DISPATCHES FROM THE GHOST MOOSE

After today, the year 2018 will be 1/3 elapsed.  It seems like last week was January.  Well, with the shit weather, maybe not.  but you get the point.  Time flies by far too quickly.   I will be 60 in August....I hope to have many years left, but who knows?  so - live each day to the fullest.  and, of course, make each day the best one yet.  and, of course, stop giving a fuck. giving fucks is the start of the downward slide. when you do get to that point, you can see how much bullshit the real world is.  I know we all have to work to pay our bills, and stay above the poverty line, but how much shit should you be expected to eat to continue to live off a paycheck?  In the near future, I will write a bit about the current situation at work.  Which, of course, I could not care less about.  because caring may diminish my best day status.  which is not acceptable. but, I can honestly tell you, IDGAF.  When you g...

just a quick post. got up at 530 to leave soon to play golf. and I know there will be a frost delay.  on april 28. can't wait to leave the piss puddle called Illinois. and now to put in my contacts and hit the road adios

I am sitting here watching the nfl draft...teams I don't care about selecting players I don't care about.   And I have been watching it for 2 hours now.  what does that say about we, as a lazy slothful society.  well, not so much me as you? anyway, as poor saps who may stumble upon this blog all my regular readers know, I don't post much of work or work things.  However, I did have a wonderful meeting I wished to share...I met with HR about a situation that was not necessarily a good one.  and after the meeting I was leaving the persons office and she said she was so happy to be going on vacation tomorrow.  I said great, and I was going to have the best day of my life tomorrow.  and she asked why...and I said...because every day of my life is better than the last.  and, i got the usual look I get.  I suppose I will need to stop this zaniness at some point lest people avoid me altogether or brand me like Creed on The Office.  or p...

I realize this is an off schedule post (and I would imagine only I am aware there is a schedule) but I meant to ask yesterday:  - this blog normally gets about 20 - 30 views per day.  Some are readers, others probably bots.  But 2 days ago, there were 122 views.  Did someone actually read 122 of the posts?  If so, why?  leave a comment if that is true.  even if you are a bot.  and with that, I will now immerse myself into pretending I am working hard so people walking by my office will be fooled  a productive day of work.

I'm not sure what led to that extremely lame post of 2 days ago.  My 2 readers expect more than that from me.  But, Summer Rain is a great song.  We used to listen to Johnny Rivers Greatest Hits....back in 1976.  Over 40 yrs ago.  Eek...  The weather is finally getting better.  Now I can call my golf bud on our drives home from work to finalize golf details.  beyond what time and where, not really too much to finalize.  but, perfect practice makes perfect.  if only applied to showing up on time to tee off.  after that first shot the whole plan goes to shit anyway. What to do on a Tuesday?  I already ate too much, so will probably sit around like a lump until I fall asleep watching tv, then will wake up around midnight and go to bed.  but, that is exactly what I want to do.  who among us can say they are doing exactly what they want to do?  therein lies the goal.  I watched Castaway for the 25th time last...

Has there ever been a better day than today?  Probably not. and that is all I have to say about that.  (F Gump) Is there a better song than Summer Rain by Johnny Rivers? has there ever been a lamer post than this one?

Thursday....and it started out icy and snowy.  If that is how the best day of my life is supposed to start, so be it.  I have already stopped at the bakery, took the train downtown, gave my friend her danish,  hit golf balls (because of afore mentioned danish) and actually did some work.  Lest I forget to mention, had a wonderful dinner with an old friend on Tuesday.  I have to do more of that.  old friends are the best friends. and, had dinner with another old friend last night.  I am becoming a social butterfly in my old age. and.....as things change at work, there is a creeping wave of morale dropping.  of hushed conversations.  of people more open about talking about getting new jobs, etc.  woe is us....I have been through this so many times, it is not new for me.  but, here is a part from my book about the toxic daily huddle.  And it is right here for all to see.   God, am I prescient, or what????  ...

It's Sunday night and I am watching a movie.  I remember in years past having anxiety about going to work on Monday, because ...well, I don't know why....maybe a shitty boss, shitty company, shitty job...whatever.  Now - I could give a crap.  I will watch Gladiator (a movie I have seen a dozen times), watch the news, and go to bed.  I won't spend more time thinking about work than I did in the sentence above.  Because I just don't give a crap.  I will work hard and do my best, which I do every day - that is my own personal standard.  But I am not paid to care.  after all, (as you know from signing a document when you start work) Illinois is an at will state, and you can be terminated at any time.  Well, I can quit caring at any time too.  Which I have done.  Because we are conditioned to be that way. and, of course, caring is the first step toward being frustrated and angry.  which I cannot do, since tomorrow is scheduled t...

I was talking to a supplier that I speak with often.  and because he is a good account exec, he lets me rant on.  which I often do.  so, we were talking about my "best day of my life" schtick, and how most folks aren't used to hearing someone so positive.  so, I typed out the 2 extremes.  read the first and see how you feel: Yesterday was the worst day of my life And today was even worse than yesterday And tomorrow will be worse than today Pretty bleak, huh?  now read: Yesterday was the best day of my life And today was even better than yesterday And tomorrow will be better than today Is it just me, or is there a different feel to the second stanza?  ok - I will let that subject rest, as a person can only be so positive before they become sickening.  Have you seen the videos on facebook of the little kids that hear for the first time...how excited they get to finally hear.  or the little ones that put on glasses for the first ti...

Still cold.  This weather sucks.  Makes me really want to move somewhere warm next winter.  Still wrapping up loose ends of the divorce, then I will figure out where I stand. I have spoken to a few folks about illustrating my book.  No takers yet....but it will be like some lame actor passing up the Forest Gump role....yea...like that.  I will get it done, if only to get it done.  I am actually thinking of a topic for the follow up book.  But you can't follow up something that has not happened.  And I would hate to deprive the 2 readers of this blog.  I can't have that on my conscience. I have sent the draft of the book to quite a few people and asked them for comments.  Those who have read it are generally favorable.  But a lot have not read it - I would imagine it is like someone at work giving you a DVD of the second season of Flo (starring the sassy Polly Holliday) to watch and comment on.  To them I say "Kiss My Grits"...

life goes on.  I spent the morning at banks moving money around into new accounts.   I was never big on finances, so this is an annoyance.  But a necessary evil.  Money, after all, makes the world go round.  for some, maybe, but not for me anymore. so - I wanted to watch UFC tonight and went to the bar that usually has the ppv events...I get there and there are very few folks there.  I asked a server if the fights were going to be on - he says no - they charge too much for the bar to buy the show.   So, I go to a place down the road.  I get inside and the bouncer tells me is is 7 bucks to get in.  Since there was no one in the place, I asked him what the 7 bucks was for.  He says he is just the bouncer, and so I said I was only going to have a beer, but thanks anyway, and I walked out.  He chases me down and says c'mon in.  ok - so I walk into a bar with a bar band playing, and no one there watching them.  a fe...

Went to court today for the prove up meeting...so everything is final now.  We are not married anymore.  Because the judge said we weren't.  And, just my luck - the week I am back on the market, so is Channing Tatum.  that bastard.  The courthouse is such a depressing place.  No one is there for a good or happy reason - unless you count the attorneys who are billing $275 an hour, or probably much more.  I was sitting outside one courtroom where they must have the more violent cases.  You see the lawyer and client come out in the hall and have some frantic conversation about some life changing issue, then they run back in the courtroom. I hope their outcome was as good as mine was today. I have one more attorney bill to pay, then settle up on the court orders.  I just made the 3rd monthly payment on my apartment.  January will be here very soon, then I hope I'm on the road. In my younger days, I would have had a few bourbons to co...

it's almost 11:30 pm.... I used to call it a night by 10:30 every night.  not so much anymore.  maybe I enjoy the company I keep more now... I had told my friend that works for the building that I was going to bring my new boss down to hit golf balls today.  the boss didn't come in early, so I went to hit by myself...and when I got there she says "where's the boss?  I have the room all ready for you".   And then I realized that my investment in cheese danish had paid off handsomely.  good to have friends in the right places.  I will have to bring her a coffee cake on Friday. and....I had lunch with a friend. and as always with him, it was a nice lunch with some business and some non-business talk.  good to get re-centered. oh, and between hitting golf balls and having lunch, I did some work.  can't remember what, but I am sure I did. I'm pretty sure I did some work this afternoon too. and, I had a person ask me to read my book - ...

Easter Sunday.  I remember as a kid getting an Easter basket full of chocolate eggs, peeps, jelly beans.  And when my kids were little, more of the same.  Now Easter is just another Sunday.  I remember from Catholic school the nuns saying that Easter was the most solemn of Christian holidays, which was hard for us to understand since Christmas was a holiday with presents.  Now displaying any degree of Christianity in America is frowned upon.  I no longer have much to do with Christianity, but not for that reason. Now that I think of it, back in the day, divorce was completely unacceptable in the Catholic church....while priests sodomizing young boys was not. go figure. anyway..... On Friday I wrote of Sundays being spent not looking forward to work on Monday.  As I sit here watching golf, I really don't care, one way or the other.  Maybe it's because I had some lousy jobs or lousy bosses previously, but who hasn't?  I believe I have maste...