GoodBUY Circuit City

Circuit City closed today. I never shopped there before they made the announcement of filing to find a buyer and choosing to close all stores. I never thought that I would have spent $250.00 on tech there in the past couple of months, but I did. All needed. A new messenger bag to replace the backpack I had been carrying around for several years. I bought four Motorola cable boosters and a great little 50-n-1 card reader. We went one last time today seeking a DLP projector mount. We were turned away when the local store had only fixtures for sale. Just as well.

Broken resolutions.

Well that didn’t last long. One entry per day. FAIL. One photo per day. FAIL WHALE.

Kids are in bed. It’s a wee bit quieter in the house. Jen is at the table doing school work. I’m about to shut down the digital day and unwind even more by reading some. The week prior ended with buying a mess of books at a liquidation sale, loading up on a good DS Lite homebrew game called Lunar Lander, and finally setting up Skype.

2/365blog

Waiting Room at the walk-in clinic:

11:05 a.m.
The receptionist said there was a 2-1/2 hour wait. What could I say. There were only a few chairs left in the waiting room. As it is, I’m still waiting for them to call my name to make a $15.00 co-pay. Once paid I’m committed. Committed to sit around in the waiting room with people coughing. Parents with kids and the morning news chattering from a wall mounted T.V.

11:20 a.m.
Fortunately it’s me this time that needs medical attention and not a family member. Still feeling the results of a recent illness. It’s been 15 minutes now on the expected wait. I’ve moved to a seat closer to the receptionist’s desk to better hear them calling out names. A little hard to hear over the television and coughs.

11:37 a.m.
The waiting room is clearing out. More empty chairs. No screaming kids. Coughers still coughing. The receptionist just told another new walk-in that it would be a 2-1/2 hour to a 3 hour wait. The pregnant woman being told this responds with, “Wow”.

11:45 a.m.
I wish that I had stopped to sync a few episodes of Big Bang Theory to the iPod Touch before coming here.

11:51 a.m.
I’m not a big fan of the local ABC affiliate. As a kid in pre-cable days, this was the only station that came in clear enough to be the preferred station to watch. Not any longer. Even with shows titled, the ‘500 Pound Dad’ and ‘What not to Wear’, IMHO these are better shows to watch other than ABC’s Life on Mars.

12:00
Just made the co-payment of $15.00. First acknowledgment that I’m still here. I smell burgers from Carl’s Jr. Yum. Here I am on day 2 trying to eat less and move more. I can still have a protein burger from Carl’s.

I met Jennifer at a Carl’s Jr. in 1985. I was 20. She was 23 and still living at home finishing her teaching degree. I had been out on my own for a couple of years. Soon after I left Carl’s and began a career as a civil servant for state government. I was still plugging away in college as well.

Jen and I were married in 1987. Still happily married. She has been teaching since graduation. I’m still in serving in state government. So lunch at Carl’s it is.

12:20 p.m.
An hour and 15 minutes in. I’m in it for the long haul. I’m using the WordPress application for the Touch. After using the Touch daily for over a year, the battery life is still impressive.

12:40 p.m.
I’m in! Waiting for the doctor. Blood pressure was taken and is fine. Still not feeling well. Kind of weak. I’m thinking a cause is due to not having any protein today.

Started the day with a 3 advil, a multi-vitamin and a coffee and croissant. That’s it. I’ve had this sort of feeling before when venturing through the day with no protein. As one who has experience on a low carb, high protein diet, my body reacts quickly to the need for energy. This reaction was a little different.

I’m still waiting, but it’s closer to getting an answer and out of here. Waiting time in reception room was an hour and 35 minutes.

1:50 p.m.
In the lab for blood tests. Blood pressure was fine. Hemoglobin tests were excellent. Waiting to have blood drawn.

2:00 p.m. Leaving the walk-in clinic. So far so good. Hungry and tired. Heading to lunch then home.

26 Christmas Questions Answered

Ok, my turn. Below is a list of Christmas questions I found over at Keeping Up With the Jones

Below are my answers:

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?

Wrapping paper. I really get into the art of the wrap. Not so much the bow or strings or even a label. It’s the art of the wrap.

2. Real tree or Artificial?

Has to be real. I skip the live trees on display. I search the ‘pile’ of wrapped trees looking for a straight trunk. The joy is unwrapping it in the driveway of the house.

3. When do you put up the tree?

Has to be the weekend of Thanksgiving.

4. When do you take the tree down?

New Years Day after the Rose Parade.

5.Do you like eggnog?

Can’t stand the stuff.

6. Favorite gift received as a child?

An original Big Wheel at age 7.

7. Hardest person to buy for?

My wife.

8. Easiest person to buy for?

My daughter.

9. Do you have a nativity scene?

Yes. We clear off the mantle over the fireplace. We have a large star over the manger.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards?

Christmas cards.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?

Last year. It was a $20.00 gift card for Macy’s. I still have it. I tried to use it twice and could not find anything I wanted. Waste. I loathe Macy’s.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie?

Hands down….National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation ‘Mele Kalikimaka is the thing to say on a bright Hawaiian Christmas Day‘.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?

Cyber Monday. Most of the shopping I did this year was through eBay.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?

Only at the office Christmas party.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?

A bowl of mashed potatoes topped with two slices of cranberries ’shaped like a can’.

16. Lights on the tree?

Yes. New lights this year. All 300 of them. LED. Cool to the touch. Love ‘em.

17. Favorite Christmas song?

Santa Baby ~ sung by The Generators

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?

Always at home. My wife’s childhood home that we now live in. I have spent the past 23 Christmas seasons here. Blessings !

19. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer’s?

Nah. Less Fa La La. More Emmanuel.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star?

Star.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or Christmas morning?

One present after Christmas Eve service. Everything else on Christmas morning.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year?

Stores with Season’s Greetings painted on their store windows well past Ground hog’s Day. Office gift exchanges AFTER Christmas. The Corporate Christmas party. Again…..less Fa La La, more Emmanuel.

23. Favorite ornament theme or color?

Hand painted ceramics and Hallmark by the year.

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner?

Used to be Chinese in honor of A Christmas Story. We suffer instead with Ham and mashed potatoes. Miss my Orange Chicken terribly.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year?

Less of the gifts. More of the Giver. I would be satisfied with a cup of Starbucks Christmas Blend watching my kids enjoy the day.

26. Who is most likely to respond to this?

The female bloggers of Living Spring and a few of my Twitter friends with blogs.

Pass it on….

Everybody Say Love!

Sarah Laughing.

My friends Eric and Loren Hartman fronted the bluesy rock band Sarah Laughing. They have since dissolved. Loren Hartman posted a tribute video on YouTube from from their first CD titled, Red. I interviewed Eric Hartman three years ago and posted it as a podcast. Earlier today I bought a used CD of RED to replace the cassette. Everybody Say Love! Can’t wait for my early Christmas present to arrive from eBay.

60 hour week

15 minutes until my 4th and final 12-hour shift ends here. I spoke with many home owners and contractors. Lots of stories and memories. I was able to avoid cell phone calls while here and talk to people who lost everything. It was a learning week of listening. A week of trying not to listen to other help agencies talk endlessly to each other to kill time. I have 10 minutes remaining. It is 7:50 p.m. I arrived at 6:50 a.m. A slow drive home and then some sleep.

LAC: Help is on the way

I’ll be on for a 12 hour shift the next five days. FEMA will open a Local Assistance Center (LAC) in Anaheim, CA tomorrow morning. Our agency was asked to participate in helping home owners seeking aid, information, and shelter.

The recent Southern California fires are devestating to see on television, print, and on the net. It is another sight altogether when you meet a home owner who has lost everything. The shocked faces. The stories. The loss. Couples simply seeking aid. FEMA may have received some bad press in the past, but to see them in action is quite the opposite.

I have volunteered before to the LAC in Irvine and Malibu last year. FEMA runs an efficient operation. They care for the volunteers as the do the disaster victims. My goal will be to educate home owners with knowledge on how to not be taken by dishonest and unlicensed contractors. I’ll try to take a few photos, but having done this before, you learn to stay attentive, humble, and sensitive to the victims.

Stay tuned.

The spring had left our living

It’s not that the feelings are still raw. The scars cover the hurt now. I’ll still find that people will friend and unfriend me. It just feels good to reconnect with God on fresh soil. I’ve had friends move on from church. Some left when they disagreed with a pastor’s position on abortion. One friend left based on a domineering fellow churchgoer. One left when his skeleton was revealed. He is now in Celebrate Recovery and a better man for it. Me. It was time. I enjoyed the 12 years, but it was time to go home.

I had spent several on and off years at a Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa. We chose not to marry there. We stepped out into a small church across town. Married and then reconnected with Big Calvary long enough to leave circa 1990. Skip ahead 5 years when a former drug dealer invited me to his little A-framed chapel in Garden Grove. We took the bait and tasted to see that it was good. For a while.

That church was small, but God showed us how to serve others. We stayed just long enough to become confidants of the pastor. It was time to go when I became a sounding board to the man’s position on firing staffers and being prayed for inappropriately about my wife and I not enjoying parenthood when we had been married for more than 5 years. Oops! Time to go. The staffer that got fired may have left on her own. On her and her husbands last day at that little A-framed church, we secretly said our goodbyes to friends. We mirrored their exit. We never looked back.

We landed at another A-framed church across town. One that another couple we knew earlier hopped to. I dove into reading book after book dealing with myself as a man with my issues, strengths and weaknesses. God blessed us with 2 children, a great group of friends, a burned out pastor, and the welcoming of a new pastor. Somehow over 12 years I had gained weight, lost weight, gained more weight and yet became invisible to those same friends. Strangest thing.

A friend up in age had finished his life on earth very strong. I looked forward to the service of this great man. As his family and friends sat listening, speaking and saying goodbye, I said goodbye silently to that body of believers. It just felt right. Still feels right. No hard feelings. Just a mild case of plank eye. But you know what, the depression of a weekend is gone. Wild. Was it attributed to the old church? Perhaps. Yes….likely so. Doesn’t matter. We failed to contribute. We knew it. Other factors factor in, but the time had come.

I drove away and explained the feelings to my family. We returned only to serve one remaining Sunday committed to teaching a group of 2-3-4-5 year olds. Said goodbye to them. Walked away. As usual. The red flag popped up in the metal and glass housing. Time expired. We have not returned. We went home. Back to Calvary, only a sister church. You can find us these days recovering and enjoying faith and fellowship once again at www.cchb.org.

Wii Fit

IMG_4383, originally uploaded by nickandcatta.

 

“Time-Capsyule” Christmas Ornament

What a clever idea! Credit for the photo and idea are that of Sonny and Sandy of Podcacher. As Geocachers ourselves, this is a perfect craft to share memories of Christmas. Just imagine pulling out the ornaments each year and re-discovering the time capsules from the years past. What a joy it would be to stop and sit for a spell to read the years past. If you are like us, you probably have memorable ornaments purchased or given to you as a gift. Jennifer and I met in 1985. We have an ornament from that year as a reminder. Our kids are 5 & 10. What a great age to start. Get started on your own “time-capsyule“

IMG_8559.JPG, originally uploaded by SonnyandSandy.