December 13th, 2009
by wormdude
in
brewing, friends |
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Well, we had the first run with The Out Cider the other night. I absolutely love my homebrewed cider. Some friends got together for a holiday party and I took it along. Everyone liked it. Me included. Though I am going to change the recipe the next time that I make it. And I will be making it pretty soon as there are some friends who want some for the spring. The only draw back to it is the amount of time that it has to condition before it is just right for drinking. This batch I let sit for 4 weeks. the next batch I do will sit for close to 6 before it is drank.
Or drunk. which is what you are going to be if you drink a whole lot of this stuff. It is really good.
December 3rd, 2009
by wormdude
in
hemp, marijuana, pennsylvania |
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Some pretty cool is happening here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. A House panel held a public hearing yesterday to discuss a bill that would allow the residents of The Commonwealth to use medical marijuana. And that is very cool. Of course there were protestors on both sides. The Pros talking about the relief that marijuana can give to patients suffering from cancer, glaucoma, HIV or other physically painful diseases. Along with the Cons talking about marijuana addiction. A few years back this would never have happend.
This is a historic day in The Commonwealth.
November 16th, 2009
by wormdude
in
cigars, days off, Family, kids |
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I sat on the deck this afternoon with a good cigar, and a good brew and just listened.
We have a school that is about 50 yards from our yard. When we bought this house back in 1996 it was one of the selling points. That along with the fact that we were buying it from family and getting a great deal. Back then the school house k-5, and that is were The Princess went to 1-4. When she got into 5th grade the school was closed and she went to another one that is a couple of blocks in the opposite direction.
Sitting here listening to the leaves, I can also hear the kids coming in from last recess. I can hear the buzzer, and the buses pulling up getting ready to take them home. The parents are queing up in the same place that I used to when I picked The Princess up. The sound of little peoples voices is like a balm. I love listening to them as they are chattering to one another. When this was our school, it had a huge family feel to it. We all knew one another, saw one another at all the functions, and watched out for one anothers kids. If someone was late, the parents would hang around and let our kids play on the playground until the late parent arrived. Now that we are years beyond that, I find how much I miss those days.
I missed those days with my eldest daughter, and even though I had some of that time with my boys, I basically missed those days with my own kids. I lived them vicariously through The Princess. I am a flawed Father.
Anyway. Live life now. Don’t look back on it and regret. Life is to be lived now.
Namaste.
November 16th, 2009
by wormdude
in
coffee, work |
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So now after a carafe of coffee, and a large cup from Mc’s, I think that it is time to sit down and talk about what a typical day is like in retail.
A typical day in retail begins for me with a walk through my store. I say hello to all of my associates, checking in with them, and letting them know that I am there if they need anything. With the way our work schedules are, I am not in the store on the same days every week, they change in relation to what the business dictates. I also check with my Department Managers to see if they are having any concerns with associates, orders, or deliveries.
After this quick “survival walk”, I head to my office, grab a legal pad and start walking each department making notes of items that need specific attention. These items might be as simple as wiping down a scale, or as involved as breaking down a rack, or display unit and cleaning it due to how it looks. Appearance is everything in food retail, and you don’t want nice fruit or vegetables sitting on a dirty counter. During these walks I am also answering phone calls from customers and associates. Saturday I received a call that took the cake in my 30 years in this business.
I get this call from a Deli associate. She tells me that she is in the parking lot, ready to come to work, when the person who she was riding with got pulled over by the police. And let’s be clear, she told me that she was with her “baby daddy.” Which makes me crazy as the label just means this is the person I decided to have unprotected sex with, without any concern of the consequences. She informs me that the “baby daddy” might have some warrants. I ask if she has someone who can come get her child, as the ‘baby daddy” will be going to jail if he has warrants. She assures me that that won’t happen.
Riiiiiight.
I go to the upstairs conference room and watch the scene unfold. First the “baby daddy” is pulled from the car, frisked, and handcuffed. Mind you, there are 3 officers dealing with him. While two are handcuffing him, the other pulls leg shackles out of his trunk. So, the warrants had to be just a bit more serious than what my associate led me to believe. Since being cuffed, he was then stuffed into the back seat of one of the cruisers, and my associate got into his car and drove her and her daughter home. Yeah, I forgot to mention that her child watched her father cuffed and taken away by the police. That is a nice tape to have running in your head isn’t it?
And that is just part of a typical day in retail.
November 12th, 2009
by wormdude
in
days off, home, indian summer, leaf nazi, neighbors |
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Today I bottled a batch of beer that should have turned out like an American Amber, but actually turned out quite a bit differently than what was expected. Hit the highlighted areas and you can read about it. I won’t waste your time now talking about it.
Though I was pleasantly surprised at the outcome, this could be another beer in our growing catalog. Depending, of course, on how it tastes after conditioning in the bottle over the next couple of weeks.
Anyhooooo. I have talked before about my neighbor the “Leaf Nazi“, and how one of our trees had it out for her. Well today said tree gave it up and dropped its leaves. And I, being the good homeowner I am, went out with my trusty leaf blower to get the leaves out to the curb.
And it worked wonderfully up until right after I finished with the leaves, and was putting the blower away. This huge gust of wind came along and blew pretty much all of the leaves back into the yard.
Stupid wind. Now I have to do it all over again.
Maybe.
L8R
November 7th, 2009
by wormdude
in
Dr.s, dreams, Family, Insanity, meds, pain |
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So I went to the Dr. yesterday for my now regularly scheduled 4-6 week visits to certify that I am still bat-shit crazy.
He asks how Iam doing, I say fine. I am still having the vivid dreams, but they are still on the pretty cool side of crazy, so I am not that concerned about them. They bad ones haven’t happened yet, but I know that they are out there and still coming. You know the ones I am talking about, the dreams where you wake up screaming, with your heart pounding out of your chest, and you being absolutely certain that the world is ending.
But so far, so good with not having any of those dreams.
We got around to talking about my shoulder that has been bothering me since this summer. I can lift laterally to the front, but not to the back, or to the side without pain. A lot of pain. So the Dr. takes hold of my arm and does the classic “does this hurt” stuff, and of course it does. A LOT!!!! He asks if I have ever had a cortisone shot, to which I answer not now, and not ever. He laughs and says, “Yeah they hurt like hell.”
I like a Dr. who isn’t going to tell you bullshit.
Anyhoooooooo. I am going for physical therapy on my arm now. All of those words above to tell you that. And The Princess tells me that she can do my PT for me as she had to do similar exercises for a waterpolo injury.
Helpful people abound.
L8R
November 4th, 2009
by wormdude
in
Insanity, leaf nazi, neighbors, pennsylvania |
3 Comments →
I used to have a Leaf Nazi. Specifically, I used to live next to a Leaf Nazi. Her and her husband were renting the house next to ours. She was a nice enough person. As long as you didn’t talk to her too much, or look directly at her.
Our Leaf Nazi had a particular trait. She liked her driveway, and walkways to be completely cleaned of any debris. Sweeping was her compulsion. Constant sweeping. Morning and evening. And one of our trees loved making her crazy.
yes, I said one of our trees loved making her crazy. Now, we humans anthropomorphize everything. We do it with our pets, some of us do it with plants, you get the idea. I swear that this tree had it in for our Leaf Nazi. Why? Because this particular tree would hold onto its leaves way past when all the rest of the trees on the block had dumped theirs. This tree has been here since the house was built back in the early 50′s. It has been around the block, so to speak. I don’t know why the tree did what it did with its leaves, but I do know that it would drop some leaves each day. The Leaf Nazi would come out of her house, grumbling all the way. She would then sweep them off of the drive and go back into the house. And the next day, the tree would drop some more.
I think that the tree is missing the Leaf Nazi becuase today I was out raking the lawn where “raking the lawn” means I was running the mower over the leaves so that I could empty the bag on the compost pile. And the tree has 90% of its leaves still on. Waiting. Waiting for the Leaf Nazi.
Who no longer lives next door.
Crazy.
November 1st, 2009
by wormdude
in
detroit, Family, food, holidays, home, Michigan |
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So, Halloween has come and gone. Most of the candy is out of the house. The decorations have been taken down, and put away. Now we get ready for the end of year holiday onslaught.
More decorations to dig out and put up. The time changed back an hour. Which really messes me up this time of year. I don’t have much trouble in the springing forward part, but this falling back really takes its toll. I think because of all the darkness. You get up in the dark, go to work in the dark, and then come home in the dark. Dark, dark, dark.
Growing up, holidays took on a different feel. I grew up in a good sized family. 2 Aunts, and 2 Uncles. A smattering of cousins tossed in for good measure. And that was just on my Dad’s side. My Mom had 10 Brothers and Sisters, but we didn’t see them as much as they lived on the Detroit side of Michigan. And we can’t remember my Grandparents. Earl and Vida lived on a farm outside of the small town I grew up in. Not a huge farm, but to me it was the greatest place there was. And holiday dinners with my Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles, and cousins were wonderful. Great food, people who loved you, and a warm house. Gathered around the TV, or playing games in the dining room. Taking naps on the floor listening to the adults talk. Voices of people who loved one another.
Those were good times.
October 28th, 2009
by wormdude
in
dreams, meds |
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Since becoming a medicated American I have been the receipient of some really weird, and vivid dreams. Take for example the one I had last night:
I was taking part in a meeting of my management staff at a restaurant/giftshop/bakery/tourist trap. The building was a converted house and as it turned out it had more than a few surprises and many levels.
The meeting was being chaired by an executive in my company. I can’t remember what it was we were there for, though I do know that at some point we were going to be breaking out and touring the building for some reason. There was another group of people who were sitting next to our group who got into a verbal conflict with our meeting chair. I got up and walked away, ending up in the Bakery area talking to an employee of the Bakery about how they made donuts. She showed me that they used a power drill to mix their donut dough. And then we ended up in the attic that was full of furniture. Antique furniture along with a discussion of the economy of the area and how bad it was that people were trying to support themselves by selling their possessions.
From there I ended up in the basement, that wasn’t the bottom layer of this house either as I remember looking down a flight of stairs seeing yet a lower level to the basement that I was in. Regardless, the area I was in at that time was the restaurant. And there were dogs every where. I mean every where. I sat down in a recliner and a dog jumped on to my lap and would not get off.
And then I woke up.
Tell me that that isn’t wacked out.
L8R.
October 27th, 2009
by wormdude
in
holidays, Retail |
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Ah, it is that time of year once again where folks gather their dollars together and head out into the malls and shopping venues of the world ready to spend money that they might not really have to spend. All to make themselves feel better, following the siren call of Madison Avenue telling them that they have to spend during this time of year because it is that American Way. Spend, spend, spend.
But my goal here is not to inspect and discuss finances. My goal here is to show you the way not to be an asshat as you are shopping. This should be an easy task, but some of you out there are making it a tad difficult.
Some tips. If you run into friends in the stores, don’t stop in the middle of the aisle to talk about your lives. Move out of the freaking way. There are people who are trying to get by. Kids helping you shop are cute. When everyone has the time to stand and watch your precious one pick your grocery selections, but at holiday time no one has the time to do this. Get moving, will you? If you see someone working in an aisle, such as filling the shelves, don’t try to get as close to them as you possibly can. They will be standing up at some point in time and need a modicum of room to do so. If you are sitting in their back pocket when they do stand you will get moved. And if you do, don’t get all pissy about it, you shouldn’t have been there in the first place.
We keep talking about this, but even though it isn’t necessary to dress for shopping it would be nice if you left your ugly pajama bottoms at home. Along with those ugly slippers.
Just a few tips, I know that there will be more as we go.
L8R.
