dogpatch1149

Well, it's been a while, hasn't it? Life is funny like that...you get busy, you remember some things but not others, and when you do remember the things you didn't before, you realize just how far out of the freakin' loop you are. Anyway, here I am again.

We're moving! Got a 3-bedroom apartment (or flat, as some of my overseas friends call it), only 1/2 mile down the road from Michelle's work. That means $250-$350 per month in savings because we won't be doing two hours on the road, five days a week. It means lunches at home (until I'm working again, that is), and I can stay home and pretend to be useful while I continue looking for full-time employment. Contract work is great, but it's not dependable, nor is it what one would call decent compensation. I heard a report on CNN that stated there are approximately 21.6 people competing for each single job in Michigan today. Those are not what I'd call good odds. Oh well - all I can do is keep trying, and I think this move should go much better than the recent ones we've had over the past two years. At least we're not homeless again...been there, done that, got the t-shirt, and burned it.

Why do people think I'm nuts for drinking hot coffee, no matter what time of year or day it is? I drink it winter, spring, summer, and fall...rain, snow, sun, cloudy...happy, sad, angry...it doesn't matter. Note that I'm not asking why people think I'm nuts - they've been asking that for years - just why the constant presence of coffee.

In a not-terribly-surprising turn of events, Tiger Woods has demonstrated to the rest of the world that he is a cheating slimeball.

Let's see - the guy's got money out the wazoo, a beautiful wife, two kids, pretty much everything he could possibly want in material goods...and yet he can't keep it in his pants when he should? I can understand all too painfully well what his wife must be feeling inside right now.

Proof positive that being talented and successful doesn't mean you're above being a dumbass.

CAUTION: Slight ranting and sarcasm ahead. Proceed at your own risk.

Why is it that some people seem to be unable to let go of cliqueishness and the false sense of being superior to another?

I've reconnected over the past few months with quite a few people from high school. It's a period of my life that was alternately full of delirious fun and agonizing pain. I'm not proud of some of the things I did and said...some of it was just being an ass, some of it was due to ADHD, but a good part of it was due to my little-known problem with alcohol. But, over the years, I've managed to get myself sorted out, more or less - I've been tobacco-free for over three months now, and I rarely if ever drink at all. I never did drugs and never will, so there's another good point.

I thought, hey, if I can turn things around, mellow out, take the good with the bad, and look at the total life experience instead of just portions, I'm in a good position to try and learn more about the people I knew back then. I've often wondered and wished I could do that, and with the wonders of the internet, it's easy. Right?

Well...apparently not.

I made a fatal assumption - that everyone actually has grew up somewhat. It's been almost 25 years now, and there are STILL a few classmates that are astoundingly immature. Here are two examples:

"I can't be friends with him because he posts a lot of stuff that's not suitable for my page, which I use for business." Sounds good on the surface...except for the fact that particular person is still mutual friends with quite a few other classmates who also post the same kind of things, and in fact some of the very same posts. Besides, her Facebook page is a personal one, not one for a group or business. Nice try, but your second face is showing. Thanks for playing. Move along.

"Oh, I remember you...you're the one whose dad busted my parties." I actually heard that line at the 20-year reunion. If all you can remember about me is that, and yet you choose not to take just a little time to get to know me a bit, you're still as narrow-minded as you were two and a half decades ago, and I feel sorry for you. Your loss, not mine.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. How true it is.

Well, I've returned, and no, I haven't been missing in action. However, I had been missing medications, which was an incredibly stupid thing for me to do. Why? Good question...no one's ever accused me of having a surplus in the common sense department. Technically brilliant, yes, but common sense deficient. That's OK, though...the experience has helped me to discover a few things, which I thought I should write down for future reference.

1) Missing medications for both depression and ADHD means that you are not only depressed, but you can think that everything is miserable and won't get better 82.7 times faster than the average human being.

2) The lower blood pressure number should NOT be three digits long.

3) If the blood pressure machine at Walmart says "TILT" when you use it, something is very, very wrong.

4) Saving money by skipping meds is kind of like fighting for peace or screwing for virginity...it just doesn't work out in the long run.

5) If people don't want to be around you and you've recently altered or stopped medications, you don't have to go searching very far to figure out the likely cause of the problem.

OK, enough of the maudlin stuff for now. The gist of it all is, I made a mistake and learned from it. Thanks to my family and friends for their continued support, love, and friendship...especially from my wife.

As of this past Saturday, I've been five weeks smoke-free.  I've nearly ceased my use of the nicotine lozenges, though they do see days where I have a couple due to stress.  This is most cool.  I'm quite pleased with myself for accomplishing what, a short time ago, I didn't think was possible.  Of course, it's just a day at a time, an hour at a time...and I'm watching them go by without the nasty smelling cloud of smoke nearby.

The kids went back to school today.  They called me at about 1700 today to tell me about it, and it sounds like they were tickled pink to be back at last.  Wonder how that will contrast with late May, when they'll be chomping at the bit to start summer vacation.  Also, the twins start preschool for the first time next Wednesday, and they'll be in the same class together.  I pity that poor teacher...they don't know what they're in for.

I found a long-lost game program from back in the 90's online last night called Astrorock.  It's an Asteroids-type game with excellent graphics and a kickin' rock soundtrack.  Highly recommended for nearly-brainless shoot-'em-up action when you just gotta have it. :)

The job market seems to be slowly warming up again...I'm getting nibbles about jobs at last.  Hopefully I'll be gainfully employed again in the near future.

That's about it for now.  Until next time, have fun, be safe, take care, and watch for kids.  See ya!

It's now been 66 hours smoke-free. The bupropion (a.k.a. Zyban and Wellbutrin) keeps the few cravings down to a minimum, and the nicotine lozenges are handling the remaining need quite nicely.

My friend Jodi has a mantra on her blog (http://jgrosser365.blogspot.com) that says it all for me. "I will act now." Every day, every hour, I will tell myself that I am a non-smoker...I will not let up, I will not back down, I will not surrender. I've been through much worse than this, and came through stronger from the experience...and so it will be this time as well. I will feel better, smell better, and look better without tobacco. (Well, two out of three ain't bad, I guess...the look better part is a matter of opinion, and you can only do so much with what's there in the looks department. *chuckle*)

My sinuses have went bananas today, probably because they don't know what to do with clear air going into them now. I'll be taking some Benadryl shortly to prevent any more 25-minute sneezing fits like I had earlier this morning. Nothing like knocking yourself out for a few hours and waking up as tired as when you laid down...but if it stops the violent "aaaaCHOOO" sound and action, it's all good.

I have completed a full day smoke-free. Today was a day I could say, "I'm a non-smoker." Tomorrow will be a day just like today. Thanks, everyone, for your words of support and kind thoughts. I WILL win this battle, day by day, hour by hour.

Well, let's be blunt here...it really sucked.

First, it was a diphenhydramine hydrochloride (a.k.a. Benadryl) day, as an incredible and powerful 25-minute sneezing fit drove me to seek my allergy drug of choice from teenage years. Somehow, I'd forgotten how well it makes me sleep. Within 30 minutes, BAM! I'm out. I woke up four hours later and had to take two more of the damned things, which...wait for it...put me right back to sleep again. You have to love Benadryl - it's the only antihistamine that not only puts you to sleep, but lets you wake up feeling MORE tired than when you went to sleep. But, since it works on my allergies quite well, I tolerate it, and I thought the rest of the day would go well.

Not quite.

I wake up at about 1730 to the phone ringing. It's my wife, calling to tell me to meet her in Coldwater, she's been in an auto accident, and the car is totaled.

This wasn't the way I wanted to wake up.

After a 30-minute drive to Coldwater (which I don't remember half of...thank you, Benadryl), I am relieved to find she has only minor cuts and bruises, and the car may be able to be repaired...though we don't have anywhere near the money necessary to do it with. I'll be taking her to the doctor tomorrow to be checked out; in the meantime, I placed a splint on her left wrist because it's got a nasty bruise on it, made sure she got all of her meds plus some aspirin before bed, and made sure she's comfortable for sleeping. I'm still up writing this because I slept half the damn day, and I'm coming down from the adrenaline rush of earlier when I was worried about her.

One wonders what's next on the dinner plate of life...

OMG...saw the picture on Failblog.org and thought it HAD to fake. It's not. People like this shouldn't breed.

http://www.news10.net/news/story.aspx?storyid=60515&catid=2

I've had a couple of new friends on Facebook ask me a question that I've never really answered before...just where in the hell did I come up with the screen name DogPatch1149? Until now, I've never directly answered the question, but I thought about it and figured I should explain at last how my seriously deranged mind comes up with stuff like this.

The screen name consists of two distinct parts - the DogPatch and the 1149. The first part, as anyone who grew up with me probably has guessed, is shortened from Dog Patch. That term, from the Lil' Abner comic strip, is the nickname of my hometown, Dowagiac, Michigan. Before anyone asks the obvious question, it's pronounced doe-WAH-jack or d-WAH-jack, depending on nothing more than how you feel comfortable with saying it.

Back in the early 90s, I was stationed in Norfolk, Virginia, onboard the aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower. When in port, one of my favorite leisure activities was spending time on the citizens band (CB) radio, meeting and having fun with others. I needed a handle (the CB term for a nickname) that was unique enough to be remembered but reflected who I was, and somehow Dog Patch just fit.

The 1149 part came about because when a CBer is "shooting skip", or talking to people very long distances away by bouncing the single-sideband AM radio waves off of the ionosphere, they usually use a number to identify themselves instead of a handle. I needed a number, and I picked the number that was my first Navy Enlisted Classification (NEC) - 1149, which is a Target Acquisition System Mark 23 maintenance technician. A lot of hardcore CBers use the same numbers on the normal AM channels, so that's how it came into existence.

I thought the name would fade into obscurity after I got out of regular CBing. As the years went by, I got involved with online chat and instant messaging, and the name/number combination turned out to be a natural for my online persona. The rest is history...a rather twisted and warped one, but history nonetheless.

We now return you to normality...whatever that is.