RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK
The only two Oscars I’ll ever care about.
Gazing at the Super Snow Moon this week got me thinking about a weird old Disney 45 record I used to have as a kid. The A side was “The Scarecrow of Oz” and a tune called “Happy Glow.” Ray Bolger even did the narration on it. But the B side was a creepy song about backwards talking aliens who were watching you from space while you slept. Quite unnerving, but some how creepily exhilarating at the same time! After looking around on-line for it, I was SHOCKED to discover that the lead vocal was actually Annette Funicello! She was uncredited as the vocalist on this song. But yet, I found out, and here is “That Crazy Place In Outer Space!”
Monday the 18th – STARTIN’ IT OFF RIGHT! – Since I let myself sleep on “The Most Comfortable Couch in the Universe” until 11am, I had the entire day ahead of me to get things done. I did a little work on the computer getting some files organized, sanded and perfected the plastic eye pieces for my new Rowlf the Dog puppet I’m having made, and did a phone interview with a radio talkshow host named Frank MacKay. I picked up my friend Sara and headed to Hobby Lobby. My clock in my bathroom’s vanity area started to have a problem keeping time, so I pulled the guts out of it (while still saving the clock’s face). It’s a really cool clock with a picture of a space nebula on it, so I really wanted to keep it around since it matches the décor of my Tranquility Zone so perfectly! I found the clock parts I needed, and then we went to Lancers to enjoy some good food. I got back home and did my nightly auditions, put the clock back together, worked on creating a new sign for a display in Planet Wallywood, typed out Wally’s Week, made some spaghetti and watched a few episodes of “The Addams Family” before bed.
Tuesday the 19th – SUPER SNOW MOON! – After sleeping in, I got up and did some work around the house. I did a few last-minute auditions that came in, and then went to my auxiliary garage and got my Gran Torino out. It had been a few weeks since I’ve driven it. I picked up some mail at my box, and then went over to Little Toni’s to meet my friend Sara for dinner. It was cool watching the Super Snow Moon rise over the horizon (though it didn’t really look any closer to Earth than it usually does). I got home and did some work the rest of the evening, and then slept on the couch until 11am Wednesday!
Wednesday the 20th – UH OH! – Shortly before noon I sprang awake with a new story idea for a series of stories and toy products I’ve been working on conceptualizing. The Super Snow Moon gave me the idea. I typed out most of the idea, and then sped off to have lunch with my old pal Jim Wise from “The Tonight Show.” Jim’s a great writer and actor, and before he was a writer on “TTS” I knew him from the old radio comedy days at The Cutler Comedy Network. So I’ve known him for about 25 years! It was hilarious chatting with him and catching up. After lunch I drove over to my “adopted grandma” Shirley’s place and picked her up to go mattress shopping. She had been complaining that she wasn’t sleeping well, and her mattress was saggy. She found a good one that fit her budget, and she arranged to have it delivered on Friday. Then we went fabric shopping. I bought some fabric that coincided with the story idea I woke up with, as well as some accent fabric for a new bowling shirt I’m having made. I took Shirley back to her home, and then came back to do some more work. It was cold and sprinkly out, so it was the perfect reason to stay inside and do some design work on this new character I was conceiving for my story. I noticed that my nose was getting stuffy, so I took some nose spray and took a nap. When I got up a few hours later, I realized I had a sore throat! Rats! I thought I’d be lucky enough to avoid getting a cold this year, as everyone else I know has already had it, but my luck ran out. It looked like I got hit! I spent the night working around the house, digging out my stockpiles of medicine for this very occasion, and made some hot dogs and watched more “Addams Family” episodes. Luckily, because I take colloidal silver regularly, colds don’t usually last too long (with a few exceptions) and it seemed like this one was going to be moving pretty fast. Normally, each symptom takes a full day to blossom. Day 1 is usually a sore throat, Day 2 is a stuffy nose, Day 3 body aches, etc. But just within the first few hours I experienced all three of those! Since I’d be going to Las Vegas for the Toycon next weekend, I was glad this would seemingly be out of my system by then and I’d be well enough for my trip! And thank GOD I got sick THIS weekend instead of next! As bad as this sucks, that would have REALLY sucked!
Thursday the 21st – CONVA-LESS SOME MORE! – Sleeping all day seemed to be the best idea, while intermittently getting up to use my Zicam and taking some other meds. I left a message on my doctor’s voicemail with the hope I could get into see him before the weekend. I really didn’t want to leave this untreated until Monday, as I wanted to get the jump on it. I forced myself to go out and get some groceries, pick up a few more medicinal items, and hit Jerry’s Famous Deli for some good ol’ chicken soup! A doctor pal of mine said that it really actually works! I came home and ate a little bit, though I didn’t have much of an appetite, and slept some more.
Friday the 22nd – THE BATTLE CONTINUES! – Though my maid service said my maids would arrive between noon and 2, they called and said they’d actually be arriving around 2:20. My doctor’s office had called and said I could get in at 3:30 to see my doctor’s associate. (He was out of the office until Tuesday. Must be nice!) I took what I could get! Since the maids wouldn’t be finished by the time I’d have to leave for my doctor’s I told them to come on Saturday instead. They said they’d arrive between 1 and 3 on Saturday. I hopped in the Torino and sped to my doctor’s office. However, since this doctor didn’t know me well or know my history with chronic bronchitis (and even pneumonia once!) she wasn’t very aggressive with my treatment. I told her there was a specific kind of cough medicine that worked well for me and stifled my cough effectively enough to preserve my voice. But since she was unfamiliar with it she prescribed me a medicine she was used to. I feared it probably wasn’t going to be strong enough to do the job. She prescribed me a Z-pak and the cough medicine and I was off to CVS to pick it up and go home to rest. I slept all evening, but got up later to do some work. My sore throat was gone, but now the body aches were worse. And worse yet, that nagging cough (the absolute worst part for me) was beginning. I sent out a mass e-mail to my movie night guests canceling this week’s movie night on Saturday.
Saturday the 23rd – MEDITATE! MEDICATE! – When I got up at 1 to meet the maids, I found a card on my door that said they had arrived at 12:15. Odd, since the office told me on Friday that they would arrive between 1 and 3. I called the office and asked that they return to clean my house. Luckily they were able to come back. I’m not sure why my maid service has such a hard time keeping an appointment time. Might be time for a change I guess. I talked to my bookkeeper about a few issues I was having with my corporate account, as numbers between the bank and my records weren’t aligning. That kind of stuff really frustrates me as math was never my forte. I took some more meds and went back to bed to sleep all night. I got up around midnight and attacked the banking issues again. I paid bills, did some more bookkeeping, and tried to minimize the barking cough that was starting. Feeling absolutely miserable, with my nose stuffing up again and the cough worsening, I laid down on my couch to suffer. Those little cough pills the doctor gave me were supposed to last for 8 hours, but were only lasting for 2. I tried to tell her they probably weren’t strong enough, but she refused to give me the medicine that truly works for me. But as I laid there trying not to stress, and meditate as much as possible, after a while my nasal passages opened up and the cough finally quieted. Which is good because all of the coughing was making the muscles in my torso very sore! I did manage to sleep for a few hours on the couch, and then got up at 7am to get ready to make some food.
Sunday the 24th – SICK SUCKS! – I rolled off the couch shortly after 7am and felt like I had gone 8 rounds with Clubber Lang! I took some more meds and made my traditional Saturday Night Super Salad and watched an episode of “SNL” from the third season DVD set. I hardly had an appetite, and the episode was pretty bad, but I made it through both the salad and the show. I crashed out until about 4:30 when I called Shirley to let her know I wouldn’t be at church. The last thing I wanted to do was contaminate my soon-to-be 92 year old friend with this thing! I went back to bed to sleep some more, and got up later to do auditions. Luckily, at this point, most of my voice had been unaffected by this cold! But as the cough worsened, that wasn’t going to be the case for long. I gave up on those little “Tic Tac” pills the doctor gave me and dug out my serious cough medicine. Thankfully I had a few spoonfuls left that I was saving for an occasion such as this. Boy was I glad that it did the trick quickly and effectively. The rest of the night was fairly peaceful. I wonder why doctors won’t listen to patients when they tell them about therapies that have proved effective for years, and instead insist on inferior means of treatment. Instead of educating themselves on something new and wonderful, they fall back on the old stand-bys – which don’t work. I called my doctor’s voicemail and left a message that his associate’s treatment was insufficient, and I would need to come see him on Tuesday to get the standard, SUFFICIENT treatment for my problem. I went into my room with the intention of getting ready to watch TV and eat, but Spook was curled up on the bed looking very cute. So I laid down next to him and started petting him for a while. Then Roxy came up and joined us. I was surrounded by two cozy pets who were getting very cuddly. I was completely and totally happy. My cough had subsided (thanks to REAL cough medicine) and my pets were very therapeutic. We all fell asleep for a bit until the sun started shining in through my window. At that point I got up, showered, and got ready for bed. It’s going to be a very busy week, and I needed to be in tip top shape for it!
And how was (cough cough) YOUR week??!
