Blessings Bestowed Upon Us…

Tracy was telling me this morning we were spoiled when it comes to Charlie.

“He’s one in a million, isn’t he?” I agreed.

Charlie brought us breakfast this morning and then asked what we wanted for supper. I decided to get two large pepperoni Little Caesar’s pizzas tonight.

“Run that by dad, Charlie. I am sure he won’t mind,” I urged him.

Tracy didn’t believe me when I told her a Hot-N-Ready large pepperoni pizza only costs six dollars.

Somewhere down the rumor mill it got to Charlie that I needed some strawberry preserves. He handed me a large bottle of Smucker’s along with our biscuits and drinks.

“That must of been my father’s doings,” I told Tracy. “I told him I bought two bags of Mary B’s biscuits this week.”

We are supposed to have severe thunderstorms today so my eye is to the skies and on my computer’s radars. It was spitting rain when I left my father’s house a moment ago. Old Fuss and Feathers was watching political talk shows which are not my cup of tea. I only stayed a few moments – long enough to play with Samantha and her toys.

The Sweat Shop…

“I am way so over dressed,” I told Rebecca this morning embarrassingly. “My house was freezing cold this morning so I put on a hoodie only to be met with a hot and humid Southern morning when I walked out the door. I was already running late so I didn’t have time to change.”

“Well,” Rebecca replied. “A lady at my daughter’s soccer practice yesterday was wearing a sweat suit in 90 degree weather. It must be something in the water.”

We both laughed and laughed. It was so good to see her this morning on this our mission of mercy for me. Rebecca gave me my injection and Dee Dee greeted me in the front office.

“What about our Tigers, Andrew?” she asked.

Dee Dee has always been under the delusion I am some wild, rabid Auburn fan. It doesn’t help that half of my apparel is Auburn related like what I wore this morning. Of course, I can talk the talk and walk the walk.

“We don’t seem to have that high powered offense we are so used to,” I replied. “Our offense seems flat and uninspired.”

“We need to get better as some tough games are headed our way,” she said worriedly.

I agreed and bid them all farewell and headed to the pharmacy after obtaining my next appointment card which Dee Dee dutifully filled out.

“Samantha left you a gift on the chair on the porch,” my father told me without fanfare sitting behind the pharmacy counter. “I put them in a Ziploc bag.”

Samantha is my father’s cat.

I left the drugstore wondering just what did Samantha leave me as I headed to my father’s house. Well, dad had put two dead chipmunks Samantha caught in a Ziploc bag on the chair. I called him when I got home and he just laughed and laughed. Such a sick, twisted sense of humor. I should have brought them home so Maggie could eat them and she would have. Maggie loves dead, stinky things. Samantha just catches them and leaves them as gifts and trophies at the back door.

Tuna City…

One time my mother started feeding their two cats canned cat food as a treat. The basement smelled like a seafood shop and it was just a messy business glopping that food on paper plates. In my father’s defense, it was pretty gross. My father vowed that when those cats passed away and he got another cat he would feed it dry cat food only as he does with Samantha now. This brings us to the part that he would be deeply against me getting Maggie canned dogfood due to the previous scenario. “It would be messy and smelly,” I can hear him now say. My hands are tied on this one unfortunately.

Lean Times at Andrew's Casa...

"These are mine! You've already eaten yours," I told Maggie as she licked her chops at my two scrambled eggs and bacon this morning.

She wolfs her's down so quickly it is a wonder she even tastes it.

I am managing to stick to my diet so far, but I feel hungry all the time. I had the Lean Cuisine spaghetti and meat sauce meal for supper and I was ravishingly hungry by the time bedtime rolled around. I went to sleep hungry. I am trying to forego the honey bun and glass of milk. I put the honey buns in the freezer.

My father stopped by to see me last night after work. Maggie was overjoyed as always to see him. I was quite smitten myself to see him as well. We've had a change in our routines where my father leaves my two Cokes and my cigarettes in a chair on his porch at night. I pick them up in the morning.

"I've got one more dosage of medicine in my blister pack and then I am out," I warned him.

"Let's get in my car and go get another pack I have at the house," my father told me.

"Only if I can drive," I replied.

My father's driving makes me car sick.

It was so good to see Sam my feline buddy. Sam has been under the weather and has been at the veterinarian for a week. She had the kitty version of the flu. Dad knew something was wrong when she quit eating for several days. I had to have a Diet Coke and some caffeine so dad and I sat in the den and talked awhile.

"I deactivated my Facebook account," I told my father.

"What brought this about?" he asked, looking at me wide-eyed.

"I just have trouble seeing the ramifications of my writings and it is such a public place to air your dirty laundry. I worried I would write something about you or Charlie and it would get back to y'all and hurt your feelings."

"Well, it is good you can recognize that," my father replied.

Salutations From a Very Wet Alabama...

There is not a day that goes by that I don't thank my father for my new Gigabit Internet connection. I haven't enjoyed something so much in years. Everything is so fast as far as downloading and uploading go. He smiles and tells me thank you almost a little bashfully.

It has been pouring rain all morning. I woke up to a brightly lit radar. There was a short break in the rain last hour and I hurried over to my father's house to get my daily pack of cigarettes and two Diet Cokes. Poor Sam. She was sitting on the back porch looking pitifully wet.

"I'd let you inside sweetheart, but I don't know the alarm code," I told her as I let her curl up in my lap for a few minutes.

She is the loudest purring cat and let me know she appreciated this warm respite very much. I then grabbed my giant and wet Ziploc bag of goodies and headed out just as the rain was starting to pick up again. I was glad to be back in my warm and dry home with my warm and content Maggie. I put my two lukewarm drinks in the freezer and set the timer on my stove for 45 minutes. I will absolutely relish those two ice cold sodas in just a few.

There was something missing in my grits this morning and it was butter. I just seasoned them with salt and pepper and they were still mediocre.  I also warmed a raisin bagel and ate it with the cream cheese I purchased last night. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I was so hungry I could've eaten Maggie's Purina One.

Bring Me Your Tired, Your Weary, Your Despondent...

I had called my father at work and told him to call me when he got home. I said I would drive over and get my cigarettes and two cokes saving him the drive to my house. I was trying to make things easy on him. He is so kind every night to bring me those things.

The phone rang as the clock was inching towards 9 PM and I answered.

"I'm ready for you," my father told me. "Give Maggie fresh food and water before you come."

When I walked outside, George was sitting in his cranked car smoking a cigarette and drinking a beer. I shook my head and chuckled. I put my car in drive and sped off to my father's house. I noticed three police cars with lights blazing at the house on the corner.

Dad had ordered a large pizza and only ate like two slices and gave me the rest. I called it tonight's bonus round and he laughed.

"Are you feeling lots of withdrawal?" my father asked me worriedly since we quit taking Benadryl Sunday.

"I've felt pretty good," I told him. "It is more psychosomatic than anything. I miss the ritual."

I took Benadryl every night for years and years.

"I worked only 5 hours and I'm pooped," dad told me as I was heading out the door. "It's a long time to stand on your feet."

Samantha came scurrying inside as soon as I opened the screen door.

"That's one busy cat," I told my father laughing.

"She'd go in and out all day if given the choice," my father replied.

I talked my father into giving me two packs of cigarettes tonight as he has to work all day tomorrow. I called it my emergency pack. He balked some but gave in.

Mornings With Papa...

"Should I knock?" I asked myself about 9:30 AM this morning. I was fretting. My father likes or I should say loves to sleep late. I was standing at my dad's back door and Sam was just having a fit to get inside. I knocked really quietly at first and waited. Soon, I could hear my father's footsteps on the kitchen floor as he ambled to the door. I heard him grab the key and the door unlocked.

"Good morning you two!" he said happily, swinging the door widely open.

"Were you asleep?" I asked sheepishly and guardedly.

"I was awake. I was just laying on the bed enjoying my warm covers," dad said welcoming me and Sam inside.

Sam went straight to her food dish and started eating her nibbles as my father calls them.

Dad turned on the oven for his toast, flicked the switch on the coffee maker, turned on the heater on the wall, and then turned on the television. We were watching the weather channel and we both moaned as we have yet more rain on the way. Spring has sprung here. Everything is green, blooming and the trees are leafing out.

"You two are lucky I am so accommodating this early," my father said chuckling. "You didn't talk to your grandmother until she got two cups of coffee in her."

I told dad I fixed my television which was popping and carrying on. It simply was the HDMI cable. The one the WOW! guy installed was defective. I had an extra one in a drawer in the bedroom.

"It's a shame you couldn't have made a decent living fixing computers and electronics," he told me.

"I am going to drink a Diet Coke then I am going to go," I told my father as I headed to the fridge.

Dad was surprised that I wanted a Diet Coke as I haven't been drinking them very much lately.

Mr. Clean!

My two chicken pot pies before consuming commenced...

"Well Andrew, you have been doing a great job keeping your kitchen clean," Charlie said last night as he poked his head into the den.

I beamed with pride as he said it and puffed up my chest in bravado as I smiled at my father.

"I smell a dead rat in your kitchen, though," Charlie told me.

I couldn't smell it, but my sense of smell is terrible. Something I inherited from my mother.

"They finally took the bait under the house," I told Charlie thankfully.

Charlie was looking for things to do so he cleaned and polished my stainless steel sink. All he had to do was take out yesterday's trash and give Maggie some fresh dog food and some water. I had polished the glass stovetop, wiped down my kitchen counters, and mopped the floor. I also mopped the floor in my bathroom as well.

"Let me see your bathroom," my father said ever nosey.

I turned on the light as my father gazed inside. My bathroom tends to be the dirtiest room in the house. It can look like a bunch of homeless people took a bath at times.

"Looks good!" he said. "I am proud of you Chuck."

Charlie brought my two chicken pot pies. I also got three chocolate chips cookies which I relished. They were nice and soft if fresh baked. There was also plenty of pot pie left for Maggie to have her fill. She ate every last bit of it.

Pussies Gone Awry...

Dad called me this morning at 6 AM. Fortunately, I was already dressed and up and going. I had just finished cleaning up the kitchen after cooking breakfast.

"I can't find Samantha and she has been gone all night," my father told me. "She usually comes back inside around 4 AM."

"I'll get out in the car and drive around the neighborhood," I told my father.

I pulled into my father's neighborhood and Samantha was sitting on the sidewalk in front of my father's neighbor's house. I coaxed her into the car and headed to Casa de Papa.

"Thank you so much," my father said as I handed him the cat. "I was worried to death about her."

"You are being a bad pussy," he told her scoldingly.

Well, I came home and laid down on the bed with Maggie, fell fast asleep, and didn't wake up until almost 4 PM this afternoon. I couldn't believe what time it was at first. It was like a time warp when my father called me from work and awakened me. I sure hope I sleep tonight. The last thing I need is to get waylayed on another term of nocturnal existence.

Home of the Big Breakfast...

I got up at 6:30 AM and drove over to my father's house to get my one Benadryl and a pack of smokes. Yes, we are down to one Benadryl which is such a momentous occasion! It is rather amazing when I think about it. It makes me nervous as hell, but it was my idea to quit. My brain still craves diphenhydramine to a degree. Dad had left them in a Ziploc bag to thwart the rain on the back porch for me. He didn't want me to call and wake him up too early. Samantha wanted inside so badly, but I had to leave her hanging literally from the screen on the back porch screen door.

Maggie was pooped out this morning as she lay on the cool kitchen floor and I got some breakfast started. She was laying on her side when I started frying the bacon and soon was underfoot when the smell of that bacon began to waft through the kitchen and the rest of the house. The smell of percolating coffee has a very similar effect on us humans. I scrambled some eggs and made some very buttery cheese toast. Breakfast must have been a thousand calories this morning.

Charlie will be along in about two hours. I couldn't wait for Charlie to arrive I was so ravishingly hungry when I awoke. I will drink the Coke he brings and then put the biscuits in the fridge to be warmed up later in the day or tomorrow. I know one animal around here who will be able to pack in one more bit of breakfast. Maggie will eat the sausage patty and go bury the biscuits in the backyard as they are not her forte.

A Vignette in Darkness...

fine examples of Egyptian mummified cats

I arrived at my father's house late yesterday evening and the back door was open. "Well, this is inviting," I thought to myself. I made my way through the kitchen and my father was in the den sitting in his chair with his pajamas on.

"Why do you have it so dark in here?" I asked him intrigued.

I was also intrigued that his omnipresent television wasn't on.

"Shhh," my father replied softly. "My pussy is asleep on my lap."

A big grin formed on my face and I chuckled softly as I commandeered the recliner next to my father's.

I had to bring my medications which my father studied them to make sure I hadn't missed any dosages and that I am taking them as prescribed.

"I take the morning dosage at around 8 PM to 9 PM and the main dosage at midnight," I told him and he grumbled a little bit.

Yes, I am an animal, too!

I am still stuck in a nocturnal existence

"I never thought you could do it, but you seem to be handling your medications responsibly," he told me.

"I don't want to be crazy," I told my father sincerely, "My life falls into disarray without some help."

Speaking of cats, dad and I spoke for awhile about Egyptian dignitaries who would be entombed with their mummified cats. I had read an article about it in Archeology Today along with a fascinating article on whale fossils and their evolution.

I stood up to leave as it was now twilight outside and I dreaded driving home in the dark.

"Love you," my father said. "And don't forget your Cokes and smokes on the kitchen counter."

Fireside Naps...

More quiet time was had yesterday afternoon. My father was gone all day getting medical tests inflicted upon him, the poor soul. He had triple bypass heart surgery about a decade ago and they were checking his heart and his arteries with an ultrasound and then a stress test on his heart. He came out with flying colors. I was very relieved. I didn't want to hear the word surgery once again.

"Chuck? You can come and get your Cokes and smokes now," my father said over the phone about five in the afternoon.

I was relieved to hear his voice. I got in the car to drive over and Old Fuss and Feathers met me at the door already in his pajamas and housecoat.

Dad got in his recliner and I stretched out on his brown suede leather couch next to the gas heater. We were both quiet and content with the silence. The heater felt wonderful on this very chilly day. Sam was laying on the floor in front of it basking in its warmth. I call it kitty crack and my father laughs. We didn't talk much and I thanked the ethos he didn't turn that raucous and infernal television on. I told my father I had quiet time as well the previous evening.

I dozed off and awoke to a darkened den. My father was asleep in his recliner. It was getting close to 6 PM and darkness was fast encroaching upon the land. I don't like to drive at night in the dark so that was my cue to head on home.

"Call me at 8:30 in the morning to make sure I am up," I told my father as I was stepping out the door.

"That's right! Your injection is in the morning!" dad said excitedly giving me accolades for remembering.

My father wrote himself a note to call me and put it on the kitchen counter next to the toaster oven.

Of Cats and Men...

Joni and her smokes...

My insatiable desire to smoke has almost gotten out of hand. I can't moderate it lately for some damn reason and my craving for beer has been off the scale as well. Dad says I am in addiction mode -- that the chemistry in my brain is in flux. I had told Old Fuss and Feathers to leave a pack of smokes out on his back porch for emergencies. Well, I needed them this afternoon. I drove over to find Samantha sitting at the back door as I grabbed my cigarettes.

"Sweetheart, I do not know the new alarm code or I would let you in," I told her.

Dad just had a new alarm installed.

You could tell she was cold as she was all poofed up fur wise. Dad mustn't been able to get her inside before he left for work this morning.

"Meow," Samantha told me urgently.

"I know sweetheart. There is nothing I can do."

At least it was above freezing. The temperature was 38 °F when I left the house. I sat down on the steps and Samantha crawled into my lap just purring up a storm. At least, she was getting some respite as my lap was warm from sitting in my very warm car. She made herself comfortable. I sat there for what seemed like hours until the cold got ahold of me and I had to leave.

That Damnable Ethernet Device...

My seldom used backup computer wouldn't sleep lately. It was driving me crazy trying to figure out why. I finally figured out why it wouldn't sleep or hibernate as it should. My ethernet device was set to wake it up on a certain event and my recently installed WeatherBug weather program was also keeping it from sleeping.

I opened up the window's command line by pressing the windows key plus the x key and typed this to find out...

powercfg -lastwake

or

powercfg -requests

Windows Media Player was also making network requests so I turned it off as well.

Mostly Forgotten...

I guess I can't complain. It has been a quiet Christmas. I set my alarm to take my noon medications and Maggie and I went back to bed and slept until 4 pm.  I couldn't get my father on the phone so I drove to his house and no one was home. The beemer was gone so that means he had traveled out of town. Charlie went to Atlanta to be with his oldest son and his granddaughter on Christmas.

It is also our first Christmas without mom and I miss her dearly. She wouldn't join in on all the revelry and would stay at home in the bed. I would call her with a sob story about how Christmas sucks and she would tell me to come over and be with her. She might just give me something medicinal to make me feel better as well. (ahem)

All Hope is Not Yet Lost...

Edit: Papa was just passing through Camp Hill, Alabama late this evening when he called me on the way back from my sister's house. Thank goodness!

"I'll call you when I get home," he said. "You have a lot of presents from your brother and sister. I've missed you and I love you."

"Do you know what I gave all the grandkids?" dad then asked. "I gave them all $250 and a framed picture of Samantha. (dad chuckles) The kids loved it and had a fit over it!"

I guess the cavalry is arriving after all. Just when I had lost all hopes for this Christmas. You just don't want to be alone on the holidays. You want your family to be around you.

From Bushes to Home -- A Cat's Journey...

Jeez, it is RAW outside. It is 39° degrees and raining. I was spurred on my journey to Papa's house by the temptations of Cokes, Cigarettes, and a home-cooked meal. Dad was smart tonight about not having to brave this weather and deliver the goods. He called me and asked me to come over.

As I pulled into the driveway, dad's cat, Samantha, came running out of the bushes trying to stay dry and followed me inside. Dad had the heat on high and it hit me like sticking my head in a furnace when I walked in the door. Samantha crashed on the floor in front of my father's gas heater in the den thoroughly enjoying the heat.

"That heat is like crack to kitties," I told my father,

It took a minute for him to realize what I was saying.

"Oh, like crack the drug," he replied laughing. "I'll have to remember that."

Dad had cooked pork chops and rice. One of my favorite dishes of his and there was plenty left over after he ate supper. He had a big care package for me all bagged up and ready to go.

"I hate to go so fast, but I want to eat these chops while they are still hot," I told my father. "So, I am going to head on."

My father told me he didn't blame me and hugged me goodbye.

"Enjoy your supper," he said as I shut the back door.

I drove like a teenager heading home. I would goose the throttle until the on-demand AWD would kick in and stop my front wheels from spinning on the wet pavement -- ever mindful of my mirrors and if there were any cops around.

The Bellows of the Earth...

"Charlie, I didn't expect you out in this weather," I said as a gust of wind blew Charlie's hair wildly which he fought off with his hand.

"Well Hell," Charlie nonchalantly replied. "That's what windshield wipers are for."

I just had to laugh. Charlie is more dependable than the postal service.

So far, we are getting gusts up to 35 miles an hour and the rain is torrential. The power keeps blinking on and off throwing my computers into complete disarray.

Well, I just saw George drive by headed to the Waffle House for an early lunch. I can't be that bad or all these folks are crazy.

I just called my weather obsessed father and asked him if he would be out in this...

"Oh, hell no!" he exclaimed. "My pussy and I are staying put."

Ah Papa!

I drove over to my parent's house a moment ago to get my diet Cokes and my cigarettes. Yes, I've gone back to smoking the highly addictive little cancer sticks. I blame it on my neighbor George and our carport communication and smoking sessions. George makes his own cigarettes with a cigarette machine and loose tobacco.

Dad also read a peer-reviewed journal entry that most mentally ill people smoke and that it is cathartic for them so he is very sympathetic about the whole affair.

I knocked on the door and no one answered so I let myself in with my key. Dad was deeply asleep in his recliner with his "pussy" between his legs. Samantha awoke first and greeted me with a meow which awoke my father.

"What are you doing, bud?" he asked rubbing his eyes.

"I was trying not to wake you, but I am getting my sodas and cigarettes," I told him.

"That reminds me," he said. "I need to get you some more cigarettes tonight."

"I just took the last pack," I said as I stood up after pilfering the coat closet. "Go back to sleep."

"No, let's take your medications while you are here," he said. "Go get the medications out of my Honda."

Dad sleepily doled out my pills as I took them with a swig of a sparkling grapefruit juice drink that was in the fridge. The grapefruit drink was odd, but equally delicious as well.

Martha, My Mother, is Calling...

"Alright Martha!" my father exclaimed with a chuckle when I called and asked for my medications before he left home for the Auburn game.

"It is going to be before noon," he trepidatiously told me. "Don't you think that is too early?"

It probably is, but I don't want to wait until midnight to get my medications either. I am going to be a riverboat gambler and hope things turn out okay. Either way you look at it, it is a lose/lose situation.

"I will be fine hopefully," I then complacently told my father. "I don't think I can bear waiting until way late tonight."


Beautiful BLTs!

Charlie and my father were eating some very delicious looking bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches for supper when I arrived at my father's house last night. Charlie offered to fix me two sandwiches, but I declined not wanting to take my medications on a full stomach.

"I am moving back to the Valley (to his newly purchased house) and selling my house in West Point," Charlie told me excitedly.

I offered my help in moving and Charlie said he was going to take me up on that. I may be mentally disabled, but I am not physically disabled. I have a strong back and can help.

Dad had been drinking some wine and I didn't want him to drive over and give me my medications last night so I took the initiative and drove over there instead. Dad was still in his pajamas after a long afternoon nap. He was a little giddy as well from the wine acting silly talking about how relaxed his pussy (cat) was in her leather chair. Charlie just rolled his eyes at me which made me smile broadly and then laugh.

"Y'all better not be talking about my pussy!" dad loudly said from the den.

Dad was then clumsily giving me my medications when he dropped a pill.

"Where did it go?" dad asked perplexed looking all over the floor.

"It fell into one of your bedroom slippers," I explained.

Dad removed his slipper and out rolled a lithium pill.

Come in From the Cold...

Well, I just got off the phone with the Grand Papa. I called as soon as I got up hoping to hear his wonderful voice on the other end. He said he had a grand time in San Francisco.

"My cousin Johnny is a wonderful cook and host."

"I'll come and get my medications if it is easier on you," I told my father over the phone.

Charlie and my father were at the river house planning their next course of action.

"I might take you up on that," my father said. "Maggie will want to see me as well."

"I know it is a Catch-22," I replied.

"I'll call you when I get back to the house," my father said.

Addendum...

My father was eating a banana and mayo sandwich when I walked through his back door. Samantha followed me in and headed straight to her "nibbles" as dad calls them. Dad handed me my medications and I gulped them down with a swing of Diet Coke. Dad's cousin had also made oatmeal cookies and they were wonderful.

Opulence Was Given...

I called Dad knowing he had arrived home from Alexander City and my niece's much-ballyhooed dance recital. I crossed my fingers just for good luck and gulped robustly as I punched his number into my cordless phone.

"Dad, I am all out of food and milk. Would you please fix me up a care package of Beefaroni out of your pantry and I wanted to get my Cokes for today as well."

The beefaroni are kept down in the pantry just for these types of occasions. Dad buys six a week. It is a carryover from when my mother did all the grocery shopping. I usually need them around Sunday and Monday.

"You've eaten all your food? I can't believe you've eaten all that food!" Dad said alarmingly.

"Drive over and I will give you something to eat and drink," he said with a sigh.

I should've been the one letting loose a sigh. I am 45 years old for Christ's sake. I don't need to be told when and what I can eat. I don't want to have to grovel for the scraps from my father's dinner table. (Evoke Auschwitz Mantra)

It was almost 10:30 PM by the time I was pulling out of my driveway for the short drive to my parent's house. My father goes to bed around midnight so I wasn't too worried about keeping him up.

When I drove over, I made sure to take the route by the police station so the traffic would be light. Be sure to buckle up for safety and to avoid $75 dollar traffic tickets. 20 mph is the speed limit along that stretch of road as well.

"Don't let the cat out!" my father hollered to me as I unlocked and opened the back door.

Samantha was ready to pounce, but I kept her inside. I picked the diminutive little cat up off the kitchen counter and put her in Dad's lap. That cat can jump to incredible heights.

I apologized profusely upon arrival at my father's house for some reason. My father was sitting in the den watching TV specifically the London disturbance.

"Go downstairs and get what you need," he told me. "Your Cokes are in the coat closet."

Opulence for me tonight is three microwavable bowls of Beefaroni and six Diet Cokes. I feel as if I have won the lottery jackpot.

This is How Life Unfolds Sometimes...

First off, have you been outside in the Southland today? The wind is just howling something fierce. A cold front must've blown through overnight. It is overcast and very dreary.

**************************

"Where are y'all?" I asked my father over his cellphone after unsuccessfully trying to get him on the home phone.

It was 2 PM in the afternoon.

"Charlie and I have driven to Columbus to get your sister-in-law some antique furniture. Charlie's in my truck with Horsefly and I am following in his Caprica with Jen."

"What do you need Chuck?" dad then asked with a very pleasant tone to his voice.

"I was just wanting my medications and my sodas," I told my father. "I am feeling some withdrawal today. We have been taking them around lunch every day lately and I have gotten spoiled."

An aside, my father has been very lenient with my medications lately and I wonder when it is going to end.

"I put your Cokes and cigars on the chair outside the back door," my father told me. "I hope that helps. I will give you your medications when I get back in town."

Ah, yes! My cigars! How could I forget you? I got in my car and the yellow light signalling I am about empty on gas was glowing. I headed to the Circle K to fill it up with gasoline making sure to get a receipt.

I pulled into my parent's driveway and could hear Samantha crying loudly. I walked up the steps to find her crying and cold in her cat bed on the back porch.

"Are you cold?" I asked the poor cat as I rubbed the nape of her neck. "I can't open the door as I may set off the alarm and I do not know the new code."

I came home and called my father to tell him his pussy was cold. My father chuckled. I also had ulterior motives as I wanted to know their progress. The prognosis was dismal.