Category Archives: humor

What a Monday!

Turns out I’m not Wonder Woman.  I thought that when I was mid-way through this afternoon’s gyrations.  I thought I might post it as a Facebook status but decided instead to use it as a lead for my blog post.  If only I have not waited too long and become too tired to post at all.  Oh, the trials and tribulations!  You are welcome to roll your eyes and play a miniature violin.

I just paused in my blogging for further gyrations.  I made my salad for the rest of the week and fixed tomorrow’s lunch. Go, me!

Only I am having wine, not beer.

I thought a picture would pep things up.  It is Monstrous Monday,  after all.

I believe I have mentioned that all I require of myself on Mondays is to get through the day.  Other than that, I am off the hook.  I have even been known to skip taking out the trash once in a while.  Today, however, I tried to muster just a little bit more ambition,

First, I wanted to go for a run.  I thought I would try seeing how many days in a row I could run at least a little.  Today makes three.  I’ll keep you posted on if I make it to four.  I put a load of laundry in the washer while I ran, my usual multi-task.

After the run, I paused for my recovery beverage of chocolate milk.  While I drank it, I called my parents.  I like to check in with them.  I had a nice conversation with Mom.  I could put the laundry in the drier, take my shower and then…

Wait a minute, trash had to go out.  I feel it is inadvisable to skip a week during warmer weather.  Who knew if I would want to put real clothes on after a shower.  Out went the trash.  Oh crap, look at the dirty dishes!  You are welcome to judge me for not doing them yesterday.  I could do them quickly.  I grabbed my rubber dishwashing gloves.

And was reminded the drain was slow.  I poured in some drain stuff and went downstairs to take care of the laundry.  The drain stuff seemed to work fairly well, till I realized the other sink had a clog too.  I poured in more drain stuff and went up to take my shower.

One thing that confuses me about this drain stuff.  After waiting 15 minutes, you are supposed to run hot water down the drain.  But my water is not hot as soon as I turn it on.  The first time I had heated water in my Hot Spot, about two cups worth.  Well, I thought I was really clever the second time.  After my shower, I filled a gallon jug with hot water from the tub spigot (it was an empty jug that originally held white vinegar, which I sometimes use with baking soda to wash my hair or the sink)  (but I digress).

I did not bother putting on clothes but went right down stairs to implement my inspiration.  It worked!  The drains were clear!  I happily set about washing the dishes.  Please do not point out that this is too much information (an expression I HATE), but I couldn’t help thinking that my husband Steve would have enjoyed watching me do the dishes wearing only rubber gloves and my Turbi-Twist.

Full disclosure:  I did not do all the dishes.  I left two coffee mugs and an empty coffee container.  I declared it good enough.  However, my gyrations were not over yet.

Wow, I am up to 600 words!  That is a long blog post for me!  I am going to stop my tale, mid-gyration, and continue tomorrow.  If I am able.  It will be Tired Tuesday, after all.

“You don’t want a Monstrous Monday Post without me, do you?”

I throw in another monster for good measure.

 

Cheesy Movies for my Lack of Brain

Here I am with the not promised Sunday Cinema Post.  While I looked at movies, I wrote three short letters.  Yes, I handwrite snail mail letters.  These were even on stationery.  People like to get them, and by my rules for me, Any Writing Counts.  Additionally, I fixed myself a real dinner by re-heating sauce I made last week and cooking fresh macaroni, went outside and pulled up a few more dead daisies, then came back inside and chopped carrots and radishes for my lunch.  Full disclosure:  I petered out while chopping so do not have enough for all week.

They are up to no good.

One of the cheesy horror movies I watched was The Atomic Brain.  I have seen it before but always find it amusing.  I especially like the solemn voiceover narration.

More Boris Karloff, please!

I re-watched The Terror fairly recently, but it is next on the disc I am pretty much ignoring while I write this.  The movie playing right now is Unknown World.  I have only watched it once or twice.  It is not a particular favorite, and I do not have a picture from it in my Media Library.

Yes, I am just randomly throwing in pictures now.

I saw The Mad Monster recently.  Regular readers know my love of monsters.  George Zucco is “marvelously theatrical.”  I quote the description of one of his movies, I forget which one.

Obviously not mine.

It is becoming increasingly clear that I have not the brainpower to make a decent blog post,  so I close with The Brain from the Planet Arous.  I must watch that again sometime.

 

How Much Slack Can I Get Away With?

So I let all of Saturday and a good part of Sunday slip by without making a blog post and am feeling a bit guilty about it.  The fact is, I am having the damnedest time getting myself to do anything.  I did go for two long runs this weekend.  Yesterday I did a load of laundry and washed the dishes before I petered out.  Eventually I wrote a few post cards to my usual peeps.  However, there is a lot more that I need and want to get done.  What the hell, me?

Pretty!

I threw in a picture, before I sank into a boring morass of self-recrimination.  These are my front lawn daisies from two years ago.  They are starting to die off now, and I just spent some time trying to cut them back.  This was after mowing the grass with my non-power mower and pulling up a bunch of other stuff on the side of the house.  And that was after my 50-minute run earlier.  A woman my age gets tired.  I never made it to the back yard.  In fact, a number of failing daisies remain out front.

Now I am lounged on my couch pecking in one letter at a time with the stylus on my Tablet, and sipping a glass of wine,  because I feel any effort deserves a reward.  I think I can move on to the movie watching portion of my Sunday.  Maybe I can even do a Sunday Cinema Post.  But no promises.

 

Another Glass of Lame?

I was going to put off making my Lame Post Friday post till Saturday morning but decided to pour myself another glass of Sauvignon Blanc and do it now.  What are you shaking your head at (or your finger or your booty) (you know how you are)?  It is only my second glass of wine.  And it is Friday night!

I am kind of sort of watching The Ape Man with Bela Lugosi.  I found a DVD set I had forgotten I had:  The Best of the Worst.  I already watched Manos the Hands of Fate and Track of the Moon Beast, both of which have been featured on Mystery Science Theatre 3000.  Again, kind of, sort of (the me watching part, not the MST3K featuring part).  I have been looking at Facebook or doing puzzles in a puzzle book.  I need a new puzzle book, by the way.

My current viewing pleasure.

This is not the best picture.  Then again, some of the movies are not the best prints.  I love buying these collections for cheap.  Sometimes I get the same movie two or three times, but that is OK with me.  The Brain That Wouldn’t Die, The Terror, and others bear multiple viewings.

For the record, I have not been completely useless tonight.  I finished two articles for Mohawk Valley Living magazine and got them emailed out.  I hope they like at least one of them.

I see I am over 200 words.  Time to stop babbling on and pay more attention to what is happening to Bela.  Happy Friday, everyone!

 

Thirty Minute Thursday

I had originally thought to follow Two-Mile Tuesday with Three-Mile Thursday, but I was skeptical of my ability to pull it off.  True, I ran four miles last weekend, but that was first thing in the morning not last thing after an eight hour day at work.  Then I thought, Thirty-Minute Thursday.  It sounds even better, it is still longer than what I ran Tuesday, and I could totally do it.  At least, I could probably do it.

I usually let myself off the hook on these week-day runs.  I feel they are really just to keep my hand in (feet, really).  Weekends are the time for improvement.  However, I feel I will improve moreso on the weekends if I do a little better during the week.  That Boilermaker 15K is getting closer!

After a little puttering around the house, I got into running clothes and set out.  It was warm and sunny.  Maybe I should run some hills.  But I also had to worry about traffic.  German Street in Herkimer, NY is pretty busy in the late afternoon.  I ran down the sidewalk looking for a place to cross the street.  I thought maybe the hill by Valley Health Services would be a good goal.

The three-way stop at Caroline Street provided my opportunity to cross the street.  I soon decided to run into Brookwood Park.  For one reason, there would be plenty of shade.  I could run along the path through the woods that comes out on the back way to Herkimer College.  I assured myself that I was in no way obligated to run the rest of the way uphill to the college.

As I ran, I tried to keep myself from looking at my Garmin too often.  When I did, I would do the math and figure out what fraction of 30 minutes I had done.  Six minutes was one fifth.  How much was a quarter? A third?  Thus I keep my mind occupied so I don’t think too much about how I would really rather stop running.

The path through the woods was nice.  I like looking at the trees, and the ground is somewhat soft under my feet.  I just have to be careful of uneven surfaces and things I could trip over.  I am pretty clumsy.

The uphill portions almost defeated me, but I persevered.  Eventually I was running on pavement again, and running down hill.  Phew!  It was an effort to get to 30 minutes, but I made the effort and was glad I did.

I don’t know if my effort at a blog post is equally successful, but I can hope at least some readers found it reasonably entertaining.  In another couple of weeks, this blog may become All Boilermaker All The Time.  I fear I am already making myself a little tiresome at work by talking about it.  Oh well, at my age, I need all the encouragement I can get.

 

I Just Couldn’t Resist!

Every week I say to myself,  don’t go out this week.  Stay in, save money, save calories.  I agree with me at the time.  Then Wednesday rolls around, and I want to go to Fratello’s Pizzeria in Frankfort for music and food.  Today I went and once again was glad I did.

Justin Smithson was playing.  I have heard him before and loved him.  I was happy to hear him again.

Excellent musician!

I was loving his acoustic guitar.  He played a mix of songs from The Eagles to Jimmy Buffet to Johnny Cash and more.  When he sag, “I wanna know, have you ever seen the rain,”  I said, “Yes, we have,”  because it had been raining all day.  He smiled.

A couple walked in and greeted Justin.  I thought the man looked familiar and asked did I know him.  He said he used to be on TV.  It was Steve McMurray of WKTV in Utica, NY.  He is general manager now so not on the air as often.  I told him of a time my husband I had met him at a Stuff the Bus campaign one December.

“I took a picture for my blog, but I don’t remember if I used it.  If I can find it I’ll put it in tonight’s post,” I said.

My Steve loved to donate toys.

It took some looking, but I found them!  It was actually November 2019.  It is a good memory.  I will be sure to donate to Stuff the Bus again this year.

Full disclosure:  when I got home I was too tired to make the post so am making it Thursday morning.  And I need more coffee.

 

 

 

Two-Mile Tuesday

I thought of that title while at work today.  So I decided I would run for two miles and write a Running Commentary Blog Post about it.  I told my plan to a co-worker, thinking it would make me more likely to do it.  I guess it worked, because I got home and put on running clothes right away.  I threw in a load of laundry, my usual multi-task for a weekend run, and off I went.

It was warm but not hot.  My body was not too happy with the exertion after a full day’s work, but as usual, I persevered.  My knees have been bothering me lately.  However, I know losing a little weight can help, and running can help me lose weight.  One good thing about my body is that it usually tag-teams when it comes to pain:  when my hip started to twinge, the knees shut up.

When I say my hip, I don’t really know if it is the hip.  Today the pain was coming from the crease where leg meets torso.  Sometimes it radiates out into definite hip area.  I hope nobody minds me prosing on about my aches and pains.  Blame it on my age.  I am almost 60.  Then again, my pains did not keep me from running, so perhaps they are not worthy of mention in the blog.

Getting back to the run, I am rather enjoying running for a certain distance rather than for a certain amount of time, as I usually do.  Saturday I made up my mind to run for 4 miles.  It took less time than I had expected, so I felt pretty good about that.

Today’s two miles took about 27 minutes.  The second mile took me 13 minutes and 13 seconds.  I liked that:  13:13 on the 13th.  Too bad it wasn’t Friday the 13th, but then I wouldn’t have had my alliterative title.

 

What Could Be Better Than Monsters?

So my goals were to find something to enjoy on Monday and to make a better blog post, but I think we all knew I was more likely to revert to Monstrous Monday.  My day at work was not bad at all.  My worst moment was getting myself out of bed.  Oh, did I want to sleep in!  But coffee worked its magic, and my day improved from there.

This is how cheerful I am after coffee.

After work things got a little dicey as I struggled with my checkbook and fretted over bills.  I did not go running as I had intended, and I almost forgot to take out the trash.  However, I had walked for 30 minutes this morning, and the trash and recyclables are now waiting by the curb.  Additionally, the dishes are washed, and tomorrow’s lunch is packed.

The happy smile I get after doing a few chores.

I seem to always be listing every little thing I get done, either in this blog, in one of my journals, or just in my head.  It is to keep from beating myself up over all the things that I have left undone.  For heavens’ sakes, I can’t do everything!  Or so I comfort myselg

Maybe if I had three friends behind me and a pitchfork!

I guess this last picture doesn’t show a monster, but it is from a pretty scary movie, Invasion of the Body Snatchers.   As messed up as my life can be, I would not want some pod growing into a duplicate of me and taking over my body.  Now that I think about it, that movie is also pretty sad.  All the characters I like turn into beings with no warmth or feelings.

On that rather melancholy note,  I see I am approaching 300 words.  Perhaps it is not a better blog post, but at least I tried.

 

Just Wait Till Monday!

Sunday, Sunday.  I am approaching the end of my Sunday.

Relax, guys! Monday isn’t that bad!

I feel it is wrong to spend all or even part of Sunday dreading Monday.  I feel I should be able to find enough to appreciate during the week that weekends are not my only enjoyable times.  I mean, think about it:  what kind of a life is that, when you hate five days and only like two.  And you can’t even completely like one of the two, because the dreaded specter of Monday haunts the second weekend day.  What’s that all about?

This sounds like some half-baked philosophy more suited to Lame Post Friday than Wrist to Forehead Sunday.

I have had an active Sunday.  I went on a long run up College Hill, running longer than I did last weekend.  I went grocery shopping.  I mowed the front and back lawns then spent some time hacking and pulling some of the overgrown stuff out back.  I cooked a semi-elaborate dinner, making up the recipe as I went along.  I have not really cooked in a long time.  I watched several movies while re-reading  Regency romance by Georgette Heyer the mistress of such things.

Now I have made a blog post of questionable interest but at least 200 words.  My next goal is to find something to enjoy on Monday.  And to make a better blog post.  I hope you will stay tuned.

 

While I Was Running…

In lieu of a Scattered Saturday Post or a true Running Commentary Post, I wanted to share a couple of fun encounters I had during last Saturday morning’s run.

I was running in the residential area behind Valley Health Services.  I call it The Suburbs in my mind, but I know that description is not strictly accurate.  I particularly like to run down Walnut Street to the exit of the Valley Health parking lot.

A different time of year, but this is the sign.

As I was entering, a guy was walking in the opposite direction.   He said hello.

“I like to enter where it says not to,”  I said. “I feel like such a rebel.”  He laughed.  Later, I encountered him on another street in the area.

“You must have had a Get Out of Jail Free Card,” he said.

I laughed.  “Good one!” I said.

Continuing my run, I eventually ran down Caroline Street. When I saw a couple of walkers, I went out on the road to give them space.  A resident had put out a couple of signs that said, “Slow Down!  This is a neighborhood not a race track!”

As I approached the pedestrians, I said, “That sign said to slow down, but I’m not going to.” They laughed.

This is why I like to run outdoors.