DAY ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-FIVE

So, lately I have been having my sugar crash on me. I've been on Glucophage for years and they have already reduced the dose by half once. Maybe it's time for that to happen again. I have an appointment next week with the doctor so I came up with this fabulous idea; keep track of my blood sugar in the morning and before and after every meal to see what it's doing. Also, write down everything I eat. Yippee! Now my fingers hurt.
Work was work and then it was time to go home. When I got there I checked my blood sugar and it was real low,79. Then I ate something and I think I overdid it. Went to Judo and learned some arm bars and pins that are pretty cool.
After work we stopped at the store for dog food and bread and I got a Diet Coke Plus. Martha got a Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper. We went home and I made a late supper for whoever was hungry.
Went to bed and wrote a ;porn review, a review for my blog and worked on the next chapbook. It's coming along real well now that I know where it's headed. It started as a really cool title and that was all I had. Now it's getting better. Should be done this week.
I have found the perfect time to read my Bava Book. The kids' Judo class is before ours and that gives me an hour so I lug the twelve and a half pound beast to the dojo and read before I get on the mat. I get about two chapters a week this way. I actually am at around page one hundred and something. Great book.
It has inspired me to write my own tome about Boston film maker, Michael Legge. His body of work might not be as well known or as extensive as Bava's, but it's still great stuff and worth a book of it's own.
Jean Claude Damme was in his only good movie, BLOODSPORT so I stayed awake and watched the rest of that before nodding off.

DAY ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY -FOUR

Tuesday and back to work. I need to remember that if I ever take five days off of work again that I still need to ride my bike at least a couple of times in that time. MAn, my legs were mad at me! My knees got sore, but I think that was more from the 20 degree weather than the strain.
Work was the same as it always is. I got a few projects started to get finished by the end of the week. Fun, fun, fun.
After work Dan and Martha and I went to Scouts for the pack meeting. They had a guy who knew a bunch of Indian stuff there. I signed us up for Christmas Caroling and a tour of the Pfizer air hanger. Both sounded like fun. I passed on the hockey game because it was nine bucks a ticket and Dan doesn't like to sit still that long. Seemed like a waste.
After Scouts we went to get coffee. Martha got hot chocolate and Dan got a White Chocolate Mocha Peppermint with a penguin cookie. He thought he was the big man for that little adventure.
After that it was home and bed.
Busy day for my first day back to work. Got to remember to keep riding the bike on vacations. My legs were none too happy with me.

LOST IN THE SHUFFLE (DAY ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-ONE, ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-TWO and ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-THREE)

After the car repair woes of Friday, my vacation got the better of me. Because of that I will be lumping Saturday, Sunday and Monday into one lump.
Saturday we really did nothing. Lounged around, ate food, watched television. Not a lot went on on Saturday.
Sunday we went to church and then we went to help Chris and Heather clean and paint the dojo. The kids had a blast and it was fun plus good to help out wit Chris' new business venture. After that we went home and, although it was early everyone crashed out pretty early.
Monday, Martha and I got some alone time when the kids went to school. I woke up early and made pancakes and sausages for the kids and sent them on their way. Dandelion asked if I would be doing this every day and I had to tell her it was because of vacation time. She looked hurt.
Had my blood sugar crash on me twice today and it sucked. Checked it with the meter ansd it was at 86. This was without taking my glucophage for two days because it made me crash out two days ago. I have an appointment with the doctor to see what we can do about that. Maybe I can stop taking it. Maybe my blood sugar was up because I weighed over three hundred pounds and got little, if any exercise. Now at two hundred and forty with excercise on my bike at least ten times a week that might be making a difference. That and not eating like a twelve year old. We'll have to wait and see.
The next to last episode of Heroes was busy and you can tell that they are being forced to end the season early because of the writer's strike.
Busy day with Judo and house cleaning and just plain stuff, but it was a good day.

DAY ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY

Day after Thanksgiving and I set out on getting that thermostat in. Then I tried to put the thermostat in. I've done lots of them, but never one on a 1981 Cutlass Custom Cruiser Station Wagon. It has this diaphragm that is bolted on top of the left bolt for the thermostat housing. That means that there is this screw attached to the bolt that you need to take off to remove the thermostat casing. I didn't have a deep enough socket to get it off. So, one hundred and two dollars later with a new thermostat and a new radiator cap (ours was busted and I didn't even know it) and tightening of our alternator belt and we were done being at Muffler Man.
While we waited we managed to shop around at Walgreens and then went to Kazoo Books. There were too many books that I wanted, but restrained myself this close to Christmas. Martha and I walked over to Dairy Mart for some coffee for me and hot cocoa for her.
Then we went home and watched lots of television and some movies and the rest of the day was just a laid back nothing kind of thing.

DAY ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-NINE

Woke up without an alarm around seven. Got the bird in the oven, made stuffing and got the other things ready to pop in the oven when the bird came out. At twenty five pounds it was taking up quite a lot of space.
The damned thing seemed to take forever! I was upstairs when the kids started yelling about smoke. I ran downstairs and the turkey timer had popped and it was spilling a little grease on the bottom of the oven. I got the bird out with a minimal of fuss and took the bottom of the oven outside and sprayed it down before putting it back in the oven.
Got the rest of the food going and we watched the parade. The parade blended into the dog show. Seann made a mountain of mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving dinner. we all ate too much and then laid around the house in food comas. So tired from turkey.
watched a lot of mindless television and ate some more food. The pies turned out real well and I was happy with those.
It was a good day. I am thankful for my lovely family and our current state of existence. Life is pretty good in The Waltz Compound.
Happy Thanksgiving to all!

DAY ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-EIGHT

Last day of work this week. Pulled a muscle last night watching porn (don't ask) and didn't feel like Judo. Got the job done that I needed to have done by today so that's a relief. Get to leave work and not go near the place until Tuesday. Yeah!
Got home and started in on my home made pie crust for the pumpkin pies and chocolate cream pie. I like baking, it's relaxing to just pound dough and take it easy.
Watched some television and Boogie Nights was on IFC. I hadn't seen it in a while and stayed up to catch the whole thing. Great flick even if the director is over fond of tracking shots. It's a good flick. Tried to sleep and what was on after Boogie Nights? Fire Walk With Me. Bastards at IFC don't want me to sleep! I'll be glad whne I pick up the Twin Peaks box set.

DAY ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-SEVEN

All I did was print stuff for one job today. It seemed to stretch on forever. Yeesh! Oh well, no overtime for me because they won't pay me time and a half for anything over forty this week because of the vacation days. It's weird, complicated and sucks. So, I left at three.
Martha and I ran down to the bread store to get bread for my homemade stuffing. Then we hit AutoZone for a new thermostat that I need to install on Friday. After that we went to Family Dollar and I bought some stuff for the kids and it was fun.
Went home and forced them to look for the damned remote that was missing yet again. Bleah!
Good news; more porn in the mail today. Hurray! It's just like Christmas at Larry Flynt's house.
Watched the last two episodes of Prison Break that I taped a while back. It was still good. They are leaving us hanging until January, but that's so they don't compete with holiday programming which is fine with me. I can wait for a little while.
Watched one of the adult films called THE SKIN TRADE. It was trying to be an actual movie and it was a little trippy. I actually liked it. The first two girls were scary to look at, but then the star girl came on and she was pretty good looking and that helped a lot.
After that IT'S A MAD MAD MAD MAD MADE WORLD was on Turner Classic Movies and it sucked me in. I didn't get to sleep until after midnight-thirty and know for a fact that I will be paying for that come tomorrow.

DAY ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-SIX

Another fun filled week at work. Actually, I only work three days this week and then get five days off paid. Sounds like fun? Well, except for the replacing of the thermostat this weekend, it will be kind of fun. Lots of turkey and no where to go. Got home and got ready for Judo. Judo was fun except I jammed my thumb on my right hand and smashed my left hand with my right knee. Don't ask, it wasn't pretty. I also found the perfect tme and place to read my Bava Book. At the dojo during the kids class. I got through a chapter and it gets better the farther I go. It's a shame that so much of Bava's earlier work is lost becase it all sounds so fascinating.
After Judo we went to Harding's because they had the best price on turkey. We got a 25 pounder so that should be awesome when it's finished. We picked up everything except for the bread and I need to get that tomorrow from the bread store.
Then it was home in time for HEroes. Probably one of the better episodes I have seen this season. Very busy and a lot of stuff going on. Of course with the writer's strike we only get two more episodes this season which is a bummer, but maybe the third season will be better because of it. Have to wait and see.

DAY ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-FIVE

Sunday and it's potluck for Thanksgiving. Dennis made his world famous plum glazed ham for the proceedings. I left him to it and he did an awesome job. I told him that if he learns to cook he will never starve and might back a really hot girl in the process. Hot girls love having men cook for them. Don't believe me? Ask my wife. Anyway, I went and got my back adjusted by Ray and it felt a hundred times better. OF course, I will go to Judo on Monday and screw it up again, but what are ya gonna do. He mentioned that I might want to move my mouse down a little to help with the tension in my back. I'll have to give that a try.
After church we headed home, did stuff and went back out to help wrap Christmas Presents for little kids overseas that wouldn't get any presents. Its for something called Samaritan's Purse. Very cool! Plus, there was pizza! It was at Alpha and Omega Ministries and they are all very nice people. The kids had a lot of fun.
Then it was time for home and sleep. Doesn't sound like a busy day, but believe me, it was.

DAY ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-FOUR

Martha and I had planned all week to take the kids to the Reptile Show at the Kalamazoo Fairgrounds. we thought it would be big fun. Well, MArtha did and I agreed. It was a lot of fun. We got to see snakes and lizards and icky bugs and spiders and these adorable things from Austrailia called Sugar Babies. I got to play with the Sugar Baby and that was fun. Then I got blindsided and before I knew it we were leaving with a mouse for Delia and a snake for Dan, well for Dan and Martha. It's a cornsnake named Rufus and he's pretty tiny. He eats little, baby mice and we got him a live one of those at the show. he didn't eat it until we got home. It was disgusting, but Dan and the rest of the kids and Martha thought it was cool. Good for them. Blech!
Martha and I went out for dinner and a movie. We also stopped and bought stuff for the mouse and the snake. Spoiled rotten my kids are I tell you what.
We saw THE GAME PLAN with The Rock and it was pretty good. Definitely funny and it tugged at your heartstrings a little. Sure, a lot of it was telegraphed by a mile, but sometimes good old fashioned fun and mindless cinema is a good thing.
After that we went to Chili's for dinner.
My buddy, Robert was working and Martha ordered the steak and loaded mashed potatoes. I got this thing called The Mushroom Jacik. It was green peppers, onions, grilled chicken, cheese, sauteed mushrooms and bacon on a sizzling plate. Then I had the flour tortillas, salsa, guacamole, sour cream and cheese to make some yummy fajitas. Good stuff and I ate too much.
Our last stope for the evening was Meijer so we could get the stuff so Dennis could make plum glazed ham for the potluck and church tomorrow for our Thanksgiving celebration.
What a busy day! And now we have a mouse named SAndy and a snake named Rufus to add to the three dogs and a cat. I told Martha that if everyone was getting these exotic pets that I wanted a bird. We'll see after the holidays.

DAY ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-THREE

went to work and first thing went to Nagle's TOP DOG to get the Monster Breakwich. After weeks of oatmeal and flaxseed I felt that I deserved this monster of a sandwich with three eggs, cheese, bacon, ham and sausage. Good stuff, but I couldn't eat it everyday.
I put a bunch of stuff on sale at Amazon to help out with the holidays.
I was on the way home on my bike when something hit me in the head. I was a little disoriented as I tried to figure out what it was and where it came from. Then I did and was instantly angry. Someone threw an apple at me from their car! Sometimes people can really get on my nerves. I was super pissed and pretty much anyone who dared make eye contact with me for the rest of my ride home knew it. I made more than one person look down after seeing how angry I was.
Dennis was off visiting his friend so the rest of us went to Meijer to get roasted chicken and other goodies for dinner. It was yummy. Pumpkin pie with whipped cream and coffee set off the rest of the day.
Still pretty damned mad about the apple to the head though. Good thing I was blessed with a thick skull.

DAY ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-TWO

Another day of working open to close. Kind of laid back. Printing a bunch of stuff so not so bad. Just waiting on the damned printer.
After work biked it home. It got cold and dark quick at five o'clock. Sheesh! Snowed a little, but didn't stick. I was a popsicle by the time I got home.
Did some dishes while I made food. We had four cheese lasagna, Hamburger Helper style and since I was feeling ambitious I whipped up some fried rice with some crab in it. That was pretty yummy stuff. Mmmmmmm!
Delia had a sixties party so I was inducted into the making cookies club. I made two batches of peanut butter cookies which converted into about 75 cookies. Plenty for a group of sixth graders. Dandelion was a big help.
After that Martha and I headed off to bed and watched the first three episodes of Logopolis. I had seen this back in the eighties at Kalamazoo College in one of the dorms. We used to gather there every Sunday and WGVU would show an entire storyline worth of shows. The only time that was a real pain was when it was money drive time and they kept interrupting and begging for money. With three hours of show plus begging it took a long time to watch one of these things. I can't remember if Logopolis was one of those marathon's, but it seems like it was.
We saved the last episode for tomorrow because we were both so tired.

DAY ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-ONE

No way I was going to get any overtime today. Dan has scouts and we all have Judo. Busy, busy, busy. Scouts was fine. Martha and I stick around, but we don't do much. Dan really likes it and so do I with the exception of this one kid who might possible be the poster boy for children who need to be medicated. Doesn't listen, runs around like a maniac. I did like when they made the boys pray twice because they weren't being respectful. That was cool.
At Judo we learned more of how to apply what we learned last week. I like this more because it is more of drilling something until we get it right. Cool stuff if you ask me.
At lunch today I found out I bounced a check so I was in the negative numbers. That sucked, but then my silver lining was Dan had a bad morning so, Martha let him stay home. They came and got me for lunch and we did a little grocery shopping first. After that we hit McDonald's, Dan's choice. I hadn't been in a while and was amazed that they put the nutrition information on the wrappers now. Man, that had to hurt! So, after lunch and my week's supply of sodium, I went back to work.
Another busy day. Sheesh! I'm having a lot of those lately.

DAY ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY

Worked until five today, yeah overtime! Yeah, I hate working overtime, but love the money, go figure. I stopped at Felpausch and got some nice steaks. Got home and Martha had taken Delia to a music thing over at Galilee Baptist Church. I grilled steaks for the three other kids and made some rice and green beans. Simple stuff, nothing fancy. I did use this Canadian Steak Seasoning I got from my mom on the steaks and that was good.
Got some writing done while Martha was done. Caught up on some reviews and such. When Martha and Delia got home I reheated the side dishes and made them steaks. I had one then myself. Martha thought it was funny because Delia had eaten at the music thing and she was eating again because it was steak.
After that watched some television and hit the hay. Overtime makes me tired.

DAY ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-NINE

Monday, Monday, what a gloomy day. Cold on the bike ride into work. Thought I was working overtime, but the printer I needed broke so I went home at three. Gave me a chance to make dinner for everyone before we were off to Judo.
Judo was fun. The kids learned some things, Martha and I learned some things. Good things all around. I finished reading my Al Adamson book, SHLOCK O RAMA during the kids session. Good book, but too short. I think the Bava Book may be spoiling me.
Remembered to tape the season finale of Prison Break and will have to watch it soon.
Heroes was good. It was such an obvious, oh crap let's bring everyone up to speed and add lots of cool stuff in an hour because we have been boring the pants off of these people, kind of thing. Oh well, it was still good. A real shame if they have to wrap up the season early because of the writer's strike, but what are ya gonna do? The money men don't like spreading the wealth to the people who actually do the work in that business. Typical.

DAY ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-EIGHT

Sunday and off to church. A very nice morning and I knew that it was not my turn for breakfast at church. So, when we got there, yeah it turned out to be my turn. Oh well, Martha and I swung down to Meijer and I picked up the stuff to make a huge horde of pancakes. Short order style! It was fun. Missy brought some farm fresh eggs in and told me to fry those up for anyone who wanted them. It turned out really well. Dandelion was baptized today and I will remember to post a picture of that when I get near The Waltz Compound and the camera again.
She was the last one in the family and we are very proud of her.
After church we went to meet up with friends of ours we haven't seen in years. Mike and Judy and Robert. Well, Mike was working, but it was nice to see them again and plan on staying in contact with them more now that we know where they are. Good stuff. Haven't seen them for well over ten years.
Went home to eat before we had to drive the kids back to church for youth group. I spent the time yakking with Matt and Missy about vinyl. That was fun. Then the kids started whining that they were ready to go home so I had to leave. Bummer.
Back home after a busy day and relaxing getting ready to gear up for a week of overtime. Yipee!

A special Halloween Post

Yeah, yeah, I know. It ain't Halloween, but my blog, my rules. I took pics of the kids doing the trick or treat thing. Enjoy the show!

DAY ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-SEVEN

Saturday. Meant to get up early and get off to work. Slept until seven something instead. Nice to ride the bike to work in the light instead of the early morning darkness. Foggy as all get out so I took it easy and kept a careful eye out for idiot traffickers. Got to work and lo and behold! I was able to get into the parking area and the turnstile without having to go through the front door and deal with the ill informed rent a cops. Yeah for me.
I basically pushed the print button for five hours and then took off. I had to get to my chiropractor appointment and then I needed to drop off copies of the new chapbook to Linc, all he asks for in payment is some copies of the book. Seems fair to me. He also gave me the coolest present. Look down to the bottom of this blog and you will see it. The picture doesn't do it justice. It's made of vinyl and has those brass hole thingies so it doesn't tear when you hang it. It is so cool and he said he might get one of the first chapbook with Bruce Lee and Ilsa on it. So very, very cool.
Came home and the new Al Adamson book I ordered arrived in the mail. With that and the Bava Book it will be director land in the Waltz abode for a while.
New episodes of Ninja Warrior were on tonight and they have designed a whole new course because in the last season someone beat it. Very coool and it was fun to see the new guys and the old seasoned fellas go at the new course. It's pretty damned tough.

DAY ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-SIX

So, Friday. Not a pay day so, bleah. Work has become overly hectic and we are swamped. Overtime was supposed to start on Monday, but I need to stay over to get the barest minimum of stuff done that needs to be done. Sheesh! Plus, I need to work Saturday! At least the overtime pay is going to be good. Gotta appreciate that.
Got out of work around four, dashed home with Martha and ran home to make dinner. Martha and Delia were in choir and they were going to open for the group, Take 6. They were both very excited. Dandelion and I went along because they had extra free tickets which was cool. The choir did a magnificent job and Martha and Delia had a blast. Take 6 was good. They were very accomplished vocalists with no instruments with the exception of a little piano in a couple of the songs. They even did and encore which was nice.
getting out of the parking lot was a nightmare. Eventually we made it and the fuel light buzzed on so it was time to go to Meijer and get raped at the pump. Sixty-seven bucks later with a dangerously rubber check and we were off to the homestead. Martha told me all about the drama behind the stage and how a large majority of her fellow choir members were being idiots and not listening to the simplest of instructions. She still had fun, though, and that's all that mattered.
Green Hornet was on as I fell asleep. I actually watched the whole thing. The bad guy was the lead actor from THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN'T DIE. I kept waiting for him to go off and pick up hookers at nightclubs and everytime they showed him driving it made me reallllll nervous.

DAY ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-FIVE

Couldn't miss two days of work so I had Martha take me to work and I took my codeine with me. Seems that the one that I took had all the codeine in it. I was whooped at work today. Managed to get a lot done on this one project-, but that was all I did at work. It was free coffee and pastry day at work so I got me a lemon poppyseed muffin. Yummy and very lemony.
After work I asked Martha to stop at Felpausch so I could get some onions and carrots. I needed them for this recipe I found for smoked sausage and lentils. I thought it turned out very well. Next time I will adjust the liquid and time so the lentils get a little more cooking time in, but other than that, I thought it tasted pretty good. Dandelion helped me with making it so she ate it even though I don't think she was a big fan of it. I might try it one more time in the future and tweak it slightly to see if that will make a difference.
After dinner Martha and Delia and Dandelion and I went to the store. Martha and Delia are singing in a gospel choir tomorrow and they needed new outfits to go with the occasion. We started at Meijer and worked our way to Walmart. Yipee! Actually, it wasn't that bad and we did pick up other stuff we needed at the store anyway so it was cool. It will be fun to see Martha and Delia perform tomorrow. I hope they're not too nervous.
For bed we watched some new porn I got called MATA HARI 2; SEX IS NOT ENOUGH. It was pretty good and actually had some action sequences between the smut. It's dubbed foreign porn and I think they actually put a little more work into their adult films than a large portion of the crap that comes out of America. Good stuff. Back feels a little better today. I really can't wait until the weekend to take it easy.

DAY ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-FOUR

Back was killing me. Didn't go to work today. Laid in bed or on the couch and ate codeine and relaxed and took a really hot bath. That should do it for me. Hopefully.

DAY ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-THREE

Ugh, I feel like crap. I made the bike ride into work and froze my ass off. Plus my back is killing me. Guess being away from Judo for so long made a difference. Plus, the new mats don't have a lot of cushion on them like the old place and I can feel it in these dusty old bones. Work was laid back and just doing this big job.
Went home and did nothing. Dinner was leftover red beans and rice. Watched an Emmanuelle movie and that was cool. Just did very little. Refurbished the blogs I write for and added some new content. Mostly capsule reviews for the moment. New pic at the Divine Exploitation blog for the header. I like it a lot.
Other than that took it easy. Man, I hope I feel better tomorrow.

DAY ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-TWO

Monday and man it wasn't too bad riding into work. I expected snow, but it was pretty nice. Yeah, that's not gonna last too damned long. Work was work, nothing spectacular, just a place to go and get paid. The ride home was much windier than the ride in. There's definitely a cold front coming in. Brrrrrrrr!
It was the first day of Judo classes so I rushed through making red beans and rice for dinner. It turned out quite yummy. Tomorrow I'm going to try something with lentils. We had to rush from home to the Dojo, drop off the kids and then zoom back to the littles' school for conferences. Dan's teacher, Mr. Brown loves Dan. He knows how he works and is able to bring out the best in him. We love Mr. Brown. Dandelion's teacher MS. Stiver has this punk rock look with two toned hair and a silver nose ring. A cool lady who loves having Dandelion in her class. Delia's teacher, who's name escapes me for some reason, was cool. She said Delia is quite self sufficient which we already knew.
After conferences we zoomed back to the Dojo for adult class. We learned some arm bars. I am used to more cushion under mats for Judo and this was a little harder, but I'm sure I will get used to it after a while. Sensei Chris looked like he was having fun. I will ache tomorrow because my wife is a wicked person who likes to heap abuse on my poor body.
After Dojo we went home and made snacks and watched Heroes. Prison Break was a two hour special that I taped and will have to watch tomorrow. I hate wating for Prison Break, but this was a special exception. Martha let us turn the heat on in the house finally and we even used the radiator in our room. Good thing, I was freezing.

DAY ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-ONE

It is opening day of Snyder Dojo and the Waltz family could not be happier. We stopped going to Southside Dojo when Chris quit teaching there. So, it's good to have a place to go and learn Judo again and get back into shape. Sure, riding my bike keeps me going, but there are muscles that you use in Judo that you never use in bike riding.
The new dojo is smaller, but still quite functional. A lot of people showed up for the grand opening. My four kids were happy to get back into their gis and back on the mat. I'll be aching for a couple of days after this particular workout. I think Dan and Martha had the most fun.
We took off for a little while because the kids were getting tired. Went home and grabbed some food and then went back for the rest of the day to the dojo. The kids opted to stay home.
The only thing we forgot that Dandelion was supposed to get baptized today so we will have to reschedule that for next Sunday. Ooops! After dojoland Martha and I went home and got the kids ready for bed. Watched the new SImpsons Treehouse OF Terror. It was alright, nothing to fantastic, but alright. The kids seemed to enjoy it more than I did.
The time change messed with me as awlays so I crashed pretty early. Tomorrow we start Judo classes again. I can hardly wait.

DAY ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY

Saturday! We had the holiday parade downtown that Dan was marching in for scouts. Dandelion and I went to The Copy Cup for coffee and hot cocoa. It was nice and relaxing. I think I might patronize the place a little more in the future. Really laid back nice little coffee shop. They have open mic on Wednesday nights that I might start going to. Maybe I'll even read something. Don;t know yet.
At the parade I got to smile and wave at babies, pet lots of dogs and generally have a real good time. Dan got into the whole uniform thing according to Martha and saluted every American flag that he passed. He's a good kid.
After the parade we went to the Water Street Coffee Shop on Oakland and Martha and the kids got yummy hot chocolate while I had a nice cup of white tea. They give you this cool little pot and they use fresh tea leaves which made for some awesome white tea.
After that we went to see Ray, my chiropractor, and he assaulted my spine for a while. Felt really good. He told me that he might not be doing chiropracting after the beginning of the year which would suck so bad for me. I don't want to go to another chiropractor. Hopefully, things will look up.
Then we headed home and Martha and I got the luxury of a huge nap. After that we got up and around and went and got Delia from her friend Elida's house. Stopped at Walmart to price mp3 players and decided I would make out better online than retail. I don't think that Walmart will lose sleep over one missed sale.
Came home and made hot tea and sliced apples with caramel for the wife and kiddies. Martha also got her favorite thing, Coco Wheats. She's feeling a little blah so, I was glad that I could do that for her.
Yesterday, the kind folks at Severin sent me two new Lucio Fulci flicks as well as Black Emmanuelle's Box Vol. 2. Something to watch for the weekend and get reviews up for the Penguin Comics site.
Getting late and still tired. Man it felt good to get my back cracked again. I'll be going back every week for this. Good stuff.

DAY ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-NINE

FRiday and payday. Wheeeeee! Actually, lots of bills due so it's like not having any money. Although paying bills is good. I still managed to spend seven bucks on an Al Adamson book at Amazon. It balances out with the cash I have made with movies recently.
Took it realllll easy at work today after yesterdays busy. We got free lunch at work. Yummy pizza and salad and cookies and soda. That was cool. After work headed home and started the evening.
Dan had to do color guard at a banquet/auction for the blind. Three scouts showed up and their den leader, Tony was there. Tony is a cool guy and he really likes Dan. Afterwards we went home and I watched some Jess Franco and called it a night.

DAY ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-EIGHT

Man I was busy at work! From the minute I got there to the end of the day I was running and worn out. Hopefully, things will slow down, but I know that ain't gonna happen.
I would now like to interrupt our regularly scheduled blog to complain about something. First, read this 'news' article:

Dog" Chapman Apologizes for Racial Slur
American TV star Duane "Dog" Chapman has apologized for repeatedly using a racial epithet in a private phone call to his son. The star of TV series Dog The Bounty Hunter allegedly told his son to break-up with his black girlfriend during a taped conversation which was leaked online. Chapman was forced to issue an apology after bosses at A&E television suspended production on his reality series. He says, "My sincerest, heartfelt apologies go out to every person I have offended for my regrettable use of very inappropriate language. I am deeply disappointed in myself for speaking out of anger to my son and using such a hateful term in a private phone conversation." A spokesman for A&E says, "We take this matter very seriously. Pending an investigation, we have suspended production on the series. When the inquiry is concluded we will take appropriate action."

Okay, now did you read that carefully? This man who, by the way I do not watch this show. I may have caught a commercial for it and I did like it when South Park mocked him, but I have never watched an episode. This guy is pissed off at his son and they have a heated exchange over the phone. In the heat of the moment in this PRIVATE phone conversation he uses a racial slur. Man, it must be tough to be the only person in the world to do that. I mean none of the rest of us ever get mad or use a racial slur ever in our entire lives. And we sure as Hell don't do it in PRIVATE. To add insult to injury the only reason this came to light is that Dog's son taped the conversation and sold it to the tabloids. Very nice. Good kid ya got there, Dog. And how bright is a kid who shoots his own parents gravy train ride of a television show? You know the kid must be benefiting from this as well and what kind of mind works like that? What good came of the entire thing? The show gets good ratings ad A&E will pretends that they are offended beyond words and then when the next racial slur occurs somewhere else, Dog will be back on the air with a bigger following than before and the ratings will soar and Dog and A&E will make a boatload of money. In the old days when there were a gang of men called The Forty Thieves they would take prints of movies to towns and play them. They promised the sizzle that Hollywood films were lacking. If hey could cause a little trouble with the police and get people in an uproar it helped fill the seats and make more money for they Thieves. David Friedman, legendary film producer and member of The Forty Thieves admitted on more than one occasion that he would call the cops himself and act like an indignant member of the community to get a little flare up over at the theater that was showing his films. Made for better business.
For the majority of people in the world they are suckers. They believe what they are told and act accordingly. Playing to the Lowest Common Denominator always works. Mob rule is something that has been around since God decided that there should be more than two of us tromping the Earth. It's just something we're born with.
So, the new flavor of the week is Dog and his use of the N word in a PRIVATE conversation with his son. I'm starting to think that George Orwell had something when he wrote 1984. I think he just got the date wrong.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled blog;

So, Martha came and got me for lunch and we sold the van with the blown transmission. We got a hundred bucks for it and that was cool. After work Martha came and got me and we went to the store to get stuff for dinner. Barb was coming over to drop off clothes for the boys. I made Parmesan crusted chicken with fettuccine alfredo and some sauteed vegetables. Carrots, zucchini and summer squash with a little Mrs. Dash and some crushed garlic. Yummy stuff. After dinner, Martha and Delia went to choir practice and the rest of the gang went about their merry business.
I did get a care package from my good buddy David Zuzelo full of books and comics and music and Bruno MAttei's THE OTHER HELL. The icing on the cake would have been the Jess Franco lobby cards. I have to get them measured and framed. I have just the spot for them to hang when that's done.
I was tired from actually putting in a hectic eight hours at work. At least tomorrow is Friday and payday.

DAY ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SEVEN

Halloween! They had a little set up here at work where we could get candy and other goodies. It was fun. I got some candy and some tasty treats. Ate too much and feel nauseous, but it's once a year, blood sugar be damned!
Got home and on the way my bike chain slipped off twice. I really don't want to take it in for the short time I have left in the season riding it, but I might have to because it is annoying as Hell.
Got home and made some food for everyone before starting the make up. The kids makeup all turned out really well. Dandelion was the hardest to recognize as a werewolf.
We went to Stew's grandma's neighborhood and did the trick or treat thing. The kids got a lot of candy. We took Cassidy along, but she wanted nothing to do with the costume thing. Oh well, what are ya gonna do?
Dandelion, Delia and Dan copped out before Dennis and Martha and Brooke and Mike were ready to go so, I walked the littles back to the car.
Brooke and Mike went with us because they were told they were too young to trick or treat so our kids acted as a distraction. Good times.
It misty rained for a while and cleared up for a while. Then, after the littles and I made it back to the car it started to pour. Good for us, bad for the people who decided they needed more candy.
The kids all got a big haul and everyone who's house we visited were nice. Since Dan already had the skull make up on I made him yell, "Kobra Kai, Live Or Die!" A few times and it cracked up a few people.
My feet are gonna be pretty sore tomorrow, I can feel it already.

DAY ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SIX

Day before Halloween. Went and got stuff for costumes for the kiddies. Dandelion is going to be a werewolf, Dan is a skeleton, Dennis is going to be messed up looking guy and Delia is going to be a vampire warrior. I think the medication is starting to work a little better. Feeling a little better in the gut area which is good. Almost done with the meds and hopefully that will fix things. The kids are really looking forward to Halloween. Now, if it doesn't rain all will be cool.