so Sunday night I had to leave the house due to a lack of Huck-chow. I also had to drop a prescription off at Target. So on the way home, I decided to see what the hub-bub and traffic was about at Sonic. So I stopped in. I decided to go for car-hop service, and pulled in when a space cleared. I browsed over the menu, and tried to pick something I would like. I opted for two of their value chicken strip sandwiches, a small order of "tots", and a Strawberry Shake.

So onto the food. The chicken strip sandwiches were darn tasty. Nice and crispy chicken, with some lettuce on the bottom, and some mayo. Tasted good and went down easy. The "tots" where almost all tots, but I also had some popcorn chicken pieces and regular fries mixed in as well. Now I personally got a kick out of this, as when I get a stray food mixed in with others, it's a treat. Like when you open a bag of Doritos and get a Cheet-o inside the bag as well. Now about the shake. It was EXCELLENT. And thick. Like so thick trying to drink it actually loosened my partial. I really enjoyed it.

Of course, now I have a copy of the menu in my car, and I have already picked out somethings I need to try next, like the lime-aides and also the smoothies.

I came home, and I was/am still nursing a pulled pectoral muscle. It's really painful, and hurt enough to keep me in the house Saturday night, meaning I missed the chance at a movie w/Kristen. I stupidly popped some pain killers when I came home, and felt better enough and installed the attic fan I bought. I started around 7-8pm, and planned to be done by 11pm, at the latest. Between cutting a hole in my attic door, and cutting the wood for the fan to mount to, I didn't start installing UNTIL 11pm. I also ran some conduit to encase the wire for the fan, and by the time I cut power and finished wiring, it was 12:30. I also found out later that I almost lost my one external hard drive when I cut the power to the attic, which apparently is hooked into an outlet I plug my computer into. So I got the fan powered and started fixing the problems I was coming across, like the air leak out of the top. By 2am, I had the fan running and the attic COOLING nicely, and went downstairs to bed.

Of course, when I woke up this morning, my muscle reminded me of all the work I did. So I was in a lot of pain today, which is of course a day they send me around to random locations to do things I have no clue how to do b/c it's systems I have never dealt with before. I think I figured out what I was doing, which is good. So here I am, sitting on the couch, not really minding my hurt shoulder. Why? Because I walked into a fallen branch and it jammed into the top of my foot. So it hit near a vein, and the swelling and pain has started. I forecast a nice bruise to compliment the others I am sporting tomorrow morning.

OK, that's it for tonight, as I am tired, and need to sleep. BADLY. So on that note, I will bid you all Nighters.

it has been an awful long time since my last entry. I mostly blame my schedule for it. I barely get to sit down and relax except for the weekends, and then I'm usually to lazy to sit in front of the computer to type. So lets get up to date! Most important things first.

Skeeter and Cynder are still alive. They constantly try my patience and tempt fate, but come out on top. I am on step 2 of toilet training them. As of right now, the litter box is next to and level with the toilet seat, and they are using it just fine. Of course, my bathroom and toilet are now covered in loose litter, but it will all be worth it in the end. The next step is the litter box on the toilet seat, and finally a insert to go into the toilet. After that, the cats will be litter box free, and I will only have to flush the toilet! For their viewing pleasure, I have set up two suet feeders and one bird house on the gutter outside the windows of their room. It's so hilarious watching both of them perched upon a box with their tails twitching watching birds.

Ash Lee, Dizzy, Angel, and Crystal are also fine. The tom has made an appearance again, and he is messing with the cats at times. I really want to catch him and get rid of him proper, but everytime I set up the trap, I manage to only catch Angel. Ash has started to become lovey again, which is nice. Dizzy is as adorable as ever, but she's become a major pain in my butt at times. Since the weather is warming up, I will go outside to feed/hay/work w/o my heavy jacket on or sometimes my overalls. Thin clothing and sharp claws do not mix well. She also has been getting in the way when I go to target shoot in the gully behind the farm. But she's so cute, how can I stay mad at her?

Speaking of my bow, I did purchase a bow for myself. It's something I've been wanting for awhile, and it has a variety of uses. Besides geese removal(permanently) and also woodchuck removal(also permanent), it is also a good form of exercise and a stress reliever, will help me provide food if the world goes to hell, and considering actressGina Davis almost made the US Olympic archery team, it could a ticket to Olympic gold. I found a guy who sells/repairs them pretty reasonably at Englishtown Auction, so after coming into some money, I blew it on my bow. I set up some moldy hay bales(can't feed them to the horses) as targets/backstops, and take some shots now and then when I have time. It's also given me some chances to create things for the bow that I need, rather than buy them. I just made a quiver out of PVC last night while watching the Riches, so I saved some money there. I also am in the process of making a pro-style finger tab, which I based on a design I found online. After catching my arm on one of the first shots, which resulted in a nice little raspberry, I did fold and buy a nice pro bracer. I got it for half off, which wasn't to bad at all. I also got some new arrows, and have plans to get more, in case I lose any. I had thought I lost one already, but after hacking down a lot of thorn bushes this weekend, I found it!! Next to build is a bow rest for when I have to put down my bow outside. Inside I hung a hook from the ceiling in my office, and I hang the bow there when not using it. Since the bow has a 60lb pull, and a far let off, it's a great work out for my arm. Once I get my finger tab made, I can really start getting in some shots every night, as w/o it, 60lbs spread over 1/8" hurts a lot. My aim is slowly improving, and the only thing I seem to be able to hit repeatedly is the space between the two bales of hay, which results in a arrow disappearing into the (used to be)brush behind it. Since the bow has such a high draw weight, it was also putting arrows almost completely through the bales. I have since got some foam from Collingswood Flea Market for in between the bales, and also added some burlap to the back of the bales. Since I'm using target points, they don't go through the sacks, so it's way better.

Speaking of auctions/flea markets, as anyone who has checked out my away messages(you haven't? Shame!) has seen, I have been hitting them up pretty often. Since I started my new wet shaving/safety razor habit, I have been amassing a collection for myself, and also a small on for my Father. I will present him with a nice kit on Fathers Day, which I hope he will enjoy. In order to get some nice razors, I have had to get some bad ones also. I have gotten some razors on eBay and others at the flea markets/antique stores. The market razors tend to be cheaper, and you get a good look at them, so you get better quality. But the price you pay is quantity, and any you find are a treasure. eBay on the other hand, has more quantity, but less quality, and is very expensive sometimes. You also do not get to handle the razors, and are at the sellers mercy. I have only gotten burned once so far::knocks on wood::, so I am considering myself lucky. Antique stores are in the middle of two, and tend to be less expensive than eBay, better quality, but still low quantity. I now currently have over 30+ razors. I have six that I am evaluating for my daily shavers, and five in my "collection", which are for display. I have a few picked out for my Dad also. Once I figure out which ones will go to my Dad, the rest are going to slowly be put up on eBay. If I get $10-15 dollars for each razor that I sell, that will pay for all of the razors on a whole, which is good. I have no doubt I can get that much b/c that's what the market has been commanding. Even if I take a slight loss, it's still not that bad, b/c I will have gotten my Dad a nice Fathers Day gift. I do really enjoy the safety razors though. The shaves are great, and except for a few bad shaves due to bad blades or water conditions, I mostly end up very smooth. But about the flea markets. It's very refreshing to get up on a Saturday morning, take a quick shower in, talk w/ my Dad, then go out for a few hours and walk the markets. Never underestimate the intoxicating qualities of fresh air. Also, don't count out the food there, either. I found a guy who does nuts at Englishtown who makes some kick ass Butter Toffee Cashews that are to die for. The way I see it, I work off the calories walking around the market.

The farm is doing well. Since we got rid of our worst clients(whom have since started pulling the same stuff they did w/ us at their new place), we have less horses, but more owners/trainers. Everyone is happy with how their horses are looking coming from our place, which is great! My Dad's been down almost every day, and I think he's looking better and I think he's feeling better. If he would only take my advice about yogurt, I think he'd be all set. I have to admit I'm starting to enjoy working at the farm sometimes. This Sunday I put about 12 hours of work in, which I'm still paying for, but felt great. I burned a lot of stuff, and did some other things, like work on the firepit. I added stone dust into the holes of the cinder blocks I use to circle the pit, so they shouldn't move, and also not crack as much as they used to, because they are more solid. I also started breaking in my new boots, b/c the last ones went all crappy like. I got some Army boots, which are good, except that the top of the boots hits the bottom of my calf, and it causes some pain. Also, my Dad sold his trailer. He didn't have much use for it, and someone offered him a little more than he paid for it a few years ago, so he made out. Ironically, I spotted a trailer for sale the other day on rt. 33, and he's already thinking about buying it. I offered to front him some money if he needed it, and if we could find a truck, I think we'd be set to do run back and forth to the track. Maybe I finally can slap a bandanna on Huck and he can be my co-pilot.

Speaking of Huck, he's fine. He's been pretty well behaved lately. The only problem I have is his habit of coming up on the bed when I don't invite him. I don't know if it's a bad habit he picked up during the last few years, when he used to jump in bed to get attention, or if the cats are messing w/ him and he just decides that once he's out, and I don't say anything b/c I'm asleep, he can jump up. He's also re-registered for the year, so he got a nice new tag in addition to the new name tag I got him a little while back. I still think he's lonely since only Skeeter will play w/him, and not for that long.

Work is work, and that's pretty much all I can say. I did my taxes late this year b/c of hold ups w/ my Dad's returns. I got mine in early last week, but he got his in on the 15th at the post office in town. I should be getting a kick ass return check, so I'm psyched. Since interest rates are horrible, I think I'll enroll them in some 6 month CD's, so that if there is a up turn, I can take advantage of a better rate.

Family is doing OK. Easter was nice this year. My cousin Jenny is preggers, and it's so facisinating to me. Pregnancy is just so wonderus to me. My Aunts are already planning to spoil the child. Jenny is doing a good thing and not finding out the sex of the baby, which I think is cool. I know I am destined to have all girls for two reasons. One, I will be horribly overprotective parent, and two, I think fate will not give me the chance to ever have a SteveDave like I want. Also, my cousin Amy is getting married in about two weeks from now. It's at a nice place, so I can't wait. I must remember to pack my shoes this time. Luckily, I picked up a shoe shine kit at the auction this weekend($3), so I can finally shine shoes proper. I just have to pick out which suit to wear, and the most important thing, which tie. I think the $115 silk tie is the forerunner, as it is worthy of the event I am attending.

Really, that's all I can think of for now. It's been a semi busy day, and it's not getting any less busy. I still have to go home, go out for Happy Hour to unwind, come back to the house and start working on my bow rest, and do whatever else rears it's head to try and distract me. But then I get to sleep. Nothing beats throwing on a pair of wool socks and curling up under the wool blankets on my bed. And on that note, I am off to a night of busy work. If anyone needs me for anything, the important people have the important numbers. I almost always answer, except if I can't reach the phone, or it's too noisy out to talk. Nighters all.



Quote For Today:

Look to the past and remember and smile,
And maybe tonight I can breathe for awhile.
I'm not in the scene, I think I'm fallin' asleep.
"Feeling This" by Blink 182

i know, I haven't updated in like forever. Just been very busy. And when I work hard, I party hard, so most nights I'm in no shape to write entries. It's Friday, so I thought I'd take a few minutes away from the "real" work, and fill in some details.

Angel is back outside. She had healed up, and was just miserable inside, so when the weather warmed up for a few days, I kicked her out of the house. Ash Lee and Dizzy were cautious at first, but after some hissing and sniffing, it was a regular old family re-union. The inside cats are good. They are still trying to get themselves killed, but also stop me from doing it. Case in point. Sunday, I had to take my Mom to a wake. Afterwards, we went out for chinease food. During dinner, I dropped a piece of chicken on my tie. When I got home, I took it off, and left it on the kitchen table to clean on Monday. Monday night, I come home, and the tie is clean! Someone had licked the sauce off the tie. So I did some hand laundering in the sink, and the tie looks good. Needs some steaming though. Speaking of ties, my brand new order of 29 ties came in(only 26 are for me, the others are gifts). But yes, the cats are cute. This weekend I am using some advice I found online, and am going to try to teach them to use the toilet. It doesn't sound that hard. If I can help teach a dog to use bells to say he wants to go out, getting cats to use a toilet is child's play. Flushing and lighting a match, that's another story. As for the dog, Huck is Huck. He got a new tag, which makes him even more handsome.

What else.... Well, I stopped using my razor at home to shave. Wait, before you all picture me a la Tom Hanks in Cast Away, let me explain. I have been using my electric razor, and one day the switch broke. I was using my Fusion and Mach 3, but I'm not a fan, so I sucked it up, and bought a new one. Got a great deal, BTW. Well, while I was looking for razors online, I came across some old book marked pages I had saved when I was contemplating straight razor shaving(not for the nervous, faint of heart, or people w/little to no hand-eye coordination. I also came across some recent articles on wet shaving. For those "Not In The Know", wet shaving is not using the traditional can lather, but the old soap and brush. Even w/ a Mach3, the difference is amazing. The propellants in modern can stuff actually dry your skin. Companies fight this by adding crap in, but it takes its toll. Also, the modern razors are made with so many blades because they want you to shave w/ less strokes so you get less razor burn. Wet shaving fights this by using warm, moist lather applied with a brush, which exfoliates as well as opens the pores and softens the hairs. But after searching awhile, I realized something that has occured to me before. Yes, we have advanced as a society technologically, but perhaps we have gone forward when we had it good at a point. I discovered this before when I switched from chemical laden T-Fal to pure cast iron. From a computer controlled plastic sewing machine to a 50 year old Singer sewing machine. Also when I went from a modern car to my deer killing Oldsmobile. Sometimes simpler is better. So I went on Ebay, and bought a 1959 Gillette Adjustable Safety razor. It takes the double edged razor blades you occasionally see in the stores. Yeah, it's simpler, but it's so much better. The razor has a good amount of heft to it, so it essentially shaves all by itself. The blades cost about $0.17 each, which is way better than the ~2.00 for the modern throwaways. I'm about two weeks into shaving, and I'm close to a BBS(Baby Butt Smooth. Sorry, I like to use acronyms) shave. I have two razors that I use, and a few more I have been buying, but will sell later, as prices seem to be increasing. It takes a little longer in the morning, but it's so worth it. It's a very involved process, so it lets me turn off my brain while I soak my bowl and brush in hot water, build up a nice lather, spread it on my face, and then shave. True, it takes about 3-5 passes to get nice and smooth, but it's so sweet. Sometimes you can actually HEAR the hairs as they get cut. It's bad sometimes when I laugh at something Tony & Greg say on the radio, and end up shaving off part of a mole or cut myself. But I'm loving it. I also decided to make up a Fathers Day present for my Dad, so I am stalking the flea markets and auctions for a nice razor for him, as well as other accessories. He really took a shining to my razor(s), so I think he will enjoy this.

OK, enough about razors, what else? Not much else is really going on. I've been completing things around the house that need to get done during this recent spate of bad weather. For the first time in a long while, and maybe the 3rd or 4th time since I've moved in, we lost power the other night during the storm. It wasn't that bad, as I keep supplies around the house for such things, and I know where almost every flashlight is stored. The only reason I woke up was that the UPS on Juliet was beeping away like mad. After I got up and turned it off, I went back to bed, and was asleep for about 2 minutes when the CO alarm next to my bed started beeping b/c the power was off. The battery backup was low on it. One bad trait of Huck's is that in the event a smoke alarm goes off, he runs away and hides. So as soon as that starts beeping, he starts whining and clawing at his crate door, and I brought him downstairs to the mud room to ride out the storm. Went back upstairs to sleep for a bit, but feeding time was close by, so I went and did that. While I was feeding, the power went back on, and all was well. I did have a weird dream during the night though. From where I remember it starting, I was in a Drumline/Stomp the Yard type situation, and there were people competing. It somehow turned into a cheerleading competition(yay!). The team I was on was losing, so during the break, we went into the locker room. The head cheerleader was a Kirsten Dunst-esque, with nice blond hair, a sweet body, and a wet/sweaty top which showed off a nice set of nips. It was somehow decided that I could win the competition for my team. All that it required me to do was wear make-up/face paint and stare/intimidate the opposing teams so they would mess up. That's about as far as it got before the power problems, which upset me. I would have like to have known how it turned out. OK, that's about it for now.

many of you have seen my away message lately about me dealing with a dog who was dead. Let me first say, no, it wasn't Huck. Lord knows Huck has tried to get himself killed by crossing the road in front of my house, but he's been lucky. This was a dog I didn't know.

Wednesday, I forgot my lunch, and decided to go to a local rib place for a big 'ol order of fries. Since I brought some pepper from home to work w/a grinder, brought in food tastes a lot better. Well, around this time, I saw a dog running around. He reminded me most of a dog Carole, someone who worked for the farm, had, named Dusty. He had a collar, and I was gonna try to find out where he belonged, as I was on Rt. 34, and it's a busy road. Before I could do anything, he ran behind a nearby house and I figured he was ok. Well, a few minutes later, traffic started slowing down and swerving, and my stomach dropped. I looked outside, and I could see the dog in the road, and he wasn't moving. I whipped out my cell and called the local police dispatch to let them know. Almost right away, a unmarked car drove by, turned around, pulled over, and turned his lights on. Immediatly after that, a marked cruiser pulled up. I didn't want to go interfere, and especially didn't want to see a dead dog. I went out towards my car, by which time the officer had pulled the dog off the roadway and onto the shoulder. Nearby was the dogs owner and she was a mess, as anyone who loses an animal is. All of a sudden, my emotions went away, and I felt a duty to do something.

I went into my paranoia-stocked trunk, grabbed a movers blanket I always have floating around in there, went into the car to get my work gloves, and went over. The owner was in tears, screaming and crying, along w/her mother and I think her brother. The cop was handing her the dogs collar, and after he did that, I caught his eye and motioned that I wanted to cover the body. I hate to be gory, but I have to mention it eventually. If you don't want to read anything, skip the next small text.  The dog's head was completely crushed, and there was a good amount of blood. He did die instantly, which was fortunate. He nodded, and I covered the dog so the owners wouldn't have to see. I kind of stuck around off to the side b/c the unmarked car had a plain cloths officer/detective whom I decided wouldn't help move the dog, and the uni was by himself. I didn't know what the procedure was, like if animal control comes out, and if not, I could at least help the officer. About two minutes later, the traffic started backing up, and the officer was trying as delicately as he could to tell the owner she had to do something w/ the body. She was still crying, trying to call her bf(?) on her cell, her mother was upset, as was the brother. I don't remember what the chain of events was, or even what I said & to whom, but we were going to wrap the dog in the blanket so we could get him off the shoulder. I told the people to turn around, as I didn't want them to see the dog when I uncovered it, and we moved it onto the blanket. I pulled the blanket off, unfolded it all the way, and got the front legs while the officer got the back legs. We put him in the center of the blanket and folded it over so it would stay closed. He then helped me bring it into the people's backyard, and went to talk to the owners. I went back to my car to get some string/rope/cord to wrap the bundle up. When I got back, someone must have unwrapped the blanket, and there was a lot of crying/screaming going on. Apparently the mother let the dog out, and either he got off his leash or they just let him run free b/c he didn't go into the road. The mother was apologizing, the daughter was screaming at her for killing the dog, and also talking about the dog. I re-wrapped the bundle, and started tying it up so it wouldn't open up when they decided what to do w/him. The advice was to bury him. I didn't weigh in, b/c I was trying to keep busy. After I finished tying the bundle, the brother thanked me, picked the dog up, and walked towards the backyard. I went off back to my car.

I was fine afterwords for ~30 minutes. Then I started thinking about it. The dog had just turned two years old. Just a little older than Walden. The scenes started replaying in my head, and it some it was Huck or Walden or Sarge. The emotions that had been turned off started coming back on-line. I couldn't get back into the swing at work, and just wanted to get home to see Huck. When I got home, I made sure to sit w/ him for awhile, gave him a little something extra for dinner, and let him crash on the couch w/me. The next morning, when I went to feed the babies, Sarge was out, and I went over to pet him.

I still get a little emotional when I think about it. I didn't know the dog, or had ever seen him before.

OK, that's it for now. Just wanted to let everyone what happened. I hope I didn't bum anyone out, and you have a great, albeit snowy(in NJ), day.

ok, it's been awhile since my last post, and I felt an urge to update, so here I go. Last week wasn't that bad. I've been doing a lot of work, and by the time I get back down here, go out for Happy Hour (if I can), and check on the horses, it's usually damn late. I did get my new cell phone, but while I like the phone, the user interface leaves something to be desired. I like the water resistance of it, and it's a tough phone, but trying to navigate it is horrible. I even found a spelling error.

On Thursday, I decided to bond with Huck and take him to the reservoir for a good time. It wasn't that bad. Unfortunately, his harness didn't fit him too well, so I just put it on him while we were driving. I don't know if it didn't fit because he's gotten fat, or bulked up a little muscle wise. I'm hoping I'm the parent/owner he's taken after, and it was a little muscle. Once I got him to the reservoir, I put his gentle leader on, and we were off. Now don;t get the impression that it was speedy. Far from it. For having four legs, Huck is a lot slower than I am walking. After meeting the nice Park Ranger who told us the park was closing, we made it back to the car, and Huck seemed very happy. I will say, he was a VERY GOOD boy. He whined/pulled at the first few bikes, but afterwards, he was batter. I even met some nice girls, one of whom had a border collie. But I didn't get a chance to talk because I was focusing on keeping Huck in a sit. I did learn some lessons for next time though. #1, bring more water for Huck, because he likes to tip his porta-bowl over. #2, bring a regular leash instead of the flexi. The one I was using didn't have a lock on it, so I was holding the stop button the whole time. and finally #3, Fix his harness. I did accomplish that task on Saturday by adding a seat belt buckle I found along my sojourning to his harness. Now it's easy to buckle him into the car, and it limits his usually getting wrapped up in the seat belt fiasco. When I got him home, he had his dinner, then he had a nice brush in the living room to get some loose fur off.

Friday was work, and on the way home, trying to avoid traffic. Surprisingly, I only hit traffic at the entrance to the Turnpike after the GWB, and then at exit onto the Parkway from the Turnpike. I did come up with a book idea while stuck in traffic. It's going to be called "6 Highly Ineffective Habits for Unambitious Disorganized Impotent People". It was going to be 7 habits, but I didn't have the energy or the follow through to go that far. ::rimshot::

Saturday was pretty cool. I woke up to a large orange thing on my chest, which turned into a large FLYING orange thing very quickly, and much to his surprise. I'm kidding. Well, about the flying part that is. I let Huck out, and had my breakfast. My Dad came back from the track with Bobby, and they seemed in good hopes (I think we all know the outcome). I mostly just hung around the house for most of the day doing my first of the month chores, and trying to clean some, and hoping I would get to hang w/ my Sis, but she bailed on me again ;-(. Later I went out to ShopRite and picked up some supplies for the casa. I was kept waiting at ShopRite by a horrible clerk, and was late doing my other tasks, so by the time I passed Kaufmans for some corn for either my pasta or London Broil, they were closed. I stopped to talk to Glenn for a bit and catch up with him. Then I went home, decided on steak, marinated the meat with a BBQ rub and my liver with some Coors, lit the grill, made some of my mouth watering chili corn-from-the-can, fed the horses, and cooked the steaks. I started eating, which was good because an empty stomach and beer is great, but not for too long, and started watching X-MEN III. After that point, it does tend to get fuzzy, but judging by the bottles on the coffee table, and the boxes of snacks that ended up in the fridge instead of the cabinets, it was a good time.

Sunday I woke up and though it was 1pm, but it was actually only 8am. Needless to say, that 1pm shock woke me all the way up, so no snooze bar. I had my breakfast and my coffee, and got to work on the farm. I started getting ready to go to the races, and admit that I wish I had fashion sense because I was killing myself trying to get the right outfit. I think I succeeded in like end of summer non-Benny casual. Only the winners circle picture will tell. Afterwards I went for lunch with my Dad and Louise, and left them to wander back to the farm to finish up. While I was feeding, I was talking to Bob, and found out he had to put one of his dogs down. Rocky, their Sheltie, has had a host of problems, and earlier in the week, he just started hemmorging blood, and they made the decision. I finished cleaning, did some more laundry, then headed to bed because I was having a working holiday.

This morning I got up and even though I got to bed early last night, I was still kinda tired. So I hit the snooze twice and then dragged my fat ass out of bed. I did my morning routine, and headed up to work. While there was a massive amount of Staties around, I just cruised my way up at a slow 75 mph instead of my normal 80+ just to keep up. Unlike where I used to work, this place was closed on Labor Day. Since the meters are free on the holidays, I parked out on the street. There was only like 3-4 people, excluding me, in the building so it was very peaceful. I got some things done that I needed to, and waited around for my boss. He said he was going to show up, but alas, he called and gave me the, "Did I say I was going to be there?" line. I said Yes, and he told me his wife wouldn't let him leave. I ended up leaving at about 2:30ish, and got stuck in one of the many jams due to bad drivers. Once I got near the parkway though, it was once again smooth sailing. Before I went home, I decided to splurge on myself and get the new sink I've had my eye on. Yes, I know it's sad that I'm excited about a sink, but it matches my new faucet, and I can' wait to install it. My kitchen needs a little new blood in it, so hopefully, this won't be the only transfusion. Speaking of blood, I managed to scrape off a good bit of one of my knuckles in a doorjam. It wasn't pretty, but I managed to staunch the bleeding. I now have an extremely sore middle finger. Since today was the last official Benny day, I won't have that much use for it for awhile, so I'm safe.

OK, I think that is it. I am tired, my legs are all itchy from standing in front of the grill Saturday night, and I'm feeling a little down, so rest is good. Peace out.

Quote for Today
“T.S. Quint: Says here you have no direction. No college ambition, no job prospects.
Brodie Bruce: Yeah, and she also said I had no dick. Which precedes the financial question, proving once more what women really look for.”
Mallrats

i realize it's been awhile since I posted an update on how my plethora of pets is doing. So here goes.

Ash: Ash is doing fine. She's doing her own thing, and watching out for her babies when she wants to.

Angel: Angel is also doing well, but recently, she tried imitating SexyBoy by getting stung/bitten by something. Her right front leg at the elbow was all swollen and she was having trouble walking. But like SexyBoy, it went down and she's doing fine.

Dizzy: Dizzy decided to take after her mother, and become another lumphead. Something happened, and she got this like bump/mound thing on he side of her face. She didn;t seem to mind it much, and it didn't effect her eating, so I let it be. Well, it finally popped, and because of it's location, she has been scratching at it. I shaved the area, and have been treating the wound, and she's slowly healing. I think she likes the extra attention. She has now started riding on the wheelbarrow when I feed the horses, which is a sight to see.

Crystal: She's technically my cat, but she mostly hangs around my neighbors house. She's still her moody mainecoon self.

Cynder: Still her cute little prissy self. Except when Skeeter starts a fight, and she totally pwns his ass.

Skeeter: Still dumb. Possibly dumber. He has taken advantage of the cooler weather to sleep in my legs again.

Huck: Huck's doing OK. Except for no one to play with and being inside for a almost 12 hour stretch each day, he seems to be in good spirits. I have to limit his outside time in the summer due to flies loving his ears. I groomed him again tonight, inside this time instead of the porch, and almost got another dog out of him. I need to invest in one of those magical de-furring combs. I saw one in PetSmart the other day that does dogs and cats.

OK, that's my pets update. In semi pet-related news, ina ddition to the PetSmart near where I work on the way home, they opened a new one right around the corner in Neptune. No more trekking to Freehold/ManalApan. OK, time for me to sleep. If I can. Damn meth.

who you ask? Huckdini, of course. I was sitting inside Friday night, and the phone rings, but nothing comes up on the caller ID. My Dad had already called for the night, so I was intrigued. Of course, I had an inkling of what was going on. I went outside, and of course, Huck was missing. Just then, a truck starts pulling in the driveway, so I went in for Huck's leash. He was like usual, having a grand old time getting driven around. It turns out he broke through one of the wires on his pen, and climbed out. Also, like usual, he was hanging around the High School, and making friends with everyone. I have since came up with one of my patented brilliant ideas that supersedes the previous brilliant idea. I think I'm going to switch to weed whacker line. It's plastic, hard to stretch, comes in long uncut lengths, and it's pretty affordable. I think I'll run over to the depot tonight, and get a price on it. I'll check out Lowe's when I go out that way next week, and see whose cheaper. I just have to measure out Huck's pen to get the right length.

Hrmm, what else. Yesterday, I brought the new 60 year old sewing machine in for an overhaul. I was so nervous leaving it there. I know, I'm a loser. But this thing is so great. I already completed part of my new notepad holder. Now I have to wait till at least next Saturday to pick it up. Sad Panda. I just hope they don't try to screw me or mess it up. It's been running like a champ, with me just rotating the fly wheel by hand.

I also went out shopping for dress shirts and some more pants the other night. I'm taking over a new property starting Monday, so I want to look my best to impress. I have a feeling this one won't go as smoothly as the one I've been working on, which has been pretty rocky, so I think happy hour will be a must every night just to keep my head straight and get my mind off work if only for a little while. But back to the clothes. In the end, I got 4 dress shirts, one casual shirt, and two pair of pants for about $60. I know, I know, it excited me also. I luckily caught the store in a mistake, so I got the four dress shirts for just $25. How you ask? Well, they were on sale for like 60% off to begin with. THEN, someone left a sign up that said buy one, get one free. So when I went to pay, I asked the cashier, and she said I was getting a better deal to begin with, as the BOGO price would be on the full price of the shirts, not the current sale price, but I could go up to Customer Service and ask them(I was going to anyway). I walked up, and talked to the guy behind the desk. He explained the sign was from the day before, and said the same thing the lady did, and I told him that the sign didn't say anything about not applying to sale price. He mulled it over, and said the computer wouldn't let him ring it up that way, but then realized if he scanned the shirts, and then took 50% off, it would be just like BOGO. So I ended up scoring the shirts for about $6 a pop. My Dad liked them so much, even he's thinking about going to pick up some, even though it would be $12.99, instead of what I paid. The moral of the story? Well, sometimes you have to persevere, and you'll save a butt load of money. Saving money is Good Eats, and knowing is half the battle.

I got some cleaning done yesterday, which made me happy. I have some more to do though. But at least I got the dishes done, which has been driving me crazy. The oldest ones were from Monday night, and I hate having dishes just sit in the sink for days on end w/o being washed. True, it was only like ten things total, but it still bugged me. I know it was my own fault, but by the time I thought about doing them every night, it was past my time to be headed to bed. I might do my fire today. It's not too hot up here, and the weather seems good for one. My room needs a vacuuming badly, and I also need to put away my wool blankets back away, because I don't see it getting cold again anytime soon. OK, I think that is it for now. There will probably be a follow up posting later this evening. Have a good one y'all.


Quote for Today
"If someone said three years from now, you'd be long gone.
I'd stand up and punch them out, Cause they're all wrong!
And that last kiss, I'll cherish, until we meet again.
And time makes, it harder, I wish I could remember.
But I keep your memory, you visit me in my sleep.
My darling, who knew?"
Who Knew, by Pink

Huck has been acting strange lately, and I'm starting to be concerned. He's just not acting "Huck-like". Usually, Huck will stay in his crate all night. The only time he didn't was when Kari was here. Then he would jump up on the bed usually after I fell asleep. But in this past week or so, I've woken up to find him missing. I thought maybe he was leaving his crate to sleep on the bed, but even when I let him get up on the bed, he still disappears. He's been going downstairs. He won't come when I call him upstairs. I got up quietly this morning and looked downstairs, and it looked like he was looking/sleeping at the front door. I don't think it's anyone trying to break in, because the front door is the worst place to do it. So yeah, I'm worried about my Huckle puppy. OK, farm work is calling

Seriously,

I wish I could get him to wake me up like this. Huck is cute, isn't he?

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