Book it, Dano

I went to a football game tonight

     It might have been a little chilly....parts of my body are still numb.
     But it was a fun time.  Northern Illinois beat Toledo in a MAC match up 38-15.
     Friend Dave has several tickets and invites groups of people to the game.]
    There are four of us who usually go to a November midweek night game, and tonight was the night.
     Usually Dave and Dawn and Darci tailgate.  But when the gales of November come early, they move the party inside.
     So we ate in the practice field, along with a couple of hundred other folks.  Good Greek food, including desserts.  I am not sure all that I ate, but it was good.
     During the game we have access to the Coaches Corner, which has heat, bathrooms, a taco bar, and most important......hot chocolate and hot coffee.
And pizza at half time.
     So I ate too much, drank too much hot chocolate, and had a fun time.
     We did cut out with about 3 minutes left in the game.....the cold won out over us.
     Next time, I have to remember to bring a blanket to wrap myself in, lucky for me Darci had a couple extra in her car.
     Going to a game always brings back memories of those college years.

The band even moves indoors for pregame entertainment

See me taking the picture??

A close up of Victor E Huskie

Sparse crowd tonight

This one's for you, Darci

10 worst minutes.....

I just experienced the ten worst minutes

     Not the 10 worst of my life.  Or even of this year.
     But certainly of this month.

     It starts here:

     This is garlic bread.  But that's not part of the worst 10 minutes, although it does have a major role.

     You know how I don't throw stuff out......this is left over from, I think, Emily and John's wedding in 2016.  We had some brat buns left.  John had a food saver type machine.  The buns were hermetically sealed and placed in my freezer.

      I ran across a missed package and decided to test them.

     As buns, they were not good.

     But for garlic bread, they were ok.

     Dinner tonight was a mish-mash.  Jackie had some chicken left over from Ralphie and Lulu's Saturday night.  I had a frozen turkey dinner.  That was not part of the worst 10 minutes.

     I made beans, ones we had grown in the garden.

     I fed Corki.  That was not part of the worst 10 minutes, but it does have a major role.

     I had Jackie's dinner in the microwave, the bread in the broiler in the oven, Corki eating, and Jackie calling from the den because she sat too long and could not get up.  Everything under control.  Almost.

     That was not the worst 10 minutes.

     I got her up, and headed back to the kitchen.

     The garlic bread started to burn.  The smoke detectors went off.  The one in the hall.  The bedroom.  The basement.  The other bedroom.

     Corki started running around like crazy, tail between her legs.

     The timer on the oven went off.

     The timer on the microwave went off.

     We tried to catch the panicked dog.  She eventually sat on the rug in front of the TV.....and promptly barfed up supper.

     Timers going off.  Smoke alarms going off.  Dog barfing.  Jackie yelling.  Me turning on fans.

     Finally, after turning off the timers on the microwave and the oven I yelled at the top of my lungs.  The smoke detectors suddenly stopped.

     I may have yelled a word that rhymes with luck.  Or sit.  All I remember is, I yelled.  Maybe one of my neighbors can confirm my vocab choice.  I was pretty loud.

     And then the worst 10 minutes started.

     I cleaned up the barf.  I kneeled on the carpet and carefully washed the area.  I got it looking pretty clean, so I took my bag of dog barf and paper towels and tossed it in the garbage in the garage. 

     Walking back into the house, I noticed specks of dog barf.  Lots of specks.  The went from where I was standing back to the living room.  

     I looked at my leg.

     I was covered in dog barf.  My slipper was covered in dog barf.  My supper was cold.  My garlic bread burned crisp.

     I took off my pants, rinsed them off, then in my boxers, got on my hands and knees and cleaned up the path of dog barf I had tracked through the house.

     When I got back to the original spot I noticed the second pile of barf, or what was left of it.  Evidently I kneeled in it.

     I really did not have much of an appetite at that point, but I ate anyway.  That marked the end of the worst 10 minutes.   Surprisingly, the food was still tepid.

     I had to go out for a while, and while I was gone Corki used the bedroom rug to further purge herself.  Twice.

      Methinks the man who came last week to clean the chairs will be getting a call tomorrow.

     And me?  I'm hoping alcohol kills the memory.

where in the hell is it?

I know I am getting forgetful....

     I forget where I put things.  Glasses, car keys, sometimes the car itself.
     But my computer printer?
     Can't find it.
     Well, that's not exactly true.  I mean, I can see it....but I can't find it.
     Hit print....can't find.
     It was fine a week ago.  Printed like crazy.
     We never touch the settings.  Never.  NEVER!!!
     I know touching the settings involves reading directions and following steps, something I have become adverse to in my doddering years. 
     Not to be a nattering nabob of negativity, but it confuses me.
     Lots of things confuse me, computers being high on the list.
     Why do things disappear overnight?  Where do they go? 
     And why does Corki fart at night?  Last night, or more accurately, very early this morning, I was awakened by a smell that was so terrible if almost gagged me.
     It lingered, like a cloud of radioactive gas, turning my stomach and forcing me to breath through a pillow.
     It seemed to float in the air for a long time.
     I even got up to look around, thinking she may have had an accident.....but nope, just her silent salute to pollution.
     Maybe tonight she will sleep on the floor on Jackie's side of the bed.  On second thought, that will somehow still become my problem.
     Sleep tight.  Don't let the dog farts wake you.

Hello darkness, my old friend

Saw a neat show tonight in DeKalb

     The Simon and Garfunkel Story was at the Egyptian Theater.  Jackie and I went.
     The show brought back many memories.
     I did not see them live, in person, which is a regret I have.  I would have loved to see the Beatles and the Grateful Dead, but I missed them too.
Simon and Garfunkel were in the folk rock genre.  I loved their melodies and their music in general.
     Like I said, I never saw them in person.  But I must have seen them live on TV.  I remember Garfunkel barely moved on stage, often singing with his hands behind he back or even in his back pockets.  The guy who was Garfunkel mimicked him completely.
     When they did a show in Central Park, Garfunkel game out and made a gesture to the crowd, and the actor did the same gesture tonight during their Central Park concert segment.
     I can't imagine 500,000 people at a concert, but that is what they said the crowd was estimated at for that free show in New York.
     The music brought back many childhood memories.  Big Russ once sang "what the hell" during Sounds of Silence......my words like silent raindrops  fell, what the hell, and echoed in the wells of silence.......  It was perfect.
     Memories: As a teen, sitting in The Shed in Frank and John's basement, pondering the problems of the world as Simon and Garfunkel sang.  Later, as an adult, going camping, and listening to them in the quiet of the night, watching the fire and sipping hot chocolate.  In  the breezeway, late at night, having tea and listening.
     When I heard  Old Friends years ago, I never imagined being at that point in life.

Can you imagine us years from today,
Sharing a park bench quietly
How terribly strange to be seventy

     How terribly strange, indeed.
     The theater was not sold out, the balcony did not have anyone in it.  I was surprised by that.
     As I looked around, I saw some familiar faces:  Mike and Lynn, Gus and Armande, Arlyn and Diane, Steve and Kathy, Belinda......and at the end, Mark, Varsie and Susie spotted us and we had a nice visit.  Short, but nice.
     Old friends, all.
     It was a great trip down memory lane.

Jackie did not want to be in the picture!!

seasons

The holiday seasons are upon us

     Thanksgiving.  Christmas.  New Year's Day. 
     All are coming super fast.
     I put Halloween decorations away today and put out Thanksgiving ones.  Jackie pointed, I placed.  Sometimes twice.
     And we went through some boxes and jettisoned some items.  It is hard doing that. 
     We finished off the day by playing cards with some long times friends whom we have not seen in a couple of months!  Busy schedules, we all have them.
     I have set the clocks back.  At least the ones I remember how to set.  The little clocks in the bathroom and on the desk will take weeks to set because I just don't remember how to do it, and even to do it.
     The weather is reminding me that summer is over.  I guess I will be hanging my bike soon and firing up the snow blower. 
     There were so many things I wanted to do over the summer..... and now fall is almost over.
     When I was a kid it took forever to get this far into the year.  Now, it seems like a blink and it's almost the end of the year.
     I guess that's how life goes.  Quickly. 
     Hopefully I will get to sleep....the time change bothers my sleep patterns for days.
     I just realized I never got the mail today.....so I will have to make a trip out in the cold, rain, and biting wind to pick up all the adverts that will be in the mailbox.
     I could wait, but what if there is something important and it blows away?
     Always an anxiety.
     Sleep warmly,.
   

double drat

I get soooo frustrated

     I get confused by numbers.  Very confused.  Specifically dates. I forget dates, transpose dates, remember dates incorrectly.
     I had a zoo day today.
     I told Jackie that I would be home late because I was going to stop at Morton Arboretum and look for trolls while trolls were still there.
     And I was going to pick up some groceries.
     Then I got a text that said:  Do you want to go out to eat before the show?
     I figured Emily texted me instead of John, so I answered, Think Floyd? 
     Think Floyd is a Pink Floyd tribute band playing at the Egyptian Theater in DeKalb tonight (Friday).
     I didn't hear back, so I decided to call.
     It seems a couple of months ago she asked if I wanted to see Craig Ferguson at the Paramount Theater in Aurora.  I said yes. 
     But I did not write down the date.
     You got it.......
     I had a great time with Emily and John watching Ferguson.  He is funny, very funny.
   So....good meal out at at Irish pub where the girls wore very short kilts, (we had a male waiter...no kilt) a zoo day, and a fun show.
     Not bad for not having any clue about what was going on, huh?
     Couple of pictures for the day.

Paper wasp nest on the next block

You decide

Corki sat right under Jackie, hoping for a carrot!

California dreamin'

Yikes!  That was a dream!!

     Tuesday night I had a weird dream.
     Jackie and I were on a long platform, which served as a station for buses.
     We were supposed to be on Bus 50.  It was important we get on Bus 50.  We were waiting on the platform and we had some cards out for whatever reason.      We were in a foreign country, but signs were posted in English.
     A bus came in and I went to look, but it was Bus 51.  It was a 1950s era bus, in a bluish green/cream two tone paint job.  There were mountains with snow on them in the background.  It was beautiful.
     Then I heard an announcement that said Bus 50 was arriving.
     We waited.  And waited.  It was important we got on this bus.  I looked at the sign for Bus 50 and it had foreign word, foreign word, foreign word, pool.  I realized then that Bus 50 stopped at the pool, which was behind us.
     I yelled to Jackie to run  (In dreams she can run, which explains why my dream world can be so much better than the real world.) and to leave all the cards and crap behind.
     I ran across the parking lot in my bare feet....but Bus 50 had gone.  No other buses went that way.
     I was so upset I woke up!  It was 5 a.m. and I was just so pissed that I did not realize where Bus 50 stopped, even though the sign said pool.
     I don't know if I ever slept soundly after that and even when I told Jackie about the dream I got fairly agitated that I was at the wrong place.
     Even now, I am a little upset.
     Weird, huh?  To be upset about a dream?  An event that never happened?
     The mind plays interesting tricks on us sometimes, doesn't it?
     Like when a friend invited me out Nov. 7.
     I wrote it down for Nov. 14.  Then I offered to host a meeting at my house Nov. 14.
     I  realized my mistake and e mailed three people and said it was the wrong day, we needed to meet Nov. 7.
     Ran into someone today and the Nov. 14 event came up.  Well, actually the Nov. 7 date came up because I had the wrong date.  So I had to e mail the same people and tell them Nov. 14 was in again, Nov. 7 out again, and maybe just move it to later in the month.
     I don't work well with numbers!