The neurontin post

I am under the influence of Neurontin. It is a nerve pain kind of drug. I have done something to my left hand. It is screaming pain messages to my brain. The middle two fingers of my four fingers feel like that are in a vice. A dear friend, who happens to be a Physicians Assistant, told me to put some ice on it, take the neurontin, and ibuprofin. I took the N pill before talking to her. I was slurring slightly and rambling on like crazy. (Sorry, J)

Anyway ...

There is a situation that may be coming to a close this week. It involves the old house that I gave up in my one and only divorce. It is causing trouble with Tammy and I buying a house. We think we have it resolved, though.

What it brought to mind was my 'closest to a Rod Serling' moment. It was a Twilight Zone moment.

I was living in Northern Ohio (a displaced Kentuckian). I was working there and surrounding areas. At the time, I was working in PA on a Nuke Plant. There was work coming up at home and I decided to come back for it. It was the building of Toyota in G'Town. I drove back and forth for several months. While here in Lexington, I looked for a house.

I found a house and decided to buy it. Kaye (the then wife) was still in Ohio and very much pregnant. I told dad the address and he started looking. He owned a house in that neighborhood when I was two years old. He checked, and sure enough, it was the same house.

That wasn't the only thing though. Dad bought the house when he was 29 yrs old. I was 29 yrs old. It was the first house he bought. It was the first house I bought. Mom was pregnant with her 4th kid which turned out to be their 3rd girl. Kaye was pregnant with our 3rd girl. I fully expected to see Rod Serling in the front yard when we got there after signing the papers.

Anywho ... That was my Rod Serling moment.

I just took my 'before bed' dose. I am headed off to Stonerville now. It was odd earlier. I rarely take drugs. I take daily doses of Synthroid, but not regular anything for anything else. It took a while for the drugs to take effect, but when it hit, IT HIT. Tammy was having fun just watching me, she said.

She is about to watch me go to sleep. lol.

At the risk of over posting .....

Tendrils

Loves tender vines
Wrapped around my heart
Holding it secure
Feeling every reverberation
Entwined
Interlaced
Becoming more one
Than anything else
Holding
Embracing
Addicted to the caress
Of sweet bondage
Protecting
Bearing the pain
The tendrils of love
Wrapped around my heart
Growing
Feeding from the gentle stream
Nourished by the wound
Of loves barbed arrow
Symbiotic
Nurturing needs
Fulfilling the wants
Selfless and selfish
Reveling in the embrace
The tendrils of love
Wrapped around my heart
Never leave me free
Never leave me in want
Feel my feted breathing
Feel my coursing pain
Feel my anguished desire
Never leave me free
Wrap me more
In the tendrils of your love

Ron Simpson, Jr.
May 27, 2006

Here are '100 or so' things about me.

Some may surprise ya. I am not sure they are in order of importance as much as in order of popping into my head. Some are very important , while others are trivial.

1) I am 48 and proud of every year it took to get here.
2) I am married for the second time (almost 3 yrs) after 20 years the first time and 6 years of being single.
3) I have seen 6 decades. I saw the last of the 50's, the 60's, the 70's, the 80's, the 90's, and now the 00's.
4) I have 3 daughters and share 2 sons and 2 daughters with Tammy.
5) Kyle (Tammy's youngest) has an obsession with favorite things and IS my favorite 10 year old living in the house with me.
6) I have four grandkids and one on the way.
7) Occasionally, Tammy and I take leave of our senses and bring 3 of them to the house to spend the night.
8) I am a licensed Master Electrician in the state of Kentucky (go CATS)
9) After 27 years working in the construction end of electricity, I have changed careers and started teaching in a high school vocational school.
10) I am overweight, if that matters, you may discontinue reading.
11) I have arthritis in my back.
12) My thyroid is seriously screwed up.
13) No matter how comfortable you get in your skin, you never completely get over the 'want to be liked' syndrome.
14) I was an Ordained Minister for 20 years.
15) I was assistant pastor of a church at one time.
16) I was head of the Church Growth Dept for the state of KY in the religious organization to which I belonged.
17) I was also head of the Christian Education Dept (foreshadowing?).
18) I believe in miracles.
19) I believe in Angels.
20) I believe in God.
21) I believe there is a Devil and I believe he works zealously.
22) I got my first transistor radio in 1970 for my 13th birthday.
23) I began singing at 8 years old, singing in church.
24) My first song was "Joshua fought the battle of Jericho," a Negro spiritual.
25) I have sung a capella in front of a crowd of 400.
26) The first time I sang Karaoke was in a small lounge at a bowling alley and it terrified me.
27) That was about 5 years ago and now my repertoire includes almost 50 songs.
28) I am singing the National Anthem at a local Triple A Baseball team home game (Go Lexington Legends!)
29) I love all kinds of music.
30) I listen mostly to country.
31) I can listen to anything except heavy metal, which is interesting, because I play the guitar and drums.
32) I played drums in elementary school until my grades dropped.
33) I played guitar in church (learned from my mom).
34) I miss the interaction of the construction site.
35) I do not miss the mud, rain, snow, sleet, cold, hot, crappy parking lots, and the general run of pricks ya run into on the average construction job.
36) I was and still am a dues paying union member.
37) I went to one year of college at UK when I was 17.
38) I got married the first time a few months before turning 20. We separated 20 days after our 20th anniversary.
39) I have worked on everything from putting lights in a garage to the backup steam redundancy system on a nuclear reactor.
40) I have helped companies build Ford trucks, GM trucks, Saturns, Subaru/Izuzu's, and Toyota's.
41) This year, 18 years after starting that job in the middle of a mud field, I took a tour of Toyota Motor Manufacturing.
42) My first ever plane flight was on a 30 passenger plane, in 1986. I was 28 yrs old.
43) I loved it and have loved flying ever since.
44) My best flight was a flight from Louisville to Ft Lauderdale, when my flight was canceled and I was bumped up to First Class. (sweet)
45) My worst flight was the same one. The original airline lost my luggage, forcing me to attend an AIDS rally in jeans.
46) I have been in love more than once.
47) I believe in soul mates.
48) I believe there is more than one out there, though.
49) I believe in kindreds.
50) I am a hopeless romantic.

Deep breath here ...

51) I am head over heels in love with Tammy.
52) I will always love Alex, which Tammy completely understands and it doesn't constrain our love at all.
53) I have dated a psycho or two.
54) I protect my friends vehemently.
55) I make friends easy and let them go reluctantly.
56) I am a passionate person.
57) While I do not hold much with ESP, I do acknowledge that I have an empathic spirit.
58) I believe there are things that are unexplainable.
59) I believe in UFOs in as much as they are Unidentified Flying Objects.
60) I do not believe in life on other planets.
61) I am a creationist.
62) I do not believe in evolution.
63) I am not put off by others that believe differently than myself, only by those that insist on shoving their beliefs down my throat without respecting that I am capable of forming opinions of my own based on both facts and feelings.
64) The best thing on my desk at work is a picture of Tammy.
65) I have a great life.
66) I do not have a perfect life.
67) A friend told me years ago that life was too short to work a job you do not love or be married to a woman you do not like.
68) I have both.
69) For all the love that lives between Tammy and myself, I genuinely like her as well. I know how to keep those feelings separate.
70) I have wonderful kids and fully recognize that I am biased.
71) I worry too much about money, even when we have enough.
72) I can be a social butterfly and/or a loner, sometimes, in the same evening.
73) I am a procrastinator.
74) Tammy and Dad are both obsessive about getting things done NOW.
75) They drive me crazy with that as much as I drive them crazy with my procrastination.
76) When we began dating, Tammy and I were amazed at how alike we are. Now we see how different we are, and that enhances our love.
77) Love grows stronger when it reaches across a difference.
78) I am a poet.
79) I am a painter.
80) I am a singer.
81) I am an amateur photographer.
82) I love animals.
83) I have 4 sisters and 1 brother.
84) We are a close family.
85) My parents, both in their 70's are still living.
86) My granny is 91 and still going strong. She is a blog in and of herself.
87) My girls give me wings and provide me roots.
88) I have a slight heart condition.
89) I do not know why, but a cold or flu is the hardest thing on me.
90) I do not smoke.
91) I do not drink.
92) I love and am faithful to my wife.
93) I am old fashioned.
94) I am a walking contradiction.
95) I own 65 plus neckties and I wear about 5 a year.
96) I prefer jeans over a suit, but am just as comfortable in either. The suit makes others uncomfortable.
97) I have way too many clothes.
98) I prefer passionate opposition to mediocre agreement.
99) I support my causes even if they wane in popularity.
100) I used to volunteer for AVOL (AIDS Volunteers Of Lexington). The words 'used to' bother me there.
101) I have only scratched the surface.

Our own little terrorist

I was trying to watch the news this evening when Kyle (10) came in to tell me that he and Caimon were playing in the yard with toy guns, running and shooting, when the troublemaker down the street drove by a few times. Within a few minutes they say police at his house. They came in to tell me. I told them to play inside for a while.

A couple minutes later there was a loud knocking at my door. I answered to find a police officer, slightly crouched, hand on his undrawn gun, in the foyer. He asked if Malcolm, who was straining to see, would bite. I assured him that he wouldn't, stepped through the door, and closed it behind me. He asked if anyone was at home. I told him that my 10 yr old son and a 9 yr old friend were playing in his room. He asked if they could step outside. Once outside, they asked the boys to tell them what happened. He told me that they had gotten a complaint from the neighbor that Kyle was brandishing a weapon and pointing it at him, threatening him.

It was all I could do to keep from laughing out loud. There were at least 6 police officers on the porch and in my yard. There were two others, in no uniform, with orange wrist bands. They are part of Lexington's anti-terrorist squad. The one, most seemingly sensible officer, asked to see the gun that Kyle was playing with. Kyle brought it out. It was a pistol he got at the dollar store.

This officer said he was going down to talk to the neighbor. While he was gone, one of the bicycle cops told me that if Kyle had approached him holding that toy gun that he would shoot him. I was in shock. Here on my porch, a police officer was telling me that he would have no problem shooting a 10 yr old with a plastic gun. I was flabbergasted.

The first officer returned. He asked if there was any history with this neighbor. I told him about the neighbors charge, yet unproven, about Chris stabbing him. I told him about this neighbors repeated efforts to harass us and that this was just one more attempt at perpetuating that harassment. I told him that the boys usually play in the back when we know that JH is home. I didn't know that he was home. He added that it would be a good idea for the boys to play in the back yard. I have no problem with that, but refuse to be a prisoner in my home or yard.

The police begin to leave. The anti-terrorist boys headed back to their cars. Lexington was safe once again. In the past week or so, there have been three bank robberies. The police have not caught the robbers, but by damn, they did stop a 10 yr old terrorist with a plastic gun.

Doesn't that make you sleep better at night ?

Troubled blogging

I have been unable to blog from work the last couple days. There is some glitch that will not allow blogs to come up. It is odd. Yesterday, It allowed some blogs and just ignored requests for others. Today, it ignores all requests. My attempts to pull up the blogger dashboard cause a "Gateway Timeout".

I thought I would jump on her at home and post a bit, since I will be out of town tomorrow for a Program Assessment Workshop.

Tammy and the kids are going as well. They will make a day of shopping and going to sights near Mt Vernon, KY. The last Workshop like this that I attended began at 9 am and ended around 1 pm. Hopefully, this one will follow suit. I have a friend that lives in Mt Vernon and I would love to catch up with him and grab a bite to eat.

The past couple days have been rather uneventful. My truck is fixed (fuel pump.)

Chella and Justin went to the store on Monday and the cops were called. The dude behind the counter accused her of stealing. He said she was in the night before. She wasn't. I am quite sure Chella let her mouth get away with her. He told her the cops were coming and she had to wait. They waited about 20 minutes and left. A police officer stopped them about half way home. By then, Tammy had gone out to see what was taking so long. She arrived to pick them up about the time the cop showed up.

She went to the store and talked to the dude. He told her that her son was stealing as well. Kyle is 10 yrs old. She raised her eyebrows, and her indignation, and said, "You wanna say that again?" He didn't say a word.

The cop showed up at the store, running his mouth. He told her she couldn't be there. She had requested to see the manager. She told him that everything was fine until he showed up with his bullshit. "You can't talk to me like that," he said. "I just did," she replied. She started to leave. "You cant leave," he said. "Watch me," she said. "Are you going to arrest me and charge me with asking to see a manager?"

gotta love her.

Just a regular day around here.

This just in !!

More Than

That the link ... here is the actual poem ... without jumping across the web ...

More Than

When I think about what I say
When I say I love you
It mystifies me

I remember how I felt
The very first time I told you
What you already knew
And I finally admitted out loud

I know it still surprises you at times
That I still remember the day
September 17, 2002
In the dining room
In the house that is gone
On Ashland Ave

I remember how it felt
When I told you I loved you
After you said Yes to my Yes
August 2003
In the bedroom
On Oxford Circle
It was leaps and bounds beyond that day
In September

In October
In front of family and friends
On Limestone
I told everyone that I loved you
It was deeper still
Than in August

Last night
In the bed
In the bedroom
On Loudon Ave
With our legs intertwined
After watching a movie
Before falling asleep
I told you I loved you

It was more
Much more
Than that day
In September
Much more
Than that day
In August
Much more
Than that dayIn October

Tomorrow, for no real reason
I will tell you that I love you
And it will be more
Than ever before
It will still be the same three words
ButIt will be more
More than ...

Ron Simpson Jr.
May 21, 2006

added 8 new pages to the poetry pages

you can find them at the bottom of the New First Stop ...

It is still a work in progress. The new pages include such poems as:
Sometimes
Borrowed
He is Still Here
Theif & Liar
Heroes & Moved
For Every Other Day
and .. one of my personal favorites .. Folded Dreams

also some New Love Stuff 1

Busy time

this has been a busy couple days. This is the last week of school. Monday was finals. Tuesday was election day, no school, but a working day. Wednesday was our cookout, sponsored by Skills USA, for all the students at the ATC. (280 burgers, 216 sausages, 80 dogs, 622 assorted buns, 24 cases of pop [soda], sliced tomatoes, onions, lettuce, cheese, etc ...) It was an adventure.

After the adventure (well, 1.5 hours before it officially ended) I was off to Louisville for an Electrical Trade Show. I made some new contacts and ran into some old ones. I saw some friends I hadn't seen for some time. It was a good time. There was a bonus. I got to take my honey with me. It is always a good thing when you can mix your business and your pleasure.

Today has been hectic. The Health teacher is out, so I was stuck downstairs for a while. I am now finally back in my room where I can get the access I need to blog !

I was working on something while I was down there. It started like this:

"Life is a series of unexploded events

held precariously together

by this fleeting facade we call order."

We will see if that goes far.

I have no students right now, and no grades to enter. Ah, a moment of my own.

That is a dangerous thing....

An ever evolving work in progress

http://hometown.aol.com/handful0trouble/FirstStop.html

For every other day

posting it one day early ...

For Every Other Day

Looking back over almost 50 years,
There have been nearly countless days,
That were filled with special memories.

Forty-eight times, we have celebrated my birth,
Forty-eight Christmas days that we have shared,
Scattered in the midst, were graduations,
Holidays, family dinners, anniversaries, and such.

There were hospital stays on both sides,
And various sicknesses that brought a call or even a visit,
There were special prayers, and numerous events,
We watched my children grow and begin families of their own,
With me hoping, I did the same fine job as you.

It overwhelms my mind to sit and try to recall,
All the times I cried and you were there.
It brings a tear to my eyes even today, to think of it.

I cannot begin to call to mind all the times, I thought,
“What would Mom do?”

If I could recollect them all,
And write them down for the world to see,
If I could share all that I am,
Because of those special days,
It would still not begin to be enough
To say, “Thank you”

Even if it were possible to thank you
for every special time
I would still have to say,

“Thanks, for every other day.”

Happy Mothers Day
May 14, 2006

Operator headspace

It is shaping up to be one of those morning .. Since yesterday afternoon.

After a great day at school, I drove toward the house. Tammy left my school shortly ahead of me, taking Chris (who was rained out) to Nicholasville. Chella and Justin were going to pick Kyle up and walk home with him. I decided, since I was in the area, to stop by and see if they wanted a ride. I couldn't get to the school. The police had the area barricaded. It seems they went to serve a warrant on someone a few doors up from the school and he decided to barricade himself in his house. The police and news media were there in masses.

I was able to back track around the area and come up to the school from another direction. The kids were fine and out of harms way. They even decided to walk home.

I proceeded to the house. I came in, well nearly, I opened the door and let the dogs out to 'doo doo' their business. I should have been suspicious when Malcolm ran out and proceeded with haste to fertilize the yard, while Lacey just ran around and looked. It didn't take long and they were ready to go in. I walked into the dark hallway and proceeded to step into Lacey's efforts to fertilize the hallway. Raz-a-fraz-a-raz-a-bracker !

A little later the kids arrived. Chella told me someone was on the porch telling her that his key to downstairs didn't work. It was the meter reader. He has to have access to the basement of the house to read the meter. We keep a padlock on the entrance to prevent (and it has happened) the local Hispanics from living under the house. It was off for a while and someone had gone in and pilfered through our stored items down there. There is no access to the rest of the house from this basement. It is where the electric panel and furnace reside.

I put the lock back on the door, or so I thought. It appears that I put the wrong lock on that door. It was another master lock. Not a problem, I had the key hanging on a nail by the computer. I went to get the key, and NO KEY !

I looked around the desk top and floor. NO KEY!

I told him I would find the key if he could come back tomorrow. He told me he would be back this morning at 6:30. No problem.

PROBLEM ! I looked everywhere and there was no key. It was not on any of the usual house rings or spare rings or individual rings. SO, at 11 o'clock last night, I was outside trying to remove the hasp to be able to open the door. With great effort I got 2 and a half screws out of the hasp ring. The third screw was being stubborn and the fourth screw was just refusing access all together. Finally, I got a pry bar and broke the hasp. Mission accomplished, the door would now open. I took my tools and my aching back (Arthur didn't like standing outside for that long) and went inside to bed.

This morning was going ok. I decided to stop at the Marathon instead of the Shell station. I was proceeding to Marathon when some student in an old blue Nissan got in front of me and decided to drive like he was from around here (like a moron.) I got aggravated with him and forgot to stop at Marathon. I turned around in the parking lot of the school and headed back out, passing a confused Principal coming in.

I got my breakfast sammich and my diet Dews, and went to pay. The change part of my bill was 36 cents. I fished in my pocket for sufficient change. Out came my keys, my jump drive, my folding money, my Bluetooth handsfree for my phone, 14 quarters, 6 dimes, 5 nickels, 14 pennies, and the LOST KEY to the lock. It was in my pocket all the time. AAARRRGGGHHH !

I went back to school while calling Tammy to tell her that I had found the key to the lock hanging on the broken hasp. She said that was a definite Tammy move.

School started, the bell rang, my students were gathered, we were going to work on our final project, when the classroom began to fill up with students. What?? I asked. The Welding students told me that Mr. B was not there and they decided to come to my class. I called Ms B (Principal) and asked what was going on. She was impressed with the students. They decided on their own to come into my classroom when their teacher was MIA. She called and he was not coming. So, it looks like I will be hosting the welding class today. Another day of productive class time shot to heck.

Did I mention yesterday about the dickhead teacher here getting on me for being out of my classroom while students were there. I had left my class to step next door to let the Automotive Teacher know that Tammy was bringing the Camaro in for an oil change. The dickhead Carpentry teacher came into the Auto class (out of his class with his student unattended) to tell me that I should not leave my students unattended. Am I the only one that sees the stupidity of his complaint ?

I don't leave my class often, or for very long periods of time, and only after assessing the behavioral attitude of my students. Hyper days, they are never left alone. Mellow day, they may be left for short periods.

Later, Mr G, was going to turn off the snack machines. Mr DH (DickHead) told him to leave them on. Then as each student entered the school, he stopped them and asked what class they were in. When they responded that they were in Mr G's class, he LOUDLY announced to them that they were not allowed to eat or drink in that class and must proceed away from the vending machines. One particular group, after their accosting, was asked, by me, LOUDLY, if this was "the first time they had heard this rule?" they responded, "NO."

Oh, to be perfect like Mr DH.

If the week proceeds down this path and doesn't improve over the weekend, I might 'entertain thoughts of suicide.' (vague reference to a commercial Kyle thought was strange)

Anyway, I hope your week is grand and weekend more grand. Send positive thoughts my way.

My weekend/weekstart

This has been a great weekend, for the most part. The drama has been extremely low.

Friday was Senior Skip Day, so all of my afternoon students were gone. I left work shortly after lunch. It was great to be home with Tammy, even though Chelsea's school accident caused her to invade our 'alone' time.

Saturday was a slow moving day. We made it Mom and Dad's to work on Dad's computer, cell phone, and collect checks for our cleaning labors at his rental house. We also went by another of his rental houses to look over some electric work to be done. We did a bit of running and visiting. We made it to more than a few yard/garage sales. Tammy collected several things she just couldn't live without. She did find a hand mixer, which she has been wanting for a while.

Then, later that night, we went to Todd's karaoke. We met Red and Steve, who were in from Chicago. Craig and Robin. Dwayne and Tina, Todd2, and Kendra were there as well. It was a great visit and a fun time. There was a Karaoke Contest that night. We didn't enter, in spite of the vehement objections of our friends and other patrons. I love to sing. I sing because it is fun for me. I don't need to compete. Karaoke makes room for everyone to sing, good or bad or somewhere in between. When it becomes a competition, the less talented singers drop away. I think we lose when that happens. I like listening to the singers that can't sing, but love to sing.

Still, it was great to see old friends.

Sunday was slow (or at least has been). We went to the grocery, spent money (never a good thing), and enjoyed shopping. Tammy can't process sugar and therefore must limit her sugar intake drastically. I got her some vanilla, no sugar added, ice cream. When we got home, I made her a Vanilla Milkshake with the ice cream and the 'new to us' hand mixer. She was like a little kid. She loved it. I am not sure which she liked most, but I am figuring it was the sweetness of my actions more than the sweetness of the milkshake. After all, I am a sweet guy. Just kidding.

The weekend/weekstart is progressing much too quickly, but there is still snuggling to be done, cuddling to happen, naked sleeping to occur, and much needed chest time.

Y'all enjoy ...

Crawling out of the BOX

We have been working all day on our Program Assessment Box. It is the states way of assessing that we are actually doing what we claim to be doing. It has been a full day of working on the documentation for the 21 various standards, each contained 4 or more individual folders. There are 80 plus folders in the box, all of which we hope to have some sort of documentation in. It has been a busy busy day.

On a great note, Kyle told me yesterday that he understood the idea of punishing him. It is "to show me that being bad brings punishments and being good brings rewards." I told you he was smart !

Free Willy .. er Kyle

Kyle is off of all restrictions. He is a happy camper. We will see if he remains a happy camper or returns to his wicked way.

Actually, he is a fairly normal 10 year old with a few minor exceptions. Kyle is extremely bright. He absorbs information. He is the best reader in his school. He is in the fourth grade and the school has to bring books in from the middle school for him to read. He is not allowed to read the books they have at the elementary school.

His intelligence is his worst enemy, though. Kyle knows he is smart. He thinks he is smart enough to get away with things that he can not get away with. We allow him to get away with some trivial things. This creates the idea that he can get away with bigger things. That is where he fails. He doesn't realize that we see when he messes up in the minors, but that is his room to grow. When he tries in the majors, he has entered a new and different arena. There, more is expected.

He cannot lie for shit. He just isn't good at it. That is not a bad thing. Being an accomplished liar is not something to put on your resume, unless you are running for president.

Last night he returned to snack land. He is back to his regular bedtime.

He did make a small mistake during the day, for which he was scolded and not allowed to be on the computer for a bit. Chella was trying to sign online and the keyboard stopped working. It is a matter of hitting a few keys to restore it. Kyle promptly went to fix is and punched the keyboard. ERROR !!!

We explained that hitting electrical devices does not make them work better. (I know y'all are not abusing your electrical devices ... Right?)

Anyway, it was an uneventful evening. No one was shot, stabbed, punched (except the poor defenseless keyboard,) or run out of town on a rail. There were not outburst of crying or screaming. That is always a good night. There was cuddling. That makes for a better night.

Tonight should be good. It was pouring the rain this morning, so Chris didn't go to work. That means there will be no 2 hour 80 mile trip for Tammy this evening. Those two hours can be spent with me !

That is something to look forward to.

Field Trip !!

We took 34 students to Toyota Motor Manufacturing for a tour today. The criteria for attending this trip was: no failing grades in any classes; No regular or recurring discipline problems; and approved by teacher. It was a 'reward' trip. It was a day away from school. It was a free lunch (provided by our community liaison.) There were 5 teachers along for the ride. I think it was a reward for us as well.

The trip was good. There were no problems. The students were well behaved for the most part.

While we were gone, some student entered the Auto class and removed the memory from the teachers computer. Dang, kids.