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This is an archive collection of entries from my main personal blog, My Mundane Mid-Life.
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This collection of entries is from July 2004.
Saturday, July 31, 2004
Baseball despairOne week ago, I was at a ballgame for my favorite team - The Chicago White Sox. Everything was right with the world.
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They had won that night on a walk off homer. The team was in First Place by half a game.
Flash forward one week.
The Sox lost tonight for the 7th straight game. They lost the game tonight the same as yesterday - getting into pitching trouble, loading the bases, and walking-in the winning run.
They're now 5 games out of first place, 4½ games out of the Wild Card Race. They're batting .227, the worst in the majors.
More misery: Today is the Trading Deadline. The Sox trade away 2-time All-Star pitcher Esteban Loaiza to the Yankees for pitcher Jose Contreras.
WTF???? « hide the extended part of this entry
posted at 09:59 PM | Link | White Sox § |
Friday, July 30, 2004
Peeling
My upper arms are in such bad shape. I'm a snake - I'm shedding skin - actually my bad sunburn from last week is making my skin peel. The arms are white from the skin dying. Actually, it is a little hard to see case, well, I'm a furry guy. The patches itch and burn and hurt.... it's like it's been all week, but now you get the lovely itch and dead skin flying everywhere.
It's amazing when you try to pull the skin off, how thin a layer of human skin actually is. Anyway, the arms still hurt and are sensitive to the touch.
Oh, and look like hell.
posted at 08:32 PM | Link | Mundane § |
Thursday, July 29, 2004
No, it was the saladThe evening was miserable, as well as a part of the overnight. Yep, it must have been the salad yesterday, because my stomach... and lower parts... were in riot mode. I slept-in a little this morning and that seems to let things "work themselves out".
posted at 10:17 AM | Link | Mundane § |
Wednesday, July 28, 2004
The downward spiral...Went out to a local produce store to pick up some tomatoes. I don't know why, but every summer I get these "needs" to have certain foods - today is cold, fresh, sliced tomatoes lightly salted and peppered.
Picked-up a salad for lunch, too. Unfortunately, half-way through the salad, the stomach did a roll-over and now I feel like crap. Could be because I'm watching the White Sox game, though...
posted at 03:13 PM | Link | Mundane § |
Tuesday, July 27, 2004
The man in the mirror
(Aaaaarrrrrggggghhhhh!!!! No!!! I didn't mean to refer to a friggin' Michael Jackson song!!! Aaaarrrrgggggghhhhh!!!!!)
You know, sometimes that first look in the mirror in the morning can be a little startling, especially if you don't feel good and then you see that you look like you feel. Sometimes you look in the mirror and you see things that yo u don't feel.
This morning I looked in the mirror and saw the part of my genes that I got from my dad - my right eyebrow has produced a white hair that is just twisting all over the place. Actually, my whole eyebrow is just a mess... I need a trim...
posted at 10:18 AM | Link | Mundane § |
Monday, July 26, 2004
Sleep x 4OK, now I'm starting to wonder if there's something going on with me... I've fallen asleep 4 times today. OK, once was planned, but the others I was just watching something on TiVo and the next thing I know the show is over. This seems to be a regular occurrence. I need to start fighting this somehow...
posted at 04:03 PM | Link | Mundane § |
Sunday, July 25, 2004
White Sox 2 - Tigers 9
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Well, it's not much warmer out, but there isn't a cloud in the sky. So I as the new Lobster Boy from my lengthy pool time on Friday had to make sure every part of my body is covered in clothing or sunscreen.
In the big picture, however: it was a waste coming to the game. It ran long (3:08) and we left early as it was too painfull. We got killed. Garland couldn't get it together, and neither did the bullpen. Nothing to talk about - we sucked.
(Boxscore) « hide the extended part of this entry
posted at 09:32 PM | Link | White Sox § |
Saturday, July 24, 2004
White Sox 7 - Tigers 6
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So, the zombies shuffle-off to the park for a baseball game. As has been our luck all damn year, it's late in July and the temperature is 68 degrees and it's windy. In other words, cold and uncomfortable.
I don't feel great about Schoeneweis as a starter. I still don't think he's as solid as we need. His 6 innings of work had 3 walks, only one strikeout, 8 hits and 5 runs. The tigers had this in their pocket by the 4th. It was 6-2 in the top of the 7th, but it was 6-5 at the bottom, and we tied it up in the 8th.
In the 9th, Joe Crede hits a walk-off homerun, something I didn't think we'd see tonight. The crowd of 38,055 - another sellout - went nuts.
Tigers - 4 homers, 10 hits
(Boxscore) « hide the extended part of this entry
posted at 10:23 PM | Link | White Sox § |
ExhaustionCarol and I are exhausted. We're zombies. We're barely communicating as we shuffle around the house. Indy, on the other hand, is happy that we're home. We slept hard and deep with weird-ass dreams... and I'll bet we'll fall asleep once or twice before we go to the baseball game tonight....
I thought that a Vacation was supposed to rejuvenate, reinvigorate? Well, I guess it did, but what the hell happened to make us feel like this?
posted at 10:49 AM | Link | Mundane § |
Sunday, July 18, 2004
AWAYI am sitting on the deck of my sister's house in Michigan. It's not completely dark yet, so I'm taking what little time I have just to sit back and enjoy the semi-quiet.
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This morning, Carol & I picked-up our friends Barry & Buffy to enjoy a quick (read "cheap") getaway for the week - staying at my sister's house. The drive was totally uneventful. As soon as we got up here and unloaded the car, we went to Joe Jackson's Fruit Stand in New Buffalo to get some particular things we needed for the week. Then it was off to Martin's to do the major grocery shopping, and then finally to Falatic's for all the meat shopping. It was back to Diane's and then out to lunch at the Red Arrow Road House. On the way back to the house, we stopped at at a jewelry store that, well, we were told we had to see. It was Abigail Heche. This was some seriously gorgeous jewelry in this place. Yes, pricey, but damn the quality is there... (Oh, and yes, that's Ann's sister... we met Abigail and her mom and she was showing us a gorgeous necklace...). It was back to the house and we're all zombies.
Diane & Melinda must have left sometime after 4 I think. I just grilled some hotdogs and hour ago, just so we could eat something tonight.
We really have no schedule to meet, no times to keep. We're away from the city and just enjoying the time.
Of course, there's a ton of mosquitoes buzzing around me right now as the sun sets. I have a Black & Decker Halo™ Mosquito Inhibitor System sitting next to me and not being very effective.
It would be a perfect evening other than that... oh, yes, and the "hooligans" (as we call them) that are next store. They're just outside and being noisy. Hopefully that won't be S.O.P. for the week.
Just nice being out here... Have I mentioned that yet? « hide the extended part of this entry
posted at 08:11 PM | Link | Travel § |
Saturday, July 17, 2004
Big Brother 5 - Episode 5 THEME
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Clip show - nothing earth shattering if you watch the live feeds. They are so screwed this week for food. Imagine one whole week of just: Milk, yogurt, sausage, bacon, and seafood. That's it. You're probably better off on PB&J.
Marvin nominated Lori & Holly for eviction. That may change with the POV. « hide the extended part of this entry
posted at 09:05 PM | Link | Reality TV § |
Friday, July 16, 2004
Nosey NeighborI've been intrigued the last few days, watching construction people across the street at a neighbor's house. Yesterday was removing and installing new roofing. Today, it's new gutters. Of course, the guy is out there yelling at the workers, as they take a tour around the house looking at the gutters. I've got no idea what's going on,but I'm trying to not be seen. There's always something going on over there, usually something happening inside so you really don't have a clue what's happening - you just see some large deliveries and guys going in in the morning and guys leaving in the evening.
Of course, I've got the issue where the guy refuses to park his car in his garage on in his driveway and has to park across the street in front of my house - just because there's one fugly looking couch sitting in the garage taking up space.
posted at 10:44 AM | Link | Mundane | 2 comments § |
Thursday, July 15, 2004
Big Brother 5 - Episode 4 THEME
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In a unanimous vote, Mike is the first person evicted from the Big Brother 5 house. After playing a Majority Rules game, Marvin becomes the new HOH.
Well, we now know the new twist: Yes, Adria has a twin Natalie. Since Day Two, they have been trading places inside the house, playing as one person - Adria. Their 4th trade was shown live during tonight's show. The twin outside the house is also sequestered from the outside world, but does not see what's happening in the house. The Twist? If no one finds out by Week 5, both twins can play the game as individuals at the same time, thus earning the twin the right to go after the money. « hide the extended part of this entry
posted at 08:05 PM | Link | Reality TV § |
Mmmffrrggy esccshhhhuuuuzzzzyyyyI woke up and went downstairs and started watching the Today show. The audio sucked. Like it was over modulated. No clarity. Fuzzy. So, I changed the station. All my local stations sounded like that. Went to the movie channels - same thing. OK, let me try my TiVo. Ditto. After a few more tests, I realize 1) it's not my ears (whew!) 2) it's not the TV, so 3) it's my 15 year old Sony receiver/amp. We had the thing fixed twice, both times because the right channel went out. It's time to throw in the towel.
I drove up to the Sony Outlet Store up at the mall in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, where I not only got a referb unit with warranty, but I got 6 new speakers for just $20. It's my first foray into Surround Sound with a sub-woofer.
My whole TV viewing experience has now been changed and everything I'm watching sounds foreign to me. I guess I got to get used to the wonderful sound...
posted at 03:12 PM | Link | Mundane § |
Wednesday, July 14, 2004
zzzzzzzz *snort*So, I was sitting on the couch watching something on TiVo when all of a sudden... it was an hour later.
I don't remember falling asleep, I sure the heck don't remember what I was watching.
I just don't know what happened.
posted at 01:20 PM | Link | Mundane § |
Tuesday, July 13, 2004
Big Brother 5 - Episode 3 THEME
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Nothing really new in the house. Mike and Jennifer are still nominated for eviction. Scott wins Power of Veto (POV) and leaves the nominations as they are.
I've been watching the live feeds on and off lately. I have to say that I'm loving this group of people. They actually talk about things, want to stay active instead of taking afternoon naps.
It sound like there was some twin swapping over the weekend - Adria accidentally referred to herself as Natalie, her sister's name. Then, a diligent live feed capturer over at TV Clubhouse actually got a screen grab of the two of them together in the Diary Room. So I guess it's safe to say that at least one set of twins have been playing in the house... Take a look at the pictures of them at their website, The Fitness Twins! « hide the extended part of this entry
posted at 08:05 PM | Link | Reality TV § |
Monday, July 12, 2004
Disco DemolitionExactly 25 years ago right now, The Chicago White Sox had to forfeit a game at old Comiskey Park
Local WLUP "shock jock" Steve Dahl along with partner Garry Meier had a promotion at old Comiskey Park: Show up for a Double Header with the Detroit Tigers and bring a Disco record and get in for $1. The record would be put into a pile and blown up in between games to signify the end of disco.
All hell broke lose after the event - fans rushed the field, tore up turf, even set fires in the upper deck.
Detroit manager Sparky Anderson protested field conditions and game was called-off and later forfeited by
WTTW is broadcasting a one-hour special commemorating the event right now. I guess you can get a DVD of the show by going here.
posted at 08:21 PM | Link | Baseball § |
Sunday, July 11, 2004
White Sox 4 - Mariners 3
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Wow, that was warm today (It's about time - it's mid July!) Well, so far I'm still not sure about the Freddy Garcia trade. I sure don't feel like he won the game today - he was just the pitcher of record when we took the lead. For today's 6 2/3 innings: 3 Earned Runs, 1 homerun, 1 walk but 7 strikeouts. And we had another great close today. For the third day in a row, it was "Shingo Time"! There were a lot of Japanese media types all over the place (probably due to Ichiro Suzuki playing today - he was off yesterday) and they were around Shingo during the autograph session before the game today. Hopefully they have good things to say about how nuts the place gets when you hear those gongs play and Takatsu comes out of the bullpen.
(Boxscore) « hide the extended part of this entry
posted at 09:38 PM | Link | White Sox § |
Saturday, July 10, 2004
White Sox 3 - Mariners 2
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I've got to say that we didn't think 37,405 would show up for this game. It was startling.
It was Matt Thornton's first major league start for the Mariners and for a while, it looked like he would give us some problems. Well, until the 5th when he walked 4 batters, forcing-in 2 runs. Mark Buehrle allowed two runs on nine hits in eight innings. Then in the 9th, the gong was sounded and in came Shingo Takatsu. They're really playing up his entrance now. There are signs of "It's Shingo Time!" and that incessant gong (which I'm not sure is appropriate for someone from Japan for some reason when I hear a gong I think Chinese). Anyway, the place goes absolutely nuts when he comes out and stays that way as he retires the side with ease. Boy, I like this guy.
Problem: Buehrle is known for his short games. The game lasted only 2:13, so at 8:20 the sky wasn't exactly dark enough for fireworks after the show. Let's just say it was uninspiring.
(Boxscore) « hide the extended part of this entry
posted at 10:27 PM | Link | White Sox | 1 comment § |
Friday, July 09, 2004
OK, I guess that really WAS shortOK, so it was under an hour and a half of work this morning and that project is over. All in all, a very easy project that I wouldn't mind doing again - I just wish I had more hours. (Total hours on the project - 6 3/4.)
Got home and Unemployment was calling. They had questions regarding my employment over the past year because there was a challenge filed saying I didn't work 30 days for my company... well, yeah, that was last month, but what about this past year? That should get corrected.
Time to relax and watch a little Bond on the telly.
posted at 11:16 AM | Link | Mundane § |
Thursday, July 08, 2004
Big Brother 5 - Episode 2 THEME
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Normally a Thursday live show, but it's all clips today since the houseguests have actually been in the house since the 30th of June. The houseguests won a Margarita building challenge to get their hottub unlocked. Yea. Project DNA unravels a little bit as Michael figures-out that Jennifer (aka Nokomis) is his half-sister, and proceeds to tell his posse before her tells her. It all goes down in a meeting that they call for the whole house in the living room, after which Big Brother calls the newly-found half siblings to the diary room to receive letters from their biological father, which they read to the house. It's interesting that there are people in the house that, even after the letters, don't believe the event at all.
In the first Nomination Ceremony of the season, HOH Jase nominates Mike and Jennifer. « hide the extended part of this entry
posted at 08:05 PM | Link | Reality TV § |
OK, it's not so short of a job...So, I'm back at my "short" project today. It's now the second day. The replacement printer actually showed up this morning. I set it up and this time it worked just fine. I had to repack the old printer to get Airborne to pick it up and return it.
Because of the nature of the business, I couldn't actually cutover the new printer until after the close of markets. I decided to go home for a couple of hours and come back and finish up. It took less than an hour and a half to hook-up the new printer, define the queses and push out the changes to the users.
I have to come back tomorrow to train people and how to use the printer. Let's face it - printing is not rocket science. That should take about an hour.
posted at 05:38 PM | Link | Work § |
Wednesday, July 07, 2004
A very short jobI started a very short job today. So short that it's only today and tomorrow. I'm in Crystal Lake at a branch office of a company representing a printer company that is swapping out all of the legacy printers. It's laid out so that you install the printer one day and train the users the next day. Well, I'm already behind - the new printer is giving an error (about closing its back door - which is closed, so there's a physical problem) so they're going to have to send out a service guy. I found out later that for this kind of error, they're going to just overnight ship a new printer to the branch, and I'll have to send the bad one back.
Maybe tomorrow will be better.
You have to ask - is this all worth it for such a short project?
posted at 11:16 AM | Link | Work § |
Tuesday, July 06, 2004
Big Brother 5 - Episode 1 THEME
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A new crop of hamsters are back in the house! I can't talk much about the show, because I haven't formed any opinions yet. Well, that's not true. Lori made a stupid move by taking $10,000 cash and forcing the house to eat peanut butter & jelly in the very first challenge. Bad move. Oh, and Holly? Ditzy! She should go soon so we don't have to listen to her... « hide the extended part of this entry
posted at 08:35 PM | Link | Reality TV § |
Monday, July 05, 2004
Sleep driving
The day was starting out a bit lazy. Decided to hang in the pool and try to work-out the cramp in my left calf and just work my left leg in general. Let's just say I was in long enough to get real pruney. The leg felt great as long as I didn't stand-up on it. I could move it around and kick and it was fine. If I stood - forget it, I was back to pain.
Diane & Melinda put together another great lunch and I sat down in the TV room afterward and just fell asleep.
He left pretty early because I had no feeling for how bad the traffic would be. I knew that if the traffic was bad, we'd have to stop quite a few time so that I could walk around for a while before getting back in the car. Well, it only took us about 1:40 to get Mom home and it took us about another 40 minutes. There was NO traffic to speak of. The only problem was me - I kept fighting this need to fall asleep.
The fact is - I actually did fall asleep for a second or two and it scared the hell out me. It was on the Kennedy in the express lanes. I zoned out as the road curved, causing me to make an unintended lane change. Carol slapped my arm and I was startled enough to complete the lane change as if I intended it. Thank God there wasn't a car in the lane. I was fine the rest of the way home. Go figure.
Love being up at Diane's house.
posted at 06:14 PM | Link | Mundane § |
Sunday, July 04, 2004
Lazy painSo, at 2:30 this morning, my left leg which has become numb, decides to throw me a cramp in my left calf. The ol' Charlie Horse at 2:30 in the morning. Carol get up and tries to get the cramp to stop while I'm trying not to scream. It felt like I didn't sleep all night long.
Well, here it s the fourth and we've got nothing really going on. The girls go out shopping while I stay home trying to sleep/recuperate. I feel like crap. I sleep on the couch while watching Ground Force America. Diane & Melinda spin-up another great meal and the day just passes on.
There's no "local amateur" fireworks in the neighborhood. The night is quiet...
posted at 10:12 PM | Link | Mundane § |
Saturday, July 03, 2004
Let's celebrateWell, as I was getting dressed, I realize that my entire left leg from above my butt to my toes is slightly numb. No tingly sensation, no pain, just everything feels simultaneously cold and hot and muted. Crap, I'm screwed-up.
There was NO traffic all the way to Diane's house. It only took us about 1:45 to get there.
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Our first stop of the day was to go to a craft fair in Lakeside, just down the road. It actually was a small but nice fair. I had a hell of a time there, though. Walking in the gravel, dirt, and uneven grass I was just all over the place. Every step was unsteady, hard to keep my balance. This sucked. After shopping it was off for burgers at Redamaks.
The afternoon was hanging around the house, playing in the pool. I brought with one of our DirecTV receivers. I wanted to plug into Diane's dish and see if her house in southwest Michigan is still within the spot-beam of the Chicago local stations, and it is. Carol & I are bring B&B up here to spend the week in about two weeks, so this is perfect - we'll be able to get all of our movie channels, sports, and local channels.
Diane & Melinda worked-up a pork roast (actually multiple with different marinades) for dinner. The food up there just tastes better. Go figure.
The fireworks were in Three Oaks tonight at 11pm local time (10pm Chicago time - up here you have to say Michigan Time for everything because a lot of the people are actually from Chicago, so they stay on Chicago time, like we do). Well, the Blues Fest was going on and it started to rain. People started to leave because the show just wasn't starting (also, because Blues Fest was still going and not stopping). Eventually, we had 20 minutes of good fireworks. Let's just say we were all taken aback by the display. I mean, we've seen it before, but this was different as they set up hundreds of feet closer to us than in the past, so we really felt that we were in the fireworks. « hide the extended part of this entry
posted at 11:10 PM | Link | Mundane § |
Up and *twitch* outI'm up a lot earlier than I wanted to be.
I sat down at the computer to check my email and RSS feeds and my legs are twitching.
This doesn't bode well for our little trip today.
posted at 05:10 AM | Link | Mundane § |
Friday, July 02, 2004
The need to get awayMy family is going up to my sister's house in Michigan for the holiday weekend. I always look forward to that - just to be able to do nothing (even though I've been doing a lot of that being unemployed). We were supposed to go up there tonight, but I've opted out of doing that for two reasons that are related. First (and primary) is that my leg twitching gets worse as the day progresses. Couple that with Friday night traffic that has the Holiday getaway factor added to it means we would be in traffic a God-awful time, and it would cause just way the hell too much discomfort. So we're going up tomorrow morning and hoping that traffic is lighter.
Now, the other issue is that my Mom refuses to do nothing when we're up there, so we're always on the move, whether it's shopping or just going some place to visit.
Hopefully, we'll have a nice balance of activity and down-time.
posted at 06:56 PM | Link | Mundane § |
Thursday, July 01, 2004
The Terminal
Carol and I went to the AMC South Barrington 30 to see The Terminal.
Well, I know that there's a lot of mixed reviews out there, but we really enjoyed this film. Though you may think of "Krakhozia on the Hudson", Spielberg and John Williams' music just gives it another notch of charm. And, yes, Carol & I got hit with a bit of sentimentality toward the end, but I still liked the movie. The set is unbelievable - who would have thought that the entire set was in a hangar in Palmdale and not a real airport terminal somewhere?
posted at 11:17 PM | Link | Movies § |
"I am Saddam Hussein, the president of Iraq."
Not that I'm surprised, but he doesn't get it...
posted at 10:46 AM | Link | Current Events § |
*nose wiggle*posted at 06:31 AM | Link | Memes | 1 comment § |
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That's it for the entries in this particular Archive of my blog. If you want, you can look through other entries by selecting the links in the right-hand column of this page under either Archives by Month or Archives by Category, or you can search the site for specific keywords by using the Search page.
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