October 31, 2011 Monday Afternoon

Happy Halloween!

We did very little over the weekend. Saturday afternoon we went out to a Halloween street festival. It was not a successful festival and not many were out in the afternoon due to the cold weather. Had lunch at one of the bars along the festival. Came home and spent the night getting caught up on episodes of American Horror Story and The Walking Dead, along with other shows on the DVR. We watched a lot of TV on Saturday. Sunday I never even left the house. I did send Tony to get lottery tickets in the middle of the afternoon. It rained all afternoon, felt so sorry for the trick or treaters in costumes begging for candy. We did not give out candy because the kids ruin the path lights and such each year if we do. Just easier to say no, and I wasn't about to sit in the rain handing the candy out at the end of the walkway. Took a long afternoon nap with Tony and the dogs. Spent the night watching the CBS TV lineup before going to bed. Like I said, we did very little all weekend. Of course it also means I cooked breakfast, lunch and dinner all weekend while Tony sat on the couch and watched TV.

This morning I was up at 6:30 AM. Fed the dogs and gave Vito his shot. Spent the morning watching the Halloween specials on Regis and The View. Showered and took a walk to a hardware store a few blocks away and bought some tile adhesive for the bathroom tile that Tony still needs to finish using in his bathroom. Tony was going to work on the bathroom, so he claims, but he could not find any tile adhesive, so now he can not use that excuse any more. I needed the walk so it was a good reason to head into that direction for the walk. Came home and spend the afternoon on the couch watching TV and napping a bit. Making hamburger helper and a salad for dinner tonight. Will watch Dancing With The Stars and Castle, as I DVR the CBS TV line up. I have very little on my schedule this week and am happy to say I won't be leaving the house much. I look forward to just staying home and laying low all week. Tomorrow it is suppose to be in the 60s one last time so I hope to do some last minute yard work tomorrow outside.

October 28, 2011 Friday Dinner Time

Got up this morning at 6:30 AM. Fed the dogs and gave Vito his shot. Spent the morning doing things around the house. Went to lunch with the guys at noon. Had a great lunch as always. Spent the afternoon listening to some old Donna Summer music. Making some beef flavored rice for Vito and some Soup for Tony and I tonight for dinner. Will spend tonight watching a few episodes on the DVR. No plans this Halloween weekend. Will most likely leave the house Sunday afternoon so we do not have to be bothered by the trick or treaters. Have a great weekend everyone.

October 27, 2011 Thursday Dinner Time

Got up this morning at 6 AM. Fed the dogs and gave Vito his shot. Spent the morning on the computer transferring my blog posts to a word document for the year 2011. I do this so if the sight should crash I will still have all the posts I have made, in a diary type form. I also have a hard cover book printed each year of my blog through Blog2Print.com. Around 1 PM this afternoon I took a walk to Pick N Save to return a three pack of caramel apples. Cut into them last night to have one and all three were rotten. The use by date had today's date, but we just bought them Sunday. So I exchanged them for newer caramel apples and walked back home. Spent an hour laying back on the couch listening to the TV. Did a little cleaning and vacuumed the house. Making Sweet and Sour Chicken and a salad for dinner tonight. Will spend the night watching shows on the DVR and DVR the TV line up tonight to watch it commercial free at a later time, like we are going to do tonight. The DVR is getting so full and it is just better to watch the DVR and things recorded than live TV at this point. It is in the 40s today in Milwaukee. The sun did come out this afternoon but it is still cold and winter is coming. Tomorrow is lunch with the guys and then the weekend is here. Stopped feeding the pond fish today so they start to go into hibernation mood.

October 26, 2011 Wednesday Dinner Time

This morning I was up at 6 AM. Fed the dogs and gave Vito his shot. Went back to bed for an hour or so after Tony left for work. Got up around 9 AM and after my shower I went grocery shopping. Came home and put it all away. Laid down on the bed for a couple hours listening to music. It is cloudy and drizzling today and that give me no energy at all. Around 1:15 PM I left the house again to go to my HIV doctor appointment. Was a very interesting appointment. Got another hepititis shot and went over my pains and aches. The doctor was very surprised I am not on an antibiotic for my prostate pain. I told him I am, I am on Doxazosin 4 MG. He told me that is not an antibiotic and is just a stronger prostate flow pill then the one I am already taking. This startled me because no one told me to stop taking the other 2 MG pill. So I have been taking 6 MG of Doxazosin and no antibiotic, Doxcycline. He told me I should address this with my prostate doctor when I go back in a week and gave me a prescription for the antibiotic, Doxcycline. Got my blood work results which did not make me happy. My TCell count has dropped again. I am now down to 350. I was really hoping to get over 400. My percent though did raise to 26% from 22% which made the doctor happy. He told me not to be concerned about my 350 TCell count and that it is still a good number. All my other numbers looked great and within the limits. Drove home and stopped at Walgreen's to get the prescription of Doxcycline. Came home and started to get dinner ready. Making some ribs, noodles and a salad for dinner. Will spend the night watching the ABC TV line up since there is no X Factor tonight. I am not very thrilled with X Factor and might just stop watching it anyway. Tomorrow I have nothing on my schedule and plan on spending the day cleaning.

October 25, 2011 Tuesday Dinner Time

Spent yesterday afternoon on the Internet. Switched back to Explorer 9 from Foxfire since I figured out how to post on Blogger from Explorer 9. It takes an extra step but the web pages load up faster and completely, they did not with Foxfire. Now on Blogger after I type out a post I have to click on Save Now rather than Publish Post. Then on the next screen you Publish the Draft. It is an extra step but well worth it I think to go back to Explorer 9. Found this out by doing some searches on the web and what people have written. Also did a little work on the Laptop computer updating some files and getting videos to work. For some reason I could not play videos on my Laptop in Winamp or Media Player. I was told to download the VLC Player and that seemed to play any video so I was happy. All that takes time and soon it was dinner time. Made a beef roast, mashed potato and salad for dinner. Spent the night watching Dancing With The Stars. At 9 PM we went to bed and spent an hour doing a little lovin. Yes, an hour. Watched a video during so we tried to time things with the video, if you know what I mean. If it were not for the video the lovin would have ended in 10 minutes and been done. LOL. We never watch videos so it was something different. I always feel like Tony is comparing me when we watch a video. Guess it is my own insecurity. Thought I would try something different and I think, I know, we both enjoyed it. Tony always liked watching porn before we met. I never felt that comfortable watching it with him although we have a few times in the 22 years together. Tony was then up most of the night and didn't sleep well because of a sinus infection. I forgot to mention that yesterday morning I woke up again and 30 minutes later was throwing up. Thought I had that licked. Guess not. I do go to my HIV doctor tomorrow so I will talk to him about it all, including the Prostate pain that won't seem to go away. Spent the morning watching TV and reading the newspaper. Left for my Client Advisory Board meeting around noon. The meeting was from 12:30 to 2 PM. It was our first Open Board Meeting, open to anyone in ARCW. It turned out to be a success because a few people did show up. Now I am home and it is drizzling outside. Suppose to get much colder in the next few days. Brought home a couple extra box lunches from today's meeting which I will set out for supper tonight so I don't have to cook. Will spend the night watching TV. Tomorrow I have my HIV doctor appointment. Always a little nerve racking. I will post my numbers after I get home. I am hoping to get above 400 in my TCell count this time. It has been a goal of mine. Feeling very tired today and if it was 10 PM I would go to bed. Going to have to drink a cup of coffee and get some energy for Tony when he comes home and wants dinner.

October 24, 2011 Monday Afternoon

Saturday afternoon we went to a Bully Breed Club party in the park. Lot of people brought their Pitbulls with them, we did not bring Stella. Afterwards we went to Hobo to buy some items we needed. Came home and took a nap in the afternoon. Made Chili for dinner with a salad. Spent the night watching the movies Bad Teacher and Wrong Turn 4. Both were good movies. Went to bed around 10 PM.

Sunday we were up at 7 AM. Fed the dogs and gave Vito his shot. Walked up the street around 10 AM to have a brunch at a local bar. Had a good breakfast, but a bit expensive. Came home and got an invite for dinner across the alley. Walked to Pick N Save and bought lottery tickets and a cake to take for desert to dinner in the afternoon. Had a nice walk along the trails to and from Pick N Save. Spent the rest of the afternoon laying around watching TV. Around 6 PM we went across the alley for Lasagna dinner. Had a good dinner and conversation before getting home around 9 PM. Went to bed around 10 PM.

This morning I was up at 6 AM. Fed the dogs and gave Vito his shot. Spent the early morning reading the newspaper and doing laundry. Went to Walgreen's around noon to buy a item on sale and came home. Plan on spending the afternoon getting caught up on laundry, doing a little cleaning, and taking a nap. Will spend tonight watching Dancing With The Stars and Castle, DVR'ing the CBS TV line up. Tomorrow I have a meeting in the afternoon. Nice again outside today and in the mid 50s and sunny. Tomorrow is suppose to be much colder.

October 21, 2011 Friday Morning

Yesterday I was up at 6:30 AM. Fed the dogs and gave Vito his shot. Put drops in Vito and Barley's ears for their infections. Laid low all morning and early afternoon knowing we had a funeral and movie to go to later in the day. Around 3 PM Tony came home and showered and we put on our suit coats and went to the funeral in Oak Creek. We sent flowers and they looked very nice in comparison to the others that were sent. There was a big attendance even as early as we were there. Stayed until about 5 PM and drove home. Fed the dogs, ate a ham sandwich and soon we were out the door again to go to the movie called Weekend. It was an OK movie. I had higher expectations from all I read about it. The sound was so loud and at times I could not understand the words because of the accents. Got home close to 10 PM and watched a little TV before going to bed.

This morning I was up at 6 AM. Fed the dogs and gave Vito his shot. Cleaned and put drops in Vito, Barkley, Bo and Stella's ears since they all seem to have something with their ears. Tony then left for work. Read a little of the morning newspaper and then left the house around 9 AM to go make some copies of my taxes at the copy shop across from Walgreen's. Had to make copies of last year's taxes for the new insurance and paperwork. Went to Walgreen's and bought some items on sale. Stopped off at the Vet on the way home and picked up another bottle of ear drops. Then went to Pick N Save to buy some Activia that I forgot to buy on Wednesday with my weekly grocery shopping. Will leave to have lunch with the guys in about an hour. Hope to take a nap this afternoon. The sun is out but it is close to 50 degrees. Not bad when your in the sun, but a little chilly in the shade. Suppose to be in the 60s over the weekend but then drop to the 40s next week for highs. Barkley's hematoma is still all full. He doesn't seem to be bothered much with it with the collar around his neck so he can not scratch. As long as he stays like this I might be able to let it heal naturally. No plans this weekend. Will most likely watch some movies I downloaded and TV shows on the DVR. Next week Wednesday I get my latest numbers when I see my doctor. Always a stressful week waiting for the numbers. My Prostate is I think getting better. I have low pain mainly in the mornings but I think it either goes away or I forget about it being busy as the day goes on. Either way, it is not healed yet. I go back to that doctor in two weeks.

October 19, 2011 Wednesday Afternoon

Last night around 7 PM I was petting Barkley when I noticed his left ear is all puffed up. I guess he has a Hematoma like Stella had a while back. It looks bad. I guess it is when a blood vessel breaks and leaks into the surrounding area. The entire ear looks and feels like a water balloon. Not much can be done but let time and the body take care of it. So now I have to make sure Barkley doesn't mess with it. Gave him a dog pain pill and he slept good last night. At least someone did. Tony and I could not sleep last night. Tony's new contact lenses were bothering him and he finally took them out. Then his eyes hurt all night long. I just couldn't sleep and finally pulled out the IPod and listened to music until about 3:30 AM.

Got up this morning at 6:30 AM. Fed the dogs and gave Vito his shot. Spent the early morning reading the newspaper before going grocery shopping at Pick N Save. Came home and put all the groceries away and left the house again at 12:30 PM to meet my case worker at ARCW regarding my Medicare and the supplemental health and prescription policy. Got all the paperwork filled out and picked a part D for Medicare online. Filled out the paperwork for HIRSP which we will file in November. Made an appointment to meet with her again the end of November. Picked up my prescriptions at the pharmacy and my monthly food at the pantry and came home. It is windy and raining in Milwaukee today. A terrible nasty day. Guess tonight and tomorrow we are under a Wind Advisory because it is going to get very windy and over 50 mph winds. Should be another horrible night's sleep with the wind and the dogs. Have to do some work on the Internet and then will make dinner. Making Sweet And Sour Chicken and rice again tonight with a salad. Tomorrow we have a funeral to go to and then a movie called Weekend with the LGBT Film Festival. Took down the front and side flags because of the wind. With it so nasty outside I don't plan on leaving the house until tomorrow afternoon for the funeral. The guy who died was a good friend of Tony's who owned a car repair shop here on the Eastside. He died of cancer. So sad.

October 18, 2011 Tuesday Afternoon

Spent last night watching Dancing With The Stars and then Castle. Went to bed after a little lovin around 10:30 PM.

This morning I was up at 6 AM. Got the dogs fed and gave Vito his shot. Tony left for work a little after 7 PM. Read a little of the morning newspaper. Spent the morning doing things around the house inside and out. Got the pond ready for winter. Only one pump running now and hopefully it will run all Winter with the heater around it. Cleaned out a couple rain gutters that I can reach with the 6 foot ladder. Did a little more leaf blowing. Made tomato soup for lunch and then took a short hour nap. Actually I did not even sleep because four of five dogs wrapped themselves around me and I could not move much less sleep. A phone call got me out of be by 2:30 PM. Making a canned ham, rice and salad for dinner tonight. Will watch Glee, DWTSR, and Body of Proof tonight. DVR'ing the rest of our favorites. Tomorrow I have to go grocery shopping and then meet with my case worker at ARCW to get me Medicare straightened out and hopefully get everything filled out properly. I have to sign up for a part D and a secondary insurance, most likely HIRSP (I think it is called). Don't know much about it and hopefully the case worker will help me all through it. I hate this changing health insurance stuff. My biggest fear is not being covered with health insurance and being HIV. In the 50s again today. Tomorrow the same but calling for rain.

October 17, 2011 Monday Afternoon

Spent most of the weekend catching up on the DVR. Got caught up on the episodes building up of: American Horror Story, Revenge and Subergatory, to name a few. Revenge and AHS are very good and will continue to DVR and watch them. Saturday morning we went to Menard's because they had a big 3 day sale. Of course they did not have the snow blower on sale for $99 or the DVR Camera system on sale for $179. Ended up buying a lot of other items and ended up spending about $150.00. Went out to lunch at Chili's. Had a big, good lunch with a strawberry margarita. Came home and spend the rest of the day and evening watching the shows I stated above. Went to bed around 10:30 PM. Didn't even make dinner, just made some snacks to eat.

Sunday we were up at 7 AM. Fed the dogs and gave Vito his Insulin shot. Spent the early morning reading the newspaper and watching the home shows on HGN. Tony raked the front grass in the morning while I got a turkey ready to bake. I got the turkey last year and I figured I better make this 12 lb turkey before I get another one this year. Did the turkey in a bag baking of it. Spent the afternoon watching more shows on the DVR. The turkey turned out great and we had a big dinner with stuffing, mashed potato, corn, and some bread. Spent the night watching the CBS TV lineup. DVR'd Desperate Housewives. Went to bed around 10 PM after a little lovin.

This morning Tony woke me up at 7:11 AM saying he was leaving for work soon. I could not believe I had slept in this late. Jumped out of bed and fed the dogs, gave Vito his shot, and put ear drops in Vito's ears all before Tony left for work. I read a little of the morning newspaper before going back to bed. I am so tired today. Got up around 11:30 AM and started the day over again. Been doing a little laundry and cleaning around the house. Took a shower and figured I am making spaghetti and garlic bread with a salad for dinner. Will watch Dancing With The Stars and Castle tonight and DVR the CBS TV lineup. Not sure why I am so tired today. I honestly could go to bed again right now but will not because then I know I will not sleep well tonight. In the 50s today and windy just like it has been all weekend. The leaves are all off the back tree from the wind all weekend. If I had to have a job I would have had to call in sick today, I am that tired. Hope it is just a fluke and not something serious.

October 14, 2011 Friday Dinner Time

The vet called yesterday around 3:20 PM to tell me Vito was ready to be picked up at the clinic. Was told Vito's glucose levels were OK, except the first one they took was high. We should continue with the 5 units of Insulin and come back in 3 - 6 months. I made an appointment for 5 months from now thinking that made me a better Daddy then going the whole 6 months. The doctor also said Vito has ear infections in both ears and we will need to clean them daily and put drops in them. We already have the cleaning solution and drops so I hoped that would keep the total bill low. Cleaning the little devils ears and putting drops in them is not going to be easy. He is a tiger when we try. Picked him up and paid the bill, $192.00. Jeez! He was so happy to hear my voice. Laid in my arms the entire ride home. When I brought him into the house and set him down on the kitchen floor, he was lost. I finally sat on the floor with him until he figured out the layout again. After dodging a few walls he made his way outside and peed on every rock in the side yard for at least 15 minutes. He kept coming back inside the house, then go back out to do more. It took him a while to remember the living room layout and he banged into the dining room chair on the way indoors at one point. Soon he seemed to remember it all and was doing fine. Spent the night watching X Factor and then The Mentalist before going to bed around 10 PM.

This morning I was up at 6:30 AM. Fed the dogs and gave Vito his shot. Vito slept all night without any problems. Read a little of the morning newspaper before showering so I could go to Walgreen's to pick up a Birthday card for one of the lunch guys today and use my 'buy $25 get $5.00 off ' coupon. Got a bunch of other things that added up in my head, including a Sweetest Day card for Tony, of course it did not add up to $25 at the register so I had to go back and grab an 8 pack of Butterfinger candy bars that were $1.69 a piece or 3 for $3.00. If you read my blog you know this is going somewhere. Of course the one pack of candy came .30 short or $25.00 so I ran back, with one lady behind me saying it was OK, and got another pack. Paid for it all and got home. I then thought to myself that if I would have bought 3 packs of the candy it would have been $3.00 on sale. Since I bought two packs I paid $3.38 which is more than the sale price of three packs for $3.00. Put the receipt on the counter to deal with later. I know most would not care about this but that actually is a pack of candy and .40 back at me if I went back to the store with my receipt. Came home and listened to some music before going to lunch with the guys. Had a great lunch. Asked the guys if they would go back to a store, right down the street from my house, for 40 cents and an eight pack of candy bars. One of 5 said yes. Since we decided to go to a movie next Thursday night at the LGBT Film Festival and I would go buy tickets after lunch for the four of us, I stopped off at home to grab the Walgreen's receipt. Stopped off at Walgreen's on my way to the bookstore to buy the movie tickets. The manager was happy to give me 40 cents and the 8 pack of Butterfinger Candy Bars. Tony would never do this. I figure if I bought it on sale and did not get the sale price I shouldn't have bought it, so I have to fix it. Plus it bothers me so much in my mind, me being nuts and all, that it is just easier to face the music and fix it than let it rattle around in my mind for days. Yah, I am crazy. Came home after buying the tickets and did a little leaf blowing in the yard. The tree is almost empty of leaves. It is windy and in the 50s so most of the leaf blowing was futile. Making some salads and soup for dinner tonight. Had a big lunch and the Birthday boy bought lunch, so it was a free lunch for Tony and I. Even got a couple cupcakes for later that one of the guys baked for the occasion. Will spend the night trying to clear more off the DVR. Hoping to do a lot of TV watching since it did get much cooler in Milwaukee in the last 24 hours. The weather report is even calling for a deep freeze in a couple days. YUCK! Have a good weekend everyone.

October 13, 2011 Thursday Late Afternoon

Last night Vito wanted to go outside about 2 AM, he was moving around in his cage. If I would have picked up on the signs I wouldn't have had to go through what I did at 5 AM when he woke me again. He had peed all in his cage in his sleep. The towel on the pillow was all wet with pee. Thankfully I am smart enough from the past with him to have the pillow wrapped in a garbage bag so it doesn't soak through. But, that meant he was covered in pee from laying in it so at 5 AM I had to give him a bath after he went out to potty. I then was up and started the day. Fed the dogs around 6 AM, giving Vito his shot. At 7:15 AM I was out the door with him to drop him off at the vet for his full day of tests. After I dropped him off I stopped at McDonald's and bought two breakfast burritos. Came home and a little while went back to bed since it was raining here in Milwaukee. Got up around 11:30 AM and started the day again. Called the vet around 1 PM to be told to call back at 3 PM because they needed to do a few more tests, sounds expensive if you ask me when I hear that. So I have been getting everything done around the house so when I get him home it will be 'Vito time'. Will give him all my attention. I can't imagine what it must be like to be in a cage at the vet and be blind, not knowing what all the noises around are. Poor guy. I told the vets several times before I left him to just make sure they realize he is blind and talk to him so he knows what they are doing and what is happening. Talked to my mom on the phone and caught up on some emails this afternoon after I got the cleaning and supper ready for tonight. I will call the vet in a couple minutes to see if I can pick him up. Will let you know whats up in tomorrows post. Making a meatloaf, noodles and beans with a salad for dinner tonight. It has rained all day in Milwaukee today, very depressing. Will watch X Factor Tonight and then The Mentalist, DVR'ing the CBS shows and Grey's Anatomy. Got to go and call the vet after I spell check. Spell checking always makes me laugh.

October 12, 2011 Wednesday Dinner Time

Last night Vito woke us up at 2 AM throwing up. Got him out of his cage and on a towel on the bed while I cleaned his cage. He then threw up again off the bed a little while later. He then seemed fine and slept on the bed the rest of the night by my pillow with my hand on his back. I worry when this happens because I am afraid it might be a Diabetic thing.

This morning I was up at 6:30 AM. Fed the dogs and gave Vito his shot. Around 8 AM the vet called to remind me of Vito's 4 month, all day appointment tomorrow, and to have him to the office at 7:30 AM. I then asked if they had an appointment today for Stella to get her toe nails trimmed. Made a 11:30 AM appointment. Read a little of the morning newspaper and then took a shower. Was out the door a little after 9 AM to get the grocery shopping done. Of course most of the sale items at Pick N Save near me the shelves were empty. I even asked a manager to look for the PF Chang Sweet N Sour Chicken that was $3 off. After they said they looked I was told to get a rain check, which I did. Came home and unpacked everything and put it away. Even got a great deal on Kibbles N Bits for the dogs. They had the big bag marked wrong and I bought three bags at the $6.09 price rather than the $15.99 price. Thought I might as well grab all three bags they had on the shelf. Jeez, this bag of dog food was $11.99 just last week. I even had to take the manager to the sign on the shelf, which she agreed with me to get the low price. After being home for a while it was time to take Stella to the vet for her nail trim. She was very good as always. Stopped off at McDonald's and got a hamburger and french fries. Stella ate french fries on the way home. Did another leaf blowing around the entire yard after taking a short nap with the dogs. I then checked the mail and got my reimbursement for my health insurance through ADAP. Thought I might as well get it in the bank so I drove again to Pick N Save for my bank and made the deposit. For the heck of it I went to the freezer section and wouldn't you know it, the shelf was filled with the PF Chang Sweet N Sour Chicken the manager only a few hours ago said they didn't have. I bought four bags. Making rice and sweet and sour chicken with a salad for dinner tonight. Will spend the night watching X Factor and Law and Order SVU. I also called my mortgage company again today to find out where I stand on my line of credit they canceled and should not have when I paid off the money we borrowed from it. The person on the phone had no more information and said they are still working on it. It has been a month and a half that I have been calling on this mistake. It was another beautiful day in Milwaukee. In the high 60s and sunny. The weather man says this is the LAST day of the nice weather. Wish this would last forever. My Prostate is feeling a bit better. Seems the pain is more in the morning when I get up and then goes away and is not noticeable all day like it was last week. One of the pills makes me feel light headed. Don't like that feeling. Guess I won't use any heavy machinery like the label says. Hmm, is a leaf blower or car considered heavy machinery? Maybe I shouldn't even cook dinner? Don't think Tony will buy that excuse.

October 11, 2011 Tuesday Dinner Time

Last night we watched Dancing With The Stars. Just a little after 9 PM the neighbor called in a panic and said to come outside right away. The other neighbor across the alley has 2 Pitbulls and no fence in their back yard. Since they moved in the middle of the Summer we had been telling them they need a fence and some day someone was going to come through the alley with a dog and their Pitbull was going to have a fight. Well, it happened last night. A girl with her cute medium size dog was walking through the alley and the neighbors Pitbull attacked it. It was not pretty. By the time I got outside the dogs were separated and in the house. The dog that got attacked was bleeding. I was not impressed with how the neighbor handled the situation. They hardly apologized much less took responsibly for the attack. I let the girl know, very quietly, that if she needed someone to be on her side, I was here. It was the neighbors fault and I saw it coming. I hope the girl's dog is OK. A little while later the bike police were at the neighbors house getting the story. We went to bed a little after 10 PM.

This morning I was up at 6 AM. Fed the dogs and gave Vito his shot. As Tony left for work I went into the garage because I know I have 4 eight foot meddle fence panels that I could make a temporary fence for the neighbor across their back yard. I started the project at 7:30 AM. Soon both neighbors came out of their house, the one with both Pitbulls on a leash. I pounded in 4 poles while the other neighbor used wire to tie the fence panels. Never once did the neighbor with the Pitbulls offer to help. I did this because I just do not want to see another dog get attacked. Since I was in a working mood I took the leaf blower and blew the front, side, back and upstairs deck of leaves. Talked with my mom on the phone prior to taking a shower. After my shower I went to Walgreen's and picked up a prescription and got my flu shot. Came home and I was exhausted. Took a long three hour nap. Still having a hard time trying to wake up and get the brain to work. I am making so many spelling mistakes as I type I can tell my brain needs a jump start. Making a pot roast, mashed potato and a salad for dinner tonight. Will spend the night watching the ABC TV line up and DVR a lot of other shows on TV. I guess the police are returning tonight to get more information from the neighbor and papers on the dogs. Should be interesting. I would hate to hear the dogs will need to be put down but this is the reason I am so careful with my Pitbull. Tomorrow I have to go grocery shopping. It is suppose to rain and be cold for the next couple days. Today was in the low 70s and a very nice day. Our last probably until next Spring.

October 10, 2011 Monday Dinner Time

Saturday was an awesome weather day in Milwaukee, it got to 80 degrees which is not normal for Wisconsin this time of year. In the afternoon Tony brought home a customers Cadillac convertible and we went for a long drive along the lake front of Milwaukee and south. Stopped off at Dairy Queen for an ice cream. We went for a long walk through Grant Park enjoying the trees and the nice weather. Walked around on the beach and had a nice time. Came home and after we fed the dogs we went up the street to a little Italian restaurant and had a nice dinner. Came home and spent the night watching Horrible Bosses and other TV shows on the DVR. I had heard the movie Horrible Bosses was good, I though it was OK. There were funny parts but I had higher expectations. Went to bed around 10 PM.

Sunday we got up at 7 AM. Fed the dogs and gave Vito his shot. After reading a little of the Sunday newspaper we showered and drove to the south side of town and picked up Tony's mom and took her to breakfast. After breakfast we went shopping at Big Lot because they had a 20% off sale for the day. Ended up spending about $150 on stuff we didn't need. Drove the long way home. Spent some time with the dogs and then I wanted to go for a walk along the river which is right across the street from out house. Tony wanted to bring a dog or two which was not my idea of fun or what I wanted to do. We walked two of the dogs around the block and dropped them off at home. We then went for a long long walk along the river and in the woods. I love walking through the woods in the fall and enjoying the colors of the trees and the falling leaves. Had a great walk. Came home and soon we fed the dogs and gave Vito his night Insulin shot. Ordered a Lasagna dinner and two salads for supper which were delivered. Spent the night watching the CBS lineup and DVR'd Desperate Housewives. Went to bed around 10 PM.

This morning I was up at 6:30 AM. Fed the dogs and gave Vito his shot. I went for a walk in the morning around the neighborhood. When I got home there was a message from Tony's sister saying she was coming to Milwaukee with the kids and wanted to know if we wanted one of them for the day. Of course I do, I love the kids and have so much fun with them. The sister showed up around 1 PM and I now had a kid for the day. We drove to Tony's auto body shop to say Hi to Tony and walk around the shop showing the kid all the cars Tony is working on. Tony then took the kid for a drive in one of the Monster Cars he is working on. The kid loved it since the car is 5 feet off the ground. We then came home and took a walk and then played war with cards. Tony will be home in about an hour and we will take the kid to Culver's for dinner. His mom will most likely pick him up around 7 PM. The kid is Tony's nephew, the middle kid, 7 1/2 years old and so well behaved. He is so good with all the dogs also. Will watch Dancing With The Stars and Castle tonight. I will DVR the CBS lineup less 2 Broke Girls, I gave up on that show since we can't keep up with everything I DVR as it is. Tomorrow it is suppose to be in the 70s, like today, then the cold and rain arrive on Wednesday. Summer and Fall will be over. Been keeping up with the leaves with the leave blower, can't wait till all all leaves are down. Seems I blow the leaves away and blink and more fall. The trees are about half empty. I will leave blow again tomorrow trying to get as much moved as possible before the rain comes on Wednesday.

October 7, 2011 Friday Dinner Time

Spent last night watching X Factor and The Mentalist. I took a Valium early in the night so I would not think about my early morning doctor appointment. Slept like a baby most of the night.

This morning I was up at 6 AM. Got the dogs fed and gave Vito his shot. Spent the next hour making sure I cleaned out my system and did not eat anything or drink anything but water so if I had to have a blood test at the doctor. Took a shower and left the house a little after 7:30 AM for my 8 AM doctor appointment. I got there early and there was no one at the front desk to check me in but the doctor's male nurse. He checked me in and then had me go back into the doctors office after I gave a urine sample . The doctor entered less than 5 minutes later. He listened to me me say where I had pain and had me drop my drawers. I could see him putting on gloves and I said to him 'you aren't even going to talk sweet to me and buy me a drink first?'. He said 'not today'. He then check my front balls and penis area, then went up the butt with the dreaded finger. He was very gentle and was not as bad as I have had in the past by doctors. He then told me that my urine sample showed no bacteria and I have Chronic Prostate Infection. He then gave me a prescription for Doxazosin 4 MG to take once daily at bed time. It is a stronger antibiotic then the one I have been taking for the past 30 days. The prescription is for 30 days and has 3 refills. He also gave me a prescription of Naproxen 500 MG to take twice daily with food. It is an anti inflammatory and pain pill. Hopefully this will be the cure. I was out the door a little after 8:30 AM. At Walgreen's by 9 AM, and home by 9:30 AM. Honestly, it was the fastest doctor appointment I have had in a long time. I even went down to the second floor after the appointment and had my next blood drawn for my HIV doctor that I was going to have drawn next week Friday morning. Figured a week early wouldn't matter. I get those results back October 26 when I see my HIV doctor. I am hoping to get above 400 again on my CD4 count. I had slipped below the 400 count on my last blood test. It has been my goal to be above 400 and I have only gotten there once, and barely. Of course I hope to still be undetectable with this next blood test. Came home and went for a long walk before I unstrung some of the Christmas lights my mom gave me. Met Tony and the guys for lunch at Bakers Square. Had a great lunch as always. I really love these guys. Came home and spent another hour hanging lights outside before taking an hour nap on the couch while I listened to some old disco music. Making a salad and sandwich for Tony and I for dinner tonight. It was again in the mid 70s today. We are really getting spoiled with good weather. I did get my quarterly water and sewer bill today. It went up from $250 to $325. How do people afford to keep paying these increases. There will come a day when no one can afford to drink, eat, or have heat or electric at the way the cost keeps increasing. That's now over $1200 a year for sewer and water, unbelievable! Will spend the night watching TV on the DVR from the week. No plans this weekend. It is suppose to be nice so I hope we go for a long walk in the woods and enjoy the fall tree colors. It is very pretty and getting near peak season with the colors here in Milwaukee. Thanks for all the good thoughts today. I figured I had some people thinking of me. Oh, one more thing, kinda funny. Tony said to me at lunch 'how come the doctor gets to put his fingers up your butt and I don't'. I said 'because he played with my balls and such prior'. LOL. Have a good weekend everyone.

October 6, 2011 Thursday Dinner Time

Last night Tony got home from work around 5:30 PM. I had the dogs fed so we headed to the car show on the south side of town before it got dark. It gets dark outside so early. There was no car show. I even checked the Internet and it listed a car show like they have every Wednesday night. Guess car show season is over. We went to A&W for dinner. Came home and spent the night watching X Factor, Raising Hope, and Law And Order SVU. Went to bed around 10 PM.

This morning I was up at 6 AM. Fed the dogs and gave Vito his shot. Tony left for work a little after 7 AM. Spent the morning on the computer since I could not get my medical history and medicines to print out. I spent about an hour looking for activation keys and such for Microsoft works. Finally downloaded a key and that made things worse. I then did a system restart to put the setting back. Went for a longer walk then yesterday. I am trying to go a block or two farther with each walk. Had a good walk. Took a nap this afternoon with the dogs. I have this pain now in my shoulders which I am sure is just nerves and stress about tomorrows doctor appointment. How many more areas of my body can I have pain? Sat outside with the dogs for a while drinking a cup of coffee after my nap. Another perfect weather day in Milwaukee. Went to go online to do a posting and I could not connect to the Internet. I am sure it had something to do with the system restore I did this morning. Had to download Firefox again and install it. As you can see, I am back online. I did burn a music CD this morning also and it worked great with the new discs. I burned the new Scotty McCreery CD for Tony since I do not like country music. Guess it must be the spool of Memorex discs that don't work since the new ones do. Will eventually keep trying them and throw away the ones that won't burn music. At least I know it is not my computer. Making a steak noodle skillet for dinner with a salad. I am trying to eat very little today in preparation of tomorrow mornings 8 AM Urology appointment. I am very nervous about the appointment since something is still very wrong with my body down in that area. A friend we have lunch with offered to go with me to the appointment, which I though was so sweet. Told him I have to just be a 'big boy' and do it on my own. Hell, there are many worse things the doctors could do than stick his fingers up my butt. God I am hoping that is the worst of it? Will spent tonight watching X Factor and then The Mentalist before going to bed. Will DVR the CBS TV line up and Greys Anatomy. Will let you know tomorrow how the doctor appointment went. Wish me luck.

October 5, 2011 Wednesday Dinner Time

I made dinner last night since Tony did not get home from work until close to 6:30 PM. Spent the night watching TV. Went to bed around 10 PM.

This morning I was up at 6 AM. Fed the dogs and gave Vito his shot. Tony left for work around 7 AM. I read a little of the morning newspaper and then started my day. Was at the grocery store before 10 AM. Got the shopping done and the groceries put away. I then went for a long walk around the neighborhood. It is nice taking a walk around the area and seeing all the nice houses I have never really looked at down the side streets. Talked with the neighbor for a little about last nights Dance Results show before I came back home and laid outside with the dogs for a couple hours. It is so nice here in Milwaukee. In the mid 70s again today. I then did a little more cleaning in the basement before I started this post. Tonight we are going to a car show and dinner at A&W. I do love their root beer. Will then spend the night watching X Factor and Law and Order SVU before going to bed. I have to admit that the walks are really doing me some good. The belly uncomfortableness is a little less and I am down to 185 lbs from 193 lbs two weeks ago, so it is working and the weight is coming off. I keep telling myself to 'keep moving'. I also have been making sure I take my pills with food when I take them rather than on an empty stomach, and laying off the junk food as much as possible. Tomorrow is suppose to be another fantastic day weather wise in Milwaukee. I hope to get some Christmas lights hung in the back and front yard while the weather is nice. It is never fun doing it in the cold of November. I promise not to turn them on. LOL.

October 4, 2011 Tuesday Dinner Time

I'm back! In pain, but back online with my desktop computer.

Sunday we were up at 7 AM. Fed the dogs and gave Vito his shot. Spent the morning reading the Sunday newspaper and waiting for my parents to arrive so we could all go to the dog walk on Brady Street. It is a yearly event with a dog blessing at the end of the dog parade. Also a Best Costume contest. It is always a fun event seeing all the dogs together, 100s of them. After the dog walk we all went out to lunch at a restaurant on the Eastside. Had a great lunch and talked with the folks. After lunch they dropped Tony and I off at home and we spent the rest of the day doing things around the house. Didn't even make dinner. Tony had some more left over spaghetti. Spent the night watching Amazing Race, The Good Wife and CSI Miami. I DVR'd Desperate Housewives. Went to bed around 10 PM.

Monday I was up at 6 AM. Fed the dogs and gave Vito his shot. Spent the day around the house. I did take a walk in the afternoon all the way to Pick N Save bank to make a deposit. Did you see I said 'I walked'. Jeez, I didn't realize it was up hill the whole way home. LOL. It felt good and I will continue with the exercise and walking to hopefully stop this belly pain. My prostate pain is there but seems to be getting better. Hoping if I eat less and get more exercise I can loose some weight and it will help. Thankfully it is in the 70s all week in Milwaukee so this might be a good time to start the walking daily. Got a call from the lady who processes my ADAP reimbursement about my going on Medicare the first of the year. She gave me some good advice and was very helpful. Made an appointment with ARCW in two weeks to get all the paperwork filled out. I just want this whole medical insurance thing to go smoothly without having problems getting my needed meds and doctor visits covered. I am very scared about this. Made the last of the spaghetti for Tony for dinner, I had a salad and some garlic bread. Watched Dancing With The Stars and Castle. Went to bed around 9 PM to watch TV. Just prior to going to bed Best Buy called to say my computer was ready to pick up and that they could not find anything wrong. Yah right.

This morning I was up at 6 AM. Fed the dogs and gave Vito his shot. Spent the early morning cleaning the basement and setting up some shelving we purchased at Home Depot on Saturday. I have to get the basement organized and looking better. At 9:30 AM I left the house with CDs in hand to go to Best Buy to get my computer tower. The Geek Squad guy was very nice and let me come behind the counter and load up the CD burner and burn a CD with my CD's that don't seem to work. I have been able to get about every 5th blank disc to work. Of course the first CD we burned went great with no problems. I told the clerk we needed to burn another. I was never so happy when after 10 seconds of burning the disc it popped out and the error message came up. I even did a little dance because I was not 'nuts'. This is happening. We tried to burn another disc with my CD's and the error message came up again. We came to the conclusion that the bundle of CDs must be bad, except maybe every 5th one. I bought more blank CD and hopefully the next time I burn one it will work. Drove home and picked up a can of gas for the lawn mower at Tony's shop. Came home and after setting up the computer I went out to cut the grass hopefully for the last time this summer. I could not get it started. I called Tony and he came home. After many pulls he got it started and I cut the grass as he drove away. Trimmed around the tree and such and put all the lawn equipment away. Took a short walk around the block and stopped to talk to the neighbor across the alley for a half hour. I then took a short nap with the dogs. It is now a little after 4 PM. I am still not sure if I am making dinner or we will go to one last car show and have some food. It is the best weather in Milwaukee and looks like it will be for the next five days. Seventy's in the day and 50s at night. Only problem is it gets so dark out so early, the sun sets prior to 6:30 PM now. It will go from this to Winter in just a matter of time. Will spend the night watching Glee, Dancing Results and Body Of Proof. I still have my Friday 8 AM Urology appointment which I am not looking forward to. It has been causing me a lot of anxiety and I can't wait to get it over with. I hate going to doctors and this one will want to go up in areas that are not pleasant.

October 1, 2011 Saturday Night

Thursday night I tried to make a music CD and the CD burner on the new HP computer would not work. Finally after trying several applications and going through 5 CD's one worked. I played around a little more and 5 more CD's failed. Turned the computer off and went to bed around 10 PM after watching X Factor and The Mentalist.

Friday morning I was up at 6:30 AM. Fed the dogs and gave Vito his shot. Went back to bed after Tony left since I was so tired from being up with the dogs again because of the strong winds and the noise they made. Vito was a mess all night. Got back out of bed around 10 AM. Tried to burn two more CD's and they failed. Called Best Buy and was told I would need to bring the tower in so they could work on it. Showered and went to lunch with the guys. Had a great lunch despite the fact my chest area is really hurting. The pain is coming from beneath my breast bone and rib cage. One more thing to have to worry about. After lunch I drove to Best Buy and dropped off the computer tower. I was hoping they would call soon and I would have my computer back running so I could post on Friday. That did not happen and we spent the night watching TV on the DVR from the week. We are crossing 2 Broke Girls off the DVR list as of this week. The show sucks. Went to bed around 10 PM.

This morning Tony and I got up at 7 AM. Fed the dogs and gave Vito his shot. Read the morning newspaper and made some breakfast for the two of us. Tony went to his shop to change the locks on the rental property and I went for a walk around the neighborhood. I am hoping some more exercise might be in order. If this chest pressure pain doesn't go away by Friday I guess I can talk to the Urologist about it and go from there. Going to start walking around the neighborhood daily. I did feel better after doing the walk. I need more exercise. Around noon Tony and I went to Home Depot to buy some light bulbs and house hold supplies. Took a nap this afternoon. The sun did come out today and the weather is looking good for the next week. It is suppose to be in the 70s from Monday on for 7 days. That is nice in Wisconsin this time of year. I am sure it will be in the 30s the following week. Got some pizza for dinner along with the salad I made for the two of us. Spending the night watching more TV on the DVR. Tomorrow my parents are driving into town to go to a dog walk with Tony and I. We do it every year and it is always nice to see the folks for an hour or two. Will go out for lunch with them after the dog parade / walk. I actually typed this entire post on my laptop since Best Buy never did call today to tell me my computer is fixed. Hopefully they will call tomorrow and we can pick it up after my parents leave. I hate typing on this laptop.