Rock Man

I was surfin' the BLOGs the other day and ran across one titled "Stoner", which reminded me of a poem I wrote in my mispent youth.

ROCK MAN

Smoke a pound of Marijuana
Take a hit of speed or ten
Drink that booze, guzzle Beer
Tom you little Stoner.

But some day soon you'll do your last
Of one more hit, or one more blast
But live today, forget the past
Tom you little Stoner.

You'll come home late and find your wife
Waiting with the butcher knife
as she begins to take your life
Tom you little Stoner.

They'll put you in your muted grave
and leave your soul for God to save
above your head the stone engraved
"Tom you little Stoner".

Kitchen

I am getting close to finishing the kitchen, but got derailed by putting in the new smoke hood. When I tore out the other one, like most things in the house, it proved to be a lot more work than I anticipated.

The old smoke hood had been cut down from a larger smoke hood, to 30". Consequently the switches and exhaust flue were nor centered, but about four inches to the left. Consequently the hole in the shelf is also four inches to the left. The new smoke hood has a centered hole, so I knew I had to make a new shelf.. When I took the old flue down, I was flabbergasted. The tube was attached to a blank wall! There was no hole. I knew there was a vent attached to the wall on the outside, but when I tore things apart, it was four inches to the right and six inches lower than where the flue was attached.

The new smoke hood can be vented to the outside either through a 7" flue out the top, or a 4" by 6" hole out the back, The vent location in the wall didn't allow me to use the 7" circular duct, so I have to use the 4" X 6" vent, which means patching the old hole and cutting a new one, shimming the new one. When I was presented with all of the problems my forward progress kinda stalled out.

SMOKE FREE!

Back in February I quit smoking. I have tried to quit numerous times. As I have always said "Quitting smoking isn't hard. Heck, I do it a couple of times a week". The last couple of years I have made a couple of attempts to quit, but they didn't last. Last time I got the patch. I did great as long as I had the patch, but when the patches were gone, I went right back to smoking. This time I used the patch for a week, and after that just went cold turkey. There was only one time when I went around checking ashtrays to see if I had left a butt somewhere, but it passed.

Since I am diabetic, I really needed to quit. Smoking constricts the blood vessels in your extremities, and with the diabetes already lessening the blood flow, you stand an increased chance of losing a foot or leg. I rather like all my parts, and don't want to give any of them up. I had an uncle and a Great Aunt who lost a leg because they smoked and didn't control their diet.

As a consequence of quitting smoking, I also gave up beer. I have always said that it is a part of being in correct ballance. If you have a beer in one hand, you need to have a cigarette in the other to ballance. Besides,alcohol dilates yor blood vessels, so I figured that would cancel out the nicotine. Giving up the beer has proven to be more of a challenge, because the correlation is not as direct. But the doctor put me on a different diabetes medication, and it discourages drinking. I never was a heavy drinker, I just like a beer in the evenings when I get home.

Guess I'll give one of the non-alcoholic beers a try.

Confession

I have to confess........I have been surfing the BLOGs and not leaving comments. I know it's kinda like being a peeping Tom. You sidle up to the windows of someone elses life, peek in (hopefully without being caught) and take a peek at a litle piece of their soul. When you've had enough you go on to another window. Or maybe you return to one you've already peeped in.

It's addictive.

So I confess my sin, and apollogize to all of you out there. Tommorow, I may be peeking in YOUR BLOG!

Capsules

Cast iron mind corset
Impenetrable non-thought process
Reality in a tin cup
Begged from street corner blind men
All is watersplash

Sweet cream thought love
Alone in neon speculation
As darkened earth-roots
Pierce a rock
Seeking satisfaction

Burning skyhook
Unilateral concentration
For only five dollars
You too can see
The face of GOD

Capsules
Swallow enough
And you're bound to die

Last Down Day

Once every eleven days, we have a day in the schedule when there is no airplane in my position, so it is called a down day. Today is the last down day, because they are stepping up the production rates. So let's have a moment of silence for the last down day (Zzzzzzzzzzzz)

I had my physical yesterday, and everything was good, except I had to break down and get a shot of cortizone in my right sholder. I screwed it up in high school throwing too much crap when I was pitching. I had this wicked knuckle-curve that would start out like it was going to hit the batter in the head, and it would break down and to the left, and if I had thrown it right, be a called strike. I remember seeing a guy bail out of the batters box for what ended up a strike. Anyway I have a torn rotator cuff, and every once in a while it gets bad enough that I have to get a shot. For a couple of days after I am not sure if I did the right thing, but after that, everything is good for a couple of years.

I didn't post anything on or about Mother's Day. On Sunday I was too busy DOING Mother's Day to write about it, and afterwards I just didn't get around to it. Sunday after church, we stopped off at DQ for lunch, and Carol gave in to temptation and got a big Sundae. She had been fantasizing about ice cream lately, being on a diet and all, so I more or less insisted she suspend the rules for one day. Afterwards we went to the Movies to see "Sahara". It was a very entertaining movie. I have read all of the Clive Cussler books, so I was prepared to be disappointed, but I enjoyed it. The only detail that really bugged be was that the "sidekick" Al Giordino just didn't look like a swarthy Italian. He looked more like he was Irish. But that is a small complaint. The story didn't follow the book exactly, but the things they left out would not have played on the big screen.

Afterwards I barbequed a rolled Sirloin Roast and a good time was had by all.

My mom is 78, and lives by herself, but we kids keep track of her. Since we had a full day planned on Saturday, I dropped off a plant and card on Saturday and stayed and chatted for about an hour. She is an amazing woman. Managed to raise seven intelligent, opinionated kids and retain her sanity. When I was going through the process of adopting Vincent I described her to the social worker as "June Cleaver, but without the pearls and skirt".When I was growing up, I thought all families were like us, with a mom that stayed home, a dad that worked, they loved each other and provided a stable nurturing environment for their kids. It wasn't until I grew up and got out in the world that I saw what carnage Family can cause to each other.

For Clyde

I had this Lead Man, named Clyde Sparks, who always referred to people as monkeys in suits, so this is for him:

For Clyde

The mustachioed organ grinder
and his hire-suited charge
cavorted at the waterfront
beside a rotting barge

And when the day was over
each received his due
the man he kept the cup of coins
the monkey kept the fruit

I was never sure when it was done
and we divided up the loot
whether it was I that ground the organ
or wore the monkey suit.

Sunday morning

Carol and I have been attending Calvary Community Church for the last couple of years. Well, she has been attending for about five years, and I have been going since we met. I feel so CONNECTED with this church, more than I ever have with any church. When we met, Carol was living in Bonney Lake, and the church was in Sumner, maybe five miles away. Now we are liveing in Seattle, and Sumner is a 45 minute drive on a good day.

So we are church shopping. Today is our second attempt at finding a new church that we like. It is fortunate that most churches nowadays have web sites, so you can eliminate the ones that don't fit you own personal set of preferences. There is so much variability in style and substance that it is difficult to find one that feels right. We tried a different church, here in Renton for a while but I didn't care for the pastor, and thought there was too much music and not enough teaching. Small things, but enough that I was not comfortable. The purpose of church is to worship God, and attest to your faith in Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Master. The surroundings are not as important as the act. But it sure is nice when everything comes together just right and you feel that moment of connection with The Lord and the Congregation.

Update from the Ozone

Spent two hours in the Dentist's chair. The entertainment value is way over rated, but the drugs ain't bad. Seriously though, I had permanent caps put on six teeth, and it wasn't much fun at all. Home and a Percocet made things some better, but I really don't like Percocet that much. It puts me in a lala land where I am feeling no pain but I am dizzy and can't sleep. Can't take the stuff and drive. Can't read. About all I can do is sit there and watch TV, which I don't usually do, because most of the time TV isn't worth watching.

As you can see from the pictures, I have completed the Kitchen Cabinets. That is not to imply that I am completely done with the kitchen. I still have to fab a closeout panel for above the sink, do some tile work, and put in a new smoke hood, but the veneer work is done.

My face feels like if I went to look in the mirror I would see Jason looking back at me with the hockey mask. Think I better go watch reruns.

Me on the left, my brother Bill in the center, my brother Larry on the right. The main reason for publishing this was to show how dark the cabinets were before I reveneered them. And besides, it is a good picture of all three of us. 

Similar plate we got for Christmas 

New Plate we bought at Cannon Beach 

More cabinets 

Newly veneered Kitchen cabinets