1... I still insist that in my old age, I want to move back in with my children and make them take care of me. No nursing home for me. Hell, if I gotta wear a diaper, my kids are going to change my ass. I'm all about the payback. However, my office neighbor just told me about her grandmother's new Assisted Living apartment. She said they have an ice cream bar. I'm developing a new plan where I live in the Assisted Living complex with free ice cream during the week, and then come home to my kids in time to spoil their weekends.
2... My little sister's cat, Toonces, passed away this weekend. On my watch, of course. She was 16 and very ill, okay? It's not my fault, though I feel guilty about it like I could have done something to prevent it. I checked on her Saturday night, she peeked out of the box. Sunday morning, I stopped by to let the dog out. I just reached in the garage to open the door for the cats. Snickers wandered out a few seconds later. I didn't give any further thought until my Dad called and informed me she had died. 808.10 was devastated. Ever since we moved here, she has been the cats' best friend. Poor kid. Poor Snickers, he just lost his cat-spouse of 15 years.
3... 13 weeks of school left and I cannot wait. I have senioritis in a bad, bad way.
4... Apparently, with my work aware that I have 13 weeks left, they decided to downgrade my desk last week. I switched with the lady leaving at the end of this week. Now she has the nice, big, secluded back desk in my old office. Now I sit at one 1/4 the size and right by the door. No, seriously RIGHT by the door. Look, I'm sticking my left hand into the hallway. Lesson learned: If you give 2 weeks notice, you get to ride them out in someone's comfy office. If you give them a 6-month heads up that your graduation is approaching, well... see for yourself.
BEFORE:
My Old Desk
AFTER:
My New Desk
5... 808.1 finally kicked his 3 week sickness. First, he infected the house with a nasty stomach flu. As the flu passed, four teeth decided to come in. A week into that, he contracted the Rota virus and has been a non-stop diarrhea machine. We're now back to the teething pain and still not getting a full night's rest. Reflecting back #1, when I live with my children, I will wake up every night and scream until they bring me a drink. And each time they fall back asleep, I will wait 15 minutes and repeat the cycle. It's going to be so much fun.
6... It looks as if my old friend, Billy Burger, is hanging up his hat for awhile. Kind of sad, but I understand that sometimes you have to step away. I wish him well.
7... Is anyone here watching The Sopranos and/or Big Love besides my wife and me? If so, I'm curious what you think so far.
8... Let's build off that last one because I'm running low on ideas that don't involve taking a nap.
"Hey, 808, what have you been listening to and watching lately?"
Yes, excellent question from my pretend audience member. While I still shuffle the iPod on a daily basis, I've been primarily listening to a lot of Tom Waits. I love old Waits, the jazzy years before he got into all the weird circus monkey stuff during the 80's. There's a lot of great stuff from that era, I'm just partial to his 70's and 90's on work. I'd mentioned in a previous post that my favorite album from 1975 was Wait's Nighthawks at the Diner. If you've never heard, you must. I've also found countless Waits clips on YouTube.com including an excellent interview with Mike Douglas from the late 70's. I hope that someday, I'll finally see the man live.
