Well, just a quick check-in to let the faithful few know that we are still alive and kickin’.  Having some interesting times here in the Land of the Morning Calm, but also looking forward to getting back to my American life later this month.

You may have noticed that LTG was hijacked recently due to some malware that was in some old blog rolling code I used.  Got that fixed, so at least you can check in and see what I’m not posting about.  Although I do have good intentions to get back to posting one of these days…

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Last night I had a pretty intense dream about Korea.  It involved a $600 parking ticket.  God only knows what that means…

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Combine a new home security system and a concrete grinder (to even out the slab prior to hardwood installation) and what do you get?  Two firetrucks at your front door.  Seems the concrete dust triggered the fire alarm.  And when ADT couldn’t reach me (my cell phone was inexplicably in the “off” mode), the firetrucks rolled, sirens blaring.

Well, I’m just going to consider it the neighborhood welcoming committee.  And hope it never happens again.

On the plus side, the floors (bamboo) look bitchin’.

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…I am simply taking care of my heart.

News Item: Staring at breasts improves heart health

Of course I’ve known for years that staring at asses is great for mental health.

Unless the wife or girlfriend catches you, in which case you will have a whole different kind of health issue to deal with…

Hat Tip: Instapundit

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Leaving Korea proved to be harder in the end than I imagined it would be.  The New Year’s eve send off was tremendous and I will carry many happy memories of my Korea life wherever the future may lead me.

Had a long but uneventful New Year’s Day flight to the USA.  I was welcomed to America by a Thrifty car rental agent who made a big show of “doing me a favor” by allowing me to actually rent the car I had reserved.  Seems that if I rent a car using a debit card I am required to provide my return flight information.  Which since I have now made South Carolina my home I don’t possess.  She hemmed and hawed and finally made the comment that she would “do me a favor” and rent me the car.  I was tired and hungover and wanted to tell her to go fuck herself but my desire to get out of the airport and on my way overcame the impulse and the transaction was completed.  Her parting shot was “well, I’ve done my good deed for the day!”.  I shook my head and walked away but I was reminded of one of the reasons I’m dreading living in the USA.  Sanctimonious bitch!

I dropped off my bags at the house and went to visit my mom in the hospital.  Not good.  Not good at all.  I was shocked at how much she had deteriorated since my visit in November.  Things were much worse than I imagined and the doctor confirmed that they would not be getting better.  Since there was nothing more to be done medically (congestive heart failure) we were presented with two options–home hospice care or confinement to a nursing home.  We made the obvious choice of allowing her to die at home.

So, a hospital bed was delivered and set up in the living room (ironic name, eh?).  A hospice worker comes five days a week to bathe my mother.  A hospice nurse comes a couple of times a week.  A social worker also appears periodically.  The rest is up to us family members.  I never imagined I’d participate in changing my mother’s diapers, but that’s now part of my daily routine.  I’m doing my best to make her as comfortable as possible for as long as she may have left, but it somehow doesn’t feel like it is nearly enough.

Mom told me she loves me for coming home to her, so there’s that.

I spilled diet coke on my netbook keyboard on a drunken New Year’s morning.  The computer functioned fine except when I typed letters would randomly be numbers and vice-versa, which made logging on with passwords impossible.  Hence the lack of posting here.  I took it in for repairs and got a call yesterday that there was nothing wrong and I could pick it up.  Well, maybe the Vaio has a self-healing feature or I experienced a minor miracle.  Even more bizarrely the repair shop said “no charge”.

I bought a car, bought insurance for said car, and obtained a South Carolina driver’s license.  The last item was was touch and go.  Despite having my passport and birth certificate, the wanted my original social security card.  Well, when it was issued 40 years ago it was just a flimsy business card material that has long since disintegrated.  I didn’t think to bring my last pay stub but then I remembered that I had failed (intentionally) to return my Army ID card.  And since it won’t expire until 22 January and it showed my SSN, I was golden.  All I had to do now was demonstrate proof of residence.  Well, I’m staying with my parents, but my name is on the deed to the house.  In the state’s eyes, that doesn’t prove I live there (valid point, since my name has been on the deed for 6 years, and I’d been here 6 days).  Of course, the utility bills are in Dad’s name so it looked like I was in a classic catch-22 situation.  Then I remembered my proof of insurance certificate showing my living at this address.  Score!  I am now a licensed driver in SC for the second time in my life.

Thursday I drove my nephew Joshua (who had been staying with mom and was a tremendous help) to the airport in Raleigh.  It was an 8 hour round trip, but my new car handled well and provided a comfortable ride.

Jee Yeun has been an angel.  She’s a natural born caregiver and has really done everything possible to make mom comfortable (including pedicures).

Of course, despite our best efforts, mom is not comfortable at all.  She seems to be having an increasing difficulty breathing and she’s miserable staying in bed.  She begs us to let her up, but it is just not possible to move her in her current state of immobility.

I thought for awhile we were going to lose her last night, but she came around.

Her sisters are due in this afternoon and she’s looking forward to that.

And now we are just watching and waiting and hoping her suffering is not too great.

I hate everything about my new life.  And I’m glad to be here.  For whatever that’s worth.

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Little by little I’m wrapping things up.  Meeting with the transportation office today and will be packed out next Tuesday.  It’s all getting real now.

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If you can do a half-assed job of anything, you’re a one-eyed man in a kingdom of the blind.

I’m not sure the context for this quote by Kurt Vonnegut.  I mean, I have no reason to believe he was referring to those of us who have spent our working life in civil service.  I certainly am not saying it even remotely applies to me.  But still, I must admit to having had occasional encounters with individuals in positions of power and authority far beyond their level of skill and competence.  I mean, I’m pretty sure that Peter Principle was a government employee.  And so is the President.
Just sayin’.

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…all because of those damn teabaggers…

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Are you In the Mood?

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…apparently.

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Chris Matthews says the thrill is gone:

While she spoke, a member of the crowd behind her came into view of the camera, holding a sign that read, “How’s The Tingle, Chris?” The sign referenced Matthews’ famous comment in 2008 that he “got a thrill up my leg” when listening to a speech by President Obama.

That’s when Matthews lost patience.

“Congresswoman Bachmann, are you hypnotized tonight?” he asked. Has someone hypnotized you? Because no matter what I ask you you give the same answer. Are you hypnotized? has someone put you under a trance tonight?”

“We’re coming out of our trance, really we’re coming out of our nightmare,” Bachmann responded. “I think people are thrilled tonight. I imagine that thrill is probably not so tingly on your leg anymore.”

After the interview was over, Matthews and his fellow MSNBC panelists reacted to the “How’s The Tingle” sign. Rachel Maddow said it was a way for people to charge that MSNBC was “in the tank” for President Obama. Matthews himself stressed that he had never actually used the word “tingle,” but that he reacted physically when people, such as Obama, stirred his feelings of patriotism about the United States.

“They’re making fun of me, fine, for saying that. I can live with that,” he said.

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Heh.

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34 years ago today I began my career as a U.S. government employee carrying mail for the Postal Service in Anaheim, CA.

I’ll be ending that career as a GS-15 Army employee in Seoul, Korea on January 1, 2011.

Whoda thunk it?

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…well, see for yourself.

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I’d put this in the don’t judge a book by its cover category I suppose.

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How bad a teacher do you have to be in order to be banned from teaching for life?  This bad.

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I predict one helleva ugly divorce.

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Well, I’ve blown through all four seasons of Mad Men now, with the exception of the season finale which I’ll get to as soon as I find it available for download.  Quite the show, especially for someone like me who enjoys time travel.  This is the best piece of writing I’ve seen describing the various levels on which the show touches the viewer.

Speaking of time travel, I watched Hot Tub Time Machine tonight and enjoyed revisiting the 80s.  Sappy in places, but funny too.  Worth a watch if you’ve got a couple of hours to kill.

Oh, I’m also into the first two episodes of season 5 of Dexter.  Episode 3 is on tap for tomorrow.

Does it sound like I’m watching too much TV?  Heh.  Man does not live by darts alone!

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Sometimes it’s better to let sleeping dogs lie I suppose…

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So, last night I dream that Sylvester Stallone is planning my murder to prevent me from testifying to a grand jury.  He didn’t succeed.

In other news, it’s probably not wise for a newscaster to mock the rather unfortunate name of a foreign dignitary.  Repeatedly.  What a dipshit.

Heading to the Seroksan/East Ocean area to honor Chris Columbus this weekend.

That is all.

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