Differences in dinners.

Recently we had the whole family over for dinner.  One of my brothers is a cook and we let him cook in our kitchen.  He only complained about our lack of paprika.  

While thinking of what I learned from my brother recently I compared his dinner to another dinner. This other guy is a good cook as well, in fact I think his meal was better than any of my brothers have been. What are the differences? My brother was trained in restaurants; nicer restaurants yes, but no formal training. This other guy was trained by a cordon bleu chef. Huge difference right there. With this other guys meal, it was in his kitchen with his ingredients. At one point he asked his wife for the bread crumbs and she asked if he wanted the Japanese or Italian. My brother is cooking with whatever is in the fridge and pantry. 

What do we learn from this? Garbage in, garbage out. Have all of the ingredients and tools needed and use the right proportion of skilled (more expensive) to unskilled (less expensive).

Anger.

My whole family was over yesterday for dinner.  My special needs brother was here and I think I've noticed a connection.  Every time I see him I'm angry for the next few days.

He's getting older and suffering from dementia and or Alzheimer's.  There is a noticeable difference in his memory from visit to visit.  While he's here I always tell him "I love you" because I don't know if it will be the last time to see him.

I'm angry the next few days, no I'm not.  I'm on edge and then something inconsequential will make me angry.  I'm not angry because he's getting older, I'm angry because their is nothing I can do to stop it.

Remembrances.

I've been watching a tv show called "The New Girl" recently.  I've really started liking Schmidt because of his opinion of furniture.  I would probably not associate with someone like him in real life because he's very annoying and that's my position in life.

The lead character brought home a simple china hutch and he hated it.  He ended his rant with the statement that pine furniture doesn't belong in this loft, it's the wood of peasants and the poor.  I don't know what the next line was because I was laughing so hard at that line.

When anyone mentions pine and furniture I always think of the ugly and blocky pine furniture from the 1970's.  Its ugliness has seared it's way into my brain and I always associate pine and ugly because of that.  Is pine ugly?  There is a lot of ugly pine out there and hopefully it's being used to build houses and such.  Let's keep the pretty stuff for furniture.

But memory is a funny thing, I still think that ugly pine furniture is redundant.

Adventures in riding.

As ya'll know, I've been watching my diet and riding my bike to lose weight.  A few days ago I went riding with a jogger friend of my wife.  She was going to do a 8 mile cross country trek while I did a mile or two and then hung out at the park with my youngest.  I did about half a mile and then I thought:  "Why not, let's try this cross country thing, my bike is a mountain bike after all.  The trailer with the kid can handle it.  If it's too much I can turn back."

Eight miles later I'm thinking:  "How much fun would this be if I was in better condition and I wasn't dragging an extra 60 pounds or so with this trailer and kid?"  We saw some interesting things on the ride.  Cows; they thought they were going to be fed.  They would moo and follow me.  We didn't have any hay so they didn't get fed by us.  I saw someone fishing at some lake near us.  Seeing people fish is nothing new but he was using a net to fish with.  That's something I haven't seen.

Saw a dog skeleton, that was a bit on the odd side.  Seeing BOB here was a real shocker.  I was going to put my size 11 shoe next to him but since he was about 80% of my shoe I wasn't going to risk it.  I named him BOB because it's short for Big Old Bug.  For those of you not real sure about shoe sizes, this centipede was about 8-9" in length.  I was staying away from any bug bigger than my gun or pocketknife.  Pretty simple rule to have in your life.  Yes, my legs were sore for two days.

Almost went to jail.

Three weeks ago some of the mom friends of my wife started making mums for their school age kids.  My wife called our school and asked them if our school was going to let the kids wear them to school.  The school said no.

Boom.  Last night a flyer was sent home letting us know that they could wear mums on Friday because of the homecoming game for their high school.  Son of a bitch.  Instead of a nice leisurely day off we were driving around looking for mums.

My mother was born in Niagara Falls and her parents were born in the old country, Italy.  My grandmother spoke Yankee English with a slight Italian accent.  My mother spoke like a Yankee, she would say "hamburg" instead of "hamburger", she just sounded like she was a Yankee.  Her relatives thought she sounded like a Texan but we didn't hear it.  My father was from a little town in Texas.  Real little, their claim to fame is to be more than 2000 residents since 1980.

If I sounded like a Texan my mother would smack me up the back of the head.  If I sounded like a Yankee my father would yell at me.  How do you think I sound?  Nowadays, most people think I'm from the midwest.

So here we are in a mum store and this lady says "You're not from Texas are you?"  BITCH!  YOU WANT TO STEP OUTSIDE AND SAY THAT?  Living with my parents has taught me to control my emotions and not let much show.  I so used that training like you would not believe.  That's why I almost went to jail today.

I'm going to start wearing a bolo tie and boots.

Little things.

I'm trying to lose weight currently.  So far I've done pretty well, I've lost over 10 pounds in the few weeks I've been watching what I eat and riding my bike.

Because of that, when I was in the grocery store I was looking to buy some salad crap.  Salad crap (that's the proper name for food that is eaten by other food) needs some type of dressing on it, I saw the packets for ranch dressing and wondered what needs to be done.  Does it need any kind of prep or just stirring?  How long will it last?  Easy to make and will last for awhile.  Sold.

I tweaked the formula a little and added cilantro (the best herb in the world) to it.  Just a little difference but so good.  I did the nutritional calculations and it's actually lower calorie and tastier than what I was buying.

What is this post about?  Do those little things for your spouse, children, and your friends; maybe you should even do this for yourself occasionally.  The end result may be better than you expect.

"Protection".

On the news now is talk about the Kenyan shooting.  Some people are saying that some British converts to Islam are behind it.  Female converts.  Is this true?  I have no clue, but that made me think of something.

Years ago I asked a lady who worked at my club why she was a prostitute and more importantly why she had a pimp.  Why did we let a prostitute work there?  Technically, she did the illegal activities outside of the club.  Still illegal, but we can't stop what people do outside of work.

She said that her pimp kept her alive.  How?  She said that without her pimp forcing her to work, to stay sober, even to wake up and go to work; she wouldn't do anything but stay high on whatever drugs she could find.  She said that she wasn't responsible enough to pay her bills so she would get evicted and she would have her car repossessed.

She even went so far to say that some prostitutes need that structure in their lives or they would be on the street or dead.  Her pimp was pretty new and he only had a few ladies in his stable so he made a few mistakes that her former pimp didn't.  I asked how much of her money he let her keep.  Nothing, if I need something then he buys it.  What if you don't need it but just want it?  She told me that he's like a father to his stable.  He knows best.  Even if it's best for me to have a beating.

I didn't understand that kind of dependence in an adult.  Islam isn't really big on women being considered equal to men.  Whenever I see a woman that has converted to Islam I always think of that prostitute.

My view on fantasy football.

It's fall so people are getting on the football bandwagon.  You know what I think about football?  Let me draw a mental picture for you.

As my faithful reader knows, I carry a concealed pistol.  I used to carry a Makarov but the sweat was getting to the finish so I swapped it out with a different pistol.  First I was wondering if I should go to a full size, a compact, a subcompact, or even a mouse gun.  Then I remembered that friends don't let friends carry mouse guns so that narrowed the field for me.

Should I do the OWB, IWB, SOB holster or should I say "What the hell, I'm going to do the Don Johnson".  With how I dress, and this is Texas, I decided to stick with the pocket holster I had the Makarov in.  What to put in it?

This one holds 6 but it's 6 for sure whilst this one holds 6+1 and this one holds 10+1.  The 6 for sure is a wheel gun that can handle .38 and .357 magnum, the 6+1 is a .40 and the 10+1 is a 9.  I like to keep the wheel gun at the house because when it's loaded with birdshot it won't go through walls and the birdshot won't cycle a semi.  That narrows it down a little bit again.  Now it's a toss up between the two semi's.

Maybe the ammunition will help me.  The 6+1 is a .40 and I do have some Black Talons to go in it or I could sell that on the web.  The 10+1 is a 9 and I do have some JHP; wait up, I have two different weights and two different manufacturers.  I'll stick with the Black Talons in the .40, I've tested that ammo in that pistol and I know it shoots straight.  The 9 ammo I have I haven't tested it in that pistol and I really don't feel like trusting my life on "Well, it worked okay in that other pistol".  Call me silly if you want.

That confusion that you non-gun people are feeling now?  That's how I feel when you talk about football.  You gun people are reading this wondering "Where did you get the Black Talon?".

Running to the Hills Part 2.

Yesterday we spoke of how it doesn't matter if you piss off Mother Nature because she owns your ass already.  Today we will speak of flora and fauna.

In the Mad Max setting the fauna will be gong crazy.  Not truly crazy but they won't have as much problems from humans anymore.  Wolf and bear populations are going to be getting big because humans won't hunt them as much.  Coyotes are going to wait for a human to get careless and then they will steal whatever game the human caught.  What about dogs?  Dogs that can fend for themselves and hunt will get into big packs and probably be a major problem.  Some of the little lap dogs might have some problems but they are all pack animals so they might surprise us.  People that can hunt might do well, how many can hunt without prepping the area with feeders is the real question.  In a recent Handgunner magazine there was an article on skinning a rabbit.  People actually wrote in and complained that something that disturbing was in the magazine.  I saw the pictures, I wasn't thinking about that.  I was actually thinking "Rabbit, not too tasty."  Some would disagree but the only time I've had rabbit it was in a French restaurant with a sweet sauce on it.  I'm not a fan of sweet sauces on meat so it was a bit of a turn-off.  How well would those same people do if they had to prep and eat whatever they killed?

Flora is pretty easy.  Can you find edible plants in the wild?  You could try and nibble stuff but that could also make you very sick.  Ask the lady I know that got salmonella from eating a salad.  What does rice look like in the wild?  How about potatoes?  Going back to the "hunter/gatherer" lifestyle is going to make for a short life, maybe you want to try cultivation instead?  When do you plant stuff?  What do you not plant next to each other?  A lot of gardeners will know this but do you have the seeds?  After you've grown the crops (if half of the stories my father told me about farming are true I don't ever want to do that) how do you store them?  Potatoes can be pretty easy but what about fruit?  Do you know how to can?  Can you make jellies and jams?  That's not even getting into the whole spice area.  Columbus was looking for a different route to China because of the spices.  If you don't have the spices from your kitchen how will your cooking be?  You say that hunger will make you ignore the blandness?  Have you not met your fellow Americans?  You put it in front of me and I will eat it.  Most people aren't like that.  They will be in their fantasy world thinking that they will be saved so if they skip this meal it won't hurt them.  Skip too many meals and you don't have the strength to get your next meal.

Food for thought isn't it?

"Running to the Hills." Part 1.

I was talking to someone about hunting recently and I told my youngest to always eat whatever you shoot.  Unless it's a person.  They have too much cholesterol.  The other adult in the conversation laughed and then thought about it and laughed some more.

That got me to thinking about the "post apocalyptic" world so prevalent in popular culture as well as in the lives of "preppers".  I know, I think odd things.  But the thought is there so you must suffer along with us.

Something I've noticed is the abundance of people saying that if needed they'll live in the "mountains/hills/country/generic wilderness area" in case of whatever apocalypse they are talking about.  Have you ever been to the country?  Not like where I live but to the "real" country.  It ain't nice.  Some predators don't care that we're at the "top" of the food chain.  Mother Nature sure as hell doesn't care about us.  We can put a person on the moon and all sorts of fun stuff like that but we are still natures bitch.  Tornado's, hurricanes, earthquakes, and floods; with the right tech we can predict and detect them but even then all we can really do is hide. People say that we are destroying the earth, the human race is nothing more than a rash on the butt of the planet.  If we disappeared tomorrow the planet would go on without a problem.  We can do all sorts of destructive things to the planet and all it will do is make it harder to grow food and drink the water.  Yepper, Mother Nature is a bitch and she doesn't even care if we do well or not.  As my mother said once:  "I made you, I can replace you".  That's how the earth thinks of us.

Movies and books.

I like reading and I like movies so when a book is made into a movie it should be all tea and crumpets.  Not quite.

Have you ever read John Steakley's "Vampire$"?  Did you see John Carpenter's "Vampire$"?  That film was supposed to be based on the book.  It even said "based on Vampire$" in the credits.  Some scenes were but they took out the main character from the novel.  I can just imagine the meeting where someone is saying "this character, Felix G?  Let's get rid of him."  He's the main character.  "No problem, the people watching the film won't know."  I beg to differ.  I noticed.  This is probably one of my favorite vampire books and they bastardized it for the big screen.  There is a scene in the end with Jack Crow they couldn't do because Felix G wasn't in the film.  Read the book, you'll see what I mean.

Some times the "translation" is awesome, the Harry Potter series is great.  Is it great because the author wouldn't let them change things or because the books were already so popular?  I think the author's vision meant a lot.

At the end of "Alien" is a credit:  "Inspired by "Black Destroyer"".  What is this?  I found the short story (by A. E. Van Vogt) and read it.  There were similarities but not enough for you to think that the film would be like the movie.  Saying that it was "inspired by" was honest and a bit of an homage.

Recently I watched "Parker" which is based on a novel by my favorite author, Donald Westlake aka Richard Stark.  They didn't get Parker quite right but most people would hate Parker.  In the books he's a very honest (unless it's in his interest not to be) ruthless bastard.  Everything he does has a very sound and logical reason behind it.  In this film he almost waxed philosophical.  Parker is not philosophical, he's...efficient.

At the end of the film was a line in the credits "In loving memory of Donald Westlake".  I didn't see based on this or that, I was okay with that because it mentioned Westlake.  He is my favorite author, you know.

Even more living in a small town.

This town doesn't have much in the way of things I'm used to, but the neighboring towns have an awesome selection of guns and stuff.

One place had numerous class 3 things.  Can I afford class 3 toys now?  Hell, no.  Someday I will be able to afford them and I will have them.  My wife worked last night and I took the smallest munchkin out and about so she could sleep.  We went to gun stores, a pawn shop (cleanest and friendliest pawnshop I've ever been in), an antique store, and a book store.

Nothing that was screaming "TAKE ME HOME" but lots of stuff to think about.  There was whispering aplenty but no screaming.  Really starting to get into this small town stuff.

More small town living.

We live in a small subdivision on the edge of town.  The bad side of that is when there is construction it really puts a damper on getting in and out of town quickly.

Living in a bigger city spoiled me.  I would pass four grocery stores to get to the one I liked.  Here, there are two.  Two more are expected to be built in the next two years but that's the next two years.  One has reasonable prices the other is about 30-40% higher on staples.

I'm used to bookstores.  There are none here.  I can go into the bordering towns and hit a bookstore but that's not the same.  I grew up in the antique business so I look at antiques and feel nostalgic about them.  We do have a lot of antique stores on the plus side.

If a train goes through town and stops we are screwed.  One for the bad side.

The neighborhood is safe enough that the kids don't lock their bikes up at school.  A lot of kids ride scooters to school; yes, our neighborhood has scooter gangs.  One more for the plus side.

A lot of the stores close "early" during the school year many of the fun stores (ice cream places) close around 8pm.  Bad side.

On the major plus side, we have three ice cream places.  One has good hours, one has great ice cream and one has frozen yogurt with all of the stuff to put into it.  

On the plus side the family gets to see my wife more.

So far the pluses have it.

Flip side about Interviews.

Check it out here.

Sleep.

I really hate sleeping.  Of course if I'm sleeping I don't want to wake up though.  Still having problems sleeping.

Sorry about the quality of work lately.  I'm still learning and I think I learned that I shouldn't have bitten off an item a day schedule.

Yepper, I'm tired.  Was out driving for about four hours and I have more to do manana.

Reflections on bars. Other side.

Other side again.  Check it out here.

What are we teaching our kids. Part 2.

At a softball game for my kids and I'm watching the parents do things that I wouldn't.  My wife and I are not helicopter parents.  We don't stuff them full of junk food right before lunch time either.  We don't berate 7-8 year old's for playing.

What the hell happened since I was 7?

Prosthetics.

I'm against us going to war in Syria.  I won't go into why; I'm going to write about what might be the only good to come of this war, technological advancements in prosthetics.

Hopefully someone will really start advancing that technology.  The insights gained from prosthetics should also help with numerous other fields like robotics, engineering, and maybe even psychology.  It also goes the other way, advancements from robotics, engineering and psychology help prosthetics; fun little circle there.

Technology has come a long way since the peg leg and it has a way to go still.  Will someone make a modular piece that can have attachments?  I imagine a bottle opener would sell very well.  Modular sets for mechanics, either to hold the tools or an attachment that is the tool.  Hell, with the right engineering could a tool be powered by a battery either on-board or wired?  How many soldiers had to give up their career or hobby because they couldn't hold a wrench or hammer?

Let's not forget the Second Amendment.  Could a firearm be designed to fit into a prosthetic?  I bet they could.  For legal liabilities it most likely would not be fired by muscle movement and would have to use an external "finger" on the "trigger".  I say go for it.

Does a modern prosthetic have the sensitivity and control to fire a weapon accurately and reliably?  If someone is missing both of their arms does that mean they can't use a firearm?  I don't know but I bet it would be a market anyway.

Even a basic paint job would help a lot.  Look at Harley's, put that kind of paint job on a prosthetic and I bet the persons acceptance of a new prosthetic would be better.  Do it in a steampunk motif, or in a major science fiction look.  Instead of trying to hide them maybe more people need to show them off.

Show them off and force everyone else to get with it and know that someone with a prosthetic is just like everyone else.

What are we teaching kids?

I know that title should go to something more meaningful but I have to say this.  One of our kids is in a game tonight and it was our turn to bring snacks.  Did we bring juice and chips like we've seen before?  Nope, we brought bottle waters and plums.

Some of the kids refused them.  Keep in mind that this is at about 7:30 at night.  On a normal night our kids would have already eaten dinner, bathed and would be getting ready for bed by this time.  Were the kids hungry?  Yepper.  They just didn't want fruit and water.  

So we have hungry kids and they are refusing food because it's fruit and water?  I know one thing.  In a famine my kids will do okay.

9/11

I was going to title this post "The 3000" because that's about how many people died during 9/11.  Then I found out that the numbers are really hard to pinpoint.  Some say one number some say a different one.  Instead of focusing on the people that died I'm going to give you my opinion on certain people.

In some ways America is lucky.  Osama was a nutjob that didn't know a damn thing about the USA.  If he did he wouldn't have done those four attacks.  If I had his money and resources (and the desire to commit treason on my country) I could have done so much more damage to the US, and I wasn't trained to do that, I'm just intuitive and observant.  No, I'm not going to post what could be done, if the NSA, CIA, or FBI wants to know I'll tell them but I'm not going to give plans to some other nutjob.

In some ways the Middle East is lucky that President Bush is a pretty nice guy.  If this had happened when Reagan was in office there would be a huge parking lot over there by now.  Me, I would have sent the military.  I would have sent in two groups, regular military and "irregular" military.  Let the regular service start a base and start "Americanizing" the population while the "irregular" forces are playing havoc with the terrorists.  You say we shouldn't try to "Americanize" another group of people, then maybe the other group of people shouldn't try to "Islamify" my country.  You attack me and I will use whatever weapons I have to stop the threat.  When you get down to it the US economy is one hell of weapon.

I would also start drilling and stockpiling as much oil as possible.  Once we had a decent amount I would tell OPEC that we are now only going to pay 50% for the oil until these terrorists are found and it will go down another 10% per month until they are found.  If they say no then we say take your oil and shove it.  Was that rude?  I don't care, these scumbag terrorists killed thousands of people (in one day) because they didn't like our government.

If you don't like your government then you change it.  If you have a democratic/representative form of government then you do it with voting.  If you have a tyranny then you use force and that's the real reason for the Second Amendment of the US constitution; no matter what anyone says, it's about fighting off the government if they get a little too big for their britches not for hunting.  If you don't like some other government then you don't go to that country.  If they attack you then you defend yourself.  You don't think:  "I don't like them, I'm going to kill thousands of random people and my minions in order to make a point."

I'm wrong, you do that if you're a punk ass bitch.  Me, I say fuck the Middle East.  They were the world leaders in math and science in the 1200's and they haven't advanced since then.  If our soldiers are not allowed to do normal things on OUR bases in the middle east then fuck the Middle East.  I say open up a liquor store in the middle of the sandbox.  What the hell, let's also sell pork ribs and bacon.  If you don't like it then don't go to the store and buy it.  Or is that a little too advanced for some dumb ass terrorist?

Is this rant rude and not politically correct?  I hope so.  You get some punk ass bitch that wants to ignore our laws but expects (and demands) respect for theirs while doing something illegal.  Not sure what I mean?  Look up "honor killing", it has happened here.  People are saying that doing anything to the Koran except reading it is offensive, yet these same people are the ones saying if you burn the flag or do something weird with a bible it's art.  They're wrong.  Personally I believe that it's all protected by the First Amendment, but it's still obscene.

Some people say that the Muslim extremist is very rare and the other Muslims denounce their ideas and works.  I don't see it.  I see lip service but that's it.  Our own nutjobs (Westboro Baptist Church) don't do anything as disturbing as murder but we stop them the best we can.  Go somewhere they are protesting and you will see other people there trying to stop them.  I don't see any "moderate" Muslims doing the same.

On 9/12 people were saying that they woke up the wrong sleeping giant.  Did they?  Maybe for a little bit, then the giant hit the snooze button.  We've been snoozing away for awhile now.  Decades ago I heard a joke, I'll update it for 9/11.  A coboy, an Indian, and a Muslim extremist are sitting around a table.  The Indian says "Once we were many and now we are few." The Muslim extremist says "Once we were few and now we are many."  The cowboy says "That's because we haven't played cowboys and terrorists yet."

Sports.

Went to my first softball game as a parent tonight.  I know nothing about sports, I could tell you more about quantum computing and tampons than about sports.  What little I do know actually comes from knowing gamblers.  For all of you gamblers out there the game did not have a spread.  The tie would have messed it up anyway.

It was rather fun.  The kids were just having fun.  When did we lose that and end up with the sports we have on the tv now?

Actors.

I could do acting.  I would have to limit myself to bastards,psychopaths, lawyers, and other people you don't want to invite to dinner but I could do it.

I say this because I asked my brother the name of a film.  I described what I remembered of it and who I thought was in it but the first thing out of his mouth was "I don't know the movie but I want to watch it".  Didn't exactly help.  I thought it was a Jerry Lewis film from the 60's and we were talking about which actor from the time it could be.  Which actor of the time period had the chops to do the parts.

I looked on IMDB and could not find it, then I went to the forums and found the answer.  It was "Wonder Man" with Danny Kaye from 1945.  Finally.

I was telling my brother how I found the film and that got me to thinking how the older directors and producers must miss the older casting calls.  Nowadays you put out a casting call for a part and half the city shows up thinking that because they are attractive they can act.  Back in the 40-50's if you couldn't act, sing, and dance why should they hire you?

Gene Shalit once mentioned in an interview about the lack of talent in movies now.  I don't think I can say aye or nay on that but it does make me think.

Earlier I said that I do acting.  I never mentioned that I would be any good though.

Quickie.

My schedule is all thrown off.  My wife is working nights for a bit and I sleep better when I'm stealing the blanket from her.  My poem from yesterday was:

Shining moon
The wind is blowing
Ride on by.

You know what the worst thing about losing your parents?  Something minor and trivial can bring it all back.

Damn memory.

I have a great memory, unfortunately it's a bit odd.  I remember some type of Asian poetry similar to haiku that uses less.  In English that means syllables...basically.

Why does this matter you ask?  I'm out riding my bike and I come up with a line for a haiku.  I just can't get the whole piece done correctly.

Then I decide to rework it.  I'll make it that other poetry style that's like haiku but is only 11 syllables.  What the hell is that called?

I've finished with the poem, BUT I CAN'T FIND OUT WHAT AN 11 SYLLABLE POEM IS CALLED.  Sorry, it kind of bothers me.

A post about music.

On the flip side, check it out here.

Artist vs. Scientist. Redux.

Yesterday was somewhat rough for me so I just kind of phoned in the post yesterday.  I'll expand on it tonight.

A scientist is very formulaic, which is great if you need every thing done in a particular way.  Or for the restaurant business done the same way each and every time.  For some things you need that consistency.  You need that person to go to A then B then C then D etc.

Artists are the ones who skip some steps or put in extra just to see what happens.  Of course sometimes the extra steps just trip you up.  That's when you need a scientist.

Combine the two and you have the best inventions and ideas.  Barbecue was invented by a combination of the two.  Someone who knew the steps of cooking food and wondered what would happen if you changed just a little bit of it.  Pure genius.

Artist vs. Scientist.

Are you an artist or a scientist?  I'm not talking about beakers and paintbrushes.  You're a scientist if you have to follow a recipe; you're an artist if you can look in the pantry and whip something up.

When it comes to cooking I'm definitely a scientist but I'm learning to be an artist.  Put me behind a bar and I'm such an artist.

What are you?  Can you change it?  Do you want to?

Bored.

Years ago I used to work at a nicer hotel restaurant.  I wasn't some manager that required everyone to be busy working whenever I walked by but I expected your job to be done before you started...juggling. 

It was a slow night and our busboy was juggling because he was caught up with his job. Then he said something that you never say to a boss "I'm bored". We'll fix that little problem for you. 

Our chairs were in some style that required a lot of carving so they caught dust all of the time; I had him dust all of the chair bases. Same night that he finishes the chair bases and he says he's bored. I have him dust the wrought iron in the restaurant. The next time he's bored I have him clean the ceiling vents. He still hasn't learned to not tell me he's bored. Now I'm running out of things for him to clean (I'm proud to say that we kept that place pretty clean). I loan him to the kitchen for some general cleaning, he doesn't tell me he's bored anymore.  This busboy (16 years old) quits working for us and goes to 

work at Burger King because they will give him more hours or better pay or something. 

He's there one night and he comes back asking for his job back because of all the stuff they 

had him do. We hire him back and he never needs to be told to clean ceilings, chairs, or 

wrought iron again.

Labor day.

Today is Labor day and you know what it means to me?  Not much.  I've always worked in industries that were open on holidays.  In the 29 years of my working life I've had a handful of Christmas's and Thanksgivings off.

It's just part of the Food and Beverage gig.  When everyone else is out grilling or hanging out at the lake we're in a slow restaurant or bar hoping that someone sober will come in and spend money.  Doesn't always happen.

Do I celebrate labor day?  Not really.  I'm glad that my wife has a career and soon I will be employed but I think the best way of showing thanks is by doing a good job.

Avoidance.

In the dog training world if a dog pretends to not hear the command it's called avoidance.  People do it as well, even better than our furry friends.  When my father was in the hospital I would go up there before or after work and read a book.  Most of the times he was in a hospital he was in a coma so I would just sit there and read or read to him.  The same thing for when my mother was in the hospital.

My author of choice was Richard Stark, aka Donald Westlake.  His Parker series is a bit dark, one of the books starts with a line like "Parker was choking someone when the phone rang".  He's a criminal and the plan doesn't always go the way it should.

Yesterday a brother brought over our special needs brother for dinner.  It's getting rougher to see him, he doesn't remember all of my children and sometimes he looks at me and has no idea who I am.

I read online comics and one I found is called www.somethingpositive.net, it's very depressing and sweet.  Odd combination I know but check it out.  One of the characters has Alzheimer's; my brothers' condition is worse but I've been obsessed with reading it for the past two days.

Two days because today my sister brought my special needs brother over to visit.  He still doesn't recognize me.  Only this time she brought over family pictures of me as a small child.  Pictures of me and my parents, who have been dead for over a year.  Yeah, it's been rough these couple of days.