Redlining Another Addiction

This whole self-improvement thing started with the keto diet maybe getting out of hand. I caught a news report the other day that says a study of people who consume a lot of diet soda leads to tooth decay because of the acidic content of the diet soda – yikes!

The study said this only applies to people who consume mass quantities of diet soda daily – double yikes!!  I’ve never had a cup of coffee but I drink enough diet coke to float a fairly large boat each day for my caffeine requirements.  I would normally dismiss such a medical study out of hand, awaiting the Coca Cola company financed study refuting such questionable medicine but this caught my attention.

Since I’m in the old self improvement zone I’ve decided to cut way back on my diet coke habit.  I was worried once that I was addicted to diet coke so I quit drinking it for six months and felt no ill effects.  It will be interesting to see how my body reacts to this on top of the keto diet. 

Last night was the first day I felt really tired from the diet.  Maybe my body is running low on fat to consume but I got home and had no energy whatsoever.  Of course it could have been my late Wednesday night with the thunderstorm stricken Pendejo Buddy or the 90 degree weather and 100% humidity (New England weather strikes again).  Instead of spreading mulch I went into couch potato mode and saw a very entertaining Red Sox win.

Yesterday I finished another David Drake book, Redliners.  This was one of the best military science fiction books I’ve ever read.  The action is visceral and never lets up.  You can see Drake’s own military service screaming off the pages as he obviously knows Soldiers and there are some timeless themes to military service.  The story revolved around a crack infantry unit that is badly mauled on a failed mission and then considered for retirement because of the effects of that mission.  Instead they are sent to recover their humanity by protecting a bunch of colonists as they are dispatched to a planet where every plant and animal is a deadly threat.

Interspaced amongst the relentless battles Drake weaves the stories of individual Soldiers recapturing their humanity by seeing the gratitude of the civilians they are called to protect. Likewise the civilians learn to appreciate the sacrifices made on their behalf by the Soldiers.  Since this has been a theme in my own life on a much, much smaller level since I retired from the Army this book really spoke to me. 

Dueling Psychos

Mother and Son Yesterday - Now We see Where He Gets His Eyes Closed Approach From

Yesterday, being Wednesday, meant lunch with the newly engaged son.  As a treat, we were joined by his mother who made her belated way to my office so we could join our son for the weekly ritual.  The conversation related almost exclusively about the upcoming nuptials which the engineer son is already trying to reduce to a spread sheet.  Luckily the MEF will handle the important, creative details.  It was cool to see him still percolating with an extremely happy vibe after finally popping the question.  I am so happy for those two and their future.

The Final Shock Straining Load

When I got home from work I finally drove a stake through the heart of the garden project.  Trying to beat the latest series of thunderstorms I raided Home Depot for a healthy stock of capstones and the final wall stones needed.  An elderly guy watched me leave the store dragging a fully laden cart.  He later came over to say he never thought I would be able to get the entire load in the car without breaking a shock or two.  I amazed both of us by getting home shocks intact.

Buddy Maintaining Security While We Worked
Literally the Calm Before the Storm

Buddy maintained overwatch while I finished the garden wall.  My wife was planting the last of her flowers while simultaneously carrying on several phone conversations, luckily the garden is within range of the house phone.  Buddy nervously glanced at the horizon where the storms were forming up.  I even got the garden covered in mulch before we all headed in just ahead of the first rain drops.  So the garden is officially done!

Wife Multi-Tasking, Gardening While Talking on Phone

The Finished Garden

Since the Red Sox decided to stop hitting again I popped in a movie about Hitchcock and his film Psycho.  When the storms arrived I was dealing with a psycho of my own as Buddy just lost it.  He seems to be getting worse about storms as he gets older.  We’ve tried everything and even have a “thundershirt” en-route courtesy of the joint recommendation of son in law and underappreciated older sister.

We can’t leave Buddy in his cage with the music blaring anymore because he tries to gnaw his way out of the cage, potentially injuring himself.  If we let him run free he tries to burrow into beds upstairs or behind the furnace – neither of them viable options. I’ve taken to putting him on a leash and turning up the television volume.

Buddy Waiting Out the Storm

Unfortunately last night the storms were particularly ferocious and the lightning flashes very visible in our many windowed family room.  Buddy finally “lost it” and tried to burrow underneath the couch, to the point he forced the sectional apart.  I had to tie him up to the basement stairs where he couldn’t see the flashes and could do minimal damage.

When he finally realized he couldn’t burrow through the floor.  He settled for getting his head and shoulders underneath the stairs and listened to the latest in modern jazz blaring at high volume.  It was an entertaining evening (not).  I stayed up until the storms passed around midnight and then ushered him outside so he could see it was over and then we both went to bed.  The thundershirt cannot arrive soon enough.

As Far As He Could Get Under the Stairs

 

Not So Furious Opening

Yesterday was the big ceremony to mark the opening of the new bus hub in Worcester.  It was the first time the boss could gather enough politicians together to mark this momentous occasion.  I got to work at my normal time and received a call from my boss (the good one) saying the overall boss was panicking and wanted everybody down at the site even though the ceremony wasn’t going to be for another two hours. 

The New Bus Hub - Photo From Same Spot as Last Year's Groundbreaking Ceremony

I made my obligatory way down there and proceeded to do absolutely nothing for the next two hours.  It did not put me in a great frame of mind for the ceremony because there was a lot of work back at the office, if they want actual buses to show up as scheduled, that wasn’t getting done because I was needlessly down there proverbially holding a nervous Nelly’s hand. 

I had a great seat picked out in the back where I could sneak out and get back work once the ceremony started.  As the politicians were massing for their assault on our consciousness level one of the protocol ladies came up to me and said there was a reserved seat for me right in the middle of the front row – trapped! 

View From My Seat - No Escape
Everyone of These Guys Made a Speech

The dignitaries were seated in front of us and barely fit in the width of the platform.  I was thinking there as no way that all of them were gong to give speeches until I looked at the program when the true horror was revealed.  All were being allowed to speak in a program emceed by the big boss.  He started out with a fifteen minute speech heaping praise on himself and the assembled politicos.  He then gave a three-four minute introduction to each of the succeeding speakers – I’m talking pain here – extreme, unmitigated pain.

I amused myself by watching the antics of a large young lady who had mistakenly pulled into the site and then had her car die on her directly next to the speaker’s platform.  Every five minutes or so she would crank her engine trying to get it started and failing each time.  Eventually someone showed up to give her a jump start and I was robbed of even that entertainment as they drove off. 

Ribbon Cutting

Eventually the speeches wore down and the politicos moved to cut the ceremonial ribbon.  My mind had been ground down in the barrage of self-congratulatory prose inflicted over the one hour and forty five minutes I sat there.  My boss was less sanguine and very upset that the big boss never mentioned him or me in his speech as he thanked seemingly everybody (as well as their second and third cousins).  I took the position that adding our names would have made the speech even longer and that would have been a bad thing – he was still very pissed.  I offered one of my favorite mantras – “Non Corribundum illigitimae!” (Don’t let the bastards get you down). 

F&F6 - See What I Mean?

Last night, being date night, offered a movie instead of watching the Sox get dominated by a very good pitcher (unfortunately for the birthday boy in attendance).  We went to see Fast & Furious 6 because there were so many unanswered questions from the first five.  I really liked the 5^th installment but this one definitely “jumped the shark” in terms of ridiculousness.  There was the usual banter between the entertaining characters but there were at least five or six times where the audience just groaned at the sheer impossibility of what they were seeing.(see above photo)  One of the appeals of this series has been incredibly dangerous but believable stunts.  That all went out the window in this one as the director apparently fell in love with what the CGI world would let him do.  A clear miss.

I forgot to mention a couple days ago that I did the first of my weekly weigh-ins since I started the keto diet.  I wasn’t expecting too much but I lost nine pounds in the first week.  I was a little stunned because this doesn’t feel like a diet at all – color me psyched.  I even had to pull the belt a notch tighter to hold my pants up this morning, progress.

Brother Recog and Musical Flowers

My Brother and I at a Recent Christmas

Before I chronicle the absolute blast I had yesterday I would be completely remiss if I didn’t take the time to recognize one of the most important people in my life.  Today is my brother in law’s birthday and he’s just about as special as they come.

I grew up with three sisters and no brother and being the only one with the different chromosome was an issue at times.  I secretly longed for brother all those years growing up.  I had a number of surrogate brothers in the friends I made then and still have through all these years – but I still wanted a real brother.

Those dreams were realized when I stepped off a plane from Germany in 1979 and met my sister’s new boyfriend.  I was concerned at the time about assassination squads from a recent ex-fiancé but forgot all that as soon as I met my new brother.  From the moment we met it was almost as if we shared a brain – of course that was bad news for my sister who was the good natured target of our brotherly humor. 

My Brother with his Wife
Long Suffering Target of Brotherly Humor

He is one of the finest people I know and can also tell you off the top of his head the result of any Red Sox game played in the last forty years.   He cares deeply and passionately about family and I know if I ever needed anything he would be there for me.  He certainly has in all the years I have known him.  My kids gravitated towards him from their earliest age – always the fun uncle – if a little silly at times – just ask Philosophus.

My Kids With Their Favorite Uncle

If you asked me to choose one of the things that makes me most happy in life I would tell you – sitting around a table with my brother in law (he with his wine and me with a beer) and family - just enjoying each other’s company.  It’s as easy now as it was on that first car ride in from Logan Airport in 1979 with “that guy!” – I love you brother.

Officiating Kielbasa Consumption with my Son and Son in Law

With my Daughter in the Early 1980's

Talking With Him at His Wedding

A Recent Football Get Together

Surrounded by my Daughter and Son in Law

His Son's Christening Along with My Late Mom and Sister

Sharing an Adult Beverage Prior to Hockey Game with His Bro in Law

What He Does Best - Love My Sister
Even More Important than his Brotherly Responsibilities

On the decidedly more mundane level I spent the entire day yesterday out in the yard with my wife playing musical plants as she decided which flowers needed to be moved into the new garden.  My Keene Friend wisely escaped early in the morning which sent Buddy into a deep depression when he realized there would be no early morning walk. 



Buddy Trying to be Patriotic on Memorial Day but Missing his Designated Walker

My wife saw how “easily” I moved a couple of the really large flowers she had in mind and this whetted her appetite for much bigger things.  I was soon moving plants to the neighbors’ house, from one side of the garden to another and being carefully instructed on how to dig holes based on her vast experience.  Actually it was a lot of fun as I could see her getting excited about the new garden.

My Wife (on right - she's going to kill me) Transplanting Some of Her
Extra Flowers in Neighbors Garden - See Tractor Trailer for Size of Next

After several fun hours of this I had to attack the lawn which had reached jungle status again with all the rain we had received.  I was periodically called off the tractor to move more plants and assist with some garden expansion plans (it never ends).  I finished up the lawn just in time to head inside to watch the Red Sox.

New Garden Filling Up

Wile we were watching the Sox we got a call from our son and the MEF and her most excellent parents ( must be where she got that quality from).  You could hear over the phone how deliriously happy everybody was with the engagement news.  We received our first wedding planning guidance and my wife made her obligatory but doomed suggestion to have the wedding in Panama. 

Downhill Construction - 2d Floor Walls Are Up

Cold Hangover

Yesterday I was still coming down from the absolute high of learning about the engagement of my favorite son.  I still smile every time I think about it and them.

That helped a little bit in dealing with the task at hand – filling the garden I had just created for my wife.  Luckily I had my new (actually reconfirmed) hero – the Keene Friend, to help me with the task.   We attended church service which, due to Memorial Day, concluded with the Battle Hymn of the Republic – which apparently my Keene Friend has been waiting years for.  It was stirring and the entire church rose and put their hands over their hearts – brought tears to my eyes.  

It would be inappropriate to let this day pass without comment as to the sacrifice of so many that the rest of us can enjoy life.  You only need look at the daily news to know that without that sacrifice evil stands ever ready to challenge that freedom. Thank you to those gallant wolves who kept evil at bay.

Buddy Protecting Us from the Delivery Truck

I arranged for the delivery of huge piles of dirt, compost, and mulch.  Buddy went into paroxysms of raging protection during each delivery which was fairly entertaining.  My Keene Friend and I started out by stripping off the turf in the unseasonably cold weather which was complimented by fairly regular rain showers.  This was not fun and it was so good having the stalwart help of my Keene Friend.  Otherwise I would still be out there shoveling. 

Stripping the Turf Off

Turf Stripped

The Two Piles on the Left Had to Moved Behind the Wall

My Wife Helping - Prepared for the Elements

Finished - Sun Comes Out As We Finished

We took several breaks which usually resulted in snacks provided by the wife and checking in on a Red Sox game that seemed to be going exactly the wrong way.  We gave up on that and returned to our shovels.  After the turf we started transferring the dirt behind the new wall.  When we reached the appropriate height we summoned the wife outside to help.  The final level would require mixing the compost with the dirt as it was shoveled into the garden.  My wife came out dressed like Nanook of the North – she doesn’t handle cold well.  The neighbor was so impressed with her outfit that she came over to discuss it with her.  Buddy apparently found something he liked in the compost pile and kept trying to steal in and eat something only to be chased off by the work crew.  My wife turned out to be a great worker and by the time we had everything behind the wall she had it looking great. 

I’m very proud of how it came out.  It took a lot of work and it’s not finished yet as I now have plants to put in – my wife has that on the schedule for today.  I’m also going to add a few more stones to the downhill side and finally the capstones and mulch.  The hardest stuff is behind me now and I have to thank the Keene Friend for spending one of his rare days off helping me with the back breaking part of the work.

My Wife's Flowers Take Over the Family Room

We came into the house mud spattered and exhausted.  First we had to move all my wife's flowers in form the deck since it would be so cold overnight.  I glanced at the television and noticed that against all odds the Red Sox had rallied to win!  Thanks to the DVR I was able to rewind the TV which brought us back to the bottom of the ninth and the stirring win with the clutch hit by a player – Ellsbury, which I’ve been incredibly critical of.  That was pretty cool.

We rewarded ourselves for all the work with a movie last night.  We went to see Hangover 3 which was pretty entertaining.  There wasn’t a lot of room direction wise for this franchise to go.  It was a lot darker that the previous two but it wasn’t the normal rehash of the same plot of first two.  It was an appropriate send off for the boys as they literally walk off into the sunset before the franchise got too stale.

On Saturday I finished reading The Great Gatsby again.  I hadn’t read it since high school when I read it under the normal teenaged protest of being forced to read something simply because the teachers thought it was great.  After seeing the movie I felt a weird need to re-connect with the book.  As soon as I started, my first thought was, my God the teachers were right.  Fitzgerald’s prose really is on another level, descriptively, than most other writers.  I found myself immersed in his world almost immediately and just marveling at his ability to write.  I read so much popular pulp fiction writers that when I am exposed to a master – such as Fitzgerald – I am left in awe.   Youth really is wasted on the young – I can’t believe I didn’t appreciate this book more when I was sixteen.

Sisterly Wisdom Dispensed

EDITOR’S NOTE:  It has been brought to my attention by the offended party that she (my sister) first told me about the Thundershirt over a year ago.  I was waxing eloquently last week on this blog about my son in law pointing out this device to help Buddy with his terror of thunderstorms.  Apparently my sister felt slighted that I didn’t remember or give her appropriate credit for first suggesting this to me.  I asked if I had been drinking when she suggested this and she admitted that I was.  My incredulity level rises along with my blood alcohol content so I can see myself dismissing a suggestion of clothing my dog in shirt for thunderstorms.  Since she doesn’t lie I believe she did make the suggestion and that I summarily dismissed it at the time.  I throw myself on her benevolent mercy for this atrocious beer induced failure to recognize her brilliance.  J

M.E.G. Becomes M.E.F.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yesterday was such a rainy, cold dreary day that I didn’t think anything could lift my spirits.  How wrong I was!  While we were eating dinner late last night my son called to reveal he was now an engaged man.  He popped the question to the Most Excellent Girlfriend during their romantic getaway into the White Mountains.  She will henceforth be known as he Most Excellent Fiancé (M.E.F.) until she reaches permanent status as Daughter in Law!!!

Two Very Happy People

My wife and I could not be any happier that our son met this remarkable young lady.  They been so obviously in love since they first met and we fell in love with her the moment we met her – she’s that kind of gal.  You worry that your children will meet their soul mates and then that they’ll be smart enough to marry them.  Well, the MEF means that my kids are two for two.

I was so happy for the two of them last night.  You could sense over the phone just how deliriously happy the two of them were also.  It’s rare that I’m at a loss for words but just thinking about this makes me so fundamentally content that is beyond words.

My son planned on proposing while climbing a mountain – something they both enjoy.  Unfortunately his plans were interrupted by the reappearance of winter in May but according to the MEF he found a way to ask the question in a vey romantic way at the Bed and Breakfast they were staying at.  Again, so, very, very, very, very happy.

Before this landmark news arrived we spent most of the day safely encased in the house watching Boston sports team excel.  The Red Sox came from behind late in the game to win over former boss Francona. 

In other news to beat back the rainy day doldrums my Keene Friend emerged from the mists to spend the rest of the weekend with us just in time to watch a stirring Bruins win to eliminate the Rangers.  His new job has consumed his weekends at a devastating pace so having him around will be a real treat – especially Buddy who quickly reestablished his bond with his long missing friend.  I’m guessing a walk is in line for tomorrow morning.

Buddy Attaching Himself to Long Lost Friend

The game went on until after 8pm so we got a very late start on dinner.  We went to Bob’s Steak House which I wrote about several months ago when my sister and bro in law took me there.  It was almost deserted but the food was uniformly great again and the company, well you know – even better.  It was here while we were ordering the food that we received the phone call from my son so this place will now have that extraordinary memory attached to it.

Dinner at Bob's

Earlier in the day I received a surprise package from my son in law.  He’s read the blog where I was bemoaning the lack of chocolate cake on the new diet.  Since he is my sensei on all things keto related he took matters into his own hand and sent me a keto-friendly box of chocolate brownie bars.  Like I said, my kids went two for two.

Manna!

Worcesterized Again

Well the rain held off yesterday during the afternoon hours I got to spend with the sterling people of Worcester.  Since the big change to the hub is coming in a week all of the company management and some of the union leadership spent the day down at City Hall Plaza handing out schedules and explaining the upcoming changes. 

Our Set up Yesterday at City Hall - Contending with Construction Also Going On

We do this whenever some big change is occurring and it gives us a chance to meet some of the more exotic fauna of the great city of Worcester.  I was explaining the changes to a lady who kept repeating that she lived in a homeless center.  Our HR director, who really doesn’t interact with our customers very often, piped in that the schedules are available on line.  The lady threw the schedules down and stormed off loudly proclaiming that some people couldn’t afford internet access.  The HR director was aghast as I laughed off the inappropriate response. The HR director’s adventures were not over yet as one of the intellectually challenged denizens of the area latched on to her and wouldn’t leave.  Finally a large co-worker stepped between them and asked he guy what he wanted.  This put him off his game long enough for the HR director to escape. 

Looking from the Other Side
The CAnopy Almost Blew Away Later and We Were Talking to People
While Hanging on the Rafters So It Wouldn't

95% of the people we met yesterday were awesome, just interested in the changes and very appreciative of our efforts.  The other 5%, well, they were another story.  We were invading their turf and made for stationary targets.  I met a well bearded older gentleman who claimed to have served 25 years in the air force until he was forced out in 1982.  He said he was a company commander when one of his troops “knocked up the general’s daughter”.  The general took it out on him and forced him out and blocked his retirement benefits.  I told him this sounded highly illegal and that he should get some assistance from a number of sources.  He said the general was still on active duty and blocking him.  I did some quick math and said a general in 1982 was probably retired.  He claimed the guy was 100 years old and still on active duty.  At that point I knew I was dealing with someone lost in his own fantasies.  I told him I was also a military retiree and I could see the light go out in his eyes when he realized he had been caught in his own web of lies.  Yes – these are our customers.

Back at the office, my wife’s attempt to feed me with the green bean dish of my youth was a disaster of biblical proportions.  I put the first spoonful in my mouth and immediately experienced the intense gagging reaction that I remembered when my mother forced me to eat them.  With my mother this usually led to a long night sitting at the kitchen table trying to convince the family dog to help me out.  There will be no more green beans on the menu for me.

No Mas!!!

The rains started up as soon as I headed home for our Zorbaless Friday night.  To compound the pain my wife couldn’t find the whey so there would be no pizza. She calmed my panic with a large steak – so not so bad.  I did miss the fabulous ladies of Zorba’s though.

I tried to repeat my dodging of rain showers to build the wall but came back with my latest load of stone to find a heavy rain falling.  I waited it out and finally put the last row of stone on as the sun was setting.  So the wall is finished, well except for the one stone I came up short but that is just placing it on top when I put the cap stones on.  Now all that remains is filling it in with dirt after I strip off the grass, if the rain would just stop, I could get going.

The Wall is Up!!

We’ve got a three day weekend ahead of us but half of it will be spent inside due to the weather.  There is even snow forecast for tonight – that’s right – SNOW!!!!!  But only in elevated areas of Worcester County – yep – that’s us.  I feel worse for my son who chose this weekend for a romantic getaway with the MEG – to the White Mountains of New Hampshire where they might even get some accumulation of snow.