April 9 Our Dining Companion

Over the 25 years I've known my wife Chrissy, we've had many dinner companions. You know, the one person or couple that always says yes when invited out for dinner. When we first started dating, it was Jim Drescher. The three of us went out often and sometimes Jimmy would bring a date. Then Jim got married and had kids, moved to Bumfuck, IN and we hardly see him anymore. After we got married, my friend Nick would always seem to stop by our apartment at dinner time. He had a job going door to door selling cable TV and found a way to be at our house when the food was cooking. Nick moved on to a better job that wasn't in our neighborhood. Then Chrissy's best friend Karen started dating Jim Cloghessy and they became our dinner partners. Of course they got married, had kids, disappeared from the face of the Earth. Todd & Vicki were not only good for a last minute dinner date, they were also great training partners at the local gym. Alas, they too had kids and moved to Bumfuck, IL. During this time we had our most reliable dinner companions, the Delgados. They were perfect since their daughter Kathy, had moved to California. We could stop by their house at noon, have lunch, sit in the yard, order pizza for dinner and stay until 11pm watching a movie. They were always up for a night out at a local eatery. I guess it's true, all good things come to an end. They retired to SoCal. Luckily they live near my parents and are still good for a night out. That brings us to Chrissy's Great Uncle Mike and his wife Ann. They were always up for a dinner, maybe a little earlier in the night but so what. We had a blast with them. They might have been twice our age, but it didn't show at dinner. Well Mike passed away at the age of ninety last fall. So that leaves Ann. She has the attitude of someone 60 years younger than her. I love spending a few hours having dinner and great conversations about any topic weith her. She usually gets me laughing and sometimes the conversation gets going and I talk like I do which includes words some people find offensive. Ann never says a word about it, she just keeps on talking. I have a lot of the same values and ideas about the world as Ann does, so it's nice to know that getting older won't change my perspective on things. I just hope to be as full of life (and piss & vinegar) as she is when I'm in my eightys.

April 8 Nutting Up & Fitting Pipe

If you read the comments on this site, you know I've taken some crap about being a man. I try to be honest about what I do each day or the things I believe in. So now I will defend myself and prove a point. Believe it or not, this is a true story. I had a job today in a predominately black neighborhood. I had a diesel suction pump losing it's prime between sales due to a bad check valve. I had to take the pump off the island to repipe the suction line with a new check valve. The weather today was sunny and warmer than the past few days. So I rolled down my truck window and played music from my satellite radio while I worked on the piping. You could say I was a pipefitter today. I wasn't really paying attention to the customers getting gas until I heard someone yelling at me. I turned to ask him what he needed and he asked me if "that was the new Prince joint playing on my radio." I started laughing and said yes it was. And I swear to you Bill, he said "turn that motherfucker up!" I couldn't make this shit up Bill. God works in mysterious ways. If this isn't funny to you, read the comments Anonymous left on April 4th.

April 7 WORDLE

I had a long day. I worked for 16 hours. Every job I had today blew up in my face. Nothing but aggravation from the start of the day. I couldn't get off early to go to the Chicago White Sox home opener. I had to give away my ticket to Nick so it didn't go to waste. I missed the first episode of my favorite show, Rescue Me. So I didn't have time to update this blog. So besides me bitching about my day, all I can offer is a website that doesn't do much except generate a "wordcloud", try this website, WORDLE. Here's today's blog as a WORDLE.

April 6 My Italian Grandmother

This is my Italian Grandmother, Maria, obviously long before she became a grandmother. The reason she is on my mind today is because my cousin, DeDe found her name on an unclaimed property website for the State of Maryland. After searching the site and downloading a form which required that I describe the property that no one in my family knew anything about it. I e-mailed the State of Maryland. I got a quick reply advising me to call Mr. Smith because he handles safe deposit boxes. I call Mr. Smith who told me that the state received personal belongings from a state hospital for the mentally ill that belonged to a Mary Hynes. The state sold that property in 1991 at auction for $55. Since my grandmother was never in that hospital, it must be someone else. But at least it got me thinking about my grandmother. Sometimes we forget about those that have passed on but she is remembered every time I have Italian food. So three or four times a week I think about her.

April 5 Palm Sunday

While out on an emergency call today for a hit pump, I passed a Baptist Church on the South Side of Chicago. The crowd was African -American and dressed to the nines. Most of the worshipers were carry palm fronds. Now at this point I have to admit something that may be painfully obvious to you, I do not know much about religion. I was baptized Catholic. That's the extent of my religious training. Unless listening to the Jesus Christ Superstar soundtrack so many times that I can sing every song counts as religious training. Back to my story, so it dawns on me that today must be Palm Sunday. Ok, what is the significance of Palm Sunday. I have no idea. It isn't mentioned in any of the songs in JCS. So when I got home I googled Palm Sunday. Here's what I found on a site called Christian Resources:

In fulfillment of prophecy (Isaiah 62:11 & Zechariah 9:9), Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. The crowds lined the street shouting "Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord." (Psalm 118:25-26) They placed palm branches and robes in front of Jesus. This was particularly disturbing to the religious leaders who were jealous of Jesus. They demanded that Jesus silence the crowd, but he responded that even if the crowd were silent, the stones would cry out. The events of the next week would forever change the world. Jesus entered Jerusalem and the crowd welcomed him as a king. By the end of the week they were demanding his death. His followers abandoned him in fear. None of his close followers had really understood the events of Palm Sunday and Holy Week until after Jesus returned. They had all expected Jesus to be an earthly king, but God had given them something so much better - an open door into a Kingdom that would never end.

So now I know about Palm Sunday. It turns out that certain events were in JCS because there is a line when Jesus sings "If every tongue was still the noise would still continue, the rocks and stones themselves would start to sing". So I did know something about Palm Sunday. It occurred to me, that nothing changes over time in this world. The power brokers were afraid of how powerful Jesus had become so they turned the crowd against him and the sheep like followers believe the leaders crap and turn against the man trying to help free them from oppression. Is their really any hope this will ever change? For those waiting for Jesus to return, trust me, he's in no hurry to try again.

April 4 My Name Is Prince and I Am Funky

Actually my name isn't Prince and I am not funky.(see April 3 picture for example) But I am a big fan of the strange but extremely talented artist sometimes known as Prince. He is arguably one of the best musicians of the past 30 years. I think he is an amazing songwriter and guitar player. Stop rolling your eyes, I am not a Prince sycophant. I'll admit he has released some crap over the years and his concerts are frustratingly inconsistent. But when he is on his game, nobody is better. Sexy love songs, just plain sexy songs, funk, soul, guitar jams, pure pop songs, he can and has done them all to perfection. I listened to Prince's new CD today. He released a 3 CD set, LotusFlower and MPLSOUND are his discs. There is a third disc from his new protégé, Bria Valente. (I haven't played it yet). The Prince discs sound good. On a quick listen there are a few good jams, but this isn't a review of his new discs. It is about his proclamation on one of the songs that "I can't stand nobody cussing now that I'm clean". WHAT!!!! This from the man who wrote the following lyrics:

And U said - "I'm just a virgin and I'm on my way 2 be wed
But U're such a hunk so full of spunk, I'll give U..."
Head till U're burnin' up
Head till U get enough
Head till U're love is red
Head - love U till U're dead

In my daddy's car
It's U I really wanna drive

U let all my friends come over and eat
And U were so strange
U didn't have the decency 2 change the sheets

Do me, baby, like U never done before
Ooh, give it 2 me 'til I just can't take no more

If your man ain't no good
Come on over 2 my neighborhood
We can jump in the sack and I'll jack U off

Girl, U got an ass like I never seen, ow!
And the ride...
I say the ride is so smooth, U must be a limousine

I guess I must be dumb cuz U had a pocket full of horses
Trojan and some of them used

I guess I should've closed my eyes when U drove me 2 the place
Where your horses run free
Cuz I felt a little ill when I saw all the pictures
Of the jockeys that were there before me

I knew a girl named Nikki, I guess U could say she was a sex fiend
I met her in a hotel lobby masturbating with a magazine

Your face is jammin', your body's heck-a-slammin'
If your love is good, let's get 2 rammin' ... now

If I was your girlfriend, would U tell me?
Would U let me see U naked then?
Would U let me give U a bath?
Would U let me tickle U so hard U'd laugh and laugh
And would U, would U let me kiss U there
U know, down there where it counts
I'll do it so good, I swear I'll drink every ounce

Scope this, I was just thinkin'
U + me, what a ride
If u was thinkin' the same
We could continue outside (Gett off)
Lay your pretty body against a parkin' meter
Strip your dress down
Like I was strippin' a Peter Paul's Almond Joy
Lemme show u baby I'm a talented boy

Gett off - 23 positions in a 1 night stand
Gett off - I'll only call u after if u say I can

Gett off - let a woman be a woman and a man be a man
Gett off - I u want 2 baby here I am (Here I am)

The syncopated rhymes are at their peak
When you jumped on my D.I.C.K.

Come here baby, yeah
U sexy motherfucker
Come here baby, yeah
U sexy motherfucker

She was pure, every ounce
I was sure when her titties bounced
Every way she's a winner
Turn a gay preacher 2 a sinner
No one U want your mama meet
She's a peach

She can make U shoot your ego all over her sheets
All is hers in love and war, my little Scarlet Pussy

Fuck so pretty, U and me

Erotic City come alive
We could fuck until the dawn
Makin' love 'til cherry's gone
Erotic City, can't U see?
Fuck so pretty, U and me

Pussy got bank in her pockets
Before she got dick in her drawers
If brother didn't have good and plenty of his own
In love Pussy never did fall

I just wanna holler, scream, and shout
When U let your fingers do the walkin' in and out and all about

So excuse me, Mr. Clean Prince. It was lyrics like these that made me a fan. Sorry you decided it was wrong to write these songs, but I still love them. Does that make me less of a fan? Who knows. But the new songs do sound good. I would say this is good Prince and worth buying, even if you have to get it from Target. I could goof on Hypocrite Prince for conspiring with a big corporation but that's another blog all together and I have to go to bed.

April 3 Fish & Chips

It was hardly an exciting day. I did finish a week of training for the Gilbarco Passport computer. It is used at gas stations to control the pumps and sell merchandise in the store. I am now certified to install & repair it. So to celebrate this momentous occasion in my life, we went to a local Irish bar, Shannons Landing. I had fish & chips and washed them down with a Harps Lager. Afterwards we had ice cream at Gayetys. That my friends was my exciting night until I got paged out at 10:30pm. I took Oslo on the call with me. I tied him to the bumper (after I got there, not on the way) and he just chilled while I worked. We got back around 3am and he must have been as tired as me because he didn't wake up until my pager went off at 10:30am. Jesus this is boring to me and I lived it. That is all for today.