Stories and other stuff

I can't talk about it. Let's talk about food instead. I'm trying to make life better and part of that is realizing that I need to eat better.  I made better choices at the grocery store the other day after realizing mexican food and bed are a terrible combination.  That and my downstairs roommate keeps posting pictures of the grub he's making on Facebook. Vegetarian, though. He's more traveled than I am and he comes up with some stuff that, with the proper ingredient (beef, pork, chicken) would probably be good.  Mushrooms are a poor substitute but with him, it's not a moral choice...it's one of necessity.  After having to down my last three green magic pills for gout after said bout of mexican food, changing the diet was a good idea. My doctor told me I needed to eat smaller portions and eat about five times a day.  I'm trying to listen.  OK, the bag of tortilla chips on the counter is probably not the best choice, but bear with me.  I only ...

Today's post is about lasts.  There are good lasts, like the last day at the job you're retiring from.  That wasn't a bad day.  Bittersweet, but not bad.  I miss it about as much as I thought I would.  I miss some of the people a lot more than I thought I would.  I think about that sometimes. We look forward to the last installment payment on the car.  We look forward to paying off the house.  Those are good lasts. And then there are the bad lasts.  Today I had a bad last.  I had to get Katie her last rabies shot.  I spent the extra $3 and got the 3 year shot.  She'll not live to need another one.  She's a grandma dog who has had a long life for a Beagle.  She's 12 this year.  She can't get in the truck without help anymore.  She doesn't even like to get up on the bed anymore. The $3 was probably not needed.  If she's here for Christmas, I'll be surprise.  It's just the reality of having an e...

Christ changed absolutely everything...even time. It's no secret that He changed me profoundly.  I make no secrets about it and what saving faith in the One who is worthy has done in my life.  I think that's why I make some people nervous.  I am a 'Jesus Freak'.  Somebody told me today that I'm a little over-exuberent at times.  I can see that and I've tried to temper it down.  I'm not gonna win anybody to the Lord by being a "nutjob".  It's a lot of why I don't write too much these days. i cannot help that I see things differently and see things I otherwise would have just dismissed as odd.  I've learned that there are no coincidences and even in the chaos, God is still very much in overall control.  These days, I've also learned that just because I saw it doesn't mean I have to SHARE it with everybody.  I'm keeping secrets, but not the kind of secrets that shouldn't be kept.  I'm not hiding anything, it's j...

I think I can cook. Well until a friend told me that what I'd made for dinner looked gross.  When I looked at the picture I took, I guess it did.  It was a picture of seconds.  Firsts looked restaurant good. I had tikka masala for dinner.  I did not make this dish from scratch.  I opened a jar that I purchased at der Commissary.  I'm in a world traveler mood for food these days.  I want some chicken tava and purchased the necessary ingredients for that as well.  I also bought the stuff to make schnitzel.  Either pork or chicken.  It was cheaper to buy a slab of pork chops than buy individual ones, so me being me, thinks he's a master butcher as well.  OK, maybe not, but I can cut between the bones and make pork chops. The hunter sauce for the schnitzel will come out of a packet.  McCormick used to make good Hunter Sauce.  Not anymore.  It's discontinued.  So is Swiss Steak mix.  I guess we don't eat eu...

It's amazing to me how young I feel mentally, and how old I feel physically. There was a time where I could run for days or weeks on about four hours sleep a night and keep on truckin'. Not so much anymore.  I woke up early the other day, went to work, and got home at the usual time.  When I woke up,  the truck was in the driveway crooked with one tire on the lawn.  If I didn't know better, I would have thought I'd driven home drunk.  I guess I was that tired.  I still am. I had an appointment on Friday and I slept in.  When I got there, I was still somewhat out of it.  And on top of it, there was overtime so I went to work last night.  The men of the church were meeting today.  This man, however, was out at eight-thirty. I don't like missing stuff, but it seems right now it's just the way things go.  It's just me around here and if I don't keep up on things here, with dogs and cats, the place can get out of hand quickly. ...

I learned this from a Marine:  it all washes off with soap and water.  That's probably true, but it doesn't make the task more pleasant. The dryer is fully functional with the replacement of the light bulb.  It was like burning out the light bulb was the last little jab at me, but it's fixed.  I was so pleased that the laundry was done and put away, the dishes likewise.  My house, for a bachelor, and the size of it is as clean as I can get it right now.  There is much to be put away, but none of it is mine and its' owner is MIA.  So, like I said, I was pleased with myself that my house is clean and then I opened the fridge. The MIA one has a problem with hoarding.  I do too, and I'll admit it, but mine is confined to the size of a small box and involves miscellaneous screws, nuts, nails, and washers.  I have a box full of them.  The hoarding thing though fills up two rooms in my house; the storage room and then a small bedroom. ...

I am on a quest.  A quest for dry clothes. I have my power problem fixed.  Kind of.  Now I have a problem with an outlet that worked before the last round of maintenance on the circuit breaker panel and now does not work.  As I was writing this, I remembered that this outlet has its' own ground.  In my old house, most of the outlets are not 3 prong grounded.  This one is, and remembering electricity, I went and measured for voltage line to ground instead of line to neutral.  The hot is hot.  The neutral is open.  That's an easy thing to fix tomorrow. That will make the washer wash clothes again without the aid of an extension cord. The dryer though now tumbles clothes but the light has burned out in the thing.  Hey that lightbulb has been through a lot lately.  Time for a new one.  Also time for a new overheat sensor.  Apparently I broke the one already in the dryer when I changed out the squirrel cage.  I was t...

I haven't been writing much.  That either means I'm learning to adapt and internalize all of the crazy and writing about it isn't as cathartic as it used to be or I'm gaining wisdom in silence.  The first thought scares me because it means I've adapted to the mess my life is and accept it as my normal.  The second thought is a comfort of sorts.  It means that I know my life is nuts but accept it as what God has for me and being quiet about it means that I've accepted that. Shutting up about stuff is new for me but necessary. The new year isn't starting off well.  I had such high hopes.  They lasted a week. I haven't seen the immigrant, aka my former mother-in-law Miss June, since Christmas eve.  I heard from her once when she asked me to do something for her I was unable to do at that moment.  I have a wireless hotspot I use for interweb service and it got caught in the sheets and washed when I was in a hurry to get things done last Saturday...