Blogging's What I Like to Do

Good day to you! I was going to blog yesterday but I was able to spend the day with Jill and I knew she would be working today and I would have to work another mandatory twelve-hour overtime day tomorrow so, I had better blog today. It's nice getting the paychecks for the weeks where I get an additional 12 hours of pay at time-and-a-half but it wipes me out. If they call mandatory again next week it will be for Sunday and that will sadden me because that's usually the only day Jill and I get to spend together. I can try to find someone to swap days with but that is usually close to impossible. Also, next week Fabio asked me if I want to go to the Chicago Bulls' game with him on Monday night. We got him the tickets for Christmas and I didn't imagine he would ask me to go with him. I am delighted that he did though. I think they are playing the Boston Celtics. And, the day after that, is the anniversary of my mom's birth.

I'll be right back the dryer is signalling that the load of clothes is ready to be folded.

That photo of  Doc up there made me remember something that Jill and I did a bit yesterday morning. We watched several episodes of Queer Eye on Netflix. I had never watched the show before but it drew me in. I remember that it used to be called Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and I see that they also help people who are not straight now. I imagine that is the reason for the new abbreviated name of the show. I have always had and still do have many gay friends but, for some reason, there always seemed to be something else to watch or something else to do. Anyway, after watching the shows, I decided to shave my mangy, gray beard off yesterday. I look about twenty years younger but I still didn't get carded at Red Lobster yesterday. Maybe that is because if I took twenty years off of my actual age I would still be old enough (with interest) to legally drink alcohol in our broken state of Illinois.

I just looked at the rosters for both the Bulls' and he Celtics' teams and I do not know one player on either team. Where are Michael Jordan and Larry Bird and Scottie Pippin? I don't really follow basketball anymore but I remember the days when players would remain with the same teams for decades. Now, I am sure, it is all about the big money that professional athletes can get with bonuses and endorsements if they play with certain teams and such. They pay NBA players as well as they do college players these days I bet.

I think I am going to reorganize my closet today. I really need to quit watching Queer Eye because it seems to be influencing me too much in the proper direction. I gave Fabio the dresser I used in my closet and now the closet just seems to be unorganized.

I watched Norm MacDonald's stand-up comedy show called Hitler's Dog, Gossip and Trickery on Netflix last night (I seemed to be spending a lot of time on Netflix doesn't it?). One of his jokes that struck me as particularly funny was when he talked about the word/abbreviation I.D. for the abbreviation identification. He questioned the basic concept of abbreviations by saying something like I stands for I and D stands for dentification and that doesn't really make sense. I do not believe dentification is even a word since he brings it up. I recommend the show and I know comedy from working at Zanies Comedy Nite Club for many years and this is funny but, as with much comedy, it is not for all ages. And one point I laughed so hard that tears came out of my eyes from laughing so hard when he started talking about the first space mission to the moon.

I think I may go over and get a haircut because I am not sure when I get my next day off of work. My best guess is that I will get a day off next Monday and Tuesday off? If that happens, other than for a few hours tonight, I will not see Jill until probably a few hours on Tuesday.

I should learn to write shorter blogs but as soon as I begin writing I am too lazy to stop. My laziness for blogging has ended and I will wrap this up. Have a great day and maybe I will be able to blog again sometime in March. I do appreciate your patience and loyalty. TTT?...MITM (out) TA!

Blogging In Style!

Jumpin' Jehoshaphat, I just now saw that it has been eight days since I wrote last. Please forgive me but, I don't write on a regular basis so you weren't surprised. I am at the end of my three-day weekend (which turned-out to be a two-day weekend by me working a 12-hour overtime shift yesterday). The twelve hours were not by choice but the extra pay will come in handy when payday arrives.

I want to thank all of you for your kind words and sentiments and visits over the past couple of weeks. I hope that I thanked all of you but, if I missed you, please forgive me my transgressions.

The supermarket and the post office and the city (to pay the water bill) saw my ugly mug today. That was all after I did the bills (the important ones, at least)

I am watching Going In Style on Netflix while I write. I had vowed not to watch this one because I so liked the original one (1979) with: George Burns, Art Carney and Lee Strasburg. I loved that movie and have seen it many times. I do also like the stars of this new one (Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine and Alan Arkin and Ann-Margret) so I decided to watch this one too. So, far it is really good also. I didn't even know Ann-Margret was in this one but that is an added bonus. I further did not know her name was not Ann Margaret (the usual spelling). And now I know that her last name is Olsson and she was born in Sweden. I am pretty sure I know how this is going to end but maybe I will be surprised? I feel about as old as these six fellas right about now. I am going to see if I can find the original to watch again after I am done watching this one. Hey, there Christopher Lloyd too (I hope that does not become a spoiler). I am happily amused (I suppose that is redundant since all amusement contains happiness) by their hold-up masks. disguises; I laughed out loud. Hey, Keenan Thompson and Matt Dillon are in this too. Enough about the movie. But, I just looked and the old one is on Amazon and we have that APP on our Roku!

While I was out running my errands I stopped and got the stuff to make manacotti (manacott or managott as our Italian friends might say). With just Jill and me here now we will both have enough for a day or two for work lunches after dinner tonight. I made it a bit more al dente than I have in the past; I love cooking and experimenting with food. I still have to bake it but I am never sure when she will be home from work. It is only 15:37 now so I am supposing a few more hours for her arrival at best.

What else is new? Hmmm - I cleaned the inside of the refrigerator. I took out all of the shelves and drawers and washed  them and organized everything that I did not put in the refuse. In looking for that photo over there ----> I learned that there are many kinds of manacotti dishes that can be made. I never thought about chicken parmesan manacotti or chicken cheese manacotti. Next time I make it I may make my own original rendition. Shrimp? Salmon? Lobster? Maybe I will call it Mattacotti.

I sure am making myself hungry writing about food so much.

Son-of a gun the 1979 version of Going in Style is on Amazon Prime Video just as advertised. Damn it, I can rent it for $2.00 or buy it for $9.99 so I guess it was deceptively advertised then, hmmm? I suppose not since it did not say that it was free. It reads that the rental stipulations are "Rentals include 30 days to start watching this video and 48 hours to finish once you start." I bet I can buy it online for less than that but I don't really need to see it that badly. I could probably find it online somewhere for free or in one of those huge bins at one of the big-box stores for $2.00.

I am obsessive so, at the very least, I got to see the preview for free and here it is for you to see for free too, thanks to YouTube by clicking those big red letters that your eyes just passed. I guess it is just a tease though since we cannot see the entire film. After seeing the clip I may even pay their extortion money. Be warned  -  after the one slip is done it will immediately go to another clip and you may get stuck there for longer than you wanted unless you watch the one click and leave as I was not smart enough to do.

I am becoming distracted with trying to find good channels to add to our Roku so I will end now. Thank you for stopping here for, probably longer that your thought because I because long-winded long-fingered. I am not sure if I will write tomorrow after work but there is always that possibility. Have a great night and sleep well. TTT???...MITM (out)!

UPS - Unreliable People Stink

Warning -NOT PROOFREADING TODAY

Jill and I were sitting around in our pajamas yesterday morning and we turned on Netflix. I clicked on a show neither of us had heard of called When We First Met. I stopped on it because Netflix was just turning itself off and on and I wanted to see if it had corrected itself. I assumed it was atmospheric. The show started out with two people meeting at a Halloween party and the main female character was wearing a Rockford Peaches uniform as her costume. She was wearing #8 who was Dottie Hinson (played by Gina Davis in the movie). Netflix was turning itself off and this is the first thing that I saw. It never blinked on-and-off again after that. Is that weird as Helser or what? They even went on a bit about the team and the movie A League of Their Own. It would have made an impression on me either way but, the day after my mom is buried? Double weird. I know it is probably merely coincidence and happenstance but I believe the cosmos may have been sending me a message. I don't know why I even picked that movie other than Netflix seemed to choose it for me. Perhaps the cosmos runs Netflix? We stopped watching it because the movie did not seem that good but I was, somehow, meant to be directed to that particular show. I guess it is like a Groundhog Day where they will meet each other throughout history. Maybe I will watch it after-all? I probably will because I like creepiness and if it is cosmos-related but maybe there is a higher creep-factor than I first thought.

Another year I couldn't get to Woodstock, IL  It's like history repeating itself

It is now Monday at 13:08. Thank you to Greg W. and Ma Meyer for the the cards sent to the house; they were greatly appreciated. I also appreciate every one (that is many, many of you) that sent your condolences in other ways - internet, calls, being at the services.... I appreciated every single one of them and every single one of you. "Remember, no man is a failure who has friends!"

I have today and tomorrow off from work (part of my ordinary weekend) and then back to the grind. It's going to be odd after being off for for seven days. So, I am doing the laundry now and I ran several errands around town yesterday and this morning. I think we all need some kind of distraction or we would just wallow in things that we ought not wallow in too long.

Wherever you read the words United Parcel Service or the acronym UPS please substitute the words/acronyms Federal Express or FedEx in their places. It will be a kind of word search game within a blog - that's how new things are invented. Some idiots who make mistakes and are too lazy to fix them like me. That's who they really (FedEx) were and I am too lazy and tired to swap those words and photos out.

Noah has a new television coming via UPS. It was supposed to be delivered here (because he lives in an apartment) Saturday and, when we got home from the funeral and such there was a note on the door about how they had missed us and they would deliver it on Tuesday (tomorrow) now. So, knowing that UPS only delivers in our town between Tuesday and Saturday each week, I took the dry cleaning to the dry cleaners, I went to the super market and I shipped our old router back to Xfininty. As I got home from the errands I saw a note on the front door. I immediately thought to myself, "self, this is Monday, right?" I went and got the note that read this was the second time they missed us. Does UPS stand of Unreliable Pieces of Ship? I called United Parcel Service and the person on the other side of the phone told me that it was odd because "they only deliver in your area between Tuesday and Saturday" to which I said. "that's why I am calling..." She assured me that it would be delivered tomorrow and I assured her that I will be here and I would have stayed here today had I known it was coming today. No big whoop but it should have just been easier if people would do what they say they would do. If I miss it again I will have to go to Rockford to pick it up there: that is the closest place. To muddle this even more - one of the places I stopped at while I was out was at the UPS Store on the other side of town to send back the old router. Curiouser and curiouser. My computer is advising me that "curiouser" is not an actual word but my computer is incorrect according to Lewis Carol and Merriam Webster.

I am going to end now and I will probably blog away some more of my life tomorrow. I cannot think of a better way to spend my time than to write to and think about you. Thank you, so very much, for everything that you do and everything that you are. I am pretty wiped-out and I may take a quick nap. I have been doing pretty well with fighting the flu with the flu shot and the HEP-B shot (that one is mainly because I am a first-responder at work). Maybe the double-up was like a booster? TTTT (probably) and thank you for all that you are. TA!

A Time for Every Purpose Under Bloggin'

It is 18:43 on Saturday night and my mom has been laid to rest and is on her way to wherever we go when we complete the tasks that we were put here to do. It had been a very emotional week or so. She had been suffering many obstacles off-and-on for most of her life. No matter where she is I will forever see her in flowers and rainbows and kittens and smiling children and a light Spring rain. Sons and their mothers have a special bond I have always felt. She will still be with us even though she is no longer a carbon-based life form. I am not completely sure how I am supposed to feel so I can feel however I choose to feel I suppose. I guess that is a bit hokey but, even though I have been around death off-and-on for as long as I remember, this is the closest to my heart so far. I imagine parents are supposed to die before their children die so, if that is the case, I will just accept that this is part of the ride. Just hang-on tight and enjoy the ride before it ends.

It was nice seeing family members that I have not seen for a long time. I hope that we will all stay close to one another on a more frequent basis. We all talked about getting together at Rock Cut State Park in Rockford when the weather turns nicer. As kids we spent a lot of time there fishing and canoeing and cooking-out and playing ball. I am not much of a fisherman anymore. I never really cared for it at all but my dad loved to fish so I tried it. I always felt bad for the bait (worms, minnows...) as well as the fish. I am really going to stay in touch with people and make this happen.

I have a photo of my mom and my Uncle Rick (her brother) on my Facebook page of her in her Rockford Peaches' uniform and he in his Chicago Cubs' uniform when they were younger. Mom's death announcement that we put in the Rockford Register Star newspaper (because my mom and dad were originally from Rockford) included a photo of her in her uniform. In the announcement we included the fact that she had been a bat girl for The Peaches back in the day (1951). A man from the Friends of Beyer Stadium (Home of the Rockford Peaches) came to the visitation and told me about a whole big event they are having in Rockford from May 30th to June 3rd for the Rockford Peaches' 75th anniversary. I did not know that they even still played. I am going to make it to some of the events - I may have to use some more vacation days? He also talked about a walk of fame where people associated with the Peaches would be honored. I am not quite sure, at this point, whether it is something that we would pay for or donations (including ours) would pay for? It would be a really cool tribute to my mother and I am certainly going to look into it. Maybe we could start one of those GoFundMe campaigns? I keep creating more work for myself. I just checked on that and people even have GoFundMe accounts for funeral expenses. That makes me sad.

Jill and I have decided that we are going to make all of our death requests (all of the funeral arrangements) known, in writing, so our children don't have to make all of the decisions about our wishes after we are gone. Nobody would be able to second-guess or question any of the decisions. If someone thought something was wrong all the kids would have to say is, "those were their wishes." That is probably one of the biggest lessons I learned over this ordeal. It is difficult enough to lose a loved-one and then to get pressured into getting a better coffin and a fancier headstone or whatever. I want my heirs... to have the benefit of whatever I have left; I do not want it to go to a fancy casket that I will never even need. Put me in a refrigerator box for all I care. I have often thought about cremation and scattering my ashes at Busch Stadium or back in Heidelberg, Germany. Maybe roll me up in some rolling papers and smoke me. What in the hell do I care. I just want them to have less to worry about. I am going to quit writing for tonight and pick-up again in the morning (hopefully). Sleep tight.

Do these ashes make me look fat?

It is Sunday morning and I am feeling blue. I did not sleep very well for no particular reason. I suppose it was what has happened over the past few weeks but I think it may also be because I am watching the news right now. It may also have something to do with the person who lacks character who lies who cheats who bullies... representing us in the world. I usually try to avoid discussing politics but I now feel that I have a responsibility to my children and the people without voices and the future of our planet to diplomatically and sensibly deal with this topic if it comes up. I will try very hard not to be confrontational as this is, most often, counter productive. If, however, the topic comes up I will no longer be silent. That will be difficult around my father but I will remain steadfast in my resolve.

I am not sure if I will watch any of the Olympics. I do like the hockey. Do NHL players still get to participate in the games if they wish? I see both sides of that argument: other countries have always used professionalish athletes but we could not for a long time. Do I want to see Canada play the U S and A playing for the gold medals every four years?

Bobsled is pretty fun ever since the movie Cool Runnings. Curling is interesting for some reason. Alright, I may watch some of the Winter Olympics now that I blog about it.

These two-day blogs tend to get a little lengthy, don't they? Is "a little lengthy" an oxymoron? Ha, that makes me think that John Candy was in the movie Cool Runnings and, in the movies Stripes. John Candy's name was Dewey Oxenburger and they called him Ox and in oxymoron. Now I am missing John Candy too.

I am going to end now and maybe blog again tomorrow. I feel that I have been gone from work so long that it is going to be weird going back on Wednesday.

Thank you so much for stopping by. Thank you, also, for all of the nice Facebook messages after my mom's passing' they were very appreciated. Oh yeah, if I have been playing Words With Friends with you do not be offended that I deleted the APP. I may return one day but I am gone for now. TTTT...MITM (out)!

Bury My Heart...

Before they brought me here from Germany (still buta Kraut then) 

I did not think I would feel like blogging today but I feel that blogging helps me deal with things, sometimes, so I am blogging. I would normally be at work right now but I am taking a vacation day today and, for the rest of the four days that are normally my work days, I have grievance days because of the passing of my mother. My mom was taken to a hospital near the place where she was convalescing after her heart had stopped for 15 minutes. I had visited her in the various nursing homes she was sent to over the many months. Fortunately, her immediate family was able to get to the hospital once my dad called and said the doctors had told him that she that she would die any minute. She managed to hang-on for more than a day so: I, Jill (my wife), Chloe (her only granddaughter) and Noah (her only grandson) could say goodbye. There were a lot of tears as she managed to hang-on for more than a day. Some of us were able to be with her until the end though, sadly, some had to leave for life's obligations. The doctors told us that hearing was one of the last things that go when someone is dying like this. I am not sure if that is true or not but it did give us some closure as we could tell her how we loved her so. We talked about all of the great memories and I think these things helped all of us.The saddest part of the ordeal was her, seemingly, constantly gasping for breath even though she was hooked-up to oxygen. Her face was sunken so she looked like a breathing skeleton; I will never get that imagine to leave my mind. Her eye sockets were sunken, she did not have her false teeth in  and her cheeks were gaunt... I suppose that imagine will leave my mind as I think of her in her vibrant times.

My dad and I are going back up to Rockford tomorrow to help finalize some of the details for the funeral and visitation Friday and Saturday. We had not been able to meet with the man presiding over the service but can tomorrow. We are also going to take clothes for her to be dressed in and such. I have also decided to speak at the funeral though I may get broken-up from time to time. I am hoping that all of those college courses and working in radio and television will help me to muddle through.

I have been watching Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee on HBO GO off-and-on all morning. Of course, I cannot help but think about the time when my parents, I and my brother Marc went to The Black Hills in South Dakota on one of our many family vacations.We had a lot of great vacations when we were kids. We always drove so we had the opportunity to, literally, see the United States from the window. I was going to say that I did not fly in an airplane until I started flying for work or when Jill and I got married but, though I do not remember this trip, I first flew home from Germany (where I was born) when I was eight-months old. Death, for me, generally causes me to forget the hard times and remember mostly the good. My mom, just like me and everyone who has ever lived, did things that I consider things that one would not do unless in a moment of passion but those things are forgotten quickly.

My dad just called to ask for my advise on mom's clothes and jewelry and such for the funeral. Even though my mom has been in and out of nursing homes and convalescent homes and hospitals and so-forth over the past many months (maybe years) I can tell that he is very lonely now. It's almost as if his main purpose, looking after and taking care of mom, is gone and he is lost. I comforted him as best I could and we talked about clothes and jewelry and stuff to take to the nursing home tomorrow morning. I told him to take a few different things and we could decide with the funeral director's assistance. He has a green outfit picked out and the casket we picked for her is green and, being a very proud Irish person, she would have loved to be buried in green, They also said we could put anything we wanted into the casket with her so he asked if he could put the battery-operated cat (companion cat) in the coffin with her. Of course, I said yes. We both agreed that taking the batteries out of the cat was a good idea because, can you imagine the cat moving while people were walking by my mom? Sounds like a funeral produced by Stephen King. The cat looks and acts very real.

I am considering getting a hotel room in Rockford for Friday night since we would be in town Friday night for the visitation and back there again early Saturday for the funeral itself. With the weather possibly being typical winter-like it kinda makes sense. We're not that far - we can just drive I suppose.

Thanks a lot for letting me drone-on. I feel a bit better from getting some things off my mind. I hope everything is well where you are and I will try to blog again when things are a bit less hectic. I don't have to be back to work for a week from today so I am sure I can write something between now and then. I hope you and yours are safe. TTT?...MITM (out).