Curiosity

Just wondering if this is still on. **tap tap**

Wouldn’t it be fun if I wrote something interesting here? I may just do that. I’ve got some stories to tell you, and they aren’t all about the life of glamour that you may suppose I’ve been living in. I mean, sure, some of them are, but I’ve also gone through some personal turmoil that would surprise some of you.

Perhaps we will start with something small, something less than significant, yet something that brings me a certain amount of joy.

I bought a Jeep. A 1995 Wrangler (YJ). 4.0 L straight 6, 5 speed manual transmission, 4 inch lift, and a few other little surprises. I’ll have to get a picture up here soon. Fittingly, I got her some vanity plates, so be on the lookout for a forest green Jeep with a tan hard top and the plates…

REDS YJ.

Spicey Hour 6.6.2017

I got to watch Sean Spicer do the White House press briefing today. One of the best parts of this is that I know my wife, Megan, is watching as well, so we can trade texts about our observations. Mostly they consist of “Can you believe he said that???” or “What a bunch of crap!” or similar blurbs. However, today she hit the nail on the head perfectly with this comment after Spicer was done:

I’m beginning to believer that spicy isn’t the press secretary anymore… They fired him months ago and nobody told him. That’s why he hasn’t had any conversations with the president about anything. Now they just let him do his thing. I hope they let him keep his red stapler.

I think that just about sums it up. I get that Spicer can’t possibly cover everything that might come up, but this is getting ridiculous.

Questions On Thursday

There’s been a lot posted lately on Facebook and other social media about the state of our current president. Honestly, though, I have not seen a dissection of President Trump’s basic motivations that I can completely agree with. I agree that he is narcissistic, bigoted, and generally a spoiled Rich Kid. But what exactly is it that prompts the tweeting at midnight, the infamous “covfefe” tweet as a prime example? The long, rambling, and occasionally incoherent statements in his speeches? I disagree with his policies and positions on everything from health care to foreign policy, but I’ve disagreed with previous presidents on those issues, and not felt as sick and doomed as I do now with Trump as our President. I believe that there is something very wrong with Donald Trump’s physical and mental health. Is it bad medication, is it a disease or disorder of the blood or brain, could it be the onset of dementia? I’m not a doctor, I don’t even play one on TV, but I can’t believe that all of the chaos and comedy and horror of Trump’s words and actions are that of a man sound of mind and body.

Or he’s just one of the worst human beings on earth. And millions of people voted for him. Which might say a lot about where our country is going if we don’t stop screwing around.

Maybe that’s why I’m searching for a different reason.

Hi, Nice To See You

Before I post the next blog entry, I just want to say that I’ve been away from writing for far too long. This means that my style and eloquence will be a little less polished than maybe it used to be. Please bear with me as I try to to get back in the game.

Ok, so it wasn’t that great before, either, but you get my drift.

I’d like most of all to thank my beautiful and talented and incredibly smart wife, Megan, for encouraging me to do this again.

Time To Write

I need to write.
I need to create something.
I need to do something physical.
I need to be me.
I need to make a life for Meg.
I need to be my vision of a father.
I need to be a good father.
I need to be good.
I need to make good on my promise.
I need to laugh.
I need to make others laugh.
I need to learn humility.
I need to have​ friends.
I need to learn a song.
I need to learn a song​ that moves her.
I need to remember my failings.
I need to know that one failure does not end us.
I need to understand that these needs are important.
I need to remember that we’re in this together.
I need to remember that her friends are also mine.
I need to be as good to her as she is to me.
I want the strength to make all of these things happen.
I know I can do all of this.

Surprise

HI folks. Been a while. Just seeing if this still works.and where it goes. Let me know if you see anything!

Time For A Little Reckoning

Folks, a congresswoman got shot in the head the other day, and some more people DIED including a federal judge and a 9 year old girl whose entire life was bookended by tragedy. Why? Because some unbalanced fucknut took a gun and did the unthinkable. Except that it is thinkable, it is possible, it is something that happens more often that we all ever know, because most of the time the victims are anonymous or unimportant to the public at large.  Even more, this sort of tragedy will probably continue to happen for as long as us humans are still running the show on this here planet.  I don’t know exactly what all the blaming is going to accomplish other than ramping up the hate some more.  Not that it matters all that much; I am pretty sure that even if Barack Obama and Sarah Palin had a joyful hug in front fo the White House at noon on Easter Sunday in front of a joint session of Congress and then everyone went out for drinks and swore forever more to say only kind words about each other, some people out there are going to do heinous and unthinkable things. 

Does this mean that I absolve the Right of all blame?  Well, I don’t think the Right is totally to blame, but you gotta be careful what you wish for, and understand that bullseyes (and they WERE bullseyes, don’t piss on my leg and tell me it’s raining, Sarah Palin) can be interpreted different ways by a lot of different (and not so stable) people.  And you on the Left, I’d maybe just sit down and stop being so indignant; Sarah Palin did NOT pull the trigger, and no lawyer can spin it so that it’s her fault, and trying to blame this solely on someone’s politics is probably pushing it.

Maybe later, after I’ve totally thought all this through, I’ll feel a little differently.  However, right now I see this for what I think it really is – some unbalanced person with a past history of threats and (possibly) mental problems that should probably have been addressed long ago, who took a gun and killed a bunch of people and ultimately failing to kill the one person he was really after.  To say that this is indicative of anything more than a crazy person would be a bit disingenous, to say the least.

Another First

Happy First Birthday to my little boy, Brendan.  He’s a happy kid, and he makes me very happy, too! 

Small Town

My daughter, Erin, is playing soccer this year in an instructional league.  She’s having fun, and expending some of that boundless energy of youth.  What I like about this league is that it’s been around for many years; in fact, I played soccer in this league twenty eight or so years ago.  That seems like a long time, but it’s something that gives me a little sense of place and history as a person.  This is where I grew up and learned and now I am passing some of that to the next generation.

Another thing that it brings up is the comfort level I have with things that are familiar, and the familiarity I enjoy with so many of the things around me.  I live in the same town I grew up in.  My kids will go to the same middle and high schools that I attended.  I never think of my house as particularly old, but it was built in 1954, the same time and in much the same design as the house my parents have owned for forty years.  I used to hang out in the same bar in which my parents met as twenty-somethings.  The beach, the playgrounds, the town hall, the stores, all part of my past and my future as well.

This is not to say that I haven’t explored the area a little.  I’ve been in the city more in the last two years than I probably was from 1990 until 2008.  My friends are a little more spread out, and I don’t get lost anywhere north of Blasdell. I never moved away, I never moved back, I don’t have the frame of reference that some people have who have lived in a huge city or a hundred miles from nowhere.  Some people would say that my lack of experience with other areas, other paces and styles of life, is why I love Western New York so much.  Somehow, I don’t think so.  I like seasons, lakes, twenty minutes to everywhere, and running into someone I know all the time.  Maybe I’m missing out on somewhere else, but I don’t think so.  Right here seems just fine with me.  Sure there’s parts that I don’t like: politics, taxes, sparse job market.  But I think I’d rather take my chances with that, than start fresh somewhere else.  That’s my opinion, and that’s all it is…

Hot Air

It looks like I made the paper again; this time, in an article about electric costs and air conditioning.  It’s been interesting to look at my usage this summer, especially once I saw that my bill went up something like 59% from July to August.  Also interesting, and something I plan to take more advantage of, is that the utility companies have a lot of information on your usage that you can actually download into a spreadsheet and analyze at your convenience.  I plan to do this more, especially with the electric and natural gas bills.

If anyone has any suggestions on how to go about this, or if there’s any software out there to help track this stuff, let me know.  hopefully some analysis and conservation will save me some cash for more fun things…like mortgage payments!

So

Question For My Mechanic Friends

I’ve got a little problem. You all know that 1989 Festiva I’ve got, right? Well, the front brakes are getting sort of bad, and I’ve got to change the pads and probably rotors. I took the first step the other day; more accurately, I attempted to take the first step, which is to find out how bad the problem is. I jacked up the car, and removed the lug bolts from the left side front tire. Unfortunately, the wheel didn’t pop right off the hub. In fact, I couldn’t get the damned wheel off at all. I beat the rim from the inside with a 3 lb. hammer, and it didn’t budge.

My question is, what the hell do I do next? I’ve got a few ideas. First, up the ante. Get a full size sledgehammer and hit the rim from the inside again. This used to work for me when I worked at Dunn Tire. The problem is that I don’t have a hydraulic car lift, and I hesitate to beat on such a light car while it’s sitting up on a little tiny jack.

I also thought of just taking the car over to a local place like Dunn Tire or Big D, and having them rotate the tires, and let them figure it out.  I just worry that they’ll refuse to move the tires in the first place, since the rear ones aren’t exactly going to pass the next inspection.  They’re a little worn.  OK, a lot worn.

I am stuck.  Like the wheel.  So what should I try next?

Down A Quarter

Today was the final weigh-in of my family’s Biggest Loser contest, and the results are in. On January 2nd, I weighed 292.8 pounds. Today, I weigh 267.4 pounds. I have lost 25.4 pounds this year. Not exactly a fiery pace, but I’ll take it. 

The trick, as always, is to continue the things that got me down 25 pounds.  I’ve been pretty good at not eating late at night, and I’ve pretty much cut out pop except for once a week or so.  The hardest thing for me to do is exercise.  I haven’t been able to commit to a regular routine.  If I want to get further, I’ll have to get something figured out so that I can get some regular exercise.

For now, I am glad of the 25 pounds gone, and am looking forward to losing a bit more.  Right after this weekend.