As My Wacked Out World Turns

No More Posts Will Be Made Here

2007-01-12T16:08:00.000-07:00

EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY:

This blog is INVALID. NO MORE POSTS WILL BE MADE HERE. You can continue to track this blog by pointing your browser or newsreader here. An RSS Feed is available on site.

Apologies in advance for any inconvience this has caused.

The Latest On My Situation

2006-10-28T22:08:00.000-06:00

Just thought I'd keep you all posted on my moving situation and my 504 request.

As many of you may (or may not) know, I am being relocated to a new apartment building by the local housing authority here in Denver as they will soon be remodeling the one I'm in now. This is expected to happen with the signing of the new lease possibly being on Monday and my moving out of this apartment after the election

I say after the election because I've been appointed to work as an Election Judge for the upcoming election and the vote center I'm assigned to work at is just a block from here. if I were to move BEFORE the election, I would have to commute BY SCOOTER (It's too big to fit on the bus) in cold and (potentially) snowy weather to and from the vote center and my new apartment (And getting a new assignment at this juncture is NOT an option).

I'd also run the risk of getting a flat tire on some of the streets & sidewalks (Namely the stretch of sidewalk from Cherokee St. to Pecos St. for those in the know) I'd have to travel on to get there as they are not well kept by the city. :(

I've had to replace BOTH of my front wheels due to flats incurred as a result of past visits to my mom's apartment (she already lives in the building I'll be moving to) and don't want to take that chance again at THE WORST possible time for me personally just to work an election.

Ordinarily, I'd just walk away from the Judge's position altogether in lieu of moving, but it pays me an extra $100 which I can always use. This is ON TOP OF the $550 I'll get as a relocation allowance from the local housing authority just for the trouble of moving as well as my usual Social Security checks that I normally get. And, like i said earlier, the assignment is only a block away from where I currently live, so unless it's an utter complete blizzard outside, I should have NO problem at all getting to my assigned post for work on November 7. :)

As for my 504 Request with a roll-in shower (That BTW is a Reasonable Accomondation Request), there's no real significant progress there. But when I went to see the apartment I'd be moving into, I was told by the manager that there are NO 504s in the highrise itself, but there are some in the cottages, which are ground level units that are seperate of the building itself. Having seen them from the outside, I might as well move into a unit in the projects as both would be just as unsafe (Especially at this time of year when the flakes are flying).

The reason I was told there are no roll-in showers and that it would be nearly impossible in the highrise itself is because of the age of the building and that removing the tub would negatively impact my neighbors above and below me (Which I thought was nothing but baloney).

If my 504 is rejected, I may have to resort to the appeals and (potentially) legal process to get it. Hopefully it won't go that far, but I'm not holding my breath on that.

Unfortunately, due to the timing of things, I'm now faced with having to move out first and settle the issue of the 504 later. I say this because things are now at a point where the local housing authority will start moving people into the projects (which are as rogue as any urban housing projects in America are) just to get us out of this building (There's asbestos in the building which be must be removed).

So there you have it folks. The latest on my situation. I'm just hoping for the best.

Get A Load Of This (The Latest On The Relocation Process)

2006-09-14T15:52:00.000-06:00

First off, please forgive my erroneous typing as I slightly cut one of the fingers I use to type with and has a band aid on it (Though I'll try to catch and correct all the errors possible).

That out of the way....You won't believe the surprise I got last week.

I had put in for a 504 (That's government lingo for a reasonable accomondation BTW) for the new apartment that I'll be moving into (The building I'm living in now will soon be renovated and everyone has to be relocated). Well, I was under the impression that the local housing authority here granted my 504 *WITH* a roll-in shower as it was supposedly (??) REQUIRED BY LAW (The relocation counselor inasmuch told me so herself).

Well suffice to say, when a friend of mine (who's also my power of attorney outside of my mom, who also advocates for me) called the Legal Department, he found out that not only was there MORE than one type of 504, he also said I WASN'T EVEN APPROVED for a 504 with a roll-in shower (They approved a 504 *WITHOUT* a roll-in shower instead).

Furthermore, I was also under the impression that they were also working on converting a regular unit into a 504 (The manager even told me so when I met her while visiting my mom, who has to be AT LEAST within the same complex as we look after each other and are there for each other as needed). That too proved to be a bold-faced lie as my friend/PoA was told that "It wasn't in the budget" and that they "were out of money"

He said it was a reason. I told him it was EXACTLY what it was - AN EXCUSE - One that allows them to take the slick, cheesy way out.

As for my mom living in the same complex with me (But not the same apartment). Guess what, that also needs to be a part of the 504 request It wasn't originally as we thought that all we needed were doctor's statements in our file.

WRONG!

Apparently, statements made by doctors on plain ordinary paper or office stationery somehow isn't good enough for the local HA. They need the request on the official form (Apparently so their pretty logo is stamped all over it and is prominently displayed).

F*CKIN' BUREAUCRATS!! :(

All this just as my name was (And hopefully still is) at the top of the list of people in need of a new place to live for at least the next couple of years or so. If it *isn't* at or near the top, I'm gonna have some MAJOR issues (On top of the ones I already have)
As a result of all this, I've not only gotta RESUBMIT A WHOLE NEW 504 REQUEST, but I've also gotta take the form down to my doctor's office to fill out AGAIN and hope he doesn't decide to shoot the messenger *CRINGE!* (He HATED having to fill it out the first time given all the questions, most of them REDUNDANT, that are on there and even contemplated BILLING the local HA for the time which he could've, if not SHOULD HAVE been able to devote to other patients). In fact, when they saw it the first time, one of his secretaries even quipped that HER FIVE YEAR OLD DAUGHTER could've written a better form. My mom and I laughed at THAT one :) *LOL!*

And to top it all off.....The 90 Day notice has already been issued.

So here I sit. Instead of sitting in new place doing something else on my computer, I am still stuck in my old apartment and NO LONGER knowing just where I'll be moved to because of some @!%^&( )(^&%$ BUREACRATIC RED TAPE that someone decided to throw at me simply because A). THEY ARE A BUREAUCRATIC ASSHOLE and B). I didn't add the part of my mom living in the same complex as me in the original 504.

Ohh yeah...Did I fail to mention that if they don't eventually move me into the same building that my mom lives in now and move me elsewhere, they will have to move my mom AGAIN (Or pay her for the trouble of moving - AGAIN)?? Gee...I must've missed that part...

Well....That's all the news for now. More to follow on this as developments warrant. :D

Our Strange & Wacky Weather

2006-08-28T11:30:00.000-06:00

Our cross-town neighbor from Prism Of Whispers (aka Thoughtprints) created this post back in June, but I'm beginning to think it somehow applies to August as well.

I mean AM I LOSING IT or did Autumn suddenly decide to fall early? Or did Spring somehow decide to FINALLY spring late?

Just the other night, the weather people even uttered the "S" word for the folks up in the mountains.

I suppose next thing we'll know is the "S" word beingin the forecast for the Denver Metro Area itself - IN THE MIDDLE OF SEPTEMBER.

Ahh....But then again, if we can have 80 degrees in the middle of January while California is dealing with mudlslides and The Big Apple is stuck in a deep freeze, then I suppose we can have 55 to 65 degree temperatures in the middle of August.

Either way you look at, the weather here in Denver, CO sure has been strange lately, hasn't it?

Pat's Podcast

2006-08-24T13:00:00.000-06:00

The following is also cross-posted on my Health & Medical Wonders Text Blog, Health & Medical Wonders VideoCast and (of course) my podcast site.....

In this edition we have....

* Possible Bariatric (i.e. weight loss) surgery (Better known as "The Al Roker Proceedure")

* Promotion of my new Health & Medical Wonders Blog & VideoCast (With a possible podcast from a patient's perspective soon to follow if the demand exists)

* The latest on the relocation process.

PLUS the then-latest audio version of the MissingAlert.com Podcast & MORE!! CHECK IT OUT!!

NEXT TWO PLANNED EPISODES:

EPISODE 33 - A Sound Seeing Tour Of The Taste Of Colorado (This will be very similar to what we did during the sound-seeing tour of The People's Fair in Episode 31 earlier this year).

EPISODE 34 - A Sound Seeing Tour of my new apartment, which will also be the new studio for The Pat Cook Show as well (I hope to make a seperate VIDEO tour for my VideoCast as well, but that depends on if I can get a good used camcorder really cheap somewhere like at a pawn shop or second hand outlet).

To send feedback, call the PodLine @ 206-203-4744

ANNOUNCEMENT - New MySpace Page

2006-08-17T14:35:00.000-06:00

Just want to quickly announce that EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY my blog posts here will be cross-posted on my MySpace blog, which will consist of a combination of this blog, my medical blog & my medical videocast.

Serious Questions To Ponder

2006-05-01T19:53:00.000-06:00

Just got this in my email today. Too funny, yet all so true.

Enjoy! :)

Can you cry under water?

How important does a person have to be before they
are considered assassinated instead of just murdered?

Why do you have to "put your two cents in".. . but
it's only a "penny for your thoughts"? Where's that extra penny
going to?

Once you're in heaven, do you get stuck wearing the
clothes you were buried in for eternity?

Why does a round pizza come in a square box?

What disease did cured ham actually have?

How is it that we put man on the moon before we
figured out it would be a good idea to put wheels on luggage?

Why is it that people say they "slept like a baby"
when babies wake up like every two hours?

If a deaf person has to go to court, is it still
called a hearing?

Why are you IN a movie, but you're ON TV?

Why do people pay to go up tall buildings and then
put money in binoculars to look at things on the ground?

Why do doctors leave the room while you change?
They're going to see you naked anyway.

Why is "bra" singular and "panties" plural?

Why do toasters always have a setting that burns the toast to a horrible
crisp, which no decent human being would eat?

If Jimmy cracks corn and no one cares, why is there
a stupid song about him?

Can a hearse carrying a corpse drive in the carpool
lane?

If the professor on Gilligan's Island can make a
radio out of a coconut, why can't he fix a hole in a boat?

Why do people point to their wrist when asking for the time,
but don't point to their crotch when they ask where the bathroom is?

Why does Goofy stand erect while Pluto remains on
all fours? They're both dogs!

If Wyle E. Coyote had enough money to buy all that
ACME stuff, why didn't he just buy dinner?

If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oil is
made from vegetables, what is baby oil made from?

Do the Alphabet song and Twinkle, Twinkle Little
Star have the same tune?

Why did you just try singing the two songs above?

Why do they call it an asteroid when it's outside
the hemisphere, but call it a hemorrhoid when it's in
your butt?

Did you ever notice that when you blow in a dog's face, he gets mad at you,
but when you take him for a car ride; he sticks his head out the window?

Prison Vs. Work

2006-04-13T21:30:00.000-06:00

Just got this in my email Figured I'd share it with my faithful readers. Enjoy! :)

==============================

IN PRISON......You spend the majority of your time in a 10X10 cell.
AT WORK............You spend the majority of your time in an 8X8 cubicle.

IN PRISON.......You get three meals a day.
AT WORK...........You get a break for one meal and you have to pay for it.

IN PRISON..........You get time off for good behavior.
AT WORK............You get more work for good behavior.

IN PRISON..........The guard locks and unlocks all the doors for you.
AT WORK............You're often required to carry a security card and open
all the doors yourself.

IN PRISON..........You can watch TV and play games.
AT WORK...........You get fired for watching TV and playing games.

IN PRISON.........You get your own toilet.
AT WORK..........You share the toilet with some people who pee on the seat.

IN PRISON..........They allow your family and friends to visit.
AT WORK............You're not supposed to even speak to your family.

IN PRISON.........All expenses are paid by the taxpayers.
AT WORK............You pay all your expenses to get to work, and then they
deduct taxes from your salary to pay for prisoners.

IN PRISON..........You spend most of your life inside bars wanting to get
out.
AT WORK ..........You spend most of your time wanting to get out and go
inside bars.

IN PRISON .......You must deal with sadistic wardens.
AT WORK...........they're called managers.

Have a Good Day at Work!

TODAY Is The First Day Of Spring???

2006-03-20T15:08:00.000-07:00

Wouldn't know it if you read this (or if you looked outside my window right now - I wish I had a picture, but I don't. Sorry. :( ). Ugh! What a mess. :(

If this is the way the first day of Spring will turn out, I'd hate to see how Summer begins.

I Didn't Know I Could Be So MEAN Either

2006-03-10T17:38:00.000-07:00

Take A look at this...

You Are Scary

You even scare scary people sometimes!

How Scary Are You?

Could I have a case of Schizophrenia?

Talk about Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde......

Gee....I Didn't Know I Could Be So Nice....

2006-03-09T20:42:00.000-07:00

You Are Fozzie Bear

"Wocka! Wocka!"
You're the life of the party, and you love making people crack up.
If only your routine didn't always bomb!
You may find more groans than laughs, but always keep the jokes coming.

The Muppet Personality Test

Tommorrow I'll reveal just how mean I can be (HINT: Trust me, it's SCARY).

RANT ALERT - Bad Customer Service

2006-01-26T12:31:00.000-07:00

Don't you just get FRUSTRATED TO NO END when you get a Customer Service Rep (doesn't matter from which company you do business with) who either....

A). Has to look up the "how to" on a fuckin' manual before they can even attempt to help "troubleshoot" your problem OR...

B). Would love nothing more than to see you go away simply because you use something (in this case for me, it was Mozilla Thunderbird) which the company they work for (In my case, Comcast ) neither officially supports nor allows their employees to use on the job?

Well, you might say that earlier today, I got one that was BOTH as I had problems connecting to Comcast's newsgroup server and couldn't figure out why (Mozilla Thunderbird had been running all night and I hadn't done anything to it before attempting to refresh my newsgroups for the day).

The first time I called (yes there was a first time), I got someone who knew WTF he was doing and ACTUALLY took the time to help me (I sing nothing but praises for him. As such, he is NOT the subject of this post). But it was just my luck that our conversation ended without knowing with absolute certainty that my problem had been resolved (He did give me a ticket no. though). Not even a minute later, I called back and THAT is when I was connected to the ROBOT who is the subject of this post.

Once I gave him my ticket no. (which he almost forgot to jot down because he was so wrapped up in following that damned script of his), the idiot during my callback (He didn't even recognize that I had just spoken with the other representive JUST A MINUTE AGO), told me the ticket no. had been closed by some "higher up team" who basically said the problem was not their's (of course, it never is 'cause their machines never break - Yeah right).

And as if THAT wasn't enough, this moron was also firing questions faster than I could answer them. I mean, it was as if this idiot was more interested in meeting quota than actually helping me.

And you'll never believe what the proverbial "cherry on the sundae" turned out to be...

He HUNG UP BEFORE giving me a new ticket no.

That, more than anything else, just pissed me off. FUCKIN' JERK!! YA YOU EGGHEAD!! (Assuming he even reads blogs)

Anyway, the whole thing turned out to be Thunderbird just simply forgetting my newsgroup server username & password, but c'mon peoples (looking squarely at Comcast). Mozilla is a force to be reckoned with. Don't you think it's about time you start offering support for it??

Just my rant for the day :)

New Cam Link

2006-01-24T11:41:00.000-07:00

Click on the Winamp logo below to view my cam

In order to view this cam properly, you need to install an H.264 Decoder
NOTE: This cam is also used to produce the LIVE video version of Pat's Podcast as well. When this happens (Check the calendar above for times), simply copy the above URL from this page and paste it into the OPEN URL dialog box in Winamp & change the port no. (that's the number AFTER the : to 8040). Also...If you are not able to connect, NO NEED TO CONTACT ME. I will quickly notice the reason why. If you see darkness, it is because it is nighttime and I am therefore most likely in bed sleeping.

REPOST: "Twas The Night Before Christmas

2005-12-25T12:34:00.000-07:00

The following is a repost from this original blog entry

NOTE: The following blog entry is based from an actual event which took place when I was a kid. Details are as I remember them today and are set to the narrative tone of the famous holiday story "Twas The Night Before Christmas".

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring. Not even a mouse.

That is until you get to my bedroom.

The year was around 1977 or so. I was 11 or so. In my bedroom, I was tossing and turning trrying to get to sleep. My two younger brothers were dead to the world (no doubt with sugar plums dancing in their heads of course :-)). But no matter what I did, I just couldn't get to sleep myself. I tried everything. I tried tossing, turning, fluffing the pillow. You name it, I did it. I even tried counting everything from candy canes to sugar plums and sheep. NOTHING seemed to work.

Then HE came. :-)

Before I knew it, it was midnight. And that's when things REALLY started happening.

Santa recruited my dad as his special "In-House Helper" (he always did this BTW). While Santa was busy working his magic back in the den where the big family Chrristmas tree was, he had Dad stuff the stockings which were hung on the outsides of our bedroom doors (we had no fireplace) and put a present or two under the samll trrees which we had in our bedrooms. The trees were well lit for the occasion (we were allowed to leave the lights on all night on Christmas Eve).

As luck would have it on this night, it would turn out to be one of my biggest problems.

With me still trying to get to sleep, my Dad started to walk in. At first, he noticed me still lying in bed awake & thought it was intentional. He told me to get to sleep. But try as I did, I just simply couldn't. He started to walk in again, bu this time, I managed to fool him by faking the idea I had fallen to sleep at long last. I could hear the slight thumping noise against the door as he stuffed my stocking full of Santa's goodies. After a short while (I assume he stuffed the stockings of my two younger brothers during this time), he came back in with my present. He put it under my tree, which was still lit.

After a while, seconds became minutes. Minutes became hours. And as I looked over at the alarm clock, I noticed that it was now 2:00 AM CHRISTMAS MORNING.

But I knew there was NO WAY my parents were going to let me get up at that ungodly hour to open presents (Heck, even my Dad was beginning to doze off to sleep). That is when I had mischievious thoughts swirling through my head. It was also when I started to wonder what Santa left for me under the tree in the den. It was also around this time I gave up on the idea of getting any sleep at all.

I could already see the package under my bedroom tree, though I didn't open it. I just saw it sitting there as I laid in bed. As I was lying in bed, I started thinking. I asked myself what sort of excuse could I make up that would seem perfectly legitimate enough for me to get out of bed AND get ANYWHERE NEAR the den. I knew that going to the bathroom was out of the question because the bathroom was just outside my bedroom and I could easily slip in there without Dad noticing me. So I had to think of something else.

Knowing that in order for me to get to the den, I had to not only go through the main living room where my Mom & dad were (My parents didn't have a bedroom of their own as my mom laind on the pull-out bed which was part of the couch we had at the time and my Dad slep in his recliner. Don't ask me why they chose to do this), but I also had to go through the kitchen too. As such, I, as an 11 year old boy, had to come up with a perfectly sensible excuse to be in the kitchen during the wee hours of the morning.

By this time, it was about 2:30 AM.

I then started getting thirsty. REAL thirsty. But my REAL thirst was not one which could be quenched with water. It was then that the perfect excuse hit me.

GET A DRINK OF WATER.

I then started to put all the pieces of my master plan into place. After that, I then set forth to execute it.

I crawled out of bed and walked out of the bedroom. I tiptoed across the main living room (this was to not disturb my then sleeping parents, or so I thought). Dad stopped me and asked what I was doing out of bed. I told him I wanted to get a drink of water. He told me to do it and then get back to bed.

BUT I HAD NO INTENTION OF GOING BACK TO BED (at least not right away).

I walked into the kitchen and reached for a glass. I reached for one which was fairly close and would make the least amount of noise. I filled it up once or twice with water and drank it. I then filled it up again, but this one was "for the road".

The road to the den that is.

Before I knew it, I was at the steps leading to the den. I looked back to see if anyone (namely Dad) was behind me before stepping off into the den. It was then I saw the Christmas tree and all the presents under it.

I knew a few prresents were there before Christmas (Ya know....Chrristmas shopping and all), but there were others I hadn't seen before. I could also tell that some of the presents which were already under the tree had been moved around a little. I went to "investivate".

Before I did though, I made sure to look up over the counter to see if anyone (again namely Dad) was somehow on my trail. Once again, the coast was clear. Or so I thought (read on).

I got closer and closer to the tree and before I knew it, I WAS STANDING IN FRONT OF IT. I then carrefully got down on my knees (Ya know, not wanting any of the decorations to fall :-)). Just as I got on my knees and began looking at all the tags - *SWOOP!*

Before I could say Rumpelstilskin, Dad scooped me back up on my feet, turned me around, and paddled my butt all the way back to my bedrroom. It wasn't a spanking, but he made sure I felt it as I was on the move back to my bedroom. He then told me to get me to get to sleep. By this time, I was in no position to say anything in response. Dad wasn't mad, though he wasn't neccessarily very happy at me either.

Needless to say, my little adventure was enough for me to get something resembling sleep for the remainder of that night as before I knew it, it was 4:30 AM or so and everyone was up and about then (Yes, my little adventure was a buzz around the house that morning). We all opened our prresents BEFORE breakfast (this was a tradition in our family) and the rest, as they say, is history. :-)

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE.

Pat

A Blast From Windows Past?

2005-12-13T15:22:00.000-07:00

I hope we're not seeing the re-emergence of a dangerous trend here.....

.....Found this sitting on my desktop. Does this look familiar (but only with a slightly different protocol)?

Reminds of when spammers could use a loophole found in MSN Messenger to send spam right to an end user's desktop.

However, just to be safe...Do any of you geeks out there want to tell me just what this really is, just in case it might be something legitimate? If you do, just drop me a line using the comments section.

Is Gmail's POP3 Incoming Mail Server Down?

2005-12-12T18:45:00.000-07:00

Or is it just me?

I have Eudora and haven't gotten ANYTHING in the last SEVERAL DAYS. I've had to resort to logging on via other means.

If anyone out there has a clue as to what's going on, please drop me a comment. Thanks! :)

Why Is Mozilla Update So Damn SSSLLLLOOOOWWWW Today????

2005-10-10T10:43:00.000-06:00

Anyone have a clue? The NetStat Widget I have shows my current downlink at around 1.6 MiB (that's 1.6 MEGA bauds per second for you dialup users on those GLORIFIED "broadband providers" out there).

That said....Before I post this, let me take time out to WELCOME all of you visiting via one of the many family-oriented Webrings which this blog is now a member of. Hopefully this will be the first of MANY to come. :)

The blog rings are next. :)

Where Oh Where I Have Been

2005-09-23T15:24:00.000-06:00

As I write this, I am amongst the offline world, but not because I forgot to pay the electric bill or got washed up in Hurricane Katrina, though the cable company is expected to be out today to reactivate my account and stuff (I had my cable account suspended since I was in the hospital and didn't see the need to pay for service I couldn't receive because of my obvious physical location). :-)

This time it's because I contracted a case of cellulitis in the left leg which resulted in my getting sick to the point where I came within HOURS (if not sooner!) of DEATH. I came down with a fever so high that it amazed doctors that I was still conscious. The temp was 106.7 (No I'm not kidding either!). I will lead off Episode 22 of Pat's Podcast with this, but if podcasts aren't your cup of tea as it were, lemme briefly summarize what all happened (if that's possible).

It was August 9th. I had just jumped in the shower. As the water hit me, I started getting the chills. Thinking it was just a fluky thing, I continued with my shower. After my shower, I was REALLY shivering. So when I stepped out into the living area, I turned on the HEATER portion of my Heater/AC unit. I think the latter turned out to be my biggest mistake as you see later on.

Convinced I had some type of flu bug, I called my mom on the phone (she lives in the same building as I do, just different apartment :-) ) to see if she had anything I could take, but she said she didn't and reminded me to not be afraid to call the paramedics and get my butt to the hospital to get some antibiotics. Things eventually REALLY got bad as I went to the bathroom and while I was in there and on the way back, it felt as though I was about to collapse. I had this funny feeling of a corkscrew trying to work its way inside my head or (perhaps more accurate) a helicopter blade spinning around inside my head (If you know how a helicopter blade spins around while the thing is on the ground, you have a pretty good idea of what I was feeling). I was also (sic) puking my guts out (dry heaves mostly).

As for the consciousness thing....The simplest way to describe it would be like watching an old home movie (My eyes were batting open and shut rapidly). But instead of the movie, the action was 100% LIVE & VERY REAL.

Suffice to say, I wound up calling the paramedics who ultimately (and almost immediately) took me to the hospital where my primary care provider works out of. After a battery of tests to determine what it was that I had, doctors came to the conclusion that the problem was the cellulitis in my left leg (it was red and swollen. My right leg was swollen as well, but not as much as my left leg nor was it as red). Everyone in the ER was also telling me that I was BURNING UP and that my skin was somewhat warm to the touch even though I was shivering.

Problem was the doctors eventually had to perform a Biopsy on my left leg to confirm what they already suspected. This was because, for whatever reason, they seemingly couldn't find the right antibiotics that seemed to work. Just yesterday (9/22), I was told that I would have a dimple for a "scar" when the would finally heals (it still hasn't as I type this).

They later determined that I had diabetes.

Trust me, there's NO other feeling like being asked if you have ever been diagnosed with diabetes (or other serious and deadly disease), you telling the doc that you haven't, only to be told that you have been now. Surreal and shocking to say the very least.

As a result of all this, I was ultimately admitted to the MICU section of the hospital As anyone who has ever been in hospitals can imagine, I was placed in a private room. I spent roughly ten days there. I was then moved to a regular hospital room. My only problem with that was that the room *wasn't* a private room. As a result, not only was I at the mercy of MY doctors, nurses and their assistants and other people treating me, but also those of the person next to me. What a drag that was. :-(

After about two weeks of this, I finally got my own room (My guess is that the sooner you show signs of getting well, the sooner you get your own room. Really strange). During this stage, there was another problem. This time, it was a complication with the interaction between Phenobarbital (the medication I took for my Epilepsy) and the Anastesia (sp?) they used for my Biopsy. As a result, there was a lot of distention in my stomach and they had to perform a colonoscopy (sp?) to correct this. They also switched me from Phenobarbital to Depakote.

Anyway, enough with the gross stuff. Eventually, after more than three weeks at the hospital (and after the Radiology Department, who was getting to klnow me on a first name basis with my my near-daily visits to them even though I didn't know them from a freakin' hole in the ground was supposedly starting a betting pool as to when I finally might leave :-) *LOL!*), I was transferred to an LTAC center for rehabilitation. Suffice to say, this is a hospital run on the cheap side - IN EVERY CONCEIVABLE WAY. I spent almost another three weeks there before finally coming home.

Now since I'm a guy, my overall assessment on the nurses is kinda bland. There weren't any real cuties (I wasn't *that* lucky), but I didn't exactly end up with a bunch of old hags armed with big square needles either (though there *were* a *few* times where this did happen, but fortunately this wasn't very often :-) ). I did however stumble across some GUYS who were nurses though (Is it just me or is the number of male nurses rising along with the number of female doctors?). Also had a couple guys for therapists too.

Anyhow, even though I'm now cured of my cellulitis, it was finally discovered that I have a diabetic condition. Not neccessarily Diabetes itself though as I don't need Insulin. But I do need to watch my sugar intake. I also need to try to lose some weight (I lost some 75-80 lbs. going from 370 to about 290-295 before rebounding back to 310). Also, because of my Cerebral Palsy, my doctor is also prescribing a motorized scooter for me so I can get around (I can walk with the assistance of a walker and have most of my leg strength back now, but that won't be of much help when I'm out in public even after I'm able to put the walker aside). I'm also getting a bunch of other things as well (including a special bed for my sleep apnea, which I also now have).

Hopefully I'll land myself an iRiver with my Rent Rebates soon so I can do some podcasts as I go scooting around town. That'd be REALLY cool. :-) (Don't get me wrong. My Olympus VNC240PC is great, but compared to an iRiver, it's a backup :-) ).

I'm hoping some good will come out of all this in the end. One of which is my biological clock being returned to normal so then this way I get up in the morning as opposed to in the afternoon like before. As it is now, it's now 6:00 AM and I'm wide awake after only about five hours of sleep (Before all thechanges, I would normally be going to bed by this hour. Also, ideally I'd like to push it up to a full eight, but alas....Baby steps....Baby steps. Recovery Road is a long one and I'm only in the middle of it. *sigh* ).

Anyway....That's where I've been for the last six weeks. Time for me to save this for posting later on today when I get my cable and access to the Internet back (I get it via Comcast) but if I think of anything else, I'll be sure to somehow slip it in. :-)

Apologies For Being Away & Breaking News

2005-07-11T22:07:00.000-06:00

I'm SSSSSOOOOOO sorry I've been away for so long and haven't been posting to this blog. Been busy working on my other blogs (see right) and have had other things going on.

That leads me to my BREAKING NEWS.

As you have undoubtedly figured out simply by reading my post from Friday October 17, 2003, my brother Leonard (he's the one in Missouri) is married. That's not the news I have to report. The news I have to report tonight is that he and his wife are coming to town next week. They will have their darling little daughter Gracelyn with them (I've been asked by my brother to not post pictures of Gracelyn. Being the ethical blogger I am, not to mention the caring brother I am, I'm respecting their wishes on the matter).

Bill & I were introduced to their daughter Gracelyn in late 2003 or early 2004 (I forget now. I do remember it was just prior to Dad's death though) as Leonard brought her into town for a special visit as soon as he possibly could shortly after he learned that Dad was pretty much on the last leg of his life. See this post and this post for further details. But neither Bill nor I have met our sister-in-law Susannah yet. Bill has no doubt talked to her over the phone a few times and Susannah and I exchanged emails once, but that's been about it. Mom went to Kansas City, MO. to spend Thanksgiving with Leonard, Susannah & Gracelyn, but neither Bill or I could go with Mom due to a variety of issues (we wished that it was possible though).

We are hoping to have a family get together of some sort sometime during their visit. This get-together will also include my other brother Bill (who lives in town) and his son Jaxon (sorry, no pics of him available either). But this all depends on a certain someone who, at least for this post, we shall keep nameless as well as faceless (suffice to say, she's hardly the most ideal mother for ANY kid, let alone my nephew Jaxon). There are some other sordid issues which involve this "woman" (I prefer to think of her in a somewhat different light) that could keep the get together from happening as the rest of us hope. We're praying those issues can be addressed and details can be worked out in time.

Anyhow, for my brother Leonard and his wife Susannah, the trip is a combination of business and pleasure. Susannah is a publisher for The International Church Of The Nazarene which is based in Kansas City, MO. Leonard is a Pastor there (Leonard, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong on this *smile*) and apparently there is some sort of conference which will take up part of their time as well.

Ohh well. Life goes on. Better to have their company part of the time than none of the time. Such wasn't the case some several years ago when Leonard returned from "the dead" as it were. Someday, when I get the time (and if I can find the letter and get his permission), I'll post the long letter he wrote and add a link to it as a supplement to this post and this post. Either that or I'll simply make a simple web page out of it or something. I dunno.

Anyhow, that's all the news there is for now. More details will be posted here as they become available (unless I'm told not to mention them). This will also be discussed (hopefully in greater detail) on my latest podcast which you can access by clicking here to go to my podcast page.

In the meantime....Cheers for now everyone :)

Podcasting Into the Blogosphere - What's The Problem?

2004-12-08T21:32:00.000-07:00

There seems to be this "rumor" floating around the blogosphere
about the concept of using blogging techniques as a means of creating a
whole new medium known as "podcasting". And its quickly becoming
a buzz. Some like it. Some (admittedly like me) just aren't
quite sure what to make of it. And then there are others who FLAT
OUT HATE the idea.

Hence the subject of tonight's "Real Deal". So sit
back and relax. Blogging is (of course) welcome, but hurling flames is ABSOLUTELY
POSITIVELY NOT ALLOWED.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I honestly don't see what the big problem is. Most
anyone who visits my blog knows that I not only use text and audio, but
I use VIDEO as well.

About THE ONLY thing I haven't done with audio or video
is SYNDICATE it using XML.

That is until now.

I suppose I could do so with my video blogs, but I don't
believe the software used for subscribing to podcasts support video yet
(someone can correct me on this). But first lemme give a very basic
overview of what podcasting REALLY is.

Contrary to popular belief in the blogosphere, a podcast
is really more like a talk show. Although some podcasts have music,
the vast majority of all podcasts are all talk. The range of topics
is as vast and wide as the blogosphere itself. On the right hand
of the screen, you will see an array of links to various "podcast-enabled"
blogs of all types. But in the meantime, continuing with my brief
description....

Quoting Dave Winer of The Daily Source Code (You can kill
me later Dave :) )....

"Think how a desktop aggregator works. You subscribe to
a set of feeds, and then can easily view the new stuff from all of the
feeds together, or each feed separately.

Podcasting works the same way, with one exception. Instead
of reading the new content on a computer screen, you listen to the new
content on an iPod or iPod-like device.

Think of your iPod as having a set of subscriptions that
are checked regularly for updates. Today there are a limited number of
programs available this way. The format used is RSS 2.0 with enclosures.

In the future, radio shows like All Things Considered
and Rush Limbaugh will be available in this manner, and perhaps other syndication
formats will support enclosures."

The "enclosure" Dave refers to is an MP3 file that is
the actual podcast. You use podcast-compatible software (which you
can get FREE OF CHARGE @ http://www.ipodder.org/directory/4/ipodderSoftware
). iPodder.org also offers a YP service that you can use to search
for interesting podcasts.

What MY take on all this you ask?

Simple. MULTIMEDIA IS THE FUTURE OF BLOGGING.
Sure RSS will still be the way of syndicating multimedia-enabled blogs.
But instead of having to read an emotionless text-based blog, your visitors
can now capture THE CONTEXT & EMOTION with which you're trying to use
to make your point or say something. That is because they will be
able to LISTEN to your blog WHENEVER & WHEREVER they want as opposed
to feeling ROCK BOUND & HOG TIED to their computer as they try to READ
your blog. Who wants to feel that way as they surf the 'net?
Do YOU like to feel that way when surfin' the 'net?

Granted Wireless access to the 'net is making it possible
to surf the 'net and read text in much the same way. But you don't
dare try to DRIVE A CAR while surfin' the 'net via your Wireless connection,
do you? Of course not. NO ONE IN THEIR RIGHT MIND would do
this. That's just as bad as having a conference call putting together
that multi-million $$$ deal as you attempt to drive down the street with
the hope (and prayer?) of not running into anything or anyone.

Unlike text-based blogs, podcasts can be burned onto CD-R
or copied onto any suitable portable MP3 player (it doesn't neccessarily
have to be an iPod, ya know) for safe listening and enjoyment.

I plan to start offering podcasts myself. They will
consist of a variety of things INCLUDING (but not limited to) actual archives
of "The Pat Cook Show". I may eventually make several regular podcasts,
depending on the topic and offering. And I'll most likely be amongst
the first to start offering VIDEO once that option is supported too.

Either way, I really don't see what's behind all the negative
fuss about podcast-enabled blogs that's floating around the blogosphere.
People can think of my blog what they will. I can't stop that.
Heck, given all the Pro-Liberal posts I've made lately, I can just imagine
how many Right-Wingists have called me UNAMERICAN. But you know what?
I really don't care. Oh sure, feedback IS welcome, but if you think
I concern myself with all the talk about me and/or my blog that goes on
behind my back, that is simply not true because I figure it this way.....

If someone doesn't have the guts to say what they think
to my face, then that just goes to show how much of a COWARD they are.

And that is tonight's "Real Deal.

Cheers for now & Happy Holidays :-)

Okay.....WHO HAS THE TAG BOARD??

2004-05-15T12:54:00.000-06:00

By the way, in case you've been wondering WHY the Tag
Board hasn't been usable on the main blog page (NOT the disabled link on
the left hand side, but rather the actual board where I have all my other
graphical stuff on my main blog page ), Greg over at
TagBoard.com posted this possible explaination as to WHY the board doesn't seem
to exist.

From the way he describes it though, it almost sounds
like someone just simply broke in and TOOK the Hard Drive which it lived
on along with the computer it was mounted in. In my PM to Greg, I
told him it had me wondering just how SECURE their facilities REALLY were,
but wished him luck in finding the Hard Drive.

Anyhow, if you should happen to receive a Hard Drive which appears to have a bunch of Tag Boards on it, PLEASE do the good folks at TagBoard a favor by contacting them so that I, along with dozens of other bloggers and TagBoard users, can get our TagBoards back online (hopefully WITHOUT having to replace the HTML code).

MANY thanks in advance peoples. :-)

Cheers for now :-)

Pat

I'm Baack (Plus Dad's Death)

2004-03-23T01:54:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since I've blogged.
This is mostly because my cable company
decided to cut me off even though I had made payment arrangements and told
them outright that I could only meet them halfway in part. But since
they waives the re-activation fees (and installed my UPGRADE in cable TV
service), I really can't complain, so I'll skip it and move on.

While I was in the world of the offline and had NO TV (over the air
signals don't penetrate walls very well), my Dad died. Got a call
on the night of February 21st from my one brother Bill who lives in town.
He said he got a call from Hospice (I guess Mom gave them his number or
something since she was too sick and unable to travel). He said that
Dad's condition had become critical and that they were going to put him
on watch. The following day at around 1:45 PM, I got the news that
he had died some 45 minutes earlier. Bill left a message in my voice
mail as he was crying his eyes out. My Mom, who was set to have her gall
bladder removed the following Monday, was also informed as was my brother
Leonard, who lives in Kansas City, MO

Mom went in to have her surgery as planned on Monday February 24th.
We all figured that Dad would want that. She had spent the remainder
of the weekend before at Bill's apartment as the news of Dad's death spread.
She spent most of the time contacting friends (both past & present),
relatives, and anybody else we could think of. Leonard went straight
to the hospital where my Mom was as soon as he arrived in town (He drove
the entire trip from Kansas City to Denver. He even got a "souvenier"
courtesy of the Kansas Highway
Patrol in the form of a speeding ticket to show for it).

Both Leonard and Bill did all the running around and telephone calling
for the upcoming funeral so Mom wouldn't have to be saddled with anything
after surgery besides getting well. I spent the week with her at
her apartment so she wouldn't be alone at a time when someone in her position
shouldn't be and I also helped out as best I could with whatever she needed.

The funeral was on Friday February 28th at Fort
Logan National Cemetery It was a wonderful service.
Both of my brothers spoke and gave eulogies and stuff. Mom was even
presented with the U.S. flag in honor of Dad's military service (He was
in the Army stationed in Germany from 1954-1957).. It was listed
in the obituaries of both Denver papers. If I find one online, I'll
be sure to post a link to the obituary here.

As for the political issues that went on during this time, I'll save
that for another day (my head is STILL spinning). But rest assured
Republicans, you WILL NOT like what *I* have to say. YOU ARE ON NOTICE!!!

Cheers for now :-)

Pat

The Latest On Dad

2004-01-29T20:54:00.000-07:00

Well I paid a visit to Dad this afternoon
at the Hospice Care Facility today. He looks good (apparently MUCH
better than he did before), but it doesn't look like he'll be released
anytime soon (this is due mostly to my parents' current living situation
- Don't get me started on THAT tangent). From what I've been told,
he still can't hardly do anything (Even HEARING is a major challenge for
him). He can hardly get out of bed, let alone do anything else.

Aside from that and a few aches and pains, he's his ol' usual self.

I keep hoping he'll be released sometime soon, but I'm told he needs
a night nurse. And since my mom is NOT a licensed nurse, even though
she's his Personal Care Assistant, she can't possibly serve as his night
nurse and STILL be expected to do the same during many of the daylight
hours. In short, he basically needs 24/7 care. which is why
he's back in the hospital in the Hospice Care Facility.

His diet is mostly liquids as he can't even chew, so it doesn't look
like he'll get his appetite back simply by eating a six inch Veggie Delite
imported from the nearby Subway
anytime soon either (I was able to pull this trick off with ease when my
Mom had Hip Replacement surgery several years back. Jared would be
so proud. :)).

Well....That's the latest news from here, now back to you in the studio
(Wait....I am in the studio. What am I talking about???
:) *LOL!*)

Cheers for now :)

Pat

BREAKING NEWS ON THE HOME FRONT: Dad's Back In the Hospital Again

2004-01-26T21:50:00.000-07:00

Just got the news from Mom not even 20 mins.
ago. My brother Bill will pay him a visit tomorrow. If he's
still there, hopefully I will do the same in the next couple of days (I'm
almost flat broke as it now that I don't even have the bus fare for a ONE
WAY trip, let alone a round trip one).if they'll allow me to do so (It's
a somewhat complicated issue). Otherwise, I'll try to give him a
call oon the phone. Of course, phone contact isn't the same as contact
in person (especially for someone who may be on their death bed), but it's
the thought that counts, isn't it? He's there due to overall weakness. He's also not eating very well. Doctors haven't a clue why or what's causing his currrent problems.

I'll keep everyone posted on Bill's visit when he updates me tomorrow.

Meanwhile, my other brother Leonarrd in Kansas
City, MO has been informed by Bill & I (and probably Mom too).
Hopefully he won't have to fly in. But if he does, oh well.....

I'm also hopeful that the hospitalization is only temporary, although
since he's in hospice care due to his colon cancer and reaction to chemo
treatment, he'll most likely (and very sadly) be in and out of the hospital
for AT LEAST the bulk of 2004. With any luck at all, he'll live long
enough to see another holiday season, but even that may be somewhat ambitious.

Cheers for now :-)

Pat

RIAA Strikes Again

2004-01-22T18:06:00.000-07:00

When....Oh WHEN will the RIAA get the message?

WHEN will they understand that the problem with file sharing HAS NOTHING
WHATSOEVER to do with a willingness among the masses to repeatedly violate
the law (a law which was CUSTOM MADE for the RIAA I might add), but instead
has EVERRYTHING to do with their persistent GOUGING of the price of CDs
AND their UNWILLINGNESS TO FAIRLY COMPENSATE THE ARTISTS???

The latest comes in a Wired News article

Read it and tell me what you think.

Cheers for now :-)

Pat

Weight Loss - Getting With The Program In A REALISTIC Manner

2004-01-19T21:40:00.000-07:00

Today, I did something I rarely do. Today, I watched The Oprrah Winfrey
Show Today's show was her annual WEIGHT LOSS show.
She had on several people who had lost weight using the Get
With The Program diet plan. She also had on several other people
who want to lose weight and want to try this program out for themselves.
Her guest was Bob Green from Get With The Program

Needless to say I found this show very interesting, yet also kinda disturbing
in some ways too.

As faithful rreaders of my blog know, I'm a firm believer in the issue
of SIZE ACCEPTANCE. In fact, there's a group devoted to this very
issue. It's called the INTERNATIONAL SIZE ACCEPTANCE ASSOCIATION.
You can find the link to their website on the left or simply by clicking
here

Among the people they had on were people who were tired of their weight
and wanted to lose some of it. But there was also a woman who didn't
really need to lose ANY weight at all, but simply joined her co-workers
in their efforts to lose weight as an incentive to GAIN a few pounds and
some strength. This is a disturbing sign because it shows that people
will use diet plans for just about ANYTHING these days even though
it's for all the WRONG reasons.

Diet plans are for people who want to lose weight, yet there are SCORES
of people who use them for things OTHER than weight loss. And that
can lead to TRAGIC results.

In fact, I drread to think of how many people with eating disorders
who are in a state of denail who watched the program. It's scary
because they NEVER mentioned what were the right and wrong reasons for
lossing weight or for getting on that diet plan. In fact, it was
NEVER discussed.

I mentioned in my LIVE video blog (NOT the one in the link to the left
or above) that in order for ANY diet plan to work, you have to learn to
ACCEPT YOUR SIZE. That is to accept WHO you are and that there's
a VERY REAL probability that you will NEVER be able to achieve the figurre
of your favorite role model, idol, etc.). I also said that as you
learn to accept your size, you'll also learn WHAT (and sometimes WHO) your
enemy forces are AND the fact that you'll have to learn how to deal with
them and keep them in check BEFORE you attempt to go on a diet plan.
But you WILL come reasonably close though.

But ONLY if you work at it and stick to the diet plan you are on.

Folks, this isn't rocket science. Nor am I some sort of "fitness
expert". In fact, I know I could stand to lose a few
pounds myself. But BY THE SAME TOKEN, I also realize that I have
to learn to ACCEPT MY SIZE as it's WHO I AM. If I lose a few pounds
- GREAT. FABULOUS. What I am saying just amounts to good ol'
COMMON SENSE.

And until you (and I) learn to FULLY ACCEPT OUR SIZE, who and and/or
what our enemy forces are AND how to deal with them and keep them in check,
NO DIET PLAN WILL WORK. Not only that, but we'll just keep lying
to ourrselves over and over again. And if we're not carreful, we
could end up making choices we could end up regrretting in the future.

If you're a heavy-set person like I am, I urge you to check out the
International Size Acceptance Association (ISAA) and get a membership. I plan to (No, that ain't no bull either). I'll start posting my weight every once in
a while as its checked right here on my blog (Don't see any reason NOT
to). If I'm going to lose weight, I'm gonna do so REALISTICALLY.
How 'bout you?

Cheers for now :-)

Pat

BREAKING NEWS: RIAA Hits The Streets

2004-01-14T02:23:00.000-07:00

From the MusicRadio
102x Blog Page (which I also own BTW :-))

Thinking of downloading music from one of the P2P file sharing networks?
Thinking of SELLING music to your friends? Think you won't get caught?
Apparently a 55 yearr old Los Angeles parking lot attendant didn't think
so.

Want more? Read this L.A.
weekly article

Apparrently, the RIAA thinks they're a LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY of some
kind and has even gone so far as to hire ex-cops AND the Director of the
Alcohol, Tobacco & Frearms

Fox News also has an
article on the subject too.

And, as if matters aren't getting WORSE, it appears as though we can't
expect very much support frrom the Electrronic
Frrontier Foundation either, though I expect this could very well change
should the RIAA be using their rag tag "police force" for otherr things
such as attempting to enter people's homes. In fact, Jason Schultz,
a staff attorrney told the L.A. Weekly
that "The process of confiscating bootleg CDs from street vendors is exactly
what the RIAA should be doing,".

Maybe so. But IMPERSONATING A LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY is something
which could land them in more HOT water than they can say RUMPELSTILSKIN
if they're not careful.

As sucxh....the position of MusicRadio 102X and The Pat Cook Show is
simple. They can bust strreet vendors with this tactic BUT I
DRAW THE LINE WHEN IT COMES TO ENTERING MY HOME!!!

And that, ladies and gentlemen is the bottom line.

Cheers for now :-)

Pat

The Adventures Of Replacing My Identity

2004-01-13T12:21:00.000-07:00

Boy....I am TIRED.

You'll NEVER believe what I spent the better part of the last TWO days
doing (then again, this *is* the Internet, so maybe you will).

I spent the better part of the last two days running around getting
documentation and other stuff to replace a few ESSENTIAL cards which were
in my wallet that I needed to have. I say this this because I somehow
managed to lose my State-issued ID, my disabled persons discount card for
the bus, and the building security card which I use when I enter the building.
I know I wasn't pick-pocked because my wallet and it as well as the rest
of my cards and MY MONEY were still present and accounted for. Yet
I somehow for the life of me managed to lose those three aforementioned
cards.

I discovered they were misssing when I stopped downstairs as I was leaving
the building to run an errand this past Friday to double-check to see if
I had enough change for bus fare. It was a good thing I did so too
because once I opened my wallet, the mystery surfaced immediately
as I keep those cards on top of everything else as they are the most used
ones. Though just to be sure that I wasn't imaginging things, I thumbed
through each one of them. Nothing. I next realized that it
was possible (albeit very remote) that they slipped out of my wallet
and out of my pants pocket either as I slept one night or when I had my
pants off and laying next to my chair on the floor. I went back upstairs
to my apartment to begin my search.

I looked all over on the floor in the area where my pants were.
Nothing.

I looked and felt underneath the cushions of my chair as well as underneath
the chair itself. Nothing.

Fearing the worst, but not panicking, I hoped I would find them later
after I came back from running my errand (security is always more than
willing to let someone in even though they're not supposed to. the
same goes for other residents in the building). Suffice to say that
never panned out either. So I knew the only thing I could
do was to put in for replacements. But that would take $$$.

Figuring I still had my Social Security Card and knew my number by heart
(No I am **NOT** posting it here for all too see!), I figured I'd go down
to the local DMV office to replace my ID (I had already replaced my building
security card even though I could never get the thing to work). But
lo
and behold, the State of Colorado
DOES NOT accept Social Security Cards as proof of identification (you would
*think* they think they would). In fact, about the
only item they accept is a BIRTH CERTIFICATE.

So I thought "WONDERFUL.....NOT!".

Though I have to admit I should've had a copy of my birth certificate
in a place (other than my baby photo album) where I could get to it in
case it was ever needed. But leave it to dumbass me for not thinking
of such things....

After I baord the bus (paying the FULL $1.25 fare as opposed to the
$.60 discount fare I would get with my disabled persons discount card if
I had it) leaving the DMV (and with cell phone in hand and soon up to my
ear), I called the agency that handles birth certificates to verify
what I needed for proof of ID to get the copy of my birth certificate which
(again I admit) I should've had to begin with. If I didn't have what
was needed and couldn't drop by home to pick it up, I would proceed home
to stay. As luck would have it, I had a couple of items which were
on their list of secondary ID. I then bypass the apartment and proceed
to Denver
Vital Rrecords to get a copy of my birth certificate.

But it was there I got my biggest surprise.

It cost me FIFTEEN FUCKIN' DOLLARS just to get ONE COPY of my birth
certificate. I was thinking $15 for a piece of paper. What
a ripoff" Talk about price gouging!!! :-(
*BIG TAXPAYER FROWN!*

Anyway, it was too late to go back to the DMV yesterday (Monday) to
get my card and I had a 3:30 appointment to keep. So I decided I'd
return the next day, which is today (Tuesday).

On Tuesday, I returned to the DMV with birth certificate in hand.
I was given a piece of paper which had a number and was told to have a
seat and wait till it was called. I waited.....and waited......and
waited......and waited FOR A WHOLE FUCKIN' 90 MINUTES for my
number to be called. Once it was called, I walked up to the clerk
and she processed my order. She then told me to have a seat until
I was called to have my picture taken. I figure I must've waited
another 10 mnutes or so this time around, but was FAR more reasonable
than my previous waiting time before I was called. This time, they
verified my information and had me sign some things and then took my picture.
I was then given a special "temporary ID" which, I'm told, is as good as
the real thing, but when I asked the clerk if people who needed to see
this "temporary ID" paper when I'm doing certain things such as cashing
checks at the store, she said I'd have to "call and ask". I was then
told that it could take up to THREE WEEKS for it to COME IN
THE MAIL.

WHAT THE FUCKIN' HELL IS UP WITH THAT?!?!?!?

Is it just me or have we entered so far into this so-called "outsourrcing"
era that we can't even get a fuckin' ID card on the spot like we have been
before? I suppose I'lll see my ID card come with a MADE IN CHINA
or MADE IN IBDIA tag on it.

Can you tell that I'm NOT a happy TAXPAYING CITIZEN here?

I mean, imagine this....I am stuck with (what amounts to) a state-issued
VOUCHER which has NO PHOTO on it. That means all one needs is a temporary
ID paper. Don't terrorists still use THROW AWAY PHONES???

With this system, what's to stop a terrrorist from obtaining a THROW AWAY
ID? Although it's only good for 30 days, terrorists can do WONDERROUS things in that 30 day time period with that THROW AWAY
ID.

I think I'm going to write my State Representatives AND the Department
of Homeland Security (as clueless as they really are) if for no otherr
reason than to point this out to them. THAT is being a responsible
American (Yes I am a Democrat, so what of it?).

Anyway, off my political soapbox now and back to the subject at hand.
Suffice to say I eventually leave the DMV (hopefully for the last time
in a LONG while), and manage to get to my next destination, the RTD
Administration Building before they close to replace my disabled
persons discount card. But I still had another trip to make.
That was down to my parents' apartment where I could then pick up some
MUCH NEEDED and borrowed $$$ (I stuffed the fare boxes with $1 bills I
was nearly BROKE by the time I left the RTD
Administreration Building ). But this was a good thing as I avoided
a trip I would've had to make eventually by making the stop. :-)

Well.....That's all there is to tell of my advertures the last two days.
Tme to put a wrapper on this and post it.

Wednesday's blog will be on an Today
Show report on
blogging

Laters. :-)

Cheers for now :-)

Pat

New Year's Resolutions & Other Stuff

2004-01-10T03:39:00.000-07:00

By way of of the Brain
Engines V2.67 Blog I stumbled across this
site that, in it's own little funny way, kinda
makes you ask yourself what your New Years Rresolution should be.
Being the curious cat I was, I decided to take this little test and, well....Here's
my score.

Take the What Should
Your New Year's Resolution Be? Quiz

You can take you own test by surfin'
on over to this URL After the test, you'll be given
some HTML to do whatever you want with. Kinda neat huh? :-)

Say...Hey.....ATTENTION COLORADO BLOGGERS....I keep seeing
a link in the Colorado
Bloggers Ring a website by a group who (saupposedly)
pick a place to meet in person. Several blogs in the same ring indicate
there's a blog page on Diary-X by the group, but BOTH the Colorado
Bloggers Ring Listing & the
Diary-X Page that's on several blog sites results
in a 404 NOT FOUND error. Nothing comes up on Google either. :-( Does ANYONE know if this group
is still around and, if so, the URL of their website or blog page?
This sounds like a very interesting group if I can get in touch with someone
to find out what they do and the like. :-) MUCH thanks in advance
for any info. anyone can give. :-) It's as if this group has
seemingly fallen off the face of the earth or something. :-(

Anyways....In other news.....I **FINALLY** found an RSS Reader that works with Windows so I'm now able to read other people's blogs if they have an RSS or XML feed. So far I've surfed my way through the Colorado
Bloggers Ring and found quite a few people with RSS feeds of one kind or another. I also went through the Yahoo!
Group Online Diaries Ring but quickly found that I'm THE ONLY one with an RSS feed. WHAT IS UP WITH THAT?!?!?!?

I'll be going through all the other rings to get the feeds from all the
other members of those things too in the very near future. No, this
isn't to launch some sort of "terrorist attack" (God knows the Bush Administration
does enough of that themselves, but that's a completely different subject
for a different day :-)).

Incidentally, you can grab the RSS feed for ALL of my blog entries just by clickin on the RSS FEED in the left hand column at the top. This is provided as a FREE
service to you for your convience. :-)

Finally, I heard they lowered the "terror alert" level today from Orange to Yellow today. You know what that means for us Liberals. That means the Bush Administration needs more time to plan the next "terror alert". Incidentally, has anyone read this
arrticle in the New
York Observer??? Pretty SCARY stuff. I recently heard that a California Deomocrat (can't think of the guy's name, but he apparently serves on one of the Intelligence committees) once told reporters that he can see the "terror alert" level dropping all the way down to blue (the lowest it can go), "Sometime in his lifetime". Heh.

I can see THAT happening as early as January 20th 2005 when President Bush
receives his ONE WAY ticket back to Crawford, TX after we elect a Democrat
into the White House who will restore REAL Honesty & Integrity back
into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. But until that happens, we're just gonna have to ride
out the Conservative storm of '04.....

Anyhow....It's getting late and I need to post this. I'm tired. Got lots to blog about and not enough to do it in. :-( *Ugh!* Don't ya just HATE that feeling?

Cheers for now :-)
Pat

New Blog Layout & Broncos PATHETIC SO-CALLED "Performance"

2004-01-05T20:10:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my new blog layout everyone :-)

The following is a repost of what I posted in my new sports
blog at http://sportsradio101.tripod.com/blog/

Boy....Can ANYONE believe the way the SORRY-ASSED Broncos
played today against Indy?? I mean TALK ABOUT COCKY & ARRROGANT.

"WE are the ones who BEAT YOU so if ANYONE has ANYTHING
to prove, it's YOU". That's the mentality the Broncos went into the
game today and it cost 'em.

To the tune of 41-10.

Is it just me or did the Broncos players go into the game
thinking that all they had to do was to simply repeat what they did two
weeks ago and they'd somehow *Automagically* win? WHY in the world
do they think the coaches KNEW that Indy would find ways to adjust and
counter what the Broncos did just two weeks ago? Go figure.

Oh well. At least we won't have to wait very long
until the Colorado Crruh of the Arena League to look forward to in just
about a month from now, but that won't be the same as watching the Broncos
in the Super Bowl. In a way, I was kinda looking forrward to watching
the Crush play Arena Ball while the Broncos were warming up down in Houston
in prreparation for the Super Bowl, but alas, it was never meant to be.
:(

Oh well.....There's always NEXT YEAR..... :(

Twas The Night Before Christmas

2003-12-24T18:38:00.000-07:00

NOTE: The following blog entry is based from an actual event which took place when I was a kid. Details are as I remember them today and are set to the narrative tone of the famous holiday story "Twas The Night Before Christmas".

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring. Not even a mouse.

That is until you get to my bedroom.

The year was around 1977 or so. I was 11 or so. In my bedroom, I was tossing and turning trrying to get to sleep. My two younger brothers were dead to the world (no doubt with sugar plums dancing in their heads of course :-)). But no matter what I did, I just couldn't get to sleep myself. I tried everything. I tried tossing, turning, fluffing the pillow. You name it, I did it. I even tried counting everything from candy canes to sugar plums and sheep. NOTHING seemed to work.

Then HE came. :-)

Before I knew it, it was midnight. And that's when things REALLY started happening.

Santa recruited my dad as his special "In-House Helper" (he always did this BTW). While Santa was busy working his magic back in the den where the big family Chrristmas tree was, he had Dad stuff the stockings which were hung on the outsides of our bedroom doors (we had no fireplace) and put a present or two under the samll trrees which we had in our bedrooms. The trees were well lit for the occasion (we were allowed to leave the lights on all night on Christmas Eve).

As luck would have it on this night, it would turn out to be one of my biggest problems.

With me still trying to get to sleep, my Dad started to walk in. At first, he noticed me still lying in bed awake & thought it was intentional. He told me to get to sleep. But try as I did, I just simply couldn't. He started to walk in again, bu this time, I managed to fool him by faking the idea I had fallen to sleep at long last. I could hear the slight thumping noise against the door as he stuffed my stocking full of Santa's goodies. After a short while (I assume he stuffed the stockings of my two younger brothers during this time), he came back in with my present. He put it under my tree, which was still lit.

After a while, seconds became minutes. Minutes became hours. And as I looked over at the alarm clock, I noticed that it was now 2:00 AM CHRISTMAS MORNING.

But I knew there was NO WAY my parents were going to let me get up at that ungodly hour to open presents (Heck, even my Dad was beginning to doze off to sleep). That is when I had mischievious thoughts swirling through my head. It was also when I started to wonder what Santa left for me under the tree in the den. It was also around this time I gave up on the idea of getting any sleep at all.

I could already see the package under my bedroom tree, though I didn't open it. I just saw it sitting there as I laid in bed. As I was lying in bed, I started thinking. I asked myself what sort of excuse could I make up that would seem perfectly legitimate enough for me to get out of bed AND get ANYWHERE NEAR the den. I knew that going to the bathroom was out of the question because the bathroom was just outside my bedroom and I could easily slip in there without Dad noticing me. So I had to think of something else.

Knowing that in order for me to get to the den, I had to not only go through the main living room where my Mom & dad were (My parents didn't have a bedroom of their own as my mom laind on the pull-out bed which was part of the couch we had at the time and my Dad slep in his recliner. Don't ask me why they chose to do this), but I also had to go through the kitchen too. As such, I, as an 11 year old boy, had to come up with a perfectly sensible excuse to be in the kitchen during the wee hours of the morning.

By this time, it was about 2:30 AM.

I then started getting thirsty. REAL thirsty. But my REAL thirst was not one which could be quenched with water. It was then that the perfect excuse hit me.

GET A DRINK OF WATER.

I then started to put all the pieces of my master plan into place. After that, I then set forth to execute it.

I crawled out of bed and walked out of the bedroom. I tiptoed across the main living room (this was to not disturb my then sleeping parents, or so I thought). Dad stopped me and asked what I was doing out of bed. I told him I wanted to get a drink of water. He told me to do it and then get back to bed.

BUT I HAD NO INTENTION OF GOING BACK TO BED (at least not right away).

I walked into the kitchen and reached for a glass. I reached for one which was fairly close and would make the least amount of noise. I filled it up once or twice with water and drank it. I then filled it up again, but this one was "for the road".

The road to the den that is.

Before I knew it, I was at the steps leading to the den. I looked back to see if anyone (namely Dad) was behind me before stepping off into the den. It was then I saw the Christmas tree and all the presents under it.

I knew a few prresents were there before Christmas (Ya know....Chrristmas shopping and all), but there were others I hadn't seen before. I could also tell that some of the presents which were already under the tree had been moved around a little. I went to "investivate".

Before I did though, I made sure to look up over the counter to see if anyone (again namely Dad) was somehow on my trail. Once again, the coast was clear. Or so I thought (read on).

I got closer and closer to the tree and before I knew it, I WAS STANDING IN FRONT OF IT. I then carrefully got down on my knees (Ya know, not wanting any of the decorations to fall :-)). Just as I got on my knees and began looking at all the tags - *SWOOP!*

Before I could say Rumpelstilskin, Dad scooped me back up on my feet, turned me around, and paddled my butt all the way back to my bedrroom. It wasn't a spanking, but he made sure I felt it as I was on the move back to my bedroom. He then told me to get me to get to sleep. By this time, I was in no position to say anything in response. Dad wasn't mad, though he wasn't neccessarily very happy at me either.

Needless to say, my little adventure was enough for me to get something resembling sleep for the remainder of that night as before I knew it, it was 4:30 AM or so and everyone was up and about then (Yes, my little adventure was a buzz around the house that morning). We all opened our prresents BEFORE breakfast (this was a tradition in our family) and the rest, as they say, is history. :-)

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE.

Pat

News From The Home Front

2003-12-06T22:39:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the LONG length of time between blog entries. Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving though. I know I did. Spent time with Mom, Dad, my brother who lives in town and his son (learned just how video games and console units have advanced since the old Atari days :-)). Had a great Thanksgiving Dinner too as we all watched the Incredible Hulk Movie on DVD. :-)

As you might have figured out by now, I really haven't had much incentive to post a new text blog entry for quite sometime, hence NO November archive for this year, (though next year will undoubtedly be an entirely different story altogether if we Liberals have OUR way, won't it? :-)).

During my admittedly self-imposed sabattical, I got to surfing one of the Blog Rings and found a very interesting site dealing with the issue of SIZE ACCEPTANCE. We'll touch on that either in another text blog entry or in a Video Blog.

I mentioned in an October Blog Entry that one of my brothers and his wife who live in Kansas City, MO were expecting a little one. While I was away, my sister-in-law has since given birth. I decided to hold off on posting this bit of news because I wanted to include a pic of the little one, but I guess my brother just hasn't gotten around to distributing photos just yet. But when I get one, I'll be sure to post it.

Just remember one thing though. THE KID AIN'T MINE. There were a few on Sullivan's Yahoo! Group who apparently thought that *I* was the father. *LOL!*

However, this was tempered by a bit of bad news. My 72 year old father, who will be 73 in just a few days, had to be taken to the hospital and admitted into the ICU for a viral pneumonia affection. However, all is fine now and he is back home now (word is they had to kick him out so they could treat all the other patients they were getting slammed with - JUST KIDDING! :-)).

It's also just our luck we should be living in "Beautiful" Coloradotoo given all the bad news we've been hearing about the flu bug. Ugh.... :-(

Well....that's all the news that's fit to print from here.

Cheers for now & HAPPY HOLIDAYS :-)

Pat

I'm All Moved BUT.....

2003-10-30T17:53:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in my blog entry of September 23rd I stated that I was moving. Well, that day has come and gone, but it has been ANYTHING but uneventful and FULL of hitches (none of which are to sneeze at either!). :-(

First, I bust the case of my VCR (and probably in all likelihood the VCR itself) as I was moving the TV from the old apartment to the new one in preparation for the cable installer. What's even worse is that the VCR was also doing double duty as the cable box as well (I only have Expanded Basic cable service and Comcast, oiur local cable company, is tossing out the old analog cable boxes in lieu of the ones for Digital Cable. :-( ).

Next, the cable installer shows up, but NEVER CALLED ME IN ADVANCE!!! So, as I'm playing "traffic cop" as I direct the mover helpers where to put each piece of furniture, I'm also on my cell phone talking to a service rep from Comcast, our beloved local cable company .

They tell me they "don't do call-backs" and that I would have to re-schedule. I explained to them in an earlier conversation that I wanted them to call me in advance so A). I could let them into the building when they arrived and B). I could move the power cords for the PC and cable modem down to the new apartment (I had been sitting up in the old apartment as that's where the furniture was at the time and was beat).

Luckily though after about 10 minutes, they call me back telling me that the installer would be here in 10 minutes. By this time, I was just finishing with the move of the furniture (with MANY thanks to my helpers :-)) and had told them as much. Apparently this got to the installer, who basically dragged her feet by doing the neccessary work on the outside of the building before coming in to hook everything up.

With a busted VCR, I directed the cable installer to route the connection via the CD/DVD Player instead. She did. She also hooked up my cable modem and made sure that was working (which it is, but there's a catch to this, which I'll go into later). After she hooked up the cable modem and made sure it was working, she gave me some numbers I needed to know and then left.

Minutes later, I went to turn on the TV to catch The Fox Report With Shepherd Smith as that's my favorite network news program, only to find that my TV can't even receive channels like Fox News because I'm not using a conventional analog cable box or a VCR (remember, the VCR got busted the night before. Try to keep up with me on this if that's even possible).

So I called the local cable company AGAIN and told the rep. what my situation was. He suggested that I power cycle my TV by unplugging it for about a half hour. Figuring he knew what to do, I followed this suggestion even though I had never had to power cycle my TV for any reason whatsoever in its entire 20 year life.

Anyhow, as luck would have it, it would be an hour before I could try again (I still had some more stuff to move). I tried again and got the same result. So I called the local cable company - YET AGAIN!!!! It was then that I actually got someone who knew what the fuckin' hell they were doing!!! As brutal and as bitchy as she was (her communications skills could easily be likened to a mother talking to her child in a parental manner), she told me the only way I could remedy the situation was to A). Go down to the cable company's local payment center and see if they had any analog cable boxes left, B). Get a new VCR or C). Get a more modern cable ready TV (the set I have now already is cable ready, even though it's 20 years old).

I opted to call Mom & dad to see if they had a spare VCR I could have. Luckily, they have one and Mom told me I could have it. :-) I told her I'd be down (hopefully!) this weekend when I return a backpack carrier she loaned to me earlier this week (even though I didn't need it when I went to borrow some food from them).

On to the Internet - Where OH WHERE do I begin to explain this........

TO BE CONTINUED....

Columbine Video Release: Logical Move Or Dangerous Precedence?

2003-10-24T23:43:00.000-06:00

Okay folks, I just know I'm gonna have a VERY hard time keeping the expletitives out of this one, though I will try.

As you probably already know by now, Jefferson County officials released a video which show Eric Harris & Dylan Klebold showing off some of their weapons at a nearby rifle range. However, it's not the fact that they released it that irks me (although it does since a Federal judge ordered the tape, and anything else associated with the Columbine massacre DESTROYED), but it's HOW the Jefferson County officials are releasing it that makes my blood BOIL (and it should makes YOURS boil as well). :-(

They are charging $20 and are SELLING copies of the video to ANYONE who has the $$$ who wants a copy. Heck, why don't they just put up a BIG HUGE display at Blockbuster Video or Hollywood Video or something? This way, they can sell HUNDREDS of copies.

I mean, does the county not see the potential for copycatswho could be more successful here?? Obviously not. Look at the case of the two teenagers in New Jersey The SCARY part of that is they didn't have access to a video or whatever. I shudder to imagine what could happen when such a copycat does get this TRIPE of a "video".

This is NOT "entertainment". It isn't even "Reality TV". It is a GLAMOURIZATION of the actions of A PAIR OF KILLERS and their so-called "friends". Plain and simple.

Now.....Having said that, I sympathize with the parents' desire to have all the information on the Columbine investigation disseminated (sp?), but THIS IS NOT THE WAY. Moreover, this video should be DESTROYED. The judge's ORDERS were VERY SPECIFIC. They contained NOTHING which gave Jefferson County ANY LEGAL RIGHT WHATSOEVER to "Sell" ANYTHING related to Columbine for profit. For this alone, I hope the judge takes Jefferson County TO THE CLEANERS.

But has ANYONE thought about those who LIVED through that massacre and survived?? NO! Has ANYONE even ASKED them? NO! It's as if these people don't have rights or something because THEY SURVIVED COLUMBINE and have told about it. That IN AND OF ITSELF is a cryin' shame! :-(

If there's one VOICE THE PEOPLE of Jefferson County still have, it is by way of THE VOTING MACHINE. If *I* were a Jefferson Countyresident, *I'd* call for sweeping changes across the board. This would mean that NONE of the incumbents in Jefferson County races in 2004 wwould get a "free pass". They all would have lost MY vote a LONG time ago.

If they wanna make a profit, that's fine. BUT NOT ON MY DIME. And certainly NOT with this TRIPE of a "video" which is marketed by Jefferson County as if it were an Arnold Schwartzenegger action movie.

Just my opinion.

Cheers for now :-)

Pat

News From My Brother In Missouri

2003-10-17T19:56:00.000-06:00

On a much lighter (not to mention HAPPIER) note, I also received an email from my brother Lyne (or Leonard as he prefers it today), who's NOW a LICENSED MINISTER in Kansas City, MO (He moved there from Waxahachie, Tx after receiving some sort of degree while in TX). He's married and is expecting his first natural born child in a couple of months (his wife, Suzanna is 7 1/2 months pregnant and they have an adopted teenage daughter). He's younger than me (he's 33 and I'm 37). Anyhow, his email was full of news (some of it I had heard before, but never blogged about it till now) so I'll try to summarize some of the things he said in his email. :-)

First off, Suzanna is 7 1/2 months pregnant, but they're kinda hoping for a New Year's baby as that would just make the event just that much more special. I can just imagine him spending ALL of New Years Eve in the Delivery Room of the local hospital doing the same song and dance of Bill Cosby's "Push 'Em Out....Push 'Em Out....Push OUT" while she's gasping for air. :-)

Okay, maybe that's putting it on a little thick (and it probably won't happen like that anyway given the odds of being so lucky to have a New Year's baby to begin with), but you get the point. :-)

The only downer to this is the fact that it's a high risk pregnancy. Out of deference to her (my sister-in-law I have yet to meet I might add), I won't go into why this is. But she's made it this far, so I think it's reasonably safe to say that she's a real trooper who'll wait it out until THE day comes. :-)

Three days before they found out she was pregnant though, they purchased their first home in the K.C. area. They did this as they were pressuring their Ministry goals. My brother also has an "ordinary" job working as a marketing person for Cingular Wireless (Not sure what kind of marketing he does though).

To give you an idea as to the kind of person he is, here's an excerpt from the email he sent describing their marriage and their adventures so far (DISCLAIMER: I have permission to blog about the email and he chose to have me not leave anything out, though I won't quote the entire email as it's quite long and redundant :-))

Our marriage is strong and has proven itself to be quite an adventure. However, life as you know has its ways of throwing "curve balls" and Suzanna and I have not been exempted; especially as it relates to medical issues. Shortly after we were wedded I contacted vertigo or what is more commonly know as dizziness. Of course the doctors put me though a serious of tests in attempts to find the answers. From CAT scans to ENG, EEG, MRA and two MRI of my head and all they found was a great mind, ah, ah, ah. In the course of this past year they sent me to just about every kind of specialist they could find, neurologist, ENTS (Ear, Noise and Throat Specialist), and two inner-hear specialists. After a year of suffering with vertigo I was final sent to an inner ear surgeon. He re-did some tests and did some more new ones this past mouth. These tests finally revealed a definable problem. The doctor said, "it's all in my head" (ah, ah) or to be more specifically it's in my inner ear. I have a type of Meniere's disorder called "Cochlear Hydrops." This diagnosis is very consistent with my symptoms: episodic dizziness and ear pressure, hearing loss, passing out and "tinnitus" (ringing in my ear). CH or Cochlear Hydrops in English is simply an abnormal amount of fluid build up in the inner hear. This fluid in turn is pushing against my vistibular nerves. It's these nerves that help keep our body in balanced, which explains why I'm dizzy. My dizzy condition is propitiates as my body heat rises. Meniere's disorders are very tricky to diagnosis and it's still a possibility that I may loose my hearing in my right ear which is where the Cochlear Hydrops problem was found, but it's still in the early stages so the doctors are hopeful about their ability to help me. Treatment of all of this is the same as all other forms of Meniere's disorders. First of these treatments are medication and diet (no salt, no caffeine) to see if we can get my body to heal itself. If this dose not works then there is one of three surgical procedures that can be done. This means there is still a long road ahead for me in this area. Our lives have been seriously altered as a result of this issue and have caused much stress in our lives as we both prepare for the new family arrival. But in the mean time continue to pray for God's healing power.

Can ya tell he doesn't write email very well?

He's been married for over a year now, but guess what he got for a One Year Anniversary "Gift", courtesy of some IDIOTIC COOK from one of the local Applebee's Restaurant ....

A One Way trip to THE EMERGENCY ROOM after an ALLERGIC REACTION to honey which was put on the ribs that he ordered (he didn't order the honey) which triggered his asthma (sp?) that almost caused him to have a NEAR FATAL HEART ATTACK!!!! I told him in a reply email that he should consider taking LEGAL ACTION against Applebee'sbecause they put his health in danger.

I have yet to hear a response to my reply email, which I sent yesterday.

Suffice to say, since he has been married, neither he nor his wife are strangers to the Emergency room staff. Though, as anyone who's spent time walking in their shoes on a similar basis would imagine, IF they had to visit the Emergency Room, THEY WOULD RATHER NOT BE THE PATIENT. :-)

So indeed, life as a married person has been an adventure for him in his first year, although there are many things he would just assume forget. :-) Here's to hope that his 2nd year of marriage is filled with more joyous adventures than not. :-)

Well....That's the good news for today.

Cheers for now :-)

Pat

Some REALLY BAD News

2003-10-17T18:21:00.000-06:00

Events of this past week have all hit within the last 24 hours, so as such, I'll be making seperate blog entries for each event.

We begin with some REALLY BAD news. About 24 hours ago, I learned that my 72 year old father has a urinary tract problem of some kind. If his doctors can't identify and fix it, he may have to undergo surgery to have a catheter permanently implanted inside him. We should know by Monday just how serious his condition is and if surgery and/or hospitalization is required. We're praying and hoping that it can be treated without surgery OR hospitalization. I'll post another blog entry regardless of the outcome.

In the meantime.....Cheers for now :-)

Pat

TAXI....TAXI....

2003-10-10T22:01:00.000-06:00

Well....I see it's Columbus Day. *WHOOPIE-DOO!*

Had to do yet SOME MORE running around last night (geez....Am I *ever* gonna catch iup with myself?). This time it was Grocery Shopping - Round Two. The place - The usual. Albertsons on Alameda & Broadway (for you Colorado Bloggers out there :-)).

Prices for most of the items I regularly buy returned to normal (hence NO 10 for $10 for cans of soup :-( ). Got the usual amount (Eight cans to cover the next week; I wonder WHY I'm still using that number). The nice bonus though was a half gallon of Heath Toffee Bar Ice Cream for $3.50 or 2 for $7.00

Anyway....Got all checked out so the store knew I wasn't stealing anything and called a cab so I could get my stuff home WITHOUT breaking my foolish neck in the process. I asked for a van from Metro Taxi

While I was waiting, I spotted an old friend and we talked for a few minutes until her taxi came. Was sitting out front with three HEAVY bags of groceries (good thing they were those big cloth ones) waiting for my taxi to arrive.

20 minutes later, my cell phone rings. It's Metro Taxi saying "Your cab has arrived".

I'm like Okay....I'm sitting outside in front of the store with a clear view. WHERE IS IT?? I don't see it, so it OBVIOUSLY hasn't arrived yet.

After a minute or two of this, GUESS WHICH taxi shows up.

THE VERY SAME TAXI WHICH TOOK MY FRIEND HOME!!! A car.

The reason why this is significant is because I order vans due to the extra head and leg room they have over the cars as I'm a tall man.

Anyway, I send the man on his merry way after telling him I ordered a van.

So NOW I figure GREAT! Not only am I with a half gallon of MELTING ICE CREAM, but NOW I've BEEN KICKED OUT OF THE METRO TAXI SYSTEM TO BOOT!!!

Needless to say, I call Metro Taxi AGAIN to RE-ORDER the van (or double-check to see if my order was still in the queue, which it wasn't). They assure me they'd get one out to me "on a priority" (whatever the hell that means).

20 minutes later, I call them AGAIN because the cab I had re-ordered had still not arrived. The man tells me that cab 142 had left six minutes ago to pick me up. He also said there were NO VANS in my area. I said GREAT! you're sending me ANOTHER CAR! He assured me that wasn't the case. I said "okay" and hung up. Two minutes later, my cab FINALLY pulls up.

But the cabbie DOESN'T KNOW THE AREA!!!!

He told me he normally does business in the SE part of town (didn't say where, but it was obvious he didn't know the streets in my area too well, but he eventually figured it out).

The fare came out to $2.80 so I gave him $3.00 and we called it even (afterall, what can you do with 20 cents these days?). After the better part of AN HOUR, I finally got my stuff home and sat down with my ice cream (which MIRACULOUSLY hadn't melted as much as expected), Diet Pepsi, and glass of water. :-)

Ahh.....Nothin' like unwinding for the evening..... :-)

Cheers for now :-)

Pat

Forgetfulness

2003-10-01T23:00:00.000-06:00

Do you ever have just one of those days where you'd probably forget your head if it wasn't screwed on right?? Well guess who had one of those days.....

Yep! You guessed it. ME!!!

For starters, I had taken some forms with me to fill out while I was out earlier today cashing my check. But, as luck would have it, I forgot to BRING A PEN with me so I could fill them them out (I had planned to fill them out while at the local Subway sandwich joint after I ate).

CORRECTIVE ACTION TAKEN - Scrap the idea.

Next, I got to the local Albertsons grocery store where I would borrow one of their two electric buggies and go up to the Customer Service counter where I would cash my check. Every thing went normal there except for one tiny little detail.

I LEFT MY KEYS IN THE ELECTRIC BUGGY WHEN I LEFT THE STORE TO GO TO SUBWAY.

What's worse, I didn't even realize this until I checked my pockets while at Subway. Luckily I had planned to return there to do some grocery shopping anyway. So I thought it wasn't a really big deal.

Ahh.....But this was on a day in which Lady Fortune WAS NOT smiling at me.

Anyhow, I return to the store, only to find the buggy is in use. So I walk up to the same customer service desk I had been at not even an hour earlier and ask the clerk there if someone turned in any set of keys matching the description I gave. He told me no.

Now I'm REALLY freaked because NOW I don't even know WHERE the keys are.

Bur then I figured what goes up must come down(OR IN THIS CASE, what goes to the back of the store must eventually make it's way back to the front of the store where the buggies are kept). So I decided to wait a few minutes for the buggy with my keys (which I STUPIDLY left in the buggy's ignition) to return. But then I decided that this was like wsiting for a watched pot to boil. So I got another key from customer service and used the other cart.

Just as I was checking out, I spotted the woman in the other cart. I tried to get her attention, but could do little more than to verify that the keys were still left in the ignition as she passed by in front of me. Fortunately they were. I knew I could then breathe a huge sigh of relief knowing that all I had to do was wait for her to check out and bring the cart up to the front.

10 minutes later, she did just that. I kept the other key in case she needed it as then this way, we could just simply swap keys (some of the store clerks let people have a key of their own, but it's not neccessarily something they "boast" about). Luckily, after some explaining, she was very understanding and we swapped keys and waited for our taxi cabs to arrive. She was about my age and could understand what it's like being in my position. :-) We enjoyed a nice conversation while we waited.

I suppose the day wasn't a complete disaster. I've had worse days than this. But after nearly leaving my Subway Twister cup behind after taking my groceries over to the bench at the front of the store where I would wait for the woman to appear, I said to myself that I'd forget MY HEAD if it wasn't screwed on right as I walked back to retrieve my cup.

Just thought I'd share this with you. :-}

Cheers for now :-)

Pat

Mainstream Media vs. Porn - What's The Difference?

2003-09-24T20:43:00.000-06:00

Recent discussions on a couple places I frequent have me wondering what IS the difference between a music video and a porn movie. I mean THINK ABOUT IT. When you have MEGASTARS like Brittney Spears (sp?) bearing it all in front of HUNDREDS at at an auditorium and MILLIONS at home watching on TV coupled with the recent kiss between Madonna and Brittney in a recent music video AND the fact that MORE AND MORE ex-porn stars are entering the "mainstream media" arena (Actress/Ex-Porn diva Traci Lords being the latest), how long do you think it will be before we start seeing actual porn scenes in Hollywood big screen movies?

Columnist Al Lewis of the Denver Post wrote in the Sunday Edition of his column the following commentary in his piece on putting LOCKS on music CDs....

"The music industry always has profited from dark and socially irresponsible motifs: rappers who promote cop killings; rockers who glorify illicit sex and drugs; metalheads who just can't sing enough kind words for Satan.".

Although the column was aimed at the issue of file sharing, one has to begin to wonder WHEN the ENTIRE entertainment industry will GET ITS HEAD OUT OF THE FUCKING SAND and either remove ALL such explicit material from EVERYTHING we see and hear OR embrace it and let PARENTS decide what's suitable for their children.

My virtual "buddy"(I like to call him that because I like to think we happen to think pretty much alike :-)), Sean Kennedy at Rant Radio has often said that TV just isn't "real". Of course it isn't. That's because TV, like the rest of the entertainment industry, HAS ITS HEAD BURIED IN THE SAND. They prefer to WATER DOWN what actually takes place. A good example is when two people are in a "love-making" scene on a soap opera, they call it just that. But in reality, they're going through the motions of HAVING SEX!!! Does the soap get cancelled? NO.

But when Ellen DeGeneres admitted during her first show that the was a lesbian, her show got the axe almost IMMEDIATELY. And when Rosie O' Donnell later did the same thing, I tend to think she was COERCED into quitting her show. I've often wondered what would happen to Oprah Winfrey if SHE announced that SHE was a lesbian. Would SHE be given the same treatment? In all likelihood, probably so.

But when it comes to Actress Sharon Stone, THEY ALREADY KNOW SHE CAME FROM THE PORN INDUSTRY!!!! Yet movie studios and directors aren't hesistant to hire HER. It's funny how HYPOCRITICAL the entertainment industry can be, isn't it.

A recent discussion in the Winamp Forums here truly depics the socialogical debating we do on this issue. I mention this because there's now some concern by a handful of people within the Winamp Community that Winamp's new Nullsoft Streaming Video platform will become a haven for those who want to set up porn streams. I say THERE ALREADY ARE porn streams up and running. Just open up Winamp 2.91 or greater and hit ALT L. Then click on the Internet TV genre. From there, just pick practically any of the stations playing music videos and you'll see what I mean.

Add to this the STRANGLEHOLD the entertainment industry has on old TV shows and look where that leave Internet TV. Internet TV stations such as this one must either produce ORIGINAL content, pick up other content from other Internet TV stations such as Sean Kennedy's TV Station or air PORN CLIPS. It's just that simple.

Boy, this entry has me all blogged out for now folks. Time to put a wrapper on this and post it. :-)

Cheers for now :-)

Pat

I'm MOVING (Well....Sort Of :-) )

2003-09-23T19:26:00.000-06:00

Well after MONTHS of trying to put off the inevitable, I was recently told that I either had to move out of my one bedroom apartment (due to my housekeeping problems, which is a LONG story which too lengthy for a blog) or move into a studio apartment if I wanted to stay where I'm at now as far as where my snail mail goes.

Faced with this ultimatum (not to mention a LEASE RENEWAL to boot), I chose the latter. I was offered one on the 1st floor, which would be great as far as walking is concerned, but as far as some of my hobbies (one of them being a Ham Radio Operator are concerned, I may as well be UNDERNEATH the building (RF doesn't travel very far if it's confined to a ground level apartment :-( ). Given this scenario, I told the manager that I'd take the 1st floor apartment if nothing else was available, but I'd much prefer something on one of the upper floors (I'm on the top floor, which is the 9th flooor now).

Luckily, my only phone is a cell phone, so I won't be out of touch with the outside world. However I'm gonna have to get my cable service (which includes the Internet) transferred as soon as possible once I know for certain when I'll be moving into the new apartment. Early guesstimate is I'll be able to start moving in as early as the middle of next month, though I doubt that will be written in stone just yet. I'll also have to notify the Post Office as well as just about everyone else I do business with (at least those who need to know) of the apartment change. I'm also luckily as this won't affect my ability to vote in the upcoming November election (it's a mail-in election with a ballot here in Colorado full of referendum measures and other ammendments. Nothing which will really draw a large voter turnout), though I'll have to send in a change of address when I mail my ballot and follow that up with a trip to the DMV to get a new ID or a sticker put on the back of my current one (Being an experienced Election Judge here in Denver County, I know that if I don't do it this way, it'd be just my luck for it to be an issue during the Presidential Primary. I see it all the time while sitting at the polling place and hear other people's stories. Really quite fascinating - NOT).

Speaking of judging elections, how many of YOU have done this? It's one of THE most important roles of our electoral process!!! Why, without us JUDGES, the election officials would have to DO IT THEMSELVES!!! And you know how much THAT would cost.

Anyways, back to the subject at hand, I'll try to keep you all posted on this. I'll also try to post a quick blog entry the day before (if not then, maybe in the wee hours of the morning of moving day itself, which is likely to be the case :-( ). I doubt I'll post about anything else during this period (unless another 9/11 happens - heaven forbid of course :-}).

Well....time to the wrapper on this one and post it. Cheers for now :-)

Pat

Fullfilling "The Need"

2003-09-22T02:54:00.000-06:00

I know I said on Friday I would be doing a blog on SPAM email as Saturday's blog (a double-blog will be made this week - I promise!). Well, as luck would have it, the desire to fulfill "the need" got in the way of those plans and wouldn't let up (yes, I went through the whole day with lewd [READ - SEX] images swirling in my head). Do you ever get that feeling? Yeah, yeah....I know what a lot of you out there are saying. You saying things like "Pat, my dear friend, you need a WOMAN in your life" or something like "There ARE just some things you just don't blog about".

But think about it. If ya cant "get it" the natural way (i.e. with a partner you love) and "get it" SAFELY (i.e. NONE of the SLUTTY BITCH WHORES (Yes, I will call 'em that) who hang out on [for you Colorado Bloggers out there] East Colfax at night), then HOW ELSE can you "get it" that won't give you an STD or land you in jail?

Simple. You put on a porn clip (either on your TV or PC) and DO IT YOURSELF.

THIS is what I was doing ALL DAY Saturday and part of today. Ugh...I *hate* this feeling. Even the most hardcore clips I have weren't enough to break the ice. :-(

Oh well. You know what they say about the 3rd try. :-) *crossing fingers*

But I take comfort in knowing that some people WILL go to great lengths to "cure themselves". We see many of them on the news labeled either as CHILD MOLESTERS or other SEXUAL PREDATORS. THOSE people SHOULD be locked up (either in a mental institution or prison). And unfortunately, many of them use the power of the Internet (and target our kids :-( ).

FOR THE RECORD.....I AM **NOT** A SEX PREDATOR OR REGISTERED SEX OFFENDER AS I HAVE DONE **NOTHING** TO WARRANT SUCH ACTION. I AM MERELY BLOGGING MY MOOD AS IT STANDS RIGHT NOW.

Anyways....I just wanted to let you all know why my blog on SPAM email hasn't been posted yet while, at the same time, vent a little frustration over my current need. There's really nothing anyone can do (except offer a little sympathy perhaps? :-}). It's just something I'm just gonna have to ride out.

Till next time.... :-)

Pat

The Fast Food Industry - Getting FAT At OUR Expen$e?

2003-09-19T19:06:00.000-06:00

Now that I've figured out HOW to blog correctly (I admit yesterday's blog (posted below) didn't look very good in terms of layout compared to other blogs in the various rings), today's blog will be kinda lengthy as I've got quite a few things on my mind. As such, I'm sure I'm gonna be blogging quite a lot, maybe more than once a day (I am a liberal Democrat who doesn't pull punches :-)). I'm also looking at making use of my webcam and making "video blogs" as well so I can show my emotion in each entry. :-)

In the meantime, WHERE OH WHERE do I start? I may as well start with my first bite of food for today (not to mention the downsizing of the fast food industry). Today, I went to Wendy's in an effort to save some $$$ which I would ordinary spend (or should I $pend?) at Subway. I ordered a Taco Supremo, some chicken strips, and a biggie diet coke (I much prefer Diet Pepsi as it tastes better :-)). What's the big deal you say? Well....How you YOU like it if you spent THREE DOLLARS on a grand total of THREE chicken strips.

That's right. I said THREE chicken strips.

I said to myself there's more strips of chicken in the display ad than there are in front of me. But knowing that I still had the Taco Supremo (which fills me up quite nicely I might add :-)) and the Diet Coke and knowing that there were people who would be blessed to have those three chicken strips, I didn't complain (at least not in a way which might either get me kicked out of the restaurant or arrested :-)). I ate my food and left a happy customer (even though I was $8.91 poorer in the process).

Speaking of the price I paid, is it just me or is the price of fast food going up? I've noticed this at Subway, but then too its expected there because of the various subs and breads they offer. But you would think a place like Wendy's would offer more HEALTHY meal combinations. I was offered one with the Taco Supremo, but I chose to get a biggie coke instead of a regular size one and got the chicken strips as well. My guess is the clerk who took my order probably did NOT charge me for the combo meal and added them as seperate items instead. I dunno. But gee whiz. Before we all know it, a value meal (no matter what the restaurants call it) will soon cost $10 like the pizzarias are charging now (and HAVE been charging for years.

Speaking of the pizzarias, WHY is it they charge more for ONE pizza than the a place like Wendy's would charge for their stuff FOR AN ENTIRE FAMILY?? I don't get it. Would someone in the pizza industry care to explain this to me? (I'll soon be setting up a method in which you can post your response to each of my blogs).

The reason I bring this up is because I recently saw a report on Fox News showing what McDonald's is doing to encourage healthy eating among adults (it was a feature on an adult version of the "Happy Meal" which has a salad as one of the items). There was speculation that McDonald's was on a "health food drive" to stem the tide of lawsuits being filed by people who claim they got fat because of what McDonald's and other fast food chains offer (and were dumb enough to eat EN MASSE).

This got me wondering. IF McDonald's wwas SERIOUS about encouraging healthy eating habits, WHY don't they substitute a salad in place of that HAMBURGER they put in kids' Happy Meals?? Could it be that they fear they'll lose business if they do?? If so, I've got a wake up call to them.

YOU ALREADY _ARE_ LOSING BUSINESS!!!!!

This is because parents are either brown bagging their kid's lunch or are ponying up more $$$ for the school lunch program so the kids are fed in the school cafeteria. Either way you look at it, they're skipping McDonald's altogether.

I could could go on and on about this whole fast food thing, but I'm sure you get the gist of it by now. It was just a timing thing since I hadn't posted my (hopeful) daily blog yet. See ya tomorrow. :-)

BLOG LINKS PAGE TO LAUNCH WITH MY BLOG FOR TOMORROW!!!

Speaking of tomorrow....Tomorrow's topic will be on SPAM (the kind you get in email, not the kind you eat). Stay tuned.

Cheers for now :-)

Pat

Platonic Friendships - The BEST Intimate Partners?

2003-09-18T02:25:00.000-06:00

Boy, my day yesterday was one I'd just assume FORGET!!! :-( More on that in another blog entry. :-)

But if there was a silver lining in an otherwise dark cloud, it would have to be a copy of last week's edition of Time Magazine In it was an article by Pamela Paul on Platonic Friendships, which i felt was most interesting.

Although the article profiled three happily married couples, one of the most interesting statistics was that One In 10 25 to 34 year olds say their BEST FRIEND is a member of the OPPOSITE SEX.

Speaking from some personal experience, I am a HUGE fan of platonic friendships. Not only that, but I believe that, in a day and age where the divorce rate in this country (and abroad) is higher than the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center were before 9/11, it's ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL to have a plutonic friendship for couples to fall back on in case marriage doesn't work out.

Now, of course, I'm no expert on the subject, but it seems to me that people tend to be quick to rush to the altar FAR too quickly these days. OTFS, some would argue that some of those platonic friendships would amount to long-distance relationships, which don't work either (just ask my brother Bill who thought getting married BEFORE shipping out to join the United States Navy was an absolute "brilliant" idea. - NOT!).

Also, according to the article, Match.compolled 1,514 of its members and found that 83% believe that men and women can be just friends. In a way, this isn't much of a surprise. I mean, when you take into into consideration of Friendsand Seinfeldand the success and the chemistry the cast members have among each other, it should be of little wonder that people would want to "mimmick" what the cast members of those shows do. It also wouldn't be surprising if there were ROLE PLAYING groups (I didn't find any on Yahoo! Groups) whereas people act out the roles of the various cast members either.

Some have even found that marriage even strengthens the bond that makes a platonic friendship work. I'm a true believer that relationships don't work very well without a platonic friendship to back it up. But then too, I'm not the expert on the subject. I'm just your average, ordinary blog writer sitting in front of the computer who also spends some time making friends with others on this massive "Information SuperHighway" who also just happens to be SINGLE and in his THIRTIES. :-)

Author Michael Monsour was quoted in the article as saying that the different sexes of TODAY have MORE IN COMMON as they go through the life cycle. This couldn't be further from the truth!! As women have (professionally) evolved into almost anything and everything from Astronauts to Zoologists, we AS A SOCIETY are finding out that men and women DO have more in common than we thought.

And as *I* continue my own search to find that special someone, that "Rock Of Gibraltar" (sp?), that one person to turn to when life gets rough, I look forward to experiencing much of this and anything else like it that life throws my way. :-)

In the meantime....Cheers for now :-)

Pat

My First Attempt At Blogging

2003-09-08T09:52:00.000-06:00

This is just a test blog to see how this all workks (personally I can do

the same thing simply by creating an HTML page with Netscape Composer and naming it something like blog.html

There's nothing really fancy about it. I mean afterall, it's just an HTML page.

This is just yet ANOTHER way these desperate DOT BOMB companies are managing to stay in business. They think that if they can get the public to believe that blog is another protocol instead of what it REALLY is (which is just a simple HTML page which conveys the thoughts of the poster), they can survive and ride out the meltdown caused (predominately) by 9/11 and the Bush Administration.

Can you believe some of these companies actually CHARGE for this??? It's INSANE. I prefer video (or at least audio) MUCH better. That IS why I host a talk show, ya know (even though I haven't done a show since 9/11). :-) You can't beat an audio or video blog.

Well....So much for a "test" blog I guess. :-)

Anyhow, keep an eye on THIS SPACE RIGHT HERE as I will use this space to convey my thoughts on just about ANYTHING under the sun (I'm a Liberal Democrat :-)). It'll also be used for my upcoming TV show called "Stupid Stuff", which will be on the website my VERY OWN Internet TV station, Jeeper One Television Network (when relaunched) as I'll create a section SPECIFICALLY for that show alone. :-)

In the meantime....Stay tuned! :-)

Cheers for now my friends :-)
Pat Cook
pchamster@comcast.net
Denver, Colorado