Friday, September 30

End of an Era

Today ends my Birthday month. It has been quite the party, but like all good things, it has reached its end. Anything major happen in the last 30 days? Well, aside from me hitting the ripe age of 45.... my Redskins (1-2) finally won their first game (and hopefully the start of a good, long, winning streak). The oldest son had his first car mishap (explanation later on). The temps in AZ have been below 100 for over a week now. I can't think of much more that would be worthy of mention.

So, about a week ago, the oldest son, new to driving (on his own) as he has only had his license maybe a month, had his first accident. Thankfully he wasn't hurt, and there wasn't much damage. Seems on his way to classes one morning, another driver was "driving pretty fast, faster than the speed limit" somehow glanced off the Son's passenger front fender. Minor dents, pushed in the wheel well area a little, and luckily didn't rip the bumper off, or break the headlight assembly. The wheel well was pushed in just enough it would rub the tire when he hit a speed bump. When I got home that night, I was able to pull it out about a half inch, and he said later that did the trick so it isn't rubbing anymore. The worst of the whole situation, is the other driver didn't even bother to stop AT ALL. Our guess was they were probably un-insured, as too many seem to be out here. That, or possibly even illegal. I felt good that my Son handled himself well, and wasn't hurt. Bonus was that the car wasn't damaged so bad it would not be able to be driven. I just bought that thing!

I had a Doctor visit this past week. Nothing to do with age, just a 3 month check-up following being released back to work after the back injury. Doc wanted to go over blood results from a draw I did last week, for this appointment. Liver activity was high, as were the Triglycerides. I got the usual quit drinking, quit smoking, lose weight speech. I had gained 3 pounds. Got a prescription for something to help lower/manage my triglycerides. Was stressed at to quit/cut-back on the drinking, to be sure I don't get cirrhosis of the liver, or pancreatic problems. Well, the birthday month is over, so the drinking will slow down again. I'm going to be more aware of portions and what I eat. I am sure the alcohol intake being reduced will help with the weight loss.

Supposed to be 96 degrees today. I'll still use the AC in the truck until the sun goes down. After that, it feels nice to be out and driving. Work is the same. have a new tech starting soon, and just had one go on medical leave - ripped his bicep muscle. Probably be out 4-6 months. Saves me about 20-30 minutes of driving to/from his house. He is the furthest out I go to.

Guess that is about all I got for now....

PeacE

Monday, September 19

And Here I Go Again ....

.... too bad it isn't like the video from Whitesnake.

It is Monday once again, and I am up earlier than I feel I should be. I could be sleeping for another two hours, but such is not my luck today.

The middle son got a new phone this weekend. The iphone he had, I had gotten the replacement screen. Saturday I went to do the repair. Needless to say, it got messed up and it wasn't working anymore. I didn't even complete the repair. The flowchart sent witht the kit, the video and the flowchart on the video did not even match each other at all. So I quit after the 2nd step (removing 5 screws) and tried to put it back to together (5 screws) but still something went wrong and it wouldn't even power up. Need less to say, he got a Samsung now, with the phone plan insurance on it.

Nothing else much to say. My Redskins suck it seems this year. Already 0-2, and I am losing hope fast.

PeacE

Wednesday, September 14

Slow Moving Mornings

My birthday was just shortly over a week ago. I turned 45. This morning's aches and pains, did not just suddenly appear once I hit that age marker. The arthritis and other general pains, have been present for years. Though they may be more persistent and stronger now, they are still not debilitating. Hence, me still going to work. I do admit, however, this morning found me wondering how much longer I will be able to do this much of a physical job that I do now.....

It is barely past 7am this morning, and I find myself awake and aching. The other night Preacher Tom had texted me asking about breakfast this morning. We had fallen out of our routine of them more often since I had a weirder work schedule due to vacations. I'm guessing he feels it has been awhile since we had one. Personally, I would rather the sleep-in time .... but we all do what we can.

The middle son broke the screen on his phone awhile back. Reverend Mother had given us an old phone she had, an iPhone 4s, that they no longer needed. We just had service to it turned on when we added him to the plan. No insurance on the phone, so of course he gets the screen broke. Found a repair kit online for a decent price, and it arrived the other day. I sat down after work last night, waiting for him to come home from band practice, thinking I would get it done. Not a chance in Hell. Just reading through the instructions informed me the whole process on average is 45 minutes (experienced techs) they also recommend watching the video (on YouTube at just short of 35 minutes), and then watching the video as you do the repair. No way was I doing all that at 9pm. I told him it would have to wait until Saturday.

Oh shit. That reminds me... something going on Saturday. Thankfully you could not see, but after several minutes of pondering (meaning slapping my forehead) I remembered that the Daughter and SIL are coming up this weekend. Saturday I set aside for dinner out with them.

So between the aches and pains of getting older, memory losses or shortages, Life can sometimes be good.

PeacE

Tuesday, September 13

I'm Beat

This week has started off pretty crappy. Yesterday (Monday) I had an oil change scheduled for my truck. I set them up so I am the first one at the shop at 7:30am, and it also gives them time to check the truck over and if something needed has to be done, I have a couple extra hours before needing to be at work. That also means, I need to be on the road about 6-630am to get to the shop in time, as it is across the Valley from mt house. Yesterday started out normal enough. Left at 6, dropped off the middle son at school, and was on the freeway by 6:15. In Phoenix, the two major freeways (I-10 & I-17) cross at two different points, one going through downtown, one going more around it, then joining back up. By the time I hit the "Stack", the 10 was already backed up, so I stayed on 17 - a normal occurrence for this trip in the mornings I have done previously. Four miles down the road, I hit the parking lot.

Actually, it was worse than a parking lot. At 7:30, the time of my appointment, I called the garage and said I was running late due to a rig had overturned, closing the freeway pretty much. They said no prob. An hour later, I called back and told them I had only moved a mile and a half, and I needed to reschedule. We did for Friday. I continued on, heading to work (same direction) just to avoid the problem later in the morning. All in all, it took 3 hours to get to work (a normally 45 minute drive).

Needless to say, I was more tired than usual from getting up earlier. Then add the sitting in traffic waiting tiredness. I was pretty beat last night. This morning, still feeling tired, too.

PeacE

Tuesday, September 6

Holy Crap! It's September Already!

I hadn't fully realized that it had been a month since I last wrote anything here. I know that Life has seemingly been keeping me busy ,,, or if nothing else, my schedule is nuts.

Today is the 6th, and follows the Labor Day weekend. It also marks my 45th birthday. Normally, this day would be a normal work day for me, except of all the texts, Facebook notifications, and calls that have come in, preventing me from sleeping in to my regular 9am wake up time. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate them ... just appreciate the sleep prior to work even more.

So what has happened in the last month? School started for the two younger boys. The Oldest Son started college and got his drivers license. The Wife and I ... we got to work jobs and pay bills. Nothing new there.

Went out to Olve Garden for my birthday last night. Had a good meal. They had the Eat one there and take home special going on, so I have Raviolis for tonight ... but no OG salad. I even brought home some of the pepperoni fettuccine Alfredo I had (and the rest of oldest Son's, too) that I may have prior to going into work today.

Guess that is about all I have today.

PeacE