The Social Network and Only Three Tapes To Go

This morning, I went to see The Social Network, a movie about the creator of Facebook. It was a very interesting movie, not just a tale of how Facebook got going, but also an excellent study of what makes people tick, especially geeky nerds with no social skills to speak of. I enjoyed the movie thoroughly – it makes you think.

I’ve made such great progress on my tape archiving that I only have four more to go of the 100 in the case. I’ve skipped a lot of them, because I realized I would never listen to the music on many of the tapes.

After the movie, I went to Publix and then home and put my groceries away. In the process of that, I threw away a number of expired items in my freezer. There’s a lot of space in my freezer now, which I will leave empty. I’m pretty sure there are other items in the freezer I can throw out, but my hands were getting cold and I don’t like to rush things.

Tomorrow, it’s off to the chiropractor. I sure will be glad when my back and leg get fixed. I was up for 2 1/2 hours in the middle of the night, unable to sleep because of the pain. It’s weird because, during the day, when I’m up and walking around, I mostly am in no pain. For the last 40 days or so, I have walked every day except two and don’t seem to have any problem doing that. But, when I’m lying down, the pain starts and all I can think of is the hurting, which seems to be exacerbated by lying down.

For lunch tomorrow, I’m meeting Richard (my cousin), Bill and Vivienne MacMillan and Mom’s friend, Irene. We’ll be checking out the Clearwater branch of Anthony’s Coal-Fired Pizza. I hope they enjoy it as much as I know i will.

Until next time…

Busy, Busy, Busy and an Important Message re: The Troops

I spent the day today organizing stuff, packing, and archiving tapes. I’ve made the most progress on the tapes – I’m more than halfway through the case of 100. Of course, I’m skipping quite a few.

I’ve been trying different methods for archiving a Ray Stevens tape called I Have Returned. It’s one of my favorites, but has been played so much, I could hardly get it to play. I actually tried to purchase the album from iTunes, but it’s no longer available there or from RayStevens.com. I did manage to retrieve a couple of the songs I like the most.

I had a great walk tonight just before dark. With the help of some Off, I was able to walk without getting eaten alive. The temperatures here have been wonderful. It’s 73 out right now.

Other than my walk and getting the mail, I stayed home and worked really hard. Never even took a nap and I’m retired. Oh well, eventually, I’ll get this retirement down pat.

My sister-in-law sent me the following in an e-mail. Please pray for our soldiers, sailors, air force and marines.

Your cell phone is in your pocket.   He clutches the cross hanging on his chain next to his dog tags.    He knows he may not see some of his buddies again.  You walk down the beach, staring at all the pretty girls.  He patrols the streets, searching for insurgents and terrorists.  He's told he will be held over an extra 2 months.  You call your girlfriend and set a date for tonight.  He waits for the mail to see if there is a letter from home.  You hug and kiss your girlfriend, like you do everyday. He holds his letter close and smells his love's perfume.  You roll your eyes as a baby cries.  He gets a letter with pictures of his new child, and wonders if they'll ever meet.  You criticize your government, and say that war never solves anything.  He sees the innocent tortured and killed by their own people and

remembers why he is fighting. 

You hear the jokes about the war, and make fun of men like him. 
He hears the gunfire, bombs and

screams of the wounded. 

You see only what the media wants

you to see. 
He sees the broken bodies lying

around him. 

You are asked to do some thing by

your parents. You don't. 
He does exactly what he is told even

if it puts his life in danger. 

You stay at home and watch TV. 
He takes whatever time he is given

to call, write home, sleep, and eat. 

You crawl into your soft bed, with

down pillows, and get comfortable. 
He tries to sleep but gets woken by mortars and helicopters all night long. 

If you support your troops, send this

to 13 people. 

REMEMBER our Troops, and do not

forget them LATER 
Lest we forget - 
KEEP THE CHAIN GOING 

Until next time…

Secretariat and Joan’s Birthday Party

Today, Joan and I went to AMC to see the movie, Secretariat. I must admit I had reservations about whether the movie would be very interesting considering the fact that everyone knows that the horse Secretariat was the last winner of the Triple Crown, i.e. this horse won the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont Stake all within a period of 5 weeks.

In some ways, the movie reminded me of Blind Spot, mainly because it was about family and courage and beating the odds. And, in spite of knowing how the movie ends, the story behind the story was incredibly well done. There were some real characters, folks you’ll remember for a long time. And no doubt, you’ll want to stand and cheer as Big Red (Secretariat) gallops down towards the finish line. See it if you can.

This evening, I joined my friends Joyce and Tammy as we celebrated my friend Joan’s 39th birthday (tomorrow, she’ll be 38 again). We met at Carrabba’s and had great food and great fun.

 

From the above picture (from left to right, it’s Joyce, Joan, and Tammy), it looks as if they were in a dentist’s waiting room, but I guess they just forgot to smile. Nevertheless, we did have a good time. Of course, the picture was taken at the end of the meal and we were all full and enjoying our cupcakes.

Tammy brought these delicious cupcakes and I never thought to take a picture before we took some off the board. The cupcakes were in the form of a question mark. You can sort of see where the four we ate were.

In view of that, I “fixed” the picture using Photoshop so you could really see what they looked like before we helped ourselves.

Isn’t technology a wonderful thing? Would you have been able to tell there was something not quite real about the “fixed” picture if I hadn’t told you? Imagine if I had spent more than two minutes on it!

Needless to say, I never had much time to do more than archive a few tapes today. Hopefully, it’ll get more done tomorrow.

Until next time…

Window Box

Today, I finished installing the window box under my kitchen window. The pictures show the single bracket I installed Saturday and the completed window box. I also put some putty in the holes that were left from he previous brackets.

Below is the completed window box. It’s a bit shorter than the previous one, but sure looks a lot better. You’ll not I haven’t filled it with dir and flowers yet. I’ll let my cousin take care of that.

In the picture below, you can see the fill tube and the grate where the soil goes. 

 

Aside from a great 30-minute walk with no pain, the only other things I did were 1) pack a box for Goodwill, 2) process a bunch of cassette tapes. When I complete the next tape, I’ll have finished 15 (yes, FIFTEEN) of the 100 tapes in the case. While archiving the tapes, I finished the Ted Bell book Warlord. I was so glad to get to the end and find a reference to a possible story twist that I was expecting from Tsar. I can’t wait for the next Alex Hawke book to find out what happens.

The box I packed from Goodwill mostly came from a box of books I had in my bedroom. In the course of emptying that box, I found about 15 print books I need to read – I’ll do that before reading any more books on my Kindle. At least, that is my intention.

Tomorrow, I’m meeting my friend Joan at AMC where we’ll see Secretariat. Then, since tomorrow is Joan’s birthday, I’ll meet her and a bunch of friends at Carrabba’s (my most favorite place to eat) in Brandon for dinner.

Until next time…

Life As We Know It

Today, Karen and I went to AMC and watched the movie Life As We Know It starring Josh Duhamel and Katherine Heigl. What a terrific film! You’ve probably seen the previews. Two single people, who can’t stand each other, become guardians of a little girl when her parents are killed.

The little girl is absolutely precious, but I didn’t know until I was looking up the names of a couple of characters that she was played by not two, but three sisters. She steals the show.

If you’ve seen the previews, you’ve probably seen the clip where a neighbor tells Katherine Heigl that she has “poo” on her face. In the movie, they use the word “s__t.” I really thought “poo” was funnier.

If you want to be entertained, to laugh, to cry, this is the movie for you.

Most of the rest of the day was pretty quiet. I’ve already made my way through 10 of the 100 tapes, but I didn’t archive all 10.

Until next time…

Window Box Status

A few days ago I mentioned I had a new window box to install outside my kitchen window. The wooden one that was there before had fallen apart some time ago and had to be removed. I bought a new plastic window box that is very much like the earth boxes I used to grow plants. It has a reservoir at the bottom, a grate on which you put the potting soil and holes in the side to keep the plants from being overwatered.

Today, I started hanging the new window box. First, I had to go to Ace Hardware to get four screws and four washers so I could fasten it to the house. After that, I started using my re-chargeable drill and one of the batteries was almost dead. Fortunately, the other was okay. I mounted one of the brackets, but decided to wait until tomorrow or Monday to hang the other. Holding things above shoulder level is somewhat difficult and tiring. And, don’t forget, I am retued and can take my sweet old time.

Sales Tax Report

Today, I prepared my LAST sales tax report and a notification of closing my business. I closed my eBay Store effective 9/30/2010, and won’t need to file any more sales tax reports. What a relief!

A Daunting Task

Today, I also completed archiving the once rapidly multiplying boxes of loose cassette tapes and am ready to do the ones in my cassette tape rack. Doesn’t it look like a daunting task? When you consider the fact that each one holds at least an hour of music, it seems even more daunting. But, have no fear. I’ll get it done.

While I may not archive all of them (that would 100 times 1 hour each or 100 hours of work), I will probably do most of them.

Some More Great Soup

Today, I made some more great bean soup. I started soaking the beans last night then poured off the water and added two cans of chicken stock. I chopped celery, onions, carrots, cabbage, mushrooms, green peppers, red peppers, yellow peppers, and Wickles Pepper Strips to add to it, as well as a heaping teaspoon of cinnamon, cumin, garlic and herb seasoning, paprika and 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper. One can of stewed tomatoes and one can of diced tomatoes with some salt and fresh cracked black pepper were the final ingredients.

What can I say, it is delicious and makes a hearty, filling, nutritious lunch.

I’ve managed to catch a little time to read today also. I’m 46% of the way through Warlord: An Alex Hawke Novel. In fact, since it’s 10:30 p.m., I think I’ll go to bed early and try to get to at least 50%.

Until next time…

What A Wonderful Lunch

This morning, I went to see my chiropractor and my back feels great right now. He did more acupuncture and I followed it up with 15 minutes in the massage chair. Boy, do I ever miss my massage chair. He said that the pain I’ve been experiencing is due to arthritis and to keep moving. As I lose weight, I’m sure it will get a little easier.

Funny, when I walk at night, the street lights cast a shadow ahead of me and as I get farther from the light, my shadow narrows down considerably. I’m visualizing this happening to me. It’s a great incentive to keep walking. Of course, the analogy breaks down since, when my shadow is thinning out, it is also getting taller. I can’t see myself getting any taller.

Quaker Steak & Lube

Today, I met Richard (my cousin), Irene Miller (Mom’s dear friend from childhood), and Bill and Vivienne McMillen (Irene’s daughter and son-in-law) at Quaker Steak and Lube for lunch. Not only was the food delicious, but the company was wonderful.

We caught up on news and talked of past times and events. Irene is visiting from Painted Post, NY. Bill and Vivienne live in Largo. Richard lives in St. Petersburg, but will soon (probably 12/15/2010) be moving into my house.

Here’s a picture the waiter took at lunch with me, Richard, Bill, Vivienne, and Irene. We’d pretty nearly finished eating by this time.

 

I hope we can get together again before Irene goes back to New York.

Selected Knickknacks

As I told you yesterday, I’ve packed up most of my knickknacks, except for some Mark and I made. This picture shows the knickknacks I’ll be keeping. I may find a one or two more.

Mark made the Snoopy bank for one of my birthdays. I don’t know how he ever did it without my knowing about it, but it was a complete surprise. The rest of the items are used to hold stuff.

The Alexander Hawke Series

A week or so ago, Glenn Beck recommended a book by Ted Bell called Warrior. When I looked it up, I discovered Warrior was the SIXTH book in a series. I don’t know about you, but I can’t stand to begin watching a TV show or movie even just a few minutes after it starts and I certainly never like to read books in a series out of order.

Well, I ordered the other five books and read them in order. Tonight I will finish the fifth and probably start Warrior. They are timely adventure books with evil villains and worthy heroes. Ted Bell definitely believes in good versus evil, that evil exists and that the good must fight it. He sure gives you a lot to think about. I recommend the series and would loan you my books, but they are all on my Kindle so that is impossible.

I know it’s early for me to post my blog, but I think the most interesting aspects of my day are complete. If anything else happens, I’ll write about it tomorrow. Since it’s Friday night, I’ll be watching CBS – Medium, CSI: NY (it’s really much better now with Sela Ward), and Blue Bloods. What an exciting life I lead!

Until next time…