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02 October 2003
There's nothing like waiting two hours to get new tires when it
wasn't even on your agenda for the day to begin with. I went to
get my truck inspected and it failed. I had two bad tires and a
bum license plate light. I was also surprised that the extent of
their emissions testing is a visual inspection of the air pollution
control devices and a gas cap check. I was under the impression
that all urban areas in the country must had to have emissions
testing. Only NYC has to have the test in this state. I'm
actually surprised with all the laws this state has, they don't shove an
emissions stick up your ass to test your butt pollution. While all
this was going on, Kaleb was at the
vet getting her teeth cleaned and three pulled. She's fine and
happy now. Tonight she got canned food for the first time.
Don't get used to it dog.
..........
04 October 2003
 Seems Autumn is dropping in
fast. The leaves are changing in the mountains and I found
this one while walking Kaleb this morning. For a lot of
people, Fall is their favorite season. Personally I love
spring and summer the best.
I see they finally executed Edward Hartman for killing his mom's 77 year
old boyfriend. There was really no denying he was guilty
but the defense protested that he got the death penalty because
he was gay. Maybe they executed him because while drunk,
he shot a man in the head while sitting in his Lazy-Boy watching
television. He then took his car and money and buried him
in a horse stable. Maybe, just maybe, that's why they
executed him. Personally, I don't believe in the death
penalty. Not because I have a moral problem with it, I
just think that money could be used in many better ways.
As most people know, it cost more, between the trial costs,
appeals, etc., to execute a person than to keep them in jail for
the rest of their life, and it doesn't seem to deter many people
from the crime in the first place.
Last night, while sitting at the bar of the local Mexican
joint, yes, we finally found one:
Latino Waiter Kid, not our waiter: "How was
everything?" with heavy gay Latino lisp
Us: "Everything was great, thanks."
LWK: "This your first time coming?" with
heavy gay Latino lisp
Us: "Nah, we've come five or six times."
LWK: "Ooohh ... you've cum five six
times." with heavy gay Latino lisp
Us: "Yea."
LWK: "You cum any time." with heavy gay
Latino lisp
After some more heavy cruising, Duncan said "Are we that
obvious just sitting here." I said, " you
are to me." |
.........
06 October 2003
 
 
 
 
 
This weekend's road trip included a trip to Cohoes and Waterford where
the Erie Canal
and Mohawk River dump into the Hudson River. Where we live, the locks are
somewhat small compared to the locks at the approach to the Hudson
River. The Falls of Cohoes
make for a substantial drop in the level of the river so a larger set of
locks is required to move the boats upstream. The first set of
locks raise the level about 150 feet in about 1¼ miles. That's
more than the whole Panama
Canal, of course, those locks are 110 feet wide, 1000 ft deep at
their lowest level and l½ miles long with ships as long as 965 feet.
..........
07 October 2003
Growing up in NC, it's pretty obvious that the dialects very greatly
from mountains to coast and all areas in between. In the more
isolated areas of the mountains, you shouldn't be surprised to find
accents right off The Beverly Hillbillies. The small towns across
the middle of the state have their own as do the larger urban areas that
have see their population quadruple over the last 30 years from an
influx of outsiders. Down east, maybe because of the proximity to
the waterways, the slang has yet another twist. This
article on southern slang mentions a lot of words and phrases that I
use regularly (either knowing or not knowing they were slang) as well as
some I've never heard.
Use regularly knowing it was slang:
* Fixin' to Going to do something
* Hey Hi
* Y'all You all
Use regularly NOT knowing it was slang:
* Parking Deck Parking Garage
* Carry Take
* Cut on Turn on
* Put up Put away
Use occasionally or never:
* Might could Might
* Make yourself to home Welcome
* Stay at somebody's house Live there -
more of an ethnic thing
* Three pickles shy of a barrel Slow, or
crazy - never heard of
but, That dog don't hunt comes to
mind.
Never heard of:
* Come heres New folks in the neighborhood
* Dingbatter Outsider
Extra Comment:
Favorite accents - New Orleans, Ottawa
Worst Accent - Eastern Massachusetts, Boston,
etc.
..........
09 October 2003
OK, it's about a year late. I think in February while staying
in a hotel, I started my 100 things list and then forgot about it.
Wha-la, I finished it tonight. 100 things about me...
..........
10 October 2003
Today I ran through a stop sign at full speed. Luckily, the guy
saw me coming and stopped. Next, a lady decided she wanted to ride
down the wrong side of the street and aim her car right at me.
Lucky for me again, she decided to stop. I then heard a
song on the radio. Thinking it was Terence Trent D'Arby, I got all
excited, screamed like a girl and decided go to the record store to get
it. It wasn't there. I passed a Seal display and I had a
sudden realization that it was the new Seal song I've heard quite a few
times. I almost had two accidents, and did my girly scream for
nothing. I done driving for today.
OK, the girly scream is never for nothing.
..........
12 October 2003
 
We used this great fall day for mountain leaf hunting.
..........
13 October 2003
Here's some of the pictures I
took of the city the other day. Just a precursor until I get a
decent page built sometime in the next year. There's a lot of
pictures to be taken and a lot of researching to do. There's a lot
of history in this city and a lot of great buildings to match.
..........
16 October 2003
 
These pictures were taken from the same place at Pontoosuc
Lake. One last weekend, the other last January and I'll let you
guess which is which.
Today I woke up with a sinus headache and even after taking
something, it took an extra long time for it to go away. It just
doesn't seem right to wake up with a headache. So with a
headache, I proceeded to the bank to close my accounts. Before
moving here, I had the same bank account forever and was quite
satisfied. Even before moving here, I had to open an account on
the fly so I didn't get to research it a lot. I will actually miss
going to the local branch because it is probably a hundred years old and
the interior is just grand. Why pay for an account that you can
get for free with a lot more benefits? New account is opened, and
has been for more than a month just across the street. I also
stalked a pretty boy for a block or two and hunted a papoose for Kaleb
today for when she needs it.
..........
16 October 2003...Later
Duncan's folks have been in poor health for quite some time.
Last week, his dad was giving the prognosis of about two weeks.
His lungs have been his weak spot for a while and he has been in and out
of the hospital since I've known him. His lungs are filled with
fluid as well as his whole body. Today, he got a call about his
mom. She battled breast cancer many years ago and lung cancer a
few years ago. Thinking it was pneumonia, his sister took her to
the hospital and it appears that cancer has invaded the other lung and
is growing at a substantial pace. At this time, she has been moved
to intensive care. Saturday, we'll be heading to North Carolina.
..........
17 October 2003
Today we found out some bad news. It turns out the cancer has
returned to Duncan's mom in a bad way. She is currently in intensive
care and is not expected to make it through the weekend. We are
currently making plans for the trip to North Carolina.
..........
19 October 2003
Well believe it or not, Duncan's mom has stabilized and they may move
her out of ICU today. They still don't think she'll improve but she
seems to be stable now. The plan is for her to go to a regular room and
if she continues on the same track, she can go home with some sore of
hospice help as well as his sister moving in to take care of them. Today
I am at Ray and Tommy's down in beautiful warm North Carolina. I
may not go home.
..........
21 October 2003
Last day in North Carolina. Caught up visiting family and friends
including one who had a heart attack last week. He seems to be doing
just fine but he's my age so it's kind of strange. Duncan flew home
yesterday and his mom was moved to a private room today. I think they're
taking a wait and see attitude to see what happens. I'll leave Charlotte
soon going toward my parents house and tomorrow the long journey home.
And one more thought to whom it may concern, the butlers have
returned home to NC where they belong.
..........
26 October 2003
 
 
 
 
Driving down the east coast to North Carolina, then half way across
the state and more, and then back equals more than 2000 miles. I
think I'm better today. Actually considering the circumstances, it
was a nice trip, even the God awful New Jersey Turnpike and I-95.
I did see a man letting his older kid pee in the middle of the parking
lot in front of everybody. What a piece of trash. While
driving down a county road we came upon a body almost lying in the
road. We got out to investigate and luckily he was alive. We
thought he had been hit but he had an empty bottle of Jim Beam in
his hand. We woke him up and it was a clean cut young guy, not yet
your regular drunk. He couldn't stand up but we wanted him out of
the road so nobody would hit him. After a lot of stuttering, he
made it away from the street and fell into a ditch. We figured
he'd be safe there. Duncan's mom is out of the hospital at home
too. For now, she will stay there under hospice care. I took
the opportunity to visit friends and family and do some exploring.
It never ceases to amaze me how much Charlotte changes
every time I go there. I love watching construction so the Independence
Blvd Freeway Project was a must see. So many businesses are
gone or have moved down the street and there are no trees to speak
of. Driving it is already easier because all the nuisance lights
are gone. It's this big stretch of pavement running in front of
the old shopping centers and brand new brick walls. I've partied
and watched movies on land which will soon be home the the Albemarle Rd.
ramps and an access road they're digging under Independence from Pierson
Dr. to the other side. I also went by my alma mater to see the
goings on out there. There's also a new building every time I go
by there and damn those boys look good. Hwy 24 has been moved so
it now goes by my old
house and all way to I-77. A definite short cut if you don't
know your way around. Now it's off to visit the folks and then
back home. I-81 is always beautiful but during the fall, it's
breathtaking. Half way home, I took off my shorts and when I got
back to Schenectady, and it was snowing. No accumulation.
..........
28 October 2003
The house we lived in before this one had some bird feeders on poles
in the back yard when we moved in so I usually kept them full and even
added another which just hung in a tree. I enjoy watching the
birds feeding even if I really don't have an interest in the birds
themselves. I never saw squirrels in the feeders, not even the one
in the tree. I forgot I had the feeder until recently so I hung it
on the garage. The next day it was broken on the ground
empty. I fixed it and made sure that wouldn't happen again.
The next day I began seeing squirrels on it. I've mentioned the squirrels around here
before. They were jumping off the garage onto the top of the
feeder and pulling out food. They were swinging on it like monkeys
two at a time except for one poor schlep who had to stay on the ground
and eat the scraps. I decided to put it on a pole. It had to
be a smooth metal pole because squirrels can climb anything. I
built it and set it out. The next day, I looked out and the
squirrels are on it again. The were jumping out of the trees and
landing on top. Until I figure out a solution, the blue jays have
discovered the feeder also. Maybe they'll tell their friends.
..........
29 October 2003
The only thing harder than getting a bird out of the attic today was
getting Kaleb to go outside in the rain.
..........
31 October 2003
Meg Scott Phipps, guilty. You lied to us and
betrayed our trust. You are the weakest link,
good-bye. I love Halloween and often wonder if I dressed like a
giant, could I get away with trick-or-treating? Tonight, I think
I'll just be hanging out here answering the door, mask and spooky spider
in hand. Duncan wanted to go to NC this weekend so I dropped him
at the airport early this morning. He already had plans to go
today but as it turned out, his dad took a turn for the worse at this
time and yesterday morning, they thought he may not make it through the
day. By afternoon, he was up and talking again. By evening,
he was in bad shape again. I may be on the way down soon.
Until then, I must shop for goodies for tonight.
..........
31 October 2003...Later
  
I've seriously never seen so many trick-or-treaters and a lot of them
really had some original costumes. The "Can you hear me now?"
guy, numerous skeletons, Harry Potter, princesses, Freddy, Jason, bat
creatures, and everything else you could think of dropped by. One
strange thing, of the at least 50 or more kids, (and some were
stretching it) there were no witches or ghosts. I ran out of candy so I
had to shut out the light. Before that, besides all the great kids, one
lady came up with her kids and held out a bag and another came up by
herself and claimed she was trick or treating for her infant in a
stroller on the sidewalk with the dad. Some people do have a lot of
gall. As for the teenagers who came up with no costume, I did that
myself one time. Above is our local meteorologist doing the weather in a
chicken costume.
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