Saturday, April 30, 2022

Adore

My listless self is still here. We are planning a long weekend somewhere - not that we yet know where. But even taking 2.5 days off of work will be a good thing for me, regardless of the emails that might pile up. 

But today is not a post about me, is it???   No.  No it is not. 

Sophie is not always the most ladylike.  That's ok. 

Shep loves when 710 rides in the back with him. He relaxes and cuddles. 

the BOSS!
Clearly commanding the floor at daycare.  No one fucks with this dude in the sweater!

Adoration. 
I think.  I'll take it. 

Soph makes it a bit more challenging for 710 to work from home. 
Neither one has a complaint about this "situation"

Background daycare chillin' shot. 

Sophie had to see the vet. 
She's remarkably adept to these visits, considering she's only see them like 5 times in almost 16 years. 



Song by: Prince

Friday, April 29, 2022

Out of Touch

......I'm out of time (time!). 

So sang Mr Oates and Mr. Hall. 


It's past 21:00 and I haven't contemplated a post. And now it's minutes from my bed time.  ....I mean, I'm up at 04:10 most morning. 

Nothing crafted. Nothing drafted.  Fear not - tomorrow is dogs and cats. All will be right with the world. 


Song by: Daryl Hall & John Oates

Thursday, April 28, 2022

Die Another Day

Oooh, I had my doctor's appointment yesterday. 

It wasn't bad. I mean, I'm not dying. Well, not actively. I suppose we're all dying! Right? 

My last two providers were older, so I outlasted them. They're not dead - as far as I know - but just retired. I have a better chance of dying or retiring before my new doc. And I probably have a better chance of dying than retiring.  I am of a certain age where I think about these things. 

The dozens of tests they ran all came back before my appointment. I insist on getting my testing done days in advance, so the actual visit is about that and not "what ifs". Of course, this leaves me fraught with any lab that come back "abnormal". 

Nothing was way out of whack, but we are repeating two tests: one blood; one pee.  The pee one is already done and it's slightly better than the first version, but still not where it should be. The blood one we will address in a few weeks. 

The one result I forgot address was my low HDL. It's always low no matter how much I exercise. Still, subconsciously, maybe I avoided it so it wouldn't put me on another medication. The rest of my lipid panel was A+.

The doc has a good bedside manner, so I'm fairly pleased with him. It was only my second time seeing him. Third, if you count when he was a Fellow and he saw me with my now-retired second doc. 

It was nice to be able to answer the question "have you fallen since the last time you've been here?", with a semi-resounding 'no'!.   Again - I am of a certain age. 

So, barring any unforeseen comets of busses, it seems I will live another day. 



Song by: Madonna

Wednesday, April 27, 2022

James

I basically have nothing. It's a weird week.  Not explanation - it just is. 

Like our old 'hood, the new one is part of the Hollywood scene. You might remember Captain America being filmed in our old enclave. Another film is in the works just four streets over. I haven't made my way there yet - nor probably will - but I passed a parking lot that had a lot of trailers and such housed there as some sort of staging area. 

Oh - the movie?  Drama?  Comedy?  Sci-Fi? 

Nah  A doc-u-like-pic of................wait for it........................wait for it...................the life of LeBron James. 

I. Shit. You. Not. 

I'm guessing this will be on Reelz or Starz.  

James grew up down near Akron - 35 miles from us. So, why they're filming here is beyond me. He attended a Catholic school down that way, so it only makes sense to use an Episcopal church as the stand in. 

The street on which they had been filming (before moving on to the church scenes) is extremely nice. I don't know what they were trying to portray there, but James, by all accounts, did not grow up in a house that would be of that caliber / calibre.  

So why not just film it where you grew up?  Don't get me wrong, if my town gets the tax dollars for the filming taking place, I mean, maybe it will help fix a road or two. 

That all said, James isn't even dead yet, let alone retired - so why is there movie (sorry - "movie") even in the works? 

I shan't be taking the time to watch this. 



Song by: the Bangles

Tuesday, April 26, 2022

Sensitive

Amen!

What little I used Twitter before just went to zero. I deleted my account. It's affecting single digits of people for sure and none of them tied to accounts that make money, but yeah, it's the principle of the thing. 

$44 BILLION (not $43 the meme says) to buy a medium that seemingly only links people to their Only Fans sites (what? that can't just be my feed, right?) 

I haven't done the math, but I'm thinking $44 BILLION (!!!!) might have kept every homeless and hungry person in the world housed, clothed and fed. 

Honestly, if he had spent just half that amount on Grimes' music, she might have one (singular) halfway (I'm being generous) listenable song. 

Robert Reich - g-d love him - hits the nail on the head. Twice. 




We are not the land of the free. In actuality, we never were, but it just seem so much more blatant now. 

I think Bezos had a buffer period with the Post. He got it before some truly right winged buyers could snag it and sing the praises of BLOTUS. But trust me, he has an agenda too, and reporting the "news" or investigating anything isn't happening. 

BTW - Reich also went on to tweet about how when he criticized Musk, he got blocked. It's only a matter of moments before he gets his account permanently banned. 

I do agree with the quasi-long running memes that we should be calling U.S. billionaires "oligarchs".  Of course, the problem with that is more than half the population won't get the Russian connotation or know what the word means, and the same more than half of the population can't pronounce the word. 

So in case you did miss it - and the story ran once and seemingly got squashed - Tesla is under investigation for it's California plant ostracizing black workers and being demeaned and segregated by the white ones - referring to parts of the cafeteria as 'monkey island'.   No one at the plant - with more than 45 complaints (and that was months ago) are doing a thing about it. 

No wonder they're relocating to Texas. I'd say that behaviour is accepted and encouraged there, but right now, the same can be said of California. 

So yes, now that you own a major communication (let's not call it news) source, you're going to direct the narrative as you see fit, and how it fits you. Black worker hating story, never to be seen again!



Oh - and you can start the countdown clock as to when BLOTUS gets his Twitter account back.  BTW, NONE of this is coincidental for the 2024 presidential run.  

None of it. 




Song by: Robbie Williams

Monday, April 25, 2022

My Music Monday

There is no theme for April. I'm going for "new" music. 

I have no idea if it is indeed new, or just new to me. And if new, how new it might be.  And I might be drunk-ish. Ask any of my friends on my Sunday Zoom call. 

YouTube will have you believe this is five days old.  Or five days news - depending on your point of view. Technically, by the time this posts, it will be six days old / new. 

I know nothing of the Fontaines D.C.  - and if you say otherwise, I'd call you a liar, but I have nothing of which to back that up.  Anyhoo - they have a song called "Roman Holiday" which I am featuring here. I only heard it yesterday - when I was not drunk-ish. 

I liked it enough to take a snap of my "radio" so I'd remember it. I haven't played it a second time (yet) to verify if I actually liked it. 

Live and learn.  


Sunday, April 24, 2022

Burnout

I realized late this last week, that I haven't had  / taken a day off since "new years", which technically "gave" that to us on December 31st of 2021, just due to the day on which January 1st fell. 

Honestly, we are almost done with the first third of 2022 and I have not taken one fucking day off. 

Not one. 

This explains my my overall malaise and being run down on my "time off", and why I think I'm being totally unfocused at work. 

I actually like my job and the folks with whom I work, but there are times lately where I just don't care or put forth my usual effort.  I don't think the not taking time off thing is a coincidence with the other stuff. 

The joke is - it's so hard to take time off due what you are forced to come back to in terms of emails and unfinished projects. I do love how my boss is living this right now.  He took off four days for a wedding and two days at a conference - not in a row.  One of my counterparts is gone and my boss is filling in while he hires. ....and he cannot keep up. 

I should my mention, my counterpart had about 75% less staff than I do. He had maybe 5-6 practice sites. Me?  28. I think my boss is figuring out my life better now, but it's of little comfort. 

Should 710 and I not find a long weekend - and soon - then I'm taking off 3-4 days just to do nothing. My problem is; if I'm at a staycation, I'll log in to work. That is the opposite of my goal. 

I think the gym has helped in terms of my mental health. And my physical stuff too. I am possibly going to weigh myself tomorrow, as it should put me at the 4 week mark of my getting back to the gym. I've only missed three days in that time.  Mondays are difficult for me, due to a 07:00 meeting I have, and for which I have to prep on the morning of. I could go after work, but I know I won't. And I'm sure the place has a very different vibe than the 05:00 time. 

I've been trying to do so much more self-care this year, but I'm failing in the biggest way, and the most obvious one as well. 

The irony is: I am such an advocate for me 220+ folks on not burning out, clearly I can't take my own advice. 


Song by:  Green Day

Saturday, April 23, 2022

Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most

It's that time of the year when it's 65 degrees on day and 1.5" of snow the next. 

That's not even an exaggeration if last week was an indicator. The coat you leave with in the morning is much to warm when you leave - yet you still need a coat. 

As it turns out - regardless of the weather, we are always out and about with our four-legged canine. It help keeps me at 10k steps or above per day. 

But ........let's get to why you came here. 

Our annual pilgrimage (it's like 0.7 mi from home) to Daffodil Hill. 
You'll remember Petey being there.  Shep got lots of ooohs and aaahs when I took pics. 

Calm & Collected. 

Adjacent neighbors decorate their ally entrance. 
I'm not an "Easter" guy, but it's nice they put the time and effort into it. and it's like it was put there so Shep could seasonally pose. 

Soph put her head on the back of my hand. 
I "had" to sit there for 40 minutes. No way was I going to move and miss this moment. 

You know Bailey is thinking:  "yeah, I know I am this cute!"

Ms. Relaxation. 

Attention Hog



Song by: Rickie Lee Jones

Friday, April 22, 2022

Hounds of Love

Yeah Yeah Yeah - Earth Day..........blah blah blah. 

More importantly, today would have been Petey's birthday. His 20th. 

I still think of him often. It's hard not to. His low-key attitude and his cuteness opened 710 up to having a dog, as he'd never had that experience. 

And it was a good number of years we had with him and when we no longer had him, 710 wanted another dog. 

Some point in our Petey-dom, I swore we'd never get another hound. Stubborn. Food driven. Stubborn. Slow when they want. Rebels. Flight risks. And of course, stubborn! And cute as fuck. 

As it turns out, we are hound guys. I'm not sure we'd get another breed, but who knows. 

The day we "lost" Petey, we ventured to a park we'd never been before. Now, we go to that park several times per month with Shep. The squirrels are not happy about this, but Shep loves it. 

I do love Shep to death, but Petey will always hold a special place in my heart. He wasn't as affectionate or interactive as Shep, but he was my heart. 

Earth Day indeed. Petey made Earth much better. 




Song by: Kate Bush

Thursday, April 21, 2022

Tired

 


I got nothing, but I thought you'd be "amused" by the above. 

Actually, I'm exhausted. 


Technically, it's not Covid booster related, but it kind of is. 


The after-shot went amazingly smooth. I really only got a sore arm. No known fever Not sweats (kind of). No malaise. Yet, I didn't sleep well. I kept waiting for that shoe to drop and how I'd feel bad. But that shoe never dropped, but I still didn't sleep while I waited. 

So I'm trying to make it until 21:00 before heading to bed. I don't think I'm gonna make it. 



Song by: LCD Soundsystems

Wednesday, April 20, 2022

Fourth Time Around

Fourth time is a charm ? 

It's been 7 months and four days since my last Covid booster, but hey, who's counting?   

Oh that's right - me!

Getting the booster was not easy. There doesn't seem to be the eminent threat of catastrophe if it doesn't happen like right now! And because of that, the availability and staffing just aren't there. 

You'd think working at a healthcare facility, they'd be giving them out like they did doses #1-3, yet this does not seem to be the case. Bother. 

So for the last two weeks I've been trying to get boosted. 

CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid. Allegedly Wal*Mart had them, but I just refuse to do that.  ....even if it means saving my own life, or someone close to me. 

Without a doubt, Rite Aid has the best scheduling site. By far.  CVS is ok at best. Walgreens SUCKED.  ....and I used to work from them.  Our grocery store chain that has in-store pharmacies takes walk-ins, so they claim, but I got turned away there because they were "too busy". 

Rite Aid is the place I eventually got scheduled, as they had times and days (eventually) that worked for my schedule and that actually had Moderna (eventually). 

Yesterday at I showed up for my 16:40 appointment at 16:30, only for them to take me at 16:50.  Bother!

It was quick. It was painless.  .....at least as I write this at 20:55. 

I took ibuprofen the second I got back into the car and I'll take it again right before bed time. 

Dose 1 had my arm aching, but that was it.  Dose 2 had me achy, and then fever / chills for about 4-6 hours and a headache the next day, but that was it.  Dose 3 was just like 1.  So, I expect arm ache from this last one.  710 got his last week and was lethargic for a few days afterwards. 

My idea is to power through tomorrow should I not feel great. But I can work from home if needed. If it happens to be like Dose 2, those symptoms came 12 hours after the shot, which means this would hit after I leave for the gym.  THAT, would be a bother. 

This makes four shots in 14.5 months. I'm not at all bothered by that. Say what you will, I didn't get Covid. But I also wear / wore masks most everywhere, didn't go out and do anything and washed my hands a fuck of a lot. 

So far. So good.  Let's hope it stays that way. 



Song by: Bob Dylan

Tuesday, April 19, 2022

Cooking with Blobby

More cooking................with me! 

My friend Jon is not wrong when he questioned / stated that all my posts on cooking lately have revolved (mostly) around Asian style dishes. 

I think (?) it's a coincidence, but on the other hand, Asian dishes are usually easy to put together. Hot mustard and honey glazed chicken was no exception. 

Not tons of ingredients and it's all on a single sheet pan. Yeah, two bowls for the sauce prep, but honestly, that's about it. 

Easy-Peasy-ish. 

Ingredients

  • ¼ cup hot Asian mustard powder (or English dry mustard, such as Colman’s) 
  • 6 tablespoons mild honey, such as clove or acacia 
  • 3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce 
  • ½ teaspoon grated garlic 
  •  Kosher salt (Diamond Crystal) and black pepper 
  • 1 pound carrots, peeled and quartered lengthwise 
  • 1 pound fingerling potatoes, sliced ½-inch thick 
  • ¼ cup neutral oil, such as safflower or canola 
  • 6 chicken legs (about 3½ pounds), drumsticks and thighs separated 
  •  Chopped scallions or chives, for garnish 
  •  Lemon wedges, for serving

I'm not big on legs, so I just did three lbs of thighs. And none of these recipes say skin-on or off, so I went bone-in, skin-on I figure it'd have more flavour.  This true and false at the same time. 

I also used the Colman's, as we had it; and I couldn't find the Asian mustard at the store. And I had the lemon and forgot to use it.   Ooops. 


Heat oven to 425 degrees. In a large heatproof bowl, whisk mustard powder with ¼ cup very hot water until well combined; let stand 5 minutes. (The heat of the water will activate and release the mustard’s spicy flavor.) 


Add honey, soy sauce, garlic and 1 teaspoon salt, and whisk to combine. Reserve half of the sauce in a small bowl for basting.



Season the chicken with salt and pepa!  No Spindarella. 


On a rimmed sheet tray, combine carrots, potatoes and 2 tablespoons of the oil. Season with salt and pepper, toss to evenly coat, and spread in an even layer


Rub chicken with the remaining 2 tablespoons oil and season with 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon black pepper. Add to the large bowl with the sauce and toss to evenly coat........


......then arrange on top of the vegetables.



Roast until vegetables are tender and chicken is golden and cooked through, about 30 minutes. Divide chicken and vegetables among plates and baste chicken all over with the remaining sauce. Pour sheet pan juices into a small bowl and skim off any excess fat.


  1. Spoon over pan juices, garnish with scallions and serve with lemon wedges.
So, this worked and it didn't.  Easy to make, and it had decent flavour, but not what I was expecting. The hot mustard flavour was a bit muted. I think that's because of the skin. I don't really eat chicken skin per se, but that is where sauce ended up, not on or in the actual chicken. 

I think this would be helped with either going skinless or marinating the chicken for 30-60 minutes to let it absorb. 

Left overs were good and the cause that you fat-separate the next day seem to be full of mustard. I might try again, but probably won't rush to do it. 

Monday, April 18, 2022

My Music Monday

Randomness is the name of the game this month. I'm dealing with it, so should you. 

I'm going with the Motels song "Mission of Mercy", which was the b-side of either "Only the Lonely" or "Take the 'L' , their two biggest hits. 

As "Mission" was the opening track of that disk, I found it odd that it was relegated to a b-side. I also found it far more interesting song.  

Each time I'd end up at Char Bar, which is a bar in Columbus, but back in the day it was located on campus (well across the street) not its current location near downtown.  Well, I'd play this song and the Heartbreaker's "Change of Heart".  

Fun fact #1:  Martha Davis, lead singer of the Motels had the original vocal on "Take My Breath Away" which was made famous when they replaced her with Teri Nunn of Berlin.  Berlin has the name on the single, but I don't think they actually played a note, as the "Motels" version sounds note for note the same. It was all Georgio Moroder. 

Fun fact #2: the Motels shared rehearsal space with the Go-Go's when they were up and coming bands. The latter band was envious of how much more professional the former was and that they had better equipment.  


Sunday, April 17, 2022

Black and White

"Did you see that?", asked 710

Whatever it was, I did not, as I had my eyes on the road. 

"Someone has a full blown picture of Jack White in their window!"

I pause - not only for affect, but for my follow-up response / question. 

"How in the hell do you know who Jack White is?"

While I do not get a snort of derision, it is more than implied. 

I'm 99% sure 710 has never listened, let along all the way through, to a song by the White Stripes or the Raconteurs. I know White has / had other bands as well, but for all the tea in China, I couldn't name one of them. 

Mind you, I'm thinking all of this in my head, but not aloud. Had I, we could have cleared things up a lot sooner. Still 710 said, when we go back home, we can pass by the house again. 

....and you know I did / and was going to.  And I did. 

710 goes, "see...........Jack Black".   This time he was correct. SO close!

I filled him in on who Jack White is. He got my confusion. 


Though none of this explains why someone has a blown-up image of Jack Black in their downstairs front window!



Song by: Three Dog Night

Saturday, April 16, 2022

On With the Show

Sorry cat lovers - this is not a Sophie heavy week. Oh sure, she makes her appearance, but today is skewing a little Shep heavy, and actually he has some other pics I didn't use (yet) for this post. Yes, I have a stockpile of Shep images to use as needed. Sophie is more elusive in certain ways. 

On with the show...........

Not raspberries - just pic post daycare / mid-make out session in the car. 

the Queen. 

Look who figured out how to put down his window!
THIS is going to be a problem. But I have window locks. 

Bailey home from her boarding session, where she probably only made 2-3 dozen new friends. 

All knowing. All knowledge. 

Birthday treat. 

Semi-nearby neighbor, Stella, a one-year old bassett house, provided birthday treats at daycare. Shep got one on the way out. I suppose this means on his b-day, we'll have to make something for everyone in his "class". 


Song by: Lindsey Buckingham & Christine McVie

Friday, April 15, 2022

the Hardest Button to Button

I just promised I wouldn't write about the gym - and yet here I am. 

Kind of. 

I'm still getting back into the swing of how to go the gym. It takes planning and prep and a routine. Not the lifting / cardio kind either. 

No, I'm talking about: the gym bag, the locker, the system one has down and all of that. 

Locker placement is crucial, but I think I have mine down. I mean, it's 05:00. I can count on one hand how many people are there at this time. And one guy carries his gym back from station to station. 

But twice in three weeks, I have forgotten a belt. Bother. 

Still, I thought - yes, that problematic part of my life......thought - I could make it through the day without one. It would look weird. It would feel weird, but it was manageable. 

........until it wasn't. 

Unfortunately, the pair of pants I had selected for my work trousers (oh yes, I said 'trousers') had a loose button. I'd been playing with fire - or like when you think you can make it another 20 miles on E.  Surely I could wear these again without fixing said button. 

Let it be known, I don't know how I'd fix them, as I was never taught to sew or mend. It's more likely I'd guy a new $50 pair of pants then take them somewhere to fix them for $3.  Yes, I'm cheap, but more importantly, I can be incredibly lazy. 

As luck would have it - mine wore out this day of no belt. 

Yes, in theory the pants still latched, but the extender piece (clearly, I have no actual names for these pants parts) would stick out, as I could not button it. And there was no time to go home, get new clothes and change before an a.m. meeting. 

Bother indeed. 

Yes, as you can see from the title image, I was, let's say, creative.  I McGuyver'd the hell out of my outfit., thanks to one binder clip. 

If anyone noticed (though I don't leave my office much), no one said a word. It could have been an amusing anecdote, but in realty they probably just thought I was a perv. 

They might not have been wrong. 


Song by: the White Stripes

Thursday, April 14, 2022

the Comet Song

Yeah yeah yeah - the Jim Webb telescope is almost up and running, but clearly, do not count the Hubble out yet. 

The Hubble confirmed the largest icy comet nucleus ever seen by scientists.

The nucleus of comet C/2014 UN271 (Bernardinelli-Bernstein - and really, isn't saying C/2014 UN271 just as easy and spouting off Bernardinelli-Bernstein)?) is about 80 miles in diameter, which is larger than the state of Rhode Island. The mass of the nucleus is 500 trillion tons. That alone sounds like an SAT math problem, one I'm not willing to try to solve, but safe to say my TI-35 doesn't have that many digits anyhow and I'm not calculating it long-hand 

The comet - as it shall be referred in the rest of this post - was discovered in 2010 (though with its name, you'd think it was 2014) 3 billion (with a b) miles from the sun. It's gonna come 1 billion miles from us at it's closest in 2031 -- but I think we'll survive that near impact. 

Actually, the Webb and the Hubble will be looking at different things throughout space, so while everyone is quick to compare them, all things are equal. 

I love we are discovering this shit. And by "we", I mean "they".  I like when science disputes the universe has been around longer than 6,000 years. 



Song by: Björk

Wednesday, April 13, 2022

12 of 12

So I'm doing my 144th 12 of 12.

Normally it is 12 pictures taken on the 12th of the month. Since I only post once per day, you get my images the following day. All pictures taken with my iPhone. Click images to enlarge, if you choose.

Created by Chad Darnell and picked up from, what I can tell, any number of random bloggers who then link back to him and vice versa. Chad is no longer doing this, nor is successor coordinating the linking of other 12 of 12'ers anymore. Erik is back and I think he's picking up 12 of 12 again.  

04:21.  Yes. I was awake. ....at least for 12 minutes before I remembered to start 12 of 12
This is what happens when there is low/no light and you move your hand when you take a pic at 04:21. 

04:41.  Some days I just struggle with this game. 


04:54.  Technically, I saw the pangram first - and usually I put it in first - but I couldn't help the shameless self-promotion. 

05:31.  Gym time. 

Save 710, I have told no one I started back up at the gym. A different gym. I am there by 05:15 most every morning. I start with cardio - and usually that means a 20-30 minute run on the treadmill. 

I joined almost three weeks ago. I hate the idea of running, before and afterward, but oddly this time out, I have been enjoying the during. Honestly, it all comes down to the music to get me to move though.  My plan is not to bore you all with tales of the gym. Especially if I don't lose weight. 


06:39.  Iced tea. No sugar; no water (meaning, no extra watering it down water)

08:40.  Pro Forma time. 
Looking to hire a doc and need to make sure it makes financial sense. 

12:19.  Lunch. 
Gym also includes me packing lunches most days and trying cut down on sugar. Trying! And cut down, not out. I'm realistic here. 

Hot mustard chicken thighs with carrots and fingerling po-tay-toes.  Yeah, you have a Cooking with Blobby segment coming your ways soon. 

It looks like a lot, but the thighs photograph bigger than they were. And there wasn't tons of meat. 

14:16.  Eye Appointment. 

This post-it has been on my monitor for far longer than I care to admit (August 2021). I finally made the appointment today......for end of May, which was the earliest they had.  I got to toss the post-it away!!

17:25.  Pop up pup. 

He amuses the other people coming to pick up their dogs. The lady blocked the 6 other jumps. 



17:44.  Dog Food Delivery. 
36 lbs of it. 

18:16.   Thin!

I wish I were that thin, but I'm not. What dog goes to daycare for 10 hours and then gets a 1.5 mile walk?

19:02.  Soph. 
Can't have 1.5 of Shep and nothing of Sophie. 


This concludes this month's 12 of 12