Lovely Cheryl
Okay, back to work!
Due to technical difficulties beyond my control, and an unfortunate incident with a monkey named Dexter, this blog has been offline for a few days. Hopefully everything is now resolved for the foreseeable future.
Freaking monkeys!
The big news story for the last couple of days has been the historically huge snowstorm now pounding the east coast and New England. This morning there are reports of 16 inches of the white stuff sitting in our nation's capital (that would be Washington D.C. for all of you Limbaugh listeners, and Fox News watchers), 21 in my friend Ron's hometown, Baltimore, and 23 in Philadelphia. The storm has been labeled, "The Storm of the Decade," and so far has been responsible for 5 deaths.
Being a Southern California boy the closest I've gotten to snow recently is the five pounds of it I just took out of my freezer after defrosting this morning. Glad that's done. I did see it snow once in Anchorage, Alaska, as I was returning from the Philippines (don't ask me why we had to first stop in Anchorage on our way to San Francisco, but that's the navy for you, and our tax dollars hard at work), and I've walked around in it a couple of times in the mountains north of Los Angeles. It was cold and wet.
My lovely case manager, Erin, actually paid some of her hard earned money to delve into the midst of this monster storm last Thursday... poor misguided child. She of course went home to New Jersey to be with her family for the Christmas Holiday. I was concerned that she had arrived safely, or at all after hearing of massive airline cancellations to and from that region. She replied to my inquiry yesterday, stating happily that she had just made it, and "woke up this morning in a blizzard!!! My dreams came true!!!" So she paid to get into the middle of the storm of the decade... and be with her family!
Poor misguided child.
Enough of these gratuitous exclamation points!
Case manager Paul will brave the cold weather next Tuesday if his flight to Detroit goes through. I myself will stay here in warm, sunny California, mainly because I spent all of my money on computer stuff, so I can't afford a trip to Arizona at this time to see my lovely sister and niece. But I will go there soon.
This storm has not stopped the Senate in Washington from clapping themselves on the back for securing an agreement to sustain an historic 60, filibuster proof, vote passing so-called health care reform. That is the Democrats of course. The Republicans are miserable about it, and crying like the little babies that they are. I don't know why. Health insurance stock prices reached a 52 week high on last Friday, but any attempt to improve the lives of average Americans makes them very unhappy. There is no public option in the Senate's version, let alone single payer. No Medicare buy in, and a host of other problems.
I've refrained from discussing the health care reform that is currently winding its way through Congress simply because of the tortuous process involved in getting anything passed in this remarkably dysfunctional body, and sincerely hope that this effort improves markedly as the bill is reconciled with the House's version. Still, our legislative system of government remains the laughing stock of the entire world.
The President has just returned from Copenhagen after reaching another historic agreement for setting reduction limits on greenhouse gases. The agreement is not binding of course, that would mean the largest polluters, like India, China, and the United States would actually have to reduce green house gas emissions.
So we've been making all kinds of history while getting little done.
Personally speaking, my lovely sister Cheryl celebrated her 39th birthday on the 7th, as she has done for many years now. Happy birthday Cheryl!!!
No more exclamation points, by God!
Hey Cheryl, send me an Email with a list of 10 movies or TV shows you'd like for Christmas and I'll attempt to magically procure them for you and Keri somehow.
Other recent news, Erin does not accompany me to the Hippie Kitchen anymore. She's too busy these days, she says. I can certainly understand that, but I tend to believe it has more to do with her lack of desire for beans and salad, and possibly the company she finds there, or possibly both. I certainly understand, I feel the same way at times, but still miss our excursions.
I can write this without fear of retribution because she doesn't read this blog anymore either. She's really busy.
We did have time to decorate the hotels nice big Christmas tree on the 11th, which coincided with Movie Day as it happened. Hardy actually did most of the tree itself, while Erin and I decorated the lobby. Rodney eventually kicked in. Erin played Christmas music from speakers attached to her Iphone. When "The Christmas Song," came on I asked her if she knew who was singing it.
"Bing Crosby?"
"No... that would be Nat King Cole," I told her. I'm surprised she knows who Bing Crosby is, though she certainly would have no reason to. I do know she's never seen any of the "Road Pictures," with Bob Hope.
I have.
Erin and I left Hardy and Rodney to make a short trip to the 99 Cent Store to buy some nice luncheon meat, Bologna it tuned out. We also bought some candy canes, soda, cookies, caramel/chocolate popcorn, and chips and dip (which I managed to spill all over myself), for the movie double header we had planned. We returned and watched first, "A Christmas Story," which I had never seen ("You've never seen A Christmas Story?!" Erin asked me.
"Never." "Wow, they play it on TV like a million times a year." which is true. I seem to remember trying to avoid watching it. As a matter of fact... cable TV is so weird. The American Movie Classic channel (AMC) has decided to air "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation," every freaking night! Sometimes twice a night! There's one channel, FX I think, that promises to play "Night at the Museum," over and over again on Christmas Day (as if they haven't been playing the damn movie twice a week already)... all day. Are the execs at these companies trying to lose advertisers?! One channel has recently been devoted to the "Dirty Dancing," movies. My God!). It was okay, although I am a Darrin McGavin fan. Erin seemed to like it much more than I did. The second feature was one I picked out (which was rather suitable as I supplied both DVDs), "We're No Angels," starring Humphrey Bogart (in one of his last films in a rare comedy role, directed by Casablanca's Michael Curtis. Bogart, as it happened, was born on a Christmas Day in 1899), Aldo Ray, Peter Ustinov, and a viper named Adolf, a personal movie favorite of mine. Erin seemed to enjoy it after I explained to her what Devil's Island was all about (don't they teach world history in school anymore?), and why paroled convicts were walking around free. For four hours we watched movies, then we finished off the tree. I was the tallest one there so I got to put on the star.
Last Thursday we had a small SRHT sponsored Christmas party in our lobby with the folks from the Olympia. It depressed me, except for Erin and her friend playing the guitar and singing Christmas songs. That was nice. After our party, their duty fulfilled, Paul and Erin took off to go to the SRHT staff party at some Mexican restaurant. We get hot wings, they get a Mexican restaurant. Remember that dear readers, next time you're thinking about making a charitable donation. Next year I'll personally sponsor a Christmas Steak Barbecue Party for the Las Americas... no staff invited. Sorry Erin.
I'm such a bitch.
Lastly, on the 12th, a Saturday, my neighbor Lester (the Molester), knocked on my door and told me there were people outside giving away large canvas bags of goodies. Naturally I went to investigate, and Lester was right, there were people out there giving away large canvas (black) bags of goodies, presumably because Christmas Day was approaching.
I took one from two of the nice, young people standing out on that rainy day, and brought it up to my box.
A few days later I looked inside.
The nice people who gave these bags away were from The Giving Spirit, which is situated at the Brentwood Presbyterian Church, in Brentwood, possibly one of the most affluent residential areas in the world. Rich people doing their part to feel better about having so much when others have so little (how about paying your fair share of taxes?).
Anyway, what was in this bag? A whole bunch of stuff: apples, Balance Bars, bananas, band-aids, a bar of soap, baseball caps, beef jerky, beef stew, a blanket, body lotion, bottled water, bread, candy bars, canned Vienna sausages, cereal bars, combs, cotton athletic socks, crackers, deodorant, gauze, gum, a hair brush, Halls lozenges, hand towels, lip balm, a manicure set, a mini note pad, Moon pies, Nature Valley granola bars, orange juice, a plastic bottle, a pauncho, a pen, plastic utensils, a six foot collapsible ladder, some nice pop tarts, raisins - large box, sesame mix, shampoo, a Slim Jim, a soap dish, sponges, sunglasses, sunscreen, tissues, toilet paper, toothpaste (you can never have enough) and toothbrush, trail mix, trash bags, Treetop apple juice, Treetop applesauce (Thanks Treetop!), Tuna and cracker packages, an umbrella, wet wipes, wool gloves, a wool hat, and a Ziploc freezer bag.
Golly, that ladder comes in handy!
Gee, coming from Brentwood and all, you'd think they'd through in a couple of tickets to Tahiti at least. Or a lobster tail or two.
And don't forget that big black canvas bag. I get to keep that too.
Now I'm ready for the next dismembered body I need to relocate.
Just kidding LAPD.
Really.
Due to technical difficulties beyond my control, and an unfortunate incident with a monkey named Dexter, this blog has been offline for a few days. Hopefully everything is now resolved for the foreseeable future.
Freaking monkeys!
The big news story for the last couple of days has been the historically huge snowstorm now pounding the east coast and New England. This morning there are reports of 16 inches of the white stuff sitting in our nation's capital (that would be Washington D.C. for all of you Limbaugh listeners, and Fox News watchers), 21 in my friend Ron's hometown, Baltimore, and 23 in Philadelphia. The storm has been labeled, "The Storm of the Decade," and so far has been responsible for 5 deaths.
Being a Southern California boy the closest I've gotten to snow recently is the five pounds of it I just took out of my freezer after defrosting this morning. Glad that's done. I did see it snow once in Anchorage, Alaska, as I was returning from the Philippines (don't ask me why we had to first stop in Anchorage on our way to San Francisco, but that's the navy for you, and our tax dollars hard at work), and I've walked around in it a couple of times in the mountains north of Los Angeles. It was cold and wet.
My lovely case manager, Erin, actually paid some of her hard earned money to delve into the midst of this monster storm last Thursday... poor misguided child. She of course went home to New Jersey to be with her family for the Christmas Holiday. I was concerned that she had arrived safely, or at all after hearing of massive airline cancellations to and from that region. She replied to my inquiry yesterday, stating happily that she had just made it, and "woke up this morning in a blizzard!!! My dreams came true!!!" So she paid to get into the middle of the storm of the decade... and be with her family!
Poor misguided child.
Enough of these gratuitous exclamation points!
Case manager Paul will brave the cold weather next Tuesday if his flight to Detroit goes through. I myself will stay here in warm, sunny California, mainly because I spent all of my money on computer stuff, so I can't afford a trip to Arizona at this time to see my lovely sister and niece. But I will go there soon.
This storm has not stopped the Senate in Washington from clapping themselves on the back for securing an agreement to sustain an historic 60, filibuster proof, vote passing so-called health care reform. That is the Democrats of course. The Republicans are miserable about it, and crying like the little babies that they are. I don't know why. Health insurance stock prices reached a 52 week high on last Friday, but any attempt to improve the lives of average Americans makes them very unhappy. There is no public option in the Senate's version, let alone single payer. No Medicare buy in, and a host of other problems.
I've refrained from discussing the health care reform that is currently winding its way through Congress simply because of the tortuous process involved in getting anything passed in this remarkably dysfunctional body, and sincerely hope that this effort improves markedly as the bill is reconciled with the House's version. Still, our legislative system of government remains the laughing stock of the entire world.
The President has just returned from Copenhagen after reaching another historic agreement for setting reduction limits on greenhouse gases. The agreement is not binding of course, that would mean the largest polluters, like India, China, and the United States would actually have to reduce green house gas emissions.
So we've been making all kinds of history while getting little done.
Personally speaking, my lovely sister Cheryl celebrated her 39th birthday on the 7th, as she has done for many years now. Happy birthday Cheryl!!!
No more exclamation points, by God!
Hey Cheryl, send me an Email with a list of 10 movies or TV shows you'd like for Christmas and I'll attempt to magically procure them for you and Keri somehow.
Other recent news, Erin does not accompany me to the Hippie Kitchen anymore. She's too busy these days, she says. I can certainly understand that, but I tend to believe it has more to do with her lack of desire for beans and salad, and possibly the company she finds there, or possibly both. I certainly understand, I feel the same way at times, but still miss our excursions.
I can write this without fear of retribution because she doesn't read this blog anymore either. She's really busy.
We did have time to decorate the hotels nice big Christmas tree on the 11th, which coincided with Movie Day as it happened. Hardy actually did most of the tree itself, while Erin and I decorated the lobby. Rodney eventually kicked in. Erin played Christmas music from speakers attached to her Iphone. When "The Christmas Song," came on I asked her if she knew who was singing it.
"Bing Crosby?"
"No... that would be Nat King Cole," I told her. I'm surprised she knows who Bing Crosby is, though she certainly would have no reason to. I do know she's never seen any of the "Road Pictures," with Bob Hope.
I have.
Erin and I left Hardy and Rodney to make a short trip to the 99 Cent Store to buy some nice luncheon meat, Bologna it tuned out. We also bought some candy canes, soda, cookies, caramel/chocolate popcorn, and chips and dip (which I managed to spill all over myself), for the movie double header we had planned. We returned and watched first, "A Christmas Story," which I had never seen ("You've never seen A Christmas Story?!" Erin asked me.
"Never." "Wow, they play it on TV like a million times a year." which is true. I seem to remember trying to avoid watching it. As a matter of fact... cable TV is so weird. The American Movie Classic channel (AMC) has decided to air "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation," every freaking night! Sometimes twice a night! There's one channel, FX I think, that promises to play "Night at the Museum," over and over again on Christmas Day (as if they haven't been playing the damn movie twice a week already)... all day. Are the execs at these companies trying to lose advertisers?! One channel has recently been devoted to the "Dirty Dancing," movies. My God!). It was okay, although I am a Darrin McGavin fan. Erin seemed to like it much more than I did. The second feature was one I picked out (which was rather suitable as I supplied both DVDs), "We're No Angels," starring Humphrey Bogart (in one of his last films in a rare comedy role, directed by Casablanca's Michael Curtis. Bogart, as it happened, was born on a Christmas Day in 1899), Aldo Ray, Peter Ustinov, and a viper named Adolf, a personal movie favorite of mine. Erin seemed to enjoy it after I explained to her what Devil's Island was all about (don't they teach world history in school anymore?), and why paroled convicts were walking around free. For four hours we watched movies, then we finished off the tree. I was the tallest one there so I got to put on the star.
Last Thursday we had a small SRHT sponsored Christmas party in our lobby with the folks from the Olympia. It depressed me, except for Erin and her friend playing the guitar and singing Christmas songs. That was nice. After our party, their duty fulfilled, Paul and Erin took off to go to the SRHT staff party at some Mexican restaurant. We get hot wings, they get a Mexican restaurant. Remember that dear readers, next time you're thinking about making a charitable donation. Next year I'll personally sponsor a Christmas Steak Barbecue Party for the Las Americas... no staff invited. Sorry Erin.
I'm such a bitch.
Lastly, on the 12th, a Saturday, my neighbor Lester (the Molester), knocked on my door and told me there were people outside giving away large canvas bags of goodies. Naturally I went to investigate, and Lester was right, there were people out there giving away large canvas (black) bags of goodies, presumably because Christmas Day was approaching.
I took one from two of the nice, young people standing out on that rainy day, and brought it up to my box.
A few days later I looked inside.
The nice people who gave these bags away were from The Giving Spirit, which is situated at the Brentwood Presbyterian Church, in Brentwood, possibly one of the most affluent residential areas in the world. Rich people doing their part to feel better about having so much when others have so little (how about paying your fair share of taxes?).
Anyway, what was in this bag? A whole bunch of stuff: apples, Balance Bars, bananas, band-aids, a bar of soap, baseball caps, beef jerky, beef stew, a blanket, body lotion, bottled water, bread, candy bars, canned Vienna sausages, cereal bars, combs, cotton athletic socks, crackers, deodorant, gauze, gum, a hair brush, Halls lozenges, hand towels, lip balm, a manicure set, a mini note pad, Moon pies, Nature Valley granola bars, orange juice, a plastic bottle, a pauncho, a pen, plastic utensils, a six foot collapsible ladder, some nice pop tarts, raisins - large box, sesame mix, shampoo, a Slim Jim, a soap dish, sponges, sunglasses, sunscreen, tissues, toilet paper, toothpaste (you can never have enough) and toothbrush, trail mix, trash bags, Treetop apple juice, Treetop applesauce (Thanks Treetop!), Tuna and cracker packages, an umbrella, wet wipes, wool gloves, a wool hat, and a Ziploc freezer bag.
Golly, that ladder comes in handy!
Gee, coming from Brentwood and all, you'd think they'd through in a couple of tickets to Tahiti at least. Or a lobster tail or two.
And don't forget that big black canvas bag. I get to keep that too.
Now I'm ready for the next dismembered body I need to relocate.
Just kidding LAPD.
Really.
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