6/25/08

LAST DAY

You like that? Since I screwed up the numbering thing I decided this would be the best way to go out with a bang. Tomorrow I turn forty-six so this blog is then null and void. It has been a long year and there are a few things I have learned;
First, falling off a bike hurts a lot regardless of your age, but it's good to know Judo so that you don't scrape your face off on the pavement.
I also learned that author Brian Keene is a knee jerk, reactionary dipstick that jumped to so many incorrect assumptions that I wonder how he manages to function. I also realize that his wife was pregnant at the time and that will make any man crazy.
another thing is that time is funny. Some days seem to stretch out for weeks while others speed by in mere minutes. It's good to savor each and every one of them. Like someone said, Today is a gift, that's why they call it a present. I think the really old turtle in Kung Fu Panda is where I heard this last.
Another thing is that your kids really do grow up too damned fast. Get on the floor and play with them before they don't want to anymore. That part sucks.
And if you want a year to actually feel like a year then blog about it every single day and that will make it seem like a much longer period of time.
Today I went to work and did stuff. A lot of the stuff that I always do. Then I didn't work overtime, but went home to spend time with my family. Martha was very tired so she went to bed and slept for a long time. I played Stronghold Crusader with Dan The Man. That game is hard, but I keep plugging away at it.
I watched television with Dandelion and played with her kitty. The two older kids were away at Missy and John's house when I got back so there was no time to be spent with them.
Our bedroom was a blast furnace so Martha and I slept downstairs. That woke me up at about two something and I went to sleep on the more comfortable bed.
It was a a laid back day and I was glad for it.
In closing out this year I would like to thank the people who rad the blog on a regular basis and are upset about its demise. It was an interesting experiment and one that I'm thinking of repeating...when I'm Fifty. Yeah, I think that might be an appropriate length of time. Once every five years.
This one will be compiled it book form in the near future and I'll be back to properly pimp that when it comes out. Who knows? It could be my ticket to fame. People have written about weirder stuff that gets published and becomes a media darling so, until you see me on the Today Show, hopefully with that Ann Curry woman, have a great life.
I'm going to.
Seeya!

6/24/08

DAY THREE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-TWO

Still no idea how I screwed up the numbering, but there ya go. I'll look into it later. My plan is to do this entry and tomorrow being the last one and then just leave it to sit and simmer for a couple of months before I even look at it again. The new, top secret blog is starting before I finished this one. Just had to jot some things down over there so that I wouldn't forget them. I could have saved them as a draft, but that wouldn't have been any fun, would it?
So, Monday. This weekend is the big birthday bash for Dan The Man and yours truly. Quite a few people are coming so it should be a lot of fun. I found the recipe for the Navy Grog that I want to make. It should be delicious in an alcoholy kind of way.
Work was work. I did a lot of little jobs to help clear the queue and reread the entire LEast I Could Do webcomic. Funny stuff there.
I got out of work at five, went home to do stuff and lo and behold! The family had not gone to Judo. To be honest I was a little bummed. I get some quiet time where I can write and watch horrid movies that no one else likes. But, it's alright. I should be happy to have such a huge family that loves me. Dandelion had her first day of summer school. I thought it was odd that most people have such a negative reaction when you tell them your daughter is going to summer school. They make it sound like you've sent her to a leper colony or something.
George CArlin died yesterday. I was a little sad about it, but then I reflected on it and I can't tell you the last time I read or heard or watched Carlin. Not really in my realm of stuff that I do. Besides, he would just call me a sentimental fucker for getting morose about it so, why bother?
So, made dinner for the Clan plus Tiffany. I logged into WWE.COM to try and win some of Vince McMahon's money and did not win. Very strange. Maybe I'll win the lottery instead.
Tired, time for bed. Tomorrow is the last day I have for this blog. I've said it a lot lately and I'll say it two more times. People say that a year goes by very quickly. It doesn't if you write about it every day, let me tell you.

6/23/08

DAY THREE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-ONE

Okay, I think I screwed up the numbering of this blog somewhere down the line. It should end, because this was a leap year, with Day Three Hundred and Sixty-Six, but Since this is Sunday and we're only up to Day Three Hundred and Sixty-One there is no way that will happen. What did I expect? I accidentally named the site douglasLANAwaltz instead of douglasALANwaltz. Did I expect this to turn out?
Anyway, I gave up the news of the day thingie because I usually write these the next day. This is no exception so I have abandoned the project of trying to do that.
Here are some tidbits, however;
Gas is currently over four freakin' bucks a gallon.
The state I live in, Michigan, is probably one of the worst states in the entire United States if you are fond of employment.
The presidential election for this year of Our Lord 2008 is the biggest monkey circus I have ever seen. I blame the Internet for this. The Internet should be for useless information, stupid online games and porn. Anything else is superfluous.
Did I mention the gas thing? Yeah, four bucks. More expensive than a comic book, but not by much, and way less fun.
Okay, so it's Sunday and we head off to church. We were having a potluck and I forgot to bring anything so I helped out in the kitchen and we made goodies for everyone. Sunday school was fun because there was no one to teach the youth group so they got to hang with us. We are currently studying Acts. Good book to get the kids involved in. Of course, we also talked about hunting, fishing, Shakespeare and really bad sleight of hand tricks. It's called educating people without them knowing what you're doing. Kind of like a mnemonic device. Works sometimes.
Church was great. The message covered a lot of the same ground we did in Sunday School so I didn't feel to bad about helping out in the kitchen.
Every Sunday I draw a three panel comic on the back of the church bulletin. It's almost always about a member of my family. Sometimes it's about all of us. It's fun, it takes a few minutes and since I don't like to sing it's a great way to sit quietly without disturbing the people able to sing.
This week I did one that covered the entire Waltz Clan and that got passed around a little more than the others did. A lot of people liked it and Martha suggested that I start keeping them. Usually they are trash fodder. Instead she suggested that I keep these as a rough sketch and keep doing them on a regular basis. When I get a handful of them I can make a mini comic to give to people. Sounds like fun. I also think that I might start up a webcomic with this and see how that might fare in the big scary world of the Internet.
I'll have plenty of time after Tuesday since this blog will be officially over.
After church Dan The Man and I stayed home and played Godzilla Unleashed while the others went to youth group. There was a baptism service as well and there was lots of desserts to go around afterward. I already had too much dessert at the potluck and didn't need anymore sugar for the day. Or the week for that matter.
In between the time that we3 got home and everyone else left to go back to church, Margaret, our landlady, came over and we installed a vinyl floor in the dining room. It has a wood look to it and it looks very nice. I tore up the carpet in the upstairs hallway and the stairs because now that I had pretty, shiny vinyl in the dining room I hated seeing that nasty carpet anywhere in the house. There is still some in the living room, but it's so crowded in there that I couldn't get that carpet out if I tried.
Tracie's hubby, Chris, brought a couple of guys to haul away the old Cutlass as well. Kind of sad to see the thing go, but Chris wants to rebuild the thing so it's going to a good home.
I dragged our huge, dead television out to the curb and it was out there less thna an hour before some woman came along and wanted it for salvage. Crazy world out there when a non functioning television gets grabbed up in no time flat.
Whew! This was a busy day. I'll be back tomorrow with more and soon it will be a wrap.
I think I might do this again when I'm fifty. See how time has been to me in five years.
I'll be back tomorrow.
Seeya!

6/22/08

DAY THREE HUNDRED AND SIXTY

Saturday and we are waiting for my boss Tracie and her husband, Chris to come and look at the old '69 Cutlass. Chris is rebuilding a Jeep and he wants a big engine. I think after he looked at it he might want to rebuild the Cutlass which would be cool. We couldn't get it started so he paid me two hundred and fifty bucks for the wagon and they were coming over tomorrow to pick it up with a tow truck and a new battery. Things are looking good. We took our new found money and were off to buy video games for Dan The Man. Then we had Chinese food and while we were waiting in line, Dennis was in the way so I pulled him over to me and gave him a hug and said, "C'mere little boy." The really hot Chinese girl who was the hostess said he was not a little boy and I repleied that he was my little boy. She said in a slinky kind of way;
'Well, he's not my little boy." I told Dennis and he blushed.
We ate too much Chinese food and they had some great sushi. I think they have a new sushi chef or something.
After that we went to Meijer to pick up some stuff, forgot half the stuff we needed and got a cool new Hot Wheels track for Dan. All in all a busy day and we even managed to get the dining room cleaned out and ready for Margaret to come and lay the new vinyl floor. We get to do that tomorrow.
Yippee!

THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-NINE

It's Friday. It's not Beer Friday, just Friday. Oh well, what are ya gonna do? The day was sort of a blur. I left early because it was Dan The Man's Birthday. Yeah, except they all went to work at the produce stand. The good news was that they brought home quarts of Michigan strawberries. Of course that left me home alone to eat and write buckets of reviews. Fun, fun, fun. We watched Doctor Who and it was pretty good for a two parter that we have to wait until next week. Kind of torture if you really think about it.
Ah well, busy, busy tomorrow.
I thought about doing the news thingie for today, but I'm putting this one in late so I don;t see the point. The blog is kind of winding down. Yippee!

6/20/08

THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-EIGHT

Thursday and the week is almost over. Tomorrow is Dan The Man's birthday and he will be the big eight! Very cool! work was work. I brought some leftover red beans and rice for lunch and they were yummy. Started feeling a little crappy before I left work. The bike ride was nice, to a point. There were these three kids on the new trail and the biggest, fattest and stupidest one, this was all the same kid by the way, got in my way and I had to stop my bike and go around him. I did call the little fucker a dipshit however and his friends thought that was funny. Nice of the youth of America to ruin something as simple as a bike ride. Well, not the youth of America just this one jackass kid who could use some form of Weight Watchers. So, that left me in a foul mood for the rest of my bike ride. I think if I spot him again I'll just ram the dumb shit.
There,that's better.
Anyway, Dan The Man helped me make dinner and we had cake from yesterday for dessert. Martha made it from scratch and it was quite yummy. She thought it was dry, but I thought it was great.
Dan and I played some Wolfenstein and then he set up his Heroscape board and we played, Dan's rules of course so it was over pretty quick and he won. That's alright. I didn't care. Tomorrow is his birthday for crying out loud!
Anyway, that was it. Felt like crap, went to bed and have to go to work tomorrow. Josh left work early because he was sick so he might not even show tomorrow. Have to wait and see how that goes.
Time for the sleepies.
Ooops! almost forgot the news for the day. Here's what Yahoo has to dish out;

Gas Stations Nix Credit Cards. First, I'm surprised at the usage of the word 'nix'. Doesn't seem like one that pops up all the time. Second, seems that the credit card companies charge a percentage of sales for their fees. we all knew that credit cards were bad and now here is the proof. The good news is that it seems that some gas stations will give a discount for cash paying customers. This time next year you'll need to pay with chickens. Sound unreasonable? I think not.

And from the wide wide world of CNN:

McCain Attacks Obama For Opting Out Of Public Financing. Yeah, so the guy isn't going to use the taxpayers money to try and get himself elected? It seems that this has been in place since the seventies. I really had no idea how it worked. Seems that Obama is getting people to donate cash over the internet and cutting out the big payouts from the special interest groups that are always getting involved in politics. Good for him. Of course McCain will complain about this. He'll also probably still use our money to try and get elected. OF course, if Obama does get elected he'll get shot in less than a year. Not a threat, more of a realization of the narrow mindedness of others. By the way, I know nothing of ;politics so take all this with a grain of salt. Okay?

6/19/08

THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-SEVEN

I've said it before and I will say it again. Most people say that time flies by, but it feels like I have been doing this blog for quite some time. I have a few fans who are sorry to see it put to bed, but what are you going to do? I set the parameters when I started and I gotta stick with it. I do like the personal flair of the blog so that may extend into one of the other blogs that I write. Who knows? I have a top secret blog that I will be starting right after this one is finished. I can't tell you what it is and it will be nothing like this blog. It's intent is to make people mad. It may not make everyone mad, but it will make some people mad I can guarantee it. I'm also keeping it anonymous for the time being so no one will know that it is me. Sound mysterious? Yeah, that wasn't the intention. I am trying something where I give an honest, straightforward opinion and I don't want it colored by what people know of me. Make sense? Good. I might leave hints to what it is later in the eight more blog entries I have here.
Now then, on with my day.
Bike rides are still awesome. The new trail is great. I will like it even more when they finish the street connectors.
I rode to work and then two hours later was riding back to wait for the house inspector. See, if you rent a house in Kalamazoo, they inspect it twice a year. Don;t know why, just know that it's a pain in the keister. So, the guy shows up after I mowed some lawn, washed some dishes and did a little touch up painting. The whole process gets on my last nerve.
The one true funny part came when Dan The Man came up to me, the inspector and our landlady, Margaret with a plastic bag and a sign that said, 1$ Please, (The spelling is Dan's) I asked him what he needed a dollar for and with his biggest brown eyes and sad voice he said, "For food." Needless to say the inspector gave Dan a buck. Everyone else at The Waltz Compound thought that was awesome. So did I.
After all that fun I decided to burn some vacation time and not go back to work. I can still get overtime for the day if I do it right so, that is cool.
So, the rest of the day was filled with going to Walmart, playing videogames, playing with the new kitten and watching Ratatouille. It was a fun little flick and I thought it was okay. The kids thought that Ratatouille was some made up dish with Rat in it. I explained what it was and Martha thought it sounded yummy. Now I need to get a dutch oven to make some for her. I've had it and it is good so it will be fun to make.
Here's the news report from Yahoo for the day:

South Africa reclassifies Chinese people as 'black'. What?!?! I didn't even read farther than that. It sounds ludicrous at best.

And from CNN:

Rape A Way Of Life For Darfur Women. See, I'm going to admit that I have no idea exactly what is going on with the whole Dafur thing. I see movie stars talking about it and it makes me shut that part of my brain down that listens to things. Movie stars really need to just make movies and shut their cake holes. Sure, more people will listen to them, but it's because the majority of people are freakin' sheep! I did read the rest of the article and that seems like a pretty dire situation over there.

That's all I've got. Be sure to tune in tomorrow for Day eight of the countdown.

6/18/08

DAY THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-SIX

Yup, ten more days of this blog. I had to pick a leap year to do this thing so instead of the normal three hundred and sixty-five days I get the extra one tagged on to the end. I thought I might do something special with the last ten days as some sort of time capsule kind of thing. For that I would like to turn to the news and see what is going on in this big wide world of ours...
Okay I went to Yahoo! and all they had was something about Britney Spears' dad being allowed to sell her house. ?!?!?! Let's try a more reputable news source...
CNN has a lot of coverage on the flooding in the Midwest. We have gotten a lot of rain recently. Upstate here in Michigan one area got eleven inches in one hour. Well, people were complaining about water shortages. God saw fit to take care of that for us. Now we just have to deal with the abundance of his gift. Does make me wish my kids knew how to swim however.
Okay, that's enough for current events for now.
In my little neck of the woods I have fallen in love with this new bike trail. I saw people using it on the way and back home from work and I can't wait for the junctions at the streets to be completed to give a smoother ride. Maybe they will extend the trail even farther for me in the future. How knows?
Dinner time at The Waltz Compound was pasta and meatballs.
We went to Savannah's to get a new kitten for Dandelion. Her name is Coco and she is about eight weeks old. It didn't take long for the little one to get used to the three big dogs and the cat. I can't wait to see what she thinks of the snake! Dandelion is thrilled and they seem to have a lot of fun. It was funny when we introduced her to Pashmina, our other cat, they were both looking intently at each other and when Dennis reached out to pet Coco, the little thing didn't see it coming and attacked Dennis! It was pretty funny, actually.
I went to bed early. We have our house inspection tomorrow and that will be no fun. I get to burn through some vacation time just to make sure that all is kosher at the house. I hate using vacation time for anything that is not vacation. But, it's nice to have for just such an emergency.

DAY THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-FIVE

Back to the crowded salt mines. Busier than Hell and no fun whatsoever. Oh well, that's why they call it work, right? Right.
I did get to use the new bike trail to get to work this morning and it was great. Kind of nice not having to worry about traffic for more than half of my trek into town. Very nice. It also shaves about five minutes off my travel time. To make up for it I pedal faster to get the same kind of workout. That probably shaves some time off as well. Sort of a win win situation.
Mondays are quiet when I get home. Martha and the kids are at Judo. I have my day pretty well planned out.
Yeah, then Dan came bursting through the front door two hours early. Seems the littles were being monsters and Martha didn't want to put up with their crap. Can't say that I blame her. Now if gas didn't cost so much. Ouch! That's about forty minutes of drive time up in smoke.
I made a German Chocolate cake for dessert and we had hamburger helper lasagna style. Very yummy. For some reason I wasn't tired and didn't fall asleep until around eleven. I'll probably pay for that one later. Crap!
Oh well.
Only eleven more days until this blog is over!

6/17/08

DAY THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-FOUR

Sunday and it's Father's Day. Some of the kids said it, but not all of them. Oh well, what ya gonna do. When we got to church and everybody was making a fuss so they all remembered. Dan The Man made me a wonderful card with a large body count. We headed home to do more cleaning for the house inspection. Then we went to the store and got some goodies to make chili cheese dogs. I got to play Wolfenstein and watch this fun, campy flick called Candy Stripers.
All in all I got to spend the day with the kids and had fun, even when I had to force them to have fun.
Life is good.

6/15/08

DAY THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-THREE

Got up and we headed out with Dandelion since it was her day to do stuff. We got her a bunch of clothes at NuWay and she loved that. After that we hit Wendy's for food and I think I ate too much. Something disagreed with my stomach that was for sure. Then we went to the church garage sale and got a few things there as well.
Then it was off to watch Kung Fu Panda. What can I say? The movie was excellent and if they wanted to make more of those then I would be all over that.
After that we went to my nephew's graduation party. Not as big a deal as I had seen all these people last week for other graduation parties. It's always good to see people, but three parties in two weeks is kind of overkill.
Then it was home to get some cleaning and repairs done for the inspection that is next week. The one bummer about renting is that the inspectors are in your house twice a year. They just do it for the cash. It's not like we have a slumlord or something.
Oh well, what are ya gonna do. I laid some tile and trimmed it down, cleaned and gotr ready for bed.
Tomorrow is Father's Day.

DAY THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-TWO

Friday! Beer Friday no less. Dan the Man called me and asked if I was interested in lunch. I said sure so he, Martha and Dandy came and got me for McDonalds. After work I went with Martha to pay the Consumers Energy bill. Then we met Savannah for beers at The Metro. we had nachos that were the best ones in the world and I had some Guinness. Martha and I wanted to go see Crawlspace Evictions last show, but we got their late. There was a street person who did a rap for us for three bucks. Not really the same, but it was still fun. Rich, Savannah's boyfriend showed up and we went back to The Metro. I was a little disappointed that our waitress left and when she left and eight o'clock rolled around, we weren't getting waited on anymore. I guess we weren't gay enough to stay. So, we left. Kind of a bummer. Might have to find another place to go for Beer Friday.
Martha and I went home to watch Doctor Who and we both fell asleep.

DAY THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-ONE

Today was a totally average day

6/12/08

DAY THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY

Man! Three hundred and fifty posts! I would like to say that this year has flown by, but nothing could be further from the truth. Sixteen more posts and then I'm done with this daily chronicle. Part of me will miss it, but the rest of me will be glad to move on to other things. I figure that once it's done I will leave it up for a year or so. I plan on trying to get it published so I might post about those trials and tribulations as some kind of appendix to the journey.
So, work was work. We were supposed to get a new temp and their drug test didn't come back yet so they have to wait. Dan the man had an ice cream party for the end of the year and Martha and I volunteered to help out. Now, Mr. Brown, Dan's teacher never gives these guys sugar. Never. Today he was like, eat what you want, but when you throw up you're done. He also said that the person who ate the most would have the most fun bus ride home. The man is funny. Made me laugh. So, an hour of getting sticky later and I went back to work where I did some stuff, but not a lot of stuff. Got things done that I wanted to with the exception of this one PDF file that I can't get to reduce in size. Kind of making me a little crazy. Funny how the old equipment that everyone was always grumbling about was the stuff that managed to get the job done. Funny how that works, isn't it?
Anyway, after work I went home, mowed some lawn, washed some dishes and thought about what to make for dinner. Played some more Wolfenstein and finally got to these monsters that are uber creepy. We'll see how that goes.
Martha and the kids got home and we ate food and got ready for bed. I put in an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 for sleep since there was nothing on television to watch. The bedroom was a little hot, but not too bad. It's supposed to be cooler tomorrow, but we'll have to wait and see.

DAY THREE HUNDRED AND FORTY-NINE

So, work was work. I called Martha and asked if she wanted me to go get snake food for Rufus with her and she said sure. We also made a stop at the store and got some necessities of life. After that it was a pitstop at Burger King. This ended up sucking however, because currently you can't get a tomato anywhere. Seems that salmonella reared it's ugly head and in a panic no one has tomatoes. Is there really only one place to get these? That seems slightly retarded. Am I supposed to believe that I have to go to a single tomato place for these things? Sounds fishy. Anyway, my Indiana Jones Whopper was kind of disappointing. Kind of like the new movie. So, we picked Dennis up from school and then took me back to work.
After work I pedaled home and spent the day with Martha and the kids. Not a lot to report. Just kind of hung out, made food and laid back. That was a good thing.

6/11/08

DAY THREE HUNDRED AND FORTY-EIGHT

Back to work. Weeeeee! Oh well, at least I get to ride my bike which is always a good thing. I've got a couple of time consuming, bigger projects to do so that will take up the majority of my day.
Afterwork I headed home, made a cake and some cheesy hashbrown hamburger helper for when the family got home from Judo. I also managed to do some dishes and mow part of the lawn. The lawn is monstrous so it works best in small chunks. The front lawn has these interesting, small, yellow flowers that it will be a shame to mow over. Maybe I'll see if they transplant at all and get them to grow somewhere else on the lawn. Maybe in one of the areas I let go wild. Have to see later this week.
I played some more Castle Wolfenstein, wrote a little and took it easy. Martha and the kids got home and we feasted. The cake was a diaster because it slid off the plate and I ended up getting burnt. Thankfully, my years of coking in the food service made for no real pain from that.
Then it was time for the sleepies.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!

DAY THREE HUNDRED AND FORTY-SEVEN

Sunday and little sleep the night before. I still feel pretty good. A little dragging, but that's okay. We grabbed up all the stuff for Sunday breakfast, got the kids and wife and I through the shower cycle and headed out for church. Breakfast was fun. I made those sausage, egg, cheese and english muffin thingies that everyone likes. It's like being a short order cook without the stresswhich is cool.
After that we did our bible study and I got the older kids to join in because their teacher didn't show. I had them read the bible passages which was cool.
After church we headed for my niece Troie's graduation. Compared to the drunken debauchery of the previous party this one was pretty sedate. It was at the little park/zoo in Three Rivers. We got to play with a big snake and lots of other critters. They have an emu and I don;t know what it is, but I tend to irritate emus. They always look like they are ready to throw down with me. Makes me a little nervous, but I still like to mess with them.
After the party we headed home and drove through a nasty storm. It was kind of cool, though. The school bus races were cancelled that the youth group was going on and that was a bit of a bummer.
The rest of the day was pretty laid back and we took it easy.

6/9/08

DAY THREE HUNDRED AND FORTY-SIX

Saturday and the Friends Of The Library were having their annual book sale. You get a brown paper bag, one of the big ones and you fill it with books for two bucks! I got three bags. There was a lot of stuff there and I managed to get everyone some books which is always nice. It was pretty hot and there wasn't as much pulp fiction as I would have liked, but it was still a pretty good day for book sales.
After that we took Dandelion to get a present for her friends' birthday party, dropped her off to the party after Martha Dan, Dandy and I grabbed some lunch.
Then it was back home for a little while before heading to my nephew, Cody's birthday party.
The party was big and loud, but there was plenty of beer and venison wrapped in bacon so that was fun. I got to see my brother, David, who I haven't seen in years since he moved to Kentucky. It was nice seeing all the family and hang out for a few hours. After that we took the kids home and then went to Mike and Judy's for more beer.
Then we had to make a trip to Meijer to get stuff to make Sunday morning breakfast at church. This was going to mean not a lot of sleep for yours truly. And, of course, there was a downpour on the way out of the store. We have been getting a lot of crappy weather this weekend, but we still haven't lost power so, count my blessings.
I cooked up the sausage I would need for tromorrow's breakfast and then it was off to bed.

DAY THREE HUNDRED AND FORTY-FIVE

Friday! Not a payday, so no beer day, but it's still the end of the week. we got some crappy weather and then around 3:30 it got severe. Yeah, so we got stuck in an auditorium for a while because of a stupid tornado warning.
Nothing came of it, but then Savannah wouldn't let me ride my bike home. About halfway there I was kind of glad because the hail started. Pretty loud stuff that hail.
Got home, went to get food with Martha and we watched Doctor Who. Of course the last five minutes got cut off because the cable went out. Big fun that one. It came on again later that night, but I still missed it. Too tired I guess.

6/6/08

DAY THREE HUNDRED AND FORTY-FOUR

So, back to work and the bike ride was fabulous. I have been down loading these podcasts by Ken Plume and Dana Snyder over at Quick Stop. They are better than the Smodcasts in my humble opinion so, I will stick with them for the time being.
Work was work, with one exception;
Tracie was off doing something when I was told that our new temp was waiting in the lobby. Ever one to meet and annoy new people I said I would go get her. Yeah, it turned out that it was a temp that we had already fired a while ago. Now, to get the full effetc here you must realize that behind the security desk of Pfizer is a glass wall that has a hallway in it. Anyone walking down this hall way is fully visible to the people in the lobby. I hestitaed for a moment and considered fleeing for my life, but she had already spotted me. Damn! So, I told her that I had to get Tarcie to come and get her.
Yeah, as soon as I was clear of the glass walled hallway I beat feet back to the print shop.
Tracie made the security guard send her packing. Man, that was a weird way to start a day! Seems that she had applied with every temp service and they didn't know she had been previously fired from the position. The rest of work sort of paled in comparison to this wacky start.
My bike ride home was not nearly as hot as I thought it would be. Seems we have a heat wave on the way.
When I got home I disocvered that the girls had already made tracks for their freiends' houses and Dennis was on his way out the door as well. That left me, MArtha and Dan The Man. So, we headed for McDonalds for some dinner and then over to Meijer to pick up some essentials.
We got home and hung out for a little while and then it was time for sleeping. Yeah, except the upstairs was roasting and I was in no mood for it. I grabbed a sheet, some pillows and my alarm clock and headed for the downstairs. As soon as MArtha moves some stuff I will put the downstairs air conditiner in, but we need a little one for the upsatirs as well, I'm afraid. Too muggy and hot for yours truly. And it isn't even August yet!
I also discovered that Dan's ice cream party at school is next Wednesday and that is when my physical at the doctor is. Guess I'll be changing my appointment for that. No big deal.

6/5/08

DAY THREE HUNDRED AND FORTY-THREE

Hump day! Another fabulous day at the shop. Of course, since I'm gainfully employed I might want to shut it. Tried to reduce the size of a pdf all day and nothig came of it. We have certain things in effect that with the changing over of machinery have caused some of those things not to work like before and it is irritating. VERY irritating.
Anyway, who cares? Martha and I did lunch again. This time we went to The Metro so she could get her hot roast beef sandwich and I got their famous pulled pork sandwich. While I was there I learned that there is a gay channel on cable. I had no idea! They have their own channel. Who would have thunk it. The most unsettling aspect of it was an Orbitz commercial where they explain how to get great deals on rooms and whatnot and the end of the commercial has this couple walking hand in hand down the beach. Yeah, a couple of guys! I did not know that companies make special gay commercials. Who would have known?
Anyway, the food was fabulous as always and I went back to work. Bleah!
After work, I got home and had the place to myslef. Couldn't mow the lawn because the whole thing was soaked. I decided to take it easy. Wrote a little, played some Castle Wolfenstein and that was the course of my day. Martha and the kids got home and we had crackers and cheese and then headed for bed. Not as busy a day, but still getting used to the bike ride.

DAY THREE HUNDRED AND FORTY-TWO

Sure, I went to work. And, yes, the bike is fabulous, thanks for asking. But you know what the best part of my long, overtime filled day was? It was when I called Martha and she was doing some cleaning at the dojo after her workout and we got together for lunch. She came and got me and we went to Steak And Shake. I even got a milkshake! I don't do a lot of sweets, but once in a while I just gotta have one. And a real one, too. None of this McDonalds fake crap. Burger King also has fake crap so don't think I'm dissing on McDonalds exclusively.
Anyway, after lunch I had to go back to work. Boooooo! After that I rode the bike home and everyone had eaten except dandelion. They all had salads. Dandy and I ate some monster strawberries. Good stuff.
Then we went to Walmart to get the littles some sandals and picked up a few things. Oh, did I mention that Martha bought me a coffee maker for work? Yeah, the one at work finally went kaput. So, I got a brand new one. Vry nice I might add and a steal for nine bucks.
Anyway, after shopping with the littles we went home and I was still a little hungry. I made some Hamburger Helper, crunchy taco style and added the rest of the former days' taco meat and some extra rice. It was very yummy and everyone ate it. Seems that the salads from earlie in the day had worn off. Go figure.
I made this new kind of veggie slaw with shredded cabbage, carrots and fresh beets. I used low fat Italian dressing instead of mayo and it was quite yummy. I'll be taking some of that to work.
Then it was time for sleeping.

6/3/08

DAY THREE HUNDRED AND FORTY-ONE

So, first day back on the bike. The tires are too narrow and the handlebars are weird, but you know what? It sure beats walking! So, I officially love my new bike! Now, if I could convince the city of Kalamazoo to stop taking concrete cutters to all the roads I use to get to work. It was a definite journey to get there. Tomorrow will be better.
Work was busy. Overtime starts up again and that is good because with the price of gas we can sure use the money.
After work I pedaled home. The route was easier and I made pretty good time. I got home and found my free copy of Sirens Of Cinema waiting for me. Just for pimping the mag on the site I got me a freebie. I love freebies. We put the kids to work because they have definitely been slacking on the chore front. After that Martha and I went to the store and bought many, many things for food and whatnot. It took a while and we still made a huge quantity of tacos when we got home. I love home made tacos with the refried beans and all the yummy vegetables.
Speaking of vegetables I got this idea for this new slaw/salad that I'm going to try tomorrow. Lots of fresh vegetables and yummy goodness. We'll see how that turns out. I think it will be fine because I will eat any type of raw vegetable out there. A lot of them turn to crap when you cook them, but I loves me some raw veggies.
After that it was late. Kung Fu Hustle was on television so I turned that on before conking out for the night.
The bicycle makes me tired and my legs will be screaming at me, but they will get used to it again and I am just glad o have wheels under me again.

6/2/08

DAY THREE HUNDRED AND FORTY

Sunday! Didn't make it to church. Stayed in bed a little while longer. I got up and made everyone breakfast. Then it was time to head for the beach for Dan's graduation ceremony from Scouts. Yeah, we were late for that so we didn't bother going. We still went to the beach. It was funny because it was the first of June and Martha and I knew that the water at Lake Michigan would be Arctic, but the kids were awfully excited about the beach. Yeah, it was funny to watch them scream when they hit the water. They all still played in it, but they didn't stay in it very long.
Then we walked down to the pier and showed the kids the little lighthouse at the end. They didn't seem all that impressed. Too bad. They did like the huge ship that went down the canal. Looked like a pirate ship.
After all that adventure we headed back to Kalamazoo for Chinese food at King Wok buffet. We were all starving by the time we got there. They had us sit in the back and the cool part was when a bunch of the people who worked there came out with steaming platters of food and sat all around us and had some lunch. I think what they were eating looked better than what we had, but what are ya gonna do? It was a very cool atmosphere to eat in to say the least. And it seems that they have a new sushi chef. The sushi looked different and tasted much better than usual.
Then it was time for home to sit and digest.
I finally got a chance to watch No Country For Old Men. One of the movies that I was really looking forward to and the most disappointed it. It had some spots that I liked, but overall, I didn't see what all the hubbub was about. If you are incapable of giving a film a satisfactory ending then don't bother making it. If I want realism and slice of life situations I will watch the news. I wanted a good movie and I got crap. Just one big disappointment.
After that I went to the park where Martha and the kids were flying kites. Not much luck as the wind had died down, but they had fun anyway. I tried watching Weasels Rip My Flesh, but I was too tired.
I get to ride my bike tomorrow, that will be cool.

DAY THREE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-NINE

Saturday and it was time to take Delia out for her adventure. First we went to see Iron Man. Very good movie. I will own that one when it comes out on DVD. Then we went to NuWay for clothes shopping. It was there that my dreams were fulfilled. I found a new bike! Sure, I still plan on pursuing the new wheel for my other bike, because why not, but for twenty bucks I got me a classic bike that works great! This has made me very happy. No more walking to work. Very nice indeed.
Anyway, after we found some clothes for Delia we headed off to the mall. Did some shopping and then it was off to home because Delia didn't feel well. We had her take a warm bath and use the bathroom and then she was good to go. We went to KFC for chicken and then Target and the pet store. Just looked at the Pet Store, but we got a couple of things and I got a cup of coffee which made me happy yet again. Very good day for yours truly.
After that busy day it was time for us to head home and rest.

DAY THREE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-EIGHT

Friday! End of the wekk! Wooooooo! Around one in the afternoon I got to go to my kid's elementary school to watch the Spring music program. Dandelion got to play her violin in the band and they played Queen's Another One Bites The Dust and We Will Rock You. How did it sound? Like you would expect, but you could see that the kids were putting their all into it.
Then Dan got to sing with a plethora of kids. They did about five songs that told of the joy of reading. I have to say I'm always a fan of that. They did this cute little green screen presentation between songs and Dan got to be in that as well. Very cool.
After that I went back to work for a little while and then it was time for Harvey's. Yea! Beer Friday!
And then the ball dropped.
Guess what is no longer on tap at Harvey's? That's right, my precious Guinness is gone! Waaaaaaaaa! I tried the Kalamazoo Stout. Wasn't the same. Tried Guinness in a can. Nope, not the same. Then there was Guinness in a bottle. Disappointing to say the least. So, what was left? I switched to Old Style for the rest of the horrid evening.
After that we headed to get pizza for the kids and then it was tiem for Doctor Who. Very good episode.