That's the way it goes: first your money and then your clothes

Well, lived through the two recent bouts of tornadoes and bad weather, the last this morning. It sure as hell wasn’t as bad today as a few nights ago, when there was hardly a county in West Tennessee that wasn’t under a warning at some point; the front covered the whole state north to south and had tornadoes embedded all the way up and down as it progressed east. Getting close to springtime in Dixie, that’s for damned sure. And the weather lets you understand that fully. It was about 70 early this morning, but the passage of the front has brought temp way down so that it’s chilly now. But, supposed to warm back up to mid-60s tomorrow, I think.

Gwen’s landlord has advised her that she must start spending at least half-time at her apartment, or the lease will be broken and she will be evicted. I think that’s horseshit, but there are provisions such as one must advise management immediately of leaks and such so as to avoid extensive damage. Anyway, brought her over here Saturday and she’s going home Wednesday. I’ll probably stay a day or so over there, maybe just overnight. The situation demands that I get the old beater running again; been parked in drive with a dead battery last few months, since we’ve been using her van.

Spending a bit of time alone may wind up being productive in the long haul. I can’t write when someone is around, too much noise and confusion. And I do want to write a couple more books before I check out. Not planning to check out any time soon, but then you never know.

Thank God, the most expensive time of year has passed. Everything comes due at same time: house and car insurance, county and city property tax, domain fees. I let Jim Chandler.net go, screw it. TS domain will come due early in April and I’ll likely keep it another year, but will later buy another domain at a more reasonable price.

I’d advise anybody to avoid that damned NoMonthlyFees.com outfit; they sure as hell haven’t lived up to the agreement made about a decade ago when I first acquired my domains from them. And very little space for the price they’re now charging, although they’re drawing in new suckers at a lower fee than what we old customers are expected to pay. Down the road, the new suckers will get stuck as well.

I bet he lives in a cardboard castle under the bridge

I don't know the creator of the above photo, but he or she damned sure recognized part of what's wrong in this country.

Old Man Winter hangs on

My side/backyard after one of the three snows we've had recently. Temp down in the low single digits last night, freaking North Pole weather. But, hopefully, that is changing now. Forecast calls for near 70 by the end of the coming week. I'm ready for some springtime, or anything other than this ass-busting cold! At least I discovered that the guy who installed my new bathroom plumbing did a hell of a good job insulating pipes. No freeze ups at all. In years past, every pipe back there would have been frozen at such temps, probably even broken.

Things are changing and evolving on a number of fronts, none of which I intend to get into much at this point. Only the Shadow knows, and he ain't talkin'.

Life's a shit sandwich and every day we take another bite

Couldn't complain about yesterday's weather, sunny and mid-60s. Spent afternoon on porch, first time in months, had a few brews. Supposed to be in 60s again today, but cloudy and rain moving in later; that rain may turn to snow by Tuesday. So, our sunny respite has been short and sweet.

That little bit of sunshine is about the only positive thing I have to report. Same old same old, too negative to get into here. Suffice to say that shit must change at some point. Outcome of everything pretty much in doubt at this point.

But then, when is it not?

Hanging fire...

My first impulse is to go on and on about this terrible weather we're having. But what the hell, whining about it isn't going to improve things. Spring will show up one of these days down the line. For about a week. Then we'll head right into a sweltering summer that I will be inclined to bitch about.

If I were a rich man, think I'd head back to Hawaii. As I recall, the climate there was near perfect all year around. I remember roaring through the countryside on my old '49 Indian motorcycle, the smell of pineapples assailing my nostrils. It was still an idyllic paradise in the fifties, no so overdeveloped like today. I suppose today it would be just another commercialized version of hell.

You can't go home again, for damned sure. Well, you can, but it's never the same as your remember. Few things are ever as good (or as bad) as memory would have us believe.

I can't say the writing is going badly. It's not going at all, other than for about a page I wrote the other day, which may turn out to be the opening of a new novel. I haven't done anything more on the next true life book either, beyond that short start.

Just haven't felt the inclination to do much of anything lately, and also haven't felt well physically. The reason for the latter is apparent to me, but thus far I haven't made the changes necessary to begin a cure. The old body can stand just so much abuse before it begins to rebel. Mine seems to be well beyond that point.

Way things are going I may well outlive America. The country is going down the shitter in a rush. With this weak incompetent we have running things, that can only get worse.

I'm too old to worry about it, but you younger folks need to begin learning to speak some form of Chinese. They're going to own us economically first, and then militarily. Kissing their asses at state dinners (and allowing them to sneak in anti-American piano tunes) won't appease those sons of bitches.

Foul weather & other considerations

Big blizzard turned out to be pretty much of a bust. Got about an inch and a half to two inches, most of which is disappearing in the sunshine today -- sunny, but high of only 29 expected, so no sudden warm spell.

It was 12 degrees when I got up at 7:30, and may go down into the single digits tonight. I’m sick as hell of this cold weather, but what can you do but suffer through it. At least my gas bill wasn’t as high as dreaded -- only $117, got it yesterday. I was expecting well over $200, so that was a bit of good news.

Haven’t written anymore. Current atmosphere here on the southern front isn’t conducive to doing anything creative. Things aren’t going particularly well on the domestic scene, for a number of reasons I don’t wanna get into here. Suffice to say that this old boy could make some serious changes in the very near future if things don’t improve.

New batch of books I ordered sometime back scheduled to arrive today. Took them long enough to get printed, but I can understand shipping delay because of weather.

I was chatting with Carl Mann the other day and he wants one. Also recently heard from McGinley, one of the circuit judges featured in the book, said he enjoyed the read. I’m not sure if any of the murderers read it -- I got that letter from Harris and she said she hadn’t read it, although her husband has. He damned sure didn’t like it, as I well know from his letters and a phone conversation we had.

Well hell, some folks would complain if you crushed their nuts in a golden vice.

This 'n' that

My speculation on the Titans situation was ass-backward. In reality, Fisher stays and Young goes. Just another case of how tricky appearances can be and how it never pays to jump to conclusions. What seems obvious seldom is. You'd think I would have learned that after walking this old sod for almost 70 years. But I'm a slow learner in some instances.

No matter. We're bracing for either a dusting of snow or a blizzard. The weather forecasts for this part of the country are never spot-on. According to the most recent projections, we're slated to get a dusting to an inch, while 75-80 miles south of here they could have up to 8 inches. What happens depends on the movement of a low coming out of Texas. If it moves along the gulf coast as models now project, the heavy snow line will lie south of us. If it makes a northward turn in Mississippi or Alabama, that line will move further north. (Current projections.)

Doesn't matter much to me which happens. I've laid in plenty of food, smokes and some 45 to get me through whatever happens. I can eat, drink and smoke. What more does an old dog need. Course, I will be unhappy if somehow an unexpected ice storm (or snow too heavy) breaks down utility lines and we wind up without this addictive creation called the Internet. That would be a serious cross to bear.

I have a hard time remembering how we functioned before this magic came to be. I vaguely recall sitting and waiting for snail mail communications from this or that person, in response to letters I had banged out on an old manual typewriter. Some folks could tell you about the long and insane letters I wrote in such fashion. I know that at least one person who comes here was victim to more than one of them.

Got a start on my next book, but have done very little of it. At least I know where I'm headed with it, even if I've made only a bare step or two in the right direction. Well hell, that old "every journey begins with one step" BS. Cliché, but it's true--which is why it became a cliché. And I'm in no big hurry anymore to do anything. I ran to keep up with the world for a long time. Now, if it passes me I couldn't give a good rat's ass less. We're all headed to the same destination anyway.

Getting off to a good start

The new year apparently got off to a good start yesterday, as I sold 4 murder books on Kindle. Love to do that every day, but don't think that will happen. And, I started the new book, which will also be a true life work about murder and mayhem. That formula seems to work better than anything else I've ever tried book-wise; if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

I received a thank you card Saturday from a local woman. I don't know her, but I know that her 13-year-old son was murdered about 12 years ago and the killer has never been caught. She had read my murder book and praised it, and my willingness to not gloss over the screw-ups by authorities. She's obviously not satisfied with the effort law enforcement has made in trying to find the killer of her son; she said she knew who the killer was, but nothing has been done about it. I haven't spoken with her yet, but there might be a book in her situation. It would be very difficult to write, as the case is still listed as open and thus the authorities wouldn't cooperate worth a damn. But I could do it from her point of view and if it made the authorities look bad, that would be their problem.

Meanwhile, waiting to watch Colts cream Titans in the second game today. I hope they do, as a loss (combined with a Jag win) could put the Colts out of the playoffs. Tennessee has nothing to gain by a win.

I doubt a win would save Jeff Fisher's job at this point--Bud Adams' Christmas card bore a pictures of him with his arm around Vince Young, not Fisher. The writing seems to be on the wall there, although Fisher does have one more year on his contract. I doubt that will keep Adams from firing him, probably right after the loss today.

I like Fisher, but the play calling this year has been miserable. All they wanna do is try to run Johnson on the first couple of downs and then pass on third and long. It hasn't been working worth a shit, though CJ does have more than 1,300 yards this season. Nothing like last year for sure.

post-Xmas

Well, Christmas has come and gone for another year. Can’t say I’m sad to see it finished. Besides the expense and aggravation, it depresses me because I always think of those who are gone. I recall the great holiday gatherings we used to have here and the fine meals Mom cooked. Now, everybody is busy with their own things and no big family dinners; hell, I didn’t even see either of my brothers over Christmas, though I saw one a few days before.

Did hear from my kids and my sister as usual. Guess I should be happy I was still around for another Christmas--that gets more uncertain every year and, in truth, always surprises me somewhat.

Anyway, I made a less-than-traditional Southern Christmas dinner this year -- fixed enchiladas, Spanish rice and refried beans. Damned good and plenty left for today, so about halftime of the Titans/KC game, I’ll make a kitchen run (not counting my runs for beer). Judging by the game thus far, it’s going to be a long day for Titans and their fans...if they have any left.

Book is still selling. I saw associate editor of the paper at the store Friday and she said about half of that last shipment I took down there was gone. Maybe I need to start ordering a couple hundred at a time. Sure as I did, sales would probably stop and I’d wind up with an excess of books. Strange, but the Kindle version is selling better than the paper on Amazon. Noticed this morning that I’d sold another one in the UK. That’s cool, get full 70-percent on those, unlike those in other places where the royalty drops to 35 percent.

May sound mercenary, but a book like this is all about money, not arty-farty jive. Next one I write will be all about money as well. Living in Obamanation as we do, it’ll come to that for everybody. Course, those of us on Social Security don’t get a raise again this year because inflation hasn’t increased. Maybe not by the measures they use, but if you buy anything today you won’t have a problem realizing it’s more costly than it was in the past.

Meanwhile, Obama is on his umpteenth vacation of the year, this time 11 days in the state (allegedly) of his birth. I don’t regard myself a “birther,” one who is firmly convinced the man isn’t an American citizen, but it’s odd that he wouldn’t clean things up for all those who believe that by simply allowing release of his original birth certificate, and not some short form little thing with a 1986 laser print notice on bottom and no evidence of a fold.

It’s the same story with his college transcripts. Could be that he, like John Kerry, just doesn’t want it known that George Bush made better grades; that kind of thing has to be embarrassing as hell to elitists who regard Bush as a moron. Of course, some speculate on more nefarious problems with the refusal to release university records and even think that perhaps they show Obama was a foreign student who gained some perks (beyond plain old affirmative action) because of that status.

No President of the United States, no matter what political party, should be able to hide anything about his or her past. That should all be an open book. And it is in most cases, because the media don’t give a pass to regular old folks in office, or at least not those of the Republican persuasion. Indeed, they go out of their way to dig up every little doubt available. And that wouldn’t be a problem if it were applied evenly, but it’s not.

Still rocking on!

Got a call from the Banner moments ago. Yeah, they've already sold out the last batch of books I took own there and they need more. Fortunately, I got a new shipment in yesterday so I'm ready for them. All I can figure is, placing all those little ads throughout the paper is causing people to notice it. Also, sold one of the vampire books on Kindle couple days ago. Things are looking up in Jazzboville!

Cold!

Man, we’re seeing some brutal late fall weather here in Dixieland. Lows in teens, highs barely above freezing. Some of the prognosticators said we were going to have a mild, wet winter but I think they screwed the pooch. Course, it’s not winter yet so things could change. I wouldn’t hold my breath until that happens, however, because I don’t look particularly good in blue--especially when it’s my complexion we’re talking about.

Still nothing new creatively in the hopper. Truth is, I’ve been too busy caring for a sick woman to even worry about it. She’s been bed-ridden for most of a week with a shoulder pain problem...result of a childhood injury. What the hell, an evil stepfather slung her into a wall when she was three and shattered her shoulder...I’d love to get that bastard in a small locked room for about fifteen minutes. The asshole is dead now, which is good--saves me the bother of having to located and kill him. People who treat kids that way are the lowest of the low, the scum of the earth. I was a drunk, evil sumbitch much of my life, but I never mistreated my kids or anyone else's.

Sold a Kindle copy of the murder book in the UK. I thought maybe a poet there who earlier bought Parallel Blues might have purchased it, but he said he didn’t. Guess people everywhere are interested in murder, since it’s a universal happening. Some folks need to be killed, but many times it happens to those who don’t.

Sudden Upsurge

Big run on my murder book locally all of a sudden. I took a batch to the Banner last Tuesday and Friday they were calling me to bring more. The paper has been running numerous little ads for the book the past couple of weeks and it seems to be paying off. I had to order another shipment last night and will likely be out before they get here.

Meanwhile, noticed that another sold on Kindle yesterday evening. I also got the vampire thing on there now, not that I expect it to set the world on fire. I'll be satisfied if it sells 500 copies a week. . . Hell yeah, I'd be way more than satisfied. heh

Temp dropping now and more cold weather on the way. This winter is getting off to a shitty start and can only go downhill from here.

A first...

No great roaring success as of yet, but I've sold the first murder book on Kindle. Hasn't been live there long, so maybe things will kick into gear. Good royalty, 70-percent of the purchase price in fact.

Got couple more things to put on there when they're ready, then move over and format some stuff for B&N's similar download service. Hell, a guy could screw around with this shit and make beer money.

Course, he'd probably be someone who drinks a hell of a lot less beer than I can hold.

One with my sweetie

I damned sure don't deserve this fine woman. She's as sweet and kind as she looks, too, got a heart of gold.

Jazzbo w/Visitors

Ric Taylor, Liz Kilgo and me. These musicians/singers/songwriters came from Nashville yesterday for a visit.

New project

Started the process yesterday to convert my books for Kindle. Not terribly difficult, but a bunch of little hoops to jump through to get them in an acceptable format. Several programs to download for use in such as well. I do them in Word.doc to begin with, which is a necessary part of the process. The saving them to filtered HTML was something of a surprise, though, unlike the PDF required for the paper versions.

I"m in no big hurry because most of them won't sell in that format either, but it's just another opportunity. And, the writer gets 70-percent of the revenue in that market, which is better than the conventional route.

I'll have five or six books in that format when I'm done, including two that are very near finished. One a book of short stories and the other poems written since Smoke & Thunder. Not sure I'll bother converting the new poetry book, probably be a waste of time. Maybe not, S&T is still selling a few copies along and it's 8 years old now. Freaking royalty is miniscule, however.

Chilly this morning, but it's supposed to get up in the lower 70s again by Sunday. West Tennessee weather is always a mystery, never know what it's going to do here. I saw some predictions where we may have a warmer/stormier winter than normal.

Hope that's true--the warmer part anyway, though I don't want any of those severe winter tornadoes to come tearing through town again. Can't recall exactly, but the last one we had was either in late February or early March. Very unsettling to see all that debris whirling around a couple hundred feet in the air two blocks from one's house.

Winter arrives just ahead of a visitor

Winter seems to be making a bit of an appearance here on the rolling plains of northwestern Tennessee. Not brutal, but when that thermometer dips below freezing my old ass begins to suffer in serious fashion. And, to complicate things, if I turn up enough heat to keep the bod warm, I can't breathe worth a damn. Catch 22 for damned certain, but what can you do.

Have a visitor coming to see me this weekend after four years of conversing on the Internet and by phone. Liz Kilgo, a singer/songwriter, is coming down from Nashville with her manager to meet up with me. Liz is a good singer/songwriter and a lovely person. I've also done some conversing with Ric, her manager, who's a hell of a nice guy and good musician...he's her guitar man as well. Should be a fun time.

A friend recently tipped me off to a good, but cheap, bourbon he discovered, "Benchmark." Being on SS, I no longer drink the Johnnie Black and more expensive shit I used to buy without thinking twice. Lately, I've been drinking Kentucky Tavern, which is OK but not quite as smooth as it could be.

I bought some Benchmark in Paris Friday and damned it was everything Mike said it was; I wound up drinking half a 1.75 bottle Friday night, all in shots with no mixer. Had a little bit of a head problem Saturday morning, but nothing an Advil couldn't kick. At $15 a big bottle, can't beat it.

HOPE & CHANGE!

Life goes on (barely)

Got the cleanup project done, or at least enough of it to suit my purposes. Threw away some things, but a little judicious rearranging also helped. Still some clutter, but the floor is basically clear. Soon I'll have to start filling up the cleared space with some "organized" clutter. Sorta self defeating, eh? Oh well.

Got my annual bill from NoMonthlyFees (HA!) for jc.net this morning, due by next February. Bastards have almost doubled the annual fee, so I'll probably drop the domain when it comes up for renewal. Same with TS, which is due in April. They started out as a good deal back a decade or so ago, but have tacked on all sorts of "maintenance fees" and bullshit until now it's a rip-off. All my shit on there is old and hasn't been updated in ages anyway. Just hate to lose my domain names, but what the hell, doesn't really matter in the long haul. I have the whole Thunder Sandwich archive on a disc anyway and I'll do the same with my personal site. TS still gets several hundred visits a day even if it hasn't been updated in about 5 years. Well over 8 million total from all over the world. It was a good run, but all things pass finally.

Haven't done any writing in some time. Keep thinking I'll finish one of these projects underway or start a new one. Then I think how little the effort amounts to in the long haul. Shit, of late I've done well to get enough oxygen to keep me going.

Saw Dr. Holancin at the grocery the other day. I was telling him about my breathing problems. He said he was having knee replacement surgery, but for me to call in January and get an appointment. Said he might be able to give me something to help with the breathing. Told him I might do that, and I might. Shit, at some point I'll have to have oxygen and I'll need medical shit for that. I recall chatting with Ben Hiatt, who had COPD bad and was on oxygen. Don't think old Ben beat me out of the barn by much.

Truth is, it's all been fun. But you have to pay the piper at some point.

Sometimes, I feel like the payment is overdue.

The mess, the mess!

Some rain finally to wash away all this damned pollen collected over the past couple of months. Don't know how much we got yesterday and this morning, but surely more than an inch, inch and a half. And possible severe weather on tap for tomorrow as a cold front comes through. We didn't get any extreme weather with this first round, although there were tornadoes spotted some distance southeast of here. Screw those whirly winds, I can live without them.

Plan to start the back room cleaning project today. The operative word there is "plan," since it's 10 AM and I haven't started on it yet, although I've been up since about 6. Oh well, maybe I'll get a surge of energy after while and go after it. Or maybe not, depending. The problem with letting things get so cluttered and out of hand is that it seems futile to even tackle them. That's the case with the back room--which is actually a miniature third bedroom, but which I've been using as a book storage and "junk room" for years. Needless to say, I've collected much more junk than books, although the latter are numerous, too.

Some of the stuff I plan to throw away is not actually junk. There's my old portable typewriter, which I will never use again. There's one of those electronic typers with the thermal tape, almost new and seldom used since I bought it many years ago; the freaking tapes cost a small fortune and last a very short time. (Some years ago I threw away 3 electronic typers and an old word processor.) And, there is an antique home copy machine, one of those made years ago by 3M, which required all those chemicals and produced shitty copies on very thin, shiny pages. I never used it, just bought it at a yard sale about 15 years ago and stuck it on the metal rack that's bending under the weight of mucho bullshit.

Boxes and suitcases full of papers and correspondence. Old broken tape machines, answering machines, radios, all sorts of electrical switches and wiring. Early Nintendo game. Xmas wrapping paper, foam stuffing, collectible bottles. Fishing tackle boxes, window shades, hats. Cooler chests, hard and soft-side. 200' feet of 12-2 Romax w/ground. Assortment of electrical junctions, fixtures, etc. Motorcycle helmets (2), variety of tools (router, Skilsaw, drills, miter boxes w/saws, et al), CB radio w/whip antenna, numerous computer components along with an old early 90s Sun DOS computer, cigarette stuffing machines (old and worn), variety of cigarette tubes. Large metal wardrobe filled with clothes, sweaters, books. Two electric guitars. Card table. Folding buffet table. Folding wheelchair. Ironing board, mops, brooms. Christ, big string of homegrown peppers that have been hanging about 4 years.

This barely skims the surface, but of course I won't be throwing all these items away. Figuring out what to save is the big problem.

Not much happening

Haven't posted in some time. Not much going on and I've felt poorly of late. Same old same old, breathing problems foremost among them. I suspect part of that is caused by this drought and all the pollen that has collected on everything because of it. But some rain predicted for tomorrow and slated to extend into late next week might take care of that, if it happens. I wouldn't bet the farm on it. . . if I had a farm.

I'd planned to start on another book by now, but haven't. Just don't have the motivation at this point. Not sure when I will have. Or maybe IF I will have, I should add. I had also planned to have the back room cleaned out by now and that hasn't been done either. Again, no motivation. It's so much easier to just sit here on my ass and browse the Internet. Or watch TV. Haven't been reading either.

I gave splake the option to retrieve some of these publisher's copies of his books that I have--on his nickle, of course. He responded with enough to acquire 4 of those largest flat rate USPS boxes, so sometimes next week I'll load those up and get them in the mail. I'm sure that won't take them all and the rest will go into the trash bin, unless someone wants to pay postage for them. Course, I'm keeping a copy of each, since I edited/published them. But I don't need a ton of them and truth is, I have yet to sell the first copy of any one of them.

Must go to Camden this afternoon for Gwen's doctor appointment. Only good point about that is I'll pass right by the liquor store in Bruceton. Be surprised if that van doesn't make a turn there.

Just call me rev

Approval of Ordination

Thank you Reverend Jimmy Lee Chandler

Effective 09/24/2010

I, Douglas E. Hickman, Ordaining officer of the Universal Ministries, do Ordain, Anoint, Appoint, and Select you for placement into our Registry of Ministry as a minister, and member in good standing. This is an important date in your faith so keep this date with all important dates of your life. Even as you read these words now, I have already said them, and with your request accepted them in the Milford, Il., church in a physical, defacto service on your behalf. You, as with every member/minister of this church, were ordained in a ceremony this date with full rights of minister in the UM. Through your request to be ordained we have granted the legal authorities of the church in the world that faith grants you in spirit.

Brutus in de house

This is my new partner, Brutus. Or, I should say Gwen's, since I bought him for her birthday Wednesday. Had to drive to Henderson to get the little yorkie poo and he was a bit worn out by the time we got back home (AC not working on van). But he perked up yesterday and today he's been lively as all get-out.

I'm not the biggest dog lover in the world, but I suspect I'll get real attached to this funny little shit. He's just 10 weeks old and has been trained to use those "puppy pads," but I wanna get him to the point he can go outside to do his business. Had to leave him on a leash while we went to Camden this morning and he was ready to run wild by the time we returned. I think he can eat more than I can!

Little improvement

Gwen is somewhat better, but still far from being totally well. She has begun eating a bit, which is one hell of an improvement over days with no food at all. I didn't pick the best time to smoke a pork butt Saturday -- she's had one sandwich of it and it didn't agree with her -- but I'll eat most of it and freeze the rest. Matter of fact, will have some later and then freeze what's left; quite a bit, considering it was close to 5 pounds to begin with.

Weather has improved as well. Warm today, but not overly hot and the humidity is low. I sat on the porch drinking boilermakers all afternoon and evening yesterday, watching Titans kick Raiders ass. Dozed off at some point and woke up at 2 A.M. and came inside. Browsed around until 5 and then slept for a couple hours. Damn, forgot "Mad Men" was on last night and will have to watch the missed show at midnight tonight.

Apparently, the Vols are going to have a rough year if Saturday's game with the Ducks was any indication. Looked damned good until a couple minutes remaining in the first half, then they went complete shitsville. Matt Simms seems to be a decent QB, but getting the ball to the target doesn't help much if the target can't maintain a hold on it. I think their next game is with the Gators; I'd love to see them beat Florida, but if the past is any indication, that isn't likely to happen.

Onward, if not upward

Not much has changed on the personal front since my last entry. The woman is very ill; I’ll be surprised if she doesn’t end up in the hospital before it’s over. No appetite, losing weight rapidly. And there are some other ominous symptoms as well. She wasn’t feeling well for some time, but has really gone south in the past couple of days.

We’d planned to go to a big house party being thrown by a Facebook friend this coming Sunday but, unless there’s some dramatic improvement, that’s out the window. I was looking forward to that, too. But hell, way things stand now I’ll be lucky to get out and pay bills tomorrow.

Speaking of bills, the bathroom work was a help with the water bill. It’s down about 40-percent over the last one. The shower obviously requires a lot less water than did that old claw foot tub, and the leak he found and repaired added to the positive side. Not to mention this new commode with the 1.6 gallon siphon flush--it has dual flushes and the first one doesn’t require that much water. Anyway, a $59 bill beats hell out of a $99 one.

Supposed to cool down over the weekend. Highs in low 80s and low 50s at night. Low humidity. I’m ready for it. This summer has worn my old ass out.

On the other hand, a hot, miserable summer beats no summer at all.