April 30, 2019

Because you are waiting with breathless anticipation

While I am waiting for a spreadsheet to load I might offer an update on my projects.  The nursery is painted. I will remove the edge tape this morning and touch up as required. A quick cleaning of the carpet will allow me to assemble the crib (if I can remember how to do it) and then I will be done but for hanging a few pictures in both rooms.

I'm glad. Painting is not one of my favorite tasks. It beats cleaning up dog crap in tne backyard...

In all, it is a lousy way o spend a day off work.

Hope you have a great Hump Day Eve.

April 28, 2019

Table 37 your table is ready

Checking in to the old blogeroo between coats of paint on the soon-to-be nursery. The light yellow is not covering he light gray currently on the wall. *

It is a good thing I do not feel like masturbating, my right arm is a ball of pain.

It does not help that I woke at 5 this morning.

I'm watching the Cubs. It beats watching the paint dry.

After a damp morning, the sun has popped out ths afternoon. It remains cool outside.

The granddaughter's room is done, but for hanging some pictures.

I mowed yesterday. 

It has been a busy weekend. 

I hope yours has been good.



*I was looking in vain for a GoT/ Wall joke to inert here. Nope, can't get there. 

April 27, 2019

About the blog

Boy, upon reflection, the preceding post was sure a whiny-assed screed. Skip right over it.

The dog ate my homework

It seems this site has become a weekly blog and that is unacceptable, at least to me.

Excuses, excuses, I've many. Last weekend Sunday we started the big office change-over. My granddaughter wanted to move into "Paw's room", so her room will become the baby's when she arrives any day now. My former haven is now a subtle pink. Carpets are cleaned, new curtains hung. What to do with the stuff that used to be in my office? It is temporarily parked in the guest room, the soon-to-be nursery, the master bedroom, the hallway.

I suggested we find a place for and rearrange the furniture, then paint. I also said I wanted to start early last Saturday if we were going to do this project. Nope, the One in Charge rules. We started Sunday after Easter brunch. That way I spent the evenings after work giving a second coat, touching up the trim, hanging blinds and curtains, cleaning the carpet. Two days of work turned into five late nights.

No, I'm not bitter. Why do you ask?

Now we have to find a place for my desk that is blocking the  hall so we can move the girl's bed and toys. Remember how I stupidly thought we should rearrange my stuff first? You know, so we don't have to move thinge two or three times? "But we have to get the painting done and I don't have time to work on those other rooms to make space" Then I get to start painting the second bedroom. BTW, when all of this was first discussed I was adamant I was only going to paint one room.

Yeah, my opinion doesn't count.

That's why I blog. I get my say and you don't get your way around here! None of you. Take that.

Anyway that is my long crybaby tale of why I did not post all week. Ain't my life exciting?

The best news? The wife says this is just the beginning. She has plans to paint and redecorate every room in the house. She said things have been as they are for six years and it is time for a change.

Yay.

That is a monotone unemotional "Yay" if you are reading aloud.


April 21, 2019

He is Risen

It is not about the bunnies or candy-filled eggs.

Happy Easter

April 20, 2019

Morning Musings, volume XCVII

The Bradford Pears in my backyard are in full bloom. The grass will need cutting soon. Spring is upon us. I have hours and days of yard work to do. Alas, it is raining yet again today.

The Zombies are singing in the background. The boy's dog is snoring in my recliner. The coffee is good. Yes, it is the cheap Walmart brand K-cup; the one in the yellow box, but I buy it because I actually like it.

It appears we will finally start converting my office into a nursery this weekend provided the wife actually chooses some paint.  We need to start soon. My new granddaughter is due any time. Should the baby procrastinate too long, the doctor will induce in early May. Of course, the Wife won't provide day care until my daughter goes back to work, so we really have a couple of months to get things done.

As more sixties rock cycles through my Echo, it is clear Bob Dylan is one of the most over-rated musicians of all time. Should you disagree, feel free to argue your entirely wrong opinion in the comments.

As a student of history I have actually read quite a bit about the Nixon Watergate affair. That bit of spying brought down a Presidency. Other than it was cloaked in semi-official bureaucracy, what is so different about what the Obama administration did to Trump? Seriously, the Obamaites do not look so good in the Meuller report.

I think I am going to try out my new smoker tomorrow. Nothing like a little pork to celebrate the death and rise of a Jewish guy.

And that about wraps up another rambling Saturday post. I hope you have a great day.

April 19, 2019

Now you see me

What the heck, I am up, I have time. I might as well post something. Why am I up at 04 dark thirty? I wish I knew.  I have the day off,  It is the one work day I can sleep in and my old buddy insomnia comes for a visit. So it goes.

I have decided I will expound on my way-too-long travelogue from my recent vacation.  Yes boys and girls, I am going to give you pictures.  I may or may not even be in some of them. If you are new to the site you will be most disappointed to learn I am no Paul Newmanesque character, nor do I resemble Race Bannon in any way. Instead, I am a post-middle-aged, skinny-legged lump with rapidly graying and thinning hair. Get your looks in because the pictures will not be up long.

Surely you know how to embiggen by now?


NOLA in the distance as we sailed down river towards the Gulf
Sunset from the stern  No, I do not know what is up with that green dot

Another Caribbean sunset


looking down the promenade deck

The ship is really, really big

It is impossible to be depressed when there is a palm tree

I am much better at taking pictures of "things" than people.  I especially like photographing sunsets. I think that is enough.  There is nothing as boring as looking at someone's vacation pictures.

April 18, 2019

Still breathing

Sheesh, you might think I could coast into a short work week. Instead, I've worked well past six every night this week. I'm going try and knock off early today. I have tomorrow off.

Of course the weather has been great until today. Now we have rain and a cold front moving in for the weekend.

So it goes.

April 15, 2019

Go ahead and steal it, I did

I've a bunch of stuff on tap on this Monday. The day will be quite taxing.

April 14, 2019

There is no hidden message in the dragons, it is just entertainment

There is a steady cold rain falling this morning. The forecast calls for more of the same all day.

We had dinner and euchre with some friends last night. It was a good time.

Strangely, I can see better without my glasses this morning. I don't know what is going on. I had to take them off to read the menu last night. Paranoid me can only think the worst. I'm just a nervous Nellie. My eye problems developed slowly over years last time.

Sometimes I wonder of the Trumpster secretly reads my rantings. I suggested dumping herds of illegals into Sanctuary Cities years ago. Now the Prez hints he just might take that course of action and the anti-border crowd is going nuts. I say pull up a busload or three of migrants every day to AOC's apartment in NY, hand them a bag lunch, and tell them "welcome home and please show up for court". I suspect the economically illiterate anti-border freshman Congressperson will have a change of attitude in short order. Or not. The stupid runs deep in her.

I really hope the Dems run on open borders and the Green New Deal (they support it until they have to actually vote for it). It is a sure way to get four more years of Trump. On the other hand, since we no longer teach civics, history, or economics in school the concept of "hey free stuff" will appeal to a lot of people. 

The Mamas and Papas are singing about walking in cold and gloomy weather on my Amazon spy device. How appropriate this morning.

GoT starts tonight. My old man butt (you know what I'm talking about) will be parked on a sofa at my Son-in-law's in plenty of time to catch to opening credits.

Have a great day.

April 13, 2019

Powering through the ennui

The big willow is busting out in leaves. I suppose that is an indication spring is upon us.

Should I tell you about my recent vacation? Do you care? Do you get to vote? Since I am Blog King here at FiI, I will answer those questions for you in order: why not, probably not, and absolutely not. You may now genuflect while I refill my coffee mug in perpetration of sharing my adventure. You might want to grab a cup o' Joe yourself. I don't mind.

It was cold and gloomy and damp as we left NOLA on a Sunday afternoon. Originally the wife and I planned to spend time wandering the old city, sipping hurricanes and seeing the sights. Heavy downpours and cold weather nixed that notion before we even started the drive from God's favorite State.

The 40-something temps cooled the party atmosphere and the traditional celebration moved into the lobby of the big ship. I crept out onto the upper deck fantail and snapped a few pics of the wake and the New Orleans skyline in the distance.

Edit. Were I a good travelogue host I would insert relevant pictures here and there throughout this tale. I'm not and won't. Look, I could promise I will provide photographic evidence as soon as I get the images loaded on the laptop...we both know that isn't gonna happen. Heck, I don't know which I find more surprising, you are still reading or that I am still writing. Are you still reading? Let me know in the comments how far you got before deciding this is boring unreadable tripe. Anyway, expecting images in what will be a way too wordy essay is asking too much.

We wandered the ship before heading off to our windowless stateroom to unpack and get ready for the ample, but not extraordinary dinner followed by a night in the comedy club.

Monday dawned cloudy and cool. I sauntered down very early for breakfast, snagged a couple of deck chairs and read in the weak sun. It warmed as the day progressed. We sunned by the pool, sipped a couple of umbrella drinks and life was good. I retired to the smoking section on deck 11 and burned a couple of hand rolled stogies. In the evening we had dinner, variety shows and comedy.

Tuesday was a repeat of Monday. Sun, frozen umbrella drinks, show, comedy. The weather was perfect.

Wednesday found us in Montego Bay. We bussed into the jungle where we rode a series of zip lines followed by a tubing trip down the river where our guide served out paper cups of rum. Lunch was jerked chicken grilled on the spot. Back to the ship for dinner, show, comedy. Awesome day in a third world paradise.

Thursday morning we anchored just off Grand Cayman Island. A transport tender took us to shore where we boarded a smaller boat to Stingray City, a sandbar famous for the number of the flat fishes that hang out there. The sea was rough. The water was waist deep but occasional waves were higher than my head but the stingrays didn't mind. We then went to a beach for lunch and sun.back on the big ship we did the normal routine.

Friday found us in Cozumel. We snorkeled in the warm clear water then sailed on a catamaran to a private beach for sun, burgers and "free" beer and margaritas. Back on the big ship we did what we had done all week.

Saturday was a repeat of Monday and Tuesday. We had an extra frozen umbrella drink or two and the day was enjoyed with a hint of sadness that the wonderful trip was coming to a close. We skipped the early comedy show to pack, caught the late one and set the alarm for an early wake up. back in NOLA we jumped in the SUV and set off for home. Sadly, our early 35th anniversary trip was over.

So is this way-to-long tale.

April 11, 2019

The end is near

My interest in blogging, in fact in all things Internet, has reached the level of zero.

It may be time to wrap this up.

April 8, 2019

No time for a summer rain

I'm back. We rolled in just short of midnight. I need a vacation recover from my vacation!

NOLA, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Cozumel. I gained six feakin' pounds!

More later. I've gotta do the three S's and head to work.

March 30, 2019

Jumped in bed, bumped his head

It is raining. It is a steady, ground-soaking event. No thunder or strong winds. It is a classic spring rain.

I came back from a trip to central Michigan earlier in the week. The wife was out and about and called to tell me she would pick me up for dinner. I walked around the house in the moderate spring weather. The leaves are budding on the maple out front. The tulips and daffodils and lillys have poked through the cold soil. Spring has indeed come to Hoosierdom. My backyard is a mess. The big willow has dumped enough wood and twigs to build a mansion for the carpenter little pig. The yard work I didn't do last summer is even more evident after a fairly hard winter.

I just deleted several paragraphs of politics. You are welcome.

It is Saturday. I'm in a mellow mood and don't want the actions of the Levelers to ruin my good karma.

I hope you have a great weekend. The wife and I are headed on a Spring Break road trip. No posts until next week.

You will be OK.

March 29, 2019

Friday Fantasies

Baseball is back and the Cubs won on Opening Day. Woot and whoopee.

I'm on vacation today. Big Things are in the works. I'm taking the car to get an oil change. I may get a haircut this afternoon. I know, you look at my life and wish you were me.

I had 8 hours of "personal time" accrued from last year that had to be used by the end of March. So here we are.

Hold a sec, my coffee cup is empty...

My blogoversary was sometime last week. I'm somewhat surprised it passed without comment. I guess you are saving your congrats for the big party with the cake and dancing girls and sparklers and confetti. Party hats are optional. But hey, do not let me dictate the details of my own surprise party.*

This collection of ....words began in the heady days of 2005 when blogging was at the peak and already becoming not cool. Those were the days before Facebook and blogging was just a rung on the ladder of what has become "social media". I suspect the day is not far off when blogging is as passé and caput as My Space. I remain one of the last 6,734 people on Earth who does not have and never has had a Facebook account. Ditto twitter, instagram, or whatever the cool kids are doing these days.

I guess you say I went from being somewhat on the forefront of social media to a dinosaur.

In my normal long-winded way I'm saying I'm still sort of participating and I thank you for your patronage. I don't know why you stop by, but I appreciate every one of you for reading and commenting; even, nay especially, those who disagree with me.

Diagram that sentence bitches.

Have a great Friday.


* or dancing guys if that satisfies your need to be inclusive. Damn the patriarchy anyway.


March 26, 2019

A Required Reckoning

I guess rolling around in the slime that is politics just erases any sense of morality. Perhaps it is that people who go into politics lack a basic lack of decency to start with. I don't know: chicken meet egg. Most people faced with incontrovertible facts would mutter an inaudible mea culpa and move on. The Anti-Trumpers intend on doubling down. Investigate More! is the modern political playbook. Schiff and a couple of others have claimed to see incontrovertible evidence of Trump wrongdoing. Now is the time to show the cards or shut the hell up and get on with spending the People's money with frivolous "shovel ready"  infrastructure projects.

In any case, many of us learn that the Trump collusion narrative was akin to aliens in Roswell and ponder just how it got that far? We seriously wonder why no one has taken Clapper and Brennan and applied a dose of hot tar and a bag of feathers before plopping them naked on a rail and bouncing them in an ass-tearing ball smashing ride out of Washington, never to pander their lies on TV again?

Why isn't there a used Amazon box waiting on the desks of a dozen reporters at various media outlets so they can pack their personal shit on the way out the door, fired for lying, incompetence, and general hackery? Why is Rachel Maddow still getting a paycheck? She should be off interviewing old rock stars like Dan Rather, never trusted to even accurately report on the deliberations of the city council.

Mostly, why isn't the HR group at the Justice Department burning the midnight oil printing pink slips and severance packages for the plethora of people who instigated a bogus investigation in the name of getting their preferred candidate elected?

Let me help. Who initiated the warrant on Carter Page and who authorized it?

March 25, 2019

We just need to dig a little deeper

Man, I love being right. We are already hearing it from the sore losers Democrats, "Sure, Mueller found diddly squat, but he was leading a very narrow investigation". Plus I suspect most Lefties conclusion is not "there is just no evidence", but rather "We have to look harder".

This isn't going to end, the hysteria from the lefties will only increase. You saw it here: it is going to get worse.

I threw together a lasagna and salad for Sunday dinner last night. The kids, minus the one who
lives a thousand miles away, all came for dinner. After we ate I dragged out the ice cream maker and froze up a batch of homemade ice cream. It was a nice evening.

A seemingly short weekend is done. It is a back to work. I think I'll buy into the lottery Wednesday. I could find something to do with all that cash that would keep me out of trouble. And yeah, I certainly would quit my job. I actually like my job, mind you, but seriously, I would quit. I would probably
give them some notice though.

Maybe.

Have a great Monday.

March 24, 2019

Decisions, decisions

Decisions abound. Do I brew another cup of coffee? Do I write a blog post or go get some donuts?

What do you think I shou...

March 23, 2019

Paranoia Strikes Deep

Rotten Chestnuts is what this blog aspires to be when it grows up. It would be too, if I possessed the intelligence, ability, and time.

The transformation of my office into a bedroom for the new grandkid will occur in the next few weeks. My desk and stuff will move into the front/guest bedroom. We will paint the walls and put up the baby bed in here before the new granddaughter shows up around early May. Of course there is no hurry. The wife will not assume day care duties until my daughter returns to work from maternity leave. The room sits here empty except for my weekend blogging, so why not?

Oh, I forgot to mention we moved on to a new topic.

I was gifted a new smoker for my birthday. I'm excited. I loves me some BBQ. (Aside: there are so many grammatical errors in those preceding sentences that I am left astounded). I read a couple of the on-line reviews of my model and it looks good. There is always that one guy who hates everything about it and the one person so dumb you wonder how they even breath without directions:

"This item is worthless. I would give it no stars if I could. I tried to cook a steak on this grill and after 20 minutes it was still raw. Do not buy" 
I have no words.

In other news the big Russia, Russia, Russia report is in he hands of the important people. The Dems are crying for a full release. I say why not? It could be they will be sorry if they get what they want. Of course leading Donks will claim Mueller just didn't look hard enough and keep right on with their agenda of investigating Trump to death anyway.

Hey Dems you are so butt hurt that the Trumpster is President, how bad must have been your candidate if she lost to him?  I know, you blame it on the evil Electoral College. If the rules keep you from winning, we must change the rules. Funny how Leftists since time immemorial have this attitude.

BTW, I'm not going to dive into it, but if you are stupid enough to believe that getting rid of the Electoral College will "make your vote count" I suspect you are frustrated your new smoker will not cook a steak properly..

March 22, 2019

Friday Payday, can it get any better?

Happy Friday. The coffee is hot, the outside temp is seasonably cold. It's early and I'm posting live. No canned posts for you today.

In fact, I have posted nothing but fresh garbage since the New Year. That explains the paucity of content. I once maintained that you at least got quantity when it came to my musings, as if that in a way helped bolster the quality of content. Now you get a few posts a week, each of dubious merit. So it goes.

My birthday passed without incident. Once you have so many they lose their luster.

Basketball is going on. I do not care at all. Baseball starts in a week. That interests me a bit.

I work. I come home. I occasionally go to see customers. I work with and create a lot of spreadsheets. The Germans like their documentation. Put them in charge of a mega-conglomerate and the process is on steroids. I slightly changed the form for submitting customer visit reports. Consider my knuckles slapped sharply with a metal ruler. I am using the original form again. I was not only told to use the correct form, I had to verify I read the procedures for using the correct form and the procedures for submitting for approval of a proper form and an acknowledgement that I did not have the authority to change the form according to the procedure on just who CAN change a form.


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