It's Been A Rough Last Few Days...

...and therefore there has been no blogging on my part since I was pretty much laid up in bed. I went to a friend's retirement party on Wednesday night, and decided to have a good time. No that does not mean I drank to excess, in fact I did not even allow a drop of any alcoholic beverage to pass my lips. Instead I drank club soda and water. I figured I would have a good time without the booze. That may have been my downfall. During the cocktail hour I probably polished off at least 4 club sodas (no ice), I also managed to wolf down just about every item they had as an appetizer - twice. Well it did not take long for me to find out something was rotten in Denmark, or at least with something I had eaten during the cocktail hour. Within about 30 to 45 minutes of its end, I had to run to the throne. After that I figured I'd go out to my car and sit there while getting some fresh air. Well within another 1/2 hour or so it all came out topside. Then over the next several hours I had to run again - several times. On Thursday, during the day, I had to keep up my running several times but was feeling a bit better despite some pretty bad abdominal pains. Then, during the night, it seemed that something inside of me decided I needed to train for the Olympics and I increased the frequency of my running at least two or maybe threefold; and I also felt as if I had been training for a boxing match since my stomach and back ached as if I had been in a prize fight, my head was pretty achy too. Come Friday morning my son took me to the doc, who then sent me to the Gastro Doc, both of who told me that I probably had food poisoning but was getting over it. What rocket science! I finally ate something again last night - the first time in about 46 hours. It did not make me feel any better, but I managed to keep it in me. Woke up this morning feeling a lot better but still on the weak side. Wow - amazing how some little boogers you cannot even see can knock you for a loop like that - isn't it!

Now I wonder a couple of things. Did anyone else at the party get sick? I have not heard that anyone else did get ill, and that is good. Should someone else have gotten sick I think a call to Public Health would be in order so they could inspect the catering hall. Then again, I am pretty certain that the catering hall owners may have friends who are health or restaurant inspectors - so what would it accomplish!

I did say there were a couple of things I was wondering - well here is the second one: Should I have imbibed some alcohol at the party? I am wondering this because maybe - just maybe - had I had a good stiff drink while there it would have killed off or weakened whatever it was that got me sick before it could have gotten me sick. I mean alcohol is used as a disinfectant - isn't it? The Gastro Doc did not agree with my theory, but I cannot recall ever getting a case of food poisoning from a meal that I enjoyed at the same time I also enjoyed some fine spirits.

All the best,
Glenn B

My Lack Of Blogging Over The past 3 Months...

...as most of my readers will be aware has been due to the fact that I am on temporary assignment to Tucson, Arizona. of course while out here I do have access to a computer as can be witnessed by the fact that I have been blogging albeit lightly so allow me to explain why it has been light even though I have access to a computer, and this is no bull!


First of all I am out here on a long term work assignment. I get up at about 0445 to 0500 each morning to get ready for work since I have been working 0600 to 1400. I am not an early bird, my wife and kids could tell you that,; i n fact I hate getting up early but I have had to do it. I usually get back to the hotel by about 1500 (3PM). By that time I am often hot, sweaty, tired, and grouchy. If I had my own computer, at my own desk, with my own bottle of Knappogue Castle Irish Whiskey - well then I would probably be happy to unwind by blogging. The thing is I either have to go to my office for a computer where they frown on employees blogging, or I have to use one of the two computers in the hotel business center (where I am right now as i type this). These computers suck and are sloth like to say the least about them. As it often winds up, when I do head over to the business center, both computers are often already in use and I either have to wait my turn or come back later. happy hour begins at 1730 (5:30 PM) each night and runs for 2 hours. You can bet that once they start serving free (as in no charge at all) booze you will not likely find me at the computer. granted it is not top shelf booze, except maybe for the Jim Beam but they do serve such things as Gordon's gin and vodka, Sauza tequila, and several other liquors in addition to Bud and Bud light on tap and three types of wine (red, white and blush). Oh the agony of not being able to blog while sipping that Irish whiskey or drinking a bottle of Ommegang but I tell you it is possible to overcome my grief at happy hour.


Of course there are even some other things that keep me away from happy hour, and also away from the business center, the computers and blogging. As I have blogged about a few times by now - I love to hike in the area in and around Tucson. My best estimate is that I have been on at least 25 hikes since arriving here in the last week of March and maybe as many as 35. Most have been short ones, a couple of miles, but I have gotten as far as nine miles on one hike and 8 on a couple of others. Yesterday after work, for instance, I hiked just over 6 miles. I did that one at Madera Canyon on the Super Trail. Now one of the reasons I love hiking out here is that there are lizards everywhere that I have hiked. I am a confirmed herp nut and seeing these little critters is my cup of tea. Yesterday I counted 36 lizards on the trail - 33 of them on my way up the trail. It got a lot cooler and cloudier on my way down and they beat feet for a crevice among the rocks to weather out the storm that seemed to be approaching. Lucky for me it only rained on me a little before I got back to my car but the temps dropped about 10 to 15 degrees in the last 1/2 hour of my hike down the mountain. and that was a nice bit of cooling off at that for a weary old hiker like me.

There are other reasons that I love to hike besides the chance to see a lot of herps. I love the outdoors, love to walk in the mountains, love the scenery, love to hear the birds singing, love to see the wildlife (I walked up within 25 feet of a mule deer yesterday out in the middle of nowhere off the trail - not the one pictured - that is one that Brendan spotted while he was out here - also at Madera Canyon) love the fresh air, and sort of like the exercise especially since I have lost about 16 to 18 pounds since I have gotten here. All those things are reasons good enough to just forget about blogging for awhile. Now if you don't believe me, well then just take a gander at the pics that accompany this blog. The sunset was yesterday - taken on the road on my way out of Madera Canyon. No, not the best pic of a sunset, but seeing it in person was awesome. It is not often that the sun peeks through a split in the clouds like that just at sunset. Then there were the cows. maybe you live in the country and see lots of cows or steers, but I live just outside of NYC where I see animals like pigeons, squirrels, and of course animals of another less noble sort on a daily basis (you figure what that means because I am not about to get myself riled up thinking about them). So I get a kick out of seeing cows strolling along the roadside as I am driving by - note I said on the roadside and not on the middle of the road. Yep that stuff makes it more than worthwhile to go on these hikes. Take a look and you will see what I mean.



If you don't think those things are worth missing out on blogging, well then you live in the virtual world of the Internet a bit too much for my liking - but to each his own. As for me, I figure I'll get out there whenever I can to enjoy it all, and if I find the time later on, well then I'll blog about it. The thing that makes it best of all though is lacking in my life right now, and that would be my son who is herping, hiking, hunting and fishing partner. He was here for a week and we had fun even though i was fighting off the swine flu as best I could while taking him around south eastern Arizona for a few adventures.

All the best,
Glenn B

Bad Week For Blogging - So Far (graphic)

...and I can only hope that by some miracle my week will improve. Everything was gong pretty much fine right up until Sunday evening. Well, wait a minute, that is just not right. it was just another weekend last weekend for me. Things were going normally for me, which certainly does not mean everything was fine, I guess I have become rather immune to somethings having to be crappy that I sometimes do not even notice them or otherwise except them as ordinary. On Saturday I visited my mom in the rehab center, and she knew who I was and was happy to see me so that was good. I stayed with her a couple of hours but she just kept nodding off. Before I left though she made sure to tell me to see my Aunt Jackie soon really not my aunt but my Godmother and like my mom very old and in frail health. So before I left my mom, I dialed up my aunt so the two of them could chat awhile, and I could ask her if she wanted me to pick her up someday soon to visit with my mom. My aunt did not answer the phone, so I left a message for her. Later, once home on Saturday night, I kind of felt short of breath and very run down, it was one of those all of a sudden type things.

On Sunday the day was a nice one, I got up and did some things that needed doing. Then I was off to a meeting of the Long Island Herpetological Society. I enjoy the company of some fine friends there as usual, then headed home. By the time I got home I was feeling a bit under the weather, a sore lower back and a headache at the top sides of my head and at the base of my head where it meets the neck.When I walked passed a mirror and took a look, I saw a peaked reflection in the mirror. I guess it was about 7:00PM when unexpectedly the damn burst. The flood cometh and the waters were muddy. I was sick like that until about 4PM yesterday, and was literally ill over 40 times in 2 days. You would think I had dysentery, and I wondered when the waters turned from muddy to black and I had not eaten or drank anything other than water in over 36 hours when that change came about. The most amazing thing of all throughout all of this was that I did not wind up needing to be hospitalized due to dehydration. The second most amazing thing was that I did not eat a single morsel of food in 46 hours. Though I had my first meal last night, a can of chicken noodle soup, and had a small light sandwich later, and a couple of pieces of toast today, I must say I am none to hungry. Matter of fact I am still feeling squeamish about eating, not so much because I dread another bout of the runs, but because after eating I feel sickly and weak again - go figure.

I was not really thinking about anything getting worse last night, but before it started to get better last night, things took a turn for the worse, much worse. Well truth is they had already turned that way, I had just not found out until last night. My Aunt Jackie went in to the hospital for cardiac arrest on Friday, she passed away on Tuesday. My sister called and gave me the news last night. Now we are debating whether or not to tell my mom. I would prefer telling her, even taking her to the funeral parlor if possible. It is a difficult decision to make because my mom is not in good shape either. Finding out will be tough for her, very tough. She and my aunt were long time best friends, since grammar school, and I do mean best friends. They were members of the 24 club, and my mom is one of the few surviving members of the club having been born in 1924. I will regret not having seen my aunt in recent memory, shame on me for that. She was as good a Godmother as one could hope for and helped put some joy into what was an otherwise pretty troubled childhood.

This morning I felt quite the bit better heath wise. I even drove myself to the doctor's office for a checkup. All she told me was that I probably have a bad stomach virus that seems to be going round but that I also seem to be getting better. Heck I could have told her that. I spent most of that day today recuperating. Could things be any worse? Well not really worse but some annoyance added to the mix. This afternoon, I found out my government car parked out front has a parking ticket on it, because we have alternate side of the street parking, and it belonged on the other side of the street on Tuesday. I just moved it to a spot around the block and that was a major effort. Guess who has to pay the ticket - yep me. Usually we get away with it, but my boss decided if I get one parked at home I also get to pay it. Hopefully they will reconsider because I have been so ill, but in the end it is up to the judge here where I live and he is no friend of mine.

So, sorry I have not blogged more this week, but I think you can understand why I have not kept up on it. I'll give you some good stuff by the weekend, I have a new Yugo SKS to write about (yep SAMCO sent me a replacement for the other one that I returned to them).

Its been a tough few days; and even right now things seem to be getting a bit tougher as I type. I am again starting to feel much more run down, weak, and the headache and backache seem to be coming back. I almost cannot believe that moving my car, and now sitting here and writing this have made me feel so weak again. So for now I am calling it quits, I am going to go lay down to rest so that maybe tomorrow I'll have enough strength to attend the funeral parlor services.

All the best,
Glenn B

No Lack Of Blogger Mojo...

...but I have had a lack of time to blog, so the blog has been lacking over the past few days. Yesterday was the worst day for time all week. My mom had an episode at the assisted living facility and had to go to the ER. Dementia is not a nice thing, especially if it expresses itself by way of a lot of fear. My sister spent most of yesterday at the ER with my mom, and I got there by cutting my day short at work and spent a few hours there myself along with Brendan and his girlfriend. I went out to the assisted living residence today to see my mom, again with Brendan and Julia, and my mom was much improved. That was a good thing, even though she was not 100%. The remainder of my day, until 5 minutes ago, was spent on bills. Making sure my credit card bill was correct took over an hour alone, and I am still none to sure the balance is correct. Then I paid a bunch of bills. I also made sure the ones left over were sorted by the date by which they need to be paid.

We do okay with our bills, but I have to admit we are having a tough time getting it all paid off with Brendan's college bills. I refuse to take a loan out this time around as I did for my daughter. Since Brendan is staying local, that makes it much easier to accomplish, but it is still hard paying by credit card and making sure not to otherwise go overboard with the cards. I am trying to pay the college bill of within two months of making the payment so we are being careful about what else we charge. I suppose with the holidays out of the way, that will get a little easier - knock on wood. Thank goodness for lower heating bills this year because if we were paying the same oil rates as last year it would be likely I'd need to take out a loan for his college. Not complaining about having those college bills mind you - I am quite proud that Brendan is going to college and did well in his first semester; and there is no way that I would not put him through his undergrad studies. As with his sister Celina though, when it comes to graduate degrees, they have to make it on there own. She is doing that right now and I am pretty sure Brendan will do likewise. First things first, he has to get a bachelor's degree first.

All the best,
Glenn b

I Have Returned...

...and no it is not like I am MacArthur or someone like him, but I figured I'd just let you know I am back home and that my blogging may soon begin again in earnest. I spent the last 5 days in West Palm Beach, Florida. It was supposed to be a business/vacation trip, but the business end never panned out since I was too sick over the past couple of days to go out and get any done. I had been planning on this being a reptile buying trip so I'd have something to sell at the LIHS 19th Annual Reptile Expo tomorrow, but that did not work out.

I did get a few fishing trips in while down there, but in addition to fish (more on this in another post), I also caught one heck of a cold. I am feeling miserable, but somewhat better than yesterday. Now that I am back I have to attend to family matters, my mom went back into the hospital again a couple of days ago, and she is not in good condition. She may require being put into an old age home, and it will not be an easy thing to work out. Without me getting into details let me just say it is probably goig to be absolutely necessary because of her condition. She had been living with my sister and her family but now requires care beyond their abilities and beyond the abilities of any home care giver. So today I am off to my sister's house to help work on the arrangements for that. Of course that is I am off but only after I get my laundry from the trip (and whatever else is in the hamper) done first, which I can only hope will make the wife happy.

I'll post some pics and write about the trip later over this weekend as time allows.

All the best,
Glenn B

My Mom and My Anticipated Lack of Blogging...

I may not be blogging for the next couple of days, maybe not most of next week either. I was supposed to go to visit my aunt and uncle in Florida this coming Sunday and return on Thursday, now all of that may change as my mom is in the hospital. She probably had a mini-stroke last weekend. I had thought she would be out of the hospital by now, when I saw her 2 days ago she did not seem all that bad. My sister, whom she lives with, told me she has taken a turn for the worse over the past day, and I got a first hand idea of that when I spoke to my mom on the phone earlier today. I will be out her way tomorrow and Friday to be with my mom and to give my sister a break; maybe longer if need be. Please keep my mom in your thoughts and well wishes, and in your prayers too - she would appreciate it.

All the best,
Glenn B

I've Been Busy...

...I've been down in the dumps (for personal reasons I will not go into on my blog), and i just have not had a lot of time to blog. Maybe tomorrow, or Friday for something.

All the best,
Glenn B

An Apology Due To My Lack of Blogging

Sorry for the lack of blogging over the past 4 days. Some nights when I get home from work I am just too pooped. Getting older I guess. Some other times I just don't have the inspiration. Other times it's both.

I have a few things lined up to blog about over the next few days. For instance I went to a Gun Show yesterday. Pretty much fun because I met an old friend there, but missed some others I wished could have made it. Not as much fun as in years gone by because of the lousy selection and prices, but that will be its own story.

I also have a new addition to the reptile collection. It won't be with me for long, as it was an adoption I took from someone to essentially adopt out to someone else. Easier for me to make sure it gets to someone who will care for it properly, and in the meantime I have another mouth to feed, and something else of which to snap some shots for your viewing pleasure.

Of course I could talk about politics, even though I am getting sick of it, I guess it needs talking about now and then.

Then there is the garden, that is starting to come along too. So as you can see I do have stuff lined up. Later for more blogging though, right now I have to clean my animals, clean the basement, do some gardening, and maybe refinish our front door if it looks as if the rain will hold off. I have to do all that before the liquor store closes because I'd like to pick up a bottle of Vodka. I have sworn off of beers and ales for the most part because I just started a diet. Again, that is another story to come.

All the best,
Glenn B

Yes The Computer Is Working...

...but I have been too busy to blog to any decent extent these past few days. I will try to correct that later today, my apologies to those of you who came here to read something new. Why you would come here is beyond me, so I also apologize for somehow luring you in in the first place! Seriously though, I'll try to get something posted this evening. Right now I am awaiting the arrival of a UPS parcel (more on the contents later) and I have to get ready for work (been working late and a lot the last few days). Oh well - later for you.

All the best,
Glenn B

Writer's Block

What can I say, I have not had any inspiration to write about anything as of the last few days. I am sick of politics for now, have no desire to think about guns or to enjoy shooting, have not developed aninterest in ahything new lately, and have not done anything worth a word in days. I'll get over it sooner or later, I am sure.

Until then - later for you.

All the best,
GB

Lack of Blogger Mojo...

...may be just what I have been experiencing over the past couple of days. Yesterday I was off from work for a medical test, got home about 2PM and fell asleep almost as soon as i got home. I woke up about 9PM or so. I owe a friend an apology because I did not meet him as planned for a get together at 7PM.

Then today, I got stuck at work until now. Yes still there, and just getting this typed before I head home. So I have not had a lot of energy or time to dedicate to my daily rant. Hopefully I will write something tonight, or tomorrow morning before I go to work.

My apologies to those of you who visited and found nothing new.

All the best,
Glenn B

Is It The Blooging Blues...

...that causes a lot of people who blog to not blog that frequently? Or maybe I should ask is it the blues that makes them not blog as frequently as they once did. Now maybe it is just my imagination, but I would have sworn that some of my favorite bloggers used to blog a lot more than they have as of late. Some of them have not entered a word into their blogs in weeks! What gives?

I fall into it sometimes myself, that is into a slump where I cannot get myself inspired to write about something; but when that happens I try my darnedest to get at least a little spark fired up over something, and then write about it. Of course I also miss days when I am just too tired because it was a long one at work, or because other obligations or things kept me from the computer; but I almost feel an obligation to blog as often as I am able to. Besides that I like doing it, I like writing, and I like having my stuff read by folks who seem to enjoy it (that gives one a nice feeling of a job well done). I guess that helps keep me at it pretty regularly. So if any of you are out there, just feeling the blogging blues, and therefore not blogging, let me give you at least one reason to get back to it: Your readers miss your stuff. Sure we can live without your blogs, but life is much more interesting with them; so please start tapping away on those keyboards again, it is always nice to hear from old friends again.

All the best,
Glenn B

Lack of Blogging...

...due to illness again. It seems I just cannot kick the bug that has had me down on and off over the past 2 months or so. I'll try to write something today if I can.

All the best,
GB

I am Thinking About A Doctor...

...getting a new doctor that is because mine have still not figured out what ails me. I have been sick so often lately, I actually miss going to work. Still waiting for the results of a CT scan though, maybe that will make the difference in my diagnosis. One can only hope, but if not, then maybe you want to consider buying stock in Scott Paper Products, because we sure have been spending a lot on joy rolls lately.

The darnedest thing is I start to feel better, then wham I am sick again big time. Saturday during the day, I felt much better, not 100% but at least 80%; then Saturday night I was on the throne more times than I could count. I just don't get it; but I sure hope the docs will figure it out soon.

One other thing: Sorry there was no blogging from me yesterday; I may do some tomorrow, but not likely today. Just too out of it, and I have to try to rest to be able to attend traffic court later for some parking tickets.

All the best,
Glenn B