Author Archives: momdude

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About momdude

Space cadet | Family dude | Photographer | Music lover | Traveler | Science fiction fan | Hugo Award nominee | Writer | 5x NASA Social participant | KC Chiefs fan | LA Kings fan | Senior Director of Finance & Administration for ALS Network | Member & former staff Finance Officer at the Commemorative Air Force SoCal Wing | Hard core left-wing liberal | Looking for whatever other shenanigans I can get into

Proof Of Life – June 14th

No, I didn’t attend any of the “No Kings” protests today, as much as I would have liked to. Other priorities, sadly. As noted before, this whole “responsible adult” thing sort of sucks, big time. Not a fan!

It would have been a nice day for it. First day in a few where it wasn’t either “clear and a million” with nothing but blue skies, or hazy and cloudy and grey.

The contrast was much nicer.

Philosophical point – doesn’t the classical description of Heaven sound incredibly boring and dull after about a week? Sure, having anything you want any time you want it with no stress, no worries, no pain, would be fantastic for a while. But for eternity? YAWN!!

Maybe Michael Schur and his team were correct.

Enough philosophy! Back to processing payroll!

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Filed under Paul, Photography, Politics, Weather

Proof Of Life – June 13th

Paraskevidekatriaphobia.

I’m not a superstitious person by any definition, but the way bad shit has been coming for the last month or two (deadlines, the World, this stupid tooth, etc…), you can’t be too sure.

But tonight – might that possibly be the slightest glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel for the #1 stressor in my life right now?

It’s possible, but I’m not going to get my hopes up. There have been several times in this process where I thought I was doing well and had others explain to me in some detail why I WAS WRONG. (It still might have been a “them” thing more than a “me” thing, but it was depresssing either way.)

Now, while there’s still a day or two of work to do to finish Phase One, enough of the work has been completed and submitted so that I’m not feeling absolutely crushed and hopeless. I’m still going to have to work through all or at least most of the weekend to complete Phase One, and there will be more work coming when Phase Two starts, and there’s probably a Phase Three to follow after that, but it’s like a triathalon. At least I’m getting to the end of that first event. Maybe. Until Monday comes and “they” decide to crush my soul again just because they can.

Things are cloudy and the view is murky – but that might be a ray of light peeking out. (Photo from the 2017 total solar eclipse we saw through high, thin clouds somewhere in southeastern Nebraska.)

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Filed under Astronomy, Paul

Proof Of Life – June 12th

The new gym my trainer is using has new toys and torture equipment. I’m feeling that tonight.

It’s a “good” feeling in the sense that my head knows it’s for the greater good, the long term goals, blah blah blah, yadda yadda yadda… Meanwhile, I’m physically exhausted and sore. It’s a good match for the mental exhaustion. It feels like… It actually reminds me of about Mile Twenty of running a marathon. “The Wall.”

At least I’m not thinking about my sore tooth. Mind you, the tooth still hurts. But I’m not thinking about it.

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Filed under Art, Health, Paul

Proof Of Life – June 11th

I don’t want to break my current streak of 300+ days of posting every day, but there are a couple of things going on that are just a bit all-consuming going on, and my new and exciting dental adventures on top of it!

That leaves very little time to think great thoughts, take great pictures, and cogitate on the wonders of the universe. So, you may get a lot of these “quickie” Proof Of Life posts for a couple of weeks.

I finally got into the dentist today and, as expected, there are two primary options – Bad and Worse.

Bad = tooth extraction and replacement with a fake on a post. Sounds painful, but it’s a one day thing, probably.

Worse = crown lengthening, which I had done last summer when I had three root canals, turned out to be worse than a colonoscopy, very unpleasant and painful. And even if we do that, the odds are good that we’ll need to do the extraction and replacement anyway within a year or two.

Sometimes “bad” is “better.” Fun and games next Friday.

This is why June is “Hell Month” this year.

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Filed under Health, Sunsets

Proof Of Life – June 10th

The Sun went down:

and the full “strawberry” Moon came up (the final full moon of spring):

I’m still here…

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Filed under Astronomy, Photography, Sunsets

No – But I Wish

 

No, the keyboard and world don’t quite look like this – but I wish that I had some of the “good” painkillers so that it did.

I don’t, and my jaw/tooth is plenty sore enough to be annoying as hell. But none of the good stuff, just Extra Strength Excedrin every six hours.

No dentist today, or tomorrow – the earliest I can get in is at the end of the day on Wednesday, and I’m expecting to be told that I need to go to the endodontist at that point, and who knows how long that will take. (Buy stock in GSK Healthcare!)

The audit kicked off today and I spent a full day (and then some) dealing with it through the fog of “significant discomfort.” Almost more fun than any human being should be allowed to have with their clothes on.

Almost.

Yes, I did take yesterday’s picture by sticking my entire iPhone 13 Max Pro in my mouth and then taking pictures. Isn’t that how everyone does it?

Where does that go on my resume? Skills? Life Experiences? Talent?

I’ll be fine. I just reserve the right to be cranky.

Crankier.

Whatever.

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Filed under Art, Health, Paul

Which God’s Dog Did I Kick

Work deadlines, forever home house hunting, starting to pack for the move, filling out mortgage application paperwork, the news, the world, the Mango Mussolini & his cult, skunks, gophers… It is enough to get on your last nerve and dance on it a bit.

And when you finally think that maybe, perhaps, against all odds, you might be keeping your nose above water, the Universe says, “Yeah, right! It’s cute that you think that!”

I’m trying to keep it in the proper perspective. It’s not cancer. I wasn’t hit by a car. The Long-Suffering Wife and my kids are all fine. But, on the other hand – JEEZ LOUISE!!

Those of you who have been reading a while will remember that last summer was a freakin’ festival of fun in a dental sense, with three root canals and all of the accompanying crowns and fillings and EXPENSE and *PAIN*!

Eating breakfast this morning I felt the “pop!” and the “crack!” (no “snap,” but I might have missed that in all of the excitement of the moment) and sure enough, there’s a huge chunk of tooth that’s gone walkabout.

I’m not in absolute agony, thankfully, but it’s tender and sore and I’m going to assume that absolute agony is in the on-deck circle just waiting for it’s turn at bat any moment, so as busy as this week already was going to be, I’m going to need to figure out how to squeeze in at least one and probably a couple of dental appointments.

Using a phrase I think I learned from the esteemed Jim Wright online (“Stonekettle”), “Which god’s dog did I kick? And how do I apologize?”

This too shall pass. But then again, they say that about kidney stones, and I’ve had them a number of times and I never want to have them again. Just like major dental work.

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Filed under Health, Paul, Photography

22:58 Skunk

It’s almost 11:00 PM, the tunes (Sirius-XM Channel 33’s “Saturday Night Safety Dance” show) are hot and loud, the day has been exhausting (again)… and somewhere very nearby, like, eye-wateringly strong type close, there’s a very pissed off and frightened skunk.

DUDE!

I understand, I agree, I sympathize, but how is this helping?

Let’s work together. What do skunks eat? What’s your finest cuisine?

There’s a 50-pound bag of it and more to come if you can start killing or driving out gophers. You scratch my back…

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Filed under Critters, Farce

Pudding Brain

As Senior Director of Finance & Administration I often have a very full plate. To say the least. At the top of the annual list, especially in terms of stress and “challenges,” is the audit. Our auditors are good and generally nice folks who I get along with, but to be done properly the audit process by its very nature is … “thorough.” Think of it as being a bit like a colonoscopy without benefit of anesthesia, but everyone’s smiling and cooperative.

This year’s audit starts on Monday, so the last two weeks have been prep, prep, and more prep. Pulling documents, finalizing the year-end accounting, and so on. Tons and tons and tons of details, numbers, schedules, reports, and extra brownie points if the figures are actually accurate. (We do pretty well on that score, actually.)

But it does leave one with a bit of a “pudding brain.” Remember that classic of camp cinema, “Flash Gordon!,” the one with Sam J. Jones, Melody Anderson, Max von Sydow, Brian Blessed, Topol, and Timothy Dalton? (An excellent film!) Remember the “scanners” working the consoles in the bowels of the war rooms of Ming the Merciless?

That’s me already… I’ve even got the haircut for it. (I have GOT to find me a pair of those glasses!)


However, I’m not so fried that I didn’t notice the date. Yes, 81 years ago our parents and grandparents and great grandparents stormed the beaches of Normandy. That’s important to remember. But more important personally, it was 25 years ago tonight that I went out on a first date with The Long-Suffering Wife. She says that her fear was that I would excuse myself to the restroom and then slip out the window and shimmy a couple stories down a drain pipe to abandon her there.

Obviously, I didn’t.

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Filed under Entertainment, Family, Farce, Paul, Ronnie, Science Fiction, Silly Shit

Fine Feathered Friends – June 5th

The male house finches are in all of their red-feathered splendor, trying to attract a mate.

Whatever works!

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Filed under Birds, Photography