| 01 December 2003
Other then a really crappy drive down and a really crappy drive home yesterday, we had a
great Thanksgiving vacation. I decided to entertain myself coming
home documenting the trip and
looking for alternatives. Other than the drive home, I forgot to
bring my camera anywhere we went so there's not a lot of proof of
anything we did.
Before we moved into this house, a
couple lived here for only a few months before getting a divorce. Before
that, the previous owner lived here for more than 55 years.
Lately, she's been living with her daughter in California with
Alzheimer's disease. She died the Saturday before last and her
funeral was held last Saturday while we were out of town in Schenectady.
The whole funeral precession, while on it's way to the church, detoured
through the neighborhood to come by the house. My neighbor said
they were quite happy with the house and wanted to come by today before
they flew out. I'm kinda disappointed I didn't get to see them
because I wanted to talk to them and maybe get some pictures.
I just looked out the window and there is snow on the ground. I
used to love snow because I was
sure it would go away soon.
..........
03 December 2003
I can't believe WGIV is gone.
..........
03 December 2003...Later
The mystery of Andrew Reyes may have been one of the more
intriguing things to happen to Charlotte in the last several
years. A gay guy makes his way to be chairman of the Mecklenburg
County Democratic Party and my political hero. Things first go bad
when JFK Jr. dies and he said he had visited with him just before.
It is later learned that that was a lie and he ends up resigning.
I wondered why someone would make up something like that. He then
disappears after selling his stuff and his partner and his parents seem
to not know anything. It is then found he had embezzled money from
a former client and the search gets harder. While living in
Raleigh, I remember when he was captured coming out of Mexico. I
did not realize he had pleaded guilty in January. I still think
there is more to this story that has not been released...And what makes
a person tell a lie for no reason at all like that? There is a
principal both here and Charlotte who claimed to get beat up but
wasn't. Blah blah blah.
Side note--Please remind me not to watch Emergency
Vets on Animal
Planet. As much as I love it, it's just to depressing because
they save most, one always dies or has to be euthanized.
..........
03 December 2003...Later Again
 Endless searching has ended as I finally found this
1965 Charlotte, NC license tag. Cars used to have a state tag on
the back and a city tag on the front. How cool. Not sure why that
idea went away but it seems like a good way to show your pride to
me. I'd use it now but NY state law says I have to display one of
theirs and two months in the salt filled streets last winter
destroyed my 40's NC tag. |
..........
04 December 2003
 Worst word ever invented: Metrosexual.
I was done with it the first time I ever heard it. Good news is,
Webster's
hasn't accepted it yet. Worst Christmas song ever written:
Grandma
Got Ran Over By A Reindeer, and it seems the world agrees
with me. Best doughnuts: Krispy Kreme,
and they broke ground yesterday. By looking at the news,
you'd think they were building a $150 billion aerospace
plant. I remember making the 10PM Krispy Kreme runs with
my folks when I was a kid. |
..........
05 December 2003
Becky reminds me of last year's
ice storm in Raleigh that left us without power and heat for a few
days. As we wait on the snow headed this way in the next several
hours, I know it won't happen again because we've invested in a kerosene
heater and some kerosene. I'm also pissed off at myself for not buying a
toboggan when we saw some a couple of weeks ago. It'll probably be a
hassle tomorrow.
The Christmas lights are up outside though, and they are
pretty, but a lack of outdoor electricity made it necessary to scale
back the whole project.
..........
06 December 2003
 
 
 
 
Just a little stroll through the hood tonight to look at the lights
after a foot or more of snow today. Kinda cool actually, my
neighbor has a snow blower and he cleared our driveway while I shoveled
his steps, porch, and sidewalk around his house. A deal I can live
with. We also decided to clear out a place in the yard so Kaleb
has a nice place to do her business because last year she had to climb
on top of a mound of snow bigger than her to do it. The first
house is ours by the way.
..........
10 December 2003
 Just to prove once again that I was a strange little
kid, I always wanted a Volkswagen Bus. I wanted a VW Bug
too, but is that really that strange? There wasn't
anything like it at the time, and fortunately, there's not
now. I saw one today, and of course, it was a hippy
van. You gotta wonder what percentage of the ones still in
existence have been to a Grateful Dead show. I also wanted
a Pinto and a Gremlin. Three of the worse cars ever made
but of course, it was the design that turned me on the
most. I grew up with traditional cars. There was the
'63
Ford Galaxy 500. It was old for as long as I
remember. Then in 1975, my folks bought a Chevy
Impala. A real piece of crap. It was as America was
trying to increase the MPG's anyway possible to conform to the
government mandates of the 70's. In '79, they bought a '78
Datsun F10 to replace the Galaxy. That's the car I
learned to drive on a few years later. In '82, I bought my
first
car and it wasn't a VW Bus. I think my folks bought
some sort of Pontiac a couple years later but I don't remember
what it was. Hell, I had my own car.
Miss you baby,
come home soon. |
..........
11 December 2003
 I
Love Lucy. The question asked on AM talk radio today,
"If you could have a conversation with a person who is no
longer around, who would it be?" It would be Lucille
Ball, with my Aunt Jenny coming in second. This show is 50
years old and still strikes humor with every episode.
Understand, I know the genius Desi Arnaz contributed behind the
scenes along with all the writers and other actors. Second
would be my Aunt Jenny. She was a lesbian who lived with
the same partner for 30 years. She died before I came out
so I really never had any kind of mature conversation with her
about it. That I regret.
...
|
It's not really hard to see the differences between my former
hometown and my new
one. It's not hard to tell that we're coming from one
of the richest cities in the country to one of the
poorest. Our bond rating is junk status and Moodys it
threatening to lower it even more. Did you know that was
possible? Work hard California, you'll catch us. The
government is trying very hard to keep from declaring bankruptcy
but I don't know why. Between unfunded state mandates and
union contracts, we'll never catch up without doing it.
We're also the only
place in the country where The Full
Monty can't bear it all. |
..........
12 December 2003
I'm not freaking believing that today and tonight, I finished all my
Christmas shopping, all except for one thing, the most important
thing. Last weekend, because of the snow, the stores were
basically deserted so I think everyone decided to come out today.
Every shop I visited was packed. Good for the merchant but crummy
for me. But honestly, it didn't even bother me. Maybe
because I had an idea of what I wanted mostly. Sometimes, I'd
rather have splinters pushed under my fingernails than to go on a
shopping trip. Sometimes I really enjoy it. I like looking
at new things, looking at old things, listening to new music, listening
to old music, and just watching people. There's usually a lot of
pretty men to watch, crazy people to listen to, and sometimes someone
just stupid enough to give yourself an air of superiority. Maybe
tomorrow I can get that last gift in before the next big snow on Sunday.
Gotta go get Duncan at the airport now.
........
16 December 2003
Today was doctor day for Kaleb.
Ever since Thanksgiving, she's had some serious scratching and dry skin
stuff going on. We thought maybe it was allergies or maybe some
fleas she picked up. After making sure that fleas weren't a
problem, we thought it would get better, I thought it did but it wasn't
and only got worse. It turns out she has seborrhea.
It may be due to a change of diet, we did change her food a couple of
months ago after 11 years on Dog Chow, or it may be a thyroid condition,
but that usually shows up by age 2. It's possible it's due to the
fleas she picked up. Whatever, she's in for quite a few baths over
the next couple of weeks.
...
Strom Thurmond, King Of The Segregationists, screwed his family's 16 year old black maid 78 years
ago, or 78 years and 9 months ago, and out popped a baby. Over the
years, he paid her a substantial amount of support, or hush money I'd
say, totaling less than one million dollars. Not only was he a
piece of shit, he was a piece of shit hypocrite. He didn't want to share
a water fountain with her but he didn't have a problem sticking his
who-who in her ha-ha. Next thing we'll learn is Jesse Helms had a
boyfriend on the side for the last 50 years.
...
Intriguing. Heated or ice cold. I don't think I've ever
seen a glass
dildo or a tuning fork for your ass before. I wonder if the
Caribbean glass throwers ever get a request for that one.
...
I hate the new Norelco Santa.
I want the old one back and I want his shaver to roam the neighborhood
in.
..........
19 December 2003
I don't hate this, but I don't think I'd want to work there.
...
I also don't hate Best Buy today. I ordered a DVD from their
site for someone for Christmas because it wasn't available at the
store. It's kinda out there. It should have been here
Tuesday so I went to track it yesterday and UPS said the tracking number
was incorrect. I called Best Buy and they have the fastest
pre-recorded menus ever. (That's a good thing) When I finally talked to
someone, the problem had to be researched. Someone would get back
to me. I figured an e-mail and that I'd have to find something
else locally. Lo and behold, I got a call today from someone who
informed me that the tracking number was no good, duh, and I had
to call UPS. Not figuring it was my problem, I called UPS anyway
because I wanted this solved. No hold there even though it's
Christmas time, and they informed me they had only received the
information and I had to call the sender again and get them to run a
trace because I couldn't do that. I then called Best Buy again and
the previous person said to ask directly for a supervisor so I
did. After reviewing things, I explained we're going out of town
for Christmas so instead of running a trace which takes eight days, she
sent another DVD overnight. Even though it's the weekend, I hope
to have it in time.
..........
21 December 2003
How'd I miss this?
Yee ha...
..........
22 December 2003
Several times a week, and that's a conservative estimate, we get a
wrong number with someone looking for a local jewelry store. I
looked up the number today and it's exactly the same as ours except
instead of a 63, it has a 36. It's almost hard to believe that so
many people make the same mistake but I myself, have some sort of
dyslexia thing going on, especially when it comes to numbers.
Reading them, but especially typing them. Occasionally, words will
screw up but not to often. One of my biggest things is the sign, Bridge
Ices Before Road. You know, the signs they open in the winter
but leave closed in the summer. For 20 years, I've been seeing
this freaking sign. Ice Bridges Before Road.
Tammy Faye
hosts drag bingo. Now ya know.
..........
23 December 2003
It turns out Kaleb
has hypothyroidism.
As opposed to having too much hormone produced, she is not producing
enough. I talked to the doctor today and he gave
sold me some pills to be taken twice daily, probably forever. It
should not only take care of her dry skin and the weight she's put on
lately, but most importantly, the lack energy and enthusiasm I've
noticed lately. I've had this dog for almost a third of my life
and she's seen me through quite a lot. I'll miss her one day but
until then, I'll keep her happy and healthy. She'll eat her pills
with no problem, in fact, she'll eat anything except olives, and after
four baths this week, she'll be happy not to have another for a while.
...
Gotta pack now and cut my hair. You never thought I did it
myself did you? And what the hell was going on here?
..........
29 December 2003
Seven kids dead.
"I think they were just joyriding", one father said. He
last saw his son Sunday afternoon. "I think they were forced into a
high-speed chase and they panicked."
Another father said, "I just don't understand how they got a
car, who gave them a car?"
No, they weren't forced into a high speed chase, they chose
the high speed chase. And, nobody gave them the car, they
stole it. I guess the acorn doesn't fall far from the tree.
I'm sure the Statesville crime rate will fall significantly now.
...
We're back in town by the way. I seems like every Christmas for
several years has been no fun either because of sickness or some sort of
family crap going on. We had a great time this year. We
visited family and friends all over the state and slept in many
different beds. It seemed to be real low pressure. Being far
away makes you appreciate things like that I guess. This Fall has
been pretty depressing for many reasons and I can say, today I feel
good. A new year soon.
.......... |
