Short Thots...

I haven't really been feeling very well lately. So, I'll leave you with a couple of short thoughts before I head out for the weekend:

Scott Walker. Do I really have to go here? Okay... so, hurrah for him signing all that legislation! Now we can finally purchase beer at 6 am in the morning. Seems to me that a state that is world-renown to have a drinking problem (to be born in Wisconsin, you already have a .08 in blood alcohol content...B.A.C...), we could be concentrating on better efforts. But, give credit where credit is due: Mr. Walker finally did something for the little "peples"... 

Joined a gym: Against my better (financial) judgment, I joined "Anytime Fitness" which is newly built on Hwy 12 along the Baraboo "corr-i-ador." I already have a small "workout" center in my apartment complex. It's nice, if not a little small....which makes for the "workout Nazis" forever populating the place with their compression clothing and their VOS water bottles (wanna-be Californians!).

The new A.F. club is clean, well-lit...great equipment. TV's built right into the treadmills. (whoa!) And most of the "work out Nazis" are far enough away not to mingle breathable airs with the old, fat guy which is me. One thing I have noticed about gyms here in Wisconsin....no one is friendly at all. (Well, the staff are truly helpful...but, I think it's because they want to do well at their jobs)... but all that gruntin' and groanin' must somehow freeze the face from smiling, I guess. Not like going into a bar...of course; too many years of grinning in a tavern is probably one of the biggest reasons I'm at the workout center to begin with...

Piano Lessons: Well, next Monday....I'm going to try for the "21 Club".. my teacher has milestone clubs for her students. The 21 Club is for students that have memorized 21 whole songs for recital. For me, piano lessons have been an incredibly humbling experience... most of these kids (most in Elementary school).. can play rings around the fire-breathing guitarist known as "Dr. Dale".  But, oh... children... I am catching up... slowly... and soon. soon, I will play well enough to do multi- parts of "row row row your boat!" My kung fu is strong!!!

oh... and deer!!! Wholly smoke! who let out the deer!! Every single day now, I have had at least one Odocoileus virginianus run across my path... The one pickup truck hit that was oncoming, hit one just seconds before I would have hit it. Stupid deer.... This year they happen to be way plentiful!!! Be careful out there on the roads. And someone get Governor Walker's "deer czar" (What a stupid name, by the way...) on the line... 
 

Later, kids...

Let’s play: What’s in Dale’s work “satchel” (man-purse, work bag, carry case, brief case)

1- Banana (not too ripe)

1- notebook, distressed. Paper smells old and filled with some loose-leaf papers which include paid bills, sticky notes, mailing labels. Written in the notebook are several cryptic notes from years ago… including half-baked song ideas, windows server 2003 test notes, a midlife crisis song list (one of the times I sat in), and an example of a budget that my son and I discussed (I was trying to help him create a budget a few years ago) … and a grocery list from 2008.

1- 2011 day reminder / calendar / diary. Here, in nearly cryptic form, you can find all my juicy secrets… such as: Workout! 55 mins treadmill. 15 bike. 10 min weights. OR H.O. (short for Hung Over)… You get the idea. Anyway, I love these Paper blank books. Bought this one locally at the Wonderful “Booksmith” store in downtown Baraboo last year. Loved it so much, bought another one this year for 2012.

3- juggling balls / bean bags. Jus’ Cuz…

2- Library Books. My current fictional read: The Omen Machine by Terry Goodkind. And my non-fictional read: Easy slow-cooker meals by Betty Crocker.


2- cell phone AC adapters

2- cell phones. Work phone (I never ever use) and regular Cell (Which I often ignore or leave in my car).

1- bag a Hall’s Cough drops

1- Brush

1- bottle studio-line Invisi-gel hair stuff. Not that it could ever help this mop called hair (I know. I know. Don’t complain!)

1- Sony Cyber-shot camera. Just in case. You never know when ya need an incriminating picture. Blackmail: It’s the wave of the future!


1- Sandwich plastic container. Plus: one sandwich. Laugh all you want, but the little bread-shaped container was the best investment ever! Saved me a ton on plastic bags!


1- Bottle of Zicam cold/flu remedy Tablets. I don’t know what they put in those things…but at the first sniffle or sore throat, you pop a few of these…and the cold goes away. NO KIDDING! Essential if you work in a germ-laden place like a school. Bless those little monsters…


1- pocket full of loose change. Probably enough here to pay one month’s rent. No wonder the stupid bag is so heavy!


4 or 5- thumb-drives. Most of these are loaded with pictures or songs downloaded. But at least one has pretty much all my passwords and digital keys. (don’t worry folks… those are hidden and protected by an encryption algorithm password / response system I wrote myself. The Friggin’ FBI couldn’t unhatch it… )


1- install DVD of Dreamweaver software (oops. I need to return that)


1- USB cable (unknown)


1- AC adapter for external hard drive (I wonder where I left that drive?)


1- baggy with dissembled watch / band. (I really need to fix that watch band someday….really!)


1- “Network Assessment” report (some 56 pages) and School district budget report, in the technology aspect.


1- small jar of Blistex “Lip Medex”

4- sheets blank business cards

1- pack of printed business cards. Some for Checkered Past. Some of “Lonesome Dale’s one nite stand”


4- pens. Some of them work.


1- Pencil. Lead not sharp


Several loose unpaid bills with envelopes.


1- small folder containing the brochures and paperwork for my Paris Trip.


2- US mail first class stamps. Just think, in a few years…no one will ever know what these things were used for…


4- one dollar bills. For lunch today


1- Electronic “Key” for the workout center… which reminds me how badly I need to work out.


Finally: One package of breath mints. Because I hope at some point in my life, I might close enough to a fine young lady to be able to use one.