Sunday Stealing-Alec Clayton

Hi! Your host is Bev Sykes of the blog "Funny the World". . Welcome to Sunday Stealing. This feature originated and published on WTIT: The Blog. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves! 

 

From AlecClayton

 

1. Do you put ketchup on hot dogs?  If it’s just a regular hot dog, ketchup and relish. If it’s a Vienna hot dog, or a Nathan’s hot dog, then it’s Chicago Style...mustard, onions, relish, tomato slice, pickle slice, and 1 sport pepper. It is sacrilegious to put ketchup on a Chicago Style hot dog!

2. How many TVs in your house?  Two that are hooked up + one in the box (when my daughter gets her apartment we will give her our bedroom tv and set up the new one in the bedroom). There is also an old style tv in my son’s room for his video game systems.

3. Do you put salt on watermelon? Always have. 

4. Can you swim? I can.  

5. Are your parents still alive? No. 

6. First car? 1971 Pontiac Granville. It was HUGE, and it had all the bells and whistles and forever spoiled me into getting cars with everything.

7. Surgeries? Left shoulder bone spur removed, hysterectomy, gallbladder removed, back surgery.

8. What do you drink in the morning? Black coffee.

9. Can you do 100 push ups? 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

10. Can you change a tire? I know how to change a tire and changed more than my fair share. Now, because of my back, shoulders, and now knee, I cannot physically do it myself, however I’m sure I could instruct my son on how to do it if I had to. My Dad taught my sister and I before we had our first behind the wheel lessons in high school. No, we didn’t help each other, I had to do it, then 2 years later, my sister had to do it. He had us rotate his tires, so, back then that was 5 tire changes. 

11. Tattoos? None. I had wanted to get one because it seemed every woman I dated had at least one. I could never pick what I wanted. I went to one of the best shops in Chicago with a woman I was seeing and a friend of hers. While her friend was having color added to a tattoo on the back of her neck (yikes!), I looked through all their binders of tats they had done. It was an overwhelming number of tats.

12. Do you wear sunglasses? Yes. I have a pair that looks like Ray Ban Wayfarers that fit over my Ray Ban prescription eyeglasses. Meijer has lots of sunglasses that fit over prescription eyeglasses. They are not those ugly “As Seen on Tv” fit over your eyeglasses kind. 

13. Do you have a phobia? From time to time I do.

14. Do you have a nickname? I used to, when I was school aged. When I moved to Chicago I left my nickname behind. Except that my father-in-law calls me it, and while it’s irritating because my wife had told him to stop calling me by that, I know it’s because he has memory issues, so I let it go. Why do I not like it? I grew up with it and I was never called by my legal name until I moved.

 

15. Are you a picky eater? No. never have been.

Lola’s Diner cc.  2008-2021

Day 344-350 of Sheltering In

Saturday-Saturday. Not much going on...that’s not medical related. ☹️ I need some fun or something.

My daughter is itching to come on a home visit. Supposedly home visits are no longer restricted to 14 days or more...last time I checked. This is due to clients having gotten the 2 vaccine doses. Of course this could change any time. My daughter really wants to be home for St Patrick’s Day. She wants corned beef and cabbage. Monday she asked me what was on the menu for Easter. Really? Monday was March 1st, Easter is April 4th, nearly a month apart. Do I really need to plan my menu a month in advance?

My daughter is still trying to find out about the apartments. When is move in day, and what are they providing? Or does my daughter have to go on a massive shopping trip? My daughter did hear that the apartments were furnished, but not from reliable sources. 

I don’t know what the deal is, but this week it’s really hit me hard that I’m going to be 60 in July. Maybe it’s because my daughter will be 28 on Easter. Or maybe it’s because my hair is starting to go wayyyy more gray than light brown. Or maybe it’s because 2 classmates passed away last week. One was trim and very healthy looking (no cause of death given), the other has had serious health issues for years. The first one grew up in my neighborhood, but I didn’t really know him. He was in some of my grade school classes, that’s it. The second went to the same high school, but I didn’t know her at all.

PT started up again this week for my L knee/leg. Not all that thrilled because they scheduled me 3 days a week. That means it will be near impossible to drop by my daughter’s group home. 

I continue to be on a news free binge. I continue my ban on tv news and have added CNN and HuffPost online. I occasionally read an article from a notification. I completely stopped reading articles about the stimulus check. They are all repetitive, and let’s face it, it’s going to be awhile. I’ve told my kids it’s not a topic up for discussion. We need that money for a furnace, and probably electrical work. We tried the furnace last week and it appears it’s not getting any electricity. Apparently the flood water was high enough to damage the on/off switch. Tuesday I paid last month’s electric bill which was due Wednesday. I waited until the last minute hoping for a miracle, or something. It was a 1 month bill. $430.10. 🤯 It’s so high because of the oil filled electric space heaters.

In stupid news of the day...last night I tripped and smashed my forehead, eye, and upper cheek into the window air conditioner. Good thing we never took it out of that window. If it hadn’t been there I would have smashed into the window. I tripped on air, or my own other foot. I’ve been sleeping very little, so I was exhausted. Maybe that’s why it happened? Bonus...I fell asleep right away. I expected to wake up with a black eye, or bruising on my forehead and cheek, but none. My cheek is a little swollen and tender. I got off lucky. Apparently this was hilarious!

Lola’s Diner cc.  2008-2021

Sunday Stealing-Senior Life

Senior Life  

Funny the World". . Welcome to Sunday Stealing. This feature originated and published on WTIT: The Blog. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves!

1. What is the farthest you have ever travelled?

California. I went there to pickup my then husband after he had a psychotic break while he was there for job training.

2. Who did you date while in high school?

No one.

3. What is one of the worst trips you've ever taken? What went wrong?

In the ‘80’s my sister and I drove to Florida during the rainy season. We drove my car and were supposed to share the driving. Because she’s a wuss, I had to drive through Georgia to Florida with no break. The rain in Georgia was like a sheet of water. If I drove 15mph that was a lot. I did pull over a couple of times to calm my nerves and unclench my fingers from my steering wheel.

4. How do you like to spend a lazy day?

I was streaming series and movies, but I’ve hit the wall because I’m having difficulty finding something to watch that I am interested in, and haven’t watched before. I have Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and HBO Max (“Tom & Jerry” was awful.) I’ve been reading now instead. I’ve read 59 days in a row. (I signed up for the Kindle Reading Challenge and it keeps track of the days I’ve read.)

5. How old were you when you found out that JFK had been assassinated? How did it affect you?

I was 2 years old when JFK was assassinated. I probably found out in high school. I also read Stephen King’s “11/22/63”, and watched the series with James Franco. It was meant to be a continuing series, but it never got any further than the one series.

6. Who has been one of the most important people in your life?

My Mom. She was always there for me. She passed away suddenly in 1984. I miss her very much.

7. What is one trait you would most like to improve in yourself?

Interrupting people. I wasn’t always like this. In my school years it wasn’t an issue because I kept to myself. When I came out I joined a couple of gay social groups and made some friends. Then because the woman I was dating in the group broke up with me, she got the group and everyone in it and I got 1 friend, who I later found out was still in the group. She’s engaged to my sister-in-law. We aren’t friends anymore, but she does chat me up on Messenger sometimes. Yesterday it was to ask me what my daughter needs for her apartment when she moves in. (She’s been living in a group home and has been deemed independent enough to get one of the brand new apartments not far from me. There will be staff living in the premises. Kind of like a landlord, but they are trained staff.) So, the point of all this background story is the best way I can explain why I do this now. I have no friends, so when I do have the rare opportunity to talk to someone I just can’t seem to wait for my turn. Another factor is my poor short term memory. I interrupt because I’m afraid I’m going to forget what I was going to say. It sux. My wife hates this habit. I’m trying to do better.

8. Did you date someone in college?

Nope. I didn’t date until I was 28. I chalk it up to being confused. Guys just didn’t ask me out, because I guess they knew I was gay. I wasn’t sure what was up with me and I didn’t know any lesbians that I could even just talk to about it. Once I came out at about the age of 39 I dated like crazy. I was definitely trying to make up for lost time. Lol!

9. What was your dream car?

When I was in high school it was a Pontiac Trans Am with T-Tops.

10. Did you have a family member you wish you'd gotten to know better?

Other than my parents, no one else. A couple of years before my 2nd wedding I made an effort to reach out to family on my Mom’s side. They lived out of state. The conversations were stilted, and full of uncomfortable silences. The year I got engaged I called 1 aunt who conferenced in another aunt. The older one didn’t say much, not even congratulations. The younger one was very happy for us and congratulated us. Neither attended my wedding.

11. Tell me about your greatest gardening success.   

It would probably be the year I planted sunflower seeds. I really don’t think you can screw those up. They grew like crazy to about 10 feet tall. I try to grow vegetables every year, but I’m not very successful.

12. What was your Dad like when you were a child?

He was a great Dad. He taught me how to ride a bicycle. He also made me his assistant in the garage when he worked on his car. I handed him tools and put them away when he was done with them.

13. What is the best job you've ever had?

The first time I worked for the real estate company. When I worked at the suburban location I was always treated with respect and they were good with raises and promotions. When I worked the downtown location years later it was terrible. I was disrespected, they low balled my salary when I started and then the raises were terrible.

14. What are your favourite songs?

Just about anything from the ‘70’s and ‘80’s.

15. If you could choose any talents to have, what would they be?

I would really like to play guitar. Maybe when I’m done with my reading, I’ll teach myself.

Lola’s Diner cc.  2008-2021

Day 343 of Sheltering In

Friday. My son and I went grocery shopping. Wow am I getting old! They were 2 seniors and one chat was before shopping, the other after. It wasn’t enough that I chatted up 2 strangers, but we each shared some medical history. Damn I’m old! Who does that? Seniors, that’s who. Here’s how it went down...

1. I dropped my son by the produce entrance so he could find me an electric cart and bring it to me. I parked, got out and figured I would carefully navigate from my car to the entrance. This older lady was coming at me with an electric cart. She asked if I wanted it, I said sure, and waited for her to put her groceries in the car. I thanked her and told her I really appreciated it. Then I told her about my meniscus tear, and LCL sprain and showed off my brace. She laughed and told me she also had the same injury. I asked how she got hers. She was leaving her house, pavement was dry and her leg buckled and she went down. I told her my story, getting off an MRI table and my knee buckled. I told her I did not ‘stick the landing’, and had to put my hands out to stop the fall and not do a face plant. She also mentioned she needed both knees TKR. I told her about my spouse’s 2 TNR’s.

2. We finished shopping and a senior gentleman walked over from the next lane and asked if he could have my cart if I was done with it. While my son was loading up the car he told me he needs to use an electric cart because he can only walk a very short distance. Then he mentioned it was because he tore his meniscus and sprained his LCL. I said me too! We laughed! Cuz what else would you do? The cart was empty and as he drove away we wished each other well. 

I guess if I ever get really lonely I can go to the store and chat up some seniors and compare injuries. Oh yeah, look at me trolling the parking lot for seniors. 

That’s it! I have officially become my Mother. That’s a good thing. 😁 

Kindle Reading Challenge 57 Days in a row!

FYI-The day count of each post is based upon my daughter’s group home going on lockdown March 23rd, with her last day of work being March 22nd. I think everyone is basing their counts on different days depending on when shutdown events happened near them, or affected them. Several authors whose Facebook pages I follow are in the UK and they post a couple times a week and lament that they are on total lockdown.

Lola’s Diner cc.  2008-2021

Days 341, 342 of Sheltering In

Wednesday, Thursday. Not much going on. Next week will be busy with multiple appointments for me (one new one, not sure how I feel about that one, but I have to think I will feel better about it than my appointment, and my son’s appointment on Monday), PT. Last month that appointment for me was a fairly brief televisit, and he didn’t even mention any medication changes. (If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. That’s my motto.) The first 2 visits he wanted to change everything. I’m thinking you just met me 10 minutes ago, how do you know that’s appropriate?  

Stayed home both days. I’m starting to go stir-crazy. I will get out tomorrow to grocery shop. Hopefully I will get some decent sleep. 

My wife is talking about doing laundry at her Dad’s on Saturday. His 2nd wife (I feel the need to specify because my wife’s mother passed away 8 years ago and looks like Mary Poppins compared to his 2nd wife) is working a short day, which means she will arrive before we leave. My wife wants a stand-off, wants to tell her exactly what she thinks of her. You’ve got the laundry for lunch deal, the holiday story I mentioned, the fact that Doreen’s Dad wasn’t feeling well one night and she did NOTHING! She should have immediately called for an ambulance because his blood sugar was so low he could have went into a diabetic coma. Her Dad had to get my brother-in-law to call 911. Which he immediately did. My wife even called her and asked her why she didn’t call 911. She told my wife she didn’t care. Nice. It’s like she doesn’t give a shirt about him. She’s always nasty to him. She was taking all of his monthly check to pay for her house and her condo. This happened for who knows how many years, until one of his kids was made POA for medical and financial, and took him to close bank accounts and open new ones. 

Yeah, it’s quite the mess and my wife, and really all her siblings have had enough. I don’t know that I want to witness this, nor do I think my son should. It’d be much harder to bail out 3 than 2, and I don’t want my son to go through that. I dunno. My wife does talk a good game, but she is the same woman who punched a guy in the face and kicked him in the nuts when he came at her swinging at a Metra crossing because she didn’t speed through the crossing before the gates went down so he could do the same. After she nailed him twice, he stumbled to his truck very slowly, holding on to his bits with one hand and his nose in the other, and took off back in the direction he came from. He didn’t land the punch on my wife because she ducked and got him after his punch landed in the air. (He was super drunk.) My wife got a standing ovation, fists pumping in the air, yelling “yeah” from the people on the Metra platform and the people in the cars around her honked their horns as if applauding. Yup, don’t mess with my wife. 

I’m just going to keep quiet until my wife tells me what she has decided. It’s her Dad, it’s her decision. Next week is really busy for me, but if I have to take my son to the laundromat I will. (He does all the lifting and loading the machines, I direct him which machine because we sort as we go.)

Tomorrow is Friday. Yay! Shoot! What do I care? The days all run together and if I didn’t check my iPhone calendar I would have no idea what day it was and if I had an appointment. But yay for all my blogging peeps who end their work week on Fridays.

Kindle Reading Challenge 56 Days in a row!

FYI-The day count of each post is based upon my daughter’s group home going on lockdown March 23rd, with her last day of work being March 22nd. I think everyone is basing their counts on different days depending on when shutdown events happened near them, or affected them. Several authors whose Facebook pages I follow are in the UK and they post a couple times a week and lament that they are on total lockdown.

Lola’s Diner cc.  2008-2021

Day 336-340 of Sheltering In

Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. Not a lot going on. Saturday was to be laundry day at my father-in-law’s. I stayed home because I woke up with bad sciatica and didn’t think I could sit for a car trip that long, let alone go downstairs. Apparently at some point, not sure if it was before my wife and son got there, or after, my father-in-law’s 2nd wife had a hissy fit about us doing our laundry over there. She’s just jealous. Seriously! She is not a nice person, nor is her family. Her and her family are why we stopped going there for holidays. (They wouldn’t even say hello, made my wife get up and walk around the table to get food. They already ate and they wouldn’t pass any food! Not because of a lack of food, because they are all ashhats!) Every single one of our wedding photos with her in it she’s got RBF (resting b*%#h face). Truth! It’s the fact that she can’t stand to see him having fun with his kids. They play cards all afternoon, my wife brings something to make for lunch, then cleans up after herself. That kitchen looks cleaner than when my wife gets there. We even bring our own laundry detergent and dryer sheets. My wife wants to go over there every week because of her Dad’s poor health. Doing the laundry helps us save money (laundromats are crazy expensive). With how high our electric bill is we need to save anywhere we can.

My daughter officially broke up with her boyfriend on Monday. She had her counselor and her boyfriend’s counselor sit with her on the conference call. The group home he lives in splits the week with the one my daughter lives in because they can’t have 100% capacity at day program due to the pandemic. They had to call him at his group home. After the call the counselors praised my daughter for the way she handled it. He kept saying she should move with him to Maryland. My daughter, without consulting me, my wife, my sister, or Anastasia, decided all on her own that there was no way she was moving to Maryland. Good for her! They were boyfriend and girlfriend for a little over a year, broke up for over a year and a half, then together for a little over a year. My daughter said that first breakup did not go well and was not at all  pretty, so that’s why she wanted reinforcements. I’m proud of my daughter.

I had my daughter find out if the rules have changed for home visits because St Patrick’s Day, and her birthday/Easter are coming up. No change. ☹️ She has a pulmonologist appointment in Wheaton in March. No staff has ever given her a ride that far. My wife or I have driven her. My daughter needs to find out if we can drive her if we all wear masks in the car, because there is no other way for her to get there. Due to her asthma not being under control the pulmonologist is insisting on an in person visit. We need to know ASAP, because if we have to do a 14 day visit we need to plan it so it doesn’t mess up her coming home for her birthday/Easter. Can’t do more than 14 days.

I return to PT next week. It will almost seem like I have a social life! Not kidding! PT and grocery shopping are what gets me out of the house. It literally makes my day when I get one of the cashiers that remembers my entire family. They remember them because before the pandemic 3 or 4 of us would shop. They always ask about my daughter. The people at the PT place I go to are all very nice and remember me and the kids.

Lola’s Diner cc.  2008-2021

Sunday Stealing-Coronavirus Questions

Hi! Your host is Bev Sykes of the blog "Funny the World". . Welcome to Sunday Stealing. This feature originated and published on WTIT: The Blog. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and ntelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves!

 

 

 

 Coronavirus  

questions

In the past year have you–

1. Gone without a bra (Plastic Mancunian & Bud may skip this one!)
If I’m not leaving the house, or having company, why not be comfortable?
2. Skipped making your bed.
No.
3. Ordered groceries to be delivered
No. Grocery shopping is the only time I get out of the house. I wear a mask and gloves and social distance.
4. Cooked a real meal
I only cook real meals.
5. Spent the day in pajamas?
I don’t wear pj’s. I wear sweatpants to stay warm and because all of my jeans and khakis have skinny jean legs and I can’t get them over my knee brace. So my wardrobe consists of track pants and sweat pants.
6. Skipped shaving your legs
Every day. 
7. Spent hours on Instagram or Pinterest
I rarely go on Instagram, but I go on Pinterest a lot. I look for recipes and crafty stuff.
8. Eaten in a restaurant
I haven’t eaten “in” a restaurant in over 350 DAYS! It’s weird to read that. We used to dine in at restaurants a couple of times a month before the coronavirus. We did the outdoor dining thing twice. Both times were at different restaurants. It just made us nervous, and wasn’t worth it. We used to meet an older couple for breakfast about twice a month, but none of us are comfortable eating at a restaurant. Restaurants have officially been allowed to open for reduced capacity, but restaurants ignored the no dining in for a couple of months and we’ve heard about area bars and restaurants not following the reduced capacity, no sitting at the bar, socially distanced tables. If they aren’t following those rules, what other rules are they not following? We cook at home mostly. We get takeout mostly at fast food places, if we don’t cook at home or get frozen dinners.
9. Skipped washing your hair.
No.
10. Not folded the laundry 
I fold it when I feel up to it.
11. Worked a puzzle
I don’t own any puzzles.
12. Had Zoom calls
Just a few medical appointments.
13. Written letters.
Who on earth would I write them to?
14. Binge watched a TV show
All the time.
15.Gone barefoot

If I’m not wearing shoes or boots, I’m wearing slippers.

Lola’s Diner cc.  2008-2021