Views From the Back Row

Friday Fill-Ins: #151 and other stuff...

The biggest football weekend in Helena starts tonight! The Class AA State Championship is being hosted by my old high school, playing the long-time arch-rival (and only other real powerhouse over the past 2-3 decades) CMR Rustlers from Great Falls. I'll be at the game, freezing my privates off. Fortunately, it won't be bitter cold, but I've lost some of my insulation over the past couple of months, so I'll feel it... Then tomorrow, Carroll College hosts Dickinson State from North Dakota in the first round of the NAIA playoffs. At the same time, the Griz will be in Bozeman, trying to complete another undefeated season, and earn a top two seed for the FCS playoffs. All in all, a great beginning of a long week of football. Woohoo!

I've been wondering if I've pissed some people off, or if my breath is funky, or what... I've tried to initiate some chats or emails over the past week, and I'm not getting any response (I don't want to hear anything from you, Moose). I understand that many people are busy, but geez... If there's a reason, I'd sure like to know!

I hate to harp on the good news, but it keeps getting better. I checked with the hospital regarding what's covered under "100% adjusted". Apparently 100% means 100%! Anything having to do with my hospital visit have been written off. And that is a HUGE relief. The health clinic is another story. I'll be paying them directly. And while it's nothing like the hospital bill, it's still a significant chunk of money that I don't really want to part with. Especially when I checked their bill yesterday and found I was double billed for my flu vaccination! At $56 a pop (between the shot and the administration of said shot), I don't want any more than just the one!

Knowing now that I don't need to squirrel away every penny I find, I succumbed to Verizon's pressure to upgrade. New toy ~~will be delivered today~~ has arrived!! More on that later!

I'm gearing up for Christmas music all day, every day starting the day after Thanksgiving. Pray for me...

I spaced out the Friday Fill-ins until I saw it on BFD's site. Oops!

And...here we go!

1. We need to take ourselves far less seriously.
2. Someone texted me yesterday and it made me smile.
3. If you want to meet me in Nashville, let me know.
4. Zombies are cooler than vampires because they can do their thing day or night.
5. Massachusetts has a proposed 5% sales tax on elective cosmetic surgery; I think it should be based on how vain the patient is.
6. Family makes for a happy holiday.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to state championship football, tomorrow my plans include watching the Griz manhandle the Cats and Sunday, I want to figure out how to use my shiny new toy!

Go check out the rest of the FFIers!

Lotsa Tracks HNT

THEME ALERT!!! First things first...I can announce the December themes!! We've been doing this since the first December of HNT, and it seems to work out well! I'll have links to the specifics over on the sidebar by this weekend, and I'll make constant mention of them. There always seems to be someone who misses the themes, so feel free to mention them on your own sites too! The themes/dates:

Thursday, Dec. 17th will be the Christmas HNT
Thursday, Dec. 24th will be the Three Christmas Wishes HNT
Thursday, Dec. 31st will be your Year's Favorite HNT

Be sure to check back by the weekend for the details of each!

I mentioned that over the weekend I spent time adding music to my iPod. It's been awhile since I've done it, and I've gotten bored with a lot of what was loaded on it. And that doesn't even include the 800+ Christmas songs on it!

I opted for just the stuff that wouldn't be classified as "classical", jazz, soundtracks or comedy. In other words (for me), rock and country. And since I've only bought a handful of CDs in the past couple of years, it was "older" rock and country. I tried to pick at least one track from each disc to add, but after finding so much crap, I opted out of that. But I still went through every one of them to see what might be worth adding!

As I was pulling CDs off the rack, I started thinking about the incredible amount of money I've spent on these. I've never actually counted how many I've got, but I estimate 1500 would be on the low side. Being extremely conservative and estimating $10/CD (due to sales, freebies and discounts), I've spent between $15-20K on my music. Most likely more.

I'm hoping to get some inventory software soon. Complete with a bar code scanner which will go out and find all the necessary info (much like most music players do these days). If and when that happens, and I take the hours that would be involved, I'll let you know the final tally. In the meantime...here's what two rows of the rack behind me look like when not on the rack. That's only as far as Emerson, Lake & Palmer (yes, they're alphabetized, by genre...). There's another 10 rows on that rack. Plus a second rack that's just a bit smaller with my classical music. The Christmas music gets its own rack in the back room. I'm embarrassed to let you know that there are just as many LPs sitting in storage. Is there some sort of intervention for people like me?

"The curve of your hips
Is stuck in my mind
The taste of your lips
So sweet that I find
Myself lost in the thought
Of our next embrace
I see now I'm caught
Without even a chase"

- Shawn Self -

This week's Mystery Guest should be easy to spot, but just in case, come back Thursday afternoon to find out who it is!

Another MG that wasn't too terribly difficult to spot! If you missed her, go find Emmy, and see what she looks like from the other side!

Some new faces (so to speak) over at "...the Other HNT" this week. Be sure to stop by and check them out! Your fellow HNTers would appreciate it if you left some comments, too!

Go vote for Trojan.
If you've already done it, do it again!

Just sayin'....

Click it to big it!

Money, football and music

If you didn't catch the good news in my last post, go check it out. While I'm totally and completely thrilled by that news, I find I have mixed feelings about it. I fully expected some sort of financial relief, but certainly not 100%. And that's put me into the mindset of wondering if my life is so pathetic that they looked at my paperwork and just took pity on me. I might have expected a 100% adjustment if I was homeless, or a transient, or had a household of 8 kids expecting to be fed each night. On the other hand, this is private institution that understands that health care costs are out of control, and know that their costs can easily be covered by a plethora of sources. I do find it ironic that if I did have health insurance, I'd be paying off the deductible and co-pays for years. Makes one question if one should have health insurance or not... BTW--no government agencies were harmed or offered to help in this episode.

Of course, I'm not totally off the hook. Bills have been coming in from other staff that were involved. I need to talk with the hospital's business office to figure out what I DO have to pay. I'm thinking that I've got about $1600 of doctor's fees that I'll have to pay off. And frankly, I'll be happy (relatively) to be able to do that. I don't want to think of myself as a freeloader.

I have been pretty quiet about my football teams this season, letting their records speak for themselves. However, playoffs are coming up (hey, big colleges...that's how WE determine our champion!), and it's time. So...

You'll notice that Peeman has returned to my header. That can only mean one thing--the Grizzly/Bobcat game (or Cat/Griz game if you're from Bozeman)! One of the longest running active rivalries in college football. The 109th "Brawl of the Wild". This game always has FCS playoff implications for the Big Sky Conference. The Griz won their 12th consecutive conference title (and an automatic bid) with their win yesterday, but if the Cats win, they could earn an at-large bid. As for the Griz, they will be making their 17th straight appearance in the playoffs. They also have more total wins in this decade than any other college football team, NFL or CFL. That's better than Oklahoma, Florida, or USC! I can't imagine that there's a high school team who could come close, either. GO GRIZ!
Carroll College had the weekend off in preparation for the NAIA playoffs. They will be hosting at least the first round game, and most likely throughout the playoffs until the championship game. They've be ranked #2 all season, behind the University of Sioux Falls (whom they lost the championship to last year). Still, they've won 5 of the last 7 national championships, and are fully expected to make it to the game again this year. Additionally, they are also in the top 5 of the teams with the most wins of the decade! GO SAINTS!
The Helena Capital Bruins will host the AA state championship game Friday night. They are undefeated in four seasons, and are going for their 4th consecutive state title. They have a current winning streak of 32 games (a state record), and have some ridiculous record over the past six seasons of 62-2 or something like that.

All in all, it's good for football in Montana!

A fun thing happened at the Griz game yesterday. They have a promotion that has been running for 2 seasons--kick a 45-yd field goal and win $10,000. Most of the time, it's someone who's lucky to get it 20 yards down the field. Until two weeks ago. A UM student came on, kicked it, and easily cleared the crossbar. Nice story, right? Until those who were to pay him found out that he was a former high school kicker two years earlier. And in one of those small-print-but-not-really-hidden clauses, you could not have played competitive football for at least five years. In spite of the fact that he hadn't kicked a football in two years, and didn't have the opportunity to practice. So the guy was SOL.

Public outcry was huge, so a statewide car dealer offered to put up the $10,000 if he could go out and make the kick again. And he did! Read the story here, and check out the video link on the page. It's ugly, but it works!

While watching football all weekend, I decided I needed some new music for my iPod. I had commented on someone's site about getting bored with the music I had and considered just deleting everything and starting from scratch. Well, I didn't delete, but started pulling CDs off the shelf. Good lord, what was I thinking when I bought some of these things?? I've gotten through about 350 CDs (out of about 1500), and there's probably 20 that I've never listened to, maybe about 5 whom I've never heard of, and a half dozen still shrink wrapped--and I haven't bought a CD in about 5 years! I blame my years as a CD store manager, but still... On the good side, I've added about 1 GB of music, and still have much more to go!

Some Friday the 13ths are better than others...

Click it!

Friday Fill-Ins: #150

It's been a few weeks since I've played, but I'm back. I think I've pretty much decided to quit TMI--seems like it's dying a slow death anyway. But this one is a nice diversion!

And...here we go!

1. The last band I saw live was a five-member, dueling piano band where all the members played piano when they weren't playing other instruments with M after the Elton John/Billy Joel concert in Indy this past May.
2. What I look forward to most on Thanksgiving is football, family and properly portioned servings of dinner. (if you don't celebrate thanksgiving, insert your favorite holiday)
3. My Christmas/holiday shopping is often done on Christmas Eve, if not actually on Christmas Day.
4. Thoughts of a certain someone fill my head.
5. I wish I could wear taffeta.
6. Bagpipes fascinate me.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to maybe hitting the downtown art walk, tomorrow my plans include watching the Griz and Sunday, I want to shake things up a bit!

Ultra HNT

Well, there's good news and bad news... The good news is that I was able to drink two Michelob Ultras with dinner. The bad news is that I drank two Michelob Ultras with dinner. It was good to meet up with the girls (D & K). I think the last time was in early August. Before all the fun happened. I caught thirteen levels of hell from the both of them, because I didn't let them know until almost a week out of the hospital. I know--it's sorta sad when you guys find out before flesh-and-blood friends do. That's OK, they were just glad I was still around!

We played keno (badly), we gossiped, they drank beer. I would have too, but everything I read said that if I was going to drink, I had to do it while eating a meal. Makes sense. But with apologies to Vixen, TUG and Southern Girl...Ultra is vile stuff. Maybe I'm a beer snob after drinking primarily microbrews, but DAYUM! The bar we were at didn't have the Ultra Amber, so I'll still give that a chance. Otherwise, my beer drinking will be stuck at Miller Lite. It's painful to even admit that...

As I said, the keno was getting expensive (read: we were losing money) until the very last game we played, where I won enough to actually go home with $20 extra in my pocket! The business office at the hospital will be happy to hear that! To celebrate, I had K's husband take our picture (D on the left, K on the right). What I notice, other than the horse that appears to be centered on my head, is that my face looks noticeably thinner, and that I'm beginning to grow a turkey neck. I suppose I can handle that... (be sure to click! BTE--it's truly SFW)

“Beauty is a form of genius - is higher, indeed, than genius, as it needs no explanation. It is of the great facts in the world like sunlight, or springtime, or the reflection in dark water of that silver shell we call the moon.” -- Oscar Wilde

The beautiful Mystery Guest will be revealed late Thursday afternoon. Be sure to stop back and find out who she is!
The lovely MG this week is Southern Girl over at "From There To Here"! Stop by and say hi!

Some wonderful pictures over at "...the Other HNT" this week. Be sure to check out your fellow HNTers! NSFW, as usual.

As we get closer to Thanksgiving, it's time to remind everyone about the three themes for December. It may seem early, but it's better to get everyone thinking about it ahead of time! Look for details with next week's HNT, as well as the theme alert at the top of my sidebar. Those of you who have been doing this for awhile--it's going to be the regular December themes. Why fix it if it ain't broke?

Go vote for Trojan.

We'll see what happens...

I've made mention on numerous occasions about my two HS classmates that I get together with about 4-5 times a year, usually to celebrate a birthday, or to just have a few drinks and play keno. Well, the oldest one's bday is Wednesday, so we're going to get together tonight (schedules, you know). It will be the first time since the end of August that I'll drink a beer (if you can call Miller Lite a beer...). Perhaps Michelob Ultra. In any case, I'm a little nervous, but it will be interesting to see what it does to my glucose level. Don't worry--I'm limiting myself to two beers. That's what "they" say I can drink. And the girls will certainly make sure I don't go over that. This is one of those "changes" that I have to make. Is it possible to nurse 2 beers over a three-hour time span???

I bought tickets to something online for something over in Missoula at the end of January. I probably wouldn't have bought them, but they are front row seats. Yes, my ticket mojo is back! I'll tell more later, but right now, I need to find a date. Moose...this is one you'd want to go to...

I have a doctor's appointment on Thursday. I'm curious to see what the doctor thinks of my current condition. And I need refills on my blood pressure and cholesterol meds...

Go vote for Trojan.

Nada

It's been 4 days since my last post, and I've got nothing. Other than watching a lot of football all weekend. Please note the win-loss records of my teams over there. ----->

Trojan has slipped back down to 33rd over the weekend. I'm not sure what I can do (or she can do...) to get over there and vote. You can vote daily, and you can vote from different computers. The contest runs to the end of the year, so keep visiting and help a former HNTer out!

Pricey HNT

I promise that this will be one of the last times I dwell on the diabetes. It's been 4 weeks (already?!?) since things went downhill fast. My daily routine has been rescheduled and I think I'm getting a handle on it all. I've found out how quickly the supplies run out. I've found out that poking one's fingers to get blood to test gets really old (and no, I can't do it in my arm). I've found that eating three sensible meals a day actually DOES fill you up!

But most of all, I've found that none of this comes cheap (though I am getting much of it for free!). Under the prescriptions and alcohol swabs and syringes and whatnot, you can see my hospital bill. Granted, many of you have had far higher bills, but most likely have had insurance pay a major chunk of it. Not me. You can click on the picture to find out the current amount owed (not including a second bill for extra labwork...). I'm pointing at it right there. I do find humor in the sentence that says "all balances are payable in full within 30 days". We'll see how that goes! Be looking for a PayPal button in my sidebar in the near future...

"Well my sweet baby wears fishnet stockings
When she starts a rockin' there ain't no stoppin'

Singing wop bop a doo dop fishnet stockings
Shoo wop a doo dop when she's rockin'
Bop bop a doo dop there ain't no stoppin'
Rockin' with my baby in her fishnet stockings

Well she's got a pair in pink
She's got a pair in red
When she puts the black ones she makes me lose my head..."

"Fishnet Stockings"--Stray Cats

This week's Mystery Guest will be revealed late Thursday afternoon. Be sure to come back to find out who it is!
Not too much of a mystery who this week's MG is... Of course, it's Vixen, with the real finale to her series! Go check her out if you haven't already...or even if you have!

We've got some lovely submissions from your fellow HNTers over at "...the Other HNT". Stop over to check them out and give them some support! NSFW, as usual.

Trojan is still holding her position around the #31 mark. Really, all you need to do is click the link, click the vote button, and type in the word verification. Help a former HNTer out! Do it now, and do it often! Just like they do in Afghanistan!

If you haven't already, go wish BTExpress a happy birthday (but only if you know his super secret web address). And feel free to send him boobies. He likes boobies!

Hell, I have to do another one three...

Bdays and Contests and Movies. Oh, my!

Business first--it's BTExpress' birthday today. Those ladies who know his email address are encouraged to send him boobie pics. His 60+ y.o. heart can still handle it! Gentlemen need not bother.

Trojan is still holding her position around the #31 mark. Really, all you need to do is click the link, click the vote button, and type in the word verification. Help a former HNTer out! Do it now, and do it often! Just like they do in Afghanistan!

Have you seen the previews for the new Jim Carrey movie, "A Christmas Carol"? I'm sure it will get great reviews, but I'm NOT a fan of this new style of movie, that relies so much on computer generated imaging (CGI). I didn't like "Polar Express" for the same reason. Too much reliance on digital perfection, and not enough on good, old-fashioned, hand-crafted movie-making. (too many hyphens?)

Even though Halloween is over, enjoy this wonderful movie trailer...