Mean as a Timber Rattler…

I was passing Walmart on 29 when my cellphone loudly rang. I looked at the screen and answered. “Hello?” I usually hate talking on the phone while driving, but it was Tracy so I felt it must be important.

“Are you headed to get your injection?” Tracy asked. “I forgot to remind you this morning.”

“My ETA is 5 minutes,” I told her.

Tracy doesn’t miss a beat. She’s deft on me getting that injection ever since what happened mentally a few months ago.

Dad and AJ were in the front of the pharmacy when I arrived to get the Risperdal Consta box.

“Tell AJ what you say about me and my temper,” dad told me looking amused.

“He can be a mean little son of a bitch sometimes,” I told AJ

AJ and dad both burst out laughing.

The conundrum for the day was to ask my nurse, Rebecca, whether she was pregnant or not. She’s gained a lot of weight lately. I decided to play it safe and not ask today.

Comment Replies…

glittermom said...

Did anyone move into the house next door yet?

Andrew Replies…

No, but they manicured the lawn and shrubs this week. It makes me think that someone might be moving in soon. I am hoping for a young couple with kids to really liven things up around here. It will take Maggie a few weeks to get used to them, though. There might be some aggravating barking going on at first I fear.

A Wage Slave’s Lament…

I shouldn’t call it wage slavery, but a lot of jobs can feel like that. Tracy poured her heart out to me about going in to work this morning.

“I love working there, except for some of the caustic people who work with me,” Tracy told me. “The women all gossip and backstab each other. I ignore them and I feel like an outsider.”

“I would work a few days for you to give you a break if I could,” I replied. “I certainly would give them something to gossip about!”

Tracy chuckled.

“I know you would,” Tracy said warmly. “I appreciate the sentiment.”

Tracy got up and headed to the front door.

“Remember! In four short hours you’ll be home for lunch!”

Tracy said it was her saving grace.

Front Yards on a Sunday Afternoon in the South…

My neighbor walked across the street to talk to me yesterday afternoon. I warily looked over Tracy’s car wondering what this was about. They never have been the neighborly types so this shocked me.

“I’ve got five cars that need to be washed,” he said with a big goofy grin and very congenially.

“Five?” I asked incredulously with an exhausted look on my face. “I give out at two.”

He laughed some more and told me to have a good day not before I could tell him I want a ride in his Camaro.

“Let me get it cleaned up and we will go for a ride,” he replied.

I finally found out his name and it was Tony.

I was washing both Tracy’s and my car. It’s a good feeling to look out the den window and see the fruits of my labor and to see them so clean with the tires slicked and wet looking. I went the extra mile a put a coat of Nu Finish car polish on Tracy’s car. It gave it that mirror finish look.

I was pooped when all was said and done. I came inside and collapsed in my recliner for a good hour not wanting to move. My back was giving me fits from all that bending over. (I am getting so very old!)

Papa and Charlie showed up at 9pm with our Sunday evening meal. You had never seen a more happy dog than Maggie. She really put on a grand show last night. She had all the people she most loved in one room all at one time. All this commotion sent Wheezy scurrying for cover, though. Maggie also knows that Charlie and Papa bring chicken strips and she eagerly awaited her meal after they had gone. She was underfoot before I could put them on a paper plate and place them on the floor.

A Sunday Good Morning and a Little Laptop Surgery…

I could’ve slept in this morning, but I was up at 8am. I feel like a million bucks. Going to bed early and waking early has made the biggest difference in my life lately. I feel so well and rested.

I never know when Charlie will be here with our Sunday breakfast. It is going on 9am now and he still hasn’t arrived. The earliest he usually arrives is around 8:20am. Tracy is lingering in the bed a little longer than I. (Time warp: Charlie arrived at 9:45am this Sunday)

Let’s Open it Up and Take a Look…

Tracy was complaining last night how slow her laptop has gotten. I don’t know how she stands it. It is slow as molasses, yet she still insists on using it. I ordered a kit from Newegg this morning to convert her laptop from a conventional hard drive to a 500 GB Samsung solid state drive (SSD). That will incredibly supercharge her laptop. The processor is only as fast as it can access data. It will be like a completely different computer. I also ordered enough Crucial sodimms (laptop RAM) to upgrade her memory from 8 GB to 16 GB. RAM is so cheap right now. Why not? That should help as well with no accessing the page file. I love this kind of stuff so it was right up my alley. I get all warm and fuzzy thinking about it.

What’s a Little Bit of Sushi Between Friends?

Tracy and I were spontaneous for a late lunch/early dinner and I drove us to Sushi Huku Japanese restaurant. It is on the west side of Atlanta and about an hour’s drive away. They are supposed to have the best sushi in Atlanta. My ex-wife loved to go there for dinner and I did as well. I thought I would start a new tradition. Tracy thought it was wonderful as well. We both got sampler bento boxes with all different kinds of fried Japanese delicacies. I asked for sweet tea as is common in the South and my waitress brought out hot green tea in a dainty cup. I smiled. We also got to showoff our chopstick prowess. Tracy can thread a needle with chopsticks.

What are your thoughts on sushi or eating raw fish? It is definitely an acquired taste. I especially enjoy the varieties of tuna and I ate some sea urchin roe today as well. I keep wanting to put it on a saltine cracker like we always did “fishing food” like sardines and those little fish steaks in the South. 

Tracy was talking and lamenting on the drive home that she didn’t have enough purses to match her wardrobe. Well, it was just my luck that I turned on the TV when we got home and it was tuned to QVC and they were showcasing purses. I snuck in the computer room, browsed to QVC.com, and ordered Tracy an expensive navy blue purse or tote as they called it. It is going to be a neat surprise for her later next week. You’ve got to take care of your woman folk and spoil them sometimes.

Now, I feel my day is done and I am going to spend the rest of the evening sequestered in my computer room. Tracy’s got her laptop out and is watching TV in the den which is her usual modus operandi. 

That Girl With Richard…

I very happily answered the phone this afternoon under the auspices it was my father or Tracy.

“Hello?” I said with a smile that turned into a frown.

“Heyyyy!!!” a loud. raspy, and obnoxious voice said on the other end. “Will you take us to the pawnshop?”

“Y’all are not going to have anything left to pawn when all is said and done,” I decreed admonishingly and I then told Tuleana I was out of gas.

The “out of gas” portion of the conversation was very true. I have been procrastinating driving down to Rectum and putting gas in my car. The low fuel light is on.

“Call your mother or sister for a ride,” I told Tuleana and quickly got off the phone with my heart pounding in my chest.

One of my blog readers told me that Tuleana wouldn’t give up that easy and they were right. All that shit causes me a great deal of anxiety. They are pests as my mother used to always say of Jermaine.

My Next Goal and Computer Part Acquisition…

I want to get this and install it in Tracy’s den computer. That way she can play Roller Coaster Tycoon and the Sims 4 with smooth framerates. Oh hell, I just need another excuse to buy yet another video card for our computers.

Bah! Humbug!

I just don’t feel much like writing a blog post today. Do you ever feel that way about your own blog? Nothing’s wrong. I am just caught in some kind of writer’s malaise. I was going to write about how I am getting all these links from porn sites. I wonder what that is all about? If they are looking for naked pictures and/or erotic blog posts, then they are going to be sorely disappointed. A thousand visits and not one comment? Makes me think some kind of shenanigan is going on.

Tracy will be home soon and I have some spaghetti and meat sauce bubbling away gently on the stove. I assume you can guess what we are having for supper? We haven’t had spaghetti in awhile so I decided that would be our meal. A quick run to Kroger gathered all the ingredients.

The Shiny Luster of Work Has Woefully Worn Off…

The alarm went off extremely glaringly this morning jolting both Tracy and I awake. I was having the most wonderful dream about Maggie and mom. Maggie would always greet my mother very differently than Charlie and dad. It would be this very, very high pitched squeal of joy. I wonder if Maggie ever worries what happened to her?

“Oh, I don’t want to go to work,” Tracy then whined pitifully. “I wish I could stay home with you all day.”

I put my head on her shoulder as I told her she was lucky to get a lunch break. It broke up the monotony of the day.

“We are getting lasagna to-go from Johnny’s New York Style Pizzeria for lunch,” I told her, hoping to bolster her spirits somewhat.

She said that sounded wonderful and told me thank you.

“Get some of that wonderful garlic bread they have as well,” Tracy urged me.

“I am also getting us a salad with blue cheese dressing.”

“I’ll see you in about four hours,” Tracy then told me and shut the front door behind her.

Trouble Comes in Twos and Threes…

About 45 minutes after Tracy left for work, dad calls me.

“I’ve got a flat tire in the CR-V and I am parked in front of Radio Shack,” dad told me. “I have to get the pharmacy open in ten minutes. Could you come down here and help me?”

“I will leave you my car so you can head on to the pharmacy and I will change your tire,” I replied to my father. “I will be there in five or ten minutes.”

Dad was so very glad to see me pull up beside him.

“Have them replace the tire and don’t plug the leak,” dad directed me as he climbed into my car. “I’ve already called West Point Tire and Auto and they are expecting you soon.”

I got filthy changing dad’s tire, but I was soon underway to West Point Tire and Auto. It didn’t take but a twenty minute wait for Dave and crew to put on a new tire and put the spare and its cover back on the rear hatch of dad’s car.

Who Ya Gonna Call?

Dad’s Honda CR-V wouldn’t crank this morning so obviously he calls me.

“I can’t get it out of gear to push it out of the garage so we can jump it off,” he told me sounding very cranky and worried.

I arrived at his house armed with a flat head screwdriver knowing what to do to get the transmission in neutral and got to work. We got it in neutral and pushed the car out of the garage and then I jumped his car off.

“You’re a genius,” dad told me very happily. “If I would’ve towed it to the shop, they would’ve told me I needed a new battery or possibly a new alternator.”

“That’s an Interstate battery,” I told him pointing to the glaringly bright green and white battery. “They are awesome batteries. It should last you through hell or high water.”

We got in the car and I immediately noticed what was draining the battery. Both of his map lights were on. I showed dad what was wrong and we turned them off.

We drove around town for a long time to charge the battery and just talked. I love the way my and my father’s relationship is now. It’s like we are just buddies shooting the shit like George and I used to.

We rode out to West Point Dam and they had all six flood gates open due to all the recent rain we have received.

“Let’s stop by the river house and check the river level,” dad told me.

Luckily, the river wasn’t over its banks, but the water was very swiftly flowing.  Dad took me on a tour of the river house and it is just gorgeous. I can see now why he wants to move there. It seemed much bigger than what my memory served me.

King's X - It's Love

Right Smack in the Middle of the Bible Belt…

Happy Easter to all my Christian friends! Dad’s an atheist, but he celebrates for the sake of the grandkids. He was making a macaroni casserole last night for their big Easter meal today at my sister’s house in Alexander City. I personally don’t participate as I am not a Christian. I like to call myself a secular humanist. Dad raised all us kids with a healthy skepticism and told us to make our own choices. We all went our own ways religion wise. Mom was Catholic, but I am very ignorant of that religion and I am not sure if Catholics celebrate Easter or not. If you do, then Happy Easter to you, too!

Comment Replies…

 glittermom said...

The pond? Where’s the pond?

Andrew Replies…

Glittermom, we have a several acre pond on some land we own in Waverly, Alabama (God’s country). Dad keeps saying he is going to build a cabin by the pond and get electricity connected which would be neat to stay out there some time overnight. Dad restocked the pond with bream (sunfish), catfish, and bass quite a few years ago and now it is just teeming with fish and is a good fishing hole.   

My Girl is Amiss…

“Do you want to meet us over at the pond and do some fishing?” my father asked me this morning. “I am going to grill hotdogs and hamburgers again. Your brother and sister are bringing the grandkids.”

“Sure,” I replied excitedly after asking for the rendezvous time. “I will meet you there at noon Central time.”

Tracy was still in bed late this morning and it worried me. I thought maybe she was feeling ill. She’s not one to linger in slumber like that.

“It’s just been a tough week of work and I am tired,” she told me. “You go have some fun with your family.”

I felt like the Lone Ranger without Tonto. Usually, Tracy is chomping at the bit at such ventures.

Oh John

Watch the Woman's Hands

Savory or Sweet?

That’s what I asked Tracy about breakfast before she got in the shower to get ready for work.

“Let’s have savory this morning,” she replied with a peck on the lips.

I got in the kitchen and cooked some cheese eggs and buttery toast. I wanted to fry some sausage, but I worried it would take too long. Tracy remarked on the novelty of putting cheese in eggs. I told her it was a delicacy when I would stay at my grandmother’s farm growing up.

Tracy’s schedule has about gotten to where it dictates my schedule as well. We were in the bed at eleven last night and it seemed a short time before the alarm went off at 6:45am. Sometimes, I will go back to bed and catch a quick catnap, but most mornings I am up and ready to go choosing to take my nap after lunch has arrived. I try to have Tracy and I a sandwich fixed when she comes home for lunch between noon and 1pm.

I am going to call my father at 10:45am to see if he is up and at ‘em and mosey on over there for a while while we drink diet sodas and watch an episode of Dr. Phil. I love the days where he doesn’t have to work. My father and I have come so very far in these last few years of my recovery. He is less of an old fuss and feathers and more of a friend. We laugh and have the best time together.

Turn Around – Don’t Drown!

We got over 3 inches of rain last night and have flood warnings all over the place. I hope the bridge is not out on the way to my father’s house. Moore’s creek has a tendency to flood on a grand scale during such events.

And the Last of the Gifts Arrive…

My last gift of eight packages arrived today in the mail. It was a bittersweet moment. The anticipation and excitement has been almost palpable. It was a Sega Genesis USB game controller for my computer. I proudly showed it to my father and told him how I was going to use it. He had never heard of videogame emulation and I explained it to him.

“You got your money’s worth this year,” my father then told me chuckling as I sat next to him in the den this morning.

I thanked him profusely for letting me do that – letting me save up all those months of computer parts money and spend it all at one time. I wanted a whizzbang birthday and I got it.

Now my task is to review all these various products on Newegg and review the individual sellers as well. It will take me a few days as I ruminate over what to write. I also need to use the computer parts a few days to get a feel for them and their performance.

Yay! It’s Finally Here!

I was beginning to think my little pocket weather radio had gotten lost in the mail. I was giving up hope of it ever arriving. It had been over a week since we ordered it. It was the most anticipated gift out of all my gifts this birthday. Well, it arrived today and meets and exceeds my expectations. This thing is so very neat! I was shocked at how tiny and light it is. The shipping box felt as if it were empty.

“Surely, that can’t be that radio,” dad said when he handed me the shipping box earlier today.

Tracy came home for lunch and I was listening to it in the kitchen while I prepared our noon meal. I was picking up the weather station out of Columbus, Georgia to our southeast.

“Look! Its even got a speaker so I don’t have to listen with earbuds,” I told Tracy very happily.

“I could kill Mr. John for ordering that for you,” is all Tracy said with an exasperated smile.

Tracy says the weather radio gets on her nerves because it is so monotonous.

“That thing is not coming to bed with us tonight,” Tracy then said knowing me so very well.

I had this devilish grin on my face as I handed her a lunch plate of ham and tomato sandwiches and potato chips.

Comment Replies…

glittermom said...

Is the trazodone replacing another med. or added to your current meds? Do you suffer from depression? That seems to be what it’s prescribed for.

Andrew Replies…

Glittermom, I was having lots of anxiety and restlessness at night. I called it the stir crazies. My doctor said Trazodone also helped with anxiety and could help me with rest so we tried it. It just makes me really sleepy at the moment. It was added to my current meds. I take it about an hour before I am ready to go to sleep.

Injectionaire…

“Let’s go to bed early tonight,” Tracy said commandingly, turning off the television and closing the lid to her laptop.

I was sitting at the den computer last night and shut it down. It was 10:45pm.

“Sounds like a plan to me,” I said sleepily as I yawned.

I didn’t need much coercion last night for me to turn in early. I had already taken my nighttime meds. I am taking a brand-new nighttime medication called Trazodone and it literally knocks me out. I was just beginning to feel its effects.

“Besides,” Tracy replied. “You’ve got your injection early in the morning.”

I was in my sleeping clothes (t-shirt and boxer shorts) before Tracy could pull on her warm flannel pajamas. Tracy got in the bed and snuggled up against me putting her head on my shoulder.

“Do you ever get scared?” she asked me wistfully with a nervous tone to her speech.

“Scared of what?” I asked perplexed.

“Scared of growing older.”

“You’re just twenty seven. You ought to not be worried about that,” I replied. “I’m the one who ought to be worried about growing older.”

“Will you still love me when I am wrinkly and old?” Tracy then asked.

“I will love you for always,” I replied as we then dozed off to sleep.

Fast Forward to this Morning…

The alarm sounded at 6:45am and we were off to the races. Tracy and I grabbed a shower and went our respective ways. Dad called me about eight to make sure I was up and at ‘em.

“Samantha never came home last night and I am worried sick about her,” dad told me. “Will you go by the house and look for her on your way home from your injection?”

I told my father I would be glad to. I called Samantha and she come running out of the woods next to my father’s house. I immediately called my father and told him that she was okay. He sounded so relieved.

“My pussy is being bad,” he said. “I know she’s got to be hungry and thirsty.”

Comment Replies…

glittermom said...

Which house is bigger? I can’t wait to see the new house and surrounding land, is the river close to the house? I have always wanted to live by the water. I live close to Lake Erie but not close enough to see it. :(

Andrew Replies…

The river house is a smaller house, Glittermom. If you walk out on the back deck, the river is just a few feet away.

A Chill is in the Air…

As Tracy was leaving for work this morning, she walked out the front door and quickly turned around to come back inside and get a coat.

“I told you so!” I said with a smile and a chuckle.

“But it was 82 degrees yesterday!” Tracy complained of the difference.

It almost feels like fall outside today. It never has gotten above 70° degrees.

River House Bound…

Last week, they installed heating and air at the river house (I am going to get you some pictures up soon, Glittermom!). I asked dad this morning if he is really moving in. He said he really is and that he is selling the big manor on the hill. I can only imagine what moving my father is going to entail. It makes me dizzy just thinking about it.

Tornado Watch and Gale Force Winds Be Damned! Let There Be Sausage Biscuits!

“Is Charlie coming in weather like this?” Tracy asked me worriedly as we lay in the bed early this morning.

A good storm was raging outside our bedroom windows. Lightning brightly flashed and the thunder rolled loudly.

“I need to get up and put on some clothes on as he will be here soon,” I replied. “Yes, is the answer to your question.”

I by chance looked out the window and there was Charlie getting out of his car as he opened an umbrella. I smiled a broad smile as Maggie went bonkers at his arrival. I had boldly just told Maggie that Charlie would be here soon. She was vigilantly looking out the den window. The sausage biscuit fairy had arrived.

The Pod People Are Here…

I call the grandkids the “pod people” because they are always walking around like zombies or sitting with their faces buried in iPhones, iPads, and other internet enabled devices.  Well, Papa invited Tracy and I over for breakfast this morning. We had fried sausage patties and scrambled eggs. Oh, I am forgetting the Mary B’s biscuits.

“Thank god for wireless internet,” my father told me. “It keeps the kids preoccupied and entertained.”

“I should have brought my tablet and I would fit in just fine,” I quipped to my father playfully.

I explained to my father why I call them the pod people and he laughed and laughed. Dad then asked me if I am enjoying my birthday computer parts.

“I stayed up until past midnight last night installing my new soundcard and speakers,” I told him. “I was just so ecstatic. My computer has never sounded better.” 

Four parts have arrived and I still have four more computer parts on the way. They should arrive Monday. I am anxiously awaiting my pocket weather radio much to Tracy’s chagrin.

Life Sans Internet…

Monday morning, a big rig drove down our street and took down our cable drop line to the house (low clearance). The police came out and moved the line out of the road and filed a report (I wonder who called the police?). I called that dastardly WOW! and the lady said someone would be out here that afternoon. No one ever came. Dad and Tracy called next to no avail over the next few subsequent days. Each time, the WOW! representative said someone would be out here soon. Thursday rolled around and Tracy and I still didn’t have cable TV and internet. Tracy and I both were at our wit’s end.

“I am driving out to their office and pulling some strings,” my father told me when he stopped by the house to survey the damage yesterday.

Within twenty minutes of my father saying that, two WOW! vans were parked in front of my house and working to restore my service. I am not exaggerating. It took them about another 20 minutes to do so and we were back online.

“How did you do that?” I asked my father over the phone astonishingly grinning ear to ear and laughing jubilantly.

“The receptionist traded with me at the pharmacy for twenty years,” he told me smugly.

I keep telling my father he could make the consummate small town politician. He knows everyone in town.

It was so nice to wake up this morning and look at the weather forecast and radar. I had really missed doing that. You really don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.

Comment Replies…

skinny minny said...

How are Maggie and the cat getting along? Seems like Maggie played a late April fool's prank on you...

Minny, they have an uneasy truce at the moment. I can’t pet Wheezy with Maggie in the room or she gets torn up with jealously. It can be quite comical as Maggie positions herself between me and the cat which sends Wheezy running. Yes, it seems Maggie got my goat so to speak – a late April fool’s joke played on me.

Scared the Living Daylights Out of Me…

“Where’s the Magster?” Tracy asked as she was getting ready for work this morning.

I was in the kitchen warming us up some sweet cinnamon rolls for breakfast.

“You haven’t seen her this morning?” I asked worriedly.

Tracy said no and went about getting dressed for work. I stood in the doorway and watched like a dirty old man.

“What?” Tracy asked smiling broadly as she pulled on her work scrubs.

“It’s just that you are so beautiful,” I replied. “I am lucky to have you.”

My girl with the curls and the curves.

The house was especially quiet this morning. Wheezy was asleep on the arm of the couch. Well, I panicked and looked everywhere and Maggie wasn’t in the house. My worst thoughts were a gate had gotten left open and Maggie had escaped the confines of the backyard which would prove disastrous. The road down from my house is one very busy thoroughfare. I donned a coat and headed out the back door. Maggie was under the laundry room eating a muddy and grimy chicken tender she had buried Sunday evening. I had never been so relieved in my life.

“Don’t scare me so, girl!” I told her scoldingly with a nervous laugh.

Soon, Maggie came romping through the house and used the rug in the den to clean her muddy face and paws. I sighed, but didn’t get on to her this time. I was just overjoyed she was okay. She was just having her breakfast.

April Fool’s Hijinks…

Monday, I was a bad Andrew. I got this large rubber snake from dad and tied some thread to it. I hid it on the other side of the couch. Tracy was sitting on the couch with her laptop when I pulled the thread and the snake came quickly slithering through the room and over the rug. She jumped up, screamed, and almost dropped her laptop.

“I could kill you, Andrew!” Tracy exclaimed exasperated as she then broke out into much hysterical laughter.

My joke on dad was that I called him and asked if he could bring me some left handed toilet paper from the pharmacy seeing that I am left handed. He didn’t take the bait. “April fools!” he hollered as he laughed jovially. My mother would have fallen for it.

Thankfully, nobody pranked me on the 1st. I kept expecting my father to do something dastardly.

Sexual Dreams…

Sometimes my subconscious can surprise me. I had the most pleasant dream last night. It was garnered by an old friend from college. There were many very gentle caresses and tender touching. It left a big impression on me this morning.  I am still daydreaming about it because it seemed so vividly real. .