Saturday - A long post filled with Fear, Food, and more!

This is a long post that I started a bit after I awoke, saved, and added to for the entire day. It is a tale of kids, food, shopping, and fear........and danger....yes...danger!

I awoke at 7:30, could not fall back to sleep, so I got up, watched some TV, and right before I was going to wake Scott up so we could head out I heard him get up. He did his usual flop on the couch cover himself with a blanket trick that he does upon arising, I left him be for about 10 minutes and we headed out. It is a beautiful day! Blue Sky, sunshine, not too humid, and temperatures are predicted to hit the low 70's today! Whoo Hoo!

We stopped at his Mom's to pick up his birth certificate and headed over to the Secretary of State Super Center. There's only one of these in this general area which was fortuitous for us as they are the only office open on Saturday. We got there about 10 minutes early and there were people backed up already almost to the mall entrance. I spied a few motorcycle riders in their requisite black leather trappings and boots, and told Scott to go over and annoy them. For some reason, he declined!

We talked a bit while we waited the ten minutes for the office to open. From entrance to exit it only took about 25 minutes to get his Level one license which lets him drive with his parents or a designated driver age 21 or older. He needs 30 hours behind the wheel now before he can go for his level 2, and until he is 18 his driving privileges can be cancelled by myself.

We started off for CompUSA, the local store is closing and they have big sales going on, but, I told Scott we had another errand to run, and I surprised him by pulling into McDonald's where I got him his usual order of hotcakes and a Cinnamon melt. I had a single breakfast burrito, a far cry from my former steak, egg, and cheese bagel, hash browns, and two breakfast burritos, This was within my caloric, carbohydrate, and sodium level, and, it tasted much better than the usual breakfast shake! Scott was almost done with his hotcakes and cinnamon thing in the time it took me to eat a single breakfast burrito, and that includes the buttering time for the hotcakes!

We headed back to CompUSA, it was disappointing, a ton of stuff is already gone and the prices were still not all that great, though he and I each picked up a Zune case for our Zunes at 40% off, plus I got a docking station at the same discount.

We headed out into the parking lot, I handed Scott the keys, and we headed back here. He was a little heavy on the brakes a couple of time, and a little unsure of himself, but, overall he did pretty good. I was tempted to throw myself from the car, kiss the ground, and scream, "Land! Land!!! We make it, oh thank the Gods!!!!" but I decided not to tease him.

In a bit the kids and I will head over to the mall, and I may resume this post later. Chris just got up, yelled at his brother, who dared zoom into the bathroom before him, and I let him know about the upcoming mall trip.

Well, it's about four hours later, we've been to the mall, I had a 6" subway sub that was within my carbs, calories, fat, sodium, etc. while Scott and Danielle had assorted chicken from the Japanese place, and Chris had Chili Cheese fries from A&W. I like the food court at the mall because there is something everyone will eat and you don't have to tip anyone.

Our repast completed we hit the bookstore to pick up a book (and some Archie comics of course) that the X had reserved for Danielle. Chris asked me to buy him a book which I did. The X and I had been talking earlier in the week about how, all of a sudden, he has developed a taste for reading....which has shocked us both! Down in my basement office I have four book cases crammed with books I have been collecting (mostly Science Fiction and Fantasy) since I was his age, and I had always envisioned my children would read them someday; up until now I had no hope of ever realizing this!

We headed over to the video game store (and I listened to the usual pleas from the boys to buy them video games....geeze where do they think money comes from anyway....) and on the way back I got Scott and Danielle something from Auntie Em's Pretzels (I was very happy to see they had Caffeine Free Diet Coke because I had nothing to drink with lunch) and we headed out to the car.

Chris was not pleased that he had to sit in the back, but, I wanted Scott to drive us home as he needs 30 hours of behind the wheel time before he can go for his level 2 license. After much grousing by Chris in the back seat (even though I was crammed in up front worse than him since I had moved my seat way up to try and give him more room) and Scott running a red light (his first, which I warned him about how to better judge this type of thing and not to do it again!) Stopping at the X's was the next milestone where Chris was picking up the first two books of a fantasy series he had read to loan me and Scott needed something....I forget what....

Sitting in the living room of my old house while awaiting the kids return from their gathering made me think of the X, and, my cell phone rang, it was the X calling. She scares me that way sometimes! We chatted of things, including some of what I have written above and I mentioned the fajitas, invited her for some this evening, which she doubted she could make, so, i offered to have them tomorrow night as well. I know she loves them and I could easily eat them many nights in a row!

With me behind the wheel we stopped at Forest Hills Foods where I picked up the makings for healthy chicken and beef fajitas plus a few other items and headed back to the house.

The kids vanished to play games while I spent half an hour weighing, cutting, pounding and seasoning the pound of flank steak I bought. This was rubbed with a combination of Barbecue Spice and Cajun Spice Red Monkey Rubs and then the chicken was rubbed with Mango Habenero rub and put in separate plastic bags in the fridge. A couple of hours before grilling time some fresh squeezed lime juice will be added to the meat for today, and I will saute fresh red pepper and onion. There is enough meat for three nights for me, but, since the X is joining me for dinner and a show tomorrow it will be two evening of dinner. Hopefully the grill will light easier tonight!

Danielle will be heading for her end of year Odyssey of the Mind party around 6PM so I will fire up the grill after I drop her off. For now, it's off to ride the exercise bike, and, will return after later to either publish this post, or add to it.

Once again hours have passed and I guess I shall be adding! I watched some TV with assorted kids, Scott had Taylor over, after the exercise bike I got cleaned up and they played on the Xbox 360. I put head phones on and listed to music on my Zune and read the first 30 pages of "The Rage - The year of the Rogue Dragons". This is the first in a series by Richard Lee Byers and I was hooked in the first couple of pages.

Around 5:15 I began sauteing of onions and red peppers for the fajitas for dinner. I'm sorry I may not list the exact spices used....but....they are a secret! I made enough to cover tomorrows dinner too and had them cooled, bagged, and in the fridge by 5:50 when Danielle and I left for her OM party. I dropped her off and upon arriving back home I lit the grill with no trouble, made and greatly enjoyed my sumptuous fajitas feast which was the best meal I have had in over four weeks, yet totally within my dietary guidelines. instead of the usual flour tortillas I used these, which I cut in half. This let me have four fajitas. Tomorrow's batch will be even better as Forest Hills Foods was out of limes and I picked some up later in the evening when we went to Meijers. After eating I watched a Scrubs and a Teen Titans with Scott, then Chris and I watched the rest of "Battle Peanuts" on Iron Chef America. He headed off to meet with friends around 8:30 and a bit before nine Scott and I headed out, Scott driving, to go pickup Danielle.

This was a perfect opportunity for Scott to have his first experience driving the Mustang in the dark. Of course, as he backed out of my driveway, stopped, and got to the part where a sane person would have put the car into drive, he decided to leave it in reverse, and backed up barely missing taking the rear end of the Mustang out with a large tree! We talked about paying attention, not smashing my car, and the need to be careful. We got to the OM party and I went into get Danielle after taking the keys out of the Mustang's ignition and asking Scott to spare the neighborhood trees.

As I was walking back with Danielle I overheard the three teen age boys in the driveway of the house she was in talking and caught the phrase 'I';; trade you my Mustang for your Camaro. I stopped, turned back to face them and simply said "Keep the Mustang"

We headed over to Meijer's where I needed some items. I had Scott park from from the door in a deserted (and treeless) part of the lot. I swear the car was balefully staring at me as we walked away form it, probably still upset about it's near brush with the tree! We shopped, and headed back out to the car. Not finished with scaring the crap out of me by a long shot, Scott barreled through a stop sign from the parking lot onto the main street cutting someone off to much horn honking and light flashing. Again we had conversation about paying attention, seeing stops signs, etc.

Arriving back home, I watched some TV (Lost, In a Fix, Good Eats)while Scott and Danielle went downstairs. It's a bit before midnight, and I envision heading off to bed soon. I shall probably dream of auto mishaps, Mustang eating trees, and police cars chasing us.......

Friday after work, later that same day..........

Last evening Scott's friend Ben accompanied him home from school, I was well prepared and had already ridden the exercise bike. Scott, Ben, Danielle, and I headed over to their Mom's house so they could get what they needed for the weekend. Danielle cleaned up Speedy's travel cage, Scott got his flash files and we came back here.

Christopher then loaded up the empty propane cylinder into the car and he and headed headed over to forest hills where I cashed in some cans, and got the makings for dinner and some other items, plus a new tank of propane. We came back here, I measured my blood sugar (getting better on sticking with myself, did all my readings yesterday on the first poke, unlike the other days where I sent through 4 test strips (at a buck a piece!) before I had enough blood for the meter!) and I got started on dinner. For the kids I made cheese burgers on my healthy potato bread (they do not realize it has higher fiber and lower calories!), and Scott had hot dogs on the same bread. I made extra flat burgers (out of leaner beef, though the ground sirloin the kids had was certainly a good cut!) and on mine which I had on these excellent flat bread tortillas, I had sliced tomato and lettuce. It was a fun time as it took me over 20 minutes before the grill would light. I finally got all three burners going, and have no idea what the problem was, I checked the tubes and such, tapped the regular valve a few times, and finally, one by one I got the burners going.

Ben was here until about 8 PM, Chris and I watched Stargate SG-1 and part of Stargate Atlantis before he headed out with friends, Scott and Danielle and I watched some TV together, they were in bed by 11PM, I was up until midnight, making sure we had all we needed for Saturday morning.

Been a fun week at work!

We had different folks from GE in this week, as those of you who read here know, they have bought the aerospace division from Smiths, and, then deal goes into effect May 4th.

It will be interesting; Smiths has always though of itself as a big company, usually on the buying side of smaller companies, for us this is a first, a company that dwarfs us in size will soon be in control. I think the GE corporate culture will be a shock to many. In my case, I think I am better off than most as this will be the fourth company my job has shifted to in my 27 year tenure with the company. In New Jersey we were Conrac Systems East, then they were bought by Lear Siegler, then Smiths bought that (and closed down the New Jersey sites causing us to move to Michigan), and now GE is buying us. So, I have more of an idea what to expect. We shall see what happens.......

How am I doing?

Many of you may have read this in e-mail but in case I missed any who just visit the blog I thought I would reproduce this. Also, thanks to this "Diet or Die!" diet I am on, I will be posting links and reviews of health low carb, high protein (and usually low fat) snacks and such I have ordered on-line and have enjoyed.

I have lost 14 pounds in 25 days, while that is very encouraging it is also very discouraging because I have to lose another 90 to be where I need to be. I blame myself....so...instead of groaning about it I will just get on with it! I am on what they call a Diabetic carb option diet, where each carb option = total carbs - fiber carbs. And, per the regular doctor I am on a 1600 calorie diet to help loose weight. though the dietician suggested yesterday that every fourth day or so I jump up to 2000 calories to keep my metabolism from bottoming out.

Anyway, here's the post.....

Yesterday I had a two and a half hour session over at the medical center where I first spent two hours with a dietician who specializes in diabetic patients learning about my diet and such, what I can eat, how many carbs and such, and much information. She is also the person who will be teaching the four week course which starts next week.

I then had a session learning how to use my ouch meter to test my blood sugar, which I need to do three times a day every few days or on days I am feeling extra woozy and weak and such. I got a One Touch Ultra Meter, since my insurance will pay for any meter they had, since this one was the fanciest and geekiest! I ordered the optional USB interface cable and software so the unit can transfer data to the computer, though stand alone if stores a few weeks readings.

She said measuring the sugar on my crappiest days is a real easy way to see if if those dizzy spells I am getting are is blood sugar related.

The diabetic diet would not be too bad if I was not also under orders by the regular doctor for low sodium, low fat, no caffeine, for my high blood pressure and heart rate problems. Oh well! Going forward will be interesting indeed, but, failure is NOT an option.

Ramblings of the Fat Man

Here's one of those rambling posts I do when I have not posted in awhile!

This past weekend I had the two boys as the X went with Danielle to the Odyssey of the Mind state finals in Traverse City, several hours north of here. To make a long story short her team came in fifth place, not good enough to go to world finals, but, placing fifth is no small accomplishment and we were very proud of her. She had the hardest part of their presentation basically narrating the entire thing while her teammates a line or two each.

Speaking of Danielle, sadly (yet to be expected), she is fast approaching the teen age state. Both the X and I have noticed she spends much less time with us and more time playing video games and on the computer, IM'ing, and listening to CD's. Where every day a couple of months ago she delighted in our daily ritual of going to the grocery store after my exercise bike ride, she barely wants to go anymore. Simple pleasures, like our daily race to the mailbox (she always won) are pretty much gone. While I am pleased my little girl is growing up, it is still saddening to see.

Christopher is still (though not hard of course!) looking for part time work and having no luck, probably because his mom and I have to keep after him to go and apply. It will be interesting to see how that attitude works out for him in college in July. He is so smart and so clever, yet, distressingly lazy, I do worry about him!

Scott has finished phase one of his driver education classes and now can go get his class 1 license which allows him to drive when an adult is in the front seat with him. I am proud of him and glad he is done for this stage as I was not enjoying having to take him back and forth every weekday to class since this is when I have the kids, plus, I missed him during the two hour class.

My Dad is doing worse, I called to talk to him about my health issues only to find his is further declining, he now does not know if he will be able to make it out here next month for Christopher's High School graduation.

Finally I believe the snow is over and slowly the weather is warming up; soon it will be time to get the three month weed treatment and attack the path by the side of the garage and the flowerbeds and such to try and limit the weeds. With my back I am SO not kneeling down to do weeding.

We had a few people in from GE yesterday, they are set to be our new owners as of May 4th, there is still much speculation as to what will happen to us IT folks, it will be interesting to see! There are even higher level managers coming in tomorrow and Friday that I will be meeting with. As Bugs Bunny once said "It's the suspense that gets you!"

I was very pleased to see the season premiers of Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis Friday night. I also enjoyed the Stargate SG-1 Mythology special as well!

Speaking of TV, 1st run episodes from current shows I am still enjoying or just started watching...Thank God You're Here!, Scrubs, Two and a half men, Good Eats, Iron Chef America, Bloodties, Jericho, Lost, The Wedding Bells, Unwrapped, Made in America, The Secret Life of...., How I met your mother, anything on the food network with Rachele Ray, New Adventures of Old Christine, just to name a few......

The X is still having problems with her business partner; I feel so bad for her she works so hard and for so little return on her investment of time.

I guess that about covers it!

Snow way, Dude....or...bring on the April showers...Please!

It is snowing (and has been) for the past two hours at the rate of an inch an hour!

Below is the weather map for the area:




There wind is gusting at 35 miles per hour.... here's a shot from a webcam down by the lake

ALL I CAN SAY IS I HAVE HAD ENOUGH FREAKING SNOW!

The "Diet or Die" diet

Friday I got a call from the Doctor and they confirmed via my blood and urine tests that I am diabetic. My cholesterol is also way way high and my blood pressure, even on two medications for the past couple of weeks is too high.

This AM I did my usual Monday morning ritual at work and checked my vitals. Heading into week three of what I now affectionately call the "Diet or Die!" diet, I am down 10 pounds since I started, whoo hoo, only 80 or so to go......

I just scheduled my Diabetic Education classes, they start April 24th.

Hope everyone had a nice Easter, I saw the kids (well, 2 of them, Christopher chose not to be up at 9AM for the Easter Egg hunt and basket opening rituals) at the X's house in the morning. She invited me back for dinner but as some non-family members were invited, and because I was so dizzy and woozy yesterday, I declined. Other than riding the exercise bike I pretty much sat around and rested, watching assorted TV, using the computer. For Easter dinner I had toasty ham, turkey, and Swiss cheese sandwiches in my GT express.

No one but myself to blame.....

I've always had a problem with my weight, but, since moving to Michigan and the divorce and such it has gotten totally out of hand. Not being a drinker or a drug user, I just used food for comfort....well, literally now this has come back to bite me on the ass.....good definition of irony!

I just got back from the doctor and got results from my tests, the good news no sign of cancer cells, traces of, or anything like that, my heart seems OK too though when I am feeling less dizzy they want to do a stress test just to be safe, blood pressure a bit better today, 150/100, lungs sound good.

As of today, two weeks into this 1600 calorie diet, I am down 7 pounds. I ride the exercise bike even though it feels like it is moving because of the dizziness....with the eyes closed though that can be most amusing!

Bad news - They believe I am diabetic, and they took assorted samples to order special tests for that to see how diabetic as my fasting blood sugar was way too high. They are calling me back Monday (hopefully the results will be back then) with an appointment for diabetes counseling. Also found out my cholesterol is through the roof, new meds for that, they are hoping dizziness gets better as my blood pressure and blood sugar come under control. I still feel like crap today, this woozy and dizzy feeling is getting old fast, driving in the dark to work in the morning is an ordeal.

I will talk to them Monday about the diabetes tests results and the sessions I need to attend, and I have another appointment next Friday (the 13th!)

Am I surprised by any of this? No. Let's face it, it's my own freaking fault. I am banging it in from work today and staying home. I just don't feel up to being around my coworkers.

Life goes on. Shortly I will have a nutrition shake and then a session on the exercise bike, as I continue down the long road to better health.

A bit before four I will go and pick up Scott and take him to his drivers training, it will be good to see one of the kids today!

Will this $%#~*&!!! day ever be over??

Lunch break: Trying to make it through my first whole day on site in about a week. I have either been working from home or working half day at work, half day at home. Doing so-so today, though when I bent over to get a drink of water from the fountain I got so dizzy I had to hold on with both hands....other than that, just a fun day altogether.

The weather is gray and windy and bleak and cold (suits my mood today!) and I have seen snow showers on and off. The ground is still a bit warm for it to stick, but, this cold weather is supposed to stretch on at least through Easter.

Tomorrow morning is another Doctor Visit and perhaps I will learn something from all the blood they took and assorted poking and prodding and such. As my Blood Pressure is still very high they added a beta blocked to the other medication they gave me 10 days ago, we shall see if that helps.

On the positive side, if I ride my recumbent exercise bike and close my eyes, it really feels like the bike is moving! Whoo hoo!

Same old same old

Still feeling really crappy; went back to Doctor Monday for exam by two new doctors, more tests, more blood, going back tomorrow morning to hopefully get some results. The dizziness and wooziness gets so bad some days. Over the weekend it was so bad Saturday I could not drive.

AND TODAY IT IS 34 WINDY AND SNOWING, YES, SNOWING!

Bah!

Calvin and Hobbes, and so so wrong.....

Calvin and Hobbes, one of my favorite comic strips, is described by Wikipedia as "Following the humorous antics of Calvin, an imaginative six-year old boy, and Hobbes, his energetic and sardonic—albeit stuffed—tiger".

In other words, in Calvin's eyes, Hobbes is alive while the rest of the world, including his Mom and Dad, see a stuffed tiger. They pretty much go along with this and put it down to childish imagination.

It's funny because the first Calvin and Hobbes collection I picked up and began to read many years ago, it was not until about a third of the way through they showed a strip that had an adult in the picture and Hobbes was thus revealed to me as a stuffed animal! I had been thinking What is going on here with this kid and his tiger!

In spirit of yesterdays entry which was a Flintstone's 'ever so wrong' video, here today is one for Calvin and Hobbes. I would suggest if you are not familiar with the strip, and you want a really, really good laugh, read through the Wikipedia article linked above before viewing.

Click the play icon in the picture to play the video.

WARNING - As with all videos may not be suitable for very young children or those with no sense of humor.

Dark and Dizzy, and Evil Inside!

Computers with viruses.... They have Evil Inside! They must be exorcised!


What's worse than feeling like crap? Finally, blessedly falling asleep at 2AM because you're dizzy and nauseous and can't sleep well and having work call you two and a half hours later because there's an infected machine on the network.......Joy! So, into work to deal with that! Evil Inside....methinks FIRE is the cure!! Bwa ha ha ha ha!!!!!!!!!

The Flintstones (So, so, wrong!)

I'm still feeling really crappy, but, while lying in bed last night waiting for the dizziness to subside, I came across the following commercial and it was hilarious, yet so, so, so, wrong! For the first time in several weeks I experienced some prolonged laughter.

Click the play icon in the picture to play the video.

WARNING - As with all videos may not be suitable for very young children or those with no sense of humor.

Blood Pressure & Bran Muffins

I've been feeling really terrible for the past three weeks, hence the lack of posts. First it was bronchitis...but that passed and then I started feeling dizzy, and weak, and, like walking death. To make a long story short I went to the Doctor's yesterday. As I am now on medication for very high blood pressure and dizziness, this joke from my friend Glen really gave me a chuckle!


The couple were 85 years old, and had been married for sixty years. Though they were far from rich, they managed to get by because they watched their pennies.

Though not young, they were both in very good health, largely due to the wife's insistence on healthy foods and exercise for the last twenty years.

One day, their good health didn't help when they went on a rare vacation and their plane crashed, sending them off to Heaven.

They reached the pearly gates, and St. Peter escorted them inside. He took them to a beautiful mansion, furnished in gold and fine silks, with a fully stocked kitchen and a waterfall in the master bath. A maid could be seen hanging their favorite
clothes in the closet.

They gasped in astonishment when he said, "Welcome to Heaven. This will be your home now."

The old man asked Peter how much all this was going to cost. "Why, nothing," Peter replied, "remember, this is your reward in Heaven."

The old man looked out the window and right there he saw a championship golf course, finer and more beautiful than any ever-built on Earth.

"What are the greens fees?", grumbled the old man.

"This is heaven," St. Peter replied. "You can play for free, every day."

Next they went to the clubhouse and saw the lavish buffet lunch, with every imaginable cuisine laid out before them, from seafood to steaks to exotic
deserts, free flowing beverages

"Don't even ask," said St. Peter to the man. "This is Heaven, it is all free for you to enjoy."

The old man looked around and glanced nervously at his wife.

"Well, where are the low fat and low cholesterol foods, and the decaffeinated tea?" he asked.

"That's the best part," St. Peter replied. "You can eat and drink as much as you like of whatever you like, and you will never get fat or sick.

This is Heaven!"

The old man pushed, "No gym to work out at?"

"Not unless you want to," was the answer.

"No testing my sugar or blood pressure or.."

"Never again. All you do here is enjoy yourself."

The old man glared at his wife and said, "You and your darn bran muffins! We could have been here twenty years ago!!!

Religion and Sorry for the Mistake

I grew up in a catholic home, a very religious home, where my mother had a large statue of the Virgin Mary on her dresser and she always had a votive candle burning in front of it. I went to church every Sunday growing up and attended catechism classes on Sundays after church. I used Rosary Beads and I walked the Stations of the Cross every year with my mother. We made crosses out of the Palm fronds passed out on Palm Sunday and I went to confession most weeks and received the sacrament most Sundays. I gave up something each year for lent (and actually did this year too, though that's another story!)

Due to an incident that happened shortly before my mothers death after a 10 year illness, I am not overly religious today. I have no issues, other than I wish I was a bit more so, with those who are.

I DO have issues with those who purport to be religious but in fact are not, evidenced by their actions in the real world. I snagged the following story off my friend David's web site. I don't know if it is true or not, but if it is, well, then it's a sad story. If it's not true, it's just plain ironic!

Sorry for the Mistake
A man was being tailgated by a stressed-out woman on a busy boulevard. Suddenly, the light turned yellow just in front of him. He did the right thing, stopping at the crosswalk, even though he could have beaten the red light by accelerating through the intersection.

The tailgating woman was furious and honked her horn, screaming in frustration as she missed her chance to get through the intersection, dropping her cell phone and makeup. As she was still in mid-rant, she heard a tap on her window and looked up into the face of a very serious police officer.

The officer ordered her to exit her car with her hands up. He took her to the police station, where she was searched, fingerprinted, photographed, and placed in a holding cell.

After a couple of hours, a policeman approached the cell and opened the door. She was escorted back to the booking desk, where the arresting officer was waiting with her personal effects.

He said, "I'm very sorry for this mistake. You see, I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn, flipping off the guy in front of you, and cussing a blue streak at him. I noticed the 'What Would Jesus Do' bumper sticker, the 'Choose Life' license plate holder, the 'Follow Me to Sunday School' bumper sticker, and the chrome-plated Christian fish emblem on the trunk. Naturally, I assumed you had stolen the car."

What's up

Well, I've been sick for 10 days now, back at work today, still not 100%. I think if I had just taken a sick day or two last week and rested instead of being an IDIOT and coming to work all last week I would have been in much better shape!

Danielle's team did well in their Odyssey of the Mind regional finals a couple of weeks back and are going onto State next month!

Scott has started his driver training course at Jungle Survival...last Sunday while feeling like one of the walking dead I went to a two hour parent/Student orientation class....that was fun!

Not much else to report other than that......still no word on the new company at work as to what will happen to my group and others.

Wednesday......Buffet and Wierd Dream Night!

Last night I went to bed around midnight and awoke around 4:30. I got up, used the bathroom, and headed back to bed. I sniffed and detected something 'not right' in the air, something very faint, tugging on my memory of a smell I have not smelled in quite awhile. I laid down and tried to get back to sleep but it was no use. I got up, and realized the smell was reminiscent of home heating oil, and I had smelled that same smell years and years ago as a child at my parents house one winter when the line from the tank to the furnace had sprung a leak.

The was strange because I have gas heat! I opened the front door and took a deep breath, other the the cold refreshing night air all I could detect was a trace of wood smoke, most likely from someones fireplace. I shut the door, and the smell persisted....very, very, faint, but still there.

I turned on the lights and headed down to the basement and checked everywhere; nothing wrong, all gas pilots lit (I though the smell might be a very small gas leak such as a pilot light being out), all in order.

I went back to bed and was able to fall asleep, where, I dreamed of smelling this smell. In the dream I got up and began to check the house.

While the upstairs of my house was much as it is in waking life, this all changed when I went down to the basement! Instead of the small, barely have a few inches in spots above my head basement, the dream one was huge! Cavernous in fact, stretching off into the horizon as far as the eyes could see!

The space was largely filled with assorted and complicated industrial machines of all shapes and sizes, all doing something, but I have no idea what. I kept walking and walking looking for the source of the smell.

It seemed in the dream that I had been walking for hours! Finally in the distance I saw sparks and soon came to a very large machine that, near the top had a rupture as if something had burst out from inside the machine. Sparks and smoke were pouring out this hole, and assorted fluids were dripping on the floor.

I thought to myself in the dream, here was the source of the smell and I turned this machine off (as now there was a big set of On/Off buttons). The machine shut down and that was that! The dream, satisfied, ended.

I woke up for work, and the smell was still there. I got dressed and again searched the house high and low. Nothing! "Great!" I am thinking, "Now I have to worry about this all day!". I opened the door to the garage and the smell of gasoline hit me in the face like a lead pipe. OK, bad analogy, teeth did not go flying, there was no blood, no pain, but it was a very sharp smell. I had filled up with gasoline just down the street on our way home last night and I guess some must have come out the overflow overnight, as, when I went to bed last night there was no smell and that was about 5 hours after the car had gone into the garage. Usually I fill up at Costco about 3.5 miles away, but, their price was actually 7 cents higher (first time ever!) than my local station. Mystery solved! After feeling like a Scooby Snack would be in order, I headed off to work.

Now that I have covered the weird dream, last night (Wednesday night) after I arrived home from work I spent about an hour cleaning up the place because with my back so sore the past week it had just deteriorated SO badly. I had less pain, so, I dug in and cleaned the kitchen, dining room, and living rooms. I also policed my bathroom which looked like a war zone, and was, for once, even messier than the kids bathroom at the end of them staying with me for a week!

That done I sat down and watched some scrubs with the boys, then got cleaned up, and we headed for Minado's, the Oriental buffet we go to. No link, because, they do not have a web site!

The kids and I really enjoyed the buffet last night! I also experienced some fine wasabi head rushes last night! Awesome!

We went at the height of the dinner hour so the food was nice and fresh. In addition to sushi, I also had some of the buffet traditional and stopped at the grill and had them make me a plate of grilled shrimp and vegetables, plus a nice plate of lo-mein.

My 18 year old would NOT try the wasabi, but, perhaps that was after he saw me put a teaspoon sized dollop on a Alaska Roll...well, perhaps my banging my head repeatedly on the table while yelling "Oh yea! That's the stuff! Whoo who!" might have put him off! I assured him it was most enjoyable!

I could go back there this evening if it were not for the fact that the X is coming over and will we all be having pasta made with my home-made pasta sauce complete with pepperoni, pork loin, and sweet, sweet Italian sausage! Since it will have to simmer somewhat this evening, I envision the meat will be even more tender!

Chunks of imported Romano cheese will be available for grating as well. It should be most tasty, in fact I can hardly wait!

After departing the buffet we returned a video game the kids had rented, and stopped to get gas for the Mustang. We arrived at my house, where Danielle finished her homework, and I watched TV with Scott. D joined us and we watched a Sabrina, before Chris came up at 8PM from playing on the computer, to drive them over to their Mom's.

ENOUGH ALREADY and Dukes Disappoint!

Hey! Below zero when I awoke this morning.....The last time it got below zero in Grand Rapids in the month of March was 11 years ago in 1996. Last year the coldest temperature for the entire month was 17°. The record low temperature for March 7 is zero back in 1920! What a great record we have broken!

This evening they are projecting up to another half foot of snow and it is overcast outside again!

Saw the TV Movie...."The Dukes of Hazzard: The Beginning" last night on TV; not impressed; their language and mannerisms were closer to the recent Dukes of Hazzard movie, not the original TV series....so....the continuity was not there and parts were vulgar and not at all in line with the original series. There were some decent moments and some of the Duke lore explained, but, overall a disappointment.

Oh boy more snow!!!

Fun filled weekend with more snow; As Scott was having 3 friends sleep over I had to snow blow prior to those arrivals.

Due to my back pain I was half-tempted to call off the sleep over, but, I know Scott would be disappointed.

We headed over to the X's house so Scott and Danielle could pick up what they needed for the weekend. We stopped at Family Video for a game rental and then at Meijer's to lay in some supplies for the weekend.

We decided to eat at Boston Market for dinner, getting the usual family meal (A whole roasted chicken) with mashed potatoes and macaroni and cheese as our side dishes.

By the time we returned to the car to head home it was completely covered in ice and sleet and the wind was blowing strongly. The road conditions were also deteriorating. We stopped at the X's house and the kids headed in while I kept the car warm. I could barely get up the X's driveway and told Danielle to wrap up Speedy's cage in something so she would not get a chill.

Speedy safely in the warm car, we got back home and Scott asked if I would take him out shopping for a cable. I declined, since, in addition to feeling poorly, the road conditions were getting worse by the minute!

A bit later Scott came back to tell me that his brother, who was staying at his Mom's to avoid the sleep over, had found the cable, so, risking life and limb we headed back and grabbed the cable. The roads, for the Mustang at least, were near impassible!

All I'll say about the rest of the evening was it was TOO LOUD! I got the boys settled down sleep around 12:30AM.
-----
Saturday morning I headed out to snow blow again around 10:15 since in addition to the snow the wind had caused drifts of several feet in the driveway. I finished up and the friends were all gone by 12:30PM. I took Danielle for her OM meeting around 1PM and on the way back to pick her up we snagged Chris from his Mom's house and I took them to Red Robbin, this time being sure to take my ATM card with me after I paid! For the second visit in a row the service was excellent!

Saturday Evening Chris and I watched Star Trek: First Contact, my favorite Star Trek movie.
-----
Sunday - Danielle and I headed off to Forest Hills Foods to get the ingredients needed for dinner. The store was not too crowded for 10:30 in the morning and between that and a quick run by her Mom's (and more fun in the driveway) we were back home and I had the spaghetti sauce a-boil my 11AM.

The most notable part about this day was Danielle's OM meeting where I got to see a preview of their presentation. It was awesome! She has the biggest speaking part, portraying a newscaster who is interviewing some scientists who have found dragons living on a small island off the coast of the United Kingdom. I had originally told her i might now attend due to my back but I am glad I did, as she had told me that was OK, once of the coaches told me she was bummed out that I might not be there. So, it was worth the effort and extra pain!

I also made home-made spaghetti sauce with pepperoni, sweet sausage, and pork loin in it. Added to that was some fresh basil and other spices, and Steve, I once again thank you for the Olive Oil as it too was used.

The X was waiting at my house when I returned with Danielle, and after heating up a plate of pasta and meat, She, Danielle, Scott and I watched Scrubs without Chris as he had departed earlier with his friend Jay to get some McDonald's. The X and I then watched Medium and they headed back to her house when that was over.

I discovered many things about the Beatles watching a BBC documentary show called The Beatles Biggest Secrets, I had NO idea! I also ended up watching the premier of another show on BBC, which was Robin Hood, which turned out to be very enjoyable.

In bed by 11PM though it took awhile to get to sleep; I could not get comfortable.

Wow - Useless fact - Note this post breaks the number of links, 10 in fact, I have used in a post before.

Some snow shots

The snow we had on 2/26 was that very wet, very heavy snow. Yesterday it rained almost all day and heavily, yet there is still plenty of snow, now covered with a crust of ice! Here are some shots of the 2/26 snow followed by a shot of the snow today.

And yes, you can click on any of them to open a much larger version in a new browser window.

A shot taken 2/26 on the way out to work
The reflected flash on the right is from
the house across the street!

Note in the large version you can see the

reflected flash off of many snowflakes!

This is a shot I took on the way home

And another from the ride home

And a shot I took today (3/2) out the back slider.

You can clearly see the snow falling in this one

Slip Sliding away......

Fell on the ice for a second time this week last evening taking out some trash; so, working from the couch today as my back and leg are quite painful! First fall was trash related too, I shall never take out the trash again as evidently that is dangerous based on my two falls on the ice!

I'm going to need a bigger house.........

Thinking of a friend

I saw the following on a friend's blog today; it immediately made me think of another friend who I miss a great deal and have not seen in a number of years now! Of course, only the friend will understand why this makes me think of them. The rest of you will scratch your heads and wonder why.....

I am sure he will see this, if not today, but in the near future.

On this day in history: March 1, 1932 - A man climbs a makeshift ladder to the 2nd floor of Charles Lindbergh's New Jersey home and snatches his twenty-month-old son, Charles Jr. Whoever took the baby left behind a poorly-written ransom note demanding $50,000 in small bills.

Rain, Ice, and snow....all in one day!

Last night after getting home a bit late from work, I relaxed a bit, checked my work email, and then I took the kids to Wendy's for dinner. We returned home and watched assorted TV (Scrubs mostly) until they had to head over to their Mom's at 8PM. This evening I will have them until 8:30, as their Mom is working a show in the city.

There was so much ice this AM, that to go the barely 150 feet from my garage to the first main road (I live in a large cul-de-sac) took me almost 10 minutes. As I let the Mustang idle out of the garage this AM it immediately jack-knifed, and from there things only got worse! I continued to try and straighten the car out which was now 180 degrees off the end of the driveway, I slowly made progress, inching my way forward and back, and the rear of the Mustang was finally facing the street.

I was being punished, it seems, by the powers that be, since when I went to garage the car last night it had gotten dark and instead of backing into it like I usually do when there is bad weather, I just pulled straight in. I paid the price this morning!

When I finally hit the street I slid again, and again, and again, and finally made it to the corner. This and subsequent roads were better treated but there were still plenty of icy spots. I took it carefully and slowly, and, was evidently too slow for some IDIOT who decided to pass me and then lost control of his car and did several 360's!! Lucky for him there was none else around and he totally missed me, though I nearly needed clean underwear! IDIOTS like this person are why we have so many accidents!

I only live 3.5 miles from work but it seemed the drive took forever. People working in my group were delayed and reported seeing cars rolled over on different stretches of highway! One of these rollovers was reported to me as being so serious that it would have been a miracle if the occupant(s) of the car survived!

When I get to work this time of year it is dark outside the large windows where I sit; I was quite surprised by thunder and lightning, we dropped power twice in five minutes. It's times like that I am glad the Data Centers I am responsible for are all well protected by UPS systems!

Lunchtime now and it is degree above freezing but, another cold snap approaches and it will soon cool down and more sleet and then snow will fall. I hear there is talk of closing all the area schools early just to get the kids bussed home safely.

Click HERE for a webcam shot near the lake shore that will certainly chill you to the bones, my friends! Beware!!! (Of course you can come back in the summer and click it and see a more tranquil, relaxing scene too!)

Below is the current picture as of noon today for posterity's sake. You may click it for a larger version in a new browser window if you like!

Choir, OM, and Cheese Steak

Tuesday morning and another inch of snow last night......and more projected for the end of the week though tomorrow it may hit forty, perhaps some of what fell Sunday/Monday will melt.

The snow blower protested yesterday when nearing the end of the driveway where all the snow from the street being plowed was piled up. I took it slow and got through without busting a shear pin.

It was Quizno's Monday so while Chris emptied the dishwasher I headed over to Quizno's and got them sandwiches. A few minutes after five the boys headed back to their Mom's house and I took Danielle to Forest Hills Eastern school for her Odyssey of the Mind Spontaneous night. It took about 20 minutes to get there (I had never been before) and when we arrived at this large school there was no one from ON to be found. We walked around and then some maintenance folks directed us to the C Wing. I dropped Danielle off and headed back to my house for a conference call. That over around 7PM I headed out into the lightly falling snow and headed over to the Forest Hills Fine Arts Center for Chris and Scott's Choir. The X met me there and we both remarked how the boys were both very good. Chris particularly has come a long way and was incredible, you could hear his voice mixing in with the others verses the collective sound you often get. Scott did well too.

We also made bad jokes, such as which one was our boy when all the members on stage were female, would the other look good in a dress, etc.......we are bad parents but at least we have a warped sense of humor.

There was a college choir performing as guests, and, since Scott's participation was over and I knew he wanted to leave I went down to where the choir members were sitting and snagged him just as the guest choir began playing the bagpipes! TOO LOUD indoors!

I bid farewell to the X, dropped Scott off at her house and headed back home stopping first at Forest Hills Foods where I picked up a pack of steak-umms, a sweet onion, and some fresh Italian bread. I returned home and quickly thinly sliced the onion, sauteed it in just a bit of Olive Oil (thanks again Steve, I used some of your Christmas preset for this), added some Cajun seasoning, a pinch of Indian chill powder, and some freshly ground black pepper. While these were sauteing I cooked the steak-ums and layered them on the bread with slices of sharp cheddar and then put the sauteed onions on top.

It was very good! While not whole steak, steak-ums are very good, particularly if your pour off some of the grease!

I then just watched some TV (some Ugly Betty episodes) and hit the hay around 11PM.

Monday and more snow

We had about six more inches of wet heavy snow this morning.......though the kids had only a two hour delay for school. Can't wait to get home and remove it!

Danielle has Spontaneous Performance night again this evening for Odyssey of the mind, that runs for four hours and is about 8 miles away. I will be dropping her off and then heading home and attending Chris and Scott's choir concert at the Forest Hills Fine Arts Center which is right down the road from my house.

Weekend was Snow Good

Quiet weekend, I had Scott and Danielle and the X come over around 5:30 Saturday evening. We watched the Scrubs from last week, then the X and I watched Two and a Half Men before she headed out. Scott and Danielle and I watched some Scrubs episodes and they alternated between TV with Dad or game time on the PC.

Sunday morning it had snowed overnight, about three inches worth. I was up before Scott and Danielle and rode the exercise bike, and then got cleaned up. All of us got together for Pizza for lunch (The X paid, thanks X!) and we watched the Monk episode from Friday night. Seating was limited as Scott had his friend Taylor over. We all enjoyed that as it was Monk's first exposure to computers and the Internet. Scott had also showed us his latest Flash creation, he is incredible with that! They headed out around 3PM and I did some work from home, watched some TV, and played on the computer, all in all a very quiet weekend which I needed after the grueling week with the representatives of the new company in most of the week.

It's a Wonderful Week

It's Thursday now (as it was when I just did the weekend post, finally got a break from the all day meetings) and the first round of meetings with the new company is nearly over.

Monday morning at work, where I had to drag myself in to prepare for the three days of meetings starting Tuesday, I felt like death warmed over, and people were telling me I was as white as a sheet! I managed to get what I needed done and left at regular time, I went home and collapsed until I had to go out and get Quizno's for the kids.....by Monday Scott was feeling much better and so was his sister. I sent them home their Mom's and was in bed by 8 PM.

At least Tuesday when I woke up I felt markedly better.....which was good because it was a 12 hour day at work and then more from home afterwards..........

Oh! And as I predicted, weather starting Monday hit the low 40's as that was the day my brand new winter coat arrived! It has been cold at nights, well below freezing but days have been high 30's to low 40's with less wind, so, it has been like summer! A lot of the snow has melted though a good amount remains.

Yesterday morning someone (I have to track down their number) called me on my cell at 5:20AM with a text message to warn me it was foggy and icy out......when I find them the weather will be the least of their worries!

When I came out of the Wednesday meetings yesterday it was 4PM. I usually leave at 3PM; I checked my e-mail which had an out of the office message on it, as did my phone, and in the group tacking calendar I was shown as unavailable.

Evidently the company p[population took this to mean "Oh, yes, please e-mail me on matters trivial and not important, and please DO DO MULTIPLE FREAKING TIMES!"

I had 260 e-mail messages to go through, which I did and around 6PM headed out to get the kids food (Dad took cowards way out and got them MCD's.) We then watched a couple of scrubs together and then ate the desert I had liberated from the meetings at work, 3 servers of double chocolate brownie pie and walnut's....Danielle had her portion of frozen Hershey's chocolate pie she was too sick to have over the weekend.

Today it is a bit colder and the weather this weekend will either be unprecedented sunny and 50's Saturday or major storm.....they just are not sure at this point!

Weekend Woes

Rough weekend, Scott sick with Pneumonia, then Danielle getting flu like symptoms with diarrhea and vomiting. Me, trying to rest up for visit of now company coming in all this week.

By Sunday night I was vomiting as well and had had very little sleep all weekend due to son barking like seal in his sleep! I wondered what the workweek would bring as I had to be in this week!

The World of Japanese Ice Cream

Note to self: NEVER eat ice cream while vacationing in Japan!!

Click HERE to find out why!

And make sure you hit the next link under the first selection so you can go through all twenty-one yummy flavors!

It's Caturday!

It's not Sunday, it's Caturday! Check out the videos HERE. After watching this video make sure you click on the other Caturday videos on the right side of the screen.

Thanks to Barry for sending this link !

As with all videos or referred links, screen yourself before deciding if suitable for sharing with our younger viewers.

Beware of Lock Bumping

A way for someone to easily open almost any common door lock.

Be Aware!

Or

Beware!

Click Here

Crappy Cold Weather Continues

This morning it is 22, cold and snowing. About an inch has fallen overnight, with another or so due today, with a bit heavier snow due tomorrow. While nothing like the 10 plus feet that they had in upstate New York, still more than enough cold and snow for me over the past four weeks!

This same snow thwarted the attempt of Syracuse, NY to break the record for snow angels currently held by Michigan Tech University! Click the picture above for a much larger image plus you can read about it here.

The Doom Sayers speak of global warming...some saying we are doing this to ourselves, others saying it would happen without our industrialized society. If it is getting so warm, why did snow fall in Kathmandu (remember the song by Bob Seger), Nepal for the first time since 1944? For the first time in over ten years it also snowed in Darjeeling, India. Note here in Grand Rapids snow or ice has been present for 30 of the last 32 days! I eagerly await the above freezing temperatures forecasted for part of next week!

Scott was diagnosed with pneumonia yesterday; he's been sick over 10 days now and when he went to the doctors Tuesday they said there was no sign of infection and he should be better by Friday....he was not. He's on a five day regimen of potent antibiotics.....his room is right on the other side of mine....as I lay desperately seeking sleep last night the barking seal sounds coming from his room, I was torn between feeling bad for him and wanting, for some reason, to open the door and toss in a fish..... I hope he feels a bit better this AM.

I could really use a good nights sleep; representatives of the new company will be on site Tuesday through Thursday of next week and I'd like to talk in an intelligent manner; first impressions are the most important after all!

Last night for dinner Danielle and I had left over Chinese food, while Scott had a sandwich and Chris a bowl of cereal for dinner. We all watched some episodes of Scrubs together, and then, Scott decided around 7:30 he wanted peanut M&M's even though I had already done the days shopping; he made puppy dog eyes at me and since he was sick and I love him so much, I headed out to the store to get them for him. We continued watching TV when I returned and I made them watch an episode of Special Unit 2 with me; Chris liked it Scott did not seem overly thrilled, and Danielle fell asleep...... Chris spent almost the entire evening watching TV with us which is rare, but, he said he had been very tired and could not focus on the computer. It was nice to have an evening we all spent together!

Danielle has Odyssey of the Mind this morning, at least it is not snowing like that first Saturday of February where I wondered if I would make it back here alive......after I pick her up at 1PM we shall go in search of shoes for me and sneakers for her. Like her Mom she has wide feet and it is so hard to find something to fit her. We will try a large shoe store that the X has not hit in the past weeks in pursuit of this sacred quest!

A Valentine's Day Tribute

Chris and Debby Falco

Today's sole post is a Valentine's Day tribute to Debby Falco, the woman I fell in love with and envisioned spending the rest of my life with. A warm and wonderful woman who gave me three fine children, years of fond memories, good times, and loved me...at least for a number of years.

Time heals all wounds they say...to an extent this must be true...last night, for the first time in nearly three years I was able to listen to my favorite song without tears....our song that we danced to at our wedding about 20 years ago. I love that song and it was good to be able to listen to the longer live version...and drift back to that the first dance as man and wife.

So on that note I dedicate today's post and the following song to Debby, my X wife, who I still love. May everyone have someone special in their life to love.

Wonderful Tonight
by Eric Clapton

It's late in the evening; she's wondering what clothes to wear.
She puts on her make-up and brushes her long blond hair.
And then she asks me, "Do I look all right?"
And I say, "Yes, you look wonderful tonight."

We go to a party and everyone turns to see
This beautiful lady that's walking around with me.
And then she asks me, "Do you feel all right?"
And I say, "Yes, I feel wonderful tonight."

I feel wonderful because I see
The love light in your eyes.
And the wonder of it all
Is that you just don't realize how much I love you.

It's time to go home now and I've got an aching head,
So I give her the car keys and she helps me to bed.
And then I tell her, as I turn out the light,
I say, "My darling, you were wonderful tonight.
Oh my darling, you were wonderful tonight."


In spite of the divorce, it is good to have loved and to still love. I think "How empty is a man's heart who has never known true love", though Alfred Lord Tennyson may have said it best. 'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.'

Violence at the local Mall

I was quite distressed this AM to read a report of a stabbing at the local mall that my family and I shop at on a regular basis. When we moved out here from New Jersey almost 7 years ago, the area was so nice and peaceful than the east coast and so much more family oriented. My X and I were shocked when strangers would greet us! Don't get me wrong, we were not living in a war zone or anything back east, but, area out here was so much nicer. From the friendly people to the family rest rooms and kid play areas in many stores and such you could see that family life was important out here.

Now I see I will need to be looking over my shoulder in the formerly perceived safe shopping area. I mailed the X and to her to be aware, particularly if visiting the mall after dark.

WHAT IS WRONG with people these days????

Rare picture of Eagles and their young

Time for a picture! Mom sent me some awesome pictures that were taken recently near Comox , BC, Canada. No one knows who the photographer was. This is something few people will ever be privileged to see. I have three more, let me know if you want to see them and I'll post one a day.

Click picture for a larger version in a new window

Oh, the major weather we were supposed to see is going to be mostly south of here. Our up to 12 inches has dwindled down to an inch at most. Yay! It was a balmy 14 degrees this AM, today we are not supposed to hit 20, in fact we won't see the 20 mark until the weekend they day. It had hit 26 yesterday but another cold front is moving in. In fact, Today (Tuesday) is the 17th consecutive day with below average temperatures, at least 10 degrees colder though in some cases it is much more than 10.

Last night the kids and I had left over pizza; I picked up Scott from his Mom's on my way home. He was feeling somewhat better. Chris, Scott, and I watched a Scrubs, then Chris, Danielle and I watched Lost while Scott took a snooze in his room. We all then watched Family Guy and The Simpsons from Sunday. Scott was a bit sad as he said his Mom 'yelled' at him when he wanted to stay home from school today; I explained that he was feeling fine last night, playing games and horsing around with his brother and then he did not want to take his cough medicine before bed, so he was up coughing all night. I also reminded him Mom was feeling terrible too and when we do not feel good we sometimes do not react completely correctly. I also reminded him is is out way too much from school! Kids! His Mom is a good Mom...we all raise our voices some days......though I can understand how he feels to a point....when you are sick even someone raising their voice a bit can seem so extreme.

I sent Chris and Scott home around 6 so Scott could get settled in and start on the homework he has missed since last Wednesday. Danielle elected to stay with me and she played on the computer a bit after doing her homework. Then she asked me to make her Hot Chocolate; since we were out of whipped cream I put a scoop of vanilla ice cream in it.

I usually use Swiss Miss instant no sugar added mix (except when I make my infamous home made hot chocolate once a year) but I blend it with a hand-held high speed mixer to make it smooth and frothy. It is just never right using a spoon, you always get some little clumps of the mix.....reminds me of the Bill Cosby bit where he is talking about lumps in cream of wheat and how he can't get them down, even if someone put a hundred dollar bill in his hand!

Her Mom picked Danielle up around 7:30; I had Danielle all ready to go so the X did not have to get out of her car. I hope the X starts feeling better; she picked a nasty case of bronchitis down in Florida and she still is not over it. She stopped in a clinic on the way home and went to her regular doctor yesterday. He prescribed more medicines and told her if she was not a bit better today she would need to go get chest x-rays. I shall have to call her later and see how she is feeling!

Right now outside the window it is windy and snowing....I have to take Scott to the Doctor a bit later, I hope the roads are not slippery if I have to go the the pharmacy for prescriptions! The doctor is on the same street I am on, just on the other side of the cross street. That side of the street is all businesses while my area is all residential.

Not much to say other than snow...snow...snow

It was a cold and blah weekend in Grand Rapids, Saturday I picked up Danielle around 11:20AM for her OM meeting, at least this time it was not snowing (much....)

I picked her up at 1PM, we did some quick shopping at Meijer's, then snagged MCD's for lunch, stopped back at the X's house to pick up Scott who had been home sick Thursday and Friday. We headed to my house and the rest of the weekend passed in a fog as I was starting to feel really sick. Danielle had a sore throat, Scott the walrus-like cough, and me all of the above.

Sunday the X and Christopher came over around 12:30 to await pizza (this was after a fevered dash by myself to the ATM down the road for cash) as they had been down at Kettering the college Christopher will be going to in July.

We ate, then everyone except Christopher watched a Scrubs and then the X, Danielle and and I a Medium from last week. They headed out back to the X's house and other than some chores and such I enjoyed being 'one' with couch until bed time.

I called my Dad and talked to him and his long-term girlfriend; they are possibly coming out for Christopher's graduation on May 21s2, that would be awesome! My brother and Sister in law may come too; I can't wait! It would be awesome to see them all again!

While so attached to the couch, I remembered the Sci-Fi channel is rerunning Special Unit 2 on Fridays. This is a show about a unit of the police that deals with supernatural things like gargoyles, werewolves (no vampires, THEY evidently are just a fairy tale!) . It is in the vein of Men In Black, as it is most amusing with some drama throne it. I watched the first three episodes of the DVR last evening along with the Lost Survivors Guide.

The X called this AM to inform me Scott was home again; she said he was fine all afternoon on the PC and horsing around with his brother........he misses way too much school!

Today looking out my office window it is again snowing; we've probably had about an inch since I got in this AM. It is supposed to stop soon, but tomorrow it is supposed to snow all day. Up to 6 inches is predicted, we shall see.......

Cathedral Windows

For those wondering what the view is out my Cathedral Windows, here is a shot looking out from the dining room. Note also the same windows exist in the living room too.

Note this shot is about a year old....the only major difference is there is less snow in this picture but the house is neater a year ago! ;)



Click on the picture to open a larger version in a new window

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACK!

OK, granted, most of you may not know my brother Rick, but, he's a heck of a guy who I love a great deal, and TODAY IS HIS BIRTHDAY, so I just wanted to post it here.

Oh, in case any of you are wondering why I titled the post "HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACK" and are wondering why since my brothers name is Rick, well, you might as well ask about Wee Working Willie, Mr. Liquid, Jimmy The Greek, Mr. Funny Shoes, or the fire at the middle school that I was suspected of!

Heck! You might as well ask if we can eat the scorpion..........

I love you Jack! Wish we were together today!

Another fine day in Michigan

It's even warmer today in Michigan! A temperature of 9 degrees awaited me, though, again today we are not expected to get to 20. In fact, my morning e-mail weather forecast this cold weather to last through the end of the month, and possibly through most of March too!

Yikes and EEEEEEKKKK to coin a phrase!

It is snowing lightly outside my office window as I take a lunch break to make this post. The roads this AM are much better, I hope there is not enough snow to ice them up again!

Upon arriving home after work yesterday, exhausted as work is very crazy these days with a new project dumped on us regarding the daylight savings time changes. No work has disappeared and now virtual every computer needs to be patched. That's thousands of computers.....

So, I wanted nothing more than to plunk down and relax and Scott informed me he needed for school a 3 ring binder, binder organizer, sketch pad, plus he had to pick up his USB memory stick at his Mom's house so he could scan some picture as part of this school work.

So, after a quick pass through the e-mail we headed out, got what he needed at OfficeMax, and then stopped into Gamestop to pickup a game for his DS Lite that he wanted.

We headed back to my house by way of his Mom's so he could get his memory stick and his DS Lite. We arrived back to my house where I made sandwiches for Scott and Danielle (Chris has made one for himself while Scott and I were out). Danielle had wanted hot chocolate so I made her that too. Everyone seemed a bit lethargic, so, we settled down on the couches and watched a couple of Monk Episodes from this past Sunday's marathon. By this time Scott was coughing a lot and stating he was not feeling well. The kids headed back to their Mom's house around 8PM. I talked to the X this morning and Scott stayed home from school.

Speaking of kids Danielle got her MEAP (Michigan Educational Assessment Program) tests back and was above acceptable in all areas tested! I was most pleased by this news and praised her on her accomplishment!.

Sunny Days

Today it was even warmer when I arose! A full 3 degrees above zero! Whoo who!!!!

As daylight began to cast off the mantle of darkness the Mistress of the Night has enshrouded us with, I was heartened to see the sky was blue and soon the sun was shinning down.

HOWEVER even now, past the noon hour, the temperature is barely 15, the windchill is minus 2 degrees, and we will not see 20 today.

20's are predicted for one day this week, but, then another cold front will be hitting later in the week and more snow could appear!

Driving yesterday home from work was just as slick as the evening before. This morning though I could see some improvement on the roads, though they are still a long way from being safe. The kids have school today, which means they will be at my house and it is Wednesday night so I will have them until 8PM.

We shall see what to do about the feeding.......they are, at the dinner hour, akin to the velociraptors from Jurassic Park...

For some strange reason I fell like grilling, but, I cannot justify using a whole tank of propane just to heat the grill enough to cook some steaks! I am thinking something simple, such as turkey bacon and egg sandwiches, or something inexpensive out.

Munch on Snowy Goodness!

Here are all the pictures I took Saturday February 3, 2007 during the blizzard. Click the picture below to open the entire album of 31 pictures in a new browser window.

February 2007

How cold is it in Michigan?

It's so cold that there have been reports of polar bears breaking into walk-in freezers at various warehouses, in an attempt to warm up!

Seriously though, I know it is colder elsewhere. For example I hear it is 40 below in Minnesota right now! Brrr! The 10 below we hit yesterday was cold enough for me and it is the coldest I have ever been outside! As to places where it is colder.....well, all I can say is, if you are crazy enough to live in an area like that, you must like cold weather and you are probably a member of the Polar Bear Club. The first question on their site's Q & A page sums up how I feel about swimming outside in the ocean or lakes in the dead of winter; "Are you folks nuts?".

Today I was greeted with temperatures far above yesterdays morning temperature of 8 below zero. It was a nice balmy 1 degree above! In spite of the warmer temperature the streets were even worse than yesterday, I found myself sliding more than I had yesterday on the ride to work even driving as slowly and carefully.

I did get to see light pillars this morning! As I turned out of my street and headed towards the first traffic light, I saw what looked like many searchlights trained on the sky. This turned out to be cars that were just below the intersection on a slight upwards angle pointing skyward. Evidently as the local TV station's weatherman's blog educated me, on rare occasions (usually when the temperature is colder than +10F), we get to see light pillars. Columns of light rise upward from a light on the ground. These columns are caused by tiny ice crystals/needles in the air. I had pretty much figured this out as I drove and could see the tiny crystals reflected in my headlights.

Here is a picture of this phenomena for your viewing pleasure. (Click on it to make it a bit bigger.)


This was a totally new experience for me; I love when you get to experience something new! In fact, I can hardly wait to experience warmer weather again!

Yesterday on the way home since the kids had the day off from school, I stopped at their Mom's house to pick them up as I have them for dinner. Monday as some of you may know is traditionally Quizno's. They have a special on Monday where you get three of their subs for a very decent price. It's the only night that they are affordable in my opinion!

It was about 3:45PM at this time and Quizno's is just down the street past the street my house is on. As it was cold and windy and the Mustang was having trouble going forward I announced "You're either all hungry enough to have Quizno's now, or, I'll be making cold cut sandwiches at dinner time because I am NOT taking the car out again tonight!" The kids unanimously agreed they wanted to eat now, so I bought them sandwiches (and they picked out a large bag of Doritos to have with them) and we headed back to my house. While they ate I made myself a sandwich using some of the cold cuts I had bought last Friday when the storm started.

Their Mom showed up around 6:30 PM and we all watched the Scrubs episode from last week which we had saved so she could see it. They departed shortly after 7.

The kids have off today from school today too, so I will stop at their Mom's and pick up Danielle as she has an orthodontist appointment. She will then stay at my house until her Mom picks her up on her way home around dinner time. I do NOT plan on venturing out again after Danielle and I get back if I do not have to!

Poor kids....today makes the fourth school closing day for bad weather, so, they now have one day to make up at the end of the school year.....they think nothing of that now.....But I predict they will sing a different tune at the end of the school year.

Odyssey Out of my Mind!!

Click on the picture to see it larger.

Here is a picture I took while driving my daughter to her Odyssey Meeting on Saturday. As I said I must be out of my mind for driving in conditions like this!

It's snow Good!

It was one of the worst and coldest weekends since I came to Michigan back in 2000. It was 8 degrees below zero this morning when I awoke. As I did my morning rituals I had the TV on in the bedroom and the living room watching the local news as I do each morning. In the 20 minute period that elapsed the finally got to the school closing list that contains the school for my kids. By the time I shut off the TV as I was walking out the door, they still had not reached the part that was on when I first started watching!

Because it was so cold overnight, even though in many areas no new snow had fallen, so many schools were closed because of the icy roads. No matter how much salt you use in temperatures like this, it will not melt the ice on the road, hence the many schools closing. I did wonder though why they just don't show a list of schools that are open as the announcer said virtually every school in our viewing area is closed today!

The Mustang was hesitant to leave the dry garage and looked at me piteously want to stay inside. Since the alternative would be a walk that would surely lead to the loss of toes or worse, I drove. The roads were incredibly slippery in spots, but, carefully driving got me to work in twice the usual time; it took 12 minutes instead of six! ;)

Over the weekend with it snowing and being around 10 to 15 degrees I just wanted to stay inside the house. Danielle had her Odyssey of the Mind meeting Saturday, I must have been out of my mind to undertake the odyssey of taking a drive in total white out conditions (I shall post a picture of this today). Well, we made it, but, it was a ride literally fraught with danger. The Mustang is an excellent sports car and with it's all-weather tires it handles OK in snow. NOT a foot of snow, not during a blizzard, not when it is 10 degrees out, not when the development the coach lives in was barely plowed. When I went to pick her up 3 hours later it was even worse. It was snowing so hard that not only did I have to snow blow before I took Danielle out, I had to do it 2 and a half hours later when it was time to go pick her up.

I vowed to stay inside the remainder of the day but around 7PM Scott and Danielle wanted additional treats and convinced me to head out with them to the local grocery store. It was freezing, windy, and still snowing. I decided to tease the kids a bit and intended to do a fishtail coming out of the driveway. Imagine my surprise as we did a complete 360! In the few minutes we were in the store the car completely iced over.

Sunday we managed to stay indoors for the day other than myself going out and snow blowing. The X-wife was due home from Florida and she arrived with my older boy (who had been holding up at his Mom's house since he was going to be snow blowing there) around 6PM. I had offered to cook dinner for us all, but the X wanted to buy us dinner, so, in spite of my resolve to stay warm (and safe!) we headed out. It was fridged, windy, and snowing and the X's small car (with Scott, Danielle, and I crammed in the back seat) was hard pressed to have traction to proceed and we had the usual idiots going to slow or too fast driving around us (those that were foolhardy enough to be out!) to make matters even more fun!

The kids had wanted to eat at Red Robin, we parked and zoomed through the freezing weather only to find they had closed earlier because of the storm. We ran back to the car and ended up at Fridays. Danielle and I got the last 2 cups of hot chocolate and we had an enjoyable dinner and a frosty ride home!

201st Post

Well, the pressure was too great for the 200th post, so, what can I say??

200th Post

Yup, that's this one!

ARE YOU FREAKING CRAZY!!???orLet it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

I must have missed it on the news last night, but, when I awoke this AM to my usual ritual of groggily groping for the TV remote, and, after finding it, turning on the local news, it was snowing and had been for several hours. There were already 3 inches outside and unlike a couple of weeks ago when they had an inch or so of supposedly very icy ground covering and cancelled school, they did not today even though up to five inches more were expected.

Since the X is again out of town and I have had the kids for a week, I have been taking Scott and Danielle to school each morning since the bus stop is around the corner and down the street and thus not in view of the house. Add to that the cold weather, etc. I just feel better driving them and they like that I do it.

We headed out about five minutes early and the roads were not in good shape at all. However leaving a bit early was a good idea as we got there only a few minutes later than we would have on a normal departure time with very little traffic in front of us so I was able to keep up a safe and sensible speed without either

A - Some idiot in front of me driving five miles and hour because Oh my god there is snow on the road!!! What shall I do!!!!
or
B - Some idiot zooming around me or sliding off the road endangering me in an SUV or Four Wheel Drive vehicle without any brains at all thinking (picture this in goofy kind of voice) Gosh! Gee willikers! If I cans starts out easier on slippery roads in my four wheel drive I can stops faster too!

My logic paid off because int he 5 minute interval of dropping both Scott and Danielle off at their respective schools and heading back out to the roads I just traversed, there were now many care coming and they were doing about one-quarter of the speed I had been able to do minutes ago on the uncrowded roads.

I even got to work by the usual time I do when I drop the kids off to school, and it has been snowing steadily up until just about now (a bit after noon as I spend my lunch break at work blogging today) and some sun is just starting to peek out. There will be snow blowing after work for me and Chris, with his Mom out of town, will have to take care of her house.

We have videos and a game to return to Hollywood video, so, we will do that this evening and I will splurge and get the kids some fast food for dinner. Last night I made pasta and sun-dried tomato and basil meatballs and pasta with Parma Rosa sauce for Danielle and I. Scott had pasta with marinara sauce. As Chris has stayed home from school with his stomach bothering him, had had a banana and a bagel for his evening repast.

Oh! As to the ARE YOU FREAKING CRAZY!!! portion of the title of this post, as I was nearing the office there, in four inches of snow in the freezing cold was some, IMHO, IDIOT riding his bicycle! I can;t imagine how he was not falling every few feet, but had I not been afraid of startling him I would have put down the window and shouted ARE YOU FREAKING CRAZY!!!?? to him. not only was he endangering himself but what if he slipped and fell into traffic causing a car or cars to have an accident.

I also have an employee who is a nice guy and a talented worker, he drove 100 miles here, a good portion of it in the snow. He would get the runner up crazy award and I told him next time if he has any doubts as to conditions up here to give a buzz and he could work from home that day! Have to admire his dedication though!

I hope everyone is doing well! Still no word here on the GE buyout of my company but we should, I hope, hear some things soon. Anyway I had written this between 12 noon today and then added this note at 12:20: Oh! In the interval of when I started writing this and me finishing it up, the snow is back with a vengeance!

THEN When I tried to save it blogger was doing it's semi-regular "Can't talk to the server crap" so I saved all this text into a mail message and now am posting it from home around 4 hours later. Both boys are asleep on the couch...they will be woken soon as we will be departing in search of food!

I did have lots of fun snow blowing when I got home though, yay!

Happily Never After

Yesterday (Sunday) afternoon, the X called and invited me to go see Happily Never After with her, Scott, and Danielle. It was of course great to spend some additional time with them! The movie was OK, but not great. I did like the trailer I had seen, but evidently they used all the good (the only?) scenes to make the trailer, because I was expecting more. It would have been cheaper to wait for the rental, but both Scott and Danielle really liked it. So, for those with kids it's probably worth it from that point of view!

I was happy to hear that the voice of Cinderella was played by the Sarah Michelle Gellar former star of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, one of my all-time favorite shows.

Smiths Group plc Sells Aerospace Division to GE

Perfect Monday, cold, snowy and icy, and news at work this morning that our division has been sold to General Electric. Most people were flabbergasted by this news, and now begins the fun period (third time for me since starting to work here 27 years ago) of playing the "Will I have a new job after the transition is completed" game. Not one of my favorites, I must say!

Read about it here

Winter has finally arrived in Grand Rapids

We had half an inch of snow last evening, our first measurable snow since Dec. 7th. That’s a record for winter in Grand Rapids! In 2000, the first year we were living in Michigan, we had 96 inches of snow by the end of December, and more hammered us after that new year.

Thirty days without measurable snow beats the old record of 26 days set back in Jan.-Feb. 1919. Yesterday (Sunday) was also only the 2nd day in the past 29 that failed to reach 40 degrees! Normally by this time of year we have had quite a few days that were in the single digits.

Note however, our string of days with above average temperatures continues as the average high temperature for today is 30 and we’ve topped that…so today makes 30 days in a row with above average temperatures, though right now the average temperature is about 10 degrees cooler than this time yesterday, and 20 lower than the warmest day last week.

I remarked to Scott and Danielle this morning, that, as far as driving them to school was concerned I was glad they would be back at their Mom's this evening (I'll be picking her up from the airport later; She's been gone for 10 days down in Florida on business again) so I don't have to take them to school in the snow as they are predicting Nuisance Snow all week.

Nuisance Snow to me is less than an inch; just enough to make the roads dangerous. As we were heading to school this AM the radio was fraught with tails of terror of folks on medians on the highway, and down ditches and embankments.....why can't people just drive better? I still laugh at the idiots with four wheel drive vehicles! You know the ones I mean! Those stupid, drooling, Cro-Magnon low IQ types that think they will stop better than a car without four wheel drive!

Rest in Peace, John

I had the sad news Friday that my friend John passed away. I shall miss him and am pleased to think he has been reunited with his beloved wife who he missed so much.

Farewell, John!!!

My Friend John

I live in Michigan, so since his passing the news has been mostly about former President Ford since he was born here. While I feel for his family and those who know them, and I send my prayers and condolences their way, what about the average person that we never hear about?

Here on the day that President Ford's remains were arriving via Air Force One, it was something that had to be experienced! My company was on the route from the airport to the final resting place in the city, and you could not believe the number of police and spectators. There were helicopters too. In town for the interment there was a 21 gun salute and multiple fly-overs of 21 F-15 aircraft!

Again...what about the average person?

For example, I have a very good e-friend named John who I have know for over six years. Our first contact was when he e-mailed me to comment about one of my screen savers.

Over the years we e-mailed about computer, his sadness and subsequent coping over the loss of his wife of many years, my sadness over my divorce and the way it affected me and my three children, other issues, computers, and more. We exchanged jokes, pictures and kept in touch over the years, more so than most of the physical friends I had on the east coast. He read my blog on a regular basis and made suggestions for new screen savers and other ideas for my web site.

John was, a very good friend, and I was always happy to see a message from him in my inbox!

To make a long story short, his daughter sent out a message this week to everyone in his address book that John was now at home near death, with no hope of recovery after surgical procedures done in November of last year and the resultant complications. One of the last things he told her was he was ready to go and be with his wife and God. I was so distressed I could not reply for almost a day, but did, because she asked if anyone wanted to tell her how they knew her dad, her best friend as she called him, she would like to know. I am so saddened by this news and wished I had known him better and had gotten a chance to meet him in the real world.

I ask that everyone who reads this say a prayer for John and his family and friends.

Farewell my friend John! You will be missed!! May you find peace and joy in heaven!

New Years Daze

Well, we had fun at work on 12/28, we had a total Data Center outage planned so we could do some wiring the town's code required, we brought everything down in a controlled fashion. To make a long story short some equipment did not want to work and play nice with its neighbors so we had a rash of problems. Thank goodness for 24/7 shifts and good backups, all I can say is I need a vacation from my vacation break. The time between 12/26 and yesterday when we got the last system up and running seems like a cross between a blurred recollection of things that happened and a bad dream.....

ANYWAY....Happy New Year to All!

Update - To extrapolate further, for NY Scott, Danielle, and I stayed in. Chris went over to a friends house while the little ones and I alternated between watching TV together and them playing video games, we rang in the NY by watching the countdown at 11:55PM on the small TV in my room as the DVR was recording two shows. After hugs all around they vanished for another 30 minutes of video games, before we watched a Scrubs episode and I sent them to bed at 1AM on New Year's Day.