David Bowie

RIP music legend David Bowie. He was as good as advertised.  :(

Get Your Priorities Straight

In America you can rape and kill a woman, then burn her body, and have millions cheer for you based on a half-assed documentary. But hold a football with the laces in on a cold winter's day in Minnesota and the net fills with calls for your death. #ScrewedUpPopulace #Vikings

The Equalizer

More bad parenting on my part,as I let YaYa and LuLu watch, but this was a great (and bloody) movie. Some great camerawork too. I think Denzel might just be the baddest movie hero I've seen yet.

Sucess!

YaYa and I just managed the impossible: we trimmed the nails on all but one of Custard's paws. I think she drew some blood in retribution, but it's telling she trusted us enough to be held in the first place.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

I won $4 playing Powerball. That's $949 million less than I expected, and a net loss, but I'll take it.

Kneel Then Meal

Post-Mass dinner of homemade french fries, ground round hamburgers infused with Worcestershire sauce, topped by lettuce, mushrooms, pepper jack cheese, pickles and 1000 island dressing on a butter grilled sesame seed bun.

The Green Inferno

A gruesome movie, but not a bad one. And it led to a lot of discussion about female genital mutilation.

An Update on Lisa's Knee

We just left the hospital after Lisa's MRI on her injured knee from when she fell shoveling snow. They said it would take 35 minutes. It wound up being an hour and a half.

A Hip Setback

I'm back on crutches, having been scolded by the physical therapist for jumping to a cane too early. Truth be told, it is easier on the hip this way. But as a compromise, he said it'd be OK if I just used one crutch.

Amen

A Good Idea of Mine

There should be - if there aren't already - temporary handicap parking permits. The walk from the busy parking structure to the doctor's office just about destroyed me.

Dreams

 These wacky true-to-life dreams that are plaguing me the last couple nights can end now.... My mind feels like it's going to burst! - Lisa

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

I had the honor of repaying my Dad for taking me to Empire Strikes Back many moons ago by treating him to SW: The Force Awakens tonight. It was his first time at the Avalon in forty years, and from his reactions he liked both the theater and the film. Love you Pop!

A Flat Tire and Ineffective Service

My luck: blew a tire on the van and unable to change it with the hip. Waiting for roadside assistance.

So I'm stuck with a blown tire off its rim, a spare tire on the ground, and four of five lugnuts off. Just stuck. I look across the street, see an open sign in a crowded auto shop, and call them. They don't send people out as a rule, and are very busy, but I leverage my surgery and by golly they send a guy of normal, red-blooded American size, and he gets the last nut off eezy peezy. "Stripped" my ass. He then put the spare on for me. They charged me for the service, but not much, and I was glad to pay. 

As soon as I got home I called my insurance company and filed a complaint, slipping a little in my language at times, and telling them maybe they shouldn't contract with a company that employs runts to do a physical job. Small people SUCK. They agreed to reimburse me in full for what I paid to the garage, and allegedly will follow up with the service company. It's bigotry really, subconscious or not - someone sees a big strong guy and the level of help provided to them drops precipitously, even if he's (temporarily) crippled. Bulls*it it would have gone down like that if I was an old lady or even a runt of similar size. 

Cookie Sheet Frisbee

Lisa and I just played Frisbee in the living room with a full cookie sheet. I lost a cookie on the third toss across the room and forfeited the game. #2016Olympics

The Visit

 It's a horror film by M. Night Shyamalan. and while I called the ending twenty minutes in, it was actually a darn good movie. It held Lisa's interest all the way through, and she loathes his recent films.

Good News

Good news: after a follow-up, the doc says Junie's hearing is back to normal and the replacement ear tube is working fine.

A Full Day

I drove yesterday, for the first time since the surgery, taking Smiley to my childhood stomping grounds at Collector's Edge Comics, where he picked up a few Teen Titans and Robin titles. In the dollar bin I scored issue #1 of "All-Star Squadron", a lifelong favorite, & the first issue of "Night Force", a very well written title by the legendary Marv Wolfman. I promise Lisa, I won't buy anything if Parker wants to go again, but I won't turn down a boy that wants to read comic books. BTW, he wanted to spend his own  money to buy a MLP graphic novel for LK, but I vetoed it as too generous.

As for the hip, it was a rough day, but I don't think driving had anything to do with it. It's very warm to the touch, but a quick internet check revealed that to be normal. The pain was markedly worse than it has been, but I consider myself comfortably on track - it's just a longer road than I originally estimated

Late in the evening, after Lisa took GC to a competitive swim program, the two of us went to the grocery store. Once again, I was reduced to riding around in one of those blasted scooters, this time with my crutches balanced awkwardly on my lap. (other stores have scooters with crutch holders in the back). "Here, let me carry the crutches," Lisa said. 

"Hell no," I said. "These are all that keep people from thinking I'm just a fat, lazy bum."

I loathe those scooters, but I'll admit, they are a blessing..

A Follow Up

Good news: after a follow-up, the doc says Junie's hearing is back to normal and the replacement ear tube is working fine.

 Watching YaYa get her swim on at South Division - Lisa

An airport run

Just dropped our niece off at the airport.

Comic Books

Smiley just asked to have some of the (too many) comic books from my youth, and I said have at it. He's reading Green Arrow in the living room right now, and asking which Robin was my favorite. Jason Todd is his pick; I prefer Dick Grayson.

Christine's Cleaning

My sister's business card.

Ed Vezey

RIP Ed Vezey, the last surviving crewman of the USS Oklahoma who was present when the ship was attacked at Pearl Harbor.

Kimono

YaYa just came down wearing the yukata (kimono) we bought her at Disney World. I was just thinking about how long it's been since I've seen it used. Huh. Serendipitous. GMTA.