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MONDAY - SEPTEMBER 1, 2008 12:25a I was preparing supper for us. Skip thawed out some chicken. He decided he was not hungry and went to be a few minutes ago. I am going ahead with frying up some chicken and pork strips. I am not sure what else I will make with it. 12:07p I am up again. Made tea. Turned on the A/C. Skip is gaming.... I hear screams of pain and swords clashing in his room. Off to check email. 5:36p We went to the Dollar Store, Schnuck's and Q-Mart this afternoon. We're planning on grilling this evening. I have some ribs thawing and am going to make some shish kabobs. Meanwhile, I am still drying my greens in the oven. I had to throw away one of the bunches of mustard greens. It had gotten "mushy" around where I had tied it to hand and dry. Fruit flies got on it and it had maggots. The turnip greens were okay and the first batch is all dried already. Only one bunch slowly drying in the oven now. I finished watching all three of the "TERMINATOR: The chronicles of Sarah Connor" ... movies this afternoon. They are EXCELLENT! I really enjoyed them. Skip says they got bad reviews, but that only proves there are retards in control of what we watch.... 10:24p Skip made his shish kabobs laced with strips of bacon and pineapple. He had some pineapple left over which I used for my 'bobs. I included zucchini, yellow squash, chicken, pork, krab legs, bell pepper and onion on mine. I also have ribs on the grill. I thought we were going to have a meal together for Labor Day (I did take the day off). But Skip put his stuff on the grill and did not even tell me. He said he had to eat and go to bed. Meanwhile, the family in the house behind ours has been screaming in some sort of non-stop domestic dispute for at least 2 hours, adding to a very "Cahokian" ambiance. I got my 'bobs on the grill and my ribs. Skip is not eating yet. Maybe we will have time to share the meal, though I am kind of out of the mood to bother now. I made some potato salad (from scratch, peeling potatoes, etc.). Skip bought some corn on the cob and I cooked half of that that for us too. 10:38p I just checked my food on the grill. It is progressing. The neighbors are still screaming, but at least they have some music going now. Meanwhile, I am making a video from the clip that I took while visiting Marlene and Nιhna in Alabama in July of 1992. 11:10p Now my feet are screaming in agony ... the mosquitoes attacked me. I think the smoke kept them away at first, but as the smoke from the cooker died down they came out in force. I sprayed my legs down with repellant, but not before I got 2 or 3 bites on each leg below the ankle. I just took my food off the grill. Skip has eaten and is watching "The Postman." I am not really very hungry, although I have not eaten anything today other than one piece of cold chicken from last night's leftovers. I've uploaded my "Nιhna" video to my domain, and now am uploading it to my MySpace page.
TUESDAY - SEPTEMBER 2, 2008 12:46a I still have not eaten, but I have all the food chopped up and put away... and my plate fixed. And lunch started for tomorrow. I am feeling a bit disgruntled with MySpace. I never really liked the site in the first place, and only keep connect because I have family and friends who are there. Tonight I worked long and hard on a video to upload to MySpace. A the Video is of the last time I was with my grandmother, Nιhna, before she passed away. The video got rejected for COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT! I was astounded. I am assuming that it was because I used a snippet of music from "Fifth Element" (the movie with Bruce Willis) in the background. That's all I can think of. I am now in the process of re-creating the video. If I upload THIS version and it gets rejected, I will be very pissed off. I've uploaded the new version. 2:25a I've eaten. I am stuffed. Started watching the western movie that RD sent me some time ago. I never did finish watching the series, so I am starting over from the beginning. Off to bed now. Work again tomorrow... oh ... yippee. 1:30p I was up at 11:50a and now am dressed and about to head out.
WEDNESDAY - SEPTEMBER 3, 2008 There was a box by the front door when I got home this morning from work. As expected, it was the sage from Chaz. She sure did send a lot! I worked on a skating video of me (from October 20, 1990) before going to bed around 6:00a 12:35p I got up a little before noon. Email was scant. I am uploading the very large file of me skating. 3:35p I just got back from the post office. I finally got RD's package in the mail. 9:09p I finished up my WOTD-4 (word of the day audio visual instructional video in Cherokee). 9:54p Steve just called after getting off work. Apparently they have released TWO new classes to the production floor with no CADM, no GrandSlam and ... worst of all... no Remedy/TTS. One or two floor support people are having to do everything for them from modem provisioning to truck rolls. This mean that we on floor support, who only get paid more due to the time we have put in (only 2.5 years for me, but 6-7 years for others), are having to do the job of about 100 people ... and we not only get no compensation, we are penalized and considered "no production" employees. I can't see that this company can survive if it continues these practices. In any case, I hope to be rid of it by then. 11:51p I started cooking (boiling) some of the ribs that I had grilled on Monday, but it was taking too long. I put them back in the icebox and thawed out a pork steak. I poured stock from the ribs into the rice cooker and made rice and chopped up the pork with squash, zucchini, onion, spinach and celery. I made a cream sauce to pour over this and it is steaming now. 11:54p I am watching disc #3 of "Into the West" ... It is very good, though it is making my depression worse.
THURSDAY - SEPTEMBER 4, 2008 12:20a I dished up my food. I just got a major revelation on the "Treaty of Fort Laramie." It had me in tears. 12:36a I've eaten. Off to bed. My soul is heavy with sadness for my ancestors, rekindled from watching this movie. I think I should pursue getting approved for SSDI and so many of my friends continue to suggest. I do not like the idea of receiving handouts... but on the other hand, I have worked hard and contributed into the system all my life. According to the system and laws I live under, this should be my right. There are many who live off the government and have never worked a day in there lives. I do not want to be confused for one of those people. I think I am legitimately entitled to seek SSDI. I can let the legal system decide. But I can't continue like this, that's for sure. I need to make decisions, and take actions. Something I am not good at these days, sadly. 12:54a It's pouring down rain! That fits my mood. I just took a couple of aspirin and a PM capsule. That plus the falling rain should put me into a sound sleep! I slept a little too soundly! I wanted to get up around 9:00a, but I did not get up until nearly 12:00 noon. I barely got to work on time. Work was about the same as usual. I took the "do not call" training today. Skip called to tell me that he was pre-approved for his house loan. He is making progress. I continue to be proud of him. I don't know where I will end up in all this, but at least he is doing well.
FRIDAY - SEPTEMBER 5, 2008 I got up late. I think I drank too much and stayed up too late. I did not feel very good all day. Of course, it does not take much for me to feel bad these days. I did not do much today. Got nothing accomplished, which is bad since I will be working the next four days and will not be able to accomplish much. I picked Skip up from Schnuck's around 6:00p. We came home and I laid down to try to take a nap. That did not work out. I ended up working on my Ashoke site for a change and completely renovated it. Including a hilarious spoof of myself as Sequoyah.
11:41p Skip has been very animated tonight. I think he is very worried and stressed out about trying to buy a home. I fully understand. I hope I am being adequately supportive for him. He needs someone in his corner who truly cares about him and his future. You can't get that more from anyone other than me I suspect. (Even if we do piss each other off almost daily! lol!). I told him I am considering going for SSDI again and explained my position to him and how it could be advantageous to him as well. I think he is finally starting to understand my plight. I can't go on like this much longer. Getting too tired and there are too many signs of my health failing. I think I can realistically expect to live another 10 years to age 60. Maybe 20 if I take better care of myself and get luck. Making it 30 more years to age 80 is being overly optimistic I'm afraid, though it's not impossible and I hope I can live that much longer. I won't even surmise beyond that. So, averaging that out, I hope to have at least another 15 years if my health holds up and I can get the right medical treatment. But on my present course, I fear 10 years is pushing it. I am under too much stress, both mental and physical. I will begin investigating going on SSDI soon. 11:48p I will say that I am very much for Obama. I think he has the potential and promise to lead our country back in the direction we belong. I like John McCain, but I think he is going to continue the same path that Bush has taken us on for so long. However, if he gets elected, besides the fact that "The Shrub" will finally be vacating the respectable seat of the president, I think I could tolerate him. However, Palin is a scary thought. She seems to be a very strange and extreme person! I don't like her one bit. The only thing I have heard in her favor is that she is a woman (this was obvious), and that her husband is of "Eskimo" ancestry (Inuit? Aleut? ... don't know...). I made a new "experimental" dish tonight. "Batter Fried Shish Kabobs." They were not too bad!
SATURDAY - SEPTEMBER 6, 2008 2:55a I am watching disc #5 of "Into the West." I think the first two discs were the best. the 3rd and 5th discs have a problem with the sound track not matching the video. This is very distracting. Anyway... I am off to bed. Getting up was, as usual, very difficult this morning. I think I got up at about 12:15p ... very late for me. I still managed to shower, cook, and watch a bit more of "Into the West" (Disc 5). Word was a good day. Steve came in for 2 hours of OT. I spent some extra time on FS and spent most of my phone time in the Patriot Somerset queue. The TV is still not working in the break room, so I could not hear much about the latest McCain-Palin vs. Obama-Biden issues. I am really following this election. I hope Obama wins, but even if he doesn't, at least Bush will be out of office!
SUNDAY - SEPTEMBER 7, 2008 2:31a Home again. Still checking email. 12:49p I got to bed late at about 5:00a, and getting up was difficult, as usual. I did not have time to fix anything for supper/lunch. I laid meat out to thaw, but it took too long and I needed to get to bed. I ended up making some left over soup. 1:10p I made my last chicken breast stuffed with broccoli and cheese, with some Normandy vegetables on the side for lunch. I will stop by Rally's for a burger on the way in. I am starving.
MONDAY - SEPTEMBER 8, 2008 4:57a Off to bed again. I tried to get to bed early tonight, but cooking just took too long. I think I will have to go in late tomorrow again to try to catch up my rest. I can't afford to lose the money, but I can't afford to run myself into the ground either. I finished watching the last disc of "Into the West" tonight. I now have a MUCH greater understanding of the massacre of Wounded Knee. I have heard about it all my life, starting when Daddy was reading a book about it. He did not talk much about it, but I knew he was very disturbed and moved by it. This movie told the story, starting 40-50 years before the incident took place, and brought the story of the lives and history of so many people together. It was beautifully done. I secreted great quantities of ocular fluid. 1:12p I woke up at precisely 12:00n and decided to close my eyes for "just a moment longer." When I opened them again it was now precisely 1:00p. As usual feel weak, nauseous and generally out of sorts. It usually takes nearly an hour before I feel more or less "normal" again. I finally called the insurance company and they clarified (again) for me (to relay to my counselor) that my doctor (not my plan) is "in network." I have a $1000 deductible for lab work. That means that my insurance is basically useless to me, as I have been saying all along. I am paying over $1200 per year and can't afford to go to the doctor. I cannot afford a $1000 deductible, and most every visit I make requires lab work. So, I am going to continue with my plan to cancel my insurance. It makes me nervous doing that, but I have to pay bills and I am not meeting my expenses at this time. I also told my counselor that I want to pursue starting up SSDI.
TUESDAY - SEPTEMBER 9, 2008 2:46a Home again at last. I had turned the computer off before leaving to work this morning. Upon booting back up I was again face with the dilemma of my webcam not working. However, this time I spent some time and found the missing SPC516.SYS file online, downloaded it and ... MY WEBCAM WORKS AGAIN! I love it when I can figure something out. My supper tonight consisted of the left over potato salad from Labor Day weekend with hot sauce over it. 4:14a I have made a picture from Devon's recent "Hookah Fun" excursion. She has not seen it yet. Hope she finds it amusing..
I got up around 11:50a. Made some very spicy soup with a small amount of chicken and pork, noodles, veggies, etc. It was hotter than I expected, but then I put in some white pepper, black pepper, crushed red pepper and a tiny bit of purιed chipotle. I got to work pretty much on time, but they had blocked off the entrance off Dunn Street, so I had to get turned around and drive around through the parking lot trying to find a place to park. That put me a few minutes behind. I was feeling exceptionally chipper. The air was fresh, the sun shining. A beautiful day! Steve was not at work. He had to take UTO, and Chris was not there, so floor support was missing vital personnel. I got logged in and was ready to go "thumbs up" in floor support, but I was starting to feel funny. My face was flushed and my fingers started to feel cold. I was getting an achy feeling all over. I took about three chats and had to go thumbs down. I was shaking so bad I could barely work the mouse. I was reeling with vertigo and starting to feel panicky. I ended up only getting 1 hour of work in and had to leave. I came home and went directly to bed. I got up about 7:30p and made a pot of tea, and here I am. 8:23a I still feel bad. Achy and sick, but not as bad. I went back to bed about 9:30p. The fever is back.
WEDNESDAY - SEPTEMBER 10, 2008 9:47a Twelve hours later I am out of bed at 9:42a. I had a fever nearly all night, with chills, sweats and shaking. I feel better this morning though. I feel like I have been through an ordeal -- which I have -- but the fever is gone. The headache is gone. I expect I will be getting very hungry soon, since I have not eaten in nearly 24 hours. Anyway, I think the bug is behind me. That's a relief. 11:18a Since I did not die during the night from my malady, and since I feel so much better this morning, I have decided to take my camera and go out on an excursion. It is another great day out with the temperature around 67°, sunny, and a gentle breeze. I think I will go over to Tower Grove park. I am hungry again and don't feel like fixing my own food. A nice bowl of Vietnamese soup sounds good. 2:16p Just got back home. I parked near Spring and Hartford and walked down to Grand, taking pictures of home architecture, flowers and what ever look photogenic. I was about a block down grand when my battery started flashing red, and ... DOH! ... I forgot to put the spare in my pocket. So I walked back (a different route) and swapped batteries. I headed back down grand by yet another route. It felt more like Spring than Autumn, but that will change soon I suppose. I thought I would eat at Mekong, but apparently they are closed on Wednesdays... how odd. I ended up walking down to Pho Grand instead. I had a bowl of Hu Tieu Dac Biet (a cellophane noodle soup with shredded beef, shrimp, krab, and bean sprouts) along with some hot tea.
Skip went over to JR's after work to meet with Marty and fix his computer for him. That (apparently) all went well, though it took a lot longer than he would have hoped for. Billy Meyer gave Skip a ride home and (to my surprise) he was accompanied by Bob and JR.
THURSDAY - SEPTEMBER 11, 2008 1:21a I have just finished mincing up the garlic and the jalapeρo that I got at Soulard Market upon last visit. I have mixed some of it with yesterday's left over soup. I expect it to be VERY spicy ... lol... 1:37a I still have things to write about today, but ... I have to go to bed. I may have lunch with Skip and his co-workers tomorrow. We will see. 12:15p I guess I am not having lunch with Skip today. I sent him a text message and tried to call, but got voice mail. 1:00p Skip called me a few minutes ago. We are going to try to do the lunch thing tomorrow. Friday would be better anyway. I picked Skip up from the train around 4:30p. We went by the grocery store and I picked up sweet potato. I am going to fry it up with green tomatoes from the garden and some chicken thighs. Very Southern, and very bad for the cardiovascular system, but ... oh well...! Before leaving to pick Skip up from the train, I went out to see how the sunflower was looking. I am not sure just when one should "harvest" the seeds. Well, it looks like the varmints know, since the sunflower was partially "eaten" away. I decided to snip it off with some scissors and bring it in. I got two more WOTD graphics done this evening. For September 6th and 7th. I work on the sunflower pod after a while. I got all of the seeds (except for a few in the center that did not seem ripe) removed and they are drying.
10:54p I have the heart-cloggers cooking. I helped Skip get his email fixed tonight. Not sure what the problem was, but I deleted his accounts and recreated them and they are working now. We worked out our response to the landlord on his proposed rent increase. We are very shocked by his suggestion since practically NO repairs have been done on the house. We live in a near slum condition. My bedroom leaks rain, the bathroom leaks water from the electrical outlets, the plumbing stinks (literally), the tile in the kitchen is coming up (I never mop any more for fear of dislodging more tiles!). The carpet was not that great when we moved in. Five years later, it is really bad. Anyway, the list goes on. I won't bore any potential readers of my journal with more detail. 11:08p The veggies are fried and the chicken is done. I had to have something NOT fried however, so I put on a pot of rice. Always a safe (and cheap) bet. 11:39p Like so many Americans, whether they are Native American, African American, Irish, Italian, or Polish American... we are all Americans and we are all still grieving over the horror that happened on this day in New York seven years ago. In recognition of this atrocity, I am making a special "Cherokee Graphic Word of the Day" commemorating this event and will post it here in my journal. My graphics program just crashed, so I have to start over, but ... I will create it and it will show below soon...
For supper I finally made some fried green tomatoes from some of Skip's home grown tomatoes. I also fried up some sweet potatoes and chicken thighs. I made a pot of rice to offset all the fried food. It was not the healthiest meal, but it was a good one!
FRIDAY - SEPTEMBER 12, 2008 2:40p I got up around 10:30a this morning. I should have gotten up earlier, but I just did not want to get out of bed. I did not have time to take a shower, so I electric shaved, sprayed my hair in place, and headed out to meet Skip for lunch. We ate at Pho Grand as planned. That is twice this week for me to eat there. I dropped him off back at work. All the bosses are gone today so he is at the top of the food chain. He has done so well in this job. I am very proud of him. I wish Mom and Dad were alive to see how well he has done. They would be pleased. I stopped at Good Will on the way home. I have not been in since they remodeled. I did not find anything I wanted to waste money on, so I walked down to the Family Dollar store and picked up some cheap cologne. Then I went by Shop & Save and bought beer. It's cheaper there than anywhere. 2:50p I am home now, and bored. I have things I need to do, on the computer, house work, and yard work, but I am not finding much motivation to get up and do any of it. 6:05p I picked Skip up from the train at about 4:45p. We went back to the Dollar Store and Block Buster. I picked up some oil (the car really needs fixing badly!). I also got some batteries for the house alarm sensors. I didn't get enough though. Once home, I finally found the motivation to get the lawn mowed. After that, I went out and harvested another batch of poke berries. Not sure what I will do with them, other than plant them, but I should sure have enough of them!
SATURDAY - SEPTEMBER 13, 2008 12:06a I just finished catching up all the WOTD graphics. That was quite a task. I am working on something for supper now. I have chicken thawing, but I think I will make left over fried green tomatoes and sweet potatoes. I did not cook them all yesterday. 12:35a I have had WAY too many beers and am going to go cook now. We will see how it goes! 1:13a I put the (thawed) chicken breast away. I am going to make an all vegetarian meal tonight. I am using left over batter for the tomatoes and sweet potatoes, mixed with jalapeρo, garlic and corn to make patties which I am frying up. We will see how it goes. 1:22a I have the food all cooked. Fried sweet potatoes, green onion, and (I will call them) corn fritters. Now I am not hungry. 6:16p I slept longer than I wanted to again, getting up around 11:30a I think. I made some tea, check email, then Skip and I went to Fairview Heights for our traditional every-other-Saturday meal. We went to Lotawata Creek again. That's about our third trip to this restaurant. We got there at about 1:20p. While waiting, a ketchup bottle got knocked off the table next to us and splatter, sending glass shard across the floor in several directions. The staff spent quite some time cleaning that up. As they were doing so, I saw a stack of plates get knocked over and at least one plate shattered on the floor. I commented to Skip that there seemed to be a back case of "the dropsies" going on in the place today. Finally, after nearly an hour, our food had still not arrived and we were starting to wonder why it was taking so long. Our waitress came out and very apologetically informed us that she had accidentally lost control of our tray and our food had crashed to the floor! Apparently, the dropsy fever had infect her too ... lol! Well, these things happen and what can you do. We had to keep waiting for the food to be re-made. It was well worth the wait. I did not spend as much as Skip, who got a steak, ribs and shrimp combination plate. But I got one of the Lotawata "fried pickle" burgers and it was HUGE!
I was not sure how to pick it up! Skip kept telling me to "push it down" or to "squeeze" it. I tried that. It was not "fluffy" ... it was solid and did not compress much at all. I first tried to cut off a slice and eat it with a for, though eating a burger with a knife and fork seems ludicrous. I studied the matter for a bit, while munching on the mountain of fries which I was dipping in a delicious chipotle mayonnaise mix. I finally slid my steak knife up under the burgersaurus and was able to get it into a position where I could grasp it with both hands. Of course, I could not exactly take a bite OF it, but rather take bites OUT of it. I ate somewhere between a quarter to a third of it and called for a takhomasak. Much to our surprise, the management was very considerate and apologetic for the accident with our food. They covered our bill! So, expecting to pay from $10-15.00 each, we left a generous $10 tip for the waitress. Accidents happen, and she was obviously very mortified by what happened. They treated us well, despite the problems. We left there and drove over to Belleville to look at the house that Skip has been looking at online. It sounded very promising, being in convenient walking distance of the train, two stories, with basement, a privacy fence, and a two-car detached garage. The picture on line was mostly "indeterminate," so we wanted to go get a look at it for ourselves. We were sadly disappointed.
8:09p Here it is, the end of Saturday. I only have one day left of my 5 days off. I have really enjoyed it! Even if it did start off with me being very sick. I did not do much, but that's okay. I can enjoy a few simple pleasures. I don't need much. A nice meal; a few laugh; some beers in the evening; and a few accomplishments (got some bills paid and the lawn mowed!) ... that's enough to make for a decent time off. 8:43p We heard someone screaming something outside a little bit ago. Skip went out to see was going on. There are all kinds of police cars down the street in front of Hobi's house. Skip was talking to someone who drove by and they said there was someone laying in the street. We have no clue what's going on. I took some pictures and a short video clip.
SUNDAY - SEPTEMBER 14, 2008 I got up around 7:30a this morning. Skip was up. He said something to me about the Fire Department being next door and people (media?) with cameras all over. He asked "what's going on?" ... and was told, "Nothing, sir!" Right. Several official vehicle, Fire Department, Police Department, cameras, and "nothing" is going on. That was more than a little insulting of the intelligence! I checked the garden this afternoon and found that that I have a couple of gourds growing. One is of substantial size, while the other is a small baby gourd. I did not have much hope for the gourds, but maybe I will have something to show after all! We learned later that someone had broken in to the house next to us and placed a Molotov cocktail in the kitchen! The occupants found it just in time. A few more minutes and it would have been to late. And there were four children sleeping in the bedroom. Not to mention the house was next door to us and could have spread! I still don't know what happened down in front of Hobi's house last night. I assume it was not related, but one never knows.
We went to South County this afternoon. First stop was Costco for gas. Gas was up to $3.57/gal and my tank only had about 3/4 of a gallon left. The total was over $57.00! That is the record amount for me ever to put in the tank. The next runner up was last June in the amount of $56.10.
After painfully filling the gas tank, we went into the store. We did not buy much. I bought some boneless-skinless chicken thighs ($14.53); some pork brisket ($8.36); and toilet paper ($18.88); for a total of $41.77. That seems high, but if I recall correctly, Skip just bought a shirt, some hamburger meat and cigarettes and spent over $60.00! Of course, at Costco one buys in quantity. In my case the chicken was 6 individual packs would which could make at least 2 meals a piece. The pork was in two packs which could each easily make 3 meals; and the toilet paper was not the cheapest purchase, but was the most economical with 30 rolls at .5 cents per square foot. The other packages were cheaper, but the price per square foot was much higher. So ... we should not have to worry about toilet paper for quite some time! From Costco, we went in search of some place to eat. We usually eat before shopping, but to day we shopped first. As a result, I kept wandering from one food sample stand to another. I had a some spicy grilled port brisket (the same meat I bought), some granola with a side of soy milk, a tacquito with guacamole dip, and some corn chips with a creamy chipotle sauce. I could have had a few more samples and we would not have had to spend any more money on lunch! I suggested to Skip that we should keep this in mind and make a practice of it! (And I don't think I am joking!). We did not go far before finding a Macaroni's Grill. I had not been to Macaroni's in some time. Skip agreed, and so we whipped into there parking lot and proceeded in.
Our hostess (Chrissy or Christy?) was very pretty, but quite dour. We both got the impression she would REALLY rather be somewhere or anywhere else, and were glad she would not be our waitress. Instead we got a very personable and charming black guy named Lionel. Macaroni's has a tradition of covering there tables with paper coverings and providing you with crayons to "doodle" all over the table to your heart's content. Lionel introduced himself while picking up a couple of crayons and neatly and rapidly wrote his name with two crayons. He presented us with a wine list (which we were not in the mood for, of course) while simultaneously writing "vino" on the table ... all of his writing was done upside-down and in reverse so WE could read it. Very impressive and entertaining. Skip was impressed and I think he was also impressed when I demonstrated the same skill to him (in cursive). I don't think he knew I could do that. I should have used both hands doing double-reverse, upside down, mirror images. I might need to practice that firs though.
10:48p I have some black rice cooking now. All the other food is done. 11:59p I am finally sitting down to eat. The roast is EXCELLENT!
MONDAY - SEPTEMBER 15, 2008 12:31a I've been watching the Heroes series. I think I just watched the last episode that I saw in TV before I lost track of the series. It was when Peter Petrelli comes into Suresh Mohindar's apartment looking for him and finds him "stuck" to the ceiling and then he is attacked by Sylar. They leave off with Peter screaming, blood dripping from his head, and a lock of bloody hair falling to the floor. I suspect the situation will change drastically and Sylar will find he will not be taking Peter's brain so easily! Meanwhile, I have finished eating ... and I am stuffed. Supper was great. Lunch will be good tomorrow. I should make a snack for Steve. 1:27a I watched the next episode. I think I remember seeing it, but just barely. I must be getting close to the part of the series where I lost track. I hope there are still episodes I did not see. Meanwhile, I am off to bed. Back to work again tomorrow (well... today actually). It was good to have five days off in a row. I am temporarily revitalized. It won't last long, but ... we take what we can get. 11:22a I am up again. Will be headed to work shortly. Back to the grind... I spent the entire day in floor support. It was intense. We were max capped with regular agents sitting in the floor support row. It was a grueling time until about 10:15p when it slacked off.
TUESDAY - SEPTEMBER 16, 2008 I went to bed early (for me), and got up at about 10:55a. 1:15p I am showered and nearly ready to head out for another day of fun at Convergys. I got the electric bill today. I have been very worried about it. Nearly $500 it was supposed to be paid by a public assistance program, but the last bill I got was over $500. I stuck my head in the sand and hoped for the best. Well, the bad new there is that this was a final notice in pink threatening cut-off. The good news is that it is under $200 which mean the public assistance did there thing and got a huge chunk of it paid. I think I can pay this amount. I "tried" to go on the phones today, since I was supposed to take calls until 7:00p, but they seem to have failed to put me in the phone queue and just sat there wondering why Mark was getting calls and I was not. Meanwhile, Steve was doing floor support and he was getting slammed and asked me to come up and help. So ... I did. However, around 4:00p Chris came over and said he had a job for me. He had me log out of the floor support and log into "Outbound Calls" ... and the had me log into an outbound call list. This was a list of people who had filled out a survey and had problems of some sort that they felt remained unresolved. I had three pages of of these backlogged calls and got them all done before 9:00p. I am flattered I am trusted to do this work, but I feel I am being taken advantage of at the same time. I am not paid more than any other agent who has been there as long as I have (in fact, I am probably paid less), yet I am doing this trusted and (presumably) important work. Hmm... whatever. I know I cannot expect to get anywhere in this organization. It's just not designed for it. I began reading the book that Jack sent to me tonight... the first of three books that is. "Clan of the Cave Bear". I have the movie, but never read the book. I am already finding it interesting.
WEDNESDAY - SEPTEMBER 17, 2008 3:52a I have only been home less than an hour. Another disaster struck on the way home tonight. I was driving down Hwy-157, nearly home, when I noticed an odd noise. Yep... it was my tire going flat! My right rear. I pulled off the road into the driveway of some kind of repair shop (I should have got the name!). I tried to change the tire, but I could only get two lug nuts loose. The other seem to be stripped. I could not see what I was doing very well, and my physical condition was not helping. I just could not physically change the tire. I was afraid this day would come. I think I could do it if I could get the lug nuts loose, but I can't. I had to walk home and that was 2-4 miles, at 2:00a in the dark. By the time I got home, my back was in indescribable pain and my hand had swollen up so that I could hardly move my fingers. The swelling went down quickly, but I suspect the back pain was only a sample of more to come. I don't know what I am going to do about the car tomorrow. If I can just get the spare tire on it, I can get it somewhere and have a new tire put on. I left a note in the window saying something like, "EMERGENCY SITUATION - FLAT TIRE - WILL BE BACK IN DAY LIGHT TO FIX" and then put my name and phone number. 1:05p Hobi gave us a ride to the car and we got 2 new tires for $30 each. Fortunately, "Dave," the shop owner appreciated my leaving a note and had no problem with me leaving the car there. He even helped us get the wheel off. We would never have done it without his tools. Mainly because one lug nut was almost completely stripped.
I had one tire put on the rim and the car is drivable again. Now were are off to Belleville to look at houses. The tire is slightly too big. When I hit a bump, it rubs the wheel well. Damn... can't ANYTHING work right? Oh well, it is minor and should not be an issue. I hope. 7:26p This has been a LONG day. We looked and three houses.
We looked at this house earlier this month, but we were not with the Realtor and could not view the interior. We agree that this would be a great home as far as location and space goes, but it will require massive repairs before it can even be legally occupied. If the repairs could be made, then this would be an awesome home!
This was the most "livable" house we looked at. The amount of space was not as great, but the condition of the house was excellent. The kitchen was small. The basement not too bad. There is an add on room that looks like it was done professionally.
This house has great potential, but they want too much for it. The interior is in shambles, part way through remodeling, which appears to have come to a halt. The bathroom is no good. The bedrooms very small. The basement is large and has brick walls. Very spacious. There is a separate two-car garage (though entrance to the house is external only). Best of all, there is a separate cottage in the back which has great (high quality, tongue-in-groove) wood paneling, a gas (simulated wood) stove and could be rented out. After our visit to 19 Kansas, we decided to go for a bite to eat. We stopped and a small place to eat called the Hy-Ho Restaurant. It seemed quaint and very "Mom and Pop-ish." We opened up the front door and I was immediately assaulted by the smell of backed up sewage. Our real estate person seemed not to be able to smell it, but Skip and I were both about to gag. We pretended not to notice. Our sense of smell is a bit more acute than "the average bear" ... so we are used to pretending not to smell things!
So, we finally headed home. I was exhausted. I only got about 4-5 hours sleep last night, and that was fitful with worry over the car. We stopped by Schnuck's and I picked up some butter beans. I made a huge pot of butter beans with a piece of smoked meat Skip bought and some cubed ham pieces (also provided by Skip). I made a pan of corn muffins to go with this. I have not had any of it yet, other than a couple of cups of bean broth.
THURSDAY - SEPTEMBER 18, 2008 12:32a It has been a BUSY day! I am exhausted. I think I will get a bowl of beans and a corn muffin and watch another episode of "Lost in Space." 1:16a I am full. Off to put up the food, then to bed. 11:30a I should be well rested after 10 hours in bed, but I think the last day with all the walking has caught up with me. I called in late today. I hate to do that, but I was just so exhausted. I only spent a short time on Floor Support, then I got moved back to Customer Survey Callbacks again. Most of the customers I called did not answer. Then I reached a lady who kept me on the phone for nearly an hour. I went back on floor support around 9:00p and did not get to lunch until after 11:00p. Ren came in a bit late tonight. The poor thing had a wreck on the way to work, had to get her car towed home, and was on the verge of tears. I felt very bad for her.
FRIDAY - SEPTEMBER 19, 2008 2:34a I got home "on time" tonight. Until now, most of my evening (ie, "morning") has been spent chatting with Jack. It was very nice to spend some time with him. Now I need to try to get at least ONE of my WOTD graphics done. 3:48a The graphic is not going to happen. I should be going to bed by 4:00a and I have not even fixed third-meal. 3:56a I have some roast pork and Normandy veggies on the stove. I am going to just sit back and watch the next episode of Lost in Space for now. 10:44p I had promised Marty to get a copy of the XP disc to him in the mail today. I discovered I did not have any CD-R's ...so I had to go buy some. (Another unexpected expense). I got them, and attempted to make a copy of the disc for him, but the computer got locked up. I restarted the computer and (as expected) it would not boot up. So ... I spent about a half hour sitting in the living room reading my "Clan of the Cave Bear book. I am to the point where they have located their new cave and realize that Ayla deserves some credit. After giving the computer some time, managed to get the CD's copied and them put in an envelope, then took the package to the Post Office. That was another $1+. Minor, but it all counts. I then drove back to Schnuck's... but before getting out of the car, I decided to drive back up to Shop-n-Save. Skip called me while I was there at 3:37p and said he would be arriving at Schnuck's shortly. So I checked out and drove back to Schnuck's. I fiddled with my fuse box while waiting. My blinkers have not worked since the flat tire. I made no progress there. I will have to continue with no signals until I can figure this out. At home tonight, I cooked some spicy peanuts, and got the past week's worth of WOTD graphics done. I tried to work on the Cherokee Arts graphic, but it is very confusing and I set it aside for now. 11:20p I don't know for sure what I am doing for supper, but I have some rice cooking, and some chicken breasts split. I will figure something out from there. Meanwhile, I am going to watch some more of Lost in Space (disc 4).
SATURDAY - SEPTEMBER 20, 2008 1:14a I am off to bed. My creative stuffed chicken was... pretty good. I slept very solid last night. Got up later than intended, as usual, around 11:30a. I got some clothes ready for the rest of the week, fixed something to eat, showered, shaved, checked email and watch an episode of Titus, then gave Skip a ride to the MetroLink ..AND got to work slightly early. I am about one quarter of the way through the Clan of the Cave Bear novel.
SUNDAY - SEPTEMBER 21, 2008 3:23a I just finished watching THE episode from "Lost in Space" that was one of my favorite and constituted a part of my childhood memories.
This was the episode called "Return from Outer Space," where Will Robinson managed to "matter transmit" back to Earth on a maser beam. It was so fun to watch this again. Here I am, almost 51 years old and I am watching the same episode that I probably last saw in the mid-60's. I could not remember the details of the episode, for the most part, but the scene where he beamed down onto the snow covered roof has been etched in my mind all these years. I probably watched this when it was first aired on December 29, 1965.
MONDAY - SEPTEMBER 22, 2008 1:44a I left work about 15 minutes early. I was having some stomach cramps. I stopped and put $23 of gas in the tank on the way home. The cramps have subsided. I am working on my graphic for today... "Junebug" (doga-ᏙᎦ). I got up around 11:45a. Showered, checked email, and made some tomato soup with a few leftovers in it, then watched another episode of Titus. Got to work just a few minutes late. I took a few calls, then was asked to help on floor support. But then I got pulled from that to do more Customer Survey callbacks. (I found out that I am one of only 2 people they have doing this!). Later I went back on FS again. Here and there I read some more of my book. The Clan is getting ready to go on a mammoth hunt and despite Broud's protests, Ayla is going to go with them. I thought it was such a wild coincidence that I have been getting into watching the old Lost in Space series, as mentioned in my entry yesterday. I just watch one of my all time favorite episodes. Then today at work, Mark Scherer brought in a copy of "Juxtapoz" (art and culture magazine). In it was work by an artist, Eric Joiner, who does painting of "fifties" style robot and ... donuts! I loved the picture he did called "Fall Outing" with the Lost-in-Space robot and a "mini" Robbie-the-Robot.
TUESDAY - SEPTEMBER 23, 2008 2:04a Home again. Day 3 of 4 is over. ONE more to go before my slow period hits... and then the cycle starts over. After getting home and scanning the "Fall Outing" picture from Mark's magazine, I wrote a long email to Eric Joiner, proclaiming myself a "new fan."
5:11a I've stayed up too late. I made some leftover butterbeans, and some baked chicken thighs. The beans will probably wreak havoc tomorrow... but they were quite tasty tonight! I made more of the same for lunch tomorrow, but I should be okay since I do not work the next day. I got a response from Eric Joiner this morning! That was cool. He sent me another of his works of the B9 Robot from Lost in Space..
I did not feel very good this morning and went in late. I almost made it through the entire 4 days stint without being late. After getting to work, I just plugged right into the survey call backs and got them down to just 2 left on the page, and I had left voice mail for both of those customers. Skip called me at work and I surreptitiously answered my phone in case it was an emergency, though this is against company policy. He was made about the sink being clogged up and was taking it out on me. This left me upset and in a bad mood for the remainder of the evening. He has demanded I get a plumber out tomorrow.
WEDNESDAY - SEPTEMBER 24, 2008 After getting home, I spent most of the evening chatting with Jack online. I downloaded the HDR program and he showed me how to work with it. Here is my first creation...
I tried pouring some boiling water down the drain tonight to clear the clog. That did not work. Once it cooled down I added some Drain-O. That did not work either. After Jack went to bed, I watched some more of Lost in Space. Part 2 of "The Keeper." I did not bother with making supper.
I got up around 1:00p, relieved to be able to sleep in and not worry about going to work. However, I still needed to worry about getting the plumbing issue resolved. I called Blake and after several phone calls back and forth between us and a couple of plumbing agencies, we got G&L Services scheduled to come out. They had to climb up on the roof and run a snake in from there to clear the clog, but it only took them a few minutes and they were done. 5:07p The plumbers just left a few minutes ago. The sink is back to normal. 5:39p I just tried to do some cleaning up in the kitchen ... and the sink is clogged again. I am calling Blake. 5:43p I spoke to Blake and the called Gary (of G&L Service). There going to be back tomorrow. What a pain. 6:45p I feel a little better. I went to the store and stopped by Rally's and got a couple of burgers and fries. I had not eaten hardly a thing since "lunch" yesterday and was so hungry I felt sick. I fell much better now. 10:52p I've been dabbling with MySpace, FlickR, and FaceBook for the last couple of hours. I am now going to do an experiment with cooking some pork ... using a white sage wrap around. This is an experiment. I hope I have enough foil for what I have envisioned... I took a picture of my one and only surviving and thriving gourd tonight...
THURSDAY - SEPTEMBER 25, 2008
6:55p I read more of the Clan of the Cave Bear today. Ayla is now accepted as "The Woman who Hunts," much to the chagrin of Broud. He has repeatedly raped her now, which is not considered a crime by Clan law, and now she is pregnant. Of course, their understanding of what causes pregnancy deals with spirits and totems, so they are not sure how Ayla got pregnant since she has no mate. I've been working all evening on a "Lost in Space" versus "Spirituality" video. Lots of fun!
FRIDAY - SEPTEMBER 26, 2008 1:35a I have made some yummy shish-kabobs made of chicken thigh chunks, zucchini, yellow squash, onion, 'bread & butter' pickles, and bell pepper. I've made a pot of rice to go with it, and smothered it all in juices from the baking pan, Sriracha sauce and fish sauce. It's great! 2:30a I am stuffed and off to bed. Going to read a bit first and then crash... 12:17p I just got up. I kind of over slept. I had disturbing dreams all night.
SATURDAY - SEPTEMBER 27, 2008 I struggled out of bed around 11:00a, giving me only about 6 hours sleep. I was not feeling very well. I went straight to the kitchen and put water on for tea. I cleaned up the dishes while the water came to a boil. Of course, Skip wanted to go out as soon as I could get motivated. I wanted to go to, I just don't feel too well.
The weather was
beautiful today.
Skip and I went
to Arcelia's (over near Union Station), a Mexican Restaurant.
 2001 Park Ave Ste A St Louis, MO 63104-2538 Phone: (314) 231-9200
I ordered the "Mediano"
lunch platter with beans, rice
enchilada,
burrito and a taco.
 Mi comida consistiσ de arroz, frijoles, un burrito,
un enchilada (ambos cubiertos con queso), y un taco...
‘Eran muy deliciosos!
It was very
good, but with tip it cost me $20 ... which was really more
than I needed to
pay for a simple (if tasty) Mexican lunch.
We ate outside
and tossed chips to the sparrows.
 Un gorriσn toma una tostadita que lanzamos a ιl.
I tried tossing
them a bit of tomato,
but they looked
at me like I was crazy an did not go near it.
Then we saw a
rabbit come out of a hedge to nibble on some grass.
 Un conejo mira a escondidas del seto mientras que estamos comiendo.
We tried
tossing it some of the tomato, but we just scared it and it ran
off.
Of course... I
had my camera in hand all day.
We then went
over to my friend, JR's, to work on another friend (Marty's)
computer.
The computer
work did not go well... I did not expect it would. Skip was working
on that.
I spent some
time in the back yard taking some pictures
and feeding the
mosquitoes!
 8:47p I was responding to an email to Diana and decided my response to her was better put right into my journal. So I will just send her my journal entry (which she induced me to write) instead! I've spent the entire evening on the computer composing only 2 or 3 lengthy and detailed email (to Steve, Diana, and at least one online group member). Actually... I spent about 45 minutes watching episode 23 of Heroes. I think I have finally hit the point where I have not seen the series and it is all new to me. YAY!
SUNDAY - SEPTEMBER 28, 2008 12:45a I just put on some chicken thigh meat with vegetables & seasonings to cook. 1:19a I just finished watching VOLUME I of Heroes. That last episode was new to me. Then I got to see the beginning of VOLUME II. OMG! Now I am totally hooked again!! I can't wait to get the next DVD. This series is going to be WAY too short! Damn. I am frothing at the bit to see more. I was disappointed that this most recent disc only had one episode, but I guess it was because it was the end of the first Volume. Sylar died. Officer Parkman looked pretty bad... I don't know if he will make it. The Petrelli brothers flew off into the air and appeared to blow up ... but we can't count them out completely yet. Peter may blow up, fall to the ground, and still regenerate (he has that healing power he absorbed from Clara). Nathan may have been able to release him and fly to safety before he blew. There are many possibilities, so I have not written them off. I think Sylar is pretty much dead for sure though. Oh ... and then there is D.L. ... he was shot, but I think he will live. He only got one bullet, whereas Matt (Officer Parkman) got about five bullets in him ... but they were telekinetically projected at him by Sylar shortly before Hiro killed him. Maybe the bullets did not have as severe of an effect not having been actually "fired" from a gun. So many possibilities! I love this series!
10:57a I just finish getting my roots done. This is the first time since Jeff did them over a month ago, and it was way over due. 11:56a Sunday is nearly gone. I just cooked up the last of Skip's green onions from his garden. I have some pork thawing. Not sure what I am going to do overall.
MONDAY - SEPTEMBER 29, 2008 Happy FIRST Birthday to my great-niece, Kaia Shayce! 12:01a I am going back to watching Heroes again. Skip has gone to bed. 12:58a I am again watching NEW episode of HEROES. And I must say I LOVE IT! This is the GREATEST series ever. I don't want it to end. I know it will... and I want to drag it out as long as I can. 2:24a I have to go to bed. I don't want to, since I will have to get up again in the morning and go to work, but ... we gotta do, what we gotta do. 12:33a I over slept this morning. I just could not get up. I was too tired. I did not sleep well because of these damn mosquito bites. I am not sure how many I even have, but the ones on the back of my hands are the worst. Especially the back of my left wrist. (I killed that one at least!). I SAW A ROACH IN THE KITCHEN THIS MORNING! They're probably looking for a new home since our neighbors moved out. This is NOT a good sign! When I got to work, they were handing out T-Shirts in the break room along with "Comcast" cupcakes. I got a T-Shirt. The "Comcast" printed on the cupcake was edible. It tried to peel it off at first. What a neat trick that was! I did survey call backs for a bit today, and mostly did floor support all day. It was brutal. I got home and finished watching Disc 2 of Season 2 of the Heroes Series. It's ALL new to me now. This is great. I dread finishing them all and not having more to watch... that's how good they are! (To me at least...)
TUESDAY - SEPTEMBER 30, 2008 I have not been on the computer as much as usual the last couple of days. My email is a bit behind, my Cherokee word graphics are about 4 days behind, my journal has not been quite as up-to-date as usual. In part because I need to spend some time away from the computer. I've been keeping the kitchen cleaner (especially after seeing that damned roach!). I've been reading a lot again for a change, and I've been entranced by the Heroes series. At work, I was on the phones for the first 2 or 3 hours, then I went on floor support. I was heavy again, but not as bad as yesterday since I had help from Chris and Steve for most of the night. In my few slack times & break, I was able to finish off the last few pages of Clan of the Cave Bear. Great book! I really enjoyed it. (Thanks Jack!). I have now begun "Valley of the Horses" which picks up where the last book left off. I am only a few pages into it. Meanwhile, out in the world, the economic crisis is in all the news. I am rarely moved to be bother by the financial news, but this is the worst economic crisis in American history! The first attempt to "fix" this with a $700 billion package (which we the taxpayers will end up paying for) flopped... only making matters worse. A revision of that is now going before the Senate. Even if it passes, the situation is dire. |
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