Yeah, It Has Been Too Long

To those of you who may have noticed, I have been away. It has been for the longest period of time since the inception of By The Numbers, some 459 posts ago and, unremembered by the olelongrooffan, one year ago on this date!! Yet another anniversary forgotten by this gettingoldman!!

As an aside, this is post 460, which is also a kick ass Ford engine, debuting in 1968 in a Lincoln, although in the Mustang, it was a 429. And Counters, a numbers matching 68 Mustang 429 is worth a whole lot of money to the right group!! Trust me on that one. I included this because I thought you would like to know a bit of trivia that, in addition to a multitude of other things, will not earn me one red cent.

There are many reasons for my absence and, in an effort to purge myself of the self absorption I am feeling, I thought I would post some of them just to get it off my chest. While this blog is not a downer, it is not my usual off the cuff humor and feel free to move on to the "Next Blog". I won't be offended at all. Check back soon though as I have several Drafts just waiting to get out and they will soon. jdl.

This past few weeks have been the biggest bummer since I lost my job over a year ago.

On a high note, I was honored to be asked to judge the Orlando area Parade of Homes. I have been judging POH's around the state for about 15 years and love doing it. It is a blast to see new stuff in the housing industry, meet new people and see new cities and towns. Plus being able to critique a $2.5 million home is a real blast. Hint: if you can see the toilet in the powder bath from the front door, this is not a good thing.

Anyway, I developed sinus allergies over the past couple years and once I lost my job last year, I stopped take Zyrtec(sp) due to its cost and just started doing things the GentleManFarmer's way, I carry a hankerchief. Well, not wanting to be a total hick from the Ozarks blowing my snotty nose all day long, I thought I would pick up some cheap over the counter allergy medicine for the two days I would be down there. It worked pretty well.

Then a few days later I woke up and was sick as a dog, nausea, stomach contractions, sore all over, you know the feeling. I figured I picked up a bug shaking about 400 hands over two days and stayed the day in bed drinking water and sweating it out.

I woke up the next day and all was good. Back to my routine and then the following Tuesday, Whammy!!! The same thing. Never in my nearly 50 years has something like this happened to me.

"Something is not right here" this oleman says. I make a list of my symptoms and do a WebMD search.

Turns out I am allergic to the active ingredient in that allergy medicine and I had basically "ODed" myself on them and my kidneys shut down. A quick email to thehorsefarmer confirms I am not going to die anytime soon, well at least from that. 'Just give the old kidneys a break, drink lots of water and follow the BRAT diet for a few days.'

Well I did and all is well these days. I seem to have healed quite nicely and for that I Thank God.

In addition to following thehorsefarmer's dietary advice, I decided to take a sabatical on my consumption of hurricane supplies. I figured I would use this time on his recommended diet to really clean up my system. My booze consumption sure altered my sleeping habits, that is for sure.

So now it takes me a lot longer to get to sleep and I have yet to sleep through the night. However a good thing is a result, I have returned to reading voraciously, something I have gotten away from in the past few years. Actually, non fiction is fun. Beats the hell out of Rush and his ilk as well as the depressing news concerning the US Auto Industry.

Toss this into the mix.

If you have been Counting Along With Me, you know I have applied da*n near everywhere there is to apply for meaningful employment with no success. Last December, thejeepjunkie sent me over to a guy he knows who runs the local Mitsubishi service department. Turns out a senior service advisor is retiring in June and he was looking for someone to come aboard as a service advisor. I chatted it up with him and although I did not have the experience he was looking for, I had the personality. We hit it off and he told me I as much as had the position. I kept in touch and, as he mentioned, checked back with him in mid May. Well, I don't know if you have been following the news about the auto industry but there are a hell*va lot of dealerships closing and guess what, a lot of unemployed, experienced, automobile service advisors. As I was talking to him I could tell he was trying not to let me down but I had heard it before and knew what was coming. I wished him the best and he did the same for me. Haven't heard from him though and he didn't return my call.

Last week we had 37", yes over three feet, of rain over the course of five days. It sucked. I swear it could have been a tropical storm but those are alot more fun. It was flooded da*n near everywhere. It was so windy, I was afraid to drive the olestationbus as I thought it might blow over. And, oh yeah, it still needs new window seals so it is not as waterproof as I would like. It did clear up enough on Monday to get a day on the beach in with thejeepjunkie and his family. It is always fun to spend time with them and I am honored to be included in their family activities and will not deny an invite in the future. However, I sure am envious of the closeness he has with his kids and it makes me miss my daughter Jessica immensely.

Then there is this. You know I have blogged about my "little sister" Carri down in Naples. A couple weeks ago, around 10:30pm, I get a call from her in a panic. She was a bit buzzed and had tripped over her spoiled *ss little dog Presley and fallen and hit her nose. When she called she was in a panic and couldn't get the bleeding stopped. Well after a couple different phone calls, I called her Mom, theChristmasMama, to go over and check on her. Well Mom did and called me later to say Thanks as Carri was pretty messed up, although nothing permanent. Well, needless to say, the next day I got a scathing email from Carri all pissed off at me and now I am on the Dark Side. Ironically, I got a email from her sister and another friend thanking me for doing it. Time will tell there.

Finally, I get a call from my buddy Jason, I blogged about him at the practice for the Rolex races last December or January. He has gotten a place on the coast of Rhode Island for six weeks and invited me to come on up and hang for a while just to get over all of this crap. Yeah, like that is in my budget.

So there you have it. The first time I have wallowed in this much self pity in a long, long time. It is good to get it off my chest and thanks for listening.

I know it will all come together, it always does. But I da*n sure hope it happens soon.

Know I will be in better spirits in my future posts and thanks for letting me vent.

And even though I may sound down in the dumps, and I may in fact be there, all is well and I continue to try to

Celebrate Life.