Monday's Missives

• Seeking a Friend For The End Of The World is a sweet and very good movie.
• When I see a book book by Stacy Schiff or see her name in print somewhere for some reason I think of Nora Ephron. I say,"some reason" because I presume there is one- although I have no idea why I make that seemingly odd connection.
• You can look it up if you want but sex offender registries do not work as intended and are counterproductive in multiple ways. Those are 2 facts related to that issue I presumed intuitively when I first of heard of the idea years ago and I would still be shocked to learn those registries help in any demonstrable way.
• My coffee cup is positioned on my chest as I write this lying in bed. It was nice at first as I could smell it but due to adaptation that effect is gone- but at least it is very handy.
• Ads for Dick's Sporting Goods have started randomly appearing in my mailbox.
• Saturday night (today is 12/19/2016) we camped at Mineral Wells State Park. My truck thermometer- which is usually pretty close (+/-3 degrees) to actual temps said it was 11 degrees Sunday morning. During the day Sunday when we got home it was hard to get my perceived body temp. regulated. Stepping outside for a minute would have me feeling like I was freezing to death. I would come back in and feel like my skin was on fire, then I would start shivering so I would jump in the tub, then I would start sweating bullets...
• Sunday I saw an ex girlfriend's profile pic on a dating website. Interestingly, she used a pic she took while we were together- I remember exactly where we were and what we were doing when she took it. So a note to whoever ends up with her- that content, confident, satisfied and happy look she has on her face that made you think you wanted to be a part of her life when you saw her picture? Yeah- that was all because of me.

Monday's Missives

• FG is done with me for good.  I miss her like I never missed anybody- even the ex wife (where I more missed the marriage/family than her anyway). She was a friend, an amazing lover and fellow explorer (FG- not ex wife). We literally climbed mountains together. She made things I knew and loved before her better and made me want to see new things. It is a time worn expression but she made me want to be a better person.
• Suicide Squad is a great movie with fantastic music. If Leto had not been hyped soooo much as Joker before the movies release- he would have stolen the show. Even Will Smith who I do not care much for was excellent.
• My tablet will show the battery is fully charged. It will work for about 15 minutes then it will without warning- die.
• I scored on a stack of movies at the pawn shop yesterday- 8 movies for under 12 buck. Among my finds was 12 Monkeys- a great film. It is a shame I did not pick up more but the covers were all taped shut so I was a bit leery- but they are all like new. When DVDs were more valuable, pawn shops would buff  minor scratches out with rouge and a polish wheel but I do not know if that happens anymore. Anyway- I can always go back with Zac to teach him how to navigate life's seedy underbelly.
• Cinch clothing is among the most high quality you can buy. In my closet are jeans and shirts which have been worn frequently (if not hard) for 20 years.
• As I write this sitting by the pool the sound of the fountain is about to knock me out. Honestly, I am tempted to just turn over and doze off.
• People- even authors who should know better, are using commas these days where they should use semi colons or dashes.
• Today (12/28/2016) Zac informed his mother he wanted a microscope as in his words, I think it is time I began exploring my world at the molecular level...
• Songs to kill the mood.

Monday's Missives

Mini Me. If he looked pale it is because he was sick as a dog but didn't want to not go out- he is a trooper. My first backpack  and canteen were chosen from a Raleigh cigarette coupon catalog.  My sister and I would each get to pick items from the catalog. You could get just about anything- including household furnishings. I don't recall the details but there were other outdoor items she got me besides the backpack and canteen (both of which I still have) to outfit me for scouts. It just hit me- a sleeping bag was one item and I got an inflatable raft about the same time but it may have come from a different source. Of my mom I can say, She loved us like no other and did the best she could with what she had and really- what more can you ask?

• Try as I might- Sleater-Kinney does nothing for me and I'm surprised.
• I do like this though.
  
  
  

  

  It is official- I am an old geezer. I sit and crack pecans I scrounge in the park while my kids play. What is next- feeding pigeons with my pants hiked up under my armpits while I complain about, Kids these days... and the government?

• Good for David but David's Western Western Wear in W'ford stays so busy I have been sitting on a gift card for there for nearly 3 weeks and counting. Every time I go there isn't room to park. Business must be good.
• Wait, I just realized- maybe they're overwhelmed handling returns?

  

  That is racist! Whats next- cheese nips?!

• There is at least one surveillance program I read about recently that is straight out of the movie Minority Report. It monitors people in crowds for suspicious behavior and notifies authorities after ranking the people's likelihood they're up to no good. I need to do better with publishing my predictions. In my minds eye a long time ago I saw the same surveillance equipment and computer algorithms tied to a facial recognition program and database of offenders.
• My guess is they didn't do it but it must have been tempting for the military and Department Of Justice to implant some type tracking devices in the Guantanamo detainees and other potential problem makers. Regardless, they had to explore the possibilities.
  
  
  

  

  I know it is, Just the way it is but how when we remodel a house can sooooo much building materials come out of it and there be anything left? The last house I remodeled was only probably a bit bigger than this one and I paid for haul outs larger than this one- two or three times.

• The Wraith seems to get shown a few times a month on multiple stations and this has been true for 30 years. In the past, I have seen it shown on one station on a Saturday and another the very next day. It just [01/17/2015] went off on Retro.  Why? I have never seen this happen with any other movie and I am sure [nearly] it isn't my imagination.

  

  This building near the cemetery in Jacksboro intrigues me partially because I like half hip roofs. What is your favorite type of roof ? A smart person would doll it up with some great accents inside, put in stained glass windows and paint the outside a brilliant white. Then rent it out dirt cheap for funerals to get people inside it and develop some community goodwill. Then they could make their money with other events as word spreads. People would get married in the thing not only because it is great and beautiful- but to be able to say for the rest of their lives they got married in a cemetery. I have it all figured out- don't I?

• FG's dumb cat's rear legs fall out from under him and he will literally pass smooth out from pleasure and go asleep against my leg after I scratch his chin.
• It isn't news to know terror groups are wanting to provoke a reaction when they do something heinous but what should be remembered is- they're trying to provoke an overreaction.
  
  
  

  

  Grrrrrrl power!

  
  

Thursday's Thoughts

"Kevin!" Somebody who didn't like me was being nice (and that is nice). 

• Today (01/09/2015) as I drove through a drive-through of a Whataburger (pronounced Water- burger in the parlance of my homeland)  the girl in the window tried to flirt with me a bit. She took note of my state of dress (short sleeves in 30 degree weather) and said, Where is your jacket or sweater? Aren't you cold? I replied, Nah, I'm good. I'm hot blooded. She handed me my change and then said, Oh, you're not much of a morning person? (although it was fairly late in the afternoon). She realized what she had said and went red all over and tried to backtrack. I said, Its all good- here this is for you and gave her a tip. She was gorgeous- literally beautiful. I don't know her story but could make some guesses. She was covered in tattoos. She seemed smart, funny and personable but not as any of them those as she had probably been in the past. Something derailed her. She didn't belong there but maybe kind of did... 

  

  Everybody in the house got sick this past winter. It was a challenge- but I pulled everybody through somehow. Half the time we were in Benadryl induced comas the other half  we were wandering aimlessly at 2 in the morning tweeked out on pseudephedrine.

  
  

  

  So a foreign born patient asks, Do you like fresh coconut? You answer- Of course! She reaches into her purse with her dirty hand and pulls this out and hands it to you. What do you do? You make a big deal of thanking her for thinking of you, let her see you place it on a paper towel on your desk and tell her you'll eat it on break of course.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Here, have some Sex Pistols
• Yesterday (01/13/2015) I initial dosed a patient on some medications. Approximately 30 minutes later she said, Kevin I don't feel right. My face is burning. I feel weird. and then a minute later she said, Hey,  I'm starting to itch. Me being the smartest guy in the room and learning in nursing school that it isn't normal nor advantageous to have a burning face, feel weird nor itch, I quickly whipped up a referral to the emergency department and sent her to the hospital.
• Although that particular case was cut and dried- a lot of what I do consists of knowing when to make my problems other people's problems.
• It is 02/25/2015 and snowing like mad. The big thing now is talk of the 50 Shades of Gray movie. I won't watch it as it looks incredibly boring and dumb- even worse than the horrifically bad book. Soon though, all the news stories will be about people damaging themselves and presenting to emergency departments acting out the dumb things they saw in that dumb movie. Also, watch for the reports centered around kids and their antics after they watch it.
• Think of the kids!

At Fort Richardson. Which of the 3 do you like?

If the air temp is cool enough to at least not be considered hot and your sodas are too warm, place them in a grocery sack of water in the shade. It will probably have a little leak or two (although you don't want it to leak like a sieve) if it doesn't- poke a couple of pin holes in it. Fill it a time or two and over a period of 30 minutes or an hour and your Dublin Dr. Peppers will be if not frosty- much more refreshing as the water running off and evaporating pulls some of the heat away. Someday you should ask me about how in my old National Guard unit we would expend a fire extinguisher over our beverages in the field to cool them.

Monday's Missives

• Do all the people freaking out over genetically modified foods- they call GMs and very inventively Frankenfoods (I really like that one) realize all the foods they, we and every person in the world has ever eaten in their lifetimes is genetically modified? As soon as man began an agrarian lifestyle he modified genetically the foods he grew for desired traits.
• A liberal friend who took jillions of sociology, psychology and every other 'ology class ever offered once mentioned, You can tell how important something is to a society by how many slang words they have for the object or activity. 
  
• Self censorship is a way of life for us now as we are absolutely terrified of being labelled racist, xenophobe or sexist or...
• I only heard most of the Donald Sterling conversation between he and his girlfriend. He is heard telling her to never bring black guys with her to his games. Did he say black people were terrible, ugly or that their mothers dressed them funny? If he did, I missed it but he will forever be labelled a racist-as in he will be referred to as such long after he is dead and gone. I'm not defending him I may have missed something but the only person in this world I heard making anything like a defense of him was his wife. Every single white person in this country is terrified at the thought  of trading places with him- and not because of that mugly girlfriend.
• Connected thought: I set these thoughts to post some months after they came to mind.
  

  

  FG at the tree light Xmas 2013

• I'm at the pool and Zac is working the babes while sister practices her cannonball technique.
• My respect automatically goes up a notch when a lawyer refers to himself as a lawyer instead of attorney.
• Don't like lawyers? Cops or lawyers- takes your choices and takes your chances. Wait- better English? .. take your choice and take your chances or make your choice and take your chances or make your choice or take your chances...
• Whoa either way, that was pretty good. Give me credit when you use it.
  

Monday's Missives

Mexican king snake found in a drain in Scotland- demonstrative of the multiple problems with mans fascination with animals and the trade in same.

• A few weeks ago I gave an Iraqi patient who is fluent in English the number for one of my contacts in the translator/interpreter network underworld. He called them and was not only offered a job and training but the classes and test fees will be paid for by the organization and as his is worn out they are buying him a new prosthetic leg and paying for his physical therapy.
• Every once in a while I get something right- don't get too used to it though.

  

  Miss Landmine contestants

  
  
  
  
• For Robert F. Scott's Antarctic expedition he chose to incorporate ponies, sled dogs and 3 tractors into his plans. It was destined to fail before the severe weather hit. Another interesting related fact- part of the reason Amundson succeeded and Scott's party starved, froze and dehydrated to death was Scott's insistence it be a scientific journey to gather samples and take readings etc. along the way not just a race to the pole for the sake of getting there. This is a really odd fatal error. If he had slogged to the pole and not worried about anything but getting there and back alive- he could have wrote his own ticket and done anything he wanted on the next expedition.
• Of course he would also have had to leave the ponies and tractors behind...
• Unsolicited outdoor tip for the day: Almost no matter where and when you go in the great outdoors in the US of A if you carry a backpack with a water reservoir, a water filter, headlamp, some bandannas, two ways of making a fire, a knife, some 550 cord (50-100 ft.), a trash bag and two space blankets it will only cost you a few pounds of weight and you still might be a knucklehead and get lost but at least you'll be a live knucklehead.

  

  Ad said to the effect," I'm a single mom and my ex husband set fire to my car. I don't know where to find parts for it...." That is code for, I talked to the body shop and if you buy it from me it will cost twice what the car is worth to fix it and you run the risk of getting killed by my ex or at the very least having him burn it to the ground when he sees it and assumes I still own it.

• It depends on the server and the situation but I most often get perturbed when  they ask about what I'm reading when I have a book at the table. There is a snap judgement where I sense their motive (maybe incorrectly) and if I sense they're genuine I'll engage them, if I sense they're sucking up to enhance their tip I'll shut down- quick.
• It is 05/18/2014@0740 and Zac is rubbing Crayons together to see what colors are formed on the paper.
• Formed? That gets the point across but I am sure that isn't correct.

  

  Her eye looks sad. How is that possible- one eye? It seems like it would take both to form an expression. Anyway, I am sure it was something I did.

  
  

Wednesday's Digressions

MWSP sunset- wish you were there

Although hers are pretty I don't have a thing about feet. She just got mad about me taking pics of her face when she had just awoken so I said, Fine I'll take a picture of your foot! and it has been a thing since.

My TREK gathers too much dust

• Some of Zacs nicnames: Zacatoochee, Zacharias, Zacman, Zacatariat.


• While a patient of mine once was dying of cancer her hubby came to her while we were trying try get her pain under control and asked for a nail file, Hon, do you have a nail file? I have a hang nail that's killing me! Kinda funny- kinda wrong, kinda weird but yeah, funny.


• All of my children's favorite jam is pineapple preserves.


• Only learned that recently.


• I could live in a tent.


• Are we really shocked Rio was chosen over Chicago for the 2016 Olympics? I've been to Chicago- you don't dream of going to Chicago. I know lots of people who dream of going to Rio.


• Really, that was less than a shocker.


• You should hear my two year old sing the theme from Smallville.


• Moby got his name from his great, great uncle (I think that's right) Hermann Melville the author of Moby Dick.
• From a very old draft clean-up.

Wednesday's Digressions

• If you don't have some love in your heart for Jack White you might not have a heart at all- or a soul for that matter. Here he is at SXSW doing a parking lot show with Seasick Steve.
• Last text message I received: She is very pretty!!!!!!! I'm so HAPPY for you! This was in response to me sending her a pic of my girlfriend. Oh, imagine my embarrassment- I forgot to mention the aforementioned texter/textee/wellwisher was a former girlfriend.
• It reminded me- I cannot name a single woman from my past who would be likely to say she hated me. I'm usually surprised when certain ones from the past speak fondly of me to others.
• Texter and textee get hi lited by my spell check.
• Ridiculous.
• So does wellwisher and it should, but I liked the flow of it in that context.
• People, other than the need for shelter, food and water are not necessarily the same the world over- westerners and middle easterners for instance, process information differently and have a completely different world view than one another. One thing though I bet is constant the world over: if a person can sing really well it is one of their most prized personal attributes and in their heart of hearts those who cannot sing well wish they could.
• I just found out one of my best friends was a long time nudist for years in another life.
  
  
  

  

  How close we were to edge of the system that hit Granbury: the first image is from the back of the house and second is from front porch.

  
  

  

  This sign has been up for weeks.

  
  

  

  Embarrassingly tiny TV in our waiting room is embarrassing.

  
  

  

  My letter Q is cool

  
  

  

  I got it when I asked one of our clerks what she was doing. Sorting letters- you want one? she asked.  Yes, I would like an upper case Q please. I only have it in hot pink. You want a hot pink one? You have to ask? I replied. The tasty looking bass was painted in 1965. My nursing buddy found it in an antique store.

  
  
  
  
  

  

  Kev's Office Walls And Windowsills- A Retrospective Study

  
  
  
  
  
  

  

  Found on Beemers windshield one morning. I have no idea who left it.

  
  

  

  This button was on my office bulletin board when I moved in. I left it there knowing I would find out it's meaning from somebody at some point. It took two years for the following, So, you like Freebirds? At first I thought he meant the song Freebird and was about to reply, Yeah, about as much as any other white trash I guess when I saw him looking at the pin beside Mr. Deadhead. Uh, I don't even know what it is. I've been waiting for someone to tell me. I said instead. It is a burrito restaurant. He gave me a nice discount coupon.

  
  

  

  Spit beetle nest- for realz. Its a thing. I'm not joshing ya.

  
  

  

  Among the rules for Texas State Parks. 

  
  

  

  This was their response to the question, Where would you go and what would you do if a tornado or thunderstorm struck or you got lost?

  
  

  

  Yes, that is what eleventy billion daddy long legs look like nested up.

  
  

  

  Brilliant orange fungus found in MWSP

  
  

  

  FG, Uh, Is that a tombstone? Me No, it is just an interestingly but randomly positioned rock. I don't believe you. I choose to  believe it is a tombstone. was her womanly reply. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  

  One day you are gorgeous, brilliantly colored beetle- the next you're poop.

  
  

  

  I painted FG's nails.

  
  

  

  Speaking of poop- that is a lot of it.

  
  

  

  Drift wood worn smooth by years of wave action in a cove.