On Halloween, an Anniversary and Familiar Surroundings

Well, tonight is Halloween and I don't expect to get any trick or treaters at my door, since I live in an apartment building with no little kids. Oh well, more Reeses' Peanut Butter Cups for me, then.

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Today is also the first anniversary of my first kidney stone surgery. This year has been good health-wise for me, thankfully.

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Today, and for seven more days over the next two and a half weeks, I have arranged to work some shifts at my recent former employer. This is because I can do nothing with the new job until I get the license. No work + No money = BAD.

I've taken and failed the licensing exam twice now. So I've decided to take the one day cram course that is offered. Problem is that it's only offered once a month and not again until November 16th.

In talking to my former (and temporarily current) co-workers, I found out that it's been rather hectic for my buddy J and the clean room crew in my absence. I was pleased (in an evil sort of way) to know that I was missed...

Death of a Basketball Legend

There are some names in professional sports that are pretty well known by everyone, whether you are a fan or not.

Baseball has Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron.
Hockey has Bobby Orr and Wayne Gretzky.
Football has Vince Lombardi, George Halas and Tom Landry.
Basketball has Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain and Red Auerbach.

I haven't really followed basketball since the early 90's. Whenever I would follow up on the local team, the Boston Celtics, the name of Red Auerbach would always be involved in some way. Not anymore.

Red Auerbach died earlier today at age 89. Anyone who is a fan of basketball in any way knows what kind of impact Red Auerbach had on the NBA.

Here's a link from espn that can do better justice to recapping the life of a legend.


This plaque can be found near a lifesize statue of Red Auerbach at Faneuil Hall Marketplace in Boston.

SNMR 2.8: "Double Jeopardy"

Tonight's SNMR feature is "Double Jeopardy" (1999, R, 105 minutes), starring Ashley Judd, Tommy Lee Jones, Bruce Greenwood and Annabeth Gish. The film was directed by Bruce Beresford.

I had never even heard of this movie until I walked into a Wal-Mart a few years ago. I was looking through the bargain DVD bin when I found this movie. I had always liked Tommy Lee Jones since "The Fugitive" and "Men In Black", and I've always been a fan of Ashley Judd since she was a guest star on my favorite episode of Star Trek: TNG.

From the DVD's dust case:

The chase is on! Ashley Judd shines in this unstoppable, untoppable box office smash that co-stars Tommy Lee Jones in his "best performance since The Fugitive."
Judd plays Libby Parsons, who discovers that the husband she's convicted of murdering staged his own "death" and framed her for the crime. Released on parole, she skips town to find him - and that puts parole officer Travis Lehman (Jones) on her trail. Packed with more crowd-pleasing excitement than several movies put together, Double Jeopardy delivers "lots of action and spine-tingling suspense from start to finish.

From Martin & Porter's DVD & Video Guide 2006, p. 320:

Framed for a murder she didn't commit, Ashley Judd eludes her determined parole officer (Tommy Lee Jones) as she hunts down her rotten husband. To really enjoy this film, reality must be suspended and the improbable accepted as possible. The worst thing a viewer can do, in terms of enjoying this flick, is to wage a debate over the double jeopardy statute. Some tense moments lead to a satisfying confrontation.

Is this film perfect? No. But the story of a mother separated from her child is very compelling. The story is well written and directed. Judd and Jones do a credible job with their charachters. It's a given that in most movies, "reality is suspended and the improbable becomes possible," otherwise why even have movies? I like this film. It has enough action and tension to keep you watching and a satisfying ending. I'll give this film three and a half out of five stars.

Obama for President in 2008?

Senator Barack Obama stated on "Meet the Press" that he is considering a run for President in 2008. Senator Obama is the junior senator from Illinois and was the keynote speaker at the 2004 Democratic convention. There has been speculation since his convention speech that he would run for President. He has repeated many times since his election in 2004 that he would serve his full six-year term, but is now reconsidering.
On the October 22, 2006 “Meet the Press” Senator Obama made statements that would open the door for a Presidential run in 2008. Senator Obama stated, “I have though about it” when asked if he would run for President in 2008. The Moderator of “Meet the Press”, Tim Russert asked Senator Obama “have you thought about it” referring to a run for President. Senator Obama responded that he has thought about a run for President.
Senator Obama is reconsidering his pledge to not run for President until his six-year term has expired. He said on “Meet the Press” he has been asked by people to consider a run for President in 2008. It is believed he is being asked to run in 2008 because of the announcement of former Virginia Governor Mark Warner’s earlier this month that he will not run for President in 2008. Warner was considered a likely centralist candidate for the Democratic nomination in 2008. The announcement by Warner has caused Senator Obama's stock to rise.
Senator Obama has said that he will make a decision after the November 7 election. His words on “Meet the Press” shows He is thinking about the run. When asked by Tim Russert “it is fair to say you are thinking about running for President” Senator Obama said, “It is fair.”

Story from www.usavoice.org
Photo from the Associated Press

Weirdness

How's this for weird:

I just had a dream that there was a whole bunch of snakes on top of a gym locker. The largest snake was Ohio State and parts of it were lazily hanging down off of the locker. A much smaller snake which was Michigan State, also on top of the locker, wrapped itself around the big snake and bit its head off. Not swallowed it whole, as you'd expect a snake to do but plain bit its head off.

Now I know that athletically both of these schools are in the Big Ten conference, so that could account for why the snakes were together.

But the weird part is that I've never been to, or have any affiliation with either school.

Then I got up out of bed to pee and the dream ended but with the image fresh in my mind.

Hmmm.....

Since I was up I thought I'd share that with you.

Second time's a charm, right?

Aaaaaah, no.

I took the NH state licensing exam again today and failed. Got the same percentage as last time (58%). Still need 70% to pass.

So before I take the exam again, I'll be taking a one day cram crash course. The next time it is offered is November 16th.

Now I'm on a mission.

I WILL PASS THIS LOUSY TEST!!!!!

IT WILL NOT BEAT ME!!!!

In the meantime, I'm trying to arrange some hours at the old company, since we left it that if I had the time and they had a need we could work something out.

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I was reminded on Wednesday how much I despise raking leaves. I worked for my brother on Wednesday and will do so again tomorrow. If you are a regular reader here, you will recall that he owns his own landscaping business.

I was at my favorite gas station (read: consistently the cheapest gas around) on Wednesday evening, when I saw in a span of five minutes and ambulance, fire engine and police car zip past with lights and sirens a blaring. I wondered where they were heading in such a hurry.

After filling up, I was on my way to my Bible study group when I found out what all of the emergency vehicles were for. Turns out there was a serious automobile accident less than three miles down the road that I was traveling on. As far as I could see, rubber necking as best I could, there was an 18 wheeler tractor-trailer and an SUV type vehicle involved. The SUV type vehicle was lying on the driver's side.... I couldn't see how many people were hurt, primarily because of all of the flashing lights. In passing there must have been eight police cars, two ambulances, a fire engine, and at least one flat bed tow truck on the scene. I couldn't find anything about the accident on the local paper's web site today. I'll look again on Friday and add any appropriate interesting links to this post, if I find any...

I wish I still had my press credentials....

Happy Birthday M

Yup. My little man is 7 years old today. Unbelievable. Where does the time go?

I believe I had similar sentiments last year when he turned six.

I've set the time of this post to the time of day that he was born, just because.

I'm not looking forward to Monday night

Yes, you heard me right.

I'm not looking forward to tomorrow night. I'm scheduled to take the NH state licensing exam for health & life insurance at 19:30 in Concord.

The test is 150 multiple choice questions and is timed at 2 1/2 hours. Which means I won't even be done with the test until 22:00!! I need a minimum score of 70% to pass.

And it costs $100 to sign up and another $100 every time you have to re-take this test.

One woman in my training class failed the exam twice and is supposed to take it again either tonight or Monday or Tuesday night. Another woman in my class barely passed, and was quite sure that she had failed.

The large book of information I'm supposed to digest can be summed up in one word: b-o-r-i-n-g. You might think this would be a bad attitude to have going into a new career but it's true. Even the manager of my department, who has been in the business for ten years, admitted to me during my second interview that the book for the test was major snooze material. If you suffer from insomnia I'll lend you this book and you'll be cured. Trust me.

After going through the company and product specific training last week I can tell you with 95% accuracy that I'll never need to open the book for the licensing exam again.

Oh well, I've babbled on enough and need to get some sleep.

TTFN

SNMR 2.7: "Click"

Tonight's SNMR feature is "Click" (2006, PG-13, 107 minutes) starring Adam Sandler, Kate Beckinsale, Christopher Walken, David Hasselhoff, Henry Winkler, Julie Kavner and Sean Astin. The film was directed by Frank Coraci.

This movie didn't look appealing to me when it was playing in the theater earlier this year. I only bought it when I realized that Kate Beckinsale was in it. And that was all it took.

From the DVD's dust case:

A harried workaholic, Michael Newman (Adam Sandler) doesn't have time for his wife (Kate Beckinsale) and children, not if he's to impress his ungrateful boss and earn a well-deserved promotion. So when he meets Morty (Christopher Walken), a loopy sales clerk, he gets the answer to his prayers: a magical remote that allows him to bypass life's little distractions with increasingly hysterical results. But as Michael gleefully mutes, skips and scans past his family and his friends, the remote gradually takes over his life and begins to program him in this fast, funny and out-of-control comedy adventure.

I found myself laughing through parts of this movie and weepy eyed during other parts. I think the script is good and the movie flows well. I like Adam Sandler better as an actor with each film of his that I see. Kate Beckinsale is simply too hot and does an excellent job with her American accent. Christopher Walken is surprisingly good at comic relief. Henry Winkler and Julie Kavner make for good parents. This film was thoroughly enjoyable, though not worthy of any Oscars. I think you'll be sufficiently amused, as I was. Ill give this film four out of five stars.

NLCS Game 7 and World Series Prediction

Last I looked (online, since I vowed not to watch any postseason baseball this year), the Mets and Cardinals were tied 1-1 in the fifth inning. I just can't make myself root for any team based in New York, so I'd like to see the Cardinals win tonight.

No matter, though.

With a week to rest and set up their pitching rotation any way they like, I'll take the Tigers winning the World Series in five games over either National League team. I will say this, though: I think that the NL team will win Game 1, then it's four and out for them - just because it's been a long time since the Tigers have played. That's the one drawback to being as dominant as they have been in this year's playoffs.

The Tigers have been the best team in baseball all season anyway. They have not been close to the World Series since they won it in 1984. In between then and now, the Tigers have put some absolutely putrid teams on the field.

There you have it. My predictions. Let's see how accurate I am.

UPDATE: Well I was right that the Cardinals would beat the Mets in the NLCS game 7.
I was right that the NL team would win game 1 of the World Series.
I was right that the World Series would last five games.
I picked the wrong winning team, however.

three out of four isn't bad... too bad I missed the most important one!!!

Another wasted evening.

Got out of (Day two) training at 14:15 this afternoon.... great!!

Very attractive woman in my class, though I think she said something about having a boyfriend at lunch..... bummer.

Did some errands on the way home...... needed to be done. Got M's birthday present.

Had 90 minutes to kill before my Wed. night meeting...... fooled around on internet until time to go.

Bible Study was good......tonight we talked about Who Is God?

Got home and fooled around again for the remainder of the evening on the computer again..... not good. I need to force myself to keep the computer off one night a week to get other stuff done.......easier said than done, though.

I'm taking the NH Insurance licensing exam on Monday night.....I better pass. Though studying the boring book might help. Yawn !>)

Painful life lessons at a young age

Do you remember when you were a kid and your parents kept telling you things not to do because they knew what would happen if you did them? Did you ever wonder why they told you these same things over and over and over? Do you remember not listening to them and doing those things anyway because you didn't realize that the consequences could be bad?

This morning, one of the things I warn my kids about constantly actually happened. Predictably the result was bad, as I knew it would be. However, in the grand scheme of life this incident is minor but hopefully will have a lasting effect that will help prevent it happening again.

So what was this bad thing that happened?

V and M, probably M for the most part, like to slam doors for no reason.

Yup, you guessed it - someone's fingers got pinched in a slammed door. The door slammer got yelled at by me and sent to his room. The door slammee, quite understandably, was squealing in pain, crying and holding her hand.

Dr. Daddy to the rescue. We stopped the bleeding and cleaned up the cut, putting some anti-bacterial ointment and a big band-aid on it. I told her it would still sting for a while, but that she would be okay.

After V was taken care of I went in to talk to the crying M. I told him that he needed to apologize to his sister and give her a big hug, which he did. She accepted his apology. I know that he still felt bad about it, though.

I told both of them that there is never any need to slam a door and told them that I hoped that they now understand why I keep telling them this. Hopefully both of them learned a valuable lesson today. We shall see...

Some things you just have to experience to understand, both good and bad.

No football today...well almost.

The Patriots did not play today, so I did not watch any NFL games. Perhaps I'll check in on the game tomorrow night. Though I did check in on the scores online after the early games were done, to see how I did with my picks this week. And, I'll admit, I watched one of the highlight shows to see what I missed, before I went to bed.

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Today, and in the next few days, I'm going to be rearranging the sidebar over to the right, just to shake things up a wee bit. Maybe I'll even make time to rewrite a post I had written for GvD that mysteriously evaporated before I had a chance to save it.

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I've got to be productive tomorrow, since I have the day off before training starts on Tuesday morning. I have a few errands to do which I'll attempt to do as early as I can. I'll then spend the rest of the day working at cleaning up this disaster area I live in. My problem is that, with the television, a rack full of DVD's and the internet, I can get easily distracted. Hmmm, where have I heard that before....

SNMR 2.6: "Shakespeare in Love"

Tonight's SNMR feature is "Shakespeare in Love" (1998, R, 113 minutes) starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Joseph Fiennes, Geoffrey Rush, Colin Firth, Judi Dench, Ben Affleck, Tom Wilkinson and Simon Callow. The film was directed by John Madden. The film won seven Oscars in 1999, including Best Picture, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress and was nominated for six more.

My ex and I first saw this film when it came out in the theater, and I went to see it a second time by myself. Since then, this has become one of my favorite films and I've seen it many times. Actually, one time after watching this film, I decided to re-read the actual play which was a great experience and gave me a new appreciation for it, since I'm not the biggest Shakespeare buff around.

From the DVD's dust case:

When Will Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes, Elizabeth) needs passionate inspiration to break a bad case of writer's block, a secret romance with the beautiful Lady Viola (Gwyneth Paltrow, Sliding Doors, A Perfect Murder) starts the words flowing like never before! There are just two things he'll have to learn about his new love: not only is she promised to marry someone else, she's successfully impersonating a man in order to play the lead in Will's latest production! A truly can't miss motion picture event with outstanding critical acclaim to match its impressive collection of major awards - everyone will love this funny behind-the-scenes look at the writing of the greatest love story ever told!

From Martin & Porter's DVD & Video Guide 2006, p. 1015:

This ingenious pastiche is an erotic and enormously witty blend of history and fabrication. The setting is London in the summer of 1593, where young playwright William Shakespeare has developed an acute case of writer's block which can be traced to his lack of captivating female companionship. Then the inconceivable happens: an impassioned actor reads for the role of Romeo and Shakespeare discovers that this talented thespian is actually Viola DeLesseps (Paltrow), a young woman of title and privelege unwilling to abide by the strictures of her era. Viola willingly throws herself into a double deception: tragedian in disguise by day and clandestine lover, with Will, by night. What fun!

This is a brilliant look at what might have inspired Shakespeare to pen the great play Romeo & Juliet. The writing is top notch and the cast is marvelous. The acting is brilliant and the acted scenes of Romeo & Juliet give the average Joe a taste of the greatness of this play and Shakespeare himself. The setting is very realistic looking, and the film's musical score is wonderful but not overbearing. This film upset favorite Saving Private Ryan for Best Picture honors at the 1999 Academy Awards. This film gets a perfect five out of five stars.

My road now leads in a different direction.

I'm not the kind of person who is an attention seeker. Mind you, I like to be praised for a job well done once in a while, but won't kiss anyone's backside to get recognition. I prefer to let my performance speak for itself and let the chips fall where they will.

Today was my last day at my now former place of employment. It was a normal, hectic day up until the end. After lunch one of my friends handed me a farewell card signed by everyone who was in today. A few folks were out and I'm sure they would have signed the card as well.

I was moved.

It's nice to know that the people I worked closely with appreciated me and the way I went about my job, every day. It was also readily apparent that my co-workers will miss me. Even though some days I didn't feel it, I always tried to convey an upbeat, positive attitude. I take a great deal of pride in knowing that my supervisors and co-workers could count on me to handle whatever came up (in a small company you wear many hats), so that they could concentrate on something else.

Yes, I'll miss the place I worked for the last two years and two months. It will definitely be weird, come Monday. But it's on to bigger and (hopefully) better things.

I've also arranged with them that, if my new schedule allows, should they need help cleaning a barrel or setting up a room or whatever, I'd be available for a few hours here and there.

You know, just to keep my foot in the door.

I'd also like to think that management will come to realize that they made a mistake in not doing more to keep me around...

Old television shows

Over the past few weeks, I've been re-watching one of my favorite television shows from when I was a kid. That show would be Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, starring Gil Gerard, Erin Gray and Tim O'Connor. This show only aired for a season and a half before it was cancelled. A few years ago the complete series was released on DVD. Every time I watch these shows, it brings back good memories. We never missed an episode. I liked it then because I was ten and into that kind of program (still am to some degree). Erin Gray as Col. Deering was hot. Pamela Hensley as Princess Ardala was hot. I like it now for sentimental reasons. Even though the acting is bad, to be charitable, the storylines were neat and Erin Gray and Pamela Hensley were hot back then.

As many of you know from reading over the past year or so, my most recent favorite show was ALIAS. I got hooked on it because I think there's something sexy about a woman who can kick my butt and look great doing it. That is in addition to the cool story lines.

A friend of mine at work borrowed from me the first four seasons of ALIAS. The other day she was asking me to tell her what happened in season five, which was the show's last. I told her that there were a lot of things that happened and more than I could casually explain. I suggested to her that she should rent the final season when it is released on DVD, scheduled for November 21.

I never thought that I'd have an interest in some of these old shows, but I do. They make a nice addition to my DVD collection.

Unlike my parents, I'm not a television junkie. It takes a lot to get me involved in a regular show that's not a baseball or football game. But I have discovered that once I start watching these old shows, it's hard to stop. When I was in college, I had no interest in watching Beverly Hills 90210. Several years later I got hooked on this show and have since satisfied the itch catching the majority of them daily on the WB.

Funny how some shows seem to peak the interest and others not so much.

So I'm interested in knowing what television shows you liked as a kid and which ones that you watch now? Why do you like these shows? How did you get involved in watching them? What is the hook that keeps you coming back each week?

Talking out loud to myself

What do you do if the unthinkable becomes the real and likely? If only I had another month. If only. The inevitable will finally come. And, for my sanity's sake it better be temporary.

Further details?

No, I'm way too embarrassed about this one. For now you'll have to sit and wonder what I'm talking about.

True, it's not the end of the world and one day I may look back at this predicament and laugh. But not today. Not now.

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In case you were wondering, my trip to New Jersey was about as I had expected. My grandfather, well let's just say he's a little bit worse for wear since I saw him in July. We only actually spent a few hours with him and while he seemed glad that we were there, probably forgot about our visit within minutes after we left. I honestly can't see him lasting through the winter. It's probably better for him if he dies. Then he'd be home, to the place he's wanted to go since my grandmother died in 2001.

On the plus side, we were sitting down for lunch at a restaurant less than a block from the nursing home, when two men came over to our table. Two men that happened to be my Uncle D and his son P, whom we hadn't seen since grammy's funeral. It was nice to see them, an unexpected surprise.

Uncle D is my grandfather's middle son and my cousin P is about a month and a half younger than myself. He's the youngest of Uncle D's five kids.

SNMR 2.5: "Mr. Destiny"

Tonight's SNMR feature is "Mr. Destiny" (1990, PG-13, 110 minutes), starring Jim Belushi, Linda Hamilton, Michael Caine, John Lovitz, Hart Bochner, Rene Russo, and Jay O. Sanders. The film was directed by James Orr.

This is one of those movies that I rented the first time that I watched it. I don't think it was a very popular movie during it's theatrical run.

From the DVD's dust case:

Imagine, if one day, out of the blue, your wildest dreams came true! That's exactly what happens to junior executive Larry Burrows (James Belushi - Taking Care of Business) when he bumps into a mysterious stranger (Michael Caine - Miss Congeniality, The Cider House Rules). Instantly, Larry's ho-hum life becomes his ultimate fantasy - huge mansion, beautiful wife, cars galore! But before long, his new lifestyle isn't so enchanting. Ultimately, Larry discovers it's going to take a lot more than wishful thinking, to get back to where he once belonged! Co-starring Linda Hamilton (Terminator, Terminator 2) and comedian Jon Lovitz (Little Nicky, Rat Race), Mr. Destiny is a delightful, rags-to-riches comedy, brimming with totally magical entertainment!

From Martin & Porter's DVD and Video Guide 2006, p. 751:

James Belushi plays a pencil pusher who thinks he's a failure. Michael Caine, who can shape people's lives, shows him differently in this passable comedy that reminds one of It's a Wonderful Life.

This is a quirky and cute movie. The writing is decent but the story at the beginning of the film is over used and could have been better. The overall premise has promise. I think we all wonder what our lives would have been like if we'd made different choices. After her serious roles in the first two Terminator films, Linda Hamilton is good in the dual role of ditzy wife/serious executive. I think Jim Belushi is an underrated actor. I'll give this film three and a half out of five stars.

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Happy 35th Birthday, A.

Programming note

For those of you who actually read it, this week's SNMR feature will be dated for Saturday October 7th but won't actually be posted until sometime on Sunday evening, when I get back.

I'll be in New Jersey this weekend visiting my grandfather, since I was not able to go last month for health reasons (mine and his).

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I didn't get to check out the second health club tonight as I'd originally planned. I'm going to go tomorrow after work.

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I have absolutely no interest in the baseball playoffs this year. I can't even forsee watching any of the games. Perhaps I'll comment on the teams that play in the World Series in a few weeks.

Good thing for me it's football season.

Some of what I do at present job.

I've been trying to familiarize myself with the new cell phone that I got last week.

To that end I thought I'd share with you the first picture that I took with it, which happened to be while I was at work yesterday. I'll bet some of you are wondering what these things are. Others of you could probably care less (hello, scribe) but since it's my blog I'm going to tell you anyway.



These are two nozzles. They are an essential part of the machines used to make all of the cool stuff that this comapny makes. When I put the machine together, the nozzle looks like the one on the right, all nice and clean and shiny. After a week of use and a night of soaking in chloroform, the nozzle looks like the one on the left.

Both nozzles looked like the one on the left when I began the day. Both nozzles looked like the one on the right after I finished cleaning both of them. Once they are clean, inside and out, they can be re-used. It's critical to clean all parts of the machine thoroughly because any crap left over has the potential to get into whatever parts we're trying to make. Since the parts we make go inside the body, even the smallest particle can cause the part to be rejected as not fit for human use.

The machines that make the parts are gradually heated to between 180 and 240 degrees Celsius, (depending on what is being made) so that when the raw material makes it down to the nozzle it has been thoroughly heated and melted into a molten state. After passing through the nozzle, which is the hottest part, the raw material passes into the mold that forms the actual parts and begins to cool and harden quickly.

Pretty cool, huh?

June 28, 2002

That was the last time I had gone into a gym to use the Nautilus machines - until tonight. Back then I was still a married chap and had a membership at the YMCA in Merrimack.

Having realized with the bicycling to work recently how out of shape I am, and with the boffo price (read: extremely cheap) I paid to join this health club, I figured it'd be a good idea to not waste the money spent and actually GO TO THE GYM. I even bought a combination padlock a few days ago in preparation for this. Actually, with this corporate membership I get to use the facilities at any one of three health clubs in the area for the next 11+ months.

So of to work I went this morning, gym bag in hand along with all of my other stuff, knowing that I would be going to check one of the clubs out this afternoon.

This club was kind of small and not too many people were there, which was good. No waiting for machines. They've got the standard cardio equipment and Nautilus machines plus a swimming pool and hot tub. After taking the three second tour, I was off to my workout. I asked the attendant about their guest policy, figuring that V and M will be enthusiastic about the indoor pool, which I can take them to on Saturdays, especially with autumn here and old man winter just around the corner.

I had made up a sheet from the Y listing all of the machines on the curcuit with my seat and back positions, weight and reps that I last lifted at. Needless to say I've taken some steps backwards in my self imposed 4+ year gym exile. But tonight wasn't meant for a serious workout, though I did leave there quite out of breath. Rather, tonight's goal was to just GET OUT and EXPLORE the facility and see where I am with the different machines and how to safely use them. When that was done I went to the cardio room and pedaled for two miles on the stationary bike, partly to check it out but honestly for the other part of my motivation for joining in the first place.

What's that, you ask?

Social interaction in a non-work related environment. And more importantly, the potential to meet single, physically fit ladies.

Think I'll be checking out the other club in town on Wednesday?

Ummmm, yeah. Pencil me in.

October already...

What a difference a day makes. Yesterday was a crisp, cool autumn day, typical for New England this time of year. V, M and I went along with my dad out for a few hours of apple picking at an orchard nearby. Later V, M and I went up to the playground behind my old elementary school. They played on the swings and other equipment until we realized that someone hit lots of golf balls on the lawn behind the school earlier in the day. We collected 41 golf balls and gave them all to my brother A. He likes to go to the driving range, too.

Today we were cooped up in the apartment after church because it was a cold, rainy dismal day.

It's always nice when I can watch my Patriots win. They dismantled a very good Cincinnati Bengals team on the road, wining 38-13. This was a game that all of "the experts" picked the Pats to lose based on the way they'd played in the first three games of the season. At first, I didn't hold out much hope either, but the game turned out to be very exciting.

As I mentioned last year on this date, this was my wedding anniversary. It would have been 12 years today. Not that I regret the course I've gone in this regard - just noting the date for the record. For the rest of my life, internally anyways, I'll always remember this date for that reason.

Some other dates I get to look forward to this month:

Next weekend I'm going down to New Jersey to see my grandfather, a trip I passed up a few weeks ago, due to a persistent cough I had.

A's 35th birthday is on the 7th.
M's 7th birthday is on the 24th.

The new job starts on the 17th.
The 1st anniversary of my (first of two) kidney stone surgeries is on the 31st.

October already... unbelievable.