Getting Ready to Party

 Well, not really. Partying that is. More like an "old folks weekend getaway" event that will have bland food and discount coupons for Depends. I jest. That's a normal Tuesday.

This Saturday will mark 33 years of marriage for the very patient, loving Wife and I. Hard to believe in some ways that this much time has gone by, but looking at the ages and lives of our children, there is no mistaking the passage of time. I think I mentioned before about our weekend plans. I have booked the hotel room. Verified with the Daughter about Youngest visiting with them for the two nights, and us on Sunday. Everything is lining up nicely - except the weather, maybe.

I know here int he Valley they are talking about rain on Sunday and Monday, possibly as early as Saturday. That day, which we will be at a park for a better part of the afternoon and evening. Though about an hour south of the Valley, but also more likely to have rain. It will be a morning decision to make in regards to attending the event. I have a couple days to purchase tickets in advance (save $5 on each) but it is a Rain or Shine event. I am sure we have an umbrella somewhere, but I just don't like the idea of sitting int he rain.

Not much else going on. It is getting harder to even try to think about what to write about.

PeacE

Thirsty Thursday Is Here

 Normally, that would mean an excuse to go out to the pub and have a few beers. However, this morning it is a bit different. I woke craving a soda. A Mountain Dew soda to be exact. I know, I shouldn't be having soda, due to the sugar, etc, but it is always one of my 'bad things to like'. So I went up to the closest Quik Trip and took in my 52 oz refill mug, and topped it off. Then I grabbed a soda for the Youngest. I also grabbed a couple orange Powerades, as I do enjoy them occasionally. And since I was near the "rollers", I saw they had a chili-cheese sausage dog, so I had got two of them to try. Figuring it was for breakfast anyways, I picked up a couple pork & vegetable rolls as well. Veggies are healthy, right? Well, at least I ain't hungry now, and I still have some soda left in my cup....

Looks like I have several things I need to get done today. The Wife's registration is due, and is quite pricey for the two years, but we will do it. Also received the one for the car the Youngest will have, so I should pay it as well. I need to book our hotels room for the two nights coming up soon. And I still need to file our taxes. I do them electronically so it only takes about 15 minutes, but need to get them done still. So how much of this will get done today? Even I am not going to guess. But I do feel a nap coming on in the near future...

PeacE

Friday Notes

 Well, it is nice that it is Friday, but not because it is the end of my work week - like I have one of those anymore it seems... Next week is spring break for the Youngest. My Doodad and family spent most of this last week in California doing the Disney parks. It was her first time and I was glad they sent many pictures over the three days for us to enjoy.

No plans this weekend. In two weeks we will be headed out of town for our anniversary. I think the plans now are to head to Tucson Friday night to drop off the Youngest at the Daughter's house for a couple nights, then stay at the hotel. Saturday we are driving back up to Casa Grande, as there is a taco festival going on. The bonus is there is a band I have enjoyed for years playing the venue - Roger Cline and the Peacemakers. Years ago they were known as The Refreshments, and I know I have a CD around here from those days. That night we will return to the hotel in Tucson. Sunday will be Easter, but we will spend part of the day visiting then head home that night.

Not sure what else is going on that I could write about. Most days I am here at home twiddling my thumbs hoping some work will come along. I have started looking into other companies, and job search sites, looking for related work, but no luck as of yet.

I broke down this morning and went o Jack in the Box for a breakfast combo. I better go check my numbers before I eat.

PeacE

Plugged, and In Other News...

 I didn't make it to the tire place on Monday. I did make it up to the pub for a couple hours though. When I went to head home, I saw the driver rear tire was about half flat. So that is where the low pressure light came from. I was able to get it home with no incident, and Tuesday morning, it was completely flat. Out came the compressor, and I filled it up. I saw a nail in the tread. I hurried up to the tire place, and was able to get it plugged, tires rotated, and out the door within an hour. At no cost. I'm still in the good range on the tire treads, but will need to think about getting new ones within the year. Availability is good at this location, so won't have to order any in.

I play a Vikings-themed game that my brother got me involved in. There has been some drama as of Sunday morning. Seems around 10am (my time) everyone in our "clan" that was online or offline, were disbanded from our clan. Then in Discord (a separate program all together where we can chat within our clan) gets disbanded. Our clan leader is not able to be contacted, from multiple types of emails, messaging, and even a couple phone calls. The first common thought is the leader's phone got hacked. One of our players contacted the game developers about what happened. As of yesterday, the Devs are saying it was a bug in the game that made our clan disappear, and they are working on fixing. I hope they return it to the glory it was, we were number one on many servers, and had a clan that was huge. Will find out in the next couple days I guess. Still no word from the leader.

So yeah, my life is pretty boring if that is the most drama I got going on. I sit back and listen to other players throw out conspiracy theories about what happened, and some of them sound plausible... weird.

PeacE

Waiting on Air

 The weekend came and went. Saturday evening I was at the Post for the weekly Queen of Hearts drawing. The pot is up over $13.7k, so one has to try. The Joker card was picked, and so the whole board is reset, meaning the pot will continue to grow. Sunday was a sleep-in morning, followed by a grocery shopping trip in the early afternoon. With the amount of money we spent, it better last at least a couple weeks. Though, most were lunches for me and Youngest. He has Spring Break next week. Last night I ended up in bed by 9pm, feeling tired from all the shopping/walking. Must be why I am wide awake at 4:30am. For some of you, that may be earlier than your normal, thanks to daylight savings, but here in AZ, we don't mess with our time.

Yesterday while driving around shopping, I had the low air light pop up. I will admit I am a bit lazy (and not wanting to bend over or down to check air pressure in tires) so I just looked at all the wheels, and didn't see any that were extremely low. The local tire place I go to has free air checks, so I am waiting for them to open a little later this morning to run the car through. Other than that, I have nothing on my agenda.

Nothing else of import to share, so I guess today will be a short one.

PeacE

Happy Birthday Dad

 Today would have been my Dad's 76th birthday. Usually today will be filled with me remembering good and bad times with Dad, and that gets me depressed. Then I decide to go drink while depressed, and next thing you know I am at home, drunk and bawling my eyes out in grief. Every. Single. Time.

But today I am going to try to not go out and get drunk. I'm not saying there won't be tears, but I am trying to not go anyplace today - not even for soda (oh, that will be a hard one).

I met Ryan Roulette last night. He is the driver of the VFW car in the ARCA racing circuit. He made an appearance (a planned one) at our VFW post last night. There were quite a few people up there to meet him, so I figured if I just 'saw him in person' I would fine, even if I didn't shake his hand. So I was sitting at the bar, and he ends up sitting next to me and we chatted for about 15 minutes. He seems pretty nice, and I wish him luck in the race this weekend out at PIR. Even shook hands, plus got his autograph (which I am giving to my brother).

That reminds me of another race driver I met, that some of you may have heard of: A.J. Foyt. In my memories of Dad, there was one time we went out to this farmstead out in the middle of nowhere there in Indiana, and it turned out to the the Foyt's home. I even got to sit in one of his older race cars that he still had out in the barn, covered by a tarp. I think that is where my love of racing started, and I was all about formula ones and the Indy 500 for years. I think it was 1978 when I first went to an Indy, with Dad and two of my uncles. Inside track grass. Remember it was a walk from where we parked to get all the way to the inside track grass.

Welp, I think I am gonna get done with this today.

PeacE

Middle of the Week

 What a boring day. I am sure a large part of the American workforce feels the same as I do, that you drag in on Mondays, and by Wednesday, you are pretty much done with feeling anything for the job and just praying for the Friday to appear. Bonus if it is a payday, though so many of us now have direct deposit versus an actual check to collect. Goodness! Those lines at the banks on Fridays.. in a town like Phoenix, were atrocious!! Not that I am working yet, as I am still waiting to hear from the Company, and a few other leads I have put out this last week.

Earlier tonight (when it was Tuesday) I enjoyed the Youngest's concert for the "spring". He played in one of the two Jazz ensembles, the percussion group, and the concert band. Of course, he was the best (I don't care if I am biased). Even RM made it tonight, which was nice to see her as always. She even brought her favorite child some leftovers she had made (the favorite being me). Don't let her fool you that "she has no favorites" because myself, and my children, know the truth.

It's already almost 4am, and I don't expect to be sleeping much tonight. I left the concert, and went home to take care of some stuff. That being one of my uncles, from Dad's side of the family, had asked if anyone had photos of my Dad around his senior year of high school. I had dug out the photo albums my grandparents had put together for me many years ago, and found a couple photos. Tonight my uncle and I "hooked up" message-wise, and I scanned and sent to him. I also included a nice letter to him and my aunt, about how I was sorry that we had not kept in touch better, that I was open to trying to do better with email, now that we had exchanged that way of contacting. Of course I included my phone number as well. I'm hoping that they are as open to it as I am, and that also both parties are able to share every now and then. They truly are people that are important in  my life, and I don't want to lose contact with them, regardless of the years and miles between. Definitely a work to stay on top of....

So, never said what happened after the medical appointment on Monday. BP came out good in the office. I've lost 12 pounds in two weeks. No changes to the current dosages in meds - will wait to see what my daily recordings look like in May. And, though on my own, and nothing to do with the doctors, my anus is getting better. Been dealing with flaring hemorrhoids (auto-spelling correctly spelled that) since the colonoscopy back in mid-January. I still have some flares, where sitting is uncomfortable, but with all the methods I am using to curtail it all, things are finally getting better. Don't care what you think, as long as I can sit longer than an hour...I'm happy!

Well, I don't know how RM can fill up pages of scrolling daily on her blog - maybe she just has more to share than I. This is all I got right now.

PeacE 

Yet Another Expected Waste of Time

 This morning I have a two week follow-up at the doctor's office, in regards to the additional blood pressure medication she had prescribed a couple weeks ago. It's to 'adjust to a higher dosage' based on my recordings. Looking at the list of daily readings, it hasn't made an impact, yet this morning's reading was the lowest. Maybe it is taking longer? Either way, after today I am refusing to see her again until May, for the 3-month follow-up. Getting so tired of going to the doctor, and the fact this newest one, she just keeps adding shit to get done, or change up my prescriptions. Not happy, but easier to stay then to start all over again with a new doctor.

Yesterday we did take Youngest out for his birthday dinner finally. It was no where fancy (Red Robin) but was still kinda expensive, considering there were six of us. Both the older Sons made it, so was nice to catch up with them a bit. The lawn got mowed and trimmed this weekend. I finished two more books. 

Regular weekly email sent off to the company this morning, and here is to hoping some project comes along soon.

PeacE

When I Last Posted ...

 I had nothing much of importance to write about, and this morning brings no difference to that table.

It's Friday. Youngest had Zero Hour at school, so the Wife ran him then off to work. It's barely after 7am and I am already hungry. I checked the fridge - no leftovers. So it is either Ramen noodles or fend fo myself, though I guess that is still the same thing.

Tomorrow will be a lawn day, since the city loves us so much. Sunday will be the Youngest's bday dinner. Not happy, but we have to drive 'downtown' to pick up his girlfriend, so she can join us, then return her home. Forty minutes of drive-time I was not planning, but plans of mice and men.

Exciting times, right?

PeacE