Weekend end

The weekend is coming to a close. It has been a good one in as much as little was accomplished and little effort was made to make it any different. I am sure, as the weather gets nicer, we will be much busier on the weekends, but for now, slow is a good thing.

We did get out and about for a bit today. Tammy and I went out to do a couple things. We stopped at the store for some feminine hygiene products. We made a few u-turns around the circle (legal, of course) and got some lunch at Wendy's. Then we went to the movie. We saw "Constantine". It was an OK movie. The premise was flawed, but it is a work of fiction based on a comic book, so that was to be expected. The acting was good. The special effects were good. Some of the Hell scenes were interesting. The movie did a fair job of explaining itself without becoming to bogged down with the origins.

After the movie, we came home and chilled.

Tammy fixed stir fry for supper. It was delicious.

The day has slowly slipped into the evening, which is just as slowly slipping into the night.

A good end to a good weekend.

Laziness, pure and simple

It has been another do nothing day. I think it is still part of the healing process from the flu. It is exhausting to work all week. I still tire more easily. I still have the cough. I know that this will pass ... Eventually. I am ready for it to be gone. It is like the poster, "God grant me patience, but do it now!!"

The good news ... UK beat Cincinnati

Friday finally

Whew ... It is finally Friday.

I don't think I will ever get rid of this cough. I have smokers hack and I don't even smoke. It just jumps up in the middle of talking. There is an irresistible urge to cough. It doesn't happen with any consistency. Sometimes I talk just fine. Sometimes, I can even sing. Other times, I get a verse out, almost, and I am coughing over and over. That is the aggravating part of it all. I love to sing. I need to talk. Singing makes my heart smile. Not talking makes my job impossible.

So, I get 2 days to rest my voice and try to figure out how to get rid of this thing. It may just be a time thing. It might be something else. Either way, it has got to go. Cough cough cough.

I think we decided not to go out tonight. It is 8 o'clock and I have no desire to put my shoes back on. I would much prefer some naked lick and tickle with Tammy. Hey ! We are a married couple that still greatly enjoys an active and fulfilling sex life. Get over it. Just think of us sitting in the bed talking ... Or knitting ... If that helps.

I doubt we will get a repeat of last weekend. It was like a vacation. This weekend promises to be busier. However, I am sure there will be time for feely touchy stuff. You know ... Stuff like knitting.

Anyway, I am off of here. I gotta trim the beard and mustache. I am getting a little shaggy looking.

Peace !

An afternoon in March in Kentucky

We are in class ... watching the UK/EKU game. The students asked, if they got their projects to the 'rough in' inspection part, could they watch the game? The 'rough in' is approximately the half way point for most of the projects that we do. They have 2 class periods to complete this project. Therefore, getting to the half way point on the first day is acceptable. All five students rushed through to get it done. I didn't pull any punches of the inspection. They had to pass just as they would on the jobsite. Further, they will be graded on the overall appearance of the project. Haste makes sloppiness.

This project will be graded harder than the previous projects. The more they do, the more I expect of them. That is just like they will find on a construction site, mostly. One thing they will not find on the site is someone willing to watch them and fix their mistakes as they make them.

Still, it is a March afternoon in Kentucky, and the Cats are playing basketball. The eyes and/or ears of most KY fans are tuned to the game. This is as it should be, in Kentucky, in March.

Oh yeah, at this point, it is UK 34 ... EKU 20.

Procrastination vindication

My Ex and I used to play Monopoly. She would win 1 time out of 100. Oh, but that one win was the sweetest thing in the world you would think. She would gloat about winning for weeks. Even though, it was just one win out of one hundred games, it was a great victory for her.

I procrastinate (right, Honey?). I cannot recall the times I have had to rush to meet a deadline. I can not begin to recount the times I have had to change movie plans because I waited too long to leave the house. We won't even go there with the movie late fees or the other things that have been returned late as the result of my proclivity to procrastinate.

This is that 'one time in one hundred' for me. I contacted a publishing company when I finished my book. (Actually, I contacted many, and am still talking to several.) One company offered me a contract with no out of pocket expense to me. Now, I am not a lawyer, but my friend, David, is a lawyer. I gave him the contract to look over. While, I have not been able to sit down with him and discuss the contract, he did tell me there were some things that we needed to discuss about this contract.

Another publisher has contacted me, or has been trying to contact me. They have left numerous messages at home. A couple days ago, they called while Tammy was home and the line was free. They were ecstatic about finally reaching a person. Tammy took the opportunity to ask several question about 'self publish' companies (of which, they are one). They admitted there was a stigma and problems with some vanity publishers, especially those that use the POD (print on demand) method. They referred her to a website called "Preditors & Editors" (Predators was misspelled on purpose, I assume, to make it more like 'editors')

Regardless, the company that sent me the contract was listed on that website as a predator. They are, according to that site, a "vanity publisher that masquerades as a traditional publisher." There are complaints about record keeping, paying royalties, breaching contracts, and not putting books in the hands of real 'brick and wood' book stores. The answers that this company gave were double speak. The person responding to the allegations even refused to divulge the CEO of the company.

It seems, that this one time out of one hundred, might have been a good thing.

This book is more than just a book to me. I am sure every writer feels this way. This book is part of me. It is a part of me that I am willing to share with the rest of the world. It is my baby. The publisher that handles her must be above reproach. This is the only baby I have to offer right now. And ... Heaven help us if someone abuses my baby. Then, there is the matter of the over 140 poems that are ready for publishing as well.

Still looking for the right one ...

From strings to ...

You can never tell where the eclectic workings of the mind will take you from day to day.

It is dependent on so many changing factors. If it is a deep night at the house, then it might be a deep blog. If it is a casual night at home, that may be reflected in the blog as well. The drive to school in the morning might affect the blog (The babysitter is teaching the kids bad habits). Sometimes it comes on me suddenly, and other times it doesn't manifest until I am writing. So, one can never be sure, when opening a blog, just what one will find.

I read a dozen or so blogs regularly. It seems that this 'sweet to cynical', 'sublime to ridiculous', 'serious to shallow', thing is a common theme amongst them. They are like a walk through the life of the writer. They touch the common strings and sometimes echo the deep thoughts of all of us. I do not agree with all the sentiments that I read. That is not a requirement. It is just the diversity that makes life interesting. There is a rich diversity across the country. There is a rich diversity in one individuals life, even. Life swings. It changes. It pulsates.

therefore, one day it is strings and the next, it is the crazy mad insane drivers in any hometown, USA. One day it is the shallow vanity of finding a gray hair and the next it is the affect of an accident with your child that jolts you back to reality. When we look back on a day, we focus on the major events of the day, but need to take into account all that minors that filled the spaces between.

While writing this, I am sitting in my classroom, eating a delicious sandwich, lovingly made by my sweetheart. It will not be the end all topic of a blog, but it will always be one of the sweet fillers of my day. Life is just that way. The roller coaster ride and the standing in line will fill the days. AND ... The filling of the days will be the tender meat of the blogs of our lives.

Strings

Gulliver swam to the shore and lay on the beach exhausted. His ordeal getting the best of him, he slumbered deeply in the grass he found a short ways from shore. When he awoke, he found himself tied to the ground with strings. His arms and legs secured with said strings tied to pegs driven into the ground. His hair was tied in strands. He was captured. With great effort and much pain, he eventually freed himself. There he discovered his captors, the Lilliputians, a race of people standing only six inches tall, by his standard of measure.

Sometimes, it is all to easy to be captured by the multitude of strings in our lives. Individually, the strings would not nor could not capture or hold us. One by one, we have added the strings that capture us in this life. They tie us to the jobs, relationships, situations, and they anchor our spirits to prevent us from flying free. We don't even notice it until we awaken one day and try to move, only to find that we have been captured by all the small details of our lives.

This is not to say that the small details of our lives, in and of themselves, are bad. I relish my close and personal relationships. I revel in my roles of father and husband. My job is grand. However, it is all too easy to allow myself to be defined by my strings. I am much more than a husband. I am much more than a father, I am much more than an electrician and teacher. I define these roles in my life. They do not define me.

These strings can hold us, bind us, capture us, and stifle us. If we allow it, we will awaken to find ourselves trapped under the strings, lying in the tall grass. We may be the envy of our friends and still be the prisoner of our lives. These strings can bind us or we can tie them to the frames of kites and let them fly brightly and free. I want what I am to be the strings that fly and flip the kites around me, and not the ties that bind me to the ground. They must be the streamers in my life and not the cords that keep me from flying

Give me strings ... Give me freedom ... Give me 'me' ...

About Me

Things that annoy me ... a short list

1. People that talk incessantly ... Why is it that people like this never seem to find anything interesting to talk about?

2. Professionals that do not call back ... If you aren't gonna call, just say so !

3. Lexington Traffic Idiots ... Looney tunes (seriously)

4. Guys I know that still hit on my wife ... (it's about respect)

5. Too many choices ... Yeah, I got satellite ... 500 channels ... who needs that many choices ?

Things about me ...

1. I do not smoke.

2. I do not drink.

3. I try not to use profanity ... I am not very f-beeping good at it.

4. My thyroid is seriously screwed up.

5. I am lucky to be married to my hunny.

Just a quick short list .. will add more as I figure out what irks me or might be important about me

whatta weekend !!

It has been a wonderful weekend.

Friday night, Tammy and I went out for dinner. We went to one of our favorite places, Friends & Co. Friends is a bar/restaurant. They have a great atmosphere, good food, good prices, and we know all of the regular crowd there. It is always a good time. Gary and Russ were there that night, watching the UK game. We sat on the restaurant side and had our meal. I had the lobster and grilled shrimp. The shrimp was great, but the lobster was overcooked, leaving it rubbery and mostly tasteless. I brought this to the attention of the one of the owners, Chad. He took the cost of my meal off the ticket completely. I told him that wasn't necessary. The shrimp, baked potato, and salad were great. He still insisted. I tipped the waitress according to the original cost of the meals. It wasn't her fault the lobster wasn't cooked properly.

After eating, we went to the bar side and sat with Russ and Gary and watched UK win. Then it was off to the house for cuddling and other fun stuff.

Saturday, we kinda stayed in and out of bed for most of the morning. Sierra walked in without knocking once. She asked her question and left. When she closed the door to the bedroom, we heard her tell the other kids not to knock or go in the bedroom. It was a good laugh.

For the afternoon, we went to pick up Carol at the nursing home and took her out for a late lunch. We went to Cheddar's Casual Cafe. It is another great place and one of our faves. The food is great. The prices are great. I had the honey BBQ baby back ribs. Tammy had the shrimp and chicken. Carol had the salad and soup lunch special. Her soup was chili. It was a grand meal all around. We got out for just over $44 including the $7 tip. As I said, great prices.

We took Carol back to the nursing home and came back to the house, where we resumed cuddling.

Today, was a lazy Sunday. We didn't do much of anything more than lots of loving. It was a vacation weekend. The kids were great. They were no trouble at all. They gave us some much needed privacy. I feel recharged. Tomorrow will be a good day at work.

How was yer weekend?

3 ways today

Here it is ... Lunch time ... FRIDAY !!!

Today, we are installing 3 way switches. For the less informed among you (and don't feel bad ... Electricity has it's own language), those are the switches that allow you to turn a light on or off from two locations. They are one wire more complicated than a single pole switch.

Most of the kids are grasping the concept. I have told them all along that this is really easy stuff. If it is hard, you are doing it wrong. To my amazement, two of the first finishers in my 1st block were Kameron and Michael. "Why am I amazed," you ask. Good question! Kameron, Michael, and Roger are my goof offs. They are usually off task and on some prank or otherwise useless discussion. Michael took off on the first project and did well. Kameron and Roger finished eventually. I was there to assist if there were any questions and it was difficult not to get a decent grade unless you were just trying not to get a good one.

Today, Michael asked several questions, but not 'how to' questions. Mostly his questions were just for clarification. "Am I doing this right?" Kameron was attentive and industrious. His work looked good and it worked. Michael's work looked good as well, and worked also. Good job, guys. This left me with a bit of a problem. Roger was left out. There was no one to cut up with or slow down. He struggled. His wires were too short and had to be replaced. He felt frustrated because his usual goof off or lag behind buddies were done.

I always knew that if I kept Michael away from the other two that he would do well. Kameron surprised me. He seems to be the ringleader most of the time. He is the one that starts the trouble then slowly backs out to leave the others to get in trouble. He is smart, just not motivated. Well, at least not motivated to do school work. This may be a fluke. This may be the aberration. Either way, it leave me with the problem of how to motivate Roger. If any readers have ideas, feel free to share.

The rest of the class is taking to the ideas well. They are slowly learning. The key, is to remember everything you did last time, and add to it. I lay down certain basics in every project. The NEC requires 6 inches of wire in the box for terminations. The NEC requires that romex be supported with a staple within 12 inches of the box. This is the same on every project. Outlets are installed the same way every time. Switches work the same every time. Now we are adding the 3 way switches to our litany. Next is the 4 way for controlling lights from 3 or more locations.

Police disclose contents of writings allegedly threatening school takeover

A chilling and sometimes violent account of a school takeover raised eyebrows during a hearing in Clark County District Court Tuesday afternoon. What's still unclear is whether 18-year-old William Poole's journal entries were a fictional story or details of a plan to recruit a gang to unleash an armed assault on George Rogers Clark High School.

During the preliminary hearing, excerpts from a journal written by Poole, who is charged with second-degree terroristic threatening, seemed to provide few clear-cut answers.

The preliminary hearing marked the first time Winchester police have publicly disclosed Poole's writings that led police to charge him on Feb. 22 with threatening an armed takeover of the school, where Poole was enrolled as a junior.

Poole told police during a 30-minute interview following his arrest, and later reiterated during an interview with WLEX-TV, that what police had seized was a story about zombies taking over a high school, assigned by his English and computer teachers at GRCHS.

However, Detective Steve Caudill testified that neither teacher had any knowledge of what Poole had written and there was no mention of zombies in any of the writings.

Poole occasionally shook his head or laid his head on the defense table as Caudill read excerpts from a journal police allege was an attempt to recruit a gang to take over GRCHS.

Police were tipped off to the writings by Poole's grandmother, with whom he lived. Caudill explained that she read his journal and became concerned.

Seven documents were seized by police. According to police, Poole was attempting to create a gang called NLS, or No Limited Soldiers, sometimes also referred to as "True Soldiers," an organization that was to be comprised of Poole's acquaintances, according to Caudill.

Throughout his writings, Poole makes numerous references to a "brotherhood," such as in an overview, in which Poole wrote, "We will make the brotherhood known throughout the high school." It continues with a three-part plan: 1) Recruit new soldiers, 2) Get everyone in ranks, and 3) get the numbers to 100.

Caudill testified that at least seven acquaintances of Poole's reported that Poole had attempted to recruit them into a gang, but that none of them were interested.

In his writings, Poole makes references to four geographic zones. Zone Two refers to Clark County, according to Caudill. The other three zones mentioned in Poole's journal are Barbourville, South Carolina and New York City.

Caudill also read from a letter sent by an unnamed person who was referred to as a "colonel" in the Barbourville organization, promising to aid Poole with weapons and money. In one passage, Caudill testified the person in Barbourville admitted breaking into homes and said he had thousands of dollars and 50 guns at his disposal.

"You know what I mean, man. We will handle things if you want us to," the individual wrote Poole, who referred to himself in the journal as "Nappy Boy," the head of the Clark County organization, according to Caudill.

In the overview to his writings, Poole wrote, "We will shut down all the other groups that come against us." The only way to join the brotherhood, he wrote, "is doing something stupid.

"A separate story, titled "War" was described by Caudill as "futuristic," and referred to a group of people sitting down at a kitchen table, where they plan a takeover of a school, determining how long it will take for police to arrive on the scene. "They will all die together," Poole wrote.

Another excerpt, read by Caudill, states, "All the boys sit down at the kitchen table and start planning it out. They wrote down how many teachers, students and guards were at the high school. Also, how long it would take police to get there. They wrote down what was needed and how they was going to do it. They agreed right there they they would all die together.

"He continued, "They yelled, 'kill them,' and all the soldiers of Zone 2 started shooting. They are dropping every one of them. After five minutes, all the people are laying on the ground dead.

"Other documents, titled "Death of a Soldier" tells his family goodbye and list two separate dates for his death, Nov. 20, 2004, and Feb. 19, 2005. The latter date was three days before Poole was arrested.

One document mentioned that William P would go to the school and map out the floor plan, including locations of the cameras.Nowhere in Poole's writings did he refer to a specific school. It also did not list any specific targets, making only general references to teachers, students and school security.

According to Caudill, Poole told police that a teacher at GRCHS read the piece called the "Overview," and warned that Poole could be in trouble if others at school saw it. Consequently, Poole reportedly told police that he left his writings at home. The teacher told Caudill he did not see any of the journal entries that police confiscated.

Assistant County Attorney John Keeton told reporters after the hearing that, as a prosecutor, he has to take the writings seriously. "The downside of not taking it seriously is beyond comprehension," Keeton explained. He added that "it will all have to play out in court.

"District Judge Brandy Oliver Brown denied a motion by Poole's attorney, Brian Barker, to reduce his $5,000 bond. Brown instructed Poole that if he's able to post a $5,000 bond, he is to remain away from school property and may not have contact with anyone named in his writings.

Only one shocking experience

Most of the students have completed their receptacle/switch/light project. All of those tested so far have worked. That is worth 5 points out of the 20 possible. There was 5 points for proper wiring. There was 5 points for appearance. There was 5 points for proper measurements. Then there was 20 points possible on the 10 points a day daily grade for the 2 days that most worked on it. Most did well. It will boost their 9 weeks grade, which is to be posted this week. I am still not on the schools computer program for posting grades. Bummer.

As for the shocking experience, I instructed the students not to install the switches or outlets, or light to the box. I needed to see the back of them to tell if they were wired properly. When I temporarily hooked them up to power, I was right there with them as the flipped the switch. One student went to flip his switch and his swtich moved because it was only supported by the wiring. It wasn't going to move much, but it did wiggle. He put his hand around the back in an effort to steady the switch while he flipped it on. It didn't take long for him to let go. He got a little bite. The look on his face was priceless.

Today we are studying on 3 way and 4 way switches. There are a myriad of ways to hook up these type of switches, governed by where the power comes in and where the wire to the light itself feeds. It will be interesting when we begin the actual installation. It will build on what they learned in the last project. There will still be measurements to take and boxes to install, and wiring to do, and, of course, the 'does it work' grade.

I emphasis to them all the time, here, you get a grade. In the real world, you get paid or not paid, per your efforts and results. We will see if it sinks in.

20 minutes

I am having the students install completely a simple receptacle/switch/light circuit. Before I wanted them to do it, I wanted to make sure that I could still do it. This morning, I planned to come in a little early and do it myself.

You know what happens anytime you plan on coming in early? You are always later than usual. When I left the house this morning it was already after 7. I was way late. I got to school at 7:30. Then Richard wanted to ask me about a fan motor for his furnace. It was 7:35 before I made it to my class.

I unlocked and opened the tool room. I got my tools and material. I installed the project. I cleaned my area. I put away my tools. I got upstairs into the classroom at 7:55. It took me 20 minutes from start to finish. It was not a record time, but it was a good time.

The class has been doing them all day with at least an hour to accomplish it. No one has finished it yet. They are, for the most part, trying and doing fairly well. One more block to go. We will see if anyone approaches the bar.

Over half way

I have made it past the half way point. I managed to eat half a sandwich and drink part of a pop. Four and a half hours into an eight hour day. I paid for six boxes of Girl Scout Cookies. I bought a 17 inch monitor and a PentiumII CPU from the computer class here at the school ($20 for each ... Connections!).

It hasn't been a bad day, just a tiring one. It turns out that the lessons I have sent in each day were unused. They mostly dispersed my class into the other classes (auto, welding, or health services). Today they are learning (the book way) about installing outlets, switches, and lights. Tomorrow, they will do the real thing. They will mount boxes are specified locations. They will run romex. They will make the necessary connections and install the switches, outlets, and light fixtures. They will leave a tail that can be used to temporarily supply electricity to their work. This will be an individual project for each of them. There will be no-one to share the credit or blame.

Good luck guys (as I put on my heavy duty rubber gloves)

Sniffly sneezy

It is Monday morning ... I am in my classroom ... yeah !!!!!

will tell ya later how that goes ...

A break in the whether

Yes, I know weather is spelled w-e-a-t-h-e-r, but I am talking about a different whether, the 'whether or not' I was ever gonna get better. I think I can feel this thing actually waning. It doesn't feel like just a break in the symptoms. They have continued. I feel better internally. Tammy says I don't look better externally. My voice is still muted. I am still wheezing. My eyes are still red, which means my blood pressure is still elevated. It was 160/92 when I was at the DR's office, yesterday. My blood pressure generally remains a constant 120/80. The DR attributed it. Most likely, to the sickness coursing thru my body (Both ears infected, throat red and swollen, sinuses infected, lungs congested). My O2 stat was 90. Below 96 is not good. They toyed with the idea of giving me a nebulizer treatment (breathing treatment).

THE FLU SWAB

They did a 'flu swab'. They asked me if I had ever had one, to which I replied in the negative. They told me about it. They were going to take a swab inside my nose and test it for the flu. OK. That sounded easy. Then they brought out the swab. When you think of a swab, what comes to mind? A Q-tip, right? NOPE. They brought out a Zulu warrior battle spear. There was no swab at the end of this lethal weapon. It was pointed. The nurse told me that she was going to push this up my nostril. She further informed me that she was going to go up there 'pretty far'. It might hurt, it might burn, you might have to sneeze, she said. So I prepared myself. She entered the nostril. She went farther and farther. I began to feel the burn that she mentioned so casually. The top of my nose just at the eye line burst into flames. Still, she continued her journey. I began to see curious lights and then there was a rush of long forgotten childhood memories. The Zulu flu stick had entered my brain. She lingered there for what seemed like a few days and then she slowly pulled it out. She left, informing me it would take 10 minutes for the results to be known.

THEN THE DOCTOR

Now this was not my regular DR. Doc Mary was not in the office that day. DR. Johnson was seeing me today. He seemed a nice enough fellow. He ask the regular flu questions: shortness of breath, cough, sneezing, vomiting, nausea, diarrhea, etc... He took his light thing and checked my right ear. "It is infected," he informed me. Then eh went to the left. "It is even worse," he says. He checked my unviolated nostril and that didn't look good either. Then it was on to the throat. He declared that I did indeed, have the FLU. He then went to the chart and checked the results of the Zulu brain invasion. According to it, I was FLU-FREE. "That cant be right," he said, "you do have the flu." OK,I have the flu, but if we were going to so casually disregard the the results of my torture, why make me go thru with it?

He prescribed a healthy and wealthy dose of medications. He told me to have a good weekend and to check my blood pressure in the next few days. If it doesn't come down, I am to contact them. It looks like trip to Kroger for the free BP test are in order, unless you have a spare sphygmomanometer lying around.

I skipped out on my grandsons first birthday party today. I still felt like crap and the fever, it seems, was trying to come back. While the rest of the bunch was gone, I managed to eat a bit and felt some better. I am confident that I am on the mend.

The rest of the weekend will tell the story.

Sing

I don’t love you because you are strong
I don’t love you because you are fearless
I don’t love you because you are beautiful
I love you because you make my heart sing
You make my heart sing when you are strong
You make my heart sing when you are fearless
You make my heart sing when you are beautiful
You make my heart sing in the morning
With morning hair and no make up
You make my heart sing when you are weak
You make my heart sing when you are afraid
You make my heart sing and I love you

Ron
March 3, 2005

Butt Kicked

Okay .. yesterday and the flu have combined to kick my butt.

It was a day of days. There are still things to be sorted out about yesterday, but I don't think we can sort them all out in any quick and short order. There was drama and humor.

After many months of begging and pleading I have succumb to the request to provide some sort of regular digitally enhanced entertainment. (Russ ... Did I mention ... I got satellite?) The installer was here and installed the dish and all the components on Tuesday. When he called to activate the service, we were informed that the systems were down and they would call me when they could activate.

We get up Wednesday morning to get the kids up for school. Even though I have made preparations for a substitute teacher, I felt well enough to go to school. That lasted about 10 minutes. Then it seemed like the day fell on me like a ton of feathers. Yeah, I know, bricks fits, but a ton is a ton is a ton. Every symptom was just waiting for me to be awake. Once the flu knew I was awake, he came with all his friends. There was no way I could work today. I made the call.

I called the satellite folks and began the process of activating my service while Tammy took Jordan to work (a temporary thing, I hope). There was a hilarious exchange that occurred after they were activated. Chelsea (in her defense is sick) was getting ready for school. Tammy left it up to her since she was borderline with the fever. She decided she was going to school. Then I told them all that the TV's were all hooked up. Suddenly, she was feeling bad enough to stay home. She was sitting down, when Sierra came into the room and told us there was a problem with the TV in the kids room. Chelsea was in the bathroom getting dressed for school in under 3 seconds.

After taking the kids to school, Tammy returned home and went back to bed. She hasn't slept a lot since I have been sick. I was on the couch coming in and out while she was in the bed. My phone rang. I didn't recognize the number, but answered anyway. It was an attorney that was standing in for the attorney handling the guardianship. They were bringing up her mom's case and If Tammy could get down to the courthouse, they could settle it. I yelled into the bedroom and told her that her mom's case was today. She said, "I know." I told her they were about to hear it. She said, "Oh shit, I forgot!" She was up and out of the house in under 10 minutes.

When she returned, with full guardianship, we took Sierra and myself to the DR. Sierra is still having problems from the concussion she got in the wreck in October. And, surprise, I have the FLU ...

From there we got gas and went to gather Kyle at school. Then it was home. Tammy went to pick up some things and gather Chelsea.

By the time all the kid collecting and DR going and court going was done, I decided that Pizza was a good choice for supper. Tammy went to pick it up and discovered she has lost the debit card. I transferred most of the checking account money into the savings account. I tried to call the Credit Union to cancel Tammy's card. They are closed. That is a morning 'take care of".

Tammy picked up my card and got Jordan, got pizza, and came home. The pizza was the first thing I have really tasted all week. Then there was Sierra drama. Then there was Chelsea drama. Then we go to bed, to wake around 2ish with me coughing and discovering that the furnace has stopped working. So, 2 AM plus, I am under the house working on the furnace. By 3, all was as fixed as it was gonna be. The heat was on. I took drugs. The night finally ended.

How was your day ?

Oh yeah, I wrote this last night as well.

Strong

I need a place
Where I don’t have to have
The words to speak
I need a place
Where I can be weak

I need that space
Created when you hold me
I need to hear the soft beating reminder
Of your uncompromising love
The sounds of life’s dramas fade
The weakness I hide comes to light
Safe
Here in my special place
I let the strong
Drain from my fingers
And the words stay
Within my lips
Soon, I will be strong
Soon, I will be wise
For now
I have my place
To be weak

Ron Simpson, Jr.
March 2, 2005

flu ramblings

OKAY !!

Just took my temperature ... it has been 6 hours plus since I took any drugs ... and I was 98.2° ... I think that is a good sign ... even tho Tammy, the DR from Bizarro World says I shouldnt get excited about that ... cuz fevers and cold symptoms increase at night ... I guess I need to board a supersonic Concord and jet around the world so that it will not be night and fool this thing ... The fever will be waiting for the night ... and waiting ... and waiting ... But night shall not fall

I will continue to take the expectorant so that I can cough productively and break up the crap in my chest ... and there is no school in Clark County today ... and the snow still falling

I hate the flu

I hate that I can not sleep because I have to wake up every five minutes to breath

I hate that I ache from coughing and not a productive cough at that

I hate that I am both hungry and leery of eating

I hate the alternating chills and sweats

I hate the way it lets you think you are getting better only because it was deciding to attack later from an all new direction

I hate the fact that as bad as it is, I am giving it to those around me that are closest to me

I hate phlegm (it even sounds nasty)

I hate thermometers and pills and medicine drinks and having no choice but to be buddies with them

I hate headaches

I hate sleeping sitting up (too difficult to breath lying down)

I hate eating and not being able to taste the food

I hate looking at the clock every 20 minutes when I wake up coughing

I hate how a bed feels when you have been in it too long

I hate getting up

I hate laying down

I hate talking

I hate being tired and knowing that lying down wont change that

I hate everything