Of home,writers and other fun stuff!

Its 3:31 pm

    Its a cold grey day here in Michigan. Yesterday we got our first snowflakes of the season. The snow season is going to be a heavy one I believe if we are getting it this early. No,we are not getting any real snow as of yet (pipe down there O mighty Queen of Snow) but its coming.
  Which is why I am happy to see that my house is finally getting fixed...Howard and his new worker came over today and worked very hard at getting the roof fixed and starting to fix the crack in the kitchen. It would have been a real disaster if it had gone unrepaired through the winter.
  Because they were coming and going,Paladin had to stay upstairs and out of the way. He was pretty miffed based on the scratching and meowing that went on. But I moved him upstairs and he was happy I opened his window.


  Well he was until he felt how cold it was,then it was all about getting on the bed with Derek's old polar fleece blanket. That is where I left him as I went back downstairs.
Howard works pretty quick and they fixed the roof and sealed the crack and put a first layer of dry wall mud down. Howard will come back out and hit it with a 2nd coat come Saturday. I will post a couple of pictures after its said and done.
   Going to be featuring two guest bloggers in the very near future,writer Rebecca Scarberry and the returning Susan Smiley who wrote a beautiful eulogy to her dog Hercules. Of course I am lagging well behind my interviews which I need to step up. Time to get to get going!
 So I am quite hooked on British writer Sarah Pinborough. She is one of the sharpest writers I have read to date and that is just her blog. I met her while surfing Twitter and had very lightly talked with her until last week when I started reading her blog and watching her win several writing awards in the United Kingdom.
She writes horror,Young Adult and hard hitting short stories. I have put her on my "Must Read" list and am keeping a sharp eye out for her books. You can discover her blog and her writing by clicking here.

 In keeping with my writer theme,local writer Mike White,who exposed Liane Spiderbaby (QT's main squeeze's plagiarism) and writes  Cashiers du Cinemart and hosts the podcast "The Projection Booth" has just launched a app for the podcast for the iPad. The app is free to download and is very highly recommended. A long time ago,Mike gifted me with a copy of his excellent zine and this is my way of saying "thank you".



To find out more about Mike White and his excellent podcast,click here.

Got some news this week from back home in San Jose. Seems like the building where the live music venue I helped booked,the EDGE,was torn down this week in downtown Palo Alto.



This was where some of the best bands played,booked by Jacek Rosicki and later on by Jimmy Arceneaux  and myself. Jacek did so much for the San Jose music scene,having the EDGE,attempting to rescue the Club Oasis and the Ajax Lounge. Buying the old Marsugi's building and converting it to a excellent restaurant named Agenda,trusting Jimmy and me with his venues. Meeting and working with the best staff ever in Monte,Geoff,Coach,Bonz,Jimbo,Pat Bagg,Melvin,the mighty Jimi Dave and sound guru Rees. Many others also helped make the EDGE the place for the best live shows plus the dance nights were pretty popular as well.
  Its sad to see such a historical building being razed for most likely condos or maybe a expanded parking structure..but I hold on to my memories in my heart and the friendships that I still have today. One thing that I still have from the EDGE? The Jimmy Cup....that is what Lori called the huge mug I used to drink my iced coffee from in the office. I used to drink 2 of those a day during shows and was always had lots of energy. I still drink my coffee from a huge drinking cup. Just one of those things. As always,I am so grateful for Jacek and Jimmy for throwing down with me for such a great ride.
  Happy to discover that I have a chance to do another volunteer project for the Home Depot after I missed the one last week. We are going back into Detroit to work at the Buffalo Soldiers Memorial. It most likely will be doing the same thing as we did for the VFW Hall a couple of weeks ago,landscaping,painting,deep cleaning and light replacement. My two partners in crime have also volunteered so we three are going down there together again,this hopefully in the right direction!
 But speaking of volunteers,my friend Kerri and her husband Andrew took part in the AidsWalk in Los Angeles this past weekend. They walked with a team the entire 6 mile route bringing attention that AIDS is still a deadly threat and that research must go on to find a cure. Her team raised an amazing 20,000 dollars!! That is so Wicked and so very kind that they were able to do this! This is very inspiring to say the least.
  I love hearing stories like this...it's what makes going forward is all about.We have a local pizza place called Vizzy's here in Westland who has been into recognizing local folks making a difference. They put the person on their Facebook page with a background story of what they did and thank them by buying them dinner.
  The latest story was about a 8 year old boy named Buster who one day decided to sweep and clean his street up. He called his effort "Clean Your Street,One Bag a Week" because he got tired of seeing the trash on his street. Vizzy's heard about this and honored him for his volunteerism. And I am thanking Paul V. and his Vizzy's Pizza for making a difference by honoring people like Buster.
  I started a new FB group page to promote only good news,I am sick and tired of the negative energy around me. I have had more then my share and so have many of my good friends. I want some light in my life and I really am going to work hard at getting there. I know I will have my bad days and nights but I don't want them to dominate my every waking moment. I will hold on to my Lori but that is all I want to handle right now...and I have a feeling many people reading this will agree. That is why I walked away from several toxic people as of late and embraced those who really are trying to make that difference.
 
  Pretty amped up for this Saturday as my San Jose Spartans (2-1,3-3) are celebrating Homecoming by hosting the University of Wyoming.I admit, three weeks ago,this game had me worried at Wyoming's offense was putting up huge numbers in getting a 4-2 record,including a very close game against 25th ranked Nebraska. So when Colorado State,the same Rams squad that SJS had beaten two weeks ago,played Wyoming,I thought the Cowboys had their 5th win in the bag. Boy,can a week of hard practice make a difference (I know,a recurring theme). Not only did Colorado State win,they destroyed Wyoming,52-22. Now Wyoming is 4-3 and fighting for a potential bowl spot.

   This Spartans have a six game season...I think they need to go 5-1 to get a decent bowl bid. I don't know if they can beat Fresno State but every other team on the schedule can be had,including a suddenly subpar Navy team.  The Spartans can finish 8-4 and get a nice bowl against a BCS team this year instead of a MAC team. Bowl projections have the Spartans facing the USC Trojans in the New Mexico Bowl...love to play SC but not in the first bowl game of the season and the lowest paying one to boot. Like to see a bowl slightly closer to home against SC so that both school fans can travel to the game. Somehow I just don't see a ton of USC fans going to the Land of Enchantment.


Okay then....time to wrap this up. Thanks for reading and please feel free to share/sign up/drop a comment

If you have Twitter,add me @Jinzo_2400

Shout Outs

Barb - Thank you for the dinners
Cheryl - Thank you for the Arizona Tea
Scorpion - Thanks for reaching out to Gunny. You are a true gentleman
Gunny - Hope that leg heals ultra fast and cleanly
Ann- My thoughts and prayers are with your mother..I know she won't go easy and without a fight!
The EDGE - Thanks for letting book some awesome talent on your stage
Howard Burkeen- For your hard work and Christian soul
Daryl and Justin - Time to saddle up again!
Bene and Noel - Own the Cowboys!
Kerri,Andy and jessica - Well done!
Paladin - Thanks for a great week
Lacye- For the hug
Brad - For the Five Good Things list you post every day. One day I hope I can do that.
Frank Bella - Sorry about your father.
Robin - All hail the Queen of Snow! (Go Cuse!)
Tiffany and Aaron - Good luck in the Big D!

My 200th post

Its 9:19 pm

    Its a cold wet rainy night in SE Michigan. The temps are sliding down into the 40s as Paladin and I are getting ready for a major house repair project next week.
 I have a leak in my kitchen that is coming from outside and is causing a split in a seam on my left side of the kitchen. I had to reach out again to Howard Burkeen for his expert help and he and his crew will be here come next week to repair this. Howard is also going to help out with a couple of other issues as well to make this house tighter and better prepared for winter. This will help once the really cold winter weather gets here!
   Yesterday was my first day back with the emergency food giveaway program my city hosts the third Wednesday of every month. Lori and I volunteered the first year together,then after her job made it impossible for her to attend,I continued for another year after that,even after Lori got her cancer. I then only made one appearance in the past two years. It felt good knowing I was going to be back and I went to bed early after watching some TV on Tuesday night.
  I set my alarm for 6:30 am and then promptly had another night of insomnia...tossing and turning,turning and tossing. And that was with my CPAP machine on. I finally fell asleep around 3:45 am-ish and ended up sleeping through my alarm. So you are thinking "poor bastard,he missed his project"...uh,nope....because at 7:20 am I was awakened by a 11 pound buzzsaw of a cat curling up on my chest and purring loud enough to wake me. I got up,got dressed,gave Paladin a cat treat,brushed my teeth and bolted. I got there at 7:55 am and I was the FIRST one there!

   Another volunteer drove up and I helped her unloaded toiletries that her church has been donating. Then we set up the tables and prepped the bags. The same crew was still there except for one gentleman who had jury duty. Jessica,the city employee who runs the program walked in and brought a small box of donut holes to share. We then prepped the toiletries,each guest would receive a 4 pack of toilet paper,a roll of paper towels and a 2-3 pack of bar soap. Doesn't sound like much but as I blogged before about this program,the people here for most part are very grateful for even the smallest gesture.
  Next we waited for the food...and I noticed two things,the amount of food was very small and that instead of the usual 65-70 people we get,we are now at 101 families and rising. I helped do the intake and was surprised when a group of about 10 people plus handlers came in for food. They were pretty young and looked healthy enough. They each gave Jessica a slip of paper and got a bag of food. When they left,I asked about it.
  Turns out they are rehab patients who are transitioning back into society from the rehab center. They go from the center into an apartment where they can work on their sober living skills in a controlled living condition. We only see the patients once and they never come back...but it is newish and adds a bit of a burden to Jessica when she goes and orders the food.
  Other then that,it was a nice quiet shift,one new person started crying when she signed up,she was a grandmother who just had been awarded custody of her three grandkids,I don't and didn't pry into her story but we assured her it was going to be okay. We handed her the calender for the last two dates of 2013 and all of 2014.She was very grateful for the help and thanked all of us.
  I left at noon and filled up my car with gas before heading home.

Christmas is hitting our store now as we are switching over to the holidays. Our Halloween was extremely limited compared to last year as in what we had to sell...we cut back on decorations and not selling any Halloween candy this year. Makes it easier to switch over when the time comes...I am glad I am working Halloween night as I had no intentions of doing candy this year...but maybe next year. This was Lori's favorite time of year...(summer as well) and we always tried to do candy. We made up 3 bags for the neighbor's kids and then passed out candy for about 90 minutes or til the supplies ran out.
  The houses in our neighborhood have some decorations up but not as many as the past couple of years. Marlene (Crash's mom) has a very cute display and I will post a picture of it in my next entry.
  Its Friday and its 3:44 pm

Its cool and overcast outside. I was supposed to be writing about my volunteer project in Inkster but I had a severe case of insomnia last night and didn't fall asleep til 4:30 am...and I was supposed to be at the project at 7 am!! I know I having some serious stress issues as of late...but this is starting to get to me. I feel very disappointed with myself but I did go to bed early yesterday. I was going to do a edition of Dollar Tree Theater before going to bed but I didn't even do that,I just went and laid down. Of course this starts a terrible cycle of going back into the past three years and you just can't turn it off. I have tried watching TV or reading but that doesn't help very much.
  Sometimes I will turn the iPad on a long YouTube video and let the noise try and lull me to sleep but more often then not,it fails as well. Today I am trying the walking idea,heading down to the park and walking a trail. Of course its just now getting cold so getting insomnia heading to winter is just bad luck as well. I am sure I will figure it out...I don't want to let yet even more people down...

  On Tuesday,I ran some errands,I got new wiper blades for my car and headed over to PetCo. to get Paladin his Science Diet plus I had a coupon for a buy 2 cans,get 1 free for PurinaPro for cats. I headed for PetCo first and walked in. As always,I headed over and checked out the cats. As the case in October,there were a lot of black cats to be adopted. I stayed and said "hello" to everyone before walking to the cat food section. As I rechecked my coupon,I had to shake my head,the coupon was for PetSmart..I got my items and headed up to check out. I made small talk with the cashier and I asked her if they accepted coupons from another pet store. She said "It depends" so I showed her my coupon and she said they would honor it. So I was able to get Paladin three cans of good canned cat food. I was very thankful for such a nice gesture.
  After I went to AutoZone and got my wipers,I went to Target...Pacific Rim was released on DVD and I wanted to get my copy. I went in,got the film and walked the food area looking for sales. I had stumbled across a great microwave popcorn deal the last time I walked through so I hoped I was going to be as lucky.
I did find a dinner for under 3 bucks and also found cat food (notice a theme here?) on clearance so I picked up 3 more cans.

  Now I use a Target Red Card when I shop here. It saves me 5% on my purchases and I pay it off right there. And I did the same thing as I always do...but somewhere between buying my stuff and getting home,the movie got lost...I think it fell outta the bag when the cashier handed it to me but because my bag was a bit heavy,I didn't notice it until I got home. I wasn't planning on watching it Tuesday night but Wednesday would have been nice. I called Target and explained the situation,they were gracious and said I could come get another copy. But when I went there last night (I ended up working late on Wednesday) to get the movie,the manager on duty was rather nasty about it. She seemed to suspect some funny business which I picked up on right away. She wanted to see my receipt and I showed her my payment receipt and she said the original one. I said I had not gotten that back (which was my fault,I should have noticed that) and she said I would have to sign the book which showed this happen. But since I got the vibe that she thought I was scamming her,I got a little edgy and asked to bubble this up to the manager,she said that was her and I said then your manager then. She calmed down then and I explained what happened which she never had really given me time to do. It wasn't the most pleasant experience I have had there to say the least which usually isn't the case.

  I found a unopened EP that I got from the Dollar Tree that I am listening to as Paladin is looking outside his window. He was a little testy but after I closed the window for 5 minutes,he meowed and I put him back on it....he settled right down and he is bird watching.


  The EP is from a singer named Serena Ryder,a Canadian singer-songwriter who is doing quite well for herself. My EP,"Sweep the Ashes" is from 2008 (typical for a dollar store) and was pleasantly surprised to really like what I heard. She was a nice husky voice that recalls a young Melissa Etheridge but just a tad lighter which I think helps Serena. Too bad my habit of not always opening my new music happened on this little EP because Serena just was in Ann Arbor playing a small show at the Ark. I will definitely keep my ears and eyes open for her other releases. I love finding new voices...even if its a 5 year old EP!


Learn more about Serena by going here

Thinking about about 17 Oct 89,the big earthquake that struck San Jose/Santa Cruz/San Francisco killing 63 people and injuring 3,700. Its another thing that I don't miss about about California! I saw my friends post their memories of that day...I still recall my day as well...I was on my way to watch the baseball game when the quake hit.
   I went into a crouch and scanned above for falling power lines. The ground rolled and buckled and people either were frozen or screaming because you couldn't walk. I was crouched by a car when I heard a couple of loud bangs,I turned towards the sound and watched a chimney being literally shook apart. The bricks were like missiles and they were hitting the car I was behind.
  I moved to the drivers side and resumed scanning the power lines....and then it was done,except for the screaming of course.
 San Jose was extremely lucky,despite being only about 35 miles from the epicenter,the main destructive thrust went up north to Frisco. The power was out but it was restored in San Jose pretty quickly.


Well,that is about it for now...I know some of you don't get see to see Paladin so I will leave you with this shot.




Shout Outs

Go Tigers!
Melanie V. - It was so cool to run across you again!
Chris Alexander - I thought you handled your business like a boss!
Bill Bean,wrestler.....has a weird ring to it.
Tiffany Hendra- Just because
Eric Stuart - Happy birthday and I hope you raise enough cash for the video shoot
Sarah P- You are extremely charming and so very English. Thanks for the kind words.
Theresa- Happy birthday!
Michael and Amy- What other couple could celebrate a birthday,anniversary and then jet to Haiti for a week of volunteering at a orphan's mission?
Serena Ryder- great voice!

everyone else,thank you so much for hanging with me....

Operation Repair,a ray of hope in the "D" and a medical update.

Its 11:50 am

    Looking outside at a grey,gloomy,dreary day. It rained pretty good last night into the early AM and the snow on the ground is almost all washed away.
  I go to work in about 90 minutes....and Lori will be making another trip to Ann Arbor for her 3rd hydration therapy trip since her last chemo. The recovery time between chemo sessions is shrinking rapidly,it used to be the first 4-5 days were hell,then the 2nd week slowly getting better and the 3rd week....almost back to full strength.
  Not so much anymore...its taken all 3 weeks this time to even start to feel better. The sinus infection/cold may have had some part in this but enough to warrant 3 hydrations? On top of this,Dr. Johnston is now on her own medical leave as she is pretty ill according to her nurse. We'll be handed off to Dr. Reynolds,who was present for Lori's operation at the U of M,he knows Lori's case very well. I don't feel we'll lose a step with Dr. J out of action. We just hope that she recovers quickly and will feel better.
  We're trying to keep a even keel here....in fact we had a contractor that I have met through my job over last night to give us a estimate of our lighting project. We have 4 minor projects that we need done,two new light fixtures in the bathrooms.....


A complete rewiring job in a kitchen cabinets so our puck lights will work again,we bought new lights after the old ones burned out. But now the new ones really don't work the best and I think its the wiring so that will be looked at as well....



Lastly,we need a new thermostat controller,ours is very outdated and is at least 10 years old. I bought a new Honeywell model that be easy to program so we aren't facing high electrical bills. We have to keep the heat up a little higher because Lori gets cold so easy....
  It feels good to be able to tackle a little project like this,we'll get this done and then aim to get the upstairs bathroom painted and some drywall work has to be addressed as well. Still have zero money saved up for a landscape/deck overhaul....even though both need it so very badly. But that is happens when a serious illness  combined with a very long unemployment happens. Pennies are hard to come by....
  Not complaining,we are very blessed,so many more have it much rougher then we do....


Read in the paper that the homelessness rate in Detroit is getting close to 20,000 people! That is out of a city of slightly over 700,000. These are not your typical warm city lazy asses like the kids in Los Angeles or the Haight-Ashbury section of San Francisco,the folks here are just in a wickedly awful way.
 With Detroit facing a 327 million dollar hole,vital public safety dollars being cut to ribbons,public servants padding their own corrupt pockets,its so hard to see the bright lights that are attempting to shine through....but one small move might start the process,the feds are going to help start a Light Rail system here at last. Now I was living in San Jose when the Santa Clara County Transit started the Light Rail there. It too,started off slowly with a small 3.1 stretch from downtown San Jose to Great America. It ran a very limited time and only til 9 pm. It was free to ride at first as long as you had a ticket. As the Light Route expanded towards Los Gatos and Milpitas (where you could connect with the BART trains) ridership increased greatly as did the number of Light Rail cars.



It had its growing pains as well as accidents including a drunk man who fell between two cars and had his legs cut off,his body wasn't discovered until the next morning. Several auto-Light Rail collisions also happened but Santa County worked very hard at making safety the top goal and when I left for Michigan in '99,the Light Rail was booming and talks were undergoing on where the Light Rail would go next.

   We are seeing the same thing here,a 3.1 mile stretch down historic Woodward Ave in downtown Detroit would be the first step. The same growing pains would be and will be experienced to be sure but the blueprint and footprint of earlier Light Rail systems can be studied in order to limit the same mistakes that hampered San Jose's Light Rail. It could the start of a real exciting time for downtown Detroit,a real game changer. I just hope for its own sake,they start a new transit authority as DDOT (Detroit Department of Transportation ) is one of the most poorly run city services. The new project would be D.O.A even for it gets off the ground if DDOT has anything to do with it.
  But that still doesn't begin to cover the rising homelessness here...squatting here is running rampant and its only getting worse,seems like every week we are seeing/reading/hearing about a new strange squatting story on the local news. People renting out abandoned houses they don't own by running ads on Craigslist,people who own homes and lock them up until they decide what to do with them and coming across whole families who have moved in and are running illegal power to the homes...how you know these are very poor people is the fact they CAN'T leave Detroit even if they wanted too...they just don't have the resources to do so.



But squatters live a dangerous game,in the city hit hard by a slow,decaying fire department and the highest arson rate in the country,a house that may appear to be empty and abandoned and ripe for a arsonist may be in fact,housing a person or family just looking for a place to lay their heads.
  One good thing about our past two winters,they have been incredibly mild compared to other years,just one decent snowstorm and maybe a few artic nights but otherwise the weather reminds me of California.
  This helps reduce the risk of having people dying due to exposure and cold.  How long this miracle will last is anyone's guess...hopefully long enough for the city to get a handle on its money woes and perhaps restore some services.

   Its now Sunday night,11:43 pm


Gearing up mentally for the 5th chemo....we are getting worn down here,Lori is having problems keeping her food down and often is either throwing it back up or suffering from dry heaves. Pretty helpless feeling watching this and not being able to do a single thing but rub her back and make sure she can breathe.
  I'm stress eating badly these days,I'm so nervous at night....I'm listening for every single cough or vomiting sound. I'm pretty worn out at the end of most days but still in this until we beat this once and for all.
  Monday is labs and the doctor visit in Ann Arbor,I will be at work,Tuesday is chemo day,I'll be there until 3:30 pm then head to work,then off the next two days for Nulasta and hydration.
 Lori has made me promise once we get past the 6th treatment that I take her out for a fun outing once her energy gets built back up...that is a promise I fully intend to keep.

Operation Repair went smoothly,we now have pretty new lighting in both bathrooms and a new thermostat that we can program. The local contractor we hired was such a lovely spirit and underbid the job by so much we didn't feel good about it. We gladly paid him more and when the lights we had bought for the upstairs were too big,he agreed to come back tonight and hang the replacements. He even did more then that,his wife baked us some fresh cranberries muffins! Just a great guy and I can't wait to refer him to some of our friends.
   Next up is getting a better portal heater that we need in the living room....the one that I bought a few weeks ago turned out to be woefully underpowered by a long way.


This is NOT a good heater to get!

Okay,that is all I have for now....thank you all for dropping and reading my blog. And thanks for all the feedback from the last entry,I am glad folks took the time to actually read and comment.
I can't get over this blog has had over 5,107 hits so far....but I would love to see some new followers,so please take a few seconds and add yourself!


See you soon!




Just had to show this picture that Lisa Ann Walters posted,what a great shot! And if you get a chance to read her book,I highly recommend doing so....