Chili + Strawberries + Undiagnosed Stomach Problem = One miserable Contagion with really nasty tasting burps.

Excuse me, IÂ’m going to go gargle with bile to get this taste out of my mouth.

Posted by: Contagion at 12:17 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I'm just curious if anyone besides me actually remembers this movie from the mid 80s? As I kid I remember watching this on HBO and thinking it was pretty cool. In fact a lot of friends of mine also liked this movie. One summer I think I watched it at least a dozen times. Now as an adult watching this trailer I wonder just how stupid I was as a kid.

Posted by: Contagion at 10:27 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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I think I may have found the perfect food substance. Last week my parents went to visit some relatives up by Menomonie, Wisconsin. While up there they stopped at what is, in my opinion, the best cheese factory in the country, Cady Cheese Factory.

I have an Aunt and Uncle that own a farm in nearby Spring Valley. When I was a kid my grandmother used to live on the farm with them. Every time we would go and visit her, we would stop at Cady Cheese and bring pounds of the glorious golden food home with us. It was Cady cheese that started me on my love of Salami Cheese. Up until now, I thought this was the perfect snack food combination. ItÂ’s so wonderful that I think IÂ’ve turned half of my friends and both boys into Salami Cheese loving fools. I know you can get it down here, but it just doesnÂ’t taste the same.

Anyway, I’m off topic. Since my parents were up that way, they knew I would want some cheese. They stopped in to pick some up for themselves and for me, er for my family. While looking through their gift shop my father pointed something out to mom and told her, “Contagion must have that.” So he bought me a very special chunk of cheese, this may even be the holy grail of cheese.

He bought me Cheddar with Guinness.

ThatÂ’s right, Cheddar cheese with Guinness in it. It looks like a cheese with dark brown veins running through it. IÂ’ve had the cheese for three days and I havenÂ’t cut into it yet. Why? Well IÂ’m waiting for a special occasion. See, I havenÂ’t found cheddar with Guinness anywhere else. And at 12.99 a pound IÂ’m not sure I want to just eat it any old time. However, IÂ’m starting to get antsy just waiting. IÂ’m thinking it wonÂ’t last through the weekend.

Posted by: Contagion at 06:30 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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ItÂ’s been four days since the chainsaw incident. IÂ’m done being mad about the whole thing, so now it is actually funny.

Over the last couple of years I had a couple of trees start to grow awfully close to my house and garage. At first I didnÂ’t do anything about them, but then I decided I had better get a start before they actually do some damage. Especially since one of the trees was right up next to the house and another was right next to the garage. They werenÂ’t big trees. The one next to the house was 3-4 inches in diameter and the one next to the garage was about 7-8 inches wide. The one next to the house was only about 15 feet tall, but the one next to the garage was about 30 feet. The third tree was in the middle of the yard, but along a fence lineÂ… I just didnÂ’t like it.

The tree next to the house came down easily enough. There were three separate trunks intertwined with some fence. It was a little tricky, but everything went smooth. The tree in the middle of the yard, again intertwined with fence came down easily enough with no damage to the fence or the chain. Then there was the tree by the garage.

First off, not only was this tree right next to the garage, but it was also intertwined with chain link fence. To make it even worse, it was between my garage and my neighborÂ’s garage. Our garages are so close I can stand and place my left hand on my garage and be able to touch theirs with my right. Oh, and to make it just a little bit more difficult there is a phone line that runs right next to it. Yea, this one was going to be tricky. Yet I just knew I could get this one down easy as can be. IÂ’ve precision dropped larger trees then this before.

I make a flat cut about halfway through the tree. Then I make an angle cut to take out a wedge to direct the tree to where I want it to fall. IÂ’m almost done with the angle cut when the tree shifts and pinches the chainsaw. WTF? ItÂ’s a maple, it shouldnÂ’t be that flexible. I mean over half the trunk is still intact! Making sure there is no power to the chainsaw, I try to pull it out. That bad boy was S-T-U-C-K stuck. I figure if I just gently and lightly push on the trunk maybe, MAYBE I can pull out the chainsaw.

Now at this point someone is going to say I should have gotten help, tied a rope to the tree, or something else logical. HereÂ’s the problem. Everyone I asked was busy and couldnÂ’t come over. The only help I had was Boopie. If I had tied a rope to the tree and tried to have him pull anything, he would have just hurt himself. Anyone that has met him knows what IÂ’m talking about.

So I just very lightly and gently push on the tree to alleviate the pressure on the blade. Sure enough the treeÂ’s grip on the chainsaw is loosened and it starts to come free. Just as IÂ’m about to let go of the tree it happens. Just like in some cartoon or stupid comedy movie the biggest fattest bird I have ever seen plops down onto the furthest sticking branch that will hold its weightÂ… over my neighborÂ’s garage.

The tree starts to creak as it begins its slow fall. I drop the chainsaw, (Thank all that is good for steel toe work boots) and grab the trunk with both hands pulling it in the opposite direction. My efforts are to no avail as the tree crashes on top of my neighborÂ’s garage and phone line. IÂ’m yelling and swearing at the top of my lungs. The boys are staring in wide eyed wonder at the events they just witnessed. To make matters worse, THE TREE STILL WAS ONLY CUT HALF WAY THROUGH! The notch was still in place! It didnÂ’t break, the damn thing bent with the weight.

At this point I’ve lost all rational thought. With anger and frustration I grab the chainsaw, power it up and lift it over my head like a psycho path in some comedy-horror flick. In a stream of obscenities that would shock most people I attack, yes attack, the tree with the chainsaw. I finish cutting it all the way through. Then I grab the trunk and pull it off the roof and onto the ground. Boopie is screaming, “DAD, DON’T! STOP, PLEASE STOP!” I am now giggling with a madness that only those that have been irrationally pissed at an inanimate object can understand.

Yes, I got the tree down. No, I did not damage the garage. No one was physically injured, however my kids may need more therapy now when they get older. As for the phone lineÂ… uh, I donÂ’t know what youÂ’re talking about. Right now there are piles of limbs and trunk in my driveway waiting to be cut up and disposed off. I had too many plans over the weekend to finish it. That and in my exuberance to destroy the damnable plant I broke the chain on the chainsaw. I havenÂ’t had a chance to get it fixed yet.

But tomorrowÂ… the sage continues.

Posted by: Contagion at 06:51 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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Hmmm Me and a chainsaw. Maybe that wasnÂ’t such a good combination.

Posted by: Contagion at 07:46 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Well that annual war of the lawn started tonight. For the first time this year I mowed my lawn. Yea, I know itÂ’s may already, but dammit! I hate mowing my lawn! I pressed Boopie into service this year. Since our grass was about a foot long, and IÂ’m not kidding, it was probably closer to 11 inches, but it was damn long, I couldnÂ’t use the bagging attachment. Well I guess I could have, but why when IÂ’d have to stop and empty it ever ten feet. Instead I converted it to the mulching mode and let Boopie rake up whatever I didnÂ’t mulch. That would be a lot if you really wanted to know.

I think it might be because itÂ’s early in the season, but there were no wild animals waiting in ambush in the grass. But I did discover a couple of things. Like there is some kind of animal that has burrowed into my front yard. IÂ’m not sure what it is yet, but itÂ’s not going to be around for long. Secondly, I found out that those plastic soft-air BBs from the guns I bought Boopie for Christmas hurt like the dickens when they fly out of a mower and hit you in the leg. I may have to re-think how I set up the shooting trap for that. Obviously they arenÂ’t all staying inside the one I have now.

Hopefully the rain holds off so I donÂ’t have to mow again next week.

Posted by: Contagion at 08:34 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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1 I cheated... I paid my cousin to cut the lawn. It won't be too long, and I'll cut it down to the ground for the summer.

Posted by: That 1 Guy at May 02, 2007 12:53 PM (amJz2)

2 Oh, don't worry, you WILL have to mow the lawn again next week!
That's not a suggestion

Posted by: ktreva at May 02, 2007 07:38 PM (T4WRc)

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As I pull into my driveway after work tonight, I notice a bright red note on my front door. At first I thought it was just another advertisement some local small business. Then I wondered if it was another flier from the church up the street inviting me to some Saturday neighborhood bar-b-que and sermon session. They like to do that a lot. Either way I thought it was nothing important. I own my own property (In theory) so I know itÂ’s not an eviction notice. IÂ’m not behind on any bills, so I know itÂ’s not a foreclosure notice. I havenÂ’t had any complaints from neighbors, my property is in order, and there was absolutely nothing that I could think of to make me consider it being anything more then a waste of paper.

Until I pulled it off of the door and read it:

City of Rockford
Water Division

Your water will be shut off in 5 days unless proper action is taken by you and then notify this office at ###-### accordingly due to:

No Access to Change Meter.

Previous attempts have been made to change your meter unsuccessfully

WHAT?!?!?!?!?! This is the first time IÂ’ve heard anything about this. There has been no previous notes, no calls, no letters, no anything! How the hell am I supposed to know they are coming if they donÂ’t tell me? Wait, maybe they figure that IÂ’m just another leech off of the government and sit around all day collecting funds and watching my stories.

I call the number on the warning. They advise me that they want to install a new water meter on my house. They asked if I would be home tomorrow between 12:30 and 4:00PM. Sure! I just didnÂ’t happen to be home today, or the other times they came, because I was out playing golf. Hell no, I have a job. You know, that thing that people do in order to pay their water bills. They wanted to know when in the next 5 days I would be home. Well that would be tomorrow night AFTER 4:30PM. Oh no, that wonÂ’t work; itÂ’s after their business hours.

They need to get in and get this done; it’s long over due they tell me. I explain to the City of Rockford Water Division girl, who although very nice and polite doesn’t seem to have a full grasp that people beside her work between the hours of 8:00 AM and 4:00PM, that I work during the times they want, and I just can’t magically take the day off tomorrow with out notice and I’m going to be busy over the weekend. “Oh no! We don’t work on the weekend either, it has to be during the week.”

Fortunately I had Monday off already as a recovery day, so I was able to get an appointment that day. I just wish they would tell me this stuff in advance instead of leaving a bright red scary notice on the door.

Posted by: Contagion at 05:13 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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Well the highlight of Friday night was definitely the Midget Kickboxing. Bruce, our friend J-man and I went to the Rockford Rumble Friday night. Normally I donÂ’t go to these types of things, but they were advertising a fight between Beetlejuice from the Howard Stern show and Big Poppa the Midwest Midget Kickboxing Champion. Folks I tried for hours to find a link to Big Poppa, but I couldnÂ’t find anything about him on the net.

Now I know these were amateur fighters, but they where pretty awful. They would charge into the ring with their arms wind milling as fast as they could. YouÂ’d see these guys get tired after 30 seconds and the force of their blows and the frequency of them started to decrease. IÂ’m not a trained fighter, but these fights looked horrible. Except for a couple of the heavy weights, most of these guys didnÂ’t look that tough. Most of the fights looked like kids fighting with the techniques. In fact at one point I swear that one of the fights was doing that girl paw fighting style. It was pretty lame.

The ring girls they had came from a local gentlemenÂ’s club. There were five of them. 2 were pretty damn good, but the other three were kind of scary. One of the girls looked like an anorexic Paris Hilton. Yea, she was that skinny. She looked like a walking skeleton with no curves at all. But she thought she looked good. To be honest she made crack whores look meaty. At one point in the night as she walked by where we were sitting, she made eye contact with me. She smiled and gave me a wink. At that point I about threw up. My gag reflex kicked in. Not even with BruceÂ’s dick and J-man pushing would I jump into that cesspool of disease.

The only real highlight of the night was the Midget Kickboxing. It was the only fight that actually looked good. They landed hard punches, there was blocking and dodging. Folks, this was just the coolest thing. I had heard of it before, but never seen it. If you ever get the chance to watch midget kickboxing, DO IT! And it was just fun to watch. Beetlejuice won, but I think itÂ’s only because his arms were twice as long as Big PoppaÂ’s. Big Poppa had the better skill and technique. After the fight Big Poppa even came over to our seats and talked with us for a while. He seemed like a really cool guy. Unfortunately he didnÂ’t stay too long, because he had a chance to go sit on some pretty girls lap. Not that I blamed him. The fight only lasted for 3 one-minute rounds. It was way too short. They should have let them fight for a much longer time.

The only way IÂ’d go back to the Rockford Rumble is if I knew someone fighting or if they did the midget kickboxing again.

Posted by: Contagion at 09:22 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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I have just two words for all of you: Midget Kickboxing.

In just over twelve hours I'm going to be watching Midget Kickboxing. I bet you wish you were as lucky as I am.

Posted by: Contagion at 06:33 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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After a nice long day at work, because they couldn't help but schedule non-stop meetings for me from 8:00 AM to 4:00PM with a 20 minute break and I had to stay until 7:00 tonight to make up for the lost time, I've finally arrived home in time to do my beer review. Folks, I'm so glad it's Wednesday. I always get a beer on Wednesday. But I have a question for everyone.

If you worked in an office where you have 6 peers that are supposed to share the duties and responsibilities for the entire department, but you find yourself carrying on more of the workload then the others because it's constantly assigned to you and not them, what would you do?

What if you where constantly singled out in meetings and memos regarding new duties and tasks?

Now what if the others all had something in common like race, religion or sexual orientation and you were in the minority?

Yea, I know I'm screwed.

But at least I got noticed today for not calling anyone in a meeting a Farking Idiot in almost a year!

Posted by: Contagion at 08:05 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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1 "others all had something in common like race, religion or sexual orientation"
I new it!!! You are a Canadian, Wiccian, Gay man!!

Posted by: Bruce Wayne at April 19, 2007 05:18 AM (Muh/v)

2 You could always just join your peers in being incompetant - maybe the work would get spread more evenly if you all appeared to have equal ability

BTW - I love this "meetings all day" example. One of the things I bitched about on my way out was the company's seemingly ingrained requirement to have meetings, not to actually achieve something productive, but just to say they had a meeting. Forcing people to come in on their off hours to listen to somebody talk to them for 1.5 hours about something that could be expressed in 3 minutes through an email does not make a happy employee

Posted by: Shadoglare at April 19, 2007 08:40 AM (Volhe)

3 Heh - that sensitivity training is really paying off!

Posted by: Richmond at April 19, 2007 11:40 AM (e8QFP)

4 Two words: Document everything!

I'm in a similar situation & considered a star where I work because I make sure my work is reasonably documented. I let people swing or hang on their own merits & I'm as well respected (not very much) as possible in the business world.

Posted by: Hapkido at April 21, 2007 10:39 PM (ugegk)

5 Like Hapkido says - document.

Then mention the extensive documentation to your bosses on occasion and suggest that you're due for a raise.

Nothing to lose.

Posted by: Harvey at April 23, 2007 04:25 AM (L7a63)

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Saturday was probably one of the most fun days IÂ’ve had in a long, long time. First, I was able to satisfy my love of bad cheesy movies by watching Mulva, Zombie Ass Kicker and Filthy McNasty. ItÂ’s actually two short movies, about 45 minutes each, on the same DVD. Low Budget Pictures, which folks is not a misnomer, made the movies. I swear to god it looks like these movies were made on a circa 1993 camcorder. The writing was horrible, the cinematography was craptacular and it was filled with so many inside jokes that only someone who was friends with the company could possibly get half of them. This of course means that I loved it and must get a copy of it, much to my wifeÂ’s chagrin. I didnÂ’t force her to watch the movies, but she was listening to it while playing on the computer. She was sure I was not going to like this movie at all, she was wrong.

Not long after I finished watching the movie, Shadoglare came over. He was going with me to the Raptor’s game. Of course I made him come over at 3:30 so we could hit the local Brew Pub before hand. For those of you that are in the Rockford area, Carlisle has a couple of new beers on the menu, a couple of them are really good and a couple are horrible. Banana and Clover flavored beer shall never pass my lips knowingly again. We waited there for Bruce (Of the still missing sidebar) and some mutual friends. We like to get our drink on at Carlisle before the game. Better beer that is cheaper then at the “official tailgate”.

The game was great. We smacked the Evanston Blue Cats around 67-28. Two of the Blue CatÂ’s scores came from kick returns ala Hester from the Bears. I brought my camera with to the game and took some great pictures, well 326 to be exact. But now I can give you an idea of how good my seats are. Here is a picture from where I was sitting

uh, oops, I meant this picture.

After the game we went to Backyard Bar and Grill to meet up with the coaches and players. It was great. We sat down, had drinks and even bought Jeremiah Thompson a drink for his birthday. The coaches, GM and players actually pretended to listen to our opinions and input. I canÂ’t wait for May 5 game, itÂ’s the next home game I can make it to. The one on April 28 falls on a re-enactment.

Posted by: Contagion at 06:10 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Holy cow, itÂ’s like a dream come true!

‘Twas the week after Easter, and all through the state
the snow was falling, and I was thinking itÂ’s great!

However, I appear to be the only one. There are people out there that think that we should not have snow this time of year. IÂ’m telling you we should have snow all year round. When they announced that we were going to get hit with snow, I was ecstatic! I love the snow, IÂ’m pissed we didnÂ’t get more this winter. I spent the last day and a half walking around hoping for feet of snow. Yes, not inches, but feet. I wanted to be able to measure the amount of snow we received by the foot.

Depending on which inaccurate weather report you watched they predicted everything from 2-4 to 6-12 inches of snow accumulation. They also said it was going to snow all day. Well the snow had pretty much stopped at noon, and at best we received an inch of accumulation. Here is a picture of my front porch of my neighborhood.

I was greatly disappointed.

Posted by: Contagion at 05:54 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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For Easter most parents that observe the holiday, and even some that donÂ’t, abort chicken embryos by boiling them in water hard boil eggs. Then they dip the hardened remains into cups of dye. If you have a four year-old you also get to wipe spilled dye up off the floor and table a couple of times. When you are done you have a carton or twelve of multi-colored hard-boiled eggs. Now this is where parents differ.

Some hide the eggs while the kids are sleeping so they can find them on Easter. After the lost egg incident of 2000, I donÂ’t do that anymore. Sure we, and I mean me, hid the egg in an easy to find spot. It was so easy to find that when Boopie was done looking for the eggs, I counted one short. We searched and searched and were not able to find it. Finally I figured that I had miscounted how many eggs I had hid. Since I didnÂ’t hide all the eggs, and one or two were eaten already, I figured that I just counted wrong. The egg finally showed up some months laterÂ… in August. There was a vile stench in the house and I couldnÂ’t quite place it. I searched and I searched and I searched. Finally after looking long and hard enough I found it.

It was in plain sight under the air hockey tableÂ… but some moron put a dark blue egg up against a dark blue background, and after months of cooking in a house without AC, the egg wanted out and let off a stench so that everyone could find it. I no longer hide Easter eggs.

This year I made the largest batch of Egg Salad that I ever made. WeÂ’ve been eating on it for two days for lunch and dinner. Hell I even had some for breakfast this morning. ThereÂ’s probably still more then half left. Already I do not like the gaseous emanations that are wafting off of me. Yet, I just canÂ’t throw it out.

Maybe if I us beer to wash it down it wonÂ’t stink so badly when I blow arse.

Posted by: Contagion at 06:06 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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Ahh yes, home for the day. I’m not sick, I’m not on “administrative leave”, and I didn’t even take the day off because I wanted to do something. Today I’m home because we are having new windows installed. They are supposed to be here between ten and noon. Well considering it’s 20 to noon, they better hurry up and get here.

Now, I have to ask you readers. Am I the only one that gets antsy when IÂ’m given a window for any contractor or serviceman to show up? Around nine this morning I was up and had everything out of the way for the new windows. By 10:30 AM I was wondering where the hell they were. Now IÂ’m starting to wonder if they are ever going to show up. Sure they arenÂ’t late, but damn, IÂ’m starting to wonder if I have the wrong day. I donÂ’t want to call and seem like a fool, because they arenÂ’t technically lateÂ… but IÂ’m still wondering.

UPDATE: 12:26 PM: I called the contractor, today is the day they are supposed to be here, they don't know why they are running late. They are going to check and get back with me.

UPDATE: 1:58 PM: The contractor arrived! They were very sincere about being late. They explained that their last job they ran into a problem with one of the large windows they where installing on the second story of a house. Since this is the first time in 5 years I've had a problem with them, I am going to cut them some slack. Plus they are going to fix a problem I'm having with some molding for free.

Posted by: Contagion at 10:41 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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IÂ’ve been an amateur hobbyist photographer for years. I love to take pictures and to be a little bit on the artistic side at times. IÂ’ve used the same camera for almost 20 years now, a Pentax K1000. IÂ’m telling you folks, this is a great camera. It doesnÂ’t have all of the bells and whistles that most cameras had, everything had to be done manually, but it was nice. I loved it; it did everything I wanted it to. I used this camera for anything I wanted to take real pictures of. The great photos from last yearÂ’s vacation all came off of this camera.

But then it broke. It wouldnÂ’t function properly and the picture quality started to suffer. I took it to a local camera place to see if it could be repaired, and they told me that what was broken on it, could not be fixed. They donÂ’t make the parts anymore. So I asked them what they had in the line of replacement cameras. They started off showing me all of these digital cameras, that were niceÂ… but they are digital. IÂ’m not a fan of digital cameras. IÂ’ve always been able to tell the difference between a digital and a film photo.
When I asked to see the film cameras, I found out they have completely stopped making them. If I wanted a camera that still used film, I would have to find a place that sold used cameras.

The guy behind the counter and I had an argument over the quality of digital cameras. The quick version goes like this:

Me: Digital photos suck, I can always tell the difference.

Salesman: With the new cameras you canÂ’t tell the difference.

Me: I saw pictures just last week taken on a new camera, and I could tell they where digital.

Salesman: Then the place that printed them out didnÂ’t know what they where doing.

Me: Well my father had them put onto paper here.

Salesman: Â…uhÂ… It must have been set on a lower quality.

Me: My father is technologically stupid; itÂ’s on the factory basic settings that always put it at the highest possible quality. He doesnÂ’t know how to change it, and wouldnÂ’t in fear that the camera would break by him doing something to it.

Salesman: Â…

Me: So there are no film cameraÂ’s here at all?

Salesman: Only point and clicks.

Me: Sorry to have wasted your time.

That was 6 months ago. After doing a lot of research I verified everything the guy had said. They donÂ’t make anything short of point and clicks anymore that still take film. Which is a shame. Finally I got around to coming with the terms that if I wanted a new camera, it was going to have to be digital.

Finally on Tuesday I went out and bought me a new camera. I stuck with Pentax because their last camera was a great camera, and served me well. I ended up getting a Pentax K10D. To be honest it has a ton more features then not only am I not used to, but I probably wonÂ’t use. Since then IÂ’ve been taking pictures of everything, just trying to get use to the way it handles. Which is the nice thing about digital, it doesnÂ’t cost you an arm and a leg in film to do thatÂ… and you can instantly see what you did wrong. On the other hand it also has a fast drive motor on it, so you can take a rapid series of pictures. IÂ’ve always wanted a camera that could do that.

So IÂ’ve been following Ktreva and the boys around the house taking their pictures over and over. ItÂ’s starting to drive them nuts. I think they are getting the feeling for what itÂ’s like to be followed by the paparazzi. So expect to see a lot more photos of the family and stuff over the next couple of months while I break it in.

Posted by: Contagion at 08:16 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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Well it looks like IÂ’m going to be getting yet another set of new neighbors. As many of you may remember, I actually try to keep my neighbors at a certain fear level of me. ItÂ’s healthyÂ… for me. IÂ’ve been known to do things that actually scare them. Some of my antics IÂ’ve posted, others I have not.

Like an incident when I was checking to make sure the .45 wasnÂ’t loaded while standing in the driveway. I pull back the slide and let it go just as the neighbor lady walks out the front door, at which point she abruptly turns around and goes back insideÂ… quickly. Apparently having a guy with a firearm in front of her house made her nervous. Well thereÂ’s been many of other things IÂ’ve done, but IÂ’ve never actually done anything to hurt my neighbors.

Now today I come home from work and see the house next door is up for sale. Apparently my newest neighbors donÂ’t want to live next to me any more. I tried talking with them, but of course they just pretended not to see me and ran into the house. Maybe I shouldnÂ’t have been wearing the sleeveless T-shirt with skulls on it.

So there you have it, another set of neighbors IÂ’m going to have to break in.

Posted by: Contagion at 06:47 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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IÂ’m a bit on the melancholy side this evening, and not even the thought of Grau cat-fisting brings a smile to my face. No, I did NOT type that wrong.

Have you ever had a dream that while not impossible, it would be really difficult for it to come true? But if it were to happen you would be a fool to pass it up. Like say, since you where 12 you set your heart on one day owning an original 1954 Oldsmobile F-88, one of the rarest cars on the planet. You talked about it, and dreamt about one day actually owning this vehicle. All your friends and family know this what you have been dreaming about.

Then it happens. The planets align just right and through a series of unlikely events not only does the opportunity to buy this car come up, but also you can actually afford itÂ… barely. This is the chance that will probably never happen again. Your family knows about it and wants it to happen for you. As you contemplate the purchase of this vehicle you look at what itÂ’s actually going to cost you. Not just the immediate cost of the vehicle, but the maintenance, the storage and the non-financial costs. Purchasing this vehicle you discover will stress your relationship with your family and friends.

These burdens, both financial and emotional, will last at least for five years. After doing the math, youÂ’re pretty sure you can handle the financial burdenÂ… barely and if no new or unexpected costs come about, but youÂ’re not sure about the emotional. You spend weeks or even months contemplating is it worth it. Will you finally be able to fulfill your dream? If you do fulfill your dream will you end up possibly bringing yourself to ruin? Passing on it, however, will disappoint a close family member greatly as they share a similar dream. ItÂ’s a weighty decision that one does not make lightly.

I was put into this situation a couple of weeks ago. Something I wanted, but thought I would never be able to get landed at my feet. I know that the chances of this happening again are pretty much nil. And after weighing the benefits and the consequences, I came to a decision.

Sometimes, dreams just arenÂ’t meant to come true.

And now I feel like a part of me has died. There is an emptiness in me that IÂ’m not sure will ever be filled again. Sorry for being so morose, but itÂ’s what is on my mind.

Posted by: Contagion at 05:53 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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IÂ’m sorry but tonightÂ’s beer review is being postponed. Not because I donÂ’t have any beer, quite to the contrary I definitely I have a beer to review. ItÂ’s the fact that I have a tremendous head cold. Mixing Nyquil and beer doesnÂ’t bother me, hell my home remedy for a head cold is 1 part Jack Daniels, one part Nyquil and a Tavist-D. ItÂ’s a time tested concoction that makes the pressure in your head disappear.

So why am I not doing a beer review? Simply it is because of snot. ThatÂ’s right snot. The review would be:

Aroma: This beer has the strong heady scent of snot with a mix of hops, barley malts and boogers.

Taste: The absolutely wonderful scent is only enhanced by the flavor of snot with a nice roasted malt background. Unfortunately the taste of snot over runs everything else.

Mouth feel: TonightÂ’s beer is a medium bodied lager that drinks easily. It leaves an interesting coating in the mouth and throat that is very mucus like. This helps the snot aftertaste linger.

Sadly enough, I actually drank one of the beers in order to try to review it. The above is pretty much what I got out of it. Since IÂ’m pretty sure that the beer does NOT have a snot like taste of scent, IÂ’m going to wait until this head cold clears up before doing this weeks review.

Now if youÂ’ll excuse me IÂ’m going to go get a Snot-Coke to help wash the Snot-beer taste out of my mouth.

Posted by: Contagion at 07:21 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Damn, I hate when I do something stupid, especially when it involves money. I was raised with the financial belief, “Do NOT spend money you don’t have.” Sometimes it’s necessary, such as in an emergency or if you are buy a house. Heck, I’ll even allow cars. Not everyone can pay for a new $18,000.00 car out of pocket. Other then a handful of situations, you just don’t spend money you don’t have.

Many of my employees at work have already spent their tax returns, and they haven’t even filed yet. They figure they are going to get a large return so they went out and bought new TVs, computers and other items on credit planning on paying it off when they get their tax refunds. The problem is that a couple of them are going to be paying on these for a while because unless they are getting $10,000 back from the Feds, they aren’t going to cover what they’ve already spent. ($6,000 TV, $1,300 Computer, $1000,00 Home Theater plus the other little things they are putting on their credit cards saying, “I’ll pay it off when my refund comes in”) And yes there are at least three people that work for my company that is in this situation.

Me, I donÂ’t do that. I try not using my credit cards to pay for anything unless I pay it off by the end of the month. If I donÂ’t have the money, IÂ’ll wait to have to pay for something. That is until last summer. We had just gotten new windows put in the house and I was going to install a window air conditioner that didnÂ’t fit. We ended up looking at getting Central Air put into the house. You may recall the escapade regarding the electricity and contractors.

I was able to get the electrical done in the house, and paid for it out right. However the Central Air I thought was going to have to wait until this year. That was until I found a place that would finance, one year no interest, same as cash. I was still hesitant, but as much as I like to see Ktreva all hot and sweaty, she doesn’t like to be that way. So I caved in and financed the damn AC with the intent to pay it off before the year was up. “When we get our tax return….”

All was well. I kept saying, when we get our tax return, weÂ’d pay off the loan. No finance charge, no hidden fees, nothing! WeÂ’re good to go! Had our taxes done, found out we were going to be getting a bit more back then anticipated. NICE! ThatÂ’ll help cover the cost for the Packer tickets and then someÂ… if I make it. We got the money and all of a sudden itÂ’s like I didnÂ’t remember my own philosophy. I got spend happy. New cell phone, new clothes, new shoes, buying trinkets and eating outÂ… then I sat down to pay off the lawn and realized I had over spent, by a lot. Not horribly, but enough to put a crimp in my plans. Yes, IÂ’m still getting the loan paid off, but now IÂ’ve got to scrape up the difference for the Packer tickets. I had the money easily, I just couldnÂ’t control myself. It really pisses me off.

I just canÂ’t believe I did that.

Posted by: Contagion at 08:16 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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People change over time. Sometimes it is small things and sometimes it is something big. Up until about a year ago I had no interest in politics what so ever. I really could care less what was going on because I honestly felt that it didnÂ’t matter what I did or said; it would never change anything. Sure I voted, and kept up with current topics, but I never really got involved. It all seemed like a complete waste of time. If there was something I actually felt strongly opposed to, I figured someone else would speak out against it.

I didn’t even want to talk about politics because I felt it was a boring and depressing topic. Many of my friends have heard me say, “Enough with the talk about politics.” Sure many things going on angered me, but what good did it do? Nothing I said or did would ever change anything. That’s pretty much how I handled politics for the last 15 years.

As new laws were passed that upset me, and new taxes put in placed that drained my income, I just became more convinced that nothing would ever change. I grew more and more bitter. Neither political party appealed to me. Both sides had issues I agreed with and both sides had politicians that scared me that they were in office. On the other hand both sides had stances I disagreed with. I just couldnÂ’t relate to either. I remained independent.

Things started changing with me in November of 2005. Politicians in the city of Rockford decided that they wanted Home Rule. This pissed me off; it was too much power to the local politicians. I actually got out and spread the word about Home Rule and why I didnÂ’t want it. I even used this blog to help spread the word and did a radio interview. To this day, we still donÂ’t have Home Rule, thankfully.

The drive for this must have disturbed a sleeping monster inside me. I started following more and more the local politics; I started listening to talk radio (Much to KtrevaÂ’s chagrin and embarrassment). Then something happened that kicked that monster awake. I received word about the new gun bans here in Illinois. That brought forth an interest in politics I never thought I would possess. I started writing letters to my state senator and representative, I started making phone calls and trying to rally others to the cause. I drove to the state capital to lobby. My political activity was getting me noticed. In doing so I inadvertently did something else.

I got my name on some lists.

Not necessarily bad lists, but those lists of local political interests. I received information from various politiciansÂ’ offices and even an invite to an invitation only meeting, which I attended. This morning I went to a breakfast meeting that had my state Senator, Representative, other state reps, the Mayor of my city and other elected officials. We discussed the Governors new budget and how it was going to affect the citizens of Illinois.

I found myself really getting involved. I also found myself getting a lot of attention. Most of the people in the room all seemed to know each other, even across party lines. None of them knew who I was. I was a nobody. I could almost hear their thoughts, “Who is that, and why is he here?” It was intimidating. Elected officials where coming up and introducing themselves to me. Other behind the scenes players where probing me for my opinion on topics, just to see where I stood on the politics at hand. Then I realized; they didn’t see me as a nobody. I was a somebody. I was a citizen that was taking time to exert my opinion and influence on the political process. Maybe I wasn’t a VIP, but I wasn’t a nobody. I was someone who could make a difference. Someone that could support or oppose there cause and bring others to share my views. I was keeping myself informed. The most dangerous thing in politics is an informed citizenry.

Now IÂ’m looking forward to my next meeting and the next forum.

It amazes me how much IÂ’ve changed.

Posted by: Contagion at 07:55 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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