Sunday Stealing on a Monday because I’m too lazy to be on time
Day 2853
81. What’s your favorite action movie?
There are so many! “Braveheart” is up there, the original “Die Hard”, the most recent “Star Trek” was pretty good too.
83. Do you believe in lust at first sight?
Sure, but you can bet it isn’t always mutual.
84. Favorite type of venomous snake?
Which one lives furthest from me, the Black Momba, King Cobra, Coral? One of them.
85. Do you drink alcohol?
Ironically, I do. I am a beer snob, preferring craft brewed ales that satisfy after a pint or two and the occasional nip of bourbon.
87. What do you wear to feel sexy?
Imagination.
88. Do you like to learn?
All the time. Always looking for something new, or a new way to apply what I already know.
89. Have you ever been hit on by someone who really overestimated their attractiveness?
Constantly. I gotta beat them off with a stick.
90. Where did you last go on vacation?
Cancun, @ the Riu Caribe. Chincoteague Island up next.
91. Dallas (as in J.R. & Bobby) returns this week. What film or TV series would you loved to be resurrected?
Deep Space Nine
92. Explain your karma beliefs.
Really – there is no Karma. We just choose to believe that things that happen to us are caused by good or bad things we did in our past. Kind of a narcissistic point of view, isn’t it?
93. When do you think that you have a hard life?
I haven’t had a hard life. I don’t have as much as some, I have more comforts than others. I have had some trying days and suffered through some unfortunate circumstances. But no matter how bad I think I had it, I have never gone a day without a meal and I have never suffered abuse.
94. Favorite comic strip?
Far Side
95. Have you ever broken a heart?
Oh sure. Back during my dalliance, there was a time when I thought ending my marriage and running off with this other gal was just days away. Then I was shone the light and ended it all – with many tears and a lot of Kleenex.
96. Should pot be legalized?
Yup. Legalize it, tax it, treat it like alcohol.
97. Have you ever gone skinny dipping with someone that you shouldn’t have?
See # 95. I’m sure there was skinny dipping involved during the affair.
98. What do you do when you’re down?
Once I realize it, I find something to do to re-charge myself. Might be taking a little nap, might be doing a week of harder workouts.
99. Last time you were really angry?
When I got let go from my previous job. At first I was angry at them, then I was angry at me. Now? I do the safety testing on the products I used to design. How’s that for Karma?
100. What is your favorite flavor in general?
It’s a toss-up between the toasty nutty smoky spiciness of a good gumbo (like the one I make) or plain & simple vanilla.
Had a wonderful Fathers Day weekend. Got in a round of golf with Eric and his father in law at a new found gem of a course almost exactly half way between our homes. Already making plans to play there again next year, this time with Zach in tow.
Made plans to golf next Saturday with Zach as he was out of town at a wedding this weekend. Did talk to him Sunday when they got home – heard little Avery going completely bonkers in her jumper thingy. She really loves that thing.
Sunday I drained our 4000+ gallon pond, scooped out as many fish as I could (20+, only lost 4) and cleaned out 4 years of accumulated leaves, plant media, algae and fish poo. Then? I got to re-fill it. Managed to get the pumps back up & running and the fish back in by 6pm, but good golly, I am hurting today. The pond looks 100% better and really, when it’s pushing 90 degrees outside, what better job is there than playing in ones pond?
During golf Sunday, Eric’s FIL, John, gave me a very helpful tip for golf. I’d been having some issues with hooking the ball. Used to be with only one or two clubs (my hybrids) at first, then it migrated to me driver & 3-wood and has lately affected everything down to my 9 iron in varying degrees. Turns out it may have been my right wrist rolling over through contact, imparting a wee bit of bowling ball curve on my golf ball. He suggested I roll my right hand over so I’m seeing more of the knuckle on my index finger and less of the inner portion of the base of my thumb. Feels weird as hell, but I’m hitting everything straight now. Can’t wait to hit the course Wednesday.
Impressive Pet Tricks
Day 2754
Having a rough day? Check out this over acheiving pooch – it’ll instantly make you feel better, guaranteed.
I’ve been doing some internal grousing lately about, well – about balance. I haven’t had a whole lot of balance in the last 6 or 7 years. More really, but I don;t think I recognized it until 7 or so years ago.
Sure, I got fed up with my health & weight, quit smoking, went on a diet and lost a bazillion pounds. End result of that effort was increased isolation/distancing from the wife which had it’s own wicked side effects (hello, Ms. CL and those wonderful months of indulgence).
Got that straightened out (Good bye Ms. CL, hello marriage counseling). Now that our counselor has up & moved to Virginia (not the greatest thing for bi-weekly sessions), we’re left to our own devices. Hasn’t been all bad, we DID manage to learn how to deal with ourselves a little better. But through it all, my weight is up, my endurance is down and that bugs the shit outta me. I am working on both, but trying a new method. What worked so well before was a Nazi-like adherence to recording every (pre-weighed) morsel that entered my mouth and also recording every minute of serious heart pounding cardio and every ounce of weight or resistance training. It worked fantastically. If you know what goes in and work diligently at exercising, you can predict your weight loss track with alarming accuracy.
But the effort involved saps ones time. There is little time left for anything else. While I was doing all that weight loss I also remodeled the kitchen (again), replaced almost all of the windows in the house, was constantly tweaking things in the yard (hello 5000 gallon fish pond), AND we still had two kids in college. There was no time for being a couple in there apparently.
Now – to get where I want to be fitness wise will require the same effort, hopefully with less Nazis involved. But to retain balance in the family (or couple) life, I am foregoing re-roofing the house this year. Not going to re-paint the house either. Nope. Instead? Gonna hire someone to do it all. Roof, siding, vent work to correct ice damming issues, new gutters & new garage doors. The only finger I’m going to lift is to write the check.
Then I’m going to bike my butt off this summer. Biking, golfing and date nights. NO PROJECTS (except finishing the $%^@#!* pond).
That’s the plan. You with me?
Best Intentions . . .
Day 2300
2300 days with no smokes. That’s 6 years, 3 months, 2 weeks & 3 days. Or so. (If you do the math, don’t forget that 2008 was a leap year.)
On to my real subject – -
Yes, I’ve had the best of intentions.
But.
You may have heard – the weather out here on the east end of the Great Lakes can be described with 3 words: Lots of snow. Areas just south of Buffalo got 4 feet in a single day. We didn’t get hit that hard all in one shot, but we have been nickel & dimed into our own 2 feet of snow. Four inches here, another 6 there, 6 more on top of that – my smoker looks like it’s wearing a chef’s hat.
Had a small scare the other day. Opened the slider off the kitchen in order to get to the porch (on the way to the hot tub!). Didn’t hear the comforting gurgle of the pond pump re-circulating water. It’s absolutely necessary to keep the pump running so that some of the surface doesn’t freeze. The moving water helps to exchange gasses and is critical in keeping the fish alive over winter. Otherwise we’d end up with a bunch of fish sticks.
Anyhow. Visions of buying a new pump were floating through my head – to the tune of $300 for a pump big enough for our pond. But karma was smiling on me last night. Once I waded out to the pond (through more than knee deep snow) I could see that some of the surface was indeed not frozen and even moving. Turns out that the snow that had fallen raised the level of the pond to the point where it reached the end of the pump output hose. Since the flow from the hose was entering the pond below the water level, it was silent. I was very, very relieved. I also pulled the hose up a few inches to insure that it would stay clear of the water and always provide us an indication that is was (hopefully) running.
I have perhaps 8 pictures from our New Orleans trip ready to share. It’s just more than I can handle to get them loaded & captioned & html’d up during one lunch period. Which reminds me – work has been hell lately too. Busy as all get out, then on top of that, management decided that rather than have us just write up a summary of our accomplishments for the year, they wanted all the Director of Product Developments direct reports to see Power Point presentations from each of the rank & file engineers & designers. So on top of trying to keep up with the ungodly schedule we get forced into, we all lost a day or more prepping a dog & pony show that could have an impact on our jobs next year.
Bowling lately has been thrilling. Before we left for New Orleans I managed something gaudy like a 667 series with a 277 game thrown in. Had to take a week off for Thanksgiving, which kinda sucked a little, but that was more than offset by being able to watch the Saints game at Pat O’Brien’s, outdoors, wearing shorts, sipping a Hurricane. Yeah, that really sucked, not bowling that Thursday.
Anyhow, last week was another pretty decent week on the lanes. Started out ok, throwing exactly my average, 192. Followed that up with a 211 and closed with a solid 226 for a 629 series. The scary thing is that I’m getting a better feel for what my body position needs to be throughout all stages of the approach & delivery. What’s even scarier is that I’ve had some success in getting myself reset and back on track after an errant shot.
What I need to work on now is to quell the butterflies in the stomach when I get a string of strikes going. I can’t help but to get nervous & excited after throwing 4 or 5 in a row, and the adrenalin makes it harder to keep things under control. Today, if I get the chance, rather than getting all wobbly kneed and trying to avoid making a mistake, I want to maintain an air of aggressiveness – to go out and attack the lane like it owes me the next strike. The heck with this ‘avoiding a mistake’ – crank it up and throw it like you own it.
It’s a good theory. I’ll let you know how it works out.
Riding, Riding
Day 2157
Sunday I finally got out and got in a decent length training ride. The ride map looked like this:
Wheatland Hills II
Find more Bike Rides in Wheatland-chili, New York
Compared to what I hope to ride in a coupe weeks with my cousin, this is a cake walk. So, to better prepare for that challenge, I am hoping to be able to drive to a lovely little town in the Finger Lakes called Canandaigua and tackle this beastie:
Canadaigua Loop
Find more Bike Rides in Canandaigua, New York
This 46 mile course packs in nearly as much climbing as what the cuz & I are planning on in this 62 mile ride:
2010 Tour of the Battenkill
Find more Bike Rides in Cambridge, New York
By the way, the notes for embedding the maps mentioned something about IE only. If you’re a bit of a rebel and use Fire Fox, like me, the maps might be all hosed up. Had to try it though. Ok. Enough pimping Map My Ride, eh?
How about them fishes? Yes, it was sad to lose the two orfe last week, but the third guy (or girl) is doing swimmingly. Plus, we have the three orfe that we bought earlier this year, not knowing that our original three managed to have puppies this spring. That created the micro-Armada of 4 teeny-tiny orfe that tend to school together. (In a school of fish, you do not need to be the fastest to survive. You only need to NOT be the slowest.) Now it seems they are big enough to be out of consideration as a tasty morsel for their bigger brethren.
Besides the orfe hatchlings this spring, it looks like 10 or 12 comet/shibunkin/koi hybrids that hatched last year are doing quite well too. That would be the mini-armada. Now that we’re in mid-summer the water is crystal clear. All these little (1” – 2” long) fish are easier to see. I really ought to sort through the dozens & dozens of pictures I have and post a few. That would be a lovely project for a quiet weekday evening. When I get one.
Attended an impromptu party Friday night. It was my youngest brothers last day with his former employer. His wife got in contact with me & Lefty and we all (brothers & their wives) gathered at a local microbrewery that specializes in German cuisine. So what did I have? Scotch Ale (originated in Scotland) and a grilled pastrami sandwich. Not a lick of German cuisine in sight. Oh, wait! I did have German Potato salad as my side. Whew! Didn’t think I could have been so harsh towards half my ancestors.
That little impromptu party exposed a weak spot though. Not sure who really owns this particular anomaly. No, wait. That’s a not true. I DO know who owns it, I DO know who needs to do something about it, and I DO know neither of those people is me. A certain blond spouse of mine has never admitted to anyone beyond our immediate family (myself, the boys and their s.o.’s) that she’s attended even one AA meeting or that she really ought to consider giving up alcohol altogether.
So Friday night was a lost cause. Had a few pops at the restaurant, went to my brother house and had a few more, then wandered home and had a dip in the tub. At midnight. Apparently clothing was optional because I STILL can’t find the belt I was wearing that night. Everything else has come through the laundry since then, but no belt. Odd. Although ow a missing belt implies nudity in the tub I can not say. I CAN tell you there was no hanky-panky happening though. Dammit
Saturday evening we did dinner & a movie. Or movie & a dinner. Saw “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice”. If you REALLY want to see it, wait for it on DVD. The movie production was ok, the special effects were pretty good, but the story line was tame, dull, obvious, cliché, and yes, there was even a scene scripted right out of Fantasia starring mops and out of control water. Plus, Nicholas Cage played the same character he’s played in his last umpteen movies – the “I’m so much smarter than you, you need me around just to keep you alive and maybe you can learn shit from me via osmosis” guy. (“National Treasure” or “The Rock” anyone?)
Sunday I got in that bike ride in the morning. 36.6 miles in just over 2 hours. I was disappointed by how sore my legs were afterwards. Especially my right quad. He was starting to complain after only 30 miles or so. Have spin class tonight with a very good instructor. Think I’ll take advantage and make myself do hill climbs every opportunity I get. She may look at me funny, but if she’s really curious about what I was up to, she’ll ask after class. (There are some tense {in a temporal, grammatical sense} issue with that last thought, but I gotta get to work.)
Oooh. Just got a bummer of a message. My 5th or 6th surrogate mom, a friend from Al Anon meetings, passed away this morning. I knew she was ill, but her passing comes as a bit of a shock. Have to keep an eye open for her calling hours. Everyone loved Stell in one way or another. She was a great sharer of the program.
RIP Little Orfe’n Annies
Day 2151
Hi and welcome to Wednesday Wickedness. We are like other memes in that we will ask you ten questions each and every Wednesday. But our little “twist” is that each week we will pick a famous person and pick ten of their quotes. Each of our questions will be based on the quotes. Got it? Great! Let’s begin this week’s meme!
Today we picked George Steinbrenner (who passed away Tuesday morning at age 80). Here’s Wednesday Wickedness!
The man we loved to hate. All he wanted to do was win, at any price.
1. “But why shouldn’t I speak out? Don’t you speak out in this country?” Do you speak out as often as you should?
Not nearly enough.
2. “I am tough. Sometimes I’m unreasonable. I have to catch myself every once in a while.” Are you ever tough and unreasonable?
Tough, yes. Unreasonable – at times. Both at once? Hardly ever.
3. “I haven’t always done a good job, and I haven’t always been successful – but I know that I have tried.” Do you believe that sometimes you learn more from a failure than a success?
Absolutely. Sometimes being successful all the time can lead to complacency and a lack of humility.
4. “Winning is the most important thing in my life, after breathing. Breathing first, winning next.” Do you feel that you always have to win?
Competing well, doing ones best, is important. Winning? Not all it’s cracked up to be. Sometimes you learn more from losing.
5. “It is unbelievable to me that the highest-paid team in baseball would start the season in such a deep funk.” Do you think money always buys greatness?
Definitely not, and the Yankees are the best example of that. He paid some of his players too well and they lost their hunger.
6. “I take my last phone call at home at about 11pm.” What time is too late to call you?
Depends on who’s calling and what for. If it’s a quickie, say to finalize plans for the next day, 10 or 11 is ok. If you’re wanting to shoot the shit, 9 might be too late. Then there are the calls no one wants to get – “Uhhh, This is (Father-in-laws senior living facility) and your Dad is seriously losing his shit. Can you come over and talk to him?” Those calls usually came at 1 or 2 in the morning. Not nice.
7. “Don’t talk to me about aesthetics or tradition. Talk to me about what sells and what’s good right now.” Do you think tradition matters?
Tradition absolutely matters. Honoring the memory of those who have gone before us is important. We need to know where we were in order to appreciate where we are.
8. “And what the American people like is to think the underdog still has a chance.” Do you tend to root for the underdog?
I root for whoever the Yankees are playing. (And yes, I’m from New York. Not the City, but still . . .) Beyond that, everybody is a sucker for the underdog, me included.
9. “I don’t think I ever could exceed my father’s successes. He was a completely satisfied man, he knew what he wanted to accomplish and he accomplished it. I did do a lot, though, to try to please him.” Do you ever feel that you want to exceed your parents successes?
In education, career and material possessions I have. Does that make me a better person? I don’t think so.
10. “I’m really 95 percent Mr. Rogers, and only 5 percent Oscar the Grouch.” In terms of cartoon characters, who are you like?
80% Foghorn Leghorn, 10% Tweety, 5% Yosemite Sam, 5% Marvin the Martian.
Thanks for checking out our Wednesday craziness. We hope you join us again. Please visit our other player’s posts and make a comment. Join us next week for our next meme!
In real entry type matters, I’ve started entries but found myself getting lost as I dug deeper. I’ve had to drop the shovel two or three times. I think I’m nearing a crossroads. Progress is slow, but patterns are emerging.
I don’t know if it’s paranoia on my part, but it seems to me that a lot of the things that are happening are all for a reason. Some things are being done to make it seem like too much of a loss to ever leave the house. Other things are being done/planned to keep me from raising a stink and calling BS on certain people. Then there are the things I’ve been asked to put aside for the good of the relationship, but when I look at the ONE THING I asked for, I’m not getting satisfaction.
That, in a nutshell, is what I’ve been mulling lately. Have a session with Janine (couples counselor) tonight. I’m not sure how much of this I really want to share in the couples portion just yet. I think that goes back to my answer for Question #1 above.
In more mundane news, we thought we’d lost a Golden Orfe to a heron. Cindy had reported seeing only 2 of our larger Orfe when she fed them one afternoon. Later that evening, I checked and saw only one – immediately jumping to the conclusion that we’d lost another to the heron. (For the record, when it’s feeding time the Orfe are the first fish to grab a bite. They are very aggressive feeders and will actually plow through other fish to get to a piece of kibble.)
The next morning, I saw an Orfe floating upside down in amongst some lily leaves. The other two were happily munching away at their breakfast. So no loss to heron at least. But why did the one die?
For the past week, a second big Orfe has been acting poorly. It kept hidden under the lilies, wouldn’t eat, and even resisted the urges of the other Orfe to come out and play. (Orfe are schooling fish, often racing with each other to and fro across the pond. Very entertaining fish to watch). Last night, Orfe #2 was doing the upside down pose.
These two were only 4 years old. I’d read where they live up to 30 years in captivity. I’m wondering if a screw up on my part a couple weeks ago isn’t the culprit. The pond was low. I dropped a garden hose in and let it run, with the intention of turning it off in an hour or so. That night I actually had to wake up and pee. Then I went downstairs to get a drink. Heard water running still, long after the toilet should have finished filling. That’s when it struck me – I left the damn hose running! So there I am, nekkid as a jaybird, dashing out to the side of the house at 3am so I can shut off the hose I forgot 6 hours earlier.
Not my dead Orfe, but the resemblance is amazing.
Anyhow, I think the overdose of chlorine was detrimental to the fish’s gills. It’s possible that mature Orfe are more susceptible as it doesn’t seem to have bothered the koi, comets or shibunkins.
Another thing I noticed (and I have pictures for later) our Orfe spawned this spring. We have 4 leetle teeny Orfe I’ve taken to calling the Micro Armada as they tend to travel in a group. Also – maybe a dozen or so of the comet/shibunkin/koi crosses that hatched last year are still hanging in there. It’s only been recently that the water has been clear enough to really see the little buggers. They’re still barely an inch long, but many of them have the distinctive shibunkin calico type coloring. Hope they keep keepin’ on.
I can’t lie either – that nekkid dash to turn off the garden hose was kind of exciting in a naughty way. Glad it was 3am. Even Gladder that the local police didn’t just happen to be cruising by at the time. Thin I’ll be limiting future nekkid sprints to the 10 feet from the porch door to the Hot Tub Time Machine.
Linkorama
Day 1873
Great article. Sadly, it’s probable nothing will come of it.
Stole this from Roxie. One word answers though? I’ll shoot for <3. (Oh – no, that’s not a heart. It’s less than 3)
1. Where is your cell phone? Pocket (it’s on vibrate. Call me!!)
2. Your hair? cuttable
3. Your mother? Jehovah
4. Your father? Heaven
5. Your favorite food? Gumbo
6. Your dream last night? forgotten
7. Your favorite drink? Stout/porter
8. Your dream/goal? Serenity
9. What room are you in? Da cube
10. Your hobby? Too many projects
11. Your fear? (humorous answer: Too many projects. Real, rule following answer: dissolution)
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Progressing
13. Where were you last night? Bowling
14. Something that you aren’t? Complicated
15. Muffins? cornbread
16. Wish list item? Bike
17. Where did you grow up? Chili (the “i’s” are both long, as in ‘eye’) P
18. Last thing you did? click
19. What are you wearing? Jeans
20. Your TV? HD
21. Your pets? Fishies
22. Friends? Need more
23. Your life? worthwhile
24. Your mood? simmering pissed offedness
25. Missing someone? My best friend
26. Vehicle? Escape
27. Something you’re not wearing? jewelry
28. Your favorite store? Beers of the World
29. Your favorite color? Burnt Auburn
30. When was the last time you laughed? What is this ‘laugh’?
31. Last time you cried? A wedding
32. Your best friend? lost
33. One place that I go to over and over? My spot in the woods.
34. One person who emails me regularly? Only 1?
35. Favorite place to eat? Dinosaur
Hmmm. I made as many of the answers as possible clickable. Not all of them really translated to a single image or idea very well. At least in MY head.
Before lunch wraps up – been having this lovely email chat with Cindy. I know something is bothering her (wonder what? – add as much sarcasm as you can to that) but she won’t just come clean and say it. She wants me to play some silly guessing game – which will be brought up Monday with Janine. I guarantee. Silly, bullshit manipulations.
Anyhow. Back to this meme thing. Better answers to a few questions.
#3 – Yeah, my mom is a Jehovah’s witness. I’m over it. It’s also one of the reasons I profess to be agnostic.
#4 – Dad passed away 11/6/93, congestive heart failure as a result of diabetes. He was only 58. I miss him a lot, but know he’s better off where he is rather than here suffering the effects of diabetes. He went a long way towards improving himself physically, but all too late. His dad? Same thing @ 59. Hope I’m the trend breaker.
#5 – I save smoked turkey when we do one and use that in the gumbo along with 2 – 2.5 quarts of saved turkey stock. The boost from the smoked turkey is suh-weeet!
#6 – most dreams I forget within a few moments of waking. Some of the dreams that seem to occur just before waking are remembered longest. I still remember some of the weirder dreams I had as a kid when I was suffering fevers due to tonsillitis and flu. Oddly, in some of those dreams textures are more vivid than sights.
#33 – not the view from my tree stand, but this is remarkably similar. The peace & solitude of just sitting there is very rejuvenating. Sometimes it’s a shame that a deer comes by and disturbs the mood.
#35 – I know I’ve linked this place before. If ANY readers are EVER in Rochester, I will gladly treat you to a trip to the Dinosaur. Hell, if you’re in Syracuse, I’ll drive there to meet ya too!
Sunday Morning Quickie (relatively)
Day 1841
Isn’t that a favorite for everyone – the Sunday morning quickie? The house is quiet, coffee is brewing, the sound of the pond waterfall gurgling wafts in through the screen. I have an hour or so to whip up a quickie post while Cindy is off to the store trying to beat the church crowd to grocery shopping.
What did you think I was referring to?
Since it IS Sunday morning, I thought I’d cough up a confession.
This summer, I read a trashy novel. We were at the airport, cleared security with tie to spare. I stopped in the ubiquitous Hudson News, looking for something to read to pass the time on the plane flights. Settled on an old favorite – found “Cell” by Stephen King. Decent summer reading – doesn’t require a whole lot of thought, just have to follow the story. Read some on the way down, read some while lounging by the pool. Nearly finished it. On the way home, I managed to pack it in my checked bag rather than my carry on. Brilliant. With about 4 hours idle time looming in front of me, I hit up the news stand again. This time? Even worse! Cindy is collecting the Harry Potter series. Didn’t have the last book. How that happened, I’ll never know. But the situation is remedied now.
I’m current on all the Harry Potter movies, but this is the first of the books I’ve read. If this book is like the others, then I can see where the movies fail to communicate some of the nuances Rowling uses in her writing. I think too that in this last installment the main characters are more adult like. Perhaps that will carry over to film better. Perhaps splitting this into two movies will also help. No spoilers from me though. Haven’t quite finished it yet either. Soon.
The pond. Good lord, we’re going to be over run. The water has cleared up to the extent that I can see details clearly on the bottom now. That’s also helped my to spot the graduates of this springs fry hatch. The other day, in one swell foop (yes I know) I spotted 6 8 unique little orange, orange/white, orange/brown little jobbers, in the 1 to 1.5 inch range. Some of the braver (dumber?) ones even come out and have a go at the food pellets. Kinda funny watching them push around a food pellet that weighs nearly as much as they do. Scary thing is that an Orfe could come along after the pellet and inadvertently (or not) suck up the LOJ (little orange jobber).
With the water being so much clearer I’ve also spotted 5 9 unique little green jobbers also in the 1 to 1.5 inch class. Before, the water had just enough cloudiness to it that the green/gray guys literally swam under the radar. Now their cover has been blown. That makes 11 17 new fish this year, plus the 8 that survived from last year, plus the (lemme think . . .) 10 big guys (and obviously girls too) that remain from the original pond. It might be time to start culling a few of the green jobbers. From what I’ve read, they’re probably mule hybrids of koi and whatever else was fertile this past spring. They can’t breed anymore, but they’re a drain on the ponds resources.
Ok – my morning reverie got snapped like a dry twig. Apparently the grocery store wasn’t very crowded. Got stuff done today. Did the exterior trim on that powder room window I swapped out last week. Noticed a little bee problem over by the garage eave. Saw a bunch of yellow jackets zipping in and out of a small opening. Got a can of raid and got medieval on them. When I sprayed in one side, I saw a bunch come out a different opening. Sprayed that too. That got about 50 of the little buggers. I went through another can of bug juice just spraying the ones that were coming back from foraging. By dinner time, I racked up 125 bees (yes, I counted).
Then, taking advantage of bees evening dormancy, I restocked on bug juice, rigged some flood lights and cut a small (2 inch) opening into the eave of the garage. Found a nest like a paper wasp nest, just not in a nice round ball shape. It looks worse now after being soaked in Raid. Another 100+ came out, 4 or 5 looked like egg layers., there were several that looked like some sort of internal worker bee, and hordes of workers. Judging by the appearance of the worker bees, I think they were eastern yellow jackets. At least I don’t expect to find any honey. Monday morning I plan on opening up the remainder of the eave. I need to know if I got all the bees. Been kinda lucky so far – 236 dead yellow jackets, no stings.
Lila – not to worry. I’ve made my arrangements for the end of September. As far as Cindy going to Europe in the spring – I won’t be getting cheated. I see a summers worth of golf coming, starting with that trip to Europe. I also think that before then things will come to a head again.
Today wasn’t bad, but I know for certain that the first glass of wine was poured well before noon. After that it seemed to be a steady burn. Semi-well managed, but losing ground all day. Eric got out of work early, decided to head for his girlfriends for the holiday, leaving Cindy & I on our own. I think Cindy was hoping for some sepia romantic evening, but she was drunk enough that I just wasn’t interested.
Eh. I need to hit the hay. Gotta go play with bees in the morning. Or what’s left of them, I hope.
All Over the Place
Day 1838
This is the Bikinfool’s once a decade public service announcement.
I’ve seen quite a few aluminum water bottles over the last few years. People thought they were getting away from the BPA that can leach out of the polycarbonate (a type of plastic) variety.
Oops. Read here:
The good news is that the company is offering a free exchange. The bad news is that they were aware of the BPA’s in the liners for quite a while before they did anything about it – including admitting they knew. Oops again.
The pond is recovering nicely. I think I need to get a set of measuring cups dedicated to the use of pond related chemicals. Saturday, while rushing through things a bit (in the rain) I kinda OD’d the pond on algaecide. You know how a pool reacts to algaecide when you dose it right? You get a bit of foaming when you agitate the water. It usually breaks up pretty quickly. But when a pond gets oohhh, about triple the normal dose, you not only get foaming upon agitation, it doesn’t break down. The waterfalls? Lovely agitation. All. The. Time. By Sunday morning, the pond looked like a giant bubble bath. I could literally scoop the bubbles out with my skimmer net.
So. Sunday morning I pumped out several thousand gallons while I also added fresh water from the tap (and water conditioner for chloramine treatment). Sunday & Monday the fish kinda refused to eat. The water was kinda cloudy and they seemed to want to hang out in the deeper areas. Some sort of stratification going on? Was the deeper water more to their liking? Beats me. Tuesday evening, while I was playing Rochester area Al-Anon Info Services newsletter editor, Zach texted me that the fishies were finally coming up to eat. Last night, the water was definitely looking better and you know what? The algae is gone. Even the stuff growing on the liner. All I really wanted to kill was the stuff suspended in the water, making it cloudy. What I really need is mo better biological filtration. More plants to suck up all the nutrients out of the water so the algae beasties don’t get a chance to proliferate. Next year.
Chaperoning season has begun at school. That leaves me evenings at home alone, well, once the kids are out & on their own again. Anyone up for some evening dinner parties? I’ll cook, promise! I need something to keep me out of trouble.
Today Eric is off to Syracuse again for part, what, five? of this Onondaga County Dept. of Custody approval process. Today he gets to do a physical, then when the results are faxed, called, sent along, he gets to go to another separate office for the psyche evaluation. He spent Monday & Tuesday east of Syracuse camping with Kelly’s family, drove home so he could work Wednesday, has to drive back for testing today, and come back and work the next 3 days. He and his car are getting run ragged.
Accidentally created a nice marinade last night. Well – maybe it wasn’t an accident, but it certainly turned out better than I expected. Zach and I were bemoaning the fact that here we get all this venison to eat and we rarely get to have any because our respective gals aren’t all that fond of it. Tastes too gamey they say. Bull puckey I say, but I’m not going to force them.
Anyhow, last night we took advantage of the fact that A – I found a pack of pork chops with only 2 in it, and B – Zach & I were both willing and able to have some venison. Venison loin chops to be exact. You know – to go with the pork loin hops the gals were having. The pork loins got the typical treatment 1.5 hours before cooking, lightly salted, fresh ground black pepper and a light dusting of garlic powder. Covered ‘em up and let them get happy in the fridge till cooking time. For the venison chops, I did this (measurements very approximate):
¼ cup EVOO (that’s extra virgin olive oil for the uninitiated)
¼ cup Tabasco Soy sauce (New to me – found it in New Orleans, got some & drug it home – just like a deer!)
1 tsp garlic powder (wouldda used 2 cloves fresh, but I was lazy) (There is no such thing as too much garlic!)
1 tsp dried thyme
A dash of Tabasco (or 2, 3, 4 . . .)
Several grinder turns of black pepper
(No additional salt. The soy sauce has plenty!)
Whisk together. Place loin chops in a freezer bag, pour marinade in, seal bag. Massage it a bit to get everything covered. Let it sit in the fridge getting happy with the pork chops.
After an hour or so, grill to your choice of doneness. I combined it with garlic smashed taters (with seriously sharp cheddar AND Asiago cheeses – heavenly! – but load up in moderation) and steamed dill carrots.
The venison was excellent. Maybe a tad overdone (medium is over done for venison), but the marinade kept it from getting dry. Even with all our moaning & drooling, we couldn’t talk the gals into trying even a bite, but they were also pretty pleased with their own pork loin chops. Mmmmmm – Pork fat!!
Today for lunch I got to have the leftover venison mixed with rice and some left over stir fry veggies from a night or two ago. Added a touch more soy (light sodium variety), celery seed, more garlic, a little of Emeril’s Essence (home made mix), maybe ½ tsp of sesame oil and a teaspoon or so of my mesquite smoked dried habanero flakes. Oh lordy –they hurt so good!
Side note – know what’s almost as good as Viagra? Chopping up a bunch of habaneros, then when you’re done realizing you have to pee, but like normal you wash your hands after the dirty deed. Mr. Happy will NOT be thanking you later. And no – I didn’t share the joy of my new found ‘burning desire’. I can not imagine getting capsaicin, well, there. It was quite enough getting it on an external part. Just one more instance when a little latex would have kept Mr. Happy safe!
Went bowling tonite – season starts next week. After a warm up game I had 200, 211, 178. Didn’t suck.
Tried to sneak in an update via crackberry earlier, but my work building kinda ate the signal. The big news is that al these trips to Syracuse for Eric have paid off. Pending the results of the drug test he took this afternoon, he officially has a spot in the academy. So we now have an Onondaga County Sheriff’s Deputy Cadet in residence. Until he leaves to go to the academy. Then, well, we can only claim he’s in the family. But still . . . the culmination of 18 months of work for the guy. Couldn’t be more proud. I’m even buying him a beer when he gets home tonite!
TMI Tuesday Holdover
Day 1802
1. The three words that best describe you are attention, deficit, and disorder.
2. The three words that best describe your life are boringly regular shit.
3. Your three guilty pleasures are anything peanutty, almost anything chocolate and watching Survivor.
4. The three places you would like to visit before you die are Alaska, Yellowstone and Scotland (and Death Valley, Grand Canyon, Big Sur, Yosemite . . .)
5. The three things you would like to do before you die are bungee jump/skydive, learn the secret to eternal happiness and discover the fountain of youth.
That’s wasn’t so bad now, was it? I could have been a LOT naughtier with that last one, but I thought it best to stick with a family rate type answer. (Yes, it was THAT bad).
Cindy and I are playing a little game (a good one), where we have this list of questions numbered from 1 to 60. We each pick 10 questions at random. Once the questions are picked, we read and answer all 20, out loud. Sometime we know the answer the other one will give. Often, we learn a little about the other. It occurred to me while I was filling out the TMI Tuesday thing that these would be great questions for our little game. Janine (our counselor) and one of the book authors (John Gottman) call this ‘love mapping’ – going back and rediscovering what makes your spouse, partner or significant other tick.
Yeah – I’m quick like that. I’ve only seen these things for what, years? And it just now occurs to me that they might come in handy in figuring out the freakin person I’m married to (for 27.9506 years!!)
When we were talking with Janine Monday, I had mentioned taking one or more of the books we’ve been studying to New Orleans with us. Cindy looked at me like I was crazy, but Janine said it was a good idea. There would be plenty of down time (airports, airplanes, evenings in The Quarter, maybe a quiet afternoon in one of the gardens or parks . . .) where you wouldn’t need to have the book right with you, but it would be an opportunity to explore some of those questions. Might be a good idea to go exploring the TMI Tuesday and, Friday Fill In sites and harvest some questions. I could just print them out and keep a copy handy in a back pocket. Anybody know of any other sites like that?
Ummmm – I’ve discovered that our fish are cliquey. Especially the newest ones, although that may be a defense mechanism. I noticed that the new guys tend to hang out with fish the same size/age (days or weeks of difference I’m thinking). That probably reduce the odds that you’ll be eaten by your playmates. If they were to hang out with the big guys, well, lets just say that koi tend to eat what ever they can get into their mouths. As proof, I will offer up the little tidbit that while there are great tussles over any stray worms I might throw in the pond, only the koi will scarf down the slugs. I’d say that’s proof of their lack of pickiness. Ugh.
This weekend we’re off to the Pocono’s area for a family reunion. One of Cindy’s unks lives near Jim Thorpe, so we’re going to go terrorize eastern Pa. for a few days. Provided we survive, I’ll offer up a report on the state of that section of the world.
Plans vs. Reality
Day 1794
I was thinking of reviewing my plans for the weekend as revealed on last weeks Friday Fill In (FFI). But maybe the ‘versus’ isn’t the right way to look at this. Who wins in the struggle of Plans vs. Reality? Ultimately, reality has to win. Doesn’t matter what you plan, you did what you did. Not much to contest then, is there?
So what did I did?
Friday night blog surfing? Check.
Saturday plant moving and quality couples time? Ahhhh – nope. Ended up putting a new water faucet on the back of the house to replace the one we lost when the porch was built. Had one on the side, but it’s not in a great location and you need about 100 feet of hose just to water the plants on what’s left of the patio. So the new faucet got done. I had intended to get one put in, just not this weekend.
As for the quality couples time? Don’t know what happened there. Cindy just, I don’t know. Had a bug up her ass all day. Couldn’t get her to open up, share, respond, nothing. In these counseling sessions she remarks that I never initiate conversations (unless it has to do with dinner), never share any deep thoughts, never even show any range of emotions about anything. I told her (and the counselor) that I pride myself on keeping an even keel, not letting my emotions get too high or too low. Well. Cindy says she’s done stuff, started arguments, etc. just to try and get a rise out of me – just to see if I’ll react to anything. I do, I just don’t let it get out of hand.
So Saturday afternoon, while she’s acting all stand-offish and cold and unresponsive, I threw a hissy fit. Didn’t do any good Saturday, but things eased up some Sunday. Still have no idea why. But the quality couples time? Went out to a local restaurant, used a gift certificate we had. Excellent food, good service. Big birthday party going on in the same room. 4 generations (I think) of family. Kids. Loud. Impossible to really have a conversation. We took Eric with us too (had to, to use up the certificate amount), so between the party, bad attitudes and our couple with 3 people in it – nah – no quality couples time to be had.
Sunday. Sleep in? If 7:30 counts as sleeping in then yes, I did.
Golf? Yep. Had a great front 9. 4 or 5 pars, ended up shooting a 39 on the front. (Executive course, par was 32 – don’t get too excited). Back 9? Brain farts. Kept hitting into trees, kept thinking I could wedge the ball through, around or over obstacles, never succeeded. Finally, the last 4 holes I started keeping the ball in play and salvaged a decent round. Almost screwed up the last hole. 265 yards, so I hit a 3 wood rather than driver. Still drove it past pin high, just to the right of the green. Chipped to within 8 feet and dropped the birdie putt. Perfect way to end a round – now I REALLY want to go back.
Saw a movie? Nope. Actually, Saturday I asked Cindy if she wanted to go out and see the new Harry Potter flick that evening. Her response was that she didn’t want to sit in a theater while the weather was nice & the sun was shining. After dinner? She spent the entire day indoors anyhow and really, the only reason we went out to dinner was because while I was putting in the new faucet thingy Cindy was watching HGTV or DIY and hadn’t thought to get a freakin thing out for dinner.
Still don’t know what happened Sunday to change her attitude. Retail therapy while I was golfing? She got 6 new perennials – Black-Eyed Susans, a different kind of Coral Bells, a different Coreopsis, another different Yarrow, False Spirea and, and, – oh yeah – her boss gave her a sapling of Wisteria. The Wisteria has somehow sprouted the need for an arbor which has somehow sprouted a new project on the “to do” list. At least I got the dang faucet put in, so they kind of cancel each other. Sort of.
Later now . . . (like Tuesday)
Counseling session was interesting. I brought up how I was frustrated by Cindy’s lack of interest in life Saturday – the (studied) lack of response, just general lack of participation in things. I also mentioned how I thought that somehow her attitude was light years better on Sunday, after I’d spent the day (well, 5 hours) golfing with the boys and she got her retail therapy at the garden store – buying me a Black Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia). (I’d mentioned Saturday how I’ve come to accept that we don’t have any Rudbeckia even though I swore we got some last year.)
Then yesterday (Monday) I was ruminating on the weekend and a nagging little thought re-surfaced. The same thought I’d had Saturday while tossing my pathetic little hissy fit. I was being manipulated. Friday evening, Saturday, Sunday morning – all of it was intentional. Cindy even admitted as much during our session – that she was pleased to finally see that she could get some range of emotional response out of me. Beyond that, she was all, “Gee, I don’t really remember being unresponsive, or there being much of a tense atmosphere all weekend. I don’t understand what you’re talking about.” Basically, she’s refusing to take responsibility for her actions.
Oh! Another good one. Cindy admitted to feeling like she’s always under suspicion, like we’re always watching her, waiting for her to slip up and have yet another drink. She worries that she’s going to get caught.
I related a real quick little anecdote about how I thought it was funny that when you’re in a group of cars all doing the speed limit – everybody slows down as soon as they see a cop. Why? You’re doing the speed limit, doing nothing wrong, why get all paranoid? Janine, to her credit, said the same thing – if you’re doing nothing wrong, why are you so paranoid?
So. After the couples session I had the luxury of having a 1 on 1 with Janine. It was really interesting deconstructing the couples session. It is becoming apparent to me that I am not really in counseling for me – I’m there to learn how to deal with Cindy. What my counseling/therapist teams are saying is most drinkers/addicts stop maturing emotionally once they establish their addiction, so in Cindy’s case, this could be as early as her late teens. I need to look at this like I’m dealing with a teenager. Most importantly, I need to not react to the manipulations, but respond in a very measured way – and keep myself above the fray. My own behavior needs to be such that nothing I do (like *ahem* Ms. CL) can be used as an excuse to justify shitty behavior on Cindy’s part.
Then, the sucky part. How long? How long before I decide that there hasn’t been sufficient progress? How long before Cindy faces a consequence of some significance? My role? Keep my nose clean, lead by example, support Cindy’s AA effort. What I’ve tried to do for the last 18 months. More of the same.
Bowling starts in 6 weeks. Yay!!
Please, No.
Day 1788
Went and saw The Bob yesterday. Showed him pictures of the kids wedding. Don’t think it mattered for two reasons: 1 – he didn’t have his, or anyone else’s glasses on so he couldn’t see for shit, and 2 – he probably had no memory of the event by the time Cindy & I got off the elevator on the ground floor. It’s a 5 floor ride.
But we felt we had to do it, just to assuage our own feelings of guilt. Even though the nurses & social workers tell us there’s no point in feeling guilty, nor is there any need to visit with any regularity. You do it because you want to – not because you HAVE to.
Reason 13,748 why my boys have instructions to tie me up in my treestand should I get ‘that way’: I noticed yesterday that Bob was sort of picking at the seat of his pants after he stood up. I also noticed a certain need to avoid walking behind him. An olfactory need. Granted, he’s in Depends or some such device, but I don’t want to have to do that, so please, just tie me to my treestand and walk away. We can only hope it’s February.
Well. On to brighter news.
Brighter. Hmmm. Got lotsa plants moved around the pond. Pulled some hosta’s out from under the Douglas Firs in back and parked them in the shade on the north edge of the pond. Some ferns that survived an experiment that went poorly got relocated under a mini Japanese maple that’s also slightly shaded by a big Norway Maple. Also plopped down a few Armeria(?- Sea Thrift I think) along the edge of the pond that faces the house/porch along with some Creeping Thyme (edible even). Still have much to move, and much of what was moved really won’t be right till next year. Sucks that most all of it got moved while it was in blossom, but they’re perennials, I’m sure they’ll be fine next year.
One little experiment that went well was grabbing some water hyacinth (legal to use up here in the tundra as winter is sure to kill it off should it get out in the wild) and getting it to lodge into some nooks & crannies in the stream.
They blossomed within a day of each other after a couple of weeks in the stream:
(right click and “view image” This doesn’t seem to want to adapt to the larger image size. Knew I shoud have formatted them smaller. Oh well)
View up the stream. 2 hyacinth flowering simultaneously!
Messing with the Fstop to shorten the focal field. Artsy fartsy.
Contrasted with rocks, a cool grass, a pagoda that finally has a home and a variety of yarrow:
Looking across the stream, back across the pond.
This has quite possible become my favorite flower of all time:
Quite possible my new favorite flower
I am SO glad it isn’t an invasive species up here. Only problem is it can take a while before it flowers and it doesn’t always flower profusely up here. I was surprised to see two flowering simultaneously. Gonna have to remember to stick a couple in the stream earlier next year . . . Plus, they’re great filter feeders, so long as the koi don’t go bat shit and eat all the roots . . .
Another couples session tomorrow. It’ll be interesting. They always are. My therapist teams and I have decided on a coping strategy for dealing with Cindy’s forays into drinking. Boils down to “less is more” and includes making sure I keep myself on the high road. No passive/aggressive nonsense, no negative response to button pushing, no sarcasm/cynicism – really have to try and be a model citizen.
Off to bed, more zoo-like work conditions tomorrow. Seems crazier AFTER we launch a new product.
Diving in again
I’m posting this for Betty. It’s a meme she had on her site. I’m only like 5 days late, but that the heck . . .
1. name: Brian
2. birthday: 12/18/195x
3. place of residence: upstate NY (way closer to Canada than NYC)
4. what makes you happy: These days – watching my kids (heh, kids!) become real live adults.
5. what are you listening to now/have listened to last: Now – the hum of the building A/C Last music I consciously heard loud: Metallica, “Enter Sandman”
6. an interesting fact about you: Back in my K-12 school days, I went undefeated in spelling bees. Yes, that’s right, 3 wins, no losses.
7. are you in love/have a crush at the moment: It’s complicated. Basically trying to rebuild a marriage.
8. favorite place to be: Up in my treestand on a cool October morning. Deer not required.
9. favorite lyric:
Ignore the beasts under your bed
In the closet,
In your head.
10. best time of the year: June or October. Toss up.
11. strangest food you like: Hot, really hot, really, really hot peppers.
12. biggest fear: Failing at anything.
13. biggest ambition: growing up. I’m a guy. It’s hard.
RECOMMEND
1. a film: Midnight Express
2. a book: The whole Thomas Covenant series (8 and counting) by Stephen R. Donaldson
3. a band, a song and an album: Band – Rush, song – Molly Hatchett, “Dreams”, Album – Rush, “2112”
OPTIONAL
1. one thing you like about me: Only one? OK – You keep trying to find the bright side of everything.
2. two things you like about yourself: 1 – Eternally optimistic. 2 – except for driving, I can be very patient
3. put this in your blog so i can tell you what i think of you. Gimme a day or so to get it there
4. post a picture of you: Check out my sons wedding pics. Referenced in my blog thingy. I’m the dude in the tux wearing glasses. No – the older one. With a ‘stache.
Now. I must apologize. No, not for my lack of updates – although that is a sorry thing in and of itself. No, I need to apologize to New Orleans. Way back in 2005 we were toying with the idea of visiting New Orleans. Spent hours looking up details, had a hotel & flights picked and were >< this close to pulling the trigger. Then Katrina happened. WE felt lucky. New Orleans? Not so much I’m thinking.
Monday, we rekindled that interest. Calling it our 28th anniversary present to each other. Pulled the trigger, made the reservations. For 6 days & 5 nights in the middle of August we will be tromping around the Quarter. Hopefully without need of a boat, except for maybe a swamp tour and a riverboat ride. Hoping that this time, our being decisive about the trip will avert that whole hurricane thing.
Yes, I’m aware that our not going had nothing to do with Katrina, Rita and that other hurricane that ripped through in 2005. But the coincidence is mind numbing.
So. If any of you have been to New Orleans and can make recommendations on where to go, what to do, eat and or see, I’d appreciate it. What we have lined up so far is this:
Café Dumond for beignets
Central Grocery for a muffaletta
Garden tour
Cemetery tour
Riverboat trip (the Natchez maybe)
Swamp boat trip
Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. (Kids request – I don’t think it has much to do with New Orleans at all, it’s just a made up movie thing really)
Maybe Nola’s for lunch one day (Dinner for 2 there would set you back nearly a C note I think)
Love to get out to Avery island but it appears to be a tad far. Maybe they have an outlet store in town?
We’re famous (NOT!)
Great way for your town to get recognition, no?
More pond updates. I think we had up to 3 separate hatches of little fishies. At least, I’ve seen fry that are 3 different sizes. The smallest I found Saturday. I have pictures, but it’s hard to put things to scale. The littlest ones are maybe ¼ inch long. I only saw them because I was reaching in to pick out a leaf or something and noticed some movement. At first I only saw one or two, but the more I looked, the more I saw. I have no idea how many of the teeny ones there are for sure, but I thin I saw over a dozen of the little buggers. There’s a few that are in the ½ inch class and anther batch that’s up around ¾ of an inch.
This is one of the little 1/4 inch long guys
The bigger fish. The white/cream koi just above and right of center is maybe 8" long.
There are also 8 survivors from at years class of feeders. They’re big enough now to go to the surface with their bigger buddies and feed on the pellets we toss in. Then Sunday, while I was putzing around in the pond (again), I saw our surviving tadpoles. 2 of them. Back legs coming along, no front legs to speak of and plenty of tail left. How long does it take for these things to mature?
One of the two surviving tadpoles. He's about 4" long.
According to the innernetz, if they really are bull frog tadpoles, they can be in the tadpole stage up to TWO YEARS! That’s a long time to wait for frog legs. I’m gong to have to do something else for lunch I guess.
I’m scribbling this down in the early afternoon. At 5 we have another of our weekly couples therapy sessions. I suspect today’s will be a lot like the one we had back on Memorial Day. I had a 1 on 1 with the therapist last night, and we kinda sorta worked out a strategy for how to broach the subject of Cindy’s continued surreptitious drinking. It seems that as long as I’m willing to ignore it, she’ll remain cheery and upbeat, thinking that she’s getting away with it. But she’s still hiding both her drinking and her stash. Even without seeing her drink, I KNOW she has been and what’s worse, she’s lying to the therapist about it.
So. In I go again. Something along the lines of “Your drinking has not gone unnoticed. If you continue to drink, I fear that we will eventually end up right where we were two years ago.” That’s where I’m starting, I don’t know for sure where it’ll go from there, but I know what I need to say.
The good part is that Cindy has a 1 on 1 session immediately after our couples session. I don’t now that she’ll use much of it as she has a tendency to close off in the face of truthful feedback that is counter to what she wants to believe. I’m calling bullshit, she’s not going to like it and will give me three days worth of the silent treatment. Who knows what she’ll do about the New Orleans trip. Probably change it to 1 person instead of two.
OK – after session now. I think I know less than when I went in. Unfortunately, I had a meeting with the local Al Anon Information Service (AIS) office. I do the newsletter (another time suck, I know) and we only meet once a month so I really had to go . . . Downside is that I missed my regular Al Anon meeting. Could have used it tonight. No local Al Anon group meets locally on Wednesday and Thursday? It’s a 15 mile drive to a group. Aaahhhhh – but I get to see Annette tomorrow for lunch. Might be a good place to be – more therapy.
Geeze, where am I?
Day 1772 – 1773
Or where was I?
It’s only been how long? I’m not even going to look. (11 days. Sheesh!)
What a week we’ve had, eh? Bad time to be a celebrity. Here’s the list as I’ve heard it for the last week or so –
1 – Ed McMahon – Sorry to see him go. Now I’ll NEVER win a PCH sweepstakes.
2 – Farrah Fawcett – Yes, I had that poster. I did see “The Burning Bed” – by far her best piece of work. She put up a great fight. Sad to see her go too, but sometimes it’s best. No more pain, no more fighting.
3 – Michael Jackson – Wow. So much promise early on, such innovation as he hit his prime, then, what? Things just got weird. Starting to sound a bit like Elvis’ situation – personal doctor, questionable use of drugs, and what havoc did all those operations wreak inside, both mentally & physically? Maybe a great loss to the entertainment business, but we need to remember he was accused of pedophilia too. More than once. Lets not put him on too high a pedestal.
4 – Billy Mays – I’m sad to see anyone leave too soon (Billy & MJ are both VERY close to my age), but if it means I don’t have to hear Mays yelling at me anymore, hawking what ever product he’s deemed worthy of his efforts, well, I might be ok with that.
This just in. (Only slightly irreverent – )
So Thursday, after Farrah dies, she’s at the pearly gates. Good ol’ St. Peter says “You’ve led a good life. I’ll let you in AND grant you one final wish. What would you like?” To which Farrah replies, “Well, I wish that all the children in the world could be made safer.” Two hours later, Michael Jackson is dead. Ba da dum.
Where’d I leave off?
Zach & Jill got hitched, left for their honeymoon, I got sick as a dog. Had the cold from hell for two weeks. Haven’t been to sin class in 3 weeks now, but the last week is due to laziness. The cold is gone, I can breath with out horking up a spleen, I just got to like sleeping in till 6:30. Lazy bum.
Oh! I was out working on the pond Saturday when I had a need to reach down and pluck some dead leaves out of the water. As I got my face down near the surface, I spotted some movement. A quick little darting thing. Turns out it was a little, teeny baby fish. Not even a half inch long. Sort of a gray/green color, it blended right in with the algae growing on the sides of the pond. When I backed away a bit I saw another, but this one was a wee bit bigger, maybe actually just over a half inch long, and a little thicker through the middle. Then I went over to another part of the pond and saw 3 more! So it looks like SOMEONE in the pond has been pretty happy this spring. Don’t know who yet though. Maybe if the little squirts get bigger they’ll start to develop some color. That would help ID them.
If you look real hard, you can see two little fish. On the left edge there is one facing up & left at 45 degrees. On the right edge there is a slightly larger one facing down.
Sort of a close up of the guy on the right but he's moved some. Pay attention to the rock on the right - you'll need it as a frame of reference for the next shot
That lighter rock on the right in the pic above? It's that small rock in the water, above and slightly right of my foot. Can you see the fish in this shot? Me neither.
We have two or more of several kinds of fish. The Golden Orfe’s are a creamsickle orange color, the shibunkins are a calico sort with patches of color that can be red, blue, brown & white. The comets are usually some combination of orange & white. We have 2 larger comets and 8 little ones that are survivors from the pond ‘seeding’ I did last year. I don’t know how old they have to be to breed though. There are also 3 koi, 1 butterfly and 2 of the metallic colored ones. Nothing we have is a gray/green. We’ve had shibunkins successfully breed before (one of the ones we have left is a baby from 3 years ago) and comets are supposed to breed like rabbits – so I’m leaning towards them as the parents. I just hope the little guys can stay hidden until they’re too big to be considered lunch. Considering I toss in any grubs I find and the Orfe’s gobble them up – that’s going to be a while.
The falls in action. On the right edge yu may be able to make out an orange splotch. That's one of ast years 'feeders' - all of 2.5 inches long now. No longer "lunch".
The stream. Getting there. Have a gazillion perennials to move this weekend.
It’s time to get concerned again too. Tonight’s couples therapy session is going to be a doozy. I remember very clearly, it was on Memorial Day when I fessed up and said Cindy’s continued and recently escalating drinking was worrying me. I feared that her continued drinking was going to put us right back where we were 2 years ago. I shared this in a counseling session. Cindy just closed off. Wouldn’t even talk to the therapist much 1 on 1. She eventually processed things, and we returned to some semblance of normalcy over the course of a week or so. Made it through the wedding. Cindy did drink at the reception, but not till very late. Truth be told, I was in worse shape than she was. (All I can say is Woodford Reserve is a very nice bourbon. Too nice.)
Aaaanyhow. As recently as last week, in her 1 on 1’s with the counselor/therapist, Cindy had claimed she’d done no drinking since the wedding. I only know this because in my very own 1 on 1 last week I told Janine I was concerned about Cindy’s renewed drinking and the escalation of same. This revelation kind of caught Janine by surprise and that’s when she told me about Cindy’s claim that she’d abstained since the wedding. Should Janine have shared info from Cindy’s session? Is that line muddied because we’re also in couples therapy? Is it muddied because she lied? All I know is Cindy has claimed to Janine to have not had a drink since early June.
The sucky part? If I don’t voice my concerns (or share my feelings like everybody wants me to do) – if I pretend everything is just peachy, Cindy will go along being all nice & pleasant and the atmosphere in the house is relatively stress free. But it’s a time bomb waiting to go off. My other concern is that if Cindy gets wind of Janine telling me that she’s claimed to be not drinking, it could break what ever trust Cindy has established with Janine. Then ALL our progress will go right down the shitter. Somehow, we need Cindy to confess about the drinking without her knowing that Janine slipped and told me we’ve caught her in a lie. It’s probably pretty straight forward. I just need to touch base with Janine and make sure we’re on the same page. This is compounded by the fact that Cindy has a 1 on 1 with her tonight before our couples session. Methinks Janine will have to tip toe through that one.
Ok – so it’s later now. I can say that Janine tiptoes very well. I can also say that I bailed on the whole situation. Cindy is sooooo willing to play the part of “I’m working so hard on the relationship” as long as I ignore the issue that really drove a wedge between us to begin with. I am trying to avoid the passive/aggressive response: “well if you’re going to continue drinking, I may as well continue boinking Ms. CL 2 or 3 times a week. Mind if she comes over? It’ll save a ton on gas money.” I have a feeling that wouldn’t be too productive. Instead, I’d try to use it in a more positive mode: “I cut off my extra-marital relationship, it’s time for you to end your relationship with the bottle too.”
This weekend. I promise me. Plus, we have more couples stuff coming up early next week. It’ll be good timing.
So Much
Day 1702
Wow. So much has changed, but it’s still all kinda the same.
So what’s happened since we last chatted? A lot, a little, most good, none really ‘bad’.
It’s been what, 5 days? So, lets see, I saw Annette for a session, then that very same day also saw Janine. Was kinda bummed about that session because that damn ‘feelings’ journal I’ve been keeping wasn’t brought up. I could have wedged it in, but it wasn’t how the flow of the conversation was going so I didn’t force it. Still, keeping the journal is a good exercise. I used to think I just never knew what my emotions/feelings were unless things ran to extremes, but in keeping the journal I’ve found that I can articulate my emotional state pretty well internally, I just don’t communicate it externally. Why? Years of conditioning. “Big boys don’t cry”, “Take it like man”, “keep your chin up”, “stiff upper lip”, “Never let them see you sweat” and all to often getting myself into the roll of mediator. So it looks like what’s next is learning to appropriately communicate the feeling and leave it out there, not fearing the reaction or repercussions it may bring.
On to lighter fare . . .
I think it was Friday (another gorgeous day up here in camp Rahchacha), as I was leaving the Y after spin class, I saw a guy standing next to his mini-van with the side door open. It was 7am, maybe 45 degrees out. He was shirtless for a minute, then he pulled a t-shirt on. After that, he proceeded to remove his shoes & socks and pull on some clean socks & sneakers. In the middle of the parking lot, all in a direct line of sight to the front door. He apparently finished up and proceeded into the gym. Does he not know there’s a locker room inside, built for the express purpose of changing ones clothes in relative warmth & security?
And what is it with women who are reluctant to use the locker room? Heck, I’m married to one and I can’t make sense of it. Cindy’s objections have more to do with discomfort in getting all nakey in public and using public showers. So the alternative is to get all hot & sweaty than put your good coat on and drive home (all hot & sweaty) to shower there? I think better than half the girls in spin class (better than ¾ actually) shun the showers. Eew. Flip flops, big fluffy towels, shower stalls with curtains – you don’t have to let anyone see you nekkid unless you want to or don’t care. Me personally? I think I’m just too old to care much anymore. The only thing that REALLY gets me is when these old guys get the urge to clear out some toe jam or something and they go at it while they’re standing somewhere in your field of view – like directly in front of you, but maybe 12 – 15 feet away. In the electronics business, we have a phrase that describes the orientation of an IC when you’re trying to visualize it on a circuit board for getting signals routed to it. That phrase is “balls down, rear view”. Say that and TRY not to picture some 70 year old guy vigorously drying his toes without benefit of a stool. Yeah. You’re welcome. I am SO happy to put THAT picture in your head.
In less disgusting news – the forsythia out front is starting to bloom. That can mean only one thing – time to re-seed/overseed the lawn. Used forty freakin’ pounds of seed this year. Leaving those piles of leaves on the lawn over winter, combined with an unusually high rate of mole activity, the pond and porch projets and just the shit job the lawn care company has done over the last 3 years has left our lawn looking rather sad. Spent the bulk of Saturday seeding, spreading seed friendly fertilizer (some ‘quick start’ stuff), spreading some stuff called “Mole Max” that’s supposed to make the soil intolerable to moles (armadillos too – like we have a problem with them!)
Also broke down and got me a bigger, longer, stronger scooper net for the pond. I scooped out a bunch more leaves, but now the pond water is so agitated it looks green. Also got some extra filter material for the skimmer. With all the muck stirred up the filters get plugged and starve the pump in about 8 hours. Not great for the pump. Matter of fact, I need to cal Cindy and fill her in on how to change the filters over – they’ll be needing it soon I think.
Update on the filter dealie – boy, did it need changing. Barely any flow at all. I have 2 stages of filtering – one to keep out the big leaves & live floating plants, plus the filter media for the particulate (i.e. algae) this time of year. They were all plugged up. That isn’t real good for the pump motor. It’s a submersible pump that depends on the water it’s (supposed to be) submersed in (hence the name . . .) to keep it cool. I think Cindy has it set back to running right. When I called to ask her how it was doing she said there was barely a trickle coming out of the hose. Not good. That thing usually runs like a fire hose.
What this really means is I need to get the water falls fixed. Running the water falls will bring a third, much larger filter into play. Plus it’ll be really cool to finally have them going. Problem is, I have a couple three leaks getting from the virtual stream bed to the last, big table rock that creates the ledge. In a silly, not well thought out move, we plunked this rock down (all 500 lbs of it) on top of the liner. From there, I thought it would be simple to build walls of stone & sealing foam that would guide the water from the stream bed out to the shelf. Well, I was 99.9% right. But that 0.1% results in about a quart a minute lost in two or three separate leaks. It would only take about 700 – 800 gallons lost to put the pump back into the danger zone – running like mad with no water to keep it cool. That would take all of 2 – 3 days.
The new plan is to gather up the liner, lift the ass end of the rock and scoot one layer of the liner out from under it, then flop it back over the top of the ledge. From there, it’s pretty straight forward to build a channel and use a boat load of rocks to camouflage the liner. I hope.
Got enough work done Sunday morning & early afternoon that Eric & I managed to get out golfing Sunday afternoon (while the turkey was in the smoker!!). Kids got me a new golf bag for Christmas that’s a few pounds lighter than my old one AND it has the nice backpack style carry strap AND the little bipod legs that pop out when you put the bag down. All that to say that even on a moderately hilly course, it was a breeze to walk 9 holes. Didn’t make me golf any better, but it might have kept me from golfing worse. Also, FINALLY, I had a relatively good day hitting a 9.5 degree Taylor Burner Bubble driver I kinda sorta inherited. Out of 7 drives, 5 were dead center in the fairway, averaging 230 – 260 yards out, depending in wind. The two that missed the fairway I just pulled a wee bit. They went straight, I just got off line. Like a whole fairway off. Oops.
Found this odd tool on a phone look up thingy. It’s here: http://names.whitepages.com/ Put your name in (no middle initial) and it tells you how many of you there are. Without giving away the farm, I can say that I have the #7,152,593 ranked full name in the country. I share this name (Brian with an I, not a Y) with 2 other guys, one in Indiana and one in Minnesota. ( – and me in New York. We are nothing if not cold tolerant.) My surname is the #20,863 ranked last name in the country and my first name is #30. Two curious side notes – my last name is the #1309 first name in the country and the combination of my last name as a first name combined with Cindy’s maiden name as a last name is ranked #1,458,711 and there are 5 times as many people with this name than my real name. Weird. Follow that? (In essence, my last name is a woman’s first name. A bit uncommon, but still – Cindy is in the unusual positin of having two first names (three if you count her middle name).
Just for fun, I looked up Michael Hunt. I’ve known 3 Michael Hunts (they insist on being called Michael. Odd, eh?) There are 978 sets of parents so callous they would name their son that.
I thin you all should go waste some time and find out where your name ranks. And come back here and report, of course. How many of YOU are there?
Smooth Sailing Weekend
Day 1660
Different kind of weekend around here this time. Almost normal. Made the 7am spin class, put in a few hours at work (the real work), got home and put in a few hours taking care of moldings and some of those annoying little tasks that have been lingering for too long. Only a few pieces of molding left to tackle, and the indoor work will be done, except for the powder room. We’ve been wanting to tackle that for a few years (a few, like 15) but have always justified it away. Maybe not this time.
Got to spend some time outdoors Saturday afternoon too. Cleaned out the pond filter, tried scooping out leaves with my smallish net. Have come to realize that I really need a pool skimmer. The net/pole I have was fine for the old pond, but now there’ just too much area. Think I’ll be stopping at a pool supply place and getting one. If you try to get the same thing at a pond store the price is considerable higher. That’s a shocking thought, because I always felt pool store process were inflated already. It’s scary to think that they’re actually less expensive than someplace else.
In previous trips out to the pond so far this year, I hadn’t seen any of the little guys (and/or gals) that we put in last year to sort of get the water started. Last fall we had 12 or 13 of the original 24 little Comets that had survived. Saturday I actually saw one of them. He/she was hanging around near the edge, in the shallows where the rocks form nice ledges they can hide under. I was trying to scoop out some leaves that had settled in at the edge and must have scared the little guy out. Only saw him the one time and didn’t see any signs of others. I didn’t want to try chasing him out again. Poor guy hasn’t had a decent meal since October and the water is still really, really, effin cold. Hate to make them burn up energy just by chasing them around for no good reason. Once we get another 12 – 15 degrees warmer we can start feeding the little buggers again. Did see all 11 of the bigger fish. For the larger all but the koi, this is their third winter. The larger koi has seen 2 winters now and the two smaller metallic ones (butterfly koi I think) have now survived their first.
Also saw signs that the plants are starting to wake up in there. One of the lilies has some new growth started and some of the other plants show signs of activity in their roots – like they’re busting right out of their pots. Time to re-pot a few once the water warms up & I get some waders.
Got the basics all set for the fake sugar taste off. Here’s the gang, getting ready to go:
Artificial sweeteners, ready for trial
Too bad we don’t have a blue mug – but it wouldn’t really go with the back splash.
I’d like to be able to do them all within a few minutes or hour of each other, but that’s a whole lotta coffee and I do have to sleep sometime. Going to try one a day through out the week. If that doesn’t work out, I’ll make the big sacrifice and try all 4 on Sunday. Maybe a side effect will be getting a lot of project work done. If focus isn’t an issue.
Cindy actually called and got us an appointment with a couples therapist. I got the referral a week or so ago, but had been waiting for Cindy to take the initiative and make the call. She was always pestering me about getting the referral and making the appointment and I kept asking her why the onus was on me. Why was it that when WE didn’t do something, it was because I didn’t make it happen? Watch that come back and bite me at the appointment next week. At least something is happening.
Still, it was a pleasant weekend. Got stuff done, had some good conversations, agreed on many things, disagreed on a few but survived having different opinions! Progress without professional prodding! Might be promise here.
It’s late, I need to get to bed. I’ll try one sweetener or another in the morning and try to remember some notes.
Yet Another Reason
Day 1640/1641
I have yet another reason to never drink coffee from a famed Seattle based coffee shop. Have you heard that they (famed Seattle based coffee shop or “fsbcs”) are coming out with an instant version of their house swill? Took 20 years to develop and will cost $2.95 for 3 single serving packets, or you can get the economy sized 12 serving kit for a mere $9.95.
Holy crap! I can’t stand their fresh brewed house blend now. Tastes like a really, really bad French roast. To me, even a good French roast tastes burnt. Like you made a tea out of gasoline, used tires & dirty socks. But if you whip 4 oz of hot steaming cream into 4 oz of burnt swill, serve it in a 12 oz paper cup and charge 4.95 for the privilege, people will suck it up because it’s all the rage, right?
Give me a nice 12 oz cup of Dunkin Donuts or Tim Horton’s house blend for $1.25 any day. It’ll save me $3.50 out of pocket and 10,000 taste buds. Instant, expensive fsbcs coffee is just a quicker way to get truly horrible (horribler even) coffee into your gut that much sooner. I wish them luck, but they won’t be getting any of my cash. Could you tell?
Ok – a whole 20 hours has passed since my little Sturbacks rant. The thought of tasting their coffee still scares my taste buds. Gotta learn to let that go . . .
Anyhow. I was actually prepared for my meeting before I walked into the room last night. Actually, that’s been the care for the last couple of weeks. We’ve had a new gal come the last couple of weeks too. She is in much the same position I was in 3 years ago, trying everything to get her spouse to quit drinking, frustrated with the lack of results, not knowing what to do or try next. It was so nice to be able to share my own experiences, telling her what I did that did or didn’t work.
Really, what it all comes down to is leaving the alcoholic/addict be, accept the fact that they are sick, stop covering for them, learn what enabling is and stop that and pretty much let them stew in their own juices. Keep a civil tongue in your head, offer them as much respect as you can muster and leave them the opportunity to learn from their own failings. DO NOT let them learn that you’ll always be there to clean up their messes. Matter of fact – don’t even consider doing that for them – unless it’s a life or death thing or they’re going to ruin the carpet or something. Or drive drunk. But even that needs some qualifiers that I don’t want to get into at the moment. Been there, done that.
Remember those pictures I was lamenting? The ones I somehow lost? I looked at the Sd card slot on my laptop today. The SD card from the camera I used was in there. Left over from when I was verifying that I definitely deleted those files. Well, today I got an email from a camera company that was bordering on spam, but something caught my eye. Specifically, I saw the words “I Didn’t Mean to Delete Those Photos!” Boy, could I relate! So I read a little more. I knew there were ways to “undelete” files, I just didn’t have any of the utilities to do that. Till today. I got my neat ice pictures back. Wanna see? Look down below:
Here's the bigger fish, as seen through a relatively thin layer of ice.
One of Mama Natures ice sculptures.
Ahhhhh, February. Only a month till spring. Bet the fish can’t wait to be fed. It’s funny, they have to re-learn how to eat from the surface again. Doesn’t take them long. But we DO have to wait for their metabolism to get cranked back up. Soon, soon.
Bowling tomorrow!!! On a 3 week hot streak, just gotta keep it simple, don’t over think it. (Actually, don’t think period.)
Gotta go watch Top Chef. Ssshhhhh.
A Break
Day 1639 A Break
Well, I had a productive weekend, hope you all did too. Got a lot of little things done on the project fronts and had a nice little sit down & talk with Cindy too. I think we made some progress. Both of us were able to air some grievances and clear the air a bit. This is a really good thing because we’d been stuck in this spiral caused by each of us doing a lousy job of communicating.
I also explained why I am hesitant to “share my feelings” on a consistent basis. What is that reason you ask? (You DID ask, right?) Quite simply, it’s Cindy’s reaction. The few times I <i>have</i> shared a really deep feeling or thought, I felt like I was being punished for the next 3 days or so – because she didn’t like what I had to say. It’s like touching a hot pan on the stove. You do it once, learn that it hurts and you don’t do it anymore. That’s the exact metaphor I used too.
I have a thing or two to work on as well. No one comes out of these things scott free, right? So what must I work on? Procrastination, listening skills and idle time spent on the computer. The listening thing is, well, complicated. Too often, if I hear something that doesn’t really interest me it all starts to sound like the adults in a Charlie Brown comic. Blah, blah, wah-wah-wah, yada, yada, bing. Then a week later I need to remember something from that conversation and when I scan my memory banks all I get is white noise. That part is my fault. Other times, I’ll be involved in something, either mentally or physically, and something will be said. I kinda sorta hear it, but it’s waaaaaayyyy out there on the periphery of my conscious thought. Eventually, it just falls out of orbit, and burns up on re-entry, never to be seen again. I’ll take partial blame for that one, but I’m willing to share too. If you have something to tell me that you REALLY want me to remember, make sure you really have my attention, saying it while we’re actually in the same room would be nice, and if you see that I’m enrapt in something, maybe hold on a minute or three for when I’m willing to divert my attention.
Anyhow. Enough of that interpersonal shit. I think that’s why I gravitated towards math & science in school. Too much touchy-feely in the liberal arts stuff. Numbers & laws of physics aren’t really up for interpretation – they just <i> ARE</i>. Once you understand something, it doesn’t change.
So. Fishies. I actually saw 4 Orfe’s, 2 shibunkin, 2 Comets, and I think 4 Koi. We had two Koi, but they were kinda boring color wise, so we picked up a couple more that have a metallic sheen. Very neat. I still haven’t seen any of the little guys. It’s possible that they were too small to survive the winter. The bigger Koi might have even snacked on them.
Dang it – I had some pictures of the fish chillin (literally) in the pond I took on Saturday. Moved them from the camera to I thought either this computer or my thumb drive. Now I can’t find them. Again. It sucks even more because I had some really neat shots of teeny, tiny snowflakes caught in the patterns created in the surface of the pond when it froze (again) Friday night. Really cool delicate patterns. Of course, when I moved them, I deleted them from the camera’s memory card. I can get more pictures of the fish, but those ice crystal shots were kinda neat and sort of one-of-a-kind. Maybe I got my directories confused and I deleted them from my computer and not the camera. Won’t know till tonight now.
That pesky doorway between the living room & kitchen is finally straightened out. The big step change in the drywall thickness has been addressed. It forced some other changes that are less noticeable (like if I didn’t tell you, they might go unnoticed) and I think overall it’s going to be acceptable. Another coat of mud tonight and it might even be ready for painting.
Had another doorway issue on the other end of the kitchen. Due to the renovation of the room formerly known as the family room, that little dealie got put on hold. Until this weekend. That too is getting some attention now and might actually be finished off by next weekend. (Along with that other doorway)
There was also a lone strip of partial tiles I needed to put in, right next to the pantry cabinet, underneath the cabinet now used for all out cookbooks. It was tucked back into a dark corner that one never really noticed it. Sort of. Killer is, I had a strip of tiles all cut for it. Can’t find that thing to save my life. So yesterday I broke down and cut some new ones. Little 1” x 1” x 3/8” onyx tiles. I needed 11 that were ½” wide, so I cut 6 in half. Wonder if onyx dust is good for you? Anyhow – they are now installed and waiting for grout. I can grout those and touch up the grout on the tiles behind the stove and my kitchen tiling will be finished. Finally. When the walls are finished, there’s a teeny bit of molding to put up (it’s already cut even!) and I think that will be it for the kitchen.
Put the fireplace mantel up Saturday too. Unfortunately the paint was still a tad tacky and you can see my fingerprints. That’ll get an extra coat of paint right where it sits. Then there’s a bit more molding to do to finish that off. By the end of this weekend there may be nothing to do inside except rip the powder room out and re-do it! Oh yes – it is SO coming down to that.
Couldn’t have had that hard a weekend. In this morning’s spin class I seemed to have a touch more energy than usual. That’s often the case on Monday’s though. I think it means I need to get to the gym and get in a really vigorous workout on Sundays now that there’s no football for 7 more months. Hmmm. Could go ride a bike too . . .
Finally getting back to sorting out that mess I created with our Clear (as mud) Case Version control management system. I know now what I goofed up. That does not make it any easier to correct this time, but it ought to help avoid the whole sordid mess the next time. I hope.
Gotta look for those files tonight. Probably make it another post . . .
Doldrums
Day 1636 Doldrums
Yup. It’s that fun time of year. Got the ‘Can’t Wait for Winter to be Over’ blahs. Coupled with tomorrow’s manufactured, over-hyped farce of a holiday (and me not knowing quite how to take it this year), I am blah’d out.
I’m also wrestling with an application program here at the zoo. It’s a version management system for the code I write that runs in my little chips. I had a nice, stable version we’d been running for a couple of months. Wanted to add some features. So I created a branch, added a feature, did my simulations, gave it to another person to test in system. He’s about two weeks away from being able to use it.
Then I did another change in a new branch. Merged it in. Life was good. Decided to merge in the first change, I thought over top (and including) the other one. Uhhhh – nope. Now I have a cluster fudge to fix that will take too many brain cells to keep straight. (This whole post was much longer, but you didn’t want to read about version management and how they hack up graphical design files, right? Thought so You’re welcome)
Ice on the pond finally melted enough to see what’s going on in there. Sure looks like there’s fishies in there. At least the big ones all appear to be doing fine. Got to get out there and really look for the little guys, but we had around 13 of ‘em in the fall, surely a few made it.
Mantel is coming along. Three coat of paint so far, will need at least a fourth. Probably get it installed this weekend. Last bits of wall work ought to be wrapped up this weekend too, then all there is to do is wait for spring and all those fun outdoor projects!! I can not wait.
I think it was a local guy that missed that Continental flight last night. Lucky, lucky guy. There’s a local musician, Chuck Mangione, maybe you’ve heard of him? Two of his band members were on that flight, along with that 9/11 widow too. Terrible tragedy.
I gotta go beat up a wall. Nicely. Hope you all have a restful, productive weekend.
