Good eats

People who know us know that we are both great cooks. What they may not know is that my wife is an innovator in the kitchen. Well, most of the time that's what she winds up being called. Sometimes she's just someone who can't follow a recipe.
She has the ability to create some dishes by finding some recipe that sounds good, or some dish she had at a restaurant, and modifiying it. Like I said, sometimes this comes off as just not following a recipe. Tonight, she hit a home run. I liked it so much that I felt like it needs to be published, so here ya go: Enchilada Pie.

Using an oven-safe skillet, brown about a pound of hamburger, and drain off the fat. Add a can of enchilada sauce, a can of Mexican corn, a small can of chilies, and some black olives. Mix this together, and heat through. Mix up one package of cornbread mix. We used one pack of Jiffy Cornbread Mix, but use whatever brand you have locally. Be sure to make the mix just a little dry, by maybe a spoonful or two of water. Pour the mix on top of the enchilada mixture, and put it in a pre-heated 400-degree oven. Bake for about 20-25 minutes. Serve this with sour cream and salsa on the side.

Correction

OK, when I said vote, I meant vote for the democrat. I guess I should have made myself clear in the first place.
I fear for the next four years. I have to wonder if the people in this country will continue to blindly follow whatever the government tells them. I wonder if someone is going to wake up and miss accountability. I mean, there are at this time no reasons left standing for our troops to be in Iraq, other than Saddam is a bad man. Yes, he is (was). Bush went in swearing that in no time, Iraq would be lobbing nuclear and/or biological weapons on top of their enemies. It was absolutely not true. No one found a thing. The evidence points that not only was the Bush administration mistaken, but the knew they were mistaken, and did not tell anyone. Instead, they stuck to their story. In other words, they lied.
Knowing that they lied does not bother me nearly as much as the fact that as far as a majority of Americans are concerned, they don't care. It's ok if we were lied to, and are spending massive amounts of money that we do not have coming in on understaffing an armed force in a country where people are trying to kill our people. I have no respect at all for any Republican any more as an informed, responsible citizen.
Boy, lack of sleep makes one grumpy.

Vote, dammit.

It's been so long I'd forgotten that I had this blog. Guess it's time to say something on it, if anybody is watching.
Get your ass out and vote. If you haven't registered yet, it may be too late now. If so, I don't want to hear your whining and sniveling about how you don't like the government, you don't like this social program or you don't like that they cut funding for that social program, or you don't want to be in a war, or you think we should nuke 'em.
If you don't vote, you are a second-class citizen, living off the work of real people. You have squandered the one thing you may be able to do to have a voice in how things go in the country you live in. And for sure, you lose the right to say anything about politics and be taken as anything except a dumbass.
Not that I want to preach or anything.
I'll be back.

well, it's been too long for sure now. This is my second attempt at sending this cutesy picture of my dog after her bath. Note the excessive fur. 

Late Night

Man, I forgot that I started this post a couple of days ago. I don't even know what I was on about now. I tell you this, though. I have had a relaxin' couple of days. I had a ton of stuff I could have done at work--if I had gone in on my days off. Instead, I did some laundry, and some household chores, and shopped for a new DVD burner, and got some ink, and went to several shops, and had plenty of espresso. Which, by the way, is why I'm up writing at 1am. More sometime soon.

random

It's late, another night in Georgia. A rainy night in Georgia. Yeah, I know, it's been done. I've been randomly cruising blogs for a while, since I got home from work. It started to storm here sometime before midnight, and the thunder hasn't stopped since. The satellite dish has gone out. Nothing to do. And for some reason, tonight as I read blogs I ran across page after page of succinct, intelligent prose. Amazing. Not one mention of how the day was in junior high. No one said anything about their geology homework. Not one bored housewife posting pictures of the kids. In fact, all this inspired me to post a little something. However, I don't have the drive to be as smart and funny as most of you guys, at least not tonight. I sometimes wonder if I have the drive to be smart and funny at all anymore. I feel like I'm letting life get me down, like I may be giving up. I don't want to become one of those people, old, waiting around to die, not having anything to say. I should have more to say than most people, but somehow I'm not getting the job done. I need a purpose. I need motivation. I feel like I'm losing, and I don't know at what. I have to turn this around, start having my say, start getting my way.

I am going to bed now. I have been up for eighteen hours, and worked for twelve. I always get the inspiration to do this when I'm at the most tired. More.

Update on the genius thing.

I edited the template. Now nothing works. I have successfully killed The Cure. Not the band, the blog. The band will take care of itself. Actually, I thought they had done that back in the 90's sometime, but they have arisen. Robert Smith is not dead, although he kind of looks like it with the makeup on, and they are playing a tour behind a new CD. They were just in Atlanta a couple of weeks ago. All this blathering about The Cure is taking my mind off The Cure, not the band the blog. I will soldier on, learn to use html but for what I don't know, and fix the blog.
I know that I could always just do what I did on this blog, and pick a template and move on. I want to be able to put up some links, and none of these templates have that in the code. So, it's either learn to write it in, or get another template. If I'm going to learn the code anyway, I'd just as soon play around with it and customize my own.
Enough for one day, the dog is terrorizing the cats, and I need to be asleep.

I am not the genius I think I am.

I have been working on another blog, one that I've had longer. I'd like to say that it's the one with all the clever, insightful stuff on it, but that would be too much. Actually, that would be an overblown assessment. Anyway, I have tried to change the blog to another template. I'm not an amateur in this area, and I understand the basics of html, but I cannot get that frigging thing to publish. I'm sure that I will, especially now that I have vented my frustrations about the whole thing to the rest of the world.
Oh, Robin, your're welcome. I finally saw your comment.

Warning. Danger.

I can't believe that I'm up and typing at 3am. The alarm company has called me six times since 11. Things are screwing up with the alarm system, and the mindless idiots at the monitoring center can't see that. On one of the calls, the 1:30am call I believe, I asked the guy to tell me what areas were going off. He started naming them, garden center, rear doors, lumber doors, motion in tools, stuff like that. I listened to him for a few seconds and told him that if all those were real, the store wasn't being broken into, it was under seige. So now I can't sleep, and I have to worry about whether the store really does get broken into.
It's my fault really, though, about not sleeping, since I ate some stuff I wasn't supposed to eat while I waited for another call, and while I was driving back to the store for the second time to answer an alarm that is in a state of malfunction. I'm going to go take something and go back to bed. I have to get up early and call and see if everything is still there, or if I can go back to bed after getting canned for telling the alarm company to go screw themselves. Wish me luck, either way.

Go Stevie. It's Your Birthday.

This may have been the most boring, do-nothing birthday of 47 that I have experienced. The highlight of the day was going by the doctor's office this morning to have a blood test done. I spent the rest of the day at home, doing nothing. I read some, dozed some, played with the dog a lot, took her out for a walk, sat around. My wife made spaghetti and meatballs for dinner, my favorite, and made banana pudding for dessert. Ah, the perfect food. So this birthday had good things in it. It didn't suck. It was just very uneventful. Lazy. So no large, insightful posts tonight. I'm going to take the dog out now, get it to pee in the yard, and I'm off to bed.
I want to wish my brother a large, happy birthday tomorrow. It's always been cool having birthdays a day apart. It's like it stretches yours out more. My sisters have their birthdays two days apart. I can't imagine.

Insane ramblings. No, wait, just ramblings.

I really didn't realize that I had been away from here for so long, until my sister reminded me a couple of days ago on a phone call. I haven't felt much like writing. That's a lie. I have just let things get in the way. Unimportant things have taken time from important things, and I let that happen. It's a character flaw that I have. In other words, I just procrastinated. Bummer. I had to admit it in front of people, or at least put it on the web where a billion people could see it. Yes, I have goofed off. And, it's getting worse as I get older. Speaking of which, I will officially do tomorrow.

Let's talk about the dog. I love the dog. I'm getting used to taking it out for a walk. I have learned that a walk at 4:30 in the morning this time of year is absolutely lovely. I did that a couple of weeks ago when the moon was full, and it was great. No traffic, no neighbors beating each other, no screaming kids, couldn't see the cars up on blocks in the yard, the asshole next door couldn't tell me about the Browns, again, no four-wheelers flying up and down the road, no barking dogs, no teenagers walking up and down the street casing your house for future burgularies, no thought of declining property values, man I can see that this blog about the dog is getting off track. I got the dog to reduce stress. Not really, I got the dog because it was cute, and we wanted one. The stress thing is a bonus. And the 4:30 walk was stress-free. The temperature was perfect. The sky was beautiful.

The dog has overcome her initial fear of the white cat. This is a distressing development. For you see, the dog now believes that if she jumps around, and gets the cat agitated, the cat will procede to play with the dog by lunging at it, hissing, and making an unearthly noise that would have made Father Merrin pack it in at Georgetown. The dog does not know that the cat is not only deadly serious about this attack, but that given the chance, the cat will gut the dog and leave it bleeding on the carpet gasping for its last breath as the cat saunters away, stopping only to lick the intestines off of its front paws.

It's time to go now. This posting is for my sister, to celebrate my birthday. We should be required to give presents on our own birthdays, to show everyone that we're appreciative of their company in our lives, don't you think?

Early morning. Well, not really early. 

These boys had binoculars, and there was a blond lifeguard on the beach. They never knew that I took the picture, and still don't. That's concentration. 

Here we are under the Apache Pier at Myrtle Beach, on a fine Thursday morning.  

Here they are...Vacation Pictures! Boring! But true! I'm back. It's time to post. 

Alright, here she is. This is the pup we adopted. She came from the Gilmer County Animal Rescue. We named her Mabel. Linda is soooooo excited. More as time goes on. 

New Tricks

We have a dog. We were going by a Petsmart store today, and saw it, and adopted it. I cannot believe I have a dog. I began to think about it. I love dogs, and I've been around dogs all my life. This is the first dog I've had since I was in college. I did not even realize that fact, and it hit me pretty hard. I could have sworn that I have always had a dog.

This all happened because I wanted a latte from Starbucks. There's a Starbucks in the Super Target, right beside the PetSmart. I'm on a first-name basis with the people at the Starbucks. Every weekend, the local animal adoption societies set up out front of the pet store. This is all on the other end of the shopping complex I work at, so I'm there a lot, and always check out the new dogs on my lunch break. Linda and I were driving by, and I made the turn for coffee. She spotted this miniature schnauser right away. We went over, and spent some time with it. It's cute, it's really mild-tempered, and it can't bark loud. The next thing I knew, we were writing the check.

I'm still amazed. Linda got so excited that she started crying in PetSmart. We can't pick the dog up yet, though. The rescue people spay all dogs before they get adopted, so she has to go through the operation on Monday. They also have to check her for heartworms, and get her up-to-date on shots. I'm glad of all that, because it's things that we would have done anyway. They're taken care of.

I admire the people who operate animal rescue organizations like this one. It takes a lot of commitment on the part of the individual. It's a last-chance place for some of the animals. I wish all those people the best.

So, let the pictures commence. As soon as I get some taken, they'll be on the Internet. I cannot wait to introduce this dog to the two cats who, in their own minds, have it made. One has never even been around a dog in her life, other than the one time a friend brought a chihuahua over. She didn't attack it, but I have never heard a sound like that in nature. That cat has no tail, so when she gets excited her whole ass gets fuzzy. This is going to be fun.

This may turn out to be the most expensive latte I ever had.

Another day

I gave up the schedule for today on the previous post. I got up this morning, went to rehab, weighed, and found that I've lost 19 pounds since the April 23. I owe that to my new eating habits, and to the exercise. I also owe a large portion of gratitude to my wife, who has lost 47 pounds since the first of the year. I tell this to people, and they just shake their heads. Then they ask for her diet. You know, I can give out her diet all day long. I can have her come explain it, define terms, recommend habits, and tatoo it on the inside of their eyelids so that they see it when they sleep. The fact remains that she is committed. These people asking how she did it, tell me, tell me, please, are looking for the answer. The quick way out. The cure. (My other blog.) They don't have the committment. They don't have the want. They have not seen the goal. They have not looked inside themselves and seen what is in there that drives their dreams.

She has.

They will never do what she's done, at least until they discover in themselves the reasons for doing it. I admire her for what she has accomplished. I applaud her for the effort it took to do as much as she has so far. I look forward to watching her accomplish the rest of her goal, because I can see it happening now. I enjoy seeing the changes and enjoy the celebration as she accomplishes more every day.

Tired. Really.

Boy, am I tired. I went to rehab this morning. Left the house at 7, only had to go 12 miles. Took me nearly 45 minutes. I did the treadmill, the bike, the pro bike (with the different settings to make it harder, like you were really going to ride a bike with your hands and feet pumping at the same time) and listened to a lecture on angioplasty that a sixth-grade schoolgirl could have sat in on and then answered the questions. There were actually patients in the class who did not know what the main purpose of an angioplasty was. Incredible, especially when you realize that most of them had been through one (or two). I am the youngest person in the 8am group. Funny thing is, three years ago I was the youngest person in the group.
Anyway, then I followed this morning's work with 12 hours of solid work at work. Tomorrow, I have to be up at 6am again, and do the rehab thing again, except that I have to go to work at 10am, so that I can be home by 9:30pm, so that I can go to bed, so that I can be up at 4:30am on Friday to be at work at 5:30am. This is going to be a long eight weeks of rehab.

But I've lost 17 pounds since the end of April.

Fergit, Hell!

Google Search: Cory Burell

Cory Burell, a teacher in Texas, wants all of the Christian faithful to move to South Carolina, and then secede from the Union. That's probably a good idea, in a twisted sort of way. What does he plan to do with Myrtle Beach? And of course, then they'll have their own naval base, which needed to be reopened anyway. And you couldn't pick a better state to do it in, given their penchant for secession from the Union and all.

Ya'll come!

I Can't Not Hardly Wait

The beach condo is paid for. Man, am I ready for a vacation. Between cardiac problems and fighting killer scorpions, it's been a long time since I relaxed.

Here's the cat. And a new experiment on posting pictures. 

Her goes nothing. 

The start of my class is two weeks from today. I have spent most of the day in a state of sheer terror. I am having so many doubts about performing. The only problem is the material. It'll be my material. What if it sucks? Surely to God the instructor will tell me "your material sucks" beforehand. At least then I'd know what to expect.
I did not do what I should have today, which is find out more information about the class, where it is, am I really registered properly, can I duck out of this shit, you know, those things.
It has been on my mind to ask Linda if she'd be mad if I don't do this. Earlier today I would have just changed it to something else, by the way. But when I think about it, she was so concerned that I wouldn't like this in the first place, so she had to have imagined that I might not do it, at some point. I don't think she'd be mad. She'd be disappointed, not in me, but mainly because she would have failed at Christmas gift-giving.
As I told people about this over the last couple of days, I was reminded by many of them of the funny things that I have said in the past. Funny thing is, I cannot remember a single one of them on my own. Trouble.

OK, here it is, the official template. I didn't go all fancy due to 1) time constraints and b) lack of technical know-how. Enjoy.