'Cocaine ingested from rear end ends in tragedy'

From The Miami Herald here (http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/12/20/2555084/cocaine-ingested-from-butt-ends.htm) (includes video). I could could scarcely believe my eyes when I saw this. (And note how the link reads.)

Tuesday evening personal

A/C working fine when I got home. I opened up the inside unit just to check. No ice! Yay! So far, it appears I've fixed the problem by cleaning the outside unit. It wasn't that hard. From now on, I'll keep an eye on it. (And it's also probably best to clean it at night, when necessary.)

Having some of that tea my cousin sent me. Then off to Walgreens and the local convenience store.

Monday night personal

E. called a few minutes ago. He was fine, although he'd had a rough day off, as predicted. He'd just gotten home from Flanigan's after three beers with a lady friend (a customer). So he was home safe.

(The ramp from southbound I-95 west to the airport expressway (112) had been closed due to an accident, so he'd taken eastbound 112 and gotten off at 36th Street, where he got directions at a Denny's to get back up on 112 heading west to the airport. Essentially, he'd by then gotten lost (he admitted), but at that point also had to pee. (Too much iced tea.) He said he was cursing all the way but succeeded in picking up his passenger and delivering her back to her mom's in Aventura, but the traffic up there had been a complete mess and it took him an hour and a half to get through it and back (it being the shopping season). I advised him to henceforth think twice about volunteering to do that again (esp. his having only one day off a week), no matter the favor owed, and that the mom was just being cheap. The daughter could have taken a Super Shuttle home for under $30 or so and not put E. through that shit.)

Good movie, "The Haunting in Connecticut." (Why it had only one star, I can't figure, unless the arbiters of these types of movies didn't like the happy - but true - ending.) Now the next one, "Population 436." More typical ending - they escape the crazy, dangerous place at last, only to be hit by a Mack truck. Movie over.

Monday evening personal

Holiday Tea and Holiday Jam
from Stonewall Kitchen (good stuff!)

Well, I got home from work today and the A/C felt pretty good, but I just had to open up the inside unit for a look - and it wasn't frozen! Yay! Maybe last night's cleaning treatment on the outside unit worked. (And I didn't hear anything from the condo today about any complaints about the dirty water that flowed down outside the apartment below.) (If I'd done it in the daytime, there might have been a problem, but under cover of darkness, it looks like I got away with it.) (It was their dust that clogged my A/C anyway.)

Received a little present today from my cousin.

Poor E. Today, on his only day off of the week, he had to drive to Miami International Airport to pick up the daughter of a co-worker (he was returning a favor). I called him when I got home and left a message. He's probably getting hammered right now and will call me later. (Not really looking forward to that.)

Just had a hard-boiled egg and some citrus salad (and a cup of tea). Now I have to run to the grocery store. Looks like something good on SyFy at 9:00 ("The Haunting in Connecticut," based on a true story). Or there's Anthony Bourdain's new show ("The Layover," in Hong Kong).

Sunday night personal

Went to eat over at E.'s place of business and when I got back home, the A/C was frozen up again. Did a Google search - "my air conditioner keeps icing up" - and immediately came up with this:

1st I'm not an A/C guy, but I play one on t.v.... Check the coils on the unit that's outside to see if they're dirty or clogged... You should be able to see light from the other side when you look through them. Somebody else suggested the filter... that's a likely cause too!

(I'd already changed the filter today.) I remembered the last time an A/C guy was here - to unclog the drain pan inside - saying something about the outside unit possibly getting clogged up (he suggested with cat hair, perhaps having seen a cat in my apartment) and ultimately needing attention.

It was dark already, so I went out on the terrace, where the outside unit sits up against a wall, and shined a flashlight through the slits. No light coming through on the other side, at all. At first I panicked. But then I remembered I had a pressure sprayer that I used to use for ... what, I don't remember. After I'd jammed the blow dryer into the inside unit and started de-icing it, I filled the sprayer with hot water (a few times) and sprayed through the slits and down inside the back of the unit (where I couldn't spray through the slits). The water was seeping out a dark brown (and going downstairs - a no-no, but this was an emergency). I worked on it a good 45 minutes, at least, going over and over the coils with the sprayer. (Even when the flashlight was at last shining through, I kept going over them.)

I didn't see any hair on the coils, by the way. What was covering them appeared to be just particulate material. (Earlier this year, they resurfaced the patio - one floor below - and sent up a lot of dust as they were blasting away the old surface. This went on for days, if not weeks.) Hopefully, what I did tonight will help alleviate the icing-up of the inside unit and avoid or at least delay having a repairman come in (which entails taking time off from work) - or having to replace the inside unit, which aside from being old and maybe on its last legs, could become damaged by getting frozen up.

I just replaced the outside unit a few years ago, and replacing the inside unit would be even costlier. But it's going to happen one of these days. The thing looks really dirty and decrepit, but as long as it still works...

The issue here, by the way, is that if the air flow from the outside unit across the inside coils isn't sufficient, the coils will freeze up.

By the way, tonight at the restaurant, one of E.'s loyal customers who came in turned out to be the granddaughter of one of my dad's former bosses. We had a long chat.

I'm back

Been busy doing holiday stuff, like shopping, and also spending time with E. This is a good point to pick up where I left off, since I just had to unfreeze the A/C again. Today I also changed the filter. I've also been going onto Facebook, but that's really not where I like to let down my hair.

The holidays are not my favorite time of year. I find them overwhelming and get thrown off kilter. (I've just gotten over a cold.) But this weekend I managed to write out my Christmas cards and drove them up to the Post Office earlier. Meanwhile, all gifts have been bought and distributed. So for all intents and purposes, the holidays are over for me. I'm done.

The repair to the truck ended up costing me over $400 - needed a new ignition tumbler (or whatever) and a starter (the expensive part). Now I have a new key to the ignition. (The old key still unlocks the doors.)

Meanwhile, in the midst of the holiday hoopla, last Wednesday I closed on the refinance of my mortgage (below 4% for 13 years, fixed). The title company sent a notary to my office for signing the paperwork. That took about 50 minutes. Starting in February, I'll be paying $80 less a month (mortgage and taxes). (Meanwhile I just got in a bill in the mail for my old mortgage - I'll have to call them.)

Last weekend was crazy. I was over at E.'s one night and he was over here the next, drinking and staying up late and doing Jaeger shots. Too much. (And he had to go to work on both Saturday and Sunday.) He wanted a digital camera for Christmas, so I bought that on Saturday at Target. I had it all wrapped up with a bow, but he wanted to open it that night. (Which was fine with me.) We charged it up and learned how to use it - it's pretty simple to use, but has lots of features (a Nikon Coolpix, in plum). I'd also bought him a plum-colored wireless mouse for his laptop.

TGIF!!!

Glad this week is over!

Monday night, I noticed something was wrong with my computer (it all started with "searchqu" - see here). I was beside myself. I spent all night trying to clean it up and didn't go to work the next day (they were sympathetic, and I had the PTO). I ran different malware programs and the anti-virus. I thought everything was OK, but then found out I was unable to log in to an ING savings account (or another website that has a password on it). (The closing on the refinance is coming up soon, and I needed to put some extra money into my checking account to help cover closing costs). So then I thought something had messed up my passwords. To make a long story short, the computer ended up dead in the water - I'd reloaded Windows 7 and apparently (mistakenly) put a password on it, which I then couldn't remember. (I guess that can happen after having already taken my estazolam, etc.) I have no reason to have a password on my computer.

(I think the computer infection mess started after I'd opened up an email attachment from my uncle sent last Sunday - and usually I never open up his attachments. It was a PowerPoint with a bunch of pictures.)

Meanwhile E. got upset since he couldn't reach me at work. He did leave a message on my cell, but by then I was asleep in bed. (Didn't hear it ring.)

When I finally got up Tuesday afternoon, I returned E.'s call and apologized (he was relieved). I then talked to Dell (the manufacturer) and Best Buy (where I bought the computer) and ING (and had the money transferred over the phone). (Dell had said to call Best Buy, since according to their records my computer had been sold in Canada - long story.) Best Buy said to bring the computer into the store (a home visit from the Geek Squad would cost at least $200 - not that I would even want them here). So Wednesday after work, I disconnected all the wires and cables and drove the computer up there. After I was waited on (and there was only one person ahead of me), it took the in-store Geek Squad half an hour to remove the password, for $29.99. Such a deal! Now the computer works better than ever (I've had to reload stuff, run updates, restore files, etc.). (Meanwhile I'd hooked up the netbook and had been using that.)

Last night I drove to Publix to pick up some beer for E. (and a smoked turkey breast), then drove on down to Walgreens to pick up a prescription, etc. When I got back to the truck, it wouldn't start, and then the key broke in the ignition. I knew someday the truck wouldn't start - this has been a recurring problem. I'd even had it in the shop months ago (after it didn't start one night at Publix) to try to root out the problem, but the truck repeatedly started up at the shop - in fact, they spent an entire extra day starting up the truck and it never failed (and didn't charge me a penny in the end). This time, however, with half the key lodged in the ignition, it was definitely going back to the shop. (I think there's something wrong in the steering column, where the ignition switch is located.)

Meanwhile, I had to get back home with the 12-pack of beer, the turkey breast, my prescription and a box of vinyl gloves (to apply medicine) (and also a bottle of rum from a liquor box in the truck). So I walked to the bus stop across the parking lot, lugging all that stuff. (At that time, no more express buses.) An old guy I'd seen on the bus before was sitting on one of the benches and said a bus would be coming in 10 minutes. Then he asked me for a dollar. I'd left home without my cigarettes and saw that he was smoking. I asked him for a cigarette in exchange for the dollar and he gave me the last one in his box (I had to light it off his stub). That was a relief. The bus came five minutes later. Meanwhile, after praising me for being what he thought was a "good person" (nice to hear, and I returned the compliment), the guy had crossed the street and walked off.

I got a few stares on the bus, lugging my 12-pack of beer by its built-in handles as I was. Got home in a few minutes. (I could have walked - it's not even a mile - but not with all that stuff.)

(Wouldn't you know - the A/C was frozen again when I got home, so I had to haul out the blow-dryer. No problem!)

I decided to deal with the truck tonight, rather than put it off till tomorrow (as I'd planned). (I found out last night from Walgreens that it would be OK to have it towed to the shop tomorrow, since it's not their policy to have "abandoned" cars towed away from their lot to a tow yard.) So after work, I got off the bus at Home Depot (a block south of Walgreens) and had my spare truck key copied, then walked up to my truck. The new key worked. I then fished my AAA card out of the glove box and called them (and listened to all their recorded stuff as my cell was about die...). To make a long story short, the truck is now sitting in the lot at the shop with the steering-wheel lock locked and the keys in the mail slot. It was a short walk home from there (with the last bottle of rum - stashed in my briefcase-on-wheels - and a couple of bags of other stuff). (The place is about three blocks west, across the railroad tracks.) The shop is closed on the weekends, so I'll be hearing from them on Monday while I'm at work.

Meanwhile, I got back on Facebook during the Thanksgiving holiday. Ugh.