Tue 1 Jul   Keith Novinski is 43.

I spent part of the evening installing supposed antivirus and firewall on both computers.  I must return to Office Depot tomorrow for ink cartridges because I've run out both in the printer.  I'll check Ink Stop first.  The printing of Supreme Court opinions, along with some of the Worthless Words of the Day run out an entire black-ink cartridge.

Woods suggested an assessment for next week at 9:30 on Monday, Thursday, or Friday.  I chose Friday because  I am already taking it off.  So, it seems I cannot take a day off solely for relaxation.

The year is half over, and I still haven't done much since tax season ended.  I am underachieving as badly as the New york Mets.

 

Fri 4 Jul  18:05

Yesterday did not help start a long weekend.  I chose to stop at Cornwells Pharmacy for doxycycline, then onto Lou's for produce.  Well, I just pulled out when a cyclist decorated the hood.  He punched into the windshield, then slid onto the ground.  I most certainly had no warning.  So, tomorrow, I must go to Mill Road to replace the windshield.

This morning I rubbed off the tiretracks from the hood, leaving a dent and minor damages.  I am considering doing nothing more, given the van is already eight years old.

I cleaned the kitchen and the bathroom.  I also spent time shredding paperwork.

 

Mon 7 Jul  13:31

My wait for a simple replacement of stickers and a wiper has taken nearly an hour.  I've read Breyers' dissent in Heller, so I must decide my position.

 

Tue 8 Jul  15:15

We are visiting tonight, and I've arranged to take Tim over to Beechwood on Friday after 9 AM.  Mike Caruso stopped by work and assessed repairs on the hood of a replacement of nearly $900, with a deductible of $500.  I think a repair really isn't necessary, given what happened in 1977 with the green turquoise Bel Air.  After that collision, I opted for replacing the right taillight at a fraction of cost.  The vehicle was almost ten years old, a little more than a year older than the current one.

Mom showed signs of faster  deterioration at the neurolgist's yesterday: the score out of thirty, which was 26 in 2006, and 25 in 2007, was 19.  It showed under 20, which is the threshhold of living alone!  

 

Mon 14 Jul  8:12

Well, so ends the last of the three-day weekends.  Yesterday I finally finished cleaning my bedroom.  I found much debris worthy of unfinished ambitions.  Friday morning we went to Statesman, then Beechwood.  Despitethe purpose of enrolling in the Commonwealth Head-Injury Program, there was much talk about coming back to Beechwood.  Lori was against it as well.  Supposedly the handlers had neglected Tim when he was there.

 

Tue 15 Jul  15:25

I finished the first chapter of "When Smart People Fail" by Carole Hyatt and Linda Gottlieb.  A decade later, the chapter is still too close to reality.  Here I sit severely underemployed to avoid more bad results.  Between that situation and not finishing projects, the plague seems to perpetuation itself. 

When Bastille Day came on Monday, I saw parallels between the situation then and there and here and now.  The nobles were living off the rest of us with their privileges, dodging taxes, and sucking the life out of the economy.  Meanwhile, visions of 1980 have returned, perhaps to end Reganism at last.  Our American- made mill called Bayside is expanding fiercely as imports rise in price.

I finally obtained an appointment to clean out my left year -- two weeks from last night.  The wax must be deep in my ear.

Billy Wagner blew a save in the All-Star Game for the National League.  Consequently, the tie lasted into the fifteenth inning.  Both sides were running out of pitchers.  Unlike 1967, the last pitcher would have been David Wright, rather than Tom Seaver!

 

Sun 20 Jul  10:15

It looks as though I be spending the weekend at home.  Mom has pain below the knee; I suspect she had whacked her knee again on the stairs.  She doesn't wat to visit today, and it is quite hot (25º at 7 AM), that I think we'll wait until tomorrow.

 

Mon 21 Jul  14:58

On the third try of a combination of carbamide peroxide and droplet washings, my left ear finally opened a week later.  I'm going to try it on my right ear at bathtime today.   It's such a relief to hear out both ears!

Given my discovery of the latter version of "The Blob" in 1988, I finally heard the blob crawl up the wall of the clip, "Bye Paul (Taylor)", played by Donovan Philip Leitch Jr, tall, dark, and handsome.

The DeMaios finally announced that they were going to enforced the front fence today.  It took three weeks since I sent out the contract.  I've had no time to clear out the vegetation around the fence.  My last major expence should end this week.

Meanwhile, I sent out payment for "Communicaion Mastery" and for the Amazon version of Rosetta Stone's Irish 1,2,3, and audio companion.

I just finished "When Smart People Fail".  It's time to move along.  "The Millionaire Next Door" should be done as well.  I will garner what I can, then dump the book.  I simply have too many which are obsolete and clutter my bookcases.

 

Tue 22 Jul  8:18

The  DeMaios fixed the fence and the gate yesterday afternoon.  I sent out what I hope to be the last major payment of the year.  Because they used the same hinges, it cost $575.

I was downstairs this morning on the internet with the Blob 1988, when I heard the spoon move in the cereal bowl on the floor.  I looked down to see an escaped hamster.  I must have left the door open above the cage.

Block moves toward an end next week.  However, my Rosetta Stone Irish won't be here until August.  The key will be compatability with Vista.

I finished "When Smart People Fail", so my next move is to practice it and move on.  Also weeds need whacking and vans need washing this week.  My résumé needs a revision on the internet, and I will need.....

14:26

This day and date provokes memories of 1980 and 1986.  In 1980, I went to te History Department to sign for my first ever graduate teaching assistantship.  All I had to do was wait six weeks until the term started, and, of course, finish my bachelor degrees.  In stark contrast, in 1986, I had just lost another job on layoff while holding a parttime one on weekends.  I jumped on an offer the evening before, and I started another disaster of a job at Wawa's for a pittance in northeastern Philadelphia.  The uplift from Vide France had faded into obscurity by then.  Sketching and writing were holding my sanity.

Words of the week:

ablution, welter, gimlet, grok, and kluge.

15:00

Abington Hospital wants a prescription for the video fluoroscopy.  I will have to get one from Statesman.

 

Wed 23 Jul  midafternoon

Thoughts of what I was doing on a Sunday at this date thirty years ago angers me.  I was still experimenting with redrawing scenes from Mad and Cracked Magazines and translating them into French and German.  Little did I know that a score later, technology would provide movies translated into other languages, particularly French and Spanish.  From Jaws II to Rosetta Stone, my Irish package comes tomorrow.

 

Thu 24 Jul  8:23

I made an appointment for 4 PM, which changes the day completely.  Sometime today, my Rosetta Stone for Irish will arrive.  Someone must sign for it.  Tonight I've abandoned Toastmasters until next month.  Once Block is out of the way on Monday, I can finally return for my plans for the offseason.  Thre are only five months left.

 

Fri 25 Jul

My Rosetta Stone of Irish came just past 1 PM.  I had just come upstairs from the internet.  I had expected the package soon, for I had seen the UPS truck near Wawa's when I drove home.  Version 3 is compatable with Vista, but it does not help with previous versions.  I could not get the version on again, so I'll have to use the other computer with XP.

Mom did not want to go to the doctor, but I got here to go anyway.  They suspect arthritis in the knee, so here we go again with X-rays!

McCain's campaign continues to founder.  Obama is travelling Europe to huge crowds.  There were 200,000 in Berlin yesterday.  The polls don't change much, so I remain hopeful.

The three-game series with Philadelphia could have been a sweep.  The bullpen lost the first game, blowing a 5-2 lead into the ninth.

I went food shopping yesterday, but I still must pick up pills at PathMark.  Tonight we visit Tim, and I finally whack weeds and wash vans.

 

Sun 27 Jul  13:40

We went to Frankford Torresdale after stopping at PathMark for pills.  It took about a halfhour, which suggests I should go there about an hour after they open the hospital.

I chopped much of the weeds, especially in my front garden.  I clipped the dog before the rain.  I also cleaned out my right ear.  The wax that fell out was astounding.  It took several times to clean it out, but the bulb squirted the water effectively.

The teaching company sent me another catalog.  In there, I found disturbing statement on Friederich Nietzsche.  Supposedly he said that people are moral because they do not wish to be shunned.  It suggests that hermits are immoral. 

 

Thu 31 Jul  15:13

My class at Block ended on the internet at my seasonal desk with passing the test.  Tuesday night we visited, and that was all.  Last night I waited nearly an hour for an examination of my ears.  It was too late for me to take the prescription to Cornwells Pharmacy and Lou's Produce.  So, I am forced to go today, with groceries at PathMark thrown in. 

The neighbor across the street informed me that on Tuesday, Mom was wandering the neighborhood and apparently was too confused to get back home.  It appears it will soon be time to change arrangements.