Paving Stones, Bamboo & Clay

Paving Stones:
We visited our son and his wife at their new(ish) home today so my wife could do some measurements for some maternity clothes for my son's wife. I asked me son to take me on a tour of his property and he did and we got to talk about the landscape and remodel plans they are working on, which I enjoyed. He even listened to and acknowledged some of my comments relating to using paving stones to provide an efficient and pleasant looking parking area near the front of the house! He would not commit to allowing me to install a "baby cam" in the nursery so my wife and I could log on to watch the baby-to-be though *:-)

Bamboo:
While we were at our son's place my wife got a call from a friend who happens to live just a few blocks away from my son's and the friend needed some help so we went over there too. After the help part was done we got a nice tour of their property too and they showed us some of their recent nursery purchases, which included some golden bamboo still in the nursery containers. The Jasmine was in full bloom and the entire yard was filled with the most exotic and fulfilling fragrance...it was wonderful.

Clay:
My wife's friend's husband loves to work with clay and since I taught pottery for several years we talked about different clays and firings and we both agreed that working with clay is something we both enjoy. He is enamoured with throwing on the wheel, while I am enamoured of hand building and pinch potting. We offered to let him fire his smaller stuff in our electric kiln if he wants to start making stuff again. He is a gifted jeweler and bead worker also.

Movie Recommendations:
"Star Wars III-The Revenge Of The Sith" (2005) - Yes, see it. OC+
"Little Black Book" (2004) - Yes, see it. OC+

Lee's OC Index:
OC+ = High potential healing and/or educational message for people with OCD tendencies.
OC- = Low potential healing and/or educational message for people with OCD tendencies.

Storming The Castle & Eating The Rose

Storming the Castle:
I took the huge sword and sliced the entire bridge and entrance from the castle. Hugely crashing onto the plate the sectioned arch was quickly covered in slimy white from the spitting dragon's mouth and the blood red boulders fell to cover it forever.
The castle-bundt cake is delicious, especially when covered in whipped cream and strawberries *:-) My wife has taken another step to become Queen Of The Bundts *:-)
Eating The Rose:
Secrets are found in every bite and only the Queen Of The Bundts knows from what they are made. Delicious again and again and again her creations are my opiate of choice.

Movie Recommendations:
"Trainspotting-Collectors' Edition" (1996) - No, don't see it. OC-
"Connie and Carla" (2004) - Yes, see it. OC+

Lee's OC Index:
OC+ = High potential healing and/or educational message for people with OCD tendencies.
OC- = Low potential healing and/or educational message for people with OCD tendencies.

Hedge Hog & Lawn Hog

Hedge Hog:
It's a great tool. Even the professional loved using it. Try one yourself and check it out. Just google "hedge hog" and go to the tools and hardware result. I love using it *:-)

Lawn Hog:
Ditto for the lawn hog. The auto-mulch setting works very well even on wet, tall grasses and weeds. Cuts nicely through plastic waste-water pipe that is left too high above the ground also *:-(

Movie Recommendations:
"Himalaya" (1999) - Yes, see it. OC+
"Murder, She Wrote" (1984) - No, don't see it. OC-

Lee's OC Index:
OC+ = High potential healing and/or educational message for people with OCD tendencies.
OC- = Low potential healing and/or educational message for people with OCD tendencies.

Memory & Memories & Memorials

Memory:
I still have mine (the brain function, not the computer kind). I have not noticed any degradation in function or capacity or recall capability and I am greatful for that. My wife is brilliant about foods and cooking utencils and I have good DNA and I am hopeful too that I will get another 30 years out of my memory function because grandkids are just starting to be part of our lives and both my wife and I are doing pretty well otherwise. Good luck to us *:-)

Memories:
I believe it is time for me to start my autobiography! Wow, I had not really thought about that and blogging about Memorial Day has put that thought on the table for consideration. Cool! Please feel free to click on the link in the blog header to get more info.

Memorials:
I've seen some good, some bad, and of course it depends on the viewer. Those that have been purchased for memorializing a primarily egotistical event or person depress me and I believe send the wrong message. Those that memorialize a shared, human emotional experience and are presented in a healing way I find to be exceptionally valuable to my journey here and I believe we need many more of that type. The town I live in is silly when it comes to that sort of thing and I find that sad.

Movie Recommendations:
"House Of Flying Daggers" (2004) - Yes, see it. OC+

Lee's OC Index:
OC+ = High potential healing and/or educational message for people with OCD tendencies.
OC- = Low potential healing and/or educational message for people with OCD tendencies.

Friends Near & Far

Friends Near & Far:
I have friends. Some are local and some are in other countries. What I have learned is that for me to make a friend takes a very long time. Each of the friends who have come to my aid in my time of need I have spent years with and have had many hours of close personal activity. I am interested in the dynamics of friendship and what it takes to create a friend. As I think about it, in each case there has also been considerable emotional exchange involved. I will think and reflect and read more on it.

Movie Recommendations:
"Pompeii: The Last Day" (2003) - Yes, see it. OC+

Lee's OC Index:
OC+ = High potential healing and/or educational message for people with OCD tendencies.
OC- = Low potential healing and/or educational message for people with OCD tendencies.

Different Breed, Learning, Deciding

Different Breed:
Tibetan Mastiff is not for me as a pet dog. We have enough room and if we made the fence a lot stronger we could let the TM run free but the inherent behaviors of the Tibetan Mastiff breed are not going to work out for me. I like strength and some independence in a dog but the Tibetan Mastiff is still classified as a "primitive" breed and does not train well and does not remain close on command. The search continues.

Learning:
I have planned to attend a local "doggie day" in the park during the first week in June. I will just hang out and learn more about me and dogs and if I want to go in the direction of becoming a pet owner right now. I hope to learn by observation what the different relationships of dogs and owners are and how they work when outside their home turf.

Deciding:
I haven't set a deadline for myself on deciding if a dog is coming into my life or not. I'll let that decision arrive when the time is right. Because I'm still interested I'll keep checking things out.

Movie Recommendations:
"The Cazalets: All Episodes" (2001) - Yes, see it. OC+

Lee's OC Index:
OC+ = High potential healing and/or educational message for people with OCD tendencies.
OC- = Low potential healing and/or educational message for people with OCD tendencies.

Extra Combo VCR-DVD Recorder, Bad Fries (Fry's)

Extra Combo VCR-DVD Recorder:
Logic failed me. We have a project where we need to convert a couple hundred VHS tapes to DVDs. My logic said that it would be most effective to have a single unit that could do both. When it was very difficult to find one like that, I should have known something was up. I finally found a high quality machine at Fry's Electronics, and they promised me it would do what I needed. It doesn't. The proper solution is a stand-alone VCR, a stand-alone DVD recorder, and a stand-alone TV monitor. I now have both solutions and will be donating the combo unit to a worthy cause (cash would be nice).

Bad Fries (Fry's):
Fry's lied to me. No question about it. I have a problem with Fry's because I spent over one hour talking to several departments before I purchased the combo VCR-DVD unit and they lied to me in two ways:
1. They said no TV monitor would be required to use the machine. WRONG. It is impossible to set up the machine for different audio/video performance without using the remote which requires a TV monitor to see the commands. Pisses me off! *:-(
2. They said, no they positively strongly encouraged me, to go ahead and take the unit home and try it and there would be absolutely no problem in bringing it back if it did not do what I needed. WRONG. It has been 17 days since I bought it and since Fry's is quite a drive from my home I called to schedule an appointment to return it and was told that there is a 15 day limit on returns for the particular device I purchased. Pisses me off! *:-(
I will be spreading the news about how Fry's behaves whenever I can. I feel better now *:-)

Movie Recommendations:
"Nero Wolfe: {all seasons}" (2001) - Yes, see it. OC+

Lee's OC Index:
OC+ = High potential healing and/or educational message for people with OCD tendencies.
OC- = Low potential healing and/or educational message for people with OCD tendencies.

Dog? References? Letters of Recommendation?

Dog?
I have a growing desire to have a dog as a companion. My wife has had companion dogs during our married life and they seemed to provide her with a great deal of love and affection, and were great friends to her and were fun to be around. The last dog I had was a German Shepherd mix when I was in my early teens. He started out being mine when my family lived out in the country, and then when we moved into the city we made a decision to put him on a run in the medium-sized back yard and that just did not work out. He became agressive and loud. I did not understand much about dog behavior in those days, and although I tried to do my best at caring for him it actually fell to my mother to do most of the work while I was in school and she was not into it. One day when I came home from school my dog was gone. I was devastated, lonely, angry and confused. My parents told me they had given him up for adoption. They did not discuss this with me at all before giving him away. I did not believe them and I told them I thought they had him killed and although they assured me that a man had come to pick him up and taken him to a farm in the country, I did not believe them. After about 2 weeks they agreed to drive out into the country so I could see him for myself. There he was, on a chain, on a small run down farm far off the beaten path. I am still sad today. I am working on healing that experience and am considering trying again with another dog that could be mine. I am not sure yet so I will be hanging out with dogs and their owners and doing more research. At the moment, the breed that interests me the most is the Tibetan Mastiff (see hyperlink above). We will see what happens.

References?
I am putting together a short list of people that I want to be references for me during my job search. This is much harder than I had anticipated and the professional networking organization that I belong to has also warned me to be very careful before listing someone. I'll know more after I complete the spreadsheet today *:-)

Letters of Recommendation?
I am also putting together a short list (much much shorter!) of people that I will ask to prepare letters of recommendation for me for the two jobs which I have applied for. This is a daunting task as well, but somehow I feel better about it because I only need 2 per job, and I can have more dialogue about what will be in the letter prior to publishing them.

Movie Recommendations:
"Storyville" (1992) - Yes, see it. OC+
"Kavanaugh Q.C., Disk 2, Set 1 (1995) - Yes, see it. OC+

Lee's OC Index:
OC+ = High potential for healing and/or educational message for people with OCD tendencies.
OC- = Low potential for healing and/or educational message for people with OCD tendencies.

Palatino Linotype, HTML & Concentration

Palatino Linotype:
Never used this font before as a choice. Of the fonts approved for the job app I completed and submitted today, Palatino Linotype was the only one MSOffice had available. After using it and printing out the sample page, I recognized it as the font used long ago by pre-Windows machines. I even had fond memories of using vi as my word processor on the Unix boxes I ran *:-). Didn't look all that bad and the resume didn't look all that bad either without any formatting. Kinda nice *:-)

HTML:
The copy and paste application I was required to use to submit the online application worked perfectly because I did what I was told:
- Remove all formatting!
- Do NOT underline!
- NO bullets!
- Save as HTML only!
- Do not make any typographical errors or mis-spellings!
Wow...I'm back in first grade *:-)

Concentration:
I did not have a problem with concentration during the 3 full days it took to get this cover letter and resume completed and turned in. I was exhausted when it was done tho, and went grocery shopping with my wife as a break and bought and ate a whole bar of chocolate all at once (dark, 60% cacao, milk free). Yum *:-) I was hyper-active for about 2 hours after eating it and my wife was a fairly good sport about it and no disasters happened (that I remember).

Movie Recommendations:
"Dandelion Dead" (1994) - Yes, see it. OC+
"Midsomer Murders: Murder on St. Malley's Day" (2002) - Yes, see it. OC+

Lee's OC Index:
OC+ = High potential healing and/or educational message for people with OCD tendencies.
OC- = Low potential healing and/or educational message for people with OCD tendencies.

Mother's Day, Free Lunch & Wolaver's

Mother's Day:
My wife is very happy. She heard from all our children, and our son and his wife actually took us out to dinner at a time and place that my wife really was happy about. Thank you, J & P *:-)

Free Lunch:
This is the first time that I have not forced my son to take money from me for part of the dinner expenses (it was not cheap). He was very enthusiastic about paying for the whole meal and that is cool. Thanks P.

Wolaver's:
I tried Wolaver's India Pale Ale for the first time and liked it very much. While I was away from the table briefly my wife tried a few sips from my glass and said she liked it quite a bit as well. This is a big change because my wife does not like beer and to my knowledge has never had any when we were dining or partying. We will try it again to make sure it holds its appeal.

Movie Recommendations:
"Never Come Back" (1989) - No, don't see it. OC-

Lee's OC Index:
OC+ = High potential healing and/or educational message for people with OCD tendencies.
OC- = Low potential healing and/or educational message for people with OCD tendencies.

Veteran & SARAH

Veteran:
I am one. 1968 -1970. I survived, and did a good job when I was in. US Army. Drafted. Right after the TET offensive in '68. Seems like a long time ago now. Doesn't really make any sense either. Oh well. I intend to use my Veterans status to help get a better job.

SARAH:
An acronym standing for Shock, Anger, Resentment, Acceptance & Hope. It has been my experience that all humans go through SARAH when any major event occurs in our lives that seems to block the plans we have made. I believe Resentment is the most dangerous and I am always grateful when I feel I have reached acceptance. This is a constant process for me.

Movie Recommendations:
"The Return Of The Pink Panther" (1975) - No, don't see it. OC-

Lee's OC Index:
OC+ = High potential healing and/or educational message for people with OCD tendencies.
OC- = High potential healing and/or educational message for people with OCD tendencies.

Pops & Hats

Pops:
Actually, "Hey, Pops" in reference to me by someone else. I did not expect that ever to happen and it has. I was driving and at a traffic intersection stopped for the red light. Two youngish skate boarders were crossing the street with the green light. They were not staying in the white pedestrian lane. One of them walked in front of the car that was in front of me, and one of them walked between the car in front of me and my truck. That is not a bright thing to do. Both my door windows were down all the way. As skate boarder #2 finished crossing in front of my truck and was walking along the my passenger side he leaned towards me and said in a semi-derogative manner "Hey, Pops don't worry, take it easy." I was shocked *:-(

Hats:
'Pops' ties into 'Hats' this way: My wife has been telling me that my choice of headgear this winter and spring "...is making you look funny...". I suspect what she is too kind to say is that my hats make me look old. I wear fedora style and straw-brim fedoras. I will not wear them anymore and am on the look out for what I can find that will be right to keep the sun off my face and also help me look as cool as I really am *:-) A lesson learned. Thanks, youngish, derogatory skate boarder.

Aggressive, Assertive & Creamsicle

Aggressive:
Behavior that is actively hostile, bold & energetic.

Assertive:
Self-assuredly bold and confident.

Note: Most of my life I believed my behavior could often be defined as aggressive. However, today several learned colleagues assured me that NO, it is not aggressive. They all agreed that it is strongly ASSERTIVE though *:-) I feel a little better *:-)

Creamsicle:
A color said to be a combination of papaya, orange juice & amaretto (no dictionary definition). My colleagues at work were trying to convince me today that it is a true color and can be found in paint stores and the like. I am not yet convinced.

Movie Recommendations:
"Pennies From Heaven (British TV, 1978) - No, don't see it. OC-

Lee's OC Index:
OC+ = High potential healing and/or educational message for people with OCD tendencies.
OC- = Low potential healing and/or educational message for people with OCD tendencies.

Blog, Unix and SCO

Blog:
I've been blogging here for about 4 months now and it is very healthy for me to do it and I enjoy it. Wangjianshuo's blog kind of showed me how it should be done and I have been reading his for almost 2 years. Thanks Jian Shuo *:-)

Unix:
Every time I say or write "unix" I smile because of the hundreds of hours I spent using many forms of unix to build my first awareness of what computers could do to get people together and get information from one place to another. I still greet some of my friends from my unix time with the greeting "ps -ef" to say "what's happening" *:-)

SCO:
Xenix used to be the best OS around and I used and enjoyed it. Too bad they got sick and died.

Movie Recommendations:
"Spanglish" (2005) - Yes, see it. OC+

Lee's OC Index:
OC+ = High potential healing and/or educational message for people with OCD tendencies.
OC- = Low potential healing and/or educational message for people with OCD tendencies.

Reference, Approval, Guilt & 9 weeks

Reference:
I am grateful. A friend has agreed to serve as a professional reference for me on a job application I submitted last Friday. Choosing what reference person to ask is a little more difficult than I had expected and to have someone say yes feels good.

Approval:
I still don't fully understand how a need for approval from others gets built in to some people at such an early age. I am going to pay attention to it and try to learn.

Guilt:
I still have guilt! I am amazed at how certain situations come up that show it to still be sitting with me. I am fortunate to have friends who have the courage to point it out.

9 Weeks:
Our son and his wife are 9 weeks pregnant and we are happy about it and grateful that they will have the chance to have children.

Movie Recommendations:
"The Final Cut" (2004) - Yes, see it. OC+

Lee's OC Index:
OC+ = High potential healing and/or educational message for people with OCD tendencies.
OC- = Low potential healing and/or educational message for people with OCD tendencies.

Google Ads, Networking, Decryption

Google Ads:
LOL is what happened when I logged into this blog (OurAutumn) this morning to check which movies I had OCD indexed yesterday. To my dismay, delight and disgust I found Google Ads on my site referring to some of the unpleasant duties of home maintenance. The best phrase which cracked me up is "...eliminates sewer odor and stops the stink overnight" *:-) After scratching my head over how Google Ads could have linked that to my site, I realized that I had written about the movie rental house "Blockbuster" *:-(

Networking:
Just in case you need it, as I do now, here is the definition of networking as presented by the chapter of Experience Unlimited that I belong to:
"Networking is the art of making contacts".
Works for me.

Decryption:
We found a way to decrypt our VHS tapes. We have ordered the device and it should arrive in a week or so. We'll let everyone know if it works or not.

Movie Recommendations:
"The Pink Panther Strikes Again" (1976) - No, don't see it. OC-

Lee's OC Index:
OC+ = High potential healing and/or educational message for people with OCD tendencies.
OC- = Low potential healing and/or educational message for people with OCD tendencies.