April 29

I had to come in at noon again today for the third extra training. There should be only one more left. It was a different one today. We got here at noon and went up to the conference room. Once we got there, the boss looked around the entire room until he determined that there wasn’t a whiteboard. So, he leaves everyone there and goes searching for a conference room with one. Twenty minutes later, he comes and tells us to go to the eighth floor. Everyone squeezes into the elevator and we finally get settled in the new room. But, the boss still doesn’t start. He begins looking all over in the new room. Finally, he tells everyone that he has to go back up to the original conference room to get the erasable markers. We didn’t actually start until about twenty till. When it was over, however, I received the worst thing a boss could tell someone. The boss’s wife and kids are out of the country for two months, and since I’m developing the new training modules, he told me that he’s going to stop by on the graveyard shift so that we can sit down for a few hours and go over what he wants me to do. He didn’t say what day or when, so now I’m going to be constantly looking over my shoulder wondering when we’re going to get the visit. Bummer.
The Rockies put up a big goose egg on the score board today. We lost to the Pirates 3-0 after having two days off because of the rainout on Wednesday. It was a good thing that I fell asleep during the game or I would have been more upset. But, I can’t complain too much. We’re going to the game tomorrow. I’m sure it will be better than today’s. The only thing is that the weather is going to suck. It’s actually snowing right now and it is supposed to be rainy and snowy tomorrow. We’ll have a bunch of kids with us, so if it gets too bad, I’m sure we’ll have to leave early.
My granddaughter did the cutest thing today. We were watching the game before I fell asleep and she had just eaten some cookies as a snack. As we were playing, she discovers some Easter chocolate on the shelf. She asks if she can have some and my wife said no. So, when my wife gets up to go to the bathroom, she asks me if I’ll open it for her. I told her that I couldn’t because grandma said no. So, she tells me that if she can’t have the chocolate, she was going to make a mess. I told her that if she makes a mess, she was going to get in trouble. So, she tells me that she won’t get in trouble, she would blame the mess on the dog.
I finished chapter two yesterday and I’m starting on chapter three today. It’s going pretty good. As long as my boss doesn’t show up today, I should get pretty far into it. I am putting Elton John, Phil Collins, and ELO in the playlist tonight for background music.
-Thom

April 28

Well, no more whining. My back doesn’t hurt that much anymore. I guess what I stretched shrank back into place. I just have to be careful not to twist around too sharply, and there is a little stiffness in the afternoons when I wake up. I’m sure that by the weekend, I’ll be back to 100 percent.
Cutie Pie, Baby Pie is ready to go. I updated my website and threw out a link on Facebook. It was actually ready yesterday, but I had so much stuff to do I didn’t get a chance to do anything with it. I still want to do something else with my website. I have two pages that aren’t really doing anything. With all of the new projects that my boss has been making me do, I’ve been thinking about making a presentation and putting it on one of the pages. That could be fun. I’m also considering publishing in audio book format. I really like audio books, especially when I’m driving long distances. The only thing I have to do now is convince one of my kids to read them into a microphone. (I would pay someone to do it, but I’m much too cheap for that) When I looked into doing it professionally, it was in the thousands of dollars. Then, there are some applications out there that will add music and provide editing tools. I might go with one of them if it isn’t too expensive. But, I’m sure I could use the tools I have now and do the same thing. We’ll see.
I didn’t get a chance to post a blog entry yesterday, because my boss had three new projects for me. He’s getting serious with this work stuff. He was telling me that he wants me to set up a new training system. So, I have to develop training modules on the computer with online tests. It isn’t that difficult, but it is time consuming. I might have to do a lot more work at work than I’m used to doing.
The NFL draft started today. The Broncos picked Von Miller as their top pick, second overall in the draft. He is a Linebacker from Texas A&M. We defiantly need some good defensive players. As you can tell by our having the second pick in the draft that we didn’t do very well last year. But, that was last year. This year is going to be better. (As long as there is a NFL this year) I heard on the news this morning that Peyton Hillis, one of the guys that Josh McDaniels kicked off the team for presumably being too good of a player, went to the Cleveland Browns and became a Superstar for them. He was so good that they put him on the cover of the Madden NFL video game. (Good call Josh, we’re glad you’re gone)
I guess you’re wondering why I’m talking about football when it is obviously Baseball season. Well, it’s because Wednesday we were rained out in Chicago and today the Rockies had a day off. I’m going into sports withdrawal or something. We’re playing the Pirates on Friday and the weekend and I’m going to the Saturday game. I can hardly wait. It’s supposed to be cold and windy and rainy. It better not be canceled. I’ll be very upset.
I guess that’s enough for today. I finished all of my projects yesterday and the boss hasn’t called to give me anything else for today, so I’m going to get a little more done on Gremlin Planet. So, I’m putting in Joan Jett, Twisted Sister, Kick Axe, and Wasp into the playlist for background music.
-Thom

April 26

I thought I was feeling better after work this morning, but when I woke up this afternoon, it was twice as bad. I am never getting on that trampoline again. Or, if I do, I’m not going to do much bouncing. I’ll just watch my granddaughter bounce and help pick her up when she falls down. But, I think the real problem isn’t the bouncing. I think I must be waaaaaaaaay out of shape, I’m only 45 after all. I should still be able to do stuff with my kids and granddaughter. So, I’ve decided to start doing more exercise. It’s not going to be tomorrow, because I don’t want to mess my back up any further, or prevent it from getting better which had better be very quickly. I don’t want to go through another day like today. So, I’ll start with eating better. I had been eating a large breakfast before I went to sleep. I’m cutting that down and just eating a yogurt. I’ll have a normal size dinner with the family when I wake up about six and maybe a snack during work. (I can’t get rid of the cookies at night) We’ll see how that goes and then I’ll start some type of exercising regiment. (Starting slowly, just in case)
The Rockies took game two from the Cubs. That’s five in a row against them. If or should I say when we beat them tomorrow, we will have swept them both times we see them this year. That’s a good feeling. But, the best news from the Rocks today was Todd Helton’s two bombs. He modestly told the reporters that the wind helped him with his first homerun today, but there was nothing behind the second one except power. They said that he hadn’t hit two homers in one game since 2007. I bet he’s on cloud nine tonight.
My wife took the car in to the repair shop for the estimate. No matter what, we have to pay the 500 dollar deductable, so she just left it there and they can do the work. That way it will be guaranteed and it will be professionally done and we shouldn’t have to worry about it. I think she said that it would be in the shop for a few days.
We’re training the supervisor at work today, so I doubt I’ll get anything done. He’s with the other guy right now, showing him the stuff we do as soon as we get here. But, he keeps trying to guide his way back to the office. So, I’m sure he’ll be in here for most of the night. That means that other than this posting, I’m not going to be able to work on Chapter two at all. So, I’m postponing everything until then.
-Thom

April 25

Happy belated Easter everyone. Speaking of Easter, we had a really nice one to start with. I woke up at early dawn thirty so that I could sneak out. (I usually sneak out to get everyone a little something earlier than the day of, but I had been working a lot of overtime and didn’t get a chance) I found a few good things for the Easter baskets, but I had to compromise on a present for my wife. She likes these romance story magazines. The only place she or I’ve been able to find them is a particular Safeway downtown. Well, I stopped off there and they rearranged the entire store. They also stopped carrying them. (Probably because my wife was the only one that bought them) So, I got her a couple of Chicken Soup for the Soul books. Then, I snuck back home and made the baskets. (I always go a little overboard on the candy) When the kids finally got up, we had a little Easter morning breakfast. My granddaughter didn’t want to wake up even though she saw the bubbles and the little Minnie Mouse doll we got her. She just wanted to be a baby and have everyone hold her. Then, my oldest daughter pulled out the Cinderella Barbie we got her. (She collects dolls) My granddaughter couldn’t understand why she didn’t want to take it out of the box. All morning she would ask if she could open it. Then, the kids all went to church with their grandparents while my wife and I got things ready for the barbeque. (When I say that we got things ready, I mean she got things ready while I watched the baseball game. I tried to help, but it was an exciting game) After everyone started arriving, many of the kids began jumping on the trampoline. It was a big hit. My granddaughter even got me to get on with her. They made up a game the called popcorn. All of the kids would sit in the middle of the trampoline and someone big (Me) would jump around them so that they would bounce up into the air. Very fun for them, very tiring for me, I didn’t know jumping was that much work. (It didn’t seem that way twenty or thirty years ago, but I’m still not getting old) When the food was ready, I got my food and started talking with a brother in-law. Everything was going really well until halfway through the potato salad. I thought it was the bench at the time, but it was becoming more and more uncomfortable. Then I made the first mistake. I stood up. I must have stretched something while jumping, because my lower back was starting to bother me. I never have back pain, so this was something new. I decided to go upstairs and make my second mistake. I got in bed to rest it and I fell asleep. When I woke up, I wasn’t just uncomfortable I was in some serious pain. I figured it would go away the next day, but yep, it’s still hurting. I really need to do more exercising and stuff.
Now to the Rockies. We dropped that really good game on Sunday. We had our ace pitcher and they had theirs. I figured it was going to be a very fast and low scoring game. And, it was for the first six innings. Then, Ubaldo walked three guys. He was one pitch away from getting out of it and the Marlin had to go and hit a triple. It sucked. But, we fought our way back. We got three runs and it looked like we might pull it out. Then, them stupid Marlins went and got another three runs. They took the series and we headed to Wrigley Field. Today’s game was also pretty exciting. Esmil Rogers took the hill and he didn’t have a stellar first inning. But, he fought his way back and took us into the sixth. We took the first game away from the Cubs at 5-3. We’re still having a little trouble heating up the bats, but it will come. We’re still top in our division and we’re coming back home after the Cubbies.
The tree damage wasn’t as bad as it looked when the tree was still on the car. I took it out and drove it. There wasn’t any mechanical damage, just broken glass and a smushed in roof. We’re going to have to take it in to get fixed, but I’m going to use some of that gas beforehand. I could just see us taking it in and they telling us that it’s got frame damage or something where it has to be totaled. Gas costs too much for that.
I managed to finally get the plates for the new car. It only took three months. I don’t think I can say it enough, but anyone looking for a car in Denver DON’T go to Go Chevrolet off of I25. It’s just not a good place to do business. It wasn’t so much of a chore at the DMV today. It took about an hour and a half. (I got there at noon and it wasn’t too busy) But, the lady at the counter was very friendly. I got my Marine Corps plates and it was even cheaper than I expected.
When I got to work today, I learned that the supervisor is going to be working with us tomorrow for training. So, that’s going to be a waste of a day. I started chapter two of Gremlin Planet last week and wanted to get a few more under my belt this week. But, that’s not going to happen if I have to babysit a supervisor. So, I better get as much done today as I can. Hopefully I’ll have time to update my blog. But, if not, I’ll put up a new one on Wednesday. I’m putting in Steely Dan, Stray Cats, Poison, and Prince into the playlist for background music today.
-Thom

April 22

Ok , ok, everyone settle down. I spent the last two complete days working the extra project my boss gave me. So, when I come in today, do I get a nice job? Do I get a thanks that was a really good presentation? No. Everyone that saw me asked “Hey, don’t you know how to spell ‘Vender’”. Well, the answer was yes. I do know how to spell ‘Vender’. Our boss is from Morocco, and on all of the paperwork he puts out, he always spelled ‘Vender’ with an o, ‘Vendor’. I had to physically show three people that both spellings are ok, but the spelling with an o is a European, or mainly England English spelling. The spelling with an e is the American spelling. I didn’t see my boss, I can just see him telling me to do it over and put his spelling on everything. He’ll tell me that he won’t want to confuse people, or something stupid like that. Well, I’ll find out on Monday. Nothing to lose sleep over.
The Rockies dropped their first game with the Marlins. It ended at 1-4. Their pitcher, who I can’t remember the name of at the moment nearly threw a no hitter at us. Dexter Fowler knocked out a base hit in the ninth. But, we couldn’t monopolize on it. For some reason, everything wasn’t going our way today. So, it’s best to just put this one to bed and get on with the next two. Sunday’s game looks like it’s going to be a short one. The Marlins have their ace pitcher going head to head against our ace pitcher. If we’re talking no hitters, that would be the game to get one. Let’s hope it’ll be on our side. Ubaldo didn’t do as good as his norm last week. But, he didn’t pitch most of Spring Training and he took a couple of weeks off with an injured finger after the first game of the season. So he’s just getting back into his stride. Hopefully Sunday’s game will be a good one. Too bad I’m going to have to record it and watch it in the evening. We have a bunch of Easter stuff planned and none of it is near a TV.
Well, the car isn’t as bad as it looked yesterday. We had a huge windstorm blow through. It only lasted about twenty minutes, but it was a mean one. It blew a tree over, and naturally, it landed on my car. It didn’t even land on the new car. No, it had to land on the one that’s half way paid off and has better gas mileage. But, today when I had a chance to look at it without the tree, the damage wasn’t as bad as it looked yesterday. The back and side windows are shattered and the back corner on the driver’s side is smushed in. But, it is still drivable. Which is lucky, because I had just put gas in it the day before.
Since I was working on the project for the last two days, I haven’t been doing anything else. I’m putting in Led Zeppelin, REO Speedwagon, and Styx in the playlist and getting started on Gremlin Planet. I’m about halfway through the first chapter. I should be able to finish that up and start on chapter 2. But, speaking of Styx, when we were in New Jersey, my wife made friends with a lady whose husband is the lead singer in a band. We went a few times and they were really good. We haven’t seen them in about six or seven years. On facebook, the lady posted that his band is opening for Yes and Styx. Can you believe that? I might end up knowing someone that’s going to be famous.
-Thom

April 20

Don’t you hate those days when the big boss is at work when you get there. Yep, it was one of those days. Twenty minutes later, I have a ton of new work to do. For some reason, nearly everything broke down today and they had to call him in. Everything is still broken, so we have to deal with that along with the new work, Yeah.
Good news on the Rockies home front. We spanked the Giants today. They still took the series, but we didn’t get swept. De La Rosa had an awesome day pitching. Wiggington got his thousandth hit and what do you know, it was a three run homer, his first in Coors stadium. For once in this series, we got the runs in the early innings instead of the dreaded Giants. It looks like we are going to have our work cut out for us on the remaining games we have against them. We have a day off tomorrow, so I don’t know what I’m going to do in the evening before work. I might have to talk to the wife and kids or something weird like that.
We finally got a hold of someone at Go Chevrolet, the worst place in Denver to buy a car. Even though they patched us through to the people we left messages with, no one knew that we had called to complain. Of course. When my wife talked to them, they said that the reason we couldn’t get our plates in Denver’s DMV was because they sent the information to the DMV on Peoria and I-70. I guess that’s either Commerce City or Montebello, I’m not sure which. They didn’t know why the information was sent over there, but we are going to have to go over there to get the plates because their system doesn’t sync up with Denver’s DMV. So, Monday, guess where I’ll be?
We went to eat at Village Inn today. It was pretty good, but the best thing is that there is free pie on Wednesdays. We might have to go back next Wednesday.
We put up the trampoline over the weekend. My granddaughter loves it, but the puppy hates it. When the kids are up there, she can’t get to them and there is something about the bouncing that she doesn’t like. My granddaughter wants to be on it all the time, unless she is the only one on it. There is a safety picture on the mat that covers the springs and it has a picture of a mannequin breaking his head. So, she thinks she is going to break her head if she’s up there by herself.
My daughter came home from her army training today. She has it every Wednesday and Thursday to prepare her for boot camp. She likes it, but they really work her out. Today when she came home, she was hungry, that’s why we went to Village Inn. When my granddaughter asked her why she was so tired, my daughter told her that she was training to be in the army. So, my granddaughter told her that she was tired because she was training to be a princess.
I don’t know how much work I’m going to get done today because I have a bunch of real work to do. So, I’m just putting Ratt, Bon Jovi, Cinderella, and Slaughter in the playlist for background music while I get it done.
-Thom

April 19

The Rockies lost their first series. The stupid Giants slapped us around again in the first inning. This time, it was only four runs, but we couldn’t recover. The game ended at 6-3. We play them again tomorrow, and we need to win that one so that they don’t sweep us. For a while, I thought that we were going to make a comeback in the 8th. It was getting pretty close, but we just couldn’t rally. Tomorrow’s game is an early one. I was considering not checking the score when I wake up so that I can watch the replay tomorrow night. But, I think I’m going to check.
I am rearranging my farm on Farmville. It’s not going to interfere with the books though. I’m not falling into the gaming trap again. For a while there, I was playing that stupid game every waking hour my wife wasn’t on it. That’s just not good. But, it is fun for an hour or two. I even started the England farm.
Well, they changed my schedule officially today. I am no longer working the afternoon shift on Fridays anymore. I’m working a straight five graveyards. The other shift was good while it lasted but, everything changes.
I’m going to update my Smashwords account for Cutie Pie, Baby Pie. I didn’t submit the new changes to Createspace yet, but I’m going to do that first thing tomorrow morning. I was wavering yesterday because of the page numbering. But, I think the new way will be better even with the page numbering. So, I’ve decided to go ahead and make the changes. I know looking back I would rather have it the way I want it. So, I’m going to add a blank page or something at the beginning.
Since I won’t be watching baseball tomorrow, I think I’m going to update my website. www.thomnichols.com I still haven’t decided what I want to do with the last two pages, but there isn’t any hurry. I’ll probably add more links and maybe make it a little more professional looking. I think I’ll even add an option to buy directly from me for a discounted price. We’ll see.
I worked on Gremlin Planet yesterday. I got about a third of the way through the first chapter. I’m sure I’ll finish it today. It does feel more fun than the one I was working on earlier. I don’t want to put that one down, because I am going to finish it. But, I think I need something fun to get me back into the swing of writing again. I took way too long of a break.
I’m putting Simon and Garfunkel, (maybe a little Simon without Garfunkel) April Wine, Bread, Crosby Stills and Nash, (maybe a little Crosby Stills Nash and Young) and Meatloaf in the playlist today for background music.
-Thom

April 18

The Rockies dropped the first game in the series against the Giants. It was pretty bad during the first inning especially. They made five runs before we even got up to bat. Rogers had a really bad day for being such a good pitcher. They took him out at the end of the third inning. By then, the score was eight to nothing. Finally, in the eighth inning, Carlos Gonzalez got a hit and Todd Helton smashed a really nice double into right field to bring him home. The only good thing that happened in the game was Mortensen, who had just come up from triple-A pitched six shutout innings. Too bad he couldn’t have been the starter. But, I’m sure Rogers will bounce back.
It was another long weekend. I had to work it because I was covering for a coworker while he was out of town attending his sister’s wedding. It was weird, but nothing really exciting happened.
I got the proof for Cutie Pie, Baby Pie. I think I’m going to change a few things and resubmit it. It looked pretty good, but I’m going to change the bottom alignment. It isn’t as long as some of the other books, so I don’t need the text to go all the way down to a quarter from the bottom. I’ll get that done today and send off for another proof.
Over the weekend, I got all the way into chapter four of the River of Magic. But, I’m going to stop there for a bit. I’ve been thinking a lot about the fourth book in the Brianna series. I’m going to throw down a few pages today to see how it looks. It’s going to be called Gremlin Planet.
I know this is a short one for a Monday, but I have a lot to do. So, I’ll write a longer blog tomorrow. I’m putting on the radio instead of making a playlist today.
-Thom

April 15

The Rockies are on a roll. They beat up on the Cubs today at home, stretching their winning record to 11-2 and their winning streak to 7 games in a row. Chacin threw a beautiful shutout today, only walking one guy. Iannetta came up with the bases loaded and only one out. He crushed one to deep center for a three run triple. Then, while they were trying to throw him out at third, it went wide and he waltzed in home. It was great. The other run was by Johnny Herrera. He is still doing incredible. He made it on base nearly every at bat. Todd Helton hit the double that brought Johnny in. I can’t wait until tomorrow for the next game. I know it was just the first game of the series, but I’m looking for back to back sweeps. Yeah buddy.
I had to go in at noon today for the second installment of the extra training. It sucks getting off at 6 and then trying to make it back in at noon because I can never go right to sleep when I get home. But, when it was over, I was able to stop off at the DMV. It wasn’t too busy today so I only had to wait for about an hour. I had my book so it wasn’t too bad. But, when I got up to the counter, they told me that the car company still hadn’t sent in our paperwork so we can get the plates. We bought the car way back in mid January. That’s three months. I strongly recommend not going to Go AutoNation off of I-25 and Broadway. Worst experience ever. I’m usually don’t make formal complaints, but I’m going to go to their website and submit a strongly worded message. My wife is going to go down there again tomorrow to find out what’s going on. Hopefully she can get it all straightened out.
It looks like they’re going to change my schedule at work. I usually work four graveyards and then come in at 2pm on Friday with the weekends off. It’s not a bad schedule because I don’t have to go back to work until Monday night. It’s like having three days off. But, the new company is complaining that on Friday I’m working an overtime schedule, even though they aren’t paying me overtime. Their day begins at midnight, so from midnight to six and then two until ten all goes on that one day. So, they are going to have to rearrange something. I’ll probably end up working five graveyards. We’ll see.
I got a healthy way into chapter two yesterday and I’m looking forward to finishing it off tonight. So, I’m putting Whitesnake, Tesla, Guns n roses, and Dokken in the playlist for tonight. It’s Friday and I feel like rocking out as I work.
-Thom

April 14

I guess you’re wondering why there wasn’t a blog entry yesterday. Well, I have a good reason. The guy I work with called out sick so my boss stayed the night. Yeah, that was fun. So, it was a waste of a perfectly good day. Today didn’t get any better. There were two Rockies games today and I couldn’t watch any of them. Neither of them were televised. The first game wasn’t scheduled to be televised, which is a bummer and shouldn’t happen. But, the announcer said that since it was a makeup game and it was being made up so soon after the rain out, they couldn’t get a production crew together in time. Now, that just blows. The good news is that the Rockies won both of their games. And, that means that we won all four games sweeping the Mets. Woo Hoo!!! It wasn’t our first sweep of the season. We swept the Dodgers, but that was only a two game series. I’m sure it counts, but this one was four games and it was on the road and it was in Queens where we don’t have the best average. So, this was a major victory for us. We are officially 10-2, the best record in baseball. An even bigger WOO HOO!!!
The dog decided she wanted to dig up the in-law’s flower garden. I didn’t get the brunt of that, but my wife did. I think she’s going to finally lay down the law with my son and make him pay the pet deposit so he can take her back to live with them. She just isn’t working out over here. The only problem is that we don’t think he wants to take her back. He’s done this in the past. He wants a dog a lot, but after he gets one, he always finds a reason for someone else to watch them for a while and that while turns into forever. We’ll see what happens. By the way, does anyone want a dog free of charge? She’s a little excitable, but it’s because she’s still a puppy.
I feel really sorry for my coworker today. I’m not sure what I ate, but it’s starting to smell pretty bad in here.
I sent off for the proof of Cutie Pie, Baby Pie. It should be here in the next few days. Usually, it takes three. I tried something different at the end. I put some pictures of my other books as a selling point. They were color pictures and it printed them in black and white. I hope they came out ok. We’ll see early next week.
Well, I better get started. I’m putting Chicago, Styx, Queen, and the Eagles in the playlist tonight for background listening and I’m starting chapter two.
-Thom

April 12

Well, I didn’t make a blog entry yesterday because I had to do my boss’s homework. He’s studying to be an engineer and he has to take a lot of computer and programming classes. Since I’m a former programmer, I was elected to do his homework for him. This time it was c and I had a little trouble with the compiler so I didn’t get it all done. Naturally, he gave me the homework the day before it was due. I guess half of it is better than none of it. I’m sure he’ll give me a call tonight. He’ll probably get an extension or something. So, I figured I would get this blog entry done first thing incase I’m doing his homework all night.
If he doesn’t call, I’m going to begin the self publishing of Cutie Pie, Baby Pie. I just have to format it and design the cover and stuff like that. It should be ready to purchase in a week or two. But, I’m going to have to get going on the next book. I can’t believe it’s already April and I haven’t really gotten started on anything. My co-worker is going on a mini vacation to attend his sister’s wedding so I’ll cover his shifts this week. I’m planning on putting them to good use and get back on the ball. But, I’m mostly just doing this for myself, so I shouldn’t really complain that I’m being lazy.
The Rockies were rained out today. We haven’t even played ten games yet and we already have two makeup games to do. But, we’re 6-2 and no one can complain about that. The only two games we lost were extra inning games. One of them was against the Pirates the other day. I was at work Friday when it started and it went so long that I was home before it was over. I didn’t think I was going to be able to see any of it, and it would have been better if it would have been a win, but at least I got to see the ending. This weekend’s games and yesterday’s game was great. I don’t remember all of the details, but they were exciting. Thursday, they are going to play a double header to make up for today’s game. So, I’m parking myself on the sofa with a can of peanuts, a bag of chips, a double big gulp of ice tea and not moving except to call my daughter to go to McDonalds or Burger King or somewhere to get me some real food.
This weekend we really didn’t do much. We had planned to go to the storage and pull out the summer clothes and throw in the new junk we’ve collected. But, we didn’t do it. Yes, we are the kind of people that don’t do things today when we can put it off for tomorrow. So, next weekend we might try to head out there, but I doubt it. I’m working the extra shifts so me sleeping during the day is already a good excuse not to. Anyway, there’s always next weekend. Besides, there is the JROTC competition going on at the Coliseum this weekend. The girl’s school isn’t participating, but it’s still fun to watch. I’ll probably sleep through it, but the wife and the girls will probably go.
Still no call from the boss, so I’m going to get started on the publishing process, who knows, I might even get started on chapter two of the River of Magic. I’m putting some Doobie Brothers, the Monkees, Foreigner, and ZZ Top in the playlist today for background music.
-Thom

April 6

I don’t know why my wife wouldn’t go for it, but I told her that I was going to blow off work as I am expecting to win the lottery or the Powerball tonight. (I’m not particular) For some reason, she wouldn’t go for it. So, now I’m at work and I have another new project. Boy is her face going to be red when I win the lottery and all this work I’m doing is going to have been for nothing.
On a brighter note, the Rockies swept the Dodgers in their two game series yesterday and today. I didn’t get to see the whole game today, because I had a training thing I had to go to at work today. It was a day game, so I went right to bed when I got home and then right to work when I woke up four hours later. I purposely didn’t turn on the TV when I got back, because I knew they were going to rebroadcast the game in the evening. So, I got a few more hours sleep. When I woke up, it turned out that the game wasn’t going to be rebroadcast until seven. So, I only got to see the first four innings before I had to come back to work. In those four innings, however, I saw Todd Helton hit a three run homer. When I unintentionally inferred that he might have lost a step or slowed down this year, I was completely off base. He hit his first homer today which is only their fourth game this year. Last year, he didn’t hit his first homer until May 18th. (By the way, the only Rockies jersey that I have is Todd’s) So let me sit back and eat my words while I tell you that Tulo also hit a two run homer. The only problem that I saw was Hammel had a rocky third inning. I would have loved to see the rest of the game, but here are some of the highlights. Carlos Gonzalez saved the game with a ninth inning catch that was sure to score the tying run. He also was two for three at the plate and scored three runs and hit an RBI. Not a bad day for Carlos. I always groan when Franklin Morales goes in to pitch, but he put up two scoreless innings. It was his first game today, so I’ll save my comments until I see him a little more. (And, I’ll try not to groan and throw up my hands) Street ran into a little trouble in the ninth, but with two back to back base hits. Then, Carlos pulled off the game saving catch and he regrouped to strike out the next two batters. Over all, it was a great game. It ended at 7-5. We have the Pirates tomorrow for our first away game. It’s a four game series in Pittsburg and then the Rockies take on the Mets in New York.
I was almost late to work this morning for the training thing at noon. My daughters were running late for school so they took the car. When I got up and went outside, I was very surprised not to see the car. I know one of the girls knew I was supposed to work early today. But, they said that they didn’t know. Luckily, when I called, she was at lunch and the school isn’t that far away. She came and got me. I dropped her off back at school and make it to work with less than a minute to spare. I called and told them that I might be late, and my boss tried to give me grief for it, but I was on time.
It turns out that we’re not going to get to go to the Rockies game on the 19th. My wife read the flier wrong when the nephews and nieces brought it home from school. The money to get the tickets was due yesterday. She thought it was a May game and the money was due on the 19th of this month. So, we’re going to try to get tickets for the 16th or 17th when they come back to town. They will be playing the Cubs and it should be a good game.
Well, I better get going on the new project for work. I’m putting some ZZ Top, AC/DC, and Whitesnake in the playlist. It feels like a day to rock out. Too bad I can’t put the radio up louder.
-Thom

April 5

Tulo finally got his first homer. The Rockies won their first game against the Dodgers today 3 to zip. Ianetta also hit a homer. He has been a monster offensively since he was named the starting catcher. Helton nearly hit a double. It was over the fielder’s head and off the wall. He rounded first and headed for second, but he just wasn’t fast enough. I don’t think his double days are over. The fielder just got a good jump on it and had a lucky throw. Wiggington and Lopez had a few good plays. I was hoping Johnny Herrera would have gotten the start at second base, but Lopez has been filling Barmes’s shoes very nicely. With the snow day Sunday and the day off yesterday, the Rockies have played the least games in the NBL. But, that doesn’t matter as long as we’re winning.
My wife picked up some colored pencils for me today, so I should be able to work on the cover for Cutie Pie, Baby Pie tomorrow. If I get if finished, I’ll scan it in and update the website. I took a bunch of the crap off of it so I have a few pages that are pretty sparse. I’m thinking about revamping the entire thing. If anyone wants to take a look at it before I change it up, it is at www.thomnichols.com Now that I got the supplies, I’m thinking about getting ahead on some of the other covers to the upcoming books and turning one of my pages into a coming soon page. We’ll see how it goes.
Speaking of my books, it took me longer to finish my work project yesterday than I thought. I didn’t get a chance to begin chapter two. So, I’ll get that started first thing today.
I have to get off at six in the morning tomorrow and then come back at noon for some training thing. That’s going to suck. I’m really not looking forward to it. But, two hours of overtime is better than no hours of overtime. I just wish it would have been more convenient.
There was a mugging outside of the building last night. I called it in to the police, but they never showed up. The guy that was the victim was being beat up by three guys. He looked homeless, and after we interrupted the beating (It was more of a thrashing than it was a robbery) he refused medical attention and didn’t want to stay around for the police to take his statement. We followed the perpetrator with the security cameras and got a real good close up of him. When I was talking to the 911 operator, I gave the description of the guys and told him the direction they fled into. The operator told us to wait for the police car, but since the victim didn’t want to hang around, I guess the cops didn’t want to come around. We only waited out there for them for a half an hour or so.
Well, it’s time to get started. I’m putting Rush, Men at Work, and Billy Idol in the playlist tonight for background listening and I’m starting chapter 2.
-Thom

April 4

What a weekend, let’s kick it off with the Rockies. The lost our home opener, but they beat the Diamondbacks on Saturday. The Friday game was really close. We were hosed on a couple of calls which I am sure would have turned the game around. Helton was called out on a fan interference call which shouldn’t have happened. Para, the Diamondback’s left fielder was nowhere close to the ball when the fan reached over and caught it. But they called him out anyway. Then, Smith caught a ball out in right field and they said it hit the ground. The instant replay showed that he clearly caught it. I don’t know what the officials were smoking that day, but it cost us the opener. Saturday’s game was a three to one win. It was a good game. Ianetta got a couple of good hits and Fowler, Gonzalez, and Tulo made some amazing catches. But, our hitting hasn’t blossomed quite yet. I think Sunday’s game would have been our break out game. It would have gotten the ball rolling for our first winning streak. Unfortunately, Colorado weather got to us. It was eighty degrees Saturday all the way into the evening and then it snowed on Sunday. Since there wasn’t any baseball for the Rockies today, we have to wait until Tuesday. I know it’s just two days off, but it shouldn’t happen so early in the season. It’s almost like we were back in Spring Training waiting for opening day. The only good thing is that our two starting pitchers will have an extra day to recover from their finger injuries.
Even thought I had planned to make time for Saturday’s game, the family and I had a full day planned. I’m not sure what happened, I woke up with a severe pain in my stomach. It was so bad I was sweating and felt dizzy, I nearly passed out. My wife kept trying to get me to go to the hospital, but I’m pretty stubborn. I told her that I would see if it passed during the day and then go on Sunday if it didn’t get any better. I took a laxative and rested most of the afternoon. The pain was still there, but I told her that it was mostly gone so that she wouldn’t worry. But, it ruined the whole day and we didn’t end up doing anything.
Sunday, the pain was still there, but it was lessened. I’m sure that I just ate something that didn’t agree with me. So, we slept in late and then went to a family get together on my side of the family. We all met at Chuck E Cheese. Only one niece and one nephew didn’t show up. We had a lot of fun with the kids and caught up on the family gossip. My mom brought homemade goodies. There were chocolate and peanut butter fudge squares and lemon tarts. They were delicious. She also made deviled eggs. I didn’t get any of them, but I brought the other leftovers home. We had about a dozen pizzas and hot wings. I forced all of the kids to get a picture for me. I’m going to scan them in and make a collage as a background on my computer. I think we’re going to try to make this a monthly thing over the summer and maybe permanent depending on how well everyone else thinks about it. My mom wants the next one to be at the zoo, but she’s open to suggestions. I’m going to put up an event in Facebook for everyone to enter their suggestions hopefully tonight. We’ll see.
After Chuck E cheese, my wife and I took my mom out to Sweet Tomatoes. It’s an all you can eat salad, soup, and potato bar. It’s really good and I hadn’t been for a long time. So, we didn’t really eat at Chuck E Cheese so we could save up for the salads. I went to town on mine. I was so full that I didn’t even get a chance to eat any soup or potatoes or the variety of breads and desserts. It was lemon month and I love lemon flavored things, so I took a bunch home for later. It’s Monday evening now, and I still haven’t eaten it all. (I’m going to be soooo full for the next few days)
While we were at Chuck E Cheese, we were all looking out at the snow and talking about how you couldn’t predict the weather in Colorado when my wife remembered that we left the dog outside. She frantically called her mom and had someone go upstairs to open our door to let her come inside. We didn’t think anything about it after that as we enjoyed the rest of the day. Canela is a fairly well behaved dog. She goes crazy with excitement whenever anyone comes into a room, and she has an accident every once in a while. But, otherwise, she’s ok. When we got home, however, I realized that I didn’t take out the trash. It was all bundled up and ready go when we left. When we opened the door, it was strewn from one side of the apartment to the other. It looked like there was twice as much as there was before we left. Everything was shredded and flung everywhere. It was amazing at how much of a mess there was. To top it off, the puppy was up on the bed when we walked in. She’s allowed up on the sofas, but she knows she isn’t supposed to be on the bed. My wife was furious. But, her mad only lasted until everything was cleaned up. After that, the puppy peed on her pad and she was babying her again.
To celebrate, we went out and picked up some movies. I didn’t get to see them all, and like usual, the kids brought some of them downstairs to watch. Unlike last time, we got a few movies that the kids wanted to watch. So, when they took some downstairs, they took those and not the ones I wanted to watch. Last time, I didn’t even get to see any of the good ones. They never brought them back upstairs.
Today I went to visit my mom like I try to do every Monday. I didn’t get to last week because of the car. It’s fixed now. When we took it to the shop, we took it to the one that my wife and her dad always goes to. When they saw me, they quoted a price of nearly two hundred dollars. Then, later on, my wife called the mechanic and asked if they would also take a look at our clutch. (It has been slipping out of reverse lately) The mechanic said that he would give her a new quote the next day after looking at it. The next day, my wife went down to the mechanics to find out what was going on. She spoke to them in Spanish and told them that I was just her ride yesterday. So, with the added work of the clutch, the price went down to only $120.00.
We also went to the DMV to try to get my license plates for the new car. The last few times we went, it was crowded and after waiting through the line for hours, we got up to the window only to find out that our paperwork hadn’t been submitted from the car lot. Today, I went to the DMV and got a number. It was #303 and they were only on #215. Then, I left and went to pick my wife up from work. Nearly an hour later, we returned to the DMV and they had made it all the way up to #240. Instead of staying for another two or three hours, we decided it would be better to go get something to eat and come back another day. So, we’re still driving on an outdated temp tag on the new car. I’ll try to go after work on Wednesday. I have to come in for a couple of hours around noon for some training thing. Hopefully it won’t be as busy then.
Well, I didn’t get much work done in the latter part of last week. I was working on that project. I’m about three quarters of the way through, so I’m going to get that done today. Tomorrow, I’ll start chapter two of the River of Magic. I’m putting some Led Zepplin, Pink Floyd, and April Wine in the playlist today for background listening. Last week, while working on the project, I threw in the ending of Harry Potter’s book seven. I just wasn’t in the mood for music while I was doing real work. I might finish it off today, they were in the middle of the battle of Hogwarts when I finished last week. We’ll see.
-Thom