Day Fifty-Three - Getting Ready for San Francisco!

I will be in San Francisco in six days.  I think that most of the big things are planned.  We could probably plan out exactly which days we will do everything.  I mean, we already know that we are going on a trip to the wine country and Muir Woods on Thursday since it is booked and paid for.  We already know that we are going to the baseball game on Saturday afternoon since those tickets are bought.  But we don't know exactly when we are doing everything else.

So, maybe that is what I will work on today.  I think we will do the Hop On Hop Off bus on either Wednesday or Friday.  I need to look at the stops for that and figure out what we will be able to hit from there.  Then decide what we need to do on the day that we don't have the HOHO to move us around.  We also have the time in which we walk to and from the baseball game to see some things.  It would make sense to do the HOHO on Wednesday since it sort of helps you get your bearings and gives you information about places you pass that you might not have otherwise known.  Then we will know what we need to go back to on Friday.

I think we will have plenty of time to see everything.  It is just a matter of organizing our time.  We really want to walk across the Golden Gate Bridge.  But I understand that it is a 1.7 mile walk making it 3.4 miles round trip.  That could take a while at our speed and stopping to take pictures.  Plus we are already starting to line up a stack of restaurants that we have to go to.  I do like having restaurants that we want to visit.  It eliminates the decision making once you get there.

In Barcelona, we didn't have any restaurants picked out ahead of time and we wasted a couple of hours our first night walking from one place to another trying to decide.  I don't think we ate a single bad meal that entire trip.  So, we probably could have eaten at any of the places we thought about and been happy.  But live and learn.  The meals in Barcelona may have also been so fantastic because they were so few and far between!  We were so busy all day everyday that I think we only had lunch once!  Dinners weren't until at least 9 there because that is apparently the way it is done.  But I don't remember ever being overly hungry.  We both lost weight on that trip.  I hope that happens in San Francisco.  I don't see how we can go wrong.  I mean with all of those hills to walk up and down and planning a 3.4 mile walk from the get go, I think it is destined.

I love the days leading up to a trip.  There is so much planning to be done.  You sort of immerse yourself in the city you are planning to visit.  It is almost like the trip really begins about a week before, when you are planning things everyday, making lists and on Trip Advisor 10 times a day checking on your forum posts and asking last minute questions.  Even though I have been to SF before, I am trying to treat this like my first trip there since that last time, I just followed other people around.  At this point if asked where anything was, I doubt I would even be able to find the GGB without a map.

I'm terrible about asking directions once I get to a place.  You can ask my friend, Katherine about that.  The first time I went to NYC for fun was with Katherine and she had no problem asking people for directions.  I on the other hand was mortified every time she did it.  I thought they would know once we asked which stop to get off on the subway that we were tourists.  I think her reasoning was that they probably figured out when I was incapable of getting on the subway during rush hour that we weren't locals.  So we may as well figure out the right place to get off.

I'll never forget standing on that subway platform on Monday morning at about 8 a.m.  There were hundreds of other people standing around also, but it never dawned on me that when the subway doors opened there would be a massive rush to get inside the car and if you didn't push your way on you would be waiting for the next train.  So, I just stood there in a sea of people sort of in shock.  The doors closed and the train took off and I started laughing.  I had never seen anything like it before!!!!  Katherine said something like, "why didn't you get on?"  I think I said something like, "you didn't get on either!" and she responded saying she couldn't just go without me.  So, then we made a plan.  When the next train came, we were just going to shove and force our way on.  It worked.  I may have held on to Katherine's shirt.  I am not sure.  It was a really long time ago.  I do believe that at one point during that conversation she may have mentioned that we weren't in Texas and people weren't going to just stand back and wait for us to stroll on to the train.

Once we were on she asked a really nice looking man in a suit which stop we should get off on for Wall St.  Her reasoning turned out to be that he looked like he probably worked on Wall St. so he was the perfect person  to ask.  He was very nice and even told us when we had reached the stop.  But I was embarrassed anyway.  Since then I have gotten better about that sort of thing.  I am not sure why I have an aversion to asking people for help when I am in a strange city.  But I really do.  I know that when someone asks me for help and I am able to, I always give them the directions they need and it doesn't bother me a bit.  So, I am not sure why I feel that I am inconveniencing someone else by doing the same.

During that same trip to NYC, we had a cab driver tell us that we were staying in a sketchy part of town.  He mentioned as he drove us back to our hotel after a late dinner that there were a lot of street walkers in the area.  Of course being from Texas and never having seen anything like that before, our response was to ask him to point some out.  I don't think he expected that!  That trip was a really long time ago.  It was my first vacation with a friend.  We had so much fun and it helped me to figure out that if I was going to travel like that in the future, I should really plan things out.

Since then I have been on numerous trips with my friend Jenny and I think we have learned a lot along the way.  Here is a short list of some of the things I have learned.

• A surprisingly large number of people in Europe speak English and those who don't are not opposed to pantomime.  
• On any given day in any port city in the world, everyone can tell you where the cruise ships are and how to find your way back to them.  
• In other parts of the world, a lot of people smoke, deal with it.
• When on an island or in a coastal city, always order the fish.
• Wine is cheaper than water in many parts of Europe.  Drink wine!
• New Yorkers are for the most part a lot nicer than people make them out to be.
• Know what you want to order before you get to the counter in a NY deli.  The people who work deli counters are the exception to the previous remark.
• It is impossible to get a cab in front of GCS while the UN Assembly is in session and it is 6 p.m. on a weekday.  Figure out something else!
• Always carry a hoodie to California.  You will need it at some point.
• If you remember to pack an umbrella, it will not rain.
• Always carry a small utility flashlight.  
• If a local person says, "it's a nice little hike", that means you will only be sore for 4 days max from climbing this MOUNTAIN. 
• On a map when you are outside of Texas distances always look a lot further than they actually are.  An inch in Italy is two blocks.  An inch in Texas is 200 miles.  Scale matters.

Have a good day.  I'll leave you with a few pictures of a "little hike" we did in Hawaii.

Day Fifty-Six - Water Falling From the Sky!!!!

Oh my gosh!!!!  I love a good rainstorm and this my friends is a GREAT rainstorm.  I woke up initially this morning to some thunder which encouraged me to roll over and go back to sleep.  I finally looked at the clock just a few minutes ago when the thunder woke me up again and it was 10:15!!!!  Greatness!  So, now here in north Dallas we are in the midst of a good old fashioned downpour.

This creates one small problem.  I have two cats attached to me like Velcro which makes it sort of hard to type.  Jingle is worse than Shiner.  Shiner is trying to act manly and will hop down between the claps of thunder.  Either that or he is not smart enough to realize that just because the most recent clap of thunder has passed doesn't mean that there is not another on the way.  So, each time it thunders he comes running back over to the desk.  Jingle, however, is taking no chances.  If I didn't get so ugly when he set on my keyboard that is exactly where he would be right now.

So, last night was dinner club.  We went to an Italian restaurant in Richardson.  It is called Cappuccino's Italian Bistro.  I tell you this because there were only a few people there last night including the five of us.  We asked for a table in the back (since we tend to have a really good time and sometimes get a little noisy) so it was hard to see most of the other tables.  But I could see the door from where I was sitting and I only recall seeing a few people coming into the restaurant.  The food was good.  I had been there once before and recall it being really good.  I don't know if Tuesday is just a quiet night for them or if business is off.  But if they have a lot of nights like last night I can't imagine them remaining open for long.  I would really like to see them succeed.

That restaurant and many others like it are one of the things that I love about where I live.  You know how you always hear realtors using that location, location, location, phrase?  Well for me, this is the perfect location.  Sometimes I hate my condo, particularly in the summer when it is 100 degrees outside, but if I could move this house out of the way and replace it with my dream house in this exact location I would be the happiest person around.

My address is Dallas, yet I am in Collin county and Plano ISD.  So I think it is the best of both worlds.  To my east and southeast is Richardson and about 4 miles southwest of my house is Addison, but a small sliver of Dallas comes up north as far as the George Bush tollway and I live in that sliver.  I can ride my bike to do pretty much anything I am inclined to.  I am able to ride it to the grocery store, Target and Pet Smart, to any of 20 or 30 restaurants (including Cappuccino's).  Yet my neighborhood is fairly quiet with big old trees and street parties.  The city of Dallas does have a police and fire station a few blocks away so I do hear sirens at times.  But that has never bothered me.  In fact, I think I sort of like the sirens.  I know that is weird, but when you live alone and don't have constant contact with others it kind of reminds you that there are other people out there living their lives.

When I first came to the Dallas area 20 years ago, I went into Dallas a couple of times a week.  At the time I lived way out in Plano at Legacy and Preston.  So, it was a long haul to go into the city.  When I say into Dallas, I mean at least inside LBJ.  I was an apartment dweller until 8 years ago so I moved fairly often.

While I lived in that first apartment, I worked at the old Prestonwood Mall which was torn down years ago.  I transferred to Towneast while still living at Preston and Legacy.  I hated that drive.  So, I found an apartment in Richardson at Jupiter and Beltline.  It was a decent location but the apartment itself was very dated and a little scary.  Then I got transferred to Tyler, so I got the greatest patio home in history there and paid 2/3 of what I had paid for a crappy apartment in Dallas.  But six months later, I was transferred back to Dallas to work at Park Central, in the area where the "high five" is now.  For some reason, I got a patio home in Rowlett.  It was less expensive, but I made up for that in gas.  I could see the lake if I went out to the front yard, but I never went out there because there were too many bugs.

When I was pretty sure that I would be moving to the home office soon, I got a new apartment in Plano on the tollway where Willowbend Mall is now.  Willowbend had not been built at the time.  I got transferred to the home office a few weeks after I moved.  I lived in that apartment until I bought my condo.  As I lived in each of those locations, I would say that I went into Dallas a minimum of 2 or 3 times a week for entertainment purposes.  But now I think the closest I get to LBJ on a regular basis is when I go to the gym.  Is this an indication that I am getting old?  Or is everything just so conveniently located here that I don't feel a need to go into the city?

Growing up, we lived on Nottingham Dr. for about 6 years.  That is the second longest I have ever lived in one location.  I have lived in this condo longer than that.  Maybe that is part of what makes this feel so much like home to me.  I know, to a lot of people this place wouldn't see like such a great prize.  But for me, there is no place like home.

I hope you all get some of this rain because it is wonderful!  Have a great day!

Day Fifty-Five - No! My Spidey Senses are NOT Tingling!

My schedule is going to be messed up all week.  Not only did yesterday seem like Sunday, but tonight is dinner club and it is normally on a Wednesday!  It may be next weekend before I figure out what day it is.  But it was a great Memorial Day.  All of my family was at Mom and Dad's house except for Jacob who was missed.  I'm thinking about trekking up to Denton one day this week to have lunch with him.  I think it would be fun.

While I was in Nacogdoches, one disturbing thing happened.  I got bit by a spider on my hand.  At least I think I got bit by a spider.  I know to most people this doesn't seem too disturbing.  After all, I am still alive.  Apparently, I still have both of my hands or this typing thing would be going much slower....  But I am terrified of spiders and this is exactly why!  They are sneaky, evil creatures that are so quiet and small and stealth that they can crawl around on your body, find a perfect spot to bite you and do their thing without you ever knowing it until later when your hand turns red, blisters and stings!

So afterwards, you are left to wonder what bit you.  Was it simply an ant?  Maybe it was some kind of evil stinging worm from picking green beans.  Or it might have been the most frightening prospect of all, the creepy crawly spider.  I could deal with the worm or the ant.  After all, how often do you read a story on the internet where someone in Missouri was bitten by a worm while picking green beans and is now missing both arms, both legs and an ear as all of his/her extremities are slowly amputated in hopes of getting ahead of the deadly worm venom????  Never!  That's how often.  You don't hear about that because it only happens with spiders.

What's worse is that people forward photos to you at work of someone's foot three weeks after it was bitten by a spider and you can't even tell that it is a foot anymore!  This is one of the reasons that I never want to go back into a work situation where I sit in an office in front of a computer all day.  I can't deal with the constant spider bite photos that are sailing around through cyberspace all the time!  It is out of control people!  Stop with the spider bite photos!!!!

My possible spider bite is currently red.  Some of the dead skin has peeled away leaving a red spot about the size of a dime.  It currently looks like I had a splinter and removed it with a needle.....  you know, it looks like a small pin prick.  But don't let that fool you.  I am probably only days away from an amputation!

The worst part is, that it is my right hand!  I'm a righty!  This is very bad news.  It could severely impact my ability to throw a good right hook if the need arises.  You guys know how I'm always boxing....  This catastrophe has actually made me think about how many things I do with my right hand that I would not be able to do without it.  When we were kids and were learning to write we absolutely needed our writing hand whether it be left or right.  I broke my right arm in first grade and was a little behind the rest of my class because of it.  (I wish I could tell you how I broke my right arm in first grade, but it is the most controversial story in the entire Meyers family and would take several days of blogging to complete, so let's just leave it at "I broke my right arm."  Maybe I'll open that can of worms on another day.)

Now, we take notes on our cell phones.  If you have one thumb, you can text or take notes on a cell phone fairly adequately.  Currently, I have a grocery list on my cell phone and notes concerning two songs I want to download as well as the brand name of a broccoli slaw that Mom bought a few weeks ago that I liked and didn't want to forget.  One of my nephews keeps a list of things that he thinks are funny on his cell phone.  Sunday night, he added the "buccaneer joke" to that list.  My only surprise was that the joke seemed to be new to him.

Losing my right hand would affect my bowling game at first.  But in all honesty, my bowling game is so bad that it would only be a few weeks before I could be just as good with my left hand as I have ever been with my right.  If I were a person who liked shooting guns, I guess I would need my right hand for that.

There would be a balance issue.  Let's face it.  I have trouble maintaining my balance with all of my limbs in place when I am stone sober.  You start removing limbs and I'll just be flailing around like a fish out of water!  If I lost my hand I would never be able to have another glass of wine because people would always think I had had too much to drink.  I would take one sip of wine and fall over due to my balance issue caused by the lack of a right hand all because of the evil spider and people would be saying, "Oh my God!!!  Susan's drunk!"  See spiders are hateful horrible creatures.

Beyond that I think I would be okay without my right hand other than when people looked at me sympathetically and I felt inclined to explain the loss of my right hand, I would have to re-hash the spider bite which would totally freak me out every time.  Reliving the knowledge that an evil spider crawled onto my hand, nosed around for a good place to bite me, then left before I ever knew what happened would without a doubt be the worst part.

So, you sick people just continue to enjoy your silly little Charlotte's Web story.  I never understood how someone could think a story about an evil spider who talks would be appropriate for small children!  While you're at it, you may as well convince your kids that poison ivy is good too.  Sunday night while I was in distress over my possible spider bite my sister-in-law asked me if my "spidey senses" were tingling....  The joke is going to be on her when my hand falls off.  Have a good laugh Christina!  I think I will go spray some Windex on this spider bite.  Have a good day!

Day Fifty-Two - This is War!!!

I'm just going to go ahead and throw this out there.  Do what you want with it.  Dieting Sucks!  I know, it's not a revolutionary thought.  But it is really no fun.  And sometimes when you are really hungry, it's hard to be revolutionary.

Before I started writing this today, I went to Facebook to see what was going on with my friends and what is going on is that they are all losing weight and in big ways!  I'm very happy for them.  You won't find a bigger cheerleader than me when it comes to beating the "fat gremlins".  I hate those little "fat gremlins" and we all need to join forces to eradicate them from the face of the earth.  They are evil and they need to die.  

For my skinny friends who have never battled the "fat gremlins", they are the little devils who come into your room at night while you are sleeping and totally undo everything good you did during the day.  They start by just making you dream about something as innocent as going to dinner with friends.  In your dream, you look really thin!!!!  So, you order fried shrimp instead of grilled shrimp.  If you are getting fried shrimp then you have to get fries and slaw with them, right?  But what the hell, it is dream you, and dream you is skinny!!!!  Then everybody orders dessert and it would be rude if you just sat there and watched them eat while your mouth watered, so you order the Tiramisu.  Then you wake up the next morning and immediately go fry bacon and eggs adding the half pound back on that you worked so hard to take off yesterday.  

After you have eaten your four slices of crispy fried bacon and those piping hot over easy fried eggs with toast and a big glass of OJ, you are too full to go for your walk and, what the heck, taking off once or twice a week is good for you, right????  After all, gotta let the ol' body recover from all of that strenuous walking you did yesterday.  The last thing we want here is a bad set of knees.  So, no exercise for you today!  Then the next morning you wake up and hop on the scale ready to start the battle against the hated "fat gremlins" again and you have gained 3 pounds!  All because in a dream you ordered fried shrimp instead of grilled shrimp.

Sometimes, you can out maneuver the "fat gremlins".  My parents call this willpower.  I'm going to have to take their word for that since it's been a long time since I have experienced it.  How this works, from what I can recall, is the morning after the "fat gremlin" induced fried shrimp dream, you wake up and think to yourself....  "Wow!!!!  Those dream shrimp were pretty good!  I think I'll go have half a grapefruit and a healthy portion of plain low fat Greek yogurt now."  Then you turn and smile at the non-existent camera and your teeth sparkle just like a 1950's toothpaste commercial.  You look just a little like the mom from Pleasantville as this takes place.  When you are able to do this, you can faintly hear the distressed cries of evil little "fat gremlins" in the distance.

But the next day, the joke is on you.  When you drag yourself out of bed with your stomach grumbling from hunger and stagger to the bathroom scale to see if you really dropped the 5 pounds overnight that you dreamed about, the "fat gremlins" jump on the scale behind you and there has been no change in your weight.  You think to yourself, "how can this be?  I did everything right yesterday.  Why can't I see a difference?"  This is when the "fat gremlins" experience one of their biggest victories.  The following thought enters your head at this point no matter how hard you try to keep it from coming in.....  "If I worked that hard yesterday and did everything right and still did not lose weight, then I may as well just eat whatever I want!"  This is a serious blow to a diet.  At this point in the weight war, the "fat gremlins" have the clear upper hand.  

That's right, I called it a war.  I don't think we can mince words anymore.  It is a war... ON FAT!  We can't let fat win.  We must prevail!  (If you would like to start humming The Battle Hymn of the Republic right now, that would help me out a little.)  In any war there are casualties.  In the war on fat, it is usually my self esteem and occasionally, my bathroom scale as I pick it up and throw it across the room.

The reality is that diets just suck.  There is nothing to be done about it except to battle the "fat gremlins" day after day with a little support from your friends.  I think it is important to note here, that too much support from your friends can sometimes be helpful to the "fat gremlins".  There have been several occasions in my life (not recently, mind you) when I have successfully battled the little bastards only to have my friends tell me that I looked great and suggest that perhaps it was time to stop dieting so that I don't lose too much weight.  Really???!?!!?!?  For me, this means, "Susan, you look like you could use a few platters of fried shrimp!"  It's the worst thing anyone can say to me.  For me, it would be far less cruel to hear something like, "you look good right now, I hope you are able to maintain it".  If you say anything more complimentary than that to me, I am sorry, I don't hear you anyway, because in my mind - just like in cartoons, you have just turned into a big roasted leg of lamb and I'm holding a knife and fork.

Congratulations to my friends who are successfully battling the "fat gremlins" and winning.  I hope to be joining your ranks soon.  By the way, I won't be blogging tomorrow since I am going to be at a big BBQ eating everything that doesn't get out of my way in Nacogdoches.  I'll talk to you again on Monday afternoon!  Happy Memorial Day!

Day Fifty One - Is This Summer Vacation?

I was just thinking about my friends who are teachers and that this was probably their last week with kids before summer vacation.  I guess the teachers probably have to go back and work a few more days next week.  I really don't understand how all of that works.  But then in another week or so, even the teachers will be off for a few months.  Thank goodness for the teachers.  It's a job I could never have done and I don't understand how others do it.

But the teacher thing got me to thinking about summer vacation when I was a kid.  Remember how much fun we had when we were kids and school was out?  Everyday for nearly three full months you woke up and thought, "what am I going to do today?" and the sky was the limit!  I can't tell you how many fun things I did during the summer when I was a kid.  We lived in this neighborhood with about 25 other kids our age and not too many mom's in the neighborhood worked so we all got to stay home all summer.

The summers on Nottingham Dr. consisted of things like riding horses, playing baseball in the pasture down the street, riding bikes from dawn to dusk, playing army, having pine cone fights, crawdadding in the creek, or just playing down at the creek, picking blackberries....  Eventually, the summer before the 3rd grade Mary K. Sanders moved in next door and she and I would play Barbie's at her house but until then, I always just played with the boys.  When we first moved to Nottingham Dr. I was the only girl in the neighborhood.  Later a few others girls moved in but they weren't really that much fun.  When Kara Compton moved in, she and I would play together.  But since Kara also had brothers, she was okay playing with the boys too.

There were very few trips to the pool because at the time Nacogdoches didn't have a public pool.  So you had to know somebody with a membership at the country club, or at the Holiday Inn.  Yes, that's right, at the time the Holiday Inn in Nacogdoches sold memberships to come and swim there.  We took swimming lessons at the SFA pool, but you could only swim there during your swimming lesson and then leave.  You weren't allowed to have fun.

During the first half of each summer my brothers always had baseball practice in the evenings.  So I had to go too.  That sucked.  While they were at practice, I would make up games to play by myself.  Sometimes Susan Rodrigues would be there because her brothers were on Robbie's team and we would play together. But baseball practices and games were really the only place we went during the summer on a daily basis.  I didn't mind going to the games because you could always get a snow cone.  We would spend all of our time chasing foul balls so that we could get more snow cones, because one was never enough.

My mom had three major rules during the summer:

1. Be home in time for lunch.  (Dad came home for lunch a lot of the time and when his company truck came into the driveway, we had better be right behind it so that we could walk in the house with him.)  If dad didn't come home for lunch, we ate at noon and we better be there.
2. Be home in time for dinner.  We ate every night at about 6.  I'm not sure what would have happened if we hadn't gotten home in time for dinner because we always did.  But I'm pretty sure it would have been something like, "hope you ate enough at lunch, because your next meal will be tomorrow morning".
3. Play OUTSIDE!  

Some days it would be super hot and we would come in during the heat of the day and watch cartoons.  But for the most part, we just toughed it out in the Texas summers.  It seems like now, it just gets hotter every summer.  Back then I didn't really notice it being that hot.  Maybe I was too busy having fun.

My younger brother, Ronnie, always had a BB gun and loved to hunt birds with it.  But when he was real young, probably about 6 years old, he didn't want to go out into the woods by himself to hunt, so he would get me to go with him.  I was about 7.  So, one day I decided to take a bowl and pick blackberries while he hunted.  I filled a big mixing bowl in a very short amount of time, much to Ronnie's dismay.  So, I turned around and told Ronnie I was going to head back home with the blackberries and ask mom to make us a cobbler.  This would have left Ronnie in the woods alone and he was having none of that.  So, he told me that I had to stay with him until he was finished hunting.  I said no.  He said if I didn't he was going to shoot me.  I didn't think there was anyway in the world he would really shoot me.  So, I turned around and started walking toward the house with my blackberries and he SHOT ME!!!!  He got me right in the back of the thigh!  I was wearing shorts and it hurt!  I yelled, "I'M TELLING MOMMA!!!"  He very calmly said, "you do, and I'll shoot you again."  So, I sat down against a tree and started eating unwashed blackberries.

I never said a word to mom until years later.  I think we were in college when it finally came out at dinner one night.  There were several stories like that.  It was probably best that my parents didn't know about them at the time.  But now we all sit around and laugh about them.  At the time, I am sure that he would have been punished for about half a century.

My last summer vacation was in 1979.  It was the summer between my sophomore and junior year in high school.  That summer we moved from Lumberton, Texas to Bay City, Texas.  Not the best summer of my life.  In fact it was so traumatic, that my parents didn't make me get a job that summer even though I already had a drivers license.  Bay City was my third high school in 3 years.  My freshmen year started in Nacogdoches  where I had grown up, then in February, we moved to Lumberton and I finished my freshman year and did all of my sophomore year there. That first summer in Bay City, we didn't know anybody yet.  My older brother, Robbie was at SFA already.  So Ronnie and I just kind of stuck together and went to the beach a lot.  The following summer I worked the cash register at Perry's in Bay City.  Since then I have worked every summer of my life.

So, as much as I am beginning to feel pressure to start looking for a job, I really would like to spend at least part of the summer just being a kid again.  After all, it could be another 33 summers before I get to take another one off.....  I think I'll go outside and play now.  Have a great summer!

Day Fifty - Perhaps a New Opportunity for Me....

Congratulate me!  I have not been able to print anything since I got my new computer because for some reason the printer and the computer were not communicating properly.  It was weird because I connected the printer with the cables and I added the printer to the computer devices.  I could see that they were connected both physically and virtually and when I scanned a picture last week, it went into my pictures.  So there was communication happening between the two devices.  Yet every time I clicked on Print, I got an error message saying that nothing had been sent to OneNote yet.

I couldn't figure it out.  So this evening I finally decided to see if I could figure it out.  I Googled OneNote, it was some sort of Microsoft software that was going to cost $40.  I couldn't believe that if it was software I needed for printing, it wouldn't have been put on the computer already.  So, I decided to play around with trying to add another printer.  I clicked a few buttons and the stupid thing started printing!  I opened the devices back up and there was this OneNote thing in there!  It wasn't there before.  I didn't buy anything.  I guess it was there all along but I just had not clicked on the right thing before.  I guess you can tell from all of this that I am a total computer whiz.

This is why I always laugh when people ask me questions about computers.  My parents do that.  I can tell you anything you want to know about TMMP, I have become proficient at Excel, I'm even pretty good with Word.  But I don't know the first thing about computers.  When I can't get mine to do what I want, I unplug it and then try again after I get it started back up.  When I was working there isn't a doubt in my mind that when I picked up my phone and dialed 1-6900, they all looked at the caller ID and did Rock, Paper, Scissors to see who had to answer.  The loser had to take the call.  It's not that I am a computer dummy.  I have just always had someone to call when the computer or printer or whatever didn't work.

I had a virus on my home computer a few months ago.  I cannot even begin to imagine how many emails, friends, relatives, acquaintances, random people who had sent me one email in the past and everyone else who ever got into my address book whether intentionally or not got from me with this random attachment.  I knew I had a virus when I started getting random emails on my work computer and on my cell phone from myself that I had not sent.  Probably just about everyone reading this got them.

It went on for two weeks before a friend took pity on me and helped.  In reality, he was probably just getting tired of getting the emails.  I think he said that at one point he got 4 or 5 from me in a 24 hour period!  He helped me to get most of the problem taken care of.  After that I found an article on the internet about getting rid of a virus and followed the steps it suggested and it finally knocked it the rest of the way out.

The nice thing about a virus like that is that you get reacquainted with people you haven't talked to in a long time!  I can't tell you how many people who I hadn't spoken to in 4 or 5 years called, emailed, or Facebook'd me to see what was going on with those emails.  The real telling thing though, was the people that I am in contact with on a daily basis never really mentioned it.... because they knew that I was sitting back hoping that a virus fairy would come down and magically fix it.  In my defense, I couldn't turn my computer on at home because it wouldn't work.  And the former employer (who shall not be named) had Yahoo email blocked so I couldn't get into it from work to shutdown the email address or change the password.

So, yeah, I think I deserve a prize of some kind for printing a map on my computer this evening.  My friend Jenny, can tell you that I have sent several emails to her recently asking her to print them for me since I was incapable of it.  So, now we know that not only am I qualified to be a Planner, but I'm also probably well on my way to being qualified to work in IT.  I have to go now.  I'm going to add this to my Linked In profile.

Day Forty-Nine - Weight Loss, Here I Come!

You're not going to believe this....  Wait for it.....  I went to the gym yesterday!!!!  I know!  It's crazy, right???!??!  I was sort of minding my own business when it happened.  I mean, I didn't ask for this. See what happened was, I booked this trip to San Francisco.  Then I sent Jenny the booking information and asked her to print it since I am a little printer challenged right now.  So, she replied and said that I needed to go to the gym and do the treadmill with an incline to prepare for the hills.  She can say this to me because if there is one thing I know it is that I need to exercise.  Additionally, she and I both know that in Barcelona if it had been necessary for us to run up that hill to Tibidabo, I would have kicked her ass!  I'm just saying....  Of course since she didn't know it was a race I had a slight head start.

So, anyway, I went to the gym and got my incline up as high as a 5.0.  I know for you fitness geeks that isn't much.  But for me it is just shy of climbing Everest!  Anyone who knows me knows that I am practically never happy when I sweat and let me tell you that I sweated at the gym.  But what I really need is Bob standing behind me yelling "TALK!  TALK! TALK!!!!!  THAT'S ALL YOU DO!"  That man scares me.

This morning when came downstairs, my calves hurt walking down the stairs.  So I suppose that is a good thing.  It must mean that they got a little bit of a workout.  So that is very exciting.  In addition to the victory of just going to the gym, I may have actually benefited from it.  I could probably use this soreness as an excuse not to go today.  But I don't see that happening.  After all, I have three reasons to go now.

1. I have to get myself to a point in the next 12 days that I can walk all over San Francisco without having a stroke.
2. I can't let Jenny do better than me in San Francisco because that would be like losing some kind of contest and while I don't have the competitive gene when it comes to things like bowling, I will kill myself to beat you at something like this.
3. My parents and I started a diet last week and my first week was terrible!

So, I did everything I needed to do last night before going to bed to prepare for going to the gym today so that I can't come up with an excuse.  I liked going in the middle of the afternoon yesterday.  I think that might become my time to go until I start working again.  There were two people inside the gym besides me and the workers.  It was sort of like having my own Planet Fitness!  Which is great because when Ray and Debra were arguing on Everybody Loves Raymond and I laughed out loud, people didn't turn and stare at me.

I also watched part of the Rachel Ray show which I had never seen before.  I mean I saw her on the Food Network when she did $40 a Day and stuff like that.  But I don't think I have seen her on this particular show.  She made oven baked pork roast steaks.... I'm sure they were low fat.  But she also did this salad that looked really good and I wanted to try it.  I missed the beginning of her making that, so I wasn't sure about all of the ingredients.  So, on my way home from the gym I went and bought the ones that I did see her use and then came on home expecting to look the recipe up on line when I got here.  I still haven't found the damn recipe.  But I used most of the ingredients anyway to make a green salad.  And I don't want to brag, but it might be the best green salad ever made.  Along with my salad I had corn on the cob and a sirloin steak that I threw on the grill.  But I did cut all the fat off the steak before grilling it, so I think it was probably a pretty healthy piece of beef.  Of course, it may have weighed slightly more than 3 oz. or whatever a healthy portion is.

So, the whole trip to the gym yesterday really got me motivated.  Maybe it is just the kick in the pants I needed to stop eating crap all the time and start getting off my fat butt.  And I guess I owe the trip to the gym to Jenny, so thanks Jenny!  Last night after I got home she texted me to say how long she had walked on her treadmill and at what incline.  She beat me.  Which means, that today, I will do at least what she did yesterday, perhaps a little more.  I hope they have a good defibrillator at Planet Fitness.

Jenny and I used to go to the gym together and I always did better when we went together.  It really helps me to measure myself against somebody.  When the only other two people in the gym are a man with one of those weight lifting belts on who grunts a lot and a man who weighs 750 lbs and must lift his stomach in order to step on the treadmill, it is hard to measure yourself against them.  But hey, you work with what you've got!  So, I don't mind telling you that I kicked the 750 pound mans ass on both speed and incline on that treadmill!!!!  He also gave out WAY before me!  That's right!!!!  Who's your momma, big man!!?!!  I can't wait to see him today.... He's going DOWN!!!!

Day Forty-Eight - Surprise Travel Plans!

Well, yesterday was kind of exciting!  I booked a trip to San Francisco!  My travel buddy Jenny and I are going in June for just 4 nights.  But it will be fun.  I went once on a trip for the former employer (who shall not be named).  I also went out there on a store trip once, but it doesn't really count since we just flew into the airport, got into a van on the tarmac and drove to visit Bay Area stores, none of which are actually inside the city.  We spent the night in San Jose which was a neat place and flew back the next day.

But the first time the former employer (who shall not be named) sent me out there was actually in the day when things were fun at work and they gave us perks.  I was able to take a friend and for the most part it was just a long "play" weekend.  We went to Sonoma and hit a few wineries.  We did a bus tour of San Francisco, there was a dinner cruise that lasted 4 or 5 hours one evening.   We sailed all over the bay and went under both bridges and around Alcatraz.  Which incidentally was as close as I ever want to get to it.

I don't understand the attraction that people have to Alcatraz.  I see it as a very sad and depressing place.  Yet thousands of tourists flock there annually as though it is some sort of pilgrimage.  I mean I understand pilgrimages in general.  But when I think of a taking a pilgrimage, it is to a place where some significant religious occurrence took place.... or to the wine region.  But I don't get a pilgrimage to an island where criminals lived out their final days with no hope of leaving.  Yesterday when I was researching, Trip Advisor said that Alcatraz is one of the most popular places to visit in SF.  I can think of so many better places to spend my time when I go there.  Maybe as Americans we just have a blood lust that we don't want to admit to and a trip to a place like that helps to satisfy it, however temporarily.  If that's the case you people are sick and I am happy that you are not my travel buddies.

Since I have been there before and it is Jenny's first trip, I told her that I don't really care what we do.  Fortunately, we both agree that Alcatraz holds no interest for us.  I have already done most of the things I am interested in there although I do look forward to going back and getting "better acquainted" with the city.   I think San Francisco is very much like NYC in that respect and in others.  I think that if San Francisco is a place that you enjoy, you can go back year after year and never run out of things to do.  For one thing, you could probably eat at a different place every night for years and never hit the same place twice.  There are also so many iconic sights.  Everywhere you look you see something that you have seen on TV or in a movie.

You don't get that stuff in Dallas.  I mean sure, you could go to Southfork, but I have lived here for nearly 20 years total and I still haven't gone out there because in all honesty, I don't want to.  We also have Dealey Plaza and I have been there several times.  But I always am so sad when I leave.  I understand that it is a sad place and this is the way I should feel.  But at the end of the day, I'd rather spend my tourism dollar going to a beach or at a Broadway play or snorkeling with a turtle that just happened along.

Getting back to San Francisco, the only thing that I told Jenny that I really want to do is to go see a San Francisco Giants game while we are out there.  She agreed since she knows that I am kind of weird about baseball.  I looked at the schedule and as luck would have it, they are playing the Rangers while we are there!!!!  Can you believe it?  So, I am taking my new Rangers shirt and we are going to a ball game!  I cannot wait.

I used to have this crazy dream of visiting every major league ball park which I gave up on when I was in Los Angeles several years ago for a work related function and I couldn't get anybody to take a later flight back on Sunday and go to a Dodgers game with me.  When that happened, I knew that it wasn't destined.  I mean, if you can get cheap Dodgers tickets, you are already in LA at someone else's expense and you can't arrange to go, then how are you going to get to a game at freaking Milwaukee?

Jenny and I went to Seattle a few years ago and planned to go to a Mariners game while there.  But we chickened out.  The homeless population in Seattle is pretty extraordinary and most of them seem to spend their time between Safeco Field and the area where our hotel was located which, by the way, was just a short walk.  We thought it would be too dangerous to walk back to the hotel through that area at night and didn't know how difficult it would be to get a cab so we didn't go.  We drove through the area that night about the time the baseball game was ending and several thousand people were walking through there.  Turns out we would have had many other people to walk with and everything would have been fine.  But who knew?  Anyway, I am going to buy tickets this week for the Giants and Rangers so that we can't back out.  I'm really looking forward to it.

My friend Katherine came over last night to watch The Bachelorette.  Sorry, I can't comment on it since I saw very little of it.  (We talked the whole time.)  I will re-watch it today sometime in case anything interesting happened that I need to make you all aware of.  Anyway, she suggested that while in San Francisco, we need to go to the Muir Woods.  I had read a little about that yesterday.  It sounds real cool.  Katherine said that she loved it.  So, Jenny and I would probably like it too.

Well, it is getting late and I must get some things done.  I will talk to you all tomorrow.  Make it a great Tuesday!

Day Forty-Seven - Various Topics

I noticed yesterday that I inadvertently had two Day Forty-Fours.  If you noticed it previously, I apologize for my faux pas.  If you did not notice it.... what he hell?  Don't you even pay attention to what you are reading?  So, to get back on track, I am skipping Day Forty-Six and going straight to Day Forty-Seven.

I had a very unsuccessful eclipse viewing yesterday afternoon.  It was pretty disappointing.  I went out a couple of times an hour beginning at about 3:50.  It was supposed to have begun at 3:45 in Texas.  I did this until after 7.  I never could tell much of anything.  I took pictures but I needed filters in order to get the eclipse.  Here is what I got with what I had.

This was around 4:30 p.m.

This one was about 5:30 p.m.

You cannot tell that there is an eclipse going on in any of the 30 pictures that I took.  But I thought these were kind of cool anyway, so I thought I would share them.  I did look at the eclipse on a piece of paper like they taught us in science when I was a kid.  So that was kind of cool.  But I would like to have documented it using my camera.

The cool thing is that I enjoyed nice entertainment while I took my pictures. The HOA for the rich neighborhood to the north of my condos was having a Memorial Day celebration at the gazebo while I was taking my photos.  They actually had a band out there with a brass, percussion and woodwind section!  I listened to such classics as Misty and The Stars and Stripes Forever while I photographed the sun.  There were people obviously from my complex sitting near our fence on the grass facing the gazebo enjoying it and even people in my parking lot dancing at one point.  I can't imagine how festive it must have been on the street in front of the gazebo!

My condos are having an HOA meeting this Tuesday night that I will be attending.  It probably won't be quite as festive.  But we are having hotdogs.  The call went out on Friday for some Orthodox Jews to offer up a kosher grill so that all attendees can enjoy the event.  I love living in such a diverse area.  I think it is really cool to drive through my neighborhood on Saturdays and see the Hasidic Jews walking to temple in all of their finery.  Meanwhile the Christmas lights each year never fail to amaze.  We all live here together and love our little neighborhood.

Prior to the hotdog cookout we are supposed to attend a townhall that the Mayor of Dallas is doing over at Campbell Green Rec Center.  I guess he is going to talk about the Cottonbelt Project which I apparently need to know more about.  I guess the railroad tracks that run parallel to my complex might be used for a new DART line.  Everyone in the neighborhood appears to be in an uproar over it.  I don't know how to feel.  While I understand that it could create noise and could bring people into the area that are a "bad element", I sort of think those people are already here due to the "projects" on McCallum.  And if it enables us to use mass transit without getting in our cars and driving 10 minutes first, is that awful?  Oh well, at the very least I know I will be entertained since I have never been to a Willow Greene HOA meeting that didn't involve near fisticuffs.

I am soooo looking forward to tonight.  It is the second episode of this season's The Bachelorette.  It's a train wreck and I LOVE IT!  For me reality TV is always better when it makes you uncomfortable to watch it and I can't imagine being more uncomfortable than this season with that stupid hick Emily.  And men just LOVE her!  I am sort of leaning toward either Ryan or Chris winning.  Although, I think Chris Harrison, the host might end up being the biggest winner of all this year.  I am starting to think that Kelly Ripa might go with him as a co-host on her show.  Especially, now that he is divorced.  He would probably be a huge hit with the stay at home mom.

I'm sorry I have no crazy cat stories today.  I only tell them as I get them.  Jingle and Shiner only give me so much material to work with each week.  And let's face it, you can't make this stuff up.  I do feel that I must tell you that I have deleted the previous book that I was working on and am now entering chapter 3 of a new one.  I think the concept on this one is much better than what I was writing before.  I can tell you, that I have never read this.  I couldn't say that about what I was writing before.  I was coming up with my own words, but I had read that concept before.

More exciting news is that I got a new computer a few weeks ago.  It has been the best thing that I have done in a long time!  My computer runs so much faster now.  It is no longer a chore to turn on the computer.  The only problem I have is that it was a display model that was discounted dramatically as a result.  So, I got no manual with it.  When it goes to "sleep", as far as I know there is no way to wake it back up.  The only thing I can do is turn off the surge protector which is basically like unplugging it and then turn it back on.  Then when it comes back up, everything is still on the screen which is kind of weird.  Right now, I am just trying to remember to always save and close everything then shut it down when I finish using it for a while.  But even with that, it is so much better than what I was dealing with before that there is no comparison.

I know, you don't have to tell me that I can get all of the operating instructions on line.  I am completely aware of this.  You may recall that I posted a blog several weeks ago discussing the fact that I still haven't figured out how to use all of the functions on my DSLR that I have had for a few years because I won't take the time to read the instruction manual.  The same would be true for this computer if I had the instruction manual.  So, what is the point in finding it on line?  It is so much easier to just sit here and whine about it.

Day Forty-Five - Have I Really Stooped So Low?

Can there possibly be a more neurotic cat on the planet than Jingle B. Meyers?  I don't think so.  Here is a typical morning in my household since I have become unemployed.  I wake up and walk downstairs with two cats leading they way.  They race each other downstairs to see which one can be the first to the kitchen and food. I pick up their empty food dishes left on the floor from their last meal the evening before and wash them both thoroughly.  Shiner jumps on the counter so that he can be sure and get his food first.  Then I fill their dishes with fresh catfood.  Shiner starts eating his on the counter because he is entitled.  Jingle casually meanders to some obscure spot in the house and sits quietly waiting for me to seek him out and bring his food to him.  I believe that he does this to test my love.  If I really love him, I will search the house leaving no stone left un-turned until I find him and make sure that he gets the nourishment that he so deserves.

Once I have fed both of them, I make my coffee, open Jingle's favorite window (because sitting and staring out of it if it is closed sucks!), open the patio door for Shiner and open the door to the garage for both of them.  The reason that the door to the garage is opened is that there is a litter box out there.  I leave the window and doors opened until I at least finish my blog sometimes later depending on the outside temperature.

I do all of this for my cats each morning because I love them but also because Jingle is Burmese.  I don't know if you have ever experienced a Burmese cat before.  If you haven't let me just clue you in.  They descend from Siamese cats.  Do you know that remarkably loud annoying and incessant meow that a Siamese cat has?  The one that sounds like a small child whining at a fever pitch?  Burmese cats were blessed with that trait from the Siamese.  When they want anything they attempt to communicate with their human by changing the pitch and length of that horrible blood curdling meow.

I told you previously about how Jingle moves framed pictures and my framed Bob Hope autograph around on the walls while meowing when he wants something.  Then when I finally get up and follow him he leads me to wherever it is he wants me to go.  This really happens everyday.

Most days, there is a legitimate reason for his doing this.  Yesterday my neurotic cat reached an all time low.  Even for him.  He threw his fit, stood on the printer, moved the Bob Hope autograph and would not stop.  All of the doors were opened that are supposed to be.  The window was open.  Everything seemed as it should be.  When I finally followed him he ran at lightening speed out to the garage.  I looked out the door and he stopped when I did and came back to get me to ensure that I would go all the way out into the garage.  Once he was sure that I was all the way outside, he went to the litter box and peed!  When he was done peeing I may have cursed him slightly and started to walk back in the house, but he came back and got me.  He stood between me and door and meowed.  So, I turned back around, he went back to the litter box and pooped!  Once he was done, he casually walked past me back into the house!!!!!!  This was possible because I was in a state of shock!  Seriously, he requires an audience now to use the litter box????!?!?!?  This is out of control!

I don't even think that I was so shocked by the fact that he wants me to watch him use the litter box.  I think the most shocking part of it is that I did!  I mean seriously, I am totally manipulated by an eleven pound fuzzy four legged creature.  Sometimes, I am really amazed by how smart he is.  I'm kind of proud when he communicates something to me and I figure out what he was trying to "say".  But most of the time, I think exactly what I thought yesterday morning, which is, "did I really just let him manipulate me like that????"  It makes me feel wronged!

Meanwhile, sweet little Shiner just keeps being a regular old mutt cat.  He is sort of lanky and usually has a little bit of a dumb look on his face.  He reminds me of that dumb sheep dog from the Loony Tunes cartoon that always said "Which way did they go George... which way did they go?"  That's Shiner.  He's just a big, dumb, lovable, cat who demands nothing from you but love and two to three meals a day. Don't get me wrong.  I love them both.  But sometimes I think Jingle is taking advantage of me and it worries me that I am allowing a cat to do that.

Something interesting has happened since I lost my job.  I think that somehow my staying home with the cats has made Jingle more sociable when other people are here.  He has always been all over me and loves his Nana and Papa.  But lately when someone else comes over, he immediately comes to see them.  He walks up to them and expects to be petted.  He never used to do this.  He has always been pretty shy.  Shiner, on the other hand, has never met a stranger.  The only people he has a problem with are the ones who refuse to pet him either because they are allergic to him or they just don't like cats.  With them, he has to be extra persistent rubbing his head against the palm of their hand to get the attention that he so deserves.    He is a little put out with them when they start that annoying sneezing while they pet him.  But he can live with it.

I am going to get my day started now.  I think I will begin by writing for a few hours and then cleaning downstairs and finishing laundry.  Yesterday and Friday at the pool were really nice.  Who knows maybe I'll go back out there after I finish cleaning this afternoon for a reward.  Have a great Sunday!

Day Forty-Four - Poolside Issues

SPF30 my ASS!  I think I have third degree burns on the top of one thigh and on the side of the other thigh!  What the hell????  I took the time to spray my SPF30 all over my body.  Forget that it was 2... perhaps 3 years old.  It should work as long as there is still some in the can, right?  I am looking at the can right now and I see no expiration date anywhere!  So, to me that means this stuff is just like Buzz Lightyear... "To Infinity and Beyond"!!!!

But there is definitely something wrong here.  It seems weird that the spots where I burned yesterday are so splotchy.  I am pretty sure that the sunscreen was expired and this is the result.  I went and bought some SPF45 on my way home from Frankie's(1) last night since I am supposed to go back to the pool today with another friend.  I only have the two burned spots on my entire body.  So, it is super freaky.  I'm sure it will look really cute in a few days!  I think I will use the SPF45 today and probably cover my thighs with a towel.  Maybe that will do the trick.

I think that the sunscreen makers are messing with us though.  I mean seriously, when I use that spray-on sunscreen it feels just like Off used to feel on my skin when I was a kid.  Do you suppose they are just re-packaging old cans of Off and changing the sent so that it doesn't smell so much like Raid?  If I spray the sunscreen on and a bug comes near me and dies, I'm writing some strongly worded letters.  I also think it is kind of weird that they put SPF30 on a package and we just take their word for it.  The stuff in that container could truly be Off or even bacon grease with a coconut scent added to it and we'd just slather it on our bodies and pay nine bucks to do so.

Here's something else regarding poolside issues that puzzles me.  When I go to buy swimwear and it is $48, I'm like... "that's not too bad...."  But if I go to buy swimwear and get a separate top and bottom and each piece is $24 I think I am getting ripped off!!!!!  After all... if all goes according to plan, the top piece covers most of the bottom piece.  So, why should that bottom piece cost me as much as the top piece?  It's a jip!  (Awwww crap!  Now I have another problem.... there is no place in the world to look up the word jip/gip....  how do you spell that?)  You know what I mean though, right?  I'm getting ripped off when I pay the same for the bottom as I do for the top.  Then, to make matters worse the cover up costs as much as each of the other two pieces.  So, when all is said and done, I have spent $75 at Target for a swimsuit.  Again....  I stopped at Target for a bottle of sunscreen, a $9 item and $93 later, I left with not one but two bottles of sunscreen, a new swimsuit (paying as much for the bottom as the top), a cover up and some eye makeup!!!!  Really???  Where did the eye makeup come from!?

I swear it would have been cheaper to grow Lycra worms on my patio and weave my own swimsuits from their waste.  I would have felt totally fine with spending the $48 bucks on the swimwear if the top was $30 and the bottom was $18.  I would have been thinking....  I got to those suckers at Target!  But now I feel like the sucker and I think Target got to me.  And isn't that what it is really all about?  As consumers we want to feel like we are in charge.

As you all know, I was recently laid off by a major retail chain that I shall not name.  My former employer is currently trying to change the way that retailing is done.  They now offer you the products you want at the price that you always paid but instead of ticketing the swimsuit at $80 and then selling it to you at $48, they now just ticket it at $48.  The problem is that we all feel we deserve a deal and if we have to pay the ticketed price it can't be a good deal.  However, I do that at Target all the time.

I know that I am comfortable doing this at Target because they are a discounter.  So, in my mind, I am thinking if they are a discounter, then this must be a good deal.  Even though, I might get home and wonder what I was thinking and whether or not the people pumping the "buy juice" into the building got to me (again).  I generally keep what I bought and am happy that I bought it after the initial buyer's remorse passes.  The problem with my former employer (who shall not be named) is that they are NOT a discounter.  Or at least, the do not market themselves as such currently.  So, even though you may be paying the same or less than you would at a discounter, you believe that they should discount it below the ticketed price or else you are being ripped off.

Holy Cow!  I think I just figured this out.  Maybe I should contact my former employer (who shall not be named) and offer my services as a consultant.  I am sure that I could command a mid six figure salary (or better) and get an EVP title since they only hire people at an EVP or higher level these days.  The funny thing is that I want things to work out for my former employer (who shall not be named) because after all I still have a pension with them, not to mention, many friends who work for them. The issue is that they need to market themselves as a discounter....  Can you just see "John Change Nickle" rolling over in his grave at that suggestion?

Okay back to the real topic....  I have one more poolside issue to discuss with you before I head out to the pool.  Poolside music... are you in or are you out?  Wow!  When I typed that phrase, my cheekbones sucked in and I sounded just like Heidi Klume in my head.  If you don't know what that little aside was about, just google the phrase, "are you in or are you out" and you will get it.  Back to the topic at hand....  I am a firm believer in all Jimmy Buffett all the time when at the pool.  I take my Ipod and a portable docking station to the pool everytime I go.  I must tell you that I live in a 40 year old condo complex in an old part of north Dallas that is about 40% Orthodox Jewish.  So I would say that about 90% of the other people living here are retired and only a few ever go to the pool.  Most of the community is at synagogue on Saturday's so they don't care what I, the heathen Christian, do on Saturday.  So, I guess my question is, am I rude to always go out there and crank the Boat Drinks music up?  Tell me what you think.  Otherwise, I'm just going to keep blasting Buffett out by the pool.

I should go now so that I can get a thing or two done before I start slathering coconut scented bacon grease on my poor burned legs.  Have a great day!


Footnotes:  1. Frankie's is unarguably the greatest Mexican restaurant in the Metroplex.  Even my parents agree.  Go sometime!

Day Forty-Four - Writing Insecurities Verbalized

I think I now know what I want to be when I grow up.... assuming of course that I do grow up.  I want to be a writer. The problem is that I don't know what I want to write.  Actually, I'm pretty sure what I want to write.  I just don't know if anyone is interested in reading it.  I could be wrong, but I am thinking that a writer without readers is fairly insignificant.  After all, if a tree falls in the forest and there is no one there to hear it, does it make a noise????  I'm thinking it doesn't matter whether or not the writing is worth reading if no one actually reads it.

Thus, you see my conundrum.  What do I write about?  Do I just explore possibilities until I hit on a topic that gets a reaction?  And where do I showcase these topics?  This blog would seem to be an ideal location.  But somehow, I think many of the people reading it might have a bias.  I started "writing a book" a week after I was laid off but I haven't written anything on it in a couple of weeks.  It was a little too much like what I have read from other authors.  Plus I'm not sure how many people want to read my re-hashing of my early years.  Honestly, I was having trouble staying interested and I was the one writing it.

So, do I write something loosely based on my life?  If it is based on my life, I think it needs to be loosely based because after all, I'm going to need some artistic license to make it interesting to anyone other than possibly my niece and perhaps one of my nephews.  I mean, once we get past the broken arm story even Rebecca and Chris will lose interest and quite frankly, parts of that story are fiction if the truth be known.  Or do I just write a romantic thriller?  After all, that is the sort of book I really enjoy reading.  I'm sure that I am not the only one who enjoys reading them.  Otherwise, they would stop publishing them and there would not be rows and rows at Barnes and Noble dedicated to the "Romance".

Another possibility is writing freelance articles for magazines.  I think this would be the most exciting possibility of all.  I think it would be so much fun to write several 1500 word essays each month and then see which one(s) I get paid for.  I wrote one yesterday for a contest.  I honestly think I spent less than two hours writing and then proofing it before sending it in.  Maybe nothing comes of it.  But words flowed so easily.  I miss writing so much and it was almost a relief to be writing something that someone who reads, edits and critiques writing on a daily basis might actually read.  I know that I need to work on my grammar.  But I do believe that I have something to say and that someone may want to read it.

The real issue I suppose is whether or not magazines continue to exist in the future.  Thank God they are now on e-readers.  But as an avid e-reader consumer, I still cannot make myself download magazines.  I still think that magazines need to be paper that you hold in your hands.  Otherwise, how can you smell the cologne samples?  Until they invent a "smell-a-reader", I'm out.  My hope, if I do figure out a way to do this is that other people are willing to download magazines.  I, personally, like browsing through the magazines at the check out stand at the grocery store and deciding on one based on whether or not the topics on the cover catch my attention.  I'm not sure that you would get that through an e-reader.  Maybe I feel this way just because I refuse to even look at them on an e-reader.

Do you remember on Married With Children, how Al Bundy was always reminiscing about the time he caught the winning catch in his high school football game?  I think that is how I am with writing.  And probably the people who have known me since high school are like....  Oh jeeze... here she goes again....  But in high school, I went to State in the UIL feature writing contest and I didn't know what a feature story was until 2 hours before my first contest.  My English teacher, Mrs. Brown, just told me to think about the stories that Dave Ward at Channel 13 in Houston always told at the end of each newscast.  That was all I needed.  Then I just imagined him reading it.  In my head if it didn't sound like Dave Ward was reading it, it wasn't good enough.  I still do that.  But now in my head, the now deceased Andy Rooney from 60 Minutes is reading it.  Okay, I get that he was in his 90's when he died which could make him totally irrelevant to anyone under the age of say 60.  But I can't help but believe that he is still relevant and that an article in that same style might still be relevant too.

I bought a book about 15 years ago on getting published in magazines and then never read it.  Maybe I'll go see if I can find it.  I am sure that it is in one of my bookcases upstairs.  If I find it, I am thinking that steps one and two will be, actually write and submit something.  Although, I have had no trouble writing anything in the last month or so, whether or not I think it is worth submitting is another story entirely.

I guess we'll see what happens.  In the meantime, this blog is giving me an outlet that I never realized I needed before I began writing it.  Even if only 2 or 3 people are reading it, it has given me something to look back at and critique my own work.  I have over 700 hits on it now and I am pretty sure that I am about 650 of them.  I read things I have written here a couple of times a day it seems like.  When I read things I have written here, I many times find grammatical errors or things I would like to change.  I must confess that I have on occasion, gone back and edited things a day or two after I posted them on the blog.  So, if you are obsessed like me and you read it multiple times, you may find that an error or awkward wording that existed there on Tuesday might be missing on Wednesday.  You're not seeing things.  I'm just a flake.

I'm going to go get a few things done now.  My friend Mary is coming over today to go to the pool with me.  Yea!  Also, GO DOUGLASS HIGH SCHOOL SOFTBALL!!!!!!  REBECCA MEYERS ROCKS!!!!!!

Day Forty-Three - Advice for Nail Techs and Their Customers

While I seriously doubt that anyone reading this blog is a nail tech, if you happen to know someone who is, you might want to give them the web address for my blog because I am about to lay some advice down for anyone doing nails.  Nail techs - LISTEN UP!!!!  God gave you the ability to hear things that only other nail techs and dogs can hear.  You also know exactly the volume that your voice needs to be at for both American's and other nail techs to hear you.  For American's you speak at a 12 volume level.  For other nail techs you speak at a -2 volume level.  It's a gift!  Continue to use it with care.

What you shouldn't do is be overly chatty with someone who came in equipped with a book, an Ipod and a smart phone to insure that she would not have to make polite conversation with anyone!!!  Earbuds are a dead give away that a person does not want to make conversation with you!  When they pick up their smart phone and start furiously texting everyone in their contact list, that's another indicator.  PAY ATTENTION TO THE DETAILS!

There are several things that are sort of weird about this.  First, the nail tech in question was a man.  Men aren't generally that chatty, at least not with me.  (Hell, I can hardly ever get them to say a damn thing to me!)  Second, he seemed compelled to initiate conversation about things that even he admitted most American's don't want to talk about.  He said to me.... "American's never want to talk about politics."   Then he did five minutes straight with no reply from me on politics.  In case you are wondering, he is of the belief that we don't want to talk about politics because the politicians don't listen to us anyway.  He could be right.  But he believes that this is all the more reason for us to express our opinions to the politicians.  Again, he may be on to something.

Additionally, he believes we do not want to discuss religion.  I don't mind discussing religion.  But I do prefer that you agree with all of my opinions on the matter.  It's just easier that way.  So, I don't know where he was going with that....

Other topics we hit upon included his previous jobs - for the record they are auto mechanic and chef.  He liked being an auto mechanic and would have liked being a chef if the hours weren't so bad.  In seven years he apparently never saw sunlight.  We also discussed my current lack of a job.  That was a fun topic.  Then he told me if he could be anything he wanted, he would be a teacher.  He thinks it is a very noble profession.  I agreed with him but confided that I couldn't do it.  I just don't have the patience.  He tried to convince me that I could.  According to him it is just a matter of "training the children correctly".  I told him that I didn't think their parents or the state of Texas would approve of my "training" methods.  He gave me a very confused look at that point.

He also expressed his opinions on what is wrong with the education system.  In case you were wondering he says it has to do with the way teachers have to teach to the lowest common denominator so that the students who are capable of excelling don't.  He talked about how smart American's used to be 50 years ago but about how he perceives that other countries are passing us by now.  To my teacher friends - these are not my opinions, I am just telling you what he said.  But you must agree that he was fairly perceptive on other topics..... I'm just saying.....

Then he told me about his son who is 17 and who has been raised in a very strict household.  His son is very studious and hardworking.  I don't doubt it.  He also told me about his youngest son who will be born within the next week or so.  I congratulated him on that.  He thinks they will raise the new son the same way they raised the first one.  I agreed that it was probably a good idea.

He talked about when he was a kid going home from school every afternoon and watching Scooby Doo and getting up on Saturday morning to watch Tom and Jerry.  I said that Bugs Bunny was my favorite.  He talked about the crummy cartoons that kids watch today and wondered why they watch them.  I have often wondered the same thing.

Then he told me the most interesting thing of all.  He told me about his first few weeks after he moved to America.  He told me about being this shy little Vietnamese kid who spoke broken English and how great everything was here.  He said that about a week after they moved here it was Halloween and he saw all the other kids with their costumes and someone told him that if you wore a costume you could get candy, so he went home and cut  holes in a bag and put it over his head and went from house to house with the other kids.  He said he got more candy than he had ever seen in his whole life.  Then at the end of the night one of the kids told him to go to this house with them and there a nice lady invited the shy little boy into the house with the other kids.  She gave them all toys to take home.  He went home and told his parents that America was the greatest place in the world.  Then he talked about how sad it is that kids can't just do that anymore.  It's okay to cry now....  I did.

I guess he had something to say.  And maybe it did me some good to hear it.  Sometimes we take what we have for granted - like a country where we can talk as much as we want and can express our opinions to anyone who will listen (or sometimes even when they don't listen that carefully).  Maybe next time I go to get a pedicure, I'll just leave the earbuds at home.  Go listen to someone and have a great day!

Day Forty-Two - Am I a Slug?

So, for the last 30 years I worked at least 5 days a week.  There were times over that span when I worked 7 days a week.  On those work days, I sat an alarm, got out of bed, got dressed and just went to work without thinking about how tired I might be or complaining overly much, at least not that most people heard.   (I have to admit that I haven't IM'd a single person in the last 42 days saying "This job SUCKS!")  But in the last month or two, things have changed.  If I don't sleep for at least 8 hours I am whiny all day long!!!!  This morning Jingle woke me up at 9 a.m.  I mean, it wasn't 3 or 4 a.m., it was 9!  And the way I reacted, you would have thought I had been deprived of water after 6 weeks in the Sahara!

I'm not sure why I am suddenly able to sleep for 10 or 12 hours at a time.  But last night only getting 8 hours was a real problem for me.  When I was working, I considered it a really good night if I was able to sleep for 7 hours.  But most nights I got more like 5 or 6.  Maybe my body is just making up for 30 years of sleep deprivation.

Yesterday I did much better on my diet than the day before.  I think that walking has added benefits besides just getting a little exercise.  When I get any form of exercise, it makes me think about everything I eat that day. So, that is a good thing.  I am going to finish my blog today before I head out for my walk.  I am doing that because I am still on my first cup of coffee and I really don't function before the 3rd.  Besides, Jingle hasn't finished yelling at me yet and I wouldn't want to take that away from him.  I wish I knew what he was so unhappy about this morning.  I mean, I'm the one who is sleep deprived.  He slept as long as he wanted to last night.

I made my Weight Watchers Pan-Seared Salmon Salad with Szechuan Dressing for dinner last night.  It was really yummy.  Plus it is easy to make.  I will be eating more of it today for lunch.  I also think I might dig through my WW cookbooks and find a recipe for something sweet to make today.  I was craving something sweet yesterday which resulted in going through a couple of Skinny Cow treats and I would really rather have something else.  While I love SC, it makes me feel more like a slug for some reason when I eat it.  Maybe because it reminds me that I am really overweight and need to stop eating all of the junk.

I finally really started working on the Hawaii photo book yesterday.  I worked on it for several hours.  Going back through all of those pictures reminded me of what a really great time we had.  Right after we got back, I felt a little let down by the trip.  I think I had just built Hawaii up in my mind so much over the years that it could never have lived up to my expectations.  But looking back after eight months have passed, it really was a terrific trip.  It also reminded me that although I was overweight then also, I was in much better shape then.  We did manage the hikes up Makapu'u Point and Diamondhead.  We huffed and puffed, but we did it.  I don't think I could get halfway up Diamondhead today.  Yesterday I barely walked 20 minutes on a flat cement walking trail outside my front door without passing out.  It is amazing how quickly you can go from semi-decent shape where you have some endurance to nothing!  The truly sad thing is that it will take me twice as long to get back to that level as it took me to get out of it.

This photo book is going to be out of control.  The other ones I have done in the past each only have the 20 pages that you get before you start getting charged extra.  After 20 pages there is a charge per page which seems like it is about $2.50, I haven't done the math, its just a guesstamate.  So far, this book is already over 30 pages and I still have three more days that are not even in it yet.  I looked back through what I have already done on it last night and could not find a single thing that I would pull out.  I guess that is a testament to what a good time we really had.

Do people really watch Wendy Williams?  Who watches that crap?  I have the same question about The View.  My TV is on in the background right now.  I normally don't turn it on after 9 a.m. because all of the stuff on during the day is crap.  But I'm not sure where the remote control is right now so I'm sort of being held hostage by Wendy Williams.  I just turned around and looked at her.  I swear, I think she is a man in drag!!!!  Don't other people see this?  She really needs a new wig.

I do not understand daytime TV.  It is all garbage now.  It is nothing like it was when I was in high school and college.  Then I couldn't wait for a day to stay at home and watch TV.  Now I would rather cut off my left big toe than watch it.  It is such torture!  And who in the HELL is Perez Hilton and how did this person become famous?????  I don't understand.  If people would stop watching this junk we would all be better off.  Back in the day we watched quality daytime programming like All My Children, One Life to Live and General Hospital.  I don't even know if those shows are still on but if they are I am sure that Tad, Erica, Bo, Vicky, Asa, Luke, Laura and Bobbi are all still up to the same stuff.

I guess I better go eat my yogurt and banana so that I can go walk.  I promise that I will bring something a little more interesting to the table tomorrow.  Have a great Tuesday!

Day Forty-One - Let the Walking Begin!

There is construction going on in the unit next door today.  I am not sure what they are doing but I can tell you that they started doing it pretty early this morning.  Although, you wouldn't know that by the time I finally started working on my blog.  I will put my Gladys Cravits skills to work later on and see if I can figure out what they are doing.  This would be much easier if they were working on a unit across from me rather than right next to me.

One of them just got a drop clothe out of the truck and he is carrying a bucket.  But yesterday I saw a guy with blueprints measuring the sidewalk going up to the front door.  My foundation was worked on several years ago.  At that time, they didn't do anything to the unit next door.  I am noticing things around my house that might indicate that more work is going to be required on my foundation.  I just hope whatever they do, levels mine out too.  I really don't want to have them working on mine while I am at home during the day.

It is really nice to be home from vacation.  I had thought I was going to hit the ground running this week and get tons of stuff done.  So far, not so good.  I did finally make it to the grocery store yesterday afternoon so that I could start eating right.  Then I came home prepared to make the worlds greatest salmon salad last night and I didn't cook at all.  I wound up eating chips with cheese melted on top.  I am not calling them nachos because it was just chips and cheese.  I believe that you have to put more on the chips to make them nachos.  I mean at least a hot element is required.  If I'm too lazy to put together some beans or meat or peppers to go on it, then it doesn't deserve to be called nachos.

I was supposed to have started a diet yesterday.  I did really good right up until the chips and cheese.  I had yogurt for breakfast, salad for lunch and then chips and cheese for dinner followed by a Skinny Cow ice cream sandwich.  I don't know about anybody else, but I could live on anything Skinny Cow makes.  I love that stuff.

I think the biggest thing on this diet is going to be for me to get my fat butt out of the house and start walking.  The weather is perfect and there is no excuse not to do it.  I so prefer getting exercise outside rather than in a gym, so this is a perfect time of year to get started.  But I keep coming up with excuses.  Yesterday my excuse was that I needed to take a shower before I could be seen in public.  Really????  I need to shower in order to go sweat?  Even I didn't believe the excuse, but I went with it anyway.  Then once I took the shower, I didn't want to start sweating!!!!!!  So, I went to the grocery store instead.  Then I was going to come home and cook, so there was no time to walk.  Then I started cleaning and I couldn't just leave everything out to go walk.  Then it started getting dark and it really isn't safe to walk on the walking trails after dark.  I mean everyone heard what happened on the Katy Trail this week, right?!!??!!!  I mean, my walking trail is nowhere near the Katy Trail. But that bad guy might have a car and be looking for a new trail to work since there were so many cops on the Katy Trail last night during the 6:00 news.

So, now I start this cycle again.  I have showered recently enough that I don't feel it necessary to do so again before going to work out.  I have no tasks that must be done before I leave the house.  They are making ton-o-noise in the unit next door which is pushing me to leave my condo.  The temperature outside is a whopping 74 degrees and it is semi-sunny.  It won't get dark for like nine hours.  The cats are fed.  The fish are fed.  The floors are swept, vacuumed and mopped.  The only think I have left to do is to finish writing this.  Oh!  I just came up with a brilliant idea!  I will go walk and then come back and finish writing this so that I am accountable to YOU dear readers!  I have to go put some shoes on.  Please excuse me for a few minutes.  Go surf the internet..... I'll be right back.... really.....

Ok, I have my walking shoes on, the cats are both in the house and all of the doors are closed.  I have a full charge on my cell phone, I've eaten a banana and just finished my third cup of coffee.....  I think I can do this now.  Here I go.....  go surf the internet a little more.  I'll be back in 30 minutes or so assuming I don't pass out or the Katy Trail guy hasn't made his way north.

I'm back!!!!  And I have proof that I really walked, I mean besides the fact that I am slightly out of breath, my calves hurt and I'm a little sweaty.  I took pictures!  I know this is shocking considering that I never take pictures of anything, Ha!

These are my feet doing the walking!

This is my face not believing that my feet are doing the walking!

This morning I walked 20 minutes.  Hey, quit laughing it is a start!  Tomorrow, I will add 5 minutes to my time and before you know it I'll practically be able to walk 30 minutes without whining!

So, here's some exciting news.  It isn't semi-sunny at all.  It is totally sunny!!!!!  Who knew that when you walk outside and you don't look at everything through a window with a tree in front of it that you could actually see the sky!!??!?!  There was a lady on the trail riding her bike.  I really need to get my bike out.  I miss riding it.  But I think I should concentrate on walking right now.  After all, if it gets right down to it, I can coast at times while I am on the bike and we all know how I will look for any opportunity to not actually do any form of exercise.  So, no bike riding for me until I have lost the first 5 lbs.  Then maybe I'll go on a bike ride as a reward.

New Topic
Last night I watched the season premier of The Bachelorette.  Can I just say that if they can find that many WEIRD good looking men with jobs to be on that show, why can't I find one?  Seriously!  One of them brought an ostrich egg with him to demonstrate how carefully he would take care of Emily and her daughter.  Another one had six kids, who knows how many ex-wives, was 15 years older than Emily and actually cried when he was eliminated.  He had known her for one evening!!!!  Really, dude?  Talk about baggage!  On top of everything else Emily is annoying.  Ok, I know that she is blond, petite and beautiful and that men aren't really into her for anything other than that.  But how can they listen to that annoying accent all the time and listen to her saying "thank yoooooouuuuuu" after every comment?  Nevermind, I also get that men don't actually listen to women regardless of what they look like, so I guess it's actually pretty easy for them to deal with her.  But she really needs a better hairdresser.  Her hair is not actually blond.  It is YELLOW!!!  That is not a natural color for hair.

The last thing I have to say today about this is that from the previews for the rest of the season, it looks like she takes the singer / "song writer" from NY pretty far into the process.  This proves to me that she is dumber than a bag of hair.  When they were introducing all of the guys they showed him singing a song for Emily as he was talking about how song writing just comes so easily to him.  The song he was singing consisted of two words:  "Emily" and "Whoa".  That's impressive dude!  Emmmmmmmilllllllyyyyyyyyyyyyyy....  Whoaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!  It is a very moving song....  Eye roll!

I will check back in tomorrow hopefully with more pictures of my feet walking and perhaps even a reality show comment or two.