Watertown, NY, USA . "Public Square" (vintage, date unknown) but the monument is honoring veterans of the American Civil War so the date of the image is late 1800s

Saturday, July 31, 2004

today has just slipped away, i really would be hard pressed to think of one thing that i really accomplished.....i had planned to spend most of the morning in the yard, mowing. trimming, weeding....an such....but the weather...well the weather was damp and dreary and it rained like the dickens several times and even if it hadn't i probably would not have accomplished much because my arthritis has been giving me fits all day....basically a day i could have willingly cancelled

it's a grey,gloomy,dreary day and my mood fits the weather, i woke up with my arthritis really giving me fits and mood is pretty low, i had left some yard work for today and probably should have checked the weather forecast before i did....but i does now appear to be clearing a little....
but i am well rested and my stress level is down...i just wished i felt better....

Friday, July 30, 2004

got up just a little after 8 , didn't sleep quite as well last night as i have been but felt good this morning, got right out and went out to play golf, forecast was for rain this afternoon, and hot and humid so i figured if i got out early it would be better, the course i played is just abit from the lake so there was a nice breeze and was a lot of fun......
toward evening it just rained cats and dogs with heavy thunder and lightening but has cleared a bit now but is still quite humid....i feel good....i feel rested....i needed the time away from work....still have about 3+ weeks to take but i think i'll wait until this fall......maybe take a bit of a trip.....i'd like to return to gettysburg...spent about a week there a little over two years ago and just scratched the surface of what i'd like to see.....it's about a 6 hour drive south of here so not something you can do as a day trip......have given some thought to someday moving a bit further south, southern Pa or maryland to get out of the worst of the winter, but as virtually my whole family lives in the watertown area probably never will......if you follow this http://troll54ny.tripod.com/trollsattic2/index.html link you'll find pics i took on my first trip to the battlefield

Thursday, July 29, 2004

as anyone who reads this from time to time ( a very small number but what the hey it's a good lead in line) but i digress, as the one person who reads this from time to time knows ( that being me of course).....but i digress....oh to heck with it
hits from search engines drive me nuts, probably because too many people either do not know or forget to place there inquiries in quotes and therefore the engine will search and find where i've used 3 different words in total unrelated ways and viola a hit....well i got a crazy one today, seems as if about a year plus ago while talking about the state of my warehouse i commented that it looked like i had stocked it with a manure spreader.......you guessed it i got a hit today for somebody searching on manure spreader, and it was like the 7 or 8 hit on the search......and they say search engines aren't random.....
i just realized the best part of the gag ( this was added after i ran spell check), i had misspelled spreader...as spredder and so did the guy searching.....ooops......



been and interesting day so far, have done little, played a bunch of an older PC game, mini-car racing, and had lunch with my daughter and her husband, he's got a few days off, took them for the same reason i did, tired and stressed out, daughter on the other hand is a school teacher so she is on her summer vacation....had a great time and a very good lunch.....a locally owned place in the mall, specializes in sandwiches......you can basically close your eyes...point at the menu and not go wrong....had a fried haddock fish sandwich and some onion rings......lovely..........

Discovery Channel :: News :: Ultrasonic Squirrel a Mammalian First
not earth shaking by any means but the type of science related article that strikes my fancy
(trollie wanders in....rats...rats.....i've got the day off....4 in a row actually....today was going to be a kick around the house and be lazy day....play a bit of blogshares ( well if truth be told play a lot of blogshares) so you guessed it...site is down.....not that i'm complaining....well maybe a bit...but site has been much more stable then before and they are doing a lot of work to up grade it....and i'm all for that but
WHY TODAY
(sigh)......trollie wanders out)
 

Wednesday, July 28, 2004

i'm off for the rest of the week, the one thing i really had to do today, really the only reason i didn't take today off as well was a 20' container that needed to be loaded and it was a bit tricky....and the driver was already there when i got to work, finished up a few odds and ends and i was gone...
i'm really looking forward to the time off....i really have nothing planned...may play golf one day if the weather is good but i just need the rest....i'm both physically and emotionally drained and i just need the rest.....3 days without fear of alarm clock...
i was digging through the TV cabinet last night and found some vcr tapes of old star trek episodes, doomsday machine and balance of terror, which i've watched the last two days, along with city on the edge of forever they have to be my favorite episodes, haven't watched them in years....if i could only find my tape of the immunity syndrome all would be well.....


Tuesday, July 27, 2004

had one of those truck drivers today that really drive me nuts, most drivers will spend the hour +/- it takes me to load a load, taking a nap or doing paper work, or just watching and chatting from time to time, but every so often you hit one (like today) who is in and out of the truck and looking over your shoulder as it were the entire time, now i grant you that there are some klutz lift operators who you probably need to watch.....but the trollie ain't one of them......and that type tacks time onto the loading because i can never be too sure where they are....
have been in a "fog" all day and i think i'll call it an early night....looks like i can get the rest of the week off after tomorrow.......

it's morning,it's raining, and i've picked a grey font color for a reason, it's the best illustration of my mood, i feel old this morning, older then i ever thought i'd feel, older then i ever wanted to feel,

Monday, July 26, 2004

an easy day at work, got inventory done, and a few odd jobs finished and took the afternoon off, have solid days tomorrow and wednesday but looks like i can get the rest of the week of, i really need that, i'm both physically and mentally waxed and need the brake.....
spent a good part of the afternoon doing some cleaning around the house, a little laundry, and some other things....and then just relaxed......
i've got some other things that need doing in the house and the yard which i hope to take care of when i'm off....
big TV night, monster garage and american chopper, i try not to miss either, really enjoy them....i'm not creative in that way but watching it is neat......
been an interesting day on blogshares....spent some time on #blogshares, the IRC channel, which as usual was a gas....time to say good nite

Sunday, July 25, 2004

a nice day, a bit on the cool side, never reached 70*F, and low humidity, but it was nice for a change....hectic as all sundays are but a good day.....had dinner at my brothers for dad's 89 birthday.....good day.....


Saturday, July 24, 2004

spent two hours at work today and got the bare minimum done on inventory, actually could have finished what was left in less then an hour but just did not have the will, but will have time to finish first thing monday morning, and all the counts are done, i just have to merge a few sheets.....
went out for breakfast....now i am not a breakfast eater by nature....except on rare days i never have anything in the morning...just cannot stand the idea of food when i'm only half awake...but occasionally i get a craving for french toast...and since i never buy bread suitable for making french toast, if i feel like it. i'll go out....had a leisurely breakfast and then came back and watched the tour de france....
have spent the day resting and feel really good, back has been good for the last two days, but i really have been watching myself as far as avoiding things that would aggravate it....
am going to my brother and sister-in-law's tomorrow for dinner, my dad's birthday is this coming week....he will be the ripe old age of 89, and still in pretty good shape for a man of his years....




Friday, July 23, 2004

it has been overcast most of the day, but some cooler, and a little less humid, work actually wasn't too bad, and i should be able to finish up in just a couple of hours tomorrow, but every time i say that, something....anything goes wrong and i get hung for longer then i expect.....
decided to cook my weekly trollie stew tonight, as it was cooler and it wasn't going to heat the house up to the point of me melting....have decided that the main meat that works the best is veal neck, which i can almost always get at one of the local markets.....this batch turned out great...added some carrots which i haven't used before and i think they will be there from now on....only problem was i thought i had more potatoes then i actually had...ah well....it is pot luck anyhow.....
have just finished watching american casino on discovery, i've really got pretty hooked on that show....and the channel for that matter....i probably watch discovery more then any other of the bazillion channels on the cable.....althought with the coverage of the tour de france i've watched a bunch of oln this week......

Thursday, July 22, 2004

so i'm sitting in the yard, enjoying the cool evening breeze and a beverage and i see a movement out of the corner of my eye, and there on the other side of the bird bath, maybe 5 feet away is this squirrel checking me out, now i realize that i am a nut, and i was sitting under a tree, but at 190 Lbs. i think i'm a bit large for a grey squirrel to carry off and bury in the ground, although there are those who know me that probably wished he could (hehe)

it truly has been a strange week, everything seems to be sliding to the end of the day or the end of the week or even into next week.....today both jobs that really needed to be done and inbound and an outbound both cam together around noon, i never got to lunch until almost 2:30, at which point it really seemed almost crazy to eat lunch, other then the fact that i was very hungry...
when i went to the other warehouse about 11:30 it was hot humid and not pleasant, when i left it was totally overcast, in fact it seemed as if we were in a cold, very hazy....rained like the dickens for a few hours and is hot, humid and not pleasant again....scrapped my dinner plans, and got cold cuts and made hoagies.....just was in no mood to add to the heat of the day by turning on the stove...i plan to grab a beverage and see if i can find a cool breeze in the yard.......

Wednesday, July 21, 2004

in one way today was a very easy day at work, but everything seems to be sliding towards the end of the week, and with this week a month end inventory week that's not good, not only is everyone trying to get everything out the last couple of days but we have inventories that need to be taken. so it looks like i may get stuck with a load of things to finish up on saturday, the only good thing is that production has the day off so i will be working in a "vacuum"....no distractions.
did grocery shopping tonight after work and waited until almost 8 after it had cooled down a little to mow the grass, back feels good tonight, and i feel well but tired....it's late for me to still be up on a work night but i watched the tape delay coverage of the tour de france....i missed the first few stages because i couldn't find it....here you have the chance of a guy from the US winning it and the only real coverage on a day to day basis is deep in the cable on the OLN network.....(trollie shakes head)......maybe one of the greatest athletes of all time and one of the greatest sporting events and he/it are relegated to OLN.....sad.....


Tuesday, July 20, 2004

i had hoped to be able to take thursday and friday off, i need the rest but schedule changed and it looks like i have a heavy day both tomorrow and thursday which will probably mean catch up on friday.....in any case it really doesn't make any sense to just take the one day...what i need is and extended rest......back was ok all day but is just a little stiff right now, but i guess that is to be expected.....
rehearsal really went well tonight but with either standing or sitting on a stool for an hour plus it did take a toll on the back....
http://blogshares.com has been crazy today, some new features have been added and it has caused a bit of a stir. if you've never checked it out go over and take a look.....
phone just rang, a wrong number....have you ever noticed that wrong numbers either come when you right in the middle of something and must make a dash for the phone or you asleep and it wakes you up.....must be one of the laws controlling wrong numbers


Monday, July 19, 2004

it's been another mixed bag of a day, sunny most of the day, but hot and humid again, was able to take a 1/2 day vac which was a good thing because even though i feel pretty good, my back is still a bit tender, as the week is shaking out, i should be able to take thursday and friday off completely.....i need the extended time away.....if all goes well i plan to take a week or so in the fall, its easier for me to get away because we are slow that time of year, and i plan on really getting away....going away for a few days and just getting outa here.....
still need to cut the grass but have been unwilling to put my back to that test....hopefully I'll get to it within the next couple of days.....
my poor cats are being affected by the heat worse then i am i think, they have found the coolest part of the house and basically camped out there for the last 3 days, unfortunately it's in the hall between my bed and the john.....i nearly stepped on one last night i one of my nightly trips.....they must remember that i have poor night vision.........

Sunday, July 18, 2004

very hot and humid today, really had a very noisy thunder and lightening storm, with some heavy rain late afternoon, and it's just very hot and humid again this evening.....because i live in an area that gets very cold in the winter, i just don't tolerate the hot humid weather, which is not that common in these climes....
back feel much better and actually i feel great if i could cool off a little....

Saturday, July 17, 2004

one good thing is that somewhere along the line blogger has worked out the deal with the auto-ping of weblogs....it used to be a bit hit or miss but it seems to be working all the time now.....until i fail to check it that is....remember just because your paranoid doesn't mean that they are not actually out to get you.........


i am still bothered by the backache i had yesterday, have taken it very easy today and it's some better but still is bothering me....which ticks me off....this is the first day all week it hasn't rained and i really need to cut the grass, but my mower is quite heavy and not self-propelled, and i have a fairly hilly lawn and didn't what to take the chance of aggravating the back....
actually got in and out of work this morning without any hassle, other then the intra-plant email was not working, so i'l have to remember to talk to a few people on monday about somethings...
made my weekly pot of what i've decided to call "Trollie Stew", mental note to self, when using fresh sausage do not put in bottom of pot, skin has a tendency to stick to the bottom of the pot.....caught it in time but...oy vey......tried a combination of pork,veal and hot sausage and it is very good......really no recipe....just meat, potatoes,onions,cabbage,celery,green beans and noodles and simmer the crap out of them, season to taste.....oh and garlic.....you never know when you may meet a vampire.....



Friday, July 16, 2004

the day actually ran fairly smoothly, we did have a minor hangup with a truckload but nothing major, but whether i pulled something or just the result of a busy week my back is bothering me tonight, i do have a curved spine and so i am prone to backache from time to time, and it does tend to flare when i'm tired which i am....need to go in for a couple of hours tomorrow but no big deal....
had some pasta and meat balls for supper tonight, a buttered roll and one of my favorite salads, yesterday i chopped cucumber,tomato, and onion, salt and pepper and balsamic vinegar and put it in a covered dish in the frig for 24 hours......ok i know you have to love sour to like it but then i do.....
needed to get out for a while so went out, took a drive, air conditioner on and got an ice cream, feel really good tonight (except for the back) and as relaxed as i have in a long time....
 

Thursday, July 15, 2004

i'm trying to decided which font and color to use, one of the problems i have reading blogs is that at my age my eyesight isn't what it might be, and certain font sizes and colors really make it hard for me to read, and i just want to see what changes are possible with the new setup

its raining again, rats, this has been a very wet late spring and summer, actually very unusual because normally july is dry as a bone, everything in the garden is growing well which is nice, but so is the grass......
got to work today and realized we were shipping a container that i still had pallets to build for, well my clerk and i busted are arses and got them done just as the driver pulled into the yard..oy vey....
took the afternoon off and have just vegged and played some blogshares...
they have installed some new features into blogger and i am playing around a bit with them, a choice of font........font color........and size.......
not much happening....i live a pretty boring life....but i guess if i could i'd probably chose to anyhow

Wednesday, July 14, 2004

got a good nights sleep, for a change, and felt good this morning, first 4 hours nothing seemed to go right at work, got everything done, but not without a hassle, then spent virtually the entire afternoon on the computer trying to make heads or tails of the resin schedule, production schedule has changed drastically partial due to the conversion of two machines to a different material, so had way too much of one on order and not enough of the other, but do have it back in order now, but it's apt to have to be fine tuned a little, we've had a very busy year, and so there have been a few unforeseen events but at least for now i think i've got all my ducks in a row.....

Tuesday, July 13, 2004

the server was back up at work, apparently not only did the main drive fail but the system that was supposed to change over to the mirror drive also malfunctioned...typical
any ways my clerk and i spent a good part of the day working to get the inventory and shipping data up to the present in the machine, one of the things about that is in order to do it smoothly and in the most time saving way it really needs to be done in a certain order, and that always causes a free problems because of course there are people waiting to get they parts back up to speed as well so everyone would like the things that they need done first, obviously an impossible task, but it went reasonably well....
had a nice chat tonight with someone i haven't seen in about 20 years....hasn't changed much except he's a lot older....but then so am i
feel good tonight.....but still am a little worn down....

Monday, July 12, 2004

got a good night's sleep last night but awoke feeling pretty low, congestion from the cold really had me down, got to work and found out that the server was still down and probably wasn't going to be up until this evening, so got done what was necessary and came home....best choice....because i now feel 100% better.....

Sunday, July 11, 2004

i have been having a little trouble falling asleep lately but last night, i went to bed just before midnight and then just got up ay 1:15 because i was just wasting my time, finally got back to bed and to sleep about 2:30, and then woke up at 7, have felt like crap most of the day, hopefully will manage to get some sleep tonight, work tomorrow.....
i've been so out of it today that i doubt i could remember what i did if my life depended on it......really have spent the day in a fog and to boot i think i'm coming down with a cold....
(/gloomy trollie)

Saturday, July 10, 2004

quiet day, very relaxing, worked a couple of hours this morning on an inbound, and collected numbers but server is still down, so couldn't do any computer dumps, the longer it's down the more backlogged we'll get....nuts
cook my pot of stew/soup/boiled dinner for the week, turned out great....subbed veal and lamb for the usual beef, and since it seems to go well also put some fresh green beans into the mixed.....but left the usual tomato paste out, though that it would masked the flavor of the veal/lamb..
just a relaxing day.....

Friday, July 9, 2004

Despite not feeling well last night, and not getting a real good night's sleep i felt ok this morning, that is until i got to work, apparently sometime last night the hard drive on the server went kaput, i had a bunch of things i was planning to do today and they all involved the computer system....rats.....word is that it should be back on line monday but even at that it really cripples my dept. because all are orders, paper work, etc is computer generated.....
i had some frozen breaded shrimp in the freezer and decided to have that for dinner, with a salad, well aggie my one cat has show in the past a dear love for said breaded shrimp, i think she ate 5 or 6 of them....breading and all, and then i wonder why she weighs 18 lbs.
i have an inbound load that should get in sometime early tomorrow morning and i've made arrangements to meet the driver at 8 AM to unload, normally we don't ship/receive on saturday but i'm running pretty close to out on the product, it's a recycle plastic and i had to wait until the last minute to ship the scrap out because i was short on the scrap, problem is we run the virgin on one line and the scrap on another line and the use rates don't always match up....

Thursday, July 8, 2004

another damp rainy day, i felt pretty bad this morning, thought about calling in sick, but knew there was nothing planned for the PM so went in figuring to take the afternoon off, .....wrong.....couple of things came up and i stayed....felt decent by evening...i really think it's the weather that's got me down....mowed the lawn....it's needed it for the last couple of days but really has been too wet to cut, dried off enough this afternoon so that i could cut it....just got finished and got called back into work....second time this week...rats....
i think i'm coming do with a cold so looks like it's a job for tea,honey and lemon...the old remedies seem to work best on me,,,,maybe because i'm old......

Wednesday, July 7, 2004

it's rained hard, on and off all day, had quite a thunder and lightening storm this afternoon, felt pretty rocky this AM, and then got soaked while loading a truck, and that just made me feel worse, had the chance so took the afternoon off, i still have like 4 and 1/2 weeks of vacation to use up and although i probably will take a week or two off, and really prefer to take 1/2 days....did my grocery shopping, didn't need much....couldn't find a cut of soup beef for my weekly pot but found some lamb and veal neck bones with a fair amount of meat on so will throw those in instead, but think i'll leave the tomato paste out, may not use cabbage either, see if maybe i can find some fresh green beans, but probably will just stick to the usual other than the meat....
have really not felt well all day so will probably try to make an early night of it....

Tuesday, July 6, 2004

man i knew i was tired last night, but i actually slept right through until the alarm this morning, it's been months since i've slept a whole night with out waking at some point, felt really bad this morning but made it to work and felt pretty good by days end, had some eggplant and garlic bread for supper, i'm by no means a veggie but i really don't have to or even want meat at every meal, and just finished supper and got called back into work, then rehearsal, i'm really tired but feel pretty good, but i need rest....

Monday, July 5, 2004

it's late, and i'm tired and a bit sore but it's been a good day, i slept in and then just kicked around this morning, this afternoon i went and helped my daughter and her husband lay so patio stones, there were 2x2's and about 50 lbs a piece and my back is feeling every ounce but it really turned out nice, they still have a little landscaping to do to blend it in to the surrounding area but it looks good, have taken it easy tonight and i off to bed

Sunday, July 4, 2004

a nice quiet, relaxing day, had a reduced schedule for a sunday and have just used the day to relax.....other then trying to burn the house down, that is, i put water on to boil to make ice tea and got distracted and let the pot boil dry, caught it in time but what a smell....anyhow other then that it has been an uneventful day...for which i am pleased.....

Saturday, July 3, 2004

interesting day, awoke at 8 AM, latest i've slept in months, decided to go out for breakfast, i'm really not much of a breakfast eater but occasionally get a hankerin' for french toast, well the breakfast wasn't bad, but the waitress...ah...i might be old but i still can appreciate a well turned piece of ....work......
anyhow came home....alone....and got my weekly pot of stew/soup/boiled dinner on the stove, pretty much the same as usual but instead of the hot italian sausage i usually use i had some hot portuguese longaniza that i used instead, and i think that i prefer it to the hot italian. also used egg noodles instead of bowtie pasta, that's a toss up.....but i've got my pot done for the week and will eat off it several times......
spent most of the day playing blogshares, and hanging out on the irc channel......have not played much during the week and just felt like playing today...
physically i feel a little off today, i think i'm still recovering from the week and feel like i might be a little dehydrated...have been pushing water most of the day and am feeling better as evening is upon me...

Friday, July 2, 2004

boy am i glad that this work week is at an end, i felt way below par this morning, but managed to get some help and felt better by days end, but decided to eat out tonight, showered and changed and feel ok now, how be it a little tired ( make that very tired) the good news is that production is not working tomorrow so i can stay home and have a three day weekend, sleep in tomorrow.......
got nothing planned for the weekend and intend to follow my plan

Thursday, July 1, 2004

i tried to post before and apparently lost it, well it was just the usual trash that i spit out so no great loat, am tired and looking forward to the long weekend, have nothing planned....