U S A

The Devil came from Kansas. Where he went to I can't say 

If you really are my brother then you'd better start to pray 

For the sins of those departed and the ones about to go 

There's a dark cloud just above us, don't tell me 'cause I know 

I am not a humble pilgrim 

There's no need to scrape and squeeze 

And don't beg for silver paper 

When I'm trying to sell you cheese

-Procol Harum

Went back to work today. It was good to be back (side bonus: it's the first time I've gone to work there with all of my internal organs in the right place.)

But it's crunch time, and I'm mostly being crunched. But somethings got to give mañana. Plus, the USA plays at 12:00 PM, and we are all patriots at work. 

Finally! A chance to take the Gadsen flag back from the Tea Baggers. 

New Moon Rising

I  am fine. The Seester reminded me to blog yesterday. I thought i had blogged this weekend. But I was wrong.

I had the surgery on Friday and it went well.I was out of my my head, I guess. The Percocet  helped the pain, but I was out of my tree. I was slurring at times, I was told. 

And the dreams. Those godless nightmares. I dreamt I chopped Mully the cat into little pieces with a machete. I was so relieved when I woke up and he was sleeping on my head.

Then I worked from home on Mon. and today. Mañana I go back to work. I am quite sore, but it's more discomfort than pain. My gut is swollen like a bratwurst, but that'll start to go down with a steady diet of ibuprofen and Benadryl. And now, I must join the Sleepers. 

Mañana esta el dia

Tomorrow is the day. Under the knife for the first time in my life. I worked on the Lower East Side in NYC. I worked in South East in DC. I've spent the better part of the last 46 years trying to avoid people cutting me open, and now I'm going to pay someone to do it?

It's counter-intuitive! But I need to fix this. I have two hernias; one above the umbilical cord and one below. I can literally feel my inside swishing around. Thank you President Obama for creating a system where I can get healthcare. 

I have to go shower in some antimicrobial stuff. Then I'll and watch more baseball. I'll wake up at 6:45. The hospital is just down the road. Then they'll put me to sleep for another 5 hours.  Then I'll come home and watch the World Cup.

Letters to Spain

“The defeat is impossible to explain. I don’t have words. Normally we are stronger in defence but today we were weaker there... and everywhere.”
-Vicente Bosque, Spanish Head Coach


Dear Spain,

Heard you were on the ass-end of an ass kicking. Note to self: You should probably start someone other than Iker Casillas to be your keeper. He looked awful in the Champions League Final. Why not start De Gea (Ex- Atletico Madrid keeper.

Best

Jota

Holy shit! I just went to El Pais, the Madrid newspaper, to get a football pic, and saw that the EU is giving Spain 100 Bn to save their financial system. 

(Reuters) - Euro zone finance ministers agreed on Saturday to lend Spain up to 100 billion euros (80.7 billion pounds) to shore up its teetering banks and Madrid said it would specify precisely how much it needs once independent audits report in just over a week.

                                 Van Persie scores a 17 foot header, longest in World Cup History, for NED

Holy shit! And Spain's moral will spiral even farther if they don't lift the World Cup again.

The following is based on an actual conversation:

Vicky: I'm leaving Madrid and going back to the UK

Spanish Friend: But why would would you ever leave Spain? It's the greatest country in the world.

Vicky: What a bunch of shite.


They think Spain is the best country in the world because they had finally won a World Cup. Everyone between the ages of 20 - 30 will have to leave Spain in order to get a job. 

Maybe it's better that they live in a dreamworld. Because if they ever wake up - that's when the real nightmare begins.

The Days of My Life

tuesday

I know no one's going to show me everything
We all come and go unknown
Each so deep and superficial
Between the forceps and the stone

Well I looked at the granite markers
Those tribute to finality to eternity
And then I looked at myself here
Chicken scratching for my immortality
-Joni Mitchell

The Mets return home, with a 6 game losing streak, to face Milwaukee, which is a good team.

They are up 2-1 in the bottom of the 6th. 

The Mets are 3rd at getting runners in scoring position. They are 24th at batting them in. That's an epic clutch hitting failure. It's a debacle. It's unbelievable as a fan watching them every day. Chris Young has done nothing yet, and it's June. 

Happy thoughts
Happy thoughts

I love baseball. The only problem is that I've seen how this movie ends - it's been the same coda for the last 15 years. The Mets die horribly in the NLCS to Phillie and after that, in the regular season. That next year, they blow a huge lead to Atlanta in Sept. to miss the playoffs. 

Teagarden hits a grand salami. Mets 6-1. This is his first game this year. And it was opposite field! 

And the Mets go on to win.

thursday


Spoke to the surgeon today and I have 2 hernias. Damn, I never do anything half-assed. So...., next Friday I will be operated on. It'll be about 5 days before I can drive, but if I feel up to it, I can work from home. 

For the past week I have been staring my mortality in the teeth; 

1. Birthday
2. 24th college anniversary
3. A surgery

But I'm down with it.

Who wants to live forever?
-Queen

The Past, The Present and the Future

The Past


This is my 24th anniversary of graduating Fairfield U, the 25th anniversary of most of my best friends from college. We went to the Seagrape, where my friends all used to jam. The problem was that the Grape was wiped out by hurricane Sandy, and that made the acoustics unbearable because it has a low ceiling and a concrete floor. 

I only hear out of my right ear.  The left one is as useful as a hood ornament, but it keeps me symmetrical.

The next day was beautiful and the guys played again. I saw a folks I had not seen in a long long time.They had great food and beer too.

The Present

Last week, my doctor told me I had an umbilical hernia and that I needed surgery. Shouldn't be a big deal. 


I had a bad stomach flu in Sept. of 2011. I couldn't keep anything down. The next day I noticed what I was fairly certain was a hernia, but it was very small and just a fibrous bump.

Last year the doc said not to worry about it. But now it looks like an alien. I can see my insides through my swollen belly button. Kind of disturbing. And you can the bump of my intestines from behind the skin. It looks like an alien is going to rip out from my stomach like it did John Hurt's in the first movie. That scared the balls off of me as a kid.

Future

Now that I have US healthcare again, I will be fixed up in the near future. I may even be able to catch the end of the kayak season. 

It's been a very busy week!

Oh, did I mention that I'm moving?

Out Through the In Door

Today at 9:27, I turned 46. Mum doesn't remember the exact time (to the moment), but I remember it like it was fucking yesterday because it hurt! I know it hurt Mum too, but I was zero minutes old. And I'm embarrassed to say it, but i'm fairly certain I shat myself on the way out.

But I digress.

So thanks to all of you who called, texted, emailed, etc., from both sides of the Atlantic. It's very humbling. I am a lucky man to have friends like you, all over the world. It's 0:44, so it's time to put on some Djam Karet to listen to and turn out the lights. 

Poker and Sushi

Mel and Jan came up from Jersey to celebrate my Bday. We played poker, then went for sushi, and then played more poker. It was a perfect day.  I mean..., poker and raw fish - how cool is that.


My numbers for May were great - I set 12 appts. They'll be beven better in June. I've already seen 4 people fired because they couldn't get it done. No dew gets to gather on a true start-up. They started last August. They didn't draw paychecks til Feb. You've got to be mean and lean to be a start up. I'm excited to be a part of it. Exhausted, but we can do some amazing things.