When I got up this morning I decided to unwrap the finger. I had gone to bed without changing the dressing because I had finally gotten the bleeding stopped. I was afraid to mess with it. This morning I went through my routine, then took off the wrappings. The finger looked strange, gray, and zombie-like. The end was also pretty gross. But it got through the shower OK. I decided to put the fresh bandage on after I got dressed, but bumped it on my sock, and it started bleeding again. But at least this time I could get the bleeding stopped.
As I went through the day, I started feeling progressively worse. As I feared, that crud was coming back. There were times when I was on meds still that it kind of felt like it was in the background, just waiting to come back, but after a week or so of relative health, I thought I had it licked. Apparently not. Sigh.
I decided that I didn't feel good enough to go to dinner tonight with the boys, which was a shame because they were going to The Olive Tree. Not only would I have enjoyed seeing everyone, but the tzatziki sauce there is legendary. But it was not to be. I decided I didn't need to spend the money anyway (and really, I don't).
But on the way home, I started thinking about the couple of odds and ends I still needed to pick up. I headed for Big Lots, with the idea that they few things I needed would cost less there than at CVS. I used to get my toiletries there. That was not such a great idea. The lure there is the discontinued foods section, which I find endlessly fascinating. I did get a couple of things I really needed for the house, but I also came away with several tins of nuts, two bags of cookies, and a (small) can of Pringles. I always crave junk food when I don't feel good, and the allure was too strong tonight. I emerged $42 later, triumphant. I probably just should have gone to freakin' dinner.
I headed home, ate hot dogs (still delicious), and went to bed.
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
A post in which I perform an in-house amputation
Not on purpose.
It was a fairly ordinary day. I worked on the stupid manual project in between talking to Erick online. He's quite the charmer, fairly erudite, and with that mix of earthiness that keeps him from sounding like a prig. He lives in Raleigh, and I have the 'burnt dog fears fire' reaction to that, but there's no reason to really be afraid of him, other than the long distance thing. But we haven't met yet, so it's way early to worry about that.
We went from ice last Friday to shirt-sleeves last night to a severe thunderstorm/tornado warning today. The planet is clearly losing it's mind.
Just as I got off work another tornado warning was issued. It was raining moderately, but didn't look dangerous out. Since my brains were tapioca after working on the manual all day I decided to go on home. Of course, for some reason, everyone decided to drive like jackasses, but I was making pretty good progress when the monsoon descended. It was raining cats and rhinoceri as I made my way across town. I decided not to go to the store, despite having bought the wrong laundry detergent this week (it's not he). It has to go back, and of course I needed to pick up a couple of things, but I wasn't getting out in this mess to do it. It will all wait.
By the time I got home it had eased off just a bit, and I got all the crap out of the car and into the house.
My plan for tonight was simple. I was going to make hot dogs for supper (I had all the stuff there from the snow groceries I bought last week), surf the net, maybe read some emails, veg in front of the telly, and turn in early. Although I slept fairly well last night, the night before had been pretty rough, and I knew the extra shut-eye wouldn't be amiss.
I was starving, and went in the kitchen to throw some chili on to cook. Hot dogs are great, but I love hot dogs with chili, and my homemade veggie chili is scrumptious. As I was cutting an onion, the newly-sharpened knife slipped and cut the end of my finger off. Yikes. It was a deep cut, and it was bleeding freely.
I got a paper towel, applied pressure, and held the hand over my head - no dice. The pressure did stop the bleeding, but as soon as I moved the towel, the cut started pouring blood again. I just applied pressure for a while, and used the other hand to clean up the blood drips, which were all over the floor, counter, and cabinet doors, but had miraculously missed the cutting board and onion. Several tests showed that I was continuing to bleed freely each time the pressure was released. I got out the band aids. The ones I had in the house were either mosquito-bite tiny or big enough to cover an emergency amputation. I tried to get a paper towel taped on there, but the blood was coming so fast I couldn't get the tape to stick.
So I'm thinking, crap I'm gonna have to go have stitches! But since the end of the finger was gone, I had no idea how they would stitch anything. Then I remembered Larney had told me about using cornstarch to stop bleeding. Any port in a storm. I got out the cornstarch, put some in a small bowl, and stuck my finger in. Although when I pulled it out the blood came through, it seemed a little bit slower. I just stuck my finger in the cornstarch, applied pressure, and carried the little bowl around for a bit. Then I wrapped the finger in a paper towel and plastic wrap and taped it in place. My initial wrap was wrong, and blood started dripping out of the plastic, but the second time I wrapped it differently, and things calmed down.
I finished up the chili, washed the dishes (carefully) and ate supper. The hot dogs were great. I was really craving them. I ate some Reese's Christmas Trees that I'd had in the freezer because my finger hurt. I went online for a bit, but because of my huge plastic finger, typing was frustrating.
I got ready for bed, and turned in. I did return a few messages on Growlr (I can do that with one hand), and turned in, pleasantly surprised that WE has started airing Golden Girls marathons in the evenings again. I love going to sleep with the girls.
It was a fairly ordinary day. I worked on the stupid manual project in between talking to Erick online. He's quite the charmer, fairly erudite, and with that mix of earthiness that keeps him from sounding like a prig. He lives in Raleigh, and I have the 'burnt dog fears fire' reaction to that, but there's no reason to really be afraid of him, other than the long distance thing. But we haven't met yet, so it's way early to worry about that.
We went from ice last Friday to shirt-sleeves last night to a severe thunderstorm/tornado warning today. The planet is clearly losing it's mind.
Just as I got off work another tornado warning was issued. It was raining moderately, but didn't look dangerous out. Since my brains were tapioca after working on the manual all day I decided to go on home. Of course, for some reason, everyone decided to drive like jackasses, but I was making pretty good progress when the monsoon descended. It was raining cats and rhinoceri as I made my way across town. I decided not to go to the store, despite having bought the wrong laundry detergent this week (it's not he). It has to go back, and of course I needed to pick up a couple of things, but I wasn't getting out in this mess to do it. It will all wait.
By the time I got home it had eased off just a bit, and I got all the crap out of the car and into the house.
My plan for tonight was simple. I was going to make hot dogs for supper (I had all the stuff there from the snow groceries I bought last week), surf the net, maybe read some emails, veg in front of the telly, and turn in early. Although I slept fairly well last night, the night before had been pretty rough, and I knew the extra shut-eye wouldn't be amiss.
I was starving, and went in the kitchen to throw some chili on to cook. Hot dogs are great, but I love hot dogs with chili, and my homemade veggie chili is scrumptious. As I was cutting an onion, the newly-sharpened knife slipped and cut the end of my finger off. Yikes. It was a deep cut, and it was bleeding freely.
I got a paper towel, applied pressure, and held the hand over my head - no dice. The pressure did stop the bleeding, but as soon as I moved the towel, the cut started pouring blood again. I just applied pressure for a while, and used the other hand to clean up the blood drips, which were all over the floor, counter, and cabinet doors, but had miraculously missed the cutting board and onion. Several tests showed that I was continuing to bleed freely each time the pressure was released. I got out the band aids. The ones I had in the house were either mosquito-bite tiny or big enough to cover an emergency amputation. I tried to get a paper towel taped on there, but the blood was coming so fast I couldn't get the tape to stick.
So I'm thinking, crap I'm gonna have to go have stitches! But since the end of the finger was gone, I had no idea how they would stitch anything. Then I remembered Larney had told me about using cornstarch to stop bleeding. Any port in a storm. I got out the cornstarch, put some in a small bowl, and stuck my finger in. Although when I pulled it out the blood came through, it seemed a little bit slower. I just stuck my finger in the cornstarch, applied pressure, and carried the little bowl around for a bit. Then I wrapped the finger in a paper towel and plastic wrap and taped it in place. My initial wrap was wrong, and blood started dripping out of the plastic, but the second time I wrapped it differently, and things calmed down.
I finished up the chili, washed the dishes (carefully) and ate supper. The hot dogs were great. I was really craving them. I ate some Reese's Christmas Trees that I'd had in the freezer because my finger hurt. I went online for a bit, but because of my huge plastic finger, typing was frustrating. I got ready for bed, and turned in. I did return a few messages on Growlr (I can do that with one hand), and turned in, pleasantly surprised that WE has started airing Golden Girls marathons in the evenings again. I love going to sleep with the girls.
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
A post in which I have a date!
I was up with brutal insomnia from 2am until about 4:45am. When the alarm went off, I decided (by a narrow margin) to get up and go to work rather than either find the nearest cliff or quit my job.
I worked on that stupid (*&&^^%%$#!! manual project most of the day. It is mind-numbingly boring, but I did get a lot done. I'm starting to see light at the end of the tunnel.
I was invited to Bill's birthday party today. That made me happy. First because I was actually invited, and am not going to just tag along with RBL, and second because I am intrigued to see Bill and John's house when it isn't all Halloweened out. They have a fantastic house for entertaining. It is nice to be invited when it isn't part of a huge critter call (well, I don't think it is anyway - no idea how big the guest list is). So I first thought this would be a great chance to introduce Tyler to some of the guys from the dinner night and stuff. He told me he hasn't met many people because he works so much. Then I thought, screw that. He can go with me. So I asked him to go with me, as in like a date. And he said YES!
I know he's way too young for me. I know that in all probability, I'll probably be taking him for him to meet his next boyfriend. But so what? He's a hot, sweet guy. We enjoy each other's company. And there are far worse things than having a good-looking guy on my arm for an evening right? I am pretty freakin' stoked about it.
So that little afterglow helped me coast through the tedious afternoon in relative pleasure.
I also chatted with a guy named Erick. He had seen my profile on Bear411 and was intrigued. He had also just spent the weekend with Donnie and Mark, who had told him about me. Erick is my age, sexy, and cool. But he lives in Raleigh. After my last experience with Raleigh guys, I am not encouraged. I find it interesting, though, that it seems to be feast or famine. After weeks of not being able to attrach hungry dogs with a chicken leg tied around my neck, suddenly I have two guys all up in my Kool Aid. Go figure.
Dinner out with Dad and Eve tonight was at La Parrilla. Confusingly, after the ice storm last week, we ate on the patio tonight in our shirtsleeves. Weather in the south. Our service tonight was really slow, and really talky. Seems like four times out of five there, you get a server who wants to yack your head off. That would have been OK if we had been able to get our food. As it was, she asked us about 57 times if everything was OK. Yeesh. During the protracted wait, we were also seated in the 'crying babies smoking cigars' section. The population growth is supposed to be levelled out, but you would never have known it in that restaurant. Every one in there seemed to be totin' a young'un of some description, usually in the midst of a temper tantrum. The table next to us had two kids, who alternately screamed in tears or exultation through the entire meal.
I went back to the house to visit for a bit, and stayed later than I had intended. I had to go by the store on the way home. Since I didn't really go (other than to buy snow groceries I didn't need) last week, I am running out of things right and left at the house. So I ran through the store on an emergency mission, ran home, spent too much time chatting on Growlr, and finally made it to bed.
I worked on that stupid (*&&^^%%$#!! manual project most of the day. It is mind-numbingly boring, but I did get a lot done. I'm starting to see light at the end of the tunnel.
I was invited to Bill's birthday party today. That made me happy. First because I was actually invited, and am not going to just tag along with RBL, and second because I am intrigued to see Bill and John's house when it isn't all Halloweened out. They have a fantastic house for entertaining. It is nice to be invited when it isn't part of a huge critter call (well, I don't think it is anyway - no idea how big the guest list is). So I first thought this would be a great chance to introduce Tyler to some of the guys from the dinner night and stuff. He told me he hasn't met many people because he works so much. Then I thought, screw that. He can go with me. So I asked him to go with me, as in like a date. And he said YES!
I know he's way too young for me. I know that in all probability, I'll probably be taking him for him to meet his next boyfriend. But so what? He's a hot, sweet guy. We enjoy each other's company. And there are far worse things than having a good-looking guy on my arm for an evening right? I am pretty freakin' stoked about it.
So that little afterglow helped me coast through the tedious afternoon in relative pleasure.
I also chatted with a guy named Erick. He had seen my profile on Bear411 and was intrigued. He had also just spent the weekend with Donnie and Mark, who had told him about me. Erick is my age, sexy, and cool. But he lives in Raleigh. After my last experience with Raleigh guys, I am not encouraged. I find it interesting, though, that it seems to be feast or famine. After weeks of not being able to attrach hungry dogs with a chicken leg tied around my neck, suddenly I have two guys all up in my Kool Aid. Go figure.
Dinner out with Dad and Eve tonight was at La Parrilla. Confusingly, after the ice storm last week, we ate on the patio tonight in our shirtsleeves. Weather in the south. Our service tonight was really slow, and really talky. Seems like four times out of five there, you get a server who wants to yack your head off. That would have been OK if we had been able to get our food. As it was, she asked us about 57 times if everything was OK. Yeesh. During the protracted wait, we were also seated in the 'crying babies smoking cigars' section. The population growth is supposed to be levelled out, but you would never have known it in that restaurant. Every one in there seemed to be totin' a young'un of some description, usually in the midst of a temper tantrum. The table next to us had two kids, who alternately screamed in tears or exultation through the entire meal.
I went back to the house to visit for a bit, and stayed later than I had intended. I had to go by the store on the way home. Since I didn't really go (other than to buy snow groceries I didn't need) last week, I am running out of things right and left at the house. So I ran through the store on an emergency mission, ran home, spent too much time chatting on Growlr, and finally made it to bed.
Monday, January 28, 2013
A post in which I have a rendez-vous*
So Growlr heated up today. I was quite surprised. Who knew that 9pm on a Monday night wasn't the optimum time to access a hook-up ap? Not me apparently.
I had the profile set to vibrate my phone, which kept chirping through the day. Hmm distracting.
I needed it though, because I was working on that stupid manual project - ugh. It has to be done, but it's about as exciting as watching milk curdle. But I got more done today than I thought I would.
So I'm at lunch catching up on my Growlz, and I get one from a guy I met before. His name is Tyler, and the first time I met him he was in town on business, but lived in North Carolina. He was a nice guy, but a good bit younger than me, plus he was geographically undesirable. Well I found out later that he actually ended up moving here. I figured, frankly, that he would have a gorgeous boyfriend in short order, and didn't think that much about it to be honest.
Well apparently he remembered me fondly, and sent me some pictures today that reminded me just how really purty he is (he has fur that just makes me drool). He wanted to get together, so we set up for him to come over tonight. I had to go by the library tonight on the way home, and since he was supposed to be at the house at 7pm that really didn't give me much time. I ran home, ran through the shower, and threw a bowl of cabbage down my throat (I was starving). I kind of half thought he would cancel or wouldn't show, but he was right on time.
Tonight really wasn't the perfect night for me to have company. Since I was so busy yesterday, there was a bunch of stuff at the house kind of half done, and I had chores I needed to do tonight, but after the patch I've had lately, I wasn't going to miss out. Let's just say that Tyler and I are compatible in two ways that most of the guys I have met lately are not.
It was really good to see him, and he was more relaxed around me tonight, having met me before and all. We ended up having a really good time, with an encounter that was - well transcendent. My dry spell ended in fairly spectacular fashion. He stayed afterwards just to hang out, and I fed him some macaroni pie (hey, I know the way to a man's heart). We talked and just enjoyed each other. I really enjoyed it, and he seemed to as well.
Eventually he left, just in time for the season premier of RuPaul's Drag Race. I put in a load of laundry, cleaned up the kitchen, and ate a bit more supper. I went to bed feeling happy. I wanted to finish watching the first episode (the advance viewing online didn't show who got sent home), but I was just too tired. I went to sleep before it was over.
I had the profile set to vibrate my phone, which kept chirping through the day. Hmm distracting.
I needed it though, because I was working on that stupid manual project - ugh. It has to be done, but it's about as exciting as watching milk curdle. But I got more done today than I thought I would.
So I'm at lunch catching up on my Growlz, and I get one from a guy I met before. His name is Tyler, and the first time I met him he was in town on business, but lived in North Carolina. He was a nice guy, but a good bit younger than me, plus he was geographically undesirable. Well I found out later that he actually ended up moving here. I figured, frankly, that he would have a gorgeous boyfriend in short order, and didn't think that much about it to be honest.
Well apparently he remembered me fondly, and sent me some pictures today that reminded me just how really purty he is (he has fur that just makes me drool). He wanted to get together, so we set up for him to come over tonight. I had to go by the library tonight on the way home, and since he was supposed to be at the house at 7pm that really didn't give me much time. I ran home, ran through the shower, and threw a bowl of cabbage down my throat (I was starving). I kind of half thought he would cancel or wouldn't show, but he was right on time.
Tonight really wasn't the perfect night for me to have company. Since I was so busy yesterday, there was a bunch of stuff at the house kind of half done, and I had chores I needed to do tonight, but after the patch I've had lately, I wasn't going to miss out. Let's just say that Tyler and I are compatible in two ways that most of the guys I have met lately are not.
It was really good to see him, and he was more relaxed around me tonight, having met me before and all. We ended up having a really good time, with an encounter that was - well transcendent. My dry spell ended in fairly spectacular fashion. He stayed afterwards just to hang out, and I fed him some macaroni pie (hey, I know the way to a man's heart). We talked and just enjoyed each other. I really enjoyed it, and he seemed to as well.
Eventually he left, just in time for the season premier of RuPaul's Drag Race. I put in a load of laundry, cleaned up the kitchen, and ate a bit more supper. I went to bed feeling happy. I wanted to finish watching the first episode (the advance viewing online didn't show who got sent home), but I was just too tired. I went to sleep before it was over.
Sunday, January 27, 2013
A post in which I am VERY busy
I didn't really start panicking in time for today. I was thinking about all I had to do this morning before I went to sleep, but it didn't really all hit me until I woke up this morning - at 9am. I never sleep that late.
When it all hit me, I leapt from the bed to put a buttermilk pie in the oven. I had told Tony yesterday that I would make them a pie. Custard pie is Rhonda's favorite, and I had left-over buttermilk that I needed to use up. With my pie in the oven, I ran to the store for pasta and canned milk. I had told Rhonda that if we went to the creamery I would make her and Tony a macaroni pie. I busily started grating my Happy Cow cheeses, etc, and decided that rather than make one big pie and scoop half of it out for them, I would make two little pies. So I found the appropriate casseroles and put two small macaroni pies in the oven.
I started getting ready. Brunch was 'noonish' and it was apparent that I wasn't going to make it, but I called and told Rhonda, and I wasn't too late. Marty and Petal were there when I arrived. We went out for nasty Chinese buffet, which Marty insisted on paying for despite my protests.
Rhonda headed for Augusta with them (with half her macaroni pie and the buttermilk pie for them to enjoy), and I went home to cook cabbage. Only when I got home, I felt sleepy. I needed a nap. Since I had a left-over packed lunch in the fridge at work from Friday, I decided to take one. If worst came to worst, I could cook cabbage tomorrow night. I lay down for about an hour, and felt much better when I got up.
I threw the cabbage in to cook, changed the sheets on the bed, and folded laundry. By the time I did all that, it was almost time to leave for the Bear Dinner tonight, which I had forgotten until this morning. I threw the cabbage in the crock pot, got dressed, and decided to finish cleaning up the kitchen later.
Dinner tonight was a Mimi's Steakhouse. What I didn't realize was that it was at the one in Simpsonville. Needless to say, when I showed up at the one in Greenville, there was no one there. So after a quick phone call to Billy, I got the address and headed for the wilds of Simpsonville (I mean, who knew they ate Japanese food in Simpsonville? I assumed they lived on possum and pone of some kind, but I digress). As it turns out, the group wasn't even seated when I got there, so there was no problem with my being late.
The turn-out tonight was huge. We had 26 RSVPs going in, and we ended up with 38 guys at the dinner. There were plenty of guys I hadn't seen in a while, and there were some new faces too. It was a good thing that Billy had called ahead. The restaurant was tiny, and we ended up filling up the entire teppanyaki seating area.
I avoided the booger-eaters and snagged a prime seat, between Billy and two newer guys with Logan across from me. I used to hang back and get a crappy seat - I've learned that lesson. The new guy I sat next to was named Smitty. He was quite nice, and charming, and I enjoyed talking to him. He had a boyfriend, of course. He was with Reggie - the source of the drama with Michael back in the day. Reggie has done a major overhaul, and it took me a bit to realize who he was.
This was one of the best bear dinners I've been to in a while. I had a really good time, despite the chef giving me a hard time. They knew who was there, and all the chefs we had tonight were cool and nice. The company was good. It was just fun.
Before I left, a guy I know named Daniel walked up and handed me a box of PopTarts from his wife. We had been talking about them before the ice last week, and she sent me a box as a joke. I got a big kick out of that.
But it was time to head home. I took the Southern Connector home, but because I hadn't realized where we were eating, I didn't have quarters for the tolls. I had to stop at both toll booths. I was surprised to learn in chatting with one of the guys that people around here give them a really hard time. They are apparently regularly cursed at, among other things. I was quite surprised, but made sure to be extra nice to both of them and wish them a good evening before I headed home.
While we were waiting for dinner to start tonight, Billy had helped me download Growlr on my new smart phone. Having heard how amazing it was, etc, I was quite excited to try it out. I was rather disappointed to find, on a test run tonight, that it was the same 20 or so guys I see consistently online, just now in my phone. But it's a new thing. Maybe something will happen.
When it all hit me, I leapt from the bed to put a buttermilk pie in the oven. I had told Tony yesterday that I would make them a pie. Custard pie is Rhonda's favorite, and I had left-over buttermilk that I needed to use up. With my pie in the oven, I ran to the store for pasta and canned milk. I had told Rhonda that if we went to the creamery I would make her and Tony a macaroni pie. I busily started grating my Happy Cow cheeses, etc, and decided that rather than make one big pie and scoop half of it out for them, I would make two little pies. So I found the appropriate casseroles and put two small macaroni pies in the oven.
I started getting ready. Brunch was 'noonish' and it was apparent that I wasn't going to make it, but I called and told Rhonda, and I wasn't too late. Marty and Petal were there when I arrived. We went out for nasty Chinese buffet, which Marty insisted on paying for despite my protests.
Rhonda headed for Augusta with them (with half her macaroni pie and the buttermilk pie for them to enjoy), and I went home to cook cabbage. Only when I got home, I felt sleepy. I needed a nap. Since I had a left-over packed lunch in the fridge at work from Friday, I decided to take one. If worst came to worst, I could cook cabbage tomorrow night. I lay down for about an hour, and felt much better when I got up.
I threw the cabbage in to cook, changed the sheets on the bed, and folded laundry. By the time I did all that, it was almost time to leave for the Bear Dinner tonight, which I had forgotten until this morning. I threw the cabbage in the crock pot, got dressed, and decided to finish cleaning up the kitchen later.
Dinner tonight was a Mimi's Steakhouse. What I didn't realize was that it was at the one in Simpsonville. Needless to say, when I showed up at the one in Greenville, there was no one there. So after a quick phone call to Billy, I got the address and headed for the wilds of Simpsonville (I mean, who knew they ate Japanese food in Simpsonville? I assumed they lived on possum and pone of some kind, but I digress). As it turns out, the group wasn't even seated when I got there, so there was no problem with my being late.
The turn-out tonight was huge. We had 26 RSVPs going in, and we ended up with 38 guys at the dinner. There were plenty of guys I hadn't seen in a while, and there were some new faces too. It was a good thing that Billy had called ahead. The restaurant was tiny, and we ended up filling up the entire teppanyaki seating area.
I avoided the booger-eaters and snagged a prime seat, between Billy and two newer guys with Logan across from me. I used to hang back and get a crappy seat - I've learned that lesson. The new guy I sat next to was named Smitty. He was quite nice, and charming, and I enjoyed talking to him. He had a boyfriend, of course. He was with Reggie - the source of the drama with Michael back in the day. Reggie has done a major overhaul, and it took me a bit to realize who he was.
This was one of the best bear dinners I've been to in a while. I had a really good time, despite the chef giving me a hard time. They knew who was there, and all the chefs we had tonight were cool and nice. The company was good. It was just fun.
Before I left, a guy I know named Daniel walked up and handed me a box of PopTarts from his wife. We had been talking about them before the ice last week, and she sent me a box as a joke. I got a big kick out of that.
But it was time to head home. I took the Southern Connector home, but because I hadn't realized where we were eating, I didn't have quarters for the tolls. I had to stop at both toll booths. I was surprised to learn in chatting with one of the guys that people around here give them a really hard time. They are apparently regularly cursed at, among other things. I was quite surprised, but made sure to be extra nice to both of them and wish them a good evening before I headed home.
While we were waiting for dinner to start tonight, Billy had helped me download Growlr on my new smart phone. Having heard how amazing it was, etc, I was quite excited to try it out. I was rather disappointed to find, on a test run tonight, that it was the same 20 or so guys I see consistently online, just now in my phone. But it's a new thing. Maybe something will happen.
Saturday, January 26, 2013
A post in which Rhondee and I take a field trip**
I got up this morning and logged on. Everyone was just kind of chatting around, because we had been told that the roads would be bad this morning. Then Chuck signed on. He wanted to come over. When I pointed out that driving was supposed to be hazardous, he pointed out that he was, after all, a man. I explained that his manliness didn't give him super powers over ice. He disagreed and asked what kind of biscuit I wanted. Realizing that I was a) getting nowhere with him; and b) basically being derided as a wussy for being concerned, I told him egg and cheese, that I would make coffee, and asked him to please be careful.
He came in full of hubris, with biscuits, and told me that the roads were fine. So we ate and had coffee (he was skeptical of the french press, but later told me that the coffee was really good) and visited for a bit, and I sent him on his way.
I got in touch with Rhonda and went to pick her up. We did some shopping. We went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond to get Tony some spoons (long story), and to a women's store to look at clothes for Rhonda. She found a couple of things and got a good deal on them to boot. A fellow customer just kind of took up with us and helped us shop. Rhonda insisted on treating me to lunch. Since we were already right there, we ate at Tablefields. I had never eaten there, but it is modeled rather after an upscale deli. It looked expensive, but the food prices were pretty much in line with other places. When we got the bill though, we saw that we had been charged $2.99 each for tea! Craziness. Still, when we went to get the tea (it was self serve) there was a citrus tea on offer that was fantastic. I would pay $2.99 for that. The food, though, was good, but not really noteworthy. But that tea was slammin'. I would get that again.
Rhonda had found the Happy Cow Creamery online this week as part of her investigations into local foods. We had talked about going down there today, but I hadn't known if we would be able to because of the roads. Since the roads were fine, though, I got in touch we decided to check it out. I picked her up, and what with chatting and catching up, it just seemed to take no time to get there. When we pulled up, you could see the cows. The day had turned off pretty, and there were a lot of people there, which became a bit of an issue, because the store at the creamery, while stocking an amazing variety of things, was pretty small. Still we navigated our way through and bought a good bit of stuff. Chuck had told me that the chocolate milk was really good, so I got a half gallon of that, along with butter cheese (which I assume is butterkase), hoop cheese (or rat cheese to old-timers), purple sweet potatoes (eat the rainbow), a head of cabbage, and a bag of Rome Beauty apples (my default apple).
On the way out, we saw a country store open (the people were operating it out of a very crowded old house which I really hope they weren't trying to live in), and stopped for a nose 'round. We didn't buy anything, but we did see the animals they had - dogs, cats, goats, and llamas, including a baby llama.
We made our way back to town, and I dropped Rhonda off.
I went home with the intention of maybe starting to cook. I had plenty to do. But I was sleepy. I fell into the internet vortex and became one with the sofa. I never did get the nap, but started chatting to a guy I've been talking to for a week or so named Anthony. He is really cute, but because of one thing and another we hadn't met. Although I thought he was going to stand me up, he did end up showing up tonight. He was keen to visit, but made it clear that I was just a booty call - he had plans with friends for after he left my place. Alrighty then. He was just as cute in person, but due to technical difficulties, the visit didn't last very long. He went on. But he said he would like to come back, and I certainly wouldn't mind that. Things could have gone worse. They certainly have.
I was sleepy, but it was too early to go to bed. I didn't really have any place to go, but wasn't ready to go to bed. I watched telly and played on the computer. I caught an advance run of the new season or RuPaul's Drag Race online (the new season looks like it will be great). Eventually, I turned on in.
He came in full of hubris, with biscuits, and told me that the roads were fine. So we ate and had coffee (he was skeptical of the french press, but later told me that the coffee was really good) and visited for a bit, and I sent him on his way.
I got in touch with Rhonda and went to pick her up. We did some shopping. We went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond to get Tony some spoons (long story), and to a women's store to look at clothes for Rhonda. She found a couple of things and got a good deal on them to boot. A fellow customer just kind of took up with us and helped us shop. Rhonda insisted on treating me to lunch. Since we were already right there, we ate at Tablefields. I had never eaten there, but it is modeled rather after an upscale deli. It looked expensive, but the food prices were pretty much in line with other places. When we got the bill though, we saw that we had been charged $2.99 each for tea! Craziness. Still, when we went to get the tea (it was self serve) there was a citrus tea on offer that was fantastic. I would pay $2.99 for that. The food, though, was good, but not really noteworthy. But that tea was slammin'. I would get that again.
Rhonda had found the Happy Cow Creamery online this week as part of her investigations into local foods. We had talked about going down there today, but I hadn't known if we would be able to because of the roads. Since the roads were fine, though, I got in touch we decided to check it out. I picked her up, and what with chatting and catching up, it just seemed to take no time to get there. When we pulled up, you could see the cows. The day had turned off pretty, and there were a lot of people there, which became a bit of an issue, because the store at the creamery, while stocking an amazing variety of things, was pretty small. Still we navigated our way through and bought a good bit of stuff. Chuck had told me that the chocolate milk was really good, so I got a half gallon of that, along with butter cheese (which I assume is butterkase), hoop cheese (or rat cheese to old-timers), purple sweet potatoes (eat the rainbow), a head of cabbage, and a bag of Rome Beauty apples (my default apple).
On the way out, we saw a country store open (the people were operating it out of a very crowded old house which I really hope they weren't trying to live in), and stopped for a nose 'round. We didn't buy anything, but we did see the animals they had - dogs, cats, goats, and llamas, including a baby llama.
We made our way back to town, and I dropped Rhonda off.
I went home with the intention of maybe starting to cook. I had plenty to do. But I was sleepy. I fell into the internet vortex and became one with the sofa. I never did get the nap, but started chatting to a guy I've been talking to for a week or so named Anthony. He is really cute, but because of one thing and another we hadn't met. Although I thought he was going to stand me up, he did end up showing up tonight. He was keen to visit, but made it clear that I was just a booty call - he had plans with friends for after he left my place. Alrighty then. He was just as cute in person, but due to technical difficulties, the visit didn't last very long. He went on. But he said he would like to come back, and I certainly wouldn't mind that. Things could have gone worse. They certainly have.
I was sleepy, but it was too early to go to bed. I didn't really have any place to go, but wasn't ready to go to bed. I watched telly and played on the computer. I caught an advance run of the new season or RuPaul's Drag Race online (the new season looks like it will be great). Eventually, I turned on in.
Friday, January 25, 2013
A post in which we have ice
The word had been out, and people were already acting crazy, but the morning just looked overcast. I didn't smell snow, but then you can't smell pending freezing rain. Freezing rain is the particular weather hazard of South Carolina. It isn't snow. Rain falls, and hits the cold atmosphere below, causing the water to build up on things in a layer of ice. It builds up on power cords, which fall, and on trees, roads, and cars; which makes them slick and hard to deal with. There is a certain bubbah element who are drawn out to try to drive in the crap, and they end up causing pile-ups.
I went on to work as if nothing was wrong. A good percentage of the time they call for this stuff and it's a big nothing. Most of the day it was just cloudy. About 11:00am they announced that the company would buy us free lunch in the cafeteria. Since at least half of the staff goes out for lunch, this is to keep them in the building working and not out in the midst of an accident somewhere. By the time I got down there, they were out of most things. I had some very thin 'cream' of tomato soup and some tater tots. I was reflecting on this breakfast of champions when it started to rain.
I had decided to stay unless something actually started falling. They had closed the schools at 11am, and a lot of people had left to get their kids, but since I don't have any I stayed. But when the nastiness actually started, I decided to go on. The roads get bad quickly, it was below freezing, and people are nuts, which is the bigger threat.
When I got outside, I realized that what was falling wasn't rain. It was sleety ice/rain mix. My car was already crusted in ice and the parking lot was slippery, which did not bode well. My ice scraper was nowhere to be found. I don't know what happened to it. I keep the car under a carport at the house, and since we rarely have bad weather here, I usually don't need it. I eventually managed to get things thawed out enough to see, and started home.
The highway wasn't bad, but people were crawling. I could see on the other side of the road where idiots had slammed on their brakes and slid into the dividing barrier on the highway. For some reason, Southerners think that going exquisitely slow and frequently slamming on the brakes is the way to drive in ice and snow. I knew that within twenty minutes or so the freeway would be impassable, so I got off to go through town. Because I am southern, I am genetically required to stop at the grocery store, and did so. I wanted hot dog fixin's and the makings for party sandwiches. I had a pan of left-over Parker House rolls I had bought for Christmas, but hadn't used because I decided to make corn bread for Rhonda. I thought it would be good to turn those into little party sandwiches, so I picked up some cheese and some smoked furkey.
The grocery store wasn't nearly as much of a madhouse as I expected, I guess since most people had already gone home. By the time I got out of the store, the weather had eased a bit, and by the time I got home, the precipitation had stopped. I just went on in the house, turned up the heat, and hunkered down. It was supposed to get colder, and the roads already had icy patches.
I chatted online and watched telly, wrapped up in a blanket and covered in kitties. Around suppertime, I made the little sandwiches, which turned out tasty, although I now know why people make those with the square trays of rolls. I had a round tray, and after I put all the stuff on, I couldn't get the top layer back on the right place to match up with the bottom layer, so mine pulled apart and got messy when I took them out. I ate an embarrassing amount of little sandwiches for supper, along with swiss cake rolls and potato chips - hey, if I was going to get snowed in an freeze to death, I wasn't going to do it on salad and diet soda.
I went on to work as if nothing was wrong. A good percentage of the time they call for this stuff and it's a big nothing. Most of the day it was just cloudy. About 11:00am they announced that the company would buy us free lunch in the cafeteria. Since at least half of the staff goes out for lunch, this is to keep them in the building working and not out in the midst of an accident somewhere. By the time I got down there, they were out of most things. I had some very thin 'cream' of tomato soup and some tater tots. I was reflecting on this breakfast of champions when it started to rain.
I had decided to stay unless something actually started falling. They had closed the schools at 11am, and a lot of people had left to get their kids, but since I don't have any I stayed. But when the nastiness actually started, I decided to go on. The roads get bad quickly, it was below freezing, and people are nuts, which is the bigger threat.
When I got outside, I realized that what was falling wasn't rain. It was sleety ice/rain mix. My car was already crusted in ice and the parking lot was slippery, which did not bode well. My ice scraper was nowhere to be found. I don't know what happened to it. I keep the car under a carport at the house, and since we rarely have bad weather here, I usually don't need it. I eventually managed to get things thawed out enough to see, and started home.
The highway wasn't bad, but people were crawling. I could see on the other side of the road where idiots had slammed on their brakes and slid into the dividing barrier on the highway. For some reason, Southerners think that going exquisitely slow and frequently slamming on the brakes is the way to drive in ice and snow. I knew that within twenty minutes or so the freeway would be impassable, so I got off to go through town. Because I am southern, I am genetically required to stop at the grocery store, and did so. I wanted hot dog fixin's and the makings for party sandwiches. I had a pan of left-over Parker House rolls I had bought for Christmas, but hadn't used because I decided to make corn bread for Rhonda. I thought it would be good to turn those into little party sandwiches, so I picked up some cheese and some smoked furkey.
The grocery store wasn't nearly as much of a madhouse as I expected, I guess since most people had already gone home. By the time I got out of the store, the weather had eased a bit, and by the time I got home, the precipitation had stopped. I just went on in the house, turned up the heat, and hunkered down. It was supposed to get colder, and the roads already had icy patches.
I chatted online and watched telly, wrapped up in a blanket and covered in kitties. Around suppertime, I made the little sandwiches, which turned out tasty, although I now know why people make those with the square trays of rolls. I had a round tray, and after I put all the stuff on, I couldn't get the top layer back on the right place to match up with the bottom layer, so mine pulled apart and got messy when I took them out. I ate an embarrassing amount of little sandwiches for supper, along with swiss cake rolls and potato chips - hey, if I was going to get snowed in an freeze to death, I wasn't going to do it on salad and diet soda.
Thursday, January 24, 2013
A post in which it is dinner night
Work was going well today until my denial came crashing down around me. I found out that the deadline for the second part of the project from hell is the end of the month. I just emailed the coordinator and told her I wouldn't be able to meet it. Sigh. I thought I had longer. Plus I really keep thinking that sanity will re-assert itself. Not that I have any precedent for this belief. There was nothing to do but tuck in, suck it up, and work on it this afternoon. So I did.
Tonight was dinner night out for the guys. Apparently the posts each Thursday about the dinners have rankled some of the bears (they were posting pics to the SCBears page, and these dinners are not SCBears functions), which I can understand. So today Lee set up a 'secret' group for posts about the Thursday night dinners to hopefully avoid hurting feelings if possible. There's just always drama.
Tonight's dinner was at Southern Culture. After reading about it on Facebook, and looking at the menu online, I was pretty stoked. The menu sounded great. I was less enthused about the possibility of a live band while we ate. I don't know why straight people just freakin' live for a live band to perform at ear-shattering decibel levels while they eat, but they LOVE it. I can only assume this is because it drowns out their uninteresting conversation. I was quite relieved to find the quite large stage in the dining room empty on our arrival.
I ordered the black bean burger, which was exactly how it was described - a big cake of mushed up black 
beans on a bun. It needed something. The presentation of the food was very cute. I had ordered tater tots as a side, and they came in a Chinese take-away carton with chopsticks. Adorable. But no ketchup to go with them! I finally flagged down the waiter to ask, and he brought me one those fancy restaurant ramekins of ketchup, which of course wasn't enough, and I never saw him again to get more until I was through eating. Never mind wanting some to go on my bean burger.
Having finished eating, and then gotten more tea, I excused myself. When I got back, the guys had ordered dessert. The desserts were advertised as "Mason jar parfaits" - cute enough. We had two orders of nanner puddin' come out. Again, it looked good. The first bite was good. Then the second bite my mouth said wait a minute. The pudding had been thickened with flour, and tasted of raw flour. Plus there were maybe four pieces of banana in the whole jar. It was distinctly odd-tasting. Real banana pudding is thickened with egg, of course. Billy and I took a couple of bites before we stopped, but in fairness Logan loved it. So credit where credit is due - they made it there, and it was homemade. It just wasn't made the right way.
In the end, I paid $17 for a bean sandwich and tater tots without enough ketchup. I was underwhelmed. The tater tots were the best thing I ate, and I could have gotten those at the grocery store cheaper, and had all the ketchup I wanted. Lee said his was OK, and Joel said his roasted chicken was good. Logan and Billy were kind of where I was - it was fine. It was edible. But it wasn't impressive. I thought mine was over-priced. We'll have to eat there again so Russ can go, but I have no time set to go back.
I had a great seat tonight. Logan on one side, Joel on the other, and Lee across from me. So purty all around, but it was one of those "water, water, everywhere, and not a drop to drink" kind of situations. Logan's married, Joel's out of my league, and Lee isn't interested, although he is eat up with purty, and covered in soft fur. It was nice to see everyone, but it's frustrating too.
To add insult to injury, I listened to Joel telling me about his progression from regular shmoe into beautiful gay boy, complete with details about how happy he was when he lost the unattractive 'lines' he didn't like on his abdomen, which had been marring his otherwise beautiful body. Sigh. And there I sat. Round. He's a nice guy, and didn't mean to be unkind.
It was not a good night to unload swiss cake rolls and pop tarts from the car when I got home. I was pretty disgusted when I looked at myself in the mirror. I have to do something. Usually I feel pretty good about the way I look, considering my age and what I've been through. But there's nothing like spending the evening at a table of beautiful men, not one of whom would have you on a bet, to bring reality crashing back down. So that was the second denial I had collapse today.
By the time we got out, it was time for me to head home and turn in; so I did.
They're calling for freezing rain tomorrow, which is the particular nerve-eating province of South Carolina bad weather. The power lines all ice up, everyone loses power, no one can go anywhere - plus it isn't even pretty. Of course all the usual idiots are all excited, and posting stupid blurbs on Facebook about it. People can be so incredibly short-sighted.
When I left work though, I headed to the grocery store to buy PopTarts. Just in case. I've been craving them lately, and talked myself out of buying them the other night, but I just know if I get iced in I'm going to be dying for them, and I don't want to have to go out into the icy muck to get them. While I was there I got some pecan twirls and some swiss cake rolls. You know, just to be on the safe side. Since I have bread in the freezer and 3/4 gallon of milk in the fridge already, I have the required Southern staples already.
When I got to RBL's to change, I found Russ, supine in misery with a migraine. Bless his heart. I changed quietly and waited for Logan to come in from his run, at which point we put the SD card in my phone and started fooling around with it. Billy came in and showed me some things, and I started making some pictures.
Tonight was dinner night out for the guys. Apparently the posts each Thursday about the dinners have rankled some of the bears (they were posting pics to the SCBears page, and these dinners are not SCBears functions), which I can understand. So today Lee set up a 'secret' group for posts about the Thursday night dinners to hopefully avoid hurting feelings if possible. There's just always drama.
Tonight's dinner was at Southern Culture. After reading about it on Facebook, and looking at the menu online, I was pretty stoked. The menu sounded great. I was less enthused about the possibility of a live band while we ate. I don't know why straight people just freakin' live for a live band to perform at ear-shattering decibel levels while they eat, but they LOVE it. I can only assume this is because it drowns out their uninteresting conversation. I was quite relieved to find the quite large stage in the dining room empty on our arrival.
We settled in and ordered, and waited. My salad came out wrong. I sent it back. The main reason I wanted a salad was because of the unusual dressing flavors on offer, which just sounded delicious and exotic. Tonight I tried the Dill Pickle Vinaigrette. It was good. Not thrilling, but good. But the salad was under-dressed (the waiter, who didn't bring my corrected salad, was nowhere to be seen, so no chance of getting more dressing) and wet. The advertised corn bread croutons were kind of stale (and met with universal disapproval at the table - some of the guys thought they were terrible, and even picked them off their salads - I just thought they not the best), but I was hungry and ate the salad. The entrees came out sporadically. Four came out first. Then two. Then after a good bit the last two.
beans on a bun. It needed something. The presentation of the food was very cute. I had ordered tater tots as a side, and they came in a Chinese take-away carton with chopsticks. Adorable. But no ketchup to go with them! I finally flagged down the waiter to ask, and he brought me one those fancy restaurant ramekins of ketchup, which of course wasn't enough, and I never saw him again to get more until I was through eating. Never mind wanting some to go on my bean burger. Having finished eating, and then gotten more tea, I excused myself. When I got back, the guys had ordered dessert. The desserts were advertised as "Mason jar parfaits" - cute enough. We had two orders of nanner puddin' come out. Again, it looked good. The first bite was good. Then the second bite my mouth said wait a minute. The pudding had been thickened with flour, and tasted of raw flour. Plus there were maybe four pieces of banana in the whole jar. It was distinctly odd-tasting. Real banana pudding is thickened with egg, of course. Billy and I took a couple of bites before we stopped, but in fairness Logan loved it. So credit where credit is due - they made it there, and it was homemade. It just wasn't made the right way.
In the end, I paid $17 for a bean sandwich and tater tots without enough ketchup. I was underwhelmed. The tater tots were the best thing I ate, and I could have gotten those at the grocery store cheaper, and had all the ketchup I wanted. Lee said his was OK, and Joel said his roasted chicken was good. Logan and Billy were kind of where I was - it was fine. It was edible. But it wasn't impressive. I thought mine was over-priced. We'll have to eat there again so Russ can go, but I have no time set to go back.
I had a great seat tonight. Logan on one side, Joel on the other, and Lee across from me. So purty all around, but it was one of those "water, water, everywhere, and not a drop to drink" kind of situations. Logan's married, Joel's out of my league, and Lee isn't interested, although he is eat up with purty, and covered in soft fur. It was nice to see everyone, but it's frustrating too.
To add insult to injury, I listened to Joel telling me about his progression from regular shmoe into beautiful gay boy, complete with details about how happy he was when he lost the unattractive 'lines' he didn't like on his abdomen, which had been marring his otherwise beautiful body. Sigh. And there I sat. Round. He's a nice guy, and didn't mean to be unkind.
It was not a good night to unload swiss cake rolls and pop tarts from the car when I got home. I was pretty disgusted when I looked at myself in the mirror. I have to do something. Usually I feel pretty good about the way I look, considering my age and what I've been through. But there's nothing like spending the evening at a table of beautiful men, not one of whom would have you on a bet, to bring reality crashing back down. So that was the second denial I had collapse today.
By the time we got out, it was time for me to head home and turn in; so I did.
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
A post in which things are pretty much back to normal
I was up with insomnia again at about 2:30am. Sigh. I did sign on for a bit, and coordinated a visit from my spankin' boy this morning, so that was fun. I was a bit drug out, and had to hustle to make it to work on time, but it was worth it.
Work was work. I got some things done. I'm caught up for my month.
After work I went by the grocery store to pick up cereal. Usually when I'm in there I get a bunch of other stuff that I didn't come for, and I was hungry tonight to boot, but I did pretty well tonight. I had supper waiting at home, and I'm out to dinner with the boys tomorrow, so I didn't really need anything. I got some Grape Nuts, which I love to eat hot in the winter. I don't like them cold - that's like eating bb's and milk. I got some coffee because it was on sale two-for-one. I was just about out of coffee, so that was good timing. I'm getting spoiled for getting coffee for half price :)
I got home and threw the left-over pasta from Dad's in the microwave. I used to feel bad about taking food from them, but I don't any longer. They very rarely eat left-overs and it would just be thrown away if I didn't eat it. I also go out the last of the Christmas candy (a box of Reese's Christmas Trees) out of the freezer and had some for dessert. It's taken me a month to get through the stocking candy and cake I brought home from Christmas. I try to ration it out because it's not like I need more sweets in my diet, although I love them.
I'm so glad the madness of the holidays is over. I enjoyed my vacation, but it's nice to not have all the craziness. Now if I can just get through Singles Awareness Day (February 14), I'll be good to go for a while.
I played with my phone a bit tonight, but I can't see the manual on my home computer (which would apparently require me to download 49 software packages I couldn't figure out how to load). That limited what I could do there. I really want to get a holder for it this weekend. I don't like carrying it around in my pocket.
I chatted online for a bit, although I wasn't really interested in doing anything. Since homosexuals can smell indifference as keenly as a shark smells blood in the water, I was of course the belle of the ball online. Eventually, though, I signed off and went to bed.
Work was work. I got some things done. I'm caught up for my month.
After work I went by the grocery store to pick up cereal. Usually when I'm in there I get a bunch of other stuff that I didn't come for, and I was hungry tonight to boot, but I did pretty well tonight. I had supper waiting at home, and I'm out to dinner with the boys tomorrow, so I didn't really need anything. I got some Grape Nuts, which I love to eat hot in the winter. I don't like them cold - that's like eating bb's and milk. I got some coffee because it was on sale two-for-one. I was just about out of coffee, so that was good timing. I'm getting spoiled for getting coffee for half price :)
I got home and threw the left-over pasta from Dad's in the microwave. I used to feel bad about taking food from them, but I don't any longer. They very rarely eat left-overs and it would just be thrown away if I didn't eat it. I also go out the last of the Christmas candy (a box of Reese's Christmas Trees) out of the freezer and had some for dessert. It's taken me a month to get through the stocking candy and cake I brought home from Christmas. I try to ration it out because it's not like I need more sweets in my diet, although I love them.
I'm so glad the madness of the holidays is over. I enjoyed my vacation, but it's nice to not have all the craziness. Now if I can just get through Singles Awareness Day (February 14), I'll be good to go for a while.
I played with my phone a bit tonight, but I can't see the manual on my home computer (which would apparently require me to download 49 software packages I couldn't figure out how to load). That limited what I could do there. I really want to get a holder for it this weekend. I don't like carrying it around in my pocket.
I chatted online for a bit, although I wasn't really interested in doing anything. Since homosexuals can smell indifference as keenly as a shark smells blood in the water, I was of course the belle of the ball online. Eventually, though, I signed off and went to bed.
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
A post in which some questions are answered
I was up at 2:30am this morning with insomnia. I tried drinking some water, which didn't help. I got back up and futzed around a bit, putting in a load of laundry that needed doing. I was awake when the washer cut off, so I moved it to the dryer. My hips were hurting. Eventually I took a pill, and when it kicked in I went back to sleep.
I settled in to work today, but it was a slow day, and I had a bit of time to get acquainted with my new phone. By the end of the day I was consistently able to get it 'open' with only one or two swipes of my finger, and I set up a weather status on my home screen. I also looked through the manual at some of the capabilities and was pretty impressed - this is a formidable little machine, and light years beyond my old phone. If I can just figure out how it works...
I sent RBL an email, again thanking them for the phone, and for their help and patience. They really were better to me than I even knew.
After work, it was off to Dad and Eve's for dinner. I haven't seen them in a couple of weeks, so we needed to get caught up, but I also had an agenda. There are a couple of things that have been kind of milling around in the back of my head about them that I wanted to know about.
#1 was more recent. At Christmas, despite Dad having taken Eve to an auction and buying her a (I found tonight) second set of Christmas china, we ate dinner on plastic plates and plastic platters. It was just so incredibly unlike her that it bothered me. I was wondering about early-onset dementia or something (the women in her family do get progressively quare as they get older). She told me tonight that she didn't want to wash the china - that she had actually set the table with it, and then took it back up and put it away. Which to me begs the question why bother to have the freakin' stuff, but that's her life. Then it occurred to me that the plasticware she used wasn't really intended to be disposable, and had to be washed anyway. She told me she threw it all away! I guess it's a silly thing to be upset about, but it is just so wasteful. That stuff will be in a landfill for thousands of years after being used once. To me that's just deplorable. But all of that is her business and her prerogative, I suppose.
#2 was older. When I took Jason to meet them (still not a peep, btw), the only mistake I noticed was that he had put his bread on his dinner plate rather than his bread plate (the table had been set with bread plates). I just knew that Eve would notice, and briefly wrestled with myself about whether or not I should try to make some covert gesture to make him aware of it. In the end, I decided not to make him nervous because he was getting along with the so well. I also knew that she would be sure to notice any 'covert' gesture anyway, so I let it go. I wondered if in fact she had noticed it. She told me tonight that she hadn't, which was quite a surprise.
Part #2a was that during the same meal, I noticed that Dad too had his bread on his dinner plate. I wondered if he had noticed and done that on purpose to make Jason feel more comfortable, but decided that was a bit too empathetic for my dad. Once again - totally wrong. He in fact had noticed, and didn't use his bread plate on purpose. I was quite surprised and rather touched. I'd been too hard on the old man. He can be surprisingly adroit at times.
Dinner tonight was a quite nice shrimp pasta primavera, and I got my questions settled as we ate. Afterwards we repaired to the den for quite a pleasant visit. But the insomnia crept up on me, and after a bit I started yawning.
I headed home, stopping by a quiet Publix on the way to pick up some Sugar in the Raw for my coffee, and turned in.
I settled in to work today, but it was a slow day, and I had a bit of time to get acquainted with my new phone. By the end of the day I was consistently able to get it 'open' with only one or two swipes of my finger, and I set up a weather status on my home screen. I also looked through the manual at some of the capabilities and was pretty impressed - this is a formidable little machine, and light years beyond my old phone. If I can just figure out how it works...
I sent RBL an email, again thanking them for the phone, and for their help and patience. They really were better to me than I even knew.
After work, it was off to Dad and Eve's for dinner. I haven't seen them in a couple of weeks, so we needed to get caught up, but I also had an agenda. There are a couple of things that have been kind of milling around in the back of my head about them that I wanted to know about.
#1 was more recent. At Christmas, despite Dad having taken Eve to an auction and buying her a (I found tonight) second set of Christmas china, we ate dinner on plastic plates and plastic platters. It was just so incredibly unlike her that it bothered me. I was wondering about early-onset dementia or something (the women in her family do get progressively quare as they get older). She told me tonight that she didn't want to wash the china - that she had actually set the table with it, and then took it back up and put it away. Which to me begs the question why bother to have the freakin' stuff, but that's her life. Then it occurred to me that the plasticware she used wasn't really intended to be disposable, and had to be washed anyway. She told me she threw it all away! I guess it's a silly thing to be upset about, but it is just so wasteful. That stuff will be in a landfill for thousands of years after being used once. To me that's just deplorable. But all of that is her business and her prerogative, I suppose.
#2 was older. When I took Jason to meet them (still not a peep, btw), the only mistake I noticed was that he had put his bread on his dinner plate rather than his bread plate (the table had been set with bread plates). I just knew that Eve would notice, and briefly wrestled with myself about whether or not I should try to make some covert gesture to make him aware of it. In the end, I decided not to make him nervous because he was getting along with the so well. I also knew that she would be sure to notice any 'covert' gesture anyway, so I let it go. I wondered if in fact she had noticed it. She told me tonight that she hadn't, which was quite a surprise.
Part #2a was that during the same meal, I noticed that Dad too had his bread on his dinner plate. I wondered if he had noticed and done that on purpose to make Jason feel more comfortable, but decided that was a bit too empathetic for my dad. Once again - totally wrong. He in fact had noticed, and didn't use his bread plate on purpose. I was quite surprised and rather touched. I'd been too hard on the old man. He can be surprisingly adroit at times.
Dinner tonight was a quite nice shrimp pasta primavera, and I got my questions settled as we ate. Afterwards we repaired to the den for quite a pleasant visit. But the insomnia crept up on me, and after a bit I started yawning.
I headed home, stopping by a quiet Publix on the way to pick up some Sugar in the Raw for my coffee, and turned in.
Monday, January 21, 2013
A post in which I get a 'smart' phone
Fortunately, I had enough to scrape together for one more lunch today, because I played all day yesterday and didn't do any chores.
I mostly finished up write-offs today and got them turned in for approval and/or processing. Since Vicki had been out sick and had been sick all weekend, I gave her a break and put off one of my more complicated situations for a day. Tomorrow is soon enough. Betty got around to looking at my useless ISO files, which had a deadline of 12-31-12, today. So I can certainly understand what all the hurry was about. She told me that they were good work, which would have carried more weight had I not known that they were absolutely useless. Still, I'll take a compliment where I can get it. It was nice of her.
After work I had a LOT to do tonight. First on the agenda was to go to Verizon. Sigh. I hate to go to Verizon. First, I am walking in to someplace where I know I have nothing in common with anyone there. They're by and large pad people, and I'm just a people. Second, I'm going to do something that I know absolutely nothing about, and where my complete ignorance will be exposed almost immediately. Third, I any time I'm in there, I'm going in to give them yet more of my hard-earned money. Tonight was an especially bitter pill to swallow, because I'm at long last going to buy a $#@@!! "data package", which I have long put off. This is the equivalent of 'road carriage underspray' when you buy a car, it's just a way for them to charge you more for the smart phone - as if the phone isn't expensive enough, they say, "Oh wait, we have to charge you more to run that one." I hate crooks. And I hate situations where there is no way to win - there's no negotiation, there's no way to get a bargain. If you want that phone, well then dammit you can just pay whatever they decided to charge you. I did at least get the phone from Billy, so that was a huge chunk of change I wouldn't have to part with. He's an early adopter, so about the time he's finished with something, it's cutting edge for me, and what the general populace is using.
My salesperson tonight (unlike the last time) was pretty much charm-free, but he got it all hooked up and put the data package on my plan. Perhaps sensing that I would have no idea how much capacity to buy, he just decided for me and put a $30 2gig package on. Just as well. Had he asked me what I wanted, I couldn't have told him.
I went out into the parking lot with my tail between my legs to try to see if I could get the damn thing to work. Initially, I met with small success, despite finding that my briefcase had inexplicably eaten my stylus during the day. After only eight or ten tries I was able to get the phone open and sent a text message to RBL. Then the phone got stuck in the text. I was in a white screen, with no arrows, buttons, or directions of any kind. Experimentation enabled me to pull a blank black 'window shade' down over the text, but the phone stubbornly refused any efforts to move it off of that one screen. I was pissed off and frustrated. If a call had come in, I don't even know if I could answer it. So I thought, here I am, paying all this money for a stupid complicated phone that I don't even want, and I don't even know if I could get a call on it. Since I couldn't call out, there was nothing to do but head to RBL's house to get them to fix it.
I cursed most of the way there. I was angry at myself for being so stupid. I was angry at the phone people for upgrading the fucking phones once a week. I was angry at a world that requires a degree in electronics just to function. I remember a time when simple things performed several tasks well. I live now in a world where very complicated and expensive things perform hundreds of tasks poorly. I don't feel like I fit into this world. It's a frustrating and isolating place to be if you're not a gadget person.
Of course, as soon as I walked in the door and told Logan what was wrong, he was like "You just do this." and fixed in like 1.5 seconds (to his credit, he was not the least bit condescending). So I felt more stupid than before, having just been through the equivalent of an old man's dementia tirade on the corner with my underwear on over my pants. Logan and Billy were very kind and patient, and sent me a link to the manual for the phone. I went home much less humiliated than I had any right to feel.
When I got home there really wasn't much time to reflect on any of this. I had too much to do. Since I had played all day yesterday I had chores. I did find the stylus when I got to the house, but the charger cord was still missing. It is not like me to mis-lay things, but I figured I could make do with the car charger (purchased tonight) until it turned up. I sent a text to RBL to tell them I found the stylus, and called Logan to apologize for yelling when I came in. I'm sure he has no frame of reference for the frustration I was feeling. He was sweet about it.
I finished up my beans and put my potatoes in the oven to bake. I changed the sheets, put the old ones in to wash, and folded the clothes that were in the dryer. I divided the beans out into lunch portions and ate the ones that were leftover for supper, along with a potato that was too ugly to cook whole. I had cut the bad places out of it, cut it up, and wrapped it in foil with butter, salt, pepper, rosemary, and fresh garlic. It turned out pretty good.
I logged in for a minute or two, checked my messages, and said goodnight to Chuck. I turned in on clean sheets, feeling much better prepared for the rest of the week than I had been for today.
I mostly finished up write-offs today and got them turned in for approval and/or processing. Since Vicki had been out sick and had been sick all weekend, I gave her a break and put off one of my more complicated situations for a day. Tomorrow is soon enough. Betty got around to looking at my useless ISO files, which had a deadline of 12-31-12, today. So I can certainly understand what all the hurry was about. She told me that they were good work, which would have carried more weight had I not known that they were absolutely useless. Still, I'll take a compliment where I can get it. It was nice of her.
After work I had a LOT to do tonight. First on the agenda was to go to Verizon. Sigh. I hate to go to Verizon. First, I am walking in to someplace where I know I have nothing in common with anyone there. They're by and large pad people, and I'm just a people. Second, I'm going to do something that I know absolutely nothing about, and where my complete ignorance will be exposed almost immediately. Third, I any time I'm in there, I'm going in to give them yet more of my hard-earned money. Tonight was an especially bitter pill to swallow, because I'm at long last going to buy a $#@@!! "data package", which I have long put off. This is the equivalent of 'road carriage underspray' when you buy a car, it's just a way for them to charge you more for the smart phone - as if the phone isn't expensive enough, they say, "Oh wait, we have to charge you more to run that one." I hate crooks. And I hate situations where there is no way to win - there's no negotiation, there's no way to get a bargain. If you want that phone, well then dammit you can just pay whatever they decided to charge you. I did at least get the phone from Billy, so that was a huge chunk of change I wouldn't have to part with. He's an early adopter, so about the time he's finished with something, it's cutting edge for me, and what the general populace is using.
My salesperson tonight (unlike the last time) was pretty much charm-free, but he got it all hooked up and put the data package on my plan. Perhaps sensing that I would have no idea how much capacity to buy, he just decided for me and put a $30 2gig package on. Just as well. Had he asked me what I wanted, I couldn't have told him.
I went out into the parking lot with my tail between my legs to try to see if I could get the damn thing to work. Initially, I met with small success, despite finding that my briefcase had inexplicably eaten my stylus during the day. After only eight or ten tries I was able to get the phone open and sent a text message to RBL. Then the phone got stuck in the text. I was in a white screen, with no arrows, buttons, or directions of any kind. Experimentation enabled me to pull a blank black 'window shade' down over the text, but the phone stubbornly refused any efforts to move it off of that one screen. I was pissed off and frustrated. If a call had come in, I don't even know if I could answer it. So I thought, here I am, paying all this money for a stupid complicated phone that I don't even want, and I don't even know if I could get a call on it. Since I couldn't call out, there was nothing to do but head to RBL's house to get them to fix it.
I cursed most of the way there. I was angry at myself for being so stupid. I was angry at the phone people for upgrading the fucking phones once a week. I was angry at a world that requires a degree in electronics just to function. I remember a time when simple things performed several tasks well. I live now in a world where very complicated and expensive things perform hundreds of tasks poorly. I don't feel like I fit into this world. It's a frustrating and isolating place to be if you're not a gadget person.
Of course, as soon as I walked in the door and told Logan what was wrong, he was like "You just do this." and fixed in like 1.5 seconds (to his credit, he was not the least bit condescending). So I felt more stupid than before, having just been through the equivalent of an old man's dementia tirade on the corner with my underwear on over my pants. Logan and Billy were very kind and patient, and sent me a link to the manual for the phone. I went home much less humiliated than I had any right to feel.
When I got home there really wasn't much time to reflect on any of this. I had too much to do. Since I had played all day yesterday I had chores. I did find the stylus when I got to the house, but the charger cord was still missing. It is not like me to mis-lay things, but I figured I could make do with the car charger (purchased tonight) until it turned up. I sent a text to RBL to tell them I found the stylus, and called Logan to apologize for yelling when I came in. I'm sure he has no frame of reference for the frustration I was feeling. He was sweet about it.
I finished up my beans and put my potatoes in the oven to bake. I changed the sheets, put the old ones in to wash, and folded the clothes that were in the dryer. I divided the beans out into lunch portions and ate the ones that were leftover for supper, along with a potato that was too ugly to cook whole. I had cut the bad places out of it, cut it up, and wrapped it in foil with butter, salt, pepper, rosemary, and fresh garlic. It turned out pretty good.
I logged in for a minute or two, checked my messages, and said goodnight to Chuck. I turned in on clean sheets, feeling much better prepared for the rest of the week than I had been for today.
Sunday, January 20, 2013
A post in which it is a day out with the boys
After last night, I wasn't sure that the boys would be going to the flea market this morning. I had left about 11pm last night, and the party had still been going strong. About 10am (the agreed-upon arrival time) I sent a text, and had a response from Billy that Logan was on the way, and they were following. (A lot of times when we go to Andersen, Logan goes on to see friends there afterwards and so takes his own car.) Because Logan was going to peel off later, I rode down to Anderson with him. We had a good talk on the way. I don't get a lot of one-on-one time with Logan, but he's a sweet guy, and I love him.
The weather was gorgeous, if just a bit breezy and cold. We did the whole flea market, saw our friends Tom and David, and met Marshall and John, who drove down from Gastonia to meet us there. Russ did much better today with moving at a reasonable pace and not looking at everysinglethingthere. I got one little Fire King Jadite bowl, a very plain one that just looked like Buffalo China, but reasonably priced. I also got some new toothpick holders, since I got mad at the one in my desk last week and threw it away.
After lunch we went to La Parrilla for lunch. We had Russ's favorite waiter, who is very nice, and wasn't all in our business the way a lot of the servers there seem to be. Joel met us there, and we had a nice lunch. Russ was in the mood for margaritas, and they brought out a huge one. I decided to pick up lunch, since they had been gracious enough to invite me last night and had gone with me to Anderson this morning, plus Billy had given me one of their old smart phones (they are early adopters) last night and wouldn't hear of me paying anything for it. By the time we had lunch, drinks, and appetizers though, lunch wound up being just a bit over $100. Yikes! Well so much for my not spending a lot of money this weekend...
After lunch we repaired to their house to visit. Marshall and John stayed for a while, but eventually headed on home. The boys put in season 1 of Downton Abbey, and we watched the whole first season tonight, stopping only to order some Chinese take-away. I have to say it is every bit as good as I had heard. Maggie Smith is of course fantastic, but the rest of the cast is great too. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The weather was gorgeous, if just a bit breezy and cold. We did the whole flea market, saw our friends Tom and David, and met Marshall and John, who drove down from Gastonia to meet us there. Russ did much better today with moving at a reasonable pace and not looking at everysinglethingthere. I got one little Fire King Jadite bowl, a very plain one that just looked like Buffalo China, but reasonably priced. I also got some new toothpick holders, since I got mad at the one in my desk last week and threw it away.
After lunch we went to La Parrilla for lunch. We had Russ's favorite waiter, who is very nice, and wasn't all in our business the way a lot of the servers there seem to be. Joel met us there, and we had a nice lunch. Russ was in the mood for margaritas, and they brought out a huge one. I decided to pick up lunch, since they had been gracious enough to invite me last night and had gone with me to Anderson this morning, plus Billy had given me one of their old smart phones (they are early adopters) last night and wouldn't hear of me paying anything for it. By the time we had lunch, drinks, and appetizers though, lunch wound up being just a bit over $100. Yikes! Well so much for my not spending a lot of money this weekend...
After lunch we repaired to their house to visit. Marshall and John stayed for a while, but eventually headed on home. The boys put in season 1 of Downton Abbey, and we watched the whole first season tonight, stopping only to order some Chinese take-away. I have to say it is every bit as good as I had heard. Maggie Smith is of course fantastic, but the rest of the cast is great too. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Saturday, January 19, 2013
A post in which I'm out with Rhonda*
I had planned to take Rhonda to the farmer's market this morning. I had told her I would be there around 9am, but decided to call first to be sure she was up - good thing :)
I headed her way and we caught up while she got ready and we rode over to the farmer's market. Although I hadn't known for sure whether they were open year-round, they were open, and although there wasn't tons of stuff on offer, they were surprisingly well stocked. We found Honeycrisp apples at a really good price (about half the price they are at the grocery store), and I got snap beans from Florida and white sweet potatoes. I was also surprised that there was a good selection of local cheese, including aged cheddar up to eight years old. It wasn't cheap, but there was any variety I would usually use (plus or minus a few), and it was still cheaper than the Amish cheese I bought in Greer. I didn't get any of that today, but I made note of it.
After the market, we went to Stax Omega for breakfast. Their omelets are truly incomparable. I would have kept her for the day, but her friend Rita was on her way from Georgia, so I dropped Rhonda at the house and headed home.
I wanted a nap, so I took one. I fell into the internet vortex for a while and had a buddy come over for what was ultimately a rather unsatisfying visit. I snapped my beans.
I had been hoping to hear from the boys today. I had let them know on Thursday that I was free all weekend, and would like to see them, but not a peep had I heard. I thought, well, it's not like I need to spend any more money, right? I was out last night and again this morning, so it's not like I've been by myself all weekend. If they wanted to see me they would have called, right?
Eventually I sent a text to see what they were up to. It turns out they were having game night tonight and fixing veggie spaghetti. I found out about this at ten until 6pm on a Saturday night. Why hadn't I been invited? After wondering about it, I just ran through the shower and headed on over. The important thing, I told myself, was that I had been invited now.
When I got there, Jake, Bill, John, Brantley, and Joel were there. They made casual mention that a bunch of Logan's friends had been invited too, but hadn't shown up. So apparently everyone in Greenville County had been invited except me. I try not to be this guy, but my feelings were hurt a little. I sucked it up, and was quiet for a while, but as the evening went on, I just laid that down and participated.
We played a game tonight called The Village. It's a werewolf game they had been playing at the bear party the other weekend. It didn't look like a lot of fun to me, so I hadn't played then, but I thought, well, maybe that's why they didn't invite you to game night, you old stick in the mud. Generally, I am more into conversation than organized activities at a social function (plus, for some reason since treatment, it's harder for me to concentrate and/or settle in to a game of any kind - even cards, which I used to love), but when in Rome. I played, and it was kind of fun, although there was way too much bibble-babble for my taste, it was OK. After a couple of rounds of that, they moved on to some kind of Japanese monster game that looked like it was based on Pokemon or something. I drew the line there. And Russ had a headache and had already withdrawn to the living room to watch TV. Although it looked like some kind of action movie, it was the lesser of two evils. Plus the comfy chairs were in the living room, and I had sat on a hard kitchen chair about as long as I could stand.
After some discussion, Russ turned it over to some back episodes of Downton Abbey they had saved on the DVR. I've been hearing about this show for a month or so, and was anxious to see it. Unfortunately, as the gaming had gone on, so had the drinking. I was a little buzzed, but Jake was drunk; and the more he drinks, the louder he gets. He is also very repetitive. Brantley was wasted, Bill was tipsy, and Logan and Billy got into it over a game. They went back to have a 'discussion' in the bedroom, but in general things had gotten so loud at that point that I really couldn't hear the television for a lot of the program.
Since I was tired anyway, I just said my goodnights and when on home. We made plans to go to the flea market in the morning, so that will be fun :)
I headed her way and we caught up while she got ready and we rode over to the farmer's market. Although I hadn't known for sure whether they were open year-round, they were open, and although there wasn't tons of stuff on offer, they were surprisingly well stocked. We found Honeycrisp apples at a really good price (about half the price they are at the grocery store), and I got snap beans from Florida and white sweet potatoes. I was also surprised that there was a good selection of local cheese, including aged cheddar up to eight years old. It wasn't cheap, but there was any variety I would usually use (plus or minus a few), and it was still cheaper than the Amish cheese I bought in Greer. I didn't get any of that today, but I made note of it.
After the market, we went to Stax Omega for breakfast. Their omelets are truly incomparable. I would have kept her for the day, but her friend Rita was on her way from Georgia, so I dropped Rhonda at the house and headed home.
I wanted a nap, so I took one. I fell into the internet vortex for a while and had a buddy come over for what was ultimately a rather unsatisfying visit. I snapped my beans.
I had been hoping to hear from the boys today. I had let them know on Thursday that I was free all weekend, and would like to see them, but not a peep had I heard. I thought, well, it's not like I need to spend any more money, right? I was out last night and again this morning, so it's not like I've been by myself all weekend. If they wanted to see me they would have called, right?
Eventually I sent a text to see what they were up to. It turns out they were having game night tonight and fixing veggie spaghetti. I found out about this at ten until 6pm on a Saturday night. Why hadn't I been invited? After wondering about it, I just ran through the shower and headed on over. The important thing, I told myself, was that I had been invited now.
When I got there, Jake, Bill, John, Brantley, and Joel were there. They made casual mention that a bunch of Logan's friends had been invited too, but hadn't shown up. So apparently everyone in Greenville County had been invited except me. I try not to be this guy, but my feelings were hurt a little. I sucked it up, and was quiet for a while, but as the evening went on, I just laid that down and participated.
We played a game tonight called The Village. It's a werewolf game they had been playing at the bear party the other weekend. It didn't look like a lot of fun to me, so I hadn't played then, but I thought, well, maybe that's why they didn't invite you to game night, you old stick in the mud. Generally, I am more into conversation than organized activities at a social function (plus, for some reason since treatment, it's harder for me to concentrate and/or settle in to a game of any kind - even cards, which I used to love), but when in Rome. I played, and it was kind of fun, although there was way too much bibble-babble for my taste, it was OK. After a couple of rounds of that, they moved on to some kind of Japanese monster game that looked like it was based on Pokemon or something. I drew the line there. And Russ had a headache and had already withdrawn to the living room to watch TV. Although it looked like some kind of action movie, it was the lesser of two evils. Plus the comfy chairs were in the living room, and I had sat on a hard kitchen chair about as long as I could stand.
After some discussion, Russ turned it over to some back episodes of Downton Abbey they had saved on the DVR. I've been hearing about this show for a month or so, and was anxious to see it. Unfortunately, as the gaming had gone on, so had the drinking. I was a little buzzed, but Jake was drunk; and the more he drinks, the louder he gets. He is also very repetitive. Brantley was wasted, Bill was tipsy, and Logan and Billy got into it over a game. They went back to have a 'discussion' in the bedroom, but in general things had gotten so loud at that point that I really couldn't hear the television for a lot of the program.
Since I was tired anyway, I just said my goodnights and when on home. We made plans to go to the flea market in the morning, so that will be fun :)
Friday, January 18, 2013
A post in which it is Friday
When I woke up this morning, it was clear. There were no clouds. It was odd. When I went to work, there was a strange orange ball - just hanging there, glowing in the sky. At first I was afraid. I thought maybe it was a bomb or something, but it didn't move, and didn't explode. Then I had a vague memory that there used to be a glowing orange ball in the sky pretty regularly - one bright enough to light up the daytime. That vague recollection kept me from panicking, and I got on with my day.
Today was about write-offs, and I worked on them until it was time for the twit meeting, which went smoothly. Alan wasn't feeling good and was in a fairly pissy mood. He started in on me over a series of small (>$50) credit memos open on the Canadian aging. I was thinking really? Really? After I've dropped that again by roughly $3M in the last two years, and yer gonna bust my chops over a couple of hundred dollars? I also gently reminded him that I have an entire freakin training manual to write in the next month or so. Sheesh.
And shortly after that it was time to go home. I debated doing something tonight. Then I thought about the sucking sound my checkbook makes each time I open it. I got paid today, but the money was immediately gone. Sigh. I went on home.
I had just reached the home stretch on a feast of peanut-coconut spread crackers and string cheese when the phone rang. It was Dana. She invited me over. I was surprised to realize that since I had just come on home, it was only about 7:30. I went on over.
It's always good to see Miss Kat and Dana. Miss Kat had made a cake with a gorgeous pineapple/coconut/and nut caramel topping, which we cut into. I also had some potato chips. I can't keep them in my house, because one back is a Steve-sized serving, but they always have them.
We visited and caught up, and then watched some episodes of Duck Dynasty, which I haven' previously watched, but it was nice to watch something funny. It was a nice evening.
Today was about write-offs, and I worked on them until it was time for the twit meeting, which went smoothly. Alan wasn't feeling good and was in a fairly pissy mood. He started in on me over a series of small (>$50) credit memos open on the Canadian aging. I was thinking really? Really? After I've dropped that again by roughly $3M in the last two years, and yer gonna bust my chops over a couple of hundred dollars? I also gently reminded him that I have an entire freakin training manual to write in the next month or so. Sheesh.
And shortly after that it was time to go home. I debated doing something tonight. Then I thought about the sucking sound my checkbook makes each time I open it. I got paid today, but the money was immediately gone. Sigh. I went on home.
I had just reached the home stretch on a feast of peanut-coconut spread crackers and string cheese when the phone rang. It was Dana. She invited me over. I was surprised to realize that since I had just come on home, it was only about 7:30. I went on over.
It's always good to see Miss Kat and Dana. Miss Kat had made a cake with a gorgeous pineapple/coconut/and nut caramel topping, which we cut into. I also had some potato chips. I can't keep them in my house, because one back is a Steve-sized serving, but they always have them.
We visited and caught up, and then watched some episodes of Duck Dynasty, which I haven' previously watched, but it was nice to watch something funny. It was a nice evening.
Thursday, January 17, 2013
A post in which I am hypocritical
I woke up this morning to yet. More. Rain. This is four straight days. Since I was home sick all last weekend and missed the nice weather, it feels like four straight weeks. Resignedly, I got ready for work swam made my way to the boat car, and paddled drove to work. It rained all day. Sometimes more heavily and sometimes more lightly, but all. Day. My spirits were lower than a well-diggers ass.
It was a fairly quiet day at work. I borrowed trouble by emailing my boss about the twit meeting. It wasn't scheduled for this month, and I had a mini-debate with myself about whether or not he would notice. I finally decided it would be worse for him to try to cram it in at the last moment with no warning than to remind him that he hadn't scheduled it. He promptly scheduled for tomorrow. So I had that report to do. But I was able to finish it and work on write-offs.
Tonight was the Thursday night dinner, to which I had responded as if I were going to attend. I got in touch with the boys about using their house as a staging area tonight, but Billy told me not to come, that they were meeting at the restaurant. Logan had told me to come on. So I don't know what they had planned at the house tonight (that was their business). But at the end of the day, it was still freakin' raining, and not being able to go over there kind of screwed my plans sideways. I got to the car, and sat there, chilled, damp, and cold. Then I thought about what would be involved in going to dinner tonight.
- Drive the half hour home in the rain
- Unload the car, get in the house, and dry off
- Feed the shrieking cats
- Change clothes and get warm
- Go back out into the sodden, cold world
- Drive at least twenty minutes back across town (probably more, because I would go through town in this weather)
- Pay too much for a meal I didn't really want, and couldn't really afford
- Wait at least an hour to eat (probably more - the last time we were at Longhorn, the service moved at a glacial pace)
- Get home later than I wanted to, and get to bed late
Yes I love my friends, and yes I wanted to see them, but it was just too much (and yes, I understand the inherent hypocrisy in cancelling on dinner for the sake of comfort and convenience when I had just upbraided Brian for doing that on Tuesday) (I got the text that he was actually going to be there tonight). But I think my reasons were a bit more compelling than just that I didn't want to spend 2.5 minutes on Woodruff Road. I'm just sayin'.
So I went home, ate dibs and dabs out of the fridge (along with the frozen spaghetti I bought Tuesday night) in my comfy warm clothes, vegged in front of telly, and played on the computer.
I've been staying off of Adam4Adam after the Bacchian excesses of my vacation, but I went on tonight just to check messages and stuff. I had one from a guy named Anthony. He's cute as a bucket o' puppies, and seems to be into me. We talked for a bit, but it was time to turn in. So I sent him my number. Caught between 'hope springs eternal' and 'there's no fool like an old fool'...
It was a fairly quiet day at work. I borrowed trouble by emailing my boss about the twit meeting. It wasn't scheduled for this month, and I had a mini-debate with myself about whether or not he would notice. I finally decided it would be worse for him to try to cram it in at the last moment with no warning than to remind him that he hadn't scheduled it. He promptly scheduled for tomorrow. So I had that report to do. But I was able to finish it and work on write-offs.
Tonight was the Thursday night dinner, to which I had responded as if I were going to attend. I got in touch with the boys about using their house as a staging area tonight, but Billy told me not to come, that they were meeting at the restaurant. Logan had told me to come on. So I don't know what they had planned at the house tonight (that was their business). But at the end of the day, it was still freakin' raining, and not being able to go over there kind of screwed my plans sideways. I got to the car, and sat there, chilled, damp, and cold. Then I thought about what would be involved in going to dinner tonight.
- Drive the half hour home in the rain
- Unload the car, get in the house, and dry off
- Feed the shrieking cats
- Change clothes and get warm
- Go back out into the sodden, cold world
- Drive at least twenty minutes back across town (probably more, because I would go through town in this weather)
- Pay too much for a meal I didn't really want, and couldn't really afford
- Wait at least an hour to eat (probably more - the last time we were at Longhorn, the service moved at a glacial pace)
- Get home later than I wanted to, and get to bed late
Yes I love my friends, and yes I wanted to see them, but it was just too much (and yes, I understand the inherent hypocrisy in cancelling on dinner for the sake of comfort and convenience when I had just upbraided Brian for doing that on Tuesday) (I got the text that he was actually going to be there tonight). But I think my reasons were a bit more compelling than just that I didn't want to spend 2.5 minutes on Woodruff Road. I'm just sayin'.
So I went home, ate dibs and dabs out of the fridge (along with the frozen spaghetti I bought Tuesday night) in my comfy warm clothes, vegged in front of telly, and played on the computer.
I've been staying off of Adam4Adam after the Bacchian excesses of my vacation, but I went on tonight just to check messages and stuff. I had one from a guy named Anthony. He's cute as a bucket o' puppies, and seems to be into me. We talked for a bit, but it was time to turn in. So I sent him my number. Caught between 'hope springs eternal' and 'there's no fool like an old fool'...
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
A post in which I am naughty
I slogged back to work through the drip. Again. Sigh. I have decided that I will personally water-board the next climate dude who starts talking about how we are in a 'drought' as my freakin underwear mildews. I went to work the long way through town, because I'm afraid to get on the freeway when it rains. South Carolinians just cannot handle water coming from the sky in any form, and there is invariably a wreck. Since traffic will be interminably backed up anyway, I can't see taking the risk.
I emailed Brian about the BS from last night, because he just didn't seem to understand what I was trying to tell him. Initially he responded, but then went quiet and stopped returning email, so I guess I hurt his feelings. I guess I'll find out tomorrow if he doesn't show up. But then he already declined to attend tomorrow night's dinner, so I don't know how I'll know.
I started write-offs today, and immediately fell into one of those stupid retail accounts where the jack-ass has run up a $20k+ bill, $15-$50 at a time, then stopped paying. So there are literally hundreds of invoices to go through one by one to take out the Canadian taxes. Grrrr. I had just pulled the invoices when the clock hit 6pm, and I thought screw it, it'll be here tomorrow.
So the one thing I knew I shouldn't do on the way home was spend any money. But I really didn't want peanut spread crackers for dinner tonight. There was frozen spaghetti, but that was yukky. I had to stop and fill up with gas, and thought about what I would eat. What I really wanted was more chicken. I know. I go through phases where the cravings are worse.
I gave myself a stern lecture, but my will-power was weak. Last week I could use being sick as an excuse, but tonight I was just plain hungry. But none of the wings around here are really that good. The ones I like come from Church's, but I don't really want to eat at Church's. The atmosphere leaves a lot to be desired, plus there is that big glass window that gives on the whole dining area - anyone could see me. When I eat meat now, it is a private, if not shameful thing. But I had to go by Ryan's on the way home anyway (well, I did if I went that way, anyway). They make good little drummettes, but the last time I was there, they didn't have any on the bar. So I made a deal with myself. I would go to Ryan's for supper, and if there were drummettes then I would eat some, and if not, well, I wouldn't. I also resolved to eat other things first, so I wouldn't eat just chicken wings.
When I got there, I paid $13 (!!) to eat. For that, I could have eaten in a real restaurant. There were no drummettes. There were fried chicken wings on the bar though. My inner sleazeball attorney claimed that was the same thing. But first, I would eat a salad. After salad, I saw that they had spaghetti with marinara on the bar - that was new, and I had been craving spaghetti. But I couldn't find the bowls. I looked and there were fried fish fingers and popcorn shrimp, right there beside the chicken. I decided that was indulgent enough, and made a plate of that instead. Eventually, I found the bowls and had a small bowl of spaghetti also. By the time I had dessert, I had eaten too much, and didn't even want chicken wings. So although I was naughty (I spent money, I ate fried food, and I ate too much), I wasn't as bad as I could have been, which I guess counts for something.
When I got home, I changed, washed the dishes, and collapsed onto the sofa like the over-bloated slug I was. I played way too long on the computer tonight.
I emailed Brian about the BS from last night, because he just didn't seem to understand what I was trying to tell him. Initially he responded, but then went quiet and stopped returning email, so I guess I hurt his feelings. I guess I'll find out tomorrow if he doesn't show up. But then he already declined to attend tomorrow night's dinner, so I don't know how I'll know.
I started write-offs today, and immediately fell into one of those stupid retail accounts where the jack-ass has run up a $20k+ bill, $15-$50 at a time, then stopped paying. So there are literally hundreds of invoices to go through one by one to take out the Canadian taxes. Grrrr. I had just pulled the invoices when the clock hit 6pm, and I thought screw it, it'll be here tomorrow.
So the one thing I knew I shouldn't do on the way home was spend any money. But I really didn't want peanut spread crackers for dinner tonight. There was frozen spaghetti, but that was yukky. I had to stop and fill up with gas, and thought about what I would eat. What I really wanted was more chicken. I know. I go through phases where the cravings are worse.
I gave myself a stern lecture, but my will-power was weak. Last week I could use being sick as an excuse, but tonight I was just plain hungry. But none of the wings around here are really that good. The ones I like come from Church's, but I don't really want to eat at Church's. The atmosphere leaves a lot to be desired, plus there is that big glass window that gives on the whole dining area - anyone could see me. When I eat meat now, it is a private, if not shameful thing. But I had to go by Ryan's on the way home anyway (well, I did if I went that way, anyway). They make good little drummettes, but the last time I was there, they didn't have any on the bar. So I made a deal with myself. I would go to Ryan's for supper, and if there were drummettes then I would eat some, and if not, well, I wouldn't. I also resolved to eat other things first, so I wouldn't eat just chicken wings.
When I got there, I paid $13 (!!) to eat. For that, I could have eaten in a real restaurant. There were no drummettes. There were fried chicken wings on the bar though. My inner sleazeball attorney claimed that was the same thing. But first, I would eat a salad. After salad, I saw that they had spaghetti with marinara on the bar - that was new, and I had been craving spaghetti. But I couldn't find the bowls. I looked and there were fried fish fingers and popcorn shrimp, right there beside the chicken. I decided that was indulgent enough, and made a plate of that instead. Eventually, I found the bowls and had a small bowl of spaghetti also. By the time I had dessert, I had eaten too much, and didn't even want chicken wings. So although I was naughty (I spent money, I ate fried food, and I ate too much), I wasn't as bad as I could have been, which I guess counts for something.
When I got home, I changed, washed the dishes, and collapsed onto the sofa like the over-bloated slug I was. I played way too long on the computer tonight.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
A post in which fags are driving me nuts
I went back in to work today, once again through the drippy, snotty, misty sludge that South Carolina has become. We apparently had two pretty days this weekend, but since I wasn't out in them, I emerged Monday to go to the doctor through the muck. I'm ready to kill a calf or something to bring back the sun. It's like February already. Usually that's the worst month here. I shudder to think what it will be like this year.
Work is under control. I'm caught up on my month to date, and actually made some progress on a long-dreaded situation that I had to resolve.
I'll note here that I was rather gratified to read today that of top critics only, the score for The Miserables was only 58%. Still over half, but not enough to be certified 'fresh' on rotten tomatoes. The overall score for the movie is 70%, but it's nice to know I'm not the only one who found the movie rather tiresome in places. Russ, of course, is a devotee, so he loved it before he saw it, and Logan thought it was wonderful too. I'm not sorry I saw it, it's just nice to know I'm not the only one who wasn't unreservedly over the moon about it.
There was nothing at the house for supper, and I needed salt anyway, so I went by the store on the way home. I was craving spaghetti, but the only frozen veggie spaghetti I could find (I wasn't about to slog home, get in the kitchen, and start making spaghetti tonight) was 'lite', and I wasn't in the mood for that. I bought some chips and dip because I have been craving them, and the idea was that I would eat some of that while the spaghetti was cooking, but yeah that didn't happen. I ended up eating chips and dip, string cheese sticks, and peanut spread and crackers for dinner. Breakfast of champions, right?
I had thought about going by Capri's tonight to pick up some spaghetti (I crave their baked spaghetti regularly), but the one downtown where I used to order is closed. The one left on Woodruff Road is one where I had a la cucaracha encounter years ago. I was telling Larney the story tonight before I left work, and it squicked me out to the point that I couldn't go there and get food tonight, although that story happened a long time ago, and I have eaten there many times since then.
Tonight I finally opened and tried the Earth Balance Coconut Peanut Spread I had bought after seeing it on Oprah's list of her 100 favorite things. What a disappointment. I had thought that it would taste like coconut, and I guess it did, a little. But the main focus was for the coco-nuts who are riding the latest craze that coconut oil is the new 'wonder food'. So the company substituted coconut oil for the peanut oil because of its purported miracle health benefits. Having read my Michael Pollan, I am skeptical of the 'miracle food of the month'. The end result, for me, was slightly funky-tasting peanut spread. McKayla is not impressed.
The flood of text messages about Thursday night's dinner actually started today. I thought that was a bit much, but in the spirit of positively reinforcing any move that RBL make towards plans made in advance, I was participating. The tide this weeks was flowing towards going to Longhorn. Not my favorite (I think it's over-priced, and there isn't that much there for me to eat), but I was going along to get along, because I don't really go to the Thursday night dinners for the food. I go to see everyone. Then Brian comes out with "Well I would go, but I don't like the traffic on Woodruff Road." And I'm like really? Boy I feel important. I'm thinking a) how incredibly spoiled that sounds; and b) what an arbitrary reason to not go see your friends - because the road they'll be meeting on is inconvenient for you??
This, in a nutshell, is why it is so hard for the group to make plans, and why it takes 8,000 text messages to set up one. freakin. dinner. Tonight it was Brian (in part - there were other dildonic comments made), but there's usually some ridiculous, arbitrary reason that someone is objecting to a particular venue on any given week. Fags. Meh. As much as I love 'em, that's how much they drive me cuh-razy.
I had several hundred texts from Chuck tonight. As much as I like him, I'm beginning to feel the pressure there. He's high maintenance, and I think I'm his only gay friend. Plus he's very sensitive. I had a message from him this morning that said "I must have done something wrong.". And I was like what? He replied "You didn't respond to my last message last night." Oy. Passive-aggressive and sensitive.
I fell into the internet vortex and ended up staying up too late, but eventually pulled my head out of the computer and went to bed. It's so nice to feel human again.
Work is under control. I'm caught up on my month to date, and actually made some progress on a long-dreaded situation that I had to resolve.
I'll note here that I was rather gratified to read today that of top critics only, the score for The Miserables was only 58%. Still over half, but not enough to be certified 'fresh' on rotten tomatoes. The overall score for the movie is 70%, but it's nice to know I'm not the only one who found the movie rather tiresome in places. Russ, of course, is a devotee, so he loved it before he saw it, and Logan thought it was wonderful too. I'm not sorry I saw it, it's just nice to know I'm not the only one who wasn't unreservedly over the moon about it.
There was nothing at the house for supper, and I needed salt anyway, so I went by the store on the way home. I was craving spaghetti, but the only frozen veggie spaghetti I could find (I wasn't about to slog home, get in the kitchen, and start making spaghetti tonight) was 'lite', and I wasn't in the mood for that. I bought some chips and dip because I have been craving them, and the idea was that I would eat some of that while the spaghetti was cooking, but yeah that didn't happen. I ended up eating chips and dip, string cheese sticks, and peanut spread and crackers for dinner. Breakfast of champions, right?
I had thought about going by Capri's tonight to pick up some spaghetti (I crave their baked spaghetti regularly), but the one downtown where I used to order is closed. The one left on Woodruff Road is one where I had a la cucaracha encounter years ago. I was telling Larney the story tonight before I left work, and it squicked me out to the point that I couldn't go there and get food tonight, although that story happened a long time ago, and I have eaten there many times since then.
Tonight I finally opened and tried the Earth Balance Coconut Peanut Spread I had bought after seeing it on Oprah's list of her 100 favorite things. What a disappointment. I had thought that it would taste like coconut, and I guess it did, a little. But the main focus was for the coco-nuts who are riding the latest craze that coconut oil is the new 'wonder food'. So the company substituted coconut oil for the peanut oil because of its purported miracle health benefits. Having read my Michael Pollan, I am skeptical of the 'miracle food of the month'. The end result, for me, was slightly funky-tasting peanut spread. McKayla is not impressed.
The flood of text messages about Thursday night's dinner actually started today. I thought that was a bit much, but in the spirit of positively reinforcing any move that RBL make towards plans made in advance, I was participating. The tide this weeks was flowing towards going to Longhorn. Not my favorite (I think it's over-priced, and there isn't that much there for me to eat), but I was going along to get along, because I don't really go to the Thursday night dinners for the food. I go to see everyone. Then Brian comes out with "Well I would go, but I don't like the traffic on Woodruff Road." And I'm like really? Boy I feel important. I'm thinking a) how incredibly spoiled that sounds; and b) what an arbitrary reason to not go see your friends - because the road they'll be meeting on is inconvenient for you??
This, in a nutshell, is why it is so hard for the group to make plans, and why it takes 8,000 text messages to set up one. freakin. dinner. Tonight it was Brian (in part - there were other dildonic comments made), but there's usually some ridiculous, arbitrary reason that someone is objecting to a particular venue on any given week. Fags. Meh. As much as I love 'em, that's how much they drive me cuh-razy.
I had several hundred texts from Chuck tonight. As much as I like him, I'm beginning to feel the pressure there. He's high maintenance, and I think I'm his only gay friend. Plus he's very sensitive. I had a message from him this morning that said "I must have done something wrong.". And I was like what? He replied "You didn't respond to my last message last night." Oy. Passive-aggressive and sensitive.
I fell into the internet vortex and ended up staying up too late, but eventually pulled my head out of the computer and went to bed. It's so nice to feel human again.
Monday, January 14, 2013
A post in which I am sick. Again/still
I woke up this morning feeling like hammered shit. I was just as tired as when I went to bed. I had a chinstrap of pain running from ear to ear, including my throat. My head ached. Last night I had been trying to decide if I would go back to the doctor or not. This morning the decision was made. I called in to work, croaking into the phone like I had eaten a box of staples.
The first appointment they had available today was at 11am, so I made a mug of hot chocolate and snoozed until time to get up and get ready.
The doctor was flummoxed. "Your throat is beet-red." She observed. No shit, I thought grumpily to myself. She eventually decided to prescribe something, for which I was heartily glad. Let's try doing something besides nothing this time, I was thinking. I didn't really have enough voice to be thoroughly objectionable, but I certainly felt that way. She also prescribed some good cough syrup, which mollified me somewhat. That was worth the ride over there.
Then I made my complicated way home. They had called in my prescription for antibiotics to my home pharmacy, but I also needed toilet paper, and I had six extra bucks to use. I knew from last week that my home pharmacy didn't have the kind of TP I wanted, so I went to the local pharmacy to get the cough syrup filled (you have to carry in the prescription for that), and to pick up the TP. Since there are apparently eight million sick people in Greenville county at the mo, the place was jumpin'. I ended up being in there for almost an hour getting the cough syrup.
I had intended to go out for something to eat since I was poorly, but didn't have the energy for it. I headed home, deciding to get some takeout after I picked up my antibiotic. Then I thought I would just get something to eat at the home pharmacy to keep from having to make another stop. I was wiped.
When I got to the home pharmacy though, it was just as full as the other one, PLUS since it was in my neighborhood, there were an inordinate number of crack hos and stupid people milling around the pharmacy in a completely random fashion. Where they actually in line? Were they waiting for prescriptions to be filled? Who the hell knew? I didn't have the patience to deal with it today. I went outside to sit in line at the drive-through window. At least that way I at least knew where the freakin' line was, and I knew the only germs in the chair were my own. Plus I could sit down in line, and read my book. So that's what I did. When I got to the window, they had unexpectedly already filled the prescription (it was a Christmas miracle), and I was finished up in record time. Thankfully.
I still needed to eat something. And I didn't want the healthy broccoli and lentil curry that was in the fridge. I just didn't. I first thought I would just go through the Burger King drive through. But the closer I got, the nastier that seemed. Plus what I really wanted was lo mien. Then I remembered that they always make me pull to the side to wait at Burger King, because they never have a fish sandwich ready. If I'm going to wait anyway, I thought, why not wait for what I want? To that end, I headed for Number 1 China. Although they have pretty good food, I really don't like to think about where it comes from. The place always looks vaguely grimy, and it depresses me to sit there and wait for my food. But I did it.
I got home, kicked off my sweatpants (they had been on the seat there, and I wanted to wash them), and sat down to eat in front of telly, profoundly grateful to be home. After lunch, I took my pills and cough syrup, and slept most of the afternoon. When I woke up, I felt pretty close to human. Thank God!
Of course, this meant that the last four days of suffering had been completely unnecessary. I may change doctors again. Debbie (my long-standing nurse with Dr. Edwards) told me if I switched to her new doctor, I could have her as a nurse again. Since that was one of the main reasons I was staying with Dr. Edwards, that's enough of a reason at this point.
I sent some texts to my guys to let them know I was feeling better, ran to Burger King (after all) for a nasty supper (I always crave junk when I'm sick, and I haven't been as bad as usual up until tonight), then took my pills and some cough syrup, and turned in.
The first appointment they had available today was at 11am, so I made a mug of hot chocolate and snoozed until time to get up and get ready.
The doctor was flummoxed. "Your throat is beet-red." She observed. No shit, I thought grumpily to myself. She eventually decided to prescribe something, for which I was heartily glad. Let's try doing something besides nothing this time, I was thinking. I didn't really have enough voice to be thoroughly objectionable, but I certainly felt that way. She also prescribed some good cough syrup, which mollified me somewhat. That was worth the ride over there.
Then I made my complicated way home. They had called in my prescription for antibiotics to my home pharmacy, but I also needed toilet paper, and I had six extra bucks to use. I knew from last week that my home pharmacy didn't have the kind of TP I wanted, so I went to the local pharmacy to get the cough syrup filled (you have to carry in the prescription for that), and to pick up the TP. Since there are apparently eight million sick people in Greenville county at the mo, the place was jumpin'. I ended up being in there for almost an hour getting the cough syrup.
I had intended to go out for something to eat since I was poorly, but didn't have the energy for it. I headed home, deciding to get some takeout after I picked up my antibiotic. Then I thought I would just get something to eat at the home pharmacy to keep from having to make another stop. I was wiped.
When I got to the home pharmacy though, it was just as full as the other one, PLUS since it was in my neighborhood, there were an inordinate number of crack hos and stupid people milling around the pharmacy in a completely random fashion. Where they actually in line? Were they waiting for prescriptions to be filled? Who the hell knew? I didn't have the patience to deal with it today. I went outside to sit in line at the drive-through window. At least that way I at least knew where the freakin' line was, and I knew the only germs in the chair were my own. Plus I could sit down in line, and read my book. So that's what I did. When I got to the window, they had unexpectedly already filled the prescription (it was a Christmas miracle), and I was finished up in record time. Thankfully.
I still needed to eat something. And I didn't want the healthy broccoli and lentil curry that was in the fridge. I just didn't. I first thought I would just go through the Burger King drive through. But the closer I got, the nastier that seemed. Plus what I really wanted was lo mien. Then I remembered that they always make me pull to the side to wait at Burger King, because they never have a fish sandwich ready. If I'm going to wait anyway, I thought, why not wait for what I want? To that end, I headed for Number 1 China. Although they have pretty good food, I really don't like to think about where it comes from. The place always looks vaguely grimy, and it depresses me to sit there and wait for my food. But I did it.
I got home, kicked off my sweatpants (they had been on the seat there, and I wanted to wash them), and sat down to eat in front of telly, profoundly grateful to be home. After lunch, I took my pills and cough syrup, and slept most of the afternoon. When I woke up, I felt pretty close to human. Thank God!
Of course, this meant that the last four days of suffering had been completely unnecessary. I may change doctors again. Debbie (my long-standing nurse with Dr. Edwards) told me if I switched to her new doctor, I could have her as a nurse again. Since that was one of the main reasons I was staying with Dr. Edwards, that's enough of a reason at this point.
I sent some texts to my guys to let them know I was feeling better, ran to Burger King (after all) for a nasty supper (I always crave junk when I'm sick, and I haven't been as bad as usual up until tonight), then took my pills and some cough syrup, and turned in.
Sunday, January 13, 2013
A post in which I do stay in, for the most part
I woke up this morning and once again moved to the sofa. It doesn't seem like I could feel worse, but that seems to be the case. It's hard to quantify. I didn't over-do it that badly last night, and I've been taking it pretty easy.
I slept most of the morning and woke up with my throat killing me, but I know I have to go back to work tomorrow.
I did hear from Michael today. After telling me yesterday categorically that he wouldn't be free today, he sent a text asking if I was free. That's kind of how he does. He'll say he's not free, and then after I make plans he suddenly is. So he runs hot and cold. It's hard to tell what the deal is. But he wanted to meet me tonight after a dinner date that he had with friends (what about all day today in the meantime?), and I turned him down for that. I don't want to be an afterthought, and I don't need to be up late tonight, or driving back from Blacksburg.
I talked to Andy off and on all day. He's very sweet, and he stays in touch, but he really doesn't have anything else going on. He has no money and no car. He seems trapped where he is. There wouldn't be any dating. If I took him on, I'd just have to keep him, and I don't think I can afford him. Plus, as sweet as he is, I just don't want to take on another husband that doesn't have two cents to rub together. I guess that sounds shallow. But there's a lot of responsibility that goes to going to pick up Andy.
Eventually, I ended the pity party. I got up, did my feets, and got cleaned up.
I dropped off the recycling (there was a big box and a surprising amount of packaging that came with the calendar, and I didn't want it laying around the house this week), then went to get fruit for lunches (I thawed stuff out for lunches next week - no way was I cooking this weekend), and crap for dinner. I always crave junk food when I'm sick, but I've been pretty good so far. Tonight I indulged in frozen fried green beans and spinach artichoke bites.
As I put my green beans in the oven, I had a text from the boys wanting to round folks up to go out to dinner. At 5:30 on Sunday evening. Really? I just sent a text back that I had just put dinner in the oven, and would loved to have known ahead of time. I just despair of trying to make plans with the boys these days. It seems impossible. They made arrangements to go to supper 30 minutes before they were ready to leave the house. On the one hand, I don't want to categorically say 'no short-range plans - ever'. Sometimes impromptu things can be fun. But it is very frustrating to never know what you're doing from one day to the next. And it's kind of insulting that they just expect everyone to be at their beck and call. But then it seems that folks are. I don't know how to handle this without sounding like a jerk.
Tonight wasn't the night to go into it anyway. I didn't need the temptation to go out. I really needed to stay in and rest up for the work week to begin tomorrow. I still feel kind of wrung out, and I took pain pills tonight because my throat hurt so badly.
In the end, I ate my crap, took pills, and went to bed. Which was what I needed to do anyway.
I slept most of the morning and woke up with my throat killing me, but I know I have to go back to work tomorrow.
I did hear from Michael today. After telling me yesterday categorically that he wouldn't be free today, he sent a text asking if I was free. That's kind of how he does. He'll say he's not free, and then after I make plans he suddenly is. So he runs hot and cold. It's hard to tell what the deal is. But he wanted to meet me tonight after a dinner date that he had with friends (what about all day today in the meantime?), and I turned him down for that. I don't want to be an afterthought, and I don't need to be up late tonight, or driving back from Blacksburg.
I talked to Andy off and on all day. He's very sweet, and he stays in touch, but he really doesn't have anything else going on. He has no money and no car. He seems trapped where he is. There wouldn't be any dating. If I took him on, I'd just have to keep him, and I don't think I can afford him. Plus, as sweet as he is, I just don't want to take on another husband that doesn't have two cents to rub together. I guess that sounds shallow. But there's a lot of responsibility that goes to going to pick up Andy.
Eventually, I ended the pity party. I got up, did my feets, and got cleaned up.
I dropped off the recycling (there was a big box and a surprising amount of packaging that came with the calendar, and I didn't want it laying around the house this week), then went to get fruit for lunches (I thawed stuff out for lunches next week - no way was I cooking this weekend), and crap for dinner. I always crave junk food when I'm sick, but I've been pretty good so far. Tonight I indulged in frozen fried green beans and spinach artichoke bites.
As I put my green beans in the oven, I had a text from the boys wanting to round folks up to go out to dinner. At 5:30 on Sunday evening. Really? I just sent a text back that I had just put dinner in the oven, and would loved to have known ahead of time. I just despair of trying to make plans with the boys these days. It seems impossible. They made arrangements to go to supper 30 minutes before they were ready to leave the house. On the one hand, I don't want to categorically say 'no short-range plans - ever'. Sometimes impromptu things can be fun. But it is very frustrating to never know what you're doing from one day to the next. And it's kind of insulting that they just expect everyone to be at their beck and call. But then it seems that folks are. I don't know how to handle this without sounding like a jerk.
Tonight wasn't the night to go into it anyway. I didn't need the temptation to go out. I really needed to stay in and rest up for the work week to begin tomorrow. I still feel kind of wrung out, and I took pain pills tonight because my throat hurt so badly.
In the end, I ate my crap, took pills, and went to bed. Which was what I needed to do anyway.
Saturday, January 12, 2013
A post in which I probably should have stayed in*
When I woke up this morning, I just moved from the bed to the sofa. I did make a nice breakfast with the last of the facon bits scrambled with eggs and cheese, which is lovely.
I exchanged some text messages with Andy, who is in touch pretty regularly these days, and with Michael, a guy I've been talking to who lives in Blacksburg. He's kind of far away, but not as far away as Andy, and he does seem to get to Greenville periodically. Plus he's self-supporting (presumably). I also heard from Chuck. Chuck really wanted to get together today. After spending the day on the sofa, I was restless, and wanted to do something. I told Chuck to come on.
Of course, about the time I made plans with him, I heard from Michael that he wanted to get together. Not only that, but that today was the last day he was available until the 26th. Men. I haven't actually met Michael, and I had already made plans with Chuck, so I just had to say sorry.
Chuck came in full of enthusiasm. If we didn't have as good a time as we did last time, well I wasn't at the top of my game. It was nice enough. He is just as nice-looking as I remembered.
Afterwards, he was like "Let's go somewhere." OK, fair enough. I didn't ask. I just got dressed and off we went. Tonight I got to know Chuck better, and it's a bit more understandable that he's single. He's pretty controlling. I was content to let him be in charge tonight, and indeed that doesn't bother me from time to time, but most guys don't want someone in charge all the time.
We started by cruising Main Street so he could show off his Jeep. Yes this man is 52 years old. It is a very nice Jeep - my neighbor asked me about it when I came outside after Chuck left last week. It has lots of stuff on it, and it has the raised suspension and all. If I were a car person, I guess I would be impressed. I mean, I can tell that's nice and all. And while part of me thought it was cute that he would ride down Main Street with the windows down just to get the compliments (which, for the record, he received), part of me thought it was just a little high school. But there are far worse caprices.
After that it was off to Sam's. I guess he needed to go. I didn't come right out with the whole Wal-Mart-is-evil-and-here's-why thing, but I did explain (quietly and without detail) that I don't usually shop at Wal-Mart. His response was to point out the fantastic prices he was enjoying. Well true, I know, but there is a price to be paid for those low prices - whether or not you're the one paying it. I chose not to open the debate - I wasn't buying anything - and just pushed the buggy around while he picked out stuff. I was glad to be out, and I always enjoy shopping.
When we left there we went to his place to drop off the groceries, and for me to see his house. It's a nice enough place, and he has another beautiful car there - a metallic sage-green Mustang. Gorgeous. I also met all the dogs. He has a lot of dogs. And his parrot, an African Gray that is reportedly a prodigious talker, but who mainly whistled tonight. I was interested in all of this, but the animals seemed very interested in me. That could have been natural friendliness, but I got the impression that they didn't see new people that often.
Next it was off to dinner at La Parilla. During all of this, Chuck talked. I mean seriously kept a running commentary going almost the entire time. Rarely, and I mean rarely, do I meet anyone who gives me a serious run for my money in the jaw olympics, but this man left me in the dust. The problem was that once he started a story:
1) there was no editing - each and every exchange was related in detail, as close to verbatim as he could remember - there were no "Reader's Digest condensed versions" on offer here.
2) there was no change in venue - if a story started in the car, it must be ended before you got out of the car. In order to accomplish this, if there was more story than there was distance to the next destination, he drove slower. And slower still. To the point that we were driving around at 18mph at points and getting honked at in traffic. He did agree to a reluctant change of venue at the restaurant, after being asked twice. I didn't want to just sit in the car.
3) Most of the stories seemed to involve someone trying to get the best of him, or insulting him in some fashion, and the I spit on your grave lengths he went to in order deliver that person their richly-deserved comeuppance. Now in fairness, most of these people did seem to deserve their fate, but I was quietly noting to myself that I was only hearing one side of the story. This led to my wondering what would happen to me if I unknowingly insulted him, coupled with the virtual impossibility of introducing this guy to Russ. One of them would inevitably get his feathers ruffled with the other one about something, and they would be sworn enemies for life. It was almost a foregone conclusion. (This was in my mind because I had mentioned introducing him to the boys tonight.)
I did manage to get a word or two in edgewise by the end of the evening, but by the time he dropped me off, my ears were pretty much bleeding. Again, I feel that this could be the product of his not getting to speak freely very often. He's pretty deeply in the closet. I guess I understand why, but that's a lot of pressure on the people who do know, because they're your only release. I do feel sorry for him. He's in a lonely place without a lot of options. But at the same time, I'm not ready to take on his world. That's a big job.
By the time I got home, I felt that I had over-done it, and was pretty much wiped out. I just went on to bed. I did exchange some good night texts with my guys.
I exchanged some text messages with Andy, who is in touch pretty regularly these days, and with Michael, a guy I've been talking to who lives in Blacksburg. He's kind of far away, but not as far away as Andy, and he does seem to get to Greenville periodically. Plus he's self-supporting (presumably). I also heard from Chuck. Chuck really wanted to get together today. After spending the day on the sofa, I was restless, and wanted to do something. I told Chuck to come on.
Of course, about the time I made plans with him, I heard from Michael that he wanted to get together. Not only that, but that today was the last day he was available until the 26th. Men. I haven't actually met Michael, and I had already made plans with Chuck, so I just had to say sorry.
Chuck came in full of enthusiasm. If we didn't have as good a time as we did last time, well I wasn't at the top of my game. It was nice enough. He is just as nice-looking as I remembered.
Afterwards, he was like "Let's go somewhere." OK, fair enough. I didn't ask. I just got dressed and off we went. Tonight I got to know Chuck better, and it's a bit more understandable that he's single. He's pretty controlling. I was content to let him be in charge tonight, and indeed that doesn't bother me from time to time, but most guys don't want someone in charge all the time.
We started by cruising Main Street so he could show off his Jeep. Yes this man is 52 years old. It is a very nice Jeep - my neighbor asked me about it when I came outside after Chuck left last week. It has lots of stuff on it, and it has the raised suspension and all. If I were a car person, I guess I would be impressed. I mean, I can tell that's nice and all. And while part of me thought it was cute that he would ride down Main Street with the windows down just to get the compliments (which, for the record, he received), part of me thought it was just a little high school. But there are far worse caprices.
After that it was off to Sam's. I guess he needed to go. I didn't come right out with the whole Wal-Mart-is-evil-and-here's-why thing, but I did explain (quietly and without detail) that I don't usually shop at Wal-Mart. His response was to point out the fantastic prices he was enjoying. Well true, I know, but there is a price to be paid for those low prices - whether or not you're the one paying it. I chose not to open the debate - I wasn't buying anything - and just pushed the buggy around while he picked out stuff. I was glad to be out, and I always enjoy shopping.
When we left there we went to his place to drop off the groceries, and for me to see his house. It's a nice enough place, and he has another beautiful car there - a metallic sage-green Mustang. Gorgeous. I also met all the dogs. He has a lot of dogs. And his parrot, an African Gray that is reportedly a prodigious talker, but who mainly whistled tonight. I was interested in all of this, but the animals seemed very interested in me. That could have been natural friendliness, but I got the impression that they didn't see new people that often.
Next it was off to dinner at La Parilla. During all of this, Chuck talked. I mean seriously kept a running commentary going almost the entire time. Rarely, and I mean rarely, do I meet anyone who gives me a serious run for my money in the jaw olympics, but this man left me in the dust. The problem was that once he started a story:
1) there was no editing - each and every exchange was related in detail, as close to verbatim as he could remember - there were no "Reader's Digest condensed versions" on offer here.
2) there was no change in venue - if a story started in the car, it must be ended before you got out of the car. In order to accomplish this, if there was more story than there was distance to the next destination, he drove slower. And slower still. To the point that we were driving around at 18mph at points and getting honked at in traffic. He did agree to a reluctant change of venue at the restaurant, after being asked twice. I didn't want to just sit in the car.
3) Most of the stories seemed to involve someone trying to get the best of him, or insulting him in some fashion, and the I spit on your grave lengths he went to in order deliver that person their richly-deserved comeuppance. Now in fairness, most of these people did seem to deserve their fate, but I was quietly noting to myself that I was only hearing one side of the story. This led to my wondering what would happen to me if I unknowingly insulted him, coupled with the virtual impossibility of introducing this guy to Russ. One of them would inevitably get his feathers ruffled with the other one about something, and they would be sworn enemies for life. It was almost a foregone conclusion. (This was in my mind because I had mentioned introducing him to the boys tonight.)
I did manage to get a word or two in edgewise by the end of the evening, but by the time he dropped me off, my ears were pretty much bleeding. Again, I feel that this could be the product of his not getting to speak freely very often. He's pretty deeply in the closet. I guess I understand why, but that's a lot of pressure on the people who do know, because they're your only release. I do feel sorry for him. He's in a lonely place without a lot of options. But at the same time, I'm not ready to take on his world. That's a big job.
By the time I got home, I felt that I had over-done it, and was pretty much wiped out. I just went on to bed. I did exchange some good night texts with my guys.
Friday, January 11, 2013
A post in which I just wanna go home
I came in today, grimly determined to just make it through so I could go home and go back to bed.
I made it through the day.
During the day though, I found that my calendar had been delivered to Russ. Russ sent me a text, and was like "Why did you even buy a calendar half-way through January?" I thought that was pretty funny.
I decided to go get it after work. On the way though, I had to stop and buy cat food and litter. Ouch. That was seventy-one freakin' dollars. I usually try to stagger buying them, but it just so happened that I ran out of both this week.
When I got to the house, I opened my calendar and snuggled up on the sofa to wait for Russ. The boys wanted to go get sushi tonight, and I had to eat anyway. As usual, though, Russ was late, and by the time we got back from dinner it was almost ten o'clock. That was later than I wanted to be out, but it was a pleasant meal at Irashiai. About the time we finished eating, a wave of exhaustion just rolled over me. I was wiped out.
Plus, my voice went out tonight. With the way my throat has been, that's hardly a surprise. Nor is laryngitis an uncommon complication of a cold for most people (and although it never used to happen to me, my voice is not tremendously strong now anyway). But that is scary. It bothered me more than I let on. There was a little voice in the back of my head going you know, the last time this happened, it was really bad... And although I knew that was an overreaction, it was still scary. Logan was very sweet to reassure me. He understood. But I felt a sense of dread.
I went on home and to bed. I managed to unload the car (mostly, I left the forty pound bag of litter to be carried in later), and hung my calendar before I turned in. I didn't even care that it was Friday night.
I made it through the day.
During the day though, I found that my calendar had been delivered to Russ. Russ sent me a text, and was like "Why did you even buy a calendar half-way through January?" I thought that was pretty funny.
I decided to go get it after work. On the way though, I had to stop and buy cat food and litter. Ouch. That was seventy-one freakin' dollars. I usually try to stagger buying them, but it just so happened that I ran out of both this week.
When I got to the house, I opened my calendar and snuggled up on the sofa to wait for Russ. The boys wanted to go get sushi tonight, and I had to eat anyway. As usual, though, Russ was late, and by the time we got back from dinner it was almost ten o'clock. That was later than I wanted to be out, but it was a pleasant meal at Irashiai. About the time we finished eating, a wave of exhaustion just rolled over me. I was wiped out.
Plus, my voice went out tonight. With the way my throat has been, that's hardly a surprise. Nor is laryngitis an uncommon complication of a cold for most people (and although it never used to happen to me, my voice is not tremendously strong now anyway). But that is scary. It bothered me more than I let on. There was a little voice in the back of my head going you know, the last time this happened, it was really bad... And although I knew that was an overreaction, it was still scary. Logan was very sweet to reassure me. He understood. But I felt a sense of dread.
I went on home and to bed. I managed to unload the car (mostly, I left the forty pound bag of litter to be carried in later), and hung my calendar before I turned in. I didn't even care that it was Friday night.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
A post in which I am not very proud of myself
Well I went back to work today. I felt crappy, but I went anyway. I did what had to be done, and basically just waited for the day to be over.
My throat got more and more sore through the course of the day, and by the end of the day I had decided to get some throat spray on the way home. I had already begged off the Thursday night dinner this week - all I wanted to do was go home. But of course there were things I had to do first.
I was hungry. I had eaten my healthy lunch, and there was quiche in the fridge at home, but I didn't want that. What I wanted was chicken wings. I very seldom indulge, but I had been thinking I might do a celebratory meal of them for the one year of my release from treatment anyway. Plus I felt bad, and just wanted them. So I stopped in a Buffalo Wild Wings Grill on the way home and had wings. It usually makes me feel like a hypocrite when I eat them, but I was so beat down today I didn't have the energy for guilt.
Afterwards I went by the CVS for throat spray. Since everyone in the world is sick, they were sold out of the cheap kind in any flavor but menthol (aka nasty old medicine flavor), but since I wasn't going to pay the premium for Chloraseptic, I sucked it up and bought the yucky kind. Why do they only make such huge bottles? Has anyone ever used a whole one? I know I never do before they go out of date, so I paid $6 for a huge bottle, most of which will be thrown away.
While I was there, I also looked for that Cold-EEZE stuff they've been advertising everywhere, but there was none to be found. They did have Zicam, but it was pretty expensive for zinc spray (which I now find doesn't even have zinc in it any more). I decided that was too much money to pay for something I wasn't sure worked.
I went by the grocery store for a banana (which I need for lunch tomorrow) and then home to get ready for bed. Since the towel rack in the bathroom was on my nerves (it's been bare for two days) I fished my fancy-schmancy new hand towels out of the dryer and put them up before I went to bed. That's the only extraneous thing I did.
I sent goodnight texts to Andy and Chuck, and turned in. One more work day and then I can convalesce in peace for a couple of days.
My throat got more and more sore through the course of the day, and by the end of the day I had decided to get some throat spray on the way home. I had already begged off the Thursday night dinner this week - all I wanted to do was go home. But of course there were things I had to do first.
I was hungry. I had eaten my healthy lunch, and there was quiche in the fridge at home, but I didn't want that. What I wanted was chicken wings. I very seldom indulge, but I had been thinking I might do a celebratory meal of them for the one year of my release from treatment anyway. Plus I felt bad, and just wanted them. So I stopped in a Buffalo Wild Wings Grill on the way home and had wings. It usually makes me feel like a hypocrite when I eat them, but I was so beat down today I didn't have the energy for guilt.
Afterwards I went by the CVS for throat spray. Since everyone in the world is sick, they were sold out of the cheap kind in any flavor but menthol (aka nasty old medicine flavor), but since I wasn't going to pay the premium for Chloraseptic, I sucked it up and bought the yucky kind. Why do they only make such huge bottles? Has anyone ever used a whole one? I know I never do before they go out of date, so I paid $6 for a huge bottle, most of which will be thrown away.
While I was there, I also looked for that Cold-EEZE stuff they've been advertising everywhere, but there was none to be found. They did have Zicam, but it was pretty expensive for zinc spray (which I now find doesn't even have zinc in it any more). I decided that was too much money to pay for something I wasn't sure worked.
I went by the grocery store for a banana (which I need for lunch tomorrow) and then home to get ready for bed. Since the towel rack in the bathroom was on my nerves (it's been bare for two days) I fished my fancy-schmancy new hand towels out of the dryer and put them up before I went to bed. That's the only extraneous thing I did.
I sent goodnight texts to Andy and Chuck, and turned in. One more work day and then I can convalesce in peace for a couple of days.
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
A post in which I am sick
I was up at 12:23 and then again at 2am with insomnia. Since I was up anyway, I went ahead and put a load of towels in to wash, in part so I could get my fancy new hand towels out to be used. I had an awful time getting back to sleep, and when I did drift back off, the sleep I got was fitful and poor.
When the alarm went off I felt croupy, my throat was sore, and I felt as if I had been rolled downhill in a barrel full of old boots. I called in to work.
I did go back to sleep afterwards, and woke just before 8am. I called the doctor and made an appointment. Since my GP had recently gotten a promotion and dumped her patient load, today was my first visit with Dr. King as her actual patient. I had seen her shortly before treatment last year. She has an excellent bedside manner. It's also kind of convenient that Dr. Edwards moved on when she did. My family blames her for my late diagnosis with Hodgkin's Lymphoma in 2010, despite the fact that I have been told from several sources that she didn't neglect any standard of care, and that I had an a-typical symptom profile for the disease. I wouldn't have changed doctors otherwise, but perhaps it's not a bad thing that this happened.
We had a pretty good visit, with her getting acquainted with my meds and body. The company has decided that we have to get all maintenance drugs via mail now, and the service they have chosen is notoriously hateful to deal with, so we spent some time trying to get that sorted. Eventually, though, she told me that there wasn't anything they could really do for me. She thinks I have a cold, and that I should feel better in a couple of days. She did caution me that there is a 'viral soup' going around right now, and to come back if I didn't feel better.
I left after hopefully getting the prescription junk sorted, and headed to the grocery store. I hadn't eaten before I went, and I was hungry. I picked up some orange juice and a pie crust, and headed on home.
I had a bunch of bits and bites in the fridge that would be perfect for a quiche, and it was short work to get one in the oven. While it was baking, I had some cookies (I always crave junk food when I'm sick) and some toast to get mangled bread from the freezer used up. I had some of Mother's homemade peach jam (my favorite) for toast.
I spent the afternoon dozing off and on, answering text messages to Andy, who was apparently off work today, and watching a little TV.
The bomb dropped about 7:30 or so. My leather sister Wilenda sent out the email that her long-teetering relationship was officially kaput as of this afternoon. Bless her heart. It's a terrible thing, but this has been coming for a while, and I think in the long run it will be good for her, but in the short run it's pretty awful. She has two kids, and she'll have to find someplace to go. I called, but didn't get an answer. Her voice mail was full. There was little I could do but put out the critter call to the members of the Kindred who don't read email, and then send a supportive email to her. I told her I love her, and that if she needs me to do anything I will. I didn't know what else to do. Words seem woefully inadequate. But they were all I had to offer tonight.
Around 8pm or so, I made a sandwich and then got ready for bed. I had some sweet texts from Chuck, checking up on how I was doing, and offering to bring me anything I needed to the house. What a sweetheart of a guy.
When the alarm went off I felt croupy, my throat was sore, and I felt as if I had been rolled downhill in a barrel full of old boots. I called in to work.
I did go back to sleep afterwards, and woke just before 8am. I called the doctor and made an appointment. Since my GP had recently gotten a promotion and dumped her patient load, today was my first visit with Dr. King as her actual patient. I had seen her shortly before treatment last year. She has an excellent bedside manner. It's also kind of convenient that Dr. Edwards moved on when she did. My family blames her for my late diagnosis with Hodgkin's Lymphoma in 2010, despite the fact that I have been told from several sources that she didn't neglect any standard of care, and that I had an a-typical symptom profile for the disease. I wouldn't have changed doctors otherwise, but perhaps it's not a bad thing that this happened.
We had a pretty good visit, with her getting acquainted with my meds and body. The company has decided that we have to get all maintenance drugs via mail now, and the service they have chosen is notoriously hateful to deal with, so we spent some time trying to get that sorted. Eventually, though, she told me that there wasn't anything they could really do for me. She thinks I have a cold, and that I should feel better in a couple of days. She did caution me that there is a 'viral soup' going around right now, and to come back if I didn't feel better.
I left after hopefully getting the prescription junk sorted, and headed to the grocery store. I hadn't eaten before I went, and I was hungry. I picked up some orange juice and a pie crust, and headed on home.
I had a bunch of bits and bites in the fridge that would be perfect for a quiche, and it was short work to get one in the oven. While it was baking, I had some cookies (I always crave junk food when I'm sick) and some toast to get mangled bread from the freezer used up. I had some of Mother's homemade peach jam (my favorite) for toast.
I spent the afternoon dozing off and on, answering text messages to Andy, who was apparently off work today, and watching a little TV.
The bomb dropped about 7:30 or so. My leather sister Wilenda sent out the email that her long-teetering relationship was officially kaput as of this afternoon. Bless her heart. It's a terrible thing, but this has been coming for a while, and I think in the long run it will be good for her, but in the short run it's pretty awful. She has two kids, and she'll have to find someplace to go. I called, but didn't get an answer. Her voice mail was full. There was little I could do but put out the critter call to the members of the Kindred who don't read email, and then send a supportive email to her. I told her I love her, and that if she needs me to do anything I will. I didn't know what else to do. Words seem woefully inadequate. But they were all I had to offer tonight.
Around 8pm or so, I made a sandwich and then got ready for bed. I had some sweet texts from Chuck, checking up on how I was doing, and offering to bring me anything I needed to the house. What a sweetheart of a guy.
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
A post in which the Christmas gifts are sorted
Although work continued to be blessedly quiet, I started feeling progressively worse through the day. I didn't feel awful, just yucky. With all the kissing that had been going on at the bear party Saturday, plus the creeping crud that has being going around anyway, I guess I have picked something up. I can't really complain. Other than the cancer, I haven't been plain ole sick sick in over two years.
After work I really wanted to go on home, but I had that exchange to do at Pottery Barn. I looked up locations online, and found that I wouldn't have to go to Gaffney after all - there is now one in Haywood Mall. I probably knew that, but I go to the mall so seldom that it just wasn't on my radar. Anyway, with a location that convenient, I decided just to go on and get this sorted.
One good reason to go ahead was that I had been unable to find the asparagus dish on the PB website. Because of that, I figured it had been purchased on mark-down, which indeed proved to be the case. The very professional and pleasant PB employee didn't turn a hair when I presented her with my own little white elephant. Apparently she'd already had another returned earlier in the week. She called the outlet for a item name and skew number, and informed me that I could exchange the dish for anything in the store, and that it was worth $10.47. Yeah. So it had apparently been on superdiscountmarkdown. But better $10.47 than nothing. I had originally just thought I would take it on to Goodwill.
I started looking around the store. PB is an expensive place. I saw a sofa throw (small blanket) priced at $99. I did check to see what it was made of, and was surprised to find that it was not woven of baby's tears or unicorn wool. Other items in the store were similarly priced. PB does have it's own line of luxury linens, and the towels were on 'sale'. I could buy a hand towel for $14. I had been kind of thinking about getting new hand towels anyway, but I have to have two of them for the towel rack. In the end, I spent $18.58 on my PB present from Dad and Eve - about twice what they spent. But they are nice towels, I have someplace to put them, and I'll get some use out of them.
I left the mall triumphant. I was glad to have the gift thing sorted and done. But I was also pretty tired. I think I have a cold. I decided to treat myself to dinner out by myself, which I very seldom do. Because I wasn't feeling adventuresome (when I'm sick I want comfort food), I repaired to the K&W Cafeteria. Now my Poppy Brown thought that God made all the other restaurants in the world, then created the K&W after he knew what he was doing. I do appreciate a place that bakes their own bread and offers real butter for it. Plus there is the pie, which is un-matchable. But I have noticed a quality slide in the one here in Greenville that doesn't bode well for the name. My fish tonight was slightly cold, slightly greasy, and too salty. The fried green tomatoes I had were the same, except they weren't too salty. Everything else was OK, and the pie (I had coconut cream, Poppy's favorite, because I was thinking about him) was as good as ever, but I left having eaten too much, and feeling slightly sick. I shouldn't have cleaned my plates. I was there about 6:30 though, and their rush comes earlier - the food had probably been great about 5 or so. Also, I wonder if their demographic isn't dying out? Most older people now are a much more adventuresome demographic. I know Dad and Eve won't go there after the last time we went; when they ordered veal cutlet (which was $4.99, and the size of a small car door), and were quite surprised to find that it was mostly breading. Really?
I headed on home, deciding to have an early night and get some extra rest. I did some texts to my guys and turned in.
After work I really wanted to go on home, but I had that exchange to do at Pottery Barn. I looked up locations online, and found that I wouldn't have to go to Gaffney after all - there is now one in Haywood Mall. I probably knew that, but I go to the mall so seldom that it just wasn't on my radar. Anyway, with a location that convenient, I decided just to go on and get this sorted.
One good reason to go ahead was that I had been unable to find the asparagus dish on the PB website. Because of that, I figured it had been purchased on mark-down, which indeed proved to be the case. The very professional and pleasant PB employee didn't turn a hair when I presented her with my own little white elephant. Apparently she'd already had another returned earlier in the week. She called the outlet for a item name and skew number, and informed me that I could exchange the dish for anything in the store, and that it was worth $10.47. Yeah. So it had apparently been on superdiscountmarkdown. But better $10.47 than nothing. I had originally just thought I would take it on to Goodwill.
I started looking around the store. PB is an expensive place. I saw a sofa throw (small blanket) priced at $99. I did check to see what it was made of, and was surprised to find that it was not woven of baby's tears or unicorn wool. Other items in the store were similarly priced. PB does have it's own line of luxury linens, and the towels were on 'sale'. I could buy a hand towel for $14. I had been kind of thinking about getting new hand towels anyway, but I have to have two of them for the towel rack. In the end, I spent $18.58 on my PB present from Dad and Eve - about twice what they spent. But they are nice towels, I have someplace to put them, and I'll get some use out of them.
I left the mall triumphant. I was glad to have the gift thing sorted and done. But I was also pretty tired. I think I have a cold. I decided to treat myself to dinner out by myself, which I very seldom do. Because I wasn't feeling adventuresome (when I'm sick I want comfort food), I repaired to the K&W Cafeteria. Now my Poppy Brown thought that God made all the other restaurants in the world, then created the K&W after he knew what he was doing. I do appreciate a place that bakes their own bread and offers real butter for it. Plus there is the pie, which is un-matchable. But I have noticed a quality slide in the one here in Greenville that doesn't bode well for the name. My fish tonight was slightly cold, slightly greasy, and too salty. The fried green tomatoes I had were the same, except they weren't too salty. Everything else was OK, and the pie (I had coconut cream, Poppy's favorite, because I was thinking about him) was as good as ever, but I left having eaten too much, and feeling slightly sick. I shouldn't have cleaned my plates. I was there about 6:30 though, and their rush comes earlier - the food had probably been great about 5 or so. Also, I wonder if their demographic isn't dying out? Most older people now are a much more adventuresome demographic. I know Dad and Eve won't go there after the last time we went; when they ordered veal cutlet (which was $4.99, and the size of a small car door), and were quite surprised to find that it was mostly breading. Really?
I headed on home, deciding to have an early night and get some extra rest. I did some texts to my guys and turned in.
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