Picture Of The Day 01/30/10

From 1999: Scott & my brother Rick, and Danielle.

Picture Of The Day 01/29/10

A very contented Tails kitty snugged inside my sweat jacket.

Picture Of The Day 01/28/10

Blood Orange: A tasty 100 calorie snack.

Picture Of The Day 01/27/10

Traffic from the grocery store to my street half a mile up the road. It's never backed up like this but the snow and cold temperatures made the streets very icy today.

The Worst Nightmare Ever

So, after a phone call last night with distressing news, I just could not get to sleep. I tossed, I turned, I finally turned on the TV and watched it until almost 4 AM. Finally I must have fallen asleep because....

I found myself at my father's wake. It was pretty much as I remember except the funeral home was a lot darker, and all the light was provided by candles which were flickering eerily The other mourners wee all seated, the women with their heads covers with black veils, the men all wearing hats, had their heads down so I could not see anyone's faces..

Because of the dim light, the walls of the funeral home were not visible which made the room seem even stranger, giving the illusion that the room was cavernous. As I walked up to my dad's casket I was filled with a cold sense of dread, of a certainty something horrible was about to happen.

I knelt down to pay my respects and looked at my father. His body was all shriveled and dessicated as if it had been buried for quite a while already, though his suit appeared to be in perfect condition as did his casket. This scared me particularly because no one else seemed to act as if this was anything but natural.

Suddenly his eyes opened and he sat up unnaturally fast and turned to me, gasping out "Let me die! Why won't you let me die!??"

I ran, screaming from the funeral home!

I awoke, shaken. I could not stand to stay in bed so I got up and went out into the living room. Another cold sense of deep dread hit me as I saw the casket sitting behind my couch, illuminated only by two large candles on tall stands, one at either end. I could not turn away as my father once again sat bolt-upright and repeated the same words!

I truly awoke at that point, terribly shaken. I thought about the dream, I knew he had been sick for along time.. but I can't fathom why he was asking to die, when he was already dead. I realize I was very upset about some family issues when I retired, but the dream in no way had anything to do with that.

It will soon be time for bed, and I am hoping my dreams will be more pleasant!

Picture Of The Day 01/22/10

Uh oh!! Tails' Spider Sense is Tingling!!

Picture Of The Day 01/22/10

The view from the road today. Frost and killer squirrel alerts!

Picture Of The Day 01/21/08

A very comfortable Tails kitty is staring at me!

Picture Of The Day 01/19/10

I bought Scott & Danielle sneakers this evening. I really wanted to get this pair myself because of the awesome picture they were sporting. However since I do not need sneakers right now I could not justify the expenditure.

Picture Of The Day. 01/19/10

My house, near the park
Looking cool, in the dark!

Picture Of The Day 01/09/10

A vibrant blue sky is beautiful complement to the snowy Michigan landscape.

Filmmaker Art Clokey Dies at 88

The headline this post is entitled with brought a bit of sad melancholy to me just now when I read it on-line. My brother and I grew up watching Gumby and Pokey. The full story can be found at this link.

If you've never seen Gumby, click and watch the video below. For our younger viewers it may interest you to know Gumby was the first Claymation style animation, done laboriously a frame at a time.

Picture Of The Day 01/05/10

Waxing nostalgic with a picture of Scott and Danielle from Halloween 1999.

Picture Of The Day 01/03/10

After five long years of service, particularly this past year where I used it over 150 days straight 90 minutes a day, my exercise bike is dying! It's been squeaking after the bearings heat up and the pedals have some play in the shaft. The ride also is nowhere as smooth as it has been. I was hoping it was just a case of needing some lubrication, but alas it's not that simple.

After today's ride I got on-line and started looking for repair parts. I took off all the covers and looked at the mechanism shown below:

Fortunately I was able to find a place on-line that still supplies parts for this model a Keys Fitness CM560R. For $54 a set of crank bearings and sleeves have been ordered. Should be an interesting repair job as the pulley and belt system is under a lot of tension with a very tight spring and of course I have no repair manual for the bike.

It should be quite the adventure, and if I can get it repaired I'll save the cost of a new exercise bike which would be a very good thing!

Picture Of Day 01/03/10

Someone looks guilty.............

Monday - A Most Excellent Day!

Today was an excellent day! After sleeping in until 9 AM I arose, puttered on the computer a bit and then shoveled snow. This was the third day in a row I decided to forgo use of the snow blower and just shovel for the extra exercise. There were several inches this morning and the snow was a bit heavier than the past two mornings so it took me about an hour.

After cooling down I got Scott up and he, myself and Danielle headed out to lunch and then hit Meijer to get the ingredients for hot wings.

My son Chris and his friend Mike came over around 3 PM, and Danielle and I played Left for Dead 2 with them for almost 2 hours with me taking a break around 4 PM to get the wings prepped and in the oven.

Chris, Mike, and I then alternated playing Earth Defense Force 2017 until the wings were ready. I made 108 wings in three varieties; hot and spicy, Italian garlic, and and new variety from the Chef Chris kitchens; Spicy Asian peanut.

Scott arrived home from the mall and the five of us tucked into wings while watching the latest Family Guy Star Wars spoof Something, Something, Something Dark Side which turned out to be hilarious!

After Family Guy we watched some video off the PC including the Terry Tate Office Linebacker series, Raging Rudolf, and finishing up with an episode of Man Verses Food. Chris and Mike departed around 9 PM. Danielle and I watched A Garfield Christmas, then the three of us Watched an older episode of How I Met Your Mother. Danielle and I then played some Left 4 Dead.

All in all it was a very enjoyable day, and I was quite pleased that Chris and Mike could join us.

Picture Of The Day 12/26/09

Tails was quite taken by the tree this morning.

Appearances Can Be Deceiving!

Ghost of Snowy Days past - Our House back in NJ back in February 2000

I am CHILLED! I just came in from shoveling snow. It was near 40 yesterday and rained all day and overnight when the temp dropped into the 20's. I looked out at what appeared to be about an inch of fluffy white snow. Not wanting to drive over it since I had to take my daughter somewhere at noon, which is before Scott has to go out, I figured it would be a cakewalk to clear the snow. I also decided, since Scott would be heading out a little later to remove the snow from his car since he does not garage his car as I do the Mustang.

SO, I went out and much to my dismay discovered a very icy snowy bottom layer under the fluffy portion. It took me twice as long as the half hour I had envisioned when heading out because I had to scrape the whole driveway to remove that bottom layer icy layer. In addition I chiseled the ice off of Scott's car.

I came in, and got under a nice blanket on the couch t warm up a bit. I wish I had the makings for some good hot chocolate! I will remedy that when I drop off my daughter and pick up the ingredients for that most wonderful beverage at the store. I will keep it sane though and get 2% milk and light whipped cream instead of half and half and regular whipped cream as I have used in previous winters! I will go for the Ghirardelli Hot Chocolate powder however, I mean you can only do so much.

Previous years when making Hot Chocolate I would also get a bar of imported Belgian chocolate and melt that into the mix! I think the lower calorie version will still be quite delicious!

Picture Of The Day 12/26/09

Below is a panoramic shot I stitched together depicting the general state of bedlam in my living room due to the frenzied unwrapping of presents yesterday! Note there are more Christmas and other photos over on my Facebook page so feel free to pop over and check them out. Not a Facebook member? Well, you can easily join on my Facebook page.

Click the picture for a larger version in a new window!

I hope all of you and your families had as Merry a Christmas as I did!

It's snowing here this morning in West Michigan - Once he awakens it is time to acquaint my son Scot, who recently turned 18, with my "Whoever has to go out of the house using their car first has to clear the driveway" rule. Unless it is not possible to clean the snow, I like to do this before driving over it other wise you get ice when the snow was driven on. Since you get get stretches of several weeks or longer going by with the temps below freezing, it's best to clear the driveway before driving on it.

I know he has plans with his friends later, right now I have no pressing need to go out first though at some point I do need to hit the store for some groceries.

Picture Of The Day Christmas 2009

Before - - - - - - - After