It's been awhile

It's been awhile, I know. Not because I don't have any ideas, I just have a hard time having an idea when I am actually in front of the computer. I have written some great posts, they just never got out of my head. But here's a synopsis of a few that I remember;

Remember when I wrote about "crap"? That was actually a riff from a Family Guy episode when he has a segment on the local news called "That Really Grinds My Gears". I like Family Guy because Peter sounds exactly like Greg, I guy I know back home who's family owns a potato chip factory.

Anyway, I went to get my hands checked at the doctor's office and I sit down for the test with a nurse who looks like she's about 10 and she asks me to sign a form that says if my insurance company doesn't pay, I agree to pay the amount due, which was $850. I said, why did you schedule me for something if you don't know if its covered? Isn't it your job to check? And she didn't really have an answer because I'm big and scary and she was little and 10. So I just got more and more angry and stomped out because I was so mad. I didn't mean to scare that little nurse, but I think I did. But still, they have managed to pre-clear or whatever every other test (and I've had a bunch), but now all of a sudden they want me to check before I come in! That, friends and neighbors, is crap!

So I am now waiting until the new year and will see about getting seen by the doctor who would do the surgery instead of my "regular" doctor. And I am trying to find a new doctor, as well. I really want the work done, but its just going to have to wait until the new year.

Speaking of crap, I built another wooden catastrophe. This time it was a big cabinet to hold my tools. I was taking pictures and everything to document it's construction, but when it came out all screwy, I never got around to doing the post. I still can't cut square (there's a funny, sad, story about my making a saw guide three times only to saw it in half in the end, but I didn't write that one, either) and so my "cabinet" is not "square", which is kind of important. But it does the job, just not in the usual way and it's funny looking. Kind like me.

When I made it, I used a router that Kathleen's dad gave me, and there was a good post in that about how I was using the tools passed down from generation to generation (his dad was a carpenter and gave it to him). There was also a post in that about growing older and being in a family and a serious piece on the connection between tools and male identity. I expect to have many more opportunities to ponder these subjects while destroying perfectly square wood with my various tools, so I think I'll just come back to those ideas later.

I changed the battery in my car and replaced the connector and had a good post about that (with pictures and everything) until I later realized that the battery had been fine, and it is the actual battery cables that need replacing. I wasn't really sure how to put that in the post and keep the feel-good tone I was going for when I thought for sure this was all going to work out really well. I had a nice piece in there about my stepfather and his pride in his daughter when she did something to her alternator cap that worked out really well, but again, the part about being completely wrong about the car sort of broke the flow of the story a bit. So now I have a nice new battery that works great if I wiggle the cables enough to get a good connection so I can start the car. Look for it later, I guess.

Also there was a post about Corey bringing me a coin from the Lockheed Plant and his experience with being proud of his work and the powerful feeling that goes with that. The sub-plot was about how the coin was such a great metaphor to me about our relationship. I carry it with me everywhere I go.

Then there was Halloween and Thanksgiving and time with Adrianne (what a great Thanksgiving we had with her!) and of course lots of stories about missing my various Family members in New England and Texas.

So, it's not that I don't have plenty to write about, its just that I think of this stuff in the car, or the shop, or work, or when I'm falling asleep; but never when I'm in front of the computer.

So, to make sure this goes up, I'm not even going to proof read this; I'll just post it.

I'll talk to you soon.