This is my world - welcome!

Matzah!

sffilk — Fri, 22 Apr 2016 18:05:02 GMT

A happy and sweet Pesach to those who celebrate. May the seder not last too long, the food be good, the afikomen not be hidden in the borshch, and may the desserts be absolutely fantastic! I'm looking forward for the kosher for Passover flourless chocolate ganache torte I'm bringing to the seder tonight. The host and hostess are Sephardic in ancestry, so the food won't be the same as what I grew up with, but I don't mind - it's always been delicious! Plus, the hostess makes a kosher for Passover version of lasagne using matzah instead of lasagne sheets. She calls it "megimah" or "meginah."

For the first time in at least ten years, I'm going to a second seder, except this time I'm going to the synagogue where I go for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippuer services. It's reasonable and it should be fun.

Another one is gone

sffilk — Fri, 04 Mar 2016 17:38:12 GMT

the creator of R2D2

GaFilk 2016, day 3

sffilk — Sun, 10 Jan 2016 22:51:53 GMT

Good news: no hypoglycemic attack. That's due to me snacking before I left the hotel lat night to drive home.

After getting about 5 hours of sleep, I woke up to find that I couldn't convert the sport cute back into a cargo van. It took about five minutes to realize I had to get the big part of the back seat into proper position so that it would fold and flip. It turns out the back seat can move forward and backward. I didn't know that.

Breakfast and lunch were at the con suite.

I left Jewish penicillin for the one dealer who needs it along with the registration forms for 2017. Everyone signed up, so we're full for 2017.

The only part of the program I went to was the first part of the closing ceremonies. Everyone was thanked. I do not stay for the singing of the "camp song" because I start crying. Announcements were made about upcoming filk conventions. I made mention of the fact that for reasons to which I'm not privy, in all likelihood, this will be the last Concord (as of this date, the link takes you to the 2015 convention) ever. I explained how this convention had been going on for over 30 years and if people are able, they should go and make this last one a blast. I should note that it's been combined with another convention (Westercon, if I remember correctly) for several years. I'm sorry to see it go.

Some new albums have been added to the store, including Michael Longcor's latest, a newer CD from Ookla the Mok, and Glen Raphael's first CD (he was the Interfilk guest this year). I'll put up more information after I REST, probably Tuesday. I return to work tomorrow.

When I got home, my neighbor, whom I've been helping with some stuff, helped me unload the sport cute. After checking a few things, I'll be heading to bed as I will return to work in the morning. As far as I can tell, I did better this year than I did last year. Making costs was easier because I commuted to the convention instead of staying at the hotel (just a wee bit pricey). We'll see what happens next year. I hope things continue to improve. As far as the guests for 2017, let me suggest you go to the website starting in a few days and see.

GaFilk 2016, day 2, part 2

sffilk — Sun, 10 Jan 2016 05:01:23 GMT

While people were heading to the banquet, a group of us went to Barbecue Kitchen. This establishment has become as traditional for Saturday dinner for some of us just as the Waffle House right next door has become a place for breakfast (although I didn't know that Barbecue Kitchen also serves breakfast). Nine days or so ago, I'd contacted Barbecue Kitchen and spoke to manager. It seems that on a recent Monday evening visit, I learned they serve a wonderful strawberry cobbler. I asked the manager if there was any way they could serve this wonderful cobbler this weekend and was told they would try but it was a definite possibility. It was on the menu, and it was absolutely delicious! When I was getting ready to leave, I asked which person was the manager and when she identified herself, I said, "I have two words for you - thank you." I explained that I'd known about the strawberry cobbler, at which point she said she'd talked to someone about it, and I told her that someone was me. Smiles and good flavoring all around.

Elizabeth Moon sang one song at the Super Secret Guest concert and then did a reading of a story whose title I did not get. She then answered questions from the audience. I've known for a long time she's a really nice person, and she proved that this evening. The session was very well received.

The Interfilk auction was its usual crazy self, although it seems as if there weren't that many items that went for voice bid. I only bid on two items that went to voice bid. One I won (36 of Jennifer Cooke's truffles); the other I was outbid because the other people were willing to go crazily higher than me (36 of Jennifer Cooke's sugar-free truffles). Well, it happens, but I do have truffles.

The Interfilk quilt raffle was done. While I didn't win (again!), this time the number was a whole heck of a lot closer, as in if I'd put in another $5 towards the raffle (I put in 20), I would have won the quilt. *sigh* I do not begrudge the winner, whose name I don't know as I didn't see who it was, hope springs eternal that I will eventually win one. Maybe in 2017.

Sunday is last day. The dealer's room closes at 4. I'm hoping to be completely unpacked by 5:30 and hopefully in bed before 7. I just hope I don't have another hypoglycemic attack, but I have glucose tablets near my bed just in case.

GaFilk 2016, day 2, part 1

sffilk — Sat, 09 Jan 2016 21:22:32 GMT

A positive: the speed of the internet is fantastic! It's 25 times faster than what I get at home, and is averaging 37.5mb.

A negative: after getting home, I tried what wasleep at around 1 AM. At 3:30 AM, I realized I wasn't getting to sleep and guessed it had to be hypoglycemia. It was: my blood sugar reading was 38, which is way way way too low. After swallowing a sleeve of glucose tablets and the equivalent of a medium-sized baked potato, I was finally able to get to sleep and got about 2 hours. I got back to the hotel close to 9:30 AM and was able to eat something so that I could get my blood sugar to a level where I'd be comfortable. Thank goodness for the con suite ghoddess. She had foods I could eat which would help me get back to some semblance of normal.

I've been catching snippets of the concerts today but have been working hard to make costs (I did) and try to do better. It's a difficult job. Part of the problem this year is that our toastmistress does ASL for the concerts, and by being in the dealers' room, I can't see the shtick going on. In the past, I've actually seen a house concert where someone was acting as an interpreter for the artist and it was a mixture of serious and silly, which was wonderful. The concerts appeared to have gone over very well. I mean, Michael Longcor is going to give you something to remember! Glen Raphael was received very well. So was Judi Miller. I'm curious as to who did interpreting for her concert.

The 2x10's are happening right now. I'm hearing them, but there's more than just a bit of ambient noise to make it difficult to hear. After the dealer's room closes at 5, I'll be getting ready for BARBECUE KITCHEN!. There'll be another entry afterward.

GaFilk 2016, day 1

sffilk — Sat, 09 Jan 2016 05:15:58 GMT

The new technology (chip reader for new credit cards) hates me! After spending half the night trying to get the danged thing to work, I gave up. Friday morning, I spent 20 minutes on the phone with Square and with the tech's help was able to get it to connect to the cell phone. Hold that thought . . .

After getting extra cash for the cash box, I headed to the hotel and started setting up. However, I realized I'm now probably going to have the replace the sport cute's battery (which had been looked at on January 2 - now it's being problematic). The wonderful person who's always helped us in the past, Mr. Harold, was there after he ate lunch and was able to help get things ready for the day. All the dealers inside the dealer's room were just about done in time for the opening of the dealer's room. For me, that's when the problems started because the new card reader refused to work with my cell phone (I knew it wouldn't work with the tablet, which I think I'm now going to have to replace). After two attempts, I finally got Square tech support on the phone, only to find out that the world phone is unable to update to a later version of Android to accept the card reader (it needs 4.4.4, I can only update to 4.4.2 - Oldsmobile anyone?). It means that either I have to buy a new phone or a new tablet. It's beginning to look like I'd be better off getting a new wi-fi tablet. What was worse was that the call, when finally received (on the third attempt), came during the handfasting ceremony held at GaFilk. I apologized to the bride and groom and wished them nothing buy joy and happiness until 120 years.

My one donation (so far) this year to Interfilk was a book entitled something like The Complete Idiot's Guide to Songwriting which, when I saw it at the Sandy Springs Library bookshop in December yelled out to me to buy it for Interfilk. We'll see how it goes. I ended up bidding on the two truffle packages, as I did last year. Also, filkferengi asked me if I'd like another flavored diffuser candle on the proviso that I make a donation to Interfilk, which I will do.

The evening concert was done by Rand and Erin Bellavia, he of Ookla the Mok. It was a nice concert. I left about half an hour after the concert after saying good night to people so that I could get home, put the insulin in the refrigerator, and to try to process the one charge I tried doing on the tablet, which is now not working at all. I'll have to explain to the customer later today that the tablet died and I need to re-do the charge (only $40-some). Well, it looks like I'm going to have to get a new tablet instead of a new phone, which would be cheaper for me.

The Interfilk guest, Glen Raphael, brought his first CD for me to sell for him. In addition, half of the former group "Copy Red Leader" brought down one of the group's CDs and two of her own. They're in limited quantity in the store. Our GoH, Michael Longcor, said he'd prefer selling his CDs at the con, which is fine. I'm left with the impression that he'd like to leave without taking any CDs home. I'm more than happy to do that. He also said that an album which was only available on cassette, "What's a Hoosier?," is going to be reissued on CD with two additional tracks. It's now a matter of waiting and seeing when this happens.

One surprise was seeing seanan_mcguire at the convention. I had not realized that she was coming. It's nice seeing her again.

More after Saturday morning and afternoon.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

sffilk — Mon, 28 Dec 2015 16:41:37 GMT

In accordance with Jewish tradition on December 25, I went to see the movie. Because of passes my mother had sent me, I got in for free and got a free soft drink. The showing was at 9:40 AM. There were about a dozen people in the cinema by the end of the movie. That's all I'll say on the matter.

Afterwards, I went to the food court down the strip mall from Oriental Pearl and bought dried beef chow fun from Hong Kong BBQ.

I realized something this morning

sffilk — Tue, 22 Dec 2015 19:04:08 GMT

For the first time in a LONG time, I'm not suffering with Seasonal Affective Disorder, a/k/a the holiday blues. Thank goodness for small favors.

The Social Event of the Season 2015

sffilk — Tue, 08 Dec 2015 15:14:22 GMT

To put it mildly, it was wonderful. We had about 16 people show, including two (to me) new people as well. The food was good. The funky ice cream was funky. The interaction between people was wonderful. The music was great. I ended up bringing two guitars (the Larrivee and the Seagull 12). They both got used. A good time was had by all.

The social event of the season!

sffilk — Wed, 14 Oct 2015 17:36:20 GMT

We have a date. December 5, starting at 6:00 PM at the home of Signe and David Wegener. Our hosts will have a main course and everyone is asked to bring a side dish, a dessert, a beverage, whatever (but let's not have like we did a few years back with 22 desserts, OK?). If you need address, directions, RSVP information, drop me a note.

Yom Kippur 5776

sffilk — Tue, 22 Sep 2015 14:14:36 GMT

May your fast be easy and fast. May you be sealed for a good year in the Book of Life. May the weather be cool and dry (though we have a 40% chance of rain tomorrow - it keeps changing).

5776

sffilk — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 19:36:19 GMT

To those who are Jewish like me, may you be inscribed and sealed in the Book of Life for a good and sweet year. May the weather be not oppressively hot or cold (especially HOT). May your fast be easy and fast, and Next Year in Jerusalem!

Is it just me, or does it seem

sffilk — Sun, 21 Jun 2015 19:47:46 GMT

that people are posting less and less to LiveJournal?

MidSouthCon 2015

sffilk — Fri, 27 Mar 2015 14:36:17 GMT

I was a "guest" for the first time at a convention since 2010. It was a strange road. I'm thinking I was more a panelist than anything else, but I was listed as a guest.

I ended up being on two panels and performing as part of the half-time entertainment at the masquerade contest. That was the strangest part. Originally, I'd been asked to prepare 20 minutes of music. At the preparation for the contest, I was first asked to increase it to 30 minutes, then it was cut to 15. Oh-kay! No problem. I ended up doing "Ecumenical Hora," Tom Smith's "Operation Desert Storm," Matt Leger's "There is Filk" and Anne Harlan Prather's "Spiral Dance." The last was a substitution for "Hot Frogs on the Loose" because it wouldn't need a long introduction. The overall response seemed to be positive.

The two panels were about voice work. In each case, I was put on with people who are professional voice actors, so their experience (I think) was more of what people wanted, but nonetheless, I contributed where I could. The second panel, "Being a Voice Actor," got a better response (I think) because at least from my end, I was making people laugh. I was singing, telling stories, honestly letting them know about my experiences (I didn't realize I've been doing this stuff now for 8 years!). There wasn't anywhere near enough time to tell a lot because we had only 50 minutes per session.

I did some shopping - got myself a ring made out of silver wire and two pieces of artwork from the art show. I picked up some Pokemon prints for my youngest nephew, along with a watch that looks steampunk-y.

I had hoped to go out to a local eatery for one meal, but due to not having wheels, I ended up doing a mixture of the ops area and the con suite. That said, I was sort of limited in food choices, but did the best I could. I guess I got spoiled by the GaFilk con suite, which includes healthy choices and the fact that there are good eateries within walking distance of the hotel.

The flight to Memphis was OK, but the flight home was bumpy. Turbulence. Otherwise, no problems there.

Two things stand out: one was that the anime track head, where I was put for the voice stuff, asked me to return as a guest. WOW! The second was that someone who was at the masquerade contest and heard me sing thanked me for "Operation Desert Storm" then turned around and showed me her jacket, which had all the Looney Tunes characters on it. I thanked her. Maybe I should consider going back?

I turn 60 tomorrow

sffilk — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 13:29:38 GMT

Today is the last day of my sixth decade living on this planet. Right now, I'm not feeling that wonderful about it. As I look back on my life, there's not a whole lot I can say I've accomplished:

I don't have a spouse or progeny.

Yes, I was in the military, but that was for only five years and I wasn't good enough to continue serving.

There are a whole lot more days behind me than there are in front of me.

I'm not suicidal or anything like that, so you need not worry about it. I'm just feeling like most of my life has been wasted or that I've not really made a difference.

GaFilk 2015 day 3 - part 2

sffilk — Mon, 12 Jan 2015 00:17:42 GMT

I finally got about 90 minutes of sleep starting at about 5:15 AM. I still haven't figured out why I couldn't sleep at all. All I know is I was cranky and tired and probably had my inhibition level down to a level you don't want to see. See, I keep everything bottled up and let people walk all over me. Not this morning.

I guess people started to realize it's last day and I finally met my costs mid-morning. The one thing that surprised me was the our GoH's CDs were not selling. She then came and told me that it's probably because most everyone had copies already. That's fine. Still, just to play it safe, I added some of the CDs I didn't have in stock to the store. It's just a matter of finding the time to go through the store listing and seeing what I have in stock and updating the order form. For instance, it does appear that I'm out of some artists and since I'd been carrying some of their stuff for quite the long time, I will not be reordering.

As far as the Interfilk auction, I ended up with the 3-bottle sampler of Tullamore Dew, the white chocolate truffles from Jenna Cooke (they're in the freezer now), and a a Yankee Candle Reed Defuser, which I'll learn how to use. I happen to like Yankee Candle Company, and still have a Hanukkah scented one I picked up quite a while ago. I also purchased a few things from Starcat Designs - a coffee-related t-shirt for my brother-in-law and a mortar and pestle for me (to use when I have herbs growing in the spring). I also dropped a whole bunch of money on Larry Smith Booksellers, picking up the next volumes in several book series I'm reading, along with the Shakespeare Star Wars. I'm looking forward to checking that out!

The gentleman who roomed with me was very helpful this afternoon in getting the sport cute loaded. In turn, I drove him to see a friend of his based in Atlanta who is terminal with cancer. From there, he's heading up the coast slowly and will return to ~~Dumfernline~~ Dumfermline, Scotland. I hope his friend is cheered up by his visit and that things go well for him on the rest of his trip over here. That said, I arrived home at 5PM and had the sport cute unloaded by 6. I tried one of the white chocolate truffles and am heading to bed after doing a few quick things. I figure by 7:45 I will hopefully be ensconced in bed and making up for the sleep I missed.

GaFilk 2015 day 3 - part 1

sffilk — Sun, 11 Jan 2015 09:59:49 GMT

Yes, it's 4:37 local time and I'm awake. I couldn't fall asleep. I've got no goodly idea why.

My roommate for the convention came in about 12:30 AM and told me he was going to Awful Waffle with someone he met at Loncon 2014. I have no problem with that. I'll break the fast out of the con suite. Saves me money.

I know I always worry if I'm going to make costs on a yearly basis. It's always a crap shoot. I keep hoping. I sort of figured that people would be buying the CDs of the guest of honor yesterday, but now it seems like it's going to happen today (I HOPE!!!).

One thing I've been sort of realizing, and it's getting more obvious to me, is that it seems there are now two tiers on the concom, the "top" tier being the con chair, con chair emeritus, the tresasurer, the publicity person, the songbook person (who does a wonderful job, by the way), her husband (who, by the way, still owes me a recipe for his cocktail sauce), the website guru (who also does a great job), and the "bottom" tier, the people who do registration and me. Granted, the con chair and the treasurer are now based out of Seattle, and the con chair emeritus and the publicity person are based out of Indiana, but it seems to me that they sort of left the registration people and me in the lurch. We're sort of the poor shlubs who are looked at as mushrooms. I mean, does autographedcat even realize that neither the registration people nor I have made the closing ceremonies (save for me for about 5 minutes last year in person))?

I had mentioned in a journal entry last year that when the treasurer asked me if I was enjoying myself and I told her, "No, I'm not enjoying myself, and I've not done so for years." I'm beginning to think that it went in one ear and out the other. No mention of it was ever made afterward. Wonder why?

Still, I'll be here next year. I mean, it's not much of a life I have, and it does give me one day off from work. I'll probably have the store here as well. We'll see what happens, but at least for today, I'll hopefully make costs and sell a lot more CDs so that I can keep this crazy thing called Southern Fried Filk going.

GaFilk 2015 day 2 - part 2

sffilk — Sun, 11 Jan 2015 04:54:05 GMT

I'm in the con suite after the Interfilk auction. The total from all items has not been finalized, but it's going to go over $3,000.00. The biggest surprise was that our Super Secret Guest, Robin W. Bailey, brought in the most money with a copy of his concert and the copy of the book from which he read one of his stories. That went for more than the Guest of Honor's concert. Our Guest of Honor was surprised that her concert went for as much as it did.

Congratulations to singing_phoenix for winning the Interfilk quilt. While I would have liked to have won it, I do not begrudge her. I'm just waiting to hear what happens when the package it'll be shipped in arrives where she's based right now and the reaction of her coworkers. My contribution to it this year was a simple Jewish star by itself on a plain background.

Sales are still down. I'm hoping for better things tomorrow.

GaFilk 2015 day 2 - part 1

sffilk — Sun, 11 Jan 2015 01:40:03 GMT

For the first time in a very long time, I did NOT have to go home this morning because I forgot something. However, I did wake up at 6. Sales have been slow today, even though I have several of the guests who have now asked me to sell their stuff for them, including our GoH, S.J. "Sooj" Tucker. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Rather than doing the usual BBQ I've done in the past few years, I ended up having a hankering for REAL Chinese food, as opposed to the American-based stuff you get at most restaurants in Atlanta. I went as a party of 4 to Chinatown Atlanta, where we went to the food court and we went nuts, even though for some of us it took more than just quite a while to get our food. It was a madhouse! We returned to the hotel at 7:30 and were sharing most of the food amongst one another, except for my mapou tofu, which was basically too spicy for most. I happen to love the mapou tofu (which is how they spell it). It was either that or dry beef chow fun. Maybe I should have bought the dry beef chow fun?

I'm in the main function room now waiting for Robin Bailey's concert (super secret guest). The Interfilk auction will be afterwards. More later.

GaFilk 2015 day 1

sffilk — Sat, 10 Jan 2015 04:26:13 GMT

After having several leg cramp attacks at too dark 30 in the morning, I awoke at 5:15 AM, went to the office to take care of what needed to be done there, and came back home. After taking care of the last administrivia at home, I went back to the hotel, not realizing that I didn't have the CD racks, which were in their box in the living room, so I ended up going back home AGAIN and getting them, finishing setup between 1:00 and 2:00. This afternoon was slow in the dealer's room. Hopefully it'll improve on the morrow.

When I got to the hotel the first time, the room for the vendors was nowhere near ready, with an indication there was to be some sort of lunch for another group at noon (which turned out to be wrong). Several people asked me to sell CDs for them as well, but the toastmasters wanted to sell their own (that's fine). Seems they're not used to having others selling their CDs for . As they put it, they're their own roadies, etc. We'll see what happens come Sunday.

My roommate for the convention came in late. He was flying in from London Heathrow and I don't know who came up with the idea, but instead of sending the flight along the east coast, it was sent through Ontario to Ottawa, then down through Michigan, Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama before crossing into Georgia. We've hooked up now, and will be doing Awful Waffle in the morning.

After the beginning of the fannish new year and the singing of Auld Lang Syne came "My Filk," with ringers put on both teams this time. Sort of a surprise to me. What was even more surprising was that when it came to round 4, the judges (all the guests) decided to award half the points to each team (give or take a point). Marc Gunn was concom's choice and did just over an hour of stuff on his autoharp. He's a very lively performer, getting the crowd to participate more than once and getting a lot of hoots and hollers from the audience. As of right now, open filking is going on, but I'll be taking a shower and heading to bed after taking my evening insulin shot. Tomorrow is the long day, and after breakfast, it'll be sitting at the table for 8 hours, then the bbq place the street, then back to the convention. I just hope that I do well this weekend. Any positive vibes would be appreciated.

The night before GaFilk 2015

sffilk — Fri, 09 Jan 2015 03:46:50 GMT

After getting off of work, I called autographedcat and asked him if there was anything needed tonight since the convention starts tomorrow afternoon. I was told our Super Secret Guest needed to be picked up, so I said OK. I didn't realize it was going to take me an hour to drive the 15-20 miles to the airport, and then while the flight landed early, it took something like 45 minutes for them to get off the plane and down to the meeting area to get luggage. Only then I find out that my one passenger is actually two, which meant I had to very quickly rearrange the store stock in the sport cute so that I could fit a third person in. Thank goodness the trip from the airport to the hotel was really short.

After getting them to the front desk, I found ladyat and bedlamhouse holding court with the Blibbering Humdingers (our toast beings this year), Steven Willett (who flew in from Germany) and others, most of whom I didn't recognize, including our Interfilk guest (*sigh*). I was then given the opportunity to unload the sport cute of all the stuff in it (thanks, kitzani ). Once that was done, it was converted back to a 5-passenger sport cute. That will make things easier for me tomorrow when I take the last of the stuff to the convention (including new stock I received Tuesday). [Unknown LJ tag] 's mother offered me half of a BLT, which I accepted, having never eaten a BLT before. I explained to her that when she would have a BLT, I would have an LTM (NO, not mutton).

I said my good nights and came home. With it being as cold as it was today, my thermals were somewhat soaked. I am so looking forward to showering and heading to bed after having some diabetic hot chocolate. Here's to hoping that this weekend will be a good one for me.

I have GOT to remember my meds next time!

sffilk — Fri, 02 Jan 2015 04:08:51 GMT

I get invited to two parties a year: the "social event of the season" for GaFiA and the party at Bill Ritch's place on New Years Eve. Originally, I wasn't sure if I'd be going to the party at Bill's place, but the situation worked itself out when my neighbors and I showed up early for our reservation at Mali Restaurant only to find the place nearly empty, so we dined early and well. The problem is that I didn't take any precautions in the case that, instead of Releasing the Kraken (properly said with ROLLING R's), someone Released the Cats! Let's just say that exposure to cats causes me great problems. I ended up leaving the party earlier than I had wanted to and heading right to the shower upon arrival home. Nearly 24 hours later, I'm breathing almost 100% normally, my sinuses have cleared, but my eye is still somewhat puffy. That part will take a couple of days. Had I medicated myself beforehand and carried my asthma inhaler with me, might this have been avoided? I don't know. That said, I'll make sure I have it with me next time, along with an allergy pill or a strong antihistamine taken ahead of time. The eye, I can't do much about.

Bill has already apologized. I told him he didn't need to. Someone Released the Cats (with the rolling R's, of course) and they made a beeline to me (why is it that cats seem to head to the people they can harm the most?). I will say that the party was fun and filling: eight different types of cheese (or was it 9?), at least six different types of chicken wings, hot cider (non-alcoholic), good people, good conversation, seeing stuff I'd never heard of before (did anyone out there know that a concern called La La Records came out with a multi-CD set of all the music used in the original version of Star Trek, including stuff that never made it onto TV, and it was published in a limited edition of 6000?), finding out that the ball drop occurred 12-15 seconds into 2015 instead of at exactly midnight, finding out that there are different types of items dropped to begin the new year (including a giant tortilla chip and a ruby red slipper with a drag queen inside it).

The one resolution I made in 2014 was kept. I dropped 10 pounds over the year. My only resolution into 2015 is to keep the drop going, even if it is slowly. My doctor is happy with my progress. I hope to continue it.

The only downside to 2015 is that I'm turning 60 this year. thatcrazycajun was surprised to find that out. He thought I was younger (thank you for the compliment). It's hard to realize that I'm about to hit this milestone (if you want to call it that) and I feel at times I've accomplished so little. Granted, Fred Small's "Everything Possible" says, "and the only measure of your words and your deeds will be the love you leave behind when you're done." I don't feel I've even done that. Hopefully 2015 will bring better things.

Update

sffilk — Mon, 22 Dec 2014 16:08:46 GMT

I just realized I'd not updated in over a month and a half.

My week off for Thanksgiving was a bust as I ended up having a lot of back pain. It turns out, after 2 visits to the VA, that I've got bone spurs and degenerative disc disease. I'll be getting exercises from the physical therapy department at the VA Hospital to take care of the pain. The pain has alleviated itself with the help of some good drugs.

Thanksgiving was short as a result, and I didn't stay very long. Many thanks to my sister for cooking the two extra kosher turkey breasts I brought up.

The "social event of the season" was held December 6 at the home of the Wegeners, as always. This year, I made dressing to go with the turducken. There was a lot of food, including crockpot meatballs and other yummy stuff. I had a good time.

Hanukkah has been quiet. My sister in California sent me a new menorah with a musical theme, and I've been using it for the actual lighting of candles, while the electric menorah stands on my window sill and gets lit up for a few hours each night. I'll treat myself later this week with one night at a local motel and maybe a new printer (if it's still in stock at Staples).

Veterans Day 2014

sffilk — Tue, 11 Nov 2014 16:36:16 GMT

As I do every year, I remind you to remember to thank a veteran for their service.

This year, however, I'm feeling unworthy. One of my friends on FB is truly a hero, having recently retired from the Army as a lieutenant colonel in the Rangers. Next to him, I was no more than what the Army calls a "REMF" having been admin in the background. I served in Meridian, Mississippi in a squadron that trained future Navy and Marine aviators, and was looked at with more than just a little disdain because I was a "ground pounder." It also didn't help that I was one Jew of like 7 on a base with 3000 people stationed there, mostly transient, since the base where I was stationed was an educational command mostly.

I was stationed in the Bronx, where I was the admin officer/XO for a reserve center. I'll admit, I wasn't that good an officer. I made mistakes. I didn't make it to O-3 because I was not perfect.

It's just that today I'm feeling it. I'm almost 60 years old and don't really have much to show for my life.

Halloween 2014

sffilk — Sun, 02 Nov 2014 23:38:37 GMT

I've lived on the same street over the past 18 Halloweens. In that time, I've had kids knock on my door twice. Well, this past Friday I went to the kosher Kroger to do my shopping (instead of early Sunday morning) and to look for the pumpkin spice Oreo cookies that thatcrazycajun had wanted sent to him and his songbird. On the way home, I watched along the streets along my route and found nearly 100 trick or treaters walking with parents. None of them had stopped in my apartment complex. This is strange, especially considering that on the part of the street where I live there are only apartment complexes and the other complexes were getting the traffic from "ghosties and ghoulies and long-legged beasties and things that go bump in the night." *sigh*