If It's Tuesday I Must Be Stressed...

So I just woke up from an almost 3-hour nap on the couch at around 920pm. My sleep patterns are a total mess. I woke up thinking that I had forgotten to pick H up at work as my phone was buzzing near me. Turns out that he was texting me to tell me to check to see if his clothes in the dryer were completely dry. First thought that came to mind is that I will be picking him up at 10pm; he can check himself. LOL. Then I thought; hey he went to school this morning from 8 to 11, then worked on a speech thing for one of his classes and then went into work for 4 hours at 6pm. He was pretty darn productive. I could therefore use 5 seconds of my life to check on his clothes.

It wasn't like I did all that much tonight. Let's see I had a couple Dos Equis when I got home, made a ham & cheese sandwich and read a chapter of my latest pickup at the used bookstore. It's a George Will book on baseball from 1991. The first part of the book is about Tony LaRussa and how he manages a game. Twenty years later I still saw that managing style and the machinations that he used in games during the World Series against Texas. Gawd I miss baseball on TV every night. I had the choice tonight between college basketball games, replays of this weekend's college football games and some lame-ass hockey game between the hockey capitals of Raleigh, NC and Sunrise, Fl. WTF? Geez. The Panthers play near Ft. Lauderdale. That makes as much sense as the Kris-Kim marriage. Oh gawd I referenced a reality show in a blog. Time for me to never ever blog again. LOL.

Well all is good in Mtl. it seems as my ex received the money order for H's passport that I sent up last Wednesday. Weird how my money makes it my ex in 5 days and my customer's cheque from someplace in Ontario to Montreal, QC takes two weeks to arrive. Go figure.

H also got his passport today delivered by Fedex to our house this afternoon so he will get to fly up to Montreal for Christmas and spend some time with his Mom. It saves me driving 1070 miles and it only cost me $65 in taxes for the fare up there as I paid for the flight with my Delta Skymiles. It did cost me 32,500 miles as they have changed the way you get tickets using miles. I'm using more as it almost peak season for flights. It used to cost 25,000 miles without these peaks. Weird how it works. Anyways I saved time and money as well as wear and tear on my sciatic nerve.

Well it's official the Zone in Mauldin closed their doors yesterday and they posted on their Facebook page that the reason for closing was the "continued decline of the economy". First of all I think it would be continuing decline and not continued and secondly while the economy may have played a role; the prime culprit was mismanagement of assets in the company.

I spent a couple of hours last night researching lease prices in the area to get a feel for what it may cost and then checked out local sites for restaurant equipment just too get an idea what kind of investment would be required. I kind of wish that I had heard the rumors earlier so that I could have done some on-site research on what had happened to the clientele. I know that they still had some steady regulars after work but lost a lot of the casual dining clientele over the last half year. I'm sure that these people haven't gone over to The Turtle Shell unless they like eating in an environment where there is a smoking section that isn't really kept separate from the non-smoking section. Gross. And this is coming from an ex-smoker of 19 months or 50 lbs. ago. LOL. Now I am waiting to hear back from the leasing management company. The signs are not up yet. Perhaps that will change come December 1st. Next step is a business plan. Ideas have been floating in what passes for a brain in that space between my ears.

Hmmm. I better get onto my work laptop. Another month-end is here in an hour or so. Dang a month until 2012. Unreal!

Big Bad Russians

Yesterday I saw a news item that the legendary Russian weightlifter Vasily Alekseyev passed away at the age of 69 years old from some heart ailments. Seeing the story triggered memories of those big, bad evil Russians from way back in my youth when I was 10 yrs. old as well as 14 yrs. old.

Back then even growing up in Canada we were taught to fear those Russians. They could have been the political leaders, the Red Army, the KGB and even the athletes. These people we were told were bad beyond belief or something like that. The dreaded commie bastards! Looking back now it cracks me up that we bought that hook, line and sinker.

Anyways it started to change a little bit for me at least after the first Summit Series between Canada and the Soviet hockey teams in 1972. This series took place before TV decided starting times. Naturally the first 4 games held in Canada were held at normal times for us but the games in the then Soviet Union were held during our days at school.

At the time I was 10 yrs. old and going to Sacred Heart Elementary School on Samson near 92nd and hockey being almost a religion we were able to see the games during class time on those big black and white TVs that used to rest upon a 5 or 6 foot stand of sorts. I think the teachers tied this into our history lessons or something like that. Little did we know that this series started the huge change in the way hockey was played in North America. Therefore it was a historical event.

This was the series that introduced us to some legendary hockey players from the USSR with names like Mikhailov, Petrov, Yakushev, Zimin, Maltsev, Vasiliev, Ragulin, etc. etc.

It also introduced us to one of the most electrifying hockey players that we had ever seen in Valeri Kharmalov. This short in stature guy was built like a tank and the moves he could make and the speed in which he skated left us without a way to stop him until Bobby Clarke broke his ankle with a vicious slash in game 6.

In hindsight Team Canada in some ways acted like the big, bad evil people with the actions of Clarke, Alan Eagleson and J.P. Parise. Actions truly without any sportmanship. Okay one Russian player did act the same when Boris Mikhailov kicked at Gary Bergman during a fight. That was inexcusable.

This series also was responsible for bringing to our collective attention the unparalled prowess of the goaltender Vladislav Tretiak. Many of us were in awe due to the saves that he made against Team Canada. In games that we outshot them 2 to 1, this man stood on his head and made save after incredible save.

Hockey players like Kharmalov and Tretiak made the Soviet Union look less bad, less evil, less of something to be afraid of. At least to me it did.

In 1976 the Summer Olympics were held in Montreal and another Soviet athlete kept some of us spellbound with what seemed to be these superhuman feats of strength. That man was the late Vasily Alekseyev. He had won the gold in Munich in 1972 but that was overshadowed by the tragedy that occured at those games.

To many of us Canadians this was the first time that we were introduced to this behemoth of a man. Seeing this man with the beer barrel tummy lifting these insane amounts of weight was spellbinding. I would be there wondering is he going to get out of that squat? Will he get to his upper chest? Will he be able to get over his head? Will he hold it there for the required time? All of these were answered in the affirmative. He won the gold!

These guys along with Olga Korbut from the 1972 Summer Games were people who to me had the power in a way to bring us closer as humans in the sense that we weren't always looking at them warily now. They were humans just like us however living under a political and economic system that could never work. These athletes from that closed door society I think helped get the East and West closer in some ways. It showed us what we had in common.

The passing of the man in the red tights triggered a memory that I will always remember as one of those wow moments of my youth.

Saturday Morning

Okay I was pretty darn productive this morning. I went for my monthly massage, filled up my gas tank, got a tank of propane filled for the grill and then spent way too much money at Costco. I even had a polish dog for breakfast. Well it was 11am so it wasn't really breakfast but it was the first thing I ate. In fact I must be in bizarro-world right now as I have yet to have a cup of coffee. I think my body and mind has been overtaken by an alien life form.

I even had a chance to have a hour nap while Georgia & Georgia Tech were fighting it out for some pretend crown down in Athens, Ga. Yes the Athens, Ga that is the home of R.E.M.. Going to have the same thing later today when the battle of SC takes place down in Columbia. Hopefully the Gamecocks will rule.

Friday Friday

Darn it is hard to believe that we're already at the 25th of November. Time does indeed fly by. Only a month to go to Christmas. Streets to avoid today are Woodruff, Fairview and Haywood. I can just imagine the traffic on these shopping roads.

Last night I had my first deep-fried turkey. I think I have joined the choir. It was pretty effin good. I stayed away from the skin which others were raving about and just had white meat but man it was juicy and fork tender.

I woke up at 6am for a moment and it clicked on me that people had already been shopping for hours at that point. Yikes one must be determined I guess. You won't find me anywhere near these roads. Only shopping I am doing is if I need anything to go with the greek-style chicken tonight. I may need potatoes. I have lots of tomatoes, onions and tzatziki.

Going to be another relatively inactive day for me. A little bit of work-work and some college football this afternoon. LSU and Arkansas. Hopefully it won't be a blowout. Be interesting to see the polls afterwards if Arkansas wins.

I should probably start raking the front of the house. My bradford pears out front gave up all their leaves this past week. You can't see any of the grass for all the leaves of the ground. On the left side of the house I may actually have to mow the lawn. It is that long. Weird have green grass year-round like I do here.

Tomorrow morning is my monthly appointment at Massage Envy. I sure hope that she can loosen up the right side where my sciatic nerve has been acting up. I am not aging gracefully. LOL.

Okay I think I need to start folding clothes. I have lots of laundry to do today!

Ramblings from the 24th of November

So this kind of like a day off for me as I logged on remotely to take care of stuff going on in the Canadian portfolio. I've been doing laundry and I'm about to prep some Greek style garlic chicken breasts to grill tomorrow when all the shoppers are out and about accumulating more stuff. The late great George Carlin had an amazing bit on people and their stuff. YouTube it and you will laugh out loud. Okay back to the chicken. This is the first time I'm going to use that recipe. Hopefully it will come out well. If not, I guess we're going out for supper.

J & I are going to head out soon for a traditional Thanksgiving gathering and I am really looking forward to overindulging food-wise. Turned out to be another beautiful sunny day in the low 60s here in Simpsonville. Not too hard to take. Smiles.

This is where the picture at the top of the blog comes in as the rest of my ramblings are related to that phrase.

As many of you know in the last year or so I've often hung out at the Zone in Mauldin especially on Wednesday nights to play trivia. I would say that in the last six to eight months the place has gone down the drain somewhat. I don't think that I am exaggerating there. In fact the latest rumor is that the place will be closing down soon.

This place should be doing gonzo business I think but the present management there has no clue on how to run a business and make money. I truly think that every decision that this guy has made has been the wrong one. What gets me is that the manager does not have a financial stake in the business. The guy who does own the business is never there and is truly not seeing what is going on I think.

This business at one point had three locations. One closed a little over a year ago because the rent was jacked up sky-high or so I was told. The manager from that location came to this location and hence the beginning of the end.

The Fairview Rd. location now has a microbrewery type casual dining business in its' place under different owners. I need to check it out next time I am down that way. Problem is that Fairview Rd. to me is like Woodruff Rd. One of those roads that you want to avoid unless you absolutely have to be on it.

So anyways it looks like the Butler Rd. location is about to close. It may occur at this month-end. They will have a great Saturday I would think as Clemson-SC is on the table and that will draw a full house. It will be like the final supper for someone on death row. Ugh terrible comparison but it actually works. Knowing how this manager works he will be probably shut down the kitchen right after the game or in the 3rd quarter like he did for the Super Bowl. Clueless management.

I remember thinking on Super Bowl Sunday that the manager did not have a clue. A full house and he was giving free table spaces to a hip hop urban musis station that they decided to partner with to drum up business. Problem was that the current patrons of the establishment were country and classic rock listeners. LOL. It was hilarious to see and hear.

At half-time he turned over the audio to the music station instead of pumping up the volume on the TVs. In fact they should have had the volume as loud as possible during the game because one of the reasons that the game is so popular is the new commercials that the advertisers are spending dearly on.

Hang out by a watercooler on the Monday after a Super Bowl. People are talking about the ads and not about the game usually because Super Bowls typically game-wise aren't that entertaining.

This place is supposed to be a sports bar of sorts but it only has five screens. And only two are of the large variety. Nowadays one is being used to advertise their weekly activities which makes no sense whatsoever. They can actually use posters in several wall areas to do the same. And use that screen for Habs TV. Ha. LOL. Just kidding. Seriously NHL Center Ice could be a draw. Serve steamies and poutine and have specials on Molson Canadian and Labatt Blue. Shoot you can get a 12-pack for $11here.

Anyways they used to get 8-12 teams playing trivia on Wednesdays. I would hazard the guess that the average ticket for these teams would be anywhere from anywhere between $40 to $60 with some tables easily around $100. This isn't counting people that are just there to socialize or hang around with their friends.

I stopped going about 3-4 weeks ago because the trivia quizmaster was sexist, stupid and rude. If I wanted to hear his thought process non-stop for three hours I would listen to the verbal diarrhea spewers from 8 to 11 on Fox News rather than this ill-informed pig. Can you tell that I don't like this guy? I wouldn't want my daughter (if I had one), girlfriend, female friends, etc. etc. listen to his sexist commentary. I would be embarrassed just like I would be if I hung out in one of the lcoal gentlemen's clubs (i.e. strip joints). Gentlemen uh nope. Sleazebag club. LOL. Okay that would be a whole new blog to go on about.

Anyways a week ago Wednesday they cancelled trivia as they had one guy wanting to play. One guy? Last night the place was crowded as those that were not traveling for Thanksgiving had a Wednesday night which became a weekend night due to everyone having the day off here. What does management decide? Nah we aren't having trivia tonight. LOL. Three quarters of the place emptied by 830 when we left. Last year same night place was jammed. Best turnout for trivia ever even with a Thanksgiving theme which this Canadian sucked at. LOL. Nevertheless it was fun. By 845 we were watching Habs-Hurricanes at J's house.

So anyways for the last day or so, I've been thinking about going into the restaurant and bar business if the opportunity presents itself at that location. I've been running numbers through what passes off as my brain. Checked the costs of liquor license. Staff salaries. Rent. Menu options. I have some great food ideas. Pricing options. How to bring in people. People that spend money. Not people that don't spend money like I have seen over the last couple of months frequenting the place. How to get back people in the place. I know that lots of people would come back under new management. I'm sure of that. Okay enough hunting and pecking on the keyboard. Time to prep the chicken.

Things That Makes You Say Yes...

Okay besides the obvious that invokes the usage of God's name at that moment; I do have list of things that make you say Yes...or Yessssss....LOL...once again in no particular order...

- A well-brewed cup of coffee
- A well prepared steak
- A drive along many of our tree-covered roads here in Greenville in the spring and summer...e.g. Black Rd....Pruitt Rd...Cheyenne Rd...
- Caesar's Head
- The Blue Ridge Parkway
- The smile of a baby...there isn't anything more joyous or perfect I think!
- The twinkling of the eyes of your better half when he or she looks at you
- The foods I miss from Montreal...e.g. smoked meat, cheesecake, steamies, souvlakis, french fries, BBQ chickem...
- The Outer Banks
- Stairway to Heaven
- Evie
- Freebird
- My back deck at 530pm on a summer's eve
- Jinx/Jynx purring while sitting next to me
- Field of Dreams
- Notting Hill
- Four Weddings And A Funeral
- A good toasted bagel with cream cheese
- An ice cold Bass ale...or an ice cold Yuengling
- A warm fireplace with real wood...as opposed to gas logs...
- Breakfast with your significant other at Cracker Barrel...
- A great bottle of red wine from Costco less than $15...7 Deadly Zins...

This is an abridged version of things that make me smile....big-time...more to come...

Things That Make Me Go Hmmm...

I really wanted to use WTF instead of Hmmm but I self-edited myself. I was driving back home this morning and someone's driving in front of me got me thinking on the WTF topic so here goes a list in no particular orders of things that make me go hmmm or wtf.

- Hip hop music?
- All the infomercials for bras all of a sudden?
- 3rd down and 27 or some yardage amount like that and using a running play as the best option to pick up the necessary amount for a 1st down?
- Lady Gaga? Justin Bieber? Pretty much anything in today's top 40?
- Listening to music on your cellphone?
- Watching a movie on your cellphone? Cinematographers must really be WTFing to that!
- SC allowing carte blanche cellphone usage while driving?
- Grits?
- Drivers that are turning right but first go left as if they are on a bank curve in a Nascar race? Drivers that do the same turning left but going right first?
- Cafeteria running out of coffee at 1230pm?
- Dunkins Donuts in Greenville closing at 7 or 8pm?
- Gas Prices?
- Gasoline with 10% ethanol? Less mileage and ineffective use of subsidies!
- Pretty much any Republican at any level of government?
- Glass of beer costing $5 at Fitzpatricks? I'm only buying one not the darn 6-pack!
- Places that advertise $2 bottle specials for domestics and then finding out that Yuengling must be a Chinese beer to these dodos?
- People that speed up crossing at intersections when the light is red? They were driving 25mph all along and all of sudden they gun it to 45mph!
- Pimples at 49 yrs. old?
- My metabolism or lack thereof?
- Feet-eye coordination at red lights?
- Skinny fries at McDonalds and pretty much everywhere else here in G'ville?
- Pre-salted or seasoned fries and not having a choice in the matter at restaurants down here?
- Coffeemate creamers at gas stations? Yuck! Double yuck!
- Chewing tobacco? People walking around with clear plastic bottles of the stuff that they are spittingout?
- Accuradio not having the OzRock station anymore?
- Misses when I am trying a new recipe? LOL. Though the results can be more comical than anything else!
- Christmas music in November?
- Weather on the 4s? On the 7s? Do we really need weather updates every ten minutes? We need traffic updates every ten minutes. Real-time traffic updates!
- Lack of sidewalks everywhere here?
- Having an off-white carpet?
- American sweetgum trees and their gumballs in the fall?
- Driving behind people on cellphones? LOL. Can you tell I hate cellphones in cars?

Okay that's it for now. I am sure that others will come to mind but I have to clean the kitchen, do a load or two of laundry and make a meat sauce for H's supper tonight so off I go...

Meanderings Run Wild...

Okay this is going to be one of those this and that meandering blogs that I sometimes write when coherency just isn't there in my mind. This kind of explains the music that I am listening to this morning as I am pecking away on the keyboard. The prior song was Creed's "With Arms Wide Open" and the next song playing is Offenbach's "Caline De Blues" and will be followed by No Doubt's "Hey Baby". LOL. Strange combination of songs when you go random.

I'm on coffee number two. This week's brand is something New England's Best or something similar. It was one of the cheaper brands at the neighborhood BiLo and to me it isn't a bad cup of joe. Hmmm. Not exactly a ringing endorsement. I don't think they will be using me as their sponsor anytime soon. Camera to Schlewing: "New England's Best or something named like that. Not a bad cup of joe". LOL. I don't see that ad running a gazillion times on TV.

(Note to readers: The Uh-Oh pic at the top of this blog was chosen because of what the rest of this blog turned into).

So in the last 10 days or so, the shite hit the fan in State College, Pa when the child abuse scandal broke. It upset me a lot. I even commented on it on my Facebook page which is something I don't normally do. I kind of keep that page light on my opinions as I know that some people don't care to see that kind of stuff on that social network. I truly walk a fine line on that site though my opinions seem to be appearing more and more as I tie my HuffPost ramblings onto my Facebook page. I am not embarrassed by anything that I write on websites. I ramble on my take on the truth. I guess one can say my truths.

Here's why I was upset and why I found it hard to stay quiet on the topic. After my father took his life in late September 1969; my mother was not able to take care of the three of us. Us being my 2 yr. old brother, my 5 yr. old sister and me at 7 yrs. old. Insurance doesn't pay out on suicides. My Mom did not have the financial capabilities to take care of us during the week. This was before the social safety system was in place in Quebec and there was no such thing as $5 a day childcare.

So for a time, my Mom did not have any choice but to send us to live with foster families. We lived with several of them. I don't have a lot of memories from that time. I remember a French Canadian family that lived on the South Shore of Montreal that was great to us. They had a german shepherd that used to walk me to school and literally pick me up at school. Fond memories of that family.

Then there was another family where my memories aren't so good. The father of the family used to hit me when I would do something not to his liking. I remember one mealtime given a plate of spaghetti with green peas. I have never liked green peas. They just taste blah to me and I am not able to chew them. The man used to take his fork and hit the tips of my fingers with it. When you're 7 yrs. old your hands are small. Your fingers are small. It does not take much to hurt them. It seems that hitting them like that doesn't leave marks. He was not a nice man. I remember that quite well. I remember having to protect my younger siblings. I remember thinking that it is better if he hits me or does things to me rather than to my siblings. I knew that soon this would end.

It did. Someone listened to me then. We went to live for a time with the nice French Canadian family with the german shepherd. I think that my Mom worked with the Mom of that family. We were once again safe. Not too long after we were all reunited as a family.

That partly explains why the Penn State scandal got my gander up. It was a cover up after a cover up after a cover up where adults, the grown-ups never did the right thing. Regardless of anything else that is confirmed by fact or testimony at a later date; a lot of people did not do the right thing. A grown man does not take naked showers with ten yr. old boys. Relative, father figure or authority figure or whatever is is WRONG. No ifs, ands or buts. A lot of people have to look at themselves in the mirror and own up to what they did wrong. Inaction is not an action.

I saw the story. I had to comment on it on Facebook. I may have taken a stand that may be an affront to people. Whatever. Certain things have to, must be exposed to the light of day regardless of the place, person or institution it may implacate. Wrong is wrong!

Hmmmm this blog went thataway didn't it. I guess I needed to get this off my chest.

Sunday as a Saturday

Okay for many this won't make sense but it does for me so there. I have tomorrow off as I am trying to get my vacation day carryover down to 10 days for next year. I need to plan this better. LOL. I go through this every year.

As I am typing I am listening to an accoustic version of Matthew Good's "Apparitions". I can't imagine life without music. This song is amazing. It's a sad song yet I feel better everytime I hear it. It is an amazing gift that a songwriter has that allows his or her words touch complete strangers with their talent.

One day I will have to blog about my favorite websites. Pretty sure that YouTube appears in my top 3. I love it!

Last night I grilled some burgers for Jackie, Abby and H and I bought a 12-pack of my new fav beer. Damn that Bass is good stuff! Smiles.

I miss baseball! I just can't get into NFL. Same goes for college football. I love hockey but there's no coverage down here. Sure I can go to a place like Bailey's but then I would be watching a game while hip-hop and what passes off as popular music is on rather than the sounds of the game. Not exactly Cage Aux Sports ambiance there.

Playlist so far this afternoon. Matthew Good, Susan Boyle, Beyonce featuring Jay-Z, Pete Murray, Ashley MacIsaac featuring Mary Jane Lamond and Tommy Lee. Is that eclectic or what? What! LOL.

I was just looking at webpages on Wikipedia (another fav site of mine) about the Outer Banks. I love that place. We went there twice in the summer of 2010. I miss it. They were great trips. It may be one of my fav places in the world so far in my limited travels. Might be a pisces thing. Water. Waves. Sea Air. Great Company. Good Food. Cold Beer. Nice Wines. Sand Dunes. Rock Music. Grilling. I have to get there next summer! Must!

Okay time to shower. LOL. It is 513pm. Have to love that cleanliness thing.