Ramblin' Man

[Aberzombie]

Tomorrow is my first appointment at what will hopefully be my new, regular primary care physician. So I've been making a kind of list of my problems over the last few years, along with any current issues (whether fairly steady or intermittent). Somehow, I forgot the partial blockage my cardiologist found a few years back. Luckily, my wife remembered.

She went over the rest of the list as well, to see if there was anything else I missed. I told her maybe I should mention my "senior moments". Though, in truth, that's not something I'm truly worried about.

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Ugh. I'm sitting here typing and listening to music. I like using the earbuds my wife got me, but I dislike using both of them. Due to the odd shape of my ears (going back to my youth), the let earbud never fits very well. It often tries to fall out.

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The ear shape thing goes back to when I was a very young lad. My ears stuck out like Dumbo. It contributed to frequent ear infections, so a specialist recommended having surgery to pull them back.

That went well, but over the years, the right ear has come back out slightly. The left stayed pulled close. Most people don't notice it unless I say something.

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Anyway, before we get a move on for our errands, I figure I'll do a bit of mapping.

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Maybe I'll stop back later and post some more, in order to shine the glorious light that is myself upon all of you here.

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We had success in finding a jacket for the boy at Academy. And shoes for the girl at Walmart.

Huzzah!

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Then the boy and I hit Target. We didn’t need anything specific. My inlaws sent him a Target gift card for Christmas. Can’t say I’m surprised, but he didn’t find anything he wanted to spend it on.

We were hoping maybe a game for either the PlayStation or Switch. They had plenty of Switch games, but none which interested him. As for PlayStation, they hardly had anything.

Hell, I didn’t even see a movie section anymore. That’s one of the reasons I don’t really care much for shopping at Target anymore. Many of their selections really seem to have gone down hill over the last few years. And I was never overly fond of their clothing choices.

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Now we’re back home and I don’t have to leave the house again today. Theoretically, anyway. I do have to go outside at least twice, but that’ll be later this evening: to grill some chicken and then put the garbage can out.

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My thoughts and prayers continue to go out to all those affected by those fires in California. I hope it’s not as bad as the media seems to be portraying it. Some of the pictures I’ve seen came across to me as horrific.

I always feel for the people in the area who end up as victims of such out of control natural disasters. Whether fire or flood, you hate to see people lose everything.

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So far, our own daily weather has proven not too bad. Cloudy and cool, but the rain has mostly been of the misty variety.

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At Walmart we also bought two new hand towels for the half-bath. Considering the dog ate one of them.

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And while we were there the boy said he needed another long sleeve shirt. Luckily, I was there to stop him from buying yet another blue one (he already had two). So he chose a red one instead.

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And now the chicken is marinating in the fridge. Later this evening I shall cook it on the grill.

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Mmmmm……grilled chicken. Healthy. Hopefully.

I have made sure to cut back on the amount of salt I put in the marinade. I may even cut it out completely. That’s one thing I know I need to do - cut back on salt.

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That’s going to be even tougher than quitting smoking. I’ve always had a high salt diet. It’s going to be really hard to a cut back on decades of doing that.

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Happy Monday!

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So far, it's been pretty decent. Except for a few minor things. I had a decent drive to the office. The weather is cold, but not too cold. And I've got stuff to do before leaving early for a doctor appointment.

The downside aspects: There were a handful of idiots on the road. And I'm really noticing how tight my jeans have become today.

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I've been slowly going up in pants size as I recover from the C Diff. So now I've hit the point where the current size has been getting uncomfortable. Yesterday, when we were at Walmart, I tried to find some new jeans, but the only ones they had were very dark blue. I dislike that, so didn't buy them.

Instead, earlier this morning, I ordered two new pair off Amazon. They won't get here until Thursday, unfortunately. Still, if it really starts to bug me, I could always pull out my old dress slacks. Those are actually the size I'm planning to move up to.

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Anyway, my appointment with the new doctor is later today. I'll put in a half-day in the office, then eat lunch. After that, I'll leave for the appointment. I don't know how long it's going to take, so I just took a half day off, and will go home right after the appointment.

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One of the good things about this new doctor office is that it's kind of on my route home (if I make slight adjustments). That, and they actually have scheduled appointments on Saturdays.

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Weatherwise, this should be a fairly mild week. Typical for winter around here. It's next week that's going to suck balls. There are at least two mornings where it'll be in the 20s.

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Stoopid Winter.

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And now it's getting closer to donut making time.

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Happy Tuesday!

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I've already had one of the most glorious drives to work imaginable. It was a veritable symphony of perfect timing and being in the right place for that timing.

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Yesterday ended up being pretty decent, much to my surprise.

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I FINALLY got my PE license from New Mexico. Of course, they didn't actually notify me of this. I just so happened to be checking their website and saw they had released an updated roster on Friday past. So I checked it and, lo and behold, my name was listed as "active" with a license number! Huzzah!

It only took them three f&$#ing months. And they still haven't sent me an actual confirmation email. The lady I've been dealing with did send me an email asking whether I'd received an email with my license card yet. My response was very brief and to the point, but not vulgar.

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We also got the package out I'd been working on. So that's good. Now the client can review both packages, for both sites, and redline them to his heart's content.

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My visit with the new doctor went smoothly. Nothing horrible was determined in this visit. The doctor his really nice, as is the staff. Their location is cool. And they have a lab for blood work right across the parking lot from their office.

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He wants me to do a follow up with my cardiologist. I also plan to do a follow up with my GI doctor as well.

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And that visit only took about an hour and a half. Since I had taken PTO for the back half of the workday, I wasn't too concerned about it. It was nice to have a bit of free time in the afternoon. I did some mapping.

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And I got an Amazon delivery a day early. Woohoo!!

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Finished off the day with a BSA troop committee meeting, then two episodes of Superman and Lois.

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Today will, hopefully, be just as good, if not better.

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The big boss of our group got promoted to a vice president position. I don't like him all that much as a person, but he's very good at his job. So I wasn't surprised about the promotion.

Now we just have to wait and see who the new head of our group will be.

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And now I can hopefully focus the rest of my week on my other big project.

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Ugh. It’s been a long day. And still a little ways to go. Then I can get tomorrow and do most of it again.

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Currently, I’m watching scouts plan meals for their upcoming camp out. Hopefully, the boy will avoid being named grubmaster. I really hate having to deal with that during weeks I’m not feeling well.

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And we have some Webelos scouts visiting tonight.

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Happy Wednesday!

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Despite a bit of rain, the drive in was mostly decent. I did have a handful of idiots to deal with. Including some jackass who cut in front of me at the last minute to exit the interstate, then put on his brakes to go very slowly.

So then I made like was I was going to get over in the next lane, and when he went to cut me off again, I moved back to the left and accelerated around his sorry ass.

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So now I'm here in the office. While I was getting coffee, another early arrival walked in the kitchen. He told me he had made a last-minute trip to Pittsburg yesterday, and that it had been -10 degF. He said they had to de-ice the plain when they were getting ready to leave.

That got me into flashback mode. I started reminiscing about my time in Philly.

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That trip down memory lane included the tale of when my wife was pregnant with the boy. December of 2010 through sometime in January it snowed every week. Several of those snows were more than a foot. At least one of them was more than 2 feet, as I recall. It was f-ing brutal.

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The background on my work computer is a picture of the Old Bridge in Mostar. That's in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Someone mentioned that it looked kind of like Rivendell from the movies. The more I look at it, the more I think that person is correct.

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The boy and his troop are going camping this weekend. At a place on the north side of San Antonio. According to the weather, it's going to get cold that Friday night, then a bit colder that Saturday night. So they made sure to tell the scouts to pack warm clothing and gear.

I'm pretty sure I bought the boy a thermal top and bottom for the troop's January campout last year. So I've got to make sure he finds that stuff. Or I'll have to get him some new ones.

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Although....Now that I think about it, I have some old thermal underwear in my drawer. Stuff I used to wear when we lived in Philly. That stuff might fit him.

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I didn't notice until this morning, but apparently they put a Popeyes just around the corner. That's both good and bad to know. Good because now it's easier for me to get Popeyes. Bad because now it's easier for me to get Popeyes.

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Before I forget - those rat bastards in New Mexico still haven't sent me an official email notice of about my license. The only reason I know is because I checked their website roster myself. The young lady who was my point of contact even sent me an email asking whether I'd received anything. She still hasn't responded to my reply from Monday evening.

F#$@ing bureaucrats.

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Also, I did find out the Popeyes I noticed earlier is, in fact, brand new. So at least I didn't not notice something that had been there awhile.

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This meeting smells like it should have been an email. Then again, most meetings smell that way to me.