Yawn...

Been bored recently. Busy but bored. I have not anything vaguely interesting this week to warrant blogging. Work has been draining and maybe that is part of it. Two local police officers were killed this weekend in a charity bike ride. Every year C.O.P.S does a bike ride to raise money for families of officers who lost their lives in the line of duty. This year there was an accident and a box truck ran into the group and injured one officer riding and killed 2. It was horrible, and one of the dead officers was one of the organizers of the ride and was very well known. The funeral for him was the other day and we covered it ALL DAY. Now I did not know the man but I respected what he did and especially respected the fact that he gave back to the community of Indianapolis. So watching family, friends, fellow officers, the Governor all talk on his behalf and then watching the procession to the grave site took it's toll on the observer as well. We started at 11am and finished after 6:30. By the end of the day I wanted to just go home and hug the wife and kid. Which I did.

Outside of that things are well. My company actually had a picnic for the employees yesterday. We had a BBQ with plenty of food for all and a very good time was had. I am very surprised, they usually go for the cheap, but not this time. The food was great, the company at the table was greater and we even got some ice cream for dessert (Dove Bars). If that does not make for a good day at work, I do not know what does.

PS: 3-3 this week in working out at the Y, tomorrow will make it a full week of exercise in a month!!!!!

Fingers Crossed.

It's Such A Good Feeling

Remember that old Mister Roger's song, he sang it at the end of the show.  Lately I have been just coasting.  After hearing that Bell's Palsy can be caused by stress I am trying to go easy on life.  And just do things, no thought, no reason, if something needs doing just do it.  It has been small things like picking up some trash at the park the other day.  Wasn't mine, just walking by but I can see a trash can so why not.  Or waving a car over or through while making a turn.  Taking 2 minutes every night and straightening the house.  Putting in a little time with my Scout Troop, stepping up when they need a volunteer.

 

It is a little funny that doing these things makes you feel a little better.  The house is cleaner, the wife appreciative of the effort, the neighborhood looks great, the Scouts know your name and come to you for assistance or advice.  I try to instill that same thought into the boy.  I hope he takes it to heart.  Yesterday we went out to Target to pick up ink for the printer to finish a school project.  While the wife and I were out the boy stayed home to finish it up before printing.  When we got home he was done and sitting on the couch watching ESPN.  We got the ink and printed out the project and finished it up.  As I walked downstairs I noticed the 2 large trash bags we had filled that morning were gone.  I had asked where they went.  He told me when he was waiting for us he took all the garbage out to the trash cans.  Now that is the shit!!!!!

 

It's such a good feeling to know you're alive.
It's such a happy feeling: You're growing inside.
And when you wake up ready to say,
"I think I'll make a snappy new day."
It's such a good feeling, a very good feeling,
The feeling you know that we're friends.

Linky Goodness

Anyone else trying out the new Google Page Maker???? I have finally found a nice place for my book and movie lists!!! I am very happy. I like to chart my watches and reads, so stop on by and have a look.

Bryan's Books

Bryan's Movies

Quiz

I hate it when I have nothing to bitch about!!!!!!

Yesterday I had a nice talk with a co-worker. She was down and came in to my office and we ended up talking for about an hour. I was on lunch and she waiting on a computer rendering. She is in one of those rock and hard place places. She works in a small department (4 people) and she is the 'boss'. While she has no real authority she is the one that plans, sets up, schedules locations, etc, etc, etc for the shoots and shows. She is also the new one in the department. In the end it comes down to this, when she tells them what she needs/wants they say she is too controlling and killing their creativity, when she gives them free reign they complain she lacks direction. Damned if you do dammed if you don't. I feel for her and lent an ear and made a good friend. I hope things work out for her, I know that they will not change but I hope she finds some enjoyment in the job and told her she needs to laugh everyday and that if need be, stop by my office once a day for a joke or something....I think she just might.

Talked to my NY friends the other day. Seems my old shop is going through the old contract talks again. And it sounds as if they are going to lay down and take one up the ass. It is sad to hear what has happened to that place. There is so much apathy there it is not funny. I still keep in touch with some and at this distance now wish no one ill there. They just want to have a job and bring home a paycheck every 2 weeks and not get screwed doing it. I wish them luck with the new contract. I am sure I'll get details but what I heard the other day was shocking!!!! It sounded like there was no need for a union when this is done and I am sure that is what the company is looking for.....too bad.

It's Friday, time to get moving. I figured out why I am tired and not working out. These pills I am taking for the Bell's Palsy have a side effect of insomnia, so when I last looked at the clock last night, it was after 3am. It has been like that for weeks now. But come hell or high water on Monday I will be up and out at 7am!!!!!!!

Ding Dong

Welcome to a short (I hope) set of posts about living with Bell's Palsy. Since I have little time this morning I will give an update then in future installments breakdown what has happened to date.

Today is Day 12 with BP. I have much movement in my cheek area and the top half of my eye. The droop is gone on the mouth and people cannot even tell I have BP anymore. The people I know who have had it say I am very lucky and check me out every day. One friend told me I have more movement after almost 2 weeks then he had in 3 MONTHS!!!! Taste is still an issue as most things taste a bit off. And eating requires great concentration as my mouth does not open all the way but I am not sure I have it wide enough until I start to bit down on a sandwich, say, and fell my lips in the way (ouch).

My biggest concern is my eye. I still have zero control over the bottom lid and little control over the top. This was painfully illustrated to me while mowing the lawn this weekend. As I turned into the wind the side discharge of grass blew right into my face and WHAMMO, even with glasses there was grass clippings everywhere. The first reaction is to shut the eyes SO TIGHT but the right one did not work and I freaked as grass and dirt and other crap went right under the glasses and into my eye. Bugger!!!

Speech is still an issue as well. I am heard very clearly but as I talk more the side of my face gets tired and things sound a little slurred in my head. My wife and co-workers and friends say the do not really hear a difference, but I do. Especially since I talk for a living and have a voice that has been asked to speak at several occations. I do two 'recitals', the Eagle Charge and 100 Scouts. Both are fantastic and I have been asked to do them 4 times now and people like it. But I have one coming up in about 3 weeks and I am a bit worried about it. Lots of P's, b's and f's.....

All in all I am very lucky. I have a mild case and am dealing with it quite well. It has taught me a lot about myself and my life and while I look forward to the morning I awake and have full control over my face I now know that this could happen again at the drop of a hat and that I need to make certain precautions to eliminate some possible causes.

No Witty Title

Monday morning, I was up till almost 2am watching the Yankees take 4 in a row from the Red Sox. No more comment on games until the series is over.

Talked to my team yesterday. I think we will have some fun. We have the only girl in the league, plus a special needs kids and someone who broke both legs last year and has not played baseball in over a year. With me as head coach we are heading to Bad News Bears territory. I am looking forward to it, I just hope to have a little more movement on the face by the first practice next Sunday.

Spent the entire afternoon in the yard yesterday. Mowed, weed wacked, clean out the garden beds, watered, then stained some shelves. It was wondrous fun. It was nice to be outside most of the day. The wife combed the dog and played with her for a while (in between staining the shelves with me) and the boy was in and out with friends or helping us. When we went to bed we realized we only ate once all day. We went to a late brunch with the family for my Mom's birthday, we ate very well and I was never hungry again!!!!! At 1am while watching the Yankee game the wife turns to me and says, "Do you realize we never ate today except for BellaVita?" I had not and upon internal reflection realized I still was not hungry!

Time to head out. I must hit the post office and the Target for water for work. And I am DIC (that is Director In Charge) while my boss is on vacation. Have a great Monday.

Sunday Morning

So I awoke at 10am today. It has been a very nice weekend. The boy is out on a camping trip so it is just the wife and I. I have all sorts planned yesterday but only did a few things. We slept in and had breakfast then helped the landscape guy.

See we had the yard done this year and added a tree, he came by yesterday to finish mulching around the tree and his truck died. So I spent about 1.5 hours out there helping him with jumper cables and starters and what not. In the end I had to leave and his wife came by and they got the parts needed. When I returned from my errands he was gone. But it felt good helping him out, they are very nice people. The guy has his business accounts with the wife and his wife saw mine at the bank on Friday and they chatted for some time. Then she shows up at our house to drive her husband to the parts store (I offered but has an appointment at 1). We ended up meeting some nice people and helping out at the same time.

After I left the house we went to the Fall Baseball Meeting and picked up my team's equipment. No big deal, just talked to the commish and checked out the bag. We then ran some of the errands we needed to: shopping at Cosco, changing the oil on the wife's car and hitting the grocery store.

When we got home I cleaned the garage and the wife started dinner, my parents and sister and nephew came over for my Mom's birthday. The wife made pork stirfry and we had cake and ice cream and the nephew sang Happy Birthday. We then retired to the living room and watched some kid's movie with the young boy and talked. Everyone left after 9 and we stayed up and cleaned off the DVR with some stuff we should have watched 2 months ago.

Today we pick up the boy from the camp and then hit the Brunch at La BellaVita, again for my mom. It will be AWESOME!!! After that it is bear down time: mow the lawn, finish the garage and stain some shelves.

Have a productive day!

Thursday

Having some feeling in the face today. I got home last night and was all excited because my lip was not as droopy but my eye is still KILLING ME!!!!!!!! And it is giving me headaches.

Nothing new or exciting here aside from that so here is some news recaps:

- People went crazy the past few weeks in the city and killed like 15 people. No mass killings mostly single incidents. This prompted the police force to go undercover in taxis. It is an interesting program but I think if they were just on the street more it would help. I think the massive heat we had during that period takes some of the blame. It was crazy hot and people do strange things in extreme times.

- They found JonBenet killer. It has been 10 years. I remember when the story broke and I always (wrongly) thought the family had something to do with it. My main problem with the whole story was that too many children are murdered on an annual basis but what made this one stand out and deserve this much coverage more than the others. She was from money and a young beauty queen, that is why. It bugged me at the time because a local child was killed (in NY) at the same time and got none of the coverage that JonBenet got. It just felt wrong at the time.

Hey that's it today. I got my team assignments last night so I am off to Target to pick up some baseball supplies while I still can.

Later

'City Slickers' actor Bruno Kirby dies - Yahoo! News

'City Slickers' actor Bruno Kirby dies - Yahoo! News

What a shame. I always loved him in just about everything he did. Godfather II was his shining star and City Slickers gave us one of the greatest lines in cinema history.

"That was not a hello, that was hello, can I wear your ass as a hat!"

He will be missed.

School's Back, No Summer!!

First day of the 8th grade!!!! The boy was up at 6:30am and ready to go. My folks showed up at 6:45am and the bus left shortly after. Since we have moved here my parents come over for the first day of school. At first it was cool for the boy but now he is an 8th grader and he got a little upset when my mother offered to hold his hand and walk to the bus stop. Oh, to be 13 again. The bus picked him up right on time with all his buds, and it was off to our annual breakfast at the Sunrise Cafe.

I am eating less with my BP. I can: 1) not eat as fast since it takes time to chew. 2) not take as big bites as I cannot open my mouth that wide. All in all this is working out for me, tomorrow I am back to working out at the YMCA and back into the saddle.

Some interesting side notes in my life:
- I have a coaches meeting tonight, first time as head coach.
- I have some Eagle Scout Boards of Review tomorrow, first time on one of those
- Yankees are up 3 games in the AL East (Yippee)
- Topps Allen & Ginter cards are the BOMB!!!! I think I will do the whole set
- I return to work today, we will see how I do
- My closest friend got married on Friday and we missed the wedding because I had doctors appointments because I thought I had a stroke, but CONGRATS HENRY!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday...

So I go to the dentist today, and they numb the OTHER side of my face. They fix the filling I pulled out a few months ago and check the BP side of my face. Everything looks good. My new dentist says he just saw another patient last week who had Bell's Palsy for 2 weeks. So they were gentle with my mouth and I wore dark glasses to protect my eye. It was nice to hear that it could be only 2 weeks. I called the boss and told her I was coming in tomorrow. She was surprised, but I am ready to go back to work. I bitch about vacation and working weekends, etc, etc, but I really get bored at home doing nothing so I am ready to go back to work. I could milk it for a few days but that is not my style.

Got a call last night after visiting the folks and telling them about the face. It was the Fall Ball Commissioner, seems they are sort some head coaches and asked me to take a team. I said yes, this will be my first time as Head Coach. But it is Fall Baseball. No practices, 2 games a Sunday for a few weeks and the kids play all over the field. It is more instructional then competitive and I think I can do it. It should be fun, I do not have rosters, but I called my son on his cell while he was in the back seat. He answered it and said what do you want, I asked if this was the boy, he said I am sitting behind you, you know it is me. I said this was his Fall Baseball Coach looking forward to a good season. He damn near shit his pants. It was very funny, the wife had a good laugh too.

So now I have Scouts tonight, Coaches meeting on Wednesday, Eagle Scout Board of Reviews on Thursday and I cannot use the right side of my face. Why me?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

The Start of Something Different....

So here is how it started. For the past week of so I have been sick, half way through my tongue felt like some had sprayed that cough suppressant on it, it was thick and nothing tasted right. On Friday I woke up and had pins and needles on the side of my face. When I tried to brush my teeth and rinse all the water came out one side of my mouth. On the way home from work while listening to music my ear was KILLING me.

When I awoke on Saturday the right side of my face was totally unresponsive and a little droopy. I get to the doctor's and they tell me it is Bell's Palsy. So now I am stuck with a few new realities. This can go away next week or next year, no one knows. No one knows the cause as well, two forerunners are herpes or stress. Since I have been with the same woman (and she me) since 1991, I think I can rule out herpes. Also since I work in TV with a bunch of idiots I think I can pinpoint Stress.

So now I have to do the following:
- adjust my way of speaking (since that is what I do for a living) so people can understand me
- eat on the other side of my mouth
- relearn how to drink out of a straw
- learn a new way to communicate with my dog (I can no longer whistle)
- tape my eye shut at night so I can sleep
- learn to use eye drops to keep eye from drying out (I HATE EYE DROPS)
- get over the fact that NO ONE is looking at me when I talk now even though it sounds funny in my ear

Those are just a few things. The high point is that it is hard to eat so I am eating less!! And to ease the nerve I am letting things slide off of my back. I just have to, I was always a high stress guy anyway, now I know it can hurt me in other ways. Thank God it did not take a heart attack to figure that one out. I think I can live with this on a temporary basis as a warning!!!

Thank you all for the kind works left here and in my mailbox!!! It is nice to have another outlet to thoughts and feelings and issues. And it is nice to have online friends.

Thank You.

Ding Dong.....

It's Bell's Palsy. Yep, that numbness and the lack of control on the right side of my face, the inability to close my eye, spit, whistle or eat...I have Bell's Palsy.

Learn all about it here.

I will tell more once I stop drooling.

Steam Heat

Yesterday was a Count To 10 Day. Everything I seemed to do and everyone I interacted with pissed me off. I would like to blame being sick. I have a ringing in my ear, my tongue feels like I sprayed that cough suppressant stuff on it 24/7 (which I have not) and driving home I noticed a pressure in my right ear when the music was a little loud.

I am hoping to get to the end of the day without any more outbursts and then take tomorrow off. I have to work both the job and the freelance on Sunday so basically 4am till 10pm, but I can use the money and will not be bitching too much on that one. If it weren't for the OT I would have called in already but once you do that you lose the OT money and it become straight time.

On the other hand the wife and I have been having some nice conversations lately. Maybe it is my illness that keeps me on the couch and in talking range or the alone time we have with the boy out till 10pm, but either way I am enjoying it and grow to love her more and more every day!!!

On a totally unrelated note but tied to my mood is the current terrorist situation. So now I cannot carry my ipod, water, a book, a snack, the boy's PSP, a cell phone, chapstick, contact solution, etc, etc, etc, etc on a plane because some followers of the religion of peace tried to blow up some airplanes again....

When will the world wake up and realize we are AT WAR!!!! Stop trying not to 'offend' people and DO THE RIGHT THING! Take every Middle Eastern person that tries to get on a plane and search them. Do not make my 86 year old Grandmother take off her shoes, do not stop the black couple with 2 kids and make them empty their diaper bag, do not search the business man's briefcase...take a look at the people who are committing these acts of war and take them aside and search them. Two of the 9/11 animals got through security because the guard was worried if he stopped them he would get in trouble for 'profiling'. He has since quit his job and last I heard was in some therapy. That is unfortunate because we could use more men like him without the ACLU/PC restraints.

With names like Abdula Ahmed Ali, Cossor Ali, Shazad Khuram Ali, Nabeel Hussain, Tanvir Hussain, Umair Hussain, Umar Islam, Waseem Kayani, Assan Abdullah Khan, Waheed Arafat Khan, Osman Adam Khatib, and Abdul Muneem Patel I wonder what type of people they were. They sound a little Irish, maybe German and I think Waseem Kayani might be Russian. WAKE UP PEOPLE!!!!!!!

I know that rant makes me sound like a racist, but if keeping my eye on the type of people that killed thousands on 9/11 keeps me and mine alive, then I am a racist.

Thursday

Went to the boy's open house yesterday. He has a very nice new school and he seems to be very excited. School starts on Wednesday, but today he is going to an amusement park with his band. He should have a good time. Also last night he got a call from the new SPL of the Troop and they want him to be a Troop Guide. That means he works with a new patrol of young Scouts and spends the next 6 months helping and guiding them to 1st Class. I am looking forward to this as much as he is, it should be a great experience for him.

Work sucks. I just do not want to be there right now. Maybe it is because I am sick for the past few weeks or maybe it is the people, but I just go in and do my job and go home. I have not really 'hung' with the people I usually 'hang' with this week.

Maybe it is the fact that we have no money. We are by no means ready to lose the house and car but with gas the way it is and a few bills going up (insurance, garbage collecting) we are hitting the savings each month just a few days before payday to get everything done. Thank goodness we paid off my car. I cannot even thing what an extra $300.00 bill would do to us right now.

Well, enough of my bitching. Hope you all are having a good week, somebody should!

Tuesday's With Bryan

OK, the weekend did go well. We ate at some very nice places and had some good company. We bought some art for our living room (a first) and the boy got some nice clothes and a few 'toys'. All in all it was a very nice visit. We are looking forward to visiting them in FLA in a few months. On a fun note, Rachel Ray has mentioned their restaurant in her magazine. She had been going there since she was 12 and my in-laws and her family are very close. They got a call from her and she wants to put their place on her $40-A-Day program. Very nice!!!

On the work front, it was HORRIBLE. I had to be at the Racetrack at 4am and then sat there until the rest of the station showed up. Production crew call was 4am, everyone else was 5am and they had the keys to the rooms. So I waited for 45 minutes at 4am sitting on a concrete floor. When I left I found I had a flat tire. And those were the best two things that happened that morning.

To sum up the entire event I give you this conversation that happen one minute to air:

Me: "Hello Sub Control" (into Radio), "Hello Sub Control"

Me: (To Producer behind me at the track) "Producer, (On the phone with the producer in Sub Control), can you please tell the producer to tell the Sub Director to listen to my radio channel, I cannot talk to her, she cannot hear me."

Producer: "Listen to your channel, OK." (into phone) "Hello sub producer can you, hello sub producer...darn it (yes darn it) Bryan can you tell the Sub Director that the Sub Producer hung up on me and I need them to call me back ASAP."

Me: BLANK STARE, THEN BLINK, THEN BLANK STARE AGAIN.

Yes it was one of those days....

Monday...

We made it. The In-LAws left at 5am, we are in one piece and actually had a very nice visit. Now I am off to mow my parents lawn before they get back from Hawaii. Yes it is 9am............

Finally Friday...

It is here, I have to work on Sunday (Allstate 400) but the end is near. I have been walking around with a cold all week and fell like crap. Just enough to cough and be stuffed up but not enough to call in.

I need a real vacation but do not have enough time saved up. I would love to just sit at home for a few days and not worry about anything. But that is not meant to be, oh well.

Tonight will be FULL CLEAN MODE as the MIL will be here tomorrow. Her visit will be short and I am sure full of strife. She is very good to the boy and has always treated us well, but the wife and her mother are like oil and water. I am sure that she still holds us moving out here into the same state as MY PARENTS against us. If she calls and they are here she will call back, or if we are at their house and she calls the cell. Two years ago we all went out to dinner and my parents paid the bill and we never heard the end of it until they came to visit the next year and we went out to dinner again. This time we had to get there before my parents and my In Laws talked to our waitress and gave her the credit card and said the bill only comes to us, period. I know it is little things, but man EVERY time the MIL called and my wife talked to her she would mention the dreaded MEAL INCIDENT, EVERY TIME for a FULL YEAR!!! Gets on the nerves a little. Last year my mom commented on the $100.00 bill my In Laws gave him and he put it in his wallet. She said something about: Wow, $100 bill, I would never give him that to carry around (she likes to stir shit too). So 4 days ago the MIL calls to 'confirm' the visit and says she had to make an extra trip to the bank to get $50's because she did not want to upset my mother by giving the boy another $100 bill.

They arrive tomorrow morning and are scheduled to leave on Monday but I am sure something will come up and they will be gone by Sunday night. I am so glad I am working Sunday morning from 4am till Noon. I will most likely miss whatever maybe up incident that will send them home early.

Wish me luck.

Hero

One of my all time favorite baseball players and one I always considered my boyhood hero was Thurman Munson. My baseball life really started when he was the Captain and the Yankees were on top of the world (77-79). Those are the Yankees I remember as a child, going to games, watching on a little black and white TV, listening to on the radio. My grandfather (on my Dad's side) was an incredible Yankees fan and he always had the game on the TV when we went over. The game stayed on and he watched it and when it was over he would then visit with us. I remember my Nana saying "Grandpa's in the living room, the Yankees are on."

Thurman Munson was the old time cool guy. He was the catcher, the Captain (first since Gehrig but I did not know the significance then), he had the cool mustache and looked awesome in the catchers gear. And boy could he hit.

On August 2nd, 1979, while flying his own plane, he crashed and died. He was with 2 others and they tried to get him out of the cockpit but the fuel exploded and they were driven back. I remember I had clipped the Daily News the next few days as the ran stories on him and recently I purchased his autobiography, written that year, on eBay for a few bucks. He was the man I thought he was as a kid. Tough, but kind; driven and intelligent; and the only reason he was on that plane was so that he could visit his family in Canton, OH on a Yankee off day. He did not want his kids to be Baseball Kids and only see dad once in awhile. He was a family man and loved them more than baseball. I lost my hero that day in 79, and the Yankees lost a great catcher and Captain, and 2 kids and a wife lost their Dad and Husband. Fortunately I now have a model to show my son, the type of person one can be with talent and money and smarts and still be happy with just sitting in the backyard playing with the kids!

Tired....

Been having trouble sleeping lately. I keep waking up at all hours of the night to find that is was only 15 minutes or 40 minutes since I last checked the clock. What the heck?

I crashed hard last night. After all the 'excitement' of the morning, with the adrenaline driving me most of the day. When I got home and just sat it was like I ran 10 miles. All the energy sapped out of me and I was a puddle on the couch. While in bed talking with the wife the enormity of the chase finally hit home. I never really thought to call 911 because I was just trying to get the hell away from the guy and that was my biggest mistake. Today I am calling the police and making a report. I know it will do no good now, but with a description of the vehicle if it happens again to someone else they'll have more to go on. My wife kept saying I should have reported the license plate but I was always in front of him and here in Indiana we do not have front license plates.

TO make matters worse the boy tells me a story in which at band camp yesterday him and 3 other boys were rolling a 500lbs cart loaded with equipment across the school parking lot when a car comes screeching around the corner, using the parking lot as a short cut, slams on the breaks and honks the horn at them. They all stop what they are doing and stare at the guy they then move out of his way and the guy burns rubber and honks at them as he drives away. The band leader was behind then and started to run up to the car when it took off. I told the boy to NEVER EVER mess with people like that, you never know what type of crazy is behind the wheel.

FREAK OUT!!!!

Important story note: My AC is dead in the car so the windows are all rolled down when I drive.

So I am on my way into work today when some guy in a van cuts me off twice while trying to make a left hand turn then deciding that it was not the correct street. Twice he cut me off and twice I beeped (no finger yet). I get to my turn and get into the turn lane and he goes straight. At the red light I turn and look at him while I pass and he gives me the finger, I return it and make my left on the green arrow/light. As I turn I hear someone yelling and it is the guy (suit/tie, my age) leaning out the window yelling "Fuck you motherfucker!!" and giving my the finger. I continue on my way (he is out of finger range) and turn right to head to the Speedway to get my credentials for the Allstate 400. At an intersection I look and see the same guy at the stop light, he sees me and yells again "Fuck you motherfucker!" and gives me the finger, this time as the light turns I have time to return the salute. He then crossed 3 lanes of traffic and starts to chase me. I'm thinking game on, this NY driver is going to smoke this hayseed, but he starts to catch up and we are approaching a bridge and traffic. He gets behind me in the lane next to me and starts to inch up, right before the bridge is a right which I take hard and the back end slides out, FUCK YA!!!!! He crosses the bridge and I head to a parking lot to turn around. After a few minutes (yes I was hiding) I get back onto 16th street (to the Speedway) and cross the bridge. As I cross I see the guy on the left hand side pointing at me and he pulls out into traffic and continues to chase me. I take off and look for a good street to the right, there is lots of industry down here and lots of dead ends and I do not want to get caught as now I am thinking this motherfucker is crazy. I find a nice paved street, turn and floor it, he follows ( I do catch air on one bump). Ahead I see a stop sign with a car turning right and traffic coming from the left but all clear from the right; I blow past the stopped car and the stop sign, beat the traffic and turn left. I then proceed to make random turns for the next few blocks always keeping the last known location of the crazy behind me.

I turn down one road and it starts to loop back so I stop and turn around into a parking lot and call a friend who lives nearby. As I am wired and telling him what happened he tells me to turn around and head in a direction to get to the Speedway, as I pull out of the parking lot I am talking to him and relating the story I see a car turn down the road, as I look up the car GETS IN MY LANE and heads towards me. I freak out and yell in the phone, THE DUDE FUCKING FOUND ME, I jump a curb into another parking lot to get around him and take off again, he stops and turns around in the street and comes after me. For the next 10 MINUTES (the phone call lasted 13:22) I call out street names and my friend tells me where to go. I finally lose him and skip the Speedway and get to work.

All in all the chase lasted about 20 minutes, I was 30 minutes late to work as I did not want this guy to know where I worked and took some odd routes just in case. In hind sight I should have called 911 immediately, but my blood us up and I figured once he got the last finger he would leave, I did not expect him to lay in wait for me and by that time my adrenaline was pumping and I was just trying to drive. I was so wired when I got to work I was shaking and when I told the story to my boss I must have looked freaked out because she told me to just hang in the office for awhile to calm down.

Holy Shit, that was fucked up!!! If the AC was working I would never of heard his FU and never returned the second finger. Damn you Oldsmobile!

Lost...

Somewhere in cyberspace my post from yesterday is floating around. I used the email function to post my weekend and it never arrived. So the short version....

- I am sick with summer cold

- I sweat my ass of trying to mow the lawn on Sunday

- Been puking since Friday

- Had life lesson moment with son

That's it in a nut shell. I am still sick and feeling like shit. I want to call in and take a day and rest but I have OT this weekend and if I call in I will not get paid OT money for working it.

Now I must shower and spit up some more phlem.

Till Next Time.