Friday's Dispatch

• Life (nearly) size, roadworthy (basically) cardboard tank






• Alec Baldwin has recently made some self depreciating comments about his poor choices in movie roles. Regardless, his legend will live on in classics such as Beetlejuice and the Hunt For Red October.






• It does not matter how well suited I am or well I actually do at a job, I really dislike living in the shadow of a probation period and I discovered at orientation the one for my present job is twice as long as I thought it was when I applied.






• An aquaintence was recently in the hospital for a chronic illness that never gets the attention it deserves for the people it kills and the long term consequences for those who live. She has dropped off the radar of the places we used to bump into each other. I've got a bad feeling about that.






• A nurse in our area always has her car stuffed with trash level to the door windows in the front and in the back seat up to the roof. The trash cascades down from the passeger seat onto the dash and covers it entirely. The only clear space is where she sits in the driver seat. It appears to be a combination of junk mail and fast food garbage. It is so obvious and she is so well known for this, I asked a friend who had worked with her if she had a new vehicle since I saw one similarly oufitted in another city. I was correct.






• People say horrible things about her- I feel sorry for her.






• A hypothetical question and answer at work tomorrow: Hey Kev, what did you do after you wrote those posts for your blog? I soaked in the tub while eating two chocolate pudding cups and watching an episode of Lost In Space.






• Pathetic? I'll let you decide.

Thursday's Bedtime Thoughts

• When I leave my day job tomorrow I go to a night shift hospice case. Yeah, I pretty much work 24 on and 24 on.


• Oddly, I'll be caring for the same patient I had last weekend.


• It was a miracle he made it through my last shift with him. The spouse was upset I would not be coming back that night. I didn't think it could matter since he might only live a few hours after I left. As I write this he has had nothing to eat or drink since the 15th. I'm not reluctant to go back- they need someone good and responded well to me, but in a sense the case will interfere with my mojo. One of the things that make me a decent hospice nurse is my ability to detach. They die- I walk out. Yes, I think about memorable patients. I've come to love plenty of them- and told them so, but they are not a weight around my neck- I detach.


• A friend invited me to an event where former GF would surely be recently. He indicated he would understand for my sake if I didn't want to be there. People process things wrong too often. No, I wouldn't have gone out of respect for her since I was the bad guy, but at the same time I don't have a guilty conscience.


• She and other women are fascinated by former spouse and try to extract information out of me about her like a friendly, but aggressive KGB agent- the pleasant-ish interactions that come before the waterboarding or whatever. "Oh, so was she ______ or ______?" "No" I say. "Well, you said _______ No, that's not what I said. Well, maybe I was putting words in your mouth but, It doesn't sound like you're very angry with her or hate her! I need a bunch of anger to carry around like I need a hole in the head and anyway, the opposite of love is not hate..."


• Jedi mind tricks


• I could have picked up Zac tonight, but did not. I regret it already.


• Seether Fake It


• Good night world, wherever you are. I love you in spite of yourself.

Thursday's Thoughts

To be filed under: if not only in Weatherford TX, then certainly not in too many other cities on a Tuesday afternoon.







• All for the love of sunshine. Yes, the Military Channel has been showing Kelly's Heroes.




• My company commander played Ride Of The Valkeries over the net during a battle drill once- a companies worth of Bradley Fighting Vehicles and Abrams tanks deployed in smoke on open terrain with that iconic song playing in everyones headsets- awesome. It was beautiful, but a big ole mess since no one could communicate with each other as the signal from the music was co opting the net.




• Alex Briley who was an original member of The Village People lost a brother in the WTC attacks of 01. The brother has been identified as the falling man in the famous pic of the same name.




• My car broke down on my way to work this morning. I don't know the last time that happened. At the shop they said,"Maybe it will take just a minute and you can wait." Then it was,"Well, maybe it won't be too long. We'll call you." Twelve hours later I still haven't heard from them. That's usually a bad sign.




• Walking back from taking my trash out while wearing scrubs a couple drove by. The female got the guys attention then looked back back at me and I could lip read her saying,"Is he a doctor?"




• At a facility I work at sometime careproviders who've received a little training to assist the residents who are supposedly self directed with their medications refer to themselves as medication nurses- crazy. That would be no different than my referring to myself as a doctor. I've mentioned this before, but man it really blows me away people would still be so foolish as to do something like that.

Wednesday's Digressions

• Kasabian- Underdog Live in a plane- literally.





• A recent patient lived in the most awesome house- it was perfect. There is not a dollar amount of dream worth I could have that would make me change a thing about it. That is the first time I've been in a house I could say that about. It was gorgeous. If I sold my last house to put toward the house I'm speaking of I might be able to get the floor coverings (Italian marble and real wood) work done- and I mean might.





• I held a 3 month old baby the other day- never gets old. I mean really- for those moments you're a perfect person. And I was a better person for holding him days later.





• Prediction: soon enough drones will be in the skies over the cities of America and news agencies will buy access to the footage they provide.





• Proof we're nuts: US medevac birds in Afghanistan are still marked with the red cross and unarmed- ridiculous. Worse- medevac units don't all have gunship units assigned to them on the same base. This forces medevac birds to loiter outside the area of the call they're answering to wait for gunship support. My guess is we need to forget about some of the sexier stuff and buy more Kiowa gunships for the wars we're fighting. Compared to an Apache they're a bargain to buy, easy to learn and cheap to operate.





• When it first gets cool and starts darkening early in the day as winter approaches I feel a little lonely.





• An interesting post about a military faker. I wish I had the guts to confront somebody like the poster does over this issue.

I Had A Girlfriend Once

whose father was Russian and Mother was Mexican.

It's Over

Less than 48 hours later she would be walking away from me with tears in her eyes and I didn't try to stop her.

• What are you afraid of? My friend asked in a tone that was nearly accusatory. I didn't say I was afraid of anything. Knowing you're not ready for something doesn't mean you're afraid of it- or does it?



• I could have strung things out and hurt both us (all of us for that matter- we each have children) worse in the long run.



• Speaking of which: Zac asked day before yesterday,"When are we going to see ______?"



• You don't warm to a relationship and get better over time if you had doubts- if you do, you don't know who you are (or were when that relationship started) and that's a big problem.



• The same friend-girl I referenced in the first sentence asked what the other girl was like. After I described her she said,"You can't believe all that and just leave her!"



• I did and If you are a decent person and the other person is more into the relationship than your are- you do.


• Anyway, I'm probably too young to fall in love.
  
  

My Eldest Son Took Leave Of His Senses On A Warm Summer Day 2011

The eldest MiniMe on the day of his first skydive. As a long time member of the US Army's Armor Mafia, I eschew jumping out of perfectly good airplanes, but who am I to say? It takes all kinds I always say.
He is so much more then I'll ever be- smart, funny, good and good looking.
When the band he helps as a roadie and backing vocals is asked what he plays when they're at a gig, without hesitation they answer, "XBOX!".
If he is a failure in life it is because I failed him. For the success he'll have it must be all him- I'm not that good.
AWOLNATION Sail.

You Might Have Had To Be There, But I Thought The Following Text Exchange Kind Of Funny

She: Let's see now, women like to know they are cared about. It is always good to show through your actions, but it also needs to be verbalized. They like to be touched kindly and kissed like they are wanted. We need to know that we are missed and that we are on your mind. Especially when we don't see you for a while. (missing) (missing)

She after no response: Hello?

Me: Yes.

She: No answer?

Me: Text was too long. Most of it was missing. I cleared some of my texts and was waiting to get the rest of it.

She: Well, maybe you don't need unsolicited advice tonight. Maybe this will help a future girlfriend. Goodnight.

Me: Shush- Cow And Chicken is coming on.

She: What!?

She- after no response: You suck.

She: And are gay.

Sometimes I argue with people who think I'm too good to be true, then I see exchanges like the one above and I realize- I'm probably pretty close.

Thursday's Thoughts

• There was an ad this morning for a new History Channel show called You Don't Know Dixie. There was a guy who when referring Southern foods said,"My momma's fried chicken could bring peace to the Middle East." I think about my mom's often. It's still the best I ever ate in my life. It would literally melt in your mouth and when she took requests it would fire us up and we'd jump up and down and squeal, "Fried chicken!"


• She made a pretty mean chicken fried steak though also. I think her secret ingredient for both was Crisco- straight up lard.


• It's sweet though how I can think of her chicken out of the blue and think of it every single time I eat it anywhere today.


• We focus way too much on negative things- shows about theoretical disasters, shows about real disasters, the end of the world this and apocalypse that. A lot of them are specifically intended to wake people up, but I'm not sure our minds work that way. It seems more likely to paralyse with fear. It may also make us more likely to abdicate responsibility and turn resolutions over to the government and activistic people and organizations.


• I missed the sprinkle of rain we got yesterday and was genuinely bummed out.


• Wonder why we don't plan for droughts and use the low water levels to dredge out impoundments that need it? Instead, we fret and bellyache. Smart people would have money set aside and have contractors in mind that do the work. Mechanical dredging won't work everywhere, but in the places it would, it's not like we don't expect droughts to happen.


• The new job is great, but there's just sooo much to learn. Sooooo much pressure.


• Blink 182 I Miss You

Wednesday's Digressions

• Goodbye Horses by Q Lazarus Tell me where you've heard this classic before.








• There are very few things in this world I ever truly crave- orange juice and chicken livers are two of them. I'll literally try to ignore the OJ craving, go to to bed and toss and turn until I give up and go to Wal Mart in the middle of the night and buy a couple of different types. Then, I'll guzzle a quart and not touch the stuff again for months. When I crave chicken livers if the first I buy don't hit the spot I'll go the next day and buy more. Once the craving is sated I may not eat them again for years.








• We all know OJ kills though, so I better be careful.








• I think I'm girlfriendless. She got some kind of mad at me last night and walked out without hardly a word- really, I mean- she didn't even look back.








• That's a bad sign- right?








• Nearly 3 AM and we have a soccer game at 8... It's always so fun though, I'll be energised as soon as the game starts.








• There's a cat hanging around that I think is making a very good living off suckers like me and my neighbors even though he doesn't belong to anybody.








• You know you're getting old: when you're older than all the cops, doctors and teachers and you read the obituaries.








• All things being equal- I almost always get along well with Mexican and black people.

Epiphiny: A Study In Non Colored Leafy Wetness

Artist: chupacabra on flower setting with some kind of fancy Canon camera in B/W mode

Click to enlarge

Monday's Missives

• The barstools of Onassis' yacht Christina O are covered in a leather made of the foreskin of a minke whale.


• Seven Mary Three Cumbersome


• I am not nearly as charitable as I've been in the past and it affects me negatively.


• A story was just on the news about a Texas National Guard soldier who gave some lady he did not even know a kidney. My first thought? That is foolish- very foolish.


• If we don't get some rain soon the air is going to burst into flames.


• Update: we got some decent rain.


• GF is sitting across from me painting her toes hot pink.


• "I'm French! Why do you think I have this outrageous accent, you silly king?" I think while not the funniest movie ever- MPs Holy Grail definitely had it's moments.


• I'm wearing a T shirt with a pic of the Black Knight and It's just a flesh wound! across the pic.


• "Now, go away, or I shall taunt you a second time."

Sunday's Summary

• I stepped in to cover a patient for last night only. This morning I had to call the family whom I'd never met to tell them the patient had expired. That is always viewed as a bit of a bummer, but it just goes with the territory.


• The family had left instruction to play several religious music CDs around the clock. Seeing a Bible at the bedside I opened it and read to him as he was getting ready to give it up. When the family got there I told them what I had read and the song that was playing as he died. They burst into sobs. "Was that passage marked? "No, it was not" I replied. "I read that to him last night before I left. It was the last thing I thought of before I went to sleep" one of the daughters said. " Are You Washed In The Blood? was his favorite hymn his whole life."


• I don't care what your beliefs are (or lack therof) but I promise you, after being present for a few hundred deaths I can always guess the nature of the expiring/expired persons sprirtuality based on the response of their loved ones.


• I came home and slept like a baby all day- I never sleep well.


• Recently I met a guy from Liberia. It's such a shame that he would have to be impressed with my knowledge of a country whose history is so entwined with our own. Although arguably we were slow to respond, it's good to know during their last troubles we were widely seen as a real help and we're viewed favorably there. An understanding of our relationship with Liberia will go a long way toward an understanding of America in general and how we treat our less fortunate allies who may not have much to offer in return and how we deal with embarrassments from our past.


• Look it up- I'll wait.


• "What's wrong with guacamole?' she asked. "There's nothing right about it." I responded.


• I had a very decent bacon cheeseburger from Wendy's for breakfast. The fries were fresh made just for little ole me.


• Why would we have to tell people to cut ketchup from a hamburger?! Yuck. Ketchup is for potato products only.


• I woke up this morning and there's band members all over the living room- on the floor, the couch and both recliners. They better remember me when they hit the big time! The first text I received this morning.


• Metric- Gold Guns Girls


• Good night world- wherever you are. I'm going to sack out.

Caturday

• The longer I live the more I realize Saturday was made for soccer. Sadly, Zac wasn't up to playing today, although we made an appearance. There was almost an altercation when a parent didn't like a call the new, teenage referee made. A parent stormed the field shouting and cursing and had to be called down by the referee training the new referee. Yes, he was acting ready to direct physical violence against a 14 year old girl who volunteered her time to referee a game for 4 year old children.




• Retarded.




• At the end of each game we make a tunnel by facing each other and holding our hands up in the middle and the kids run through it and we high five them and tell them what a good job they did- both teams. The other teams families sat and glared at us today. We did it anyway and their kids and ours ran through our little tunnel of justice and made circles around and came back.




• The Internet has been down for a few days and all the recent posts were auto published.




• Of the 3 nurses at the new job who've allied ourselves all of us brush our teeth after coffee and meals.




• Someone on seeing how well we worked together said,"I can already tell, ya'll are going to be our Special Forces team."




• I cleaned out a supply closet in a clinic I worked at once and with moving only one box out of it's original position organised the medications and laboratory supplies etc. while condensing boxes and throwing away a ton of trash. Mind you, I only moved one box, threw away 3 or 4 boxes full of straight up trash and labelled every box that was left on it's face however, predictably somebody said,"I guess it's alright you did that, but I can't find anything in there now..."




• To




• Write




• Love




• On




• Her




• Arms




• A pickup trucks back window message I noted during my commute to work yesterday morning- I've been puzzling ever since.


• The Best Song Ever Made In The World

Friday's Dispatch

566 million dollars inside CH47 helicopter July 23 2004 Iraq. Each blue bundle contains 1.56 million dollars. Total weight of load was 14,000 pounds. Total amount of donation moved by these birds inside Iraq was 2 billion dollars. We are insane.








• A Journey To Other Worlds by John Jacob Astor- in HTML at the Gutenberg Project: a very passable though, antiquated science fiction book by one of the richest men in the world at the time and the richest man to die on Titanic. He was a complex character in that with the fortune he inherited he made millions more with his own work. He held patents to several useful inventions. During the Spanish American war he was a lieutenant colonel in a unit he financed himself. As Titanic was sinking he pushed several people to the lifeboats saving them although he could not join his young and hugely pregnant wife aboard one himself.


• When I enlisted in the Texas National Guard the two other guys who came with me, two recruiters and the full time guy sat around the office watching pron on a reel to reel projector, drinking beer and eating chicken. Afterwards we took an M151 Jeep out to the Grasslands near Decatur and went hill climbing. And I'm sorry, but if you have trouble buying that, you simply would not believe any of my other stories.


• I do want to clarify one thing though- that unit was consistently rated high for deployability and was the first to max the Army's ARTEP. This in fact got us tailed by regular Army units to try and learn our secrets.


• Secret #1 when in the field and you shut down in the evening if you expend a fire extinguisher over the beer you smuggled in your duffle bag you can make it nicely cool- if not frosty.


• Headlines are, Religious groups object to covering birth control. You can oppose birth control or abortion- take your pick. You can't have it both ways.


• When a crash seems inevitable endeavor to strike the softest, cheapest object in the vicinity as slowly and gently as possible. An Army aviation truism.


• Harry Nilsson Everybody's Talkin' from 1969.

Thursday's Thoughts

Some days you're the African clawed frog- others you're the mouse.

• 2005, the year I spent in Iraq was the first year the insurgents had learned enough, civil unrest was widespread enough and the US was catching up enough for things to be really, really bad all over. I simply cannot wait to read Michael Yon's book Iraq Inside The Inferno 2005 - 2008.




• Most recent, funny, sideways compliment I received: You sure are smart. You've got a lot of brains in that big ole head of yours.




• Hellyeah You wouldn't Know.




• In another life an old acquaintance's wife was a stripper as was her sister. He proposed an idea once to us once that we extend their front porch into a stage, buy some kegs and get the girls to bring other girls out and have some kind of strip fest or whatever. Call me an old fashioned dude, but where I come from seeing a friends wife strip is usually grounds for getting killed. "Oh, come on it will be cool!" he said. No, I'm sorry- that's very, very far from cool. Interestingly, I only remember those girls by their stage names.




• After riding in a car for hours this weekend listening to today's vapid, vacuous pop music I cannot be blamed for coming alive and dancing and singing to Biggie Smalls Hypnotize, even though it kind of freaked out the two teenagers riding in same said car.




• Fred Gwynne as well as some other well known actors are buried in unmarked graves.

Wednesday's Dispatch

• Something I nearly hate about myself: I cannot remember the name of my company commander in Iraq. I can only recall his very derogatory nic name.


• Zachary is sick so I have him. I have a weird thing about him when he is sick. In a sense, I worry less- between his older siblings and my nursing experience, I pretty well know what to do to get him better, but I'm somehow more fearful- as if I'll lose him since he's the baby.


• He's wearing Transformers underwear.


• He pronounces underwear, wunnerwears.


• From alcohol and cigarette abuse to bad food, to sedentary lifestyles, we have a medical system that no matter what else you believe about access thereof, allows us to live longer than ever before- in spite of ourselves.


• Whenever I'm sick I always take a store brand Nyquil type product and when I've had to give up and go to the doc I always get griped out about it by him. I'm still a believer in it though if not contraindicated. For cold or flu I take Nyquil eat chicken soup drink OJ and rest.


• Oh, and sometimes tomato soup and grilled cheese are on the menu.


• Mmmmm cheesy and soupy.


• Ace Guillen musical standup time travels back to the 90s.

Raising Zachary

I love you too dad, it's just I'm a little busy right now.

Poor Chupa

A chupacabra has met an ignoble end in a pawn shop in El Paso Texas. RIP

Monday's Missives

My hot friend... pictured with some Hooter's chick. Ha. We were in the Wounded Warrior Battalion together at Hood. Don't believe a word he says. I mean really, I think he was there because he got hit in the head or something and is probably still making up outrageous stories about me.

• Wherever I'm at in public I assume there's a camera on me and I'm honestly not sure if that's a good or bad thing.



• They sell cooked and flavored pig's ears now for dog treats.



• I bought a helicopter model once for a patient who had been an aircrewman in Vietnam. He died before I could build it with him. It appeared recently in some of my stuff. I really liked that guy and he responded well to me. He bounced back enough while I was caring for him he actually had to be pulled from full time care for a week or so. His sister who was his main care provider had found he was living in a storage shed somewhere after he'd dropped out of his families life. The last months of his life were nice and arguably better than a lot of his years before. He was a long ago case, but my recall of our time together is nearly a video log in my mind. I walked in to relieve the day nurse as he was dying. His sister saw me in the doorway after I let myself in. Her heart broke for me when she saw my shoulders slump, bags containing that model and supplies in hand when I realised he was almost gone. She started crying and ran and hugged me saying, "He's almost gone. Come in and be with him." He took a few more deep breaths as I talked to him and held his hand. They were the deepest terminal breaths I've ever seen anyone take. His cheeks fluttered and I could hear what I assume to be vibrations from his vocal cords. After he was gone, she told me he would wait up to see me and ask when I was coming and refuse pain meds so he wouldn't be gorked out when I got there.



• Billy Squier My Kind Of Lover



• Although I am pretty open, when I confess my sins, tell my story or otherwise bare my soul to a woman it rarely strengthens the relationship and I most often regret it and always assume it will come back to haunt me.



• People are surprised I brush my teeth at work. I'm shocked people can go 12 or really even 8 hours without brushing their choppers.
  

Sunday's Summary

God bless our troops- especially the snipers, artillery men and medevac/close air support pilots.

• You can't keep a good dog down.





• The chorus to the song Zachary has been singing this morning.





• It was too chilly for him to swim much yesterday so I didn't even attempt it.





• My eldest went skydiving yesterday and can't wait to go back. My only input was to make sure he buys a logbook which oddly, was not offered for purchase or as part of the package.





• My nose hurts without good reason. I hope it's not a tumah.





• I'm not kidding though- it makes me wince just to touch it.



• Whah!- call me a whambulance.





• I used to attend worship services in a church building that had been a restaurant in another life. It was tiny. It may have seated 20 people? We made two elderly church ladies day when years later I visited with my eldest when he was a toddler. They ganged up on him and colored, sang Jesus Loves Me and fed him snacks and juice for Sunday school. To help them out I would mow the lawn for cheaps. To try and help me out nearly every single person there would come to me and say,"You're not getting paid enough to do that- here's something..." Sweet, sweet people.





• I'm worried about my elderly neighbor lady. She's strong and independent with family that checks on her frequently, but I'm afraid she's getting sick or otherwise ready to go downhill. She'll never tell me what she wants when I ask as I'm going out to eat- so sometimes I just bring her something back.





• A squirrel came out to the pool yesterday and hung over the side by his rear legs and guzzled water like it was going out of style.





• We really need some rain.


• I'm not sure where we'll end up, but Zac and I are about to flip a coin to decide which way we head out on the interstate and drive.



• Be good and have a great day.

Saturday's Situation

• In a restaurant once the server came over to the table and said,"My manager says he's pretty sure you're that guy Moby and said I should come over and ask you. If I am and I can produce a signed promo pic do we get our dinner comped? I don't know I'll go ask."He came back after a few minutes and said,"He says sure- absolutely." I started scheming- who can I get to print me off a pic and slip it to me?




• I never figured anything out, but here's Moby in his glory days- Moby Lift Me Up




• Nope, I did not spell restaurant correctly up there.




• Oddly, I got it right that time though.




• It's nerve wracking to me when a child refers to a train as a choo-choo train. It seems a small thing, but it's one more thing they have to unlearn and a sure sign they're not being taught the way the world really works.




• Zachary has been spinning in circles for the past 5 minutes in the living room. "Dad the world is spinning! Is your world spinning?"




• Baby, my world is always spinning.


• My favorite Smiths song, How Soon Is Now?

Friday's Dispatch

Aye carumba! What the?! I don't even know where to start. Appropriately, it was found under the heading of Greeting Card Fails.

• Headline: Obama set to give a speech on American jobs as he drives around the country in a 1.1 million dollar bus made in Canada...


• Man, we are goofy.


• For what that vehicle is though, that price is not shocking- they could have spent a lot more. Although we shouldn't forget- as with any Presidential vehicle there are at least two.


• Abercrombie And Fitch have made an offer to pay the cast of Jersey Shore for never, ever appearing in public in their clothing line again.


• An old, awful adage I've heard from multiple police friends: "You'll never hear of a law enforcement officer attempting suicide." The first time I heard that one a cop in the group saw a guy with a puzzled look on his face. The cop nodded, stuck his index finger in his mouth like it was a pistol pointed up at the roof of his mouth...


• "Why didn't you just pee in your pants?" Zac's comment after my last trip to the bathroom.


• I'll take that one under advisement.


• I normally do not count my chickens before they're hatched- experience teaches it's bad mojo, but I just got offered a great job. The pay is OK (but guaranteed) benefits are great, hours are mostly routine business with a couple of clinics here and there in a month and it's a good work. I worked there in the past and have always known I'd go back. It won't interfere with my contract work much so I can have a smooth transition and maybe even enjoy each job a little more. I'm stoked.


• Do the cool people say stoked anymore?


• Update: I got the job and have been working for a few days.


• Ruby Throat- In The Arms Of Flowers

Thursday's Thoughts

I think she should double dog dare him.

• A group of peoples lives intersect as they travel the country competing in karaoke contests starring; Paul Giamatti, Gwyneth Paltrow, Huey Lewis and Andre Braugher . If that sounds like a lame movie synopsis, put that thinking behind you and watch Duets. Here's Gwyneth covering Bette Davis Eyes and Andre Braugher doing the prettiest acapella version of Freebird you've ever heard. I know- I've given you a tension headache from rolling your eyes. Work with me on this and give it a try.



• Just returned from new hire processing for my new job. I'm excited about it. Interestingly, after applying and doing well in the interview and passing initial checks etc. they took a pass on me and hired two other nurses. It took a month for them to get chewed up and spit out and I was offered one of the the positions. My patient base will be refugees, prisoners, homeless and the poor.



• Many good stories are anticipated- so tune in next week- the same bat time- the same bat channel.



• It's raining!



• Crud, it stopped.



• No, I'm not joking.



• Bartholomew Silent Comedy

Wednesday's Digressions

How to know we've already lost Afghanistan: millions are at risk of starving and except for certain areas there isn't a thing we can do about it. Not only that- the reason a lot of them are starving is our fault since we cut them off from their cash crop of poppies.

• If I was a NASCAR driver I'd do the doughnut at the finish line, slide sideways into the winners circle and do a back flip from the door of my car and then hose everybody down with champagne.







• Even if I lost.







• Saliva Your Disease.







• When I was in high school there was a program called Upward Bound for kids with promise who needed guidance and would not otherwise have the means for college. A teacher and guidance counselor nominated me for the program which in our area was based at UNT in Denton TX. I did not complete the course to get the scholarship involved, but I owe the college and by extension the success I've had to that program since it gave me a little belief in myself- so when I was out of excuses and knew I needed to go to college I knew I could do it. Will Niklas and Nancy Meade were in charge of the program then and I'll never- ever forget them.







• We would take a bus to the campus on Saturday and spend the night. In the summer we stayed a couple of weeks. God bless the RAs and assorted mentors- we made them earn their pay.







• During the first big blow up when I knew my marriage was probably going to end my wife told me to leave the house about 10 o'clock at night. I picked up my keys and walked toward the door. "No, wait- you can sleep on the couch." Being exhausted I drug some stuff out of the linen closet to pull over myself and lie down. It took a while, but about the time I dozed off she came out and said,"Come to bed. I can't sleep without you." Her eyes were swollen from crying.







• Manchester Orchestra Please Don't Go

New Job Tuesday

• I'm Not Lisa- Jessi Colter



• It will take a while to get back into the swing of working days and sleeping nights, but I look forward to being normal again.



• Well, in regards to the hours I keep anyway.



• Zac scuffed his cheek right under his eye while we were out exploring. It looks like I beat him.


• "Is there a boo-boo there? Is it bleeding? Is it going to get infected?"



• I've stomped around Sunshine Lake for years. This is the first time I walked nearly the entire length of the creek and did not even get my shoes muddy- much less wet.



• It looks like every animal in the county was stampeded to that site for water. The raccoons have been making a good living on the aquatic wildlife trapped in the low areas.



• Of course everybody that has a bale of hay to sell is going to sell it, but I don't think I've ever seen so many hay haulers in my life. You could take it for granted someone will bale and others will buy lower quality straw to have something to feed their animals, but yesterday, I saw a trailer full of large round bales that was so coarse- I don't have a guess what it was. Really, it looked like bamboo.



• New job starts today- did I mention?



• Be good and have a great day.

Monday's Missives

I dig this pic from a Next Blog button foray.









• A friends teen age daughter when she's in a mood to freak her mom out will come up behind her when she's cooking or otherwise has her hands full and nuzzle her neck and start rubbing her arms and moaning like- well, you know. She'll then say things like,"Oh, you're so hot. I want you so baddddd." To which mom responds, "!%$#@! ________, you freak me out with that! Will you stop?" This will of course cause said teenager to lay it on even thicker, causing said mom to lose it and dishes and/or food to go flying and mom to then start trying to direct physical violence against the teen. I do not then make matters worse by rolling on the floor in laughter with the other teenagers.








• Funny. Wrong, but funny.








• Now that I've decided to give my aquarium away Zachary has suddenly taken an interest in it. What are the odds?








• I think an aquaintence's wife thinks less of him that he did not reenlist after the Afghanistan and Iraq wars started. It's just an intuitive observation, but I think I am right- simply could not live with myself were that me and it has caused me to look at him completely different.








• To be filed under pretty much everything you think you know about history is wrong: Edgar Allen Poe has a reputation as a drunken, crazy, drug addict. There may be some truth to each at various times and in various ways in his life, but the same could be said for many people- famous or otherwise who just the mention of the person does not make us think, Drunk. Crazy. Drug addict. Everything you think you know about him in relation to these characteristics was written by a man who hated his guts in life and became his biographer after his death.








• If you don't believe me- go look it up. I'll wait.

Sunday's Summary

Bose Ikard- the former Weatherford resident who was the inspiration for the character of Deets in Lonesome Dove. I visit his grave on occasion.



• There is a product being advertised on television as I write this that is unsurpassed in ridiculousness. It's called Quillow and is a pillow that transforms into a blanket. Among other problems having a thing that transforms into another that 90% of the time is needed with the first state of the product is at the very best plain odd and I think I'm being generous with that assessment. It would be like having a boat that tranforms into a boat trailer.




• They'll sell eleventy billion of those things.




• This was mentioned in another post, but on a news program the other day Trenton New Jersey was referred to as "the poorest and the blackest city in the US." That statement mesmerizes me and I'm not sure why.




• "The squirrels deceptiveness will be directly in proportion to the perceived threat to his nuts."- what they just said on Animal Planet's Most Extreme show.




• The new job starts Tuesday.




• Taking away the last bit of faith I have in a person is quite a feat, but somebody did it recently and that is OK- you live and learn. I can't even invest enough of myself in them to be civil or be ugly- I'm indifferent to the person. It's weird, the nothing I feel.




• The commercial for the show Hillbilly Handfishin' shows a guy in the water putting a woman between himself and a snake while screaming like a little girl. There are lots of things I have to live with myself over in this world- throwing a female between myself and something I perceive as dangerous will never be one of them. I'd literally rather die and if I did violate that thought and act like that guy, I'd leave the woman in stark shame and begin a spirit quest in search of a little honor.

Raising Zachary

People get old and boo-boos get infected.

Friday's Dispatch

Todd Rundgren - another Rock great who you assumed was someone else since you like at least a couple of his songs a lot, but thought Rundgren only did that weird experimental stuff..





• Todd Rundgren Hello It's Me Among some other interesting trivia related to him Liv Tyler was raised the first 9 years of her life believing Todd was her father. The idiot who shot Lennon had a weird obsession with Rundgren and laid out some of his tapes in a pattern on the dresser in his hotel room before he left to kill Lennon. Rundgren played a guitar which Eric Clapton had played in Cream before giving it to George Harrison who subsequently loaned it to Jackie Lomax who sold it to Rundgren for 500.00.





• Yes, I'm talking about Sunny if you know anything about guitars.





• To be filed under simply knew this was going to happen somewhere- some time: at a patients house a pharmacy driver pulled up and seeing someone in front of the house said,"I have medicine here for ______ can you tell me where I can find ________ or ________ to sign for it? Well, I'm ______. OK then, sign right here please." As you can guess- no one has any idea who the person was that signed for the meds or where said meds ended up.





• 60 Morphine 60 mg extended release tabs. Morphine instant release liquid and a bottle of Ativan 2 mg tabs- in case you're wondering. That stuff is nothing for a novice to be messing around with and the theft of same is probably quite self limiting. I'd watch for someone known in that circle to have an overdose- lethal or otherwise.





• One of my hospice patients was once an NFL cheerleader. The last words I heard her say were, "I want some ice cream. You want some ice cream? Doesn't that sound gooood?" She then exhausted herself knocking back nearly half a gallon of cookie dough ice cream.





• She got added pretty quickly to the list of patients I'll never forget.





• My eldest is now officially a back up singer for the band. They say he's a natural screamer.
  



• After multiple attempts at taking the high road- he takes after his dad.

Thursday's Thoughts

With friends like this... there'd never be a dull moment.






• Queensryche Eyes Of A Stranger



• Yesterday at the gas pumps there was a transvestite who had to be 6' 3" tall driving a very flashy sports car. He was wearing a mini skirt and had on impossibly high heels. A 6' 7" trannie in a mini skirt will get your attention. It was mesmerizing- it's not every day in Weatherford Texas you see a 7 foot tall trannie wearing a mini skirt. Anyway, as I stood there gas running out of my car on to the ground with my mouth hanging open at this dude in all 8 feet of his mini skirted glory- he totally busted me staring at him. He must have thought I was down with it as he smiled and winked at me while folding all 9 feet of his mini skirted manliness into that car.



• I'll never be the same.



• While discussing the types of people I've cared for in my nursing (and especially hospice) the subject came up how I have to treat everyone equally regardless of their backgrounds. After a few what ifs? I told the person grilling me,"It doesn't matter what they've done." and knowing they were trying to shock me with some over the top examples I said,"There's nothing you can shock me with- I promise you I've seen it all- child molesters, murderers, alcoholics, drug addicts, rich people, poor people, famous people, homeless people you name it- they get treated the same and any nurse who says they do differently needs a new line of work. They are admitting something very unethical at best and criminal at worst."



• When someone deletes their comments on here it puzzles me.