December 21 – December 27 (2015)

RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK

Cats, cats and MORE cats! I saw this photo on-line and couldn’t resist it!

Cats crowd the harbour on Aoshima Island in the Ehime prefecture in southern Japan February 25, 2015. An army of cats rules the remote island in southern Japan, curling up in abandoned houses or strutting about in a fishing village that is overrun with felines outnumbering humans six to one. (REUTERS/Thomas Peter)

In case it’s been a while since you heard the song “Same Old Lang Syne” by Dan Fogelberg, which I referenced in Wally’s Week, here it is for you to enjoy. Have a GREAT New Year!

Monday the 21st – STRESS TEST – NO STRESS! – This was the day I was going to take my stress test on the treadmill at the cardiology clinic. It was so my doctor could rule out certain things in relation to left arm pain and numbness and chest pain I had been having. I got up at 7:30, threw on my workout clothes, and got to the clinic by 8:20am. I took the test at 9am and everything was totally normal…a-OK…100% good! It was actually quite fun and not a problem at all. The reason I had to quit was that my legs were getting tired. The treadmill had me going uphill and it was quite exhausting. But I got my heart rate up to the rate they needed and they said it all looked good. So I need to talk to my doctor about the results in the new year and we’ll proceed from there. I still think it’s a standard angina, which is temporary and will go away on its own. On my way out of the office I was feeling chipper and I passed an elderly gentleman in the waiting room who was ready to go in for his test. He said, “Boy, I hope I feel that chipper when I get done with MY test!” I told him my endorphins were kicking in, but I noticed his remarkably resonant, deep voice. I said, “Do you do voice-over?” He said he didn’t, but a lot of people tell him he should. I said, “Can you say…’In a world’ for me?” He said, “IN A WORLD” with a thundering basso profundo! But he said he wasn’t an actor, so unfortunately a successful career in V.O. probably wasn’t in the cards for him, no matter how great his voice sounded. I drove home and hopped in the Gran Torino and drove over to my mechanic Bodie’s shop called BS Industries. It was that time of year when his business started to slow down for a few weeks, and he could fit me in for some upgrades to the Torino. I’m having an air compressor installed in the trunk to keep the air shocks pumped up, as well as a few other little things done. My assistant Sara came to give me a ride home, but I could tell she wasn’t feeling up to par. We stopped at Lancer’s for lunch, but after eating a little soup she excused herself and went to the bathroom. I finished my hot beef sandwich (which for some reason wasn’t very good that day) and we took off. I drove home in her car, got out and she drove back to her house. She ended up being sick with food poisoning the rest of the day from something she ate at a party the previous night. I grabbed a nap and then got up in the evening to do some work. I took a dip in the Jacuzzi and walked my neighbor’s dog Abby the Greyhound. I did some grocery shopping and then headed home to unload the groceries. I got some “Christmas Nappies” on the couch by the fire, and then got up to do a few auditions. That’s right, auditions! Don’t they know everybody’s closed for the holidays? Oh well. It started to rain a bit, so my walk with Roxy was brief. I came inside to write Wally’s Week . When I finished I made some dinner and started in on the Blu Ray DVD set of the old British show “Thunderbirds.” It’s a great show from my childhood done with marionettes that I never really understood as a kid. I liked the visuals but I remember thinking the shows were long, slow and complicated. Viewing them today I realize that they’re still long, still pretty slow, but I can understand them better. The prints are amazing looking and the show is very clever. I refer to the show as “Puppets in Peril,” since every episode deals with some sort of emergency. But what would you expect from a show about a team called International Rescue?

Tuesday the 22nd – $NAFU! – Shortly after I got up at 12:30 I showered up and headed to see my chiropractor Dr. Carletta to get an adjustment. I told him about the stress test results and he was very happy to hear it. It was raining a bit so the day was pretty pleasant. I stopped by the post office to mail some stuff, and I also stopped by my box to get a package. I met up with my assistant Sara and some people from Florida who were in town. Mark, Melanie and Scott were vacationing in L.A. so we agreed to all meet for lunch. I had never met them before, but they were followers of mine and readers of Wally’s Week. But we had a good discussion and had a lot of fun at lunch. It sounded like they were having a great time on their vacation. When I got back home my internet was out again. Really Time Warner? What the heck? This is the third time in two weeks! I called immediately and complained. I grabbed a quick nap, and by the time I got up it was back on again. I stopped into Floyd’s Barbershop at 7:30 to get a quick color job from my stylist. I got home at 9 and hopped in the Jacuzzi. Then I went inside to do some work, take some Christmas Nappies on the couch, and I got up later to walk and feed Roxy around 3am. I did a little more work around the house, made some stew and watched another episode of “Puppets In Peril,” aka “Thunderbirds.” The models and miniature sets in this show should have won some sort of award. The show is VERY clever! I was heading to bed around 9am when I made one final check of my e-mail. My accountant had sent me an emergency e-mail saying that some sort of accounting snafu had happened and I needed to call him right away. When I talked to him he told me to call my bank asap and move some money around to a different account. I did, but it took me a couple of hours. I got to bed around 11am. YIKES! What a hassle!

Wednesday the 23rd – CHRISTMAS PREP! – After having solved the financial crisis and getting to bed at 11am, I got up around 3. Four hours was enough sleep and my mind started buzzing. I did some work on the computer and then sent out my movie night invite e-mails. My pal Brittney Powell came over to hang out for a bit, and we scooted over to Paty’s to grab dinner. I came home and grabbed a nap, and then got up to formulate plans for the Christmas break. I wanted to get a lot of work done around the house, including reorganizing my bedroom closet and my bedroom. Moving stuff around, filing stuff, going through my books and purging the ones I no longer need, getting rid of clothes I no longer need, and cleaning, cleaning, cleaning! I also logged on to the website for “Christmas Across the Lands,” a wonderful 12 hour radio show I listen to every year over the Christmas holiday on a local AM station. Hearing my Christmas favorites on the AM band is magical, as it reminds me a lot of hearing them on the radio when I was a kid. I downloaded the playlist so I knew when to anticipate hearing my favorite songs. I did a few more auditions and then made some spaghetti and watched “Thunderbirds.” I wish I was more adept at editing, because I’m sure I could take these hour-long episodes and make them really tight, action-packed half hour episodes.

Thursday the 24th – IT’S CHRISTMAS EVE! – Much of the world was planning on shutting down around 2pm this afternoon, and since I didn’t get up until 2, I missed my chance at getting out and getting a few things done. I did some work on the computer and around 5pm, Roxy and I headed over to the church to see the Living Nativity that they do every year. They have a petting zoo there with goats, chickens, sheep and a bunny. Roxy always loves seeing all the people, getting lots of attention and pets, and seeing the animals. It’s always funny when she walks up to the pen. Upon catching a glance of her, all the goats and sheep snap to attention and stare at her, almost as if they recognize her as a herding dog. They seem to be waiting for orders from her. But Roxy just likes to walk around the fence and touch noses with the animals. But she REALLY loved the bunny rabbit. So much so that when I pulled Roxy away she started to cry, longing to get back to make friends with the bunny. I got home just in time to listen to the beginning of “Christmas Across the Lands” at 6pm. I was going to need a short nap before going to my church’s candlelight service at 11pm, so after listening to a few hours of the show, I grabbed a nap on the couch. But I kept the radio on so I could listen subconsciously. I got up at 10 and threw on my clothes. My pal Josh came by to head to the service with me. The full moon that hung over the church was amazing. What a view! As usual, the candlelight service was gorgeous and enjoyable. It ended at midnight with soft singing of “Silent Night” by candlelight. I got home and charged into my bedroom project while listening to “Christmas Across the Lands.” I worked all night organizing, cleaning and purging my life of stuff I simply no longer need. But the sound system downstairs that feeds the speakers in my upstairs bedrooms was having a problem. There was no left channel at all! So I had to stop and go to the receiver and tighten all of the cords and cables, to try and troubleshoot the problem. After about a half hour, something worked and both channels were restored. Even though it was a mono AM station, it was still annoying to hear the program out of only one of two speakers. I finished working in my closet around dawn; just as the sun was rising on Christmas morning! But I wasn’t anywhere near done. But I had certainly made a dent! As is my tradition on Christmas Eve I made myself a Chef Boy Ar Dee pizza. The song “Same Old Lang Syne” by Dan Fogelberg came on the radio show and it sounded amazing. I love that song, as I’ve experienced situations like that in the past. I ate my pizza and watched “Thunderbirds,” and eventually got to bed at 10am on Christmas morning.

Friday the 25th – CHRISTMAS CAMERA CRUNCH! – Five hours of sleep was enough, so at 3 I got out of bed and started me day. I got ready for dinner with friends at The Smokehouse (another of my Christmas traditions) by stacking up a bunch of stuff I wanted to take to dinner. There were gifts, my camera, my iced tea, my jacket, etc. My arms were full as I locked up and got in my car. But as I pulled out of the garage I felt my front tire roll over something…KA-FWUMP! Then my rear tire…KA-FWUMP! I thought I had a flat tire! I got out of my car and looked at my garage floor. There was my Canon camera on the floor. While loading my armload full of stuff into the car, the camera must’ve fallen to the floor and rolled under the car… DIRECTLY UNDER MY TIRES! I turned the camera on and it was shattered! RATS! I guess a new camera was going to be my Christmas gift to myself this year. Last year after Christmas, I crunched the right rear fender of my Gran Torino while pulling out of the parking spot. Apparently every Christmas season I’m destined to suffer some sort of calamity. Golly, I can’t wait to see what calamity NEXT Christmas brings (he said with sarcasm!). Dinner at The Smokehouse was great, and when we got back to my house we listened to the final hour of “Christmas Across the Lands” on the radio. When he played my second favorite Christmas song “Step Into Christmas” by Elton John I figured that was a good note to leave it on for another year. I turned off the radio and we watched a screener of the new movie “Creed” starring Sylvester Stallone. It was amazing! After my guests left I grabbed a short nap on the couch, sans Christmas music. The season’s officially over. I fed and walked Roxy around 3am and then I crept back on to the couch to get a few more hours of sleep and enjoy the silent night. I didn’t get up until 9am Saturday morning!

Saturday the 26th – THAT DARN COUCH! – My couch is eating my life! I can really sleep on that thing! VERY soundly! So when I got up at 9 I did a little work around the house. I made some food and watched “Thunderbirds” in bed. I went back to sleep from 1 to 4, and then I got up to get ready for movie night. My day was really screwed up because of all the napping, but I’m old enough to have learned that if my body is going to shut down for that long, there must be a reason, and I need to honor it by letting it rest. We watched “The Peanuts Movie” on a screener I had, and it was just as fabulous as I had thought it would be. My only regret was that I never got to see it in the theater in 3-D. We all enjoyed it immensely and it’s really pretty brilliant! After the guests left I worked on the bedroom all night. It’s going slowly but already it’s already looking much better! I had more to do than I thought! Toward dawn I made my regular Saturday night salad and watched an episode of the old British show “The Avengers.”

Sunday the 27th – I GUESS I’VE ADOPTED MYSELF A NEW GRANDMA! – As is my usual Sunday routine, I slept really late into the afternoon. I got up around 4 and did some work on the computer, then I walked Roxy to evening church. But we left about 15 minutes early so I could make it home to finish an eBay auction which was closing at 6:30 sharp! I really wanted to win it so I had to be there to insure it. I got on eBay, won the auction, and then drove back to the church. My friend Shirley is a wonderful elderly lady who lives halfway between the church and my house. So when it started to get dark early in November, Pastor Bob asked if I would walk Shirley home. I told her my fierce guard dog Roxy and I would be glad to! So it’s routine now that I walk Shirley home after church. I hightailed it back to the church just in time to see her coming out of the social hall. She said, “I looked for you but I couldn’t find you.” I told her I had to run back home to do something at 6:30 but I came back to make sure she got home alright. As we walked she told me all about having Christmas festivities at her granddaughter’s house in Simi Valley. It sounded like she had a terrific time. Even though both my grandmothers have passed away, it was really nice to have that “Grandma” vibe back again and spend some time talking with Shirley. I reminded her that she had my number and I was right down the street. So if she needed anything I was just a phone call away. Sara had just returned from her Christmas trip to Arizona, so we met at Jerry’s Famous Deli to have dinner. I stopped by Bed, Bath and Beyond to get some plastic storage shelves for my bedroom closet project. I got home and relaxed on the couch, and ended up sleeping SIX HOURS! That DARN couch! When I got up I did some work, made some chili and watched “Thunderbirds.”

And how was YOUR Christmas week??!!

PIX FROM THE WEEK

At movie night, my pals James and Kevin show up in different super-hero shirts completely unplanned. So obviously a battle had to break out between the two titans!