Monday, December 29, 2014

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 363

29/December/2014, Day 363.  Monday.

While every day of life is a gift from God, some days are just better than others.  And some .... well, some are just to be survived.

Today was unfortunately one of the latter.

Neither Grump nor Sweetie well AGAIN last night, as Dodong was still suffering from his infection, and Grump was jittery from all the energy drinks he slurped down so he would not fall asleep driving home from Florida yesterday.  The lack of sleep is catching up with both of them: they both have scratchy throats and stuffy noses, and feel just plain cruddy.

Better than a sharp stick in the eye, but still not all that much fun.

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 362

28/December/2014, Day 362.  Sunday.

We had gotten into bed early Saturday, expecting to get a good night's sleep.

Dodong had other ideas.  He cried and fussed and screamed ALL NIGHT!

Sweetie got absolutely no sleep.  Old Sweaty Grump caught and hour here and there.  It was awful!

At the crack of dawn we decided that the best thing to do was to quickly pack up, and head back home, hoping to get Dodong in to see a doctor.  So, at 6:00 am Grump called up his parents, and told them the bad news: we would not be having Sunday brunch with them, and in fact were leaving for home, right now!

To say it was not a fun drive back home would be to reiterate the obvious.  Sweetie and Kuya slept some in the car, while Dodong alternated between fussing and fitfully sleeping.  Through the grace of God we made it home without incident, then we went straight to the doctor's office, where after waiting for what seemed like an eternity, (the place was packed!), we finally got to see the doctor.

As it turns out, poor Dodong had an ear infection.  He got a prescription for a mild antibiotic, (amoxicillan), which hopefully will clear up his infections.
 

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 361

27/December/2014, Day 361.  Saturday.

As you know, we arrived in Atlantic Beach, (Jacksonville), Friday afternoon.

After a good night's sleep, we all had a nice breakfast, then visited with Grump's parents for a while.  We had a light lunch at Panera's, then back to the hotel room for a nap.

Ominously, Dodong was starting to feel warm.  More on this later.

After our naps, we visited with Grump's parents again, then off we went to another good dinner at the Fleet Landing clubhouse.

By now Dodong was starting to act like he felt poorly, so we gave him some infant Tylenol, then we got ready for what we thought was going to be another good night's sleep.

Sunday, December 28, 2014

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 360

26/December/2014, Day 360.  Friday.

This morning Dudong, Kuya, Sweetie, and Old Sweaty Grump squeezed into the car along with the suitcase and some miscellaneous gifts, and we all headed off the Grandma and Grandpa's apartment in Jacksonville, Florida.  (Poor Lola stayed behind; she didn't want to be trapped in a car that long!)

There was more traffic on I-75 south of Macon than normal, but I guess that is to be expected with the holiday season.  Around lunchtime we stopped for a bite to eat in Valdosta, GA.  Driving around a bit, we came across a small Korean restaurant where we stopped for lunch. 

We almost didn't go in.  The exterior wasn't all that great; it brough up unfortunate memories of a cruddy Thai restaurant we once experience in North Georgia.  But this time we were pleasantly surprised.  It was very clean inside, the menu had nice selections, and the food was very yummy.

This was the best Korean food we've had since we left Columbia, SC.  Here is the name, address, and contact number of the restaurant.  It is well worth a visit if you're anywhere near Valdosta, GA.

Korea Garden
250N St. Augustine Road
Valdosta, GA  31602
 (229) 241-8555

Like the Korean restaurants in Columbia, SC, it is closed on Tuesdays.

After that great lunch, we continued on our way to Grandma and Grandpa's.  By the time we got to I-10 in Florida and turned east, Grump was feeling very sleepy.  The monotony of Osceola National Forest didn't help, but with the help of Sweetie and the grace of God, Grump stayed awake long enough to arrive in Jacksonville.

After settling in to our hotel room, and resting a bit, we went to dinner with Grandma and Grandpa at Fleet Landing, where they live.  (Yeah, they actually live in Atlantic Beach rather than Jacksonville.)  As always, the food was great!  Sweetie had Salmon, and Grump had Mahi Mahi, (or just Mahi, as it is called now).  After that we all waddled back to our rooms, and went to bed early.

Thursday, December 25, 2014

North Korea and "The Interview": the Plot Thickens!

The North Koreans and their zany leader Kim Jong Un certainly act like buffoons.  If it weren't for the suffering the poor folk in North Korea have to endure because of their stupid government, and the constant potential for another war and the needless turmoil that would cause, it would tempting to just laugh them off as another joke provided for our entertainment.

So what's the latest with the controversy over "The Interview"?

I wrote an article on PAA two days ago where I explained that Sony had reversed their decision not to release the movie.  Since PAA doesn't allow embedded links, a key part of that post may have been overlooked, namely, the url of a FANTASTIC article on the whole bruhaha.

I can't say this too strongly: go read this article!  It's hilarious!

Meanwhile, it now appears that "The Interview" is available on YouTube.  You can cough up $5.99, give it a watch, and make Kim Jong Un's day!

Hmmm ...... maybe I have to update my original article on this controversy I posted on FoK.  In that article, I laid out three options that I thought were causing Sony to pull the release of "The Interview".  Maybe there is a fourth option?

Suppose Sony and the powers-that-be in North Korea COLLABORATED on publicising this mediocre film?  What if North Korea and Sony actually have a working relationship, and half the proceeds from "The Interview" will provide much needed cash to the barely functional North Korean economy?

Follow the money!




Wednesday, December 24, 2014

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 358

24/December/2014, Day 358. Wednesday.

It was a rainy but relatively warm day before Christmas.  Not much happened at work, until Grump got into an argument with a co-worker, (you KNOW WHO YOU ARE, Mr. Az!), about the realities of peak oil.  Grump believes that peak oil is a real phenomenon, but had to contend with two articles from groups he usually admires that claimed peak oil was a bunch of nonsense:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2011/10/19/peak-oil-entirely-nonsense-as-is-peak-gas/

http://mises.org/blog/peak-oil-was-nonsense-and-ghost-1981-oil-price-crash-looms

Aahh!!  Cognitive disonance!

On further reflection, Grump believes the authors of these articles are full of beans, as they are intentionally distorting the theory of peak oil to poke holes in it.  (For a good description of peak oil, read here:   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_oil )

Besides that tempest in a teapot, not much happened.  We are having a Christmas Eve dinner with the neighbors, then before bed Kuya will say goodby to our shelf elf Squeak, who will fly back to the North Pole to hang out with Santa until next year's holiday season. 






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Tuesday, December 23, 2014

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 357

23/December/2014, Day 357. Tuesday.

Grump and Sweetie had trouble sleeping last night.  They tossed and turned and tossed and turned and tossed and turned and finally, in the wee hours of the night when they finally started snoozing, Dodong awoke and started hollering.

Another sleepy, tired day!

Fortunately work was very laid back, so Grump could cruise through his time in the office.  And neither Kuya nor Dodong had a bad day, so Sweetie could relax.

I guess the big news is that a few of our neighbors are coming over for dinner Christmas eve.  After work, Grump and Sweetie drove over to Honey Baked Honey and purchased a turkey breast for tomorrow's meal.  (Sweetie is a Seventh Day Adventist, so we don't eat pork!)

Lola cooked some beef for dinner; not being used to fussy American palates, she left chunks of fat on the meat.  This was sliced up and put on rice for Kuya to eat, but after a few bites he happened to bite into a chunk of fat, and vomited!  Truth be told, neither Grump nor Sweetie could really critisize him too much.  After all, Grump has been eating Americn food for more than fifty years, and if he gets too large a chunk of beef fat in his mouth, he will probably gag too! 

 

Sunday, December 21, 2014

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 355

21/December/2014, Day 355.  Sunday.

Today was a wonderful day!  Why, you ask?  Because Old Sweaty Grump was able to lay his tired bones in bed this afternoon for a two hour nap, that's why!  Once you get to be Grump's age, napping is one of Life's secret pleasures.

Sweetie, Lola, and Kuya had fun in the afternoon too, because they had visitors.  (Yes, Grump was asleep in the bedroom whilest visitors were in the house.  What an Old Grump, huh!)  Several of the women from Sweetie's church came to visit, and they brought along some of their children for Kuya to play with.  

As for Dodong ..... well, I think he enjoyed the day in the same manner as Grump, namely, by sleeping through large chunks of it.

Saturday, December 20, 2014

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 354

20/December/2014, Day 354.  Saturday.

I'm getting hollered at to "come to bed", so I'll have to keep this short.

Sweetie went out to lunch with some of her friends.  They went to Fountain of Juice, which relocated further down Vineville, in the same group of stores as Yvonnes Natural Foods.  Sweetie says the new location is really nice.

Grump and Sweetie went to Goodwill to drop off some things Dodong is growing out of.  We already knew they wouldn't take a crib; would you believe that they are unable, because of legal liability, to take a stroller?  Our crazy legal system will eventually be the death of us!

Per Sweetie's commands, we moved the Grump's desk from the office upstairs into the bedroom.  Not sure how this will work out, but Sweetie is usually right about furniture placement.

Friday, December 19, 2014

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 353

19/December/2014, Day 353.  Friday.

Back when I used to write these "A Day in a Year in a Life" posts on PostAnyArticle, I dreaded days like today, when by the end of the day I am so bone tired that the last thing I want to do is sit down in front of a computer and type in an article.  Phooey!

What happened was that Kuya for some inexplicable reason woke up at 5:00 am again!  And, of course, once awake he just can't be quiet, nor sit still.  It's hard to sleep with a rowdy five year old jumping on your head!

This is two days in a row now that I haven't gotten a good night's sleep because of his antics.  Grrr!!

Well, at least everyone else had a good day.  Sweetie, Lola, Dodong, and Kuya, (who is home on Christmas break), all went to the outdoor mall this afternoon and walked around in the pleasant sunshine.  And Sweetie even refrained from buying anything!

That's it for today.  It's not even 7:00 pm yet, but I'm going to go get ready for bed.

Thursday, December 18, 2014

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 352


18/December/2014, Day 352.  Thursday.

The day, (or, more precisely, the night before), started out rocky.  For some reason Kuya slept very poorly, waking up many times through the night coughing and crying, and at one point crying out, "I want to eat the brown stuff!"  He finally succeeded in waking up Dodong, which caused Grump to yell at him, which made him cry even more.  Ugh.

Grump and Sweetie went through the day mostly in a haze.  Grump was assigned some documentation tasks at work, which he mostly ignored, since his poor old brain was only semi-functional.

In the evening Lola feed Dodong, then Sweetie gave him some baby treats which Grump TOLD HER NOT TO DO, as Grump believed Dodong was still too young to handle them properly.  Dodong immediately began to choke, then vomited up all his food all over himself and his high-chair.  Grump was livid!  He yelled at Sweetie, then with Lola's help cleaned up poor Dodong.

But ..... every day is a gift from God.  Today was a gift too, just a little different than most days.

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 351

17/December/2014, Day 351.  Wednesday.

I'm kinda tired right now, so I don't feel like writing much.  But it was another pleasant winter day here in central Georgia.

Old Sweaty Grump has been taking the stairs at work, (four flights of stairs from the basement!), and he has been making an effort to climb up them at least five times a day.  Hooray for him!  It's his only exercise, but maybe it will help him lose some weight.

Speaking of weight, Sweetie needs to go on a diet of her own!  Too much fattening American food, I guess.  She says she will seriously start losing weight, but only once Dodong stops breast feeding.

Kuya is doing great.

Lola has her first head cold, but she acts as if nothing is wrong.  She continues to cook and clean and do any task around the house that needs doing, while Grump continues to sit on his fat butt.

Everybody needs a Lola!
 

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 350

16/December/2014, Day 350.  Tuesday.


The adventure continues!


When we last left off, we were still trying to work with the recalcitrant bureacrats at Immigration to get a VISA for Lola to come over from the Philippines and stay with us.  Several months and a few letters from our Congressional Representative later, Immigration finally relented, and Lola had her VISA.  She arrived here in early October, and has been a HUGE blessing.  She helps Sweetie in the kitchen, and with the cleaning and laundry, and has been instrumental in keeping Kuya from battering Dodong.  I have no idea how Sweetie coped with Kuya and Dodong all by herself this summer!

The other "gossip" is that Witch has been stirring up trouble with Mama Sue's Bible study group.  She managed to turn Bitch against all of us, and is working on Clueless.  It's a sad situation, particularly for Witch's little boy, Big Sigh.  Witch and her friend Bitch are openly fighting with Mama Sue and Ms. M, both of whom are decent Filipinas and friends of ours.  Pathetic!


Moving on from that nonsense, today was a mostly quiet day at work for Old Sweaty Grump.  Kuya had a half day of school, following by the first day of Christmas Camp.  He had a great time, but when he got home, he decided to write on his face with a green magic marker, to look like the Grinch.  Unfortunately the green doesn't wash off easily.


Mama, Lola, and Dodong drove over to the mall and did a good amount of walking.  While there, Mama bought a nice blouse at Belks that they were just giving away.


But the most exciting news today was with respect to Dodong.  While in his playpen, he managed to pull himself up, and was STANDING for several minutes, long enough for Old Sweaty Grump to take some pictures.  Way to go Dodong!

Resuming "A Day in a Year in a Life"

"Whatever happened to the "A Day in a Year in a Life" articles?", inquiring minds around the planet ask.

Basically what happened is that the site I was writing them on, PAA, started having "issues", such as malware and other unpleasant surprises.  Ugh!  So the last entry was Day 205, from July 24, 2014.

But have no fear, loyal readers; starting today, I will continue to write this brief blurbs about our lives on this here blog.  So until Google gets a bug up its massive butt and pulls the plug on me, you can read all about our daily struggles, here on www.waypatas.blogspot.com .

Look forward to the continuing adventures of Old Sweaty Grump, Sweetie, Kuya, Dodong, and ..... with her recent arrival from the Philippines, Lola! 


Tuesday, July 1, 2014

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 182

01/July/2014, Day 182.  Tuesday.

A new month begins!

It's been super-duper HOT here in central Georgia!  Grump needs to mow the lawn, but he just can't seem to find the enthusiasm to go out and work in this awful heat.  He actually appreciated his job today, as working in an air-conditioned building is wonderful this time of year.  Besides, several problem tickets assigned to him just magically "resolved themselves" today, so it appears he did a lot of work without actually doing much of anything, which pleases his basically lazy soul.

Kuya has been much gentler towards Dodong this week, but Sweetie must remain constantly vigilant when overseeing the interactions between these two, because it only takes an instant for a life altering accident to occur.

We had a ..... uh, "exciting" dinner tonight.  Sweetie had bought a special type of camote when we went shopping this weekend, and she cooked them for dinner tonight.  They were "special" all right.  Once she started cutting them open, she discovered half of them were rotten!  The others were old, dried up, and barely edible.  Eating them was like munching on dried cardboard, which was discouraging, especially since they had been boiled.

I guess you have to have a cruddy meal every now and then so that you'll appreciate the good ones all the more.


Tuesday, June 24, 2014

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 175

24/June/2014, Day 175.  Tuesday.

Poor Sweetie didn't get much sleep again.  I don't know how she is holding it all together!

It was another mostly quiet day at work for Grump again, which he appreciates.  His lunch was some wonderful chicken arroz caldo, which is a sort of a chicken and rice stew.  Sweetie makes the best chicken arroz caldo in the universe, so Grump was very happy!

It rained really, really hard as Grump was coming home from work, but fortunately it cleared up in time for Kuya to have his swimming lesson.  He must have worked hard at swimming today, because he fell asleep tonight watching TV; Grump had to carry him to his bed.

There is so much work to do in the house with two kids, particularly since you have to watch Kuya to make sure he isn't too rough with Dodong.  How do you explain to a five year old that infants are fragile?


A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 174

23/June/2014, Day 174.  Monday.

In reverse order:

We went to bed early, after a dinner of fried tilapia, rice, and mangoes.

Kuya's swimming lessons were cancelled, on account of the rain.  When Grump arrived home from work he was a bit upset, because of a high credit card bill.  (This wasn't even the credit card which we used to pay for the photos on Sunday.)

Work was mostly peaceful for Grump; his lunch was spaghetti, Filipino style, of course, with a few surprise chunks of added chicken.

Kuya spent most of the morning ripping up bits of paper and tossing them on the floor, simulating Humpty Dumpty after his "fall".

We all woke up refreshed from a very much needed good night's sleep.

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 173

22/June/2014, Day 173.  Sunday.

Today Sweetie decided we would get take-out from Panera for breakfast, which is what we did.  Both Sweetie and Grump have a breakfast souffle and an egg, tomato, and cheese sandwich on a blueberry bagel, while Kuya has a muffin top and yogurt.  Dodong is still surviving on breast milk, so as long as Sweetie is available and he is hungry, he can eat.

As we had not been to church in a long, long time, we made sure we went to church today.  After church we drove up to Morrow Georgia, (basically south Atlanta), to get some fruits, vegetables, and fish.

Dinner was at a Thai restaurant called Lemon Grass in downtown Macon.  Sweetie and Grump enjoyed their dinner, but Kuya was wound up and misbehaved through the entire meal.

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 172

21/June/2014, Day 172.  Saturday.

Sweetie woke up early, and made blueberry scones!  Yummy, yummy, yummy!

After that yummy breakfast, we all went to get photos of Dodong and family.  (We had to get nice photos of Dodong as a baby, because we have nice photos of Kuya as a baby.)  While waiting for the photo session Sweetie used the time to buy a nice pair of shoes.

After we were done getting our picture taken, (and spending LOTS of money doing so!), we had lunch at a Mexican restaurant.

The big event of the day was one of Kuya's friends had a birthday party.  She lives way, way out in the country, so it took a while to get there.  But her parents had a water slide set up for the kids to play on, so they all have a great time slipping and sliding.

I don't remember what dinner was ...... leftovers maybe?

Saturday, June 21, 2014

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 171

20/June/2014, Day 171.  Friday.

Miraculously, Grump got two night's of good sleep in a row!  What more could an Old Sweaty Grump hope for?

Work was quiet; too quiet, in far.  With a heavy heart, and plenty of regret, Grump had to ask his team leads for more work.  (Phooey!)  Hopefully he won't get dumped on for opening his mouth!

On the home front, Kuya continues to terrorize Dodong and drive Sweetie crazy!  A five year old and an infant just don't mix!  Sweetie does the best she can to tend to the needs of both, but it is driving her bonkers.

This evening we went to Bible Study next door, but unfortunately Grump and Kuya had to leave early, because Kuya apparently hurt the Big Sigh.  Big Sigh's Mama, (and some of her friends), accuse Kuya of being a bully, but the only kid Kuya every has any trouble with is Big Sigh.  He plays fine with other children, including some younger and smaller than himself, and his problems with Dodong aren't due to intent, but a lack of understanding that Dodong is super fragile right now.

We've decided that we are going to have to avoid events where Big Sigh is present, because we don't want to deal with that psycho-drama.

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 170

19/June/2014, Day 170.  Thursday.

After the sleep deprivation of Tuesday night, Wednesday night was mostly restful.  So Grump at least was better rested today.  (But not Sweetie, who seemingly NEVER gets enough sleep.)

What happened today?  Not a whole heck of a lot, which was kinda nice, actually.  We just kept working with Kuya, trying to emphasize to him that he has to be VERY CAREFUL around his brother, who is still an infant.  I'm not sure how much of this registers in Kuya's five-year-old brain, but we keep trying.






Thursday, June 19, 2014

A Day in a Year in a LIfe / Day 169

18/June/2014, Day 169.  Wednesday.

What was today like?  Hard to say, since Grump spent most of it in a haze.  Dodong seemed to wake up every hour all through the night, and then once he finally drifted off into a sound sleep, (around 4:00 am), Kuya woke up and crawled into bed with us, kicking Grump in the head!

But this is nothing compared to the exhaustion Sweetie is feeling right now.  She has to carefully watch Kuya all day long, lest he inadvertently hurt Dodong.  It's impossible for a five year old to understand just how fragile an infant really is.  Kuya, like most five year old boys, is a bundle of unrestrained energy, bursting out all over the place.  We just hope and pray that Dodong makes it through his first year of life unscathed.

On a sad note, while Grump was check out at a local grocery store, he mentioned his frustrations with his kids to the cashier, and she told him about an incident that happened to a neighbor when she was a child.  A mother was changing an infant's diaper, and when she turned away for just a moment, her five year old child grabbed the infant by the legs, and pulled him.  Tragically the infant banged its head, and died.  The cashier said she still remembers the funeral with the tiny casket.

Life is fragile, folks.  Let's protect each other as best we can.

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 168

17/June/2014, Day 168.  Tuesday.

Grump got LOTS of sleep last night, so he felt better today.  Unfortunately Sweetie never sleeps well anymore.  I'm afraid she is starting to show the wear and strain of trying to take care of a five year old and an infant.  HELP!!

Kuya had his swimming class today, so he was happy.

Grump had a mellow, yet at the same time frustrating day at work.  Hard to explain, and Grump doesn't really want to talk about it, so just know that not all days are pleasant.

We ordered Kuya's shirts from Lands End tonight, and they cost a small fortune.

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 167

16/June/2014, Day 167.  Monday.

Today was a day of extreme tiredness.  Grump didn't sleep well; the dinner from last night had too much garlic in it for his tummy to handle, so he tossed and turned all night.

Sweetie didn't sleep well, but then she isn't sleeping well any more.

Kuya's first swimming class in his second session was cancelled because of thunder and lightening.  Phooey!

Dodong did well, doing what an infant does.


A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 165

14/June/2014, Day 165.  Saturday.

PAA is having .... uh, "issues" at the moment, so I will be posting the daily "A Day in a Year in a Life" articles here until it cleans up its act.

The theme for today was shopping, shopping, shopping, and more shopping!

After a slow start, (puttering away in our underwear eating a lazy breakfast), we finally got our act together and drove over to Forsyth, GA, to the Grits Café for lunch. Lunch was okay - it was good and all, but the menu was one we considered uninspired, as nearly everything had shrimp, (which Sweetie is allergic to), or blue cheese, (which Grump despises!), in it. So it was probably one of the least exciting meals we've had at Grits Café. Still good, but not the usual superb.

After lunch we drove up the road to the Tanger outlet mall in Locust Grove, GA. There are many, many stores there, and Sweetie went wild! We shopped until Grump and Kuya just couldn't take it anymore. It was dinnertime by then, so we drove back down the road to The French Market to get something to eat.

We had never been to The French Market before, and were pleasantly surprised by how good the food was. It is a New Orleans / Cajun style inspired place; Grump had yummy gumbo, jambalaya, and red rice and beans. Sweetie had a blackened salmon which was super-duper mouth-watering delicious.  Kuya and Sweetie finished off their meal with a yummy miniature chocolate cake.

Sufficiently stuffed, and tired, we drove back home and as quick as we could all four of us climbed into bed.  In no time at all we were all snoring contentedly.




Monday, June 16, 2014

A Day in a Year in a LIfe / Day 166

15/June/2014, Day 166.  Sunday.

This was a bummer of a day.

It started out okay.  Sweetie, Grump, and Dodong accompanied Kuya to the church where he went to vacation Bible school last week, and Kuya participated in a singing presentation all the VBS kids gave up on the stage at the front of the church.

From there everything went downhill.  Grump was very sleepy, so when he got home he insisted on taking a nap.  Unfortunately Sweetie also decided to try to make a fancy recipe for Father's Day, namely salmon croquettes with spaghetti squash mixed with a celery pesto sauce.  As she attempted to make the recipe, she realized that she needed a food processor, (!), to successfully complete it, so she and Kuya headed off to a local department store while a very tired Grump stayed home with Dodong.

Once Sweetie got back home, Grump handed Dodong off to her and went upstairs to sleep.  After about 15 minutes Sweetie started hollering for him, asking him to come help her with the food processor.  Grump was in no mood to mess with a food processor, so he told her that if she really wanted him to fuss with it, he would, but if he couldn't get it to work he was taking it back to the store.

I'll just jump to the end of this pathetic story.  Sure enough, we couldn't figure out how to get the food processor to work, so we took it back to the store, and got another, less exciting model.  At first we couldn't get this one to work either, but once Grump read the instructions he finally figured it out.

The sad part to all this is that the food processor we returned was a much better model, and was on sale at a considerable discount, being only a little more than a dollar than the lesser model.  If either Grump or Sweetie had taken the time to read the instructions for it, we probably would have figured out how to use it.

There's a moral buried in there somewhere.

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Where are all the posts, Dude?

Yeah, yeah ..... I've done an absolutely CRUDDY job keeping this blog updated.  So what do you want?  Your money back?

I had this goofy idea of taking Swift's "A Tale of a Tub", obtained from the good folks at Project Gutenberg, and rewriting it from the point of view of a group of angry cormorants.  Yes, that's the best I could come up with, okay!

YOU try raising a newborn and a five year old simultaneously.

Sunday, April 6, 2014

Drama!

So .... has "The Bubble" stabilized now, and will redemptions actually be received by those requesting them?

Will FoK lose yet another male editor?

Stay tuned, boy and girls, as answers to these and other questions become resolved by our team of experts!


Monday, March 24, 2014

An Experiment!

As lightening flashes across a tormented sky, I cackle with glee and invite you, my dear friends, into my laboratory, where we will all witness my latest experiment: an embedded video!




IT'S ALIVE!!  IT'S ALIVE!!!

Saturday, March 15, 2014

Beauty, Truth, and Incoherent Commentary - Verse 03

Let's keep picking on Mr. Milton, shall we?  After all, although I never met the man, based on his reputation he could "lighten up" a little.

What poem should we peruse today?  How about this one:

On His Deceased Wife        by John Milton

METHOUGHT I saw my late espoused Saint
   Brought to me like Alcestis from the grave,
   Whom Joves great Son to her glad Husband gave,
   Rescu'd from death by force though pale and faint.
Mine as whom washt from spot of child-bed taint,
   Purification in the old Law did save,
   And such, as yet once more I trust to have
   Full sight of her in Heaven without restraint,
Came vested all in white, pure as her mind:
   Her face was vail'd, yet to my fancied sight,
   Love, sweetness, goodness, in her person shin'd 
So clear, as in no face with more delight.
   But O as to embrace me she enclin'd
   I wak'd, she fled, and day brought back my night.

Okay .... if you read this poem through, then I hope you have a new appreciation for Mr. Milton.  What a beautiful, heart-wrenching dedication to a lost lover!  John, you old Puritan, I didn't know you had it in you.

Sunday, March 9, 2014

Beauty, Truth, and Incoherent Commentary - Verse 02

I've already begun insulting the memory of John Milton, so I may as well continue.  I'll copy here the few sonnets of his I understand, as Latin is a mystery to me.  (It may as well be Greek!)

On His Being Arrived to the Age of Twenty-three    by John Milton


How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth,
Stolen on his wing my three and twentieth year!
My hasting days fly on with full career,
But my late spring no bud or blossom shew'th.
Perhaps my semblance might deceive the truth,
That I to manhood am arrived so near,
And inward ripeness doth much less appear,
That some more timely-happy spirits indu'th.
Yet be it less or more, or soon or slow,
It shall be still in strictest measure even
To that same lot, however mean or high,
Toward which Time leads me, and the will of Heaven.
All is, if I have grace to use it so,
As ever in my great Task-master's eye.

Whining about being 24 years old?  Good Lord, man!  What until you're my age, and every body part hurts and malfunctions, you fart dust, your eyes, ears, nose, and tongue can't sense much of anything any more, and to walk up a flight of stairs requires all your energy!

Oh to be back in my 40's again!

Sunday, February 9, 2014

The "Egg-Laying" Articles are FINALLY Done!

We've FINALLY finished writing all the articles in the "Breeding Egg-Laying Aquarium Fish" series.  Hooray!

This was started back in November, and it took a late night last night to wrap it all up.  But now they're ready for your perusal.

Without further ado, here are the links to all six articles on breeding egg-laying aquarium fish:







Pleasant reading!

03/15/2014  -  With a tear in my eye, and deep sadness in my heart, I have removed these articles from Expertpages.  With the turmoil that is going on with Crazy Texan's websites at the moment, EP seems to be the forgotten stepchild, as the site doesn't even have ads at the moment.  When an editor advised us not to post new articles there anymore, I had enough.  I will repost these articles to InfoBarrel, (if they accept them), or FullofKnowledge, once Google wakes up and stops indexing them to EP. 

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Beauty, Truth, and Incoherent Commentary: Verse 1

For Verse 1, what better to do than swipe a sonnet from a really good poet?

On His Blindness, by John Milton

When I consider how my light is spent
Ere half my days in this dark world and wide,
And that one talent which is death to hide
Lodg'd with me useless, though my soul more bent
To serve therewith my Maker, and present
My true account, lest he returning chide,
"Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?"
I fondly ask. But Patience, to prevent
That murmur, soon replies: "God doth not need
Either man's work or his own gifts: who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state
Is kingly; thousands at his bidding speed
And post o'er land and ocean without rest:
They also serve who only stand and wait."

So the moral of the story is when you drink yourself blind, don't feel guilty about laying about doing nothing the next day?

Sunday, January 12, 2014

Ignatius, Ignatius! We miss you Ignatius!

Never heard of Ignatius P. Dufreis?  Nicknamed Puffus, I believe he was made to "disappear" from history.

Granted, he did not lead the most disciplined of lifestyles.  But then, I don't know: why did the author of that testimony suffer such distress and eventually commit suicide?

But this world is full of thieves and liars.  We don't deserve you, Ignatius.