Stay On Target...Stay On Target...

...Lock X-foils in attack position...

"What did you do today?" I asked my dumbstruck looking father as he sank into the misshapen cushions on Maggie's couch.

Shell-shocked was another word that came to mind about the poor fellow. My compadre...  My father... My father and I have come a long way these past few years. Much of our strides have come lately as well.

"Well, I managed to fill almost 290 prescriptions today," he replied. "Do I seem a little tired and ill? I am just ready to get home and get in my pajamas. I mean no harm."

"We also had a female customer say we shorted her on her Oxycontin pain pills to no avail before closing. We count pain pills and class scheduled drugs three times before putting them in the bottle and filling the prescription. I count them and the two pharmacy techs count them so we know there are no discrepancy's."

"What do you do in turn?" my father asked me.

"I spent many, many hours troubleshooting a troublesome computer today," I said exhausted sounding. "I thought I would never get things running kosher. It turned out to be the motherboard and by some miracle I had the same exact motherboard as the broken one on my computer room shelves."

Johnny Otis Returns to the Fray...

There were many pleasantries to be had at the return of our esteemed patriarch, Johnny Otis. My father quickly walked across my yard in a blinding rain storm as lightning lit up the rest of the neighborhood.

"I've got to work tomorrow," my father told me with a tired looking frown as he was giving me my medications tonight. "Can you believe that?"

As usual, a Klonopin escaped our clutches and rolled across the floor.provoking some profanity from my father as I lunged to grab it.

"Tomorrow?" I asked in complete disbelief. "You tend to need some down time after a busy vacation to recuperate."

Dad then gave me one of the biggest hugs he has ever given to me.

"Good to see you son. We going to get you in a shape so you can go next time," my father told me. "A little spit and polish if you will."

I smiled. That Christian choir hymn Take Me As I Am came to the forefront of my mind.

The Hamster is in His Wheel...

This is how I want my front facia to look. The other two photo with the darkened valences are nice as well.

He's An Excitable and a Strange Little Man...

I can't wait for my father to get home to us tonight. It has been a very long week without him. He is the core of my social group and my family. He tends to bolster my spirits and demeanor as well.

Charlie told me this morning that my father would be administering my crazy meds during the medication ritual this evening and not him. I expect him to put on his pajamas and sleep several hours after arriving home, then we will see him. I also want to see how Maggie reacts when it has been a week since she last saw my father. Will she put on a big and grand show? Will she be excited as well? I do hope so!

Foul Play? No, Just Foul Weather...

The National Weather service is expecting inclement weather for us tonight. Another thing to be excited about. If it comes after midnight then I will possibly sleep through it like I always do. It always marvels my father that I can do that. I also take solace in the fact that there is a tornado warming siren just down the street which sounds like we are being bombed in an air raid by the German Luftwaffe.

Sometimes it is the Little Things...

...toot, toot, toot your own little horn...

I finally got Charlie's Blu-Ray player working yesterday. I hooked it up to my television at home and things were working fine which stymied me. Why wasn't it working when it is connected to Charlie's television?

If you've known me for a long time then you know I often harp about trying the simplest things first when it comes to computers and electronics. Is it plugged in? Did you push play? Is the LED light red when it should be green meaning is it turned on? I realized last night that Charlie and I weren't turning the Blu-Ray player on when it was hooked up at Charlie's house. Duh!

...these things come with a manual for a purpose...

Charlie was so excited that I fixed it that he brought the Magster and I breakfast this morning which which was three bacon, egg, and cheese biscuits. I would've been just fine getting a couple of Coca-Colas as I did last night. He has just left and is headed for work in Dadeville. Maggie has had her biscuit and is down for the count -- beginning the sleep of ages.

Johnny Otis Returns From Vacation...

My father just called me this morning and said he would be home a little after lunch. It is about a 5 hour drive to the Gulf of Mexico and Fort Walton from here. He said they had a grand time and for that I was thankful. Dad toiled away in that pharmacy for 47 years (about the time mom and dad were married) and it is now his turn to play and have some fun.

Engrish!

I came across this paragraph looking for Sega Saturn controllers. I love Engrish and this made me smile.

To my valued customerIf you have any problem when you received the item, please feel free to contact us first. We are responsible seller. We will try our best to help and fix your problem for sure. Your feedback is very important to our store. They are always the valuable suggestions to improve our service better and better. Wish you shopping pleasure!

Grocery Shopping Charlie Style...

"I've already got horsefly at the bowling alley," Charlie told me hurriedly over the phone. "I want you to hook my Blu-Ray player to my television and then we are then headed to Kroger to do a little grocery shopping."

As I had surmised, Charlie took me on a wild grocery cart ride as we traversed Kroger plying their wares. The grand total was $94 dollars for which I winced.

"If your daddy bitches about what you spent then tell him it was my fault." Charlie reassuringly told me.

We then left Kroger to go get Horsefly at the bowling alley.

"Do you mind?" Charlie asked me about getting Horsefly. "We can kill two birds with one stone."

Horsefly was drenched with sweat for which Charlie had a towel ready. I sat inside the Caprica marveling at all the patrons of the bowling alley. They must being doing good business. It was always kind of rundown when I was growing up.

"Now, you stand at the screen door and I will bring your groceries to you," Charlie told me rummaging around in the back of his Caprica.

This was all for making sure the Magster didn't escape out into the wild wilderness that is my neighborhood.

"Shit!'' Charlie said. "The last thing we need tonight is to be chasing Maggie around the neighborhood.

Hello! My name is Andrew and I am a worry wart...

I am kicking myself in the arse for not buying groceries last night. I just didn't feel up to it -- my malfunctioning brain strikes again. My skin was crawling and I felt feverish with an equal dose of severe anxiety.

My main worry today is that Charlie can't go until 10 pm after Horsefly bowls and 10 pm is the time Kroger has only self-service open until 1 AM. Can Charlie and I get all my groceries on one of the self-service lanes? It is bugging the hell out of me.

A Well Choreographed Occurrence...

Charlie just called me driving home from work and assuaged my worries. We are going to get Horsefly bowling and then we are quickly heading to Kroger. We are going shopping at 9 PM. Charlie didn't like the idea of self-service as well. I promised Charlie it would only take me twenty minutes to shop.

Public Nuisance Number One...

Dogs bark. It is a natural thing for them to do. They give you a sense of protection when you can't afford an alarm system. When a dog barks 24 hours a day extremely loudly and yappy then is becomes a public nuisance.  That's the problem my interesting neighbors, the RV people, are facing lately.

Right now it is wonderfully serene and quiet and I hope it stays that way for the remainder of the day.

The police department's animal control unit has been to my neighbor's house two days in a row about this matter. I wonder which neighbor keeps calling the police department? Bless them. Bless their dear souls.

My brother's recently departed dog did the same.

"He is a barker and barks all the time," my brother told me several years ago.

My brother had to get a shock collar at the pet store for Doc, his dog. Every time Doc barked then the collar gave the dog a jolting shot of electricity. It was very draconian, but it quickly solved the problem.

Sustenance Comes in Many Forms...

Charlie woke Maggie and I up this morning, It was a very welcomed kind of visit and awakening.

"Here's you and Maggie some breakfast," he said handing me three hot sausage biscuits. "I am worried about you not having enough to eat."

McDonald's breakfast biscuits are terrible when heated over later so Maggie and I quickly ate our breakfasts and went back to bed. I stayed up way too late last night unable to sleep.

"I just slammed into the curb down the street," Charlie told me laughing before he left. "Who does that sound like?"

I got to laughing as well as I told Charlie mom had hit every curb in the Valley.

Noxiously Nervous...

May the Horsefly Be With You!

"What is the Horsefly doing tonight?" I asked Charlie on one of his many visits -- tonight being one of the many as well.

Charlie handed me my crazy meds and I gulped them down with one large swing of "leaded" Coca-Cola which tasted absolutely heavenly. Charlie also gave me one more cola to put in the fridge for later. My six Diet Cokes went into the freezer to chill quickly.

"Horsefly was last seen in his recliner, plush Yoda in hand, and watching the Hallmark channel," Charlie told me.

Then came the hard part...

I hated to tell Charlie this, but I just didn't feel up to going grocery shopping tonight. I had an extreme sense of nervousness about me. I was afraid I would have one my famous and classic anxiety attacks before we could get out of the store. I didn't feel steady enough to drive as well.

"You call me if you decide to go," Charlie told me. "I will be up until midnight."

"Now, if we go tomorrow night then we won't be able to go until 10 PM as Tuesdays are one of Horsefly's bowling nights," Charlie additionally warned me.

Living a Double Life...

There are now several places on the internet that mentally ill people can meet and find dates. Sounds like an accident waiting to happen, doesn't it? Well, it is and I should've known better.

I've been corresponding with a lady I met a few weeks ago. I put up one of my photos and profiles on one of the sites. We hit if off pretty well from the start of it all. She has sent me several photos that showed she was a very pretty lady. The only problem is she lives in Concorde, California -- a suburb of San Francisco. I was planning on flying out to see her which would have been an incredible feat for me. I noticed speaking of my flying out there always made her nervous.

She wrote to me this morning with a picture attached.

"This is the real me," she ended her paragraph this morning with a photo attachment. "You are going to hate me now."

I was flabbergasted more than anything. A tear dropped out of my eye and rolled down my cheek. I had really gotten smitten and attached to this woman and was totally duped. I was caught hook, line, and sinker. She weighed well over 300 pounds, couldn't get out of the house without help, and had been sending me pictures of her much younger sister, Patty. She said her real name was really Theresa but that wasn't true as well.

The Glory Days of Shopping With Charlie...

It's Monday and then means grocery shopping around here, Charlie's going to get an earful tonight about what happened today and then he will tell me, "I told you so." The nice thing about shopping with Charlie is that he encourages his entourage to get more food when they think they are ready to check out. That means solace and comfort for me -- kind of like being let off the leash so-to-speak.

My father asked me last week why I never bought frozen pizza and I was also thinking about that this morning. .

"It is too tasty and I will eat it all up too soon," I told him. "Leaving me nothing to eat for the rest of the week."

He's Just a High Strung Kind of Guy...

The Double Doubler

Charlie called me last hour headed to our Kentucky Fried Chicken. He was calling from his cellphone in the Caprica and the traffic and static made him almost inaudible. It's highway 29. What can you expect?

"Jon-Ton, what do you want for your supper?" Charlie asked me quite inquisitively.

"Just get me two of KFC's chicken sandwiches," I replied

That seemed simple enough, don't you think? I was trying to make it simple on our Charlie -- having to go to only one place for all our meals. Dad had gotten this sandwich a few weeks ago and said it was pretty good. One just won't fill me up, though.

Charlie called again. This time from inside KFC.

"They are out of the *bleeping* bread for their chicken sandwiches," Charlie told me along with quite a few other choice profanities as well. "What kind of chicken place runs out of their *bleeping* chicken sandwich? I am just going to get you a Big Mac from next door."

Charlie knows I like a Big Mac about as good as the next Big Mac aficionado. I didn't push my luck and ask for the grand Big Mac.

We took my medications aka Crazy Meds when Charlie arrived at my house. Oh, that icy Coca-Cola tasted so good. Charlie was still fuming over the chicken sandwiches.

Halt! Stop the Presses!

Lopez and crew started to manicure my yard just after eight this morning. First, they starting out manicuring my shrubbery. I dressed and walked out to talk to my Guatemalan landscaping crew while Maggie sat in the window and watched. I've talked to Lopez about this before. I was still half asleep when they got started going good.

"Lopez? I love the job you do, but y'all can't start working in my yard so early in the morning. It is going to piss off my neighbors royally." I told him. "You need to come around lunch or later."

I don't think Lopez comprehended a thing I said as he nodded his head yes. I let them go ahead and finish with the job they were currently doing. They were spreading pine straw and mulch in and around my shrubbery which pleased me very much. It is when they crank up their commercial grade lawn mowers that things get completely too loud and raucous. They sound like turbines spooling up.

When the McDonald's Biscuit Man Comes a'Calling...

Soon, Charlie will be here with our usual breakfast of sausage biscuits. He said last night that we are going to clean my bathroom this morning after he used it.

"It won't take us just a minute to clean up your bathroom," Charlie told me enthusiastically. "We are going to clean one room each day until we finish. Let's surprise the hell out of your father this week. He will be back Thursday."

I reluctantly said, "Okay." The peer pressure mounting.

"Let me clean the bathroom tomorrow morning and we will get started with the rest sometime tomorrow as well," I furthered in my conversation with Charlie.

Taco Hell is in the House...

"What do you want for supper and we will go get it." Charlie asked me during the medication ritual tonight.

Charlie had a heavy handful of stuff and I walked out to his car to help him bring it all in while Maggie barked on the other side of the screened door. He also brought my six daily sodas and a pack of cigarillos.

Precariously perched within his hands were also two "leaded" regular Coca-Colas as well which just thrilled me to death. I only drink regular Coke on special occasions -- shying away from all the calories involved on a normal day.

"Let me get two burrito supremes," I told Charlie excitedly with a hungrily grumbling belly. "I feel a run for the border welling up within me."

Charlie laughed at my run for the border sentiment.

"I don't eat pizza and I don't eat Mexican food," Charlie told me.

"Oh, and I don't eat Chinese food as well. It looks like something the cat threw-up."

Charlie said he loves a roast with potatoes, carrots, and caramelized onions -- down home kind of food or country cooking. Charlie also said he loves turnip greens and cornbread. Fortunately, his wife Janice, is an exemplary soul food Old South kind of cook.

She should have had so many more days ahead...

Tomorrow would have been my mother's 72nd birthday. I thought about her all day being forefront in my memory and I hope to get over to the cemetery tomorrow to put some flowers on her grave.

Where the Red Fern Grows...

Where the Red Fern Grows was such a melancholy and sad book to read when I was a child. I remember shedding a few tears at the end of the book. I was very verklempt.

That said, I just bought me a really pretty fern to hang out on the screened in porch this morning (I've just got to remember to water it). George was standing on his carport, cigarette dangling from his mouth when he asked me where I got it.

"There are some very pretty ones left at the Piggly Wiggly," I told George. "You ought to go get you one!"

Oddly enough, my father doesn't get on to me or get angry for purchases such as this. He would be just as excited about the fern as I was. He goes nuts when I spend around a hundred dollars shopping on Newegg, though.

The Countdown Begins...

It is after lunch and I expect Charlie dropping by any moment now. He has to take Horsefly to the Saturday matinee as he does every weekend. I wonder what he will bring to eat? It will be fast food for sure, but I will enjoy it none-the-less. Charlie's got his hands full with me as he has to bring my medications and my sodas as well.

Simply Unprecedented...

Well, my father is heading to Florida in the morning with my sister, her kids and husband, and her husband's mother and father. Sounds like a motley crew, doesn't it?

"Come here and give me a hug before I go," my father said to me after the medication ritual.

I gave him a big old bear hug that picked him up off the floor -- his feet dangling. Big and burly kind of guys like me can do such king of things.

The photo is of the condo my loves to stay at when he goes to the beach. Sea-Spray Condominiums. I just called him on his drive home to tell him they've seemed to have remodeled it.

"Here's you a little cash out of your account and I gave Charlie some cash as well," which was simply unprecedented in giving me money.. "Don't do any drinking and Charlie will be bringing your medications and a meal every night.

"Oh, your birthday is ordered and on the way," my father told me as he began to leave to much excitement from me. "Matt ordered it at lunch. He said it would take up to 18 days to get here."

There was a silver lining to this cloud. I just knew it. This day has turned out very swell. I had to explain to my father what a game controller was for.

A Long Day in Paradise...

"You look so good tonight! You look vibrant and healthy!" my father exclaimed to me last night during the medication ritual. "You looked like death warmed over a few years ago."

Geez. that certainly made me feel better -- the death warmed over part. 

I know he meant it as a sincere compliment, though.

Dad and I took my medications as we sat on the couch in my quiet den -- the only extraneous noise was Maggie snuffling contently as she dug at her cooties. Maggie also soon busily wanted to jump up with us. Dad said,"you can join us, too." I made room for her to sit in the middle of us. We were one big happily dysfunctional family.

Dad and I talked about my trying Straterra again, but he balked. My doctor originally prescribed Adderall which is basically prescription strength methamphetamine. I was hoping to improve my concentration skills and levels. I have trouble concentrating sometimes like when I am reading a book/magazine, playing games, or viewing a web page.

"If it ain't broke, then don't try to fix it," he callously told me of the medication. "That's why you were having such terrible insomnia for such a long time."

Crack Cocaine -- It's a Helluva Drug...

I got a short call tonight, or a short shot in the dark I should say, The call was from my young cousin and it deeply worried me. It was young Blake and he was calling me from Atmore prison near Mobile and on the Florida coast.

There is also a Creek Indian reservation there with a wonderful and interesting restaurant and a slew of bingo halls to gamble your money away.

He pleadingly wanted $200 dollars transferred to his commissary fund.

"The food here is absolutely terrible," he added sounding downtrodden.

Let's not forget the fact that money will also buy you drugs in most prisons in this country.

Good thoughts did come to mind when thinking of my cousin, Blake. He deeply, deeply loved motorcycles and riding my Honda V-Twin CX500. He was always such a good little exuberant kid and that makes all this such a terrible tragedy. Dad said later that he is 6 foot tall and only weighs 90 pounds.

"I am in prison," he honestly told me. "I got hooked on cocaine and couldn't get off and they eventually caught me stealing items and pawning them."

"Blake, you will have to call my father about that as he controls my money coming in and out of this house," I told him treading very carefully as to what I divulged.

After we got off the phone, he called my father also wanting $200.

"You need to call your mother and tell her to step up to the plate and help you," dad told Blake about my mother's sister.

The Immune System By My Seasoned Nurse Rebecca...

Rebecca stepped into the lobby of Kamath Medical and asked me to come on back. I felt like I was on that game show, The Price is Right. Come on down! I had just signed in and sat in the lobby.

Rebecca sounded so very congested with a hacking, mucus filled, and nasty cough. Personally? They shouldn't make health care practitioners come into work sick like that for fear of spreading the contagion.

"I need to be at home in the bed," Rebecca told me as I inquired if she was okay. "I just hope my kids don't get this terrible junk."

It took only a few short minutes to administer my injection. I thanked Rebecca profusely and wished her well. I then motored swiftly back up through the Chattahoochee Valley without impediment to give my father my next appointment card.

"You did all of that and in a short amount of time as well!" my father said kindly, astounded, and amazed.

I never did find out why he didn't have to work today. He must be working tomorrow instead or it probably had something to do with the grand-kids.

"We've come a long way with you," my father then said as he hugged me.

"You and I have both come a very long ways," I astutely reminded him.

My father handed to me a care package of two packs of cigarillos, 2 tart lemonades, and six crisp and bubbly Diet Cokes.

The Little Munchkins and Youngsters Are Here...

Maggie's Bad Hair Day

"Now, Maggie here, she barks in French and English," my father told the grandchildren when they were over here shortly ago."She's also the Duchess of Mauritania and Maratouse."

Maggie was laying on her plush mat belly down in the den licking her paws. She was looking and acting totally nonchalant. She certainly didn't realize her importance at that moment.

"How can you tell the difference when she is barking in French and barking in English?" my nephew, Grant, asked his Grandpa.

"You have to listen closely, but you will hear it soon enough," my father replied.

All the grand-kids squealed and spoke with joy and wonderment.

My father was running late tonight after picking up the grand-kids in Auburn which is about 30 minutes away. He pleasantly told me he had the day off from work tomorrow and was giving my brother and sister a break. He has to take them to school in the morning if he can get them all up and going with their bellies full of hot breakfast.

"Good luck!" I told him with a warm smile.

"Your injection is in the morning," my father then said urgently and shortly before they were gone.

He had pulled me to the side.

"I am leaving this medicine with you and I trust you to go get it."

"I will bring you the next appointment card on my way home," I told Papa John. "I hope that will assuage your worries."

Pass the Mayo and Potato Chips, Please...

"Come on over and eat some lunch," my father told me this afternoon. "I made some really good chicken salad."

When mom was alive, dad tried his best to make sure she got at least one good nourishing meal a day. He has been saying he was getting back on track with that ritual and tradition. Let it be so...

It was 1 PM and Maggie and I were still in the bed after Maggie's antics last night. There would also be something bad wrong with me if I passed up dad's chicken salad sandwiches. When I arrived after a shower, dad was eating his lunch on Waverly crackers as he sat at the kitchen table. .

"Do you want two sandwiches or one?" my father asked as he then stood at the kitchen counter.

I joyfully asked for two.  Man, were they delicious. I am not a big potato chip consumer, but the Ruffles potato chips fit perfectly with those sandwiches.

Almost a Requiem Eternam for a Canine ...

Someone please call Mozart and also tell him to bring the harpsichord...

"Dammit! Hush Maggie!" I hollered from the computer room for the forth time.

It was pointless to try and calm her so I got a grape soda out of the fridge and got on the computer.

An urgent bladder woke me up after midnight to shake the dew off my lily and all the neighborhood dogs were all going ballistic. Something got them all stirred up -- the whole crew of neighborhood canine contingent joined in. Yes, Maggie had joined the countless fray involved. I wonder what got them so shaken up? A prowler? A possum? Or a raccoon? Definitely, a bunch of group-think was involved.

It's Almost Summer Time and Hopefully the Living Will Grow Easy...

The General Electric BQ23-7. One of the oddest locomotives I've seen so far. I am sure it passed through downtown a few times or another over the years.

Global Warming...

I know of a sweet gal named Summer and she is a very, very special Southern lady. Sometimes, I think she reads my blog and even comments. She has stuck by me through thick and thin despite all the controversies about my blog and myself throughout the years.

Let's Give a Standing Ovation to Mother Nature...

Well, it feels like summer time outside. We are supposed to get up to 82° degrees today. After all the long, uneventful winter weather we had, we are finally seeing some relief from the doldrums and the complete mediocrity of Mother Nature this year.

Gamecube Controller $5.99

One Controller, Two Controllers, Three Controllers Four...

I just called my friend and cohort in computers. Matt at the pharmacy. I was calling about my birthday. I am ordering a whole slew of game controllers from Newegg -- controllers to play my favorite retro games on my retro gaming computer and how they were meant to be played. The order totaled $75 and yes, I am a big kid at heart.

"They are shipping from China," I told my friend Matt. "We may need to go ahead and order them to get them here on my birthday next month."

Matt said he would run it by my father and was going to order it if he got the go ahead.

I know what my father will think when Matt tells him,..

"Just what in the hell is he ordering from China?"

It's Getting Mighty Testy Around These Parts...

Dad was mad as hell and his blood pressure was up tonight. He looked beet red under that fair, milky skin of his. I told him to chose his battles wisely -- that this was inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. A girl was checking us out at Kroger and then stopped helping us to go help a new girl with a WIC voucher a register over.

"We're cash paying customers and we deserve to go first," my father told the cashier with a snarl to his voice.

He was never much one to mince words.

Had my dauntless father gotten flustered? Dad had forewarned me that he was in a "rat's ass" mood. I braced myself for much social anxiety and I was already terribly anxious when I walked through the door at that establishment. My crazy meds were just about to kick in and I then began to feel some sweet and relished relief on the drive home.

"I am so sorry sir!" she told my father rather pleadingly. "We are not usually busy this time of the night."

And busy they were, I told dad that everyone has spring fever including myself. It is a beautiful night tonight and the night time insects have started serenading us until another fall and winter.

"What would Charlie do if that happened to him?" my father asked me as we loaded up my car with groceries.

"He would have yanked all their asses up and got his groceries for free," I replied..

He Shoots! He Scores!

I rolled the dice and up came snake eyes this afternoon. It was my cue to get on the move and get out of the house. Spring has sprung and there is a whole wide world out there. I had dawdled around in my pajamas for long enough mostly reading old railroading magazines.

I grabbed a shower, dressed in a decent t-shirt and shorts and then headed out the front door. Yes, we were on a trip for provisions and sustenance. I am down to eating mayonnaise and Parmesan (stinky) cheese sandwiches. I showed up on my father's back-steps hungry and acting all painfully pitiful for good measure.

"Let's go get you some beefaroni and your Cokes," my father said with a smile as we walked down in the dungeon also affectionately known as the pantry, laundry room, and basement.

I was just astounded when my father was at home -- both cars in the garage and dad's Honda was parked out back. I didn't want to bungle or endure another phone call for the day. I rang the back doorbell and my father came to the door.

"Get yourself ready around nine and we will go get your groceries," my father told me. "What are you going to get tonight?"

"An Edwards lemon meringue pie and an Edwards Hershey's creme pie," I replied. "Gotta literally fill my pie hole!"

A Five Dollar Fill-Up...

"What did you get tonight?" I asked my father while he was fooling around with my crazy meds on the couch.

He was trying to decide what day medications to give me. I watched as a Klonopin went rolling across my hardwood floor as my father cursed. I was sitting in my plush recliner just beside him as Maggie sat at our feet.  He soon handed my medications to me and I gulped them down lickety split.

"I got the $5 fill up which was the chicken sandwich variant," my father replied.

My father was acting rather strange and aloof tonight (eerily quiet) and I couldn't figure out his emotions or moods. I internalize this and get to thinking I committed some kind of terrible social faux pas to form a rift between us.

"I got you double than what I was supposed to," Charlie then said laughing as he was cleaning in my kitchen. "You've got tacos out the ass now!"

We all burst out in laughter! It is double or nothing with our Charlie. I got two burrito supremes and two taco supremes.

No Box of Greasy Fried Chicken Tonight Folks! (Thank You, Jehoshaphat!)

http://www.foodbeast.com

Yes, we are taking a run for the border tonight. Charlie asked me this morning what I wanted to eat this evening and I told him to get me two burrito supremes from Taco Hell. Yee Haw! Charlie said that would be fine. My stomach is already grumbling with protest and hunger. I hope they arrive soon rather than later which is the norm. Watch it be around 9 PM when they arrive and I will be frazzled with worry and aggravation.

U-Boats...

This was the railroad of my youth until they merged with CSX.

Did Our Charlie Abandon Us?

Every car that rode by the house this morning, Maggie would fly through our home to land on the couch and look out the window. Charlie was running rather late and is was worrying the MagDawg. Charlie finally came slowly pulling up to the curb in dad's truck around 10 AM. Maggie put on a fine show despite not being very familiar with the Ford.

"Did Jimmy James show up yesterday?" Charlie asked me at he handed the Magster's and my breakfast. "He said he would be here yesterday."

"I haven't seen him yet," I replied to Charlie rather despondently.

"That son of a bitch," Charlie replied. "I am going to jerk a knot in his head."

I was super happy when I realized we had bacon, egg, and cheese biscuits this morning. I am nursing a giant Coca-Cola as I write this as well.

Let's See What Happens As the Day Unfolds...

The day is already off to an interesting, confounding, and auspicious start. I had a motherboard go out (Asus Z97 Deluxe) sometime during the night much to my chagrin  -- a complication I just didn't need today. The computer will boot over and over but will never quite make it into Windows. I have just now got the gimped computer back up and running after hours of tinkering, but something is still amiss. I am getting Windows 10's equivalent of the blue screen of death.

Calgon -- Take Me Away!

I also had to order another copy of Windows 10 Home which was a cool $99 bucks (thank you Newegg). I am going to contact Asus soon this morning and try to RMA the board. It has a 3-year warranty.

The Honda That Goes Vrooom...

"Come on, Lilly. Let's go see if Nana's car will crank," I told my niece urging her on. "We are going to blow the cobwebs out of the engine!"

Lilly is really growing like a weed these days. She was then hot on my tail not to miss out on this adventure.

We walked down the stairs to the garage and Lilly cranked the car and it fired to life. It thrilled her for me to let her do it herself. Hell, Lilly will get her learning permit in about 2 more years.

"When was the last time it had been cranked?" I just asked my father.

"It has been a little over a month," he replied. "I am going to get the title in your name as soon as I get some time to do it." my father told me.

Ear-worm for the day is Sting's An Englishman in New York.

Let There Be Salutations, Much Joy, and Even More Excitement...

Well, we made it there and back -- Opelika that is. My father was very hyper and talking a mile a minute this morning throughout these procedures.

Dad was also thrilled when Dr. Edwards kept my medications to what I had been prescribed to for years. Dad gave me a high five as we walked out of the psychiatrist's office.

"Now, let's go get us some steak biscuits and a senior coffee for myself!" my father said very excitedly.

He still couldn't believe we got in and out of the doctor's office so quickly. We had set a new precedence. We usually have to wait an hour or more, but they called us back as soon as we sat down in the lobby for a change.

"You have beautiful ginger hair," I told the receptionist and she smiled shyly and blushed.

"Thank you!"

As always, the biscuits were tongue tantalizing. I had finished both my steak biscuits with mustard by the time we were passing Perlis truck stop on the way up the interstate -- about the halfway point to home.

Oh Dear...Houston We Have a Problem...

"Psychiatrist visit in the morning," my father told me during the medication ritual tonight.

"I know you don't want to go, but it must be done," Johnny Otis then told me.

The furry little Magster was laying perfectly on the floor and looked thoroughly comfortable.

"Is she sleeping?" my father asked and then I laughed.

"She's got one eye open for good measure. She's not going to miss a beat."

I happily gulped my myriad of pills down this evening. Luckily, I only have to see Dr. Edwards every six months now that I am "stable", Whatever stable is these days.

Dad told me to deter and coach me that if I talk about last week's depression, then I will have to come back in two weeks and would also cause a change in my medications. Damned if I do and damned if I don't.

"I'll call you at ten in the morning to make sure you are up and we will get us both some steak biscuits afterward," my father furthered.

I could just float in a sea of Hardee's steak biscuits. Don't forget the mustard as well!

Maggie Says We Have a Go For a Charlie Visit...

Charlie showed up late tonight and I was not expecting him at all.  It was getting very late and I wondered where in the hell my father was -- the tension growing ever more worrisome and mounting.

Charlie was in my father's white Ford F-150 tonight so I almost didn't recognize him. I was like holy shit, who is this? My social anxieties then went off the scale. I turned on my porch lights and hoped for the best. Maggie knew soon, though, as the truck pulled up to the curb that it was Charlie. The pod people, Jehovah's witnesses, were already in their spaceship for the evening.

Charlie gave me my medications, loved on Maggie for a bit, and we were soon on our way.

"Come on! Let's go get you something good to drink and eat," Charlie told me. "Your father told me to take good care of you in his stead tonight."

I told Charlie that I would just be thrilled to get three Mountain Dews down at the Circle K after we took my medications. I really shouldn't eat very much after taking all those medications.

Hopefully, A Quiet Day Ahead...

The awesome and rare BL-2 locomotive...

Let's make this home tranquility base today.

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Brass locomotives are extremely costly.

My father has no qualms when I ask for train related orders from Walther's. I can even order them from home as long as I clear them by my father first, but he absolutely hates me ordering computer parts. It makes me scratch my head in confusion. I enjoy both hobbies very much.

"Oh, you just tear those computers up tinkering with them and then you need a new one," he told me recently.

I don't argue with him as I know it is a fruitless endeavor. He is like a stubborn old mule on those regards.

Not a BLT, but a BL-2...

Today's model railroading project is ordering some new undecorated engines and painting them later on in Chattahoochee Valley livery. My fleet is really growing. I also had to order some new custom decals today.

Way Down Yonder in the Deep Freeze...

Papa John has just left the premises. He was in a hurry to get home after working all day. Bless his heart! He even managed to remember to bring my Cokes and cigarillos as well. What heaven! They were still cold from sitting in my father's car all day.

"I am going to give you your crazy meds, feed and water Maggie, and then I am heading home," the toilsome and tired creature before me said.

"It is also going to get down to 27° degrees in the morning," my father woefully and worriedly said. "I hope it doesn't kill my azaleas."

Mine are all in full bloom as well. We will have to cross our fingers tonight and tomorrow night and then hope it warms up quickly as the temperatures moderate.

"We got audited by the state board of pharmacy today," my father then told me. "I knew things were fine, but it still makes you nervous none-the-less."

A Very Dreary Night For Grocery Shopping...

Skinny Minnie, dad added the fried bacon to the dough then baked them. It makes for a decadent breakfast for two or more -- even better with a dollop of strawberry preserves.

-----------------------------------

The rain was falling kind of sideways (Scottish weather) as my father and I loaded up my car with groceries. Water was dripping off the bib of my cap.

"I was really worried about you," my father told me as he gave me a hug tonight. "I was so glad to see all your indoor lights on and you being up and about.".

"Yeah, I had what Churchhill described as his black dog (depression) all last week," I told my father. "I always bounce back, though."

I spent $74 dollars tonight and my father didn't day a word. He was just happy to see me and for me to be okay.

Horsefly Can Say the Darnedest Things Sometimes...

I was helping Charlie move some things this morning at his new house -- my grandmother's old residence. Charlie was taking Horsefly and I on home and then heading onward on into work.

"I've gotta make some stink," Horsefly uttered loudly sitting behind us.

"Does Horseflly always say that now?" I asked Charlie.

"It gets the point across for what it matters," Charlie told me with a big grin.

Catharsis...

Did I just write catharsis in a post about Walmart? I sure did. 6:00 AM is the best time to go. I bought some non-drowsy allergy pills and some shampoo.

Oddly enough, they had the lefthand entrance open this morning instead of the right. The security guy and his truck were holding a vigil at the front door so nobody could get away with any 5 finger discounts.

A Valley Policewoman then pulled up to talk to the security guard as I was about to walk inside. I wonder if they were on the prowl for any miscreants? They sure were carrying on an animated conversation. It was enough to thwart any theft I am certain for sure.

Walmart was eerily bereft of customers and staff this morning. I felt as if I was the last man standing on earth. There was one frumpy but very cute looking lady taking stock by the shampoo I wanted It was some of that apple scented shampoo I so love.

"Sorry to get in your way," she kindly told me.

George was leaving for the Waffle House as I pulled into my driveway. He was waving as he barely almost hit the telephone pole at the top of his driveway. I winced as I headed inside as I clamored to get out of the cold.

Thank You!

Thanks to all of you who participated in my informal operating system poll. It seemed Microsoft's free download of Windows 10 did the trick. Oddly enough, though, I am still using Windows 7 on several of my computers. I love that aero interface.

Locks of Love...

Charlie and my father will be here shortly. Dad is going to give me my medications and Charlie is giving me a haircut. Charlie and my father will also bring supper later tonight. Charlie called me and I told him to get me two burrito supremes and a large Coke.

"Do I get you two number ones and cheese?" Charlie asked.

I laughed.

"That's what you would order Wendy's with," I replied. "Get me two burritos supremes and a drink."

Three Biscuits to Go From Our Charlie...

I walked out towards Charlie's car this morning as it rained softly. I didn't want him to get out in this cold, wet, and damp weather. I was actually already up this morning keeping an eye out on things from the den window and so was our Magster. The Weather Channel droned ever on in the background.

Did someone say the time changed? It is always "spring forward" and "fall back" is how I remember it.

I noticed Charlie had a big cardboard box of McDonald's biscuits on his passenger side seat. Horsefly was sitting on the rear seat with the Dora the Explorer doll of the day.

"Love you and I will see you tonight for our Sunday feeding of KFC this evening," Charlie told me as he handed me breakfast through his open car window.

He appreciated me walking out and getting my breakfast on this early and thoroughly deplorable morning.

Maggie had already and greedily eaten her sausage biscuit before I had even gotten the wrapper off of mine.

Bacon and Biscuits Freshly Prepared...

Dad was eating buttery bacon biscuits this morning when I arrived at his abode. I was anxious to get my sodas and head home to quench this ravaging thirst of mine. I did go downstairs and sit in my belated mother's car for a few moments. Dad wants to put four new tires on it before he gives it to me. Life just has a tendency to get in the way.

"Here, eat two of these," he told me smiling.

My father is just like my grandmother when it comes to these types of culinary regards -- just born to cook good food.

"You look better today than you have in a week," dad then told me bolstering my spirits.

I've had a tough week. You know what? I think I might just go lay down again with the Magster. She's already had a biscuit, some Vienna sausages, and is snoozing on the bed.

Prolific Procrastination...

When it rains it pours as the old saying goes. An old friend of mine's father died the other day and I wanted to send her a great big condolences card. Well, my absentminded father took the card home with him last night after giving me the card and urging me to write it.

As Homer Simpson would Say, Dope!

Hopefully, I can get that card today and get it in the mail. My mother, the secretary, would have had it in the mail last week -- almost precognizant that J.L. had died.

This isn't the first time this has happened. It has happened several times. My father will bring my Cokes in the evenings and then forget and try to take them home again. It seems my father and I have the attention span of gnats.

Edit: This is getting complicated. The card was in a Kroger bag in the back of my card after buying groceries Monday night. Dad and I always drove my mother crazy with this kind of shit.

Stay and You Will Awaken the Sleeping Monster...

"Don't forget! Your shot is this morning," my father happily and snappily chirped to me over the phone.

It was too much happiness for this early in the morning from the cheerleaders. Dad said he was fixing to take a shower and head to the pharmacy.

"How could I forget?" I replied with a  smirk from the bandstands with an air of uncredulousness.

I've been on some of the lowest of lows these past few days that I've ever experienced and I think and hope things are looking up. I am getting out of the bed and back into my usual routines. My father says it just about time for another injection to kick in.

"You'll feel better when you get your get your Risperdal Consta injection this morning and some hot breakfast food in your belly," my father told me.

"Will a ham and cheese omelet make you feel better?" dad then asked.

"It most certainly will!" I replied smiling as if a carrot was dangling in front of this donkey.

Mission Thwarted...

The good streak in my heart wanted to drive over and see my father for awhile tonight. I expected to find him cooking in the kitchen when I pulled into the driveway. He keeps saying he is gong to get on schedule cooking again like he did for my mother in her last few years.

Well. I should've called first as my parent's house was like a ghost town. I thought I saw a tumbleweed or two pass us by. I didn't want anything but some company and good conversation. It is nice not to have to need something all the time.

Astronomical Signs...

Venus was like a beautiful diamond jewel following the sun on its way down below the horizon a moment ago. I tucked my tail between my legs and headed home not before taking a slow drive by the police department with my broken turn signal bulb.

How Can This Be???

It is March 3rd and the azaleas are blooming in my front yard. They usually and typically bloom right around my birthday and that is April 12.

"Watch a cold front come through and then it will kill them all," my father dourly told me last night.

"Oh, shit, you harbinger of bad news. You don't need to be all doom, gloom and melodramatic on me," I replied to Johnny Otis.

We will let Mother Nature play her next hand.

In a Parallel Universe it is Me You Can't Resist...

Oh, I do wish! I saw a young couple walking out of Walmart today holding hands. The girl was giggling with bliss and looked like she didn't have a care in the world. "Must be nice,"  I said in my thoughts.

Dad just left and I am winding down tonight myself. Our beds are calling for us after some drinks and vittles to add to some much-needed complacency.

Maggie did a pretty unique thing tonight. The Magster's time to eat is usually a singular event, but she didn't dine alone tonight. Tonight I put her food down on the floor and she immediately began to eat it with my father in the room. I told my father he was really rating tonight with the Magster. I usually put her food down and come back later to find an empty bowl.

"I am putting on my slippers, my pajamas, pouring a diet Coke on ice, and I am watching my favoriteTV show tonight on Netflix before gong to bed," he told me looking very pleased with himself.

"Oh, how I love routines myself," I told my agreeing father.

My modus operandi lately is reading my past Model Railroaders while I drink a cold drink and smoking cigarillos. I've got the model railroading bug very badly right now.

Italian for Two...

I drove over to see my father tonight on a whim. It was nice to see the back door open at Fort Knox as my brother calls it.. That always means my father is receiving visitors for the evening. It was 6:00 PM and he was still in his pajamas for which I smiled. He was also talking to my sister on the phone. Charlie had just left after visiting for quite a while himself. He was on his way home from work.

"Here's forty dollars," my father told me from his command recliner. "Go get us up some good grub."

"What do you want?" I asked as I stood at my parent's back door looking stymied.

"Surprise me!"

Oh, what dire responsibility he has put on us tonight...

I drove downtown and just down the street to Johnny's New York Style Pizzeria and got us two lasagnas, two salads, and two drinks. The total was just over $20 and I did have to wait a few moments. I thought I did pretty well in the way I handled the money tonight. Five or more years ago? My father would have never trusted me with that much cash. I would be headed to traverse the country roads of god's country with a case of beer in the back of my car.

It's Going to Be Okay to All the Nervous Pups...

I am so glad Ms. Maggins doesn't freak out about the weather. She takes it all in stride, We just had a wham bang line of thunderstorms to move through more characteristic of spring here than winter in the South. Maggie slept nonchalantly on the sofa as the storm make its way over us.