Tuesday, November 19, 2013…

Tuesday, November 19, 2013…

My apologies for not posting any blog updates these past few days.  I have been battling a cold that was kicking my butt since Wednesday night last week and I just did not have the energy or the creativity to pan anything worth publishing.  It is not like anyone missed it, right?

Today’s music trivia is from a band from the 90s how had one good album and that was about it.  It had several songs off that first album that were good, but afterwards I am not aware of anything good being put out there.  Their album, “Cracked Rear View” was a hit and a must have back in the 90s.  Their lead singer, Darius Rucker, will always be associated by the group’s strange name, which came from the nicknames of two college friends back at the University of Southern Carolina. “Hold My Hand”, “Let Her Cry”, and “Only Wanna Be With You” hit the airwaves in 1994 and they were a hit. Can you name this fairly popular pop music band?

Next week I’ll be taking the week off from writing this blog to enjoy some time off during the Thanksgiving Holiday week.  Sometimes you just need to sharpen the saw and I could use a break to rest and come up with some new and fresh ideas.  So this Friday will be my last blog post until the beginning of December when hopefully I’ll be recharged and have some new and exciting ideas to put to pen.  My favorite time of the year is the Christmas holiday season, with all the decorations, lights and Christmas cheer.  Even the holiday TV specials that have become staples for all of  our family’s over the years.  Even though it is highly doubtful that I will actually get  a tree or even decorate one bit is irrelevant to my inner Christmas spirit.  Trying for years to get back to the magic of the season as when we were children and the anticipation of about what’s to come next makes me excited even though I may not show it outwardly.  Next year as I anticipate my retirement and my backroads tour I know I will feel the excitement of the season.

Snoopy made it to stardom this week.  The Tavern has its annual pet night photo shoot next week and Snoopy’s photo from last year made it to the flyer for this year.  She is such a ham and they probably used her photo because almost everyone that goes there knows and loves Snoopy, so maybe they thought people would recognize her silly face?  She loves the attention and I guess I’ll have to have another photo taken this year, but maybe with me in the shot with her this time.  Last year that was our intention, but she was so fidgety that I barely got her to sit and they took the shot.  I totally forgot about getting in the photo.  Maybe this year I’ll remember?

It is hard to believe that Christmas is just about one month away.  I just looked up at the calendar and realized that.  One of my best friend’s birthday was yesterday and that is about the one month benchmark before the holidays are here.  Shall I get a tree this year or shall I just forego it as usual and go without again as I normally do.  When I had my house we had a living tree that steadily got worse and worse each year it seemed.  It was a Monterey Pine we named Monty.  Monty was good for the first few years but he deteriorated after several years unfortunately due to a lack of water or a pot that severely restricted his growth.  Anyway, Monty ended up dying in our back yard just before I lost the house.  I had planned on giving it to our neighbor, but it dies rather quickly even before I had time to give him away.  Our neighbor had two pine trees that were Christmas trees earlier in their lifetime that had grown to over 40 feet high and shed a ton of needles each windy season into our back yard and made quite a mess on our roof and in our backyard.  I do lie the smell of the tree inside. It reminds me of when we were kids and we had a real tree.

I guess I’ll get this posted while I remember so all can read it.

Until next time… Be Good!

- cb

Second Wednesday in November…

Second Wednesday in November…

Today’s music trivia is about a very unique band that toured almost non-stop for many decades and had very loyal fans that followed them all over the mainland to every venue.  They were established in the 1960s during the Haight Asbury days when the hippies were at their peak.  Songs such as, “Casey Jones”, “Uncle John’s Band”, “Sugar Magnolia” and “Truckin” have been their staple songs throughout their long and illustrious career.  Can you name this iconic rock and roll band?

I took Snoopy out to the tavern for her birthday last night, and she milked all the attention she could from everyone.  She got lots of love, some special treats, and plenty of attention.  We locally have a restaurant called, “Chef Hannes” named after the chef.  Anyways, he has a son about 12 and daughter about 8 named Sophie.  She loves Snoopy and vice versa.  When she found out that it was Snoopy’s birthday, she decided to draw her a birthday card that even had a birthday cake. It is now proudly displayed on the kitchen fridge for Snoopy to look at and enjoy.  Thank you Sophie!

In the middle of the night I started feeling a cold coming on.  My throat started hurting a bit and my nose became clogged and my lack of energy made me realize that I caught a cold.  Did I get it from little Sophie last night?  I try to stay away from sick people when they are carrying some sickness bug and I am kinda pissed that I caught this bug. My sinuses are clogged and I am feeling quite poorly at this moment. I detest being sick and I do not need this now. Damn you sick kids! How dare you pass on your sick germs to me!  Bad kids, bad kids!

Today’s blog post is going to be a short one due to me feeling pretty crummy. I hope you all understand my plight.  I’ll try to post another one tomorrow, sickness pending.

Until next time… Be Good!

- cb

Second Tuesday in November

Second Tuesday in November…

Today’s music trivia is a band I discovered in the 1990s and their name is sort of a reference to W.C. Fields nose, as well as other individuals who have a skin condition or had too much to drink.  Songs such as, “Found out about You”, “Allison Road” and “Hey, Jealousy” found lots of airtime on the radio back in the 90s.  Can anyone name this musical group?

We did not blog post yesterday in honor of the holiday Veteran’s Day.  I hope all my fellow Veterans had a great day doing whatever is fun for you. I myself had a stress test at the hospital at 2:30PM, which kinda broke up the day.  After that, grabbed some lunch at the Wendy’s drive thru and then I did little as possible just reclining on the coma couch.

As I mentioned above, I had one of the two stress tests appointments yesterday.  I had to have no caffeine for 24 hours prior as well as having to fast 6 hours prior to the test.  The test was simple enough, they inserted an IV into my arm and then gave me drug to stimuli my heart rate.  It was funny, because it felt like it slowed down my heart rate.  I felt calm and relaxed for this portion of the test, which lasted maybe 20 minutes.  Then I had to go into another room for them to take nuclear photos of my heart using x-rays and gamma rays also.  It was sort of like an MRI except not having to have my entire body stuck inside a tube.  There were two sessions, one lying on my back for maybe 20 minutes and one lying on my belly for 15 minutes and of course you have to be perfectly still.  I was in and out in about an hour, which worked fine for me.  That should be the length of most doctor appointments.

I got Linus back from the repair shop on Thursday and everything pretty much got fixed.  He received a tune up, oil & filter change, new passenger side mirror, cigar lighter fuse replaced, and he had the new front brake rotors and shoes replaced.  I was estimating @ $500.00 and the final bill came out to $530.00.  Not too shabby an estimate, which worked out nicely.  I hate it when it is way more than you ever estimated.  Being a former mechanic probably helps in my estimating process.  Anyway, Linus is back on the road running like a champ once again!  Now I need to clean up his interior, cab and living quarters compartment, so I can go camping once again very soon.  It needs some TLC this week.  I need to put everything in its proper place, he needs a good sweeping out, and I need to work on the curtains also.

Does anyone have a Dutch Oven Cookbook or some good recipes for camping?  I am beginning to collect recipes and I’d like to try some of them before I go on our back roads tour.  I did see some on the boy scouts webpage, but they were quiet limited.  So feel free to email me or place a comment on our blog page, okay?  We have about a year or so, so let’s start as soon as possible.  Send us some stuff, okay?  J

Today for lunch I had 2 Rubio’s Fish Tacos.  Mmmm.  Tasty and good for you, all in one, and it even filled me up.  I used to eat there more often, but I had to cut down on expenses, which includes eating out for lunch and visits to the tavern.  I still got a mess of bills to pay off before I retire. Since I never made out to the market this weekend, I had to eat out for lunch today.  I’ll probably grill up some chicken breasts tonight for the remaining lunch days this week and have them at the ready.  That will also save some time during lunch each day. 

Until next time… Be Good!

- cb

First Friday in November,

First Friday in November,

Today’s music trivia is one of the most unique rock and roll artists of all time that I am aware of.  His music and lyrics are some of the weirdest sounds to ever flow across the airwaves.  His awesome guitar playing is often overshadowed by his unique music, outrageous lyrics and falsetto background singers.  Lyrical references often included, “Zircon encrusted tweezers”, “Dental floss bush”, “Pygmy pony” and, “Don’t you eat that yellow snow, that’s where the little huskies go”.  His son “Dwiezel” and daughter “Moon Unit” has survived his death back in 1993 due to Prostate cancer.  Can you name this pioneer of extreme rock and roll uniqueness?

Today Linus is scheduled to get out of the repair shop @ 4PM.  He needed new front brake rotors and pads, a tune up, a new passenger side mirror, oil change, cigar lighter fuse replacement, and the steering box adjusted.  I am hoping that it does not cost too much, but the new brake rotors can be a bit pricey I’m sure.  I’m hoping to get out of there for under $500.00 today, but you never do know now a days.

Some friends were driving north to their uncle’s place on some lake and I was hoping to go along also.  Their scheduled departure time was about 2PM, about 10 minutes ago, but I knew I would not make it in time to go with them.  We have another 3 day weekend and I have no real plans, except I have a 3 hour stress test on Monday afternoon, which kinda sucks. I hate the smell of doctor’s offices and hospitals.  I guess it is the rubbing alcohol. Reminds me of when I was a sick little kid, always at the doctors getting stuck with needles, and all the bad tasting medicines.  Ugh, how I hate that smell!

I was a pretty sick baby and little kid.  I fell down a flight of stairs, had hot cooking oil spilled on me, I had pneumonia and later double pneumonia, allergy issues, tonsil problems, flat feet and I had to wear those corrective shoes all of the time.  Anyways, I try to avoid the doctor and the hospitals as much as possible these days even though I seem to be there at least once a month or so.  Spent too many hours in the clinic waiting.  My Mom was a patient soul taking me to all of these doctor appointments and sitting waiting to see the doc at the clinics.

Well, almost time for the three-day weekend to start, so I guess I need to close this for now.

Until next time… Be Good!

- cb

First Thursday in November…

First Thursday in November…

Today’s music trivia is a change of pace and his music is the farthest thing from Rock & Roll music there probably is.  This artist is a New Jersey crooner from way back in his Rat Pack days. The pride of Hoboken, Ol’ Blue Eyes definitely sang songs his way to the point of loss of recognition.  Into his 80s this man still performed music and his Las Vegas stints at the Sands Hotel and Casino were legendary.  Singing classic songs such as, “Strangers in the Night”, “New York, New York”, “Come Fly with Me”, and “My Way”, this singer/actor captured a generation of loyal followers.  His death in 1998 affected many of his loyal fans over the years. Can you name this artist who was nicknamed, “The Chairman of the Board”?

Yesterday’s trivia answer was correctly identified as Fleetwood Mac, by Patti K-W, our winner.  Patti, I owe you one when I see you next.  J  Thanks everyone, and keep playing our game!

Today is our Wingman Day here at work which means we sign up for classes to build unity in the workplace as well as educate the workforce about whatever they decide.  Took a class called, Financial Jeopardy, and we literally played a game of Jeopardy as a class.  It was only 45 minutes long, but it was okay to sit through it.  I was the only person in the class to know one answer, which made me feel smart for about 5 seconds.  I won a little bag of shredded currency.  What the heck am I gonna do with that?  I guess I’ll set it up on my shelf with my little toys that I have in my cube. 

My sister had her shoulder surgery earlier this week back in Illinois.  She sounds like she is on the mends okay.  I am sure it will take several weeks for her to begin to use it again with little or no pain.  Hoping she heals up okay and is up and moving again shortly.  I guess time will tell the tale.

Been driving my car this week instead of my bus, Linus.  It feels funny sitting so low to the ground, maybe 6 inches of the deck, rather than the 3 feet up I normally sit in the bus and can see over almost everything.  The acceleration, braking, and handling is so far superior to the bus, it is totally on another scale.  It is one end of the spectrum compared to the other end of the spectrum.  Red compared to violet. Ying compared to Yang.  I can just think about passing someone in front of me and then it happens with a flick of the wrist and a slight depression on the accelerator.  The pass has been completed and on to the next target.  In the bus, I see a hill and have to plan my acceleration as soon as I see the hill in front of me.  Totally opposite vehicles designed and built basically by the same guy and the same company.  In my Carrera, I basically lay down when I am driving.  In my bus, we are sitting straight up and as vertical as possible.  Totally opposite vehicles, like I said.

Until next time… Be Good!

- cb