game.

I am pretty tired right now because I got out of bed at 03:00 and it is 16:00 now. I still need to pack and whatnot. Thanks for stopping by. I am not sure if I will blog while on our trip but, since I usually sleep rather poorly on vacations, I may find myself with the computer on my lap. Oh, that laptop word makes sense all of a sudden. Thanks for stopping by and I will blog ya when I blog ya! TTT?...MITM (out) BYE!

I Would Not Buy that for a Dollar!

I just used that photo to make me feel better about our fence

I cannot believe it is 13:38 already. I have accomplished quite a bit but, again, due to the weather I cannot finish fixing the fence. I will be out of town all next week so it HAS TO get done this week. Today is my last weekend day and, looking at the weather forecast for the next week, tomorrow appears to be the only day that it is not supposed to rain this week. Yes, I understand what the word "forecast" means and I do know that the weather people are the only people who can be wrong more times than not and still have jobs. Well, I suppose our current President could be lumped into that "wrong more times than not" category and still having a job too (for now anyway). The ground outside here is just way too wet for me to get those two partial poles out of the ground. Mud is so much harder to dig into than dirt (even if it is mostly clay thanks to the builders who keep the black dirt to sell-off and just leave we homeowners 6" or so of black dirt. Well, there goes the sump-pump keeping our basement dry - right on cue. I my have to call-off from work tomorrow to get the fence done. I still have five days (one week and one day given my four-day-a-week schedule) on top of the four that I am using for the East Coast.

This morning I went grocery shopping, got fuel for he JEEP and then, when I got home, Jeff and I took a walk. I have no idea how a dog can have enough urine in their system to be able to have liquid to water every fire hydrant and many of the trees throughout the hood. He loves to take walks even in the chilly, windy, wet weather. When we got almost home he decided that he had to drop a deuce. Yes, we have a little container as part of the lease that dispenses little blue bags for just such an occasion. So, after his royal pooper-scooper (me) got done cleaning his mess, we came back home and I think he is taking a nap now. It was pretty windy so it probably was tougher on him than usual. Now he is taking a nap. I failed to mention that his poop was a double-bagger and I ended-up getting some on my hands. I wiped some of it on the grass but had to do a major hand-washing after we got inside. While we were on our walk we also managed to find some wild tulips.

Can I get a Rhino, Giraffe, Panda, Sea Turtle, Elephant, Tiger, foot-long please?

Jimmy John's has sub sandwiches for $1 from 14:00 - 20:00 today. I will not go there for that because Jimmy (James) John Liautaud is a butt hole and does not deserve even one of my George W.'s (not Bush but the original George W.) I might consider it if I could get a salad - no I wouldn't. I didn't realize he was from Arlington Heights, IL and went to school in Elgin, Illinois until right now. The blog research teaches me so many things. He was born in 1964 and went to Eastern Illinois University so I bet some of my friends even knew him. The reason I call him a butt hole is because he hunts endangered species in Africa and the like. I have managed to enrage myself. I would just as soon eat a Soylent Green sandwich than something made by this jackass (okay, maybe not). If tulips were endangered I would not have "found" them on our walk. Remember, I am a guy who feeds birds and squirrels and rabbits and whatever/whomever wants to come about every single day of my life so killing animals, simply for sport, is abominable to me. If you;re so into sport - how about getting in the squared-circle with Iron Mike Tyson for a few rounds and see how tough you are little Jimmy? ERRRRRRRRRR...

I have to think happy thoughts. How about #45 wanting to shut-down the government even though Congress reached a spending deal that would avoid shutting down the government? Does 45 need a vacation from all of the golf he has been playing for the past 100 days or so? It certainly wasn't the The White House Correspondents' Dinner that wore him out since he is the first President to miss it since Ronald Reagan who had a great excuse - getting shot by John Hinkley Jr.. What a coward! Did he get worn-out from spending too much time bashing the media? Maybe the President of The Philippines wants to take 45 hunting for Filipinos. How come Filipinos starts with an F rather than them being called Philipinos? I have always thought myself not very political even though I was in Student Council in junior high and high school but I am born-again political. I was always politically incorrect if that counts as being political.

I have to figure out what to make for dinner. I am leaning toward salad given that previous paragraph. I mostly eat salads anyway these days. I bought some spinach dip and cole slaw when I was at the store earlier. I also got some Cracked-Pepper & Olive Oil Triscuits. I wonder if that would satisfy the masses? I have a feeling Fabio will be going to Jimmy John's. Peanut butter and banana sandwiches sound good. Grilled cheese on fancy bread? I may have to go back to the store and get some fancy cheeses and nice breads because that sounds good right about now. Tomato soup to go with the sandwiched on a chilly day? I wish I would have thought of those things while I was at the store but, we live really close to a very good store that has all kinds of cheeses.

I have to get this posted now because it is getting close to 16:00 and if I convince even one dollar from going into the pocket of Jim Liautaud I feel like I have made a difference. I know I won't be going. Thanks a lot for coming by and letting me become political (at least for now) again. Maybe I should consider trying local politics. Maybe I will blog tomorrow either after work or on my break from fixing the fence. TTT?...MITM (out) TA!

Hocus Pocus Bloganocus!

Near that last Model-T across the street is where we released our balloons

Jill and I had a really good 29th anniversary yesterday. Thank you for all of the well-wishes. We did some shopping and then we went to The Hotel Baker in St. Charles where we had our wedding reception way back in 1988. I remember one of my high school proms was at The Baker when it was a hotel and then we had our wedding reception there when it was a retirement home and then we went there yesterday and it is a hotel again. We went inside with the helium balloons that we had purchased while we were shopping (you can read yesterday's blog if that has no significance and you need a point of reference) and they would not even let us go outside into the garden to release the balloons. What kind of hotel doesn't appreciate romance? So, we walked around to the back (you know me and my covert ops) to try to gain access to the garden but it was all fenced-in and locked. A lady was sitting on a stoop back in the alley and we told her our woes and she was flabbergasted as we were. So, we went back to the bridge over the Fox River and let the balloons go on the Tallahatchie Bridge. Maybe that was Billie Joe McCallister now that I think of it. The balloons flew westward and were out of sight in the windy overcast sky in moments. Jill had put little notes on the strings with something or other about contacting me on my email address. I am not sure exactly what she wrote on the notes but I hope it said something about how "The Baker Hotel doesn't believe in love and romance" or something along those lines. Maybe she said I would write about them in the blog if they responded?? She said she was also going to write the hotel an email about how we felt bamboozled (my word not hers) and that our daughter was going to plan to have her wedding there and now we would recommend not doing that. We are not really sure if out daughter and Andy will ever get married but it sounds good.

Where was Christopher Robin when I was working on the fence?

This morning I started to work on the fence repair. There are two posts that are leaning and I was unsure if the concrete beneath the ground had deteriorated or the posts had rotted... So, I began digging up one of the posts and, after I got about a foot down or so the 4 x 4 post snapped. The wood had just rotted over the last twelve years from when I installed the fence. So, I removed the other post (also in the same condition) and began digging. I got a lot of crumbling concrete removed and pieces of rotted wood and, of course, the sky opened-up and the rain, rain rain came down down down and washed away my chances of finishing the fence repair today. I covered the hole that I had made to try to keep most of the water from getting into the crevice so it would be easier when I can resume my mission. So, I came into the house and removed my very muddy: pants, jacket, shoes, socks and gloves and put on something clean and headed over to Lowe's on got  a couple of new 4 x 4's and a few bags of Quikrete. They are in the garage now waiting for, hopefully. their launch tomorrow (weather permitting). What happened to the May flowers? We seem to still be dealing with the April showers!

What a charming man!

It is very disturbing to me that my adopted country's (U.S. and A.) leaders are going to meet with The Philippines President, Rodrigo Duterte, at The White House. This is a person that brags about  personally shooting people and has overseen the killing of thousands of people in his country. He even sets people up if he doesn't like them so he can kill them or have them killed without public outcry. Though, if they cried-out, they would be killed too so they probably wouldn't cry-out. By meeting with this maniac our country is, in a way, condoning this kind of abhorrent behavior. Are our human rights headed this was too if our President condones and, in a sense, applauds this kind of abominable behavior? I am not much of a political person, by nature, but I have strong beliefs about how people should be treated in general. This kind of stuff is what we hear about in The Holy Bible. Maybe The Holy Bible was just written to scare people into behaving themselves with the threat of eternal damnation. What am I saying? That's precisely why those stories were written. Matt and Mark and Luke and John... got together and wanted to make the world a better place. Most of us, however, don't need to be threatened with eternal damnation with fire and brimstone to behave ourselves. I am not a religious person at all yet I believe in that people should treat others as they would wish to be treated. Actually, people should be treated the way they wish to be treated; others may not want to be treated the same way that I wish to be treated. Now I feel like I am being preachy. Thanks a lot Duterte! This is precisely why I do not wish to be a political person. Just when I think I'm out they pull me back in; I am so weak-minded.

This photo really makes me want to be a Warlock (Uncle Arthur or Maurice maybe?)

I spoke to my dad a little while ago and it sounds like my mom isn't doing very well again. They moved her to a different wing of the home she is in because she refuses to do any of her therapy. I am worried that things are going to turn even worse and she is going to be kicked-out. If I can get things caught-up here I will probably go see her again next week though Cha Cha and I are headed to Martha's Vineyard and Cape Cod in a few weeks. We are driving out and we are very excited. Cha Cha is especially excited to visit Salem. Massachusetts. I am worried that she will have be put on trial as a warlock. How come you never hear about warlocks being persecuted there? I wonder if there were any? I am going to find the answer to that question. I could not wait and took a pause to see this article (just click if interested) about modern-day witches and warlocks in Salem. Now I really cannot wait to get to Salem.

Okay, I am going to end now. As always, I do appreciate you humoring me by stopping-in here. I hope you have a great night and, if I am unable to work on the fence tomorrow or, if I get done and still have time, I will blog again tomorrow. TTTT...MITM (out) TA!