It's a Me Thing ..............

Last Thursday, I got the results back from my Prostate Biopsy. Out of the 12 samples, there was a very small spot on only 1 and it was not aggressive. I'd been reading up on treatments - just in case - and agreed with the doctor when he recommended that we just watch the situation. He gave me a scrip for another PSA test next February and I also made an appointment for then. I figured that this was the second-best outcome and I was happy with it, but that's me.

Friday was my birthday and I spent the morning with my daughter and granddaughter. We had breakfast at the Golden Corral in Freehold, then stopped at the Verizon outlet near the Woodbridge Center Mall. My daughter was interested in upgrading her phone and wound up getting a good deal. It took a long time to transfer her contacts and other things so I did some browsing around. By the time they were done, we were hungry again so we had lunch at the nearby Red Robin's. I enjoyed spending the time with them.

Saturday, I had breakfast at Perkins with some of my other New Jersey relatives - again, for my birthday. I had some errands to run so I wound up skipping my usual Saturday routine - reading the paper in the Menlo Park Mall. On my way home, I had to wait at a corner - even though I had the light - because this old guy decided to cross the street against the light.

By the time he'd gotten across, I was stuck at the red light. Now, I don't like bike riders on the main streets and I'm beginning to not like these wheelchair/scooter things too. There's a senior citizen building nearby and several of the residents now have these. It would be OK if they stayed on the sidewalk but they insist on riding in the streets and they totally disregard the rules. I didn't do anything to this guy but it was only a matter of time. This is beginning to annoy me.

Sunday, I went to mass and had breakfast at Dunkin' Donuts. I stopped at Wawa's for gas.

$2.11 a gallon. The prices are coming down again.

 I decided to shop for some new sneakers. I admit it - I buy cheap sneakers - but they usually last me for a couple of years. Unfortunately, the ones I bought in June developed a popping sound whenever I stepped off my left foot. I don't know if anyone else could hear it, but I could and it bothered me. I had to replace them, and I did. I got a pair for about $20 in Walmart. You may think this was silly, but that's me.

Yesterday, I went to do my wash.

The attendant said that there was a problem and some of the machines weren't working. This could be a problem because I'm a guy. That means that I do the wash when I'm wearing my last clean pair of underwear. (It's a guy thing.) I took a look and saw that some of the machines still had their displays lit and I discussed this with another guy there. We agreed that it looked like there may be a circuit breaker problem and we were gonna try the ones with the lit displays. They worked.

I'd been thinking about the phone I'd seen at Verizon on Friday and decided to stop by and see what kind of a deal they'd make me.

I don't need a "smart" phone. I only wanted something that I could use to text, take pictures, and make calls. My family doesn't understand that but that's how I am. They made me a good deal, of course, but it took about 1 1/2 hours to move over my contacts and pictures. It had something to do with the memory card being corrupted but there was nothing I could do except wait once they started. On the plus side, at least it was air-conditioned in there.

This morning I was out early again because it was going to get very hot. I stopped at Shoprite to get a hero bread - I had some diced ham at home and was going to make ham salad for lunch. I parked near this truck.

This annoys me. If he had parked parallel to the store he would only have taken up 2 spaces. Instead, he parked this way and took up 4. The driver, obviously, has no consideration for others. I looked around before I did anything.

Point, press, Flash.

I would've liked to have stayed around to see what the driver's reaction would be when he came back and the truck wouldn't start but I didn't know how long that would take, so I left.

I stopped at Dunkin' Donuts for breakfast. When I came out, I found Doyle standing by my car.

"Denny! How's it goin'?" He stuck out his hand and I shook it.
"Good, Doyle. I'm good. I'm surprised to see you though. I just saw you, like, a month ago when you just missed Gordon at the mall. Wait ... is he around here somewhere?"
"Nah, Den, this has nothing to do with him. In fact, we haven't gotten a blip from him since then."
"So .. what's up?"
"Well .... I was thinking that it's been 6 years - 6 years ago today, in fact - since I talked you into joining this Project and I, ah..." He trailed off, looking kind of embarrassed.
I felt a little embarrassed too. I understood what he was trying to say, but couldn't. It's a guy thing.
"Gotcha, Doyle. Thanks."
"Good ... good ... just, you know .. wanted to say something." He looked over at the black SUV idling nearby. "I gotta go, Denny. I have a meeting in New York. Good to see you, though."
"Good to see you, too."
We didn't shake again. He walked to the SUV, turned, gave me a quick head nod, and got in. They drove away. I stood there for a few minutes then got in my car and drove away.

I wanted to stop at the library in Metuchen but I had about 45 minutes before they would open. I opened all 4 windows, put on the radio, and took a leisurely drive through Iselin, Colonia, and Edison. I still had about 10 minutes to kill when I parked across the street so I used the time to set up my ring tones on the new phone.

I went in when they opened but I didn't find anything interesting. When I came out, I saw this.

The entire block was empty but this guy had to park right in front of me. So close, in fact that I'm going to have to back up in order to drive away. I didn't like that. I looked around first.

Point, press, Flash.

I got in, backed up, then drove away. He wanted to park right there so he'll be there until he can get his car towed.

I headed for home.

Thinking back over the last few days, there were things that I enjoyed and things that annoyed me. I guess that's true of everyone. The difference is that I can do something about the things that annoy me.

It's a me thing.

Working Out ..........

My Granddaughter was christened a couple of weeks ago in a church right here in Woodbridge. I knew it was going to be held there so I've been going to their early Sunday Mass for about a month. Last weekend I decided to register in that parish.

Monday, I was out early and, since the parish office wouldn't be open until 9, I ran some errands. While stopping at the A&P in South Plainfield, I saw this.

The Google Maps car was running the perimeter of the parking lot. Pretty cool if you ask me.

I got to the parish office a little after 9 and had no problem registering, so that worked out.

Wednesday, I had a Prostate Biopsy scheduled for 4 PM. I had one of these about 3 years ago and the results were negative but, since my PSA Level has continued to rise, the doctor insisted that I go through another one. I was not looking forward to it. I found it to be intrusive and I remember being very uncomfortable for several days after. While driving around, killing time, "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" came on the radio.

It reminded me of my cousin who never stopped fighting the cancer that finally took her. I took it as a sign from her to just do what needed to be done. I went through the procedure and came away feeling better then I remembered. By Thursday morning I was almost back to normal and went out as usual.

This morning, I stopped at Shoprite to pick up some stuff and found that they had those Coca Cola name bottles again. On a whim, I took a look and actually found one with my granddaughter's name which, of course, I grabbed up right away. Then I remembered that my daughter and son-in-law had found one last year - months before she was born - and have it displayed in their china cabinet. They weren't, however, lucky enough to find one with my son-in-law's so they left it at that. Now, here I was with his name staring right at me.






I dug through the display until I found one with my daughter's name and bought all three. I dropped off the two at my daughter's house and she's already added them to the one in the cabinet. That worked out great.

I drove up Rahway to Avenel and cut through a small strip mall. I saw this guy sitting in his car. It looked like he was working on some scratch-off tickets.

It works out this way, sometimes.

Point, press, Flash.

I had a nice leisurely breakfast at Dunkin' Donuts then drove to Wawa's for gas. $2.27 a gallon. Pretty good.

I had nothing left to do and all day to do it. I lowered the windows, turned up the radio, and just drove around.

At Pathmark in Avenel, I picked up a packaged salad and an onion for lunch. At FoodTown in Iselin, I picked up some hot dogs, potato salad, and bread for supper.

I was feeling good and heading for home when I saw this woman heading my way.

I've said before that I don't like bike riders on the main roads but she was roller-blading - with headphones on. I couldn't resist.

Point, press, Flash.

As I continued on home, I was thinking about what I had on my schedule for the next week. There were two things.

Breakfast on Friday at Golden Corral in Freehold with my daughter and granddaughter for my birthday.

But first, on Thursday, a follow-up with the doctor to get the results of the biopsy.

I'm not worried. Whatever they are, I'll deal with them.

Things do have a way of working out.