A Water Pump and a Dark Horse

OMG am I down. Bleeeeeding money, and major events just ahead on the calendar - like I told my mechanic, the only good news in my life is that it's half over.And . . . add the water pump to the bill. If I was a horse they'd shoot me.

There's incidental leakage from a badly corroded (is that word?) pipe on the pump. If it wasn't done now I'd have been back in the shop next week bitching about it on FB.

And in an irrelevant aside, Katy Perry's new single "Dark Horse" blew me away. GREAT tune.

People!

My van died in the middle of a busy intersection, and damned if anyone would slow down, much less take care to give me more than a few feet of room as they zoomed by.  I got a tow truck on the way ASAP, and a few minutes before it arrived someone finally stopped to help me push it to the side of the road. Ugh. Life.

25 Years Ago

On this day 25 years ago October 13, 1988: Vice President Bush debated with Michael Dukakis in Los Angeles, California. It's the moment when Dukakis sealed his doom by answering a hypothetical question about his wife's murder with all the passion of a zombie.

I've always thought his answer should have been this: 

"If it was my wife that was murdered? I would want the killer found, convicted, and executed that very day. I think I'd like to pull the switch myself. That's human nature. But we are a nation of laws for a reason. And I believe in those laws, and in this country, and I would defer my personal need for revenge, and put my trust in the system I am sword to uphold."

Quote

Junie and The Sound of Music

Junie came home from school singing songs from "The Sound of Music", which they'd watched in class today. I'm super happy; I'd been trying to get them to fall in love with it, but good luck getting the kids to watch anything more than 10 years old at home. Now it's all she can talk about :)

Andy Pafko

RIP Milwaukee Braves great Andy Pafko, age 92

Three Thoughts

Ack. FB is rife with goofy political stuff as of late. 

a) Whether the Redskins change their name or not is not a political issue, it's a social and economic one - if the public and their $ demands it, it'll happen. Repeat, it is not a partisan issue and I don't blame Obama. Geesh.

b) the gov't 'shutdown' is not the apocalypse, and the people involved are not traitors. Disagreeing on how/if to fund this bloated corpse of a gov't is a legit issue for both sides. Calm down. 

c) I think Obama is a barely adequate executive who, to his favor, has continued many of the Bush-era policies and done a world of good re: student lunches. I didn't vote for him, I don't want him, I'll be glad when he's gone - BUT he's the POTUS and he will be for three more years, so I'm not going to waste my breath on pointless attacks or impeachment motions. Save your energy for 2016 when it'll do some good.

Good Times

Rewatched the Mayweather-Canelo fight while paying some bills . . . Floyd schooled that youngin'

Vo Nguyen Giap

Vo Nguyen Giap, the history teacher turned General who helped drive both the French and US out of Vietnam, has died at the age of 102. He fought for the wrong side, but he was an opponent worthy of respect and so RIP sir, RIP.

Another Thumb Update

Around one or two in the morning my damaged thumbnail fell off, which is good, because as of late it had started to smell like rotting zombie flesh, and lets not forget the occasional pus that leaked out at odd times.  In the words of my wife, the whole thing is "Soooooooo unsexy." She is wrong of course; there's someone for everyone, and somewhere on Craigslist some nutty chick would pay good money for a swollen, pus-filled zombie thumb. If you know her, shoot me a message; maybe she can help me pay down that van repair.

Grumbles

Lisa, over my objections, vetoed a planned night out of town for our anniversary because it conflicts with Trick or Treat for the kids, and she feels its important we are there for the offspring that day. The weekend before is YaYas bday, so that's out, and the weekend after is just plain lame. It would have been our first night away alone since Job Prior, 5 yrs ago, and I can't say I'm not irked. When these buggers grow up and say we never did anything for them/cared for them/sacrificed for them, I have to remember to bring this up (along with a million different points).

The Van is Back

My van is back. The serpentine belt, tensioner, and something vitally important and impressive (but illegible on the receipt) were replaced. All things being relative, it wasn't that awful in overall price, coming in at just about 2x the cost of LuLu's teeth - and those things were just useless chunks of calcium. All kidding aside, I could use a nice bandage to stop the financial bleeding, but the important thing is we're back on the road and I've helped our moribund economy.

More Car Repairs

Very bummed. Van went down with what sounded/acted like a broken belt early this afternoon, but upon inspection the belt is intact and all the pulleys are working . . . it's now at the shop and it'll certainly cost me more than I want to spend. Damn. And I just filled up the tank too, which part of me always views as a jinx. D'oh!

More Leaks

More alleged leaks from the supposedly confidential arbitration hearing for Alex Rodriguez. Former union head Marvin Miller was dead on; maintaining any semblance of confidentiality when dealing with the jokers at MLB is wishful thinking. WTH is wrong with the current leadership of the MLBPA??????

Tom Clancy

RIP the great Tom Clancy, author, age 66 :(.

3-1

It's official, the Sad Sack Slapjacks are now 3-1 in my fantasy league after knocking off the league leader, and by morning I'll know if I share the top of the board.

Steak 'n Shake

Steak 'nShake, the weekend before school 

LuLu's New Coat

LuLu's new hair and coat

Pics from Bay View Bash

Our Fishtank!

Our new aquarium (before we added 3 Danio's, a white Molly, a catfish, and a red Beta). Note the nifty skull AND the Gary the Snail (from Spongebob) subtly placed in the left forefront. Thanks Dale!

NY Times Magazine

While I'm thinking of it the best magazine in America is the NY Times Magazine (their Sunday supplement). It features intriguing and well written features, quick but insightful interviews, the "Ethicist" column by Chuck Klosterman, style and food coverage, and more. It also comes with a ~$20/month price tag, since you have to buy a Sunday Times to get it. I get my copies from my father, since I'm too cheap to buy a subscription, but it's well worth waiting a week or two to get my hands on an issue. If you've got the moolah, subscribe.

This product WORKS

For the record: Side Socket - the 'as seen on TV' compact power strip that swivels the cords to the side - works as advertised. VERY satisfied with the product.

Some history on TV

Studying while the Military Channel plays in the background . . . just watched a documentary on the great battle of Cowpens and Tadeusz Kościuszko's role in getting the American army out of harm's way in the aftermath of the victory . . .

My Thoughts - Spoilers

If a TV show has already aired, a sports event has ended, or a movie is more than a year old, then it's not a "SPOILER", it's common knowledge.

Your failure to pay for cable, check your DVR, rent a film, or just get home in time to watch something does not force upon me the necessity to edit the common water cooler conversations of our time.

180 Minutes at the Dentist

Lisa and I spent three hours of our day at the Marquette Dental Emergency Clinic while Lu had two teeth removed, the result of an infection that had spread to her jaw. Olivia's fine and literally dancing around, so please don't mollycoddle her by saying how awful it must have been. You know what was awful? Spending 3 hours of your day off reading six month old issue of Time and then paying for the whole shebang out of pocket. Cry for *me* Argentina, cry for *me*!