Mar 22

No game today, but it is still one day closer to opening day. The official countdown is at eleven more days.
My son’s apartment found out that he had a dog living there with them, so he had to bring it over to our house until they can come up with the money to add the pet allowance to the lease. Her name is Canela, that’s Spanish for Cinnamon, and she is still a puppy. She’s about six months or eight months old and she is super hyper. I scared everyone today unintentionally. My wife took Canela outside so that I could sleep during the daytime. But, we’ve had problems with other dogs getting out of the fence. So, we placed some boards and rocks up against the gate and it looks pretty secure. So, I woke up sometime after noon and I looked out the bathroom window to see her sitting at the top of the stairs. She was shivering. So, I let her back inside. When my wife and the kids got home, they didn’t see the dog in the yard and started searching for her. Thinking I was asleep upstairs, they didn’t even bother to look inside with me. Besides, they think I don’t like dogs because I wouldn’t let them have one while my kids were growing up. (It’s not that I don’t like them, I just don’t like having them chained up. When I was a kid, we had three dogs and we didn’t have a fence. The dogs were too big to be inside dogs so they had to stay chained up all the time. We moved around a lot and we lived in apartments or townhomes most of the time. I didn’t want to have to put a dog through that.) Anyway, they finally came upstairs to find her sleeping on the sofa. Of course when everyone got home, she started freaking out again. She’s very excitable. She also misses my granddaughter. Overnight last night, she whined for her most of the night.
I finally found book three to the Soldier’s Son series by Robin Hobb. I’ve been looking for it everywhere. (Well, everywhere except a book store) I’m not exactly cheap, but I do like a bargain, so I usually look at used book stores for my books. Anyway, I finally found it about two or three weeks ago. I had intended to read it next, but I left it in the bag and put it on the shelf and forgot about it. A couple of books later, I finally opened that bag that has been sitting on the shelf for so long and discovered my book again. So, I’m starting it today.
Speaking of books, I got a little bit done yesterday on the River of Magic. I’m going to continue with chapter one today. I’m putting Rush, Dire Straits, and the Stray Cats in the playlist today for background music. So, I guess it’s time to get going.
-Thom

Mar 21

The game today was rained out, but the Rockies still got five runs in less than three innings. They were playing the Giants today and they were up against their Ace pitcher. Yep, 5-0 in the third before the rain. The Rockies started their likely starting lineup today, and everyone looked good. Ian Stewart even played and looked good after being hurt in the first part of Training. This game was much better than Sunday’s game. It was televised, so I was able to watch most of it. We were doing great during the first part. We were up six to nothing, but the Angels came back to tie us. Tulo banged in two homers and Helton got in a couple of good knocks. The game ended in a tie. It was exciting. So, I think it’s time to start the countdown. There are only eleven days left until Opening Day and today is almost over.
It’s nice having the girls old enough to go out and do their thing. The wife and I took advantage of a Saturday night alone. We went to the movies and saw the Fighter. She loved it and I thought it sucked. So, I can’t give any recommendations unless its girls will like it and guys will hate it. I mean, even the fighting scenes were bad. The whole time Mark Wahlberg was in the ring, all he did was cover himself up while the opponent banged the crap out of him. Then, when the guy got tired, Wahlberg would hit him once or twice and the other boxer would go down. (Did someone say Rocky) Anyway, the side story was about his family and his drug addicted brother. The good news that came out of all this was that I was so disappointed with that movie I had to go see another one to make up for the bad experience. I went to see Battlefield Los Angeles. It was a much better movie. There was a ton of action. They could have shown more of the aliens, but it was a story about the Marines. (OH-RAH) I highly recommend this one. I don’t want to spoil the movie, so I won’t tell you what happens, but it is defiantly worth a viewing.
I picked up a virus on the computer this weekend and I can’t even blame it on the kids. I was going to change the background and I was looking through images of super heroes. (Yes, I’m a comic book nerd still) I found some real good ones, but I had to go for one more. It was an Elfquest picture of the original characters. (I have the original black and white magazine sized issues, yeah buddy) But, when I clicked on the image, I pulled up a system tool virus. It was a nasty one and it took me about an hour to get rid of it. The system tool virus is one that pretends to be a virus checker. The virus disables your regedit and task manager and stuff to make it hard to get rid of it. So, I had to reboot about a dozen times before I could kill the process and get rid of it. (Pain in the butt)
I’m putting some Foreigner, Genesis, and Duran Duran in the playlist today. I have to check my guys in Farmville because I have them in a co-op, but then I’m going to work on The River of Magic. The Great Detective and My Private Dance have both stalled for some reason. But, I was thinking about the River this morning. I’ll get it started and see where it goes from there.
-Thom

Mar 17

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!!
The new guy called out today, so I had to cover half of his shift. (But, he got into an accident and wrecked his brand new car, so we’ll cut him some slack) It was only another four hours, but it threw off my sleeping pattern. I got home about eleven this morning, got something to eat, harvested my crops on Farmville, (I’m in a co-op and needed to get them done so we can get the gold ribbon. I know one of the PRIORITIES), then, I headed off to bed. I was supposed to wake up at four to harvest my wife’s crops. (We’re in the co-op together) I didn’t set the alarm, because I wasn’t really sure I wanted to get up and actually do it. But, I was thinking about it and thinking about it and right at four, I woke up. It only took a few minutes to complete and then I went back to bed. About an hour later, she called to remind me to do it. Again, I tried going back to sleep after assuring her it was all done. But, my daughter came home and decided she couldn’t hear the TV unless it was turned all the way up. It’s all the Marine Corps fault. Ever since boot camp, I wake up if a light is turned on or if a door is opened. With the TV on, I didn’t stand a chance of getting back to sleep. So, I got up. I’ll be hurting at about three in the morning tonight, but I can always sleep tomorrow.
I’m not sure if it was the lack of sleep today, but I missed the turn off to get to 7-11 on the way to work today. I’m going with someone moving the street on me because I take that street every single day. I like 7-11. I get a double big gulp of ice tea every day before work. I can stretch it to last the entire day and the refills only cost a dollar seven after taxes. It’s a good deal. It also gives me an excuse to go to the store and get lottery tickets. I didn’t win yesterday, but I’m determined to win one of these days.
It’s 14-7 in Spring Training. We had a big loss today against the White Sox. Our Ace Ubaldo hadn’t allowed a run in his last three games. But, he gave up seven today. It was a tough loss, but that’s what spring training is for. He is still a great pitcher. He was just having an off day. He is human after all. He can’t always be perfect. Since today is the 17th, that means there are only fourteen more days until the Regular Season. I’m on pins and needles.
One of the best thing about having young nieces and nephews is that the school they go to has a deal with Coors Field. Every year, they offer the kids dollar tickets for a Rockies game. (Yes, I take advantage and clean up) They got the ticket request form today. It is already filled out and packed back into their backpacks ready to turn in. The game isn’t for about a month, but that’s at least one game that I’m going to. I’ve squirreled away some money for several more games throughout the season. With how good they’re doing in training, we should have a great year. I’m not speculating anymore, because I don’t want to jinx them.
My eldest daughter came home from her army training. She ran five miles today plus her regular workout. I can’t believe how good she’s doing. She became a squad leader today and as soon as my wife fills out the paperwork for her bank account, she will start drilling with the soldiers already in the Army. She’s really excited.
Well, this is getting too long. I’m putting Styx, Chicago, REO Speedwagon, and Boston in the playlist today and I better get to work.
-Thom

Mar 15

Looking good, the Rockies are 13 and 6 in spring training. Our pitching is looking really good. Our defense is looking great. I don’t want to jinx it, but we’re going to have a really good team this year. Even the new guys are looking terrific. It’s the fifteenth today, so that means there are only fifteen days left until the Season Opener. I can hardly wait. I don’t think we’re going to be able to head down to Arizona to take in a little Spring Training. I really want to, but our weekends are filling up with regular stuff. Oh well, that just means that I’ll save up some money to go to the regular season games.
My granddaughter came over today. We had a great time. My wife got her a little bubble maker ray gun. It took us forever to get the little battery holder open, (all of our screwdrivers were too big) but once we got the double A’s in, she started going crazy. I don’t know what it is with three year olds and bubbles, but they could entertain her all day if we let it. She would make a stream of bubbles and then run through them trying to catch one. When they all disappeared, she would do it again and again and again. She was laughing all day. We had to physically take the bubble maker away so that she could eat.
My wife went to the AT&T store today. She got a new phone for my youngest daughter. (Her phone was stolen from her school locker about two or three weeks ago. She also bought an iphone from someone at work. So, she upgraded her phone, decided it was too complicated and traded it to my eldest daughter. She also wheeled and dealed the phone company to downgrade our minutes and upgrade our internet access or something like that. I wasn’t really paying attention. I just pay the bill. All that really matters is everyone now has a phone in which to ignore me when I call.
I didn’t get a chance to work on The Great Detective sequel yesterday. I’m going to do that today. I had a little bit of real work to do and then I got on Facebook. I ran into a cousin I hadn’t heard from in years and years. She’s doing better than I am. She’s a teacher and is on Spring Break. (I never get any time off) I am terrible about keeping in touch with friends and family. I’m determined to do better, so I’ll start with her and see how it goes. (She’ll probably end up de-friending me because I’m bugging her too much)
My wife sent out an all points invitation to our Chuck E Cheese family get together today. I was supposed to contact my brother last night, but I didn’t get to do that either. Man, I hate it when work gets in the way of goofing off at work. But, I’ll get hold of him tonight and see which day is good for him. So, I guess I better get going on that. I’m putting in Motley Crew, Cinderella, and Bon Jovi into the playlist for background music tonight.
-Thom

Mar 14

Well, it was hot girl day at the DMV. Unfortunately I went there with my wife to get our plates for the new car. Every time I turned around, there was a new one. And, every time I glanced over at my wife, she was watching me as if to see if I was looking at them. I had to be very sneaky. Like usual, when we arrived, I pulled tab number 260 and they were on number 221 and there weren’t any open chairs. It wasn’t until around number 240 that I managed to get us seats, but we were surrounded by hot women from the moment we walked in. Had I gone alone, it would have been ugly dude day.
When we finally got up to the window, we learned that the car dealership hadn’t even submitted the paperwork for the new car and we couldn’t get the plates. We were forced to get an extension because out temp was already outdated. I much prefer the Arizona way of buying cars better. The car dealership fills out all of the paperwork and the DMV just mails you the plates. I mean you fill out enough paperwork at the dealership, what’s a few more pages. It saves a loooooot of time by not having to go to the DMV. At least we can do the tag renewal on the other cars over the internet because they’re coming due in a few months.
On Saturday, the girls had a drill competition for JROTC. It went really well. The girls looked good and they won four trophies. Two of them were even for first place in the various competitions. Last year, they only won one trophy. They are going to have another competition at the coliseum next month. It’s a more important one because there will be schools from all over the state competing. I’m sure they’ll do as well or even better.
We brought the baby with us to the competition. Most of the time she wanted to play with the other kids, but while they were marching, she would pretend to march and call out left right left. It was very cute. While we were inside and the schools were doing the silent drills, she would watch as they preformed and assured us that she could do all of that. She wanted to go out onto the basketball court and show us, but he kept her in the stands. (We bribed her with candy. We’re such good grandparents) My youngest daughter’s school mentor came out to sit with us and some family, but not as many people turned out for this meet as they did last year.
We had a good weekend this weekend. We saw a movie at the Elvis Theater. (It’s the cheap theater.) They don’t have the newest movies, but they aren’t real old either. We saw Meet the Fockers and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader. They were both pretty good. I hadn’t seen a movie in so long it’s not even funny. We got popcorn and the works. It was a good day.
It’s Monday, so I spent the day with my mom. We’re going to try to organize a family get together at Chuck E Cheese for the beginning of next month. My wife is a good organizer and she’ll do most of the work. But, since it’s at a place and not a park, there shouldn’t be too much involved except getting everyone there. (That’s always the hard part)
Well, I better get to work. I’m putting in Rod Stewart, Billy Joel, and Elton John in the playlist tonight for background music and I’m going to continue working on the Great Detective sequel. I finished the last book’s answer and I’m halfway through the first chapter. So, I should finish it and start on chapter two today.
-Thom

Mar 9

I re-learned why you have to watch a three year old all the time. We were having fun playing with some blocks. I was building a bridge and my granddaughter was knocking it down. After a while, we were interrupted by Burger King. I had my daughter to pick up dinner because I worked late and my wife was doing laundry and neither of us wanted to cook. After eating, my granddaughter decided she wanted to watch cartoons. That was fine, we have a TV just off the living room. So, I set up the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on in that room and I turned on American Idol in the living room. Everything was going normally when all of a sudden it became very quiet in the other room. Checking on my granddaughter I saw her holding up her hands and looking at them. When I went into the other room, I saw that she was covered in some type of Vaseline-like gunk. Yes, it was hard to not laugh. Her hair was slicked back and it was all over her clothes and arms. I asked her what she was doing and she held up an almost empty container. She said that she just used a little bit and when I asked her if she put it in her hair, she said no with the best poker face I’ve ever seen.
I was going to drop her off at her house on the way to work, but my wife had to give her a bath which made us run a little late. So, I carried her downstairs and we found out that our new car had a flat tire. There wasn’t time to change it before I had to go to work, so my wife dropped me off so she could take the baby home. Now, we have to switch cars in the morning because I get off at six and she starts at seven. Well, at least we found out about the tire tonight and weren’t surprised by it in the morning.
The Rockies are still kicking butt. They are 7-5 in Spring Training. I know it doesn’t count, but it’s still fun to watch. I didn’t get to see the replay of today’s game, but they did win. So far, they have only broadcast the first spring training game. It would be nice if they showed them all, but at least they are recapping them in ‘Squeeze Play’. It’s an hour long recap of the highlights. It’s better than nothing. Still, I’m anxious for the season to start.
It looks like I’m putting up Farmville. A couple of things happened. I’ve been playing it so much that I’ve been doing almost nothing else. I’ve even fallen behind on my blog. I was posting new blogs every workday. But, lately, there have been large week long gaps. I’m so disgusted with myself. Yesterday, I checked my email and found one from Smashwords. It seems that they were having a week long ebook day. If I chose, I could have discounted my books and they would have been submitted in a special catalog for this week. They have done this a few times and in each case, they have received a huge turnout producing sales that wouldn’t normally have occurred. Of course I missed the deadline to get my books added to the catalog and the week is nearly over. So, I missed out on that. Then, today while I was trying to sleep, I kept dreaming about a new Great Detective book. I couldn’t get it out of my head. So, starting today, I’m going back to writing. I might play Farmville on the weekends or when I’m at home before I go to sleep or maybe right when I wake up. But, I’m not going to play it to the exclusion of everything else anymore. Stepping back, I can’t believe that I let it take over my life like that.
So, I’m going to work on a sequel to the Great Detective today. I had a bunch of great ideas this morning and I need to get them down before I forget. I’m putting Ratt, Scorpions, and White Lion in the playlist for background music and it’s time to get started.
-Thom

Mar 03

Well, we lost today against San Francisco. That brings the Rockies to 3-2. Our other loss was against San Diego. We’re going to have a tough division this year. It wasn’t a good day for pitcher Jorge De Larosa. He’s a really good pitcher, don’t get me wrong. But, he did have an off day today. Ubaldo was supposed to start today, but he got hurt and will start next week. We’re still over five hundred and it’s still Spring Training, so we’re ok. At least it’s baseball. The only game that they televised so far was the first one. I was able to see that one. For all of the rest, they are just showing a recap of the game. It’s better than nothing and we get to see how the players are doing. My wife was talking to me about sneaking down to Arizona over the weekend to catch a little pre-season action. I’m not sure when we’ll be able to do it, but I’m up for the drive. And with three paydays this month, we can even afford it. I’m going to have to check out the game schedule and see who they’re playing and which days will be good for us. It can’t be this weekend. Tomorrow, the girls have their military ball so if we go, it will have to be next weekend or the one after that. I’ll let you know.
The girls are upstairs right now working on their finger and toenails. Everything else is ready. They have their dresses and stuff. I think they’re taking the day off of school so they can get their hair done or something like that. My wife is getting off early so that she can help them and take them out to eat before the dance. She’ll get a bunch of pictures. I won’t be able to see them off. I am back to my regular schedule and go in at two tomorrow. So, once again I’m missing everything because of work. But, I’m off for the whole weekend. And, we are going to do something fun.
It’s also time to do the taxes. Like the rest of the nation, I’m not looking forward to it. I was really worried about this year. The kids moved out in October and I knew that they were going to try filing by themselves. We’ve been using the baby to bring us into the positive column for the last few years. So, instead of doing it themselves, they went to one of the tax places and found out that they didn’t make enough money in those three months that they were on their own to qualify for the child credit for the baby. So, they didn’t file with them and they are going to let us claim everyone again. So, it should work out for us. We’ll give them half of whatever we get so everyone wins.
I put on some Pink Floyd, April Wine, and Dire Straits in the playlist for background music and I’m going to try to get some writing done today. It’s been so long I hope I remember how.
-Thom