Let’s Catch Up

Posted on July 19, 2020 by Just Chuck
Homestyle Chicken

So Freshly has not disappointed. Turns out the meals are pretty good and are perfectly portioned. I’ve enjoyed three different meals with the Homestyle Chicken being my favorite. Steak Peppercorn was also good and the Chicken Parm was adequate. I judged the Chicken Parm against an Olive Garden version and it was a little short. the mozzarella cheese did not sit on top of the chicken, it melted into the sauce and was a gooey, cheesy marinara sauce. Still good taste-wise, just not aesthetically appealing.

So what else has been going on. Its been four days since the last posting and its just been work. Some house cleaning. Some reading. Some You-Tube watching. The normal stuff. Oh and some mixing of some practice songs. My latest using Mixbus. I post all my stuff on Soundcloud so here is that song.

The Catalyst by The Gallery

There is some other stuff on there as well. Other mixes, and some of my own songs.

This past Friday was the anniversary of the death my best bud Dennis. I’d known Dennis since the 10th grade. That’s like 42 years. I can’t believe its been a year since his passing. I miss texting jokes and memes with him.

I learned how to pay the guitar in 6th grade and then put it aside until I met Dennis in the back of a high school Geometry class. It was Dennis who rekindled my guitar love and taught me so much. He taught me barre chords. We formed a band and jammed constantly. We had the same music taste – Kiss, Ted Nugent, Thin Lizzy, Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Rush. And we learned songs from those bands and played them if front of friends and bars. We were Leaf, Second Chance and recently Rockenstein.

Dennis in the back

Recently we had plans to put together an acoustic duo but his health went south. He was in constant pain the last 6 months of his life. You see, two years earlier he lost his left leg. The year before that he had a tripe by-pass. Smoking had closed his arteries up to the point of no circulation. After surgeries and a prosthetic it still wasn’t enough. Infections and continued circulation issues did him in. He was found by his brother on his couch in his home, alone. I miss him and his wit.

With that somber note, I’ll close this post.

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Freshly

Posted on July 15, 2020 by Just Chuck

Started trying out a new meal service – Freshly – today. Been getting emails constantly from the company and finally checked it out and decided to give it a try.

Started with the 6 meals per week plan which came with a discount the first two weeks. So this first week is only $40. We received our first shipment yesterday and I took one of the dinners to work for lunch today.

I had the Steak Peppercorn with mashed potatoes, green beans and carrots for lunch. Quite a step up from my normal lunch fair. My opinion – it was good, not like restaurant good but really good for being cooked in a microwave. I was impressed. I kept thinking to myself – this is a lot of food and it was only 490 calories. So my first meal get a thumbs up.

The service is very convenient. There is an app on my phone or you can login to your account online. You set your menu every week or you can let it ride and get the same thing. These are dinner meals or in my case I used one for lunch since I already had dinner planned for tonight. It’s not a weight loss plan, its just good dinners that you heat up in microwave or stove and eat. There are quite a number of meal choices and I’ve got about 13 of them I’m interested in trying.

You only get charged by the week. Shipments come in a box packed in ice so they arrive cold and you keep refrigerated until ready to eat. You can cancel anytime or you can pause your shipments. So my next shipment is next Tuesday and I’ve already changed up my choices for next week. Trying out a number of other meals.

Tomorrow I’ll be trying the Homestyle Chicken, 590 calories.

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Quarantine Completed!

Posted on July 12, 2020 by Just Chuck

It’s been 14 days since I could have potentially been exposed to Covid-19 by my middle son via my wife.  I guess I gotta drive into work now.  The grandson is also released to resume is week on week off with us and his mother.  So that’s good.  It’s been 3 weeks and although I love him to death, 3 weeks straight has been a challenge with a 5 year old.

I mean, before his parents (my oldest son) separated, we got to see him only on the weekend and then  he would spend one day and night with us.  We packed in a lot of activity that one day and night.  Trying to entertain a five year old for 3 straight weeks is… an achievement.  But we did it.  And me having to work from home 90% of the day.  The other 10% would involve swimming in the pool or wrestling with the grandson.

What now?  Well the world is still in that proverbial hand basket searching for a way into hell.  Wearing a mask is now the norm (or should be).  Venturing out is now even more dangerous with the virus mutated into an even more contagious strain.  Damn Chinese.

When this first started my initial comment on Facebook was that the Chinese were testing bio-weapons in their lab and one got away from them.  They do this a lot.  Seems every new virus comes from China.  WTF?  Could be they didn’t like the direction things were headed with Trump.  The economy was kicking ass, things were on the up, despite what your politics may be you gotta admit jobs were looking good and retirement accounts were plumping up nicely.  I think they did this on purpose and there will be hell to pay if that ever comes out.

Anyway, look at me blogging fairly regularly.

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Almost Done

Posted on July 10, 2020 by Just Chuck

Day 12 completed of a self quarantine due to possible exposure to someone who tested positive for Covid.  That someone being my son, who was then around his mother who was then around me.  I saw my son for all of 5 minutes on Father’s Day (June 21) and that was from 15-20 feet across the room.  My wife on the other hand was the one who drove him to the ER son that Saturday morning (June 27) 12 days ago.

Come Saturday we will have completed 14 days of quarantine.  Working from home, hanging out with our grandson who got stuck with us an extra week, and generally just taking it easy.

We found out today that my son’s girlfriend finally got her test results from 12 days ago getting tested at CVS pharmacy.  She tested positive.  That means she had it same time as my son.  She did the quick blood test earlier this week and it came up negative.  So go figure.  It’s highly probable my son got the virus from her, and she got it from a child or parent at the day care she works the week before.  Hence the reason she had to get the test – the day care was informed, which triggered all their employees needing testing.  Unfortunately it took TWO WEEKS for CVS to get the results back.  Meanwhile she was in contact with my son and also came by our house.  C’mon CVS.

In the end, she never really got sick.  My son got sick but he never showed any virus symptoms.  But we think his sickness was from the diabetes that snuck up on him.  The diabetes could’ve triggered a positive virus test results.

So did the diabetes trigger a positive test result or did the virus trigger the diabetes?  I’ve read articles saying both.  Will we ever know?  I doubt it.  You can’t get two Doctors to agree on a treatment plan both during and after the virus.

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Subdued holiday

Posted on July 6, 2020 by Just Chuck

Well, 4th of July has come and gone.  No BBQ with the family, no driving out to watch fireworks.  And now, I’ve started my second week of self quarantine.  I guess if nothing pops up by this Friday I can consider myself virus free.

Meanwhile my son has been adapting to his new role as a diabetic.  He’s lost the cough he had when he left the hospital.  I would give him two weeks of no flare up and consider him virus free as well.  He’s getting into a routine for his diabetes and has a new doctor and a visit coming up.  So he’s on a nice glide path.

We were supposed to attend a wedding this Saturday for my nephew, that ain’t happening.  On top of us being quarantined, they found out today that one of the bridesmaid has tested positive.  And they had a big bridal shower last week.  yikes.

We cancelled our beach vacation to Destin, FL.  Probably was a wise decision.  Looks like Florida is closing bars and beaches left and right to try and stop the spread of the virus.  And it doesn’t hurt that I’m saving $4K.

What a frickin’ year its been.  Is there no end in sight?

 

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Feeling blessed today

Posted on July 3, 2020 by Just Chuck

My son got released from the hospital this morning!  Yay!  He was told to quarantine himself for at least 72 hours and be symptom free and he should be fine.  I would’ve preferred they run another covid test.  He’s locking himself in his apartment for a week.  So this time next Friday he should be able to come over and swim with us.

Meanwhile he has to get into an eating pattern for his diabetes.  Test, eat, insulin shot, repeat.  It’s definitely a life change for him and his girlfriend, and us.  He’s always been in good health, not overweight (skinny even), eats fairly healthy.  Still weird that he becomes a diabetic.  Thank goodness he is still on my health insurance.

My father -in-law is a diabetic, and we always have to watch out for him and make sure he doesn’t go into a daze.  I remember one episode where he didn’t test before leaving work and ended up going into a haze where he could still drive his car but couldn’t control where.  He ended up leaving his job in downtown Austin (TX) and driving straight up highway I35 (a major highway running north) and ending up in a ditch 50 miles north of Austin.  Scary shit.  There have been a number of minor episodes where he’ll space out and you have to give him a candy bar or a coke to get him back.

My brother was diagnosed diabetic 3 weeks ago.  He’s having to learn the whole pattern.  He is not overweight but he does not eat healthy so his diagnosis is out of the blue at 56 years old.  So this has been a strange, stressful month.

So glad my son is looking healthy and in good spirits.  We’ll look back on his hospitalization and all this pandemic activities in the future and wonder how this all could happen on such a large scale, affecting so many lives.

If you’ve read this far – wear a mask when in public around strangers or at work.  It does help.  And wash your hands constantly.

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We thought it wasn’t that bad

Posted on July 2, 2020 by Just Chuck

We were wrong.  Sure we were careful but not in the strict sense.  Wearing our masks, not venturing out too much.  Eating at home.  That is until our middle son woke up Saturday morning asking to be taken to the Emergency Room.  His mother was at his apartment checking how he was doing and noticed he was laboring to breathe while he was sleeping.  He woke up and requested to be taken to ER.

Before this even happened, at 4:00 a.m. that morning his girlfriend had to call an ambulance because he had been throwing up for almost 24 hours.  The EMT checked him out and said “you have no fever, no cough, no Covid symptoms, you must have a stomach virus”.

Upon arrival at the ER, he was checked again, and again, no fever, with only symptom being labored breathing.  They took him back and ran tests.  Then we waited for the dreaded results.

He tested positive for Covid.  What?  Are you sure?  He’s been diligent about masks and staying home.  Yep the Scarlet C.  Once he tested positive he was moved into ICU and we could no longer see him.

He spent a day and night in ICU, then improved enough for them to move him into a CCU (critical care unit) room on Monday.  And a day later he was downgraded to a regular Covid room.  We’ve not seen him since Saturday morning.

It is now late Thursday night, he is doing better but his White Blood Cell (WBC) count was low on Wednesday and so they’ve been monitoring him.  This afternoons report was his WBC was trending upward.  So that is good.

HOWEVER.  As if Covid wasn’t enough, they diagnosed him as diabetic, type 2.  WTF?  What do you mean a 25 year old who is in good health, not overweight contracts diabetes?  So another issue he’s been fighting in the hospital is his insulin level.  It took 2 days to stabilize that.  Then on Tuesday they started teaching him how to test his blood and give himself a shot.  This got us worried because diabetes is a near death sentence if you have Covid.

Everything came crashing down on him and he was crying when we finally got to talk to him over the phone.  I can’t tell you how bad it feels to hear your 25 year old son cry because he is overwhelmed with what is happening to him.  Why is this happening?  How could this happen?

Hopefully Friday brings more positive news and he can look forward to getting released.  Meanwhile those of us who had contact with him in the few days leading up to his ER visit are in self quarantine.  14 days.  And we are monitoring our temperature and oxygen content daily.  Working from home.  Every cough, sore throat or headache is suspect now.  I’m finding it difficult to get a good night sleep.  Worrying about my other sons, my grandson, my wife and myself.  I’ll feel better when these next 8 days of quarantine pass uneventful.

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I swear I’m going to blog regularly

Posted on July 1, 2020 by Just Chuck

I need to use this blog to get shit off my mind. A history of my life too perhaps starting NOW!. Or tomorrow, July 1, 2020. Yeah that sounds like a plan. So get ready for a catch up posting.

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I’ve Got Something to Say

Posted on July 30, 2018 by Just Chuck

Time to start getting more regular in my postings.  Facebook is great for sharing photos and seeing what family and friends are up to, but I’d like to say more.  I used to say more when I had my blog years ago.  So I’m going to comment on stuff and what’s going on and leave it at that.  If you happened on this blog by random coincidence, welcome.

Two weekends ago I went to my first comic book convention.  I wouldn’t call this a convention.  It was pretty small but it was a great one to start with.  Lots of comic vendors and toy vendors.  A couple of handfuls of local COS players.  over 10 writers and artists, some that I know and  enjoy their work.  I went with my oldest son and grand kids.  It was a great little starter experience.  I think I could be ready for a bigger convention now.  I don’t like crowds so this one was right up my alley.  And the kids enjoyed it.  we were there 2 hours and took photos with a number of COS players.  Picked up a bunch of Funko POP figures.  I’ve started a 1966 Batman collection.

So this past weekend, on Friday the wife and I attended a concert.  Frampton and the Steve Miller Band.  Two iconic rock heroes from the 70’s.  I  saw Peter Frampton back in 1979 when I was attending USM.  Had 2nd row seats which was pretty cool.  Frampton opened the show and played all his hits and of course the whole talkbox thing.  He is still a great guitarist even without his hair.  What really made the show special was the stories he told about the past.  Great stuff.

I had never seen Steve Miller so this was a treat.  We used to listen to his album (8 track actually) Book of Dreams when we’d head out on the school bus to play a football game.  Good times.  Steve Miller played all his hits and like Peter Frampton he added stories behind songs or behind the Sitar he bought for $125 that he played.  What I really thought was cool was bringing out Peter Frampton and they played two blues numbers.  I had to giggle.  the people there to see him play his radio hits didn’t know what to think.  This girl 3 rows in front of us had to stop dancing and sit down.  Which brings me to two pet peeves:

  1. people who come to a concert and then talk during it.  two ladies sitting right behind me spent the first two songs of Framptons set talking about their mothers and other stupid shit.  Arrgh!
  2. people who stand up in front of you dancing our just fucking standing there with their hands in their pockets.  Jesus Christ.

Steve Miller and Peter Frampton were entertaining and I’m glad we got the floor tickets and saw them.

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Testing

Posted on July 13, 2018 by Just Chuck

Testing, Testing.  Is this thing on?

It’s me, 5 years later.  Can’t believe this blog is still active and I can still post stuff on it.  I think this just may be the outlet I need to release my opinions and frustrations.  Facebook just isn’t the spot for that.  Facebook is like a family photo album with advertisements and/or a place to find old girlfriends and buddies and try to reconnect. 

Ever wonder how many divorces Facebook has caused thanks to that ability to find old flames, or the one that got away?

So in the past 5 years all my kids are grown and I’ve become an ATM machine.  But I feel blessed.  My parents are still around, my kids and wife are healthy, my grand kids are healthy.  Everyone is well adjusted and no drama.

Things I would like to see:

  1. My oldest son getting a better paying job with benefits.  Either get a degree or learn a trade so he can move up and provide for his family without my support.
  2. My middle son getting a degree or learning a trade and successfully moving out on his own
  3. My youngest son completing his final 2 years of college and getting a good paying job and start paying off his student loans.

In addition to the above I’d like to get out of credit card debt,  Just this year we’ve racked up a bunch of debt due to car repairs, house improvements and my own self indulgence with a new TV, sound system, Mac computer and recording stuff.  And now we have a big beach vacation coming up that was charged on the credit card.  Ouch.

I want to keep this blog thing going so we’ll see how this works.

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