Always Look on the Blog Side of Life

I haven't blogged in a few weeks. I am not sure why but, for some reason, I have been in a funk. Funk is a funny word. I knew some people, when I was younger, that had the surname of Funk. I think I would like that as my last name; that would be funkadelic. I suppose my funk has something to do with my changing of work shift and the time change? It has been like topsy-turvy town. I can hardly ever remember what day of the week it is right now. We have been working mandatory overtime (one extra 12-hour or 10-hour shift per week) for about two months or so and it, at least this for now, is finally over. I wonder how long this reprieve will last. I may sign-up for some days of overtime but, when I sign up, it will be on my terms rather than having to work the days they assign me. I can even sign-up for half days. It has been nice seeing more of Cha Cha and doing things together.
Since I work tomorrow we are going to lunch, dinner, supper, lupper, linner, dunch... with: my dad, Noah (Fabio), Splenda (Chloe), Andy (we need to get him a blog nickname) today so I can attend. We are all meeting at Maggiano's Little Italy this afternoon. I may take a short nap before then because I am still pretty tired from all of those extra hours at work. I used to work crazy hours with no repercussions but that, eventually, lead me to having health issues which are under control now. Sorry,

I just got a call from my dad asking where the restaurant is (weird timing since I just typed that as he called). I don't know why I apologize because it's not like I am doing a live blog and I walked away for a few minutes.

I am thinking and I may not even take an extra day this coming week and enjoy one 4-day weekend. I have a lot of things that I can get done around the house. Maybe I will wait until like Monday night to make that decision based on what the weather looks like ahead of me. Half-days would not be that bad since I would work 06:00 - 11:00 and be home at 11:12 or so. I have a few days to decide.

I keep wanting to write something political now and again but politics is one of those very volatile topics that you cannot talk about without upsetting someone I think. My dad and I differ greatly on politics so we cannot even talk about that at lupper today. He will try to bait me now and again but I am a smart fish and I know when there's a hook under that worm. Maybe someone else will bring it up and I can just chime in now and again? I think he will be the only one leaning the way that he leans at the table so it would even seem like bullying if we did talk about it. I will stay out of it no MATTer what comes. Isn't that what the 5th Amendment to The Constitution allows us?  It is not precisely about this but I think it gives us the right to not incriminate ourselves. I am not sure if, by merely discussing politics, I am incriminating myself but I am not sure what rule more closely applies here. It does expose me as a bleeding-heart liberal but I am not ashamed of the the fact that I care about other people (even strangers) and things being done to people or animals that they would not have done unto them. I do agree with the conservative side on some things so maybe I shouldn't peg myself as a liberal. I am a liberal-minded person who is willing to cross the line occasionally to make the proper decisions.

My left foot is falling asleep. It's better that one than the other one because there is less to wake-up when my left foot falls asleep. Always look on the bright side of life. That song (that red link) says about everything I believe even though it is difficult to always practice many times.

I think that a great place to end. I will probably not blog again until Wednesday at the earliest. Thanks for hanging in there with me. We are all on this big blue marble together floating through goodness knows what. We don't know how long we will be here or where we might end-up but I am happy I am on this planet with you. Have a great day or two of three or four. TTT?...MITM (out) TA!

Otis Campbell for One Night

It is so weird having Wednesdays though I will get used to it. I started my new three-day shift on Sunday and I think it went pretty well. I was immediately made a trainer and I trained new employees for the entire week (Sunday, Monday and Tuesday). Now my weekend is here and I have to do a mandatory shift on Saturday and then go right into my regular schedule the following day. The twelve hour shifts versus the ten hour shifts do make a difference on the feet. I may have to get some nurse/doctor shoes are something. I wore tennis shoes two days and then tried my black Nike boots I used to wear when I was still working at the police department. I miss that job but the overnights were killing me. Hopefully, we will be off of the mandatory overtime and I will have four days off every week. I may still sign-up for some ten hour overtime shifts now and again just to make some extra cash while Jill is at work too. I can pick the day I want that way depending on what is going on in my world. That stupid daylight savings time didn't help much as it occurred about three hours before my first day on the new schedule.

Today Jill is in the office so: I did the laundry, went grocery shopping, did the bills (ugh), made dinner (will just need to warm it up when it's dinner time). I have the taco meat prepared, the guacamole is made and in the refrigerator chillin', the rice is ready to be reheated and the corn is celery salted and cilantro'd. So, at this point it's mostly just reheating some items and cooking the shells. 

Last night I drank two bottles of wine (one huge one and one regular-sized one) and I slept like a baby. I guess I was pretty annoying because, what I was told, was that I just kept repeating myself over and over. I suppose I was the Otis Campbell of the house.

 I don't know why I took a photo of the bag 

When I got home from the store I was putting the groceries and I got to a bag with: pepperoni in it and some vitamins and yogurt bites for kids just beginning to eat soft foods, some very expensive looking Jamaican coffee and a few other things. This was not my bag and, for the life of me, I do not know how I got this bag. So, I finished putting away the groceries that I had bought and I re-bagged the stuff I had not purchased and took it back to the store and gave it to the woman working at the courtesy desk or whatever that is called. There was no receipt in the bag so maybe the person who did pay for the stuff will have the receipt and get their stuff back. Even if they don't have the receipt they can probably just tell the person what was in it and get it back. I did not mention the store so that some unscrupulous blog reader doesn't go to get some free Jamaican coffee and take foot out of a toddler's mouth. 

My dad just called and he seems to be doing well though he does sound pretty sad. We are going to get together next week and work-out some things that he is going through with paying the nursing homes where my mom stayed and the funeral and and visitation costs. He also found some stuff from when my mom was the bat girl for the Rockford Peaches women's baseball team (as seen in A League of Their Own).  The 75th anniversary of the Rockford Peaches is this year and they are having  a celebration on May 30th and June 1 through the June 3 at their stadium in Rockford. I have been staying in touch with a guy who read my mom's obituary in The Rockford Register-Star and came to the visitation. My dad has found a few things that I can make copies of and take up there when the celebration happens. It sounds like my dad wants to go to that celebration too so that will be nice. I hope Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Rosie O'Donnell and Madonna make surprise appearances. There going to be showing the movie at dusk at Davis Park in Davis Park in Rockford on June first. I sounds like fun to me. Home run derby, exhibition game... More about that as the date approaches. I hope the mandatory overtime is done for the year by then. It will come again around fall before Christmas time though.

I guess I am done for now. Tomorrow I am going to reorganize my closet among other things. I will probably have time to blog again tomorrow too - whoopee! I want to try to blog more often and this new schedule may help with that. Thank you for stopping in again (or for the first time and if this is your first time please don't make it your last time). Have a great night and I will be back when I am taking a break and I come out of the closet. TTTT (96% of that happening)... MITM (out) TA!

To Kill A Bloggingbird

It is almost 16:00 and I thought I would write a bit. I have been thinking about my mom an awful lot today being that it would have been her birthday; it will always be the anniversary of her birth.

Last night Noah (Fabio) and I went to the Chicago Bulls' game. We had a great time though the Bulls aren't a very good team right now (in what I saw last night). I would say that they are a team in the midst of rebuilding. I took a nap on the couch yesterday before we went and I took a nap on the very same couch this afternoon. I can't wait until it gets warmer and I can sleep in the hammock on the backyard on some afternoons and frighten the villagers with my snoring. I guess I snore like a bear. I think I have been fighting a cold so I have been tired. I am sure it has nothing to do with my age. I did get a lot of things done yesterday and today while awake.

While doing some of my chores I watched Lincoln (2012) and today I have been been watching (and am currently watching) To Kill a Mockingbird (1962). I love that Robert DuVall (Boo Radley) is in the movie too. Mockingbird is one of my favorite films of all time (probably number one). It has a lot to do with my strong conviction that all people should be treated equally regardless of their: gender, age, race, nationality, shoe size, hair color, ear hair, inseam... (those last few were to demonstrate how ridiculous I feel prejudices truly are). I have always loved that Nell Harper Lee (Scout) and Truman Capote (Dill) were childhood friends and both became two of the greatest writers of all time. There is a book entitled Go Set A Watchman that Harper Lee wrote and was published in 2015. I have the book but have not gotten around to reading it with all of my naps and so forth. I have four novels currently started and hope to be published before I die (if I get around to having the time). Maybe I should get one of them finished so I can watch a movie based on my mattsterpiece while napping.

Tomorrow I start my three-day work week. Then I will have one day off (Saturday) and will begin my new weekly schedule of three-day weeks on Sunday. Right after getting on less hour of sleep because of Daylight Savings Time. Daylight Saving Time is so antiquated in my opinion. I think it made a lot of sense when farmers had to have more daylight to harvest and plant and so-forth but now there are pieces of farm equipment that have flood lights attached and some that can drive themselves while the farmers are still sleeping because they are equipped with GPS and maps of the fields and such. Why do we have all of these technological advances if we are having to figure out what time it is unless we look at our watches or phones that know to switch the times automatically at 2AM?

I guess daylight saving time originally began in 1918 during World War I to conserve coal. I guess the term is actually Daylight Saving and no Daylight Savings so I went back and corrected those errors on my part. This blog is so educational - mostly to me I think. Daylight Saving Time didn't actually become a law until 1968. Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Arizona, American Samoa, Guam and Arizona just do whatever the heck they want because they are smarter than the rest of us.

Another silly day but filmed in Woodstock, IL

One of the things that I am excited about by my new work shift is that Cha Cha and I will will be able to go to the Buddhist Temple in Woodstock (Punxsutawney in Groundhog's Day). I think going there did and will again help me deal with stress and so-forth. I keep most of my stress internalized which is probably very unhealthy but I am what I am and that's all that I am. I do, however, always, strive to be better.

I am going to end now and I will blog again as soon as I can. I almost finished and now Tom Robinson is dead and his mother just found out and I have tears in my eyes. I knew it was coming but it still always gets me. Atticus Finch is a bad-ass and a great role model.

Thank you for stopping by. I will blog again when I can. TTT?...MITM (out) TA!

Scottish and Irish and Celts, Oh My!

I cannot believe it has been an entire week since I last blogged. The time flew by because I worked six of those seven days since I last blogged - four ten-hour shifts and two twelve-hour shifts. So, today and tomorrow being my only days off I have to get as much done as I can today and tomorrow. So, I: changed the oil in the JEEP, topped the fluids off in the FIAT, got a hair cut, went and bought some sushi for today's lunch and came home and ate the sushi. I am not sure if I really love sushi or I love wasabi or soy sauce. I think it may, perhaps, be all of the above.

Tonight is the Bulls' game with Fabio. The weather has been very nice the last few days but, now that I am driving to Chicago and back tonight, the weather is supposed to become wintery again.Maybe I should have waited to change the oil in the JEEP until after I found if it and I will survive the night. The weather people are not always exactly correct so I am hoping they are wrong but que sera, sera.

Last Monday, after I blogged, I went over to my work and put-in for a shift change. I figured that I would get that approval in about six months or so. But, when I went back into work on Wednesday, I was informed that I will begin the new shift on this coming Sunday. So, beginning Sunday, I will work three twelve-hour days per week instead of four tens. It also means a decent pay raise. So, this week I work: Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and get Saturday off and begin the new shift on Sunday. If they call for more mandatory overtime days I will still get three days off per week. I guess I have to start one hour earlier on Sunday because of that damn daylight savings deal. I thought daylight savings time was so farmers could have more daylight for their harvests. Don't they all have lights and GPS's and self driving (cultivating) tractors? So, when I get off of work at 6PM it will be pretty dark by then.

I already had my vacation days approved for Jill and my 30th anniversary in April and I will have to figure that out with human resources. I will probably go in there tomorrow for that.That is, if I live through the Bulls' game and the inclement weather.

Tomorrow is the anniversary of my mom's birth. I spoke to my dad last night and he has been up to her grave since we buried her. It sounds like he is doing well and he and I will have lunch together in the next few weeks. I am planning on going up to Loves Park on or around St. Patrick's Day with some green flowers. With a maiden name like McGuire she was a very proud Irishwoman. On top of the McGuire blood she also had green O'Reilly (it may just be Reilly?) blood flowing through her veins. I suppose that means that I do as well. The O' in Irish surnames means - the grandson of and the Mc in Irish surnames means "the son of." So couldn't someone be a McO'Reilly or an O'McReilly then? Really?

The real William Wallace

How can parking be $40 at The United Center - that is crazy.

I am watching Braveheart while I write this. I have seen it about 25 times I suppose. Right as I was writing about the Irish blood of my family the Irishmen showed up to help the Scottish (William Wallace, et al) fight King Edward the Longshanks and his English thugs. I just realized how odd it is that the Bulls are playing the Celtics (Celts) tonight as I write about the Mc's and the O's.

The wind is really starting to kick-up outside. I may take a short nap before I pick-up Fabio at 4:30ish. I do have to fold and put always my clothes though. I have a pretty good list of thing to get done today and tomorrow but none of them are very urgent and I did several already today.

Enough nonsense for now. Thanks for stopping by - I may blog again tomorrow if I survive the night. TTTT...MITM (out)!

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!