I’ll have a little icecream and… OMGWTFWASTHAT?

It was 11:30 last night.  I wanted some icecream.  I get the icecream out and nuke it for a few seconds to soften it up.  I start to scoop it out.  One scoop down, two to go.  I get the second scoop ready to go into the bowl and at that instant I hear a blood curdling, ear piercing sound, the likes which I’ve seldom heard before.  I tossed the icecream onto the stove top upon having the CRAP SCARED OUT OF ME.  Noooo not the icecream.

What was that sound?  It was our damn cat fighting with the neighbor’s cat.  They were absolutely going at it.  If there were such a sound as evil devil death cat… that’d have been it.  Even upon figuring out what it was it still made my hair stand up.  I wanted to open the door and throw something but I didn’t for fear of a cat lunging in at me with claws deployed.  I flipped on the light and it broke the banshee duo up.  Then our cat strolls in like it was no biggie?

He then hocked up a hairball.  Lovely huh?

I salvaged my icecream efforts and retired for the evening.  All was well.

It was a dark and stormy… day?

I wanted to write about one of the most hair raising, nerve wracking experiences that I’ve ever had.  I had long since been interested and otherwise frightened or in awe of the weather.  I was 16 years old when this happened. In typical fashion, this occurred sometime in late spring/early summer.

A good friend of mine wanted to hit the arcade.  I lived 25 miles from the nearest one at the time.  He offered to come pick me up and so I took him up on it.  I want to say it was roughly 4pm when we left my house.  The drive through Zebulon, GA was uneventful.  We were likely talking about video games or girls.  Those two things are inseparable to most young men of that age.  I took notice of something in the sky, to the west.  It didn’t look very abnormal but I kept my eye on it.

As we reached the halfway point between Zebulon and Griffin on Highway 19 the clouds to the west went from peculiar to slightly ominous.  I decided to make the comment that the sky was looking a bit rough.  My friend didn’t seem all that phased about it.  We turned onto a little side road to head towards Hwy 362.  If you’re familiar with the area, then you know the road I’m talking about ( I hope! ).  It was at this point that my weariness went to worry-ness.

What keyed me in to be a bit concerned?  It’s 4:30pm.  It’s a late spring afternoon.  I think I should be able to look at the floorboard of the vehicle and see my feet.  I couldn’t.  It was that dark.  It’s that kind of dark where the sky in one direction is that incredibly dark blue/grey (some would say black sky).  In the other direction it’s almost blindingly light.  Clouds and sky become somewhat indistinguishable and all seem to run together.  Well at any rate.  I can’t see my feet and I’ve been down this road before, in a sense.

Years prior to this I remember riding out a bad storm with my dad in his truck.  Much like what I was currently experience, it’d become so dark outside that the floorboard was shroud in darkness.

So, I made the comment that if we couldn’t see the floorboard, perhaps we should turn around and go back.  My friend brushed it off and kept pressing on, towards the heart of the beast.  Since we did not heed the warning of mother nature, she was going to show us first hand what we were dealing with.  Get ready for it.

The first thing that happened was the wind.  There was construction and house building just off the road (the one that cuts between 19 and 362).  We saw dirt and gravel being lifted straight up into the air.  The site of grey/white dust against a dark sky looked ghastly.  It was as if spirits were being lifted up from the very Earth.  At that point the wind went horizontal and the wispy clouds of dust were blown to pieces.  At this point we encountered the driving rain.   Then came the hail, pelting the vehicle mercilessly.  I think he was now convinced to rethink driving in these conditions.

We were now taking evasion action.  No more arcade for us; we just wanted to make it out alive.  We turned onto another side road that would take us back to 19/41.  We’d head that way then go back south towards Zebulon, where he lived.   About half a mile from the 19/41 intersection (where Ingles is) we encountered something worse than hail: rocks.  Yes, rocks from gravel piles near the road were being hurled at us.  He got a few dings from that but fortunately we moved through it and now we’d just deal with the quarter size ice balls instead.

The whole time were cursing, shrieking, freaking out, etc.  We saw very few people on the road and could only assume those that were out in this were equally as freaked out as we were.  Then again, we were two young teenagers where our world was, well, girls and video games. OMG, this isn’t what we signed up for!  Eeek!

When we reached the intersection the light was out as I recall.  The signs were twisting violently in the winds.  We drove right through the intersection.  I think I remember yelling “GO GO GO”.  Instead of stopping, like we should have, we kept moving.  When we got to the road that would have taken us to his house, a tree was down.  In desperation we turned down a smaller dirt road, where again, a tree was down.  We were trapped.  We backed up and got out of there.  We finally made our way to a small church parking lot and sat the rest out.

For the next half an hour, every time it thundered, we jumped.  Our hearts were pounding.  We were nervously laughing and cursing… in the church parking lot of all places.  We felt like we’d driven through a war zone.  It was no laughing matter getting pelted by driving rain/hail and rocked by 60mph+ winds.  We’d made it though and felt we could relax, though it took some time to truly relax.

We drove back into Griffin, armed with a VHS camcorder to document some damage.  We saw a road sign that had completely twisted 360 degrees.  It was facing the right direction but the sign post was twisted completely around.  Traffic lights were out all over the place.  Debris was all over the roads (i.e. twigs, branches, leaves and anything of that nature).  We headed to Bunjees Books & Comics to talk to the owner.   When we walked in we noticed some of the ceiling tiles had been knocked loose.  I want to say that he told us the door had blown open.

You see, the storm passed fairly quickly for most.  We, on the other hand turned around and rode WITH the storm.  We would later find out we’d driven through a severe thunderstorm  We’d have been far better off hitting it head on and pushing through it.  Lesson learned.  That wouldn’t be the last time I encountered hellish driving conditions in a storm though.

It’s things like that that make me appreciate and respect mother nature.  Now, to look into that Storm Chasing vacation package!

What a week: Part II

This part has some overlap into the first part.  You see, the night before the 22nd, I had pulled something in my back.  I thought I’d sleep it off.  When I woke up Friday morning I was so stiff.  It was hard to sit up without grimacing.  It was a pain I’d hardly notice while at the dentist.  I mean come on, what’s a back ache when you’re being drilled on?

By that afternoon the back had started to worsen.  The long ride didn’t make it any better and certainly added to my discomfort though it wasn’t the biggest thing on my mind at the time.  Just staying conscious was my first priority!

I got home that evening and took it very easy.  Now my mouth was sore and my back was sore.  I re-medicated and got some sleep.  When I awoke Saturday morning I could barely move without my back sending stabbing pains through me (cue the music from psycho!).  I was going to a wedding later on and knew I’d be on my feet to some degree.  Finally around 1pm I couldn’t take it anymore and went to the local family medical center.

Here, I waited and waited and waited.  It was busy, as expected.  I’m sure half of the people in there figured they had swine flu.  Some people looked pretty rough though.   I didn’t look it but I felt it.  I got back to the room after about an hour of waiting.  I spent another 45 minutes waiting.  I got checked out, poked at, etc.  I knew the diagnosis from the start but something about a medical professional telling me makes me feel a little better.  Pulled muscle.  I’ve had them before and they suck.  I needed a bandaid for my boo boo.

Two shots were ordered.  Thank God!  I knew they’d sting and burn but the relief would be worth it.  I got one in each hip and yes, those suckers burned.  I got some prescriptions and was out the door!

I got home just in time to get ready and leave for the wedding.  I will say the ride this time was much, much more enjoyable than the previous day.  Our son did great in the wedding even though he was starting to get “boring” and tired.  We promised a video game if he pulled it off.  He did and we ended up owing him a video game, haha.

We got home late that evening.  Our son passed out on the couch within 2 minutes of sitting down.  The week had gotten started on a wild and somewhat painful note.  The rest of the week was smooth and mostly relaxing.  I did a lot of nothing and it was awesome.   I can’t wait until we take another week off.

Next, I’ll talk about the home improvement project that got started!

Tweets of the day - all rolled up into into one.

My fading daily thoughts…

• 07:23 Vacation is over. #
• 07:24 I heard Twilight won best actor on the MTV awards. Say what? Ah, it’s MTV, right. #
• 07:30 Going to crank fitday.com back up again #
• 07:51 Cool, Fitday remembers all my foods. I tried Weight Watchers and did “ok” but I like more exacting nutritional data and balanced eating. #
• 08:05 Happy birthday to me. There I beat everyone to it! Seriously, if no one said happy b-day I wouldn’t be the slightest bit upset. #
• 08:19 www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/TV/06/01/octuplets.reality.tv/index.html - finding incredible unmentionable irony here in octomom saga #
• 09:23 Hurricane season starts today in the Atlantic. #
• 11:58 And now, the moment of truth: did we win anything off of this lottery ticket? #
• 11:59 Your access to the website www.galottery.com/ was blocked for the following reason: Lottery and Sweepstakes - sigh LOL #
• 12:08 wants a snack. #
• 13:59 God rest those on the Air France flight that went missing. #
• 14:01 fruit punch face! #
• 14:03 Ok, had chocolate chip cookie cake today. Hey it’s my birthday, ok? #
• 14:44 puffy #
• 14:47 Metric vs Standard? … I say use both depending on which application they suit best. #

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What a week: Part I

I just got back in to work from having a week and one day off.  It was a “vacation” but at times felt hardly vacation-like.

To start with, Friday May 22, I went in for some extensive dental work.  Instead of spreading appointments out over a long period, I’m having a lot done all at once.  The procedure was some five hours long, but that’s ok because I was highly sedated and remember just bits and pieces.  I did have to use the restroom at one point.  That was fun.  Aside from that, it was straightforward.  I got a ride home where I normally would have slept the rest of the day.  Not this day.

I elected to accompany my son to a wedding rehearsal.  The wife couldn’t due to work so that left it to me.  It’s 1:30pm and I’m so very sore from the dental work.  She brings our son home along with my pain meds.  So I pop two Lortab (take 1-2 as needed for pain).  I was miserable, so two was the magic number.  Around 2:15 they’d kicked in and I was feeling rather good.  The doorbell rings and it’s our ride to the rehearsal.  I didn’t know it but I was about to go on the TWO longest rides of my LIFE.

First of all this has nothing to do with the driver, a friend of ours.  I was coming off of IV sedation and had just jumped onto an opiate pain medication.  While some might have found this prospect exhilerating, it can be incredibly uncomfy when you’re riding in the backseat of a large pickup truck.

My head was spinning about 15 minutes into the over hour long drive.  I couldn’t tell if I was getting motion sick or what.  I got a cold drink to help calm my nerves.  NO not that kind of drink, geez.  It was so hard to keep my cool.  I tried very hard to not let my extreme discomfort show in front of my son.  I felt horrible and thought I was going to a) pass out b) puke or c) both in no particular order.

After we got there, I was ok.  Weird?  The rehearsal went down, we all knew our places, etc.  Now, time for the ride back.  I thought the worst was behind me.  Oh no, indeed it was not.

Ten minutes into the ride back it all starts again. WTF man?  Head spinning, sweating, heart pounding.  Ok, not fun, let me off the ride, argh!  This time though it’s 5pm and people are getting off work.  We weren’t going anywhere fast.  Again, trying to keep my cool in front of my kid.  Again feeling as if I was going to die.  As we neared home I started feeling a tad better.  I had a hard time standing up straight.  I was invited to a dinner that evening.  Needless to say, I did not  attend!

I never passed out or lost my lunch.  Hell, what lunch? I hadn’t eaten since midnight the night before. I forgot to mention that part.  Lesson learned: after my next dental appt.  I am going home and sleeping! :)  I seriously had no idea that I’d end up feeling so bad, geez!

Oh but we’re just getting started.   I’ll have to write up the part about my back later.

Tweets of the day - all rolled up into into one.

My fading daily thoughts…

• 18:59 I’m still tweeting, just on vacation this week. #

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Tweets of the day - all rolled up into into one.

My fading daily thoughts…

• 13:29 This time last year I was following the Phoenix lander approach and land on Mars. Was so cool to watch that in real time. #
• 13:30 Happy Memorial Day everyone. Lets not forget why we observe this day. #

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Tweets of the day - all rolled up into into one.

My fading daily thoughts…

• 09:28 Atlantis will be landing in a little over an hour. Good luck guys, lets bring it home. #
• 12:44 Great job STS-125. GO HUBBLE! #

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Tweets of the day - all rolled up into into one.

My fading daily thoughts…

• 07:29 American Idol is over? It’s a good day indeed. #
• 07:31 Atlantis crew on orbit will be checking the orbiter out for landing tomorrow at KSC. 1st attempt 10am, 2nd attempt 11:39am, both times EST. #
• 07:36 MCC has switched from the color map to blue map. I’m not sure why it’s done except that its done after liftoff and prior to landing. #
• 13:02 bit.ly/3QOt1N #
• 15:21 Vacation starts in about 40 minutes. First order of vacation? Major dental work. Sounds fun right? RIGHT?! #

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Dental work and vacation

Those don’t normally go hand in hand but I have to get crowns seated anyway.  Tomorrow starts my vacation.  The first real “planned” vacation in quite a while.  What are we doing? Nothing!

We have a wedding and a party to attend but after that it’s free-for-all.