"The Greatest Show On Earth.......(Last Night Yes)......(Right Now ...Hell No!!!)......"

Good Afternoon;

So I'm at the library now and the computers AND the internet connection are acting up, and the rain and unseasonably cool weather has everyone in a bad mood. Add in the pounding sinus headache I have and that the very first thing that I had to do when I got here was go to one of the librarians to get this dumb-ass ignorant ghetto bitch to put the chair back at the computer workstation so I could sit down....and it's not a fun day.

(And right now I am so fed up with the general stupidity and mannerless ignorance of a certain portion of the 'hip-hop/rap/thug/gansta-wannabe culture' inhabitants of Baltimore who are riding and driving the buses, and here bringing ghetto courtesy and civility to the library, and talking and texting while driving and with such an attitude of entitlement that when they damn near hit someone with their car....it's always the other person's fault......that I don't give a damn about 'PC' ......if you want to act like an animal...I'm going to treat you like one!)

And I see in the SunPaper that the General Assembly wants to hike the bus fares!

If the State Of Maryland want revenue, why not just enforce the damn traffic laws regarding the MTA transit buses, they could wipeout the deficit in 6 months! Or just sit in Pikesville with a camera and take pictures of all the idiots talking and texting on cell phone while driving, (of ALL ethnic groups, but primarily the two that have the biggest attitude that they are too good for the laws....[I'll let you do your own survey and see the results]....).

Obviously you can tell I have had some issues with this subject recently, in fact I was almost hit twice yesterday while LEGALLY crossing the street, once by an asshole on the phone making a right turn on red....where it was not allowed! And once by a bus that ran through a red light well above the speed limit!

Enough of the bitching.....Last night Rachel and I had a great time at the Circus, the theme was the celebration of P.T. Barnum's 200th birthday year and a lot of the costumes were 'old timey' and 'retro'. The main clown performance was a tribute to the old fashioned Freak Show, (which for PC was called the Sedeshow....lol). It was also a very long show, well worth a regular price ticket if anyone is thinking about going!

My time here is up and I am getting out before anymore sh*t hits the fan.

(Besides not getting out of the shed until late due to the rain, the Giant HOT water ....wasn't! So I am grumpy because I am drinking lukewarm coffee.....lol!

Later ........... Dave

"Rainbow Fruity Pebbles vs. Colorless Soulless Bureaucracy..................."

Good Afternoon;

So, Sunday night when I was last here I had to get off because my daughter's husband walked by and dropped a comment about the battery was about to die.....well to avoid any argument I just signed off and gave him his laptop back.....after surreptitiously checking the battery life icon.....which said it was better than halfway charged with an 1 hour and 9 minutes left. To those who are always saying "Why can't you live with your daughter.....yadda....yadda....yadda?" Extrapolate this statement and the manner in which it was given, multiply by the decreasing area of a 1 bedroom apartment with 2 adults and 2 small children, 2 cats and a dog already in occupancy and the inversely proportional 'tension factor'......and, well.....as the saying goes...'You Do The Math'.

I found out on Monday morning that the reason I spent Sunday night on the couch, (not asleep, just 'on the couch'), was that Jenn and Tom had a meeting with their priest that morning. Just a minor miscommunication but it changed my plans for the day....as did the fact that the priest was an hour late, extending the time Jenn was out; the fact that Edward was off from school that day, and in a mood that can only be described as intentionally "stuck on stoopid", which coupled with my total lack of sleep resulting in complete physical exhaustion, the unrelenting pain and sinus pressure that nothing would relieve, plus the incessant, wall rattling, chest vibrating, brain pounding, bass enhanced reggae that the asshole next door neighbor, (who is the maintenance man for the complex), had going on for 2 straight hours that had my last frayed nerve buzzing like chainsaw inside my skull.....and the best that can be said for yesterday is..... "It was a good day.............nobody died!"

I left Jenn's around 1:00 pm. to head over to East Baltimore to pick up meds, and got back about 3:00 to get my bags. I finished sorting and packing my laundry and headed out to Mt.Washington about 4:20 pm. While I was crossing the bridge over the Jones Falls walking from the bus stop to the coffee shop I looked over into the river at the Ringed Neck Mallard ducks and Canada geese that habituate the place and tried to see if the bunch of Red Eared Slider were sunning themselves on the concrete glacis lining the banks. They were not out, but on one of the islands of silt and debris built up behind the bridge piers there was a goose curled up with her head tucked under her wing sitting on a nest. This simple act of Mother Nature, and an act of Man, under the bridge of the JFX along Western Run, as I walked over to the bus stop after the coffee shop closed, were all that saved yesterday from being a total write-off.....the concrete walls under this bridge are a favorite Graffiti spot, sometimes filled with art and humor or insightful words, but many times just loaded up with 'tags' and idiocy. They have been getting painted over with a beige paint by the city-county(??) quite regularly recently, covering everything. Well as i walked along the walkway last night I saw that some creative person had gone onto the rocky stream bed, (which is exposed at most times), and painted assorted rocks and small boulders in a random bouquet of bright colors. A 20 yard length of typical shades of gray, brown, and black rocks speckled with blues, greens, reds, oranges, purples, and yellows. A brilliant and lighthearted act of 'guerrilla art' that by it's tongue in cheek audacity and brightly hued defiance is both pleasing to the eye and heart, and a 'thumbing of the nose' to the grey toned bureaucrats who keep ordering the walls painted over.

I wish I had a camera phone!

(BUT!!! I am taking Rachel to the Circus tomorrow...and she is bringing her camera....and we are meeting at the Mt. Washington Light Rail....."Film at Eleven", as the pre-videotape TV news teasers used to say.....LOL!)

Of course after this bit of joyful enlightenment, I had to get a bus driver who is the poster child for all that is wrong with the MTA. From sitting in the bus loop with the bus in gear and almost knockng me back as she revved the engine and the bus rolled forward, to shutting the door on me as I got on, to telling every passenger not to bother with the fare box, (so there is no record of the time), to pulling off 3 minutes early, (the ultimate schedule no-no), to the reckless and negligent driving that got her to the Plaza Metro station 13 minutes EARLY!, and then she pulls off from where she is sup[posed to wait and start the route to the opposite side if the Metro station and parks the bus on Wabash Ave. while she goes up to the platform level and ??? eventually coming down and pulling up to the stop and loading the people on THIS side then pulling off, still 4 minutes early.

[This is the ONLY bus on this run at night, and there are regular riders who depend on the proper sceduling to connect with this bus to and from the Light Rail and other bus routes....miss this bus-wait 1 hour-that is the frequency...]

Anyway, I caught my #59 and went to the Giant, where the "REAL" sinus medicine, with the active ingredient the bathtub crystal meth makers use, is kept.....behind the....just being locked up and the alarm set as I am coming in...pharmacy counter.....typical of my timing. (I found a crushed but still sealed tablet in the bottom of my bag and took that. It was the only thing that let me get to sleep last night.) I went over to the gas station and bought a $1.00 scratch off, which paid $3.00, so I bought another and 2 Keno games, one of which was a free 'Tripler' promotion from the Lottery. As usual I played Rachel's birthday....and won.....on the Tripler!!!!. Well, maybe THIS and the sinus med helped me sleep well......lol!

I went to sleep with the lantern on in the shed about 12:30 am. with a book on my face....and ended up getting up at 1:30 pm. today. I WAS up about every 2 hours, (thank you aging prostate), but went right back to sleep, again, and again, and again....lol.

Now it is time to go to the Giant and get some breakfast...(it's 4:35 pm....lol), and some sinus meds, then to the Metro to get April's monthly bus pass, then over to the coffee shop to eat. I may not be back until Thursday, depending on what time I get in and out of Jenn's to shower tomorrow, and whether there is time to get here before I have to be at Mt. washington Light Rail to meet Rachel and her mother, (who is going to keep my bags in the trunk of the car while we go to the Circus).

It is possible I MAY go to the "Spoken Word Poetry Reading" tonight,(if it is still on), by Light Rail and bus, it depends on how long it takes to get to the coffee shop, and whether I settle in and drop anchor or not.

Later................Dave

"NyQuil Nights.............Scary Sights................................."

Good Evening;

It's Sunday night and I'm at Jenn's about to pass out on the couch......if I can.

Between the insomnia induced by sinus pain and pressure and the drop into the psychedelic vortex of hallucinogenic hell brought on courtesy of my normal nighttime pharmacopoeia and an added NyQuil chaser, there is a narrow window of sleep. Restful, peaceful, childless, non-psychotic dream haunted- sleeeeeeep!.....lol!

I've been here since about 1:30 pm., and took out the trash, vacuumed, and picked up kids toys, cleaned the counters and the stovetop and range hood. Cooked myself lunch and ate it. Everyone came home about 4:00 pm.-ish, and I fed the kids and played with them for a while. I showered and started my laundry and Jenn and Tom went out about 6:30 pm. I put the kids to bed around 8:30 pm. and they are just falling asleep now, (they were almost asleep a half hour ago, but Tom and Jenn came in and so that got them wound up again), and like I said.....I am heading for the embrace of Morpheus, or Hypnos, his father....hopefully! But most likely I'll be visited...or visiting his mother or brothers, Pasithea, Phoebetor, or Phantasus.

Anyway...I have to get off now,

Later....................Dave

See you tomorrow afternoon, from the library :-( still no word on the fate/status of the laptop.

"Sick Leave........Greta Garbo Style......AKA.......'I Vant To Be Let Alone"........"

Good Afternoon;

Well...To use my favorite descriptive line....."I feel like two bags of dead mice!". My nose is running the "Mucous Marathon", my throat fells like a tube of 30 grit sandpaper wrapped in barbed wire, the buzzing in my head has me constantly ducking and looking around for low flying airplanes, and the ringing in my ears has me grabbing for my phone every 2 minutes. I'd have to get better to feel like sh*t! It is somehow appropriate in an ironic, darkly funny way that today is my granddaughter Devin's birthday.....and SHE gave ME all this as a gift!....(LOL!,....NOT! it hurts to laugh).

Of course the weather decided to get crazy and cold and I am still dealing with my 'normal' issues and ailments, (and you know...it's pretty effed up when daily pain and living on the knife edge of sanity is considered 'normal')!?!

And I am still trying to handle the emotional 'collateral damage' known as the "Seven stages of grief" from Lisa's death and the shock of the information I received from the lawyer yesterday,

...(Friday, I was on my way downtown on the Metro to pick up tickets to the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus for Rachel and I on Wednesday the 30th, opening night...[half price special, 2 $26.00 tix for $26.00!]....and I had the cash for them because of Stuart's,{Stewart's??? sp.?} generosity at the Starbucks the other night. I had asked him if I could borrow a couple dollars, thinking $5.00 or so, until the end of NEXT month when I should be a bit caught up....and he pulls out a $100.00 bill!!!, I told him it may take me longer to get this much back to him, and he said , don't worry about it, pay it back as I can!......[and then last night at the gas station, when I went to buy my losing $312 million dollar jackpot MegaMillions lottery ticket...{Ya gotta play to win....but hell I KNOW the odds....lol!}...the video screen that shows the Keno was down and not showing the games, so on a lark and to prove to a big mouth know it all in the station who was blathering on about how the game was a ripoff and and that it could not be played if the screen was not showing the current game, I bought a Keno ticket, waited about 3 minutes for the game to cycle through and as luck, fate, kismet, or karma would have it, checked my ticket in the 'automatic ticket validator' right in front of his fat face and handed the ticket to Daniel to be cashed for $25.00.......LOL!, Shut the loudmouth 'EXPERT' right up!......Ha!],...

{ sorry about the lack of cohesion and coherence here today }

and this past Tuesday, (which I apologize for seeming to be only hinting at or teasing about,...but I am not ready to write about at the moment).

I am torn between feeling guilty about not wanting to come in here to the library and write the blog, and letting down all you folks who have told me how much you look forward to reading my ramblings....

And resentment at feeling I have to come in and write it at times, and trying to be witty and clever when I really want to just tell the whole world to 'back off!', and 'leave me the hell alone!'....

Especially at times like right now, when I feel like sh*t, physically, emotionally, and mentally, and am at a low spiritual ebb also.

Anyway, I am out of here today, I apologize again, and depending on what time tomorrow, (Sunday), I get to go over to Jenn's, (I am monstersitting in the evening, and spending the night), I amy be back....if not....see you Monday.

Later....................Dave

"Maryland, My Maryland........................................."

Good Afternoon;

So I forgot that the libraries are closed today because of a State Holiday, "Maryland Day". I just begged the use of a newly met acquaintance's laptop to check my e-mail and post this to let you know I'll be back Saturday to finish the post I could not complete on Thursday due to lack of time on the library computer. I'm still waiting to hear from Erik about whether he is having any luck with the VAIO.

Later...................Dave

"Ghosts From The Past.................Children Of The Future.........."

Good Afternoon;

Well, I'm back....if anybody cares.

When I left the library on Monday, I did the typical Starbucks then ride back with Jenn after her meeting routine. Tuesday morning I planned to go over her house to shower and have a hot meal in the morning. Welllllll, after waking up at 8:00 am., which was just a bit too early, I took my morning meds and sat back down on the sleeping bag to watch the news on the portable TV....next thing I know it's 11:00 am. and I was still sitting up leaning against the shelf that was digging into my left side and from which I still have a mark, 3 days later....lol.

So it was Giant then Jenn's to eat and shower, and play with the grandkids, and I left there about 3:30 pm. I was on the Metro subway train down to catch the Light Rail to Mt. Washington when the phone rang. It was not a number I recognized and I almost let it go to voicemail as I was about to go into the tunnel and lose reception...BUT!...something said to me, 'No, you really want to answer this call!', .....so I did.

And I am damned glad I did, even though the delayed reaction from the information I received put me into a state of depression so deep that once I got into the shed Tuesday night, I did not leave it until an hour ago, except once to go to the gas station to use the commode and once to go to the Giant to get hot water for coffee and also use the bathroom. From 10:00 pm. Tuesday night until 1:00 pm. today, (Thursday), I just lay there in the sleeping bag.

The phone call was from a lawyer who I am casually acquainted with through his having a vacation home in Florida and who frequented one of the bars/restaurants I was involved with in Florida, and who also knew Lisa, my friend who just passed on. He said he had a package for me and when could I come into his office. Since he is located in the Inner Harbor area, right next to Camden Yards Light Rail Stop, I went right over.

Once there and the initial pleasantries, reminisces, and condolences were out of the way he brought over a file box of documents, photographs and digital memory cards, and assorted papers. These were all from Lisa and her husband Bill, to be given to me upon her death or May 13th 2014, whichever came first. I had to sign a release that I would not initiate contact or publish certain details here in the blog or in any other way before the date above, or unless some other events happen first. (So the names I am using are not the real names of my friends). All I can say now is that there was some real estate deed transfers I had to sign off on as trustee and some other things that needed my signature as 'guardian in abstemtia' permitting day to day administrative details to be handled by an appointee in Florida. Plus some updated medical/donor information to which I suddenly became privy that needed my signing off on.

There was also a long letter and a copy of Lisa's will, along with a DVD with a personal and private message for me that had been password protected with something only I would know. (And even after 18 years came right to my mind ay the very first attempt!)

Seeing Lisa in this video, which was made in 4 separate filmings over the past 18 years; as she was when we ended our love affair, as she was the last time I saw her, at her wedding 14 years ago, as she was when she began to get sick, and just last month when she knew the end was near, was a bittersweet feeling.

Anyway, I have to leave as my time is up,

I hope to be able to finish this tomorrow.

Later............Dave

"Chag Sameach Purim......................."

Good Afternoon;

Well, I'm back at the library, still no word on when/if I'll be getting the laptop back.

Saturday after I left here I hit the coffee shop and had dinner and read and watched the portable TV until close. Due to the wonderful MTA drivers and their attitude and blatant ignoring of the schedules to suit their own personal agendas, it took 2 hours to get to the Starbucks. I really expect to see a large scale, major accident soon, with the way the drivers ignore speed and traffic laws and road and weather conditions. Query....If a cell phone is classed as a "Driver Distraction", what the hell do you call a person hanging all over the driver? Male/female...female/male, it goes both directions, (and are mostly other drivers and also almost 100% Black), and when the driver misses a stop due to this, and the passenger complains...both the driver and the 'hanger on' get attitudes and mouth off rudely!

Anyway, after the coffee shop closed it was back to the shed and watching TV until 3:00 am. The selection of shows on the 'over the air' networks gets pretty slim after Midnight though....lol.

Sunday, I was up and out about 10:00 am. and over to the Giant for food then to the coffee shop about 12:30 pm. to eat and sit outside in the sunshine. Rachel, (dressed up as Queen Esther), and her mom stopped by about 4:00 pm. to bring me a mishloach manos bag for Purim, (it is a tradition to bring gifts of sweets and fruits to friends and family on this holiday), with popcorn, and candy bars, an apple and a can of soda, and we hung out for a while and took a short 'nature walk' along the Jones Falls while her mother ran into Whole Foods.

I left there at 5:00 pm. and headed over to Monkee's to get my meds for the rest of the month. The train and the bus, and the bus and the train all connected exactly as I was getting off one to get on the next, which HAD to have something to do with the "Super Moon", because it took less than 2 hours round trip, including walking and spending 15 minutes talking to Monkee, from Starbucks to Starbucks.

But of course 2 buses on the only route that runs through Mt. Washington on Sunday nights, (even the Light Rail is no longer running), never showed. So that meant an extra hour wait and no easy connections back to Pikesville. I ended up taking the Metro from Rogers Station, (where the driver parked the bus to get off and smoke and make cell phone calls, and then called the dispatcher with a story about 'Heavy Traffic'....HA!...and said his fare box was not working properly and that he wanted to come in and exchange buses, and that he would not be able to finish the next run before his lunch break.......yeah right....), to Old Court and waited 20 minutes for the #53 bus. Which pulled into the parking lot and sat on the far side for 12 minutes before pulling around to the loop.....WTF?

It was 11:00 pm. before I got to the gas station, 3 hours and 15 minutes after I left the coffee shop, and more than 2 hours and 10 minutes from what it usually takes.

I ended up going to sleep just past 2:00 am. and ended up being awoken by the thunderstorm about 4:00 am. After 'battening down the hatches' and assuring myself that my little corner was still staying dry, I lay there listening to the soporific symphony made up of the combined rhythms and melodies of the rain beating on the roof, and the drips and the thunder and the rush of the wind and the rattle and squeak of the shed, and just kind of spacing out in a kind of a peaceful trance until the rain ended somewhere around dawn. I fell back asleep and woke up at 10:30 am. but didn't get moving until about 11:30 am., having no real reason to get up today. After watching the Noon news I went over to the Giant and puttered there for an hour and talked to the regular security guard and had a laugh about the extra help in there yesterday. He told me they are there because of the Giant employees and truck drivers from the distribution warehouse in Jessup, who are handing out fliers to customers coming in the store. (The Dutch company which owns Giant is outsourcing it's Jessup dry goods distribution center to another company and the employees are both protesting the sale and worried about their jobs because the company which is the buyer of the operation has a reputation of promising that no workers will be laid off or positions terminated or eliminated......and as soon as the public interest in the sale/takeover has died down......doing exactly the opposite.) The extra security crew has the added duties of making sure the protesters follow the rules and regulations concerning trespassing and harassment.

Now I am about to go out and see which bus is due and head over to the coffee shop and finally eat breakfast. Jenn is giving me a ride back after her meeting tonight and is going to let me know about coming over for a shower Tuesday morning, and maybe also cooking something for lunch. Edward's allergies are acting up really bad right now, and he has a cold too, so my stopping by is predicated on what shape he is in later this evening.

Time is up again, (damn I hate typing that!....I want my freedom and mobility back!....."information wants to be free!!!!".....lol!)

Later........................Dave

"Hello Captain Conspicuous And Your Sidekick, Obvious Boy................"

Good Afternoon;

So to continue from yesterday when in had to sign off when the library closed.

After we finished the ceremony and went into town to place flowers and a small vial of ashes at Lisa's parents graves it was back on the Skyline Drive at Thornton's Gap and a leisurely cruise to Front Royal, then back to the madness of the Interstates 66 to 81 to 70 to 695 and back here to the library.

When I left here at 5:30 pm. I changed into shorts for the first time since last year and went over to the coffee shop and ate for the first time that day. I had been running on coffee and the last couple shots of a bottle of a privately bottled 'estate produced' black rum that was aged over 60 years by this time and was literally black as tar, but smooth as silk, that Lisa and I had bought a case of on a trip to Martinique in 1993, and unbeknownst to me, she had saved and put up a bottle of, "for just such an occasion", as she put it in a letter she left for me.

I ended sitting out back of the Starbucks in the light of the 99 & 44/100 % Full Moon, thinking, reflecting, meditating, and watching the varied forms of wildlife coming to visit the trash cans and patio area looking for dropped food. I caught the last #58 bus to the Subway at 11:10 pm., and the Subway to Old Court Station and the #53 bus to the shed, getting back about 12:30 am. I was so, so tired...but so, so keyed up I could not sleep, and when I did sleep it was only for an hour at a time, 3 times. My eyes feel like they are packed with sand and razor blades today, from the lack of sleep, the wind on the mountain in Virginia, and crying.

I went to the Giant this morning and there were 2 security guards snooping around through the store, giving me, and anyone else who did not look to be over 65 years old the once over. One I knew by sight, and the other was so obvious in his attempt to look like a slob that he stood out like a diamond in a goat's ass!.......lol! He and his buddy kept giving me the evil eye and every time I turned around one or the other was there.

Now.....I place my bags under a rack in the front of the store when I come in so there is no misunderstanding about shoplifting or stealing, and I am known to or by almost everyone in the store on a first name basis.....so it kind of annoyed the hell out of me. Welllllll, being the well adjusted human being that I am....LOL!...I decided to have some fun...for me anyway, so I kept slipping around corners of the aisles real fast and stopping or reversing direction.....grinning like a fool as one or the other rushed around the corner and ran or almost, ran into me.I picked up items and put them into my basket, going from one end of the store to the other...then put them back, then went back and did it all over again. When I got tired of this I went to the checkout and paid for my groceries. As I was rearranging them into the cloth shopping bag I carry, on the bench in the front of the store, my friend Carol, one of the cashiers comes and sits next to me and we chat and she tells me how the security people have been there in force for the past few days. I told her I knew that and pointed across the aisle at one of them who was trying to be inconspicuous...but not succeeding and we laughed as he abruptly looked up and hurried away. Cheap thrills......lol!

I am heading over to the coffee shop to eat my breakfast shortly, and hopefully may get a call from Erik that he was able to get the VAIO up and running. If I do, I'll be back on later today or tonight. If not, maybe tomorrow after 1:00 pm. when the library opens, IF, I am still in the area.

Later.............................Dave

"Ashes To Ashes................Dust To Dust................But Love Lives Forever..........."

Good Afternoon;

So I realize that I have not been producing much 'content' in recent days, and I apologize for that. Between really out of whack sleep patterns influenced by weather, the particular point in the cycle of clinical depression and outside factors both familiar and totally unexpected, all occurring and aligning at one time, I have not felt like writing, nor been able to take advantage of the times when I did feel like it.

I really got used to having the laptop and 24/7 access, (which also contributed to my sleep patterns being nudged out of their 'normal' (HA!) orbit), a lot quicker than I realized, and having it lock up the way it did in the middle of a couple of heavy duty conversations with people who I cannot contact any other way really sucked.

The familiar stressor of being out of money, albeit much earlier in the month, also sucks, and added to the ennui I have let take more control than usual. But, the really big thing that has overwhelmed me and occupied both my conscious and subconscious thoughts has been the death of and sudden influx of information and necessary activities surrounding and concerning my close friend and former lover Lisa.

We shared a bond and a connection that time and distance could not interrupt nor sever and when I was awakened one night last week with the overpowering need to call her...immediately!..I knew that something significant and consequential was imminent. As I began dialing the phone number to her and her husband Bill's business, ( a 1-800 toll free number ), my cell phone began to ring and it was him calling me. I spent over 2 hours standing outside on the payphone at the gas station that night, into the dawn, as we talked and they told me of the final diagnoses and prognoses she had received from the doctors that day......a fast growing and malignant, highly invasive Grade IV tumor of the Brainstem Glioma type.

F*CK..F*Ck...F*Ck...!!!!

From the first appearance of any symptoms to diagnoses to the beginning of rapid degeneration of motor skills and memory, and the neurospastic interruption on involuntary body functions took barely 2 weeks. With the onset of pain and the desire to leave a last image in peoples minds of dignity and not that of the typical wasted and diminished patient in her final stages, she was going about the emotionally depleting and physically exhausting task of saying goodbye and asking for the help, of those of us who would understand the meaning and significance, in fulfilling her last wishes and certain spiritually important rites after she was gone.

Anyway, this is the reason that posts have been short or missing for the past week and a half or so, or having a sense of gallows humor or black irony in some of the ones I did take time to write.

In light of what was going on and what I would be doing today, the fact that 2 of the people, Neil Rubin, and Lynn C., who have been true friends and in whom I have been able to confide, but who I have not seen in quite a while, happened to show up independently at the same time, at the Starbucks yesterday, when just their presence, even if they had no idea of what I was going through was enough to give me some strength of purpose of mind and spirit, and illustrates the principle of synchronicity that has permeated my life.

(yeah, that sentence IS a grammatical mess, but it gets the point across...lol)

So....Lisa passed away last Friday in a diving accident of the coast of Mexico, 2 days after I talked to her for the last time and we said our good-byes. Because her husband is Mexican and has very heavy connections, he was able to cut through ALL the red tape and bureaucracy and had her cremated as she wished and brought her ashes home Tuesday. Lisa had wanted this and to have her remains ceremonially both scattered to the Winds in a few places that were both memorable and meaningful to her in a personal and spiritual sense, and to be mixed with the Earth, and returned to Sea, if at all possible, at the same time, by friends and family. She is originally from Luray Virginia, and her parents and ancestors are buried there, and wished for the bulk of her ashes to be interred there. She and Bill, (Guillermo), had a fishing/diving lodge in Baja, Mexico, and a house in the Florida Keys. Her daughter Kate and her son-in-law Evan live in Seattle, and Lisa lived there for 20 years.

Bill was able by way of Next Day Air through FedEx, etc. to have Lisa's ashes delivered to all the U.S. locations and he took a portion back to Baja. I called in a major debt and had a friend pick me up at 1:30 am this morning and drive us to Luray, where at 10:17 am., in coordination with Bill in Baja, Kate in Seattle, and friends in the Keys, we all spoke the words she wished us to say, and returned her physical remains to Mother Earth.

I'm out of time here, I'll be back Saturday

Later.....................Dave

Good Evening;

I'm here at Jenn's for the night, a 3 hour monstersitting job morphing into an all-nighter. I was just attacked by her shower as the knob an d the 'innards' of the valve that switches the water from the spout that fills the tub to the showerhead, launched out of it's housing in the wall like a torpedo from the bow tubes of a huinter-killer submarine...right into my leg!.....owwie!!!!.......LOL!

Nothing really exciting to write about anyway.

See you tomorrow.

Later...............................Dave

"Back At The Library................"

Good Afternoon;

Well I see that the color/font issues are something to do with the laptop and not Google/Blogger...or so it seems.

I am back at the library again until Erik calls me to tell me my laptop is ready

........I miss my baby!!!!...........LOL!

Yesterday, (Monday), I was up and out at 7:00 am. for an 8:30 am. meeting, and then had to be at Monkee's by 12:30 pm. After that, across to the westside to a lawyer's office to sign some papers relating to a friend's will.

(more on all that when I am able to write about it without breaking down, but just so you are not left wondering, a dear friend, and former lover in Florida passed away this weekend)

I ended up at the Starbucks later that afternoon and Jenn gave me a ride back to the Giant after her meeting.

Today I had a 10:00 am. phone interview with the recruiter/screener for a medical research/testing program to which I applied last year and had not heard from and forgotten about, that took an hour, (on a payphone...no way I was using up all my minutes....lol), and which I am supposed to hear back from in 2 weeks to let me know if I have to come in for the next stage of qualifying, a physical. It could pay $4200.00 for a 3 week in-patient and 6 week out-patient study. Again, more on that if it pans out.

So, I'm here at the library, about to head to Giant to find something for lunch, and then over to the coffee shop to eat. I'm down to drinking the single serv tubes of instant coffee at this point, I do not even have enough cash for a cup of coffee. If it was not for the Foodstamps I'd be 'dumpster dining' again.

Tomorrow I am heading over to Jenn's to shower and then when Tom brings Ed home from school I'll be watching the kids while Jenn and Tom go out to get their taxes done. Hopefully I'll be able to toss some clothes in with Jenn's wash load tomorrow, I'm down to the last clean pair of socks and underwear and no money for the laundromat.

Between spending money on Rachel and having to buy extra minutes for my phone, and some postage expenses for a couple priority overnight mailings I had to send to Florida, I ran out of money real early this month.

Between last weeks rain keeping me in and screwing up my sleep pattern, the time change to Daylight Savings Time, and the emotional insomnia brought on by Lisa's death....I am physically, emotionally, and mentally exhausted.

And Time is up.....

Later................Dave

"Land Of The Lost Laptops......................"

Good Afternoon;

Well...it's been a strange few days, to say the least.

From Wednesday night until Saturday morning I did not leave the shed except to go to the Giant for food and the bathroom or the gas station for the bathroom. Thursdays deluge is the obvious reason for that days hibernation, even the coffee shop and the other businesses were closed and evacuated from Mt. Washington.

Thursday night I was up all night until 6:00 am. on the laptop or reading, or trying to sleep and not being able to, or redirecting leaks in the shed roof to areas other than my nose.

Which makes Friday's sleep in understandable, I was up at 1:00 pm. and fell back asleep until 5:00 pm., and by that time it was too late to go anywhere even if I had the money, which I don't. This had been the first time I have eaten meals in the shed, sitting crosslegged on the blanket, and hopefully the last. I am too old, fat, and creaky to sit that way for more than a few minutes before the nerve/circulation issues begin, with numbness, etc.

I spent Friday evening on the computer, in a very intense and emotional conversation with a woman I met at the Spoken Word poety Reading 2 weeks ago. This was a continuation of the conversation from Thursday night. And I also played on Facebook in the lulls....lol.

Right up until I shutdown and ran over to the bathroom at the gas station at 11:00 pm....... and when I got back and tried to turn the laptop back on....it would not.

It's some sort of software glitch, and I dropped it off to Erik of PikesvillePC on Sunday and he looked at for a while and could not see a quick fix. So...he is going to do a more thourough job of diagnosing and then what ever he needs to do over the next couple of days when he has the time. I am going to be laptop-less until Tuesday or Wednesday at the earliest :-(.

Anyway. Time is up here at the Library

Later.......Dave

Heavy Rain And Flood Warnings Across Maryland; O’Malley Declares State Of Emergency « CBS Baltimore " Flood Evacuations....From A Place Called Mt.?"

Good Evening;

So for all you non-local residents reading the blog who see me write of Mt. Washington almost every day, here is a link showing what a great example of an oxymoronic place naming it is;

Heavy Rain And Flood Warnings Across Maryland; O’Malley Declares State Of Emergency « CBS Baltimore

Later..............Dave

"Running Between The Rain Drops......................"

Good Evening....again;

Looks like I missed my 'window of oppurtunity', it's doing a fine imitation of Seattle right here in Baltimore. No wonder so many people decide to check out early up there. It's either that or learn to love being covered in mold and fungi I guess.

Well a thunderstorm has just arrived and a cold front with winds, I'm unplugging the laptop until all the extra-curricular electrical activity is over and done with.

And I'm going to get ready to dash out to the store as soon as there is any sign of a let-up in the rain at all. DAMN that wind sounds fierce, I hope it's just the passing front!

WAIT......IS THAT A LULL IN THE WIND AND RAIN......SEE YA!

Later.......................Dave

"How Long Can You Tread Water.........?????........."

Good Evening

Finally! The rain has stopped enough so that I can get out to get my coffee, (I forgot my wallet when I ran over to use the bathroom at the Giant this morning!). Jenn sent me a text a little while ago telling me Mt. Washington was closed off due to flooding, which I kind of figured it would be, and it's too late and too wet to head over there in any case.

I'm about to head over now and get some food too, all I had with me was a couple slices of rye bread and some potato chip pieces. I thought of using the packs of mayo I have and making a sandwich out of it all, but decided against it. Oh, not because it's too weird or anything like that, I am no stranger to using potato chips as snack food, garnish, topping, or one of the main ingredients in a meal....I just didn't want to sleep in crumbs tonite.....lol.

Some idiot tried to give me a load of grief in a chat conversation that turned into an argument, that degraded into a flaming session, about my earlier post relating to how I not going out into the rain for no good reason. He had started in with the insults and nasty comments about just laying around doing nothing......and when I asked him what he was doing home sitting on the computer all day instead of being out in the rain....."suddenly there was silence", and his icon disappeared.....lol.

How many times have you made the choice not to go out into the storm? I often don't have the luxury of having an option. I am really grateful that I have this laptop, it's a sanity saver....and seriously helps to fight off the overbearing sense of isolation that so can easily overwhelm.

Anyway....off to find some food, as soon as I put on my hip waders to get out of the shed.

No, it's not really THAT bad, the puddles inside never got more than an inch deep, where the concrete floor was uneven or the cardboard was bowed up and it did not absorb it all. Now I just hope that the people working on the minivan that would not start in the parking lot right beside me would finish up! Get it running, give it up, or call a tow truck......I'm hungry!.....lol.

OH CRAP....it's raining harder again!

Later..................Dave

Exclusive: Homeless rejection in NYC ..... "Is This Why It's Called--'The City That Never Sleeps'..?........"

Good Afternoon;

Exclusive: Homeless rejection in NYC

This should link to a TV news story video,

if not try the title to the post.

Later.........................Dave

"Thank Goodness For Wooden Shoes........."

Good Morning;

Well, it figures on the day I am up awake at 7:30 am.....with no damn reason to be up or anywhere to go or money to spend....it is pouring down rain as fast and hard as Father Bob and Brother Neal on a new choirboy!

I put on my coat and ran over to the Giant to use the bathroom and remembered the hard way that this coat does not have a waterproof shell, that coat I left over Jenn's a while ago, and it's kinda late to go get it at this point.

So I'm sitting here stuck in the shed keeping an eye on the old known leaks and trying to deal with the new ones and hoping they are only because of the extreme volume of water being deposited on the shed roof. There are puddles forming in certain areas below and beyond my slightly raised 'lair', where the cardboard boxes laid down as a walkway and for absorbent purposes is being overwhelmed. Tomorrow should be a fun day, (if the rain stops), as I will have to strip out the lovely disintegrating wet sheets and hopefully find some clean, new boxes frm either the liquor store, FedEx/Kinkos, or both in the dumpster.

Okay, that's it for now, I've got to go play 'Little Dutch Boy' and go stick my finger in a dyke to divert the flow......and then I have to deal with the water streaming in here when she leaves........lol!

Later..........................Dave

"One For My Baby.......And.....One More For The Road...................."

Good Morning;

Well I'm messed up as regards sleep cycles, biorhythms, insomnia, and depression.

I can't get to sleep because of all the voices inside my head, and then when I do sleep it messes up the cycle so that I'm nodding out in the middle of the day, when I can even force myself to get up and out. Then the meds that do work on the depression tend to keep me awake....at the wrong times. I was up until after 4:00 am. yesterday, and then up at 7:00 am., fell back to sleep until 11:00 am with most of my body too warm and my right foot cold as ice, and my fingers swollen. Called to make another appt. with the PCP to get a referral to a circulation specialist, aka, Vascular Surgeon. Now I wait for a letter in the mail with time and date.

I could not force myself to even start making an attempt to get up until after 1:30 pm., I hurt SO damn bad, physically, mentally, emotionally, it was all I could do to find 10 reasons to keep living. Depression hurts, as the ads say, but add in the known neuro-osteo-spinal issues, factor in the cold and damp of the gathering storm just before the weather breaks, and the damn Fibromyalgia........and it's no wonder I feel like 'two bags of dead mice'!!

But Erik called and wanted to meet so he could take a look at the laptop to see about some issues I was having with it, and offered a shower and some espresso, so I dragged my raggedy ass over to the Giant and made a mug of instant Amaretto Cappuccino Hot Cocoa with 2 extra packets of instant coffee in it for good measure with the water from the faucet, (which is somewhere in the 160 degree range again thank goodness), that was barely liquid enough to drink....as a sort of concentrated kick in the ass to get me moving and soaked a wad of paper towels in the hot water and plastered them to my face, kind of like the 'Three Stooges' or 'The Marx Brothers' in a barbershop/beauty salon skit......THAT got my attention.....lol. Then I went over to Erik's apartment with him and showered and had another shot of coffee while he worked on the computer, then we sat and talked for an hour or so about everything from laptops to camping and survivalist skills, to cats and the 2012 Mayan calendar predictions, to weather and politics.

The shower more than anything else helped along with the human interaction. After that I headed over to the coffee shop to eat and read for a while, then back here to the Giant to use the restroom and get some Powerade. I'm down to my last dollar that has to stretch until April 2nd. when I get some cash.....yeah right... at least I'll be able to eat most of the month and stretch my Foodstamps thanks to someone from somewhere who gave me a B-A-B of breakfast sandwiches......(that's 'big-ass-bag'.......lol.

Anyway it's that time again....

"Set 'em up Joe,

....it's a quarter to three,

....there's no one in the place,

.... except you and me......"

Later....................Dave

"Day's Of Whine And Neuroses..........................."

Good Morning;

Well it was another day of 'inertia in action', which can also be read, "inertia=inaction".

And after finally getting myself out of the fetal position and dressed and in motion, after spending all afternoon with maps and train and bus schedules and routes to figure out if I could get there and back to "The Spoken Word" poetry reading without getting stranded in the middle of the night; in the middle of nowhere, or, in the middle of the 'hood,.....(I love Michelle ...'Truly, Madly, Deeply', but her driving scares the piss out of me, especially since I have already 'died' in one auto accident, and do not wish to repeat the feat, I don't remember the actual dying/death part, but take it from me, {and I'm sure JC will back me on this}, resurrection is a stone cold bitch!).....,and right after I get settled on the Light Rail...it gets cancelled because of a power failure at the Thai Cafe. Back to the coffeeshop, dinner, Allan stops by, (and he must have a remote sensing "Bitch-o-Meter" 'cause he always seems to pop in when I'm in the foulest mood), we talked. I had to call Erik because the laptop still tells me to activate something that is already activated or it will be kicking my ass to the Internet curb in 3 days, so I need to meet with him tomorrow (today), unless the friggin' rain starts first......we are supposed to get some continuous downpours of Biblical proportions between Wednesday evening and Friday morning. There are flood warnings posted already, an open casting call has gone out for men named Noah with sailing and animal husbandry experience....and no that last phrase does not mean shepherds with wives named "Baaaa-bra"!

Then it was out here to the Giant where I met Jenn shopping and gave her a B-A-B of breakfast sandwiches to store in the fridge and freezer. (oh that stands for Big Ass Bag....lol!), and since not much else went off well today why should this be any different? I alternate between her phone number and the 'ex'es' as my Giant Bonus Card ID to give them both the gas points at Shell. Well guess who did not know she had a coupon for 5% of her next purchase....and happened to go through the check out line before she did when he bought his box of single serve instant coffee packets? Yeah that would be me, and of course she was buying almost $300.00 worth of groceries this time.

"No Good Deed Goes Unpunished!"

Add in the oncoming stomach cramps that I am feeling and the cold sore/fever blister forming on my upper lip, (and I NEVER get them)...plus the now frozen fingers of my right hand and the tip of the index finger on my left hand, (the only part not touching the fan exhaust of the laptop....lol), and it's the perfect end to a perfect day.

Later........................Dave

" Is It Spring Yet??????.......................... Sighhhhhhhh......................."

Good Evening;

So today was a bad day. Could not get to sleep last night until close to 6:00 am this morning, and then only got less than 3 hours of non-restful slumber. I got caught suddenly in the leading edge of a very strong storm front that raced through about 3:30 am. when I ran over to the bathroom to use the restroom. There was a micro-burst of almost horizontal rain and wind gusts strong enough to knock a man off his feet if he happened to be in a precarious position on a short, but steep already soaked and slick grassy slope. As I can attest to! I had to change everything down to and including socks and skivvies. I was already cold and being wet did not help matters. As you can probably guess, my right foot never got warm, and although my fingers and hands eventually did, for some reason I could not get my core warmed up last night either. I started sneezing and running from the nose, and gagging too, as if I was dope sick....which was not only uncomfortable, but extremely odd....and every little movement hurt.

I called the Doctor's answering service to cancel my appointment, which actually makes sense because the Neurologist will not be consulting with the Neurosurgeon until their regular Wednesday staff conference anyway. And it was still raining and getting colder at 6:00 am., and I was NOT going to deal with waiting for a couple different buses if it was still raining, (okay, it had stopped by daylight, but I could not know for sure.).

I finally gave up the fight of trying to warm all the parts of my body at the same time...And go to sleep...about 10:00 am. I called Jenn from the Giant and asked her if I could pick anything up for her...(she wanted a bucket of sanity....but they were fresh out.....lol!)...and let her know I'd be down within the hour to shower and wash and cook a hot meal. NOT!!!! The bus I planned on catching must have come extremely early, (or not at all), and thye alternative one was going by as I came around the corner....the wide open, windy, cold corner I stood waiting on ...until it was apparent the bus was not coming and too late to go inside somewhere.

I eventually got to Jenn's, at Noon, an hour later.....with a headache behind my left eye that is still here, taking effin' root! I cooked, showered washed, dried, and packed clothes, ate, shaved, played with Devin....not neccessarily in that order....lol. I was done and on the way to the bus stop at 4:30 pm. headed for the coffeeshop.

While I was there I called Erik of Pikesville PC, www.pikesvillepc.com ,

and he used TeamViewer to activate and register some software that was about to expire

and generally checked over all the systems.

In a conversation on the bus a man asked me, as many people do, why I don't stay with my daughter and family. At least he phrased it as a question, politely, not as an indignant declaritive statement, something to the effect of, "Your daughter should take you in", or better yet..."TELL! your daughter to let you live with them!" all of them clueless as to the living arrangements and population of her home! Well today was a reminder that even if they had a frickin' mansion it would be too small an environment for any long term residency with my son-in-law, he's even moodier than I am! And I'll just leave THAT sleeping dog lie........

Anyway, that's it for now, Starbucks, buses, gas station, then here, frozen fingers, sciatica, headache and all.......lol.

Later.................Dave

"The Old Gray Mare........................or...................The 'Gray Lady' Sings The Blues................."......

Good Morning;

Well I decided to type this one in gray, (which is basically for my own amusement now that I have no real control of the color YOU are going to be reading.....lol.), because that's the kind of day it's been. Warm muggy gray, wet rainy gray, misty foggy gray, cold wet clammy gray, Dorian Gray, Long Gray Line, Macy Gray, battleship gray, Gray's Anatomy, Gray Squirrel, Gray Goose, (which would be much appreciated right now)...etc...etc...etc. Take your choice of one of the ready made grays, or mix and match and create your own!

The day started when I woke up at 6:00 am. to adjust the fluid level in my internal wastewater treatment, storage & disposal system to a solid gray curtain of rain and temps. in the upper 50s. After taking my morning meds I lay, (laid..layed...??) back down and all three of us, (me, myself, & I....an LLP, incorporated in Delaware for tax purposes), went back to sleep to the hypnotic rhythm of the steady tapping of all the various leaks and the soft sussuration of the wheels of the cars passing by.

I woke up again about 8:00 am. to the world covered in a soft wet fuzziness and the sound of Led Zeppelin's "Misty Morning Hop" echoing off the buildings as a juvenile 'longhaired metalhead' and an elderly 'grayhaired no-see-um' did the 'fender fandango' in the thickening haze. I crawled back into the coccoon and slipped back into sleep after checking what was the latest time I needed to be up and out and at the bus stop to be a the JCC to meet Rachel as she came off stage. Which happened to be

1:15 pm., so I spent the next 3 & 1/2 hours curled up on top of the sleeping bag, (I was that warm), and drifting in and out of some of the weirdest dreams I have had in a longgggg time!

(One of the mildest of which was about the verbal exchange I had with my Neurologist, who happens to be, young, blond, tall, and hot!..........[and who, for her privacy, and my wellbeing..{remember this is the woman who was stabbing needles and electrodes in my leg and wiggling them around....and that was her version of 'gentle'...I'm still cramping up and feeling the results....lol! Not gonna piss her off with any invasion of privacy issues!}..will remain nameless!].......(okay is everybody caught up now and clear on the encapsulated parenthetical commentary....lmao!....good back to the main thread about my dream.....ummm, where was I going with this now???....oh, yeah....As she is twisting that last probe around in my calf like a little kid trying to get the last little drop of milkshake out of a cup, she is asking various questions related to the pain/tingling/numbness in my hands and right foot and also other areas. and about any changes in sleep patterns, eating habits, exercise, etc.

She also asked about libido...higher, lower, etc.....I looked her in the eye and said........

"Well, first of all, I'm not seeing anyone so there is no real baseline for comparison, but in general, between depression and certain of the meds, it is pretty damn low....you figure it out....I'm laying, (lieing?---it's only the 2 of us today, myself had a meeting.....LOL!), here half-ass naked with the sheet that's supposed to be covering me fallen off, and two beautiful women are running there hands up and down my arms, leg and foot and leaning your bodies into me at times, and my pulse and respiration rate, not to mention my BP, are staying the same, and I'm bantering with you on a technical level and NOT throwing out risque' double entendres.......besides which the 'space shuttle' has not only NOT lifted off for near earth orbit,......it has not even left the damn hangar!"

Barely getting it all out with a straight face, I could not hold it back as I watched the dawning comprehension on her face and the technician's face as they parsed the sentence for meaning.....LMFAO!!! It's a good thing the testing was over at that point, because the seriousness, gravity, and medical decorum flew out the window. Thank goodness for people with senses of humor who are not afraid to take them out of their packing and play with them!)

So I got up and out and over to the bus stop under the hovering slate bgray rain clouds at 1:15 pm. and caught the bus to the bus to the JCC and arrived early enough to talk to Rachel for a minute as she was waiting to go on stage, just after 2:00 pm. By 2:30 pm. she was dressed and we walked through the warm, gray drizzle to the bus stop just in time to catch the bus to Mt. Washington. We walked into the coffeeshop just as the rain let loose in dark gray sheets of water. After playing musical chairs we finally table hopped to one of the big tables when Rob let us know he was leaving and saved the table as we ran across to Whole Foods in the deepening gray twilight. Rachel can eat like horse, but at least she likes health foods as well as garbage, and burns it off quick. We hit the salad and hot bars for broccoli and 2 kinds of chicken and cold pasta and cucumbers and tiny grape tomatoes and sesame sticks, and turkey in gravy and macaroni & cheese and mashed potatos plus a couple of 'pretzel rolls' from the bakery...(they are awesome if you heat them and butter them....uummmmm!), and a can of root beer and one of ginger ale. All that for $10.00, and there were only crumbs left! Well, she took home half her roll and a can of ginger ale because I have a bucket of sugar cookies from Giant still.

We had just started eating around 4:15 pm. when her mother called and wanted to know if she was ready to be picked up yet...lol. We made arrangements for around 5:30 pm. and finished eating and set up the Bookworm Adventures Deluxe on the laptop and played that for 2 hours and then Rachel got on pbskids.com and took over the computer for herself. I looked at the time and it was 7:00 pm. already and called her mother....lol. OOOPS! they were so tired out from all the opening night nervousness Saturday night and then a 2:00 pm. matinee today she just sat down and spaced out for a while.....lol. She came by to get Rachel about 15 minutes later and I started packing up and then walked over to the bus stop. Typical Sunday night bad weather ride that you've heard me bitch about before.

Damn! there was just a wind gust that rattled the shed to it's foundations! The wind has picked up steadily now that the rain has finally stopped... and how did it get to be 3:30 am. already!!!! No wonder my fingers feel like frozen sausages!

Back to the bus ride...

The bus was 20 minutes late and the driver was on his last run of the night, so of course he was speeding more than usual, regardless of the road and weather conditions, to say nothing of the condition of the bus or comfort and safety of the passengers. I had a 30 minute wait for the next bus up to here and I had only my light jacket, it is always windy at the Plaza station and it was getting colder then too., Normally I have few more minutes wait at Mt. Washington for the bus that is scheduled for 8:20 pm. which at first I thought the one I caught was, (until I saw it pull in 15 minutes after I got dropped off), and have much less time standing around waiting. Anyway, I hit the Giant and when I came out the rain was a deluge! I stood there for 20 minutes waiting for it to slow down enough to walk to the shed without getting soaked to the skin.

And that's it, came in, set-up bedding, turned on laptop, dealt with e-mail, wrote this post,

" an' froze me effin' digits off, mate! "

Tomorrow is an appointment with the Neurosurgeon...( no....he is the large black man, it's the Neurologist who I saw last week......and this morning, in my dreams.....lol).

Then I am going to go over to Jenn's and do laundry, which is a critical level now!

Damn.....what was THAT noise?!? Something very large and very metal just blew across the parking lot....and sounded like it hit one of the Giant night crews cars!!

Then eat, shower, shave, dress, and probably head over to the coffeeshop.

OKAY!!, Now THAT was something large and wooden, I have to go look outside this time!!!!!...lol!

Later.........................Dave

"The Play's The Thing.........................."

Good Morning;

Another late night/early morning, end of the day wrap-up report.

Went to sleep at 3:30 am. after signing off computer,

woke up at 9:00 am., peed and took meds,

went back to sleep until Noon, went to Giant for coffee & food,

ate a salad behind the library at the picnic table & read,

went to Jenn's, showered, shaved, had 2nd cup of coffee,

walked to R. R. Plaza Metro station bus loop, read for an hour,

caught 6:40 pm. bus almost to JCC, walked rest of way,

sat and read for 30 minutes until doors opened at 7:30 pm.,

met Rachel and her sister and the 'ex' and 'friend' as they came in,

watched the Jewish Theatre Workshop production of 'The Dybbuk',

waited for bus back to Jenn's and took other bus route halfway then

walked when first bus passed in the OPPOSITE direction at the time

it should have been going BACK to Metro station,

stopped at Jenn's long enough to grab bags and rush to bus stop

to catch 11:30 bus back to shed and stood and waited until it showed at 11:49,

went into gas station and played $2.00 on Keno for 30 minutes until lose-lose,

came over to shed and rearranged sleeping gear for warmer temperatures,

checked e-mail and am writing this post!

And so it goes....

"The Dybbuk" (Between Two Worlds)-A Tale Of Love, Kabbalah, Possession, & Destiny, written in 1912-1917, by S. Ansky

The play went very well and was extremely interesting. Rachel made her walk -on in the first 15 minutes and left for the babysitters. I gotta give the 'ex' her props for

her performance, she played a couple-three parts, all basically the same, but she was made for the role of an old 'bubby' in a 'shtetl' in late 1800s Poland.

She nailed the part, and in a perfect over-the-top in character performance.....chewed the scenery to shreds!

It is a fascinating play that I am not even going to attempt to explain or summarize other than to say it is very Jewish in content and meaning and mysticism. Google it, and there are a few film versions out there to view.

I am picking Rachel up after her appearance tomorrow..(today)..and we going to lunch and Starbucks and she will be picked up after the play ends. I'm done for now,

Later...........................Dave

"....'This Is Dedicated......'.......aka.........'Sherrie.....Sherrie Baybee'.................."

Good Evening;

Well it's another day that I'm in a non-writing mood, and I do believe I am entitled to a few, after more than 27 months of almost daily journaling....lol.

But here is a short rundown of my Friday...(and only because I ran into one of my loyal readers in Starbucks today who told me she's become addicted and needs her daily fix of 'Dave's Daily Drama' as FOX45 put it....and I know how painful withdrawal can be, and I'd never knowingly wish that on anyone!).

I was up at 8:30 am. when my phone chirped, thinking it was a text I grabbed it and nothing was there, so I just figured that it was the 'finished charging' signal, not remembering that it was the noise it makes when the power cord is disconnected from the phone or the wall. I attempted to go online and kept getting messages that the wifi was not available and there were NO networks in range, secured or unsecured, and that the Internet connection was disabled.

So.... I'm cussing like a longshoreman...(or my first wife in the delivery room............lol!)...and trying all kinds of things to bring it up, knowing there are at least half a dozen networks in range of me here at the shed. No luck. This kills the better part of an hour and a half and the lantern is getting dim because it needed a charge even before I started. I go to plug it in and...nothing, it does not get brighter nor doers either charge indicator light come on. At this point the light bulb above my head comes on, (and today it was above my head...as in the comics.....'Eureka!'.....yesterday after the testing, I could have played Uncle Fester from The Addams Family with a real light bulb not the battery operated prop!......which I had one of as a kid.....but that's a whole 'nother story.....lol!), and I realize that the power is out. Which gets me to wondering if someone pulled the plug to my extension cord...and hey, by the way..what are those voices and noises that I've been hearing and not focusing on, all my attention being drawn by the absence of wifi,...right outside! Well....I peek out the door and see the B G & E trucks with the cherry pickers extended and men working on the main feeder lines, and notice all the light are out in all the stores and traffic signals......and, well.....duuuh, no power....no wifi!

So I get up and head over to the Giant and learn that the power went out about.....uh huh...8:30 am.! The store was open with lighting and all computers and cash registers backed up by a generator.....which does not have the capability to carry the massive load required to power all the freezer and refrigeration units, (it would have to be half as big as the store to do so!).

And just an Op/Ed comment on the behavior of some of the narcissistic, ignorant, and self-centered assholes in Pikesville, (and don't worry, this is an all-inclusive equal opportunity rant crossing all religious, racial, ethnic, age, and gender lines!)

To try to save as much of the food as possible by keeping in the cold, Giant blocked off the freezer aisles to do the same thing you do at home...open the doors as minimally as possible...and the open front cool and cold cases were covered in plastic sheeting taped shut.

Well.....these idiots shoved the barriers aside, (and they were dozens of nested shopping carts...UPSIDE DOWN!!!), went into the aisles after being asked not to over the PA system, and either ripped open or pulled down the plastic sheets or stood there with the doors wide open, staring, with their mouths open and drool running down their bovine faces, or they talked on their cell phones having conversations so inane that it made Charlie Sheen's and Moammar Kaddafi's recent screeds seem like Nobel Prize worth material!!!

Oh, and you did NOT want to be near the deli counter, the comments I overheard had me begging someone I knew behind the counter to give me one of the rotisserie skewers to shove in one ear and out the other!

Yeah, anyway, it was 11:15 am. by the time I got out of there and the power had just come back on for that part of the grid sector. I walked past the library on my way to get on the bus to my appointment with Prologue at Noon. The power was still out on this block and the library was closed. I just had to drop a book in the night drop outside and headed around the corner towards the bus stop, when I mentioned to this woman that the library was closed due to no power. She responded with an eloquent and intellectual "Hunh??" and I elaborated and spoke quite distinctly and slowly, "Noooo Poooowweeerrr!" She came back in an accusatory manner, as if it was my fault and blaming me would bring back the magic lightnings...."you're kidding!"...(exclamatory....Not...interrogatory). So I admitted it and told her, "Yes, I'm kidding, I want all the books for myself, and no one can read any, so, I'm out here in front of the library telling everyone it's closed so they won't be able to read my books and use up all the word before I get to them!". Meanwhile I did not know that right behind me was one of the librarians.....who, as the woman walked up to the door herself and shook it, [it's an electric eye operated sliding door....lol], ignoring the other dozen people standing outside waiting to see if the power would come back on soon, who told her it was closed and locked, and tried to push it open.....looked at me and smiled and shook her head and said...."What a moron!", and we both cracked up.

Anyway, just after I got on the bus, (and THAT was a fun ride with a maniac driver and no working stoplights!....I'm STILL puckered up!.....lol!), my phone rings and I get a call saying there is an emergency...I need to come by immediately...(and this is something that must remain private for the sake of others)...so I called Prologue at 11:25 am. and got no answer and the stupid automated voicemail dumped me, so I waited 5 minutes and called back again. This time I got the receptionist/operator, who told me my caseworker was not in the building..(and she had told me she would be in the office all day)...so I left a message with her to deliver to my caseworker that I called away at short notice for an emergency and would not be in. When I got a chance to check my e-mail around 4:00 pm. I found a message asking if I had forgotten the meeting or if I was sick. This not the first time I have left messages with one of the 2 receptionist/operators, in person and on the phone, that never got delivered, disappearing into the ether, never to be seen again. NOT a very professional way to staff the 'first contact' a caller or visitor has to the company...is it?

I finally went to Starbucks later, for the first cup of coffee too, any longer and something was gonna snap!, and a woman sits down next to me and says "I know you".... "we've met before"! It was a woman who I met in the Giant, (who used the "I know you!" at our first meeting also....lol.

We talked for a good while, and she tells me she reads the blog everynight, just before she goes to bed, that my life and stories have become habit forming, an addiction.....lol.

Needless to say I was, (and still am), very flattered! She also asked about my friend Allan, (who stopped in to see me yesterday afternoon, before I went down to Monkee's), and used to be good friends with him and his ex-wife.

SMALLTIMORE in action!

Then it was read and eat dinner and read some more until it was time to get the 9:10 pm. bus back to the Plaza Station, and the next bus up to Pikesville, the Giant, where I didn't get anything because a case of indecision threatened to become a case of anxiety, then the gas station, where a dollar bet paid me $2.00, which kept getting reinvested and splitting 2 games for a $2.00 win and a loss, for a dozen games until I got 2 losses in a row, and that means it's time to quit!

Then back in here to the shed around 11:20 pm.....annnnd ...back to you Chet....

(don't get it?... never mind, you are probably too young...[Enjoy It!!!]...but if you really want to know...Google, "Huntley and Brinkley"). Now I'm about to get off line before my hands freeze, particularly the fingers, and I start to scream out obscenities to make them hurt less...(it's a fact....saw it on Mythbusters!), and/or the battery runs out of juice.

Later.......................Dave

(And I said I was not gonna write.........lol!)