The third hot, humid day in a row, I have two puddles of cat lying in the coolest spots in the house. Cats are a good indicator of the warmest spot in the house in cold weather and the coolest spot in hot weather. Finally I found a use for then and excuse for why I share my house with them…

Had a three day weekend minus the two and a half hours I put in Saturday…got half of the yard work done Saturday…got nothing done Sunday as a was sick as a dog…got 85% of the house work done Monday… and nothing of either done today…woke feeling less then 100%…busy and exhausting work day…hottest day so far this spring and I melted into my socks…had a worship team practices tonight…went well…best voice I’ve had in weeks but to drained to accomplish anything…will pick at what still needs to be done and complete on the weekend…although since month end is this week will have to put in a few hours on Saturday…

I go nothing done yesterday that I had intended, a very low physical day…had the day off today (Memorial Day in the USA for those of other national origins)…and rather then try to finish the spring yard work that got left over from yesterday decided to concentrate on the housework that needed doing…but was still not up to 100% and got a bunch done but not everything…will chip away at what’s left of the house work and spring plantings and complete next weekend…although the yard work could be completed over the next two weeks and be fine…

Got involved with the chores and when I got to a point that I was where I decided to quit was already 12:30 PM+…had a date to have a BBQ with daughter and her hubby and their crazy small parrot for 3 PM and thought the best was just to skip lunch and save my appetite for the mid afternoon BBQ…of course I hadn’t eaten breakfast either…I rarely do…so by 3 PM I was ravenousness…

A very nice BBQ…charbroiled bratwurst…a nice pasta salad…and a frozen pineapple desert…and have course all the fixings…daughter had made a homemade rhubarb chutney that was an amazing complement to the brats…a Sam Adman’s Amber Lager as a pre-meal drink and a very excellent light imported Germany beer…Westerstien (sic? Maybe) which was a perfect complement to the meal…

Came home…watched a little tube, played a bit of stronghold crusader, and spent about an hour around dusk in the yard with a bit of bourbon and some rye wasa bread…I’m tired…but feeling good

Nite all

I slept poorly last night and awoke in a very bad physical place today…had yard work and house work on the schedule and almost nothing got done…just wasn’t able to cope…rats…

I avoided the mistake that I have made for the last two years…in all three years I have told myself you don’t have to complete all the typical memorial day weekend yard work…in one day…and the last two years I have…much to the great determent of my physical condition…well this year I have learned my lesson…I’m too dang old to do it in one day…on the other hand unlike the last 2 years I needed to spend time at the job this AM…I have about half of the clean up work done…still need to run the razor hole through the beds…and plant 1 or two new perennials…to replace over the winter losses…and mulch the beds…will do the holing tomorrow after watching the Indy 500…and do the planting and mulching Monday morning…and then a barbeque at the daughter’s mid afternoon on Monday…I may try to find time to go to a driving range this weekend as well…am playing in a golf outing in two weeks and as I haven’t played at all this year and very little for the last couple of years want to hit a few so I don’t look like a n00b…and as to the gardening if I don’t get I done before next weekend then…ah well

I felt a heck 0f a lot better this AM then I did yesterday but still really not back to prime…a typical Friday…the upstairs did the “oh my god” it’s the last day before the long weekend lets shove everything we can out…got a call after 4PM…did this particular shipment go today…checked the board…reply was no…reply was why not…reply was simple…we sent the shipment information up two days ago and no one gave us a routing for it…you’re bad not ours…

Before I could convince my brain to shutdown last night and allow me to sleep it was well past 2 AM…and the alarm rings at 7:13 AM…scared the crap out of me when it went off…I almost never am awakened by the alarm but I was today…I must have an alarm loud enough to wake the dead because that was my physical condition this AM…had intended to take the PM off to accomplish some household chores…but got take out for lunch…got home and felt like crap the rest of the day…intend and early to bed…and hopefully will actually feel alive tomorrow…

Nite all

Allow me to expand on the below post…when I go out to a nice restaurant …I never ask if the chef beats his wife…I never ask if the chef whips his kids with a razor strap…I really don’t care if the chef believes that he must wrap himself in foil to prevent alien micro-wave transmissions from causing him to kill all mankind…I only want an excellent meal…and I think other factors were involved in the decision to select Harold over Tiffini and that sucks…I will watch the next series of Top Chef if there is one…I love the concept…I just have a problem with the result of season number 1

Again I am p*ssed off at the result of a reality show…Harold played the finals safe and won…Tiffini pushed the envelope and lost…is she a b*tch yes…is she a person I would work for …probably not…is she bi-sexual yes…but did she hang it out and overwhelmed him…. I think she did…I think at the end they chose white bread chef over admittedly a total b*tch but a better cook…don’t get me wrong… I think Harold is a great chef…I think he deserves the honor…I just think he deserves the honor less…Top Chef…a great ride…I loved the series…I just disagree with the final result…

Today did not exist…I have forgotten it all…never happened and will only be recalled in nightmares and wet dreams…

Not a bad workday…not a good workday…just a neutral workday…I’ll take it…relaxed…watched a little tube and headed to worship team practice…with some reluctance…I have gagged on some mucous on Sunday and had nothing in my stomach at the time and had vomited a mixture of water and stomach acid…several times…and obviously had done some damage to the throat…well the first song we did I do a descant harmony on the last verse…well not tonight…voice was strong in the lower range and not existence in the high range… as we sung loosened up a lot…by the time we got to the next to the last song I looked over at the N-lady and realized she was sing a strong alto but she has a confidence problem…had the mike at waist level…Lord give me enough voice to prove to her she’s on the money…dropped my mike…turned to her and sang a

Strong alto part…about half way through she realized that we where in sync…gave her a thumbs up and she then knew she was on…big smile and made my day…funny thing was went back to total bass on the last song…I do a bass thing on that one…a little idiot bass extra vocal on the lead in to the chorus and the leader tonight added his voice…in a tenor 2 to the lead in…normal guy had family issues and the second guy lead practice…I shot him a glance…when we were done he look at me and said I love it when you do that…the improvisation…and that’s why I sing and do music…to get the smile…the glance…the thanks…not from those that listen necessarily but from those that I sing with…make music with…makes my day…I have a solo quality voice and almost never sing solos…not that I can’t but because I don’t want to…I love ensemble singing and playing…any sized group is ok…I prefer to be the harmony singer…the harmony player…I would rather make someone else look good…give that little punch that makes the group look good and rejoice in them taking the bows then taking the bows myself…I have always been a “role-player”…the “6^th man” if you will…and I take great joy in being that…the only time I have forsaken that role is when I am given no option…I am the lead high tenor with the local choral society…when informed of the role I at first said “Why Me”…give it to somebody else…not my thing…and was tersely informed that if I wanted to give the role to another I had to give my voice to another…not happening but I accept the role but do it with humility

(Trollie’s two cats drag him away from the keyboard before he writes a novella)

I had a very bad physical day yesterday…I have a cold and I gagged on mucous and threw up like 3 times in a minute (sorry for the gentle of spirit but that’s the truth) and as I had nothing in the stomach but water and acid…the result on throat and self was less then charming…awoke this morning in a very bad place…digestive problem was gone but very cold for late may (36*f) and very damp…the residual problem from yesterday, plus the fact that my arthritis flared from the weather…took about 15 minutes of flexing before any joint was willing to move…I was all about taking the afternoon off…but my boss was in worse shape then I was and he beat me to it…he has a chronic migraine problem…probably the biggest problem there is me…(hehe)

Have just chilled tonight despite the fact that I had things to do…but just didn’t have the whether with all to do them…have a long weekend this week…I hope to have 3 days but even if it’s alone 2 days + one or two hours in it will do…

Cats have been rotating on and off the trollie’s lap tonight…as all nights…the two cats I have a very difficult time co-existing on my lap…when I had 3 they seemed to accept the shared experience…but now that I have only 2 they tend to fight over the privilege…(RIP Lilly Bell you are missed by me if not by your evil step sisters)

(Trollie pauses in his posting as Aggie cat is in need of attention)

It’s late and although I must to bed… I am physically wasted…the mind is unwilling…Nite All

“‘Twas the night before may 22^nd and all through the house two creatures were stirring and both of them cats”

Has been a very weird day.

I had a vey poor physical day and a day, which I had some yard work, planned but the weather did not cooperate…dang…

I rarely fell like doing yard work except on weekends both days this weekend were a bust…so I must cut the grass the first weekday evening I get or I needs sell the grass for hay…

My off the wall brilliant nephew is graduating from RPI this weekend with his BS …at 19…I said to him a Christmas that he probably would never leave school…either as a student or a professor…he say no way…he was getting a job or and internship and won’t work on his masters or docts for a couple of years…overheard him telling a friend he was staying at school to get his masters…”busted”…but after ribbing the h*ll out of him I said…serious my fav nephew…you could have your doctorate by 23…and if you decided that’s not where you wanted to go you could start all over…but once you leave school there is no guarantee you’ll ever return…and you might wake up one day and regret it…get the PhD…and then decide…your only young once…

I awoke in a very bad physically place this AM, despite getting a really good nights sleep…but a heavy day Friday…and way too much seat time on the forklift…as I get older the pounding that the body takes driving said lift adds up…

A brief in to work…really should have accomplished more but the physically state just won’t let me consider it…had a bunch of yard work planned for today but rain…and my low ebb didn’t allow for that…and I think that the rain…low barometric day was at least part responsible for my low ebb physical condition…but on the bright side I have gotten back on even keel on many other levels…

Typical of a day where my arthritis has flared I had much of an appetite today and have just picked at food…

But despite the fact that I feel low physically has been a pretty good day…will reset and do what I wanted to do today tomorrow…an unusual Sunday with very little needed commitment at church

Not a good day…work wise…explanation will be deleted…

I spent a fair share of the morning in the warehouse, and came back just before 11AM…clerk said I got a call from a trucker bringing the test shipment from a new vendor …now this was being delivered by their own truck…it was supposed to be delivered yesterday…now mind you the vendor is maybe 2 and ½ hours away and when I left at 4:30 PM the load still hadn’t arrived…I don’t really give 2 hoots if I can save a small amount of the companies money if I deal with you…if you can’t hit a delivery date on the nose who won’t get much of my business…

Tomorrow promises to be an extremely heavy day…got 2 outbounds…one of which will be a real pain…and one full load in bound…4+ hours seat time in the old forklift for the trollie…dang…

But has been a gentle day after work…payday…got a small raise…but retro to my anniversary date…so with the federal return that came this week my checking account is back to an acceptable amount…

Have spent quality time with both cats tonight…

Nite all

Just got done watching the current Top Chef episode…was really pissed off two weeks ago when Dave got into the finally 3 over Leann…from the first week I had picked Leann, Harold and Tiffini was the top three…I was waiting this week to see Tiffini sent home and Harold and the emotional disaster that is Dave in the final two…I think they would have put him in the final two if they could…not the judges but the produces…read the small print in the credits…the votes by the judges are reviewed by the producers…lets face it they have to sell the show…but Dave f*cked up…in the third of 3 challenges tonight they needed to produce three dishes…and he plated two…and that sealed his fate…thank the fates…I would have rather seen Harold and Leann in the final two but I will accept Harold and Tiffini…finally a reality show where the best get to go head to head…well not finally…Big Break V that finished last week the two best were there in the finals…but those two shows where bisected by the survivor final where that didn’t happen by a long shot…

Today was a very hectic day, I had the CEO, the President, my boss, marketing, my clerk and the production shift foreman all needing my skills I the same dang 3 hour period, and I had other priorities that I needed to accomplish…dang…for a crazy morning…the afternoon chilled out a little but had a spooky time loading a dang high cube pup from the wrong dock to do that…

My federal tax return arrived today…but got it to late to cash it…will just about put me back on even keel…state to come and a retro-active pay raise that will come Thursday…and I’ll be back to even…over the last 6 weeks just too many unexpected bills…nuts…had hope to gain enough to take a real vacation this summer but now…doubt that will happen…

As per usual I have a problem with the winner of survivor…the best of the best was Terry…he lost the last challenge and the D-lady chose Aras to the final two…a mistake…well probably not…I doubt she could have won against either Terry or Aras…. but she should have won against Aras…frankly Aras did no more then she did…but she hung in there and did win the finally challenge…I am greatly annoyed at the final vote…but then I think with one possible exception I have never agreed with the final survivor vote…

Has been an “off” day…nothing has occurred as I would have wished it…an ugly day…a disturbing day…but a typical day as recent personal history would suggest…

I am in a very bad place today. I think I may actually felt pretty good today if the emotional/spiritual side had not been at such low ebb…I will get over it…help is coming…but right now…right here…not good

There will be no post tonight as I am in a very bad place

I had lousy day…I woke up “sick as a dog” this AM, but too late to call in sick and not take a hit…went in …informed by boss that I would hang in as long as possible but would take the PM as a half vacation day if I didn’t improve…and didn’t…actually felt worse…but like 20 minutes before I left the big guy needed me…sorry…I’m out of here…I did what I needed to do to get most of what he needed done…. and as long as the purchasing clerk read her emails we can do the rest tomorrow…and if she didn’t…well…there were CC copies to my boss and the big guy and it’s on her head…not that I hold any animus against her but I did what I needed to do and the rest is on her…

Despite the fact that I felt like crap and really only wanted to get home there was banking to do…errands to runs…staple foodstuffs to buy…but have chilled the rest of the day and feel decent now…

Watched the final 4 episode of survivor and I really think Terry screwed up…he has put himself in a position where he must win the last immunity challenge…he could have protected the D-lady…his last chance at an ally and didn’t…she may survive the “playoff” with the C-lady…but if she does there is no accounting for what she might do if she wins immunity at the three…the second mistake I think he’s made…I think he should have protected Sally…at the 6…

I watched the “reunion” show of top chef tonight…reality reunion shows are invariably a waste of time…the only defining moment was when Stephen apologized to Candice…I was blown away…

I still am p*ssed with the final 3…Dave has no right to be there…but then the producers have the right to affect the vote (read the small print in the credits I have)…good TV and all…but if he wins I will have a big problem with the out come…of all the three chefs in the finals he has been the most inconsistent…I prefer an outcome of Harold as winner…I would accept the outcome of the red haired, bi-sexual Tiffini as winner…but the disaster that is Dave…no way

Today was a very typical day at good old CWM…I had the upstairs changing their minds on the hour…with no concern for what that did to us…I had vendors who promise one thing and either delivery it late or not on time or not at all…and support and production which do what they want rather then what I’ve asked them to do…and despite all that my clerk and I got everything done…did we get a well done…did we get a “that a boy”…are you insane…but if we hadn’t done the deed we would have gotten the blame…we do are job…we defend the “code” , but once in a d*mn while I think we deserve a well done…

But truth is I really do accept it…if you have never done shipping/receiving function you have no criteria to appreciate what we do…everything that comes in goes through us…everything that leaves goes through us…and every mistake is blamed on us whether our fault or not…but my clerk and I are bottom line what makes it run…and we would at least have 1 day out of the year have our work appreciate, have a well done…but the fact that we are under appreciated will never stop me from doing my best…

Have spent a relatively gentle nigh…I seem to be coming out of the funk that winter has created…to be truthfully we never really had a winter…was more like and extended fall…but suffered more from “cabin fever” then I ever had…need to spend a few hours at work on Saturday but will throw the clubs in the car assuming I feel well Saturday morning an find an open golf course…

Cats have been affectionate tonight…they have been rotating on and off my lap…I sometimes thing that without my furry pals I might go over the edge…assuming that I’m not there already…

Nite all

I woke this AM at low ebb and am preparing to go to bed in vastly better condition on all levels…great rehearsal tonight…and although struggled a little with the voice was a great time…

Watched the conclusion to big break V, and believe it or not the girl I thought had the best chance of winning from the beginning actually won…my track record on picking winners for reality shows ain’t good…

(pause while I pet cat aggie who so lonely she is on the verge of death)

Tomorrow could be anything between an easy day and a wicked one…and that depends completely on factors outside my control…

Nite all

Twas a strange day that I still am processing…and will refrain from posting several comments that I could make about the trends that swirl around me until they leave the fetal stage and are full born opinions…

Nite all

Today was the salute to the military in our church…living in the city next to Fort Drum…we have about 40 military couples and several single soldiers that are communicants of the church…and this point we have over 50 members or attendees that are deployed in the middle east…a very nice service…of all the military or ex-military my dad was the oldest there today infantry 1^st Lieutenant from WWII…and will be 91 this summer…I get a kick out of the respect he receives from the current soldiers…my dad is one of a dwindling few WWII vets left…

One of the soldiers who talked in the first service (wasn’t there but dad was, and relayed the story) made a statement that most would not understand what a line officer went through….at the end of the service dad went up and took his hand and told him he understood…and then told him where he had been during WWII…( one of the newer members who didn’t know dad’s story)…and now another who now looks at dad as a fore runner…

Had a much better physical day then yesterday…got the grass cut…still moist from yesterdays rain but could not wait any longer…unless I choice to bale it…

I had a bunch of chores scheduled for today…and felt pretty good until I got out of bed very late…a planned occurrence…and put my feet to the floor and then discovered I really should have stayed in bed…maybe the worst I’ve felt physically in a very long time…but forced myself to do some of the errands I really had to do…feel much better now…still feel pretty crappy but compared to the rest of the day feel pretty good…

Had an extremely busy morning at work if you consider 2 PM part of morning…an gentle night…I am more secure that I will survive the buy out of the company I work for…for the next 3.5 years that I consider my necessary …before I say good bye

With the selling of the company I work for…I spent an hour with the dude that will determine my fate…and not a date I would chose for that to happen…was a low ebb today and the fact that I will be observed loading an outbound tomorrow…there is only one thing I hate less then having someone looking over my shoulder when I’m doing my job…and that’s some body taking 35mm stills when I’m with a lady…I am not an exhibitionist

Nite all

I’m am p*ssed off, enraged, and plain mad…I watched the latest episode of top chef…how the h*ll could they have voted off Leann…maybe the most consistent of all the competitors and kept the emotional nightmare that is Dave…I realize the producers can affect the vote (read the small print in the credits…) but that decision was plain b*llshit…from the start IMHO Harold, Tiffini and Leann where the final three…David is an emotional disaster…it is an insult that he got to the finally three…mark me Bravo TV…if he wins top chef…I’m gone …I sware I will never watch your d*mn network again

I’ve added 3 links to the sidebar tonight…the first is the new company I work for…the second is the company I’ve worked for 30+ years…and the last is the foundation we also ship for…

Big news, the firm I work for was sold to a large corporation based in India…my position and longevity in the firm I knew days ago it was happening…but unable to speak…on one hand it throws a completely different set of numbers into the equation…on the other hand all things being equal it will probably give me the 3 and a half years I need before I intended to leave and do something else…but will deal with what comes…

I did not get the day I wanted, but the day I got was acceptable…several things still “in the air”…several things still to be resolved…but then…that’s life…

Nite all

A very frustrating day…as I supervise shipping/receiving and more my chief enemy at work is not the customer…but the customer service department which seems to forget on a daily basis who they work for…they will sell a particular seldom sold product…which we haven’t sold much in years…therefore what stock we’ve got has sat for months/year/decades in some cases in an unheated warehouse…and sell the exact inventory amount…and promise today shipment with out first checking…and never considering work load for the day they promised shipment…well when I did manage to locate the product…10 of 24 rolls have been sitting in the house for the last 6+ years and I had quality problems with 6 of the rolls…5 I figured could be corrected and one was …h*ll there was no way…and I was proved right…so I tried to get a hold of the CS Rep at 10 of11 and discovered she had already left for her 11-12 lunch hour…if I pulled that crap I’d be gone…when she finally got back I got the usual arrogant crap about what happened…sheeeeesh…!!!

Had to make a run for cat food tonight…only one store sells the brand I need…and as one of my cats has a urinary tract problem really have no choice but buy top of the line…the gag is that the only store in town that sells the brand is farm/tractor…feeding a couple of cats with food sold by a farm supply…there is something hilarious with this picture…

Cat aggie has been in one of her if you don’t pet and cuddle me now moods I will absolutely die…from time to time now is not an option form my point of view but I am given no choice in the matter…

Am finally turning the corner on a couple of bad physical/emotion down weeks…a beautiful spring day…and most of my distress could be directly connected to the winter…I have suffered on all levels from the worst case of “cabin fever” I’ve every suffered through…but the weather has taken a positive turn for the better and so has my view on all things…

Nite all