Blather On Dude

A little news and a couple of things I meant to mention.... those being.... I added a couple of blog links so, welcome David on the west coast and Mrs UHDD from over 'ome, across the pond. I never know about the etiquette around these things so I hope you are happy to be here - any objections and I can remove you easily enough. There are a couple more which need changing and I will get to those when I'm able.

I had a very short check-in call from Lynda earlier this a.m. to say that while their flight had been a rough one, they had arrived in Trinidad safely. (Don't say a word but I miss her already.)

I tried keeping myself busy yesterday with a trip to the library and some food shopping. The quick and easy meals-for-one are a priority. When I cook for myself I dont like dirtying a lot of dishes. Books and music - I've read 80 pages already of Bob Dylan's memoir - Part 1 - 'Chronicles'. Another memoir I grabbed is by Frank McCourt's (of Angela's Ashes fame) brother Malachy - A Monk Swimming. Talented bloody family that. Music - The reviews of 'Magic' - Bruce Springsteen's latest - were awfully good so I got it. I have yet to give it a listen to see for myself. The other one I got is by a guy I used to really like, Steve Earle - 'Washington Square Serenade'. I am interested to see what this release is like because to my mind and sensibilities he went way off the rails back around 'Transcendental Blues'. Like whacko...... (just poke me, I'm full of opinions) I look forward to his ode to hillbilly heroin - 'Oxycontin Blues'.

In an effort to transform that weight I gained into something other than fat I took each of the dogs for extended walks last evening after dinner - separately. The younger one, Milo, is built pretty close to the ground so we did just a couple of km - that was plenty for him. Our older dog Freedom has gained some weight lately too so we did a longer more strenuous one up a long steep hill and that walk was likely 4 - 5 km. The temperature at that time of day had dropped back to about 75 but I was hot and sweaty by the time we made it back home. I figure this walking should also help get my back back into shape.

Strange weather, too. A thunderstorm for a couple of hours around noon, cleared up for part of the afternoon and early evening, and then another big thunderstorm with driving rain after 9 p.m. On the news last night they said we have now had the wettest July EVER with almost 200mm of rain. For you non metric folks that is a little less than 10 inches. Crazy..... never mind the rain - just bring on the heat for August.

I also had a brief conversation with my son - a quicky check-in to see that the baby is doing alright, that she and her mom are home from hospital. I may have woken him up or something but he wasnt very talkative so I let him go after getting the details. Kid needs a good boot up the arse some days.

There was a news segment about a new search engine - Cuil - so I tried a few searches with it. Try it; you might like it.

Time to get on with the day -- later.

Delays

It was sort of a good thing - Lynda's flight was delayed by a day - so all the last minute stuff we hadn't got done, did get done yesterday. Lots of running around, a couple of visits, some work about the house....

Early to bed and back up at 3 a.m. so I could drive her to her friend's place and connect for the trip to the airport. I went back to bed when I got back home but I don't think I slept. Very lazy morning so far.

She is looking forward to the trip as it is somewhere she has never been before - Trinidad. The prospect of being gone for 2 weeks was a little daunting. She was knocking off a day each way for travel; down to 12 days: and another for the delay in leaving makes it 11 - getting better.... but God, she is going to miss me.... lol. All I want is for her to enjoy herself and come back safely.

Until Sunday evening when I return to work my time is my own. There are some things around the house that I would like to accomplish (more unpacking, still) but really I would just enjoy spending more time walking the dogs and maybe getting some shots around the neighbourhood. Stepson #3 will be spending nights here to help look after the dogs all next week but we wont see much of each other.

Oh, the medallion on Monday night. It was really well attended by members from all across this region (Durham) and it went off smoothly. There were even some of my fellow staff members there from the centre. Probably 70 or 80 people in all. The fellow who spoke, Steve, is one that I have known since I arrived on the scene (it doesnt seem like 5 years) and he did a really good job. I kept my few remarks short and to the point - brevity is good. And to top it off - a big slab of Black Forest cake for everyone. Gotta like that!

Add One More

My son's girlfriend gave birth to their daughter Saturday morning around 9 Calgary time. Welcome to the family Madison!! Everyone is fine and Mom and baby are expected to head home from hospital in a couple of days.

Take The Good.....

with the not-so-good.

I'm waiting on tenderhooks tonight for some news. My ex sent an email earlier today to say our son and his g'friend were on the way to the hospital... barest of details but this was her due date. She had either gone into labour or they were going to induce her. So far, many hours later, no news. A new life to look forward to though.... and maybe another trip in the offing. Calgary here I come.

I've referred here before to my friend Audrey, the 88 yr old who has 51 years of sobriety. At a meeting Thursday night someone shared that Audrey had fallen earlier in the week and is recuperating in hospital from a broken hip and elbow. They've had her up and about assisting her walking and likely as a preventative measure in case of pneumonia. She isn't taking visitors as yet excepting family. If you're the praying sort maybe you could include a thought for her renewed health.

Time is running out - it's up to me to ask everyone who is to participate in my medallion presentation meeting on Monday night. I have all the readings covered and a chairperson but I have yet to line up a speaker. The guy I wanted showed up at a meeting the other night and I asked him; he has health problems that prevent him from making commitments days in advance. Damn! Other people I had in mind are now being rated - mentally - as to how I've perceived their talks in the past. "Too directive; too sentimental; always the same; not a strong message of recovery..... blah, blah, blah..... and I said I wasn't going to make a big deal out of this. Hmmm.... someone just has to get up there and talk for 20 or 30 minutes. What comes out of their mouths isn't my responsibility.... duh. Get on with it.

Along with some really fine, hot weather we have had some wailing storms lately. Record setting rainfalls - over an inch Saturday, 2 inches on Sunday and then again Wednesday a steady drenching downpour that lasted hours and caused widespread flooding around town. Washed out roads, water standing in farmers fields, golf courses closed until the fairways could drain, streams overflowing their banks, trees snapped in half. Quite a mess but getting back to normal.

Words and Music

Three good choices out of four is pretty good; my trip to the library netted some interesting material - 2 books, 2 Cd's. Unfortunately I found the first book unreadable as the author seemed more intent on showing off his impressive vocabulary than using it to convey anything entertaining or informative. It's written by South African author Tony Eprile and titled 'Persistence of Memory'. (if the title sounds familiar, it is shared by Salvador Dali's most recognizable work commonly referred to as 'Soft Watches'.)

I've now almost finished the second book, a memoir by late Cdn broadcaster and writer Peter Gzowski - 'The Private Voice'. It's a largely warm, wide ranging and honest recollection of his personal and professional life; it includes a ton of name dropping across thirty years of media and political figures. I even found a brief amusing mention of my grandmother's younger brother who was an editor with Canada's national magazine, 'Macleans'.

The music I borrowed and have been enjoying belong to Sarah Slean and Levon Helm. Sarah is a 31 year old lady who is gifted in a number of areas (singer, songwriter, painter, photographer, actor) and who happened to grow up about 20 miles from here. She has a distinctive singing voice and is an accomplished pianist. On this, her 7th album, 'The Baroness' I particularly enjoyed these tracks: Goodnight Trouble, Sound of Water, and No Place At All. Her feature laden website is here. Check it out.

Levon Helm is, of course, the former drummer from The Band. He's an Arkansas native who got mixed up with 4 Canadians and together they produced an enviable body of work. Last year he released his first studio album in 25 years and proceeded to win a Grammy for Best Traditional Folk Album. Here he is ably backed up and produced by his daughter Amy (background vocals) and Larry Campbell (playing anything with strings that can be plucked, strummed or bowed).... and others. Levon has been a Woodstock N.Y. resident since '68 and for the last number of years has produced his Midnight Ramble shows there at his studio. A rock & roll survivor he has recuperated from surgery and radiation treatment for throat cancer. I see he's playing the Ryman Auditorium in September......hmmm. Anyway, a couple of standout tracks for me are Little Birds, and Wide River To Cross. Website here.

As Promised......

Getting reacquainted last month - Hey...I remember you!!

Zeph will have his first birthday in a couple of weeks. Handsome, sturdy brute.

As for the late posting of pictures (finally) all I can say is.....better late than never, I always say.......

A.W.O.L.

Yeah, yeah, yeah...... I've been going, going but not totally gone, gone, gonzo.

I'm feeling quite a lot better and have some catching up to do here.

One side effect of back problems is I wind up with no muscle tone to my stomach, .... hence a belly (which I'm unused to)[I struggle to maintain weight nevermind gain any] which makes me look 7 months pregnant. In any case, with this ongoing period of forced inactivity, imagine my surprise when I got on the scale to find I had gained 10 pounds!!! Yes people I have broken the 150 lb barrier for the first time in 5 or 6 years. Yowza! I thought Lynda was going to pee herself laughing when I told her. She might just have to stop calling me a 'bag of bones' now. Oh, and of course, the additional weight couldn't distribute itself evenly over my 6 foot frame, could it? Nah.... concentrated between the diaphragm and butt unfortunately making me resemble the boa constrictor that consumed the piglet. Not attractive.

Speaking of Lynda .... how are things going?? Pretty well, pretty well. Barely a cross word since I moved back to the house. We both have some pressures to deal with but that is what we are attempting to do - deal. Our biggest area of conflict is in regard to television. We have widely varying tastes as to what to watch and 'watching styles'. I would rather turn the set on to watch a particular show and shut it off if there isn't anything else worth watching.... I can live quite nicely without TV. Lynda likes TV marathons and likes to have it on whether she is actually watching a show or not. In order to pre-empt a conflict I hit the library last week and picked up a few books and music Cd's.
Otherwise, she is preparing for a trip next week out of the country which had been planned before we got back together. It is supposed to last 2 weeks but she wants to go for 1 week only. In trying to please her hostess I'm sure she will stay for both weeks.

1,828 days sober - 5 years. I'm reminded of the saying about how it takes a village to raise a child. This could never have happened without an awful lot of help, the fellowship, having a program to guide me and a growing faith that sustained me on my worst days. Ever had the feeling that you've completely worn out a particular prayer? There were days early on that I did. Those times seem to be gone now, T.G. The recitations gave me something to do rather than drink; sobriety by the second, minute and hour, syllable, word, line and verse.
We, the group and I, arranged for the medallion presentation to be next week; a non-work week for me, in case we want to stick around the hall afterward to swap stories, drink too much coffee, eat lots of cake and laugh at ourselves.

Work? Yeah, back at it tonight. The place is much changed in atmosphere - fewer guys, mostly older - and checking me out on my first night back. Who is this guy and what's he about? Suspicious and pushing boundries. Watching as I'm recognized and greeted at the outside meeting earlier in the evening. Hmmmm.... Ohhh, just remembered - Lynda and I were watching the news early last week and the newscaster was detailing a murder in downtown Toronto, then flashed a picture of the victim. It was one of our alumni from about a year ago; a real gentleman actually. A sad legacy for his family and friends though.
Work? Yeah, I really ought to go do some. Later.......

Goings On.....

.... have been few and far between this week. So much as possible I've tried to go easy with my ratched up back. It's been a 2 steps forward, 1 step back process - slowly getting a little better but not really up to snuff. The worst position for me has been 'sitting' so I haven't spent much time at the computer.... and all of that time was spent reading, not writing. I see from the site meter that a few of my regulars have continued to check in - thanks for that!

With it having been a work week of night shifts I'm out of touch / sync with a lot of what is going on. Lynda and I have had little time together; I haven't spoken to my kids, or Mom, or any of my sibs.... you get the picture. I have lots of catching up to do. There are a few ideas for posts germinating between my ears that may see light of day soon.

Like a few others have noted recently - it is summertime and we need to enjoy this fine weather while we have it. Blogging necessarily goes on the sideboard for me.

My sobriety date is still a week away and the medallion presentation is a week after that but I've started lining up and asking the people I want to take part. I'm not making a big hairy deal of this one; my first year sober seemed a much bigger deal at the time than this 5 year one does. Smoke free for 4 full calendar months now - woohooo!! My friend Audrey was presented with a medallion earlier tonight for 51 years sober - amazingly enough she continues to stay very active despite her age.

Enough sitting; it's time to go do something.

Later.

Treats

We rarely shop together - Lynda and I - but late Sunday afternoon we squeezed in a couple of hours before I had to come to work. Actually we started off together but when Lynda started an intensive search of the bra and panty dept I opted out. Right out of Sears and into HMV. It had been awhile since I had bought anything for myself so after due consideration..... hmmmm, don't need any more concert DVD's right now... I'm good for music. How about 4 movies for $20 - yessireebob.

Basketball Diaries. Fargo. Raising Arizona. The Band's 'Last Waltz'.

While there I saw a book that I might have to go back and buy; it sounded interesting. 'This Is Your Brain On Music' by Daniel Levitin. It looks like a scholarly but accessible read. I'm off to check this link I just found.

So, we both left the mall happy. Me with my movies; Lynda with 3 new bras and a dress.

Don't Look Too Closely

It's never pretty when you have your faults pointed out to you and you get called on your 'stuff', is it?

Those of you who know and care know that I've been in quite a lot of pain lately - another flare up of back trouble reminiscent of a bad session I had a few years ago that had me on fairly heavy opiate pain killers. This last week has seen me go into a funk and getting more and more withdrawn, self centred, isolated, listless and irritable. When I have acknowledged the world around me apparently my comments and perspective have been less than 'sunny'. Everything and everybody that showed on my personal radar was also in my sights.

Lynda blindsided me with a comment 'out-of-the-blue' regarding my demeanor and disposition which had me spinning for a bit. Although I didn't appreciate the tone of it nor her timing I had to admit, after a little consideration, the truth of what she had said.

Damn! I hate it when that happens........

Thankfully today there has been a glimmer of relief by combining a muscle relaxant with the anti-inflammatory medication..... and so, the mood improves somewhat. Thanks for your well wishes.

Frivilous

A while back, after I had cut the lawn the first couple of times, I spent an afternoon un-infesting a gnarly bunch of thistles that had sewn themselves and spread throughout. Although I did a pretty good job weeding I managed to miss one in the middle of a small garden.... and once I noticed it I came to like the look of it and decided to let it be. It has quickly outgrown it's neighbours, the regular shrubs and flowering plants...... already it is over 5 feet tall and today I counted 11 offshoot branches from near the base which spread out about 3 feet.

Last year an untended one in a wild wee corner of the yard grew to be 8 or 9 feet. I think with a bit of care and proper feeding we ought to be able to get this one up to 10 or 12 feet. I'll keep you posted.

Scanning About

Quickly around the blogs to see what I can see.

I spent over an hour at the clinic yesterday but came away with an Rx for an anti-inflammatory so here I sit...... hoping it kicks in soon. Not likely I am thinking so I try to be patient. Home is the place to be for now as I have to lift my leg into and out of the car. Lying down and walking are the preferred postures - sitting isn t good at all.

I agreed to work a day shift tomorrow so that should be good once I get there; it will give me something else to focus on. In the meantime I think I should kill some time watching a movie on TV. Maybe a little job searching here first on-line.......

Back to my usual work again on Sunday night. There is a lower house population, fewer needier clients, less stress and few problems or demands. I can handle whatever comes up.

Oh - for my American friends - have a happy 4th of July celebration!!

Nothing Much To See Here.....

.... cuz my back has gotten much worse. The only time I intend to spend at the computer is to re-work my CV later on today. First I want to get to a walk-in clinic and see if I can lay hands on a non-narcotic pain killer. Then I will likely have to spend some time flat on the floor to relieve the strain of sitting, standing, walking..... whatever. I haven t had a flare up like this for a long time - don t miss it a bit.

We missed out on fireworks last night because of it; I had to play the wet blanket on those plans, dammit.

Hope all is well in your corner of the world..... later.