me, if you care

Want to know why?

Take this example: MS Outlook calendar has 23 buttons, 14 pull down menus, 3 search boxes, 3 checkboxes & 2 clickable links. The Apple iCal calendar on the other hand has 9 buttons, 1 search box & a month slider bar. Simplicity does more than make things simple, it makes them better.

This is but one example, but everything else is pretty much like this.

So, I’m hobbling around work like an 80 year old man & people look at me funny & say “how’s it going?” or “are you ok?” I just politely say that I’m fine. When they ask about my cane I usually tell them it makes my look like a “pimp”. Humor keeps them from asking me more questions, questions I really don’t want to answer. I hate pity & all of the “I’m so sorry” bullshit that goes along with it. Im the one in constant pain & no I’m not fine! I am about as far from fine as I can be. I am so tired, & I don’t just mean I need more sleep. I mean I am just tired of all of this. Tired of pretending that nothing is wrong, tired of doctors & tests & procedures, tired of waiting for biopsy results, tired of being tired. I will continue to be nice & tell everyone I’m OK, but I am not. I had to get this off my chest & whatever you do, don’t give me any “Awww I’m sorry” crap, I don’t want it. If you say that it’s gods will or some Jesus bull, I will kick your f***ing face in. Yes I’m angry, but mostly I am ready for all of this to end.

These are so easy to make, you’ll want them all of the time. They are soft but very crumbly & go great with a glass of milk.

• 1 cup sugar

• 1 cup peanut butter

• 1 egg

This makes a great holiday gift & is a really good hot chocolate. We mix it up at Christmas, bottle it in jars & give it as presents. The friends & family start asking about it around November, they can’t wait.

• 1 pkg (25 ounces) nonfat dry milk powder

• 1 1/2 cups non-dairy coffee creamer, about 6 ounces

• 3 cups (16 ounces) instant chocolate drink mix

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Preparation:

Combine all ingredients and store in an airtight container. Give with directions below. Makes 16 cups. Enough cocoa mix for 4 1-quart jars to give, or split into small portions packed in decorative bags in mugs.

mix Directions:

In a mug, combine 1/2 cup of mix with 1 cup of boiling water.

This is about the perfect way to cook bratwurst, the flavor from the grill & the beer is wonderful. Once you do them this way you won’t want to do it any other. I was taught this recipe by a guy I worked with named George. We used to get the service & parts dept. together once every few weeks to grill these at work.

• 1 PACKAGE OF BRATWURST (5 OR LINKS)

• 1 CAN OF BEER

• 1 LARGE ONION

• 1 TBSP. MINCED GARLIC

• 1 STICK OF MARGARINE

Fire up the grill. Get a small foil pan & put the butter, garlic & onion in it. Put it on the grill. Put the brats on the grill & get them cooking.

Stir the onion mixture until the onions are tender, & the brats are fully cooked. Put the cooked brats in the pan, add the beer, give it a stir & cook with the lid closed for a half hour to an hour (if you can wait).

Put it on a toasted bun with spicy mustard & some of those onions & it’s heaven.

I’m starting over with this tumblr blog type thing, whatever the hell it is. I’m going to post what I feel, no political. correct bullshit or sugar coating. I’d like to warn you in advance so you don’t read something that upsets you & you call me crying like a little pussy. you’ve been warned.

This has to be the coolest device I have ever seen. I started out years ago with a Palm Pilot. Simple one color touchscreene & not much memory, but it had a better memory than me. I couldn’t remember anything, but my Palm could. The simple little handheld housed my thoughts, notes, contacts, calendar events & reminded me when to do stuff. It was perfect! Until the new one came out. Now I had pictures I could take with me & show off to friends & family. It was more perfect, until. I got the Tungsten mainly for the cool slide out feature. Of all of the devices I have owned I think I liked the Tungstens form factor the most (especially the T3). I upgraded many times over the years; I’ve had palms, berries & windows handhelds.

Since the first handheld was held in my hand, I have been hooked & have never been without a PDA of some sort. this is a good thing since I can’t remember a damn thing. I have always wanted a single device to handle everything I need (photos, video, music & PIM functions. out of all of the devices, only the iPhone filled the needs of everything perfectly. now with he addition of the iPad it is even better. I have taken all of the videos off of my Mini in the bedroom & put them on the theatre Mini. I now sync the iPhone with music & the iPad takes care of the movies & tv shows. I can keep myself organized with the phone & do other things such as Internet & video watching with the iPad. Nirvana, finally!

When I was younger my dad used to go on about the Steely Dan album Aja. I knew a few Steely Dan songs, but I never sat down & listened to the album. Boy did I miss out. When I was grown & moved out I found the Aja CD in a local pawn shop. I remembered dad talking about it & at five bucks it was a deal, so I bought it. I can’t remember how long that CD played in my car, but I didn’t take it out for a quite a while. Aja is one of those albums that reach the pinnacle of music as art. The collection of songs on here is very rich in both lyrics & complex jazzy music as only Donald Fagen & Walter Becker could create. There is not a bad song on the album, & there are several that are pure works of art. The title track, Aja, is a spectacular blend of the finest elements of rock & jazz that are driven by great melody, lyrics & a spectacular saxophone section. I also would have to say that Deacon Blues is one of the most beautiful songs ever recorded. When I listen to Aja I get chills & the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I cant think of very many albums that move me like this one does. I would list it as the top album ever, although the Beach Boys Pet Sounds is very close second. Aja is truly music as an art form. I say thank you to Donald & Walter for giving us this masterpice. Bravo!

Today was a great day. I went out to the country with my son to shoot our guns. I have a mossberg 12 gauge pump shotgun which is a blast. We shot 100 rounds of birdshot at buckets, totes & watermelons. This a lot of fun, though I don’t know why. Something about the power of the 12 gauge as it decimates whatever you fire at. We also shot my new Ruger 9 mm & it fired very smooth, except for a few jams. I don’t know if it needs a little breaking in or if it doesn’t like the ammo I bought. I will try shooting a better round next time. My son fired 300 rounds through his new Ruger 10/22, all in all we shot 450 rounds and had a great time. Christopher had a blast shooting & I’d ready to do it again.

update: The SR9 needed to be cleaned. Apparently the grease they put in it when it is new should be cleaned out before use. I gave it a good cleaning & lube with light oil & voila! Took it to the gun range & it fired perfectly.