The musings of a madman...

       Y'know, perhaps the best means to me getting out of my own way is for me to get the fuck out of my own way... I have created such a network of problems and solutions through the years that sometimes people randomly pop back up almost after I've forgotten they even exist. I could continue describing what I'm talking about, but I think it'd just be best to fill you in on the email I received... "Moe,      I found your contact information while going through marital belongings as I prepare to finalize my divorce in a couple of months." Oh shit. This is not going to be pleasant for me if she's emailing Moe Phillips about a pending divorce. The email continues... "... apparently, a friend of my husband contacted you in December for help on how to vet his partner before proposing to her. It seems my husband knew the girl from their school days and was assigned to use his professional position to press her and see if she would go through with it or...

       They say the dog never has a plan for when it actually catches the car... As I've mentioned before, some wild hiccups that ended in the ER back in December and the fallout wound up setting fire to my PTO at the full time gig clear through April setting things right. Once I was back into the rhythm of accruing my time like I've become accustomed to over the last 18 years, we were more than halfway through the year and I was in full panic mode over how to take days so as to not lose them. I know it sounds weird to be thinking like this and it is still only August, but bear in mind that I am in a  very small department of only six specialists so a maximum of two can be off at a given time, with the exception of extreme emergencies and after the fall and winter I had, I've had enough of those!      So anyway, time off... A few weeks ago I looked at the team PTO schedule, counted up the time I got left and the time I will need or have alre...

       I knew this day would come... I have used the Moe Phillips name quite loosely and without thought of consequences because, frankly, I was clearly sure that there were none. For the most part, that has proven mostly true, save for a couple of little embarrassing happenings here and there.      But this? This could almost be skewed as karma paying my dumb ass a visit... As ever, I'm chilling in the house, scrolling YouTube on the clock between tasks at the ol full-time. In the corner of my eye, I see the screen light up on the Moe Phillips burner phone. It's the Gmail icon. Defying my better senses, I picked it up and read it...      "Moe, What I come to you today with is kind of embarrassing... I own, or I should say I used to own a diner in town. One day last year, I was approached by someone named Maurice who arranged to buy out all of our food for the day if we agreed to feed the community without charging. The day was a hug...

       How goes that saying about old dogs and new tricks? Well this will be the first salvo in a new approach around here.      As those of you who know me personally know, I have expanded my lawn work to a page I created last year on YouTube as well. I feel like I'm finding my footing when it comes to capturing and editing video and I'm only getting better. Considering how very little I knew when I started, I'm quite proud of my progress.      Alongside the yard work, another thing I'm comfortable in my ability of is writing. I've always preferred dead-tree reading and have learned a shift to online reading as I have taken a shine to online writing, but I have never quite been able to get behind the concept of e-books. One thing I have noticed is that a great many others swear by being able to listen to what was written, be it in the car or the office or even just milling about their daily errands. A decision was made... ...

(that ol Charlie is a good boy)      Funniest thing has been happening here for the last few months... Well, I'd say it's not "funny" so much as it is "peculiar."      As we've documented here at length, I prefer my friends and family text me instead of calling on the phone, it forces the conversation to whatever point needs to be made more efficiently. I say that to say *they* as the people who actually know me and my habits are not the problem, but people -- or more specifically, companies -- who do not respect this layer of my relationship with my phone are. It's loan offers after loan offers, sometimes voicemails suggesting some kind of urgency. It's people offering to buy a house I sold four years ago. It's spectrum and whoever else trying to sell me on their services. A couple of them are just random toll free numbers with just dead air!     A s a general rule, I'll send a call to voicemail once and if they really want somethi...