The Wailing Wall

There's a grand old maid

Across the sea

So the story was recalled to me

And from dawn til dark, you hear her call

Down in front of the wailing wall

And she cries all day so sad and alone

til someone comes along and leads her home

Nobody listens and nobody seems to care

But everyday you'll find them there

Kneeling down

For sadness sake

Crying just as though their hearts would break

And from dawn til dark you hear them call

Down in front of the wailing wall

And they cry all day, so sad and alone

Til someone comes to lead them home

You know I don't listen, and you know I don't really care

But every day you will find me there

I am kneeling down 

just for sadness sake

Crying just as though my heart would break

And from dawn til dark you'll hear me call

Down in front of the wailing wall.

HI CHARMAINE

The Cable Dog

I think I know the problem.

It seemed a bit strange that a small block of channels disappeared from my television.  Having never really heard of this happening and since I don't watch that much television to begin with figured who cares, its not A&E the History Channel, The Food Network, Bravo, any of the Sports Channels or the Networks so its all good.

Slightly over a week went by and a poof, a few more stations were gone.  Oh god am I going to have to call Time Warner was all I could think.  I don't have a week to stay on hold and another week to wait for a service man.  I was in no hurry as the stations were not really on my radar, Tara did start to complain about missing some of her animal stations.  I started tracing cable around the inside of the house, checking everything I could think of off the top of my head, the back of the box, checking for loose connections you know the things that inept unqualified guys do when they are to lazy, busy or just plain to irritated to call someone to fix the problem.

Finally the problem started to get bad, in other words the block of channels that included Bravo, A&E and the Food Network was gone.  What the hell was going on, I surrendered and made the call to Time Warner

No shit, I called on my cell from Anaheim Hills...I was still on hold when I walked into my house in Huntington Beach some 45 minutes later, I had this pulsing in my neck.  I swear to god my carotid artery was about the size of your average garden hose.  Finally someone picked up.  I explained my dilemma and of course was told to reboot the system.  I tried to explain that this was already done but being the first line of Time Warner defense they insisted and I acquiesced.  When nothing happened, they tried to reboot from there end.

Then the rep. wanted to know what stations where missing in detail, I turned the television on and started going through the stations, well it looks as though most everything above the networks and HOLY SHIT everything just went blank....

I turned towards the windows throwing my hands into the air preparing to unload on the person on the other end of the line and that is when I saw it, or should I say her.....Santi our 65 pound American Pitt Bull Terrier, she looked like a Marlin that had just hit the bait. 

I was staring through the open hurricane shutters in my family room looking out on to my side yard and there she was, standing on her hind legs, almost moonwalking with the cable in her mouth like 30lb test line, she was some 20 feet or more from the corner of the house where the cable runs...I stood motionless looking out the window, all I could say was "I think I know the problem".

Time Warner showed up the next day, the service man thought it was funny as hell.  They didn't charge me a dime but he did make me promise not to let the dog watch TV for a week...?

YOU ASKED FOR IT MJ

Ok so Michelle in NYC told me she wanted to see this hat, and she wanted to see it now.  Since I am not opposed in the least to making an ass out of my self on occasion here it is.  Now I can go back to writing a post...LOL..

The hat is from Peru, a friend of mine's wife is from Peru and brought it back as a gift for me...they have some name but I don't remember what it is.  It is soooooooo freaking soft its unbelievable.

Yay freaking Yay i made it home

So I made it home, YAY!  I am beat, got in yesterday 7ish PM.  I will admit it,  Jim must be getting old because I am fried from the trips of the past few weeks. Finally ending up at my sister's house in Santa Rosa for Thanksgiving. The relentless back spasms for three days didn't help much but I am starting to feel better now.  

I really wish I would have taken a camera with me. I sent Charmaine tons of pics of my family via pic message on my phone so maybe she can describe them.  Hey maybe I can download pic's from my phone so i can share them with ya'll.  

I am very thankful that my housekeeper came yesterday before I got home so that i didn't have to flip out at whatever the house looked like from whatever the adventures of Tara where while I was gone.  She was looking a little uptight about coming home before i reminded her that this was Martha's Monday to clean. She started smiling really huge after that.

My brother is in the capable hands of my oldest sister Carol, she took him to her house in Durham (just south of Chico) after the Thanksgiving festivities at my sister Cindy's house.  So I am getting a rest from being caregiver, and very grateful.  He is actually doing quite well again too which is a bonus.

I am also doubting very much that I am really related to any of the people at Thanksgiving dinner with the exception of my daughter, my niece Corin and my nephew Lance.  I will recap the events soon when I get motivation to do this.  I was thinking of writing a paragraph on everyone that was there and then we could all play guess the relative...I am sure I would fail miserably.

One thing I discovered while in Cleveland was that I still have a stalker (a really cute one) there.  I have not seen her in years, she is my wife's best friend Stephanie's youngest sister. I drove over to visit Steph and Joe one day from Pittsburgh and she popped in.  She is 14 years younger than me...she used to follow me around like a puppy dog at weddings, funerals, whatever, but that was a long long time ago...she is now 38 and divorced and while i was visiting Steph...guess what she followed me around like a puppy dog.  It was like a stalker cocktail, one part flattering, two parts creepy and gave me the shakes...LOL...

Well back to the laundry, will try and get my thoughts together and write about the trip a little more coherently tomorrow.  

 

READY FOR TAKE OFF SIR

So in typical Murphy's Law fashion I slipped on the ice on the porch today.  My back is slowly but surely getting tighter and tighter.  I am on like 2000 of ibuprofen and hoping that my back feels better before the whole in my stomach burns the rest of the way through.  At 52 years old this is nothing all that new to me, I have done the steroid packs and the muscle relaxer thing due to everything from slipped disc to major muscle pulls.  This feels more like a hip pointer mixed with a muscle pull, but hey I have a flight to catch tomorrow and am 2526 miles away from my Dr.s office so hopefully we will just tough this one out.  I can always go to the ER in Santa Rosa if it persists, sounds like a lovely way to spend Thanksgiving.

While I and my brother are all packed and ready for our big trip tomorrow it was anything but easy with me screaming in pain with each movement, all the while trying to figure out what he wanted me to pack for him, all of his answers to my questions coming out in his new voice which sounds like a cross between Carl in Slingblade ummhummm and Darth Vadar haaaaaaaaaaa.  For those of you who have not been playing along, Don (my brother) is a recent stroke victim and the main reason I am in Pittsburgh.  I know I am on my way to hell for seeing the humor in everything he does but I was probably well on my way before this.  He is my big brother and I love him dearly but he was a freak before the stroke so LOL.

I am imagining us heading through Pittsburgh International Airport tomorrow looking a bit like the Mummy and Frankenstein taking a Holiday.  Me with my entire back rigid and stiff playing the role of Frank, Don with his left side partially paralyzed dragging along at my side we should make quite the spectacle.  Actually we have been sitting here laughing our senior citizen asses off about it for the better part of the evening.

I just had to throw this out there.....wish us luck....not taking a laptop with me but of course my niece and nephew both have mac books that their wonderful Uncle Jim bought them for their birthdays last year so I should be updating at some point, hopefully that is.

Gooble gooble and all of that...

Remember this is the Holiday that it is okay to talk about big breasts at the dinner table.

Hi THERE

Over the past 30 years or so, discounting Holiday visits and of course the seemingly never ending Frying Pans and Fire trips over the past decade, I really have not spent all that much time back home in Pittsburgh.  

The past few weeks here have really brought back lots of memories for me, both good and not so good.   I have been spending the days running my brother around to his endless Dr. and therapy appointments, visiting with relatives both young and old,  going to Steeler games,  taking walks , watching it snow and WRITING...the writing is going very well by the way.

One of the things that I never really noticed when I was young and I lived here, and that truly annoyed me beyond words on those short trips has now become a very welcome part of my day.  When you dive down the street, everyone waves, whether you know them or not, everywhere you go the people say Hi There, how are doing? More importantly they actually expect an answer, then they listen to the answer and respond with something about there day.  Its amazing, everything takes a little longer but it all seems so HUMAN...I mean I have these kinds of relationships with a few people in HB, but its not exactly the same.  These people seem to remember what you told them and then they ask about that, I think I may be decompressing or something, 

At any rate, we are packing up and heading for Santa Rosa this Tuesday...off to my sister Cindy's for Thanksgiving.  My older sister Carol will be driving over from Durham so it will be the first time all four of us have been together since our mother passed away.  Tara will fly up on Wednesday and one of my nieces and one nephew will be there too.  I am sure it will be a little different than last year at Fancy Nancy's.

I am really really looking forward to seeing the sisters,  I have not seen them since I started this whole dating thing and now that I am taking a break from same maybe they can help me put it all in some sort of perspective.  I have this man habit of tuning out when a phone conversation gets to long winded but am quite capable of listening for hours in person.  Should be late night talks, board games and tons of food, plus the girls like to wait on me, god I miss that part.  Almost forgot about that entirely, that will be sooooo nice.

In case I don't get anything posted before then I really want to wish my blog friends a very HAPPY THANKSGIVING....

THE WOMAN IN MY LIFE

Just had to share this photo...my crazy kid, TARA LYN.  Oh to be Nineteen...

College sophomore, Biology Major, she plays piano, guitar and flute, she knits, she will be transferring to either Berkley or Davis next fall.  Someday she will learn how to make her bed or change a toilet paper roll but I am not holding my breath.

She went with me and voted for President for the first time this year, it was such an uplifting experience.  She was active and did phone banks for Prop's 2 and 8.  I won't talk politics for her but from the description of her above and below you can probably formulate a guess on which side of the votes she was on.

At the tender age of 11 she decided she that she was a vegetarian and has not changed her position since, very stubborn young lady, not sure where that comes from.  

You would love her room, it is decorated with my album covers from the late 60s and early 70s. Her ring tone is Hendrix but you are more likely to hear Joni Mitchell blasting from her room. 

I am a very lucky dad...love her tons...just had to share this pic, her sense of fun makes me smile and every once in a while she lets me think if just for a moment that I am still her hero.