:(

The hip went bad an hour ago. Crazy how quickly your body gets used to NOT being in pain. #unwelcomeReturn

100 Years Ago

100 years ago today Lenin unleashed a political system that led to the murder and suppression of tens of millions.

Two Toms!

 Aargh! We found another inflatable turkey in our basement, so we switched it out with the new one I foolishly bought last night.

Yuck

 Nice of Hollywood to stop molesting and raping each other long enough to mock prayer and tell us how to vote in the wake of the Texas church shooting. #IAppreciateYourGuidance

It was only a burger

A homeless man was buying a single McDonald's burger with the only dollar he had when I stepped in and bought him another sandwich. 

Lulu:That was nice of you. 

 Me: Eh, makes up for the liquor store I robbed yesterday. Saves me the trouble of getting up early for Confession.

LuLu: You've got issues Dad.

Thanksgiving Tom!

We took Halloween Tigger down and put up a brand new Thanksgiving turkey!

Displeased

I'm a little perplexed that YaYa  didn't even place this year in a fiction contest she won in 2016 - the new story was tight, well crafted, and far superior to the winning entry last year. Frankly, I'm sure it's better than anything they chose.

Honestly

My Facebook is cluttered w/sponsored ads for Scientology, atheism, liquor, and crappy ebooks. I liked the app better when the Russians ran it.

Champions!

Congratulations to the Houston Astros for winning the World Series!

Reformation Day

As Lisa is Lutheran, I am compelled to point out that today is the 500th anniversary of the day Luther allegedly nailed his 95 Theses to a church door, starting the Protestant Reformation. (He sent the letter that day, but probably posted it on the door in mid-November). So, from a die-hard Catholic, and for the first and last time in my life: Happy Reformation Day.

A Great Game

THAT was a great game! Despite being down 4-0, the Astros win it in 10 innings (and 5 hrs, 17 minutes) by a score of 13-12 to take a 3-2 lead in the Series. This just might go down as one of the greatest Series in history.

My Doctor Who Scarf!!

For Halloween, I had a vague notion of making a costume that combined the iconic looks of all 12 versions of the Doctor (Doctor Who). Of course that demanded a 4th Doctor scarf, and for that I enlisted co-worker Jenny K to do the dirty work, following an official BBC document. The costume never materialized, but she finished the scarf in time and I proudly wore it during Trick or Treat.

YaYa got her Nose Pierced

got my nose pierced today - YaYa

3 Kitties

Excuse the unmade bed,  but a Halloween Miracle: all three cats were not only together,  but asleep on our bed. Custard has been with us two years and is rarely seen by me and Lisa,  as she chooses to reside on the second floor with the kids. But with only one eye,  the new beds are flummoxing her, and she's having trouble judging their height. I reckon that's why she's migrated to our adult abode.

A Successful Night!

Last night we gave out approx 580 pieces of candy we bought; two bags of ~180 pieces each donated by guests; and a pile of my old comic books we gave out to teenage trick or treaters.  At one piece a kid that means we got upwards of 1000 trick or treaters and STILL ran out.  Other than a hefty teenager who chose to lean on my stair rail until it cracked (!), moving my porch project up six months,  it was a very successful night here in Bay View!

Trick or Treat 17

Our  Annual Halloween Party didn't happen this year; we were financially and emotionally exhausted from YaYa's Sweet 16 party and the furniture purchase. That's a shame,  but we'll be back next year. We still decorated and trick or treated,  and I hope everyone involved had fun.

The Kids Get New Furniture!

It's here! (fingers crossed - more on that later)

Smiley my man, I put this here as a preemptive apology. It's fifteen minutes before your concert, only about 2/3 of the 30 items are in the house, and they haven't got the first room's assembly started. There's no way I can see of getting out of here in time to see you perform. That sucks. I love you and I know you'll do great. I'm sorry.

2.5 hours since delivery/assembly started, and it's about half done. The initial excitement has faded to. . . Boredom.

3.5 hours in. Three beds done, one to go, then the dressers.

Well, it took five hours, an aborted delivery last week, and a lot of moolah, but all the kids are spending the night in new beds, with new furniture, mattresses, and bed coverings too.

Lord knows I don't object to class being dismissed a half hour early. I'm not a fool. But when you get up on two hours of sleep, drive halfway across the city, and struggle for parking, all for a mere 45 minutes of instruction, there is a part of you that screams WTF.

Littered

My Facebook feed is littered with "sponsored" Scientologist propaganda against Leah Remini. Shame on Zuck for accepting money from that cult.

He Is Not Amused

GusGus does not appear to be a fan of the Halloween costume LuLu and Smiley chose for him.

Unacceptable

When AOL closed their blog platform nine years ago the sites were automatically migrated to Blogger and all thousand + photos moved to Photobucket.  Last week YaYa called my attention to those error on Slapinions.  When I went to Photobucket to comply with the upgrade request,  I was appalled: the "affordable" option is $399 per year.  So,  the first five years of my blog are permanently gutted.  Now,  I'm a paranoid prone to redundancy,  so I have a complete pdf version of the site,  but I am still in mourning.

Happy 16th!

Happy sweet 16 to my beautiful daughter. We're are both stubborn women so we have our moments but mostly I'm just proud and grateful to know you and thankful to God to be given the opportunity to be your mom. I love you baby! - Lisa

Happy Birthday!

Happy 16th  Birthday to my Caillou Andromeda aka YaYa ! I love you more than lips can tell! 

xoxo

Grant by Ron Chernow (To Be Read)

I want to read this on my next cruise

Opiods

There is no opioid "epidemic." There are people that need them, and do not abuse them. And then there are losers who misuse them, claim their choice is a "disease", and the rest of this soft society cowers and bends to their lie. My coworker just spent a week in the hospital in extreme pain and was given nothing you couldn't buy over the counter, because, you know, there's an "epidemic."