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.

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!

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.

:-(

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.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

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.

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.

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!

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.

Gourmet HNT

Saturday night Lori and I went to dinner in a seafood restaurant next to the aquarium Lori works at. We used to go there almost every weekend, but we haven't been there for at least a year. It was good to go back. The food is good and inexpensive. After dinner we met Jeannie, a coworker of Lori's and Jeannie's friends for drinks. It was a going away thing for her, because she's moving to Boston.

Sunday I took Lori out to a fancy schmancy wine tasting dinner at a local seafood restaurant, The Cull House. I got an email from them advertising the dinner. I never heard of any of the food or the wines, but after reading about the chef, I figured it had to be good. According to the restaurant web site, Chef Bill (WTF? Chef Bill? Chef William would sound better.)

Chef Bill attended a culinary program here on Long Island for 2 years, then continued his culinary education in Paris at the John Ferrendie Culinary Institute. Then he traveled all over the USA, with stops in Dallas, Texas; the Sheraton of Clearwater, Florida; Boston, Massachusetts; Washington, DC. Executive Sous Chef. Washington: Georgetown on M street, the now-defunct The Three Faces under a 3-star Swiss chef; Manhattan: La Riserve, in Rockefeller Center Uptown: The Terrace Restaurant near Columbia university.

How a chef with that back ground found his way to a small hole in the wall seafood restaurant in my small town, is beyond me, but I'm glad he did. His five course dinner was 5-Stars! Here's what he prepared and all for just $44.99 p/p.

The Cull House "Country French Wine Dinner"

It started with wine for the first course and they didn't stop pouring until dessert was finished.


· Country Pate with Frisee Salad and Honey Vinaigrette
- Anselmi Soave 2007, San Vincenzo, Italy


· Potato and Goat Cheese Galette Garnished with Olives, Basil and Sundried tomatoes
- Domaine de Nizas Rose 2007, Languedoc, France


· Roasted Sea Bream with Juniper Berry Sauce
- JJ Vincent "JJ" Borgogne Blanc 2006, Burgundy, France


· Duck and Beef Cassoulet
- Segu Carmenere 2006, Maule Valley, Chile


· Dessert: Basque Custard Tart
- Marquis de la Tour Brut NV Champagne, France

While we were there, we saw a flier for a lobster dinner special. I couldn't resist that deal, so we went back Tuesday for dinner.

Complete(lobster) Madness!

Twin 1 1/4 lb lobsters with vegetable and potato, just $19.95!

One 1 1/4 lb lobsters with vegetable and potato, just $9.95!

Of course we both ordered the twin lobsters. It came with a baked potato and spinach souffle. Dinner was also first rate and the entertainment even better. Lori and I were seated in a room with just one other couple. We didn't pay much attention to them, but the fun started when they began bickering. Their voices were raised, so we couldn't help over hearing them. It all began over the weather. The man thought February has the worst and the woman thought it was January.

He said, "Why do you always disagree with me about everything? You don't know what your talking about, February weather is the worst!"

That started it. We couldn't really hear what she was saying, because she just mumbled, but he was pissed. He kept going on and on and neither of them would let it go.

When their dinner arrived. He dug into the twin lobsters, but she just sat there refusing to eat her shrimp dinner.

"What's the matter now? Aren't you going to eat?"

She shook her head no.

" WTF is your problem? I was in a good mood when we got here, but now you've ruined my birthday."

Not to be deterred from his lobster dinner, he took his sweet ass time eating while she sat there staring out the window. Neither of them spoke to each other again. As soon as he was finished eating, he went into the other room looking for his waitress. The owner saw him and quickly rushed into the room with his check. He paid and they quickly left.

When we were done eating our waitress came into the room and commented about the other couple. She said they could hear them arguing in the other room, but she didn't know it started, so we told her. Like us, she couldn't believe why.

HAPPY GOURMET HNT

Psssssst........ did you notice Lori's see through moment? Hehehehehe

To Whom It May Concern:

Some of you have never seen my old blog, so I thought I'd import the posts from there for your perusal. My first post on the old blog was on April 23, 2005 and the last on May 28, 2008. That's almost three years worth of posts, so there is a lot for you to peruse.

I started the blog as just something to keep me occupied. My late wife Barbara was diagnosed with brain cancer two years earlier and in February of 2005, she had a major brain seizure that almost killed her. When she came home from the hospital, she just laid in a hospital bed in our bedroom. She didn't talk much and usually just laid there staring off into space, so I spent most of my time watching TV or sat in the den at the computer browsing the Internet. She died in October 2005.

The almost fours years worth of blog posts here and on my old blog, is a journal of that part of my life. After I imported the posts here, I scanned the old post titles and saw just how much I "talked" about. Of course my day to day life, but also my Vietnam and army stories and so many stories about my past. I can't wait to go back and read some of them and relive a lot of memories. If you get a chance and feel like killing a few hundred hours reading all 921 posts, please do and l hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them.

Grand Canyon HNT

The fourth day of our last trip to Las Vegas we took a helicopter to the Grand Canyon.

It was worth every penny.

Click the pics for a much better view.

HAPPY GRAND CANYON HNT!

Where did my post go?

I swear I made a post earlier today. Anyway, Krispy Kreme is giving away free doughnuts on Inauguration Day. I hear that if you change clothes between visits, you can fool the counter people into thinking your the "other" guy and get another doughnut.

I don't eat sweets, so it's too bad it wasn't Sam Adams or Burnettes giving away free booze.

WTF: Only a company the spells Crispy Cream, Krispy Kreme would spell donut, doughnut. What's up with that?

Easy Rider HNT

Remember the 1969 movie classic "Easy Rider" with Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper? It was about two young hippie bikers headed to the Mardis Gras in New Orleans and the adventures they encountered along the way.

If they ever decide to do a remake, I'm ready!

While we were in Las Vegas in December, we ate at the Harley Davidson Cafe. The cafe has a large assortment of old Harley Davidson motorcycles on both levels of the cafe, including this replica of the motorcycle Peter Fonda rode in the movie. They usually charge for photos on the bike, but after the photographer goes home at 11:00 pm, they allow you to take your own photos on the bike. Being an ex-hippie myself, there was no way was I going to pass up the chance.

HAPPY EASY RIDER CHOPPER HNT!

Hello there.........

Not much going on here, the weather over the weekend sucked, so we stayed in bed around the clock. Don't worry, there was snuggling, showers and meals. We took a shower together Saturday night and Lori took one on Sunday. She wouldn't let me take one on Sunday, because she says it washes away the scent of my pheromones. We ate by ordering take out. I even took out the garbage once.

Lori got kind of upset with me Sunday night. Friday night I dosed off for a while, then woke up. That left her alone for a while, so I understand why she was a tad upset. Not angry at all, more like disappointed. We did have her favorite kind of me doing her kind of sex when I woke up, so I think I made up for it.

I blew it Sunday night because I stayed up all night watching TV. I just couldn't fall asleep. She kept waking up through the night. I'm sure it was because the TV noise woke her up. Don't worry, Monday morning around 10am I fell asleep and slept for a big 4 hours.

I have a question. Why, after so little sleep last night, am I still awake at midnight tonight?

Nibbles HNT

It's a great place to start.

HAPPY NIBBLES HNT!

Sum bitch!

Yesterday I had a doctor's appointment to schedule surgery for my carpel tunnel issue. On my way, I stopped at a deli to get a newspaper. No matter when you show up at a doctor's office, you are guaranteed to wait at least as long as it takes to read a newspaper, right?

Anyway, just as I'm pulling into the deli to park, the steering on my car became VERY difficult. I knew exactly what happened, I threw a belt. So I open the hood and see the serpentine belt off to one side of the motor.

There was no driving the car, so I had to call for a tow. Good thing I signed up for the AARP car thingy. I've already used it twice in the last year. 25 minutes later a tow truck showed up to take me to the car fixing place.

They tow truck guy gave me a paper to sign. Nice, no out of pocket expense for me, but $53 AARP has to pay for a 3-mile tow.

It wasn't a big deal, just a broken pulley, but I needed an oil change and the "CHECK ENGINE" light was going on and off. I figured since I had it in the car fixing place, I have them do that stuff too.

Today I picked up the car $302.02 poorer.

Look on the bright side, I could have had to pay the $53 for the tow.

Me, My OLd Lady & My Hog

Remember when my Old Lady and me went to the charity auction/dinner? The one where I made a fool of myself belly dancing? They took pictures of us and I finally received them.

Here's me and my Old Lady....

....and me and my hog.

I haven't ridden it yet, but I swear I will when the weather gets warmer.



But don't hold your breath until I do.


J/K


I swear I'll ride it.


Some day.


I swear.

FAVORITE HNT OF 2008

The theme for this weeks HNT, as per the rules laid down by the High Exalted Ruler Os, is to post our favorite HNT post of 2008. This one is my favorite. I'm not sure if Lori would agree, but I'm certain she will like this one A LOT. You'll understand when you see it.

BTW, this post is from my old blog, so many of you have never seen it before.

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Thursday May 7, 2008

ARMY DAYS HNT

Forty years ago this week I was drafted into the US Army.














Thirty Eight years ago this week I was discharge with the rank of Specialist E-5. Which ain't bad after just two years. Here's a picture of me right after I got out the hospital after being wounded.


Now after all these years here I am in one of my finer BTExpress moments. I'm happier than I've ever been and living life at it's fullest.

Happy HNT Y'all!

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I also want to wish each and everyone a very Happy New Year. May 2009 be your bestest year ever.

Hope you all had a good Christmas

Mine was good. Brian and I exchanged gifts around noon right after he got up. He's on vacation, so finally got to sleep in. I got him a few things for his new truck and some money to buy a backup camera for it. He's never driven any kind of truck before and backing up makes him nervous, because he can't see that well like he could in his car.

Brian gave me a an American Express gift card, because I have everything I need, so I am next to impossible to buy gifts for. For birthdays he usually give me scratch off lottery tickets for the same reason. He gave me two LARGE bottles of gin, which is always a welcome gift. Then a gift of a toaster oven with a rotisserie and a small chest freezer. My refrigerator is a smaller one, about 3/4 the size of a regular one. The about 1/4 of that is taken up by the ice makers, which leaves a limited amount of space for frozen food. It's always packed to the max after I go shopping, so the new freezer will come in very handy. Now I just have to figure out where to put them.

Both Brian and I went over to Lori's for dinner later. Last week Lori invited him over for Christmas dinner, which he immediately accepted. This was his second time over there, the first being Thanksgiving. All three of Lori's kids were there, so it was nice to have both our families together.

After dinner we exchanged gifts. Brian gave Lori an American Express gift card, because neither of us had any idea what he could get her. Lori gave him a stocking stuffed with more things for his car, candy and a scratch off lottery ticket. I gave Lori's kids a VISA gift card like I always do. The kids gave me gin & tonic, some sweats, a hand held video game, some nuts and a couple other small gifts.

When I asked Lori what she wanted for Christmas, she told me nothing because I'd told her that since I'd already gotten her so much already, and got her car fixed a couple of times, that the those were to be considered her Christmas presents. The last being a leather jacket about a month ago. I have been rather generous all year long, so that wasn't a stretch.

Now that just wouldn't be right, now would it?

So I wrapped up two boxes of toilet paper and box of paper towels. It's an inside joke with her and her kids, because they are always running out the stuff. It got a big laugh from them, but my son was stumped why I'd give her that. I had to explain why and I think he thought I was nuts.

You didn't actually think that's all I'd give her, did you?

Nope, I gave her a replica of the legs lamp in the movie "A Christmas Story". That's the movie where Ralphie wants a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas. That was a big hit with them all. They all love that movie and watch all 24-hours of it from 8:00pm on Christmas Eve until the last show goes off at 8:00pm on Christmas Day.

Nope, that wasn't all. I'm not that cheap.

Last I gave Lori a couple of VISA gifts cards, so she could buy some things for herself. I know there are some things she needs, but she'd have to get them herself, so money it was.

We sat around chatting for a bit, them Brian left to see some friends. I stuck around a while longer then headed home so Lori could get ready for her trip up to Rhode Island today to visit her family. That means I'll be all alone again this weekend. :-(

Anyone want to come over and help me rearrange my kitchen and figure out where the hell I'm going to put the toaster oven and freezer? I have PLENTY of gin & tonic for you.