The Happiest Thing I've Seen

I went to visit a friend last week and while we were out walking around the neighborhood I saw the happiest thing I think that I've ever seen in my life.

Picture it:  One of the first nice Spring days we've had this year, the sun was out, the clouds were out, the leaves on the trees were out, it was gorgeous.  

We had decided to walk down to Vedgewater Garden and check out the plot.  Last year my friend was able to get a plot and we had a grand harvest.  He's signed on for Season 2, I told him he didn't realize how lucky he was, most programs get cancelled after Season 1 - and he had made it to Season 2.

He'd already been to the garden and cleaned it up, in fact he found a bunny hatch under a big oregano bush that had grown overwinter, there were four cute little bunnies calling it home.

Garden Bunny

We took our time in the garden and had a leisurely walk home through the neighborhood.  As we were turning a corner we heard what we thought were shouts, but only once or twice and then nothing so we paid no attention.  Then we heard it again, but now it sounded like singing.........and laughing.......and it grew louder.

Before we knew it, it had passed us and we sat there trying to take it all in, I was astonished at what I'd seen.  (ooohhhh clickbait)

We had just seen an old man (I mean OLD man) in a wheelchair, in a "contraption" holding the wheelchair, attached to a bicycle that was being peddled by a young man.  I had no time to pull out my camera, I had no time to take it what was going on, but it was the happiest thing I think I have ever seen.

The look on the old man's face was priceless, like he was running a marathon, like he was re-enacting that scene from Titanic on the bow, like he was 15 years old again.  He was singing at the top of his lungs, and he was laughing and basically hootin' and hollerin'.  The boy powering the contraption had the biggest smile on his face, getting satisfaction beyond belief from the reaction he was getting from the old man. 

I can only assume that this gentleman's grandson had created this device (there's a picture of something similar) so that he could take his Grandfather on a bike ride, to allow him to feel the wind blowing on his face after probably being stuck at home for years.  

But as we watched them pass by, suddenly a car came barreling down the street blowing it's horn and caused the whole bike wheelchair combination to flip and end up on it's side, an ambulance was called and the old man......nope, that didn't happen, but I couldn't leave you with such a sweet, fantastically touching story and not make you think something bad happened.....it didn't, something wonderful happened.  

I hope that man gets to go on a bike ride every day!

Preparing for Vegas: Raising Alcohol Tolerance

I'm going to Vegas in a month to visit my BFF and his boyfriend.  They moved there in February to get away from these blasted Midwestern winters.

They were my drinking buddies and since they left, I really haven't had that much to drink....which means I'm in trouble if I don't get my tolerance back up.

I can see it now, don't drink for 3 months, go to Vegas, have 2 drinks, pass out drunk take 3 out of 5 days to recover...nope, not gonna happen.

This weekend I kicked off the RAT4V (Raising Alcohol Tolerance 4 Vegas) Program in preparation.

Friday night I went with my friend Gregory to the Rogers Park Social Club for a cocktail and food truck venture - every Friday a foodtruck stops in front of the bar so you can have a drink and a bite.  This week it was Wow Bao and I had a big Ginge Shandy something or other that got me really woozy!

Sunday afternoon Gregory invited me to go with him to a friends birthday party at R Public House and they've got this delicious grapefruit beer Stiegl-Radler - OMG add a shot of vodka and boom you're outta there because it's so fruity and goes down so quickly.

This week I plan on having at least 2 drinks on the ride home from work, it's only 18 minutes but I think I can do it.  They sell beer and wine leading to the tracks and alcohol is allowed on Metra, so I think I'm gonna grab me a box of wine or something from CVS and get buzzed before I get home.

Next week I'll bump it up to three nights and I think I'll keep the party going one night til after dinner.  I think if I follow that up with an early start drinking on Friday until at least midnight I think I'll be back on track and ready to party it up in Vegas.

See that's the problem with people going to Vegas and getting so drunk they can't function....they didn't practice.

Partying in Vegas is not for the weak, you've got to have a plan!!!!

Too late review: The threatening non-threat

This isn't a Review, per se, but it is a comment left on a Facebook post.  

What happened to make this person comment doesn't really matter, what matters is how threatening his non-threat is.

By saying "Now that's one business that surely won't get my business." he really means "I've never been to that place before and have never thought of going there, but now that YOU"VE had a bad experience you so called Fauxbook friend, I now have a reason to be outraged.

That's what it is.......people just want to be outraged, no matter what the situation is.

Are you outraged?

Grindr is dead as it's sold off to a Chinese gaming company

It's official, Grindr is dead. 

A 60% stake of Grindr was sold to a Chinese Gaming Company based on a $155MM valuation (so around $93MM)

Why do I say it's over?  The owner is the person who has the greatest stake in a company and since Grindr just sold off 60% of it that means it's no longer owned by the person who started the company.

He's gettin' out while the gettin's good.

Spirit Airlines has the worst in-flight service

A recent survey shows that Spirit Airlines is the WORST in-flight service, I sort of disagree.

I recently had the opportunity to fly Spirit when I went to visit my parents in Florida, it was my first time flying them, like Jet Blue was the first time I flew them last year when we went to Puerto Rico.

I sort of figured that Spirit would be like Jet Blue but without all the bells and whistles, I was correct.  But I wasn't disappointed, it's what I expected.

I think that air travelers expect too much from an airline.  One of the funniest things I heard while waiting at the gate for my flight was a gentleman sitting behind me saying "I like Spirit, but they nickle and dime you to death." Uhm, dude, isn't that their entire business model?

I just don't understand why someone, like him, would ride a low-cost carrier and then complain about it?  oh that's right, because he expected more.  He thought he was paying rock-bottom prices and getting top-notch service, guess he enjoys the taste of champagne but only has a beer budget.

I actually enjoyed my flight on Spirit, I got to my seat quickly because people weren't clogging up the aisle trying to shove their oversized carry-ons into too full overhead compartments, there weren't people trying to decide "oh where I can I sit but at the same time inconvenience everyone else so I can sit alone," it was actually quite pleasant.

Everyone that I encountered on both trips, were pleasant and helpful and did their jobs, oh wait, I should have expected them to go above and beyond and perhaps meet me at the gate with a bowl of warm nuts, but I didn't, and I didn't get warm nuts.  But I wasn't disappointed either.

I knew what I was getting into, I took my own entertainment, my own bottle for water, my own snack, so all I expected was someone to check my bag, someone to check my ticket, someone to explain the safety procedures to me, and someone to deliver my bag to me in the end.

I got exactly what expected.  American's are turning into a bunch of whiney children who get frustrated or upset when they don't get the treatment that they expect they should have - regardless of who they are.  It's sorta sad

Happy New Year 2016

I just have to share this story from last night, because it's just the funniest damn thing.

Some things to know:
- our house is always cold, even with the heat on
- the floors are cold because we're over an unheated storage area
- whenever we have company I always have slippers on hand for people to wear

We had friends over for NYE last night, drill was the same, come in, hug, kiss, take the coat, take off the shoes put on slippers, time to party.

Everything is going fine until Deeohji decides that because Uncle Logan is here, he needs a late night walk.  So Logan agrees to go for a walk, Deeohji is excited.  He goes to put on his shoes and I hear him say "Where'd my shoes go?"

Shortly before this, David had left to go pick up his boyfriend from work, so we figured that somehow, David must have accidentally put on Logan's shoes, because Logan's shoes were no where to be found, I mean we even looked in the closet like a ghost had stolen his shoes and we couldn't find them.

So yeah, David had to have had them, size 11 and all.

I take Deeohji for a walk, come back, we're all settling down in the couch to watch something on TV when Logan looks over at Gregory and says "You're wearing my shoes.  I know because I walk on the outsides of my feet."

Well come to find out, when Gregory came in, I took his coat, offered the slippers and he grabbed the biggest closest pair....which just happened to be Logan's.

I know it's a stupid story, but it was just so funny last night because it was such a big deal of not being able to find Logan's shoes.

I hope you have a wonderful 2016.

Video Store Review

Not necessarily a too late review, but a gem on it's own.

So this reviewer has experience with late fees, which means that he's done it before.  He's probably of the age of the end of Blockbuster when they would do anything to get you to walk in to their fucking store.  He's probably a little bit entitled.

I love his "unfortunately" dude, if it's right before Christmas shouldn't you be packing and buying presents instead of renting a movie, why you waiting to the last minute?

I think he finally came to his own conclusion though, he wishes Blockbuster was still around.

Everyone hates grapes unless it's jelly or wine

Have you ever noticed that people seriously don't like grape....unless it's in jelly form or it's more popular form, wine? Way back in 2005 I coonducted a very scientific poll to determine what the most/least popular flavor of Jolly Rancher candy people liked, here's a link to the results.

The most disliked flavor, all around was Grape, and its not just candy flavors.  If you ask people what flavors they like they say cherry or watermelon or blue raspberry (uhm, when was the last time you saw a blue raspberry, I think those are called blackberries - and no, not the phone type) or fruit punch, hardly anyone says "Oh I just love grape" do they?  Grape flavored gums suck, grape flavored medicines suck, grape flavored Slurpees suck, but there is one grape flavor almost everyone gets behind - grape jelly.

Now I don't know about you, but I just LOVE grape jelly, and so does my husband, so much so that we have TWO opened bottles of grape jelly in the refrigerator right now.  It's my go to jelly, now don't get me wrong, I've got other jellies in there, some cranberry jelly from the amish and some marmalades, but grape jelly is my go to jelly.  If I'm having a PB&J, that J had better mean Grape Jelly.  No Strawberry Jelly and PB - ick, no Blueberry Jelly and PB - urgh, but Grape Jelly and PB - a match that rivals PB and Chocolate.

When you have a PB&J, what flavor does your J equal?  Leave a comment

You thought your love of the McRib was strong? You got nothing!!!

Here you thought that your undying love of the McRib was the strongest in the land, but you're so so wrong.

Introducing, a lovely young lady who's name the mayor of Santa Clarita nor myself can pronounce:


Just imagine, a family tradition has been ruined because some lousy local managers have decided that they would not bring the McRib back to Santa Clarita, but instead have an "all day breakfast". Using the online tools don't help her, they only mock her by telling her that she has to go to the Bay area for some lovely pressed meat delight. The Mayor NEEDS to help because the folks that she talked to on the hotline don't take her seriously, it's too bad.

Getting caught in the rain and too soon Christmas decorations.

The lunchtime dog walk started like every other lunch time walk, only this time we were trying to get in between rain showers.

We had tried to go out an hour ago, but it was raining, now the sun was out and it looked delightful - dog leash hooked to dog, dog and I out the door.

As we get around the corner from our house I saw the first one....a fully decorated Christmas tree showcased in someone's window.  Fuck it's JUST Thanksgiving.

Then it hit me, food......as we walked down the street I could smell food, turkeys roasting, hams glazing, pies baking, and someone else was burning a real fire....oh it smelled so good.

As we got further down the block - there was ANOTHER Christmas tree on display in all it's glory - seriously people, are you that into Christmas?

When we were half-way through our walk, literally the farthest distance from the house, the skies opened up and poured down the rain on us.  When I dumped Deeohji's waste in the waste can I was tempted to grab a piece of cardboard to cover my head for the long walk home....but I didn't.  I just grinned and bared it, took my justice with a side of soon to be smelly dog.

Fortunately on our return trip I saw someone who hadn't quite taken down their Halloween decorations, perhaps they'll just leave them up for the rest of the year, who knows.

Can I give my dog a concussion?

Because he REALLY loves it when I play tugsy with his stuffed animals in a rough way hard with him...but then I remember that "oh yeah, he's trying to kill it, not play with it?" But I wonder, could you give a dog a concussion by playing rough with them? I don't wanna give my puppy brain damage.

Imma Bee

Needs to be seen, to be believed.

Posted by Michael Lehet on Sunday, November 22, 2015

Katy Perry Panda Circles The Drain

I'd almost forgotten about this

Panda as Katy Perry - Circle The Drain

Panda made another appearance recently and channeled one of Katy Perry's newest songs - Circle the Drain.Music: - Protected under Section 107 - Fair Use of the copyright law "The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes"

Posted by Michael Lehet on Thursday, November 18, 2010

She really had it out for that

It's has taken Tammy 320 days for her to be able to come to terms with writing this review.

You can tell that she really didn't want to write a bad review, but she just had to do it.

She finally bit the bullet and figured that NOW was the time for her to let people know, just how terrible this meat thermometer was.

She was denied the ability to write an actual review and I think that she still harbors that pain.

I feel for you Tammy, I really do!

Heroes Reborn: Sure ain't what it used to be

Heroes Reborn sure isn't anything like the original.

My friend Logan and I have been watching the new series, and unlike the original, we're just sorta "meh"

I think what the killer for me has been the lack of consistency from scene to scene.  It's almost like they just don't care, they're just there for the paycheck.

For example: in this latest episode: Game Over there was a scene where they had captured Harris and used him to get into the complex, they meet Miko she beats them up and Harris disappears.......and they keep on doing what they're doing.  They don't even care that Harris is gone?  It's almost like he wasn't there at all.

I mean, ok, if it were me, and I had kidnapped someone and used them to gain access to a top secret lab and then during a kerkuffle he sorta disappeared....I would freak the fuck out...where'd he go?  when's he coming back? Who's he coming back with?  But no....they just keep on going like he didn't even exist.

THEN he shows up with his clones and shit and Noah and the others hide on the other side of the bullet proof glass.  They take endless seconds showing them banging away at this impenetrable glass and the glass is all "meh, you can't fuck with me."  Bad guys disperse, Noah and company disperse, the hanger on (the guy in the flannel shirt) is shown walking out one side of the room they were in - the next thing you see, is him walking back into the original room (where the bad guys were) and confront his sister.

Wait, so he walked through a door, down a hall and probably through at least two more doors and he was on the other side of the impenetrable glass where the bad guys just were.  If that's ALL it took, then why didn't the bad guys just run down the hall and through a few doors and capture them?

The original Heroes was rife with hidden clues, you had to watch closely, pay attention, but not the reboot, in fact if you actually pay attention you might as well not watch at all.

Best Grilled Cheese EVER!

I made the best grilled cheese ever over the weekend.  It started out with breakfast, but I didn't know it at the time.

I had gotten some good bacon at the grocery store and decided to bake it in the oven instead of on the stove - hoping to save some of the splatter and mess.  BTW, baking bacon in the oven, on a rack is the best way to make bacon.

Back to my sammich.!  Lunch rolls around and I'm hungry......Along with the bacon I bought some of that Texas Toast because I also made French Toast for breakfast, so I decided to make a grilled cheese....with Texas Toast!

I had been lazy after breakfast and didn't wash the pan that I had fried the bacon in....thank goodness.  Because I used the fat from the bacon to slather on my Texas Toast and then grill to perfection.  I added some of that bacon and two kinds of cheese; some of those Kraft Singles that allegedly have like 3 cups of milk in each slice and some shredded cheddar.

I grilled that baby until it turned nice and golden, then I flipped it over and did the same thing to the other side......then when that bitch was ready I threw it on a plate and sliced it.

Fortunately I took a picture before I scarfed it down.......wish you were here.

Six-months too late

I do have a few joys in life:
- watching people run for a train (or a bus)
- reading one-star reviews on Yelp
- and watching trolls just troll

But one of my most favorite things in the world are negative yelp reviews that begin with statements like:  We went here last year and.....or We were here in February (and it's now December).

So I thought I'd start sharing some of my favorite ones.

In Transit

I feel like a kid today.  I'm waiting for the mail to deliver a package I've been waiting for, for a very very long time.

I got email notification the other day that my "Quarterly Box" had shipped and to just "click here to check delivery status" which is like the worst thing in the world!

Do you remember the first time you ordered something through the mail as a kid?  I think my first mail disappointment were those damn Sea Monkeys.  But oh the excitement of reading the ad at the back of the comic book and then saving money for them.

All the while thinking "I'm gonna have some damn Sea Monkey's man....I'm gonna be da shit."  You're already thinking of tricks you're going to teach them because the advertisement said that they were highly trainable.

Then you've saved up enough money and convinced your mother to take you to the post office so you could get a money order for the exact amount of those Sea Monkeys and their dreaded "postage and handling fee" and you stamp the envelope stuff in the money order and hand it off to the postman and tell him to take "dear care of this, I'm getting Sea Monkeys."

And then you wait.....and you wait.....and you forget....and then you remember.....then you wait.....then you wait.......then about a month in you get nervous.  Did something happen to my order?  Is the mail man conspiring against me?  Did i not include enough money?  Every day you come home and ask "did I get anything?" which comes back with a resounding no!

There's no phone number to call, you can't ask the mail man because how the heck would he know where your package was, you couldn't write another letter because it most likely would pass in the mail and you do not want to piss off the Sea Monkey people because they apparently have the monopoly on the much needed Sea Monkey Food!  So you just wait.

Suddenly in one of those forgetful periods, you come home from school and there's a box there and it's got your name on it and it's all beat to fuck.  But you don't care because you just got some god damn Sea Monkey's my friend!  Suddenly you forgot about the time consuming process it took you to get something, you HAD what you wanted!  Hip hip hooray!

So yeah, I ordered the Digg Quarterly and it's being delivered today via US Mail.  And I've been downstairs THREE times already to see if that mail lady has been here yet!

Actually I think my first "mail order" was actually a disk drive for my Ti-99 4/a.

What did you order when you were a kid?

Other Great Stuff Nearby

I love reading 1 and 2 star Yelp reviews.  I can't help myself, I guess I like to see what really pisses people off - and alot of time, it's just petty bullshit, other times though there's a legitimate

My favorite type though are the months (or even years) late reviews: We came here in 2012 or last time my sister was in town for the holdiays.

But what really caught my eye, was this review on Spark Energy...well, not so much the review, but what came after the review the "Other Great Stuff Nearby"links.

Which in this example included:  The Social Security Office, The Secretary of State/DMV Office and finally the Public Library.

I don't know about you, but only 1 out of those 3 would I consider "Other Great Stuff Nearby"

Oh  Yelp, you always amuse!

What I learned about working Downtown, Part 2

After working in the Ravenswood neighborhood for 13 years, my company moved to a new space in downtown Chicago.

These are some of the things that I've learned in my short time of working in our new space:

The prices for snacks is too damn high - alright, I know, we're downtown.....downtown is expensive, but dayum!

Seriously though, at Ogillvie Transportation Center there is a bookstore that sells small packages of Swedish Fish, a 5oz bag mind you, for $5.19.  Woah Nellie!  That's expensive, I'd really need to be jonesing for some Swedish Fish to pay that price!

Fortunately there are regular stores around here (Walgreens, CVS, Walmart) so if you take the time you can get good prices, but if you're in a hurry and want it now - well god damn it, you're gonna pay for it!

But still, I'll just go to Target in Evanston and get my fill for the cheap and stock my drawer!

I enjoy riding the train to/from work - I've been taking Metra (the commuter train) to/from work for about 2 months now.

It's nice to just jump on the train, find a seat, pull my Kindle out and read uninterrupted until we reach our destination.  Yes I may need to move my knees to let someone get by, but not having to worry about traffic, or speed cameras or anything road related is the most calming thing of all.

Plus I've been reading like CRAZY!  I've always liked to read, but as I get older the only time I read is when there is NOTHING else to do.  The train is perfect for that!  I'm embarrassed to admit that I am almost finished reading The Maze trilogy, which I just started reading about 6 weeks ago.

I've got 25 minutes of uninterrupted reading going both ways - and yes I go both ways!

You can eat lunch at a different place every day - WOW much food, such choices, so good!

In Ravenswood, where our office was before, we had limited choices for lunchtime - really limited.  But now that we're downtown we could eat at a different place every day for a year and never have to repeat - there's just that many.

Want Cinnabon for lunch - Check!  Want Chinese for lunch - Check!  Want Greek for lunch - Check!  There's everything and anything you want to eat and even more stuff you want to eat but you know you can't eat - yes Garrett's Popcorn - I'm talking about you!

The food choices is beyond amazeballs, the best thing though is that we found out we're only 10 minutes to the gym.  So even if I eat like a little piggy I can make sure that I work out and not take on the shape of a little piggy!