May 9 Saturday In The Park

The dogs started their 'you are not going to work, take us somewhere' campaign early in the morning. I gave in and took them to Sweet Woods in Thornton. Ever since I found out there was a German POW camp here during WWII, I 've been taking a closer look at the concrete remnants scattered throughout the forest. There are what appears to be the remains of bridges along Thorn Creek that twists through the park. The biggest structure is pictured above. It is used by local kids as a party spot at night. I have never seen anyone in it but the beer bottles, graffiti and burned wood are always present. I have no problem with that but I wish they would pick up the bottles once in awhile. I always walk Oslo on a leash because he can outrun me, but Fluffy walks off leash at her own pace which is usually 50 ft or so behind us. Today, I took Oslo down the embankment to the structure pictured above. Then I saw Fluff run by us looking worried and turning her head side to side, I called to her and she happily ran down to us. She made me laugh at her because she was so happy to find us. On the walk back to the car, she stayed much closer to us. The woods are exploding with green everywhere, the leaves on the trees and the forest ground cover. It's almost like a fluorescent green. The birds are singing throughout the forest. I even saw a heron flying above the trees. It is a great time of year to be in the woods, especially because the mosquitos are not out yet. There are large sections of the lower forest under water so I'm afraid the mosquitos are going to be real bad this year. This enjoyable day was capped off with a Blackhawks win in Vancouver. Life is good.

May 8 God, I Need Some Sleep

I'm on call this week. On Tuesday I got paged out for an emergency in Alsip, all the premiums were down. I got to bed at 2:30am. The next night I played hockey and got to bed at 1:30am. Yesterday I got paged out for a hit pump in Waukegan, then had to shut down sites in Homewood and Crete for overnight tank tests. I got to bed at 3am. Today I got home at 2pm and had just fallen asleep when I got paged out again. So off to Olympia Fields I go, get the diesel pumps going and decided to stop at Aurelio's in Homewood for a pizza. This is a local chain but Homewood is the original location and I believe it has an old brick pizza oven because they make the best pizzas there. They are celebrating their 50th year in business. I am a big supporter of locally owned businesses so I felt good supporting them. I also was falling asleep driving home and eating pizza. While driving through my neighborhood I saw three little girls posing on a picnic table while their mom took a picture. It made me smile then laugh. They were clowning around and I thought it would be a great picture that would make them smile years later when they thought back on that warm spring day. I got home and went to bed. It's always good to go to sleep with a smile on your face. I slept for twelve hours.

May 7 Rescue Me

It's been a hectic week at work but I finally got to watch this week's episode of Rescue Me. This might be the best show on TV right now. I've been watching since the beginning because I'm a fan of Denis Leary. Now in it's fifth season, the show just keeps getting better. It's about a group of firemen in NYC after 9/11. The shows writers which include Denis Leary (who plays Tommy Gavin a hockey playing firefighter) can make you laugh, cry and contemplate life in the span of a few minutes. Great writing with believable characters and crazy story lines combined with fantastic actors make this a must watch show. This season Miichael J. Fox has a recurring role and is just fantastic as a crazy parapalegic who is dating Tommy's ex-wife. I also watched the final episode of Scrubs which was another great show that mixed laughs with real life. It's too bad shows like these never top the ratings, it's one of the many things wrong with this country but that is a blog for another day.

May 6 The Faces Of Hockey

I've mentioned my hockey team several times on this blog. We are called Northstar which is Walter's companys name. He designs and builds custom cabinets. Tonight was our last game for a month because the rink is closing to redo the ice, so I thought I'd put faces to the players. This team is compromised of old friends, new friends, some young, some old but all have a love for the sport of hockey. Why else would we play so late on a work night? Maybe the comraderie, maybe the chance to escape all other parts of our lives for a few hours, maybe for the good laugh at someone's expense or the unbelievably funny stories that seem to be told each week. Whatever it is, here's the team.

The camera hog, Matt (just for the record, he is not holding a joint) and the shy guy, Ian

the clown, Justin

contemplating how we lost 3-0 tonight Brian & John

the optimists Vinnie and Paddy O

the baby faced Mike and beer league veteran Ken

disgusted with another loss, team owner Walt and Luke

May 5 Battle Of The Backyard Hammock

The old fat guy was tired and sore from a long day at work. He just wanted to relax on his hammock. The young challenger, known as 'The Fanook', was looking for a fight. He found one on the hammock, whoa nelly we've got a heavyweight bout now.

The young pup figured the old champ, known as 'The Fat Bastard", would be easy pickings, he jumped right up and made his claim for the hammock.

The old guy had slowed a bit over the years, but he didn't back down from this young contender.

The challenger staggered the champ with a couple of good shots, but the fight continued on.

The champ taunted the youngster saying experience and wisdom always triumphs over youth and stupidity.

The 'Fanook' showed the champ a little something. He impressed him with his determination. The 'Fanook' reminded him of his younger years before he was called "the Fat Bastard". He never backed down from a challenge.

In the end, the challenger lost his bid for the hammock. He vowed to return another day. The champ just laughed and said, "Who's the bitch now!!!!".

May 4 These Boots Are Made For Working

Try as I might, everyday doesn't bring something exciting. At least not to me, so I find it hard to believe that you would find it interesting if I don't. But I'm not judging everybody's quality of life or excitement levels. I'm guess I'm disappointed in my own lack of exciting things that occur each day. Enough of that crap. I had to get new boots for work. I have two pairs that I use for work, my thinsulate gortex winter boots and my summer boots. Today I had to replace my summer boots. The excitement level built all day long until I couldn't take it any more. I ran into Gus Bock's screaming at old people to get the fuck out of my way, I've got boots to try on. In my old age, comfortable boots are a neccesity. I tried on several pairs and settled for Wolverine boots with some kind of Rok Shok heel that absorbs shock and generates energy with each step, sounds like I could run a marathon in these fucking boots. I just need them to keep my feet comfortable because they have to carry my fat ass around all day long, it's the least I can do for them. Especially since my lower back hurts so much I can't reach my feet to wash them on most days. Hopefully these new boots will solve that problem too.

May 3 A Beautiful Sunday

I spent the whole day outside. The sun was shining and the temperature got to about 70 degrees. I took the dogs to the dog park but Oslo got into a fight with a boxer so we had to leave. I cut some tree branches away from the power lines in the yard. I fixed the fence that protects Chrissy plants from the "Fanook". I grilled some tuna steaks and jerk chicken breasts. I ended the day on the hammock finishing the book I wrote about the other day. I also got an email from my friend Tom Coyle. It had this Tom Tomorrow cartoon that I really liked. Since I didn't take any pictures today or do anything that interesting, this is all I got for the blog. I need the Republicans that read this to tell me what isn't true about that cartoon.