DanLog the ramblings of Daniel Pettit

The family officially celebrated that black day today. I managed to follow the dress code without knowing about it. Thankfully they stopped at the black theme – no diapers, Geritol and all that hilarious “over the hill” crap.

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I noticed Lauren’s car had a traffic cone behind it as I was driving home. They are doing construction on Vanguard replacing sidewalk and curbs. I figured I’d move it out of the tow-away zone. Luckily there was one spot left on the opposite side of the street. The spot ended up being quite smaller than it looked. However, I managed to whip it right in after only one false start.

Well I survived the day. Didn’t do anything special other than Lauren (we) cooked beef stroganoff for dinner and watched two movies. Will do the family get together in a couple weeks.

I picked up a slacker chick on my way to Chipotle tonight.

Picked up a new tool today at the Woodcraft retail store in Stanton. It’s a Porter-Cable PIN 100 23 gauge micro nailer. It shoots these really tiny nails, which means little or no hole to fill. It should come in real handy for attaching the detail work on our new dresser.

Ran across an ingenious idea on Ebay. You can send something that you would like burned in Hell and he will do it for you for only $6.66. What a deal huh?? Divorce papers, speeding ticket, photos of the ex – whatever is legal to burn. Just one catch it will be burned in Hell, Michigan.

Burn In Hell

Been trying to get by Costco for what seems like weeks now. Finally squeezed in a visit after work today. It really isn’t a good idea to go to Costco hungry. So what did he come home with you ask? Well a big bag of famous Amos cookies and a case of ice cream novelties (Sundae Cones, Ice Cream Sandwiches, and Ice cream bars).

The sunset on the way home.

I arrived at my brother Mike’s apartment/room. It wasn’t his real room, but his situation was similar. The rest of the family, along with Mike were going to arrive later, for some reason I got there early – very early. I was very tired so I was going to lay down and rest. His room wasn’t very clean so I was a bit leery of just plopping myself down and feeling at home on his bed. I then noticed that there was a very small dog on his bed. Didn’t know he had a dog. I wondered if the staff knew and if they were just looking the other way. I carefully lied down on my side on the edge of his bed. Staring at the opposite wall I noticed on the floor under a shelf or bookcase there was a pile of dirt on the floor. No it wasn’t dirt but dog poop and some litter material heaped on some kind of absorbent pad. It hadn’t been cleaned/changed lately. I then noticed another litter “box” under a table on the other side of the room. It seemed to be a lot of waste for just one small dog. At this point, for some reason, I was worried that there were rats in the room. I then spotted something else moving in the room and to my relief it was another very small dog. I guess I felt more at ease of the room being rat free and drifted off to sleep. While I was drifting in and out of consciousness one of the dogs nestled up against the top of my head. I stirred again and realized that Lauren had shown up and was spooning me. I drifted off again.

Then with a shriek of pain I jolted upright on the bed wincing at my bleeding hand. A third unseen dog had bitten my hand and bitten it good – in no way a love bite. I was now standing looking at my bleeding hand and the snarling little dog. Lauren was sitting up on the bed with the snarling dog near her. The dog was just plain crazy or mean or both. The dog continued behave in a threatening manner. Lauren jabbed a pencil into the dog and quickly yanked it out of the dog in a flick of the wrist kung fu movement. She was now holding the pencil point up, on the end of the pencil was the dogs tiny liver. I guess that will be one obedience lesson that will not be ignored. Neither one of us were remores3eful for the demise of he demon dog, other than worrying about Mike’s reaction. Lauren wasn’t too worried, she thought he’d never notice as there were still two other dogs in the room, I agreed. BTW the other dogs were unfazed by these events.

Now we just needed to get rid of the evidence. His room now was expanded to more of an apartment. It was like one large square room with a wall divider down the middle but open on both ends. So the living space flowed around the center wall like a circle. The bed/living area was on one side a kitchen on the other side. I had just enough time to toss the carcass into the waste can in the kitchen area, the can however was empty. The can was lined with a grocery store bag so from a distance it concealed the dog from view but anyone standing over the can or about to use it would spot it for sure. Just then the whole family arrived, people were setting down packages, bags, fast food bags, and milling about. Lauren was trying to keep the focus of people in the living area, while I ran interference in front of the trash can. His living area had now expended into more of a real living room, there were two couches facing each other with a coffee table between. Mike was on one couch and was opening up some presents. Bruce was standing in the kitchen area near the front door, so I couldn’t safely dash out to take “the trash” out. With the layout of the place people could see in from two different angles, so Lauren was having a hard time getting everyone’s attention focused completely away from the kitchen. Mike was now pawing over my change of clothes I had left in the room. He was saying something like, I don’t remember these, are they mine? Are they for me? There was a pair of dark green trousers and a light green button down shirt. I think I had changed out of these when I had arrived at Mike’s.

[woke up]

The mercury topped out at 89 today. Old Mr. Santaana came for a visit. The surfers seemed to be enjoying it.

Got a forwarded email from my sister Robbie today “True Trivia”. Being that I spotted one urban Legend on the list right off I decided to check the rest out.

The liquid inside young coconuts can be used as a substitute for Blood plasma.

No piece of paper can be folded in half more than seven (7) times. FALSE 12 times or more?

Donkeys kill more people annually than plane crashes.

You burn more calories sleeping than you do watching television. TRUE It is really about the same unless you weigh more than 250 lbs. Then you burn a little more while sleeping.

Oak trees do not produce acorns until they are fifty (50) years of age or older. TRUE for some oaks, they usually start acorn production around 20 years of age
Oak tree facts

The first product to have a bar code was Wrigley’s gum.

The King of Hearts is the only king WITHOUT A MUSTACHE TRUE

American Airlines saved $40,000 in 1987 by eliminating one (1) olive from each salad served in first-class.

Venus is the only planet that rotates clockwise. FALSE Uranus and Pluto do as well.

Apples, not caffeine, are more efficient at waking you up in the morning.

Most dust particles in your house are made from DEAD SKIN!

The first owner of the Marlboro Company died of lung cancer. So did the first “Marlboro Man.”

Walt Disney was afraid OF MICE!

PEARLS MELT IN VINEGAR! TRUE well close – they will dissolve.

The three most valuable brand names on earth:
Marlboro, Coca Cola, and Budweiser, in that order.

It is possible to lead a cow upstairs… but, not downstairs.

A duck’s quack doesn’t echo, and no one knows why. FALSE
University of Salford

Dentists have recommended that a toothbrush be kept at least six (6) feet away from a toilet to avoid airborne particles resulting from the flush. TRUE A good idea anyway. Flush with the lid down and keep that brush inside a cabinet.
And the best for last…..

Turtles can breathe through their butts. TRUE a few types of turtles can

For the first time in 50 years it rained on the Rose Parade. I haven’t really been into the parade in recent years but had to tune in just a bit to see how it was faring in the strong wind and heavy rain. I now know why they are called floats. The participants acted as if everything was going as planned with the exception of rain ponchos and umbrellas. I wonder if they had planned ahead and had clear umbrellas on hand or if Disney had to beg, borrow or steal all those at the last minute. I felt sorry for the baton twirlers and the like as they had no poncho, hat or umbrella. The most humorous was watching the rain run down the camera lens or on some the shots the completely fogged over camera. I hope none of the tuba players drowned.

Very high tide when I arrived at work today, just a few inches shy of cresting the seawall. The storm drains were just a few inches below street level as well, but the rain had let up. So no repeat of the flood of 2005 – so far anyway. All my roof repairs were holding, however the wind had blown off a different area of singles over the lobby.

Okay it has been a long time since I’ve recalled a dream for some reason – anyway here we go:

The dream starts out during daylight in a golf shop/starter for some small [fictional] golf course somewhere in Huntington Beach or Westminster. I’m with Brent Gilman [former coworker haven't spoken with him in over 5 years] I’m somewhat surprised that we are going to play a round, but I’m willing. Even though I haven’t played in years: its a short course, I know I suck so I’m in no danger of bruising my ego, and my sister Robbie might get a kick out of my retelling of my round. My main concern was how stiff my back was [I strained my back right before I went to bed last night, moving some furniture] but what the hell. Brent has paid his fees and walks out of the shop. I finish at the counter and the clerk/starter hands me a set of motel room keys.

As I leave the shop the setting evolves from a golf course to motel grounds. I’m still following Brent, but he is nowhere to be seen. I glance at the keys for the room number. I knew we would meet up at the room before continuing. I didn’t know where the room was and I hadn’t paid attention or the clerk hadn’t told me. I start walking toward some buildings on the opposite side of a driveway. I look again at the key. It looks more like a modern American auto key. The number is part of the key handle. It reads something like 9Kb7. The room numbers I find are just as confusing and there doesn’t seem to be much of a pattern other than all the rooms of each building are similar. This building doesn’t match so I continue on to the next. I wander around for a while without success. I then come across a set of numbers that seem to be close. I then decide the room must be the one at the top of these stairs. The staircase is more of an fire escape than a main staircase. It only goes to the one room. As I reach the top of the stairs, I see that the room number doesn’t match. It is like 9Kb but had no fourth digit. In my mind I determine that it is close enough and this is/will be the room. The room doesn’t even have a door. I can see inside the entire area. No lights are on, the room is illuminated by shady daylight like it was a giant tree house no one was inside.

Back outside and downstairs I continue to walk the grounds [looking for Brent I assume] I’m walking some winding landscaped paths that are either inside a building or covered by a large overhang. It is one of those indoor/outdoor decors like at a resort or a Polynesian Seafood restaurant. The setting does transition into a sort of restaurant setting. I come across tables with fresh meals on the tables, each table had a different creature on the plate some were crab like but more alien looking. This disturbed me as I tried to make my way outside each succeeding dish I spotted way more disturbing than the last. The last one I saw, for some reason I waved my hand several inches above the food , sort of like a magician and the meal/creature flinched. Well that was enough to send me running for the exit. Safely outside I started to relax.

I was now out in the open, a mostly paved area it felt like a playground of sorts [that is all I remember]