Dear Diary.......A Sampling From August 6

I mentioned yesterday that I have been keeping a daily diary, in which I outline events of the day and voice my personal feelings/opinions on same.

Thought maybe you'd enjoy reading a sample entry---this from August 6.  It's pretty typical.  But I must say I could not allow anyone to read my diary until after I've departed this life because I really don't pull any punches when writing my thoughts about people in my life---family, neighbors, friends, acquaintances...did I mention family?

August 6   Monday

Cindy walked early in the 'hood, then worked out at the gym in the early afternoon.  I could never get my body talked into lifting.  Sometimes that happens and I just go with the flow.  Gotta try to do four days of lifting every week, however.  Hopefully tomorrow.

Cindy and I went to Lowe's and got two new toilet seats and a new shower head with a 5' hose for the master bath.  Got it all installed.  Praise the Lord!  The toilets were really filthy down where the old nuts and bolts were located.  They had obviously never been deep cleaned.

Tru-Green showed up and I asked about a new growth of weeds that is sprouting up.  He said the treatment will kill them but that the weeds are coming up because of the additional rain we've been getting.  Got some more rain today.  I ain't complainin'.

Cindy went to Food City after her gym workout.  I stayed home and did the dishes and made the bed.  When she got home from Food City, I was entertained with tales that can only happen to Cindy....

First, as she walked toward the Food City building, a rumbling pickup truck slowly approached her from behind.  She glanced at a grungy looking runt of a redneck (we got lots of 'em here in east Tennessee) who was driving.  He yelled at her as he came alongside..."I wouldn't ha' known ya, sweetheart!"

She said she thought he must be someone she had met previously, but as she looked at the creep, she knew she had never seen him before.  She high-tailed it into the building and did not see Mr Wrong again.

Then, when the little lady came out of the supermarket with her food purchase, she wheeled the cart with her bags of purchases to the car to unload it, when a wildly grinning teenage employee of Food City came running at her while pushing an empty cart.  The idiot ran right into her cart to hook the two carts together so he could take them back inside the store.  There were at least two problems with this....

First, my wife still had four bags of groceries in her cart.  And second, this lunatic just missed hitting her and injuring her.  If I had been there this guy would now be on life support.

Anyway, I knew nothing of this until well after she had returned home, because when she arrived home I was nekkid in the shower giving it a deep cleaning.  While I was scrubbing the shower floor with baking soda and a stiff brush, she was in the other room calling Food City management complaining about the incident.  She said she was put on hold for a long time, and when she did talk with the "manager", she told him what had happened and said that they should investigate how this kid is endangering folks.  She said the manager seemed quite unconcerned at hearing her story.  No apology.  No expression of thanks for reporting the incident.  Cindy finally said in exasperation, "I think he may be mentally ill!".

The manager's response?..... "He is". 

Hey, no kiddin'---I can't make this stuff up.

I have long maintained that Food City is the worst managed supermarket I have ever visited.  Something negative happens every time I go there, which, thank God, is not very often any more, especially since there is a nice, well managed Ingles and Wal-Mart and Kroger right down the road.

Chick-Fil-A sandwich with homemade fries for din-din.

Dear Diary.......

Well, here we are in late March and the weather is balmy when it is supposed to be blustery.  We missed out on winter.  Not even one snow or ice storm.  Mother Nature is just as unpredictable as any other woman, I guess.  Ha.

How is it that I continue to work out, lift weights, do my cardio and still manage to GAIN weight?  Must be old age.  My grandmother used to say "old age is a terrible thing".  She only lived to be a hundred years old, so I suppose she knew a thing or three about it.  I dunno---is it possible to be fat and in shape at the same time?

I see where more guns were sold in the last three months in this country than in all of last year.  A high percentage of the new gun purchasers are women.  I think I'll be more careful when I talk to the fairer sex from now on.  Ya never know, ya know?

Grandson Canyon is spending the day with us and I never saw so much energy in my life.  My gosh I'm glad my child rearing days are long since over.  I love my grandson but dogs are a lot easier.

I still haven't met one set of next door neighbors.  Wouldn't know 'em if I saw 'em at the grocery store.

While we're talking about neighbors, we've certainly got an eclectic grouping around here.  There are a couple of retired couples on our street---one couple spends their time gossiping about everyone else.  The other couple spends their time talking about all their possessions---their sun room, their boat, their new cars.  Gawd.

The next-door neighbors on the other side of us are so nice.  Their kids have MANNERS---totally unheard of in this day and age.  Same thing is true of the family across the street from us.  It's a joy to be around unassuming, accomplished and humble folks.

As I type this out, Canyon is going full speed ahead in the kitchen, yelling non-stop---sounds like jibberish to me---running all over the place.  He has driven Cindy into a state of exhaustion.  Ha.

I was embarrassed over the past three weeks...the unseasonably warm weather caused the lawns in this area to sprout like they are on steroids.  Especially the weeds.  Yikes!  I was the talk of the neighborhood, I am sure.  I called Tru-Green to come out and DO SOMETHING, but they haven't been able to apply any chemicals yet because it has been raining every day.  I will say, however, that we have some of the finest specimens of dandelions ever seen.  I may donate a few to the Knoxville Botannical Society.

I should do a post sometime on our bird feeder out back.  I keep it stocked with a blend of wild bird seed, and it has become the favorite watering hole in these parts.  It's great to sit there, not six feet away, from inside our den, and observe the shenanigans as the feathered creatures feed.

We got every kind of sparrow, dove, cowbird, blackbird, red-winged blackbird, grackle, downy and hairy woodpeckers, bluejay, oriole, wren, bluebird, cardinal, robins (the robins won't get on the feeder but instead feed on the ground underneath it), and so on and on.....  I love watchin' 'em.

Woman says we're having chicken casserole tonight.  Man, can she cook.  Her casseroles are just great.  And I saw her makin' some corn bread to go with it.  Oh, Lordy.

Selah....