While waiting for my dad checking for cancer on his ear, played solitaire old school with real playing cards. I haven’t done this in years…

Yikes, has it been over a month since I last made any kind of post??? Well, there was a few reasons. One being a nasty cold that some at work gave me. Said person is being paid back via the Karma department. More about that person later in the post. Some family drama that I won’t get into but suffice to say it kept me from posting. I post here not to be a Debbie Downer but to try and be amusing. And just being plain lazy. And it’s so freaking easy to lazy. So, shaking off the rust and back to posting at least once a week.

Congrats on The Baltimore Raven for winning the Super Bowl. Yeah, late as it is. But the only reason I mention it is because the former owner of that team used to own The Cleveland Browns is NOT going to Football Hall Of Fame Museum. The main reason for me is because he may have been a owner of a team but he made some bad moves as said owner. He bought a stadium but because of some shady deals, he never made any improvements. Believe me, I know. I’ve been to the place before it was torn down. And while there was some decent memories there, there was a reason why the Cleveland Indians left and forced the city of Cleveland to build him a new stadium. There are more a few few books about what Art Model did to the city and to the fans.

There was book sale at the local library and I scored some decent books. A mystery writer who based his main character in Cleveland wrote a semi-auto biography about Cleveland. Google Les Roberts. Even better, if you have the time, read one of his books. A first edition of a early Robert B. Parker book, a Kathy Reichs book (The show Bones is loosely based on her novels) and even larger pile of books to go with the pile I bought with my Amazon Gift card. One book I’ve read more than a few times called After Shock And Awe. It’s based on ideas from the universe of Space: 1999. It’s what we comic book nerds call a graphic novel. It’s unique that it tells two stories. One from the view of Moon Base Alpha and the other from the people of Earth. And for the past few decades, I’ve wanted someone to at least take a stab at it. The art work is amazing and the story is just as good. There is talk about the author making another go at later this year.

A typical Cleveland area Winter. Freeze, thaw. Freeze, thaw. Which leads to some nasty colds. And this one won’t let go of me. Am popping more Vitamin C tabs that I want to. And I am more than wanting to begin my long walks. Yeah, have pack on more than a few pounds this Winter.

A shout out to @Marcia0701. She put together a Secret Xanga Valentines Day card. I think it went well. I hope she does it again next year. Many thanks.

Said person who gave me his cold is now out of work because he had a stint put in Tuesday. Boss doesn’t know when he will be back to it’s back to being short handed for a bit. And next week is looking to be real interesting because another guy is taking vacation. Oh yes. Fun times at work.

Went to Wally World a few hours after Valentines Day looking to score some cheap candy. No such luck. The section where said candy was at was cleaned out.

For the past few Mondays I’ve had to be awake at at 7am. This past Monday was getting the front brakes done to the tune of $228.00. The following Monday was making sure said car passed it emissions test for the state of Ohio. This next Monday involves taking Dad to the doctor to get some growths off of his right ear. Am really hoping it isn’t Cancer. At age 72, things fail faster. And he’s in way better shape than I am. Will know more Monday. The doctor doesn’t want him to drive afterwards. So the plans for Saturday is get all chores done and sleep in and relax Sunday. So, my sleep schedule has been messed up for the past few weeks.

While posting, am keeping one eye on an Alison Krauss and Union Station concert. The music is great and she’s very easy on the eyes…

If you have Netflix Streaming, watch House Of Cards. It’s based of the British show and it’s been great watching. Monday Mornings is another new show I’m watching. It’s another medical show that has a great cast and the first two episodes have been good so far.

So, who’s going to watch The Oscar Show this Sunday??? I haven’t seen any of the movies that have been nominated so I’ll won’t be watching it even though Seth McFarellen is hosting.

Hey, less than two months until Baseball starts up and for once, The Cleveland Indians look good.

Took sister to Olive Garden, of all places, for her birthday. And I was more than surprised at the quality of good food they served. Back in the day, I thought it sucked. I had a soup that had Potato Gnocchi in it that was quite good. Still think that for a chain Italian Food Restaurant, Carabas is better with The Macaroni Grill a close second. Arbys has their Fish Sandwich back. If you have them leave off the Tatar Sauce and some tomatoes to it, it’s not that bad for the price. It’s not like you’re going to any fast food place for healthy choices. But I have a guilty pleasure of late: McDonalds Fish Bites. Ever since they hit the market, I’m buying them at least twice a week.

Well, time for a shower and maybe read before calling it a night. Will be taking one of the lap tops into work during lunch break Thursday. As much as I love my smart phone, that danged screen is wayyyyy too small. Maybe I should pick up tablet. May as well add that to the wish list.

CIAO…

Yeah, haven’t blogged in a while. Not a whole lot going on in my life. Work slowed down a lot after the first of the year. It always does. And the subsequent hit the old paycheck. From eighty plus hours to maybe on a good pay period, seventy-two hours. After February, business always picks up. I would have posted last weekend but I was dealing with a bit of family drama that’s not really mentioning here. But I am now back to my normal routine of a four day work week. It was nice waking up at 1:00 pm instead of 10:00 am. I try and make up my work week sleep deficit on the weekends.

A lot of crazy stuff in the news of late and asking your opinions on what has happened:

First off: R.I.P. Conrad Bain from Different Strokes…

Lance Armstrong admits he cheated. After going after the people who said otherwise to him, they must be getting a certain amount of satisfaction. While bicycling is a sport that has never been on my radar, I kinda rooted for him because he’s an American and a Cancer survivor. But Dude, Karma is a Bitch and when you lie about about cheating… Going on Oprah ain’t going to soften the hits on your rep anytime soon. But he got lucky when that fool from Notre Dame revealed that his girl friend who died was a fake. As that story grows, Manti Te’o has some esplaining to do. While he may have been a victim of some plot/scam/whatever, his story has more holes in it than a block of Swiss Cheese. And while President Obama signs more things to curb gun control, there’s that thing called a budget that needs to be fixed and oh yeah. My paycheck got smaller because of the expired tax breaks. Gotta love the people in D.C. Justified is back on the and it hasn’t lost a step. Fringe last episode is tonight and once again Fox cancels another great show. At least they get to have an ending. I can’t count the amount of disappointing series ending final episodes. The worst being Enterprise. Did we need Riker and Troi in that episode. A lot of possible great movies coming out this year. I’m still trying to wrap my head around another, another Die Hard movie. Well, if you have to have a franchise… That being said, I am looking forward to RED II later this year. I’ve already put in my days off for midnight showings for Star Trek Into Darkness, Iron Man III and the new Hunger Games movie.

Another reason I wasn’t here last weekend was Direct TV had Showtime and other movie channels free and while there wasn’t that many movies I want to see, I did see the following: Green Lantern, Money Ball, Ides Of March, The American, RED and a few other movies I’ll watch later. I was surprised I LIKED Green Lantern. It wasn’t as bad a movie as the press/media made it to be. Money Ball and The American were my favorites this weekend. Different movies and stories but enjoyable just the same. RED was just pure popcorn fun. Then again, I think Mary-Louise Parker is a Babe. 

When did Winter in the Midwest become so flipping wacky??? There is no snow on the ground but it’s been cold. It’s not Winter without snow. As I write this, Mother Nature and Old Man Winter are giving North Eastern Ohio a blast of Cold weather and maybe some snow. It’s a good thing I put off buying the snow blower. But I need to get out next weekend and start pricing electric lawn mowers. The old one may not work this Spring and to replace a battery for it is going to be difficult because the thing was bought back in 1997. 

I’m going to cut it short for now. For some reason I wanted to post something and every time I toggle the spell check function, I end up losing my train of thought. And I just lost another paragraph. That’s it. I’m done. I’ll save it for another post.

Stay Warm and Safe!!!

CIAO…                                                                                                                                                                    

Well before I go in to geek mode, am finally glad my holiday work schedule is over with. Working Fridays are just plain weird. But next week starts our slow period at work.

A few notes:

Arbys has their Fish Sandwich back. I like their and Wendys better than the other fast food places. And there is still McRibs for now…

Justified starts a new season Tuesday and am hoping it’s better than last season. Going to try and pick up the CD of the show. Jeff Porcaro of Toto fame does most of the music but the song opening the show is very cool.

Now back to the blog…

Wow, has it been twenty years since the pilot of Deep Space Nine??? That period of time gave us some great sci-fi shows: Babylon 5, Stargate SG1, the new Outer  Limits and some one off shows.

I was looking forward to this show because it was breaking a lot of Star Trek “rules”. No star ship, main character is a widower who doesn’t want the job, most of the other characters have their own agendas and it was darker. And it had had Hawk. Avery Brooks who played Hawk from Spencer: For Hire for those of you who didn’t watch the show. DS9 was one of the first shows I liked from the pilot. And stayed with it through out it’s seven year run. I did have an issue of having Worf going from ST:NG to DS9 but went along with it because they were doing more with the characters. And for the first time, plot that ran the entire season if not more. And I am sure that Gene Roddenberry probably wouldn’t like the show, I know I liked it and am wondering why there hasn’t been any movies on the show. I mean where they left off, there was one Hell of a loose ending of what happens to Capt. Sisko. The books at Pocket Books have added to it but it’s not the same. I like the show and was sad the show ended. And that was then I started to loose interest with Star Trek as a whole. ST Voyager had promise but I lost interest after two seasons. The we had Enterprise after that. And I had very high hopes before watching but lost interest when they had to screw things up. But there were other shows to occupy my time. I could go on and on as to why I didn’t like ST: Voyager and Enterprise but why bore you. I am a semi-geek about it. And something way off topic: Marvel has screwed with Spider Man yet again. Some how Doctor Octopus has switched souls with Peter Parker. Peter Parker has died, for now. No one ever really dies in the Marvel universe. So Doc Ock has the body of Peter Parker and his memories. Man, I am sooo glad I stopped buying comic books last year. (Now if I haven’t put every one sleep, back to the blog).

So, here’s a question for you in Xanga land: What’s your favorite cancelled TV show? Or have I bored you all to tears or a deep sleep??? Well, @boulderchristina is back and you should check out her last post. It’s a unique one.

CIAO…

Happy New Years!!! Spent New Years Eve with friends watching The Chris Nolans Batman Trilogy and The Battlestar Galactica miniseries. A geek fest yes but with a running commentary worthy of a MST3K episode…

Well, a sports rant is here. Move along if it bores you…

I mean it, do not operate heavy machinery after reading this.

What, can’t you take a hint???

Okay I am NOT responsible for any yawns. Maybe you SHOULD read this if you’re having problems sleeping…

Any hoo, my Cleveland Browns have cleaned house yet again since they came back to town after Art Model took a team from Cleveland and re-named them The Baltimore Ravens and won a Super Bowl. A new General Manager and a new head coach. I’ve mentioned before that while I don’t care much about sports, for some reason, Cleveland Sports fans are a long suffering lot. Snake bit also. We seem to see this play out a lot. Why, I don’t understand. Maybe there’s a curse or a constant black cloud hanging around the city. The Travel Channel ran a series about the Cleveland Browns and I thought it showed the city and the team in a good light. So, because my MP3 player doesn’t work in the car, I listen to sports talk and the moaning and speculation of who the owner of the team is going after. I mean, has anyone heard of these things, like building a team, takes some time??? With this culture of instant everything, if you don’t win now you could be out of a job really soon. I don’t get it. Never did. And when the Cleveland Browns left, the mayor and everyone else fought for the name to stay here and to have a team in the city. Why??? The team doesn’t do that much for the city. There are a lot of studies that show that having a professional sports team doesn’t do that much for the city. I’m sorry but I thought that blue collar jobs, not service jobs did more for a city. I mean, especially a football team, only has eight home games and have you seen the price for a game. Multiply that by four tickets, the usual stuff you buy at a game and you’re talking a lot of cash that most people don’t have. I’ve only been to two Cleveland Indian games and they were discounted tickets. And seeing how having a great TV at home, why go down there. And at this time of the year where the weather sucks in my neck of the woods. And all the changes in Browns team… I thought fast food had a higher turn over in workers but not with the Cleveland Browns. And if you get to work with that team, you can get a guaranteed golden parachute if you screw it up. SIGH… Where’s my golden parachute at??? So another wait for a few years to see if there’s a winning season and just when things were beginning to jell here. And for record, Cleveland is a Browns Town. The other two sports teams are secondary. Hey when the favorite saying is “Wait ‘Til Next Year” you know things are suspect. And the mood of the city.

I could go on and on but the bathroom awaits to be cleaned and a few chores I neglected before heading into work to start my three day work week.

Now, drink loads of coffee, Red Bull or whatever energy drink to wake up.

CIAO!!!

Yeah, I’ve been away for a while. Not used to to working weekends and having my work schedule all fracked up is never good… So I’ll be spending the next few days getting caught up on answering posts.

Of the deaths the past week, I was saddened that Gerry Anderson passed away. The creator of such shows like Thunderbirds, UFO and my favorite: Space: 1999. So, I was a bit bummed. So I squeezed in watching the pilot episode of Space: 1999 and braved a little sleep deprivation. Jack Klugman and Charles Durning will be missed.

Had a bit of a scare earlier this week. Waking up late and forgetting that I had a pocket that one side has a hole. I grabbed my Samsung Galaxy Exhibit and stuck it there. (Waking up with out the aid of Diet Mountain Dew is NEVER a good thing.) Remember there was a snow storm warning  and it started snowing. I grabbed the trash cans and headed to the store to get some much needed supplies. While I was waiting for my Dad to get his meds, I decided to check in on Facebook. Oooopppsss… FRACK… I must have dropped it somewhere. Don’t know where. Rushed home. Cancelled phone service and was in a foul mood for the rest of the day. The thought of having to shell out close to $400 for another phone didn’t sit well with me. Went on line with ATT and found a similar phone for around $350.00 So, I am resigned to the fact that I’m going to be out the cash, I decided to finish digging out the driveway, work off some pent-up frustration and I’m hearing what sounds like my cell phone alarm. Dig it out and the damned thing was there. Cleaned it up and stuck it in a bag of rice and it’s now as good as new. Note to self: Time to replace shirts and have at least one Diet Mountain Dew at my bedside at all times and to thank my female guardian Angel for looking out after me. She has been working over time in my life and is sometimes unappreciated. Need to remedy that. So now I can pay off a few bills and get those shirts.

Got my Christmas gifts from myself. And now my New Years Day is set. I am looking forward to it. Especially the Space: 1999 graphic novel I’ve been hearing about on the Facebook pages.

Speaking of Christmas, it went well. Although I am well sick of ham two meals a day and the assorted other side dishes I was stuck eating. Am hearing of my sister cooking her free turkey either on New Years Eve or New Years Day. Dear God, I’m not looking forward to this. May rebel and eat nothing but Peanut Butter and Reduced Grape Jelly Sandwiches. Or renting a hotel room for next week and disappear until the bird is gone.

Well, I got my White Christmas and then some. Wednesday was soooo much fun driving in. Never have I seen so many cars spun out and dodged a few morons forgetting how to drive. And after dealing with a long day Friday night, lo and behold it’s snowing again and a not a plow in sight. Now, the conditions were not bad. But the people driving at 5:00 a.m. sure thought it was a blizzard. Now, while I was NOT braking the speed of light, I am confident in my driving. Making sure there is always at least 200 feet distance in all directions and keeping my attention on the other drivers. So, now I am on fumes after drinking Diet Coke because there was not one Diet Mountain Dew at the store I was at. And yes I bought a six pack today.

The other books I bought my self were two Lee Child books, A Craig Johnson book, a book about Robert B. Parker and Spencer, a Andrew Vachss book, a book about rebuilding the Manned Space Program from the guy who stars in Rocket City Rednecks, and a few other books. Four CDs: Two from Rush, a ELO CD and a best of two CD set from Jackson Browne.

Am seriously running on fumes. Hoping everyone out there had an awesome Christmas and an even better New Years!!!

So, did you finish your Christmas shopping or are you planning on braving tomorrow the crowds or are you going to head to whatever drugstore that happens to be open on Christmas and hope to God they have something decent??? Finished mine and got a Amazon gift card for myself. It’s going to be used towards books. There’s a Space: 1999 graphic novel I want, a couple of Jack Reacher books, a book about Spenser the character, and something off my wish list.

Sent a message to some fellow Xangan friends who havve been absent to see how they’re doing. Got one message back. Am going to send more out there. The place ain’t the same without them.

Have been watching Top Chef: Seattle and it’s turning out to be a good season. Haven’t made a guess who’s going to win but would like a woman to win for once. Seattle was a place I visited once and would like to back for a vacation before too long.

The snow storm that “hit” my neck of the woods didn’t do much because the ground was way too wet from the rain we got the past few days. So, when it melts my back yard turns into a pond. At least there is a White Christmas.

The cookie tray is still pretty much intact. The take home food is just about gone. Just in time for Christmas dinner and the leftovers that come with it. And on December 26th, my diet starts. So, may as well live it up before I get back to being some what healthy and maybe loose a few pounds I’ve put on the past few months.

Am watching the finale of Iron Chef Redemption and for once there will be a woman Iron Chef. Am pulling for Chef Frietag. And anyways, women are easier on my eyes. Seeing how I am a male…

Am going to be way off my game this week with having Monday and Tuesday off and working Wednesday-Saturday this week. Managed to get some overtime in. Good thing too. I’m going to use that paycheck to pay off some bills and seeing how they pay check periods means I’ll get paid three times in January, I’m going to buy my new shoes I’ve put off for the past three weeks. And a new pair of house shoes. Ah, the fun stuff I get to spend my cash on…

Wait for it… Frack, it’s not Chef Freitag. Ah well. Still thinks she a hottie.

Haven’t seen The Hobbit yet and may wait until it hits DVD/Blue Ray. From what I’ve heard, you either love it or hate it. And am not a big fan of 3D anyways. Whatever happened to just having a great story any ways??? Do I really need the special effects anyways? I thought The Hunger Games was the best movie I saw last year. I did see The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises. The other big movies out there I didn’t see. And am going to wait until they hit the DVD market.

That damned cookie tray is calling me and there is a gallon of milk… Must be strong. And anyways, I have a small bag of Mary Jane candy. Think of Bit-O-Honey. That should hold me off until tomorrow.

Well, figure everyone is going to busy the next few days. Just remember what the true meaning of the holidays really mean.

Be safe out there.

CIAO.

Yeah, the first day and one of the buyers got some sample desserts in and spread the wealth.

A Caramel Creme Brulee, a ginormous cream puff covered in caramel and nuts, a lemon meringue tart, and an espresso/caramel/pecan cake… (See a pattern here???)

Having samples of each, I am really surprised I didn’t lapse in to a diabetic coma. Oh, yeah. Two home made chocolate chip cookies. Was disappointed there wasn’t any milk nearby. Am hoping not to gain too much weight. But if there are more treats like this, I fore see a bread and water diet after the first of the year…

I am wondering if the homemade cookie tray I’m buying will last until next Monday when I’m visiting cousins??? Yeah they will. I have made a plan B for that. A little something for me in the way of what I call nut horns. Dough, sugar, nuts and crispy. Sounds like a sure sugar high. Note to self: Make sure plenty of milk is on hand…

There is a chance to have a White Christmas as long as Old Man Winter decides to make an appearance… Or that danged end of the world thingie at the end of the week doesn’t screw things up.

Oh yeah… McRibs are back. And a Christmas party shindig and I may have to over-inflate the tires on the car or make sure the shocks are in good shape.

Oh, the food based blog??? Beats the usual stuff I write. And I am fresh out of ideas right now. I do have ideas but my source material is elsewhere so I’ll be trying to create something out of that. And any way, food stuff is way better to talk about. That and wine. And it beats bitching about work or whatever mundane thing that irritates the day lights of me. A shout out to the people who have to Christmas Eve/Day and New Years Eve/Day. The ones who are in The Armed Forces, Police and Fire fighters, the people who work at the hospitals, and to that person who’s working at whatever store that’s opened on those days so you can pick up that last minute thing you forgot/need. Or that little diner that you pop into so you can rest up and not cook after a long a busy day. Many Thanks to you out there.

Going to pop in Neal Schon’s Late Nite. A little bit of electric guitar to lull me into some needed sleep.

Why the food style blog??? In that mood and watching food shows. Gordon Ramsey is not the foul mouth person when he’s not trying to either judge a contest or trying to fix a failing restaurant.

Time for a shower.

Have a stress-free holiday season and lets remember that the purpose of the season is to be with those you care about and trying to keep up those in Podville or the Joneses…

Ciao

Yeah, posting “When The Children Cry” by White Lion was an epic mistake on my part (Am using my smart phone for this. Too lazy to turn on laptop…) after seeing the news reports. I should have gone with Styx “Show Me The Way”. But decided other wise. For that, I’m sorry I made those people cry out there.
Was very lazy this weekend. Seeing that my next two weekends are going to mixed up due to the holidays, kinda felt lazy. I did get out and walked for an hour before it got dark.
Cleveland Browns lost badly to the Washington Redskins. Sports talk radio should be interesting to listen to.
I may do a top favorite Christmas list this week. Any ideas would be nice.
Have a quiet and stress free week. Only seven more shopping days left if you haven’t finished yet…
CIAO…

Before I do the blog I was going to do and will do before the tragedy in Connecticut took over the media and shattered many lives, a few points:

1. I had thought the idiots would keep their pie holes closed until Monday but Mayor Blumeberg had to mouth off about guns again. Ah, the joys of Twitter/Social Media…

2. I won’t make any comments if and when the whole story comes out. Anything before that is a knee jerk reaction.

3. I don’t own a gun but why blast those people who are responsible, caring parents, good people because of someone wanting an easy answer to what happened today.

4. The people here whom I am lucky to call friends have posted here have written better about this than I could ever do. And I am in no mood to get into it with the Trolls out there. It is the holiday season. Maybe after the first of the New Year…

Any Hoo…

I am A HUGE FRACKING fan of the new version of Battlestar Galactica and got a chance to watch the web series called Blood And Chrome. It about the first mission of William Adama as a Viper Pilot and it was shot using Green Screen. After watching it, it renewed my faith that maybe, just maybe, SyFy maybe may make this into a series and not the garbage called Caprica.

While on the subject of that network, did anyone watch their twenty year special? I had forgotten that they have been around that long. And the shows they showed. The Invisible Man, Good Vs Evil, and a forgotten show called “Farscape”. Whenever I get in that mood to rail against Fox Network, (Yeah, they have killed more decent shows that had promise than any network I know) they canceled Farscape. Of all the off beat show, that show was awesome. At least the producers of the show gave us The Peace Keeper Wars mini series to wrap things up. I wished Sy Fy  picked up Firefly. There are a few shows on the horizon next year that show promise. 

Heart and Rush made it into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. I am not a Rush Nerd. Not that there is anything wrong with that but I loved their music after hearing Subdivisions. “Be Cool Or Be Cast Out” rang true then as it does now. “Ghost Of A Chance” is another good song about love of all things. Heart… Yeah, they should have been long time ago also. Best Duet “Surrender To Me” and best rocking song in the 90′s “Black On Black” from them. And a tasty take on “You’re The Voice”. Way better than the original version. Am still waiting for Stevie Ray Vaughn, Journey, The Doobie Brothers, The Little River Band, and Bruce Hornsby to be inducted.

Still no snow yet and I am kinda concerned. Because there is this fear in the back of my mind that there will be this huge snowstorm that hits every time I let my guard down.

The Madness that is The Holiday season has finally hit work. Nothing like twelve hour days to make life interesting. Or the add on to orders at the end of night. Yes, they are soooooooooooo much fun just as one is ready to head out the door and go home. Sigh two more weeks. And this is my last free weekend. So, the chores are there to do.

Oh, the last of the Bean Soup is gone. Back to normal meals. Like Kraft Mac And Cheese. And Campbell’s Chunky Steak And Cheese. And Peanut Butter and Strawberry Sandwiches. Because the holiday parties start next week. Note to self: Pace yourself. Or start walking for an hour a day. Or starve yourself after the new year.

Has anyone geeked over the new Star Trek trailer or am I alone here. The new Tom Cruise movie looks good. But I am leary because it’s based on a book series that I’m starting and like. And I am going to wait until The Hobbit movies are on DVD/Blue Ray. I saw a version of it way back in the early 1980′s late 1970′s. And does anyone remember the first stab at The Lord Of The Rings movie. I liked that movie and I may try and get it on DVD/Blue Ray. I really wish some over here would show the live action version Star Blazers/Space Battleship Yamatto. I’ve seen the trailer for it on Youtube and damn it I want to see it.

Okay, the Sci-Fi Nerd is going back into his room and re-reading his Iron Man collection and pop in series one of Space: 1999. The pilot is on youtube in case anyone is interested…

Well, time for some dinner and a sink full of dishes that need to be washed and to finish up washing my clothes.

Hoping everyone is well and safe out there. And try and relax.

CIAO!!!