Captainwow: August 2004

Goodbye Little Flip Flop

You may recall, if you've read this Previous Flip Flop Post or yesterday's post that I have had some Flip Flop issues for about half the summer.

Well my friends, I have some very sad news. My little Flip Flop is gone. As in, my standby Favorite Pair of Flip Flops. There is now a sad and lonely Flip Flop somewhere in the bowels of our house, stuck between the Laundry Chute (yes, I do know how to spell it) and whatever is on the other side. There's no hope of getting it out that I can see short of tearing half the house down.

I thought I could save it, really I did. I thought I saw it hanging there by a thread but that was only a Tube Sock circa early 80's hanging there, caught forever on the edge of the Abyss. I discovered the Abyss when I looked up the Laundry Chute from the basement in my endeavor to rescue the lone Flip Flop. The Abyss is the hole in the Laundry Chute that we didn't know was there. And that, unfortunately is where my little Flip Flop has gone.

(Which raises an interesting, and very disgusting question of what ELSE might have tumbled into the Abyss unwittingly over the years. It's not likely that we'll ever know - or want to.)

Little Flip Flop's Significant Other sits on the floor surrounded by its own motley grief recovery support group. The Tennis Shoes are especially supportive. The New Turquoise Flip Flops are now feeling badly for being so flippant about their friendship. The Birkenstocks are relationally retarded but they do their best. The High Heels - well - they're high, and they're heels, so they're not much good to anyone in these kinds of cases. I think the most comforting are the Slippers. They know just how to be warm and fuzzy at just the right times.

My Flip Flop is Stuck in the Laundry Shoot

You should have seen it. Genius me got a couple of sets of sheets stuck in the laundry shoot.
The sheets are unstuck, but my flip flop is still stuck in there and I have a bloody hand to boot.

See, they didn't feel stuck so I let them go. But they were stuck. Very stuck. So I got a long stick. Too far down. So I went up. Really too far up to do any good. So I got the bright idea of tying some hemp chord to the end of the stick and dropping it down on the blockage to see if I had any success that way.
Nope.
But I did discover that the stick (actually a paint roller extension) could go down around the mass of sheets so I tied a flip flop to the other end of the string and dropped the stick so that I could pull the whole thing down.
It started to work but then the string broke and my flip flop was still up there.
The edge of the laundry shoot is really sharp by the way. And jamming a stick really hard up there tends to put the hands in danger.
Anyway if I stick my head in there I can see down and I think I can see where the flip flop is.
Have no fear little Flip Flop! I will rescue you!
If I can't do it, Amazing Man can!

Puttin' on the Brakes

Side note: If I start out reading email and blogs and stuff without my glasses and then put them on halfway through, it's not so hot of an idea.
Makes me think of: "No hurlin' on the shell, dude! I just waxed it." -Crush, in Finding Nemo

It's been a busy week and weekend. Or more. I knew I needed a break so today I told myself to take one. But....I knew it would happen. I told myself not to, and I did it anyway. "Today is DAY OFF DAY. NO DOING ANYTHING today!" I told myself. And then I said "well.... maybe this one teeny weeny thing?"

So I scraped the rest of the paint off the windowpanes in the living room left from last week's coop day. It went well. The window looks GREAT! (Thanks to J and KA for the prep and prime job! One down, one to go.) Got the couch put back and then began cleaning up and taking the stuff downstairs that I won't need for painting the other window and finishing the french doors.

I started downstairs and Drill Seargent Self said: "SELF!! You're walking into a mine field down there! Don't Look! No organizing! No cleaning! Just put the box down, go back upstairs, finish your coffee and no one gets hurt! You need a day off! That's an ORDER!"

Cut to quite a long time and a very cold cup of coffee later.... I grabbed myself by the collar and dragged myself away from the organizing and cleaning frenzy and into the shower in order to make myself stop. Taking a shower usually gets me to stop working because once I'm clean I don't want to get dirty or sweat any more. It's a neat little trick I use on myself now and then.

I did find my diploma from GVSU. (kind of important - why was it in the box with the shoes that should have been thrown away in the early 90's and not in the file marked "Diplomas and Transcripts"?) I found the Christmas cards that I couldn't find last year. This means I bought them 2 years ago since I almost always buy my Christmas cards the week after Christmas because I'm too cheap to pay full price for them! I re-discovered my chicken feet slippers. And the Clairol Hot Rollers circa 1970's. A started but never finished cross stitch project and some extremely old acne cream. All with assorted other items, packed in boxes lined with newspapers dated 1995. I've carted These Boxes around everywhere I've moved and not unpacked/sorted these items since then becuuuuuuuuuuuuuuz.......... ??? Yah. I don't know. But anyway, the travels of those old boxes have finally ended. Stuff to give away is in one pile and stuff to throw away is in another.
Mybe I should sell the chicken feet on ebay?

The rest of today I will not work. I will relax. I will relax. I will. But first ...........

Awwwwwwww

Hogan and Bella -

This came in an email today... Little Bella the Fawn was found with no mother and Hogan is helping care for her....

Maybe I Should Have Called 911

Raise your hand if you remember playing with your reflection in the christmas tree bulbs, or the spoon, or the crazy mirrored cover on the fish tank.

Right now I'm looking at myself in the lid of my thermal coffee cup. It makes me look like I have big Janet Reno Glasses and an extremely long proboscis where my nose should be.

I got a phone call from a friend the other night. It was a wonderful call, and I was happy to get it. She told me a beautiful story of hope and healing and of really good things happening and she called me because she knew I would know exactly why she was so excited and would get excited with her. And I did.

But also, uninvited tears started rolling down my face, some of what she told me about touched a spot in my heart that I try pretty hard to steer clear of unless there is an emotional MedEvac close by. Which there usually isn't.

In these cases I become like a child with child-needs and the tension becomes ten-fold when I'm not OK with that. So I'm trying to learn to cut myself some slack without completely unraveling and be a little bit less uncomfortable with the emotional clutter that gets strewn about during these times.

I don't completely understand stuff like this. Someone can ask me "What's going on?" And I can truthfully say "I'm not entirely sure." Cause I'm not. Exactly. And I don't have to be. Believe it or not, I'm trying to learn to wade through some of these things without analyzing them to death. Life is pretty good. I have adjusting going on but mostly things are groovy.

Probably it's an old wound unintentionally re opened, maybe it's a force field walked through, maybe the ionic field deflector is on the fritz again... I believe things happen on another plane that we can't see. Maybe it's like on The Matrix when someone gets beat up on the "other side" but back on the ship, where the physical body is, they still bleed. (to piggyback on JustPat's Matrix theme)
Dating God calls it a Cosmic Ass Whooping. I think she's on to something there.

I do know that trying to "just get over it" (or under it) isn't healthy for me. And I'm talking about it, which is also healthier for me than some of my old patterns. I'm fine describing an emotional event after it occurs and I have it all analyzed and outlined neatly. Because then I can still hide behind my neat little psychoanalysis of myself and come out looking pretty smart and together. (maybe it just looks more psychotic. I guess it depends on who I'm talking to) I'm much less inclined to talk about things as I'm going through them, especially when I don't have anything concrete to point to and say "there. That's what's wrong."

Meanwhile, I'm taking care of myself by playing with my reflection in the coffee cup lid and coping with the tension the best I know how. Taking my vitamins, calling friends, and asking for Backrubs from Amazing Man.

The Circle of Life

Today, while talking with an elderly woman, I thought of this poem:

Shel Silverstein - The Little Boy and the Old Man

Said the little boy, "Sometimes I drop my spoon."
Said the old man, "I do that too."
The little boy whispered, "I wet my pants."
"I do that too," laughed the little old man.
Said the little boy, "I often cry."
The old man nodded, "So do I."
"But worst of all," said the boy, "it seems
Grown-ups don't pay attention to me."
And he felt the warmth of a wrinkled old hand.
"I know what you mean," said the little old man.

Taste And Tell

I have thought a few times about how interesting it is that children experience life through all their senses. All five.

This can be both adorable and disgusting. Apparently not without lasting value though. Simply mentioning certain things brings the memory of the taste back quite strongly though I can't for the life of me remember actually tasting some of these things. Some of them I do, but some of them I really don't. I must have tasted them though, because I know how they taste.

They say smell is the most powerful memory evoker. I'd say that's true. Taste might be a close second. Let's give this theory a whirl...

Remember how concrete tastes?
Crayons?
Kleenex?
Paint
Boogers
Grass
Rocks
Earwax
Cotton sheets
Soap
Metal
Wood
Dandelions
Pine needles
Birthday cake candles
Play Dough
Paper
Dog Food
Teddy Bear's Ear

What's in Your Taste Archives?

Olive Juice

Someone brought me olives yesterday.
Marinated ones.
In Herbs
And Merlot.

Ominlove.

Do You Love Me Now That I Can Dance?

Every once in a while I am completely surprised by the realization that someone wants me to like them or approve of them.

Especially when it is someone I like and think is really cool.

Of Hot Wings and Sushi

Something rather amazing happened a while back.
Let me dig even further back to give you some really fascinating details so that this story has a little more meaning to you.
Years ago, a good friend introduced me to a place called BW3. Back then it stood for Buffalo Wild Wings&Weck. It was a hole in the ground (literally) in East Lansing where you had to go down some dark dank stairs to get in, get carded, whatever and then go have the hottest wings you ever had in your life. We were young then and could polish off 50 at a time. (as a team, not each) We had a lot of fun with this. Of course, if you're eating the fire wings you have to wash it down with some good weck, which we did. One evening, we decided some great music would be fun so we took our dollars over to the jukebox and proceeded to enter many many songs into the line up. I believe we were very confused and what ended up playing wasn't anything like the Pink Floyd we thought we selected - it was more like Jimmy Dean or someone like that. And I believe we put a lot of change in that jukebox - enough to croon and torture everyone in the bar for a good long time.
Anyway - there were about 6 flavors back then and we could eat the hottest ones. We'd sometimes be miserable the next day - because as you may know, the eating of wings that hot and drinking of that much beer must be atoned for, if you know what I mean.

Well, since then... BW3 has changed a bit. They've tried going more toward the "family" atmosphere (even though it's still a bar - go figure) and they've changed their name... I don't even remember right now what it's called because I still call it BW3. They're everywhere now, not just a few cities - they're a big franchise now. It's just not the same.

I still love their wings though I can't eat the super fiery ones let alone 50 of them, and I can't put away the weck like I used to either. My hollow leg filled in at about age 28 I think, and that was the end of that era.

But now, you see... It's a brand new era. Because now I have discovered Sushi. And sushi is nicer yet with a white wine. Vouvray, preferably - or at least for now.
And friends. Must eat sushi with friends. Especially the roll your own kind. We're creating some very fond memories surrounding sushi these days, and it's hard to imagine a week going by without a sushi/wasabi hit of some kind or another.

A couple of weeks ago JustPat and I were planning to get together, discussing what to do, and I mentioned sushi. She suggested BW3 and the theretofore unthought of occurred - I could NOT decide. Sushi or BW3. My brain crapped right out at that intersection.

Because of some outside circumstances, we ended up having neither that evening but I was speechless to find that my tastes have changed enough that choosing between hot wings and sushi was actually difficult.

In other news, Amazing Man's little turquoise blue hoopy now belongs to Mel Trotter. We thank the little blue car for its loyalty and service. We say keep up the faith, little blue hoopy and run well for someone else now!

Blog Vein

See my new clock? ---------------->>>
I got it cause it's blue and it matches my blog decor.

Kevin and I heard this on the last comedien standing or whatever it was called.
"if a tree falls in the woods and there's no one there to hear it

do the squirrels grab their nuts and run?"
I guess we'll never know..........

Blog party? As opposed to a Block Party.

let's see...... I don't know how it would be any different than our other parties.. but...... it's an excuse to have a party with a cool name, right?? GR Bloggers????? any takers??

Ya, and for those super astute readers. Yes, I deleted the last post.
It caused some confusion.
Some thought it was a cryptic cry for help.
So it's gone.

carry on......

The Camping Adventures of Captainwow

We went camping this weekend and as promised, Captainwow went along too. We really enjoyed showing him the North Woods and he seemed to love the fresh air and scenery.
Here are some of his favorite vacation photos:

Captainwow has a terrific attitude.. after the frustration of trying to set up the tent by himself, (he insisted) he was clearly confused, but we found him amid the chaos with a smile on his face anyway.

We almost didn't hear his cries for help as we were trying desperately to clean dog poop off of Amazing Man's running shoe.

Captainwow understands the value of good exercise. He lets us know when he's ready for a walk.