Up In The Middle Of The Night

Okay I finally gave up trying to get back to sleep at 420am after pretty much tossing and turning for the last two hours or so. I got all of three hours of sleep I think. I'm pretty sure that I am not going to be very effective later in the day. Coffee is brewing and I really need to shave. I have itchy face. I don't have a big day planned as later on this morning I am heading to take an all day PowerPoint class to update my skills there. Once I complete this class, I too will be able to proceed with death by PowerPoint presentations all of my own. Oh joy!

So what to talk about as I am drinking the first of today's many coffees.

Listening to the late Bob Welch right now. Songs like "Ebony Eyes" and the beautifully played "Sentimental Lady" both from his 1977 release French Kiss which was his first solo release after leaving Fleetwood Mac in 1974.

Bob Welch had been in the band since 1971 bridging the era from their original blues roots in England when the band were all Englishmen to when he left in '74 to be replaced by the Stevie Nicks - Lindsey Buckingham tandem. It can be said that he brought a more commercial flair to the band who up that time were known as a blues band. The weird thing is that the Fleetwood Mac song called "Hypnotized" that he is most closely associated with is from 1973's Mystery To Me album was never released as a single. That really good song became well known from it being played on album oriented rock stations. I think in this day and age of disposable music and the iTune mentality which is geared towards singles more than actual albums of music; a great song like this may have never seen the light of day or been heard. It still gets tons of airplay and nearly 40 years later it still feels fresh.

Sadly Bob Welch passed away at 65 early last month after taking his own life. He had major health issues related to some spinal surgery he had a few months prior and didn't want his wife to care for an invalid. Sad.

Wow H is up already. He needs to be at the store for 6am. Today is when the prices change on the sale items and he is the lucky one that has to handle that in the produce section. He is so not a morning person. I'm impressed as this week with his manager off on vacation, he's had the early shift and he's been up and at 'em without fail all week. My young man is definitely growing up fast.

So yesterday on my way into work I once again had the opportunity to be stuck behind a complete moron of a driver on an effing cellphone as we were trying to merge on northbound 85. First of all, who the eff are you talking to at 745am on your cellphone? You just left the effing house a little bit ago. There can't be emergency already! Are you talking to your lover? Are you cheating on your wife? Are you placing bets with your bookie on the MLB AllStar game? Are you solving issues related to the production being down because you're Albert Effin Einstein? This is what goes through my head when I am stuck behind someone trying to merge onto the highway where everyone is going 60 to 70 mph and Mr. Moron OnTheCellphone is driving 40 mph. Sorry Einstein but that just isn't going to work. Sadly I live in a state where seatbelt safety rules were only put into law in the last 5-6 years. I expect cellphone safety laws to be enacted in the year 2084 in this state. The argument against all of these laws that better society is some hogwash about trampling on individual rights. It's effing retarded. Sorry I am cranky when thinking about dumbasses and their lack of reasoning and common sense. LOL. Okay time to switch the subject. Onto to serene things. Ha.

Actually I'm going to make breakfast and log on to my work computer and catch up on emails.

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!

Middle of the Night

Well here I am at 417am and I think I am pretty much wide awake. I woke up about 15 minutes ago wondering where I was. Not a good sign. Gawd I have too many things running through my head. Most of these things are negative in tone. It's amazing how one event just seems to overshadow everything else that is going on and makes everything seem kind of bleak. I know that this is just a temporary thing. It will get better. I just have to do what I need to do to make it so.

I am really looking forward to this long weekend. Pretty sure that the weather is going to be real nice and that will give me the chance to work on my front and back yards. This being my first ever spring as a homeowner this will be interesting. I was walking around my yard yesterday wondering what is good grass and what is a weed-like grass. I am really lost when it comes to any garden issues. I'm going to have to google all of this stuff to figure it out. LOL. I think I am going to try to get back to sleep. I can't be awake at 426am!