My Rollercoaster

My head is better for the moment, yay, but it’ll be another day before I’m feeling like myself again. I made it through the physical side effects of the meds, the every joint in my body aches and I can barely move stage. Now I just have the psychological part to weather. You see, as the meds work their way out of my system, they make my mood bounce all over the place at the drop of a hat. Today was no exception.

I started out mellow and calm. I finally had a decent night’s sleep and all was well. That is until I heard a song on the radio which made me extremely sad. A Meatloaf song so yeah, definitely the meds at work. Had to wait in the car for a moment for the sniffles to stop.

Next, I had someone who doesn’t have a clue make a suggestion to me on something that is in no way any of her concern. Instead of blowing it off as I usually do I got unreasonably angry. That was followed by a silly little thing that I’d usually chuckle about making me ridiculously annoyed.

Adding to the circle, I was overly worried about a friend for no valid reason. The timing of something was slightly off and I had to fight not to panic. Then, due to a very minor nothing not even worth a passing thought, I felt like an overwhelming disappointment who didn’t deserve to live.

The day ended with depression that I’d once again lost days of my life, euphoria that I didn’t hurt, and resentment that the meds have me hyper and insane in not my normal, good way. I try to laugh at myself at times like this though it’s a struggle and I often fall short.

I really must say how very much I love my friends who put up with so much on these days. I let them down constantly yet they stick around anyway. Hmm, don’t understand that one at all. Damn, now I’m crying again. But give me two minutes and I’ll remember a joke I heard recently and be laughing like a lunatic.

Yeah, migraines, even after they stop hurting, are just no fun.

Meh

I read a Dirt Bike magazine today. There is plenty of stuff in it that I might have told you about. How to lace up a new rim, that new reeds might keep your plugs from fouling once you replace a bent exhaust pipe, how to dial in your sag to get optimum performance during a race, how to repack your muffler. Yes, I could tell you about all that plus more because, believe it or not I do actually understand what they all are. I had a dirt bike when I was a kid and then, as I grew up, I had guy friends who spent a lot of time tinkering.

But I decided you probably aren’t all that interested so I moved onto the next magazine. It was another knife catalog. I know I’ve mentioned my fascination with sexy sleek black knives before and nope, it hasn’t waned. Hot and wicked and whew, had to put that one away because it was entirely too distracting and I have things to do so I couldn’t let myself get lost drooling.

I have a bunch of assorted religious pamphlets and magazines at my disposal but no, I think it best not to go there. In my opinion, we’re all entitled to our own religious views. Do no harm with yours and I have no problem with anything you choose to believe. But that doesn’t mean I’m willing to discuss my own beliefs. Not really any of your concern and I don’t know why it would interest you unless we were debating religion in general and not in specific terms to me or anyone else. That, I’ll do – discuss various belief systems, compare and contrast different societies’ religious values. Sure, no problem there but that is vastly different from forcing your own beliefs on someone who really doesn’t want to know and didn’t ask in the first place so the specific religious materials were out for today’s topic.

The local business journal has nothing that I deem worth passing on this time. Reading’s unemployment rate is at an all-time high. Gee, no surprise there and probably the same wherever you are so that’s out.

I have a super cool Disc Makers catalog should anyone want to make and market your own CDs or DVDs. I’ll be happy to share it with you in exchange for a copy of whatever you produce.

Sigh. Nope, nothing here really blog worthy today so instead I’ll just wish you all a happy Thursday.

Migraine

Hurts
Muscles rigid
Twisted and tormented
Gripped, crippled by pain
Eyes unfocused
Blinded by agony
Hearing gone
Unable to think
Can’t eat
Sleep eludes
Mind, body, soul tortured
Overwhelming despair
Make it stop.

Deserved punishment?
Bad Karma?
Random selection?
Sick cosmic joke?
Nothing helps
Begging for death
Skull crushed
Silver bullet to quell the ache
Decapitation
Anything
Please just make it stop.

I Hate Summer

I went to see my favorite neurologist last Friday. It’s summer so I always have to check in and let him know that I’m still alive. While I was there he told me about a new class of drug that will be available to help prevent migraines. Unfortunately it’s still in the FDA approval stage so it won’t be available until next year at the earliest.

He did give me something else to try for major pain once a headache hits. Marginal. Anybody have any experience with it? Please let me know if you do. It came with vey strict instructions, something I don’t usually get. My doc told me to never ever under any circumstances mix it with anything else because, and I quote, “It will kill me.” Yeah, he really said that. We’ve never discussed mixing meds before, and yes, I do it all the time though I haven’t mentioned that to him. I guess he knows when it hurts enough you take whatever is on hand to try and stop it.

So last weekend I had the first really awful migraine I’ve had in a long time. The weather had been cooperating so nicely this summer but now it’s hot and humid and it won. I instantly took the little meds to try to head it off. Didn’t work. But then I couldn’t try the new big meds because, you got it, it will kill me. Kind of a conundrum, isn’t it? Take the small stuff to maybe stop it instantly or let it develop into a lot of pain and then take the strong stuff. I ended up mixing the things I had previously with some relief but terrible nightmares where I couldn’t determine if the things were really happening or not.

Let me tell you, migraines just aren’t any fun at all.

All Over

And I’m sad.

The Tour de France ended yesterday. The overall winner, Alberto Contador, though to me, that isn’t really important. Oh sure, I enjoy the competitive aspects of the race. And there are plenty of categories to compete for as well as tiny victories along the way throughout most stages. Yes, it amazes me that after 21 days of racing and over 82 hours of riding, the top ten finishers are separated by less than 15 minutes.

But again, that’s not the part I pay the most attention to. To me, it’s the race itself. The sheer distance and challenges it presents. The tradition. The unwritten rules. The strategy. Contador won. His teammate, Lance Armstrong was third, coming back from a few years’ break. But don’t think, just because of that, Armstrong’s former health issues and the age difference that it was easy for Contador. He has issues of his own. He suffered an aneurysm during a race five years ago. His surgery was successful and, after eight months, he was up and racing again. This year’s Tour victory was his second. He won his first in 2007. Along with plenty of other events as well.

Many of the riders have stories too, if you bother to check. That’s one of the things that fascinates me. And that this race is just one in many that most of them compete in during the season. It’s just the rest aren’t as popular so you never hear about the other grueling miles they cover.

Something else that ended a few days ago is Torchwood. Yes, believe it or not, I do actually watch something current. Last week there was a five night mini series in which the remaining members of Torchwood saved the world yet again, though destroyed themselves. Well, perhaps they left an opening for the show to come back but it’s doubtful and even if it does it will take a long time. By then, I probably will have gotten rid of my TV and won’t know about it anyway. If you hear about it beginning again, please let me know.

Introducing...

Kya!

While I was out and about Friday one of my errands was to stop by the vet's and grab some food for Bixby. While I was there I asked Tracy, the girl who rescued Harry, if she had any kittens. Ever since Mouse died I haven't had a lap cat and I really miss that. It's summer so of course she did. I have a soft spot for orange tabbies, always have and this one was too cute to resist.

While I was there, she crawled all over me, purring and swatting, curious as could be. I headed home and asked my boys if we could have a kitty, letting them sniff her on me. Harry said no instantly but when have I ever let a no stop me from doing anything?

So yesterday I brought her home. Poor little thing is scared to death and the boys are pissed, to say the least. She's been in hiding pretty much since she got here. They've been growling and hissing and generally miserable when they bother to come downstairs at all. At least Bixby is speaking to me again this morning but he's been through this before so I expected him to get over it first.

I know things will settle down and they'll all find their balance. I know Kya will come out when she's ready. But it's hard when all I want to do is cuddle her and I have no idea where she's hiding. And I'm afraid if I don't convince her to snuggle now, she never will. Oh, one good thing, Harry and Quinn haven't fought since Kya got here. They seem to have united in the face of an intruder. Sigh.

Out and About

I had some stuff to do today and grabbed my camera on the way out the door. Is it just me or do you think it's funny that the scale was made by Detecto? Once all the necessary things were accomplished I played along the way home.

I know I've mentioned being in Reading but I've never specifically pointed out that it's Reading as in the home of the Reading Railroad. I decided we need pics so I went exploring. Yup, found an easy way to get to the tracks but as soon as I headed toward the yard the Norfolk Southern guy was right there to chase me away. I think the engineer turned me in. Well, I was literally on the tracks so fair enough. I will be going back and next time I'm going to be my sweetest self and ask if I could wander around.

Since I was right there I walked around and took some pics of Reading's Subway. It's the dip under the railroad bridge that connects the two hills of Reading. Everytime it rains it floods and people here are so dumb they get stuck in it all the time. The city actually posted flood level signs, not that they do any good. There's also a height sign and I can't tell you how many times trucks have been wedged in anyway. You can see the gouges in the crumbling roof. Of course while I was there, Riley and the Middle Child drove by and spotted me. Good thing they already know I'm insane and love me anyway.

Part of my journey took me past the hospital. The original building is a local landmark and they have lots of little gardens scattered about. There's also some incredible trees that fed my bark obsession. Thank goodness it wasn't raining or I probably would have given in and tasted a few of them.

Have a great weekend!

Some Stuff

So last night I was lounging around, wishing for something unhealthy to nibble and went off to scavenge the cabinets even though I knew there was nothing there. Lo and behold I was wrong. It turns out that the insane woman who timeshares my head brought home brownie mix at some point. Gotta love her even if she did commandeer yesterday’s blog after sitting around all day giggling like a giddy little girl for no good reason. Yeah, some days are a lot of fun around here. Too bad I’m the only one who can hear what all’s going on. Ooh, perhaps not. Anyway, there were chewy fudge cinnamon brownies last night, thanks to her. For that, I’m letting her stay.

I realized something about myself today. I can recite the alphabet backwards as easily as forward. Now there’s a marketable talent for you. I noticed when I was working on the weekly project I always do in reverse order. What I can’t figure out now is why I do it Z-A instead of just flipping over the stack as I go. Hmm, I wonder if I can blame that one on her too.

I saw a rat this morning. A fairly small rat, not a big scary run screaming rat. Right around the corner from my house there’s a historical marker commemorating the site of the first Boscov’s department store in Reading. The rat was poised there, gazing up at it. I wondered if it’s on vacation and doing a little sightseeing around town. Kind of surprised me that a rat would choose to do its day trip to that particular spot but perhaps it holds some kind of family memory.

Wistful Wednesday Woes

Awoke with the wise wily wolves and wanted to walk and wander in the wee hours only it was wet and windy. Well, not really wet and windy for that while anyway. The wanting of a walk was welcome as always for one who is wont to walk and had there been weather I would have wandered. Wow, the wonder of wandering far and wide in wicked weather whilst the whole world wobbles and wavers wondrously so.

Went out on the porch for a while and waited with Quinn for the wrens to warble and when they warbled to draw the worms kitty Quinn went wild, his tail waggling and waving, with wanting a wounding of wee little winged things. Watched the warm sun wend its way toward the sky. Wondered what would happen if a warped witty wizened wizard wearing a weskit winked and our world went wonky with his willing the sun to crawl up from the west one weird Wednesday. Would we all quiver and quake and weep until we were washed away with terror or would we play whist on Wii?

Wasn’t able to wheedle or wrangle a wellness day so I wheeled out, though without my Wonder Woman wear. Whistled wistfully while I worked, waded through this woefully worst Wednesday. Wished and willed hours to walk away. Whoa, the woes of one willful working wench welded within the white walls of wealthlessness working at not watching a wound up watch with water but no watermelon or whales.

Without waning and though the wellspring of wackiness abounds and would wind its winsome way through your woe-filled unwilling wills, I won’t wittingly woo you with my words and bewilder you any while longer. Withdrawing and wishing you a worthy wonderful witness-free, wafting through the wicket Wednesday.

Whew.

Shine

Yesterday someone who knows me well shared something incredibly powerful and thought provoking with me. Something so fitting for him as well as me that I feel I have to share it with you too. Please, pass it on. It just might make difference in an age that could sorely use it.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” ~Marianne Williamson

Go back and read it again please. It’s okay. I’ll wait.

Now think about all the times in your life you may have reigned yourself in for whatever reason, all the times you held a brilliant part of yourself back, all the times you were less than your most amazing self. As I see it, this throws everything into a different perspective. What if we’d let ourselves shine instead? Yeah, I can see you all nodding along with me. Hell of a thought, isn’t it?

People feed off of each other’s misery all the time. What say you we gorge ourselves on one another’s greatness for a change? Can you imagine how spectacular we could all become? I can, and as of now, I’m doing just that. I’m going to strive to be my best and most wonderful me at all times. No more hiding. Don’t be afraid. Join me, please and let’s see just how far we can all go.

Okey Dokey

I read an article in the paper the other day. Should have started with something else because after that one I’d had enough.

Apparently there’s a local farm that, by January, will have its cows trained to milk themselves. Yes, that’s correct. The cows will wander into the brand spanking new high tech milking parlor and milk themselves. People assisting will be obsolete. Everything will be accomplished by robots and lasers.

The cows are to be fitted with transponders and tracked by a computer system that will record not only when they were last milked but also factors that contribute to milk production, distance walked throughout the day, weight, even the amount of chewing each cow does.

The farm owner will go from being a laborer to an overseer. He’ll take the information generated by the computer, analyze it, and then go about improving productivity. No, there was no explanation of how exactly that part would work. It didn’t go into detail on how to get a cow to chew more or what might happen to ones that are lazy slugs.

At the time the article was written there were plans for four robotic units along with a methane converting system to generate the power to keep them functional, making the operation entirely self-sufficient. All well and good but with 250 cows on the farm I have to wonder if four is enough. What if the ladies don’t want to wait in line?

Ow. Time to move on. This concept is making my head hurt.

Lobotomy Anyone?

Things you may not know and probably don’t want to but tough. It’s my blog and I found this list so I’m sharing it with you.

The first frontal lobotomy performed in the United States was in 1936 on 63 year old Alice Hood Hammatt. Alice lived to be 68, dying of pneumonia. After her surgery, she was less anxious and managed to stay out of mental institutions. Her husband said they were the happiest, most even years of her life.

Warren Baxter, the actor who played the Cisco Kid and who was the highest paid actor in 1936, earning $284,000 requested to have a lobotomy in 1950. He suffered chronic pain from severe arthritis and, at the time, that was one treatment option. He died within the month.

Rosemary Kennedy, sister to John F., was lobotomized in 1941 at the age of 23 in hopes of alleviating her violent mood swings that her father couldn’t deal with any longer. It was performed while she was sedated yet conscious. To determine how deeply to cut, the doctors doing the surgery kept asking her to recite the Lord’s Prayer and sing God Bless America. When she became incoherent, they stopped cutting. She never recovered, remaining incoherent and was eventually institutionalized in 1949. She stayed there until her death in 2005.

The first “ice pick” lobotomy was performed in 1946 on a 29 year old Sallie Ellen Ionesco because she was violently suicidal. It was done in the doctor’s office. First she was knocked out via electroshock. He then inserted an ice pick above her eyeball, banged it through her eye socket into her brain and then swirled it around in a sort of eggbeater motion to scramble the neural connections. She lost a little memory function but was overall fine and lived a fairly normal life compared to how it was before the technique. Hmm, need to look into this one a little more. Perhaps I could add it to my list of surgeries I perform.

Interesting tidbits – Scandinavian doctors performed 2.5 times the amount of lobotomies per capita than did hospitals in the United States. In its heyday in the 40’s and 50’s there were 40,000 prefrontal lobotomies performed in this country. Howard Dully, one of the youngest patients to receive a lobotomy at age 12, was the first to obtain a picture of himself undergoing the procedure. Walter Freeman, the doctor who did the lobotomy on Alice performed over 3500 surgeries during his career, 2500 of which were the ice pick variety. He lost his surgical privileges after Helen Mortensen died in 1967 when he severed a blood vessel in her brain while undergoing her third procedure. Her first was in 1946, the second in 1956.

Have a good weekend and let me know if you’re interested. I’m sure I could do this.

What's Wrong...

With this picture? Yep, just another typical occurrence in Reading.

Three Hour Tour

Just kidding. No boats involved here. No more island, remember?

But I did go to the old homestead the other day. I made a collage of all my book covers and had one to drop off with my mom. You know my mom? The woman who cringes at the mere thought of me. Yes, I knew she'd just adore an oversized picture of all things abhorred.

While I was there I discovered that the field next door is back to being a cornfield. A cornfield. Yeesh, I could feel the creepy seeping out of it and no, I will not be returning until winter, long after the harvest is in and the stalks removed. Look how close the field is to the house.

My room is the one on the back left corner. One window overlooking the corn, one overlooking the corn and at the porch roof. Okay so I know the Things that Dwelled Within the Corn didn't really need the roof to climb up to my window. They could easily get to me without it had they chosen to but still, the idea of it made it that much worse.

Here's the wall I thought to repoint with my dad's wood chisels when I was a kid.Walking away from the house you'll see what replace the island. Nice, but not my island. Yep, can you tell? Still an issue.

I thought, since I was there anyway, I'd theft some blueberries. Want some?

Let's Play

Only we won't be using moles today. Nope, I have a list. Ask really, really nice and perhaps I'll let you add to it.

Back tomorrow. Hopefully I'll be civil by then.

Did You Know?

In Alabama it’s illegal for the driver to be blindfolded while operating a motor vehicle.

In Denver it’s illegal to perform acrobatics that might frighten horses.

In Atlanta it’s illegal to tie giraffe to street lamps.

It is illegal to put pennies in your ear in Hawaii.

In Tamarack, ID it’s illegal to purchase onions after dark without a special permit from the sheriff.

It is illegal to carry ice cream cones in your pocket in Lexington, KY.

In Natoma, KS it’s illegal to practice knife throwing at men in striped suits.

There’s a state law in Louisiana that says it’s legal to grow as tall as you like.

It’s against the law in Rumford, ME to bite your landlord.

A state law in Maryland prohibits lions from attending the theater. Massachusetts has the same law.

In Canton, MS it’s illegal to kill a squirrel in a courtroom with a gun.

In New Jersey, it’s illegal to detain a homing pigeon.

It’s illegal to get fish drunk in Oklahoma.

Yeah, we’ll be doing this again. There are many, many more.

In book stuff I received the first review for Hot Rush. Chris from Night Owl Romance says, “A cute quick read that was funny, hot, and had a splash of danger to make things interesting.” Yep, that sums it up just about perfectly.

Sunday

Tour de France Update

For those of you who don’t pay attention but surely must know the most famous name in cycling, Lance Armstrong is indeed back this year. Back and ready to take the Tour by storm. After 6 stages, he’s in second place by less than a quarter of a second. Pretty damn good for an old guy, as he calls himself.

If you haven’t been watching you’ve missed some incredible scenery. The first stage took place in the streets of Monaco. Stage two took them from Monaco to Brignoles. Stage three, from Marseille to La Grande-Motte. I particularly enjoyed the scenic shots that day because that’s the region where the Middle Child had her big adventure. So cool to see some of the places she explored.

Stage four was the team time trial and wound around Montpellier. This was the day that closed the 40 second gap between Cancellara, the race leader, the one who is currently wearing the infamous yellow jersey and Armstrong. The strength his team combined is amazing but then it should be. He’s not the only former Tour winner on it, nor the only one with a chance of winning this year. Alberto Contador is also on the same team. He’s in third place at the moment by a whopping 19 seconds. Can you imagine? They’ve already pedaled hundreds of miles and they’re separated by seconds.

Stage five skirted the coast. For some reason seeing the palm trees surprised me. Yes, I do know they’re there. I just don’t associate palms with France. Hot beyond belief and, being so near the shoreline, tremendous crosswinds to contend with.

Stage six saw a day of torrential rains. The wet roads had bikes slipping out from under riders right and left. No one was immune as some of the big names from years past went down along side Tour rookies. This one ended in Barcelona which, upon leaving there, will now send them up into the Pyrenees Mountains.

Ready to watch with me yet? Sigh. One of these years you will be and then you’ll be addicted to. Have a good weekend.

A New Career?

Lately I’ve been feeling a tad restless. Not because I’m dissatisfied with my day job. Overall, I like it just fine. No, it’s Reading itself that is lacking. At the moment I have the overwhelming sensation that if I stay here much longer it will suck the life right out of me.

Okay, so get out, you say. I’d love to. Only there are several problems with that. Other than near the ocean I have no specific destination picked out. I always figured I’d head east until I ran into the Atlantic and then turn left. Yep, I want a cold, rocky shore, not hot with tourists.

The second problem is the same one most everyone has when contemplating major life changes. Money. As in I don’t have any. I’m working on it but damn, is it taking long!

The third is what I’m going to do to survive once I get wherever it is I’m going. I’m not overly concerned with that one. I’m not an idiot. I’m resourceful. I can do anything I set my mind to. No, I’m not being immodest. In this case it’s simple honesty. Sure there are things I’d really rather not attempt but as I see it, just about anything can be turned into an adventure if you have the right attitude and I think, when it comes to this, I do.

So, I was reading a Hobby Farms magazine, don’t ask, and came across this interesting snippet. It seems there is a tremendous demand for sheep shearers. I like sheep. We had one when I was growing up. The only drawback here could be that I am not physically strong enough to wrangle an uncooperative sheep. What’s that? Oh no, not at all worried about the actual shearing process. There are schools for that, yep, already investigated them, seminars, and places you can sign on as a journeyman for a year with a seasoned shearer.

Hmm, what do you think? There are sheep and rocky coasts in New England. Howie’s in fine shape so we could easily make it that far. Anyone up for an adventure? I’ll tell you we’re home when we get there.

Bored?

So yesterday I was chatting with a friend and I made a comment about mesmerizing a chicken. Poor guy had no idea what I was talking about so I had to explain.

Here’s what you do. First, catch a chicken. Nope, that was never my part. I don’t get any closer to live chickens than absolutely necessary. Hold the chicken with its beak on the ground until it settles down. Calm down. We never hurt any chickens. Hold them gently and they will relax.

Second, you need something to draw with. Yep, drawing the line was what I did. Plain white chalk works best because it’s easiest for the chicken to see although a stick in dry dirt will sometimes work too.

Once the chicken is settled, draw a straight line extending away from its beak. About three feet or so. Let go and the chicken will stay put indefinitely until something disturbs it, usually us because you can only watch a chicken lie there for so long before getting bored.

What can I say? I grew up in the middle of nowhere and some days it was hard to find ways to entertain ourselves. Oh wait. Maybe the chicken was just as bored and we were providing entertainment for it.

Sad

Someone I work with had a horrific motorcycle accident over the weekend. He was declared brain dead.

A week ago we were joking around about the questions my writing raised to him. A week ago he was so cute, proudly showing us all his brand new diploma. He’d just put in a tremendous amount of work and earned his masters. A week ago he was full of enthusiasm for the new stage he’d started.

Besides working where I do, he had a full life. A family. A new home. A business that tapped into his artistic creativity. You know what I mean. A LIFE and everything that goes with it.

Something like this makes you realize how unexpected life can be sometimes. It’s precious. Please. Be sure that those who are important to you know it. Live every day to its fullest. No regrets.

Yes, this has shown me its past time to do some serious thinking and make the hard decisions I’ve been putting off.

Need A Loan?

Go to Latvia. You can get one there. Instantaneously. Without any credit checks. They promise right on the application not to send creditors to harass you, should you default. They don’t even require your last name.

It’s simple. You can get up to $500, no questions asked for up to 90 days. Yes, the interest rate is high. But so what? Sometimes, that could mean the difference between surviving and not.

Oh, almost forgot. There is a certain collateral they demand. No, not your house or your car or anything else traditional. This particular organization asks you sign a promissory note for only one thing and they guarantee they’ll extract it painlessly, should it come to that.

What is it already, you ask? Your immortal soul.

In other news there is a man in India who killed himself while fishing with dynamite. He blew off his right hand and his head. His body was found later. Um, so his head was found first? And how exactly do you manage to blow your head off, literally? Your hand, yes but your head? Unless he was holding the dynamite in his mouth while needing both hands to light it, that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.

And last, those of you in Colorado can rest easy now. The state government repealed a very serious law last week. It is no longer illegal to collect rainwater for use on your own property. I wonder how many rain barrel inspectors this move put out of work.

Guess What!

It’s that time again. What time? Tour de France time! Oh stop. It’s one of the few things I truly enjoy so let me alone. Yes, I know it’s been fraught with problems the last few years. Yes, I know there’s all sorts of shady politics involved. Yes, I know you think it’s a lame thing for me to be addicted to watching. But you know what? I don’t care. As I said, this is something I still have fun with and it’s harmless so hush.

Some information:

This year’s Tour begins in Monaco on the fourth.

There are 21 stages which have the following profiles:

10 flat stages,
7 mountain stages,
1 medium mountain stage,
2 individual time-trial stages,
1 team time-trial stage.

The Tour ends on July 26th in Paris, as always.

The route covers 3500 km, 2175 miles. On bicycles. Doesn’t that blow your mind?
I’ll be here in the morning, wearing my bright yellow Tour T-shirt that my wonderful friend, Riley, brought home from France, just for me. Feel free to join me

How Rude!

Today is my trash pickup day. For the third week in a row, someone has added theirs to mine. Yes, believe it or not, one of my lovely neighbors is so damn cheap they won’t pay the few measly dollars that it costs a week to have their trash hauled away. Why bother, right? After all, I am already paying for it so why not just dump theirs in the alley behind my trash can?

I thought maybe this week they wouldn’t, since we had torrential downpours all night but nope, it was there again this morning. It seems they're assholes no matter what the weather may be. With how hard it rained, frankly I’m surprised it wasn’t scattered all over the place. Bad enough they’re essentially stealing from me. Imagine how much angrier I will be should I ever need to go clean it up if their bags break open. And I’d have to so the city didn’t fine me. Oh wait. I know why they were out in the rain last night. That way they could shower at the same time and not have to pay the few pennies for water too.

I’m going to start with posting a sign for them to stop so they know I’m paying attention. I really hope that works. Otherwise I’m going to need to hang out in my yard all night in order to catch them red handed. Hm, red. There’s an idea. I need a paintball gun for the night I do this. Anyone want to join me?

New!

My website got a makeover yesterday. It wasn’t really planned nor did I do it but I am very happy with it so click here and go take a look.

How did it happen? No, my computer has not developed a mind of its own and tapped into my thoughts. Well, not about that anyway. There may be other things but that’s a different blog.

It was my good friend and fellow author, Taylor Tryst. We were chatting about her just updating her own website and I mentioned that I too would like a new look but am such a techno moron I dreaded the mere thought of it. She asked what I had in mind. I said something completely different, maybe shades of gray, perhaps flannel-looking, with gargoyles since I was really getting tired of my pink and purple with flowers.

Why gargoyles you wonder? Um, they’re scattered all over my house so it seemed only natural they extend to my website too. I sent her a few examples and the next thing I know I had a whole set of new pages. Did you look? Isn’t it just spectacular? What’s even more amazing is that the incredible Taylor did all that in less than a day and turned it over in a state that I may actually be able to maintain it on my own. And she had fun doing it! Is she not the coolest?