JUNE 2005

WEDNESDAY - JUNE 1, 2005

Happy Birthday to Odo! Actor René Auberjonois

I tried to get up earlier this morning. I was up around 9-ish. I called Lisa and we are supposed to go tomorrow to the Employment Security office.

I applied for a position with AG Edwards this morning. Administrative Assistant.

I got my SATURDAY camping video done today finally, but I had to split it into 2 parts. Whatever - it worked!

I did not eat a bite today until about 2:00p. Very unlike me!

9:27p – I am trying to catch up. The last few days have been busy!

THURSDAY - JUNE 2, 2005

Birthday wishes to Sally Kellerman (from ST:TOS), Jerry Mathers (The "Beav"), and Johnny Weissmuller (Tarzan)

I woke up a little after 3:00a this morning and (as usual) could not get back to sleep. Kira need to go out around 4:00a, so I let her out. Then she wanted to go lay down in the living room where it was cooler, so I got up again to let her out of the bedroom. My stomach began its usual routine again and I had to get up around 5:00a. That's when I discovered that Kira had had an accident in the kitchen. So at 5:00a I was up cleaning up after her. I let her outside and she seemed to prefer to stay there, so I went back to bed and Kira stayed out until around 8:00a. I know what caused the problem. I fed her a big ham bone yesterday and she ate the entire thing.

I got up after finally dozing off and having some bad dreams. I have managed to finish creating my movie files for May 29th and 30th this morning and have added them to last month's journal.

11:44a – I just got out of a nice hot shower and I feel so much better. Lisa and I are supposed to go downtown this afternoon and report in person to the Employment Security office. Apparently this is something we will have to do every 4 weeks.

Everything went great at the Employment Office. Lisa had to complete her registration with GreatHires, but I already had mine done.

10:12p – I fixed left over left overs for supper and it was quite tasty. Off to bed early now.

FRIDAY - JUNE 3, 2005

Birthday wish to Toni Curtis!

1:30p – I got a good night sleep last night. They are rare these days. I created myself a job contact log today to keep track of the positions I apply for. Then I contact two more prospective employers and sent them my resume. That makes my 3 contacts for the week. Now I am trying to get motivated to mow the lawn. Would that be mowtivated?

5:55p – I got most of the backyard mowed before my back just couldn't take any more. I will try to get the rest of it tomorrow. I took a cool shower and sit in from of the fan for a while until I cooled down, the walked over to the store. Not a very exciting day.

SATURDAY - JUNE 4, 2005

Birthday wish to Dr. Ruth!

I woke up this time around 4:00a and lay awake until about 6:30a. Then I dozed off and on as usual. Didn't do much all day. Didn't get the rest of the lawn mowed either. The Pagan Pride Picnic took place at Tower Grove Park today, but I didn't have the motivation to get up and go to it.

9:34p – Skip is making a massive mess of enchiladas tonight. I am waiting for Marty to come over to pick me up. I am spending the night over at JR's and we are going to Six Flags tomorrow.

10:17p – Marty is here. I am finishing up my minimal packing for my overnight.

I helped JR load the software for his HP scanner tonight. It was very basic (from my perspective) but reminded me that I have all these years of PC experience that I take for granted.

SUNDAY - JUNE 5, 2005

Birthday wish to "Gary Seven"! Actor Robert Lansing AND Mark Wahlberg ... "Marky Mark"

I didn't go to bed until sometime after 1:00a. I slept on the sofa. It was very uncomfortable, but I managed to get some sleep.

We did not leave for Six Flags until nearly noon. We stopped at the Wal-Mart in Eureka where I picked up a pair of new flip-flops and some ugly "water shoes" to wear in the water park. I was going to buy a waterproof disposable camera like we did last year, but Marty beat me to the punch and bought it. I was hungry and got a pound of some quasi-oriental style chicken nuggets from the deli and a dish of potato salad. It proved to be way more than I could eat, and I had to throw the excess in the garbage. I *HATE* wasting food! (or money... or anything for that matter).

We went straight to the water park, or "Hurricane Harbor" as they call it this time. We got lockers (mine was #582) for $7 and an inner tube for another $6. Then we went down to the "Gulley Washer Creek" for a relaxing ride in our tubes down 1,100-ft. lazy river with waterfalls, geysers and such. It really is pleasant, even though it was much more crowded than the other times I have done this attraction.

After this, we decided to head over to the water slides, but then changed our minds and decided to try out the NEW attraction called "The Tornado." There was a LONG line for this. We found that we could not use *our* tubes for this ride, but had to use one of the ones provided for this even. Marty and JR abandoned me to go on by their selves, which was a bit dismaying to me. I wanted to experience it with them. I ended up waiting by myself until I could be included in a group of 3 others, including Mary (Or Marie?), Billy (with a mohawk) and one other whose name I missed. They were all tattooed, pierced and gothic and a very nice trio in general to share the ride with. We chatted for a long time as we made our way in the line, to the steps and finally to the ride itself. I was already dry from the last ride and ready to sit down by this time!

The ride was heart-stoppingly AWESOME! I thought I was going to use the water cam and take some photos, but I was gripping those tube handles in a death grip. My heart was in my throat, my stomach turned inside-out, and my throat was getting raw from primitive screams of terror. It was great! We rush through a dark tube and were then spewed out into a giant funnel (The Tornado) which is several stories in height. We would slosh up one side nearly to the point of flipping over, the slosh to the other side. The entire ride lasted only about 2 minutes at most, but it seem like longer. What a thrill; and that was enough thrill for the day!

After getting off The Tornado, I went looking for my cohorts who were long gone ahead of me. I wandered about the water park for a while, then I went off into the remainder of the theme park taking pictures and keeping an eye out for them. I ran into my Tornado buddies at a drink stand where I spent $3.49 on a grape slushy (the prices are so HIGH!). I sat down to rest and savor my slushy (getting one nostalgic case of "brain-freeze") when Marty called me on my cell. He had to go back out to the truck to get his phone and wanted me to meet them at the front gate. I did so and we eventually found ourselves back up at "Collosus" ... the 18 story Ferris wheel. I took lots of video from this ride.

When we got off of the Collosus, it was about 5:30p. I still had my belongings in the locker in the water park. We were going to get on the train, but I had to go get my things and get my $5 refund back. I lost my cohorts again in the process, but now we had our cell phones, so everything should work out fine. Well... it didn't. Marty left 2 messages for me. One I missed the call and the other he left while I was trying to call him. It was a silly fiasco. However, it all worked out and I met them over by one of the train depots. We were going to go on the train and ride around the park in a pleasant ride taking pictures; however, we got talked into watching a short musical skit at a "Saloon" type establishment. It was quite entertaining and to my pleasure/horror *I* was pulled from the audience to perform a dance routine!! Of course, they did not know of my past dance history. The actor who "pulled" me performed a set of about 10 dance steps which I was supposed to reproduce "on the spot" in front of the audience. I think they were surprised when I was able to pull it off! It was not my best dance performance ever of course, but I did get in one decent pirouette! (Not easy to do with rubber soled water-shoes on carpet!). Marty said he got pictures of me, but I have not seen them yet.

We left the Western show and took a restful and relaxing ride on the train. We were on one of the rides on which the train had to stop to refill its water supply. It is a genuine steam engine and needed to have a supply of water. I have ridded this train about 3 or 4 times in the past, but it is still a pleasing experience.

We left the train and we all agreed that we were just too tired to continue. We headed toward the front gate and then left for the day. We were hungry and stopped off at Taco Bell. I got 3 Taco Supremes and 1 Enchirito which filled me quite well. Marty stopped off at Q-Mart and I picked up some beer.

I got home and immediately took a nice long and cleansing shower! Kira was SO happy to see me (again... as usual).

MONDAY - JUNE 6, 2005

12:56a – I have spent the evening editing photos and updating my journal. I had a very enjoyable day! I am slightly sun burned, but not much (I applied sun screen several times).

1:03a – I just let Kira in from a venture outside and she seems to be in some mild respiratory distress... panting heavily. I gave her a little cold milk (which she loves), but she is still panting badly. I fill her bedroom water dish with fresh cool water and that seems to have helped a bit, but she is still panting. I hope she is not having some kind of serious problem, because there is not much I can do for her these days. I cannot express how much that upsets and worries me.

1:53a – I am still up. Trying to create a short video clip about the Western Skit at Six Flags (in which I performed) today. (err... now yesterday).

10:09a – I was up too late last night and slept in until almost 10:00a this morning.

I took a walk over to Wal-Mart, Schnucks and Q-Mart. It is hot out; about 85° I think. I picked up some items for Kira mostly. More Esther-C, her joint maintenance tablets, and some chewy snacks.

TUESDAY - JUNE 7, 2005

Happy Birthday to Angie formerly of Nik's Wine Bar...

I applied for two more jobs today, got the front lawn mowed, cleaned the kitchen and got some laundry done. Otherwise, it was mostly a typical boring day.

WEDNESDAY - JUNE 8, 2005

12:25p – So far, not much happening today. Jack got on line on Yahoo and we chatted for a bit. RD tells me A got PURPLE braces today. How interesting. I've never seen purple braces. (Not sure if I want to!).

1:06p – I just applied for another job. That makes 3 this week.

2:56p – I just applied for another position. This is for a Data Analyst at St. Louis Children's. It look like a promising possibility (if I ever get a response).

3:41p – I am so bored. I don't know what I am going to do for supper. I think I will walk over to Schnucks and see if I can find anything that looks appetizing.

4:08p – I am off to the store. It's hot and sunny out, with very little breeze.

4:54p – I just got back a few minutes ago. During the time I was in the store the wind started blasting and storm is rolling in. We are under a tornado watch and it looks like one forming off in the distance. I had to walk across the parking lot and the highway and not only was the wind nearly pushing my 240 lbs off balance, I was worried about lightening striking with me out in the open. I zipped into Q-Mart and picked up some thing and it was all ready sprinkling some rain by the time I got out. It was coming down pretty hard by the time I got back to the house. I am not exactly drenched, but I was well on my way. I see a branch laying in the street further down from us already. Of course, the satellite is out too.

10:14p – The storm was over quick with no problem. I am cooking a chicken fettuccini alfredo florentine for supper. I am about to go eat soon. It is all ready.

10:51p – Supper was excellent! I am off to bed now. Skip is going to have some of my creation. I hope he likes it. Bless his heart... what would I be doing without him? I am so glad he is in my life and that I have my brother near. It would be very difficult to deal with life right now without him. I wonder what the future holds in store for us two devout bachelors? Nothing awful I hope... we are not bad people. Time will tell.

THURSDAY - JUNE 9, 2005

9:21a – I got up at 9:05a this morning. That's a little earlier. I woke up at about 3:30a again and was mostly awake until after dawn. Then I fell into a pattern of sleeping, dreaming, and startling awake. I will have to call that rest. I am bored with laying in bed wondering what the next weird dream will be!

9:09 – I had a pretty good day today. I put together a photo contest piece called "Tabletop Studio" which was "okay" (if not outstanding). The dishes are done, and the house is at least as clean as it has been. I dyed my hair (Macadamia #90 by Garnier Nutrisse) and gave Kira a major bath and conditioning. Then I took Kira for a walk in the sun to help dry her off. About 5:50p after just getting back from Q-Mart, I did some weedeating and trimmed up the front yard a bit. Later this evening, me and RD decided to create an Illinois-England Yahoo Group. We will see how it goes. The weather has lapsed ominous this evening and I took some foreboding pictures of clouds over Cahokia tonight. However, it seems to be remaining off in the distance so far. Of course, it may strike full force later tonight... one never knows!

9:17p – Skip just mentioned to me that tomorrow is EMPLOYEE APPRECIATION DAY at Wash U... my "former" employer. I think I shall go down to CWE with my camera and see how many people I see that I know... and see how they feel about the abolishment of the MIR Help Desk. It could be amusing. I feel sorry for those who are left behind in my old job who will have to deal with the influx of calls which will occur with the new Residents next month. I find it a bit amusing too, of course. It is hard to NOT feel that way under the circumstances. Whatever... they created it for themselves. I must move on. Too bad for them (I am doing great!...)....

10:05p – I am making another pasta type supper of fettuccini and chicken.

11:02p – Supper was good. Skip gave me a little grief about my method of job hunting tonight, but that is his opinion. I respect his perception, but I must deal with my own reality. I hope it will all work out in our mutual favor in time. Anyway... for the moment, I am off to bed. I am so bored with going to bed with no TV to lull me to sleep. I think I may give consideration to buying a cheap TV. They have one at Wal-Mart for only $90.I must think about this...

FRIDAY - JUNE 10, 2005

6:22p – I got up very early this morning for a change; before Skip left for work. I completely forgot about "Employee Appreciation Day"! Oh, well. I watched an episode of "The 2400" on USA this morning... VERY intense! I must watch more of this series (or min-series?). This afternoon I walked over to Block Buster and returned Skip's movies for him, and rented 3 for myself. Then I went to Schnuck's and bought supper. I felt like making a a nice meal for Skip after his hard day at work (especially since he had to work supportive services for the Employee Day event; even if I HAD forgotten). I got a large chuck roast (I had them pull one from the back); some fresh green beans (very nice looking) and some almonds to cook in with them; potatoes which I will make into mashed potatoes; and eggs for deviled eggs.

I have the roast in the oven now after marinated for a couple of hours. The eggs are cooked and cooled. The potatoes are peeled and cut, soaking in salt water. The beans are snapped & washed, chilling in the icebox. I chopped big chunks of carrots and onion and added them to the roast, which was drenched in a pepper-mesquite sauce to which I added some beer. I will make a brown gravy from the roast's drippings, and a light white butter sauce for the green beans almondine.

I finished watching the movie "Elf," and it left me in tears. It wasn't sad; in fact it was pretty silly. Yet I got caught up in the emotional content and started sniffling! Sheesh. Must be a hormone imbalance! 6:45p – I having a new problem now. I just put my "gray" lithium ion battery (for my camera) on the charger and the red "charging" light start flashing. It never did that before. I looked it up and it means "charging failure". That's not good. I have now placed the battery in the camera and am running the video to run down the battery completely. Then I will try charging it again.

That will (hopefully) do the trick. These batteries cost about $50 apiece! I don't want to have to buy another one while I am unemployed.

9:31p – We are watching "Son of the Mask" now, and I have just served up my platter of food. There is LOTS. I sorta out-did myself tonight!

9:46p – I think I am going to bed now...

10:07p – I stopped on "the blue print scene" in the movie ("Son of the Mask"). will pick up on it tomorrow. I have to crash now. I am pooped. Supper was excellent. Skip has not eaten yet and I've asked him to put things away. I hope he appreciates my efforts.

SATURDAY - JUNE 11, 2005

1:21p – I woke up around 1:30a this morning, then dozed off & on fitfully, having nightmare after nightmare. Not just "bad dreams" but awful stuff, fighting for my life with knives, giant man-eating mosquitoes, toilets that would not flush, bathroom doors that would not shut, people chasing me with guns, and one scene (very weird) with a conveyor belt of elderly Russian women who had been pumped full of chemicals. They were barely alive, bleeding from cracks in their skin; and there was some Nurse who was extracting something from them with a syringe. This extraction was then injected into people to rejuvenate them and keep them young. It was all very horrendous and I was being chased by the security people for discovering their dark secret. In between dreams I would wake up to hear Kira panting like she was in some kind of distress. I guess she was fine, but I worry about her constantly.

1:27p – I got up finally, exhausted, around 10:00a. I fixed leftovers from last nights bounty and watched the remained of "Son of the Mask." It was very entertaining. A bit silly, but that was to be expected. Better than I thought it would be actually. 6:19p – Good news & bad news in regard to RD. The GOOD news is that she now has XP on her system (though she may wonder how good that is until she gets used to it!). The BAD news is it's because her system totally crashed and she had to wipe it out & reload! Ick! 10:38p – I have most of the food cooked. I decided to try making "Potatoes Au Gratin" from scratch tonight. RECIPE

I had a big surprise today. First I discovered that my bank made an automatic payment of rent on Friday. Then I noticed that I had a second deposit of unemployment monies on Thursday that I had not anticipated. I thought they owed me one more check, but I was not planning on it. Then I found out that Friday was also payday (for Skip) and he paid me rent money. I thought I was not due a rent payment until NEXT Friday! I got all confused by my camping trip last week apparently. Well, needless to say, that was a good thing. Finances are looking better than I was expecting at this point.

10:39p – I cooked a pork steak and made some gravy to go with my creation tonight. I think the gravy is going to be too oily, but tasty (I hope).

10:40p – "Day of the Dead" is playing on TV at the moment. I am not watching it. Boring. I was going to watch my third DVD this evening ("White Noise"), but Skip was watching "Witness" (starring Harrison Ford living in an Amish community. An oldie, but goodie!).

10:57p – I am on my last beer, and I am ready to go for hours more! Well, I will probably eat my supper and crash. Whatever... I just hope I don't have all the disturbing nightmares like last night; they wear me out.

11:10p – I am off to eat supper now. I am not really hungry though, but I guess I should eat after all the work I put into supper...

11:36p – Oh my... supper was SO delicious!!!

11:41p – Okay... off to bed...

SUNDAY - JUNE 12, 2005

12:01a – I went to bed, but had to get up for a bit. I am going to take a Zoloft and hope I don't have another night of disturbing nightmares.

2:23a – I just woke up. I was having some kind of dream, but I can't remember what. That's the way it SHOLD be. I don't mind that. Better than nightmares! Of course, I had to run to the john, which is not all that normal. (Nor is typing in one's journal in the middle of the night, I suppose!). Kira had to go outside though, so I am waiting for her. Uh oh... <sigh> I think I better run back to the freakin' john... this is getting real old...

2:35a – I'm better. Time to let Kira in and go back to bed. I doubt I will go back to sleep before daylight though. I know how it works ...or fails to work. How long can I keep this up?

2:40a – I didn't have time to let her in... already running to the bathroom again.

2:43a – Kira's back in and now I am off to bed again. Maybe tonight will bed different and I will be able to sleep. We will see.

5:07a – Wow... I actually managed to go back to sleep for about three hours before I had to get up again. I was having some odd dreams, but at least they were not nightmares. Weird though. Its starting to get light outside. I hope I can get back to sleep.

10:52a – I was up again at 6:30, 6:40, 8:xx, 9:xx, and with fitful little naps in between. I finally gave up & got up at about 10:20a. The last set of dreams were interesting. I was doing photography and Mom loaned me her digital camera. Which is odd considering that she would never have even seen one before she died. I was trying to get a picture of a little owl. My camera kept malfunctioning and the entire lens assembly came off at one point.

Anyway, I am up. I am warming up some of last night's potatoes for brunch.

1:12p – Skip and I are off to the Landing to get out of the house and get a bite to eat at TGI Friday's..

We got home after 5:00p. I had a "Philly Cheese Steak" with fries and Skip had a Steak & Shrimp meal that looked very good. We spent most of our time waiting on the train & bus to get home. That was a pain. I got home and finished watching the movie "The Terminal" starring Tom Hanks. That was a really good movie. Tom did it again! Good going Kip!!

10:36p – I am fixing pork steaks & leftover 'potatoes au gratin' for supper.

11:03p – Supper was pretty good. Skip is watching my "Elf" DVD... which he is finding much more entertaining than he expected (as I expected!). I am off to bed in a bit...

11:21p – My stomach is... a problem. This will probably be a bad night.

MONDAY - JUNE 13, 2005

2:35a – It has not been such a bad night as expected (yet). Kira just got me up to go outside. I was having some kind of dream, but I can't remember what it was. That's *normal* though and as it should be. No nightmare or *electric* dreams (so far).

6:06a – I have been awake all this time laying in bed. I think I may have dozed off a bit around 4:00a. My stomach is being terrible again. It's daylight now, so I guess I will start to fall asleep and have weird dreams, if I follow my usual annoying pattern.

10:49a – Yep, that's about what happened. I just got up. I finally got some sleep with wild dreams.

5:39p – I can't believe I got up, went through email, watch the movie "White Noise," and now it is already so late! I did at least call the Waste Management people and scheduled to have them pick up the love seat. I must remember to set it out tonight.

7:19p – I got the love seat set out all by myself. I was a hot & sweaty job! Then I went over to the store. Skip was on his way home and had stopped to chat with Hobi down the street. I joined them for a moment, then went on to Block Buster, dropped off some DVD's, the Dollar Store (got some cheap spices), and to Schnuck's for some supper items. Pork steaks were cheap, and I got some broccoli. By the time I could head home, it was brewing up another storm.

11:58p – I made a tasty supper of pork steak, broccoli in cheese sauce, rice and gravy. I also fried up Skip's chicken breast and shared the side dishes with him. We watched the remainder of "Elf" together, since he had not seen it all. Now it it about midnight and well past time for us both to be in bed.

TUESDAY - JUNE 14, 2005

3:44a – I am up letting Kira out. I thought my stomach was playing its usual games with me, but it seems the pills I took this evening are helping. Now then to see if I can get some sleep and not lay there in the dark trying to pretend I am sleeping for several hours...

9:09a – I forced myself to get up. I feel drugged and dazed, but I am sure it will pass.

9:19a – My stomach behaved all night, but I still lay awake most of the night until about 6:00a. Then I started having the weird dreams. They were many and varied, but they seemed to revolve around Kira this time. In one dream, I was back in Eltopia, Washington. Mom was in the dream and she had taken Kira with her somewhere. It was not certain if she was going to bring her back. I was sleeping out in the bunkhouse and had to get up to go to the bathroom. I went in the house and Mom and Dad had company of some kind; strangers to me. I asked her if I could use her bathroom, and noticed that Kira was laying under her feet. Mom and brought her back, for now at least, and told me she could go back out to the bunkhouse to sleep. I felt a lot of relief. In another dream I was in a frozen cavern. Kira and another dog even older than her were with me. There was an ice-bridge across the (river?) that flowed through the cavern and it collapsed. Both Kira and the other dog were in the water. I was able to get Kira out, but I could not find the other dog. And at one point a wounded or confused Mockingbird flew into the cavern and landed in the icy waters. It was swimming around like a water bug and Kira (who was still in the water at this time) was eyeing it like she wanted to give chase, but she realized there was the more pressing issue of getting out of the icy river. A third dream sequence did not include Kira at all, and where the other two were in full color, this one seemed to be more in sepia tones. I was watching some kind of aircraft which seemed to be a cross between a biplane and a blimp fly over head. This particular craft had misjudged its height and/or speed or something and before our very eyes, it crashed into and became entangle in some structure; possibly a bridge. I was standing in a line with other people when it happened. We were all waiting to get on a bus together. I realized at the last moment that I had my camera strapped around my neck, and began furiously trying to get all the settings adjusted to capture the wreckage on video. I got the camera rolling just in time to see the craft falling away from the girders or whatever it had crashed into. It came crashing down and oddly enough, the pilot of this craft was passing by. He had apparently escaped unscathed and he saw me filming his ruined vehicle as it came tumbling down in pieces. He spoke to me. I think he said something about making sure I caught it all so he would have it (for his insurance?). I explained that I was unable to capture the actual crash, only the wreckage as it was falling from its massive snare.

9:44a – That is just a sample of the dreams. There were more, including one with a turtle in a can, and another in which the radio in the back ground which was mentioning the the collapse of the ice-bridge from the other dream. They were all interrelated and (as usual) chaotic.

11:29p – I applied for an interesting position with SLU today as a "Project Administrator." This could be a great job for me! I doubt they will even respond, but... at least I made the effort.

11:31p – I got the lawn mowed today, both front and back. It looks good. Tiffany and her friend then mow their lawn (next door). Tiffany tells me she will be moving to Wisconsin next weekend. I am sorry to hear that. Sadly, she is/was one of my few acquaintances in these parts.

11:33p – Skip and I are cooking a feast tonight. He got some London Broil. I have added corn, mashed potatoes, gravy and broccoli & cheese (from last night). I made a bed of onion & bell pepper in which he broiled the meat. It all looks very tasty!

11:35p – I am off to eat now...

WEDNESDAY - JUNE 15, 2005

12:45a – Supper was good. I am off to bed now. Skip made a London broil that I actually *liked* for a change.

8:21a – YAY! I slept through the entire night! Well, I got up once, but went right back to sleep. That's acceptable. I slept right through to about 6:00a. No stomach problems either. I had some dreams, but they have faded away as dreams often do. A *normal* night!

2:25p – I got 2 more job applications out this morning. This afternoon I received the COBRA paperwork and I also contacted that organization Dr. Parks told me about to see if they can help with covering the cost. I thought I would be well rested today, having got a more normal night's sleep. Instead, I find I am feeling very tired and sleepy.

10:24p – I made another excursion into the backyard in search of neat FIREFLY pictures tonight. I think I am getting better and I think I got my best shots yet tonight. Then I set fire to the "burn pile" in the back yard. I used up nearly an entire container of charcoal lighter keep the flame going. I made video of it and am trying to make a WMV file of it, but I am having problems.

11:46p – My FIRE files did not work out too well, but I am still working on a movie file. It may be missing SOME of the info, but not all of it.

11:47p – Sheesh... I am off to bed now.

THURSDAY - JUNE 16, 2005

I am still having no major stomach problems and sleeping much better. I need to go to the store today, there are several things we need, including something to unclog the kitchen sink.

Skip called me this afternoon. He is going to take off early tomorrow and go watch the 12:40 showing of Star Wars - Episode III. I will meet him at CWE and we will walk over to Chase Park Plaza.

I finally made it to the store. I bought several items at Dollar Store, then went to Schnuck's for some grocery items and finally by Q-Mart. I had quite a load to carry, so I did not get milk (but we still have a little). Skip got off the bus and came into Q-Mart while I was there and we walked home together. I was huffing & puffing and pouring sweat by the time I got home! I was carrying so much, I actually had to set it down to rest a couple of times.

Jack has taken a phase of chatting in Yahoo lately, both from home and his mobile device. It doesn't really seem like him to me, but I am so happy to have the interaction with him. I miss our conversations, which could often be something between a sparring match and a complicated dance; a conversation interwoven with intelligent, if twisted and sometimes perverse humor.

RD got Alan's car up to specs for him today... in the rain and the cold! I hope he REALLY appreciates that! I know I hate getting grease on myself AND I hate getting wet if I'm not swimming or bathing, so I think she went above and beyond! If I ever get a car, it may be cheaper to fly her over here as my mechanic than to take it to the shop! LOL...

I swapped keyboards finally today and put a newer on on my system plus the extension cord. This keyboard is much smoother and quieter. I like it. The extension is working well. Before the keyboard kept getting pulled up under the desk (on the rolling tray) and my fingers were crowded under there causing me to type slower and make more errors.

FRIDAY - JUNE 17, 2005

9:13a – I did not sleep quite as well last night as I have been for the last 2 or 3 nights, but I didn't lay awake for as long as usual. I did have lots of bad dreams though. I've noticed here lately that many of my dreams have Mom and/or Dad in them. In the last dream I had this morning before getting up, Mom was going out to some formal event. She was wearing a dress she borrow from Grace Chewing, of all people! (She never even knew her!). She was also exceedingly tall and thin, then she added high-heeled, platform shoes to the ensemble and she must have soar to about 11 feet tall! I was getting dizzy looking up at her! (I had probably turn over in my sleep and triggered one of my BPPV vertigo attacks). Intermixed in that same dream was Skip. However, he was still only about 7 years old in this dream (I rarely dream of him as an adult). He was being absolutely obnoxious and throughout the dream he was being a total brat and I was upset about it. I tried to tell Mom about it, but she did not want to discuss it because she was going to a party and it would bring her down. I got angry and said I was not going to avoid the topic, that it needed to be discusses and was very important! I was very upset and... and then I woke up. Not a "nightmare" ... but another of a series of disquieting dreams. 10:20a – I was just getting in the shower and Skip called. I had to run for my phone but missed him. Then he called on the house phone. So... NOW I will try to take my shower again.

5:21p – We just got in from watching "Star Wars Episode III - Revenge of the Sith." Great show (of course). It was kind of strange to see how Darth Vader came in to being in this movie as the black helmet wearing, heavy breathing, scary dude we have all known for nearly 3 decades now.

SATURDAY - JUNE 18, 2005

2:04p – I got up fairly early this morning around 7:00a. I was not sleeping anyway. I had let Kira out at dawn and she has spent most of the day outside. The SBC telephone man rang the doorbell earlier. He needed to get to some phone lines in the back yard to fix the neighbor's phone.

4:49p – I went to Q-Mart a little bit ago and picked up some wire cages for the tomato plants. They are already starting to need some support and they don't even have any tomatoes growing yet.

Marty & JR came over for the cans tonight. The barrel was full plus I had a garbage back full and the red tub was full!

SUNDAY - JUNE 19, 2005

10:08a – I slept in late this morning after getting up at dawn to let Kira outside. I started the day off with a nice refreshing shower for a change.

I did not do much of anything today. Skip and I tried to watch Bill Murry's comedy, "Life Aquatic" tonight, but either it was very boring, or our attention span was inadequate to follow it. I went to bed in the middle of it and have no clue what I watched.

MONDAY - JUNE 20, 2005

This was a fairly productive day, even though I did not get out of bed until nearly 11:00a. I contacted the agency in Belleville that I have to see about getting assistance with paying my COBRA payments, got all my paperwork organized, charted out my bus ride and will be going to Belleville tomorrow to get this taken care of. I've never been to Belleville before, so I will probably get totally lost!

I also applied for 3 new positions at Wash U. One is the exact same job title (User Support Technician) that I have had for the past 5 years.

AND I finally got the kitchen cleaned up again after last week's clogging incident. It's all spic & span again.

TUESDAY - JUNE 21, 2005

7:26a – I was up early this morning, around 6:00a (before Skip was even up for work). First thing I did was wash the few dishes that had already accumulated and tidied up the kitchen. I hate it to get into the mess that it was in yesterday. I also set the garbage out.

I've got a CD ready to go out to RD, but I wasn't able to get it ready for her in time for Skip to take it to the PO for me. He did, however, take my other envelope with him. Iith' aanw' uute iiye-iiye-oy-iise. Os' aone ch'aas' iibunge!

I have even had time to create a WMV file from a video I took last December cxe la Zamenhofa Bankedo. Ni estis kantanta la kanto "Ho Ho."

7:32a – Time now to check email, fix a bite to eat, and get ready for my safari to Belleville.

7:45a – Email is done... that must be record time for me! Now for a quick breakfast.

8:08a – I ended up cleaning the icebox while making a cheese omelet I had a can of strawberry-banana nectar with it.

8:27a – Time to take a shower and start getting ready.

2:48p– I just got home. That was about 5 hours of travel time, and it is a hot day. I think I got a lot accomplished, but there are still some hurdles to leap. The main problem is that I only have 45 days from May 14th to get this COBRA stuff rolling and Wash U sat on it for a MONTH! Now I may not have time to get things done in time and will probably have to shell out more of my limited funds to cover the first month. I am really starting to get angry over their poor treatment of me. I was a good employee, I did my job well, and now I am getting treated like a pariah.

Whatever... I think I will go take my frustrations out on some KFC for now. I am FAMISHED!

I only ate the half pint of liver & gizzards and 1.5 jalapeños. I have save the 3 piece (white meat) dinner with cole slaw & corn on the cob for later. It will not be as good hot & fresh, but I will still enjoy it.

Ick... another bill came in. Water bill for $18.95; I guess that's not TOO bad.

6:19p – I finally got the 1Gb RAM chip installed. At first it only said I had 480Kb though! So I swapped the positions with the 256Mb and the new 1Gb chip and it still said 480Mb. So then I removed the 256Kb chip and it dropped down to only 224Mb of RAM! OMG... I was getting upset at this point. Then I realized I had gone just totally blond, fer sure! I had somehow managed to get my new chip confused with the old one. It was back in the package and sitting on my desk during all these escapades, despite thinking of the possibility and be very careful to avoid it. I still don't know how I managed to do that, but it was such a relief to learn that it was just my own blundering! LOL!!

8:13p – After a discussion with Marty, I decided to move my pepper plants to a sunnier location. They are not doing as well as the tomatoes. He says his are getting lots of sun, but bugs were molesting them. I am not having a bug problem, maybe because I spray them daily with water and maybe am keeping them clean? I don't know. I think I will go mow the front yard now. I is just sunset. A good time to mow!

8:59p – Whew! Got the front lawn mowed, pulled weeds, moved the pepper plants to a better spot (I think they need more sun), sprayed weed killer, and doused the rose bushes with fungicide and herbicide. The lawn mower was just running out of gas and starting to splutter as I finish (good timing!).

9:09p – I have bed clothes in the washer now; I am being SO productive tonight. Actually, ALL DAY, now that I think about it! Oh... and on my "safari" to Belleville today, I learned where the St. Clair County Courthouse is located. This could be very valuable knowledge in my efforts to get my birth certificate corrected.

And would you believe... I carried my camera with me all day today, but I never took one picture! I saw some great shots that I wish I could have stopped for along the way though. There were several scenes of white herons in the waterways along the train, stalking their prey; and one awesome view of an Eagle (or Hawk?) perched on a dead branch as overlooking us with hauteur as we pass beneath. On the way back I saw another raptor (maybe the same one?) hovering over the Northern side of the tracks in search of prey. I wish I could have jumped off the train and whipped out my camera to capture the moment, but it was just a fleeting "drive by" experience.

WEDNESDAY - JUNE 22, 2005

I did not really accomplish a lot today. However, I did get my COBRA paperwork all filled out. It looks like there is going to be no way around my paying the first month's payment though. That is going to hurt. $301 is more than a car payment! I am so aggravated with Wash U for wasting a month of my time and nearly costing me my medical coverage ... which I MUST have.

I talked to Lisa today. She got a letter from Employment Security saying she needs to come in for her 4-week check in. I checked the mail later and found that I had one too, so we are planning on going in tomorrow together.

I talked to Jack on-line. He had just watched the new Batman movie. I want to see that one. I noticed there is a theater in Belleville on the bus line that is showing it, and the have matinees for $3.50 daily.

Skip ordered a new sword tonight. A set of two actually. We really did need a new sword around the house! (lol!)

THURSDAY - JUNE 23, 2005

5:41a – I am up early this morning. I could not sleep anyway, so I decided to get up and be productive instead of laying in bed trying to force myself to sleep.

7:42a – RD told about her trip to her version of Employment Security today. It was not a pretty picture. I won't discuss her private affairs further here, but my heart goes out to her on this. We are both going through such trying and stressful times. If only there were truly a such thing as "fair," but real life tends to be a serious of nasty realities.

12:42p – I am all showered, shaved & dressed to go to town. Lisa is supposed to be over at 1pm. I got that check written out for the COBRA. Ouch. I was really not planning on doing that, but I must retain this insurance.

5:00p – I got home a little after 4:00p. We got our 4 week check in done with no problem. Then we went to Jay International where I stocked up on exoctic foods, including another 50lbs of Jasmine rice. Lisa took my by their new house that they will be moving to in LaDue. It looks nice. Then we went by Chen's office and dropped off Hanna. She is going with Chen to visit her grandmother and family in Malaysia in acouple of weeks. She hasn't been back there since she was a baby. Lisa is going to be worried sick over her of course. Lisa stopped by Q-Mart on the way home and I got groceries put away, but I am beat. I don't know why. I didn't really do much. I think it was the heat mostly, and maybe the fact that I got up so early this morning.

10:50p – I am off to bed now. I am really tired. I bet I will sleep late tomorrow!

FRIDAY - JUNE 24, 2005

9:18a – I slept until a little after 8:00a. I was having all kinds of weird dreams. In one dream, I drempt I was at an amusement park by the sea when a hurricane struck. The water came pouring inland from the sea and nearly everyone was being swept away. I managed to fly (as I often do in dreams) and stuggled against the winds to keep myself above the raging waters. I landed on top of a building, which seemed to be above the flood and safe. There was a child on the building with me and we managed to get a small door open and get inside to relative safety. There were people in residence there and they seemed to welcome us. There were other refugees from the disaster there too. They let me sleep on an old sofa. While sleeping I dreamed I was on a bus. It was night time and I did not have my glasses. I was having a terrible time seeing where we were and it turns out that I was the last passenger on the bus. The bus driver did not realize I needed to go to the end of her route and decided to turn around before going all the way to the end. (It seemed that we were on Oakridge Road in Orlando). I complained and told her I had yet to reach my destination, so she found a place to turn the bus around and take me back. It was very confusing, and I ended up getting off at the wrong point, in front of a Winn Dixie grocery store. I went inside to do some shopping and found my self sitting in a rolling office chair. I was kicking myself along and bouncing from counter to counter in the store from this chair. I was looking for the meat section, but I ended up in the Deli. I finallyu found the meat and was going to buy some hamburger meat, but there was something wrong with it. They were having to press the hamburger to get some sort of whitish fluid out of it before repackaging it to sell. Then I woke up and was back in the house of hurricane refugees. It was morning and the storm was over. I looked out the window and someone had been sky writing. The sky was very beautiful and a huge heart had been drawn and there were words written beneath it (I can't remember what they said). This dream continued on for a while and got more and more confusing. It becomes to chaotic to put down in words.

I finally woke for real, feeling worn out, and got myself out of bed.

3:46p – I have been a bum today and not accomplished one single thing. I've done good all this week though, so I don't really even feel guilty. At the moment, I am upgrading my email from Outlook Express, to the full Outlook program. I have had it for a long time, but I think I want to try to synch my Yahoo calendar and my mMode (cell phone) calendar all together if possible. I hope I am not making a total mess of things! My drive space is dwindling at an alarming rate as all my emails (over 3 years worth) are imported (ie, "duplicated"). It's down to 6.32Gb at this point.

3:49p – I think I will go to the store while this is running.

4:16p – OMG! It is HOT out there!

6:18p – Jack and Adam are strolling around in downtown Berkely, CA, at the moment.

SATURDAY - JUNE 25, 2005

4:46a – I just had a dream with Maria Pacheco in it. I asked to use her bathroom in ruturn for my coooking her some habichuelas negras con arroz. She looked at me funny and I told her "Frijoles Negros!" ... and then she understood. 1:50p – I felt yucky this morning. I actually had a hangover from drinking to much beer last night. I got so involved in creating my "23rd Psalm" movie that I was not paying attention to how much I was drinking. Well, at least the movie came out great! I've posted it on-line and have been getting some wonderful compliments.

I just entered change and rent money into Where's George. These were my stats from yesterday. Now I am going to refresh and see what my stats are after today's entry...

'Your Bills' Summary Statistics You have entered 2,701 Bills worth $18,181 Bills with hits: 352 Total hits: 409 Hit rate: 13.03% Slugging Percentage: 15.14% (total hits/total bills) George Score: 882.71 Your rank (based on George Score) is #2,097 (out of 14,727 current users with a George Score. [85.8 Percentile]) Your State Rank in Illinois is: 77 out of 3,100 [97.5]

1:55p – Darn. I dropped from 77 to 82. My highest rank so far has been 76. At least I am still in the top 100. I see 6 more people have begun participating in the state of Illinois. Pridefest is being held at Tower Grove park today, and I completely FORGOT about it! Anyway, I had a slight hangover and it is just WAY to hot out. I would not have been enjoying myself. Maybe I can go tomorrow.

'Your Bills' Summary Statistics You have entered 2,721 Bills worth $18,485 Bills with hits: 353 Total hits: 411 Hit rate: 12.97% Slugging Percentage: 15.10% (total hits/total bills) George Score: 883.33 Your rank (based on George Score) is #2,118 (out of 14,743 current users with a George Score. [85.6 Percentile]) Your State Rank in Illinois is: 82 out of 3,106 [97.4]

Skip and I walked over to Wal-Mart this afternoon, mainly to look at computers. His computer seems to be messed up and he is thinking of getting a new one. It was stifling hot out. We did our shopping in Wal-Mart, which was way too busy for comfort with long lines and obnoxious people. I bought a new phone for my office. I am getting tired of my old headset phone with its deteriorating earpiece and static fill sound. I can barely hear any one. I intended to use my cell phone as my primary phone, but I get such bad reception out here in Cahokia that no one can understand what I am saying, and I hae to run out on the back porch just to talk. So I got a little $15 2.4GHz cordless. I also picked up a pack of 5 DVD-RWs for only $4.94.

Then while waiting in line to check out I realized it was pouring down rain! So we walked over to Schnuck's in the rain. (Hot rain!). They had some good deals on chuck roast, chicken & stew beef, and I bought some of each, but it was a lot to carry!

The rain had nearly quit when we left Schnuck's and walked over to the Dollar store, but the humidity had become ridiculous! (Yahoo said it was 79%, but I think that was not accurate for our area!). I picked up some light bulbs, aluminum foil (I still call it "tin foil" ... I bet Gary A. would tease me about that).

Skip left before I checked out and said he was going somewhere (probably Block Buster) and so I just walked on over to Q-Mart. The rain had stopped by this time and the sun was back out in force, so things were steaming like a sauna. I had to take my glasses off since they were fogging up and sliding off my nose. This was made more aggravating since I was carrying so much and could not fix my glasses or wipe the sweat of my brow. Skip met me as I was leaving Q-Mart; he had indeed gone to Block Buster. (I wonder what he rented?)

7:49p – Skip is going to buy the new HP computer for $350 (on clearance sale). Hobi is going to come over in a few minutes and give him a ride over to pick it up. He is buying it almost entirely from coins he has collected. Of course, he still has to carry the coins to the bank to cash them in. I also made a purchase tonight for $42.93. I bought a coin sorter and some coin wrappers to replace the machine that was stolen in the burglary last March. I would still like to beat that bitch with a wet rope for burglarizing my home and stealing from me. She better NEVER show her face around here again. <grrr!>

I just got all over Kira's case. She squeezed through the gate and was in the front yard! She rarely does this, but it greatly upsets me. I would be devastated if she got out in the road and got hit. I gate yelling at her, but she has to understand that this is NOT acceptable!

8:02p – Hobi just got here and Skip left. Off to buy his new PC. I would like a new PC. Well... at least one that did not have the problems (driver conflicts) this one has and a faster processor. This one only has a 1.66GHz Processor and his is about 2.8GHz. I am getting left behind.

9:50p – Skip seems to be getting into his new PC quite fervently. I have a package of the "stew meat" on the stove simmering in a heavy blend of seasoning... mostly curry. I was in a "curry" mood tonight. I wonder if coconut milk would go well in this? ...hmmmm...

11:42p – Skip rented and is watching "Hostage" with Bruce Willis. I am not getting in to it. But my supper is about ready to eat, so I will probably sit down and watch some of it.

SUNDAY - JUNE 26, 2005

8:16a – I just got up and let Kira out. Skip made a pot of coffee and I got a cup. I rarely drink coffee anymore, but it seemed like a nice thought this morning.

I wanted to go to PrideFest 2005, but it was just too hot to deal with it. If I had a ride I would have gone.

I spent the day working on new video clips for my collection. I am getting much better at it.

Skip and I got the 'home office' tidied up tonight. It sure looks a lot better! However, now I have a bunch of plastic tubs sitting in the middle of the kitchen that need to be sorted and organized.

I made an intersting supper of boiled peanuts, coconut milk and pork for supper tonight, over rice (of course). The rice was a bit greasy since I used some of Skip's hamburger drippings. I mixed about a half cup of fried shallots in the rice and dispite its grease content, it was quite tasty!

MONDAY - JUNE 27, 2005

1:00p – I got up about 6:00a. I wasn't feeling good. I am still not feeling all that great. My heart keeps fluttering and feels funny which is very worrisome. I need to get motivated and to get my hair cut, but I feel so lethargic and it's so hot out. I need to start organizing the plastic tubs stacked in the middle of the kitchen. I need to do the diishes. I need to get some more jobs applications out. I need to change the air filter. I need to take Skip movie back and got to Wal-Mart and pick up some quarter wrappers. I need to do all these things and just can't get motivated to do anything. I did at least put some miracle-grow on the tomatoes and peppers.

I finally got a bit motivated and left the house. I took Skip's "Hostage" DVD back to BB and then I caught the 2:26 bus and went to get my hair cut. I went to Great Clips and got my hair cut much shorter than in recent times. I think I like it. I got in and out very quickly, then I went over to McDonalds and got a Fudge Sunday. Erth' aasw' eye ~aasheiya erthe! Y'aatchtw' im' ailw' iih' eiche. <sigh> Nyenewe... then I went out to catch the bus. A train ran of cousre (2 engines and 80 cars... yes, I counted!). The bus arrived more or less on time, and I took it down to Wal-mart. I picked up a bag of 36 quarter-wraps for Skip. For myself, I got a 15-pack of DVD-RW's and some various pens and markers that I think I need.

8:26p – I just watered the plants, added some extra soil (thanks for that, Marty!). I changed 2 burned out bulbs in the front yard (lamp post) and cleaned on the robin poop off of the yard post lamp. then I cleaned the inside of the front storm door and wipe down smudges all around the front door. Meanwhile, this DVD (#4) is not even half way done.

8:28p – The DVD for January 2005 (photos) just ejected. I assume it is done. I guess it finished up faster than I anticipated. This is only the fourth DVD I have ever burn though, so what do I know?

8:48p – I am now backing up the months of Feb & Mar of 2005. Skip is rolling quarters in his room. I am struggling to find things to do here! Burning DVD's seems to be exceedingly boring!

9:30p – And now I have to re-boot. Things have gone bad....

TUESDAY - JUNE 28, 2005

Not too much to report today. It was hot of course. Around noon, I carried Skip's container of coins over to the Coin-Star machine at Schnuck's in my old Word Perfect shoulder bag. It must've weighed about 50-70 lbs. I got an abandoned grocery cart from the parking lot and wheeled them the remainder of the way into the store. My back was cramping up again. I spent about 20 minutes pouring the coins into the machine. The final tally (after they took out their 8.9 cents on the dollar) was $113.63.

On the way back, I stopped by AutoZone. I had noticed their "Now Hiring" sign out front yesterday. I picked up an application. It is not my line of work really, but the location is very convenient and only takes about 10 mintues to stroll their casually. (I can walk their briskly in about 3 minutes if I have to!).

The kitchen is a disaster, but I did wash, dry and put away a few dishes. I need to do more.

Skip got home and we sat and watched the remainder of "The Last Samurai" again. Later, I spent a lot of time emptying boxes and getting my office organize. It is looking much better. It gives me a sense of accomplishment.

I set my computer to defrag the hard drive and went to bed.

WEDNESDAY - JUNE 29, 2005

I got up around 4:15am and checked the computer. It had finished the defrag. So I loaded the AVI file I am trying to burn to DVD and started it running.

I got up "for real" about 8:30 this morning. The computer had bombed out and was just beeping forlornly. I had to mess around with it before it came back to its senses. I learned to RIP music from my old music CD's today, and then I learned that GoldWave can "batch process" the resulting WMA files and convert them to MP3 files which I can use in movie files! YAY! That's great!! I converted several files to MP3.

Skip had audaciously left me a note on the pc this moring telling me to buy bar soap. I have been meaning to pick some up for a while now... and some shampoo. I think he could buy it as well as tell me to do so (he manages to buy his beer every night... hmmm). Well, whatever. I won't be picky about it. However, I felt bad all day. My heart has been fluttering and palpitating all day long. I am so paranoid about having a heart attack (since so many family members have died from such).

I spent much of the day going through some of the tubs in the kitchen floor (which contribute to its "disaster" state) and in cleaning & organizing in my office. I got my old organizer tray out of my room, dumped the trash out of them, cleaned them up and found that the fit perfectly in my desk area. I cleaned and organized... I organized and cleaned! It may not look like much, but I got a lot done.

Skip's swords arrived around noon. I noticed the UPS truck in the driveway and went to the door just as the driver was knocking. I must've scared him. He said I "trickec him" by not having a car in the driveway. I told him I do not HAVE a car to put there! The only trick is that I can get to where I need to be! LOL.

I went to put Skip's boxed swords in his room. That's when I realized that the warm draft I had been noticing was coming from his room. His window was wide open and the temperature is at last 95°F out there. I shut the window and then I realized the OTHER window was open too! So I attempted to close it, but I knocked his homemade cardboard blind down (it blocks the glare from his window). I tried to put the blind back up, and managed to pull down his entire venetian blinds on that side! (oops). So I finally got it all back together after a silly comedy of errors.

I walked to Q-Mart this afternoon and picked up some bar soap and shampoo. It was SO hot!! Yahoo said the "feels like" temperature was up to 104°F.

8:39p – So, Skip got home and found one of his swords were broken. And he complained that the kitchen was becoming a mess. I think he believes it to be my responsibility to clean up after him now that I am not working. This, despite the fact that he still owes me money and that I AM still paying all my bills. I don't think he quite gets the situation. It may get worse, and may come down to my being "indebted" but it is not to that point yet. I am cleaning house and being "domestic" because I think it is useful and something I should do. I am concerned that he is starting to think it my olbigation. Though it may well develope into an obligation in time, it is not there yet. Well... we will see how it goes. I am not complaining about his attitude really... just voicing concerns.

8:48p – I got a lot of music converted to MP3 files today, and RD sent me lots of MP3 files too. I will have a lot of material to work with in creating movies!

THURSDAY - JUNE 27, 2005

I got up to let Kira out this morning... and I was too late. She had a BAD accident which trailed from the living room to the kitchen. It covered two rugs the carpet and kitchen tile. That was not a very pleasant way to start off the day. Skip had already left for work, so it must have happened in that short time between him leaving and my getting up. What a way to end the month!

Skylar came over tonight, with his friend Beth. I had not seen him in ages. He has a new phone number again. He had been down to Cozamel (sp?) Mexico and showed some pictures. We ended up getting some more beer and I stayed up until after 3:00a!