Nothing But Love :: golf blogger

Think About It

Yesterday afternoon, I drove by a restaurant, Thumbs Up Deli. I know that small, independent restaurants are struggling in this economic downturn -- well, not a downturn, but more like a right turn while headed up Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park.

It probably is not a good idea to advertise in foot-high, bright yellow print on the front window, "SPECIALIZING IN PHARMACEUTICAL CATERING." Over the years, I have represented a number of drug dealers who have specialized in selling drugs normally requiring a prescription. They specialized in pharmaceutical catering.

TOOK ME 54 YEARS TO LEARN THESE LESSONS...

there were a lot of gifts this christmas, some of which i gave to my own self.

1. do not schedule home-improvement projects any time after thanksgiving.

2. you can buy chocolates in stores (who knew?)!

3. you can buy great holiday cookies in bakeries (who knew?)!

4. you can even buy holiday cakes and cupcakes in bakeries (who knew?)!

5. you don't NEED to make home-made eggnog. it seems nobody misses it.

6. it's ok if you don't get the tree decorated and the house decorated until 2 p.m. on christmas eve! as long as nobody comes over until 3 p.m.!

7. it's more than ok if you let someone else take care of making and serving appetizers (thank you, matt and mel, for the home-made goat cheese, gravlaks, and other goodies!).

8. all of these things made me think about being more relaxed and enjoying my family and friends -- and that things don't have to be perfect and homemade in order to do that.

i'm going to work hard at remembering these things. it will be difficult to undo years of training, but i'm gonna give it a shot. i think EVERYBODY was happier that i was more relaxed. i hope so. you're welcome. heh.

At the Movies

I haven't been to a movie theater since The Who at Kilburn, 1977. Okay, that was a month ago, not 1977; but it wasn't really a movie, either. So, Friday, I was looking at the movie listings and the brief reviews in the "Friday" section, which is part of the Friday edition of the newspaper because I thought that maybe my lovely wife would like to take in a movie on the big screen.

We are going to see Frost/Nixon, the play, in a couple weeks; so, why ruin that by seeing the movie and finding out the ending. That would be a bad thing. And Milk is supposed to be pretty good, I hear. And then I got to thinking -- What the fuck? See. That's what I was thinking.

These movies actually happened in real life -- during my life -- what the fuck? That's what I was thinking.

I mean, it's not like this stuff happened before the turn of the century -- well, I guess this stuff did happen before the turn of the last century, but I mean the one before that. I mean-- what's going on here? This isn't like Forrest Gump -- you know, fiction. What the fuck? That's what I was thinking.

Forrest Gump -- that was like, ho -- ly cow, back in 1994 when I saw that, back before the turn of the century. What the fuck? That's what I was thinking.

All this existential crap was just too much for me right then and there; so, I checked out the mini-reviews -- of the movies that don't deal with fucking ancient history, so to speak. Slumdog Millionaire, graded A -- hmmm -- Oscar contender, for sure, says the reviewer. Sounds interesting. The Reader, graded A -- hmmm -- touching, superbly well-acted, says the reviewer. Playing at only one theater -- it'll be too crowded. The Spirit, graded D -- ouch -- "bizarre and not in a good way," says the reviewer. Samuel L. Jackson -- looking for invincibility, again; but no Bruce Willis. Yes Man, graded D -- Jim Carrey? Lackluster? Lame, says the reviewer? No way, can't be; but maybe, the TV commercial shows all the funniest parts, in which case, lackluster, lame.

The Day the Earth Stood Still, graded C, says the reviewer; rated PG-13 "for the annihilation of New York." Well, let the cat out of the bag on that one. Killing 8 million people gets a PG-13. If one of the witnesses said "Jesus -- Fucking -- Christ" while watching the annihilation of New York, it would have been rated R. Why re-make a good movie -- and change it?

Brad Pitt -- I like Brad Pitt -- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button -- born old and ages backward, hmmm -- "travels Forrest Gump-like through the 20th Century," says the reviewer.

What the fuck? That's what I was thinking.

ALL RIGHT ALREADY!

enough with the emails, telegrams, postcards, and phone calls! go here to see the new kitchen. click on each photo to see the notes.

craig and tony, et al, did a freaking FANTASTIC job under rushed and difficult circumstances! they are awesome!

we have had only one glitch (maybe two). there was a pipe not fully reconnected under the sink and had a small leak (fixed already this morning). and we're not quite sure if the ourbucks fridge is working or is going to work. if it doesn't get its shit together soon, we'll take it back and exchange it for the same model. if that doesn't work, we'll get a different model.

i'm loving it!

oh -- i hope you all had a wonderful xmas eve and xmas! mine was wonderful! dear friends and family. good food. interesting conversations (the best part for me is always when bill and i are cleaning up in the kitchen and just observing the whole scene -- very special). there's also a set of pictures taken by one of our guests here.

IT'S DONE!

i'll post pictures tomorrow -- after i decorate the apartment and tree for CHRISTMAS!

1 DAY BEFORE XMAS EVE

go here (http://flickr.com/photos/72303348@N00/3130734905/) to see my life right this minute. i'm not going to embed the picture (it's too big anyway) so you can peruse the crazy mess at your leisure. the lady on the right is one of my new cleaning crew, cleaning around the contractors. in 2 or 3 hours, everybody should be out of here, and i'll post the final. well maybe 4 or 5 hours. or 6.

dog walker just left. flower delivery man just left. one of the contractors left. and i'm sitting here blogging. heh.

Food Groups

By now, you have all probably heard stories about the Bush Administration enacting regulations in the last few months of the year so that they take effect before he leaves office and creates a lasting legacy, rules that will tend to increase particulate emissions by power plants, make endangered species less so so that they end up more so, exchange government land that miners have already mined for fresh government land to mine to their hearts content, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

There are also other regulations that have been enacted that don't get the media attention that they probably should. Who wants to read through thousands and thousands and thousands of pages in the Federal Register with its single-spaced, two-column, 4-point type with 2-point type footnotes taking up half the page?

Here's an example:
In estimating acute dietary exposure, EPA used food consumption information from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) 1994-1996 and 1998 Nationwide Continuing Surveys of Food Intake by Individuals (CSFII). The following assumptions were made for the acute exposure assessments: A Tier 3, acute probabilistic dietary exposure assessment was conducted for all supported food uses and drinking water.

Really, how do you know what your federal government is doing, especially the executive branch that has been granted vast rule-making authority by the Congress. Rule. Making. Authority. The rules are actually laws because Congress says that the executive branch agencies can do that.

Did you know, for example, that the U.S. Department of Agriculture invented a new food pyramid? Of course, you did. That was a few years ago. A big hype job was started to introduce it to the American public. The USDA is, however, making rules about stuff all the time; and unless you read the regulations, you never really realize what the heck is going on.

But you have come here for a reason -- you have a thirst for knowledge. You lust for new information. I appreciate that. I look high and low for new and important information to slake your thirst for knowledge.

The USDA, as a part of these "midnight" regulations that the Bush Administration is foisting on the American public, has actually introduced a new food group in an obscure 2-point type footnote in the Federal Register. The USDA probably doesn't even realize it. I think some bored lawyer in the USDA stuck it in -- and since nobody ever reads this shit, it becomes official. It's a dietary law for all Americans.

If you want to be healthy, you must have at least three 1/2-ounce portions of the new food group per day -- The WONKA Group, including SweeTARTS Squeez Wild Cherry.

2 DAYS BEFORE XMAS EVE : update

this post won't make a lot of sense unless you've been keeping up. i posted the top picture friday with the original schedule. the second picture was posted sunday with updates to the schedule in caps and bold. the third picture was posted today (monday) with updates in italics. if god does, indeed, love me, tomorrow you'll get a picture of the completed and cleaned kitchen. and then i'll be able to get to the "us" list. the day before xmas eve. meh.

friday

sunday

today (monday)

THEM
today (friday):
they're laying the granite. DONE.
cabinet doors will be done. CHANGED TO MONDAY. will be done today (monday).
fridge being delivered. CHANGED TO SATURDAY CUSTOMER PICK UP. installed.
sink and faucet. CHANGED TO SUNDAY : WORKING ON NOW. nope. didn't happen yesterday. when they took the cool granite sink out of the box, it was broken. bill took it back and got a new one, which he inspected as well as he could before taking. but that one was broken, too, in a place that couldn't be seen easily. scratch the granite sink. new, deep, stainless steel sink to be installed today. please god, i need water in my kitchen!
undercounter beverage fridge. TOMORROW? in progress?

saturday:
counter grouted. CHANGED TO SUNDAY -- WORKING...done. except for the grout sealing.
stove delivery. DONE.

sunday:
lighting. MAYBE. supposed to be done by end of today (monday).
cupboard drawers. UNLIKELY : MAYBE MONDAY. working on -- may not be finished until after holidays.

monday:
finishing touches. TUESDAY. it is looking like all major stuff will be done today -- keep your fingers crossed.

US
fuck it. i can hardly think. it's a lot, INCLUDING getting our tree up and decorated!

Y2K?

Armageddon is coming. You thought Y2K was bad? You remember that -- Y2K. The end of the world as we know it.

Well, that was nothing.

Something far worse is only two weeks away.

Leap Second.

Time will stop -- for one second -- but only on some clocks.

What if time never starts again for some of us. Or all of us.

I'm making preparations.

Driven Mad

I'd like to think I know how to drive. I'm courteous to other drivers -- mostly. Just like you all are, I'm sure.

In any event, this situation bugs me. I'm driving in the less-than-high-speed lane on an interstate highway and there's a car in front of me and an exit ramp is coming up. And, of course, the car in front of me might put on the right turn signal ahead of the exit ramp, maybe not.

Then the idiot, before getting off the highway and onto the exit ramp, puts on the brakes, like this:

Why? The exit ramp is for slowing down. The highway is for driving, not stopping.

Just sayin'.

8 DAYS BEFORE XMAS EVE

what the hell are we thinking?

LET THE HOLIDAYS BEGIN!

we've not been around much (physically and mentally) this past month and not at all this past week. bill and i have been out of town where bill has tried a case (with a very good result) -- i've been helping out as much as i can. so we are a bit behind on the merry making and merry-making preparations -- not to mention blogworld. we got home late last night.

our dogs are very much in need of our attention. bella has been acting out like a neglected 5-year-old child. our kitchen redo commences monday morning. my checkbook needs some reconciling. my fridge needs cleaning out. we need to decorate for the holidays. clean the carpet and rugs. unpack web-ordered and received gifts. wrap. cook. plan. shop. and maybe even catch up in blogworld. maybe.

i hope your holidays have been a little less hectic than ours and that you've been able to be present. it's not the way i'd prefer to spend the month leading up to christmas, but you do what you have to do. we'll get there. today we're going to see "a christmas carol" at the ohio theater with matt, mel, and jax. it was something we did when we could afford to when the boys were little. then we'll head out to danny boys -- there's no way i can even THINK about cooking today or tomorrow until we can get to a little bit of maintenance here. to home depot to pick up some remaining materials for my contractor and his crew for monday. he'll be here this morning sometime so we can go over what needs to be done. this morning, bill has to get to the west side market to order our prime rib roast for christmas eve and to the sausage shoppe to order a ham. jax will be over for breakfast. i have to go through the mail and unpack. matt and mel will be here at noon -- the play starts at 1:30.

back to what you were doing. tty sooner or later.