• January 15, 2013 •

If I had to describe today, I would probably have to sum it up as "AAACK!". I didn't know I was standing on the tracks & I didn't know there was a train coming. I swear, it feels like I've been emotionally slammed by a speeding freight train. Nothing really bad happened today, it's just been one of those days where I really needed to relax & of course, it was one of the busiest days in a while. I think I'm approaching an emotional backdraft. OK, so ... yesterday ... also taxing, but not anything like today. Yesterday I got as far as making myself a

fried egg sandwich for breakfast & then cleaned the house. That was it. Nothing else. So much happened yesterday that those were the only 2 pre-planned things I got done. Oh, the pic on the left here, the 2nd pic, is a pic of my Sim, Tammi Castellanos, who my Sim Robert Whipsnake married, making her Tammi Whipsnake. She was outside too long & looks like she tried to go swimming in the spring. It was

20-something degrees out & she froze solid. She was revived by a family member & is ok now, but that's the 1st time I've ever seen that happen. OK, so I got TWO ... count 'em *2* things done yesterday that were scheduled. Today was going to be a better day. I even got up early (8:45a which is early for me), & had high hopes of getting everything done & getting to the FD meeting even though I had said yesterday

that I might not make it solely based on how yesterday went. BUT, I planned on doing much better today & with getting up early, what could go wrong? See, I can say that NOW ... it won't jinx it because it all already happened. It's already late & I'm just now writing this. I know what you're thinking. If you have so much to do & a meeting tonight, why are you screwing around on here? Well, I know it looks bad,

& I'd explain it if I could. The best way I can try to explain it is that this is my outlet. This is my ONLY outlet. Pete doesn't want or need all this dumped on him after he's come home from a long day at work, my poor son doesn't need his mom treating him like he's her therapist, he's growing up into his own life, responsibilities, & worries. So, that leaves Blogger. My friends who care & read this, then contact me

later to offer a little support & a shoulder ... my family who would like to be here but can't be because they live so far away, & my many readers who although I have no back-&-forth communication with, I see the numbers every day of how many readers I have & I know I'm not alone. Somewhere out there, someone knows I exist. I may not "know" you, but you're there & the numbers say you're there. So thank you. Thank you all for being there ... wherever in the world you are. Anyway, I've been blogging for years now. It's my daily outlet & yes, it trumps everything because without an outlet, I'd probably lose my mind ... if I haven't already, the jury is still out on that one. LOL! I started blogging on my own server many years ago on my private Web site, that site no longer exists. Then I blogged on AOL, then Yahoo, then MySpace, then facebook, now here. EVERYONE has something they do ... this is mine. Lucky for me I type really fast. You probably think it's the blogging that improved my typing speed, & it's helped a lot, but actually it was from back in the day when I worked for AOL. I was a chat room host, a roadie, & a couple other titles. Which chat room? Crocheting. :) Anyway, back to today. I woke up early & immediately plugged myself into the Matrix to unwind from the previous day. I created the kid's bedroom in Breckenridge (3rd & 4th pics) & then loaded up a beautiful little house called Summer Garden Cottage (5th pic). It's very beautiful, but very small. I've already had to knock out a wall to make room for a 2nd double bed when my 2nd gen Sim married & there's a BUNCH of stuff outside in the side yard (6th pic). That's Robert Whipsnake in that 6th pic. He's 2nd generation & has mastered the martial arts skill. He's now on his way to mastering the athletic skill & when he does he will have accomplished his lifetime wish. This game was started before Seasons, so when I continued it today & started off in spring with a cold 43° @ 2:a. Robert married Tammi Castellanos, his best friend from high school, but what I didn't remember or see was that he already had a girlfriend. Where did SHE come from? I don't remember. I'm confused, but now he has a cheater reputation. Damn, I didn't want THAT to happen ... too late though. Robert & Tammi had a son named Scott Whipsnake (3rd gen) who is easily impressed & grumpy. He's a Leo who likes Indie music, fried peanut butter & banana sandwiches, & the color white. That's as far as I got. Not far at all. Then all heck broke loose. It started with Kyle calling me with a simple favor, go into his room, boot up his laptop, find a file & e-mail it to him. School work that he did but forgot to take with him. No problem. Then the program froze. Then Ctrl+Alt+Del didn't work, then I had to hard re-boot, then it took forever to come back up, then eventually (15 minutes later) I sent the file. Then Kathy texted me but luckily what she needed was already taken care of. She was just making sure ... all ducks in a row. Then she called me & we had a really good talk about a wide range of FD business. I usually don't miss FD meetings, but after this call I REALLY didn't want to miss tonight's. It's not looking so good though. :( I wish I could make them understand that I really DO want to be there tonight. I'm NOT blowing it off. I'm just SO damn busy that there's no way. Honestly, really & truly. I WILL be back in full swing with the FD again like I used to be ... just not today. It's not possible. I am SO sorry to all of you ... all my brothers & sisters of the FD. I WILL be back. I swear. Just PLEASE understand that I have circumstances that are out of my control at this time in my life & I'm doing everything I can to try to steer back on track. Dodge the raindrops ... something like that. After Kathy & I got off the phone I returned Pete's call & we had a talk about some stuff. Then it was time to pick Josh up from work. Here I am still without a spare & I thought I got a flat. Luckily I didn't, but something went temporarily wrong with the truck & all I can guess is that the front right brake got stuck for a few blocks? Everything was fine, I stopped at a light, when the light turned green I went ... & then the truck felt very strange & was pulling hard to the right. I had my steering wheel turned to the left to go in a straight line. Every once in a while it felt odd ... like the tire was almost flat, but looking back now, it was probably the feel of the anti-lock brake doing it's vibrate thing.  This went on from the traffic light to right before the next traffic light where I turned into the parking lot where Josh works. Then it was suddenly fine. The right front brake is my best guess. By the time we got home Pete had made the deposit so I paid my bills & chatted with my bestest friend Ann-Marie for a while in IM. Before we got back the FD was toned out to a med call. I chatted with Chris for a bit in IM after Ann-Marie & then added the 2nd schedule item to AnyTime, but this one was only a weekly item instead of daily. I checked My AT&T/Yahoo page for the week & now here I am. Business meeting in 30 minutes, but I'm SO SORRY ... there's really no way I can make it. Kyle hasn't done his chores yet & there's a ton of other things going on simultaneously. Guys ... I'm still with you in spirit for now, until I'm back for real. I'm hoping I'm back much sooner rather than later. I miss the FD. I went from being there 5 days a week to hardly at all lately. Gradual change is one thing, but this is nuts. Paul, I'll call Texins tomorrow. Kathy, if you need anything, please don't hesitate to text me. Keith, I'm here if you need anything. Scott, you're as busy as I am ... miss your face! Chris, congrats on Training Officer! Everyone else, see you all soon I hope!

After 3 years of research, science has finally solved the mystery of belly button fluff. A chemist named Georg Steinhouser discovered that it's made of lint, flecks of dead skin, fat, sweat, & dust.

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Bedroom wall colors in the USA top 10:

1. Blue
2. White
3. Yellow
4. Light Green
5. Gray
6. Gold
7. Burnt Orange
8. Deep Brown
9. Purple
10. Beige

Color is the most important aspect of our visual life!

Guns don't kill people. Driving 45 in the fast lane kills people. 

If I try to use human influence strategies & tactics of how to get other people to do what I want, to work better, to be more motivated, to like me & each other - while my character is flawed, marked by duplicity & insincerity - then, in the long run, I cannot be successful. My duplicity will breed distrust, & everything I do - even using so-called good human relations techniques - will be perceived as manipulative.

Most men say that blue is their favorite color - especially for their bedroom walls!

Partway through an intern's length of service, contact his or her college supervisor & ask why the intern has never shown up for work.

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