Wilkommen!

PETCO YES PETSMART NO

It is almost 15:00 and I thought I had better blog before I get stuck in the MIDDLE of something else. Most of the morning was spent shopping for groceries and finding dog food recommended my Jeff's veterinarian. There are so many unhealthy additives in many pet foods; same as in human foods I suppose but animals will eat just about anything. So. I went to PetSmart and they had nothing that was on the list of safe foods for dogs. I don't know PetSmart why I even tried there because they (the employees at this particular location in my town) don't really seem to care. So, I went to Petco and had an entirely different experience there. Firstly, I found a few of the things on the list immediately and then I was walking around with my list of healthy dog foods looking for treats... and a man who worked there (Joe) saw me and approached me. He gave me a lot of helpful tips about introducing new food to pets... He then went up to the front pf the store and brought me back a book of coupons that saved me five bucks for what I was going to buy either way. I thanked him and went to the front to pay. Of course, I mentioned my experience and Joe's help to the cashier who turned out to be the manager of the store. She asked that if I get a call from their company could I please pass that on to them. Obviously, I said "of course." If I do not hear from their corporate office I will contact them about my great experience and my interactions with Joe. One nice interaction with anyone in life can make all of the difference.

I will be back in a few minutes because I want to make the guacamole for dinner. I like it when it's fresh and chilled. I don't mind room-temperature guac either but chilled is my preference. I will be back in seven or eight minutes which will seem like a nanosecond to you. It's is chillin' now. I love using my avocado masher and I don't get to use it enough. An avocado masher is like a miniature potato masher. We are having chicken tamales for dinner and no Mexican main-dish can go without cilantro and guacamole as far as I am concerned. I wonder if I should do some rice too?

I am, once again, seriously thinking about leaving Facebook. There are so many reasons to stay and there are so many reasons to leave. I will have to weigh the reasons for both and make that decision. How would my life be better and how would my life be worse? I would even consider becoming Amish but I am not religious at all and I think that is probably one of their big things. When I was young we would visit the Amana Colonies in Iowa often and it seemed pretty cool as a child. I do speak German and I bet I would get a nice tan. Maybe my listening to the 2Cellos Pandora station all the time lately has something to do with it too. Splenda used to play cello when she was in MIDDLE school. Cha Cha loves that she (Cha Cha herself, not Splenda) is not on Facebook. I would still be on Twitter and I would blog. Maybe then Cha Cha and I would start the podcast again though there would be fewer ways to promote it with neither of us on Facebook. People would just have to click on the free subscription thingy.

I have to finish this bottle of Moscato so I can open my Riesling. I have become kind of a wino, minus the paper bag, on my "weekends." Honestly, I just have a glass or two. Last night, however, was margarita night. I still have one day off of work before having to return on Sunday but I don't drink any alcohol on the nights before work.

It is only five more days until Fabio and I go to the St.Louis Cardinals' game and I have still not received tickets in the mail. I have been corresponding with Brian who has been investigating since May 24th when I first was on hold for over an hour with the ticket office playing the recording of "we'll be with you..." If I don't get them on Monday I will send him another message and see if I should get them at "will call." These were not inexpensive tickets. Maybe we will get to sit in the dugout. Fabio could be the bat boy.

I am going to end now because I am tired and to start on the tamales. Thank you for stopping. I will probably blog tomorrow. I still have to mow the back yard so I hope it does not rain again tonight. TTTT...MITM (out) TA!

It;t Not Smarter - Just Different

I came home from work yesterday to find a tag on our front door notifying us that Commonwealth Edison (our electricity provider) had installed our new Smart Meter. If the meter is so damn smart why did I have to reset all of the clocks in the house (except for the battery powered ones)? Perhaps that is why it is not a genius meter even though the company is named after Thomas Edison who was, clearly, a genius. There are a lot of people who have problems with the change to these meters and there were people that thought the Wright brothers were out of their minds when they said people would be able to fly. I don't know from sheisse and Shinola about the difference between the two meters other than the previous one was mechanical dials and the new one is digital and I would be happy enough to go back to candle light but I do love my air conditioning in the warmer months and my furnace in the colder months.

As long as I am working on smart things I am happy to hear that we are, reportedly, are sending a couple of our smartest Americans to the meeting with North Korea's Kim Jong Un. I think Donald Trump and Dennis Rodman are the greatest brains that do not fully function that we could find. maybe Rosanne Barr should go too. Our country must be a joke to the rest of the world. Actually, most of the rest of the world are worried about the global warming that may be causing earthquakes and flooding and mudslides and volcanic eruption. Maybe the world itself is angry and that is what is causing this catastrophic suicide?

This has wacky sitcom written all over it!

Intelligent athletes, opposite Rodman because he is a former athlete, like the players of the Philadelphia Eagles, Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors are acting as we American citizens that are given the rights to do these things by the efforts and strife of our founding fathers and mothers. I always stand and place my right hand on my heart when the song is played but I do not take issue with people who sit or who do not put their hands over their chests. We don't have to stand, we don't have to go visit a President who does not respect his people or their rights. It's even more fun to watch the President lie and say that these people were "dis-invited" to the White House by the Crybaby in Chief. Also, the United States Constitution gives us the rights to stand up for what we believe in and kneel to what we do not believe in and stay in the locker room while this song is played. I am not going to decide what is right for you and I will not judge you for exercising those rights that many have died for us to receive these rights. I look at what goes on in the world and I am grateful for what so many people have fought and died for so that we could be able to be individuals with different thoughts and beliefs. I relish that people are different than I am; I would hate if everyone was just like me because I am not that wonderful most of the time.

I am officially on my four-day weekend now but I HAVE TO go into work for four hours on Thursday. All of the trainers, as I am stupid enough to be a member, have to go in for something or other. I know it is in the training room and I suppose we are trying to make sure everyone is doing things the same on each shift... It is all the trainers from all of the shifts and maybe from all of the departments. Wow, I guess that is tomorrow.

I could mow the lawn today but I don't really feel like doing it. I could do it tomorrow morning before the meeting or I could do it Friday or even Saturday. So many major decisions in life. Maybe I will do the front today and do the back tomorrow morning. ALWAYS do the front first so your yard looks well from the street - it's all about curb-appeal. That reminds me, when I came home from work yesterday I saw a big sign at the front of the subdivision that a builder (D.R. Horton) is building more single-family homes in the subdivision. That's going to stink for the many people who are trying to sell their homes in the subdivision. Who wants to buy someone's used house when you can get a brand-new one? I don't need somebody else's hand-me-downs. A HUGE thunder clap sounding like a sonic boom just spread across the sky. I had better end and get the front yard mowed.

I just learned that Donald Jackass Trump is playing golf today for the 115th time since becoming President. The J does stand for Jackass, right? If not, I apologize. Or it may stand for Joker or Jerk or Jelly Belly or Jaundice or Juvenile... According to Politifact, Drumpf had played 56 rounds of golf (as of  May 18th) and, on the same date during President Obama's administration, President Obama had played only 37 rounds of golf. But Trump, tweeting about Obama's golf, made some cockamamie remarks how he would never play as much golf... Do you think Trump lies about things?

Okay, enough for me today -  I will probably get dressed and mow the lawn. See how long it takes for me to change my mind? Have a great day. I will probably write tomorrow morning before the training. I will get to it eventually. There is another clap of thunder. TTTT unless I get struck down my lightning (and another clap)...MITM (out) TA!

And There's Marla Hooch

Players, Bat girls and Marla Hooch

I am sorry that I am just now writing; it's been kind of a busy weekend (my weekend that is because yours probably has one more day to go). Lucky!

Yesterday my dad and I went up to Rockford with my dad for part of the 75th anniversary celebration for The Rockford Peaches' women's professional baseball team. If you're a friend of mine on Facebook you probably saw the photo of me and actress Megan Cavanagh. She played Marla Hooch in the movie about The Peaches, A League of Their Own. She could not have been any nicer. I asked if she could do the Marla Hooch face for the photo. She said, "sure, as long as you do it (the face and stance) with me." So we took the photo after she coached me a little and I did not do the look any justice. That is why she is an actor and I am not. We also met some of the original players and a few bat girls. One of them said she remembered my mom and they had even been talking about her earlier. I am not sure if she was being honest or just trying to make me feel good; either way it was nice to hear. It was a good day.

On the way back from Rockford we stopped by the house that I lived in from about ten months old until I was out of fourth grade. I even remembered the address; 3123 Greendale Drive. We even drove by the elementary school (Swan Hillman Elementary School) that Marc and I walked to every school day. We also drove by the sewer grate that I convince Marc to throw his clothes down. My butt ached a lot for a long time from the belt I took across the backside for that one. I should have been a lawyer for the argument I must have mad to have him take his clothes off and put them down the sewer. What was wrong with me? It must have seemed like a good time at that moment.

Anyway, when I got hole and showed Jill the photos of my house of ill-rep-youth she noticed that it looks exactly the same as the house that my dad still lives in in Boulder Hill. Weird or by design?

Today Jill and I went to see Solo: A Star Wars Story. I have been a big fan of Star Wars since 1978 when Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope came to theaters. Yes, they did episode four first.This new movie (an off-shoot of the saga) was very good; who doesn't like Han Solo and Chewbacca? It was very entertaining. We went to our local theater that has those La-Z-Boy type of chairs so you have to fight to stay awake during the duller moments because you are for comfortable. One beef that I have about those chairs is that it makes it difficult to sip your beverage without spillage. My recommendation to you is to take a bendy straw with you (idea patent pending). Maybe someone in the theater business will read this and I will, in a very small way, enhance the movie-going experience for all of us lazy Americans who need to recline even in theaters.

I cannot get Smash Mouth out of my mind now

What else exciting happened to me this "weekend?" I got some new shoes for work yesterday - not exciting. Just having a four-day weekend every week is exciting enough I suppose.

I am happy that the temperature has come down some. It was getting unbearable with the heat and humidity. It felt like about 110 degrees with 99% humidity at work. Probably some penance to me for the sewer thing.   Oddly, just as I finished that sentence it is POURING outside.

It has come time for me to end this rambling. As always, I thank you for stopping by and trying to make sense of my meandering. I really do appreciate it. TTTWednesday (probably)...MITM (out) TA!