Maybe Santa Claus Spreads Illnesses?

Santa even looks like him doesn't he?

I am doing a lot of reading lately for many reasons. I am trying to keep my brain active despite what its plans are. We are at war and he doesn't know who he's messing with. I am not sure if that was me typing for me or me typing for him but he doesn't know who he's messing with. Anyway, I was reading about Wenceslaus I, who was the duke of Bohemia. He was assassinated in 935 in a plot that was said to have been planned by his brother Boleslav the Cruel, Why would they suspect someone named Boleslav the Cruel. He sounds like a nice guy if you ask me. Because of this, however, Wenceslaus was made the patron saint of the Czech state, posthumously made a king and had a Christmas song written about him. He was born in Prague. Some say that Santa Claus was based on King Wenceslaus (his name almost ends in Claus I see now that I type them together and Santa means Saint is Latin). I say Wenceslaus is Santa Claus - enough blogged about that! Case closed.

Yesterday I went to see one of my neurologists. Right now, until next week, he is my only neurologist at which time I will have two. I like the current guy but I have been advised by several people, including my primary physician, to get a second opinion. I am fairly certain my current guy is correct on most things considering my passing-out, my "spells" I call them, and my forgetting so many things. I am amazed by what I do remember and I am saddened by the things that I cannot remember. Anyway, I am on two new medicines. One is an anti-depressant and one is to help me sleep through the night. He also mentioned something about me not being able to work nights anymore. I have been wanting that to happen for over three years but I did not want it bad enough to get it this way. I do not see how he can make that happen but, godspeed Dr.Ta, godspeed. He was pretty emphatic that I cannot work nights though. We will see what the other neurologist says.

I don't believe DNA changing has anything to do with it

I just got done mowing the lawn. What a beautiful day it is outside right now. I wish the farmer's markets had started in town. I guess it wouldn't MATTer because they are on Thursdays in my town. I think, when they start, Jeff and I may go down there every now and then. He still gets a bit excited around a lot of people though so I will have to think really hard about that. He is just a very sociable.

The geniuses in the world just figured out why we get sicker in the cold month than we do in the warmer months and I think they are wrong. They say that our DNA changes in the winter which change our immune systems which activates our inflammation-associated genes. You don't think that, with our houses and offices and vehicles sealed-up make it so we cannot escape the germs of others and we just pass the illnesses around all winter long? Stupid geniuses!

Like colds and illnesses I think less people read blogs too so I think blog readership is down. I am okay with that. I just write to write and, more recently, so I can reference it when I forget things (often). After my doctor appointment yesterday we went to Walgreen's to pick up my two prescriptions. They only had one of them (the one to let me sleep all night long) but they did not have the other one. They even called the neighboring town (Sycamore) and they did not have this one either. They said they would have it Thursday but, I just now got a call from their robot that it is ready. I cannot even remember what this medication is for. I should have blogged about it last night so I could remember I guess.

Remember that I wrote about there being a vote to decide which woman to put on the twenty dollar bill? Well, Harriet Tubman won the vote. I have always been a big fan of hers since seeing the movie about her; I think it was called A Woman Called Moses. I saw it on the 3:30 Movie back in the day; it was on right after school. Now the people making this push just have to convince the Department of the Treasury to get Andy Jackson off and Ms. Tubman on the bill. Why don't they just add a $25 or a $15 bill or something? We have a $2. I think a $15 or $25 would be more useful.

Okay, this is long enough. Thanks for letting me prattle. Have a great day. I hope your weather is as good as what we are having here right now. If it isn't, come on over. I am happy to share. TTTT...MITM out (TA).

Guten Tag Meine Freunde

Please do not use if your issue is medically related

I am so tired of my healthcare provider. I may change the clinic that I go to though that is usually a pain in the butt. Maybe I will just change my primary physician because Cha Cha uses a doctor that she says is very responsive. I go to Dryer Medical and they have this thing called MyChart whereby I can (supposedly) communicate with my doctor. It is kind of like a message board that you are supposed to be able to contact your physician through what is basically an email and they see it right away and can respond to you. A simple "thank you for the information" would suffice in most cases. I sent a message to my doctor yesterday 07:28 and I do not even know if he or his staff has seen the message yet. So, at the urging of Cha Cha, I called my neurologist yesterday (because he is not a member of the Dreyer team and does not use MyChart) and he wants to see me today at 14:00. I am guessing he will examine the inside of my head but he won't find anything. I have always liked that joke as I recall.
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I like that I can watch movies that I have, allegedly, already seen for the first time. I think I may have wrote that here before but I am not certain of that either. I woke up very early this morning, as usual, and turned on HBO and the film Divergent was on. I remember the title but don't remember any of the film. I will often ask Cha Cha later if I had seen that movie previously. My feeling is that I have not seen this one but much of it seems familiar. It seems like it is a movie made from one of those book series that the kids read when they were young and I may have gone with them to see the movie. The synopsis says the movie is from 2014 so that theory is unlikely unless this is like number three in the series or something.

I heard that Tom Brady received a four-game suspension in the DeflateGate Scandal. Some call it Ballghazi. I think it is funny how the Watergate Conspiracy is still influencing naming things today. I suppose that is what history is all about though isn't it? In case you are unfamiliar with that football deflating scandal it was during the NFL play-off game between the Colts and the Patriots. Without going into too much detail because, if you are a football fan, you are already familiar and, if you are not, you don't really care. It has to do with footballs being under-inflated so they could be gripped better for passing and catching too I suppose. It is easier to catch a pillow than a cinder block. Anyway, they have to have a fall-guy and the quarterback seems to be the best suspect and, it sounds like, it was at his request. Some teams had suspected it was going on in previous games. When Brady threw an interception one of the opposing players had, unknowingly at the time, a piece of evidence. There were thoughts that Brady would be suspended for an entire season so they are probably relieved it is only for four or the 13 regular season games. This will give back-up QB Jimmy Garoppolo a chance to show what he's got for four weeks or so. Or that new guy Jon Grady.

While I am writing this I now am watching a training film called Sling Blade. I am trying to get some pointers about not knowing much and getting along in society so I am prepared. There are some methods in this training video that I will probably not consider using. Nothing is 100% though I suppose.

I like this better

Jill has this great plan that, since I took German in high school and she took French that we should both brush-up and work on our foreign languages for our trip. I call "not fair" for a couple of reasons. Firstly, we are only going to be in France for two days and in Germany for like acht or neun. Secondly, I have a bonafide, clinically diagnosed, inability to remember things. I have been listening to German pop music in hopes that something will seep in and fill some of the cracks. Our music is much better. Maybe forcing the brain to learn things again that you knew from long ago will help to repair it. Maybe relearning old memories will be like Spackle. I now know that atemlos means breathless. I think I will try to re-learn German. Can you believe one could take six years of a language and only be able to babble like a two-year-old? It is the old "use it or lose it" adage. Wouldn't it be odd if I studied Deutsche rigorously and then I forgot how to spechen Englisch? How about she speaks and kisses French, I drive German and dress Italian and we both spend Arabian? If you just kiss regularly in France are you still French kissing?

Okay I have to get some things done around the house before I go see how looney tunes I am now. I don't really know what he will be able to tell by just talking to me. Are they going to order another EEG? I have been in a regular-person sleep cycle for over a month now though I am still not sleeping very much. I am. at least, sleeping during the hours humans have grown accustomed to sleeping. Being in Europe will mess that up won't it? Maybe we will just defect and stay over there. I guess that isn't really defecting though is it? Unless we go to a Communist country. Okay, I am just rambling as I sometimes have a habit of doing.

Have a great day. It is a chilly one outside again in these here MIDDLE parts. Danke Schon for coming by. TTTT...MITM (aus). Auf wiedersehen TA!

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

Yesterday was a nice Mother's Day. We met my mom and dad for brunch. After that Cha Cha and I went home to change clothes and worked in the front yard for a few hours. Believe it or not, that is what Cha Cha likes to do and I like her happy so I help when called-upon. We took a break and headed to the two large home / gardening stores in town. When we got back home we did a bit of work in the back yard first. Jill cleaned out the flower beds and planted some of the plants that we had bought earlier. I grabbed an ax and a saw and started chopping and/or sawing the seven or eight dead branches from the trees. I find it amazing that, once you cut this deadwood the tree grows better than before. Just like a team or a company "cutting the deadwood."

One Good Deed Deserves Me Being Attacked

When we got back we started working on the side of the house. After we finished there, on the way to the front, we started to get yelled-at by several robins. If you remember May 4th's blog (if not, you can just scroll down to that blog if you wish) I posted a photo of the baby robin in a nest in our fence. Yesterday we saw that baby robin and it now looks like a miniature robin with feathers and a pink breast. During all of the freaking-out from above the baby robin tumbled to the ground. Maybe their screaming was saying "get out of there because there is a big goof with yellow hands coming for you." I approached the robin and he/she hopped or bounced or whatever they do because it could not yet fly. I was worried that predators (maybe even Jeff) would either try to eat the baby or, in Jeff's case, want to play with it and kill it my accident. So, since I was wearing my yellow chore gloves, I moved closer and it bounced faster. The sky was immediately filled with six or seven birds swooping me and dive-bombing but I was undeterred in assisting the baby to get back to its home. I heard them but did not know they were swooping until afterward when Cha Cha told me. But, that would not have changed my resolve anyway. I placed the baby back in the nest and we moved to the front of the house. I am sure that they have forgotten all about the giant who saved their baby but I feel better. You hear people say that you should not touch wild animals because the parents will reject then after that but, that is a myth. Do we reject our children when they are touched by dogs or cats...? That baby bird is probably a legend today; there are tales being spun right now about the baby robin who survived an interaction with a human and survived. I know baby birds cannot usually fly when they first leave the nest and they just hop like this one was doing but, with the dog in the yard who likes to play with bouncing things, this was not the proper time to try this. I bet the baby will gone today flying and pooping on cars everywhere.

That reminded me of the time we were in Hawaii (the big island I believe) and we came over a hill and there was a baby turtle crossing the road ("to get to the other side" I presume). I stopped the car and got out and carried the turtle to the edge of the road (the direction he/she was going, of course). As soon as I got back in the car and started to drive away a car came over the hill right behind us. I never even thought about being rear-ended but, karma protected us by timing, and we were not harmed and neither was the turtle. I am sort of like an Avenger of animals. Maybe I am Captain Kritter or something. I wonder what kind of wildlife I will be called-upon to save in Europe. Probably dragons with all of those castles that they have. That one might be trickier.

I bet it has changed as much as I have in 52 years

Speaking of Europe, I talked to my dad at breakfast yesterday about their time in Germany while he was in the U.S. Army. I am not sure why but I am excited about seeing the Army base where I was born. I am going to contact them before we go and see if we can get onto the base. I am not very hopeful about that with all of the terrorism in the world. I am not sure why these sorts of things are important to us (me anyway). I bet, once that baby leaves that nest, he/she will never come back here so why do I want to go back? Although we do provide a pretty good smorgasbord for all of the wildlife here. Maybe we can eat in the mess hall there? Yum!

If rainy days and Mondays always got The Carpenters down how did they feel on days like today when it was a rainy Monday?

Today one of my fun chores around the house, thanks to the rain, is to clean the three bathrooms. I guess it is considered two-and-a-half baths according to whomever decides that sort of thing. The laundry is going and the washer just sounded for me to begin load number two so I will be right back. Okay, the second load is washing and load number one is drying. The folding will commence in approximately 45 minutes.

The folding is done and it is now 16;17. While I was cleaned the 2 1/2 bathrooms. They are pretty spick-and-span. I also called the neurologist and he wants to see me tomorrow afternoon. I am very tired now and, when I am done writing this, I think I will lie down for a bit. If I don't whatever is in charge of me will probably lay me down anyway and my way won't hurt as much. I am gonna stop now and clean-up my cleaning supplies and lie down. Thanks a lot for watching me clean the bathrooms and for being here; you give me something good to do to occupy my time/mind. The more thinks that require me to thing the better. Strike that, reverse it. I will blog tomorrow morning before I go see what new is wrong with me. TTTT...MITM (out) zzzzzzzzTA!

P.S. I didn't even attempt to proofread today.Double TA!

Steel Cut Blog

I like this game much more than blackjack

I am learning three-card poker so I can play it at the Aviaton Club de France in Paris. It is a pretty easy game in concept but, so is blackjack. I think there are lots of ways to bet both of these games; that is what I am trying to Mattster this game. It seems like three-card poker is to Paris what blackjack is to Las Vegas. I have played blackjack in both Las Vegas and Atlantic City (and a few casinos that are not those two cities) so I think I can handle Paris. I feel like I have got a pretty good handle on three-card poker; like blackjack you are best to just bet with the odds I have read that almost all of the staff in Paris casinos speak English as well as French. Gambling is not one of my biggest goals while in the The City of Light but it would be cool for just a bit. I have a poker chip collection and I would at least like to get a chip. Right now my favorite chip is from The Playboy Club Casino in Atlantic City from when I was 18. I wonder where you get those rectangle chips they use in Europe. Maybe those are only for tournaments and such? Maybe there is a Walmart in Paris where I could look? Perhaps those are just for larger denominations? I wish there were a way to just type words and there would magically be answers to things like that.

I will try not to talk so much about our trip before we go but, as you can tell, I am quite excited to create new memories that I can forget. It is nice to have something to look forward to before I cannot remember it. It is also nice to have something cheerful to focus on given the recent developments of yesterday. What will I have to focus on to get my mind off of things after August though it tends to do the un-focusing on its own. If I still cannot work I think I will do lots of volunteer work. I have to get a better bicycle or get that segway I have been considering if I want to do stuff at places across town. Most of the places I would volunteer (hospital, retirement homes...) are not very close. I have done that United Way Day of Caring in the past and that is coming up on June 18th. That may be a good place to start and get some ideas. There is also a new library being erected in our town and it is huge. I am very familiar with the dewey decimal system since I am old school. It figures we would finally get a new library when everything is online.

I started watching Game of Thrones on Netflix last night. I have always been a trend-setter four to five years after the trends start. Jill has been bugging me to watch it for a long time. I knew I would like it but, now that I have nothing but time, I started to watch. It sounds like keeping track of the characters is difficult for everything so I will feel like I do all the time now.

I am standing next to the stove in the kitchen with my computer on the kitchen counter. Does that turn my laptop into a counter top? I am making oatmeal for Cha Cha and I. Fabio already came down and made his own breakfast. I am going to lose some weight between now and the cruise so I don;t look quite as American when I leave America. I am making oatmeal. Actually it is called steel cut oats. Cha Cha tells me they are "supposed to be healthier for you." I have heard so much lying about products in my life that I just eat and wear and drive...what I like and leave the B.S. to the B.S.ers. I will eat it and. if I like it, I will make it again one day. It is done now and it looks and smells like oatmeal to me. I think it might be like what wheat bread is to white bread but that is just a guess and I base it on nothing but the ideas from my broken brain.

We are thinking about dressing like typical Americans abroad

We have to get some new clothes for the trip too. You don't see jeans a lot in Europe. Isn't it weird that I don't want to be known as an American? I actually think it is nice to see people from other countries here why would I think that they would think any differently about us being there? I have the impression that a lot of the other countries look down on Americans. I hear that a lot but I am curious to find out if that is true. Maybe this would be a chance to change their opinions for better or worse. I really do not want to cause an international incident or anything. I guess I would probably be able to stay since I was born there; I was born abroad but became a dude. Cha Cha might be able to stay by marriage. Are Dockers too American? Do they wear shorts in other countries? I have lots of research to do. Life is all about continuing to learn isn't it?

As usual, I have lots to do so I better stop here. I have to start another load of laundry and put the dryer lint outside for the birdies. It is a really nice day so far; a good day to build or furnish a nest. I hope all of you muthas and mothers have nice days tomorrow. Thank you for stopping by. If you're in Europe and reading this send me a message on how we should dress. TTTMonday...MITM (out) TA!

I Suppose I Could Be Called a Knot-Head Again.

It has been a very eventful morning and it is only 11:25. I woke-up at 01:56 and tried to go back to sleep for about three hours. I decided, after being unsuccessful in that sleeping endeavor, to get up. I heard some stirring so I took my daily meds and came downstairs and saw Cha Cha having her morning coffee. She had to go into the office a bit earlier than usual today for some meeting she was facilitating or being part of or something. I planted some cilantro in the backyard and our a-hole dog Jeff dug it up about ten minutes later when my back was turned so I had to deal with him and replant it. I wanted to get the lawn mowed early because it is supposed to rain this afternoon. Like a good neighbor Mattfarm is there I waited until 08:00 before firing-up the lawnmower. I got the lawn mowed within an hour, put everything away and found a bit of garbage in the garage that I had missed earlier and took it to the curb in time for the trash man. Then I let Jeff back outside so he could promptly dig the cilantro up again. His punishment this time was a bit more severe than the first time. I then showered and got sort-of dressed and came back downstairs to start a load of laundry and clean the kitchen. I think it was about 10:30 at that point. I went into the kitchen and the next thing I knew I woke-up on my face on the floor with a headache. I did not think to look at a clock. I apparently passed-out and smacked my head on either the counter or the floor and now I have a headache and a bump on my forehead about three inches above my right eyebrow. Matt fell down and broke his crown. It is almost 12:30 now and I still have a headache and 2 lumps on my head but I will be fine. "How many lumps do you want?" "Oh, two or three." I wish I could figure out was triggers these episodes so I could control them. I will figure it out and beat this thing eventually.This only the second time that I have passed-out that I am aware of though I have had many other spells. I hope Jill doesn't read or hear about this before she gets home from work because she will worry. I like to write it here and put these things in my calendar so, when I go back to the doctor, I will have them time-stamped to tell him about. I cannot trust my memory alone any longer.

Okay, on to something else.

Jill and I are really getting excited about or trip in August. We both look at sites of the places we are going getting ideas of what to see while we are there. I am really happy that we are going to Heidelberg so I can finally see where I was born. I don't know what that should be exciting but it is. I am guessing it will a let-down because I am building it up so big in my deteriorating mind. I am also glad that we are going to Paris because that has been a place that Jill has always wanted to visit. I find it odd and amusing that, without me losing my mind, we would not be going on this trip. We will have to take lots of photos and videos so I will be able to re-experience it for the first time over-and-over again. I still cannot believe we got the trip that we did. I have always believed in karma and maybe this is karma at work?

Mother's Day is a couple days away. We are taking my mom (and my kids' mom) to breakfast. We were smart and we have a reservation. I do not think it is a unique idea to go to breakfast on Mother's Day so I am thinking it may be crowded.

Now it is 13:02. I have been doing some housework between paragraphs. Fabio will be home in a few minutes and we will probably go get some lunch. I am not getting out of the car so we will have to do a drive-thru or I will order something for delivery or carry-out. I have a pretty bad headache now. I also really tired but I am afraid to sleep being here alone in case I am concussed. When we get back from lunch I think I will take a chance and nap. If napping is the way I was meant to go so be it. It won't spark a very good epitaph.

Okay, it is now 14:13 because I just cleaned the kitchen because I was unable to do it before when I intended to. I am going to end this now and maybe take a nap before Fabio goes to work so he can make sure I am either awake or snoring. Thanks a lot for stopping by and letting me time-line and time-stamp my newest injury. I need to put it on my phone calendar - ARGH! Enjoy the rest of your NON-RAINING day. TTTT (probably)...MITM (out) TA!

Are There Blackberries in The Black Forest

I slept a little longer than usual today. I slept all the way to 03:16. Even though I wake-up so early every day I do not take naps during the day. I take ZzzQuil once in awhile at night in hopes that it will help me sleep later but it only helps me fall asleep. So, I may stop taking that. I don't have a problem with falling asleep since I stay pretty busy all day long. The sleep study in a couple of weeks, I am fairly certain, will bear sleepy fruit. I am concerned that my body or what is left of my mind enjoys getting up early for some reason. Maybe I am still on German time from my birth; wouldn't that be odd? If so, maybe I need to move back to Deutschland. It is 07:24 here now and 14:24 in Germany. Since they are seven hours ahead I woke-up at 10:16 which is acceptable. Maybe I just need to defect when we stop there on the cruise. I am hoping that the sleep study will also cure memory loss though I am not real hopeful in that area though, if I am wrong, I will forget all about it. However, sleeping better may help me remember or, at least, slow-down the impending dementia and beyond.

Today Cha Cha and I are going to the place where we met some of the very best friends and important people still in our lives (including each other). And, because of those people we met many more of the most important people in our lives. I would list them but I am afraid I would leave some out so I won't. They know who they are. Of course, Cha Cha is number one for me and, without meeting her, we wouldn't have our kids presumably. I don't think many people will be offended if I mention her. We are headed to Waubonsee Community College to visit a counselor to set Fabio's classes for the Fall semester. I am not surprised that he is going there as he is pretty much a home-body. It is also a lot less-expensive to get your gen-ed courses out of the way before knowing if college is even the way you want to go. And, just like I did while in school, he can continue to work at his current job. There is some talk that he may go to colleges at the same time. I will save that discussion for if, and when, it occurs.

Howard and Shortcake looked a lot different on Love American Style

I really don't feel very creative or motivated to write today for some reason. I feel motivated to take a nap and it is only 08:50. That is not a good start to the day.

I rode with Fabio to his work yesterday (the supermarket near our home) and filled my backpack with ingredients for dinner and walked home. I found a chicken recipe on Pinterest and it turned-out great. It was quick and easy and delicious. Plus asparagus on the side. Everyone loved it. I also made blackberry shortcakes. They were good too but I can see why strawberry is the fruit of choice for shortcakes. Ha, shortcakes made me think of Joanie Cunningham. Sure, that kind of crap I can remember. Yesterday was the heaviest backpack I have carried in my effort to be more European (not to be confused with Europoopin). The milk and two large bottles of Pellegrino added greatly to the weight.

I have Saving Private Ryan on in the background.I would say this is one of the best war films of all time. It is weird to think in a couple months we will be near Omaha Beach in Normandy. I am starting to make a list of places in France and Germany... where I think I might like to see. I do not believe I will have time to see them all. The Czech Republic and Luxembourg will be easier. I bet Omaha Beach just looks like a beach now with houses and such there.

Does The Black Forest have white trees?

Wow, it's 10:36 now. I had to go outside and take one of the downspouts apart and clean it out. Ironically, it is the one furthest away from our trees. Fabio was lying in the hammock the other day and looked up and pointed to one of our trees and said, "I think that is the tallest tree in the subdivision." Then he pointed to the one next to it and said, "I think that is the second tallest tree in the subdivision." I think he is correct. The four trees in our backyard are slowly turning white too. They had always had the usual brown bark but, starting at the top and working down, they are turning white. We love the white ones and Cha Cha had always said that she wanted white trees and, since she is so good to the Earth Mother Nature is granting her wish. i think they may be Maples or Birch but I am not sure about that kind of stuff and, if I did know, I forgot. This forgetful thing is so much less pressure; I wish I had never had a good memory but then I would not know what I was losing. Better have had and lost than .ever having had at all they say. THEY know everything.

I have to get dressed now. Yes, I was up on a ladder snaking out and taking apart downspouts and gutters in my pajamas. I am rehearsing for everyone watching me in my pajamas when I have my sleep study. Enjoy the nice weather today (that is me assuming you have nice weather where you are). Thank you so much for being here again today. TTTT...MITM (out) TA!

Way Back Wednesday of Throwback Thursday Eve?

One of the great things about losing my mind, more specifically my memory, is that I can watch movies that I have seen before and not remember that I had, supposedly and allegedly, seen them. Fabio drove me to see the new film Avengers: Age of Ultron movie. He had seen it but wanted to see it in IMAX so, we went to Batavia. I think he wanted me to go because I knew how to get there (unless I forgot before we got there) and I would pay. Someone had recorded the first Avengers movie here on the television so I watched it while I folded clothes and cleaned the kitchen. When Fabio got home from school I told him that I watched the first movie and said that I wanted to be up-to-speed before we watch the new one because I hadn't seen the first one. He said, "what are you talking about? You took me to see it." I do not remember that at all but it does not seem like he is messing with me. The movie was okay and, from what he said, I had the same opinion the first time. He said that I had said it needed more Hulk hitting people. The new one is much better but, in fairness, we did see it in 3-D and IMAX. And, Hulk still needed to hit more people. I heard there is a good film called It's a Wonderful Life. Maybe I will watch that one again and see what all the hoopla is about.

I woke up at 03:02 Monday, 03:06 yesterday and today I was awake at 03:10. At least it is getting later and later. The people working at my sleep study next week are going to get to go home early that shift. I imagine I will not be the only one having a sleep study that night but, if I am, the staff can take naps after I leave on my insurance company's dime. I imagine it will cost a lot more than a dime though.

Every morning, since it is quiet in the world then, I hear at least one frog in our back yard chirping. I say chirping because it is not like a bullfrog croak but more like crickets. It is easier to hear in the early morning, right at dawn, because the rest of the world is not making any noise yet. Then, when everybody is about there business at school or at work or wherever everybody goes while I am trapped, I hear the frogs croaking again. It is a very pleasant and hypnotic sound.

Happy Way-Back Wednesday Mr. Peabody & Sherman

Today I am going to work on getting the new mixing board integrated into the podcast. It is ironic (not sure if it is true irony or just unfortunate) that we haven't done a show during the time when we actually have a lot to talk about - mainly our medical issues. Once I get the thing up properly and working I will have to take a video or a picture of everything so I can have a fall-back on how to get it hooked-up every time.

So now there is Way-back Wednesday on Facebook? I was okay with Throwback Thursday but every day is going to be a blast-from-the-past. Isn't everything in photographs, by nature and physics, in the past? What's next? Send back Sunday, Many Days Ago Monday, Time Travel Tuesday, Way-back Wednesday (apparently in place), Throwback Thursday (already in place), Forgotten Friday and Seems Like Old Times Saturday. Even those last five sentences are in the past now. But, if you read them again are they in the future again and they cannot qualify to in the past? I guess they are good for people who are memory-challenged and, as one of the newer member and self-appointed spokesperson, we do appreciate it but why do these days all have to get there own marketing-style names?

All of my favorite sports teams are doing well right now. The Chicago Blackhawks, The Chicago Bulls and The St. Louis Cardinals are all doing well. Maybe that is fate and destiny's ways of giving me a good mental send-off.

My hometown of sorts

Yesterday they finally asked for our passport information for our cruise. I am so excited for the cruise. I have wanted to go back to Heidelberg, Germany since I left shortly after my birth. Is our hometown where we live currently or where we came from? I think the word "home" implies where we live right? Or is that our housetown? I cannot believe that we got one of only two Explorer Suites on the ship. Jill had mentioned something to the travel agent about me having "medical issues" and we are trying to get some bucket list stuff done. I think he thinks that I am dying instead of just my brain dying so he tried really hard to get us something great. He got us almost everything we wanted for less money than we thought we would pay. And, other than the staff, we will most assuredly be the youngest people on the ship. That means, if we have a Titanic situation, they will probably get us on the lifeboats first because we are still "young" and have children who still need us. Or, they will have me help get people to the lifeboats and go down with the ship, either way is fine with me.

Time to get onto my duties around the house and, hopefully, getting the podcast going again.. Thank you for reading my babbling. Have a great day. Supposedly, will be nice in these here parts. It sure is overcast and a bit chilly right now though. The weather, just like anything, is what we make of it. Thankfully, I like most forms of weather. TTTT...MITM (out) TA!