tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33784593302088894462024-03-16T15:52:44.032-03:00R a g n a r S t a t i o nTry on my shoes.wellgoodgravyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15051538605094122590noreply@blogger.comBlogger204125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3378459330208889446.post-61693896110331030272024-02-14T04:35:00.001-04:002024-02-14T04:36:19.155-04:00Personal blog: The Bionic Woman <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Hello, and welcome to February, as I sit here in bed next to my lovely wife at nearly 4 in the morning on Valentine's Day. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This was the day after her big surgery to get knee replacement for her left leg. I'd planned on going in with her, waiting for however long the surgery was, and join her immediately when I could. And that's what happened. The surgery was around an hour and a half, maybe give or take ten minutes. She chose only to be frozen and have sedation, which is what I did for my knee surgery nine years ago, though that was just to fix a tear and a scope. She wanted to see the operation going on, but, as everyone does, she wound up snoozing through it, and I think that's for the best if you have any idea what knee replacement is like. Janice is highly knowledgeable of the medical field, so it's not surprising she wanted to get her eyeballs on what they were doing, not to mention she's pretty much fearless. But anyway, she was taken to post-op recovery, while I waited until she would awaken and go to her room on the sixth floor.</span><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipDO52uAxBBjxKIGIqJ8FsC_keCBFvrhok9RFBAEI9p9_Azaxvmnzc_gnzCk2IK-ZxlYuQulqQBxMQ7LHhNN-yNt3UiBowL7DGClBSfbzYZQPkQnpCk2bEYFZ7seTp2RJY65nlLq4bKxS7H6EHdHfUS40fEWGr1jMl-6jYgLuFrS_M096vm5Jp3ZFH2_8/s2000/67fe4dfd-b6cd-493b-8876-9ecb0dd525c4.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="1500" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipDO52uAxBBjxKIGIqJ8FsC_keCBFvrhok9RFBAEI9p9_Azaxvmnzc_gnzCk2IK-ZxlYuQulqQBxMQ7LHhNN-yNt3UiBowL7DGClBSfbzYZQPkQnpCk2bEYFZ7seTp2RJY65nlLq4bKxS7H6EHdHfUS40fEWGr1jMl-6jYgLuFrS_M096vm5Jp3ZFH2_8/w480-h640/67fe4dfd-b6cd-493b-8876-9ecb0dd525c4.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">So as is with pretty much any hospital, the food isn't the most palatable, and I offered to go fetch her a chicken salad sandwich, a pop and a donut, and that's what our meal of the day was. She wasn't keen on eating much more than that anyway. She was in great spirits when I saw her, with the freezing still in effect, as she got a small needle in her back to freeze her from the waist down, plus she was still loopy from meds they had in her I.V. But she was 100% my Janice. She was actually up out of bed with a walker and actually walking about four hours after she woke up. Even the nurses and doctors were a bit taken aback at how solid she was. I was surprised, marginally, because I know how much she wanted this done and wants it behind her. But man, she's tough. I call her "The Tank" for a reason; there's just not a lot that stops her. </span></span></div><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In the evening, I hiked up to her work, Shoppers Drug Mart, to get a one liter bottle of Diet Pepsi - at a ridiculous price of $4.45 with taxes. But my queen was thirsty. I got back and a serving of hot something or another was at her table over her bed that was served to her, and she wasn't terribly fond of the idea of eating. I saw it, I still don't understand what that was. It got a bit busy in the room she was in, with three other ladies in there who also got replacement surgery of some sort. We actually all got to know one another a little. I should also point out that my buddy Pete, who works at the hospital, took time on his break to go see Janice, which I was immensely appreciative of. The night grew shorter and the time came for me to go. I hadn't gotten hardly any sleep the night before, maybe an hour and a half, because she had to be in the hospital for 8:30 that morning. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I'd gotten home to share the night with Marvelous Marbles Hagler, who was a bit lonely that day. I grabbed a bag of Yum Yum onion rings and munched a bit, cleaned up and got in bed. The bed being half empty because Janice wasn't in it. I hated it. Laying here looking over at her side with her not being there was a bit tough. We never spend time apart. I took a dose of cannabis oil and waited, and hoped, for it to work to try to sleep. A few hours later, after sleeping maybe two or three hours, I took another dose. That enabled me to sleep during the morning, as I awaited the phone call from Janice to go pick her up. And she did, right around noon. I got everything all ready in the house and was pretty pumped to go get my girl!</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I picked her up at the main entrance, on what was quite a lovely day. We still haven't really gotten a knock-down-drag-out snowstorm or anything, maybe a brush of one, but there's not a lot of snow on the ground outside, Very strange for February. I went to Walmart after I picked her up to get her some of her beloved blackberry Diet Canada Dry, and we went home to reassume our lives. When we got home, her sister was next door at her Mom's, and she went over to briefly visit and reassure her family that she did extremely well. (Don't worry, I was escorting her everywhere.) It was beyond nice to see her get in the house and plop down on the loveseat and look so relieved that it's all done.</span></p><p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">But here's the thing... when her surgeon checked on her before she left, she asked her how she felt, and Janice was pretty much like, "so when can I do the other one?" The fine doctor told her that she can get it done in a few months, because her right knee wasn't in much better shape than the left one. That means she's off work for most of the year (darn!!!), and by the time Christmas comes she will have pretty much two brand new legs to rebuild at the gym - modestly, of course. She still wants to go to the gym anyway and do upper body stuff and get stronger on the treadmill. That will be in due time. I want her stitches out before we do anything like that at all. In the meantime, I will make her walk around the house at times and see that she does her exercises. She wants me to do all this, just in case you're thinking I made myself the gestapo of Belmont Street. It is nothing short of remarkable how much progress she's made in one freakin' day! She had her leg sawed off, basically, and a new knee inserted, and she's up on her feet walking with a walker or a cane?? Like I said, The Tank. </span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Now we await the next surgery, which, as I said, is being expedited, so it'll all be out of the way. We're both pretty thrilled with this. </div></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We're both extremely appreciative of everyone who offered their support and well wishes. Every one of them. If you're reading this, know that we love and appreciate you.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">That's all for today. Thanks for taking the time to once again read my humble blog.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p>wellgoodgravyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15051538605094122590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3378459330208889446.post-73206342610935643952024-01-30T05:29:00.001-04:002024-01-30T05:29:28.322-04:00Personal blog - January '24, round 2<p style="text-align: justify;">If cognitive behavioral therapy is a thing, I need to find a way to engage with it. Without paying hundreds of bucks a month to a therapist. My anxiety issues have ebbed a fair bit since I blogged last time, though. Still, there's some inner mechanics to dealing with post TBI issues that I think is beyond the do-it-yourself route.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">I don't expect everyone to understand what I'm dealing with. Truthfully, I think some who've been close to me actually do understand, and that's why they've chosen to stay away. But I won't assume too much. I need to interject as well, I'm not the type to reach out too much either. I'm actually more guilty of being out of touch than anyone else. I know my issues might seem like an excuse to many, or even most, to keep me from going forward. For me today, moving forward means one more day that I haven't self-harmed. And the last time was August 2, 2022. This is the longest I've gone in not hurting myself since I can remember. That's progress to me.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Now what I have to get in order is my sleeping habits. Or lack of them, maybe. As I write this, I'm awake at 4:47am on a Tuesday morning. My wife is sleeping beside me right now, and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/marbles.cook" target="_blank"><b>MMH</b></a> is on my lap snoozing too. I'm waiting for the inspiration to shut my friggin' eyes here. I've just taken my cannabis oil and Elovil, to try to expedite this matter. If the oil doesn't make me sleepy enough to sleep, though, it still leaves me feeling pretty damn content. That's the difference between this oil and booze, is alcohol is a depressant, leaving one vulnerable to bouts of sadness, especially if they're compromised like me. But cannabis just makes you so .... happy. Worries slip away. Focus on the positive and happiness are greatly amplified. My wife will vouch for this. She's given up many narcotics like Tylenol 3 and Percocet in favor of cannabis, and it's left her with a much greater sense of control over things. And in comparison to booze, it's cheap.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Anyway, my biggest qualm these days is my troubles with sleep. I do get my eight hours in, it's just I can't seem to align my sleep with the darkness outside. Even on these long-ass Canadian nights. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">The month has been going pretty good, pretty steady. We got ourselves a 65" 4K OLED television at Costco, where they had them for Boxing Day. It actually just sat around the living room for a while, because we wanted to mount it on the wall, so we got the bracket for it. I asked my brother Rick if he'd come give me a hand, and he was willing to help. Thing is, I'd seen it sitting on the floor too long, and I'm tired of being stonewalled by things that I should be able to friggin' do. So I rallied Janice with me to put our heads together, and we'll both do it. This was a test for my patience issues. A big one. Because I ran into some serious puzzle pieces that I had no idea how they fit at times. But I had the presence of mind to separate myself from whatever issue it was, collect myself and then go at it with the wife. It took awhile, but we got the mount up and the TV on it, and hooking it up was a breeze... except we needed a new 4K receiver from Bell, so we did have to wait till that came in. Anyway, this is one hell of a way to watch TV! Everything is new again. But now we have to get a 4K player for the 4K discs we have. I'm a staunch fan of blu-ray, but 4K is that next step up. Just this past weekend we had Natalie over to watch our 'Avatar: Way of Water' blu-ray, the first one we'd watch on this TV. Holy crap, it's almost 3D. This made me wonder what a lot of movies must look on this screen. I've got a pretty big collection of blu-rays, so we've got a lot of re-watching to do now. TV is kind of important to us in the winter, because neither of us likes the cold at all. Especially Janice, where she has that terrible arthritis. To me, winter is all accidents and illness. People crash their cars and get in accidents with all the ice and snow, and people get sick left right and center. And Lord, was I sick in December. It's because I broke my ribs then that I had to stay away from the gym until only last week. And still, I have to be careful.<br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Speaking of going back to the gym, the first couple of workouts have been ass whippers for the two of us. You can lose a lot of your conditioning in just a one month layoff. The muscles come back fairly quick, it's just getting the energy to use them. We don't really have any goals at the gym, other than to keep our bodies primed for living life. At the age we're at now, it gets to be use-it-or-lose-it territory. I can see a time though, at least, that we might have to move to a bungalow or something, if it was possible. Janice is having her knee replaced in two weeks, and the other knee isn't far behind. So stairs are going to be an issue sometime, but in the meantime, our bathroom is upstairs here. I think she'll be spending a fair bit of time upstairs for a while during her early recoup. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">And the moving idea peaks my interest a bit because Moncton is getting so very busy in the city. Taller buildings and condos and apartments are happening, bringing more of a metro vibe to the city. That's all well and good, but the neighborhood we live in right now was pretty easygoing. But with all the building going on, mice and rats are exploding in numbers, and where there's more city, there's more crime. Downtown is just down the road from us. The huge hurdles there are really the housing market and our ability to even do it. I actually don't think our finances are suited for it, but who knows what the future holds. I do have a 649 ticket I forgot to check.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">It's been a notably calm winter in these parts up to this point. We still haven't had a real snowstorm by Moncton standards. Temps are a little more sharply colder here and there, but nothing that ever lasts. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">And that's pretty much all there is to report for now. Thanks for droppin' in!</p>wellgoodgravyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15051538605094122590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3378459330208889446.post-9431034441151403912024-01-06T04:48:00.001-04:002024-01-06T04:55:21.642-04:00Personal Blog: January '24, Round 1<div style="text-align: justify;">The New Year's off to a good start. Nobody's sick anyway, we wound up ending '23 in a rather opposite way there. Man, Janice and me got knocked around pretty bad. Christmas was nice, but extremely quiet. It took me weeks to recover from noro, but we just kind of rearranged the holiday schedule a bit, in that we shifted Christmas dinner to New Year's Eve. And that was pretty great, really. Alexandra and Cole came over, and I made honey glazed ham, seasoned panfried potatoes, corn, and turnips mashed with carrots. I love ham, but I'm not crazy about eating pork, because it's probably the dirtiest meat there is. Still, we do it once a year, and give the piggies the rest of the year off. We had our traditional bacon and eggs breakfast around Christmas Day very late, and that bacon I'd bought last Christmas; I'd gotten two packs of it at Costco and froze one of them. Now we've got all this leftover ham, but the great thing about that is we can freeze it, and we make mac & cheese and cut up ham in chunks and mix it up with that. It's quite great, really. Unfortunately though, when we had our Christmas/NYE dinner, I had to retire almost immediately because of the repercussions of my illness before. Thus, we wound up sleeping through New Year's Eve. Hopefully next year will turn out a little better. It's okay, though, we're safe, sound and healthy today.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">So, it's January 6 as I type this, Friday night/Saturday morning, and all is pretty much calm. I'm just about at 100%. Maybe more than the virus I had, getting knocked out twice in that day might've had more of an effect in my get up and go than I realized. The busted rib I have from that day is still making itself known, no question there. That's not aiding in my sleep, that's for sure. We started back to the gym after a monthlong layoff because of being sick and the whole holiday buzz. To my surprise, even walking hurts. I knew it would, but more than I expected. Still, we went twice this week for an hour each day and put in around four and a half miles each. No weights, because my busted rib will just not let me. You don't realize how important supporting muscle groups are until you deal with that. Sleep is still an issue. I just can't seem to sleep at night, and it's quite frustrating. Janice is beside me in bed while I watch whatever on TV or surf the net or read. Most times I only get to sleep maybe around eight in the morning, or later even. Good 'ol Marvelous Marbles Hagler is always right there with me though. I don't know what I'd do without that little guy.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Up to now in this first week of the year, the weather is very mild and stable, with no real precip. In fact, we haven't had a real snowfall yet this season, just dust-ups. We've had a lot more rain than snow so far. I guess El Nino is to blame for that, and climate change of course.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">We've binge-watched the two existing seasons of 'Yellowjackets' on Showtime on Crave - pretty good show, but not for everyone. It's somewhat comparable to 'Euphoria' in its edginess and is female driven; kind of like Lord of the Flies if it was all girls stuck in the snowy Canadian wilderness. It's pretty gross at times, where it involves cannibalism, so take it from there. Like I said, not for everyone. I think Janice liked it more than I did. It stars a rather unrecognizable Christina Ricci and Juliette Lewis, and Lauren Ambrose (Clair from 'Six Feet Under') shows up halfway through season 2, playing a very different kind of role. We'll give 'True Detective' a shot next, that show has five independent seasons so far, with the newest one getting a lot of attention starring Jodie Foster.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Janice's surgically repaired knee is acting up again, and she's once more forced to use a cane to get around. She was told she was on the waiting list for knee replacement surgery, but when she called the other day, she found out she wasn't on that list at all, so now she has to push for it again. She'd already signed the papers for the surgery, and then apparently just got forgotten about. It's hard seeing her in pain all the time around this. She's quite adamant about going to the gym though. She does such a good job at work and built up the business for her post office kiosk, that she doesn't really like to be away too long, though Alexandra, who's her right-hand lady, does exceptional as her second in charge. Alexandra, herself, has stubborn health issues that doctors can't seem to get a handle on. It almost feels like they've given up on her. But this is common across the country right now, with our healthcare in ruins, more or less, especially with Covid/flu/RSV wreaking havoc everywhere. And noro, of course. Janice and me got our shots for the flu and Covid, as we do every year. It's at the point for me that I'm actually afraid to go to the hospital now. Not because I'm afraid of treatment or anything, but that I'd have to wait 12-24 hours or more to just be seen, and be among all the flu and Covid infected people that cram the ERs. I remember the days when you waited maybe an hour tops, but that's twenty years ago or more now. Covid, in particular, has changed everything. For the worse.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">We decided that we should be pro-active in getting a new TV, because the one we've got is a 15 year old plasma Panasonic Viera that's likely on its last legs. We got a brand new 65 inch 4K 'Smart' Samsung that was a Boxing Day sale item at Costco, now we just have to mount it, so I had to get a wall mount bracket on Amazon, which is in transit. We love our TV, especially in the wintertime, because we both hate snow and the cold.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Other than that, we're both pretty much okay. I got the doc to check on my cracked rib when it happened and had bloodwork done, and everything is top notch all around, sleeping issues aside. One thing I want to do about my health regimen is find some kind of vitamin mix that'll take care of all the stuff I take now. Which is, an Omega 3 capsule, a multivitamin, vitamin D, a prostate supplement, a zinc caplet and a probiotic supplement. It's tricky, because I have to take my Sertraline meds away from them to retain effectiveness. If I take them together, I wind up with nausea. With my multivitamin bottle starting to get shallow, I'm going to have to look up what's best. It'd be nice to just take a drink and be done with it earlier in the day. I've been doing this vitamin regimen for decades, and my bloodwork always comes out great in checkups.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I'm thinking this is going to be a wild year, generally. The U.S. election happens in November, and democracy and freedom are actually hanging in the balance down there. Which is important to Canada, because as I've always said, what happens down there all too often winds up happening up here. I worry about the Ukraine war and conservatives down there that are refusing to help. Then there's the middle east war with Israel and Gaza. I worry that more countries are going to get involved. I feel like it's almost a certainty. And I fear this year will be the year China invades Taiwan, which could be a world war catalyst. </div><div style="text-align: justify;">Something I'm looking forward to, though, is Bob Lazar's documentary 'Project Gravitaur', which centers around Lazar - having worked as a scientist at area 51 in reverse engineering flying saucers that are in government possession, which is now a known fact. But what might be revealed in this doc is quite tantalizing to say the least.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Up to this point, for friends and family, I've only seen Natalie, who's coming over tomorrow to see us as I make my seasoned wings. I gotta get out more. Just going to the store and the gym doesn't really cut it. I may have to make an effort to leave my comfort zone more often. My cannabis oil helps my anxiety greatly, but I can't drive while I have it. But boy, what a Godsend that stuff is. I actually alternate between the oil and these gummies that we get, which I only need half of one to take the edge off and often help me sleep. And I keep hearing about the benefits of cannabis. The THC type is even shown to fight dementia. And I ain't getting any younger. I encourage anyone who drinks to give cannabis a try - and you don't have to smoke it. I can't! I tried and wound up nearly coughing up a lung, for frig's sake. Plus, the oil and gummies I use have a much more sustained effect. An alcohol buzz and a cannabis buzz are two different things altogether. For one, you won't get a hangover. For another, cannabis is a relaxant while alcohol is a depressant. You won't find anyone picking fights who's on THC. Alcohol, on the other hand......</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Keeping my nose out of Facebook business has proven to be beneficial to me, too. I was just going to stay off it until the holidays are over, but I'm reluctant to go back on, because things are so peaceful when you get away from it. There are those who don't want to know my comments on politics or social issues, and there are those who do... but the more I thought about it, before Facebook, no one obsessed over that stuff like they do since social media hit. I've found my view of people has altered for the positive since I've abstained. That goes for all social media, really. Anyway, as I've pointed out before, I do check my Facebook messenger, but I'm not terribly active there either. I'll answer anyone who talks to me there, though. Aside from spam-type stuff.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">That's all I got for now. I appreciate any interest folks take checking in on my humble Ragnar Station here. God bless all of you.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>wellgoodgravyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15051538605094122590noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3378459330208889446.post-74727150526755839152023-12-28T06:41:00.002-04:002023-12-28T06:46:32.094-04:00Personal Blog: One Last KISS GoodbyeTime to close out the year. <div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It's the wee hours of December 28 at the time I write this, as we're staring down the barrel of the New Year. Every year is interesting, each with its own highs and lows. Generally, the year's been pretty good. The fact is, that anything crappy that happens usually bears fruit eventually that brings us into better times. That's something to keep in mind, specifically when things get rough.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On a personal note... actually this whole blog entry is personal... the last couple of months has been less than great. The wife's health has presented its share of challenges for her, but she's bounced back from all of it, as she always does. When (if?) I grow up I hope I get to be as tough as she is.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">November 18 was the pinnacle date of the year, kind of, in that we would see KISS for the last time in Montreal with our daughter and her man. We took off on Friday the seventeenth for Quebec, driving through what would be quite a challenging ride at times, with heavy rain hampering the road conditions. Generally, though, it was an uneventful trek. We got there in around nine hours, in spite of the bad weather. I drove all the way there and then back on Sunday when we left. When we got to the motel that we'd booked online on Friday night, it was far from overwhelming, but perhaps adequate. It wound up being a rather sleazy, seedy place in an older part of Montreal, but the room for four adequately enough housed us for the weekend. It was close enough to the Bell Centre where the show was going to be, maybe a 45 minute walking distance if we'd chosen to do that, which we did. We thought we'd walk so we could see some of the sights a bit of downtown Montreal.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I remember telling the kids that they'll love Montreal. We'd seen a few shows there, and the crowd was always raucous and the people gracious and friendly. Last time we were there for a show was in '05 for the U2 Vertigo Tour, which broke all the records at the time. We'd seen KISS a couple of times before that. Every time we'd go, the concert was like a huge party among 18,000 friends. Janice and me were pretty excited to experience it all again, and to let the kids experience what we did.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It was an odd time for the KISS End of the Road Tour to be winding down, with only two weeks of shows left after this. The band was to play Quebec City, Ottawa and then Toronto after Montreal. Thank God we were going to see this. As anyone who knows me realizes, we were robbed of our opportunity to see this show in Bangor in '20 because the borders closed because of Covid, and Ticketmaster refused to refund our tickets. So we were out over $400. Surely we wouldn't get screwed out of seeing this tour again. Right?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">We left the motel around noon-ish, and began our trek on foot for the Bell Centre area. Montreal is loaded with little shops and boutiques, something for just about everyone. I'd never seen so many Tesla cars in one place. You can barely hear those cars when they drive by. But something seemed different about the city this time. The people seemed a bit more tense and impatient. The stores we went into offered less than subpar service. In fact, one of the only smiles I'd seen was when I stopped to give a homeless man a few dollars. The vibe in the air was certainly different from times gone by, bearing in mind that it's been eighteen years since we've been there. But a lot can change in a year... let alone 18.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">We had to navigate around <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/lite/story/1.7033106" target="_blank"><b>long protest marches</b></a> that were going on in favor of the Palestinians in the Israel/Gaza war. Lots of cops around keeping things in order. It was a peaceful protest, though in my opinion pointless. Nothing these protesters did was going to change anything that was going to happen half a world away from us. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ultimately, we settled into a little basement bar downtown - the name of which escapes me at the moment - drawn in by the KISS music that was blaring from their speakers beckoning the likes of ourselves to come in and have a bite. We did just that. The people were all KISS fans in there, some wearing makeup and costumes even. Yet I just didn't get that friendly buzz that we used to get. Don't get me wrong, everyone was well behaved, but that brotherly feeling amongst everyone was kind of lacking like it was in the past. Even the servers were kind of cold. But the food was great. Janice and me ordered our usuals; she got her Club Sandwich and I got my fish & chips. I forget what the kids got, but we all enjoyed what we had; though Alexandra wasn't feeling totally great, thanks to Tom. Cole had an eye on her. He'd just gotten over a bad bout of norovirus prior to the trip. We had our meal and we were off to the streets hovering around the Bell Centre until showtime. The air was quite chilly, so we stopped into a shop where I bought a toque. We also stopped into a Tim Horton's, where we sipped our beverages to bide the time away. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">To the venue we go, with the throngs of KISS fans - you'd know them when you saw them - descended upon the arena. I was a bit nervous about the tickets being on my phone, worrying about connectivity issues, but those fears were unfounded as we were quickly admitted when our turn came. We checked out the merch table, which had a monster lineup of fans waiting to snap up the various items being offered. Janice really wanted the hoodie they had, but someone had bought the last one just before she could reach it. And that last one went to Alexandra. No worries, we can just get one for her online, and probably cheaper, since the venue tacks on their own fees for selling the merch.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Then it was time to take our seats. It was then that I realize we'd gotten the shittiest tickets for a KISS show ever. The stage was massive, but in an arena of that size from the balcony, it seemed smaller than it was. It was the biggest stage production KISS had ever put on, and it showed; but from our vantage point, we didn't get to see it head-on as if we had seats in the bowl. The seats themselves were cramped and tight. And it seemed that the show was standing room only in the whole arena except for the section we were in. Janice and me were the only ones standing and screaming in our section at times, and the guy sitting next to Cole was being a complete dick with his man-spread seating. Some kid in front of us was busy recording the whole concert on his phone not even interacting with the show. And some big goof behind us dressed up as The Demon poked at Janice telling her to sit down as Paul Stanley flew to our area of the venue. "I got boots that make me nine feet tall! I can't stand up!" Well you should've thought about that beforehand going to a KISS show then, shouldn't ya, cupcake? He muttered something in French and Janice turned and barked at him, "ENGLISH." It didn't get much better. Somebody else in our section threw a full glass of beer at that same guy but wound up dousing us, too. All said, it was the worst crowd experience I'd ever had at a KISS show.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">But as far as the concert goes, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLQU7h2V3kY&ab_channel=jb69jc99" target="_blank"><b>it was a wild one</b></a>. Lots of fire, bombs, effects, confetti, even balloons filled the air at various points of the show. Gene and Tommy (band members) got on lifts that took them overhead midway through the arena. Paul, as I said earlier, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHc_9BzCB0k&ab_channel=MonterreyRocker" target="_blank"><b>flew to our part of the building</b></a> for a few songs. Lasers galore. The video screens made sure that even seats like ours could get a good view of the band, which was nice. Eric's drums rose a couple of times - each guy got their own solo spot, specifically designed to give the rest of the band a breather from the more than two hour set. Gene didn't fly to the ceiling this time though, opting instead for a lift that brought him up, probably for stability purposes. Not to mention The Demon's not getting any younger, in his mid 70s. He did the whole breathing fire/blood spitting thing, complete with probably the most <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrm4sG-QYvc&ab_channel=deadontherun" target="_blank"><b>evil looking imagery</b></a> even by Gene's standards. The band was TIGHT. I'm not sure if they've ever sounded better, but KISS has always sounded great to me live. I neglected to mention that the opening band, Crown Lands - a two-piece outfit - was quite good, to me reminiscent of earlier Rush, and they were given a ridiculous amount of stage room and lights, and the sound for them was as good as KISS' was. KISS has never been about trying to show up an opening band. In fact they'd help them however they could. But back to KISS.... it was pretty cool also seeing Sam, finally, make the stage. Sam is the giant serpent on</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtsTeyadf81UbkbhN_izsHyhcwUumoB9WSGuB6kyaWEnuOcNkTTOeDThZoq8glJYeq4M4DGB5ZxPnjfMpxEDTM9fVz5ArDrO-kf99ub5PVNtaEUTFZnhWzWW4DtucKKvR_Ac6q-KWrIAoVOB0m7_hLuxuaQvtl04tf8YdR72CvRSMKp_WPUR8JH5w8M3Y/s900/53100496_1750844841614424_3123215748529389568_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="591" data-original-width="900" height="420" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtsTeyadf81UbkbhN_izsHyhcwUumoB9WSGuB6kyaWEnuOcNkTTOeDThZoq8glJYeq4M4DGB5ZxPnjfMpxEDTM9fVz5ArDrO-kf99ub5PVNtaEUTFZnhWzWW4DtucKKvR_Ac6q-KWrIAoVOB0m7_hLuxuaQvtl04tf8YdR72CvRSMKp_WPUR8JH5w8M3Y/w640-h420/53100496_1750844841614424_3123215748529389568_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Gene's side of the stage that would blow smoke at various points of the show. There's not much for me to say about the stage pods - giant octagonal light rigs, probably over a dozen of them, that rose and descended at various times of the show, with all different colors and imagery on their video screens. I say not much to say, because from our point of view, we only really saw them from the edges instead of face-on. By the time the encores came around, we all knew we were going to see the guys playing 'Rock and Roll All Night' for the last time, and the crowd was <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57B76JIRa-c&ab_channel=KISS" target="_blank"><b>bonkers for the umpteenth sing-along</b></a>. This audience, I have to say though, is not the same audience we're used to witnessing in Montreal. Loud and boisterous, yes, but Montreal usually went beyond that. This isn't limited to the people in the venue. We got this same vibe from everyone in the city. Perhaps the air was tense from the demonstrations - or perhaps it's the population explosion of Montreal. The Quebec government isn't a favorite in the polls these days, with a lot of segregation issues and terrible linguistic policies that make it often less than welcoming. I know that we four didn't exactly feel the love from Montreal this trip.</div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The show got over, we left for the streets to hail down a cab back to the motel. Pretty cheap, really, $25 got the four of us back. We had a bite to eat, with probably the worst Big Mac I've ever had that seemed like it was assembled by a blind man with half a pint of sauce. One gas station I went to to try to get a pack of Tums, I was met with an attendant who didn't understand a lick of English and he just looked at me like I was an alien, so I said 'nevermind' and moved on. That's generally the reception we got from this trip. We got up the next morning and didn't waste a whole lot of time packing up and getting back on the road home. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">And the road home was pretty good. Another nine hour drive, uneventful, with the weather being far better except for the odd snow squall. We got home early Sunday evening, leaving us lots of time to unwind before we would all be home to decompress from the trip. All in all, this wasn't a great experience. We took in the show, which was the best part of everything of course, but I will say that we won't be going back to Montreal anytime soon for any reason. In fact, now that KISS is done, I don't know that we'll hit the road for any show now. I certainly won't accept nosebleed seats for a concert ever again, either. Still, Alexandra and Cole say they really enjoyed themselves, aside from various issues I already mentioned, and they were appreciative of all of it. It was actually a Christmas/birthday present for Alexandra. We paid for pretty much everything for them and were delighted to.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The following three days were something else. I was still recovering from nearly 20 hours of driving over three days when I took a bit of a bad trip with one of my cannabis oil doses, thinking that it would brighten my mood a little, but the opposite happened, not necessarily because of the oil. I was in bed for three straight days without eating or drinking anything. Literally. Not a drop of water or a crumb. There are other reasons I was spiraling that I can't get into here. I finally came around a bit Thursday that week, but would need a lot longer to recover.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Alexandra didn't fare so well. Upon returning, shortly after she wound up with her own bout of norovirus. Come to find out, after the KISS show in Montreal, they went to Quebec City, but then had to cancel the next three shows because of <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/kiss-cancel-string-shows-farewell-025255789.html" target="_blank"><b>Paul Stanley getting sick</b></a> from what appeared to be the same vicious virus. He even said he wondered if it might be 'his time', he was that sick. So this norovirus is a particularly harsh one, not that it's ever a picnic. But that's how close we were to missing this show, again. Man would I have been upset!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A couple of weeks ago, I decided to get some things done that were gnawing at me. I needed to get a couple of remote starters for the car, because the ones we had for the last 13 years kind of bit the biscuit. Plus there was a chip in the windshield that we took on our Montreal trip that I had to get repaired, which wound up spreading, and we don't have comprehensive insurance on our vehicle, to that set us back $400. I had to get my license renewed too, another hundred or so dollars. Needless to say, this made us have to scrimp when it came to Christmas. But, such is life. No one gets a free ride.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">I remember the day I got all that done, we thought we'd celebrate a bit and get stuffed cheesy bread and pasta from Domino's. When I came back from picking up the order, I found Janice in the bathroom being sick. So yes, Janice's number was called for the norovirus and now it was her turn. Boy, was she sick. Scary sick. I'd never seen her that sick from a stomach virus before, and it just wasn't letting up. She spent a whole day running to the bathroom with it coming out of both ends. It was so sad and upsetting that it made me cry. I did what I could for her, tucking her in, rubbing her head, doting on any of her needs. It was crushing to witness - the person I love the most being so ill. She goes through enough with the illnesses she has without having to deal with this. And again, this isn't just any stomach virus. This one was particularly vicious. I read up on some things about this bug going around, and apparently it's <a href="https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-11-norovirus-1.html#:~:text=Cases%20of%20norovirus%E2%80%94a%20common,outbreaks%20so%20far%20in%202023." target="_blank"><b>pretty widespread</b></a>. I even Googled if there'd ever be a cure or better treatment for norovirus. Come to my surprise, they are actually making headway on an eventual vaccine for this, though it's probably a few years away. I thought maybe I'd take some kind of preventative measure if I could. I read that oil of oregano is shown to be at least somewhat effective against stomach bugs. When I went to the store to get Janice supplies for her pending BRAT diet, I picked up a bottle of oregano oil capsules. I took one when I got home. Janice finally seemed to be settling down, though recovery would take days.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But wait, there's more!</div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">When I woke up late Friday morning, I went to the bathroom and, boom, it was my turn. I mounted the porcelain throne and grabbed the wastebasket, and the room started spinning. My God, there's nothing worse in the world to me than puking. I've written about it before here, that when I was young, up until I was about ten or eleven, I was sick almost every Christmas. A couple of times I was so sick that I couldn't hardly move. My brother Pete would attest to that, because I remember him carrying me to the bathroom so I could do my business. Memories of all those times stuck with me, and I've never been able to calm down while being sick since, so I gasp and choke for air and panic. Janice and me both think <a href="https://www.eehealth.org/blog/2019/11/emetophobia-vomit-phobia/#:~:text=Vomit%20phobia%20is%20surprisingly%20common,disorders%20can%20increase%20your%20risk." target="_blank"><b>I have PTSD from those wild vomiting</b></a> days when I was young. Alas.... in this particular instance, I didn't throw up. I felt like I was going to, but I didn't. This made me wonder if that <a href="https://www.futurity.org/oregano-compound-kills-99-99-percent-norovirus/#:~:text=Carvacrol%2C%20the%20primary%20active%20component,and%20diarrhea%20around%20the%20world." target="_blank"><b>oregano oil actually had an effect on the virus in my stomach</b></a>. My gut, though, different story. It came out of me like a firehose, as Janice put it. So much, and so bad, in fact, that when I stood up to clean myself off, ... let's just say the next thing I remember I was hearing "Michael! Michael! MIKE!" I lifted my head to find myself on the bathroom floor, having lost consciousness and cracked my head on a couple of things on the way to the floor. Janice was beside herself. I re-mounted the throne and let it rip some more. Janice.... God love her.... cleaned me up and helped me back to bed. I was white as a sheet and sweating like a racehorse, she said. Of course, that wasn't the end of it. About an hour later, I hobbled back to the bathroom and took a seat - more firehose-worthy dumpage ensued. This time Janice had her eye on me, pride be damned. I once again stood up to clean myself off, and once again down I went, out cold, cracking my right side on the bathtub on the way down. Janice woke me up again, prying me off of the bathtub, once again cleaning me off. I was out cold so I was dead weight until I came to after a couple of minutes. The thing that bothers me the most about all of this is how this must look to Janice. We both love and care about each other so much that it's quite distressing when one of us sees the other in this kind of shape. I had to go back to the bathroom a few more times, but it was uneventful, and I just had the runs. So even though I didn't throw up, it was as if I had. Come to find out, upon me investigating, there <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/emetophobia#:~:text=Emetophobia%20is%20a%20specific%20phobia,does%20it%20overtake%20their%20thoughts." target="_blank"><b>really is a phobia</b></a> about being sick like that. I have never had an easy time being sick - I can handle a cold or even a flu, even Covid, but not a cursed stomach virus. My life is literally in danger now if I have to deal with that, to the point that Janice wants to be near if it happens, because the last three times now, I've blacked out and fainted, and twice gotten head injuries over it. This time, I wound up with three goose eggs on my noggin from collapsing. Even right now I can feel them. And on this particular occasion, I actually cracked a rib on the bathtub. We even worried there might be a floating rib from this, but I got x-rayed and the crack is indeed there, but no floaters. Thank God. But now I have the next month-plus to get over this rib injury. Just what is it with me and rib injuries, I have no flippin' idea.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">To add icing to that cake, I wound up with a <a href="https://americanmigrainefoundation.org/resource-library/sinus-headache/" target="_blank"><b>monster sinus headache</b></a> that lasted well over a day, bad enough to make sunlight a dire enemy. I'm prone to these often, so I have Sudafed Advance to ward these headaches off, very successfully. I used to lose a few work days due to those. But thankfully I found S/A and was able to take care of it. Here's the thing, though.... there's a shortage everywhere of this particular med. So I didn't have it this time and had to ride it out. And man, that was a long 24-36 hours. Excruciating at times. But I got through it.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">So for anyone reading this thinking I'm one of those man-babies when he gets sick, you're right.... kind of. Only when I have to be sick to my stomach. And it stems from childhood trauma. It makes me shudder to think of what might've happened had Janice not been around when all this happened to me. </div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I've read that cognitive behavioral therapy can help this a great deal, but alas, I've been seeking that for my mental illness since forever. I'm convinced there is no help for me and that I'm on my own. I actually need help in that area now more than ever, but it just isn't there for me. My cries for help fall on deaf ears of professionals. Knowing this just makes me even more down. I feel like I'm quite literally on my own.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Anyway, Christmas indeed wound up being super low key. I like to read for mass at church at Christmas time, but I had to tell them I couldn't because of all this kerfuffle. So I've basically been housebound for the last four or five days. Janice seems to be mostly recovered, thankfully, as she has work and all. I'm much better now, but still in recovery of sorts. All this being connected to the PTSD thing, it plays on my mind as much as it does my body. At least digestively, things appear to be nearly better. And the goose eggs have shrunk. The thought of a potential concussion isn't lost on me either. Like I need more of those!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">What we've decided to do about Christmas dinner is put it off until New Year's Eve and have the kids over then. We were just in no shape at all to do it over the actual Christmas holidays. The bright side of it all is, we got through it. That virus is behind us now, and we're a bit stronger because of it.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Also, it was my birthday on the 26th, and though I don't post hardly at all on facebook, I do appreciate the birthday wishes. If you're one of those folks and you're reading this, thank you.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I'd like to thank my friend Wayne for checking in on me, too. A little thoughtfulness can go a long way. I think he realizes that.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This will likely be my last blog entry for the year. What a way to go out, eh? Frig.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I hope you had a great holiday, and that you have a great New Year's to go with it. Stay safe and love and care for each other.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>wellgoodgravyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15051538605094122590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3378459330208889446.post-2745395523395925512023-11-17T01:52:00.002-04:002023-12-28T06:41:49.076-04:00Personal Blog: KISS Was There<div>KISS was there when Dad died in February, 1978.</div><div><br /></div><div>KISS was there when my friend Darren introduced me to you with "Destroyer". Then I wore out my brother Rick's "KISS Alive!" 8 track.</div><div><br /></div><div>KISS was there when I got hit in the forehead by a man's line drive baseball and suffered a concussion.</div><div><br /></div>KISS was there when I needed to get into real rock and roll. So was Jim Rice and the Red Sox. KISS had lots of releases around this period and made for the best distraction at the worst of times.<div><br /><div>KISS made me pick up drumsticks made of an old wooden broom handle to play on cardboard boxes and pots and pans. My brother Greg then bought me a drumset and even gifted me lots of KISS records.</div><div><br /></div><div>KISS was there when I met my buddy Larry in grade seven, and we bonded over our fandom for KISS and learned our skills as a guitar player and drummer. He's a good friend to this day.</div><div><br /><div>KISS was there when I had trouble in school, with what I know now was a learning disability. </div><div> 'Dynasty' was my record of choice when I was down in the dumps.</div><div><br /></div><div>KISS was there with a new album out for me to decompress from life with. "Unmasked" was on the turntable for months.</div><div><br /></div><div>KISS was there when I nearly gave up drums, but heard Eric Carr and just kept playing even harder. "Creatures of the Night" literally changed my life. Carr is tattooed on my left arm.</div><div><br /></div><div>KISS was there when I failed in school and was tempted to give up. They said Don't. After all, they didn't, after they released "The Elder". And '<i>I</i> believe in ME'.</div><div><br /></div><div>KISS was there when people made fun of my complicated acne and girls stayed away. The asskicker album "Lick It Up" made me smile when I thought I'd lost it. "Animalize" would do the same.</div><div><br /></div><div>KISS was there when as a teen I needed positivity to balance out the negative. "Asylum" would energize me.</div><div><br /></div><div>KISS was there when I was getting beaten up at school for liking them - they said GET UP.</div><div><br /></div><div>KISS was there when when I was hit by a car three times in the early 80s, and fought through serious concussion issues.</div><div><br /></div><div>KISS was there to keep me cheery with my Mom, who needed someone to make her laugh in the years after Dad passed.</div><div><br /></div><div>KISS was there when friends came and went and I felt like I was alone.</div><div><br /></div><div>KISS was there when I finally got a girlfriend. 'Creatures' is the soundtrack for that time for me.</div><div><br /></div><div>KISS was there when I met my first serious girlfriend, Michelle - I scrawled "KISS Lick It Up!" on my desk in grade 11. A girl replied and wrote "It's only right, now!" And we got together and went out for seven years, and she's still a great friend today.</div><div><br /></div><div>KISS was there when I endured a bleeding ulcer that could have killed me. They had lots of video releases that kept my imagination busy.</div><div><br /></div><div>KISS was there when I contemplated suicide, a result of so many head injuries and a lack of knowledge back then about how to treat them. Hearing any KISS album helped fix this.</div><div><br /></div><div>KISS was there when I failed grade 12 and couldn't graduate with my girlfriend.</div><div><br /></div><div>KISS was there when I got my first job in '84 (worked there for seven years), and I rattled the store windows on the night shifts with my KISS CDs and tapes - they kept me awake!</div><div><br /></div><div>KISS was there when I bonded with another good friend Pete over KISS fandom. We then formed various jam bands and played their songs.</div><div><br /></div><div>KISS was there when I convinced my band at the time, Asylum, to play "Love Gun" and "Rock and Roll All Night", and even got crowds singing along with us, thanks to another great friend, Wayne, another friend I met through KISS interest.</div><div><br /></div><div>KISS was there, at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto on the 'Crazy Nights' tour, when three friends and me took a torturous train ride from Moncton to Toronto, barely slept, and tore our voices out screaming along with KISS. </div><div><br /></div><div>KISS was there in Toronto with Whitesnake and blew the 'snake away, even without the HITS stage.</div><div><br /></div><div>KISS was there when I took my first jaunt to the U.S. and saw them in Old Orchard Beach, Maine, with three great friends. It would so sadly be the last time I saw my hero, Eric Carr.</div><div><br /></div><div>KISS was there when my Mom took ill with dementia. I stayed home and didn't move out until she had to go. KISS music was a way of assuring that it'll be alright. Their "Revenge" record was their saying to everyone who said 'they're done' and giving them a huge middle finger.</div><div><br /></div><div>KISS was there when I broke my foot and lost my job, my girl, my grandmother, and eventually, another job. They just kept releasing albums, giving me the exit ramp away from stress.</div><div><br /></div><div>KISS was there when I began to date my wife Janice, with whom we bonded over "God Gave Rock and Roll To You II" - She heard the harmonies and has been a fan ever since.</div><div><br /></div><div>KISS was there when my wife and great friend Steve (God rest his soul) saw the 'Revenge' tour in Toronto, after driving for 16 hours to get there, and they were at MuchMusic studios with a throng of us looking in from outside and nearly shattered the windows. Gene points up and says, "Moncton!"</div><div><br /></div><div>KISS was there when I lost my job and couldn't get another for three years, even after going back to college. You can't listen to KISS and not get your mood up.</div><div><br /></div><div>KISS was there when my girlfriend (wife to be) Janice would bear our one and only child, Alexandra, who has been a fan literally since day one. Born into 'The Army'.</div><div><br /></div><div>KISS was there with 'Unplugged' and 'Carnival of Souls', to help me keep the faith with rock and roll when it was dying.</div><div><br /></div><div>KISS was there for us all when they announced the reunion tour. I saw it with my friends Tim and Pete and Al. It was a magical time. I got my job for the next 11 years as a driver at the same time.</div><div><br /></div><div>KISS was there for me when Mom died of her disease. I remember her saying one time, "do you think Gene Simmons would sing "When You Wish Upon A Star" at my funeral?" Now it's all I associate that song with: My Mom's love for it.</div><div><br /></div><div>KISS was there for my wife and me when we got married, and the honeymoon was the 'Psycho Circus' tour. Our song, of course, is "Forever". She proposed to me, so I sprung the surprise wedding on her.</div><div><br /></div><div>KISS was there in Montreal when we took in 'The Farewell Tour' (really farewell to members Ace and Peter). It was a fantastic but bittersweet show. </div><div><br /></div><div>KISS was there through the '00s, even if they didn't release new stuff. If something's wrong, get your KISS records out and shout it out loud.</div><div><br /></div><div>KISS was there in Halifax my wife and daughter went there to see KISS in front of 30,000 fans. </div><div>We saw them in Mansfield, MA on the 'Sonic Boom' tour. We saw them in Saint John, New Brunswick and again in Halifax for the 'Monster' album two nights in a row. </div><div>KISS was there when Steve died in '15. Steve was such a die hard fan that he requested 'Black Diamond' be played at his funeral. It was strangely moving.</div><div><br /></div><div>And <i>we</i> will be there, Janice my wife, Alexandra my daughter, and her boyfriend Cole for KISS November 18 in Montreal on the 'End of the Road' tour, all the way from Moncton. They will end it on December 2 in New York.<br /><br />Thank you, KISS, for having my back throughout my life.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div></div>wellgoodgravyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15051538605094122590noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3378459330208889446.post-43226559327261115612023-11-11T11:11:00.001-04:002023-12-28T06:42:36.895-04:00Opinion: About face<div style="text-align: justify;">As the last week begins before we take off for Montreal for the last KISS show we'll ever see, I thought it might be time to talk a bit here about what's been going on.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Given that I've at least temporarily given up on facebook, I have not indeed given up on my blog page, where I feel better about talking about myself than on social media. I thought I'd give an explanation for my absence there, for anyone who might care at all - and I should stress it doesn't matter if you don't.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Here's the thing about facebook for me: I thought I'd give it an extended break and see how it affects my general view, where it's commonly noted these days that getting away from it <i>improves</i> one's outlook. I'm here to tell you that this is all true. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I keep my facebook messenger open, though, for anyone who wants to contact me that way. Though I still have to field the odd joke or forward like traditional e-mail. I'm not a fan of that stuff, if I'm being honest. I would rather messenger be a more personal space for discussion. I don't want to put anyone off about my stance on this either - I'm not doing this to offend anybody at all.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But I am doing it as a part of my effort to attain a good level of self-care via my own mental health. I've taken a few steps back from facebook and Instagram and realized just how vain those places can be. And I've been a part of that! Not proclaiming innocence, here. In fact, I look back on a lot of my activity on social media over the years and cringe at some of the things I've said and posted. Even recently.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It's occurred to me that we don't need to put our views on politics on full display for the world to see all the time, if any time at all. Before social media, the only way you'd do that is have face to face conversation with someone. And you'd temper your remarks, being mindful of whomever it is you're talking to. With social media, you're giving blanket statements without any regard for how you might come across to someone else. Thus revealing problems with the written word.... with the number one problem there being context and perception. How you speak something can be a night and day difference from how you print it. And I really believe people's sensitivity needs to be considered. I know what some might say if they read that.... "oh, you mean the snowflakes." Which only would solidify my argument. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The whole "Snowflake" moniker, toward someone who appears sensitive, is absolutely offensive to me. Here's the thing... since facebook and others have come to prominence, mental health issues have only increased in numbers. When you say something like what you're reading here right now in print, you're saying in your own mind how it's being said. You're not saying it how I might say it. Verbal expression would be key in how you perceive messaging. Not to mention, unless the user deletes what they've written, the written word is there to stay and isn't going anywhere. Words in the wind pass the instant they're said, relying only on the memory of the person they're spoken to for record. This isn't all to say that the spoken word is necessarily better than the written one - but the written word needs more care in its crafting, given its relative permanence.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">Thus, I've taken a sabbatical from facebook and Insta. I am on Twitter/X, but really just to see what others are talking about. Engaging in social media conversations opens that door just a crack for misinterpretation, which can wind up being quite damaging. If I'm on facebook every day, or semi-regularly even, then I'm <i>expected</i> to say Happy Birthday or Happy Anniversary or Congratulations for whatever, and if I don't, I'm not a "friend". Not a real one. What a load of horseshit. If we gauge each others' friendships based on our social media presence, then we don't actually have a life at all, do we? At least not with those who merit friendships that way.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I'm not saying, either, that I haven't taken part in that very type of conduct. Like I said, I cringe at some of the things I've posted in the past. I'm far from a perfect friend to anyone. Even some blogs in the past I feel are cringeworthy. But when it comes to my blog page, you don't have to visit it. When you go to facebook, you have all your "friends" right there in your face telling you something that just might piss you off that you didn't have to see in the first place. That you didn't <i>want</i> to see. At least with this blog page, you have a general idea of what you'll get because it's only me. My point of view IS the point of this page. And my point of view is no more valid than yours, just because it's on a blog on the internet. But, sometimes it can be entertaining. In my case, I kind of hope for that.</div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I read recently that a potentially cataclysmic event could happen in the next year, with solar flares possibly being so severe that it could disable the internet entirely, because it relies so heavily on satellites. What if the internet were wiped out? What would we do? Beyond business transactions and power sharing, etc., we would actually be forced to talk to each other. I think that's a nightmare scenario in itself for a lot of us. But that's only because we've let social media rewire how we're expected to communicate with one another. The more distant the contact, often the more distant the relationship. There's face to face conversation - then there's the postal letter - then there's the telephone - then there's social media - and now texting. The next form of communication that arrives to us will likely pull us even further away from one another. I have social anxiety, so chronic that it forced me out of work permanently. I have to wonder if this would be so if it weren't for the faux-connectivity the internet has provided us. I only started hating the phone after social media showed up. It seems the more "connected" we become, the more we de-evolve, actually. And I don't know if this is something that can be reversed, short of a potential disaster like I noted above.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Anyway, to those who I might have miffed by not being present online, it's not some kind of personal affront. Not as much as it's an experiment of my own to see how distancing myself from social media affects my own health. And I would have to say, after over a month, everyone should at least try doing this. It really does change your outlook.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I'll continue to keep this blog active, though. I like to write. I also very much appreciate you reading what I write, should you be reading this right now. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">Thanks for visiting my humble blog. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Special thanks to Kelly. (she knows why)</div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>wellgoodgravyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15051538605094122590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3378459330208889446.post-15903784260866714842023-10-25T06:14:00.001-03:002023-12-28T06:43:05.416-04:00Music: Stick Slingers<div style="text-align: justify;">While the wife and me were out for a spin a while ago, I had the sudden urge to pop in a CD that I hadn't heard in its entirety for some time. Yes' "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/1tlsJPpfTZA7Z9o091Ylkk" target="_blank"><b>Big Generator</b></a>". I remember I got the cassette for Christmas back in the 80s from my then-ladyfriend Michelle and played the heck out of it. When I switched over to CDs, my friend Pete bought me that format of the record and I gave him the cassette. </div><div style="text-align: justify;">It's a remarkable album, really. A lot of the songs stick out for me for various reasons, not the least of which is Jon Anderson's incredible voice and harmonies, and he's such a prolific writer. Also, though, the drumming of Alan White, one of my favorite drummers in a long list of them. His sound is so snappy with tons and tons of tasty fills, and he never overplays. White is gone now, having passed away a little over a year ago. That saddened me, because even though my hopes of ever seeing Yes live were slim at best, now I'll never get to see him play, and he was one of a kind.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">On Yes' "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/6nNlTIiFd3J06W0rJiiwlz" target="_blank"><b>90125</b></a>" record, released almost 40 years ago (!!!), I was taken by my first listen of their "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpIduDaggVA&ab_channel=NEAZIXNH" target="_blank"><b>Owner of a Lonely Heart</b></a>" single. The drums stand out almost immediately with that snappy snare sound that caught my attention in an instant. This was my introduction to Yes, who formed actually back in '68, and changed incarnations many times over the years. Every musician in that band is impeccable. But I only really connected with Yes from the "90125" record forward. This band, I would say, is probably the most prominent of the pioneers of prog rock; with "90125" being a bit more on the pop side, but on "Generator" they sort of veered back to their prog roots a bit more. I like modern prog, not so much anything before the 80s, though. And I'm still choosy about it now - but when it clicks with me, I dig right in. Asia is another band that was prog-ish, but more on the pop side. Their drummer, Carl Palmer, was fantastic too. His style is a bit more active, but what he plays always fits. Asia's original lineup in '82 had two Yes members; I hesitate to say "former" members, because they seem to go back and forth from Yes to Asia a lot. The most notable member in Asia for me was John Wetton though, whose voice is one of my all-time favorites. He died in '17... sadly without any real fanfare. His baritone was distinctive and full of feeling. His bass playing was exceptional too.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But back to Alan White... a fellow named Jay Schellen replaced him, as per White's wishes, apparently. Mr. Schellen was a huge fan of White's drumming, so he seems an appropriate replacement. I've never heard him yet, though. I wonder if his sound is like White's. I have to assume it is if he was such a huge fan. White's snare sound is one I've tried emulating sometimes over the years, and you could hear it if you heard me playing back in the day.</div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">There are other drummers too, though, that I really liked that I took to. I remember as a boy in grade seven, the first thing that made me get into drums was KISS' "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/6TRmLIsPKSPS71Cnq8FiMc" target="_blank"><b>Alive!</b></a>" album, pretty much start to finish. Peter Criss is one of the all time greats of rock drumming, in my own opinion. He took lessons from swing king Gene Krupa, after all - Gene Freakin' Krupa. You can certainly hear the swing influence in Criss' style, most notable for me as a drummer using a tightly closed hi-hat a lot, which rock drummers seldom use. A more washy, splashy hi-hat is most common and kind of takes away from the actual sound of drums, if used too much. Which I admittedly have been guilty of. I remember grabbing a bunch of boxes that Mom used to have from getting groceries at the grocery store, and I'd take them and beat out "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFsNrWscqUA&ab_channel=KISS-Topic" target="_blank"><b>100,000 Years</b></a>" on "Alive!" with a pair of drumsticks I whittled out of an old broomstick. I'd invite friends over sometimes to watch me. I had no idea how to play drums at that time, so when my brother Greg bought me a used small set of sparkle-blue Silvertone drums, I didn't have much of a clue what the hi-hat or bass drum pedal was for, so I had to figure it out on my own by watching drummers on TV. My newfound buddy Larry played guitar already, so we kind of learned our chops together in those early years. Larry was my age, early teens, and was a smoking hot player even then, and he only got better. I did too, I guess, but I'd really rather not toot my own horn. But I will say that all the head trauma I experienced probably messed my noggin up on timing issues, even to this day, but I'm far more conscious of it. Doesn't matter, it's fun to do. I'd love to have a band together again sometime and just work up our own cover versions of songs and have fun playing in public someplace. But that ship may have sailed on me. I played some shows in the late 80s, and then got spurned by a lot of bands I played with or tried out for, for whatever reasons, I helped form <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I32bA2VWFWA&ab_channel=xile1c" target="_blank"><b>YQM</b></a> with a couple of friends, played one show, released a rather unfinished CD, and the door pretty much closed after that. I'll never give up drums, but opportunities to play with others just aren't there anymore.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Nonetheless, besides the gentlemen I just mentioned, here's some other drummers I emulated or got influence from, in no particular order, except for the first...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHJHceAt_Wi9t7A8wupkb_N6xL6Kf7IQvhLdbd3QTNLzU1Pry8446HA0mlDpATKbbJVbEUSB9AOpvkGHnyhWUGCbXXqhyjRBUapf8ef_fWQmKL74Xp8vhlHDh-nhjPE4yD0EnMb7_qWdVpMECNb3bq1CLWbQMhEYmrJvfBv4d-r7GhTAVGee6WPJZrUuQ/s678/today-31-years-ago-we-lost-eric-carr-of-kiss-rest-in-peace-v0-byh1ebjc4r1a1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="452" data-original-width="678" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHJHceAt_Wi9t7A8wupkb_N6xL6Kf7IQvhLdbd3QTNLzU1Pry8446HA0mlDpATKbbJVbEUSB9AOpvkGHnyhWUGCbXXqhyjRBUapf8ef_fWQmKL74Xp8vhlHDh-nhjPE4yD0EnMb7_qWdVpMECNb3bq1CLWbQMhEYmrJvfBv4d-r7GhTAVGee6WPJZrUuQ/w640-h426/today-31-years-ago-we-lost-eric-carr-of-kiss-rest-in-peace-v0-byh1ebjc4r1a1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Eric Carr - Definitely my all-time favorite drummer. The guy could write, play guitar and bass, sing, and got ample opportunity to do it all during his short career before he cruelly died the exact same day as Freddie Mercury of cancer. I feel like he really never got his due. When my old Silvertone drums bit the biscuit and I had nothing to play, I just about gave it up. Peter Criss had left KISS, and didn't even play on anything substantially anyway after KISS' "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/32e3bKpExvJ6o3H9UZ9rV1" target="_blank"><b>Alive II</b></a>" record. Carr came into the picture and first drummed on the puzzling "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/1J7sLrUoYUrsjhunsgzZpL" target="_blank"><b>The Elder</b></a>" album debuting for the band; but it was the next record where he gave KISS the desperate kick in the ass they needed, and played some of the finest drum tracks in the history of rock, to me. Lots of drummers refer to that "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/5fMNBSecex43kyvmPIkxqW" target="_blank"><b>Creatures of the Night</b></a>" record as "the drum album" because it was so thunderous. It excited me enough to start playing again, even if it was on Tupperware containers. I eventually saved up enough money from my paper route to buy another used drum kit, and with the inspiration from Eric Carr, beat the snot out of the things with Larry playing guitar. Man, the power that Carr had playing drums with KISS... it saddens me to think too much that he's just not here anymore. I feel like even better years were ahead of him. Carr played on five more studio releases before he passed away in '91. It's tough to say what my favorite track of Carr's is... "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWRS9LfJuS8&ab_channel=KissVEVO" target="_blank"><b>Saint and Sinner</b></a>" on "Creatures" has a real creative groove to it that I even ripped off here and there. A runner up might be "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_RKO5ozLVo&ab_channel=KissVEVO" target="_blank"><b>Forever</b></a>" on their "Hot in the Shade" album. It's a tender, loving ballad... until Carr brings the thunder and wakes the song up. His John Bonham influence is shining through pretty bright here. He gives the song exactly what it needs in all the right places.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Stewart Copeland - Sticksman for The Police. My head turned to The Police when I heard their third record, "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/23enz9nXJhH1BR1Rm5CzDJ" target="_blank"><b>Zenyatta Mondatta</b></a>", and the crack and energy that spewed out of the speakers was nothing short of electric. If Eric Carr's style inspired me to continue playing, Copeland inspired the way my drums sounded. I'd tune my snare drum as tight as I could to emulate The Police. I positioned my drums low and flat like he did, which forced my posture to become more relaxed and made me more visible, even. Not that I even considered that. All those Police records have really tasty sounding drums on them, but "Zenyatta" was my clear favorite. Sadly I never got to see Copeland live, though. My favorite song he's played on is tough... but I might go with "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=io3CNOeDfO4&ab_channel=ThePolice-Topic" target="_blank"><b>Voices Inside My Head</b></a>", an instrumental with a real sonic vibe that paves the way to some real feisty fills by Copeland towards the end. I'd give "Zenyatta"s "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YC8vxXC0UMc&ab_channel=ThePolice-Topic" target="_blank"><b>When the World Is Running Down</b></a>" a fairly close runner-up. I have great memories of playing that with Pete when we jammed.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">John Bonham - Kind of a no brainer... but I really only got into Zeppelin around the late 80s when I started jamming a lot with my friend, bass player Pete. Finally I got to play with a bass player! A drummer can only become so good until he learns to jibe with a four-stringer. And Pete and me just naturally synched. We provided some pretty good punch to whatever band we were playing for. He was a big Zep fan and I found out more about them from him, eventually wondering what the hell took me so long to get into it. Bonham was Eric Carr's biggest influence, as you can clearly hear. What I liked about Bonham the most was his less-is-more style, though he brought the speed when it was called for, and also the shuffle in a lot of his beats. In this age of programmed drums and drum triggers, you can't really hear that kind of style anymore. My opinion on drum triggers is they helped usher in the use of drum machines, because to have triggers is almost the same thing. They take away the humanity of the playing. When Bonham died, Zeppelin ceased to be, justly so I think. You really can't replace a guy like him. Charlie Watts is great for the Stones, one of the greatest really. But it's hard to say the Stones can't go on without him. And they are. I'd say my favorite track of Bonham's is "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1t4KLOm7pO0&ab_channel=LedZeppelin-Topic" target="_blank"><b>Achilles' Last Stand</b></a>", which chugs along like a steroid-laden locomotive; with maybe "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEYqSorzOZs&ab_channel=LedZeppelin-Topic" target="_blank"><b>Kashmir</b></a>" as a runner up.</div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ringo Starr - If any drummer taught me that subtlety can sound good, that'd be Ringo. I would say he's the most underrated rock drummer in history. I heard so many people crap on his playing because maybe he wasn't Keith Moon or something. But try to picture Keith Moon playing for The Beatles. I really didn't pay much attention to the bubble-gum Beatles at all, it was the more proggy sound they experimented with in the latter half of their lifespan that I grabbed onto. Some of the stuff he played was just so off the wall that if you were a fan of early Beatles, you might not think it's the same guy. Maybe my favorite performance of his is "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/0ETFjACtuP2ADo6LFhL6HN" target="_blank"><b>Abbey Road</b></a>"s "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oolpPmuK2I8&ab_channel=TheBeatles-Topic" target="_blank"><b>Come Together</b></a>" - no one ever played like that before and made it sound so great. "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8WMGBuNaus&list=PLg5pp7nrH0IoJks_jOeyeZPtWSpNa2utK&index=1&ab_channel=TheBeatles-Topic" target="_blank"><b>Magical Mystery Tour</b></a>" might come in second, with the great teasing tempos. The song's beginning and ending are like the North and South poles, different but necessary to begin and close out the song, and Ringo carries both of those.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Alex Van Halen - I'll say this about AVH... it has to have been a bit of a drag to be as great a drummer as he is in a band with the legendary Eddie, his brother, but he was content to let his brother shine. The sad thing with AVH is, I really think he'll only be as appreciated as he should be when he passes. That's how it was with Freddie Mercury - The U.S. press dragged him through pig slop until he died. The old saying "everyone loves a dead person" is applicable there. I loved playing his stuff on drums, but there's some stuff that I just can't. There's a reason why you don't hear cover bands playing the ultra popular "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6M4_Ommfvv0&ab_channel=VanHalen" target="_blank"><b>Hot For Teacher</b></a>", and it's not just Eddie's playing, it's his brother's contributions that stick out in a case like that. His use of the cowbell was so perfectly placed. You can't play the start of "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-rTKd-Alk8&ab_channel=VanHalen-Topic" target="_blank"><b>Dance the Night Away</b></a>" without it. But the track I really love is "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/4KlqAmR1tA1dERWo7MHhzO" target="_blank"><b>Fair Warning</b></a>"s "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6Y1CTqu3k0&ab_channel=VanHalen-Topic" target="_blank"><b>Hear About It Later</b></a>", one of my favorite songs EVER all around. That drum break with the cowbell before the guitar solo is iconic to me, and so friggin' fun to play. AVH's playing left an emotional mark too, in songs like "HAIL", "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CIE041T954&ab_channel=VanHalen-Topic" target="_blank"><b>I'll Wait</b></a>" and "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGbb8-j1Suo&ab_channel=VanHalen-Topic" target="_blank"><b>Romeo Delight</b></a>", to name a few. His is another snare sound I've tried to copy. The way he uses the crash/ride cymbal so effectively through his career made me seek out what model he plays, which was an 18" Paiste Rude crash/ride. Yeah, those suckers aren't cheap. I <i>still</i> don't have one.</div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Jerry Gaskill - My old pal Steve, God rest his soul, introduced me to <a href="https://open.spotify.com/artist/3tn79LMMIdIT1T0TXumjaH" target="_blank"><b>King's X</b></a> back in the late 80s when I was working as a clerk at a corner store called Green Gables. He came in and handed me a tape of theirs called "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/6ARDkQ9znc4tjNyQm9Z9cM" target="_blank"><b>Gretchen Goes To Nebraska</b></a>", and I popped it into the player I had at work for the night shift and listened to it a couple of times. It didn't really grab me. It was borderline prog, but heavy and very melodic, and you could clearly hear the chops in all three musicians. I gave it another chance. Then another. And before I knew it, those songs wound up engrained in my head, and I became obsessive with them. I sought out their other records and got them and have been a fan since. I was fortunate enough to see them in Toronto in the early 90s on their "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/47U4J0zNT79iSnbWJOXg5S" target="_blank"><b>Dogman</b></a>" tour, then again four years ago or so in Portland, Maine. Jerry's drumming stuck out pretty big time for me, it was so powerful and grooved with Doug Pinnick's bass playing, and he never overplayed or did anything that didn't fit their songs to a 'T'. It didn't matter how difficult the playing was to him, either, when it came to him singing, he's just so well rounded. If I had to pick a favorite song with is playing, besides the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPLSib2GtnU&ab_channel=AGiantSloar" target="_blank"><b>title song</b></a>, it might be "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsdPtt2lUxg&ab_channel=King%27sX-Topic" target="_blank"><b>Don't Care</b></a>" on "Dogman", a slow, prodding, punch-in-the-gut of a tune that allowed him to bust out toward the end with a ferocity that matched the song's subject matter. Runner up might be a ripper of a tune called "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99pyxedohpk&ab_channel=InsideOutMusicTV" target="_blank"><b>Give It Up</b></a>" on their "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/2Qii6sj7o8K6ukKSKKExuv" target="_blank"><b>Three Sides of One</b></a>" record that came out a year ago. Again, I love how he locks in to good with Pinnick's bass playing. He plays a relatively small kit, too, but brings the thunder like it was an AVH kit.</div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Eric Singer - I was real fortunate to have met Singer in 08 when he was touring with Alice Cooper on a brief break from touring with KISS. Singer's style makes me think of a studio musician's, because he's so perfect and precise with his playing, he often doesn't even need a click when he records. He's played with so many acts like Black Sabbath and Lita Ford and others, and he was always able to match his style with whomever he was playing for. He really made his mark on KISS' "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/70eknRp5bKGdFq0rJ7kA3x" target="_blank"><b>Revenge</b></a>" record, though, when he subbed for Eric Carr, who fell ill with cancer at the time, and eventually took the spot when Carr passed. It was a great fit. Singer's very knowledgeable about all styles and is quite a historian with rock drumming, incorporating many of his idols' styles into his own playing. I love how his kits are set up, positioned low and flat and not without tons of cymbals to accent whatever song he's playing on. His playing is actually restrained on KISS' studio albums that he's on, but if you listen to a track like "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5ILveh80e8&ab_channel=Tigre777Videos" target="_blank"><b>Watchin' You</b></a>" on KISS' "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/1ge77RWfTDv0faDfB1tOyB" target="_blank"><b>Alive III</b></a>" album, you can hear he's not really holding back and puts on a clinic. Maybe my favorite runner up track would be "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OJjYDKb2EI&ab_channel=GraemeMartin" target="_blank"><b>Sure Know Something</b></a>" on KISS' "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/5rf66ReWkobYT88G0Ky52y" target="_blank"><b>Unplugged</b></a>" album, where he puts his own spin on the original version played by Anton Fig (in place of Peter Criss at the time) from KISS' "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/4FA68GsblSfvKZZRfM1tI1" target="_blank"><b>Dynasty</b></a>" album, which I also really like. But Singer's version seems appropriately moodier, which is often hard to come across with a drummer. I'd peg Singer as a thinking man's drummer, as he's so aware of the song environment that he's playing in.</div></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Neil Peart - Clearly there's no denying Peart's impact on the music world, not just with his drumming, but he also wrote much of Rush's lyrical content. I wasn't a fan of early Rush, though, as it just didn't quite catch my ear. I found it a bit excessive for my own taste. But when they refined their sound in the early 80s, that's when I took interest in their releases. There's really nothing he does that isn't great, even if a song is only so-so, he still leaves his undeniable stamp on it. Peart might have played monster drum kits, but he utilized everything that he had around him, rather than just having it there for eye candy for other drummers. Every song of his was a clinic. Another thinking man's drummer. I found it actually fun to listen to his stuff just to figure out how he did some of his licks, and once you learn them, it's gratifying to use it as a sort of education to incorporate it in your own style. Not that I'm anything like he is, of course not, I'm just kind of a wannabe chump. One of my favorite songs he's on is "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOj0eO3zCbc&ab_channel=Meandyouyup" target="_blank"><b>Where's My Thing</b></a>" from Rush's "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/2yKC3eNAD4pdyThzEegn0L" target="_blank"><b>Roll the Bones</b></a>" record, for which I think they won a Grammy for Best Instrumental. Any drummer listening to his chops on that has their brains light up all over the place with all the stuff he does in there. It's kind of indulgent for all three guys, but it's an instrumental after all, so they can just fly freely. I really like his playing on "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUSpBAmSMb8&ab_channel=Snad" target="_blank"><b>Bravado</b></a>" from "Roll the Bones" also, where he's somewhat subdued while still leaving his distinct mark on the beats. Really, there's a ton of stuff that sticks out with Peart. Heaven has some pretty incredible drummers these days.</div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Tommy Lee - Motley Crue's drummer is unquestionably irreplaceable, even though he was replaced for a short time (by another great, Randy Castillo), coming back to the band after a bit of internal turmoil, which happens with most long enduring groups. My ears and eyes perked up when I saw the Crue's "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wPHxQMgdKs&ab_channel=M%C3%B6tleyCr%C3%BCe" target="_blank"><b>Looks That Kill</b></a>" video in MTV's infancy in the early 80s, and what I saw was the next KISS, with all the theatrics and costumes and kickass soundtrack to go with it. Lee was the first real drummer to incorporate visual flash with his playing, creating a trail of pretenders in the wake of Crue's success. Something rather gratifying to me was reading him say once that he'd heard KISS' "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/5fMNBSecex43kyvmPIkxqW" target="_blank"><b>Creatures</b></a>" album and loved Eric Carr's drumming so much, he wanted to cop that for their "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/7xuz2r1QalMeEVkYuDfPgY" target="_blank"><b>Shout At the Devil</b></a>" release. It's hard to imagine "SATD" being quite as big as it was without Lee's contributions, arguably the best musician in that band. With his stick twirling during playing, cymbal catching, and crazy booming bass drum sound (capitalized on with great effect and success on their "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/1pRY36LiSRq5oBwdrLKrF2" target="_blank"><b>Dr. Feelgood</b></a>" release), Lee brought the fun to playing drums in a big way. It left a big mark on how I play. Between him and Eric Carr, the life on a lot of drum skins and sticks of mine was considerably shortened. I play really loud because of those two guys primarily. I'd pick "Looks That Kill" as my favorite track with Lee's playing for those reasons. After that I might pick "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ahq4blDfU5s&ab_channel=M%C3%B6tleyCr%C3%BCe" target="_blank"><b>Live Wire</b></a>" from their debut "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/6eADUk8en6omoudkkYsnoa" target="_blank"><b>Too Fast For Love</b></a>", where he clearly leaves his name stamp all over it. He's not afraid to use that cowbell, either.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Cozy Powell - I've only really recently come to appreciate how great Powell was on pretty much everything he played. He played with some seriously punchy hooks, making memorable fills without going overboard. The things he's played on that I really love were Whitesnake's "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/4jFSgsgOGtd96FZtNWF0cp" target="_blank"><b>Slide It In</b></a>" release, where "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qqAtPV-kgs&ab_channel=RHINO" target="_blank"><b>Slow and Easy</b></a>" really nails down how to get an audience to clap along to the music. He had a fairly big kit, not "supersized", but big enough though, with 26" double bass drum (!!!... mine are 22") and he used Remo Powerstroke drumheads I think right until his untimely death in '98. I point that out because Powerstroke heads were predominant in the 70s and 80s, and not so much past that. I used them for a bit, but opted for the thicker Remo Emperor heads, simply because they're a bit tougher and a little less ring. But listening to Powell's drumming with Whitesnake, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/search/Cinderella" target="_blank"><b>Cinderella</b></a> and <a href="https://open.spotify.com/search/rainbow" target="_blank"><b>Rainbow</b></a>, to name a few, made me rethink that a bit. This guy played just about everything, from rock to jazz, and has a ton of credits to his long resume. "Slow and Easy" is probably my favorite work of his, just because of its punchiness and how he carries that song. There are too many things he's played on to just pick one, though, so I'll just leave it at that. I'm still kind of 'discovering' his playing, but what I heard left no doubt to me how great he was.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Gina Schock - Say what you will about the <a href="https://open.spotify.com/artist/2mG8HHQ9S9kcbjcrb5N1FE" target="_blank"><b>Go Go's</b></a>, arguably the best and most pioneering all-girl band that came out in the early 80s, but those ladies knew how to write and play songs. I really like Kathy Valentine's bass playing in this band, coupled with Schock's drumming. Her style makes me think of a kind of swing/rock fusion kind of sound, with lots of energy and really crisp sounding snare fills. She utilizes her tom drums brilliantly, hearkening back to a lot of the doo-wop bubblegum bands of the 60s. Maybe that's why they were pegged as "girl Beatles" early on, with their simplicity and go-getter vibes especially on those tracks on the first record of theirs. I can't think of any version of that band without her, though they've never replaced anyone anyway. I think the song I'd vote for as my favorite of theirs might be "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLhsn_ARn2U&ab_channel=TheGo-Go%27s-Topic" target="_blank"><b>How Much More</b></a>" from their debut "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/1L4HE00En7eNK74voVZums" target="_blank"><b>Beauty and the Beat</b></a>", where she plays pretty much like I described. I think she made that band sound better than it really was, as least early on. I'd give a runner up to "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gc-WHZ0AH50&ab_channel=TheGoGosVEVO" target="_blank"><b>Turn To You</b></a>" from "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/4qknJSerRPkmd9HdzobRJi" target="_blank"><b>Talk Show</b></a>", where the rest of the band catches up to her feisty-ness and latches on to her energetic grooves. The whole band can play, but she's the best of them.</div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Liberty DeVitto - When Billy Joel broke big with his "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/3IILMjMMnoN2sKzgesX8KV" target="_blank"><b>The Stranger</b></a>" album, it was in part because he acquired the services of Phil Ramone as producer, and part because he got to use his own band in the studio for the first time. Joel's buddy DeVitto was in on this on drums, and man, does this guy kick some serious ass. He puts the "ow!" in "Power", pulverizing his kit when he plays live without ever sacrificing the quality of the songs he's playing. I love every record of Joel's he's ever played on, but I'm partial to the Ramone-produced era, maybe for nostalgic reasons. The records that really stick out for me for DeVitto are "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/1HmCO8VK98AU6EXPOjGYyI" target="_blank"><b>52nd Street</b></a>" and "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/2Vf4bohoWVk1YlPR2uNOFd" target="_blank"><b>Songs In the Attic</b></a>", the latter being a live album of tracks from releases prior to "The Stranger". Boy, does he bring life to those songs. Joel's one of the best songwriters of all time, in my opinion, and he couldn't have found anyone better to lay down the beats for his songs than DeVitto. The guy's a powerhouse in every sense of the word, playing with the truest of passion and precision, knowing exactly what a song needs. I honed my own chops on playing his songs a lot in my early years of drumming, although it was by myself, because I never really had any musician friends who wanted to play Billy Joel material. Probably my favorite selection for a song might be "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hO_x_YcJZk&ab_channel=billyjoelVEVO" target="_blank"><b>Captain Jack</b></a>" on "SITA", a moody title that carries some serious weight live thanks to his merciless pounding in the sections of the song where it called for it. You could hear Joel getting revved up in that song when DeVitto cranked up the energy factor - but there are several subtle moments in that tune, too, where he just locks into the feel of the story of the song. The other song I'd pick is, without a doubt, "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LB-tkHD4uXU&ab_channel=billyjoelVEVO" target="_blank"><b>Rosalinda's Eyes</b></a>". You really hear his jazz influences here, as you do with the whole "52nd Street" album. But in particular, I love how he plays out the end of the song. As the years have passed, I feel more and more nostalgic whenever I hear it, taking me back to that late 70s feeling. Only the best musicians can produce that kind of air.</div></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">David Robinson - I first heard of The Cars when I took a trip to Ontario to stay with my brother Peter when I was 13, and he had "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/4UFgeduzEZegQE74xUwI6J" target="_blank"><b>Candy-O</b></a>" on his turntable. I heard him play it a few times and thought it was pretty catchy. From there I discovered the other Cars albums as they came out. One big thing that stood out to me, even as a youngster, is how splashy drummer Robinson's snare drum sounded, and even the toms had a penetrating, "boom" kind of sound. On those early releases, you could actually hear that the toms were open (or one-sided, skins-wise), and I always appreciated the honesty of that kind of sound from drums in the 70s and 80s. Robinson's style is very accurate, like a human metronome, punctuating the songs' music and giving real definition to the urgency of the changes when it needed it. Every time I listen to The Cars I get the urge to play my own kit. It's actually great material to learn drums on. I've always believed Robinson is one of the most underrated drummers in all of rock history, actually. You don't hear the rapid fills or tricked-out beats with odd time changes, but that's the whole point; the simplicity of his style adds appeal to the already catchy music. One of my favorites is actually the song "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEgYxDehs7k&ab_channel=TheCars-Topic" target="_blank"><b>Candy-O</b></a>", with his great use of floor toms in the chorus and laying the train tracks for the boogie of the whole tune. I can't not mention "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cp63rQhC8zY&ab_channel=TheCars-Topic" target="_blank"><b>Touch and Go</b></a>" from their "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/56eHYN6Y02evhG49RjZL2V" target="_blank"><b>Panorama</b></a>" album, either. That song's a tour-de-force for the whole band, with one of the best guitar solos ever from Elliot Easton, a superb walking bass line in the chorus from Ben Orr, never-failing keys from Greg Hawkes and of course Robinson's pinpoint accuracy dotting the changes throughout the song bringing the whole thing together. He's just a joy to listen to, drum-wise, for me.</div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Larry Mullen Jr. - U2 is one of the biggest bands on earth, in large part because of this guy. Mullen actually started the band, and Bono took over, though Mullen has no regrets about that, of course. Those early U2 albums, the first three, you can hear the urgency and even anger sometimes in his playing, especially on the "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/6GaqU0TlYBKHUiSJ0AT9A2" target="_blank"><b>War</b></a>" album. It's on those early releases that you really hear his gutteral approach to drums, when Steve Lillywhite was the prime producer and just set him loose. On "War" in particular, it almost sounds like the drums are turned up extra loud in the mix - fitting for the album's title. But make no mistake, his drumming and innovative non-use of hi hat strikes at times helped change the direction of the sound of much of U2's catalogue. Just take a listen to "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ot-5qt-T-YQ&ab_channel=U2-Topic" target="_blank"><b>A Sort of Homecoming</b></a>" from "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/3FFosIE1A9HGRrinKTcBQ3" target="_blank"><b>The Unforgettable Fire</b></a>" for example, where he opts to drive the beat with 16th notes on a floor tom he places to the left of his snare, accenting with a rack tom. He did something similar on "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/5vBZRYu2GLA65nfxBvG1a7" target="_blank"><b>The Joshua Tree</b></a>"s "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzZWSrr5wFI&ab_channel=U2VEVO" target="_blank"><b>Where the Streets Have No Name</b></a>", opting instead for a rack tom instead of a floor one. It was on "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/5n52kyQKeUZs5ObZJejLQd" target="_blank"><b>Achtung Baby</b></a>" and "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/0IYjMBLA9PgtXyRPlLmTDE" target="_blank"><b>Zooropa</b></a>" where he got particularly adventurous, though, no doubt spurred on by his producers Lanois, Eno and Flood. His sound is particularly crisp on those offerings. On "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/7gskILm9UyDvFlmmAoqn2g" target="_blank"><b>All That You Can't Leave Behind</b></a>" and "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/5PQPur1PEZFDkI0AXbxFlB" target="_blank"><b>How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb</b></a>", he lets up slightly on the former, with great effect, and unleashes once again on the latter, at times bordering on a punk/metal vibe - like on "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98W9QuMq-2k&ab_channel=U2VEVO" target="_blank"><b>Vertigo</b></a>" and "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJidOOmAl8c&ab_channel=U2VEVO" target="_blank"><b>All Because of You</b></a>". His biggest influence is The Ramones, after all. Of the multitude of tracks to choose from, "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gK8aCgDFBZQ&ab_channel=spaticus09" target="_blank"><b>Like a Song</b></a>" from "War", a somewhat obscure song, is a standout for me - he kicks that anger into high gear literally, seemingly matching Bono's urgency in his vocals by translating the words into drums as best he could. On the other end of that, on "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6snI72LGfP4&ab_channel=inTheFade26" target="_blank"><b>So Cruel</b></a>" from "Achtung", he plays effectively restrained, letting Bono's heartbroken lyric take center stage while supporting it with an uncharacteristic higher-end rhythm. I can't not mention how great he sounds paired up with bassist Adam Clayton.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">That's the bulk of what I consider to be influential drummers of mine throughout the years. There are plenty of others I'm just not recalling, but this would wind up being some kind of boring old book if I were to continue. And I've already taken days to write this particular blog post! But had a lot of fun doing it, actually. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There aren't a lot of modern day drummers on that list, simply because machines and triggers have more or less taken over drums on recordings, unfortunately. Live drums are a different kind of subject, and they're a lot more fun to listen to than studio recordings mostly, in person. But the way I see it, the art of drumming is slowly fading from the recording industry. Even the stuff that's done well is so manipulated by production and computers and crap like that, that it's hard to find something that sounds honest anymore. It's why the last few years I've opted to look backwards at music that I might have missed out on over the years. And that's an endless library to go through, thankfully.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">If you've found this interesting enough to read all the way to this point, thanks for doing so. I truly appreciate you visiting my humble Ragnar Station.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>wellgoodgravyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15051538605094122590noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3378459330208889446.post-90905224642197372522023-09-11T06:21:00.001-03:002023-12-28T06:43:27.607-04:00Personal Blog: Walk the razor's edge<p></p><div style="text-align: justify;">It is Monday, September 11, 2023, 4:09am according to my laptop.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">My wife is sleeping beside me. Earlier we watched "Interstellar" again on blu-ray with the captions on, and gained a whole new insight to the film yet again. Then we popped in the extras disc and watched some of that, before it was ultimately time for her to get to sleep for work tomorrow.</div><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;">The day started off very late for me, where we were up quite late last night because we just weren't tired. Janice had the last four weeks off to recuperate from her knee surgery, in which her surgeon determined that she needed knee replacement. That may happen as soon as before the end of the year. She will then need six months to recuperate. After that, knee replacement for her other knee may be on the horizon, which likely means permanent disability, like me.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">But these past four weeks have been very nice, for the most part. There have been absolutely no issues between us through this time, and indeed, pretty much ever since we got together 31 years ago. Any issues that have arisen have always been due to outside meddling or troublemakers, really of which there have been few as well. One of those occurred during last month.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">August 2, 2022 was the last time I self-harmed. I used to say that was the last time I endured an anxiety attack, but I can't quite claim that. They don't always go hand in hand. They did at work, though, especially while I was employed with Shoppers Drug Mart. I did work for one of the stores for ten years for a great boss named Jamie, who is one of the most understanding, gregarious individuals I've ever been blessed to know, and especially to have for a boss. I suffered numerous attacks at work there and asked for time to cope, and he was 100% understanding, telling me to take care of myself first and foremost. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">When Jamie left at the end of that ten years, though, I had a new guy to work under that really, really didn't work out. In fact, beyond the pharmacy at that store, I was the last staff member left that was at the opening of that building when it was rebuilt. I watched countless folks get forced out or leave before I finally did. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">On my daughter's birthday that year, I came home from work, exasperated and frustrated, to the point that the mental anguish was too much to process, and jumped and landed horizontally on the hard living room floor - breaking ribs in my back in the process. I desperately texted my wife at work "help" several times, because I couldn't call to speak, as I'd lost my voice and breath. It took a half hour to gain the ability to breathe properly again. She came home minutes later and helped me get upstairs to lie on the soft mattress. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Following that, she spoke to our family physician, who advised her to get the ball rolling to proceed to get me on permanent disability. About a year later, after several more anxiety attacks - but only a fraction of what I'd endured from work - the government concluded I indeed qualified. I broke down in tears when I found out, because I just didn't feel like many believed me when I told anyone of my struggles with mental illness. It carries a stigma, after all.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Today, I deal with an added stigma: being in my mid 50's and on permanent disability. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">As I progress through my thirteenth month straight of not self-harming, worthy of note because I do have to fight the urges to sometimes; though not often, I've learned through Janice to accept that I have not self-harmed, but I have dealt with anxiety attacks. They produce a very weird chemistry in my head where I feel like I'm bottoming out, spiraling. What pulls me out of it is cannabis with THC. It's become somewhat of a life-saving miracle for me. I've also discovered that also carries a stigma with it to those who don't accept the modern legality of it in the present time. But that, I don't worry about.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The issue I dealt with last month was one where I felt quite unaccepted by someone associated with my wife's family. I'd rather not get into the details - only that it's an ongoing issue for years that has mushroomed this summer. The incident sent me into a tailspin mentally and spiritually that left me so confused and drained that my mind went to very dark places... places that made me contemplate the worst toward myself. One weekend night at three in the morning I walked to the Gunningsville Bridge and stopped in the middle, looking down at the river below. <i>"It would only take a minute,"</i> I thought to myself. For a half hour I stood there in the dead of the warm night breeze. This was a couple of weeks after the 'incident'. I eventually opted to walk home.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">This wasn't the only time thoughts like that invaded my head in the last month. It made August a challenge, because family was in town visiting, and gatherings were frequent. I didn't attend many of them, because of this whole mess of anxiety I was dealing with, but I still went to some of them. I feared much of my family might not understand my absence, but via communicating with Janice, they certainly did. I also did not let anyone know of my bridge visit or ponderance until the writing of this blog you may be reading right now. As those August days rolled on, so did doubts about myself. The anxiety ball was rolling, running down hope as it trolled through my head. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">The four weeks Janice was off might well have been crucial in saving me. We rarely spend time apart, after all. During that four weeks, we actually weren't apart. Every day I woke up, she was there. When I went to sleep, she was there. Every night she tells me before she drifts off, "remember, I'm right here beside you." I have a lot of friends in passing, all of whom are special to me in various ways, but I have no frequent friends anymore. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">It's funny, so many of these friends, and family, upon hearing I qualified for disability, offered me literal congratulations, as if I'd achieved some goal. I was a proud worker right up to my last day on April 22, 2020. Maybe too proud sometimes. Before working for Shoppers, I worked driving for BJ's Subs and Catering for 11 years, probably the most content period of my life. Never let anyone tell you a retail job, in any capacity (in my case a receiver), is better than a driving job. My heart goes out to retail workers. It either hardens you like a shield, or you buckle under the pressure. In my case, due to my mental health history, I buckled, and am today officially labeled "disabled".</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Being put on disability was good, all said. If I'd continued staying at the job I was at, I surely would have run into far more serious issues. Before I'd ever worked for Shoppers, I was mentally compromised already, after all, but my driving job never pushed me to the depths that my retail one did. Not even close. But after working 12 years in retail (I was at two other SDM stores before landing at the last one), I couldn't get used to retail life, or the rotten treatment Loblaw doled out to their employees when they took over halfway through my run there via Shoppers. I don't want to make myself sound like I thought I was the ideal employee. There are a lot of things I'd do differently today - but I think that goes with a lot of folks. Truth be told, no one was harder on me than myself.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">But I continue to be hard on myself long after I've left the workplace. My wife got her knee diagnosed by doctors who saw the problems and issued them to get fixed promptly, relatively speaking, compared to my own mental illness. After all, an MRI or X-ray will show torn tissue and broken bones, which gets treated upon diagnosis. Me... I haven't even been properly diagnosed. I have no idea what I have, what to call what I deal with. It resembles depression, anxiety, PTSD and trauma, but there is no official term. Just guesses according to the history of my health. My physician did what he could. He gave me meds to calm the fires that often lit up my brain, but that's a band-aid solution. It doesn't get to the heart of the matter like a psychologist or psychiatrist can. I had both of those.... I ran out of money to pay for a psychologist, and my psychiatrist gave up on me. So, I'm on my own. I continue to take SSRIs and now cannabis oils to stave off The Monster. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Being out of work has greatly curtailed my anxiety, but it didn't cure it. Now I'm left waking up in the morning feeling like I have little to no purpose. My cat Marbles walks on my head to wake me up to feed him - outside of that, anyone I know is working, including my wife. I've lost interest in things I used to love doing. I love playing drums, but I have nothing to motivate me to. I always have artsy things flying around in my head (especially on cannabis... WOW.) but then ask myself, "what for?" When people create things, they want to show others. I have no one to do that for outside of my wife. I find writing this very blog therapeutic, but I'll only post a link to it on social media rather than just stick it out there outright. I think there are those who might construe these writings as me crying victim. Maybe I am. Janice is a victim of knee problems, and no one will hesitate to offer their understanding of that. I see it her deal with it! And it's terrible, and at times heartbreaking. But my psychological issues.... I think there are a lot of folks who'll just think "suck it up and move on." And this lack of understanding does nothing for me when I reach my lowest, like at the bridge.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The chances of me of jumping off that night were very slim. I was really only contemplating. Until <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOyXOOZHcvE&ab_channel=RushVEVO" target="_blank"><b>a Rush song called 'The Pass'</b></a> glided through my head. <i>No hero in your tragedy...no daring in your escape...no salutes to your surrender...nothing noble in your fate. Christ! What have you done?</i> The aftermath. The damage I would leave in my wake. That made me turn around and walk the razor's edge. I can't turn my back and slam the door on my family.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">And I live to fight another day. The tattoo on my back, words from a song called <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmKxzcGmtn0&ab_channel=FearlessStudios" target="_blank"><b>"Dream In My Life" by King's X</b></a>, is an ode to my wife and daughter. I feel it's me speaking to Janice and Lexy. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">It's a struggle. Everyone deals with them. I know I'm not alone in that. I'm not the only one to have had a hard life. Sometimes people feel they have to remind me of that. And I actually find it insulting and insensitive, but accept the notion they don't realize it. Ignorance is not always bliss. Sometimes it's just ignorance.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">But I accept it for another day. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Above ground.</p>wellgoodgravyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15051538605094122590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3378459330208889446.post-71038057169726332832023-07-20T06:12:00.001-03:002023-12-28T06:43:58.271-04:00Personal Blog: Carry That Weight<div style="text-align: justify;">It's been a great summer - albeit kind of soggy in this neck of the woods here in New Brunswick, Canada. But looking around at all the mayhem caused by weather in so many other parts of the world, including here in my own country, actually especially my own country, I can't validate any complaints I might have had.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Last year, on August 2, I suffered my last violent anxiety attack, where I turned a utility knife on myself and cut up my legs and arms. No need to get into reasons why. But it did prompt an adjustment in my medication, which has helped quite incredibly really, and I've been in perhaps the most serene place in my entire life since I can remember.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It hasn't come without some challenging times and days, of course, like everyone has. I've learned to recognize triggers and how to stare them down; to remove myself from situations that may prompt an oncoming attack. Everyone who suffers from chronic anxiety is unique in their symptoms and what brings them on. I'm certainly not a 'textbook case' of an anxiety sufferer. Mine originates mainly from physical trauma early in life. Thus, medication proved to be crucial to getting me out of that hole that at times appeared bottomless. But it takes more than just meds.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It takes a family, friends, spirituality, and education to shine light where it's needed the most. It started out without any hint of a light at all whatsoever. So much is known about physical trauma's connection to chronic anxiety now than was back in the day. It's made me look back on my own past and taking a look at what I'm ashamed of, actions-wise, and look at it in a third-person kind of perspective. Would I be so condemning of a person that has the same kind of past and circumstances, from an outsider's point of view? Today, I certainly would not.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But time is the great teacher, isn't it? Not only does it provide you with a chance to look back, but it gives you the option to not repeat. It's true what they say, those who do not learn from history really are damned to repeat it. That road had a lot of potholes and damage to it. There's an alternate route that takes me to where I want to go. Why take that same damaged road? But I took the damaged road over and over again, in some instances. It left me with many a flat tire, and catastrophic engine failure in some cases. Life will make you learn one way or another.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In this past year, I've learned to just let a lot of things go. Why the hell argue just for the sake of arguing? If the conversation leads to hard feelings or hatred, disengage. I'm still learning this, but I've come a long way. Chances are you aren't going to change people's minds on anything, but you can help change them by simply setting an example. "Do unto others", and so forth.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">My nephew Shawn gave me a book called "The Book of Joy" that crucially made me re-adjust my outlook for the better. I recommend it to anyone who feels like they've gotten a bum rap on life, or wonders "why me?" at any point in time. Man... I was one of those "why me?" people for decades. From time to time, I still am, but a whole lot less. In reflection, patience is what I've always needed to get over such an outlook. Patience and compassion. Finding happiness in others' happiness.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Plus the blessings in my life are in great abundance. Sure, I live on disability, a fixed income. I'll never have the riches - the big job, the fancy car, a cottage of my own, the ability to travel much. But like I said about letting go, it's more about what I have than what I don't, or won't. I have a fantastic wife, whom I credit for my very existence today. A wonderful daughter who made me stare down the menace that is anxiety/depression/PTSD, and fight it and fend it off (NOT 'win', because it's a lifelong battle). I've got a few friends who've always been around. We have a house that was basically a run-down shack when we moved in nearly 25 years ago, that has morphed into our own little palace, especially over the last year or so. We have no debt, outside of our mortgage, which has a little over three years left. We've got our kitty Marbles, who's steadfastly at my side providing love and support unconditionally every day. I have a family full of forgiving and understanding siblings; and like every large family, we've had our ups and downs through the decades, but we always gravitate back together. As we all get older, things tend to slide off our backs a little easier, knowing that petty crap is never worth it in the long run. Going to church has helped a lot. Mind you, I don't think I believe in quite the same version of God as a lot of others do. To me, God is synonymous with love and forgiveness. Anything antithetical to those things is contrary to the God I believe in.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I have my health, although at times it gets questionable, but nothing serious at all, outside of my mental health issues of course, which I've kept under control. Although in recent months, I've been a bit paranoid. Every seven or eight years, it seems, I've had to do battle with kidney stones. The last time, in '15, I came a little too close to losing a kidney. Had Janice not forced me to go to outpatients and demanded I be looked at a lot more closely than I had been (indeed, I got surgery that day), I'd be down one. So now, my guard is up whenever I feel that familiar ache in my back. I wound up with a couple of stones that showed up on an x-ray a few months ago that looked to be on the move. For three months, the pain kind of increased. Long story short, I pissed the little bugger out (ha... try saying a kidney stone is "little" to anyone who's had one) just tonight. It wasn't pleasant, that's for sure, but it was a relief. I was scheduled to go for a CT scan for it, but now that's not in the cards anymore. But, while I was filling up the bird feeder we have in our yard today, which I need a ladder for and Janice to hold it while I do it, I wound up taking a ten foot drop to the ground when the ladder gave way to a weak branch. I'm now the proud owner of some kind of rib injury, either cracked or an intercostal thing. Having experienced both, I'd say the intercostal might be a bit more painful, but takes probably half the healing time that an actual fracture does. I'm hoping that's what it is. I do have Percocet because of my kidney stones, after all. And THC. But the yard looks good! It's what I did all day yesterday. I mowed Janice's mom's lawn and ours, which is a bit of a task when the mower isn't one of those propelled ones, and the lawn has a lot of hills. And with my stubborn ass, I always have to do both lawns at once, even when I only set out to do one at a time. Plus a ton of weed whacking. Plus hedge and shrub trimming. I wound up with a bit of a burn, making me look more Canadian than ever with my shades of red and white. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnhWWn8aV0zKF2-ybA5lsjCXVTmwC-xReKSL4cIorVrMOwI_UiqtbGrDRL4cr8ZlGHPRaa6hxQprCNg0xD4JVLQFbuajltgzL995VY8_eAdV-g3HK3G2kwOy9GkW39BuiemUn3_K0REbu7yLq4c62iML4g2UQy8Z1bwFsLWDz4EkPHDH-VLzYfPkcfP_I/s2048/361639098_660312049353159_531438699747790561_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnhWWn8aV0zKF2-ybA5lsjCXVTmwC-xReKSL4cIorVrMOwI_UiqtbGrDRL4cr8ZlGHPRaa6hxQprCNg0xD4JVLQFbuajltgzL995VY8_eAdV-g3HK3G2kwOy9GkW39BuiemUn3_K0REbu7yLq4c62iML4g2UQy8Z1bwFsLWDz4EkPHDH-VLzYfPkcfP_I/w640-h480/361639098_660312049353159_531438699747790561_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Exercise has been a tremendous factor in keeping my physical AND mental health in check, too. Janice has a Planet Fitness membership, which allows for a guest every time you go, and I would be that guest, so we go together all the time. She's pretty determined to walk a total of 1,000 miles by the end of the year, and she's over half way there. Considering her ridiculous roadblocks, not the least of which is a knee to be operated on August 9, she's become inspirational to people, especially me. She would say I'm the inspirational one, probably. I push her a bit when we go, but that lady's a powerhouse. You can not keep her down or in one spot too long. For the better part of this year, she's gotten around with a cane, but she still goes to the gym and sweats it out with the best of them. On my end, lots of weights and cardio have had many benefits. I don't lift all that heavy, really. I don't consider myself particularly strong. All I know is that it makes me feel good. I've really taken on stretching as a prominent part of my workouts, where it takes up around 45 minutes each time. It's helped my mobility in ways I couldn't have imagined before I started getting serious with it. Again, I'm no pro or some kind of yogi when I'm stretching, but what I've been doing works pretty great with me. I look forward to when Janice can do all this stretching with me. For now, she does extra cardio while I do my stretching. We usually go every other day now.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Although one glaring issue with me is my right knee. I'd just gotten it x-rayed yesterday, and the doc said that it looks the same as it did three years ago. It sure doesn't feel the same! After multiple times attempting to run again, finally a few days ago when I almost wiped out on the treadmill (and a few other times just walking), I bit the bullet and decided to give it attention. It's hard to actually 'see' my doctor, so he just sent me for the x-ray, said I had osteo in my knee, and that was that. At the rate I'm going, I may need Janice's cane when she's done with it. But I'm tired of chasing health care practitioners about it. It appears no one wants to believe me. It hearkens back to ten years ago when I started limping every day for three years before I actually got an MRI and then told me I had a tear, bone fragments, and evidence of a fracture in my tibia before they told me "hey, you need surgery". I feel like I'm on that same friggin' road. But, at least this time, I'm not working. So there's the blessing in that!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Still, the frustration in that nearly got away from me yesterday when I got stonewalled by the doc again about the x-ray. Janice pushed and pushed me to get it addressed by the doctor for at least three months, and I finally caved, only to have to go to the back of the line again. Whatever. It's summertime! There's fun to be had, a house and yard to enjoy, time to be spent with my wife, great food to eat, and people to see, especially in August when family convenes in Caissie Cape. Janice will have most of August off because of her surgery, so I will happily wait on her hand and foot if needed, pretty much like she's done with Lexy and me since forever ago. I've been incredibly fortunate all my life, especially through the down times, in that I've had people looking out for my own best interests when it counted the most. I can't give enough credit to Janice. Every time I'm in trouble, like a superhero she seems to show up to save the day. I would like to think I do the same for her and Lexy. But I believe those heights are perhaps too lofty for me to ever reach.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I can't be the guy that says "hang in there, things will get better", because I know too many people that have to deal with way, way worse than I ever have had to... people that I pray for. But it is pretty important to have understanding for the plight of others. We're all dealing with something, right? </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">We all have to carry that weight - so maybe we should see that others are, too, and help them carry theirs. We will heal ourselves when we help others. Not to sound preachy.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">As always, thanks so much for taking the time out of your precious day to read my very humble blog entry. You are appreciated!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>wellgoodgravyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15051538605094122590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3378459330208889446.post-86742149921649451402023-06-28T20:36:00.001-03:002023-12-28T06:45:12.554-04:00Observations: Off the Top of My Head<div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrMdXEtAse8&ab_channel=UniversalPictures" target="_blank"><b>"Oppenheimer"</b></a> is out in three weeks from the time I write this. Really looking forward to it. Might need a 'Stadium Buddy' piss bag, though, clocking in at over three hours long. Still, it's gonna be worth it, especially in IMAX, which is Chris Nolan's specialty. He actually had new film invented for the black and white version of IMAX to make this. This will be... ahem... Explosive.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">So.... <a href="https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/1299743-the-flash-may-lose-wb-200-million-after-box-office-flop#:~:text=During%20its%20opening%20weekend%2C%20it,be%20a%20box%20office%20bomb." target="_blank"><b>"The Flash" movie bombed</b></a> (no pun intended relating to the previous paragraph) in theatres in a pretty big and loud way. I was counting on it being the blockbuster of the year, judging by all the hype. Then I thought, there's likely a lot of people like me who are being choosey about the movies they go to because it's so friggin' expensive, right? Plus, everything's out on streaming almost immediately afterwards, so if you're so-so on seeing a movie, wait a bit and it'll be on TV soon enough. That's not good for the movie business at all. And don't get me started on streaming... it's a bubble that's got to burst at some point, with there being way, way, WAY too many streamers on the market right now. No one can afford all of them. Although, Warner/Discovery, formerly HBO/Max (maybe they still are, they can't seem to make clear what they want to be called), quite possibly <a href="https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/netflix-hbo-shows-license-warner-bros-1235650357/" target="_blank"><b>is going to sell a lot of their stuff to Netflix</b></a> in the coming weeks. This may signal co-operation with streaming outfits to share their product and make it more affordable to the masses. Though I doubt it. Big corporations rarely have the interests of affordability to the public in mind.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Star Trek: Prodigy" <a href="https://screenrant.com/star-trek-prodigy-canceled-reason-future/" target="_blank"><b>has been canceled</b></a> by Paramount. To the surprise of countless Star Trek fans... of which I'm not one. Not surprised, that is. It's fine that you can make cartoons for just about anything these days, but don't expect everyone who watches live-action content to join the cartoon ride. I don't know how "Lower Decks" stays on the air, either. When "Picard" season 3 came out, and Trek fans watched it in droves - being the <a href="https://trekmovie.com/2023/04/14/picard-becomes-first-star-trek-series-to-break-into-streaming-top-10-ranking/" target="_blank"><b>first Trek show to crack the streaming top 10</b></a> - to me, it said a lot. The first Trek to crack the streaming top 10?? So "Discovery" must not have. Or "Strange New Worlds". The former fizzled out for me with season 4 (season 5 will be its last), and the jury's still out on the latter. But familiarity should not be dismissed by Paramount, with Picard season 3 bringing back a lot of fan favorites and more concise storytelling. My suspicion is that "Discovery" is on its last season because of ratings, though it hasn't been publicly said. Honestly, it's a bit hard for me to believe in a show that's set around the 32nd century. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Cutting the cord... something a lot of folks are doing lately; that is, getting rid of cable TV in favor of streaming and internet. I have a problem with that, though, being that I like live stuff like the news. I don't quite know what the best thing to do is just yet, especially considering options of a grand total of two cable companies in my area of the country. I do like CBC Newsnet, but I won't watch CTV's new channel or the main network, because I simply <a href="https://dailyhive.com/canada/ctv-national-news-bell-media-layoffs" target="_blank"><b>don't like how they're treating people</b></a> who work for them. I like MSNBC a lot, namely Chris Hayes and Rachel Maddow and a few others, but cripes, there has to be more going on in the world besides Trump and SCOTUS and Roe v Wade. And CNN is just awful now. I mean, they go and have <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/05/19/1177194222/fallout-from-the-trump-town-hall-exposes-internal-strife-at-cnn" target="_blank"><b>Trump on their channel for a live town hall without rebuffing him</b></a> on all his lies, get a big backlash about it, then Anderson Cooper comes on and says "people should get out of their silos" and listen to others?? Others like a wannabe dictator who failed at a coup of your country that you just gave free time to, to support a re-election bid? Seriously? SERIOUSLY?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Here in Canada, the Competition Bureau is <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/competition-bureau-grocery-1.6889712" target="_blank"><b>finally getting off their asses and looking to diversify the grocery stores in the country</b></a>, after Loblaws and Sobeys basically claimed ownership of everything, including corner stores. But I feel it may be way too little, way too late. But while they're at it, why not go after big telecom? Bell and Rogers basically sucked up all the smaller tech and tel companies over the last number of decades without a peep from our governments, Liberal and Conservative alike, though the Liberals have their hands filthy dirty with basically <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/5145773/catherine-mckenna-loblaw-new-fridges/" target="_blank"><b>giving millions upon millions to Loblaws for 'efficient fridges and freezers'.</b></a> And inflation is being driven right now by high food costs while giants like the aforementioned are raking in record profits. <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/inflation-rate-may-1.6889725" target="_blank"><b>Overall inflation is actually coming down</b></a> -- so why are our food prices increasing? <a href="https://www.pwc.com/ca/en/media/release/canada-ranks-1st-among-g7-countries-for-ease-of-paying-taxes-and-low-total-tax-burden-for-small-to-medium-sized-companies.html#:~:text=According%20to%20the%2012th%20edition,of%20all%20190%20economies%20measured." target="_blank"><b>Canada has one of the very best economies in the G7</b></a>. There is no excuse to let these grocery scalpers get away with ripping us off like this.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ah, my beloved Boston Red Sox... they make it hard to be a fan these days. Just this morning I read that owner <a href="https://twitter.com/billsperos/status/1674026830104260613" target="_blank"><b>John Henry is being accused of not giving a rat's ass</b></a> about his team by paying all his attention to everything else. If you don't want to support the team and its fans, sell it! This year's team hearkens back to the <a href="https://www.syracuse.com/sports/2012/08/bobby_v_red_sox_valentine_mistake.html" target="_blank"><b>dreadful '12 season when Valentine was coach.</b></a> And what a disaster that was.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Russia is quite a ball of wax these days. The Wagner Group goes to Ukraine, gets their asses kicked, then goes back to Russia and kicks their own asses. Pooty Poot feels threatened and gets help from the wannabe strongman in Belarus to get the Waggies out of Russia, only to get the Waggies' leader to be exiled to Belarus. Buddy, <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/full-list-russians-fall-windows-putin-ukraine-war-1781790" target="_blank"><b>stay away from tall buildings and open windows</b></a>. Better yet, park yourself by one. And bring that bloodthirsty coward Putin with you on the way down. The world is waiting to see what's going to happen to Russia in the coming weeks. It's looking like Trump's golden parachute to Moscow isn't going to open anymore, doesn't it?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I've been reading this book in the last week or so, called <a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Them-Whitley-Strieber/dp/B0BYGY8K1D/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2RJSROKZ0VFKI&keywords=whitley+strieber+them&qid=1687989312&sprefix=whitley+stri%2Caps%2C352&sr=8-1" target="_blank"><b>"Them" by Whitley Strieber</b></a>. What an incredibly fascinating read. I'm just about through it; the first part of the book talks about Strieber's experiences from his late 80's book "Communion" and the avalanche of letters he and his wife got from folks who had remarkably similar experiences with 'visitor abduction' and encounters. He picked some prominent ones, and attempted to decipher what they mean, some of which he only realized after he thought about them for some years. It's an incredibly descriptive, informative hypotheses on the stories that were brought to him that he brings much light and thought to that really makes you question the nature of everything around us, quite frankly. His attempts to decode the nature of the visitations is quite remarkable. And he doesn't just pull stuff out of his ass for facts... he has actual documented evidence, facts and files to supplement his findings. I think it's something everyone could read and get something out of, and a lot of what he talks about could come into play in the coming years, for better and worse both.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/wildfires-smoke-air-quality-1.6891088" target="_blank"><b>Canada is on fire.</b></a> Not in a good, metaphorical way, either. This reminds me of the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2021/07/27/australian-bushfires-smoke-climate-covid/" target="_blank"><b>rampant fires that happened in Australia not all that long ago.</b></a> This is not good. Every spring when summer approaches, I get worried now, because every summer seems to be getting worse and worse, re: the effects climate change is having on our country. New Brunswick, where I live, had some serious fire issues, but it was <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/9765627/ns-wildfires-housing-crunch-destroyed-homes/" target="_blank"><b>terrible in Nova Scotia</b></a>, where numerous evacuations happened because of out of control blazes. Now in Quebec, it's nuts. They can't get a handle on the fires there at all, and countries from around the world have come to help. The west is no better. This is a record breaking year for forest fires in this country, and we're only halfway through the season. I'm not optimistic about the future.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">Anyway, one way to make the future better is to be kind, understanding and tolerant of each other. As I try to be just this way, I hope you will too.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Take care, friends.</div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>wellgoodgravyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15051538605094122590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3378459330208889446.post-77774890676961492612023-05-18T15:41:00.004-03:002023-12-28T06:44:41.323-04:00Observations: O & EIt's been a couple of months since I've been active here. A few things going on.<div><br /></div><div>First and most importantly for me, I'm now in my tenth straight month of no major anxiety attacks. Or minor even, for that matter, really. I give a whole lot of credit to my wife for keeping me on the straight and narrow track, ready to steady me whenever I start to wobble. I have my up days and down days, and those down days have been greatly controlled and fewer and farther between. Outside of my wife, I also give much credit to exercising frequently and getting the blood flowing. It makes a big difference, and I fully endorse anyone who's going through anxiety issues to do just that - get your body moving. Sometimes it's hard to get going, but once you do get going, you're so happy you did. There are never any regrets to exercising. But if you don't... there are plenty. If you're reading this and you're giving it some thought, give a place like Fit 4 Less or Planet Fitness a shot. Both places are extremely affordable. Janice and I go to Planet Fitness and pay $25/month. She's the member, and she gets to bring a friend everytime she goes, and that ends up being me, of course. As a result, we're both improving ourselves. It's not just me that's getting benefits from this. Janice is in fantastic shape, even though she's greatly hindered by her arthritic ailments, fibro, and worst of all - a knee that is screwing with her mobility. But, she gets on that treadmill and motors a good 5 to 7 miles every time we go. She says as long as she gets to hold on to the bar on the machine, she's steady and can go without too much of a problem. She's adamant about staying active, "use it or lose it". For me, I'll do around 3 miles a day, and focus a lot on my weights and stretching. While I do my stretching, Janice continues on the treadmill, since she can't do a lot of it because of her knee injury; which, incidentally, she finally has an appointment for with an ortho doc on May 31st. We're both counting the days for this. I so want her to get taken care of. I've stepped up a bit, I think, to limit her having to do too much which may aggravate her injury.</div><div><br /></div><div>Yesterday I finally got my appointment at the dentist to get a fitted crown put on a busted tooth; only to find out that it wasn't quite what the dentist wanted, per his standards, so he's sending it back for modifications and I'll try again in a few days when it comes in. I appreciate that he's being a perfectionist about it. Man, I've had so much bad luck with dentist visits over the years. When I was very young, I had dental surgery to remove a double layer of teeth, something my brother Rick suffered with for decades, actually, until he was able to fix it. I've had dry sockets, root canals, busted teeth - WAY too many, fillings fillings and more fillings, extractions gone wrong, and one time an uneven filling that caused an electric shock effect in my mouth that I had to endure for nearly an hour; I'm pretty sure I would've gone insane if I had to wait to get it fixed. The dentist took me in right away because he knew what it was. Not that long ago, I had a mutant molar taken out that complications, let's say. It had to be broken apart in my mouth and taken out in pieces, in an over hour long procedure that wasn't exactly anticipated. Of course, that was followed by dry socket, which was treated with clove oil, which made me sick to my stomach. It's amazing I don't actually fear going to the dentist now.<br /><br />We were going to get our kitchen refitted with Ikea cabinets and stuff, so we took a trip down to Halifax to look at what they had at the Ikea store there, which we'd never been to. Lord God, that place is it's own city, it's so huge. I would say around three times the size of Moncton's Costco building, and I see why now that Halifax was chosen to get the store, as Moncton is just too small in comparison. We were there for a good three plus hours looking around, and got some ideas for the kitchen. Our carpenter guy that gave us instructions in what to look for told us to make sure we try the meatballs. Man alive, those things are bitchin'! Of course, what do I get when it's available, even at a Swedish furniture store world famous for its meatballs? Fish & chips, of course. Which was great, by the way, and cheap. Pretty much everything in this store is ridiculously affordable and great quality. We now understand what all the fuss is about. We picked up these oatmeal cookie wafer thingies that I now which we filled our trunk with, along with these chocolate bars that beat the snot out of anything Lindt has ever made. And once again, CHEAP. I really should've stocked up on this stuff. Anyway, we left with a few things, including a cabinet vanity for the bathroom, which is being spiffed up currently.</div><div><br /></div><div>Speaking of spiffed up, our kitchen is underway with a marathon makeover. It's taking a lot longer than we bargained for because we've had to order countertops from a maker in town, taking at least two weeks to come in. Everything's held up at the moment while we wait for that crucial piece of the puzzle, because we can't wash dishes or anything until that happens, which is when.... ahem.... we let that sink in. We bought a brand new one with hardware, new flooring, new cabinets and hardware, and we're going to have to paint when it's all done. The great thing about it all is that it's all paid for, no loans or credit to get it all done. Plus... we're having a new backyard chain link fence put in and gutters installed on the house in the coming weeks. Pretty much the entire house will look radically different when all the work is done, at least from the inside. It's long overdue. The month of May has been one where we must exercise our patience, though, while it's being done. No kitchen sink has made life more difficult than we expected, but the payoff is coming.</div><div><br /></div><div>I got the MLB network for the year once it came on special so I could watch my Red Sox games. It's been up and down so far for my boys, with the batting being stellar, but they're stinking out the joint with the lousy pitching. But that's being addressed, allegedly, and we'll see how that pans out as the weeks advance. I think the AL East is the toughest division in the game right now, so it's going to be a battle.</div><div><br /></div><div>I haven't been playing my drums for an extended period now with all the work going on in the house, but hopefully that will pick up when things cool off a bit, maybe in June. Something I've been wanting to do is break out my video camera and record drums to songs, maybe even requests, to post on YouTube or something so guitar players can turn up their speakers and jam along. I have to get my chops back first, though. Playing for a week or two should fix that. I'm a little concerned at how my <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/dupuytrens-contracture/symptoms-causes/syc-20371943" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: red;">Dupuytren's Contracture</span></b></a> might affect that, though. It usually affects a couple of fingers on each hand, but I've got it showing up in my thumbs too. I likely got it from lifting and stacking heavy pallets at the store through the ten years of my last job. The doctor referred me to a specialist a few months ago, but I haven't heard a word yet. Also, my right knee is acting up again, the one I had surgery on. When I got an MRI for it last year, I was told there was a small tear in the ligament, but it's not bad enough to do anything about it. So I guess I have to wait until it just snaps altogether? It's made me decide to stop running, for the most part anyway. I'm still in pretty reasonable shape for a 57 year old dude. Our workouts at the gym typically go anywhere from five to seven days a week, up to three hours at a time. It's like I said, once you get in a groove, it's not a chore to go anymore. You actually miss going if you don't make it.</div><div><br /></div><div>Our little guy Marvelous Marbles Hagler is going to be 18 next month. He'd been vomiting bile for a little bit this year, and not eating his food as much, so we wondered if changing his food would be an option. We were getting him dry food all his life, so we decided to make the dramatic shift to wet food. Now he hardly ever gets sick, put on some healthy weight, his coat is nice and soft and shiny, and he just seems more himself. The stuff we feed him now, after I did some research, is Blue Buffalo. He just ran out of his supply of 'fine cigars' (meatstick treats), so we'll be making a day trip to Maine this weekend to get away for a few hours, and get him his snacks. Anytime we leave for any length of time, I feel guilty leaving him, though. He's very attached to us - maybe me in particular.</div><div><br /></div><div>Alexandra and Cole are doing fine, though they have their struggles, just like Janice and me did when we were that age. The difference being, when Janice and me were struggling living in a dark basement apartment for years in the 90's, with me trying to get a job and just not succeeding, we had little to no support. We make sure that the same won't happen with them. Most folks are struggling to find their way in their 20's, but it's a time of learning.</div><div><br /></div><div>Not much else to report for now. I could've just stuck this on facebook when it happened at the time, but I'd rather give people an opt-out choice for that. That is, you can click the link to come here or just not. Plus I get to record my goings-on to look back on. And I'm not real crazy about critiquing things like I used to be. <br /><br />So, fire up those colortinis and watch those pictures as they fly through the air. Good day, good night, and good luck.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>wellgoodgravyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15051538605094122590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3378459330208889446.post-2265922395470066052023-03-23T18:00:00.001-03:002023-03-23T18:00:30.061-03:00These Are the Days of Our Lives - week 12<p>March 19, Sunday</p><p>After a rather short sleep, the wife comes home from her 12-4 shift and visiting her Mom next door who came home today, with Lolo the kitty welcoming her back. Janice and me chat a lot, as we plan on hitting the gym for machine Shack Day. A restaurant called An's, where the old, old Dairy Queen used to be on Mountain Road, caught fire last night, pretty much in Alexandra's backyard. But she and Cole are safe and sound. * We watch Question Period and Jen Psaki's new show on PVR. Pretty interesting, but nothing groundbreaking to report. Although the big word is right now that Trump is going to be arrested and indicted possibly Tuesday. If there's any justice in the world at all... * Off to PF we go, starting off on a one mile trek on the steepest incline for me, while Janice walked a bit further. We hit the machines for the back and shoulders workout - this time I brought a book with me to record what we've done, to keep track of it all. We did 8 exercises in that area altogether, then Janice hit the treadmill again while I took on machine Leg Day, since she can't do it due to her knee issues. I did seven machine exercises in that area, as well as 50 squats with a 50 lb preset barbell on my shoulders, as the squat racks were all busy. Then did a bunch of double leg raises on the floor for the belly, some planks, and serious stretching, before rejoining Janice on the treadmill, where she motored along to do well over six miles. She did quite stellar on the workout in general today. * Three hours later, it was back home we go, where MMH was waiting for us. After our showers, we partook in making Caesar salad and grilled Swiss cheese, to finish off both the lettuce and the cheese and bread that we had left, and Marbles got his chicken. We watched the Seth Meyers episodes we had on PVR while we ate, plus W5 - which was about the hazing and bad behaviour going on in the kids' leagues, where one actually died with no one answering for it. Man, hockey is getting quite the reputation in this country this past year or two. * Up to The Promised Land we head... then I had to head back downstairs and prepare Marbles' food which I forgot to do. Then back upstairs, where we finally settle in for the night. But not before I get a case of the runs. It's left me feeling quite shaky and queasy, so I took Imodium and Gravol to try to quell it. Now once again, I'm suspicious of that damned lettuce. Even if it's Iceberg, it still might be screwing with my insides. Or it might be the excess dairy with the grilled cheese. Anyway, nothing major, just a friggin' nuisance. * And that's the kind of day it's been.<br /><br />March 20, Monday<br /><br />Farewell winter, good friggin' riddance! * So come to find out, once Janice came home and woke me up after a very off and on kind of sleep... she'd gone to PF after work to do cardio, since I wasn't up to it at all; and she wound up with the runs herself. Waves of nausea came over her at work and then that happened later. This is the second time in a row we got lettuce from Sobeys that made us both sick. We did get it from Hardy's Produce in the middle of that and didn't have any issues. Moral of the story, no more lettuce from Sobeys. * Like I said, being sick like that last night took the living starch out of me, combined with the Gravol hangover (grogginess). I opted to take it easy for the day. Janice came home and got horizontal with me and took it easy, and we just loafed and surfed the web, watched TV or whatever, with Marbles curled up with us. It was a weird day to be sure. We didn't know what to do about supper, so it wound up being a frozen Pad Thai dinner for Janice, while I had a toasted fried egg sandwich. We watched the usual Monday night stuff - Rachel Maddow, Chris Hayes, later on Jimmy Kimmel, whatever. Not a whole lot of notable stuff to report. Although Trump could be arrested and indicted tomorrow, so all eyes are on that. * The wife is sound asleep beside me with MMH on her lap (yes, he did get his fine cigar), and I'm not tired at all, so I'm going to have to take oil and see if I can get droopy. * And that's the kind of day it's been.</p><p>March 21, Tuesday</p><p>March 23, Thursday</p><p>This depression/anxiety/PTSD battle is too much for me. I'm closing this journal now. There's no help to reach for, so I'm done reaching. I'm not going to kill myself or anything. I just had a dream my wife was trying to choke me to death. What does a dream like that say? Why would I dream stuff like this? This is a very dark place. I'm so tired of being a burden. * Over and out.</p>
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wellgoodgravyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15051538605094122590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3378459330208889446.post-75317007642779525472023-03-19T04:23:00.000-03:002023-03-19T04:47:09.036-03:00These Are the Days of Our Lives - week 11<p style="text-align: justify;">March 12, Sunday</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Got to sleep late last night because I was busy editing last week's journal entries for proofreading, links, etc. I think I only turned everything off around 8 am or something. I took oil to help me pass out. I've got this new kind called 'Night Night', which is neither CBD or THC, but CBN. The lady at Cannabis NB explained to me the difference, but don't ask me to repeat it. I did sleep <i>okay</i> after taking it, though. * Janice worked noon to 4 and came home around 4:30. I'd been awake for a bit, after having some rather unsettling dreams that made me wake up in tears. I couldn't recall them, but I could feel them. I believe they had a lot to do with people leaving. I think that's in my subconscious because, really, I don't work anymore. As much as I'm at peace these days, and not having an anxiety attack since August 2 of last year (pretty well all of my anxiety attacks were work-related), it still leaves me at home alone pretty much all day every day, unless Janice isn't working. In this case, I woke up feeling deserted or something, and that sets into motion thoughts that it's because of me, that it's my fault. And really, who else's fault is it? I don't blame anyone anymore but myself. * Janice joins me on the bed when she arrives, and the two of us chat and surf or whatever, MMH takes his spot bridging between us, and eventually we dress for PF and head downstairs. Supper ideas are tough this time. I'm the fussy one between us. Janice will pretty much eat anything. She suggested getting a rotisserie chicken, but then it was too late, so we'd just figure it out later. Off to the gym we go. Today would be machine Charms Day, the end of the workout cycle once again. It's really good for us to get through a whole cycle in one week like this. That means we've worked each body part two days each in the span of seven days. I started off running 13 minutes today, which equates to 1.3 miles, as I inch up in distance. My legs felt heavy today, probably from Leg Day yesterday. Before we came to the gym, we each had a Reign energy drink, one of the better ones, as they've got no artificial colors or flavors in them at all, and lots of vitamins, plus caffeine to give you that extra boost. I needed that today. Janice really loves them, too. She did a mile-long walk, and we hit the machines for chest and arms exercises. We pushed ourselves pretty good today, doing drop sets and testing our strength with the weight amounts. Janice is ... and she calls <i>me</i> this ... a machine, giving it everything every time. We finished up with the usual stuff. My stretching has come a long way, actually, except kneeling and bending backwards has really taxed my right knee, the one I had surgery on. So I'm giving that a bit of a hiatus to see if it heals. Janice tore through another three miles on the treadmill, I did another mile going uphill, and we checked out. * After two hours at PF, we headed home and hit the shower, did some laundry, and we flaked on the couch basking in the post-workout glow as MMH took his spot on the couch with me to get his spanking (he's addicted - I kid you not. He won't leave me alone!). Supper would be bagels with garlic spread and mozza under the broiler, and Marbleicious got his winner winner chicken dinner. We watched some stuff on the telly, catching the tail end of the Oscars to see 'Everything Everywhere...' take home just about everything all at once, watched Question Period, Cross Country Checkup with Ian Hanomansing, and finally the season finale of 'The Last of Us' - which was predictably unsettling and jarring, and maybe too short, but this is a show you just don't know what kind of turn it's going to take, unless you've played the game it's based on, I guess. It's going to be a while before season 2, but it's coming. * Forgot to mention, we snagged another mouse in a snap trap and unceremoniously flushed the fella. Why do I feel guilty about killing these crafty little house invaders? * Up to TPL we go, give Marbles his fine cigar (that's really what we call his meatstick treats... "who wants a fiiiiine ci-gar?"), get into bed and watch John Oliver before Janice retires for the night. And here I am at 5:20 am finishing this. * And that's the kind of day it's been.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">March 13, Monday</p><p style="text-align: justify;">So... the oil that I tried using, since they suddenly stopped carrying the 'Soleil' oil that I was using... is this stuff called CBN oil called 'Night Night'. CBN oil is aged CBD oil, apparently, and is a relaxant/mild sedative kind of thing. Sounds like it might do the trick. Last night I tried it by itself, as the night before I had a bit of the Soleil oil still left over that I took, and I supplemented it with the NN oil. It seemed to work well that way. The Soleil oil ran out, so I took the straight up CBN NN stuff. The experience I had was not a good one. Physically, I'm fine, I didn't green out or anything - and I'm not even sure to blame it on the oil at all for sure, but I took it and I just didn't get tired enough to sleep. As I stated above, it was well past 5 in the morning, and I had it, and... nothing. I'd turned out the lights, closed my eyes, tried to drift off, and nothing. And tried. And tried. 7:30 am comes around, and Janice awakens, and asks me if I'd slept. Nope. At this point I'm becoming irritated and frustrated about it. Not towards my sweet wife, but at the fact that I just couldn't sleep. Something it did do is make me hungry, and we just didn't have a lot around at that point, so I resorted to a few crackers. Janice leaves for work, and good old faithful Marbles hangs out with me as usual. I watch TV, surf online a bit, trying to get tired - nothing. Surfing online actually makes me tired enough to sleep most times, and I don't buy the whole light-from-the-screen-keeping-you-awake drivel I read a lot. As a matter of fact, there are studies that refute that. Afternoon comes, and still nothing. Janice arrives home from work, and I tell her if she wants to go to the gym and do some cardio that she should do it, but I'm in no real condition to, because of being awake umpteen hours, plus it's free-weights Shack Day next, and my shoulder is screwed up from a deltoid exercise I did last time, too much exertion I think. Janice does indeed go, and I attempt sleep one more time - success. The plan was for her to go to PF and get a rotisserie chicken on the way home and wake me up for supper, so she did just that. Only I woke up after what was a horrendous sleep where I had recurring nightmares about work. I'd actually told myself in my subconscious to wake up, it was that disturbing. I dream that I'm back at my old job at SDM, and I have bad experiences with the 'new' boss that manifested themselves in these dreams. It was one of the worst experiences I'd ever had in the workplace, and it quite literally nearly drove me mad - though I must stress that my mental health is compromised already from a lifetime of trauma, physical mental and emotional. Anyway, I wake up in tears, and go back to sleep, and repeat. It was truly nightmarish. This perpetuated the feeling with myself that I'm worthless and just a burden to everyone around me, so these feelings grow, and then the temptation for self-harm arises. Did I? ... no, I did not. But the pain inside was almost too much to make me try to distract from it by creating pain outside. I resisted, however. There is no help for me in this regard professionally. I'm once again on a waiting list for a psychiatrist, and psychologists costs hundreds of dollars, something that we just can't do. Thus, as it has been for 27 years, I'm on my own. The saving grace of all this is that now, I don't work, so there's nothing like that to exacerbate the situation. And I can't understate how important Janice is in my life. * Janice made rice and corn to go with the chicken, and calls me downstairs. I'm laying here in bed in tears at that point from repercussions from the nightmares. I go downstairs, and we eat, seemingly enjoying what we were having, when most of the way through, Janice stopped eating because of a wave of nausea she experienced. I finished mine, having been pretty hungry. But then the same nausea washed over <i>me</i>. We didn't get sick or anything, but the food just didn't sit well with us. We resolved to go upstairs and lay down after staying upright for awhile, and her nausea had mostly cleared up by then. Mine was getting worse, though. I was burping up the rice we had, and we both figured it was the rice that turned us. I decided to take Gravol to see if it would help. It did, but it took some time. I was tired enough, at least, that at around 11:30 pm that we turn the lights out and attempt sleep. * Three a.m. comes around now, and I'm wide awake after another disturbing nightmare about drowning. I've got the laptop on my lap with the nightlight feature as I'm typing this. Janice is soundly asleep, with Marbles between us. We do still have a CBD/THC mixture of cannabis oils that I'll take at some point to try to attempt sleep, but I'm wary of the CBN oil I took now. It wasn't exactly cheap - $60 for a little bottle, so I feel we're kind of out that cash. I'm also wary of Cannabis NB products now, too. The THC infused pop they sold us brought about a not-that-pleasant buzz that I didn't like, and now this CBN stuff, that they assured me would help. I think it would vary from person to person, but I don't want to play around with something unproven anymore. At least the mixture that we make right now, between THC stuff called 'Banook' and CBD called 'Shubie', gives me a pleasant buzz, and does often help me sleep, but there are no off-kilter side effects like with the other things. We may have to explore what the online site Faircana has to offer, which Janice has a prescription for. * Anyway, that's the kind of day it's been.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">March 14, Tuesday</p><p style="text-align: justify;">It's a bit of a blur. I'm laying here in bed on Thursday morning at 2:30, actually, and I'll try to recount what I can remember of what essentially was yesterday. * The sleep struggles continue, though I didn't sleep quite as badly as the day before. When Janice came home, and I was sleeping off and on throughout the night and then the day, I did stay awake. The two of us were debating going to the gym or not, to which I more or less said we should go, and we did. * And speaking for myself, and perhaps even for Janice, we maybe shouldn't have. We started out with our usual - me running 1.4 miles, Janice doing her walking a mile. I did that distance at 6 mph, stubbornly, because I wanted to keep building on the last time. It was kind of a hard run. I didn't really eat all day, the sleep was dodgy, and here I am pushing my limits. We moved on to free-weights Shack Day, one of the more gruelling workout days if we push ourselves. And push ourselves we did. We did all the exercises, even increasing weights here and there, and when that was done Janice hit the treadmill again for extra mileage, while I did my Monkey Walk once around the gym. I did some stretching, then got on the treadmill with Janice for a mile, and we left for home. The snow was coming down pretty good outside at that point, with a storm system moving through the area. The heavy, wet kind. * After showering, we opted for a pizza we had in the freezer, since it was Pi Day. It was really good, actually. After that was done, I decided to make oatmeal cookies, as per Janice's request the day before. I was running out of energy pretty quick at this point. I took to leaning over the counter a lot, I was so tired and drained. Those cookies are so friggin' good, though. * After cleaning up, it was time to go upstairs, give the fabulous feline his fine cigar, and I took the oil mixture and we both went to sleep after the lights went out. * To my best recollection, that's the kind of day it was.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">March 15, Wednesday</p><p></p><div style="text-align: justify;">So, the oil that I took last night kind of got me back on track a bit. I slept, waking up here and there, but still did get some quality sleep. Although I woke up a fair bit. I supplemented that rest with the odd pass-out here and there between the time Janice left for work and when she got home. I was quite wasted, really. The workout we did Tuesday evening took its toll on both of us, but especially me. * Janice came home from work and got horizontal with me and we chatted. We discussed how much training had hit us, and we both resolved to skip the gym tonight. Janice's Mom wanted something at the grocery store, so we did go out and get what she needed. The snowstorm yesterday had some leftover effect today, with the odd flurry, and I had to do some shovelling to get the car out. Nothing major. Off to Sobeys we went to get a couple of boxes of Mandarin oranges for Momma, then it was off to Janice's SDM store to get mascara for her as well. Alexandra was working in the P.O., so we both went in to chat a little. Then it was back to the house. * The snow was wet and heavy enough that we had a bit of difficulty parking the car in the driveway, as the plow hadn't been by to bail us out yet. We delivered the oranges and mascara to Janice's Mom and went home to flake out. We were both pretty tired from the gym yesterday - clearly, we overdid it. I told Janice, maybe we should take a couple or a few days off from the gym, since it appears we're going through burnout somewhat, especially me, I think. It also wouldn't hurt for Janice to rest her knee as she waits for her MRI appointment in a couple of weeks. We'll play this day by day. * Supper wound up being quite simple - we opted for grilled Swiss cheese. What I do for that, is I melt the butter in the pan first, then get the bread slices coated with it on one side each, put the Swiss cheese in the middle and brown it. We each had two of them. We'd both been eating oatmeal cookies a lot of the day, so it wasn't exactly just grilled cheese that we ate. It was time to head up to The Promised Land, shepherded by Marvellous Marbles Hagler. * After he got his fine cigar, I made the decision for Janice and me to switch sides of the bed, because my side is closest to the door of the bedroom that leads to the bathroom. It should have been done long ago, to my discredit. With Janice's bum knee, I don't want her walking extra around the bed to get to the bathroom at night if she needs to. We watched Jimmy Kimmel on the telly, whose guest was the great David Letterman, who was promoting a Disney+ special he did with U2 in Dublin that premieres Friday. I miss good old Dave. Whenever he talks, about anything, he's so fun to listen to. Of course, now I really want to see this U2 thing with him, so I'll have to get Disney+ for a month, at least, and check out other stuff, too. There's the Beatles series I've been wanting to see, along with a few other shows. I still haven't seen 'Black Widow' yet. * That's the kind of day it's been.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">March 16, Thursday</div><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Wow, so I kind of caved in emotionally after I was done writing that last post. I thought I'd lost another friend online, and they're dwindling a lot these days, and I kind of spiralled. Terrible thoughts creep into my head during these times, of the self-loathing sort. Tears start rolling, anxiety ramps up... I took oil and it helped, but that takes up to an hour to start to work. I make this journal and blog public, because I like to be open about it if anybody is interested at all, but then I start wondering if it's the reason why folks up and leave my life. I don't have a so-called 'circle of friends' anymore. I remember a while ago, somebody called me 'eccentric'... to me, that can have negative connotations. 'Eccentric' can equal 'weird', and 'weird' isn't cast in a very good light most times. I'm perfectly accepting of being unique and individual, and I even encourage others to be, but, maybe I'm just 'weird'. Eccentric. And people have had enough. I can't fault anyone for turning away. * I woke up after sleeping only three hours, with the thought that maybe I should stay awake and try to re-set my clock again. Then I thought, why? So I can be awake and alone longer? Back to sleep I go. Janice came home from work and saw me sleeping and came back when I was awake. I didn't divulge my troubles last night. What's the point. * We decided indeed that we would go to the gym, despite yesterday feeling burnt out from going full tilt for a little while now. Today was the dreaded free-weights Leg Day. This is a weights day Janice does not participate in, as per my orders, until she gets the results of her MRI sometime next month. But, she does participate in lengthy treadmill sessions, and tonight she was able to do nearly eight miles. While she was doing that, I did my Leg Day routine. It's a bitch! I hate doing it, but it works. PF was quite busy tonight, so I left out the barbell squats, but did everything else. My treadmill work was just walking uphill tonight. I got four miles in with the rest of the workout. I will run again, but only if I feel like I want to. I don't want this to be a chore. * What's better after a good workout than a Big Mac McChicken combo meal! That's what we got because we wanted to try it. Here we are all hot and sweaty, and we pick up our order and head home, get in the house and chow down. It was quite good. Really, it's just a Big Mac with the beef patties replaced with chicken ones. But it works. After that, we watched some MSNBC stuff, then put on Star Trek Picard. This is clearly the best new Trek season to date, above all the rest. It's getting better every week. I'm pretty sure Lore is at the center of all the villainy that's going on, but his motives, I don't know what they are. TNG characters are slowly being added to the show on a by-the-week basis. * Up to TPL we go, with the steadfast MMH in tow, telling us vocally it's time for his fine cigar. But tonight it was going to be kitty chocolate. He loves that too. We settle into bed after our showers - we were freezing in our own sweat watching Picard - and pretty much call it a night, after watching a bit of Jimmy Kimmel. It's weird trying to get used to sleeping on the other side of the bed. Last night, I slept awkwardly, I think, and might've given myself an intercostal strain in my left pec. I'm just about due for a bout of that. My kidney stones are indeed there, and they're letting me know from time to time. I kind of dread what's ahead for me about that. * And that's the kind of day it's been.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">March 17, Friday</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Basically, last night was another insomniac kind of night. Not much more to be said about that. * Janice's Mom is gone north to Shippagan, so she asked Janice to check in on her kitty while she's gone for a couple of days. Little 'Lolo' is a very young, about-to-be-spayed girl kitty who is coming around socially, but still a bit skittish. Cute little thing though. It's weird being in the Hansen living room and feeling the history in it. It's been a Hansen household for around 40 years now, formerly owned by the McGivneys. * We made a trip to Costco, because we're out of waffles, which is a steadfast gap-filler here in our house. Of course we wound up getting windshield wipers (needed), chicken wings for Saturday night's feed, Swiffer dusters for life, a 2 lb bag of corn chips (the Kirkland ones are SO good), vitamin D, a pair of swim shorts for me (Janice insisted, but they won't be for swimming), and I think that's it. * Then we're off to the gym. Starting with a little over half an hour on the treadmill, with me walking up the steepest incline for a little over two miles, and Janice doing a little more than that on a flat level because of the knee issues. Onto free-weights Charms Day, where we did our usual workout, but I pushed Janice a bit to do just over half of the weights that I use because she's getting a lot stronger. There's so much grit in that woman. Then some ab stuff, a Monkey Walk twice around, some serious stretching and back on the treadmill. I got over four miles in altogether, and Janice a bit more. Friday nights at PF are nice, when the crowds are a bit smaller. Saturdays are the same way. * After a more than three hour workout (!), it's back home to shower and then get into some oven-baked fish 'n chips, which were great. I pondered making cookies, but Janice said do it Saturday. We watched Chris Hayes on MSNBC, then Bill Maher, then it was time to relocate to TPL being led by the great MMH. He was a regular chatterbox looking for his fine cigar. He had to wait until we cleaned up a bit and we brushed our teeth and stuff, and he was yakkin' the whole time. He's a funny little dude. After he got his snack, we settle into bed and watch a bit of TV stuff, 'The Proof is Out There' - which is always fun to watch ("Keep those cameras rolling!"), Janice passed out while I watched 'Ancient Aliens', and then the struggle began to try to sleep. So yes, I am recalling this the next day on Saturday afternoon, since I only got to sleep around maybe 7:30 am. * And that's the kind of day it's been.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">March 18, Saturday</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Once again, a sparse night of sleep, making me sleep during the morning and early afternoon. The weather's been nice lately. The snow from the week's storm is virtually gone. The spring thaw is going to be minimal around here. * First thing we did when we left the house was go see Lolo,<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1RrOHLOMevYqs3gv7ePHQy8vGMwPT13J5Lq4rzlMChhxat9tJkE8jK488ITARuQJPgqNSlE2VKgYlhnPvKDsekprudwdJCR-ywkJKq9ZgKul6IH2HCXv9Dam4hltYX0gpezurhnL6NOZ8y6rh-CfBo2ShBDGjtaK5pAhHoANiZKxBBQcFd1bakdNA/s1401/336518674_1213604392611278_2135831255819884164_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1401" data-original-width="1050" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1RrOHLOMevYqs3gv7ePHQy8vGMwPT13J5Lq4rzlMChhxat9tJkE8jK488ITARuQJPgqNSlE2VKgYlhnPvKDsekprudwdJCR-ywkJKq9ZgKul6IH2HCXv9Dam4hltYX0gpezurhnL6NOZ8y6rh-CfBo2ShBDGjtaK5pAhHoANiZKxBBQcFd1bakdNA/w480-h640/336518674_1213604392611278_2135831255819884164_n.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Janice & Lolo</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: justify;">Janice's Mom's cat next door, where Momma left town for a funeral for the weekend. We actually thought she'd be back by today, but since she isn't, we kept Lolo company for a while, playing with her and feeding her, changing her water and cleaning her litter box. She's quite the little character. * We decided once again to go to church today. We've been kindly welcomed back by a number of folks there. There's something about church, really. Something meditative. Prayer has been proven more by science lately as being beneficial to the heart and mind. * After church, we did like last week - we went to Champlain Mall to get some peanut butter chocolate eggs at Laura Secord, and walk around a bit. It was a bit busier than last week, and quite lively, which is so nice to see after enduring the pandemic the last couple of years. We also went to Sobeys there to pick up some things for Caesar salad, but with iceberg lettuce. I don't know if I'll ever trust Romaine again. * When we got home, I started prep for the wings we were going to have tonight, where I'm making the coated variety this time. Janice went next door to turn the lights on for Lolo, and I went with her, and I decided to take it upon myself to clean her litter box, emptying it altogether and powerwashing it. She's got lights on and a radio playing to keep her from being lonely. Back home, it was time to turn on some music and have our traditional Saturday Night wings, to be followed by a chocolate chip cookie bake. We did laundry along the way. The wings turned out great, as usual, as Janice cleaned up behind me. We shared a cannabis drink that we had in the fridge, which I didn't mind if we were splitting one. It was a cola soda, not too bad either. We just let the music play tonight while we ate. It's a mostly 70s and 80s playlist. We're looking to leave Spotify soon for either Tidal or Amazon, we're not sure which. * Once the wings were made and eaten, it was time to bake cookies. It's a smaller recipe, yielding about 2 1/2 dozen, in comparison to the other recipes. Those things are tricky, because they're hard not to eat once they've cooled a bit out of the oven. * After cleaning up from that, it was </span><span style="text-align: justify;">videoed for your pleasure)upstairs to TPL, with Marvellous Marbles Hagler, who hung out with us all night. He got his fine cigar (</span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhwAbG_VdTo&ab_channel=MikeCook" style="text-align: justify;" target="_blank"><b>videoed for your pleasure</b></a><span style="text-align: justify;">) and soon after that, it's bedtime. All in all, a pretty satisfying day. * And that's the kind of week it was.</span></div><p></p>wellgoodgravyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15051538605094122590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3378459330208889446.post-80851445408378849512023-03-12T07:45:00.000-03:002023-03-12T07:45:46.196-03:00These Are the Days of Our Lives - week 10<p style="text-align: justify;">Sunday, March 5</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Another sleepless night gone by last night. I got to sleep I think around 11 am, and Janice got up at noon to go to work till four, cane and all. I woke up around 2, and tried getting more sleep, but nope. * Janice gets home and had a nap for a bit, while I attempted one, but nope again. She woke up later and we got ready to hit Planet Fitness. We did head out there, handy to 7 or so, and we had to keep an eye on the time because there was going to be a pay per view on, AEW Revolution, that I wanted to see. Janice too, apparently. We did machine Charms Day today, the last in the workout cycle before moving on back to free-weights Shack Day. It was a good workout... I did the usual run a mile to start, walk a mile to finish, and what I'm trying to get to is running a mile in ten minutes. I used to be able to do it long ago, and I'm getting there. I think today I ran it in ten minutes and thirty seconds, around there. Janice did fine, doing three miles between the first and last treadmill sessions. Pretty good for somebody who gets around with a cane everywhere else. I've taken to calling her Master Yoda - if you've seen Attack of the Clones, you get what I mean. We did seven machines, I think, for the Charms portion, then I did two trips around the gym on a Monkey Walk, and a bunch of weight-resisted crunches and stretching. I do a fair amount of ab stuff, and I have no expectations of ever actually <i>seeing </i>my abs in my stomach. I just want a strong core. * Anyway, we head back home just before the show was about to start, and I set it to record so I could make supper for us. We had meatballs left over from yesterday - I think they might have been better today - along with herbed rice, Janice had corn and I had peas. For dessert, we split a small lemon meringue pie that her Mom gave us. Then it was time for AEW Revolution. It clocked in at nearly four hours long, and boy was it worth it. Folks who watch WWE, I'm pretty sure they realize that's a kids' show, and AEW is for the adults. What a vicious card this was. And absolutely no down time. One match gets over, then they need a minute or two to clear the ring and go right into the action. Lots of suspense in a lot of the matches, especially the main event, where MJF beat Bryan Danielson to retain his title. That bloody affair was well over an hour long, leaving everyone guessing how it was going to end up. The crowd was great for this show. * And the cat's out of the bag for our kid. She knew we were going to attempt to get tickets tomorrow for the KISS show in Montreal (I have a KISS Army membership, which gets me into the presale before the public presale). With it, I can get four tickets. The plan was for us to get the four, then on her birthday, surprise her and Cole with the tickets to the show in November. But she messaged us tonight asking if we could please take her and Cole when we try getting tickets. So, we spilled the beans and told them we were going to anyway, and she's a happy camper now. I'm hoping I have some luck getting those tickets. I know every seat at a KISS show is a good seat, because Paul flies out to the back of the venue at one point, and lifts take the guys out into the middle of the building at another - plus the huge video screens and lighting pods that are on this particular pull-out-all-the-stops tour. This would be Cole's first big concert that he's seen... kind of a high bar to start! * Marbles got his meatstick treat, we're in bed after I took oil, and I've got to try to sleep so I can be up in the morning for the presale. * And that's the kind of day it's been.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">March 6, Monday</p><p></p><div style="text-align: justify;">Well whatta day. I slept maybe three or four hours before I had Janice wake me up by phone to be awake for the presale for tickets for the KISS show in Montreal in November. It was a test for my anxiety, with the screen freezing and trying to figure out how the hell to pick seats. The ones we could afford are in the first level balcony, but they're in a good spot, and the show will be a great one. The four of us have a few months to figure out exactly what to do re: hotel accommodations, transportation and whatever. We'd leave Friday, land there for the hotel, see the show Saturday, and come home Sunday. It's all for rock and roll... and the last time we'll see the Hottest Band in the World. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig_cfbH6KZVw0UyJQbp7HeCzmeqExDDaTza_-IUocGICOc6J8PlxeIYtjkvVOMqpQlox-ozKJ0hripPwh1LcU7HMpn4BN6FXSr4OcK-rc3WMgPplcFowvnZ7g9guVUQNlk-4nVnTDWdwlsxgHJZeb6oA3jwsLBdMquQrRkt-Wyy1VzM_DRUe55lKT5/s525/Screenshot%202023-03-06%2011.42.46%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="395" data-original-width="525" height="482" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig_cfbH6KZVw0UyJQbp7HeCzmeqExDDaTza_-IUocGICOc6J8PlxeIYtjkvVOMqpQlox-ozKJ0hripPwh1LcU7HMpn4BN6FXSr4OcK-rc3WMgPplcFowvnZ7g9guVUQNlk-4nVnTDWdwlsxgHJZeb6oA3jwsLBdMquQrRkt-Wyy1VzM_DRUe55lKT5/w640-h482/Screenshot%202023-03-06%2011.42.46%20AM.png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">After that, I had to wind down a bit and take oil to relax and try to get a few more zzz's. I did - I got about another three hours. Not terrible. * When I woke up, Janice was there beside me in bed, ready to catch a snooze herself. She did, and I attempted to join her slumber, but my eyeballs had other ideas. When she woke up after an hour and a half or so, we resolved to hit the gym for free-weights Shack Day. But again, there are rodents in our room that changed those plans. Marbles treats are kept in a chest of drawers we keep clothes in, and mice have been feasting on food stuff in the house this winter; this time they found the cat's meat sticks and a bag of freeze-dried chicken. The little bastards ate the whole bag!! Un friggin' real. I could hear them in the drawer and tried catching them in the act, but all I caught were torn up and empty meatstick wrappers and an empty bag, and mouse turds all over the place. We wound up having to wash a ton of clothes because they shit on so many of them. I mean, these treats were in a safe place in enclosed drawers, we thought. So what the actual hell! I'll have to investigate Amazon and see what they have for traps, because the ones we have clearly don't work. * It was hair day today, so I had to shower and do that, without a gym session. Janice washed all the clothes, and I scoured Marbles' cat box. That's always fun. I spray it with Mr. Clean and use the power nozzle setting on the shower massager and blast the thing clean. Then I brought my electric drum pads back downstairs. Supper tonight had to be Domino's, half price, so that's what it was. With parm bites. Great stuff. Also, I went on a water drinking binge because my kidney stones kind of hurt today. They're not on any timetables and don't recognize eviction notices, so I just have to wait while they ruin the place (my kidneys that is) and try to power-piss the things out of me. It's Lent, so no beer, which is what I'd be doing, is drinking that to expedite this whole thing. Gonna be a while before that happens. * Janice's knee is not good. She needs the cane more lately to get around, and now her good leg is beginning to bother her because she's compensating for her bad one. They can't get around to addressing this soon enough, but I have no real faith in the health care system these days. I don't think she should be working, but Alexandra is her employee, so it's not like she can just say 'screw it' and stop. If she does have surgery, though, she'll have to take time off. She has a whole month's worth of sick time to fall back on, fortunately, because she never calls in sick. * We're in bed now, Mr. Marbles had his treat, my poor wife is laying beside me sleeping with my shirt as a blindfold, and Monday is officially done; two more weeks and it's Spring. * And that's the kind of day it's been.</div><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;">March 7, Tuesday</p><p></p><div style="text-align: justify;">A bit tough getting to sleep last night... or this morning actually... but once I fell asleep I was good. I did get a solid seven or eight hours. Janice got home from work and passed out for a while with me. Her knee is still problematic. She works at the store with a cane, which I think is kind of criminal, but as I've stated numerous times before, her workplace doesn't allow for more than three employees at her P.O. And that one besides her and Alexandra is just a 4 hour shift. I don't know what else to say or think of that. * We decided to wait a bit until around 8 to go to PF tonight, and try to avoid the after supper crowd. Before we did go, news was breaking on TV about how Fox News is being outed more by the minute lately from this Dominion voting systems lawsuit. It's quite spectacular, really. It's what a lot of us have known for many, many years, but it's becoming official now, I guess, and shocking a lot of people. I'm not one of them. * At the gym, it was free-weights Shack Day, one of our favorites. That doesn't mean 'easy', but it's very effective. Janice did a whole four miles on the treadmill while I did extra stuff besides the Shack workout. I actually started with running my mile first, and I did it in exactly ten minutes, which I was aiming to make happen by the end of the month, so this is good. I finished walking a mile at the end of the workout. The place was quite busy, really. In the free-weights area, the crowd was more ignorant than usual. I got cut-off a lot walking around, guys got in our way a lot impolitely, and the area was just cramped. I understand that this kind of thing will happen from time to time. One guy on a machine swung a bar around and cranked me in the arm as I walked past, and he was effusively apologetic - that pretty much cancels out what happened. If everyone was like that, life might be more enjoyable. * Back home we go in the light sprinkling of snow falling from the dark skies, to head straight up to the shower. Then back downstairs where I prepared garlic bread and cheese for me to go with a frozen Pad Thai dinner, and Janice had a piece of leftover pizza from last night to go with her PT dinner. Janice stamped on the floor, and it freaks out the mice that are in the ceiling. I did order mouse traps from Amazon last night. But this might be an issue that's out of control, as it is in the majority of the city. We're pondering calling an exterminator. Marbles isn't much of a mouser either. At ALL. * We watched a lot of news stuff, then headed to The Promised Land. I forgot to mention we watched 'The Last of Us' from Sunday - probably the scariest one yet, and it didn't have a single clicker/zombie/whatever-they're-called. The monsters were humans. Next week is the last episode of the season. * Marbles got his meatstick treat, we settled into bed to watch Seth Meyers from last night, and now Tuesday is behind us. And that's the kind of day it's been.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">March 8, Wednesday</div><p></p><p></p><div style="text-align: justify;">Happy birthday to brother Greg - short for Gregarious! * Got a reasonable sleep last night, even if I only passed out late. I was awake at one this afternoon, contemplating sleeping further, but chose to stay awake. Janice came home not too long after that, hobbling up the stairs with her cane, and came to lay beside me. She seems almost euphoric to be off her feet after being at work for any length of time. I don't like the idea of her having to wait so long to get this issue of hers addressed. * I sent out the Bat Signal on facebook asking friends for tips on how to address our mice issue. I got a handful of responses, but none of which I didn't already know about; still, I wanted to know from others who have the same problems what worked for them. From peanut butter to peppermint oil, I took all the advice to mind, and we headed out shopping for mousetraps. First going to Kent - where we didn't really get much help at all. Off to Home Hardware at Magnetic Hill - they had some standard wooden Victor mousetraps, so we bought half a dozen of those. Then we thought we'd change gears altogether and go looking at a used furniture store for a glider-rocker/ottoman, because the only seating we really have in our living room is a love-seat; we gave Alexandra and Cole our couch because we never get company, and Janice and me like to sit close when we're home, so we retained the love-seat. But we're on the lookout for a glider-rocker/ottoman and a recliner at some point. The recliner we'll likely eventually get at Costco. The other is a little harder to find. There was nothing satisfactory at this place called Bernie's Furniture, where they have new and used stuff, so we gave up on that for the day. * Next up, we had to figure out supper, so why not go for a spin to Costco and get something. We wound up only getting a box of Dunn's smoked meat to have sandwiches. Back in the car we go and head to Superstore to get some kind of munchies, since Janice has a boatload of points. I'd much sooner not buy anything from Loblaw outright. While there, we dropped into Cannabis NB for some kind of oil for me at night, since now they don't make the same Soleil oil that I've been taking now, either. I got this other stuff - we'll see how that works. * Back home we go, to set the mousetraps. Damn near losing my fingers in the process of setting those demonic little contraptions. I loaded them with peanut butter for bait and put them in the attics and crawlspaces, now we'll see what happens. * Then it was gym time. We headed out for what was to be free-weights Leg Day, and Janice was to do alternate exercises. She did mostly treadmill walking, but also a weighted taekwondo exercise that I made for her, where she practices punches with five pound dumbbells in her hands, then finishes without the dumbbells. It's quite effective, and trains you to punch faster and harder. I did my usual Leg Day exercises, which are hateful, but effective. At the end I squatted 255 lbs six times on the squat rack, and I was pretty happy with that, being the old codger that I am. We both finished up on the treadmill, and I spotted Janice's knee buckling close to the end, but shut it down then and there. But she did get four miles in. I can't really stop her from trying, but I will stop her if I think she might get hurt. * Home we go to the shower, and to wash and dry a shit-ton of clothes because mice got into our drawers and left their shit everywhere. I made our smoked meat sandwiches, which we had on kaiser buns with mustard, sweet pickles and Swiss cheese. It was actually quite decadent. I had my last can of U.S. pop from our last trip, a can of Dr Pepper Zero, and Janice had her DCD. We watched AEW Dynamite, which was pretty good, then tackled the mountain of clothes left in the dryer to fold and bring to The Promised Land to put away. Marbles got his meatstick - damn near took the end of my finger - and we settled into bed for the night, as Janice played her habitual Cookie Crush while I watched MSNBC stuff. Now I know for a fact Russell Brand is a cocksmack. He appeared on Tucker Carlson on Fox twice this week after claiming to be impartial on Bill Maher last week. He's just another crackpot anarchist sowing seeds of division wherever he goes. * Janice was passed out before I realized I didn't rub Icy Hot on her knee, so I did it while she slept, but she woke up briefly. I really, really don't like seeing her hurting. * And that's the kind of day it's been.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">March 9, Thursday</div><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;">A sleepy day today for sure. Only passed out last night around 5 am, so I slept pretty well and woke up around 2:30, only to have Janice come home from work, lay down beside me and we slept 3 1/2 more hours. I'm not going to complain about that, because good sleep is tough to come by, and I like the idea of her resting that knee of hers. She loved the elongated slumber. * I pretty much made the call that we weren't going to the gym tonight, because I'm still sore from Shack Day and Leg Day yesterday, so a day for recupe is nice. Not to mention, more rest for the wife's knee will do it a whole lot of good. She got her notice in the mail today for her MRI, finally, which will happen at the end of the month. That's actually pretty quick for an MRI scan. * Tonight we tossed around ideas for supper like the new Chicken Big Mac, a sub, Popeye's, etc. but my idea of steamed hot dogs won out. We steamed the buns this time too, that made them wicked great. Those Kirkland wieners from Costco are the best hot dogs around, the same ones they serve in their food courts. We watched Star Trek: Picard while we ate, and this time this show is getting better as it goes, as opposed to starting off great and fading like other new Star Trek seasons. * Then it was back into the kitchen where we turned on MSNBC and I made ginger snaps, per Janice's request. Man, those are good. We cleaned up and headed to TPL, where Marbles had been howling at one point, we think maybe because of mice. Which we've had no luck catching whatsoever. We set umpteen traps with peanut butter where they go and it seems they couldn't care less. There are more traps coming from Amazon tomorrow, I think. I'm not terribly encouraged. * There's a fair bit coming back at us for our income tax return, so there are car repairs we need to address, a basement window with no window we have to fill (an open invitation to mice) plus supports that need to be installed, and we also have to fix our eaves on the roof. We don't know how much of this we'll get done, but we can at least get started. * Janice works tomorrow, then she has Saturday off, and it's back to her six day work week. But we love our Saturdays together. We usually have something that we make Saturday night and have our playlist playing and act foolish. I'm thinking maybe this weekend it'll be meatball pizza. We can't wait for the warmer weather when we have these treat meals on Saturday nights with a fire and some brewskees. * Anyway, that's the kind of day it's been.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">March 10, Friday<br /><br />Woke up after a decent sleep at around 2-ish in the aft, after having weird dreams that I forgot all about. <a href="http://ragnarstation.blogspot.com/2023/03/dreamstate-3323.html" target="_blank"><b>I did post one dream I had here on Ragnar</b></a>, since it was one of those vivid ones. Janice came home from work, called her Mom, and got her grocery list for us to go shopping for her. Janice's Mom is 97, still gets lots of groceries, still bakes and cooks, and is definitely not bedridden or anything. She's sharp as a tack. I think science should study her to figure out how to live properly. * While we shopped for Momma (what I call her), I picked up a couple of pizza crusts and a red onion so we could make a pizza here at home Saturday night. We came home after dropping off Momma's groceries, and<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2872518/" target="_blank"><b> 'The Shack' </b></a>was playing on the Starz network, available through Crave. Janice and me decided to watch it again, because we enjoyed it the other two times we watched. This is a great show to watch to center your moral compass. We always shed a lot of tears when we see it. It really renews my faith, spiritually, not necessarily in a religious manner, either. I feel like it's a modern take on how we should view God. * After that, it's off to the gym for free-weights Charms Day. I once again ran a mile to start - actually, I've been running a mile in ten minutes lately, and this time I stretched it out to 11 minutes, and I'll keep stretching it gradually. I forget exactly how far I actually ran, but I did run 6 mph for that eleven minutes. Janice did her walking, slowing down at my behest. I told her that her ligament tear (if that's what it is) won't heal by stressing it. She grudgingly agreed. She wants to go go go. * We did our usual dropset Charms Day workout, maybe pushing harder than we usually do - especially on the cable exercises, and I added a Monkey Walk of two trips around the gym with 45 lb plates, with 90 crunches at 40 lb resistance on the machine for that (3 x 30), and stretching. Janice did some too. She opted for extra treadmill time in lieu of the bonus exercises that I did, to try to get her mileage in. She's on a mission to get a certain number of miles on the year and she keeps a journal of her own as to what she does. * After 2 1/2 hours slaving at PF, it's time to go home, shower and have some fish 'n chips, with mashed carrots and turnips. A LOT of carrots and turnips. It went quite well together, actually. We watched 'Real Time' with some interesting guests, whose names I'm not privy to, but they were smart and engaging. Then we watched a 'The Proof is Out There' episode, always interesting. Topped of with heading up to TPL where Marbles got kitty chocolate from Janice, and we tuned in to a new 'Ancient Aliens' episode <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pI2c6nBTRSg&ab_channel=HISTORY" target="_blank"><b>where they discussed crop circles</b></a>. It freaked me out enough to save it on PVR so I could watch it again. As it is, there actually are crop patterns out there made by humans, but the vast majority are unknown, with freaky coded messages in them that kind of leave you slack-jawed. * So, I go surfing on facebook and come across, by random chance, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VA3HV_gfq80&t=1973s&ab_channel=MichaelThomas" target="_blank"><b>this video of a guy who used to work at Lockheed Martin</b></a>, a scientist, who was terminally ill, but wanted to get his information out on video, since he's going to die and they can't go after him then. It was eerily authentic looking. It looked like it was shot on a home video camera, and the guy had a ton of photographs and information that makes you stop and think.... wait, he's not acting or reading a script or anything, is he? I've watched it twice now and I'm still wide-eyed about it. Then <a href="https://twitter.com/i/status/1634798747388444673" target="_blank"><b>NBC News is saying there's a possible 'mothership' spacecraft-looking thing headed for earth??</b></a> WTF is going on right now? * And that's the kind of crazy day it was.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">March 11, Saturday</p><p style="text-align: justify;">It appears my kidney stones are 'sleeping'. I certainly haven't passed them, because I didn't feel it. I've never passed a kidney stone before, they've always had to knock me out and go in and get them. This worries me a bit. If I can't feel them, it makes me think they're growing. If they're growing, that could mean serious pain and more surgery in my future. <i>Not that I'm worrying</i>. * So, after freaking myself out about aliens last night, I finally got to sleep at maybe 7 am. We both woke up around 2-ish, so it was a good long sleep for Janice, as resting her leg is one of the best things for it right now. It's still sad for me to see her get around with a cane. Although she does do the Yoda thing and springs to warrior-like life at the gym. It's when it freezes up afterward that it catches up with her a bit. * Anyway, firstly, we decided this afternoon that we'd like to go to church for the first time since probably '18. It's been quite a while. Last time we went, I was in a bit of a bad way, with anxiety tripping me up pretty badly. I bowed out of my reading duties there for the time, and then Covid hit. We stayed away from church for years because of Janice's immune issues from her meds, and she can't catch Covid and then go see her Mom next door. So, we went, and not a whole lot has changed. Except there's just one reader now, at least on Saturdays, and everyone on the altar wears masks, and many of the older attendees. On our way out, Father Roderick said hello and welcome back, and that the folks up there were glad to see us again. I do miss reading. I think if they needed a stand-in, I'd step up, but I don't know that they need that at this point. * We headed to the mall after that because we needed a new shower curtain, and as we walked about, we walked by the Laura Secord store and saw that the Easter stuff was out. They haven't had the big peanut butter chocolate eggs in years now, so I thought I'd look just in case. And they have them! Three for $20, though. Screw it, I have to have those. That, to me, is the holy grail of peanut butter and chocolate combos. The best EVER. Nothing comes close. We walked around a bit more to see what's changed. A lot of stores come and go in that mall. It was fairly busy, and it's nice to see after the worst of Covid being put behind us. * Back home we go to drop our stuff off, change out of our church clothes into our gym stuff, and out the door we go to PF for machine Shack Day. We pushed and pulled some serious weight in dropsets; I'm pushing Janice to go a bit further. For example, if I'm pulling 100 lbs on a machine, she'd normally do half of what I do, in this case 50 lbs. Today I had her do more than half of what I do, because she's getting stronger all the time. Her strength is growing by leaps and bounds. I call them Post Office muscles, because she has to lift and carry a lot of heavy parcels at work most days. After working seven machines, then doing some reps on the ab crunch machine - on which Janice hit new highs, and I did as well, with three sets at 50, 60 and 70 lbs resistance at 30, 25 and 20 reps - then me doing a Monkey Walk twice around, Janice hit the treadmill again after stretching while I opted to just go ahead and do machine Leg Day, too. I figured why not, Janice can get more mileage in on the treadmill since she can't do Leg Day until her knee is better. So I went ahead and did all the exercises on the seven chosen machines, finishing with 15 reps on squats at 135 lbs, then 8 reps at 265 lbs. I don't go super deep on those squats, but pretty close to 90 degrees, where my right knee is acting up, mostly on the posterior side, but in the front too. I did my stretching all over - including the on-your-knees back bending thing, which just about murdered my right knee - then joined Janice on the treadmill for another walking mile. Oh, and I started the workout with running 12 minutes at 6 mph, as I inch up a little every time, maybe to train myself for some shorter marathons this summer. Maybe. If my knee holds up. Janice did something like six miles - astounding when you consider what she's dealing with. I did insist she go slower, though, limiting herself to 3.5 mph. She tried to sneak going 4 mph before I scolded her! * We head home after a nearly three hour sesh at PF, with the roads of Moncton once again eerily quiet on a Saturday night, and we were greeted by Marvelous Marbles Hagler at the door being chattier than usual, and took our showers before we came downstairs to make our pizza. Plus a mammoth pile of laundry. SNAP... we finally caught our first mouse in the entrance to the basement. We gave MMH some catnip to space him out for the night while I prepared the pizza, which was of the meatball variety, with halved meatballs, red onions and bacon crumble with lots of mozza. Which turned out quiet nicely. We watched W5 while we ate, then caught up on the Seth Meyers episodes from the last week. Then it was up to TPL. * The time changed tonight, so we lost that vital hour of sleep, as we settled into bed after giving Marbles his meatstick, I surfed for a bit as Janice watched some of the telly and played her Cookie Crush, and the night came to a close, as did the week. * And that's the kind of week it was. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-ejS7C6iVdw95zt5Zyy2MFI0LtEE1KIzFWx58PCUixIK-pNCoSvYf-FdaNA9RhpAdLSKHgnbTxBnmGEwKvbXTpoIY0AsOvA11WUhYx_7jr8OLj38Y-VbYfNpNSSuvstwZ4pV69lGEPuYB4Qa3w6g-jew5INpXihQ40oDQt27iORvghtSHJ6UC72FA/s1914/333318037_930992167939917_6502862921942518990_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1914" data-original-width="1355" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-ejS7C6iVdw95zt5Zyy2MFI0LtEE1KIzFWx58PCUixIK-pNCoSvYf-FdaNA9RhpAdLSKHgnbTxBnmGEwKvbXTpoIY0AsOvA11WUhYx_7jr8OLj38Y-VbYfNpNSSuvstwZ4pV69lGEPuYB4Qa3w6g-jew5INpXihQ40oDQt27iORvghtSHJ6UC72FA/w454-h640/333318037_930992167939917_6502862921942518990_n.jpg" width="454" /></a></div><br /><p></p>wellgoodgravyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15051538605094122590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3378459330208889446.post-23239133098957339432023-03-08T03:31:00.000-04:002023-03-08T03:31:11.846-04:00Dreamstate 3323<p><u>MARCH 3 2023</u><br /><br />where was the BeGiNnInG <span style="font-size: large;">?</span></p><p>working for <span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: #fcff01;">bj's subs</b></span> is where i went - where my <b><span style="font-size: medium;"><u>S</u>U<u>B</u>C<u>O</u>N<u>S</u>C<u>I</u>O<u>U</u>S</span></b> took me</p><p> <i><span style="font-size: large;">they were all there</span></i> i saw <span style="color: red;">lucy</span>, <span style="background-color: red; color: #fcff01;">monica</span>, <span style="color: red;">cindy</span>, <span style="background-color: red; color: #fcff01;">michele</span>, and others <strike>that</strike> <strike>I can't quite recall</strike></p><p>the <br /> wooden <br /> steps <br />to the basement leading to the <span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">walk-in cooler</span></span>; the industrial-type sink with the faucets, the washer and dryer</p><p> down the short corridor, <b><span style="font-size: large;">the office was there</span></b> </p><p> i think <b><span style="font-size: large;">donnie</span></b> was in there i<i> <span style="font-size: large;">feel</span></i> like he was<br /></p><p>there were <span style="color: red; font-family: helvetica;">catering trucks</span> that i had to assemble orders for the girls in the kitchen <span style="font-size: large;">up</span>stairs made the food for them and brought the loaded box tops with the product <span style="font-family: courier;">into the cooler</span> for me to assemble the orders into the plastic <span style="background-color: #999999;">grey bins</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span>the sandwiches and subs and dinners all wrapped in their cellophane and foil</span></p><p> i <span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><i style="background-color: #01ffff;">frantically</i></span> put the orders together with some sense of <u><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>urgency</b></span></u> like i was going to be late<br /></p><p> there were catering <i><b>deliveries</b></i> that needed to be done too<span style="background-color: black;"> </span>they were written on the whiteboard at the top of the steps</p><p> there were also <span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">sandwiches</span> and <span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">subs</span> i had to deliver to the <i><span style="font-family: courier;">french hospital</span></i> which i did <span style="font-size: large;">twice</span> daily<br /></p><p><b><span style="color: red;">the delivery van</span></b> was the same, white with the company's lettering, a <span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><b>chevy astro van</b></span> i loaded it up with <span style="color: #01ffff; font-size: medium;"><i><b style="background-color: black;">catering orders</b></i></span> and the <span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: courier; font-size: medium;"><b style="background-color: #fcff01;">food</b></span> for the hospital</p><p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>where's the van?</b></span> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc;"> i somehow lost it</span> </span> but i still have the <span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: large;"><b>'boogie-buggy'</b></span> as <span style="font-size: large;"><b>donnie</b></span> called it, where i could load the <span style="background-color: #999999;"><span style="color: white;">bins</span></span> of product for the hospital on it and wheel it to the <b><i><span style="font-size: medium;">canteen </span></i></b>at the hospital</p><p><span><span> <span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: #fcff01;">but where was the catering order?</b></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><i><b>where</b></i></span> was the van? did i even <i><span style="color: white; font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: black;">have the van?</b></span></i> <b><span style="font-size: x-large;">is this a dream?</span></b></p><p> t h e r e ' s a r i v e r or some kind of b o d y o f w a t e r between <b>me</b> and the <b>hospital</b> the sky is <b style="background-color: #cccccc;">grey</b> with a few <b><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: large;">blue spots</span></b></p><p>the <span style="font-size: large;">WATER</span> is <i><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>not supposed to be there</b></span></i> <b><u><span style="font-size: x-large;">but i have to get this stuff to the canteen!</span></u></b></p><p> i loaded the <span style="background-color: #999999; color: white;">bins</span> onto the <b><span style="font-size: medium;">boogie-buggy</span></b> which <span style="font-size: large;">somehow</span> managed to float as i brought the stuff <i><span style="background-color: #2b00fe; color: white; font-family: verdana;">across the body of water</span></i> the body of water <span style="font-size: large;">is where wheeler boulevard </span><span style="font-size: x-large;">is supposed to be</span></p><p> <span style="font-size: medium;"><b>s</b>o<b>m</b>e<b>h</b>o<b>w</b></span> i get up to the road <span style="font-size: large;">leading</span> to the <span style="font-size: large;">hospital</span> and get back in the van <i><b>that's there waiting for me</b></i></p><p><span> i drive the van <span style="background-color: #fcff01; color: red;">with the sandwiches and subs</span> into the rear of the hospital building where i load up and bring the <span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">canteen</span> the food</span></p><p><span><span> the ladies who worked there <span style="font-family: helvetica;">are still there</span></span></span></p><p><span><span> <span style="font-family: helvetica;">the same people</span></span></span></p><p><span>i load the <span style="background-color: red; color: #fcff01;">cooler with the food</span> and go back to the van to deliver the <span style="font-family: arial;"><i>catering</i></span></span></p><p><span> <b><span style="font-family: courier; font-size: x-large;">where</span></b> is it <span style="font-family: courier; font-size: x-large;">going</span>???</span></p><p><span><span><span><i><span style="font-size: x-large;">no phone</span></i></span></span></span></p><p> i have to go <b><span style="font-size: large;">back </span></b>to the shop and <b><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">look</span></b> at the <span style="background-color: black; color: white;">whiteboard</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lobster; font-size: medium;">carla</span> and <span style="font-family: Lobster; font-size: medium;">stacey</span> are there now <span style="font-family: arial;">they</span> <span style="font-family: courier;">point</span> <span style="font-family: georgia;">to</span> <span style="font-family: helvetica;">the</span> <span style="font-family: times;">board</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> to</span> <span style="font-family: Oswald;">tell</span> <span style="font-family: Montserrat;">me</span> <span style="font-family: Prompt;">where</span> <span style="font-family: Permanent Marker;">i'm</span> <span style="font-family: Orbitron;">going</span></p><p> <span style="font-size: large;">everyone</span> is <span style="font-family: Lobster; font-size: large;">happy</span> and <span style="font-family: Montserrat;"><b><i>talking </i></b></span> the air is <span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: Pacifico; font-size: large;">so light</span> <span style="font-size: large;"><i><u>and this is my workplace</u></i></span></p><p><span><span style="color: white; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: red;">but i'm late for this delivery!!</b></span> <span style="font-size: x-large;"><b> i have to hurry</b></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">WAKE UP</span></b></span></span></span></p>wellgoodgravyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15051538605094122590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3378459330208889446.post-24050487457563247072023-03-05T06:33:00.000-04:002023-03-05T06:33:03.577-04:00These Are the Days of Our Lives - week 9<div style="text-align: justify;">February 26, Sunday</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A cool, calm day in Moncton, this was. Janice and me spent a lot of it in The Promised Land, snoozing and her resting her bad leg keeping it elevated. She had the weekend off and spent much of it this way, as she was supposed to, to help it heal. She's making progress, albeit somewhat limited. * There's really not a lot to talk about as far as the day's goings-on are concerned. We did go to PF for a bit of a modified Shack Day workout, doing what we usually do for free-weights, except we opted out of drop sets for lighter weights and longer single sets. That doesn't mean what we did tonight was easy. You have to push yourself to get through these elongated exercises. I'm proud of Janice - she did everything, even weight-assisted pull-ups, where she couldn't before because of her knee. She also did nearly 4 miles on the treadmill, which is a giant leap toward her recovering...I hope. Our workout lasted a solid two-plus hours. I did the usual running a mile to start/walking a mile to finish, bookending the weights workout that included some ab stuff and an added farmer's walk and a lot of stretching. * We get home and take our showers... today was hair day for me; a bit of an event, because it's kind of a hassle washing this much hair, though I only have to do it once or twice a week. I've been treating my beard the last few days too, getting that natural brown tint back. * After the shower, it's mealtime... in the form of this frozen Pad Thai dinner that we bought a pack of at Costco a while ago. It was light and easy to make, just pop it in the nuker for four minutes. It was our first time having it, and it was really good, actually. We feasted on some cookies from my big baking session yesterday, bagging a few for Alexandra and Cole to have tomorrow, and some for Mama next door. Janice really, really likes them. * We watched Question Period, with the talk about why on earth <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-china-election-interference-public-inquiry-2/" target="_blank"><b>Trudeau won't let CSIS do an investigation into Chinese election manipulation</b></a> - seriously, what is there to hide?? - and then there's <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-poilievre-denies-speaking-with-anti-immigration-german-politician/" target="_blank"><b>Polievre claiming ignorance over his party members fraternizing with a racist German politician.</b></a> All of politics is just finger pointing and head games, really. * Then it was back to The Promised Land after folding clothes, getting Marbles the Kanga Kitty his meatstick treat, and then taking in the newest episode of 'The Last of Us', which was a considerably calmer, more storytelling episode this time out, and well told, as usual. After that it was 'Last Week Tonight with John Oliver', and Janice was lights out after that, while I continued on writing this journal entry. I've been trying to keep them a little bit shorter and to the point. * And that's the kind of day it's been.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">February 27, Monday</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It's Monday right now as I type this alright - at 5:55 pm. Interesting stuff in the pipeline already. Fox News is <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/02/28/1159819849/fox-news-dominion-voting-rupert-murdoch-2020-election-fraud" target="_blank"><b>being exposed big time</b></a> right now. Rupert Murdoch basically confirmed under oath that his notorious channel has been lying about election interference all along, among other things. A very bright light is shining on the republican cockroaches and they're scattering big time. This is actually fun to watch! * It was a rough night of sleep last night for whatever reason - I think I fell asleep around 4:30 ish. Which honestly isn't too bad - could be worse. I slept during a lot of the day. Woke up to Janice coming home from work to tell me that the doctor called her, re: my KUB x-ray last week, and that I'm the proud owner of two kidney stones at the top of my ureter. One's 2 mm and the other 3 mm. This means lotsa water's going to be drunk in the hours and days to come. Last time I had a kidney stone in '15, it was over 5 mm, lodged in the urinary tract, and the urologist said I was a day or two away from actually losing a kidney. Thus, I claim the right to be proactive when it comes to any inkling of kidney stone pain. If a stone gets to 5 mm, that means surgery, and possibly a stent, like I had - and that shit is no fun. Especially if you're working a physical job like I was. I didn't call in sick once through that, but I definitely should have. Actually... I did take an hour and a half off to go get the stent taken out, then go back to work! * The plan for the night was a half-price Domino's Pizza for supper after we get home from the gym for Leg Day. So off to PF we go for what became no-weights Leg Day for me, and mostly cardio for Janice, while she rehabs her knee. This round of weights, for both free-weights and machines, will be all low to no weights and high reps. In my case this time, Leg Day consisted of 60 body weight squats, 30 side to side lunges each leg, 60 b/w sumo squats, Bulgarian split squats at 20 each leg, 50 b/w calf raises, and 30 b/w pistol squats each leg, followed by a trip around the gym with two 45 lb plates, 25/20/20 reps at 40 lbs on the crunch machine, forward and side planks, and of course the regular stretching and mile-long run to start and mile-long walk to finish. I was sweatin' like a racehorse thru this one. Janice did exceptional on the treadmill, now going up to 4 miles. * We picked up our pizza on the way home, got in and showered, then it was back downstairs for supper and Rachel Maddow, which was a bit bland to me this week. Shortly after that, we head to The Promised Land and endow MMH with his kitty chocolate, then settle in while Janice tackles her Cookie Jam games and I take in the news before writing this journal right here. * And that's the kind of day it's been.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">February 28, Tuesday</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It's been 45 years since Dad died today. That was on my mind much of the morning. I still remember waking up to Mom wailing about something, and Rick and Cindy in a panic, when I went downstairs to Dad's bedroom, where he went to sleep for the last time. This day, thus, started off quite sombre. * Pretty standard day otherwise. Nothing notable for weather, temps in the single digits and partly cloudy, had a rough night sleeping once again, what else is new. Still, I think I got sufficient zzz's to get me through the day, and hopefully not enough to stay awake too long at the end of it. * Janice comes home from work, and we pretty much just hang out and chat, making plans for dinner that would've been ribs, baked potatoes and corn, except we decided to hit the gym a little bit late for high-reps/low-weights machine Charms Day. So that's what we did - Janice put in a lot of time on the treadmill, which we need to really keep an eye on. But we were both able to do the weights, especially where it was almost all seated upper-body stuff. So we did things for biceps, triceps, and chest, plus I did a fair bit of ab stuff, and we stretched, as well as me doing my Monkey Walk once around the gym. Some days it's once, some days two trips, it often depends on what body part the weights were on. Janice actually did it with me today, with ten pound plates. I did my usual mile run at the beginning and mile walk at the end. * Then it was home on this chilly final night of February. * And it was a bit late for the ribs and potatoes, so we opted instead for bagels under the broiler with garlic spread and marble cheese, with a couple of hearty oatmeal cookies for dessert. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLOsYiUG5C0Y5ht6rMlvniBWWOM2FTOA-OP-EuiJHWqlYQkmc38u6W-mZfN2h-ZPwtP7oWBzFN9XNTGQinr6t4Ve-MpRL_lxQRP99fb1F7np6H3R1cZvFf39AMSA2rJNEHqWo1z7dNGfCshanN0aN4QeTBP5WFxKkGIzD3QXG9at8QWh5LF9SjwIUm/s781/Screenshot%202023-03-05%205.40.18%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="579" data-original-width="781" height="474" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLOsYiUG5C0Y5ht6rMlvniBWWOM2FTOA-OP-EuiJHWqlYQkmc38u6W-mZfN2h-ZPwtP7oWBzFN9XNTGQinr6t4Ve-MpRL_lxQRP99fb1F7np6H3R1cZvFf39AMSA2rJNEHqWo1z7dNGfCshanN0aN4QeTBP5WFxKkGIzD3QXG9at8QWh5LF9SjwIUm/w640-h474/Screenshot%202023-03-05%205.40.18%20AM.png" width="640" /></a></div>That filled us up just fine. I've been doing the apple cider vinegar treatment for a few days now, in an effort to thwart the kidney stones issue. It's rough taking that stuff. If old socks in liquid form was a thing, it would probably have the apple cider vinegar label on it. Tonight it seemed to turn my stomach. I actually wondered after we ate if I might need to take Gravol or something. * After watching our usual stuff on the telly, it was upstairs to The Promised Land, where MMH was there to collect his goodies, and we settled into bed to call it a night. I'm hitting the pillow at a semi-reasonable time on this night. * And that's the kind of day it's been.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyJF-6ZSYVau-w4ig0FxteRgufClVtNFmaLfaEMjE6S23FmBqQWZRxWsXUMep6RGw090YEYJ5KY8e0Vh6P5hwsliTI4FASau5H0gSea9AOf9qy4YI7b43PY89-3NG9mZzhQ_MXt3-c2AUTQqPsz6r8NKk5lNwj-CWJQMfoZxGVLZm9Cptx3QwE8HcT/s1744/334912121_3372429656311691_2549739742441479496_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1031" data-original-width="1744" height="378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyJF-6ZSYVau-w4ig0FxteRgufClVtNFmaLfaEMjE6S23FmBqQWZRxWsXUMep6RGw090YEYJ5KY8e0Vh6P5hwsliTI4FASau5H0gSea9AOf9qy4YI7b43PY89-3NG9mZzhQ_MXt3-c2AUTQqPsz6r8NKk5lNwj-CWJQMfoZxGVLZm9Cptx3QwE8HcT/w640-h378/334912121_3372429656311691_2549739742441479496_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiavds83-9GzQX_3Pkzx3Ga00DOj6-vclDyW4mtBuQzvksu2XcxmvhxqG6IqoTzqvEwMwQTibV0uZJ0DqD55sQj5SOIOsNNO_0A4UD2gpTIkuWbMU2c-2MM8nMyftI8sWZsynYKYJtxVnen0W9HfEo0XXrGstadQqZU1kB0KIvmR_WYWSo9-P5MEwYs/s1765/334910258_141071738588673_6556124487818825179_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1108" data-original-width="1765" height="402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiavds83-9GzQX_3Pkzx3Ga00DOj6-vclDyW4mtBuQzvksu2XcxmvhxqG6IqoTzqvEwMwQTibV0uZJ0DqD55sQj5SOIOsNNO_0A4UD2gpTIkuWbMU2c-2MM8nMyftI8sWZsynYKYJtxVnen0W9HfEo0XXrGstadQqZU1kB0KIvmR_WYWSo9-P5MEwYs/w640-h402/334910258_141071738588673_6556124487818825179_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-size: x-small;">For those interested, this is the ginger snap recipe of my Mom's, which I wanted to present in the writing of my lovely sister Cindy.<br /></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">March 1, Wednesday</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Well, I was able to sleep thru the night, for the most part, waking up around 9-ish,shortly after Janice headed to work. She doesn't get around very easily lately. She needs her brace on just in order to limp around, and she still needs her cane. She's able to walk on the treadmill at the gym easier because there are actually handles to grab onto. Today, she had a doctor's appointment, where she was able to discuss everything that's in need of attention. She asked for a script for Percocet for me, in the event that my kidney stones wake up and start playing ball with my urinary tract and wreak havoc on my abdomen. He understood perfectly and gave me one for 15 of them. I asked for 10, and wasn't sure I'd get them, so this is good. I still have a small handful from my last throat surgery two years ago. The second thing she asked about was about one of those mesh treatments for her bladder that she had several years ago - apparently, that has to be re-done periodically, so she was granted a referral for that. Then, it was about her knee - he had her lay on the table while he moved her leg around, and the telltale signs of a torn ligament arose. She was promptly booked for an MRI to get a closer look at it, and actually sent out a referral to an ortho to be seen ASAP, which tells you right there the condition of it. It probably needs a scope, but perhaps a more intensive surgery to get the ligament repaired, too. I push her at the gym maybe too hard, I'm thinking. I feel like I'm kind of responsible for this. * After she gave me the rundown on her appointment, we decided to go for a workout, for machine Shack Day, once again a sit-down affair for the most part. We still both got on the treadmill, but she wants to motor when she gets on, and I actually have to pull the reins in on her. For a long time, she was walking on an incline, and I had to put a stop to that. She's a feisty one that I have to keep an eye on, a bit like a kid! We did seven or eight exercises on the machines, including a Monkey Walk with 2 trips around... Janice insisted on doing it with two ten pound plates. We did a little bit of ab stuff, along with the bookends of the running mile and the walking one at the end. I had Janice walking a bit slower. * Back home we go, handy to around 6 this time, because Janice actually had her appointment at one, so Alexandra went in to cover for her by taking her shift from then to 7. But Janice had to go back for 7 to 9. While Janice was gone for that two hours, I decided to do some research on the apple cider vinegar thing. As it turns out, it's apple cider fermented with yeast... that's not the kind of thing I need in me right now. Or ever! I've had yeast issues enough earlier this year and don't want to keep going through that. Thus ends the ACV treatment. I've been feeling uneasy the last day or two, and now I might have a good idea why. This kind of stuff only happens in the winter with me. It's like some kind of curse. * I found out today that KISS announced the rest of the dates of their End of the Road Tour, and the Maritimes are not on the itinerary. But there is a date in Montreal in November, so we're going to try to make it to that show. Tickets go on sale next week. * Anyway, I took to doing the laundry, then getting dinner ready for when Janice came home, in the form of those baked potatoes and ribs and corn. I baked extra potatoes once again to panfry tomorrow to have with sausages and mashed carrots. When Janice got home around 9:30, dinner was ready with no waiting, and we watched a little news stuff, followed by a good episode of AEW Dynamite. There's a pay per view this weekend to ponder. After that, we headed into the kitchen where Janice took a seat, while I made oatmeal cookies from this astoundingly great recipe I found a long time ago. It's a very simple recipe that yields 40 to 50 cookies, good size ones, too. And they keep Janice and me regular! These things are great for breakfast - or anytime, really. * After that, it was off to the Promised Land, where Marbles was beckoning with his incessant meowing. Which we love. He can talk as much as he wants. He got his kitty chocolate, we turned on the fan for the white noise like we do every night, and now I'm also going to attempt sleep. Not before I rubbed some Icy Hot on Janice's leg to try to alleviate some of the pain, which I can tell is evident through the night. It doesn't wake me up, but I notice it, and feel bad for her. I often stroke her head when she groans from the pain. I hate that she has to go through this. She says that the Icy Hot helps, though. * And that's the kind of day it's been.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1yl2-CL5oFV6ZwULZE1ueriQVjYRYcuEBi2JuPetEgRO5vCUSdJbMFvYhEIVf1diQzYkO6KGXFCbOPBOMLuAURdvUDbcKkqB7G9Ys-Y_mAWt98AKibdSo8xIJD9TcAbAdvYq_fgiL5oFsmonHoddEprv5pyC7-maUitI6yT2uz1zHtox9YvnSJ1_l/s1536/334866463_224232496684834_7657121763897468368_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1096" data-original-width="1536" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1yl2-CL5oFV6ZwULZE1ueriQVjYRYcuEBi2JuPetEgRO5vCUSdJbMFvYhEIVf1diQzYkO6KGXFCbOPBOMLuAURdvUDbcKkqB7G9Ys-Y_mAWt98AKibdSo8xIJD9TcAbAdvYq_fgiL5oFsmonHoddEprv5pyC7-maUitI6yT2uz1zHtox9YvnSJ1_l/w640-h456/334866463_224232496684834_7657121763897468368_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-size: x-small;">Presenting, the ancient Baker's semi sweet chocolate chips wrapper.</span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkBlXdJwLyHlbsvo_mD8-sHtu1s-F1jrK6qaKPSzTWsnHTJY9G2wSuWfPDcLnMquu2-wyng47opa1lmorwRRV6Fa0CTghRDwzmKHok2ShT6P6sO3ghGnUQGDm1erfIim6OhwecTUz5wbT6SjuiHp9xd64ndTqQPxZJAi7DBT5XrxxleccN6GJ8pzbm/s975/334767008_2647915828683958_6772600511160386405_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="346" data-original-width="975" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkBlXdJwLyHlbsvo_mD8-sHtu1s-F1jrK6qaKPSzTWsnHTJY9G2wSuWfPDcLnMquu2-wyng47opa1lmorwRRV6Fa0CTghRDwzmKHok2ShT6P6sO3ghGnUQGDm1erfIim6OhwecTUz5wbT6SjuiHp9xd64ndTqQPxZJAi7DBT5XrxxleccN6GJ8pzbm/w640-h228/334767008_2647915828683958_6772600511160386405_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-size: x-small;">Also presenting, the chocolate chip cookie recipe I use. I bake these at 350 F for about 12 minutes, but remember oven temps vary, so keep an eye out. Plus, I use milk chocolate chips. Way better. These cookies taste just like Mom used to make.</span><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">March 2, Thursday</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Last night just flat out sucked for sleep. I think I passed out around 5 or 5:30, and wound up waking up at just before 9. Just a general malaise kind of feeling and restlessness. It's getting frustrating feeling like this. I did eventually fall asleep, at something like 2 in the afternoon, and woke up around 5:30 or so. I pass time watching TV and reading stuff, but when I feel like this, with such low energy, it's hard to get motivated. * Janice was downstairs already when I woke up, so she came up when she heard me. She figured we both needed today off from the gym - I was in no shape to go, neither was she with how her leg is doing. There's weather coming through in the form of 20 cm of snow or more, and that always wreaks havoc on her, me sometimes too, but not in the same way this time. * We headed downstairs to prepare supper, in the form of panfried potatoes, mashed carrots and baked sausages. Janice grabbed a chair in the kitchen while I undertook the cooking. As I went on with it, I got more and more tired and spent. I felt a wave of nausea come over me and felt shaky, but continued cooking anyway. I was still kind of hungry, just not 'meal' hungry at that point. The panfried potatoes were great, though. I made them with garlic and onion powder, parsley, coarse sea salt and Frank's sauce, and they were fantastic really. I think the salt is what made the biggest difference, it's the first time I used it in this setting. I got the plates ready and we transported to the living room to eat while we watched TV. * Janice chowed down and loved what she had. I did too, but ate much more slowly, and actually had to take an extended break after eating the vegetables. As we watched the newest episode of 'Star Trek Picard', which was an improvement, I eventually nibbled on the sausages, and they went down okay. I opted out of my supplements, taking only my Zoloft and Align, because I didn't want to overwhelm my stomach tonight. I seemed to be okay. * Then we head to The Promised Land, where Marbles had his meatstick with a side of fingers. I loaded up our mini-fridge with Canada Dry Diet Ginger Ale, as I began to once again feel this wave of nausea. I couldn't get into bed fast enough. Janice pretty much insisted I take Gravol to help settle me for sleep. I open up my laptop and did a search for digestive symptoms of long-haul Covid - and sure enough, I ticked off just about all the boxes in the digestive area. Anorexia, nausea, IBS, vomiting was in there - thank God I haven't dealt with that. But all the rest are a go. I had to go to the bathroom seven times today. It just feels like there's no end to this. From what I've read, it can last up to six months (!). I can't seem to get consistent. I'll have a good day, then two or three bad days. It doesn't seem to matter what I eat or drink. I've cut out alcohol completely, for frig's sake, I would've thought things would improve. But things just haven't been right since the onset of Covid. I'm just glad I don't have to work feeling like this. I know there are a lot of folks out there who do have to. * When I did sleep, I had vivid dreams about being back at work as a receiver in my old job - seeing co-workers again, all the drivers I'd developed a rapport with, and doing the stuff I thrived on. It was a bittersweet thing, because when I wake up, I know that's long gone now. The further into the past it goes, the harder it seems to let go of a lot of it. There are bad dreams I have, of how it all ended, but then there's ones with my old co-workers when times were good. Now instead, I spend those hours at home alone. Dealing with this Covid crap just makes it all really suck. * Friday is upon us, and Janice will come home and we'll have Saturday together. I look forward to that. She's resting semi-comfortably beside me right now as I hear the snowplow roaring on the streets outside. * And that's the kind of day it's been.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">March 3, Friday</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The snowstorm I talked about yesterday wound up bringing us around 20 cm or so of snow. A fair amount, but not something otherworldly or anything. Today temps are closer to the freezing mark and it's sunnier out. Not that I experienced it personally. Once I fell asleep last night, at a fairly reasonable time I might add, I ended up sleeping for nearly 12 hours. I didn't even take oil; but I did take Gravol because I was feeling quite unsettled. * Janice came home about ten minutes after I'd woken up. The plan was to go to the grocery store for her Mom, but that idea was postponed after her Mom said tomorrow would be fine, so we opted to stay in. So then, it was time to make fish & chips for supper in the oven, our Lenten season special. It was great again, and this time after 25 minutes in the oven, I turned the oven off and let them sit in there for another five, which crispified them to a crunchy delight. * We decided to watch 'Terminator: Dark Fate' that was recorded from the Sci-Fi channel a while ago. A pretty good show, though it just doesn't quite measure up to the finesse of James Cameron's directorial efforts. He wrote this one, but had Tim Miller direct it. Still, it was quite enjoyable. We'd seen it in the theatre but wanted to re-watch it. After that, 'Real Time w/ Bill Maher' was on. Russell Brand, Bernie Sanders and John Heilemann guested. It was basically the Russell Brand show because he hogged the bulk of the time. I don't agree with his anarchist viewpoints at all and find him subversive. * Up to The Promised Land we go, feed MMH his meatstick/fingers, and we settle in to watch some more telly. 'The Proof Is Out There' was on PVR, so we watched that - Tony Harris is a great host for that show. He brings a lot of gravitas to his commentary, as he is neither a skeptic nor a believer, and chooses to base his findings on evidence. Good late Friday night TV. * I rubbed some Icy Hot on the wife's knee before she went to sleep. It's not really improving. I'm hoping that the doc's referral doesn't take too long to go through so she can get this fixed once and for all. We decided to stay home from the gym tonight because, mainly, her leg just isn't doing very good. But also, yesterday was rough for me, too, so I welcomed the evening to recuperate a bit. * And that's the kind of day it's been.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">March 4, Saturday</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The day arrives, and we slept in. Way in. Till, I think 2 or 3. Someone came around knocking at the door, but the both of us were too tired to get up to check it out, so if you're reading this, sorry about that. We never get visitors so we don't expect it at all. * The plan for the day was to do Janice's Mom's grocery list, and maybe get a few things ourselves. I spied a recipe, an extremely simple one, in my recipe binder for Coca-Cola meatballs in the slow cooker, and it required more BBQ sauce than we had, so perhaps a visit to Costco was in order. Plus we needed the meatballs. And gas. Waffles wouldn't hurt. We're nearly out of fish for our fish 'n chip Fridays, too. Our Gatorade Zero is low so we might as well get some of that. Plus we need more butter. And margarine. That's how it is when you go to Costco to get one or two things, they multiply pretty quick. We also got garlic bread for life. * After we finished up at Costco, it was off to Sobeys for Momma's grocery order. Janice gets around with a cane all the time now, so it's kind of important that I go with her. Sometimes you can't make it on your own, even on a beautiful day like this when your head spins with shopping enough that it gives you vertigo. Then you get stuck in a moment you can't get out of, so you walk on. * Once we're done at Sobeys, we drop the groceries off to Momma, and I spied her little kitty Lolo checking me out from around the corner. I resolved to give her some salmon treats courtesy of her friend Marbles next door. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil8Rk_L_MEtLRAexWN3zh68ISgnt-J9irlBV5tzFjLoOdDIwN0bT5GGsBEkhF4Ki269HMQiRkACq9v89v3_rlcQm_RRT01m7-kKhrh1GwCApU6t3z2aE6cS6KQqeRBR3cqPi9EO__0fo78jh0keHv6be10UXE3eioa2cJZPQp9OK83wdkAeDMKed1M/s2000/332360593_541843567804249_6700101710685177452_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="1500" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil8Rk_L_MEtLRAexWN3zh68ISgnt-J9irlBV5tzFjLoOdDIwN0bT5GGsBEkhF4Ki269HMQiRkACq9v89v3_rlcQm_RRT01m7-kKhrh1GwCApU6t3z2aE6cS6KQqeRBR3cqPi9EO__0fo78jh0keHv6be10UXE3eioa2cJZPQp9OK83wdkAeDMKed1M/w480-h640/332360593_541843567804249_6700101710685177452_n.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>Momma gave us a homemade lemon meringue pie, she knows that's my favorite. Very sweet of her - literally! * We unload everything from the car, and prepare for the gym. After two days off, it was time to sweat again. We were both feeling pretty good today and up for it, so we actually looked forward to it. Friday and Saturday nights are our favorite times to go, because it's usually a lot less busy. It was machine Leg Day today, and Janice couldn't really partake because of her knee, so I figured out an alternate program for her to get her blood pumping, involving warming up her upper body with 5 lb weights, and then using them for resistance in some taekwondo exercises involving punches. It worked out (no pun intended) quite well for her. She's a second degree black belt, and trust me when I say you don't want to be on the receiving end of her punches. She hits hard and knows exactly where to hit. For myself, I did seven machines with lower weights/higher reps, then did a few ab exercises, and the usual Monkey Walk around the gym for a personal record 3 times with two 45 lb plates. In my early 40's, I used to be able to get around the gym at the Y seven times, though that gym is considerably smaller, so I kind of surprised myself in doing this. I started the workout with a running mile and finished with a walking one plus a little extra, as Janice did 4 miles walking on the treadmill herself while I did other things. I kept a close eye on her. She did very well, and it's important to her to keep in motion, though we need to be careful with her. * We headed home after venturing to Canadian Tire to get some clear Gorilla Tape, to reinforce the weather stripping on the doors, and we could smell the meatballs cooking in the slow cooker with the BBQ sauce that I set before we left for the gym. All it is, is a bunch of ready-cooked frozen meatballs, lots of BBQ sauce - Red Bull in this case - and a can of Coke, all stirred up and put in the slow cooker on high for three hours. I made that with the garlic bread, and some mashed carrots and turnips to round it out. It was a good combo, though Janice didn't really care for the Costco garlic bread, which I actually found quite good. But we were both full and satisfied. Of course, before all that, we did take our showers. * <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVww72qbKy0&ab_channel=OfficialW5" target="_blank"><b>We watched W5</b></a> on the telly, about a Canadian woman incarcerated in Hong Kong for unknowingly being a drug mule from an online romance scam artist. It's amazing the filth that people will stoop to to take advantage of the vulnerable. Then we watched the newest 'Ancient Aliens' episode. That's always fun to watch, no matter what you believe. It makes you ponder things you might think off the cuff are ridiculous, but then stop to think, "wait a minute..." * After that, it's time to clean up the kitchen and head to The Promised Land, where MMH was awaiting his meatstick treat after doing his Kanga Kitty routine, and we settled into bed after I rubbed some more Icy Hot on Janice's knee. A Big Bang Theory mini marathon was on, so we left that on while we surfed and chatted. * We wound up staying awake longer than we expected. It's now past 5, and Janice is on the verge of sleep, while I'm about to finish up this journal entry and proofread the week's entries before posting. Marbles is camped on my lap and it's about time to call it a night. * I started last night, as well, starting up what might be another blog page "Dreamstate" related to my dreams. I'm trying to make it interesting, and as dream-like as I can. * And that's the kind of week it was.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHwhuK-sguSSufxjCndRo4eD0yWYKALHDLMP6U7PyJk3Koa6eVDRLG3e_oulxlmi-Vw3t7gadL7nlDijh-7aUPnfWwpkIYvkij1dDIqiGjVtn2ShBzGI7DTPym7P4D8UgP6vQtZKrOAwiKSR32bH_kBJOoJM3Fh6IxR6_o62rIOr3qvdmuejXP4dau/s2048/334367424_253848703633515_1090676489993785124_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHwhuK-sguSSufxjCndRo4eD0yWYKALHDLMP6U7PyJk3Koa6eVDRLG3e_oulxlmi-Vw3t7gadL7nlDijh-7aUPnfWwpkIYvkij1dDIqiGjVtn2ShBzGI7DTPym7P4D8UgP6vQtZKrOAwiKSR32bH_kBJOoJM3Fh6IxR6_o62rIOr3qvdmuejXP4dau/w640-h480/334367424_253848703633515_1090676489993785124_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>wellgoodgravyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15051538605094122590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3378459330208889446.post-69342160651895515162023-02-26T18:21:00.000-04:002023-02-26T18:21:21.293-04:00These Are the Days of Our Lives - week 8<p>February 19, Sunday</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Not a whole lot to report for this day, as we spent a lot of it laying in bed because of Janice's knee not being good at all. It hasn't improved, and she says it feels better when it's elevated. With all the cracking and grinding that you can hear and feel in it, you'd be led to believe that bone fragments have something to do with it. Alexandra's ankle, we believe, must be broken. It's huge and black and blue, and can't she can't move it in many ways. Despite all this, both ladies are still working at their SDM post office. There is no one to cover for them if they're out; something that management was warned about time and time again for ages. And now it's down to this. The problem here is, Loblaw doesn't allow Shoppers stores for the extra hours to post office managers like Janice to train people should things like this happen. I blame Loblaw more than I do the stores themselves. * The plan was for Janice and me to have supper, in the form of steamed hot dogs and sweet baby kale salad, then pick up Alexandra at her apartment and go to outpatients to address their issues. We did just that. The stick in the mud is outpatients. We went to the city hospital, and the outpatients parking lot was jam packed. We all knew that if we went in there, we'd be waiting probably in the double-digits of hours to be seen, and likely nothing would be done anyway. Plan B: try the French hospital. I drive there and drop them off in outpatients and park the car, only to come back and find that the outpatients room is jam packed, with many people getting impatient and rowdy. The same result, and a no-go. We all agreed it didn't make any sense to even bother trying on this day. Back to Alexandra's apartment she goes, downcast and frustrated, and we go back home. The frustration with the health care system is real and palpable. Premier Higgs keeps bragging about a 'surplus' while this fucking shit is going on. * Anyway, we get home and just head straight up to the Promised Land where Janice can get her leg up. She requested that we watch more 'Battlestar', so we finished up the first half of season 2 and started the second half. I know I keep writing this, but it's <i>unbelievable</i> how relevant this show still is, and how thought provoking. * And that's the kind of day it's been.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">February 20, Monday</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Today would be a paid holiday, Family Day. Janice got the day off, but Alexandra had to work the mandatory four hour shift, though at double time and a half, which is kind of good because her man Cole is out of work at the present time. * The weather was pretty good. Mild out but cloudy, sprinkles here and there. Considering these are usually the dark days of winter, we'll take this. We decided today, after careful consideration, that Janice gets to take a shot at the gym. We've not gone since last Thursday, when she ran into knee issues, literally. I kept a very close eye on her. To start, I got on the treadmill and ran a mile, while she did abs training and some light weights. Once I was done my cardio, it was free-weights Leg Day for me. Janice grabbed a couple of dumbbells and did some high reps/low weight exercises. Man, f/w Leg Day is a bitch! It's probably my least favorite workout day of all of them. I did my usuals... pistol squats, Bulgarian squats, weighted side-to-side lunges, weighted normal squats, and sumo squats - followed by calf extensions, walking weighted lunges and finishing off with barbell squats - fifteen at 135 lbs followed by ten at 240 lbs. I might bump that up next f/w Leg Day. We both then got on the treadmill and I did my mile-long cool down, while Janice also got on, walking 2 mph for 15 minutes or so, with me laser-focused on her if she should look at all like she's struggling. As it all turns out, this was a good outing for both of us. She didn't overdo it, and getting out and to the gym was great for both of our mindsets. We've really settled in to doing this as a habit and miss it when we don't go. Getting the heart pumping clears the head and freshens up the body. It just feels good. * Back home we go, the streets very quiet around 7:00 or so with everyone chilling for this holiday, and MMH greets us as we head up to the shower. After that, downstairs we go and I prepare to make supper, in the form of a Chef's Salad inspired by my old workplace BJ's Subs. One of my favorite things that we do is me making supper while Janice grabs a chair and sits with me and we talk while I cook. Sometimes we'll turn on a playlist or watch TV in there, and sometimes we just talk. We never have a shortage of things to talk about. I grilled four pieces of boneless, skinless chicken thighs in olive oil with salt and pepper; took the head of lettuce and hand-divided it into small bite sized pieces, and washed and rinsed them twice; washed and cut these little baby tomatoes; cut up a red onion; shredded some marble cheese; boiled a couple of eggs and sliced them; then combined it all with ranch dressing for one heck of a tasty salad. Janice loved it, as I knew she would, as I've made it before. She had some Bailey's and a Heineken and I had a Heineken and a DCD. We watched a little TV, including 'The Last of Us' latest episode that was on the day before that we got on DVR. Another pretty great episode. We took in John Oliver after that, which is always great and informative, and funny. This time he did a great piece on psychedelic therapy, with mushrooms, LSD, and a few other things, but mostly those. It's being proven to be more and more beneficial to PTSD patients and depression. Obviously this all peaks my interest. * After that, Marbles did his Kanga Kitty routine for his treat, which I'll have to record sometime for folks to see, we got our DCD ready in our Yetis for the night and attempted sleep. And got it. This is several nights in a row now where I've slept through the night. * And that's the kind of day it's been.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">February 21, Tuesday</p><p></p><div style="text-align: justify;">Woke up pretty early today, 8-ish with Janice as she went to work. I'm on quite a string now of sleeping through the night. * Didn't do much of anything, though. Leg Day yesterday is making its results known to me today, that's for sure. Janice's mobility seems to be stable, but not necessarily improved. Alexandra was supposed to go for an x-ray on her ankle to see what's going on if it's broken or not, but the hospital never called like the doctor said they were supposed to do, which left Lex angry and frustrated that she can't get this looked at. Janice and me had to actually go to SDM when she was working to calm her down a little. Janice watched the P.O. kiosk while I took Lex out for a little drive to calm her down - I told her we'll make sure, without a doubt, that she gets her x-ray tomorrow, one way or another, even if it means going out of town to get it. We drove by the hospital outpatients, and it was packed again. I don't know if the health care system will ever recover post-covid. * We did head to the gym from there, with me keeping a very close eye on Janice. I do admire her grit an determination to keep going - I just don't want anything she does to exacerbate the condition she's dealing with. It was free-weights Charms day this time. The gym was packed... and I hate it when it's like that. We started with my running a mile on the treadmill while Janice carefully walked, then we hit the bench for our exercises. We did drop sets for everything - for my chest stuff I used 30, 40 and 50 lb dumbbells for chest presses and flys, as well as on inclines; Janice always does half my weight, and did fine with it. Seeing a woman using 25 lb dumbbells at 55 years old is kind of unusual, you have to admit. Then it was on to arms, where I used 20, 25 and 30 lb db's for arm curl exercises on the bench - 12 reps reclined, 12 upright then 12 face down inclined, then we drop to 10 reps next set, then 8. Janice did half the weight again and rocked it. It was a bit awkward keeping her bum leg out of the picture. Then we went on to the cable machine to do tricep pushdowns, 50, 60 and 70 lbs for me, drop sets. Janice did half the weight. Again, did it with rope arm curls. Over after that to do chest dips, then Janice stretched a bit and went back to the treadmill while I did my farmer's walk (we actually call it the Monkey Walk), doing two trips around the gym perimeter with two 45 lb plates. Then I did some machine crunches, stretching, and over to the treadmill with Janice; about three or four minutes in, I noticed her knee slightly buckle, and I called it right then and there. She walked I think 3/4 of a mile, and that was plenty, considering she can't put much weight on her left knee. * Homeward bound - we'd gotten a few cans of Heineken to go with a pizza we ordered for this Fat Tuesday. We only drank one king can each, though. As of midnight, alcohol is completely out, even on Sundays through Lent season. We watched some of our usual TV stuff, then headed to the Promised Land, escorted by Marvellous Marbles Hagler after he had his supper with us. It was time for dessert! He did his Kanga Kitty routine and got his meatstick treat. We settled into bed and around 1:30 or so, it's lights out. * And that's the kind of day it's been.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">February 22, Wednesday</div><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Not a bad day. Sunny outside with temps around minus 5 or so, and a chilly night that featured a great look at the crescent moon flanked by a very bright Jupiter and Venus. * I was up early once again, though I could've used a bit more sleep, but Janice could've used more. She's the one who works, after all. She got home after work and then promptly went for her own x-ray at the hospital. The doc will give her results when she goes to see him tomorrow. She'll also tell him about an annoying dull pain I've had in my lower left flank side for over a month now, and my suspicion is that it could be a kidney stone lurking. I've felt this before. But if I can catch it before it makes me crawl, literally, that would be nice. Might be nothing too. Either way, not terribly worried. Janice, on the other hand, is dealing with too much with her left knee. Way too much pain. She can't put much weight on that leg at all. * Once she got home, we both agreed it'd be a good idea to take a short sleep, so we did. We woke up around 5:30 or so, and got ourselves geared up for the gym once again. What we did today, both of us, was fast for Ash Wednesday, where we didn't eat anything until we had a waffle each when we woke up from our afternoon snooze. Lent is now underway. * Off to the gym we go. Starting off with my running a mile while Janice gingerly walked with her brace on, then it was on to machine Shack Day. Did all kinds of exercises utilizing equipment to work our backs and shoulders, some ab work, and back on the treadmill for another mile for me - Janice stopped when I reached it. Most people, I think, wouldn't go to the gym with a bad leg like that, but she's pretty insistent on continuing. The girl's got some serious power. * Back home we go after nearly two hours at PF, we hit the shower, and had a merry conversation with MMH. It's suppertime. We forego the meat today to honor Ash Wednesday, having bagels with garlic spread and melted cheddar in the oven, with broccoli and cheddar rice. It was quite a great combo, really. Diet Canada Dry was the liquid of choice, as it is most days. We watched Chris Hayes, who was subbed by Ali Velshi doing on-location reporting in Ukraine. He does really good work when he does this kind of stuff, showing what needs to be seen. A lot of heartbreaking footage, but necessary to keep the awareness of the brutality of the war in the public eye. Watched a bit of Alex Wagner after that, which is hit and miss for me. She often covers stuff that's already been covered, sometimes too much. I decided I was going to make cookies again. Only this time, not the ginger snap variety, but Mom's chocolate chip cookie recipe she liked to use. I have this box of her recipes she used to keep, and one of them had an old Baker's Chocolate Chips wrapper from the 70's with the cookie recipe on it. I followed it, and boy those cookies taste just like Mom's. Like her ginger snaps. I'll have to post the recipe for those. * Up to the Promised Land we go, Janice gets on her Cookie Crush game, and I turn on AEW Dynamite, a marked improvement from last week. They're gearing up to promote a pay-per-view in early March, doing a good job of it. * Not a lot more to report on the day than this - as that's the kind of day it's been.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">February 23, Thursday</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Chilly out, minus 10 but sunny and a calm evening. Snow is supposed to be on the way, but apparently not much. A cold snap is also coming, but not like that polar vortex crap we had to deal with recently. I hope. * Janice got her x-ray done today, though I don't think she gets results until next week where the doc's office isn't open until Tuesday. Her knee has improved, but that doesn't mean it's 100% by any means. The doc said he thinks that a scope may be necessary to clear the debris in the knee. When she bends her knees, it's pretty noisy. Definitely something going on in there. I have to go to the hospital tomorrow for a KUB x-ray myself, as I'm suspicious of possible kidney stones. I think I mentioned that. It's been a calm, quiet 8 years since my last bout with those little bastards, so I get the feeling I'm due soon. It'd be nice if I snagged it before it became a problem. * After Janice got home from work and her x-ray today, we loafed around and talked a lot, before getting ready to hit the gym once again. On the menu later would be broccoli casserole, which will feed us for two days - today and Saturday - we give it a break tomorrow when we have baked haddock and chips, which will be kind of a Friday staple through Lent season. Then we finish off the casserole Saturday, which will mean four straight days with no meat, something else that we try to do through Lent, which is to cut down on it. Anyway, we went to PF which is supposed to be machines Leg Day, at least for me, because Janice has to abstain from that until her knee gets better. She wound up doing ab stuff and very light cardio while I did my seven leg exercises, which culminated in a brand new squat record for me, 260 lbs for five reps. I surprised myself a bit. I did quite a lot of ab stuff and a Monkey Walk around the gym twice before joining Janice on the treadmill for a mile to finish. Also, this is four days in a row where I ran a mile to start off. I start the workout running a mile, and end it walking one, albeit walking fast. Janice was able to get in over three miles today, which is encouraging. She's a <i>tank</i>. * After a 2 hour workout, it was time to go home for our showers, and I had to assemble the casserole, which had brown Minute Rice, two heads of broccoli, green onions, marble cheese, celery, cream of chicken soup, and salt and pepper with garlic powder. It turned out pretty great. This makes for an easy meal Saturday, too. We watched 'Star Trek: Picard' - a so-so episode if you ask me, and I'm getting a little weary of being told how great the upcoming seasons of these shows are going to be, only to disappoint as it goes on. * Up to the Promised Land we go, MMH gets his meatstick treat after his Kanga Kitty routine, and we settle in bed for the night. Not a lot going on news-wise. * And that's the kind of day it's been.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">February 24, Friday</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Woke up relatively refreshed today, as a bit of a streak continues for sleeping thru the night. I'll be honest, I don't expect it to last forever, but I'm enjoying it while it's going. * Janice got home from work on this rather icy day, and we head out to Sobeys with her Mom's grocery list. Of course, it was pertinent for me to tag along with her today because she's getting around with a cane lately. Her leg is getting better, but we need to be cautious. By 'getting better', I mean the pain is improving, but the condition of it isn't. I truly believe she needs to have it scoped. * We get Mama's shopping done and bring her the goods, with which I demanded a kiss and a hug and "I love you!", and it was back home where we prepare to hit the gym one more time for the week. Today would be machine Charms Day. Friday nights are wonderful at PF, because it's so peaceful with not too many people. When it comes to machine workout days, I like to strive for at least seven exercises, and that's what we did. We really challenged ourselves with higher weights tonight, something I like to do on these machine days, because it helps us prepare to lift higher with free-weights. We finish off prematurely on the treadmill, because after I got on after Janice has been on it a bit longer, I noticed her knee buckle and I called it right then and there. All in all, the workout was quite successful. She's walking a little bit faster every time we go. Of course, the goal there is to get her leg strong enough to be cane-free. She does go see the doc on Wednesday to discuss options. * Home through the chilly night we go. In full disclosure for journal purposes, Janice made a bit of a nasty joke towards me as we pulled in the driveway that I took very personally, and I went into shutdown mode. Meaning, I couldn't process what was said, so words clogged up any transit of emotions and just sat with me. This was an example of why I have this mental disability where it stops me cold. A normal person would let it roll off like water off a duck's back - but I'm not that duck. I'm an emotionally weak old man that never quite grew up to deal with this kind of thing when it comes along, certainly not from those close to me. I continued with the evening, trying to shake it off in futility, making baked fish & chips in the oven I'd thoroughly cleaned earlier in the day. Man, that was a job. I Easy-Offed it, let it sit for several hours, then scrubbed and scrubbed with a bucket and pail and a scrub pad all over and got it pretty satisfactory. When we got home I rinsed it once more to get the residue off, took a shower and made the fish & chips - that was a bit redundant. Supper was quite good. Janice tried to break through my wall, but when I'm dealing with this, I think time is the only thing that will bring it down. A lot of things go through my mind when I'm sorting things out during this kind of thing. The biggest worry is the urge to self-harm, which was enormous Friday night. I felt ugly, unattractive, loathsome, and downright unapproachable. I think everyone who knows me well enough has had to deal with me in this state at one point or another. * We did watch a few things on TV, and headed upstairs where I took oil, for a second time as I took some as soon as we got in the house in an effort to ward off the self-harm thing (it worked), and after quickly giving Marbles his goodies for the evening, it's about time for lights out. * And that's the kind of day it's been.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">February 25, Saturday</p><p></p><div style="text-align: justify;">Woke up today with a bit of fog, from the result of dealing with my anxiety toward the end of yesterday. It is tough sleeping when I deal with these episodes, because bad dreams tend to creep in, which affects how I feel when I wake up. I did get a reasonable amount of sleep - but there's room for improvement. * I came around slowly as the afternoon crept toward the evening. I made the decision to make a distraction when I woke up: I was going to make a shit ton of cookies. Oatmeal, ginger snaps and chocolate chip. I knew this would take up a large portion of the day, but I considered it therapy. I asked Janice if she wanted to come to Costco with me, to which she cheerfully accepted. For her part, she feels very guilty about what was said yesterday, but it was just a mistake. If fault is to be assigned here, it's to me for being too fucking sensitive and not being able to take a joke - although this one felt excruciatingly personal. But in retrospect, she knew that as soon as she said it. Everyone screws up once in a while. I screwed up more letting it get to me. * We head out to Costco - gotta get margarine, gotta get margarine, gotta get margarine - picked up waffles, looked for and didn't find a tub of Crisco, got this cinnamon that I now regret getting because I think it's the hot kind, brown sugar, looked for and didn't get Gatorade for the gym, Janice picked out a pair of shirts she wanted for me and got some for her, too; also got one of those Kirkland water filtration pitchers, where our cold water on our water cooler is on the blink - literally, and that was more or less it. As we drove away of course I knew I forgot the freakin' margarine. * Off to Walmart we go. I wanted mixing bowls for all the stuff I was about to start baking. So, I got some really nice ones, oven mitts which I should've tried on because the ones I picked up are quite small, a bag of quick oats, that tub of Crisco, and I was pretty much good to go. * Back home we go, for Janice to attempt our tax returns, which are exceedingly difficult this year, and we'll have to seek help for, while I got to baking. I actually made the chocolate chip cookies earlier, I forgot to mention, then made the dough logs for the ginger snaps, so next was slicing up the logs to make the actual cookies. The cinnamon I used was Sobeys 'Compliments' brand, and I found it inferior to something like Club House, which is why I got the cinnamon from Costco, but I won't be using that either. I don't want my ginger snaps to set our mouths on fire or anything. Ah yes, I got a couple of Rubbermaid containers for the cookies I was about to make too. Lots of ginger snaps later, it was on to the oatmeal cookie recipe I found on the internet a few years ago. I think it's more apt to call them 'butter oatmeal' cookies, because the recipe calls for a cup of butter rather than shortening, leaving them with a pretty immaculate flavor. Boy, that recipe made a lot of cookies! No problem here. Janice insists that she loves all these cookies I made, especially where she's not a 'chocolate chip cookie' person. But the recipe I use is the one Mom used to always use, and I use milk chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet, so that seemed to make the difference for her. She also loves the butter-oatmeal one. Those particular cookies are great for breakfast, because they're so hearty and loaded with oatmeal, with a crispy edge and bottom. Anyway, cookies are all done, and we're set for quite a while. I felt quite satisfied having carried out what I set out to do. * Suppertime was warmed up in the nuker, the broccoli casserole we had left over from Thursday. Fridays through Lent are fish & chips day, that's why there's that lapse. This will be four straight no-meat days for us, which is something else I'm kind of proud of. I feel more and more worse getting meat from factory farms knowing how many of them treat their animals. We'll be getting a meat order from a local farmer next week. The difference in quality couldn't be more stark. * By the time supper was done, I was beginning to feel more like 'Shaka... when the walls fell!' (Star Trek TNG reference), which largely was why I wanted to do all that baking, to get my mind moving somewhere else. We decided to watch the movie 'Contact' on the Starz network on Crave, which would be the second time this week I've seen it. Janice had mentioned she wishes she saw it with me, so I had no problem watching it again. With subtitles. I know there are folks out there that loathe subtitles, but it's surprising how eye opening it can be to use them, especially with detailed movies like this. * There was no gym today, as we thought five days straight was fine, and it's good to let our bodies recupe for a day at least, and start up with free-weights Shack Day next time, which is the beginning of the cycle. It was on to The Promised Land where we settled in for the night, watching 'The Proof Is Out There' and 'The UnXplained' on DVR, and eventually calling it a night after giving our loyal Marbles his tasty meatstick, with a side of fingers. * Something I forgot to mention that was quite funny... I almost pride myself on being Canada's Worst Handyman. It's been a cold weekend, so I took to putting weather stripping around the doors, which seemed to work okay, in an effort to thwart the draft that we feel a lot. So I said to Janice, "I've got an idea." The dryer vent is virtually in the kitchen, because there's not much separating where we do our laundry from the kitchen itself. And the hole in the wall for the dryer vent isn't very well sealed off. This is a job for Canada's Worst Handyman! Leave everything to me.... I took a bunch of old socks (clean ones of course), and enlisted Janice to help me in tying them all together to make this long chain of 'sock rope', with which I took to winding around the end of the dryer hose. Laugh if you want, but it worked! The draft was largely eliminated. But there was a lot of laughs while we were tying those socks together. This is a classic handyman job of yours truly. It reminded us of one Christmas where we have this macrame Santa thing that my sister Cindy made with a Pringles can, and this cone goes on top of it that's supposed to be Santa's hat. I had the brilliant idea of the three of us chewing a whole bunch of gum and sticking it on the top of the can and 'gluing' the cone to the can. So it's funny to think of the three of us with these huge wads of gum in our mouths so we can stick this Christmas ornament together - but with one major complication: The gum was Hubba Bubba, <i>notorious for being non-stick</i>. Clearly this was a misfire, but a hilarious one! Fast forward to the sock-rope, and at least this idea kind of worked. And not a single chew was required. * Anyway, that's the kind of week it was.</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHvX2khsa7yTC7LJ8g6TEhKAJknmzlatgm4XvPXMnf8Ir5l388i9H63HSmPrxEckobOwd3KI0nRZ7FL47ptpARNjviykc00xsO40L2j4n45ZebnLg00mYv6XbZ8ehH-FGKOTPjDb8_w7N344tXjXARu2fiSeeEVGwckOFXVlcn73053f0WT63aZToj/s2048/332678741_178317758250549_5471972984576073080_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHvX2khsa7yTC7LJ8g6TEhKAJknmzlatgm4XvPXMnf8Ir5l388i9H63HSmPrxEckobOwd3KI0nRZ7FL47ptpARNjviykc00xsO40L2j4n45ZebnLg00mYv6XbZ8ehH-FGKOTPjDb8_w7N344tXjXARu2fiSeeEVGwckOFXVlcn73053f0WT63aZToj/w480-h640/332678741_178317758250549_5471972984576073080_n.jpg" width="480" /></a><p></p><br />wellgoodgravyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15051538605094122590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3378459330208889446.post-63278656036026777702023-02-19T02:51:00.000-04:002023-02-19T02:51:23.584-04:00These Are the Days of Our Lives - week 7February 12 Sunday<div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">In reality, right now it's 10:12 am on Monday. Last night was yet another rough night to sleep, getting maybe three hours. So, I'm taking that bastard bull by the horns today and doing whatever it takes to stay awake. Enough of this. Energy drinks, caffeinated beverages, you name it. * Anyway, yesterday... or I could address it as 'today' seeing as that's the heading... Janice got home from her four hour shift at the store and crawled in bed with a sleepy me, while I snoozed until around five or so. Woke up, got out of bed, and dragged a brush across my head. And after farting around a little bit, we got ready to go to the gym. We'd originally planned on having meatloaf for supper, but we need more things for it and the stores aren't open that late on Sunday anymore. Not to mention, I've been crapping my brains out since Saturday night. I've got the 'ring of fire' going on around Myanus (not Uranus). I'm now suspicious that I have some kind of sensitivity to wheat flour. I made those ginger snaps and we had those wings with the coating Saturday night, and wow... thunder down under. Been going to the can way too much since. It might be just overkill, too much of something, but Janice is not affected the same way at all, and she ate what I did. What I'll have to do next wing night is scale back how many I make, if it's the coated variety, and balance the meal with something with fibre in it. I've always had a nervous gut, too, so that plays a part. Anyway, I wasn't entirely sure if I was fit to go to the gym this day, but I was kind of determined to. I wanted to get Janice there because she's quite committed. Plus it's machine Leg Day, and we kind of like this one. We head out to PF and start to get into the groove, putting in a mile on the treadmill first; though we weren't going to be doing a whole lot of cardio today, since we arrived around 9:30. After that, it was onto the machines, six of them altogether, and did squats to finish off, where we both reached personal bests. I was able to do 245 lbs eight times, and I pushed Janice to move to the next level, which was 125 lbs five times. Those are big girl weights. You don't see a lot of women doing that much, much less 55 years old. I made sure I got pictures <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2vEdybqRnmNlYnbVMl3zjCHxZjOnHfUwA1Nto1ztWhVO5EG0hgpsNxvWPvLzM-OhAjGRhUxX8NYqcEKMxZK5HMe3dIWGEpmR3ofDa_bZlKys1J1-cMdqWheJeN8IdxIN6NJzL0Q6Ymux0epwr4L4IYLv5JBSCMDO05qdkXo8zZlnmP1p-CcGZTNFD/s1536/326153790_3402556266693996_5231482533865731691_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1269" data-original-width="1536" height="528" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2vEdybqRnmNlYnbVMl3zjCHxZjOnHfUwA1Nto1ztWhVO5EG0hgpsNxvWPvLzM-OhAjGRhUxX8NYqcEKMxZK5HMe3dIWGEpmR3ofDa_bZlKys1J1-cMdqWheJeN8IdxIN6NJzL0Q6Ymux0epwr4L4IYLv5JBSCMDO05qdkXo8zZlnmP1p-CcGZTNFD/w640-h528/326153790_3402556266693996_5231482533865731691_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>of that. She finished things with stretching and more cardio, while I did weight resistance crunches, stretching and a farmer's walk, where I did a personal best of carrying two 45 lb plates around the perimeter twice in one trip. Finished off with another mile in cardio - I think Janice did three altogether - and we left it at that, at a paltry (by our standards) two hours. * Moncton was moderately mild today, I think the temps were minus 5 or higher. We drove home on the lonely roads of the uptown, got in the house and up to the showers we go. MMH following us along the way. It was hair day today for me, where I get Janice to shave along the border of my hairline, something I have to get done every three weeks or so. That's the extent of me getting a haircut. In truth, it hasn't actually been cut in over 13 years, I wasn't even quite working in Riverview at my last job yet. We opted this night for Chunky Soup again, Janice with her chicken noodle, me with my split pea & ham, and crackers. We tuned in to CBC Marketplace where they <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iUQgRZMvRU&ab_channel=CBCNews" target="_blank"><b>did a story on the 'fees' taking over pretty much everything</b></a>, but they focused especially on Niagara Falls and credit card gift cards. It's shocking how much we're getting gouged. At least in the States, they're doing something about it, but up here in Canuckville, we have a government and prime minister that couldn't give a rat's ass, apparently. That reminds me... I'm going to give you <a href="https://horseshit.ca/" target="_blank"><b>THIS LINK</b></a> to sign a petition, if you're a horse lover. Trudeau promised to stop this from going on in '15, but, like just about all his 'promises', hasn't done jack squat about it. Horses are routinely being shipped from Canada under cruel and inhumane conditions to Japan to be brutally killed and stripped for meat. What is it with so many Asian countries that they have to eat anything that moves?? Anyway, this is reprehensible and really, really needs to stop. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe_34ASlHAeIWId_EQSMmTF4_ZRUgA7fuk4KnQMGW6GNbjuNKS2OeEZW_uVw61ISx46QZcGPG2SuHIRRRqOu9CBaV44QYsDV2nsmOGqJrvexAo70KttmkYVbwFPnp1E2zecy9-l_IlF7-KUZZ9EehdvGRq-UFRh9i1Dn6lM14TFcWQCkwD2ZNsRoji/s1841/325906665_878364313417908_8615435816690922210_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1634" data-original-width="1841" height="568" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe_34ASlHAeIWId_EQSMmTF4_ZRUgA7fuk4KnQMGW6GNbjuNKS2OeEZW_uVw61ISx46QZcGPG2SuHIRRRqOu9CBaV44QYsDV2nsmOGqJrvexAo70KttmkYVbwFPnp1E2zecy9-l_IlF7-KUZZ9EehdvGRq-UFRh9i1Dn6lM14TFcWQCkwD2ZNsRoji/w640-h568/325906665_878364313417908_8615435816690922210_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I know all the boys in my family are horse lovers at least. Get on it, fellas. And pass it on. This is a blight on Canada. * Got off track there-- we decided to shut things down shortly after heading to the Promised Land, and I was tired enough to attempt sleep, without oil even. Three, maybe four hours. Janice was moaning a lot in her sleep, and I did a lot of stroking her head when she did. It calms her down. She was on quite a coughing spree the last couple of nights, I think that's remnants of Covid coming through. I don't get upset about it, <i>she's</i> the one who's suffering. I do what I can to alleviate it, which is not much. * So, here I am on this Monday morning. We had to bring the car in to the shop for an oil change and get the oil pan replaced, and an air filter. This won't be cheap, but we're prepared for it. I brought Janice in to work and took the car in, and now I'm here waiting. I guess I'll walk to Rinzler's this morning and get supplies for that meatloaf while I strive to stay awake. * Oh yeah, and it was the Superbowl last night, with Rihanna performing the half-time. Some loved it and some hated it. I guess the game was good, though. I'm no football fan, so I just go by what I hear. Also, three more objects shot out of the sky this weekend. I don't know what to think of all this. * And that's the kind of day it's been.</div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">February 13 Monday</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ah what a day. * I did indeed wind up staying awake for the whole day. Got going with a Coke Zero Vanilla and later on had this Mountain Dew energy drink from the States - with no sugar, I won't drink those things with sugar in them. It gave me the boost I needed. I did indeed head out to Rinzler's and got potatoes, carrots and bread, and walked back home, actually enjoying the fresh air. Upon getting home, I realized looking at my meatloaf recipe that I needed milk, so back on the street I go to the Canadian Tire store (formerly Irving) up the street from my old house on Emmerson, now Cassidy, to get some. Going up that street, it's amazing to me how much has changed. No one that used to live there does anymore. Our next-door neighbours were the Longphees, then Gallants, then someone else, and the LeBlancs, then there was us, the Traceys, McDonalds/Pskowskis, O'Briens, Palmers, Cormiers, Bourques, Linneys, Lutes, Wrights, Moulands -- all gone. And us Cooks, of course. It dawned on me upon me gazing at my old Cook house, 136.... in '92, after living there for the first 27 years of my life, it was just my Mom and me left. Mom got taken out of the house because of her onset of dementia, which left me there for a short time before I had to leave so the house would be sold. It was surreal seeing the realtor's lock on the door. My last moment in that house, I was alone there, looking around at the bare rooms; I turned out the lights on the way out, and at the front entry, I 'hugged' the doorframe and tearfully said goodbye to this house that took care of us Cooks for so many decades. I had nowhere to go - thankfully, Janice took me in to her apartment. It was a bit shocking to think that I might have been out on the street at the time. That was what I called the dirty 90's, at least the first half. I'd thought about that house, looking at it as I was walking home on that sunny Monday noon hour with the quart of milk in my hand.... if I'd have somehow stayed there, it could never have worked. No matter if I was rich or whatever (I certainly wasn't - one summer Janice and me lived on grilled cheese), with Mom being in a care home, we would take her out sometimes here and there. Taking her back to Emmerson would have been inevitable. How would she possibly have handled that. It would have been unnecessary torture and heartbreaking to remove her from that house again. If she couldn't have that house, none of us should have, regardless of our family history. It's a house... not a home, if Mom wasn't there. * So, back home I go, and get started on the meatloaf. This is the best meatloaf recipe I've ever come across, and it's a big treat for us whenever I make it. I'll post the recipe in this journal for anyone who wants to try it. This feeds us for two days at least. Carrots and turnips were cut up and chopped and waiting in a bowl of cold water in the fridge, and I washed some potatoes for baking when I put the meatloaf in with them. I made sure I did the dishes along the way, so the place was virtually spotless when I was done all the prep work. The energy drink actually had me bouncing off the walls! I got the spike that I needed - it was time now to go pick up the car, about a 5-10 minute walk to Precision Wheel Service from our house, where we get all of our work done for the car for the last 15 years. The oil pan was replaced with an oil change, a sway bar was replaced (under warranty, thank God), the cabin air filter was changed, and it all came to just north of $300. Also one of the ball joints is on the way out, and another sway bar will need replacing in the months ahead. Thank God there's warranties on those sway bars (I don't even know what that is). They've been replaced so many times. * With the car in fine running order, I headed to Costco gas bar to fuel up, then went hunting for Sudafed, which I was down to my last 2 caplets of. Found some at Sobeys on Elmwood Drive. Then it was off to MacArthur's Nurseries to get roses for my lovely wife for Valentines Day. Wrapped in paper, I drew a little monkey on them with a heart, and Happy Valentines Day! on it, and left them in the car, where she would discover them after work as I left it for her to come home. Tonight the plan was to have our meal and go back to the theatres on Trinity Drive to see Avatar 2 again. * Janice came home to me after work with her flowers, and I'd already had supper cooking. I offered to Janice to make supper for her Mom next door, too, and I made extra with that in mind, so Martha, Janice's Mom, also had a plate. It turned out quite great, really, with lots of meatloaf left over, and I made extra baked potatoes to panfry them the next day to go with them. The best meals are the ones that you can make to feed you for two days. This is the meatloaf recipe:</div><div style="text-align: justify;">2 eggs, 2/3 cup milk, 2 tsp salt, 3 slices fresh bread, 1 onion (this time out, I actually used a bushel of green onions and found them more flavorful), 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, 1/2 cup shredded carrot, 2 lbs ground beef - mix all these up, tearing apart the bread slices into small bits, of course. I put my hands right in it and mix it real good. Once you get it all mixed up, put it in a loaf pan and press it in real good. Then drizzle the glaze over it: mix 1/4 cup ketchup, 1/4 cup sugar, 1 tsp mustard. Pop it in a preheated oven at 350 F for about an hour... though I keep it in for closer to an hour plus 10 to ensure it's cooked good. This recipe is not mine, I should say. My friend Pete's sister Janet had this recipe posted in a cookbook I got at the hospital canteen. Janet sadly passed away many years ago. She used to let my old YQM band rehearse in her garage, even going to the gig we had at U de M and cheering us on. God bless her soul. </div><div style="text-align: justify;">* Anyway, man, were we full! I was especially full. Bloated, even. Something wasn't quite right. The time for the 7 pm showing of the movie was fast approaching, and we got ready to go. Janice pondered bringing some kind of snacks for the show, but for me, I just couldn't do it. She opted not to as well. We got to the theatre, and the multiplex on Trinity Drive is a ghostly shell of what it once was. There were maybe a dozen cars for all eight theatres. Since the old Costco building down the road was left vacant, this whole shopping section of Trinity has been slowly dying. The multiplex is one of the big victims of Costco's uprooting, as well as several other big tenants along the strip. * We settled into the theatre to watch the show, with maybe ten other people in the place. The screen is probably the biggest one in the multiplex, so it was weird the place was so barren of moviegoers; though given the movie's been out over two months and it's a Monday, it shouldn't be too surprising, especially given that the multiplex in Dieppe, far newer and way more comfortable, is the preferred destination for film watchers. The movie this time wasn't littered with ridiculous amounts of previews and commercials leading in, which was the big problem when we saw the movie the first time in Dieppe. I mean, Avatar 2 is over three hours long, isn't that long enough?? * Throughout the movie, I shifted and adjusted in my seat trying to find some level of comfort. The seats don't recline at all like Dieppe's, and are rather stiff and upright. My lower back was trying me for most of the next three hours. But, upon watching this with Janice the second time, we enjoyed it far more immensely than we did the first time we saw it in Dieppe. When we headed to the car after it was over, we talked about how eye-opening it seemed compared to the first time, even asking ourselves, "were we even mentally present the first time we saw it??" The story just seemed to burst right off the screen this time out. We understood it so much more, and actually felt so many of the scenes far more than we did the initial time. This film is indeed a masterpiece, and deserves all the accolades it gets. * Back home into the chilly night we go. We get in the house and I race to the bathroom to let the river flow - a three hour plus movie will do that to your bladder. Janice followed. We had the house all ready to just turn the lights out and head to the Promised Land the moment we got home, and that's what we did. Our boy Marbles got his kitty chocolate treat, and it was time to get horizontal. I was particularly exhausted, having only slept three hours or so in the last 24. I was experiencing bloating and discomfort throughout the movie, though, and it persisted up to this point. I just thought I ate too much. It improved by the time we were ready to retire, but not completely. * We were both pretty tired. We watched Rachel Maddow on the telly - a somewhat stressful affair, because she pointed out how authoritarian rule is spreading in the world, and how it looks poised to surge in the U.S. if they're not careful. Plus there was a live shooting situation going on in Michigan during her broadcast. Also, those damn balloons or whatever they are that keep getting shot down is all over the news, with nobody having any real answers. Canada is involved in this now, where they're showing up over our country. Not exactly soothing viewing before sleeping. * The lights go out around midnight, and I woke up God knows how many times with discomfort in my lower back and abdomen. Still feeling bloated and crampy. I got up several times during the night to relieve myself, which I found odd, because I didn't drink a whole lot of fluids. Around 3 am, I decide to take oil, because I just couldn't seem to relax enough to settle down to sleep. I did eventually... but still got up to go to the bathroom more. It all seems to settle down eventually, and I slept, though I woke up shortly before nine this morning, still kind of out of sorts. I try to sleep some more. Not happening. So at this point, I'm exhausted, needing some good, sound rest, but not getting it. I decide to look up effects of long-term Covid and see if digestive issues are a thing with this, because I just haven't felt right since recovering from it just days ago. Indeed, "long Covid" has something <a href="https://www.thehealthsite.com/news/30-of-infected-people-have-post-covid-digestive-issues-why-you-need-to-be-careful-789714/?fbclid=IwAR0RndqMUbkTar7MV4AJ5aUXbZaHl1IdHYFJiF3HlRb6LDYHEqFBVRFp2Ow" target="_blank"><b>correlating to digestive issues with many patients</b></a> - it's quite common. Thus, it appears that this is what I'm dealing with now. Inflammation in the organs is a thing, apparently, hence the bloating and back pain. Just what the hell is it with winter and illness! Every winter there's some kind of bullshit malady that I have to deal with that I can't shake. One year it was a ton of kidney stones. Others, it was stomach viruses. Last year, it was problems with my anxiety meds. This year, it's Covid that just won't seem to pack up and get the hell out. I <i>hate </i>winter. This is why. * Now I'm laying here on this Tuesday morning, about to be noon, perhaps about to try once again to catch up on sleep somehow. Yesterday was my effort to reset my clock, so to speak. So much for that! The blessing here is, I don't have to work. Thank God. And I have Marbles constantly at my side. Or on my lap, as is the case right now. That picture above is how Janice says she often finds us when she comes home from work - she says it's something she loves seeing. * And that's the kind of day it's been - let's see what this day brings.<br /><br />February 14, Tuesday</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Well, this is going to be a short one. I didn't get to sleep right after I signed off last time, of course. But I passed out eventually, I'm just not sure when. Janice got home from work, saw I was sleeping, and joined me, and I slept a fair length, maybe five hours, so that much is good. I woke up and there Janice was beside me on her phone, just browsing around. It's a good thing we did the Valentine's thing yesterday instead of today. * I felt better; not necessarily 100%, but the rest did me good. Supper was a waffle and a few ginger snaps. Janice basically the same. We watched Chris Hayes on MSNBC - this guy's really good - and flipped channels around a bit. Caught Sarah Silverman on 'The Daily Show', she did a pretty decent job. I took some oil and attempted, and got, sleep. For about five more hours, which is great. I'm typing this at 10:09 am Wednesday, and I think I'm good to stay awake for the day. * So that's the kind of day it's been.<br /><br />February 15, Wednesday</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">And here I am on Thursday at 1:19 pm recapping Wednesday. Which means, yuppers, that sleep was basically a no-go last night, save for about a cumulative 3 1/2 hours scattered here and there. * I did stay awake after that last journal entry, in an effort to once again adjust my sleep schedule. I was basically successful, at least at staying awake. Janice got home from work, and we pretty promptly got dressed to hit the gym, figuring it would be nice to get it done sooner and have the evening to ourselves. I'm conflicted over whether or not that was a good idea. We went and arrived somewhere between 4 and 4:30, thinking we'll beat the rush of the post-work crowd, but nope... the place was crawling. The PF app has a "crowd meter" that tells you how busy the gym is before you go - well, it couldn't have been more wrong. The cardio machines were probably 2/3 full and the weights area was packed, even the stretching room was loaded. We weren't impressed, but namely me, who everyone knows, I'm an introvert. We had to do a mile of cardio, see if we can get on some equipment, then back for another mile, go back and find equipment again, repeat repeat repeat. I friggin' HATE it when it's like this. Guys coming to your machine and taking your equipment, some 300 pounder coming around telling me to adjust my technique (never mind the giant "No Critics!" signs all over the walls), and really just bumping into people at every turn. We may or may not try again Thursday to go early, or earlier, but I can't see doing this too many times in the future. Anyway, we did get machine Charms Day done, though I don't feel we were able to put too much into it like we usually do. I was quite uncomfortable the whole time. I need to be careful because my anxiety triggers can kick up in situations like this. * We drove home in the mild air, where the day was quite sunny as well, and did our showers, Marvellous Marbles follows us around, and into the kitchen I go to do supper. Today on the menu was meatloaf once again - and it will be again on Thursday, NO complaints because it's that good - and I'd made extra baked potatoes last time so that I could pan-fry them to go with the re-heated meatloaf. I seasoned them with garlic and onion powder, salt and pepper, parsley and a splash of Frank's Red Hot, and they came out quite great. We both noted how we each felt much better after eating this time compared to last time when we went to the movie after; the one difference being the carrots and turnips we had last time. My suspicion being that perhaps it was dairy overload, where there's both milk and cheese in the meatloaf recipe, as well as butter in the vegetables. Maybe too much butter. Because the meatloaf didn't upset us at all this time, but Monday I think the cup just runneth over. Also... I'd noted how my back hurt that night and was suspicious of kidney issues post-covid, which I still am wary of; but then I remembered I did extensive lower back work on our last machine Shack Day at the gym. So there's that, too. Still, Monday night I was pissing like a leaky water balloon all night. Things seem better now, but, I still have this lingering, fluctuating feeling of malaise, as does Janice. The more I read about Covid, the more I see that once you're past the initial infection, it doesn't mean you're out of the woods. There's these lingering, challenging after-effects that seem to just drone on. I know we're not alone in that. And given this is a journal and not really a 'blog' - there's a difference - I'm making an effort to keep notes of day to day health, lest anyone reading thinking I'm bellyaching. No pun intended. * To the Promised Land we go after supper. We started watching AEW Dynamite, but after a half hour, I wasn't too impressed with this week's show, for the first time in many months. So, we opted for the usual Chris Hayes show, and a couple of Seth Meyers episodes. Seth Meyers, we watch really for him and not the guests, as many of his guests are often Saturday Night Live people. But his own opening monologue and his 'A Closer Look' segments are the gems of the show. But anyway, after that, it was about 10:30 or so, and I was pretty tired, so an attempt at sleep was made. I think I passed out around 11 pm. And woke up around 1:30 am, with no luck getting back to sleep. I should also note I did not take oil, and maybe I should have, given that the busy gym wound me up a little bit. We saw my nephew Jamie's wife Janice at the gym too, but she was kind of lost in the crowd. Sleep... a little bit more happened much later on, around 7 am, and I heard Janice leave the house to go to work for 9. And here I am now. * News-wise, we hear that Raquel Welch died at 82. Ukraine is running into ammunition depletion issues and Putin is missile-bombing more than usual. And the whole Trump will he or won't he be indicted thing is still carrying on. Balloon-gate is persisting too. Locally, Justin Bourque, he who killed three Moncton cops several years ago and is serving a 75 year sentence - 25 years for each death - is wrangling the justice system to get out after only 25 years, because our sick dumbass Supreme Court says it's "unconstitutional" that he should have to serve three concurrent sentences. Un. Believable. * And that's the kind of day it's been.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">February 16, Thursday</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Not a bad day at all. I did wind up staying awake - not really doing a lot, besides watching my news-junkie channels and reading online content. But Janice came home from work around three on what was a pretty great day out, sunny and plus 10. I was ready for the gym the moment she got home and instructed her to get ready because we're leaving ASAP, to try to beat the mad rush that happened yesterday. That's what we did. * We arrived at PF ready to do our freeweights Shack workout, and were greeted by brother Rick, finishing up, himself, getting ready to leave. It's good seeing that he's going to the gym. He looks pretty damn great for a fella that just turned 65! He looks more like somebody our age, in early or mid 50s. We hit the treadmill right away for a mile, both of us with one knee wrapped up, and headed to the freeweights area to start what's become our favorite workout day. The gym was far, far less busy than it was Wednesday, thankfully. We had no trouble acquiring a bench to do our stuff - really, we only need it for two exercises in our nine-exercise workout, anyway, but it was nice having the space. Wow, what a workout this was today. We both love it so much because we really feel it after we're done. We stretched for a bit, I did a once around the gym farmer's walk, and we were both on the treadmill after that for a good forty minutes. I actually made the mistake of letting Janice go too long on the treadmill, because by the end of the forty minutes, she was limping quite badly, but she won't stop unless you stop her yourself. And I should have. Her knee was a wreck for the rest of the day, as she was barely able to get around. * After 2 1/2 hours at PF, we dropped into Dollarama, which just happened to be next door, and picked up some rice and a notebook for the gym, to keep track of what weights we use and reps and stuff. Then we headed home for supper. We took our showers and got ready for the evening; first, it was time to make, you guessed it... more ginger snaps. I mixed all the stuff for it, made the two logs and, as per instructions from my lovely sis Cindy, placed them in the fridge for a couple of hours. In the meantime, I made supper, consisting very simply of herbed rice, corn and the rest of the meatloaf from earlier in the week. The meatloaf is STILL great at this point. We just slice it and reheat it, one slice at a time, for a little over two minutes in the microwave. We enjoyed it immensely. * Then it was time to watch some TV while the cookie dough chilled. We watched last night's Seth Meyers, with a pretty great 'A Closer Look', followed by a little MSNBC stuff; then it was time for the season premiere of 'Star Trek: Picard', which is looking very promising, bringing back the TNG cast for the season to give them a proper sendoff that they were never afforded in theatres. The visuals have advanced a long, long way from the days TNG first aired. * Up to the Promised Land we go, to watch the news and whatever else, and I make another attempt at sleeping during the night. I kept myself awake and tired, once again, in an effort to reset my inner clock. And it worked, tonight. I got up at the same time as Janice Friday morning, sleeping maybe a decent 5 or 6 hours, and we're awaiting the storm that's supposed to be hitting us in the form of several forms of precip. I took 'before' pictures, and will take 'after' ones for comparison. * News-wise, Biden had to hold a press conference to basically tell people that, no, aliens aren't invading us with balloons, the ones after the first one from China was shot down were likely private ones and not a threat in any way, thus feeding into the QAnon conspiracy theories that we're all gonna die now from viruses that were in the balloons. I'd say you can't make this stuff up, but actually you very easily can. I actually predicted it to Janice that this is exactly how it would play out. Also, Fox News is furiously backpedalling after it's been found out, factually, that they knew their election denying ways were bullshit even as they proclaimed their denials in real time. Bruce Willis has been found to have dementia. Very, very sad. * And that's the kind of day it's been.<br /><br />February 17, Friday</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Today I was up once again around 9 am, so I'm on a bit of a roll here with having normal days, schedule-wise. For the most part I slept through the night. * The day outside was a bit dicier. There was snow, freezing rain and ice pellets, none of which really amounted to anything, but made it slippery enough to use extra caution outside. * Before the storm:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRSd45dJfKcVjH9cz2VFqrp9x07Fo4Q3-8hbQMUFGlo7iz7AyqeIE3M8OcTFq83pw0L6e8P15EgEB1iWWoAZEck2k63ceJj1nixzoIqgyw74ZeEEocLONBBTVroxH1wLcZxSFm3qOr9pn3KVy3hAvtOFAZwtjSI6gpUsyQdwpVw_zyb9qzjBRC6_os/s930/Screenshot%202023-02-18%202.50.37%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="623" data-original-width="930" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRSd45dJfKcVjH9cz2VFqrp9x07Fo4Q3-8hbQMUFGlo7iz7AyqeIE3M8OcTFq83pw0L6e8P15EgEB1iWWoAZEck2k63ceJj1nixzoIqgyw74ZeEEocLONBBTVroxH1wLcZxSFm3qOr9pn3KVy3hAvtOFAZwtjSI6gpUsyQdwpVw_zyb9qzjBRC6_os/w640-h428/Screenshot%202023-02-18%202.50.37%20PM.png" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSnStFPAhXWT_s_lhOoeSVnBZo2vZQkbzfOy0QHiRuRzhyxzF2tO3dAHx0zOrWRuIOspU7cU98oz4xF7ECm0n5ToHITHh5iTtFsohxj12eGprnaFJK6qa7j2i9YypJltDvUToi42iA2q83N_txe2lR7aEkdZe75oeULCy4VUveyTsf31q2e7y211S0/s930/Screenshot%202023-02-18%202.50.20%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="623" data-original-width="930" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSnStFPAhXWT_s_lhOoeSVnBZo2vZQkbzfOy0QHiRuRzhyxzF2tO3dAHx0zOrWRuIOspU7cU98oz4xF7ECm0n5ToHITHh5iTtFsohxj12eGprnaFJK6qa7j2i9YypJltDvUToi42iA2q83N_txe2lR7aEkdZe75oeULCy4VUveyTsf31q2e7y211S0/w640-h428/Screenshot%202023-02-18%202.50.20%20PM.png" width="640" /></a></div>After the storm:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpn5r3thnqE5KM2Ly6lyKsYg9wdxZivHOHuWu_CIbjv-o6OLUQrJwjPrKN-FG6EuhgNeLNSgUzOk3Ui2y4RWxg53cAIszQCosQg1emHW8BbFA2YZe2to2vS0LWwCOSWEi9LKBQ03Ozwut5hUM2PHY3tcZ85PkCLenRSBPAjkQNh3hSvYULFcb46VbS/s930/Screenshot%202023-02-18%202.50.04%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="623" data-original-width="930" height="429" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpn5r3thnqE5KM2Ly6lyKsYg9wdxZivHOHuWu_CIbjv-o6OLUQrJwjPrKN-FG6EuhgNeLNSgUzOk3Ui2y4RWxg53cAIszQCosQg1emHW8BbFA2YZe2to2vS0LWwCOSWEi9LKBQ03Ozwut5hUM2PHY3tcZ85PkCLenRSBPAjkQNh3hSvYULFcb46VbS/w640-h429/Screenshot%202023-02-18%202.50.04%20PM.png" width="640" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh73eILCMoyWFCX_PcMbeaCHmGYYCG5fc-LhA2E9U-m5Siw4YBVPCyyVD9l4_zuzAisoeRjXGw9RmtgXx1pbw5X1a2DnqVpOoUsalw1WSOapapcIxOhnB1rbwv8SnphUTlitDesZEmPe_fisadGMPgPaVNKFmTOj_bZUGgSH5oT1_Wb5rDicnc7QU2u/s930/Screenshot%202023-02-18%202.49.48%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="623" data-original-width="930" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh73eILCMoyWFCX_PcMbeaCHmGYYCG5fc-LhA2E9U-m5Siw4YBVPCyyVD9l4_zuzAisoeRjXGw9RmtgXx1pbw5X1a2DnqVpOoUsalw1WSOapapcIxOhnB1rbwv8SnphUTlitDesZEmPe_fisadGMPgPaVNKFmTOj_bZUGgSH5oT1_Wb5rDicnc7QU2u/w640-h428/Screenshot%202023-02-18%202.49.48%20PM.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">So really, not that bad at all. * As far as it goes for me, it was a morning of probably too much introspection. Sometimes I run into days like this. I was festering a bit in guilt for letting Janice go too long at the gym on Thursday, I think. A little later last night when we were hugging in the kitchen, she playfully locked my arms in this taekwondo self-defense thing that hyper-extended my triceps that really hurt and said she could headbutt me. For just a moment, I thought she was genuinely upset with me. It was harmless - well, mostly - and we were just clowning around. But fast forward to Friday morning and I overthink things, and wonder, is there something in that? Is she actually resentful just a little toward me? (She's not.) One time when we were talking about some men who abuse women, and I said if I ever did anything to hurt her, she had every right to do what it took to take care of herself. But she went on and on about how she'd do that. So I kind of flashed-back to that, except I didn't hurt her, but let her get hurt at the gym. This is a perfect recipe for one of my anxiety attacks and self-harming episodes. But I held it off, just having crying spells while I was by myself. I did try to sleep it off, but couldn't, which is good in a way. I watched this channel with retro 80s music videos during the afternoon, bringing nostalgia into the mix, which actually didn't help much. When I think of the past, I usually think too much about everything I did wrong. Anyway, Janice got home and things were fine, for a few minutes, until we both thought taking a nap would be a good refresher, then I started crying again, trying to do so quietly. Not much of a nap came out of it all. Basically I went into shutdown mode, which is what I often do when I can't gather my wits about me in these kinds of times. For her part, Janice was puzzled as to why I was behaving the way I was. The only time she'll get the whole picture is when she reads this herself when I post it. Nothing was her fault. It's just my own self being incapable of managing my emotions because of my medical history. I'm reading lately how senator John Fetterman admitted himself into care for depression issues, everyone saying how brave he is for tackling it head-on. Which he is. I've been attempting to get care since '96, and did, from my physician. But seeing a psychiatrist is a whole other deal. When I finally did get to see one 15 years later, he bailed on me. So, it's basically been DIY as far as looking after my mental health issues goes. Ultimately here, in the end, is I didn't suffer any kind of anxiety attack or self-harm episode. The last time I did was August 2 of last year, and I want to maintain some kind of progress. If I'd been working, still, I don't know how I would be faring. My guess is not good. At least I can say there's that. * Moving on... we opted for one of those frozen pizzas for supper. We were aiming to have hot dogs, but needed the buns for them, and neither of us were crazy about going out with the way the weather was. But that pizza was quite good. We added bacon crumble and a little extra mozza to it. We watched 'Real Time' while we ate, not too bad of an instalment this week. We hit the stairs to the Promised Land and watched a little MSNBC, before realizing every new host was talking about the same thing - the implosion going on over at Fox News these days. I actually like seeing Fox News finally getting their come-uppance, but just not over and over and over with the same info. * As far as news went, the Trudeau gov't was found to be generally not guilty of over-imposing on the protesters for their occupation in Ottawa and Alberta. Not only that, though, the Russians covertly had their hands in this mess. Which explains quite a lot, given that they also meddle in democracy issues in the States. * And that's the kind of day it's been.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">February 18, Saturday</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">It was a bright, sunny, mild day outdoors which we did experience a little bit of. We were awake around mid-morning and pretty much took it easy, namely Janice, whose knee is not in good shape at all. She says that keeping it upright and elevated helps, but as soon as she gets up to walk, there's problems. This isn't good. * Today we got in the car - after de-freezing the thing that seemed to be encased in carbonite like Han Solo from yesterday's freezing rain - with the intent to go out and maybe take some pictures. I've been wanting to snap some photos of how Moncton is present day, knowing how much things change in ten years. I had a facebook group on a past account that began this, but I ditched that account quite a while ago, so now maybe I'll do that again. But there were other things to do, too. Job #1 was to get Janice a cane, which she needs to get around with some measure of safety. That's how bad her knee is. First, I stopped in to Hardy's Produce on Mountain Road and picked up a bunch of vegetables, which we've kind of been lacking lately. Then it was back to the Shoppers that she works at to see if she could pick up a cane, which they didn't have any of, so we dropped into her post office there where Alexandra was working to see how things were going. I don't get to see her near enough. And she, herself, is using crutches because of a sprained ankle after she went down herself. Janice believes there may be a break involved there, so she likely needs to be seen too. This poses an interesting situation for that store's post office, which only has my wife and daughter, plus one other to work a four hour shift, to keep it running. If they both go down, so does the whole post office. This is a scenario we all thought would happen one day, and here we are, knocking on the door of just that situation, so it'll be interesting to see how it all pans out. * We left there, and went to a Shoppers on Killam Drive that actually specializes in health care equipment such as canes and crutches and the like. Janice picked up a cane which she paid for with Optimum points, mostly, and we left to go for a little spin around town. * I was going to take pictures like I said, with my Canon Rebel, but with the day getting late plus noticing how dirty things looked because of the snow and all, I opted to put this mission off until the summer. But in the meantime, I did want to snap some pictures of the city from Magnetic Hill in the winter with this fresh coat of snow on it, so I did that, and I'll probably start that group again and put those up on it to get it going. * From there, we talked about how we probably should get ourselves some of those Belgian waffles we like, so off to Costco we went. And, as per usual, got a lot more than waffles. We also picked up some baby kale salad to go with our hot dogs later on, plus eggs, toilet paper, these Pad Thai dinner thingies, frozen haddock, and maybe one or two other things. * Shopping wasn't done. Off to Sobeys we went to get some tartar sauce for that haddock, plus New England style hot dog buns - the only hot dog buns worth having a hot dog with - and four king cans of Heineken, where we didn't want to buy a 12 or anything because Ash Wednesday is coming up, heralding the beginning of Lent, when we will drop all alcohol beverages. Then it was back home. I think this whole jaunt around town was a bit tiring for Janice with her knee. * I unloaded our booty into the house, and it was time to prepare supper - steamed hot dogs and that kale salad I'd mentioned. I got our bluetooth speaker into the kitchen, Janice got a chair and sat with me while I put it all together as we listened to our playlist. The TV stayed off today, for the most part, until we ate and I cleaned up and we headed up to the Promised Land. Janice requested we watch some more 'Battlestar', so we did. Five episodes of season 2. That brought us to the end of the evening, where we are right now, as I watch Janice limp to the bathroom. She works tomorrow noon to 4, after which we will decide whether to bring her to outpatients. I wanted to bring her tonight, but she didn't want to be stuck in the waiting room for five to eight hours on Saturday night, when she could do it tomorrow instead with her also having Monday off for the holiday. Tomorrow I feel like we'll eat after she's done work and do just that. * And that's the kind of week it was. Depending on what happens with Janice's knee, it could be very interesting.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>wellgoodgravyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15051538605094122590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3378459330208889446.post-39902975298179549612023-02-12T03:21:00.003-04:002023-02-12T03:21:47.439-04:00These Are the Days of Our Lives - week 6<p>February 5 Sunday</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Today was an odd duck of a day, sort of. Trouble getting to sleep again last night, leading me to fall asleep eventually at around 11:30 am or so, I'm guessing. Janice worked noon to 4 and came home, I woke up, and we hemmed and hawed a bit before we both figure we might as well take a nap before heading to the gym. Well, the thing there is, we had a kind of long nap, sleeping till around 8 pm, so we threw out the gym plans, figuring we'll just wind up making it home handy to midnight and still without having had supper. Which turned out to be a Kirkland pepperoni pizza from Costco, with added mozza and bacon crumble. Tasty and easy. * Janice had a Bailey's and I had a CVZ and a DCD - took my supplements and realized I'm out of Zoloft. It certainly won't kill me to miss a day. We watched Question Period, which was relatively bland this time if I'm being honest, and then 'The Last of Us', which got back to the trials and tribulations of Joel and Ellie. Interesting to watch the bonding of these two develop. Ellie's chipping away at Joel's tough exterior with her wit and humor - it's quite funny to see. It looks like it's setting up for some trying times ahead on their journey to the middle U.S. * After that we took in 'The Unexplained' with William Shatner, talking about the early development of the U.S. and the landmarks around Washington, D.C. with its connections to Freemasonry. I knew George Washington was a Freemason, but I didn't realize he was also a devout Christian. Interesting trivia. * I guess the U.S. shot down the balloon China was flying over North America, first collecting tech info on it before shooting it down over the water. Can't wait to hear the conspiracy theorists on this. It can't simply be spy equipment, can it? It must be a balloon filled with a virus from Wuhan sent to infect us all. Gasp. * We finally had a shower tonight! The water actually started working late last night, so we're in the clear for cleanliness. The gym will be tackled tomorrow once again for Charms Day. * Not much more to report for this rather uneventful Sunday - ah yes, weather-wise, it was cold and kind of blustery, but not like it's been. Now we're down to the single digit minuses, and there was a little snow, a handful of cms. It's cool tonight, breezy and minus 6. Marbles is all cozy on my lap and it's time to <i>try</i> to sleep. * And that's the kind of day it's been.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">February 6 Monday</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Honestly, I don't know what the weather was like today - I assume it was with temps in the minus 6 to minus 8 range, and clear, I think? Nothing like it was last week, anyway. It's just nice that all the water is running in the house again and we don't have to jigger with thermostats all the time. We burned some serious oil last week. * Last night was positively lousy for sleep, because I felt awful. I came down with something that I've yet to explain or understand why I got it. My guts were cramped out big time. Numerous trips to the bathroom with just a general total feel of being uncomfortable. Like I'd eaten something that was just wrong for me. I just got over Covid for frig's sake. * There didn't seem to be anything I could take for relief, so I just had to lay around and endure it. As the day progressed, it made me feel worse, and it got harder and harder to muster up the energy to get up to go to the bathroom. By mid afternoon, I was shivering, still running to the toilet, and just not feeling right at all. Janice got home and felt my head and thought I was running a fever or something. Like, what the friggin' hell? Somehow, I managed to fall asleep in late afternoon, Janice crawled under the covers with me and swore off the gym for the day so she could look after me - bless her. I don't know how folks who live alone endure being sick with no one to look after them. I mean, God bless them. Times like this really make me feel for those people. * We woke up handy to 8 pm or so, and Janice had gotten soup for me at the store and some bottled water, and Kraft Dinner for herself for supper, since a full-fledged meal wasn't going to happen tonight. I opted for a can of Chunky Chicken Noodle with crackers, to see how it would go down. I wanted to eat <i>something</i>. We dined on our food, I had my water and Janice her DCD, and we watched our usual Monday programming in Rachel Maddow and Global News, and hiked upstairs to the Promised Land. * I was still making trips to the bathroom. What is it the joke was on 'The Last of Us'... Ellie asked Joel, "did you know diarrhea is heriditary? It runs in the jeans." Well, I came close a couple of times. I gave it some thought about where this must've originated. I pinpoint it to two things: These Doritos that I tried, a new flavor called sweet barbecue - of which I only ate maybe five or six; and the other more likely culprit being the chicken that I made the other night. The chicken itself was fine, but the cleanup... maybe I wasn't as thorough as I should've been, which I always make it a point to be, so it's unusual. Janice did not get sick at all, so it comes down to those two things. So, Imodium and Gravol it is. * My guts are still raunched out, but not as bad, but enough to make it tough to sleep. Which is why I'm laying here at 4:26 am typing this. The bright side being, at least I'm not throwing up. I can't take that at all. When I was a little boy, I got sick <i>a lot</i>. Like, a lot a lot. One time during the holiday season, I was so sick, I couldn't stop continuously barfing for a whole two days. I still remember my brother Peter having to carry me to the bathroom downstairs to do my business. With all this in mind, and this kind of thing happening a lot when I was young, I feel like I might have some kind of PTSD thing with vomiting. I can't help but panic and fear for my life. I know nobody is a fan of it at all, but cripes. Anyway, I didn't have to deal with that, it seems this is strictly a bowel thing. * We laid in bed and watched some Seth Myers DVR stuff from last week, before I decided it was worth a shot to try to sleep. I think I slept 45 minutes or an hour. And here I am. Janice and me both have dentist appointments at noon Tuesday - and I pretty much have to go, because the receptionist will freak out if I cancel day-of. She's done it more than once with Janice and me. * That's the kind of jolly day it's been. Gotta love Mondays.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">February 7 Tuesday<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkZB9X1OjtXIWS26gEIxTPWgvdaFM9xSvvrx5NUJAv6CGEecuDGU_P-RE4Zr046ZdRDIO4DwFW30gu0dpbxgkjcViVC_46fM3_c0dZdtugcdLPEQJfq-554U96Fg60QY5FKngxcoBkSG-bvQDniNKIVPbU6SeKdc91AEsWwm_LF52cR8rUIKhiQluJ/s2048/329997017_535031065391716_957308054245496873_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkZB9X1OjtXIWS26gEIxTPWgvdaFM9xSvvrx5NUJAv6CGEecuDGU_P-RE4Zr046ZdRDIO4DwFW30gu0dpbxgkjcViVC_46fM3_c0dZdtugcdLPEQJfq-554U96Fg60QY5FKngxcoBkSG-bvQDniNKIVPbU6SeKdc91AEsWwm_LF52cR8rUIKhiQluJ/w480-h640/329997017_535031065391716_957308054245496873_n.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p style="text-align: justify;">What a difference a day makes. Feel so much better today, after a pretty rough go of it yesterday. What I did that was the deciding factor was take Gravol - it fixed me right up. Calmed my gut and allowed me to sleep, although not really long, because I had to get up and go to the dentist with the wife, where we both had checkups and cleanings. * And that had mixed results. I wanted to see if I could break my one-in-a-row record of clean checkups (a clean bill last time), but nope, I have decay in a molar on my lower right side. I had no idea, I couldn't feel it. But there's that, and the broken tooth just on top of it that I have to get fixed next time I go, which will be - sometime, I guess. The dentist wants to put a crown on the broken one, but has to see if insurance will at least partially cover it. Then there's doing something about the missing choppers. Janice has kind of the same scenario, a busted tooth and a cavity that she needs fixed, and she needs a crown too. Cha-ching cha-ching... all this ain't gonna be cheap. * We made an unscheduled trip to Costco after that, in the middle of the daytime, which was pretty weird for me. I wanted bagels. We haven't had them in literally years. As is per usual with Costco, we walked out with no bagels because they weren't fresh enough, but got all kinds of other stuff, including store-made chicken salad, Janice insisted on getting their store-made strawberry cheesecake, waffles of course...I should say that when I refer to 'waffles', I don't mean Eggos or anything, it's the Belgian waffles they have in the bakery section; and they had Lay's Swiss Chalet sauce flavor chips we got a bag of. I'm not a big potato chip guy, so this is an indulgence. Janice loves gravy style chips, but it's not something we do a hell of a lot. This bag'll last us a month. I also got this three-pack of body wash...that's what it's called, 'body wash', Sandalwood scent. It was cost effective, so I'm good for that now for quite a few moons. And we got this Kirkland shampoo that we like. It'll last us a year and a half to two years like the last one did. We got cheese too, because it's destined for my bagels when I eventually find them. * Off we go, then, to Great Canadian Bagel to get what I originally wanted. I got a half dozen cheddar & herb ones, and Janice got her half dozen everything ones. Really fresh too. Then it was off to Sobeys where we got garlic spread and Janice got a cream cheese tub for hers. * Then it's home, where we made a bagel each. Janice had hers with her cream cheese, and I put garlic spread on mine and topped it with shredded marble cheese and broiled it in the oven on parchment paper. Mistake! The bagel was fine. Great even. But Mike, you dumbass, you don't use parchment paper for broiling in the oven! It stunk up the house for hours. Janice had to listen to me bitch and moan about the stink until we went upstairs to pass out for awhile. We gave Marbles a little snack too, and we passed out for awhile. He follows us everywhere we go, such a loyal little guy. * We slept for a little bit, maybe two or three hours, and Janice had to head back to work to relieve Alexandra, who went in for her at 11:30 so she could make her dentist appointment. I slept off and on, no biggie, since I want to sleep at some point during the night. When Janice got home, it was chicken salad sandwich time. We had that and a bit of cheesecake, and got a slice of it along with a sandwich each for Alexandra, Cole and Janice's Mom. Janice got me some Soleil Oil too, a 50/50 blend of CBD and THC cannabis. This should help with sleep going forward. Maybe. * I want to mention in my journal here, too, that a few people actually reached out with support after I posted last week's entry. My brother Rick related to my sinus issues, saying he's dealing with the same thing the last month. So have many others - it's kind of nice to know I'm not alone there, but honestly I don't want anyone else suffering. Michelle D offered advice on the sleeping issue, remembering that my old Green Gables days working night shifts back in the day probably contributes to my night owl-ishness. And brother Pete thought I was getting into sweet potatoes. Can't say that's ever gonna happen. The thing I had in my hand wasn't a potato, but cookie dough. I wish I liked those potatoes, but I never acquired the taste for them. * Anyway, then it was the State of the Union address that was all over TV. Good showing for Biden. And it was cool to see Bono from U2 in attendance, sitting next to Paul Pelosi, Nancy's husband. I would say he's probably the most important rock star on planet Earth, because he's always advocating for good. He talks the talk and walks the walk. Republicans were largely respectful, actually, except for the extremists like Marjorie 3 names and Bimboebert, and George 'it may be my name and it may not be' Santos acting like the colossal asses they are. And like most asses, lots of shit came flying out of the holes in their faces. * Speaking of, Trudeau and his Liberals pretty much struck out with their bid to offer a paltry amount to prop up our country's heatlhcare issues. $196 billion over ten years, knowing full well there's no way the Liberals will be running things for that long. This is typical, shady politicking with a thin ice pledge designed to shut people up that never, ever works. * Turkey is trying to recover from a 7.8 magnitude earthquake that's so far been found to kill over 7,000 people and injure thousands more. What a sad, tragic scene, seeing children and babies being pulled from crumbled buildings. There have been aftershocks that are nearly as bad as the earthquake itself. Turkey is a hotspot for terrible earthquakes. It makes me wonder why people live in such prone areas to that kind of risk. * WWE alum Jerry 'The King' Lawlor suffered a stroke recently. He's not a young guy, I think in his early 70's, and he suffered a heart attack on the air during a segment of Monday Night Raw about ten or fifteen years ago. That was scary. Apparently, though, it's looking good for a recovery from this stroke, as he's regained movement in all four limbs, and he's speaking, although limited, which is expected. * We've hit the Promised Land with MMH, and sleep will be in order shortly. Ah yes, the weather today was good. Sunny and single digit minus temps; a bit chilly at night but certainly nowhere near how it was last week. Weather is apparently on the way in the next few days. * And that's the kind of day it's been.<br /><br />February 8 Wednesday</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Chilly out in the minus 5 range, but sunny mostly. A standard day for the season ahead of what could be dicey weather ahead. * Another long night last night, that actually stretched into today. It's actually not so bad as long as I'm not sick or anything, which is something that's been challenging me for awhile recently, but ... knock knock knock... I may have turned a corner. I think I eventually passed out around, handy to noon hour? Janice got home from work around 4-ish, and we both passed out again for a little bit. Maybe a couple of hours. Or a few. We just kind of laid around a little, surfing the web and whatnot, before finally deciding to hit the gym. Kind of late, too. We got there around 9:30 tonight, and I had a little change to our routine planned this time. We hit the treadmill for a ten minute warm-up, doing around a mile or so. Then we went right into our Charms workout. We did our chest stuff with drop-sets - that would be dumbbells on the bench for flys and bench presses, 3 sets of 12/10/8 reps with weight increasing each time. Then we do it again, except on an incline. I managed 30, 40 then 50 lb dumbbells, and Janice does half the weight of what I do most of the time, including tonight; so 15, 20 then 25 lbs. Man, she's tough. Then, hit the treadmill again for another mile. Back to weights... to the cable machine where we did drop-sets again for arm curls, 40/50/60 lbs for me, Janice did her 20/25/30. Then tricep pushdowns on the cable with the same weight and reps. Back to the treadmill for another mile. One more round of arm stuff to go... barbell curls, drop sets, with me using 40, 50 and 60 lb preset barbells; Janice doing 20, 25 and 30 lbs. On to the bench for skullcrushers, a tricep exercise, with 20, 25 and 30 lb dumbbells for me in drops again. Janice would do 10, 15 and 20 lbs. DON'T mess with this woman! Back to the treadmill for another mile. Finally it would be a dealer's choice kinda thing to finish; I chose machine crunches with 50, 60 and 70 lb resistance, 20/15/10 reps. Janice did ab stuff in the stretching area. We stretched everything after that, and it was back on the treadmill for one more mile. We wound up leaving at 12:30. Time actually flew when we did it this way, I think because we broke up the monotony of the long treadmill sessions. * Back home as we hit the chilly, lonely street of Mountain Road, got in and promptly took our showers, then it's suppertime. At 1 am! But it was very easy and relatively light. We toasted a couple of bagels that we bought yesterday and I had chicken salad on each one with a bit of margarine, and Janice made a sandwich that way out of hers. She suggested cheesecake for dessert - but I vetoed it. We had our DCD, watched a bit of Chris Hayes, and took off for the Promised Land, where we watched a bit more of Alex Wagner before Janice ultimately passed out. I continued to watch Lawrence O'Donnell and Stephanie Rhule after that. It was good tonight, as they recapped the SOTU speech last night and tore apart republican talking points, aka lies. We found out that a school bus crashed into a daycare in Quebec, killing and injuring kids. I just don't get what makes people want to do this kind of shit. It was no accident, it was deliberate. * Then I loosened up a bit and watched AEW Dynamite. Some weeks, it's like watching a pay per view, the cards can be so good. This was one of those nights. Man, my Dad would be in his glory watching this stuff. * MMH is laying between his Mom and Dad sleeping, Janice has my shirt covering her eyes, and I'm gonna sign off. Not quite sleep-ready yet. * And that's the kind of day it's been.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">February 9 Thursday</p><p style="text-align: justify;">No big changes today... couldn't sleep at all last night. At. All. I laid in bed for hours with my eyes shut thinking that they'll convey the message to my brain that we've gotta call it a day. But nope. Questions running through my head like "is the area of a six inch pizza the same as half of a twelve inch pizza?" or "why do we 'park' in a 'driveway'?" just floated around my head. Or "why was Lise Saulnier so mean to me when I was a teenager?" "Why did Mr. Agnew at Queen Elizabeth School use the same cologne for... forever??" "Why did I turn down that first girl that asked me to dance in junior high?" Now that all that's firmly in my subconscious, I'm sure I'll dream or have nightmares about all of it next time I manage to sleep. Way to go, Mike. * Janice comes home after work and getting her gel nails done, and I'm still awake at 5 pm!! Laying there in the dark with the curtains drawn, STILL trying to sleep. She says she'll just go to the gym herself and do cardio while I try to get some kind of shut-eye. So she does, and I did. Three or four hours, anyway. We figured on going out, so I could at least get out of the house and see that the world still exists and I'm not stuck in the matrix or something, and we got carrots, a turnip and a couple of pizzas in the frozen section on sale... pronounced Juss Epp Ee. No idea how to spell that. I wanted to get Sudafed Advance because I'm running low, but that was locked off because the pharmacy was closed. And Janice got these Dulcolax chews that she hopes will get things moving. Earlier she brought home a 12 of Heineken, so we'd be doing a bit of damage to that when we have supper. * ...Which was, filet mignon, rice, and those carrots and turnips mashed together. The filet was surprisingly easy to do, and it was great. I took a cast iron skillet, heated it up real nice and melted butter, seared the meat on both sides about two minutes each, and moved the skillet into the oven at 415 F for somewhere between 6-8 minutes to get it medium rare, garnishing it with salt and pepper. It was really tasty and tender. Next time I'll experiment a bit with seasoning, maybe use coarse salt in the frying pan and some garlic. Marbles had his usual chicken dinner - he knows when suppertime is, because he shows up waiting for it when we sit down to eat. We each had a couple of beers along the way. I had to sort out my meds and supplements for the next three weeks, too. Before I cooked the filet, I realized the oven was a hot mess of blackness on the bottom, so I had to do a quick job to get the worst of it off. I thought I'd try that Dawn Powerwash stuff on it, to get the worst of it. And it did. Used that, let it set for five minutes, then used a scrub pad to get the vast majority of it off. Still needs an Easy Off job, but this was a great quick fix. * We watched Chris Hayes, then caught up on Seth Meyers on DVR, which we really record mostly for his 'Closer Look' segments. He's the best thing on late night TV these days. Then it was upstairs to brush our choppers and retire to the Promised Land. Which reminds me, today I found out I have approval for insurance to cover a fair amount for a bridge I need for my teeth. I don't know what's really involved in this, just that I'm tired of playing dodgeball in my mouth whenever I eat crunchy things. I think Janice will find out when I go back tomorrow...? Isn't the dentist fun, though? You sit in this chair that you're almost sure you're going to slide off the other end of, get occasionally blinded by the tag-team-partner-to-the-sun lamp, endure a session with Sir Lance-a-lot with the freezing, and nervously endure the literal jaw dropping poking and prodding and drilling for what seems like a reverse time warp where you feel like seconds suddenly turned into minutes. And have a conversation with a frozen drooling mouth, which somehow the dentist understands every unintelligible word. And you have to remind yourself, "oh yeah, I have to breathe, don't I?" And if you're real lucky, you've got this trampoline thingy over your mouth that makes you feel like a dog with a rubber ball in his mouth because of all the stink of the fresh latex. Then it's "you're all done, Mike!" And I'll be "banks a glot, boc! slurrrp". Ah I can't wait. * The weather was standard today, I guess. Chilly with temps hanging around minus 5 or so, I think, and tonight it's chilling out more into the low minus teens. * And that's the kind of day it's been.<br /><br />February 10 Friday</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Nothing to write home about weather-wise, although it was messy enough to cancel schools and take the mail delivery off the roads. I wonder what the criteria is for making those calls now. It has to be getting more and more minimal. When I went to school, they cancelled for pretty paltry reasons then, too, but not like this. * Sleep... maybe I should make myself read what I'm writing about my attempts at it to fix it. It's freakin' maddening. I mean, I'm tired, but I can't sleep? My brain's on/off switch is broken. And it's off at the wrong times, too. I only got to sleep I think at 3 in the f**king afternoon! This is beyond frustrating. The saving grace is I don't have to work, but this is not how retirement is supposed to be, is it? Janice got home after work and shopping for her Mom, and crawled in bed with me as I slept. God knows she needs sleep. * We both woke up and agreed that we needed to do some gym time. So say we all. We got dressed to sweat and headed out to PF and arrived at 9:30. I noticed freezing rain had accumulated on the car's mirrors, so maybe those cancellations were warranted, if that's what happened. I think we actually got enough snow to warrant a visit from our snowplow guy, because he was around. Anyway, into PF we go. Pretty much started and finished the same way as last time - it was Machine Shack Day, or shoulders and back exercises on the appropriate machines. We worked out on 8 machines, heading to the treadmill for a mile after working on every two machines, so we both got upwards of six to seven miles in cardio. Plus I did a couple of farmer's walks and weight-resisted crunches while Janice did extra cardio. We did our stretching and out the door we went. * And while we were there, we saw on the TVs that Toronto mayor John Tory stepped down because he was boning a woman half his age during the Covid crisis. As bad as that sounds, he did the right thing and immediately stepped down, although only after being found out. Still, he was a far cry from the laughingstock that was Rob Ford before him. We also saw that another balloon was shot down off the coast of Alaska. Balloongate has been prolonged. * After we got home, it was up to the shower, not before realizing that maybe we overdid it at the gym, being there for over three hours. Thing about that is, it didn't <i>seem</i> like three hours. But we each felt like we overdid it with our knees, one on each of us. Janice's accumulated mileage on the year to date is now 105.23 miles, and going strong. Well, 'strong' might be pushing it after tonight for both of us. Anyway... after showering and having conversations with Marvellous Marbles Hagler, we headed downstairs for supper - at 1 am, no less - consisting of a bagel with garlic spread and shredded marble cheese broiled in the oven, along with a piece of the massive cheesecake we got at Costco much earlier in the week. We each had a Heineken followed by a zero-sugar pop, and we took in a little of the telly with 'Real Time w/ Bill Maher', which was better this week than last. Paul Begala was on the panel which always livens it up, with his sharp wit and humor. Even Bill himself didn't seem that cranky this week. * Up to The Promised Land we go to do our notations, then try to wind down, and spin the wheel and see what hour it lands on actually getting to sleep again. MMH got his tasty meatstick treat with a side of finger (ouch), and that's the kind of day it's been.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">February 11 Saturday</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Janice had today off, her first day in a while since she was on vacation. Since her knee was sore (mine too, but hers is a whole other ballgame), we elected to have a non-gym day today and let her rest up. The work she does has some physicality to it. Not that it daunts her in any way. * She slept fine last night, though she probably could've done with a few more hours. I slept less. I passed out not long after writing last night's journal entry, but only slept for maybe two hours, and just couldn't get back to sleep. Thus I wound up being awake the entire morning until about one in the afternoon or so. Then I slept maybe four or so hours. I'm pretty wiped out right now. * Janice woke me up, having been awake for awhile. It took some time for me to get my brain to fully operate. The plan was to go get wings at Sobeys, make the coated variety for supper tonight and just take it from there. I figured, ah what the hell, let's go to the Sobeys in Shediac, so we took that drive out, just for a change of scenery. The skies weren't entirely clear, so that's a missed opportunity to get out of the city to see that green comet. It was chilly, probably around the minus 8 to minus 12 range. Shediac turned out to be a little busier than I thought, comparable to Moncton; that is, if you realize that Moncton night life on the weekend just really isn't that busy lately. Shediac has their new A&W up. It's funny driving by Golden Fry and seeing it closed for the winter - that's more often than not our main destination in Shediac when we go there. We got a tray of wings from Sobeys, anyway, and decided only after we left we should get some flour for homemade bread, maybe get some regular stuff too, for the wings and cookies and whatever. Onto the cold nighttime highway to go back to Dieppe, where we'll swing by Walmart at Champlain to pick up the flour. The Walmarts here are pretty much immigrant-central, as it seems no one else wants to work those jobs, but they're more than willing. And always friendly and appreciative. We make sure we treat them well, since they're really a part of us now, Canadians too. * We took Main Street on the way home to see what life was like on this icy Saturday night. There were a fair amount of cars around, not too much in the way of people that we could see, though. We turned over to Vaughn Harvey and drove down the brightly lit road to get home, taking in the winter vibe that was outside. There's a fair bit of squeaking going on in the back of our Elantra, we're wondering about the shocks. Our car is thirteen years old, after all. We have to get the oil changed as well as the oil pan itself early in the coming week. * Into the house we go, and I get things ready to make a fresh batch of... ginger snaps! But you already knew that. I whipped up the dough and put it in the fridge like Cindy advises me to, then I proceeded with prep work for the wings. When I make them coated like this, it's a bit more labour intensive, but it's worth it, especially if the wings are smaller, because they wind up plumper and juicier. Got that all done and cooked the wings in the fryer, while my lovely wife got a chair and stayed with me. We're pretty much joined at the hip when she's not working. We talk all the time, there's never a shortage of things to discuss or joke around about. She was doing the dishes behind me as I was dirtying them, because I kind of tend to make a mess when I work in the kitchen using a lot of pans or pots and measuring things. We sipped on a couple of Heinekens, flipped through the channels on the telly in the kitchen, and headed to the livingroom once the wings were all done. * We had Red Hot sauce with butter ready to be brushed onto the wings as we watched some stuff on DVR while we ate. 'The Last of Us' was on Friday night this week to avoid the scheduling with the Super Bowl tomorrow night, so we watched that. For a dystopian drama, it's pretty heart wrenching at times. We were moved to tears again by the end of the episode. There are some parallels to Game of Thrones in that they get you to know and admire characters, then things happen to them. Even when you know it's going to happen, it's still pretty crushing. * After that, it was W5, where it was about coastal erosion on the east coast, particularly Newfoundland and PEI, namely after hurricane Fiona when it ripped through late last year. Climate change is the reason that these coastal areas are slipping into the ocean, leaving even the staunchest deniers of it believing and convincing them - for the most part - that they're going to have to leave. Scientists have been warning us about this for the last 40 years, and it's accelerating even faster than they predicted. It's scary. * Into the kitchen we go for me to bake cookies. It was pretty straightforward. We cleaned up from the wing feed, baked the snaps and cleaned up the aftermath of that. Janice did some laundry, and Marbles summoned us up to the Promised Land. We put the laundry away, fed MMH his kitty chocolate after him doing his Kanga Kitty routine, and now here we are. * And that's the kind of week it was.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>wellgoodgravyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15051538605094122590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3378459330208889446.post-60520712874425038992023-02-05T05:27:00.000-04:002023-02-05T05:27:50.330-04:00These Are the Days of Our Lives - week 5<p>January 29 Sunday</p><p style="text-align: justify;">A calm, cool Sunday has flown by as I sit here on this late Sunday night/early Monday morning. Weather-wise, I think it was standard; that being, handy to the freezing mark, no precip, and it seems to have followed into the evening. Fact of the matter is, over the last number of days, we've barely even gotten outside because of this Covid complication. Today was no different. * Since we got to sleep late last night, once again, we slept in, once again. Janice was up before me. She's feeling way, way better now, her appetite is all the way back, and pretty much symptom free, save for a bit of nagging cough; she just needs to re-up her energy levels. This is great news, really. As for me, I'm just about there myself. The cough has drastically subsided, and now it's just a lot of throat-clearing, and the energy level really needs to come up. Sleeping is one of my favorite things to do this past week. Today I must've slept 12 or 13 hours. When I awoke for what I thought was for the day, Janice was already up, and we munched on ginger snaps, and before I knew it, I told Janice if I didn't get more sleep I wouldn't be able to really function, so, back out I was. After another hour and a half though, I was good. Thing here is, that sleep seems to be this Covid thing's worst enemy, because it feels like it's gone a bit more each time. * Tonight it was scrambled eggs with crumbled bacon and toast for supper, as we graduate towards regular meals. I'd say we're pretty much there, now. For both of us, we don't feel sick as much as we feel tired. It appears we're good to go. The gym awaits us... I would anticipate going back Tuesday, perhaps. We really miss it. It feels great when you're done; enough to make it addictive if you can get into the habit of going. We were on quite a good roll until Covid knocked us down for a week. We'll have to ease back into it this week, maybe just do cardio for a few days first. * After supper was done and MMH had his chicken dinner, we tuned into the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5oNlf_dSvM&ab_channel=SupercutsDelight" target="_blank"><b>newest episode of 'The Last of Us'. </b></a> This show takes unexpected off-ramps, at least to those of us who don't know the actual game it's based on. There's a keen sense of levity it employs to keep the narrative from getting stagnant, like 'The Walking Dead' is very guilty of. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1Pqy2Tytgw&ab_channel=Looper" target="_blank"><b>We stopped watching TWD</b></a> when the Negan character unnecessarily bludgeoned one of the main characters to death in the head repeatedly with a baseball bat; it was a plot device that served zero purpose and turned a lot of us off for good - probably the jump-the-shark moment for that show for a lot of watchers. TLOU tonight challenges viewers who might be homophobic. It largely centered on two characters getting to know one another and evolving together in a very powerful episode just over an hour long. If you have issues with gays, like I did even when I didn't realize it years ago, something like this might make you re-think your position on humanity; in a scenario like this when the human race's existence itself is in question, differences like sexual preference or skin color suddenly become irrelevant. But we shouldn't wait until a dire crisis happens to make us see that. Watching this episode made me realize how ignorant and closed-minded I was in the past. But... everyone should be given a chance to change and to grow. This whole "me too" thing completely shuts the door on that idea. * After that, it was upstairs to settle in, give Marvelous Marbles Hagler his kitty chocolate, and watch three more eps on disc of 'Battlestar'. It's at the point where it's starting to get political now, as it should, if it's going to be plausible at all. I wish all shows depicting space were as cool and realistic looking as this one is. * Not much more to report. I'm gonna take my oil, Janice will do hers, our little Bumpersnicker will settle in with us and we'll call this one a day. * And, that's the kind of day it's been.</p><p>January 30 Monday</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Not to sound like a skipping record, because a 'broken' record won't actually play... but the temps are pretty much hanging around the freezing mark, nothing drastic either way. No precip today either. * We're both feeling fine and dandy now, and had plans even to make a trip to Halifax to take in the new Avatar film in IMAX - well, my stupid-ass sleep schedule wasn't having it. When I signed off last night, I made a valiant effort to actually sleep, to no friggin' avail. Tried and tried and tried. And tried some more. Laying here with my eyes shut, when it feels like there's a little guy behind my eyelids pulling up the blinds to let the light in. Sleep came... sometime after noon, for about four or so hours. I wonder if this is a retirement thing. I know my brother Rick has similar issues. Janice slept like a baby. I know that because I actually spent a lot of time actually watching her, with our ever-faithful MMH by our side. * We both got up eventually, anyway, and decided to go get a few things at Costco, with the real intention being finding something not too heavy for supper. We opted for one of their store-made chicken pot pies, which seems like a gradual step-up from the chicken soup we had the day before. We got a few other things, popcorn, dishwasher tabs, waffles, just boring stuff. We gassed up there too, where it was $1.59.8/litre, around six cents cheaper than regular gas stations. The only time we gas up anywhere else is if we're out of town and have to gas up. * The pot pie gets thrown in the oven, I had a rye & Dr Pepper Zero, Janice a DCD on ice, got Marbles his chicken dinner, and we proceeded to watch Chris Hayes on MSNBC followed by Rachel Maddow, who's only on on Mondays now, unfortunately. But she's worth taking in, because she goes so deep with the stories she investigates, getting info you don't always hear anywhere else. Lots of Trump-related information coming out now pertaining to his whole deal of paying off the porn star just before he got his presidential gig. Damning info, too. A long, long time coming. It's like the tree called Trump was chopped down when Biden got in, but the stump is still there, and digging at the roots to get it all into the open uncovers more and more rot. * We came upstairs shortly after that, and I conversed a bit with my brophews Chris and Shawn via facebook messenger, to get into the details of how Shawn's doing. The mystery behind what's caused problems for him is slowly coming to light, but progressively. * We'll be watching 'Battlestar' some more tonight, but this time out, I decided to type out this journal before we watched it and I got tired and foggy-brained. I have to note, I'm a little bit shocked at the number of folks who actually tune into this blog page and read this journal stuff. I didn't think <i>anyone</i> would! I mean, it borders on the mundane at times. Seriously, like, "here's what I got at Costco." But hey, make no mistake, I'm flattered and I appreciate it! * The dark days of January are coming to a close, the days are getting longer, Spring is getting closer, and I leave you with the usual... And that's the kind of day it's been.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">January 31 Tuesday</p><p style="text-align: justify;">What's it called... a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHXLcMyWz_g&ab_channel=TheWeatherNetwork" target="_blank"><b>Polar Vortex</b></a>? Rearing is cold, ugly head down upon us here in dark, not-that-snowy Moncton. It was around the minus 8 range or so, down to minus 19 at nighttime. That's enough to get the furnace ready to finally have to do some work. I still find it remarkable in Moncton that the main roads are good and clear, but when you hit the side-streets, it all goes to hell. It's been a thing in this city since I've been alive. Whatever. * The last day of January sets in, and it's more of the same as far as sleep cycles go. Got to sleep quite late, because Janice and me stayed awake to watch the last disc of the first season of BSG, which was pretty interesting. The storytelling is very deep, and this disc kind of lets you in on how deep it is. One of the most fascinating things about BSG is the story it tells about belief in deities in the universe. It mentions belief in gods, plural, and also a separate belief in God as a singular. It's a theme that runs throughout the series and builds on a mythology based on the same kind of subject matter that originates here on Earth. * Sleep was on and off. It's hard to get a good run of long sleep, I seem to have to get it in shorter, cumulative periods rather than one good uninterrupted session. Telemarketers wake me up a fair bit. Today, I woke up feeling like I had a bad sleep, so I had to crash again around the five o'clock hour to try to shake the cobwebs. It more or less worked. Janice is patient with me concerning this, because she knows how vital sleep is for folks like me with anxiety issues. Since focusing on getting appropriate sleep, those issues have really calmed down. I give credit to my wife for making sure I get enough. * When I did get up, we each scarfed back a waffle, gave MMH his snack, and readied ourselves for the gym. Finally. These are the days we have to warm up the car because of the fierce cold, and now the inside of the windshield gets frosty. It's pitch dark in the sky as we drive to PF about a mile and a half away. Seeing the odd person on a bike makes me shiver - and the streets are fairly vacant of cars, perhaps because of the cold, perhaps not. Since the onset of Covid in '20, nothing has truly gotten back to normal. There are really no 24 hour stores anymore. All the grocery stores close at 10 pm now. Even fast food joints close mostly by midnight. I had a conversation with Janice about decades and eras - and it occurred to me how we've regressed as the decades are passing. The sixties saw a bit of progression. The seventies saw it continue, with more industrialization. The eighties saw tech beginning to advance, communism falling apart, and equal rights beginning to make headway. The nineties saw tech begin to make major leaps with the spawning of the internet and prosperity actually beginning to flourish. Then the '00s came. 9/11 happened, and everything began to regress. We became suspicious of people that didn't look like us again. Social media picks up and people begin feverishly lying without any accountability. Wars waged on lies. Equal rights starting to corrode. Climate change picking up with no one taking the objective in governments to do anything serious about it, but people like Obama were giving everyone hope. The teens happen, Trumpism happens, and the world begins to tear itself apart again. Nazi-ism on the rise. Christianity or bust. Not just any Christianity... far, ultra right Christianity, thanks in large part to the far right news media. Now Covid hits us in the '20s. Further and further regression. Ukraine. China imploding. The U.S. on self-destruct. It's hard to be optimistic about the future when too many are trying to bring back the past. * So let's get ourselves sweating at the gym. We went specifically to get ourselves back in 'gym shape' after a bit of a layoff because of dealing with Covid, so we did an hour and 45 of cardio. I did seven miles, Janice around six and a half, but she goes uphill. WAY uphill. I just go for distance, at least today. It was tough getting going this first time back. I felt heavy. My legs were heavy and trying to point me to the exit door, but this is par for the course after a layoff. Janice got a good sweat on with me, and we took our Gatorade flasks with us and went home. * Shower time... and with it, a weigh-in. Janice now comes in around 185-ish, and I'm now 179-ish. I have no idea how my weight dropped like that, especially when just the other day I was 184. Of course, our eating patterns are kind of off lately. After showering, it's time for the other half of that chicken pot pie from yesterday, while we catch up on MSNBC and see what became of the popcorn show that is U.S. politics these days. Trump is deposed, pleading the 5th on EVERYTHING. * Upstairs we go to settle in for the night. MMH gets his kitty chocolate treat from his Mom this time - interesting seeing it from a more outside perspective. Cuteness overload! Bryan Adams is supposed to be on the Tonight Show, but we opted for DVR'ing it and attempting sleep. That happened for me for about two or so hours. A sinus headache came on, sending my head into a bit of a spin. These are the days I go thru a lot of Sudafed Advance, but it always works, thank God. Still, it's left me awake here at 7 am unable to pass back out. Oil might be in order. Oh, and I did have a can of pop tonight called Bubba Kush, that we got from Cannabis NB, which has cannabis in it. This one was lemon-lime flavor, pretty good, really. But I didn't like the buzz from it. It was a bit too heavy for me, and so it pretty much solidifies my preference to just taking the oil that I have, so I can control exactly what I'm taking. I think that pop might meant to be drunk more slowly, where I finished it in fifteen or so minutes, but I'm pretty much done with that. * Janice is back to work tomorrow after a 1 week, Covid-fortified vacation. I dread being without her during the days, so sleep isn't that bad in that way. Although, we may at some point, handy to Spring, attempt to try to go to the gym at 6 am during the sunny months. Maybe. * And that's the kind of day it's been.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">February 1 Wednesday</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Another day, another cold, dark 24 hours. As I sit here recapping the goings-on of the first of the month, I'm kind of lodged in twilight, sort of. This time of year is weird to me now. As of April 22, it will have been three years since I've worked, and I still can't quite get into the swing of it. When I worked, I saw people everyday. For better or worse. I dealt with vendors, salesmen, co-workers, deliveries - for ten years at that particular job. I loved all my drivers, and got on with them quite well - many of them would tell me I'm their favorite guy to deal with on their routes. Cold stop - take all that away and just learn to adjust. It's a shock to the system that I still haven't quite blended into yet. I don't know if I will. I love the peace, the not dealing with anxiety attacks that came with every job I ever had - some more than others. But it's lonely. The days are long, and maybe my body won't allow me to sleep during the night because subconsciously, I dread the daytime. In the coming weeks, I'm going to attempt to change this, as the days continue to get longer. * It was around minus 8 or so today, dipping down to minus 18 overnight. It's going to get a whole lot colder in the days ahead. * Sleep... it did not come easy, yet again. The oil I take isn't quite the same oil I used to have, because Loblaws controls what's available now from Organigram, the company that made the stuff called Utopia that I took for sleep. They de-listed it, and now that you can only get the oil through Loblaws-owned outfits, I can't get it. That company is fucking me still even after I've been gone three years. There's a reasonable substitute called Soleil at the Cannabis NB stores that I'm going to have to go with. Anyway, I must've slept maybe four hours before Janice got home. She woke me up, but I asked her if I could sleep longer. Nope... couldn't get back to sleep. * I tried for about an hour and a half to drift back off, but finally gave up on it, and we both got up and got ready for the gym. I'm having heel issues once again with all the cardio we've been doing, so is Janice. But we want to get our cardio back in rhythm before we tackle weights again. I did 4.73 miles and Janice did a little less, but went uphill a bit. * We got a Domino's pizza on the way home for supper, since it was kind of late. Pepperoni, mushrooms, pineapple and bacon. It's fairly light. Homemade Chinese was in the plans, but it was too late in the day, so tomorrow. Janice had a rye and Coke Vanilla Zero tonight and I just had a plain 'ol DCD. We watched AEW Wednesday Night Dynamite; a good card with some hard hitting action. What I like about AEW compared to WWE is there is so much less talk and cartoony stuff going on, they just get right to the matches. I don't know how some of those guys take such beatings. * Upstairs we go after that, turn on the news, Janice plays her Cookie Jam on facebook, and I take in a bit of Chris Hayes on MSNBC. I've come to like this guy a lot, because he gets into the details of the stories he covers. Over at Fox News, there's a nimrod named Tucker Carlson (I call 'Tucker' something that rhymes with that) who this week mused that the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piwiItDgTZk&ab_channel=22Minutes" target="_blank"><b>U.S. should invade Canada and 'liberate' us from our Liberal government.</b></a> To which everyone on Twitter from Canada responded "please go fuck yourself." And I concur. But here's the thing... there was a proposal in our House of Commons for a vote to condemn Carlson's proposition, seeing as that guy loves anarchy and insurrections. The people who voted against it? Right.... Conservatives. WHY Conservatives are so hateful these last couple of decades, I don't know. I get it... Trudeau's a knob. The people he has working for him are largely knobs. There's even corruption - like there is in every single government. But if <i>your</i> party wants to take over, why is it so difficult to do it justly and peacefully, like the old days? Even when Mulroney helped drive Canada into the ground in the eighties, nobody was talking invasions and coups and all this crap like they do now. We are digressing. And it's scary. * The lights went out tonight, and we attempted sleep. Nope. Janice only a half hour ago from right now was able to fall asleep... I think. It's gonna be a long day for her at work tomorrow. As for me, I don't know when the hell I'll fall asleep. Still... all in all, things honestly are good for us. We just got our RRSP reports in today and we made a little bit. I'm debating on whether or not to cash some of mine in so we can do our kitchen, pretty much the only part of the house that hasn't changed since we moved here. It's literally falling apart. And I mean, "literally". But wow, have we made progress everywhere else. I guess we saved the kitchen for last because it's going to be the priciest; but first, we have to tackle the basement and get some supports up, fill in what used to be a window, and then put doors in upstairs. Then the side entrance........ God, it goes on and on, doesn't it? Every homeowner needs to do stuff. But I don't lose sight that we're so blessed to have everything we do have. One thing is for sure, something that can't be bought, between Janice, Lexy that used to live here, and our cats, there's a TON of love in this house. When people come over here, they often comment that they can actually <i>feel </i>it. And that is a blessing that's priceless. * Anyway, that's the kind of day it's been.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">February 2 Thursday</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Temps were back up a bit today so it could snow a little. Not much, under five cm I think. This green comet is supposed to be in the sky this month, right around the Big Dipper's neighbourhood, I think. If we ever get a clear night, that is. We'd have to get away from the city lights and bring binoculars, I believe; I want to get a telescope real bad. Always wanted one. I did get one second hand on facebook Marketplace, but the remote and guidance apparatus that came with it doesn't work, so I got burned. Buyer beware when it comes to buying stuff there. * It's been pretty much status quo with the sleep situation, having trouble actually getting to sleep. Although I slept markedly better this time. Basically easy come, easy go. I have been wary of the sinus issues though. I'm having to take Sudafed Advance almost every night at this point; so I did some research on it, along with nagging neck pain, and as it turns out <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/sinus-neck-pain#sinus-infection-and-neck-pain" target="_blank"><b>they're correlated.</b></a> Whenever I get neck pain, which is a fair bit but it comes in spurts, 99 times out of 100 my sinuses are involved. One of the factors... no alcohol before bed. I'm guilty of having a drink or two around suppertime, but that's not something that will be hard to curtail. When Lent hits, there'll be no drinking at all. * Last night Janice didn't hardly sleep a wink, so I don't know how she got through the day, much less staying awake all the way to almost 2 am. She did sleep good, though, this time. But when she came home from work, I basically was up for the day then. I think she went to the gym, but if she did, we didn't talk a lot about it. I didn't go because I was just too sore and flaked out; I would've figured she was too, but I guess not. * Dinner tonight would be chicken fried rice and egg rolls. Not take-out either. Since I learned to make the rice myself, take-out just doesn't cut it anymore. I made enough to last us a couple of days, so tonight was the egg rolls, and tomorrow it'll be with pineapple chicken. Plus, tonight I made a big-ass batch of ginger snaps, which have turned out to be deliciously addictive.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe5l1abn2KLHM0Gnwgpku_FZd-jWiSAHkDpwIFgsf3DXlRiPY0OQCZPy2N2BjXX8tknyKvXmX1Hit6JiGVpNJzU-62OpxTpJTvaf8e8-2iSK1gtNOVj8mIYeUY7lfDqWf2q2kM-mTBvrdRKYIxZ9mqfP1yv-7cTqNm7PwZ-kNru7rhWxIgZV_Vdi05/s1660/325049051_493659929623203_4810516516065555554_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1660" data-original-width="1333" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe5l1abn2KLHM0Gnwgpku_FZd-jWiSAHkDpwIFgsf3DXlRiPY0OQCZPy2N2BjXX8tknyKvXmX1Hit6JiGVpNJzU-62OpxTpJTvaf8e8-2iSK1gtNOVj8mIYeUY7lfDqWf2q2kM-mTBvrdRKYIxZ9mqfP1yv-7cTqNm7PwZ-kNru7rhWxIgZV_Vdi05/w321-h400/325049051_493659929623203_4810516516065555554_n.jpg" width="321" /></a></p><div style="text-align: justify;">And there's me with the cookie dough making the cookies. * Along with supper, we enjoyed a bit of the whiskey, looking basically to get rid of it before we lay off of it later this month. I had a rye & Coke Vanilla Zero and one with DCD. Janice had a CVZ & rye and some Bailey's; she was gifted a couple of bottles of it at her post office by customers. Actually, a lot of customers give her and Lexy stuff because they love the service they get from them. It's astounding to me, really, that Janice has been there 17 years or so, has been the sole operating manager of that post office which is thriving, and she gets less than I did when I was working for SDM, and that was only for ten years; and I wasn't management like her. But that's Loblaws for you. Anyway, after supper was done, I baked the cookies while Janice did some reorganizing in the kitchen. And we spotted a mouse scampering across the counter, looking for food - but thankfully, we're on to the little bastards and we put everything in plastic containers now. Looks like we'll have to get traps; especially where Marbles isn't much of a mouser. So, I baked the cookies, Janice finished up cleaning, and it was off to The Promised Land - what we call the bedroom, because we like it so much. Everything's there! We've got a nice TV with a blu-ray player, a mini-fridge, the heat is awesome there with this radiator plug-in heater we've been using for years now... it's just great being together there. Tonight we chose to watch some news stuff, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNkMTUPnmcM&ab_channel=TheTonightShowStarringJimmyFallon" target="_blank"><b>see a Tonight Show we'd recorded earlier in the week that had Bryan Adams on</b></a>, and then pretty much called it a night. * And that's the kind of day it's been.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">February 3 Friday</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The week's winding down with a wallop of winter wickedness. Wow, it's cold. Even for a guy like me. I think the high for today was in the mid minus 20s with winds gusting up to 70 kph, and the nighttime sees them dip to close to minus 30, with the wind chill putting that at around the minus 40s. That's just nuckin' futs if you ask me. This is challenging our household plumbing, as we came home from the gym tonight to shower and found out it wasn't gonna happen because the bathtub water wasn't running. It is running everywhere else in the house, though, thank God. There's just a trickle coming out of the bathtub faucet, so at least it's moving a little, so we cranked up the oil heat and have a heater running near the bathroom. The temps are going to change by 30 degrees in the next couple of days, so we just have to kind of grin and bear it and hope the pipes hold up. * Sleep once again was an issue last night, where I actually did get four hours, but that's not quite enough. I slept again this afternoon for maybe an hour or two before Janice got home from work and going to the grocery store for her Mom. Funny thing there - she had a list of what to get, but her Mom wound up giving her the wrong one, so she had to put all the stuff back and do it all over again. Life's not perfect, eh? Anyway, she came home, and we just watched TV or whatever, talked a lot, and ultimately got ready to go to the gym after 10 pm. Yup, in the freezing arctic cold. PF was nice and quiet, traffic-wise, and that's what we bargained on. It was freeweights Leg Day today, the biggest drag of the whole workout regime, but it's effective. This is the first weights workout we've done since the Covid layoff. We were there for 2 1/2 hours, doing upwards of an hour in cardio, then the leg stuff, and some ab stuff to top it off - plus stretching. I think I did four miles in cardio, Janice I think 4.5. She's dealing with blister issues in her feet now with all the extra cardio; I started to, but I have new Under Armour shoes that I'm breaking in a bit, so they're a little off like new shoes often are. * Then the drive home at around 12:45 am. The streets were swirling with snow from the icy wind, with the city laid bare from traffic because no one else is nuts enough besides us to be out. We get home, our driveway nice and bare from the snowplow guy we hired to do the season, and got in the house to take our showers, and of course that was a swing and a miss - so we had supper, which was chicken fried rice I made yesterday re-fried, and pineapple chicken with chicken balls not-of-the-testicle-variety baked in the oven. It was really good, and really easy. We watched 'Real Time With Bill Maher', rather unspectacular this time out, had our DCD and headed to the Promised Land. It bugs us that we aren't able to shower after the gym. Especially for me where it's 'hair day'. Where my hair is so long, I only wash it every five days or so in the winter, lest it dries out. Plus it's supposed to be better for it. I get a lot of folks telling me how healthy my hair is, and I think that's why... I don't over-treat it and brush it a fair bit. Actually it's often braided, so I don't even have to do that much. * Bedtime viewing tonight consisted of watching <a href="https://www.youtube.com/show/SC9wME8ga9bkihljmcT4b5BQ?season=1&sbp=CgEx" target="_blank"><b>'The Proof is Out There'</b></a> on the History Channel with Tony Harris. It investigates strange things like UFOs or natural phenomena to prove or de-bunk the claims around them. It's fun to watch. After that, it was Janice playing her Cookie Jam while I watched Chris Hayes, and that's pretty much all there is to say about the progress of the day and night. Janice is beside me trying to sleep coughing a lot, Marbles is pitched on my lap, and that's pretty much my cue to sign off. * And that's the kind of day it's been.<br /><br />February 4 Saturday</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Another day, another week. A rather peaceful Saturday was spent here at the humble abode of the Belmont chapter of the Cook Clan. It was another cold and blustery day outside, which I'm sure left more than a few castrated brass monkeys. Temps hovered around the minus 17 to minus 20 mark, made way worse with the windchill, bringing it to the minus thirties at times. This is causing a lot of problems in the region with some power outages and likely frozen pipes, like with us. We're quite fortunate that the power rarely goes out where we live, though, even in the worst storms. The nighttime will see temps holding steady with it warming up plenty tomorrow, getting us out of this pretty relentless cold snap. * I had a bitch of a time getting to sleep once again last night. Tried and tried and tried. Oil be damned, I still couldn't get sleep. I think I finally passed out handy to noon, just before Janice needed to go in for work for 1 to 5. Currently there's only two people to look after Janice's post office, with the only other one out sick with rather urgent health issues. The thing is, Loblaws does not allow the hours to allow Janice to train anyone to work in her department, which leaves it often with just herself and Alexandra to look after it. That amounts to no weekends off and six day workweeks, often seven. If you can replace one vowel in the word 'onion', I think you'd know what I think Shoppers Drug Mart stores needs. * Janice comes home after work, I wake up for a bit and we chat, but both of us wind up passing out again for a couple of hours. It was necessary to be able to function without feeling like zombies for the rest of the night. When we got up, we resigned ourselves to the fact that once again the gym wasn't in the plans due to our water for the bathtub still only trickling because of frozen pipes. We feel grimy enough that we couldn't shower after yesterday's Leg Day, which is making its results feel obvious in us today. That's good though, it's what we want. Tomorrow we'll hopefully tackle freeweights Charms day in the evening, should our shower be operating by then. When we don't get to go to PF, it's a drag, because it's something that we've gotten accustomed to. And like I often say, it's not because we're trying to be these muscle people, but it makes us feel great. We didn't actually set out to do weights nearly every day, but that's just how it wound up happening. * While I was browsing thru facebook today, I came across a <b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/?ref=saved&v=1105281053474020" target="_blank">recipe</a><span style="color: black;"> </span></b>that my bro Greg's wife Jill posted for grilled honey garlic chicken breast, and it seemed simple enough for me to try, so I did. It turned out quite marvellous and we'll <b><br /></b>definitely be having it again. I served it with rice and we sipped on DCD. I got MMH his chicken dinner and we settled down to watch a couple of news magazine shows. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFEfKd1fQ8k&ab_channel=OfficialW5" target="_blank"><b>W5 did a story on the Beirut explosion</b></a> from a couple of years ago, to which it appears no one has been held accountable for; plus they had a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Y58fhBtneo&ab_channel=OfficialW5" target="_blank"><b>story on a guy who's been in prison in Quebec</b></a> who was wrongfully accused of murder and has been in there for 30 years despite irrefutable proof that he didn't do anything. It's eye opening to see how inept the court system in Canada really is - truly, and has been for decades. On another show we watched, the mighty CBC Marketplace, they investigated telemarketers ripping off elderly people with scams threatening to send them to jail unless they were given money. It was actually good to see their team catch these bastards red-handed and keep these seniors from getting robbed. They do pretty good work on that show. * Janice did some laundry, we cleaned up the kitchen... Oo, I should also note here that if you try that recipe with the link I posted above, when you're done, spray that Dawn Powerwash stuff on the frying pan and let it sit around ten minutes, it comes off really good. That detergent is a godsend. Anyway, we grabbed a few ginger snaps from my Mom's recipe that my sister Cindy gave me and headed up to the Promised Land, where Janice right now is clobbering cookies on her laptop, Marbles is on my lap chillin', and I'm doing this here entry for the journals. That kind of wraps up the week. The week ahead should be an improvement on anything in January; we'll be Covid free, have running water, and hopefully be healthy enough for a good run at PF. Plus we both have dentist checkups Tuesday and cleanings. Both Janice and me have 'fender benders', or a broken tooth, so we'll see what's beyond that. I actually have to start considering a plate for my uppers where I have one too many gaps up there around my molars. God knows we can't afford implants, so we'll see what the options are. * And, that's the kind of week it was.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb_tnXw5suuRfY6bdwx_9io177OBXWa-XIQWkojXPezyo4l5F0XXnvS8d9KebgHU2SizKIhl_AUJwUXYBHw_3IwP2ytNyGwloGs-8j9nBAivZuxf5hqKajWOxroSmWqPP4WYSZ4CY5eyEpPRKReG5ssuqbu5Sw003jXVNPRgWU9WtTmXXBcy0T3BvV/s1311/324956455_770858381355521_2765647424737788098_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1083" data-original-width="1311" height="528" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb_tnXw5suuRfY6bdwx_9io177OBXWa-XIQWkojXPezyo4l5F0XXnvS8d9KebgHU2SizKIhl_AUJwUXYBHw_3IwP2ytNyGwloGs-8j9nBAivZuxf5hqKajWOxroSmWqPP4WYSZ4CY5eyEpPRKReG5ssuqbu5Sw003jXVNPRgWU9WtTmXXBcy0T3BvV/w640-h528/324956455_770858381355521_2765647424737788098_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div></div></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Winner winner, chicken dinner</span></div>wellgoodgravyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15051538605094122590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3378459330208889446.post-28603502822728211672023-01-29T04:37:00.000-04:002023-01-29T04:37:02.779-04:00These Are the Days of Our Lives - week 4<p>January 22 Sunday</p><p></p><div style="text-align: justify;">Just a little light snow falling today, and the temps were mild to accommodate it. The sky tonight looked pretty ominous, though, as the big storm we're supposed to get is hurtling toward us. Word is we're getting 30 cm or more. Winter will finally have really arrived with the punch we've grown accustomed to. We're trying to get a snowplow operator to do our driveway, but it's not easy. * Janice went to work for noon today, and I woke up around three-ish, after getting to sleep quite late last night. I mean real late, like 7am or something. I was up finishing up the blog for last week, adding links and proofreading and stuff. I heard from my brother Roy and his son Chris updating me a bit on Chris' brother Shawn, and I heard from the man himself - it looks like he's going to be looked after, not that there was any doubt. If Shawn were fifty pounds heavier and sedentary or something, on the other hand, that would've been cause for worry, but that guy's a sound, solid machine. Roy and Chris are solidly in his corner too, as are Janice and Lex and me of course, and pretty well everyone who knows him. I just wish he didn't have to deal with it. He deserves better. * The plan for us today was to have linguini, spaghetti style, for supper with hamburger left over from last week when we had it then, and we'd frozen it for a quick put-together for a time like this. Plus I gotta make more ginger cookies. Friggin' awesome, those things! But first up was the gym, once again. We're on a pretty good roll with it this month. We wound up going there late again, around 9 or so, and finished up 2 1/2 hours later. Another 4 miles plus of cardio for us both, as well as freeweights Shack Day, one of our favorite regimens because it's so effective. I do a daily walk around the perimeter of the gym at the end of every workout now, carrying two 45 lb plates, for my shoulders, finishing that up with shrugs before I put the plates away. It's not much, but I've advanced to 30 lb dumbbells for the Arnold Press, something I'm trying to improve upon because lifting weight over my head doesn't come that easy for me. Janice is killing it too. I pushed her to do a bit more weight today, and she did it, with a bit of difficulty, but that means progress, which she's constantly making. Pretty proud of her! * Back home we went, greeted by Marvelous Marbles Hagler at the door (aka 'Batcat' with his silouette in the bedroom window), showered and started supper and making the cookie dough to bake tomorrow. My sister Cindy gave me Mom's recipe for the ginger cookies and I follow it to the 'T', although I recall Mom using bacon fat sometimes instead of shortening. But we don't eat quite that much bacon. The linguini was sublime, it was half white pasta and half whole wheat, as we combined the leftovers of two boxes. I made it with the hamburger and this Prego with meatballs sauce that we got in the States recently. Pretty bitchin', I gotta say. Janice went through her vodka, so now we're looking to finish off the Crown Royal I still have left, and we'll just have the odd canned vodka beverage after that until Lent arrives, when we cut out alcohol altogether. And after that, I'll be probably just a beer guy, once in a while. I've never drank all that much anyway, and besides, it ain't cheap to drink. * We watched 'Question Period' for this week, and cleaned up the kitchen and Janice tackled a bit of laundry before we relocated north for the night. My dear wife didn't need too long to fall asleep, though she's been groaning a fair bit, so I briefly woke her so she could take some pain meds. Between the weather and the working out, plus her health challenges, sometimes it's a struggle for her to relax. I'm always watching her. So does Marbles - who's sleeping on my lap right now... well, he just woke up hearing a snowplow. * That's the kind of day it's been.</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTFF_FgAkBWSDmqeGGrP1X7urQIW2PcG_58f_shdCQZsT1zyqtRJYYTVUm7-LQi4Y3LjSuIzf7y1aN0Lx5A1g7dpFQaz5UoCIhpR_RDqKEBzWgLXJIZe_VnEvIxXyOxB-BTj8Y1CUuXRrrXe5wccsHIIO6BDjxUxXHQ78pn8EudEB9aDT34Xk84_zj/s1536/327101285_1227428817887393_115950947213253129_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="953" data-original-width="1536" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTFF_FgAkBWSDmqeGGrP1X7urQIW2PcG_58f_shdCQZsT1zyqtRJYYTVUm7-LQi4Y3LjSuIzf7y1aN0Lx5A1g7dpFQaz5UoCIhpR_RDqKEBzWgLXJIZe_VnEvIxXyOxB-BTj8Y1CUuXRrrXe5wccsHIIO6BDjxUxXHQ78pn8EudEB9aDT34Xk84_zj/s320/327101285_1227428817887393_115950947213253129_n.jpg" width="320" /></a><p></p> <span style="font-size: x-small;">The one, the only, Marvelous Marbles Hagler<br /></span><p>January 23 Monday</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Getting walloped by a winter storm today, really the first bonafide one of the season. At least 30 cm up to now, and it's far from over. Wind is kicking up too, potential for ice pellets overnight, and toward the end of the week they're calling for plus 10 and RAIN. One of Mother Nature's mood swings is in full effect. Or Old Man Winter? Maybe they're having a freakin' baby. * This sleep struggle is getting to be crazy. Didn't sleep last night at all, and only passed out around 3 in the afternoon today. Janice got home from work after leaving the car in the driveway this morning because of the incoming storm - she only works up the street, so not too big of a deal. We think we found a snowplow operator to do the season; we booked and paid for it, so hopefully he shows up! * We're fairly sore from the Shack workout yesterday, as anticipated. This is the most dedicated we've been for going to the gym in a long time. Maybe ever. But today had to be an off day, I don't even know that they're open. Pretty well the whole city shut down by early afternoon. No power outages here yet, but the night is young. * Just heard our snowplow driver do the driveway, so that's a bit of a weight off our shoulders. * We went down and got ready to bake those cookies and make supper, and Janice tackled the laundry, when suddenly she got a wave of nausea come over her. She sat on the couch and shortly after, while supper was nearly done, told me she had to go upstairs because she was going to be sick. Indeed she was. The past couple of days, since being at that packed-like-sardines bar Saturday night, she's been clearing her throat a lot, and had some soreness in it. Sunday night it appeared she was getting a cold. Now she's coughing and out of it in bed next to me. I put supper together on a plate and put it in the fridge for her hopefully for tomorrow, and finished baking those cookies, and she was flaked out in bed when we settled down. Our loyal little Marbles followed her right up the stairs when she said she was going to be sick and stuck by her side, he's such an empathetic little guy, like all our cats were. I insisted that she stay home from work tomorrow after such a rough night. She took a covid test and it came up negative, but there's a flu going around too, and that appears to be what it is. Or a really, really bad cold. I'm going to take good care of her. * Man, the news today... they keep finding out how deep the Russians are into the GOP in the States. It's scary, but not scary - because Russia as they are right now, I don't believe they can bounce back on the world stage under their current leadership. It's almost like they're trying to bring the U.S down with them, though, and Ukraine. If AG Garland doesn't get off his ass and act faster, I'm going to wonder if he's in Trump's pocket. I've been thinking that for a while now. * The snow continues to fall, and I guess I'm going to shut this down... but not before saying I just found out my brophew Shawn is on the upswing and is hoping to be released from the hospital maybe tomorrow. That's a relief. I didn't think he wouldn't handle things, but I'm just glad that he's actually moving ahead now. His brother Chris, and their mom, are flying out tomorrow to be with him, so I'm happy he'll have that. I hope Roy is resting easier now. * Quite a day today... and that's how it was.</p><p>January 24 Tuesday</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Not much progress on the sleeping front. Was up pretty much all night, so I read a bunch of stuff online on various sites, and actually spent a few hours finishing Mima's <a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Always-Be-Wolf-Mima/dp/1532021798" target="_blank"><b>'Always Be a Wolf' </b></a>novel. Which had a really satisfying, noir-ish ending to it that really resonates. * Janice indeed tested positive for Covid, and although her digestive issues resolved pretty much, the cold/headache/fever part stepped up in its place. She's not that bad, though, we thought it was just the flu really. I'll be taking care of her through it - chances are I'll wind up getting it, but we'll deal with it as it comes. Janice had to call off work today and tomorrow as well, of course, and she's scheduled for six days vacation after that, so it looks like we'll be doing a whole lotta nothin', but we like just being together anyway. Today, for instance, while she was sleeping beside me this afternoon, I watched <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/eternal_sunshine_of_the_spotless_mind" target="_blank"><b>'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind'</b></a> on Crave. How the hell I let this movie get past me for so many years, I have no idea - what a masterpiece of filmmaking. A major head-trip of a movie, and anybody who knows me knows I love that type of show. It definitely demands to be watched twice, so when Janice was awake, later on I watched it a second time with her. She loved it too. We also watched HBO's <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_last_of_us" target="_blank"><b>'The Last Of Us' </b></a>this week, which I felt was actually an improvement on last week's debut. Pretty good. The scariest thing about<i> that</i> show is that <a href="https://www.businesstoday.in/technology/news/story/zombie-fungus-that-inspired-the-last-of-us-is-real-367920-2023-01-28" target="_blank"><b>it's actually plausible.</b></a> * Anyway, earlier in the day I got out to shovel out Janice's Mom's house... her front deck and entrance, and did a pathway to our front steps. Our plow guy sufficiently did the driveway last night. * Supper tonight couldn't have been much easier. Janice only wanted toast because of her Covid woes, and I had the supper she didn't have last night, which was grilled chicken, corn and rice. * I forgot to mention, the temps were standard today, around the minus 3 range, and it's supposed to dip down colder tonight to minus 10. Daytime today was bright and sunny, so a pretty good reprieve from yesterday. * My brophew Chris was to go out to visit his brother Shawn out in Vancouver today with their mom to offer moral support for Shawn's aortic dissection issue, which is evidently under control. That was a bit of a scare, but Shawn's the epitome of health, so essentially this is just going to bounce off him, where it would take down most of the rest of us. I'm very thankful for that. So are all the rest of us! * News-wise, I got word that <a href="https://openparliament.ca/bills/44-1/C-22/" target="_blank"><b>bill C-22 </b></a>got through third reading in the House - that being an increase to the Canadian disability benefit. We're actually doing okay right now, but an increase would give us more breathing room, and maybe even make it able to get things done that we need more quickly. In the States, they're allegedly closing in on a Trump indictment, something they've been saying for over a year now. Mass shootings down there are tragically typical, with way more of them than there are days in the year so far. What a sad state of affairs. * Marvellous Marbles Hagler got his required bedtime snack, we're both laying here watching TV at nearly 3am, and I'm gonna finish it at that. * That's the kind of day been.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">January 25 Wednesday</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Day 2 of Covid for me, day 3 for Janice. It's kind of rough, but not quite as bad as many horror stories I've heard, perhaps because we've got all our vaccinations up to date. Although Janice is having a harder time with it because of her immunodeficiency problems. For me, the coughing is pretty intense at times, like it is every time I get a cold or something like it. I don't know if it's actually bronchitis or not, but it's very raw, like a bark or something, when I cough. That brings me to headaches, which are pretty bad with this. But, I have my stash of Sudafed Advance, which I swear by when it comes to all things sinus related. It's like a magic bullet for me. Janice, on the other hand, has to be careful with what she takes because of the meds she's on. She takes Tramadol, which actually is very effective for her. Plus the cannabis she takes really smooths the edge off the pain. The oil does help me sleep, but not every time lately, likely because of this viral infection. * Our sleep schedule is way, way, way off as a result of dealing with Covid. We get sleep when we can, basically, kind of like having a newborn baby. Three hours here, four hours there -- it's good that as of Wednesday, Janice is on holidays until next Wednesday, though it puts a real damper on her vacation. Still, we're together, and that's the main thing, and both of us will tell you that. Each other is all we need. * Our diets are pretty stripped down for now, limited to toast and Diet Canada Dry. We don't have much appetite for anything else. Janice has already dropped ten pounds, so the road to recovery is going to be a little longer because of that. I didn't lose any weight, myself, even though I haven't eaten much of anything either. * Something I should note that really helped was when I suggested we both shower. It'd been three days, after all, and we were certainly due, but we had to bring up the gumption to get it done. I have to say, it was quite invigorating. I took it first, and ran the water as hot as I could on my chest and back for a bit, and it really did help renew me quite a lot. Janice did the same and felt the same way. Perhaps tomorrow we'll do the same thing, it was that effective. * I'd like to notate what the weather was like on this day, but I don't have a clue, because of our wacky sleep schedule. I do know that temps are supposed to go way up and a lot's going to melt. * We watched AEW Dynamite tonight, with a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gka9ULeG2V4&ab_channel=AllEliteWrestling" target="_blank"><b>tribute for the now-deceased Jay Briscoe</b></a>, with a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBhuDdbfCEs&ab_channel=AllEliteWrestling" target="_blank"><b>tribute match</b></a> involving his brother Mark and comrade Jay Lethal. Good match, and it was emotionally invested due to the circumstances. Jay Briscoe's tag team partner/brother Mark did it to salute his brother, with a supportive and sentimental audience and announce team. It was a bit of a tear-jerker. Both those guys are devout Christians, and Mark's faith really shone through at the end of this. I hope Mark can overcome this and continue to prosper, in tribute to his fallen brother. * That's more or less the kind of day it's been.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">January 26 Thursday</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Well... our sleep schedules are still way of kilter. Basically more of the same, sleep when we can, because it's interrupted a lot by headaches, coughing and more or less bad rhythm. Really, as long as we get the sleep we need, at least we get that. * We've both been running a mild fever since this Covid thing descended on us, and that, of course, doesn't help our sleep efforts. I did take Tramadol myself today when a headache was threatening to release an alien baby through my skull or something, but I more or less just handed it a Snickers. Better. * Today was actually a marked improvement for both of us, healthwise. This whole sleeping-while-we-can thing pays off quite a bit, and we did the hot shower again today and it helped us as much or more than it did yesterday. Janice is dealing with bouts of nauseousness that's been a bit stubborn, though, keeping her from eating much. It was toast for both of us tonight for supper. I also baked more ginger snaps as it seems to have a bit of a calming effect on our bellies. The TV was off for the majority of the day as we just talked a whole lot or surfed the web or whatever. We basically remained horizontal for a lot of the day, save for the latter part of it when I felt well enough to venture out to the grocery store to get a few things, like soup and bread and bananas. I wanted to go when it wasn't busy, so I waited till a half hour before closing, and there was really just staff there at that point. Of course, I wore a mask, and avoided any contact with anyone, using the self-checkout. Being up and around and getting the fresh air kind of livened me up a little bit. * Earlier in the day, it was just plain ugly outside. Lots of rain and ice pellets, with pretty high winds made it enough to knock power out for awhile, although we were sleeping when it all happened, and we only figured out the power outage when all our clocks thought it was midnight. Which screwed me up too - 'we slept THAT long??' Now the temps are dropping back below freezing, which'll make it interesting tomorrow for commuters and pedestrians. * After we had our toast and DCD and made cookies, we headed back upstairs, where Janice could lay down. She probably shouldn't have gotten up; I did go to the store without her, I didn't want her being up too long. She had to take Gravol tonight, like last night, and is attempting sleep beside me right now. I'll make the same attempt very shortly. * We have a great little guy in Marbles who's very faithful to us, going everywhere we go. I think he can tell when one or both of us is ill, because he cozies up to us more. I'm thankful he's such a healthy little guy for his 17 1/2 years. We rewarded him with a little catnip and some munchies to go with it. Now he's faithfully asleep on my lap. Let's see if I can join him. * And that's the kind of day it's been.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">January 27 Friday</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Pretty much everything's status quo from the last day or two. Although honestly, we're finding out firsthand now that Covid is that guest that just doesn't friggin' wanna leave. It's got one foot out the door, then it turns around and is like "...and another thing..." Our fevers were back today, appetites back on the wane, headaches, the whole nine yards. Although, as the day progresses, it seems to get better. Sleep has been the same... get it when we can. I'm certainly no stranger to interrupted sleep, but it's weird to see Janice up with me at 5 in the morning. We seem to be getting it in three or four hour intervals, or less. Damn... just lost my train of thought. Yes, I did take oil. I'm trying to go back to sleep after sleeping for three hours, now I'm here at 7:21am, and Janice just passed out beside me. Let me indulge a little thing we do for each other... when we go to bed, we give each other our shirts, and we use those shirts to cover our eyes when we go to sleep. It's gotten to the point we <i>have</i> to have it. * Anyway, today was chilly out, minus 6 or so with clear skies, and it got to minus 13 during the night, enough for our furnace to kick in. Which is hardly ever. This heat pump we got is saving us loads of cash. * So, I don't know what to think of this, but now that I'm on disability benefits, I'm also getting Old Age Security. Sure, it's great the money ticks up a bit, but... OLD AGE?? Cripes, I'm fifty friggin' seven. Although when I think of it, when I was young, people my age right now seemed old to me, too. My poor Pop only lived to 57. I think he actually inspired a lot of us boys in the family to take care of ourselves so we can live far beyond that modest benchmark. I have brothers in their 70s, and they just don't fit the same definition I had of 70 years old even just 20 years ago. They're re-defining it. Or maybe that's just how we see it? Perhaps it's just perception. * The day's a bit of a blur, because of our asleep/awake cycle that we've got going on - or rather the lack of one. We opted for toast today once again, only this time I gave Janice a banana and ginger snaps to go with it. One other thing we noted was Janice has been missing her probiotic Align supplement the last few days. We both take it, it keeps us feeling good. But her missing it this week I think is one of the sticking points to her getting better. Between that and taking her meds. She's been missing those too, so I'm wondering about a kind of withdrawal effect going on. Tonight she took all that stuff, plus the food she ate, and she seems pretty good. She's lost at least ten pounds over the last few days. She's been very tired, but I know we're on the other side of this at this point. Every day is a little bit better, even though it often doesn't seem to begin that way. * Let me tell you, our little Marvelous Marbles Hagler has been a stalwart for us, sticking by us all the time. The sweet thing he does lately is, when we're in bed, just like a little kid he wants to come get under the covers with us. So he lays there and sleeps, or else he lays on top of the covers between us and sleeps. He's such a sweet little guy. * We watched 'Real Time With Bill Maher' tonight - I'm finding he's getting more conservative in his views the older he gets. He has guys like Bill Barr on, gets a big backlash from his generally-liberal audience, and then goes on a ten minute rant about 'Woke' or something. I'm getting a 'get off my lawn' kinda vibe from him these days. I might not agree with everything he says, but I'm always interested in other points of view that aren't combative or idealistic. Discussion is what bridges gaps, after all. * The big thing in the news right now is another black guy got killed by what's basically a gang of five cops. The twist in this story is, ALL those cops are black. There's more going on with police down there than meets the eye, and the colors of them. It's something they have to focus on and fix, or that country is going to continue to literally tear itself apart, all in the name of itself. It's scary and heartbreaking to see it all happen like this. * Anyway, that's the kind of day it's been.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">January 28 Saturday</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Time to close out another week. This is 28 days in a row - like, frig man. Where do I get the time? Well, this week, that's mainly thanks to Covid. I assume today was sunny out and kinda sorta mild, because it was this evening. I say 'I assume' because we got to sleep super late last night and slept all day, with not a regret in the world. Because, as it turns out, sleep is the best weapon against this illness of ours, of which today is the anniversary of our exposure to it for a week. Honestly, it amounted to being a bad, bad cold, but I certainly don't want to deal with it again. I especially don't want Janice to. * We both woke up here and there and at different times today, but neither of us objected to actually trying to sleep this virus away. Today was a day for the upswing side of it. It's probably the best either of us have felt since we came down with it. You can hear it in my voice when I talk, but Janice, not so much. She sounds great, and is eating without any issues at all, same with me for that matter. We opted for chicken & rice soup for our first real meal in nearly a week, with a bunch of crackers. I finished up some laundry, and then brought Janice out for a little spin just to get her out for a little fresh air and away from the house. It was a dark, cool evening spin around Moncton and Riverview around the outskirts. Driving by my old workplace in Riverview was slightly melancholic. I do miss the days I worked there when times were good, that being when I worked for my original boss. But leaving was an awakening for me, really. I know now what kind of person I can be without subjecting myself to such undue stress. It's evident that I haven't truly been 'myself' in... maybe ever?? And it's been almost six months since my last anxiety attack. This is unusual territory for me. And I like it. * We got home from our drive, were greeted by MMH at the door, and we locked up and headed upstairs for the night to partake in our resumption of watching <a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Battlestar-Galactica-Complete-Amanda-Plummer/dp/B0036EH3U2/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=battlestar+galactica&qid=1674981326&sr=8-3" target="_blank"><b>'Battlestar Galactica' on disc.</b></a> We're now three discs deep into season 1. Yup, this just might be my favorite show ever on TV. It's amazing how well it's held up over the years. Now Janice is on her Cookie Jam facebook marathon beside me, MMH is resting on my lap, and we're waiting to get tired because we slept all day and it's now 3:27am. At least now Janice can say she's pretty much on vacation where we're both more or less in the clear concerning illness. * And that's the kind of week it was.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p>wellgoodgravyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15051538605094122590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3378459330208889446.post-87448898916537678882023-01-22T04:39:00.000-04:002023-01-22T04:39:17.315-04:00These Are the Days of Our Lives - week 3<p> January 15 Sunday</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Well, talk about an ugly weather day today. The clouds were on a major mood swing over the Maritimes, dropping everything from rain, freezing rain and a little snow, but mostly freezing rain. A lot of it came down, but didn't really accumulate, however it made the roads treacherous. This forced us to decide to forego the gym yet again today. Better to be safe. Janice had the day off anyway, so we just took it slow and easy. * We only got to sleep last 'night' at around 6:30 am, between me writing my journal entry and kinda sorta watching "Logan" on TV. That's one hell of a movie, I'll say. Between "The Wolverine" and "Logan", it's basically a two-parter directed by super-director <b><a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0003506/" target="_blank">James Mangold</a> </b>that takes the X-Men franchise into R rated, adult territory, paring back all the unnecessary special effects of the MCU and focusing more on the stories and performances. And you don't really need to know the comics or their connected movies to enjoy them, they're great stand-alone shows. But I digress... we slept not exactly uninterrupted for about eight hours after that, woke up and watched Question Period with Vassy Kapelos - <i>really</i> enjoying her sticking it to politicians that try to slide stuff by her - and Janice and me really just talked a lot. We communicate constantly without hardly ever fighting. I don't really even remember the last time we did, but we always patch it up promptly on that rare occasion it happens. I proposed listening to Rachel Maddow's podcast<a href="https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-presents-ultra?fbclid=IwAR3IFxVSwwcRhsZFAO7Sv3JE3HCFt55thPJnxJXeID-iNfiYQfR9x32L3-c" target="_blank"> <b>"Ultra"</b></a>, and we listened to the first two episodes to start. Sounds like a boring idea. But the fact of the matter is, she presents the information in a revelatory way that makes you question the factual nature of our own historical records, or lack of them, actually, in this case. And what's missing, or maybe omitted, is enough to shake you to your core about the present day happenings. This podcast has garnered a lot of attention, and it's clear <i>why</i> when you listen to it. Give it a chance. Janice says she can't get it out of her head, it creeped her out that much. * We headed downstairs, then, and I made our supper, this time being cut red bell peppers with ranch dip, a few fries and chicken wings. Just the plain 'ol wings with sauce without the coating. After I took my supplements, I began to raise suspicions that something out of what I'm taking might be screwing me up a little, as I felt a little nauseous. I actually split them up by about 20 minutes or so - first taking a mulitvitamin, omega 3, the Berberin supplement that's a probiotic to try to address potential candida issues, and a prostate supplement. The second round, I take 3000 IUs of vitamin D, zinc, Align (a probiotic) and a stomach med that's got a name too long for me to remember or spell right. Most of the time, I split these up like that and there are no issues, but tonight I wasn't 100% afterwards. Not terrible or anything, but not pleasant either. * We cleaned up the kitchen and migrated upstairs to take in the next <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0407362/" target="_blank"><b>'Battlestar Galactica'</b></a> disc of season 1. And we continue to be blown away by how advanced it is, despite being 17 years since it aired. It's more relevant now than it was nearly two decades ago. We've seen the whole thing before already, but we're still tensed up and holding our breaths at a lot of scenes (with captions, which maybe draws our attention more fervently to the story), as they grab us more emotionally than they did the first time around. I can't praise that show enough. If you haven't seen it, or are one of those "I don't watch space shows" kind of people, give this one a chance if you can. It's outrageously great. * Janice is asleep now beside me, Marvelous <a href="https://www.facebook.com/marbles.cook" target="_blank"><b>Marbles</b></a> Hagler is passed out on my lap, and I'm about to do some reading. Might have to take oil to relax enough to sleep. * And that's the kind of day it's been.</p><p>January 16 Monday</p><p style="text-align: justify;">What a messy day it was today. It was a dirty day indeed. All sorts of precip has been falling since Friday, and today it's beginning to cause flooding problems around the city. Nothing major as much of a nuisance. The temps just hover around the freezing mark, give or take, making it ripe for all forms of cold wetness to come down on us. Today's weather just flat out sucked. Appropriate for 'Blue Monday'. We're not expecting to see the sun at all until Thursday. * Since sleep was rather rough last night at times, I only got up when Janice got home from work. Marbles was right there with me all day, either curled up on my lap, or 'camping' under the blankets curled up with me. Janice's socks finally came in that I ordered for her online for the gym. The plan was for us to get a few things at Costco, bring them home and head out to the gym. * Off to Costco we go. Raining like cats and dogs and canned hams. The wife returned workout pants she got me for Christmas because they didn't fit, they were way too big. She had tough luck with me for Christmas this year, getting me the KISS Creatures boxed set that wasn't a boxed set at all, so she had to return that too. After that, we got some stuff pretty much for the house, and came home. I had to clear the driveway entrance of the slush that was plowed into it; wound up turning my bad knee and nearly wiping out in the pool of ice water all over the driveway - so that in effect scotched our gym plans. * I get into the house and get a drink with the wife, and proceeded to make linguini with Prego sauce, half a lb of farmer's market ground beef and half a bulb of garlic. There was leftover pizza from Saturday too, so we made a modest amount of linguini. We enjoyed it very much. * Earlier on, social media kind of took my knees out from under me a bit, and was triggered more as the day went. I pretty much found out I got the wrong socks for Janice. The odd other thing piled on and my brain proceeded to go into shutdown. Often what happens after things like that are anxiety attacks/self-harm episodes. But I didn't. The threat of it is always there, though. It's times like this that I realize why people desert me. * Came upstairs, gave the cat his night time snack, and we went to bed and turned the lights out. With me still in shutdown mode. Janice endures a lot from me. I wouldn't want people to think I'm suffering, it's what I do to Janice that's concerning. Me, I'm just a knob that can't get it together some days. * So that's the kind of day it's been.</p><p>January 17 Tuesday</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The sun was out today, finally. Things kinda sorta dried up, but a long way to go; still, not even close to how messy it was yesterday. Daytime temps were mild at around plus 2, nighttime dipped a bit, but not terrible. * Something I can discuss here is that I got the family to go in on a drawing from a friend/local artist/former bandmate <a href="https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100087260014603" target="_blank"><b>Wallace Horn</b></a>, a drawing of my brother Rick with Paul McCartney's hand on his shoulder. What a fine piece of work he did! He did it framed and I had to have him rush it because Rick's 65th is this weekend, and it's also his retirement party. I'm normally not one for big gatherings, but I'm actually kind of looking forward to this. I love Rick. He's the epitome of what it is to be a great, loving brother. He's put up with a lot from me through life, and <i>never</i> turned his back. He'd much sooner give the shirt off it. I wanted him to have a gift that was unique and one of a kind, and personal. The whole family agreed, and so all of us chipped in to pay Wallace to get it done. In my view, it's spectacular job, better than I'd hoped for. In fact, I teared up upon seeing it the first time. * Sleep was a bit of a bitch, as usual. Last night before falling asleep, I actually picked up <a href="https://www.amazon.ca/s?k=bono+surrender&gclid=Cj0KCQiAt66eBhCnARIsAKf3ZNH8YihYNPRAbrNoHgZwjE-Pok1UdrrbGU_Z7dQJHQfZ2HnyasEos78aAtvaEALw_wcB&hvadid=595504714078&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9000121&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=6676872712696501426&hvtargid=kwd-1656696904753&hydadcr=22428_13352815&tag=googcana-20&ref=pd_sl_15vyvokpf_e" target="_blank"><b>Bono's book</b></a> and started reading. That guy's one hell of a writer, singer, songwriter and poet. I've always loved just how he is, I find him inspirational. So far the story he tells is so engaging, and a story he tells about his father "castrating himself" (it was an accident, and he didn't, just to be clear!) was absolutely hilarious. He talks about the meanings behind his songs, and it brings brand new interest to them for me. I love pretty well everything U2 does, anyway. Ever since their "War" album came out back when I was in high school, I've been a huge fan. I saw them twice now, the first time in Montreal at the Bell Centre to a positively raucous, wild crowd that even took them by surprise, with the wife on the Vertigo Tour, and again in '11 here in Moncton at Magnetic Hill in front of over 70,000 fans. The cool thing about that show, besides 'The Claw' stage, is that it was the last show on that tour, which up to that point was the highest grossing tour by anyone ever. If I saw them again, I'd love to see them in Montreal. That's the best place to see a concert by anyone. They go ballistic for KISS! * Anyway, I did sleep... for about an hour, woke up, farted around until I felt like I might sleep again - taking oil twice to try to bring on some shut-eye. I wound up sleeping in the afternoon for about four hours or so. Janice came home from work, and we resolved to go to the gym today, with the weather not holding us back for once. Today was to be freeweights Charms day. And holy hell, did we go at it. We each did handy to five miles of cardio, getting on and off the treadmill because the weights area was so busy, and we had to wait for a bench. It'll be a while before the New Year's resolution crowd thins out. We really pushed ourselves, doing drop-sets for chest and arms, sweating ourselves silly and really pushing to get better and better. The wife is a friggin' <i>BEAST</i>. A sexy one. She lifts weights a lot of younger men don't do, and her technique is spot-on. And she's determined. I love to see it, and it inspires <i>me</i>, too. She says <i>I </i>inspire <i>her</i>. This is what happens when a committed couple routinely goes to the gym together. I fully expect to feel it tomorrow. * Jay Briscoe of the Briscoe Brothers from ROH Wrestling <a href="https://www.pwmania.com/update-on-the-health-of-jay-briscoes-daughters-following-car-accident" target="_blank"><b>died in a car crash </b></a>on the weekend, apparently, no drugs or alcohol involved. Very sad, the guy was only 38 I think, was in one of pro wrestling's greatest tag teams and was highly revered for their talent. I never got to hardly ever see them, because ROH isn't on TV around here reliably. * I got Janice to watch Rachel Maddow from last night because it was such a packed episode. A republican who lost his election <a href="https://ca.news.yahoo.com/ex-gop-candidate-arrested-shootings-023851788.html" target="_blank"><b>went on a shooting spree against democrats</b></a>, hiring other guys as well as himself to shoot up their houses with guns, nearly killing a ten year old little girl in her bedroom. This is what the republican party has become. Just a party of hatred and revenge. I worry that this kind of crap will happen in Canada, because eventually, a lot of what goes on there, does happen here. * We had Subway after the gym, seeing as we didn't have it last week like we wanted. We both had Italian BMTs. They were good, but salty as usual. Lots of veggies in them. * I went so hard at the gym that a few times, I felt like I was beginning to black out. I had to sit down a few times. I thought it was a bit unusual... I questioned a lot of things. Too much weight? Too many reps? Too much cardio? I did push myself, but I just didn't think I overdid it. Could it be the <a href="https://ca.iherb.com/pr/natural-factors-wellbetx-berberine-500-mg-120-vegetarian-capsules/85657?msclkid=b50ef3a2e7ba1066101e906e0ad2de10&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Product%20Listing%20Ads%20%3E%20Canada%20%3E%20Acquisition&utm_term=4580702892966146&utm_content=Herbs%20%26%20Homeopathy&gclid=b50ef3a2e7ba1066101e906e0ad2de10&gclsrc=3p.ds" target="_blank"><b>Berberine</b></a> I'm taking for the potential candida issues? Then it occurred to me, I once again forgot I donated blood ten days ago. I need to learn to remember not to go too hard for a while after that, like at least two weeks. I researched Berberine some more, though, because I felt a general sense of malaise, which also could be attributable to over-exercising close to a blood donation; but there was this hanging feeling of nauseousness. As it turns out, Berberine can bring that on, though it's a generally safe and effective supplement. But I'll taper down to one capsule a day instead of two. I'm also going to consider weaning off Zoloft temporarily so I can take a dose of Diflucan to combat the candida thing. The problem with Diflucan and Zoloft is, there's an interaction that can induce arrhythmia in the heart, which can be problematic. My doctor said not to do it; so I may just wean off my Zoloft for a short bit so I can take it and get my gut back in better working order. Plus these thrush issues are a pain in the ass. I have noticed since taking Berberine, though, that things taste a whole lot better, which indicates that it's been effective against this candida thing. I also read that garlic and vitamin C is great to keep your gut flora in order, among a ton of other things. The thing with vitamin C is, that the supplements are all chewable, and I'm not big on that. But I am going to resolve to eat less sugar and bread, and drink more water. I've been drinking substantially more water lately, but our water cooler broke down, and those things aren't cheap. And Brita sucks. I hate having to buy cartridges for filters all the time, too. * It's 7:23 am right now, and the wife is sleeping soundly with her arm across me, so I guess I'll stay up to wake her up. I love in the morning seeing the sunlight on her face from the window. I'm blessed to be with this woman. * And that's the kind of day it's been.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">January 18 Wednesday</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The skies were mostly clear on this pretty standard day, temps once again three degrees above or below; though at night it's a little chillier. But really, nothing to report. * I slept surprisingly good during the night, but wound up taking a nap with Janice anyway when she came home from work. I still felt sluggish though, and not really in gym shape or anything, so Janice went out herself to do some cardio - which she did for an hour and a half, clocking in a little over six miles. I don't particularly like this not going to the gym stuff for me - it makes me feel good doing it. But the thing is, I have to feel good to actually go. It all makes me think, every year at around this time, in January and February, it doesn't seem to matter what I do, my health gives me the middle finger. It's a good enough reason for me to hate winter. But seriously, what the hell? * Janice comes home with a rotisserie chicken, and we had that with scallop potatoes and corn for supper. Had a couple of drinks too, before settling in to watch a bit of the telly. * I opted tonight to make some of Mom's ginger snaps, with the recipe my sister Cindy gave me. Man oh man, you gotta be careful with those. After baking a big mess of them, the two of us wound up probably scarfing down too many, but they're so friggin' good! We couldn't find a free container around, so we just used the crock pot to keep them in. Works fine. * After watching the trusty good 'ol Big Bang reruns, we headed upstairs to watch AEW Dynamite, where they did a bit of a tribute to Jay Briscoe. He died in a car crash with his two daughters with him, both with serious but not life-threatening injuries. That doesn't mean it's not serious. The oncoming car from them apparently veered over the center line and collided with them. By all accounts, Jay was a devoted family man and all around nice guy. This is a real tragedy in the wrestling world. * Today I was advised by a pharmacist to ditch the Berberine supplement if I'm suspicious of candida issues in favor of one of those yeast infection zapper, one-and-done pills. Done. I just don't really think this Berberine stuff is doing me any favors, really. Digestively, I've been off for a little bit now and I'm getting pretty tired of dealing with it. I don't expect taking this medication to be a smooth ride either, but a shorter one. Hoping, anyway. * Janice played her usual Cookie Jam games on facebook, passed out, and I needed a little more help from my oil to get me relaxed enough to keep my eyes shut. * Pretty short entry today - so, that's the kind of day it's been.</p><p>January 19 Thursday</p><p style="text-align: justify;">More of the same weather-wise, standard temps with a few light flurries, but word has it that things are about to get worse in the near future. A potential weather-bomb on the way for next week, but some fairly significant snow before that. * Didn't sleep too bad last night, though it took a while to pass out. We wound up taking yet another short sleep when Janice got home, before getting up and making a go of it to the gym. Up to this point, I'm feeling fine. * It was machine Shack Day today. We put in our usual cardio, about 3 plus miles for me, and Janice did a little over 4, I believe. Her goal is to put in 1000 miles for the year. Not undoable, but a tall order. Did lots of stretching and some ab stuff. We were at PF for a solid two and a half hours. It wasn't terribly busy, but it was when we arrived before it cleared out a bit. * We get home and it starts hitting me, not feeling all that great; having to go to the bathroom three times in a four hour span. We showered, made a quick Dr. Oetker pizza for supper, did some laundry and tuned into MSNBC to see essentially the same stories over and over. It's getting late by this time, so we decide to head north - aka upstairs. I'm feeling quite lethargic and spent. The January Blues, as I've pretty much come to be accustomed to dealing with every year. I wonder if anyone else's health goes to shit in the first few months of the year. It's pretty well every year with me. * We settle into bed after brushing our teeth and stuff, getting Marvelous Marbles Hagler his meatstick treat, and we have our Yeti with our DCD at our bedsides, as we watch The National on CBC before getting ready to shut down. * Lots of talk about the health care system lately. It's been in dire straits ever since Covid hit, and really long before that, but Covid just showed how broken the system had become. Now we're staring down the barrel at a two-tiered heath care ideal that can't sit well with a lot of Canadians. It sure as hell doesn't with me. But governments have been throwing money at this problem without actually dealing with the problem itself for decades. It's a little scary, really. Even I'm afraid to go to the hospital now. Not that I'd have to, but if I got a kidney stone or something, which I have a history with, I hate to think of what I'll have to go through to get it taken care of. There are people having health issues that are going to run into walls with our health care in its current and projected state. The future does not look good in that area to me at all. * And on that cheerful note, I'm outta here. Oh, and Happy 102nd Birthday to my Pop in Heaven! * That's the kind of day it's been.</p><p>January 20 Friday</p><p style="text-align: justify;">A little snowier outside today, a fair bit came down, maybe ten cm or so. It's still falling right now Friday night, steadily, but not very hard. A fair bit is supposed to accumulate, but nothing we Maritimers can't handle. Less than standard, actually. * As has kind of been the usual, after needing to sleep during the morning/afternoon because of insomnia issues, I got up shortly after Janice got home and had to go to the bathroom three times. The #2 variety. I figure that's the medicine I've been taking working its way out of my system. Going to the gym was up in the air, given also that Janice's knees were bothering her today. Precipitation does that to her from time to time. We watched "<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13722848/" target="_blank"><b>Most Terrifying With Jason Hawes</b></a>" on the DTour channel, mostly because she likes the whole Ghost Hunters thing. We decided we were going to make a go of it to the gym, despite me being kind of wiped out and her feeling a bit rickety. * After scarfing down a waffle, we grabbed our G Zeros and headed out first to Wal Mart to get some chicken treats for our little beast Marbles. I got some so-called waterproof Band Aids because of a sore on my heel from my runners being worn down, and we headed to the gym, where it was pleasantly quiet, seeing as it was after 10 pm. When we arrived, Janice headed to use the bathroom there and slipped and fell, compromising her knees more and bruising her right hand. Not a good day for her in that regard. She got on the treadmill for over an hour anyway and still did her five miles, as did I. It was machine Leg Day, plus squats. Actually she opted for the leg press because of how the day was, shocking herself that she pressed 225 lbs. I actually set a record for myself, squatting that same weight eight times. We did our stretching and called it a day there. * We got home and made chicken salad sandwiches with green onions on Dempster's whole grain bread, quite a satisfying supper, really. It was the leftover chicken from Wednesday. We settled in to watch 'Real Time With Bill Maher' in his season opener - pretty good tonight. Then headed upstairs to give Marvelous Marbles Hagler his kitty chocolate - there's this routine now where he jumps back and forth from the bed to the end table he has by the window to look outside, and I get his treats ready and he jumps from spot to spot. It's pretty funny, I'll have to record and post it sometime. That and 'Wifey on the Cob'... you'll see soon enough what that is. * I'll be praying for my nephew Shawn who's experiencing a bit of a health challenge that I think is freaking him out a bit. It'd do that with anyone, but from an outsider's perspective, it's much easier to see it from a calmer, more rational point of view. He'll be fine, but I sympathize with how he feels. * That's the kind of day it's been.</p><p>January 21 Saturday</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">Yep, so the snow is beginning to finally hit us. Probably another 5 cm or so came down since yesterday, so the temperatures aren't very freezing cold really. It was a sunny day, not that we'd know much about that, because we got to sleep late last night - me later than her, as per usual - but we both slept in late and relished in Janice's Saturday off by laying in bed all day and watching TV. Among the stuff we saw, more episodes of that Jason Hawes show, and a</span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1y3quT-E24&ab_channel=CBCNews" style="text-align: left;" target="_blank"><b> CBC Marketplace</b></a><span style="text-align: left;"> that focused on this dweeb that was claiming to cure cancer and other diseases; spoiler alert, he doesn't. It's amazing shysters like this are able to get away with so much these days. But then again, fear will make you buy anything if you're gullible enough, or desperate, unfortunately. * We finally got our arses out of bed, and decided that we'll go to my brother's birthday shindig, and skip out after that to the gym in the same complex. I guess there was an oddball bowling thing going on too, so we had the option to bring Rick's gift there or to the bar. The bar won out, but first we had to get to Dollarama to get a bag to put the picture for Rick in. We did that, then went for a spin around Moncton and Riverview, seeing as we wanted to be sure folks would be at the bar when we got there. I could feel my anxiety ramping up the closer the time came that we had to go, and Janice sensed it. When we finally wound up at the bar, the place was packed. </span><i style="text-align: left;">PACKED</i><span style="text-align: left;">. A pretty good band was playing there, actually, and a couple of tables were reserved for Rick and company. We saw a lot of familiar faces, but didn't actually get to talk much to anyone. I did get to talk to my nephew Jamie for a bit though, and I'm pretty proud of that guy. He's been through some struggles and has found some valuable peace in his life. Talked to nephew Ryan a bit too, he's always looking to bring a smile to people's faces. Saw brother Greg briefly, plus Jamie's wife Janice and her son, and it was nice to see everyone. Of course we saw Rick and May - May's dealing with a lot healthwise and I feel terrible for her. She put the whole thing together for Rick, but I believe she bargained on it being a much smaller affair than it was, where the bar owner I think mistakenly thought it was supposed to be a way bigger party. But, things go sideways sometimes, it all turned out fine in the end. Although, Janice and me left about an hour in, because the crowded and loud atmosphere was a bit overwhelming to me. The bottom line is, Rick was happy and grateful for everything and everyone. He would text me later on that he saw his gift when he got home from the bar and was more than grateful for it, where the whole family chipped in. The artist who made it, my old friend/former bandmate Wallace, did a sweet job and I'm going to spread the word about his talent. I'm sure he'll do well. * We left the bar and went to PF to sweat things out. And that we did, clocking in another four miles cardio and executing machine Charms Day. We just might do this a lot more, going to PF late on weekends, where attendance is sparse and it's a 24 hour gym, so there was only us and a handful of others. And we quite enjoyed it. * So what's better after a 2 1/2 hour workout than cheeseburgers and fries from Burger King, right? We didn't want to cook tonight, so that became the plan. We had that and Marvelous Marbles Hagler had his supper with us, then it was up to shower and hop in bed. MMH is snoozing on my lap as I type this, Big Bang is playing on TV, and Janice is next to me playing Cookie Crush on facebook. * I must note also that today I felt pretty good, I think my body's finally bouncing back from a rather sketchy week healthwise. * Snow is on the way for Monday, so we're kind of scrambling to find somebody to plow the driveway for the rest of winter. Janice's Mom used to get it done for us, but I don't like expecting that kind of thing at all. All I know is, between my back and Janice's arthritic maladies, it's a bit rough on us. That reminds me too, we need to find a contractor or somebody who knows something about foundations, because I'm a bit concerned about the supports holding up the house, and there's a basement window with no window, but with our patio in the backyard covering it. Along with tarp and Gorilla Tape. So yeah, that basically the extent of my handyman-ness. There's Tim the Tool Man, then there's me, just The Tool! * Anyway, that's the kind of day it's been.</span></div><br />Here's the photos Wallace had to go on to do the picture I requested for my brother Rick, with the finished artwork:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieByLuJWYPr4RhWoiH98QQtJzM5d7eZ8QMaceXS5VOtNUlncvgcjCY8CnSTxTi8bz3fyEApoPu3co7Jvqo1U9VydIDSZ2E6nbnKRBtJPXKmUrCw9RGTm-bmrzIpzVhAn2ylYUUn1S8QPXBk-RlW80fea1N2pJPPfLJyV1Ocs9oEFSC-STEGzMnPtEM/s853/paul-mccartney-john-lennon.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="479" data-original-width="853" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieByLuJWYPr4RhWoiH98QQtJzM5d7eZ8QMaceXS5VOtNUlncvgcjCY8CnSTxTi8bz3fyEApoPu3co7Jvqo1U9VydIDSZ2E6nbnKRBtJPXKmUrCw9RGTm-bmrzIpzVhAn2ylYUUn1S8QPXBk-RlW80fea1N2pJPPfLJyV1Ocs9oEFSC-STEGzMnPtEM/s320/paul-mccartney-john-lennon.webp" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqXcE3pe3MCueKpYRJ-1aMoprE9wt_b6FBbu1M51rl969NJicOPcgP8HdPkypBCdcuHO1AmzK-Qe6Rk9qbLVJ1pA-8kBC1BPQfoechKtov1ILAAZL6cO394oSAgnWmGFSTo-IrMPiiEqgt8ONkhpea0TzyYerpd_uGNFwFU28lCgAD_DAYZ71O5pHE/s676/Screenshot%202023-01-12%205.37.46%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="461" data-original-width="676" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqXcE3pe3MCueKpYRJ-1aMoprE9wt_b6FBbu1M51rl969NJicOPcgP8HdPkypBCdcuHO1AmzK-Qe6Rk9qbLVJ1pA-8kBC1BPQfoechKtov1ILAAZL6cO394oSAgnWmGFSTo-IrMPiiEqgt8ONkhpea0TzyYerpd_uGNFwFU28lCgAD_DAYZ71O5pHE/s320/Screenshot%202023-01-12%205.37.46%20AM.png" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifPxjHUZssIZtkSf0EyhcFnLV0AxIrWQU23A-WcsaCLklwdU9hUZGUQ8b7u1zYW1YRKXeymLfNgC8lQOjZ7Xu6fF_D37RlJVOcR7N0zFXe7f507CUAW6TCl9BTJjRhx8ctYiY1k293irfX36L-sgG6EFKtUZUCDwjX_mUSfzATTff-pPau3lgY7ccT/s1487/322681548_580401293936442_1101575449743674_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1487" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifPxjHUZssIZtkSf0EyhcFnLV0AxIrWQU23A-WcsaCLklwdU9hUZGUQ8b7u1zYW1YRKXeymLfNgC8lQOjZ7Xu6fF_D37RlJVOcR7N0zFXe7f507CUAW6TCl9BTJjRhx8ctYiY1k293irfX36L-sgG6EFKtUZUCDwjX_mUSfzATTff-pPau3lgY7ccT/s320/322681548_580401293936442_1101575449743674_n.jpg" width="320" /></a><p></p><br />wellgoodgravyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15051538605094122590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3378459330208889446.post-60984936930189323942023-01-15T05:46:00.001-04:002023-01-15T05:46:55.617-04:00These Are the Days of Our Lives.....Week 2<p>January 8</p><p>Colder today, with temps dipping to minus 6 C, but the sun was out. No precip. The clock has got to be ticking on a huge winter storm, right? This is highly uncharacteristic for us here in Moncton. We usually get clobbered by Old Man Winter starting around October or November at the latest, but we've only had one modest snowfall up to this point. We're now just over two months from the official start of Spring, not that Mother Nature recognizes the change of seasons as according to the calendar these days. I bet we'll get buried in snow by February. * I finished the book, <a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Book-Dalai-Lama-Desmond-Tutu/dp/0670070165/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=the+book+of+joy&qid=1673770685&sr=8-1" target="_blank">"The Book of Joy"</a> last night, and passed it on to Janice to read. I keep saying it should be required reading, and I mean it. I can't thank my nephew/BFAM Shawn enough. I'm now currently halfway through Mima's <a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Always-Be-Wolf-Mima/dp/1532021798/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2YJNV8CH6L3TE&keywords=always+be+a+wolf&qid=1673770767&sprefix=always+be+a+wolf%2Caps%2C188&sr=8-1" target="_blank">"Always Be a Wolf"</a>, which I bought off Amazon for Kindle. It's quite a daring story that sneaks up on you in places you don't expect. * Janice got up and headed off to work for noon to four, and I got up around one for my tattoo appointment at two. I scarfed down a Drake's cake, sipped a Diet Cherry Coke and I was on my way. The lovely and talented <a href="https://www.ariana-avila-arts.com/about-me/" target="_blank">Ariana Avila </a>is my tattoo artist, tasked with touching up my Irish Cross tattoo already on my breastbone, and applying a semicolon/ying-yang symbol on my right arm, with the words "Midnight is where the day begins" arched around it. Finally, I got Janice's name in her own writing tattooed on my ring finger. She did tremendous work! Full stories about each tattoo are posted on my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/michael.cook.7146" target="_blank">facebook </a>and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/wellgoodgravy/" target="_blank">Instagram</a> pages. * I got home after leaving the car for Janice at work, snacked on jalapeno and cheddar Doritos and finished my Diet Cherry Coke from this morning, and turned on the <strike>tube</strike> television. I wound up watching a bit of WWE's NXT program that was on - a program I used to like before they changed everything about it. It's not the same program it was at all now. Disappointing. * Janice got home and we watched a few things on TV, not terribly notable, and resisted the urge to take a nap. Eventually we got dressed for the gym, to embark on a cardio workout; I didn't want to do weights because of the tattoos that were still quite fresh, so I did a little over seven miles on the treadmill on a run/walk journey that lasted close to two hours; Janice, of course, was with me - the real reason I went, because I want to support her on her quest to do 20 miles a week. She goes harder on the treadmill than I do, because she goes on the incline, pretty steep most of the time. But she might have overdid it tonight, because she was very sore and took a fair bit of cannabis to alleviate the pain in her feet when it was done. I feel guilty because I feel I may have pushed her too hard. * We got home and showered, and it was time for supper, this time being omelettes, each consisting of: three eggs, crumbled bacon, Tex Mex cheese, chopped onion, Frank's Hot Sauce, garlic powder and pepper. Let me say my piece about Gotham Steel cookware... I got a two pan set at Costco about a year ago. It's not what I hoped it would be. First of all, it's teflon, not ceramic. Second, even when sprayed with olive oil Pam cooking spray, it is NOT non-stick. But I would like to tell the manufacturer where they can 'stick' it. I made the second omelette with actual olive oil and had better results, at least. Served the omelettes with two toast each with a little margarine and a bit of strawberry jam, much to the delight of Janice who was effusive in her praise of the meal. Tasty stuff. We might've overdid it with the strawberry shortcake dessert from yesterday, though. No regrets! Yet at least. * Finished with a nightcap of Diet Vanilla Coke and rum and toasted Bishop Desmond Tutu, whose favorite drink was rum and Coke (note... I wrote previously that the Butter Rum Lifesavers flavor was with whiskey, when indeed it is not, it's with white rum). Janice had her usual DCD/vodka. * We watched some of the "Big Bang Theory" marathon on TV, as they showed the final few episodes. The finale is quite the bittersweet ending. Then we watched CTV Question Period on DVR, the only thing I'll watch news-wise on CTV because they <a href="https://www.blogto.com/city/2022/09/lisa-laflamme-finally-breaks-silence-ctv-exit-and-says-shes-cried-everyday/" target="_blank">put the screws to Lisa LaFlamme.</a> They've got a new woman hosting QP, I forget her name and I'm too lazy to look it up - but she did a tremendous job. She used to work for CBC News, I know that. She didn't take any shit in an <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zw66eiInb14&ab_channel=CTVNews" target="_blank">interview she did with Bill Morneau</a>, the former finance minister for the Liberals that did arguably the worst job as finance minister in Canada since I've been following politics. And that's saying something after the bumble-fest that was Jim Flaherty for the Harper regime before him. Anyway, I look forward to more of her hosting the program. * Now we're upstairs, Marvelous Marbles Hagler is resting on my lap, the wife is ready to sleep after starting to read "The Book of Joy" and playing her nightly ritual games of Cookie Crush on facebook, and the party's over for another day. * And that's the kind of day it's been.</p><p>January 9</p><p>Well, I told myself I'm going to try to sleep and just do the journal in the morning, but here I am wide awake at 2:22, actually technically January 10. I resolved to take cannabis oil for the first time this year tonight, with an eye on staying hydrated. Being off of the oil has made me feel physically good, but jumpy and a bit anxious. I just wish there was a strain of it that didn't make my body feel like the friggin' Sahara desert. But, I will watch out for what I will now deem the Sandman, bringing the desert to my body. So bugger off, Sandman! * Ah, just cracked open a can of Diet Canada Dry. * In the midst of my attempt to fall asleep... which I think I did for a half hour before BING my eyeballs saying Nope... I decided to take the advice from my "Book of Joy" and meditate and pray. Wow, that did a lot for my jumpiness. It helped ease my soul. I prayed for a lot of people that are going through a lot of stuff. I want to share here who some of them are, in case they're maybe reading this, to know that I'm putting in a good word for them with The Big Guy: Darren E. and Tina, Emile B., Eldon H., Peter H., Wayne W. and Dee, Alan and Lisa C., May W., Patcy W., Martha H., Joan M, and others. Each of those people need extra blessings in their lives due to the more adversity they're facing. I also ask to bless all of their families, as well as my own siblings and their families, and all of my friends, even if some of them don't see themselves as a friend to me. I pause after each name, attempting to put myself in each of their individual places with their own unique situations, to feel and understand more of what they're going through. The peace it brings me is like gold. * So yeah... I guess a few people are actually reading this maybe, eh? I don't expect people to read it, but when I know they do, I must offer my thanks. You took time out of your own lives to reflect on mine. Thank you! I am grateful and humbled. * So... on this Monday, it started out before the crack of dawn with me getting up to go to the bathroom. I noticed I was in a cold sweat, with my new tattoos 'leaking' a bit because they're still healing - that winds up making my night shirt a bit of a mess, but I knew it would happen till my tatts heal. Anyway, "geez, I'm feeling crampy." I decided it's time to drop anchor and take a shit. Whoa... I did enough to say I took the Browns to the Super Bowl and then some. I was dizzy and for a bit, thought I was gonna woof my cookies. What the hell brought this on, I thought. I'm taking extra good care of myself lately, so wtf?? So I'm crapping my brains out, and finally go back to bed, stumbling a bit. That took a lot out of me. In more ways than one. My shirt is soaked, my pillow's wet... so I just laid here deep breathing, and in about an hour, it passed. The dizziness, anyway. * Since I didn't sleep, I just thought I'd stay awake and make sure she got up, because she went through pretty much the same thing before she went to bed. That made me think something's up. With her due in at work at 9am, at 8:30 I wake her up. "Wake up, dear. Wake up. Dear? Janice, get up. HEY!" * "Uh?" * "You gotta go to work." * "No I don't. It's Sunday morning." *"No, it's not." * "Yes it is." * "No, it's NOT." * "Yes. It IS." * "Then why did we watch Question Period<i> yesterday?</i>" * "..... oh shit I'm gonna be late!" * She wasn't. She felt improved, but not 100%. We've both gone to work feeling sick like this a lot of times. I told her not to call the doctor to call me because I didn't sleep most of the night and I'm gonna sleep during the day. She's off to work, and the shutters close and try to sleep. Nope. No friggin' way. I kept the TV off, and just farted around online, waiting to get tired enough to keep my eyes shut. I did sleep... maybe a half hour. Janice comes home and crawls in bed with me, being pretty wiped out. We both wound up sleeping for maybe an hour, and she decides she wants to go to the gym. (!) She goes and does over three miles of cardio before she realizes she's about to crap her drawers if she doesn't get home. At this point both of us feel fine tummy wise, it's the residuals from the bottom end that are pissing us off. Or shtting us off in this case. We're both famished, so we indulged in chicken burgers from Popeyes. Lord, their food is good. Then we watched whatever on TV. I was totally wiped out from the night before and not sleeping, but you think I can get to sleep?? * Anyway, I did some research on whether there might be something wrong with the veggies we had last night in our omelettes. I was suspicious of the onions we had, because spanish onions seems to be taking advice from Romaine lettuce and just be bitches to us humans. Sure enough, there was a recall in late November on spanish onions. Why it isn't made more public, I don't know. And why the product is still available to begin with , makes me know way less than that. Salmonella and/or listeria could be in them, the article read. Why is this not in the news?? Well, we wound up with one of those bad batches. * Marbles had his chicken meatstick treat, nearly taking one of my fingers with it, and attempts to sleep begin at 11:30. She's sound asleep, that's the most important thing. I'm often up at night, and I keep an eye on her if she's snoring or kinked or having a bad dream or something. The odd time Marbles mistakes her for a trampoline. * Through the course of writing this journal, I took pot oil. Not sure if you can tell or not it's hitting me. * That's the kind of day it's been.</p><p>January 10</p><p>This will be a short entry because it was so uneventful, but that's okay, that just means no bad stuff happened. And that's accurate. * The temps dipped down to minus 6 with some flurries, and into the minus teens at nighttime, enough for the oil heat to kick in, which has to happen because if it doesn't, the pipes will freeze up. All good, the heat pump is still doing great for us. * Sleep was indeed a bit of a challenge yet again last night, so sleep during the day was rather necessary, and choppy, at that. Janice is sleeping just fine, though. And that's the most important thing. I did get enough sleep to function... barely. I don't want to take cannabis oil every single night anymore, but when I do take it, it'll work well and bring on the euphoria, which is very nice if I'm being honest. But not taking the stuff and having absolutely no withdrawals from it is proof positive that this stuff is not addictive like narcotics are. And I refuse to call cannabis a narcotic. It's a friggin' plant. * Janice occasionally gets free pizza coupons at her work from a Dominos guy who expresses to her how much he appreciates her service. She gets this a lot from very many of her clients, proof that she and Lexy are the best at what they do. We used two of these small pizza coupons for dinner tonight, after deciding that the gym was a no-go because the crowd meter on the app indicated the gym was pretty much full, and neither of us like going when it's stupidly busy. Really, PF needs to open another place around here, because this one's filling up big time - although I'm aware that the New Year's resolution crowd is out in full force and will thin out eventually. * There's this commercial for Head and Shoulders shampoo that shows guys showering and singing in low tones, "how deep in my scalp does it gooooooo...." I go and imitate that and Janice comes in with her own attempt at baritone to hilarious results that cracks me up every time! * She started reading "The Book of Joy", and I turned the news off because it's been so boring lately, and watched AEW Dark online on YouTube. It's basically a show where the jobbers learn their craft, so it's not exactly ready for prime time, hence being online and not on TV. But the real news of the wrestling world now is the rumor of Vince McMahon selling WWE to the Saudis. This has been my problem with WWE for years now, that they're getting too cozy with MBS and his creeptards. I would venture to say that a lot of wrestlers are going to leave WWE over this IF it happens, and fans in droves. That they hold their annual "Crown Jewel" pay per views there every year was enough for me to say 'enough'. This might be the final nail in the coffin with others. I hope it is. * Marvelous Marbles Hagler got his salmon meatstick for his nighttime snack, and it's time for the three of us to retire. * And that's the kind of day it's been.</p><p>January 11</p><p>Ir was chilly today, minus 6 during the day and dipping to the minus mid teens tonight. No precip, but apparently there's some on the way. This continues to be a very uneventful January; the only unusual thing is that we're not getting way more snow than we have. All winter so far, we've only gotten one real 'storm', but not so much by our standards. And I'm fine with it. * So wow... I think I got something like twelve hours of sleep last night. I didn't get much the night before, so I think I'm balanced now, at least I hope! I woke up a few times, mostly from bizarre dreams. I dream a lot about Emmerson Street, where I grew up and lived for 27 years. Sometimes I dream of my parents, but they're not vivid dreams like ones I had a long time ago, where there were a couple of times where they felt so real, that one time Janice saw me sitting on the edge of the bed having a conversation. The dream was me talking to my Mom, where she was telling me she's okay, and she has to go now. I had another one like that about my Dad years later. I woke up crying, they were that vivid. * Anyhow, I wound up waking up around two in the aft, roughly, so I got online and just killed time until Janice came home. I chatted briefly with Michelle D., and we reminisced about her Dad for a bit. Her Dad became one of my dear friends in life, and indeed even much like a Dad of my own. He passed a couple of years ago, sadly, and we miss the guy a lot. I even shed tears at Christmas thinking of him, because there are a lot of holiday memories with him and Carol, Michelle's Mom, also a tremendously sweet lady. * So, Janice came home, and we went to Ford's Apothecary to ask about getting something non toxic for my thrush issues, seeing as taking something like Diflucan is dangerous because of its interaction with Zoloft. They gave me something that starts with a B that I forget right now, an anti-fungal probiotic that I have to take twice a day for awhile. Hopefully it does the trick. * Then we were off to the gym. PF was busy, with the countless treadmills almost entirely occupied, so we had to wait a few minutes to get a couple. We did our usual 25 minutes-ish, burning cals going way uphill, then hit the machines for machine chest and arms day, or Charms as we call it. Man, we put ourselves through the wringer on that today. I decided we push ourselves this time and do trade-off drop sets, where we do, say, a chest press, starting with the lowest weight and higher reps, and advance over three sets to heavier and less reps. We made a good go of it, that's for sure. Did some brief stretching, then back on the treadmill for another 25, where Janice actually got on earlier for over 30 going uphill, while I did 25 alternating every minute between walking at 4 mph and a light run at 5 mph. * We got home and I immediately lit up the barbecue on the deck for a steak that I marinated overnight. Took our showers, then I got the meat on the grill and prepared some mashed carrots and cooked fries in the oven. We had drinks in a rum and Vanilla Coke Zero for me, and Janice had a couple of DCD/vodkas. Kinda nice having barbecued steak in the wintertime like that. * We tuned in to AEW Dynamite on TV, as per usual Wednesday nights. What a friggin' program they put on! The sold out LA Forum was absolutely lit for the show. Adam Cole finally returned from his concussion issues after six months to thunderous applause. He even got a bit teary eyed acknowledging the support from fans. The way AEW is setting up the eventual pay per view match between MJF and Bryan Danielson is fantastic. Both guys are superstars in the most literal form of the adjective. MJF being a wonder on the mic, and Danielson being the best in the ring in the world. * Also with wrestling, WWE is denying that they made a deal with the Saudis to sell their business to them so they can take it private. No one knows what's really going on fully, but it sure looks like Vince McMahon and his cronies are doing damage control after the severe blowback about the possibility. I stopped watching WWE because of their cozyness with the Saudis years ago. * Sadly, Jeff Beck died today. I wasn't a huge fan, but very much respected his work with The Yardbirds, Rod Stewart and countless others. A real sad day for guitar fans. * Upstairs we go, and Janice read some more of The Book of Joy, and here I am typing the final few characters for this entry. Marvelous Marbles Hagler got his meatstick fed to him by Janice this time tonight, and he's all curled up on my lap now, and it's just about time for lights out. * And that's the kind of day it's been.</p><p>January 12</p><p>Today, Lisa Marie Presley, Elvis' only daughter, died, and so did Robbie Bachman, drummer for the legendary Bachman Turner Overdrive. Sadly, I think Bachman's death is going to be overshadowed by Presley's death. So many of my generation's celebrities seem to be leaving us recently. * Temps were pretty middling today, cold but not biting cold. Something like around minus 6, but no notable precip. A storm system's on the way for the weekend, but if my fave <a href="https://cindyday.ca/" target="_blank">Cindy Day</a> is right, as she pretty well always is, we'll get some snow that won't last at all because the temps will rise, maybe even to double digits. What a weird winter this is. * I'm actually writing this around 8:30 on Friday morning, as I was tired last night and I wanted to take the opportunity of that tiredness and try to sleep. I think I fell asleep around 2:30-ish, which is pretty good for me. Janice seemed to sleep really well. * I slept okay, I guess. Maybe not a lot in the night, but made up for it in the morning. It was tough actually getting to sleep, so I had to take oil to give me a bit of a boost to pass out, and of course, it worked. I went through several bottles of PC Raspberry flavored spring water, to make sure I didn't get dehydrated, as I'm acutely aware of that now. I took to reading a lot of a book an old friend of mine wrote, and I'm almost finished. I don't think she likes me much these days, because, well I guess I'm just a jerk. This morning I woke up crying actually, dreaming about being deserted by everyone - I dreamt I was walking around the empty neighbourhood with a donkey for whatever reason. I laid on the side by the curb, and I was actually consoling the donkey as it laid by my side. What that means I have no idea! But I remember leaving my old house, the great 136, because I think I pissed somebody off, so I walked up the street to Green Gables, which isn't there anymore, in the rain and picked up some snacks. I think I dreamed this part because I talked to my friend Michelle D about the old days, maybe the rain means it's melancholy. So I left the store, it was then twilight outside like it usually is in my dreams, and walked down Butler Street, next to Emmerson, so I could see the back of my old house and who was there. My car was there, but I think I let my brother Pete use it, and it was gone when I turned the corner, and the house became empty. There was a ballgame going on at Kiwanis Park, and somebody hit a foul ball to the parking lot, and it came to me as kids chased it and tried to get it. When I was a kid, I used to get paid two bucks a game to retrieve baseballs that were hit away from the park (that's a better description to me than 'chasing balls'). So I got this ball, and a few kids surrounded me wanting it, and I walked with the ball towards the park to give it back, figuring out which kid was the retriever so he could do his job, and walked away. I don't expect this to make sense to anyone reading this. It doesn't make much sense to me! I walked away from the parking lot, glancing over at 136, and proceeded to Lockhart Avenue, the next street over, and met up with this donkey, who I wound up striking a conversation with, and like I said, the both of us laid down by the curb and cried together as I stroked his head to console him. Then I myself woke up in tears. There's an old friend of mine, a girl, who used to kind of ridiculed me for talking about my dreams a lot, but I always have to wonder what they're trying to tell us. That friend seems to be gone from my life, too. The dreams are almost always about desertion, people leaving my life. I'm tearing up right now just writing about it. Really, I think I've been an asshole for a lot of my life and I'm just getting what I've always deserved. It's amazing I still have Janice, but my dreams tell me that she'll leave me too. I haven't self-harmed in well over five months, and I almost wonder if my brain is telling me that I should be doing it, because it's what I deserve. The impulses come and go. I won't! I'm doing so well, and all that does is hurt others around me - those who are left, anyway, namely my wife and daughter. I have absolutely nowhere to turn to address these mental illness issues, so I guess the desertion dreams kind of reflect that. I'm basically on my own. * So yeah, Thursday... Janice came home after work, as usual, and munches on some sesame snaps that she loves, I had a waffle, and we got dressed for the gym. I talked to my brother Rick's fiancee May for a bit, and she told me Rick brought over cinnamon rolls from this local baker lady. Were they ever great! Janice and me each ate two of them. What a kind gesture from them. * We kept an eye on the crowd meter that's on the PF app to see how busy it is at the gym before going, so we just hung out and talked for awhile, finally leaving to go around 7:30pm. Today would be freeweights Shack day. The gym was so full; we did our opening 25 minutes of cardio, then walked around looking for room to start our weights. We had to find other things to do until it cleared up a little bit, so we did some ab stuff first. Then started our Shack workout, which got interrupted because it was so busy, so we went back on the treadmill for a bit, then back to finish the workout - and back on the treadmill to complete it. We wound up being there two and a half hours. Treadmill-wise, we wound up doing over four miles each, which is good for Janice, because she has a goal she wants to reach on the year, distance-wise. * After a rather gruelling Shack workout, we got home, showered, and I proceeded to make supper, consisting of scrambled eggs, baked sausages basted in maple syrup, and toast. Pretty awesome, really. Then it was off to bed where we had to stay awake for a bit because we ate late. We fell asleep well enough, without oil for me even, and the rest after that I talked about. Marvelous Marbles Hagler got his freeze dried chicken snacks for bedtime, and he settled in with us for the night. * If anyone's reading this, I just want to say, be kind to each other, because you really don't know what people are going through. You really don't. * And that's the kind of day it was.</p><p>January 13</p><p>Snow today! Hardly though. Some fell, but most pretty well melted as the temps rose to nearly plus 10. It was enough to cancel school and halt mail, though, weirdly. I'll spare the journal of the 'back in my day' claims. * I spent a lot of the morning and aft 'camping' with Marvelous Marbles Hagler - that being, he crawls under the covers with me and curls up by my belly and sleeps with me. Like Crocky the cat before him, I just have to say "you wanna go camping?" and he's on his way. He's such a sweet little guy. * Janice came home from work and we chatted a lot, and she brought home some Amazon deliveries for me; some more Yuedge socks, an external CD disk drive and a set of three weird brushes that I never ordered. That's what they sent instead of vegetable peelers. Kinda hard to peel vegetables with a brush. * Janice had a bit of a snooze, I farted around online while she did, and we resolved to have Subway tonight after we got home from the gym. We did half of that. We went to the gym for over two and a half hours for a gruelling Leg Day, complete with around four miles each in cardio, and Janice squatted a personal best 115 lbs. Considering everything against her, including being 55 and numerous arthritis maladies and fibro, that's stunning progress. The gym was shallow in traffic tonight, so that's nice, but we left at around 10:45 pm. * Off to Subway we go for our dinner. Nope... closed. All of them. So were most restaurants. Since when did Moncton shut down before 11 on a Friday night?? Like what the actual hell? The contingency plan was to go home and figure it out. * We showered and got ready to cook. I wound up choosing creamed peas on toast again, this time with cream of mushroom and garlic soup, and lots of peas - I ate the whole friggin' thing. Pretty awesome! Janice opted to cut up some red bell peppers and dip them in ranch dressing and have some Stove Top stuffing. Unorthodox, but blame Subway for screwing off so bloody early. We enjoyed what we had anyway. We had our usual DCD/vodka and I opted this time for Coke Vanilla Zero/Crown Royal. And thus was reminded how much Jack Daniels sucks. * I chatted a bit with our friend Kelly via messenger, as well as Tim and Wayne. Wayne's other half Dee successfully completed chemo for breast cancer, such wonderful news! And Kelly's hubby also completed radiation therapy for prostate cancer. These are brave, strong folks and I'm happy and proud of the war they waged against that damned 'C' word. I'm also proud of Kelly and Wayne for standing behind their spouses. Prayers answered, as far as I'm concerned. Meanwhile, big Tim is recovering mightily from shoulder surgery he had just weeks ago. He's flying all over the world pretty much for work, so no real downtime for him - he's a better man than me. * We watched CBC Marketplace and fully realized how much Canada is ripped off in the cell phone market, with ridiculous air time prices and even worse for data. I refuse to buy data or go on any kind of plan except for pay-as-you-go, as does Janice. We each pay $25/month and rely on free WiFi wherever it's available, even though I hardly ever carry a phone with me anyway. I find it amazing how many people have become so attached and dependent on cell phones. I will never become that needy for those things, I just think air time and data are a rip off - but, to each their own, I guess. * On tap for Saturday, perhaps Charms day at the gym, and Janice is off with Alexandra and Cole to a staff party while I hunker down here at home. I'll probably bang on my electric drums to songs I have to learn to jam with a couple of friends sometime this month. The staff party is actually the Christmas party, and they're going to ... Hitachi Grill or something? Can't remember. This is an annual thing and I never go because of the whole crowd thing, and restaurants are generally a turn-off for me. So I wind up getting pizza for myself while they go out. * Anyway, that's the kind of day it's been.</p><p>January 14</p><p>Today was funky weatherwise. Snow, rain, freezing rain, but none of it amounted to very much. Although it's not a good day to drive for a living. Temperatures are there for there to be precipitation, so that much is tolerable. * We woke up a few times in the morning, but got back to sleep soon enough. But there was nothing on the agenda today, as we took a day off from the gym, seeing as our legs are so freakin' sore from yesterday. Therefore, we were just honestly plain out lazy today. * As we were about to head out, Martha, Janice's Mom, flagged me down and had me go over to get a container of apple pie she just made. I had no problem with that! It was a sweet little gesture on her part, and her pies are incomparable. We went out to Wal Mart to get munchies, something crunchy and salty for the odd craving. But we made the mistake of going there hungry, so came back with probably way too much. After Wal Mart, we go to Dominos to get a pizza for me, then to pick up CoLex at their place, and they all drop me off at home, while Janice takes the car with the other two to go to their staff party. * Then I get home, with the ideas of playing around with my electric drums, but lazed out and instead watched TV and did a bit of laundry. First I started watching 'Black Adam' - I got through about a half hour of that before I said I'd had enough. The I gave 'Wednesday' on Netflix a try. I see why it's garnered attention, and it's well made and everything, but I just don't think it's for me. * Janice gets home with some booty from the party; a bluetooth speaker and a pair of wireless earbud type thingies. Pretty good value to that stuff for door prizes. I guess they all enjoyed their dinner at the Osaka Hibachi restaurant that hosted the party. You may see pictures for that on Janice's facebook. * We saw some 'Big Bang Theory', as we do basically every day, and headed upstairs to watch the beginning of the 'Battlestar Galactica' reboot series. I have to say... it's been around 20 years since it was first released. I saw it very differently at my age now than I did then, presumably because in those 20 years, the world turned me into a different person than I was, with a different outlook and everything. So I found it fascinating how I perceived it now compared to then, even though my general view of it is basically the same. We watched it with captions on, so maybe it made us pay closer attention to the dialogue and the story. Here's the thing about that series... it's not futuristic. The reason being, is that it takes place in a different part of the universe with a solar system nearly identical with evolution to us here on Earth. Their existence throughout the series is questioned as to their origins. It asks the question, can things possibly be cyclical? Eventually the show states, "all of this has happened before... all of this will happen again." If there are planets out there with a gaseous cover to them, is it possible that inhabitants of that planet annihilated themselves with WMDs, leaving nothing on the surface but what WE just might have if we annihilate ourselves similarly? The universe has existed for at least billions of years... what if there was no beginning? If we can imagine eternity, then what about eternity behind the present, and not just ahead of it? At least, the present as we know it. Anyway, watching BSG is fascinating, because it's long-form storytelling, meaning that it's answering questions as you watch it without asking the question yet. In other words, it's rich in rewards of repeat watching. Both Janice and me were blown away by how much we <i>felt </i>watching the first disc tonight. And the visuals and dialogue and acting all hold up absolutely incredibly. In fact, since it's aired back in the early '00s, I think filmmakers are still catching up to a lot of it. It portrays the military incredibly accurately, and questions what could go very wrong the more we depend on technology. And there are NO aliens. Ever. * Wow, went on quite a rave there eh? * It's been a peaceful Saturday, and it's back to the gym tomorrow for freeweights Charms day. Janice is off too. * And that's what kind of week it was.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>wellgoodgravyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15051538605094122590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3378459330208889446.post-24364226079248615202023-01-08T04:01:00.002-04:002023-01-08T04:01:51.933-04:00These Are the Days of Our Lives.... week 1<p> January 1, 2023<br /><br />Started out snowy today here in Moncton, then changed to rain for the rest. New Year's Day - the Eve involved Janice and me at home enjoying chicken wings. We were invited to brother Greg's but opted to stay home so we could stay a bit calmer and retire without worrying about being under any influence. * Logging onto the internet, I decided to try to figure out why I've been having an ongoing thrush problem. I came to the conclusion that it's due to my use of cannabis oil, which dries me out overnight and I wind up waking up with major cotton mouth. I'm concerned, somewhat, that it's migrated to my gut, which I found out, can happen. Upon further investigation, candida can be quite problematic. I'd dealt with it before, and went on an elimination diet to rectify it. It's not easy to do, but so very worth it. Even better, upon reading up on it, I believe it's the cause of Alexandra's ongoing maladies, which has doctors baffled. She also uses cannabis for anxiety. I truly believe that if she embarks on a journey of the elimination diet, that she'll finally solve the riddle of what's been ailing her. And me too. * Janice and me went for a drive this evening, getting our traditional hot chocolate/iced coffee and taking a spin around the rainy city. We spun out to Magnetic Hill and then off to Dorchester, just because. We love being in each other's company and just talking about whatever comes to us. I've been talking to her a lot about the book my man Shawn Cook gave me a few years ago, "The Book of Joy", that I finally came around to reading, and am just about finished with. It has the ability to change one's outlook, and I must let him know how much of a difference it's been making. I will re-read it and even make notes, once Janice reads it herself. * Upon coming home, Janice suggested we get take-out, which we've admittedly had too much of the last couple of weeks, which will change beginning tomorrow. I tried this Horseradish Burger King Whopper that was really good, and Janice had a bacon one. Burger prices are crazy now! It'll be a long time before we do that again. Besides, I like to cook. * We came home to Marbles the cat and ate, giving Marbles his supper (freeze dried chicken breast), and watched "Pro Wrestling Territories" on Crave, a fun show to watch for any longtime wrestling fan. Then we migrated upstairs to put in the "Prometheus" blu-ray, watched the extras, and then the movie with subtitles. And once again, we picked up a lot watching it that way. It's a movie that gets better as it ages. * Time to retire. I'll attempt to sleep with no CBD/THC oil in an effort to cut down, in light of the candida threat. </p><p>January 2</p><p>Janice went back to work after a short holiday respite - had a decent sleep. Janice brought home a lemon loaf that Alexandra made for me for my birthday, probably the best one she ever made even, and that's saying a lot! * Was cloudy out today with temps hovering around plus or minus three. * We went to Champlain Mall to check out the calendar sales, seeing as their prices aren't cheap beforehand, and we got three. The Mall was quite busy, a lot of kids there since school isn't back in session yet, but it was nice to see the livelihood after the last couple of depressing years of covid. We hit the gym right after that, and saw that the new Popeyes Chicken take-out still had lineups stretching down Mountain Road two weeks after opening. * Expecting Planet Fitness to be busier than usual post New Year's Day, but it was just average, which is fine by us. It was freeweights Shack Day, or shoulders and back. 20 minutes cardio warmup followed by over an hour of free weights, and another 20 cardio. Janice is getting scary strong! She whipped my ass on New Year's Eve. She's determined to lose some lbs. before summer, and really the rest of the year. I better keep up the gym work or she'll wind up burying me! * Back home to shower, weigh in - I'm at 182-ish, Janice was 191-ish - and supper with ribs, green beans and air fryer fries. Our air fryer is a piece of dog dung. It's an Insta-Pot brand air fryer that was pricey and very inadequate, after using it for several months now. I don't recommend it at all. Our little boy Marbles had his soup for supper with us. He always has supper with us everyday, it's a family thing. * Later off to the bedroom to take in "Alien: Covenant" on blu-ray. Good movie, but doesn't quite measure up to the finesse of "Prometheus" before it. * News-wise, we're keeping our eye on the U.S. congress, where nimrod Kevin McCarthy is looking to be Speaker of the House, but is being met with a lot of resistance. If he doesn't win the position, it'll be the first time in 100 years that it goes beyond the first ballot. That's the mess the republicans are right now. * Since I'm writing this the morning after Jan. 2, I can comment that last night's sleep was horrendous. I used the shower massager after the gym, but it failed to alleviate the oncoming tremendous headache that would rule the night, coupled with a sinus headache, which is something I've dealt with a lot since the change of seasons. I was nearly in tears, it hurt that much. Since I took Kirkland brand Robax before trying to sleep, I had to wait at least 6 hours before taking Sudafed Advance, which is the magic bullet for me when it comes to sinus pain. I only got to sleep around 7:30 in the morning, woke up at 11. And here I am. Onwards and upwards. * I should also notate that today is now five whole months since my last anxiety attack. That's a serious milestone for me. Wasn't without hiccups here and there, but thanks to my cannabis oil when it counted, I kept it in check. Janice is tremendously understanding when anxiety creeps up on me. * And that's the kind of day it's been.</p><p>January 3</p><p>It's 1:20am on the 4th actually right now, and I still haven't slept, but here we are. Another mild day in cloudy Moncton, with occasional drizzle and temps hovering just above or around the freezing mark. * Today I didn't go back to sleep, and opted instead to watch the shenanigans in Washington as McCarthy couldn't get his Speaker gig in the U.S. House, even after three ballots. I find it pretty entertaining watching the GOP tear each other apart after all the lies and false pledges during the election cycle. * But anyway, Janice came home from work and I boiled a bunch of eggs in prep for making my lovely egg salad sandwiches. * We headed to the gym once again, feeling bitchin' sore in the neck and shoulders - both of us - from yesterday, but thankfully, no headaches. It was freeweights leg day, probably one of the more brutal leg days in a long time. Janice put in her time for cardio as well like she's pledged to do, and we dropped into Sobeys for some stuff for my sandwiches and some Carlsberg and Heineken. Came home to shower and proceeded to make the mix for the sandwiches, consisting of: nine boiled eggs, one small shredded carrot, Miracle Whip, garlic powder, green onions, salt and pepper and a splash of Frank's Red Hot. I cooked some bacon in the oven too, for the first time, and I don't think I'll do it any other way going forward. I put it in the oven on baking sheets and parchment paper at 400F for about 20 minutes - came out in sublime quality. * Watched MSNBC to take in the commentary on the day's events, we went to bed, and here I am. A pretty normal day. Ah yes, we did drop into Janice's store too with the intention of getting Diflucan or something like it to try to counter what might be Candida in my gut, but I got cold feet after realizing it was in the fem section. Janice said why not ask the pharmacist - I said because I don't want everybody to know I'm this walking bread machine... we already have one of those to make real bread. She'll ask the doctor when she can get hold of him what I ought to do. But, laying off the cannabis oil so far in the New Year seems to be paying off right now, too. We'll see how it goes. I also need to talk to the doc about my hands, where the tendons in the palm of your hand tighten and contract. You can see the tendons in the palm of my left hand, and I can't flatten it on a flat surface, and I need padded gloves for things like going to the gym. It hurts sometimes. I want to get it looked at before it ... well.... gets out of hand. Sorry. * Guess Janice, Marbles and me will retire now for the night, hopefully with better results than last night.<br /><br />January 4</p><p>Another calm day weatherwise, temps around the freezing mark, dipping a bit lower to minus six after dark. Winter has been kind to us so far, but we know it ain't gonna last forever. * Got lots of sleep last night; guess I was so tired from a lack of it the night before that I caught up. What woke me was a dream turned nightmare I had. I dreamt that my old work called me up and asked me to go in to help, as the receiving area was a mess - I was flattered and delighted that they would regard me in this way to ask, so I went in. At the drug store I worked at, the receiving area was a massive mess. Empty pallets all over the place, stacks of them, and full ones loaded with product. The receiving room where the loading doors were was in complete disarray, and trucks were arriving. And it was on a Sunday, of all days, but the way the company is these days, you wouldn't have been surprised. I got the place cleaned up and ship shape, and the store owner, the last one I worked for, comes in with his arms crossed and says, "I need to talk to you in my office. We know about the $90,000 that went missing when you left because of your bad orders." MY bad orders?? I don't even do the orders! I told myself to wake up, this must be a nightmare. So I did. I went back to sleep and was back in the same place. I think this stems from an actual accusation that I was responsible for an order gone bad made by the new boss I worked for after the one left that I worked for, for 10 years, had left. He tried to pin it on me, and I think told the owner it was my fault instead of his own. It's stuff like this that drove me over the edge and forced me into disability. Anyway, I shook it off. * I watched day two of the fecal fiesta that is the nomination for House Speaker in the U.S., as they went another six rounds of voting without picking anyone. What a fustercluck. The legacy of tRump just keeps rolling and destroying that country after letting that clown out of the box back in '15 on the escalator to hell. * Janice came home, and had to go to the post office on St. George Street to pick up a popcorn maker for Alexandra that Lex had ordered, and was shocked at the clueless service there. My wife and kid deserve the kind of pay P.O. employees get and not the slave wages that they do have. Loblaws is a greedy, self-serving outfit that cares little about its workers. I know that firsthand. * We resolved to go to the gym again, but first put ingredients in the breadmaker to have fresh bread for egg salad sandwiches again tonight; to find out that mice got into our cupboards hand helped themselves to the flour. Little bastards. So when we went to the gym, we went next door to Dollarama and got plastic containers for anything that was cardboard or paper wrapped on our shelves. * We start out in the gym, embarking on our 20 minute warmup on the treadmill, and I decided to get my running legs back. Janice did her usual steep uphill walk, and I ran - only to feel something pop in my calf after a mile and a half. I nearly collapsed. It hurt like hell to try to walk it off the last half mile, probably not a great idea, but I'm hoping it's just strained. We continued to work out, doing our freeweights Chest and Arms workout, or Charms Day as we call it. We go pretty hard, but not overly hard. Janice really puts her best into it. We expect to be sore tomorrow, but a good sore. We did our stretching, another 20 minutes on the treadmill - though I kind of limped through it - and headed home. * Popeyes is STILL crazy busy. It's long after 9 at night and the restaurant is still packed and a lineup for the drive-thru stretching out of the parking lot. I think people are finding out what we found out when we first tried it in the States years ago, that it's the best chicken around. And those biscuits and sides are something else! * Got home to the smell of the breadmaker being just about done its job making our bread for the sandwiches. Eventually we made them and DAMN they were good. We ate the leftover bacon from last night too, and I ran into what my childhood dentist used to call a 'fender bender' - or a broken molar. What a drag. Thankfully, it doesn't seem sensitive, and I have an appointment for a checkup next month anyway, so I'll get that looked after then. Anyway, we had that sandwich with a beer while we watched AEW on TV, with a banger of a show that was possibly the most entertaining one they've put on to date. What a crazy, boisterous crowd. Great athleticism and storytelling. * Janice cleaned up, and it's upstairs to bed we go. Gave Marvelous Marbles Hagler his meat stick treat, and settled into bed. * We learned late tonight via text that one of Janice's brothers suffered a stroke, but he seems like he'll be okay, though he's in the hospital. It's scary news that no one wants to learn of their sibling. Prayers for him to recover... and I hope to God it won't be difficult. Hopefully better news tomorrow on that. * That's the kind of day it's been.</p><p>January 5</p><p>Weather has kind of been in one place all week here, around the plus or minus three degree mark, and maybe a flurry here and there, but no real action. A suspiciously calm winter up to this point. The gorgeous Cindy Day has done a marvelous job with her predictions on her website. * Not a bad night of sleep. Woke up to the usual, being kind of addicted to the House Speaker drama in the States while the rest of the country is salivating over hockey. Canada won, I hear? Seriously, the whole Speaker of the House voting thing is exactly what everyone says it is, Groundhog Day over and over again. Actually, it's beginning to look frightening more than funny. * I'd said at the conclusion of the previous day that Janice's brother had suffered a stroke; turns out, doctors only thought that was a possibility, and he actually is having heart issues, not unlike their father did handy to the age he's at right now. So the situation is a lot less dire, but still in need of desperate attention. Here's hoping he gets it. * Janice and me had a short nap when she got home from work, then we got up and hit the gym again. My leg is much better today, but no running for me. Instead, I wound up walking uphill at 15% for 20 minutes, while Janice did her usual sweating boogie. We then did the machine Shack Workout, where we work the shoulders and back on the machines, since we did the freeweights version a few days ago. We'll be sore tomorrow, in a good way. Janice wanted to hit the gym more in an effort to knock down the weight. We've been there everyday so far since the new year for at least two hours a day. We finished off today again with lots of stretching and another half hour or so of cardio and headed home for supper, where I grilled boneless, skinless chicken thighs in my own homemade spice mix with Bulls Eye sauce, cooked rice on the side and made peas/corn together for myself, and just corn for Janice, where she has an aversion to peas. I usually made grilled chicken in olive oil, but opted this time for Pam Olive Oil cooking spray. It actually turned out better. We both loved it. We had it with vodka and Diet Canada Dry - after I'd primed myself with a Vanilla Diet Coke and Jack Daniels. I'd never tried Jack before, but it was part of a sale at Christmas, so I thought I'd try. It's okay I guess... not as good as Crown Royal, but better than that Forty Creek crap. The best is Canadian Club 12 year with Diet Vanilla Coke - tastes just like Butter Rum Life Savers. Janice is loyal to her vodka and Diet CD. When Lent season hits, we go dry and cut out alcohol altogether. Haven't even had any cannabis oil yet since New Year's. I used to take it before bed for sleep, but adjusted to going without it. My suspicion is, as I stated before, that it dries me out so much, I suspected gut issues. I'm feeling a lot better these days. * Gave Marbles his kitty chocolate (don't worry, not real chocolate, just looks like it), hit the sheets and now it's time for lights out. <br /><br />January 6<br /><br />Pretty boring reporting on the weather on this, as it's been the exact same thing pretty much every day this week. Temps around plus or minus 3, but it was cooler last night at around minus 6, enough to make our oil heat kick in, so I cranked the heat pump up a bit to thwart that. We got an oil delivery the other day, a whole 45 litres! Damn good - the heat pump is paying off big time. Since we got it last summer, and the government announced later that they were subsidizing them a few months later, I have to figure out how we can get some of it paid for. In the meantime, it's paying for itself. * Not the best of sleeps last night. I dug into some Hawkins Cheezies at bedtime and paid for it all night. I asked Janice to call me from work to wake me up at one for a blood donor appointment at 1:45, but it wasn't necessary because I was up way sooner. I almost cancelled the appointment, the gut rot was so bad. But I sunk some water, ate a Drake's cake and was good to go. * Made it to the blood clinic on time, and it didn't take long to bleed out a pint - something like six minutes. They patched me up and I was on my way. This is number 17 on my donation count. I wanted it done today because of a tattoo appointment I have on Sunday to get my Irish cross touched up, and a couple of other things. Touch ups are free with the girl that I get to do my ink work. * Dropped the car off for Janice at her work and came home to watch the circus that is the House Speaker vote thing. It stretched on to late in the night with a fight even breaking out on the R side. McCarthy eventually won, after 15 rounds of balloting. He basically sold his soul to the extremists in the party to get it, though. Anyway, it was fun to watch this week. * When Janice came home from work, we were both pretty pooched, and opted to go upstairs for a short nap to catch up on some Z's. That 'short nap' turned into a three hour snoozefest, evidently one we needed. We decided to give the gym a rest today, where she was quite tired, and I was kind of shaky from my blood donation, which is normal and usual. We'll go back tomorrow and I'll scale back a bit for the next couple of weeks while I build my count back up. Last time I went full tilt after a donation and thought something was desperately wrong, but of course it wasn't. I can admittedly sometimes be a hypochondriac. It's a Cook thing, I think, with some of us! * Speaking of which, I looked into <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/dupuytrens-contracture/symptoms-causes/syc-20371943" target="_blank">Dupuytren Contraction</a> disease, something I realized I had for a little while now. Actually Janice had pointed it out and helped me investigate it. It freaks me out a little bit, because my brother Rick's fiancee May has very serious issues with her hands, and I've seen what she deals with - I don't know that that's what she has, though. All I know is she's gone through hell with it. I think I have it in both hands, one more pronounced than the other, but according to what I read, I have to get it taken care of before it takes off on me and becomes irreversible. The treatment for it isn't pretty! I think surgery is in my future for this, but we'll see. A lot of needles involved. Ugh. Could be worse, though. But, this is further evidence that I need disability, I guess. I did so much work at my job in the past 15 years with my hands with heavy lifting that it's kind of just caught up with me. The worse hand is the left one, so that'll probably be treated first. Then I'll have to probably get the right one treated, which, I imagine, means I'll have to learn to wipe me arse with my left hand. (!) Believe it or not, Janice offered to help me with that! I said, uh, NO. I'll figure it out. But is she a keeper or what? But she says the same about me. If I had to do the same for her, I think I'd need a barf bucket to keep up the pace while I did that for her! * Tonight on the menu, Janice made herself a rare treat of Kraft Dinner - rare because it's probably not the healthiest of meals, but not the worst either. A treat. I had my own treat - creamed peas on toast with homemade bread. You either love that or hate it. My family grew up on it, where we were quite poor and made do with what we could get at times, but we all really loved this stuff. And it's cheap. * I had a Dr Pepper Zero with vodka, and one with Diet Canada Dry tonight, and Janice had a pair of DCD/vodkas, and we relaxed into the night, and sent ourselves to bed, not before giving our black and white bomber Marbles his meat stick treat, and here I am ready to sign off, with my wife fast asleep beside me, and Marbles camped out on my lap. The weekend is upon us. * And that's the kind of day it's been.</p><p>January 7</p><p>A few flurries today, no big deal, as the weather holds steady here in mighty Moncton, again temps hovering plus or minus three. The weather has been pleasantly boring so far this year here. * Had a tough time getting to sleep last night, probably due to the long nap we had last evening. I wound up reading some more of the "Book of Joy", nearly finishing it. What a great, potentially life-changing book. I want to read it periodically to inspire myself to keep growing as a person, which I really feel like it's doing. Anyway, I think I might've got to sleep around 7:30am, and woke up several times between then and around four in the aft. Janice slept like a rock for a long time, as she often does on Saturdays to catch up with her sleep she lacks during the week. * We gobbled a waffle before heading out to gas up at Costco - the only place we buy gas - and dropped into the store for a few things. I really like this Spyder wear that they have, and tonight I got this black and gray pullover that'll be good for the winter and spring, and cool summer nights. Janice got a pair of active-wear pants, and we got a few other things. Align probiotics were on sale, which we take daily. Picked up a few guilty munchies to boot. Dropped into Sobeys to get stuff for tacos for supper. * Boy this is boring eh? This is adult life. * We dropped off our stuff home and then hit the gym and did machine Leg Day and a lot of ab stuff, followed by stretching and the usual hour of cardio. Janice is kickin' it... she wants to do at least three miles a day pretty much every day. That's basically what I do. Today was a little rough because of my blood donation yesterday, but not terribly difficult. We've been drinking this stuff called Bio Steel, a Gatorade substitute, pretty much, and it's pretty tasty. We get it pretty cheap at Costco. Back home we go. * And then it's suppertime. We had this taco kit that's half hard shells and half soft, because we like to wrap the hard shell tacos with the soft ones. I find it a pain in the arse when you eat a taco and it basically self destructs a couple of bits in, so the soft taco holds it all together. We made it with a pound of farmer's market ground beef, red bell peppers, green onions, fresh garlic and Tex Mex cheese, with the taco seasoning of course and sauce. Bitchin' stuff! The leftover meat mixture we ate with these plain tortilla chips we had from our last batch of nachos. * Warning: one of Janice's stocking stuffers was a can of Jack Daniels Tennessee Whiskey Lemonade with honey... grossest shit I think I've tried to drink in ages, and Janice agreed. Yech!! So I opted for a Blackfly Orange and Vodka, and Janice had her usual DCD/vodka. Dessert was strawberry shortcake that we recognized as my birthday cake which we also got at, you guessed it, Costco. Another thing we got there was 30 free run eggs, since we're going to eat more of them. It'll likely be omelettes tomorrow for dinner. * Retired upstairs shortly after that and watched "Turner and Hooch", one of Janice's all time favorite movies. She laughs so hard when she watches that! I actually recorded her laughing at it a little on my cell phone. Took in Marketplace, which was about high sodium dishes at restaurants. No surprises there, really. We don't eat at restaurants a lot, between that and the crazy tipping you have to shell out, we just don't find it's worth it. Besides, I like to cook. * Tattoo day tomorrow. I'll post shots of what I get done on facebook and Insta. * And that's the kind of week it's been.<br /><br /></p>wellgoodgravyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15051538605094122590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3378459330208889446.post-40814545070737212082022-12-27T10:53:00.001-04:002022-12-27T10:53:49.476-04:00My take on 'Avatar: The Way of Water'<p>Saw 'Avatar: The Way of Water" last night.<br /><br />Before I get into my thoughts on the movie, let me preface by saying that the show I was about to watch was being compromised by 20 minutes of relentless COMMERCIALS. Drug commercials, car commercials, tech commercials... with ATWOW being in excess of three hours long, sitting through this many commercials was making us pissed off. It put a lot of us in a mood that was not exactly favorable before the movie even got to start. This was the longest, most painful length of time we had to wait before the movie started. Once the film began to roll, after waiting over 20 minutes, we now had over three hours still to come. This shit is insane and needs to stop. We pay enough money as it is for two tickets in 3D to have to be subject to relentless commercials. I'd be a bit better about it if I knew the commercials helped lower the ticket prices, but that'll never, ever be the case.<br /><br />SO... that being said, ATWOW started, and it's back to Pandora ten years later, and Jake Sully and Neytiri now have a family. I don't want to give too much away, but the first length of the film is primarily on the familiar grounds of the planet we saw in the first instalment. A familiar villain rears his new, ugly head, as he and his amassed army begin the hunt for Jake, in what appears to be more or less a revenge tale. There is another plot device involving hunting a whale-type species which have fluids deep in their bodies that actually halt human ageing, making just a test tube of the stuff ridiculously valuable not unlike the unobtanium mineral that was so sought after in the first movie. The military are painted as being a vile, greedy, cocky bunch that, not unlike in the first film, kind of mirrors the Persian Gulf wars era in our recent history. Earth, they explain, is nearly finished as a habitable planet because we basically ransacked the place since the industrial revolution. <br /><br />Jake is now older, mature and tougher ten years on in the saga. Neytiri is his stalwart wife, and their family continues on in the ways of the Omatikaya, until inevitably the "sky people" (humans) show up and once again ravage the land as Jake is being hunted for his sins against humanity. This section of the film is engaging and fun to look at, but has an air of deja vu and been-there-done-that - but, is necessary to prime the viewer for what comes later. The clan wind up relocating themselves to another section of the planet, where the indigenous clan there is more privy to the waters and oceanic life it inhabits. They've even actually evolved physically to deal with their surroundings. This is where the film really leaves the ground - or sinks, in this case, but in the best way possible. I've never seen visuals this astounding since the last Avatar flim, but this even exceeds what we saw then. In true Cameron form, the story wrenches at the heart at times, getting you attached to characters and leaving you wondering ultimately whether or not all of them will survive to the end of the story. For the vast majority of what you see, the CGI is virtually indistinguishable from the practical. And not once did I feel like I was watching some kind of animation.<br /><br />The quibbles with the show I have are minor - I found the score to be lacking in the absence of James Horner, who composed the music for the original film, but died a few years ago. So Cameron hired who was essentially Horner's understudy, Simon Franglen, to fill in. And 'fill in' is kind of all he really did. The music doesn't ruin the film for sure, but neither does it stand out the way James Horner used to make it. It's altogether forgivable, though, because Horner is a pretty high bar to clear. Another bit of a problem I had was the action... as great as it is to watch, it kind of follows the Marvel credo of cramming perhaps too much into the screen, leaving whatever important things there are to see kind of lost in the mix, or detracted from. But it's hard to fault Cameron for wanting to give the audience their money's worth, and he sure as hell does in this movie. It's just that some of the things here don't resonate the way you'd hope because of the excess busy-ness. One last gripe is the Na'vi people - I found them sometimes hard to distinguish, and confusing to connect names and bios to. Still, by the end of the film, you feel like you've made at least some connection with the characters, and with how absolutely gorgeous this film looks, you'll want to go back again to re-watch what you liked, and wind up seeing what you missed the first time in the process. I should add, too, the marine life, in particular the whale species, steals the show.<br /><br />All in all, it's good to see Cameron back in the saddle again building more spectacle like no other filmmaker can quite do. I look forward to more Avatar chapters in the near years ahead.</p>wellgoodgravyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15051538605094122590noreply@blogger.com0