Misc

I hope this really is the last day of the heat wave

It’s been so bloody hot. I decided I won’t be doing any yard work until I feel cool air. I don’t know what the temperatures were today, didn’t check, but it felt hot. Been burning up all day.

It says tomorrow will be 74 degrees. I hope that actually means it’s going to feel like 74 degrees, but I expect there’ll still be heat. Right now, because it’s night time, it’s 65 degrees, but it feels like fucking 100.

I’m thinking, we might not truly be out of this shit until Friday night. By then, I’ll look like a burnt piece of toast.

Football, Hunting, Misc, NCAA, Sports

I didn’t make it out to The Bat Shack, but….

Yesterday I talked about my plans for today, but they didn’t go through. I raked and bagged some leaves. It was so damn hot. My face was a sweat faucet. So, I didn’t finish.

The apples that fell off the neighbors’ tree and landed in my backyard looked fresh a few days ago. But I guess this heat wave was too much for them. Now they look like the rotten hearts of zombies. I don’t want to feed those to deer. Maybe there will be some fresh ones next week.

I made it over to Mom and Dad’s, but I didn’t want to walk out to the shack in this heat. Instead we watched the Michigan-Purdue game. Purdue was tough, but they couldn’t stop Michigan.

Michigan 28 – Purdue 10.

Football, Hunting, Misc, Music, NCAA, NFL, On Writing, Sports, Writing

A Hot Night

It’s pretty hot tonight. I’m sweating, drinking cold lemonade, listening to Nirvana and Sia and working on a short story. This short story will be the last for a while. I’m going to focus on the next novel when I’m done with the short story. That’ll be 25 short stories on the market. I’ll keep moving these stories down the market list until they sell.

Deer season starts in a week. I haven’t purchased the license and kill tags yet, but I’ll be getting them soon. I’…m plan to get over to Mom and Dad’s tomorrow and take a look at The Bat Shack. I hope the shack is still holding up. I never got around to rebuilding it. If it’s too damaged, I might find a different spot to hunt this year.

The Lions are 2-0.
The Wolverines are 3-0.

Anyone notice how many Mom & Pop stores in the area are suddenly going out of business. It’s freaking sad. I have a feeling that the buildings these stores were in are going to sit abandoned for years and years. I’m hoping someone turns one these buildings into a butcher shop or meat market. It’d be nice to have such a place closer to where I live.

I got yard work to do tomorrow. Have to rake and bag leaves. and maybe mow the lawn. My next door neighbors have a very healthy apple tree in their backyard, right next to the fence. A lot of the apples land in my yard. I’m going to bag them up and use them for bait.

I’m tempted to tell the neighbors that if they don’t want the apples on their side of the fence, I’ll take them. But I’m shy. The apples have a strong scent that I’m sure will attract deer.

Misc

Musing while eating donut holes

These are pretty good.

Glazed sour cream? Reminds me of a potato chip flavor that I really like.

Why do they call these donut holes? They’re little balls. Why aren’t they called donut balls?

I suppose they’re the parts that were gouged out of the centers of donuts. Someone got an idea to roll them into balls and bake them. Waste not.

So, as I eat another donut hole, I’m thinking about black holes, the ones in space. Were those gouged out too and made into little balls?

Maybe the universe is one big donut.

I think “donut” is short for “doughnut”, which, I guess, is what donuts used to be called.

I don’t have anymore donut holes.

 

Baseball, Misc, MLB, Series Talk, Sports

Guess I’ll stew it up tonight

I got a few different things on my mind tonight, so I’ll just mix it all in.

Sometimes people I know seem to analyze me and draw conclusions about me and my life. I know they mean well, but it really irritates me when people do that. I usually respond with fury. But today it occurred to me that I don’t have to get so goddamn mad every time, that there are better ways to respond to things like that.

I’m thinking about the Claire Fisher response. In the first season of Six Feet Under, Claire is having problems dealing with her dad’s death and she’s going down a destructive path, or that’s what her family believes. In one episode, Nate tells Claire that they’re going to get her some help. Without missing a beat, Claire tells Nate, “If you want a project, get a dog.”

Yeah, I think that’s what I’ll start telling people. But don’t count on me being able to pull it off much. I’m, regretfully, prone just blowing up.

I’m pretty open about things that I struggle with. Confidence, anxiety, anger, and number of other things. I got problems. I know this. But what bugs me is when we’re not even talking about anything that I struggle with and out of the blue someone draws a conclusion about some disorder they think I might have or something they think I need to do to make my life happier.

That really gets under my skin. And often their conclusions are way off. When people do that, I feel like I’m being analyzed for a diagnose and it makes me want to hold back when sharing anything with anyone.

But today, while talking to a friend about it, and being angry at the same time, I started thinking that maybe I don’t have to be so mad. I’d like to respond more kindly when people piss me off.

Okay, that out of the way.

My mom’s oldest brother Bobby was visiting from Pennsylvania. I see Bobby once every ten or fifteen years. When I got to mom and dad’s yesterday and walked in the door. Bobby was sitting at the bar (or island?). It was like I was seeing Grandpa Piehl. Bobby looks exactly like Grandpa. And they both have the same name, Robert.

Aunt Barb and cousin Kari were there too. Also, Bobby’s wife, who is also named Barb. I guess you could say I had two Aunt Barbs there. Later, Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Cindy came. Haven’t seen Jimmy and Cindy in a few years, I guess. They came on a motorcycle. I remember when I was a little kid, Uncle Jimmy was the biker in the family. That was a long time ago. I don’t know when he started riding again, but that’s a really nice motorcycle he has.

As usual, I didn’t talk much. But I did enjoy listening to my mom, dad and Uncle Bobby playing acoustic guitars on the back deck. I think my mom and Bobby are the only ones in their very large family who play music.

I saw this questionnaire on Facebook. Thought I’d fill it out.

Prop …. Huh?
Children…. 0
Pets right now…. 2
Surgeries…. Five or six
Tattoos…. 2
Piercings…. 0
Shot a gun…. Yes
Quit a job…. No
Ever been on tv… Yes
Been to an island…. I don’t think so
Flown in a plane…. Yes
Furthest destination.. Florida
Hit by a car.. No
Someone cried over you…Yes
Fallen in love.. Yes
Watched someone die…Yes
Watched someone give birth … No
Rode in an ambulance…I’m not sure
Visited Las Vegas…. No
Been ice skating…If you want to call it that
Rode a horse….. Yes
Almost died….Yes
Been punched…. Yes
Stayed in a hospital…. Yes
Favourite fruit…Oranges, I think
Favourite desert…. Cheesecake
Favourite movie… The Bourne Identity

The Tigers beat the Rockies. 4-3. This dreadful season won’t last much longer. Let’s just see how many more games the Tigers can win this year.

Wish I had beer.

Misc

Not Everyone has Wisdom Teeth that need to be Pulled

Every now and again I’m asked about my wisdom teeth and whether I had them pulled out yet. It seems I should have had my wisdom teeth taken out a long time ago, because apparently everyone else has had theirs taken out long before they hit mid-life crisis.

When I tell people I still have my wisdom teeth, they are shocked. The next thing they want to know is, am I having any problems with my teeth? No, I’m not. My reply is always met with disbelief, like that just can’t be true. Everyone has to have their wisdom teeth taken out! That just the way it is!

Nope, that’s not true.

So annoyed was I with the notion that I need to have my wisdom teeth taken out, I decided to look into it. There’s a bit of information online about wisdom teeth. While wisdom teeth do eventually cause problems for most people, some people can go through life without ever being bothered by their wisdom teeth.

So, there you have it. I’m a caveman.

Misc

Eclipse 2017

So, which is it? Some articles say this was the first total solar eclipse in the history of the United States and some articles say 1979 was last time a total solar eclipse was seen in the United States. Conflicting information. Doesn’t anyone know what they’re talking about anymore?

Anyway, my left eye feels a little not-all-there. My first accidental glance at the sun was when I was checking to see how well shaded my backyard is, because I wasn’t sure if I wanted to leave my dog outside. Didn’t want her looking at the sun and going blind. I looked up at one of the trees and saw the sun shining through the branches. I looked away, but already there was a burnt shape in my vision.

Then, although I knew the sun could damage my phone’s camera, I decided to try what that meme on Facebook had suggested. Put your phone in selfie mode, stand with your back to the sun and watch the eclipse over your shoulder.

Oh, yeah! So genius!

I forgot how reflective my phone’s screen is in daylight. The sun zapped right into my eyes like a laser.

After that, I decided I wasn’t going to try to see this thing anymore. But then my dad sent me a text asking if I wanted to go over to his house and watch the eclipse through his welding mask. I did.

Don’t know if it was necessary, but we wore sun glasses behind the welding mask for additional protection. It really worked. We could see the black orb cutting deeper and deeper into the yellow orb. The day took on an eerie gloom.

When it was over, a flying saucer came out of the sky and hovered above us. A door opened and there stood a little green man. The green man gave us a thumb-up, and then the flying saucer flew away.

I kid you not.

Misc

Pipeline

This is at Fick’s Market, the store up the road from my mom and dad’s house. The pipeline is going to be connected to a water treatment plant about a mile east of Fick’s.

I don’t know if they’re done building the treatment plant yet. The last time I went by it was months ago and it was still under construction. But it does seem like they’re putting this thing together fast.

Though the treatment plant is in Lapeer County, it’s not for Lapeer. The pipeline goes through Genesee County to Flint. I believe it’s one of the state’s responses to Flint’s water crisis.

Baseball, Football, Misc, MLB, NFL, Sports

A Fine Saturday

I stayed home today. Mowed the front yard and did some house cleaning. I watched the Tigers lose to the Dodgers again. The Tigers didn’t manage to get in a single run.

After the Tigers, I watched the Lion-Jet preseason game. That was a good game. The Jets  were scoreless for most of the game, but then they got in two field goals.

Matt Prater is still looking good. I think he made every field goal he was sent out to kick.

The final score is Jets 6 – Lions 16.

Baseball, Football, Misc, MLB, NCAA, NFL, On Writing, Sports, Writing

Because I stayed off Facebook today…

…I wrote 1,671 words, made two submissions and got all the chores done.

The Tigers didn’t play today. I did have the Buccaneer-Jaguar game on, but didn’t pay much attention to it. The Lions’ next preseason game is Saturday, against the Jets. The Lions did very well against the Colts in Sunday’s game.

College Football starts in a couple weeks. The Wolverines will kick off their season against the Gators.