home

New Year's Eve

2008-12-31T11:21:00.000-08:00

Went to the market after buying gasoline. Then I went to the health food store and bought milk, eggs, tortillas (they have good tortillas there), salmon, lettuce...

Came home, heated up some chocolate chip muffins I bought for the kids @ the health food store, Got Cassidy to take a bath at last. Now I'm sitting here.

Basic foods

2008-12-30T19:52:00.000-08:00

broccoli
carrots
chicken
eggs
milk
cheese
potatoes
water
bread
butter

salsa
coffee

Too bad Top Ramen has so many calories... 520 or so, I think. The package suggests that each Top Ramen unit serves three people.

I had a can of Cream of Mushroom soup with was 160 calories and some leftover chicken taco meat with salsa.

Go eat an apple. Apples are about 55 calories.

Monday December 29th

2008-12-29T09:05:00.000-08:00

So that was Christmas. And football season. Not a great Christmas. Didn't see Kelly and Toni. I doubt I'll see Kelly again. She absorbed $275K from a joint checking account she had with Mom. Not too impressed with that choice.

What else? Diane, of course, dissolved some time ago. She decided that she wasn't going to see the kids on Saturday. I think I'll tell her that I'm not interested in driving the kids over on Saturday. Certainly if her casually not being available certain Saturdays works both ways, right?

I have a headache again this morning. Unclear why. Maybe the stack of pillows I sleep on. I don't know.

Frustrated, unhappy and depressed in general. Now the holidays are over. Put everything away again. Start another year.

What am I looking forward to? What is there to do? Home improvements? Satisfying up to a point. I need to lose weight in a big way. Unhappy being so fat.

What else? Nothing else at all. And this fucking headache. Great.

I ought to clean the house. Vacuum. The house needs the attention. Put the trash out earlier. Need to remove the decorations from the tree and take down the other decorations.

Yesterday was the final day of the regular football season. Four games on next weekend, the Wild Card Playoffs. A few more weeks and then football will be in hibernation until August.

Tempted to cancel DirecTV until August. There's literally nothing on DirecTV at all. The Rams were so bad this year I'm not sure I need to resubscribe to DirecTV's football package at all.

Football really wasn't that enjoyable this year. Not that entertaining except for the second or third week, a bunch of games went to overtime.

The Rams SUCKED all year long.

Really nothing to look forward to.

Another eighteen months and I will never have to drive to Highland Ranch Elementary School again. Cassidy will be in middle school at last.

Neck hurts, headache, unhappy, dissatisfied. Another great morning.

Nothing to look forward to. Getting the kids through school at last.

Flynn is scraping his keel through his first year of high school. Cassidy is in fourth grade.

I turned 50. 50 is old in most people's eyes. I live in an area where I inspire hostility and suspicion.

No rain in the forecast for at least two weeks. It rained a bit near Christmas, which I enjoyed.

Hopefully the solar panels will generate enough electricity to bring the outstanding balance on the electric bill down to zero by April. Wait and see.

What else? Nothing else. Seriously. Save money. Do not eat fast food. Just save money.

Hugely disappointed that Kelly's absorbing that money finally came home. I'd ignored what Toni had told Linda and I for a long time, until I was thinking: are we getting together? Won't that be uncomfortable? Kelly sent a Christmas card. From her new $500 home. Nice. That felt great.

So that was a stinging disappointment involving the only person on Earth that I trusted. Just fantastic.

I feel sad, empty and disappointed. No Monday Night Football game on tonight. No rain on the horizon.

Get high and move slowly forward. Get the locksmith out here to fix the handsets on the garage door and on the black gate, both of which are either broken (black gate) or fucked up (garage)... the black gate slams hard and that handset no longer latches at all, that's a problem in a windstorm when the gate slams shut over and over again, too noisy.

I'd still like to get the front planter fixed up with a retaining wall. That would look better and I'd feel better about it, too. I have some 1.9% interest credit card checks from the bank I might use for that.

Car registration arrived, $330. No smog test required, so that's good.

Work on Photoshop of front planter now.

three months later

2008-12-18T10:06:00.001-08:00

December 18th. Thursday.

Much cooler weather at last. Heavy rain yesterday and Monday, real rain.

Brought a tree home on Tuesday with Cassidy. Cassidy decorated it with ornaments yesterday afternoon once I put a string of lights on the tree.

A few more days until the solstice. I don't really want to do anything. Just hibernate. Until the solstice. Maybe later than that.

Haven't heard from Kelly. Unsure if we'll get together. Unhappy situation. Toni isn't interested in seeing Kelly.

Do some dishes once the Howard Stern Show is over. Wrap a few more gifts while the kids are at school.

Take the kids to Diane's again Saturday morning. Not my favorite part of the week. I have some cables and a switch box for her television.

Too bad it's not raining today. I love rainy days.

Maybe some rain by the end of the year, looking @ the 15-day forecast. Oh well. If the sun shines then the solar panels will produce more power than we're using. Not running the air conditioning these days, for a change. Nice that the weather is cooler.

Wrap some more gifts. Expect a few more things to be delivered in the next several days. Some fancy XBox360 headphones for Flynn and a small refrigerator. Flynn did not provide a lot of gift ideas this Christmas.

Every morning this week I wake up and think it's Friday. It's STILL not Friday. This week is taking a lot time to crawl by.

Cassidy has a Playstation3 and some games and accessories. Microsoft will be shipping the repaired XBox360 back to us eventually.

What else? Football is almost over. Not enjoying it all that much this season. The Rams look like shit.

The second or third week of the season there were three overtime games on one day, that was exciting. The rest of the season wasn't all that interesting. Kind of boring. And it's the thing I look forward to all year. So that's somewhat disappointing.

We have a Christmas tree. I hung the wreath in front and plugged it into a timer. I bought some gifts. We put up some decorations.

In general I do not feel like Christmas at all. Not in the mood. The tree is nice. I've played some Christmas music. Glad to have a couple of rainy days.

Looking forward to not having to get up and get the kids ready and fed and out the door on time with packed lunches, semi-groomed with clean clothes for a couple of weeks.

Another sixteen months of driving Cassidy to Highland Ranch and back home again. Fuck the suburbs. Fuck bad civic planning. Fuck the other parents. Fuck those little red-cap Junior Safety Patrol fascists. Fuck the high school traffic and the badly planned parking lots there. Fuck this entire dismal suburban area.

I'd like to get the front wall/planter accomplished at last. I have some credit card checks with a 1.9% rate. Endless home improvements. I want to get two bathroom fans installed, too. And a laundry room fan. And a whole-house fan. Change the air somehow.

What else? Window tinting all around, like 60%. DARK, keep the sunlight OUT.

Go to the market tomorrow, I guess, and buy some milk at Trader Joe's. Buy some more Two-Buck Chuck k cabernet. Milk, eggs, wine. I have everything else we need, I think. The kids have soda pop. I can bake things. So I think we're set.

It is a shame that there's no more rain today. I love rain.

2008-09-18T16:52:00.001-07:00

Long, fucked-up day.

Bet you didn't read this in the US press

2008-09-11T10:05:00.001-07:00

U.S. Intelligence Sees It Russia’s Way
American intelligence confirms that the latest military actions in South Ossetia were started by Georgia and Russia’s position in the conflict was correct, says Republican California Congressman Dana Rohrabacher. He said the situation reminded him of the Bay of Tonkin incident, which the U.S. used as a pretext for beginning the war in Vietnam.
"The Russians are right! We're wrong! Georgia started it, the Russians ended it," Rohrabacher said at a hearing in the House of Representatives.

Assistant Secretary of State Dan Fried said U.S. intelligence was still working on an exact chronology of the events of August 7 to verify Georgian claims that Russian forces were in Roki Tunnel, linking Russia to South Ossetia, before Georgia attacked. Fried said that the Bush administration had forcefully and repeatedly warned the Georgians against beginning military actions against Russia, and he was unable to say why Georgia chose to ignore that advice.

Nonetheless, Fried acknowledged that supporting Georgia was in U.S. interests, even if it considers the countries actions foolish.

Russia acknowledged the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia on August 26. Those republics requested that recognition after Georgian forces almost completely ruined Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, in the course of the event of August 8-12. More than 1500 civilians were killed in that time, according to South Ossetian authorities.
www.kommersant.com

2008-09-02T12:06:00.001-07:00

So that was Labor Day weekend. What was I expecting?

Holidays are just like regular days. Plenty of work.

Football begins this Thursday night. An excuse to sit on the couch and do nothing.

Got the oil changed in the truck this morning.

What do I enjoy? What is there to look forward to?

I have another eight years plus with Cassidy. At least four more years with Flynn. That's just how it is.

Ah, on Saturday morning Diane called and said she wasn't feeling well. Diane is ill on three-day weekends a remarkable amount of the time. Not a problem. Happy to have the kids. Happy to have her NOT have the kids.

Got Flynn up and to his early study hall again this morning. His "Bridges" teachers from the summer session invited those students to participate. I don't think it'll kill him.

Dave from Acacia Landscaping should be out this Friday at noon to discuss a drain between our house and our new neighbor's house. And the planter in the front I'd like to have built. And getting the big pine tree trimmed. And getting the fence finished. More home improvement things.

Make the kids carrots and broccoli tonight. And some circle noodles. Snack of vegetables and dip and salami and crackers and cheese. Circle noodles for dinner.

First NFL game is this Thursday. No football tonight. No football tomorrow. Football on Thursday.

Not very happy. Labor Day was a disappointment. What do I enjoy?

Maybe my enjoying anything isn't an issue. I'll be right here raising the kids for the next eight plus years. That's all there is.

Leave to pick Cassidy up in forty-five minutes. Mail back two shitty Netflix movies and a Gamefly game en route.

Make cookies for the kid's lunches. Bake some bread for sandwiches. I fucked up two loaves of bread last week, frustrated me. Two in a row.

Might as well go put things away in the kitchen. Endless housework. It's never all done.

Not in the best mood.

cable

2008-08-16T14:51:00.000-07:00

x76: coaxial cable is the bloodstream of god these days
x76: so running coax is a kind of religious activity

Wednesday morning

2008-06-18T06:43:00.001-07:00

Coffee, oatmeal, chocolate chip muffins cooling... could be worse...

May 14 already

2008-05-14T11:51:00.000-07:00

Adjusted the treadmill. Seems to function now. Without slipping. As much.

So that was something.

This past Sunday I'd ordered a good kitchen thermometer. And a kitchen scale. And a tart pan. And some used cookbooks.

What else? Ten to noon.

Not much going on, I guess.

Ventilation

2008-04-30T12:14:00.001-07:00

Solar powered attic exhaust fans won't move sufficient amounts of air to cool the two attic spaces or the garage.

Need access to the attic -- insulated access panel(s)

Need electricity in the attic

Need extensive soffit vents installed, unobstructed by attic insulation

Is attic insulation sufficient? If not, add attic insulation

Need high CFM fans to move air from the garage, the attic space above the kid's rooms and the attic space above the big bedroom

I believe I calculated the square footage of the front attic space to be 847', so I'd like to get a fan installed that could exhaust at least 1600 CFM. So I'd need soffit space to allow that much cool air to be drawn in.

The solar exhaust fan couldn't possibly move that much air. Neat idea, though.

The garage door can be left up a foot or so to allow air into the garage. I need a way to exhaust the air from the garage.

I'd also like to add bathroom fans since they need power and attic access would be helpful. Bathroom fans have to be ducted to the outside air, not into the attic.

This ought to help keep the house cooler.

Garage exhaust fan (how big is the garage?)
Front attic space exhaust fan
Rear attic space exhaust fan
Soffit area to match exhaust fan CFM
Install thermometer of some kind to measure temperature in attic spaces
Control exhaust fans with switch or thermostat?
Additional attic insulation
Ensure that soffit area is not blocked by insulation.

Window film on remaining windows (the window film is an improvement)

Pay off solar panel $8K
Pay Will and Trust attorneys

Insulate ductwork under house. That sounds like quite a job.

Keep the house as cool as possible in the summer heat.

House items

2008-04-29T10:48:00.001-07:00

1. Replace blower/furnace (this Thursday)

2. Ceramic window film on remaining windows

Cassidy's other windows, Flynn's window, living room sliding glass door, kitchen window, laundry room window, big bedroom window, big bathroom windows

3. Attic ventilation... soffets, fans

4. Garage ventilation, exhaust path for hot air

5. Caulk any openings around the house

6. Insulate ductwork in crawlspace. This sounds like hard work.

Tuesday

2008-04-29T08:48:00.000-07:00

Jackie Martling was on the Howard Stern show this morning. Wonderful to hear him on that show again. Put a smile on my face.

Do what now? Kids are at school. Clean the kitchen floor. Doing more laundry. Do more dishes. The usual.

Made a tasty stir fry last night which the kids were horrified by again. Ah well. I thought it was delicious.

Ate a piece of blueberry pie. Delicious. Yum!

Memorial Day is coming up

2008-04-28T16:58:00.001-07:00

Fried chicken, potato salad, cole slaw. Salsa. Chips. Huevos Ranchero. Tacos. Gardening. Old science fiction movies.

Money

2008-04-28T10:53:00.000-07:00

AC 3000 (sell stock)
Will and Trust 1500
Truck insurance 500 or so

I'd like to get the kids new television sets. Maybe for summer vacation. Maybe if I get an "economic stimulus" check. Good televisions to replace the shitty ones I bought for $99 each at a supermarket.

Give those away. With the tires and wheels I have stored in the garage.

I'd like to get a planter built and/or the wall extended out in front. Make more rose-growing space. I think that would look good.

Coming up

2008-04-28T10:32:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, Cassidy's softball playoff game
Wednesday, 9:30 sign will and living trust
Thursday, New HVAC hardware installed
Friday open so far... go to the market...
Saturday, Softball picnic

I wonder when or if Diane will resurface?

I ought to take Cassidy to see "Nim's Island" in the theatre. She'd like to see that movie. Maybe we'll do that today.

Fixed?

2008-04-28T10:23:00.000-07:00

Now publishing this on blogger.com instead of spaceways.net ... and this seems to be working... hmm. Deleted some files on spaceways.net and screwed up the home.html blog. Unsure what I did.

Unsure anything important was missing. The idea of having written anything important is ridiculous and vain. We're here for a short time and leave little but footprints. And children.

Someone came out from the HVAC place that inspected the furnace for $109 last week. I agreed to have a new furnace installed. A "core" and a "blower" I think are what the parts are called.

So that's $3000. Selling some XHB stock at about a 3% loss. See if that transaction posted and request the money.

Diane has been sick again and hospitalized, or so she told me a couple of weeks back. Unsure if she'll write a child support check.

Pleased about the new HVAC hardware. That ought to work better and be more efficient that the existing, original hardware.

Consider replacing the exterior AC unit in a year or two. I have a brochure on a model recommended by the guy that came out this morning.

Sign will and living trust this Wednesday. Make arrangements for end-of-life details.

I need to lose weight and live long enough to see the kids through to adulthood. Really. I can see it and say it, but does it happen? Not yet.

I like to have food in the house and firewood during December, as if we're going to be snowed in. It's more realistic to focus on the hot days in the summer and equipping the house against those days.

I'd like to get several more windows treated with that ceramic film. My bedroom, the other half of Cassidy's room, Flynn's room, the living room sliding glass windows, the kitchen window. Do something with the laundry room window. Or the whole door. Better insulated and more secure.

Hopefully the new HVAC hardware will work so well that I won't want to have a split system installed.

test post

2008-04-25T14:10:00.001-07:00

fucked this up... cannot publish anything...

Test

2008-04-19T07:48:00.001-07:00

Test

OK to turn on solar panels...

2008-04-17T16:27:00.000-07:00

Do they work? I threw both switches after getting a letter from SDG&E but I don't see the meter going backwards just yet. Waiting for an e-mail with some advice. Trying not to be impatient. Eager for the solar panels to begin working, however.

9/11/01 <-- hinge-o-evil

2008-03-27T09:54:00.000-07:00

It's a good old-fashioned witch hunt. Thank God reason has been thrown out the window. A signature at the bottom of a secret, blood-stained document is all the evidence needed to convict. Society must be protected. Lawn order.

Did the "Arab terrorists" with their physics-defying magic carpet technology successfully blow the veneer of civilization off the US in one fell, if mythical, swoop?

That's where to aim the silver bullet: the herd was spooked by the sleight-of-hand on 9/11/01. They'll buy anything now. They'll allow anything.

How many more Kafka-esque prosecutions? When do we get to full-on thoughtcrime? You do love Big Brother, don't you?

2008-03-20T12:36:00.000-07:00

Went back to the market after delivering the kids @ school and bought some Easter eggs. And potatoes, and powdered sugar. And a bunch of other stuff.

Got home and got all of that put away.

Found a piece of a Power Rangers toy that had bounced underneath the oven. I pulled out the oven to retrieve the toy piece and do some cleaning. Depressing how dirty the sides and floor underneath the oven were.

Returned a part to Home Depot and bought some sanding blocks and an inside corner plastering tool. Hopefully I'll finish the laundry room someday.

Read an e-mail from Toni to Kelly where Toni really lit into Kelly about her attitude towards Linda and the complaints Kelly had. It was unpleasant to read. Awful stuff.

Ate some leftover steak I'd had in the freezer. Tasty. I baked a chocolate cake last night that turned out well. Dinner last night was good, too. Grilled salmon on mashed yams and a salad with grilled onions and asparagus and sauteed mushrooms. Delicious.

It's 12:40. Leave to get Cassidy in an hour.

Going to a swim party for her softball team this Saturday. Not thrilled about going. I'll make some cole slaw to bring. Cassidy's game is from three to five this Saturday.

Easter is Sunday. Kind of early this year.

So I have a basket for Cassidy and some chocolate eggs and bunnies for the kids to enjoy. I remember going to Mom's at Easter with the kids. I miss that. I miss Mom.

Life goes on. So far, so good. Cassidy will be at Highland Ranch for another two grades, two years, fourth and fifth grades. 2008-2009 for fourth grade and 2009-2010 for fifth grade. In the fall of 2010 Cassidy will start sixth grade at Bernardo Heights where Flynn is now.

Flynn will start high school this coming fall, 2008-2009 for ninth grade, 2009-2010 for tenth grade, 2010-2011 for eleventh grade and 2011-2012 for twelfth grade. That's hard to believe. High school this fall already. Wow.

So plan on being socialable this Saturday evening with the other parents of the other girls on Cassidy's softball team. I think I like the cole slaw idea. I bought twenty plastic cups to hold servings of the cole slaw. Get twenty plastic spoons so there's no issue with serving tools, bowls, et cetera. A good solution, I think.

Maybe make cupcakes, too. Or panna cotta.

Make what for Easter dinner? Yeast rolls. Get a ham? Probably more vegetables than meat. Asparagus, green beans... corn, mashed potatoes. Maybe make fish and rice. Just fish sticks or whatever. Make a nice Easter dinner.

I should get some work done. Housecleaning seems endless. Laundry, ironing, picking up the house... it's endless.

Wednesday

2008-03-19T10:47:00.000-07:00

Put the black cat outside this morning. Too much stress. Too much hissing.

Went to the market. Came home. Listening to the Howard Stern Show.

This Sunday is Easter. Need to get Easter eggs for Cassidy to find. I *am* the Easter Bunny.

Going to a softball party after Cassidy's game on Saturday. Not eager about that. But Cassidy is. Bring something to that party, I bought some plastic cups and some heavy cream to make panna cotta. Maybe make some cole slaw as well. I like cole slaw.

Go out after the Stern Show and get Easter eggs for Cassidy to find, return that drywall mud stirrer at Home Depot, buy a narrow, flexible trowel for drywall... maybe a corner tool, an inside corner tool...

Still working on the laundry room, putting skim coats of drywall compound on the walls. Plaster has a nice, solemn look to it.

Maybe also stop by the health food store and buy some more oatmeal. I like having oatmeal to eat in the mornings.

Cat

2008-02-27T19:54:00.000-08:00

After unsuccessfully listening for an audible "maor" from outside all day, I heard the plaintive sound of the black cat outside. I had food and water bowls outside already and popped the top on a three-ounce can of cat food and deposited it in the food bowl. No sign of the black cat, but I could still hear it.

Was it stuck inside the neighbor's yard? I walked over and opened the gate a bit. No cat, but I could still hear it. This is just when the sky turns dark for the night, so I was going largely by sound. I walked back up to our house and then I realized the sound was coming from the roof of our neighbor's house. How did the cat get up there? I asked it and it revealed nothing.

I went to the garage and dug out our six-foot ladder and set it up near our neighbor's house and climbed up to the step that says "DANGER DO NOT STAND ON OR ABOVE" and was thinking about whether my health insurance premiums were up to date while I drummed my fingers on the tile roof. The black cat came over. She was excited to see me. I think she said "I'm on the roof. Can you believe it?" Anyway, after some nose scratching and head rubbing I was able to grab her by the scruff of the neck and make our descent without serious damage.

I had the carrier and litter box in the garage and stuck her in there for a while with her food. Now she's in the bathroom again with all of her gear. What do I do with this cat? I'll re-schedule the appointment to get her fixed and after she heals..? What? Install a pet door in the garage and fix her up a place to sleep in there? I don't see her integrating with the established (fat, lazy) house cats.

How did she get on the roof?

Israel

2007-12-07T07:59:00.001-08:00

Israel is a savage country without declared borders run by religious psychopaths. Israel has FAR too much influence over US politics -- did you know that Israel does not have to have its operatives register as agents of a foreign power in the US?!

Israel has nuclear WEAPONS. Not merely nuclear POWER, but a nuclear ARSENAL. You want WMDs and a country run by religious psychpaths, look no further.

I won't try and sway you, but please do your own field work. Start where I did, Google "USS Liberty" and start asking yourself some hard questions. Examine the ground radar findings of the supposed mass graves around the Nazi internment camps. Examine the census data in pre-WWII Europe. Ask yourself what those five Mossad agents were doing high-fiving one another while videotaping the collapse of the WTC towers on 9/11/01.

Do your own research. Assume nothing. Zionism has wrought great harm not only on the Middle East but here in the USA. Israel is not a "sister nation" nor is it the 51st state. Israel is a foreign country. Israel is a foreign country.

What did George Washington warn against? Entangling foreign alliances? The US is being taken advantage of in the way that Russia and then Germany were used in the preceding century. You may well find yourself asking if the US is not occupying Iraq at the behest of Israel.

With friends like Israel, we have no need for enemies.

http://www.google.com <-- get busy.