Saturday, February 28, 2009

I've had A LOT better days!

Some of you know that Lori and I have been in Detroit since Tuesday. My mom is having more and more difficulty dealing with her dementia, so I came to see what I have to do and can do. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday we sent with my mom in Dearborn and talking to numerous people discussing what to do. The worst part was explain to my mom why she had to move and could no longer the independent person she has for the last 50 years after divorcing my dad.

When we got back to our hotel room yesterday afternoon around 5:00 PM, I found the door open. The maid had pushed the latch over to keep the door open while she went in and out when cleaning. Fortunately nothing was missing.

Last night we went to the MGM Grand for dinner and a little gambling with my son's money. Just like in Las Vegas I bet $100 on black and just like in Las Vegas I won.

We called for the hotel shuttle and due to someone's incompetence, we waited for 1 1/4 hours for a ride of about 1/4 mile. It was snowing, so we waited.

This afternoon was our only free day this week and we were planning to take a dive to Canada. It's only about 1 1/2 miles from the hotel. The problem was that the valet service lost the keys to my rental car. At least it was just the keys. They originally thought the car was missing, because they couldn’t find it.

I spoke to the rental car company, but they can't find anyone to make a duplicate key, so they are having another car delivered. That will take about 1 1/2 hours.

So here we sit in our hotel room waiting for the car.

Fortunately, the printer I was using to print out my boarding passes for our flight tomorrow ran out for paper. The Director of Sales and Marketing of the hotel was right there, so he got more paper. He asked me how I was and I told him everything that went wrong. He was mortified. He spoke to the reservations manager and they took all the charges off my hotel bill; room service, restaurant charges, valet charges and anything else we want for the rest of my stay. That will probably just be dinner tonight, since we are leaving in the morning, but at least they are trying.

The rental car company is charging me $100 for the lost key and $140 to deliver me a new car, plus whatever it costs to get a new key for the car from a locksmith. The hotel promises to reimburse me.

Lori and I are driving to Ypsilanti tonight to get together with some Blogger friends. To make sure I have my car keys in the morning and not miss my flight, I will make the valet service give me back my car keys tonight when I drop it back off at the hotel.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

GRAND OPENING HNT!

Lori and I flew to Detroit this week so I could look into a few things for my mom. We are staying in a two room suite in the "haunted" Doubletree Suites Hotel downtown. They have only been open two months and tonight was a pleasant surprise, it was the hotel's grand opening after and extensive remodeling. They had four hours of free food and free booze, all we could consume and for guests like us, it was FREE!!!!!!!!!!!. I don't know about Lori, but my favorite room was the Motown theme room.


Lets see if you can figure out why.



The four hours flew by too fast and soon it was time to retire to our suite for a hot bath.


Nobody said the party had to end!


HAPPY GRAND OPENING HNT!




Thursday, February 19, 2009

Valentines Weekend HNT

This year Lori's Valentines Day present from me was a romantic weekend in a hotel, with room service and everything.

Yes, I'm the bestest boy friend ever.

Friday we got to the hotel a bit late, because Lori had to work, but it was like most Friday nights for us. Except we didn't have pizza. We ordered room service, I had a burger and Lori had a chicken Caesar salad. Both, by the way, were excellent. We didn't get to sleep until after 4:00am.

Of course we slept late on Saturday, who wouldn't?

We cuddled, snuggled and had coffee. The coffee thing didn't go so well, because some ruffians before us broke the top off. But really, does any coffee a hotel supplies take descent?

Room service was only for dinner, so we went out for breakfast. It was 2:00PM, so I'm not sure you could classify it as breakfast, but it was eggs of some type, so I'll call it breakfast.

After filloing our bellies we went back to the hotel and spend the rest of the afternoon naked in our room on our laptops & watching TV. Happy Hour started early and then around 7:00 I ordered room service for dinner. This wasn't as good as Friday night's, but acceptable.

After dinner it was time for desert. A desert of the champagne and chocolate covered strawberries. I bought a quart of fresh strawberries and a chocolate dipping sauce. I thin k Lori had more fun with the dipping sauce than I did.

No words are necessary from here on, just enjoy the picture show.














She didn't even lick it off.

:-(


Sunday, February 15, 2009

Senior Year - 1966

Facebook sure gives a lot of homework, so here's more useless information about me.

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Fill this out about your SENIOR year of high school! The longer ago it was, the more fun the answers will be!! REPOST with name of high school and graduating year in the subject box.
Send this to all your friends, but don't forget to send it back to me.

IN YOUR SENIOR YEAR OF HIGH SCHOOL...

1. Did you date someone from your school?
No

2. Did you marry someone from your high school?
No

3. Did you car pool to school?
No, took the bus

4. What kind of car did you have?
Didn't get a license until I graduated

5. What kind of car do you have now
1998 Chevy Monte Carlo Z34

6. Its Friday night now...
Hanging with my baby at my place

7. It is Friday night then..
Either the pool hall or the Surf bar

8. What kind of job did you have in high school?
Bus boy, dish washer then grill chef at a Bonanza Steak House

9. What kind of job do you do now?
Nothing, I'm retired. My last job was Quality Manger in a high voltage power manufacturer

10. Were you a party animal?
Drank beer all the time, but didn't smoke pot until I was in Vietnam

11. Were you considered a flirt?
Far from it, too shy

12. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir?
No

13. Were you a nerd?
No, more of a greaser

14. Did you get suspended or expelled?
No, but sure came close

15. Can you sing the fight song?
LOL, not a chance

16. Who was/were your favorite teacher(s)?
Mrs Oaks

17. Where did you sit during lunch?
Cafeteria

18. What was your school's full name?
Smithtown Central Senior High School

19. When did you graduate?
1966 and by the skin of my teeth

20. What was your school mascot?
Indian as in Smithtown Indians

21. If you could go back and do it again, would you?
Sure would, but only if I knew then what I know now

22. Did you have fun at Prom?
I didn't go. I was too shy to ask a girl

23. Do you still talk to the person you went to Prom with?

24. Are you planning on going to your next reunion?
If they ever have one I will

25. Do you still talk to people from school?
On line I do

26. School Colors?
Red & white

27. What celebrities came from your high school?
John Curtis. He was a pro baseball player for 15 or so years. Now he's a journalist I think. When I was into sports collectibles, I researched his pro career and submitted it to the local Suffolk County Sports Hall of Fame. They inducted him because of that. I doubt he knows it was me.

Friday, February 13, 2009

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

BP Update HNT

Note: See my last post if you want to know what this is all about.

I saw the cardiologist today. He checked me out and asked me a bunch of questions. Among them......

"Have you changed the way you take your meds lately?" No.

"Have you gained weight?" He read my chart and answered first, No.

"Have you increased your salt in take?" BINGO!!!!!!

Guess those cheeseburgers and fries might explain it? I've gotten very lazy and have been ordering take out or going out for 99% of my dinners. I almost never cook anymore.

He frowned........

I asked, "You mean that could trigger it?" Yes.

He told me, "Cut back on your salt intake, back to the way you were doing it when your BP was 116/68."

Meaning, stop eating take out and watch closer what you eat.

"If that doesn't work, increase the dosages of one of your meds."

"Also, your taking a cholesterol lowering drug, but eating burgers and fries, not good."

"Your cholesterol has improved significantly, but if you keep this up, it will go back up."

Meaning that if I don't watch what I eat, my arteries will get even more clogged and I will die. I added the die part, but that's what it means.

You and me both don't want that to happen, so tonight I got back on track with cooking rice & beans. It's a start back to a healthy life style. It would be a shame if this picture was to be no more.

Monday, February 09, 2009

Bummer dude..........

Lori and I were planning on flying to Detroit tomorrow (Tuesday), but I had to postpone the trip. Saturday I woke up feeling all kinds of strange. The weird feelings went on all day and when we sat down to dinner at 8:00pm, I asked Lori to get me my blood pressure monitor. Not good dudes, it was about 180/78.

I took an extra dose of my meds, but the BP still varied all over the place. I mean like every 5 to 10 minutes the top number varied by 20 points, 10 points, what ever. Thing is, the bottom number pretty mush stayed right around 80, which is normal. By about 2:00 AM my BP had stabilized to around 150/80 and stayed there the rest of the night. Sunday I was off my game, but the BP still stayed a tad high, but in the 140-130/80 range. Around 10:00pm it was closer to normal at 120/130/80. Today it varies, but well within the normal range 115-120/70-80.

WTF is going on dude????? IS THERE A DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE??????????

I have an appointment with the cardiologist Wednesday. That's why I had to postpone my trip. I'll know more Wednesday, so wish me luck.

Thursday, February 05, 2009

Super Bowl HNT

Lori and I had our own Super Bowl party. We made lots of unhealthy very tasty snacks.

Oh yea, clothing was optional. You know what dress code I chose. ;-)



HAPPY NUDIST SUPER BOWL PARTY HNT!



Monday, February 02, 2009

25 Random Things About Me

I posted this on Facebook and thought I'd share more useless facts about me with you too.

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Rules- Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you and I thought you might actually play:)

(To do this, go to "notes" under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.

1. I’ve been the oldest person in my groups of friends for as long as I can remember.
2. I hate going to the dentist and have been putting it off WAY too long. When I finally do go, the work is going to cost a bloody fortune.
3. I chew my fingernails.
4. I enjoy cooking, but hate cleaning up. Sometimes I go for days with a sink of dirty dishes.
5. I hate unloading the dishwasher. That’s probably why I have a sink full of dirty dishes.
6. I don’t like anything sweet. No candy, no donuts, no desert, nothing.
7. With almost no exceptions. I had one piece of Twizzlers last night. They remind me of my teen years. I used to get them every time I went to the movies. Same thing with the chocolate covered cherry I had two weeks ago.
8. I didn’t go to my high school prom because I was too shy to ask anyone.
9. That’s probably why I’ve only dated six women in my life.
10. The first four for less than six months.
11. The fifth I was married to for 34 years until she died in 2005.
12. The sixth one I’ve been dating for almost three years. HI LORI!!!!
13. I was drafted into the army in 1968 and when I got out two years later, I held the rank of Specialist E-5. You can read about part of my army life in “My Vietnam Story” blog. http://my-vietnam-stories.blogspot.com/
14. I’m trying to write a book about army years and have written a lot more than what is on the blog, but procrastination gets the best of me. I’m up to 43,905 words, so have made good progress.
15. I am a life member of both the Disabled American Veterans and the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
16. I retired on February 10, 2006 and love doing next to nothing.
17. No, I’m not bored. I spend tons of time with my Internet friends. Truthfully, they are some of the best friends I’ve ever had.
18. I met my best real-life friends now, in a Yahoo chat room. She had a little get together one afternoon for local members. I didn’t have anything better to do, so went.
19. Her and her husband and have been one of Lori and my best friends ever since.
20. I usually get along better with women than men. When I was boating, the wives of our group of friends voted me as an Honorary Woman. They told me that I understood them better than their husbands did. They also knew that I would keep their secrets, so was privy to many very interesting stories.
21. I loved those years of boating and had a ball! I miss it. Maybe some day I buy another boat.
22. My Internet handle, BTExpress, was the name of my boat.
23. I the over ten years I owned it, I never got around to putting her name on the transom.
24. I’m a procrastinator, but maybe you already figured that out.
25. Last but certainly not least. I spend almost all day, everyday, in just my bathrobe and socks. Gotta wear socks! That’s a lot more comfortable than wearing clothes.

PS
I’m not tagging anyone.