HEY ALL!! Well how goes the last day of 2012?? Did some errands in the garage today, trying to get stuff arranged so I can get my Truck back in the garage after all the Christmas stuff. Yesterday was a very quiet day, several naps in my chair. Today not so much, tried to get out in the garage early and get some stuff re - arranged. Then this afternoon has been SLOOOOWWW. Remember it is time to get your 2012 Tax information pulled out of storage and put together!! OH I know, TAX time already!?!? So get ready, Fiscal Cliff or not, you will have to do taxes soon. I will get the Christmas decorations down tomorrow and then probably start sorting stuff to get listing back on eBay. It has been relaxing the last week not having anything listed. But, I do miss it. I have been watching several of the College Football Bowl games, I mainly follow the PAC-12, and they are STILL losing, now they are 1 - 5. With two more chances. How very disappointing! Will lay low tonight and watch New Years at the Needle. If I make it to midnight! WOW how that tradition has changed. Use to be a three day party, no it's about 3 minutes. CHOW MOI

HI ALL!! I think this is becoming a habit. The last couple of days I have been sorting through cards for a couple hours then just chill the rest of the day. And, again today, same thing. Sorting cards and then a little college football bowl games. Man the Pac 12 is doing terrible this year. I think they are 1 and 4 so far. That's just terrible!! Then caught a couple of little naps also. Just fine to relax during the days, but I do want to get started on putting together info for my taxes. And, I know as soon as the eBay stuff starts again, I will be busier. Really no guilt feelings, and the next couple of days I will need to help put the Christmas decorations away. CHOW MOI

HEY ALL!! Well spend several hours today sorting through another set of baseball cards and getting them ready for eBay. Trying to finish off the complete set so I can list it. Takes several hours to go through the cards, make up a want list, and then go through several web sites and find the cards you are missing. But I was successful in getting all the cards I needed. Now just wait for them to show up and get the set listed. Feel much better today, and just laying low, as I probably will for the next several days at the end of the year. Not much going on and that's just fine. Nothing listed on eBay, so that will make it slower. Will probably have to clean up the post Christmas decorations in the next several days, but that's all I got going. Oh by the way, I have not heard from " HER " as of yet. If you remember I did send a message to her daughter. So maybe she does NOT want to be contacted? Or just haven't gotten messages yet. We shall see. CHOW MOI

HI ALL!! Well woke up this morning feeling bad, just " icky " all over. So I stayed close to my dish. Did sort some baseball cards and went through the last 3 or 4 days worth of mail. I watched the Kennedy Awards last night. Very entertaining. One of the inductees was Led Zeppelin. They did about a 15 minute tribute to the group, and the finale was Stair Way to Heaven performed by The Wilson sisters of Heart. And a very cool twist, on drums was Jason Bonham son of the original Zeppelin drummer, John Bonham who died in 1980. Jason had performed with the other 3 members of Zeppelin several years ago for a benefit concert in London's O2 arena. At that time there was major talk about the band going on tour. But it never materialized. So last night Jason comes out and gets behind the drums and then points up to the 3 members. Also, there were some back up singers, AND a choir. You could tell from watching the original band members that they were VERY impressed. It was a very cool tribute. Also from the music side was Buddy Guy, he was credited with taking music from the crop fields to major coliseums. And how true. The funnest tribute was for David Letterman. But by far the Led Zeppelin tribute struck the chord. Ann and Nancy Wilson have been influenced by Zeppelin since 1969. They have covered several other  songs on a couple of different albums too. CHOW MOI

HEY ALL!! Well out this morning and ran some errands. Had to get new ink for my printer. I really like the new printer, but it seems to be printing a little weak in the color department. So I got new ink all the way around today. Prints better, at least black, we will see what color looks like. I wonder if the ink that came with it was old? Back home finished up the printing I needed to do, couple of sold things from eBay. And then just relaxing, I have been very tired the last two days. I hope it is because of Christmas. I have been going to bed earlier and getting up earlier than last week. Feels like a slight change in my sleeping habits, again. Any way not much else going on, I am going to wait till next week before I list more stuff on eBay. Give me some time to work on some other sets and finish them up. I VERY MUCH enjoyed my trip in my truck this morning. I have a very good sound system in it, Focal speakers, and although I have heard the songs before, it seems every once in awhile I hear notes and words I have not heard in the song before. I am sure it is the speakers. Sometimes it is a little weird, I remember one time I thought it was something wrong with my truck, until I figured out the noise went away when the song stopped. CHOW MOI

HI ALL!!  WOW What a busy time, you would never know that I am retired!! Spent yesterday running errands and then my daughters showed up, and well if you read my blog you know. I just go to jell-o when they are around. I try to spend ALL my time with them. Did a fun little Christmas eve event with family last night. What a lot of fun and family time. Even with my Sister here!! Got to spend some one on one time with my daughters last night. Then up this morning, WAY TOO EARLY, to SNOW !?!? Then over to my sisters for a little Christmas day thing. Finally back home and relax. Nice simply dinner and relax time. Actually am very tired and wore out. I am not going to run any more eBay stuff till January so I will have some time this week to pack up stuff and get re-organized. Probably even put on some Stones' stuff and rock out!! CHOW MOI

HEY ALL!! Well a relaxing day. Ran to Post Office to get the mail, then relaxed, cleaned up the house. Staying quiet for the day getting ready for tomorrow. Was hoping my daughters would show up early and surprise me, but no. That's OK will be here tomorrow then we can do Christmas. Should be a good group here tomorrow, should be fun. And the girls are staying till early Christmas morning. COOL, VERY COOL!! One eBay auction closed with no action, got one more closing tomorrow.Watched some TV and just relaxed all day. Which is what I wanted. CHOW MOI

HI ALL!! Well got some more Christmas lights up, and was able to get furniture squared away. Thanks to my brother in law. Now it is really starting to look a lot like Christmas! Still got clean up to do. But I am waiting till eBay stuff is done.The Huskies looked sick today. Just not in tune and lost to Boise State, terrible, just terrible!! Hope to spend a quiet night, nothing much on TV, so maybe another movie?? Handed off the damage eagle statue to my sister today. She had made an eagle for our dad, I had placed it on the sub-woofer.  Well during the Rolling Stones concert, the eagle vibrated off the sub-woofer?!?! Who knew?? So she is going to piece it back together. Busted some of the tail feather and some of the wing tips. I think she probable keep it after she is done, OH WELL.So just a slow day, glad to get lights up, very nice I might add. CHOW MOI

HEY ALL!! Sorry I missed yesterday. Spent the morning doing some stuff on the inter-web and then went out to the garage and sorted through the Christmas stuff. WOW is there a lot of Christmas decorations out there. I guess that's what you get over the years. Pulled out some stuff to put up in the house. And, WOW what a challenge that was. How a 20 minute project turns into 2 hours?? But there is a little feeling of the holidays in the house now!! And only cut both thumbs and a little finger in the process!! Got some more stuff to put up, and then some lights outside. At least to get a little holiday into it. Another rainy misty day. Starting to sell some stuff through eBay, and it is kind of odd. Do these people think they will get their item before Christmas? Or are they buying for themselves because they think they deserve it? I mean any place you go to now on the web, if you want your item before Christmas yo will have to pay for overnight shipping. Well I don't charge for shipping on my eBay items. And no one has offered to pay overnight shipping. I hope they are just buying it for themselves. I have not decided if I will run another auction before year end. My items end on the 24th, so I could get in one more auction, but not sure with everything gong on at years end. I may wait and do one starting on the 1st, and run it 4 times through January. I have been experimenting with what is a good day to end the auctions on. Sunday and Monday seem to be the better days. I am not sure why, I have my ideas, but it might be one of those eBay-ology things. CHOW MOI

HI ALL!! Well how goes it today. I just worked my way though the day. Got some stuff packaged up to send out for eBay. And funny thought, I worked for Denny's for 5 years. I NEVER received a pay raise, thanks Wink!! Real name, my supervisor. Worked 5 years of late night shifts, till 2am or 3am or 4am or 5am or later. and NEVER a pay raise. Helped turn around a problem restaurant, with two other Managers. They got pay raises, I DID NOT. How do you  do that, reward two Managers for helping turn a losing Restaurant into a profitable one. YET, nothing for the Third Manager. Yea, I don't know, you would have to ask my supervisor. Well in the mail I get a notice from SSDI, I AM GETTING A PAY RAISE NEXT YEAR!! SSDI is giving me a raise, but Denny's NEVER did!! WOW is that messed up or what?? I just thought that was pretty funny, expensive, but funny. OH well, one more reason why I am happy to be retired!! By the way one piece of advice, restaurant work can be a challenge, but a 24 hours restaurant is over the top. Remember, someone has to be there 24 HOURS!! Anyway not much else today. Kind of laying low and recovering from the last two days being up and outside doing stuff. CHOW MOI

HEY ALL!! Well woke up to a little snow on the yard today. None on the driveway or street, just the grass. Well that's just fine, LET IT SNOW!! Got my helper here today and got some outside errands done. Studded snow tires up in the garage ready to go. Christmas decorations in the garage and will decide what to do with them. Got the yard picked up and some other things taken care of. NICE, VERY NICE!! Spent part of the day shuffling through baseball cards again. Trying to find out what I need in several other sets, so I can get the cards I am missing bought and then get the complete sets listed. Finding some of the stuff maybe worth a nice little sum. SWEET!! Any way, I still get VERY sore when I am outside and doing some of the stuff. But it sure feels nice to be outside for awhile. And nice to get some choirs done. Not much else happening, waiting for packages to show up. Should have 4 or 5 more packages this week, hope to get all the stuff before the 25th. But, some of it states won't be here till the 26th. Hope they are wrong. Really just staying relaxed and waiting for Christmas with the family. CHOW MOI

HI ALL!! Well was set up today to get some "winterizing" done around the house. Want to move the mower, move the snow tires, the Christmas stuff, and need to move some fallen trees out of the way. But, my help did not show up, he slept in, had been working all weekend out of town. So he will be here tomorrow and then get stuff done. Maybe even hang a Christmas light or two. You never know. Yesterday was one of those days where I probably REALLY needed to go to work. Well or just get out of the house for awhile. Seemed like I was in a sour mood most of the day. I wonder what brings that stuff on. Guess if I knew that, I could bottle it and make a million. I did spend some time today sorting baseball cards and then while I was waiting for my help to show up I sorted through my work bench in the garage and got it cleaned off. I have a lot of empty boxes that I use for shipping stuff, and they were just piled up on the bench. So got them all put away and cleaned up some other stuff. How nice is that? Clean garage work area, but WOW does it really tire me, my legs are just on fire and I am really tired. That is the one thing I have noticed with my disability. If I spend more than about 20 minutes up and about I become very tired and it starts to become a strain to walk,even with a cane. Hope to have a good clean up day tomorrow. CHOW MOI

HEY ALL!! Well what a tremendous concert on PPV last night. The Rolling Stones were just amazing. All the guest were very very good. I got a big charge out of Lady GAGA, she had on about 8 inch platform shoes with about a 12 inch spike heal. And WOW could she move and dance in those. I also saw Charlie Watts [drummer] had a big smile on his face the whole time she was out there. Probably the best looking ass he has seen on stage in 50 years! He is use to looking at Jagger's back side! As I listened to the show it reminded me of just how much The Stones are a sound track to my life. You could play Stones songs from their very first recoding to their latest, and it would bring up events in my life. It seems they were always playing in the background! The PPV was great coverage, I thought the sound was a little weak. I had the surround sound turned up about 8 ticks above regular TV and it still was not bowing me away. Although it did vibrate a ceramic eagle figure off the sub-woofer!? So I just spent the rest of the night soaking in all I had seen. If this is the last concert they do, it was a great one to go out on. Mick was very talkative, and acknowledged the crowd well. Today is eBay day again. I got over 200 listing ending, and then I will re-list. Hope to squeeze out some sales. And got a busy week ahead, should have packages showing up every day. CHOW MOI

HI ALL!! Well another day of baseball card shuffling. Went shopping for cards to finish off the 2008 Heritage Set. Got most of what I needed. Still some Short Prints I have got to run down. It took almost all day to get through it. And it can be very tiring. Even though I am at the computer, still seems to take a lot out of me. Well the Stones concert last night was a major hit, I have read some amazing reviews. I am starting to get JACKED up for tomorrows PPV. You probably will not hear from me tomorrow. Going to get errands ran in the morning and then have an early dinner and then hunker down for the PPV, got little smokies and shrimp all set for snacks. OH YEA!! And hope to have some help come by Sunday to get the yard shaped up. Get some winterizing done, get the snow tires up so they are easy to get to when we get snow. Maybe even hang a Christmas light or two. Short one today. OH by the way, for those keeping track, yes I sent a message to "HER" daughter last night. CHOW MOI

HEY ALL!! Well a little late on getting my post out today. I spent a lot of the day shifting through my 2007 Finest trying to get that set finished off. I was 17 cards short, now I think only 5 short. I am looking for the "Photo Variations", there were 36 cards that had the regular card, and then two different cards with different photos on each, so 3 cards for each. The variation cards are limited to 439 copies, and the Refractors are 199 copies. So it is a challenge to find them all, but that's what I like about baseball cards. After that I pulled out the 2008 Topps Heritage and started shorting and getting ready to finish that set off so I can sell it. I have 4 or 5 other sets that are the same way, about 75% or so completed. I will finish off these sets and put them on eBay. Also ran some errands today. Been checking the message board on the Rolling Stones after last nights benefit concert. Lots of opinions on how they did, and how other bands did. The Stones only played 2 songs, I think because they were a last minute addition to the concert and Keith was sick the night before, and they have two full blown concerts in the next three days. Rumor has it that Saturdays PPV [12/15] maybe their last time on stage. That's why they are doing it as a PPV. Interesting thoughts. I hope not, I would love to see them again. It will be pricy, but after all it is The Rolling Stones!! The most interesting thing about last night was Paul McCartney on stage with the 3 members of Nirvana, I called them Bea-Vana. It was pretty good. The oddest thing was Kenya West's outfit, he had on grey leather pants with a matching pleated skirt. VERY ODD!! Had on a hoody sweatshirt with "23" on the back and some odd name across the top. I just didn't get it. CHOW MOI

HI ALL!! Fairly quiet day, paid bills packaged up some items that had sold on eBay, and that is it. The Stones will be playing tonight for the 12-12-12 benefit concert, but not until probably 7 or 8. Just relaxing and taking care of business. Started laundry, oh boy. It is one of those days that you have before Christmas. you know there is a lot going on and some really drop dead days ahead, but this is one of those days where nothing really is going on so you just kind of float through it and let your energy build up. You know that you will need the extra energy later this month. Looks like I will get to spend more than just 4 seconds with my daughters this holiday, maybe even an over night stay!! WOW!! It will be nice to chat and spend the time. They really are the light of my life and I truly like spending time, chatting and visiting with them. Hope to sell more eBay stuff, got big discount sales [ 25% ] starting early this morning and then early Thursday morning. Let's see if I can generate some interest and get some dollars out of people. CHOW MOI

HEY ALL!! Well Ronald is the first to leave a comment. Thank You so much Ronald!! ( fake name to protect the guilty) It is great to get feed back. Because you are the first to respond, YOU WIN!!! Not sure what, but YOU WIN!!!! And your winning item is in the mail. That reminds me of an old joke, a little dirty. What are the 3 biggest lies of the 60's? The check is in the mail. ; Some of my best friends are colored. ; I promise I will respect you in the morning. : What are the 3 biggest lies of the 70's? The check is in the mail. ; I promise I won't cum in your mouth. ; Nixon is innocent. ; What are the 3 biggest lies of the 80's? The check is in the mail. ; Reganomics will work. ; I don't have any STD's. I told you a little dirty. So out and about today, several errands, fired up the old Green Ford truck and put in my favorite music. I was fortunate to get " The Collection " and have been downloading songs from it. The Collection starts from the 50's and up into the 2000's. I have been burning the songs onto a USB thumb drive. Only through '69 right now and already have 14 hours of music! WOW, My head unit in the truck has a USB post {best thing I ever bought for the truck} so I just plug it in and cruse!! Very Cool. I also have a USB of Rolling Stones, about 18 hours worth and still several more albums to load. WOW!! Some eBay sales are picking up, very nice to see. And just trying to get finished for Christmas. Waiting on my youngest daughter to respond for a gift idea. Thank God my oldest daughter is good at responding to Daddy, because I have to use ALL my patience on the youngest one. WOW, HELLO Is there anybody back there?? You remember the old Wendy's commercial, the old lady out front trying to order and no one is around, She starts out by saying " Hello. Hello" Then her last words are " I don't think there is anybody back there!" CHOW MOI

HI ALL!! Well OK, I took care of that large insurance company, got money for one policy the other day, and confirmed today that the second policy has also been approved for Disability waiver of premiums. SWEET!! Just 2 more monthly payments I don't have to worry about. And things just keep getting better. Really a BIG week for  "The Worlds Greatest Rock and Roll Band, The Rolling Stones". They will be on Letterman Tuesday, then Wednesday they are performing for the charity concert, on Thursday they do a concert in NJ, and Saturday a second concert in NJ, this one PPV. WOW a whole week of Stones Mania!!! Heads up, don't bother me this week, I will be up to my eye balls in Stones!!And then we sit and wait to see if and where they will do a tour in 2013. I hope they come to the Seattle area, I would love to see them one more time. I will need to find someone to go with me if they do. I got a couple of females in mind. Not sure if either one would be able to go, I know one will need a hall pass. { OH YEA} Went with my daughter last time, but they are VERY busy any more. Kind of getting the urge to decorate for the holidays. Moved my little tree yesterday so I could get the fireplace lit. It just gets too hot on top of the mantle for the tree with the gas fire place on. Not much else going on. Got a couple of sales set to go on my eBay stuff later this week, see if I can't blow out some stuff. Remember NOTHING but Stones music this week. CHOW MOI

HEY ALL!! Well a cooler day in the Northwest, need to get my snow tires up from under the house before the snow hits. That is one of the disadvantages of being disabled, there are certain things I just can't do any more. Yes, I could go under the house and dig them out, but at what cost. I learned that this summer when I tried to weed whack. Ended up in the hospital and found out I had liver problems. Of course that was after I fell. So I will try and do what I can and then hope to get help with the rest. There may be a Boy Scout that I can get to help me in exchange for money, which he will use to help pay for his next camping trip. He is only 13 but may bring a friend and they should be able to get most the stuff done. I think I will mow the yard this week and get that done and then go from there. I have this indoor tree that I bought back in 1990 in Corpus Christi as my Christmas tree. I STILL have it, and WOW how it has grown. Had to move it today, when we lit the fireplace {it just gets too hot for it up there}. And I can not find another place to put it. So I think it will go on the Dinning Room table for now until I can find another place in the house for it. I hang a Grow Lux light above it to help it get the proper light. I am really fond of it, and amazed at how it has grown. Another day of grocery shopping, and then just relax after. Not sure at this point what the Holiday plans are, still forming up things for Christmas Eve, hope to have some outdoor lights up by then. CHOW MOI

HI ALL!!  " Any man don't wanna get killed .... better clear on out the back" Will Munny ( Clint Eastwood in Unforgiven ). That is how I feel now that I am LARGE AND IN CHARGE!! WOW how the worm has turned. You remember that very big life insurance company that has been in business for over 100 years? They would not approve me for my disability. Well in yesterdays mail, a letter from them. My disability claim has been approved and all future premiums will be waived, PLUS there was a check for all the premiums I have made so far this year!! WOW, NOW HOLD ON, don't be doing the " I told you so dance" just yet, they only sent information about ONE of my policies, I have TWO with them. BUT I bet a simple phone call Monday will take care of that .. .. "over site". And of all things yesterday I had the energy to resort my Topps Finest baseball sets and get them arranged how I want them. Been wanting to do that for several months now. Feels good to have the extra burst of energy. I think deciding to be more aggressive in my day to day stuff has put me back into a better mood. I have always been that way and I seemed to loose my path for awhile. I think I even found gifts to fit into the Christmas "theme" that we are buying gifts for this year. WOW, it is soooo different to buy gifts to a theme and not FOR someone particular. I could have always found something that fit an individual person, but just buying to fit a theme is different. In the past when ever I would do that it was always for a work Christmas party, so a bottle of booze was always the BIG hit. I am not saying my family doesn't drink, but I would like to be a little more personal with family, than you are with co-workers. CHOW MOI

HEY ALL!! Yea, I know it is VERY late, just one of those nights, not sleepy. I am sure I will be sleepy about 2pm today however. I have just been rolling stuff around in my head, I think I have been a little to "laid back" the last couple of months. I know that I have been just chillin' out, I have no work to worry about, and any little bumps that come up I seem to handle within a day or two, and then go back to cruse mode. I did learn yesterday that Denny's has been sold by FFC. It may effect my COBRA insurance, but no one is really sure. I am not going to worry about it. I need to step up and be more decisive like I have been in the past. " Are you wild and willing, or is it just for show? " I need to be more aggressive on the eBay stuff, and need to be more firm on what my plans or ideas are. Not just let someone make the choice for me. I know in the past it was " my way or the Highway " on some things. And since I have been disabled and home I have really softened up. Now I know some of that comes from not having to face the daily job grind, and that's ok to let that slide, but I should be more firm on anything from what I want for dinner, and when I want to eat dinner to what I want to do for the Holidays or if I want to go to the store or run certain errands, just the day to day stuff. At times I seem to float through the day and not really get anything done. And that is not like me, of all the 50 hour plus weeks I worked, for how many years? I know my attitude would be even better if I still controlled the certain things that I can.I guess I took the " retired " thing too much to heart. Well consider this the warning to all, YOU GOT ANOTHER THING COMIN'. CHOW MOI

HI ALL!! WOW the world of insurance and disability. Can't get Medicare for 24 months, got COBRA and paying through the nose. Now I hear that FFC is selling off DWO,LLC and my COBRA my NOT be transferred and could be cancelled. BUT, there is HIPAA Conversion, some kind of government thing to do with COBRA, but WOW the rates there are EVEN MORE. Where does it stop?? Can't get regular coverage because of my existing conditions. This is just unbelievable!! I am just really confused. I am really struggling to get everything in line so I can afford to be retired. There is just one more bump after another. It is odd, my condition only requires 2 doctor visits a year, and medicine that is about $90 a month retail. You would think that there would be some kind of option to still get insurance but put limits on the existing condition. WOW. Well I was able to get insurance straightened out today, and will just handle the COBRA thing when and IF it comes up. I mean I could go CRAZY just dealing with it on a daily basis. Maybe it won't be anything at all. Will have to wait and see. I would like a plan, but maybe I will play the General Custer move, "Let's go to Little Big Horn and see what we see, then we can make a plan." Yea worked for him didn't it?! Any way got more stuff on eBay, and still a few more to go. Trying to get Christmas things lined up and solved. Not sure what the plans are, I do know where I will be at 6:00 PM, Saturday, December 15th. In front of my TV watching a PPV event for the Rolling Stones. OH YEA!! CHOW MOI

HEY ALL!! Well probably not the right time to write in my blog, but what the hell. I am SO PISSED off right now, I can't even see straight. My ex-employer can't get out of their own way. I took the option for COBRA insurance because it was cheaper than trying to find other coverage. Believe it or not. And I can not get Medicare for 24 months because I am on SSDI. I still don't understand that. But it is what it is. So I have been sending money every month to whom I was told to send money to. Well the other day I am told that my insurance is not covering my meds. So I call and find out that my insurance lapsed 09/01/2012. The insurance company has NEVER heard from my ex-employer!! So I call them, yes someone will get back with me, the gal in payroll who handles it is out. OK fine. Well no call back so today I call, and call, and call, and call, and call and call. I got to one point where I dialed EVERY extension in the opening menu. EVERY one of them said " That person is currently on the phone" EVERYONE!! I even made up a couple of extensions, AND THEY WERE ON THE PHONE TOO!! What?? Well I sent them an e-mail and the left a complaint, that person was NOT on the phone, of course it was a recording!! I just don't get it. How about you take care of your people. In my e-mail I did ask for an address that I could send my medical bills to so they could pay them!! OH YEA!! I have been far too long in this game. I think it must be holiday time at the ex-employers corporate headquarters. Cheers to ya, NOW ANSWER THE DAMN PHONE!! CHOW MOI

HI ALL!! How goes it today? Really not bad, paid a BUNCH of bills, oh boy. Then more stuff for eBay. Really just cruising along, waiting to hear from my former employer about my COBRA insurance, and then waiting to hear from my liver Doctor. I think we have the problem solved, but he is NOT 100% sure. So just working on Christmas ideas. This year will be tough, got to buy with in a theme. Childhood memories, retro?? What ever that is. I think of gifts I got as a child, or stuff we did during Christmas. So a transistor radio and going to relatives and putting up lights. There is a cap of $15.00 for the gift. WOW We will try it and see what happens. Maybe I should get an album of my favorite group?? Any way just trying to get some stuff sorted out around the house that I can do with out too much strain on my back. I have been trying to clean out one packed box a week, find out what's in it and then where it can go, or throw it out. Old baseball caps etc can all go. Some of the stuff may end up on eBay. Still trying to be patient while I wait for a response to my email from my long time ago friend. Nothing yet, I am thinking about sending her daughter a message and have her tell mom " HI " for the holidays. Not sure yet. Will wait awhile more. CHOW MOI

HEY ALL!! Well YES!!!! Finally SSDI comes through!! It is soooo hard to have the patience to wait and try to understand "the process" that some "things" must go through before you get what you are after. If none of this makes any sense, well OK. This is just BIG DAVE talk. OK, it appears that I will be able to make a run at this retirement thing. Just need two more events to fall into place, and then it's on. Trips to St. Thomas, gold, jewelery, fame and fortunes..... OR NOT!! I would be happy just to be able to affordable live in my current home. Who am I trying to kid. However if I ever could, St. Thomas is the FIRST place I would visit!! It's been 24 years and I still love that place. I am also getting the big urge to do some decorating for the holidays. I used to do the whole show on the Friday after Thanksgiving. Outside the house, inside, the yard, everything. I used to have custom made lights to fit on my house. I mean it was over the top. I got that from my father. We used to decorate the do-dads out of the house, even had cut out figures in the front yard. WOW!! Well the last several years I have not been in the decorating mood. But that feeling is returning. Watch out!! If your family it might be a good time to leave the state. Got about 220 items on eBay last night, now it's time for stuff to sell!! I am getting a lot of hits already, and have about 8 items on someones watch list. cool, very cool. More stuff to conquer today. ROCK ON!! CHOW MOI

HI ALL!! OH yea, another great rainy day in the great Pacific Northwest. Good day to stay inside and get stuff done. Managed to get pictures etc, done on some new stuff to list of eBay, nice to get that done. And then put my new fancy sheets on my waterbed. These new sheets have elastic all around then so they " work " their way onto the mattress when ever you move around on the mattress. They are not suppose to come off like the older ones that just have " pockets " in the corners. I hope they work 'cause they were a royal B - I - T - C - H to get on. Very cool "plum stripe" color, I also got "mint striped" ones. And what I like the most about them is they come with a separated top sheet, I do not like an upper sheet on my water bed. Other than that I have just been relaxing, my back has been really bothering me the last day or two. Stiff and some pain in the upper middle part of the back. Anyway still waiting to hear back from my friend in Texas, I am trying to show some patience but not sure how much more I have. Tomorrow will be a phone day, got to call and get the health insurance thing fixed. It seems my ex-employer has not been telling the insurance company that I have been making my monthly payments, NICE. Maybe they would like to make them for me. Should be fun, I can unload with out putting my job in danger, and they hate it when you call home office directly. Fun time for me. OK, kind of a slow TV night, good I will be eBaying most of the time. Crank up the volume, put on some  .. wait for it .. BUBBLE PUPPY .. and rock out. CHOW MOI

HEY ALL!! How goes the Christmas battle? I actually went out today and braved the crowd at Wal Mart. WOW what fun!? Really wasn't too bad, more people and some of them were just tuned out. I will say I do not like so many people wearing those hoody coats. It seems they get the hood up and they can not hear or see anything unless it is DIRECTLY in front of them. I followed two people who were walking down the MIDDLE of the lane on their way into the store. Cars all over trying to get in and out of parking spots and these two mental giants walking down the middle of the road. NO IDEA what was going on around them. REALLY?? Then as I was parking another person jumped right in front of me as I was pulling into the parking spot! No idea I was even there, in a CAR!! Come on people, how about you put the drugs down for a minute and pay attention to where you are and what BIG dangerous things are around you!! I know it's a lot to ask. For them to put the drugs down I mean. Anyway still very much on edge, just really can't seam to be happy lately. I am just trying to be patient until "stuff " starts rolling in. Hopefully it will start next week. I just can not seam to simply relax. I think good news about my liver, but not final news. Oh well at least I am done going out Christmas shopping. It will all be done from the safety of my computer. And all I bought today was groceries, no gifts!! CHOW MOI

HI ALL!! Well I went and did it again. "I met her, a pizza slinging beauty in Bremerton.  She tried to take me to the airport for a ride." Well that's my take on " I met her, a gin soaked barroom queen in Memphis. She tried to take me upstairs for a ride." I think the same results. I decided to go have lunch today and see an old friend. WOW how that brings back the memories. Thanks for the memories. My initial purpose was to go to the liver doctor. I did that, and was told things are improving, but not all is back to normal and STILL no alcohol!! I went and got some shopping out of the way, found a GREAT NY Roast for dinner. Got home to a mass of idiots. Insurance company says my coverage lapsed on 10/01/2012. But the guys who collect my money say I am paid up through 11/30/2012. So I call my ex-employer who I have the COBRA coverage with, and of course get only a message phone. WOW I will have all week end to let that frustration build. Then of course the mortgage company has to chip in, they want a HAND written letter stating this is my primary residence?? WOW I have been with them for four years, everything they ever sent me has been to the mailing address, NOW they want proof that I live in the house, and they will take a HAND written note?? I think I will send them another note next week and tell them that my mortgage is paid off. Hand written of course and see if that works. CHOW MOI

HEY ALL!! Well have you been wondering why soooo much on baseball cards and music lately?  Well with good reason. When I would have a bad day, too long of a day, frustrating day, you know one of those "momma told me there would be days like this" kind of day, I would start washing off the bad vibes with music. YES, usually the Rolling Stones, and go from there. And if I had the next day off, I would finish the washing with a good long baseball card session. Well my SUDDEN retirement has caused some challenges. And I have been trying for the last year to get stuff straightened out and settled. I honestly thought I would be working for another 8 to 10 years, and I was forming a retirement plan. Well you just wake up one day, and BOOM your disabled and not working any more. So the adjustment has been a long road. Well I am about 2 months away from getting most of the pieces in place and being done with trying to figure out stuff. SO I have been out on the edge and have been using the music references in this column to relax me and get me motivated to keep plugging away. I am a grinder and even at times when it looks like I am not doing anything, I got stuff going on. Most of it I just don't share. And the music thing is VERY close to my heart. Most of the groups and songs I refer to are the sound track to my life. To this day I can hear a song from "back in the day" and it brings up very specific memories. For instance, I went to Black Diamond school for the 8th grade. The BIG hit that year was " The Mighty Quinn ". My 8th grade teachers name was, Mr. Quinn!! I kid you not. So just imagine every time I hear that I think of lyrics we would write on the chalk board for him before class. One other thing I learned in the 8th grade, it does NO good to have your Grandfather as the Major of the city. I got no special treatment for that. CHOW MOI

HI ALL!! Well lets lay down some more " givens ". The Rolling Stones were better with Brian Jones than Mick Taylor or Ronnie Wood, although Ronnie takes a VERY close 2nd. I just liked the simple, raw, and variety that Brian did. He truly was the best Stones musician. Van Halen was MUCH better with Sammy Hagar than David Roth, and not even close for the third guy Gary someone. I thought Sammy was much more music and Roth more pop. AC/DC is better with Brian Johnson than with Bon Scott. The music is similar, but Johnson's voice is just sooooo much better to me. And it has to be The Jefferson AIRPLANE over Jefferson starship, REALLY STARSHIP?? I know that Grace Slick had the most dominant voice of the 60's. WOW, when she sang she really SANG!! And then let's not get into the Yardbirds, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page. All the varieties were good. Of course the final group formed Led Zepplin, and the rest is history. Just some thoughts on what different groups have done. The Stones and AC/DC had no choice, their first members died. And Van Halen made the best choice they ever made. Time to play more BUBBLY PUPPY!! CHOW MOI

HEY ALL!!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY James Marshall Hendricks !!!! Still after his death, 43 later, he IS STILL considered the best Rock and Roll guitar player of all time!! R.I.P. Jimi !! There is a new book out about Jimi, Hendricks on Hendricks. It is written from a guy who has spent his life researching Hendricks. When asked how he found Jimi, his reply was " Oh no, Jimi found me! I turned on the radio one day, went to one of the FM stations and there he was, and I was hooked from the first note." WOW Now don't get me wrong, the Rolling Stones are the greatest rock band, and I would rate them as 1.a, and Jimi Hendricks is 1.b. I will bet that new book would make a great Xmas gift for someone?? Just saying!! Anyway no luck with eBay sales yesterday. Time to shake it up a little. there is still some stuff I have not listed and need to now. When Topps came out with their " Heritage " line it was a BIG seller. The cards are made up and out of old paper stock from the 50's and 60's, but they put modern day players on the cards. Very cool to see Ichiro on a 1954 style card! Topps also made the sets with the same "flaws" in them that the original sets had. Wrong color team names, miss spelled names etc, etc. So now those cards are Short Prints, and have some value. Well a complete set can bring some good money. Topps also made the last 100 cards or so short prints to copy the last series in those older years. So I have sets from 2001 to 2008, time to list them. CHOW MOI

HI ALL !! Well cyber Monday and the internet is zipping right along? Go figure. The day you think will be a drag isn't. Very nice! Well one other thing about baseball cards. There are many ways to collect them. Some people only collect their favorite team, all makes, all years. Some focus just on their favorite player, chasing after all the regular cards, parallels, inserts, etc. That can be tricky if the player has some 1 of 1 cards. The 1 of 1 can be hard to find, or VERY expensive. Some even collect every thing, or try to. It is not as bad as it was in the 80's and 90's. You had card companies just spitting out set after set after set. I myself focused on just several brands. Topps main set, since 1952, Topps Finest brand, started in 1993 and it has some very cool looking cards, and refractors!! They are so bright and shiny, different colors, orange, gold, silver, blue, green, red, purple, etc. I also collected Topps Heritage since 2001, it was a remake of the old time cards with current players on them, very slick. And then the Upper Deck main set, since 1989. Now I have focused just on the Finest, it is a smaller set, and I can collect the regular cards and the refractors parallel. Not a lot of inserts to chase after, and you have a chance of pulling some autographs that can be sold later for more cards!! The highest selling and sought after cards are the 50's, 60's and up to 73. Those are VERY hard to find in excellent or above condition and can be a challenge to find not altered or colored over. Yes that type of stuff goes on. In fact the Holy Grail of cards is the Honus Wagner T206 tobacco  card from 1909-1911. One has been graded as an 8, Near mint /mint and has sold for over $2 million dollars. There is a book out and talk about how this card was cut from a tri-card and  made to have sharp corners to pass the grading requirements. WOW !! CHOW MOI

HEY ALL!!  Well another day of slower internet. Just living with it and hoping it speeds up after cyber Monday. More baseball cards today, I know, I know, you all get SO excited about it. In the 50's and 60's Topps would start issuing cards around March. The start of spring training. As the year went on they would issue " Series " of cards usually 75 to 130 new cards. You can fit 132 cards on a standard sheet for printing before you cut them in to individual cards. Topps would issue about 6 of 7 Series of cards through out the summer. As the summer wore on and less and less teams were involved in the pennant races, there would be less and less interest in baseball cards. So by the 6th or 7th series Topps would print less and less of each card. This created a natural shortage of cards in the last series. You may print let's say 300,000 of each card in series 1, but only 100,00 of each in series 7. That way there was not any cards left over in the retail stores, so it looked like the cards were big sellers. That stopped with the 1973 set, it was the last set done that way. After that Topps and other companies would issue 2 or 3 series of cards, but would release them early so the cards could sell all summer. Use to be they would issue Series 1 in December and be done with the current year's cards by May or June. Well the card companies thought it would be cool to " create " a shortage of cards like there use to be. So they started printing cards with certain markings in them, like gold borders or die-cut cards or something to make the short supply cards stick out from the regular cards. It worked to a certain degree. Most of the collectors considered those cards as " parallels " and a lot of them do not chase after them. So the idea did work to a degree. CHOW MOI

HI ALL!! Oh yea, shop till you drop. I am missing baseball really bad. This is the long time to get through for baseball fans. I went "looking" around today on eBay at different things. It is always fun to go looking for different or odd ball stuff. I had read an article about a bat card that had a piece of cork in between the pieces of the bat. The player claimed that it was not his bat. Well obviously because that would be cheating. The card company claimed that it was his bat. Because they had certified the card as a game used bat card. WOW, what a time that was. It was back in 2000, and now the company that made the card is out of business, and the player has retired, although twice he tested positive for PED's. And is thought to have used them during his playing days. So I found one card on eBay, for $5000.00?? Yea, really, some people who try and sell baseball cards try to get very rich off of that. There are a lot of cards that have oddities to them, cards that were released that shouldn't have been, cards with wrong backs, wrong words on the back of the cards, wrong teams, etc, etc, etc. You can spend a long time searching after "error" cards. Some are valuable, most are not. It is funny about baseball cards, someone will say they have "vintage" cards, I think 50's or 60's. NO, the cards are from the 80's, when there were sooooo many cards printed! One thing to remember about baseball cards, less than a year after they are printed, they are considered "out of print", because they do not print them up any more. CHOW MOI

HEY ALL!! Well did you all get your shopping done today? And I am sure, had plenty to eat yesterday. I really enjoy the chance to spend the time with my daughters. Had a chance with some one on one time with both of them yesterday. Got caught up on all the stuff that is going on. I always want to know on a day to day thing, but it is nice to get caught up. Not really in a good mood to day. Not sure why, just one of those days, the computer is operating soooo slow and I am not sure why. Have tried several thing with no luck. Just not as fast on-line as it has been. Maybe a problem with my server, oh boy, I will call them tomorrow. And, really at wits end about waiting for my lump sum SSDI money. It has ONLY been since August!! COME ON!! The rock and roll answers: Jimi's "baby" in Red House was Linda. Linda Keith, she was dating Keith Richards at the time, and KNEW how good Jimi was with the guitar. She helped get him introduced to record exec's in England to help start his career. He had not seen his baby in " 99 and one half days", and if his baby don't love him no more, " I know her SISTER will". For the WHO it cost " a thruppence and a sixpence to ride every day". And they ended up BUYING the Magic Bus. Side note the thruppence was no longer issued in late 1971, just after the song was released. How odd. CHOW MOI

HI ALL!! This will be a short one. Just wanted to say I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving Day!! Please be careful as you travel. AND, YES, even if your trv

HEY ALL!!  Well y'all ready for the big eat day, time to strap on the turkey feast. I really enjoy the food and of course the family and friends that gather. But, let's talk Rock and Roll. The answer to the trivia question the other day is .. .. Marianne Faithfull, she dated Mick in the 60's and sang back up on Sympathy for the Devil. She also is in Metallica's video, The Memory Remains, from the album "Reload". She sits on the swing towards the end of the video. As the story goes, they gave her a bottle of wine, she sat down, started swinging and humming. it was recorded and put in the video. Ok How'd you do? How about a couple more? From Jimi Hendrix's "RED HOUSE" he talks about " his baby ", do you know who his baby is? And how long since he last saw her? And one more, if his baby don't love him no more, who will? Now, The WHO did a little number about a magic bus, How much does it cost to ride the bus to " my baby each day"? And what do they do to solve that problem? Yea I know, I can just go on and on about old rock and roll. It just catches me and holds me, and most of the time it won't let go. I could go deep into baseball cards. But I am not sure how much that would interest people. At least with music you can "Bing it".

HI ALL!! Well today was one of THOSE days. I don't think my mommy told me about days like this. I was up and out today, dropped Mom off and took the car for servicing, than a few errands, picked up mom, dinner and home. Simple, WRONG. It was aggravating. It started I think last night. I again didn't go right to sleep. I know that since the time change, I have had problems being tired early. Seems like I can stay up till 2am, 3am then to bed, and to sleep. Usually well. But the last two nights I was up late, then woke up early, once by a way too early phone call, and then being up and ready to go today. Well I wonder if that is any residual to the grave yard shifts. I do know that I do NOT miss the customers, especially with the ones who would say " I am the customer, and the customer is always right!". Where did that come from, I know some millionaire from the 20's or 30's who used to be president/founder of some famous department store. Which has since gone bankrupt and out of business. I have never liked the " Customer is always right" thing. I do however believe that the "Customer is ALWAYS the customer" and what ever decisions you make, you will have to live with. Some times those decisions will come back and bite you in the ass, other times, your a star. I have never been shy about telling a customer he/she is no longer welcome in my business. Sometimes you have to do that for the betterment of all your other customers. I really use to love the customers who would try to gouge you and abuse the " I'm the customer" thing. I always wanted to go to their business and do the same thing. Throw up all over the front door, walk out without paying, cuss at other employees, you know all the "cool" stuff. Probably a good thing I never did that. I would probably have ended up in trouble. CHOW MOI

HEY ALL!! Well plenty of rain today. I heard at one point it was raining at the pace of one inch per hour. WOW. And to think, 60 days ago we would have paid BIG time for that kind of rain, during all those wild fires!! I worked for a 24 hour diner, and spent basically 5 years working the 3rd shift. Usually 4pm till 2am, with some 5pm to 4am shift on the weekend nights. I did work a few morning shifts, that I had to. But for the main part I was the guy at night. Really an interesting and at times a scarey type of customer. Some of them I got to know very well, one guy I had only met him when he was drunk!! Never did met him while HE was sober. Kind of weird when you think about it, For three years, I saw him two or three times a week, always drunk. One of the by products of working five years of third shifts is I do have problems some nights going to bed before 2am. And I have noticed, if I get woken up in the morning, I have a real hard time falling back to sleep. I do have "black out" curtains on my bedroom windows, and they help a lot. This morning was one of those days, 6:50 am, phone rings. Wakes me up, and I lay there for the next hour and half or so, trying to go back to sleep. I watched a little TV, sat up for awhile, nothing seemed to work. So I got up, had some juice, fell asleep in my chair, and BOOM the phone rings. Someone trying to sell me some insurance. REALLY. OH man, so all day I just kind of floated through. Really did not get done what I wanted. But, tomorrow, for sure. CHOW MOI

HI ALL!! Well sorry I missed yesterday. Was up to watch the UW Huskies at 10:30am, then went grocery shopping after. The shopping just takes me out. Moving around the store leaning over the cart so I can walk. Which according to my doctor is a tell tale trait of my condition. Usually takes a little time to recover from a day of shopping. But, yesterday never really got to felling better. Very tired and worn out, then nauseous and ended up going to bed early. Never been that wiped out after shopping. I wonder if it is due to my condition, or my general over all condition and not doing any strenuous moving around or work in over a year. I have dropped about 6 belt holes in size the last year, but am not up and moving around like I used to be. It may just be a combination of both. Going to the store is the hardest work out for me. I did have a comment about Friday's post. I hope you do not think that I was referring to the " power ballads " that were made famous by the Glam Rocker, Big Hair Bands of the 80's. I do like some of the Hair Bands and some of their power ballads, but I was taking about songs from the mid 60's to mid 70's, before we even knew what a power ballad was. I have a lot of items ending today on eBay. So I hope to get some sales. Things have been slow for the last 45 days or so. Some of that due to the fact that my high dollar items have all been sold, and I think due also to the ending of the baseball season. Hope to see a little bump for the holiday's, although in the past that has not been very big.CHOW MOI

HEY ALL!! Get your YA YA's out! You'll catch on. Let's talk music today. I have no working knowledge of music, never took any classes or lessons. I did have the fantasy of wanting to play the base, the BIG BASE, the one that sits on the floor when you play it. But never did. Still I am amazed that in about three and a half minutes a song can go from telling us have amazing the new found love is, to how sad it is when the love leaves. Those are some good lyrics. I am a big fan of the 60's, found love, lost love songs. One of the first ones that come sto mind is the Stories, [ lead singer from Seattle ] "Brother Louie". (Not Louie, Louie by the Kingsman, the unofficial song of the State of Washington), but the remake of a Hot Chocolate original. It tells of a love " She was black as the night, Louie was whiter than white". And how love lost. There have been plenty of bands that have used this formula. Stories reached  #1 with their remake. Of course "The worlds greatest rock and roll band" The Rolling Stones had plenty of these songs. I even used one of them for a paper in Phsycology. The professor never caught on, although most of the class knew. I used the lyrics and described a troubled young man who had lost his true love. Good enough for a "B+", although the song "Paint it Black" did reach #1 in 1966, should have done more justice to the song and gotten an "A". The Stones had plenty to write about along those lines with the way Jagger and Richards were going through girl fiends, Ruby Tuesday, Time is on my side, Wild Horses, As Tears go by, Angie, etc, etc you get the picture. NOW can you tell me the female vocal artist who is credited with singing back up on a Rolling Stones song, AND back up on a Metallica song???? I can give you one hint, she is featured in the Metallica video for the song. OK AND she dated Jagger at one time. CHOW MOI

HI ALL!! Well the Baseball Awards are done. And I must say I think the Baseball Writers' Association of America {BBWAA}, got it right this year. I agree with all the selections, and really feel the winners earned the awards. Now it's on to the Hot Stove League, time for trades and free agent signings. Could be an interesting off season. Took Mom to the Laser eye Doctor today for a quick procedure, WOW and I mean QUICK! The worse part of it was the drive there and back. What has happened to the American driver? I mean, REALLY?? Why do some drivers think it is their responsibility to let other drivers cross a busy road or let other drivers into traffic? They will say they are being "courteous", well that's all fine and good, but what about the NINE other drivers waiting behind you, how COURTEOUS are you being to them?? Come on, it's kind of like  the rub of the green, driver be ware. If I am waiting for traffic to go by, then LET ME WAIT, that's MY CHOICE. You worry about keeping up with the traffic flow and not cause a wreck. Also, when I pull into a left hand turn lane to merge with traffic, DO NOT TRY AND STOP to let me in!! What are you thinking?? If I drive into you, then sue the shit out of me, it's my fault. I have a plan to get into traffic, just keep driving, I will get into the mix when I am ready. My Dad once told me that when you are driving you are really operating 10 cars. Two on each side, one behind, two car lengths in front of you , and one on each corner, along with your own car. How true. CHOW MOI

HEY ALL!!  I was reflecting today about my "encounters, or run ins" with well known people. My first experience came while I was in Evansville, Indiana on a week long training trip for a Consumer Finance company. They always put us up at the Excutive Inn. After a night of dinner and drinks I came back to the Inn through a side entrance. I could hear a familiar voice and a bunch of laughter coming out of the Main Ballroom, which was just off the Main Lobby. Well I came around the corner and the two big doors to the Ballroom were open. So I stepped in and there on stage was Phyllis Diller. Now I recognized her from TV shows. So I stepped in and started to watch the show. Well as I said " I had PLENTY to drink that night" and then I notice that Phyllis is walking towards me and making jokes, I think about how her Husband " Igor?" looked when he came home from a night out. Well the crowd was rolling and me too, she turned to go back to the stage and I left. The next morning I was not REALLY sure I had done what I though until two buddies told me they saw me standing there and Phyllis ripping on me. GOOD TIMES! The 2nd time was again the same employer, this time on a week conference at Kentucky Lake Dam. We got there, ran to the store and got a weeks worth of "goodies, beer etc." Well I was taking all the stuff back to the room I ran into Pat Williams, he was GM or President of an NBA team, and there to talk to us. Well that night at dinner Pat gave his speech. He told everyone that he had "ran into" the groups party planner. How else could you explain all the "goodies" I was carrying. Then went on to tell everyone to get to the dinner line before me, and hoped I had a great time, oh by the way there are meetings I had to attend. SWEET!! The 3rd run in was just that a run in. I was at the Tacoma Dome during a LARGE baseball card convention. And I am going across this large room I run right over this dude. Well I catch him before he hits the ground, and it's Pete Rose, he had just finished his signing session. WOW HI Pete, " HI" back" and off he went. COOL!! CHOW MOI

HI ALL!! Well I found her! More details later. I was searching through the web last night and started to use my skip tracing skills and was able to locate a previous flame!! WOW I still got the skill to find people. I always enjoyed tracking down past due accounts when I was in the Consumer Finance business. But during the process I was thinking about "the good old days". Back in the early 70's when we would have dance parties at different houses in the neighborhood. Of course the key was having the girls to dance with, and trying to figure out the best song to dance to. Well I always had a liking for slow songs, but they were always to short. Man when your dancing with "the girl" you want a long slow, get real close song. Well thank you to the Rolling Stones!! They released the album "Sticky Fingers" in April 1971, and on that album was "Wild Horses" over 4 minutes of SLOW!! OH yea, so from then on, EVERY dance I made sure to take the album and get "Wild Horses" on the record player! How sweet! I don't think anyone ever caught on to my scheme. What great times! Me holding that "little sweet thang" so close, for SO LONG. OH YEA! Good times for all. CHOW MOI

HEY ALL!! Veterans Day and a BIG Thank You goes out to all of those who have served to protect this country. I will admit I did not serve. At the time I was turning 18 there was still the draft going on. The general consensus was that if you missed the draft, do not volunteer to join. The year I was up for the draft, they stopped it. WOW so I went off to do other things. But I have always admired those that served. And I have been around them my whole life. While I was working in consumer finance I was lending the military personnel money and financing appliances, furniture, stereo equipment, autos,  etc for them. And then in the food business, I had most of my staff at the Pizza joint was in the military. And then feed them at the other two places. In fact one of the easiest repo's I did while in consumer finance was a military guy. He was very professional and respective of my job and the fact that he was past due on his account. While I was at the Pizza joint during 9/11 it was a military guy who was able to get on base and deliver pizza to the guys were trapped on base who couldn't go home. SO thank you again for all you do. It seems "thank you" is just not enough. CHOW MOI

HI ALL!! Well still fighting the cold, and just a day were this dog stayed close to his bowl! I do have some stuff ending on eBay. I still find it funny how people act on eBay. Today I have a listing for an insert that has some regular cards and some "Chromed" cards in it. All 30 cards are there, but at two different "levels". Well one guy has been wanting extra pictures and more info about the set. And then today he says, " I consider your set to be two incomplete sets. One partial of the regular cards. And one partial of the chromed cards. Although you have all 30 cards." REALLY!? Puts me through all the B.S. for more info and pictures, then backs out. Well my response was, " That's one person's opinion." There seems to be a large group of eBayers that want to make life as hard as possible on some sellers just for the "sport" of it. Alot of times, if I get someone asking too many questions around the end of the auction I will just not respond to the questions. Funny how they don't ask those questions when there are 6 days left in the auction. Everyone trying to rip you off and make you sell your item for dirt. I have been on eBay since 1998 and have seen all kinds. I do get in my jabs every once in awhile, and some of the questions are REALLY stupid and I expose those people as mental giants. SO I do have some fun at it. But the more I sell the more I see members who are not there to bid, but just put the sellers through as many hoops as possible, CHOW MOI

Hey ALL! Well a short one today. I am fighting a cold, and really feel sick. I have heard the ideas about a cold. Eat onions, Vitamin C, lots of rest and fluids. I am sure I got it from being run down. The past 2 to 3 weeks have been mentally stressful. Lots of things going on trying to adjust to life retired!! Most of that is done, and in my favor!! But, I think that's where the cold came from. So I'll take my meds and rest. CHOW MOI

HI ALL!! Well it is an odd sports time of the year for me. I am not really a big Pro Football fan. The Super Bowl, sure, the playoffs, OK, but the regular season, not really. Basketball is the same or even less. The only time I get fired up is during March Madness for the college game. And some of the local college games. Hockey, AHH  NO!! Baseball is my first love, and this is the off season. Now I do follow the awards, the free agents, the Hall of Fame voting, and the trades. Next week Major League Baseball hands out the awards for 2012. Should be interesting. The pace of a baseball game is what I enjoy. You don't know what will happen on that next pitch. And baseball does NOT have any clock, so the ending of the game is sudden, you never know when that last out will be made. Other sports you can "count down" the clock as the game ends. Besides what kind of game is it when you can "knell down" to end a game?  Yea I know there are some died in the wool fans of the other sports and I can appreciate that. It just has to be baseball to keep me happy. With the weather turning cold it makes me think even more about the holidays as they approach. For some reason I always think about drinking wine during the holidays, not that I really have. I usually need something STRONGER!! But that leads me to. " I can feel her tongue on mine, silky smooth like wine". OH YEA!! You all GOTTA know who that is!!  hint: worlds greatest rock and roll band ........  CHOW MOI

Hey All. How goes it today? Well yesterday The Rolling Stones [the worlds greatest rock and roll band], released their 2nd new song this year, One More Shot. I listened to it on You Tube, and really like it! It is a flash back to earlier Stones, like mid-late 70's with just a kick of AC/DC. I have heard it twice and already it feels like a comfortable familiar tune!! While listening to it I was looking at the posts. And WOW, I found one post who said, "Who the F is  the Rolling Stones? They will never be as big as One Direction or Justin Bieber. ... I hate when new artist try to make it big with no talent" WHAT?? OK, OK RELAX, RELAX, sit back down, set your weapons down, I corrected the Shelia!  I informed the Shelia that Bieber was probably listening to the Stones while still in diapers, and both of those "new" guys would LOVE to sell as much as the Stones have for the last 50 years!! Then what struck me was how could someone grow up and NOT know the Stones, poor training from the Shelia's parents, must be the parents. Well one sure fix to that is to name your kids after a famous rock and roll song! I know, HOW INGENIOUS!! If you name your kid after a rock and roll song than teach them why, that way every time a friend asks about their name they can educate the friend on the history of the song. Now I know you must be asking, " What kind of parent would NAME their kid after a rock and roll song? " Well all I can say, is it takes all kinds. But that would help educate the kids if the parents fail. CHOW MOI

HI ALL! Well another voting day has come and gone. I am glad we have the voting system we do, and not something like some other countries have. In some places the only way to change leadership is to kill off the current leaders. Now I know that may sound like a solid idea to some, really that is not the way to change leaders. The whole "voting" thing is a true American thing. I have not, and plan not to get into a political conversation, I have avoided those kind of conversations my whole life. And, I am not going to start now, I would rather discuss the merits of the Designated Hitter!! But to sum up yesterdays events. " If your happy where you are, than you need not look to far " Yea it's one of those "lyrics" thing. I warned you. HA HA HA HA .. Speaking of baseball, this may not be the BIG free agent off season, but I expect some interesting events to happen. I think there will be some awesome trades, I am not sure the Mariners will be in on it, but we'll see, AND just a warning to the American League, time to get your head out of your ass and start winning the World Series, 3 straight losses is 3 too many!!!! The National league has won 7 of the 13 World Series so far this century. Well it's a short one today, like I said, I avoid Political conversations. CHOW MOI

Hey ALL, how goes your voting day? Well lets talk about music. As you can guess "it's gotta be rock and roll music if you want ta dance with me". Classic stuff, mid-60's to late 70's  ( no DISCO! ) and some of the "hair bands" of the 80's. The Rolling Stones, Fleetwwood Mac, Heart, AC/DC, Aerosmith, Led Zepplin, Jimi, Rod the Bod, etc. Never really took a liking to Pink Floyd (although I know how they got their name), Grateful Dead, The Beatles, and some of The Who. I really like a lot of the stuff from the mid 60's, Turtles, Hollies, Buffalo Springfield, Paul Revere and the Raiders, Beach Boys, Animals, Manfred Mann, Tommy James and the Shondells, Gary Puckett and the Union Gap, etc. My favorite "odd" band has changed from Stiff 'N Tears (Driver's Seat) to Bubble Puppy (Hot Smoke and Sassafras). OK BING IT and find out for yourself. I like  a lot of the Blues as well, BB King, Hollin' Wolf, SRV, Albert King, etc. You will see lyrics from various songs sprinkled throughout my blogs. My favorite "She blew my nose, THEN she blew my mind." To me that sums up Rock and Roll simply. Sex, Drugs, Rock and Roll. For those who can't figure that lyric out, drop me an e-mail, I will explain it to you. It has to do with "nose candy"!?!?  My head unit in my car has a USB drive in it. So I have a USB with about 20 hours of NOTHING but Rolling Stones, HOW SWEET!! I can cruse all over just on Stones tunes. I am currently making another USB with nothing but mid-60's to mid-70's tunes, and am currently at about 14 hours. OH YEA, "The Beat goes on!"  CHOW MOI

HI ALL. Speaking of corporations. I have 3 life insurance policies with 2 very large well know long time insurance companies. They have both been in business for over 100 years. All 3 policies have a "Disability Wavier of Premium" feature. Basically the insurance company will make the premium payment for as long as I am disabled. Very Nice!! So I called and requested their forms to fill out for the benefit. Both forms showed up, very very similar and asking the same kind of questions. So I sent the forms off to the required doctors and clinics. Got the paperwork back for the doctors and sent it into the 2 insurance companies. Well of course my benefit was denied because the doctor did not fill out the forms the EXACT way the insurance companies wanted it. The insurance companies want the doctors to write on the forms that I am "TOTALLY DISABLED". Well the doctors are not going to put that on the forms because of liability issues. After many phones calls and discussions I got an individual in the " claims department " to agree to receive the doctors clinical notes in lieu of the forms. Both companies told me this. Well company A approved my claim, sent me a check for the premiums I had paid year to date, and is paying the premiums now. HOWEVER company B said NO, and of course that is the company I have 2 policies with. I am still calling and trying to get approval. But I am amazed that one would say "yes" and the other "no" when they are so much alike. Of course company B says they are different and have no reason to approve just because company A did. What ever. I am still chasing after company B and trying to get approval. But 2 large corporations that have similar forms?? I know that neither company have people in the benefits department that have a working medical knowledge. If they did they would know what my disability is and would know what is going on. Well the fight goes on!! CHOW MOI

Hey All, how goes it today? I can NOT even begin to tell you how happy I am to NOT have to work over the "fall back time change" this year. I worked in the restaurant business for a 24 hour  restaurant. What a total cluster &$@+, I used to work the graveyard shift during the time change "fall back". The time shift to "spring ahead" was not so bad, you were there an extra hour, but the people were OK. HOWEVER, during the "fall back" change all the idiots have an extra hour to DRINK!! Then decide to go have breakfast. WOW just out of control, beyond drunk and out of control. No chance to reason with a drunk!! Just much happier not having to go through that. Also, a few "givens", you remember the old math problems they would give us with some "known, or given" facts and ask us to solve for the unknown. Well I have a few givens. First of all The ROLLING STONES are the worlds greatest rock and roll band. Come on, if you do ANYTHING  for 50 years, you gotta be the greatest! No question! Also I know large corporations that are in the same "industry" operate amazingly similar. In their procedures, policies and requirements. Having worked for large national corporations for over 25 years, starting when I was 17 years old. I have seen the similarities. CHOW MOI

HI ALL. Well a wet Saturday, oh good. I just got done watching LSU and Alabama football game. And I remember watching the U of W and LSU earlier in the year on ESPN. Now ESPN is not a fan of the West coast, anything. During the UW/LSU game the ESPN cameras kept showing Tyrann Mathieu in the stands. Tyrann played for LSU last year and was a Heisman Finalist. He got kicked off the team and out of school before the season started for " allegedly " testing positive for drugs. During the game Tyrann got more face time on the camera than any player on the field. It was sickening. Here these cameras are showing this kid and like telling all the young kids watching the game, " Hey go ahead and get kicked out of school and off the team, we will still give you camera time". WOW!! So about two weeks ago, Tyrann and three of his teammates, who had been also off the team got arrested AGAIN for "allegedly"  having drugs in Tyrann's house. REALLY, as the e-trade baby would  say " Let me show you my surprise face". The game I just watched was shown on CBS, and not ONE shot of Tyrann (that I saw). I never even heard them mention his name. CONGRATS to CBS!!  Just trying to relax today, it has been tough mentally the last three weeks. And thinking about the up coming holidays. What a sharp edge that can be. CHOW MOI

Hey all, here I go. This blog will be thoughts, ideas, rants, suggestions, opinions and life learned posts. First off I must start with family, my two incredible and wonderful adult daughters! Now I know I am not the only one who had an influence on raising them. I do truly believe  " that it takes a village to raise a child ". I do realize that the raising starts at home, but also know that there are many other influences that contribute to their growth. And I must say, Nice job girls, you have made your daddy VERY PROUD. OK, a quick shout out to my sister and brother and mother, " HEY ". Today's post will be simple. Do you know that if you qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance, you are NOT eligible for Medicare for 24 months? Just doesn't seem right. Of all the people who would need Medicare, I would think disabled would be towards the top of the list. There was a law passed in the 70's as a cost cutting measure to install the 24 month waiting period. So here you are, disabled and trying to get Health Insurance, WOW. Do you know how expensive that gets? I DO! VERY expensive, I took a 44% cut in pay and now pay double for insurance coverage. WOW! That's it for today, just needed a starting point. CHOW MOI