Long Weekend...(09/20/2013).....

Wow I haven't been exactly prolific in my writings lately, have I? Rhetorical question by the way. LOL. It seems the only time I have been sitting in front of the PC lately is to keep up with my Nationals online and to play Words With Friends until I get so effing annoyed by the stupid ads that I used to be able to mute but can't mute anymore and hear repeatedly. I don't effing need breath strips for my dog. I don't have a dog! I've got cats and cats have good breath it seems so breath strips are effing useless. LOL.

The blog title says long weekend as I have this coming Monday off as I am off to Sevierville, TN on Sunday to see and hear live in concert The Marshall Tucker Band, .38 Special and Foreigner. It will be an awesome show! I have seen the latter two bands live in the last 3-4 years and I know I will be bopping to songs that I have been listening to since I had lots of hair on my head. Yes that long ago. LOL. I can't wait! Hopefully my phone will be charged and I can take some decent pics from the show. I messed up by leaving my phone in the car a week or so ago when I went to see The National in Asheville which was an excellent show. I've enjoyed the shows I have seen this summer. Started off with Third Eye Blind then Darius Rucker then Chicago then Heart then Sheryl Crow then the Beach Boys the Mumford & Sons and then The National. Pretty darn cool!

In fact I have tons of long weekends coming. I booked about 11 days off over the next eight weeks or so just to get to my carry-over for 2014. I didn't plan my vacation time real well this year. Well I started off well with the Sanibel trip in early July but the nearly $2000 "Jynx Get Well" vet bill kind of screwed up some plans between having to take care of her and that money that was destined for a second Sanibel trip. Nevertheless Jynx is well and purring up and sneezing up a storm so all is well in Schlewingstan.

Anyways back to the present. I opened a bottle of "Menage A Trois" I picked up earlier tonight on my red wine and salsa run at Costco and I am typing away as I listen to the musical stylings of Mark Knopfler, Meat Loaf, Powderfinger, Bear's Den and Sinead O'Connor. Nats are up 7-0 nothing and the Tribe are up 2-1. Reds are losing (good) and now we need the Rangers to be down as well or perhaps the Rays pitching can falter letting the Orioles back into the game. Less than 10 games left in the season. H told me last night that I need to get the hockey package on our cable programming. H is a Habs fan. That is so cool! It took 19 years but the Prodigal Son has allowed his Canadian DNA to prevail. I really need to upgrade the sound on that flat screen I have in the living room. It is kind of tinny and brutal! I just don't watch enough TV to give a whit....

I will finish this in the morning...H is home and he wants to chat...

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!

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.